In readiness for the work that needs doing on the MX5 exhaust system, I’ve chopped out the section with the oxygen sensor attached. I did try to take the sensor off/out. But it’s seized solid!
The section I need, with attached sensor.
Apparently the garages that do this sort of thing can undo such tightly seized joints. I hope so! I certainly can’t. But at least now I can transport the parts more easily.
Got all the parts on order – for Monday, they tell me – from bofiracing.co.uk, and scheduled to go straight in for fitting at fourpawracing.co.uk, either Monday or Tuesday.
This is another book gifted to me on my recent birthday, by friend and neighbour, Chris. Thanks, mate!
The first I read from this new batch of books was Waiting For Hitler (read my review of it here). That was about the 1940 invasion scare, and there’s a significant amount of overlap with this book, which is mainly about the 1940 Battle of Britain.
I say mainly because this really quite epic and yet very homely account starts with the collapse and retreat of the BEF, in France, and is therefore initially more land and sea based, rather than aerial.
Authors and historians – and, I guess, TV presenters; this is the book companion to a BBC TV series (which I haven’t seen) – Clayton and Craig expertly weave together accounts from every level of British society (plus a few others, mostly Americans). There are sailors, pilots, soldiers, child evacuees, WAAFs, secretaries, journalists and even the big guns, like Churchill and FDR.
I found this a thrilling and very gripping read. And I was glued to it from start to finish. Starting out in France, with an ignominious retreat in the face of the seemingly invincible Wehrmacht, via the ‘miracle of Dunkirk’, to the Luftwaffe’s battles to first destroy the RAF, and then bring terror and ‘revenge’ to London and Britain’s cities.
I’ve knocked off half a star, about which I feel a bit conflicted, for the slightly ‘tally-ho, chaps’ populist tone the books slips into occasionally. It is in truth a very broad ranging and nuanced account. But just every now and then it tips a little too far towards the ‘celebratory patriotic myths of WWII’ vibe.
But in conclusion, Clayton and Craig very deftly weave together a highly exciting and often quite moving tapestry of accounts of this incredible period in British and World history. One is drawn into the very real moments, and even the feelings, from the mundane to hugely significant, from personal sorrow, to national hope.
Black eyed dog he called at my door The black eyed dog he called for more A black eyed dog he knew my name A black eyed dog he knew my name A black eyed dog A black eyed dog I'm growing old and I wanna go home, I'm growing old and I dont wanna know I'm growing old and I wanna go home Black eyed dog he called at my door The black eyed dog he called for more
Never been a dog person. Much prefer cats! But a little yappy terrier called Insomnia is barking and biting at my heels again. Put the little fucker down, I say.
And in the hallway, in the shadows, his darker more vulpine cousin can be heard, panting and drooling, occasionally pacing the few meagre feet of corridor. Depression is that mutt’s name. I can smell his stink from here.
I’m not listening to it literally. But the words and melodies of Drake’s ‘Black Eyed Dog’ are circling like carrion in my spent and careworn brain.
I'm growing old and I wanna go home, I'm growing old and I dont wanna know
Can I get an a-men? Too right! Ah-bleedin’-men! Can I get a hallelujah? You must be fucking joking! Tired of scrabbling in the dirt and dust in the peripheral shadows. Stop the ride, I’m sick and dizzy, and I want to get off.
Some while ago our neighbour alerted me to some footage he’d caught on his home security videos, showing some villains fiddling with several cars on our street, inc. mine!
Rear view; exhaust attached by sensor lead!
At the time we’d concluded – and confirmed with a neighbour further down the road – that these miscreants were thieving catalytic converters. One of the neighbours further down the road had actually arrived home as the bastards were leaving his front drive.
Look how the thieves cut/compressed the pipe!
They were so quickly down and back up again by my car that I assumed they’d decided against bothering to try and take mine. I was wrong! But it took a while for the issue to develop; gradually my exhaust system grew noisier and noisier.
It turns out that some cunts do this ‘professionally’, and use a tool called the jaws of life* (or something like that?) to snip through pipes and noiselessly remove CATs.
