Is Vinyl Good for Me or Should I Let It Go?

So here is the dilemma as mentioned yesterday. As I sit in my study catching up on writing tasks and sorting out all the bits and pieces from Monday's Sports Association meeting, I am aware that behind me sit about 800 vinyl LPs.

They take up space, they gather dust but am I ready to get rid of them? I have contacted a company based in Reading who advertised in a national rock music magazine to see if they are interested in buying the collection. They have said they are but we haven't got round to talking money yet. I have a figure in my mind that I would accept but accepting money really isn't the issue here. The Big Issue is can I face letting them go?

The collection was built up over many years and features some quite rare stuff from when I was a music columnist on the local newspaper. So there is history and personal feelings in those discs. But they do take up space, my boys aren't interested in having them and it is unlikely I will ever play them or have the time to record them onto CD. So ultimately they could end up at a car boot sale or in a skip.

So I am gradually veering towards selling to create additional space. I am also very much a convert to digital music services. When somebody asks me how large my music collection is I tell them it stretches to hundreds of thousands of CDs. That's because I subscribe to the Napster service and play this through either my five speaker computer or my Sonos system. There really are hundreds of thousands of CDs available on-line. When I go out in the car I will hook up my MP3 player which contains about 5,000 tracks and play these on random. This technology never ceases to amaze me. The idea of music streaming down telephone lines and then instantly being transferred to speakers in another room is quite amazing.

So I come back to the question of what need do I have for my vinyl and I'm struggling for an answer.

Tonight I'm off to the monthly Grapevine at Bedfords gig in Norwich which features Jack Harris and a couple of other singer-songwriters. Should be an interesting and enjoyable evening. Will let you have my impressions tomorrow.

A Good Feeling and New CD Releases

During the course of a year I chair numerous village groups and meetings and often come away feeling rather deflated with the thought that I could have done better. That certainly wasn't the case last night at the latest meeting of Hethersett and the Meltons' Sports Association.

The meeting lasted two hours and was very positive and the time absolutely flew by. I came away with the feeling that there is plenty we can do to promote sport, fitness, well being and the local environment. The sports association can never be a talking shop. Every time we have a meeting (four a year) we need to come away with some positive actions. Last night for instance we decided to set up a new social athletics, jogging, running club with the help of the excellent Paul Evans from Active Norfolk.

Paul will coach a group for an initial six weeks from April. After that time there will be a decision as to whether the group continues. Then we agreed to support Hethersett Netball Club's attempts to find a home in the village to practise and train. We are also going to put together 1,000 fitness folders to be given out at events in the villages throughout the year. These will include leaflets on coming events, fitness ideas, well being hints and tips and details of the association and plenty of other things as well.

There are just so many things going on in the village over the next few months that it would take me a day to go into them all. If anybody is interested they are listed on my village web site at www.hethersett.org.uk

Every Monday I try to listen to as much new music as I can through my Napster account. This week I heard new albums by Shearwater, Fanfarlo and Meat Loaf. - three very interesting new releases. Shearwater's "Animal Joy" is well worth a few more listens. The band is an offshoot of Okkervil River who I saw in Norwich a few years ago - and very good they were too. Fanfarlo's Room Filled with Light also had its moments. There were shades of Sparks very evident. Sadly Hell in a Handbasket by Meat Loaf was a huge disappointment if a little predictable. Meat continues to thump out songs as if his life depended on it. The only problem is that most people moved away from this kind of rock about 20 years ago. There isn't an ounce of subtlety here and the attacking vocals end up as a massive turn off. His version of Californian Dreamin' is quite hideous - the result of an artist well past his sell by date. The other main problem is none of the songs were written by Jim Steinman.

Tomorrow I have to face a difficult decision - do I sell my vinyl record collection? I will talk more about this and new music technology in tomorrow's blog.

We Woz Robbed

Well we wuz robbed. Yes we gave Manchester United a lesson in football and ended up losing 2-1. I guess that's why they are one of the top teams in the country. Norwich matched them in virtually every department but they still won.

Mind you I can't see them winning the title if they continue to adopt negative tactics. They have some of the best players in the world but sat back on an early goal and only came into their own as an attacking force when we equalised. I wonder what the score would have been if they had continued to attack after going 1-0 up. On this form I really can't see them winning the title. Norwich once again proved that we can live with the best and the fact we are eighth in the Premier Division is certainly no fluke.

Yesterday I talked about my obsession for writing. You may have gathered that I have two other obsessions as well - football and music. I write about both quite a lot!

So yesterday I came home from the Norwich v Manchester United game and watched highlights of the Arsenal v Spurs match and then the Carling Cup final between Cardiff and Liverpool. Followed that with Athletico Madrid v Barcelona and then rounded the evening off with Match of the Day Highlights.

In between that lot I watched an interview with Michael Stipe on Sky Arts. It was a gentle affair with Jo Whiley asking nice undemanding questions. You got the idea that Mr Stipe would have ignored any difficult questions anyway. He came over as a slightly wacky, mixed-up guy with decided views on certain subjects and somebody still coming to terms with the part he plays on the planet. I have always enjoyed REM's music without being a great fan although two of their albums - Automatic for the People and Out of Time - are minor modern classics. Towards the end of their very long career they seemed to lose their way and be of very little interest.

Tonight we have the quarterly meeting of the Hethersett and Meltons Sports Association which I set up exactly one year ago. During that time it has gone through a number of transitions as it seeks to find a level of supporting sport, recreation, fitness, well being and the environment. I think the association has a very valuable future and will write some more about it tomorrow.

Is There a Branch of Writers' Anonymous?

I think I'm becoming word obsessive. When I checked yesterday my January blog adds up to 13,683 words and my February blog to 9,886 not counting this entry. Add to that the fact that I write over 400 words a day in a personal diary and all the other newspaper, feature writing and web site work I do and I am beginning to seriously worry whether I should be attending meetings of WA - Writers' Anonymous.

Seriously I thoroughly enjoy writing. I would spend my whole life doing it. So what actually constitutes a writer? Most of my writing attracts no payment and is just done out of a love of the art. So am I qualified to call myself a writer? Well I think so and so from now on when somebody asks me what I do I will proudly say "I am a writer."

