Big Tom's Big Blog

Now its our turn to call for the end of Internet Explorer 6

2010-02-02T11:40:00.001Z

The governments of France and Germany have called for the phasing out of Internet Explorer 6. Now its the British government's turn. Me? I'll stick to using Firefox.

BBC News - Pressure mounts to phase out Internet Explorer 6

Fairweather Low plays gig to save Cardiff music venue

2010-01-21T14:32:00.003Z

This place used to be a cinema and amongst some of us was know as the Fleapit. Yet another Cardiff music venue threatened.

BBC Wales report here

Monk gives up heavy metal habit

2009-11-14T13:50:00.001Z

An Italian monk who found fame as the lead singer of a heavy metal group has announced his retirement from show business. He's no sping chicken either.

Monk gives up heavy metal habit

'Distracted' pilots fail to land

2009-10-23T12:14:00.001Z

Oops! A bit different from missing your turn off on the motorway.
'Distracted' pilots fail to land

One giant slip in Bangladesh news

2009-09-04T11:36:00.002Z

"Two Bangladeshi newspapers have apologised after publishing an article taken from a satirical US website which claimed the moon landings were faked."

They picked it up from Onions News Network thinking it was a genuine News site. Sometimes satire can be a bit too subtle!

One giant slip in Bangladesh news

Calvin Harris stands by BPI tirade - Digital Spy

2009-09-02T10:37:00.001Z

Iteresting article on how the BPI pulled the artist's own video from Youtube.

Music - News - Calvin Harris stands by BPI tirade - Digital Spy

Legal case against God dismissed

2009-08-29T15:25:00.000Z

God was not in court to hear the ruling...or was he?

Legal case against God dismissed

US pop songwriter Greenwich dies

2009-08-27T12:23:00.001Z

Ellie Greenwich R.I.P.

British zombie movie that cost just £45 to make is set to become surprise hit at Cannes

2009-07-26T20:14:00.003Z

From The Mail Online

"It is one of the most glamorous events on the film calendar, with a small fortune spent on parties, champagne and red carpet gowns.

But a British zombie movie, which cost just £45 to make, could be a surprise success story amongst the decadence of the Cannes Film Festival.

The makers of Colin, which is told from the zombie's point of view, shot their film on a camcorder and persuaded actors and make-up artists to donate their service for free".

The full story is here

Michael Jackson phone home

2009-07-04T16:22:00.000Z

An interesting article written a fews years ago.

Michael Jackson phone home - Times Online

Wonky fruit and veg set to return

2009-06-30T14:11:00.000Z

At long last! Definitely one of the most ridiculous EU rules every created.

Wonky fruit and veg set to return

Nutjobs in "Fire Letterman" protest

2009-06-18T12:59:00.001Z

Look out for the man with the sign saying "I'm a Right Wing Lunatic"!
Video: Rabid Letterman Protesters Turn Out to Be Big Leno Fans -- Daily Intel -- New York News Blog -- New York Magazine

Joss Stone to pay £2m to quit EMI?

2009-06-01T10:28:00.002Z

Another artist jumps the corporate ship?

Music - News - Joss Stone to pay £2m to quit EMI? - Digital Spy

Whole Wheat Radio goes multimedia?

2009-05-19T11:13:00.003Z

I've been playing around with a live broadcasting website called justin.tv. It lets you broadcast live from your webcam or you can play live streaming of video files from your computer. When not live, you can set up playlists of videos from youtube. As an an experiment I've rounded up all the youtube clips related to Whole Wheat Radio and attempted to turn them into a mini "TV show". You can click here to try it out. Let us know what you think.

MPs fight for small venue rights

2009-05-18T20:00:00.000Z

MPs fight for small venue rights

Plane's forced landing on US street

2009-05-12T10:48:00.001Z

Good job the roads were clear!

BBC NEWS | Plane's forced landing on US street

"G" for George - a bit of the family history.

