Windows 8 Second Impressions

Windows 8 is like something that has never been before. To some its 2 oS’s in one, to others its a mess. To me it needs time to be appreciated for what it is. I’ll admit I have been harsh on it before here exactly one year an a day ago, but I kept an open mind and after using the full release as my main machine I’m starting to see the benefits.

In the market there are two key interfaces. First up is the traditional desktop, all icons, and file manager and full control. To me its nearly always how I work, but I’m a techie. This has been used to drive huge profits for both Microsoft (all version of Windows), and Apple (all the OS’s since day dot).

The other way is also trumpeted by Apple and now Android. The app. There is no OS to speak of for the user, just loads of icons, that fire up applications, and when your done you go back to the beginning. This key change here is the move to touch based control from keyboard and mouse. You have probably seen enough 3 year olds with Ipads to know how easy this is to pick up !

Before I begin, here be a warning. Do not do an in place upgrade from Windows 7. It will not work, unless you are lucky. Took me 1/2 a day to recover from this. Start afresh and save time.

All MS has done is to combine the two, no more no less. This seemed to be a bit weird, but once you get used to it makes sense. If I want a rich outlook experience I fire it up, and work away, and integrate with SharePoint, and all the rest. If I want to quickly check emails, without mucking about with a web client, I just tap mail on the start screen. Simples. If I want a full active x rich web experience with toolbars, etc (not that I do, but some do), then there it is, and if I want a quick browse that’s there as well, with no fuss. So in all, its should be the best of both worlds (should).

The metro interface seems a little superfluous at first, and I spent most of my time in the desktop, pretending it was Windows 7, but then I noticed that more and more I moved across to the metro interface just to check x and y. With the active tiles sometimes I didn’t have to click anything !

My main annoyance last time around was the inability to close metro apps easily. Task manager sort of spoils the experience. Until I found the corners. The corners are everything in metro. Top left brings up the last app you had open. useful for jumping around, and importantly, the app you have just left becomes the “last” app. Bottom left is the best in my opinion. You get the start menu link, but more importantly if you move the mouse straight up along the left edge, you get all the open apps, which you can navigate to, and you can right click and close as you feel fit. Still not as good as a big X in the corner, but easier than before.

Top and bottom right, do the same thing, they open the “charms menu”, basically settings, search, start, devices and sharing. This can be a bit fiddly but fear not Windows button and C are your friends. Then use the arrow keys and return to select. This is also context sensitive so if you are in an app and do this, you can search within an app. E.G. in IE, you get the internet search box.

Having used this for over a week now, I find that I don’t need to make the move to a touch device. This is opposite to what I originally thought. This OS is spot on for a laptop, and the fact it goes like a train helps.

Another tip is, when in a Metro app, it can be a litte frustrating at the lack of option buttons, and configuration choices. Just find a bit of blank desktop estate and right click. A pound to a penny you get what you need. Some of the apps needs sorting (Evernote – I’m looking at you !), but Rome wasn’t built in a day.

images — The app listing on the left. Too useful.

So there you go. The second impression. Better than the first.

Vegas October 2012

10 months after our last Vegas adventure we return courtesy of Virgin Atlantic to what is becoming a regular annual (ish !) trip. Such as here, here and here

The usual routine for these trips is that Mrs Ben hits the pool, and MrBen hits the poker table. This was sort of the order of events, but I had to change stuff around as the poker events in our hotel seemed quite slow.

Day one we got there quite late on, so i just made a quid hundred on the blackjack. Not a bad start. There was also the usual slot machine crawl, where you start with a 20, and try to build to 100 by hit and running bonuses. Mrs Ben nearly made this (after 3 hours), she was up to 80, but we had had a few drinks and it was time to retire.

Day 2, i set about my usual 9.00am poker comp. By this time i had hit the gym and had breakfast. Gotta love jetlag. Breakfast was in the ABX Burger ad Pancake house. The breakfast pancakes for £6 are amazing. Bombed the tourney early on, but made up for ir with another $150 on the Blackjack table. Lunch was at Lemongrass in the Aria, which is a chinese-thai modern type restaurant. Dim-sum. Oh My God. Get there early, we were towards the end of the lunch session (which is Dim-sum time), and just grabbed what we could. We also had the mee-goreng, which was spiced to perfection. More details on their website here.

