If You Don't Know Where You're Going ... Any Road Will Take You There

This morning is 7 degrees and it's cold it's feels like -4 degrees band you know sorry I'm just having a very very brief walk out I feel less pressure now that I've reduced my daily target from 11000 steps to 6000 steps. I’ve now  dropped the million steps and  I feel like I can turn around and go back at any time which is good because I'm still walking still going out but it's great when you can do something to remove pressure

I have decided that my talking does not leave a generally readable post, so I may use it to capture ideas , but not to actually produce stand alone blog posts.

I wasn't intending to post today but I shared an Instagram meme and and it was Alice in Wonderland with the Druggy Caterpillar on the mushroom and she was asking which road she needed to go down and the Caterpillar said “well where are you going?”

Alice says “I don't know where”

and the Caterpillar says “Well if you don't know where you're going any road will take you there”

On double checking , what I thought was a druggy caterpillar is actually a pink Cheshire Cat glowing in a tree , absolutely the right sort of person to take advice from.

Now I'm not too sure if this is a definite “Alice in Wonderland” /  Lewis Carroll thing but the first time I heard this was in a George Harrison song which is “If you don't know where you're going any road will take you there”. 

It's one of my favourite George Harrison songs I love it so I now need to investigate whether it was Lewis Carroll whether George Harrison actually made it up or where we actually find it found it

With a little web research I have discovered it was the Cheshire Cat , not the druggy caterpillar that was credited with Lewis Carroll’s words , so that is obviously where George Harrison to his inspiration from.

Now the other thing is that Lewis Carroll stayed at , and has a room named after him in my favourite hotel , “La Rosa” in Whitby and I have stayed in the “Lewis” room which looks across the river to the Abbey , where Dracula came ashore in the Bram Stoker novel.

So in this post I have accidentally managed to connect George Harrison , Lewis Carroll , Bram Stoker by way of a Cheshire Cat and Whitby Abbey. I’m sure no one expected that , and I certainly didn't.

Back to the walking and writing though ….

I have actually finished this using Google Docs which seems to be faster than Microsoft Word and is certainly very handy. I use Google Sheets to record my steps so I amd used to the Google Office suite and it is more than efficient.

One of the things I've noticed is that when things on Vocal is that the minimum post is  600 words, and my blog posts tend to be about 300 words . When I was doing it by talking the day before yesterday I did  about 1200 words and yesterday was 800 words so talking actually sort of gives you a lot as you to do a lot more than typing.

The problem is that after you've typed you then have to really edit it so I'm not too sure whether this comes out of the readable but we shall continue on doing this and as I say this was not planned but it means that while I'm actually walking I can actually blog as well.

I don't believe in giving yourself unnecessary pressure so no that's just about it now I'm gonna finish this post here but you and the music is going to be obvious . It’s the George Harrison song. 

I hope you managed to get something from this and everything in it is well worth investigating.

819

Sunday morning, come down to make a cup of tea, that's the time on the oven clock 8:19 , and I'm thinking "I'm Late" . I'm not the White Rabbit from "Alice In Wonderland", although at the end of the month I will be in Whitby and visit La Rosa where Lewis Carroll once stayed and now has a room named after him, and I will probably nip by as I've not been there for over a year.

The weather is still grey and cold although the sun is hot when it shines through. I am vaguely perturbed by the similarity to the weather and the book I am reading "The Pince With The Silver Hand" where the fog, mist and cold accompany the "gods" of Limbo trying to destroy the world by turning it into another Limbo.




I was looking at the number of programs on my Virgin TV recorder, as well as my DVD / Blu Ray collection as well as my CDs and realise that in my case I have bought things just because I thought I should. Part of it is actually supporting record shops and artists but it seems, especially in this digital age,  we have become magpies, collecting things just to have them rather than to continually enjoy them. Downloading and recording are the worst because you have it then and then it just sits there, often not being watched or listened to. It is nice to be able to enjoy something and having it on tap but I am now listing CDs on Discogs some of which are selling at rather inflated prices, but of people are willing to pay then that's what you list it at. The Pirates "Shakin' With The Devil" compilation is selling for up to £56 but I've put it on at a far more reasonaly £20.

