a cute raccoon eating cherries

Ever wanted to watch a video of a very laid back Raccoon eating cherries while wearing a bib?
Today's your lucky day!
One of the greatest things l have ever seen on youtube.



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scans and pics from the hamburg trip

Various scans and photographs from the recent short trip to Hamburg.
Lots of drink was taken by all (Hic).

 Manchester Airport menu

 Our room info

 Instructions from the German bar staff for the best places to buy tickets to see St Pauli (We couldn't get in but watched some of the game inside the stadium on TV in the supporters bar)

 Posh leather bound menu from Hamburg

Bill for our drinks at the top of Clouds (Robbo paid)

 My bill for a bottle of wine from Hamburg Airport which we sneakily drank on the plane, and got told off for when we put the empty bottle in the rubbish bag (Breaking the law, Breaking the law...)

A ticket for the game we couldn't get into (found in a bar later on)

 Chips on the return plane home

 Outside the St Pauli stadium

 View from the top of Clouds

Beans on Toast on stage and my signed poster

 Where we had to get off the train because one of our party was going to wee himself (It wasn't me or Robbo)

How l'm planning on looking in later life

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t.rextasy tickets sorted!

It's a hard job but somebody's got to do it. Just sorted out tickets for this upcoming T.Rextasy show at Darlington, for which l get for free and will be getting paid to attend.
Hurrah!

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more cds and books!

Had an excellent time recently CD and book wise. The Bob Dylan box set arrived, and l spent about £9 for all of the CDs at the bottom on a charity shop rummage. Now's the time to be buying them if (like me) you want to try out new stuff and replace downloaded copies with the originals. At 4 CD's for £1 it would be foolish not to do so. No doubt more shelf space will be needed soon.
Pretty chuffed to have got the pictured books as well, so now, as usual, l just need a load more free time to get stuck into them all.

The CD images keep appearing sideways every time l try to upload them, and l've lost patience trying to rectify it

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top hat - darlington hippodrome

Another night out a the theatre - this time for Irving Berlin's Musical 'Top Hat'. It was pretty good for me as l hadn't seen the musical or film before, so didn't know the story, even if it was obvious how it would pan out after the first few minutes. I did however, already know a lot of the songs, as most of them have become standards, so it turned out to be a most enjoyable evening, despite the fact l was one of the youngest people there (for a change).

Here's some of the songs







Plus an old favourite of mine - The Sensational Alex Harvey Band covering 'Cheek to Cheek.



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the passions - l'm in love with a german film star and hans albers

Currently my favourite record, which was playing a lot in the car on our return from Manchester Airport / Hamburg on Sunday.
The Passions - l'm in love with a German film star. We were wondering if it was about Hans Albers, who used to be (and l guess still is) a huge German movie and singing star, who was from Hamburg and is now buried there.
But it's not.

Here's The Passions



And here's Hans Albers - On the Reeperbahn at Half Past Midnight



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unfortunate look on the jeremy vine show

I don't know who this guest is was on The Jeremy Vine programme at the the end of last week, but sitting with her leg crossed made it look as though she was showing off her huge belly button.

Someone on the show should have told her, but l'm glad they didn't, as l found it hilarious.

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on tv with the sleaford mods

 Had a bit of a shock the other day watching the film about The Sleaford Mods - 'Bunch of Kunst'. There l was, in the front row of the audience at their gig at The Duchess in York. It was only for a brief moment, but nevertheless, l am now a TV star. You'll have to guess which one is me.

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hikaru cho artwork

Want to see some brilliant 3D artwork painted onto bodies by the Japanese artist Hikaru Cho? Of course you do.

Enjoy!

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right said fred - bernard cribbins, plus david bowie connections

After the Scott Walker post below, here's something cheerful - Bernard Cribbins with 'Right Said Fred'. It always bugs me when l sing along to this that there is no part where the lyrics go 'Right said Fred - knock it on the head' as it would fit perfectly. So l just fit that bit in myself.
Also, to continue with the David Bowie part of the Scott Walker post, l reckon he appropriated the vocal mannerisms at the end of this for the speaking parts of The Laughing Gnome era songs (with some Anthony Newly thrown in for good measure). Probably plenty of more songs as well, especially Tommy Steele's 'l Puts The Lightie On'.
See what you think.









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scott walker's death

Despite Scott Walker becoming famous way before l got into music, l got to love his output later on, and went through a long period when l used to play his solo albums through earphones when falling asleep at night. Admittedly a lot of the songs take some getting used to, but it's well worth the effort. He certainly followed his own path, when he could have taken an easier route with lots more financial incentives and rewards, which is another reason l respected him.
For beginners, there's the marvelous Boy / Child best of, and his 'Sings Jacque Brel'  is another go to compilation. It also helps that one of my favourite songs of his is about one of my favourite films - 'The Seventh Seal'.
He'll be sadly missed in this household, as well as amongst the many he has inspired and influenced.
Here's a taster.









And here's how much he meant to David Bowie. Listen to Bowie's reaction after Scott calls him on Bowie's 50th Birthday.



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how brexit is panning out

How the sides are arguing in the Brexit votes and negotiations.
No solution is on the horizon.

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recent trips to the theatre

Some recent trips to the theatre - Darlington Hippodrome to be precise. 

The Travelling Wilburys was pretty good, but the worst one of them was 'Bob Dylan', the person l wanted to see the most. However, it was pretty surreal, and had many moving moments, especially watching 'George Harrison' singing My Sweet Lord. I must be getting sadder in my old age (if that's possible).

As for Aladdin - it was just what you would expect from such a show, some moments of hilarity, nothing particularly outstanding, but everyone went away happy, so job done.

I think the next visit there will be for The Meat Loaf Story, even if l will probably be hassled for autographs.

Stone me - what a life.

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are you straight?

Are you Straight? These people certainly are!

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mr parrot wants attention

This is what my view of the TV is often like when a certain Mr Parrot wants attention (Which is quite often).
Good job l love the scruffy little boy.
By the way, he's on my knee, not really huge.

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some favourite spider-man covers and stories

Here's some of my favourite Spider-Man comic front covers, the first three especially have magnificent, heartbreaking stories inside, and are well worth checking out, even for freakish people that are not into comics. The first two cover the death of Gwen Stacey, and the third one has the death of (spoiler alert!!) Peter Parker /  Spider-Man's aunt Mary. The last two feature the artwork of Todd McFarlane, who revolutionised the franchise when it was getting stale in the 1980's.

As a side note, the comics are so good, it pisses me off when the films don't stick to them, as it's such a no brainer to follow the stories that have already proven to be so successful. Bastards!

Get reprints though, or read them online, as they are getting pretty expensive these days.

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