Diary of a Musician.
Over a
period of nearly 50 years playing, many interesting things have been seen, read
& experienced that are nothing to do with music. Come to think about, it I’ve
forgotten most of them! But here will be recorded odd things that appealed to
me. They may be from long ago, or right now. Just click on the little picture
to read the text concerning the item.
Encounters with, and
observations of, crows over the years; and some thoughts resulting from these.
Reminiscences of lizards many years ago;
and more recently, one which lived in my car for about a month, unharmed. And
better still, good photographs of the Common Lizard and the Sand Lizard, the
only British species, by permission of the photographers. (All 3 thumbnails
link to the same page).
3. The Pen Room; & Tyria
jacobaeae
A short paragraph on how a bicycle ride
led me to discover a small but excellent
A very brief description of the southern
portal of this canal tunnel.
The last day that trolley ’buses ran in
Some observations - you may find them too
lengthy - on the incipient démise of
my 18-year-old tumble dryer, and some of the impressive design features found
within, upon partially dismantling it.
An attempt - rather successful for an amateur I
thought - at photographing a wasp, which I thought at first was a very big Vespula vulgaris indeed, but which
turned out to be Vespula germanica; which
are large in any case.
Emboldened by 7 above, I launched out on an
alternative career as a photographer of wildlife. Here are shots of the Gatekeeper
butterfly, plus the Ivy-leaved Toadflax, the Red Admiral butterfly, and the
Woody Nightshade, or Bitter-sweet.
A further expedition took us to the Harborne (
10. The Time of the Heterocera.
After all the butterflies (well, three anyway…), it
seemed to be the turn of the moths to present themselves compliantly for photographs.
But alas, the shooting of moths is far more difficult! Still, 3 common species
are show here.
It’s true that this page already is a repository for
‘odd things’; things not do with 78 rpm records, Jazz &c. But I just read
something that struck me as being so remarkable, that it ought to go here, so
have started this further sub-section to house it, and any other similar things
that may turn up.
§1 The amazing ‘homing instinct’ of an ass.1816.
12. The Pontcysyllte canal
Aqueduct.
A couple of photos. of this superb canal aqueduct,
finished in 1805 (I think), which conveys the Shropshire Union Canal over the
River Dee valley, a few miles east of Llangollen, Wales.
13. A Nature Ramble in
The 29th August to be exact. We were playing at the
Bude Jazz Festival, but just had one session in the evening of Wednesday 29th. Some
good friends suggested a walk along the cliff path southward from Bude. These
pictures were the result.
14. 3 old American ‘Stereoscopic views’.
I just found these ‘stereoscopic’ cards, dating from
the early 1890s, in an old folder, where they had been forgotten. One is of
cotton pickers in
15. The Rock Men Speak Forwards!
This one is about Flash Gordon, you know - or will do
if you are quite old now - about the 3 cinema serials that appeared between
1936 & 1940: and in the last one, Flash Gordon & Co. meet the Rock Men.
They speak backwards, so we tried to make them speak forwards… Did we succeed?
Just click the picture to find out!
16. A Day in the Life of a
Penny.
This coin, approximately 1,600 years old & yet of no
especial value, set in motion a train of thought which I decided to record
here. Also, it tells you how you can make very cheap but effective cuff-links. ☺
17. The 2008 Quest for Leptidea sinapis.
Why would anybody want to see & photograph this
small & generally inconsequential butterfly, the ‘Wood White’? Well, I do;
although I can’t exactly tell you why. With any luck, this page will chart the
success or failure of this Quest. We’re beginning early in the season!
18. Clearing The Shed.
There is a small shed at the top left hand corner of
my garden. After moving into this house in September 2007, the task of clearing
its contents was finally undertaken on a bright Spring day in late March 2008.
18a. The Shed Fights Back!
In May 2008, some problems still remain with utilising
The Shed, even though it has been ‘cleared’.
19. Lichfield Cathedral, December 2008.
A brief excursion to the historic City of
20. Two
views of Snow Hill Station, ca. 1973.
In early
January 2009, we have made speed to fill in the irritating gaps in this Diary,
and have used things from the past. And have waxed nostalgic, as you will see
if you bother to read this stuff; items 20 – 22… <8^)
21. Playing
Jazz for Charity, ca. 1965.
The
Birmingham Mail ‘Christmas Tree Fund’! The Zenith Hot Stompers play outside
St.Philip’s Cathedral, 1964-5.
22. “A
Band of my Own” – 1987 – 199?
For some
years I actually had my own band. Eventually, the demands of getting gigs,
’phoning around, organizing things, carting the P.A. gear about, setting it up
& taking it down &c., got the better of me. Now I just work for others
who do all that sort of stuff. As for me, I just try to play as best as I can
on their gigs.
23. A short walk on the Lickey Hills, December 2007.
What better way is there for a Brummie, of ‘Blowing
away the cobwebs’ after Christmas 2007, by going for a bracing walk on the
nearby Lickeys? Even if we do end up in a city centre pub. listening to Jazz!
24. A short walk in the Woodgate Valley Park, December
2008.
Here we go again, a year later! These few photos. were
taken on Boxing Day (26th December), when we ventured forth for some fresh air.
The air was very fresh indeed – we had not taken our gloves, and wished we had!
25. Butterflies: Two New Species in the Poor Year
2008.
After our débâcle
– or fiasco, whichever you prefer
8^) – in searching for the Wood White
butterfly (see 17 above), is there anything that can be salvaged from this
deplorable year? Well, we did manage to photograph two species new to our
camera during 2008…
26. The
Great 1mm Pencil Lead Mystery.
Why
can’t we easily get 1mm leads for our propelling pencils any more? Including
some pencils only a few years old?
Also,
how success was finally attained with the kind help of a sympathetic
correspondent from Italy!
27. The Harlequin Ladybird
is Here To Stay…
A couple
of years ago, somebody drew my vapid attention to the advent of the Harlequin
Ladybird in this country. About 18 months ago
I
thought I saw one in southern Oxfordshire, and a couple of weeks ago another in
my house. Today I saw many of them!
28. Diary Resumption – Canal, Tardebigge.
After a long period without much in the way of travel,
walking and enjoying the outdoors, we have begun again in June 2010.
A few shots along the
29. Monkwood Bird & Butterfly Reserve – early July
2010.
A much delayed follow-up to our two visits in February
and May 2008 – see 17 above. It was excellent to see a butterfly reserve
going full tilt as it were; the weather was sunny and
at least 7 species were on the wing, some in abundance.
Please email any observations or comments to: diary@normanfield.com. Thank you!
Revised
3rd July 2010.