2009-05-07T13:47:00.008Z

My father's brother, was part of a crew that did a tour in this Lancaster bomber during WWII. My uncle died in Belgium in another Lancaster after being transferred to another squadron which crashed at Eggewaartskappelle, Belgium on 28 May, 1944. G for George now displays at the Canberra War Memorial in Australia.

"G" for George

The commemorative plaque, here, was sent by my uncle to my grandmother, where it was placed in a case and sat above her fire for as long as I can remember. When she died, it then passed to my father, who, like his mother, placed it above the fireplace. My father loaned the plaque to Mr Wim Govaerts,of the Belgian Aviation History Association who was doing research on British bombers which had crashed in Belgium and had placed an ad in the local newspaper to get more information about my uncle. It wasn't until this web page appeared on the internet that I discovered my uncle had written down the three operations he flew in the aircraft as a little note to his mother.

Sadly my father never managed to visit his brother's grave in Eggewaartskapelle.

What American accent do you have?

2009-05-06T16:21:00.004Z

A couple of bloggers I know have had a go at this, not all from America I might add. I've given it a go and I appear to have an accent somewhere around Chicago. All those visits to the Blues Fest must be making their mark! As it happens I do call it pop, but then so do most people from South Wales.

Try the what American accent do I have quiz

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North   You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The Midland
The South
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Whole Wheat Radio's Seti at Home Team

2009-05-06T14:59:00.002Z

Any wheatheads care to join us?
Use your computer's idle time to do something productive instead of that same old screensaver.
Whole Wheat Radio's seti@home details

How Kevin Bacon sparked a new branch of science

2009-05-05T14:05:00.004Z

From the BBC News | How Kevin Bacon sparked a new branch of science

FACEBOOKIN'!! (© James Kloss 2009)

Everything you need to know about the Internet

2009-04-24T14:31:00.000Z

YouTube - The IT Crowd - Series 3 - Episode 4: The Internet

The Who drummer given blue plaque

2009-04-15T12:59:00.001Z

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | The Who drummer given blue plaque

How to make a 7 inch single

2009-03-31T16:04:00.000Z

The seven inch vinyl single is sixty this year. The BBC link shows how they're still being made.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | How to make a 7 inch single

Online gig launches Super Furry Animals album

2009-03-16T14:34:00.001Z

The Furries will be playing live webcast to promote their new album which will be available initially online before its released in the shops.

BBC NEWS | Wales | Online gig launches Furries album

Mount Vernon Lockup 2009

2009-03-13T15:30:00.001Z

Tonia, known to everyone at Whole Wheat Radio as Redsy, is raising money for the The Muscular Dystrophy Association in the United States.

See how Tonia is doing and make a donation here

Kris Delmhorst and Jeffrey Foucault House Concert at Whole Wheat Radio

2009-03-10T16:54:00.005Z

Recommended!

WHEN: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 ~ 7:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.(ADT) ~ Alaska time is - 8 hours UTC.

WHERE: The Wheat Palace

Listen on line at Wholewheat Radio and choose the best listening line for your set up on the top left hand column on the page. Just leave a space for me.

Click here to go to Whole wheat radio's info page regarding the Kris Delmhorst and Jeffrey Foucault House Concert.

BBC NEWS | UK | Shakespeare's first theatre found

2009-03-09T11:29:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | UK | Shakespeare's first theatre found

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Nasa launches Earth hunter probe

2009-03-07T08:14:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Nasa launches Earth hunter probe

Michael Moore: Why I'm Not Now and Have Never Been the Democrats' "Rush Limbaugh" ...by Michael Moore

2009-03-06T14:56:00.000Z

Michael Moore: Why I'm Not Now and Have Never Been the Democrats' "Rush Limbaugh" ...by Michael Moore

BBC NEWS | Technology | Making the computer really personal

2009-02-25T16:43:00.000Z

Maybe Jim at Wholewheat Radio might want one of these :)

BBC NEWS | Technology | Making the computer really personal

Andy Partridge wins an award!

2009-02-24T16:00:00.008Z

"All You Pretty Girls", written Andy Partridge which appeared on XTC's 1984 album, "The Big Express" album has won the BBC Radio 2 Folk awards best original song for 2009, as performed by Jim Moray.

