Billy Radcliffe Cover version.

The Alice Charmers:The Great North Strum (Copyright 2009, M. Davies)

Fanning the flames.

Evening Strumpets,

When Mel Brooks was asked why he kept poking fun at the Nazi`s, when quite obviously it`s not a "funny subject" He replied, "I`m just fanning the flames, that fire should never go out and allow people to forget what they did."

Here`s a perfect cartoon! Just click on it, and click the zoom to read it. Then let your kids read it.



Till the last one, Never Forget.

Mark.

GNS is 1 (and 1/52th) today.

Evening again, yeah I know buses and all that (You wait for ages and then three come etc). I`ve just realised, GNS was one last Tuesday. Hurrah. More posts to come, but to celebrate, here`s a tune what I have wrote about an incredible woman called Ruth Collington. Check her inspirational blog out on the YT description bit.



Happy birthday!!!! (and one week)

Mark

Allo Maurry Poppins

Whilst in spain we watched Mary Poppins many a time. I`ve always liked this song, and worked it out when we got back.



Cheers,

Mark.

Hola Muy Strumpetas.

Evening Strumpets,

Well it`s been a while hasn`t it? I`ve been away with the Family to a lovely part of Spain called Orihuella. Which literally translates as "Place that is nowhere near anywhere else". Or rather "Place which would be walking distance to other places, if it wasn`t surrounded by mad Spanish Motorways".

The weather was hotter than a fat lad in July, and the food and drink was tremendous. The kids loved the pool, and me and my sweetheart loved the cerveza and Vino de rosada (her) y blanco (me). Of course it wouldn`t be a Davies holiday without a couple of stories. so here we go.

The first night we arrived there we decided to walk to the local Shops and Restaurants a journey of about a mile and a half. We inevitably got lost, and very kindly (as we turned a corner to find a dead end) an Irish lady pulled over and offered to drive us to where we wished to go. We enjoyed good food and drink, and the kids got up and sang a couple of songs on the Karaoke (Harry stole the show with Yellow Submarine, Gracie thrilled with Mama Mia). It was this point I asked Louise if she knew our address so we could book a Taxi. Unfortunately, she did not know our address. Well that`s alright I thought, we could text the guy who`d brought us and ask him. Unfortunately neither of us had remembered to bring our mobiles out with us.

If you haven`t been to these urbanisations which are taking over Spain, it`s like Disney does Espana. Every house is the same (Casablanca) every street identical. We knew were staying at number 22, other than that, it was a white house in a street with white houses. And we`d had a drink. And the kids were shattered. And we didn`t know where we were.



I figured (in the best Jackie Pigeon tradition) I had a decent idea which way the Irish woman had come, so off we set. All the way (as we followed the English waddling home to their "known" abodes like some Romero epic, Louise kept saying, this isn`t the way, we should have turned right further down. It was a very long ten minutes walking, until Grace recognised a parkbench we had passed earlier. Unbelievably, and through better luck than judgement, we made it home. If any one is interested, it was 22 Castillo Del Rio.

We found a lovely little Spanish restaurant, where I could pretend to be fluent in Spanish, "Hola, Mesa Para quattro Por favor" etc and so forth. The second time we went in there was a Spanish fella playing Flamenco on the guitar, whom Grace became very fond of (I think it`s a Puss in Boots thing, Louise begs to differ). As all the other English families were regarding him as if he had asked them to wash a tramps backside, to gain a bit of encouragement he was over like a shot.



He began playing "La Bamba" for Grace. Now then (and you can probably see where this is heading) anyone who knows music can tell you that La Bamba is pretty much Twist and Shout, or vice versa. So I began singing Twist and Shout. He nearly dropped the guitar. Spouting stuff in Spanish I tried to reply, but as all I know how to say is "Table for four please" and "thank you, I am full" this was not much use.

The next thing he`s thrusting the guitar into my hands and asking me to play to the English. I was worried I might put them off their Sausage and Chips, but being the whore that I am, I gave it a bash. It went down really well, and the waitresses and waiters came in to have a look at the English buffoon singing the wrong words to La Bamba. Finishing, I got a nice round of applause, and a couple of free drinks for the family. A really nice night to remember.





