Trailblazing...

Spending a few days in delightful north Devon. Went for a cycle ride down some of the Tarka Trail.

Having successfully managed to remove half my trousers while cycling - don't ask, but let's just say that I'm a man of many slightly bizarre talents - I then attempted to remove my rucksack while cycling...

Was going OK - happy with the 'no-handed' cycling but at the crucial moment there was a slight wobble and then down it all went - unfortunately I also took one of my cycling companions out as well. Injury evidence below.

You may be pleased to know that later in the day I did successfully manage to take off my rucksack while riding with no collateral damage.

This pleased me greatly- still got it!

Should you find yourself in North Devon I heartily recommend the Fremington Quay Cafe.

Funny IRL

Headline in The Mirror yeserday;

"Dwarf in basin fall sues jail."

The story starts, "A dwarf is suing prison chiefs because he fell off a sink while shaving...."

Why even attempt to write comedy when real life is so much funnier.?.?.?

Sunshine on a rainy day

Quintessentially Greenbelt?

A full campsite, seminars in full flow, sunshine and countryside.

Redemption Singing

Sunday morning at Greenbelt means one thing - communion service in a field.

The 'main' event.









The big screen relay overflow.

If you build it, they will come

The campsite continues to fill up.

A long and busy day yesterday with sleep proving to be elusive and fitful. Very late to bed and wake up very early.

Radio 4's farming programme @ 6am has a rather surreal section on the Wool Marketing Board. Did you know if you have more than 4 sheep and want to sell the wool you have to give the Wool Marketing Board first refusal??

A Very British Festival

A passing shower and a couple of hardy festival goers.

GB 2006: Redemption Songs

Currently at the Greenbelt Festival - working hard but having some fun. Great watching the site fill up from Friday morning as the festival takes shape.

This is the sort of 'before' picture - main village site built with the campsite ready and awaiting the festival goers.

Website of the week - #14

Do you like knowing movie pastiches in cartoon format and with cartoon violence?

If you're a Family Guy fan then enjoy this.

It's a film clip so best with a broadband connection. And yes, it is a dog and a baby - takes too long to explain.

It's all go

Ferry tickets for the Outer Hebrides have arrived - yes, I am genuinely going there.

Have also just decided and booked my 'autumn creative outlet'...

Trying something new... twice

Bought an IPod yesterday; laptops, blogging, digital cameras, IPods, I'm really embracing this digital world - although I'm not exactly an 'early adoptor'. Spent some of the day wrestling with the new technology but have to admit that in sheer design terms it is a thing of beauty - though disappointingly you still get white headphones with a black model...

This morning had another new experience - found myself as a guest on a radio programme. I was there to promote an arts festival (guess which one...). Hope it went OK - as long as the festival came across well I'll be more than happy.

Is it art? Dunno, but I like it.

Realised that a couple of exhibitions I wanted to see were nearing their end dates so this afternoon went to see the Constable exhibition at Tate Britain. Admittedly I wasn't expecting the penultimate Saturday afternoon to be quiet, but it was heaving - I have found a new level of hell.

It was full of a weird mix of people - a bloke impeccably dressed in a 3 piece suit, tourists with huge backpacks, single hearty women of a certain age from the home counties, and rather annoying middle class parents who seemed to think that a 4 year old (who they've probably given an unfortunate name like Cuthbert or Hermione) really wants to spend a Saturday afternoon in a stuffy and packed art gallery and are surprised when they are grizzly.

The exhibition was OK - some pieces were very impressive - but there are only so many paintings of horses pulling carts across rivers you can see without it beginning to wane.

Interestingly the Constable room upstairs in the main Tate collection (the free bit) had only a few people in it and was much better.

Then when to the Kandinsky exhibition at Tate Modern. I know it's not for everyone, but it was wonderful - full of vibrant colour and stunning pieces. The galleries were less crowded and had a younger age profile - many were Euro tourists - the contrasting crowds between the two exhibitions probably says a lot about the British attitude to 'modern' art'.

Purchased the catalogue and was asked by the assisant - a nice woman whose name badge said Katie - if I was member. Yes I am, so I got a little discount. She didn't ask the person in front of me that question - perhaps I just 'look the sort'...

Well, I wanted to get away...

Been a strange couple of weeks. Thankfully ending on a slight upbeat note as I've finally decided where to go on holiday in a few weeks and have actually booked some things.

I want to get away from things for a while, get some space, some quiet, a chance to think, reflect and clear my head - Outer Hebrides here I come!

It sounds worse...

Said to me today,

"OK, I'll just talc you down - sometimes I'd use oil but not this time as it would ruin your shirt."

It's one of those sentences said in innocence and perfectly OK - but you'd hate to have to include it in a police statement or interview...

J-Pod

Just finished Douglas Coupland's latest novel - oh dear...

I've read most of his stuff - and not just in a vain attempt to appear trendy and zeitgeisty. I liked Microserfs, Miss Wyoming and All Families are Psychotic but he can be very hit and miss - Shampoo Planet and Life after God were poor, and let's be honest the best bits of Generation X were the margin asides introducing us to phrases such as 'McJob' and 'Anti-Sabbatical'.

