Category: Blog

My general wonderings…

Frank Turner…..again!

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

My love affair with the fantastic Frank Turner continues……and so a blog post was inevitable….

Last Sunday it was the turn of The Engine Shed in Lincoln to host another great Turner gig. It was another sold out gig which is now the norm for Frank Turner.

Support took the form of Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun, and Tim Barry. Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun are a band from Cheltenham, tipped to be big in the near future. Tim Barry an American singer/songwriter playing a rather depressing set that kicked off with a song about a fella who ended up serving time for shooting his sister's husband.

Frank Turner yet again showed why he is becoming so popular, an audience featuring young and old danced and sang the night away in an attempt to knock Wolverhampton off the dance-off top step. Frank played tunes from all four studio albums and a couple from the new album due in 2013. It was also great to see a favourite track of mine, 'Romantic Fatigue', seen played live.

The evening ended with the usual rendition of 'Photosynthesis', complete with a packed Engine Shed sitting down before jumping up and singing and dancing, in what has become a trademark finish to the night.

Overall another brilliant night, and thanks to Twitter I even shifted a spare ticket I had, at face value of course!

Next gig: Frank Hamilton at The Barfly in Camden on the 20th December.

 

Saying goodbye to the mo….

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Thirty very long days and nights have finally come to an end and it is time to bid this ridiculous moustache a fond farewell……

I have only ever grown a moustache twice, both times supporting the fantastic movember initiative. But the time has come to rid the face of this rather creepy looking, hairy appendage. Despite the fact that it is itchy, annoying and troublesome I have formed a bond and become rather attached to my facial friend. But it is time to let go….

  • Calming music on
  • Trim back the long hairs
  • Lather up generously
  • Starting from the outside and working in
  • Washed down with warm water

Remember he will be back next year…


 

King’s Lynn #parkrun

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 3 Comments

An early start this morning to attend, for the first time, King's Lynn parkrun. It was a very cold and misty morning at The Walks in King's Lynn.

Today's route was changed slightly from the normal one due to a bit of flooding across the main path, although it was still around the 5km, apparently about 60 yards shorter than the normal route. The course is roughly made up of three mile laps, all run on Tarmac, so a reasonably fast course, despite the couple of 180 deg turns. As is normal for parkruns, it was well organised, with plenty of friendly marshals and regulars.

I would love to have a closer parkrun that I could attend regularly, they are a great idea, not only do you get a good free timed 5km race, but the chance to chat to fellow runners over a coffee at the end. And as well as emailing you with your finishing details, they text you your position and time within 30 mins of finishing….

 

Dragon Running

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

Today….#18 in the origami challenge….and one of my favourites of the month so far. A rather 'difficult' but impressive looking dragon…

This came after another very muddy run round the woods on a lovely bright, if somewhat, cold and frosty morning.

And it was very muddy….

Also, a visit to Lincoln this afternoon means I have some new socks, as I think these ones have just about had it….

 

Origami #17 and some general wonderings….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

Over halfway through November's Challenge and it feels like I have been creating paper stuff for months. I'm also very aware that a blog post about a piece of paper folded up a ridiculous amount of times to create something that may or may not look like what it is supposed to look like may be beginning to get slightly tedious. So today's blog is being expanded into, to quote the blog's tagline, 'general wonderings'.

Firstly, let me get the whole origami thing out the way. Been creating a lot of animals lately so how about another box…..only 23 steps, but classed as 'difficult'….a starbox….#17….

The day started off with a run around Bourne Woods with the dog, left at about 9am, it felt pretty mild out for a November morning. I was ready for a lovely muddy run on the trails – and that was exactly what I got. At one point it was so muddy that the dog had to stop to check I was going to follow him. Came back caked in mud, trainers are on radiator to dry out, me thinks same again in the morning.

After a shower I had a walk into town to visit the Post Office to send a parcel. That was an experience. What is it with people that go to the Post Office? The people behind the counter are slow enough, but the people going up to the counter are worse. They go to the window with what seems like a letter to post and end up filling in a form, asking endless questions, counting money, paying by card, and then you hear them say “just one more thing my love”…..argh! I needed a visit to Costa just to relax…..

This evening I donned my wellies for a short stroll around Elsea Woods before it got to dark. I was greeted with a lovely early evening sky…..

For the rest of the evening I will be avoiding 'Strictly Come Dancing' and eating beef!

 

What a day!

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

Remember, remember the fifth of November,

A long day, piglet and cults.

Today was a very long and stressful day. It has felt like everything has been against me:

  • I have a stack of marking that, despite my best efforts, does not seem to be going down.
  • I was not really ‘feeling it’ today.
  • The kids have been slightly crazy today. Even my ‘lovely’ Y11s were also not really ‘feeling it’ either. Even a spontaneous bit of Zumba in the classroom failed to shift the negative feeling that was banging around.
  • iPad has less that 4% battery life left – Apple make the shortest ever charging cable in the history of the world so that it is impossible to work and charge it.
  • I made an origami piglet that ‘apparently’ looks more like a rhino (see below).
  • I’ve got work to do but can’t be bothered.
  • The paper is rectangle and not square which is a problem for an origami master like myself.
  • The dog thinks I am mean all because he is a big girl and is stressing out about the fireworks.
  • Blogsy, the app I usually use for posting blogs, has decided that it wants to mess me around as well.
  • All in all I am feeling very sorry for myself.

 

I also found out today that my sister lives in a strange town that offers sacrifices to their God in the form of rather bizarre bonfire Guys. Lance Armstrong was this year’s sacrifice, just ahead of Jimmy Savile and George Osbourne. My sister took part in last night’s procession through the streets of Edenbridge before Reverend Bonfire helped conduct some sort of mass cult prayer session before the effigy was lit to cries of “burn him, burn him!”.

I will be keeping a close eye on my sister’s behaviour in future, although the giant Wicker Man she has erected in her garden is causing some concern.

And so to Day 5 of November’s Challenge to produce one piece of origami per day. Continuing the recent animal theme, a piglet is today’s offering….

Here is Billy hiding like a girl in the cupboard because of the fireworks….

In an attempt to lighten my mood I resorted to the genius of Terry Hall, in his guise of lead singer of Fun Boy Three, that didn’t work either…..