Friend's Ben & Simone motor trip...

From England all the way across to Switzerland. Doesn't sound too bad, until you understand that it was all done in a 1930's Riley!! Ravines, Rivers, Mountains and numerous punctures were thrown at the intrepid duo, but with true British Bulldog spirit, they hitched up their pants, got down to business and got the job done! with only a minor wobble of the top lip!! Here's a small clip of what must have been one amazing trip and experience...

*****OH, DON'T FORGET TO DISABLE THE MUSIC PLAYER ON YOUR RIGHT FIRST! *****

Some CLASSICS I've been listening to recently...

Life's not ALL jazz, swing, tango and air-geetar rock..!! (yep, music to watch the moods go bye..!! ). Just recently I've been back into my classical pieces of Opera, solo pieces and orchestral movements. From Rachmaninov to Sibelius, to Debussey, Puccini, Bach and Mozart. If it fits, matches or lifts the mood, then go with the flow I say..!
It's a real conundrum for 'me' that I cannot play an instrument, yet, I NEED music in my life and I find it in all sorts of places and sounds (doesn't have to be a musical instrument for me, I get so much music on the beach, in the hills and woods around me). Whenever I come in from work, I habitually reach for a CD that just 'feels' right for me, and pop it on whilst going off to grind my coffee beans (noooo, that's not a dance, fella!! ).

I also find some marvellous modern music and movements being composed for as film scores by the likes of Horner, Zimmer, Glennie-Smith and Barry.

Anyway, enough of that, I shall 'try' to attach a few I've been listening to (TOO MANY to list to be honest) and I 'hope' some pieces 'you' might now discover and like too :)

*********REMEMBER TO DISABLE PLAYER ON THE RIGHT FIRST BEFORE LISTENING************

	4 Debussy Arabesque .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

	Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus - Canzonetta sull'aria .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

	Elena Kuschnerova - Ravel - Pavane pour une infante defunte .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

	Elizabeth Parcells - O mio babbino caro .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

	Claude Debussy - Clair de lune .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

	Mischa Maisky - Bach (JS): Cello Suite #1 In G, BWV 1007 - 6. Gigue .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

	Steven Sharp Nelson - Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major: Prelude .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

TAWNY, SCRAWNY LION...

A little story from the wilds of the Jungle...for a little boy called 'Noah..'

******REMEMBER TO 'PAUSE' THE MUSIC PLAYER ON THE RIGHT OF THIS PAGE FIRST*****

Bonjour from Hemingway's favourite Parisian Bar...

Just returned from a few days on Paris and then Montpellier in the south (for that little thing I see far too little of...le soleil!!). Cafe culture of watching the world go by on side walk tables, the sound of accordians being played on street corners, the smells of deliscious fresh baked breads and patisseries, the swish of couture dresses and the scent of No.5 ...C'est Paris...!!
It's so 'hard' to settle back in (well it is for me) having been away and enjoyed a new culture. I get such itchy travelling feet..!!

A BELTER of a suit flew into my life...

Just invested in a three piece, belted back, American 1930's (yes, you heard right!) suit, in navy wool with a fine blue window-pane design, and nicely vented pockets.
This will be nice for the autumn and should cause the usual stir/stare at work as I march in to exclamations of, "Funeral or Wedding...?" Oh, the dress-down vogue of today's workplace is not por moi!
Jeans and tee-shirts are part of the social wall-paper these days!! who wants to be wall-paper..? Better to be a picture on the wall (yes, I might look like a Dali piece of work, but still...haha).
So here's a little bit of nostalgia and turning the clock back to those Golden Era days of Gable, Grant, Cooper..et al. Joe, line up the drinks please...

CYCLING we shall go...

I've had to cut this video short, as the Blogg wouldn't take it (probably traumatized the poor thing!!). So this is the shortened version (shortened, NOT Censored!). I'll keep it up for a while until I get a better one, as it really doesn't fully showcase the area.

A weekend in Cambridge (UK)

IT MUST have been written in the stars that this was going to be a marvellous weekend, as on my 300 mile journey southwards to that great City of learning and spires, I pulled off at a petrol station only to find I was parked beside the most beautiful 1933 Lagonda! Oh, 'some things' are just meant to be...
The gentleman who was driving it (a fine man in his twilight years)sadly rejected my offer to trade cars :( Still, God loves a trier!!

Then off to Stamford for some vintage finds and antiquing!! As it was a hot day I could justify a little pitstop for refuelling (me, not the car!) at a lovely old 300-year-old Inn (yes, the Brits do these very well..!).

Then broom-broom onwards down the A1 road towards Cambridge where I encamped for the night.

Next day...DUXFORD AIR SHOW (At the Imperial War Museum which is situated in the grounds of the once operational RAF and USAAF aerodrome). I met a few pals (Andrew and Soren) and it was like a Clan meeting of the Irvin Clan (the teddy bear jackets we are wearing).

Then down to THE EAGLE for a pint (the famous pub where WWII aircrew would meet and sign their names on the ceiling using girl's lipstick or cigarettes! and still there!

Then after farewells to Andrew the next day I headed northwards again. A nice ending to a great weekend was when I pulled into a 1950's retro American roadside Diner and these three girls (even the little bundle was in cherry decorated 50's gear!! awww)walked in 'on cue!!' They'd just returned from a Rockabilly weekend in East Anglia and were heading home too. A fine ending to my weekend break!!