In The Pink

I created this video to highlight the plight of the wild Tiger. 12 years ago Nick Harper released this song, one of the lyrics being 'There's Only 5,000 Tigers Left', today it is estimated there are as few as 3,200 in the wild. Here are some facts as provided by the WWF , an organisation fighting to protect animals in danger worldwide such as the Tiger. There are six living sub-species of tiger; the Amur (Siberian), Bengal (Indian), Indo-Chinese, Malayan, Sumatran and South China.Three other sub-species, the Bali, Caspian and Javan, are now extinct. Location:From India to south-eastern China and from the Russian Far East to Sumatra, Indonesia Habitat:Wide ranging - from evergreen and monsoon forests, to mixed coniferous-deciduous woodlands, and mangrove swamps Wild population:As few as 3,200 The threats to tigers: Poaching for skins and body parts used in traditional Asian medicines Habitat loss due to farming, forest clearance for the timber trade and human development De...

I am a fan of pretty much all music, if it's well written and produced I like it, regardless of genre. I have preferences for example rock music or folk music, however I am happy to give anything a go. And anything includes Pop Music! I have been filling up my memory stick again for the new stereo in my truck and have been purchasing some oldies and not so oldies via Itunes. I had forgotten how good some of this stuff is! Anyway I have made a few selections from You Tube (what would we do without You Tube!) and have posted them here for my record and your entertainment. I hope you find some thing you like that may bring back a few good memories!

I am reading two books at the moment which I try not to do. I do not like switching between two books and as I usually read fiction I find it best to complete one story before I loose myself in another however, I have recently decided that my knowledge of history needs improving and as such am reading History of the World by J M Roberts. So far it has proven to be a riveting read! The book is just over 900 pages long however obviously much more intense than a novel and as I want to retain as much of the information as I can I am pacing myself and reading it thoroughly. Even if I only manage 2 pages a day just think how much I will know in the two and a half ish years it will take me to complete it! After history I am planning to move onto mythology and philosophy! Image Credit: Mid State Mutual

Well its Monday morning again but this time things are a little different, Spring had begun! Just a few days of sunshine last week followed by a day of rain was all it took and the trees have begun to open their buds. Before we know it leaves will be popping out everywhere, except on the Ash trees for a while anyway. Ash are always one of the last trees to flush. I found this shot in my photo archives. I took it a few years back at our old house where we were lucky enough to have this almost clear view through to the horizon from our back garden. It makes me excited to see this shot, the sun warming the sky and the promise of a new day with unknown possibilities. I look forward to seeing what today brings.

I have been doing another quiz to see which Star Wars character I am and it turns out... You are Han Solo You're brave and willing to put your life on the line for what you believe in. Some people may say you can be a bit of a loner but in fact you're a really good team player. People respect you and know you're loyal and courageous . How lovely! I wonder how you have to answer the questions to be Chewbacca! The answers you need to choose to be Yoda are fairly obvious and involve going to the swamp and meditating. Again there are only 10 questions, if you want to take part click on the link below. Which Star Wars Character are You?

Porcupine Tree's new live film is approaching completion and a special edition will be available in April, with a regular version to follow in May. Anesthetize was filmed live over 2 nights in Tilburg, The Netherlands in October 2008, at the end of the Fear of a Blank Planet tour. The 130 minute live film includes a complete performance of the Blank Planet album and 11 other tracks, and was directed and edited by Lasse Hoile on high definition cameras, with the soundtrack mixed into stereo and 5.1 sound. The special edition will take the form of a cloth bound hard back 120 page book (as per The Incident and Insurgentes deluxe versions) featuring live photography of the band taken over the last 5 years. The book will house both a DVD and a much higher quality Blu-Ray disc version of the film, as well as 2 audio CDs of the soundtrack including one bonus track not featured in the film. The book and audio CDs will not be included with the standard retail versions of the Blu-Ray/DVD. Te...

For Mr Dancin's birthday last year I got him a tank driving experience. He was in the army as a young man and worked on tanks as a gun fitter. He did used to get to drive them but it was just to move them in and out of the hanger areas. Well he got the trip booked in and yesterday we went out in the mud and rain, as hoped for, and he got to drive a Chieftain Tank , the Abbot self propelled gun , an armoured personnel carrier and Quad Bikes. There was also excellent provision made for spectators and I got to have a ride on all of the same vehicles except the quad bikes. It was a wonderful day, my lasting memories of which will be Mr Dancin and everyone else around me grinning like idiots, and copious amounts of mud!

So do you all have your copy of The Incident by Porcupine Tree yet? Here's another track to whet your appetite! (Thanks Dad!)

I got a new stereo for my truck from Mr Dancin as a birthday present this year. He wanted to get me one I could plug my Ipod into but as an extra feature it has a USB port so I can fill a USB stick with tracks and plug that in too! I still get the shuffle and repeat facilities which are on the stereo. I think I have thanked him every day since! Music is very powerful and can usually transform the worst of moods in me, sometimes it just takes a few songs! I have filled a USB stick with all of my favourite music and some new albums I wanted to check out and have it playing every time I get in my truck. As I have mentioned in a previous post there have been some not so good days of late relating to work, it really is nothing that huge in the grand scheme of things, but I have had a few blue moments. I do however know there is at least one track on the USB stick that will turn that frown up side down and before I know it a smile tugs at the corner of my mouth and reminds me that life is go...

