Well alright, I thought I’d finished on this subject, but this morning someone pointed out this article on one of the forums I visit, and hey, its an LGBT issue, so lets roll with it.

http://www.sbnation.com/london-olympics-2012/2012/8/12/3237963/nine-gay-olympians-win-medals-in-london-tying-jamaica-and-iran-for

No, its not that I object to this in the slightest, just the opposite in fact, I’m proud of their stance. But what I am sad about, is that this is news! Please, does it matter if the best Olympians in the world are gay, lesbian or even hetro? Hey, they can be asexual like me for all I care! But no disrespect, do we in all honesty think only 23 competitors at this Olympics were lesbian or gay? I dont, but anyway…thats all that are prepared to out (awful term) themselves to the world. Clearly there are no transgender people there, the gender test would find them out nowadays, though you do have to wonder about some of the East German, and Soviet female participants in the past lol! I suppose in theory an ftm transitioner could take part, but lets face it, its not going to happen. I suppose transgender people could take part in the equestrian events (where both genders compete in one event), but as its generally a rich person’s event…probably not!

Not that other sports are any better, I know of 1 professional male cricketer who has said he is gay, no current soccer players that I know of. One in the past did come out, but received so much hatred, he eventually commited suicide. I suspect the ‘Big 4′ American Sports have hardly anyone between them, if any at all.

Lesbians, yes, I’m sure there are a number, if I only knew. Tennis players, a safe bet there are some, one is even on the list of medallists here. Not as many as there are, thats for sure, or to the same extent as some years ago, but… Besides, Lesbians face a slightly less challenging situation in that position than gay men do. Not perfect, just easier.

I only know of one leading transgender sports person, and calling her leading might be kind. Yes, Renee Richards, female tennis player, and thats it.

Hopefully one day in the future, sexuality of whatever style will be a matter of irrelevance, though I suspect not in the next few years at least. And yes, alright, equality in so many issues for Trans people would be nice too, but again, I wont be holding my breath for it to happen.

So, to the video. What you have to remember with this, is that it comes from the late 70′s, when things were far worse than now. Not that now is perfect, but far, far better than they were back then. Hopefully in 30 years from now, people will look back and wonder what all the fuss was about, but for now…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lR3ffBsMTc

http://www.sbnation.com/london-olympics-2012/2012/8/12/3237963/nine-gay-olympians-win-medals-in-london-tying-jamaica-and-iran-for

No, its not that I object to this in the slightest, just the opposite in fact, I’m proud of their stance. But what I am sad about, is that this is news! Please, does it matter if the best Olympians in the world are gay, lesbian or even hetro? Hey, they can be asexual like me for all I care! But no disrespect, do we in all honesty think only 23 competitors at this Olympics were lesbian or gay? I dont, but anyway…thats all that are prepared to out (awful term) themselves to the world. Clearly there are no transgender people there, the gender test would find them out nowadays, though you do have to wonder about some of the East German, and Soviet female participants in the past lol! I suppose in theory an ftm transitioner could take part, but lets face it, its not going to happen. I suppose transgender people could take part in the equestrian events (where both genders compete in one event), but as its generally a rich person’s event…probably not!

Not that other sports are any better, I know of 1 professional male cricketer who has said he is gay, no current soccer players that I know of. One in the past did come out, but received so much hatred, he eventually commited suicide. I suspect the ‘Big 4′ American Sports have hardly anyone between them, if any at all.

Lesbians, yes, I’m sure there are a number, if I only knew. Tennis players, a safe bet there are some, one is even on the list of medallists here. Not as many as there are, thats for sure, or to the same extent as some years ago, but… Besides, Lesbians face a slightly less challenging situation in that position than gay men do. Not perfect, just easier.

I only know of one leading transgender sports person, and calling her leading might be kind. Yes, Renee Richards, female tennis player, and thats it.

Hopefully one day in the future, sexuality of whatever style will be a matter of irrelevance, though I suspect not in the next few years at least. And yes, alright, equality in so many issues for Trans people would be nice too, but again, I wont be holding my breath for it to happen.

So, to the video. What you have to remember with this, is that it comes from the late 70′s, when things were far worse than now. Not that now is perfect, but far, far better than they were back then. Hopefully in 30 years from now, people will look back and wonder what all the fuss was about, but for now…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lR3ffBsMTc

The feminist in me also didn’t want to write about how some extreme exercise program/cayenne pepper fast saved my life, or criticize the women who did say things like that. I didn’t want to write a “Hey, sisters! We’re great even though we may not be models” kind of

Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and body image

piece either. As if being a model was the highest ideal (a supermodel, though, that has a different feel).

