says it all really
dance me to the end of love ....
The beautiful prose will always remain .......
Friday 11 November 2016
Thursday 13 October 2016
Wednesday 27 July 2016
Let's finish ......
....with one last SoD ....
there can be no other choice
but the genius that is Paul Buchanan ...
Tuesday 12 July 2016
When your eyes meet mine, I lose simple skills ......
....... like putting my underpants on the right way round,
as I funked up for work this morning ......
as I funked up for work this morning ......
I'd forgotten what a great album this is ....
until my morning commute ....
a perfect Tuesday tune ...
Monday 11 July 2016
Simple things please .... simple minds ....
My cycling challenge last year was to defeat Ditchling Beacon ..... this year it is the Dunwich Dynamo .... a 120 cycle ride through the night from east London to the disappearing hamlet of Dunwich on the Suffolk coast ....
Feel a splashing round your ankles and you know that in your stupor you've ridden too far ....
So this year I have been training hard .....
Earlier this year my older sister who at 55 years old is a novice cyclist, commenced her training for the London to Paris bike ride, and realising how long you have to sit in the saddle to cover long distances, asked me .... what do you think about when riding ? ...... in a heart beat the answer was easy ..... not falling off I truthfully declared ......
But as I pass through Suffolk village to Suffolk village building up the training miles my eye is often caught by a sign by the road .....
Feel a splashing round your ankles and you know that in your stupor you've ridden too far ....
So this year I have been training hard .....
Earlier this year my older sister who at 55 years old is a novice cyclist, commenced her training for the London to Paris bike ride, and realising how long you have to sit in the saddle to cover long distances, asked me .... what do you think about when riding ? ...... in a heart beat the answer was easy ..... not falling off I truthfully declared ......
But as I pass through Suffolk village to Suffolk village building up the training miles my eye is often caught by a sign by the road .....
First I saw this one ........ and my immediate thought ....
If it really is an Elvis tribute then it must surely be an all you can eat buffet ......
As for this one ..... what a truely wonderful name ....
....... if I was a woman and having issues with my lady garden then for sure....... if I was going to visit a osteopath, without doubt it would be Ned Wombwell..... who wouldn't want a well womb .....
Riding towards Lavenham, out the corner of my eye I saw a road sign .... weak bridge ... it declared .......
As I pedaled along .... I wondered ..... when they say weak bridge .... does that mean if I went up to it and went ........ Boo ! ...... would it suddenly start crying .....
And finally I have often wondered what a pillory post looks like .......
now I know .....
Interestingly one thing I have never seen on my bike rides
is a sweaty woman in a arran knit jumper
could the Dunwich Dynamo be a first ?
Tuesday 14 June 2016
The grave yard shift .....
..... seems I am not the only one trying to get away from this life
even the dead are trying to escape as well ....
and talking of bones
this was on my playlist
as I pampered the remaining residents .....
[footnote: this was not on my playlist, but came on Bones autoplay .... so why not more bones Sod's]
Tuesday 7 June 2016
Insomnia and music .... happy bed fellows ...
Last nights lullaby ....
becomes today's SoD
becomes today's SoD
If only Richard knew
how he whispered me to sleep {eventually}
and how about this ....
I never was any good at morse code
so this seems fitting ...
Wednesday 11 May 2016
Grief is just a form of self pity ...... or so claimed .....
... my eldest brother a few days after our fathers funeral ..... I thought it was a bit harsh at the time .......
In January of this year I wrote about Pam, and how it came to be that her Son and Husband came to tell me she had been ill ...... since then I have seen Pam and we've had some loverly chats remembering the good moments in our respective time together ..... but she never once felt sorry for her self .... in fact we didn't really talk about her illness .......
Over the May bank holiday weekend I received word she had moved to a local hospice. I went to see David on the Sunday, he was stoic, but you could tell he was hurting. Last Wednesday, after speaking to David on the phone in the morning, I went to see Pam in the afternoon. As I walked down the hall of the hospice towards her room, I met David and he offered to show me the way to her room. Bearing in mind that David has almost lost his sight and now relies upon a white stick, showing me the way, well..... David is a proud man, but he took my arm. I asked him how she was doing and he started to cry, it took all of his energy to try and maintain his dignity ..... I took his hand and we walked down the corridor saying no words... anyone walking behind us seeing two middle aged men walking hand in hand .....
As I sat with Pam, holding her hand .... David next to me, in fact we were both kneeling, he gently stroked her hair ......
David rang me this morning .... Just hearing the pain in his voice ...... Pam passed away last night. The call took seconds and as I put the phone down .... I found myself crying too.
As I lay in bed last night despite it being 1am, I was wide awake reflecting back ..... unaware that Pam was taking her last breath on this earth ..... my brother's words were ringing in my ears ...... I thought about the moment kneeling at the side of Pam's bed last week holding her hands, David stroking her hair .... anyone at the door seeing me kneeling might have thought I was praying at her bedside .... who knows perhaps I was ..... but the contrast was not lost on me ..... David's marriage coming to an end by death and mine by divorce .... I elected not to share this with David .... his grief was yet to come, but only less than a week away.
They say divorce brings about it's own form of grief and lying in bed last night, I was also thinking about the sadness in losing my Dad, Katie dying last year for no good reason at the stupid young age of 21 [but can there be any good reason to die, even though it is inevitable] and then perhaps the sadness that the life I have known to the age of 53 years has come to an end.
But why do we grieve .... do we grieve for the person that is lost or for the life that we lost .... the lives left behind that have been lost. I have no real idea what happens to us when we die, but in my mind it is nothing, a dark quite unconscionable nothingness. If this is true, then why should it be that death is something to fear, for if you die in to a nothingness, then you have no consciousness and can therefore experience no loss. It is only the ones left behind who are left with their thoughts, the moments lost from a life once lived.
I remember on my first trip to sea and I suffered terribly with sea sickness, by the christ it made me ill, but I did eventually get over it by my 2nd trip. But considering it was 37 years ago I have this strong memory of one moment of sea sickness. I was on bridge watching keeping duties, and to the rear of the bridge was the loo. This was an older ship, very utilitarian construction, the engine vibrations constant through the fabric of the steel structure and as a fuel oil carrier had a pervading smell of dark oil. As I honked up in the bowl, I blacked out. I don't know for how long, but at the nano second I came too, just in that very instance I had no understanding of where I was, what had happened nor that I had blacked out. No conscience at all, and then at the end of that nano second, I became aware of the vibrations, the smell of oil and an awareness of where I was and who I was. That memory has stayed with me all these years.
But at that nano second before I knew what was happening, there was nothing, a complete empty nothingness ..... that is how I imagine death ..... so why do we grieve towards the thought of death .....
And still it comes back, we grieve for ourselves for the life lost .... the lost life of the departed ? or is it the life the living have lost ? ......
These are the thoughts I had last night, the thoughts I had before last night, and now the thoughts I have today.
In January of this year I wrote about Pam, and how it came to be that her Son and Husband came to tell me she had been ill ...... since then I have seen Pam and we've had some loverly chats remembering the good moments in our respective time together ..... but she never once felt sorry for her self .... in fact we didn't really talk about her illness .......
Over the May bank holiday weekend I received word she had moved to a local hospice. I went to see David on the Sunday, he was stoic, but you could tell he was hurting. Last Wednesday, after speaking to David on the phone in the morning, I went to see Pam in the afternoon. As I walked down the hall of the hospice towards her room, I met David and he offered to show me the way to her room. Bearing in mind that David has almost lost his sight and now relies upon a white stick, showing me the way, well..... David is a proud man, but he took my arm. I asked him how she was doing and he started to cry, it took all of his energy to try and maintain his dignity ..... I took his hand and we walked down the corridor saying no words... anyone walking behind us seeing two middle aged men walking hand in hand .....
As I sat with Pam, holding her hand .... David next to me, in fact we were both kneeling, he gently stroked her hair ......
