Barbra Streisand is looking pretty shite these days.........

I have created a photo album just of the village of Pennadomo in Italy where I,m looking to buy. Click Here to view.I will put descriptions on each photo over the next few days. The insides are dead tatty (for £6000's what do you expect!!???) I am satisfied the structure is fine which is the important bit .
Keep in mind (when you see the tatty Interior Shots) these are 300 year old houses.Unoccupied for a decade or two:Its dusk & autumn (the light ain't too good).Also , the Plaster & roof beams look crap.But one of the first things would do is strip-off the plaster (the walls will look like they do ,in Mick's house) & expose & treat the original stonework.The Roof Beams are made of solid Olive Tree Wood Very sturdy.....................


we go see Lisa Hannigan a week tomorrow at The Hebden Bridge Picture House.
Yea,I'm finally rested.It didn't help that I didn't sleep too good Saturday night in Rome & Sunday night in Hebden Bridge.I had houses running around in my head.
I have the chance to buy the house below (similar to Hebden Bridge in that they build them on 2 levels.)But it means lots of alterations & would take me into 2011 to get everything fully ship-shape. I would probably have to do it in stages.Maybe keep them separate for the time being........
I'm expecting a call any day now from Piero my legal eagle in Lanciano.He is going to look around the houses & put a valuation+survey on them.We shall see................
The Rochdale ḥammām tomorrow.After to Turkish Bath A bunch of us go for Martin's Leaving Do. Below, a photo of Martin in Previous-Party Mode.

Pennadomo

...............A photo i took...............Click for biggary................

This is the village .Up near the cliff are the 2 houses I'm looking at.
Lord I'm tired.We got back Sunday night(then straight back to work Monday morning) .I still havnt got my sleep back.Pretty non? The house is £7000 .But, I have the chance of buying the building underneath .Maybe £18000 total for 8 rooms/5 front doors + an allotment somewhere else in the village.I have an Italian Legal guy checking it out for me this week (i await his call) The trouble is, it will need "knocking throught":staircases/re-wiring etc Much work & more brass than i had intended......But,Lord,It's beautiful.....News To Follow.........Sorry.I will get back to blogging once I get My head back in Blighty..........(i;m off to bed & sleeping for a day or two!)

In the meantime: here are some photos from our trip to Italy....

http://abruzzotoday.com/towns/towns-and-villages-in-abruzzo/pennadomo.html

restituire!restituzione!rimetter!mandare indietro! eleggere!

We just got back ! Tales & Photos To follow through the week.I hope you are all well.Click Images for biggary.

ⅯℹⅬ℮ℑ ℉®℺ⅿ ℍ℺Ⅿℇ

'Croatan Shoal light in North Carolina 1860s'
A lighthouse without a rock.
Photo date unknown but the lighthouse was destroyed in 1864 and the replacement built afterwards had a square tower on top.
[from:]
click for biggary........

Starting This Week, I Only Work Monday's & Tuesdays.it's Good ,but I'm busy as 2 Radiators in my house are starting to leak so I am currently wrapped-up in Plumbing (It's A Polish Thing!)Next Wednesday morning I go to Italy for 5 days,doing more observations and negotiations on the house i am looking to buy.No money will be changing hands until next Spring.In fact, it's probably my last trip until the New Year (they can have quite bad Winters in those Italian Hills.....).
Of Course I will be posting photos of the trip here!
I am surprisingly busy this week, so this might one of those "catch-all"smorsborg - posts where i keep adding bits and bobs through the next few days............... Lord, even I don't know what comes next!You've had the "bits" now here's the "bobs"........



Bob Dylan-Born in Time(Alt.Take)

Friday: Below is a photo I took of Robin's Retirement Do at il mulino's Italian in Hebden Bridge.To See more photos click here.I,ve never eaten there before.The only time i was ever in the building was 6 years ago.Chris had a job washing dishes in the kitchens.They didn't pay him once & i had to go down and whisper in the manager' ear about 'horses heads' and 'swimming fishes' I hasten to add, the management has changed since those days.There place is now charming.The food & service is spot on & the dishes are very clean!
Cathy just told me the new Manager is a Polish lass.Maybe she is taking the piss?
I also saw Mick in Todmorden today.He is just back from Spain.He flies out to Abruzzo Sunday morning.I am taking him to Liverpool airport.An early start!(I will have to wake around 330am!)Lets hope the fireworks arn't too loud tommorrow night!
I also went to Rochdale Hamam.I will miss next Friday's Leaving do for Martin.Sorry Pal.But as I say, we can arrange a day out in Manchester in a couple of weeks, once I'm back from Italy.
Above.Robin + hat.Below,
Sunday 530am at John Lennon Airport in Liverpool.Dropping Mick off for the Rome flight.

