My Daily Banana

Photo of the Day:

A photo that does not exist
I melted two photos together in 2003 aren't they young, it was Jan's twenty-fifth birthday.
 

 

Event of the Day:

29th June 1940

United States of America passes the Alien Registration Act which requires every alien to register when entering the country.

It would be interesting to know how many have registered until today? This reminds me of the space comedy MIB Men in Black staring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.

Oops, I got it in the wrong hole; an alien in America is a person born outside the United States not just (as in my minds eye) a person born on another planet.

Birthday today:

29th June 1943

Roger Ruskin Spear
 

A member of the legendary group the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.

I shall never forget a music lesson at school in 1968, we were told to bring records with us so that we could listen to our different tastes of music. The record I took with me was from the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band; it was The Canyons of Your Mind. The teacher listened to it and was quite amused until she listened to the words which go like this:

 

'Cross the mountains of your chest

I will sticker Union Jacks

To the forest of your cheek

Through the holes in your string vest

Thank you http://www.lyricsmania.com, where I found the exact text. All I could remember was: Through the strings of your string vest.

After our teacher heard that verse she stopped the lesson and went back to a normal boring lesson.

Died on this Day:

29th June 1967

Jane Mansfield

 

Britain's own MM or BB. The only thing similar was her cleavage and the peroxide blond hair. She died in a car crash at the early age of thirty-four. Much too early for anyone to die!

Thoughts:

Hey, sorry folks, I missed a day. That was the first time since I started in April; I had such a backlog of work that had to be finished. Well I managed to get the first part done, the drawings that I thought could be put together in six hours took ten; good for me I get paid by the hour.

Now I or should I say we can start our weekend. At the moment we are enjoying or lunch and after that it'll be time for a stroll. How's the weather around the world? Here it's warm but not sunny, the wind is blowing a dreamy three Beaufort; in other words "t-shirt weather".
Anyone want to join us on our walk?

Eagle High Street

The Struggler Pub
As you can see it's struggling to exist

The Post Office is still there
We used to buy sweeties here and the post master's daughter was Vallerie.
The name reminds me of the Monkee's song Valleri which was good but not as good as she.



The Primary and Infant school in Eagle where Fraser and Andrea had their first steps in formal education
(do you remember? A Red Indian Thought He Might Eat Tobacco In Church Put the first letters of each word together; and what have you got? ARITHMATIC)

This was our house in Eagle
13 Thorpe Road
It hasn't changed much, the garage is new we didn't have one

So that was another small trip from my holiday
See you tomorrow xxx

My Daily Banana

 

 

 

Picture of the Day:

The phot is nine years old,
aren't they all young looking?

 

 

Event of the Day:

27th June 1969

Stonewall Gay Bar, Christopher Street, New York riots. It was the beginning of a new era, the gays had their "coming out" and since then every year this riot is commemorated all around the world with the Christopher Street Day March: an extremely shrill, colourful and happy event. I once happened to be in Berlin on the same day and went with Lynda to watch and enjoy the march; it was well worth watching so many beautiful people and creeps.

 

I took the photo in Berlin
 it was the CSD march 2005
Proud and beautiful but which gender?

 

 

Died on this Day:

27th June 2002

John Entwistle

The bass player from the Who and the only one with a formal musical training. The rest were self taught musicians.

Birthday of the Day:

27th June 1880

Helen Keller

The Who would say "That deaf, dumb and blind kid".

She was born with sight and hearing but lost both due to illness at nineteen months. It took many years before she learned to communicate with the world but when she learned how to nothing could stop her; she was the first deaf blind person to earn a Bachelor of Art degree.

Thoughts:

Now I have at least two hours to wait, it's my quarter yearly checkup at the oncology. Let's see what thoughts are with me and if I can bring them to paper.

Happy news, Meagan answered me on Facebook, she's starting her work in just over a month, I wish her all the luck she needs. It's an exciting time starting in a new job, enjoy it Meagan.

