Thursday, September 21, 2006

Widnes 1990.......


i was reading an article today about The Stone Roses & their famous gig at Spike Island in May 1990 - it brought the memories flooding back, i was a mere slip of a lad back then living in one of the most run down areas Manchester has to offer, carefree & totally hooked on the Stone Roses

they were the soundtrack to my late teens & we'd got on board the bandwagon pretty much before it left the station, big fans pre-debut LP & first seeing them in front of a few dozen people at a club called Legends underneath the Rugby League ground in Warrington, one dark, dank night in '88

fast forward a couple of years & the band were super nova, it's hard to describe just how massive they had become in Manchester by the time Spike Island rolled round, forget the Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, James etc etc - The Stone Roses fired up the whole late 80's Manchester craze, they were streets ahead of Oasis but unfortunately unlike their plodding succesors, they succumbed to a blizzard of drugs & in-fighting

Sunday 27th May 1990 for me is a haze, chemically imbalanced i dont actually recall that much - just hazy flashes of the band on stage, a giant globe beach ball bouncing around in the crowd, fireworks & of course 16 or so perfect pop songs

it seems a long time ago & a different world, but i was there - in the days before V2 festivals & the like, this was about a northern band with attitude, and 30,000 or so kids witnessing a legendary group at the all too brief pinnacle of their powers

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Good old Hugo - loved the speech today at the UN.

Viva Hugo. Viva Venezuela.


Sunday, September 17, 2006

Banff, AB

there's not much to interest anyone other than hungry, souvenir hunting tourists in Banff - if you are looking for humorous tee-shirts or small bears in Mountie uniforms you can't go wrong

it is very, very much a tourist town, it is however surrounded by stunning scenery & on a sunny Sunday afternoon your eye is constantly drawn to the snow capped peaks & the amazing blue waters of the River Bow

even though i only live 25 minutes away by car, this was only the second time this year i have stopped for a look around the shops & notwithstanding the possible need to buy bears in Mountie outfits for disliked relatives at Xmas, it'll probably be my last

on the way home i nipped up the potholed, dirt road that takes you above the Spray Lakes Reservoir to take a few pictures - now my car with it's fancy 4WD makes effortless work of this steep, winding, rutted road & I admit my speed was a little higher than it should have been

so i apologise to the old guy who had for some reason pulled over & stopped on the side of the road, (in the area that states "No Stopping - Avalanche Danger") - how was i to know he had his window wound down & was taking a photo from his car window as i came round the corner swooshed past him, through a lake of a muddy puddle & soaked him & the inside of his car - ooops - sorry Grandpa!!!

a newt's eye view



I

if you were a newt paddling eastwards down the River Bow through Canmore this afternoon, this was what you would have seen.......nice eh?

Sunday morning snapshot

The snow clouds have lifted & its a glorious September morning again, there's a big melt on & I had to capture the scene from our bedroom window - a few days ago, the mountains were bare.


I'm off to Banff now, to take a few more pictures.

Friday, September 15, 2006

a reminder

on a cold, snowy day it's nice to recall a bit of sun - our local swimming pool just a few weeks back

a jammy situation

well it was a good night in the Rose & Crown last night, too good in fact & it was struggle to get up this morning

it will be even harder in a few hours time when i have to drag myself out of bed at 5.30am to watch Charlton live on the TV - now there's commitment for you, the question is should i go back to bed afterwards of concede defeat & just stay up as though a 5.30 start on a Saturday morning is perfectly fine - hmm decisions, decisions

whats the worst thing you can spill in a car? well i managed to smash a huge jar of jam in my trunk (boot!) yesterday afternoon, i guess there are worse things - but what a pain cleaning that up - the spare tyre is now officially glued into place with apricot based confiture, god help me if i get a flat in the next few days - as i scraped the sticky mess out it was falling all over the sidewalk (ha!) & up my driveway, really bad news when there are hungry bears everywhere - it took ages to clean up, not helped by the slush & snow & my car has a sickly jammy fragrance to it

i drove to Innisfail today, the weather was attrocious & everywhere just looked dank & depressing - unusual for Alberta which seems to be sunny 90% of the time - a real Fall feeling abounds, but its due to warm up again rapidly after Sunday - not that it matters, i have a few days next week in Vancouver & i know it will be all fine & dandy over there

so thats about it, another week whizzes by, 11 months we have been here now & it only seems like yesterday that we were heading down the Trans Canada Highway from the airport to Canmore for the very first time

Thursday, September 14, 2006

three inches...

of snow today, the street looks like a scene from a Xmas card - it's the 14th September

just off out to the pub for a few beers with my good mate JG

it's quiet at the moment with Nicky & Tabby back in the UK, i'm rattling round this big old house like a pea in a drum

i'll be back soon enough, two weeks today I'll have a pocketful of pounds & pence, driving on the other side of the road & looking for the nearest good Indian restaurant

yes that's one thing i miss over here - a decent curry

Monday, September 11, 2006

memories.......

with the nation in the grip of 9/11 reminiscing i guess i should just say that i was at home in Greenwich, London on that fateful day - i remember looking out of the windows every few minutes to see if Canary Wharf was under attack - it wasn't

i recall we had fish & chips that evening, too shocked to cook & in need of comfort food - it was all too much - no matter what despicable politics were behind it all

and now we have movies, TV "Docu Dramas" & all sorts of what some say is "cashing in" going on - i haven't & will not watch these things, people's lives obliterated turned into entertainment

on a cheerier note the good weather continues, it was +30 in Calgary today, amazingly they are calling for just +1 on Friday!!!! Must be some cold front rolling in...........

Canmore United lost in the final of the end of season Bow Valley League Tournament, disappointing but the tournament was pretty meaningless & the real trophy, The BVSL League Championship was handed over to us, halfway during the day's proceedings. I played all 5 games yesterday, from 10.30am to 7pm - knackered isn't strong enough to describe my physical state at the moment & we have to do it all again in Cochrane this coming weekend, with an even bigger tournament and tougher schedule - better get the thermal gloves ready for this one

Thursday, September 07, 2006

of bears and cabers....

the 3rd night of 3 in Toronto on a little work jaunt, i am back on Westjet to Calgary first thing tomorrow morning

it's a short week, after another public holiday on Monday - we seem to get one a month - i'm definitely not complaining

the weekend just gone was scorching, we went to the Canmore Highland Games on Sunday - lots of dubiously connected "Scots" larging it up - but it was fun & I finally got to see someone tossing a caber- i can tick that off my ambitions in life list

the week before Canmore United won the Bow Valley Soccer League - it's been a pleasure playing for this multinational team, with great lads pulling together to win this hotly contested title - shame the Championship winning party is when i am back in the UK

i also found time to cycle the rugged Rundle trail from Banff to Canmore, we were well aware of the dangers of running into bears but luckily they were nowhere to be seen - maybe they were tossing cabers too, some of those hairy Scotsman were suspiciously bear like in appearance come to think of it