caleb2006

11:18 pm: You have no idea how sh!t my last week has been
that is all

03:41 pm: holidays a coming!
Its been maybe 6 years since i have had a proper summer holiday (excluding excellent short trips to Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and USA), but i mean a proper, 2 week holiday in the sun. Well this year the wait ends!

I am booked now to take part in a 2 week clown course at The International Republic of Failure in Ibiza - 10 days of clowning with a show on the beach at the end, 2 day break in the middle.
Excellent!
The school is in a converted winery near to a little village called San Josep
Nice apartment that is 5 mins from the beach and a 10 minute taxi from the school.
I cannot WAIT!!!!!!!!!

10:19 am: Customary review
A bit late i know, but i have been considering the year gone, and the year ahead;

2009
Travel
Rotterdam, Brussels, New York, Czech Republic
Pleasing
correspondence course completed, some pleasing photography (snow, sunsets, photo shoot in New York, 1 wedding, some pleasing pics for a number of friends, joined 'dontstayin.com' etc, 1 performance of my clown routines, raised £250 for comic relief with my routines at work, lost 1 stone in weight, no depression during the year.
Not pleasing
Dad's illness becoming more pronounced, mum struggling to cope with it, not done more clowning, not done more DJ'ing
 
On the balance of that, i have to conclude that 2009 was a good year

2010
i plan to......

visit Chicago with my brother
do a clown course in Ibiza
be a better friend and colleague
care even more for those i care for
be a better dad, grandad, son and brother
improve my photography
lose another stone in weight
learn to dance (swing i think)
clown performing
learn to 'flare bar tend'
finish my currently shelved novel
redecorate the domicile

09:55 am: Xmas, New Year, birthday, Paris, Rodin Museum.
Not posted for a while in depth but mainly its coz of a very busy time.

Christmas overall was good for a change. My parents went away over Christmas so it changed my plans but in many ways it worked....
Drove up late on Christmas Eve to stay with my brother and his wife at their lovely new home - a gorgeous bungalow just out of Newcastle-U-Lyme, perched on the edge of the Cheshire Plain and next door to a riding school its a perfect setting. The views from there are fantastic and with lots of snow still on the ground it contributed wonderfully to the rural wilderness feel. They spoiled me to death but despite their best efforts i managed to stick more or less to my diet plan - i have lost over a stone in the last 12 weeks!
Christmas Day was shared between by 2 children at their homes, much cavorting with my grandkids, and intersperced with returns to my brothers for Christmas Dinner. I got quite slaughtered on Christmas Night! Boxing day involved visiting my sister and her family, another brother at his pub and an old friend from the area.
After a day at home on the 27th, it was back up to the Potts to see Mum & Dad and go to a football match with my son, then 3 days to rest in London.

New Years Eve - the best i have had for a number of years! Well done and congratulations to Jaketherat for a great event.

Since then it has been all about getting back into the routines of life, but i have to say, this has been with a spring in my step. i spent my birthday in Paris, (no, not what you are thinking - it was work!), but did as a result have a good, drunken night out in the lovely city.
Another highlight in Paris was the Rodin Museum - what a great place! His work is exquisite, especially i loved the terracotta portraits that had the amazing effects of fragile looking silk created, so powerful that one feels it can be seen blowing in the breeze.

02:27 pm: Last day of the decade at Last Days of Decadence
Jake, you handsome chap you!



galleries of a great, great night are located on my website and at dontstayin.com.com

12:39 am: So....... picture update
Its been yonks again, so here are a few images.....
Starting with some cute animal pics (don't you just love that fox)






Last week i was at the brilliant 'Cabaret Fantasique'





Coney Island where i got a pic i love of 2 guys on a bench and i hope, a flavour of the place







Kelsey Jillette and the Bigbang Bigband at Swing46 in New York







And finally, a few from New York....

