Museum of Curiousity

Its been a fun week. Things starting to snowball nicely in preparation for my trip out to Las Vegas to play in a major US bridge convention next month. I'll be playing as part of the Kings and Queens bridge team, which consists of some good friends I've played and worked with for a few years now, on the wonderful online bridge site www.bridgebase.com, known to its friends as BBO. We're getting lots of good support, tips and advice from all sorts of unexpected people. Delighted however, that the team's mentor, a wonderful Indian national team player, and one of the brightest and loveliest men I know , was able to do a session with us. It was lovely to 'see' you again Zas-ji. Namaste, my friend and teacher

Last Wednesday, me and my old schoolfriend Zouk went into London to be part of the radio audience for BBCR4's remarkeable show 'The Museum of Curiousity'. As usuak, it was a really fun show, and we got to chat and shake hands after the show with Phil Jupitus, who is this seasons new curator, AND the ever-wonderful and totally amazing John Lloyd :). They were both standing outside the theatre, ready to go on to their next gigs. Both very friendly and happy to chat :)

John Lloyd talks about The Museum of Curiousity

Unfortunately, it was pretty damn hot that day. We had met up with a couple of Zouk's regular radio-showgoing friends and despite the heat we headed off after the show around 4.30 towards Soho, (like you do), in search of a pleasant watering hole, cafe or green space, while exploring the various interesting shops in the area. Eventually we found a nice street cafe and parked our bums for as long we dare with just a round of coffees and glasses of tap water.

It was about this time that I began to realise that:

a. The UTI that I suspected hadn't quite gone away with the last course of antibiotics, had returned with a vengeance
b. The 3 one-use catheters that I had brought with me began to look woefully inadequate
c. It seemed the delicious bite to eat that we'd had before the show from a promising looking Italian cafe near the studios had decided to add to my woes

and d.

It was becoming rapidly apparent that I'm in need of a decent pair of walking shoes, in addition to replacements for the cheap work shoes I had been wearing. Alas they did not survive London. Along with my feet.

And so we started walking again......... I believe I may be able to make a new claim for the World record in 'gritted teeth for an extended period'. Chancing on a small park, we stopped to watch a few folks playing table tennis on a free table. I darent sit down, what with all the teeth-grinding and bumcheek-clenching whilst endevouring to hold in my knees and the occasional gasps caused by decidedly unsexual frissons from down below. But there were a coupla Chinese players that we watched that were just messing around and were a joy to watch. Zouk and his mate were hoping to have a go, but there was apparently a queue :)

Mercifully, the other guys finally decided to head back to catch their bus so we walked back with them towards their bus-stop.

Things came to a head when I realised that I had shat myself, and besides I REALLY needed to use my last catheter. I spotted a pub just down a side-street and hobbled determinedly towards it. Several levels of relief later, I re-emerged and we headed home, rather drained (but in a good way).

We had to get back to Burnt Oak on the tube, then pick up the car and drive back to Stevenage. Where I quickly dropped Zouk off and dashed for home.

Wild Ride - Part 2

'Now then, Mr Cropton, you'll be feeling a little sore down below. We've popped a catheter in so try not to make any sudden movements. Right let's take you up to the ward.' I'm dimly aware of the guy on the other side of the ward from me, is asleep, with his lower left leg in a plaster cast. There are 2 other bays, one containing an empty space, and the other bed soon to be vacated.Consciousness drifts in and out.

The next to arrive was Jim, who I seem to recall as being both loud and lucid from the moment he came into the ward. He seemed a bit of a grumpy old sod and didnt seem to be talking very nicely to his wife.

Finally the ward is completed with the addition of Bill, who took quite some to recover from his op.

The surgeon and his students make an appearance at some point. 'Ah yes, Mr Cropton, when we got you down to theatre we found you had very smelly urine, and so we've done what we could to clean out your bladder. We didnt want to risk transferring any possible infection further up the urinary tract, so we've postponed the Endoscopy until we've got the bladder infection under control. You've been fitted with a catheter which drains into a bag to your right, on the side of the bed. The nurses will empty your bag as and when needed. You may feel the urge to pee. Try to relax, the catheter works by gravity and your urine will drain into the bag quite naturally. Assuming your urine levels look normal tomorrow you should be free to go home. Do you have any questions?'

