Portmeirion menu Artwork

My brother Scott gave me an Amazon gift certificate which I used to order this excellent cd Box set. I am always visiting Amazon looking for Jazz goodies and this one is really special.
It is a collection of Columbia recordings that cover 1927 to 1962.
Each of the three discs have at least 20 tracks and covers groups of the time span. Disc one has 1927 to 1940. Number two has 1947 to 1952. Disc three has 1956 to 1962. The set is well designed and has an accompanying book containing very complete information about Duke and the music. But the music is the thing . It has (as the Duke said) terpsichorean urge. This probably means its got that swing! It reflects the Duke who is surely one of the most important musicians of the 20th century.

Shapes

number

one

Portmeirion view #4

I am hooked on the original game show What’s my line! The Game Show channel airs it every night. This original version had a run of 17 years from 1950 to 1967. It is considered the longest running and most beloved TV game show. It is not only the game that fascinates me . It is the relationship between the Moderator John Charles Daily and the panel. It seems so sincere and courteous . All of the guests are respected too . The regular panelists ,Bennett Cerf ,Dorothy Kilgallen , Arlene Francis and the rotating guest all project an air of intelligence , sophistication and charm . Then there are the mystery guests . What Mega Stars they were! Nothing like it now. How things have changed! It seems light years between this wonderful , simple old TV show and American Idol .Backwards that is!

My friend Mick”Bomber” Barton is really into cricket .When I met him almost 20 years ago he was simply playing the game. Over the years his involvement has grown . Because he and his wife Anne now have two boys he has become a cricket coach as well. Now he is also involved with the Clumber Park Cricket Club.They maintain and operate cricket related facilities in what once was formerly home to the Dukes of Newcastle.Mick is the Vice Chairman of the organization . At this point I suppose some one is now thinking I am being too serious .They would probably say that all this cricket activity is juat an opportunity to eventually end up at the club having a pint with the lads! Such a cynic! Anyway please note the new link to Clumber Park Cricket Club to the right! Visit the site and contact the Vice Chairman. Tell him to have a pint for Gregg

I know I am trying to be less self absorbed but at least this post is not so serious and seems to be fun to me. One step at a time! I went to buy a couple pairs of knock around shorts today. Just average comfortable draw string shorts to wear around the house. As I was looking around the men’s department I saw something else. I had seen it before in the current Land’s end catalog and it must be fate that Sears now carries Land’s end men’s clothing .Anyway, there it was straight from page 128. I could not resist. It called my name. Gregg BUY ME YOU, KNOW YOU HAVE TO HAVE ME . Many stronger could probably resist a Coral Red Madras shirt. Not me. I will be 60 this weekend but suddenly ,right there in Sears, I was 16 again! That material , the colors and patterns , the button down collar . I quickly grabbed it and headed to the fitting room. It looked great , even my wife Sharon liked it! I am going to wear it to my birthday dinner this week end . I may be turning 60 but it will seem like 1963!

New Name New attitude

I was talking to my friend Anne this morning when I mentioned this blog. She told me that after visiting a few times she found it a bit serious and self absorbed and that it could me more fun.
It may be that being British gives her a different point of view or that being an American automatically makes me self absorbed. Anyway , the conversation got me thinking about all of this.
Without being too serious or self absorbed I wonder how you can produce material for a personal journal without being a little self absorbed . If it is possible I will find a way!
This brings me to the new blog name Notso’s
A few years ago I was talking to a workmate about the many years of bad jokes I heard regarding my last name which is Niceley.He blurted out ,” well I think you are notso Niceley”. This seems a perfect way to change the Attitude of the blog You know ,notso serious ,notso self absorbed .

We shall see.

So thanks Anne, now sod off!

Ah Beer ! What would we do without it? For years I have been exploring and sampling various breweries products. Not downing six packs but searching for quality real beer. This trend started during my first trip to Britain in 1983.It was then I discovered real Ale . This term describes ale that is made from only basic ingredients. Real ale is bottled in such a way that it continues to mature in the bottle. It is also sold in casks that are distributed to Pubs . Over the years I have gravitated to dark beers (or Stout )becauseThey have more character. This brings me to my current favorite . I feel Deschutes Obsidian Stout is the closest thing to Guinness that you can find. Not the Guinness you can buy locally but the real stuff in Ireland. Deschutes is brewed in Bend Oregon .Obsidian Stout is one of eight or so they sell. They also produce a tasty Holiday Ale . Here is another excellent source ( under the real beer link to the right) of information on Ale and Pubs in The U.K.
Cheers!