Here's the Jim Moray video which bears more than a passing resemblance to XTC's original.

You can find the rest of the winners plus more video at the Radio 2 Folk Awards site.

BB King to play UK arena concerts

2009-02-04T14:16:00.001Z

OO! Thinking I missed the chance to see him play ever when I couldn't get to the Chicago Blues Fest last year, it looks like I might just get the chance!

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | BB King to play UK arena concerts

Pictures of the Chicago Blues Fest 2006

2009-02-03T18:47:00.006Z

I've finally got round to using more of the Google related programs, in this case Picassa. I've screen grabbed a few photos from the videos I took at the Chicago Blues Fest in 2006.

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Banker + gangster = bankster

2009-01-31T18:02:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Banker + gangster = bankster

Songwriter John Martyn dies, aged 60

2009-01-29T14:17:00.001Z

Sad news. John Martyn was one of those artists I'd always wanted to see live but circumstances always dictated that I missed his London shows.

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Glasgow, Lanarkshire and West | Songwriter Martyn dies, aged 60

BBC NEWS | Health | Peer reveals 'cello scrotum' hoax

2009-01-28T17:01:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Health | Peer reveals 'cello scrotum' hoax

BBC NEWS | Wales | Tributes to veteran guitarist Gee

2009-01-22T20:06:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Wales | Tributes to veteran guitarist Gee

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Cow rides in back of car

2009-01-19T21:51:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Cow rides in back of car

BBC NEWS | Health | 'Visions link' to coffee intake

2009-01-14T11:06:00.001Z

People who drink too much coffee start hallucinating.

BBC NEWS | Health | 'Visions link' to coffee intake

Odd Section - News - Saleswoman defecates on doorstep - Digital Spy

2009-01-12T14:29:00.002Z

I've heard the phrase,"never shit on your own doorstep", but this?

Odd Section - News - Saleswoman defecates on doorstep - Digital Spy

Odd Section - News - Squirrel-flavoured crisps launched - Digital Spy

2009-01-12T13:55:00.001Z

Odd Section - News - Squirrel-flavoured crisps launched - Digital Spy

Second Life sex causes divorce | Metro.co.uk

2008-11-14T14:25:00.000Z

Proof the world is going slowly bonkers.

Second Life sex causes divorce | Metro.co.uk

Jodcast - A podcast for stargazers

2008-10-28T10:56:00.003Z

This is one for stargazers and amateur astronomers.

"A twice-monthly podcast covering all aspects of astronomy from The University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics (UK). It includes the latest news, what you can see in the current night sky, interviews with astronomers and other things we liked the sound of. It is created by a bunch of astronomers for anyone who is interested in things out of this world."

The podcast can be found at http://www.jodcast.net/

Andy Partridge and Skylarking talk radio show | Rundgren Radio

2008-10-25T15:03:00.001Z

I'm a big fan of the band, XTC. I've just found this. XTC have had problems with their record company in the past so much so that they effectively went on strike and didn't release an album for at least five years. At the start of the interview he has some interesting things to say about record labels and the whole process.

Any Partridge and Skylarking talk radio show | Rundgren Radio

Wheatstalk 2007 - this time it's for real!

2008-10-21T09:35:00.004Z

Here it is. I basically gave up on Google which is fine for short downloads but using their current uploader for larger files is hit and miss at best.
The embedded video can also be found at Wholewheat Radio

Wheatstalk 2007 from Tom Edwards on Vimeo.

Wheatstalk 2007 now on Google

2008-10-15T15:51:00.009Z

Wheatstalk 2007 at Wholewheat Radio in Talkeetna, Alaska

*** Edited 17th October ***
While uploading to Google, it appears that part of the video got mangled. Being the perfectionist that I am, I'm uploading it again and will republish when its up and running
***

After a bit of jiggery pokery, Wheatstalk 2007 is now on Google Video. Watch the fifty minutes of it here. The embedded video can also be found at Wholewheat Radio

BBC NEWS | Magazine | What The Zimmers did next

2008-10-09T15:48:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Magazine | What The Zimmers did next

There's hope for us all!

