Showing posts with label Blue Nile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blue Nile. Show all posts
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 ...
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 ....
Thursday, 14 May 2015
Press the re-set button .......
Katie's passing is not my grief ..... So why has it so wrong footed me ? I hadn't even seen her for a while .....
But it's very difficult to understand how a person's death at such a tender age can so de-rail your thoughts, especially considering that we are not even related........ Losing my Dad was tough, but for all the love that I miss him, I get it.... he was 77 years old...... he wasn't immortal......
..... What ever has happened this past month ..... it has made me question whether now is the time to really press the re-set button on my life ...... I should have done it a long time ago, but being the weak and ridiculous person I am, I could always find a 1001 excuses for not doing it......
I was listening to radio 5 live on the way into work a couple of weeks back .... some phone-in or other and I was thinking, what the fuck are these people getting so worked up about...... It was about the significance of St George's day ......
One woman was singing what sounded like some fisherman's ditti [apparently it was the Cornish national anthem] to prove she was Cornish, not English, not British, but Cornish..... christ I wish I could get that excited...... I was born in Nottingham, but I don't think I need a Nottingham anthem to prove I am real, that I exist.... as it happens, it goes like this ......
Anyways ..... I've come to the conclusion that I as soon as I can clear my debts...... that's me finished with this life .......
I have worked out it will take me about 3 weeks to cycle to Pompeii, and when I have seen a place that I have never visited before .... but a place that has been firmly in my head since being a small boy ..... when I have seen Pompeii, I shall find somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Italy...... I shall point the handle bars in that direction and press my re-set button ........ after that I have no idea .......
But I'll work it out when I get there ....... sitting on some veranda under the Italian sun, head phones on, music feeding my brian ..... and no more shit to beat me down .........
If I can't find any pies in Italy .......
But it's very difficult to understand how a person's death at such a tender age can so de-rail your thoughts, especially considering that we are not even related........ Losing my Dad was tough, but for all the love that I miss him, I get it.... he was 77 years old...... he wasn't immortal......
..... What ever has happened this past month ..... it has made me question whether now is the time to really press the re-set button on my life ...... I should have done it a long time ago, but being the weak and ridiculous person I am, I could always find a 1001 excuses for not doing it......
I was listening to radio 5 live on the way into work a couple of weeks back .... some phone-in or other and I was thinking, what the fuck are these people getting so worked up about...... It was about the significance of St George's day ......
One woman was singing what sounded like some fisherman's ditti [apparently it was the Cornish national anthem] to prove she was Cornish, not English, not British, but Cornish..... christ I wish I could get that excited...... I was born in Nottingham, but I don't think I need a Nottingham anthem to prove I am real, that I exist.... as it happens, it goes like this ......
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men
Feared by the bad, loved by the good
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Robin Hood
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men
Feared by the bad, loved by the good
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Robin Hood
Anyways ..... I've come to the conclusion that I as soon as I can clear my debts...... that's me finished with this life .......
I have worked out it will take me about 3 weeks to cycle to Pompeii, and when I have seen a place that I have never visited before .... but a place that has been firmly in my head since being a small boy ..... when I have seen Pompeii, I shall find somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Italy...... I shall point the handle bars in that direction and press my re-set button ........ after that I have no idea .......
But I'll work it out when I get there ....... sitting on some veranda under the Italian sun, head phones on, music feeding my brian ..... and no more shit to beat me down .........
But before all that happens I have Ditchling Beacon to defeat in the London to Brighton bike ride on 21st June....... I'd signed up long before Katie passed away, but somehow it now seems right. Everytime I have done the L2B in the past, Ditchling Beacon has beat me ......... but this year will be the year I finally beat it ..... my fund raising tag line is to ....... because I want to beat Ditchling Beacon before I die ....... and I am gunna do it in style ........ I am going to do it wearing the prettiest shoes ever to be ridden up Ditchling Beacon ......
I did think about doing a Reggie Perrin once I arrived at Brighton but the wind over the English Channel can get a bit bracing..... so leaving my clothes folded in a neat pile and running off the beach naked is not my idea of making a run for it .......... to be fair being naked on Brighton Beach might not seem that out of the ordinary ..... assuming there is still a naturist beach there ...... but no...... I shall not make my get away via Brighton ........... the weather and food in Italy are so much better
.....although I might miss me pies ....... I love pies ......