Only nine sat before me in the waiting room, my appointment was or is at nine o'clock it's now five past nine, I wonder?

Yesterday was my first day back at work after my intensive holidays; I felt way out of place and the work had piled up (can't I go back on holiday? I don't like stress!) It wouldn't bother me if I could work at my own time, but no luck the first two drawings (the engineer says, "Easy drawings, not much to them") have to be delivered today, at least six hours of work and I'm sat here for the next two to three hours. I'll have to get an extension and deliver them on Monday. Why am I complaining? I earn my living being a slave and after my holidays I need it.

Otherwise the day worked out well, I managed to clock up five hours with the work that had to be finished immediately, that brings my earnings up to the minimum this month. Not bad if you calculate my loss not being in the firm for ten days.

Oh dear! I'm falling into the complaining rut, I'd better get out of it quickly, I want a happy blog not a sniveling one.

Did I write about my stroll through Lincoln? If yes, hold out I'll try writing about a different part of it. Let's see the Brayford, which is a marina now. Back in the sixties, seventies it was a deep dark puddle which was still being used as an industrial route and harbour, the Hovis mills were situated on the north-east bank. I sat down on the outside terrace of the Royal William pub, it has tables on the bank of the Brayford and enjoyed a fresh cup of cappuccino. One of the best cups that I have drunk during my holidays, the worst was in Harwich (poor town I'm getting on at it again), there the cappuccino was made of instant coffee and that is terrible, baah! I then went for a walk around the lake; there is a pathway, that's new.

 The west side of the Brayford is now occupied by the Lincoln University, also new in Lincoln (well new for me), in the past there was only colleges in Lincoln, the Art College, the Bishop Grosseteste College a teachers training college and the Technical College. In the early sixties a film was made in Lincoln about a university in the castle area; does anyone remember that? I'll have to get on Google maybe I can find the film and link it.

I found the it The Wind and the Willing shot in 1962; it portraits student life in the early sixties and was filmed in and around Lincoln showing fictional pubs around the castle and cathedral, the fictional university was the Bishop Grosseteste College.

Back to my stroll: all around the Brayford there are information plaques; here I learned quite a bit about the history of the lake. The information goes back to the Roman times when Lincoln was a prospering Roman city. See the photos that I took of the plaques, they make interesting reading.

It's ten o'clock and there are only six patients in front of me, won't be long now maybe I should go for a cup of coffee wile I wait?

I'm out; it only took me two and a half hours, that wasn't too bad I had enough time for my blog.

Happy reading!!

 

Some pictures of the Brayford in Lincoln

 

First a little information which isn't rymed together from me.

The Royal William
a pub that had the fortune of being situated next to a tourist attraction.
The inside of the pub is nice too.

Hotels and offices where the Hovis Mill once stood



A barge that is still being used commercially

The whole Brayford
on the south side (left) the Sea Scouts, hotels, restaurants and pubs
on the north side (right) the marina and the üniversity

The ugly road bridge and the ugly universary

Picturesque the barges

The Cathedral towers over Lincoln
In the front an old roof (well oldish) it was part of a auto showroom and garage,
because of its unique form the roof was listed.

The mother swan with her cygnets
the male swan attacked me, because I got too close to them.

The blog is a little later today; I didn't feel up to it last evening so I watched football on telly.

See you all tomorrow xxx

My Daily Banana

 

 

 

 

Photo of the Day:

 

My first photo after arriving home

 

 

Event of the Day:

26th June 1498

 

 

The toothbrush was invented in China,

 

 

 

it was invented by the Chinese Emperer and was made of hogback-bristles set in a bone or bamboo stick which acted as a handle. Until then cleaning the teeth was done by chewing a fibrous stick

 

 

Birthday of Today:

26th June 1943

Georgie Fame

 

Singer from Liegh, Greater Manchester. He had his time in the sixties recording rythm and blues and jazz songs such as Sunny

 

 

Died on this Day:

26th June 2003

Sir Dennis Thatcher MBE

 

 

The hidden husband of Dame Margaret Thatcher

Thoughts:

Let's start with a Simon and Garfunkel song:

"Keep the Customer Satisfied"

My trip back home to Niebüll was sooo laid back. The roads in England, Denmark and Germany carried me as if on a hovercraft, I glided through the country sides, my convertible roof open and the sun shining its warm rays over me. That's the way to travel. I arrived at Harwich with three hours to spare so I took the opportunity to do some sightseeing in the town. It wasn't worth it, the town centre is a heap of rubble; at some time in history it must have been a prospering town, but now other than the property prices the town is a dump.