The Unthanks:Lucky Gilchrist

I had a pair of clogs just like that once! I bought them at a clog-makers shop just off Bury Market in 1980.I wore them to my first day of Teaching Practice in Fazakerley in Liverpool.I never wore them again when Teaching.it was a mile long walk from the bus stop to the school.The metally bits made such an echoey- racket on the pavement! It sounded like a herd of horses were arriving..............

now we rise and we are everywhere.......

click here for origin of "now we rise and we are everywhere"

I like this photo! Nothing to do with anything, but hey!
I was talking to Paul The Vet in
The Rochdale ḥammām last night.I haven't seen him in ages.He had, that day,just flown back from his first ever visit to The States.He was in Georgia.He said it was the most unhealthy diet he had ever come across.He told me of "Deep-Fried Coca-Cola" ! Tell Me It ain't so..........
Well I'm finally well again & only sweet kids visited our house tonight! A momentous weekend
as,starting next week i drop down to 2 days a week working.In a couple of weeks time I hope to fly out to Italy house-hunting.[backstory]
The Unthanks were on Joolz Holland last night.Below one of the songs they sang: Me & Cath go see them at The Hebden Bridge Trades Club in December.It looks like being a fine night in prospect.

I was sad to hear about the death of Robert Kirby [Obituary] He was the man who helped show the World Nick Drake,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kirby
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Drake
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unthanks

as Joolz mentions in the video,Northumbria is a beautiful place....unknown to even many Brits.We have visited many times.Below , a photo i took of Cath in a cottage on the idyllic Lindisfarne ,Holy Island. here & here are some photos of Me,Cath & Chris in Northumbria.And here are some photos of Me,Bob & Neil on a Fortean Weekend in Durham.
"Once an industrious oasis, Hebden Bridge became a hippie paradise in the 1960s and latterly a middle-class hotspot. So how did it turn into the suicide capital of Yorkshire? The film-maker Jez Lewis returned to his home town – where 15 of his childhood friends have killed themselves in the past 20 years – to find out what went wrong in this troubled bohemian idyll.............." Read More....... [from today's Independent Magazine]

trick or treat?

.............................here is the famous vampire actor in the coffin he was buried in. Lugosi was laid out at Utter-Mckinley Mortuary. Hundreds of fans lined Hollywood Blvd. to view his body, laid out in his Dracula cape. Legend has it that Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff were viewing the body of their old friend, who had risen out of so many coffins as count Dracula, Lorre said,"Bela, quit putting us on!"
From:

A photo I saw called "Swimming in Sewage" ,You take your pleasure where you can i guess?It's from this amazing photo collection[.I found via growabrain.]These are some of the most interesting & disturbing photos I've seen all year...............
This week's Theme Thursday is "Halloween".Now, I know it's a big deal in The States.And, at the risk of upsetting my many American friends, It's not something I enjoy much here in the UK. When I was growing up we never celebrated it.Even when Chris my Son was little, it wasn't really obvious.It's only in the last ten years or so that we in the U.K. have begun to celebrated it on any great scale.
My dislike is nothing to do with religion.Partly I think it takes away the focus from our traditional Guy Fawkes Night or "Bonfire Night" ( locally,we call it "Plot Night"). This takes place on November 5th each year.
Halloween sometimes has a nasty side here.
For Example, this recent story.
"A council has banned under-18s from buying eggs and flour in the run-up to Halloween in an effort to curb anti-social behaviour. ........"

What happens at my house is that around 5pm on Halloween Night.the doorbells rings and groups of small children come around with their parents "Trick & Treating".The children are maybe 4 or 5 years old.That's Fine.Great Costumes and such........... But as the night goes on the doorbell keeps ringing.The Kids get older ! By 10pm we get surely groups of 15-18 year olds , who are often humourless.No scary costumes other than hoodies & Frightful Masks To Hide Identity......! .They stand silently holding their hands out..........Last year both Me & my neighbours had eggs thrown+smashed at our door& through our letterboxes when we didn't answer quick enough or give enough......! If you question the fact that ,maybe, they are a little old for all this, you often get verbal abuse.
So this year I will be answering my door as if it were a Military Campaign! Maybe I will video the results for you............? I will perform my best Walt Kowalski impersonation for you!
Anyway, Its not my favourite day of the year.Maybe something has been lost in transition as I'm sure this isn't how it's done in The States?
Saying all that , Hallowmas was a Celtic Festival many moons ago [example]. But , I'm afraid,It just seems to me a very hollow affair in England these days.I'm a miserable old bugger ,non?I suppose I'm the Hallowmas equivalent of Ebenezer Scrooge !

