Mumblings!

Been blown away by some of the tasty modern products that are now available for sale. At work yesterday I spent some time talking a colleague of mine who is a fellow music fan about the Ipod Classic that he has. He is a naturally cynical guy, and if he rates them well they must be good! I want to buy one in time for the forthcoming Club Triumph 10 Countries Run. None of my Triumph cars have radios or CD players in them as I would rather listen to the car and concerntrate on the driving, however for the 10CR I think it would be a good idea to have some way of listening to music whilst in the passenger seat and having a kip etc. Hope, Dave my co-driver does not read this and think I am gonna be anti-social!



Apart from cars both old and new,my biggest pleasure has always been listening to music, this all started in the late 70s with the punk rock explosion and ever since I have been a avid music fan. Luckily I grew up at the time of John Peel on the radio and he inspired me to get into all types of music, basically open my ears and enjoy all types. My one barometer has always been to attempt to judge if the artist/group etc is really interested in music for its own sake or just making music with a view to make money or maybe become a c list celebrity! This might sound naive, but I genuinely believe that some people exist who are not slaves to the dollar/pound/euro! Take The Beatles, I remain convinced that the money was not the driving force behind their career, it was down to the fact that they just wanted to make and play music, alright they certainly made alot of money, but then they produced quality songs!



My Ford Focus is always full of CDs and CD cases, that go careering of the front seat at the first sniff of a corner. Therefore I hope that the purchase of a Ipod will cease this problem, seems that the downloading of my music will be easy, I hope it is as I have loads of the stuff.



I have always been one of those sad b*stards that likes lists and I thought it would be good to list my fave LP/CDs and singles:

Long Players (Jeez, how long is it since this label was used).

Mezzanine: Massive Attack

Pet Sounds: The Beach Boys

Heaven Up Here: Echo and the Bunnymen

All Mod Cons: The Jam

Love: The Cult

Screamadelic: Primal Scream

Lost Souls: Doves

Ferment: The Catherine Wheel

Hunky Dory: David Bowie

Fear of Music: Talking Heads



Singles

The Killing Moon: Echo and the Bunnymen

Whats Goin' On: Marvin Gaye

Down in the Tube Station at Midnight: The Jam

Ashes to Ashes: David Bowie

The Bottle: Gil Scott Heron and Brian Jackson

She Sells Sanctuary: The Cult

The Changing Man: Paul Weller

Eight Miles High: The Byrds

A Forest: The Cure

Party Fears Two: The Associates



Just looked at the above list, not alot of vareity there then, looks like I forgot Mr Peel's example!Apols. if I seem a bit up my own one, but I am genuinely excited about purchasing an Ipod and downloading the music. Yep, I have always been one of those types who makes compilation tapes/CDs for friends!



Onto cars, well its been a busy couple of days.



GT6: Took the car to Moordale Motors to let Dale Barker jave a look at the car, his feeling being that the car needs a new rear valence as it will not be easy to get the panel looking good following the bump on the M3 the other day. No way can I charge the full value of the job to the chap who hit the car so I will ask him to pay a portion of the cost. Otherwise nothing is planned for the GT6 at present as I have to get stuck into the 2.5 to get that ready for the 10CR.



I took the 2.5 over to Richard Brake's place yesterday and he has very kindly agreed to carry out some much needed welding to the sills so that I can obtain the dreaded MOT certificate. I have previously mentioned that I have another better head for the engine. I am in two minds about changing the head, the engine pinks quiet badly under load. The dizzy is quite worn, I have attempted to retard the ignition to no avail so I think changes are needed. However the head I have is supposed to be a good un with large valves and a bit of porting work having been done. Giving this some thought, I think I will fit the new dizzy and see how she goes, then if still pinking I will change the head. On the subject of a new dizzy, bit shocked at how expensive the 123 electronic items are now owing to the weak pound, was thinking about one for the car, looks like I will get a re-con'd Lucas jobbie.



I mentioned the Ford Focus I have as my company car. Must say that the car is an absolute hoot to drive being a 4 door ST, must be the best modern car I have had use of. The engine is quiet heavy and therefore it oversteers, but years of Triumph ownership have prepared me for that characteristic. I have now done 63,000 miles in 2.333 years and the car has proved to be totally reliable, bit like the two Mondeos I had before. I know people go on about the ST being a bit flash, but I really like mine and will be sad to see it go next May. What next, gawd knows, possibly the new Alfa Romeo Focus equivalent. From the leaked photos I have seen this car looks like it could be very nice, however will it just be a modded Fiat? I'll probably stay with another Ford, well built, reliable, good chassis and relatively cheap when compared to say German cars

Umm!

Just got back from my trip to Cornwall in the little car.

The trip was made for two reasons:
a) Go and have a look at the Pub/Hotel we hope to use for the 2010 RBRR. Owing to the terrible service we received on the last RBRR by the staff and management of 'The Lands End Hotel', it was decided that we should seeks a new venue for Breakfast on the Sunday morning. Tony Quick, husband of CT's Cornwall Local Group Organiser, Sally Ann Quick has found a very suitable place, so I popped in and had a look. Looks fine apart from the fact that when we leave we will all have to drive into the local town and turn around at a mini roundabout. So I have just got to agree a price and have a chat with Nigel Abdullah to ensure he is happy and this new venue should be spot on?
b) Spend some time with old friends of mine who own a nice farm near Helston. Spent most of Saturday making and starting a massive bonfire, drinking beer and then popped along to Parr Sands for dinner. Nice time. Only shame was seeing a bloated Englishman with his belly out-jeez, put it away!

The journey to Cornwall took 9 hours on Saturday, awful weather but must say the little car did me fine. Coming home today I left Helston at 8.15, dropped my mate at the train station at Redruth (He works in London in the week-I beat him to the M25 in a GT6 v Train race!) and got home at 13.45, including for a little stop. However this included a shunt on the M3 near Basingstoke, basically I was at standstill for a few minutes, the traffic in front moved off and the chap in the Nissan FWD thing behind me thought I had moved away and drove into the rear of the little car. Caused damage to the number plate panel and paint damage to the whole of the rear of the car. Thankfully the cost should not be so bad so I hope we will not involve insurance companies. Shame of it was that the guy who was driving seemed a nice bloke and was genuinely upset to have damaged my car!

Oh well, 25.5years and never had anyone drive into the car before!

Good thing was that apart from the usual amount of Beetles and Camper Vans in Cornwall I did see a fair amount of old cars, the best being a French plated Peugeot 504 estate on the A30 near Exeter-marvelous looking car! Also had a drive along with a Daimler Dart/SP250 near Hayle Bay on the A30, rare old beast eh! Saw a fair few Triumphs this morn including a mk3 Spittie, a 2000 mk1 saloon and a TR5 near Wylie on the A303. Oh, and I got flashed by a MGB on the old A30 at Leckford on Saturday-blimey, oh riley!


So a mixed weekend, but all in all I must say the little car drove very nicely.