Wood-Wrapped Floating House Maximizes Urban Growth | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

This would make a fantastic house boat on the Inland Waterways

via inhabitat.com

I'm trying to imagine one of these on the River Thames in London.

Posted via email from Andy Roberts

Forest Huts

Not exactly yurts, or even approximately, but these forest huts do have a certain nomadic primitive lifestyle atmosphere about them. I would worry about the lack of windows in the longer term, compared to a nice yurt with a wide sky hole, but on the other hand they do seem to have the mildew problem licked if your forest happens to be in the western and rainier part of the country.

Forest Huts: "

Camping is not at the top of my vacation destination list, but the Kolarbyn eco-logde in Sweden looks pretty amazing. Located in a dense forest by the beautiful Lake Skärsjön, Kolarbyn consists of twelve forest huts equipped with cozy sheep skin rugs and a warm fire place. Even though there is no electricity and you have to cut your own firewood, you can experience primitive living at its finest with local food, breathtaking views and adventurous wildlife tours. And hey, how many people can say they've stayed in a cute forest hut?!

Link - Kolarbyn

"

Japan Announces World's First Solar Powered Public Bus | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

via inhabitat.com

The Solar Powered Bus is really a hybrid diesel electric vehicle, like the Prius, but bigger.

Posted via email from Andy Roberts

Argentina_ Worker Controlled Factories

Episode 8 Andy Roberts Plays 3 Beatles Songs

via andyroberts.me

Episode 8 in the new podcast series is now published. There's one song by Steeleye Span, a couple of Beatles covers off the White Album, a noodling tune on my open tuned guitar, yet another version of Standing By and an unexpurgated rendition of John Lennon's Working Class hero.

Posted via email from Andy Roberts

Dodder

Dodder is a parasitic plant that feeds off stinging nettles. Time lapse photography exposes the behaviour well.

Posted via email from Andy Roberts

Havering Folk Club News 22nd August

Havering Folk Club News 22nd August 2010   Hi folks,   Peter here again with the Havering Folk Club News.   Last Session: Wednesday 18th August saw another large turnout with 19 floor spots and a total of 40 in attendance. It looked as if we might not get so many at first and I thought we may be able go round twice; however, no sooner had we got started than more started arriving and it became clear that it would be a one-go-each night.   We had several newcomers in the audience this time, who seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves and we hope they will be along again.   John Clarke did the MCs honours again and after starting things off with a song and a guitar solo he introduced Bernie & Maureen Pilgrim, myself, Smolowik, Helen Tegg, Bert Dady & Keith Petty, Andy Roberts, “Pep” Pepper, Len Reeder, Phil Duffield.   John took the break after Phil and one of our newcomers, Lynette agreed to draw the raffle – and drew her partner Nick’s ticket! A good introduction to the club.   After the break we heard from Dave Worley, Linda Worley, Mike Willmore, Jane Thomson, Tony Thomson, Mick Brown, Kris Pouch, Rosie Varey and Margaret Nicholson. John then finished the evening with another guitar solo. A great finish to a great evening.   Guv’nor Simon: Remember him? Quite a few have remarked that he hasn’t been around for some time now. In fact he has ongoing trouble with his back and is still off work. It seems there are a couple of discs causing the problems and surgery now looks as if it will have to be considered. I’ll keep everyone updated but clearly Simon looks like being at least a medium-term absentee. Naturally we wish him well.   Other Stuff: Jim Coombes, an HFC visitor about three months ago,  is about to start a new folk club in the Loughton area but is unsure what format it should take. I paste his e-mail below:   I really am about to do something to start the club off !   It would be very helpful to know what sort of club you would like to see. There are already several singaround sessions nearby on various days so it would be appropriate to do some things differently. In addition to local singers and guest evenings my personal wish list includes a regular Ukulele session and a regular music session but I don't know how popular they'd be or what format they should take so I would like to hear your opinions as well as any ideas you might have yourself.   So don't be shy !  Please drop me a reply and let me know.   And if you know anyone else who might be interested please pass this on and ask them to send me their contact details.   Expect something to happen this year :-)   All the best   Jim Coombes   If you’re interested in a club in the Loughton area, then do contact Jim and let him know what sort of club you’d like. His e-mail is loughtonfolkclub@googlemail.com   Next Merry Meeting: Wednesday, 25th August is another open session when all are welcome to sing, play or simply listen to some excellent music in a great atmosphere, so: Make it a date – Wednesday at eight!   Cheers – Peter W.   If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, simply reply with the word “Unsubscribe”   Havering Folk Club,  The Golden Lion,  2 High Street,   Romford,  RM1 1HR.   01708 724544                      07860 452623                  haverfolk@yahoo.co.uk                                www.haveringfolkclub.bravehost.com

