Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Xmas market in central Nottingham







I've taken some photos of the German Xmas
market in the centre of Nottingham. I love
the bright colours, and some of the stalls
have a magical feel about them for me.
They all reminds of my childhood days,
feeling excited about going Xmas shopping
in the Manchester area, eating yummy roast
chestnuts that were too hot to hold, and
going to the Xmas Panto to see "Aladdin".

Last year at this time, Mrs C and I went to
the Xmas market in Munster in Germany, which
was a bigger and more attractive event ... we
had some gorgeous mulled wine and hot roasted
chestnuts. We went to see our daughter and
her partner in Holland for a few days, and
we did a day trip to Munster, just across the
border.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

A funny thing happened

Walking home yesterday evening with Mrs C
from the centre of town, we passed a couple
of young girls who were chatting and having
a fag (in the UK that means smoking a
cigarette). I only saw one of them clearly
as it was dark outside .. she was pretty
with long dark hair and looked about 14 or
15.

As it was freezing cold (about minus 5C),
I had my full winter gear on including a
green woolly hat, that looks a bit like
a tea cosy. For those of you who can
remember, I must have looked like Benny
on “Crossroads” or one of the Flowerpot Men.
Mrs C was walking a bit faster than me,
heading for a pedestrian crossing, and was
slightly ahead of me.

“Hi sexy!” the girl called out. “Can I have
your number?” Well, I just grinned at her,
being not quick-witted enough to give a
a funny reply. Mrs C was amused.

That was the first time I’ve been
propositioned in the street by attractive
woman..… oh no, I tell a lie… I was asked by
a prostitute some years ago, if I fancied
any “business”. I’d stopped the car to ask
for street directions … well, I’m sticking to
that story, officer.

Another funny thing happened last summer.
I’d just left my car at my local garage for
repair one lunchtime … this is very close to
one of the schools in Nottingham
(in Mapperley). A couple of young lads aged
about 8 or 9 were playing football in a quiet
side street. One of them shouted out, “Hey
up Granddad, have you got the time?”.

I was quite shocked but amused. I never thought
of myself being in that age-group, but then my
oldest daughter is now 30.

So now I’m a daft old git.

I’m really looking forward to getting my bus
pass at 60! Can’t wait.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Bob Dylan in Nottingham

I went to see Bob Dylan at the Nottingham
Arena last night. It was a packed house, full
of blokes like myself in their 50s and 60s,
and a few youngsters. Bob's doing a tour of
the UK at present, if you didn't know.

I’m not a huge Dylan fan, but even the
devotees in my group thought his performance
was mediocre. In contrast, his backing group
was outstandingly good …some excellent Rock &
Roll and R&B stuff. Dylan played the keyboard
and occasionally a harmonica, but not the
acoustic guitar unfortunately.

His speech was not very clear … I could only
hear about a quarter of his lyrics, and the
melody seemed to be almost the same in every
song. I was sitting on the second row at the
front, so I was able to do some lip-reading,
which helped me a bit. One song I hardly
recognised was “For Times They Are A-Changing”
as he’d changed the melody completely. I
preferred the original one.

At the end of the performance (which lasted
about 90 minutes without a proper break for
the musicians .. an amazing feat), he and the
other members of the band stood still like
statues for some minutes,throughout a
standing ovation. Not a wave or a smile from
any member of the group, which I thought was
rather strange. However the vast majority
thought the performance was tremendous,
judging by the applause at the end.

Well for me it was a once-in-a-lifetime
moment to see the great man, one of the icons
of my youth, but I came away from the gig
feeling slightly disappointed.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

A few photos from our Lake District trip





Hi fans,
Here are some of the photos I took of our
recent trip to Lancashire and the Lake
District. I've just found a new way of
uploading photos and text onto this site..
..a vast improvement on what the team at
Blogger had offered previously.

Well I hope you like the photos. They are my
copyright but I don't mind if you copy them
for non-commercial use.
The first one is the lake at Sizergh Castle,
the next is a shot of some boats on Lake
Windmere, and the last one is of Grasmere ..
... there is an easy walk around Grasmere
(that you will see on an Ordnance Survey map),
with fabulous views on the way.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Absolutely Fabulous

The Great Eastern Ale is a fabulous bitter.
Excellent flavour ... a hint of cinder toffee,
just the right amount of bitterness for me,
medium body, a lovely golden colour and an
excellent head.

12 out of 10 for this one. Perfection ...
...and no, I don't have shares in the company
that makes this.

Let me know if you find any better beer kits
than this one. I'm reserving judgement on the
other beer kit I've just used, as the beer has
not been long enough in the keg.