I see Jeremy Hunt thinks we should all be working until we’re 70. Personally, I’m 58 and am planning to either retire or do significantly less and physically easier work from 2025. This is partly because my warehouse lease is up and won’t be renewed and also because 40 years of heavy work have taken their toll on me. I’m bored of it too and there’s no guarantee that the long standing work I’ve had will continue plus I’ll have to reinvest at some point (new van is £30k plus, let alone any equipment). Contracts go out to tender, contacts move on and it all feels like it’s drawing to a close and I feel like I can easily fill my days, especially in the better weather. How’s it going for those who retired? Did you go early? Did you want to finish or would you have stayed on? Anyone planning on going early?

Everyone’s favourite rabble rousing folk punks, The Men They Couldn’t Hang, play Brighton’s Concorde 2 on November 26th and I’ll be manning a camera on a live stream from the venue. We did this last year and it was a great success with a multi camera set up and decent sound straight from the desk. Online tickets are on a donation basis (suggested minimum although you can pay more) and I believe the band are on at 8.30.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-men-they-couldnt-hang-live-stream-from-brighton-concorde-2-tickets-471530168427?fbclid=IwAR0H88Sa-2C2MRLr1PZ4w_IUxuev3Fr1SpPrSm0CPP9gaxMxwjLAotGcRhc

The Music Venue Trust have launched a crowdfunder to buy at risk music venues which are currently owned by landlords. Minimum stakeholder investment is £200 so it won’t be possible for everyone but given our common interest here some may want to take a punt.

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/own-our-venues

We are in the market for a new printer for the home office: colour, two sided printing, wireless, scanner. We’ve run out of patience with our Canon inkjet which is ridiculously complicated so simplicity and running costs are important. Is laser preferable to inkjet? The Canon had 5 or 6 cartridges so I’d like to go back to the days of 1 x black and 1 x colour if possible.

Quick request for help. Does anyone know what the “Done In” bit at the end of the “SWORN UNDERTAKING TO COMPLY WITH RULES FOR ENTRY INTO METROPOLITAN FRENCH TERRITORY” form means? I’ve Googled it with no success. Is it my home town? Link here https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/content/download/128926/1028128/file/04-08-2021-engagement-sur-l-honneur-orange-version-anglaise.docx

Thanks

I normally avoid our local BBC radio station but my wife recently stumbled on this show, which originates on BBC Radio Solent, I believe. Presented by Richard Latto, it is wonderfully varied and a breath of fresh air amongst the usual fare of blandness. Does anyone else listen?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02v9nnp

Talking to a friend today who told me about this online meeting for people who make gigs and other events happen, hosted by a trucking company boss. It’s over an hour but the key points are limited truck movements, multiple carnets, security declarations as well as visas, work permits, duplicated driver & operator license qualifications and setting up new companies within the EU, all of which make for a lot more work and expense. If it hadn’t been for Covid, the entire European touring industry would have been in chaos since January. As it is, I imagine ticket prices will have to go up to recoup the extra costs. Anyone who said it would just be some extra paperwork should watch this as Alice goes down the Brexit rabbit hole into post Brexit regulation hell.

The final series of GS Newman’s The Corrupted is on Radio 4 at 2.45pm, started this Monday, 10th May. This will take us up to 2008 so I can guess at what the finale will be set around. Toby Jones is still wheeling and dealing while his stepson languishes in prison and Tony Wednesday, the bent copper is still ahead of attempts to bring him and Joey Oldman down. The previous series have been a highlight of radio drama over the past few years and so far, this final run is every bit as good. Highly recommended.

This short film about audiophiles from 1959 came up on Facebook and it immediately made me think of this place and certain contributors in particular. The BBC archive page has a couple of other old films which might be worth a watch too, especially the one about vinyl restoration.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/hi-fi-fo-fum/zjt6kmn

I’ve bought a ticket for Phil Odgers at The Water Rats in Kings Cross for mid July, £16.50 including the booking fee, so not a big outlay if it doesn’t happen. Anyone else booked for anything before autumn?