David rang me this morning .... Just hearing the pain in his voice ...... Pam passed away last night. The call took seconds and as I put the phone down .... I found myself crying too.
As I lay in bed last night despite it being 1am, I was wide awake reflecting back ..... unaware that Pam was taking her last breath on this earth ..... my brother's words were ringing in my ears ...... I thought about the moment kneeling at the side of Pam's bed last week holding her hands, David stroking her hair .... anyone at the door seeing me kneeling might have thought I was praying at her bedside .... who knows perhaps I was ..... but the contrast was not lost on me ..... David's marriage coming to an end by death and mine by divorce .... I elected not to share this with David .... his grief was yet to come, but only less than a week away.
They say divorce brings about it's own form of grief and lying in bed last night, I was also thinking about the sadness in losing my Dad, Katie dying last year for no good reason at the stupid young age of 21 [but can there be any good reason to die, even though it is inevitable] and then perhaps the sadness that the life I have known to the age of 53 years has come to an end.
But why do we grieve .... do we grieve for the person that is lost or for the life that we lost .... the lives left behind that have been lost. I have no real idea what happens to us when we die, but in my mind it is nothing, a dark quite unconscionable nothingness. If this is true, then why should it be that death is something to fear, for if you die in to a nothingness, then you have no consciousness and can therefore experience no loss. It is only the ones left behind who are left with their thoughts, the moments lost from a life once lived.
I remember on my first trip to sea and I suffered terribly with sea sickness, by the christ it made me ill, but I did eventually get over it by my 2nd trip. But considering it was 37 years ago I have this strong memory of one moment of sea sickness. I was on bridge watching keeping duties, and to the rear of the bridge was the loo. This was an older ship, very utilitarian construction, the engine vibrations constant through the fabric of the steel structure and as a fuel oil carrier had a pervading smell of dark oil. As I honked up in the bowl, I blacked out. I don't know for how long, but at the nano second I came too, just in that very instance I had no understanding of where I was, what had happened nor that I had blacked out. No conscience at all, and then at the end of that nano second, I became aware of the vibrations, the smell of oil and an awareness of where I was and who I was. That memory has stayed with me all these years.
But at that nano second before I knew what was happening, there was nothing, a complete empty nothingness ..... that is how I imagine death ..... so why do we grieve towards the thought of death .....
And still it comes back, we grieve for ourselves for the life lost .... the lost life of the departed ? or is it the life the living have lost ? ......
These are the thoughts I had last night, the thoughts I had before last night, and now the thoughts I have today.
We look back on moments in our lives......
that moment when to steal the line ....
This kind of certainty comes but just once in a lifetime ....
and as I listened to this music last night, and now again today
..... I wonder why I write this shite ......
..... who knows maybe my brother has a point after all .....
Wednesday 4 May 2016
First it was Andrex revenge ..... now it's incontinence....
..... when the UPS envelope arrived I knew instantly what it was ..... having signed for it and closed the door ...... I so wanted to jump and down, and squeal excitedly like a teenage girl ..... but the staff were looking at me ..... when one person then declared ..... ere boss what's that large wet stain that has appeared on your trousers....
I looked them square on and bold as brass declared that ...... I had pissed my pants with excitement .....
Turning the clock back to 1980 ..... in fact to be precise it was 24th March 1980 and I was in Ras Al Khaima awaiting to join the Mv British Tweed .....
I looked them square on and bold as brass declared that ...... I had pissed my pants with excitement .....
Turning the clock back to 1980 ..... in fact to be precise it was 24th March 1980 and I was in Ras Al Khaima awaiting to join the Mv British Tweed .....
Here she is traversing the Firth of Forth ....
I've done that run a few times,
who knows I might have been on her
when this photo was taken....
when this photo was taken....
But back in March 1980, she was heading south down the Persian Gulf and I was getting used to the heat of the Middle Eastern desert. At the tender age of 17 years old, this was a whole new world for me .... and at that time Dubai was not the skyscraper theme park it has become today ..... back then it was nothing more than an oasis in the desert ..... literally .....
Once on board the Tweed, and we were New Zealand bound .... but the thing about being on a tramper [and oh how I love a good tramp] you very rarely knew what ports were coming next.
But as we navigated through the Tasmanian Sea, orders came through .......... after New Zealand we were to sail to Singapore for dry dock.
At this point I must declare that as a navigating apprentice, to hear over the tannoy that we would head out to Singapore for dry dock ..... came across the tannoy as .... brilliant news boys .... 2 weeks full expenses paid holiday in Singapore .... oh and we'll bung in some beer money as well .....
So there it was, we off loaded our cargo of petrol to New Zealand and headed out back north across the equator, with a 4 day slow steam through the great barrier reef ..... a whole new world really was opening up before me .... seeing flying fish for the first time .... or even wondering what the fuck was that luminous haze on the night time waves.... on seeing both of these phenomenon I felt too much at risk of being deemed a knob, I dare not ask ..... but sure enough, it was flying fish ..... I discovered this one morning when I found the lifeless body of one on the deck ..... flew a bit too far me thinks.... and the luminous haze ? ..... Bioluminescent phytoplankton ..... I could have been on another planet ....
As it so happened..... this was a trip of a life time, especially considering this was only my 2nd ship .... on that trip, I also visited amongst other places Japan, China, Yemen, through the Suez Canal ...... these were just names I had seen on a map in school geography lessons less than a year past .... and now I was seeing them for real.....
But Singapore was something else..... by 1980 a lot of slum cleansing had taken place..... and the Singapore I visited was not the Singapore that survived the 2nd world war..... but in fact the Singapore I visited 5 years ago was not the Singapore I visited in 1980 but one thing never changes ..... the humidity and the aroma ....
Also in 1980 we were on the cusp of the electronic age .... we didn't have sat nav in daily lives [can you believe we were still using a 1731 invention..... the sextant..... to navigate by the stars], mobile phones were just a figment of Star Trek ..... but Singapore had tomorrows gadgets at bugger all prices ..... in 1980 it also still had Bugis Street, and the Friday night dance of the flaming arseholes ..... you had to be careful not to end up with a Kai Tais either ..... I was more of tiger beer man me sen.
There was something else about Singapore .... bootleg music tapes .... at 50p a shot there was all the latest titles ..... I even brought Elvis Costello ~ Get Hapty ...... that was the only downside..... plenty of spelling mistakes, and sometimes not even the correct track listings.... but who cared.... they were 50p ......
And that is when I bought my first Iggy Pop album ...... New Values ..... that was it .... I was now an Iggy Pop fan ..... 1980 and still am ...... a particular track from that album which is a favourite ....
I also have a significant worry about my ticket, in that the divorce lawyer confirms all assets are to be split equally ..... I am so not giving up my seat half way through the concert ..... ! she can have the car, the kids, the dogs .... even the house ..... but not my Iggy ticket ....... stay strong Iggy .... stay strong .....
Once on board the Tweed, and we were New Zealand bound .... but the thing about being on a tramper [and oh how I love a good tramp] you very rarely knew what ports were coming next.
But as we navigated through the Tasmanian Sea, orders came through .......... after New Zealand we were to sail to Singapore for dry dock.
At this point I must declare that as a navigating apprentice, to hear over the tannoy that we would head out to Singapore for dry dock ..... came across the tannoy as .... brilliant news boys .... 2 weeks full expenses paid holiday in Singapore .... oh and we'll bung in some beer money as well .....
So there it was, we off loaded our cargo of petrol to New Zealand and headed out back north across the equator, with a 4 day slow steam through the great barrier reef ..... a whole new world really was opening up before me .... seeing flying fish for the first time .... or even wondering what the fuck was that luminous haze on the night time waves.... on seeing both of these phenomenon I felt too much at risk of being deemed a knob, I dare not ask ..... but sure enough, it was flying fish ..... I discovered this one morning when I found the lifeless body of one on the deck ..... flew a bit too far me thinks.... and the luminous haze ? ..... Bioluminescent phytoplankton ..... I could have been on another planet ....