There was something else that I wanted to say but it's now gone from my mind, but if it comes back I will just do another post. So what to choose, there's obviously "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane, or "I'm Late" from Disney's "Alice In Wonderland" but I am going to go for The Pirates "All In It Together" which I loved as soon as they released it on their seventies reformation. Then I found the video below by "Sons of Pirates". I've not been able to find any more info because there is an American band of the same name but I'm wondering if they are the offspring of Mick Green and Co. Mick Green was also the inspiration for Wilko Johnson. They are probably the Green Brothers, Mick Green's lads here on Facebook.

Drive

Last night I went to see Reginald D. Hunter and he told the sad story of Harper Lee. Her first novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" was an instant classic, which but incredible pressure on her to follow it up. How do you top an instant classic? She loast friends especially in the literary world because she was being set up to fail. She tried to write but nothing would pass her own criteria, how could it? Check out this Guardian article and decide for yourself, even better go and look for more information yourself. I personally won't be buying a copy of "Go Set A Watchman". This paragraph is completely based on what Reginal D Hunter told us at The Stand last night.

Today I'm driving to Whitby for a weekend staying at Dillons rather than La Rosa , love both of them though. I'll be stopping at the OK Diner maybe going and coming back due to their excellent service and food.

Yesterday was my first day of February walking, and I need to average over 12K steps a day, which I thought might be a problem but I've started off OK hitting 14K yesterday even though it was very very cold. Today may be different though it's ten past seven and still dark. I've not looked outside to see if cars are frosted up but I will find out soon.

Yesterday I was listening to the second album by Jem "Down To Earth" and was struck by several song and the last one "On Top Of The World" has such a beautiful chorus that I have to share it with you. Have a brilliant day.

Birthday Thoughts and Thanks

I was 60 yesterday, but on Friday I was incredibly touched when I had a presentation at work. I walked in at 8 to find my desk desecrated (in the nicest way) with "60" banners and paraphenalia, but in the after noon came the presentation and a bag with a cup , som bottles of coke , a bet for Preston and Liverpool to win (they bothe drew :) ) and a very substantian INTU voucher whuch I am fairly certain will be going towards a new handset as I found that Carphone Warehouse are doing the Google Pixel unlocked, which good.

On Satruday Kirsty and Molly came over with more presents including a great personlaised print from her Juliet and Mark, as well as a DVD of the Grateful Dead's final concert and a Blu Ray of Dave Gilmour at Pompeii..

The weekend was then spent at La Rosa and I got more presents from Fiona, plus a bottle of Bucks Fizz courtesy of the lovely staff at La Rosa. Amazingly there was no TV, Video or Music over the weekend , just quiet, not that I'm getting old but it's nice to have the option. I got a phone call from my Dad too and that was nice , and you can see various presents and stuff on my Instagram Channel here.

So all in all everything goes on as before, I still have lots I want to do, and lots I've not done, but this is a big thank your to everyone who's wished me a happy birthday and I hope I can do the same in 2077. Sleep well everybody.

I'll leave with The Grateful Dead's final take on "Terrapin Station" one of my favourite Grateful Dead songs.

Do You Boho?

It's the last day of March, the day before April Fools Day and for one thing or another, well actually reading "Tom Waits on Tom Waits", the word Boho came up again. There was a passage titled "Boho Blues" which I thought sounded like the title of a Tom Waits song. Waits himself cuts a bohemian figure, raggedly stylish with immense talent as an artist and actor, probably one of the people who can make smoking look cool (my opinion is that a fag in the moth usually makes people look like an imbecile, friends excluded of course). It turns out there is no "Boho Blues" by Tom Waits, at least I can't find a copy and I do have most of his output in my collection.