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Old men in Saatchi exhibition

2008-10-07T14:43:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Old men in Saatchi exhibition

BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Monkeyman roped into pest problem

2008-10-07T14:41:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Monkeyman roped into pest problem

Our Victoria as you've never seen her before!

2008-10-05T08:17:00.001Z

Our Strictly Come Dancing competition winner: Victoria Braverman | Book reviews, diet and wellbeing - womanandhome.com

Katie Reider | 500Kin365.org

2008-09-29T20:35:00.000Z

Katie Reider | 500Kin365.org

End is near for rank two-holer in Talkeetna: Mat-Su | adn.com

2008-09-25T11:06:00.000Z

End is near for rank two-holer in Talkeetna: Mat-Su | adn.com

BBC NEWS | England | Author's novel invitation to home

2008-08-11T12:51:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | England | Author's novel invitation to home

Showbiz - News - James Doohan's ashes 'lost in space' - Digital Spy

2008-08-06T12:26:00.000Z

Showbiz - News - James Doohan's ashes 'lost in space' - Digital Spy

BBC NEWS | Wales | Broadband boost for island monks

2008-07-31T14:06:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Wales | Broadband boost for island monks

Apollo 14 astronaut claims aliens HAVE made contact - but it has been covered up for 60 years | Mail Online

2008-07-24T13:56:00.000Z

Dave, my brother, will now no doubt tell me "See, I told you!"
Apollo 14 astronaut claims aliens HAVE made contact - but it has been covered up for 60 years | Mail Online

BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | NZ judge orders 'odd' name change

2008-07-24T12:56:00.000Z

There are some very odd parents in the world!
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | NZ judge orders 'odd' name change

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Your American accents

2008-07-23T13:25:00.000Z

Just to balance things out - Brits attempt to do an "American" accent.
BBC NEWS | Magazine | Your American accents

BBC NEWS | Health | Rock drummers 'are top athletes'

2008-07-22T09:15:00.001Z

Please no drummer jokes!
BBC NEWS | Health | Rock drummers 'are top athletes'

BBC NEWS | Magazine | How not to do an American accent

2008-07-21T12:42:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Magazine | How not to do an American accent

Can we get Jim Kloss to sign up for this and work on his British accent? :)

BBC NEWS | Wales | Mid Wales | Mayor wants Python film ban ended

2008-07-19T11:37:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Wales | Mid Wales | Mayor wants Python film ban ended

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Lost tapes of the Dr Who composer

2008-07-18T09:41:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Lost tapes of the Dr Who composer

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Drunken Swede tries to row home

2008-07-01T12:00:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Drunken Swede tries to row home

BBC NEWS | Education | Review as expletive gets marks

2008-06-30T15:53:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Education | Review as expletive gets marks

BBC NEWS | Wales | Pioneer community looks to future

2008-04-28T12:11:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Wales | Pioneer community looks to future

Bluesy's Blues (Cardiff City, Wales, Music & more): A SIGN of the TIMES

2008-04-21T08:21:00.000Z

Bluesy's Blues (Cardiff City, Wales, Music & more): A SIGN of the TIMES

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | First movie of 'tsunami' on Sun

2008-04-02T16:31:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | First movie of 'tsunami' on Sun

BBC NEWS | Health | Human noses 'can detect danger'

2008-03-28T14:04:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Health | Human noses 'can detect danger'

I Ain't Afraid of No Ghosts!

