Now Hear This part 3

I took a bit of a break from writing however you bunch of mad people (yes you) kept sending me emails, asking various bits and pieces and as promised, I did say once I had enough different questions for a “Now Hear This” I would, so as always please keep all extremities inside the vehicle as always, I intend to be as truthful as I can be!

Name a favourite blog?

This is the most asked question and again I feel that I love all of my children, its incredibly hard to choose, now because I intended to answer the question (once and for all) I had to go back and do a bit of research, once I have done them I forget them and move on, some of the blogs are so simplistic they literally are just random thoughts thrown out there, why? well simply because I can. Most of the ones I enjoyed have been done in the last 18 months, simply because I believe I got the structure correct, so in no particular order here goes: -

Silence amongst the static.

Girls.

A cast of millions.

Onwards.

Poke the bear.

No details, no information if you want to know, go read them and make your own mind up!

When did the ratings go through the roof?

We rock went through the roof with over 500 hits in the first hour, I have no idea why it hit four digits within 24 hours, the following few fell back to what was expected, however once I started publishing the blogs about my CBT course, they all hit triple digits within the first day and they have stayed pretty consistent ever since, some do better than others, year on year I hit around 25000 hits quite easily, the last two years has seen a gradual increase, hell I’m happy to hit double digits.

What music influences me to write?

Some of you actually know me personally, so won’t be surprised that I listen to music pretty much as much as I can, and my tastes go from ABBA to Frank Zappa, and everything in-between, as I’m typing this up I’m listening to a Thin Lizzy bootleg from Germany in 1981.

How is your health?

Shit is the only way I can describe it, I need to look after myself a lot better than I have been, its only me who can do it so I won’t go on too much about it, well I will in future blogs, but I can’t say anything other than if I do the crime then I must do the time!

More Historical Blogs?

I will do more as long as I can do justice to the tale, and I can tell the truth, I have no wish to lie just to make it more interesting, I have realised that I have to be in a certain frame of mind to do them, as I can get rather melancholy after writing one, it would appear there is a gaggle of you who do enjoy them, so yes there will be more, just keep watching this space!

Who reads the blog?

You mad lot, it does appear as though there is a hard core support of about 40 of you, but there is a lot more who drift in and out and pop their heads up from time to time, there is also a lot of casual support, I have no idea on how to promote this, if you like it, please share, keep spreading the disease, my ego can always a little massage from time to time!

How do I get a namecheck?

Ha this is the funniest of all the queries, who the fuck wants an actual name check, normally if you want a namecheck you won’t get one, two people who have never requested a name check is Nils who doesn’t have a clue on how the name game works (please see previous blogs) and Broadsword calling Danny Boy, they both have an interest and actually do converse, I do love constructive criticism, there are others who positively do not like to be mentioned, haha sometimes I do mention them in code as it sends them off into a frenzy, be part of the tribe is probably the best answer I can give, if you want a mention you probably have a 99.9% chance of not getting one, so go with the flow, somebody once said that getting a name check was like getting on the new years honour list and I have no idea how that works either!

Any Hobbies yet?

Erm …...blogging seems to be the answer, work takes up far too much of my time, that’s sad but a true fact of life, so blogging shall remain the answer until I decide to take up……. stamp collecting!

Get a life!

There does appear to be a small section of readers who love trying to bait me, they think I should suck it up and crack on, believe me I have tried to, it doesn’t always make me a happy bunny, and these days its all about making me a happy camper, so keep baiting if that’s what makes you happy, trust me the rednecks didn’t get too me and they actually wanted to do me harm!

Rednecks?

Some of you know the tale of woe when I used to blog on other media, I have no intention of dragging back through recent troublesome past, so if there is a brief mention of Rednecks it is with affection and not one of worry, maybe I will indeed write the full tale of woe simply not just yet, I certainly do not want another case officer from the FBI just yet!

Work for a living?

I do and I work damn hard which I thought was the actual thing from keeping me from drowning in misery, however this isn’t the case as I have discovered the hard way, I need to get a genuine balance so that everything in my life is addressed, I do not like being unhappy all of the time, my intention is always to try and have the best time possible!

