Damage Case

So, here comes a blog with a difference, yes we went out, yes that’s right this is what the blog started out as, a social outing critique, let’s go with the flow and see where the winding river takes us, this has been a bumpy ride purely as it has been so long with people who we know and it was (Shock Horror) in a working man’s club, anyhoo let’s get started!

So, as I said it had been a while, it seemed as though our life had become a simple Live, Sleep, Repeat, cycle, there seemed to be no way out, the pandemic had really cramped our style( pfft yeah right) but it really is all we do, we get up, repeat the day before, my blogging is the only thing that has been breaking my monotony, as I have written previously in the first lockdown I didn’t wear shoes for 74 days I only ventured outside into the yard to exercise (yes I do some sort of exercise) after all of that crap, we attended the gig of a friends debut band, it was weird simply being amongst peeps, it was a great night (yes I did blog about it) then we resorted to type Live, Sleep , Repeat. We led an exciting life, there has to be more to life than this. That was our one time out in all of that time.

Then life itself has taken on a dark and personal road and life for the whole family, life turned to poop, again we have knuckled down, but there seems to one bad turn after another, I’m trying to stand strong for everybody but sometimes even that simply isn’t enough, my wife is one of the strongest people I know, but its wearing her out so if I can do anything special for her I always will. She misses the hound, and I have never heard the wails of desperation after he passed, it broke my heart to hear her like that, something I hopefully  will never hear again, I have relented and yes we are going to get another dog, but this time I am involved, watch this space for the incoming of tiny paws, it sounds weird to say this but I hope he outlives me as it would kill me to hear the wife go through something like that again, why have I relented, well two reasons one I happen to love her, and I think she needs it for her mental health, it’s as simple as that.

 Then out of the blue we were invited to a wedding reception, the wife was happy and excited all rolled into one, this was a good start, again to give an extra boost I offered to buy her an outfit, something to giver her a little boost, as always though it went down to the wire we had the Hurricane here for a few days (his birthday as well) but it ended on a sour note he had a day from hell and then a meltdown, and I don’t think I helped, although my intention really was to lift his spirit’s, anyway the short version he was calmed down and we headed off to get the wife a new outfit but as always we set off later than we had planned, however it didn’t take too long to get her sorted, even if she decided against wearing the pants on the night, as long as she was happy, for once it was her (what the hell its always her) that took for ages to get ready, I knew what I was going to wear already, a bath a hair cut and a shave in under twenty minutes, it takes her an hour to decide on socks, never mind shoes, we left later than I thought we would but I simply went with the flow, I didn’t try to hurry her, I wouldn’t dare! didn’t get angry ( I know me with my reputation) it was all going smoothly until she realised she had spelt the brides name wrong on the card, “I will just blame you when we get there” yeah like I’m trusted to write out cards, with my handwriting I should have been a Dr!

We set off for the drive there was only one incident when swearing was uttered by her and not me, due to a motorbike with no lights whatsoever, I’m trying to get her not to get angry over every little slight. We got there with no other mishaps found a parking space, it was meant to be and we hobbled to the venue, as we got there, we heard the band and knew we were in the right place, once through the door it was like stepping back three years in time with some of the usual suspects, some who where even happy to see me LOL!

The band were great even if they did long medleys to save time and to get maximum joy out of the set, people dancing, my only gripe was the fact that they teased us with the cowboy song but played whiskey in the jar instead…….GRRRRRRR, I know what I wanted to hear instead, but the band went down well , the buffet was nice (more on that later) and I was actually drinking beer in a bar WTF, I same some old faces some really old faces (in a nice way I went to school with them) spoke to somebody who I thought didn’t like me, turns out they don’t mind me, that’s a plus in my book, people danced oh I met a new person who was lovely and gracious, he has a wife that is one of the nicest people you can meet so no wonder I liked him, as for the buffet as a rule I don’t go anywhere near a buffet as I am a buffet slayer, but the wife was in deep conversation so I went and got her some and then I saw my nemesis “quiche” they were only small pieces, and it was lovely, how do I know, well because I went to the buffet three times, I nearly had a strop as the wife liked her portion, I was hoping that she was going to say, she didn’t like it, bugger she liked it.