Sheets and tools in the road, trying to disconnect the sensor.
Anyway, as I got into my car today, to go to do a delivery route for Amazon, the whole exhaust system was roaring and rattling like an emphysemic dragon. I barely got 10 yards, and had to stop, get out, and look under the car. Almost all of the exhaust between where it exits the engine bay, and the box at the rear of the car, was hanging loose.
The engine side of the ‘snip’.The rear of the car, and the other break.
Even worse, it transpired that it was solely connected to the car by the wiring of a lambda oxygen sensor. After several hours spent getting the car up on jacks, with thoughts of zip-tying it back in place, which didn’t work, I tried to remove the sensor, where it joins the exhaust.
Second view of the rear break.
But that was seized solid; so, no dice! It then became a question of finding out how to disconnect the other end of the sensor wiring. This, it turned out, disappeared up into the bodywork of the car. It took a lot of hard work, both on the car and researching online, to finally crack that conundrum.
And all of this in very cold, muddy, drizzly conditions, with the car protruding several feet into a busy road. Gaaargh!!! I had to cancel the Amazon delivery shift, and forego any lunch. And I spent literally three or four hours doing all this. It’s the sort of thing one ought to be able to do in minutes if, A) one knows the anatomy of the vehicle intimately, and B) has the right tools.
The clip end of the sensor cable. Inaccessible!
Once I’d finally and mercifully got the damaged and broken section of exhaust off, I stuck it in the passenger side of the car. Doing all of this did teach me more about the motor. And I took the photos that illustrate this post, which I sent to various MX5 parts folk, and potential repair garages.
A YouTuber’s vid’ located the sensor clip junction, inside the passenger side interior.
It was thanks to the photographic evidence that I learned my CAT definitely had been stolen. The most damning and conclusive evidence was how the exhaust had clearly been snipped, and compressed, just around where the CAT ought to have been.
So not only do I have to replace 80% of the exhaust assembly. I also have to get a new catalytic converter. I got some quotes on parts and work. And it’s a nightmare, frankly. Because, as ever, I’m stone broke.
Finally! Unclipped. Allowing exhaust removal.
Still, in the past we’ve always battled through and found a way, even if – as with the cam-belt episode – I had to do the sourcing, buying and fitting of everything myself. This time I can’t see myself doing the installation. Partly this is due to the time of year; having to try and do such work out in the front drive or the main road? It’s just too cold and wet!
The exhaust, sat in the passenger side.
* As used by fire crews to rescue passengers trapped in crash-damaged vehicles.
PS – This is the YouTube video that enabled me to finally locate and uncouple the sensor:
A friend and neighbour, of many years past, Denis, first showed me this video. Many, many moons ago. And I wept tears of laughter. It totally slew me. So funny!
And watching it again now, probably at least a decade later, it still makes me laugh and smile. It’s clearly a labour of love, by whoever originated it. I’s actually really very well done.
Damn! This cat is one cool dude.
But what I think I like best about it, and it’s rather timely right now, is the hipster in the sports car that bookends the Beach Boys studio mime performance. The cat in the shades, top down in the palm-lined Hollywood boulevards, is clearly a major dude.
Yeah, man. One slick cruising’ stud. (Gurgle, splutter!)
But just dig that gurgling drain of an engine! It sets up the video perfectly, and the attention to changing timbres and nuances, in the final segment? Genius! Comedy gold.
It’s very apt for me right now, as a jaded and disappointed middle-aged man, driving a convertible car whose exhaust has just literally fallen off (this very day!). My dear little MX5 sounds rather like this hipster’s ride. Not as comedically chortling a chariot, admittedly. But close.
I tried to find out who made this video, and my best guess so far is Total Shreds. Here are a few more. Some, like this Elvis one, subtract the music, to great comic effect:
And this ABBA one shows the degree of dedication to the art of making these. The Smoke On The Water guitar moment is priceless.
I’ve been digging my other Vince Guaraldi Charlie Brown recordings so much I wanted more. A bit of rooting about online revealed this as a potential next acquisition. So I pulled the trigger!
