Bailey's Blog

Intelligent? Attractive? American?

While I've been staying in my hotel I've watched my fair share of American TV. The rumours are generally true. It's rubbish.

I often watch CNN International when I travel to Europe, or that or BBC World. Both of these channels do a great job, and the CNN one isn't too American, if you see what I mean. Generally you get a balanced view on current issues from either channel.

Whilst over here in the States, I've ended up watching the two CNN Channels (CNN, or CNN Headline), and naturally, most of the news has been about the Superbowl, or the US Election.

However, my wake-up call every morning has been the bright-as-a button Robin Meade, who apparently was Miss America a few years back. She does the morning show on CNN Headline and I have to say it's the best Breakfast TV I've ever seen. I'm not just saying that it's lovely to see such an attractive woman on telly in the morning (I'm used to waking up with one of those ;-) ) but she's got a real zest for life and a great sense of humour for a news anchor.

Take a look for yourself at her latest podcast - see what you think.

What a way to spend a birthday!

Hello from my Hotel in Minneapolis, USA! I'm here with my work, visiting one of our sites, doing some project work. Next Tuesday, I'm off to Pittsburgh to do some more.

On January 17th it was my 31st birthday. I went to the best (but not the most expensive!) Indian restaurant in Birmingham, Al Frash. Take a look at my king prawn pathia! Mmmm!

I had a brilliant day. My good friend Dom came up from London to play some trumpet stuff together with me, I watched some snooker on the TV, and had a brilliant meal with some friends. Brilliant - nobody should work on their birthday!

Mum sent me this fridge cake, which was great - not that I ate that much, Ania loves fridge cake too! I'll post the recipe on this site sometime.

Expect to see a few pics from my visit in the next few days. I'm going to Mall of America at some point this weekend, and I've been invited to have a beginner's lesson in snowboarding! We'll see what happens.

The weather? Damn cold! It was -24 celcius yesterday. Keep an eye on Google Weather to see if it gets any colder!

Last of the cats!

Once more, no update, and even a comment from my sister-in-law reminding me! (Dzieki Agata!)

So, what's going on? Well, obviously, Christmas is coming and there have been a few ordinary, and a few fantastic gigs recently. Most notably, a performance of the B minor mass at Hereford Cathedral. Click here for a review - no mention of the frankly formidable trumpet section, but that generally means that we did the job. No news is good news when it comes to concert reviews!

Last night was a Messiah with the same choral society, which also went well.

Next Saturday we're off to Rome for a weekend - expect some photos on the blog next week.

One other bit of news: the last of Dizzy's kittens went to its new home today. Little Maisie is now 13 weeks old and has gone to live with Ian, a fellow brass-playing buddy. Dizzy can relax now, but not for long, she'll be off to the vet's as soon as possible to put her maternal career to a permanent end - poor thing!

Will be in touch more often - I promise - again!

On a diet...

It's about time, and this time it's serious...

Here's the deal. I weighed myself earlier today and I currently weigh 119kg. No, please don't ask me what that is in stone. I want to be under 100 kgs, but that'll take ages.

My target: Get under 110 kgs by the end of the year.

Today I've joined Virgin Active's club in Rugby, where I work. I can go there at lunchtimes or after work. I used to be a member of the Village club in Dudley, but I found I just didn't have time to go there in the evening.

We'll see how it all goes. I've done everything right today - I had a carrot and rocket sarnie for lunch today and a small portion of pasta for dinner. I won't have any booze in the week, and will try to go to the gym 3 times a week. That's progress!

We'll see how I get on, but I want this to work, and that's the first big step!

Right, I'm off to pack my P.E kit!

Here's a pic of me and my brother last week at a family picnic. That's 119 kgs of beer gut!

Stuart Paul's Stag do

Well, it was a messy affair as predicted, but not that way.

The karting was the Walker Adams offroad karting track near to the Birmingham Wheels site near the centre of Birmingham. Anyone who has been into Birmingham on the train will know where I mean, as all of the trains pass the site on the way into New Street....

Anyway. We had a great time. I was fairly rubbish (7th place, out of 8) and the stag was in last place! We got muddy, sweaty, and exhausted and had a great time!

At the hotel, James discovered that his shoe wasn't wear he'd left it in the "left luggage" area in the hotel foyer - instead it was found in the lift. Very odd, but very funny!

Onwards then into Birmingham City centre for beers. Most of us studied at the Conservatoire together and it was great to catch up with some old friends.

Here are a few of the snaps from the day, and the night.... I'll set up another photo album I think once I get a moment!

   

Blimey! Bailey's got a blog!

OK, so here I am, with my own web page and I can't think of anything to say!

Of course, anyone who knows me will know that that's not true!

So, let me start by giving some general idea of what I plan to post to this blog.

1. Pictures! Taken with my Nokia N95 mostly, and posted using Nokia Lifeblog .
2. Stuff to do with what's going on in my life. Gig and rehearsal pictures, family pics, work pics, anything that's interesting really!
3. On Sunday 27th May with the great Desford Colliery Band to Jakarta, Singapore, and Thailand - expect to see pics uploaded to the site on a regular basis!
4. Work trips will include India and the States in the next few weeks too.

Tomorrow I'm playing Natural Trumpet in Bach's Magnificat and Ascension Cantatas in Llandaff Cathedral. Details of the gig are here. I'll obviously post some pics tomorrow when I can!

I hope that you enjoy the blog, and that I remember to post to it!

Take care all,

SB