Boho also means to me a certain style almost gypsy , arty, and life affirming and my eldest daughter Juliet is a wonderful example of that , and Kirsty my youngest is certainly into the arty and exploring the unexpected and unexplored , I remember her wanting albums by The Pixies and Rage Against the Machine for her birthday. They are both anything but average and make me so proud.

The term applies the my favourite hotel in the whole world , La Rosa at Whitby, if you want Boho, spend a few nights here or just visit for one of their many events. Amanda and all the staff fit in perfectly, I'm surprised it's not been commandeered for a film or TV series like say "Desperate Romantics".

The other week it was Kirsty's birthday and we wen to the wonderful Bohemian vegetarian restaurant in Newcastle , check out their web address here. It's I Love Boho! Again the food and staff are awesome and they sell second hand vinyl too! The music played is consistently excellent, and the atmosphere is well ... Bohemian.

Then that took me back to Joni Mitchell's "Hissing of The Summer Lawns" and the song "The Boho Dance" and Joni Mitchell certainly artistically was in the Bohemian Groove progressing from folk to jazz and making it sound wonderful.

Anyway , it's Friday night, and the weekend has started, if you like Boho be Boho , but have a wonderful time and enjoy yourself.

Two To Know - #ALifeInNumbers #2

Right off I've taken a bit of a liberty with this one but the number TWO is important in the song. I am lyning in bed drinking Buck's Fizz courtesy of the lovey people at La Rosa as I write this. This is unusual because I don't normally drink alcohol but it's still my birthday weekend and and I'm in La Rosa.

Anyway the song I've chosen is Pink Floyd's "Arnold Layne" which contains the line:

"Two To Know"

Two To Know

Syd Barrett's lyric was picked up by the Oxford Book of Fine verse as a particularly fine example of alliteration or some grammatical construct. Amazingly I'd already written about this three years back and it came up in a Google Search here , which shows the benefits of blogging , that I am now referencing my own research on things. I will also use the same video of course as this is number two in a series of fifty nine songs which I will select by hook or by crook.








Anyway that is that, also I have come up with a way of predicting horse racing results using freely available tools and here are four horse for today so you can see if it's working or not.

Yesterday I predicted five out of seven and the other two placed. So if you fancy a flutter here they are:

Todays Tips

Have a brillaint Sunday everyone, I intend to.

One Fine Day - #ALifeInNumbers

Alice

Last year on my birthday I did a series of posts selecting a record from every year from my birth up to the present day under the tag of Odyssey58, this year I going to choose one record containing the numbers starting at 1 to 59. I don't know if that is possible . I have chosen number one, Puccini's One Fine Day from Madame Butterfly, and already know 54,55,56 and 59 but it is going to be a challenge, which is something that I like. I expect it to get difficult after about 23, so your suggestions may help.

Yesterday I was totally shattered and was in bed before 7:30 before waking up and looking across at Whitby Abbey from Lewis (after Lewis Carrol) in La Rosa. 





Yesterday I was going to write about  how quickly September had gone but was far too tired and couldn't be bothered to set up the lap top, anyway today will be spent wandering round Whitby and being happy, I hope your day is going to be similar,

Find Something Good To Enjoy and Smile

I was going to write a post on And Annoyingly but decided to write something positive about enjoyable stuff. I am sick of people defending Donald Trump and attacking Jeremy Corbyn, Corbyn has his faults but is still the best option for a Labour leader. That's all I am going to say.

Vinyl Beauty

Maybe I shouldn't go on Facebook, but I do I have interactions with some wonderful friends on there, and then I feel better, and put on some music such as Stomu Yamash'ta's Floating Music. I remember buying it on Island's mid priced label for £1.49 when it came out around 1972, I had seen Man From The East on TV so I bought it and loved it. Just an example of me liking something that no one else in my social circles had even come close to , and when they heard hit they weren't exactly supportive, but that's their loss. It's always good to try new things but I've never been taken by smooth lounge jazz , but this was a complete different universe.  You can hear a bit of it here and here.




