Today I am recalling a painful experience from a few years ago. I was having my two upper front teeth significantly repaired because they had never recovered from an unfortunate incident that happened in my youth when the world was certainly a very different place. As I was waiting for treatment I started to flick through a magazine. I found an article on Fever Pitch the film. You might or might not know the film was based on Nick Hornby’s book of the same title about supporting Arsenal FC.

It seemed that that my teeth had come full circle following the “incident” of  September 1974! I was at Arsenal watching my beloved Hatters and in those days there was no segregation at grounds. Throughout the first half the Arsenal “hard man” Peter Storey was consistently battering our “fancy Dan” Australian forward all over the pitch! I think I may of been a little loud in voicing my opinion that Mr Storey was really a gorilla! At half time with the Hatters a goal down I left my mate Paul to get our half time refreshment  “hot dogs” while I visited the Gents. To this day I don’t know what happened but I found myself on the floor with blood pouring out of my mouth. I sought help from a policeman whose comment was “Good grief did you meet Mohammed Ali?”and I was dispatched in an ambulance with flashing blue lights I was with an unfortunate victim who had been hit by a brick! Paul meanwhile was back standing on the terrace with two hot dogs (remember no mobile phones) He ate one and then as the second half progressed he ate the second one! At the end of the game he caught the train home without me! He thought I had possibly met a friend  from college! I was having my bloody mouth examined-my two middle upper front teeth had been knocked back and was now at a horrible 45 degree angle. and I was in agony! (This story will be continued tomorrow and Friday-wait till you hear some of the responses!)

Yesterday’s answers

a) Spitfire was powered by a Merlin engine  b) Concorde first flew in 1969 and the final flight was 2003   c) Charles Lindbergh flew the Spirit of St Louis  d) A Vickers Vimy was the plane Alcock and Brown flew over the Atlantic.

Today’s Quiz – On Seas

a) The River Danube empties into which sea?    b) Vladivostok stands on which sea?   c) Which sea is between Australia and New Zealand?  d) What is the smallest and shallowest Ocean?   e)  Which straight provides the only sea route out of the Persian Gulf? 

I changed the spelling of this well known song by the Byrds because we have had screeching Common Terns flying over the last few days. They are wonderful birds to watch twisting and diving over the lake near our home. I keep hoping that we might get Black Terns flying through they occasionally turn up at this time of year.

Short blog today as I have done a considerable amount of  writing today.

Yesterday’s answer to the quotes on leadership (if you want to check the actual quotes look at the previous blog)

a) Martin Luther King   b) Abraham Lincoln (although there is some doubt about this)  c) Napoleon Bonaparte   (I couldn’t really give you a clue without giving it away!)   d) Mark Twain (that was his pen name!)   e) Dalai Lama

Today’s Quiz is all on planes as I had to do some research on a particular plane earlier.

a) What type of engine powered the Spitfire (the famous engine not the one on later planes)?   b) (two parts) What year was the first flight of Concorde and what year was the last?   c)  Who famously flew the Spirit of St.Louis?  d) What type of plane did Alcock and Brown fly across the Atlantic?

Well thought we  to have the above as a title while we have the super weather. I know some parts of the country are not so blessed at the moment. Our garden is really dry and our water butts could do with a top up!

I thought I would follow up with yesterday’s comments that I finished the first draft of my latest story. Well I woke up this morning with a new idea!!!!! What is wrong with me! If it works it will allow a new strand to run through the whole story. So I think it will mean some new chapters to be added throughout the story. So I will keep you updated on progress if there is any!

I have thought throughout this awful virus how relieved I am that I am no longer a Head Teacher with this looming decision about when to return to school. It would be good to see some of the science published to help people make this tricky decision. It did prompt a recollection of a crisis early in my management career in school which might bring a smile to your face. It was late April 1986 and I was Deputy Head of a large Junior School in Cheltenham and the Head Teacher was away for a week. so for the first time I was in charge (remember no internet or mobile phones then) I still remember that Monday morning. I walked into school and made my way to the spacious Head Teacher’s Office. I tried out the black swivel chair, swinging around in it, then in my rather pompous way I tried out my responsible thoughtful look (I still had a mop of curly hair then), I can do this!. Whereupon the door abruptly swung open and in swept the School Cook who “didn’t suffer fools gladly” (not much hope for me then!) Her opening gambit “What are we going to do then?”  For a moment I was at a loss about what she was going on about. Then I twigged “Chernobyl”. There was a major concern about milk and lamb at that time. I knew she wouldn’t of stormed in if the Head was there so I knew I had to be on the ball. She wanted to know was it safe to use milk, so I thought no milk would of been contaminated yet by any cloud coming over the UK  so I remember playing for time by saying “We should be OK for today”. I then quickly checked on what the Local Authority were advising and then went and reassured her with the advice, it all seemed to work!  The lesson was take your time and think; also pretend you know what you are doing on the outside even if like the swan you are paddling like mad under the water!!  It does seem to reassure people if you are calm, Captain Mainwaring !

