Live from the Met

Last night we went to see Mozart's Magic Flute live from the Met in New York, on a satellite link to the local cinema - got that? It was on a huge screen in HDTV, and was fantastic - great image quality, subtitles so that you know what is going on, great production, and bizarrely a real sense of watching something live [which we were]. A great success.

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/index.aspx

The photo is from Khavarosk, at the end of the Trans Siberian railway, that land in the distance is China.

E Music

Ben and Kari left today, Rowan bid a sad farewell. They gave me a 6 month subscription to E-Music for Christmas which is great. It means I can have 20 downloads a month. It feels strange having legal downloads but I'll get used to it.

The photo is of Moscow in 1986, pretty much the precise day that Chernobyl was imploding, although I did not know at the time. One of the abiding memories of the USSR for me was how incredibly safe it felt to walk around the streets. I do not think it would feel the same now. Got plenty of McDonalds though.

Party Party

We had our annual Christmas Drinks yesterday. Advertised as drink, nibbles and trampoline, it went really well. It was the usual format, mulled wine, slow start, madness as loads of people all arrive together, children charging around the garden, more mulled wine, finally collapse in time for late comers to arrive. Wouldn't change it for anything.

Panto

The York Panto is a bit of a national institution

http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/English%20sites/3721.html

and has a wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berwick_Kaler. I was very happy to miss it again. The photo is on the walls.

Baille Hill

We all walked on the City Walls today, passing Baille Hill [photo] the site of one of William The Conquerors castles when he put York under the cosh

http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/English%20sites/3721.html

I went off to play Badminton with Edward whilst everyone else went to the Pantomine.

Family

Rowan really enjoys having her uncle Ben and Kari here. And we enjoy her enjoying it too - gives us a break. Managed to get a bike ride in today, and Danielle did the first run as part of her marathon training. Just need Preston to win now.

Happy Christmas

Against all odds, Ben and Kari arrived early. So we were a happy bunch who went to the Christmas Eve candlelit meeting at Friargate. This morning Rowan and I jogged round to a couple of away-neighbour's houses to check all was OK, then got back for champagne and presents. As you can see Rowan was quite pleased with her racing bike.

In Theory

Ben and Kari are due to arrive today from DC. The various odds stacked against a timely arrival include, snow in Denver [don't ask] fog at Heathrow, failed signals resulting in the closure of the Piccadilly line from Heathrow to Kings X, and a bus replacement service from Grantham to York. If all of that is negotiated without time-loss then we should be able to meet them [and the flying pigs] at 5pm this evening.All very excited especially one RW.
Photo is of another frosty morning near York

Jigsaw

We have a family jigsaw on the go at the moment. It is of a railway painting

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WATERLOO-STATION-jigsaw-puzzle-WAR-AND-PEACE-Gibsons_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ250043646060

of Waterloo Station, and is proving a challenge to us all. Royce can often be seen peering over it, and Rowan, Danielle and I are all chipping in. Whether we finish it this year or not is a moot point. The photo is from my walk yesterday when Rowan was at Running Wild

Weather

Rowan and I had to put off our trip down to Granny's to see her before Christmas and exchange presents. The fog and ice made our proposed trip-times [at night] not a safe option. We are also worried about Ben & Kari flying in from DC on Christmas Eve, and then having to use British Rail - seems like a recipe for a delay if ever I heard one.

It was the last Running Wild of the year today. They made wreaths - picture. It is a really good scheme.

Ex Libris

A really great game of ex-libris last night

http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/gamesin.php?UniqueNo=620

with book group. John bought champagne, and Royce played as well. Rowan played the first 3 rounds and, unbelievelbaly was winning - I couldn't quite believe how good at it she was.

The photo is of Clifton ings, flooded out last week.

Houses in York

Walking around York the architecture strikes you in two ways. Firstly there is the magnificent old stuff [Minster, Walls etc] then the awful 20th century housing. Occaisionaly though there is a surprise, a building that is just interesting and unknown. I spotted this house on Bootham while Rowan was swimming on Sunday morning.

Transport

Royce is very good at adapting to our way of transport. So last night we all walked the mile to friends Julia and Patrick who were having a party. Rowan found a new friend, and we had a good time too. Then today Rowan, Royce and I all cycled to Monks Cross mall, and the dentist, and the Railway Museum. A ten mile ride, not bad for a 71 year old.
As you can see from the photo Rowan is pleased t
o have her grandfather with her.