Well today promises to be an absolute humdinger! Everything has really kicked off in my work life at the moment, lots of good stuff and some not so good but what can you do! Anyway, I am expecting a very hectic day today. I woke early having managed to reinstall my six o'clock wake up time following the cold and dark winter mornings when I could not get out of bed for love nor money. I have sent some early morning emails to sort a few staff things out and now I am sitting here enjoying a quick blog, a big mug of tea and reminding myself not to worry about the unknown. There are millions of possible outcomes to every situation however we do spend a lot of time imagining the worst ones! So I am practising mind control and am not going to let myself worry about what has not even happened yet. Image credit for this post: 7art and Three Movie Buffs. Happy weekend all, keep smiling and as Ben Elton once said 'Don't Let the Awkward People Drag you Down!' (OK so he did not say...

Well it's Monday morning and the sun is shining. I had a spurt of energy last night before I went to bed and had a clean round the house so it was lovely to get up this morning and come downstairs to no jobs! Also we slept with the window open last night for the first time in a couple of months, due to the recent cold spell, so I woke to the chirping of birds which was just lovely. I am not used to being this happy on a Monday morning, usually I am grumpy and depressed that the weekend is over but the week has started brilliantly so far! In an attempt to get myself to eat breakfast regularly I made muffins with eggs this morning. I do not know if I will manage both of them but it's a start. Anyway I just went looking for a nice picture to put in this post and mark the start of the day and the start of the week. I went to Bing Images and typed in Dawn.....and picture above is what I choose! There were some amazing dawn shots which I have to say put my photographic skills to sham...

These are the Tulips I gave to my lovely Mum for Mothers Day, she took this photo of them, as I gave them to her a little early, to show them opening out. Happy Mothers Day Mum!

My last post was about Cartoon Heros and it got me thinking about this fella, Gromit. What a dog! The Wrong Trousers - Train Chase Wallace & Gromit - A Close Shave: Sheep Rescue Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit Trailer I cannot embed these You Tube clips but the links above will take you to some of the best animated clips ever! I strongly recommend them.

I have changed my ID picture. I have never felt my Blogger ID Picture really reflected me and the things I love but I recently watched a Loony Tunes Cartoon with my parents that is a family favourite and it brought back wonderful childhood memories of a hero of mine. I give you Bugs Bunny. His lust for life and capacity for fun knows no limits, that's my kind of hero! I think it is a great shame that cartoons are no longer on our screens. I know many of them appear on the children's channels however they are family viewing...as I type this I am suddenly remembering that we do only have the 5 terrestrial channels here, lots of big trees and tall houses, but even so I would like to see them as they were, interspersed with daily viewing, popping up throughout the day.

I have had cause to think about Robert Downey Jr this morning, as you will see from earlier morning posts, which lead me to celebrity pop videos. The first one is Robert lip syncing to Elton Johns 2001 (how can it be that long ago!) song 'I Want Love'. I am a big fan of Elton John but more so his earlier stuff, my favourite album being Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, but I really like this track and it has some clever lyrics. This one shows off one of Christopher Walkens many talents, dancing!

As a big fan of Robert Downey Jr and the first Iron Man film I am hopeful that the second film does well. The trailer looks pretty good and there is an excellent supporting cast but the proofs in the pudding as they say. Fingers crossed!

I have just played a quiz so see which superhero I am most like. Apparently I am Iron Man! This is what it said. You are Iron Man You have a giant brain that can see you through almost any situation. Some say you're a genius. You've developed a suit of armour to face life's challenges, but what happens when the armour isn't there? Try not to always hide behind that armour - let people see the real you. I do so love the wonderful things these quizes say about you! Ok so I am apparently also a man but hey there are not as many female super heros as there are male and I don't think they included Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Tank Girl in the possible outcome. Of course if it had told me I was Buffy I would be annoyed. As much as I love her she is far too much of a girly for me and I could cry over the amount of money she spends on clothes! Don't get me wrong I can shop with the best of them....well maybe, but I can think of much better things to spend my money on. I ...

I took the pups out early this morning, well early for a Saturday, and have been sitting at my PC since I got back with morning sunshine streaming through the window and birds singing loudly. It is a lovely start to the day. Mr Dancin is still asleep but he had a very late night and also has a busy day rehearsing with the band so I am leaving him to it. The dogs have now had breakfast and have gone back to bed for a while! Anyway, one of the things I did this morning was download the pictures I took while away visiting my parents last weekend. These were taken on a Sunday morning walk. In the image above Roxy's paw has just gone through the ice of the puddle! The other images are air trapped under the ice in some rather pretty patterns. I know the weather is still cold but all in all I don't think it has been a bad winter. I know the snow causes problems for people and we are not really prepared to deal with it here. In my parents village no gritting was done and the roads and ...

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