At the end of the holiday, I was more than ready to come back (Yeah I know, I can`t believe it either,but it`s true).

I`ve been back a week, and now feel almost ready for another holiday. As Northern Banjo Boy notes in his excellent website, you take two weeks off, and have three weeks worth of work to come back to.

Till the next one,

learn something new,

Mark.

Deer Shedliners

The Busk Stop Stage 2010.

Evening Strumpets,

Here`s some footage of some of the amazing talent that appeared on the Busk Stop Stage at the Deer Shed Festival. Originally intended to be a sign with a couple of overturned boxes on, it became, thanks to the sheer number of artists wishing to appear at the Deer Shed Festival, the third Stage proper. I can`t tell you how proud I was to be a part of this, and to my eternal shame I managed to miss footage of Barbara Helen, The Band with No Name, Hope and Social, and an amazing song by Holly Taymar which brought the Stage to a close. These will live on forever in my memory of the day.













Good stuff eh?

Till the next one, learn something new,

Mark.

Alice Charmers again, but with less Norman Collier!

Afternoon Strumpets,

Noticed the last YT vid was a bit dodgy, so here it is proper and that!



Cheers,

Mark.

The Deer Shed Festival 2010.

Evening Strumpets,

I`m really pleased to be able to let you know that the Festival was a screaming success. We travelled on the Saturday Morning, having had our induction and pitched our tent the previous night. Now then, here`s the thing. Louise has never had the camping experience before, let alone the Festival experience. The thought of not being able to plug in her straighteners, and be susceptible to a thousand creepy crawlies has never really appealed to her funnily enough. I won`t get started on the toilet facility issues she has.

But she knew it was a big thing for me, and the woman that she is, she decided to give it a go. The time came to go to the Busk Stop stage and meet up with Carl, who would be sharing MC duties with me and Giles The sound Engineer. Giles was a really good fella, and during the course of the day had to get levels for, amongst others, a brass section, eurosynth, Glockenspiels, casio organs and of course the dreaded banjo.

The rest of the Alice Charmers appeared and we had a quick practice, before boom, we were off nd running. The set went really well, and really was a lot of fun to do. And then it was time for the MCing to start. Barbara Helen was a lovely woman with songs straight from her heart. Hope and Social ( abnd from Leeds) were something else. I will be genuinely surprised if they don`t have a big part on the main stage next year, and are definitiely a band to keep an eye out for.

The Band with no name came on board and played an accoustic set which like the weather, brightened the day, and Mark, who was a guy who just turned up on the day with his guitar, just in case there were any slots, got a chance to play to a festival crowd. The Glendale family are a group from all four quarters of the United Kingdom came on board and regaled us, before Jonny Glue (Previously Jonny Male from the band Republica) stormed a set with humour and pathos, and of course the Euro Synth! It was at this point that I noticed a very dapper Gent wandering overto watch the stage. As I walked over to ask if he was playing later, it dawned on me that it was Miles Hunt! But what a nice man he turned out to be. He`d come over becuse one of his signings for his record label was playing on the Stage next. A guy called Dirty Ray.

Dirty ray is one of the finest performers I `ve seen for many a year. He`s a mix between Howlin` Wolf and Tom Waits, and has the kind of voice that doesn`t come around too often. He was a really cool bloke as well. if you get the chance definitely go and see him. Trevor Moss and Hannah Lou from Danny and the Champions of the World then sang a sweet short set, as hannah was having extreme pain from her Wisdom teeth.

The night of the Busk Stop was completed by the Wonderful Holly Taymar, who along with Chris Bilton delivered as perfect a set as you`ll hear anywhere.

I`ve got some foot age of most othese acts, which i`ll be posting over the next couple of days, but for now I`m off to see my sweetheart cos I`m knackered.


The camping went great, apart from the fact we pitched the tent on an eariwig nest!!! Louise was not that chuffed!




Till the next one,

learn something new,

Mark.