Lord Noel on Being Up Up & Away

Whatto! Dreamers.............

Larry Walters was a man with a dream...............

Many of us have dreams..........

.....but how many of decide to make those dreams.....REALITY?

Well Larry decided that he would actually 'live his dream'.

It was in 1982 that Larry took an ordinary aluminium lawn chair............

.....strapped 42 weather grade helium balloons to it......

.....and christened it "Inspiration 1"

His dream was to fly.....

.....something so many of us only ever dream about......

....but he was to make his dream a reality!

Luckily Larry had prepared for his flight..........

........... by packing a bottle of soft drink and a parachute.......

......... and also taking along a portable CB radio to alert air traffic to his presence.

He took a camera too...........

.......... but later admitted, "I didn't take any pictures because I was so paralysed by the view."

At this point you may be wondering "I wonder what training Larry had in piloting a balloon?"

And I'm glad you asked...........

....because the training that Larry had.....

....was that he was ..........

....a truck driver.

And so the adventure began.

Two of Larry's friends helped him in his quest........

........ by untying the guy ropes.........

...... that lashed him so firmly to the safety of the ground.

Larry quickly soared upwards...........

.....so quickly that he soon reached an altitude of 16.000 feet!....

....that's about three miles high.

Sitting in an aluminium lawn chair............

.....way above Long Beach.........

..... Larry began to feel cold........

...very cold.

Fortunately Larry had a plan..........

....... and Larry's plan concerned how to control his descent.

He had decidec that he would control his descent................by bursting the balloons with his trusty pellet gun.......

.......... and thereby descend gracefully back to earth.

Several airline pilots spotted him.............

....because by now, Larry was also on an air traffic control lane.....

..... and they contacted the Federal Aviation Administration.

So Larry soon became the centre of everyones attention.

Unfortunately Larry had no control over the speed of his decent......

..... and as he popped balloons with his trusty pellet gun.........

...he fell back to earth......

....in a most undignified manner.......and far more rapidly than he'd anticipated.......

..... narrowly escaping death as his balloons draped over power lines, blacking out a Long Beach neighbourhood.

But by fulfilling his dream......

.....Larry Walters became immortalised......

......... as 'The Lawn Chair Pilot'

His 'adventure' cost Larry Walters a $1,500 fine from the FAA.........

However he earned the top prize from the Bonehead Club of Dallas.

And Larry also claimed the altitude record for gas-filled clustered balloons!

In due course Larry was invited to appear on "The Tonight Show"..........

............. and was also flown to New York to be on "Late Night With David Letterman."

Larry said "This is the most fun I've ever had, and I didn't think that by fulfilling my dream I would create such a stir and make people laugh."

Larry gave up his truck-driving job and went on the lecture circuit, remaining in demand at motivational seminars.

There was even a show created about his adventure................

But he said he never made much money from his innovative flight and was glad to keep his simple lifestyle.

Apparently he gave away his aluminium lawn chair to some children after he landed...........

.......but he later regretting giving away his 'pride and joy'.

Like so many things in life...........the old adage applies.........

...."What goes up ...must come down".....

Larry never married.............. and had no children..........

And it believed that his service in Vietnam.............

........... may have been the key to his suicide in 1993.

Tallyho!

Best Wishes Lord Noel & Lady Jacqueline

Lord Noel's Eggciting News

Whatto! Chicken Farmers..............

Lady Jacqueline and myself have both fallen in love again.........

Yes.......the cute Polish blonde has won us both over.........


It started when they were all in the coup together.....


There was a 'pecking order' emerging.......
With Nuggets at the top......
....and our little polish Supreme at the bottom..........


She's a completely dizzy blonde.........
.....and tends to over eggsagerate everything........
....but we couldn't stand by....... and watch her effectively being 'bullied' by the other two......


So Lady Jacqueline came to the rescue.......
.....sitting by the open end of the coup......
....stroking Supreme......
....until she gave of a trilling sound......
(that's Supreme - not Lady Jacqueline)
....which we've figured out she gives off .....when she's 'thrilled'........
A bit like purring......
....only the birdie version.
And it was while Lady J was observing this phenomena.......
....that the other two took advantage of the open ended coup......

......and suddenly became 'free range' chickens.......

Now they go wherever they like.............

....but Supreme still likes the idea of being stroked.........

....and she still runs to one of us......

....whenever we appear.

She also likes to bury her little head.......

....wherever she can!

We are starting to believe that Supreme may be getting a little too human.......

Letting herself indoors......

.....and visiting the bar.............

........... to order her favourite cocktail when the mood takes her.....

(she insists on Polish Vodka)

But in the meantime......

Nuggets....... (our bantam hen)........

....has also been enjoying her free range life to the full.......

....but she has been working far too hard............ to go visiting bars........

.....and when I went to sort out their bedding.........

....I was overjoyed to find.......

....that she has started to lay!

Yes!.....there it is!

Eggcellent news indeed.............

And finding that first egg was better than winning top prize in the Village Fete!

Every other day since then she's laid others.......

I took this pic when she'd laid three......

And now we have six!.........and that's just from ONE bird!

When all THREE of them get laying we are going to be rolling in eggs......

(metaphorically speaking)

Omelet anyone?

Tallyho!

Best Wishes - Lord Noel & Lady Jacqueline

Lord Noel Attends A Garden Party

Whatto! Villagers...........

One of the nice things about living in the cuntryside........

......is going along to locally organised events.

We were invited to a Garden Party recently.............

.....where the atmosphere was very relaxed.......

.......with everyone enjoying the lovely summer weather.....

Every so often someone would get up and do a 'turn'..........

....this couple did a very amusing sketch about 'Health & Safety'

Yes.... you heard me correctly.....