And then just like that the night was over as quickly as it started, we said fond farewells, the wife thought she had lost me, I needed the loo, go figure me with the bladder the size of a peanut, we wandered back to the car abused a friend as he wandered back to his car (love you long time), we got stuck in the traffic leaving the Lewis Capaldi gig (who?) and got home quicker than expected, which was just as well as my stomach (the mysterious complaint that has taken over 7 years and the NHS still cant diagnose it) went into overdrive, my burping came back with a vengeance as well, thankfully one big belch resolved that problem but I was up and down all night for the rest of my issues, in the end I got up at 05.30 and simply went with the flow.

Why is this getting published now when I have been up as long as I have , well if am going to tell the truth my head has been battered with lack of sleep and trying to remember the finer details, I wouldn’t wish to offend anyone lol, to be honest there was only one frosty reception that might have been caused by my greeting, lol as if I might cause offense, I think it was taken with a pinch of salt, not that I give a rats ass, again me with my reputation, it felt great to be part of the great human race chatting like I belong, it really did raise the spirits of both of us, more of this please, we loved it, lovely people and a lovely time,

For the sake of the wife, we really do need to ensure that with the best intention we need to be more involved with real people in the real world, the wife’s world is spiralling and with the best intention we can but try, so there you go, a blog that was not expected, we are alive we do need to get involved  a little bit more. So, watch the skies for more incoming, this blogging thing seems to be working out, it’s been a while, so until next ……………………. Toodles!

And yes, the name game is in play as the new person I met is a huge fan and he inspired me to play their entire discography today, now to rest, as my body is wrecked and tomorrow is a work day, as I go to climb the wooden hill and being able to dream that I can retire and enjoy retirement rather than being a drooling idiot after a number of strokes, God we can dream!

Four on the floor – UFO.

So, here we go the first musical one of the year and it features UFO, now this concentrates on studio albums, “Strangers in the night” will surface in another blog somewhere down the line. Let’s get this started.

 

UFO – Obsessions 1978.  9/10.

The first album I ever heard by them (oh how quickly that changed) and I can remember my brother arriving home with the album with a weird cover, my jaw dropped when I heard the contents of the album, I bought my own copy later that same week as well as the bulk of the back catalogue over the next few weeks, thanks to the fact Chrysalis records were selling them cheap at the stunning price of £2.99.

Back to this beauty, all 36.00 minutes of this was devoured on a daily basis with only the instrumental Arbory Hill annoying me, come on I was 13 for gods sake, and for a point of reference I do like it now, the standout track for me is Cherry, but to be honest there wasn’t a bad  track on the whole package, lovingly produced by Ron Nevison, this should really of knocked the band into the major leagues and although they skirted them for a few years they were always able to shoot themselves in the foot!

 

UFO – The wild the willing and the innocent. 1981. 8/10.

After the disappointing George Martin produced “No place to run” the band decided to produce this themselves and I think it works, only 8 tracks and even a bloody saxophone on the album didn’t deter me, Neil Carter from Gilbert O’ Sullivan and Wild Horses had settled in and helped them produce yet another cracker to be honest this was the start of the terminal rot, some cracking tracks including Profession of Violence (sounding like a rewrite of Try me from lights out) and its killing me (recently covered acoustically by Metallica) help the flow of the album.

 

UFO – Force it 1975. 7/10.

I was a typical teenage boy, I bought the album based on the cover but I loved the album anyway and it was the album I bought after Obsessions, I was just starting to getting heavily into reading credits and seeing who did what, I probably should have bought Lights out, but hormones got the better of me, Produced by Leo Lyons it’s a little rawer than the polished Ron Nevison approach but there are still some cracking tunes on it including Let it roll, Mother Mary and This kids, the album bounces along, was I glad I bought it at the time,? yes but it wasn’t anywhere near the levels of Obsessions, I blame the production on it maybe the boys needed that little extra polish to help them along.

 

UFO – Lights Out 1977. 8/10.

