I’m not a huge fan of Christmas songs, but this one is something special, and is always worth listening to. Written in 1943, it featured in the 1944 musical film, ‘Meet Me In St Louis’, sung by Judy Garland. That is still my favourite version. Have yourself a merry little Christm … | Continue reading
I would like to wish all my dear blogging friends and followers who celebrate it a very Happy Christmas for 2024. Hoping you all have a wonderful year to come in 2025. Back to normal service on the 26th. | Continue reading
This is the seventeenth part of a fiction serial, in 777 words. Tony reached into the bag as if looking for the van keys, then curled his hand around the grip of the small submachinegun. Placing his finger on the trigger he moved the bag slightly and fired the gun through it. The … | Continue reading
A Scottish band named after a Steely Dan song, Deacon Blue had success in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s. They are still performing today, and though they have not remained in the music charts, they have a very loyal following of fans. This was on an album of theirs that I bought … | Continue reading
Following on from yesterday’s song, here is another record I loved that had a cover version by The Beatles. Yet again often described as a ‘Beatles’ Song’, and later covered by the Carpenters with some claiming it to be a ‘Carpenters’ Song’, this is the original that I owned at t … | Continue reading
I haven’t been outside much this past week. A short trip to the supermarket by car, and a walk of around one hour on a dry day over on Beetley Meadows. The cold wind seemed to make me feel worse, and brought on a coughing fit when I got home. I don’t like the feeling … Continue r … | Continue reading
This is the sixteenth part of a fiction serial, in 822 words. When they heard from Mikey, he had a plan. And they didn’t like it. It was discussed in their hotel room after breakfast the next morning. “I’m interested in buying the dope, but you can appreciate I don’t trust either … | Continue reading
Shortest day of the year. Dark by 3:20pm, and it has been raining all day. | Continue reading
In my occasional quest to bring original recordings to life, here is a song from 1962 by The Miracles. Smokey Robinson wrote this song, and despite The Beatles having a hit with it some time later, it is NOT, nor will ever be, a ‘Beatles song’. I don’t like you, but I love you Se … | Continue reading
It was dark just after 3pm and now it is raining heavily. “Yo-Ho-Ho”. Coming soon to shops in America. | Continue reading
Art Deco, Modernist, or Brutalist architecture. Real buildings or ships, or imagined scenes and places. This is the style I love. | Continue reading
This is the fifteenth part of a fiction serial, in 792 words. They kept the rented car and took a case full of the drugs on the long drive north to Edinburgh. It wouldn’t be too long before Alan Richards started to wonder where they had gone, but he knew nothing about the stuff s … | Continue reading
I think it’s a safe bet that most people outside the UK will not be familiar with this record. I could add that many British people might not have heard of it either. Basment Jaxx is the group name of two club DJs who built up a big following in South London during the 1990s. … C … | Continue reading
We had company yesterday, Julie’s sister-in-law came to visit. When the house phone rang while she was here, I ignored it. Later that afternoon, I saw there was an answerphone message, so I played it. The message was from Jill Harris, asking me to ring her when I was free. So I c … | Continue reading
Despite my dislike of AI as a concept, I noticed that Grok AI was currently free on Twitter. So I tasked it to create a photo of a man of my age (not me specifically) with a brown Sharpei dog. It didn’t do too bad, though the colour is different to Ollie and the dog … Continue re … | Continue reading
Having a change from memes this Wednesday. Here are some Art Deco posters that I really like. | Continue reading
Trump really has out-Trumped himself this time. And I would like to know why nobody on his team didn’t spot what he was going to say and stop the embarrassment. Whatever you think of the man, his lack of historical knowledge and associated stupidity has sunk to new levels as he s … | Continue reading
There is actually some light in the sky this morning, and I don’t need the lights on in the house! | Continue reading
This is the fourteenth part of a fiction serial, in 756 words. Shirley had heard stories about the open drug culture in Amsterdam, but seeing it in action was startling to someone from London. People smoked grass openly, others could be seen injecting heroin in side streets and a … | Continue reading
Some amusing signs to brighten up a very dull day. | Continue reading
This song was Julie’s choice to be played during our wedding ceremony in 2009. It was released in 1990 by the American band Extreme, and to me it actually seems to be a sad song. But Julie loves it, so we had it played at the wedding. Extreme has split and reformed since then, an … | Continue reading
Today is our ‘Christmas family meal’ with Julie’s family. We are going to The Chequers Inn, in the tiny village of Thompson. Already we have ‘dropouts’. Our little grand-daughter is unwell, so one of her parents will be staying at home to look after her. Every meal had to be orde … | Continue reading
