U2 Tour to End in North America?

I've not written in my blog for a while, things have been quiet here and compared to world events (natural and manmade) my little life didn't inspire me to write.  But U2 reared it's head today and ahead of the opening South American Show in Santiago today Edge did an interview for Phantom Radio in Ireland. Points that came up:

-  The 360 Tour will "probably" end with the show in Moncton, but Edge was not 100% definite on this -  as of now "That will be the end", but "Never say never"
-  They have lots of projects in the air all going in different directions and are not ready to commit to any one just yet.  They will "Sit back and figure it all out" after the tour ends.
-  They are looking forward to Glastonbury and want to "shake it up" song wise there
-  Edge playfully joked about Bono's height (or lack of it!)

It's strange but when Bono says something you take it with a pinch of salt but somehow Edge is more believable!  But a lot of the interview does show the usual  U2 dithering and inability to just give facts.  Surely they know definitely when the tour will end considering all the organisation such a big project needs?  Lots of waffling about an album release too, but in reality U2 usually only release an album every four years and it's only been two since the last one so I'm not expecting anything soon.  Glastonbury?  Almost bound to be greatest hits, rather than shook up.

I'm actually partially relieved that it looks like there will be no further 360 UK/Irish gigs because this tour has cost me a lot so far and if they played here I'd just HAVE to go!  Give the old credit card a chance to recover lol!

Listen to the interview on the link below.

Phantom Radio Edge Interview

Japan

On Friday morning I was up early for work.  I was my usual early morning grumpy self.  I got my Cornflakes and tea and plonked down in my chair in front  of the TV.  On the screen I saw a brown wave full of debris sweeping across land at great speed, ripping out everything in its path.  Whole houses, cars, lorries, trees, were caught in the sludgy torrent.  It was in Japan and there had been an earthquake followed by a devastating tsunami.  It was dreadful to see everything being swept away by the wave.

As the days went by more and more images were brought to us via the Internet and the brave reporters who travelled there to tell the story.  The scenes towns literally being taken out of existence by the tsunami reminded me of the grainy black and white images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the atomic bombs were dropped.  In Minamisinraku only the hospital survived amidst the devastation, looking much like the domed building that still stood amongst the ruins of Hiroshima. Only this time the destroyer was nature not man.   And there also may be another nuclear danger, this time with the threat of meltdown in the reactors at the Fukushima power station.  The Japanese have asked for help from specialists to work with them to prevent the unthinkable happening.  Let's pray they manage to avert further disaster.

A lot of the people look dazed and worried, searching for family and friends.  Many have lost everything, there could be half a million homeless, at least 10,000 dead, the infrastructure severely damaged.  Japan is well prepared  for earthquakes, but there's nothing you can do about a 25-30 metre high tsunami.  It just shows how quickly the thin layer of a modern society can be swept away.

The Japanese are very resourceful people, they recovered from those nuclear explosions decades ago to become a leader in the world economy.  There's a typically Japanese stoicism and orderliness evident amidst the chaos and, in time, and with the help of the rest of the world, they will recover from this.

Harvey the Dog

I've just seen the Harvey the Dog ad. Almost everyone in the UK will know what I mean, It's an ad promoting the power of advertising, showing a rescue dog in a kennel trying to impress potential adopters. Very funny, and Harvey just has "something" about him.

I was curious to find out more about Harvey, so in this age of finding answers easily in cyberspace, I Googled "Harvey dog ad" and up popped lots of info. Harvey is actually called Sykes and is seven years old.  He was a rescue dog, as a pup of seven months he followed friends of the current owner and their dog home.  No one claimed him so he went to live in Oxfordshire with Gill Raddings who runs a company called Action Stunt Dogs and Animals. She quickly recognised his good temperament and intelligence, and a legend was in the making!

Sykes was a star pupil and took to training well. He has appeared in many TV programmes - and he has even starred in two films with Johnny Depp, sigh....!

You can read an article all about Sykes (though I think Harvey suits him better) that was in the Daily Mail a while back here.  Below is the advertisement that made him famous.

Greatest Frontmen and Women Poll

NME are doing a Greatest Frontmen and Women poll.  Bono's one of the people on the list but so far he's not in the top 20 - Robert Smith is the surprising number one at the moment. So get voting for Bono here.

