Amsterdam Russ

A Tuesday trip to the seaside taking in Egmond aan Zee and Bergen aan Zee. Dark, brooding clouds shadowed us all afternoon, but that didn't stop us or anyone else from having some fun. The pics below are of Egmond aan Zee.

Some stunning images courtesy of The 2021 Audubon Photography Awards. Check them out! https://www.audubon.org/magazine/summer-2021/the-2021-audubon-photography-awards-winners-and

A nice selection of reader pics courtesy of the BBC News website and “Your pictures of Scotland 23-30 July”: Source: BBC News / © Sharon Macpherson Photos here: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-57971665

Certainly pre 'soul' - a classically white teen pop R'n'R number from the 50s/very early 60s. I like oddities like this. Nice!

Your soundfile is empty. Is Study Hall Romance a version of this 1957 tune?

Northern Soul might have started as "the kind of soul they like up north" but it's long been a genre in its own right, and one with a global reach. And when you're part of a special club, you've got to have secret phrases that are known only to initiates. They give you that much needed sense of belonging. Dib, dib dib, dob, dob, dob!

Hello, Jane, and welcome!

I should koko!

Pardon?

Courtesy of Snopes: Source: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/gap-store-name-origin/

A few pics from an afternoon bike ride to the Schinkelbos nature reserve, which is part of the Amsterdam woods (Amsterdamse Bos) and sits on the outer perimeter of Schiphol airport... A juvenile dabchick (little grebe). A juvenile moorhen (I'm guessing). This little creature was nearly underfoot and appeared a little lost and bewildered. Frogs (not toads). A toad (not a frog!). Meadow brown butterfly. Reminded me of an old-fashioned bristle shaving brush. Teasels. Stonechat - pic heavily cropped. My 300mm zoom lens just isn't good enough for capturing small birds at a distance. Really pleased to have seen one here as not spotted them before. And about a second after I'd taken the last pic, the stonechat flew off like a bullet. Again, pic heavily cropped. The afternoon temperature was supposedly about 21C, but it was way hotter than that - more like a breezeless 25C, which was manageable, but must admit I was soaked in sweat when I completed my cycle ride and needed an instant cooling shower. No complaints, mind you. It is summer!

The language is indeed terrible, but so is your assessment of that language, grammar and syntax. I give you a generous three out of 10 for editorial effort. At the same, and more relevant to the thread's subject matter - and I aim this at all the vehement critics, judges and decision-makers of what is supposedly good or bad – I'm a firm believer that one person's meat is another's poison. What some may like, others might not - and vice versa. The tracks from the Cavaliers, while not appealing to some (like anything in life, we all have our preferences), I'm of the view that the tunes represent a recorded moment in history - a historic moment of a group that had hopes and dreams and aspirations of going further with their musical careers. I respect that. And I'm in awe that more than half a century later such recordings not only still exist, but have surfaced in the public domain where they can be appreciated for what they are - artefacts of a golden era of music; one where, for every Billboard chart success - however great or small - we know the greater majority of groups and singers never even made it that far, thus ending their youthful ambitions of stardom and recognition. Again, I respect the two tracks cut by that group called The Cavaliers, because they are a part of the musical tapestry we've woven our own hopes and dreams into since we were first made slaves of this whole broad church of Afro-American music. The tunes might not be your style, but I say appreciate and understand them for what they are.

Retro European heavy metal band, Lucifer, have released a new single, a cover of Gone with the wind is my love. I bring this to everyone's attention now with the deliberate intention of preventing any DJ on the scene from playing it out as a cover-up.

Very sad news. RIP.

Do you listen to Hans (@fingerpoppinsoul) and Harry's weekly radio show? Broadcasting out of Amsterdam for more than 25 years, they play a lot of lovers/reggae among the deep and sweet sounds because of its soul content. Last show here: And website here: http://www.fingerpoppinsoul.amsterdam

Oh, and I have to do #4... Spent ages looking for this brilliant early 60s "mod-jazz" original soundtrack 45 - and two came along in the space of a fortnight!

Number 1: Black Nativity - If anybody ask you who I am Number 2: Clark Terry & Chico O'Farrill - Spanish Rice Number 3: Cheryle Thompson - Don't walk away

A welcome balcony visitor taking advantage of the shade on what is a very hot afternoon.

The female singer's off-key vocals remind me of the off-key vocals in this gospel track from New Orleans. Although I'm not suggesting it's the same person, there are similarities to these ears.

Cycled round our local lake this afternoon, a trip of about 20km/12 miles. First time I've done that journey in a few years. Must do it again soon and must get out cycling more. Only the third time cycling this year and only five times on the bike last year, and boy does it feel like it, even if the countryside is as flat as a Dutch pancake! Still, a most enjoyable and very sunny afternoon was had.

Took me a while to work out what LOG was (TV comedy series League of Gentlemen, for anyone else stumped). Have to disagree with you, though. It's an edible frog aka a common water frog, also known as a green frog. (Wikipedia photo credit: Helge Busch-Paulick (Grand-Duc @ Wikipedia), CC BY 3.0) Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_frog

Starlings, a frog and a bee - all seen in the woods of Amsterdam.

Perfect balcony listening last night.

I'll bet the gypsy woman laughed as well.

I love how she sings it in a country & western style - sort of Dolly Parton with a sore throat.