About 3 years ago I dated a lady called Wendy. Wendy was a social worker and in her mid 50's. She was a widow and knocked around with a few bikers and musicians. Well spoken and good fun Wend was always keen to smile and loved me. I left her for another women who I fell for month before I met Wend but we stayed in touch and I swapped routine "catch up" texts only a fortnight ago. When I returned from Europe she made me a welcome home dinner and we had a very pleasant evening drinking lots of wine and generally having a giggle. This fine lady who supported her sick mother died of a heart attack a week ago today.
Wendy was present when my back finally gave out and I was virtually paralysed - the last day of my working career. She would bring food and water to my bedside.
I did my self flagellation grief thing last night and the hangover today is impressive. Considering my hobbies it is no surprise that I have lost friends in the past but there has been a lapse of many years since I have lost a mate and then it was never due to natural causes. Bike accidents, suicide and drink etc accounting for most. This is different. This is a contemporary of mine; an ex-girlfriend who died suddenly whilst going about her normal business. No warning. Gone. It's happening in the now. I guess it is natural and indeed correct that we encounter more death the longer we live. Our life clock is ticking and we all have a unique amount of time but to see nature working in such a final way to someone you know well is deeply thought provoking and upsetting. I'm fine today; I have to be because it could be me tomorrow. This does not frighten me. I've had a full life. I could go tomorrow and die knowing I have done my best with what I have and spent my time trying to do interesting things. In this particular case however I broke the heart of a decent hardworking woman in the last 2 years of her life. Doesn't matter what you think about that - it's the shitty truth and it can't be changed. I feel sick. Does anyone remember the Red Dwarf episode called "The Inquisitor"? Watch it.
Bye Wendy, thinking of you.
Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B9ht-_MBvM&feature=related
Friday, 6 April 2012
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Singer Auditions....
Boy, have we got lucky. It was a moment of genius on my part (obviously) and the utmost good fortune that lead us to our first candidate for the post of "singer/front person" of the new band. We are delighted to announce the arrival of Charmaigne into our band and we are very fortunate to have her.
Charmaigne has been performing for years locally and is very polished and boy didn't it show last Sunday when she joined us for a jam. Setting the levels for her mic (SM58) gave me a insight into how powerful her voice is. All the PA does for her is sound reinforcement - not projection. I had to turn her right down from the desk and when you consider, in an empty room, the lads and I are pushing 400watts of back line in practice that is a BIG voice. She sings quite deeply to. It's a perfect soul, blues, rock voice and she knows it. She has confidence and is a performer as well as a singer and that is exactly what a good rock band needs. You know your on a winner with a singer when they start talking about phrasing and key changes and stuff (whatever that means). A voice is an instrument and needs to be used correctly by the player. When we fucked up she even improvised convincingly. Yup, we were all blown away. Si had such a big smile it looked like he had swallowed a coat hanger! Nice experience.
Charmaigne agreed to join us providing we keep our future bookings to a Friday. She is booked up doing her 1 woman show for the rest of year Saturday wise. We could live with that - no problem. Regarding the wider sound dynamic of the band the lads always thought we would need another player. Whether it be a rhythm guitarist or a keyboard player. If they could sing that would be a bonus. There is a gentlemen who drinks in my not-so-local pub. Quietly gets on with the Daily Telegraph crossie over a pint or 6 sitting at the end of the bar during the day. The long hair on a gentlemen of his vintage (careful everyone...) usually suggests there is a story to tell. It turns out that this dude used to play professionally and has played in America as well as recorded his own material. He's got a nice old Gibson SG and Les Paul to! This bloke obviously knows his way around a band so we are cutting some heads Wednesday this week.
The sad truth about band life - even at the very lowest level where I live - it takes work. On stage there is no where to hide. If you don't do the work you fuck up on stage and the thrill isn't quite the same. Talent is a rare thing but without a certain amount of endeavour and most of all "bottle" it doesn't quite work. Let's hope we are getting to that elusive blend so we can have some fun and do something we can be proud of. It would mean a lot to me if I went to bed at night/early morning knowing I play in a popular, respected outfit. Worth having a go at.