I often think I would like to know how many words I have written in my lifetime, bearing in mind I was a journalist for many years and so wrote for a living. It runs into millions. My personal diary has been going for almost 40 years and I can write up to 600 words a day in that. Even taking an average of 300 words a day over the years it works out (quick bit of maths here) at somewhere around 4.3 million words.

Which reminds me that I read an article in the Daily Mail on Saturday that the biggest growing sector in publishing is self publishing novels through Amazon. Novels and books that can be downloaded electronically. I am busy at the moment checking through and updating a silly little novel I wrote many years ago based on my experiences as a junior reporter in Lowestoft. It is my intention of placing this on Amazon to see whether anyone is stupid (sorry intelligent) enough to download it. The main problem at the moment is I can't think of a title - absolutely nothing springs to mind.

Last night was the annual Hethersett and District Churches Together barn dance in Little Melton Village Hall. Usually this event is accompanied by frost and snow. This year the date was put back slightly and so the conditions were better. I really dislike most forms of dancing - it's just not my bag, I'm always glad when dances are over. I guess I quite enjoy the barn dance once I make the effort to get there but last night the house was warm, I had a cold and I just felt like hiding away. Then I remembered that Casualty was on television and that was the spur for me to leave the house.

Today looks like being a bright and relatively warm one and so it's off to Carrow Road to see Norwich play Manchester United. Looking forward to the match and I have a sneaky suspicion that Norwich might just turn the formbook upside down here and win this one (remember you heard that here first). I will give you my impressions of the match in tomorrow's blog.

Don't Take the Michael out of Norfolk People

It always amuses me how Norfolk and Norfolk people are portrayed on television. It's probably best to be amused otherwise it would make you angry. Actors trying to re-create a Norfolk accent usually end up speaking with a west country sound. In Norfolk we do not roll our rs.

So last night I watched a programme I had recorded before Christmas. Ade Edmondson was travelling the country and pitched up in Norfolk - or more to the point pitched up in Cromer (pronounced Cromaaah) with a smattering of Downham Market, Denver and Cley (pronounced either Clay or Cly depending on whether you are posh). So the programme was scarcely representative of Norfolk as a whole and most of it surrounded the fishing industry and crabs, kippers, bloaters and other assorted fish.

Ade tried to be funny in a peculiarly Ade kind of way and really it didn't work as he tried to speak the Norfolk dialect and ended up falling just short of making us look like a bunch of yokels as he tried to have some fun. It really didn't work. Not everyone in Norfolk speaks with a broad Norfolk accent. I don't for one (although I can when I want to) and neither does Steven Fry and hundreds of thousands of other people. What we do do is treasure our heritage and history. Norfolk is a beautiful county even if (as Ade was quick to point out) it's very flat. Outsiders can't seem to understand that we like it that way. We know there are no mountains and very few hills (although anyone who has tried to cycle round Norwich will disagree with that) and the highest point in the county is known as Beeston Bump, but we love the open spaces, the broad brushed skylines. It's an artist and photographer's dream and I for one will be out with my camera as soon as the weather is warm enough.

One of my favourite Norfolk scenes is looking across Halvergate Marshes between Acle and Great Yarmouth. You can see for miles with just an occasional windmill dotted about. It is open and expansive with none of the claustrophobic feel you get with mountains. It gives a feel of freedom and space something that Ade Edmondson failed to bring out in his quest to be funny at our expense. It certainly inspired some of the most memorable prose written by Charles Dickens who set part of David Copperfield in Great Yarmouth.

There is more to Norfolk than fishing and the sea, although it was sad to see film of Cromer Lifeboat Coxswain and fisherman Richard Davies who sadly died after the programme was made. I lived next door to Richard when I was a journalist working in Cromer in the early 1970s. He was a great character. Would always ring my bell and bang on the door as he want out on a lifeboat call, whatever time of day or night it was. He would also regularly leave crabs on our doorstep. Sadly I was allergic to them and so couldn't enjoy them!!! My time spent at Cromer as a young reporter was some of the happiest of my working life.

Last night we celebrated our eldest son's 30th birthday and our youngest son's pregnancy!!!!! by going for a meal at the Relish restaurant/bar in Newton Flotman just outside Norwich. I would rate the food somewhere between average and good.

Today it's off to a lunch at the Methodist Church for my wife's Latvian group. They went to the Baltic country a couple of years ago to help renovate a home for young mothers and their children. Then tonight it's the Hethersett and District Churches Together barn dance in Little Melton Village Hall --- yeehah.

Finally today I'm not sure whether I touched on a new web site yesterday entitled Ladybird Letters. I only heard about this through a Facebook message from our future daughter in law. It is an excellent idea and I was very touched to find out that the business has been set-up in memory of our stillborn grandson Oliver and through our love of ladybirds who seemed to appear everywhere after his birth and gave us comfort in a strange sort of way.

Have a look at http://www.ladybirdletters.co.uk

Leaning Towards Madness - in a Musical Sense

Over the next few weeks I will be leaning towards madness! No I'm not going loopy or off my trolley but reading about some very strange rock stars. I have lined-up three books that deal with the subject of rock music and madness and the first is a biography of Phil Spector. I will follow this with a biography of Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett and then complete the trio with a new book entitled "All the Madmen".

I have this morbid kind of fascination with the subject of rock stars off the rails. Perhaps Spector is the most excessive of these. You only have to look at the wig he was wearing for his murder trial to realise that something isn't or wasn't quite right in the land of Phil.

I get frustrated when I watch so called travel programmes on television. What I want to see are the towns, the cities and the countryside and what we usually get are ego-tripping presenters taking to hot air balloons or joining in with some ancient cult. The programmes all too often become vehicles for the so called celebrities rather than about the places. I actually avoided watching one on Yorkshire last night when I read that one presenter was taking to the skies and the other was trying his hand at something else (the subject of which escapes me). I have the same problem with celebrity DJs. I want DJs who love their music and want to share their knowledge of it and what do we get? Too many Paul O'Gradys and Graham Nortons who just seem to want to talk about themselves. Thank goodness that Brian Matthews is still going on a Saturday mornings.

That's why I was really excited to hear that John Peel's record collection is going to be put on the internet. Now here was a man who lived for his music (although some might say much of what he played was certainly not music). Not quite sure yet what format the web site will take and whether it will be possible to listen to the albums but at least we know that Peel's main reason for being a DJ was to bring music to the world and not self obsession.