2008-03-27T14:36:00.001Z

Interesting! They didn't stumble on Jim going to the outhouse at Wholewheat Radio at midnight by any chance ? :)
BlogTalkRadio - Kryka & DrgnKngt - Haunted Talkeetna Alaska

Tuesday 21st - Stars and Blues

2004-09-27T15:55:00.000Z

The morning was spent visiting the last museum on Museum Campus, the Adler Planetarium. In the past I've been able to look at the area a webcam that used to sit on top of the planetarium and have watched the re-development of Soldier Field. Adler Planetarium is very much a hands on museum, giving visitors plenty of opportunites to interact with the exhibits. You can create your own moon crater as well as see how much you would weigh on the moon or Saturn. There are some fascinating exhibits on how many ancient religions were based on the passage of the stars. The main hall as live view via a very sophisticated telescope to the surface of the sun. It was amazing that I was able to watch solar flares "as they happen". The main exhibit in the hall is a roughly 20 foot high half-sun. This is a scaled representation of the sun as a red giant. The sun as it is , to scale, is roughly the size of a baseball. Next to this a pinhead sized representation of the sun when it has collapsed. This is, however, is TO SCALE! The Adler Planetarium is the only museum in the world with two full-size planetarium theaters. Powered by brand new Digistar 3™ simulator technology, the StarRider Theater is a completely digital, virtual outer space environment. Since 1930, the wonder of the stars has been visible in the historic Sky Theatre. The famous Zeiss Planetarium projector is capable of accurately reproducing the movement of every aspect of the night sky. The museum is worth a visit even if you're not into astronomy, I'm sure you'll find it interesting.

Having visited Buddy Guys Legends on my first visit to Chicago in 2000, The itinerary for this evening was to visit a blues club on the North Side,namely Blue Chicago. There are two Blue Chicago clubs on North Clark Street and I chose to visit the one at 736. I arrived at about 7:30 pm but found that it didn't open till 8, but luckily the Clark Street Ale House was next door so I popped in and sampled a couple of American beers. The pub was not what I expected. Guess what? It's almost like a British pub! Apart from having American football on the TV rather than good old British football there was very little differentiate between this bar and some of the pubs I've visited in my time (though I don't make a habit of visiting pubs you understand!)
Despite there being a couple of British beers, I chose a Goose Island Seasonal as I'd tried a pint at the Navy Pier and it had gone down very well. Once again they hit a spot and after a couple I made my way next door to Blue Chicago.

Blue Chicago is a long room with a bar at it's centre with a smallish stage at the far end of the bar, with booths around one side and the back of the room. The walls were covered with photos of the blues masters and some not so familiar as well as some genuine old concert posters featuring some of the blues greats, such as Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf.

9 pm saw the band of the evening start their first set, The Linsey Alexander Blues Band. The band, made up of both young and old players as well as female drummer. The other young guitarist in particular (unfortunately I didn't catch the names)was kicking out the licks like a veteran. There was just a hint of peak period Peter Green in some of his lead playing as well as some pretty fine rhythm work when Linsey Alexander himself took the lead.

Joining them on the stage was Big Time Sarah, a veteran of the Chicago Blues scene. Sarah has been compared to Koko Taylor and that wouldn't be too bad a comparison. Sarah puts on a raunchy performance and tonight gets the mainly tourist audience involved in the show. There are now three men who now know where Sarah's "42'S and 68's" are! The ladies were not left out as she got three of them onstage to shake their booties. One young lady in particular seemed to really get into it if you know what I mean!

All in all a very enjoyable evening with some decent American beer and some fine blues. What more could you ask for?

Monday 20th - How great thou art

2004-09-23T20:33:00.001Z

A visit to the Art Institute was the plan for the day. This was another place I had visited on my previous visit to Chicago and luckily this time I was able to see at first glance a favourite piece of American art that was not on display in 2004 which was Grant Wood's American Gothic as well as Edward Hopper's, Nighthawks. A collection of Hopper's work was recently in London which somehow I missed.

The Art Institute has a massive collection of the old masters as well as modern pieces. A particular poigniant piece is Felix Gonzalez-Torres' Untitled (Portrait of Ross in LA) 1991, which consists of a pile of candies laid out on the floor. It's a tribute to his partner who had died of an AIDS related illness. Visitors are invited to take sweets from this pile, which is topped up on a daily basis. Visitors are only allowed one piece of a candy per visit. Here the weight of the pile of sweets equals the ideal body weight of Ross, 175 pounds.

