Amsterdam Russ

Found the picture and I'm right - it was Regent's Park. This was taken in August 2007. It is the same plant? Had to take a photo then as I thought that not only did it have amazing colours, but the overall shape of it was rather stunning. Never seen another one since.

I don't know the first thing about plants, but I'm sure I've taken photos of the Asclepia curassavica in London's Regent's Park. It's a very distinctive plant and not easily forgotten.

Interesting. So possibly sitting in the rain is a deliberate action that's part of the preening process. Have to say that the one in the pic didn't engage in any preening at all. It just sat there looking very sorrowful. Of course, that may just have been me projecting my human emotions onto what I saw!

While digging through my archived files, I also came across this shot from 2009 and which I took in the woods of Amsterdam one autumnal evening. I'd gone out with the camera specifically to see if I could get some shots of the geese that graze on the marshy grasslands that can be found there.

Your mention of swallows on cables reminded me of a pic I had in the files. You can't really see it in the photo, but it was chucking it down with rain really hard. I think the swallow may have been exhausted because it just sat on the pole for ages getting soaked while its nest was just a few metres away. Happily it did seem to recover and eventually flew away looking none the worse for wear.

Beyond all the 'oldies' and other pseudo-genres, think of all those new releases that could be slipped in!

I'm experiencing the same thing on ebay as a buyer. I currently have three purchase, each made about four weeks ago, that still await feedback - and that's even though I've sent reminders and provided feedback to the sellers. It's been on the increase the last year or so. Once upon a time everyone would offer feedback. Now it's becoming all too regular - and it sucks.

Likewise - when spring comes around there's always that high element of anticipation. Not only is it great to see them return, but you know that summer is not far behind.

Thanks for the clarification. I presumed that's what you meant unless the practice had suddenly become prevalent in the UK for some reason.

This is why I'm asking. The mass slaughter of birds across Europe during migration through shooting, netting and liming is well catalogued, of course. In fact, the first time I read about it was in an RSPB or Young Ornithologist Club magazine back in the 70s. That gives me the impression that little progress has been made in re-educating those who engage in it - sadly.

Do you mean what happens on migratory routes in continental Europe or in the UK?

Lovely birds, Bullfinches. As a kid I always thought of them as somehow exotic and was so excited the first time I ever saw one!

For what it's worth, when I spin a few records at the next Amsterdam Soul Club (Sept 20th for anyone interested!) I'll have Maxine Brown "Torture" & September Jones "Voo doo madamoiselle" in my box. Just two of so many amazing discoveries! Why would people not want to play them? Perhaps some people think they should only be playing their own discoveries and not somebody else's. Great music unearthed from wherever deserves to be heard - end of story. Keep them coming, Ady!

Yes it is annoying. I think it's also a deliberate ruse to get people to click through to the images and description. I suspect that sellers believe it's the equivalent of getting you through the shop door. Once you're over the threshold, so to speak, you're more likely to bid or buy after having been swayed by their wonderful sales pitch and the pretty colours on the label. Actually, I wonder if there is some basis in fact that getting people to view the item increases the chance of a sale. Even if it is true, the lack of a promised soundclip is an immediate turnoff for me, so it actually has a reverse psychological effect!

Cheers, Ray. PM'd you by return and amount now paid.

Let me tell you it's down right sinful!

On the subject of Roy Redmond, how about this clip from the 1968 psychedelic cult movie The Touchables? It uses Redmond's take of the Beatles song Good Day Sunshine. Redmond's song was originally released as Loma 2075 in July 1967. However, the song started to get plays in New York some months later and this local action prompted WB/Loma to put it out again in February of 1968 - hence why you can also find it on the green label Loma 2092. The film itself didn't come out until November 1968, so it's unclear whether word of the inclusion of the song in the original soundtrack was a factor in the interest it picked up six months after original release. Now, on with the groovy - and slightly kinky - 60s movie action!

To be fair, if looking only at monetary aspects then Loma isn't a particularly hard label to collect, so the aspiring DJ could get hold of most of the releases on original 45s without too much difficulty. Barring the yellow issue Soul Shakers "I'm getting weaker", the hardest one to find (based on my experience) is actually under the radar - or there's no interest in it. For me, THE hardest one is a green label variant of a 45 that is cheap as both a yellow stock copy and a white label demo. I'm still looking for one of those. Volume 3 is the R&B comp. Great tracks on that from the likes of James "Lucky" Carmichael, Smiley Lewis, Barry "Barefoot" Beefus and also including James Cotton's two fabulous sides - his cover of the St Louis Jimmy Oden song "Complete this order" and the mighty harmonica romp "Laying in the weeds". Poor sound quality on the clip, but hey... https://youtu.be/fkbetb99DXU

The guy behind it was the legendary Claude Nobs, who was a senior WB exec at that time. Claude founded the even more legendary Montreux Jazz Festival, of course, and is immortalised as "Funky Claude" in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the water". I exchanged a few emails with him about five or six years ago and he said he'd call me on the phone and tell me about how he came to put the tremendously ambitious 7-LP Loma anthology together. To my eternal regret, that phone call didn't happen. Still, I'm honoured that he even bothered to reply to my enquiring email at all. Claude died in January 2013 from injuries sustained in a skiing accident. He was 76-years old.

Ever the optimist, I still hold out hope of finding Loma 2004 - Bob and Earl - Everybody Jerk!

Here you go... Manship did auction this almost exactly three years ago. Here's what he had to say about it... Link:

No, it's not due to wear: mine's pretty much a minty. Exactly as you say, it's a mastering problem. I've listened to numerous copies of this and they've all had the hiss to a lesser or greater degree. First time I heard this was on a Pat Brady tape from the early-mid 80s - it also had the hiss. I'm sure John Manship auctioned one a couple of years back, and it also had the hiss.

My understanding was that they all have the hiss - just some more than others. The one in the clip sounds remarkably clear compared to my copy which has an audible hiss all the way through on both sides..

Here in the Netherlands they have the same contempt for herons for exactly the name reason. But let's get real here. Magpies are not alone in feasting on eggs and young during the breeding season. A whole multitude of creatures survive on the contents of nests of just about every animal. Our feathered friends are not the only ones under attack; every wild creature with young is a target. It's nature's way - and it's deadly out there!

I use goofbid, which is a free sniper service. https://www.goofbid.com It also appears to have tied up with ebay in some way recently as I'm now getting an indication in my ebay invoices of how much I've "saved" relative to my highest snipe bid.