Blog of Ian Parr » Out and about

Chunky monkey

ian — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:56:51 +0000

Chunky monkey, a photo by zippysticks on Flickr.

Dan’s pudding at the Mango Tree curry house

Italian Day Horsham 2011 – day 2

ian — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:02:01 +0000

Italian Day Horsham 2011, a set on Flickr.

More cars and bikes on day 2 of the event in Horsham town centre.Pagani Zonda, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lambretta, Vespa etc

Boris Bike scheme registration = fail (for me at least)

ian — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:56:34 +0000

Website seems unable to complete the registration request.

Joe Bonamassa at the Gibson Studios, London

ian — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:48:16 +0000

Went to see Joe Bonamassa at the Gibson Studios in London last night, courtesy of a couple of tickets won by my brother in a Planet Rock Radio competition. Fantastic night and I’m certain the other 100 or so winners were very happy with their prize.

Joe spent about an hour and half on stage, opening with the Ballad of John Henry (played on his Musicman – surprised Gibson didn’t persuade him around). Quality of the sound at this tiny venue was fantastic – Joe’s signature tone wonderfully apparent.

A great mix of songs from Joes nine album repertoire and some new stuff from the forthcoming album Black Rock – a real eye opener for more traditional blues genre fans as the songs had a real Led Zeppelin rock feel.

Managed to grab a couple of quick snaps. On that point the only downside of the gig being the constant use of video phones and compact cameras being held aloft by the YouTube generation – in some cases for the entire hour and a half.

Joe is touring the UK in the Summer – if you get the chance go and see him. He is one of the most talented, tone-filled musicians I have ever heard – I’ve heard loads.

As a courtesy to Planet Rock radio – here’s a link to their review together with his set list and comments from other attendees – oh there’s even a crappy YouTube video.

Planet Rock radio review

South Downs Link route

ian — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 18:38:17 +0000

Had a fantastic day out cycling with the family today.

Took the South Downs route from Southwater (near Horsham) to Henfield – a round trip journey of almost 23 Kilometers.
This is just part of the route -in total it runs from Guildford right down to the south coast at Shorheam By Sea – a one way distance of 58 Kilometers.

This route is mostly decommissioned railway lines so its quite nice and flat with interesting features such as the old station at West Grinstead that has an old train carriage converted into an information centre. The children love messing with the old rail signal levers that sill operate a defunct signal mast.

Countryside is mostly beautiful farmland, particularly near Henfield where the river runs alongside the route for a short while.

Great to find two watering holes along the way – The Partridge at Partridge Green and the Cat and Canary at Henfield. Both serve food – although I have not tried it yet – children and mucky bikes are welcome as both have beer gardens.

West Sussex County Council have a great route map available for download from here