An idiots guide to an Idiot: History talks

An idiots guide to an Idiot: History talks: The excellent series of military history talks I've been watching on webinar continue. Think we're up to number 24 or so. They are r...

History talks

The excellent series of military history talks I've been watching on webinar continue. Think we're up to number 24 or so. They are run by historian and battlefield guide Dan Hill who has draughted in many our historians, lecturers and battlefield guides to talk on various conflicts and campaigns.  Thought initially through the Herts at War group a research group for men of Hertfordshire who served in WW1 the talks have broadened out to cover WW2, the Boer War, Napoleonic wars, Bosworth, Custers Last Stand & a host of others, they have been dubbed History from Home (also used as a hashtag)

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Do look in, they are completely free to view with a facility to donate if you wish. Here's the link:

https://www.danhillmilitaryhistorian.com/historyfromhome

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Going to a gig!

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Going to a gig!: Yes!  We went to a gig! I should explain, of course it wasn't a regular gig, those are some time off I fear, this was  two hours of live...

Going to a gig!

Yes!  We went to a gig! I should explain, of course it wasn't a regular gig, those are some time off I fear, this was  two hours of live streaming from the home of Danny Vaughn in Spain.

He's a brilliant guitar player and we were treated to not only  six string but a twelve string acoustic guitar.

We first saw Danny some years ago when he was with The Illegal Eagles, which was an Eagles tribute band. It always surprised me that such a talented man was playing covers so I was pleased to find out he had his own band called Tyketto and more recently has teamed up with Dan Reed (he of the Dan Reed Network) to form a band called Snake Oil and Harmony.

We were due to see the latter a couple of months ago but it was cancelled due to the Coronavirus lockdown. Though the good news is the date has been re arranged for December, on a Sunday night unfortunately but there you are. Whether it will actually take place is another matter.

However, back to the story. This was actually the ninth week he has been broadcasting from his home, for one or another reason  we haven't seen any of the others.It was a very relaxed gig. He was obviously comfortable in front of the camera, Mrs Danny popped in from time to time, Malibu & pineapple in hand! 

I only knew a couple of the songs he sang , those being off the  their latest album Hurricane Riders though there was a nice mix of slower songs and some more rocky numbers.

The two hours went all too quickly. If he does another next week we'll try and look in. Find him on FaceBook if you want to give it a try. You won't be disappointed.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Life goes on

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Life goes on: Well the world hasn't fallen completely apart (yet!) and some lockdown restrictions are being eased. Felt particularly for our nephew in...

Life goes on

Well the world hasn't fallen completely apart (yet!) and some lockdown restrictions are being eased. Felt particularly for our nephew in Norfolk who was alone throughout and now can go round to one persons house ( think that's right) so he's been let out of jail really!

We've seen alot more of Laura which is a joy. I feel particularly sorry for Laura & Alec  not only because there travels were curtailed  but because they'd lived as a couple for the past 4 years and now locked down with their respective parents. I should mention here that Laura is writing an absolutely cracking blog of their travels which I can highly recommend to you. Its well written and engaging, there's things you just don't see coming as well. Here's the link  https://novaturient613.wordpress.com/2020/05/27/bangkok/?fbclid=IwAR12g2VrsOwQqSkSoIIXn3XGuZ1J9hqsNpHjl2P2AF4rRSv9dWVI-oXEkUk#more-110

Do have a read, you won't be disappointed.

With non essential shops opening up again from tomorrow I expect to be starting to go out to see customers again. I went to one on Friday, the first one I'd seen since lock down (mid March?) got there before it opened and saw the buyer. All socially distanced of course, got a nice order and all was straight forward, just like it always was to be fair!  Haven't got a mask yet but will sort that next week. Think I'll feel abit daft wearing one and will gauge whether I'll need it all the time, its all bit of a learning curve for everyone to be honest.

What else has been happening? I'm loving our new audio system. The sound is really good, I've got some of my vinyl out the loft & Alec has bought my a Spotify subscription for Fathers Day. Must say I'm bit of a luddite when it comes to new things. I never wanted a mobile, a satnav, email...Now look at me, I wouldn't be without them, and much the same has happened with Spotify. Its so easy to put together playlists, it's Bluetoothed to the music system and also to my car, its simplicity itself. I've tried to find slightly more obscure bands from years ago  (Witchfinder General for instance  a Black Sabbath sound alike from the late 70's. Probably their only claim to fame is rather naughty album covers!) but Spotify found them! So I've been able to add  bands to my playlists that I've not heard in donkeys' years. Believe  me when I say I'm completely won over by it. My (vague) plan is to use it in the car & play CD's at home.