Today’s quiz is therefore quotes on leadership who said the following.

a)  “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus” (A great American of a 20th century)  b) Whatever you are, be a good one ( an American President)  c) “A leader is a dealer in hope!” (no clues for this one or it will be too easy)   d) “You can’t depend on your eyes when you imagination is out of focus. ”  (love this quote by a famous American writer of late 19th century better known by his famous pen name)  e)  “If you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito!”  (a world religious leader)

Pleased with today’s title -it could be referring to the Bob Dylan song, or could be the Egyptian Goddess or is it one of the answers to yesterday’s quiz! I will tell the truth -decided on the title when I looked at yesterday’s quiz questions!

I do think Desire (where the Dylan song comes from) is a great album. I do often tell the story of Isis and Osiris where schools are doing Egypt.  I do enjoy the stories of the Egyptian gods.

One piece of good news I finished the first draft of my story today!!!!!! I shall leave it for a day or two before reading the whole story through. I know it will need redrafting several times!

I am going to spend the next few days thinking about revamping the web site. I know I will need to put in a section about The Two Severn Bores.

Yesterday’s River Answers (new quiz tomorrow)

a) Cologne is the largest city on the Rhine    b) The Swan River flows through Perth Australia (you often hear them talking on Test Match Special when in Perth about the river and the wind the Freemantle Doctor!)   c)  Isis is the alternative name for the Thames near Oxford  d) The county for the source of the Thames is Gloucestershire   e) The longest River in New Zealand is the Waikato River.

It is a while since I had a song title from The Boss! One of his powerful ballads and as relevant now as when he first recorded it. Thought I would have that as the title as all the quiz questions today are on Rivers. The River Severn dominates much of the Gloucestershire landscape and today I have been on  two cycle rides and seen the river from two different perspectives. I went out this morning up onto the Cotswolds and the river does look like a gigantic silver snake twisting across the Vale with the sun reflecting off it. A late afternoon ride with Clare saw us riding alongside the river which looked surprisingly tranquil today! What I do like living so close to the river is that you appreciate the subtle differences in its appearance. Last night I went out to the River to Bird Watch so I watched the sun setting (Beautiful) but saw few birds!

Picture below is of some old Story Teller about to go to his first gig in London a few years ago!

Yesterday’s Wildlife Quiz Answers:

a) The largest species of penguin is the Emperor   b) A group of giraffes is a tower -what a great collective noun that is!   c) A young pigeon is a squab  d) The three species of snake in the UK are Adder, Grass Snake and Smooth Snake   e) An Ant has the  biggest brain in proportion to its body

Today’s River Quiz

a) What is the largest city on the Rhine?    b)  What river flows through the Australian city of Perth (often gets mentioned on TMS)   c) What is the Thames sometimes known as near Oxford?  d) What English county is the source of the Thames?  e)  What is the longest river in New Zealand?

There does feel like there is a certain amount of repetition in the days at the moment. The garden, exercise, writing and bird watching walks fill up much of the days.

We had a lovely spring walk around the lakes this morning; plenty of Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and a couple of Whitethroats.

Managed a decent chunk of writing and getting closer to finishing that first draft.

Yesterday’s Greek Mythology answers

a) Polyphemus was the Cyclops blinded by Odysseus    b) Prometheus stole fire from the gods   c)  Epimetheus was Pandora’s husband   d)  Cerberus was the three-headed dog  e) Midas had the golden touch

Today’s Quiz is on wildlife

a) What is the largest species of penguin?   b) What is the collective noun for a group of giraffes?  c) What is a young pigeon called?   d) What three species of snake are found in Britain?  e) Which creature has the largest brain in proportion to its body?

Thought I would use the winged horse from yesterday’s quiz for today’s title. I was fascinated by Pegasus as a child, and often would doodle pictures of what I think he would look like (I wasn’t a van Gogh!) I of course occasionally I tell tales with him in. I found a picture of a wonderful sculpture of Pegasus it is outside the  Merville Barracks in Colchester so it is the picture below.

Still working hard on my pig story and still getting new ideas to develop and I am currently enjoying the writing process. I did think I was close to finishing the first draft but those new ideas mean the story continues to grow!