Well, a very music related post. Usually when I put a post together I know what song I want to have at the end. Most of the time it reflects my mood. Today is different. I haven't got a clue. 10 minutes later - I have come up with this one. We played this on Sunday and she nailed it. You must hit number 11 on the volume for this one chaps - you just have to! Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5soFkGX250
And here is another that we did. That we always do. That everyone does! Great performance, I was a boooooooggggggie'ing and I think it was dry!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNZUnvI8d7Q&feature=fvsr
Charmaigne has been performing for years locally and is very polished and boy didn't it show last Sunday when she joined us for a jam. Setting the levels for her mic (SM58) gave me a insight into how powerful her voice is. All the PA does for her is sound reinforcement - not projection. I had to turn her right down from the desk and when you consider, in an empty room, the lads and I are pushing 400watts of back line in practice that is a BIG voice. She sings quite deeply to. It's a perfect soul, blues, rock voice and she knows it. She has confidence and is a performer as well as a singer and that is exactly what a good rock band needs. You know your on a winner with a singer when they start talking about phrasing and key changes and stuff (whatever that means). A voice is an instrument and needs to be used correctly by the player. When we fucked up she even improvised convincingly. Yup, we were all blown away. Si had such a big smile it looked like he had swallowed a coat hanger! Nice experience.
Charmaigne agreed to join us providing we keep our future bookings to a Friday. She is booked up doing her 1 woman show for the rest of year Saturday wise. We could live with that - no problem. Regarding the wider sound dynamic of the band the lads always thought we would need another player. Whether it be a rhythm guitarist or a keyboard player. If they could sing that would be a bonus. There is a gentlemen who drinks in my not-so-local pub. Quietly gets on with the Daily Telegraph crossie over a pint or 6 sitting at the end of the bar during the day. The long hair on a gentlemen of his vintage (careful everyone...) usually suggests there is a story to tell. It turns out that this dude used to play professionally and has played in America as well as recorded his own material. He's got a nice old Gibson SG and Les Paul to! This bloke obviously knows his way around a band so we are cutting some heads Wednesday this week.
The sad truth about band life - even at the very lowest level where I live - it takes work. On stage there is no where to hide. If you don't do the work you fuck up on stage and the thrill isn't quite the same. Talent is a rare thing but without a certain amount of endeavour and most of all "bottle" it doesn't quite work. Let's hope we are getting to that elusive blend so we can have some fun and do something we can be proud of. It would mean a lot to me if I went to bed at night/early morning knowing I play in a popular, respected outfit. Worth having a go at.
Well, a very music related post. Usually when I put a post together I know what song I want to have at the end. Most of the time it reflects my mood. Today is different. I haven't got a clue. 10 minutes later - I have come up with this one. We played this on Sunday and she nailed it. You must hit number 11 on the volume for this one chaps - you just have to! Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5soFkGX250
And here is another that we did. That we always do. That everyone does! Great performance, I was a boooooooggggggie'ing and I think it was dry!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNZUnvI8d7Q&feature=fvsr
Thursday, 29 March 2012
Well, it was inevitable I guess.....Late March 2012
.....And it was all going so well! I'm writing this lying amongst a sea of cushions and pillows and very pissed off. I decided that I was not getting enough excercise during the day. I rattle around in my house doing my washing, cooking etc but as the weather changed I thought it would be a good idea to get on with my house refit. I started to clear the front and rear gardens. This means picking up all the little bits of tile, polystyrene and wood that litter my gardens. This is left overs from the "reconstruction" of my house last year. So black bag in hand I spent the day picking up shit. It's a bit like working a festival but without the booze and babes.
Woke up Monday....couldn't move. Really bad. Luckily these periods are inevitable and I have built my house accordingly. From my sofa I can have the Internet on my laptop, you tube on my telly, high quality music from my hifi and full home cinema from my blue ray player. I even have a dish washer so I don't have to stoop for too long whilst doing the dishes. All this helps but I can't help remembering the words of my last consultant, "one day you will wake up and you won't be able to move and that will be it.". Ok, this is not that day but it makes you think....and get real. I've been pushing it recently...
All that said what a week to be an invalid in!? I'm as brown as a berry. The 3rd Spring in a row Ive had 20 degree tanning sun; I'm an orchid not a daffodil! In between my hourly shuffles to the bottom of the garden and back I have had a couple of workouts! It's tricky exercising when ill this way but I'm so pleased with my efforts this year (even if they haven't stopped this relapse) I don't want another row of injuries ruining all my good work like last year. I've been sick and on medication for 4 days now and because the pain killers make me sick (better that I can assure you!) I'm not hungry! Tanned and slimming. Great if I could boogie the night away...
