Brilliant last edition for 2012 of Later with Jools Holland.

 

Roberto Matta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

On Friday late Richie and I both watched the last edition for 2012 of Later with Jools Holland on BBC2.

The performers were the following: Soul 2 Soul, Tift Merrit, Nona Hendrix, Lana Delray, Tom Odell, The Weekend, and Palma Violet.

The only ones I knew were Soul 2 Soul and Nona Hendrix who I remember from the wonderful La Belle, with Patti La Belle, sadly I can't remember the name of the other member.

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Soul 2 Soul again, their singer Karin has a wonderful voice which I remembered as soon as she started singing, they are an enjoyable band to watch.

Nona Hendrix was absolutely glorious to hear singing again, she has not lost her magnificent voice, and I enjoyed watching her and her two wonderful backing singers and her excellent band.

Tift Merrit, Tom Odell, The Weekend, Palma Violet were all unknown to me which was good because it's always enjoyable to be introduced to performers you don't know.

Tift Merrit was absolutely wonderful, what a wonderful performer, she has it all, voice, guitar playing, songs and performance Richie and I could have watched and listened for much longer.

It must have been quite difficult for Lana Delray to follow three such good female vocalists as the singer from Soul 2 Soul, Nona Hendrix and Tift Merrit when you do not have a voice to match.

I have seen Lana Delray a couple of times and did not like her act, I was hoping she would be better this time, but despite a good band again I found her to be lacking, she has not got a voice.

Tom Odell was also not my cup of tea, but on Friday night I did enjoy listening to him singing and accompanying himself on the piano, for all those who like piano they will undoubtedly enjoy listening to Tom who is a charming young performer.

The Weekend was another act that weren't really my sort of music, whether the singer has a very good voice and I got drawn in to listening and enjoying the performance a lot.

Palmer Violet was a brilliant band who I liked when I heard them on Tuesday and Friday confirmed my opinion of them, they are a great rock 'n' roll band whose CD I'm going to buy.

It was extremely enjoyable to see the show on Friday, Richie and I are a little sad that Friday was the last show for 2012, on the 31^st of December Jools Holland will be back with his Hogmanay show and next April the next series of Later with Jools Holland will be back on BBC2.

More to look forward to.

 

Roberto Matta.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta

We had an early start today due to the fact that a supplier, Beenhakker was going to deliver the new cushion for the shower chair.

At 09.30 the doorbell rang and it was the engineer from Beenhakker with the new cushion, which he expertly attached to the back of the shower chair.

By the sound of his voice he sounded very friendly; Richie and he were very animatedly talking about the dogs that were playing around them.

Not too long after he left the phone rang and it was our friend John from Glasgow, telling me that he would be here on the 8th of December for a week.

He told me that if was anything we would like Scotland then I should send him an e-mail and he would see if they can get things we ask for.

We are both looking forward tremendously to seeing John in December, it will be special to see him again; we are both excited about the prospect.

Tonight Richie is going to start preparing the fruit for our Christmas cake as well as Christmas pudding, so more exciting things to look forward to.

I know I will have to wait a bit longer yet, but I do like the whole Christmas season my favourite days are 19, 20, and 21 of December.

Tonight I have another edition of Later with Jools Holland on BBC2 to look forward to, it is being quite day to day and it's not over yet.

Very Enjoyable Watching Later with Jools Holland

Roberto Matta.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta

Watching Later with Jools Holland last night on BBC2 was great fun; I really enjoyed myself tremendously listening to the wonderful music.

The performers were Sinead O'Connor, Courtney Pine, Biffy Clyro, Tame Impala, Lau, and Mud Morganfield.

I enjoyed every single performance, it was lovely to see Sinead O'Connor again she is a delightful performer and her band was good too.

Although I don't like jazz much I really enjoyed Courtney Pine and his excellent band, I could have listened to Courtney Pine for much longer.

Tame Impala from Perth Australia were magnificent; the riff they were playing was very reminiscent of Canned Heat, my favourite American band from the 70's.