Crocuses, Starlings and Weather

We've been having some nice, bright and sunny days recently and Spring is bursting out everywhere. There are great swathes of crocuses across my city, our council planted them years ago.  I did a work visit today and the large patch of grass outside my client's house was full of thousands of blue and white crocuses, beautiful.  On the way home I noticed starlings starting to roost.  Once home I watched as the groups of birds joined together to form a huge cloud of thousands that swooped, weaved and turned as one. The movement of the flock reminded me of the undulations of the Northern Lights. They came so low as to almost skim the roofs of the houses, I could hear their wings flapping but there was no other sound from the birds.  How do they know which way to turn so suddenly?  Eventually the moved into the distance and settled for the night, but what an amazing show they had put on.

At this time of year nature comes alive again, the buds fatten up, birds sing more, even after the icy winter we had nothing stops the rebirth.  But people seem to come alive again too. The DIY stores are full of enthusiastic folk raring to get decorating or improving their home.  You see more of your neighbours as people re-discover their gardens, tidying away the winter debris, planting bedding plants, sighing at the thought of having to mow the lawn again.

Bright colours, tee-shirts, summer dresses, swimwear and sandals appear in the shops, the winter woolies are in the sales.  Holidays plans are made, I've got a holiday in Canada to look forward to.  Hopes for a hot summer abound, definitely not a guarantee in the UK, "We've had three crap summers, surely we'll have a good one this year!" People say, me included.  Our weather is never boring and we are obsessed with talking about it.

It's a good time of year, almost like coming out of hibernation, and I love the buzz and energy that is always around at this time.  Now, where's that paintbrush.........

Bono in Verbier

Bono has been in Verbier this week.  Had to laugh at the fact that he seems to be spending more time in restaurants than on the slopes skiing - a man after my own heart!  I'm not surprised he's not skiing, the thought of our clumsy Bono on skis is scary lol.  Below is an excerpt from an article about this, full story and more photos here. 

(February 24, 2011 - Photo by Bauer Griffin)

"The lead singer of U2 has been in the upmarket Swiss resort this week. But he was spotted more in the restaurants than on the slopes. 

First it was outside the Vieux Verbier restaurant at the bottom of the main Medran lift in the middle of the week. It was during the day and he was not in his ski wear.

With his trademark dark glasses and scarf pulled over his face many of the diners and skiers had no idea they were in the company of high rock celebrity as he holidayed in the resort.

Then at 3.45 on Friday afternoon when  most people are putting in their final turns of the holiday, he emerged from Le Cristal restaurant at Les Ruinettes.  Fresh lobster is a speciality of the establishment.

It was half way up the mountains but again no sign of any ski wear despite the good conditions. And as he came out with his entourage he headed straight for the lift down to the village rather than the slope."

U2 Confirmed For Glastonbury

What we already knew has been confirmed, U2 are headlining at Glasto on Friday 24th June.  U2.com (it occasionally has its uses ) has a short video of Edge which you can watch here.   Below is a summary of what he said.
'We're so excited to get to play in front of the world's greatest festival audience.'

At a ceremony in London tonight, Edge presented the 'Best Festival' award by video to Michael and Emily Eavis of The Glastonbury Festival - and confirmed that U2 would play the festival this summer.

''It's more a way of life than a festival.' he said, describing the great time he had visiting the Festival last year, guesting on stage with Muse.

'We're all looking forward to coming back to pick up where I left off, U2 will be playing June 24th...we'll see you there.'

U2.com Petition

Last year I let my membership of U2.com lapse.  I was sad to do this as I'd been a member of Propaganda and then U2.com  for 25 years.  But over the last few years I became more and more dissatisfied with U2.com.  The final straw being in summer 2009 when current members were asked to re-subscribe in order to get pre-sale codes (which enable you to get concert tickets a few days before the general public) for concerts in 2010.  My subscription was due for renewal in March 2010 and no way was I going to take out an expensive re-subscription over six months early in order to get a pre-sale code!  If you are a current member when tickets go on sale you should get a code.  And when the proper re-sub date came up I let the membership lapse and so ended a long fan club membership.

Many, many fans are dissatisfied with U2.com, fans really deserve better for their money.  A petition which sums up the problems very succinctly and respectfully has been started here.  I know some of the U2 fans who read this blog are not happy with U2.com either.  Maybe you might like to sign the petition.  It might or might not change things, but if fans don't say anything those at U2.com will think everything is ok and it certainly isn't.

