Archive for February, 2011

>OPEN PLAN KITCHEN & JEFFREY OSBORNE

Posted: February 27, 2011 in aandm, CHEF, eenie meenie, hotel, i really dont need no light, jeffrey osborne, launderette.nathan, LTD, natalie, new love, on the wings of love, susan
1

>

        FSVB’s  200th POST
By around May/June of 1982, The Sandringham Hotel Opened, it was a Great place to Work!


The Kitchen area was all Open Plan, this was a First, I never knew of any other Restaurant like that in our Area, It was hard to get used to, being on show all the time, me being a Person who likes to stay in the Background, found this Quite hard to start with, but after a short while, I and others soon got used to it!


You were always being watched by Customers and things that you would normally just do, became harder, because of that, I remember the Hygiene Aspect had to improve, no leaving Meat / Food lying around, I remember the Kitchen Porter’s moaning as they had to improve most things they did!


I remember the Trade was Slow to start with, but Sunday Lunches always being Busy, all them Customers looking at the Chef’s cutting their Sunday Roasts right in front of them, what a Pleasure that was!


Nowadays its common place watching a Chef cut your Meat for you, but back then it was a Novelty, and it  Probably got the Hotel more trade , because of it!

Check out the Photo, this was taken around 1982, its Me, Susan, Nathan and Natalie, checkout the Settee and especially the Wallpaper, it was all the Rage back then, I can remember buying that Settee at a place called “Courts” in Town, we had that on the Never Never (as it was called years ago) we had to go in the Shop every month with our Little Book and pay the monthly rate!


I remember that Corner Unit Settee was in a Range that came with one better Model, than ours, and we tried our Best to get the Better one, but Courts would only let us have the Cheaper one, the Better one came with  (wait for it) a Clock Radio built in where the shelves were…….That Was a Beauty!     but it wasn’t to be!


As for Music around this period, The Great Voice of “Jeffrey Osborne” Released his First  Album (of six) since leaving LTD, it was Self Titled and on the A&M Record Label, Side One had all the Great Tracks on it, including  New Love, Eenie Meenie, I Really Dont Need No Light and the Best Track of them all, On the Wings of Love.


On the wings of love          http://www.4shared.com/embed/524869350/4932b46a
New love                            http://www.4shared.com/embed/524872525/98f50421
Eenie meenie                     http://www.4shared.com/embed/524870621/37d7b6ea
I really don’t need no light  http://www.4shared.com/embed/524871848/aa73e3a7


He had some great Musicians on the Album including:

Album Personnel

http://ws.amazon.co.uk/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=GB&ID=V20070822%2FGB%2Ffunkysoulviny-21%2F8010%2F392432b1-cdf4-4e5b-87be-1ceee46bd6b7&Operation=GetDisplayTemplate

Amazon.co.uk Widgets

THE FIRST FISH

Posted: February 25, 2011 in corys, external filter, fish tank, gravel cleaner, plecs, tank thermometer
0

After a Week of the Tank running, I had used both Nutrafin Aqua Plus and Cycle Medications, I thought I would buy  my First Fish, it was a Large Plec!
It was a bit Bigger than the one I thought I had brought, but he was the First Fish, so I always make sure he has plenty of clear places in the Tank and places to hide!

He hardly ever moves though, its a different story at Night times though, many a Day we have got up, to plenty of things Knocked about in the Tank!


And he probably makes more Mess than all the other Fish put together!


I Purchased a Tank Gravel Cleaner, the one you have to get working by Hand, I used this a couple of times, it was a bit of a Pain to get going so I then brought a Battery Powered one, these are much Better and easier to use!


I also Purchased a Tank Thermometer that actually goes directly into the Tank, I had been using on of them Strip Ones that stick to the side of the Tank, but these are quite hard to work out the temperature and take too long as well, so for Quickness I brought a Digital Thermometer which is much better and easier to read!

