Yesterday I got an email from a published author (and I hesitate to say friend as that would be presumptious of me) who has invited us down to a launch of his new Book.
Sam Manicom's first book, Under African Skies was a story of his travels with a bmw motorbike in Africa. Full of humour and sketches as well as photographs it makes you laugh, cry and wish you were in his shoes all at the same time.
He wrote a follow up book Under Asian Skies, which had I had the money to spend on it I would have brought it when I saw him again at the BMF show, but the good lad he is he will be attending the BMW National Rally later this month and has promised he will bring me a copy to buy.
We had a long chat with him at the BMF show, asking what he is going to do next, and he said he had a book in the pipeline which is where the invitation comes in. He is doing a book launch for Distant Suns at the Ace Cafe on 1st November 2008 and wehave got a personal invitation to go to it.
Hopefully SOH won't be working as Sam no doubt will present some of the background to the book and he is a cracking good after dinner speaker and a very unassuming person whom you can't fail to warm to.
I will re-read Under African Skies and post a review on here for those that are interested and would like to read an excerpt you can follow the link in this post (at the top) to Sam's Website and he has reviews and excerpts on each of the books.
Showing posts with label BMF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BMF. Show all posts
06 August 2008
19 May 2008
Battered and Bruised.. but made it through
We had a great weekend at Peterborough with the BMF, loaded up the van with the supplies and our sleeping bags and headed up the A1 on Friday accompanied by the rain and cold wind.. typical BMF weather; but I was optimistic.
Set up the club tent, well marquee really, and had a bit of a wander which is where I picked up my most spectacular bruises as I tried to navigate my way past a trailer and tripped landing fair and square on to the other side of it... at this point in time the logical side of my brain quietly said to me, "you could have walked around it", embarrasedly I picked myself up and carried past a crowd of laughing onlookers.. Oh well these things happen, only a little more frequently now.
Had a look at the bikes on the BMW stand, nice to have some money, but I can only ride one bike at a time and I am happy with mine so until I need to I satisfy myself with the browsing.
The club tents were a bit out of the way from the show which severely dented our ability to attract visitors and Saturday being damp and cold, as well as the cup final day was always going to be quiet. Sunday dawned fair and bright, and very cold as well, but warmed up later in the day and we did get a fair number of visitors.
Ended up buying a new helmet, the colour of which matches the bike, and a new pair of gloves...and some cheese from Snowdonia.. you get all sorts of stands at the show, but we did think it was smaller, considerably so, than previous years.
Next year we are considering taking a look at the south-west show, having never been to that one before and as someone else has now taken charge of the peterborough one I can relax and leave it all to them.
Set up the club tent, well marquee really, and had a bit of a wander which is where I picked up my most spectacular bruises as I tried to navigate my way past a trailer and tripped landing fair and square on to the other side of it... at this point in time the logical side of my brain quietly said to me, "you could have walked around it", embarrasedly I picked myself up and carried past a crowd of laughing onlookers.. Oh well these things happen, only a little more frequently now.
Had a look at the bikes on the BMW stand, nice to have some money, but I can only ride one bike at a time and I am happy with mine so until I need to I satisfy myself with the browsing.
The club tents were a bit out of the way from the show which severely dented our ability to attract visitors and Saturday being damp and cold, as well as the cup final day was always going to be quiet. Sunday dawned fair and bright, and very cold as well, but warmed up later in the day and we did get a fair number of visitors.
Ended up buying a new helmet, the colour of which matches the bike, and a new pair of gloves...and some cheese from Snowdonia.. you get all sorts of stands at the show, but we did think it was smaller, considerably so, than previous years.
Next year we are considering taking a look at the south-west show, having never been to that one before and as someone else has now taken charge of the peterborough one I can relax and leave it all to them.
15 May 2008
Keep your fingers crossed
This weekend I am in charge of the BMW Club tent at the BMF (british motorcycling federation) show at Peterborough.. this is the 3rd year I have done it and my last as a new organiser is taking it over as of next year.
It is a lot of hard work, organising a display, getting all the supplies, booking the marquee/furniture, liaising with the management company, arranging for willing victims sorry volunteers to help out at the weekend - but the greatest fun when it is on.. I love doing it and have had a great deal of fun being responsible but it is time to hand over to someone who will bring a fresh eye to the club tent and give me a chance to just be a helper again (or even have a year off - what a radical thought!) SOH will be jointly running it with me, and will be good to have someone else to lean on.
So, keep your fingers crossed for a dry year, don't mind it being a little cooler than of late but please no torrential downpours over Peterborough way
It is a lot of hard work, organising a display, getting all the supplies, booking the marquee/furniture, liaising with the management company, arranging for willing victims sorry volunteers to help out at the weekend - but the greatest fun when it is on.. I love doing it and have had a great deal of fun being responsible but it is time to hand over to someone who will bring a fresh eye to the club tent and give me a chance to just be a helper again (or even have a year off - what a radical thought!) SOH will be jointly running it with me, and will be good to have someone else to lean on.
So, keep your fingers crossed for a dry year, don't mind it being a little cooler than of late but please no torrential downpours over Peterborough way
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