timebug

I had a similar 'meeting' with my cousins grandaughter. She was born a year ago,and with lockdown(s) and safety precautions, I was unable to actually meet her properly and hold her, until about three weeks ago. All our family are now fully vacinated, and it was a delight to hold the baby girl, who is now on the verge of walking, and therefore will only stay with anyone for a couple of minutes, before getting the urge to be mobile again!

Alexander Kents 'Richard Bolitho' series are similar to the Hornblower and Jack Aubrey ones, you may like them. Then the older books by Captain Marryat may interest you, as might the CS Forester stuff, mostly maritime and incuding the well known 'The African Queen'. And if you like gentle humour, set onboard a small Glasgow 'Puffer' try 'The Para Handy' tales, three volumes complete! (a favourite of mine which I have re-read many times!)

It rained during the night here, following a week of glorious sunshine and high temperatures. It is now overcast, but very warm and incredibly humid in our area. Possible rain given for later today,and tomorrow!

Hayley, I cannot read sheet music,although I can work through tablature, given time! Most of our group sheets are just the lyrics with the chords written above the words to show where and when to change. I played every instrument I have ever used 'by ear' and intuition,I guess.My brother in law is a classical pianist, and over the past three or four decades has tried to teach me to read sheet music. I can't. Some form of musical dyslexia I suppose, I start off okay and then it just goes to white noise in my head! Rather like 'A Brief History of Time' which I have started umpteen times,and it begins okay, but suddenly I find Hawking is speaking a foreign tongue to me. There are 'connections' both in that book , and in sheet music, that my brain just fails to grasp. I have been a solo folk singer, a band member of a couple of folk groups, and then a band member in various 'rock' bands over the years. Rock and roll is something (like the blues...my favourite!) that can't be written down or passed on...you either 'get it' or you don't! I suppose to many people of my generation, the Beatles (and the sixties) ruined a passive outlook on music, and made us committed musical fanatics? I love many kinds of music, and a lot of what we play in our group now, I would have considered 'rubbish' as a younger man. But to paraphrase Louis Armstrong, there are only two kinds of music; Good music and bad music! We are what we are, and I am a music lover.

72 but still twenty, if you follow? I dunno where all that time went, but I have enjoyed my life so far, and still have things on my 'to do' list!

I have, since the age of about five, been interested in musical instruments,particularly stringed ones! I had a toy violin when I was about ten, and I could actually coax a tune from it, although it was realistically a toy, rather than a real instrument. I spent almost fifty years finding out the intricacies of guitars, six string, 12 string,acoustic and electric. I learned the (to me) wonderful mysteries of the blues slide guitar; along the way I had played or toyed with bass guitar, double bass, sitar, harp, dulcimer, mandolin, violin, cello, auto-harp, ukulele and Banjo. Following a major illness, I gave away all my guitars and lost any interest in them. After about eighteen months, I got hold of a cheap ukulele and started to tinker with that. I now own five such instruments, two of them luthier built by craftsmen; one cheap and cheerful one to take anywhere with me, one B/U (Banjo-ukulele) and one Resonator ukulele which I built myself. I also run a small uke group, and we amuse ourselves playing music from anytime in the past eighty years or so.And then, trying to work out a particular piece, that I used to play on guitar*, I asked a friend for a loan of one of his guitars, for an hour or so; He gifted me a wonderful classical guitar, hand made in Spain, so I have almost come full circle! I quickly worked out the piece that had been bugging me,and still consider myself mainly a ukulele player now; who also owns one guitar! *Struggled to work out the piece as it involved transposing key(s) and fingering as Uke and Guitar vary in many ways,and I do not read music!

It is the only Dickens that I actually enjoyed reading. I have read (had to read,at school!) most of his works, and this one has a magic that appeals to me, on a simple level. As for his other works....well let us just say, i have read them, and wish I had not!