After the Tank was running for about 20 Days I brought 4 little Cory’s (Catfish), 2 x Albino and 2 x Bronze, these are Great little Fish and always on to go! Whenever they see trouble, they stop and just go the other way! They say that these Fish do not clean up any other Fishes Mess, well I think they must do, because whenever I think “I must give the Tank a Clean tomorrow” by the next day it always seems Cleaner, could be the Filter’s I suppose!

http://ws.amazon.co.uk/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=GB&ID=V20070822%2FGB%2Ffunkysoulviny-21%2F8010%2F1828d636-d7e4-4c26-bc88-61d683bd44f8&Operation=GetDisplayTemplate
Amazon.co.uk Widgets

>THE 76th MIX FOR F.S.V.B

Posted: February 24, 2011 in david ruffin, dramatics, johnnie taylor, mix, payback, persuaders, ron banks
0

>

Here’s the 76th Mix for F.S.V.B, Its been Mixed by Payback, there’s some classic Soul Music Tracks on here, from the Late 60’s to the Early 70’s, Its called  Payback Volume 102!


Its features Dramatics/Ron Banks, Persuaders, David Ruffin and Johnnie Taylor to name but a Few!

THE SWITCH ON AND NEARLY A DISASTER!

Posted: February 23, 2011 in aquastop valve, external filter, fish tank, inlet, intake, outlet, outtake, tank heater
0

Everything was Ready to go and all sockets were plugged in, I used an Upright 10 Gang Socket Column, which was placed in Fish Tank cabinet, right at the Back!


I Turned on the Electric, and Whoosh, the External Filter started to fill up, this takes about 20/30 Seconds to Fill, I wandered if it was ever going to Stop, or if it would Overflow everywhere, this is where I Recommend putting the Filter in a Large Bucket, just in case!


All of a Sudden the Water Stopped, Success I thought! the Filter seemed really Quiet though, I checked the Tank Heater and Air Stone, they were both Working fine, obviously you cannot look inside of Filter to Check, what’s happening, so I was assuming everything was Fine!

There was thousands of tiny Air Bubbles forming on the inside of the Fish Tank Glass, which was normal, I remember this from the previous Tanks I have had!


I had never had a External Canister Filter before, so I really did not know to much about them, apart what I had read Online, but what I had figured out after about 30 minutes was “if it was Working, it was not very Good! So I Quickly turned the Electric off, before I caused any Damage!


I’m not a Big Reader of things, I would sometimes just try and work things out myself, but as things did not seem to be going Well, I thought I would have a Good read of the Instructions, I had looking at them before, but somethings you might already know or think you know, so don’t read as closely as you should!  


But to back me up, I had not received the Instructional DVD that should have come with the Filter concerning installation, so I will Blame them for this Mishap!


I was reading through the Manual and suddenly it dawned on me “Had I put the Inlet/Intake and Outlet/Outtake Hoses in the right place! (Now to my way of thinking, the Hose that takes the water out of the Tank, is the Outlet/Outtake Pipe, WRONG, its the Inlet/Intake Pipe!)

That was it, I had put them in the wrong place, how the Hell was I going to change them around, when its all working and I have 174 Litres of Water in the Tank! After about 15 minutes I worked it out, but how was I going to Cap the Tank Water from coming down the hoses while I changed Intake and Outtake Hoses around!


I went through Instructions about 2/3 times, but no advice on this type of  Blunder!


Then I remembered a small plastic bag of bits and pieces that came with Tank, I quickly opened that up and there was 5/6 Plastic Lids etc, I read the piece of paper inside of bag, but that did not make any sense to me, so I looked at the Plastic Caps and they were the correct size to fit in the Inlet/Outlet Pipes inside the Tank, to cut off the Tank Water of from the Unit/Cabinet below, What a Relief!

So I capped off the Inlet/Outlet Pipes inside the Tank and Closed off the Aquastop Valves on the Filter, then I pulled out the Inlet/Outlet Hoses from the Filter, Relief no Flood!  I then changed the Hoses around on the Filter, then put everything back together how I had taken it apart, and then I turned it all on again, and the Filter was working Correctly, pushing all the Water around the Tank, as it should have done about 1 Hour………………………….Success!
  http://ws.amazon.co.uk/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=GB&ID=V20070822%2FGB%2Ffunkysoulviny-21%2F8010%2F094382b4-ee95-4a6f-a326-56aec5ebb29a&Operation=GetDisplayTemplate 