P1070258 — Lemongrass. Great Food in the Aria.

That evening I took a bit of a kicking and was $250 down on the tables ans slots, but easy come and easy go, eh ?

Day 3 started with Breakfast at the Mandalay Bay buffet. As usual the fare was good in a nice setting. My 9.00am bombed again, when my KK was called allin pre flop by some clown with A9, who then hit a 9 on the turn and the river. Cheers, Nice hand. Always tomorrow i suppose. Having the hump i dropped 20 into an Alice in Wonderland machine and picked up a $120 Jackpot. Feel better now.

I then retired to the pool with MrsBen. The pool at the Excalibur has been redesigned this year and is way better than before. In fact with 4 pools and at least 2 hot tubs/Jacuzzis, this place is severely underrated.

In the afternoon we tool a amble down the strip and headed towards Caesars Palace. We cut through all the usual suspects, Aria and Bellagio (quick +$35 slot win. Hehe). Our destination at Caesars was the Cheesecake Factory. Now in the city full of restaurants why bother with a chain. Because its not in the UK, and its just great food. The portions are huge, so main course only thanks. We shared some enchiladas and the “Bellagio” pasta. Strange name bearing in mind the location ! Fantastic allround, and I managed not to buy anything next door in the super sized Nike Store.

P1070267 — The Little House in the Bellagio !

P1070288 — Entrance to Nike World – Caesars Palace

Day 5 started like 3 with my 99 hitting AA early on. Lucky this 9.00 am is only $30 !. As we had friends up from California we rented out a Cabana by the pool for the day. Well worth the next to nothing we paid ! This made for a nice relaxing day.

The evening was spend on the road again, and we hit the Palazzo for dinner. We had heard good things about the Grand Lux. Well, heres my thing, don’t go there. The burger i had was very greasy (greasy is different from juicy !). Mrs Bens ribs were dry, and the meat wouldn’t come off from the bone, and therefore was sent back. Chips were OK!. One other thing regarding the Ventian and Palazzo. They used to be quite refined, and a bit classy (for Vegas !). They now seem to have this rock vibe going on which suits Planet Hollywood, but I’m not sure about here. The Zebra Lounge gets a special mention. The band think they are playing Wembley and have a speaker stack to match. Far too loud.

On day 6 i changed venue for the morning poker comp. I went next door to the Luxor for their 10.30. This was a good move, and one I may make more permanent in future trips. Better organised, friendlier,and way more confortable. After getting away with a split pot, which i was well behind on. I managed to scrape 3rd for $134 (40 buyin). 3rd or maybe second was probably my best chance, as there was a lady who arrived at the final table with over half the total chips, and seemed to hit every hand. But i did my bit and took out 3 people on the final table. The rest of the day was by the pool, and chilling out.

The evening was a bit of an adventure for me as we went to Shibuya, a Japanese restaurant in the MGM. I’m not a Sushi fan, but i do like wagyu beef. I did try some Sushi as well, and I may be coming round (more on this below !). Not cheap but a fantastic meal and great vibe and service. More info here

Day 7 was spend mainly at the North Outlet Centre. This places never lets us down, and this day was no different, with bargains from Ralph Lauren, Burberry and Hugo Boss amongst others. My Jordan IV’s got some love from the market sellers. Our trip there was undertaken by Taxi, with a guy who seemed to no more about football than any American i have ever met. He was Mexican to be fair, but you get the drift. We discussed Booby Moore vs Pele, Leeds and Chelsea in the 70’s, and low centre of gravity being the reason for Maradona and Messi being better footballers than me.

That evening we found craps. The game not the tummy bug !. It took me about an hour to work out what was going on, but once we got going, we were flying and both made a tidy profit. Its also a great game for socialising, and just great fun. A few beers were had and great crack all round.

Out last full day started slowly after the night before but we tried the Public House in the Luxor for lunch. Great food, great price, shame it was showing “Being Liverpool” on the main screen. Might visit one evening when its full on our next trip. Can be found here

We also had dinner in the Buca di Beppo Italian in the Excalibur. The food here is just WOW. I really love it. The portions are a little scary, but likea mamma used to maka. ! Find it here

The evening was more of the same, Craps and Blackjack.

