Portobello Gold…party celebrating Mike Bell’s 26^th year as Landlord !!

Gaz Mayall and the, eight piece, Trojans trying to set up in a space that a three-piece combo would find small!  So like a jigsaw being slowly put together it took about forty five minutes to set up, as each musician emptied their instrument cases and then had to carry them out through the milling crowd filling into the bar, to give room for the next musician to set up.   The Portobello Gold Hotel/Pub with a large and extremely visual restaurant with good food is not small but the area where the bands play is smallish.  The popularity of this place is renowned round the world, with President Clinton having been here for the food as well as to appreciate the ambiance of a very different bar.

Especially on Sunday nights when the music is live with free entrance and where there has been live music for many years.  A place where many groups get a chance to show off their talents in Portobello Road, West 11, getting rarer and rarer in these small venues in London.  This is one of the places that I take foreign visitors when they visit London, this night was even more special than usual and I took a Brazilian presenter, who wasn’t familiar with Portobello and she loved it.

The sound of a great rocking band and as Gaz says, “We do what we want. Where else will you hear Little Richard, old ska, drum’n’bass and a Louis Armstrong record from 1928? We’re like musical chefs, mixing the ingredients.” Gaz Mayall is a musician, DJ, producer and record label owner. He’s the host of London’s longest running one-nighter, Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues – now in its 28th year – and the founder member of the ska band The Trojans. He also runs his record label Gaz’s Rockin’ Records.  The son of legendary British blues musician John Mayall and a friend from way back when; Mike photographed many of the famous groups when he travelled with a friend who worked for the ‘Melody Maker’ to many of the gigs of that era.  The bar is full of the images of groups and famous musicians of that time. Interestingly Gaz played a Hohner Melodica, not often seen or heard around now.  It was basically a windblown mouth organ – built into and operated by a keyboard.  The band played Rockabilly, Rock’n’Roll and Ska and as one of the musicians was Scottish and it was nearly ‘Burns’ night, we heard an amazing hard rocking bagpipes for a couple of numbers, like I’ve never heard ever before!

Photos courtesy of : © Tony Annis tony@annis.co.uk

The crowd of all age groups and mostly regulars of this bar jumped with no room to jive, clapped and stamped their feet in appreciation of a great night of enjoyment and fun.  So much so it felt like it was being at a friend’s party – Which of course it was: Mike Bell’s party in Portobello land.

Tony is a long time GT member and widely involved in many adventures, including my trip with him to western Brazil & the Ashaninka people 🙂

The Ant

If you can remember back to January’s edition I announced the following competition, after reviewing TrailBlazer’s latest book – A guide to adventure travelling by Stephen Lord.  My prize winning question was:-Competition time – the first person who can tell me who first cycled round the world & when, then they can have my review copy of this handbook for free?  Send your answers to theant@globetrotters.co.uk and announce the winner in a following edition.

And we did have a winner…step forward Gregory Mannion of Fountain Hills, Arizona, USA J  Gregory correctly answered that:- The first around the world bicyclist was Thomas Stevens who started his three year journey in 1884.

Here is my what I based my answer on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Stevens_(cyclist) Thanks once again to Gregory and also to all at TrailBlazer for providing such an interesting read & prize, particularly Caroline Gray :

This time round Mac discusses the “Happiest countries in the world”…

10. Luxembourg – 7.6 points.

Living in the world’s richest country inevitably puts a smile on your face! This small landlocked European country has an army of 800 people (yes, 800). They don’t have a navy nor an air force but together with Belgium they can afford to own 1 military cargo plane. Beat that US!

According to the Guinness Book of World Records Luxembourg holds the world record as the country that consumes most alcohol in the world per citizen.

9. Guatemala – 7.6 points.

This Central American country borders with Mexico in the north and is located between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. This location makes it a very difficult country to stay happy in – Guatemala is frequently ravished by hurricanes and earthquakes that often kill thousands of people. Main exports of Guatemala include coffee, sugar and bananas. The latter is probably why they are so happy – have you ever seen someone that can stay sad while eating a banana?

8. Canada – 7.6 points.

Many people have no idea that Canada’s head of state is actually Queen Elizabeth II – the head of the British Monarchy. This meant that when Britain declared war on Germany in World War I, Canada was automatically at war with the soon to be Nazi country. Unlike the neighbouring US, Canada has never cancelled its relations with Cuba and has declined to take part from the Iraq War – instead, it has played a leading role in the United Nations peacekeeping missions and helped to launch a $1.5 billion initiative to help develop vaccines that could save millions of people in poor countries. It seems that happy people make a happy country!