I did think about doing a Reggie Perrin once I arrived at Brighton but the wind over the English Channel can get a bit bracing..... so leaving my clothes folded in a neat pile and running off the beach naked is not my idea of making a run for it .......... to be fair being naked on Brighton Beach might not seem that out of the ordinary ..... assuming there is still a naturist beach there ...... but no...... I shall not make my get away via Brighton ........... the weather and food in Italy are so much better
.....although I might miss me pies ....... I love pies ......
If I can't find any pies in Italy .......
I will still have the Blue Nile .......
I love the Blue Nile .......
Monday, 3 November 2014
Happiness.......
There's no point wasting your time and energy
trying to reason with someone who does not
have the capacity to
understand or cannot reason....
Friday, 12 September 2014
It is a kind of saying good-bye I suppose.......
.... I posted before about saying good bye to someone you know you will never see again.... even though you and they will still continue to walk the same earth....
But funerals are different..... you are sort of saying good-bye....... but in a way it's too late.
So there I sat...... this time last week, in Mansfield.......listening to a saddened brother giving a very moving tribute to his older sister, given in Mandarin.... I didn't have a clue what he said, but like listening to a sad song, sung in a foreign language, you [I] just seem to understand.
As her brother gave his address...... I was sat square in front of him, and at the end he just stood there not knowing what to do next, I looked at him and he looked at me...... there was an acknowledgment.... and you could sense he didn't want to be saying this goodbye, not in Mandarin, not in English, not in any language....
Afterwards, as I left the funeral, I gave him my support for the way he spoke movingly about his sister..... I don't think he had a clue what I was saying.... but his other elder sister translated for me.
Of course we should never have met at all, he lives in China and I in Suffolk and yet 2 strangers brought together in Mansfield..... I say we should never have met, simply because his sister should never have died.... she was but a couple of months away from her 52nd birthday.... but she didn't die at god's hands..... she died because in a moment of madness, some evil fuckwit stabbed her but once and that is all it took to take away that life....
She was beautiful.... a kind caring, intelligent wonderful human being.......who has left this life far too soon.
But it was not just her brother and sister left bereft, there was/is my cousin, her husband..... who not only lost his wife to this terrible act but it was he who discovered her body..... what do you say to a man who has suffered this loss ?...... I didn't know what to say..... so as 2 middle aged men, I hugged him and beckoned him to stay strong.....
But it was not just her husband who suffered this loss too...... there was/is her 2 teenage daughters.... this is not what they should have to remember for the rest of their lives..... It is bad enough them losing their mum so prematurely....but in this manner...... what do you say to them ?
I was honest, I said to them I didn't know what to say for their loss..... it is never right for a middle aged man to hug a teenage girl....not these days...... I hugged them both and told them they had our love.
That's the thing with funeral's you are never sure what you should say.... for my dad's it was easier.... the words were etched in my heart.... I just had to find the courage to get them out in front of his family and friends.... it was not easy but as I stood next to his coffin I am glad I did......
And so after the funeral I said my good byes to the people there, many of whom were strangers to me.... thinking this was likely the last time I would speak/see many of them again..... I had almost completed the drive to my home in suffolk.....when up flashed my cousins name on the mobile.....
I stopped the car and as we spoke, he told me how when he had got home from his wife's funeral, the hospital had rung him.... to tell him his mother had died in the past hour.......
But funerals are different..... you are sort of saying good-bye....... but in a way it's too late.
So there I sat...... this time last week, in Mansfield.......listening to a saddened brother giving a very moving tribute to his older sister, given in Mandarin.... I didn't have a clue what he said, but like listening to a sad song, sung in a foreign language, you [I] just seem to understand.
As her brother gave his address...... I was sat square in front of him, and at the end he just stood there not knowing what to do next, I looked at him and he looked at me...... there was an acknowledgment.... and you could sense he didn't want to be saying this goodbye, not in Mandarin, not in English, not in any language....
Afterwards, as I left the funeral, I gave him my support for the way he spoke movingly about his sister..... I don't think he had a clue what I was saying.... but his other elder sister translated for me.
Of course we should never have met at all, he lives in China and I in Suffolk and yet 2 strangers brought together in Mansfield..... I say we should never have met, simply because his sister should never have died.... she was but a couple of months away from her 52nd birthday.... but she didn't die at god's hands..... she died because in a moment of madness, some evil fuckwit stabbed her but once and that is all it took to take away that life....
