veloman

I don't know if the commentator has ever raced or even been involved with the club scene in the UK but he plainly doesn't know why Dan Martin chose to take out an Irish licence. Didn't he describe him as "Irish with West Midlands connections" or something like that. Don't know if he was borne in Tamworth (or was it Brum) but certainly lived there before becoming pro and was in C.C. Giro, a Sutton based club (I think). Sounds like just sucking up to Kelly to me. His mother is Irish so quite entitled to race for either country but the reasons are quite complex.

Really don't know but, to me, sounds a bit like Philip Glass . Someone will know for certain though.

Blimey !! That is excellent. Great drumming - (the only instrument that really counts)

Well, The Tour de France is here again; any Vt'ers watching it ? Who do you fancy for Yellow ?

Yep - very sad. Also had a small part, as mobster ' Virgil' in "True Romance" . don't know if many VT'ers have seen this film; it never seemed to get much acclaim but if you liked Pulp Fiction watch this film. The sketch with Christopher Walken and Denis Hopper is brilliant (IMO) RIP

You do know that there will be those on this forum that will lambast you for not knowing the basic shape of an iconic aircraft! Those of us over a certain age would still have basic aircraft silhouette identification on the national curriculum. Concord, Vulcan, Spitfire are the basics, Yokoshuka MXY7 Ohka damn near essential. Oh yes but in my defence - I was driving and just didn't expect it. On Cosford Air Show days you see all sorts. Any way - as The Observers Book of Aircraft was essential reading when I was young I would have known some of those - not the Yokoshuka thingy though; I thought she was married to John Lennon.

I was taking the wife up to Stoke to see her family on Saturday afternoon when a plane flew quite low over us. I commented that it looked, for all the world, like a Spitfire but I wasn't sure at all. Nipper was at Download Festival yesterday and said that Iron Maiden had a Spitfire fly over Castle Donnington during the number 'Aces High' so I reckon I have now seen one actually flying and it did look impressive - to put it mildly. Apparently most of the crowd were in awe of it and knew of it's significance. Excellent.

Yes I think you are right but that is poor management somewhere along the line. Isn't it something to do with us not getting Ashes Tests; something like that and if so shouldn't assurances have been gained before launching into such a big project ? I think we members are entitled to be concerned. Sod it; The Tour starts soon.

And as I mentioned earlier - what the hell is happening to Warks ? I don't like the look of this situation; clubs like Surrey get Ponting and now Duminy. Even the bread-stealers (Lancashire) have got a good Kiwi fast bowler for the rest of the season. If Warks slip out of the first division for want of bolstering the squad ........ I will join the One direction fan-club.

and probably dafter !

Is that the Dave Ball who used to be in Procol Harum? Great player. Yep certainly is. I have known him since about 1966 and we played (briefly) in a band around that time and got back in touch about 2 years ago. He also played in B/ham rock band 'Bedlam' with a certain Cozy Powell on drums - so he moved on a bit from me !!! 'Bedlam supported Black Sabbath on a Tour in the U.S. An interesting anecdote is that, when I played with him, he had a Watkins Rapier which was a sort of poor mans Strat. He used to get that Elmore James 'bottleneck' sound by actually using a Vimto bottle. God I've been lucky to play with some great musos considering my limited ability !

http://youtu.be/Je2fGzKiqRM Mike Post + the brilliant Larry Carlton.

Ermm - what is going on at Warks ? Have only seen 2 games at Edgbaston and we lost both. Having endured a nerve-jangling season at the Villa, it looks like the Bears could be in the same boat. I know it is fairly early in the season but the signs aren't good. Lost again today to Northants. Any thoughts ?

I wonder if this barbaric murder will ignite a debate in Parliament re. Capital Punishment ? I have read that there are good reasons for not re-introducing it and don't want to get involved with that. But - if the murderers survive and are imprisoned they will possibly find a willing audience ready to be converted to their religion and views. It could be argued that this is rather defeating the object. I have seen this happen in the prison where I worked and found it extremely worrying. Perhaps the most important comment I could make is RIP to the young man who has met such a terrible death.

'The Best of Dizzee Rascal' CD. It is actually blank !

Right ! So now Villa are safe we can start worrying about Warwickshire. Only seen 'em once this year - Pro40 v. Kent when we were 2nd best all through the match. Due to go to 4 day game but belting down here so don't know yet. We could be missing a number of big names to International duty and have a nasty feeling we might struggle; any views ?

Family! I should have known that you would come-up with them ! Ace band.

There used to be a band in the 70's from Leicester called 'Showdwaddywaddy'; they had affair few top 10 records IIRC. The drummer was black and I was told by another muso that he was Dion Dublin's dad. I later found out this was not true but it seems the geezer knew Dion's dad and in fact Dion's dad was a drummer. Sadly when thinking of musical acts from Leicester, Englebert Humperdinck springs to mind !

Morpheus - what a great guitar. What year was it made ? a very versatile instrument as you say. So - as a tribute http://youtu.be/A4RWdwkqqDU. Larry Carlton !!!

There has been quit a bit of coverage this week regarding the anniversary of the Atlantic convoys and the merchant seaman who perished. Quite rightly too IMO; brave beyond belief; but that is another subject. If you have any interest in that period of World War 2 may I suggest reading 'The Cruel Sea' by Nicholas Montserrat. I had to read it for 'O' Level English but even back then found it both fascinating yet chilling. Just a suggestion. PS. At school, we had the 'abridged' version of the book, suitable for schools; I later found out that the full version contained slightly more 'lurid' accounts of the sailors pulling women whilst on shore-leave, getting VD etc. This would have been much more interesting !

Hang on a minute. I know Mr Mooney does not post banalities as a rule but this might be a little polemic. Surely there is room for someone who finds the act of homosexuality (without going in to visceral detail) fairly repugnant but does not go around 'queer-bashing', as it used to be called. If such a person exists are they automatically thugs, uneducated etc. Equally with racism; I would tend to think that the UK is a fairly crowded Country. There must come a point when the UK has to consider how it can cope with further influx of immigrants no matter where they are from or what colour they are and surely this is not racism - just realistic.

As a former paid-up member of the drummer's union I have to sympathise with your man. Little beats/accents like this can be a nightmare, which I certainly never mastered completely. I give you the example of the snare drum note in Born To Be wild - Steppenwolf; there is one little note just before the middle 8 comes in which use to drive me mad. As regards White room; I think those opening bars are in 5/4 time so if your man counts the beats from the opening chord, I think he will find that the accent is on the 3rd beat of 5. Hope that helps but I could be wrong of course. Baker was/is an ace player wasn't he ?

Any of you cycling fans watch Liege-Bastogne-Liege this afternoon ? The winner, Daniel Martin, isn't actually Irish but comes from Tamworth. He gets to ride for Ireland 'cos his mom is Stephen Roche's sister. His dad is Neil Martin, a very good British ex-pro. Wonder if he is a Villa fan !!

Well Warks are off and running; great victory over Durham and they would undoubtedly beaten Derbyshire if it hadn't been for the rain ! On a slightly worrying note, Chris Wright has picked up a load of wickets; we don't want to lose him as well as Woakes. Bell and Trott !!