The afternoon was then spent shopping and eating, two things that can be done remarkably cheaply. Safe to say I will have to buy another case for the return trip to London. I've had to buy myself more than one or two T-Shirts amongst other things as I only put a couple in the case and so far the temperatures here haven't dipped much below 70 degrees F during the day. This, Lillie tells me, is not that unusual for this time of year. I can guarantee you though, as soon as I step off the plane in London next Monday it will be pouring with rain!

Sunday - The Chicago Celtic Festival

2004-09-22T17:43:00.000Z

One thing I've noticed about Chicago is how cosmpolitan it is, so I wanted to check out the Chicago Celtic Festival.As this festival was quite close to the hotel, I took a stroll down to Columbus Drive where the fetival was being held. I was more than a little interested as ,being a "Celt" myself, being born in Wales, I wanted to find out how Chicagoans looked at their ancestry and how they identify themselves. Do they consider themselves to be Americans first, then Irish/Scottish or whatever, or do they call themselves Irish Americans? Every cop show set in Chicago has an O'Malley or Doyle so I was interested to find out more. One thing that did intrigue me was a young lad of no more than twenty who was dressed as you would expect an Irish lad to dress if he was from Dublin. The cliche again I suppose as he was wearing a tweed flat cap, waistcoat and hobnail boots.

The festival itself covered the entire spectrum of the Celtic races. Apart from the more obvious Scottish/Irish connections there was the Welsh contingent, and the societies covering the Bretons of France, the Cornish of the extreme west of England and the Manx society which covers the Isle of Man. All these peoples are covered by a similar Celtic language.

Now I have to say first of all that I speak little Welsh myself. Such was the education system when I was a boy that Welsh was only beginning to be re-taught in schools when I left. There appears to be a resurgence in learning the Celtic languages in schools. Wales has its own Welsh speaking TV channel, S4C, as well as Scottish and Irish channels devoting some hours to their respective Gallic languages.

I popped over to the Welsh tents, unsurprisingly, and picked up some of the brochures. The main Welsh tent was being run by a first generation Welshman who had married an Chicagoan and had emigrated to the USA. He had started an organsiation called the Chicago Tafia. For those not in the know the main river in Wales is called the River Taff and runs from the Brecon Beacons to Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, then out to the Bristol Channel. Any one who comes from Wales is usually called a Taff or Taffy, even if they are from other parts of Wales and born nowhere near the Taff!

An interesting fact I gleaned from them was the explorers,Lewis and Clark, who were responsible for opening the interior of North America to exploration and colonisation, had initially set out to find proof that the US interior had been colonised by a tribe of Welsh speaking Native Americans.

In 1179, a Prince Madog led a flotilla from the coast of North Wales and many people believe that he landed in what is now Mobile, Alabama, therefore discovering America a few centuries before Columbus. Reports circulated of a Mandan tribe who were light of skin and spoke like Welshmen. Many words claimed to be alike in both languages were cwm (Welsh) and kwom (Mandan),meaning valley;prydferth(Welsh) and prydfa(Mandan), meaning beautiful ; and hen,glas,aber,mawr and many more.

You can find out about the Welsh language and how to pronounce some of the words at here.

There were many musical tents and a variety of Celtic music was on show, from pipes to harps and Scottish and Irish dancing was on show. There were also many food stalls selling a variety of what could be considered "Celtic" food. However the Welsh culinary delights such as Welsh cakes and Laver Bread were conspicuous by their absence. Laver Bread is made from a type of seaweed and is full of vitamins. The closest Welsh dish I could find was Curried Chips (or French Fries to our American friends). This is not exactly houte cuisine but if you visit Cardiff on a Friday night after the pubs have closed, this will be the dish that most lads will be getting from the local fish and chip shops!