We flew back the next day just in time , as the Storms were coming and flights were starting be cancelled all over the place.

So overall, another great trip. The Excalibur looked after us well again, many thanks to Yvonne our host as usual.

+ Lemongrass, Buca di Beppo, Cheesecake Factory

– Grand Lux, Venetian in general.

On our trip you could tell that Vegas is still deep in recession. I currently give the Tropicana about a year after a successful relaunch, that seems to be falling apart. Oh and the Mirage seems to be the number one hotel if you are looking for Hookers, or maybe it just seems that way ! Never used to be like that.

Roll on Xmas for the next visit.

WHUFC vs Manchester City 03/11/2012 EPL

Having missed our great win against Southampton while i was in Vegas (post to follow), i travelled to Upton Park with slight trepidation, as i had also heard that we were extremely poor against Wigan.

Man City came to this game with a run of so so results and probably felt this would be a game where 3 points were a formality. This was backed up by team selection, with Mancini starting Tevez, Balotelli, and Edin Dzeko all up top. West Ham put out probably their best starting 11, with Benayoun and Jarvis starting. Collins got a bit of rough reception from the home crowd when announced. Tomkins wasn’t even on the bench, and O’Brien came in at right back.

The game started as you would imagine with City moving the ball around, West Ham picking up scraps. However my main fear hadn’t materialised as Silva wasn’t playing, and the City midfield was not as quick and agile as i expected.

West Ham played themselves into the game with Diame and Noble starting to take charge with some real blood and thunder tackles. Then the potential turning point occured. Kevin Nolan scored a goal from close range that was ruled for offside. Turns out the goal was ruled out wrongly. I haven’t seen the evidence myself but every report seems to back this up.

This shook up City however, and from then on for the first half WHU were on top ,with Benayoun hitting the Bar, and Carroll going close. City had their chances however, but most of them fell to Balotelli, who frankly was useless. This guy has all the talent in the world, but his laziness and refusal to go for any ball that isn’t already on his foot, would frustrate the hell out of me.

No changes for the second half from either team, and no change on the pitch, with City having a shade on possession but WHU keeping their hand in, and once again Carroll went close with a spectacular overhead kick. City didn’t get te chances they had in the first half, but the ones they did fall to Tevez, who knowing his place at Upton Park, did his best to miss !

West Ham battled on and some good subs by Sam to get Diame off before he was sent off, and a late sub of Collins to give Jordan Spence some game time worked. Collins to be fair had made some great blocks, and tackles and hopefully has redeemed some of the ill will of the WHU faithful.

The game ended 0-0 and it really was a point earned by WHU, and 2 lost by City. I’ll take that.

On leaving the ground, as usual we ended up with the away fans , and i heard some interesting comments. They thought we put 11 behind the ball, and this is what always happens to City on the road. What nonsense ! We had as many scoring opportunities as them and really gave them a game.

The more telling comment was from a young girl, who said that if it had been United rather than City, they would of got the win. This is because United are a team, and City are a group of talented players, who struggle to play as a team when the going gets tough. Witness their CL performances in the last 2 years. This is a trate of Mancini, see no further than his tenure at Inter. He needs to get rid of Balotelli pronto, and push Yaya Toure further up the pitch. Last time we played City at home they won 3-1 and he ran the whole game. Yesterday, he was deep and ineffectual. I would love to say this was due to WHU pressure, but i will admit it was more likely to Mancini’s team selection and tactics.

These City fans need to remember where they were 4 or 5 years ago, and not assume they already have a permanent seat at the top table of European football.

All in all, a good day to build confidence for the Hammers, and keeps us in the top 10.

MOTM. Reid and Collins were excellent, Noble and Diame threw themselves around. But for fitting straight back in and playing a full 90 with style and class, my award goes to Yossi Benayoun.

andy-carroll_g_2387826b — AC goes close with a speculative overhead kick.

IOS6 3GS and Maps

After a successful post going through my experiences of upgrading the 3GS, I was presented with an opportunity to give the much maligned maps a real time run as a Sat-Nav.

