Today I was well chuffed to get to see a delightful vehicle up close. For some time, I had seen this authentic Pakistani jingle truck from a distance and really fancied a better look.

The Bedford TJ 1090 is on private land some way from the road, and so I went and knocked on the door of the associated property and asked if I could have a look.

Of course, I accepted that I just might get told to ‘get lost’, but my view was that it was worth the risk. Afterall, don’t ask … don’t get!

Fortunately though, I was welcomed. I got to see the truck and spend some time chatting to the owner. This is the kind of vehicle that inspires enthusiasm, and Phil was pleased (maybe bemused too) to see my joy in seeing the truck matched his joy in owning it.

The amount of time and effort that had gone in to making this most cheerful of vehicles was obvious.

The chassis has a timber frame built around it that was subsequently embellished with paint, nickel, plastic, fabric, lights, aluminium, you name it. Pretty much all inner and outer surfaces had been decorated in a blaze of colourful words, shapes and designs. It’s a sensory riot that you could spend hours and hours studying. Every time I looked at it, I could see something new.

I absolutely loved it.

The only time I have ever seen a vehicle anything like this was at the visitor centre/museum at Stockwood Park in Luton. This Bedford TJ was just more - more of everything.

Back in the day, the TJ chassis was shipped around the world and local artisans used to augment it to suit their requirements. In Cyprus the TJ became a bus (I love those vehicles too), and in India and Pakistan the jingle trucks and jingle buses were created. They are referred to as ‘jingles’ because that’s what the chains around them do when the vehicles are moving.

Though he’s owned it for some time, Phil didn’t import the truck himself; he purchased it from a chap that brought it into the UK to help promote his restaurant – apparently there are videos of this vehicle on the road in London. Phil’s plans are to turn the truck into a holiday home. He has other vehicles that have already been converted for the same purpose.

How cool would it be to stay inside this piece of automotive artwork?

​Seeing the truck brightened up my day and I am grateful to Phil and his partner for giving me some of their time. I was a stranger, they didn’t know me from Adam, but they were good to me and I really appreciated it.  

Every so often this website kicks off some good dialogue between visitors, typically on the rather more niche subjects. It’s the engagement with my readers that I find the most enjoyable aspect of running the site.

1980s Hi-Tec Tecs is one of those subjects where people might come across my site because not many others have written about them.

You can read the previous posts here to save me repeating myself.

Hi-Tec Tecs - a flash of pure trainer nostalgia and a Google let down (blog post)
Hi-Tec comes up trumps with Tecs shot

The latest exchange came as a result of Matt getting in touch to advise that decades after wearing out his Tecs, he still had the box they came in. You can see his comment in the blog post above.

Amazed that a box could have survived for so long, I dropped him a line and asked for some photos. Matt duly responded:

“I thought it was a long dead thread but I thought I'd give it a go! Here are some pics.”

The exchange with Matt prompted me to take to my keyboard.

Firstly, how amazing is it that a box has survived for so long? 

I have an old Hi-Tec box in the garage that I have stored Christmas baubles in for the last few decades. It’s easily thirty years old, but it most definitely isn’t forty something. My box was for some later shoes, Silver Shadows maybe. I can’t remember, I’ll have to check sometime. Not only does Matt still have the box, he has the inner wrapping too. Wow!

Secondly, and for the benefit of all Tecs fans out there, I couldn’t not share the pictures. 

Thirdly, even though this one started 13 years ago, a thread from my site is never really dead. If someone gets in touch, I am ready respond. 

And let’s keep the Tecs dialogue going, it might even encourage Hi-Tec to reissue the shoes.

Finally, I have a slightly tired old pair of shoes that I thought I would share with you. As I type, I can see them out of the corner of my eye. They aren’t Tecs unfortunately, they are ‘Highlights’ instead. They are too small for me, so their condition is not going to get any shabbier … but I think they have the right kind of vibe about them.  What do you think?

Sharon and Piers interview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaLMsEJKZEQ

Blog Home
​Blog Library
Home

I credit Adam Ant for getting me into music, his song ‘Stand and Deliver’ was brilliant and fired up a whole new passion for me. Adam Ant posters decorated my bedroom, his records started building my vinyl collection, and he was discussed at length with my primary school buddies. Adam Ant made music exciting when I hadn’t found it particularly interesting before.

Even approaching 55 years old, I have an A2 Adam Ant Screen Scene poster magazine cover framed on the wall in my office.

