In my determination to a) get myself a bit fitter and b) make the most of the recent (and probably short lived) sunshine, I have enjoyed two good longish walks in the beautiful Cumbrian countryside within the past seven days. I have mentioned my passion for walking in previous blogs so you will understand that this was an opportunity not to be missed. Those of you that are familiar with Cumbria will know it to be particularly popular for the beautiful area known as the Lake District. The scenery there is quite stunning and it happens to be one of my favourite places in the world. While both walks did not take us into the heart of the Lake District, we were definitely in sight of the magnificent northern fells.
On the first walk we began in the city of Carlisle and walked 15.5 miles to the picturesque village of Caldbeck. The sun shone and we enjoyed the very pleasant scenery around us. In the village of Dalston we paused for lunch and as one of our party was celebrating a birthday, a few bottles of wine and a chocolate cake mysteriously appeared from various rucksacks. Very civilised, but how do I possibly explain to others that I can walk for 15.5 miles and still put on weight? The waistline was not helped at all by the two pints of Cumberland Ale in The Oddfellow's Arms in Caldbeck to celebrate our achievement of completing the walk.
My aching feet had hardly recovered from those exertions when I agreed to walk almost 13 miles a few days later. This time our finishing point was in the town of Brampton and our walk took us alongside many sections of the Roman Wall..
In case you are not aware, the Roman Wall, better known as Hadrian's Wall was built as a fortification in AD122 during the rule of Emperor Hadrian. The wall begins on the west coast in Cumbria and ends in the appropriately named town of Wallsend in what used to be Northumberland but is now North Tyneside. As I live not too far from Wallsend, I am familiar with the sections of Hadrian's Wall in the Northumberland countryside. This Cumbrian walk however brought me close to sections of the wall with which I was less familiar. We paused for refreshment at the remains of Poltross Burn Milecastle and later in our walk passed by Birdoswald Roman Camp. Strategically placed information signs advise visitors about the history of these locations. You can't say that our walks are not educational.
As we were passing one field we came across two sheep in some distress at a covered feeding trough. It became clear that they had succeeded in putting their heads between the same set of bars and had become stuck. Two of our group climbed the fence and amused us with their attempts to free the struggling animals. Obviously this led to a number of comments from us spectators but they are far too rude to repeat here! Anyway the sheep were freed and we carried on our way towards another rewarding pint.
Rumour has it that we are off to North Yorkshire for our next outing in a few days time. That is as long as I have cleaned all the mud off my boots.
While in London last weekend, I anticipated hearing and seeing much activity and excitement regarding the forthcoming Olympics which were then only two weeks away. There was certainly a good deal of activity with 30 miles of Soviet-style ZiL lanes being created to transport VIP's, "marketing partners" and oh yes, athletes to the various venues. Also there were numerous line closures on the London Underground while repairs were made and security tests were carried out to ensure that everything would be operational during the games themselves. None of this appeared to impress the Londoners I spoke with!
Frankly they seemed fed up with the whole thing. As one guy told me while travelling on the Northern Line, "We are being told where we can go and where we can't go and when."
When the announcement was made back in July 2005 that London had won the Olympics, I believed that ordinary Londoners and to a lesser extent British people, would benefit from this award. I believed, or was led to believe, that the influx of foreign tourists and spectators would bring welcome revenue to our businesses and trades. Not so it seems!
It is now becoming clear that the aforementioned "marketing partners" are the only ones who will benefit from this event. The exclusive rights bought up by the likes of Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Adidas are now being rigidly enforced by our own government to the extent that one small shopkeeper close to the Olympic Stadium has had his shop screened from view by a line of newly planted trees. One 81 year old grandmother created a doll bearing an Olympic torch and donated it to a church sale, but was forced to withdraw it because it infringed the laws created to protect these 'gods of capitalism'! The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) has 300 people enforcing the Olympic Act 2006 to ensure that people do not infringe the marketing rights and advertising rules of the London 2012 games. It seems they own the intellectual copyright to words such as "gold", "summer", "London", "games" or "2012". Heaven forbid you should use any of those words in the same sentence. You may find yourself £20,000 worse off.
