Swing Your Daddy

A Day in the Life ... (2)

Thu, 14 May 2009 12:51:46 +0200

An email about the trials and tribulations of travelling around Australia was on the face of it no different from any other communication from my son, except for the final line. Someone he hadn’t spoken to in years had tracked him down via YouTube.

Expressed delight at finally hearing from her vowed him to keep in touch. Oh and by the way, her mother had just passed away.

Reading it again I moved on, responded to other mails, forgotten brain cells busy with a past not often thought of - until now that is when, from the blue, it pushed its way in front of me.

Confusion set in. Why was I being so sentimental, especially about things that hadn’t ended well?

Anyway she’s gone, definitively, at the tender age of 49 – things we’d done together flashing back in vivid colour - The arguments, injustices, and laughter we shared with friends, disrupted now by questions that I know I shouldn’t ask.

But do!

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A day in the life of ... (1)

Sat, 09 May 2009 15:13:18 +0200

I knew I'd arrived for certain when the woman slapping a mop around my feet asked me a couple of questions, neither of which I could make any sense of. The only word I could catch was "Dynasty".

Not wanting to appear impolite I was about to say "Yes I agree," when I discovered a very hard bit in my "M" burger.

Since I am always worried about the condition of my teeth, and desperate to avoid dentist bills, or any other bills for that matter, I used my tongue to try and identify and hopefully excavate the inedible bit. As it turned out the inedible bit was a bridge I'd had implanted back in the days when money flowed freely.

Desperate to retrieve it I was about to place a forefinger and thumb into my mouth when I noticed the cleaning lady stooping over me waiting for an answer to several questions I had missed. Joan Collins was definitely mentioned in one of them so I agreed that she still looked amazing for her age.

This must have been the wrong answer since the mop, and the blond woman dragging it, disappeared behind a brightly coloured door, leaving a vapour of disinfectant infused with french fries behind her. (Ambi Pur eat your heart out).

My bridge now stands in a glass in the kitchen shrouded in Steradent foam (Its actually a Pound land version it), acting as a reminder of the hard financial times both myself and many others now find ourselves in.

When its back where it belongs I'll know that the economy is on the up again.

I might even smile.

So who needs financial experts?

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BBC Four - Please give me more.

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 01:17:39 +0100

don't know whether anybody has been watching BBC Four the past few nights, but I have to say what an intriguing few nights its been. The focus has been on pop music, how it works and why it works and how a three minute song, just like a snapshot, can land you right back where you were the very first time you heard it.

BBC four are currently providing a very rich tapestry of programming on the subject, and I've watched with absolute fascination a half hour of Juke Box Jury, a 1968 edition of Top of the Pops, The Old Grey Whistle test, The Tube, Ready Steady Go, two hour long programmes featuring two classic albums - A day at the Races and Rumours, and a really interesting and educational analysis of how pop songs are made and how they work, explained by composers, writers, arrangers, and musicians alike.

So much has been covered in so little time, from Hip Hop to the Beatles, from Rianna to Queen, the beat still continuing even now as I write, with a very rare screening of the 1997 pop film "Mojo".

Totally absorbing, nostalgic, amazing, enchanting and in many ways priceless, as seldom does anybody take the subject so seriously, and in such a well presented - and extremely fun kind of way.

What has become clear so far having watched nine hours of programming, is that sometimes even the musicians themselves look back on their work in awe, almost overwhelmed by what they have created - a special time and a very special place somehow contributing to a musical masterpiece that is somehow greater than the sum of all its parts and of all its contributors - just as the memories evoked in me are when ever I hear a particular song. One thing is definite. Fleetwood Mac, Queen and the Beatles will live a lot longer than I will.

Just finally, (I have to get back to my TV) - Although I might be the only person in the world watching these programmes every evening (According to statistics we're all spending much more time on our computers), may I be so selfish as to ask BBC Four to keep on doing what they've done so very well, and 'til at least the end of January. It's such a gloomy month but in doing this you would really help to make it just that much brighter.

Thanks

Humbly Yours

A Pop Picker

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Hey, Teachers, leave our food alone.

