Category: Blog

My general wonderings…

I must confess…

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

….it has been three weeks since my last blog.

Quite a lot has happened in that time….

A trip to The Engine Shed in Lincoln to see the rather fabulous Lucy Rose. Since buying the album 'Like I Used To' I've been a fan….and when I heard she was to play Lincoln I was on it like a rat up a drainpipe.

Lucy Rose has been described as an English Suzanne Vega and been likened to Laura Marling…so what could go wrong? Nothing. The set was full of her own brand of acoustic folk/pop yet mixed with jazz-funk rhythm that cannot fail to entertain. Good gig – she's going to do well me thinks.

Next up was a trip to the ole smoke to see Frank Hamilton (again) at The Borderline. Although not the best gig of his I've been to, due in part to the big heffer standing in front of us who seemed intent on trying to step on the feet of everyone, complete with her ridiculous boyfriend who thought just because he had a big camera this gave him the right to be a complete arsehole. And what is it with girls in London and their stupidly huge handbags that that refuse to put down, they just hang around their elbows sticking them in you. Now I'm a Londoner and proud of it, but things have definitely changed.

But Frank himself was on top form, not the best set list he's every played, but he is slowly attracting more and more acclaim, I think 2013 is going to be a good year for the man.

There was also a very early, or should I say late, Christmas with my sister that I somehow remembered to blog about here.

School has been absolutely crazy: workshops, immersion days and so much exam prep that if my boys and girls don't pass I'm not sure what to do. This week we said goodbye to the Y11s…I've really enjoyed the last couple of years with my group, they've all done really well and developed into lovely young men and women over the years. I wish them all the luck for the future.

But half-term has finally arrived….a relaxing week in store with a few bits and pieces to do at home….mum's birthday party…Billy Bragg gig….and on the horizon we even have #juneathon. Oh crap!

 

It’s Christmas!

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 3 Comments

It may only be May but in sunny Edenbridge it is Christmas! Very exciting!

For my sister last Christmas was a bit of a washout, due to her second child turning up on 22nd December in a rather traumatic way, therefore Christmas is taking place right now! Christmas music and the smell of turkey is filling the air.

Christmas Eve was spent in the pub, as is the tradition, although midnight mass didn't take place due to the vicar being rather unwilling to open up the church just for us. However, Santa did remember….

Jill has been busy with preparations: food, decorations, drink, she even managed to create a 'shed' for the nativity scene….

Can't wait for dinner!!!!

 

What an evening!

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

The Date: Monday 22nd April 2013

The Venue: The Cookie Jar, Leicester

The Artist: The fabulous Frank Hamilton

If you ever want to experience a fantastic singer/songwriter you can do a lot worse that attend a Frank Hamilton gig. Following on from #onesongaweek in 2012 that culminated in a sold out gig at London's The Borderline in Camden, Frank has followed it up with a UK tour…..

Tonight was the second night of the tour – held at a great little live music venue in Leicester, The Cookie Jar located in the basement of The Crumblin' Cookie. Frank was on top from, sharing his own brand of indie-folk-pop music and brilliant song writing skills. He is a very likeable fella, lyrics that express Frank's emotions and experiences, from travelling around, moving to a new city, through to finding and losing love.

It was a great set, including the fantastic, 'Things I do', 'Make Things Make Sense' and the splendid 'Flaws and Ceilings'. Frank manages to write about things that relate to everyone: a soundtrack for life. Who can't relate to this….

“I wonder what she's thinking when she lies in bed, coz when I wake up when she's in my head, and I'm thinking in few years time will I still be yours, will you still be mine”

If you get a chance go and see Frank Hamilton: you won't be disappointed.

 

….general wonderings….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

Already a few days into the final week of the Easter holidays and you will not be surprised to hear that I haven't touched one iota of schoolwork. In fact I've done everything except schoolwork. It is amazing how much you can get done to avoid marking:

  • Sorted out garage – there is still absolutely no chance whatsoever of getting a car in there – but at least now there's a path through all the crap to get to the back.
  • Mowed the grass – a couple of dry days and some sunshine resulted in the first cut of the year.
  • Fixed fence – windy conditions resulted in a snapped post. So after digging up most of Lincolnshire I managed to finally remove a huge lump of concrete that had been used to hold up post. I am now slightly worried I have also dug up a big percentage of the foundations.
  • Made a visit to the tip household recycling centre – gone are the days when you reversed up to a massive hole and slung in all your crap – now you need a PhD – old Hoover? Appliances or small electrical? I glanced at 'small electrical' and could only see old car radios, so plumbed for 'appliances' – WRONG! Two seconds after placing it down…. “That doesn't go there mate!”
  • Went to running club training Tuesday AND Thursday – which is something that happens very rarely. Tuesday was 20 x 1 min fast/slow and Thursday was a very fast 2 mile time trial.
  • Watched 'Inception' – good film – although I am not about to try to explain it – I'm not entirely sure myself – was it all a dream or not?
  • Read 'Pigeon English' by Stephen Kelman – this book has been on my reading list for a while – it follows a young immigrant from Ghana as he grows up on an estate in South London – good book.
  • Just started reading 'The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry' by Rachel Joyce – so far so good.