While this may not be the most exciting way to spend the last day of the bank holiday, it makes me feel good and therefore it is good. It is very easy to get sidetracked by negatives but have just booked La Rosa for my birthday as well , and it's my favourite hotel in my favourite holiday place, Whitby. On the phone they know who I am even though it's a year since I stayed there.

I also phoned and spoke with my dad, and over the weekend gave my eldest daughter something towards a Big Daisy Kiss Star Wars hand bag that she wants for her birthday. At least this year I won't forget that. That's inspired me to put up Meco's Disco take on Star Wars and that WILL bring a smile to your face.

Anyway as the sun sets on the Bank Holiday , smile , enjoy yourself and set yourself up for a brilliant week. I have done, so you do the same.

Sometimes Having Faith is Good - #8 - 1964 - My Boy Lollipop - Millie

My Favourite Bed

This morning I learned a small lesson. I'm in a rush because I had to go to to the local Post Office Sorting Office to pick up a package from my lovely friends at La Rosa. I had left my glasses there. Got to the place and there was no sign of it. I am in a rush and thought of just leaving , but waited and they unearthed it. The lesson is sometimes you just need to wait a bit longer for good things to happen.





So I'm at my eighth year , 1964,  and have chosen "My Boy Lollipop" by Millie Small because it was one of my mum's favourites and remember her playing it all the time and it was contributory to the foundation for Chris Blackwell's Island Records.

Have a wonderful day and have a little faith my wonderful friends.

Laptop Tenned #5 - 1961 - Temptation by The Everly Brothers

Well the laptop has been upgraded to Windows 10 over Hotel Wifi at La Rosa. Started around 9 finished around 12 and nothing much has changed apart from pop up messages about features I didn't ask for , probably don't want and don't think will make my life better. However  I thought that about the snipping tool and stickys and I use them all the time now so what to I know.

Sunrise over Whitby Abbey

This morning I woke to see an amazing sunrise over the abbey, so now time for last breakfast here and the drive back home.

The song from 1961 my fifth year on earth when I turned 4 is Temptation by The Everly Brothers. This is not your usual Everly song , but they were an incredibly talented duo and I do love this

In Whitby - 1959 #3 Charlie Brown

Well day three of my challenge and I am up to 1959 the third year of my life. Actually the charts had lots of great music , but I always loved the Coasters with their atmospheric mostly Lieber / Stoller penned songs which still stand strong today cobined with a wickedly knowing sense of humour delivered with street born panache.

Whitby Abbey - Foggy Morning

Just sitting in Stoker  not yet dressed in La Rosa with a view of the abbey through early morning fog in the armchair by the balcony. Feel free to join me . I do love this place so relaxing , no phones , radio or television, just a laptop free wifi so I can let you know what I am up to . Aren't I so not with the program. But I will soon be going out to get papers before having my breakfast delivered in a wicker basket. This place is CAF. (see Inspiral Carpets if you don't know what that means.

Have a brilliant day everyone

You Can Make Me Sing , Dance or Anything ... #2 - 1958 - Catch A Falling Star

Yesterday had more than 100 people wish me a happy birthday via Facebook which made be feel nice.

It's quite amazing how much dross hits the charts , but I always loved this song , and wile never an avid Perry Como fan I still like this . I will never forget Bryan Ferry's riposte to interviewer who asked him his opinion on Cockney Rebel's Judy Teen , he said he preferred the Perry Como version.

In Stoker

This weekend will be spent in the Stoker Room in La Rosa in Whitby , which is my favourite hotel in the world bar none. I would love to hire it for a long weekend and fill it with my friends. The room does have a view across the river to the Abbey which I will be visiting also.

These posts are going to be by their nature heavy on video and light on the text. Some may even just be the video, but I wiull try and find something interesting to say.

Whitby is one of my total favourite places and no doubt I will be instagramming  .

I took the title of the Faces compilation that my lovely daughters bought me for my birthday because it is such a great feelgood sentiment and we need lots of those.