Lau, a wonderful Scottish folk music trio who were playing accordion, guitar and fiddle who I enjoy listening to, good to hear more folk music again these days.

Jools Holland had a wonderful surprise for everybody by announcing the son of Muddy Waters, Mud Morganfield who was enjoyable to listen to.

My big favourites were Biffy Clyro, a band I've seen before on an earlier series of later with Jools Holland.

It was brilliant seeing last night edition of later with Jools Holland, I am looking forward to seeing the next edition on Tuesday next week which will I fear will be the last in this series.

The next time Jools Holland will be back is will be for his Hogmanay show on 31 December.

Enjoying Life.

 

Roberto Matta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

Watching Later with Jools Holland last night on BBC2 was good, I enjoyed all of the acts last night, two of them were known the other three were new to me.

On Friday will be the extended version of the show which I'm looking forward to as it will be good to hear each of the performers doing two or three numbers.

This evening our good friend Lin, who runs the British General Store will be joining us for dinner at 19.00.

I'm looking forward to seeing her later on and hearing all her news, I'm sure she will have many stories to tell us.

It is always good fun having Lin around, she is such a good friend to both of us and the dogs positively her as soon as she arrives they will show off like crazy.

Richie is making fish and chips, with onion rings in batter, fried slices of plantain, peas, coleslaw salad, gherkins and pickled onions.

The condiments will be Geeta's onion chutney, tartar sauce, horseradish sauce, tomato ketchup, HP sauce, and a choice of Matauk’s Trinidad hot pepper sauces.

I can't hardly wait for Lin to arrive and to enjoy eating the delicious food Richie has made, his batter is delightfully light it enhances the fish.

I'm sure that we are going to have a very pleasant evening which we will all enjoy, despite everything I'm still convinced that life is to be enjoyed to the full.

Reasons To Be Cheerful.

 

Roberto Matta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

Surprisingly after the miserable cold wet day yesterday that to day was a pleasant looking day to day with blue skies as well as sunshine.

Not the day I'd expected it to be, I thought we would get more rain seems we've got lucky.

It was very noticeable how difficult life has become for me recently, despite this Richie and I still manage to have a laugh which is wonderful.

The curvature of my spine is making everything more complicated; now that I have again managed to cope with being showered and dressed I am sanguine about life.

At the moment Richie is in the kitchen making dinner, which will be a delicious cottage pie with shards of cheese on top of the mash potatoes.

I'm looking forward to eating dinner and then not too long afterwards being able to enjoy Tuesday edition of later with Jools Holland on BBC2.

They are reasons enough for me to be cheerful about life on this very dark Tuesday early November evening, plenty of reasons to be cheerful.

A Pleasant Friday.

 

Roberto Matta. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta

It's been a very pleasant day to day which was made even nicer because my best friend Anja came to visit this afternoon.

She recently visited her daughter who is living and working in Barcelona for a three-day visit which she enjoyed enormously.

Nice to hear her account of her trip, it gave me a snapshot of what it was like to visit such a vibrant city as Barcelona is.

I had the pleasure of being there for a weekend in 1967, my parents and I were staying in Calafel on the Costa Dorada, where we met a nice Spanish family.

Who invited me to accompany them and their teenage kids for a quick visit to their house in Barcelona, it was an unforgettable experience for me at age 17.

All too quickly it was 1700 and my lovely friend Anja had to leave, she is going to see well-known Dutch people try their hand at conducting an orchestra.

Anja brought us a couple of vacuum packed Spanish cheeses as well as a spicy, garlicky chorizo which I've already tried and it's delicious.

Richie is planning on making jacket potatoes and stew tonight, in my portion he is going to put some diced chorizo which I am sure will taste good.

My intention is to relax and enjoy the evening with Richie; I'm looking forward to what sounds like a delicious dinner.

At midnight there is the extended version of Later with Jools Holland on BBC2 to make the day even better, lovely to have such a nice perspective.

First I shall find another great piece of art by Roberto Matta after which I am going to publish it on my blog and spend the evening relaxing.

A Different Complexion

 

Roberto Matta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

It's only 18.15 right now, yet it feels like it was already 02.15 and before Richie closed the curtains it looked like it too.