I make some smart-aleck remark about telling them my urine had smelt awful for months, but have the presence of mind to thank him and the team for doing what they could for me.

Catheterisation had been discussed as a likely part of the post-op treatment, so it wasnt too disconcerting to wake up and find the deed done. But it still felt very very strange, not that its something you can prepare for, I suppose. Suffice to say, they take a bit of getting used to.

Wild Ride - part 1

Those those know me may be aware that over the last few years my waterworks have been giving me problems. I've had Benign Prostastic Hypoplasia - non-cancerous swelling of the prostate gland for about 5 years now which has been managed reasonably effectively with prescription drugs. BHP causes all kinds of strange perceptions leading to dribbling, pain before, during and after passing urine, wanting to go (desperately) and not being able, and a frequent need to urinate. This in turn leads to sleepnessness and general fatigue. I imagine it might also lead to quite a lot of depression, but as a PTSD survivor I'm kinda used to living with depression fairly constantly.

Then, some while ago, I noticed that my urine constantly smelt awful, and it stung like buggery quite often. This did not get successfully treated for some time as my GP assumed it was another BPH symptom. Urine tests showed that I was passing white blood cells but the infection was not bacterial, and so antibiotics did nothing for it.

On Christmas Eve, 2012 I was horrified to see what looked like globs of red blood in my urine. Over the next couple of days the discharge of darker coloured material rapidly diminished, but needless to say I got an emergency appointment with my doctor's surgery as soon as they reopened after the Christmas break, which finally led to me being referred to our local hospital for further tests.

A CT scan had identified anomolies on my right kidney and ureter. The attempt to investigate these via flexible cystoscopy was apparently hampered due to the amount of debris in the urine; and so on Thurs 11 July I was due back into Lister Hospital to undergo a Rigid Endoscopy under general anaesthetic.

I had been experiencing severe discomfort and constant backache just prior to going in, and my urine test on the day identified a bacterial infection. The original plan was to try to image the anomoly in the ureter, possibly working through the suspected blockage and on into the kidney itself. There was also talk of installing a stent to bypass the ureter if the blockage could not be cleared.

On the day, I arrived at the Lister at 7am, and was taken down to theatre around 8.15. A cheery anaesthetist talked me through the process, then gave me a first injection. 'You probably won't feel much from this one' he said. And I didn't. 'This next one, you may start to feel a warmth spreading up your arm' - and in went the second shot.

I heard a disembodied voice say 'Hello Mr. Cropton, you're in Lister Hospital, your operation went smoothly. We'll take you up to a ward shortly. Would you like a drink of water?'. I swear I have no recollection of anything that happened within about 30 seconds of the 2nd injection going in. Apparently, a couple of hours had passed. I became conscious fairly quickly, and was soon wheeled up to the ward.

I distinctly remember thinking, wow that wasnt so bad............

Pome of the Day: The Wicked Witch is Dead

Margaret Thatcher
School milk bottle snatcher
Heartless bitch, and none could match her

Took on the miners and sent them reeling
Destroyed whole communities, as ever, unfeeling
Ripped the country apart, and it still isn't healing

Took on the Argies with The Sun on her side
Blew up The Belgrano, countless innocents died
The lies and warmongering transmuted to pride

But she wasn't done yet, as she took out her axe
And waged war on the poor, and imposed the Poll Tax
It was one war too many, it put up their backs
Her government was routed, with her blood on the tracks

I can't say I'll mourn for the old wicked witch
A State Funeral beckons, its really too rich
No memorial needed, let's just bury her in a ditch


copyright Ian Cropton 8 April 2013

'Space Donkey' speaks out

I have only just stumbled upon the fact that the term 'Space Donkey' appears to have several meanings in the Urban Dictionary:

Space Donkey

I wish to reassure my friends and visitors that I was unaware of these meanings when I set up my blog, and apologise to those who've had a wasted visit. But I'm intrigued and actually quietly delighted to learn that my moniker has its druggie overtones. Thinking about it, its the perfect description in particular of marijuana usage, and I speak from considerable experience here.