Robert Louis Stevenson once said “To come down covered with mud and drenched with sweat and rain after some hours in the bush ,change , rubdown, and take a chair in the verandah is to taste a quiet conscience.” He was referring to caring for his 314 acre estate in Samoa. I can relate to that (on a smaller scale) wile working around our 2 acres here in Hawaii. My current short term project is weeding pineapples .These are white pinapples, which are only grown here on the Big Island , Hawaii. They are sweeter and less acidic than the yellow variety and are only available here! After you have tasted one of these ,yellows will never seem quite as good. Last year we had 30 plants and almost every one produced a 5 pound fruit! Each plant also produces Keiki (babies) which may be removed , rooted and planted . After that process last summer our plant inventory jumped from 30 to almost 100. Weeding is quite a project. First there is the Hawaiian Sun. It is intense to say the least! Then some of the weeds are so hard to pull you almost need dynamite! I have to wear safety goggles because the plants are very sharp. And there are centipedes in the soil that have a pretty serious sting. Even so these delicious fruits are worth all the sweat! They will be ripe in about a month .

John Coltrane

For me another subject with endless vitality and spiritual meaning. I have been adding his albums to my collection for years. From his early recordings in the 1950s to the last of his work before his death in 1967, the number is now over 20, It is interesting to listen over the years as a straight ahead bop style transcends into an intense search for spiritual meaning. His playing evolved into music that was not traditional and caused a lot of mixed reviews. For me( Mr. Searching for answers) it is meditative. It is more spiritual in nature than anything the Christian right has come up with! There is even a Coltrane Church in (San Francisco of course)www.saintjohncoltrane.com/ Many words have been written but the best way to experience Coltrane is to listen. For starters use the link to the right . After you enter the site the top left had of the window has a pull down menu of several complete tunes. Listen to any or better yet, all of them! Go ahead get hooked!!

The way it feels sometimes

David doing his D J thing



I really love Jazz music. Because my Dad was a Jazz piano player our house often had something swinging happening. He also owned one of the best music stores in Indianapolis. I played either clarinet or Baritone sax in Elementary School, High School , College and even in Army Bands.
Since then I have collected and enjoyed records and now cd’s. So you can Imagine how I jumped at the chance to take some of my collection and join my friend David as a guest on his weekly Jazz radio show at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
I made my fourth appearance today. In all, I took 12 cd’s . David had selected Many Miles Davis recordings to celebrate Miles birthday . Each time I play d j (even though David does all the work) I realize just how wonderful this music is. I really believe it is good for your health to listen carefully.
Some of the material we played today was recorded many years ago. Even so ,it remains vital and contemporary, passing that old test of time theory. I believe the honesty of its spirit transcends time. All great art seems to do this.
Here is a link to information on the station and David’s show
http://radio.uhh.hawaii.edu/programs/

The Prisoner appreciation Society

The Prisoner is considered by many to be the most unusual and thought-provoking television series ever made. When it was first shown in England in 1967 there had certainly been nothing like it before and, many would argue, nothing has surpassed it since. The series first aired in the United States on June 1st, 1968 on the CBS network and was repeated in the summer of 1969. The series is now unbelievably 40 years old but retains its vitality . This is helped in part by six of one the Prisoner appreciation society .For more information visit http://www.sixofone.org.uk/general.htm

More Portmeirion Magic

While exploring Portmeirion(see link) during one of my holidays I noticed something interesting about one of its paths. This one connects the top portion of the village, near the entrance, to the bottom . The interesting bit was that elements of this path could be combined (on paper) to create the illusion that both ends could be viewed simultaneously. This is my attempt to do that.The divisions and variations in the pencil drawing are a result of a Graphic arts project that required contrasts in a single project.

My family was wonderfully differnt. My grandfather ,Sam(his wife Anne and he did not like the term grandparents) once was pressured into saying grace at a family Thanksgiving dinner and uttrerd "may everyone here die of diptherea"
Anyway, his daughter My aunt, Ann had his clever wit and wrote a column for a local paper in Long Beach Indiana . This has been a few yeas ago but I still have several of them . Here is a favorite.