As it so happened..... this was a trip of a life time, especially considering this was only my 2nd ship .... on that trip, I also visited amongst other places Japan, China, Yemen, through the Suez Canal ...... these were just names I had seen on a map in school geography lessons less than a year past .... and now I was seeing them for real.....
But Singapore was something else..... by 1980 a lot of slum cleansing had taken place..... and the Singapore I visited was not the Singapore that survived the 2nd world war..... but in fact the Singapore I visited 5 years ago was not the Singapore I visited in 1980 but one thing never changes ..... the humidity and the aroma ....
Also in 1980 we were on the cusp of the electronic age .... we didn't have sat nav in daily lives [can you believe we were still using a 1731 invention..... the sextant..... to navigate by the stars], mobile phones were just a figment of Star Trek ..... but Singapore had tomorrows gadgets at bugger all prices ..... in 1980 it also still had Bugis Street, and the Friday night dance of the flaming arseholes ..... you had to be careful not to end up with a Kai Tais either ..... I was more of tiger beer man me sen.
There was something else about Singapore .... bootleg music tapes .... at 50p a shot there was all the latest titles ..... I even brought Elvis Costello ~ Get Hapty ...... that was the only downside..... plenty of spelling mistakes, and sometimes not even the correct track listings.... but who cared.... they were 50p ......
And that is when I bought my first Iggy Pop album ...... New Values ..... that was it .... I was now an Iggy Pop fan ..... 1980 and still am ...... a particular track from that album which is a favourite ....
.... and so winding the clock forward to the present day, and I am stood in the office with piss dribbling down my leg .....
and here's why .....
My Iggy Pop ticket had arrived ...... after all these years I am going to see the god like Iggy Pop ..... he must rank as probably the prettiest ugly person that ever walked this planet ...
and here's why .....
My Iggy Pop ticket had arrived ...... after all these years I am going to see the god like Iggy Pop ..... he must rank as probably the prettiest ugly person that ever walked this planet ...
In fact given what happened to that other god like creature, David Bowie .... it's amazing that Iggy Pop has lasted this long ..... my best mate saw Iggy Pop at Eric's club when he was still at school [my best mate not Iggy .... my best mate is now 52yrs old] and Iggy was on stage singing, and then David Bowie joined him [Iggy .... not my best mate] to play the piano .... and Iggy jumped up and down and promptly knocked him sen out by hitting the ceiling.... Can't see that happening at the Albert Hall, especially the Bowie attendance ......
But the last Album that Iggy has done with Josh Homme [lead singer of the great Queens of the Stoneage] appears to be Iggy's swansong [literally] and for sure the last we are likely to see him gigging on these shores [by his own admission in a recent BBC interview] ...... oh gosh I do hope he makes it until 13th May ..... we've lost a lot of talent so far this year .... so hang in there Iggy ..... we're rooting for ya .....
How about this true classic Iggy offering .... I'm looking forward to seeing this performed
I also have a significant worry about my ticket, in that the divorce lawyer confirms all assets are to be split equally ..... I am so not giving up my seat half way through the concert ..... ! she can have the car, the kids, the dogs .... even the house ..... but not my Iggy ticket ....... stay strong Iggy .... stay strong .....
Saturday 30 April 2016
Horse concussed by low flying aircraft .....
When I saw the headline on the bill board outside my local newsagent ..... somehow I couldn't bring myself to read the story ......
In a hollow horse I'll steal my way
inside your guarded heart
so selfishly the needs I harbour
when we are apart ....
MoD payout £9k in compensation after horse left concussed by low-flying aircraft
....... for the simple reason the story could never be as good as the headline ..... but boy does it conjure up an image.....
oh and it gives a great excuse
to play Icicle Works once more.....
Put away your horses
then turn up the volume
to the Tornado setting...
.......... be careful what you dream of
it may come up and surprise you
I can('t) confess my life's a mess
I've come to idolise you ...
it may come up and surprise you
I can('t) confess my life's a mess
I've come to idolise you ...
In a hollow horse I'll steal my way
inside your guarded heart
so selfishly the needs I harbour
when we are apart ....
Monday 11 April 2016
I resign ......
.... if you've worked for a company for the best part of 30 years and you want to leave ... you simply send a letter and say ....... I resign ......
hey oh ......
we long to be .....
Why can't divorce be that simple .....
hey oh ......
we long to be .....
Herd Runners ....
into the great unknown ...
into the great unknown ...
Is there a life that waits for me
Where I will one day be dead heading dahlias?
Skimming stones across the bay?
Stealing kisses in the subways of Berlin?
Where I will one day be dead heading dahlias?
Skimming stones across the bay?
Stealing kisses in the subways of Berlin?
Thursday 31 March 2016
My arse is like a puffer fish ..........
The Andrex Revenge
Having recently taken the piss out of the Andrex Clean Routine advert, I did notice that the cute kid no longer refers to his arse being as clean as a squid but is in fact now clean as a puffer fish ..... could this mean that the Andrex marketting dept do in fact read this bog .... ach erm blog ..... and now changed the advert, just to make my post redundant ?
But having woken up doubled up in pain the other morning [only a few days after my post], I am utterly convinced they do read this blog .... because I think they made a vodoo doll of me, and sought their revenge ......... I have had food poisoning in the past, but whilst I couldn't be sure it was the previous days mussels, one thing is for certain it was not long before I was heading due south .....
And that is how it remained for most of the morning ...... in the afternoon, being the very brave chap that I am, I went back to work, and with the restaurant only across the road thought it best to mention it to them ..... not as a complaint, but simply as a just in case anyone else...... They were very good about it, but did ask if I had seen my doctor......
So back at work, I thought I can't really waste my doctors time, so instead I tried 111 NHS for the first time. Then should the restaurant ask me later, at least I had done something.
Well the lad on the end of the 111 was very polite and helpful, and ran through his script very well ..... I was concerned when he asked me if the whites of my eyes were no longer white .... had he asked me about my skiddies then maybe .... but a trip to the mirror soon confirmed that my fatal dose of food poisoning [or was it more pins in the doll] was not going to kill me, but he did say I should visit my doctor within 24 hours.
Well the lad on the end of the 111 was very polite and helpful, and ran through his script very well ..... I was concerned when he asked me if the whites of my eyes were no longer white .... had he asked me about my skiddies then maybe .... but a trip to the mirror soon confirmed that my fatal dose of food poisoning [or was it more pins in the doll] was not going to kill me, but he did say I should visit my doctor within 24 hours.
So off I trotted to my doctors [literally] and after going through all the recent events, was given the appropriate advice for the next 24 hours .... but was then handed a receptacle and told that if things did not improve in the next 24 hours to provide a sample ......
When I got out and looked at the plastic jar and I thought ......
How the hell am I going to shit in that thing ? ...... you've heard the phrase ...
through the eye of a needle ....
but Andrex revenge is not like that .... Andrex revenge is ....
my arse is like a puffer fish !!
No way I thought ...... if I try and shit in that jar, I am going to get covered in the stuff ..... then when I took the lid off I noticed what appeared like a small spade at the end .....
Nooooooo way .... I am not digging the stuff out ...... so back at work and the first hint of a rumble and it was ...... matron ! matron ! ..... get me the Imodium ! ......
And so to Andrex, if you are reading this [and I know you are] please take out the pins, put away the doll and I apologise utmost for my piss taking ...... I have grown to love your product so much in these last few days .....
my arse feels as clean as a 7 year old boys .....
my arse feels as clean as a 7 year old boys .....
But should I get caught short again
I may find myself having to go
over the wall .....
To drown out the noises coming from the Khazi ....
can I suggest you turn this up full volume
and I mean fuuuuuull volume
for a song 35 years old... still shittingly brilliant ..
can I suggest you turn this up full volume
and I mean fuuuuuull volume
for a song 35 years old... still shittingly brilliant ..
[Bonus SoD: as I am not a fan of the band called Voodo Dolls how about this instead]
Wednesday 30 March 2016
Fuck it ......