I have enjoyed smoking pot and more lately, weed, off and on throughout my life since my mid-teens. It is, and always has been, my relaxant of choice, and I still like to indulge in it to this day when I can afford it. One of the greatest joys for me in its usage, is that it does often help to unlock my creative juices. This I gratefully accept as a gift from nature. I don't believe that I place any burden on society by making this choice.

I should also add that I have many friends who have never used it, or no longer use it, and to my knowledge I have never said or done anything to encourage them to use it. I consider myself a responsible pot-smoker.

And I have to say, I have found it be most efficaceous in the dulling of the considerable back pain I've been experiencing of late, presumably related to my kidney problem.

I'm also very interested in exploring other areas of mental/spiritual growth, and hope to, once Dad's Estate is sorted out, get to grips with learning to meditate properly, and I'd really like to try to learn Reiki as well.

Plus so much to read in all related areas, I'm sure

Any thoughts, suggestions, gratefully received

Pome of the Day: The Twitterscape

The Twitterscape has a dichotomy
Great for spreading the word, but it got to me
There are so many a$$holes grinding their axes
That it does my head in, and rarely relaxes
Its just as much fun as paying your taxes
Which really is not how it ought to be

A piece of fun which I posted recently on a friends blog. Morning all!!!

GBE2 WEEK #88 (1-20-13 to 1-26-13): Music

Music has always been central to the Cropton household. I grew up enjoying much of the Big Band Sound, the divine Ms. Fitzgerald and the obligatory Rat Pack who I was, and still am, less than enthusiastic about. Despite that, I can still sing along with most of Frank Sinatra's recorded output grrrr

Ella Fitzgerald - Every time we say goodbye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGNLLJz4Ajw

Mum also liked classical music, particularly Rachmaninov Tchaikowsky and Chopin, while Dad had learned to play bugle then later bass drum in the ATC marching band, and he had learned to play piano (not well, but enthusiastically) at some point.

My 2 younger sisters and I both studied music at school and all of us learned to play a recorder. I later started to learn cello, but my pathway to becoming a reasonable musician got rudely shattered when I broke my arm. My sisters fared better, one studying flute and piano to 'A' level and the other getting to the Royal School of Music studying double-bass. I in much later life took up the fiddle, playing for various Morris dance sides and my home side, Stevenage Sword Dancers.

Stevenage Sword - Newbiggin - Whittlsea StrawBear Festival 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_UBXpTMfc8

I can also hack out a few chords on guitar, and like most wannabe musicians of my age, I of course can play the obligatory 'Sunshine of your Love' :)

Cream - Sunshine of your love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqh54rSzheg

Of course my lifelong liking for good guitar playing stemmed originally from the British 'Man with the red guitar' Hank Marvin, leader of 'The Shadows' who began as Cliff Richards backing band.

The Shadows - FBI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hga1GalqYo4

The ultimate mind blower for me came with Jimi Handrix, who remains a god amongst my pantheon of worship.

Jimi Hendrix - Bold as Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9rv7m9UKSc

In tandem with this I learned to enjoy a lot of accoustic music, initially through schoolfriends and the Collenswood School Folk Club in Stevenage and later Stevenage's official folk club which was based for many years in the upstairs room at the Red Lion pub in the Old Town. This interest led me into traditional English folk-song and the album 'Anthems in Eden' by Shirley and Dolly Collins remains a big fave.

The Guardian - Shirley Collins
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/mar/21/folk
Shirley and Dolly Collins = Pleasant and Delightful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaJw-ryhBB0

Although Shirley is revered as the Queen of the English Folk Revival, Fairport Convention were the first to pioneer 'folk/rock' and their achievements over the years have helped to shape the modern folk world. I've long been a fan of them and all the band's various offshoots. Here's one of my favourite Fairport songs:

Fairport Convention - Crazy Man Michael
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoKZ7ZhUtxQ

As I've grown older I've to enjoy most music apart from the commercialised pap that passes for pop these days(OMG I've turned into my Dad)

But throughout the years, 4 musicians have in particular rocked my boat and continue to do so. They are Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Roy Harper and Richard Thompson. It will be my great delight to see Roy receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Folk awards shortly.