01:15 pm: The hanging of Gary Glitter
Did anybody see that last night?
I found it an uncomfortable yet compelling drama on a number of levels, the first being 'what was the purpose?'
- was it to re-address pressure onto Paul Gadd, to hound him further? Don't get me wrong, i have NO sympathy for what he was convicted of, but find the hounding of him through this drama a bit of a lynching.
- was it to re-examine the conviction? Don't see the point of that since he is not seeking to clear his name and nobody is calling for such a thing.
- was it to debate the rights and wrongs of capital punishment? i'm not aware that a debate is currently on, and thankfully believe that it would never/could never be re-introduced. If it was meant to spark a debate, then it seemed one sided and populist. Given that there is no current debate on the subject, was it to start one? if so then i really fail to see the point.Back to the balance issue, there were lots of points made about the views of victims and victims families, usually the strong characters, only one quite weak defender of human rights and no mention of the mass of wrong convictions that spread over the history of law.
- was it simply meant as a good drams? well here i think it generally was. McCready played an excellent part as GG and it was only spoiled by my constant search for answers to the other questions, that may not have come up had a non living or fictional person been used in the story.

12:37 pm: a good effort i think!
Woke at 7am on saturday morning and got back to bed at 5am Sunday - 22 hours!
In betwen i drove over350miles, visited family, saw a football match, went to tg (as a zombie soldier with gouged out eye).
Sunday did nt happen though to be fair - out of bed at 1pm and no need for make up to look like a zombie at all.

Work again today (booooo!) but feeling reasonably recovered.

Hows things in the clean world?
Why am i asking here?

09:45 am: SLAP NICK GRIFFIN!
http://www.slapnickgriffin.co.uk/

I hope that sinmara does not mind me re-posting this but it needs to go to the masses. I will spend many a happy hour on this site.

11:50 am: New York pictures
As promised, if anybody is interested, here are some pics from New York;
http://www.calebg-photography.com/website/htm/calebg36.htm - The Swing46 Club where i took pictures for Kelsey Jillette and The Bigbang Bigband(international photographer or what!)
http://www.calebg-photography.com/website/htm/calebg35.htm - Coney Island
http://www.calebg-photography.com/website/htm/calebg34.htm - Manhattan

Hope you like!

02:02 pm: So good they named it twice!
It's been many years since i visited New York and my brother had never been so we traveled there as virgins for our 4 day trip. And what a trip!

Friday was really just about travel, settling in and finding our feet. The flight was a 7 hour, uneventful affair but i did get to see 'The Taking of Pelham 123' which i enjoyed very much. From Kennedy Airport to the hotel was smooth and gave us good views of the sedate, (by comparison), suburbs of Queens prior to the madness of Manhattan. Hotel Affinia 50 whilst more functional than elaborate was none the less light, airy, comfortable and very well situated near to 'The Rock', Times Square et al. We found a good local bar, cocktail bar and restaurants for breakfast but made a mistake for dinner (a very dry, plain buffalo burger).

Saturday was down to action and lots of walking. A boat trip to Liberty and Ellis Islands took up the morning and though the weather was dull, the trip afforded great views of the Manhattan skyline and the sheer scale of the city. Ellis Island particularly was a moving journey through the history of immigration to the USA over the centuries and though of course it had lots of the usual flag waving, did not shy away from the less impressive parts of the history of immigration and of the destruction of native American culture. Off the boat it was then for a long walk - Ground Zero to Wall Street, to The Bowery, China Town and Little Italy.
Ground Zero is still basically a building site but a hugely poignant place to see and experience and the similarities with the way The City of London and the East End developed and lived alongside each other were remarkable. Obvious and indulgent wealth in the financial district sitting alongside the poor areas around Fivepoints and the Bowery matched very well how the 2 matching areas in London developed over the years, with the Bowery now becoming much more Bohemian. The Lower East side has been almost totally redeveloped just as Docklands has been in recent years.
Walking through China Town was great, sampling 'bubble tea' as we meandered and engaging in the sights, sounds and smells of a culture that retains its uniqueness through the years. China Town has encroached upon Little Italy so much that the latter is barely more than one or two blocks now, but as we walked up Mulberry Street, a real sense of the Italian American was evident. One place of huge interest to me was 'Umberto's Clam House' a restaurant in Little Italy where in 1972 a famous gangland murder took place. I have a painting and photograph of the time in a book at home and it was great to stand on the same spot, to take a coffee and cannoli in a cafe opposite.
After the experience of Little Italy we were in the mood for Italian food and so in the evening we visited an Italian Restaurant near to the hotel (I had a wonderful lasagna) before we visited the Rockerfeller Centre, watched the ice skaters and took some night time pictures from the top (great views of The Empire State Building).

