Just got back from seeing Red Sky July at the Little Rabbit Barn. What a night! It was not just them, first of all, there was a young lady called Rafferty McKelvey who was supported by her brother and they ended with a brilliant version of Mr Brightside.After this, there was a group called Jakob Deist. It was the lead singer, Jakob Deist who was supported by a bloke with a funky box and a guitarist.Needless to say, I loved it. I will have to admit that the first two were great live, I am not sure how good it will be to listen to both when they are not singing in front of me. What is a shame is that Rafferty McKelvey has not got any of her original stuff uploaded on YouTube at the time of posting, or has a CD. Apparently it is a work in progress and based on what I heard live, it is a work worth waiting for.
The great thing about listening to music live at the Little Rabbit Barn is that is only has seats for about 60 people, which means that you are up close to the performers and this is brilliant. Live music is great, but being in a venue like this is even better. My wife does not want too many people to know about this as she would like to go back there again, a view I have to say I agree with. She is on a high from talking to the three members, Shelly Poole (from Alisha's Attic), Ally McErlaine (from Texas) and Charity Hair from The Alice Band. So thanks to the Little Rabbit Barn, the three members Red Sky July and of course Rafferty McKelvey and Jakob Deist for a great night.
Friday, 31 August 2012
Thursday, 30 August 2012
Got to be weird being a British Paralympian under this government, knowing that a medal means you'll lose your Disability Living Allowance.
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
I've just seen on the news that France and Germany are having Greek talks, and it's no wonder the Eurozone is in such a state. Surely they would understand a lot more if the talks were in French or German?
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
I got an e-mail saying 'At Google Earth we can read maps backwards!' I thought, "That's just spam."
I hate my new Premier League football sticker book...
For some reason, none of the Arsenal stickers will stay attatched. Evening all. Right, the trip to Malta has finished. And I have to say, we had a great time on holiday. I did not make use of the internet when on holiday, so I will make the post about it now. The kids did not know that we were to go there. We stayed at Gatwick overnight, the kids being told that it was a surprise for my wife for our anniversary. They fell for it! Anyway, they were excited about the room. And it was a good one, two single beds for the kids, a sofa bed as well, and the double bed for the two of us. Although the service in the restaurant that we ate in was not perfect, the food was good enough and the kids had a great time. It would have been a better choice to eat at one of the other places that served food, had we arrived earlier, but that fault was with me. I had stayed at work in the morning trying to clear a load of overdue paperwork before leaving. My wife and I have stayed at the hotel before, and other than the service at the meal not being as good as we would like, it was great and we would certainly stay there again.
Come the morning, and we had to wake early, we took the kids into the airport. It was only when we were waiting for the check in desk that they realised and needless to say, more excitement. As we had woken up a bit later than we should (and to be fair, I had wanted to wake later, it was the wife who had said that we needed to get up as early as we did) we did not get to spend a lot of time in Duty Free. A rush to the plane but EasyJet were great. My son being only four allowed us to board early (otherwise being small, he would probably be trampled otherwise), something that happened both on the flight to Malta, and the flight back. Of course, Malta meant nothing to the kids. It meant loads to my wife and I. We had stayed there in the past, BC (before children) at the Westin Dragonara Resort, but could not remember when. Back then (the staff told us that it was probably in 2003) we had arrived at the same time that a conference for an Italian petrol company was being held. Unfortunately, our room had been double booked. We were to be moved to a different hotel for a day or two, the Intercontinental, or as I called it after our first night, the Incontinental. We had paid for an upgraded room at the Westin and were given a Club room at the new place. I thought that would mean that we could take advantage of the club lounge. This was not to be, and we were kicked out when we went there for complimentary drinks. The Westin had arranged for us to have a meal at their best restaurant, and when we were there, the manager came over to see how we were. You see, we had arrived on my wife's birthday. We had wanted a sea view room, and ended up with a view of a car park. Anyway, we got a free bottle of wine, and a promise that things would be better when we were moved back to the Westin. When we were moved back, I thought that we would have a room upgrade, and we did. To the penthouse! And we had booked to stay there for two weeks! The penthouse was bigger than our house at the time!