Here's a few faves from each of these great musicians and artists

Roy Harper - On Summer Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt4XnUvrdvY

Joni Mitchell - Case of You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QZioxCg20I

Paul Simon - Slip Sliding Away
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKxyoud_c-E

Richard and Linda Thompson - Walking on a Wire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=payivmhyrII

You've been listening to 'Desert Island Discs' with eeyorn the space donkey. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did

GBE2 - Reintroducing myself

GBE2 WEEK #88 (1-20-13 to 1-26-13): Re-introducing myself

Hello all. For those who don't me, I have known Beth since the days when we both contributed to the original GBE group on Myspace.

For those who do know me, its been a tough year and I haven't had the energy or inspiration to do any GBE2-ing. I've lived with my ageing father on and off for the past 2 years and watched in dismay as chronic arthritis set into his right leg and to a lesser extent, his hands. He had always been a very active man and found the loss very hard to bear, I think. Despite this, he was also very obstinately independent and routinely and politely refused any offers of help from me.

For myself, it seems I am almost unemployable - I assume due to my age. Coupled with licking my wounds after a briefly glorious love affair, I began to drink a lot and on occasions disgacing myself badly. Dad was quite clear in his disaproval of my behaviour but allowed me stay on in the house. I was at least able to pay my share of all the bills which thankfully meant that I could not afford to become a permanent drunk.

Understandably, my 2 sisters have also been less than impressed with my behaviour and now have as little possible to do with me. I am hopeful that we can rebuild the fences in time.

So it was a very uneasy marriage of convenience for Dad and I, and for the most part we lived pretty much seperately. Dad died peacefully in September. Although his passing came as a shock the family take some comfort that he is no longer in constant pain or befuddled with painkillers.

Since then I've grieved for him, buried him, helped clear his house and get it ready to sell, and moved into a 1-BR apartment - still in Stevenage.

I'm grateful for all the support I've received from my friends in FB-land and the online bridge community, as well as a couple of real friends who help to keep me insane.

And I'm delighted to have Music as the topic for my re-entry into GBE2

Pome of the Day - Plebgate

"We have made clear that there should be no revenge attacks"
- Andrew Mitchell on the rebuilding of post-Ghadaffi Libya.

The Tories Chief Whip
Had to say 'Toodle Pip!!!'
After a night on the piss
He gave Plod some lip

'You fucking plebs!!!' he's alleged to have screamed
'Don't you know who I am? - You're gonna get creamed'
'The law's for the peasants, not us, the esteemed'

'I don't care who you are' said Plod with a grin
You can't cut through Downing Street
Stinking of gin
At 4 in the morning, may I ask where you've bin?'

But the story got out and although he denied
The use of strong language, the press took Plod's side
And another of Dave's posh chums
Had to swallow his pride
Delusions of grandeur, sadly denied

But what's this I hear on the news just today?
Mr.Plod got suspended albeit on full pay
A mystery witness confirmed Plod had lied
Ain't that just like a posh boy
To be spiteful and snide

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/dec/17/police-federation-andrew-mitchell-arrest

Pome of the Day - What's up, Guv?

An ugly frog prince known as Gove
Holds the Guinness Book of Records Record on hypocrisy, by Jove!!
His strike-breaking zeal
Would seem much more real
Has he forgotten his time manning the stove?

(I suppose it depends on your POV
Or perhaps he now drinks too much Soave)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/dec/12/michael-gove-heads-pay-teachers

Michael-Gove-on-the-picket-line-during-his-own-walkout

Pome of the Day

I've been inspired for many months now by the 'Letter a Day to No.10' Facebook blog written by 'Keith Ordinary Guy'. Each day Keith writes a physical letter which he posts to David Cameron in which he exposes the lies, deceit and plain inhumanity that Ca-Moron's policies are having, particularly with regard to their effects on the lowest tier of society. They are darkly humourous, hard-hitting and very angry. Needless to say, Ca-Moron has yet to reply. Highly recommended.