7. Sweden – 7.7 points.

This “welfare state” model is an excellent example of effective national taxes.  Among other things the state provides universal tax-funded childcare, parental leave, health care, education (including university), retirement pensions and sick leave. Including value added tax (VAT – kind of like sales tax), it is possible to pay up to 80% of your income as taxes. Contrary to popular belief, Swedes are quite OK with their high taxes. After all it gives them tons of free and high quality services – what’s not to be happy about!

Sweden is also the home of IKEA – the world’s largest furniture store. IKEA’s founder Ingvar Kampard is famous for being the 7th richest person in the world (Net worth $31 billion) and driving a 15 year old Volvo station wagon. It has been claimed that more people read the IKEA catalogue than the Bible – and that one in ten Europeans have been conceived on an IKEA bed.

6. Australia – 7.7 points.

The name “Australia” comes from the Latin word “Australis”, meaning “Southern”. Australia is the only country in the world, that consists of an entire continent. Between 1788 and 1868 the British used Australia as a colony to deport their convicted criminals – these people are the predecessors to many of today’s citizens. Australians are famous for playing rugby and calling each-other “mates”.

5. Finland – 7. 7 points.

This is the country that brought us Nokia – the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phones. In 2003 Nokia accounted for about a quarter of Finland’s exports and in 2006 it generated more revenue than the entire budget of Finland.  Before starting to make mobile phones Nokia made (yes, it’s true) rubber boots!  Finland was also home to Simo Häyhä – considered to be the most deadly sniper through history with 542 kills. According to World Economic Forum Finland has the most competitive economy in the world. Plenty to be happy about!

4. Iceland – 7. 8 points.

This geologically active country is rich in volcanoes and geysers (A geyser is a hot spring that erupts water in certain intervals). Thanks to geothermal power Iceland gets its electricity and hot water dirt cheap. There have been occasions where steel has been shipped for processing from Australia or Africa and when finished shipped back to the originating country. Cheap local energy actually makes this cost effective. According to the Human Development Index, Iceland (together with Norway) is the world’s most developed country.

3. Austria – 8. 0 points.

Austria is the home to the popular energy drink Red Bull. This country is also one of the few in the world that allows legal voting beginning from age 16. Upon turning 18, all Austrian males have to take part of a 6 month military service. The country has declared itself formally a neutral country or a  “perpetual neutrality” as they say it, but in reality it has taken part of various peacekeeping missions and also took part of the UN sanctions against Iraq. Thanks to the wide use of wind-, solar- and hydropower Austria produces around 80% of its energy from renewable resources. Education is mostly free, with the exception of an average semester fee of 583 dollars (370 eur) in universities. As you probably guessed, student loan debts are not an issue in Austria.

2. Switzerland – 8.1 points.

This cheese and chocolate producing land is the world’s 10th richest country. Switzerland’s neutrality helped their banks to raise some serious cash – for decades it was possible to open a bank account without having to identify yourself. Upon opening an account, you were given a special number that anyone could use to deposit or withdraw money. This law was later changed since it attracted illegal money. Switzerland is also one of the top garbage recyclers in the world (66% to 96% recyclable materials recycled). They achieve this by keeping recycling free, but asking money for regular garbage – thus giving people a financial incentive to recycle.

1. Denmark – 8. 2 points.

Just like Sweden, Denmark is a Nordic welfare state with most of its services free to the citizens. Expect to pay 72% of your money to the government on the highest income tax bracket. According to Wikipedia Denmark has the world’s highest taxes! When buying a car in Denmark one has to pay 25% VAT to the import price of the vehicle and then a 180% registration tax on top. That means when a car sells for $20 000, you have to pay an additional $45 000 as taxes for the government (total of $65 000). That’s why people in Denmark ride bikes or use one of the best public transport systems in the world. Denmark also has 2 autonomous provinces – the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The latter is over 50 times larger than Denmark but has about 100 times less people.

Other notable countries:-

• USA – 7.4 points – 17th
• Great Britain – 7.1 points – 22nd
• France – 6.5 points – 39th
• China – 6.3 points – 44th
• India – 6.3 points – 45th