Things I have to cope with ...

Must be rough at the seaside - today, some VW campervans turned up, surfboards on the roof, and inflatables jutting through the windows. Out jumped a group of surf dudes, who gathered around, putting up windbreaks, nicking my shovels to build sandcastles, and running in slow motion back and forth. In the end, I just had to give in, but before I left for home I managed to sneak a photo of them sunbathing all over my wall.

As you can see, on my current project, I have been overrun by beach nuts ....

My First Festival

It has only taken forty eight years and a very keen daughter for me to finally attend my first ever festival - and it won't be my last. Why I have never tried it before I don't know. Milly and I had a great time. Weather was perfect, of course, which helped, but WOMAD, even though it offered a range of lesser known bands drawn from all parts of the world, was as friendly, trouble free and well organised you could hope a festival to be. There were stars I did know - Booker T Jones with Green Onions and that cricket theme, I Am Kloot, Rodriga and Gabrielle who stole the show - and stars I know now. The standout performance was CW Stoneking, and if you don't know him then check out the link top right. I have had to have a musical fix of him every day since. Other bands who stood out were Penguin Cafe, Brassroots, Pacific Curls and The Savoy Family Cajun Band. We only saw about 25 of the live acts, so no doubt we have missed some other good performances. Perhaps we can catch up with them next year, where the 30th Anniversary promises to be an unforgettable festival. Maybe I will see you there .

Who Are Ya

Saw my first ever Twenty20 game last night. I have played in many over the years, but I suppose that various rounds of The Oaksey Bowl or local evening league never had the same attraction as seeing Muralitharan and Pieterson ply their trade at Gloucester. Surrey were beaten by a tight Gloucestershire outfit with both sides beating the rain that threatened all evening.

Apart from those two big names, there were other players that were worthy of watching - if only I had known that from the start. It was only after, that I had realised that we had been watching - as per the Dad's Army closing caption - the fastest world cup century scorer, the most recent call up to the England test squad, the England Ashes back-up wicket keeper, two other former England players and an Aussie international. Perhaps next time I should do some match preparation.

I recognised the umpire Peter Willey. No sign of Michael Holding though . . .

DIY SOS

There is only one thing I hate more than decorating - and that is paying someone else to do it. So it was with some trepidation that I took the opportunity of a son's school trip to Barcelona, to rid his walls of painted trains and overpaint with teenage greys and turquoises.

It turned out to be a memorable event - not for the reasonably tidy outcome and not for the 13 hours spent painting on the Sunday alone. It was the fact that I had to wear glasses throughout for first time. So it is official - I am turning into my late father. Appropriate, really, as the Sunday would have been his birthday. Somewhere in the loft I still have his paint speckled glasses.

We also have in common, the fact that we shut ourselves away in the room with only sounds for company using the latest technology. For me, it was itunes on shuffle on the laptop. For my father, I recall, it was a stack of birdsong LP's, probably on self loading, using a Morphy Richards mono record player.

I expect mother was listening to the Music with Pleasure boxset downstairs.

I Think That These Really Are Red Kites

For many years, I haven't quite grasped the difference between Red Kites and Buzzards. It is the same for Rooks and Crows - though someone once said that if you see lots of crows then they are rooks; or if you see a single rook then it is a crow. Or is it the other way round?
The Red Kite dilemma hasn't been helped by the absence of the bird from the Cotswold area for most of my life. Until last year, when I think I saw just the one. And now this year, I think I have seen four so far.
Probably good news for the Cotswold Red Kite population, which does appear to be on the increase.

Watching Swindon Go Down

It was all going so well when this picture was taken ( thanks to the official Swindon photographer for this great picture). This cross led to a Matt Ritchie goal, and the first 30 minutes of Saturday's game against fellow strugglers Notts County was all Swindon. And if only Douglas' thundering volley had not come off the crossbar, I guess the good fortune would have continued. But the 30 yard effort, direct from a corner, blasted back off the woodwork and with it fell away the Swindon composure. Time and time again they lost the ball yards outside their own penalty area, and after Lee Hughes equaliser within 15 mins of full time, a mistake by Cuthbert in the same area gifted the former prison-mate Hughes with his second and eventual game winner. The ups and downs of football lost on the desperate Swindon fans. It must be all over now, with only an outside mathematical chance of survival. I think I have seen 6 or 7 home games with no victory and little passion for winning, so it is no surprise Swindon are where they are.
Saying that, next season could be fun. Lots of potential local derbies with Cheltenham, Oxford, Hereford and Bristol Rovers. Just not sure if I will be seeing any of them.

Weekday Afternoon Radio

I have tried so very hard to like Richard Bacon - 5live weekday afternoons - but I just don't. He is no replacement for the professional and quite brilliant Simon Mayo. My super little solar powered DAB radio provides many alternative stations - Absolute 80's being one of the better options - but I still hadn't quite found what I was looking for. Until Radcliffe and Maconie moved from Radio 2 to 1pm on BBC 6Music.

A week into their new show, and I am starting to get hooked. And already I have discovered some new music. The best of which - so far - has to be the not-quite-irritatingly catchy 'The Look' from a band called Metronomy. I expect I am the last person to find out about them, but if I am not, I present a performance of the very same song top right of this blog.