This afternoon at 14.15 I had an appointment with Peter, the engineer from the rehabilitation clinic, to try the new wrist supports with a hook on each which he made for me.

This allows me to keep using the arm exerciser on the Motomed, which is very good as it stretches my arm muscles, which is essential for my well-being.

Peter is a very good engineer, so I am looking forward to trying out the new wrist supports in a while when I do my exercises when Richie gets me out of bed.

Right now Richie is about to take the dogs for a run around the Rembrandt Park where I'm sure they will have fun chasing rabbits back to their burrows.

Just now I realised that as its Tuesday there will be another edition of Later with Jools Holland on BBC2 at 2300 tonight.

That is very exciting and it has put a totally different complexion on the day knowing that I will be listening to some good news before too long.

Only three hours to wait, that is not long but to me being very impatient it seems like forever.

My father used to tell me a little rhyme which went something like this, patience is a virtue, virtue is a grace and Grace is a little girl who did not wash her face.

In Germany they have a saying which goes something like this, patience is a virtue and that is a nice virtue but that we are better off without it.

I like both of these sayings although the one my dad told me used to worry me slightly as a little kid until I understood then it made me laugh a lot.

It still makes me laugh a lot after all these years as do many other colourful stories that my father told me, he was a great storyteller who I miss hearing his stories.

Delicious Curry and Later with Jools Holland.

 

Roberto Matta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

The food Richie made for our dinner yesterday evening was even better than it had been the night before as the flavours had really developed overnight.

Richie warmed up Thursday's curry; he fried more spicy vegetarian sausage mix balls which were served in a hot tomato sauce.

He also tried some more plantain and made parsnip chips to go with the meal, it was quite a feast which we both enjoyed eating.

Later on after the meal we watched the extended Later with Jools Holland on BBC2.

On Tuesday I thought that The Killers were a very good band, last night I revised my opinion and thought that they were not very exciting at all.

The name gave me an expectation that I would hear some sexy rock 'n' roll instead it was rather tame; they shouldn't be called The Killers because they are not.

They sounded like a very watered-down version of Bruce Springsteen, I'm sure that huge crowds at stadiums won't mind as long as they can sing along to them.

Another act that failed to impress when I heard more of Kristina Train, she has a nice voice but it was not my sort of thing, again it was rather tame.

One of the acts that failed to impress on Tuesday and did not do anything to change my mind last night was a band called Polica.

The band consists of two drummers and one bass player along with a ridiculous gyrating singer and electronic background music.

They were much too pretentious and art school music for my liking, they had no substance nor had they good lyrics or a good performance.

I did like hearing more from the talented Valerie June, she has a wonderful voice plays the guitar very well and her lyrics are good.

The other act that I enjoyed again last night, was Cody Chestnutt who is the front man for a great band, they have alot of talent and energy.

When I first heard them I thought they were very good, not quite the music I usually go for, hearing on them again last night I am totally won over.

I think I'm going to try to find a CD so that I can listen to more Cody Chestnutt and his wonderful band.

The other performer was the absolutely wonderful Jackie De Shannon whom it was a great privilege and pleasure to hear sing.

Her songs are very well-known but they've been mainly sung by many well-known performaners over the years.

It was all in all an enjoyable Friday for both of us and even for the dogs who were wonderfully relaxed after running in the Amsterdam Woods.

All Is Well That Ends Well.

Roberto Matta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

Although yesterday did not begin quite as I wish it had it's certainly became much better after my shower.

Both I and Richie enjoyed a delicious stew he had made along with home-baked bread, desert was ice cream fruit.

The enjoyable evening was concluded with another edition of Later with Jools Holland which was very good.

As usual Jools had old favourites as well as totally new performers; one of those not performing who he talked with was Adam Ant.

The show started with a number by The Killers which was good, they were much better than I remembered them which was nice to see and hear.

The other performers were Jackie De Shannon, Valerie June, Polica, Kristina Train, Cody Chesnutt.

It was a good show and both of us are looking forward to seeing the extended show this Friday night.