A colony of bats hanging from the roof of a large cave, start to wake up for their evening flight and search for food. The leader of the colony sees one bat on the floor of the cave, standing upright. 'What are you doing down there?' he calls. 'Yoga' came the reply.

I cannot enjoy anything of Agatha Christies for this reason in itself! I understand why the fans love the works, but they fail for me,as so much relies on coincidence, and repeats itself throughout the work. I read a lot of her books when I was much younger,and liked them for what they were, simple whodunnits with no deep psychological twists and turns; that is now exactly what puts me off them. A self created world, where everyone knows their place, and the surprises, really do not surprise me anymore. Each to their own, if you enjoy them, you have a large volume of work to read at your leisure.

I have just completed Brice Springsteen's autobiography 'Born To Run'. Strange because I am neither a particular fan of the man or his music, but it was recommended to me by my elder son who had recently read it, so I thought I ought to try it. Very well written,after some 'rock' auto/biogs that are barely literate! Actually written by him, as opposed to talking to a recorder then getting someone to transcribe it; or as a 'as told to' type of book. He explains the mechanics of his writing in an epilogue, and comes across as a caring and thoughtful man,with deep love for his music and family. His sense of loss when saxophone player Clarence Clemons died ia almost palpable in these pages. I was so impressed with the book, that I decided that this year I will try and listen to a lot of his music; as I now know the back story of each album, I hope it will be worthwhile! A pleasant surprise, from someone I have long been 'aware of' but who I had never actually got 'into' musically.

Yes, I understood that! Sorry if it looked like I was sniping, that was not my intention! As I said,I am always thrilled to discover a 'new' (to me) author, and doubly so if I like their work!

I like your spirit, to try a 'new' author,that's how I am myself! But Peter Lovesey has been publishing since 1970 and is an 80 year old man, so he is not 'new' in that sense! I have now read the 15th and 16th novels and found them as good (if not better) than some of the earlier ones, which are firm favourites to me.

I have just got hold of the 15th and 16th books about Peter Diamond, by the writer Peter Lovesey. I have to say that of all the fictional cops/ detectives etc, Diamond is probably my favourite character of the lot (after Sherlock Holmes, of course!) Well plotted and easy to read mysteries, usually involving a murder or two, with (IMO) a solid and satisfying 'hero'. Also great descriptions of Bath, where Diamond is based, and the surrounding areas. I have also read the 'Hen Mallin' books by Lovesey, she is a female superintendant (equal rank to Diamond) who has two books of her own and she also features in two or three of the Diamond stories. Then there are Lovesey's short story collections, and a handful of standalone tales, which I really like too. Strangely, Lovesey also wrote the 'Sgt Cribb' series of the Victorian detective, which were made into a TV series. I simply cannot get on with those,although I have tried a few times! Lovesey is a writer worth checking out, if you have never read him.

I have just read 'Night School' the latest Reacher story, which only cam out here (UK) a couple of weeks ago. I loved it,and thought it was much better than the last couple, which have been feeling rather 'tired' as if the author could not really be bothered. Night School is 'old style' Reacher,back to the feel of the first books,with a harder edge.

I have read most of her output and find them to be well written and they certainly keep you guessing a lot of the time. Not so keen on the Tony Jordan ones (Wire in the Blood series) I prefer the standalone ones for the most part.

67 here almost 68. But 18 forever,mentally!