As most of you may know, the maps facility on the 3GS is slightly downgraded in so much as there is no voice instruction, so you are left with the maps. This is not an issue as i hardly ever use the voice instructions on the one built into the car either.

My journey was about 30 miles around the M25 and then 5 miles home, so not that tricky. For those of you not in the UK, the M25 runs in a 140mile loop around London.

It located my location quickly and gave me a route just as quick. Instead of getting voice, you get a signpost with an instruction eg drive here for 15 miles or turn off at junction 2 and head towards London on M2, etc. So detailed enough, but may not be too much help if you are not familiar with the route. I imagine it would be easy to get a turning wrong.

As you hit your next turning, a dark circle appears on the map, highlighting you have a move to make, which is already detailed on the screen. So far , so good, but if you are making several quick turns is can get out of sync, or just not update. This I imagine will be the biggest issue. Having used the 4S, it seems to be a lot better in this respect.

There appear to be a bug, because if the phone orientation is changed, normally from portrait to landscape, sometimes the map doesn’t appear on the screen. and you just see your little blue dot travelling across a screen.

My next test is to see if this works without recourse to using 3g, eg can it just use GPS? Next week in America will tell me pretty quickly. I assume not, but I will update here. As a warning a 40 minute journey took 20% battery. So the advice is to take a charger on your travels if you intend to use this a lot.

Would I throw away my Sat-Nav? No. But if stuck I would use this. Now Apple just need to work on the accuracy of the data! see here

BGR-ios-6-12 — Left !, No Right !, Do what you want !

England VS San Marino WC 2016 Qualifier 12/10/2012

Footballers are generally an organized bunch, with skills available on tap. Professional footballers are very organized and very skillful. International footballers should be highly prepared and know when to use the skills and when not.

England were always going to win this game, but outside of the Ox getting stuck in with a few long rangers, England turned into Arsenal light, and tried to pass through all the time , with flicks and tricks. This was getting on the nerve of the crowd as well as the manager, I imagine. Things were not helped by Walcott going off early, after being (from my position) royally taken out by the SM keeper. In a game against better opposition and potentially later on in the game, it would of been a straight red.

They finally broke the deadlock after half an hour, with who else but the stand in captain for the night, Mr Rooney. Soon after Danny Wellbeck scored an almost identikit goal to the reverse flick he got in the Euros. Maybe he does mean it after all !

The second half was more of the same, with England constantly attacking, and then Rooney and Wellbeck getting another one each. Rooney’s second, was a cracker taken on the half volley, which pushed him above Alan Shearer in the goal standings for England.. The San Marinians (?) attacked once, and nearly brought the house down. Oxlade-Chamberlain got an absolute quality lift on a mix up from Cleverly to put England 5 up with 10 to go.

So, what did we learn ?

Cleverly and Carrick stood in for Lampard and Gerrard tonight, and Carrick bossed the back line, with Cleverly in a more advanced position. This worked well, but they were playing a pub team to be honest. Cleverly does still not look the part at this standard. Under 21’s are gone for Tom, but maybe he will get time to improve. If Roy stays with 2 up top in Wellbeck and Rooney, and persists with Lamps and Gerrard, Tom can improve on his craft. Maybe more time on the training pitch and less time with the TOWIE girlfriend.

We also know that Joe Hart gets bored easy, if his running out 40 yards to collect balls was anything to go by. To be fair he could of played in the middle alongside Carrick, and the score would of been the same.

But, we must be more clinical, and no more dicking about with the ball. The opposition should not matter, the hole is still the goal. But we need to be more direct. Little one twos are fine on the training ground, but go nowhere against an organised defence.

Lets hope all the young kids who were there, don’t get used to England destroying teams at home !

Poland away on Tuesday. 3 points required, and I assume the return of Lamps and Gerrard. Lets just keep the ball further up the pitch.

MOTM For his runs, passing, and willingness to shoot from anywhere, and his classy goal near the end goes to Alex Oxlade Chamberlain.

Heres some pics from the night. 3GS and tier 3 do not mix well. Taking the DSLR next time.

