Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band

Jan got this one right. We went to Ripon Cathedral the other night to listen to the B & R Brass Band. It was quite an eye opener with soloists from around the world and an Australian conductor.
I suspect that the days of miners joining and playing in the band are long gone. It is rated as the second best brass band in the world so membership has taken on a special meaning.
The cathedral acoustics were excellent for this type of music and we both really enjoyed it. Jan gets to keep the job for a little longer.

The start of the end

Conscious of the ageing process I try to keep an eye on any strange behaviour that would indicate that I've started 'the end process.'

Well yesterday was a good indication. We had just driven back from Manchester and decided to stop off in Harrogate to fill up with cheap diesel.

Cheap diesel, that's a laugh! No sooner had I replaced the holster in the pump when I realised that I'd just filled up with unleaded. What an idiotic thing to do.

Full of genuine contrition I told the cashier who tried to cheer me up by saying that there are lots of idiots in the world and that it happens quite regularly.

I called the AA who came to the rescue after I'd given them £200 over the phone and fairly quickly and easily drained the tank and got me going again. At least I knew not to start the car after realising my mistake to avoid taking the wrong fuel into more inaccessible parts of the engine (he said in mitigation.)

Galaxy Note 8

Being a bit of a techie and carrying a three years old Note 4 I visited Samsung in Leeds a few weeks back to look at the new Note 8. Wow it's a beautiful phone and even better in the flesh than I thought it would be.

Well it arrived on Friday and I have been spending  many a happy hour getting to know it and dribbling down my chin. Sad.

Detroit

We went to see Detroit the other night. A film recommended by our entertainment secretary.

All I can say is that if you want to be metaphorically beaten up in a cinema then this is the film for you. Gritty realism is what it is, dealing with events in riot torn Detroit in the sixties. We both liked the Hurt Locker which was directed by Katherine Bigelow so had high hopes for this one.

I might be getting old and feeble but I found this a bit unsettling.

Style gone mad

The more I see them the more I think 'why?'

I can just about appreciate a small tear in a jean to make it look worn, no matter how artificial but the other day I saw a young woman wearing a pair of jeans with tears right down the whole of the front. It looked so ludicrous I couldn't help but ask her why she hadn't just bought a pair of shorts.

Thank goodness she saw the funny side.

Florida

Why the hell would anyone want to live in Florida? From my limited experience the weather is fairly shit, you have to put up with tornadoes and the like and there's an outside chance an alligator will get you and your house might be destroyed. So not much happening really. It makes Ripon sound like paradise!

As they evacuate the state the thought occurred to me 'where the hell do they all go'? Presumably to hotels or relatives out of state. To some hillbilly, gun toting, two headed lunatic in a neighbouring state.
Thanks but no thanks.