Almost 20 years

It’s 19 years since Frank Zappa died. When I was clicking around on YouTube I came across this interview. Considering how ill he was at the time, he answered all of the questions with great patience. Well worth a watch.

The Wind

I was looking for a version of Cat Stevens singing this live, but I thought it too fast.  I'm really pleased that I continued to look because I found this cover version, it's slow like I remember and  I love the violin...

A Prayer for Owen Meany

For a long time now Dom has been telling me what a wonderful writer John Irving is. So for my birthday one of the books she gave to me was A Prayer for Owen Meany.

She’s right John Irving is a wonderful writer. Owen Meany is very small and has a strange voice which means when he speaks HE SPEAKS IN CAPITAL LETTERS! I have no problem imagining his voice because when the children were very small I used to be a child minder. I looked after a toddler who had the worse voice you can imagine. If a cheese grater could speak it would be with that voice.

Back to the book: There are quite a few Bible quotes and I’d forgotten how beautiful some of the Bible can be (King James version of course). There is quite a bit about Vietnam which I’m finding very useful as I remember that period but didn’t understand it all at the time. I haven’t finished it yet, but I have a feeling it will end in tears. Anyway, I recommend it if you haven’t read it.

Messing about with my phone

I've never really taken many photos.  I always assumed that everyone knew more about it than I did.  I took these recently and I like them - so there!

Flowers from the garden; Cosmos and 'Queen Margaret'

The early morning train to Bordeaux, it was a beautiful misty sunrise.  Okay, now I know it is not as easy as it looks

As the sunflowers dry out the heads curl backwards so that the seeds pop out.  I was surprised at the clarity of this one

The Time Traveler's Wife

I’m really enjoying this book. Dom acquired it while in Edinburgh and is letting me read it before she does. The condition was that I don’t talk to her about it.

 I’ve always been interested in time travel and this one is different to most books on the subject.

I looked at reviews of the film and it seems it could be very confusing to those who aren’t in the know. Has anyone seen it? What did you think?

Punch September 6th 1884

Looks as if people were suffering the effects of hot weather back in 1884… 

Mamma: “With this frightful hot weather, I think I must have that child’s hair cut!”

Tommy: “Oh yes Ma! – and look here – I should like to have it done by the same hairdresser that cuts Uncle Benjamin’s”

Just a thought

Do you think that Google get the numbers for their comment verification from the houses you see on Google Earth?