And yet, this week I’ve been thinking about my body and self-esteem. Wouldn’t it be nice to just once and for all be grateful and make peace with who you are? I’d say that I generally feel comfortable enough in my skin, and then every once in a while I see a magnified version that confuses me. Who’s that? Because she looks middle-aged and I’m so very young.

I often blame hormones. Poor hormones. They’re like To Kill a Mockinbird‘s Tom Robinson—always getting wrongfully blamed. The body’s scapegoat. Going with that metaphor, my friends are Atticus Finch—defending for justice. Seriously, aren’t friends the best? This week I shared my self-esteem woes with a few of my closest friends and heard two hilarious stories of bikini misadventures and another who said that whenever she gains five pounds she wants to look at everyone in the eye and say: “I know. It’s there. Yep, I gained five pounds! I know these pants don’t look good with five extra pounds in ‘em. I know it!”

The feeling passed. I no longer feel as self-conscious, and I don’t know what changed. I’d like to think that at some point I’ll just feel comfortable in my skin all the time. That’s the goal, and if history is a teacher then it definitely seems to be getting better the older I get. Still, if you’re comfortable in your skin all the time, can you really be an empathetic friend?

Hen & Chicken, 210 North St, Bedminster, Bristol BS3 1JF

Tickets £10.  Doors from 7.30pm for 8pm start.

After an 8-year layoff Jon Strong Band are back on the road again including original members Roy Whyke on drums and Duncan Waller on bass.

As a solo performer Jon has toured with Ry Cooder, Van Morrison, Robert Palmer, Talk Talk, Danny Thompson and Clannad.  As a band they toured consistently for over 11 years throughout the UK and Europe building a loyal fanbase and achieving much critical acclaim as one of the tightest three-piece bands on the scene.

Jon Strong is a phenomenally good guitar player, in a style featuring blues and R&B mixed in with much more English ideas from the likes of Martin Carthy and Nic Jones.

A cross between Iggy Pop, Ronnie Wood and Lemmy?

He has a uniquely big, ringing, three-handed guitar style all of his own and his bittersweet songs steal the show away from the funky covers of Jim Croce and Lowell George that he alsoincludes in his repertoire.

Jon possesses one of those earthy voices most singers would kill for, a natural brogue, gnarled with years of experience oozing through. His mordant wit is a delight to witness as he cracks up every audience, while reminding us bluntly of music from legends and ghosts from the past in an evening of entertaining song.

“Brilliant.” Bob Harris, BBC Radio

“Highly evocative slabs of industrial folk rock.” The Oxford Curfew

Originally from Leeds this amiable Yorkshire lad began performing professionally from 1973 and took the time to play his way around Canada in 1974 before moving down through America to study the Blues first hand, eventually settling in Southern California for a year picking up on the café songwriting culture.

He then moved to live and work in Holland from 1976 to 1984, using it as a base to tour as a solo performer throughout Germany, Scandinavia and further into Europe, whilst returning two or three times a year for gigs in the UK.

The band came together in 1990 when he met Roy who was then running and playing drums in a Blues club in Barnsley. After initially being given some private financial backing to produce the band’s first album they signed to Linn Records for six years alongside the Steve Gibbons Band and jazz guitarist Martin Taylor. They had a great time playing some plum gigs, festivals and some broadcast work but only released one album for the label.

Tom Robinson reviewing one of Jon Strong’s CDs:

“If this came out with the name Peter Gabriel on the cover you can bet it would be hailed as a major artistic renaissance for a world class songwriter.If it came out with an unknown band name and a picture of a bunch of distrait-looking youths from Bristol on the sleeve, it’d probably win the Mercury Prize.Listening to music as good as this on an Own Label CD-R makes me want to weep with frustration at the sheer idiocy of the business we’re in.”

This looks like it’s going to be a great gig and the venue is also very good.  The Hen & Chicken has established the renowned Comedy Box in its upstairs room over the past 8 years and the room itself  is terrific. Holding 150 people in cabaret style seating  it has its own bar, creating a great atmosphere.

The pub also does really good food and they offer a discount of 15% off the food bill if you book and eat prior to the gig. All you need to do is reserve via the pub itself and tell them you are going to the gig. Full details of menus and the pub can be found on their website http://www.henandchicken.com/

“I didn’t believe you were playing live.” Johnny Walker, Radio 1 live session

“Songs of lyric, texture and power.”  Tom Robinson
“Mind blowing acoustic guitar work.” Fibbers Club, York

Reservations can be made via 07766 741417 and your seats will be reserved, payment is taken on the night, or you can just show up and pay on the door, first come first served, space permitting.

