Amsterdam Russ

Perfect! You could go bigger if you wanted and go for the 1000 px size. Sunsets and other landscapes always look even better when they're bigger (as long as they fit on the screen).

The image you've uploaded is full-size - it's huge. It's too big! I'm guessing that when you click on the pic it's taking an age to load on whatever your device/computer is. The best thing to do is to resize the image and make it smaller. Somewhere between 500-1000 pixels should do it. Whatever device you're using, it should come with a basic photo editing programme. When you click on your own pics are there any options? When you do resize, make sure to give the file a new name. Otherwise your device might overwrite the original-sized image with the smaller one you've made. Hope that helps. If you need a bit more help just ask away - people here'll be able to guide you through the steps easily enough.

In Post 415 I described the power struggle going on between a pair of coots an a pair of great crested grebes. In the end it looked as if the persistence and the greater aggression of the coots won the day and the nesting site. The grebes didn't entirely give up though and since that last posting there's been a sort of strange co-ownership of the nest site. The coots have been roaming farther afield for nest-building materials and when they do, the grebes take control of the nest. When the coots came back, they'd take control - and so it's been going on day after day. I said in post 415 that no matter who won the site it would all end in tragedy. Why? Because the nest was being built around a public fountain. And today that tragedy happened - they turned on the fountain. For weeks these birds - both grebes and coots – have been building a nest and fighting over who should have control of it. It's been quite an amazing thing to watch and the whole thing would have made for a great wildlife documentary. Here's one of the pics of the coots and grebes in an early standoff - with the coots trying to take over what the grebes had started. Here's the scene now. Nothing remains and no one, except me and those who've read my posts here - have any idea that this fierce, but ultimately futile struggle, took place at all.

It worked…

I find it rather funny that people want to stigmatise someone for acts committed several decades ago when the scene - and indeed this forum - is awash with stories of criminal acts that include drug dealing, drug taking, breaking into pharmacies, stealing cars to go to nighters and all sorts of other jolly "capers". Oh, what larks! In fact, there are numerous well-supported and well-read threads here that celebrate these "adventures". Why, because good or bad, like it or not, they're part of the very fabric of a scene that emerged on the borders of both "normal" society (the very thing everyone was looking to escape from, allegedly) and legality. It just seems a bit rich that some actions are lauded as great fun and "just part of the scene" while others bring out the Witch Finder General in people. The strange world of Northern Soul!

And a mackerel sky!

My sets @ the Amsterdam Soul Club last Saturday night. 1st set: Ben Aiken - Satisfied Darrell Banks - Somebody (Somewhere) needs you Eddie Parker - Love you baby The Five Beltones - I can't believe it (Acetate) The Mighty Typhoons - Get the money Speedometer - Happy Maxine Brown - It's torture Inez & Charlie Foxx - Tightrope AC Reed - My baby's been cheating Carl Douglas - Something for nothing Roscoe Shelton - Running for my life Lawanda Bell - Down, down, down (Acetate) Vince Apollo - I bear witness Bobby Garrett - I can't get away NA Allen - Open the door to your heart Joe Turner - Two loves have I Jo Stance - Hey girl 2nd set: Mack Rice - Baby I'm coming home Larry Hall - Rebel heart Ronnie Forte - That was whiskey talkin' Tony Middleton - Spanish maiden Jerry Williams - If you ask me Rhonda Davis - Can you remember The Dells - It's all up to you Bobby Sheen - Something new to do Jimmy Ruffin - Gonna give her all the love I've got Cajun Heart - Got to find a way Larry Laster - Go for yourself The Royal Five - Say it to my face Larry Williams - You ask for one good reason The Limitations - I'm lonely, I'm troubled Sam & Kitty - I've got something good Johnny D - Strange love Edwin Starr - I have faith in you. Cosy venue, enthusiastic crowd, good beers and above all, a great atmosphere!

That's why I said 'people' rather than just 'you'…

He's not just aimed at the French market! He's toured all over Europe already - and that was a few years ago. People need to keep up.

https://youtu.be/rpvyFEbSk0U

Like others I only knew Joe through Soul Source. He always came across as someone who was warm, knowledgeable and very passionate about the music we all share in common. My deepest condolences to family and friends.

