The Bethnal Green Big Band
I like big bands.
Although, from the few CDs that I have you wouldn’t know it. But then I’ve never been a great collector and listener to music. In fact, I do it even less now, as the place I would listen was in the car. And of course I don’t drive!
I will though, be going down to St. Peter’s Church in De Beauvoir Town on the 12th October at 7:30 to see the Bethnal Green Big Band.
The Bethnal Green Big Band is a group of twenty impressive young musicians who met at college and are now based in East London. They play the big sounds of the 1940’s and 50’s from Glenn Miller to the classic tunes of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.
A blast from the past, using their own arrangements, and accompanied by fine vocalists, the Big Band produces a sound that is joyful, powerful, rich and soulful, and is a showcase of local talent and commitment to good music.
It is as the invite says a forties and fifties night and people can dress appropriately. There will also be prizes for the best dressed man and woman. But you can count me out on that!
There’s more on the Bethnal Green Big Band on their Facebook page.
The Hydraulic Accumulator Tower From The DLR
I took these pictures of the Hydraulic Accumulator Tower yesterday to compliment those I took from the ground at Open House.
I was on the eastbound platform at Limehouse station, except for the close-up, where I was in the front of a train.
One of the problems with the DLR these days, is that it is too popular with site-seers and sometimes getting the front seats to take pictures can be almost impossible.
Another Coloured Police Horse
South Yorkshire Police gave the horses an exercise, whilst Town were in Barnsley.
As you can see, one is a very striking coloured horse, which the officer told me proudly was one of a matched pair. It certainly proves the odd Suffolk phrase.
A bad horse is always a bad colour, but a good horse is always a good one.
Usually, that was said in respect to chesnut mares, but then in Suffolk, chesnuts are always liked because of the Suffolk horse, which only come in that colour.
How To Find Those Born On Your Exact Birthday
I was searching for those, who were born on or around my birthday and I’ve found a pretty sure way. Suppose, you’re looking for someone born reasonably famous born on the 30th September 1960. You just type.
wiki “born 30 September 1960”
into Google. Make certain you get the quotes right.
Nick Ross’s House
There has been a lot of talk in the paper about the profit TV presenter, Nick Ross, has made on his house. It’s all here in the Telegraph.
To turn an investment of a million into thirty five, shows a certain skill, but it more probably is down to a lot of luck.
But then like me, he’s one of that select club of Leo pigs, born in 1947! These seem to get their fair share of luck; good and bad. I could also include Roy Hodgson, Maddy Prior and Katherine Hamnett. Hewlett-Packard was also incorporated two days after I was born on the 18th.
It’s all very strange, but just coincidence.
Wot No Shard!
I didn’t actually get a view of the dreaded Shard from Crystal Palace, as I suspect the trees were in the way. But you can see a long way.
Wot No Shard!
Are those white columns to the right on the horizon the Dartford Crossing? if not, what are they? Enlarge the picture and I think you can see the bridge deck.
London Peace Wall
I saw this in the paper and found it on Wednesday morning.
There’s more about it here. Or there would be if the website worked properly! But it’s not up yet. Although it’s mentioned on the TFL web site here.
The best thing is to do what I did and go and visit it by taking a train to Haggerston station. Walk out of the station towards the Regent’s Canal, and the artwork is under the portal of the bridge that goes across the canal.
An Enjoyable Afternoon
I must be one of few men, who likes going clothes shopping with ladies. I often did with C and I do wonder if it all started with my mother teaching me how to make clothes and making them for C in the early years of our marriage.
My mother was an expert dressmaker and in the days after the war, when money was short for us, she would even make trousers for me, by cutting the flies out of someone’s cast off and then build a new pair on them. Remember in those days, boys were in shorts until thirteen on so, probably to save money.
I suppose the best thing I ever made for C, was a long winter coat. So she had one, when they became fashionable and most of her friends didn’t.
With C, I used to have the knack of taking a dress off the rack and saying that will suit you. Sometimes I was right and sometimes I was wrong.
But I do know, from my computing experiences with graphics and my skill in engineering drawing, that I did have the ability to imagine well in 3-D.
Whether it is undiminished after the stroke I do not know.
So yesterday, a friend, who’s going to a wedding in New York later in the year, dragged me along, to see if I could help. She needed a smart day dress.
Her problems with clothes are two-fold.
The first is genetic, in that she is not tall at all, but with a very good figure and a very small waist. The second, is that she has no patience for clothes shopping and was very likely to do a runner.
In some ways, it developed into a scene not unlike that of Grace Brothers, more though in the jokes and things that were said, than the characters involved.
The classic was when the patience-rich assistant said that that most dresses they had were for older ladies and my friend was a lot younger. She then announced her age to everyone. The assistants had a good laugh, but the lady behind, who was also looking for a similar rather formal dress didn’t. But then she had a figure that would be extremely difficult to dress properly at all.
Some of the funniest cracks were reserved for whom the assistant thought would be at the wedding, whilst my friend was in the changing room. They were also said with actions, showing the size of people expected.
After trying on three or four dresses of the six or so, brought to her, my friend actually bought one. She liked it and I’ve had a text to say that she still does.
So we all could retreat after success.
I should have days out like this more often!
Open House – Crossness
I’ve been to Crossness before, but a guy named Rodney, kindly gave me a lift to one of London”s two cathedrals of sewage, I decided to accept it. The other cathedral is Abbey Mills.
It was heaving with people and the only low point was waiting for the mini-bus in the heavy rain, to get the train home.
The Anonymous Widower 