Finally today i got the inside view, another 6 weeks on crutches to seal up the remaining cracks.....

I wrote a quick travel guide type thing from my trip to Paraguay in 2005...

Apparently there is a really bad outbreak of Yellow Fever at the moment in Paraguay so get immunised well before you get there if you are inspired by this!!!

There are several boats a week that travel along the Rio Paraguay, a long and sultry river which begins in the Pantanal of Brasil and ends at the border with Argentina in the south. The passenger boat called the Aquidaban seems best avoided because of the crowds but the weekly journey of the Guarani, a freighter is a real treat. I say treat as it is far from comfortable or reliable but if you want an authentic, no frills view of life on the river then this is it.

The majority of the boat is taken up with all kinds of goods for the small towns and villages along the river. Food, furniture, oil, motorcycles and a huge load of gravel we collected en-route were part of the cargo. For a negotiated price of about $20 we secured a rough dark cabin above the engine.

There are no real comforts but food can be taken with the crew and the few locals who take the boat between villages. Sitting up on the tin roof watching the river go by and observing the comings and goings as the boat gets caught on sandbanks, loads and unloads and the crew get on with the tasks of running the boat. Fishing off the back of the boat in their spare time to have the old lady cook up the catch in the evening.
The passage takes roughly 2 to 3 days depending on all of the above. It is a working freighter so as such the passengers are the last concern of the crew but having said that we never felt unwelcome or in the way.
Small towns such as Puerto Pinasco and Puerto Vallemi slowly pass by. There is a huge chest freezer with beers in to help pass the time and a really ancient looking giant tv showing a constant stream of Football and Paraguayan soap operas by the kitchen area at the back of the boat. The toilet and the shower are one in the same being just a hole in the floor to stand over and a shower head directly above it, saves time i guess. All very basic and in no way designed for tourists expecting comfort or service. Brilliant. Take a good book and let the river slowly pass by.

The weather went from sweltering airless heat to heavy rain and strong wind so be warned.
The end of our ride came after 3 days at Isla Margerita which is at the border with Brasil, we arrived at midnight and with Brasil on the far bank of the river we quickly found some cheap lodging right next to where we had disembarked. The owner of the room also happened to own a boat so for a small fee took us across the river the next day. We had arrived in Brasil.
None of the towns have a real port or dock so the boat just ties up on the riverbank. Concepcion is a major town by Paraguayan standards and can easily be reached by bus from Asunción. Find the river and the Guarani leaves sometime on a Tuesday. Speak with the captain to negotiate your passage. Timings and days vary so prepare to be very patient.

So my wounds are healing pretty well, the faded muscles taking longer, the bone and metal...who knows, good i hope....there was a piece of string sticking out of my leg....a dissolving stitch that didn't melt so i had the nurse pull it out today and this is the resulting hole highlighted with an iodine spray....the hole is closing up.......keep stretching.

Greg has a section in this pool session....ruler!! Check the -1.44 point......

Go to this tonight if you can....i wish i was in San Francisco tonight, if i left now i might just get there...

I was going to put this one on flickr but realised it might be a little too graphic for friends and family so it's hidden away here on my blog, a place of limited traffic. It's one side of my leg after i had the staples removed on Wednesday, there is actually another smaller one on the other side of my leg which under normal standards would be pretty full on but against this one it's small fry...Mike mentioned the zombie look, well here is a true Halloween costume for the year round costume party...i don't really like it but i suppose i'm stuck with it...now i just have to get my leg to move properly again and everything will be cool....then i can laugh about it all.

The thing that saved my sanity during my 15 days in hospital was the constant visits from friends and family, not one day went by without seeing a familiar face so thanks to everyone who came especially Siobhan and Ione who were there everyday, Len and Kaz and Sunay...thanks for the cool picture Len, Dad, Sarah, Cherry, Matt, Maisie and Martha....can i say good times??

Alan sent me this picture....i reckon it's at the Deeble Road ramp in Kettering at the comp we set up back in time in 19???? Wish i still had that Minor Threat top but not too sure about the Television Spex....it was the heady times though, we all made mistakes, a large field of vision was the main benefit.