Things have changed on the band front. Basically The Cosmonauts are no more. I was the first to go then Joolz (lead guitar) and Simon (bass) followed. Those of you who know me know that music is like bikes to me. I'm never going to be without either of them (and the wonderful Lizzy of course!). Out with the old in with the new. This time I have an equal share in a new band; here we go again! With 2 high quality musicians we audition a new singer on Sunday. This is a full blown semi-professional singer who works every weekend doing her 1 woman singing act around Wiltshire. Clubs, birthdays, weddings etc. In a band there is always somewhere to hide if you balls it up. Singing against a backing track is difficult and if your kit dies what then? Fair play to her. I know Charmaigne (the name fits her perfectly) from a couple of years back when used to pissed it up in Melksham on Friday nights. There was always a late band and being on my own we chatted one night and then by chance I saw her sing a couple of weeks later. She has real attitude and a well crafted singing voice. With her pink hair in a 1940's style and heavy make up to match, she is a striking sight. A larger than life figure who would be great to front our contemporary rock and pop band. Whatever happens I will be drumming on Sunday. I'm so excited about this. Even if it happens just the once I know I am going to really get a lot from playing with 3 such good musicians. I'm the weak link now! Good challenge, lovin it - when I can feckin get up from my pit!!
I went to a musical instrument auction at the Bath Sale Rooms last week and bought a guitar. I once bought a beautiful lady a guitar in the hope that it would rekindle her love of playing music. Knowing her as I do she would revel in being able to belt out a tune at the right moment and I want to help her have that capability (yup, I'm weird!). Thinking about her the other day I thought why don't I learn? So i bough a bass and I love it. Unlike the drums I can play 24hrs a day. The lads from the band have lent me a Marshall practice amp and tuner. I'm learning Message in a Bottle, Talk to Me (Reef - kickin bass line starts the song) and Walking on the Moon. Hope to have a go with the lads in a month or two. Coooool! New tricks.
What the bugger am I complaining about!? I'm warm, comfortable and as I write this I have a fag in the ash tray, a rum and coke in my glass (goes lovely with heavy opiates!) and Point Break in high def on the wall mounted flat screen. No girlfriend to share it with but such is life. And on that point the outlook is bleak. However......this was the situation last year and the freedom was a real catalyst to a terrific year....we shall see.
The music link is very cool and I can play the opening few bars of the song on my bass! The very cool and massively underrated REEF!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vSQfHFftqw
Woke up Monday....couldn't move. Really bad. Luckily these periods are inevitable and I have built my house accordingly. From my sofa I can have the Internet on my laptop, you tube on my telly, high quality music from my hifi and full home cinema from my blue ray player. I even have a dish washer so I don't have to stoop for too long whilst doing the dishes. All this helps but I can't help remembering the words of my last consultant, "one day you will wake up and you won't be able to move and that will be it.". Ok, this is not that day but it makes you think....and get real. I've been pushing it recently...
All that said what a week to be an invalid in!? I'm as brown as a berry. The 3rd Spring in a row Ive had 20 degree tanning sun; I'm an orchid not a daffodil! In between my hourly shuffles to the bottom of the garden and back I have had a couple of workouts! It's tricky exercising when ill this way but I'm so pleased with my efforts this year (even if they haven't stopped this relapse) I don't want another row of injuries ruining all my good work like last year. I've been sick and on medication for 4 days now and because the pain killers make me sick (better that I can assure you!) I'm not hungry! Tanned and slimming. Great if I could boogie the night away...