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 13:47:57 +0100

"A little bit of what you fancy does you good" and "You'll have to eat a pack of dirt before you die" were two sayings often uttered by my grandmother.

She lived to be 98, and right up until the day she passed away, (due to an unfortunate accident I might add), dined on a diet of meat and two veg, rice pudding and trifles, bottles of Guinness, the occasional cigarette, and regular pots of Typhoo tea.

She also enjoyed barley sugar, caramel toffee's, the occasional bet, regular trips to mass, fortune tellings, bingo, and her weekly copy of "Tit Bits", the contents of which she frequently quoted from. (As children we were never in doubt about what Elizabeth Taylor had been up to).

Many years have passed since then, another nearly over - but this one, like so many, again filled with often conflicting stories about what we should and shouldn't eat, how much we should and shouldn't eat, and last but not least, about how far our food had to travel before it landed on our dinner plates - all of the above preached whilst a growing number of "Celebrity" chefs promoted them selves, their recipes, and the ingredients they used - ingredients I note, which not only had to be imported, but frequently failed to adhere to the advice often given to us about what we should and shouldn't eat. (NB:Incidentially- I cannot think of anything more boring than having to watch somebody make a meal that I'm never going to taste, can't smell, and will never be satisfied by. To me its tantamount to virtual sex - all tease and no satisfaction).

But of course that's not the point, the point being that whilst I fully understand the importance of a balanced diet, surely such a diet is one which is balanced over a period of a week or more, and not necessarily over the period of twenty four hours -Pizza, burgers and chips having never been intended to be consumed daily - (neither for that matter were alcohol, cakes and tobacco), but designed to be enjoyed as an occasional pleasure alongside much healthier fodder.

The problem is, I think, that nobody does surveys about pleasure, the impact it has on our lives - doctors and nutritionists seemingly failing to understand that Life isn't just about doing the right thing, avoiding the wrong things, but also about enjoyment, fun - gratification and risk - a little bit of what we fancy doing us a lot more good than harm - providing of course, that we're not made to feel guilty about it all the time.

So please, please, could we be spared all the guilt trips of 2007 in 2008, and be allowed to enjoy and get on with our lives, our children's lives - to be free to live them in just as varied and in just as diffuse a way as indeed my grandmother lived hers.

Holding mine up as an example, we might even get to live as long as she did if left alone to live ours the way we choose - and if freed from all the guilt betowed upon us. Who knows, we might even get to enjoy the journey just as much as she did.

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A Free Lunch

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 08:27:04 +0100

Today I've spent too much time on the computer - suddenly obsessed with the idea of tracking down old friends in America - to no avail I might add as every proclaimed "Free" web site visited suddenly wanted my credit card details before allowing me to go any further. Talk about the carrot before the stick. But then there's no such thing as a free lunch is there? Or is there?

Tripod allowed me to build two reasonable web sites within the space of a few hours, launched them into cyberspace, then provided me with the necessary tools to promote the sites. Total cost - Zilch! - I mean nothing, and along the way I really did learn something - that I need to get more!

Talk soon

StrangerinIreland.

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A Cappuccino recession

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 10:42:46 +0100

So its goodbye Cappuccino - and hallo again Nescafe instant - and a drop in house prices.

And bearing that in mind, and with the au pair gone, I've taken to dusting and cleaning again - taking pride in what i have - my home still more a sanctuary than any step up some one's ladder.

Nesting or investing? Well I'm nesting thanks very much - and taking a break from the chores as I gaze beyond the window - stare at a woman sobbing on the bonnet of her SUV - just across from a bakers shop where a Starbucks used to be. And that's when I counted my blessings - framed my credit cards - hung then on a wall above the box I stash my cash in.

And then I giggled, you know, about the good old days before the rise in sub-prime lending - safe in the knowledge that the good times would come again.

And how do I know that? Because I've been through it all before - currency problems, the energy crisis of the early 1970's - Current credit crunches just another few crumbs off a giant digestive biscuit - determined as it always will be - to keep on turning as its earning.

Enough said.

