sidewinder

Ah - Vinyl West in good old Stuttgart. Great shop !

Puff the Magic Dragon Christine Blower The Little Lame Balloonman Richard Branson Virginia Woolf General Wolfe

Gutsy and brilliant performance from Sir Chris Hoy in the Velodrome yesterday. The Chinese and GB disqualifications in the Women's Sprint were a bit of a farce..

Everyone will be growing them now !

My NY pressing of George Braith's 'Soul Stream' has Braith's signature on the back and the message 'For Foxy xx' on it, whoever 'Foxy' is.

Is it the members of the 'Jazz Collector' site bidding against each other?

Would very much prefer to forget that one - and Tet. There was footage of a viet-cong getting shot in the head that was broadcast repeatedly over here - and pre-watershed at that. They would never show that on TV these days.

Churchill's funeral barge on the Thames, with the cranes being dipped out of respect. That's the very first thing I ever remember seeing on TV (on a 10" or 12" B&W English Electric valve set I think). On a much lighter note, the baby elephant crapping and urinating live on air all over the studio floor on 'Blue Peter', with the keeper slipping on the sludge as he tried without success to haul the beast in, was pretty unforgettable. Children's TV at its best !

Early days. Overtaking the Aussies ie scheduled for around mid-week.

Ma Baker Rasputin Daddy Cool

Good entrance by Her Maj..

......bbbbbbut we have to be nice to all visitors over the next couple of weeks. Even Mr Romney !

Rendell/Carr Quintet 'Change Is' (Columbia Lansdowne Series, stereo)

Do you have any inside information How are they going to portray your National story If the stories are to be believed there will be lots of green/rustic stuff, a mini-Glastonbury Tor, cricket, simulated non-stop rain and pens full of sheep being herded - plus 'nurses' pushing hospital trollies round the track I take it you won't be watching it on the TV then Bill?..

Thanks - car is the only option I have and I'll allow lots of time as I'm sure to get lost finding it !

Looks like you are going through my archive of '70s reissues Jazzbo (have pretty well the majority of that series). Great stuff !

Good that there's a few cooler days coming up after this week's baking conditions. It will be better for the athletics too.

I have tickets for Usain Bolt and the 200m mens final day Tonight's show in the stadium should be a hoot !

I worked in West Drayton for 4 years. Swinging it definitely wasn't. The 'lunchtime entertainment' in some of the pubs was interesting though. Northwood was of course dominated by the nuclear bunker for NATO - surrounded by trees, golf courses and the blue-rinse brigade.

Wow - Alan Wakeman in the lineup. Good to hear ! I heard that Gary (a mainstay of the Exeter/Devon scene) is currently doing a PhD in Westbrook-ology/British Jazz (somethng along those lines). Now there's an academic subject that could get me excited ! Will be sure to check out at least one of those forthcoming Newton Abbott concerts. Stuff Wynton !

I'm not normally one to watch cycle races on the telly but the final couple of kilometres with Wiggins setting up Cavendish were pretty classic. Expect to see millions of wannabees out there on busy roads with their bikes and causing traffic mayhem over the next 6 months.

Damn - I'd completely forgotten about it. Work has got completely in the way over the past couple of months. I see there's more concerts on at 'Hanna's' so that will likely be my next port of call. Yes, the food at the Drewe Arms is pretty good ! Glad to hear that it went well and that the weather was kind. That would be either Lou Gare ... or Gary Bayley.

Peter Jay Dickie Bird Meadowlark

Miles and Judy Davis Wynton and Grace Kelly Tubby and Helen Hayes Jan and Scarlett Johansson Herbie and Juliette Lewis

And 'Amen' to that - we've waited long enough. Barring a catastrophe tomorrow, this will be one of the very best UK sporting achievements, bar none. It's been nearly 50 years since Tom Simpson (I vaguely remember his tragic death being big news all those years ago) and some ghosts are being put well and truly to rest this year.