 

I got to the ferry port at five pm an hour before departure and boarded a half an hour later, don't ask me why but I was knackered and had a laydown when I got to the cabin. This short laydown lasted until nine o'clock the next morning. Then it was enough, time for a shower and a "good" cup of cappuccino, well it should have been "good" at four quid a cup (about five Euros). The cup was half full and the chocolate topping was real cocoa and not like I know it chocolate powder plus it was Danish coffee, that's not the best coffee at any time. Otherwise the morning was cool, I sat in the Lighthouse cafe and the kiddies had a small magical show; it was nice to watch the kiddies enjoying the magic and really getting carried away by simple tricks. It's nothing for grownups think we are too clever and always want to know what's behind the trick.

After the show was over it was soon arrival time in Esbjerg and time to drive down to Germany and home to Heike, and I managed to keep my appointment at the hairdresser (is a female coiffeur called a hairdresser or a barber?)

 

Here some impressions of Harwich

The houses are large and spacious
but not very well kept

What an ugly main street

A well-built building from the beginning of the last century

The bay windows and the spire I found very impressive

Look at the building on the right it still has a wrought iron railing around the balcony
That's neat!

 

Well come back,

why? I am back,

Then welcome back

 

See you all tomorrow

 

My Daily Banana

Photo of the Day:

My sisters <3

Event of the Day:

25th June 1867

Lucien B Smith of Ohio, United States patented barbed wire: a cheap alternative to wooden fences, bushes, stone walls.

After the American Civil War the plains were taken over by settlers and farmers and the cattle farmers were driven out; to keep the cattle away from the cultivated land barbed wire fences were erected. The railway lines were multiplying also and it was necessary to keep the animals from wandering on the tracks

Birthday of the Day:

25th June 1903

George Orwell

He saw into the future and wrote a very realistic novel relating to it "1984". 

Big Brother is Watching You

It has never been truer than today, thirty years later. It is impossible to do anything without someone else following, watching, copying sometimes controlling you. Walking around a town in England and you are watched step by step by cctv (close circuit television), is it any different in Germany? The cameras may not be visible but that doesn't mean we are not being watched. But who am I to complain, every day I am in the internet, I publish this blog, I go on Facebook; I could say for some/many I am an open book.

Died on this Day:

25th June 2009

Michael Jackson

The King of Pop

The poor guy was persecuted when he was alive and when he died he was praised as if he were a saint.  That's the way the cookie crumbles, it's a sorry world and the press are doing there best to earn money out of its incompatibilities.

His music will live forever, the Jackson Five era with songs such as "One, Two, Three"

or later during his solo career "Do They Really Care About Us"

Thoughts:

That was it! My first week home since 1999, it was brilliant. I haven't had such an intensive holiday in ages, when I get home I'll need a couple of days to recuperate. I didn't want to be middle point but I often had that feeling, my normal self would be to blend into the background but that was a no go amongst my family and friends, WE were together. 

The biggest event that took place was the wedding, Andrea and Matt I wish you a long life together and many, many little Davies's. Life isn't worth living when you don't have your grandchildren. You'll think it's funny to say that but when you're young and have children you don't have all that much time for them. When they grow up and have children of their own then you take time and enjoy every minute with them and when they get too much they go home to mummy and daddy.