Full gig details will be found on http://jazzata.com/ in a few days time.

- Ian Storror

If you think you eyes are deceiving you, they’re not. That is an enormous image of the fastest man on the planet, Usain Bolt!

Farmer Tom Robinson created the maze, which covers 15 acres and has five kilometres of pathways. From the air, Bolt’s character is 150 metres tall.

“I’m a massive Usain Bolt fan,” said Staffordshire farmer Robinson. “With the Games coming to London this year, I wanted to create an amazing tribute to an amazing athlete.

“When I was planning the maze I had a dream that Bolt ran the 100m in a record time.”

“So I’ve stuck my neck out and carved that time into the maze – whether my dream comes true I don’t know, but I do know we’re going to see a thrilling 100m final.”

As you can see this main has passion! With what will become the most ‘Social’ Olympics competition, it is a great attention grabber. And certainly an iconic start to the event.

Usain Bolt’s Trademark Pose

BRSlifestyle

A-maze-ing: Sprinter Usain Bolt has been immortalised in this giant maze (Picture: Caters)

Bolt fanatic Tom Robinson paid tribute to the world’s fastest man by creating the giant maze designed in the shape of the 25-year-old ahead of the London Olympics.

The Staffordshire farmer created 5km of intricate pathways to make the astonishing puzzle which depicts the runner striking his trademark Lightning Bolt pose.

‘I’m a massive Usain Bolt fan,’ explained Mr Robinson.

‘With the games coming to London this year, I wanted to create an amazing tribute to an amazing athlete.

‘When I was planning the maze I had a dream that Bolt ran the 100m in a record time.

‘So I’ve stuck my neck out and carved that time into the maze – whether my dream comes true I don’t know, but I do know we’re going to see a thrilling 100m final.’

He added: ‘We have faced our own Olympic challenge to get the maze cut out with all the rain we’ve had.

‘The crop is only half the height it would normally be by now and we have had to delay opening by two weeks.

‘However it still makes a great maze for visitors to explore and it will continue growing throughout the summer.’

The Amazing Usain Bolt Maize Maze will open to the public on July 28.

PICTURES: Images of the London Olympics

Three of em! Hello. What with the new single being released recently, I’ve had some airplay from some brilliant podcasts. They all feature loads of great tunes, so I thought I’d link to them hear so you can wrap yer ears right round some good music.

BBC Introducing with Tom Robinson 

This past week I was lucky enough to be featured by the BBC’s very own Tom Robinson. I’m really honoured to have the support of someone like Tom and to have my music featured on the BBC. I mean, it’s the BBC! You can listen to the show on iplayer or download the mixtape here. Or both! One then the other. Your choice. The mixtape is available for four weeks though, then it’s gonezo, so don’t dilly-dally.

Jim Gellatly’s New Music 

Last week, my track Confessions was also featured on Jim Gellatly’s new music podcast. Jim’s been a long-time supporter so it’s great to have him play the new stuff, especially alongside great Scottish talent like Hector Bizerk and Meursault. Definitely download this! Oh look, here’s a link where you can do just that.

The Edinburgh Man Podcast 

A regular favourite of mine to listen to (which is why you’ll sometimes hear Mr. Man (Man is his surname, right?) reading out vaguely nonsensical tweets from me now and then, when the show goes out live)*, you can hear both Confessions and the b-side Pieces on episode 100 and episode 99, respectively. Away and listen!

Oh and, this isn’t exactly an official endorsement, but I’ll take what I can get. I asked Lauren Laverne if she’d be interested in listening to a song which features a spot-on David Bowie impression, where the impression was artistically necessary to the song. She said, and I quote: “yes”. So I sent her this tweet with a link to the track on soundcloud and she favourited it.

Does she actually like the song? I have no idea. Perhaps we should all ask her on Twitter!

This is the sort of thing I get up to at night on Twitter when the rest of you are out at the local discos and pool halls, jiving with your best girls/boys and hustling suckers on the tables.

Til next time folks,

love Shambles

x

*Yep, I’m basically trolling you all with punctuation here. Complaints to shamblesmiller(at)gmail(dot)com

In terms of style I decided to go for a quick moving and cut view.

Filmed on a Canon 600D & Edited on Final Cut Pro.

Working with one of the UK’s pioneering contemporary Black Gospel bands, Paradise was a life changing experience for me. They were dedicated young talented Christian musicians with a jazz/funk sound influenced by the likes of the Crusaders, Earth Wind & Fire and Herbie Hancock. We achieved many wonderful things together including some chart success with ‘One Mind Two Hearts’, they were like my brothers. I sang for awhile in the London Community Gospel Choir, that too was for the most part a wonderful experience.