Popa Arrives

Royce arrived Saturday. Rowan is delighted. We picked him up from the station after we had seen Rowan's school's Christmas Meeting - this is a Quaker-ish assembly on the last Saturday of the term. The photo is another of the extension, as it stands now - I know that when the scaffolding comes down, the actual room will look a bit small. So I am preparing myself for that.

Extension E

Here is the latest photo of the extension. As you can see, the timber work is going a-pace ... at the moment.
Last week we went to drinks at Kevin and Gerard's place up the road. Rowan made some new friends and so did we - really pleasant. We were talking to a boy whose scout leader is our builder - small world.

Decking

Danielle [under some guidance] bought me a USB deck for my birthday. So I get to hear all the old albums stuck in the garage for the last 10 years, and put the best tracks onto my laptop. I think this is a good thing [probabl]. Anyway, so far I have unearthed a few forgotten classics. I know somewhere in the musty vault is the Laura Lee track with the lyric "there's going to be an avalanche, when I tell my cousin Blanche" so the devling will be worth it.
The photo is another flood shot.

Fisher of Time

This is one of the Sustrans sculptures on the York to Selby cycle route. It is on the old east coast main line, which was abandoned in the 1980s. Hard to believe that Mallard would have once been charging up here at over a 100 miles per hour.

I was having a drink with Mark in the Commonwealth club last night when I saw Jabez, a friend from 10 years ago in Islington. Then he was an ardent [and painful] trade unionist. Now, he was schmoozing with Lib Dems trying to get the British Chinese vote. We all change.

Man Flu

I have flu at the moment but decided to go down to London for to work today. That is what you have to do when you are self-employed. Taking a day off is not really an option. Anyway, I got into the office and was croaking and moping around. "Oh you've got man flu have you?" said Mary and Sheenagh together. "What's man flu?" I replied. "A cold"
ha ha
The photo is of the flooded Ouse in York, the flood season is going well. Met with the usual nonchalance by Yorkies "oh aye, it's up"

Hansard

Here is the view from the roof, looking down on the bees, the gazebo, and the moor

Danielle was named on a government advisory group in the Chancellors pre-budget speech this week - first time a Palmour has been mentioned in Parliament for a while I think. Very pleased for
her.
"Ms Natascha Engel: LAB - NORTH EAST DERBYSHIRETo ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that benefit claimants and people in low incomes have ready access to regulated banking and loans services. (104885)
MR ED BALLS
The Government’s goal is to halve the number of people without access to a bank account. We have established a £120m financial inclusion fund for initiatives to promote access to banking, affordable credit and money advice; and an independent Financial Inclusion Taskforce to monitor progress. The Taskforce has recently reported to me that good progress is being made with the banking goal. I am pleased to be able to announce today two new members of the Taskforce – Bridget McIntyre, UK Chief Executive of Royal and SunAlliance, and Danielle Walker Palmour, Director of the Friends Provident Foundation.

Jazz

This photo shows how the extension is coming along inside the steel frame.
Today I went on a bike ride with Ted and Dave, missing the promised terrible weather. I then met Danielle and Rowan at Kennedy's bar in York where friend Adrian plays with his jazz quartet. Danielle had arranged for a number of friends to turn up for a surprise birthday gathering for me. So it was great to catch up with people, enjoy the jazz and have a relaxing time.

Extending More

This is the latest extension picture. The scaffolding has gone up, the wall frames are in the back half and the floor for the stairs is being dug up. Things are moving on. Emotionally the whole thing veers from elation to frustration - frequently.
We all climbed up to the top today - we could see the Minster and the Yorkshire Aye [the big wheel].

A new place in town

There is an official petition to the government to try and get bikes allowed back on trains

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Cycles-on-Trains/

and change the crazy situation that exists at the moment where it is almost impossible to do. Please sign it.

The photo is of Rowan at her performance last night.
We went for a meal at the Akbar Indian restaurant the other night. It is an import from Bradford [where Asian restaurants are a very big thing] and it was fantastic food. A real plus for York

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/restaurantreviews/display.var.991706.0.akbars_george_hudson_street_york.php

Birthday

Today is the day. Cake and champagne for breakfast, a morning in Leeds with Danielle visiting the Henry Moore Gallery [not great] http://www.henry-moore.ac.uk/matrix_engine/content.php?page_id=33 , a meal at Vanilla Black vegetarian restaurant then back to watch Rowan in the school performance. It was a Twelfth Night Feast and we all had to dress up in a Tudor style [for me this meant my Pakistani mountain man hat, cycling trousers with socks on the outside, a frilly shirt and a cravat. Danielle looked much better] We were then served lots of food, and watched some great performances by the children from the school. All tired now.
The photo is from the ride to Tadcaster.

