Jimmy HendriX Performed at Hastings Pier 1967, Fri 22nd Oct, were you there?

hendrix in hastings poster by Chris A Steele

Not my kind of thing but my good friend at Idle Hands & Co has produced some retro T-shirts to remind people of the event at Hastings.
They can be bought via the website:
http://www.idlehandsandco.com/page2.htm
And you can see a clearer image on the home page but you have to scroll down past the Royal Wedding of 2011.

Should Mrs Tara Plumbing ask Santa for Bigger Breasts?

Today Mr TP sent me a txt to make sure I had heard the news about the cancer health scare related to some silicon implants.
To add that he is perfectly happy with my little ones!
Reminds me of Jim Royale saying he’d love to get Barbara an enhancement for Christmas!
I often wonder if those who have sculpted the shape of the artificial implants were inspired by Henry Matisse. When I first became familiar with his 1910 painting Dance ( see it here: http://www.henri-matisse.net/paintingssectiontwo.html) I was struck by the fact that the boobs were the wrong shape and in the wrong place.
Younger people who have grown up with the very modern image of women’s figures might not even know what I’m talking about!
Discuss.

My cousin, 19 year old song writer Sam Gumbley signed with Warner Chappell

I think the big names in music have been trying to sign up my cousin for at least a year or so and now he has done the deal with one of the biggest: Warner.

I am very proud! Not so many years ago he was a little boy showing me how to play shoot’em dead games on his PC.  And it seems like only last week he was a toddler who climbed into bed with me when I stayed at his house i Wolverhampton.  He’s a bit big for that now.

You might not know his name yet but his music could well be familiar. It is used on adverts on Channel 4! And he is regularly on Radio 1 Extra. And high in the Amazon download charts (Hip Hop).
More: http://themalcolmindustry.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/s-x-next-step/

Talented Margate 16-year-old, Luke Lucas, was WOW on TV yesterday

Now I don’t usually watch those Pop-star making programmes but i did catch this bit of yesterdays show when this boy was amazing.  It was not just that he had an amazing voice – there are lots of people who do – it was his charm and terrific stage presence – at such a young age.  I’d be interested to hear which stage school he has been going too.

you can watch it here: http://youtu.be/xPSS5KpKq1o

Just an edit: I am informed it is www.masquetheatreschool.co.uk in Ramsgate

Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts & trains from London to Ramsgate

We had a day out of the office and off the tools – it was a Mr & Mrs T P away-day to London.  Started off drinking Pimms on the Fast Train to London St Pancras.

First destination was the RAA for the annual summer Exhib, which we really enjoyed.  Thing about a day out without the kids is that you can miss them and at the RAA I kept thinking about how much our oldest son would enjoy this.  He has come with us in the past and been to many London Art Galleries and I am thinking I must bring him here in the summer holiday.

We then walked across central London and it was interesting to see how empty it was.  We both know London really well, i lived there for many years, and we were surprise at the lack of crowds. Is this due to recession or changing behaviour? Had some lovely Veggie food in Food for Thought at Covent Garden.  The money we saved on food could then be invested in alcohol so we went on to a bit of extravagance, a drink or two in the world famous American Bar at the Savoy Hotel. Seb Coe was there.

Can’t say any more about the evening’s entertainment but it involved us missing the last FAST train to Ramsgate from St Pancras, at the riduculously early time of some few minutes after 10.30! So we went for the fall back of a train from Victoria, only to find it is a bus service from Faversham!  We should have stuck with St Pancras with a change of train at Ashford.

o well, even this couldn’t spoil a lovely day out.

What are the Toilets Like at Margate’s Turner Contemporary Art Gallery!

There was a lot of things I liked about the gallery especially the work exhibits by artists  Conrad Shawcross and by Ellen Henry, the spectacular view as you leave the building and the Cafe area.  The toilets, however, leave a lot to be desired.  You can read many reviews of the gallery and the opening exhibition so i thought I’d focus on something different.