This is the thirteenth part of a fiction serial, in 807 words. With no need to go out and about dealing small amounts of cocaine, Shirley arranged to change the home phone number and leave the street dealing arrangements to Alan and his mob. That made life a lot easier for her an … | Continue reading
In 1963, Joge Ben recorded his song ‘Mas Que Nada’, a Brazilian Samba-style song. Three years later, Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66 covered the song, and had a huge hit. My dad was a fan, and had Sergio’s album. I loved listening to it in my teens. Here is his excellent version. (Th … | Continue reading
Small selection today. Better late, than never. | Continue reading
Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-American singer who performed with The Miami Sound Machine and also as a solo artist. Known for the rhythmic and upbeat dance and party music, she has had an incredibly successful career and sold millions of records. Still working today at the age of 67, … | Continue reading
This is the twelfth part of a fiction serial, in 751 words. After an hour in the pub, there was a deal struck with Alan Richards. They would get ten percent on top of the buy price, and all the cash up front to pay for the drugs. That surprised Tony, but Alan accepted Shirley’s … … | Continue reading
Don’t eat the carrots! Apologies to anyone offended, but I am still laughing at this one! | Continue reading
Cee-Lo Green is a big man, with a voice to match. I first heard him as the lead vocalist of a band called Gnarls Barkley, on their hit song ‘Crazy’, in 2006. After the success of that song, he went solo and had a few hits. He is still around today, though I haven’t heard … Contin … | Continue reading
Late today, but still worth a look. | Continue reading
Today was so frustrating. We had an appointment at my bank at lunchtime to change my accounts to joint accounts. That is so Julie can access them if the worst happens. It took over 90 minutes to do that simple thing! Following that, we went to the doctor’s so Julie could pick up … | Continue reading
This is the eleventh part of a fiction serial, in 800 words. Holding the Luger behind his back and telling Shirley to stay in the living room, Tony answered the door. The man outside was smartly dressed in a three-piece suit, and looked to be in his forties. He held his jacket op … | Continue reading
A random selection on an exceptionally dull day. (Lights on in the house at 9:30am.) You have to know the film reference. | Continue reading
Before I turned off the PC last night, I noticed a spike in views. So I checked the Jetpack Stats page and found out why. There had been over 200 views of one old post, ‘London Nostalgia In Photos: Street Markets’. Almost all of those had been generated from a Russian website, ge … | Continue reading
This is the tenth part of a fiction serial, in 795 words. When they got to the letting agent’s office in the Clapham Common area of South London, Shirley did the talking. A cash deposit and advance payment of rent got them a nice basement flat with a courtyard at the back in the … | Continue reading
I came across this article about what clothing was fashionable the year you were born. (Female fashions) https://www.townandcountrymag.com/style/fashion-trends/news/g2069/100-years-of-style/ I was born in 1952, and this was the example for that year. By following the link you can … | Continue reading
It has finally stopped raining! | Continue reading
I was expecting to hear about my X-Rays and blood test results today, but did not receive a call. So at 4:30pm I rang my doctor’s surgery to see if the results had come in. Nothing so far, other than the doctor is scheduled to look at my blood tests ‘soon’. Meanwhile, I have been … | Continue reading
Starting off the week as I hope to continue. | Continue reading
By my standards, it was a busy week. Called back by my doctor to get diuretic tablets one day. A trip to the hospital for X-rays the next day, followed by going to my step-daughter’s house to celebrate our grandson’s tenth birthday. The next day a trip into town to make some arra … | Continue reading
Battered by Atlantic storms, we need something to smile about. | Continue reading
This is the ninth part of a fiction serial, in 768 words. Once the adrenaline wore off, Tony started to shake. He had to try to pull himself together. Although the shabby industrial area was almost devoid of traffic and there was no housing nearby, that amount of gunfire could ea … | Continue reading
On Thursday afternoon, we finally managed to collect the Christmas tree ornament featuring a photo of Ollie. It was made by someone who lives in Beetley, and cost only £6 as we collected it from her house. The tree bauble is made from good quality resin and is double-sided with t … | Continue reading
My thanks to Gavin Marriott from New Zealand for finding these informative memes and sending them to me. | Continue reading
This is the eighth part of a fiction serial, in 852 words. There were only two ways to play it, as far as Tony could see. The first one was to contact Alex, warn him of a double-cross, and throw in with him hoping to take over his drugs business at a later date. The … Continue re … | Continue reading