There has been a photo up-load problem on Blogger for a few days [as a result of an ironically called "upgrade"] but it seems to be fixed for the moment, so here is a new photo of Rowan

Dinner

After rushing Rowan back from her choir performance, we left her with babysitter Claire then whooshed off to dinner with Danielle’s old boss at Joseph Rowntree [Lord Best] and his successor Julia who is a friend of Danielle’s. Me, Patrick and Lindy made up the six. They had kindly delayed dinner till 9.00, so that we could combine choir and a night out. It was a fantastic meal and great company. It got even better. I had assumed I would be driving back, so drank nothing. We then negotiated for Patrick and Julia to give us a lift back to York, with me leaving the car and cycling the next day to pick it up. As this meant a relaxed evening and an excuse for a 12 mile ride on Sunday morning, it was pretty much a perfect arrangement.

Ice House

One of the things about York, is that it is so rich in history, archeology and all the rest of it, that some places just slip under the radar and you do not notice them. So on Saturday whilst I was walking the city walls

http://www.york.gov.uk/walls/index.html

I looked over and saw this ice house. It is 18th century, and would have been used to store ice. Pretty amazing, and totally overlooked [especially from the walls]

Minster

Rowan sang in the school choir at the Minster last night. It was for a Marie Curie cancer charity event. It was very good, and Rowan enjoyed it more than she thought she would. The photo is of the extension floor going down. We all went up on the roof to have a look at it yesterday. Emotions range from excitement to anxiety...

Poetry

The book group did poetry last week. We all chose a favorite poem, read it out then we discussed it. It was really good fun. Poets ranged from the heavy [Slyvia Plath, Wilfred Owen] to the punk [John Cooper Clarke] via Walt Whitman, Brain Patton and others. I never really got poetry, so it was good for me to think about it a bit more

London

I had a typical London work day yesterday. Starting work at 6.30 in the morning on the train, working through to a quick lunch break - which I have at a turkish greasy spoon caff that is round the corner, they have got to know me by now - then work till about 4.30. Then I took the tube to Victoria and walked through London back up to Kings Cross for the 6.30 train and two more hours of work before home.
I love walking round London, nothing better. When I first moved there in 1980 I used to read HV Mortons books about London

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Vollam_Morton

which were very old but really caught the magic of the place. The photo is of the pondless fountain in Russell Square

Link Lunch

Had lunch with a group of Quakers who help run the Link group

http://www.yorkquakers.org.uk/friargate/link

which is for 11-14 year olds at Quaker meeting in York. Edward and I usually play badminton at this time, so we decided to have some wine and really go to the other extreme. Anna Semlyn is one our number, I have not seen her since she was very active in the York Cycling Campaign. She wrote a book on cutting car use

http://cuttingyourcaruse.co.uk/

a few years ago. I asked her how many copies she had sold, and was amazed that the figure is 70,000 and counting. Very impressive.

The photo is from Alnwick gardens from the summer. I am trying to decide if it is any good or not - jury out at the moment

Outdoor Railway

We went for lunch at some friends in Skelton on sunday. They [or rather he] has an outdoor railway in the garden. This is a proper electirc one, unlike our play-train one. Very impressive

http://www.lgb.de/english/index.htm

Their two sons showed no interest, Rowan a bit of interest, and the two dads lots of interest. There you go.
The photo is of the railway at Montrose Basin.

Shildon

Danielle had to work at the weekend, so Rowan and I went to the railway museum at Shildon

http://www.sedgefield.gov.uk/locomotion/

and had a great time. We went by train, changing at Darlington, it was just like old times. The photo is of the oldest electric engine in the UK, it used to operate in the the North East.

Theatre

We all went to see a version of Midsummer's Nights Dream at the Mount last week. It was performed by a community arts group from Sheffield. Danielle and I found it pretty awful, but the good news was that Rowan really liked it, and , along with the other kids in the audience, she loved the comedy of the rustic mechanicals. As I have never found anything by Shakespeare remotely funny, this seems like good news in terms of Rowan's dramatic appreciation.
The photo is an updated version of Rowan running for joy on York station, I took it yesterday, about 4 years on from the previous one.