...... let's have a
jingly jangly Wednesday
just how fucking brilliant is this band ? ..
without doubt to be added to my
must see live bands ....
Finally dad dancing is uber cool...
Tuesday 29 March 2016
Sunday 27 March 2016
Ladies put away your Rabbits...... because tonight we have a .........
....... bunnyman .....
Whilst it is Easter weekend when the rabbits come out to play, last week it was a bunnyman who played for us......
I first heard Echo & the Bunnymen on the John Peel show in 1981 and thought my word, I love this song ...... it was in fact Over the Wall on their Crocodiles EP. The next day after listening to the John Peel show I went out and brought the EP on vinyl and that was it, I became a life long fan.
A few years back after moving to Suffolk, I was walking away from the Ipswich Town football stadium having watched a match and found myself walking along side John Peel [he was living in Stowmarket by this time]..... at the time I hesitated ...... I wished I had thanked John Peel for introducing me to such great music and bands. I would say that apart from my elder brother, John Peel was the other person who has influenced such music that I like....... I hesitated too much, I never did thank John Peel ..... I regret that .....
But over the years I have seen Echo & the Bunnymen variously but last week it was Ian McCulloch doing a solo acoustic set ...... Colchester Arts Centre, a re-assigned Church being the perfect venue.
Trying to choose a single track from the Bunnymen as a SoD
is like trying to choose your favourite chocolate bar
but today I choose this one
Baby maybe someday
Maybe one day
We'll say hi
Monday 21 March 2016
For people of a certain age like me .... I am sure that ....
..... you will be saddened to hear of the end of Barry Hines ..... of course we all die, but one of the most wonderous things about Barry Hines living was ...... Kes .... as I sit here working on, and listening to radio four and they just announced that Barry Hines died yesterday. Admittedly the book Kestrel for a Nave is slightly changed in the Movie Kes, but that in my opinion does not denigrate the movie.
I remember reading A Single Man and also watching the Movie, somewhat different to each other but I enjoyed both in equal measure.
But any millennium kid watching the movie Kes would think ..... what the fook .... surely life was never like that in my parents/grandparents day ..... but that's what I love about the movie ... it's gritty tone and honesty of life in Britain up t'north in the late 1960's..... oh by the lord who did not have a PE teacher like Brian Glover [now left this life too]. Brian Glover in real life was a school teacher and Kes was his first movie and after the movie he went back to teaching, before finally becoming a full time actor ..... and an amazing actor too.
When we walk into shop these days we are overwhelmed by choice.... but should you find yourself watching Kes, and I hope they put it on the telly as a tribute to Barry Hines, then look at the scene where the key character Billy goes into the shop to pick up the papers for his paper round. Look at the stark shop shelves where the wares and chattels are heavily spaced out to give the illusion [and failing] of being plenty of choice. I remember shops like that as a kid.... they wouldn't survive 5 minutes in today's world.
I remember reading A Single Man and also watching the Movie, somewhat different to each other but I enjoyed both in equal measure.
But any millennium kid watching the movie Kes would think ..... what the fook .... surely life was never like that in my parents/grandparents day ..... but that's what I love about the movie ... it's gritty tone and honesty of life in Britain up t'north in the late 1960's..... oh by the lord who did not have a PE teacher like Brian Glover [now left this life too]. Brian Glover in real life was a school teacher and Kes was his first movie and after the movie he went back to teaching, before finally becoming a full time actor ..... and an amazing actor too.
When we walk into shop these days we are overwhelmed by choice.... but should you find yourself watching Kes, and I hope they put it on the telly as a tribute to Barry Hines, then look at the scene where the key character Billy goes into the shop to pick up the papers for his paper round. Look at the stark shop shelves where the wares and chattels are heavily spaced out to give the illusion [and failing] of being plenty of choice. I remember shops like that as a kid.... they wouldn't survive 5 minutes in today's world.
How about some Hawkwind
in the memory of Barry Hines
Bit late for St Patrick's day ... but who needs an excuse for Luke Kelly
..... watching telly at the weekend, I heard the snippet of a song but unsure what it was .... no time to whip out my phone and shazam it ..... so after a bit of work, up came the song and sure enough Luke Kelly was one of the people to cover this song ...... plenty other's have tried .... but there can be no doubt ..... Luke Kelly was your man ....
I never am in to Nationalist Day's so who cares St Patrick's day has come and gone .... they'll be another one next year ..... but every day is Luke Kelly day ......
He left this world far too soon, denied a longer life by a brain tumour but in some way's his music has made him immortal ..... one of my favourite films is In Bruges, a fucking fairy tale of a movie, and within the movie ...... one of my most favourite music in movie scenes ..... Brendan Gleeson deciding to do a selfless act to the back drop of Raglan Road ..... sung by non other than Luke Kelly....
Raglan Road started out life as a poem written by Patrick Kavangh, recalling his love for Hilde Moriarty ..... the speaker recalls a love affair that he had with a young woman while walking on a quiet street. Although the speaker knew that he would risk being hurt if he initiated a relationship, he did so anyway.
Luke I know you're not reading this ....
but hey this is my blog
who give's a shit
Luke ..... genius mate .... fucking genius ...
I never am in to Nationalist Day's so who cares St Patrick's day has come and gone .... they'll be another one next year ..... but every day is Luke Kelly day ......
He left this world far too soon, denied a longer life by a brain tumour but in some way's his music has made him immortal ..... one of my favourite films is In Bruges, a fucking fairy tale of a movie, and within the movie ...... one of my most favourite music in movie scenes ..... Brendan Gleeson deciding to do a selfless act to the back drop of Raglan Road ..... sung by non other than Luke Kelly....
Raglan Road started out life as a poem written by Patrick Kavangh, recalling his love for Hilde Moriarty ..... the speaker recalls a love affair that he had with a young woman while walking on a quiet street. Although the speaker knew that he would risk being hurt if he initiated a relationship, he did so anyway.
Haven't we all been there, at least once in our lives ?
So today for my SoD I choose Luke Kelly
This was the song from the weekend
I saw a great quote about Luke Kelly ..
he could drink Vinegar and spit out wine ....
Here is a fine vintage .....
he could drink Vinegar and spit out wine ....
Here is a fine vintage .....
and finally the homage to Salford ....
Luke I know you're not reading this ....
but hey this is my blog
who give's a shit
Luke ..... genius mate .... fucking genius ...
Thursday 10 March 2016
Clean as a squid ..... my arse .... what a load of .....
...... shite
Adverts can be very marmite ..... unless the advert is about Marmite of course..... but some adverts are just far too contrived .... I realise that's sort of the point of an advert ... but really .... It's the Andrex advert that get's up my nose at the moment ....
It starts out with .... we asked a number of people to try the Andrex® Clean Routine .......
Now my routine is very easy .....
- remove lower garments to remove any impediment to the required act
- sit arse on toilet seat
- evacuate
- wipe arse
- wash hands
- re-position lower garments
- [but note, the time frame between process' 2, 3 & 4 can vary depending upon whether you take your iPhone in the bog with you or not]
Can you believe that someone at ...... or on behalf of Andrex has managed to write a 20 page dossier on how to go for a shit ...... don't believe me ? well you too can read the Andrex® Clean Routine here:
So returning to their telly advert, they decided that 2 sure fire ways to get us to buy their product is by using cute kids and a cute puppy ......
And there we have it, the embarrassed teacher when asked how clean her bottom [teachers don't swear] is and she is unable to tell us, instead hiding her face in faux shame ..... does this mean she doesn't bother to check how clean her ars.....ach erm bottom is, after visiting the rest room ..... but then comes the pièce de résistance ..... wheel in the kids .....
We start out with the cute girls and then come the cute boys, with one ultimately declaring that his arse is clean as a squid.... we are meant to believe this is all spontaneous and not scripted at all ...... of course it isn't spontaneous and instead it is merely the words of an adult transplanted into the body of a child to speak .....
If they really really wanted us to believe that it was a truely random and spontaneous answer from squid child ..... I suspect that the real response of a boy that age would go like this ......