LInda Jones - Hypnotized

Thanks for posting, Paul. It really was a delight to be invited onto the show by Hans and Harry. For people who don't know it, Fingerpoppin' Soul has been broadcasting in Dutch for a remarkable 23 years and Hans and Harry are true legends with an encyclopaedic knowledge of soul music and more. In this show (which is in Dutch for the first 30 minutes until I come on, after which it's all in English) I get to talk about Loma Records (and my website www.lomarecords.com), then air a few obscure acetates and close proceedings with a handful of favourite 45s. I enjoyed doing the show and hope you enjoy listening.

Great night had by all thanks in the main to the hospitality and good taste of the guys and gals of Leuven in Belgium. DJs (from left to right) me (aka Loma Russ), Sven, Timmy, Patrick Michiels. Not in the pic but also playing 45s were Diggin' Dave and Chris Lalor (Chris L). The venue - CafeSTUK Paying a visit - the Amsterdam Soul Club Crew My playlist... Freddy Hill - Mr Lucky Adam's Apples - Don't take it out on this world Candy & the Kisses - Tonight's the night The Dynamics - Ain't no sun Ben Aiken - Satisfied Fred Hughes - I keep tryin' Roy Roberts - Got to have your love Gloria Parker - Hello baby, goodbye, too Ray Pollard - All the things that you are Ronnie Forte - Nervous breakdown The Tams - It's all right (you're just in love) Art Posey - No more heartaches The Van Dykes - Save my love for a rainy day Youngblood Smith - You can split Cookie Jackson - Do you still love me Ronnie Hawkins - Southern love Mitty Collier - My babe Big Maybelle - That's a pretty good love The 5 Royales - They don't know Candace Love - Wonderful night Rhonda Davis - Do you remember Larry Laster - Go for yourself The Ethics - I want my baby back Harvey Averne Dozen - Never learned to dance Linda Jones - You can't take it Steve Flanagan - I've arrived

Thinking holiday thoughts today for some reason. This was taken a few years ago from Petra on the Greek island of Lesvos. Not too long before we're back there again.

So they made it to Scotland and are surviving the colder conditions. They're obviously very adaptable then.

If I remember correctly, about 20-odd years ago their populations were mainly concentrated in the warmer south of England. If they've survived the wetter Manchester climate then it shows how very adaptable they are as a species. Scotland next, or have they made it that far already?

Loads of them round here. Their profile in flight always makes me think of one of these…

Here you go...

Eddie Holman "I surrender" has got to be up there. Must be something like three copies a week going through eBay for the last year or more and the price just keeps going higher and higher. Thought it expensive at £30 a couple of years ago but in recent times it's going for triple that - and that's the ABC issue!

Got your attention, didn't it? It worked!

You're welcome. Still not caught another sighting of a swallow or martin, so can't confirm that they're actually here. Possibly they were just stretching their wings and have headed back to the departure lounge at Schiphol before heading off elsewhere in Europe. What I can report is that in the battle between the coots and the grebes, the coots appear to have won. Where the coot would encroach upon the nest site and the grebes would see it away, now the coot is being much more territorial. Rather than just posture from atop the nest, it's swimming around it when the grebes are near. The grebes are making no real effort to win back their construction and are easily deterred when they now only occasionally approach it. A few things I've learned from watching are : 1) only one coot in a pair builds the nest 2) the coot's construction techniques are far more industrial than the grebes. The latter uses vegetation primarily while the coots are using lots of twigs and even branches to give support to the vegetation. 3) having witnessed them give up the nest without much of a fight, I believe that grebes are in some way related to the chicken.

Interesting read on the swallow migration... http://jkenny.hubpages.com/hub/Do-Anti-Squirrel-Feeders-really-work#

Well that took all of 10 seconds to find. According to this migration map, which shows things from a UK perspective, swallows & house martins come through both central Spain and central France before veering off in which ever direction pulls them. Would be nice to see the route in a bit more detail and see how they come into the Netherlands exactly - whether they're turning right when they get to the middle of France or whether they're coming in in other ways.

That might be right from a UK standpoint, but I doubt it's true for mainland Europe. I actually went off to look for a migration chart, got distracted on the way and eventually ended up back here having forgotten about my mission. Will try again!