Den Bosch…

Not long ago I went to ‘s-Hertogenbosch (more commonly known as Den Bosch) in the Netherlands. I was there to participate in a training course at our offices and had driven from home in England, taken the Chunnel train across to France, driven up through Belgium and into the Netherlands.

The course was called Functional Safety Engineer and was certified by TUV in Germany. It was a refresher course for me as I had done it several years before in my previous company. The training was intense and required you to remember many facts and complex details about the international regulations surrounding the definition, implementation and verification of solutions and process that apply to safety systems in industrial applications.

The office was close to the Golden Tulip Central hotel that was located on the pretty cobbled square that formed the old part of the town, and so I had time in the evening to get out and play tourist.

In the square is a statue to Hieronymus Bosch who is the most well know historical figure to come from the town. He was an artist with a vivid and scary imagination whose paintings of the torments of hell are remarkable as they are surreal.

In the middle of the square are several cafes with outdoors seating where patrons can survey the world from the seat under large umbrellas. It was at one of these that I enjoyed a Bosch Bol with a lovely dark Trappist beer. This local delicacy is basically a huge profiterole full of cream and covered in chocolate, and I chose to have this before going to have my dinner just in case I couldn’t face it later. As it was I had a fun time at a busy trendy diner called Dit where I sat at the bar and had a plate of starters and a cone of fries with mayonnaise.

The town seems to have an affluent population as it caters for an eclectic range of fancy shops including quite a few antique and retro style establishments. I did like the sweet shop Shoeperij Tum Tum with its old fashioned jars covering the walls and enamel bowls for the customers to choose from the wide range of liquorice pick and mix. I also liked browsing the comic shop called Strips van Silvester where I bought a copy of The Goon.

I missed the weekly market as I was taking a ride in an electric boat on the Binnendieze canal tour that went around, through and under the buildings of the old town.

So apart from the brain ache it was and being alone I had quite a good time, made better a couple of weeks later when I found out that I had passed the course

Making a Splash…

Sue and her colleagues from work completed their Tri-Challenge and have currently raised over £5,000 (there is still time to donate if you wish) for charity.

It was a full weekend of activities that started on Friday lunchtime with the long journey up to Wales (that felt even longer for those in the Mini-Van I was driving as it was speed-limited to 63 mph). Still we got to the Snowdon Ranger Youth Hostel safely and in time to get unpacked, changed and have a welcome drink before dinner.

The main event was on Saturday and started early in the morning with the cyclists setting off at about 6:30am to circle the mountain. They returned for breakfast and to change into their walking attire to head up the Snowdon Ranger Path towards the summit.

The support crew drove to Llanberis where we took the SnowdonMaintain Railway (the only way to ascend) to join the others at the top.

The views up the mountain were spectacular until the last few hundred metres where the mountain was shrouded in freezing clouds. Apart from one injured soul (suffered on the cycle ride and bravely continued up the mountain) who took the train, the rest of us descended the Llanberis Path back to the foot of the mountain.

It was then on to the lake where canoes had been roped together to make three double canoe rafts to take five or so people each. The instructors then took the teams out across the lake to practice their skills culminating in a race back to the pier. Several people had opted for the wetsuits or had changed into other clothes but Sue (who wasn’t sure she was going to join in this event) didn’t, and as she started to climb out of the last boat she lost her footing and ended up in the water. Luckily the water was warm and many hands soon had her out, and all this was captured on film too.

After the unexpected dunking (unexpected be everyone apart from those who know just how steady Sue is – not – on her pins), we repaired to the hostel for warm showers, some fortifying beverages and a hearty curry before everyone gathered in the lounge for drinking games (I excused myself as I was driving back the next day).

Congratulations go to the hardy souls and a well done on raising the money for the worthy charities - Children with Cancer, Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation and the Pilgrims Hospices

Folk Weekend…

Again we went to our annual pilgrimage to a field in Oxfordshire to witness and partake in the revels associated with the TowerseyFestival. As is not unusual for a British Bank Holiday the weather was variable at best but we managed to get the tent up in the dry and found cover when it did get too wet, and on the final day it was gloriously sunny so that we could sit out all day listing to fine music.

We watched many different acts throughout the weekend, many new to us and some we had seen before. There was some rearrangement of the venues, extra performance stages and some additional stalls to tempt us. We did have a bit of an issue with noise neighbours on the site we were on and we should aim to go to a different site next year.

The first few acts acts we saw were new up and coming artists led by Fabian Holland who was a very accomplished performer, then there was Jess Morgan equally talented and Sam Kelly and friends (we bought his EP - You Way Home).

Vin Garbutt is a veteran folk artist and had a lovely dry wit, he was followed by fellow North-Easterners The Unthanks, a couple of sisters who sing divine harmonies accompanied by a virtuoso band.

At the party tent the energetic and eclectic Moulettes(bought their album – Moulettes) gave an exciting show with burlesque undertones.

