Siyaya Gets Around!

Very surreal (but wonderful) to walk along Brook Street in London at 8pm last night and hear the feelgood strains of music associated with Makokoba, Bulawayo (and no, it wasn't simply I had my ipod on!) Siyaya again prove how world-class they are by delivering brilliant entertainment during a glamorous benefit dinner at Claridges in London in aid of Zimbabwe.  They definitely warmed up a chilly February night in London with some warm Zimbabwean vibes! 

It was surreal to travel the next day in a packed rush-hour tube surrounded on all sides by people reading The Evening Standard with this in it.  Wonder at the response had I told them the night before these 3 crashed on my bedroom floor for the night...!?!! 

Photo in The Times yesterday

Car

THANK YOU

Dad, Noel Tredinnick, with the car that the donations in lieu of 60th birthday gifts bought!

A huge thanks to everyone who has donated financially towards my work in general and in particular here to those who chipped in to help with the purchase of this car. It's now officially mine, largely due to everyone's generosity.

While maybe not the exact car of my dreams (!) it's awesome to have it and it certainly gets a great deal of use. I don't know what I'd do without a car and I've had a fair few stories & exploits in it already.

Not least when it gets used to cart large quantities of crazy PA equipment around, each month pre & post Lounge. I've lost count of the maximum number of people it's carried at one time, or what the most requested tune from the ipod is at the moment...

It's cool knowing that so many friends, family & family friends helped made it possible - and a special thanks to my old man for his decision to ask for donations towards my work instead of 60th birthday gifts - I was very touched by that.

Just a few snaps - don't worry I am not one of those people who gets precious about their car, although that said, you do see some impressive vintage classics around the place here - relics from a bygone era, in a wide range of conditions.

Maybe sometime I'll be sporting a(nother!) vintage classic...!

Surprise!

My old man reached a fairly substancial milestone on March 9th, and I'd decided to surprise him at his party by arriving in person unannounced. Plans were slightly messed up by the journey from hell on my outward trip...A seriously ill passenger on board the flight (in the row behind me) meant the plane eventually turned around and flew 90mins back on itself for an emergency landing in Lusaka, Zambia. 3hrs of CPR & electric-shock resuscitation at several thousand feet just about kept the passanger alive. Respect to the cabin crew... and exhaustion/slight trauma to all nearby passengers. This increased when it was announced that we'd only get as far as Rome, rather than to London. I finally arrived at Heathrow 7hrs late. A shame, as I missed much of the party and was exhausted (though obviously not as bad as the guy who'd almost died). The surprise still went down very well.

The surprise was so fun (well worth travelling a few thousand miles for!) and it was lovely to see many friends and family and be together to celebrate. A great long weekend of festivities and delicious food. All really, very special!

4 days later and back again - this time a blissfully uneventful journey...