She was beautiful.... a kind caring, intelligent wonderful human being.......who has left this life far too soon.
But it was not just her brother and sister left bereft, there was/is my cousin, her husband..... who not only lost his wife to this terrible act but it was he who discovered her body..... what do you say to a man who has suffered this loss ?...... I didn't know what to say..... so as 2 middle aged men, I hugged him and beckoned him to stay strong.....
But it was not just her husband who suffered this loss too...... there was/is her 2 teenage daughters.... this is not what they should have to remember for the rest of their lives..... It is bad enough them losing their mum so prematurely....but in this manner...... what do you say to them ?
I was honest, I said to them I didn't know what to say for their loss..... it is never right for a middle aged man to hug a teenage girl....not these days...... I hugged them both and told them they had our love.
That's the thing with funeral's you are never sure what you should say.... for my dad's it was easier.... the words were etched in my heart.... I just had to find the courage to get them out in front of his family and friends.... it was not easy but as I stood next to his coffin I am glad I did......
And so after the funeral I said my good byes to the people there, many of whom were strangers to me.... thinking this was likely the last time I would speak/see many of them again..... I had almost completed the drive to my home in suffolk.....when up flashed my cousins name on the mobile.....
I stopped the car and as we spoke, he told me how when he had got home from his wife's funeral, the hospital had rung him.... to tell him his mother had died in the past hour.......
So it is, I find my self heading back for the funeral of my Auntie.....
my god mother.....
my cousins mum, 2 teenage girls grandmother.......
I am sure I will still not know what to say to them when I get there....
Friday, 14 February 2014
1 degree of separation.....
Mitch Albom wrote about the 5 people you meet in heaven..... in this life, on this earth, you are not sure who they are, they may be the one[s] you never even knew exist[ed]..... and of course they may be one who you just know will be one of your five people you meet .......
The premise of the book works similar to the premise of the 6 degrees of separation......
And so there I was this Wednesday lunch time, having dinner in an Italian restaurant in London with an old boss of mine and his secretary, both about to retire anytime soon. I have known them both for more than 20 years but have not seen either of them for at least 5 years.
As we chatted and caught up, the subject of my parents living in Australia cropped up.
Where are they ?
In Perth..... I replied.
Oh my daughter is in Perth, my old boss said.
What she doing there ? I asked.....
she lives there....
ach erm... [feeling slightly foolish]..... what has taken her to Perth, I meant......
Oh ..... she works as a radiographer at a hospital ....... Joondaulp hospital...... he added.....
As I say, I have known David a long time, since I was 28 years old in fact and as we go through life there are some people who have such a profound positive impact on your life, they stay in your life for ever...... some even end up as one of the five people you meet in heaven....
Mike my best mate is one of those people who has stayed in my life since we were 16 years old... we were once thunderstruck.... I hope Mike stays in my life always.... Those sort of people are rare....
So when I was 28 years old and David was the managing director of a former employer he and I first met. At the time, his daughter was only a small child, and my parents lived in Nottingham. The only link between David and I, was work..... but all these years since we have remained in touch and firm friends....
And so it is 23 years later, and I learn that David's now grown up daughter has been working for the last 4 years as a radiographer at Joondalup Hospital the other side of the world..... who would have thought that 21 years from me first meeting David, and his daughter worked at the self same hospital where and when my dad would die......
When we sat together 23 years ago, if I had said to David, in 21 years time your daughter will be working at the place where my dad dies..... on the other side of the world.... stuff would have come out of our noses......
To add still to the 1 degree of separation... if 23 years ago I had have said to David, not only will your daughter be connected to my dad, but likely as not she will be a colleague of my niece..... stuff would have come out of our ears..... my niece is a radiographer at Joondalup hospital......
Mitch Albom wrote .......
as a Friday bonus SoD......
The premise of the book works similar to the premise of the 6 degrees of separation......
And so there I was this Wednesday lunch time, having dinner in an Italian restaurant in London with an old boss of mine and his secretary, both about to retire anytime soon. I have known them both for more than 20 years but have not seen either of them for at least 5 years.
As we chatted and caught up, the subject of my parents living in Australia cropped up.
Where are they ?
In Perth..... I replied.
Oh my daughter is in Perth, my old boss said.
What she doing there ? I asked.....
she lives there....
ach erm... [feeling slightly foolish]..... what has taken her to Perth, I meant......