Love and congrats to our eldest son Chris who is 30 years of age today. Have a good one.

The Brits, the Dangers of Journalism and Some Happy Family News

Starting today with some very very happy news. My youngest son Matt and his partner Emma are expecting a baby which is due in September.

I am so happy for them after they had a still birth last September. 2011 was an horrendously sad and awful year for our family for numerous reasons and the death of little Oliver was almost more than I could stand. It still makes me so sad just to think about the funeral and the tiny grave in Hethersett churchyard. I would say that I pray that everything is okay this time, but I have given up on prayer as it let me down so many times in 2011. I just hope that everything goes well and in September we have our second grandchild who is fit and healthy.

Last night I caught up with the Brit Music Awards. Forgot to watch it the previous evening and so caught up on ITV player on my Ipad. I now have virtually all the Iplayers and TV on demand gizmos to help me catch up. Unfortunately I couldn't find any way on the ITV player to fast forward to miss out the adverts and the boring bits, although to be fair there weren't too many of the latter, but quite a few of the former.

I expected little from the awards but was pleasantly surprised. After some of the disasters and excesses of previous years it was good to have a decent host in James Corden who came over as professional without being arrogant and I loved his reference to Wayne's World after the acceptance speech from Dave Grohl who did look for all the world like Wayne Campbell as played by Mike Myers from the movie.

The sets were colourful and the whole show seemed to hang together well rather than look like a limp old jumper that had seen better days. I could just about put up with the music as well. At least we had Florence and the Machine and I can tolerate Bruno Mars and Adele does have a stunning voice even if her London accent when she is talking is a little short of presence. No doubt the album 21 deserved all the accolades. I enjoy it although it's not really my musical taste.

The tributes to Whitney Houston and Amy Winehouse were less than fulsome and there was a rather rushed feel to the whole evening as more and more presenters and acts were crammed in. This culminated in the famous raised finger salute from Adele who was cut off in her prime after winning the top award for album of the year. Perhaps if Damon Albarn had cut his thanks down to a reasonable level we might have had time for Adele. Mind you it would just have been another list of thanks. Whatever happened to the angry people of pop throwing out messages left, right and centre and railing against authority a la Sex Pistols, Pulp etc.

Today everything has been homogenised into glitter and glam thanks to the likes of the X Factor. Most of these people are Media made stars, although, as I have already said, this wasn't too evident this year apart from in the dull, boring and listless thank yous that followed the announcement of every winner.

And Blur won the Outstanding Contribution to Music award. It's difficult for me to comment on this as I have never been a Blur fan. Apparently this award is only given out to "really deserving" artists and isn't awarded as a matter of course annually - although there seems to be few years when it hasn't been. Previous winners provide a strange list of the good, the bad and the ugly. Just imagine some of these on the same bill for a concert - Wham (not quite sure what their contribution to the history of music is), Spice Girls (ditto comment), The Police, Cliff Richard, The Who, Eric Clapton, Robbie Williams (really!!!), Pet Shop Boys, Oasis, Paul Weller, Bob Geldof (charity work yes but music never), Queen, Status Quo (the two chord award), Rod Stewart, Van Morrison, David Bowie, Elton John, The Beatles, Duran Duran, Tom Jones, Sting, U2, Eurythmics, Bee Gees and Fleetwood Mac.

I might be wrong but nowhere in the list can I see the Rolling Stones. I'm not a Stones fan but surely they deserve to be there unless I'm missing something.

So looking at that list I guess Blur are worthy additions, particularly as arch rivals Oasis are already on it. Do you remember the old Blur v Oasis Brit Pop battle of a few years ago which was  almost a continuation of the Stones v Beatles battle of the 1960s where you had to be a fan of one and hate the other and it didn't seem to be acceptable to love or hate both. Well I pretty much dislike both Blur and Oasis - not only for their music but for what they stand for. Luke warm on the Stones but firmly believe the Beatles were the greatest pop band of all time and will never be challenged. They virtually started everything.

Which brings me to ask a question. What is Ed Sheeran about? Why did this very average singer-songwriter scoop so many awards and why is he held up to be the greatest since goodness knows when? I just don't get him. To me he is at best an average songwriter who is likely to have his 15 minutes of fame before going back into obscurity. Only time will tell but I might bring this subject up in another couple of years.

Anyway enough about the Brits and onto other things. Very saddened by the news that journalist Marie Colvin has been killed in Syria. This does underline the risks that war journalists are prepared to take to bring us news and images from conflicts around the world. These people are not so much reporting the news as being part of it. Their bravery is amazing. Many years ago I worked in the Midlands with ITN's Terry Lloyd who was killed by American troops in Iraq in 2003 in a so called friendly fire incident (what a strange and highly inappropriate phrase for being shot and killed).

I have always been a very different kind of journalist enjoying working in local communities and covering local events in the hope of helping in some small way to providing a social history for coming generations. I don't think I have the courage of sheer guts and determination to cover war zones. I am in awe of those people who have and do.

I see more Olympic tickets are going on sale. As somebody who applied for numerous tickets and didn't get a single one, I remain rather sceptical that the right people will be paired up with the new allocations.

Finally today in what has been an over long and rather rambling blog (is anybody reading these I ask?), an explanation of the Pantiles from yesterday. This is an historic and quaint shopping area in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and just happens to be the place where myself and my wife got engaged.

Pointless or should it be Puntless or Something Else?

I thought it was going to be 15 degrees and sunny today. It turned out to be barely seven degrees with a biting wind and rain after lunch. So in some ways it was a mistake deciding to play golf as I found it difficult to feel my hands and fingers and the wind played tricks with the small white thing (well that's my excuse). Still was quite pleased with my game despite losing to friend Roger by two holes. Have to say that the Bacon Rolls and coffee at Bawburgh Golf Club afterwards were really the winners.

I have always been a fan of TV quizzes and game shows ever since growing up with the likes of Double Your Money and Take Your Pick. I have written about these in the television section of my own web site and still remember them with fondness, although I'm sure if I viewed them again today they would seem very limp.