>FUNKY-SOUL-VINYLS CLASSIC SOUL AND FUNK ALBUMS OF THE 60’s 70’s and 80’s # 2

Posted: February 22, 2011 in 15 rounds, al green, buddy hankerson, hall of fame, hump to the bump, jimmy douglass, mellow as a cello, money onit, positive power, SLAVE, steve arrington, young and company, young and ready
1

>

In this Series of Posts, I will writing about a Particular Classic Soul/Funk Album from the 60’s 70’s and 80’s
The one’s that stand out in my Mind, as The Best Soul/Funk/Jazz/R&B Albums ever Released. All of them, I would have purchased as Vinyl many Years ago and also I have many of them on CD today.
You may have a Differing view (as we all do) on these Choices, but these are my Favorites!
# NUMBER TWO
STEVE ARRINGTON’S HALL OF FAME * 
POSITIVE POWER

This is probably my Favorite Funk Album of all time, it was Released in 1984 on the Atlantic Record Label. It was Co-Produced by Slave Producer, 
Jimmy Douglass and Steve Arrington. Check out the Personnel involved in the making of the Album, most of them had somewhere in the Past been connected with Slave!

I saw Steve Arrington in Concert around 1985, but none of this Album’s Music or this Previous Album “One” was included in the Concert (which was a pity!), it was all from the “Dancing In The Key Of Life” Album. This was when he first Discovered God!

Back to “Positive Power” what a Great Album that was and still is! I would probably think apart certain Al Green Tracks, this is my Most Ever Listened to Album, there was not one dud Track on the Album.

First off “15 Rounds” Great Bass contained in this Track, Buddy Hankerson, who also was in Young & Co, next up is “Money On It”  a Great start to this Track, how many times in different Tracks does Steve Arrington say “Sugar Momma”  not to Worry, I’m not Complaining!

Next Track “Sugar Momma” see what I said! A Great Slowly this is, I think Steve Arrington’s Voice is suited to both the slower Soul and Funk Tracks!
Finishing off Side one is “What do you want From Me” once again a Great Bass, its my Favorite Sound in Soul/Funk Music!
Side Two starts with “Young & Ready” Great Keyboards in this Track…..What’s my Name!  The second Track 
“Mellow as a Cello” what a Great Title for the Track! its got a Great Intro, which fools you into believing a Ballad is coming, then straight into a Thumping track!

Then up next, my Favorite Track “Hump to the Bump” this has to  be one of my Favorite All Time Tracks, my Favorite section is the 30 Secs Keyboard Solo, from around 2.30 mins of the Track, I presume that is Steve Arrington, do you know any different!


The Final Track and Album Title “Positive Power” is a Great way to finish off, Great Bass again! 
As I said, this is a Great Funk Album and one of the Best!  Checkout and Listen to all Tracks, Below!


Check out Steve Arrington’s Website!


Album Tracks:

A1  15 Rounds 5:30
  Written-By – Steve Arrington

A2  Money On It 4:33
  Written-By – Charles Carter , Steve Arrington

A3  Sugar Momma Baby 5:16
  Written-By – Charles Carter , Steve Arrington

A4  What Do You Want From Me 5:17
  Written-By – Buddy Hankerson , Roger Parker (2) , Sam Carter , Steve Arrington

B1  Young And Ready 5:28
  Written-By – Steve Arrington

B2 Mellow As A Cello 5:30
  Written-By – Charles Carter , Gary Jackson , Steve Arrington

B3  Hump To The Bump 6:39
  Written-By – Buddy Hankerson , Charles Carter , Steve Arrington

B4  Positive Power 5:25
  Written-By – Steve Arrington


Album Personnel:

Producer – Jimmy Douglass , Steve Arrington
Co-producer – Charles Carter
Bass, Guitar, Backing Vocals – Buddy Hankerson
Drums – Roger Parker (2)
Guitar, Keyboards – Arthur “Butch” Rhames*
Keyboards – Paul Chaplin
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Charles Carter , Sam Carter
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards – 
Steve Arrington
Percussion, Backing Vocals – Gary Jackson
Download Album

To hear all the Album Tracks, Press below!