The Palmour Crest

Rowan is doing something about family crests at school. She was very surprised to find out she had a Palmour crest. At the moment she when we are dead and gone she will be one of only four Palmours in the UK - all female.

PNE

For the first time in my living memory Preston are top of the second division

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/table/default.stm

All my life they have been in the second division or lower [much lower] and now they are on the brink [well six months away] of being automatically promoted. I think I might have to get a season ticket if they make it. They are joint top with Cardiff who my friend David supports, so it could be a great double [but probably won't be]

The photo is of a strange thing on the beach at Montrose [I don't know what its standing on either]

Treecreeper

Rowan went to her Running Wild on Saturday - she is still enjoying it a lot, they were looking at tracks of wild animals this time. I saw a treecreeper

http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/t/treecreeper/index.asp

in the woods. I have never seen treecreepers , or nuthatches, at our house, so it was good to see one within a few miles. The photo is of a ploughed field nearby.
I harvested the last of the parsnips yesterday, and made a good soup with them. They have done well, but the potatoes have been grim - worst crop ever I think.

Extension News

Here is a photo of the frame for the extension. It looks good, and seems to complement the existing house, without being overbearing. The next stage is to get the timber up there, it is going to be made of cedar cladding. Much excitement here.

'Tis Done

The BBC weather had said it would be sunny and windy: so it was, of course, still and rainy for much of the day.
I had to ask all our neighbours [8 houses] to keep their cars off of the road for the morning. They are such a great bunch of neighbours, that no one even moaned about it. Then at 8.10 the crane arrived. It was huge, that is it in the photo towering over the house. Really dramatic - and it worked. The frame for the extension is now in place. A huge relief, and a great feeling

Brod

I read this article in the Economist last week. It struck a chord, the village being talked about -Brod - was on the route of my walk across Europe 22 years ago. This photo comes from that village. It was the first place we came to after crossing over the snow covered and deserted mountains from Macedonia. It always struck me as a strange place that was neither Serb nor Albanian. It is hard to believe it is in now such a state, it was so vibrant and welcoming when we walked through it.

The minorities within the minority

Nov 2nd 2006 | BROD
From The Economist print edition

Kosovo is lived in by others besides dominant Albanians and minority Serbs

HAMDIJE SEAPI, a local Gorani official, excuses himself to go to the funeral of a woman from a neighbouring village. He did not really know her, but since her village was all but abandoned in 1999, somebody has to. In his village, Mlike, there were 1,380 people before the Kosovo war, but now there are barely 400, 70% of them over 65. “Before, we were somehow like shock absorbers between Serbs and Albanians, but now we have our backs to the walls.”

The Gorani are among the smallest of Kosovo's minorities. Before the war, say officials, anywhere up to 18,000 of them lived in Gora, a rural sliver of land squeezed between Macedonia and Albania. Now a mere 8,000 remain. They are Muslims, living in villages in the remote south and speaking a language close to Serbian and Macedonian. At school they have always been taught in Serbian. Many of them were loyal Serbian citizens, serving in the police and as officials until the end of the war in 1999.

This has incurred much enmity from Kosovo's Albanians. Since 1999 Serbia has continued to pay Gorani teachers like Serbian ones, and they have continued to use the Serbian curriculum. Now the Kosovo authorities want to force them to change. If they did, Gorani children could not go to Serbian secondary schools. Serbia pays its teachers in Kosovo at least twice what the Kosovo authorities do. As a result of this dispute, several hundred Gorani children are now locked out of their schools.

In the village of Brod, locals still burn manure for fuel. Hakija Cuculj, a member of the local council, says that since the UN took over in Kosovo it has redrawn local boundaries so that Gorani are now outvoted on everything by Albanians. Immediately after the war many Gorani left for Serbia; now they go farther afield. Mr Cuculj's son works in Italy and sends home money. “People are just living in uncertainty,” he says. “They just want to survive.”

There are no reliable figures for anything in Kosovo. But a rule of thumb is that some 90% of the province's 2m people are Albanians. At least half of the remaining 200,000 are Serbs. The biggest minority after that are local Slav Muslims, many of whom, since 1999, have chosen to identify themselves as Bosniaks (ie, Bosnian Muslims). Then come Roma, some of whom are called Ashkali and some Egyptians; Turks; Gorani; and, finally, a tiny number of Croats. Since the early 1990s most Croats have left, many to settle in places in Croatia from which Serbs have fled. The Gorani are now the smallest of the small.