Cooking With Bono

I was a bit bored this evening and was looking around on You Tube and found this,  thought it was quite funny, he actually does sound very like Bono!  It's a clip from an Australan show called The Wedge.  Enjoy.

Northern Lights

Anyone who has read my blog knows I'm fascinated by the Northern Lights. I was reading today that our sun has just blasted out a massive flare which could result in good displays of the Northern Lights over the next couple of nights. I've been regularly checking the night sky here until it clouded over, but the only brightness in the sky was the moon! I'll keep looking though.

I found this interesting article all about this beautiful phenomenom on Facebook from the website of the Northern Lights Centre in the Yukon, Canada.

WHAT ARE NORTHERN LIGHTS?
The bright dancing lights of the aurora are actually collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth's atmosphere. The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres. They are known as 'Aurora borealis' in the north and 'Aurora australis' in the south..

Auroral displays appear in many colours although pale green and pink are the most common. Shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet have been reported. The lights appear in many forms from patches or scattered clouds of light to streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the sky with an eerie glow.


WHAT CAUSES THE NORTHERN LIGHTS?
The Northern Lights are actually the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere. Variations in colour are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. The most common auroral color, a pale yellowish-green, is produced by oxygen molecules located about 60 miles above the earth. Rare, all-red auroras are produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights of up to 200 miles. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red aurora.

The connection between the Northern Lights and sunspot activity has been suspected since about 1880. Thanks to research conducted since the 1950's, we now know that electrons and protons from the sun are blown towards the earth on the 'solar wind'. (Note: 1957-58 was International Geophysical Year and the atmosphere was studied extensively with balloons, radar, rockets and satellites. Rocket research is still conducted by scientists at Poker Flats, a facility under the direction of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks - see web page http://www.gi.alaska.edu/

The temperature above the surface of the sun is millions of degrees Celsius. At this temperature, collisions between gas molecules are frequent and explosive. Free electrons and protons are thrown from the sun's atmosphere by the rotation of the sun and escape through holes in the magnetic field. Blown towards the earth by the solar wind, the charged particles are largely deflected by the earth's magnetic field. However, the earth's magnetic field is weaker at either pole and therefore some particles enter the earth's atmosphere and collide with gas particles. These collisions emit light that we perceive as the dancing lights of the north (and the south).

The lights of the Aurora generally extend from 80 kilometres (50 miles) to as high as 640 kilometres (400 miles) above the earth's surface.

WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO WATCH THE NORTHERN LIGHTS?
Northern Lights can be seen in the northern or southern hemisphere, in an irregularly shaped oval centred over each magnetic pole. The lights are known as 'Aurora borealis' in the north and 'Aurora australis' in the south. Scientists have learned that in most instances northern and southern auroras are mirror-like images that occur at the same time, with similar shapes and colors.

Because the phenomena occurs near the magnetic poles, northern lights have been seen as far south as New Orleans in the western hemisphere, while similar locations in the east never experience the mysterious lights. However the best places to watch the lights (in North America) are in the northwestern parts of Canada, particularly the Yukon, Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Alaska. Auroral displays can also be seen over the southern tip of Greenland and Iceland, the northern coast of Norway and over the coastal waters north of Siberia. Southern auroras are not often seen as they are concentrated in a ring around Antarctica and the southern Indian Ocean.

Areas that are not subject to 'light pollution' are the best places to watch for the lights. Areas in the north, in smaller communities, tend to be best.

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO WATCH FOR AURORAL DISPLAYS?
Researchers have also discovered that auroral activity is cyclic, peaking roughly every 11 years. The next peak period is 2013.

Winter in the north is generally a good season to view lights. The long periods of darkness and the frequency of clear nights provide many good opportunities to watch the auroral displays. Usually the best time of night (on clear nights) to watch for auroral displays is local midnight (adjust for differences caused by daylight savings time). http://www.gi.alaska.edu/

LEGENDS OF THE LIGHTS
'Aurora borealis', the lights of the northern hemisphere, means 'dawn of the north'. 'Aurora australis' means 'dawn of the south'. In Roman myths, Aurora was the goddess of the dawn. \par Many cultural groups have legends about the lights. In medieval times, the occurrences of auroral displays were seen as harbingers of war or famine. The Maori of New Zealand shared a belief with many northern people of Europe and North America that the lights were reflections from torches or campfires.