Show of Hands with Miranda Sykes are tight trio who perform quality tunes with thoughtful politically aware lyrics.

Tickled Pink performed a foot stomping set and guided us around a frantic ceilidah that as a spectator looked at times like a wild fairground ride with invisible bumper cars. 

Eliza Carthy & Martin Carthy are part of a well established folk family that verges on royalty and they gave a great set of traditional songs that was followed by Dave Burland who too has a long history in the folk scene.

The Spooky Men’s Chorale is quite a different kettle of fish. These inscrutable black dressed, hat-wearing antipodean choristers disguise there not inconsiderable harmonic skills behind humorous songs that never fail to bring a smile to our faces.

Home Service is a folk super band from the 70’s, reformed and touring again. Unfortunately for us their songs felt dated and anachronistic, not really our cup of herbal tea.

Mama Rosin were quite a revelation, a trio that was unfortunately missing their accordionist – but John Spiers stepped in and learned the entire set in a few hours. Their Swiss/Cajun/Punk mix of music was full of energy and passion that was impossible to ignore.

Saul Rose & James Delarre were a fine duo and were followed by the bard Gavin Osborn whose songs have a tender humour to them that belies there serious message.

Tyde are fine young a band we have seen before as a three piece, they now have grown in size and musical maturity and are a fabulous outfit.

Gracie Petrie is a passionate woman with an acute political sensibility whose protest songs well observed.

Roy Bailey – with Martin Simpson and family, AndyCutting, Marc Block, The Spooky Men’s Chorale – is like the patriarch of the festival and has been a fixture of the show with many of the audience having grown up listening to his children’s songs and now bring their own children to listen at his feet.

In addition to this we saw many other acts in passing in other tents or out in the market square, notable amongst these was a fabulous little improve theatre act that created an eclectic mobile post office and acted out a touching play with those who visited - The Last Post Show – by the Kilter Theatre was quite amazing, as was the costumes for the Hippochondriac – by the Thingumajic Theatre. A huge mobile hippopotamus ridden/driven/operated by a steam punk clad man as a woman of similar garb guided children into a wonderful fantasy world.

Zulu Tradition were one of the world acts that inspired us with their physicality as did the Kayobi Taiko Drumming group.

There was a Ritual Dance Display offering that showcased several different traditional dance acts such as – Berkshire Bedlam, Ouse Wash Molly, Haddenham Hoofers, Sheffield City Giants (the giants are huge figures that tower over the other dancers).

In between time we took a break from the live music and watched the film, Searching for Sugarman, a touching and inspiring story about the rediscovery of Rodriguez, an iconic musical figure to many South Africans.

Also on the agenda was a visit to the Jam Session at the Three Horseshoes where my uncle and his friends join other musicians to play and sing together in the pub.

Once again we had a wonderful time at the festival and we are looking forward to next year when they have their 50^th year celebrations.

More of wot I have read…

Second Honeymoon by James Patterson and Howard Roughan

I have been reading a lot of ebooks recently from a friends account and have found there is quite a lot of rubbish out there, probably the self published sort (at least they have been published and had people read their stories unlike me). But some of the books are better and this one was one of them – a fast paced, exciting and humorous crime thriller that drags the reader along by the lapels.

‘A walk down the aisle, a resort hotel, a drink on the beach...for these unlucky couples, the honeymoon's over.

A newlywed couple steps into the sauna in their deluxe honeymoon suite—and never steps out again. When another couple is killed while boarding their honeymoon flight to Rome, it becomes clear that someone is targeting honeymooners, and it's anyone's guess which happy couple is next on the list.

FBI Agent John O'Hara is deep into solving the case, while Special Agent Sarah Brubaker is hunting another ingenious serial killer, whose victims all have one chilling thing in common.

As wedding hysteria rises to a frightening new level, John and Sarah work ever more closely together in a frantic attempt to decipher the logic behind two rampages. SECOND HONEYMOON is James Patterson's most mesmerizing, most exciting, and most surprising thriller ever.’

Kiwi Drama…

We have just finished watching an exciting and dark drama from New Zealand called Top of the Lake which stars Elizabeth Moss (from Mad Men), Holly Hunter and the dramatic scenery of the South Island. Sue was impressed with the landscapes and would like to spend more time there, perhaps during the wintertime too. She was less enamoured with the depiction of bleak rural life and the harsh gang culture shown in the series which was depressing and scary in equal measure – hopefully this was dramatic license by the writers. It was an enthralling story of mysterious characters and tangled relationships of people who are both intimately involved and totally isolated at the same time. The wide open expanses of mountains and lakes added to the dramatic tension and to the feelings of loss and loneliness. Beautifully shot to show the Queenstown area at its most moody and majestic the scenery provides a perfect backdrop to the slow paced story that builds tension as the well acted characters are placed on a collision course that explodes in the final big-reveal episode.