The happy couple with their parents
I wish you a long and happy life together

Bye for now, I shall see you all tomorrow when I get home to Heike

My Daily Banana

Photo of the Day:

The swan attacked me, I got too close to its cygnets

Event of the Day:

24th June 2014

The DFDS ferry SIRENA SEAWAYS departs from Harwich at 17:45 PM with Mr Raymond J Martin onboard. Times out, it's time to go home; I have an appointment at the barber's on Thursday at four pm so it's time I left. Appointments cannot be missed.

Born on this Day:

24th June 1947

Mick Fleetwood

The namesake of the group Fleetwood Mac formed by Peter Green, whom he followed after playing together in the John Mayall group The Blues-Breakers.

Heres a bit of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers with Moick Fleetwood and Eric Clapton

Died on this Day:

24th June 1968

Tony Handcock

If your into British comedy from the sixties then watch this sketch:

The Blooddonor

I love this name Toe-Knee Hand-Cock

It's like a friend from school his name is Anthony Witherspoon (And-Toe-Knee With-A-Spoon). When I see names like that I think what a boring name I have.

Thoughts:

We had a day together in Lincoln, the Martins and their humble followers. The only ones missing were Frazer, Fraser and Karen last but for me not last Heike. I did what is natural for me I took them for a long, long walk. We parked on Sincil Bank, walked to Abbot Street and had our first seance, reminiscing the time when we all lived together as a family. That was over forty years nearly fifty ago but the memories were as if we had just moved, I bet it was a little tiring for Jim and Andrew listening to all of the tales of our past lives (this we must also keep in mind, past). It was a great day something I will think of for many a day Thank You Sylvia, Andrea, Jim and Andrew. 

While I'm at it Thank You Kerry and Lee, if I didn't have you two I would have slept under a lamp post. I hope the seed grow into plants, that was the biggest present I could think of.

Giving the busker a trinket.
The singing was superb.

This should have been a Barbie shop,
not a shop for oversized lingerie

Tomorrow, I don't know if I'll manage to post a blog. If I do you will find it under the website and not under Facebook

The website address is:

www.my-daily-banana.blogspot.de

My Daily Banana

Photo of the Day:

A bumble bee nest in a rabbit hole.
 I found it on the footpath between Ragdale and Hoby

Event of the Day:

23rd June 2014

Lorena Gallo Bobbit severed her husband's penis with a kitchen knife. 
She did it because she thought him selfish always having an orgasm and not waiting for her to come. It was sown on again in a nine and a half hour operation and she was found not guilty due to insanity.

Birthday of the Day:

23rd June 1940

Stuart Sutcliffe is on the far left above the lady with the blue hat.

Stuart Sutcliffe the fifth Beatle.

He left in 1961 and returned to Hamburg where he lived with his girlfriend the photographer Astrid Kirchheim (she's the one who was responsible for the mop-top) . Stuart enrolled into an the Hamburg College of Art where his tutor Eduardo Paolozzi noted him as being a very promising student but in 1962 he suffered a brain hemorrhage due to an aneurism.

Died on this Day:

23rd June 2011

Peter Falk

You will all know his as "I have another question, not important, it's just for the record" Lieutenant  Columbo. Always dressed to kill in his grubby mack and with a cigar stub between his lips he acted the simple minded detective from Los Angeles who always got his man.

Thoughts:

A nice quiet day doing nothing but pausing. I uploaded my blog for Saturday, wrote and uploaded my blog for Sunday and now I'm writing my Monday blog, like John Jennon said when recording the song Helter Skelter on the White album "I've got blisters on my fingers".  That's at least four hours of research and writing, I think it was worth it though: what do you think?

Monday's my last full day of fun in England, how time flies!! I'm going to visit Sylvia and go around Lincoln with her, Andrea, Jimmy and Jerry. That sounds good, another nostalgic trip, all I want to do is soak up the atmosphere, so that I can survive the next six years without seeing the town I call "Heimat". It isn't home for me anymore but a piece of my heart always pines for the town.
Do you know what I mean Fraser?
On my stroll today I took pictures of some lovely flowers and I couldn't hold myself back publishing them. If the download takes a wee bit too long: sorry, it was meant that way!

