rockin' burne jones >> the remarkable family

I do believe that for the most part it is all too easy to find fault with the internet. social networking myspace bebo and the like. it is a bit like blaming the messenger/medium for the problems of the world, well the world that considers information transfer (talking) as important.
I have been very disillusioned with the internet at some points in the last years, especially when my surf site was hacked to pieces leaving me with more than 24 hours of non-stop work just to get the site back online after re-formatting everything server side. I know that it was done on purpose but have managed to not take that episode personally so am able to happily continue with the site. I still love the way the cyber-world opens up and when sensibly used, adding hugely to our lives.

any way to the reason for this post. it may not come as that much of a surprise to many of you but whilst I was at art school (and before and after) I was in a few different bands, playing at the students union and other places in the local area around college. even reaching heady heights with a different band.
by far the most memorable for me was a band, perhaps rather obviously called rockin' burn jones and the pre-raphaelites. I had heaps of fun with the band as their lead singer, but when it came to deciding between trying to be a designer therefore concentrating on getting through my course or trying to make it as a musician the decision was made for me to leave. at the time the driving force behind the band howard was ready to become the singer as well and he and the band changed the name and moved to london to become the remarkable family that was in 1982 and I haven't spoken to howard at all until today! there was no big falling out we just went in different directions. but through a third party he emailed me this morning through myspace.

I now have happily revisited that time in my mind all thanks to web-world. howard is still recording and producing music, as well as writing, and reviewing music for the better national newspapers.
check this page on myspace the remarkable family >> the great unknown.
if you do check the site and like what you hear, please let howard know that david george sent you, many thanks.

p.s. paradox is my favourite track.

sunday rugby >> mods & rockers

I had no idea that when I went over to newquay, (surfcity uk), cornwall to take ben to play rugby today. that I would be writing about mods & rockers when I got home. it was in the car park as we work leaving that I caught site of this scooter (left), the owner was very busy on the phone so I didn't talk to him but the machine was original and had been painstakingly restored I had to get a picture.

I grew up near brighton (actually born in brighton) on the sussex coast of the uk but I am just a bit too young to have been involved in the mods versus rockers battles during the mid 60's. I remember we always had to park the car (my dad had a grey vw beetle 1200) away from the seafront when we went to the beach on holiday weekends, as cars parked on right next to the sea often got sometimes got damaged. I remember very clearly noticing a real difference in the way people dressed, and just how incredibly import it was we used to talk about it at school one thing we did do was wear our caps in different ways to show which we were, I will leave you to decide which I thought were cooler, have to say it has changed over the years.

I also remember my mother speaking of her surprise that those nice, clean, modern dressers (mods) would want to get involved in fights!
I am sure some of you will be too young to remember or for that matter understand the difference between a mod or a rocker, nor will you care whether the scooter in the picture was a vespa or a lambretta. even that the size of the turn-up on your (italian) suit trousers had to be a certain size (mods), or how long you had worn your 'oily jeans' (rockers).
I love the fact that one person on a scooter can bring back such clear visual memories of my childhood days in brighton.
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