It’s an odd album compared to the other two CB Guaraldi albums (A Boy Named CB, and A CB Christmas), in that they are both quite conventional musical albums. This, on the other hand, is a collection of shorter ‘musical cues’.
So rather than an album of longer recorded pieces derived from the shorter cues used on the TV animations, these are those short musical cues. And not only that, there are many repeated iterations of the same or very similar short musical themes.
This means this disc largely comprises many renderings of a rather limited number of compositions, plus a few more singular oddments. So, for example, take that old favourite, Linus and Lucy… there are seven, yes, seven versions here! Similarly, there are five Great Pumpkin Waltzes and five Graveyard Themes, and so on.
This makes listening to the entire CD in the way you would most normal albums a bit odd. I love the music contained herein. But I’m not sure how often I’d want to sit through such a repetitive program of music.
But let’s backtrack momentarily. How did this music come down the years to us in this form? Well, the love for Guaraldi’s Peanuts/Charlie Brown themed music endures, and a kind of ‘quest in to the archives’ brought to light what had long been assumed to be lost; master tapes of the Guaraldi sessions for this Halloween themed TV special.
And it’s clear from the liner notes that this has been a passion project for lovers of Guaraldi’s great jazzy extension of the whole Schulz Peanutsiverse, so to speak. So from the perspective of musical and artistic cultural archaeology this is pure gold. Five star fare!
And really it is musically, as well. Admittedly modern mastering does reveal some of the limitations of the source material, in terms of hi-fi or sonic clarity. For those in love with Guaraldi’s CB work, this is a great treasure trove. And I’d count myself in that demographic. But nonetheless, I’ll probably cherry pick my favourite tracks/takes, and make a more succinct less repetitive playlist, rather than frequently listening to the album entirely as it is.
For these 1966 dates Guaraldi was once again in trio with Monty Budwig (bass) and Colin Bailey (drums), who had recorded CB sessions with Vince before. But that core group was further augmented by guitarist John Gray, Emmanuel Klein (trumpet), and Ronald Lang (woodwinds). Also in the studio, in a new development, was a John Scott Trotter, credited with orchestration (waving a baton while the tape rolled, apparently!).
Back to the tunes: it’s interesting hearing the oh so familiar Linus & Lucy getting reworked, and with horns. And there are a few lovely themes or pieces unique to this special, such as the achingly gorgeous Great Pumpkin Waltz, and the spooky Graveyard Theme.
Then there are some slightly odder less oft repeated things, like Snoopy and the Leaf, Frieda, Fanfare/Breathless, and a little suite of solo piano ‘oldies’: It’s A Long Way to Tipperary/There’s a Long-Long Trail a-Winding/Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag/Roses of Picardy.
I’m pretty sure I read online that this stuff was released a while back in straight-off-the-soundtrack form, with sounds from the cartoon show included/intruding. Alas, I can’t recall where I read that? But mention was made that there was much grumbling about this, and a cleaned up version was in the works. I guess this must be that?
It’s an oddball CD, I guess, and probably likely to appeal most strongly to Guaraldi and/or Charlie Brown über-buffs. Whatever, as folk say these days, I’m glad I got it!
Today was a terrifically relaxing Sunday, after a rather odd Saturday (about the latter*; least said, soonest mended!).
What a funny boy!
For once we actually got properly stuck in to doing next to nothing. And boy was it worth it! It’s actually incredibly hard to really stop and do very little. Modern life has this way of making one feel permanently plugged in to myriad little chores and worries.
Of course we didn’t literally do absolutely nothing. It was Chinese New Year, so we had a Chinese meal, partly from the local takeaway, and partly home cooked. We ate at the dining table. A rare event! Mainly because it’s usually overloaded with detritus.
The Sunday Scrabble board.
We also played our usual game of Sunday afternoon Scrabble, after taking some turns on Crash Bandicoot 2, on my ancient but still functioning PS1. Whilst playing Scrabble we watched The Fast Lady, starring Stanley Baxter, James Robertson Justice, Leslie Phillips and Julie Christie. Goodness me, Christie really was something!
