There's a man I know.........

On the 10th December three middleaged men from Stratton relived their youth in a dodgy venue in Birmingham!

This years blog is ending as I begun, feeling a little older by the day. But what a way to be reminded that the band that once seemed so new and produced a soundtrack for many a blokey dance have been around for thirty years. I last saw Madness in 1985 (when they had already been around for five years or so). And when they bounded onto stage and Chaz Smash started "Don't watch that watch this!" it was as if the years fell away.... a room packed with aging blokes (and a few reluctant women), many wearing a trilby or fez, began to sing/shout every word of 'One step Beyond', 'Embarrassment', 'My Girl' and a host of other classics as if they were hits only yesterday.

Seeing lots of meanacing, heaviliy tatooed ex--skinheads singing 'It Must Be Love' and 'For the Wings of a Dove' at the top of their voices was a joy to behold.

This was the most entertaining of gigs!

The Taylors at Christmas.....

As with last year we decided not to do a 'round robin' letter. Anyone who is vaguely interested in our 'funny little family' here in Cirencester will be directed to this blog.

The big event of 2009 was undoubtedly the arrival of little Eliza Thora on 14th May. She has been an absolute little star and has been a constant source of entertainment with a really smiley face and arms and legs that do not stop moving. Bess is the apple of her eye and vice versa. Eliza was christened in September.

The second big event was Lal's 40th birthday. The day itself was an excuse to drive around the Cotswolds in a classic car......then there was a visit to an open air cinema for Lal and her girly friends............and then a garden party at Number 8.

Bess continues to develop into a four year old teenager. She continually surprises, amuses and frustrates us in equal measure. She experienced her first real snow this February and her fourth birthday in October.

Apart from that other exciting events have been the arrival of new windows in our old house....oh the excitement never stops! It is very odd living here without the curtains billowing or the inside temperature dropping below zero every night.

We've been to see some bands this year The Killers, Girls Aloud, Jay-Z and Coldplay , Madness and Aha,

Then there was 'Strictly Come Dancing'........if you're fan then you'll know all about our dopplegangers (the other Ali and Brian) who were cruelly denied a place in the final. Ali had some fun detailing 'Ali and Brian's' progress. Of course if you're more of an X Factor person, this is all pretty irrelevant, but its worth having a look at the photos.......

We've done our usual trips to the coast at Salcombe, Swanage, Isle of Wight and Brighton. Whilst the weather hasn't been great this year we had enough sun to spend some time on the beach.

Scarily, Brian realised that he has been in Cirencester for twenty years this year, which must make him somewhere near a local now. In a failed bid to recapture his youth Brian also grew a moustache....only for 31 days and it was for charity! For the 'Wheatsheaf Hospital C' skittles team it was a year of two halves finishing near the bottom of the division at the end of the 2008/9 season (avoiding relegation only because there was nowhere lower to go), but riding high at the top of the division halfway through the 2009/10 season. Watch out for highlights on BBC3 in the new year.

But enough of our drivel......have a browse around the blog and it will fill you in if you want to know more. Thank you for watching and have a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy 2010!

The Taylors

Movender

At last the longest month ever is over and I am once again clean shaven. Despite having once sported a dodgy moustache in my youth (and looking at some old photos it clearly did not suit me then) I have never felt so self concious. I found myself holding my hand over my mouth every time someone looked at me...which is a bit difficult sitting through two Planning Committee meetings in front of 15 Councillors and a load of members of the public!

However, all the comparisons to Jason King, Rufus Hound, Inigo Montoya, Mr Rusty off of the Magic Roundabout, D'Artagnan and the lead singer off of Metallica were worth it as I raised over £200 (and rising) for The Prostrate Cancer Charity. Many thanks to those of you that donated on-line and many thanks to those at Monkton park who donated around £40 and two kind ladies today said they weren't going to send Christmas cards at work and would donate £10 each to the fund....thanks everyone.

Going......


...gone! (Hooray!)

Top again!

Well, what can we say?


Here's what Bruno had to say - "Ali must unleash an animal aspect to her personality to be able to win the show"


Ali's reply was - "Woof woof!"

Brighton Rocks..

