I went to see 'Evanescence' tonight in London. They were really good but the crowd were quite entertaining too. It was like a 'Beavis & Butthead' convention, with a hand held aloft, index and little finger raised, accompanied by enthusiastic headbanging!
I thought to myself that their necks would no doubt ache in the morning, just before the realisation kicked in that I really am old!

19.06.03

Spent quite a few hours walking to 'The Needles' today with the dogs. Gorgeous weather too! Check out the pictures in 'Travel' in the 'Atmo1' section of this website.



Then headed off to the second day of the Festival and saw 'Counting Crows' who were surprisingly good, tho not my kind of music, and then 'Bryan Adams' headlining. He was superb, as always, despite being restricted to only a 90 minute set.

15.06.03

Headed over to the Isle Of Wight today in glorious weather. The dogs seemed to enjoy the ferry ride and the long walk after we set up the tent. We climbed a fairly steep hill to a landmark called the 'Tennyson Cross'.



I then went to the first day of the 'Isle Of Wight Festival' featuring John Squire (in need of a wash and shave and some sleep methinks), Iggy Pop (completely mad), Starsailor (breathtakingly brilliant) and Paul Weller headlining.

14.06.03

Headed off for a week on the Greek island of Samos today.

04.06.03

I went home to Wales last night to see the Stereophonics play a 'small' gig at Cardiff University. As I walked to the venue I noted that every rugby club in South Wales must have been empty as all their regulars seemed to be going to the gig too. I did begin to wonder if I was going to be the only guy there who didn't come equipped with a huge beer gut and what can only be described as 'man breasts'!

02.06.03

I think I've worked out a lucrative way of making money. I'm going to get outdoor concert promoters to pay me not to attend.
Why?
Well lets look at the facts...
In 2001 I went to see 'Radiohead' outdoors in Oxford and it rained torrentially throughout. In 2002 I went to see 'New Order' in Finsbury Park and quite literally sank into the mud as the rain lashed down. Last night I went to see 'Bryan Adams' oudoors in Bristol and guess what...it rained.
Get my point?

18.05.03

I was awoken far too early by the dogs this morning so I took them for a long walk in the fields next to the house. I'm not often up early enough to see the mist on the hills!

10.05.03

I have occasionally been known to have a bit of mischievous streak, and tonight one of my cunning plans came to fruition!! If 'Question Time' is on TV, Skid invariably shouts at the screen, disagreeing with everything said. They recently asked that if anyone wanted to be an audience member they should apply on-line. So I did. For Skid. But I didn't tell him! Imagine his surprise when they rang him and confirmed he would be on!



The picture above is the proof that he made it onto TV!

08.05.03

Spring has definately arrived! One of the benefits of having a job that takes me all over the local area is some of the beautiful sights that present themselves at this time of the year

06.05.03

I'm 36 today. At what point am I supposed to start acting my age??!!!

21.04.03

All the fields around here are starting to change colour as their respective crops begin to reveal themselves. The most breathtaking sight at this time of year has to be the fields of


rapeseed with yellow flowers stretching to the horizon and beyond. I just had to take a picture!

18.04.03

Went to see 'Coldplay' at Earls Court in London tonight. As the weather was so good we decided to drive up in Skids BMW Z3, with the top down and the wind in our hair. As we approached London we watched Concorde rise from Heathrow Airport and fly directly overhead. A beautiful sight that will soon be no more.

16.04.03

An eventful day. I hardly got any sleep last night as Lily, one of my dogs, was throwing up on an hourly basis. She was whisked off to the vets this morning and operated on almost straight away as they found a blockage in her system. It turned out to be a stone that she must have mistaken for a biscuit. She's OK now and has 11 stitches for her mistake. Each one of those stitches cost around £30!

14.04.03

There was a question on tv tonight regarding 'marsupials'. Someone was doing a crossword and needed to name one with eight letters. Skid confidently informed me that the answer was 'giraffe'. Apart from the fact that it doesn't have enough letters, he honestly is convinced that giraffes rear their young in pouches. I would have been worried, but hey, in the past he has asked if deer lay eggs.
Pity me.

09.04.03

Went to see Julia Fordham perform at the Jazz Cafe in Camden Town tonight. Utterly superb as usual so I can't wait to do it all again tomorrow night!
The audience included a lot of ladies who seemed very in touch with their masculine side. A guy stood near me told his friend that they were all called 'Lesley-Anne'. At least I think that's what he said.
As for the guys in the audience...I've always had a theory that everyone has three wardrobes. Summer clothers, winter clothes and twat clothes. The latter are those items that should get you arrested by the fashion Police. A few guys in the audience tonight are due life sentences for their crimes!

07.04.03

Pheasants. Why? I honestly believe that in the same way that nations make their neighbours the source of stupidity jokes, birds all snigger when pheasants are mentioned. I could perhaps have a little sympathy when a pheasant walks straight into the path of my oncoming car if they were unable to fly to safety...but they can! Just how stupid are they? They seem to wait at the side of the road until a speeding car approaches, and then step out. The joys of country life!

