Uncategorized | Arcticterntalk.org

Archive for the category “Uncategorized”

22 Jun 2014

The Hosts- A Sheffield band who escaped to a forest called Westonbirt Arboretum.

The Hosts opened the concert in a forest tonight for Suede. Short 30 minute set which was not long enough for the audience at Westonbirt tonight. Never heard of them before. Lead singer has good stage presence and songs were new. Really recommend them. Difficult to describe their music. Rock crossed with a tinge of country and western. Good tunes. Keyboards looked rather like Gary Barlow. Nice also to see the band watching Suede with the rest of the crowd standing on the grass.

Their new album is called Softly Softly and details are here

Album | The Hosts – Softly, Softly

Nicely summed up in music speak “The Hosts have a talented singer with a rich voice, a band who can really play their instruments, and a style which is decidedly retro but with a modern twist. In this world of pop music as king, bands like these don’t get the attention they deserve. For those who love someone, whether requited or not, Softly, Softly is an album to dance to, to love to, to take to your heart and cherish.”
This was one of the Forestry commission concerts and it really works.

Tom Hogg

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged band, concert in forest, forest, forestry commision, gloucestershire, hosts, music, new music, softly softly, suede, support to suede, The Hosts, tom hogg, westonbirt, westonbirt arboretum | Leave a comment

19 Jun 2014

Tim Bresnan. Retirement? Arundel

Doubt it. Still a decent county player. Was somewhat amused by the photograph below at Arundel this week.

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged arundel, county championship, county cricket, england, england cricket, retirement, sussex, sussex v yorkshire, tim bresnan, tim bresnan retiring, time bresnan retirement, yorkshire, yorkshire cc, yorkshire county cricket club | Leave a comment

19 Jun 2014

The Fault in our Stars

The Fault in our Stars is a wonderful film on many levels. The acting is superb, as is the casting as is the music. The use of a narrator helps the story flow. As most people know the story relates to cancer in young people. The film is undoubtedly sad however oddly very funny as well. Go and see it. I am not going to spoil the story by telling you what happens but suffice to say a fast moving film that never dwells on any single part, issue or character for long. This story could happen and to that extent is a real story. The music provides a great background and is thoughtfully chosen with a minor complaint. What happened to the song by Birdy T-shirt? A great song and although on the playlist seems to have fallen off the film somewhere. Wrong decision. Not everyone agrees with me. I am a fan of The Economist but cannot agree with their view that the film is ” too sweet and self-absorbed”. Cancer if you have it is very self-absorbing. It certainly absorbed me when I had Malignant Melanoma a few years ago and after my treatment a letter arrives telling me my percentage change of surviving the next 7 years.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2014/06/new-film-fault-our-stars

On the other hand I agree entirely with the views from the BBC, not always the case

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27900741

This is cancer and this is real and this can happen. For background information visit the website for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Until I saw Suede at the Royal Albert Hall in March 2014 in one of the sponsored concerts for Teenage Cancer Trust, I had no real knowledge of this issue, problem nor solutions. Just had not thought about it. Cancer is a sad illness with often a sad ending but when this happens in young people just embarking on their lives this makes it worse. At a minimum their lives are interrupted and at worst finished far too early. The work of the Teenage Cancer Trust is impressive and although individuals like Stephen Sutton MBE are very visible there are many thousands not only of patients but helpers and supporters that remain less visible. If this film does achieve something, it will be that it makes teenage cancer something that people talk about, consider and perhaps try and prevent or cure.

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged birdy, book, cancer, cancer treatments, cancer young, funny film, indy music, john green, osteosarcoma, royal albert hall, suede, t shirt, t shirt song birdy, tearjerker, teenage cancer trust, terminal illness, TFIOS, the fault in our stars, thyroid cancer | Leave a comment

18 Jun 2014

1 Comment

Adam Lyth

Yorkshire opening batsman touted for potentially an England cap in due course however already 26 years old.

