Monday, January 22, 2007
A brief service announcement...
Over the next few days, at least, the blog will look rather scruffy, as you can probably tell by the picture at the top... This is only going to be while I struggle with html coding and some templates, to make the blog look a bit more like I want it to. Everything else should be fine, though, so please let me know if you notice something that's not right!
Sunday, January 21, 2007
a glimpse of light
Maybe somewhere,
In all this darkness,
There is a spark.
A glorious flame,
A wonderous glimpse of light.
Maybe somewhere,
Amongst all the dust and mud,
There is a glint,
A sparkling diamond,
A tangible gem.
Maybe there,
Under the moonlight,
Beneath all the shadow,
Between all the trees,
Amongst the long grass.
Maybe there is a flame,
That never burns out,
That doesn't dampen.
Maybe there's a spark,
A glorious flame,
A wonderous glimpse of light.
And maybe its a flame
So big, so mind-bendingly important,
That my tiny mind
Cannot comprehend.
That my widening eyes
Will not take in.
That my soul
Longs to embrace.
And supposing I used that flame
to light one of my own.
To carry the spark,
light my path.
Supposing that happened.
My soul will soar,
my spirit will sing.
My eyes will take all in.
In all this darkness,
There is a spark.
A glorious flame,
A wonderous glimpse of light.
Maybe somewhere,
Amongst all the dust and mud,
There is a glint,
A sparkling diamond,
A tangible gem.
Maybe there,
Under the moonlight,
Beneath all the shadow,
Between all the trees,
Amongst the long grass.
Maybe there is a flame,
That never burns out,
That doesn't dampen.
Maybe there's a spark,
A glorious flame,
A wonderous glimpse of light.
And maybe its a flame
So big, so mind-bendingly important,
That my tiny mind
Cannot comprehend.
That my widening eyes
Will not take in.
That my soul
Longs to embrace.
And supposing I used that flame
to light one of my own.
To carry the spark,
light my path.
Supposing that happened.
My soul will soar,
my spirit will sing.
My eyes will take all in.
superhero and superzero
I bet you could get up in the mornings.
I bet that when you had a to-do list
It was all done at the end of the day.
I bet that if you had somewhere to go,
You left on time, made good speed
And were standing outside with minutes to spare.
I bet you were superhuman,
It’s a given, seeing the miracles you did
And that armbands meant nothing to you.
I bet that you were a riot at parties,
That you were the talk of the town,
Resisting all calls for entertainment…
And I bet you don’t go wrinkly in the bath, either,
You don’t stress over stupid things
Or lose your car, sorry, chariot keys.
I bet you can go clothes shopping
And take your time, not just grab and run,
And I bet you don’t get bothered by telesales…
Well, I’ll just stick to being pale in comparison.
Just mediocre and happy with my lot.
I’ll keep struggling to peel open my eyelids
To stare at the time on the clock,
To warm up my voice with a groan
When I realise I’m already late.
I’ll just be content to be human,
After all, I’m not built to be more.
I’m not built for rescuing maidens,
Slaying dragons or creating drink to pour,
So I’ll have a lie-in this morning
And worry about it when I’m late again tomorrow.
I bet that when you had a to-do list
It was all done at the end of the day.
I bet that if you had somewhere to go,
You left on time, made good speed
And were standing outside with minutes to spare.
I bet you were superhuman,
It’s a given, seeing the miracles you did
And that armbands meant nothing to you.
I bet that you were a riot at parties,
That you were the talk of the town,
Resisting all calls for entertainment…
And I bet you don’t go wrinkly in the bath, either,
You don’t stress over stupid things
Or lose your car, sorry, chariot keys.
I bet you can go clothes shopping
And take your time, not just grab and run,
And I bet you don’t get bothered by telesales…
Well, I’ll just stick to being pale in comparison.
Just mediocre and happy with my lot.
I’ll keep struggling to peel open my eyelids
To stare at the time on the clock,
To warm up my voice with a groan
When I realise I’m already late.
I’ll just be content to be human,
After all, I’m not built to be more.
I’m not built for rescuing maidens,
Slaying dragons or creating drink to pour,
So I’ll have a lie-in this morning
And worry about it when I’m late again tomorrow.
the churchyard, st. enedoc.
I’ve never felt easy in graveyards.
But I’ve never sat here before.
Here I feel uncomfortable ease,
A peace (despite tourists laughing by).
When they cease, all is silent,
And I can pause to take in my views.
The names on headstones,
With fond verses underneath,
All return my stares while
I gaze in awe at Brae,
the guardian, jealously protecting
the souls in the yard.
The church – a Cornish curio,
Still points its crooked finger skywards,
As if summoning angels above.