They didn’t put “but most of the corporates ain’t coming”

Due to boredom Joe is actually thinking about going for this ball !

The original flag from the 48 Games which flew above Wembley. Apparently used in 36 Berlin as well !

IOS6 and Exchange Calendars (now fixed)

Edit of a doc I published back in early Oct 2012. This is now fixed by using IOS 6.0.1.

New edit. Looks like IOS 6.1 and exchange do not play well together!

This happened earlier in the week, when it appeared i had cancelled a meeting , when in fact i had been nowhere near the invite except accepting it, some weeks ago. This was also not my invite, therefore i have no way (usually) of cancelling it !

So with this odd behaviour i thought no more until one of my key suppliers sent me the following today. They are a big firm with many idevices of varying ages, etc. I also have to assume a company of this size will be taken seriously by both Microsoft and Apple. Please read the release below:

IT continues to investigate the Apple iOS 6 calendar issues outlined below, and we are working with Apple and Microsoft to resolve the problem. Because there is no change at this point, you should continue to handle meeting invitations using your PC or Mac instead of your iPhone or iPad. There is no estimated resolution date. IT will continue to update you in the meantime.

We have learned that the new Apple iOS 6 has caused intermittent and inadvertent deletion of Outlook meetings from calendars. This is a global issue not specific to us, but we have received several reports of calendar items being deleted from our calendars. The issue at times occurs intermittently when a meeting is sent to a DL, and a user who has upgraded to Apple’s iOS 6 (either via an iPhone 5 or by upgrading a current iPhone) deletes the meeting. The meeting appears to have been cancelled by the person who deleted the meeting, who now appears to be the meeting’s organizer. This has also occurred without any user actions.

We have elevated this issue with both Microsoft and Apple but there is currently no resolution. Both software vendors are suggesting that users only handle meeting invitations using their PCs or Mac Outlook clients, versus managing appointments on your iOS device (iPhone and/or iPad) for the time being. We will continue to provide updates every morning until there is a resolution.

So there you go, leave alone your idevice if you want to manage your day. Along with maps, this is rough ride time for Apple.

Update 16/10/2012. This has no fix in sight, and Apple and MS are still saying use outlook and don’t manage your diary using your £500 phone. Amazing !

UPDATE: 06/12/2012. This apparently has been fixed by an update in IOS update 6.0.1 Currently in testing.

UPDATE: 18/02/2013. OS testing obviously not a hot spot for Apple right now. Apparently IOS 6.1 causes Exchange 201 to misbehave and in extreme circumstances stop working. Not mentioned in the link is the fact that apparently 6.1.1 is not the fix, as that just for batteries on the 4S. Madness. More new here :

Macbook Pro RAM upgrade

I have an early 2011 13″ Macbook Pro Laptop. Great piece of kit, but now i’m getting more into photography, and I like playing with my toys. Therefore I decided the 4GB factory RAM had to go, and £60 to crucial.com/uk got me 16GB of the finest DDR3 1300 Mhz RAM. Fitting it was quite easy, but slightly different from a PC, therefore I thought I’d document it here for anyone whose not sure. Although Apple don’t like you in their mobile kit, this generation is the last one where you can get in, so lets do it. First, make sure it is switched off and not plugged into a power source, then flip it over onto its front, so the base is in the air. Like this:

You need to remove 10 screws with a small phillips screwdriver (I used one from a Jewellers set). WARNING: these fellas are small so be careful. There are 4 at the top, 4 at the bottom ,and one in the middle of the left and right hand side. There are two types of screw. So I could get them all to be in the right place for screwing back in, I put them down about 3 inches away from the hole perpendicular to the case. This means they end up surrounding the case. Once they are all off, you can just lift of the thin base cover. Once off, you should see the picture below:

Naked Macbook. Note screws below the screw holes.

The small green rectangle in the piccie above is the memory. This has to come out. In order to remove a memory stick, apply light outward pressure to the small grey plastic clip which is holding in the the memory stick. Once the holding clip clears the stick it should pop up to about 30 degrees. You should then be able to gently pull the stick out. It is held in a slot, with a key about 2/3 rds from the left, so some firm pulling but no yanking should get you the first stick.