On the 24th November, I went to the theatre in Milton Keynes (MK) to see Adam perform live for the first time. Having waited about 45 years to see my childhood hero, I hoped to come away from the gig as enthusiastic as I was when I saw Frank Carter and The Sex Pistols.

But for a variety of reasons, that was not to be. What follows is just my opinion, others may well have different perceptions and that’s a good thing.

The Venue
The theatre in MK is an odd gig venue in some ways, whilst it has great acoustics, it’s all seated and there are no standing areas (or mosh pits as I prefer to call them).

The impact of the style of venue was that people stayed seated, there was no dancing and there was even ‘polite’ silence between songs.

The audience were mostly ‘of an age’, which is no surprise I guess given that Adam’s biggest impact was at the beginning of the eighties.

Whilst the acoustics were good, they did make Adam’s occasionally ropey vocals all the more obvious. I’ll be honest, I winced at the start of Dog Eat Dog.

The stage show was minimal, which meant all the attention was on Adam, and at times he didn’t command the space in the way that I thought he might. Some more props could have helped him not feel/look quite so exposed.

On a positive note, the two drummers with their full drum kits were brilliant, the ‘two drum kits live experience’ was completely new to me and I liked it a lot.

Adam
When Adam took to the stage, I was impressed that he had kept his slim figure and that he looked the part in his black outfit and signature bicorn hat. For a man in his early seventies, he still had some ‘dandy highwayman’ about him.

I’ll be honest though, I expected more energy and more swagger from the seasoned front man. I got the impression that he was lacking some confidence; he didn’t make demands of the audience or move around like the space was all his to command. Maybe he was bothered that his voice was letting him down.

I don’t know if he was tired from the tour, not feeling his best, or just underwhelmed by the audience, but I felt he was not altogether in the moment (or perhaps going through the motions a bit).

When he sang Prince Charming, I hoped he would do the arm moves and instead he clutched his guitar with one arm and barely moved the other, to me he almost looked embarrassed. Even when the audience was singing along with ‘ridicule is nothing to be scared of’, Adam didn’t come alive. Though it’s one of his best-known songs, it wasn’t performed with the energy or arrogance that it deserved.

There were occasional moments of animation - he came to life for example on Kings of the Wild Frontier; he made a point of saying, in a quiet way, that he was still very proud of that particular song.

Some filler* when there could have been more killer
Set list:

1. Dog Eat Dog
2. Vive le Rock
3. Ant Music
4. Miss Thing*
5. Cartrouble
6. Zerox
7. Ants Invasion
8. Prince Charming
9. Lady
10. Young Parisians
11. Puss 'n Boots
12. Desperate but Not Serious
13. Kings of the Wild Frontier
14. Beat My Guest
15. Strip
16. Friend or Foe
17. Never Trust a Man (With Egg on His Face)*
18. Red Scab*
19. Killer in the Home*    
20. Los Rancheros
21. Goody Two Shoes
22. Stand and Deliver (encore)

The set list overall was okay, many of Adam’s hits and then some lesser-known songs. Some of the filler (in my opinion) could have been replaced with more of Adam’s better tracks - Deutsche Girls, Friends, Apollo 9, Room at the Top for example. There was nothing from Adam’s 2013 ‘Blueblack Hussar’ album, I would have liked to hear ‘Marrying the gunner’s daughter’.

The best song, in terms of its delivery versus the original, was Young Parisians – that one though is not one of my favourites.

It was good to hear Los Rancheros live.

Stand and Deliver, an absolute anthem of the eighties, was the encore, it should have been the best song of the entire evening … and it wasn’t as good as it should have been either.  

The verdict
The 2013 album ‘Adam Ant is the blueblack hussar in marrying the gunner’s daughter’, though unrepresented in the set list, was a metaphor for the MK show. The album had moments of greatness but was patchy in others and let down by some production issues.

I think there’s a good chance that I just got unlucky, other tour dates have had great reviews (though interestingly the Adam Ant Facebook account didn’t even celebrate the MK show when it did highlight others).

I wish I could have got the buzz from the concert that I had anticipated, rather than feeling like I am making excuses for an old hero. The fact is that when the gig was done, I wasn’t clamouring for more, I actually felt a little sad to be honest.

I went to a show that wasn’t supported by Toyah. Before the gig, I was a bit disappointed about that because when I saw her a couple of years back, she rocked. In hindsight, it was probably a good thing that the date wasn’t supported by Toyah, she would have outclassed Adam and that really would have been a shame.

This year’s tour was a re-scheduled tour from 2024 that was cancelled because of Adam’s ill health. The blue-black hussar might have had his last hurrah.