Sunday saw us heading north to Harlem, in steady rain but still engaged by the sites and sounds of the area. We sat in gospel church, enjoying the amazing gospel and soul music, the obvious enjoyment of the congregation and the community spirit within before taking soul food at Sylvia's Restaurant - fried chicken, garlic mash and black eyed beans for me and ribs for my brother. The local Harlem beer is great too. We also took in the Empire State Building and Rock once more, this time in the light (though rain and cloud reduced our viewing pleasure considerably). We found a great bar, The House of Brews where we drank such delights as 'Rogues Dead Dog' whilst watching American Football and having great crack with local New Yorkers who loved our accent, 'go on, say tomato again!' and were very impressed at our venturing to Harlem. 'Hell, i lived in New York all my life and i aint never been to Harlem' said one nice chap.

Monday and the subway, first to Coney Island and then to Central Park. Coney Island is basically closed for the winter but still gave a great sense of stepping back 30 years. It was a warm, clear day so nice to be at the beach but Coney Island reminded me of places like Rhyl in having seen good days but now being on its backside as it loses out to more glamorous locations for holidays and apparently much of it is soon to be bulldozed and replaced by condos, not a surprise given what we saw but still sad that such heritage is being lost to progress.
From there, the contrast with the Upper East Side and Central Park was all the more striking. Not much to see at The Dakota Building but at least i can say that i have seen where John Lennon was shot, and Strawberry Fields is a nice memorial to him. Central Park is a real haven away from the hustle and bustle and good for re-charging our minds and bodies for another busy evening, this time at a Jazz/Swing Club on West 46th Street.
After another 'Dead Dog' and chat with the locals in House of Brews, this time to a backdrop of baseball, Jazz48 is just a few doors away - great food, good atmosphere and a very good ambiance. A band called The Bigband Big Band with lead singer Kelsey Jillette were playing, a really nice and talented bunch of people, and soon we were in amongst them and in return for guest list ($30 cover charge for every body else) i agreed to take some pictures so was paid again for doing what i love doing, this time in New York. They have played in London before at Bush Hall and have promised to let me know when they come back and a visit to see them would be an evening well spent. Then we hung out on Times Square (as you do) for an hour before retiring.

The last day was more sedate - Greenwich Village. Union Square, Washington Square Park and the streets around it are great; great, funky shops, farmers markets, lovely and diverse people and the best people watching in the world i think.
And that was that. Back for our bags, taxi to the airport and home (six hours return flight) and now i have worked through the jet lag and am working on the pictures. They will be posted soon.

09:58 pm: hello everybody.....
how are you all?
Been a while since i put any photo's up so here go's;

Mow Cop is the highest point in Staffordshire and has an amazing 'folly' at its summit. This was at sunset a few weeks ago.





Brighton





And this week at Kensington Roof Garden taking pictures for the lovely Rachel of Circa Burlesque

11:20 am: Most depressingly.......
after some months with the windows permanently open at the domicile, 3 days ago i had to close them, and just a few minutes ago had to turn on the central heating......... goodbye to the summer, here comes autumn and winter and on go's the sad lamp!
Oh..... and i might have become diabetic! bugger!

11:06 am: you can impress me with a calculator!
Hi all,
looking at new pc's on a discount scheme from work...... what are the thoughts on these and the best to have?

MSI GT729 Laptop
Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Processor Q9000 3 Year MSI Extended Warranty
> 4 GB of DDR3 SDRAM > 500 GB SATA Hard Drive > Blu-Ray® ROM with SuperMultiDVD±R/RW DoubleLayer > 17” 1680x1050 WSXGA+ Widescreen > ATI Mobility Radeon HD4850 Graphics 1GB DDR3

Sony VAIO FW41M/H
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8700 > 4 GB of DDR2 SDRAM (2x2GB)> 500 GB Hard Drive> Blu-ray Disc™ Combo Drive (reader) > 16.4” X-black LCD with multiple lamp (1920 x 1080) > ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4650

HP HDXX16-1310EA
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P7300 > 4 GB RAM > 320 GB Hard Drive > Blu-Ray® ROM withSuperMultiDVD±R/RW DoubleLayer > 16” Dual channel LVDS FHD AG Dual Lamps with Bright View > NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 130M 512 MB GPU Graphics

10:06 am: A Northern Soul DJ in St Petersberg?
wow, that was a mad dream last night!

having seen my record collection, Roman Obramovich was so impressed that he booked me to DJ every Friday night at a club in the said city, though for some reason in my dream it had reverted to its old name of Leningrad.

the room was a huge, square, bare space with paint peeling from the walls and the crowd of perhaps 500 that were in sat in theatre seats around the wooden dance floor. The stage was huge, with massive speakers and amps.

they danced like crazy and my set was awesome by the way, even though i had got delayed in traffic and almost missed my flight, thus arrived flustered. I seem to recall an issue at check in with my record cases as well, (they were too heavy obviously).

got me to thinking though...... there must be somewhere in London that a good collection of Northern Soul would have an appreciative audience!