Oh ..... she works as a radiographer at a hospital ....... Joondaulp hospital...... he added.....
As I say, I have known David a long time, since I was 28 years old in fact and as we go through life there are some people who have such a profound positive impact on your life, they stay in your life for ever...... some even end up as one of the five people you meet in heaven....
Mike my best mate is one of those people who has stayed in my life since we were 16 years old... we were once thunderstruck.... I hope Mike stays in my life always.... Those sort of people are rare....
So when I was 28 years old and David was the managing director of a former employer he and I first met. At the time, his daughter was only a small child, and my parents lived in Nottingham. The only link between David and I, was work..... but all these years since we have remained in touch and firm friends....
And so it is 23 years later, and I learn that David's now grown up daughter has been working for the last 4 years as a radiographer at Joondalup Hospital the other side of the world..... who would have thought that 21 years from me first meeting David, and his daughter worked at the self same hospital where and when my dad would die......
When we sat together 23 years ago, if I had said to David, in 21 years time your daughter will be working at the place where my dad dies..... on the other side of the world.... stuff would have come out of our noses......
To add still to the 1 degree of separation... if 23 years ago I had have said to David, not only will your daughter be connected to my dad, but likely as not she will be a colleague of my niece..... stuff would have come out of our ears..... my niece is a radiographer at Joondalup hospital......
Mitch Albom wrote .......
“There are no random acts...
We are all connected...
You can no more separate one life from another
than you can separate a breeze from the wind...”
We are all connected...
You can no more separate one life from another
than you can separate a breeze from the wind...”
It's at times like this
I always turn to
The Blue Nile
as a Friday bonus SoD......
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
The week link part deux.....
Petula Clarks downtown gives me the link for song number 2, in other words any excuse to listen to the Blue Nile.....
This came from their second album, Hats... it took at least 5 years to wait for this album to appear, after A walk across the roof tops..... but like any Blue Nile/Paul Buchanan album worth waiting a life time for, as they never disappoint.
This came from their second album, Hats... it took at least 5 years to wait for this album to appear, after A walk across the roof tops..... but like any Blue Nile/Paul Buchanan album worth waiting a life time for, as they never disappoint.
So here's to not being disappointed
show me the light Paul...
Monday, 1 July 2013
This blog will not .... I repeat for effect.... will not.... save your life....
.... it's funny how you see some comment about how this.... or...... that.... will save your life......
Take this drug, it will save your life .......
Don't shun 3D printers - they might save your life one day
5 Gadgets that will save your life
Even.... even this one.....
Joining the WI could save your life......
utter tosh......
In the words of the great Private Frazer..... we're all doomed.....doomed I tell ya.....
The truth is nothing will actually save your life, because we are all bound to die one day. Now of course, I realise that in saying such, I have not declared some great revelation as if we didn't already know it. But it started with Tamoxifen and then it led back to the world of being a Cancer Husband.
I am no chemist, I am no doctor, I am no cancer specialist..... I am just a ridiculous person.
The recent news about using Tamoxifen as a pre-cancer protection brought out the usual nonsense to make the choice for women even harder. Some headlines even talk about Tamoxifen providing a 20 year protection against Cancer......... as if it was a proven fact, a proven magic sweetie that you swallow each day and ta dah your life has been saved !
WRONG.... A BIG FAT FUCKING WRONG !
So there was my wife, a 15 month [as I write] cancer survivor, sat at the computer looking up all the symptoms of why she feels crap [but she has survived cancer you think,..... oh, not that easy I'm afraid ] .......
look she said, I have all these symptoms that make me feel crap, all known side effects of taking Tamoxifen.....
so why don't you speak to your doctor, or your Oncologist or your cancer nurse.... tell them.... I react....
she said....why ?...... they won't do anything....
oh so you are happy to turn to Dr Google, but not those who are treating you..... what am I supposed to do ? I am just a ridiculous person........ she looked at me.....
I didn't know what else to say........
And that's the reality, there is nothing that will save your life, but it will sure as hell make you feel crap in the process. But the joke is, it makes those around you feel crap as well.
That's the thing about cancer... sure you win the first battle, but do you really think you will win in the end ?
But why should I be allowed to say this ? ..... I am not ill..... I am not the one with Cancer, I am not the one at risk of dying........ well guess what...... I will die and I will die one day when I least want it to happen.