I always remember that the first question in Double Your Money was worth £1 (I guess it was a tidy sum in those days) and it was always a joke question that the contestant couldn't get wrong. People would send in questions and if read out they would get £1 as well. I can remember my grandfather sending in a question for the gardening topic. "Is red cabbage, green grocery." Never could understand why they never used this humdinger of a joke question!!!!!

I'm still addicted to quizzes - Eggheads, University Challenge, Mastermind I watch them all. I usually finish my work for the day to co-incide with Countdown which is followed by Deal or No Deal and then Pointless and then Eggheads.

My favourite of all those is definitely Pointless which is excellent, mainly due to the quick wit of the presenters Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman who fire remarks off each other throughout the show. Richard has one of the sharpest wits imaginable and the same kind of sense of humour as myself - usually surrounding word play and obscurity. Often so obscure that nobody else understands them. I guess it's all the product of an over active brain.

The object of Pointless is to give obscure answers that are unlikely to have been said by 100 people who are surveyed. The winners always have the lowest score as opposed to the highest. I believe the quiz should go out on tour and appear at a variety of the following venues:

A local pub where it could be called Pintless
The River Cam in Cambridge where it could be Puntless
The local decorating company where it could be Paintless
The local strip club where it could be Pantless
The town without any bridges where it could be Pontless (tough one that)
and finally Tunbridge Wells where it could be Pantiles (sorry that's a play on words that only people with a knowledge of Royal Tunbridge Wells will understand). For the uninitiated I will explain tomorrow.

A few years ago I was a contestant on the Weakest Link. Got voted out in the final round by two ladies. I would like to say they ganged up on me but it wasn't true as we all got one vote each and the strongest link voted me off.

Addictive Games, Literature and Child Protection

I hate computer games because they can be so damn addictive. Temple Run is the latest that has got me hooked on the ipad. So other than being chased by a clutch of rampant monkeys what else has been going on in my life over the last day or so.

Well last night I attended a Norfolk FA Child Protection workshop for the village football club. There were about 20 members of Hethersett Athletic present and it was a very well organised and important course. Went to one of these three years ago and it's interesting to see how things have changed with part of the evening being taken up with discussing social networking and cyber bullying - certainly a sign of the times.

Today I made a trip into Norwich to sort a few things out and order tickets from Waterstones for two literary events at the end of March. The first is an evening with Robert Goddard at Waterstones and the second an evening with RJ Ellory at Norwich Millennium Library. Excellent value for money. The Goddard event is just £3 per ticket and that includes a glass of wine. The Ellory is just £2 and if you buy a book you get the money taken off. I have read many of Goddard's books and all of Roger Ellorys. I have also been in regular contact with Roger via e-mail but never had the opportunity to meet him in the flesh,

This evening I have been watching the continuing story of Chelsea's demise!

I have also been doing plenty of gardening and as spring approaches (temperatures today into double figures) it's looking rather chipper and strangely tidy for the time of year.

Automobile Anonymous - Caring Artists

Quite frankly the AA are beginning to annoy me.

Cold calling is bad enough but cold calling when you are already with a company seems in some ways to be worse because you feel you are being deliberately targeted rather than being a random entity. We have one of our two car insurances with the AA. A couple of weeks ago they contacted us and tried to sell us additional car insurance to cover the eventualities of being hit by an uninsured driver. We declined. Today they tried to flog us home insurance. I'm quite happy with the deal we already have with another company. The AA offered to pay for our switching to them and "could they help us". At that point I put the phone down on the grounds that 1/ I was in the middle of doing something and 2/ I had no intention of trying to switch with all the hassle that would bring.

I can only assume that the AA is getting desperate. These continued calls will do nothing to endear them to me. however.

Mentioned last week how talented British singer songwriter Ana Silvera is. After seeing her in Norwich last week I wrote a concert review for the Archant Iwitness24 Norfolk web site. Received a really nice e-mail from Ana herself thanking me for the kind words. I always think it's nice when an artist generally acknowledges the support they receive.

Was delighted at the weekend to find that writer RJ Ellory is on his way to Norwich for a personal appearance at Waterstones. I have been in regular contact with Roger over the past few years after hugely enjoying his early novels. He is a most gracious man and I am looking forward to meeting him in the flesh. The previous evening best selling author Robert Goddard is appearing in Norwich as well. Two nice events.

Words Can Go To Hell Today

As Harry Chapin once observed "Sometimes words can serve me well and sometimes words can go to hell for all that they do." So I hear you say 1/ what has this to do with anything and 2/ Who the hell is Harry Chapin?

To start with 2. Harry Chapin was an American singer songwriter who constructed wonderful story songs and said more in one song than most artists say in a lifetime (only a personal opinion of course) 1. The quote comes from one of his best songs "Story of a Life." And today I'm finding it difficult to think of anything to write about. It's cold and there's football on TV so excuse me if I keep this blog brief. Normal service will be resumed tomorrow (hopefully)

Feeling Cheated and a Crazy Evening

Along with the majority of the 24,000 Norwich fans who attended the FA Cup match against Leicester at Carrow Road yesterday, I felt very let down.

Norwich scarcely seemed to be trying against Leicester and the Norwich faithful, who filled the stadium yet again, deserved better. If Norwich were virtually going to capitulate against patently inferior opposition many of those present could have saved themselves £25 a head to watch what at times was something of a debacle.

The club let the fans down by making it very obvious that the FA Cup means very little and in the words of manager Paul Lambert "our priority is staying in the Premier Division." Lambert is absolutely correct in this but why are we so negative about things? We are currently in eighth place in the Premier and the chances of our being relegated are virtually zero. So instead of being defeatist and talking about concerns over sliding down the league why don't we talk about finishing in the top half and making a serious assault on the FA Cup.

Sometimes in our modern age we forget the legacy of the past - often because the people involved have no idea about that legacy. Anybody who lived through Norwich's great cup run of 1959 when we reached the semi-finals as a third division outfit will know the affect that had on the city. A good cup run this year would have had the same affect. 24,000 fans paid good money and expected a win over Leicester. They were disappointed by a lack of ambition and effort. You don't hear Martin O'Neill at Sunderland talking about relegation and the problems of a cup run. He just takes his side into the quarter-finals and realises that success breeds success.

