it's the start of a busy few days, Vancouver, Victoria & Toronto on the agenda - time to load up the tunes on the mp3 player, transfer some of the good British TV i have obtained from UK Nova onto the laptop & get ready for the usual work/travel routine
rounded off the weekend today with an afternoon's snowboarding with Jen up at Sunshine, we had a total blast despite the fog & the choppy snow - my knees feel well & truly mashed & I hope i don't get cramp in my tired legs on the plane tomorrow - nothing worse than standing bolt upright during take-off & screaming in pain - i amused her with descriptions of my superstitions, which i didn't realise until i listed them were so extensive & in some cases bizarre - i tried to explain that in the UK it's normal for football fans to be highly superstitious, but i don't think she bought this excuse
so on that note it was very, very sad to see legendary manager Alan Curbishley announce his departure from Charlton Athletic yesterday - and while i think ultimately it's for the best for both him & the club - it is undeniable that he has almost single handedly transformed my club from the brink of extinction to the brink of European qualification - things had gotten a bit stale as of late and i guess after 15 years at the same club, you run out of things to say & do to motivate your players - who would i like to see in his place - well Claudio Ranieri would bring some much needed European knowledge & star-player attraction - Martin O'Neill has the tactical & motivational knowledge to keep us moving in the right direction - Mark Bowen, has proven to be a great coach at both Birmingham & Blackburn, yet great coaches don't always become great managers at the first attempt - Steve Cotterill springs to mind. Who would I hate to see there - Mervyn Day, Mick McCarthy, George Graham, Graham Souness......
we will see
todays radio player music comes from Tony Joe White - deep fried, southern country soul from 1969 - TJW has a voice that could melt the blacktop & backing musicians with more funk than is healthy - a bit of a departure from the usual folksy stuff on here, but i love it nonetheless - both tracks are from his album Black and White which i strongly recommend you to buy!
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
the green green grass of home....
driving home tonight i suddenly noticed that the grass on the side of the road was green, after 6 months of straw coloured brown - here was lush, green , green grass - the whole City of Calgary seems to be chirpy at the moment - the Flames are 2-1 up on the Mighty Ducks in the first round of the playoffs & everyone you meet seems quietly confident that this could be a Stanley Cup year
at the same time the Edmonton Oilers are also progressing nicely, having taken a 2-1 lead in the best of 7 over the Detroit Red Wings as well
sheesh what am i even talking about??? 6 months ago i would have been hard pressed to name more than half a dozen Hockey teams - but it is BIG over here & you can't escape Flames fever
i had to laugh last night, some youths on the embankments of Highway 1 just past Cochrane were busy constructing a giant penis out of rocks - a bit of a departure from the usual names & faces that you see on these slopes, which people construct by arranging rocks in patterns on the slopes
it was still proudly there this morning, a bit like a condensed stone version of the famous Cerne Abbas Chalk man in England
at the same time the Edmonton Oilers are also progressing nicely, having taken a 2-1 lead in the best of 7 over the Detroit Red Wings as well
sheesh what am i even talking about??? 6 months ago i would have been hard pressed to name more than half a dozen Hockey teams - but it is BIG over here & you can't escape Flames fever
i had to laugh last night, some youths on the embankments of Highway 1 just past Cochrane were busy constructing a giant penis out of rocks - a bit of a departure from the usual names & faces that you see on these slopes, which people construct by arranging rocks in patterns on the slopes
it was still proudly there this morning, a bit like a condensed stone version of the famous Cerne Abbas Chalk man in England
Sunday, April 23, 2006
a weekend at home.......
Well this was the weekend i was supposed to be back in England watching Charlton reach their first FA Cup final in 59 years - unfortunately Middlesborough put paid to that a few days ago & so it was that another weeekend in Canmore was played out
I was down in BC on Friday, Invermere to be precise - another (arent they all round here) stunning drive through jaw dropping mountain scenery, past the Hot Springs resort at Radium, past a bizarre stetch of tacky tourist tat on the highway between Radium & Invermere, past the huge lake at Invermere & on to see a client. Invermere was windy, so windy that great clouds of dust stung your face & hurt your eyes - I'm sure it's not always like this but it was a relief to get out & back into the mountains.
