my Ceredigion and my Cardigan Bay » music

Photos: Folly Farm Vintage Fun Fair

Paul Williams — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:37:26 +0000

Once again MyCeredigion finds itself in Pembrokeshire…

Not far from Narberth in Pembrokeshire is a treasure house of fun. Anyone who’s been to Folly Farm will know you really only go with children. In fact an un-accompanied adult, male, with a camera would probably be fed to the pigs.

Anyway for the third time this year I braved it’s hallowed halls with a party of 20 celebrating EM’s number 4 birthday, the Big O-Four. Folly Farm has all the usual appointments associated with farming; goats (yay, feeding time!) cows, sheep, horses, donkeys, chickens, giraffes, ocelot etc etc. Of course you guessed, it’s not only a farm it’s a zoo too.

But what do you do in the unlikely event of rain in West Wales or if you’re tired of petting and feeding and gawping? Well, we head for ‘Europe’s largest undercover vintage funfair with a huge collection of working rides and stalls lovingly restored for your enjoyment.‘

I’m not a fun fair fan in the normal, That’ll Be the Day sense. Too many scary rides and too much teenage shrieking. But this is special. As it says on the can, it’s ‘Vintage’. The Chairoplane, the Caterpillar, Dodgems, the Royal Coronation Speedway, the Cakewalk, Golden Gallopers and a Helter Skelter with coconut mats rough enough to satisfy the most sadistic PE teacher.

Best of all? The vintage art…

Highly Recommended. Here’s some pictures.

[Show as slideshow]

Fantasy Football: Rod Stewart and the Faces at Saint Mary’s Stadium

Paul Williams — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:17:01 +0000

The keen-eyed will have noticed new colours nailed to my masthead; the logo of newly relegated Southampton Football Club. Yes that’s my club. Dumped out of the Championship, in administration and starting next season with a 10 point deficit, they are on the brink of being bought out by a consortium financed by a mystery multi-millionaire. Even though we live in dark economic days there are some ready and eager to invest in that thing that is the opposite of a cash cow. Doubtless if I had the cash I’d be one of them.

Notwithstanding nearly 40 years living in Wales (and a brief narrowboat induced flirtation with Aston Villa) I can’t bring myself to support any other club. It’s a blood thing really; a large New Forest family on my mother’s side, living close enough to Southampton to be regulars at the Dell, it can’t be helped.

Anyway, today I read this story in the (Southern) Daily Echo. As with so much from the back pages it is likely to be complete tosh.

But while the identity of alleged multi-millionaire investor remains off-radar a man (of a certain age) can dream.

Of course I’d prefer it if it were Rod Stewart AND the Faces.

But I suppose Gordon Strachan will have to do.

Junk Shop Vinyl: Nancy and Lee

Paul Williams — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:51:57 +0000

Taking a cue from super-readable blog, Diggin’ It, I thought I’d post a bit of junk shop vinyl.

This is the 1968 Reprise album by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood.

It’s a weird, though surprisingly successful, pairing and reading the track listing you know this is going to be a patchy album; even the good is going to be over-shadowed by the spooky psyche-pop masterpiece Some Velvet Morning.

Here is that track listing.

You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’
Elusive Dreams
Greenwich Village Folk Song Salesman
Summer Wine
Storybook Children
Sundown, Sundown
Jackson
Some Velvet Morning
Sand
Lady Bird
I’ve Been Down So Long (It Looks Like Up to Me)

See what I mean?

Some Velvet Morning has been much covered and recently most notably by Kate and Bobby…

All that for 49p at Barnardo’s in Cardigan.

Coming Through Slaughter by Michael Ondaatje: Mini Review

Paul Williams — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:03:42 +0000

After a recent post that mentioned Monty Sunshine and by implication Ken Colyer, Chris Barber and the Trad Revival Movement of the 40′s and 50′s I’ve been on the look out for books about the New Orleans scene in the early years of the 20th century. I didn’t expect to find much because I almost never buy new books and my regular haunts are charity shops. Anyway I did find this (thank you Barnardos). Coming Through Slaughter takes the sketchiest known ‘facts’ of Buddy Bolden‘s life, marinades in alcohol psychosis, and creates a gumbo portrait of a single-minded mad genius. Whether the hard-lipped Buddy Bolden ever knew what he’d got is debatable but he certainly influenced almost all of the next wave of jazz players. He died in an asylum in 1932 after 20 years of apparent madness. Inspiring and richly drawn; a beautiful book.

More Midnight and the Lemon Boys Brighton Photos

Paul Williams — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 12:05:59 +0000

For all you patient people waiting to see the full set of super rare and distressingly vintage Midnight and the Lemon Boys photos here’s the slide show. If you feel the urge share the link and/or leave me a message.