Things have changed on the band front. Basically The Cosmonauts are no more. I was the first to go then Joolz (lead guitar) and Simon (bass) followed. Those of you who know me know that music is like bikes to me. I'm never going to be without either of them (and the wonderful Lizzy of course!). Out with the old in with the new. This time I have an equal share in a new band; here we go again! With 2 high quality musicians we audition a new singer on Sunday. This is a full blown semi-professional singer who works every weekend doing her 1 woman singing act around Wiltshire. Clubs, birthdays, weddings etc. In a band there is always somewhere to hide if you balls it up. Singing against a backing track is difficult and if your kit dies what then? Fair play to her. I know Charmaigne (the name fits her perfectly) from a couple of years back when used to pissed it up in Melksham on Friday nights. There was always a late band and being on my own we chatted one night and then by chance I saw her sing a couple of weeks later. She has real attitude and a well crafted singing voice. With her pink hair in a 1940's style and heavy make up to match, she is a striking sight. A larger than life figure who would be great to front our contemporary rock and pop band. Whatever happens I will be drumming on Sunday. I'm so excited about this. Even if it happens just the once I know I am going to really get a lot from playing with 3 such good musicians. I'm the weak link now! Good challenge, lovin it - when I can feckin get up from my pit!!
I went to a musical instrument auction at the Bath Sale Rooms last week and bought a guitar. I once bought a beautiful lady a guitar in the hope that it would rekindle her love of playing music. Knowing her as I do she would revel in being able to belt out a tune at the right moment and I want to help her have that capability (yup, I'm weird!). Thinking about her the other day I thought why don't I learn? So i bough a bass and I love it. Unlike the drums I can play 24hrs a day. The lads from the band have lent me a Marshall practice amp and tuner. I'm learning Message in a Bottle, Talk to Me (Reef - kickin bass line starts the song) and Walking on the Moon. Hope to have a go with the lads in a month or two. Coooool! New tricks.
What the bugger am I complaining about!? I'm warm, comfortable and as I write this I have a fag in the ash tray, a rum and coke in my glass (goes lovely with heavy opiates!) and Point Break in high def on the wall mounted flat screen. No girlfriend to share it with but such is life. And on that point the outlook is bleak. However......this was the situation last year and the freedom was a real catalyst to a terrific year....we shall see.
The music link is very cool and I can play the opening few bars of the song on my bass! The very cool and massively underrated REEF!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vSQfHFftqw
Monday, 12 March 2012
Feb moves into March...and no start date!
Hi everyone!!! some up and downs to report this post. As the title suggests time is passing and nothing is changing in my life at the moment. The weather is changing and the days are getting brighter and brighter and I'm getting that depressing feeling that 2012 is going to be a right off unless I get my act together and sort out a few little issues. Firstly my new job. I'm really up for this. The money is good and I can work it exactly how I please. The problem is the MD still has not given me a start date and I should have started last week. This has a knock on effect in that I have now cancelled my May walk across northern Spain. I can't start a job then say I'm off for a month whilst only giving my employer 6 weeks (at the most) service. Not on.....especially when I'm going to take off July for France, Le Mans and 3 weeks of solid festivalling!
Things have picked up on the romance front however. Early days but the early sparring has begun with an independent, beautiful, intelligent girl who, in orders of magnitude, is very much larger in personality than anyone I have known for a very long time. She is definitely interested but the problem is she is a lot younger than I - 31 (I'm 45). When casual sex is the aim this is a massive advantage for the obvious reasons (late nights and fun come in abundance) however I'm looking for something more than that. As I have said many times I have gotten more choosy as I have entered middle age but this young lady is a little special and very interesting and probably worth quelling my better judgement for. Anyway I have asked the question and we shall see. I would imagine I'm just as scary a prospect to her as she is to me so I guess it won't happen!
As the weather has warmed up I have been getting the bike match fit and I have unearthed a couple of niggly little problems. New headstock bearings and a slight misfire at low revs and spoiling my pleasure as I get used to my ballistic missile again after its winter hibernation. I'll get there for the spring/summer.
Although I have loads to do underneath it all I'm still very bored. Nothing like this to look forward to this year....(this still makes me blub, Glastonbury went mental..I was in love...what a moment.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6ozSBEc814
The job issue has buggered up my plans to go travelling and July seems an age away. I want that massive adrenalin hit that you get when you roll off the ferry hit the starter button and you think "I can go wherever I want for as long as I want - where first. wonder who I am going to meet?" feeling. Those reading this who have never done it - perhaps it is better that you don't. Like crack, one hit and you could be hooked!
This whole work thing is especially exasperating as I'm so well at the moment. My back is as good as i can get it. I'm as strong as an Ox physically with lumps and bumps emerging everywhere. My weight is also a reasonable 14 and half stone. Talk about all revved up and nowhere to go!!!!
