Christmas...

.. Gonna finish at the farm today, I've had no work this

month, but that's ok. I've still been in each day, it's been

bloody cold but the drive in has been good fun, what with

the snow an' all.  Got a bit of a bad feeling about this Christmas,

maybe it's just my age but...?

..... Here's a clip that reminds me of  my childhood, and though

I'm an atheist, a clip of what Christmas is truly about, just people

showing love to one another.

To any one reading this, have a wonderful Christmas, try and think

of those less fortunate than us, and may your god go with you ...

oh what a world ...

Students rioting... all a bit tame.. Blues fans and Darkside Devils

rioting, all a bit tame... North Korea acting butch, all a bit tame

'cause the Chinese don't like 'em now... Iran acting tough, all a bit

tame, and the Saudis want the Yanks to bomb 'em any way....

and Wikileaks, what's that all about? Who's really behind all that?

    Couple of weeks ago I said to my mate that it was worth a punt

on the head of Wikileaks being arrested on some trumped up charge

 and, cut of my legs and call me shorty.... Julian Assange is nicked.

Anyway, here's Rufus... ( you're right Darius, he did nick all Cables moves.. ha ha ..)

... glory days ....

That's it then, out of work again, but at least I've made enough 

to keep me here 'till next February or there abouts. No work

so here I am moochin' around on the interweb again and read

a piece on glory days. How when we were kids in the fifties and

sixties life was better then, simpler, happier, sunnier ... bollux.

       Yes days were ace then, but that was because we were young,

beautiful, immortal and, innocent. Beautiful because we weren't

disfigured by life's scars, innocent because, with a shrug of the

shoulders most of us "didn't want to know" Mostly we had no

money or possessions, so how could anyone threaten or hurt us,

we had our youth, and you couldn't buy that at any price.

Some of us stayed, some of us left and came back, some of us left

and never returned but where-ever we finished, "they" "them" the

"system"  finally got us and plugged us into the matrix.

     I've spent my life living as close to the edge of the system as a guy

with a wife and three children could, but it still pisses me off that I have

to be a part of it, still pisses me off that I saw what I saw, heard what I

heard and did nothing to change it. Omission is, perhaps the greatest sin

of all..... I live and work alone now, alone and unplugged, no-longer

young or beautiful, no-longer innocent, no-longer immortal, but I

still smile and remember ....... glory days ......

... live music ..

... what can you say? ...

11th hour, 11th day, 11th month ..

The lads in their hundreds to Ludlow come in for the fair,
There's men from the barn and the forge and the mill and the fold,
The lads for the girls and the lads for the liquor are there,
And there with the rest are the lads that will never be old.

There's chaps from the town and the field and the till and the cart,
And many to count are the stalwart, and many the brave,
And many the handsome of face and the handsome of heart,
And few that will carry their looks or their truth to the grave.

I wish one could know them, I wish there were tokens to tell
The fortunate fellows that now you can never discern;
And then one could talk with them friendly and wish them farewell
And watch them depart on the way that they will not return.

But now you may stare as you like and there's nothing to scan;
And brushing your elbow unguessed-at and not to be told
They carry back bright to the coiner the mintage of man,
The lads that will die in their glory and never be old.

A.E. Housman .

Norman Wisdom

..... Norman Wisdom ... 1915-2010.

Even at this sad time, to think of him ... is to smile ....

The Few .....

High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor even eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

J.G.M.

Gifts......

Well here I am again...
Thought I'd be out of Runway Farm by now, me being
broke and no work for weeks, but hey, out of the blue
I get a job for the Sha of Oman, and farmer John has let
me off with the rent,(again) so I'm still here, still clinging
to my 'way of life'.
..... My health has been better, and my energy levels are
very, very low, and ergo my mood, I needed a lift badly,
and wow, I got two in a week. First my son sent me his
first full, published book, inside he has written that he's
sure I'm partly to blame for it.. ha ha . I don't think so
Daz, I'm sure your talent is inspite of me, not thanks to
me.
.. Anyway, lift number two... I can't afford to go down Stans
anymore, but I keep in touch through singing the blues,
a forum I post on once a week or so. A couple of days ago
I got a package from Tasmania, it was a Zippo, engraved on
it was "KRO" "Tas". I was blown away, I had no idea it was
coming. Tas ( Steve Kerr) is an ex-brummie and bluenose I talk
to on singing the blues. We met a couple of years ago when he
made (maybe) his last visit to England. We had a drink in the Wagon,
and, well I felt I'd known him all my life, what a cool guy.
.. So thank you both for my gifts, and the smile on my face..

and here's the magical, mixed-up, pissed-up John Martyn ....

skin...

