THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY......

Hey yes Thank God it's Friday!! Before you think, oh that's  really nice of Simon to wish that, please spare a thought for the people on the Gulf Coast and the towns and cities that have been affected by Nasty B*stard Isaac and where today being Friday isn't such a delightful prospect. Maybe today is Day X without power and home comforts or possibly Day 1 of attempting to clean up and put the last few horrofic days and nights behind them. So to them I say, hopefully it won't be long now and by the way it is Friday!

Isaac is now classed as a Tropical Depression, which ironically sounds about right!!

Mandeville

THIS IS MANDEVILLE, 
THE MASCOT OF LONDON 2012 PARALYMPICS.

THIS ON THE OTHER HAND IS MANDEVILLE, LOUISIANA, CURRENTLY A LITTLE UNDER THE WEATHER. NASTY B*STARD ISAAC TO BE PRECISE!

So Paralympics opening ceremony tonight and having never taken that much notice of the Paralympics before I have to say that if they live up to the trailers they will be great and I am looking forward to them.

Click here for Channel 4's promo.

In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration.

~ Ansel Adams.

Hurricane Katrina - Remembered. August 29 2005.

Once again Mother Nature strikes a blow to the people in the South East of the United States in the shape, this time, 'Nasty B*stard Isaac' aka Tropical Storm Isaac, which has already claimed at least 8 lives in Haiti en route to other parts of the Caribbean and Florida.
 Live tracker removed
There are some uncanny coincidences between the path, dates and unpredictability of this and Hurricane Katrina that wreaked havoc and devastation at this exact time seven years ago.
As a mere Brit I have absolutely no idea how you deal with that type of expectation, my own inclination after one major sniff of anything that looks like it is going to develop into a Hurricane of whatever gender would be to head somewhere less potentially dangerous! 
Obviously the people of Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi are made of stronger stuff. A fact I already know very well. 
Once again I post a removed live tracker of a Tropical Storm/Hurricane when my intention of posting is really in remembrance of the thousands of dead that lost their lives to 'nature', August 29th 2005. Hurricane Katrina.

The original post was August 29th 2007 and was updated on 29th August 2010, it is as important now in 2012 as it was then.
I have left the links even though some are broken, but I would be extremely grateful if you could just spend five minutes this week, remembering.
Thank You........

This is the original post........


THIS BLOGLAND IN WHICH WE ALL EXIST IS A VERY STRANGE ONE INDEED, SOMETIMES I'M REALLY NOT SURE ABOUT IT AT ALL.
A MATTER OF HOURS AGO I WAS ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO JOIN ME IN THE CELEBRATIONS OF MY HOME CITY AND NOW I AM ASKING YOU ALL TO GIVE FIVE MINUTES OF YOUR PRECIOUS TIME TO THINK ABOUT AND REMEMBER THE 1,836 PEOPLE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES AND ANOTHER 705 WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN ACCOUNTED FOR IN THE DEADLIEST HURRICANE IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. JUST TWO YEARS AGO TODAY.
1,577 OF THESE PEOPLE WERE FROM LOUISIANA AND 238 FROM MISSISSIPPI.

HURRICANE KATRINA

AUGUST 29TH 2005

"Not a day goes by that I don't meet somebody that lost somebody, everything or their mind"

These were the words said to me by a great friend who I met through this blog and who indirectly inspired me to do this post. Until I started looking into it I had absolutely no idea, sitting here an Americophile in the UK just how devastating it all was, I was shocked to the very core at how the people that had been touched by this natural phenomenon coped and how the communities were forced to rebuild mostly with very little help.

As we remember so must we learn and if you ever feel a bit down and we all do from time to time, think about the Spirit of New Orleans and it's people, not just the structures are being rebuilt from scratch but the whole dynamic of a city and by all accounts they are doing well.

There are a few links if you want to see about what went wrong, what went right and some of the new beginings that have been made. I'm sure somewhere you will even find places where you can still donate and help in other ways.

Thank you for remembering and thank you for your time.

LINKS

Click here for a time line of the disaster

katrina.com

hurricane on the bayou

cbs news today

Dirty Coast and friends

Get there from the UK

If you get there then go here

U2 & Greenday    

Ok so here we are back to present day and earlier this year, I was lucky enough to revisit New Orleans after having visited in 2010 and WOW!!! are they doing well!! Of course there is still things to be done, that goes without saying but the overall dynamic of the city and importantly its people is forever upward. I was lucky enough to be there for Mardi Gras, arguably the world's biggest party and really should be on every person's bucket list of things to do before they die.

However that is for another time..... 

I would like to share some pictures with you of the most tranquil and beautiful place in the whole of the city, where even the distinctive rattle of the street cars is drowned out by the singing of the birds! No I don't know how that happens either!! Trust me though it does!!

THE NEW ORLEANS KATRINA MEMORIAL

PLANET ROCK – BEST 30 ROCK TRACKS.

Music for a wet bank holiday.......