Meeting Junior Giscombe had a big impact on my career. I sang backgrounds for him and many others on the Red Wedge Tour where I met Billy Bragg, Paul Weller, The Smiths, Blow Monkeys, Communards and many other great pop artists.

Soon after the tour I signed an album deal as singer songwriter to CBS Records in the late eighties by Julian Palmer and Muff Winwood. I recorded two albums, ‘Paul Johnson’ and ‘Personal’. My first single was ‘When Love Comes Calling’, written and produced Junior Giscombe, another single ‘Half a World Away’ was very popular in Jamaica the country of parents. I have worked with Bryan Ferry, Stevie Wonder, Bros, Mica Paris, Juliet Roberts, Loose Ends, Al Green, Tom Robinson, Cliff Richard, George Michael, Soul II Soul, Glen Goldsmith, Steven Dante, Bluey Maunick of Incognito…and others. I toured in the UK, did numerous television shows here and in Europe. I particularly enjoyed performing sell-out shows at Ronnie Scots and Sadlers Wells.

I have featured on various records, and performed on numerous re-mixes through producer Danny D, e.g. Salt N Peppers ‘Shoop’. Through an introduction by Juliet Roberts I had the privilege of touring and recording with M-People. I have some wonderful memories of singing with Lynieve Austin and Sarah Brown on some successful tours around the world. I have acted as a production co-ordinator providing session singers for the industry in the UK and abroad. One of my proudest achievements was managing and signing Shaun Escoffery to my production company, an incredibly gifted vocalist known for songs such as Days Like These and Space Rider. Shaun and Mica are still two of my favourite vocalists! I had an incredible experience working with DJ Dodge and with his help introduced me to a new audience through the release in 1994 of ‘If We Lose Our Way’ written and produced with IG Culture, ‘Sayin’ Something’ and ‘To Be Wanted’. I began working on an album with Dodge that unfortunately was never released some of those demo tracks 15 years old I am making available on this site. One of my favourite of these is a track called, ‘Gotta Move On’ which features jazz trumpeter Byron Wallen. I stopped singing some time ago and I am able to reflect on what was a terrific time and a fantastic opportunity. Now my life is somewhat removed from the music industry.

I am a senior manager in an inner city college where I work with young people and adults who despite very difficult circumstances are attempting to improve their lives through accessing education. I see this as a chance for me to give back to others, as many people have given to me along the way. I’m trying this out ‘blogging’ – so it would be interesting to see if I really have the stamina for this…but I’ll aim to do short snippets here during the week and one real stab at it on weekends. It would be a pleasure to meet some old friends, talk about our different journeys, and make some new acquaintances. I’d like to reflect on my journey through the music business and to record my thoughts and views on my experiences working in the Further Education sector. The views I express here are my own and do not represent those of my employer.

Sooooo here we go, wings….

The work of UK-based Tom Eno and Denmark-based René Kirkegaard, collectively known as Mountain Folk, ‘Don’t Go Down There’ might be a bit of a slow-burner, but it’s definitely worth sticking with for the whole of its seven minutes and twelve seconds. Strangely hypnotic and effortlessly restrained, it’s no wonder that this track has been piquing the attention of the likes of Steve Lamacq and Rob Da Bank.”

Rob Da Bank (BBC Radio 1)

http://www.bestiblog.net/2012/06/radio-da-bank-lianne-la-havas-in.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/b01j261d

Tom Robinson (6 Music)
http://freshonthenet.co.uk/faves15

Mountain Folk are contenders for next weeks BIG ONE on John Kennedy’s XFM Xposure show, please vote for us here: Go on!
“A now for another epic tune, think we need to play this one all next week- a contender for next week’s big one” John Kennedy XFM

Jon Kennedy (XFM)
http://t.co/0BFrhQb5

Don’t Go Down There by Mountain Folk featured on the Rob Da Bank show on BBC Radio 1 (1hr 05 minutes in)

“A Lovely Record, a little bit of pastoral beauty”

Juno Download review:

Two Danish producers, one with a penchant for acoustica and the other more rooted in electronica and house, Mountain Folk have rightly received some generous support from Don Letts, Steve Lamacq and Rob da Bank on Radio of late. Their talents gel superbly on “Don’t Go Down There” – recalling everything from Hot Chip, When Saints Go Machine and early Four Tet and Caribou with an earthy texture coming from their mix of natural and analogue sounds. Mixes from Afrikanz On Marz and Sundogs make this quirky delight more floor-friendly, but the originals’ still the main attraction for us.

