Springtime for the nifty fifty in Queenswood.

Easter egg hunting at Brockhampton

Many thanks Al. The nano is no longer nudey.

do it DO IT

Rise Records (Bristol) drop the bomb...

A while ago i put in a pre-order for a few cd's from the fine fellows down at Rise in Bristol. They put up with a fair bit of indecisiveness and mind-changing on my part, they held on till the last of the cd's release dates was within spitting distance and then sent along the goods to HR1... 


I'll have a listen through the cd's and flag up any recommendations in due course, but in the mean time i'll show you some of the extras that Rise chucked into the package. Very impressed by their service, and i would have no problem in recommending you check them out.


Anyway, here we go...

Here's the order, fresh out of the bag

First up, a Field Music best of CD. A free addition to the copy of their latest CD that i ordered.

Next up, to accompany the cd by Breton that I ordered, they had chucked in an EP by the band in cardboard sleeve, number 000083( natch), with ltd ed polaroid and sticker.

A selection of posters and stickers.

And one of the CD booklets had been signed by the band, who happened to have been doing an instore gig at Rise.

Many thanks Rise, many thanks.

Look what came in the post....

All the way from Portland, Oregon...

Fantastic effort from the guys at Stumptown. More photos to follow..

Here Weir, here..

Lupin state of mind

Crying happy tears

I used to work with an interesting chap. I won't give away his name, but let's just say it began with A.. and ended with ..drian.

He was a really kind hearted fella, who often saw the good side of people. He always found interesting ways to fill his lunch hour... "oh i'm just off to buy some left handed banjo sheet music" or "I just need to nip and buy a dog collar for my whippet" being two memorable quotes he offered as he left the office.

He is now sadly working elsewhere, well sad for us- probably untrammelled joy for him. But one particular thing he said to me has stuck in my mind..

We were talking about what he was planning to do later on in the evening after finishing his shift. He told me that sometimes he'll call into a local takeaway place (in Brecon, i think) and have a sneeky half pint of beer while he sits reading some local newspaper waiting for the food. And he told me that he finds such joy in a simple pleasure like this; a brief oasis of time to himself during which he sometimes found himself welling up at the happiness of it all. 

And.. I knew exactly what he meant. And it was a story that summed him up perfectly- generous spirited and open to discussing how he felt and to gently ridicule himself. And to nail in a little aside something i could really relate to.

Good man Ade, it's a shame he left.

[And a shame that the last time i saw him was on his drunken leaving do when he was cussing me and Al big style for not going to the local wine bar nite spot. Ah well]