http://www.4shared.com/minifolder/at6iLqAi/steve_arringtons_hall_of_fame.htmlhttp://ws.amazon.co.uk/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=GB&ID=V20070822%2FGB%2Ffunkysoulviny-21%2F8010%2F2d9ea2af-9a75-4aaf-93cf-c51f5a6e0e8c&Operation=GetDisplayTemplate

Amazon.co.uk Widgets

>THE 75th MIX FOR F.S.V.B

Posted: February 17, 2011 in cameo, dance, mix funk, raw silk, roy ayers, SLAVE, the jacksons, vertical group
2

>

Here’s the 75th Mix for F.S.V.B, Its been Mixed by The Vertical Group, there’s some classic Funk and Dance  Tracks on here, Its called Funkit 2011

Its features (The Kings of Funk) Slave, Cameo, O’Bryan, Roy Ayers, The Jackson’s,Third World and Raw Silk!

Check Out Web Page For Track Listing.

http://www.letsmix.com/content/flash/player/letsmixplayer.1.6.swf
FUNKIT 2011 from THE VERTICAL GROUP at Letsmix.com.

FILLING UP TANK AND NEARLY READY FOR SWITCH ON!

Posted: February 15, 2011 in canopy lid, coral sand, external filter, inlt, light unit, outlet, tank heater
0

After I rinsed with Water the External Filter and all its Parts and Media , it was putting it all back together, then I put it in its  place under the Tank in the  Unit, it seemed fairly straight forward, connecting the Inlet and Outlet Hoses, all ready for for electric connection, when Tank was ready!


Then after putting Coral Sand, Rocks and Ornaments etc in Tank, I started filling the tank with about 170 Litres of water, I used a mixture of Hot and Cold Water from the Tap, in a 12 litre Brand New Bucket (I brought 4 Buckets, which are used, only in connection with this Fish Tank), I put a Container inside the Tank and poured the Water Directly into it, this was to stop the Water, moving everything else about in the Tank!

If you are using Real Plants, the best time to put them in, is when you have about 50% of the water in the Tank.


When the Tank is full of water, you will get Thousands and Thousands of Tiny Air Bubbles on the Tank Glass, these last for several Hours, but were all gone in about 24 Hours!

I then fitted the Tank Heater in the Tank, along with an Air Curtain, this is for Oxygen for your Fish etc, at this stage I then added 2 Chemicals, one was Nutrafin Cycle (I used these Brands as they came with the Tank, but there are several different brands) this is introducing Friendly Bacteria into your Tank. The other Chemical is Nutrafin Aqua Plus, this is used to Eliminate Chlorine and Chloramines from the Tap Water, it also Neutralises Toxic Metals from the Water.


After this I put the Lighting Unit and put the Tank Canopy Lids in place,  you are then ready to turn on the electric to power everything up!

>ROLLS ROYCE AND RICHARD "DIMPLES" FIELDS

Posted: February 13, 2011 in CHEF, hotel, if it aint one thing its another, mr look so good, richard dimples fields, rolls royce
0

>Around March of 1982, I got the Job, I had applied for, this was different from your normal Hotel work, as I said previously the Hotel and Restaurant was not going to open for about 3 Months.


So most days when we went into work we were getting the Kitchen ready and when we had done that, it was helping out in different parts of the Hotel, they were having a Complete Re-fit as I remember, new Carpets Windows, Bedroom Furniture, all new Reception Area  Fittings, not to mention most things new in the Kitchen, the Chap who owned the Hotel, also had another Hotel about 1 mile away!

He was a Decent down-to-earth bloke, he drove a Rolls-Royce, so he must of had a bit of Money. I remember one day, after knocking off work, walking out through the Reception Area, (this was before the Hotel had opened) and he was outside unloading some stuff he had brought from the Cash and Carry, he shouted out “give me 5 minutes and I’ll give you a lift home” at that time of my life, I had a  Bike, so I don’t know where that was that day, anyway I got a lift home in the Roller!


That was the first and last time, I have ever been in a Rolls-Royce! as I said he was a Decent Boss!

