"A very Ashton Keynes" Evening with Stephen Taberner

Well, there have a few emails, a bit of whispering, some rumour, much pondering and now the very strong likelihood that on Thursday 20th September there will be an Evening with Stephen Taberner, the Spookmeister, in Ashton Keynes, so we thought we better tip you the wink, so to speak.

So, Ashton Keynes Parrish Church Council in cahoots with The Magnificent AK47 are presenting

"A very Ashton Keynes" Evening with Stephen Taberner, Leader of the Spooky Men's Chorale of Australia, Inspiration for The Magnificent AK47.

He will be giving a A Singing Workshop for ALL, NOT just blokes, onThursday 20th September starting at 7:30pm in Holy Cross Church, Ashton Keynes, Supported by Holy Cross PCC.

Tickets £8 and £5 Students, OAPs, Concessions and are Available from Village Shop, Sahara, The White Hart, PCC, emailing tmak47tickets@gmail.com.


But that's not all, there will then be free concert, Man + Voice + Double Bass at The White Hart pub starting at around 9:45pm which will be a solo show from this highly entertaining performer, as seen at big festivals this summer.



The White Hart are also likely to be offering a special "meal deal" before the event, more info from the pub, call 01285 861247, and say we sent you!

 Don’t miss this unique evening – book now and see you there.

Where were you when? A bunker in the Czech Republic

Well, we guess it kind of had to happen at some point and if it had to happen to anyone it was always likely to be Hairy Bill! 

Snapped by fellow TMAK47er John W whilst visiting a nuclear bunker in Prague (as you do!), Bill posed for his entry in the AK T-shirt competition. This is an actual, but unloaded,  AK47.  Apparently after the Russians left AK47s were so plentiful that farmers adopted them in preference to their shotguns.  The visit occurred during their recent visit to the Czech Republic as part of the "Sing Your Socks Off" singing Holiday, a report coming soon(ish).

Whilst we in no way condone playing with dangerous former Soviet military hardware, kiddies, it is quite a striking pose.

Anyway, the scores have arrived and they are as follow:

1. The Location - 4.0 (The Judges are as ever unfortunately rather nit picky about the lack of magnificence of the shot [having been spoilt with so many epic, iconic world landmarks in the past] and no visible signage.  On the other hand they applaud the readiness to wear the T-Shirt on these sort of visits and wish to encourage this sort of deviant behaviour and applaud Bill H's & John W's gumption so back up a mark)

2. The Pose - 4.0 (A good pose in the circumstances but perhaps not the note of pointless grandeur that we have come to expect but given that he is holding a potentially lethal weapon it gives another perspective to things.  In fact , on second look it is quite a stern pose as befitting the circumstances so that is a good second best in the absence of pointless grandeur)

3. The X-Factor - 4.0 - (Overall quite scary for any of us old enough to remember the Cold War and gas masks for real so mark)

Making that a total of 12.0 - by far the highest scoring entry from anyone in a bunker on the continent whilst on a singing holiday!  A good team effort by the 2 TMAK47ers.

Post Pow Wow 2012

And so, after weeks of anticipation, days of preparation and minutes of firkling around setting up, there we all were, at our 2nd Magnificent AK47 Pow Wow, aka Annual General meeting in layperson's speak.

As you can just about make out from the photo it was exceptionally well attended with around 75% regulars turning up and 2 or 3 familiar faces from BlokeFest popping along to find out more and meet up with the rest of the blokes.

We covered a number of topics including a Financial report from Angus V, delivered by a nearly "look-a-like" Peter B, a long rant by Big Chief Neil B yarning on about what a great year it had been, outlining all the terrific events that are lined up before the end of the year and even talking about the "Wold Tour" and mooted proper recording in the new year.  After a bit of debate about ethos, direction and the need to adjust the subscriptions we toasted the various sections of the agenda as they were passed and got on with a mini-workshop lead by our esteemed ChoirMeister the sunshine in the pub garden, followed by a BYO BBQ and social. 

A great way to finish off the first "half" of the year and launch into the second part.

Where were you when - Only the blooming Olympics!

Well it is fair to say that 2012 has been a pretty amazing year on a number of fronts.  Firstly The Magnificent AK47 have had more workshops and given more performances than ever, and improved those performances beyond recognition in some cases, one could even say that we have achieved one or two "personal bests", which ties in very nicely with the theme of another big event that has happened this year, er, the Olympics and Paralympics.  

 

Not that we consider ourselves up with the top athletes in the world, but it should be noted that at the end of "Satisfaction" we are all pretty breathless from the supreme effort!  Which takes us to this impressive entry, once again from the shameless TMAK47 T-Shirt wearer that is our glorious ChoirMeister, Mr Samuel. 

 

Anyway, the scores are in.

1. The Location - 5.0 (THE place to be this latter part of the summer, utterly spectacular, now totally iconic, what more can we say?  Clearly having paid attention to previous rulings Chris has made absolutely sure there is quality visible signage. Top marks!)