Teacher: So Jamie, after you have been to the toilet for number two's, how clean do you think your bottom is once you have wiped it ?
Jamie: ..... looks at teacher ..... then places hand down back of his trousers ..... removes hand .... puts it to his nose and then presses it towards the teacher and asks ..... does that smell like shit to you miss ?
I rest my case ...... further at the end of the advert we are shown the cute little labrador dog .... having all fawned at squid child we are then left to go aaaaww at the loverly little puppy ......
When I was a kid, we had a labrador dog and one of my chores was to walk him each morning before I went to school..... the one thing you can be sure about a labrador is..... he needs his morning constitution ...... and having completed his oblutions one thing he never did ..... was to wipe his arse with Andrex ..... There is no doubt that a labrador's arse after his daily work out was never as clean as a squid .... in fact the only thing it was clean as was .... well ...... a labradors arse I suppose ..... so why oh why ...... do they insist on using a creature that does not / cannot wipe it's arse [unless it drags it along the floor as some are seen to do, but that is for an entirely different reason] to promote shit paper ? In my experience dog's arses are probably the least clean.... especially with all that fur ....
I rest my case once more .....
Now if Andrex .... or those who make the adverts on their behalf were to turn it completely on it's head ..... literally and follow Haribo .... by putting the words of children in to the mouths of adults ........ they might be onto some thing .....
If there is one advert on the telly to make me smile very loudly ........
then it is surely the haribo adverts ....
then it is surely the haribo adverts ....
it's a big big saaaaaandwich .....
Then there's the daily commute .....
Then there's the daily commute .....
the rwings make me feel like a prwincess
cracks me up everytime....
And finally ......
cracks me up everytime....
And finally ......
like fwire and a little bit of electrwicity ....
and talking of electrwicity
how about this great tune from the 80's
and talking of electrwicity
how about this great tune from the 80's
There are some very clever adverts on the telly .... the Andrex one is not one of them ....
[POSTSCRIPT]
On reflection I should really have chosen this track as the SoD for this post
Monday 7 March 2016
You have [1] new message ......
...... oh the joy of seeing that pop-up ...... when waiting for a note that makes your heart dance .....
...... or worse still more bloody work email nonsense from someone who can't wait for the reply to the email they sent you only 1 or so hour ago ......
But Ray Tomlinson has passed away, the man who is widely credited as the father of email as we have come tolove hate it .....
Lifted from the BBC report of his passing:
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank Sherry while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos...
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, bread and dripping, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.
Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds , KFC, Subway or Nandos.
Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on a Sunday, somehow we didn't starve to death!
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers and Bubble Gum.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter,milk from the cow,and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because...... WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O..K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY , no video/dvd films, or colour TV, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
Lawsuits from these accidents.
Only girls had pierced ears!
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time....
We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays,
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet because we didn't need to keep up with the Jones's!
Not everyone made the rugby/football/cricket/netball team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERIT
Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes and throw the blackboard rubber at us if they thought we weren't concentrating .
We can string sentences together and spell and have proper conversations because of a good, solid three R's education.
Our parents would tell us to ask a stranger to help us cross the road.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!
Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla'
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL !
That's my kind of life ......
...... or worse still more bloody work email nonsense from someone who can't wait for the reply to the email they sent you only 1 or so hour ago ......
But Ray Tomlinson has passed away, the man who is widely credited as the father of email as we have come to
Lifted from the BBC report of his passing:
I am frequently asked why I chose the at sign, but the at sign just makes sense.
The purpose of the at sign (in English) was to indicate a unit price (for example, 10 items @ $1.95). I used the at sign to indicate that the user was "at" some other host rather than being local.
The first message was sent between two machines that were literally side by side. The only physical connection they had (aside from the floor they sat on) was through the Arpanet.
I sent a number of test messages to myself from one machine to the other. The test messages were entirely forgettable and I have, therefore, forgotten them.
Life before email seems almost unimaginable but funny enough this appeared in my inbox today .....
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930's,40's, 50's, and 60's
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank Sherry while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos...
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, bread and dripping, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.
Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds , KFC, Subway or Nandos.
Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on a Sunday, somehow we didn't starve to death!
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers and Bubble Gum.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter,milk from the cow,and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because...... WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O..K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY , no video/dvd films, or colour TV, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
Lawsuits from these accidents.
Only girls had pierced ears!
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time....
We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays,
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet because we didn't need to keep up with the Jones's!
Not everyone made the rugby/football/cricket/netball team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERIT
Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes and throw the blackboard rubber at us if they thought we weren't concentrating .
We can string sentences together and spell and have proper conversations because of a good, solid three R's education.
Our parents would tell us to ask a stranger to help us cross the road.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!
Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla'
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL !
That's my kind of life ......
so for today's SoD as he's flavour of the month
here's Tom Speight .... again ....
Times when ... you have [1] new message
made my heart dance .....
Friday 4 March 2016
I had planned to declare today as ......
Turin Brakes day ....... for sure they were very very entertaining and I must admit that their first album, the optimist is a particular favourite ....
So last night there I was, me and a couple of hundred others and Turin Brakes in a re-assigned church in Colchester and boy the pews were rockin ..... albeit the pews had been removed and non of us were sitting down .....
But as great as Turin Brakes were, what came as a complete surprise was the support act ..... generally support acts fall into 2 categories ..... shite and ok ..... but last night a third category was created ..... namely .... fuck me this lad is good ...... Tom Speight ..... no I'd never heard of him either ....... I have now ....... he was supported on stage with Eliza Shaddad and another Tom but can't remember his name ....
Tom Speight has a touch of Ben Howard about him but for sure he is his own man ..... but his set was a real treat and then half way ..... well ...... it sort of goes like this ..... when Paul Daniels used to declare on telly .... iiiiiit's majic ...... you knew it wasn't magic really, it was just a trick .....
But half way during the set , Tom Speight and gang stepped down from the stage and stood in the middle of the audience to do an acoustic number .... So there we all stood in this church ..... worshiping wonderful music .....
So last night there I was, me and a couple of hundred others and Turin Brakes in a re-assigned church in Colchester and boy the pews were rockin ..... albeit the pews had been removed and non of us were sitting down .....
But as great as Turin Brakes were, what came as a complete surprise was the support act ..... generally support acts fall into 2 categories ..... shite and ok ..... but last night a third category was created ..... namely .... fuck me this lad is good ...... Tom Speight ..... no I'd never heard of him either ....... I have now ....... he was supported on stage with Eliza Shaddad and another Tom but can't remember his name ....
Tom Speight has a touch of Ben Howard about him but for sure he is his own man ..... but his set was a real treat and then half way ..... well ...... it sort of goes like this ..... when Paul Daniels used to declare on telly .... iiiiiit's majic ...... you knew it wasn't magic really, it was just a trick .....
But half way during the set , Tom Speight and gang stepped down from the stage and stood in the middle of the audience to do an acoustic number .... So there we all stood in this church ..... worshiping wonderful music .....
Take my word for it ...... magical .... pure magic ......
So rather than today being Turin brakes day .....
this is Tom Speight Day .......
this is Tom Speight Day .......
A couple of wonderful tracks
from his set last night
[Sort of emphasizes my last post .... music, in the right location, at the right time is not just fab.... it's fabbo ]
Wednesday 2 March 2016
Plat du Jour .......
.... as I was driving along aimlessly the other day, a fantastic track by Interpol* came on my iPod. Rather than head phones, but instead the confines of the car, music takes on a whole different perspective..... your own personal sound booth ......
Then it got me thinking ..... quite often, it's not always just the song, but where you are listening that adds to the wow factor ...... I mean quite often, music played in lifts and supermarkets, and you don't even give it a second listen ..... what a waste of all that effort to make the music, to waste it in the ether ......
Then it got me thinking some more...... about parallels with food ..... In simple terms we need food, we'd probably die if we didn't eat food .... it really is a means to an end ..... but it is amazing when you see folks on the TV, damn near orgasmic over food ..... foodie's I think they are often referred as.