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Its Christmassssss!!!!!

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:20:53 +0100

Mother who has barely spoken to me since our holiday in Las Vegas last August, finally broke the silence with an email yesterday.

Whilst asleep she's been experiencing vivid dreams, the last one apparently about me. She'd dreamt that I'd called her to say I'd moved and just wanted to see if it was true.

Well of course I replied immediately that it wasn't, and haven't heard anything since. Not even a few words of encouragement about the fact I'd given up smoking two weeks ago. Oh well!

Anyway Christmas is soon approaching, and I'll be spending this one on my own. No sympathy please as this is really the way I'd prefer it. Safe and comfortable in my own home, relaxed, and not worrying about upsetting anyone else, or whether or not they liked the presents I'd bought them. And anyway i have a cat to look after!

I know its fashionable to knock Christmas these days (In fact it's fashionable to knock everything these days) but I really do enjoy the build up to the big day. For the first, most people seem to be in a better mood, the shops have a greater choice of goods on sale than at any other time of year, and the towns and cities around me really do look magical with all their lights, Christmas trees and special decorations.

Lets face it, if Christmas didn't exist then we'd have to invent it - and we all need something to get us up through this dark and chilly period.

As for me, I'm more than happy to go along with it all, just as long as I'm left alone on Christmas Day.

http://grahamal2003.tripod.com/

www.cig.canon-europe.com/a?i=1LKaYyETLC

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New site for high street bargains

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:48:38 +0100

In its infancy but as time permits this new site will aim to post high street bargains on a weekly basis. Who doesn't love a bargain?

Click here!

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Does anybody really know what time it is ?

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 11:51:12 +0100

The sun is trying to shine through a thick, once white, linen curtain, onto a river that has taken on all the attributes and the appearance of a freshly surfaced motorway upon which a few swans and seagulls appear to have stuck themselves. Roll on winter when at least there is a chance of clear blue skies and sunlight.

One blogger mentioned woman which pressed the button on a lot of memories I have of relationships with the opposite sex.

Too many to write about at the moment as I have to work this evening and still haven't eaten, but I do have time to mention one rejection, summed up in her unforgettable one liner. "It's not me it's you."

I thanked her profusely for clearing up any confusion I had about why things were'nt working out..

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Just trying out options.

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 01:17:58 +0200

Just trying out the different options - sorry but i know its a mess but at least I'll know next time.

www.cig.canon-europe.com/a?i=1LkaYyETLC

More pics of Belfast available for free on the below mentioned address - Just click. Click and you're in. www.cig.canon-europe.com/a?i=1LkaYyETLC

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Top Ten All Time Greatest Hits

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 01:02:00 +0200

Streets with no name - U2
Belfast, winters night, an invitation back to a girlfriends house ending with her plugging in a video recording of U2 singing on the streets of Las Vegas. Dark room, bright eyes, blurred into a passionate night spent under her goose down duvet. I never ever wanted to leave that bed.

Your Song - Elton John
I lived in America at the time and thought Elton John was an American. I just remember thinking how clever he was to write a song that surely everyone would wish they'd written and could present to the one they loved. I use to imagine serenading my girlfriend with it but never plucked up the courage. Besides I couldn't/can't sing!

My Sweet Lord - George Harrison
Snipping grapefruits was the only way we could earn our keep back then. At least our transport to the orchards had a radio. Every day without fail it would broadcast the above mentioned song, morphing our flat bed truck into a chapel filled with Memphis gospel sounds. It summed up my time spent in Israel so completely. Still does.

Chasing cars - Snow Patrol
There comes a time when you have to stand back from your children and let them deal with the twists and turns that life presents, but remain there to dust them off, stand them up and send them out again whenever a punch has landed.

The first time I heard this was when my son played it, over and over again.

I later learned he had split up from his first girlfriend.

To me this will always be a song about growing up.

Over my shoulder - Mike and the Mechanics
I worked every hour that god sent, for little pay, determined to make my decision to move back to England a successful one.

Once settled I did look back at where I'd been. This song captures and will always capture that moment.

