No Country

Just Western Swing. The Hoedown weekend in Preston was excellent. I'm always happy to see a big crowd so committed to style, both music and clothes. Everyone was sharp. They knew the lyrics and the moves. There were no tourists here.

Cream Tea

Spent an excellent weekend in the company of O Branch at a crazy pub near Buxton. The genius is, as always, in the detail; cream tea, haunted chair, pepper snorting. But adding a hot hatch car show and donkey sanctuary benefit gig was inspired. Thanks for an excellent weekend guys.

Ardbeg

I suppose there's worse places to be than in a distillery on a rainy day on a Scottish Island.

Bigsby

Here's one for all the guitar nerds out there. John Lewis at the Rock Ridge Rumble playing his Bigsby guitar complete with a D-dropper on the bottom E string. After only ever seeing them in books it's good to see one in the flesh. It's a lovely looking guitar with a great sound.

More steam

Just stepped away from the Rock Ridge Rumble for an hour to take a look around the Tanfield Railway. I seem to be growing quite fond steam power recently but I can't afford another hobby. Certainly not one that will cost me thousands in engineering but you've e gotta love all the big spanners, grease and steam.

Steam

I've seen the future and the future is stationary engines. And that's just the start until I can save up enough to secure and run a steam powered behemoth. Also, get into lawnmower racing before the big money spoils it.

Recipe

Barbecue sauce:

Tomatoes
Onion
Garlic
Dark sugar
Malt vinegar
Worcestershire sauce.

Blend up, stew down.

Easy

When you take your engine apart twice in two month it comes apart real easy. The thing is, if you do the job right in the first place you shouldn't have to do it again.

High

Tuesday morning is spent fighting through a fog of high living and great memories. Getting back to normal is difficult when you've had a fantastic time and the weekend feels like that is what normal life should be. Flanders chopper bash was a total blast. Great people, great bikes, high times indeed.

Power

Absolute power corrupts absolutely... So 1 watt of power corrupts about 1 watt?

Outlaw

It's a slow process to season a new pipe. Gradually building up the burn on the inside of the bowl in a nice ordered manner to prevent the wooden object that holds burning tobacco from burning in and of itself. It takes a bit of commitment which is why many new pipes come already seasoned and ready to smoke. But like all the best things in life, easy is not always best. I got this Outlaw pipe after my favourite pipe broke and I'm loving the size, weight and texture. Truly a sensual pleasure.

£11?....

... for a cup of tea?

Well when you put it like that it does sound like a lot. But the next one I make will mean each cup is £8.75 and the one after even cheaper. The rule of diminishing cost in relation to use means the more times you use something the cheaper each use is. I'm actually going completely out of my way to use my Kelly Kettle. Neat new toy; boils water around a central chimney fuelled by whatever. Yep, I'm a sucker for all that outdoor crap. Not sure how I will cope with it on biking trips but I guess I'll find out.

Mumbo jumbo

Well, you've got to believe in something.

Better

If I were to write a book on how to be successful it would be called "Work hard, make good choices". The working hard bit is up to you but if you want to make a good choice, go get some Closedmondays. I've been ageing the new classic biker wallet since the Trip Out. It's like the classic biker wallet we all loved back in the day, you remember; the only biker wallet that you could get back then, only better. Much better.

Danger, danger, high voltage!

Smoked Ghost Chilli powder.

It's gonna hurt.

Buzzing

Even though at the time it just seemed like another rake of gigs I think I've just finished playing probably the biggest musical weekend of my life so far. I only say that because I'm still buzzing two days later. It's wrecked my brain being so focused for so few gigs but it's been an amazing experience. If I remember I'll link this post up so you can sample some of the music but if I don't you'll just have to dig it up yourselves. I was playing for Katus all weekend but we supported Whiskey Moon Face for the first night and I swear I am so in love with that band I could cry.

Old-timey

Just

one

more

ukulele...

I don't really care that most people don't get it, I'm fairly obsessed with ukes at the moment. I'm thinking of writing songs again, in the old-timey fashion and this little beauty has the perfect sound for it.

Limitations

I think it was in a Dirty Harry film or Coogans Bluff where Clint says "A man's got to know his limitations". To me it's one of Clint's seminal lines and I'm reminded of it when I have got to just about as far as I can get without my head exploding.

I'm just recovering from organising a friends band from Denmark to play a mini tour of Cumbria. Arranging the gigs (and let's face it- there were only three) was one thing, sorting out the other bits and bobs was a whole different level of headache. Anyway, after all that the band were awesome and just got better every gig. That was nice because it was my own gig that was the final night.

As a thank you they brought me some Gammel Danske. It's like Jaegermeister but without the hype; it's bitter but it's nice. I remember cold Danish mornings being served pickled herrings and Gammel Danske for breakfast- nice.

If you like blues check out Delta Shakedown.

Ghosts

Grief is a funny thing. You can't rush it and you can't dodge it. It seems like every time I go for a big ride I'm chasing ghosts. To be more specific, Johnny's ghost. We rode so many miles together to all the best parties. But he is gone. That's a cold, blunt fact.

On the way to The Trip Out I taunted myself with staying overnight at a place we went before on the way to The Hayride but plainly he wasn't there. I was chasing ghosts again. Guy pointed me in the right direction, straight after biker yoga. It was like a smack to the back of the head when I clapped eyes on it; Johnny's ghost. I spent a bit of time crawling around it in almost disbelief but a frame mount, then a brake rod, the rear axle nuts and on and on... this was Johnny's bike. I don't know what I expected to feel but I wasn't feeling it. I was a bit excited, a bit sad, a bit... dunno.

It was good to see it. There were no ghosts here either. This WAS Johnny's bike but it isn't any more. The new owner has done exactly as he should have done; he made it his own. Thereby exorcising the machine. To me it would have remained an heirloom but now it's a super sweet ride in a similar mold but different. I loved what he's done with it (but I would still put mini apes on it). I wished I could have caught up with the new owner to jibber at him a bit about the bike. He might have been really polite and listened to me for a bit and that would have been nice.

Intimate

How do you get back from the Trip Out? One answer is to just reverse the journey. But can you ever really reverse any journey? The paths may stay the same but the experiences change. Whatever, the Trip Out was awesome. I'm struggling to return to real life. Excellent party with great people. It's growing fast so if you like the intimate party you might miss your chance if you don't go soon. The go-go dancers were fabulous.