I like food, as I say without it I would probably die, so most meals for me are merely the antidote for death, medicine for life you might say ..... but if I stopped listening to music would I die ? probably not .... but when I listen to a song in the right place at the right time, I know I am alive...... damn near orgasmic
What I can't define..... is why I like a particular song ...... I was chatting to a complete stranger last Saturday night, and in order to find a theme for common topic of discussion I asked him who his favourite band/singer was .... he looked at me blankly .... and then without an hint of self awareness said I don't have one ...... The conversation didn't really last much longer .....
If some one asked me what my favourite food/meal was, then in a heart beat ...... pies ..... I love pies ! .... but the thing is pies stop me from dying..... and they do taste nice ........ they taste loverly ...
In truth one of the best meals I have ever had in the whole wide world was not a pie but came by through an act of happenstance ...... and maybe that's the same thing with music.... if you deliberately try to seek out a brilliant song, you will never find it .... the mood has to be right, the place has to be right, the ambiance has to be right ..... you can't make that happen .... it happens by chance .....
Me and my best mate were on our way back from Monza Italy on the road trip of a life time. We had driven to Italy through France, and Switzerland in the first Ferrari I owned, and then we had 3 fantastic days at the Grand Prix .... life surely couldn't get much better .... or could it ?
Driving back home, through France we were feeling peckish .... so in the classic point the finger at the map and where ever it points is where we stop for some lunch moment..... sure enough the finger pointed at Bar Le Duc ....... quite frankly not much more than a small market town in the heart of France.
We pulled into town, and seeing a number of Pizza places, decided we had had our fill of wonderful Italian food, and so we found what a appeared to be a bijou restaurant. As we entered, inbetween us both and our broken French we asked for .... Vous Havie une menu sivo plat ..... The owner pointed to the board outside ..... There was only one item on the menu .... Plat Du Jour .....
So we paid our €uro 10 each and sat at our allotted table ...... mein gott ..... or should that be sacre bleu ..... We were served a plate of local vegetables and what appeared as peasant stew .... but in my life I have never tasted anything so wonderful before or since... not even in the pie category ....
All washed down by a glass of local wine. Then for afters, yes we got pudding too, was a platter of the most delicious looking French ..... [I so want to say tarts, without giving the wrong impression .... this was a family restaurant] ..... anyway French tarts ......
If you asked me the name of the meal, I would have no idea, it was merely Plat Du Jour ..... but despite it being some 8 or so years ago, I can still visualise the table we sat at, the chalkboard out the front of the building, the tarts staring back at us, and for sure that was the most wonderful meal I have ever eaten in my life ...... who knows had it been served at my local Tesco in store Cafe perhaps I would not be writing this .... but then again would a song played in my local Tesco ever be one of my songs of the day ? probably not ......
You'll need some wine to wash it down ....
I have never tried Lilac wine .... but this ....
this is nectar ..
Then it got me thinking ..... quite often, it's not always just the song, but where you are listening that adds to the wow factor ...... I mean quite often, music played in lifts and supermarkets, and you don't even give it a second listen ..... what a waste of all that effort to make the music, to waste it in the ether ......
Then it got me thinking some more...... about parallels with food ..... In simple terms we need food, we'd probably die if we didn't eat food .... it really is a means to an end ..... but it is amazing when you see folks on the TV, damn near orgasmic over food ..... foodie's I think they are often referred as.
I like food, as I say without it I would probably die, so most meals for me are merely the antidote for death, medicine for life you might say ..... but if I stopped listening to music would I die ? probably not .... but when I listen to a song in the right place at the right time, I know I am alive...... damn near orgasmic
What I can't define..... is why I like a particular song ...... I was chatting to a complete stranger last Saturday night, and in order to find a theme for common topic of discussion I asked him who his favourite band/singer was .... he looked at me blankly .... and then without an hint of self awareness said I don't have one ...... The conversation didn't really last much longer .....
If some one asked me what my favourite food/meal was, then in a heart beat ...... pies ..... I love pies ! .... but the thing is pies stop me from dying..... and they do taste nice ........ they taste loverly ...
In truth one of the best meals I have ever had in the whole wide world was not a pie but came by through an act of happenstance ...... and maybe that's the same thing with music.... if you deliberately try to seek out a brilliant song, you will never find it .... the mood has to be right, the place has to be right, the ambiance has to be right ..... you can't make that happen .... it happens by chance .....
Me and my best mate were on our way back from Monza Italy on the road trip of a life time. We had driven to Italy through France, and Switzerland in the first Ferrari I owned, and then we had 3 fantastic days at the Grand Prix .... life surely couldn't get much better .... or could it ?
Driving back home, through France we were feeling peckish .... so in the classic point the finger at the map and where ever it points is where we stop for some lunch moment..... sure enough the finger pointed at Bar Le Duc ....... quite frankly not much more than a small market town in the heart of France.
We pulled into town, and seeing a number of Pizza places, decided we had had our fill of wonderful Italian food, and so we found what a appeared to be a bijou restaurant. As we entered, inbetween us both and our broken French we asked for .... Vous Havie une menu sivo plat ..... The owner pointed to the board outside ..... There was only one item on the menu .... Plat Du Jour .....
So we paid our €uro 10 each and sat at our allotted table ...... mein gott ..... or should that be sacre bleu ..... We were served a plate of local vegetables and what appeared as peasant stew .... but in my life I have never tasted anything so wonderful before or since... not even in the pie category ....
All washed down by a glass of local wine. Then for afters, yes we got pudding too, was a platter of the most delicious looking French ..... [I so want to say tarts, without giving the wrong impression .... this was a family restaurant] ..... anyway French tarts ......
If you asked me the name of the meal, I would have no idea, it was merely Plat Du Jour ..... but despite it being some 8 or so years ago, I can still visualise the table we sat at, the chalkboard out the front of the building, the tarts staring back at us, and for sure that was the most wonderful meal I have ever eaten in my life ...... who knows had it been served at my local Tesco in store Cafe perhaps I would not be writing this .... but then again would a song played in my local Tesco ever be one of my songs of the day ? probably not ......
So as an experiment I want to recreate that Plat Du Jour to the style of music .....
[just don't be in Tesco if you are reading this]
For the main course we have ......
You'll need some wine to wash it down ....
I have never tried Lilac wine .... but this ....
this is nectar ..
and finally for dessert a fine complement to the main course .....
Bon appetite .....
{* Interpol Postscript - The track was Leif Erikson}
Friday 12 February 2016
I'm normally a full grain leather man me sen ......
..... but today on the way back from Stansted,
locked in the confines of an Audi,
I was enjoying the pleasures of Suede.... full throttle ....
locked in the confines of an Audi,
I was enjoying the pleasures of Suede.... full throttle ....
So for today's SoD, why not
4 offerings from the
sublime album
Dog Man Star ....
sometimes it's a shame that journeys have to end .....
Thursday 4 February 2016
I don't think Valerie has got ........
anything to worry about ........
I think if she wants to go nationwide .....
Iara is going to need to up her game
til then here is a SoD
to inspire her
where did the Zutons go to ? ...
last time I saw a Zuton they were
hanging around ...
in Thetford Forest ....
Friday 22 January 2016
No matter how hard you try .....
... whether its favourite pop stars, actors, 9 year old boys you've never met .... or even your wife... but cancer is never far away .....
Thursday morning on my way to work and as I cycled past Pam and David's house, I thought ..... not seen Pam and David for a while, I wonder if they have gone to Australia to see their son and grand child .....
Wind the clock back, and it's the turn of the century, and I am a young man not contemplating growing old ...... I am 36 years old on the cusp of my 37th birthday,
2 young children, mortgaged more than I wanted to be and I walked out of a well paid job, working for a blue chip company, ridiculously generous company car allowance, and pension ..... to set up my own company .... That was 16 years + 18 days ago .....