And maybe it does,
For the long grass whispers and
The tide plays out ethereal rhythms.
This is public, but private.
Secluded, yet thronged with guests.
And they’re not tourists here.
They are guests, paying respects,
And almost all visit a man named JB,
Who still speaks through this landscape.
But I’ve never sat here before.
Here I feel uncomfortable ease,
A peace (despite tourists laughing by).
When they cease, all is silent,
And I can pause to take in my views.
The names on headstones,
With fond verses underneath,
All return my stares while
I gaze in awe at Brae,
the guardian, jealously protecting
the souls in the yard.
The church – a Cornish curio,
Still points its crooked finger skywards,
As if summoning angels above.
And maybe it does,
For the long grass whispers and
The tide plays out ethereal rhythms.
This is public, but private.
Secluded, yet thronged with guests.
And they’re not tourists here.
They are guests, paying respects,
And almost all visit a man named JB,
Who still speaks through this landscape.
Views and comments more than welcome!
As I am posting more regularly now, and that I also have a few poems lying around that I'd like opinions on before I start knocking on the doors of any publishing places to make myself look like an idiot... I thought I'd try a few up here. I'll add a couple tonight to get the ball rolling. If you want to leave a comment, please do - but if you'd prefer to email me, crackingcheese@hotmail.com is the place to send it to. Cheers.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Are Jade and friends being racist on Big Brother?
Who cares?
Why bother watching something that's so desperate for viewing figures that its brought in one of the worst people it managed to make famous back in - presumably for an obscene amount of money. And now they're bullying someone who has worked hard to become as famous and as rich as they are, despite the fact that they themselves have done absolutely nothing to deserve their fame and good fortune.
Who the heck gives a crap?!
For once, I agree with the words of David Cameron: There's a very effective regulator of television - the on/off button.
Personally, we don't watch BB. And I'm certainly not going to when people like that are allowed to behave like this and Channel 4 are allowed to use that purely for publicity. The programme is a waste of time/space/huge amounts of money, and it makes me understand what motivates some obsessive people complaining about just about everything broadcast on TV. And that, in itself, is a horrible, lonely feeling.
Why bother watching something that's so desperate for viewing figures that its brought in one of the worst people it managed to make famous back in - presumably for an obscene amount of money. And now they're bullying someone who has worked hard to become as famous and as rich as they are, despite the fact that they themselves have done absolutely nothing to deserve their fame and good fortune.
Who the heck gives a crap?!
For once, I agree with the words of David Cameron: There's a very effective regulator of television - the on/off button.
Personally, we don't watch BB. And I'm certainly not going to when people like that are allowed to behave like this and Channel 4 are allowed to use that purely for publicity. The programme is a waste of time/space/huge amounts of money, and it makes me understand what motivates some obsessive people complaining about just about everything broadcast on TV. And that, in itself, is a horrible, lonely feeling.
Two months of blatant blogging apathy...
Ah. How do I explain the two months of blantant non-effort to keep this going?
I can’t. I’ve just been busy and not got round to it, no more than that.
So if you’re reading this, I hope you had a great Christmas. And that your new year was a good one. Not that I have ever seen the point in celebrating New Year the way we all seem to – its not that special an event… It’s another day and another midnight passing. Woo – let’s get drunk everyone!
We don’t need the excuse to get drunk… It happens all the time anyway.
So, we’re now slap-bang in the middle of January, watching stormy weather batter our coastlines and blow trees over near London – and obviously slow the trains down… While I know at least one person who is smugly gazing out of a bedroom window every morning on the other side of the world complaining only of being sunburnt. You know who you are, and I’m sure you know how jealous I am…!
So what happened over Christmas? Luke had his first trip to A&E at 10pm on Christmas eve… Nothing serious in the end – he had a fall and bashed his head on something. We thought it best to get it checked out, and after a 4 hour wait (happy Christmas everyone…) he was patched up and we all trundled home to wrap more presents…
We had a nice quiet time, with a marvellous dinner – mostly prepared by a vegetarian, which made it more impressive! I got a digital camera (amongst other nice things), so there’ll be plenty more pictures coming up on here from now on!
Coming back to work was a shock to the system after a week off, and quite independently of that, my feeling of dissatisfaction with the job and the work I do has become more and more pronounced. So I am thinking about changing careers. I am also looking for other civil service jobs in other departments, for a bit of a change, but I’m looking into teacher training…
I’m back with this now, and hopefully I’ll be a bit more bothered about updating the blog again. Especially now I'll have a lot more pictures to go up...
I can’t. I’ve just been busy and not got round to it, no more than that.