http://www.facebook.com/keith.lindsaycameron?fref=ts
www.keithordinaryguy.org.uk

Another good FB friend Ged,introduced me to the wondrously talented musician Katy Anchant who I discovered, has recently adopted a similar tactic, though in her case, she writes posing as a young woman besotted with Cameron and his policies in her daily 'Letter to David'. She also physically writes and posts these letters to him.
Katy mines a very rich vein of outrageous satire and her missives are another daily delight for me.

http://www.facebook.com/katy.anchant?fref=ts
http://thedailycameron.wordpress.com/

Meanwhile, Susan, another good American FB friend had sparked back to life my love of limericks and we spent a joyful evening shortly before the USA elections trading verses taking the piss out of various putative and actual world leaders.

Hence my recent decision to try to write a Pome a Day reflecting on recent news. Mainly of course, I hope to take some skilful potshots at the despicable bunch of cretins* that call themselves the government of this country.

I'll try to gather both the international limericks that started this off, along with my early attempts aimed at the national stage - which I've been publishing on my FB page - and eventually post links to everything from this blogpost.


* I apologise to all genuine cretins who may quite rightfully be incensed with being compared with this bunch of *******!s **

** The Guild of Asterisks confirm that no *'s were harmed in the production of this blog
Mon 17 Dec
Pome of the Day - Plebgate

GBE2 Week 12: 2 Rings

This week's GBE2 theme is a picture prompt:

They were both quite old when they met, and neither of them had any expectations. She'd had 3 kids from 2 previous relationships....he had a son from a previous marriage. It turned out to be a match made in heaven. They had lived together happily for 3 years when he got offered a lucrative job in the USA. It seemed like a good opportunity to make some money out of his extensive experience within the IT industry. And they do say that travel broadens the mind.

'Tiny' was a giant of a man that had established a reputation as a fair and wonderfully artistic jeweller within the local community. He stood about 6ft 4ins tall, and at least 4 ft wide. But despite his great size, he had over the years created some exquisitely fine jewelery, and charged very reasonable prices for his creations.

She had gazed in at Tiny's shop over the years with wonder, and with an artistic appreciation of his talents. Before heading for the USA, they would get married. It would need to be done for the sake of her youngest daughter who would be coming with them. But in any case it felt right for them both.

And so she suggested that Tiny should be their ringmaker. They visited the shop the next weekend, and liked a lot of what was on display, but nothing grabbed them both. For one thing she preferred to wear silver rather than gold, and was looking for something simple yet elegant. Tiny was not in the shop at the time, and so they arranged to come back when he would be there.

Tiny listened to her ideas and offered lots of helpful suggestions. Eventually they settled on the idea of having 2 matching bands made out of 'white gold', a mixture of 18 carat gold, platinum and rhodium. His would be a plain band, hers had 5 alternating small diamonds and sapphires inset into the ring.

The magic that those rings exert continues to this day.

Tiny died about 5 years ago, his big warm heart no longer able to cope with his larger than life body. Several thousand people attended his funeral, most of them wearing pieces of beautiful and original jewellery that he had made.

And although the shop has been taken over and is now selling new-age/bric-a-brac, to many Colchester residents, it will always be known as Tiny's place.

GBE 2 - 002 Blog 3 - How do you measure success these days?

'All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man measures up to his father. That's his' - Oscar Wilde.

My father has always been one of my big heroes. He was the son of a coal-miner, who managed to get himself a university education through his own good efforts and the financial help given by the newly created Welfare State set up by the Labour government of the 1940's. He studied at King's College London where he gained a B.Sc in Maths and Physics. He worked for a government-sponsored research laboratory, and was part of the team responsible for eradicating London of its smog in the 1950's, and then went on to develop the technology and dispersant chemicals that would be used to counteract oil-pollution. He was into computers in the age of punched paper tape. To this day we have a family tradition of making a new Christmas star each year out of paper tape (yes even now we have a very adequate supply, lol).

He taught me my love of numbers and mathematics, and one of my earliest childhood memories is of him taking me and my brother down to Stevenage Library, every other week or so, where we would pick out books to read.

