The Pinball Wizard has played his last concert in the UK

7.6 million people watched Elton John on UK TV performing at Glastonbury last weekend. He claimed this would be his last ever UK concert - but he has said that before! At 76 years old he still has the magic and his singing and playing were superb. He really looked like he was having a great time although he looked a little unsteady on his feet as he walked out on stage but the years melted away when he began to play.

Yusuf/Cat Stevens also performed a great set at 75 years of age. It was wonderful to see and to listen to. Of course, he does have an extensive back catalogue of material and songs from fifty years ago still sounded fresh and vibrant.

You can see and hear the song that he closed the show with; a spectacular version of Rocket Man. Ten minutes of fabulousness! See it here!

Ghent, Belgium

We have just returned from a few days in Ghent in Flanders, in the north of Belgium. We have visited there several times before but this was the best time and we all decided (four of us) that we now place the city above Bruges, that most-popular of tourist destinations. It's slightly less packed with tourists and slightly less overpriced!

A typical Ghent canal-side view

Belgian is of course famous for it's hundreds of varieties of top-quality beer, of which my Son-in-Law and I are huge fans!

Westvlteren beer is very interesting as, until a few weeks ago, it was only available from their off-the-beaten-track Monastery. They are concerned that it is only sold to end-users and not to businesses. Applying to buy it was like asking to join the Secret Service! We were given a thirty minute time slot to collect it and paid only two Euros for each of 24 bottles; I have seen it advertised at 18 Euros...

I'm listening to Helen Shapiro singing Little Miss Lonely. She was one of the most talented of Britain's female pop-singers and was very mature when she recorded most of her hits as a teenager. Listen here.