We had an excellent Book Club discussion last night via Zoom about the book On Beauty by Zadie Smith. We have now planned to do the next three months virtually (sadly)

Horse Quiz Answers

a) Gringolet is Sir Gawain’s Horse-one of my all time favourites of stories to tell is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight     b) Copenhagen is Wellington’s famous horse    c) Shadowfax is Gandalf’s horse in Lord of the Rings   d) Bucephalus is Alexander the Great’s Horse   e) Pegasus is the winged horse

Tonight’s Quiz is definitely being set by a Story Teller!    It is all on Greek Mythology!

a) Odysseus (a real super hero with a brain!) outwitted a Cyclops-what was his name?  b) Which Titan stole fire from Olympus? c) Who was Pandora’s husband?  d) What is the name of the Three Headed Dog that guards the gates of Hades? e) Who had the Golden Touch?

I posted yesterday that my super duper bike Merlin had a problem yesterday. Cable doing the gears snapped (it had worn out with all these miles I have been clocking up and hills climbed) and this cable is an internal cable! So it currently being repaired so having to revert to another bike  “Gringolet” for a few days. It is named after a horse-so I think we will do famous horses tonight for the quiz!

I have been writing my story and I did go down a blind alley and got stuck for a while but I think I may of resolved that. The bike rides help you go over your ideas.

A first yesterday we had a Hobby fly over the house (when I say a first I mean the first time I’ve seen one!)

Answer from Yesterday  (questions might reflect my generation!)

a) “Layla” by Derek and the Dominoes (Eric Clapton)    b) “All Along the Watchtower”  by Dylan but covered by many including Hendrix  c) “Watching the Detectives” by Elvis Costello d) “Can’t Buy Me Love” by the Beatles     e)”Common People” by Pulp  

Horse quiz  (name the owner/rider of the first four horses)

a) Gringolet    b) Copenhagen   c) Shadowfax   d) Bucephalus   e) name the winged horse from Greek Mythology?

I wanted a song about bicycles because my number one bike “Merlin” suffered a mishap yesterday the bike is black not silver. However the Hawkwind classic will do for today’s  title.

Talking about Hawkwind it did trigger a memory. So I thought I would once again revisit my youth in this blog. In my home town Hitchin there was a ballroom called The Hermitage affectionately called “The Herm” where many bands played at weekends. Hawkwind was one of them. When I was in the sixth form my pal Nick and I couldn’t usually afford the cost of the ticket so we had to be imaginative. We would go round the back of the venue when bands arrived and offered to help carrying in the equipment (a sort of roadie), it worked a treat and got into many gigs. One memorable night was when the Afro/Caribbean band Osibisa  came to play they unusually had two white roadies that night and no one questioned us! I was lucky growing up in Hitchin at that time because music was very much centre stage of youth culture and we would have rock bands playing at The Herm and had a fantastic folk club in another part of town that is still going! So I saw many up and coming bands and singers of both genres! Picture from below has just been sent to me even though it is cricket ( a house match at school) the hair goes with era I’ve written about-compare that hair style with the one in the recent picture of me playing cricket (well about 12 years ago) in a previous blog!!!!!

News on the Podcast -will take quite a bit of time now on editing (Dan is doing this). We have a couple more bits of recording to add as well.

Quiz for today are all  music lyrics (name the song and the artist/s)

a) “What’ll you do when you get lonely and no-one’s waiting by your side?”   b) “There must be some kind of way outta here, said the joker to the thief”   c) “Nice girls not one with a defect, cellophane shrink-wrapped so correct….”.d) “I’ll buy you a diamond ring my friend if it makes you feel alright…...”e) “She came from Greece, she had a thirst for knowledge….”

Another wind themed title today thank you David Bowie. On my exercise today I used it to fly down the A38 and tried to come back with some sort of shelter with mixed success.

I apologise there is no Quiz today (will try and remedy this tomorrow) we have a family Zoom tonight and I also need to have a conversation later with the other half of Two Severn Bores Dan, about our podcast. I listened to the first part earlier and it was encouraging but we have one or two wrinkles to iron out. Clare when she listened didn’t believe the voice she heard was me not sure who she thought it was! Anyway a picture of Dan below we used this one for some publicity last year he does look brooding doesn’t he-perhaps he is thinking “What have I got myself in with this Story Telling Bloke!”

The nickname I gave  our leader yesterday (I may of heard it somewhere else) Mr Wiffle/Waffle was about right after last night’s address to us all. Why didn’t they introduce quarantine on flights 5 weeks ago? Why no acknowledgement of mistakes! Does make me cross!  It is significant that the two wide boy populist leaders in the world are where the most deaths are- I think both were slow to react-still enough of that! No political comments on the present crisis tomorrow I promiose!!!!!