Where's Moses?
the burning bush

An English Rose

You tell me!

Bye, more tomorrow. xxx

My Daily Banana

Photo of the Day:

Kerry, Lee and the happy couple Andrea and Matt
Thank you for putting me up and putting up with me,
have a good honeymoon on Corfu

Event this Day:

22nd June 1968

The song "Here Comes Da Judge" be Buena Vistas peaks at eighty-eight in the Billboard charts

22nd June 1981

Mark David Chapman

pleads guilty of murdering John Lennon on this day and is then sentenced to life imprisonment for second degree murder (may he stay inside until he rots)

Born this Day:

22nd June 1936

Kris Kristofferson

e

He wrote Me and Bobby McGee  (here sung by Kris himself) which was magnificently performed and recorded by Janis Joplin

The acting career of Kris also needs praising, I love his strong guy scenes in Convoy back in 1978 (cool)

Died this Day:

22nd June 1969

Judy Garland

always to be remembered as Dorothy Gale in the Wizard of Oz

Thoughts:

I'm not going to get used to driving in England. It sucks. My sat nav has problems finding it's way around, if I type in that I want to travel the economically best way it sends me through roads that are just wide enough for two bicycles or on dirt tracks. The road from Ragdale to Lincoln on the A46 (a main road at least five years old, even older if you see the state of it) most of the road doesn't exist; the sat nav keeps saying "If possible do a U-turn" ever though I'm on the main highway to Lincoln. Today I drove back from Grantham, Lincolnshire to Ragdale and in the village of Eaton in Leicestershire I turned a corner and a minivan was coming from the front; I had to break hard, we were both speeding at about 20 kph and I had to back up fifty metres to let him pass it was so narrow.

As you all saw yesterday we had a small family reunion. It has been so long since I have seen my sisters; Sylvia fifteen years and Andrea twelve. Not only did I see my sisters Andrea phoned Fraser and Mama up as well so I got to talk to them also. Mama was shocked, "Who are you?" she asked until it sunk in and she realized it was me. She sounded quite fit, well in head and mind I don't know how she is otherwise. And Fraser, it was the first conversation with him that I have had since 1984 when Heike and I were on holiday in Perth, Australia. What did I have to say? After thirty years I had hardly nothing to say, I was struck dumb, all I could think of saying was reminding him to look after his health  and to go to have checkups.

I could write a book today, so much has happened the last three days. When I get home next week I'll need a holiday to wind down again. I love it!!!

We all went to the wedding of my great nephew Matthew and his lovely wife Andrea yesterday. For me and my sisters the day started off in the hotel in Grantham, "the continuous reunion" and then I went to the town centre with Andrea and Jimmy with their Ziehkind (grandson) Jerry. 

Grantham is quite an old town and sorrily it is looking its age; the town has loads of commercial property that is empty, be it industrial or retail property. It's a sad sight but when I watched the people in she main street they were the ever happy people that I remember from England. The area around the St. Wulfram Parish church seems to be the best kept in town. The church itself is more a cathedral than a church, it has a main ship that is at least twenty-five metres high and a spire that's more than forty metres high (the metres are guessed so please correct me if I've fibbed). I had a nice walk around, a cup of tea and a chat to the old ladies looking after the church. That was good, they gave me a short private tour of the church, it seems I attract old women they think I've a story to tell, they can't be interested in my body they're too old for that. Enough, enough, I'm getting silly!! 

After that we rejoined (Andrea, Jim, Jerry and I) had a pint in a pub in the market square and set off to the wedding. That was in the registry office in Grantham. Very solemn, the marriage vows are different from what I remember though. I can recall the couple to be wed saying "With this ring I thee wed" now it's not quite the same, it was nice how they pledge that they will forever love and cherish each other and it's still "till death do us part." Did I pledge that to you Heike? Unnecessary, I will do anyway. 

That'll do, I'm getting sentimental and tomorrow is another day; if I write too much today I dry up tomorrow and that's not the point of writing a blog.