What a great poster!**
I think we must’ve watched this movie before? Either that, or it’s almost identical to another we’ve seen!? The weird thing is that I have memories of watching a film with almost exactly the same plot (and possibly even the same actors?) but in black and white, not colour. And with a different car at the centre of the action. A car with all kinds of weird pipes coming out of the engine? Or am I conflating two different films into one? But of a mystery either way!
Screen blankets…… prevent frosting.
And talking about cars: my Mazda needs these protective window doodads Teresa bought me, which keep the two main screens frost-free. And I’ve also been putting a blanket in the boot, to wrap up the battery, and prevent it causing no-starts!
-3° according to my iPhone weather app.
* This little asterisked note is a much later (23/3/‘23) addition to this post; only much later – the gravity of the situation at the time eluded me – have I come to realise what a complete effin’ nightmare might ensue from my getting thrown out of our local ‘Spoons, aka The Hippodrome.
Teresa and I used to be model customers, and regular patrons. Not because of Tim the Twat’s appalling politics, or the enlightened way in which he runs his business, but because it was just good enough on the cost/benefit scales, when it came to eating out as an occasional treat, to work well for us.
I am now a leper pariah, barred entrance!
A sporran affair: ‘Och, worra lassie!‘
** If misleading: Leslie Phillips, his babes, and JRJ all really take a back seat to the two stars missing from this poster, Baxter & Christie!
I had wanted to get this in time for the 2022 Yuletide season. But I didn’t. But, with gift voucher funds from Teresa and Patrick, I did finally get it after Xmas.
Speaking frankly, and especially as I’ve loved Guaraldi’s A Boy Named Charlie Brown for years now, I can’t believe it’s taken me over a half a century to get around to buying this. A truly terrific recording, this gets my occasional – and reserved for only the berry vest – six stars. It’s just utterly wonderful.
It’s one of those instances where less is more. Much, much more, in this case. Jazz is a musical style in which sometimes the tempos can be high, the vibe intense, and the notes hyper-abundant. This collection, however, belongs to a mellower more Chet Baker-esque jazz world. A musical universe of pretty melodies, and spare pared down playing. I love it!
And it’s not just Guaraldi’s own playing and composing that benefits from this approach. The sidemen here* are, for the most part (a little less so on one or two of the added bonus tracks at the end; we’ll get to them later), the essence of tastefully restrained.
‘Linus and Lucy’ is revisited on this recording, and is a case in point: the main theme is just piano – a beautifully rumbling train like piano – against very minimalist drumming, with the bass dropping out altogether. But the keys and drums duo sound is remarkably full. The bass appears when they go into the B-section, sometimes bossa, sometimes swing; but the vibe remains resolutely Spartan. Fantastic!
Apparently Guaraldi’s ’earthy’ style garnered him the nickname Dr Funk, on the local music scene of his native San Francisco, where he came to fame playing with Cal Tjader. And, whilst talking about learning more about this dude and his music, I’m definitely keen to find out if more of Guaraldi’s work, Schulz related or otherwise, is as good as the two Charlie Brown themed albums I now have. And to that end I intend to check out this NPR show on him:
Looks interesting!
One of Guaraldi’s drummers, Jerry Granelli, is either still going, or only recently passed. I remember watching him not long ago, online (YouTube, no doubt), including in a trio performing Guaraldi’s Peanuts stuff. It struck me that Granelli’s kit looked like an Ayotte, a Canadian drum brand of which I have a beautiful example.
Guaraldi himself passed away quite young, aged just 47. He was busy musically till the end, working on further Peanuts stuff, gigging, skiiing, and then boom… killed by a massive heart attack! Sad, really.
Back to the CD, and happier thoughts! The material is a mixture of trad Christmas stuff, from O Tannenbaum to Mel Tormé’s evergreen classic, The Christmas Song, with some Greensleeves, and a brief but beautiful Fur Elise, by Beethoven, as well as a good fistful of superb Guaraldi originals.