Pam and her sister in law worked with me at the branch office of my former employer, and on my departure they both asked ...... can we come too ? ..... we'd love to give up a well paid secure job with an established and safe as houses company .....
My reply ..... of course you can, and with a bit of luck we might survive a couple of months till the money runs out .....
Fab they replied .... where do we sign ?
And so on 4th January 2000, Pam became one of my first employees ..... I'd never employed anyone till then .... but sure enough on month 3 the money had run out, and I sat with my head in hands thinking shit, how do I pay the staff ? ..... but somehow, the first customer funds started rolling in and we made it through, and 16 years later we are still hanging in there ....
But in the early days, I could never have survived the pressures were it not for the support and efforts of Pam, and not forgetting her sister in law, Jude. Without them both we would have gone under, and my sanity would have longed since departed ...... I owe Pam and Jude a lot, beyond employees they became loyal friends .... and so it came, once the company was on solid foundations and Pam decided it was time to retire and enjoy her time with her husband David, now retired too ..... she had worked with me in total all but around 15 years, in all this time and since, we remained good friends. When my dad died, and shortly thereafter my wife's dark days with cancer, Pam was so kind to me, offering the words not of a former employee, but words of kindness and love .....
Wind the clock forwards, to yesterday - 16 years + 17 days, and Pam's son having traveled back from Australia, and David are sat in my office ...... little did I think not a couple of hours earlier in the day, that James and David would be coming to see me.
As David, was talking to me, he started to cry .... a man in his 70's and someone who I have known for over 20 years, and he said don't mind me I'm being soft ......
He's not soft ...... there is a man who cares ......
This afternoon I walked in to the ward at Ipswich Hospital and the nurse pointed out a lady to me, sitting on her bed ..... I had to go back to the Nurse, and apologetically say .... I've not seen Pam since she got ill, can you just point her out to me again ...
Sure enough, the lady sat on the bed.
To give some context, it was a few months back when I saw Pam, and the best way of describing her, is every time I saw Pam Ferris on the telly, it was like watching my Pam ..... but this lady sat on the bed was not my Pam, this lady was more like an anorexic Twiggy ......
As I walked up to her, her eyes smiled at me, and her loving voice quietly said hello .... were it not for her smiling eyes and familiar voice I would have sworn this was a complete stranger ......
Pam fell ill whilst visiting her son in Australia in the summer, and only got home with the help of Medivac just before christmas ......
They are doing their best to try and build up her strength to give her Chemotherapy ..... I hope she makes it, I owe her a lot ......
Thursday morning on my way to work and as I cycled past Pam and David's house, I thought ..... not seen Pam and David for a while, I wonder if they have gone to Australia to see their son and grand child .....
Wind the clock back, and it's the turn of the century, and I am a young man not contemplating growing old ...... I am 36 years old on the cusp of my 37th birthday,
2 young children, mortgaged more than I wanted to be and I walked out of a well paid job, working for a blue chip company, ridiculously generous company car allowance, and pension ..... to set up my own company .... That was 16 years + 18 days ago .....
Pam and her sister in law worked with me at the branch office of my former employer, and on my departure they both asked ...... can we come too ? ..... we'd love to give up a well paid secure job with an established and safe as houses company .....
My reply ..... of course you can, and with a bit of luck we might survive a couple of months till the money runs out .....
Fab they replied .... where do we sign ?
And so on 4th January 2000, Pam became one of my first employees ..... I'd never employed anyone till then .... but sure enough on month 3 the money had run out, and I sat with my head in hands thinking shit, how do I pay the staff ? ..... but somehow, the first customer funds started rolling in and we made it through, and 16 years later we are still hanging in there ....
But in the early days, I could never have survived the pressures were it not for the support and efforts of Pam, and not forgetting her sister in law, Jude. Without them both we would have gone under, and my sanity would have longed since departed ...... I owe Pam and Jude a lot, beyond employees they became loyal friends .... and so it came, once the company was on solid foundations and Pam decided it was time to retire and enjoy her time with her husband David, now retired too ..... she had worked with me in total all but around 15 years, in all this time and since, we remained good friends. When my dad died, and shortly thereafter my wife's dark days with cancer, Pam was so kind to me, offering the words not of a former employee, but words of kindness and love .....
Wind the clock forwards, to yesterday - 16 years + 17 days, and Pam's son having traveled back from Australia, and David are sat in my office ...... little did I think not a couple of hours earlier in the day, that James and David would be coming to see me.
As David, was talking to me, he started to cry .... a man in his 70's and someone who I have known for over 20 years, and he said don't mind me I'm being soft ......
He's not soft ...... there is a man who cares ......
This afternoon I walked in to the ward at Ipswich Hospital and the nurse pointed out a lady to me, sitting on her bed ..... I had to go back to the Nurse, and apologetically say .... I've not seen Pam since she got ill, can you just point her out to me again ...
Sure enough, the lady sat on the bed.
To give some context, it was a few months back when I saw Pam, and the best way of describing her, is every time I saw Pam Ferris on the telly, it was like watching my Pam ..... but this lady sat on the bed was not my Pam, this lady was more like an anorexic Twiggy ......
As I walked up to her, her eyes smiled at me, and her loving voice quietly said hello .... were it not for her smiling eyes and familiar voice I would have sworn this was a complete stranger ......
Pam fell ill whilst visiting her son in Australia in the summer, and only got home with the help of Medivac just before christmas ......
They are doing their best to try and build up her strength to give her Chemotherapy ..... I hope she makes it, I owe her a lot ......
I am not a religious man,
but tonight I will say a prayer for Pam x
Friday 15 January 2016
You don't need to be famous for Cancer to be shit ......
In just over a week, with the demise of Lemmy, Bowie, Alan Rickman, and even Celine Dion's husband, it can easily be thought that only stars succumb to cancer .....
But oh my word, how touching to read the reflections of Damien Mckenna ....
Damien Mckenna ?
Well Damien lost his son to Leukaemia just over a week ago.
Kaden Mckenna was 9 years old and on 1st December 2015 when most kids are getting excited at the prospect of Christmas......... Kaden was diagnosed with Leukemia and in a little under 5 weeks, his short life came to a very abrupt end. He lost his life on 7th January 2015.
The Ipswich Star have fortunately redeemed themselves from the nonsense of cloud pictures, and ran a very touching account of Damien's loss ...... but not forgetting the loss for all his family, Kaden's mum and brother and sisters ....
But oh my word, how touching to read the reflections of Damien Mckenna ....
Damien Mckenna ?
Well Damien lost his son to Leukaemia just over a week ago.
Kaden Mckenna was 9 years old and on 1st December 2015 when most kids are getting excited at the prospect of Christmas......... Kaden was diagnosed with Leukemia and in a little under 5 weeks, his short life came to a very abrupt end. He lost his life on 7th January 2015.
The Ipswich Star have fortunately redeemed themselves from the nonsense of cloud pictures, and ran a very touching account of Damien's loss ...... but not forgetting the loss for all his family, Kaden's mum and brother and sisters ....
Even within the depths of his loss, Damien Mckenna has sought to carry on the intent of Kaden to raise funds for addenbrooks hospital.
It is very hard not to be moved by such actions ..... there are no wall to wall news accounts of the life of Kaden, he didn't write any great pop songs [well not as far as I know], politicians and celebs are not recounting how much Kaden
had influenced their lives .....
had influenced their lives .....
But by christ when you read Damien's reflections of his son .... you can only sit and see the beauty of his son .....
The Mckenna's are a brave family .... reflected by the bravery of their son ......
The last words he spoke to his dad .....
I love you ....
Kaden Mckenna
9 Years old ....
Tuesday 12 January 2016
Vacuous clouds over Suffolk ........
...... after the vacuous outpouring nonsense by much of yesterday's media, today Suffolk is suffering from a slow news day ......
It seems amongst the immense grief and total sadness the world felt yesterday after the passing of the near god like Bowie, one Suffolk citizen consoled himself by taking photographs of a teddy bear looking like a cloud .......well according to his wife that is .....