“I love the mood of Mountain Folk!”
Kid Loco, Tastemaker

“Best thing played on John Kennedy’s show..I Love it”
Linn Branson, LittleIndieBlogs

“ This is amazing man, really excellent, musicaly with a lot of soul and still great for the dance floor, should get some great feedback on it”
Mitch Alexander  – Release Promo

“Sounds good, will test!!!”
Markus Schulz  – Global DJ Broadcast

“Massive track! Thank you very much!!!”
John Sweet  – Sweet Reactions Radio Show

“Great sounds here, very cool, full support”
Ryan Luciano  – Proton/Innervisions

 What’s in a name? With a moniker like Mountain Folk you’d be forgiven for imagining this new project to be full of battered acoustic guitars and check-shirted men with over-sized beards, singing heartfelt songs suited for camp fires and log cabins. When this act was sent over to us for consideration, you can imagine that the assumptions made from their choice of title might have us parking it as yet another potential Bella Union suitor, and although Fleet Foxes fans may find lots to admire here, this is actually far more cerebral and weird than you might expect. So does that mean a band name is irrelevant? Well, let us suggest that it could mis-guide and potentially put people off, so it has an importance to a certain extent, but thankfully, even though there’s very little on offer here that can be described as mountainous or folkish – at least in the traditional sense – the music is mind-numbingly good, rendering the moniker a rapidly fading issue.

Mountain Folk is the new outfit being worn by Tom Eno and René Kirkegaard. Kirkegaard has operated a record store, called Dezigner Soundz, for the last 15 years in her home town of Aarhus, Denmark. The store’s speciality seems to be focused on electronica, house and hip hop music, generating something of a focal point for the vinyl-hungry locals. Eno was introduced to her last year and they’ve set about developing this new project ever since. The UK-based Eno, (who confirmed to us that he is absolutely no relation to Brian – we had to check, right?), is perhaps better known for more of an acoustic history, having released two solo albums prior to stepping into this new duo. They’re planning to release their debut single, Don’t Go Down There, on Jack To Phono Records on June 25th. We’ve been reliably informed that they are currently in the process of recording and producing the complete debut album, which they hope to have out later on in 2012.

The two protagonists clearly have a lot of space between them, (both geographically and musically), with Kirkegaard surveying the electronic end of the spectrum and Eno preferring the strings of an acoustic guitar. This starts them off with a very large gap to fill, but thanks to their open-minds and creative ideas they seem to not only have bridged it, but in fact they’ve crammed the space with some extraordinary invention. Originality is so hard to find these days, so just how do you locate new concepts in the modern era when you have to compete with the dense range of ideas from over the decades. Thankfully today’s Internet generation and the technological revolution going on in bedrooms around the globe allow a new unlimited space for ideas to flourish. The debut single on offer from this duo doesn’t quite sound like anything you’ve ever heard before, proving that in today’s over-crowded online jungle the fight for the light can still be won with imagination. Their two opposing ends of the spectrum have allowed Mountain Folk to blend the authenticity of finger-to-string with a computerised electronic pulse. This is a lesson in fusing the old with the new.

Don’t Go Down is over seven minutes long so this isn’t aiming for broad commercial appeal, although it’s actually already featured on BBC Radio One and 6Music’s specialist shows, with Steve Lamacq, Tom Robinson and Rob Da Bank already supporting it. It begins with an underplayed echoing beat, that tweaks it’s handclaps just enough to make you realise this is a song that will have electronics woven into it. Eno’s vocals arrive delivering the slacker melodies, reminiscent of Beck at his Mutations best, before subtle electronics creep ever closer to the centre ground. There’s a dreamlike quality to it all, losing none of the original pace or melody, but after five minutes you find yourself taken away from what felt like some kind of dusty Spanish Sierra into Outta Space. After six minutes you’re chugging along inside an unidentifiable vehicle of layered thermionic synthesizers. It’s a journey, a ride, between Eno’s acoustics and Kirkegaard’s electronics. It’s stunningly beautiful and by bravely pulling together two experts in their very different fields we see them collide in the middle with an explosive song.