Last post I broke with tradition and posted links to songs that my new band, The Cosmonauts, play. Katey the lead singer is a 29 year old and that means good contempory song suggestions and some of these are inspired and great to play. Oh yeah and very, very cool. So here is another few:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvPncUtOdf8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0-IRsX3H-0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiGDM4j9Wj0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7UrFYvl5TE&ob=av2e
Things have picked up on the romance front however. Early days but the early sparring has begun with an independent, beautiful, intelligent girl who, in orders of magnitude, is very much larger in personality than anyone I have known for a very long time. She is definitely interested but the problem is she is a lot younger than I - 31 (I'm 45). When casual sex is the aim this is a massive advantage for the obvious reasons (late nights and fun come in abundance) however I'm looking for something more than that. As I have said many times I have gotten more choosy as I have entered middle age but this young lady is a little special and very interesting and probably worth quelling my better judgement for. Anyway I have asked the question and we shall see. I would imagine I'm just as scary a prospect to her as she is to me so I guess it won't happen!
As the weather has warmed up I have been getting the bike match fit and I have unearthed a couple of niggly little problems. New headstock bearings and a slight misfire at low revs and spoiling my pleasure as I get used to my ballistic missile again after its winter hibernation. I'll get there for the spring/summer.
Although I have loads to do underneath it all I'm still very bored. Nothing like this to look forward to this year....(this still makes me blub, Glastonbury went mental..I was in love...what a moment.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6ozSBEc814
The job issue has buggered up my plans to go travelling and July seems an age away. I want that massive adrenalin hit that you get when you roll off the ferry hit the starter button and you think "I can go wherever I want for as long as I want - where first. wonder who I am going to meet?" feeling. Those reading this who have never done it - perhaps it is better that you don't. Like crack, one hit and you could be hooked!
This whole work thing is especially exasperating as I'm so well at the moment. My back is as good as i can get it. I'm as strong as an Ox physically with lumps and bumps emerging everywhere. My weight is also a reasonable 14 and half stone. Talk about all revved up and nowhere to go!!!!
Last post I broke with tradition and posted links to songs that my new band, The Cosmonauts, play. Katey the lead singer is a 29 year old and that means good contempory song suggestions and some of these are inspired and great to play. Oh yeah and very, very cool. So here is another few:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvPncUtOdf8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0-IRsX3H-0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiGDM4j9Wj0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7UrFYvl5TE&ob=av2e
Monday, 27 February 2012
Can't wait for the Spring to start! Jan/Feb 2012
Another low key post I'm afraid.. Firstly the band.. After a much hurried but ultimately successful first gig The Cosmonauts have done nothing until this weekend. My comrades and I have selected a second set list however and listening to these songs as I write I can tell you that they are an excellent and modern group of pop/rock/alternative songs that I could not have come up with myself. The Cosmonauts are an interesting mix of people. We are a mixture of the the solid, the slightly loopy, the excellent, the flawed and the don't really care - and we all share these attributes from time to time! One thing that has came from it is for the first time I am working with another to develop original material. Our lead guitarist is a very meticulous man and understands music. I can't write poetry but I'm sure Joolz my man will make it right!
The bike is nearly done but still needs some major surgery if it is to go anything like inter continental distances in the future. With new headstock bearings she will be electric on the road and I can't wait for the roads to get warm and sticky so this old man can once again try to kill himself in the most spectacular fashion possible - but that is the summers fun!
Fitness is going really well - no injuries! Starting to break my old records now but not in the pool. Here i'm far too lazy. Whilst my last swim was over a kilometre I don't do this regularly enough but I'm trying to be careful and that means patience and control. Whilst I'm learning the value of these necessary disciplines as I get older it is still very much against the grain. I still want it all and I still want it now but my mind increasingly trumps my heart and this is welcome when the setting was far to far the other way in the past. What does this all mean? Basically I am getting incredibly fussy - especially with romance. I know my worth and I know that being hurt or hurting someone else is worse than being alone. So until an experienced, truthful, intelligent, optimistic, woman who exists in the real world comes along I'm very content to stay single. I suppose you could sum it all up in the statement: I don't really need anyone but of course I really do!