Our government ministers who seem obsessed with security to the extent that they have moored an aircraft carrier on the Thames and installed missiles in tower blocks, also awarded the security contract to a company with a reputation for total incompetence. They then failed to realise that insufficient security personnel would be provided and have had to draft in 3,500 of our already overstretched troops to cover the shortfall. Nevertheless these same ministers appear capable of defending one thing. The profits of the fat and greedy corporate sponsors!
What a disgrace!
My Sunday morning visit to Camden market turned out more expensive than I had anticipated. You would think that at my age I should know better but sadly that's not the case.
I was lured into an emporium selling a wide range of rare (and not so rare) DVDs. I believe it is something to do with the magnetic pull of the earth and is caused by the moon and tides and suchlike, but being non-scientific I have no idea how it all works. Anyway, suffice to say I find it impossible to walk past a store selling books, CDs or DVDs. And if they sell all three, then the tracker dogs have to be called when I fail to return home after several hours.
The cause of my spending spree on this occasion was a complete set of DVDs containing every single episode of the legendary German music programme 'Beat-Club'.
The program, broadcast from Bremen, ran for eighty three episodes between September 1965 and December 1972. It was presented by Uschi Nerke and featured some of the best music acts around at the time. The complete set comes in three volumes (1965-1967, 1968-1970 & 1970-1972) and each volume consists of eight (yes eight) DVDs. Eventually I decided to purchase only Volumes 2 & 3 partly to ease the strain on the finances, partly to avoid the annoying Dave Lee Travis who co-hosted some of the early episodes and partly because the music from the episodes after 1967 appealed to me more.
Of course I have so far only dipped into random selections of the feast on offer and it would be pointless even beginning to list some of the artists and bands featured. There are simply so many! Those wishing to learn more about the content of each show can do so by accessing www.tv.com/shows/beat-club/.
Now it can rain all it likes. I'll have my feet up in front of the telly wallowing in sweet nostalgia.
At the weekend I attended my third Hard Rock Calling festival in London's Hyde Park. The atrocious weather we have experienced this summer meant that expectations for the weekend weather were not high and I attended prepared for every eventuality. At least the event did go ahead which was no mean feat considering the number of events that have already been cancelled this year.
My plan this year was to skip a number of the support acts and take the opportunity to view the Rolling Stones 50 exhibition which began on Saturday at Somerset House on The Strand. Documenting the 50 years since The Stones hit the stage at the Marquee Club on 12th July 1962, this exhibition of over 70 photographs covers the entire career of this iconic band. And a wonderful collection it is too. If you happen to be in London before 27th August, I would recommend you pay a visit. The East Wing Gallery is open from 10.00 - 18.00 every day and entrance is free.
The inevitable hard back book to celebrate this anniversary is also on sale there at a penny short of 30 quid (that's English pounds). I must say I was tempted but it was an expensive weekend, the White Room budget was stretched and as I was heading straight to Hyde Park after the visit, it would have meant lugging a heavy volume around the festival site. So I settled instead for the lighter and slimmer catalogue at a reasonable £10.
While waiting in the queue to purchase the book, an American guy in front who seemed to be buying every single item on sale, commented that he had never heard of the band but assumed that they were doing quite well. The sales person didn't know how to react and I have to assume he was joking yet part of me wonders as I have always been of the opinion that Americans don't do irony. Oh well.
After a pleasant couple of pints in The Wellington (only to dodge the rain you understand), it was then on the tube towards Hyde Park.
I arrived in time to catch the last 20 minutes of a set by Dawes on one of the smaller stages. I won't name the sponsor as I'm not here to provide free advertising and anyway the drink tastes like crap. The band were very good indeed and well received by the crowd.
Back at the main stage, John Fogerty got his set underway. I've never been much of a fan of Creedence Clearwater Revival for some reason but I really enjoyed his set. At one point he was joined on stage by The Boss and together they did Status Quo's 'Rockin' All Over The World'.