This is where the Mac differs from a PC. Normally on a PC, the RAM slots are next to each over, not on top of each other, but as you can see, its not exactly empty in there!. Pop out the next one using the same method. I was concerned that this may need removal of the battery, but it didn’t. Slightly tight to get out, but not too much trouble.

Then get your new RAM. Once you have them to hand, reverse the process. Pop back in the first stick. The key to this is to make sure the stick is fully in the slot, and then push down from 30 degrees back to flat. You should hear the click, as the clips secure the chip.

First one in ! Note the lugs over the edges !

Then pop in the second. Because the slots are off centre, this is impossible to get round the wrong way.

Once they are both in, pop the lid back on (with all the screws !). Tip for putting the screws in. Due to the “industrial design ” of these products (see awkward), the screws go in at a slight angle so they are flush with the case.

Thats it! Switch on, and if all goes well (it may take longer to boot, as it needs to check more memory on startup), login, and click the apple icon on the top left of the screen. Click About this Mac. You should see something like this:

Well done !

WHU vs Arsenal EPL 06/10/2012

We come to our second London derby of the week, after our good win against QPR away on the Monday. Arsenal come to Upton Park of the back of a good win in the Champions League. That was not the first difference of the day. The ground was full and the atmosphere was fantastic.

Most WHU fans were optimistic about this game, as Arsenal have shown some weakness this season against the dead ball, and they are missing their talismanic striker Van Persie, following his exit to Old Trafford over the summer. Personally i was concerned they may end up starting Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott, and just kill us for pace.

Arsene helped me out by not starting either, but putting Podolski on the wing instead isn’t a bad replacement I suppose !

The game got off as expected with Arsenal piling in the pressure, with constant incisive passing. But as usual with Arsenal had no finishing quality (it was out on the wing as usual – this would frustrate me massively if I was a fan of our North London neighbours).

WHU’s forays into the opponents box were limited, but they weathered the storm at the beginning to fight back into the game. However it was still against the run of play, in the 21st minute, when Diame shrugged off Ramsey on the edge of their box, to absolutely rocket in the first goal of his Hammers career from an obtuse angle. Game on.

Then normal service resumed, but it looked like WHU would hold out the first half for a dream start. Andy Carroll was winning everything in the air, and as usual was bringing in other players. The improvement on Carlton Cole cannot be disputed now, and we need to do everything we can in January to hold onto the big Geordie.

Arsenal seemed to find space everywhere, especially on their left, and just before half time Poldolski got a cross in for Giroud to push home on the front post, to bring Arsenal level. Nolan went close to getting onto the end of cross to put us 2-1 up at the break, but just didn’t have the pace.

One all at half time, and although both teams were probably content, I’m sure Arsenal were the happier, having got back into the game at a crucial time.

The second half was more of the same, as the Arsenal pressure just got bigger and bigger. The space they find in the middle of the park is amazing, and WHU couldn’t close them down. However, WHU had some chances with Carroll coming close with a header going just past the post. At the 60 minutes mark Walcott came on, and didn’t look to clever to be honest. Until about 15 minutes later when Diame got robbed of the ball, Walcott got on the end of it with no one near him, and cooly slotted home to put the Gunners ahead. During that 15 Vaz Te halfheartedly got into a tangle with Mannone, and got rewarded with a dislocated shoulder. Also Demel, who was playing well, went off with knock to be replaced by Tompkins, who must be in for a shout for a next game, as we are losing defenders like Man U at the moment.

This put WHU into a bit of a spin, and the third looked imminent. But after 5 minutes we seemed to be making a fist of it again, with Nolan having a couple of chances that he didn’t finish. With 7 to go Carzola drilled in a 20 yrd screamer to end WHU’s chances of at least one point, and close the game out for Arsenal.

So we end up 1-3 to Arsenal, and we learn the the Premier League is still 2 or 3 leagues in one. We lost the game in the middle, as we spent most of our time chasing shadows, we were just not quick enough. Jarvis was also found wanting on the wing against Kieran Gibbs, as was Vaz Te when we swapped about. Whether this is fitness or awareness, will be down to BFS to sort out.