I've still got loads of decorating to do but that can wait for the Spring. Given my work commitments it looks like I may have to delay my trip abroad this Spring anyway. That's ok though; there is plenty of time and I may just get in a quick fortnight or so somewhere close just to keep me ticking over. Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I always have to have something a little bit more than a good Friday night on the piss to look forward to. Getting pissed is fine but doing something big really focuses the mind and inspires me to be better than I was yesterday. Let's hope it always will.
So I could dip out in the Spring but the Summer is filling up nicely. As well as the mandatory trip to France I will be working the Larmer Tree and Village Pump music festivals this year (at least). I will be selling guitar shaped fine furniture again and I'm really looking forward to seeing the other traders again and hear their various stories of the long, dark winter. Not that I will remember much of the tales in truth. Music festivals...you know what they are like!!!
So to end this very boring blog entry it is music time. Here is a song from our set list. As you are aware I only give links to bands that I have actually seen live. This is an exception as this song I have not seen played live but I have played it live so I guess it counts. The lyrics are great and it is my blog and I can do what I want. So there :p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBrPbffXFhM
And here is another from our set list - we do this one very well indeed, even if I say so myself!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVX2adpyInM&feature=related
The bike is nearly done but still needs some major surgery if it is to go anything like inter continental distances in the future. With new headstock bearings she will be electric on the road and I can't wait for the roads to get warm and sticky so this old man can once again try to kill himself in the most spectacular fashion possible - but that is the summers fun!
Fitness is going really well - no injuries! Starting to break my old records now but not in the pool. Here i'm far too lazy. Whilst my last swim was over a kilometre I don't do this regularly enough but I'm trying to be careful and that means patience and control. Whilst I'm learning the value of these necessary disciplines as I get older it is still very much against the grain. I still want it all and I still want it now but my mind increasingly trumps my heart and this is welcome when the setting was far to far the other way in the past. What does this all mean? Basically I am getting incredibly fussy - especially with romance. I know my worth and I know that being hurt or hurting someone else is worse than being alone. So until an experienced, truthful, intelligent, optimistic, woman who exists in the real world comes along I'm very content to stay single. I suppose you could sum it all up in the statement: I don't really need anyone but of course I really do!
I've still got loads of decorating to do but that can wait for the Spring. Given my work commitments it looks like I may have to delay my trip abroad this Spring anyway. That's ok though; there is plenty of time and I may just get in a quick fortnight or so somewhere close just to keep me ticking over. Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I always have to have something a little bit more than a good Friday night on the piss to look forward to. Getting pissed is fine but doing something big really focuses the mind and inspires me to be better than I was yesterday. Let's hope it always will.
So I could dip out in the Spring but the Summer is filling up nicely. As well as the mandatory trip to France I will be working the Larmer Tree and Village Pump music festivals this year (at least). I will be selling guitar shaped fine furniture again and I'm really looking forward to seeing the other traders again and hear their various stories of the long, dark winter. Not that I will remember much of the tales in truth. Music festivals...you know what they are like!!!
So to end this very boring blog entry it is music time. Here is a song from our set list. As you are aware I only give links to bands that I have actually seen live. This is an exception as this song I have not seen played live but I have played it live so I guess it counts. The lyrics are great and it is my blog and I can do what I want. So there :p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBrPbffXFhM
And here is another from our set list - we do this one very well indeed, even if I say so myself!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVX2adpyInM&feature=related
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Well this is all Well and Good BUT!!!!!! - Jan 2012
Well this is all well and good. I'm sitting in a lovely home, money in the bank and I've been offered and accepted a well paid part time job back in a suit. In many respects however my position since my European tour last year has not changed. I'm single again. I'm a little bored again and the sap is rising as the days get longer. I've got itchy feet and the Spring is coming.
I've just finished waking my fuck off Kawasaki ZX9R up from it's winter slumber and it is faster and quicker to stop than it was last year and it is sitting outside my back door looking like a caged tiger. The band has it's first gig on Saturday and everyone is very excited and I'm really looking forward to it. Again, there is still something missing however. I'm so lazy that I need something to inspire me or I simply do nothing!
