Good morning Blog.

last weekend was the start of the Festival season, and what a start....Rain , Tornado's and mud !!

arrived on the Friday afternoon at about 2pm , it was dry then so we set up the tent in a corner of the "quiet" field, while my son and his mates wanted to set up as far away from us as they could !, anyway, got set up and put the kettle on for a brew, just as it started to rain.

Friday was good, dance tent was kicking and the sounds were good, everyone having a chillin' time, we walked over to the main stage (me and Sue) about 10.15, ready to see Hawkwind play out the first day, the rain was lashing it down by then, but you did'nt really feel it in all those people, just the back of your legs got wet. Hawkwind were OK but not great, their first couple of numbers were spot on then they seem'd to loose it somehow, this is sort of typical of the last few times we've seen them,anyway , we had a bit of a wonder round the rest of the site , checking things out, seeing whats happining, then went back to our tent.

Saturday....more of the same weather, but this time with a bit of a twist !!!!!

Mr Tornado decided to bounce its self around the Derbyshire dales !!!

It was about 7pm,, we had been watching a band earlier on it the afternoon and it was great, lovley and warm and sunny, we'd had a wonder about and at about 7 we were in the dance tent having a good time , when all of a sudden it got dark, the wind picked up and chaos broke out,

this tornado came buzzin over the site, bounce off a couple of cafe tents, ripped the beer tent in half and then hit the main stage full on and totally wreaked it, no one was playing at the time cus it was being set up for the next band, there were a few injuries though, Fire and rescue were on the scene so was an Air ambulance and one person was lifted to hospital, but she was'nt seriously hurt thankfully,

Good start to festival season,, got to get the next one sorted now !!!

Good morning Mr Blog,
Just been reading my last Blog...can't believe it was Nov'07 since I was last here,
just shows how totally Lazy I am.
Lots of things have come and gone since last we met, my eldest wrapped his motor bike around a tree and smashed his thigh in 2 places, resulting in 9mths off uni, he's back now and loving it, he's all so done the "student thing" and has moved out of the family home and has rented a house with friends, and the youngest has now taken up going around the local pubs seeing if he and his band can play a set, this has resulted in 3 gigs (unpaid of course, they do it for Beer tokens)but the dream is there, they all want to be Rock stars and have fame fortune and groupies.
2008 was quite stressful !the company I worked for lost the maintenance contract with one of their main "Blue chip" clients,so it was quite a worrying time for everyone, especially with the country in the state its in, but come the November I was transferred under "TUPE" to the group that won the contract, along with most every one else who worked with me, so employment continues, nigh on a case of "Same Shit Different Day !!"
Another thing that still continues is my Bi annually check-ups at the QMC (hospital)the next one is sheduled for this April,when the also want to do an "Endoscopy"(camera down the throat and in to the gullet) to check for Varacies, so nice !!
Anyway, last years results were for April, Liver still the same, no change in the amount of cirrhosis but Spleen swollen to help the Liver cope
ALTS.........94
HG...........15.4
platlets.....58

and for October,
Liver same ,Spleen now 19cm (normal spleen size approx 14cm)
ALTS .......53..(large drop)
HG..........14.3
Platlets.....57
Bilrubin.....13
ALP (alkaline phosphate)..71
ALB(albumin)..41
GGT(gamma gutauyl transferase)..35

It will soon be Summer and festival season ! Cant wait to get the tent out again, the first one is in may at Ashbourne, "The Bearded Weirdy festival", run over 3 days and loads of bands and things to do,Hawkwind are rumoured but as yet not confirmed, but who cares? 3 days of chilling out and Music, going to be loads of people we know going, so it will be a really good time (watch this space!)

See you soon

I've not been here for a long time, is it because I've finished tx and nolonger have anything to say ? dont think so.
Come December it will have been 2 years since I was diagnosed with HCV, only differance is I lost a year whilst on tx, other than that, s.n.a.f.u... or perhaps even more so, because in Nov 05 I did'nt know I was ill, life was ( and still is ) good, one really good thing is I now have a lot of diverse friends, there's some good strong people out there, people who know what the score is and can offer support and a shoulder when needed, my friend "M" in Telford is one, we had lunch again on Tuesday in Shrewsbury and I introduced my wife to her...and M to my wife,
M is also the reason I made new friends last week in Manchester, I had actually phoned her to say I couldnt make the Northern gathering, work commitmants would'nt let me, but after driving home I thought "what a chicken", the rest is history and now I've a whole bunch of new friends, good strong northern sorts into good food and nice music.
I had my bi annual tests in October , because of this wonderful bug we've got I have to be tested twice a year, untill that is they invent somthing new to try to eradicate it, any way , the results were
virol load....1.200.000..................a drop of 380.000
platlets.......56.................................a drop of 4
hg.................14.8...........................a rise of 3.2
alts................63

