The many faces of David Jones

Happy Birthday to Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, The Thin White Duke, Thomas Jerome Newton, The Goblin King...

and David Bowie. All 65 today!

Things I didn't blog about in 2011

As usual there were loads of things last year that I never got round to blogging about for one reason or another. As well as films I watched but didn't review ( Captain America, Tintin ) and bands I saw but never mentioned ( Bristol's Punk/Metal sensations Off The Wall ) there were various events and news stories that didn't make it to the virtual pages of The Glass Walking-Stick. So, here's a quick rummage through the drawers marked "Why the hell didn't I blog about this...?"

In August, a couple of days before Sophie's birthday, we visited the beautiful city of Bath. Sarah and I had been there years ago, but the kids had never seen it.

As well as the wonderful architecture, the shops and the Fashion Museum, we had to check out the world-famous Roman Baths themselves.

A fantastic World Heritage site, the Baths are a must-see for anyone interested in the history of Great Britain, from the Roman occupation up to the present day.

Just don't drink the water...

Seriously... don't drink it. You can sample the warm, lime-scale-tasting water in the Pump Room but you'd probably be better off drinking bath water :-)

On a much sadder note, 2011 was the year the world tragically lost the talented but troubled Amy Winehouse. We were on holiday in Newquay at the time and we sat, open-mouthed, as the news of her death came over the TV. I was genuinely moved by her passing

( more than I thought I would be ) and still find it difficult to listen to her music, which I love, but which has had such a dark shadow cast over it in the last year.

The fact that her music could be heard just about everywhere in the weeks after her death didn't help. We were in one of Rick Stein's establishments in Padstow, an up-market, snooty gift shop, and I was surprised to hear them playing all of Back To Black, swear words and all, in place of the usual Enya or whale-song. I thought

( rightly or wrongly ) that this music and this artist didn't belong here, wasn't just background noise to a shopping trip, and certainly wouldn't have been playing if she hadn't just died.

And, as you can tell, it still annoys me...

RIP Amy...

Also in the Summer we went to the Fairford Royal International Air Tattoo. This was the 40th anniversary of the Air Show and was a spectacular, if wet, weekend of awesome hardware and other attractions...

Featuring ( to mention a few ) the B52 Stratofortress...


The Eurofighter Typhoon...

The Pimm's Flight Deck

( jug of Pimm's in evidence - how civilized! )...

We'd bought Sarah's parents tickets to the Air Show as a present for her dad's retirement and, even though the weather was pretty dodgy, we had a great day.

There was even a special appearance by big-nosed Pulp vigilante, The Shadow. I had to get a pic of that one!

Strangely enough, we also saw bootylicious Pop/Soul star Alexandra Burke giving a pretty impressive performance not far from the crowd-line.

This was good fun with Ms. Burke in fine voice, but quite bizarre to be watching a gig whilst also checking out the sky for passing fighter planes...

In the so-called "real" world in 2011 there was apparently a Royal Wedding...

And the less said about that the better. At least we got a Bank Holiday out of it, which we spent at my mate Kev's BBQ, followed by yet another gig by those Chinese Burn boys...

In 2011 we finally got rid of our dilapidated old kitchen ( see above ), which Sarah's had to put up with for 14 years or so. She took great delight in destroying the knackered, hideous old kitchen units, as can be seen below...

You go girl!!

Such fun!

Even James got in on the act, taking it apart from the inside :-)

Here's Sophie, doing her bit...

And here's the new kitchen in all its glory!

Tea and cake, anyone?

Last but not least, 2011 also saw the end of an era as we finally, after much heartache and stress, said goodbye to my Mum's bungalow.

It was definitely a case of mixed emotions as we finally shut the door on The Spinney. Selling the property and dealing with the myriad problems that came with it ( not least being the major subsidence issues that had to be sorted via insurance, tree removal and building work ) seemed to take up all our free time for the first half of the year. Many times we'd thought the place would never sell as potential buyers messed us around, dropped out, and the housing market continued to spiral downwards, while all the time we were chasing estate agents, builders, loss adjusters etc. Nightmare! So, in many ways we were relieved when it was all over but, of course, saddened because another link with the past had gone.