We've just returned from our almost annual trip to Brighton. it was definitely a weekend of two halfs. We had some very unseasonal sunny and warm weather (warm enough to have breakfast at a cafe on the beach) and then we had some very seasonal storms.

Brighton is a great place to find interesting places to sit and watch and eat and drink. One of our favourite places is a little cafe near Roedean. They do great english breakfasts and other traditonal english caff fare, with a fantastic view out over the marina. And with the winter storms battering the south coast. The classic English weekend by the sea...sheltering from the rain gazing out to sea.

Bessie's First Play School Trip

Bessie and I went on her first school trip to Westonbirt Arboretum last week. We went on a bus and everything.

We collected leaves, listened to the rain on the leaves, smelled the leaves, listened to the rain on the leaves, stroked the trees, listened to the rain on the leaves, made a Leaf Crown, listened to the rain on the leaves and had a picnic lunch while listening to the rain on the leaves.

We had a lovely, soggy morning out.

If that was a pudding . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . it was an Angel Delight. Well, thats how Len described our performance on Saturday (Week 10). Umm, Butterscotch flavour I think.

Some other quotes for you - "Ali, you have some moments of sheer bliss. Lovely to look at and your arms are some of the best I have ever seen."

"you stood on Brian's left toe. Overall, a very polished routine and a gorgeous routine."

"Ali. You are a dream couple."

"It was a magical dance, and for me, you are the frontrunners."

Frontrunners, blimey - no pressure then!

Midweek Disaster!

Well, there was a case of deja-vous in the Bastian/Fortuna camp last week. (Ali damaged her foot, again! She is just so clumsy and I'm not sure not wether it was an accident or if she's doing it on purpose, to get us a few sympathy votes). Thanks for that Bri!



Anyway, a quick trip to casualty resulted in a 'possible tiny fracture' to the toe and a nasty bout of swelling - I'm going to avoid kicking that high chair again if at all possible!

(Sorry, hope This picture hasn't put you off of your tea)

UPDATE - 5 days on and the swelling and bruising are much improved and it didn't seem to hamper our performance on Saturday night.

Here we are . . . . at last

Big Big appologies to all our watchers for the delay in getting our Week 9 performance upoladed. I bet you thought we had just given up? But no, we're back.

Anyway, 35 points, second on the leader board, not bad. Obviously its not another 40, but you know, we've got to give the others a chance too!

Movember - half way

An update on my moustache growing. After sporting a rather dubious goatee beard for the past week I've finally fashioned a 'mo', as per the requirements of 'Movember'. I am feeling particularly self-concious sporting my hybrid Charley Boorman/Rufus Hound/finest swordsman in all spain 'tache.

Still its for a good cause and I have collected a few quid so far...so I think I can put up with the embarrassmenmt for another couple of weeks. (Theres a link to encourage you to donate on the panel on the right.......)

The worrying thing is I am getting to look more and more like Daddy Pig (off of Peppa Pig)

Happy Families x

So, are these people related? You decide!

Oh what a night!

We are so sorry that it has taken us until Wednesday to update our blog, but we have been riding high from our 'Perfect 40' on Saturday night and have been out celebrating every night!

Well, what about that, it was a perfect night and even though we do say so ourselves, it was a perfect performance.

I mean, just look at what the judges said -

Len : Last week, I thought Ricky's dance was the dance of the series. I've now changed my mind - that was.

Bruno : A magic venue, an enchanting dance. Dance has the power to lift our hearts, to make us dream. You did that tonight.

Craig : I'm very disappointed. I could not find a single thing wrong with that.

Alesha : I felt the emotional connection between you both tonight. That was very romantic and beautifully danced, Ali. There's nothing more I want from a Viennese waltz.

What more is there to say?

We would like to dedicate our 'Perfect 40' to 'Auntie Sue' our loyal and passionate fan. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have got through the last 8 weeks, thank you x

The Sun Always Shines on TV

What a fantastic time I had on Monday evening.

Twenty Two years after seeing them last, my lovely little brother took me to see the heavenly A-ha as part of my 40th birthday treats. It was pure magic.

They looked and sounded as good as they did back in 1987 - I wish I could say the same! They played the old classics, they played their new stuff, they played old stuff in a new way and their 3rd encore was, of course, Take on Me. We were just waiting to be pulled into the video (see here!).