Alastair Lee, a film maker, was so impressed by the track he used it in his recent filmMoonflower and lent them some footage of Alaska which had filmed, (you can see that below), for the single’s accompanying video. Remixes arrive from Afrikanz On Marz and Sundogs, with both choosing to turn what is a seven-minute song into a near ten-minute opus. Eno kindly sent us an alternative version of another album track, Black Fields, in what he’s called the ‘cabin mix’. It’s another patient song, although this time coming in at only just over four minutes, but it retains the same style of samples that come in firing synapses and curious loops. It doesn’t explode like the single, instead selecting a more mature and thoughtful path, but it’s still original and enticing. For what is the equivalent of just a b-side version of an album track this is mightily impressive. Although it turned out that Fleet Foxes need not worry after all, this is still a lesson for all other artists out there; that to locate genuinely original ideas, whilst maintaining the melodies and the accessibility, you need to be brave, to be bold and to look for ideas in new spaces.

Mike Bradford, The Recommender (Brighton)

Mountain Folk are to release the excellent new single ‘Don’t Go Down There’ on 12″ vinyl later this month.Mountain Folk is René Kirkegaard, a DJ/ Producer based in Aarhus, Denmark and Winchester based Tom Eno. In 1997 René set up the record shop Dezigner Soundz which quickly became a focal point for vinyl crazy Aarhus DJs. It quickly established itself and had DJ Static running the hip hop section whilst René took care of electronica and house music. Tom Eno has been busy recording acoustic material for his 2 studio albums to date and wanted to work on more electronic based project. René and Tom were introduced in 2011 and started to fire ideas across the North Sea – the rest is history.Don’t Go Down There will be released on 12″ vinyl on June 25th on Jack to Phono Records. The album is in production and will follow later in 2012.

Mountain Folk to release Don’t Go Down There on 12″ vinyl

Mountain Folk are to release the excellent new single Don’t Go Down There on 12″ vinyl later this month.

Mountain Folk is a new project on Jack to Phono Records. René Kirkegaard is a DJ/Producer based in Aarhus, Denmark. In 1997 René set up the record shop Dezigner Soundz which quickly became a focal point for vinyl crazy Aarhus DJs. It quickly established itself and had DJ Static running the hip hop section whilst René took care of electronica and house music. Winchester based Tom Eno has been busy recording acoustic material for his 2 studio albums to date and wanted to work on more electronic based project. René and Tom were introduced in 2011 and started to fire ideas across the North Sea – the rest is history.

The project got the attention of Alastair Lee, a film maker, who was so impressed that he used the track in his recent film Moonflower. He was also also generous enough to release footage from Alaska for the video.

There are two luminaries of the music world, Ashley Beedle (Afrikanz on Marz) and Sundogs (Tactical Hots Records), who have remixed the track for the 12-inch release. The track has also been played on BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music, XFM and Danish National Radio in recent weeks. Tom makes his singing debut on the track and the mix of acoustic guitar blended with René’s electronic world make the sound unique on JTP. The album is in production and will follow later in 2012.

Mountain Folk – Don’t Go Down There from Modulation Busses on Vimeo.

rock and roll curry night

Friday – curry night down the lido. And races. Junior races for the U12 and U16, then an open half mile and an open mile. Feeling like I’d get too competitive in the mile, I went for the half mile; certain that I wouldn’t win with a certain other ginger competing. Sure enough he was in about 80 yards ahead of me; as was a cheeky 13 year old. I came in third, with the other blokes most of a length behind. Phew! Didn’t win. Then out to see the synchronised SLSC Diving Belles team

A lovely curry from the Lahore Karahi and some dancing. Tom Robinson made a guest appearance on vocals and Nando made a fantastic chocolate cake for Ann Brimelow’s birthday.

Saturday – Showers forecast for the whole day. Heavy ones. We arrive early, as I’m off to Dover and Deal later, and we both get in for a half hour swim. Mrs Ape clocks up a km and I’m happy with 2000 yards. Shoulder starting finally to leave only vestigeal pains apres swim. Then, later, down to Dover to catch up with Stephanie Voss, and the rest of her Channel Crossing support crew for next week.

I arrive in sunny Dover to see the harbour waters flat as a pancake. Steph’s gone, but the General (Frida Streeter) tells me she’s looking ready for it and that I should avoid getting in the water with her, as it’ll put her off! I also manage to catch up with Emma France who’s managing my boat booking for 2014.

Then up the side of the cliffs and off to the wonderful Georgian seaside town of Deal to have a crew meeting. Steph’s hired a lovely little house just by the beach and I meet Claire Scanlon (old time SLSC member), Steph and Neil Morton. I met Neil back in 2009 on a swim camp in Gozo. He was number two for a tide at the end of June, but the weather didn’t even afford him a chance to cross to France. But I’m glad he’s on the support team, as he’s very level headed and has lots of useful kit!