At 19.30 our good friend Lin, who runs the British General Stores will come around to have dinner with us, I'm looking forward to it tremendously,, It made me realise that since August 2008 we have not invited anybody to eat with us.

That is a real shame, and it's something that we can change, our plan Is now to regularly invite friends to come and eat with us.

Right now Richie is cooking some delicious curry dishes which he will serve with basmati rice as well as rotis, it smells yummy and I can hardly wait.

A Total Contrast To Yesterday.

Roberto Matta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

It's been totally different day to day than it was yesterday, we were much later doing my exercises and getting me showered, dressed and back in bed.

Yesterday I was already back in bed just after 12.00, today it's got much later and I wasn't back in bed until 17.00.

It is a shame we did not manage to be as early as we were yesterday, but I'm not going to beat myself up or reproach myself for this as tomorrow is another day.

Right now I'm going to keep this short but before I look for artwork by Roberto Matta I need to finish this and write the labels and titles for both blogs.

Tonight there is another edition of Later with Jools Holland on BBC2 which I am looking forward to, I'm very curious who will be on the show I guess all be revealed at 23.00 tonight.

A Wonderful Show.

Roberto Matta. 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

Watching the extended edition of Later with Jools Holland last night was lovely, it is good to hear all of the performers each doing a few numbers.

The show kicked off with a bang with Alice Cooper and his shit hot band, who played fast and furious rock 'n' roll just as it should be played.

I found myself wishing as did Richie, that we could go to their Halloween concert in London to see them perform, that would be a brilliant gig.

The next act was Bloc Party who were magnificent, they are an excellent band, good musicians and good lyrics, about people's right to determine their own future.

Listening to Dionne Warwick singing, while Jools Holland was accompanying her on the piano was a very moving experience, I had tears in my eyes.

Sitting behind Jools Holland and listening intently was the lovely Paloma Faith, a wonderful quirky singer who was there to support another artist, Josephine.

Then we saw Josephine who has a lovely voice and plays the guitar as well, a band and backing singers were good, she looks wonderful and gives a polished performance.

It was most enjoyable to Charlie Pride singing; he has such a sweet voice and is such a sweet man.

Richie was recounting an anecdote about him which was that if anybody did not like Charlie Pride they must be a confirmed racist.

The other very good band was ALT-J, who I thoroughly enjoyed watching and listening to them, they are a band that really means it.

I enjoyed watching them very much especially the drummer who was amazing, the other drummer I love watching was the one in Alice Cooper's band.

Alice Cooper played the first number of the show and they were the ones to also play the last number and then it was over much too quickly.

While the show it was great fun, it ended as always much too quickly for my liking, one good thing is that there will be more next week.

Looking Forward To Friday's Show.

Roberto Matta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

Last night we enjoyed our favourite music program, Later with Jools Holland on BBC2.

It was a great show with Alice Cooper, Charlie Pride, Dionne Warwick, Josephine, Bloc Party, and a new band called ALT’J.

We both thoroughly enjoyed all the acts and are looking forward to seeing the extended programme on Friday night.

This is a wonderful show always full of new acts as well as old favourites and tonight the three favourites were Alice Cooper, Dionne Warwick, and Charlie Pride.

I am looking forward to seeing more from all the acts this Friday at 12.30 at night, it's lovely to have this to look forward to.

Enjoyable afternoon

 

Roberto Matta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

It was our intention to get to the shower much earlier today, but somehow this did not happen instead we took things very slowly.

This meant that I did not get taken to the bathroom just after lunchtime but later in the afternoon.

We did however have a very pleasant afternoon in each other's company which is always very enjoyable.

We are both looking forward to seeing Later with Jools Holland on BBC2 at 23.00 tonight.

At the end of the extended programme on Friday night, Jools Holland always announces who will be on his show the following week.

I've forgotten who it will be, so I will have to wait patiently until later this evening for that to be revealed to us when we watch the programme.

In the meantime I'm going to keep this short; as soon as I found a piece of artwork by Roberto Matta I will place this on my blog and enjoy the evening with Richie.