Well J-Pod is best avoided - truly bad, a poor rehash of Microserfs lacking its humour, warmth and plot. With stereotypical characters, it's also very narcissistic - Douglas Coupland is a key character is his own novel. Perhaps it was all done with 'post modern irony' - if so I missed it.

Don't buy it - if you are a Coupland fan you'll be really disappointed, and if you've never read a Coupland novel, go and buy Microserfs instead.

Remember you're a .... womble?

In a couple of weeks I start a 'leadership development programme' - it's quite high profile and I was nominated by work. On one level it's all a bit daunting; on another level the talk of 'leadership style' and 'action learning sets' sounds a bit ghastly - smell the barnyard.

For 'pre-programme work' I've a questionare. One question is;

Do you identify yourself as a leader? Say out loud ‘I am a leader’. How does that feel? Note your response below.

Don't suppose 'bloody stupid' is the *correct* response.

Fear I could be once more a small step away from looking in the mirror and saying, "remember, you're a tiger you are, a tiger!"

Seeking Inspiration

Took a day off - time to reflect on the past few weeks and needed a quick recharge. Know the next couple of weeks will be busy; fun, but busy.

I live in a fairly nondescript part of west London, but even here you can stumble across the odd interesting thing. On the other side of park, and by the Thames, there is Shakespeare's Temple, built by famous 18th century actor/manager - and no doubt all round luvvie - David Garrick.

Go the other direction and you come across Teddington Studios - a temple of comedy. Most famous for being where Benny Hill filmed - and let's not forget that in the early days of b&w TV he did some inspired material utilising the new medium of TV, before sinking to the dire Hills Angels stuff - many other comedy greats have filmed there, including Morecombe and Wise.

Not sure where I would be on that artistic scale - Shakespeare at one end and Thames Television comedy at the other - but who'd have thought a rather suburban west London borough could contain such a mixture...

Website of the week - #13

If you build it, they will come.

A gratuitous plug for the wonderful Greenbelt Festival.

(almost) 4 Weddings and a Funeral

In the past 12 months I've been to 3 weddings and a funeral; nearly 4 weddings but couldn't make one.

There are quite a lot of similarities between weddings and funerals - bear with me here. Both are occasions where you meet up with family and friends you may not have seen for a while - quite often the last wedding/funeral you attended. Both usually contain tears - which event has them relating to joy and which to sadness may differ depending on how you know the participants! And both, I believe, are occasions of celebration. It's more obviously a celebration with a wedding (unless it's a really weird wedding!), but whilst there is undoubtedly grief at a funeral, there should also be celebration of a person's life, of thankfulness for what that person has done, and of joy of having known that person.

Yesterday was my Grandad's funeral. Not an easy day, and one containing many tears. But, hopefully, a day which celebrated his long and full life and, admist the tears, there was also joy.

Now, if following the film plot I believe the next wedding is my rebound one to 'Duckface' - ending in violence and me opening my door to a rain soaked Andie McDowell. We shall see...

Website of the week - #12

For those days when you've been stuck behind a caravan on the A30...

Caravan toss

Well... anyway... moving on

Wasn't sure how to follow the previous post - more reflection or pretend it's over and return to the banalities? Neither is particularly enticing.

It's like the problem daytime TV has when moving from the serious item, such as famine in Africa or a woman whose overcome cancer, to the less worthy item such as 'Is underboob the new cleavage?' or 'How to make your bottom appear smaller in time for summer.'

So, in true daytime TV style. Anyway, moving on...

When words appear insufficient

My grandfather died peacefully in his sleep yesterday morning; he was 86 and a man of deep faith.

Often difficult to know exactly what to say in these circumstances. He was married to my Grandma for over 65 years and with 3 sons, 7 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren, family were very much a priority. Indeed, in many respects he was a 'new man' decades ahead of his time.

So over the next few days the family will gather, catch up and try to support each other as best we can. No doubt there will be moments of sadness, but also of thanksgiving as we remember and celebrate his life.

Looking through me smalls

I love the classified ads in Private Eye - from this week.

"Lovesick girl needs £5,000 to pay off debts so that she can marry childhood sweetheart. Thank you. S/C:832003. A/C:00254715"

May be just me, but I think that's the sort of ad that could inspire an afternoon story or one off play on Radio 4.

"Sex-on-legs needs £127,050 for new F340. S/C:40-47-58. A/C:34031458. Honesty pays?"

Sums up the honesty in Private Eye small ads.

"Very unusual male seeks female for bit of adventurous and unusual trainspotting."

Finally they run my lonely hearts ad...

Shoutout

I believe that's what 'young people' say... to the Stirchley lifegroup.

Enjoy this on the big screen TV.

Ouch - crude labeling

According to today's Independent (see here) if you are a single bloke aged between 35-45 you can now be known as a RL - Regretful Loner.

If you are a single, childless woman in your 30s you can be called a SadFab - single and desperate for a baby.

Bl**dy Smug Marrieds...