I can remember some events from 30 years ago as if it were yesterday. So here I sit 50 years old and I doubt I will live to 100....... it will be pure luck to make to 90.......but who knows I might just get to 80........ but if I can remember back 30 years ago as if it were yesterday, could my death at 80 seem like tomorrow ?
So that is what is shit about being a cancer husband..... you have to get it right all the time, you're not allowed to be negative, you're not allowed to say the wrong thing, you're not allowed to fail the test of telepathy....
But why shouldn't I be allowed to feel like this ? ...... do you have to be ill to have a view ? do you have to be ill to be pissed off about something ?
The other thing I noted about being a Cancer husband...... every bit of news, every commentary, every web link associated with cancer or those who loose their battle with cancer, and you are hooked there is no escape.
Listening to the radio the other morning, I heard this lady talk about the loss of her husband and his bravery towards the end. I should out of respect offer up their names, but I'll shan't and not because I am being disrespectful. But she spoke of the book he wrote as he faced his own death.
I looked the book up, very inspiring indeed......... the glowing reviews from people who were touched by his wisdom and how it would make them reflect and change their own lives before they got ill........ and then the web page said.... people who brought this book also brought this one..... and there it was......... another book by another brave person who also bravely faced his own death from cancer..... and yet more glowing reviews from people who were touched by his wisdom and how it would make them reflect and change their own lives before they got ill...... stop ! stop ! stoooooop ! I screamed.....
I don't want to be brave and wise about my death or anyone else's for that matter...... And that's part of the problem....... sometimes I just want to be a ridiculous person.
One of my favourite books of all time is Tuesday's with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom. I read it long long before, I thought I could ever end up as a Cancer Husband.... and oh my word what a telling book to read. I brought it at Heathrow airport, and on a flight to the West Indies I opened the first page with the plane on the runway at Heathrow, and finished it non stop with time for a film before the plane landed in Barbados.
This book says many things, not least of which Morrie Schwartz did not die of cancer, he died of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. There are many parts of Mitch Alboms writings I can quote but Morrie talks about the quote from W H Auden [a wonderful insight full poet] the comment -
Take this drug, it will save your life .......
Don't shun 3D printers - they might save your life one day
5 Gadgets that will save your life
Even.... even this one.....
Joining the WI could save your life......
utter tosh......
In the words of the great Private Frazer..... we're all doomed.....doomed I tell ya.....
The truth is nothing will actually save your life, because we are all bound to die one day. Now of course, I realise that in saying such, I have not declared some great revelation as if we didn't already know it. But it started with Tamoxifen and then it led back to the world of being a Cancer Husband.
I am no chemist, I am no doctor, I am no cancer specialist..... I am just a ridiculous person.
The recent news about using Tamoxifen as a pre-cancer protection brought out the usual nonsense to make the choice for women even harder. Some headlines even talk about Tamoxifen providing a 20 year protection against Cancer......... as if it was a proven fact, a proven magic sweetie that you swallow each day and ta dah your life has been saved !
WRONG.... A BIG FAT FUCKING WRONG !
So there was my wife, a 15 month [as I write] cancer survivor, sat at the computer looking up all the symptoms of why she feels crap [but she has survived cancer you think,..... oh, not that easy I'm afraid ] .......
look she said, I have all these symptoms that make me feel crap, all known side effects of taking Tamoxifen.....
so why don't you speak to your doctor, or your Oncologist or your cancer nurse.... tell them.... I react....
she said....why ?...... they won't do anything....
oh so you are happy to turn to Dr Google, but not those who are treating you..... what am I supposed to do ? I am just a ridiculous person........ she looked at me.....
I didn't know what else to say........
And that's the reality, there is nothing that will save your life, but it will sure as hell make you feel crap in the process. But the joke is, it makes those around you feel crap as well.
That's the thing about cancer... sure you win the first battle, but do you really think you will win in the end ?
But why should I be allowed to say this ? ..... I am not ill..... I am not the one with Cancer, I am not the one at risk of dying........ well guess what...... I will die and I will die one day when I least want it to happen.
I can remember some events from 30 years ago as if it were yesterday. So here I sit 50 years old and I doubt I will live to 100....... it will be pure luck to make to 90.......but who knows I might just get to 80........ but if I can remember back 30 years ago as if it were yesterday, could my death at 80 seem like tomorrow ?
So that is what is shit about being a cancer husband..... you have to get it right all the time, you're not allowed to be negative, you're not allowed to say the wrong thing, you're not allowed to fail the test of telepathy....