.. Gaz, a blues mate of mine, tells me 

 Skunk Anansie are back together, had

a look at their myspace and yep, they 

have a new single "my ugly boy" and

 areback on tour in the UK.

...Sounds good, hope it goes well for them

but,  well,  you can never go back I guess,

and their old act will be hard to follow..

Promises..

So...

Mom and Dad

Brothers and sisters

That guy with the dog-collar

Miss Parry the Art teacher

Colin Leary and Alan Carr

Susan Slattery and Pamela Parker

The "Clegg and Cameron" show

All chairmen of the Blues

Sun-lit dawns in Devon

Burgers in McDonalds

Speedo's on 1960's Bonnys

Train time-tables

Journeys to far-away places

Snow flakes a week before Christmas

After-shave and Capello..

Oh... and me to me ......

Pernicious anemia ...

Just over twenty years ago I fell ill.

At that time I ran my small business with a staff 

of about twelve people and a family of three young

children, ( and a wife ) to care for and look after.

It follows of course that my health was of little

importance to me, and I had neither the time or

inclination to get it sorted.

         After much bullying from family and friends

I went to see a doctor,( give it me straight Doc ) he

told me if I didn't get it sorted, then pretty soon I

would die, happy days ...

   After tests I found it was much ado about nothing..

all I had was Pernicious Anemia. Altough quite interesting

it was no big deal. No-one really knows how this happens

or why the body destroys your  "Intrinsic factor" although

it's thought that alcohol can be a cause, and I loved my whisky

at that time.

Worth a cut and paste if you're interested...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pernicious_anemia

Anyway, enough waffle, I went for my shot of  Cyanocobalamin today,

and was told it isn't, and wont be, produced ever again.

There is an alternative, Neo-Cytamin , but I am allergic to

this and cannot take it. So hey, life on the edge, exciting times ahead ... 

Life is just a bowl of cherries ......  ain't that the truth ....

Maori....

Ehara i te mea

No naienei te aroha

No nga tapuna

Tuku iho, tuku iho

Do not believe that love is merely 

A thing of the present

Nor is it a gift, handed down by the ancestors.

It is in all things, now, forever, and always..

Kia kaha ...

.. God ......

.. we saw him last night and, well .........  wow ....

   He was on top form, just him and his piano at his best,

   but this track just blew every-one away .....

... Vol Canoes ......

.. sorry, meant volcanoes ..

  Iceland, don't you just love that place..?

First they nick all our cod, then take all our

money, and now they ground every aircraft

in UK air space.... brill .......

    I don't care, 'cause I'm off to see Rufus at

Symphony Hall next Tuesday, god knows

how I'll get there ( with one leg an'all) but

I will.

    Only two games left at Stans, looks like

they may be my last, as I can't afford a season

ticket anymore, my "end of the road" I guess.

... So I've.....

... got some work... yeahhh.
Well ok then, lets turn it up loud and dance .......

 

never mind......

... nothing good around right now, even have some farce

    of an election going on, what a bummer..

         As always there's music to go back to, and I often go

    back to this girl, and then I always go back to this........

.... well I don't care ...... it's my blog......

     and this track is gobsmackin'ly ace .......

.... when I was a nipper they all said that

smoking just wasn't cool... well, come on...

So, today is "Pack-up smoking" day. I've read so much on the

evils of smoking cigarettes ... I've read how bad it is for your

health.. I've read what a drain it is on the NH service.....

I've read how unpleasant it is for none-smokers.... I've read

how I could have bought a small south pacific island with

the money I've wasted...  I've read how.....  ah sod it, that's

it, this time, I'm really going to do it.....................................

Yep, I'm giving up .... reading .....

anyway... smoke gets in your eyes...