The liner notes to the CD are good, and talk about Guaraldi’s modest self-appraisal, and his desire to make pretty music, and be loved for it. Well, I agree with the liner notes author; you did it Vince, and we love ya!
A few pieces have vocals from a children’s choir, which just adds to the festive charm. The Choir of St Paul’s Episcopal Church do themselves and the music proud.
If you’re interested, you can read more on the Peanut’s Yuletide special here. Rather like the two page comic strip ad for the special itself, that Schulz produced (which finds Charlie Brown lamenting the commercialisation of the season), all this stuff, the music included, had a beautifully gentle and lightly wistful edge to it.
Utterly lovely! Can’t recommend it highly enough.
* Apparently Guaraldi wasn’t the best at keeping accurate records of who performed on his dates. Which has lead to some confusion over personnel credits.
Using several strands of private historical narrative – from ordinary British folk, such as two sisters in Norfolk, or Scots artillery man Frank O’Brien, and members of the Home Guard, etc, to resident ‘aliens’, such as Italian Decio Anzani, or the German Jewish Baruchs – Midge Gillies weaves a tapestry of warmly human firsthand accounts around the theme of ‘Waiting For Hitler’, or the invasion scare of 1940.
It was rather nice that there were quite a few stories relating to areas I know, mostly in East Anglia (and even London), such as Snettisham, and Hauxton. It turns out that Gillies is local – she lives in Ely! – so that might account for the unusual number of Anglian anecdotes!
A lot of what one reads here makes Dad’s Army look worryingly like documentary history, as opposed to loving satire. England, esp. after the ‘heroic’ debacle of Dunkirk, was not well prepared! And the way we treated ‘enemy aliens’ is revealed to be shockingly heavy-handed and unjust.
It’s hard to credit the impact an imminent Nazi invasion really must have had. Though this book does an admirable job of trying to convey the range of feelings, from ennui to all out panic, and from the unifying ‘we’re all in it together’ to the divisive paranoia around fifth columnists.
Perhaps because we know the feared invasion never came, even when one does read these accounts, it can all seem to partake of that ‘cosy rosy memories of WWII’ nostalgia Britain seems so obsesssed with!
Still, all told I found this an enjoyable and compelling read, and can definitely recommend it.
PS – Thanks, Chris, for gifting me this on my recent b’day. T’was a good read!
I didn’t see half as much of the recent Masters Snooker tournament as I’d have liked. But I did catch a few matches. Some, like the Trump vs Bingham semi, were quite dull. Even excruciating at times!
I’d heard the pundits mention that this one, O’Sullivan vs Williams, was a good ‘un. So I thought I’d check it out. I wasn’t disappointed.
‘The best shot so far this afternoon’, quoth Dennis Taylor, as Ronnie pocketed the above pictured long red, clean as the proverbial whistle. This quarter final clash of two snooker Titans, both legends in their own lifetimes, lived up to its billing. Quite a rare thing, I find.
Williams, as funny a player as this face suggests.
Mark Williams is, as any Snooker fan will know, an oddball. Perhaps ironically, being one of the best ‘single shot’ snooker players ever makes him a formidable break builder. A lot of the time he favours floating the balls into the pockets, ‘dead weight’. And this slow measured approach means that sometimes you might forget how good his technique is.
The contrast with Ronnie’s more attacking and aggressive flair makes for a great pairing. And both are super canny, and can, as Hendry likes to observe, be as hard as granite in freezing other players out. Both have superlative Snooker brains, often seeing things others wouldn’t.
This match was great. Perhaps the best of the tournament? Ronnie looked unbeatable at the outset. But Williams turned the tables on him. Both showed how, sometimes, just one mistake can be super costly.
Williams took ages over this shot!
The match reached a final 11th frame decider, and – after a typically gonzo one-armed off the cushion shot (missed!) – Williams played the ‘best shot in this wonderful match’ (Taylor) – pictured above – which had Hendry frothing: ‘magnificent, absolutely magnificent!’
I love Snooker. I find it very relaxing. And I particularly enjoy a really great match, like this: two players playing at the top of their game. Williams finished with a total clearance. Fab!