check this out....me, siobhan and ione went down to Swansea for the weekend and had a rad time checking out the sights and getting into the idea of moving down there again when siobhan goes back to work at the beginning of July...anyhoo a cool weekend catching up with her workmates and showing ione the sights of the Gower peninsula, she loves seaguls!!!
On the way back we went to Caldicot to check out the park there...it was pretty cold and windy and was snowing off and on...they stayed in the car and i braved the elements to have a quick skate...cruised around the tranny for a bit and then the block on the driveway caught my eye, you might know it, not too big in any way...Fully Flared as i was i decided to catch up on my Marc Johnson skills and got into trying to roll along the block and ollie off the high end which as you might know is probably not too much higher than 3 foot or so....third time trying and crunch!!! My dreams of block tech came to an abrupt end...as i lay there in the wind and light snow i wondered if it wasnt such a bad hit after all...trying to get to my feet set my mind at ease and i knew my leg was in bits below my knee......siobhan called 999 and a car came in less than 10....armed with gas and a big yellow strap on splint i set to waiting for the real ambulance, i finished the tank of gas which left me grinning....ambulance back to Newport and so began a marathon hospital stay that ended 3 days ago.....i was in Newport for a week stuck in a cancer ward high on morphine and hallucinating. In the meantime Siobhan and Ione were staying in a hotel by the motorway and back at Swansea for a couple of nights too....nothing was done to repair my leg, i got xrays and a ct scan and waited for someone to decide what to do...by Friday i had had enough and asked to get back to Worthing....they agreed and sent me in an ambulance all the way from Newport to Worthing....i got there on Saturday and finally they decided by Thursday to operate...i was getting seriously institutionalised....there actually was another skater in my ward which was rad who had also broken his leg on his mates mini ramp!!! Gonna find that thing when i get better...it's right on the beach apparently. Owned by the ex drummer of the ordinary boys....should be rad!
Anyway i had as i knew broken the tibia and fibia near the top at the knee....the scan showed many fragments and some pushed into the knee joint....serious and scary!!!
Operation lasted well over 2 hours and i woke up all happy and pain free....easy i thought...not so, the anaesthetic soon wore off and i felt like absolute death for about 3 days.....
Then i got transported to a mad rehab hospital which the average age of long term patient must have been 80.....5 days there and i was ready to go insane....i left on Tuesday....15 nights, 3 hospitals, 2 countries, a 3 hour operation and 2 metal plates better off......it don't get better than that for an injury story....anyway fingers crossed for the state of my sorry bones...i get the staples out next Wednesday of which there are 2 long lines either side of my leg...i got a bag full of drugs and i get the joy of injecting my abdomen once a day with a blood thinner to stop my blood clotting....
Looking forward to bending the old leg again soon...thanks to everyone that visited me in Worthing and a million thanks to Siobhan for coming everyday and putting the nurses to shame , if she had the medical knowledge she would be a killer health care professional....rock on, it's all that which kept me going...thanks!!!!

Rowell Muties at their best......

ione eats out in Worthing during the week, happy to try a variety of cuisines and states of puree...and the first time in a high chair at the Diner in Portslade..... courgette puree is her current food of choice....

Styley has left the country....now residing in Japan, gonna miss you chief..... see you when we get there!!!

Part 3 of the live video posts....Good Clean Fun!!!!

Good Clean Fun from Jono on Vimeo.
Back in 2004... way, way back Good Clean Fun played at the Tottenham Swan...i used Stoo's mini death lens and the room was so dark i had to use the night vision feature....so it's all super wide and super green...posi up and check out "Song for the ladies".

JChurch at the Windmill.... part 2.

jchurch in brixton 2004 from Jono on Vimeo.

I was talking to Paul the other week when he came over to visit...the big weekend in Worthing when Iain, Selena,Zeke, Sonali and Paul all came down.....and Paul hadn't heard about Lance's untimely passing. I forgot about seeing JChurch at the Windmill in Brixton with Siobhan and Paul....so Paul here is a clip from the video i shot that night...i have a couple more songs to post here from that night too so i'll get onto it...i reckon it was 2005 before we went away for a year but i'll check for the exact date on the thoroughly thorough JChurch blog/website/archive.

Addition to the above statement......
It was actually November 2004!!!! So here are the dates J Church played in November on that tour...

NOVEMBER 2004

Sun 14 - Exeter, UK - The Cavern, w/Reno Divorce
Mon 15 - Leeds, UK - The Packhorse, w/The Sainte Catherines, Dugong, Buzzkill
Tue 16 - London, UK - Brixton Windmill w/Reno Divorce, Chillerton
Wed 17 - Dublin, Ireland - The Voodoo Lounge w/Langdon Beck, Lebanon Death Train, Disfunktional
Thu 18 - Belfast, UK - Pavillion Bar w/Landegon Beck, Baron's Jar +1 tbc
Fri 19 - Liverpool, UK - Heaven n Hell w/Flamingo 50, The Dauntless Elite
Sat 20 - High Wycombe, UK - Roundabout
Sun 21 - Leicester, UK - Sumo's w/Hardy Street Pros +1 tbc
Mon 22 - Brighton, UK - Hobgoblin, w/The Sainte Catherines
Tue 23 - Lille, France - Le Yeti
Wed 24 - Poitiers, France - Le Curicaume Cafe
Thu 25 - Day off
Fri 26 - Bordeaux, France - Local Universel
Sat 27 - Lyon, France - Grrrrnd Zero w/The Sainte Catherines + Erevan
Sun 28 - Milan, Italy - Leon Cavallo
Mon 29 - Viareggio, Italy - Matilda
Tue 30 - Torino, Italy - Antidox

Pretty amazing they played at Sumo in Leicester, i'll have to get onto Dunk to confirm it happened and maybe get some pictures....veggie sausage and mash at Sumo on a Sunday...i don't know about now but back then it was the place to eat!!

The capital of tea rooms....Worthing....

Southampton University and Shiney Dave.......

Winston reveals a hidden skateboarding urge in his homage to Animal Chin







SandM..Portobello Road on Wednesday night