I was able to read well and play with numbers before I started school. It was to stand me in good stead. Or it should have done. Unfortunately, life doesn't run like the railways, and my younger brother got killed in a horrific road accident when I was 9. It would be almost 50 years before I finally emerged from the trauma that my brother's death caused.

In between that time, I got married and divorced twice, had a very successful 25 year career in IT, and did my bit for British cultural relations as a Morris dancer, musician and teacher. I was devastating as the Gypsy violinist playing for a group of Morris Dancers that happened upon Albert Square (on the set of BBC soap 'East Enders) in May 1991. Also I was one of the cultural ambassadors who could speak a bit of German, when my Morris dance team, Belchamp Morris, took part in the wilds of the Munich Bier Festival later that same year. Fortunately, there are very few photos remaining of that event **Shudders***

So having realised that there was no star to aim for, where do you go to look for 'success'.

I'm no longer concerned with my own 'success'. I think I did pretty good.
What I'm now mainly concerned with, is the ongoing 'success' of mankind.

We get lots of mythological/religious stories about the 'ending of the days'.
Just last weekend, the world population might have reduced significantly due to 'The Rapture'. I didn't go along with this piece of nonsense, but you never can tell these days.

I'd like to think that mankind can 'triumph' over the ecological problems that have been blindingly obvious to me, for the last 30 years or so.

I'd like to think that mankind can see through the lies that are constantly thrown at us regarding the best way to fund our future.

I have my own ideas on that, which are shared by many around the world.

The most important of which is that wars only profit the arms makers, the military services and the banking elite that pull the strings of government.
The 3 wars that currently being waged - in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, have no credible reason for continuing and need to be stopped immediately. And whatever
you hear, please don't let mankind get suckered into a war with Iran and China.

Will you join me in working for the success of mankind?

Or will we fail?

GBE 2 - 002 (Blog 2) - Tips for a succesful life

This is a list of tips for a successful life offered by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his New Year's address from 2008.

Instructions for life Mantra

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three R's of good karma:

Respect for self
Respect for others and
Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great relationship.

7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

GBE2 - 002 Success (Blog 1) - Kyle's Story

Success

'Kyle's Story' is a true story that I heard about from a friend on Myspace quite a few years ago. When the new GBE2 topic was posted, I just had to search through my old myspace blog and share it again.

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle.

It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd."

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends
tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on. As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.

He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes.My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks".
They really should get lives. He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!". There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.

We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends...He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.Monday morning came and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again! I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!". He just laughed and handed me half the books. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Kent. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a scholarship. Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak. Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous!! Today was one of those days I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great. He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled " Thanks" he said. As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends.

I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift
you can give them. I am going to tell you a story."

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first
day we met. He had planned to kill himself over that weekend.
He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to
do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile."Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us
all about his weakest moment.

I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.

Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions.
With one small gesture you can change a person's life.
For better or for worse.
God puts us all in each others lives to impact one another in some way.
Look for God in others.

Tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift.

GBE - 001 Expectations (take 2)

I caught up with an old schoolfriend today.

I'd cycled in to town to 'Sign on' ie prove that I was still alive and needed another handout from the Government, because at the age of 57 I'm too young to draw a pension, yet too old to realistically get another job.

And having completed the ritual paperwork and said nice things to the Jobseekers clerk, I wandered out into the afternoon sunshine.

A heavily bearded, scruffy looking person is sitting outside the the Jobcentre and calls out 'Ian'. I take a quick look at him, pretend I haven't heard him call my name, and head towards my bicycle.

He calls again, 'Ian'.

I turn and take a deeper look.

Could it be....no surely not

'Tony?'

He smiles and offers his hand. I take it gladly.

Tony and I grew up together. We went through infant school, junior school and grammar school together. We were both brilliant students, tusselling to win 1st place in any given assignment throughout our early school years. Later in grammar school I specialised in science, with Chemistry as my main subject. Tony was an excellent science student but was even better with English and languages. His mum was Jewish, his father a German dissident.....he had the world as his oyster.
He went off to Cambridge to do a double-first in English and German. I went off to the the University of East Anglia in Norwich where I failed after the first year.
Such is life.

