blur

Sometimes when I'm out and about with other people who know about my blog they will comment about what they see as a 'bloggable moment'. The last week has been a case in point and I've noticed that I've been somewhat busy working and that quite a few of the moments that I'd have considered worth an entry have been skipped over.

Let's see: I could have commented about the trip through the New Forest to catch the ferry to the Isle of Wight. Maybe a snapshot or two of the harbour or the crossing of the busy waters of the Solent. I could have reflected about the Isle of Wight Pop Festival exhibition or even on the life-sized statue of Jimi Hendrix in a garden, along with his lyrics, including the original version of Purple Haze.

Then there was the Photography Exhibition of the evocative works of Julia Margaret Cameron. The dramatic picture of Hershel the Astronomer, the sleek picture of Ellen Terry and the portraits of Alice Liddell, who became the inspiration for the Alice in Wonderland books of Lewis Carroll.

But of course the real reason for being on the sun drenched Island was the Jazz festival, so we met others and then wandered between venues. I had an excursion to The Crab in Shanklin one evening to bring back more of our number, who'd travelled down by train from London, used the catamaran from Ryde and then the ex London tube trains to reach the nearby quaint Shanklin.

Of course, there were the bands, between the free jazz of Sax Appeal, the world groove party sounds of Konkoma Maximum Love Garden Orchestra, the sultry evening clubbiness of Laura Zakian, the modern improvisations of the Dave O'Higgins and Simon Purcell Quartet and then the ultra modern musos Porpoise Corpus at the Spyglass Inn. And thats just a few of the 120 acts playing in Ventnor during the weekend. With the competition of the fine weather and the seaside as well.

Added to that we met friends who live on the island and enjoyed a great Sunday lunch together in a tranquil venue in Totland. I had to catch an early ferry back to the mainland because my week had to start with the four o clock alarm call to catch the plane to Amsterdam. Like spies, I was meeting someone outside the airport by the big plasma screen television and he came in on another plane about ten minutes after me. Then we drove to the meeting spot for some busy sessions.

Later in the week, we returned to Heathrow, to a waiting car to bundle us to a hotel in London for other meetings. A reminder that I was supposed to host an early supper somewhere that evening and a last minute reschedule to take advantage of a nice spot on the River Thames.

The next evening I'd semi forgotton that I'd agreed to go out for a drink in the evening, although this became a friendly evening to catch up on news. So now we're back to Thursday and I feel I've completed a few gaps in the week -even if I've somehow omitted sitting on the floor eating Sushi in a Yurt one evening when the soy sauce made a bit of a mess.