I bought this about a week before Strangers in the night, I’m so glad that I did, as it reaffirmed what I thought of the band, I had bought Phenomenon and No heavy petting thanks to Chrysalis records cut price deal, surprisingly my two fave tracks there were Rock Bottom and the instrumental Lipstick traces, it took me a while to care for No heavy petting, I get it now but didn’t at the time, but it was a stepping stone to what was to come, their first proper production with strings and the such like, and again some simply stunning songs all eight of them, even the cover fits right in the groove.

 

I avoided the albums before Schenker joined the band (thankfully) and followed them Diligently up to Making Moves, I reconnected when it should really have been the Phil Mogg band for Misdemeanour! I kind of drifted along after that and I probably put the reunion album with the classic Obsessions line up for Walk on water but they rerecorded a couple of extra tracks (for the Japanese market, but we all got them) it was to be the last time I was to see them live although it was a weird vibe throughout the gig, after that I kind of got the albums when they popped up cheap. I have followed the current line up and do like them I find that they are just a tad workman like for me and if I’m being honest I couldn’t name you one of those songs, solid but not memorable, they ended on a covers album and unfortunately its like their first couple (something to avoid) over the years I have met all the band and whilst they were all nice, I didn’t get a nice vibe of Pete Way, he always seemed to be on the lookout for drugs, he was lovely every time I met him but I was always wary, as for the rest of the band they were all true gentlemen, including Phil Mogg whether he was sober or not!

Closure / Continuation.

You may have noticed my output has increased significantly over the last few weeks, this is mainly due to the fact I now get Christmas holidays for free, and I have no bloody idea what to do with my time, mainly I’m contemplating my navel, but the rest of the time its trying assist in helping the ideas scrabbling through my brain like rats gnawing in the attic escape, this is one of those ideas!

So as I travel to and from my place of work I have a lot of time on my hands simply because I’m dumb and have no idea on how to pass a driving test, no I’m not going there(well not today) but as rule I play an awful lot of music (most of it actually awful some good and some well, lets just call it nostalgic, because that’s the stuff I keep going back to)  the good and awful stuff I tend to switch off and concentrate on the music, but the nostalgic stuff yes I do listen to it, but I usually drift and think about the good old days, ok so some of them were the shit old days but hopefully you get the drift. There were two of us at school (seniors first year) who loved our music, funny how we gravitated towards each other, but I was obsessed then and I’m just as obsessed now.

Did this make me a good friend I’m not sure that it did, because as I have said in the past I only ever speak to one friend on a semi regular basis, and the others only if I enter their orbit, now I know I was a bit of (warning understatement coming) an arsehole but I was a kid, I didn’t know about life, I still don’t truth be told, but I do try these days, but then I used to fly by the seat of my pants and damn the consequences, I used to be really opiniated (so I’m told) but I didn’t realise this at the time which is probably as I left school why we all drifted, we drifted away from ourselves and most of them stuck together but I was allowed to drift further outside their sphere of influence, ok so I left home at 16 didn’t come back until I was 22 and then disappeared again to Newcastle at 26, when I was at home I wasn’t at home often, what with work and bands and well more bands and then some more bands thrown in just for the hell of it, if you get my drift, but again and I must stress this I was opiniated, I still didn’t realise this, how am I aware of this, well at my new place of work I was getting some assistance learning the systems and the girl/lady helping me (she’s 28 and younger than my youngest……..by about 3 days) happened to say, “ my mam knows you” oh oh what’s coming down the road, I panicked, thankfully there was no paternity damages forthcoming, but the conversation was interesting, it turns out her mum was two years below me, so when I was in my fifth and final year she was a third year, and she described some incidents that I was indeed involved in, things that I had long forgotten but they fell out of the story box once my memory had been jiggled, not startling, actually not worth writing about (yet) but the one word in her mums opinion was that I was “opiniated” .

Now bear in mind I had barely any contact with this person except within the confines of the school (a school with nearly 600 pupils) but she formed an opinion on me, thankfully her daughter informed her that I wasn’t like that now! Actually, I am, however I simply try harder to keep my mouth shut (I know me with my reputation) I got to thinking if that’s what someone who barely knows (but does remember me) think, what do the people who really did know think of me and is that why they no longer have any connection to me, it’s a good job I don’t overthink things other wise (erm excuse me) I could be in trouble!