So if you’re reading this, I hope you had a great Christmas. And that your new year was a good one. Not that I have ever seen the point in celebrating New Year the way we all seem to – its not that special an event… It’s another day and another midnight passing. Woo – let’s get drunk everyone!
We don’t need the excuse to get drunk… It happens all the time anyway.
So, we’re now slap-bang in the middle of January, watching stormy weather batter our coastlines and blow trees over near London – and obviously slow the trains down… While I know at least one person who is smugly gazing out of a bedroom window every morning on the other side of the world complaining only of being sunburnt. You know who you are, and I’m sure you know how jealous I am…!
So what happened over Christmas? Luke had his first trip to A&E at 10pm on Christmas eve… Nothing serious in the end – he had a fall and bashed his head on something. We thought it best to get it checked out, and after a 4 hour wait (happy Christmas everyone…) he was patched up and we all trundled home to wrap more presents…
We had a nice quiet time, with a marvellous dinner – mostly prepared by a vegetarian, which made it more impressive! I got a digital camera (amongst other nice things), so there’ll be plenty more pictures coming up on here from now on!
Coming back to work was a shock to the system after a week off, and quite independently of that, my feeling of dissatisfaction with the job and the work I do has become more and more pronounced. So I am thinking about changing careers. I am also looking for other civil service jobs in other departments, for a bit of a change, but I’m looking into teacher training…
I’m back with this now, and hopefully I’ll be a bit more bothered about updating the blog again. Especially now I'll have a lot more pictures to go up...
My jumper smells funny today...
And I have no idea why.
Hmm.
It's clean and everything.
And yes. I washed this morning, so its not me.
It's very strange.
Hmm.
It's clean and everything.
And yes. I washed this morning, so its not me.
It's very strange.
Friday, November 17, 2006
My top ten albums (doesn’t have to be in order!)
I started thinking about this last week, and I thought I'd post it here… Its been a struggle to come up with a list as short as 10, so I thought I really should share…
The only rules I used are that compilation albums (best ofs etc…) aren’t allowed and it can only be albums I genuinely love, and not ones that sound good to put down… The only flaw here is that some will probably change next week! Ah well!
If you have your own list, or want to think of one, email it to me at crackingcheese@hotmail.com and I'll post it up...
[By the way, the person who got me thinking of this is now on the top of my hitlist as they also challenged me to do the same thing with songs… And its driving me mad…]
Graceland – Paul Simon
I couldn’t decide between this and You’re The One – although in the end, the fact that Graceland introduced me to African music (and in particular the distinctive guitar picking), and made me want to listen to the rest of Paul Simon’s catalogue means that this has kind of shaped a lot of my music tastes now…
Rubber Soul - The Beatles
The album that makes me smile and hum more than any of their others – and I love them all… It’s not the best album they made, but it’s the first I really listened to, and fell in love with, so its special to me! That, and despite the flaws, it inspired Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, so it must be pretty good!
Document - R.E.M
The first album that I heard by them, and, looking back, the first real signal of the band they would become. Has two of my all time favourite songs on it – One I Love and It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (and I feel fine). It’s witty, clever, rocking and thoughtful all at once.
Glo – Delirious?
My favourite of their albums, I think – because of a mixture of good memories and some of the best songs they’ve ever produced.
Marquee Moon – Television
I was introduced to this when I worked for MVC, and loved it, but it took me a couple of years to get hold of my own copy – when I did, I was in heaven! Every time I listen to it, I get totally absorbed.
Rumour and Sigh – Richard Thompson
Folk meets 80s rock… Richard Thompson is a proper genius, and this is arguably his most popular album, but for me, the reason it’s on the list is because there’s a song on there about a guy just released from prison who wants to go and smash someone’s head in because it feels good – and the tune makes you want to dance around the room!
On The Night – Dire Straits
Best live album in the world, ever. I could have chosen one of several of their albums, and as Brothers In Arms is the trendy pick, I went for the one that sees a CD player more often our house!
Free Peace Sweet – Dodgy
Memories of the last throes of school and songs that never fail to make me grin like I’ve taken something illegal…
Little Lights – Kate Rusby
The first KR album I bought, and still the one that makes me float off into a summery haze. Makes me feel like I had waited an awfully long time for this album.
The Cammell Laird Social Club – Half Man Half Biscuit
Anyone who hasn’t heard HMHB needs to now! This is one of their best, with laugh-out-loud lyrics, reassuringly scruffy production, and some surprisingly catchy melodies, definitely one of my favourite albums.
