Snow'n'slush...

Whilst the roads have become safer over recent days, the slush on the pavements has proven tricky to walk through. Some of the snow has melted but it is at least 6 or 7cm deep in the areas surrounding work. Our walkways on site have been well gritted and the guys have done a great job to keep us running.

I am getting softer in my old age especially in regards to films I previously panned (the only exceptions to that are 2012 and Knowing). I say this because I watched the film version of "The Dukes of Hazzard" last night which was surprisingly better 3 years on from when I watched it last, mind you that is probably because the soundtrack includes classic tracks by AC/DC, Mountain and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Anything usually with a car chase is enough for me and that is one of the reasons why I like the Steve McQueen film "Bullitt" as much as I do. Comedy or action are my faves usually and I expect I will enjoy watching some humourous tv and dvd's over Christmas.

Snow on the tracks....

Well the snow has finally reached us here in the West Country over the last week. We are bracing ourselves for heavy snowfall this afternoon and the "light snow showers" were far heavier than expected. Bristol has avoided the worst of the weather but nearby Weston-super-Mare has been badly affected along with the counties of Somerset and Devon.

Todays picture is of a small section of mothballed disused railway track at Portbury, Bristol which is close to where I work. The track, which is still in situ as far as Portishead, forms part of the disused railway line that closed to passengers in 1964 under the second wave of cuts made by the infamous Dr Beeching. The line remained open to freight up to the late 1980's but is now abandoned and overgrown. There are plans to reopen the line by 2015 at a cost of £37 million. The deciding factor will be if EU funding can be secured, but hopefully this will happen even if the odds appear to be stacked against this vital rail link.

A night at the movies....

I enjoy going to the cinema and ironically I haven't visited one since I left my cinema role in late September. Tonight's film was a treat as I went to watch the latest "Narnia" film, "The Voyage of the Dawntreader". When I read the book's during my late childhood to early teens I enjoyed them and even saw a theatrical adaptation of "Dawntreader" at the then Oxford Apollo Theatre. Out of the whole Chronicles of Narnia series I have always held special affection for this book and thankfully the film adaptation didn't disappoint. Sometimes film adaptations lose the impact of the books but the "Narnia" films and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy are worthy interpretations of these great literary works.

One aspect of C.S. Lewis' writing that bypassed me as a child was the Christian dimension to his stories. A couple of lines impacted me during the film. During the story Prince Caspian rejects the chance to enter Aslan's country to be reunited with his father, because he had devoted his whole life to "chasing what was taken, instead of seeing what I have". The second line that struck me was when Lucy Pevensey says her final goodbyes to Aslan and asks when she will see him again. Aslan reassures her by saying "in your world I am known by another name, but make sure you know me. I will not leave you". It reminded me of Deuteronomy 31:6 which says "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Through the words of the story Christian truth was communicated and whilst Aslan is a fictional representation of God, it is brilliant to have a Saviour and friend in my life who stays closer than a brother. A God who never leaves us or forsakes us and who gave his only son for us. A free gift to us from God and to quote The Who "I call that a bargain, the best I've ever had"...

As the Festive season approaches....

It is quite funny at lunch times as I get to watch music videos in the staff canteen. Normally the usual fare is modern day r&b artists such as Tinie Tempah and Rihanna, but this week Viva is playing the Christmas hits of yesteryear. On the whole it has been enjoyable with the only exceptions being by Mariah Carey and Paul McCartney. Rick Astley is warbling now, scary thing is that I was 12 when it originally came out. Back in those days I was engrossed by the likes of AC/DC, Metallica and Anthrax amongst others, but pop didn't pass me by.

Football can be a strange world filled with many surprises. I along with many fellow Welsh supporters was surprised when the relatively inexperienced Gary Speed (pictured) was appointed as the new manager of Wales. Under his stewardship Sheffield United have dropped to the lower reaches of The Championship. Knowing the Football Association of Wales, cost is probably the real reason involved. When I think of this the words of Basil Fawlty come to mind when he described the reasons for hiring Manuel, "it's because he's cheap and willing to learn". I hope Gary proves us all wrong and rejuvenates our nation's ailing football team. In the same way I hope Cardiff City's boss Dave Jones can turn the City round and kick start our season too.

More musings from "canteen land"....

Whenever I think of time, I don't tend to think of hourglasses or Old Father Time for that matter. No, I tend to think of John Cleese's character, Mr Stimpson (pictured), who is a time obsessed headmaster in the film "Clockwise". I saw this film when it came out in the 1980's and it remains amongst my favourite films to this day. Monty Python or indeed unrelated films featuring messrs Michael Palin, Cleese or Terry Jones such as "Erik The Viking" and "Time Bandits" are also great fun too.

Time does fly past at an alarming rate. I am aware of this especially as my hairline is receding at a similar rate to the way that coastal erosion is slowly shrinking the Isle of Wight. It is very easy to get despondent by this, but I try not to worry about it as you can't stop it from happening. I would sooner focus my energies on trying to enjoy life instead of spending the whole time looking back to the past.