Back home for Friday night & the sun was shining, the smell of BBQ's permeated the air & joggers ran past in not much more than shorts & trainers
8 hours later, we awoke to just under a foot of snow
Overnight the balmy had been replaced by the barmy & Canmore was shivering under a blanket of wet, heavy snow - bang went our plans for a bike ride & instead I hopped in the car & headed up into the Peter Lougheed Provincial Park & took some photos. PLPP is a huge expanse of wilderness, with a single rutted & muddy road threading through the lakes & peaks - it was hugely enjoyable (& I am not a car man, oh no) to splash through the great muddy puddles in the road, bounce over the potholes & skid round bends - the car came back swathed in a thick blanket of Albertan mud.
Given all the fresh snow that had fallen, it was inevitable that we'd be up a mountain snowboarding today & so it was that 6 of us shredded 'til we could shred no more, under brilliant blue skies & warm sunshine & to the echoing accompaniment of the obligatory big shorts, backwards baseball capped, goatee wearing, fat bass playing group laid on by the resort management at the top of the Gondola
no real substitute for being back home amongst friends, family & football BUT my bank balance is heaving a sigh of relief & the mother of all jet lags can wait another day
in other news looks like we might have sold the London house, but thats another story for another day
couple of fresh tunes too
my LP of the year so far is undoubtedly "Three's Co" by The Tyde - read about them & it here
close behind is Nobody & The Mystic Chords of Memory - another wonderful Californian band, formed from members of the super-awesome, but now defunct Beachwood Sparks -buy their new LP here.
I was down in BC on Friday, Invermere to be precise - another (arent they all round here) stunning drive through jaw dropping mountain scenery, past the Hot Springs resort at Radium, past a bizarre stetch of tacky tourist tat on the highway between Radium & Invermere, past the huge lake at Invermere & on to see a client. Invermere was windy, so windy that great clouds of dust stung your face & hurt your eyes - I'm sure it's not always like this but it was a relief to get out & back into the mountains.
Back home for Friday night & the sun was shining, the smell of BBQ's permeated the air & joggers ran past in not much more than shorts & trainers
8 hours later, we awoke to just under a foot of snow
Overnight the balmy had been replaced by the barmy & Canmore was shivering under a blanket of wet, heavy snow - bang went our plans for a bike ride & instead I hopped in the car & headed up into the Peter Lougheed Provincial Park & took some photos. PLPP is a huge expanse of wilderness, with a single rutted & muddy road threading through the lakes & peaks - it was hugely enjoyable (& I am not a car man, oh no) to splash through the great muddy puddles in the road, bounce over the potholes & skid round bends - the car came back swathed in a thick blanket of Albertan mud.
Given all the fresh snow that had fallen, it was inevitable that we'd be up a mountain snowboarding today & so it was that 6 of us shredded 'til we could shred no more, under brilliant blue skies & warm sunshine & to the echoing accompaniment of the obligatory big shorts, backwards baseball capped, goatee wearing, fat bass playing group laid on by the resort management at the top of the Gondola
no real substitute for being back home amongst friends, family & football BUT my bank balance is heaving a sigh of relief & the mother of all jet lags can wait another day
in other news looks like we might have sold the London house, but thats another story for another day
couple of fresh tunes too
my LP of the year so far is undoubtedly "Three's Co" by The Tyde - read about them & it here
close behind is Nobody & The Mystic Chords of Memory - another wonderful Californian band, formed from members of the super-awesome, but now defunct Beachwood Sparks -buy their new LP here.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
cayenne pepper anyone?
i bought a couple of cannisters of pepper spray today in Calgary, just in case we meet Mr. Bruin while out & about in the woods - it was somewhat akin to buying a gun - i had to give name & address, have it explained to me how to use the product & then take the product from the shelf to the checkout in a sealed bag
the greatest danger though out here is undoubtedly the drivers on the roads around Calgary - back home people are generally courteous & will let you out into traffic or give you space to change lanes - not here though, everything is done at breakneck speed & unless your aggresive that space you need is gonna be full of a huge SUV before you know it - add to that a huge number of plain cop cars ready to pull you over ofr any indscretions & the Calgary driving experience is a lot more stressful than London - this is partly due to the fact that you barely get above 30mph round much of inner city London
it's always a relief to get past that last set of lights on Highway 1 just past the ski slopes of Western Calgary & cruise the 100km back to Canmore, without a speed camera or traffic light in sight
the greatest danger though out here is undoubtedly the drivers on the roads around Calgary - back home people are generally courteous & will let you out into traffic or give you space to change lanes - not here though, everything is done at breakneck speed & unless your aggresive that space you need is gonna be full of a huge SUV before you know it - add to that a huge number of plain cop cars ready to pull you over ofr any indscretions & the Calgary driving experience is a lot more stressful than London - this is partly due to the fact that you barely get above 30mph round much of inner city London
it's always a relief to get past that last set of lights on Highway 1 just past the ski slopes of Western Calgary & cruise the 100km back to Canmore, without a speed camera or traffic light in sight
Friday, April 14, 2006
Good Friday snow
i really like the Easter break , nowhere near the hype of Xmas & usually much better weather, although a few snow flakes are falling in Canmore this morning
i'm off mountain biking later today, hitting a few trails in the 'hood & testing out the suspension & my lack of riding skills - the place is swarming with bikers & these are deffo not the hairy, bad ass type
which reminds me we were in Edmonton on Monday night, it seems like punk is not dead there or indeed bikers ( the hairy bad, ass type) - all along Whyte Avenue the hogs roared as the Hells Angels cruised up & down the strip - close your eyes & you are almost in one of those cool films from the sixties
on a differnt note, i'm gonna post a couple of tracks from the brilliant Meic Stevens in a bit - i can't stop listening to Outlander at the moment - the connections with Dylan are plain to see, but Stevens is from South Wales (Solva) as opposed to Duluth, Mn
i really urge you to hunt down Outlander, it's magical stuff indeed & an inspiration for generations of super Welsh bands
i'm off mountain biking later today, hitting a few trails in the 'hood & testing out the suspension & my lack of riding skills - the place is swarming with bikers & these are deffo not the hairy, bad ass type
which reminds me we were in Edmonton on Monday night, it seems like punk is not dead there or indeed bikers ( the hairy bad, ass type) - all along Whyte Avenue the hogs roared as the Hells Angels cruised up & down the strip - close your eyes & you are almost in one of those cool films from the sixties
on a differnt note, i'm gonna post a couple of tracks from the brilliant Meic Stevens in a bit - i can't stop listening to Outlander at the moment - the connections with Dylan are plain to see, but Stevens is from South Wales (Solva) as opposed to Duluth, Mn
i really urge you to hunt down Outlander, it's magical stuff indeed & an inspiration for generations of super Welsh bands
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
operation riverside : mission failed
oh man, Charlton were well & truly sunk by Middlesborough today in the FA Cup Quarter Final at the Riverside - bang goes my plans for a quick trip home to see them play West Ham in the semis. I suppose on the bright side it's saved me a few thousand dollars, two days annual leave & a mighty bout of jet lag - but I'm gutted that yet again we have failed in the Cup & it's another barren, boring season
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
six days on the road & i'm gonna make it home tonight.............
just got back after driving more than 1000km's - looping from Canmore to Valemount to Jasper to Edmonton to Camrose to Canmore
a mammoth journey for the most part in glorious spring weather & dotted with all kinds of spectacular scenery, especially up through the world famous icefields parkway
we saw an abundance of wild things - elk, sheep, deer, coyote, hawks & masses of waterfowl - no bears though
i managed an afternoon at Marmot Basin ski resort where the snow was decididly slushy, but the queues & slopes for a sunny Sunday were practically empty
the week before involved a trip to Vancouver, which was basking in glorious spring weather - again i can't express how beautiful that city is, it must be 4 weeks ahead of Calgary in terms of spring - green grass, blossom & flowers in abundance whereas we are still brown & budding
well i'm too knackered to write anything of any interest, no change there then i hear you say
however i have one album recommendation for you, much listened too as we churned through the k's this past few days
Van Morrison's new country opus, Pay The Devil - is primarily a covers album & he does full justice to some old time country standards, his voice as rich & soulful as ever, & the backing musicians are flawless in setting the tone for this pour yourself a whiskey & sit on the porch kinda album.