Enjoyed what was billed as a crazy quiz at Hethersett Old Hall School last night in aid of the Wulugu project which works with under-privileged children in Africa. No idea why it was called a crazy quiz as it was pretty straightforward. There were some crazy moments, however, when we were declared the winners and had to tell the organisers that they had added the scores up wrongly and we were actually second and then there was a crazy raffle where all the yellow tickets weren't put in for the draw. Never mind it was a good evening, the food was good and it was for a good cause.

Ana Silvera - A Star in the Making?

I know it might sound ridiculous but last night I heard a British singer-songwriter who might just be too talented to become a star.

In these days of instant fame where five minutes exposure on the X Factor can lead to ridiculous record offers and comments about this or that person being the greatest singer of all time, it is nice to see that there are genuinely talented people around.

One such is Ana Silvera, who thankfully hasn't been subjected to the cult of personality. By that I mean that Ana's success to date has come through genuine talent.... and there was plenty of that on show at a new venue for me in Norwich last night.

I went with my friend Mel P to try out Grapevine at the Bedford which is in the centre of Norwich and what a great evening it was. The music started at just after 8 p.m and ran virtually non stop for well over three hours. The cost for this marathon featuring four artists was a princely £5. What value for money.

First up was London singer-songwriter Gil Karpas who veered on the side of blues and jazz and produced an interesting set with a voice that reminded me of Paul Rogers. Ana Silvera was the headline act but came on second due to a need to get back to London.

I can't speak too highly of this set. It is certainly the best performance I have seen from a woman singer since I was lucky enough to see American legend Judy Collins at Norwich Arts Centre a few years ago. Ana is classically trained and it certainly showed in her songs which seem to be a mix of personal pieces and songs based on mythology and fairy stories. The result was a beautiful mix of melodies and strong literate lyrics with Ana's keyboards augmented by cello and a back-up singer.

If there is any justice in this world Ana should become a big star. She has talent in spades and a voice reminiscent of early Janis Ian. Her songs are poignant and she deserves a bigger audience. Hopefully her coming CD "Aviary" will cement some kind of niche for her. Ana Silvera may be small of stature but her personality and musical ability both have star quality.

The evening continued with local singer-songwriter Matt Watson who produced a very varied set, mixing in his own songs with pieces by the likes of Pearl Jam. The evening concluded with a Liverpudlian singer-songwriter brought in at the last minute. Unfortunately I didn't catch his name, but he was very good.

It was a wonderful evening, almost a throw back to the folk clubs of the early 1970s. Usually the venue hosts music every fourth Wednesday in the month. That means I only have to wait just over a week for a return visit. If that concert proves to be half as good as this one it will be well worth seeing.

Suarez' Apology, Netflix, Cool Runnings and Lack of Original Thought

Sorry but I feel impelled to return to the subject of Liverpool footballer Luis Suarez who this season has been a disgrace to our national sport. The latest thing to annoy me is his obviously hollow apology for refusing to shake hands with Patrice Evra.

According to the Independent newspaper he has apologised following pressure from the club's sponsors who obviously realised that this was already a pr disaster. So Suarez apologised and that's where I have a problem. He only apologised when pressure was exerted by a sponsor and not because he felt in any way contritional.

In many ways that sums up the world in which we live. Originality buried under layers of marketing and public relations and froth. Call it what you will, but we seem to live in a world where originality and original thought rarely exist. People behave in a particular manner or say particular things because that is the way they have been told to act. I would venture to say that apologising was one of the last things on Suarez's mind until he was told to do so and I'm sure that apology was grudging and had more to do with money and the loss of prestige than with genuine contrition.

Last night I went to see the Disney film Cool Runnings at Hethersett High School as part of the South Norfolk True Film Festival 2012. Forgot how entertaining this film was as I haven't seen it since my boys were small. Forgot how it ended as well. Very interested to see that the actors who played the Jamaican Bobsled team are all Americans from New York whereas the American coach John Candy actually came from Canada!!!!

Yesterday I also took out a 30 day trial of Netflix, the American based film and TV web site. It allows me to watch films and TV box sets free for a month to evaluate the service. I can downstream them onto my laptop, my Ipad and even my TV through a Wii console. So I stayed up late looking at what was on offer and have to say initial reactions are poor. No up to date blockbuster films and very few I want to watch. At best the content seems to be patchy and disappointing with old films highlighted not because of their content and importance but because it appears they are all that Netflix has. Will continue my search later today.

Tonight I'm off to see Ana Silvera in Norwich. She's a London based singer-songwriter. Have only heard a couple of tracks from her but liked both, so looking forward to the evening.

A Quiz Win, a Library Event and some Entertaining Television

Last night had a surprise quiz win at Wymondham Railway. Took the family as eldest son Chris is spending a few days with us whilst on half-term from his teaching job. So appropriately we went as a family four and called ourselves Stewards' Enquiry. It shouldn't take a genius to work out why!!

The questions rather favoured those of us who grew up in the sixties and seventies but I was still very surprised to win. The £300 prize for Play Your Cards Right was also won (alas not by us). At the end of every quiz names of those taking part are put in a hat and one lucky person gets the chance to play for a jackpot on the old Bruce Forsyth game. We have been to five or six of these events but it is the first time I have seen anyone win.

This morning I called in at Hethersett Library to take a picture of the display of David Nicholls' book One Day. The library is encouraging as many people as possible to read the book at the same time and put comments on a special wall tree in the foyer. I have to say I read the book a few months ago and was desperately disappointed by it. Haven't seen the film and not sure I really want to. Sent a story from the library over to the Media and onto my village web site.

This lunchtime, whilst eating my snack lunch, I popped the television on to see the start of the news and caught part of Loose Women. Admittedly not a show I would normally watch particularly as they were discussing the menopause! But it was good to see Tony Blackburn and David Hamilton on. I kind of grew up with these guys on the radio and they were excellent entertainment, bouncing jokes off each other. Apparently TB is re-releasing all his singles. Not many people know that he was a singer once although I use the word loosely.

Can't believe that he released something like 18 singles of which two were minor hits. I remember his voice was average to say the least and his material mundane to say the least. As David Hamilton said the new collection will be "Tony Blackburn's greatest hit revisited." I do remember that a girl I went out with for a short time was heavily into TB as a singer!!!!!

Tonight I'm off to see Cool Runnings at Hethersett High School as part of the village's Olympic celebrations 2012 and also part of the South Norfolk True Film Festival. It is likely I will be taking money on the door although difficult to gauge how many people will be turning up.