Posted via email from Andy Roberts

Zend

I had trouble with one of the UK based web hosting companies again. I couldn't get into any WordPress dashboards, which meant not being able to update my Andy Roberts podcast site.  The support people needed evidence in order to recreate the problem, and it felt as if the just didn't believe me, telling me to clear the browser cache and all that kind of distraction. I wasn't having that good a day anyway. Then in the end it suddenly started working again. Later they closed the support ticket but I wrote back and asked for an explanation of what had been wrong ad what they did to fix it, this is the reply:

As "Zend Extension Manager" is not work with latest Zend Optimizer, i have downgraded the Zend Optimizer and install Zend Extension Manager on the server.

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/91s4

Wordr linked from BBC News

via news.bbc.co.uk

Wordr is pointed up and linked to by the BBC Webscape programme and website.

Posted via email from Andy Roberts

New Videos from Andy Roberts music 21 August 2010

New Videos from Andy Roberts Music

• The Last Nail - Andy Roberts boat building folk song
• Wrecked Again - Michael Chapman cover Andy Roberts hfc
• You Can't Say "NO" to that Woman
• Deep River Blues + Nobody Know You When You're Down And Out
• You Can Count On Me | Andy Roberts
• Doing it all alone
• Hesitation Blues - Andy Roberts Podcast Episode 6

Andy Roberts Weekly podcast at http;//andyroberts.me

Posted via email from Andy Roberts

The answer to the threat from telephones

New technology - the threat to our information

View more presentations from normanlamont.

Posted via email from Andy Roberts

Magazine Themes

Well I'm totally fed up with Wordpress Magazine themes now, so I'll be looking to switch over to something nice and simple as the new theme for my main Andy Roberts DARnet blog.







Maybe even just a slight clone of the ubiquitous Twenty Ten

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/8ulx

Andy Roberts Podcast Episode 7

Episode 7 of the Andy Roberts Podcast is now up on iTunes



http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/andy-roberts/id378470885



songlist:

Postcards from Scarborough - Mike Chapman

Shifting Sands – Andy Roberts

Wild World – Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam

The Last Nail – Andy Roberts

I am The Way – Loudon Wainwright

Winter in Andalucia – Andy Roberts

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/8tmz

I'd like to thank the commentator who wrote about the Stratford Orbit tower http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2010/04/02/the-orbit-tower-olympic-park-stratford-east-london-2012#comment-109205 http://amplify.com/u/8tcx

Andy Roberts Podcast on the PodcastBlaster Podcast Directory

Podcast title Andy Roberts Website URL http://andyroberts.me Description Andy Roberts, songwriter, singer and acoustic guitar player. Download music podcast, live streaming, videos and albums. Updated Sun, 15 Aug 2010 11:21:10 +0000 Image

via podcastblaster.com

I suppose it's worth adding the Andy Roberts podcast RSS into a few of the higher profile podcast directories. Maybe some people use these portals for discovering new podcasts to subscribe to. And it's a link. So long as I mention the main site at http://andyroberts.me during the podcast itself from time to time without getting in the way of the music.

Posted via email from Andy Roberts

Free Hotel West End Show

Yes, the offer is back on again, a FREE HOTEL when you book certain West End Show deals. All you have to do is first choose your favourite musical or play from those that are on offer. Then makes sure you pick a date which is within the current free hotel offer's range -

The offer applies to bookings made between 26th July to 27th September 2010.

Free Hotel West End Show

The link above refers to an earlier hotel and theatre break, but if you click on through you'll find the current offer is very much on.

Offer excludes Friday evening performances of Dirty Dancing, Dreamboats and Petticoats, Hair and Jersey Boys.

Selected matinee performances are available for All the Fun of the Fair, Blood Brothers, Burn the Floor, Chicago, Dirty Dancing, Dreamboats & Petticoats, Grease, Hair, Sweet Charity, Sister Act & We Will Rock You.

This offer is unavailable on Sister Act is between 10th -31st August.