Day Three - Lights! Camera! Action

2004-09-22T17:22:00.000Z

Saturday had been arranged as a visit to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, in particular, the special exhibition called "ACTION! An Adventure in Moviemaking". Myself and Lillie both have an interest in film so decided to go and see what was on offer. The exhibition consisted of a number of different parts, each spolighting a different aspect of the film making process. There were many exhibits on display,such as Indiana Jones' whip, hat and leather jacket; the model of the elephant shaped building used in Moulin Rouge and costumes from Spiderman,X-Men and models used in the Star Wars films. The conclusion of the exhibition was a chance to "star" in a movie.

As well as being a lot of fun for the kids, it gave some of the dads a chance to ham it up in front of the camera. The more educational side of it was to show how some of the special effects are created in films. At the end of the "shoot", everyone in the group was shown the finished product, some parts of the sequence having already been shot, as well as inserting a car chase sequence from The Bourne Identity, The Abyss and Passenger 57.Safe to say my part as henchman number two was the hightlight of the film, all two seconds of it. Well if Dame Judy Dench can win an Oscar for best supporting actress based on about eight minutes screen time, there's hope for us all! At the end you had the opportunity to purchase the finished film. You can also download it online here. Watch my "blink and you'll miss me" performance as Zircon's Henchman Number 2!
. It's a 4 Mb Windows Media File, so if you're not on DSL be patient!

The rest of the afternoon was spent looking around the rest of the museum, my particular interest being the Henry Crown Space Center. Part of the exhibition there included the Apollo 8 module. It was watching the Apollo 8 mission on TV in the 60s as a child that fired my interest in space and science fiction literature. The Aurora 7 capsule, one of the many Mercury spacecraft, is also on display. Looking into this craft shows just how small it was. It seems to have been no more than a tin can with just enough space for a suited astronaut and a plethora of instruments. The Apollo astronauts seemed to have had it slightly better with a little leg room and the relative comfort of canvas seats! It's claimed that the total processing power in the computers on board the Apollo series of craft was the equivalent of the processing power found in today's microwave ovens.

The evening was spent at the home of Lillie's friend Marion, who at one time was the entertainments editor of the Chicago Tribune. Marion lives with her mother Lena in the suburb of Berwyn. If ever there was any one who has seen it,done it, been there and worn the T-Shirt, Marion is that person. She has flown with the Blue Angels aerobatic team, a photo of which proudly hangs on a wall. Now retired she has also finally done the two things she had never done in her life - ride in a hot a balloon and have a tattoo. She has now ridden in a balloon and has a tattoo of a rose on her wrist!

I was made to feel very welcome and a fine meal of pasta and meatballs was the order of the day. I was still suffering from the effects of jetlag so a combination of pasta and a very good Merlot meant I was occasionally nodding off towards the end of the evening. Lillie once again played cabbie and drove me back to Downtown Chicago as well as showing me some of the other sites around town.

Day Two -Musuem Campus

2004-09-19T05:20:00.000Z

In Friday I decided to visit the Field Museum. On the same site is the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planeterium. As the musueums are in the south of Chicago, about a couple of miles from the hotel,I took a walk at the new Millenium Park
The highlight of the new park is the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, designed by architect, Frank Gehry. It's claimed to be the most sophisticated outdoor concert area in the US and it's not difficult to see why. It covers a msasive area and, as you can see from the photo below,the arches have speaker systems built within them to counteract that slight delay you get from being a distance from the stage. A possible venue for Three Blind Mice? Who knows!

The Field Museum is home to the most complete set of fossilsed bones of a T. Rex, that goes by the name of Sue. The paliantologists are unsure of the sex of the beast but "she" was named after Sue Hendrickson, the scientist who discovered the remains. There's also a working lab where paleontologists work with newly discovered fossils, cleaning them up and removing the material around them. With the lab surrounded by glass so that the public can see the scientists at work I wonder if they don't feel like musuem exhibits themselves!

Further in the musuem is a display of various wildlife, consisting of stuffed animals set in poses and scenes of what would be their natural habitat.There are exhibits ranging from the great bears of Alaska to zebras from Africa.
Part of me thinks it's a great shame that these animals have been killed just to become museum exhibits. However I guess in the days when these exhibits were created, before mass media and the Internet, this would have been the only way that many people would have seen many of these creatures "close up". Thankfully times have changed.