But why shouldn't I be allowed to feel like this ? ...... do you have to be ill to have a view ? do you have to be ill to be pissed off about something ?
The other thing I noted about being a Cancer husband...... every bit of news, every commentary, every web link associated with cancer or those who loose their battle with cancer, and you are hooked there is no escape.
Listening to the radio the other morning, I heard this lady talk about the loss of her husband and his bravery towards the end. I should out of respect offer up their names, but I'll shan't and not because I am being disrespectful. But she spoke of the book he wrote as he faced his own death.
I looked the book up, very inspiring indeed......... the glowing reviews from people who were touched by his wisdom and how it would make them reflect and change their own lives before they got ill........ and then the web page said.... people who brought this book also brought this one..... and there it was......... another book by another brave person who also bravely faced his own death from cancer..... and yet more glowing reviews from people who were touched by his wisdom and how it would make them reflect and change their own lives before they got ill...... stop ! stop ! stoooooop ! I screamed.....
I don't want to be brave and wise about my death or anyone else's for that matter...... And that's part of the problem....... sometimes I just want to be a ridiculous person.
One of my favourite books of all time is Tuesday's with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom. I read it long long before, I thought I could ever end up as a Cancer Husband.... and oh my word what a telling book to read. I brought it at Heathrow airport, and on a flight to the West Indies I opened the first page with the plane on the runway at Heathrow, and finished it non stop with time for a film before the plane landed in Barbados.
This book says many things, not least of which Morrie Schwartz did not die of cancer, he died of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. There are many parts of Mitch Alboms writings I can quote but Morrie talks about the quote from W H Auden [a wonderful insight full poet] the comment -
love each other or perish
I don't want to be a Cancer husband, I don't want to read about brave people,
I just want to be a ridiculous person.
but ridiculous husband or not
for my SoD I choose this
Friday, 24 May 2013
Friday's desert Island disc.....
... it's Friday, cold, wet and pretty miserable..... this would be one of my desert Island Discs
Friday, 15 March 2013
My love of pies is matched only by me love of .......
.......the Blue Nile..... So as it's Friday, this is a SoD for you to ........sit down....... take the phone off the hook......... crank up the volume........ close your eyes and listen to a song.......... which despite being 29 years old [that's the song not you.....ooooooh how we all long to be 29yrs old again]...where was I ....oh yeah...... despite being 29 years old.......is as good a song, as you will ever hear in one life time....
I swear to god, that should the moment of my demise from this life occur whilst I am plugged into my iPod, oh I do hope that Blue Nile are playing..... what music there is, to leave this life and to go into the next.......
I swear to god, that should the moment of my demise from this life occur whilst I am plugged into my iPod, oh I do hope that Blue Nile are playing..... what music there is, to leave this life and to go into the next.......
God bless you Reverend Paul
Monday, 31 December 2012
It's been a funny year....
....although when I say funny, I don't mean split your sides laughing funny, but peculiar funny.....that's not to say there haven't been moments to smile and laugh....but would I want to try that year again....erm erm.....let me think ....err ....no.....not on your nelly !
I have run my own business for 13 years now.....officially 13 years to the day on 4th January......4th January 2000 was the day we opened our doors.....and this year is official our best trading year...... which considering some of the challenges I have dealt with in the last 12 months or so, is either ironic or a measure of the underlying quality of the business....but whatever it is...... was the financial benefit worth any of the sh1t of this year .....erm erm......let me think....err....no not on your nelly !
Of course, there are many a business out there, large and small who are struggling to survive in these very difficult times and I like most business owners know just who hard it is to survive during what seems like the longest down turn in the whole wide world ever.
As I sit on the cusp of turning 50, it's hard not to reflect on the things that have gone by, both good and the bad. Of course my bad is no where near worse than some else's bad, whereas perhaps my good is much better than someone else's good........it's all relative really......
In truth this year some good things came from my bad things.....like my eldest getting a first class honours degree in English and then going on to win a scholarship for her MA, or like my youngest getting her 'A' Level results to provide her with a university place for Bio-medical science......and maybe that's it, we learn to pass on the baton to our children.....