With that in mind, I am glad I went the gig, I would have regretted not making the effort if I didn’t buy a ticket. There were moments of excellence, but I sat in the audience thinking that I had waited too long and really should have found a gig to go to 20 years ago.

Blog Home
Blog Library
Home

Related posts from 2011:
Camp America and Camp Summit, Wurtsboro NY

1. The Summit kids from 1994/5 get in touch
2. A Baldwin and the Bronx (September 1995)
3. Snakes and conquering my fear of them
4. Law enforcement
5. The Summit Speedway Go-Karts
6. Colour War
7. Tee shirts and baseball caps
8. Adrian and Baldwin - towns in Michigan

Sometimes it’s the little things that make all the difference, the inconsequential (in the wider scheme of life) happenings that have a positive impact on one’s sense of wellbeing.

I read the BBC news every day and find myself almost desperate for some good news amongst all the miserable stuff that seems to fill the screen – war, environmental disasters, the Camp Mystic catastrophe, the death of Ozzy Osbourne...    

Given the good news is hard to find, I thought I’d share a few things that have happened to me recently that brought me some genuine joy.  

And, dear reader, I hope that you can compile a mental list of the little things that have brought joy to you as well.  When I find myself worrying, fire fighting or problem solving, taking a moment to celebrate the little wins helps to bring some much-needed balance.  

Marmite peanut butter

First up, Marmite peanut butter is back on the shelves in the supermarkets, back in my larder at home, and back on my toast in the mornings. Some while ago I wrote about its delisting by Unilever and made the point that a simple pleasure had been taken away.

A week or so ago, Mrs B. had been to Sainsburys. I got home to find a new jar of Marmite peanut butter waiting for me on the worktop and I kid you not, I felt a rush of elation. I may even have shouted ‘yay’ and fist pumped the air. Mrs B. bought the jar because she knew how pleased I would be.

Lyons Maid lolly sticks

Next up are a couple of developments in the Lyons Maid lolly stick saga (see earlier posts, there are a few, below). The first event involved a lady called Sophie McKay getting in touch, here’s what she said:

Hi - I came across your website because I happened to find one of the lolly sticks washed up next to a lake in Wanstead Park in London. It’s the Penguin one - a bit dented but good condition! I kept it as it looked interesting. I was searching for someone who would have more use for it than I do - your story was really interesting and heartwarming! Let me know your address and I can send to you - Sophie

I responded to Sophie and, bless her, she did post the stick to me, and it arriving in the mail made my day. How really nice of a stranger to do something so kind!

I was that chuffed that I shared the story with John, he had commented on my posts in the past and is a bone fide Lyons Maid expert. Long story short, he sent me a Kevin Keegan ‘Goal’ stick to add to my collection. That was two new sticks in short succession. When the Goal stick arrived, it felt a bit like Christmas.

Kevin isn’t a DC character, but he came first and is an honorary super hero in my books.
​
Both are now stuck to my monitor, and they make me smile every time I look at them – which, as I am typing, includes right now.

An Oldsmobile

A few weeks back, I went to a classic car meet at North Kilworth Sports Club and was delighted to finally see an Oldsmobile that I had been desperate to have a look at for two years … and had just never been in the right place at the right time.

I had passed this car on the road, it had turned up at meets after I left, or at meets I couldn’t make it to.

I watched the Olds pull into the sports ground and felt a surge of elation. I had finally got lucky; I just had to rush across the field to have a look.

I met the owner, Andy, who was nice enough to indulge a clearly over enthusiastic fan by letting me sit in his spotless car and have my photo taken.

‘Yay’ and ‘yay’ again.

And that brings me full circle, at the start of this post, I talked about inconsequential things that bring happiness. A sit in car, a jar of spread, a couple of pieces of plastic won’t bring back the dead, improve the macro environmental doom and gloom, one’s health, or wealth or solve one’s problems, but thank goodness for the little things that make a difference to the daily grind.

To Sophie, John, Andy, you all rock.   

Blog Home
Blog Library
​Home

Lyons Maid related posts:
2012 https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/lyons-maid-supermans-superheroes-ice-lolly.html
04/12/2012 http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/the-sequel-to-the-supermans-superheroes-stick-story
25/02/2015 http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/fantastic-plastic-perranporth-find
15/02/2017 http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/first-class-ice-lolly-cool-cornwall-catwoman
10/03/2019 https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/lolly-stick-happiness
13/03/2019  https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/lyons-maid-supermans-superheroes-lolly-sticks-in-colour
19/03/2019 https://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/lolly-legacy
​15/04/2019 Lyons Maid - Goal!
24/04/2019 A Second Goal!

