Yesterday I got home from a trip to the South coast, pleasantly weary from a lengthy business meeting and a personal catch up with someone that I haven’t seen for 47 years. I had barely settled when the telephone rang; “Not another one” exclaimed the Berkshire Belle as she picked up the handset, listened for a moment and then shouted “Go away!” before hanging up. Continue reading
Tag Archives: stuff
letters to the editor – am I bad or good in bed? they can’t all be right
Sir
Am I in some form of late life male crisis? My email inbox suggests that I might be, and possibly even that I am leading a dual life, for I am bombarded by hotel and flight booking confirmations that I know nothing about, letters telling me that my sexual performance is wholly inadequate and that the equipment that I would deploy in said performance is too small and lacking in rigidity, but then there are those letters from ladies, mainly it seems in Moscow, that I have pleasured to such extreme that they want me to come back and rescue them from their dreary and unfulfilled lives without me and my bedroom skills. Continue reading
of beards, and of sexual equality
For those who have picked up on my beard Tweets, the new beard was about a week old when it’s tenure was terminated. I hadn’t intended to grow one, but in feeling rotten with the stinker of a virus that took me over I had neglected to shave for about four days and decided that, with Christmas coming and no need to be anywhere special that I would cease thought of shaving and see what the effect was. Continue reading
Finding time to write
Pressures of work are curtailing my writing at the moment hence me being less prolific than usual across my various blogs, and my priority is towards keeping up my Monday Musings column each week.
I have not given up on these blogs though and am working on things for all of my various blogs as well as three e-books in various stages of development, one of which is in the final revision prior to editting stage.
So lots of work in progress. Keep watching and thanks for all of your interest.
Filed under about me, Books & Reading
why do I love music and books?
Music and books played a part in my life from an early age. I was something of a sickly child and would be laid up for one to three weeks at a time. As both of my parents worked, albeit not that far away and could pop in to check on me, when I was ill in bed it was just me and the radio to start with. Thankfully talk radio hadn’t been thought of then (not many of us had ‘phones to call in with anyway) and most of the programming was music.
This was in the 1950s and so a lot of the music was from the big shows; Carousel, South Pacific, Calamity Jane, Oklahoma! and so on. These especially sparked the imagination for farway places and times and could take that small boy with them.
One of my early treasures was an atlas, and I would try to find anywhere mentioned in a song on the map. Of course there were some fictional places, but, through song, I found a love of geography, travel and maps (even now I can spend a happy hour with an ordnance survey map).
Song also helped my vocabulary, pestering my parents when they came in about new words, and when Doris Day sang Que Sera Sera or Dino crooned Volare more horizons burst into my developing mind.
Picture books and annuals with cartoon strips came into my life as well then and I began to understand a few written words too as I struggled with the captions. We didn’t have much money, but jumble sales were a good source of cheap books that helped me read well before I went to school even if I did make a complete nonsense of pronouncing some of them (ocean came out as okeen, and Pharaoh as something like farrower I recall).
Books still play a big part in my life, but music require less effort and I can listen with my eyes shut (that does tend to impair one’s reading ability). I have an ancient i-Pod that I love dearly and be transported to places and memories or just listen to the different components of the sound.
I have very catholic tastes and there are all sorts of genre on the i-Pod; punk, chamber music, folk, big bands, blues, light opera, soul, classical , protest songs and pop plus a few that I’ve no doubt missed.
Along the way I’ve I’ll write some more about music and books that I enjoy in coming blogs
Filed under about me, Books & Reading, Music
a little light relief from The Muppets
The Muppet show was always a highlight of the weekend TV for me when the children were small. This clip is from an episode that featured Mark Hammill fresh from his Luke Skywalker role, but strikes a chord for me as a lover of DooWap singing.
So for a bit of innocent pleasure on the anniversary of a dark day for the world, enjoy a Muppet take on Ramalamadingdong.
letters to the editor – food labelling standards
Sir
You will be aware from previous correspondence, sadly largely unpublished, of my opposition to the EU food labelling standards.
However, there is one area in which food labelling standards are sadly lacking. Each week when I visit my butcher or supermarket I find meats labelled as cured; but of what and when?
I think that we should be told.
Yours faithfully
R. Suppards (Mrs)
escaped lions+rioters+cancelled football=a good idea?
News that a Russian news agency has claimed that lions and tigers have escaped from London Zoo as a consequence of the rioters and are to be heard roaring on the streets of the capital had me in stiches. It was nice to have something to laugh about.
With the news that Wembley will be unemployed as the footie is cancelled perhaps there is a solution here that suits all. Let’s round up the big cats and set them loose on the pitch and then we can throw the rioters and looters to them. It should be a sell out live and think of the TV rights. Maybe we should get Bernie E on board to help sell them?
Think about it; the ultimate phone in viewer and audience vote; show the looters 10 at a time and have a vote on which order they get thrown to the beasties. Ought to go down a bomb yes? Beats all that Big Brother, X-Factor, Got Talent rubbish hands down, a vote ’em off show that really sends them off.
Hang on. Where was I? I think I’ve just woken up from a dream.
Filed under fun stuff
when tv adverts were fun – good sport your missus – another from Castlemaine XXXX
With their Ute teetering an the brink of disaster, could this pair have misunderstood the lady?
Watch it here and make up your own minds. Castlemaine XXXX at its finest perhaps.
Filed under fun stuff
The Voice of the Bloke at the Back 