The Bloggler

 Welcome to another of my non too frequent 'My Music' Blogs.  This one features my favourite Drummers.    I used to play drums in my younger days so its not surprising that many of music heroes are drummers. But ask most people who their music heroes are and they probably wont include a drummer.  According to popular myth, drummers are Neanderthals on the scale of musical evolution.  They have a reputation for being drunks, slightly mad and getting into fights. And they are not real musicians because they are only there to keep time.  I disagree.  I say a band is only as good as its drummer.  A good drummer is musically very aware, understands song structure and melody and has a real sense of the groove.  And only some drummers are drunks, mad and get into fights. Me? Back then? I'm saying nothing. Friends ask me who do I think is/was the best drummer ever.  I say I'm not an expert and all top drummers do some things better than others.  Judgements are largely influence

This week my entry to Dan Antion's  Thursday Doors photo challenge  comes from Newby Hall in North Yorkshire.  We stayed with a friend in York last weekend and took advantage of the good weather to have a drive to Newby Hall and Gardens on the Sunday.  This is one of Britain’s finest Adam Houses and is the family home of Mr & Mrs Richard Compton.  It was built in the 1690s by Sir Christopher Wren and the house was later enlarged and adapted by John Carr and subsequently Robert Adam.   The vista from the river looking up to the house and framed by the herbaceous borders is stunning but the front door is actually unremarkable. However, in the gardens we came across this.  It is the door from Newgate Prison, through which the famous highwayman Dick Turpin’s rival Jack Sheppard escaped.  I've enlarged the plaque on the wall so you can read about it.  The skull above the door is a nice touch, don't you think? All the award winning gardens at Newby are amazing and I found a c

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Colourful Murals.’ This week Natalie is hosting the challenge whilst Terri from Second Wind Leisure Perspectives takes a break. To see the entries,  click here . My first three were taken a few years ago in Madeira.  You can see more of these murals and painted doors in my post Thursday Doors, Madeira  in response to Dan's Thursday Doors Challenge The next two were taken in Granada, Spain. These fit the description of graffiti than murals but I like them. 

  I have decided that, as I get older, I understand less about the world: why people do the things they do, about technology, and the economy etc. The more I find out, the less I feel I understand. I know it’s normal to feel that we know less about things as we grow older – even though we are always gaining new knowledge to add to a lifetime of learning and experiences. But there are some things that, no matter how hard I try to understand them, they refuse to make sense. I really don’t care that I don’t understand some things, but there are some things that I feel I should understand. I don’t think my brain is slowing down (it has always been this slow - as many people will testify). I can understand some complex topics, I learn new skills and I can assemble Ikea furniture, read maps and do fractions. So why do I struggle to 'get' things that other people have no problem with. I tend to get irritated when I don’t understand some badly presented news item, ‘googled’ inform