Anyway, onwards and upwards in 2012...

Happy New Year from The Glass Walking-Stick!

Here's wishing a happy and healthy 2012 to all you lovely people out there in Blogland!

And keep rockin'!!

Whatever Happened To Steranko Saturdays?

No, I'm not bringing them back. I just thought I'd give a quick shout-out to blogger extraordinaire The Groovy Agent who has posted that psychedelic Steranko classic Nick Fury, Agent Of SHIELD no. 5 in its entirety, over at the ever-wonderful

Diversions Of The Groovy Kind...

If you're interested in mind-blowing visuals, hard-bitten super spies, crazy gadgets, cool dames and insane villains with astrology fetishes ( and who wouldn't be? ) ...then check it out!

And, while I'm here, have a great New Year's Eve! Peace, mister!

The Beat / Chinese Burn

To finish off what has been a fantastic year for gigs, here are two of my favourite live bands doing their thing in two great local venues. Firstly The Beat at Gloucester's Guildhall...

Ranking Roger and the boys brought the warmth of their Caribbean-via-Coventry blend of ska and reggae to a wintry Gloucester city centre. All the old classics were revisited, bringing smiles to faces and feet to the dance floor:

Hands Off... She's Mine, Too Nice To Talk To, Tears Of A Clown, Stand Down Margaret ( not updated to Stand Down Cameron, unfortunately ), Best Friend and - of course - Mirror In The Bathroom. And, as they say, many more...

The Beat are a highly efficient, purpose-built groove machine, firing on all cylinders. Just try and stand still when they're playing! Go on, I dare you! The rhythms are infectious, the tunes sublime and the interplay between Roger and his son, Ranking Junior, is a joy to behold. Even a strangely "straight" crowd ( the type that probably only go to one gig every couple of years, get absolutely hammered before a note is played, and are ready for trouble as soon as someone looks at them wrong or steps on their toes... ) ...even a crowd like that are helpless before the good time vibes of The Beat and their message of Peace, Love and Unity.

I'd bought my mate Glenn his ticket to the previous week's TV Smith gig as a birthday present, so he bought me my Beat ticket in return for my birthday. Cheers, Glenn!

Jump forward in time to this Wednesday night and Stroud's finest, the mighty Chinese Burn, are rocking Bristol's famous Fleece...

The other bands on the bill are a very promising Kooks / Vampire Weekend-inspired group of youngsters called The Fixed, an uninspiring Punk/Pop/Teen band with the yawnsome name of Area 51, and headliners The Baronesques.

They're an all-girl Rock band with a fairly dated Runaways / Bangles sound, who also do covers of groups like Red Hot Chilli Peppers and The Gossip. Not bad, but not too exciting either. However, from a totally sexist, male chauvinist perspective, the bass player, Becky, is a goddess...

As you can see.

On to another bunch of sexy young things now, the mighty Burn...

Unfortunately, the guys were first band on so that meant only a half hour set with no encores. But what that did mean was a streamlined, "Greatest Hits" set, bursting with the kind of tunes, hooks and energy that got them such a favourable review from Goldblade's John Robb. He knows quality Punk Rock when he sees it...


Here's Ben, one of the most eccentric, charismatic frontmen you'll ever see, recently recovered from falling down between two monitors and nearly off the stage...

And here's Ed and Glenn striking a suspiciously Status Quo-like pose...

And Glenn again, having a great time! When I posted this photo on Facebook he said it "sums up what it's like to play in the Burn really..."

And, to finish, a quick look at the audience, starting with hardcore fans Wendy, Carol, Rob and Helen...

Me, Andy K from the legendary Demob and Noise Agents, and that man Glenn again...

And my rock chick ( for one night, anyway ) daughter Sophie and her boyfriend Jon, who was experiencing the joys of live Punk Rock for the first time. Makes a change from Dubstep :-)

So, another great evening at the Fleece and, on the strength of this gig, the Burn have been offered a support slot with old Punkers 999 later in 2012. Sounds good!