I have had a good life in these past 49.9 years, and on the whole they have rewarded me well, with many great experiences........oh some of the people I have met I have known.....how they have enriched my life and taught me some wondrous things ....or whether it be seeing the Pyramids across the nile, or being beguiled by seeing close up King Tuts head gear*, or standing next to Viagra Falls, travelling through the panama canal, dinner with the vision of sydney opera house in the back ground, and how could I ever forget the Bernini's...... and looking back at the places I came from......one home was on an estate that makes Shameless look like Wisteria Lane, but looking back on just the last 12 months, I would be lying if I said they had not been the most challenging.......so what am I most looking forward to for the next year ?.....
A quiet life....not too much drama.....some travel [but far less than I have been doing....albeit with Ghana beckoning on the horizon for end of January].... and a chance to breathe at a much slower rate, keeping my heart rate much lower, not having to vent my spleen so often....smiling more.....and enjoying some more great music.....[with Jake Bugg at UEA next on my hit list]........so when they say its out with the old and in with the new.....let's hope so.....
So for my final SoD of 2012 I thought I would go with my all time favourite.....Mr Paul Buchanan..... as I was searching YT for this track.....I stumbled across a word..... so this last 2012 SoD.....this is my reverie.....
I have run my own business for 13 years now.....officially 13 years to the day on 4th January......4th January 2000 was the day we opened our doors.....and this year is official our best trading year...... which considering some of the challenges I have dealt with in the last 12 months or so, is either ironic or a measure of the underlying quality of the business....but whatever it is...... was the financial benefit worth any of the sh1t of this year .....erm erm......let me think....err....no not on your nelly !
Of course, there are many a business out there, large and small who are struggling to survive in these very difficult times and I like most business owners know just who hard it is to survive during what seems like the longest down turn in the whole wide world ever.
As I sit on the cusp of turning 50, it's hard not to reflect on the things that have gone by, both good and the bad. Of course my bad is no where near worse than some else's bad, whereas perhaps my good is much better than someone else's good........it's all relative really......
In truth this year some good things came from my bad things.....like my eldest getting a first class honours degree in English and then going on to win a scholarship for her MA, or like my youngest getting her 'A' Level results to provide her with a university place for Bio-medical science......and maybe that's it, we learn to pass on the baton to our children.....
I have had a good life in these past 49.9 years, and on the whole they have rewarded me well, with many great experiences........oh some of the people I have met I have known.....how they have enriched my life and taught me some wondrous things ....or whether it be seeing the Pyramids across the nile, or being beguiled by seeing close up King Tuts head gear*, or standing next to Viagra Falls, travelling through the panama canal, dinner with the vision of sydney opera house in the back ground, and how could I ever forget the Bernini's...... and looking back at the places I came from......one home was on an estate that makes Shameless look like Wisteria Lane, but looking back on just the last 12 months, I would be lying if I said they had not been the most challenging.......so what am I most looking forward to for the next year ?.....
A quiet life....not too much drama.....some travel [but far less than I have been doing....albeit with Ghana beckoning on the horizon for end of January].... and a chance to breathe at a much slower rate, keeping my heart rate much lower, not having to vent my spleen so often....smiling more.....and enjoying some more great music.....[with Jake Bugg at UEA next on my hit list]........so when they say its out with the old and in with the new.....let's hope so.....
So for my final SoD of 2012 I thought I would go with my all time favourite.....Mr Paul Buchanan..... as I was searching YT for this track.....I stumbled across a word..... so this last 2012 SoD.....this is my reverie.....
*[King Tut on tour ~ It was I believe 1972, that London was host to some of the Tutankhamen treasure's I was 9 years old and my primary school applied for tickets.......we didn't get any....we were on the standby list....we never got any....so there was some disappointment, such that the event is still etched in my memory.....little did I realise that some 40 years later, I would be there.... Cairo Museum with my nosed pressed against the glass staring upwards into the King Tuts gold burial mask. It was a long wait, but my god {or allah....you choose} the wait was worth every minute, and seeing it in Cairo and not London meant I didn't have to fight my way through hordes of tourists or working class school kids.... apparently 1.65 million people went to the London exhibition which lasted for 275 days....that equates to an average of 6,000 per day. Say the exhibition was open for 12 hours per day that means 500 people per hour...which means a viewing time of 8.33 people per minute....... In Cairo I had all the time in the world..... 40 years wait I know.....but there is alot to be said for deferred gratification]
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
I know one swallow doesn't make a summer.......
...... but I like to think that maybe we are entering spring at least....
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Fighting with wolves.....