2. The Pose - 5.0 (How much more pointless grandeur can one have in a single photo?  Again top marks)

3. The X-Factor - 4.5 - (Only the lack of dark glasses denies him yet another top mark)

Making that a total of 14.5 - by far the highest scoring entry from anyone at an iconic event at the Olympics - can you beat this?  It's going to be very hard  . . but don't let that stop you posing as there is strong competition coming!

Pow Wow 2012

From the evidence in this photo it looks like it can be quite a tough crowd at our annual Pow Wow!  And you would be right . . . 

We have instigated a new tradition (!) of meeting up at least once a year to discuss "stuff" to with the group, what we like / dislike, hadn't thought of doing / maybe want to do, how we want to do it or not, latest beard growing / trimming techniques, pretty much anything that is relevant and sometimes plenty that is not.

As with everything we do, we try to be at least vaguely organized before the chaos of 30+ opinions kick in and people seek to express views they hold strongly before seeing the other side of a point of view and then recognizing the worth of their original line of thought before losing concentration and forgetting that they had their own opinion and then fall in line with the best idea they heard 2 minutes ago, if only they (or anyone) could remember what it was.  You get the idea.

Anyway, worst case we have an archetypal "Mrs Merton Heated Debate" and turn it into an excuse for a beer or two, a song or two, and some food and general social.

This year's agenda is

 Inner Circlers who can attend
16:15 - Set up Gazebo & BBQ & Back Room of The White Hart

Everybody else
17:00 - Arrive at The White Hart & buy refreshments at bar
17:15 - Start Pow Wow in Back room - Agenda below
18:15 - Singing session with Chris to review Delilah, Dry Stone Waller's song
18:45 - Food (BYO BBQ) & Social + some singing to the masses

As ever, all timings approximate, liable to change and acts of nature.

Please consider Family & Friends invited to the Food & Social side of things, BBQ facilities are being provided but to keep things as simple as possible we ask YOU to bring your own food to cook on the BBQ and any veg / salads etc to accompany it, basically a Bring Your Own BBQ.  Crockery and cutlery will be provided.

If Family & Friends need to arrive earlier than 18:45 can we suggest they might want to avail themselves of the pub facilities in the bar area, reading the paper or having a stroll round the village rather than attending the Pow Wow? (it's not like it is a secret session or anything, more in case they don't want to hear us yarning on about Bloke singing!)

Pow Wow Agenda

1. Apologies for shameful lack of attendance
2. Review Minutes of last Pow Wow
3. Big Chief's Report (summary of last year, proposals/dates for the next year & Fascinating Facts Quiz)
4. Finance Meister's Report
5. Subscriptions
6. Membership
7. Review any Proposed Amendments to "The Magnificent Charter".
8. Election of Officers
9. A.O.B.

If you fancy coming along all we ask is that you let us know in advance so we know to let you in without giving you too hard a Paddington stare.  Email themagnificentak47@gmail.com, just to be on the safe side.

Previously - First half 2012

What a busy year we have had!  Here's a list of gatherings that we have enjoyed over the course of 2012 and there is much more to come.  

Maybe someone will get round to writing up some highlights (hint, hint, cough, cough!) but for now, here's a quick list of everything.

Sun 22/01/2012    Workshop   Ashton Keynes, The White Hart

Sun 19/02/2012    Workshop   Ashton Keynes, The White Hart
Sat 25/02/2012    Gig                Marlborough Singing For Laughs

Sat 03/03/2012    Gig                Bristol, St Christophers

Sun 22/04/2012    Workshop   Ashton Keynes, The White Hart

Sun 03/06/2012    Gig               Ashton Keynes Jubilee
Sun 03/06/2012    Gig               Chippenham Festival
Sun 17/06/2012    Workshop    Ashton Keynes, The White Hart
Sat 23/06/2012    Gig                BlokeFest

Sun 01/07/2012    Gig                Wiltshire Wailers
Sun 29/07/2012    Gig                Tunnel Inn

Watch out for more announcements.

Where were you when? On a wall somewhere

Living up to his very well deserved nickname of "Absent Bob", globe trotting super archaeologist Bob B has once again struck with yet another entry to our T-Shirt competition.  Well done for managing to pack your TMAK47 kit and find a moment to persuade someone to take a quick snap.

We are fairly sure you can guess where he is when this was taken, the backdrop is the quite amazing Great Wall of China.  It looks a pretty hot day but Bob somehow manages to look cool out of the shade wearing his shades.

Anyway, the scores are in.

1. The Location - 4.0 (Quite spectacular, iconic, what more can we say?  However, despite being  a real pro at this and a past winner, the perennial problem of lack of visible signage.)

2. The Pose - 4.0 (Not bad, quite posed, a decent look of pointless grandeur)

3. The X-Factor - 4.0 - (Dark glasses, black T-Shirt and the Great Wall of China - top stuff)

Making that a total of 12.0 - by far the highest scoring entry from someone looking suitably menacing whilst standing on top of a world icon - can you beat this?