Gene Vincent

Gened Vincent

Johny Restivo!!

We got back Ok on Thursday evening after a 14 hour journey (only 8 of which were in the air) and about 24 hours without sleep. Went to bed about 8.00 and got up the next day at 10.30! That's the way to deal with jet lag! We had a great time and there's lots to tell but I won't bore you in one go - Julie and I will spread it over several posts. Basically, Boston is great and we would recommend it to anyone. I have always been a bit ambivalent about visiting the US, not because I have anything much against it but there are so many other places I would rather spend our money on and see first. But Boston has changed that. It was a very friendly and safe feeling place and, once we got the hang of crossing the roads and could deal with the language problem (as Oscar Wilde said, England and America are two nations divided by a common language) we felt very comfortable and at home. We could definitely live there! Our main problem was the heat and humidity. Originally we were making up our minds between Boston and Barcelona for our holiday and decided on Boston as it would be a little cooler - in the mid 70s - than Spain. But the weather systems further south - hurricanes and the like - had distorted the New England coast weather and made it unseasonably hot. The first 2 days were in the 90s! Not at all what we planned. The photo below is of the Boston Public Park, the first botanical garden in America (Boston has practically all the 'firsts') which Jules and I walked in and around nearly every day. I will put all the pictures worth looking at on Flickr over the weekend.

I learnt 2 things this weekend. First, a 1 ounce seed potato in a 9 inch pot  produces 1 pound of potatoes (sorry if younger members can't understand the complexity of proper English measurements) in 12 weeks. Secondly, gardening is more dangerous than motorcycling.

No, I don't think so - not a rough enough life and needs a lot more Southern Comfort. After chatting with Hannah and Marcus last Thursday at Stanton I thought I would post these couple of Duffy videos. The first one is a recording of a recording session - sort of a bit more human some how.

Syrup & Honey

Mercy

We seemed to have nurtured a 'football fan' in the bosom of the family. In the interests of balance I thought I would remind us all of the sports we really are good at (emphatically NOT football). Top of the list is undoubtedly cycle racing. 9 Gold medals at the recent World Track Championships at Manchester. Second was the Netherlands, one of the greatest track and road racing nations ever, with only 3 Golds.

Next must be rowing and sailing in no particular order. Gold medals every year in various international competitions including World Championships and Olympics. Then what about motor bike racing? The British Superbikes championship is recognised as the best and hardest fought national SB series in the world. From its ranks a number of Superbike World Champions have emerged - Neil Hodgson, Carl Foggerty (don't read his autobiography) and the current SB World Champion, James Toseland. James transferred to the premier class this year, MotoGP (the formula 1 of bike racing) and has two 6th finishes so far against the current world's best incuding Valentino Rossi and on an inferior bike.

Then there is rugby. Winners of the World Cup 5 years ago and runners up last year. When was the last time the England football team were runners up for anything? I rest my case.