Currently sitting in Exhibition Road listening to the IC Big Band as part of the Great Exhibition Road Festival.
Another cycle ride to Hartfield and i was f''ked going down there, but on the way back a 15 year old lad came alongside so we started chatting about the Henry Nowak situation / rugby ( he's on an rugby academy ) . So surprising no pain going back as chewing the fat over and great to get his perspective on the HN thing..........i now see why folk cycle out together.!
Rode home from Devon, found a nice Thai cafe for lunch just west of Dorchester, owned by a fellow likemind. All the staff were bonkers!
Over to Ireland for yet another funeral, they’re dropping like flies at the moment The proximity of the funeral has put a stop to my mother in law’s 80th birthday celebration. Double whammy.
Orchestral takes on popular music? Yes, I would say so. They do one called Symphonic Soul which is in October, They did one last year with orchestral versions of Bond themes, and they are doing a Ministry of Sound club classics one next year which has just been advertised. They also show films with the music provided by a live orchestra (or brass band in the link below) if that would interest you. https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2026/symphonic-soul https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2025/the-music-of-bond https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2026/ministry-of-sound-classical-2026 https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2027/ministry-of-sound-classical-2027 https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2026/brassed-off-live
Thanks, I have tickets for Brassed Off and next year's Star Wars. I was asking specifcally about Symphonic Rock.
Today, I almost set the Supersonic Shed on fire and fitted a sexy pipe to my Beta I trailered the Beta X Trainer to my mechanic in order to fit a bigger expansion chamber, have the carb re-jetted, modify the airbox, have some wiring sorted out, rebuild the lower link bearing and a couple of other bits and bobs. After unloading the bike I offered to make us a coffee in the motorhome while he got on with things, but the camping stove ran out of gas so I borrowed his blowtorch in order to complete the job. Things were progressing splendidly until there was a huge "whoomph" and my hand, forearm and the blowtorch were engulfed in flames. This made me drop the blowtorch onto the floor, where it lay enveloped in fire, plus the blue flame was still coming out of the nozzle, both of which set fire to the sheepskin rug it was lying on. The fire was between me and the door, but luckily a rather scared-looking Iggy was on the other side, so I had to step through the flames in order to let him out of the van and then grab and deploy the fire blanket, which thankfully did the trick as a burning propane canister is just about the last thing you need in an enclosed space. It turns out that the bottle hadn't been screwed on tight enough (not by me, I should add) so the o-ring hadn't made a proper seal and was leaking gas. Anyway. I managed to make the coffee and the pipe went on with only a modicum of fuckery. It looks and sounded AWESOME. I can't wait to pick the bike up after the rest of the work and try it out on some lanes tomorrow. Apparently the combination of pipe, re-jetting and the airbox mod really wakes the bike up as the X Trainer is deliberately strangled in order to make it un-intimidating for newbs - it boosts mid range and top end power by almost 50% (31 BHP to c.45 BHP), improves throttle response, but still retains the smooth low down torque and tractability which make the XT so luggable and loveable. It basically gives you slightly more power than the RR but in a bike which is 15% smaller and 12kg lighter. Did I mention that it also looks and sounds absolutely AWESOME?
