big bird pays a visit



9.45am
hi ho hi ho its off to work we go........



rapidly expanding sea of sludge



much more to follow.......

out of the blizzard and into cafe soundgarden
for a gidionics festive drink.

warming up,the view from the window



.......



hat fashion



waiting for the tram that never came..
a slow trudge homewards...

its a one day winter

4am



10am



blizzard begins



.......



car skating

back to that unique dutch light

farewell view



bath station....sardines crammed into a tin can
yet again



then to london.....



......



brussels

church in the village of chew magna



compton martin pond



sun sets on the last evening

it seems the whole village heads to the
ring o'bells on boxing day for a festive drink.

brother in law miles,our host,
is immediately forced to listen to fishing
stories.



meanwhile gidionics witness the annual
yard of ale competition



also in attendance are master cook,
mistletoe farmer,and manager of top
band gorillaz,chris m. chatting with fellow
foodie rob b.



then back for an evening round the dinner table

although hunting was outlawed in britain
a year ago,it continues without the killing
element.
we head up to the hills to catch a glimpse
of this old rural tradition

out of the mist the hunt emerges



leader of the hunt bids gidionics
a good day



and the hunt passes without incident

a crispy morning walk to start
the day in the hills above the village.




kitchen preparations



the remains of the christmas pudding



rob b. illustrates the results-a siesta with a smile

british engineering



naked turkey ready for stuffing



doggy imitating turkey?

a peaceful start



another ancient structure-compton
martin village church



an evening in village pub the ring o'bells




as we say here "gezellig"....thanks for such
a warm welcome and looking forward to
the next visit....



and that includes dogzilla!

the town of wells is a step back into
the past,dominated by it's imposing
cathedral.

this is supposed to be the oldest continually
inhabited street in europe


......



the charterhouse



escher-like staircases

food and drink

hunters lodge pub up in the hills near the
village of priddy.a step back in time and
the local butcombe beer at its best.



local transport



more gastronomic delights in the village
of wookey hole



chocolate and chillipeppers...strange
and wonderful

waking up to daylight



our christmas hideaway



compton martin village pond



sunset on the first day

8 days away in the hideaway village of compton martin
deep in the somerset countryside in the west of england.
photography went on as normal but no internet access-
so a good few days of journal material to come in one
big serving.

20/12/05
train heaven.....amsterdam to bristol in a day.
we love trains....watch the landscape unfold,
stretch the legs,time to unwind whilst waiting for
connections-a couple of jupiler beers in brussels,
guinness in london.

amsterdam is a little fluffy dog in comparison to
the hustle and bustle of rotweiler london....down
into the rat race warren also known as the tube...



it's a buzzy place but just passing through this time....

its off to bristol on the "express"train...more like a sardine
can on wheels....over full and nowhere to sit,but we find
a space to lean on the restaurant bar.......
there is panic in the next carriage and
a lot of people running about and police appearing
out of nowhere......
someone had a heart attack...but for a moment
a lot of scary posibilities flashed by.



it was good to finally reach the country retreat.

gidionics last day in amsterdam-off to
the little village of compton martin in the
deep english countryside for a week or so.

may not be possible to update this journal
during this period,in which case there will be a
bulk posting upon our return....so watch this space!

big bird is visiting again....



11am



westerkerk



happy christmas

south american fire water.
an early christmas headache.

9.45 am



afternoon-white for a moment

amsterdam canals are not just for
show but function as busy transport
routes.
late for work?
open bridge excuse never fails.

7.45 am



10.15 am

12.45 pm



evening skies



dream transport

after a couple of weeks of silence,gidionics
hit club 3voor 12 for a special 4 hour live show
featuring the top 100
songs of 2005 as voted by the listeners.

as always there are live performances too.

the first act are an electro two piece called nid
and sancy from belgium.
it seems anything coming out of belgium at the
moment is of great quality-as these guys prove
yet again......
www.nidandsancy.com for lots more.
also live in amsterdam melkweg 22 dec
dj for the evening will be deus frontman
tom barman - a special "soiree belge".
bummer that gidionics will be out of town
but we cant have it all!



then pop from the band voicst-
www.voicst.com



followed by pete philly subtle grooves
www.ourmindstate.com



and the band lpg wrap up the proceedings



with apologies to the nice lady from the vpro
who was responsible-
each song from the top 100 had been printed
on a banner.....in a fit of mindless hooliganism,
gidionics was responsible for the theft of the banner
"gideon" by the band my morning jacket-groovy
title for a song we think!(and sexy chart position
69 in the top 100-what irony



for the whole top 100 rundown and audio/video
highlights of the evening,click the link to 3voor12