Listening to: Paul Revere & the Raiders – Indian Reservation

Picked this up in a bar last night and it very quickly became top of my favourite newspaper list. The title tells you all you need to know. Lots of naughty folks saying/shouting/scowling/screaming Cheese for the benefit of their local police photographer. Am now wondering if it’s available for Kindle.

Listening to: Canned Heat – On the Road Again

So, another great weekend over here in Flo Rider. Didn’t manage to get to the Hot-Rod Friday bash mentioned in the last post. Rain unfortunately stopped play with that one. Yes, rain. Hopefully I’ll get to that one this coming Friday, weather permitting.
Spent much of my time on a sun-lounger on a private beach in a place called Ruskin, in the South Tampa Bay. Very beautiful and very therapeutic I have to say, especially whilst checking weather reports from back home in Cruel Britannia.
This is a location where large numbers of people begin to assemble in the late afternoon, arriving by car or on foot, specifically to watch the incredible sunsets. The finale of each invariably garners a spontaneous  round of applause right along the beach. It’s a great way to start the evening.
On the way home, we spotted this place. Just when you thought drive-in movie theatres  belonged to a bygone era, here’s one that’s been doing business since 1952, first feature - Singing in the Rain.

Listening to: Big Stick – Drag Racing

Welcome to the week people. Had a great weekend here in Flo Rider myself, the highlight of which was spent at the Kissimmee Custom Car Cruise on Saturday night. A really well-organised free event with a great atmosphere, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it’s a weekly happening. Friday nights feature a similar showcase for hot-rods. Expect more car stuff pretty soon.

Listening to: Beastie Boys  – Sabotage

There’s a first time for everything of course, and I just had a first time meet-up with the local Flo Rider constabulary. Given a few white-knuckle driving-related episodes I’ve been involved in over here I always thought that traffic policing would be the specific department of law & order involved in breaking this particular sonic cherry of mine. However, as we know blogsters, life doesn’t always conform to logic.
An address I was called upon to visit had, it turned out, been burgled mere minutes before, the scoundrel in question relieving the property – a holiday rental home – of a humungously proportioned flatscreen TV. Thus the police were duly summoned. And they kept coming; in the end there were 6 officers and 4 squad cars on the scene.
Particulars and fingerprints were taken. Further investigation revealed that the TV-thief, in his haste, had dropped a bail-bond certificate of all things on the floor, (from a previous misdemeanour only a couple of days earlier) containing his name (Iquille, apparently), personal details and address. Not a difficult case for the boys in blue/green to crack one would think.
Seriously, you couldn’t make that up. Or if you did no-one would buy it. If CCTV cameras had been installed, this one would definitely have made it onto the Most Shocking – World’s Dumbest Criminals.

Listening to: Primal Scream – Higher Than the Sun

Happy 2012 pop-kids. Hope yours went with a suitable bang. Myself, I managed to spend the first day of the New Year laying on a sun-drenched beach sipping iced beer. An ambition realised right there, and on January 1st too. Things are looking up. Haven’t managed to update any sooner than this post but hopefully I can improve on this, even it means using the local library for local people over here. That might actually be fun come to think of it. Anyhoo, am looking forward to the oncoming year, despite it being the one when the world is supposed to end. Onward™

Listening to: Velvet Underground – Who Loves the Sun

Good morning people. The rain is beating against the window as I write this, which is perfect because in a hour or so, a cab will arrive to take me to a train that will take to the plane on which I’ll be flying to Florida. I arrive there at 5.30pm their time. Richard Branson has promised a  whole host of in-flight entertainment, so what with that and some free vino, a pleasant trip is assured. See y’all on the other side of the pond.

Listening to:  Wizzard – I Wish it Could be Christmas Every day

Seasonal greetings boys & girls. Christmas Day in Chéz Sonique is a time for musical joyfulness, life-enhancing food & wine, good conversation, and cinematic misery. Yes indeed, if a movie concerning abject Dickensian deprivation isn’t onscreen, then it’s tale of Epic struggle followed by some degree of euphoric, albeit brief, triumph culminating in crushing defeat at the hands of inhumane oppressors out to make an example to others.
No pop-kids, I speak not of Eastenders, but of Spartacus…the 1960 Kirk Douglas – Jean Simmons one.  See above for the saddest ending in movie history. Official. Merry Christmas one and all.

Listening to: Pastor Deacon Fred – Santa Claus Did Not Die For Your Sins

I was introduced to the very wonderful words of Pastor Deacon Fred recently when I discovered his Baptist children’s poem via his very own website. Listen to it by clicking the link at the top of this post. That very poem duly took it’s place within the seasonal selections of my Sonic Santa 2 Yuletide mix, up there on the right. He also spreads his message via Twitter and Facebook. Go forth and look him up pop-kids. Many folks welcome – some definitely not.

Listening to: Amartya Rahut – Punjabi Bells

Kim Jong-Il, Supreme Commander (amongst numerous other titles) of Northern Korea died yesterday, allegedly leaving a cool $4 billion in the bank. He’ll probably be the richest man in his particular graveyard. I loved his performance in Team America: World Police. I respectfully post a favourite scene of my own.

Now watching – Bad Santa

Ok, so yesterday was my last proper day of toiling for the man this side of Christmas. This means no more Satan’s Slip-Road for a while. It’s a bit nicer-looking with added snow, but even more dangerous to traverse than usual. Now it’s just a question of time-management in the run-up to Christmas weekend. Quite a lot to get done between now and then but I’m taking it one day at a time. Also, I’m getting the results of my recent blood-test this coming Friday, and I’m fairly sure that a blood-pressure test will be involved. I need to make like a calm blue ocean for that one. Serenity Now is the key…