I just booked my Covid jabs online. I just fall into the 56 and over age range so didn’t want to wait for my GP to contact me. Thanks to an old friend for making me aware of this. Stay safe.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/?fbclid=IwAR10Mwb9pUVafe6IreUTqhWFRfRkSof-JnjuG9Nl1YrJIFAH9IkDhF2Vyy8

You may have seen the piece by The Independent come up elsewhere. The government are blaming the EU, the EU are blaming the government. Let’s hope the whole sorry mess is sorted by the time sufficient vaccine has been administered to allow venues to open again.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/uk-visa-free-work-musicians-eu-brexit-b1784600.html?fbclid=IwAR3Q7k3Y4g9qnF3jRxZO98EDSz04gQm8Z8VZyOpVRG3frbVk7GxoUDxOc5g

I just heard this on the radio. Not new but new to me and the video starts in Great Suffolk Street in Southwark where I worked in the mid 90s. The area was pretty shabby in those days although the building I worked in, on the corner of Union Street and Great Suffolk St, opposite the Union Jack pub, became a Gordon Ramsey restaurant and the company had another building a few doors down, The Old Bacon Factory, which still smelled of smoked bacon. Opposite The Old Bacon Factory there was a green cab stand cafe which served huge doorstep breakfast sandwiches. Where did that 25 years go?

My daughter would like some new earbuds, reasonable sound quality and durable as her Sennheisers always fail on one side. Other than that, they have to be “squishy”, ie not hard like Apple earbuds and have a selection of different size parts that fit the ear canal (probably a given). For me, I would ask that they not be too expensive, £50 max maybe?

Over to you……

I heard this on the radio yesterday where it stood out from several “new” artists and brought a little sunshine into my day.

Have a good weekend.

https://mariebashiru.bandcamp.com/

For no real reason, other than a conversation I had a couple of weeks ago with a stranger who turned out to be a bass player who knew his music history, as well as the mention of Head Hands and Feet on the country thread, I find myself with this going round in my head. Chas Hodges departed a couple of years ago sadly and I wasn’t a fan of Chas and Dave really but this is a cracker. The Word podcast with him is definitely worth revisiting.

http://wordpodcast.co.uk/2018/09/23/word-podcast-215-with-chas-hodges/

After the scorn poured on the government for suggesting that a ballet dancer could retrain for a job in cybersecurity (I know, it’s possible, but unlikely they would want to), I took the online questionnaire which gave me options of virtually every profession known including, but not restricted to, Magistrate, dressmaker, oil rig worker, university lecturer, Montessori teacher and, least suitable for me, football referee. Apart from the fact that at 56, I doubt anyone will invest the resources needed to train me for any job that requires anything more than minimum health and safety obligations, who the hell designed this waste of tax money? Has anyone else had a go at this?

It’s a grey day here on the South Coast. Autumn has arrived and we are going to the funeral of a friend’s mother, who we knew quite well. I’m feeling quite low today so would you please post anything that might cheer me up? I’ll do my best to look through them all later today. Stay safe.

As mentioned in the WFH thread, I’m looking at diversifying into streaming live shows as a way of keeping my business going and I’ve got a potential gig lined up. Not a mega dome, more like 100 people seated at cabaret tables with 2 or 3 musicians seated doing a semi acoustic set. Tickets to be at the actual gig would probably be £20. There are 2 business models: buy a virtual ticket to gain access to the stream or an online donation/tip jar. If it was shot at a reasonable standard, 2 or 3 cameras rather than a locked off wide shot, what would be a reasonable ticket price, assuming you would be interested in watching, or would you rather make a donation? Obviously there are costs involved but the musicians would benefit too.

Waterboy in chief will be on during the second half of Robert Elms’ show today. Also available on catchup via BBC Sounds or whatever they call iPlayer Radio these days.

This popped up on my Facebook feed last night. Ringo, Robbie Robertson play The Weight with musicians across 5 continents. Have a good day everyone.