I can't tell you how pleased I was to see my old friend.
We WILL keep in touch.
Even though we're both useless scumbags, in today's society, I'd like to think I can contribute bright thoughts to the world. And Tony's intellect is......well....out there.....even now, as he lives the life of a tramp

GBE2 - 001 Expectations

Expectations

This year marks the 70th birthday of 2 of the greatest singer/songwriters that the world has known. Robert Allen Zimmerman, better known to the world as Bob Dylan celebrated his birthday yesterday, and Roy Harper celebrates his on 12th June.

Most people can be forgiven if they've never heard of Harper. He's a British artist who has had very limited commercial success, largely because he refused to compromise with the corporate music labels and has doggedly followed his own muse. And yet over the course of almost 50 years as a professional musician, he's produced 23 studio albums and as many again live and compilation albums full of extraordinary music.

Harper’s music has consistently rattled the cage of received ideas. His versatile, poetic sensibility has been employed in a wide range of song styles from romantic love songs to late-night mantras to blackly comedic throwaway numbers. From the start of his career he has been a brilliant percussive and fingerpicking guitarist, and he has extended the form over the years, allowing himself the space to stretch out in long, lyrically dense and mantrically repetitive odysseys of poetic thought. “I was writing long poems in the 50s,” says Harper, “none of which unfortunately made it past the first few moves of living quarters. My first inspiration was John Keats’s Endymion.”

http://www.royharper.co.uk/magento/biography


I've loved Harper's music ever since I first saw him play live at my local college here in Stevenage sometime in 1969. He was booked as the support act for early British blues/rock pioneers Free, who were riding high in the charts with their big breakthrough hit 'Alright Now'. Free did a brilliant show with some exquisitely good playing from their sadly fated guitarist, Paul Kossoff.

But for my money, Roy Harper blew them off the stage.

So all in all, it was a much better gig than I expected, in fact probably the best gig I've ever been to.

I've seen Roy playing live many times since then, and to this day every live show of his has been special. Despite being a very angry man in his worldview, Roy has crafted strings of beautiful songs full of dense poetic imagery and coupled with extraordinarily uplifting musical accompaniments.

I have yet to see Dylan live, and I don't suppose I ever will now. But over the last couple of years I've tried to get to Roy's now infrequent live shows, fearing that each one would be his last. He has largely retired from public performance and lives very contentedly with his lovely wife Tracey in the delightful Irish town of Clonakilty, just west of Cork on the SW coast of Ireland.

I last saw Roy a couple of months ago in London. He had been asked to take part in a musical series to be broadcast on TV called 'Legends'. Each episode will contain interviews with the artist(s) and a live gig shot at Metropolis Studios in Chiswick W. London. I was amongst the lucky 120 people who saw the gig. And at the end of the gig, Roy mentioned that he would probably do just one more live gig, to mark his 70th birthday. His fans have been waiting in anticipation ever since.

Only just recently we heard that the gig had been set up for Nov 5 at what has become a favourite venue for Roy and his fans, at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Its a 2900 seat concert space which retains the intimacy that is very much part of Roy's live shows. His wildly spacey rambling monologues introducing his songs are best appreciated in this setting. His performance at the same venue for his 60th birthday produced a cracker of a live 2-CD set, unfortunately I missed the gig itself as I was living and working in the USA at the time.

http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/venues/royal-festival-hall

So I hoped very much that I would be able to get a ticket for this last gig. Tickets were expected to go on sale to the 'Friends of the Southbank Centre' last Friday, and over the weekend a few 'Stormcockers' - members of Roy's online fan club gleefully announced their acquisitions and noted that tickets were selling rapidly.

We had been told that tickets would go on sale to the general public on Monday 23 May.

There was just one snag for me.

I've been jobless for a while now, and reliant on JSA (Job Seekers Allowance) - a 2-weekly payment from the UK Government to anyone available for work and demonstrably seeking it. The problem was I had been living in Hastings on the South Coast for a couple of months and had only recently returned to Stevenage. You would have thought this shouldn't be a big deal, but the UK bureaucracy can be notoriously slow, unhelpful and to be quite blunt incompetent. I had completed all the necessary paperwork at my local Jobcentre 2 Fridays ago and been advised that my JSA should be paid into my bank account the previous Wednesday (18th). Of course it came and went without any money arriving in my account. The same on Thursday. On Friday, I spent all day attempting to phone the JSA claimants centre, getting put on hold for 20 minutes at a time before the line would eventually go dead.