Why are you depressed?

If I knew that I wouldn’t be, too many worms shoved into a tightly packed can, maybe if I ever win a large sum of money I could spend my life on the couch, the blogs would certainly be more interesting!

Do you reread the old blogs?

Until recently the answer was a resounding hell no, but in doing some research I have read a slack handful, usually because the title made me curious as to what the hell I was ingesting at that point of my life, some are good some aren’t, that’s up to you lot to tell me, I don’t think I can have the right perspective!

Why the long gaps?

Usually because I’m depressed and I suffer from depression on most days and I have no intention of dragging the world down with me, its all a work in process, some of the things that I have written have been way too personal and some of you have been concerned for me, sometimes I have step away from the laptop for my own good!

Name the girl who stole your heart and buried it out on the moors in the blog “Girls”?

Erm fuck no, that is the biggest regret in my life, that was my mistake, not hers, do I think of her, everyday of my life and not in a negative way, I really hope she is having a great life ( I have no idea) she probably forgot all about me the day we left school, I never forget her, oh how I wish I had been a better person at the age of 14, 39 years later and she still walks with me in my memories, that’s why I will always talk in code, I would not like to embarrass the lady in question, when I started compiling the questions for this blog this was the most requested question almost word for word by over 70 of you, thankfully none of you who I went to school with, because that blow the story right out of the water!

Biggest musical regret?

Oh, where the hell do I start with this one? Alright I will keep it simple I tried a number of times to sing in bands, this is a blog all by it self and one that will be coming in the new year, let’s just say I sounded like a shot wart hog, I’m sure that you all look forward to that historical blog with relish!

Are you on other social media?

Hell, yeah but you have to find me, I’m certainly no longer advertising the fact, I have stopped being a social media whore, darlings!

Have you thought of doing Photography?

Erm yes, its technology, erm next question!

Who is Fave author or my fave book?

This question has been floating around since the first part of these blogs, I’m no closer to answering that now as I was then, I go through phases I find someone I like and then I have read everything they have done, so here in no particular order are the top three (consistently) authors James Ellroy, please don’t ask me to name a book I love them all, James Clavell, again there’s not many they are all pretty damn good! Enid Blyton, yes you read that right the lady got me into reading and I pretty much devoured everything (except the famous five) she wrote, you have to start somewhere! There’s plenty of others Stephen King, Sven Hassel, Raymond E Fiest the list could be endless I like reading as much as music!

It would appear some of you think I’m a drama queen?

Well if you insist, that’s your opinion and I have no intention of trying to change it, good luck to you and all who sail with you!

There you go part 3 complete, if you have a question please feel free to send it on and I will add it to the next “Now Hear This” blog.

Until the next time Toodles!

Warm Wet Circles

I actually only wanted to see 2 gigs in total this year (I am being very selective these days) BOC which I missed because the wife was on the sick and well Fish, I had no intention of missing the big Scotsman so I melted a credit card (better to ask forgiveness than to be refused on request) it gave me something to look forward to as this shitty year comes to a close.

I'm not going to cover the same old ground, lets just say this year wasn't in our top ten for a number of reasons, the Fish gig was in a venue I had never been in before, so that was another plus, however there are no cars allowed into the venue unless you are disabled (I knew the wife would come in handy for something one day) thankfully we were able to arrange parking,because the hike to the venue would have killed me, but as always I'm getting ahead of the game, I still had some work to do, so as the gig got ever closer I began to realise how run down I was, I needed to watch out as I had fallen into this trap before I wasn't about to do it again.

The day of the gig I intended to be picked up from work, which is just as well as the Hell child did her usual tricks and the wife, well being a soft touch bent over backwards, me I went with the flow pointless getting all worked up about something over which I have no control (the wife) , when the wife finally arrived, I was a good boy (I know me with my reputation) and took us both out for a small meal to tide us over, then the jaunt to the gig only to be met at the entrance by a troll whose English was suspect to say the least (no he wasn't from Ashington). We then had to crawl through the drive of the grounds at 10 mph with our hazards on and I had to keep the wife under control as she simply wanted to kill them all (no change there then) once we arrived at the venue we  made ourselves presentable (cough splutter) and made our way in to a very different kind of hall.