Dante Quartet

We took Rowan with us to the BMS gig last night

http://www.bms-york.org.uk/index.htm

which was the Dante String Quartet.
We all agreed that the Mozart and Verdi were a bit bland, but the Stravinsky and Tchaikosky in part two really picked up. It's great that we can share these things now [and saves on the babysitter]
The photo is of the lighthouse at Montrose.

The Day of Steel

The photo is of Bad Bargain Lane, where I cycled the other week. Its name is listed as "self explanatory" in the York street name book. Well it beats me. Monday is going to be The Day of Steel when the frame for our extension is errected. It will involve a crane, lots of neighbours being asked to move their cars, lots of lifting and shouting. We will vacate the premises for the day. Tuesday feels like a good place to be.

Lets Extend

The Extension is finally started. The first stage has been digging holes to put the concrete bases for the
steel pillars in. There are six holes, three on each side. This photo [which I shall repeat as the work continues] shows the three on the east side. Watch this space, but don't hold your breath...

Global warning

Rowan sat down and drew this global warming picture unprompted last week, so here it is [click on it to make it bigger]. She was at her school council today [a rep for her class] and seemed to really enjoy the experience.

Sustrans

One of the great things that Sustrans

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/default.asp?sID=1089651611859

have done, is build up a national network of cycle routes. This means that when we travel we see Sustrans route signs [like the one in the photo at Montrose] and I get to thinking about a possible route back to York. So next year we may be cycling from Montrose to York, if all goes to plan.
Sustrans have achieved so much over the last ten years that it is hard to imagine the cycle landscape without them.

Guitar

After re-discovering Escalator Over The Hill, I delved into a Carlos Santana – Alice Coltrane album “Illuminations”.

http://www.amazon.com/Illuminations-Santana-Alice-Coltrane/dp/B000006ZUV

It is a bizarre mix of strings, harp, guitar and Sri Chinmoy chanting: but I love it. One of my favourite albums. It is so good, that it is out of print [quite an achievement these days when you can get pretty much anything on re-issue – except this album.]

Santana, Hendrix, Neil Young, Rory Gallagher, Roy Buchanan: four of my favourite guitarists. Santana is one of the two who are still alive, I better get to see him soon.

The photo is the last from Montrose beach

Busy Saturday

Rowan was off to a party at the MegaBowl [a truly horrendous ten pin bowling alley] Then we had a nice family afternoon [Mary Poppins / digging potatoes / cups of tea / jam tarts] before going for dinner at friends. Rowan had a great time playing with Douglas and Elizabeth, we had a great meal.
The photo is of a stall holder at the farmer's market at Montrose

Freedom

Rowan and Danielle have been reading a childrens book called Slave Girl about slavery in the US. As it relates to her great great great great grandparent's generations it has added interest for her. She seemed to have got the message, when we went for a walk on Montrose beach

NTHell

The photo is of Montrose Beach. Danielle has an article in Charity Finance magazine this month [OK, so it's not the most seductive of titles] which is good for her. Rowan was in a swimming match today, the general feeling [from the teachers] was that "we were robbed", Rowan was happy to agree. I have just endured two days of NThell, with my internet connection down. They fixed it and all is well with the world again.... for now.

Kippers

There was a Saturday Farmers' Market on in Montrose. It was really good. One of the stall keepers thought I was an actor in Lord of the Rings [make your own joke about which character] so we had to buy some soap from her. Tthen these kippers were being smoked, and some of the Best Scottish Raspberry Cordial in the world [ever] was on sale. Good fun.

Montrose

Once a year we use our free 1st class GNER tickets to go and visit somewhere on the GNER network. Last year it was Glasgow and this year it has been Montrose. We knew very little about the place before we went [on the coast south of Aberdeen]

http://www.montrose.org.uk/

but had a really great time. It is a beautiful sandstone town with a broad high street. Saturday we went to the Scottish Wildlife Trust bird reserve on the Basin [a lagoon behind the town] and had a great time. The photo is of one the lovely streets in the town, all give a spruce up with Lottery money [what a grey place Britain would be without the endless lottery grants to "heritage" projects]