.....and it was actually very good!

This chap stood up and told a very long story about his dog........

.....which apparently keeps getting out of the garden all the time......

....and bothering his neighbours........

I think maybe he just wanted to apologise publicly to everyone.....

.....but again......

......it was told very amusingly.

There was even a 'beer tent'........

Filled with FREE BEER!

Yes! FREE BEER!

Rather Delicious!.............

And another marquee had the most delicious FREE FOOD!

.....and some absolutely amazing home-cured ham!

Talk about succulent!

The surprise of the evening was a young lady who stood up and sang.......

....with a beautiful voice that sounded like a cross between Alison Moyet and Annie Lennox.....

....absolutely brilliant!

They even provided a Magician.......

....who passed amongst us....

....doing his very impressive tricks......

.....for All and Sundry

(Yes Kevin All and Margaret Sundry were both in attendence)

There was also a spelling competition.........

....which I was encouraged to enter.........

.....but didn't manage to get into the Grand Final ........

....which was fought between a psychologist..........

....and (rather surprisingly I thought).......

....... an American horse breeder...........

The question master announced their final word.......

He said "I'd now like you both to spell Hospice."

.....the horse breeder stood no chance!

Tallyho!

Best Wishes - Lord Noel & Lady Jacqueline

Lord Noel Believes There's No 'F' In 'ART'

What ho! Art lovers.........

 I went into the City the other day.............

.....and I was struck by the amount of graffiti there was scrawled about the place..........

I suppose one's initial reaction is usually .............
"How can this be allowed to happen?"..............
........ and "What are the Police doing about it?".........


But some of it was actually rather good...............
......and the closer I looked........
....the better some of it became...............


Of course............
....it's not to everyone's taste.
You may find that this enigmatic face.......
....does nothing for you whatsoever........

......you may find it cold........

....and expressionless........

......but......

.....at least it has eyebrows!

Or it may cause you to ask the question:

"What actually is ART?"

Is it an accurate representation of something that we can all 'see' and 'appreciate'?

....and if the answer is "Yes"...........

....doesn't the invention of the camera.........

........ make all other forms of 'Art' rather obsolete?

And if that's the case...........

....what about the images from the mind?

The style known collectively as 'Abstract Art'?

Are we to dismiss (for example) the entire Surrealist work of Salvador Dali because of it's apparent 'inaccuracies'?

....or the 'Comic book' art that we enjoyed so much during our youth?

....filled with fantasy images that have no resemblance to everyday reality..........

.......Or the poster 'Art' that is used to advertise......

.... every imaginable 'product' that sellers want you to buy from them?

After all.........

......aren't all their advertising hoardings designed to try to appeal to your subconscious?.................
.....in the way that Dali's work seems to recall those dreamlike states that so many people relate to........

And is one type of 'Art' more 'valid' than any other type of 'Art'?
For example....... these graffiti images were all scrawled on a wall in a public place near to where I'd parked my car..........
Right next to the large advertisement boards that cost thousands of pounds as part of some 'strategic campaign'.........
Does the fact that I paid nothing to see them mean that they don't qualify as 'Art'?
Do we have to actually 'own' something for it to be classified as 'Art'?


Most people recognise 'Art' as something done with a paint ..........
.....in which case ...........
.........by that criteria........
.......this is ALL definitely 'Art'............


Some people say that this is not true 'Art'..........
...they say it's "garbage"........
...."pollution"......
...."something that should be eradicated"........
After all.........
....would you like it scrawled all over the front of YOUR house?
They may believe that true 'Art' can only be achieved over years........
.....with countless hours being spent honing the skills required to demonstrate the artisans undoubted skills to make accurate representations of what was seen...........
.......so that everything appears 'perfect'.......
(whatever 'perfect' is)........


Some people take 'Art' very seriously............
......Millions of pounds are at stake for Art investors.........
....who queue up for a piece of 'history' in the making........
hoping that their 'investment' will 'come right' in the end......
So in the end.......
.....aren't artists just 'producing' something.................
.....for someone else to 'own'?
Something that has to actually be 'put' somewhere?
Something that 'takes up space'..........
....and cannot be recycled........

....like so much garbage..........

....it just 'lies about' in old buildings...........

....'collecting dust'........

Maybe the 'Art' one sees on the streets........

.....is the only true 'contemporary 'Art'?

After all............

...it reflects how the 'Artist' felt........

....in response to the changing circumstances that we are all also supposed to be going through......

.....right NOW!

(or are we?).......

The other factor is 'fame'.............

.....how can these so called 'Artists' be considered in the same breath as 'famous Artists'?......

....when we don't even know their names?

And if we DID know their names..............

......wouldn't we just have them arrested for criminal damage?

When maybe we should be giving them an 'Award'?.........

....for brightening up an otherwise dreary brick wall............

......and creating a fleeting image that we can take with us for the day.........

...... inside our minds..........

Or maybe we are now unable to think...............

.....because this 'act of vandalism' incenses us so much?

It insults our sensibilities...........

....and confuses our value system......

....because it definitely is NOT 'Art'

Even if it is 'Now available from IKEA!'..............

Apparently Picasso used to regularly pay for all his bills by cheque........

....because he knew that no-one would cash them.......

.....preferring instead to hoard them........

....as 'Works of Art'.........

......... by the genius himself

Does that then.......

.......make this cheque written by Robert Louis Stevenson a work of 'Art'?
It must be weird.......

..........when you know that your cheque........

....... is worth more than the item you're buying......

Maybe the whole thing is just 'hot air'?

Maybe I'm just an 'Old Fart'?

......and Maybe I've just found out where the F in Art is?

Tallyho!

Best Wishes - Lord Noel