30. Burn – Deep Purple

29. 2112 – Rush

28. Enter Sandman – Metallica

27. Boys Are Back In town – Thin Lizzy

26. Bat Out Of Hell – Meatloaf

25. More Than A Feeling – Boston

24. Voodoo Chile – Jimi Hendrix

23. Let There Be Rock – AC/DC

22. We Will Rock You – Queen

21. Born To Run – Bruce Springsteen

20. All Along The Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix

19. Highway To Hell – AC/DC

18. Spirit Of Radio – Rush

17. Highway Star – Deep Purple

16. Ace Of Spades – Motorhead

15. Paranoid – Black Sabbath

14. Whole Lotta Rosie – AC/DC

13. Rock And Roll – Led Zeppelin

12. Back In Black – AC/DC

11. Sweet child of mine – Guns N Roses

10. Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who

 9. Whole Lotta Love – Led Zeppelin

 8. All Right Now – Free

 7. Stargazer – Rainbow

 6. Kashmir – Led Zeppelin

 5. Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd

 4. Smoke On The Water – Deep Purple

 3. Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd

 2. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

 1. Stairway To Heaven – Led Zeppelin

Useless Bank Holiday Fact ..........

... that today is Legends of Music Day? In 1965, the Beatles went to the Beverly Hills mansion of Elvis Presley. It was the first and only time the two legends would meet.

Life is a long song!!

Life is a long song, trust me when you have to go back 41 years before you find something that sums it up!!
Love this....... bet it's years since you heard it too!!
(Also on Facebook)

So for my brand new Sunday Supplement on Si's Magic Picture Show, rush over to "HERE"

Technology Update.

Today from the manufacturers of Blackberry the latest news of 2012/2013 new models : 







There are a lot of new Blackberry models this year.

Also introducing the new mini Blackberry Unripe in red, green and traditional black.

Here the size comparison between the new green Blackberry Unripe and the new Ripe is clearly seen.

A sneaky look in the research lab shows some early development of possibly next years models.

A big disappointment is that some of the new models are simply not ready for the public.

We all live in a ..............

Nush's Wings

I don't think every one knew that Nush had a blog, it was April that she last posted but there was a lot to do with her and the wonderful, beautiful person that she was. VIEW HERE

Inspired by the following introduction to that blog a table was set up at the pub where we celebrated her life to make wings and write our own messages on them before making a wonderful tree! 

"Wings can be made of feathers, beautifully printed like those of a butterfly, they can be strong and constructed, streamlined and aerodynamic; or they can be made of words, art, music and opinions. Wings are there to set you free from yourself and enable you to take off. This blog is my outlet, my wings."

 It was amazing to see family and friends, young and old with coloured pens and pencils, acrylic paint, scissors, string and magazines and paper all over the table while a slide show of pics was showing on the lap top. 
I've borrowed a pic from Adrian to show the finished 'wing tree'!

My  creativity is more usually channeled into

photography, so today I went in search of the 

one picture that tied in with all the above. This 

is what I found.

"Nush ~ missing you already."

"Somewhere over............."

The most beautiful version of this yesterday at the celebration of the life of my beautiful, 'way too young' second cousin, Nush. 

Uncle Chris on the guitar and singing led by Auntie Julia, accompanied by over one hundred teary eyed, croaky voiced and tissue grabbing friends and family.

Anushka Natalia Van Straden-Voce, 
24th November 1987 - 8th August 2012. 

  

The John Lennon Bit

HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

MADONNA

AUGUST 16TH 2012 

MADONNA LOUISE CICCONE

54 TODAY

THAT'S ALL!!

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Team GB at a town near you....NOW!!

So today I went to Flint in North Wales, home of a certain Olympic champion.

Jade Jones won Olympic Gold for Team GB less than a week ago in Women's Taekwondo and as you might be able to tell the town is mighty proud of her amazing achievements.

A thing is not necessarily true because badly uttered, nor false because spoken magnificently.

Think Outside. No box required.

London 2012

So here is the final medal table for the top 5 countries.

                                 G     S      B     Total
1 United States 46 29 29 104
2 China                   38 27 22 87
3 Great Britain   29 17 19 65
4 Russia       24 25 33 82
5 South Korea 13 8 7 28

Last Day, London 2012.

Ok then what shall we do today?
Reflect on the amazing sports that we have all been privileged to see? 
Speculate on the Closing Ceremony? 
Celebrate 'our' teams successes? 
Respect our Olympians? 
Marvel at the spectacles we have witnessed? 
Look at the information we have learnt from? 
Be amazed at 'our' medal haul? Discuss the best bits? 
Look forward to the Paralympics (Aug 29th)? 
Enjoy the last day?
ALL OF THE ABOVE!!
What's it been like for you? 
What's your best bits?

Missing F1 much? Digging Fleetwood Mac much?

Middle of August cabin fever....... 
              No Formula 1 Grand Prixs in August......... 
Best ever full introduction....... God yes please!!
        Some classic Chain by Fleetwood Mac bits...........

August 12th is the 45th Anniversary of Fleetwood Mac's first live appearance....... 




THAT'S ALL!!!!

So this is Liverpool!!

WE ALL SLEEP IN A YELLOW SUBMARINE........... No really!! 

You think that I am 'The Joker' don't you?
No that's the Botel next door!! 

For more of my pics click here for my photoblog!

Westminster Bridge 1802

Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear

The beauty of the morning: silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!

The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!

UPON WESTMINSTER BRIDGE

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

London 2012 Olympic Marathon Route.

Happy Pink Floyd Day!!

Today is Pink Floyd Day! 
45 years ago today Pink Floyd released their debut album, 'Piper at the Gates of Dawn.'
See Emily Play was on the US release of that album and useless info coming up...... was also referred to as 'Free Games for May'..... bet you didn't know that!!

Oh no.......

Who'd have known? Who'd have thought? Stardate August 1 2012, Manchester UK........ Now all we need is Captain Slog!!