If I had visited the Gallery with Mr Tara Plumbing we would have discussed the quality of the fixtures and fittings and whether everything was level. As I visited it with my children I didn’t really have the time to look at the finer details just the big picture.   The space given over to toilet habits is too small.  I didn’t count how many cubicles were in the ladies, perhaps four, but the cramped area outside of the cubicles leaves no space for people passing.  How impractical in what is expected to be a very busy space if the projected visitor numbers are accurate.  With so few toilets there can easily be a queue and with little children it was difficult to move.  In fact, after doing the toilet thing it was so cramped and noisy I did not even wash my hands!  I thought I had some sanitising hand gel on my person but instead I went into the baby changing room to attend to hygiene needs.

It was hard enough with little children, how is an adult to use the toilets if they are carry a baby in some sort of baby carry contraption or in a pushchair?  You could not reasonably get a buggy in there so there would be no alternative but to join the queue for the one and only loo for disabled people.  I did not look in there but it must be big enough.  There is a baby changing room, as I said, what a shame they did not put a toilet or two in there to make it a family room.  Or simply give over just a little bit more space to the toilets to make adequate public facilities.

 

turner contemporary gents toilets, april 11, Micheal Child

turner contemporary arcadia 2011, Michael Child

basins in turner contemporary gents april 2011, Michael, Child

Toilets aside there was one other feature of the building which I feel compelled to mention, going up to the first floor.  There was a fantastic lift which is great for wheelchair users and pram pushers, can take up to 100 people, but the stairs were narrow and steep, almost as narrow as a domestic stair case.  What were they thinking?  That the public are getting so fat and lazy that very few will ever use the stairs? I am not sure if there is a secret staircase behind a fire door because I can not believe this one stair case would be suitable for rapid evacuation.

There are lots of things to like about the Art Gallery.  The galleries are nice spaces, the sea views are lovely.  The view over Margate as you leave was very well planned and the outside space for beverage consumption reminds me of London’s Southbank, which is good for me but not everyone’s cup of tea.

The gallery is small.  It is a gallery for Kent and would not have a wider catchment area.  I will be totally amazed if I hear of visitors travelling from the greater London area or anywhere beyond Kent specifically and only because of this gallery.

Just adding some photos of the gents from Michael Child.  When we went we took our camera but it had no memory disc in it!  Anyone wanting to see all there is to see except the ladies toilets should click on the links from Michael’s blog, Thanet on Line, about the Turner Gallery.

Michael has also taken photo’s of all the works of Art along Ramsgate’s Wall.  This is another free exhibition! To view you just need to visit the Main Sands.

 

When to the Circus – Great Human Stunt & No Animals

Eldest son & I went to John Lawson’s Circus in Ramsgate this week. Click on the link to the John Lawson website and you can get a money off voucher to any of their shows.

It is an excellent value for money family show with something for all ages. We must have seen it on the coldest day of the year. Despite a heater in the tent it really was freezing. So I’m glad I thought to take a blanket each to sit on and wrap around us!

I must tell you about the man who climbed up the free standing ladder. What a useful skill. It seemed to me that there might be less accidents in the building trade and employers’ liability insurance premiums could go down if more tradesmen, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, etc learnt this skill. Up and down a ladder which is leaning against NOTHING.

The men at the top of the ladder might say that’s all very well but they would like a scantily clad lady to bring drinks up to them whilst balancing the drinks and the table on her head. Yes this was a part of the show which made me wonder WHY?

Continuing the theme of my previous blog, animal are not necessary in circuses. It seems cruel to subject them to a confined life on the road, performing tricks in foreign lands. Many circuses are now animal free and still able to put on a great show with human entertainers.

Fast train to romance, via St Pancras

We went on a day trip to London, MR T.P. and I , on 14th February. We caught the new fast train, Ramsgate to London in 1 hour 16 minutes! Wow.

We went to view the marvellous new St Pancras station. Not everyones ideal romantic day out but we enjoy that kind of thing and there is a Champagne Bar there.

We also went to the Van Gogh exhibition, at the Royal Academy of Arts, which is based on his letters, he was quite a writer. I think he’d have loved email and blogging.

Van Gogh once lived in Ramsgate for a few months in his early twenties when he was a teacher and before becoming an artist. He lived in Royal Road. Mr T.P. and I live only a short walk from Van Gogh’s old home and I can tell you there has been quite a demand for replacement bathrooms and new heating in that area!

If you like his sort of Art then to get to the RAC it is worth it. The restaurant there is also highly recommended both for excellent food and its amazing history.