But its not all doom and gloom for the Hammers. Carroll was fantastic, and Reid played well again, as did Diame (although some final ball passing wouldn’t go amiss). Nolan’s fitness was found out again. Also, if Noble thinks he has an England chance, he needs to stop trying and failing to deliver Gerrardesque hollywood balls, and concentrate on what he is good at. Maybe he could hit the club shop and get a few season reviews from the Scott Parker era.

So not too disappointed overall, and after the international break we have Southampton at home, which should be 3 points for WHU on current form.

MOTM: Carroll for WHU, but overall Cazorla ran the game from start to finish, and got a good goal at the end.

arsenal — Cazorla with 3 WHU players. A familiar sight unfortunately !

Mrben on the The Jam

From 1977 to 1982 there was no better band in the world and since then many have tried and most have failed to become the band that inspired their own generation and so in the words of Mr John Weller I give you “The best f**king band in the world. The Jam!”.

Formed properly in Woking 1974 originally as a four piece (with Steve Brookes on guitar) was Paul Weller, Rick Buckler, and Bruce Foxton. They played working mens clubs, covering Beatles and Rock and Roll standards.

Brookes left, and the remainder signed to Polydor and released their first album and single (In the City), in 1977. From the off, the influences were obvious. The street smart mod look of The Who, the power of the punk movement, and the musical knowhow of Motown.

The next 5 years were a whirlwind of fire and skill, as the singles and albums kept coming. The Albums: This is the Modern World, All Mod Cons, Setting Sons, Sound Affects and The Gift. The singles are 18 in number, and contain the stone wall classics of Town Called Malice, Going Underground, and Eton Rifles.

Album, tour , single, tour, album, etc. The pace was relentless, and in late 82 Weller called time on what most would admit was his best band. And although the rest of his career continues to have extreme highs, these days would never been seen again.

November sees the 30th Anniversary of the release of the The Gift Album ,and Polydor have celebrated this by re-releasing this very underrated (in my opinion) album. There will some special versions containing extra tracks (mainly unreleased) ,and some demos, etc. And one bad boy super bundle, with all sorts (DVD’s etc). This is on my list and already ordered here:

This album is straight up class from start to finish. The title track alone could of been another number one if released as a single. Ghosts showed a more mature Weller, and Trans-Global-Express, although ripping off a Northern Soul classic with no remorse, is a foot stomping masterclass in rebel rousing.

If the Jam are new to you, or you just know a few singles try these for size: If nothing else, it shows the high standard of nearly all of the band’s tracks.

Pretty Green

Standards

Private Hell

The live shows were always where The Jam excelled, from the 100 club in 1977, to Wembley and Brighton in 82 (was at both !). If you can get a copy of the Trans-Global-Express DVD, then do. Its short, but shows just how well 3 people can make so much noise, and be so close to the crowd in a way, that only maybe Green Day have come close to since.

With rather fortuitous timing, Bruce Foxton is releasing his first album for nearly 30 years as well this week. He is in another 3 piece, and this is being hailed as being what the Jam could of become. I’ve only heard the single, and it is a great track, albeit helped by Russel Hastings, the vocalist. This guys sounds a lot like Weller, which is no surprise as he is also the lead singer for Foxtons “From the Jam” combo. Also on the album are Steve Cropper from the great Stax House Band (and Blues Brothers), and one Paul Weller who plays glockenspiel on the first single.

The album has been funded in an interesting manner using pledgemusic, which for 3.5k will send the band round to your next BBQ.

The single is called Number 6, and can be found here

So that’s the Jam, there are about 100 other great tracks, but no point banging on . Get downloading, and feel like Gary Crowley !

Brora Oct 2012

Just a quick one purely for the photos. I went to the North of Scotland this weekend for a family wedding and a good time was had by all. The weather for this time of year was amazing, although a bit windy. when its like this there is no better scenery on this plantet. Heres a few snaps i got. Some from the DLR, some, the compact, but the best beach ones were from an iphone 3GS ! Never dismiss a camera just the opportunity. Click to see properly. Enjoy.

[Update 02/10/2012] Since putting these up I’ve noticed a few views from photographers. Comments welcome from those who know what they are doing !