You'll also notice that this post severely lacking in pictures. This is because of the whole 'One Second Everyday' shenanigans. Although I have found a picture of a giant dog wearing a sombrero….

 

Breaking News: mother & daughter caught cheating….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

Egg-streme Cheating

Mother and daughter caught cheating at egg and spoon race.

Yesterday at a National Trust organised Easter Egg Hunt in Chartwell a mother and daughter were found to have cheated in an egg and spoon race. Jill Lawrence, 36, and mother of two, was allegedly said to have sellotaped her daughters egg to the spoon. The much anticipated under 6s race, the highlight of the day, had begun in good spirits, but it wasn't until the race had started that eyebrows began to be raised.

Grace (18mths), clearly unaware of the scandal that is to follow

News of the scandal broke when a young lad noticed the shiny looking surface to the egg, when his father looked closer the Sellotape was clear for all to see. “My boy has inconsolable,” said the man, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, “my boy has been training for weeks and then some jumped up woman appears to try to claim the glory, it's disgusting!”

Sellotape is clear for all to see

Mr E Bunny, National Trust Easter Egg Hunt organiser, had this to say, “Following reports of alleged cheating we have suspended Mrs Lawrence and her family from attending any National Trust Heritage sites and events. We are also looking into claims that the same woman may have not completed the Egg Trail but still claimed the prize,” he went on to say that, “she is the lowest of the low, and to drag her innocent daughter into her web of deceit is unforgiving.”

The local Edenbridge Police Constabulary have put out this alert:

This is just the latest in a long line of strange and worrying behaviour that includes, amongst other things, forcing children to wear bizarre bunny ears and adorning her daughter with strange pagan symbols, these pictures have recently surfaced…

This woman should not be approached. If you do see her call 999 immediately.

The full story can be read here.

 

Trepidation

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 2 Comments

'A feeling of fear or agitation about something that may happen'

Now being born and bred in South London – which I am very proud of – travelling North is always a slightly worrying time. So when the time came to venture to Huddersfield for an 18th Birthday Party, it was with trepidation that we began.

Overall we had a great time, but I never thought it would be plain sailing….

  • We had previously booked a 'bargain' room in a pub just outside the city. We only paid £35 for a family room so didn't expect too much on arrival. Seemed pretty clean, a lovely little village pub and was perfect for what we wanted, even included a TV that was situated on top a rather rickety cupboard. The full extent of what we had done would be revealed later.
  • After doing a lap of the city centre in search of 'Rhubarb', the hippest, happening joint in Huddersfield, we still seemed lost. So we asked a local. In fact we asked three locals, before actually meeting one who had a reasonable idea of where he was and what century he was living in who was able to point us in the right direction.
  • We entered 'Rhubarb', the hippest, happening joint in Huddersfield. At this point I began to show my age. It was very loud. It was not only very loud, it was dance music. I have a serious issue with dance music – it all sounds the same. I'm pretty sure we listened to the same track for 4 hours. Hence the fact we didn't last too long in the throng of drunken teenagers.
  • The constant bang bang bang of dance music had done one thing – we were now desperate for food. Therefore a visit to a nondescript pizza takeaway place was on the cards. A ham pizza was ordered. I'm not sure if this is a northern thing, but instead of ham we got a light sprinkling of some sort of hard red substance – clearly they had noticed my southern accent and attempted to show me the way of the north.
  • And so we made it back to our room. Only now our room was above the loudest, hippest happening joint just outside the city centre. Our 'lovely little village pub' had turned into the devil itself. And the devil did not rest until 4am!
  • One other interesting point to make about the room is that the en suite did not have its own light, the light only came on when you switched the main room light on. Cue a ridiculous trip to the loo in the middle of the night with the light from my phone shining the way.

AND because I am in the midst of a 'One Second Everyday' project I have even managed a very short video of the events – minus the visit to the loo of course….

 

PS. Happy Birthday Shanice!