I have to admit I did bump into a lovely person who I hadn’t seen in ages and we simply said hi whenever we saw each other, we had been friends in a similar circle and together in most of my classes and thankfully she has stayed the same friendly person she always was, so thankfully my interaction with her (however small) smoothed my fevered brow and I moved on, until the thought resurfaces 8 months down the line, the rats resurfaced one day on the bus before my holidays and never really went away, now everybody’s life has moved on in the 41 years since we all escaped that life called school and I would say the very few interactions I had were quite positive, but still my brain continues to drag me back towards (localised) insanity.

I know a lot of my behaviour could be construed because of my family life, we weren’t a problem family, well maybe the sons were but we had nothing in which to measure ourselves against, but my parents were the first to be divorced and we took some shit when it all kicked off mind you, when everybody else’s parents started to get divorced we dished back tenfold, so maybe that was why people thought/think that I was a dick, I have no idea, I just know for reasons only known to the world I don’t really have a lot of “old” friends!

Now that was just the preamble, to be honest I’m not a huge fan of myself, what can I say I simply don’t like me and I feel that’s imposed on me because of the sensations I get because my school friends allegedly don’t like me, in reality I have no idea why this should matter but it does, I do have friends (unfortunately we don’t see them at the moment because of the situation that we find ourselves in) but we do converse and for once its not me wanting to stay close to the shoreline, but we have for obvious reasons, I do try (sometimes maybe too hard) to get people to like me, I have no idea what I am doing socially at 58 I could quite easily hide in my shell(I know I have already used this as a blog title) for the rest of my life, my brother who was always the anti-social one has more friends these days then you could shake a stick at, I do not recognise the social person he has become, in fact he is friends with more people that I went to school with because of his (former) place of employment, so what does any of this waffle mean, I actually have no idea but at least I am waving and not drowning (at this moment in time).

If I won the lottery I would pay a fortune to get a trick cyclist (army expression go look it up) to peel me like an onion and to reconstruct me, people will say that I have “father” issues, no shit sherlock anybody who can abandon his family and have no further contact, well to be honest it blows my mind, that’s the reason I try so hard with my kids and grandkids, if I had to ask him a question I would love just to know WHY? but anyway, before anybody says anything i actually don't have to like myself , i would love to know the reason why i don't like myself, ok answers on a postcard to hehateshimself.com any that say "its because your a dick" will be discounted, that shou;d save me a fortune in stamps!

So there you go, another one about to enter the stratosphere and the blog is the gift that keeps on giving I have something 11 blogs fermenting, with 2 been disposed of as in reality time has got away from they were end of year things and well its nearly summer now, they haven’t been destroyed but lets see what happens when and we all know it will do the well runs dry! So watch the skies for more incoming I will need to apply the brakes simply so that numbers don’t suffer, I need to keep the quality (yeah right) consistent as opposed to just throwing out any old tosh …….hang on a minute!!!!! So, stay safe stay alive and until the next one (probably in about 23 minutes lol) …………..Toodles!

 

Yes the name game is in play but its not a song title……72 people responded to last one and 46 of you got it right!

My Sunday Feeling.

So, the year is under away, the holidays seem like a lifetime away, all the decorations came down quickly, life goes on, more work, more music more tragedy in people’s lives, as always, the world keeps on turning, the wife and I seem to have aged rapidly over the last 6 months, damn I/we feel old.

So, what has transpired this Sunday, as always I’m up like a daft person on a Sunday, awake before 5 but I managed to stay in bed until 6, I had to get up as I didn’t want to wake the wife who struggles to get to sleep at the best of times, she could sleep all day if you let her, however where as I fall asleep as I dive between the covers, she can still be awake at two in the morning! So I bimble downstairs in the dark as quietly as I can, I seem to make a lot of noise with each step, take my regiment of medication, that they say that I need to get through the day, sort out the dishes read the news( I know how old fashioned) turn my laptop on so I can listen to some albums digitally, have some breakfast ( a cup of tea this morning) sort the slow cooker out for this afternoons tea, and I am hot to trot around the 7, oops I forgot the washing machine, one less task for the wife when she finally rises from her drudgery, a number of albums some good some bad and some downright awful, with just the odd golden nugget in between, and yes the name game is in play.

