Your Day (apart from gardening) - what took place?

The French version of Christmas Christmas eve meal was oysters, prawns, home-made foie gras with h/m red onion marmalade, cheese and ice cream. All served as separate courses.
Then Christmas day, scallops in cream sauce, followed by cooked foie gras with fig conserve, capon with sprouts and chestnuts, then h/m mince pie with h/m rum'n'raisin ice cream. Washed down with a nice, local dry white (definitely not home-made ). I don't think I could ever face a plateful of meat and several veg all mixed together Today is with English friends. Luckily, a buffet! Then a couple of days of salad and mineral water before it all starts again for New Year!

 

I gave my jukebox wall boxes a good work out. "Use is the best form of preventative maintenance."
These are on a shelf I made for them in my den..alright...our front room. I bought them cheaply several years ago, when few knew what to do with them.
As the owner of a couple of "proper" jukeboxes for over a decade, I was aware of the new technology, through enthusiasts' messageboards in the USA.



The titles are on Toblerone shaped lozenges, which turn by means of a knob on the side of the box. I can download a pdf proforma from an enthusiast's site, to type out the information in a number of different styles and colours.
I use

Brown for Motown and Soul



Green for Pop



Blue for Jazz.




"For those unaware," these boxes are from the seventies and would have been connected to a "hideaway," all the mechanics, amplifier and record carousel of a jukebox in a 3ft cube wooden box in a back room of a bar.
Modern technology has meant that with an adapter the size of a matchbox I bought from the USA and a 3rd gen iPod,



I can use them to play mp3 selections on an i-Tunes playlist through my vintage 1980 Leak tuner/amp and equally vintage 1972 Goodmans speakers.

I've three iPods, one for each wall box and a third for another titles magazine which are easily swopped over,







I can only play the number of choices for which the boxes were originally designed, in this case 160, that would have been the "A and B" sides of the 80 records in the carousel. Although one choice could be a whole album. But with this system you don't have to have any unpopular "B sides."

The "nostalgia element," is putting in the old 50p coins and hearing the mechanism work, after making a selection, it clicks like an old dial-up telephone. I can also empty the cashbox. You get some sort of satisfaction being able to do that!


Anyway, I played several Isley Brothers songs, which prompted me to download the music for one of my favourite of theirs and play and record it on my leccy piano.


Box

 

Been a bit bored today, did clear some leaves, cleaned my golf trolley, clubs and my golf shoes, usual chore on a Saturday or Sunday.

Heard this on the telly yesterday, not heard it in years. I like the tune so had a go at it.

Box

 

The bee gees, love them.
Learnt how to put videos on here from YouTube.

 

My favourite version of that particular song, is this one.

I always thought Kelly Rowland was underrated. In my opinion a better singer than Beyoncé.




So versatile.

From the film, Mona Lisa Smile.

 

Those are great.
I like this one that was written by the bee gees, but she recorded it first.

Samantha sang

 

That brings back memories.

I like that one too.

I've had the sheet music for forty years.




She was a bit of a "one hit wonder" but I liked her voice.

 

Really,I hadn't heard of her until i started watching youtube.

 

I like this one, hubby can't stand her voice. But i think she's good.

 

Went on the Sunday litter pick. We are choosing roads that no-one lives on as we don't want to give anyone the idea that we will be picking their rubbish whilst the bin men are on a Work to Rule.

 

Too early for that joke...... but I get your point.

We had a full on strike the summer of 2017 and the council almost went from Labour to Tory in the next local elections. They lost quite a lot of support. And the main reason was the bin strike. It dragged on for weeks. So I think the present council have learnt lessons from that and have brought in contractors much earlier. The Olympus bin wagons have been spotted today.

Of course, the Council Tax is going up again next year and the Council are blaming it on the Government. But this isn't going to help. This city is usually solidly Labour. We tend to vote Tory as a punishment!

 

Took down the Christmas lights. Never bother about the Twelfth Night tradition.
It's 2019. Let's move on.