A more serious post - world food crisis

It can't have escaped anyone's attention that world food prices are spiralling out of control.
The situation is in danger of becoming critical, with many millions more people facing the prospect of starvation, especially in the poorest countries of the world, several of which are already suffering the effects of famine as well as armed conflict. I hope you'll join me in signing this motion submitted by Avaaz.org, to be presented to G8, UN and EU leaders.

Please be assured that Avaaz is a bona fide, and well-respected pressure group.

Thanks for your support,

Mike.

Can it really be just me?

Or is there one Highway Code for motorists and an entirely seperate one for cyclists? One that expressly prohibits them from stopping at red traffic lights? Only this evening, whilst on my way home from work - but temporarily halted by a red light at an extremely busy (and yellow-boxed) "main-drag" junction - I espied such a specimen nonchalently weave his way perilously across two lanes of rapidly-moving traffic. He was heading in the same direction as me and hence his lights were well and truly on red.

So a supplementary question (and hopefully a hypothetical one!): suppose said cyclist were to collide with one of those vehicles. Who, I wonder, would be the one to get prosecuted?

Now don't get me wrong - I have a great deal of respect for cyclists: we (especially me) should be doing much more cycling for all sorts of very good reasons. But doesn't this kind of senseless and discourteous behaviour by a (I have to say sizeable) minority give the rest a bad name? At best it is mildly annoying; at worst it is highly dangerous - not least because I suspect it could well be a potential trigger for road-rage.

Sorry for this particular rant, but it literally makes me see red. That, and bikes with no lights at night.

That's it. I'm done.

M Grump
PS: it's OK - I counted to ten before engaging gear and setting off from the (by then green) lights!

Another great "Noted" night & Greenrumours at Harlequin

Last night, Pete and I once again got the chance to play at the monthly "Noted" live music gig. He and I (Pete singing) did Wonderful Tonight (Eric Clapton), and I muddled through Country (Keith Jarrett) and Stormy Monday (T Bone Walker). As always, there was an eclectic mix of great acts. The event is clearly going from strength to strength. Fantastic. Congratulations to the team!

And ... I completely forgot to report this previously: Green Rumours' debut (well in effect) at the Harlequin Theatre, Northwich last Saturday. This was a fund-raising concert for the theatre, and again included several really brilliant acts.

For our own part, we played:
Song for Margaret (instr. by Mike Wilding)
She’s Not There (Zombies)
Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Magnum-Mercy3 (instr. by Green Rumours)
Route 66 (Bobby Troup)
Lady Madonna (Beatles)
Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd)
Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd)
Rosanna (Toto)

Encore:
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)

We were joined for this last one by the brilliant Amé Norwood and Jon Kerr.

Many, many thanks to Harlequin - and especially to Jon - for orgainsing the event, and for inviting us to play at the gig. We had a great night.

Mike

Wish I could play like Keith!

The other day I chanced upon a Youtube clip of my greatest hero - Keith Jarrett - playing this improvisation in F major. Not to everyone's tase, admittedly, but it fair blew me away, I can tell you. So then - naturally - I thought: "OK, maybe it's not that hard. I'll give it a go". Oh yeah, right! I must be mad - but you know that by now already.

Of course my effort is nothing like KJ's. (Even I'm not that naive.) But his scintillating playing gave me the general idea. My attempt is much more of a balad; about 0.00001% the speed of Keith's! You'll find it's a one-finger-at-a-time job too, by comparison. With plenty of mistakes to boot. No. What am I talking about? It's improvised is it not? Therefore, by definition, it is 100% mistake-free. Ahaa! Anyway, here goes:

Mike's version of Keith Jarrett Improvising on F Major.

Ah well. I've been trying to play KJ's tune Country since approximately 1976, and failing miserably, so why should this be any better?

M:-)

Identity Theft on Facebook

To all my friends - especially on Facebook.

Be warned, as your identity may be stolen. It happened to me on Facebook, and despite several attempts by my friends and myself, the imposter's profile has not been removed. As a result I have now deactivated my FB account.

If you see "me" on there from now on, it is not really me.

It's a sad, sad world.
Regards
Mike

Welcome to Spring in "Cranford"!

What a sight to wake up to this morning. Absolutely glorious.
Global warming (??) Ah well ....


This is my favourite elm tree. My dad & first potted it up when I was about 18. I'm now 59.75! Well it's survived Dutch Elm Disease and many years of studied neglect, so I reckon it can deal with a few little snowflakes.

Cheers
M