But my favourite take on it was the wonderful Anthony Moore.

A Whitby Panorama

A Whitby Panorama

Back from a good weekend in Whitby staying at the excellent Dillons. Their Yorkshire breakfast and general cooking are brilliant and Matthew and Craig are such wonderful hosts. I'm well fed, but slept a lot and am now back the the grind so to speak. I've tried to put some photos on Picasa which is now Google+ though the annoying Google (like Microsoft and Apple) just try and force you to do what they want. These are my pictures and I want control of the. Hopefully you can see them here.

While I know that Google are proving this service "free" I  may not want to associate it with everything that is associated with me.

I saw a lot of interesting things, ate at the Magpie Cafe, The Moon and Sixpence and The White Horse and Griffin, all excellent and walked up the 199 steps to Whitby Abbey , which is a fairly gentle incline.

I do love Whitby, it's somewhere that I could probably live, but I still love Newcastle , but who knows what may happen in the future. There some amazing houses there and the views are great, also it's the home of La Rosa although maybe it's best appreciated and kept as a treat, too much of a good thing may make you bored with it.

I would heartily recommend Whitby to anyone though.

Whitby Discovery Weekend

Prime Beef in The Record Shop With No Name

Just back from Whitby , whisch is a place I love , and this weekend turned to be better than normal despite the Magpie Cafe being closed for refurbishment. The weekend started on a hairy not negotiating drifting snow on the A171 in a car with low profile tyres . I am an adequate driver but not happy about being in a white out in a large vehicle with minimal traction. Still I spent five miles feeling safe behind a tractor cum snow plough which turned off , then eventually descended into Whitby ....





...arriving a Dillons. We were made to feel extremely welcome and stayed in the Troon room (check the link , it's all there). Our hosts Craig and Matt were brilliant being warm , helpful and excellent cooks (the breakfasts are ace , and I'm still full from this mornings breakfast that I had eight hours ago). The room was warm and comfortable and the situation in very easy walking distace of the centre of Whitby. Previously we have stayed at La Rosa , but both carry our highest recommendation and will be visiting again when we return next year.

 

The Formby Clock is situ at home, weekends CDs

I did my annual visit to Folk Devils where I purchased the latest Yo La Tengo album and a George Formy Clock , which is an innovative use of vinyl. The Vinyl District lists Folk Devils as in Scarborough despite having The Whitby address !!

The Record Shop With No Name

Kiss in The Record Shop With No Name

Close to Folk Devils is The Shambles Market and in there is the excellently stocked Record Shop With No Name . That's not the name of the shop, they just havent thought of a name for it despite being open for twelve months. They are well stocked with CDs and vinyl and great to see that Whitby has two record shops worth visiting.





On a sad note we found that Justin of the excellent Justin's Chocolatiers had passed away before Christmas , but his presence is still prevalent in the mood of the shop , and it it definitely worth a visit if you go to Whitby.

 
Another first was a visit to Green's for some excellent fish and chips , recommended by Matt and Craig , but despite the snow filled start the weekend turned out to be excellent , barring the sad loss of Justin a tribute to him is here.

Whitby and La Rosa Have Their Knockers!

Just back from a long weekend in Whitby, staying at the most excellent La Rosa in the "Sacre Couer" room . All the rooms in La Rosa have their own distinctive knockers . Such as the Horseshoe / Horses Head for Saloon.

I don't know if this is normal , but we noticed that Whitby seemed to have a vast selection of knockers on display (the door type) which echoes the selection in La Rosa. La Rosa itself has a distictive ship knocker, a theme repeated throughout Whitby , not surprising given it's nautical history.

While we were there discovered two excellent pubs , The Elsinore (excellent pickled eggs apparently) and The Broad.

Finally Did La Rosa

Finally did two nights in La Rosa at Whitby , in the Little Red Room , and I can say it was totally excellent . Liked it so much that we're going back in February.

