As the kind of solipsistic chap who imagines that music stops when I walk out of the room, or that the light goes off when I exit, I would imagine that you’ve all been sat around waiting for WordPress to work again since I’ve been on my holidays, listlessly kicking around a can maybe, or smoking*, or just going to bed really early to make the time pass quicker. ‘But fear not’, said he, for mighty dread had seized their troubled minds, ‘I’m back!’.
We had a lovely time in a thatched cottage in deepest, quietest Dorset – Thomas Hardy country**, spending all our free time walking, reading, quaffing fine local ales, doing literary pilgrimages and just generally pottering around cliffs and seashore. As usual, I took no music with me at all which is great, it always acts as a bit of a head flossing for me and I only found one LP to buy the whole time I was away^. So I’m all unpolluted, clean and raring to go again now. Grr!
And waiting for me when I came home was a wonderful little present that had travelled all the way over to me from Canada^^, courtesy of Aaron^*. It was only a Chris Hadfield Lego minifigure!! Yes, a minifigure of everybody’s favourite singing astronaut and all around awesome guy – complete with Lego Larrivée Parlor guitar, trademark ‘tache and appropriately logo’d overalls! I have to say this is simply the best Lego gift I have received in the last 30 years, thank you Aaron.
Now for a suitably space-themed LP to photograph Lego Chris on …
Spacious (he’s so) spacious
Space
(I believe in) space
779 Down (in Dorset).
*does anyone, apart from my parents, actually do that anymore?
**the Dorset tourist board not having quite cottoned onto the fact that 1537-stoner-druganaut faves Electric Wizard are from nearby Wareham, are yet to brand it ‘Electric Wizard Country’. Which is a shame as their nudity-to-LP ratio is only to be commended.
^History Of The Byrds: the 1973 2LP compilation with the brilliant Byrds Family Tree in the gatefold. Which shamefully describes Gram Parsons ‘as the nigger in the Byrds woodpile’ – I’m still angry about that; who fucking signed that off?!
^^former colony, big place with cold bits in, home of Moe Berg (and others), I’m pretty sure it’s over that way (points out of window, on a subtle line between #65 and #67 (just to the left of the park).
^*they made his name with two ‘A’s, because using only one did not convey enough excellence. True story.
CB likes those Dorset type places. Does it have a rush hour?
Yup between 11 and 12 every second Thursday.
You and your damn beautiful and tranquil holiday spots. Why must it look so tranquil and beautiful?!?!?
We work so we can do things like go on holiday. I’m sure those photos don’t do it justice there. Happy you had a nice time away(and yes, I am glad you’re back. I was worried there for a minute or two.)
Did you get to Lulworth Cove? They’ve got some scary-assed cliffs there and no mistake.
I did! Our cottage was about a mile from there, beautiful beautiful part of the country. My ass was appropriately scared (almost wrote ‘sacred’ there, then).
Oooft. That Dorset place looks wild, eh? Wouldn’t catch a peaceful man like me sauntering about there. No sir.
*hand raised enthusiastically* I know someone who smokes, sir!
… also, The Byrds… what the actual fork?
Electric Wizard Country.
I would love to own that passport.
As for the quote on Graham Parsons. In 1973, that is awful. I saw that same word on a early 20th century acetate, and even though it may have been more widely used then, it was still shocking.
Aaron + Hadfield Lego + Community = Trifecta.
The Gram Parsons thing floored me when I noticed it. It made me so angry I haven’t listened to the LP yet – that’ll show ’em.
I’ve never been to Dorset I don’t think. Is Bournemouth in Dorset because I went there once to referee an American Football game. You got some great pics there, the place looks beautiful.
Bournemouth is just around the coner in Hampshire I think.
Then I’ve never been to Dorset.
Now there’s something worth putting right one day.
Yep!
Chris Hadfield fig! COOL BEANS!
True story: my friend, Andrew Tidby, did the bulk of the work in that Space Oddity video.
Wow, that is really cool.
So do you go to Dorset to buy a corset? Or is that just a rumour? (Hardy-har-har)
Most shocking to me is that you took no tunes with you on your trip. My brain at first threw up an Error 404, like how is that even possible does not compute, but then I started to see the wisdom of the idea. A few days’ (relative) quiet before returning to the deluge must have some advantages… Still, though, I imagine you had a raunchy dripping guitar tune in your head most of the time anyway…
“simply the best Lego gift I have received in the last 30 years,” holy crap, that’s awesome Dude! Yup, I saw him and there was no doubt in my mind as to where his new home should be! Honestly, I’m just glad he arrived in good shape (that’s a long way to travel by bubble envelope, even for a spaceman). Enjoy!
Very cool. I saw a documentary about Hadfield this weekend, when he was just a test pilot.
Dorset reminds me of a place called Elephant Rock in Prince Edward Island.
Welcome back! The world can go back to spinning normally.
The extra A is for Awesome.
Yup, I grant permission for life to resume as normal now.
That 2nd Dorset street looks particularly mean!
And the 2nd A required in Aaron to more adequately convey his excellence I believe is your truest story yet Joe
Thank goodness I can move my bedtime back to a suitable hour! 😀
You take your life in your own hands every time you venture outside. It’s like living a Nas lyric. True story.
Your parents smoke?! Jazz woodbines, of course.
Sadly not, more like horrible roll-ups. Yuk. I have genuinely never tried a cigarette to this day, thought I might take up smoking in old age.
Probably the best time.
Rollies (as we casual antipodeans call them) were my poison of choice in the final fuliginous years. The only thing I miss is the actual act of rolling.
I thought if I leave it til then I can devote the time to it, that it deserves.
Awesome! Aaron is always surprising everyone in the Community.
Nice to see some CanCon Lego Man!
It is/was awesome indeed.