.......I had planned today to do a short post about seeing Ben Howard live* at the Cambridge Corn Exchange and the SoD would of course been the highlight of the night........ The wolves from his debut album ....Every Kingdom..... [every candle lit dinner should be enveloped by the sound of this album playing in the back ground]....... but as it is/was, last night I sat there watching the 10 o'clock news supping me horlicks** whilst finally winding down the end of another day.....and so it was the news announcer said.....and we now go over to Gaza but I must warn you some of these images might be distressing.......
So before you lower your head down the page, I must warn you she was right, the next image is for sure distressing......
How in gods name [or allah you choose] did we end up here ?
I am not naive, I am not a fool, atrocities occur during conflict and wars I know that, but in this picture it is said that man shown dead was an Israeli spy in Gaza [1 of 6 so called spies treated in this way], and those who are alive in this picture were extracting revenge on the man who was once alive but is now dead. I make no judgement on the individual persons shown either alive or dead, I cannot say whether the dead man was an Israeli spy or not, but as I saw this image last night I was minded of something else I saw on TV a week or two back......
It was about conservationists trying to save from extinction what essentially is nothing more than a mouse......
This link gives you a feel for it.....
There are people out there, as I type putting in their heart and soul in to saving this creature from extinction..........and I make no judgement on these people either......
But last night as I sat proudly in my ivory tower, the juxtaposition of these two images, given to me via the magic of TV, made me wonder...........
Just how the hell did man evolve to such, that on one side of Africa he is doing his damnedest to save a mouse and yet at the same time further north up the coast he is dragging a human corpse behind a bluddy motorcycle whilst he offers up his salute ?
I shake my head in utter disbelief......
So for my SoD, I turn once more to the mind offerings of the great Paul Buchanan.... take it away Paul......... whilst I lie down in a darkened room......
*[ on a slightly lighter note returning to Ben, should you ever find yourself at a Ben Howard concert in a student place like Cambridge and are the age that I am, you do at times ask yourself....am I at a Ben Howard concert or a Jack Wills annual convention !]
**[I actually dislike horlicks {I nearly wrote hate....but today there is too much hate in the world} so it was in fact hot chocolate I drank but I wrote horlicks for poetic licence.....god {allah} knows why......and on reflection the more you say the word horlicks in your head...if you keep repeating the word....it sounds more and more like something you have to pay for .......thats a man thought by the way]
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
it must be the dyslexic in me.....
.....but I suddenly find my self praying to dog !
*[courtesy of the Dr phil hammond web page]
So it was going to give me a great excuse to trot out another PB for my SoD
but alas for some reason there is not a single web vid out there......
Anyway the track can be heard here:
Monday, 3 September 2012
I wanna tell ya a story...
..and so it is another drops off the screen.....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19451389
You can have all the cutting edge comedy, the lets shock and shame humour [and sure sometimes it can be funny], but there are some people who were cut out to be entertainers..... Got me thinking with this guy. He was always around on the telly as I was growing up, and those formative years have an impact on you in later life...... but as it is this guy had been around 40 years before I was born...... so it shows just how there are those who have it no matter how old they are......
I suppose for song of the day I should choose a Max song...... but I am gunna cheat and fall back on the great PB instead.....sorry Max, but I think you'll like this one nevertheless.
Friday, 10 August 2012
how does this happen....
...... I was going to post a song/video following on from my last post, but there I was surfing various news headlines and then I tripped up over this story......
Now it is fairly well documented how humans can brutalize other humans but no matter how many times you read such stories ...... there are still stories out there that leave you wondering .....
how does this happen ?
I read this story:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/home-invasion-doc-eulogizes-wife-daughters-article-1.264842
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshire,_Connecticut,_home_invasion_murders
and am still thinking that thought......
how does this happen ?
I will post a song, but not as a song of the day, but a song, when reading such a story as above, reminds you of things so important.
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
who do you trust the least ? ......
...... the scientist or the flippin journalist ?
So we haven't found the meaning of life after all !
I still think its Paul Buchanan so here is todays SoD:
So we haven't found the meaning of life after all !
I still think its Paul Buchanan so here is todays SoD:
Monday, 2 July 2012
and so we go from the banality of life.... to the meaning of life.....
Douglas Adams said it was 42.....who knows, he may be right...... although if you ask me, I think Paul Buchanan ..... he gets it..... he knows the meaning of life...... listen to this song as you look at these images.....and then try and argue against it....
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