Valentines - A walk and a Norwich City footballer.

Valentines - commercialism gone wrong or a romantic day. I guess you pay your money and take your choice. Not everyone makes the ultimate sacrifice like me. I gave my wife a photograph of her with another man. It was Norwich City footballer Andrew Surman.

So I ask what does Andrew Surman have that I don't. Okay he"s younger, fitter, richer.Okay enough is enough I'll just slink into a corner and listen to my Adele CD. If you are reading this Andrew I'm only joking.

Went for a long walk around Hethersett this morning and took some new photos for the village web site. Not sure how many more pictures I can take of the superb parish church before I reach overkill.

Cruelty to Pigs and Memory Problems

Terrible piece on the news about pigs being beaten to death in East Harling. Just watched the owner of the farm denying all knowledge of what has been going on. Sounds a bit like the editors of certain papers claiming no knowledge of phone hacking etc.

Trying to explain to somebody after the David Hockney exhibition that he can't hold a candle to my favourite American artist and immediately forgot the guys name. Took me hours to remember it's  (sorry forgot again)

Mainly Footie

I don't always agree with Alex Ferguson and some of his rants. Today I'm in the same camp as him. Liverpool player Luis Suarez is an absolute disgrace to football and should be banned from playing in this country.

After his eight week suspension for racist remarks made to Manchester United player Patrice Evra, everyone was expecting the two players to shake hands before the match between them. Suarez ignored Evra's outstretched hand. This man is a disgrace to sport. Mind you Evra's over enthusiastic celebration at the end of the match was hugely over the top. I sometimes wonder where football is going.

Meanwhile Norwich had another excellent victory - 3-2 at Swansea. We became only the second team to win there in the league this season and are now up to eighth in the Premier Division.

Today should be the last of the really cold days. Yesterday in London it was -9 before moving up to a balmy -2!

Museum, Exhibition, Casualty and the Sun

One of the joys of visiting London is wandering through back roads in Westminster. There is always something unusual to spot if you keep your eyes peeled. Today we walked from Waterloo, across the Thames, past the courts of justice to Doughty Street to visit the Charles Dickens museum.

Another joy is visiting one of the hundreds of cafes and good value eating houses. People say food and drink is extravagantly priced in London. This is just not true. There is good value to be found at every corner. You just have to search it out and refuse to pay exorbitant amounts of money.

Doughty Road is where Dickens lived as a young man and where he wrote Pickwick Papers. It is in a very desirable residence, very clean and wide. The museum itself is interesting without being hugely memorable. It seems slightly disorganised, not really knowing what it is trying to achieve. Certainly the way the National Trust has re-created Rudyard Kipling's house Bateman's is much better. The Dickens home seems to be more of a random hotch potch.

One of my favourite areas of London is Carnaby Street. Always interesting. It may be a throwback to the swinging sixties but you see some interesting sights and people and the shops are still very colourful.

Then it was on to the David Hockney exhibition. Very mixed feelings about this. Yes it was big, yes it was coulourful but is Hockney really a top class artist - somebody up with the greats of the art world? Many of the works were his portrayal of his native Yorkshire landscapes. But I had mixed feelings. Some of the works were grandiose in scale but I couldn't help feel that hundreds of other unknown artists living in the UK have just as much ability. Art can be very pseudo at times, as if people are afraid to go against the trends and admit that what they are looking at is sadly pretty average.

Got back in time to see another slit the wrist episode of Casualty on BBC 1. This one was totally depressing. An attempted suicide, a rape, children taken into care. Is this really the way we want to be entertained every Saturday evening - personally I think not.

Interesting to see that five journalists from the Sun newspaper have been arrested with regards to the phone hacking scandal. These are people from a newspaper that holds itself up as fighting for truth, honesty and the British way, a campaigning newspaper standing up for the public. The words hypocrisy and self righteous spring to mind.

No snow, it was go

Ever feel that journalists slightly over-egg the pudding? What I mean is the way they over emphasise something in order not to spoil what they feel is a dramatic story. How many times have we had bad weather stories of road chaos with a special correspondent standing on a bridge over a motorway talking about the appalling conditions only to see traffic moving smoothly.

Last night we were told to be very watchful today and to seriously consider not travelling unless absolutely necessary. It's going to be bitterly cold with snow we were told. Today we travelled from Norfolk to Surrey and had just about the easiest journey ever. No accidents, no traffic jams and certainly no snow. As they say never let the facts get in the way of a good story. I know from my time on newspapers that often a reporter is told the slant to put on a story before they set out to cover an event.

Mind you there must have been snow somewhere as a number of cars were covered which brings me to a pet hate. One driver in particular on the M25 was shedding snow from the back of his car. This was flying across the carriageway and being most annoying. How difficult would it have been to have brushed the snow off before leaving? Unfortunately that takes a bit of effort and thought.

Finally got my MP3 player hooked up to play rough the car stereo. I have over 4000 tracks on it but couldn't remember just what they were. So it was a pretty mixed bag on random play. At one point went from a Carpenters' love song to an Eminem hate song. Pretty much everything in between from Tim Buckley and the Handsome Family to Leon Russell and the Strawbs via Nick Cave, Secret Garden, Joan Baez, Sandy Denny, Harry Chapin and many many more.

Tomorrow a visit to London. Will let you know what I think of the Hockney and Dickens' exhibitions.

Progtastic Art

There are some wonderfully talented artists in the world who would probably go unknown and unnoticed if it wasn't for the wonderful Internet.

My cousin in Utah sent me details of a young American prodigy called Akiane and, whatever your thoughts on religion are, you have to admit that here is a unique artistic talent. Akiane puts her artwork down to visions of God. I don't want to get into a debate on religion here (maybe I will one day). Suffice it to say that visions or not there is something special here. Christians will claim the talent comes from God, atheists will say it is just a talent that she was born with. Either way this is something special. Have a look at the artwork at http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/prodigy.html

There is also a link from there to Akiane's web site which is also worth a visit.