Read more: http://www.show-and-stay.co.uk/free-hotel-offer/terms-and-conditions.html#ixzz0whlBf8AW

So you've got Billy Elliot, Wicked, Dirty Dancing and many more....

The when you've put your date in chosen the show, the show deals with the free hotel offer should come up first in the search results.

Free Hotel West End Show

Posted via email from London Theatre Breaks

Photo time capsule August 8th -22nd 2009

Andy Roberts Photo time capsule from August 8th -22nd 2009

August 8th to August 22nd, 2009 A selection of your most interesting photos from one year ago. painted lady butterfly painted lady butterfly Taken August 8, 2009 at 1:50 pm urban fox urban fox Taken August 11, 2009 at 2:35 pm One & Other Taken August 20, 2009 at 11:13 am IMG_3512 Taken August 16, 2009 at 6:35 pm preformed ponds preformed ponds preformed ponds Taken August 8, 2009 at 1:44 pm

Posted via email from Andy Roberts email podcast photo music and video blog on Posterous

Havering Folk Club News 14th August 2010

Havering Folk Club News 14th August 2010   Hi all, Pete here. As you know Gill and I went down to the Sidmouth Folk Festival last week and jolly good it was too. We were expecting to spend part of our time at the festival and part walking on Dartmoor etc., but in fact, we only spent one day away from Sidmouth – quietly strolling round Lyme Regis!   We saw almost all the dance displays as well as going to several of the music events, and I joined in a couple of the singarounds as well. After that we went over to the Dartmoor Festival which Big Bob Gladwell e-mailed to let me know about (cheers Bob!) and watched the broom dancing and step dancing championships. A great week.                                    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   The Last Three Havering Sessions: The Wednesday, 28th July session was compered at short notice by club newcomer John Clarke. He came to the club for the first time the previous week and volunteered to step in this time; a very good job he made of it as well. Having started us off he then introduced Bernie & Maureen, Margaret Brown, myself, Pep & Terry, HFC virgin Mary Bryan, Al Neville (our October featured member), Dave Worley, Len Reeder, Linda Worley, Linda Paish, Clive Paish, William Saint, Kriss Pouch, Jane Thomson, Tony Thomson, Foxen and Helen Tegg. Another busy night at the Lion.                                     _ _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   Wednesday, 4th August saw Phil Duffield’s featured evening. This was the first time Phil had undertaken an extended gig and I know from talking to him about it that he worked very hard at getting a programme together. I’m only sorry I missed it by being at Sidmouth.    Dave Worley manned the door and extorted money from everyone and Linda commered (yes really – the feminine of compere). She sent the following report:   We had a total of eight singers; Margaret Brown, Mike Willmore, Bert Dady and Keith Petty, Andy Roberts, Jane Thomsen, John Clarke and Jack Rossiter who last sang with us two years ago.   We were a little concerned at first as the club was really quiet, only four of us for ages. But as always happens a few more performers trickled in later on, thankfully for Phil! Other non-performars turned up too, so we were able to fill the room up between us.   As for Phil, well it was a superb evening, as we all guessed it would be! It was excellent, easy listening and carried out in his usual laid-back style, with some very funny stories and a quiz. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.                                 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   Gill and I were back for the open session on Wednesday, 11th August with Dave Worley taking charge of proceedings on this occasion. We had 10 floor spots and about 20 in attendance, which meant everyone was able to have two songs in each half. Before the interval we heard from Dave himself, Bernie & Maureen Pilgrim, Andy Roberts, Dennis Homes, Jane Thomson, Mick Brown, Tony Thomson, Kriss Pouch and finally, Jack Rossiter who was obviously so enthralled by his first visit in two years last week that he couldn’t keep away – come more often Jack!   I hadn’t intended to sing this evening as I had a bit of a cold and sore throat, but got jealous watching everybody else so added myself to the list for the second half and did a couple after the others had done theirs, and finally Mick Brown brought the evening to a close, giving him the opportunity to show off his talents ahead of his featured evening on 1st December.                                       _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   Other Stuff: 28th August, Bank Holiday Saturday sees the Chequer Inn, 4 Chequer Lane, Ash, Canterbury, CT3 2ET holding its annual Folk Festival from 11am to 11pm. Call Adrian on 01304 614088 or look at www.thechequerinn.co.uk   There are some names well known to Haverfolk including The Jones Boys, Tone Deaf Leopard, Fiddlefit, Ben Little, John Bardon and far too many others to mention here.                                        _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ We now have the latest issue of Folk London for sale at the club. This has developed into an excellent magazine under Peter Crabb-Wyke’s editorship. This issue has two mentions of HFC in its Roundup section and even quotes directly from our newsletter!                                   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   Next Merry Meeting: Wednesday, 18th August is another open session, so Make it a date – Wednesday at eight!   Cheers – Peter   Havering Folk Club, The Golden Lion, 2 High Street, Romford, RM1 1HR                                 www.haveringfolkclub.bravehost.com