The Menominee Indians of Wisconsin believed that the lights indicated the location of manabai'wok (giants) who were the spirits of great hunters and fishermen. The Inuit of Alaska believed that the lights were the spirits of the animals they hunted: the seals, salmon, deer and beluga whales. Other aboriginal peoples believed that the lights were the spirits of their people.

What Time Is It In The World?

Showtime!  360 is on the road again, this photo was taken tonight in Johannesburg (photographer unknown).  Gives me goosebumps!  Seems the set list was shaken up a bit but there were no surprises.  But it's always like that on the first gig of a tour leg.  Also U2 haven't played South Africa since the Popmart days so some of the songs we have got "used" to in Euope and North America will be new live to these fans.  Hopefully when they do get back to North America they'll be playing some of those songs they have been rehearsing ; ).  Roll on my next 360 fix in the ever wonderful Canada, is all I can say!

Egypt Reborn

I couldn't ignore what has happened in Egypt over the last couple of weeks.  I've followed the People's Uprising via the excellent cover the BBC gave it.  Part of me watched, hoping that the people would succeed, but thinking they probably wouldn't.  Ordinary people can't overthrow an oppressive dictator of 30 years can they? 

But on the 11th February Mubarak stood down handing over the reins of government Higher Council of the Armed Forces.  The unbridled joy of the people was moving to watch, it felt like such a victory for the ordinary people who often feel they have no voice or power.  Over the weekend the people spontaneously tidied up Tahrir Square, cleaned monuments, painted, brushed, picked up litter.  Almost as if they were sweeping away the old to make room for the new. 

The hardest time for Egypt is still ahead, trying to form a democratic government will not be easy.  But I so hope for those very brave, ordinary people that it succeeds, and that this most ancient of countries becomes all that they want it to be.

Cafe Review - The Sycamore Tree, Longtown, Cumbria

Location
On Bridge Street, Longtown, (eight miles north of Carlisle) - the A7 scenic route to Edinburgh.  You can park easily close by.

Cuisine
British.

Ambiance
The Sycamore Tree is small and traditional in decor.   A typical cafe, nothing special, but clean and comfortable.

Food
For a cafe, the food is excellent, with freshly made and generous portions.  More restaurant quality than that of a cafe. The home made scones, cakes and desserts are wonderful.  Sunday lunch (which is what I had today) consisted of a generous portion of beef (one other meat roast is also available each week) mash and roast potatoes,  four different fresh vegetables and a huge, light and fluffy Yorkshire pudding.  I wasn't going to have a dessert but saw the chocolate pyramids and succumbed!  It consisted of three thin triangles of marbled milk and white chocolate that formed the pyramid which contained a light chocolate mousse and fresh raspberries.  Mmmmm, delish!

Service
Friendly and quick service - even though they were very busy.

Price
Low.  Our Sunday roast was £6.10 which was fantastic value for what we received.  You can also get kids size and larger portions for a small amount less and more.

The cafe is open 9-5 everyday.  On Tuesday and Friday nights the cafe is open for Steak Nights costing £12.95 for 2 courses plus a glass of wine.  Saturday night is Bistro Night £13.95 for a starter and main, £17.95 with a dessert.

Northern Star Rating  ****

It's Coming.....

Snowdrops, yellow and cerise primulas, daffodil shoots growing daily, fat buds on shrubs, birdsong, swarms of starlings swirling in the sky, crows meeting up in tall trees.

Brightly coloured clothes in the shops, still light at 5.30, Easter eggs, thoughts of holidays and decorating. A sigh of relief, Spring is coming.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Amazon Germany Lists New U2 Album

Got a flutter of excitement when I read the above headline!  It fits in nicely with the rumours and start of the next North American 360 Tour.  More on @U2 here

A Day Out in Another World

I met up with my friend Alison today.  We live about 60 miles away from each other and try to meet up once a month either nearer where she lives or nearer to me.  This time it was near to me and we met up in Langholm, a small town in the Scottish Borders.  Langholm is situated on the River Esk and surrounded by hills, the highest, Whita, has an impressive obelisk dedicated to Sir John Malcolm the soldier and politician, at its peak.  On a clear day the obelisk can just be seen from Carlisle 20 miles away.