eastern haze 2007

arrived friday afternoon at Somerlayton, black sky's and side ways rain, parked the car in the parking field and trudged through knee high sodden grass to the camping fields,
found a spot to pitch and looked at the sky wondering if it would let up enough to get the tent up, two absolutely lovely ladies "Beth and Anita" called us over to their tent to wait awhile, after a bit, and the rain getting lighter, Anita put on her Kagool and helped Sue and I to get it up
along with their other mate Jane, sue and I made
3 good mates and neighbors .
So, Eastern Haze 2007.....loads of things to do and see, loads of good bands...Ozric tentacles..The Blockheads...Grooveweird...The Bootleg Beatles(played out on Sunday)one of the best though was Space ritual , thats them above joined by Arther Brown, this is Nick Turners band, "founder of hawkwind"and by far (in my opinion) better then Hawkwind fronted by dave Brock,Arther Brown joined them for the last number...cant say better then that.
The Reggae stage had a load of good acts too, Zion train...One foot skank...Blakamix the mixman...and for the 2nd time this year we saw P.A.I.N. , white Punk ska band, like early clash, loads of energy
Another stage was the Psytrance, with acts such as Eat static...Beardy...Hux Flux .., fantastic lights and visuals, a totally different planet zone to most peeps on E's and acid

Loads of things for every one, Kids Circus workshops,festie food stalls, doin sweet munchie specials for when the Herbs set in,

So, all in all a great week end, for 3 whole days I never took my whellies off and I never washed or brushed my teeth, like being a teen again, but there is one thing....I am determind to go to a festival this year that has'nt , or doesnt turn in to a mud bath !!!

Take it easy and keep rockin !!

HAWKFEST@DONNINGTON

last weekend was hawkfest held at donningtonfarm, what a great weekend,

lots of rain, lots of mud, and lots of "space rock" bands, it only needed a couple of "micro-dots to have made it feel like "Stonehenge" back in the early 70s.

This is "technicians of space ship hawkwind

joined by Dave Brock and Huw Loyd Langton, both founder members of the original Hawkwind

(Hawkwind played on the Saturday night)

It was a really intimate party atmosphere, only a thousand or so campers and not many day guests, maybe the weather put them off,

Two stages and a reggae tent, all under canvas so no one was subjected to the elements. The

music was mostly "spacy trippy" type, but some realy good bands included a "skinhead/punk band called "House of Pain".

On the Sunday afternoon all the events stopped as Dave Brock got married on the indoor stage, and like I say "intimate party" every one was invited, and a lot of folks got dressed up, Space men-robots-green monsters- alians and all sorts, at the inpromtue reception Dave and his new wife cut the cake and handed it around.

The next Festival on the list is Eastern haze in Suffolk,thats towards the end of next month, this is another "trippy festival", billed as 3 days of "peace and love"

Peace and love to you all

"Love is good and love is kind".......the Smashing Pumpkins

MY GARDEN (and fish)



One of the fish in our pond was looking a bit fat and rather strange, this had been getting progresivly worse for some time now, so off to the fish doctor we did go...(after trying to catch the thing)



"Egg bound !" said he, cradling the fish in his hands and gently feeling along her abdomen.



"Poor thing looks like its about to explode", "going to have to induce her"



So, after a bit of squeasing and manipulating out came loads and loads of eggs! and they shot in a thick brown stream over the chaps hand and all over his wrist,......except they did'nt come out of her rear, where one would think, they came out of the side of her abdomen !"hmm, very strange, said he, not seen that before"...."very bizare" says I, having never seen anything like it in my life. Fishie seems OK though, a bit of scar tissue on her side indicates a past injury that we had'nt picked up on, and she may have injured her repoductive system which is why she was egg bound, she's back home in her pond now, so we're just going to keep a eye on her in case she goes "belly up"

The Manics were spot on,
Rock city is a small venue compared to some places (nottinghams ice arena) so the place was packed to the rafters, literally, stairs , balconys, every where, people were 10 deep,
the main arena was a sea of bodies, sweating and swaying, no point in trying to move anywhere,
no where to move to, and The Manics took the place by the neck and shook it up, starting off with "We love you (you love us)" 2 new numbers, motorcycle emptyness and more classics,
and the did'nt stop rockin' the place right up to the very end, when they remembered Richie Edwards to every one and played out with "You stole the sun from my heart"......Yep, spot on

My other highlight was the Heppers bash at Chrissies and JBs, a long awaited, and welcomed, oppartunity to put faces to names, allthough I must admit I probably bored the pants off some people, just the process of "introduction" realy, and second time round will be a lot better, will feel more relaxed being in the company of people I now "know"


On that note Im'e going to sign off

Frankie goes to Hollywood....."RELAX"....