I had been saving for a couple of months and made my way to the merch stand were I picked out the Cd's of my choice (Songs from the mirror & Suits if anyone is interested) the wife wanted a key ring so who was I to say no, I know how to keep her sweet, we wandered off to the bar to get the wife a soft drink (well she was driving) and she was shocked when I politely declined, the main reason as the venues beer is off the chart price wise and most of it is simply home brew, OK its home brew of a high standard but because of my diabetes I wouldn't have tasted the goodness, so in the interest of bladder control I declined, we then shuffled into the hall to find support act Doris Brendal in full swing, she is a singer who I have followed with interest when I saw her front a local band called Holy Cow , it is available still from her website .....go on buy it you wont be disappointed!

Her last couple of albums have been quite good and I enjoyed her performance although the sound was a tad muddy to say the least ( I was hoping for better sound for the headline act) it was at this point that I discovered a flaw in my plan, there were no seats any where within the hall, nowhere to perch or even to bend my knees this was going to be a very long night. there were some people who said hello and some who didn't, and we settled behind the G Family who we were happy to see us and the craic flowed, then the lights went down and Fish arrived on stage to "The Voyeur" a B side to his first single and the evening flowed on from there (even though Fish was going mental through the first song as he couldn't hear from his stage wedges) problem solved, away the set list flowed like fine wine with a few more obscure solo tracks and then what a lot of people had been waiting for "Clutching At Straws" in total including additional Cd tracks and B sides trust me it was awesome, however at that point life decided to give me a kick in the slats and my legs since my operations on my knees I suffer from a lot of pain, I cant stand in one place for very long, let me at least bend my knees for a few seconds and things are fine, that was not to happen on the night.

As "Tux on" Started the wife realised that I couldn't last much longer so we tried to leave the hall the way we came in, this was denied by staff who had a poor understanding of English, I didn't mind that they wouldn't let us out that way, they simply couldn't explain why we couldn't, it turns out it mess's with the acoustics of the hall, Once we picked our way back through the throng, I was truly crippled and was in tears of pain as I descended the stairs at the entrance of the building, once in the car I screamed and shouted until the pain started to subside, I gave an extra little shout as it was the first ever Fish gig I had left before the end (I'm led to believe we missed 2 songs I won't name them as they are simply my 2 fave tracks from the last album GRRRR).

A short journey home and I admit I enjoyed the gig a lot more because the wife actually had a great night singing along to quite a few  of the songs (she isn't in to prog music but she does gladly chauffeur me around bless her.......hence the shiny Key ring) we got back on with our lives (well almost, Captain Cod nearly killed us, no not code for the big Scotsman the only chippy that was open when we got back to Gimpsville and it was to say the least fucking awful.......this stops in the new  year) we shuffled on (here we are after the big day and my knees are still crippled) the wife has a run of three and then she is off work until god only knows as she has to under go fairly major surgery, not life threatening, it's simply potentially taking her out of the game for up to 12 weeks(with potentially no pay it is what it is, but it's the worst time of the year for it to happen), so the new year will be starting as the old year has finished (kicking us squarely in the seat of our pants).

That's the last blog of the year although there should be one along in about 5 or 6 days, then broadcasts may be sporadic depending on the wife's health, I hope everybody has had a great year and that the new year brings you everything that you have asked for, Me I hope the desire to blog runs through me as much as it does at this moment in time, so all the best to you one and all, watch to the skies ..............incoming! Until then Toodles! 

Save Yourself

The penny had dropped ages ago but it finally hit the ground with a clatter!

I started with a flourish three blogs in a relatively short space of time after my self imposed exile, with some fantastic numbers and then life came along and took a huge bite out of my ass, along with a very scary dose of reality, my health took a detour without telling me,I hadn't been the happiest camper, I wasn't down, just life had climbed on top of me like I was a rodeo bull, I simply didn't have the strength to shake it off!