Posted via email from Andy Roberts email podcast photo music and video blog on Posterous

Andy Roberts playing at Ustream | Live Unsigned

Tags: acoustic, folk, guitar, andy, roberts, music, singer, songwriter, 12string

Venue: Ustream

Address: The Internet

Time: 19:00

Cost: N/A

-->

Tickets : andyroberts.me

Further info: Andy Roberts performs original songs and some folk music covers for the weekly podcast. Streamed on USTREAM for about half an hour then available as a podcast later

Track: wreckersprayer

Googlemap

Share:

via liveunsigned.com

Andy Roberts podcast Live on Ustream next Tuesday as listed on Live Unsigned

Posted via email from Andy Roberts email podcast photo music and video blog on Posterous

Helford Creek Cyder

ukcider         Helford Creek Cyder August 9, 2010 at 7:54 AM                   Helford Creek Cyder Originally uploaded by AndyRob I bought this bottle of Helford Creek Cyder in the Costcutter shop at Carnon Downs in Cornwall on the way between Truro and Falmouth. At £3.99 I didn’t know whether to expect a good quality craft cider or a bit of a touristy rip-off but the credentials on the label seemed sound and there wasn’t any other decent cider available in the shop, unless you like cans of Rattler or Merrydown. The label didn’t give too much away: Helford Creek Cyder Sparkling Medium 6.5% vol Situated in the heart of Cornwall, near the Helford River, on a small 18th century farm. Helford Creek produce delicious apple juice and cider traditionally matured in oak barrels Produced in Cornwall on the Lizard peninsula. Mudgeon Vean St Martin Helston Cornwall TR12 6DB Tel: 01326231341 01326231933 The cider was good quality, nice and clean tasting with a high juice content I think, but definitely some water added. Not a high proportion of westcountry cider apples, more subtle than that in the new wine style cider with some eating apple varieties included I would suspect. It tasted more interesting once the initial fizz had died down the cider was allowed to warm up a bit. You don’t want to drink it straight from the fridge, not that it ever gets that boiling hot in Cornwall anyway. Compares well with a bottle of Tillington Hills cider from the Coop, if you can ever find any. An interesting touch is the wine like stamp on the back label, which reminds one of a rioja label Denominacion de Origen Calificada. It’s a badge which implies approval by Cornwall County Council, my old employers no less and says: Made in Cornwall Cornwall County Council Approved Origin Scheme Made in Cornwall - Approved Origin Scheme - CCC So there. Possibly Related Cider Posts: The Cider House at Quatt A new Cornish cider : Skinner’s Press Gang Cider Festival in Kent Magners Pear Cider Ingredient list for Yarde Real Cider

Posted via email from Cider

Real Cider Taste Grading

ukcider         Real Cider Taste Grading August 6, 2010 at 11:58 PM                   How can the taste of real cider be graded? Well one way is according to sweetness/dryness as is done for advising customers at the camra Great British Beer Festival GBBF cider taste grading = Very Sweet Cider = Sweet Cider = Medium Sweet Cider = Medium Cider = Medium Dry Cider = Dry Cider = Very Dry So that’s an attempt to differentiate down to quite a fine level really, on the Sweet/Dry axis. But perceived dryness can also be affected by factors other than the actual proportion of sugar per volume. Real ciders should be full juice and not strengthened then watered down so the character of the original apples is what really matters. Some will have more bittersweet varieties in the blend than others, and the eventual amount of tannin and acidity in the cider will change the way it tastes to an extent that possibly eclipses the sweetness indicator when it’s trying to be meaningful at the 1 in 7 level. Of course ultimately all that matters is whether you enjoy drinking it but how would you grade real cider for taste? Possibly Related Cider Posts: Cider on Holiday Wetherspoons International Festival Asturian Cider – Sidra at Borough Market The Origins of Devon Cider Brandy A new Cornish cider : Skinner’s Press Gang

Posted via email from Cider