Hampshire Police have issued this poster you can download here and stick it in your front window........ here is a local newspaper story about why the Police have set this up.

The Bottom Photo Is From The Flickr Set:"Halloween in the Time of Cholera "

the lies we tell our children........

below, a post from Hebden Bridge's second best blog

HEBEYE

I Am A Slightly Sick Man!For 8 days I,ve kinda had various symptoms.Bouts of raised temperature.Cold.Headache.Sore neck & Shoulders: desperate Vivid Dreams:Cough.etc etc. I Believe The Devil is making a Stew & I am one of the ingredients.................
It just wont shift.To my credit(?) I,ve only had one day off work, but if it doesn't shift I will have to go to the doctor on Monday & get me some antibiotics ?
Say what you like about the Internet, It certainly has been a boon to Hypochondria .We even have Our Own Website !

Because of this, my week has had a feelling of unreality about it.This was compounded further during Friday.The Square in Hebden was turned into a filmset.Cameras.Fake Snow.Christmas Trees;Police & Security.Large Crowds.It turned out T.V's Cooking PosterBoy Jamie Oliver. was filming a commercial for Sainsburys Supermarket.The Halifax Courier reports it thus

They were shooting well into the evening.They were still at it a 9pm on Friday night when i drove past returning from a visit too The Rochdale ḥammām .Normally, i would have grabbed my camera and mingled with the crowd, but i was feeling so shite i decided to stay at home & steal an image from flickr instead!
Unreality compounded by Artificial Construct.Consider This:

The center of Hebden Bridge has had it's architecture modified to attract tourists to the town.Visitors want a "typical" Yorkshire Village.So ,despite the fact that Its Manufacture Industry has vanished & all "The Locals" seem to speak with Middlesex Accents............The Town has turned into some sort of low-rent theme park.Add to this the view that "Christmas " itself is a Commercial Ploy........Throw in a film crew & some fake snow & Voila ! You have created a mouth -watering confection!

The best medicine Ive Taken this week was going to see the new Disney film UP .In the UK it has a rating that allows anybody over 4 to go see it.If you don't possess a 4 year old, then i recommend you try beg,steal or borrow one next week.Go see it ! The star is an 80 year old bloke that finally captures his dreams.I found it especially relivant because the images of 'a house on the hill' ties- in slightly with my current Italian Caper .Coincidencestist Please Note: The Old Man in the movie's house is Number "18".The same as mine!

I,m also sure Mr Disney is sending us all subliminal messages that (due to the recent collapse of Capitalism) Home-Reposession need not be a 'Bad Thing'!

Another odd thing that crossed my fevered brow was the UK-Stink about the BNP.I was begining to think i was the only person left who still used the term 'facist' !'Turns out , I am not alone! Why not join Folk Against Facism.Make Woody Guthrie's mouth smile as he spins in his grave! Here is a facebook poster Chris made this week.

Read the Latest News on The Rise of Facism in Britain here and ,check out :
"Stolen Valour".British War Veterans Against The B.N.P.:Facebook Site
"The reputation of the British Military is under attack. The BNP are cynically exploiting the reputation of Britains military to promote their nasty brand of racism, segregation and intolerance.It is time we said ENOUGH."
[my thanks to Old Knudsden for alerting me to this site.]

"........Turn up the TV. No one listening will suspect,
even your mother won't detect it,
no your father won't know.
............." Less Than Zero

traffic

"Somehow, as I drove to work, focusing on the movement of the cars, trucks, and buses, my soul learned to sing. Part of me was busy trying to avoid the other cars, yet, another part sang of its place in the cosmos. While my eyes focused on the road, and my hands guided the wheel and shifted gears, the higher consciousness awoke. It was like listening to public radio, it had its own agenda and helped me realize, anew, we are more than the guy who sweats and curses the building traffic."
[from:]

The origin of the word TRAFFIC is obscure . It occurs in French. trafique, and trafiquer, [Italian]. traffico, trafficare, [Spanish]. trafago, trafagar . [Du] Cange.................. Read More

Amin Aghaei

This Week's Theme Thursday is 'traffic'..........