I shouted my way through the 1¾ hours and threw in a couple of screams for good measure (I'm sorry, but Morten Harket was on stage and it had to be done).

What will the world do without A-ha?

Thank you Spuddie (I got a t-shirt and bag too - hey, I was re-living being 17 all over again!) I had such a lovely time x

That was close!

We thought we were safe (being third in the table) with 33 points. How wrong were we?

For goodness sake, I did the splits and everything. But you, the British public, had other ideas! Thanks for that.

However, lovely Len saved us and we will dance another day.

See you Saturday in Blackpool.

Movember

With all that's going on in the world I thought I ought to do my bit for the benefit of my fellow man. I thought about all those hearty souls who walk from John O' Groats to Landsend, or climb Kilimanjaro with Girls Aloud or run the Great North Run (well done Paul Maylunn by the way!) and felt decidedly daunted. I then came across a cause that required the sort of effort that I could easily commit to.

I am growing a moustache this year for 'Movember'. I have decided to put down my razor for one month (November) and help raise awareness and funds for Movember a prostate cancer charity.

Initially it started out as a bit of a laugh when everyone at work donned false moustaches to bid farewell to my friend John who was retiring. Then I came across this charity, which looked like a laugh and but now I appear to be committed to having an itchy face for the rest of the month. Currently I have a full face of scruffy stubble, with the aim of creating some sort of exotic shaped facial hair over the weekend. I thought I'd aim for a straightforward George Clooney (" O Brother Where Art Thou" (above) rather than "Syriana") but will probably end up looking more like Mackenzie Crook.....

If you want to find out more follow these links http://uk.movember.com/mospace/254920/ or http://uk.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs or http://uk.movember.com/

I know its lazy and not quite as admirable as or adventurous as sailing around the British Isles in bathtub, but, by way of justification, I am going to look like a scruffy oik for a whole month (who said 'no change there then'?)

Oh what a night

Just look at this . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and I think we suit orange.

We've had a busy week

Well, would you look at where we've been this week!

Jive-Tastic!

I thought our Jive was quite good!

Strictly Come Dancing - Brian & Ali

My good friend Abby pointed out that we can move quite well round the dance floor and that, actually, we look quite good in lycra too!



Watch this space x

Compare & Contrast - Version One

Our girls - Bessie aged 97 days, Eliza 136 days

Bessie is four......

Another day another party.

Suddenly Bessie is four years old. Where did that time go?

On her birthday it was pressies (lots of pressies) and a family get together.........

The day after fifteen 3 and 4 year olds were running round the house. Luckily it was another one of those sunny autumn days and most of them could run amok in the garden (phew).

Eliza Thora Taylor..

Eliza is now an official member of society. The day after getting back from Coldplay Eliza was christened. It was a gloriously sunny autumn day, the service at St Peters, Stratton was really nice (our new vicar is very welcoming and inclusive and hardly anyone noticed that the organ music was courtesy of a cd player) and it was back to village hall for tea and cakes.

And Eliza (and Bess) behaved impeccably throughout!

We're on our way to Wembley..... (part 2)

As part of Lally's 40th birthday celebrations it was off to Wembley for Coldplay (back in September...sorry there's a lot of catching up to do!).

We arrived nice an early (a pint in a pub where we parked the car) and in the stadium for the kick-off at four o'clock. A really impressive stadium with food at impressive prices too...good job we were sad and took some sarnies!

First up were White Lies who were really good 9even though neither of us had heard of them before). Down to the front for Girls Aloud...who were disappointing...not rteally a stadium band. Jay-z was.....LOUD!...but really enjoyable - especially 'Empire State of Mind', which was amazing.

Now i got the tickets for Lally becaues she'd always wanted to see them and I was't really looking forward to it. I'm not a great fan of really big stadium gigs anyway and Coldplay aren't one of my favourite bands...but I must say they put on hell of a show. Very impressive particularly the big anthems such as 'Yellow' and 'Viva La Vida'. There were fireworks, spectacular light show, confetti in the shape of butterflies and large yellow balloons....what more could you ask!

Cheers Chris!