RKmusic

5-a-side with Pacific Storm

Hi everyone.

Well what a fantastic day I’ve had today !  My highlight of the day was undoubtedly the Pacific Storm 5-a-side tournament. I was back in goal again, despite my dodgy knees, one of which no longer has the full compliment of cartilage ; both of which are troubled with arthritis ( old age creeping in ! ).

Rob - PSFC

As usual, it was great to see, and play with, all the lads from Pacific Storm. I was lucky to be in the PSFC 1 team with Andy Lo, Joey Man, Vince Mac, Steve Ho, and Ken Cheung. They played the ball around well, took on opposing players, scored some great goals and, for the most part, defended pretty well too. But somehow, it wasn’t our day.  We played four games and things went well at first as we drew the first game. But it was evident that we were getting a bit tired in the second half.  Then, we had to play back to back games.  This took its toll as we were unable to take another point from our subsequent three matches.

But everyone looked like they had a great time, me included, with a bunch of guys who have always been a pleasure to play with, and still are.  At the end of the day, I suppose what’s really important is that they’re all really nice people !  I may not have got to know any of them as really close friends, indeed I have to confess that I still struggle to remember all their names after all this time ( old age creeping in again ),  but my time spent in the company of everyone connected with Pacific Storm FC will always be much valued and I will always have fantastic memories.  Anyway enough of all this.  Next year’s tournament is only 12 months away … I can’t wait !

This evening Rosie and Joel took me to The Swan in Staines, where I had two pints of Fullers Red Fox ( very nice ! ), raising a glass to PSFC and all associated with the the club.

Cheers,  Rob.

Brief Highlights of the Week

Hello everyone.

Well, this past week has flown by and what  fantastic weather we’ve had, to boot !

John - recording at 'Shabby'

The highlights of the week  ( apologies to Harry Hill whose new series of TV Burp starts soon ) :

Wednesday, John came over … Yes, that’s Johnny Unkempt of Riff Raff fame to you and me … to record some more tracks for the CD. We had a productive session, due to be followed up with another session or two in the coming week. Yes, it’s all go at ‘Shabby’ !

Last night ( Saturday ), was the cricket club presentation evening including curry, quiz and mayhem. A very enjoyable night !

Well, that’s all for this rather brief round-up.         BFN,   Rob.

Bank Holiday Weekend Capers

Hi there !

Well, it’s been a busy bank holiday weekend, and no mistake. Here are the edited highlights !

Power Of Soul

Saturday evening was spent at The Crown in Cowley, where Power of Soul were performing and, as usual, Gavin and the boys played some superb soul music. I haven’t been to see them play for some while so it made quite a pleasant change from the usual crash bang, noisy guitar bands which I would normally go and see.  So, next time you get the chance, go and see ‘Power of Herring’ … sorry, I mean ‘Power of Soul’ … I always get the wrong fish !

Earlier in the day I went with Rosie for a look round St. Albans.  A nice change of scenery but the traffic was a bit heavier than anticipated.  Still, we had a quick bite to eat and took a few pictures of the Abbey.

On Sunday, I had a trot out for another game of cricket. I managed seven overs – didn’t bowl too bad !  I picked up a wicket – a rather pleasing little ‘caught behind’ despite still being restricted with my knee  … And we lost !  Oh well, try again next week !   The after-match trip to ‘School Of Spice’ in Shepperton, was well worth the visit.  Good food, good service, and a very nice place to go to tuck into your Jalfrezi !   Cheers Tom and good luck on your travels !

Rosie took me to Hastings on bank holiday Monday, but she wasn’t terribly impressed with the place.  However, we were impressed with The Chequers in Battle ; a pleasant pub we stopped at for lunch. The food was excellent, matched by the friendly staff and service. If you’re  in the the Hastings area and you’re looking for a decent pub, you could do a lot worse than The Chequers in Battle !  ( Hmm, I could be the new Egon Ronay ! ) Right, that’s the end of the commercial … what’s next ? … Not a lot actually !

So, hope to see loads of people at Jam Night on Thursday.  Don’t forget, from now on,  it starts at 9pm and finishes at 11.30pm !   Until then,     BFN,    Rob.

Jam Night moving forward 30 mins

Dave and Pete rockin' at Jam Night

Hello everyone.

Last night’s Jam Night was up to the usual high standard with loads of people performing, listening and having a damn jolly spiffing time ! !  New photos and videos, showing highlights from last night’s jam Night, can now be viewed by clicking on Photos & Videos above.

Anyway, there are a couple of important things to tell you about. Please note that there’s a new time for Thursday Jam Nights at The Middlesex Arms. From now on Jam Night will start at 9.00pm  and  finish at 11.30pm.   Yes, it’s being moved forward half an hour.   Please also be aware, that in future, we will be keeping the lid on the volume. This follows an official complaint which the pub has recently received.  Apart from that, it’s business as usual.

So, hope to see you next week.          BFN,       Rob.

Riff Raff John at Jam Night

Hi Folks !

John - spotted at Jam Night

Last night’s Jam Night went well – another bumper evening of Rock, Pop, Blues and Funk !  And what’s more there was a very special guest in the audience.  The one and only infamous Johnny Unkempt of mighty Riff Raff fame was spotted in the appreciative Thursday night crowd. He enjoyed it so much, he may come and play next time – might have to make it an all ticket event that week !