Does anyone know what type of word "lap" is ? I mean, does it have a fancy category like "collective noun"? .You see, words like "lap" are sneaky and complicated. They pretend to be nouns,(and-yes,verbs even) but they are not!They are shapeshifters!
"A lap is a surface created between the knee and hips of a bipedal being when it is in a seated position. A lap only exists in this seated form, and not when a being is standing erect or when it is lying down. "

wikipedia
Another such word is Traffic.It's a body of objects.its a movement of things.........but look up close ,its existence depends on the presence of others.It has absolutely no integrity at all...............

The Naked Rationer (1941)

You think it's gone, my friend
But it comes back again.....................

"Young Dutchman walking down city street, naked save for a fedora and shoes as he dares punishment by the SS while protesting clothes rationing by the occupying Germans."The epitome of style - a true gentleman wears garters and a fedora whilst fighting the SS!

from:

[Oh.By The By.I was the 4th person on the left/back row ]
British Sea Power singing a beautiful song called "True Adventures".I,ve seen them twice live .I love 'em to bits here are some photos I took of them a while back at St Georges Hall in Bradford.

This Song Sums Up The Very British Melancholy Of Autumn for Me......................
British Sea Power - True Adventures. Morecambe Library - 07/08/09.

.......Turgid calls the winter charge
True adventures of awaking hearts
Nights are overwhelmed by gloom
We will see foxes in the moon

Valleys drop, mountains rise
Lift your head, brave the skies
All of the forgotten names
Lakes are forming on the pockets of your brain

And there in the distant glow
A shadow on shadow
At once so strong and weak
In the sunken lines they speak

You think it's gone, my friend
But it comes back again

Senescence or senility
How long until you sleep?
Discarded for all it's worth
Now it's quiet under this fresh earth

Valleys drop, mountains rise
Lift your head, brave the skies

You think it's gone, my friend
But it comes back again

And there is a final cry
A whimper and a sigh
And what was fast is slow
And what was brass is gold

Valleys drop, mountains rise
Lift your head, brave the skies

You think it's gone, my friend
But it comes back again

You think it's gone, my friend
But it comes back again

................lyrics:True Adventures

the green saint

Angel Boligan(MEXICO)

A Wise Teacher told me once...........

..................................Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes
You don't need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows............................

This Week's Theme Thursday is "Climate Change".

"In these times of global warming, how heart-warming it is to visit the shrine of a sufi saint whose name is Hare Bhare Shah! "
from:Above, His Tomb in Delhi.
My Friends Don & Margaret go to India in a Few weeks.Here is something of a Tour Guide!
"Shh, there are not seven but eight cities in Delhi. The eighth is the most exciting. It has love, passion, music, poetry, tombs, domes, djinns, hashish, haleem and also biryani. This city of Sufis is totally Islamic but non-Muslims are welcome.
With no fixed geography, it is spread all over – from Mehrauli to Turkman, from Kaka Nagar to Karkardooma Mor. It’s identifiable by its dargahs. They’re everywhere. There’s one outside the Jama Masjid; there’s one outside Oberoi Hotel. Around some, entire settlements have sprung up; some lie ignored on roadsides. All have a tomb, a saint, a cult. The djinn is optional.
....................................." Read More>>>
" A paper published ........... in the journal Environment and Urbanization shows that the places where population has been growing fastest are those in which carbon dioxide has been growing most slowly, and vice versa. Between 1980 and 2005, for instance, sub-Saharan Africa produced 18.5% of the world's population growth and just 2.4% of the growth in CO2. North America turned out only 4% of the extra people, but 14% of the extra emissions. Sixty-three percent of the world's population growth happened in places with very low emissions.

Even this does not capture it. The paper points out that about one sixth of the world's population is so poor that it produces no significant emissions at all. This is also the group whose growth rate is likely to be highest. Households in India earning less than 3,000 rupees (£40) a month use a fifth of the electricity per head and one seventh of the transport fuel of households earning 30,000 rupees or more. Street sleepers use almost nothing. Those who live by processing waste (a large part of the urban underclass) often save more greenhouse gases than they produce.

Many of the emissions for which poorer countries are blamed should in fairness belong to the developed nations. Gas flaring by companies exporting oil from Nigeria, for instance, has produced more greenhouse gases than all other sources in sub-Saharan Africa put together. Even deforestation in poor countries is driven mostly by commercial operations delivering timber, meat and animal feed to rich consumers. The rural poor do far less harm............................... "
Green Sufi