(this track made me take up alto-sax)

Human...

.. so we took our time to turn each bend...

   and all we found was time without end..

One life is trivial, together, our only hope

is infinity .....

who are ya......

.. Talking the other night about how anonymous 

blogs are,  I could be Tony Bliar for all you

know.... well maybe not. I don't do photographs,

hate 'em, I have just three in my collection, one

of which is a picture of me at Runway Farm.

      This was taken about eighteen months ago,

and shows me swearing allegiance to my religion.

Oh... I'm a bluenose Jedi .....

... Here's a cool track... crap video, too heavy ...

J.D. Salinger.. 1919...2010

So, all the 'smart people' are out, telling us what to think 

of you..... well I wouldn't know about all that....

But on behalf of a teenage kid I once knew, thank you,

thank you J.D. Salinger ....

seal of seasons ....

I wanna tell you a story, I think it's true.

Once upon a time there was a bank called RBS, this bank

gambled away all it's money and was about to go bust.

    Our government stepped in and said, hey, don't worry

we have billions of tax- payers money we can give, so,

panic over.  A while later, a very, very healthy company

called Cadbury, was the subject of a hostile but succesfull 

bid from Kraft, a foreign company.

     Sadly, Kraft didn't have enough cash to buy Cadbury,

so they have to raise it from banks etc. One of these banks

is... yep, RBS, the bank we now own. It follows of course 

that we, or our government, can have a say in all this,

after all it is our bank, our money........

Oh no we feckin' can't.

        In my previous post.....

I guess what I should have said is ' all Brummies are cursed with good hands,

 and we USED to create/manufacture anything, but those days are long gone.

Now Cadbury is in the hands of foreign owners, and will soon be taken from

this land, preceded by so many great names lost to England, since sweet lady

Thatcher opened the door.

         The press, national and local, are having a field day, and our glorious 

leaders are spouting their usual empty words, they are all powerless. Money

talks, and has the last word as always. We as a nation may grumble for a

while, then just roll over and let it happen, maybe we're just gutless now

and no-longer have the stomach for a fight, or are we visionaries, leading the

world in globalization , tearing down national barriers, shrinking the planet,

breaking the seal of seasons ......

... 'ave it ......

So, the Blues my Blues ......

Most football matches were called off last week-end (well it snowed didn't it?)

apart from the Blues and the Baggies ( and some poncy southern team).

Blues had a full-house, set a new club record of twelve games undefeated and,

most of us left Stans peed off at only drawing with Manure.

    Full-house eh..... looks like we'll have to get used to the 'Glory Huntin' fans'

as our  family (Eck and his team, Carson and us) are set to conquer the world. (wink smilie)

So for our new world wide fans, here's some info on Brummies...

     All Brummies are cursed with 'good hands' , we can create/manufacture anything

including wealth, though that is stolen from us by southern softies, bankers, and public

school politicians, but we..... well we just 'get on with it'.

We are not, repeat not part of the 'Black country', they are Yamyams, we are Brummies.

Ask any Yamyam what a Brummie is and they'll say "a miserable git". Ask any Brummie

about a Yamyam, and they'll say, "they need a passport"

    However, we do share a common border, and  we, (Brummies) speak Old English,

and if you can't understand us, well tough titty. Yamyams however, due to our sharing

said border, have stolen many of our words and phrases and not even we can understand

them now. So should you mistakenly cross the border into Yamyam land, here's a link

you may find useful, nay essential on your quest to leave as soon as possible.....

www.sedgleymanor.com/dictionaries/dialect.html

(you may have to c&p etc.)

Anyway, being a Blues fan right now? It's bostin .......  KRO

stop, and open your.....

Well, a new year, a new decade and everyone's back at work, or not.

Seems I'm the only one enjoying the cold weather and the snow it

has brought, seems you're all to busy chasing the next few quid to

stop and open your eyes to these beautiful sights set before us.

    I take a short cut when driving back from Runway Farm, using

a country lane untreated, and unused by most traffic .  Brees Lane,

across Table Oak and into Holly Lane where, for most of it, the

tall trees meet above your head. Right now it's as if they have been

covered by the most beautiful lace shawl ever created .

    Well there's beauty and then there's ............

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