Not much that Bridgen says is true these days, but I didn't bother to check.

Wordle 1,068 4/6

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4 mins.

Missed this one, 50 years ago on Saturday:

Rush's First US Show Becomes a Complete Disaster

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/20190518ultimateclassicrock.htm

I don't like to hear him play without a chorus pedal in the signal chain somewhere. It's part of his signature sound.

Really weird dreams early this morning.

I'm setting up a Scalextric set, I think in the front bedroom of our old house in Hartlepool where I used to play as a kid. I put everything in place; the track, the plastic crash barriers, the cars. But I can't find the transformer.

Then it's late at night, I'm outside a department store but the front door has been left open for me to go in and look for the Scalextric transformer. Why it might be in there I have no idea but it seemed to make sense in the dream. I push the double doors, they give way, I go inside and search the shelves. I can't find it anywhere.

Next, I'm in a ground floor flat on a pleasant housing estate somewhere. In real life it's not a real place but in the dream, it's somewhere I lived years ago. I'm looking through a bookshelf and I find Ordinance Survey maps of Hartlepool (again no such thing exists in real life). I realise I must have left them there years ago and I put them in a little pile to take with me. Then I realise someone else is in the room behind me, the present occupant of the flat. I turn to explain that the maps are my own property.

Finally, I'm at home in Hartlepool. My dad used to have a boat; nothing fancy just a little one with a basic cabin and an outboard motor. We're getting it ready to take it out to sea for a bit. But again, there's a part missing.

I go with Neil Peart, in his car, to visit someone he knows who might be able to help. Somehow in the dream, Neil has been substituted for my dad even though he's only about 30. It's Neil's boat. We turn up at the house. I'm wearing a backpack. It's an elegant, large house. I wipe my feet on a large doormat. We're shown in to a room at the front of the house. I sit at a table.

Two women come in to the room. They're pleased to see him. One of them hugs him.

What does it mean, I wonder? What's my unconscious mind trying to tell me with this "missing a critical part" theme?

Wordle 1,067 4/6*

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Tough one, about an hour on and off.

https://metalinjection.net/news/alex-lifeson-on-performing-together-with-geddy-lee-as-rush-that-would-be-just-a-money-grab

"There's no chance that we're going to get a drummer and go back on the road as the rebirth of Rush or something like that. And if we wanted to write new material, nobody cares about new material anymore. They just want to hear the old stuff from guys like us." 

and

"Maybe the feeling is that it's just really about taking people back to an earlier time in their lives that they have very fond and vivid memories of, and I get it and that's great. And then you do it for the money. And that's not what we were ever about or what we would want to do."

and, perhaps most surprisingly, on discussing the idea with Geddy:

"He knows that I do have issues both physical and emotional with this whole idea. And he respects that we have so much respect and love for each other. I would do something like that, that he wanted to do because I love him and I want to make him happy. But he knows that I wouldn't be happy."

https://metalinjection.net/news/alex-lifeson-on-performing-together-with-geddy-lee-as-rush-that-would-be-just-a-money-grab

Quote from: The Picnic Wasp on May 20, 2024, 10:19:31 AMOr is it dilemna? Never quite figured that one out.

It isn't

When I worked for a Japanese bank in the '90s, I took Japanese lessons. I had two consecutive Japanese girlfriends, which also helped. The next company I worked for, an American investment firm, sent me to Tokyo for a few weeks.

So I turned up after a long flight from Heathrow and a coach ride into the city to get the key to my apartment at Ebisu Garden Place. The young lady at the front desk was having a bit of trouble with her English, so I gently prompted her in Japanese, just to clarify a couple of points. Unfortunately as soon as she heard the first Japanese word come out of my mouth she refused to utter another word of English, and I understood about 5% of what she said after that.

Some folks in Tokyo quite understandably don't speak English at all. I was quite proud of myself for asking a railway worker "Do trains from this platform go to Ginza?" and fortunately the reply included a positive nod of the head, which is easily decipherable in any language.