I remember one particular day, helping out the Hotel Handy Man, his name was I think “Dave” I knew him previously, as he was a “Ice Cream Van Salesman” anyway I had to help him doing something with one of the Bedroom Windows, he was hanging out of the Window on the Hotel Roof, doing something with the Roof Tiles, I had to make sure he didn’t fall out!


One of the Main Reasons I went for this Job was (as I said I knew the Head Chef), I was Promised when we Finally Opened the Hotel in the Early Summer, I would be working the Early Shifts, which was fine with me! I had been Working in Butchery for a few years, so no late nights, so to work as a Chef and work no nights, would have been Great!

This never ended up like this and this was to cause trouble further down the line!  


As for music around this Period, The Debut Album from “Richard “Dimples” Fields (Mr look So good) would be Released later that year, but one of the  Singles off the Album was the Number One Soul Single in April of 82, it was called “If It Aint One Thing, its Another”  this was to be his one of his Highest placed Singles!


During his Career R.D.F would Release about 6 Albums and several Singles, he Died from a Stroke in 2000.


Download Album, Press Download Button then the Purple Button!


>THE 74th MIX FOR F.S.V.B

Posted: February 10, 2011 in contemporary jazz, fullrange, funk.mix, jazz, jose james, mix cloud
0

>

Here’s the 74th Mix for F.S.V.B, Its been Mixed by FullRange, its a Tribute Mix to Jose James, Its called Tribute Selections!

These are either Jose James Tracks or “Featuring” Jose James. His style of Music, I suppose you would say Contemporary Jazz! 

I have only just heard of this Artist, through this Mix, but he’s a Great Singer, listen to the 2nd Track, sounds a lot like Gil Scott-Heron! 

Apart from John Legend, I’m stuck back in the 60’s 70’s and 80’s, Musical Wise! 

CORAL SAND AND DVD

Posted: February 8, 2011 in coral sand, external filter, fluval 205, forums, ornaments, plants, rocks, sieve, wife
0

Things were going Great, the next thing I had to do was wash 2 x 25 kg Bags of Coral Sand, I had worked out, with Advice from what I had read on Forums, that I would need about 30 kg of Coral Sand!


This is a long tedious job, washing the Sand, I used a Bucket and a  Brought Household Kitchen Sieve, this does the Job great, although it does take Ages! I suppose I must have rinsed the Sand about 5 to 6 Times with every couple of Sieve fulls, this took at least 1 Hour to Complete, you are supposed to rinse until the Water runs Clear!


After I washed the Sand , it went straight into the Tank. As I had ordered 2 x 20 kg of Coral Sand, I thought I would be using a Bag and a half altogether, but after I washed a Full 25 kg Bag, that was sufficient, so I have a Full Bag of Sand left for Later, and later when I started Siphoning out the Fish Debris (every couple of days), I realised , at a later date I will need the extra Sand! 

I started then to put in the Rocks, Ornaments and Plants into Tank, this is where the Wife came in Handy, she has a better eye than me at this sort of thing, so she arranged the look of the Tank! 


I then started Rinsing (under water) through the External Filter and all it different parts, you must Remember what order its all comes out like, as it all has to go back in the same way!

Look at all the different parts that go into the Filter (it can be confusing) , the Instruction Manual lets you know how this all goes together!


I should have got an Instructional dvd with the Fluval 4 External Filter, but I didn’t, so I phoned  “ArkOnline” a couple of days previously (I was also missing an Tank Thermometer, which they sent through the Post) I was told  that the DVD did not come with my Set-Up, well for over £400, thats the least I should have got!


This is where YouTube comes in Very Useful, I found the Instructional DVD on there, it was a Great Help, but it did not stop my near “Accident with the Tank Water” a little later!


A small thing like that “a DVD” that was not  included (and they did not attempt to sort it out), when it should have been, leaves you feeling “Cheated” so since that happened I have not Purchased any other items from “ArkOnline” and I never will, look at my subsequent Purchases, so they are losing out! 

http://ws.amazon.co.uk/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=GB&ID=V20070822%2FGB%2Ffunkysoulviny-21%2F8010%2F0aefbf48-1ba5-41f6-915c-9d0df212964d&Operation=GetDisplayTemplate Amazon.co.uk Widgets

Older Entries