Having had my first dose of vaccine on Thursday (AZ – no real side effects although my arm is still a little sore) I have decided to have two to three weeks free of alcohol given that that is how long it takes the vaccine to build up some immunity and given that alcohol is known to suppress the immune system. Giving the vaccine every opportunity to be effective seems to be a bit of a no-brainer.

I’ve got a plentiful supply of flavoured teas and cordials but wondered if anyone could recommend an alcohol-free alternative, possibly an alcohol-free spirit. I’ve had Brewdog’s Nanny State and Adnam’s low alcohol Ghost Ship beers before and they’re okay, although they are both 0.5% so strictly don’t count.

Or is my planned approach not actually supported by the science, leaving me free to crack open the bottle of Sancerre I’ve got in the cupboard.

The wonderful Laura Veirs is playing a living room gig tomorrow evening (7pm BST). What a way to spend a Thursday evening indoors.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-Z1aOmBiSx/?igshid=pnuwlsjf75kr

I have neglected/ignored my acoustic guitar in more recent times but have been picking it up more often lately. It’s in need of a restring but having not restrung it for ages I was wondering if anyone has any tips on what make of strings to go for. When I played it a lot, I tended to go for D’Addario 11s. The guitar is an Ovation Custom Balladeer with a shallow bowl body and I’m after strings that give as full a round sound as possible. Even though it’s semi-acoustic I only play it unplugged these days.

Any recommendations most appreciated.

Bobness of this fair parish and myself have made a bit of a cock-up on the gig front and purchased tickets for both Laura Veirs and John Grant next Tuesday. Sadly they are not sharing the same stage so something’s got to give and as we’ve seen LV probably a dozen times in the past, we’ve plumped for Mr Grant.

Therefore if anyone (or two) fancy a cracking evening of alternative folk/Americana please get in touch and I’m sure we can do you a deal.

Ta.

Apologies to @Tiggerlion, shamelessly picking up on your ‘Songs of a Generation’ thread in which you mention that some classics can actually end up being a millstone around the artist’s neck.

This made me immediately think of Babybird, known to just about everyone solely for ‘Your Gorgeous’, a song I’ve never liked but which was clearly a classic for many at the time. A mate talked me into seeing them live quite a while ago now and I went along somewhat apprehensively as this song was all I know about them at the time. When they came to sing it, frontman Stephen Jones said: ‘Here’s the song that ruined my career’. Given the content of the rest of the gig, I couldn’t have agreed more as the rest of set was tremendous and he/they deserve a wider audience, yet will be remembered for that one song.

Here’s one of many finer moments from Babybird. Any other bands/artists you feel have suffered a similar fate (apologies if this has been done before on here).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmLFFqAJ7oA

There’s a veritable Smorgasbord of cake in the office today, presumably inspired by the parsnip cake I made last week. I approached said cakefest earlier and said ‘blimey, it’s Cakesville, Arizona round ‘ere’.

Now, where have I got this phrase from. I’m sure there used to be something on the telly years ago when anything in abundance could be described as Anythingville, Arizona etc.

Can anyone shed any light or am I imagining it all.

Amusing beer quiz on the BBC’s website. 20 perfectly plausible names for real ales, but which are real and which are made up.

I managed a distinctly average 12 and can admit to having heard of hardly any of them.

Enjoy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4Pyw4m40y4DvfzGGCtgQ3G4/the-crafty-beer-quiz?intc_type=promo&intc_location=sport&intc_campaign=beerquiz&intc_linkname=radio4_ent_quiz1

Recently spent a fortnight in Ireland (had an ace time) and whilst the simple point and shoot compact camera has preserved some great memories, the quality of the pictures could have been better and there were times, particularly when trying to get a picture of some wildlife, when I missed some potential great shots due to the lack of zoom.

It feels like it’s time to upgrade and get a decent camera but I’m no expert so was hoping for a bit of advice. I would like it to be fairly compact as I tend to do loads of walking when I’m away so don’t want to be carrying something big and bulky around, but, probably to the contrary, would also like something I can attach a zoom lens to so I can get the close ups of distant wildlife. I definitely want a viewfinder (can’t be doing with trying to frame photos using the screen on the back of the camera) but, other than that, a half decent general all-round smallish camera is what I’m after.

Would be happy to pay a few hundred quid but would be prepared to pay a bit more if there’s something out there » Continue Reading.

The boss is leaving work at the end of next week and we understand that he is keen to learn how to play the harmonica but has never got round to doing so. However, we wouldn’t know where to start in terms of looking for one.

He’s into his 70s and 80s rock music with Cheap Trick being his favourite, if that’s of any use.

Any harmonica aficionados out there who could suggest a half decent one we could get him as a present. Given other bits we are getting him, the budget is probably around £40-£50.