Work (my usual go to place to cheer me up) hit me hard and I simply didn't have the get up to go, a lot of legal documents to read and dissect then to give my professional opinion , lots of inspections and more report writing and back to working more than my allotted working hours (and not getting paid for them) nobody put a gun to my head to say I had to do it, however if you lot know me,give me a time specific job today, you know i'm going to bust a gut to do it! the only thing that suffers is me and mine, yes me with my reputation, I was struggling, my eyesight has deteriorated, I took myself off to the opticians (under protest) only to be told how bad my eyesight had gotten, damn I didn't expect that! I then started to stress about everything, some people noticed and came to my rescue, some just didn't give a rats ass (a grudge is for life ......remember).

My general health got worse and I didn't do anything to help myself, I just joined in with more apathy, I struggled not in a bad "oh no the world is going to end" type of mood, I was just not firing on all cylinders, I was simply trying (and failing) to do too much, I was doing a fair bit of research for bits and pieces, work and blog related (yeah I know I do actually do some kind of research from time to time, what you think I just wing it.....................Oh you do know me) I had appointments for various clinics and I avoided them like the plague again feeling sorry for myself. then I got an even harder slap in the face when we discovered that the wife was going to have to have a fairly serious operation in the new year and I was going to have to be it..........an actual adult, I know I was scared as well!

So I realised it was time to get serious , in life in general and stop burying my head in the sand, my health (as well as the wife's) has to be the number one priority. It's time to stop wasting the NHS's resources and to be consistent and do as I'm bloody well told, not that i'm being a bad boy, I believe I'm simply being a tad petulant from time to time with my health and I need to stop as I'm wandering down the corridor marked "last chance saloon" and if I don't get my life in order and save myself nobody is going to do it for me,and contrary to popular belief I do intend to live to a ripe old age, well older than 53 .....................please!

I have avoided music totally for long periods of time lately and this hasn't helped, trust me I am back on the horse in a big way, catching up playing lots of old and new sounds, no I'm not telling you what that can be in the last blog of the year, I hadn't written anything during this time simply because the well was dry, it wasn't crap or bile or anything I was simply dry, not even writers block, I had lots of ideas, I simply didn't know how to convey them onto paper (yes I still do long hand including all of the polishing right up  until publishing) I'm not usually far from my trusty black book scribbling shite, I mean potentially wonderful ideas down, in fact the new year does indeed bode well for my regular readers, I'm still not sure if thats a good thing or bad, I'm sure you will all tell me?

So I suppose what i'm telling you lot out there is that I need to be just a little bit more consistent, and all through all of the contact that I have with you lot is exactly that,the one thing that seems to bug you lot is my inconsistency of late, yes there will be more passages from books that haven't been published on here to help out with the lean times, but I shall be here a fair bit more (especially in the new year when I don the nurses uniform again (I know it's not a comforting thought is it?) to look after the wife after her operation) so as always cunning plans abound, not least a number of blogs to follow, I have plans for 4 in the mediate future!

SMOR reappeared in our lives earlier in the week, and although the wife's health has severely depleted our finances I am aware that our friends are indeed a life line that we need to ensure that it doesn't come untied as we are the fools who suffer without them! SMOR dragged me and the good lady wife off to see Dan Reed Network and Extreme and although we didn't stay to the end, nothing wrong with either band they were both good (yes I saw them when they were at their peak) but it was interaction with people who we saw at the gig that meant the most to us, we both know we need to get out more (I need to start regenerating organs to sell) I know the next 12 months is going to be tough financially but we will not be beaten we shall come out the other end stronger than we are at the moment!

So I have waffled on longer than intended I have at least four blogs (oh look i'm repeating myself) in the pipeline before the end  of the year not including a "now hear this " blog on new  years eve, the theme for the coming year is to aim high or  go home, I do not intend to go home! some cracking historical blogs in the in tray so to speak, so please do not think I have been in my usual pool of despair, my black cloud in all of this time has been nowhere to be seen, oh and did I happen to mention me and the wife are off to see Mr Dick perform all of "clutching at straws"on Wednesday, this years is going out with a bang, keep spreading the disease and watch the skies...........incoming, until then Toodles!