Amsterdam Russ

Haha - thank you. If only the ones here were so accommodating!

Cheers, Steve. Warblers and waders - two groups of birds I've never been good at identifying, even in my days as a member of the Young Ornithologists Club!

Thanks! It started slowly and I wasn't very hopeful, but a bit of perseverance paid off in the end. Still miffed at not getting that little grebe, though.

And I also saw... Oystercatchers Ducks in flight Frogs - singing a full-on frog chorus! And hares One thing I didn't get a photo of was a little grebe. It could sense me as soon as I approached the pool it was in (no hides anywhere in the woods, unfortunately) and would dive and swim away to safety. Next time, maybe.

Today I cycled to the Amsterdam woods and I saw... A fine male pheasant Reed bunting Warbler - possible sedge, sadly obscured behind a leaf Ducklings

Official release to promote (as it says on the label) the album "After hours vol.3". Both tracks appear on it.

Just seen the first swallows of the year. Summer is coming!

It did come out as the flip to the Cajun Hart UK WB reissue from 2005.

It's the same with desktop computers and even laptops. Increasingly they're manufactured without a DVD/CD drive on the presumption we're all streaming music, TV and films.

Can’t help you there, Steve, as I’ve not been. Sorry.

Billboard ad for performance in Baltimore... Trade ad - voltage from Loma, featuring Roy Redmond & Linda Jones Trade ad for Hypnotized... Poster for New Jersey performance (image taken from eBay some years back. I wanted to buy this poster, but the seller wouldn't ship it outside of the States.) Linda Jones with guitar!

Next one is 7th September at the Royal Theatre & Club Chic. Time 20:00 til 04:00.

To help you on your way when it comes to the digging part of your adventure, here’s a list of all the record shops here. The listing gives a broad indication of the genres you might expect in each shop, which will help narrow down your search. https://www.plaatzaken.nl/overzicht-platenzaken/nederland#amsterdam Have fun!

Thanks for the kind words. It was a fun night and really glad to hear you enjoyed it. @BigGordy when are you planning to visit? Here are the dates for our events... There is another Northern Soul event, organised by another promoter on Saturday 29th June. That's called Summer Soulful Saturday. Venue is De Nieuwe Anita. There are various soul/funk-type of nights here and there, but very little that's focused on the Northern stuff. As for record hunting, there are currently something like 30 shops in Amsterdam. The most obvious ones are Record Mania, Waxwell, Zap Records, City Records. The first one, Record Mania, has pricier stock in boxes behind the counter, so you need to ask to see those. And I'll warn you now that JM's price guide and Discogs prices are increasingly the standards used. That said, you can find stuff at good prices if you're either prepared to put the legwork in or are lucky - that, of course, is the same anywhere. If I can help further, just give me a shout.

Fully recovered, I hope. Just out of idle curiosity, did the hernia come about as a result of the monstrous sized lenses you lug around?

OK, to hopefully make things a bit easier for you, I've put together a list of events in Berlin that I'm aware of. Most of these will have events later in the year. Disco 30 is a new event started up recently by Dave Thorley, who's now a resident of Berlin. The event covers everything from "soul to soulful house" from 1975 to 2005 (so says the promo spiel). Hip City Soul Club is a long-standing event organised by Marc Forrest. 6th April Disco 30 Berlin, Germany 22:00-06:00 https://www.facebook.com/events/2169247893294209/ 6th April We Got Soul Berlin, Germany 22:00-05:00 https://www.facebook.com/events/596554824193700/ 20th April It’s Soul Time Berlin, Germany 22:00 til early https://www.facebook.com/soulstationberlin/ 27th April Breakaway Northern Soul Allnighter Berlin, Germany 22:00-06:00 https://www.facebook.com/events/544411342736022/ 27th April Chaka Boom Berlin, Germany 22:00-05:00 https://www.facebook.com/events/294100811301223/ 4th May We Got Soul Berlin, Germany 22:00-05:00 https://www.facebook.com/events/596554824193700/ 11th May Soul’d Up Berlin, Germany 23:00-06:00 https://www.facebook.com/events/416311985607812/ 25th May Hip City Soul Club Berlin, Germany 23:00-05:00 https://www.facebook.com/events/1686329274801940/ 1st June Disco 30 Berlin, Germany 22:00-04:00 https://www.facebook.com/groups/Disco30/ 1st June We Got Soul Berlin, Germany 22:00-05:00 https://www.facebook.com/events/596554824193700/ 3rd August Disco 30 Berlin, Germany 22:00-04:00 https://www.facebook.com/groups/Disco30/ 5th October Disco 30 Berlin, Germany 22:00-04:00 https://www.facebook.com/groups/Disco30/

There are loads of Soul events in Berlin - usually two or three every month. Did you have a specific one in mind? If you’re on Facebook, you’ll find this listing (which I compile and update) of European Soul events useful: https://www.facebook.com/groups/europeansoulclubnetwork/ If you’re not on Facebook and don’t find anything that suits in the Soul Source events section, let me know and I’ll see if I can help further.

How long did it take to get your purchase?

Thanks, I'll check them out. A European source would, of course, be more cost effective.

Available to buy in Europe? Shipping from the States is waaaay to expensive.

Cheers, Steve. It's definitely been a long time. Really enjoyed it - both the photo taking and the cycling. I really need to get out more for the sake of my health. At the back end of last year I developed a major thrombosis in my leg. Being too sedentary for too long and not doing exactly what I did today lies at the heart of that. But now the brighter weather is here, there's no excuse...

With a desperate need to get away from the thronging crowd that was enjoying the short-lived blossom, I took a cycle to a couple of favourite spots in quieter parts of the woods. By this time the light was pretty bad (photographically speaking), but I still managed to get a few reasonable shots. That said, half of these pics are heavily cropped as the subjects were just too far away for the limited range of my Nikkor 55-300mm lens. That aside, it was, I have to say, a very enjoyable day out on two wheels - and long overdue. I just hope my legs aren't like jelly tomorrow as there's a record fair in Amsterdam I'm hoping to get to (but not by bike). Great crested grebe Frog (sorry, can't be any more specific than that) Great spotted woodpecker Buzzard How much of the Amsterdam woods looks... A distant egret spotted on the journey home after I cautiously squeezed between two highland cows that were blocking the narrow cycle path (I braved it - although a man much younger than I didn't have the nerve and headed back on his bike the way he came, which would have resulted in something like a 5km detour). Just behind the farm buildings is the outer perimeter of Schiphol Airport.

Out with the camera and on the bike today - two things that don't happen enough on their own or in tandem (deliberate pun!). Headed to the Amsterdamse Bos (Amsterdam woods) to visit Bloesempark (Blossom Park) where the cherry trees are presently in full, glorious bloom. It might have been an early afternoon on a Wednesday, but that didn't stop the place being absolutely packed with visitors who clearly had the same idea as me. Here are a few pics...

Worth a look - the winning images in the Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year competition. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-47482108