Amsterdam Russ

Just looked and there's one listed on Discogs at $99. Link here... https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/13595471?ev=rb

No idea. If memory serves me well, Anglo American had one for sale a few years back at £200, but I really wouldn't swear to that. Pretty certain though that it's the only time I've seen it on a dealer's list. Could be wrong, but I don't think it's widely known that the mis-press exists.

As I mentioned earlier, it was repressed with the vocal tracks on. The 45 with the instrumentals on it is not common at all and would have been withdrawn from sale once the mistake was spotted.

Had completely forgotten about that, and you're spot on - they are reversed.

The Canadian mis-press, which features the instrumental tracks on both sides, is actually quite rare. Clearly a cock-up somewhere down the line - I can only think the pressing plant was sent the instrumentals by mistake. However, it’s clear the mistake was soon spotted and I guess the 45 was swiftly withdrawn and then repressed with the vocals. Have to say I like both the instrumental tracks very much. Here’s Destination You...

Good evening and good night from our tiny Dutch balcony. Here’s hoping for brighter, sunnier, and safer days ahead.

Friday evening on the balcony. Just us and a couple of seagulls...

Sitting on the balcony right now enjoying a lovely sunny evening and had six or seven swallows fly past. Lovely to see. Hope they brought summer with them!

Thanks. Saw it coming a couple of evenings ago, but missed the opportunity to get a pic then. Should have got my zoom lens out so I could get closer to the stack. Maybe tomorrow!

Taken with my iPad from our balcony just a couple of minutes ago - the sun balancing on top of a chimney stack.

Milt Grayson - Wayfarin' Stranger. At 1:38 the French horn (or whatever instrument it is) player hits one hell of a bum note!

We might be on lockdown, but life goes on. Sowed some carrot seeds 10 days ago, and they've burst into life. We've only a small balcony, but will pot these outside when they've grown. Lettuce, tomatoes, spring onions, french beans, sunflowers, wild flowers and cucumbers next!

Keb Darge in the 80s, although I'm sure I read somewhere years back that he was playing it on a carver (I could be completely mistaken about that last part).

Fantastic night sky shots here - all taken in lockdown conditions and from people's homes and gardens. Well worth a look, and quite inspiring to think what can be achieved with a camera, tripod and a clear sky! Story & images here: https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-52120114

Really enjoyed looking at all those soul food restaurant signs - great stuff, and I’m hungry now!

Link here... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/C-O-D-S-CODS-SHES-FIRE-ON-KELLMAC-NORTHERN-45-HEAR/362957648350

Just seen on the news that Boris Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus... https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-boris-johnson-tests-positive-for-covid-19-11964493

My pleasure entirely.

Another photography competition - this one the Nature TTL Photographer of the Year 2020. Some excellent shots to be seen here, and while also very good, I can't say I'm a huge lover of drone photography. To me that's just a case of launching and flying your craft and taking some aerial pics hoping they'll come out nice. But each to their own. Photo credit: TTL/Florian Ladoux. Link to story: https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-52007548

Looks interesting. I use GoSkyWatch on my iPhone and iPad, and on my iMac I use Stellarium, which you can access free online and via a download. The great thing about Stellarium is that you can view the stars from anywhere on Earth, and travel backwards and forwards in time to see how the night sky looked/looks. https://stellarium-web.org

A couple of shots taken on the balcony this evening with my aged iPhone... Our balcony rosemary in full bloom, which it has been for about five months solid now thanks to the mild winter. Marvellous! Evening sky. A very unusual shot, and a most welcome sight. We live very close to Schiphol airport and normally the sky would be dotted with aircraft and criss-crossed their vapour trails. But the current restrictions on flights has given us a rare opportunity to see the sky without them (although there is just one visible in the top right corner). More skies like this, please!

Passing through - that's what I said. I've had a look online to see if I can find a Dutch site that records the dates when summer visitors have first been spotted, but can't find anything for this year. Will continue to look to the skies...

We have water around us (a small channel of water runs along side us and there's a canal out the front), but these don't offer the banks that sand martins need for building their nests. Rather, being man-made channels, they're sided by metal sheets or brick walls. And as said, I've never yet seen a sand martin from the vista offered by front or rear balcony (or indeed the side windows. According to the information offered by a main birdwatching site here in NL, house martins can be found here from late March. However, as I wasn't able to identify whatever it was that I saw earlier, I can't say what it was beyond being one of the summer migrants. We're got fine weather ahead for the next week or so, which will - I hope - mean balcony time. If so, I might get a clear sighting.

Perhaps a sand martin passing through, although I’ve never seen one in the skies of Aalsmeer - well, our part of it, anyway. Doing OK here, thanks, although bars, restaurants, etc, have been shut for a week. The same with events. And on taking a short walk to one of our local supermarkets, earlier today, we saw that a good number of shops were shut. There are five cases of the virus in our small borough of about 31,000 people, 3,631 infected nationally, and 136 deaths so far with more certain to come.

Just this minute seen a solitary summer visitor - a house martin or a swallow. Unfortunately it was a bit too far away to identify and was flying off into the distance. Will keep my eye out for more.