Just came across this one which I found amusing! It is the late Alan Coren's take on Winnie the Pooh as writen by Hemmingway: It snowed hard that winter. It was the winter they all went up to the Front. You could get up early in the morning, if you were not wounded and forced to lie in your bed and look at the ceiling and wonder about the thing with the women, and you could see them going up to the Front, in the snow. When they walked in the snow, they left tracks, and after they had gone the snow would come down again and pretty soon the tracks would not be there any more. That is the way it is with snow. Pooh did not go up to the Front that winter. Nor did he lie in bed and look at the ceiling, although last winter he had lain in bed and looked up at the ceiling, because that was the winter he had gone up to the Front and got his wound. It had snowed that winter, too. This winter he could walk around. It was one of those wounds that left you able to walk around. It was one of those wounds that did not leave you much more. Pooh got up and he went out into the snow and he went to see Piglet. Piglet had been one of the great ones, once. Piglet had been one of the poujadas, one of the endarillos, one of the nogales. He had been one of the greatest nogales there had ever been, but he was not one of the greatest nogales any more. He did not go up to the Front, either. Piglet was sitting at his usual table, looking at an empty glass of enjarda. ‘I thought you were out,' said Pooh. ‘No,' said Piglet. ‘I was not out.' ‘You were thinking about the wound?' said Pooh. ‘No,' said Piglet. ‘I was not thinking about the wound. I do not think about the wound very much, any more.' They watched them going up to the Front, in the snow. ‘We could go and see Eeyore,' said Pooh. ‘Yes,' said Piglet. ‘We could go and see Eeyore.' They went out into the snow. ‘Do you hear the guns?' said Pooh. ‘Yes,' said Piglet. ‘I hear the guns.' When they got to Eeyore's house, he was looking at an empty glass of ortega. They used to make ortega by taking the new orreros out of the ground very early in the morning, before the dew had dried, and crushing them between the mantemagni, but they did not make it that way any more. Not since the fighting up at the Front. ‘Do you hear the guns?' said Eeyore. ‘Yes,' said Pooh. ‘I hear the guns.' ‘It is still snowing,' said Piglet. ‘Yes,' said Eeyore. ‘That is the way it is.' ‘That is the way it is,' said Pooh.

I was given a set of the Alex Cross novels. Gave up a short way into the first. Badly written and (IMO) very badly edited garbage. Found many other authors who write similar stories, who are actually capable of doing so!

As an additional goodie, I recently came into possession of the entire TV shows for the Cadfael series, 13 episodes only, spread over four 'series' and (of course) not filmed in the same order as the books! (are they ever?) But so far, I have watched three episodes, and while they are sort of condensed, by cutting out lots of side issues that are mentioned in the books, I am still recognising the stories, and enjoying them! I know this forum is not to discuss TV or films, but I thought it was a happy accident, that I got hold of the films, just after reading the books!

The Complete HP Lovecraft is full of goodies, as he only ever wrote two (some say three!) full length novels! All the short stories are well weird and really creeped me out when I first read them!

And now.... I have finished them! A thouroughly enjoyable romp through turbulent times, with a friendly and logical 'hero'. I will check out Edith Pargeters other detective books when I get the chance!

Well I am currently almost at the end of the seventeenth of these, and still loving them every bit as much as when I read the first one (which was in fact the 'prequel' written much later but chronologically, the first few things that Cadfael solved!)

I loved the 'Gaia Trilogy' by John Varley. These books are 'Titan', 'Wizard' and 'Demon'. Set on another world, except it is not really a 'world' but.... give them a try and see what you think!

Brother Cadfael novels by Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter) I know these have been around for a while now, and I remember my eldest son suggesting I would like them, when he read them way back. I have never got around to them until a couple of weeks ago,when I got the whole series as ebooks! Loving them,and about to start reading the seventh. There are twenty actual novels, and then one 'prequel' book, which contains three short stories,and chronologically, should be read first; so I read it first! Easy reading, good plots that offer a mystery, without having to analyse every word or action of individual characters. Edith Pargeter wrote these as well as other series of modern day crime novels, and I am finding them a refreshing change from car chase/gun fight/ drug addict crime stories. As complex as you want them to be, depending what you read into them and how you interpret the tales. Otherwise, simply good simple crime stories, well written and well told. I must admit that at this stage, I am a fan!

I read the first three 'Vera' books after seeing the TV show, and I know what you mean! It seems TV sign up to 'do' a well loved character (from a book) and then change almost everything they can!