Battle and Humbug.

Well that’s another 5 pubs off the list, thanks to Mr Battle. Yet another good friend who after approaching 20 years without saying hello was willing to to throw caution to the wind and agree to drink beer and talk up a storm. I have to admit in hind site that I had no idea how fundamentally important we were to the well running of trade group 14 and the Air force in general, but there you are. Some names from the past came up and they were the usual suspects. For the more senior of you that taught me the fine skills of Beer drinking and Pond building BBQ and the ninja deployment. It’s all gratefully received. And believe it or not frequently used to show those in civi street how to party properly. Well in the theme of partying properly I am about to undertake another night out knock off some more of those elusive pubs and stuff myself with CURRY. No wife to complain about the smell however my mum has already opened my bedroom window and laid on the breath mints. The night was further enhanced by my top decision to knock on my good friend Peters door on the way home after a bus ride (even the bus has WI FI what’s wrong with my old mum and dad I keep telling them to move with the Times but they just think I am annoying whine to be ignored) Anyway thanks Peter for opening the door in your wife’s dressing gown the image will stay with me. I am not sure what she thought when she came in and a strange man was sitting in the front room with her scantily robed husband but I think we coved it...

Stupid app or Stupid Richard?

Well am finally awake enough to blog, having found free Wi Fi in the Crossed Scythes pub of all places. This is going to make the whole blogging thing and reading my mail so much more pleasurable. So here I sit wanting to upload a special photo and my iPad is resisting. It’s the first 35mm I took over 30 Years ago down at Totley Rise S17, on the corner was a strange collection of scrap cars Minis Angle boxes ford cortina and older all rusting gently into decay, the way we should all hope to go. But damn me I just can’t get this thing to load it, I guess I will have to get on someone’s computer and post a gallery of them So what Am I doing back here, well visiting parents and friends and old haunts now shame on you for thinking I am talking about Pubs as I only have 37 of those on my list. It’s going well 3 down already and I arrived late Tuesday after a bit of airport shenanigans. Fortunately they had some Johnny Walker on hand to calm the natives everyone was desperately hanging on to and gulping their doubles as we plummeted into our descent in Manchester. The Snake as serene and beautiful as ever. So what next, well it would be rude not to have another beer in celebration and recognition of the free wi fi. Well bugger me it’s Richard who is the idiot looks as though the app knows what it’s doing who’d have thunk...

Incidents are Bollocks

Well to be honest not listening to the Sex Pistols but you have to love the punk and the graphics on this one and its essential Britishness. So here I am 2 days before I board a plane to the UK knocking out part 2 of the blog from # 1 Son and dear old Dads trip to Jasper 2012. Now you may be asking why I am running 1 year behind, and I have been asking myself the same question. Of course having your site hacked and crashed isn’t very helpful and although WordPress is the greatest thing since sliced bread there is a bit of a learning curve involved. There is technical stuff how to admin the site install themes and plugins etc . Then there is the question what are you going to put on it , and why. So read some articles on blogging the do’s and dont’s some blogging etiquette (try not to make an arse of yourself straight off the blocks and off you go.) Whoa Nelly, not so fast have you registered a catchy domain name ? Who is hosting your sight? Where are you getting your content ( Its not good form to steal it, copyright and all that,) do you have enough content ready what about images? are they yours or do they belong to someone else? Just because they are on the internet does not mean they are yours to use as you please ( See copyright and disclaimers for some idea of how it goes,) I spent quite a while trying to get that right before I started. So you have all these ideas how’s your writing style, your tone ,voice etc. Can you keep it consistent do you have time to carefully craft interesting posts ( even if no one is going to read them?) I have 40 odd years of my past to blog about and hopefully 40 odd more to come and as I am defective in an unusual way. ( No, not that way) I have a narrator in my head carefully placing my actions and experience into a story as I go, now I understand not everyone has this going on and can actually sleep at night but what the heck for once this disturbing inner monologue might just come in handy. As...