---

The other night a T.V. newscaster had one heckofa time trying to unscramble a name he had flubbed up. It reminded me of an intellegent conversation that took place not too long ago.My sister and her family had just moved to Micchiana Shores. Ev picked up our mother and me to spend the day at her new abode. They were in the front seat, I was sitting in the back. We were leisurely driving into Michiana when mom asked the name of the street where Ev lived. Ev told her "Groveland". We drove along a few more minutes when Ev added that it was knid of a strange name. In the back seat my mind was on something else but in all seriousness I said "maybe it was after Groveland Cleever." We drove along in silence broken only by Ev muttering that she hoped she was going the right direction and Mom muttering about how many pretty homes there were out here.
After a bit Ev asked , "who's Groveland Cleever?" I absently added that he was the President . More silence, more muttering about direction and pretty homes and again silence. Suddenly Mom turned around and asked "What's he president of?" By this time I had forgotten what we were talking about and came back with "Who?"We all have rather short fuses so she snipped , Groveland Cleever!" Just as snippily I replied"For crying out loud! President of the United States!"
I heard her softly start to recite a poem she had taught us as kids.. " First there was George Washington, the noble,truthful one. the second was John Adams then Thomas Jefferson...I tuned myself out. All of the sudden she wheeled around and yelled ,"You dumb jerk it was Clover Greeveland!!!!! We were so loused up by then that it sounded pretty good to us so we forgot the whole thing.

---

Gotta love it!

THE WAY IT FEELS SOMETIMES

OCRACOKE FERRYBOAT

As we passed the sign at the side of the narrow road, I quickly read "Ferry Traffic Left Lane". Ahead , the road stretched out for a quarter of a mile, then curved left. As we rounded the wide curve, I saw the ferry dock. The road came to an abrupt end, as if it had been washed out in a storm.
We came to an easy stop and turned the engine off. It would be about 20 minutes until the next ferry arrived. There was a peacful silence, interrupted only by the gusting wind and the occasional squawk of a sea gull.
A blast of a loud air horn announced the approaching ferry. She looked awkward , as if she did not belong in the water. She was a flat barge-like boat with a pilot-house in the middle that seemed slightly out of place.
It took ten minutes to complete docking and unloading. Slowly the line of wating cars started to drive over the noisy metal bridge onto the ferry. The crew was busy directing them to park on either side of the pilot house for maxium use of the minimal spage. Blocks were placed in front of the tires and a chain was hooked across the stern. The powerful diesel engines revved, and slowly we moved away from the dock.
We got out of our car and had started to explore the boat, when we noticed a commotion at the rear. About 30 sea gulls were following us. These birds are real scavengers, and whenever there is food around they know it. They were gracefully diving, soaring and gliding about fifteen feet above the boat. Some people had bought a loaf of bread form a bakery truck on the ferry and were tossing crumbs in to the air. The gulls would dive, catch and eat them in flight. Somehow they could manage all that and still keep pace with the boat.
As we were feeding the gulls, we noticed a small sand bar off to the left. It was occupied by twenty-five to fifty sea gulls and pelicans. As we passed , a few of them looked at us , but for most of them we went unnoticed.
Then we saw a very strange sight. There, sitting in the middle of the Pamlico Sound was a crane - not a bird -, but a steam shovel. It was balancing on the end of a sand bar, dredging up a road for itself. Looking as if it had been caught in high tide, it too went on working without noticing us. We made our way past a barren island , coming so close I felt sure we would run aground. I worried about it but decidided to leave the navigation to the pilot.
We passed one of the sister ships that was on the return trip. Warm smiles and waves were exchanged. It was good to know that strangers could still be friendly to each other.
As we were standing in the bright sunshine feeling that great sensation of the tang in the salt air, the Ocracoke dock came into view in the distance. As it grew larger, a strange feeling came over me. That I did not want this cruise end. That we had left all our problems back at the dock, and being out here were somehow detached form it all. Standing at the stern watching the water churn was soothing enough to make anyone relax. Suddlenly we were docked and unloading, and as we drove over another noisy metal bridge I realized that feeling of detachment would continue.

We had just arrived at Ocracoke Island and the last ferry until tomorrow had just departed.

Portmeirion

One of my favorite places to stay while traveling is Portmeirion in North Wales.Used as the "Village " in the TV seiries "The Prisoner" it is actually a hotel. Built by Sir Clough Williams Ellis the main hotel , group of cottages and shops ,are truely magic .

Williams-Ellis built Portmeirion from 1925 to 1975 on his own private peninsula on the coast of Snowdonia to show that "the developement of a naturally beautiful site need not lead to its defilement."

The Village, which has several shops and restaurants,is surroundedby the Gwylt subtropical gardens and woodlands and miles of sandy beaches.

I learned of Portmeirion whie viewing "The Prisoner,"starring Patric McGoohan, which was filmed in the 1960s with the hotel and village portraying the Prison. It is actually a wonderful place that creates the feeling of Portofino Italy.

Portmeirion is also open to day visitors, but there is nothing quite like being a hotel guest.In the late afternoon as the day visitors begin to leave ,this magic place becomes your own private,tranquil wonderland! I hope to return soon!