Steph is very organised and we settle into a clear briefing with handouts for everything. I feel I’ll have little to do, as her support swimmer, than check her stroke rate, sort her feed every now and again and marvel at her smooth and consistent stroke rate.

Don’t know when she’s going yet, but her Twitter feed is fishglider, and you can track Sea Satin or Gallivant at http://ais-doverstraits.co.uk/. I’ll post to FB when I know she’s off.

Deal’s brutalist concrete pier

Sunday – just miss the Sunday races (300 yards this time); as we got up too late and had to mix it with the South Circular Sunday morning drivers. Who judging by the erratic behaviour of a few are still pissed/stoned/coked up…?

Ninety year old Cyril had a watery guard of honour on his way in.

Mrs Ape baked a Victoria Sponge for the lifeguards (Fin nearly cried!), and I made a simpler fruit loaf for the swimmers. Clocked up a leisurely mile, enlivened by the odd chase of a seal; and was joined towards the end for a more rapid couple of lengths with Tricky.

Hear-ye, Hear-ye. Calling all Londoners. We’re playing a free show tomorrow night – that’s July 8 – at the Wheelbarrow in Camden. We’ll be playing tunes from our new EP Money Men, which is due out in a few weeks. Details of the show can be found on the Facebook page here or alternatively on this rocking website here. Did I mention it’s free? Oh yeah, I did.

If you can’t be bothered trekking it down…. well two things really:
a) you lazy-boner
b) you can still hear our new track tonight on BBC 6music as DJ supremo Tom Robinson will be boshing it out between 9pm and midnight on the Tom Robinson Show. You can listen to that here.

Big thanks go to Tom for his continued support and to Polly at I Think You’ll Like This Song for these very nice words.

Much affection,

Kx

Barny is a 22 year-old Bristolian multi-instrumentalist, producing a unique blend of electronic music; fusing home-made samples, cut up beats and ambient synths.

Barny remixed fellow DryCry artist Sleepwalkers’ track ‘Rear Window’ earlier this year, creating a fresh and exciting take on the track. Since then, the relationship between Barny and DryCry Records has developed, and we are thrilled to be at a point where the five tracks to be included on the debut EP are complete. We are really excited about Barny’s sound and can’t wait for everybody to hear the EP.

Click below to enjoy ‘Park’, a track from the forthcoming release which BBC 6Music’s Tom Robinson recently declared “fresh and gorgeous”.

Barny Carter – Park

Barny Carter’s debut DryCry Records release is expected August 2012. In the meantime, please check drycryrecords.com for further details and exclusive listens.

A collection of ten T-shirts and a set of hooded tops featuring various motifs from Tom Robinson and TRB’s artwork over the years.

Will fit Teen, Young Adult and Adults.

All items are recolourable, but the logos aren’t.

As there’s no Teen Male hooded top with the basic pack, there’s a Teen Male Tracksuit top instead.

Please also find a collection of three poster pictures for your Sims 3 game.

The poster pictures use a mesh with many thanks by Yarona at Sims Modeli, so you do not need any stuff packs for this to work – it’s all base game friendly.

Download

To use, download, unzip, and drop the contained folder into your The Sims 3\mods\packages folder and they should show up.

Enjoy!

Tom Robinson is an English musician and writer famous for two singalong anthems – ‘(Sing If You’re) Glad To Be Gay’ and ’2-4-6-8 Motorway’.

The song ‘Glad To Be Gay‘ has been recorded many times with updated lyrics concerning contemporary gay issues (ironically a song originally protesting against intolerance towards gays now has lines protesting against gays intolerance to others).

‘2-4-6-8 Motorway‘ (part stolen from the sports chant ’2-4-6-8-Who Do We Appreciate?’) is almost the opposite. In the 70s, truck driving was very much a heterosexual male preserve with a ‘jack-the-lad’ culture, and the song celebrated that side of a trucker’s life compensating for the long unsociable hours (casual sexual encounters with lady hitchhikers and soft drug abuse in order to stay awake and alert).

His final major hit, ‘War Baby‘ concerned East and West Germany, and the senselessness he felt for the same nationality being pitted against one another for ideological reasons.

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Trifecta weekend fun: Retell your favorite book in exactly 33 words.

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Alabama Song:

Please feel free to watch the lecture, and ask questions and leave comments on this page or in the History of Punk Facebook group.

Here’s a link to the lecture that should be open to all. Contact me if you have any problems:

http://echo.uscs.susx.ac.uk:8080/ess/echo/presentation/525ec90f-cd53-4b4b-954a-72aa855715f8

Hopefully this will be the first in a series of punk podcasts, so stay tuned. A special thanks to Dr. Lucy Robinson, and happy learning!