02.04.03

I took my dogs out for an early morning walk as the weather was so beautiful. As I walked in the countryside I marvelled at the beautiful bird song that filled the air. I walked towards some trees, assuming that the birds were amongst the branches but soon realised that they were just flying over the fields. As I stood and watched I was joined by one of my dogs, Lily. She stood next to me and as we listened to the beautiful birdsong she broke wind with the daintiness of a flatulent warthog! Kinda ruined the moment!

29.03.03

Went to see 'Coldplay' at The Royal Albert Hall in London tonight and they were on great form. When they played "In My Place" I nearly had one of those 'shed a tear' moments as the crowd reaction was fantastic. They also played a new song called "Ladder To The Sun" which confirms that they are going to be around for a long time yet!

24.03.03

Spring has definately sprung!! The weather today was perfect, and not just for gardening. It seems that the pond in the garden has become home to four frogs and they weren't exactly observing the 'day of rest'...



Skid actually said the following comment..."Do we need four frogs?", as if we'd bought too many! I tried to explain that they chose to live in our pond all by themselves but he still predicts we will soon be over-run by biblical proportions!

23.03.03

Took a trip over the Atlas Mountains today. We started in the desert heat of Marrakech and drove up through lush green valleys



until we were up near the snow line.



The sunset as we returned to Marrakech was
simply beautiful.

10.03.03

Spent the day wandering the souks of Marrakech, looking for bargains. It sometimes feels that you turn a corner and step back hundreds of years.

08.03.03

Marrakech is filled with palm trees, which are protected under Moroccan law and cannot be cut down. There is a 'palmery' where palm trees stretch as far as the eye can
see


and of course there have to be the obligatory camels, my least favourite animal!

07.03.03

Set off on holiday to Morocco today. I was relieved to find that I did not require the application of eye make up to get me through passport control!
The whole of Europe was covered in cloud but as soon as we got over the Mediteranean the view was clear

even when we landed in Marrakech

05.03.03

Note to self: In ten years time when I next have to get a new passport, make sure to get a few good nights sleep before getting the picture taken!
I had to get to get a new passport done quickly today as I need a full six months on it when I next go on holiday. Went into one of those photo booths and ended up with a picture that not only makes me look like Bela Lugosi, but the colour of my shirt seems to have transferred itself to my eyelids too.....

Looks like I'm going to have to wear a lot of eye make up everytime I leave the country, to ensure I get recognised!!

15.02.03

Today was definately one of those 'good to be alive' days. I spent most of the morning driving around the English countryside, through quaint little villages. Although the temperature was around zero, the sky was clear and the sun was shining. I drove alongside the River Avon at one point and it was filled with swans swimming serenely, like a beautiful white flotilla.
Priceless.

14.02.03

Went to see Gary Numan play a gig last night in celebration of his 25th year in the music business. Everything about it made me feel old though. I realised that his was the first single I ever bought as a music fan, back in 1979, and the venue he played was also where I attended my first concert, 21 years ago. There were people in the audience last night who weren't even born when either of those events took place!

09.02.03

Went to see my friend Sarah sing in a local pub last night and she was fab! So carried away was I with the occasion that I got somewhat drunk. It's been a long time since I have had complete memory loss due to alcohol, so lots of apprehensive questions asked today!
Spent the afternoon sobering up with a long walk around the historic Avebury stone circle.

25.01.03

Finally got my car back today! And it had been washed too, which made the day complete!!

18.01.03

The courtesy car was delivered today whilst my car is in for repair. A Nissan Micra with less power than a hairdryer. Can anyone lend me a balaclava?!! Oh, the shame.

13.01.03

A beautiful winter morning made taking the dogs for a walk even more of a pleasure

12.01.03

Got up to survey the damage to my car in daylight and found that the wheel that had hit the kerb was quite badly damaged. Skid put my spare on for me as it may have involved getting my hands dirty! Then attempted to drive to work, only to find that in order to go forward I had to steer sharply to the left. Not good. Got it to a garage who confirmed it was too dangerous to drive and then waited for hours for it to be picked up and taken off to a specialist garage :~(

9.01.03

There has been loads of snow and ice 'round these parts today, resulting in my car going for an impromptu slide on my way home from work. It eventually halted by banging loudly into the kerb, causing a hubcap to dislodge. I got the car home and then walked back to retrieve said hubcap, only to slip on the ice and hurt my arm. I've had better days....

8.01.03

Was invited to the neighbours house to celebrate the New Year and had a great time, especially playing on the Scalextric track that had been set up in one of their rooms! Lots of drinking resulted in me crawling home at 6.55am on New Years Day!

31.12.02

For Skid's birthday surprise we went up to London to see the 'Bodyworlds' exhibition. You may have heard about it, as it has become quite notorious. It is basically lots of dead human bodies preserved in a special way so they can be used to educate. Much to my own surprise I really enjoyed the exhibition and now know where my liver is! Take a look at the website here

30.12.02