I'm back full time training. 3 weeks in now and my body is responding very strongly and my ab routine is already better than when I peaked early last Summer. As for my upper body my arms are good but, as ever, my shoulders are painful and I'm very much trying to keep them loose rather than develop them. As for swimming; I'm back in the pool and starting off with a lowly 20 lengths of meaningful front crawl and side stroke. All well regarding the fitness then but what do you get fit for? For me it is not the vanity it is for the confidence to take a project on and know I have the body to finish it. I have nothing better to do...
So what is the point I am trying to make with this post? Firstly, I think I am so much a "single" bloke that I don't know if I could be any other way now - that kind of renders me unemployable as a boyfriend! Secondly, "normal" life just does not interest me one little bit - it is a means to an end only! Thirdly, if i sit in these beautiful surroundings for too long I will forget my life aims. These are to live a healthy, worthwhile and interesting life always hoping to walk quietly over life hoping it will walk quietly over me.
So......2012......what's the plan? Spring is the best time to travel. Generally the northern hemisphere is cooler than the raging summer and mostly children free. This means hotels are cheaper, camp sites roomier and the people you meet more relaxed. The thought of where comes to mind and so far I have 3 options: First; USA by train. Second; India by train and foot. Thirdly; East Europe by motorbike - (Moscow?).
Remember this?:
I have constraints. I cannot spend as much money as I did last year. I'm not as fit as I was last year (yet). My disabling condition is not worse but is different than it was a year ago - I need to learn how to work around it again. Finally, my house will be empty as I no longer have a lodger to look after my primary asset should I go away for months. So whatever I choose it has to be cheap and for no longer than a month and still be memorable.
I really like the Europe by bike option. I may have some company for the first leg too. Fart, bless I'm, has said he fancies giving his excellent Triumph Speed Triple a leg stretch and this machine is fully up to 130+ speeds for a prolonged time and therefore no hold ups. Also this remarkable man has the hard wired determination to ignore hardships like sleep deprivation, pain and sleeping by the side of the road. He can't tolerate 24hrs without a pint though, but I see this as a strength!
That is what I'm planning for then - a road trip, on the fuel frugal and toll friendly bike, camping across Europe. If I could get to Norway I could run along the southern Scandinavian coast line and take the new, insanely long bridge to Denmark and make my way via St Petersberg to Moscow. The further east I go the cheaper it becomes but the spectre of bike theft in such countries is omnipresent and walking in bike boots doesn't work....
Anyway, love to all everywhere and especially to all those in Poole - sorry. A very predictable music link this post and it needs no introduction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9sGd-JLvNA
I've just finished waking my fuck off Kawasaki ZX9R up from it's winter slumber and it is faster and quicker to stop than it was last year and it is sitting outside my back door looking like a caged tiger. The band has it's first gig on Saturday and everyone is very excited and I'm really looking forward to it. Again, there is still something missing however. I'm so lazy that I need something to inspire me or I simply do nothing!
I'm back full time training. 3 weeks in now and my body is responding very strongly and my ab routine is already better than when I peaked early last Summer. As for my upper body my arms are good but, as ever, my shoulders are painful and I'm very much trying to keep them loose rather than develop them. As for swimming; I'm back in the pool and starting off with a lowly 20 lengths of meaningful front crawl and side stroke. All well regarding the fitness then but what do you get fit for? For me it is not the vanity it is for the confidence to take a project on and know I have the body to finish it. I have nothing better to do...
So what is the point I am trying to make with this post? Firstly, I think I am so much a "single" bloke that I don't know if I could be any other way now - that kind of renders me unemployable as a boyfriend! Secondly, "normal" life just does not interest me one little bit - it is a means to an end only! Thirdly, if i sit in these beautiful surroundings for too long I will forget my life aims. These are to live a healthy, worthwhile and interesting life always hoping to walk quietly over life hoping it will walk quietly over me.
So......2012......what's the plan? Spring is the best time to travel. Generally the northern hemisphere is cooler than the raging summer and mostly children free. This means hotels are cheaper, camp sites roomier and the people you meet more relaxed. The thought of where comes to mind and so far I have 3 options: First; USA by train. Second; India by train and foot. Thirdly; East Europe by motorbike - (Moscow?).
Remember this?:
I'm starting to forget!