Have just bought tickets for a concert by John Lees' Barclay James Harvest at Norwich UEA in October. It's a seated concert which somehow seems wrong for a rock venue but perhaps reflects the age of the audience. John will be the only original member of BJH on stage. Woolly Woolstenholme and Mel Pritchard are both dead and Les Holroyd is off doing his own thing with a breakaway group. Lees remains my favourite rock guitarist of all time and would comfortably make my top ten of all time favourite songwriters. It promises to be a progtastic evening.

Interesting to see on the local news on BBC 1 a number of Essex County Councillors quite obviously asleep during a meeting. At least three of them in a line.

Talking of television we seem to be seeing an awful lot of Dawn French at the moment and also an awful little. A slimmed down three stone lighter Dawn seems to be popping up everywhere, doing interview after interview. Of course she has a new series to plug!

Forgot to mention that yesterday was the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens - an event that has  attracted plenty of publicity. It's astonishing to think that Dickens wrote and published so much and that he was only 58 when he died. Had he lived into his seventies we could have had another seven or eight classic novels to drool over.

Having finished reading John Boyne's The Absolutist I am now onto his book about the American Wild West "The Congress of Rough Riders." Early indications are that this is just as good and readable as his other novels - what a delight to find somebody you enjoy reading so much.

Tonight we have a big meeting for the future of Hethersett Athletic Football Club. We will be discussing what we want to achieve and how we are going to go about achieving it. It could go on for some time which is why we will be starting at 6.45 p.m.

The snow seems to be hanging about although we haven't had any more over the past couple of days. Temperatures continue to be sub zero, however.

An Irish Rover and Auschwitz

For quite some time I have wanted to return to Northern Ireland for a holiday but never got round to it. So today took the plunge and booked a six day trip at the end of April and beginning of May with the National Trust. Although I have travelled quite a lot in Southern Ireland and also been to Port Rush and the Giant's Causeway in the north I have never visited Belfast.

I think as you get older history plays a more important role. So I am looking forward to visiting some of the historic areas that I once studied at school and saw so many times on the news. There were other places that we wanted to visit as well. Primary amongst these were trips to Berlin and Dresden in Germany and Krakow in Poland.

Krakow in itself is apparently a very interesting city, but the main point for the trip there would be a visit to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. Not your usual holiday destination, but somewhere I have always wanted to go.

Man's inhumanity to man has always been one of the most distressing aspects of our existence. It's a topic that I find myself returning to often. Nowhere was this more evident than with the Holocaust. I have never really comprehended the scale of the slaughter despite seeing numerous films and reading many books on the subject and visiting museums. There is still something in my understanding that is missing and I'm hoping a visit to the camp would help me to really understand just what went on and maybe answer the major question of WHY?

They say you never hear a bird singing at the camp, as if there are just too many ghosts, as I'm sure there are. Man's inhumanity is something underlined in the John Boyne book I have just finished reading and which I mentioned yesterday. The Absolutist is about the First World War and the futility of young men being used as fodder in a conflict that nobody really understood. It is a frightening thought that had the current generation, including my two sons, been born 120 years ago they could have been fighting in the trenches of France. That's a very sobering thought.

Anyway our Ireland holiday will be more about rolling hills and grand properties. I just hope they don't move Norwich City's  home game against Liverpool from the Saturday to the Sunday so that we miss it. I see that the FA Cup Final is scheduled for the day after we return home. Norwich must have as good a chance of reaching the final as they have ever had. A win over Leicester in a couple of weeks' time would put them in the quarter-finals and just two wins away from a final they have never reached.

On a lighter note Norwich manager Paul Lambert was already high in my estimation but has just gone higher by banning his players wearing gloves during matches. I have always thought the sight of players with gloves to be slightly ridiculous. Any player with cold hands is just not working and running hard enough.

Well that's it for today's blog. A blog that when I started I was unsure of what to write. But once I got started I didn't really know how to stop. Tonight I'm round a friends for this month's music club. It's a group of mates that get together each month just to listen to music. Tonight I will be playing the likes of The Maccabees, Frank Turner, First Aid Kit, Leonard Cohen, The Civil Wars, Lana Del Rey and Smith and Burrows.

It's difficult to imagine that in a few week's time the spring flowers will be out and temperatures will be well into double figures. At present they are hovering around zero or below. At least the snow is on its way out. Hopefully this will be the only visit from the white stuff this year. It was a brief visit at that.

Hethersett Memorial Playing Field is still under snow, which made the thought of attending an evening meeting to discuss summer fetes, come and try sports days and Olympic weekends rather strange. As a trustee of the playing field I always enjoy my involvement in looking after such an important public space.

It is going to be a very special year in the village with so much going on. At present we seem to be marking time but only for a few days before the action starts. But we have already had a pledge to fitness event and the official opening of the new play equipment and that's just for starters.

I seem to have more and more things from the village to write about in the Norwich Evening News and Wymondham and Attleborough Mercury. As well as that I put them all on my village web site at www.hethersett.org.uk and now on the Iwitness24 site.

Last night I listened to the latest edition of the Wymondham and Attleborough Talking Newspaper for the Blind after writing a piece on it from Saturday's presentation in the library. It was kind of spooky to find my newspaper stories being read out by someone I don't know and have never met. Spooky but fun. But whilst other people using the service would listen to the stories as news items I was more concerned about whether the grammar was okay. Thankfully it didn't seem too bad.

Looking forward to the coming weekend when (weather permitting) we will be visiting the David Hockney and Charles Dickens exhibitions in London. Whilst on the subject of literature I have almost finished reading the Absolutist by John Boyne - a really good read.

More decorating today at the Wymondham cafe meant I had no time to listen to any of the new music releases. So that's a delight to save for later in the week.

All White!

Woke up to find several inches of snow. Would have been a good day to curl up under the duvet and shut out the world, but I had things to do. So it took 15 minutes to clear the snow off the car and set off for Wymondham, sliding into one of the Town's car parks at about the third attempt.

Spent the day painting at the Coffee Shop and really enjoyed it. Still plenty to do before it re-opens on Tuesday and so another day of painting tomorrow. At least there was no more snow during the day. It shouldn't last long because much of it has already changed into that kind of black sludgy mess that you get, usually after a number of days.

I see that a Dutch company have taken over the former National Express rail service in the East of England. Let's hope they provide a better service and their trains are a bit cleaner and more comfortable. A forlorn hope I guess.

What's a VIP?