During my days as a ships officer I got me sen a qualification in Meterology, and in my 53 years on this planet I have done a fair amount of cloud watching in my time .... in fact on my iPod I have a playlist called ..... Cloud Watching ......
Also when I was a young child I had a Teddy bear .... sad thing is I still have him all these years later .... brown teddy he is called ..... simply because he is a brown and he is a teddy......
So in conclusion I think that sort of qualifies me to comment on clouds ..... and Teddy Bears ..... and one thing is for sure ...... this cloud over Suffolk looks nothing like a Teddy Bear ...... but I do agree it does look like a cloud, so the story is at least 50% correct ..... and it definitely is not amazing ...
Seems the Ipswich Star is merely treading water ...... waiting for the next great talent to leave this earth ......
But till then let's once again be reminded of the near god like talent
that was[is] David Bowie ......
Interestingly enough if I were asked to name my one and only all time top musician[s] then it would have to be Paul Buchanan and the Blue Nile .... I have more than once remarked that should the chance present it self, when I pass from this life to the next, it would be listening to the Blue Nile ..... but it is by no accident that David Bowie is the top of the hit parade when it comes to my songs of the day ..... David Bowie (24) -vs- Paul Buchanan (17) .....
They both feature heavily on my series of cancer is shit posts .... because for sure cancer is shit, but thankfully music is not ..... alas on 4th September 2013, I even suggested that Bowie might well be able to come up with a cure for cancer ...... how wrong was I ..... of course I was wrong ...... on 1st July 2013 tells why I was wrong ......
I was first introduced to David Bowie when I was 8~9 years old .... when I was that old I never cared about cancer ... not even sure I knew what it was then ...... but what I did know .... listening to my elder brothers record collection ...... first it was Hunky Dory, then Ziggy Stardust and next by the time I was 10 years old it was Aladdin Sane .... what I did know at such a tender age ... was I liked the music of David Bowie ...... who would have thought over 40 years later ..... on the eve of his death, he could still look this good .....
It seems amongst the immense grief and total sadness the world felt yesterday after the passing of the near god like Bowie, one Suffolk citizen consoled himself by taking photographs of a teddy bear looking like a cloud .......well according to his wife that is .....
During my days as a ships officer I got me sen a qualification in Meterology, and in my 53 years on this planet I have done a fair amount of cloud watching in my time .... in fact on my iPod I have a playlist called ..... Cloud Watching ......
Also when I was a young child I had a Teddy bear .... sad thing is I still have him all these years later .... brown teddy he is called ..... simply because he is a brown and he is a teddy......
So in conclusion I think that sort of qualifies me to comment on clouds ..... and Teddy Bears ..... and one thing is for sure ...... this cloud over Suffolk looks nothing like a Teddy Bear ...... but I do agree it does look like a cloud, so the story is at least 50% correct ..... and it definitely is not amazing ...
Seems the Ipswich Star is merely treading water ...... waiting for the next great talent to leave this earth ......
But till then let's once again be reminded of the near god like talent
that was[is] David Bowie ......
Interestingly enough if I were asked to name my one and only all time top musician[s] then it would have to be Paul Buchanan and the Blue Nile .... I have more than once remarked that should the chance present it self, when I pass from this life to the next, it would be listening to the Blue Nile ..... but it is by no accident that David Bowie is the top of the hit parade when it comes to my songs of the day ..... David Bowie (24) -vs- Paul Buchanan (17) .....
They both feature heavily on my series of cancer is shit posts .... because for sure cancer is shit, but thankfully music is not ..... alas on 4th September 2013, I even suggested that Bowie might well be able to come up with a cure for cancer ...... how wrong was I ..... of course I was wrong ...... on 1st July 2013 tells why I was wrong ......
I was first introduced to David Bowie when I was 8~9 years old .... when I was that old I never cared about cancer ... not even sure I knew what it was then ...... but what I did know .... listening to my elder brothers record collection ...... first it was Hunky Dory, then Ziggy Stardust and next by the time I was 10 years old it was Aladdin Sane .... what I did know at such a tender age ... was I liked the music of David Bowie ...... who would have thought over 40 years later ..... on the eve of his death, he could still look this good .....
Life's a bitch
and then we die.....
or is it simply just a
Queen Bitch.....
Monday 11 January 2016
Cancer is shit ..... but this really is taking the piss ......
you've gone too far this time ......
I was trying to think what track to offer up this morning....
I mean how do you choose just one track from this man ...
Initially when I looked out of the window
saw the grey skies
dank rain pouring .... I thought of wild is the wind ..
But as I drove into work,
stopped at the traffic lights .... on red
Rain falling on to the screen
with dull grey skies ...
And then as I sat there, this track started up on the radio
maybe not one of his classics.....
but how with the opening beat ...
no longer a dull grey Monday morning .....
and then again, why not wild is the wind .....
Love me, love me, love me, say you do
Let me fly away with you
For my love is like the wind, and wild is the wind
Wild is the wind
Give me more than one caress, satisfy this hungriness
Let the wind blow through your heart
For wild is the wind, wild is the wind
You touch me,
I hear the sound of mandolins
You kiss me
With your kiss my life begins
You're spring to me, all things to me
Don't you know, you're life itself!
Like the leaf clings to the tree,
Oh, my darling, cling to me
For we're like creatures of the wind, and wild is the wind
Wild is the wind
Like the leaf clings to the tree,
Oh, my darling, cling to me
For we're like creatures in the wind, and wild is the wind
Wild is the wind
As long as you're still smiling, There's nothing more I need, I absolutely love you
Monday 4 January 2016
Australian Summer .........
One of the advantages of relatives aboard is you can easily escape the crappy English winter ....
And so my next stop beyond Hong Kong being Perth, Australia. I've not seen my mum for just short of 4 years since my dad died, and I thought perhaps I should fill in some of the gaps.
Not least of which, this is my first time back in Australia, without carrying the burden of grief for my dad. For sure it still hurts and I can still bring forth a tear or two, but this time there is no work to worry about, no immediacy of grief to contend with ...... instead I could just soak in the warm sunshine on my back and escape the miserable winter weather ...... A sort of test run for operation Pompeii ......
And boy what a tonic it is .... but even in our own summer time, I am not sure that taking in a long bike ride, punctuated with sun bathing on the beach ........ could beat this day on Yanchep beach .......
And so my next stop beyond Hong Kong being Perth, Australia. I've not seen my mum for just short of 4 years since my dad died, and I thought perhaps I should fill in some of the gaps.
Not least of which, this is my first time back in Australia, without carrying the burden of grief for my dad. For sure it still hurts and I can still bring forth a tear or two, but this time there is no work to worry about, no immediacy of grief to contend with ...... instead I could just soak in the warm sunshine on my back and escape the miserable winter weather ...... A sort of test run for operation Pompeii ......
And boy what a tonic it is .... but even in our own summer time, I am not sure that taking in a long bike ride, punctuated with sun bathing on the beach ........ could beat this day on Yanchep beach .......
It was not all joy and pleasure ..... there was a huge disappointment ...... one of my favourite buildings in the whole wide world is the Swan Bells .....
The Swan Bells divided opinion amongst Perthians when it was built, but I have never failed to be beguiled by it every time I catch sight......
This was the view during my last visit in 2012
So once I had picked up the bike, I thought I'd ride around the corner, park me arse on the green, have a gander at Swan Bells, whilst I re-arranged me lycra ........ only to be greeted with this view
wtf has happened here !!
Somebody has knicked the effin grass and put the Swan Bell in prison !!!
I was gutted to see that the green space in front of the Swan Bells has been dug up in line for a new building complex.... for which it seems is now being delayed somewhat indefinitely ......
So whether you like it or not, change will come about, and it will come where you least expect it ......
But for now at least my
SoD's can still be relied upon
I may be having an Australian Summer
and it seems that the
Stereophonics have written a song
to celebrate the occasion .....
{cheers kelly ..... much appreciated mate...}
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