Anyway, this time, I have to say that the kids loved it. And just as we had in the past, so did my wife and I. We ate at the different restaurants there, and while we did not have as good an experience at Palio's (in fact it was a fairly bad one), others who ate there liked it and when the hotel found out about it, we had the bill removed from our bill. The service at the hotel was brilliant almost all the time, and when it was not, other than the night in Palio's it was still very good. Eating at Quadro, which was the Compass Rose when we were there last was amazing. Excellent, patient and understanding service, the like of which it is hard to find anywhere on the planet as the people there retained the warmth for which the Island is famous. And the food there! I lost my watch, and the cleaning lady who found it had seen us waiting to be picked up in the lobby and came and found us before we left (I do wish we had given her a bigger tip). It is somewhere I do think that we will be returning to. While there we met up with some friends who had come over on holiday to see family. We did not get to see much of the island as we did not think that the kids, being so young would appreciate it, and my wife and I had seen most things when we were there before. So instead, they spent time in the pool. Loads of time and gained more confidence in the pool. On most days, around lunch in one of the pools, there is a 'Kids club' which the two took part in. On the first day, it was not that inclusive, but there was a wide range of ages there and the older kids dominated things, but on the other days the two had charmed the young ladies who ran it and took part in the activities.
Anyway, time to go, as usual, take are all. And I hope you like the jokes.
RIP Neil Armstrong. The man responsible for the United States' most unique achievement: planting the Stars and Stripes somewhere without having to kill anyone.
Police have reported that with further observation, it turns out the lion in Essex is just a snow leopard with a spray tan and hair extensions.
For some reason, none of the Arsenal stickers will stay attatched. Evening all. Right, the trip to Malta has finished. And I have to say, we had a great time on holiday. I did not make use of the internet when on holiday, so I will make the post about it now. The kids did not know that we were to go there. We stayed at Gatwick overnight, the kids being told that it was a surprise for my wife for our anniversary. They fell for it! Anyway, they were excited about the room. And it was a good one, two single beds for the kids, a sofa bed as well, and the double bed for the two of us. Although the service in the restaurant that we ate in was not perfect, the food was good enough and the kids had a great time. It would have been a better choice to eat at one of the other places that served food, had we arrived earlier, but that fault was with me. I had stayed at work in the morning trying to clear a load of overdue paperwork before leaving. My wife and I have stayed at the hotel before, and other than the service at the meal not being as good as we would like, it was great and we would certainly stay there again.
Come the morning, and we had to wake early, we took the kids into the airport. It was only when we were waiting for the check in desk that they realised and needless to say, more excitement. As we had woken up a bit later than we should (and to be fair, I had wanted to wake later, it was the wife who had said that we needed to get up as early as we did) we did not get to spend a lot of time in Duty Free. A rush to the plane but EasyJet were great. My son being only four allowed us to board early (otherwise being small, he would probably be trampled otherwise), something that happened both on the flight to Malta, and the flight back. Of course, Malta meant nothing to the kids. It meant loads to my wife and I. We had stayed there in the past, BC (before children) at the Westin Dragonara Resort, but could not remember when. Back then (the staff told us that it was probably in 2003) we had arrived at the same time that a conference for an Italian petrol company was being held. Unfortunately, our room had been double booked. We were to be moved to a different hotel for a day or two, the Intercontinental, or as I called it after our first night, the Incontinental. We had paid for an upgraded room at the Westin and were given a Club room at the new place. I thought that would mean that we could take advantage of the club lounge. This was not to be, and we were kicked out when we went there for complimentary drinks. The Westin had arranged for us to have a meal at their best restaurant, and when we were there, the manager came over to see how we were. You see, we had arrived on my wife's birthday. We had wanted a sea view room, and ended up with a view of a car park. Anyway, we got a free bottle of wine, and a promise that things would be better when we were moved back to the Westin. When we were moved back, I thought that we would have a room upgrade, and we did. To the penthouse! And we had booked to stay there for two weeks! The penthouse was bigger than our house at the time!
Anyway, this time, I have to say that the kids loved it. And just as we had in the past, so did my wife and I. We ate at the different restaurants there, and while we did not have as good an experience at Palio's (in fact it was a fairly bad one), others who ate there liked it and when the hotel found out about it, we had the bill removed from our bill. The service at the hotel was brilliant almost all the time, and when it was not, other than the night in Palio's it was still very good. Eating at Quadro, which was the Compass Rose when we were there last was amazing. Excellent, patient and understanding service, the like of which it is hard to find anywhere on the planet as the people there retained the warmth for which the Island is famous. And the food there! I lost my watch, and the cleaning lady who found it had seen us waiting to be picked up in the lobby and came and found us before we left (I do wish we had given her a bigger tip). It is somewhere I do think that we will be returning to. While there we met up with some friends who had come over on holiday to see family. We did not get to see much of the island as we did not think that the kids, being so young would appreciate it, and my wife and I had seen most things when we were there before. So instead, they spent time in the pool. Loads of time and gained more confidence in the pool. On most days, around lunch in one of the pools, there is a 'Kids club' which the two took part in. On the first day, it was not that inclusive, but there was a wide range of ages there and the older kids dominated things, but on the other days the two had charmed the young ladies who ran it and took part in the activities.