Honourable mentions:
Maybe You Can Drive – Barenaked Ladies
Jollification – Lightning Seeds
Absolution – Muse
Selling England By The Pound – Genesis
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway – Genesis
Gold – Ryan Adams
Wired – Michael McGoldrick
Liege and Leif – Fairport Convention
Blue Lines – Massive Attack
Seven Swans – Sufjan Stevens
The only rules I used are that compilation albums (best ofs etc…) aren’t allowed and it can only be albums I genuinely love, and not ones that sound good to put down… The only flaw here is that some will probably change next week! Ah well!
If you have your own list, or want to think of one, email it to me at crackingcheese@hotmail.com and I'll post it up...
[By the way, the person who got me thinking of this is now on the top of my hitlist as they also challenged me to do the same thing with songs… And its driving me mad…]
Graceland – Paul Simon
I couldn’t decide between this and You’re The One – although in the end, the fact that Graceland introduced me to African music (and in particular the distinctive guitar picking), and made me want to listen to the rest of Paul Simon’s catalogue means that this has kind of shaped a lot of my music tastes now…
Rubber Soul - The Beatles
The album that makes me smile and hum more than any of their others – and I love them all… It’s not the best album they made, but it’s the first I really listened to, and fell in love with, so its special to me! That, and despite the flaws, it inspired Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, so it must be pretty good!
Document - R.E.M
The first album that I heard by them, and, looking back, the first real signal of the band they would become. Has two of my all time favourite songs on it – One I Love and It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (and I feel fine). It’s witty, clever, rocking and thoughtful all at once.
Glo – Delirious?
My favourite of their albums, I think – because of a mixture of good memories and some of the best songs they’ve ever produced.
Marquee Moon – Television
I was introduced to this when I worked for MVC, and loved it, but it took me a couple of years to get hold of my own copy – when I did, I was in heaven! Every time I listen to it, I get totally absorbed.
Rumour and Sigh – Richard Thompson
Folk meets 80s rock… Richard Thompson is a proper genius, and this is arguably his most popular album, but for me, the reason it’s on the list is because there’s a song on there about a guy just released from prison who wants to go and smash someone’s head in because it feels good – and the tune makes you want to dance around the room!
On The Night – Dire Straits
Best live album in the world, ever. I could have chosen one of several of their albums, and as Brothers In Arms is the trendy pick, I went for the one that sees a CD player more often our house!
Free Peace Sweet – Dodgy
Memories of the last throes of school and songs that never fail to make me grin like I’ve taken something illegal…
Little Lights – Kate Rusby
The first KR album I bought, and still the one that makes me float off into a summery haze. Makes me feel like I had waited an awfully long time for this album.
The Cammell Laird Social Club – Half Man Half Biscuit
Anyone who hasn’t heard HMHB needs to now! This is one of their best, with laugh-out-loud lyrics, reassuringly scruffy production, and some surprisingly catchy melodies, definitely one of my favourite albums.
Honourable mentions:
Maybe You Can Drive – Barenaked Ladies
Jollification – Lightning Seeds
Absolution – Muse
Selling England By The Pound – Genesis
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway – Genesis
Gold – Ryan Adams
Wired – Michael McGoldrick
Liege and Leif – Fairport Convention
Blue Lines – Massive Attack
Seven Swans – Sufjan Stevens
Oh dear. And they said society had already dumbed down…
Here are the original stories (here and here) , should you want to see it…
Here’s a summary.
People in the UK name their children daft things, these days, apparently… Never mind the Chardonnays and the Apples…
There are 2 children called Superman in the UK…
SIX Gandalfs…
One Harry Potter…
3 Snoops…
7 Jay-Zs…
27 Tupacs…
426 called Dre…
39, count them, thirty nine called Gazza…
Two Reeboks…
Three Addidas…
And 26 boys and girls named Arsenal.
And they wonder why so many people are angry with stupid people these days…
The quote on the site www.findmypast.com, which is where the research is from, reads, “it would appear that the famous British sense of humour is alive and well…” That’s not a sense of humour. It’s not caring what your children will be like when they’re older…
Here’s a summary.
People in the UK name their children daft things, these days, apparently… Never mind the Chardonnays and the Apples…
There are 2 children called Superman in the UK…
SIX Gandalfs…
One Harry Potter…
3 Snoops…
7 Jay-Zs…
27 Tupacs…
426 called Dre…
39, count them, thirty nine called Gazza…
Two Reeboks…
Three Addidas…
And 26 boys and girls named Arsenal.
And they wonder why so many people are angry with stupid people these days…
The quote on the site www.findmypast.com, which is where the research is from, reads, “it would appear that the famous British sense of humour is alive and well…” That’s not a sense of humour. It’s not caring what your children will be like when they’re older…
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