Britain Audio Part 3: Dogs, Cats, and Memories

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCAUIz4S9oZo5G3Eo3-gNSJyhDqE7xX1XsTz9b4-TkdUlwfSRwWk9LEsMCFv9LBCLuipkc8f7_8oHQc8a4KT2ZkS5duaqYuMTtmgB0Ui6Gh8gx93Dc00D-_kRpMZR-Nbe8m5bEjlmlCqQ/s1600/Caernarfon_Harbor.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>The final installment of the 1985 audio tour of Great Britain begins with birdwatchers in London’s Hyde Park. Then I ask the perennial question, which is better, dogs or cats?<br /><br /><br /><object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F8757695"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F8757695" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object>  <a href="http://soundcloud.com/james-gurney/britain-1985-part-3-dogs-cats-and-memories">Britain 1985, Part 3: Dogs, Cats, and Memories</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/james-gurney">James Gurney</a> <br /><br />The sound clip runs about 15 minutes and includes a hammered dulcimer, an early interactive video console in Cardiff, vintage sounds of an ‘80s game arcade, an interview with Krishna devotees, recollections from ladies remembering their childhoods in York, and a sampling of classic American accents.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCAUIz4S9oZo5G3Eo3-gNSJyhDqE7xX1XsTz9b4-TkdUlwfSRwWk9LEsMCFv9LBCLuipkc8f7_8oHQc8a4KT2ZkS5duaqYuMTtmgB0Ui6Gh8gx93Dc00D-_kRpMZR-Nbe8m5bEjlmlCqQ/s1600/Caernarfon_Harbor.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCAUIz4S9oZo5G3Eo3-gNSJyhDqE7xX1XsTz9b4-TkdUlwfSRwWk9LEsMCFv9LBCLuipkc8f7_8oHQc8a4KT2ZkS5duaqYuMTtmgB0Ui6Gh8gx93Dc00D-_kRpMZR-Nbe8m5bEjlmlCqQ/s400/Caernarfon_Harbor.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />The pencil sketch shows the Caernarfon harbor in Wales, where at low tide the boats rest on double keels.<br /><br />Don't forget to vote in the dog and cat poll at left. <br />--------<br /><a href="http://soundcloud.com/james-gurney/britain-1985-part-3-dogs-cats-and-memories">Direct link to Soundcloud file</a>

Britain Audio Part 3: Dogs, Cats, and Memories

The final installment of the 1985 audio tour of Great Britain begins with birdwatchers in London’s Hyde Park. Then I ask the perennial quest...

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Britain Audio, Part 2: Paul LaMarque

The second installment of our 1985 audio tour of Great Britain begins with street sounds of London, after which we hear a boys’ choir practicing in York cathedral.<br /><br /><object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F8719425"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F8719425" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object>  <a href="http://soundcloud.com/james-gurney/britain-1985-part-2-paul-la-marque">Britain 1985, Part 2: Paul La Marque</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/james-gurney">James Gurney</a> <br />Click on this Soundcloud player to hear the audio. <br /><br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlSkTPtZySoGG19b_A-DLu6XC-6TRvcrkYn8_Vv6i8mkvR4G6NkWy8ehBi1xsDW8DRefmBzM5X09yS5YgZBLkoTszfGNh6hFPKVS49_iEK86V0fSazHtpL2T2sWgANhD_jwaBgyzxJRgA/s1600/Paul_La_Marque.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlSkTPtZySoGG19b_A-DLu6XC-6TRvcrkYn8_Vv6i8mkvR4G6NkWy8ehBi1xsDW8DRefmBzM5X09yS5YgZBLkoTszfGNh6hFPKVS49_iEK86V0fSazHtpL2T2sWgANhD_jwaBgyzxJRgA/s400/Paul_La_Marque.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />You’ll hear the voice of Paul LaMarque, weekend manager of the Saint Margaret’s Hotel in London. As I recorded his jokes and stories, I sketched this pencil portrait, so it's a rare chance to have a sketch "talk."<br /><br />Mr. La Marque wrote in my sketchbook, describing himself: “Mentally a vacuum, physically a waste of skin, socially riff-raff, nevertheless ‘given from God.’”<br />------<br /><a href="http://soundcloud.com/james-gurney/britain-1985-part-2-paul-la-marque">If the player doesn't work, try the direct link to Soundcloud File</a><br />Scroll down for part 1. Tomorrow we’ll finish with part 3.

Britain Audio, Part 2: Paul LaMarque

The second installment of our 1985 audio tour of Great Britain begins with street sounds of London, after which we hear a boys’ choir practi...

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Britain Audio, Part 1

In 1985, my wife Jeanette and I visited Great Britain for the first time. We left our camera at home, and instead brought only a sketchbook and an audio tape recorder. We traveled by bus and train, recording interviews and sound effects.<br /><br /><object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F8701356"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F8701356" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object>  <a href="http://soundcloud.com/james-gurney/02-england-track-1">02 England Track 1</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/james-gurney">James Gurney</a> <br /> This is the first of three audio installments, which you can listen to by clicking on this Soundcloud player widget. It may take a few seconds to get started.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3_xUFyfnHbtBLoriqjGnPLt1XggJ6ky32078f5MHsRITZuAJCprA0oGFXlayFWfQdJMpROhc4u9H7SMB4kdN-0Lvs3SAa1eym47y2YF09hLPn07wO2aA4P-xmWIu1g_u3RRUw8wG7pHw/s1600/Armor_and_Copy.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3_xUFyfnHbtBLoriqjGnPLt1XggJ6ky32078f5MHsRITZuAJCprA0oGFXlayFWfQdJMpROhc4u9H7SMB4kdN-0Lvs3SAa1eym47y2YF09hLPn07wO2aA4P-xmWIu1g_u3RRUw8wG7pHw/s400/Armor_and_Copy.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />The drawing above is by a seven-year-old Welsh boy named John Lewis. He copied the sketch I did in a museum in Cambridge a few days earlier. You'll hear his sisters in the recording. Their family ran a B&B on the Tyddyn Perthi farm in Gwynned near Caernarfon. <br /><br />If this technology works, and you like it, I’ll launch the other two installments tomorrow and the next day.  <br />------<br /><a href="http://soundcloud.com/james-gurney/02-england-track-1">You can go directly to the track at Soundcloud at this link.</a>

Britain Audio, Part 1

In 1985, my wife Jeanette and I visited Great Britain for the first time. We left our camera at home, and instead brought only a sketchbook ...

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