Croeso

John Martyn

Gee I just learned John Martyn died, what a loss of talent, and what a hole that has left in my musical life and that of many others

Ho very sad

Owains first concert

In the concert room of the Steinway dealer for NL

Very nice loaction pity it was a bit warm and rather late for your children:

Here is the MP3 http://www.marsandmc.nl/pianoles/mp308/owain_boyd.mp3

http://www.marsandmc.nl/pianoles/50presentatie.html

He played well and was not phased by it at all, lets see what the second 6 months of lessons will bring.

Led Zeppelin Wow

2103032414_16bb86b325, originally uploaded by Croeso.

Did not sleep for a second last night

Working out of our London office

iPod in on reliving the concert (recorded it to my Smart Phone hmm not too bad actually)

Still the best band ever

see all the photos here

cannot concentrate at all on work : )

Getting myself excited for the 10th

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid824272798/bctid1240477201

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid824272798/bctid1240477215

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid824272798/bctid1240477199

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid824272798/bctid1224769952

Zepped

Damn - Jimmy's broken a finger, concert delayed by 2 weeks!!

(mind you I've broken fingers in the past and it's taken longer than 2 weeks to heal)

maybe it's that Alastair Crowley curse all over again........

Everest Rocks

I'm just loving listening/watching to my old friend Mike Peters as they daily blog and Vodcast their way up to Everest Base Camp

http://www.lovehopestrength.com/everest/

1:2222

I'm in shock

Led Zeppelin will play a one off reunion concert in London in November, they ran a lottery for the tickets, 20,000,000 applied for 18,000 tickets.

I've just got an email and I got 2.

I saw them at Knebworth and their last concert in Berlin (not that we knew at the time it would be their last)

To me they were the best music band ever so I cannot wait and probably will be so excited I won't sleep tonight.

I just hope they are as good as they used to be, but knowing the 3 surviving members they will not do it with anything less than 100% quality.

Hmm I wonder what are the chances of me getting a ticket?

                                             

Hmm I have to wait till October 1st to find out

Just reliving the past

Rocking away on top of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon)

That's it the flight is booked I'm going home how could any North Walian miss this one!!!!

Mind you when I was there with my Venture Scouts at the same time of year for our annual Snowdon Bivvy , it was always raining - ah happy memories

thealarm.com

 

MIKE PETERS - SNOWDON ROCKS - THE HIGHEST GIG IN ENGLAND & WALES NORTH WALES JUNE 22nd & JUNE 23RD On Saturday June 23rd 2007,Mike Peters, two times cancer survivor and internationally acclaimed singer of Welsh rock and roll band The Alarm will leada procession of doctors, nurses, fans and supporters on a sponsored walk to the summit of Snowdon / Yr Wyddfa (the highest point in England & Wales), to perform a very special acoustic set at the summit. Over the weekend of June 22nd and June 23rd 2007, Mike Peters will host 'SNOWDON ROCKS' a series of events throughout North Wales featuring two further Mike Peters acoustic concerts. The first will take place on Friday June 22nd at Rhyl Town Hall with proceeds going directly to the North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, Bodelwyddan where Mike Peters was first diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma back in 1995/96. Asecond concert will be held after the Snowdon trek on Saturday evening June 23rd at the Galeri in Caernarfon with fundsbeing channelled locally into the Alaw Unit at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor. Mike (who was diagnosed and successfully treated for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) in 2005/06), is currently being treated at the Alaw Unit with a view to finding a cure under the watchful eye of Dr. David Edwards who has been Mike's haemotologist throughout both of his cancer battles. Dr. Edwards will also be accompanying Mike to the summit of Snowdon. The weekend is being promoted through the LOVE HOPE STRENGTH Foundation, a charity formed by Mike Peters to raise awareness and funding for cancer research both locally and globally with a series of world wide events that will be held throughout 2007. Any local business wishing to participate in sponsorship or any individualwishing to accompany Mike on the sponsored walk to the summit of Snowdon should contact Peters Jones on 01745 571571 or visit www.lovehopestrength.com for further details. Tickets are available now from the following outlets: Rhyl Town Hall 22nd June 2007 12.50 advance plus booking fee Please call Rhyl Pavilion Box Office: Tel 0870 330 0000 [Subject to Booking Fee] Rhyl Tourist Information Tel: 01745 355068 Email: [email protected] Galeri Caernarfon 23rd June 200712.50 advance plus booking fee Please call Galeri Box Office Tel: 01286 685222or visitwww.galericaernarfon.com CaernarfonTourist Information Centre Tel: 01286 672 232 Email: [email protected] Why 'Snowdon Rocks'? "Because you can see both hospitals where I have been cared for from the summit and climbing Snowdon is symbolic of the virtual mountain that cancer sufferers and their carers have to climb with each and every diagnosis." says Mike Peters adding, "Every single person alive in North Wales today will have course to visit one of these two cancer centres during the course of their lifetime, either as a patient or a carer, or simply visiting a friend or family member. Cancer affects all of us." Why Now? "Now is payback time"continues Mike, "Ibelieve the time is right for such a huge undertaking because science is on the verge of massive breakthroughs in the treatment of all cancers, specifically in the field of Leukaemia with pioneering work taking place in the fields of Stem Cell and Gene therapy. As I can testify, people who had previously been given days / months / years to live are now being treated and cured every day, giving hope for future generations." Why Love Hope Strength? "Because once in 1995 and more recently in 2005,I was diagnosed with and survived chemotherapy treatment for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia [CLL]"states Mike, "I owe my life to medical science and the skill and dedication of doctors and nurses at two Welsh hospitals - Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and Ysbyty Gwynedd.Through the creation of the Love Hope Strength Foundation, I will be working throughout 2007 and beyond to raise funds for cancer research. LOVE HOPE STRENGTH FOUNDATION is registered as a charity in England & Wales.CHARITY NUMBER : 1117505 www.lovehopestrength.com