Wordle 1,066 3/6*

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Less than a minute. Four greens on the second go, effectively.

Just started Pete Townshend's autobiography, Who I Am, published in 2012.

It's actually quite similar in tone, and format, at least so far, to My Effin' Life. The same sort of account of a troubled childhood, an eccentric family and a difficult adolescence, and being in a band with like-minded individuals the same age. Except that all that takes place about ten years earlier. Pete mentions that he was born on May 19th 1945, so by coincidence I started the book on his 79th birthday, ie today.

I'm consuming it in audiobook form as usual, and like Geddy he laughs and chuckles from time to time while he's reading the text. Quite endearing.

I planned to do a long ride today, to take advantage of lovely weather. The wind was coming from the east. Too early in the year and a bit too cold in the extremities of the day for Sutton Bridge and back, but I hoped to do at least 100 miles, depending when I woke up this morning.

I woke up sufficiently early and was pedalling away from the garage door at 0705. The basic idea was to do some variation of the route to Norfolk, but turn back for home somewhere in Lincolnshire.

I made it to the village shop at Buckminster at about 10:30. Stopped and had a feast there. After Buckminster there are two options to go eastward, one route goes directly east from there and the other dips south first. Today I did the lower version. I haven't done this one so often and I missed a turn after Castle Bytham. But that was fine, I was happy to go exploring. After a while I came to a sign for Stamford so I headed in that direction. Well surfaced roads, decently quiet (although it was a Sunday of course).

I went right into Stamford. As it happens one of my brothers lives there, and I did briefly consider paying him an impromptu visit. Then I thought to myself - what would my reaction be, if he did that to me one Sunday? It wouldn't be positive. So I didn't. I turned back at a convenient roundabout. As I made my way back I wasn't 100% sure I was coming back the right way. I'd tried to memorise the turns. Fortunately I got them right.

There's a handy little village shop / cafe at Castle Bytham, but annoyingly it had closed by the time I passed it on the way back. But I found a handy shop at South Witham and bought some more stuff, including a Mars Bar drink. Ideal fuel for the return leg of a long ride.

At Buckminster I turned east again to take an excursion along the "upper" route eastward as far as Colsterworth, just to add a few miles before turning for home.

Came back via Burton on the Wolds and Stanford on Soar. I'd gone through Rempstone and Wymeswold on the outbound leg. I also had a bit of an excursion through Sutton Bonington and Kingston on Soar.



It was a beautifully warm, sunny day. Cool in the morning but I wrapped up decently warm. I'd backpacked my tights and two upper layers and was down to minimal clothing by 1100. Caught the sun on my arms and topped up the tanlines on my legs.

Listened to 6 Music, the first few chapters of Pete Townshend's superb autobiography, read by the man himself and then coverage of the final Premier League games of the season, on 5 Live.

Back on 127.17 miles. Probably should have done more given that I was back more than two hours before sunset, but I limited my options by going to Stamford I think. Lovely day out on a bike anyway and especially nice to do a bit of exploring in that bit of Lincolnshire. Lovely over there.

https://www.strava.com/activities/11450009463

Quote from: David L on May 19, 2024, 07:52:58 PM30 miles on the road bikes today. Absolutely lovely day for it. However, the ride didn't end too well. Stopped at Lynwoods cafe in Bampton for a sausage roll and a coffee where I removed my cat eye computer to check our average speed. After setting off, I realised I'd not put it back on the bike. Looked everywhere for it back at the cafe but it wasn't to be found. Pissed off.
I've actually located what looks like a used one on Gumtree for £12 so if I can get that it will be an easy fix using the existing sender unit. If not it will have to be a different model.......costing a lot more. Grrrrr!

Which particular Cateye model, David?

Wordle 1,065 X/6*

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Failure. Two minutes.

Thomas describes himself as middle-aged, but no-one lives to 131.