Honkytonk: 26 June 2005

Paul takes care of the paintwork

Piano on the landing

Work at the flat!

The piano's gone. David, from the antique shop downstairs, has taken it as a gift. Paul helped carry it down. It had been in Naomi's room, soon to be Sharon's.
Meanwhile, in the small back room, we had a carpet and underlay put in. That room is looking good!

Sudoku Crazy

If you don't know about "sudoku", you wont understand. Since April, it has become a popular puzzle in most newspapers. I'm not much good at crosswords, I try them, especially with Ep; not the cryptic, but the straightforward ones. I find it hard to remember words though I do think it's a good exercise.
These sudoku are more my level, much less sophisticated, they require only accuracy in applying simple logic.
Over the past 6 weeks, I've been writing a Java program to solve the puzzles. It's only been an exercise to learn to program in Java, but it did become something of an obsession. You might not find the following interesting and I wont mind if you skip it, but I need to describe the stages which I went through in my voyage of discovery.
The puzzle is a 9x9 matrix of cells, about 22 of which are occupied with single digits. The problem is to fill in the remaining cells with digits so that each of the 9 rows, columns and 3x3 boxes contain the digits 1 to 9.
I started by writing a routine that looked at each empty cell, cycling through the digits to find which would legally fit. For the odd cell which only had one digit possible, I'd fill it in. All subsequent efforts used this primary checking routine. Next there was the recursive routine which started at the top left, inserted the first digit which fitted and went on to the next, when it found that no digit fitted it would drop back and increment the previous cell. This "bulldozer" routine was hopelessly prodigal with the computer's memory, and there would be warnings it might crash. I did make it slightly more efficient by ordering the rows so the routine would start with the row with the fewest possible alternatives, but I wasn't satisfied. So I attempted to reproduce a logic I used when I did the puzzle myself. This I called "boblogic"; which is that, looking at a single row, column or box, I might find two cells where the same two possible numbers would fit. In this case, those two numbers could be excluded as possibilities for the remaining cells in the row, column or box. This I found to be a fiendishly difficult logic to program, especially for the boxes.
The next attempt, called "eplogic" looked at numbers first and cells second. It collects numbers which already exist in a row, column or box; then it finds the numbers needed. It cycles through these, looking at each of the empty cells; if it finds a number which can only fit in one of the empty cells, it is inserted. Again, I struggled to code this logic. I found each time I repeated the routine, it would find more numbers. Three repetitions is enough to complete a "medium" difficulty puzzle.
So it's done, Ep says I've obviously got withdrawal symptoms, and I think she's right, but I'm getting it out of my system by burdening the blog.

Dover St.

As we drove down there, the heavens opened; thunder and lightening; wipers on double weren't enough. By the time we arrived, it had passed. We've never come on a Tuesday - it's different. The band doesn't start until 10.30. An earlier combo plays (that's the guy from TJ who was on sax), finishing just when we arrived.
The female singer for Blue Harlem is quite petite and doesn't have a strong voice. But she has personality, expression and powerful delivery. She sings with that kind of thin sexy voice which comes from the 'thirties. I wish I'd taken a photo of her for the blog!
It is only a small floor and there were several people wanting to dance, so we didn't have it all to ourselves as we have come to expect.

Ep and me

drummer from TJ's

Ep and Henry

high heels

Tuesday night at Dover St.

She takes a good photo!

Blue Harlem at Dover St

They're a good band. Henry'll be there - and clarinet-Norman. Probably not Paul and Ursula. I've got my new suit, from Bodgers' in Ilford. You have to look well turned out for Dover St. - entrance is free before ten, but it is Mayfair. We'll be able to practice our tango moves - sacadas, ganchos, enrosques and colgados; and revise the lindy routine from Simon's class last night at the 100 club.
Today it was Edmonton. We were looking at "Aneboda"s at IKEA (they are those light wardrobes for £49). There is a much taller version, which includes three drawers and is 10 cm deeper. Problem is, I doubt if it would fit below the picture rail. Then Tesco's for the booze for Sunday.
We'll try and get photos tonight!

Norman,Sue and Stan

These lovely photos were taken at the 100 Club on Oxford Street. Monday night is swing night and this week the band was the Jive Aces, who always put on a good show. Stan is visiting from Australia

Ep and the Jive Aces

Paul and Ursula

Paul and Ursula will be off on their travels again very soon. They are long standing supporters of the 100 Club.