Alison and I had a lovely, and very cheap, lunch in the Crown Hotel on the town's main street.  We then set off for Eskdalemuir and the Kagyu Samye Ling Tibetan Centre 13 miles away.  It was one of those beautiful, crisp winter days with blue skies, sunshine and frost that didn't melt.  We travelled on a road through beautiful countryside of rolling mountains, pine and deciduous forest, a landscape that was mainly uninhabited except for occasional farms and the tiny hamlets of the odd-named Bentpath and Eskdalemuir.  We passed only a handful of other cars on the road.   At one point we noticed people in the fields on a grouse shoot, it was weird to see men walking along with rifles.

Just beyond Eskdalemuir we came to Kagyu Samye Ling Tibetan Centre.  This was set up by Tibetans in 1967 and is now a thriving community complete with temple.  Many, many years ago this was where I saw the Dalai Lama when he visited the centre.  I stood amongst the crowd and listened to him speak.  I have aways been a bit of closet Buddhist and was entranced by the Dalai Lama.  He was so wise and charismatic, yet he also was very human and had a wonderful sense of humour and an infectious laugh that made you smile too.  I feel lucky to have seen him in person.

You can wander around the complex freely.  We passed by an avenue of multi-coloured prayer flags flapping in the wind that led to a huge white stupa shining brightly in the winter sunshine.  A short distance from this was a huge golden gateway covered in brightly coloured paintings of gods.  We passed through the gateway and saw a beautiful golden Buddha in an area that seemed to be being developed into a garden area.  The statue it was so serene and the gold shimmered brightly in the sunlight. It had a plaque on it saying 0700 hrs 7.7.2007, obviously an auspicious date.

We walked on into the complex where we first headed for the temple.  We could hear that a ceremony was going on as we took our shoes off outside.  We stepped inside and  into another world.  It was an intricate kaleidoscope of colours and gold featuring gods, golden Buddhas and animals on the walls and ceiling, monks were chanting accompanied by the clash of cymbals and huge, loud drums.  The steady beat of the drums and cymbals was almost hypnotic and it was also quite relaxing, it was really like moving into another world. 

We left the temple and put our shoes back on and went to the shop.  There was building work going on and we had to walk round the building twice to find the entrance!  There also is a lovely little cafe on the site that has homemade vegetarian food, but as we'd had such a good lunch we didn't go in there this time.  After that we headed off back to Langholm, sufficently chilled out by our little steps into Scotland's Tibetan world.

- 4lbs

I've been battling with my weight pretty much all my adult life, but once I reached middle age the pounds really piled on.  I've started numerous diets etc, sometimes did ok, but then put the weight I'd lost back on over the next few months.  Then, just before Christmas, I found out I had slightly raised Cholesterol and blood pressure.  My GP said she could put me on medication to reduce the blood pressure but that it probably would come down anyway if I lost some weight.  So I agreed with her rather than go onto medication I would try to lose a significant amount of weight over the next four months and see if that helps reduce my blood pressure.  I've never had such a good reason to lose weight before and am determined to do it.  I thought I would be open and  post my losses on my blog, so this is my first post - 4lbs and counting!

January :(

I haven't been very inspired to write my blog recently, don't really know why.  Maybe it's something to do with the January doldrums.  There's been the social whirl of Christmas, the hopefulness of the New Year and then there's January.....  The most dismal day of the year is said to be January 17th, when real life hits people again and the bills roll in - and the weather is crap and I'm one of those people that is affected by the weather.  Yeah, I can actually see why I'm not that inspired at the moment lol!

Anyway, bits of U2 news.  Rumours abound that Adam, at long last, is a dad.  It's said he has a son who is already about a year old, how was that kept quiet for so long?!   If it's true, (it hasn't been officialy denied or confirmed) I'm really pleased fo Adam, he seems to be happy and settled in his life now.  Read the article that first broke the news here

Bono's been back home in Ireland again and was eating out at a posh restaurant with Ngozo Okonjo-Iweala, Managing Director of The World Bank.  Read more here along wth a few photos - looks like it was a windy night!

And that's about it.  Well, except for the Spiderman Saga which I'm not really that interested in, it just goes on and on. The opening night has been put back yet another month.  Yawn.

So, off I go back into dismal January, but the good news is that days are getting longer!