Next stop was the Shedd Aquarium, whose emphasis is on conservation. The last time I was in Chicago in 2000, there was three Baluga Whales, in fact one had recently been born there. The aquarium now boasts five. They are very vocal animals, so much so they have been called the canaries of the sea. They might even be called parrots as they have started to mimic the sounds they hear around them, from the recorded bird calls in their area to the breathing of the scuba divers that swim with them.

The aquarium boasts an elder statesman in an Australian lungfish. No one at the aquaurium knows its exact age but it has been at the museum since 1933! This makes it one of the oldest living fish ever.

By the time I'd done the tours it was getting closing time so it was time to head back to the hotel. Now the plan was to put my feet up for an hour and then head off to see some music. After all this was one of my reasons to visit Chicago (and of course to see my buddy, Lillie!). Murphy's Law raised it head and found my self waking up at about 2am the next morning .DOH!!

Day One Proper

2004-09-16T23:12:00.000Z

Got up at , for me, a reasonably early hour. Had some breakfast in the hotel cafe and then set off to do the first of some sightseeing. The last time I was in Chicago it was November and there was a not a lot going on. Luckily this time it was still the "high season" so there was plenty of opportunites to get and do some sight seeing. The day started with a temperature of the high 60s and by the time I hit the Navy Pier at about eleven it must have been at least 70 degrees F.

Additions to the Pier included by various artists consisting of everything from what appeared to be a giant wooden piggy bank on wheels to various human figures such as a sleeping man on a bench to a carprpenter surveying his work on the pier itself.

The afternoon consisted of windows shopping at Marshall Fields near the old Water Tower, one of the few buildings that survived the Great Fire in 1871. It is surrounded by the usual skycrapers and almost seems a little lost surrounded by all this modern architecture.

Wet and Windy in the City

2004-09-16T11:59:00.001Z

I finally arrived in Chicago with just half an hour's delay due to being kept in a holding pattern for some time due to "weather" over Chicago. Not sure what the Captain meant by weather exactly. It looked OK as we landed! However just as I left the terminal with my dear friend Lillie, who had kindly arranged to pick me up, the heavens opened. Seems I'd brought the good old British weather with me!

It was surprisingly humid and Lillie told me that the last few days had been sunny and warm in the Chicago area. Trust me to go and spoil it. We went out to dinner and eventually made it to the hotel with it still raining of course. The room at the hotel is basic but very comfortable. The view looks out onto a garden with a swimming pool, a barbecue and seats and a table and plenty of greenery. All very nice considering the room is on the 9th floor and the garden is one floor down.

After an 8 hour flight and the jetlag, safe to say that it wasn't long before I was out like a light.

We're all going on a erm..summer holiday!

2004-09-14T14:29:00.000Z

Well OK, not exactly summer but a certainly a holiday. I'm writing this at work (quickly looking round in case the boss is about) as I slowly wind down at my last day at work for two weeks. Tomorrow I fly from London's Heathrow Airport to the "Windy City",Chicago. My laptop is coming with me so I can keep this blog habit going, keep an eye on emails but also to be able to listen in and catch at a more reasonable time, taking account of time zones, one of the best alternative internet radio stations, Wholewheat Radio. Netcasting from a shack in Talkeetna, Alaska, you won't hear Britney or Top 40. What you will hear is an eclectic mix of "Americana",folk, blues and music with the obvious Alaskan leaning. I found out about the station from my good friend Victoria, manager of Three Blind Mice over a year ago. I've not really listened to conventional "terrestrial" since. For my humble endevours I run two Live365 stations, one playing independent music and one playing blues. Jim and Esther however show how webcasting should be done.

If all goes to plan the next stop will be the Cass hotel in Downtown Chicago.

Here's the first one!

2004-09-14T05:42:00.000Z

Well here goes! The first toe in the water that is blogging. It may be a passing phase or it might last, who knows. Like they say, "you don't know till you try."