At 19.30 Bruce and The E-Street Band came onto the stage and began their set. Having seen them at this same festival three years ago and again at Sunderland Stadium of Light a couple of weeks back, I knew what to expect. At least three hours of non stop great music. Of course there were some surprises thrown in such as Bruce playing a song requested by a Spanish guy who seems to have followed the band round all of Europe always requesting the same song. The song in question was 'Take 'em as they come' and the guy was ecstatic. It was a special moment. John Fogerty joined the band for 'Promised Land' and at the end of the set Sir Paul McCartney was introduced and with Bruce performed a fine rendition of 'I Saw Her Standing There' followed by 'Twist and Shout'. Of course we all know by now what happened next as Westminster City Council saw fit to pull the plug because they had passed the curfew. Shame on them! Perhaps they should put more effort into ensuring they have a good public transport system as our journey back to the hotel was a nightmare due to problems on the Central Line.
Feeling refreshed on Sunday and after a visit to Camden market (of which more next time), I returned to Hyde Park in plenty of time to catch Alison Krauss & The Union Station. Having stayed dry and fairly sunny throughout Sunday, the mud of the previous day had dried or at least been covered by a fresh layer of wood chippings. At least it meant we could sit down occasionally instead of having to stand non stop for five hours. The set by the band was superb featuring some very fine musicianship from Jerry Douglas on dobro and the wonderful Dan Tyminski who took his share of the vocals while Alison Krauss supported on fiddle.
After a break, Paul Simon came onto the stage and began with a selection of numbers from his solo years. He was soon joined on stage by Jimmy Cliff who did an exuberant short set and eventually Ladyship Black Mambazo bounded onto the stage to a very enthusiastic welcome from the crowd. Supported by many of the original musicians plus Hugh Masekela, Simon delivered the complete 'Graceland' album to an ecstatic crowd.
It seemed impossible to follow that yet a visibly moved Paul Simon returned alone with his acoustic guitar and silenced the crowd with a gorgeous version of 'Sounds of Silence'.
After another couple of numbers backed by the full band, they all took their bows and like the Chinese lanterns set off behind the stage, we drifted off into the night.
I was saddened yesterday to learn of the death of Eric Sykes.
Growing up in the late 50's and early 60's I became used to seeing Eric on a number of TV comedy shows screening at that time. For some reason I took to his style of comedy in the same way I took to Tony Hancock and Spike Milligan. It was only later that I came to realise the full extent of the genius of Sykes when I learnt that he had written much of his own material and comedy scripts for Hancock and The Goons.
Today the papers are quite rightly full of tributes to Eric Sykes. By way of my own small tribute I'd just like to say thanks for all those laughs Eric.
Rest In Peace.
Now we are midway through 2012 I started wondering about the best albums I have heard so far this year. I confess that I have not yet heard the latest offerings by Dexy's or Richard Hawley, however the contenders include:-
The Tallest Man on Earth - There's No Leaving Now
Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
Chuck Prophet - Temple Beautiful
The Shins - Port of Morrow
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Americana
Patti Smith - Banga
Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
Giant Giant Sand - Tucson
The Decemberists - We All Raise Our Voices to the Air
Jack White - Blunderbuss
For me there are no doubts about the top three.
In reverse order -
3. Dr. John - Locked Down
In collaboration with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, Mac Rebennack has produced a fine album which refuses to rely on the swamp-funk of some of his back catalogue. The distinctive voice - midway between Tom Waits and Captain Beefheart - is still there but the songs belong in the 21st century. A great album from which I look forward to seeing him play live at The Sage in Gateshead later this month.
2. Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
I wrote earlier about this band and album (see 10th May 2012) and to quote Gavin Haynes in the NME, 'It is as note perfect an album as you'll hear all year'.
1. Anais Mitchell - Young Man in America
I know I've been banging on about Anais Mitchell for a bit now but I have probably played this album every day since I first heard it. And I can't recall the last time one album received so much of my time and attention. Despite the illustrious list of artists above, I rate this album as the best of the year (so far) by a country mile!
I returned yesterday after a week and a bit in sweltering hot Spain. Thoroughly enjoyed watching the Euro 2012 football competition there and especially enjoyed the atmosphere during and after the Spain matches. Fireworks throughout the night. I wish I could have been there for the Final last night but nevertheless I enjoyed the game back home. What a team they are!
The days were spent visiting various favourite haunts, taking photos and dodging the scorching sun.