Adam Lyth

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged 2014, adam lyth, arundel, arundel castle, county championship, county cricket, due course, opening batsman, sussex v yorks, sussex v yorkshire, yorkshire, yorkshire county cricket club

18 Jun 2014

County Championship Cricket. What is it really like as a spectator? Sussex V Yorkshire. Arundel

As a cricket fan I enjoy live cricket and prefer the 4 day format. I have been a member at Sussex for very many years and might get to half a dozen days cricket in the summer. I have to report with some sadness that county championship cricket is in danger of death. Let me allow you to picture the scene. A sunny June day, cricket being played in the most beautiful grounds of Arundel Castle. A decent crowd mostly consisting of four types, the retired county members, the corporate folks on a corporate bash, a few schools bringing both boys and girls and the eclectic selection of people who regularly watch country cricket without seemingly having a job. The second day of Sussex v Yorkshire. If I am being totally honest I would love to eulogise about county cricket and how the four day game needs to survive if at least to produce players both for England and the tedious limited overs competitions. But I cannot. In fact this was one of the most miserable days cricket i can ever recall.

There was little interest from the players to turn this into a spectacle at all. Yorkshire batted almost all day at a run rate of 2 runs per over. There were no pieces of excellent fielding nor catches, in fact there was nothing memorable. The food is grossly overpriced, paying £2 for a small cup of tea or coffee and the £7 charge for Burger and chips was compounded by having a small portion of cool/cold chips. Very average indeed Hog Roast. My immediate cricketing neighbours conducted bizarre conversations. For example a middle-aged man started a conversation after lunch with his business colleague/friend by saying ” I am expecting a lot of family funerals you know”, the elderly party on the other side discussed at length how great it was to get a free copy of the Financial times at their hotel and ” that it must have been printed in USA as all the stories are from there”. Other gems of conversation included ” I know those banks, HSBC and Vodafone”. And if that was not enough to generate unbridled joy then back to the other side to hear ” did you know someone collapsed and had to be resuscitated at a Jethro Tull concert. His heart stopped for 20 minutes”. The reply was ” does your brain not turn to jelly after 20 minutes”.

Having ranted however I will be back, I know I will. On a more positive note I was able to see why neither Tim Bresnan nor Luke Wright are in the England squads. Both bowled in a meaningless manner and offered little to the game.

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged arundel, arundel castle, country cricket, county, county championship, county cricket, cricket fan, england, england squad, financial times, food at cricket, FT, hog roast, james tredwell, luke wright, overpriced food, photos of cricket, ryan sidebottom, spinner, susses, sussex, sussex cc, sussex cricket, sussex member, sussex v yorks, sussex v yorkshire, tim bresnan, yorkshire, yorkshire cc, yorkshire cricket | Leave a comment

11 Jun 2014

Reykjavík Marina

Arcticterntalk.org

Iceland is a very nice place, there is little doubt, however the hotel that I have been banished to tonight, although nice inside in parts, the bar, does have curious views. For example these are the views as I look out of my bedroom window. I am no sailing expert but dredgers and scrapped looking boats do not normally form part of the visage of a Marina. And I know it is supposed to be a Marina as the hotel is called

Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Marina

On the plus side the bar is nice and the Burger was great! No chips just small new potatoes cooked in a bag.

View original post

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

09 Jun 2014

Iceland. A land of Photographic opportunity.

Arcticterntalk.org

Iceland is a place not to forget your camera. A few hours and this is what you might capture.

View original post

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

09 Jun 2014

Iceland. Reflections on a short visit. Pingvellir

A different view of Iceland

Arcticterntalk.org

Iceland is not a country that I have been to before but some knowledge was there regarding the banking crisis, the ash cloud and more positive reports of good nightlife and interesting places to visit. Reyjkavik is a place that cruise ships now venture to. The first challenge was spelling Reykjavik. I failed when trying to input the city into my I Phone weather app. Thankfully the more intelligent and literary members of my family also failed similarly. In summary this is an interesting island that maybe would be good for 3-4 days maximum. There are plenty of things to see . The first impression as the plane comes into land is that firstly the plane flies low for quite a while whilst out at sea and the first image of Iceland is uncannily like the introduction scene to Father Ted where one views Craggy Island. In fact did they…

View original post 249 more words