On Monday, I tried again and got through at about 10am. After re-answering all the questions that I'd answered at my local Jobcentre, I was told that the money would be paid into my account later that day and that I should receive a phone call to confirm the payment within 3 hours.

At about 2pm I got through to them again, explained about the lack of return phone call and lack of money in my account......and went through the whole cycle of answering all the questions I'd answered last time. This time payment and a confirmatory phone was promised 'within the hour'.

At about 3.20pm I got through to them again, explained about the lack of return phone calls and lack of money in my account......and got transferred to a team leader, where I went through the whole cycle of answering all the questions I'd answered last time. This time payment and a confirmatory phone was promised for 'tomorrow morning'. I told her that I would be made homeless if I didn't give my landlord some money today and asked if there was any way to pick up a payment from my local Jobcentre. 'Yes', she says, 'I'll arrange that for you, you should get a phone call to confirm it within the hour, and you'll have to get down to your Jobcentre by 5pm with some form of ID'. I confirmed that I was able to do that and waited with bated breath. At 4.30pm I was just about to call them again when they called back. 'I've arranged for you to pick up a Girocheque from your local Jobcentre tomorrorow at 9am' sez she. 'Umm, please I really desperately need some money today, I've already explained that I'll be made homeless if I don't pay some money to my landlord. 'Oh OK' says she, 'if you head to you Jobcentre right now, I'll let them know you're coming to pick it up tonight'. I jumped on my trusty bicycle and pedalled furiously into town.

I got to the Jobcentre at 4.40 and explained the position to the receptionist. She looked on all of her lists and confirmed she knew nothing about my story. 'I'll just check with the Finance team' sez she. About 5 minutes later I was shown into a room to wait for a cashier. Another 5 mins and he opens up his till, I show him my passport and Jobseeker papers, sign a piece of paper for him and finally get given the Girocheque. A couple more minutes and I'm in the Post Office getting the Giro cashed. Then onto my bank just before closing time at 5pm to pay the money into my account.

Then high-tailed it back home, where it was time to prepare dinner. I live with my 85-year old father and we share cooking duties. Having got dinner on, I logged on and found the Southbank Centre website. It took a while to navigate to Roy's gig in November as the site just allows you to look at events up to three months in advance. Eventually I find the gig, click on the 'Buy Tickets' button.....and it comes up 'This event has now sold out'

FOCK!!!!!

Here is a selection of Roy's songs, there are lots more on youtube

'Another Day' - a beautifully poignant love song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-MBMTcFsyE&feature=related

'I Hate the White Man' - one of his 'Angry' songs, and reckoned to be one of his best
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k899gOpzWRw


'Same Old Rock' - one of his long poetical songs, accompanied by his son Nick Harper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv2KlMirh00

GBE2: Introduction

The GBE - the Global Blogging Experience first started on Myspace several years ago where it was hosted by a lovely lady called Alicia. The idea is that every week a topic is set and everyone who wishes to take part has the rest of the week to create a blog on that topic. You're allowed to take your own tilt at the topic, you can write as little or as much as you want and add pictures and or music. Then once you've posted your blog, you let the host know the blog's link and everyone else in the group may visit your blog, hopefully enjoy it and leave comments. Its a nice way to get your blogs known to a wider audience and very often make a lot of new friends.

I made a lot of lovely friends taking part in the original GBE, amongst them my 'virtual' sister Elizabeth Grace. Beth has decided to host GBE2 via a Facebook group, though with the twist that most people will be using proper blogging sites like Blogger, Blogspot, Wordpress etc to create their blogs on. If you'd like to join in, and you're on FB, please join this Facebook group:
GBE2: Blog On
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_209032889129479

or go to Beth's Blogging site:
http://www.word-nerd-speaks.com/

and tell Beth that Ian sent you :-)