Bitter Sweet symphony - The Verve
Intellectually challenged she had an unconscious innocence I found beguiling.

The daughter of a friend she played this for me, singing along as if it were her own.To me it always will be because she'd been the first person to introduce me to it.

Mr Brightside - The Killers
One of those moments when my son forgot to rebell against me.

When a song and an album can reunite two generations then it is priceless in my book. Other lyrics from the album such as "Save some face, you know you've only got one" and "Change your ways, while you'r e young" built a bridge back to where we'd been before hormones wreaked their havoc.

Hotel California - The Eagles
A hot barmy night in Norway, curtains billowing into a room still trying to rid itself of last nights tobacco and beer - vinyl sparked lyrics off from spinning tops of drama. Definitley a case of right time right place, that single moment ensuring it would be remembered long after I've forgotten what my name is.

I saw them in concert last year, their performance showering even more pearls into a jewel box already stuffed with diamonds from their past.

Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
Home from Gloucestershire where I'd been on holiday with a friend, this gem burst onto the scene. The past behind me, an uncertain future ahead, I adopted this as my anthem, taking time to learn every twist of its imaginative lyrics.

Even now, when I fall from the horse, this always manages to get me back in the saddle again.

American Pie - Don McLean
Florida, National Discount Carpet, me in the throws of trying to sell a roll of shag pile, this crackles through muffled speakers and captures me forever. Still Magical!

My Love My Life - Abba
"I know I don't posess you, good by my love god bless you" summed it all up at the time, unrequited love, a genuine belief that things would never be the same again, captured in a song by a group at the pinnacle of an unlikely career.

I played it endlessly at the "Chimpanzen Club" and it never failed to fill the dance floor. But then again nothing from their "Arrival" album ever did.

So what's your top ten?

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Belfast Trip

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 00:56:13 +0200

Vibrant is the only word I can use to describe my two day visit to Belfast. The place simply buzzed with activity and on an afternoon when an autumn sun shone long shot over a reborn city - it made me feel like I'd been missing out on life since the last time I had been there.

There are many ways to get around the city but I chose to take a bus - the bus guide displaying ample amounts of Belfast humour as we made our way down roads which once had been the subject of so much news footage (Shankhill and Falls) - her jokes taking the sting out of sensitive issues and thereby sentencing them, we'd hoped,to history forever. (Surely nobody could joke about "The troubles" unless they felt certain they were well behind them).

She really didn't have any cause to emphasise the fact though as it was apparent to all who rode the bright red double decker that this was indeed the case - every street it turned down packed with well dressed pedestrians availing of every possible facility - and no doubt looking forward to those soon to open up all around them.

Once off the bus, impregnated with her dark and cheeky humour I especially enjoyed walking around the Waterfront Festival Hall and up towards the University area - a mix of old historic and ultra modern buildings, burgeoning nightlife and revellers streaming into the tiniest of "craic ninety" places.

I could have walked for hours, and indeed did, soaking up an atmosphere that can only be described as the feeling you get when you're rested, well fed, had a couple of favourite tipples, and are now on your way to meet a new lover who thinks you're the sexiest thing she's ever met - reignited senses of wonderment doing more for my state of mind than any plastic surgeon or alternative therapist could ever do.

And almost any walk could lift you there - City Hall down to Victoria Avenue, a left turn down to the Albert Clock and Customs House (mind the street fountains), a right turn up past the Big Fish, The Waterfront and on to St Georges Market - a right turn up Great Victoria Avenue, past the Europa Hotel (Most bombed) and Opera House - on to Laverys (A thousand pints of Guinness poured on each and every night) - then up along Shaftesbury Avenue to the Queens Film Theatre (Currently showing John Wayne Movies) for a freshly brewed coffee, before heading onto Queens University for a gaze at its decorative facade.

Yes Its all there, shopping, culture, music and historic walks - a hundred different restaurants serving food you'd really die for - and needless to say I'll be back there again before Christmas - dying to see what she'll look like when dressed up in all her colours.

PS: More pics for free on:-

www.cig.canon-europe.com/a?i=LkaYyETLC

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