Tara's online business continues to flourish without a doubt due to her incredibly hard work and tenacity. She deserves success, there's another great pile of items needing to be packaged up & picked up tomorrow. Alec has kindly stepped into help here and usually does the packing. Here's the link to Tara's eBay shop, do have a look: https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/UnitedBeetRoot?_trksid=p2047675.l2563  There's some great items for sale!

A great friend has been putting his favourite films on FB & Instagram with a brief synopsis and his opinion of them, its inspired me to put together my favourite war films, in no particular order, to go on my blog. Its still very much a work in progress but something I'm enjoying doing. I'm also still researching for the Herts At War  project, there's a whole village I haven't started yet! 

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The Music Box

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The Music Box: The Music Box was a Laurel and Hardy 'short' and won an Academy Award for the best short film in 1932....this blog isn't about t...

The Music Box

The Music Box was a Laurel and Hardy 'short' and won an Academy Award for the best short film in 1932....this blog isn't about that, its about another music box. The new music box I ordered for us! 

Our music system was give a new lease of life a few years ago when  I came into the possession of newer speakers. Believe me it did it no end of good  but the machine was really on its way out, to the extent that the 3 CD player kept putting the CD's on top of each other  and finally the only way to open the bloody CD player door was to thump it on the side. It's days were numbered.

I've been looking for ages for a replacement that included a turntable so I could get my albums out again and eventually settled on Sony, this system has CD, radio including DAB radio, Bluetooth and space for USB's etc . The separate turntable, also Sony is Bluetoothed to the system. It sounds really good! At the weekend I waxed lyrical to Alec and Laura on the romance of the open gate fold sleeve to an album and the joy of the artwork and words that are big enough to see without a magnifier! 

The only slight problem was the headphones I'd ordered weren't compatible with the system, my fault completely but I've been able to return ,and after a phone call to Sony I know what I should get, so they will be ordered shortly so I can blow my brains out by playing it too loud! It's probably due to loud music from days back, and putting my head in speakers etc that has made me abit Mutt & Jeff anyway!  

Alec has been extolling the virtues of Spotify and the like, as this system will take that as well, and I must admit it sounds good. As he says I could listen to a new album before buying the CD if I wanted, to make sure I like it. Both he and Olly & Gary think I'll soon be hooked and only use it, not bothering with CD's, but I like the collection. I like the fact I have all the studio albums from this band or that band. I like the fact that even though its a small CD they still bother about artwork on the outside and sometimes contain interesting information and lyrics. I think something like this will be great for the car though.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Time off

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Time off: When we first went into lockdown I thought I may as well cancel my holiday dates we won't be going anywhere, which indeed is the case. H...

Time off

When we first went into lockdown I thought I may as well cancel my holiday dates we won't be going anywhere, which indeed is the case. However as I've been lucky enough to be kept going on full pay and not furloughed I really feel I need a break. Every day I have to log onto the laptop & do work stuff all day, that's fair enough but I feel chained to the bloody thing, so I haven't cancelled my holiday already booked and I'm off this week!

   It feels like a real break. For instance generally speaking we limit alcohol to Fridays and Saturdays, but I'm on holiday, so can imbibe guilt free if I want. Not setting the alarm is of course brilliant and we've even managed a couple of days out as restrictions have been lifted alittle.

 Some years ago T bought me a guided walk of a local town ( Harpenden), we'd never got round to doing this walk so after about 5 years we went for it. First instruction was abit strange. 'Go to the war memorial and see how many Swans are on it.' Well I can tell you there's two. Next instruction 'Carefully cross the road to the statue on the Green, who sculpted it?'   Hang on...'carefully cross the road?' 'How many Swans?' Not exactly historic or very grown up sounding is it. On further reading it can only be a childrens treasure type trail & we've been meaning to do this for five years! What a couple of prize plums!

Anyway, Harpenden is quite a nice place, a shame there's no pubs or cafes open of course but there you are. We did have a walk around the local church, I'd known that the comic Eric Morecombe had lived locally and his ashes were scattered in the graveyard, we were able to find the plaque commemorating him on the wall but in his real name of John Eric Bartholomew. He died in 1984 (didn't realise it was so long ago!) and I think it's quite telling that Morecombe and Wise Xmas specials are still aired and are still funny. Just a shame there's been nothing since to replace them.

      The weather has been so nice that we took a picnic up to Golden Valley , just walked and talked. Ida got somewhere abit different to explore. It was a really good day. The weather has gone off abit now so don't know what else we'll do but its so nice to have a break from work and to be able to have conversations with T rather than just chats which it felt like we were doing, oh and I've finally got round to ordering us a new musical box but more of that later.