I really like the Europe by bike option. I may have some company for the first leg too. Fart, bless I'm, has said he fancies giving his excellent Triumph Speed Triple a leg stretch and this machine is fully up to 130+ speeds for a prolonged time and therefore no hold ups. Also this remarkable man has the hard wired determination to ignore hardships like sleep deprivation, pain and sleeping by the side of the road. He can't tolerate 24hrs without a pint though, but I see this as a strength!
That is what I'm planning for then - a road trip, on the fuel frugal and toll friendly bike, camping across Europe. If I could get to Norway I could run along the southern Scandinavian coast line and take the new, insanely long bridge to Denmark and make my way via St Petersberg to Moscow. The further east I go the cheaper it becomes but the spectre of bike theft in such countries is omnipresent and walking in bike boots doesn't work....
Anyway, love to all everywhere and especially to all those in Poole - sorry. A very predictable music link this post and it needs no introduction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9sGd-JLvNA
Thursday, 29 December 2011
That was the year - 2011....Last entry of 2011
I love my blog. I started this blog because I was going travelling and I want to savour it and then remember it Writing a blog seemed to be the ideal way to do both and let my friends know what I was seeing at the same time. Whilst travelling I felt I was sharing the sight sounds and smells with a mythical audience and I liked that. A year or so later and I'm still doing it. No one reads it but I write it for me.
So the last year... I've had some busy/mad/unbelieveable years in my time but 2011 is probably the most remarkable of my life. I retired. I lost a major girlfriend. I travelled independantly and alone across Europe for 2 months. I replaced my car, my motorbike, and most of the interior of my house and all of its contents.
A year ago, when I made my first post, I sat in a cold empty house. I was skint and hoping that my medical retirement would happen. I was on no pay and because I got so fit in a swimming pool I got free swimming in exchange for some life guarding hours. My girlfriend had just left me after spending 5 weeks here before she went off to live with the girls. I was really, really fucking sad. Dreaming of getting away was the escape - that and getting my beaten up body ready to do it.
Sitting in my living room now things are completely and utterly different. It is incredible what can happen in a year and how much your life can improve in what is a very short space of time. After a massive and emotional roller coaster ride i'm retired. I have wonderful memories of a trip of a lifetime where everything went flawlessly with plenty of nice surprises on the way. When I returned I changed the house. It was cold, dirty, primative and felt like someone elses. There was not an ounce of me anywhere in it. Now it is warm, comfortable, fresh, functional and mine. I've got all the "mod cons" and I really enjoy spending time at home and I can't remember the last time I genuinely felt that. I cook nice food to!
Ok, the year is over, and for me 2012 will be different from 2011. 2011 was a year of change in every respect but there was also a strong life plan playing out to. I've done the big things and it is now time to consolidate and concentrate on sustaining myself in the long term and that means being tight on my out-goings so I can afford my goings-out! So it's goodbye to Sky and my mody contract is a very cheap SIM only job. The wood I burn in my log burner is free and the central heating is new and very efficient. My hot water is on economy 7 and 1 charge lasts all day and my LPG hob has used half of bottle of gas since August. I live well and cheap and I need to, I am a pensioner after all.
So it's learning to life within a limited budget is the plan for next year - I want to see how it feels. As I have said, I live for next to nothing considering I have a 3 bedroom cottage and I have no debt other than my mortgage. I don't need to save. So how much money do I need to have a decent life? Answering that question is my plan for 2012. Or to put it another way; being tight and trying to make the most out every pound spent - and I'm looking forward to the challenge. Gonna start working out again - I'm getting flabbing but i'm the same weight as I was a year ago and I'm please with that. There could be some travelling in the spring. It would be good to do it fit.
Love life has been interesting. A year of extremes. I'm all right now.
I got an interesting Christmas prezzy from Sonia, my lovely girlfriend. It is a DVD called "Julie and Julia". Give it a go. It's a must for every blogger who loves France and cooks from the great book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". Cool prezzy babe!
So, from me, the Rat, to all of you (one or two) I hope you have had a great Christmas and I wish you every happiness in 2012.
So it's time for the You Tube link. This was a tune that kept me going for most of my trip across Europe. 6 months on and it makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck - did I really do all that in 2011? And the answer to the question the song poses? I FUCKIN ANSWER AND YOU BET I DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGiTPgvKktM
Happy new year and if you need it may your god go with you.
Rat
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