As well as the hotel itself just being excellent they have wi-fi , but no TV or room phones (given that everyone has a mobile these days who needs one). Also they have a very civilised mid day check out . Breakfast is served in a hamper , consisting of fruit juice , cheese scones , fruit cake , cheese , boiled eggs , coffee - superb.





The room was packed with interesting things some of which can be seen on the site , but liked the skull in the cabinet and the Red Riding Hood pictures as well as real Red Riding Hood hung on the door!!

We were advised that we could park on the street , but given that most street parking in Whitby is free , this wasn't an option , so we used the West Cliff car park . This gives the option of of paying via mobile phone / card via the RingGo web site- which means you can extend your parking without returning to the car park .



What a change from the thieves at North Tyneside who fail to provide machines that take all your money, don't provide an alternative , don't give you the full amount for what you pay , then fine you £25 !! This image to the left is the £3 ticket that gave me 6 hours (rate 80p for 2 hours so I paid for 7.5 hours) . To the right is the fine .


As well as that , 25 miles from Whitby the exhaust went . I thought I'd get it fixed in Whitby but both garages were very helpful , but couldnt get the parts til monnday, though Borough Tyres reckoned they could have done if I'd have gone in early enough. Also they both closed at noon , it's nice where lifestyle comes before profit.

Anyway , we discovered The Vineyard Restaurant (formerly Harrys) and Trenchers , both of which I'd recommend and we had a visit to the Magpie Cafe . Yes you have to queue but it's worth the wait. Also no trip to Whitby would be complete without a visit to the excellent Folk Devils record shop . I left with a Desert Blues compilation and several other interesting CDs.

A Little More "La Rosa"

A few people have asked where "La Rosa" is. It's on the north side of the river in Whitby on the cliff top , in the same block as the Royal Hotel (where apparently the condition of tenure is that you have taken a Shearing's Bus Tour!) . Anyway If you look from the south side of Whitby , La Rosa is the Yellow Building in the block:


And here's the front with the Lewis Carrol plaque, from here you can see the whalebone arch and look across the river to the ruins of the Abbey. Tres Gothic!!





And another of the sea view suites!!

And A Day In Whitby..

Most of Saturday was spent in Whitby. After the shock on the non roads of Robin Hood's Bay , Whitby was fine. Parked on the West Cliff car park and walked down to the town centre past the carved Whale and the Whalebone Arch.

Whitby is built on slopes towards the, what I assume is, the river Esk , so requires a lot of step negotiation and reasonable fitness , but is well worth it , with it's Gothic ruined abbey , Dracula associations , and Jet (jewellery) and other esoteric shops.

Like Robin Hood's Bay , Whitby is a marvel of ingenuity in the way the houses, shops and pubs are shoe horned together.

Breakfast was at the White Horse and Griffin , lunch at The Magpie Cafe , both absolute five star for food and service.

We visited a few pubs, one of which "The Jolly Sailor" has one of the dodgiest signs I've seen. It's here:

Then there's lots of Chocolate shops such as Justins where the staff were extrememly relaxed despite some customers getting extremely irateover the fact they were having to wait for service. How can you be in a rush when buying chocolate on a Saturday from a shop in Whitby?


We finished with a visit to La Rosa , a superb and fun Victorian Hotel where we'll be going at the end of June. All the rooms are themed and uncluttered by such modernities as televisions and telephones, with features such as wooden baths, black bedding in the "Stoker" suite and steers skulls decorating the bedhead in the Saloon suite!.

Waiting For Pudot .. and there's more

Tried another Gourmet Society restaurant , Starters and Puds , next to the Theatre Royal in Newcastle and they've come up with a novel concept to get you back fairly quickly. Have your starter , go and see your play , then come pack for your pudding!!! Our next theatre appointment is "Waiting For Godot" featuring Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen , so we'll see what happens!!!

On another note a friend pointed out Camp Karma in Yorkshire , which led to discover the extremely interesting looking "La Rosa" hotel in Whitby , which is definitely on my list!!