I was chatting to someone I know fairly well in the pub last night, she was talking about an issue she had had with her hands, which she was afraid might have been arthritis, which would affect her playing, as she's a musician.
I've never had a chance to ask her what she plays, or who she plays with, anyway, the landlord of the pub told me tonight she has an Oscar for the soundtrack for [i]Atonement[/i], has toured with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, and Sinead O'Connor, among others, released at least a couple of albums, one the soundtrack to [i]Hilary and Jackie[/i], the Du Pre sisters, the other called [i]Such Sweet Thunder[/i], both of which I've had as copies on Minidisc for years, and was one of the earliest winners of the BBC Young Musician of the Year Award, aged 13...
I'm slightly stunned!
Anyone else discovered surprising things about people they've known for some time?
I'm sure there will be some less serious than others, knowing the STW crowd! 😆
I've just realised I'm an insomniac :/
I've recently opened the can of worms that is a Facebook account, and there's a lot of old school friends on there from 30 years ago.
I guess if I'd spent my 20s representing GB at athletics I'd have an action photo as my profile pic 20 years later!
I found out last year that a friend and colleague of the last 25 years coined the word 'Eranu'
He used to work as a mural painter and wound up a fellow painter by saying that 'Eranu' was an historical art term for capturing or portraying a quality of sunlight in a cloudy sky in a painting. So when they were working together he'd just say for a laugh - 'yeah - needs a bit more eranu up on the left there'. He thought it was just an in-joke that the two of them were sharing. But this second guy took the joke completely at face value and drop it into any conversation about art. This found its way to anecdote conveyed to Vic Reeves at a backstage party after a gig in Brum in the early 1990s and from there the word became incorporated into his act.
A long time ago, I was captain of my cricket club. On taking availabilities for the next saturday in the bar after the week's game, one huy told me he wasn't available for next saturday because he was 'on tour'. Being slightly annoyed by the thought he was going on cricket tour with someone else during league season, I asked who and he replied 'a band'
So slightly less annoyed, I digged deeper and it turns out he was Radiohead's sound engineer and had produced this:
as well as quite a lot of other stuff since.
I also used to work with a girl who in a discussion about sports equipment mentioned she had her snowboards made for her by Burton (I think) - we scoffed thinking she meant she preferred their kit but then she revealed she was semi-pro back in NZ before she emigrated, and was national champ or thereabouts several times. She'd also danced pro level ballroom, in the days before strictly was a celebrity thing, and also mentioned a few things about other NZ based pro dancers who are now household names (!)
Is this the place where I tell the story about asking Hanna Barnes whether she rides bikes at all?
Love theotherjonv's story.
Is this the place where I tell the story about asking Hanna Barnes whether she rides bikes at all?
Wrong thread perhaps, but it would be a good time to mention one of our club got chatting to a german fella in a Mallorca bike shop and asked "Do you cycle much yourself?"... well, yes I ride a bit replied Jens Voight.