So what else has been going on ? Musically, I’ve had a bit of a break from recording. More work on the up and coming Riff raff CD is due to continue in the coming weeks.  Last weekend started with a trip to The Barley Mow in Shepperton to see Ed Hamilton – another enjoyable evening!

Last Sunday I was back on the cricket field. We won a pretty amazing game and I got three wickets – Got battered a bit though !

Going back a bit further to the previous weekend, I spent the Saturday afternoon at The Hogs Back Brewery in Tongham. Didn’t drink anything but I did buy a few bottles.

As mentioned previously, Jam Nights are going well and if you haven’t been before, or of late, then get down there – you don’t know what you’re missing !

Oh well, that’s it for now.

See you soon,   BFN,   Rob.

Robfest 2011

Hello everyone.

Well, in case you didn’t realise it, Robfest 2011 took place last Sunday in downtown Ashford in the searing afternoon sunshine and into a barmy summer’s evening and in front of an appreciative specially invited audience. As in previous years, everyone seemed to enjoy the occasion with a varied cuisine and all manner of drinks, readily consumed. The Riff Raff boys arrived one by one to supply the live music from the gazebo, as arranged by  ’Jools Robfest’ himself.

Riff Raff at Robfest 2011... Ooh look, it's Ian !

But where had Ian got to ?  ’Mr. Keys’ was conspicuous by his absence, and there was a gaping void in the gazebo where the keyboards should have been. Eventually  ’Mr. Fest’ rang  ’El Ton’ only to find him sitting at home, all comfy, watching the cricket on the telly. I have to record at this point how commendable this would be under normal circumstances – watching the Test Match, prioritising it above all else … but we’re talking ‘Robfest’ here, which was by now well underway but lacking the presence of fingers !  Eventually Ian did arrive and the classic Riff Raff line up was complete, unlike the first set of classics, during which there were the predictable mutterings from within the Gazebo concerning Ian’s non-presence, which was all due to him thinking that Robfest was next week, even though it had been moved forward a week because he couldn’t make it the week before. Confused ? !  In the end, he made up for it with his dulcet vocal tones and varied keyboard sounds, as you would expect. So all in all, a lovely afternoon and evening of fun in the sun.

You can relive some of your favourite moments, or if you weren’t there, like Ian nearly wasn’t, you can see highlights on video and photos – just click on  Photos & Videos  above and scroll about a bit and you should find them there somewhere. You might even see yourself !

Oh well that’s about it for now … Till next time … BFN, Rob.

Back from the Isle Of Wight

Hello everyone.

On the IOW showing Hendrix how it's done

Well, Me and Rosie have just returned from a week in the Isle Of Wight, during which time we visited some of our favourite old haunts including the Wednesday Curry Night at The White Lion in Arreton – probably the best Curry Night in the world !  On Friday night we were in Shanklin where we split the evening in two, starting off  at The Crab to see Lewis Berry and later moving on to King Harry’s Bar, where ‘Smokestack’ entertained with an evening of rock covers - nothing flash or pretentious just good standards played well – very good !

On Sunday, having returned home the previous day, it was time to try to resurrect my injury hit cricketing career. I marked my comeback with a couple of overs to ease back into things and picked up a wicket into the bargain – a nice little ‘caught behind’.

This coming Wednesday more recording mayhem is planned at ‘Shabby Road’ when Riff Raff John will be visiting to add more sounds to the CD, and Thursday will see me back at Jam Night – hope they didn’t miss me too much last week ! !

So that’s about it for now – see ya soon,   BFN,   Rob.

New Tuesday Jam Night ends

The new Tuesday Jam Night has come to an abrupt end  !

Unfortunately the new Jam Night at Ruislip Social Club, has ended after a two week trial period, due to low attendance. A shame really, as the venue is comfortable with good acoustics and a stage too !

These things happen, but be assured that Thursdays at The Middlesex Arms is still very much up and running.

So, see you there.

BFN, Rob.

Busy Busy

Hello !

Well, it’s been busy busy just lately, with Jam Night last Thursday, plus the first of the new Jam Nights on Tuesday !

The Riff Raff CD took another step forward when Ian came over on Wednesday to record some more stuff. And I’ve put a few more tracks together on another solo project I’m working on. When will all this be completed ? Who knows – there’s still a way to go yet.

On the sporting front, I played cricket last weekend – my first game since my knee operation last August. Thursday was 5-a-side,  Friday was 7-a-side. I came through it all OK but in truth still struggling a bit. I umpired the second innings of our home league game yesterday. It was an enjoyable game which we won !

So, there we are – a brief round-up of what I’ve been up to lately.

So,until next time,    BFN,    Rob.

New Tuesday Jam Night

Hi folks !

I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear that there’s a new Jam Night to start very soon.  Thanks to Gavin, this new Tuesday Night extravaganza will be happening at :

Ruislip Social Club, Grosvenor Vale, Ruislip HA4  6JQ

starting Tuesday 28th June,  from  8 till 11 pm

*Everybody welcome    *Musicians of all sorts    *Backline and PA provided

*Free Entry

So don’t just sit there doing nothing on Tuesday evenings – grab your instrument of choice and get down to Ruislip Social Club … or just come and have a listen !

See you there.    BFN, Rob.