Just what is a VIP? That's the question that entered my mind as I wandered through Norwich today. I saw a poster at one of the city's cinemas advertising larger, more comfortable seats for VIPs. Now VIP obviously stands for Very Important Person but these seats weren't for important people, just those willing to pay more for their cinema experience. So does the importance of a person really equate to the amount of money they have or the amount they are prepared to pay for a service? Well it does appear so. But it isn't money that turns you into a truly important person it's behaviour and attitude and of course people with the right behaviour and attitude do not consider themselves important.

Spent much of the day in Norwich. Had six layers of clothing on to see me through the visit to Carrow Road to see Norwich beat Bolton 2-0 and it could have been five or six, that's how dominant we were. It was a bitterly cold day and no surprise when we left a quiz at Cringleford School to find quite deep snow outside. Thankfully driving conditions weren't too bad and we got home safely after finishing fourth!

Before going to Norwich I popped into Hethersett Library to pick up two stories for my web site and the local papers. The first was a promotion for the local talking newspaper for the blind and the second preparation of a display of information on the 1948 London Olympic Games which includes photographs I took last year when the 1948 torch visited Hethersett.

Too Cold To Do Anything But Read! The Day The Music Died

 February 3rd 1959 - 53 years since Buddy Holly died. The day the music died (allegedly)

It's cold and snow is forecast for tomorrow which could curtail the weekend's activity. So tonight it's settling down to read and watch TV and try to keep warm.

I have just finished reading Darren Huckerby's autobiography which frankly was disappointing. A pretty mundane run through the life of a professional footballer. Unfortunately it isn't going to be of much interest outside of fans of the clubs he has played for and the writing is rather childish at times. Still it was reasonably enjoyable if you do have to get through the recurring theme of "jolly good chaps all having a lark together."

Now I'm halfway through "The Absolutist" by John Boyne, an author I really enjoy. His best known book is The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas which was made into a very successful and very sad film. The Absolutist is not only partly set in Norwich but also in the French trenches in World War One. There are a few inaccuracies though. He refers to a train journey suggesting that a train leaving Norwich at 10 minutes past 10 would arrive in Liverpool Street around midday. Even today that journey would take just under two hours. In the age of steam, when the book is set, it would have taken closer to three hours as I can well remember from journeys in the 1950s. Still it's another rattling good story.

Today we visited a new cafe in Wymondham. Well actually it's an old cafe but under new management in the main street. Karen who now runs it is pretty much a relation. Actually she's the mother of our son's fiancee. Give it a look if you are in the market town.

Go Ahead Village and a Cold Front

If there is a more active village in the country than Hethersett I would like to hear about it.

Tonight we had a meeting of the village Olympic Committee which over the past few years has organised a host of events over a summer weekend. This year the Open Weekend will be from June 22nd to 24th and will feature numerous events that include a flower festival in the parish church, a brass band concert, a songs of praise service, an inter denominational church service in Hethersett Social Club, a 24 hour swimming marathon in aid of the Big C Charity appeal, the third annual Hethersett's Got Talent competition, a sport in the park day featuring more than 20 Olympic sports that can be tried for free, a major ladies five a side football tournament and a run the square two mile fun run.

This year the village will also be holding an Old Style fete on June 3rd to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and those are just a handful of the events being held in the village over the coming few months. I put details of all these and more on my village web site at www.hethersett.org.uk.

Moving swiftly on, it has finally turned cold here in Norfolk. Temperatures today struggled to get above freezing all day and tonight are likely to plummet to -6. Snow could follow over the next few days.

Last night I wasted an evening watching Norwich City lose 3-0 at Sunderland with a lack-lustre performance that was their worst for many many months. Things can only get better when they take on Bolton at home this Saturday.

One of the highlights of the day when I have finished work is to watch the quiz show Pointless on television. One of the hosts Richard Osman is the funniest man on TV and a perfect foil for the presenter Alexander Armstrong who is pretty funny as well. Richard has a wonderful quick wit that is sometimes so sharp that people don't immediately get his comments. Recently one of the rounds asked contestants to give words that ended in the letters arm. One contestant said self-harm. Quick as you like Richard said that's what you do when you move from the country to the city. He then had to explain himself - sell farm. Today he was talking about chameleons and said one specific variety  was so good at blending in with its background that he had one on his hand. Of course nothing was there. "It used to be a bit jumpy but now it's a calmer chameleon," he said to a barrage of groans.

This is really my kind of humour based on clever wordplay.

Paul McCartney's New Offering

A lovely bright, but very cold day here in rural Norfolk. So shut up in the study once again sorting out tax payments, invoices and other really dull stuff whilst listening to Kisses on the Bottom - the new CD from Paul McCartney.

Opinion on this CD is going to be really split between those who enjoy the jazzy Michael Bubble style and those who think it's a bit of a cop out. Essentially McCartney has recorded a number of his favourite songs from his childhood citing the influence his father had on his musical upbringing. Incidentally the name of the album comes from a line in one of the songs referring to a letter and not to some strange sexual fantasy!

Some would argue that there are just too many established artists bringing out albums of cover versions and this could be because they have nothing new or original to say. Of course Macca is too much of a legend to accuse him of that. He doesn't have to do this and it can scarcely be motivated by financial need. So is it any good? Well to me it's too laid back. The songs are too well known to anyone with an interest in music of the past. McCartney does cherish and lend a good feel to the songs, but they have all been done so many times before.

Some people will love the album, others will hate it and I'm veering somewhere in the middle. There are two new McCartney compositions and My Valentine is possibly the most enjoyable track on the album. It fits in beautifully with all the other tracks and makes me wonder why he didn't write an entire album of original material in this style. That would have been something to get the critics drooling and also something adventurous to achieve.

The football transfer deadline came and went. Sky TV tried to big it up as a "sensational day" but in reality it was all pretty ordinary unless you are a QPR fan and there seems to be plenty to get excited by. Neil Warnock must be ready for another rant. He takes the team up, gets sacked and then they give his successor shed loads of money to spend to improve the team.

As for Norwich City, well they did some strange business. They bought a defender from Peterborough and promptly loaned him back to Posh for the rest of the season. Seems rather a strange thing to do and not sure how the Peterborough fans will react to watching a player they know will be leaving at the end of the season. They had a similar thing with Craig Mickail Smith last season.