Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[AlunB]

An old classic for you and your eager readers this morning:

Gegs (9,4)

Too easy, alt alt (3).

Is it the alias of someone with the letters out of sequince?

Who on earth could that someone be?

[tikay]

An old classic for you and your eager readers this morning:

Gegs (9,4)

Too easy, alt alt (3).

Is it the alias of someone with the letters out of sequince?

Who on earth could that someone be?

I have a recent photo of him, taken on a Saturday night, but have removed his head to preserve his anonymity.

[Tal]

Jolly decent of you.

[AlunB]

I have a similar one of tikay, but it's a bit nsfw

[tikay]

Perhaps of interest only to older readers & music lovers, Lynsey de Paul passed away suddenly & unexpectedly yesterday when she suffered a brain haemorrhage. She was 64, a non-smoker, non-drinker, & vegetarian, & had been, seemingly, in good health.

A really big name back in the day, she dated many famous personalities down the years but never married.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynsey_de_Paul

[TightEnd]

High Wycombe greengrocers/butchers, 1938

"I'll have the one at the top, please"

Click to see full-size image.

[Tonji]

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Some Midland Railwaymen I mentioned last week.

[tikay]

High Wycombe greengrocers/butchers, 1938

"I'll have the one at the top, please"

Click to see full-size image.

What?!

The ones at the top are surely "decorative only"?

Good Lord.

It did used to be the thing to "hang" poultry & game outside butchers shops. In those days, all butchers shops went by the name "family Butchers" for some reason.





Ralphy Boy has his "own" Family Butcher in Nottingham, & he happily queues for hours evey Christmas to get his special cut of beef.

[RED-DOG]

Perhaps of interest only to older readers & music lovers, Lynsey de Paul passed away suddenly & unexpectedly yesterday when she suffered a brain haemorrhage. She was 64, a non-smoker, non-drinker, & vegetarian, & had been, seemingly, in good health.

A really big name back in the day, she dated many famous personalities down the years but never married.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynsey_de_Paul

Yes. That story is of interest to me.

Over the last few months I've been keeping a picture diary and and when a celebrity who is a part of my past passes I include a pic of them too. I'm currently averaging about one a week.

The bloke in the picture with her is James Coburn. He was the Brad Pitt of his day. Notice how the fingers of his hands are curled. His hands were crippled with arthritis. He made loads of films by using hand doubles for close ups.

[tikay]

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Some Midland Railwaymen I mentioned last week.

Lovely stuff, thank you.

Railwaymen are a special breed, with much camaradie & kinship, & very often live on "Railway Estates" dedicated to railwaymen.

My childhood was spent on one such estate - the GWRHA - Great Western Railway Housing Association. 

After Beeching & all that, the houses were sold off to the tenants for a pittance, the house I lived in, an "end terrace" was purchased by my Dad for £1,800. After he died, & my Step-Mother moved out to be nearer her beloved "real" Son, she sold it for £420,000.

[tikay]

The bloke in the picture with her is James Coburn. He was the Brad Pitt of his day. Notice how the fingers of his hands are curled. His hands were crippled with arthritis. He made loads of films by using hand doubles for close ups.

Wow, good trivia Tom.

She dated a whole string of famous men apparently, including James Coburn & Sean Connery. Very pretty girl. 

What will you do - eventually - with the picture diary - pass it on to the girls?

[AlunB]

The greatest train journeys on the planet?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/guardianwitness-blog/2014/oct/01/leaving-on-a-night-train-the-best-long-distance-rail-journeys

Can confirm there is something amazing about travelling across the USA on an Amtrak

[RED-DOG]

The bloke in the picture with her is James Coburn. He was the Brad Pitt of his day. Notice how the fingers of his hands are curled. His hands were crippled with arthritis. He made loads of films by using hand doubles for close ups.

Wow, good trivia Tom.

She dated a whole string of famous men apparently, including James Coburn & Sean Connery. Very pretty girl. 

What will you do - eventually - with the picture diary - pass it on to the girls?

The picture diary is one of the best ideas I've ever had Tony. I just wish I'd started it 15 years ago, when the advent of digital photography first made it practical.

Ultimately yes, the aim is to pass it on to the girls, (Imagine if our dads had left us one?) but it's for my benefit too. So many years of my life seem to have slipped by unnoticed. So many of the little things have gone unrecorded. Now, when I look back over just a few months worth of pictures, it's so easy to remember and re live it. How fabulous will that be when I'm in my rocking chair?

Life is so rich and full. Unfortunately, we all tend to just take it for granted and move on to the next day.

[tikay]

The greatest train journeys on the planet?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/guardianwitness-blog/2014/oct/01/leaving-on-a-night-train-the-best-long-distance-rail-journeys

Can confirm there is something amazing about travelling across the USA on an Amtrak

Now there's a thing.

I recently came across an Amtrak Train called the Pacific Surfliner, runs down the West Coast. Can confirm the LA to San Diego section has already been added to the Bucket List.

Looks wonderful.






The train from Nice to Monaco is pretty special, too, runs right along the coast, as is the recently restored section of the GWR from Dawlish Warren to Dawlish, & along the Devon coast.

This GWR route is probably my favourite, as it has such memories for me. My dad used to drive steam locos along it, & I'd be on the sea wall with my Grandad Angell. Dad would blow the whistle especially for me, & wave at me as he steamed past. I was the proudest kid ever ever ever. Grandad Angell was by then retired, but he had been a steam loco driver too, & his first fireman was....my Dad. Grandad Angell took his new fireman home for tea one day, Grandad's daughter (Elsie) made the tea, & generally made a fuss of my Dad. They were married shortly after.     

Also on the bucket list are two "sleeper trains", one from Paddington to Penzance which I may be doing next month, & from Euston to Fort William.

[bobby1]

One last thing stemming from how disappointing the TV coverage of the golf was last week Tony. As a TV man you must have skills and techniques for setting things up you want to talk about/scene setting and then letting those things develop. The TV shows last week spent load of time on the former and then didn't provide the later to a good standard.

It reminds me of something that to my untrained eye was an almost perfect execution of setting up whats about to happen, even just a small scowl in the crowd and a snarl and stilted laugh adds to what unfolds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jca_p_3FcWA