Anyway, time to go, as usual, take are all. And I hope you like the jokes.
RIP Neil Armstrong. The man responsible for the United States' most unique achievement: planting the Stars and Stripes somewhere without having to kill anyone.
Police have reported that with further observation, it turns out the lion in Essex is just a snow leopard with a spray tan and hair extensions.
Monday, 20 August 2012
Apparently now Alex Song is leaving Arsenal as well.. This many people haven't left a London club since Chelsea fans moved to Man City
Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland & Wenger flogs Song as Arsenal firesale continues
Early morning all. Can not get to sleep so I thought that I would make a post instead. First of all, let me post about the match. I was expecting a loss, even though Sunderland and O'Neill have not had many wins against us. Is it just that I admire O'Neill, a man who got Celtic to the UEFA cup final. It ended in a draw, and thanks to a glut of goals, we were relegated to last match of the night on Match of the Day, because let's face it, a 0-0 draw is not that exciting. Unless you are an Arsenal fan. Still, it was two points dropped, which would not have been too bad had Southampton managed to pull of a shock result. Things could get even worse. Theo is on the last year of his contact and has yet to sign another one. Which means that we could be facing the loss of another player.
The kids have been good. A hot weekend was one I did not get to spend with them properly as I was working. But I was back in time yesterday to see the awards for the sunflowers. Tim and Anna, a couple who live down the road organise a sunflower growing competition and the prizes were given out yesterday. The kids did really well and were very proud of the awards they got for recognition of a good effort.
Anyway, time to go, good night all.
Thursday, 16 August 2012
Fatman & Robin up front for United next season then
Well, it has happened. My son had a nightmare. Brave was scary in parts and as noted in my last post, I did think that it was a possiblity. Mind you, I have had a nightmare. Van Persie is leaving. It could be worse, Arsenal have after all bought some more players in anticipation of him leaving, while last year we were screwed when we lost both Nasri and Fábregas without a replacement. Still while he had a great season last year, after playing in Euro 2012, he is due a few injuries, so hopefully, this sale will not hurt us too much.
I HAVE NOT GOT A BIG BELLY
its a spare room for beer
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
When I was young, we were really poor. So poor, our mam would make us go throw stones at passing steam trains, hoping that an angry fireman would chuck a lump of coal back at us.
Okay, not really. My wife had taken the kids out and they were with some other kids and there was a game of tug of war. A boy was winning against my daughter, so my son, who thought that he was being mean to his sister went up to have a fight to defend her. He is four, the boy he took on was aged seven! Needless to say, my wife managed to intervene before things actually got beyond pushing, but a fight was in the off!
Today we have taken the kids to watch Brave. I have to say, I liked the film. Unlike many Disney films, I think that it had a positive rolemodel, someone who takes action to change fate. A message my daughter took on board. She has been looking forward to the film for ages, and for her, it was worth the wait. My son loved it as well, though he warmed to the triplets the most.
Anyway, the are in bed now, I just hope that they did not find that it gives them nightmares.
Sunday, 12 August 2012
Tom Daley fans have been warned to tune into BBC next Saturday if they'd like to see some more diving when Manchester United return to action next week on Match of the Day.
Okay, it is not just ManUre, and no, it is not just the Italians.
We have had a great day today. Took the kids to the beach, a new experience for all of us, Felixstowe. There is a long beach there, at one end, there is free parking, and of course, that area is very crowded. By the time we got there, we could not find a parking space, so we parked near the pier. Although it did cost money, in some ways it was worth the £3.50 as we were in a part of the beach where there fewer people, which meant that the kids had more freedom when it came to digging in the sand. Of course they had to get wet in the sea first, something I got in trouble over as I forgot to get them to change first!
On the topic of swimming, the kids may be swimming later this year. My wife took them for a drive to the garrison telling them that she was going to make them join the army. Well, she is going to sort of. She is going to sign them up to learn to swim there. The kids were VERY quiet on the way there!
Anyway, afterwards, it was a trip to Flixton to the Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum. What we did not realise was that there was an event, one for the RAF where I got to see a Spitfire and a P51 flypast!
Anyway, hope you are all well, and sorry for not posting since June.