11:16 am: Clowning.
If truth be known i am hankering for the smell of grease paint and want to perform again! Also, because i am back in the UK a lot more now, i may enroll on a new course at Circus Space.

10:50 am: its been a while (again!) but truth be told there has not been much to report on;
VERY quiet at work, almost embarrasingly so. Having had months of madness, trains and flights at stupid o'clock, deadlines and pressure..... nothing. I mean zip! I'm waiting on a few work project kicking in but in between have nothing at all to do. I know that some people would like that, and i know i should take it given how mad it has been (swings and roundabouts and all that) but i hate having nothing to do.

I have started a study course that i won't go into but i think it will be fun and beneficial.

Did wedding photo's a few weeks ago, some quite pleasing ones i have to say and i will post some later, plus a few that i took in Brighton when i went for some sea air for the day.
Speaking of Brighton, TG was excellent and a chance to prance in my latex Zoot Suit! Left London at 8pm and got back home at 7am so felt well 'hardcore'.

A few days ago there was a march through the town outside my office of the RAF Regiment on their return from Afganistan. it was over in seconds but i got a couple of nice pics;



Also i have had a mad DVD buying fest and have lots of stuff to watch in the coming weeks; Unforgiven, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Martrix (all three), Roots series 1 & 2 plus some oldies that i had not seen for ages; Marathon Man (the excellent Olivier/Hoffman tale of Nazi Criminals and stolen diamonds and one of the best thrillers i have seen), Sea of Love with the equally excellent Pacino and very sexy Ellen Barkin, Zulu & Zulu Dawn (ripping yarns if ever there were any (though full of racial steriotypes and Empire 'love' that displease me) and finally.... Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid.
Now i have a love/hate relationship with Steve Martin but this is definately one of his highlights. If you have never seen it its a brilliant take on film noir, filmed in b&w that intersperces old movies in a very funny way. For those who have not seen it, its worth a look.

Other than that it's been visits to Stoke - great to see the family but sad to see my dad's continuing decline, a trip to the Czech Republic (wonderfull experience) and thats about it.
Family visiting me in London this weekend so i hope the weather stays dry!

over and out!

01:37 pm: RIP Henry & Harry
In the last 2 weeks, the last 2 British men to have fought in World War 1 have died; Henry Allinghham, born in Clapton served in the fleet air arm, and Harry Patch fought at Ypres. The Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy has written a poem in their honour. It is a nice poem, but from reading it i deduce that she has read Slaughterhouse 5. You think?

LAST POST

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If poetry could tell it backwards, true, begin
that moment shrapnel scythed you to the stinking mud…
but you get up, amazed, watch bled bad blood
run upwards from the slime into its wounds;
see lines and lines of British boys rewind
back to their trenches, kiss the photographs from home-
mothers, sweethearts, sisters, younger brothers
not entering the story now
to die and die and die.
Dulce- No- Decorum- No- Pro patria mori.
You walk away.

You walk away; drop your gun (fixed bayonet)
like all your mates do too-
Harry, Tommy, Wilfred, Edward, Bert-
and light a cigarette.
There's coffee in the square,
warm French bread
and all those thousands dead
are shaking dried mud from their hair
and queuing up for home. Freshly alive,
a lad plays Tipperary to the crowd, released
from History; the glistening, healthy horses fit for heroes, kings.

You lean against a wall,
your several million lives still possible
and crammed with love, work, children, talent, English beer, good food.
You see the poet tuck away his pocket-book and smile.
If poetry could truly tell it backwards,
then it would.

01:19 pm: Reasonable suspicion?
Brazilian police have arrested the wife of a former world boxing champion, Arturo Gatti, who was found dead in a hotel in north-eastern Brazil.

Police say Amanda Rodrigues had not explained how she stayed in the room for 10 hours after he was apparently strangled with a handbag strap.

07:30 pm: Birthday felicitations
To bettiebebe and to misstiamaria, my world is better for knowing You both.