So who needs GPS…

No we did not get lost and no we don’t have a G.P.S.  I borrowed one once and it told me my house/road did not exist and I was turning into a field which was a bit bizarre as my Town House was built in 1973. I tried at work to order something on line and it was to be delivered by UPS apparently  My place of work does not exist either on the G.P.S and it could not be delivered. Now I know I function in an alternate version of reality but my place of work  does exist, if UPS had a local driver I am sure he could have got the package here, as it is I was so frustrated I cancelled my order. As G.P.S is a military platform I hope it’s a lot better at delivering missiles than it is at mail. So what’s this all about? Those of you who have read my blog before will realize this miserable looking figure is #1 Son. I am sad to announce we have completed our first Tribe adventure without #1 Sons presence, and he was missed but much as we don’t like to think of it our children are on a journey too and at some point,  well I am not going to blather on here may be in the next blog. So “what we have here is a failure to communicate,” not true I just wanted to use that line, talking of lines I just can’t resist what I am about to do next. One of the few Blogs I follow is ” Jay Kristoff- Literary Giant ” It’s a long story that I will not hesitate to tell of in many posts to come. I have to confess to lurking on his pages and following his blog since Nov 2012 never quite mustering up the courage to post a comment or two even though I am in awe. I just have to repeat this one line and dam the consequences ( Now I don’t want anyone to think this is a true reflection of his content but it was the final piece of evidence as to his greatness ( In my eyes anyway) I can feel the tension building…. and now for a disappointment I have just spent the last few days combing through...

Before this,there was that.

So before I can get away into the Rockies for our second camping expedition there was one last hurdle. A 2 day course and an exam courtesy of my new job and just to put the pressure on one I can’t afford to fail. So off I set  to a conference center out near the Airport to be tutored in the vagaries of ISO 9001:2008 Internal Audit. Anyone who knows me understands just how much I hate exams, it’s not that I do poorly its just I hate being tested. That extra pressure just totally messes me up. I have been known to get out of a driving test after only 1 Minute and 100 yards from the test center flatly  refusing to carry on. What the hell sort of  stupid question is which way do you turn your wheels on a hill when facing up or down when parking . I am in the prairies not a hill in sight, you would think there were other things to worry about. I can drive, I have for 30 years and back home I have an HGV license and have driven all over the world. On both sides of the road whether I am supposed to or not I can even go the wrong way around roundabouts, no worry….. anyway I got back in the car and completed my test and passed. ( And you know what? Between the 2 years it took me to get the courage to take lessons and the test the Province changed its mind. I could have just swapped my UK driving license for a full Alberta license no questions asked!!!!) So dramatic scene is set and I take the course the exam and pass and now have a shiny new certificate on my wall. Nothing to worry about at all. However it does make me worry a bit about what else is lurking within my new job, I am not the worlds best negotiator. I have been known to sell myself a used car and on one occasion insisted on offering more for a Gibson EB3 than the guy selling it wanted. If you want me to do something tell me what it is and I will get on with finding a way of getting it achieved no matter how bizarre or unheard of...

Jasper 2012 (journeys end)

Here is our last adventure of the 2012 Father and Daughter trip to Jasper. Still excitedly talking about our  night out at the Jasper Heritage Rodeo from the  day before. We saddle up the Blazer and set off to Pyramid Lake to hire ourselves a canoe for the morning, we have our picnic packed and the sun is out. So we leave Lothlorien our Lembas securely packed away in our reusable Walmart bag……… ? (well Black-forest ham, Havarti cheese and cucumber rolls, Juice boxes and granola bars) and head out on a great adventure to find the end of Pyramid Lake via the fabled picnic beach on its far distant shore. I have always been partial to Lord Of The Rings at times insanely so. To find the giving of gifts missing in  the  film      ( obviously not the only thing missing ) unhinged my delicate sensibilities. ( I was only told this by a second party as I had flatly refused to have anything to do with the watching of these movies.) Which any of you that know the version of me that lives in Canada that never seems to have them out of the DVD player may come as a bit of a surprise. Why is that you ask? and its a good question. We are now in 2001 I am no longer what can be considered young and my life no longer is firmly attached to L.O.R , D&D and other youthful passions. I stopped re reading L.O.R through every summer back in 1989 when I joined the RAF now 12 years later coming out the other side I have some distance between said tome. And I hear that an extended edition is on its way with at least that bit back in ( even if they are the wrong gifts ! My kids must be tired of me mentioning Sam’s Elven rope, and its beyond counting the number of times I have told them it has the wrong ending. But if I focus on the small things and ignore the wider sweep I have come to love it.) So long story short :- Christmas 2002 under the Christmas tree “The Fellowship of the Ring” extended boxed set. Christmas 2003 under the Christmas tree  ” The Two Towers” And Christmas 2004 ” The Return of...