Jive Aces

Tango at the Factory

Of the "old guard", only Mike was there. The rest were more or less beginners. No Brian and Suzie (who have a place in Spain, and are organizing a tango week in Cartagena), no "other" Brian or Jane, no Margaret, no John and Kim (who go sailing off Brighton).
For us, it was our normal Sunday. Steve and Atsuko taught front and back balayo and gancho. The "balayo", is the decoration, mostly by a follower, where the leg, whips round in that powerful and erotic style typical of tango, at the arrested execution of a front or back ocho (photo of Ep in high-heels to follow!). For the past few weeks, Steve has taught moves which are difficult to lead with relative beginners. We had three weeks on the "colgado", a twirl round, which Ep and I are beginning to develop, then last week, it was the "enrosque" and "giro", a turning move where the lead is assisted by the follower, a move I've always associated with Steve.
I've always been shy of sacadas and ganchos. These both involve insertion of leg between follower's legs; the sacada involves a weight change, while the gancho leads a kick by the follower, after a flash of knee-curling intimacy. They seem presumptuous and risky to me, with my primal fear of castration.
I look at good dancers who dance first with their partners, second to the music. They take their time, adjusting to their followers. They dance with the poorest and leave them glowing. For me, the poor follower desperately tries to anticipate my lead, apologises and looses what little confidence she had. My problem is that I identify with whoever I'm with, taking on their characteristics, if I'm not careful, things go from bad to worse. At least I avoid making the mistake of actually voicing criticisms; mostly my frustration is within, for being "put-off" by the antics of my inexperienced follower. I know that what I need to do is slow down, dance with the partner, not the music; gain her confidence.
Tango demands many of the skills necessary in life. Consideration for your partner and for other dancers looks so cool. Many teachers emphasize that the leader should "invite" the follower into a move. The follower lingers on the threshold until she is ready; she teases and provokes.
I've found that it encourages good posture. It has made me aware of my bad habit of leaning forward and slouching. The whole idea is to lead with the "frame", for me who tends to be hunched, it's a good lesson.

Bob at war

Bob at peace

Routine maintenance on the Honda 90

This is the first time I've done anything to the bike for 18 months, apart from taking it for the MOT. I ride it most days. The back brake was sticking, which meant that if I used it, it would stay on until I went backwards (which I would do at traffic lights). I tended to avoid using the brake, except in emergencies; not a safe habit to get into! I took it apart for a good greasing, of course taking care to avoid getting oil on the pads. This is the handiest spot I ever had for working on the bike, having the front step to sit on and having easy access to the house to find that other special tool which I'd forgotten I needed. It used to be up and down four flights of stairs.

Biker Bob

Gerald and Phyllis

Ep and mum

A day out in Peterborough. The last Saturday in June has become a regular date for a meeting of the extended family on my mum's side. This is the Lilley family. Thanks to Joyce and John who are the organisers of this annual event. My mum was one of 6 children and her family ancestors come from the Newborough district. It has been quite special to meet up with all my cousins. Mum will be 90 this year - she's looking so good!

The boys

Brothers John and David Lilley facing each other- the children of my mum's brother Herbert (known as Hub), with John Smith in the middle.

Phyllis, Peter and Ep

Just arrived to find Peter Lilley and Phyllis in the car park. Peter is the son of my mum's brother Albert (known as Bunny).

Joyce and John

Joyce is the daughter of my mum's sister Mary (known as Meg) and she is married to John. These two will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary next month. It is thanks to them that we have been able to catch up on family matters.

Joyce and Jean

This is my sister Jean with cousin Joyce and in the background Gwen, who is the daughter of my mum's brother Hub.

John and Peter

This is my young brother John with Peter Lilley. Peter has done an extensive family tree which he promised to bring with him next time.

Ep with her mum and Mary

Mary, on the left, is the daughter of my mum's brother Bunny. Unfortunately her two sisters, Rose and Ethel were not well enough to come this year.

The name lives on!

The Westwood Estate is in Peterborough. My family lived here from 1966 until 1970. The housing estate, where we lived, was just being built. Mum organized community events like "mile of pennies" and ran a thrift shop in the town, to raise money for the Westwood Community Centre. We had a prefab then. Later on, when they built the permanent Centre, they named it after Mum.

Gayton Court

Here is where the family lived, number 42. I was at Edinburgh at the time, and would hitchhike down, on the A1. My sister Daphne and brother Bruce lived at home. Bruce was about 13 when he discovered fishing. He'd go down to the "Cut", coarse fishing, pike was his favourite. Once, he came home with a catch about two feet long, which we ate. Daphne was in the 6th form of a local girls' school. She acted in the summer play "As You Like it". I had my first romance here, in 1968, with Pat Over. I fell in love with her as we drove down from Edinburgh. She was going to a holiday job, planting tulip bulbs, in Wisbetch. One weekend we went to the town festival where Ernie Wise was the celebrity guest.

Sharon and Naomi

Party at Holloway Road on Friday night. Naomi has her results and it is a 2.1 - great news. She is off to Spain and will be sadly missed.

Ep and Ursula

Norman and Ep

Round and round the garden is a favourite with Felix!

Felix

Judith

Ep and Felix

Felix brings out the child in Ep; they seem to be able to play for hours. Felix likes repeating things, Ep has endless patience.

Paul has been decorating the stair-well at the flat - it has never looked so good! Norman's been helping him. Paul and Ursula are looking forward to leaving London. They are off to Ithaca, in Greece, in month's time. We're going to miss them.