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Shows my age

Gee I recognised all the album covers on this hilarious YouTube video

http://blog.wired.com/tableofmalcontents/2006/10/album_cover_apo.html

New Toys

Carrrying a locked down work PC I cannot load iTunes nor access the files on my iPod, so at Schipol I bought  a new toy, a sort of doughnut shaped JBL On Stage II speaker for my iPod so I can listen in comfort in my hotel room.

A big plus is that  it can be powered by my PC power supply - saves carting round another one.

The sound quality is excellent, pity you cannot here it here, you'll have to make do with a crap photo from my ageing XDA II

Anarchy

I was smiling on the train this morning, Anarchy in the UK by the Sex Pistols, popped up on my iPod, excellent.

Upon arriving at work I emailed a colleague in the UK who once showed me a video of his ~6yr old daughter pogoing in the front room to the Pistols, - 'a perfect start the day my colleague' IM'd back, quite true.

Upon arriving home this evening I was singing the song in the kitchen when Femke asked me what It was, Anarchy in the UK I stated, hmm was the reply 'what is that papa', ah it defines a generation Femke I said, she looked at me and said 'Papa I don't know those English, words what do they mean' .I went on to explain why the Pistols gave a shot into the arm to a dull music scene and the music stands up today as fresh and alive as in 1976.  After listening intently she just said OK, but will you now sing one of my children songs!. I have a long way to go before Femke shows the musical astuteness of my colleagues daughter!

Alan Lomax - a man with a passion

We saw a rather splendid Dutch documentary over the passion and life work of Alan Lomax the other evening:

For those who do not know his story he took over the work of his father - recording for the Library of Congress the folk music of America. Many of the early blues artists were captured by these pair (see Leadbelly in the photo) as well as Guthrie, Dylan etc etc (hundreds of thousands of recordings survive). What I did not appreciate is then Alan took his work to Europe, recording in France, the UK (I loved the weaving songs of the outer Hebrides - very similar to the chain gang songs in America), Italy and Spain. He worked tirelessly and selfishly (being away from his family for months on end!) and his passion and enthusiasm positively shone from the screen. I think as John Peel was for new music , Alan Lomax was for Folk Music. The world sadly misses them both.

The passion reminded my wife of that of Jacques Brel - ah but that will be the subject of a future posting

Unfortunately my credit card company is now loving the afore mentioned Alan Lomax as iTunes/Amazon is being used to extend my CD collection again!