I have written a few posts about Kirstin Baybars and her delightful Ostrobogulous creations. Peter Hoot and the Ostrobogulous is that kind of particularly niche topic that means that when people search Google for inspiration, they may well come across me.

This has meant that visitors have got in touch directly to share their memories and photos of their Peter Hoots. You can see some of that engagement in the earlier pieces, see links below.

When Pam from the States got in touch, I was able to help her, through David Ward, source a replacement for her Peter Hoot that was lost when she was a child.  

And quite recently a lady called Jane got in touch with me because she wanted to find her Peter a new home. I offered my help and, long story short, I ended up buying a second owl for myself.  

Twit two    

Peter Hoot 2 was brought to life relatively recently. It was an old kit from Kristin’s shop, but one that had never been sewn together. Back in 2018 I think, it was finally constructed and then sold to Jane.

This Peter is presented in brown and orange (they are my favourite colours) and he has a proper seventies look about him. He is larger in size (though technically a medium) than my original owl and that makes him a nice companion.

After buying him, I found a lovely photo of Kristin with her newly commissioned parliament of Peters. No. 2 is in the picture. Very cool!

It turns out that Sarah Harrop, who has the best collection of Ostrobogulous creations in the country (and helped me in my research for my earlier posts) actually took the photo.

Kristin passed away in late 2021 and so finding this photo of her with the Peters felt rather poignant. I never got to meet her in person, which I always thought was a shame.

And Aristo too
Since 2013 when I first wrote about Peter Hoot, I have also acquired an Aristo clown. This one is an original and he shows his age, but he sits on his throne in the lounge, and I think he looks terrific.  I really fancied having one of these … it took me a long time to find one.

Related links:
07/02/20 Kristin Baybars and the Ostrobogulous 
07/07/20 More on Ostrobogulous Toys 
​Meet Peter Hoot from the zoo of the Ostrobogulous 11/13 - you'll have to scroll down a little

https://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/article/tributes-to-kristin-baybars-the-toymaker-with-a-shop-of-dreams

Updated 02/03/25
Since writing this post, Zelensky was on the receiving end of an orchestrated mugging by Trump and Vance in the notorious televised meeting at the White House. I listened and was angered by the diplomatic indecency.

There is a well-known saying “with great power comes great responsibility” and so as not to forget, Trump would do well to have that tattooed on to his body. He shows none of the tact and diplomacy that befits someone in his position.

I was slightly heartened to read in the news over the weekend that protesters have been taking to the streets in the States to show their support for Ukraine. Hopefully there were far more Americans upset by Trump’s antics than were visible in New York, Boston. Los Angeles and Vermont. They voted him in and, because he claims to be acting on their behalf, they need to manage his outrageous behaviours.

Up until recently there were a few things, like the Northern Lights, that I had never seen in my life.  A live badger was another example.

Having seen dead badgers at the roadside hundreds of times, I finally saw a live one late one night in East Sussex. And last night, I finally saw the Northern Lights. Both things curiously life affirming.

To be fair, seeing the lights in the UK, in anywhere not classed as ‘the North’, is unusual. 2024 has been a particularly active year for the sun and its solar flares. In May the country was treated to a light show … and I only found out about it the next day. Damn, that was annoying!

You have to be in the right place at the right time to see the Aurora Borealis, and that isn’t easy. I know people that have been on holiday in the artic circle and not seen the lights.

Since May, I have been on a mission to enjoy the phenomenon. I have downloaded apps and started following online those in the know about these things. I have been out many times to try and observe the light show and have failed because it didn’t travel far enough south. I even spent time learning all about the camera settings on my iPhone so that when I finally got lucky, I could capture the moment.

This month has seen a lot of solar activity, but rubbish weather made it difficult to observe, that didn’t stop me trying anyway.
 
Last night though I was forewarned, and I was ready. As darkness fell, I was outside and was delighted to finally see the solar show.

I have shared a few of last night’s photos for you to enjoy. The Aurora was visible to the naked eye, but the camera (in night mode, no flash and a three second exposure) really captures it well. To the naked eye, I could see the red in the sky but it was nowhere near as defined and vivid as in the photos.
​
I thought that seeing it would scratch an itch, or be a tick in the ‘done that’ box, but I think now that I will continue making the effort to see the lights as often as I can. I am much less bothered about live badgers.