Jasper 2012 (a slight return pt 3)

Well late, late, late I here you call, yes I sit here having returned from our last full Tribe camping trip to Jasper it has met its demise. #1 son not at all happy in protest did not shower for 4 days wore his Jeans and hoody and refused to change, I think he even slept in them. He was however made to clean his teeth, we are ever the responsible parents. So we have to find a babysitter for him as he is refusing to come out with us at the end of July on our Camping/Photography expedition. So I will post Jasper town site and places that were closed this year that I had hoped to share with the Wife.  (Fort Point road, and Edith Cavell Meadows due to sensitive alpine plants). If you want a good Hiking Guide I use “HIKING JASPER and Mount Robson”, by Rob Bryce it’s absolutely great. last years pictures will have to do, #1 daughter is pretty handy with a camera she has a natural instinct maybe she has my Pro-Photographer genes in her, she composes so well. I have taken up Landscape Photography again and will post a slide show of the results in the next few weeks. Don’t worry about the long hair I am sporting  in the photos, 2012 was the year of the Dragon and being born a Dragon I vowed to not cut my hair in order to maximize my essence so to speak fearing the Samson effect. Also my mum couldn’t see it to tell me to get it cut . I was never allowed to have it this long even during the NWOBHM.  I only managed to get from January 21st  to the 19th of October when I had it cut.  This was a monster year it nearly killed me. I completed my Supervisory Development Certificate  at N.A.I.T and managed to get that promotion which finally came through in April 2013 I now have a Career instead of a Job which is a relief, and if you review some of the components of the course I took you can see why I interpreted  it as  a rallying cry to end the doldrums and once again live with imagination. So I started my Journey to improve myself, including this here Bio-Blog a big thanks go...

Carnival of Thieves “Welcome to the Carnival....

The other night sitting out in the yard, BBQ fired up, (Once I had been on a magical mystery tour to replaced the propane)  roasting a nice Cajun BBQ Whole Chicken I needed something special to play on the musical rock. It was getting late and still as hot and sticky as it can get, I  call out to # 1 Daughter, still up as school has finished “Give me 2 numbers” (This game corresponds to shelf and CD  allowing me to access truly random music). What The Hell ! out pops Carnival of Thieves “Welcome To The Carnival” So how did a signed copy of this most excellent and obscure (to the uninitiated) album get into my music library? Well sometime around my  Birthday Oct 1995 visiting my home town of Sheffield my best buddy Mark  drove us over to Chesterfield  dragged us up some stairs into a bar to see Mr Nick Harrison & Carnival of Thieves Mark IV play , sort of they were doing a three man show can’t remember why. Now you may think this is when I got hold of the signed copy of this  and you would be wrong. This is how the next morning I ended up in Carlsboro Sounds buying a Westone Thunder 1a Bass as a birthday present to myself. (The first consequence of my Birthday promise to myself to turn over a new leaf, from now on any foolishness uttered while drinking had to be followed up by dedicated action the next day a sort of credibility check, you have no idea how much trouble this has caused and how hard it is to stick by, but mostly believe it or not I have.) Twelve months later sitting in “The Lossie Inn” (a bar at the time that had its fair share off bikers) on the front at Lossiemouth in the wilds of Northern Scotland its  October 1996 I was busy enjoying an Indian Summer and the cold beers that go with it. Discussing how great the summer has been and how as always the three day Folk Festival at the “Beach Bar” had been excellent and wouldn’t it be great if we could have a Rock Festival as well. (Sounds like a sensible beer drink topic while sitting in a Biker Bar feeling very Rock & Roll in...