Monday, April 03, 2006
if's, buts & maybe's...............
i'm about to embark on a mini tour of Canada in the next month or so , i will visit Vancouver, Edmonton, Victoria & Toronto
i might also be heading back to England for the weekend, if Charlton beat Middlesborough (or burrow as every football pundit calls them on TV over here) in the FA Cup next week.
we have sold nearly 5000 tickets for the game & if i still lived in dear old Blighty i would be one of the hopeful souls trekking up to Teesside - so i will have to content myself with watching it on PPV over here, that's if the stupid satellite works - i ended up watching the original game live on sportingstreams.com (i.e the internet)
if we win, i will have to try & get a ticket before i book the flight - the flights themselves work out OK pricewise & timing wise - it would give m etime for a Saturday night in London, a trip up to Birmingham for the game & a trip down to Brighton to see the family
but it's all a very big IF...........................
i might also be heading back to England for the weekend, if Charlton beat Middlesborough (or burrow as every football pundit calls them on TV over here) in the FA Cup next week.
we have sold nearly 5000 tickets for the game & if i still lived in dear old Blighty i would be one of the hopeful souls trekking up to Teesside - so i will have to content myself with watching it on PPV over here, that's if the stupid satellite works - i ended up watching the original game live on sportingstreams.com (i.e the internet)
if we win, i will have to try & get a ticket before i book the flight - the flights themselves work out OK pricewise & timing wise - it would give m etime for a Saturday night in London, a trip up to Birmingham for the game & a trip down to Brighton to see the family
but it's all a very big IF...........................
Sunday, April 02, 2006
i want to ride my bicycle............
i bought myself a mountain bike this weekend - as the clocks have finally gone forward & it's gonna be light until 8pm at least from now onwards it'll be great for evenings
the ride back from the bike shop to our house is literally up a mountain, i was knackered by the time i huffed & puffed up the drive, it's amazing though what you get to see - i stopped & watched a herd of giant elks grzing on the other side of the river as i cycled along the path, they didn't seem to know i was there
as i said beofre we had the Olympian home coming on Friday, it wasn't much of a spectacle, we were at the back of the crowd & all we could see was a mass of heads & a very grainy video screen - similarly the speeches were carried away in the breeze - still it's not every day you get to stand less than 100foot away from a gold medallist
here's a couple of songs about doomed Mariners - Pentangle's "Lord Franklin"from their 1970 album Cruel Sister is the sad tale of Lord Franklin's 1845 expedition to seek a passage to the Pacific through the frozen seas of the Canadian north. The story of Franklin is one of the greatest adventures ever told, he set sail from England with a crew of 129 men & the latest in the technology of the day - including a huge stock of canned food. Unfortunately the cans were poorly constructed & contained a lot of lead, this lead slowly poisoned the crew - their ship finally became entombed in the ice & after surviving in the harshest conditions imaginable, with food running out some of the crew turned to cannibalism - basically every calamity that could possibly befall the expidition occurred & the crew & ships vanished into the frozen wastes.
a similarly downbeat number from Fairport Convention & one of my very favourite tracks by the band, Sir Patrick Spens is the tale of a reluctant seafarer, commanded by the King to captain a boat in the dead of winter, Sir Patrick foretells his own demise which comes about whilst shipping Scottish nobility across the North Sea.
the ride back from the bike shop to our house is literally up a mountain, i was knackered by the time i huffed & puffed up the drive, it's amazing though what you get to see - i stopped & watched a herd of giant elks grzing on the other side of the river as i cycled along the path, they didn't seem to know i was there
as i said beofre we had the Olympian home coming on Friday, it wasn't much of a spectacle, we were at the back of the crowd & all we could see was a mass of heads & a very grainy video screen - similarly the speeches were carried away in the breeze - still it's not every day you get to stand less than 100foot away from a gold medallist
here's a couple of songs about doomed Mariners - Pentangle's "Lord Franklin"from their 1970 album Cruel Sister is the sad tale of Lord Franklin's 1845 expedition to seek a passage to the Pacific through the frozen seas of the Canadian north. The story of Franklin is one of the greatest adventures ever told, he set sail from England with a crew of 129 men & the latest in the technology of the day - including a huge stock of canned food. Unfortunately the cans were poorly constructed & contained a lot of lead, this lead slowly poisoned the crew - their ship finally became entombed in the ice & after surviving in the harshest conditions imaginable, with food running out some of the crew turned to cannibalism - basically every calamity that could possibly befall the expidition occurred & the crew & ships vanished into the frozen wastes.
a similarly downbeat number from Fairport Convention & one of my very favourite tracks by the band, Sir Patrick Spens is the tale of a reluctant seafarer, commanded by the King to captain a boat in the dead of winter, Sir Patrick foretells his own demise which comes about whilst shipping Scottish nobility across the North Sea.
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