funkydory jam

I went to the second funkydory jam last night (I missed the first because I did not know they had started one). This jam session happens every other Wednesday at the Grove Tavern in Morden.

I was looking forward to seeing funkydory, as I had not seen them before. This band was formed by Jules Fothergill and Lorna Reilly of Roadhouse; together with guitarist Marc Le Guerrannic, drummer Hayden Doyle, and Fox on bass. I already knew that Jules was a brilliant guitarist and that Lorna was a fantastic singer (although she did not really get to use her voice properly in Roadhouse) so I was sure that the band would be fantastic. I was not disappointed. It was a little difficult to assess them properly as a band when only four or five songs were played, but what I heard I certainly liked a lot.

The jam itself was absolutely brilliant. There some amazing singers in (which makes a pleasant change) and some fantastic musicians. I do not know any of the names, but of particular note was a woman (who I think was called Sam) who had an absolutely blistering voice (I kept expecting the glasses to break) and a man who was not only a really good guitarist but who had an absolutely fantastic singing voice somewhat reminiscent of Little Richard.

All in all it was an exceptional night and I highly recommend anyone to go to see this jam.

A proper summer weekend... Hurrah!!

The first "proper" weekend of summer has come and gone. What a truly glorious pair of days. I was unfortunately stuck indoors on the Saturday morning due to waiting for a package to arrive. (The courier company has decided to put a positive spin on their crap delivery times (anytime between 8am and 6pm) by claiming that it is for "security reasons". What a load of [bleeeeep].) Thankfully it turned up at about 11am so I could at least enjoy some of the afternoon.

I spent the majority of the time lolling in the sunshine reading whilst a large fan turgidly moved the warm air around in circles. At least I could open the windows wide enough for a cool(ish) summer breeze to blow out the stale winter air. What a shock to learn this morning that people in parts of Yorkshire were standing on their roofs whilst their homes were washed away.

I will finish off with a rather staggering fact I discovered yesterday. The Sahara desert has a greater total area (3.25 million square miles) than the 25 largest islands in the world put together. It's almost inconceivable.