It’s Gay Pride month internationally, although around, & other parts of Australia, there’s scant evidence of that.

However, in the northern hemisphere there’s plenty of Pride on show.

This week’s Full Catastrophe is full of Pride … as well as the usual stuff.

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Dance My Pain Away – Rod Lee

John I’m Only Dancing – David Bowie

Hold Me – P. J. Proby

Coming Home – Asleep In The Park (Now playing as “The On Fires“

She’s Neat – Dale Wright & The Rock-Its

Bois De La Casbar – Gus Viseur

The Herpes Tango – Fascinating Aida

Deadwood Stage – Melinda Schneider

You Don’t Know – Danny & The Champions Of The World

Beautiful Trash – LANU

Unlock – Gabriel Rios

Chain Of Fools – Aretha Franklin

Glad To Be Gay – Tom Robinson

Who Are You Now ? – Barbara Cook

Over The Rainbow – Frank Sinatra

Buy Now Pay Later – The Whitlams

Haleliwa – Brigyn

Do Want You Wanta – Zydeco Force

Endless Love – Love Construction

Tom Robinson – or his ghostwriters – can introduce her better than I, so here’s some text lifted from the 6 Music Introducing website:

London born, Oxford raised alt-folk artist BETHANY finally released her long anticipated debut album HARPSICHORD ROW at the beginning of this month on 1784 Records. She recorded it at home in splendid isolation in the course of last year armed with a single microphone, ProTools, and a vocal booth fashioned from sleeping bags and an upturned couch. Mind you, she did already have a masters degree in composition from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama which probably helped the enterprise on its way. Since we’ve already played her songs Desire and Silver Moon from said album, it seemed only right to make it a hat trick and include the splendid William And His Ghost on this week’s mixtape.

Here’s the link to Bethany Weimers’ website – and on this page you’ll find the 10 Harpsichord Row songs. The songs that brought me in were William And His Ghost (track 3) and Silver Moon (track 1), but I’ve started to play others and it all sounds rather good: lovely stuff !

There has been quite a buzz building around The Robbie Boyd Band before debut single I Won’t Let You Go which was unveiled in April and certainly after. Now with debut EP Autumn’s Flown released June 4^th the expectation is interest and acclaim will become an accelerated energy around them, especially with the impressive and irresistible quality within the new release.

Playing what they call “feel good funky folk” the band has grabbed attention in their mere two years having received attention and airplay with the likes of Graham Norton on BBC2, Tom Robinson on BBC 6 Music as well as sharing stages with bands like The Kooks, Razorlight, and The Delays. With over 370,000 views on their official YouTube channel it is fair to say the band is beyond a secret with a continually growing interest upon them, something the EP will again only inspire to greater heights.

The first thing Autumn’s Flown shows apart from its collection of great tunes is that Boyd is an instinctive songwriter with an easy and strong understanding of melodies and harmonies. He utilises their strengths in a defined and creative way to ensure total captivation and the fullest pleasure within his songs. His distinctive voice adds another firmly lure for the ear and as the EP plays through its five slices of impressive music their self termed description proves more than accurate.

The opening Angel actually did not grab the ear as much as latter songs initially though it is a grower and with time becomes as essential as the other vibrant offerings. With a mild energy and warm life the song takes the senses on a scenic melodic stroll with the keys of Adam Fletcher and stirring rhythms of Huw Beynon eager guides.

Debut single I Won’t Let You Go comes next and is an absorbing blend of harmonies and string enchantment from Boyd, Russel Smith, and Simon Fitzpatrick. With a chorus as catching as any virus the song blissfully excites and dances within the ear. With added pleasures from the backing vocals and violin of Mared Evans to add extra romance and shine the song is openly infectious.

New single Orion’s Belt is the biggest jewel of the release, a majestic blaze of melodic ingenuity and harmonious craft. From its emotive opening and passion fuelled breath the song slowly expands into an exceptional piece of folk pop. Veined with a velvet caress and a dazzling jazz energy the track is immense and destined for mass favouritism. Again the vocals of Evans supporting Boyd are wonderful, their combination as key a factor as the melodies and stirring heart of the song.

Completed by the delightful Never Never Land and a radio edit of I Won’t Let You Go, the EP is pure pleasure and surely a stepping stone to major recognition for the band. With irresistible melodies, imaginative invention, and magical sirenesque sounds Autumn’s Flown is a must for all lovers of melodic pop with real heart.

RingMaster 31/05/2012

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