View from the canteen....

This is another live blog from work. There's one thing for sure about my life, which is that I always seem to come face to face with unusual characters, or the mentally ill. Today I encountered a bus driver who managed to combine rudeness, aggression, intimidation and being pedantic all at the same time. I wasn't allowed to
board without binning my empty cup of tea! Needless to say this was a minor part of what followed so my complaint letter will follow.

Since I last wrote the City have gone on a slump, yet remarkably remain in 2nd place. Defeats to Swansea, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest and Q.P.R have been sandwiched by draws against Reading and Preston North End. The solitary 4-2 win at Scunthorpe seems a long time ago and it is hard to see how and when this will turn around for the boys.

I sampled Polish food for the first time this weekend and really enjoyed it at the excellent "A Taste of Poland" cafe/ restaurant in Filton, Bristol (pictured above). My lovely lady and I enjoyed the great food, good service and lovely ambience there together and will make a return visit in the near future.

Last night was also a different culinary experience as we had our annual church Christmas meal at "Saigon" Vietnamese & Cantonese restaurant in Weston-super-Mare. The food was excellent and it was great to relax and have fun together.

Three great albums for £6.01!

Over recent weeks I have had to make some big decisions and one of them was to leave my band Mr Big Stuff. It is possible I may rejoin them once I have a car again and my current lack of transportation has been the only reason why I have left in all honesty. Unexpectedly my former bandmates kindly clubbed together and got me an Amazon voucher for £25 as a thank you for the last 3 years. I decided therefore to use this gift towards starting to collect the albums of seminal Welsh rock legends Budgie. I only had to pay VAT and postage so £6.01 for three great albums is a great deal for me!

First up is their self titled album "Budgie" (pictured above) which was recorded in 4 days on an 8 track recorder at the world famous Rockfield Studios in Monmouth. Studio time was scarce and expensive back then whereas these days some bands spend 8 days or more just getting a decent drum sound! Already I love its rawness and heavyness, but the one thing that sets the band apart from their contemporaries is the fact that they are also very melodic. Singer Burke Shelley admits that he was never into the rock bands and was more influenced by The Beatles which explains why there is a strong melodic element to their music.

Next up is "Squawk" which was their second album released in 1972 (pictured left) featuring artwork by the renowned album sleeve designer Roger Dean. He is perhaps most well known for the album sleeves he designed for progressive rock giants Yes and especially "Tales from Topographic Oceans". It is strange that sleeve designers are talked about in such glowing terms and along with Storm Thorgerson who designed many of Pink Floyd's album sleeves and Led Zeppelin's surreal "Presence" album cover his album artwork has become as memorable as the music of the artists in question.

The final album was released as a low budget compilation introducing Budgie's music to a new audience. Whilst it focuses entirely on material from their "Bandolier", "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend", "In For The Kill" and "Impeckable" albums it really captures how strong a band they were in their early years. Sadly the early to mid 80's period with John "JT" Thomas on guitar isn't covered but I do prefer original guitarist Tony Bourge's playing. Many people saw Tony Bourge's departure in 1978 as being one of the reasons why the band lost momentum and it is a shame that the band never achieved the commercial success of their contemporaries such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Admitedly the band's name is at odds with their sound and musical genre, but I challenge you to look past that and investigate this great band for yourselves.

Get well soon, family reconnections and a new musical discovery

I was concerned to learn that Budgie bassist/lead vocalist Burke Shelley (pictured centre with original Budgie members Ray Phillips (drums) and Tony Bourge (guitar)) was rushed into hospital for emergency surgery recently. Their current tour had to be cancelled and it is unclear what the future holds for both him and the band. However one thing that has shone through this setback has been Burke's Christian faith and therefore it is not a surprise when I read the following comments by him at the end of his press release:- "Thanks also to all those who sent messages and thanks to God the Father and Jesus Christ my saviour and the Holy Spirit."It is encouraging to see him acknowledge God being at work in his life and also how he can recognise that God has intervened in a real life or death situation for him.

I enjoyed catching up with one of my family members on the phone earlier which was really great after not being able to talk together for a while. It is very easy to lose connection or contact with people in the fast paced world we live in, but with Skype and a more reliable mobile phone it has made things far easier again. I am really looking forward to spending Christmas with my lovely lady and my family this year too.

I have recently discovered the music of British singer/songwriter Michael Chapman. Late one night on BBC4 I saw a great music clip show called "Guitar Heroes at The BBC". Michael performed a song called "Among The Trees" and his backing band on "The Old Grey Whistle Test" in 1975 were two musicians whose own music I have consistently enjoyed. Their names were Nigel Pegrum (drums) and Rick Kemp (bass) and their band?....was none other than Steeleye Span, my favourite band of all time! Please cut and paste the below link into your web browser to enjoy this great clip:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGRbPYhHM64