Amsterdam Russ

Ridiculous. I won't touch a record if the buyer is part of that "global shipping programme" where customs charges are included. On a good number of times I've seen customs charges associated with an item that hasn't even been priced high enough to incur those charges. As if the "charge anything you like for postage" syndrome that's now rampant all over eBay isn't enough!

One sold on ebay tonight for over £700...

I've been putting out mesh balls of bird food for some years and never once had a problem. In our old place, we had a bird table as well the mesh balls and I have to say the table was hardly popular with our garden visitors at all. Now that we don't have a garden, dispensing options are limited because there isn't the space on a balcony. Next time I'm at the country's largest garden centre, which happens to be just a few kilometres from us, I'll see what they have available. Acting as a human scarecrow has given the jackdaws some pause for thought this morning. They've not been back since our last encounter. Of course, it's only a matter of time before they build up enough courage to return...

With the weather marching coldly and decisively towards winter, I thought I'd put out a couple of net bags of bird seed on the railings of our back balcony. Next morning I found a couple of jackdaws greedily tearing at one of the bags with the other one having disappeared. Not a good start. Late in the afternoon, though, I spied a male chaffinch having a good feed. This morning the jackdaws are at it again. Seeds and bird droppings are everywhere and it's obvious that the not-so-little blighters have tried to hack through the top part of the mesh with the purpose of separating the bag from the railings. Greedy sods. I just pity the poor person who might happen to be strolling below when they succeed! Day two and it looks as if these standard mesh bags are just going to fall foul of the jackdaws every time. There's no way to scare them away for anything longer than a short time as our building seems to serve as a central gathering point for them. Time for a rethink on avian food delivery systems. Any suggestions?

Earlier on in the week I found half a year's worth of photos on an external hard drive we no longer use. Among them was a this one, taken four years ago when we lived next to someone who bred and raced pigeons. They were let out twice a day like clockwork — once in the morning and again early evening — so it was a simple matter to be in the right place with the camera when the conditions were right.

UK release… Under-rated… Rarely played…

Judging by the light it looks like you had a lovely autumnal day!

Sorry, but that ridiculous formatting is doing my head in! Here you go - one orderly list! "HE WHO PICKS AROSE" JIMMY RUFFIN "JEANETTE" WADE FLEMONS. "LOVE IS ALRIGHT" JESSE JAMES "IF YOU DONT COME" PATIENCE VALENTINE " STORMY" THE SUPREMES. "IVE HAD IT GEORGE SMITH "TRYING TO LOVE TWO" BARBARA LYNN "KISS MY LOVE GOODBYE" BETTYE SWAN. " BABY, BABY DONT WASTE MY TIME" GLADYS KNIGHT. " I JUST WANT TO FALL IN LOVE" DETROIT SPINNERS. What would the top Tens be at venues today, big and small?

Did you catch sight of its rump? If not, could it have been either a black redstart or a black wheatear? Waiting for the weather to improve? I thought it was always sunshiny in your neck of the woods…

Hmm, I see your problem. However, based in that equation the simple answer in my view is to wait. Spend the £500 saved on some additional kit or a weekend in Amsterdam or some 45s or…or…or…

You got your new camera yet?

Not a bad day here at all. In fact, we're having quite a nice spell at the moment.

No, still there... https://www.raresoulman.co.uk/auction/9522/open-the-door-to-your-heart-our-love

You either like a tune or you don't - whether there are words in it or not is irrelevant. The classical and jazz genres are replete with "instrumentals".

Wonderful birds - just so unusual in so many ways. I wonder what the entity or force responsible for their existence was thinking!

Henceforth known as Open the door to your wallet!

I was buying RC infrequently around that time, so obviously missed just the sort of article that probably would have had me buying it regularly again!

Excellent reading - not something I'd come across before at all.

Great thread here looking at foreign releases. Quite a few Argentine 33rpm 45s in there, too.

On the subject of being bird-brained...

A little scratching at the surface of starling murmurations reveals this interesting article. It's a lay perspective of a study conducted by theoretical physicists at the University of Rome. http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/the-incredible-science-behind-starling-murmurations Anyone with an interest and understanding of higher mathematics can read the full paper here: http://www.pnas.org/content/107/26/11865.full While the article and source paper provide an explanation as to why, relative to the laws of physics, murmurations work, little scope is given to why they take place at all beyond it being a defensive phenomenon. I'd put money on there being some sort of social value beyond the defensive, but couldn't say what or why.

I think we could all do with a bit more "postulating", especially in some of the "discussions" that take place on Soul Source.

I've also wondered as to whether there is some defensive value in these swarming displays. They give the idea of there being a single entity - and a rather enormous one at that! There's logic in what you say about it also being a pre-slumber warming up exercise for a species that isn't far enough up the evolutionary ladder to appreciate a hot water bottle. Like all birds, though, they are naturally very well insulated - and starlings happily roost in trees and other structures as well as metal ones such as piers. Also, energy is an extremely valuable commodity - it's life or death, so what value in burning up so many of the precious calories they've spent the whole day accumulating? No idea if anything I'm saying here is "right" in any way - just postulating. Perhaps I'll have a look into the topic if I get the time later today as it's fascinating.

In many respects, whether people agree with the sentiments expressed in editorials by interviewees is irrelevant when considering the article from a journalistic perspective. It's the writer's job to ask pertinent questions and to communicate in an interesting, informative and entertaining way the opinions given by interviewees. Readers who question Andy Smith's statement about Northern Soul's resurgence being a '"backlash" against "computer-made music…"' or Elaine Constantine's comments about the song "Happy" need to take it up with them personally and not the writer. That's presuming the writer has accurately quoted both sources in context. Claire's done a pretty good job at providing an overview of the topic she's written about. She's grasped the subject well, provided a good narrative flow and a time line that's easy to follow. She's obviously a competent writer. The article could have been improved further in the hands of a skilled editor who would have sharpened up the writing overall and ensured that incorrect statements, such as the one about Elaine having two books, didn't make it into print. Alongside the actual words themselves the next most important aspect is the design and layout. Attention to detail is the magazine editor's mantra as is consistency of style. There are lots of things that the editor appears to have been overlooked or ignored here. As examples: - the 2nd paragraph on the first page finishes with a "widow", ie, a single word left stranded by itself on a line. Every editor knows that widows are to be avoided. However, widows can be found throughout the layout. - after the 4th paragraph on the same page there is a line break. This is inconsistent as the magazine style shows a carriage return to be the convention for separating paras. If the line break - and there are a few of them - is meant to convey a break in the story, then it should be accompanied by a sub-head, which we see are also used throughout the story. - the text doesn't finish at the bottom of the right-hand column of the first page. Nor does it at the end of the article. It should! - the left-hand column on the final page ends with a string of "orphans" - a number of words separated from the main body of the article. Likewise, the top of the next column shows a line of orphans followed by a widow. This is one unhappy family! - photos are not captioned. Northern Soul fans will be able to identify most of the photos without too much difficulty, but what about non-fans? The opening pic, for example, is that from the film or a real-life scenario? And what about those images that aren't clearly identifiable as being taken at the Wigan Casino or the Twisted Wheel - where are they from and what are they conveying? Ultimately, it's the responsibility of the editor to maximise the readability of an article; to ensure that the story is as easily accessible to readers as possible. This is done though great visual presentation and consistency of style. From an editorial perspective, many improvements could have been made here. The words deserve better.

So has any reasonable explanation been offered as to why starlings swarm in this way? It seems to have a direct association with roosting as it often happens as a precursor to that.