A Heartbreaking Truth.

Well it had to happen sooner or later, something I want with all my soul has turned up out of the blue, something I would almost give up everything for and if I did and was capable of upsetting my son, bribing my daughter and demanding my wife accepts my decision I would be poor or poorer but have something that would fulfill all my wildest dreams for the rest of my life. But you know what, I will not put them through this, I will suffer in silence. Now what is it that has me so heartbroken, something I have subconsciously wanted from birth ( well that’s my story and I am sticking to it).  A Faberge egg, a DB5 well 007’s DB5, a Monet, an island with a Malt Whiskey distillery on it? No this trifle is only $399,900 and if I sell every thing and talk to the bank its mine. A FARMHOUSE, “A Farmhouse!”, I here you say what possibly could be exciting about a Farmhouse? well everything all my rise’s and dear demise’s can be completed in one grand project, and my memorial will be left for generations of my offspring to wonder at. Not any old Farmhouse but one sitting here on the Prairies on a miniscule 6.5 acres some arable some grazing some woods and outbuildings. Not just a Farmhouse but a Red Brick built two story Heritage Farmhouse built in 1918 ( That’s old here my local city had its 100th anniversary only recently ) To cap it all its described as requiring the correct handyman to appreciate and love it. There  we have it a lost cause a project so beyond reason. I have not slept for a week we have an opportunity to have an Architectural Salvage business in the 69′ barn together with what my daughter is describing as ornamental pigs an old garage big enough for an Art Gallery and restoration shop and arable for heritage vegetables room for greenhouses . A local hops grows here in the summer I could make Bitter, enough room for Nov 5th, Dogs hunting variety, Partridge , Grouse, Pheasant and Ptarmigan. And a whole period Farmhouse to re-finish in traditional methods and fill full of period pieces of course I would pretend it was older and I could invite the people who care about me...

The Blue Nile “A Walk Across The Rooftops”....

I was surprised this came out in 1983/84 completely off my radar back then. Eventually bought this in a Hi-Fi store selling Linn, Rega, Arcam, Cambridge and other equipment I will never be able to afford. Vinyl was allegedly dead and I was busy buying albums at knock down prices so I became a proud owner of the Linn pressing of  The Blue Niles:  “A Walk Across The Rooftops”. It turns out to be the first album recorded on the Linn label and its in 1001. And its a delight a blend of soul and electronica and halting passionate  vocals of Paul Buchanan. Sort of small-town suburbia  passion very similar to the lyrics of Everything But The Girl. Just put it on and play it time and time again. So you will be asking why the hell did I sell it together with all my other LP’s? I can only claim temporary insanity my broken turntable and imminent emigration to Canada. Until recently my desktop slide show at work has been the art work from these missing /sold albums I remove each one as I repurchase it on CD ( Alas a lot of stuff has still not made it off vinyl) . Finally last year Virgin re-released this album 2 CD set with additional tracks and once again I am enjoying the pleasure that is The Blue Nile.  Loved by the likes of Peter Gabriel, Rickie Lee Jones and Annie Lennox. Even my kids are beginning to appreciate there old dad may have some taste in music (No rude comments please).  Recently I was sent on a mission by my son to find music for his girlfriends birthday present apparently I know what sort of weird hip stuff she would like. So birthday present was The Flaming Lips : Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots and Portishead : Dummy,  apparently I did a good job however it appears they are not currently on speaking terms. If I did not own copies of these I might have been tempted to ask for them back. Oh the good old days. So the final question what the hells all this releasing albums on vinyl even ones that were not. I will not fall for it I tell you. especially when these newfangled 189g  LP’s  they are whopping  $25-$59 and CD’s are $5-$15...