I pottered some more trying not to raise the dead upstairs, a few more little tasks here and there , give the slow cooker a stir or two, from time to time, around 10.30 I hear the stirrings of the walking dead upstairs, I go to give some assistance, she’s still not 100% so I leave her to sort herself out, it works for us, its rare she lies as along as she did this morning hopefully it helped, around 11 the corpse comes downstairs, I can get on sorting some more  tasks, some that are a little noisier, I know my audience, its not worth the aggro, breakfast(nearly Brunch) sorted medication taken, she takes a lot more than me, and she doesn’t take all that’s prescribed, just enough to be functional, its not going to be a great day, I try to do my best, but its in her hands, I’m just the assistance,

Sandwiches for dinner/lunch, I bounce between tasks, helping the wife and watching a little tv, going back to stir the slow cooker (sausage casserole) from time to time, check a couple of blogs that I have fermenting add a few lines here and there just to keep them fresh, these are just ideas I haven’t started to write them yet, this includes the book, I have returned to a format that I was going to do eight years ago, just the format none of the writing, it has the working title of 12, that’s bound to change as the year goes on as I collate more and more material, a lot of tweaking along the way, hopefully something a little bigger than the previous books, I also need to do some investigating to see if I can still use my account on blurb and try to work out the technology to upload, as they had gone to a “user friendly” software (cough splutter) which stopped me in my tracks eight years ago, the new book looks promising if I can indeed get it published.

More bimbling along more washing of clothes and drying of said articles, more TV, a little light reading, I struggle to read paper materials unless its in natural daylight, again a visit to the opticians beckons, I shudder to think how much like Stevie Wonder I am becoming, a small snooze (honest I only blinked) for ten minutes and I’m back on my feet gathering rubbish to put in the bin, time for tea (it was lovely, the wife as I type still hasn’t had hers as she complains of a dodgy stomach) then off for a soak, ok I was in the bath all of ten minutes, then off to see my farrier as my hobbit feet are in need of some attention, its been a while but my favourite fungal infect has returned, it’s because of all the time on my feet, I have always looked after my feet it’s a habit I picked up from the army, if I look after them hopefully they will carry me to where ever I need to get to! Twenty minutes later my feet/hooves feel refreshed and again I potter on, a little more music (some of it horrific delete, delete, delete) and then time to gather my thoughts for this little missive.

The coming week beckons and its going to be a busy week thankfully, I was spared a long journey by bus and a slog by foot to carry out some work last week, so I can crack on with that, all the while I am conscious that I need to be aware of the wife’s needs, I need to be able to keep an eye on her, as at times it feels like she is drowning not waving, she has been there for me all  of these years, I am determined to be with her step by step for the coming months, there will be a couple of blogs that I need to get out (this isn’t /wasn’t one of them) in the next week or so, I keep getting side tracked , I know me with my reputation, go figure! And now tonight a couple of beers (I’m working from home tomorrow) so hopefully a little later to rise tomorrow (six would be nice) I intend to see the night out listening to a 70’s classic rock box set, some of the tracks I know some I don’t, this could be interesting!

So as Montrose rocks out, I can only bring the blog to a close, the numbers have been great, and thank you for all of the kind words after the last blog, I’m fine, it would appear that I am more fragile than I used to be, must be an age thing, keep spreading the word, click like do whatever you do as the numbers are heading higher than they have in a long time, so until the next one, take care stay alive and most importantly stay safe, until then……….TOODLES!

All Shook Up.

 

The name game is in play but its an album title so that should make it easier for you all.

Today I was attacked, sounds messy, it could have been, but the more I think about it I’m not sure, here is the tale of woe! I returned to work today, I’m a bus wanker and I expected to see lots of unhappy faces, there was three of us, so for once the bus ran on time and I even managed to get the earlier bus to my place of work, it doesn’t drop me off at the doors, like my usual bus, but I don’t mind the hike its not that far (feels like it at times).

I had a list and I literally wanted to crack on, headphones on and heads down, I cracked on until lunch time, I didn’t make small talk, its frowned upon allegedly, well only for those not in the click (I’m not in the click) Lunch was eaten, it was a simple sandwich put together by my fair hands, it was adequate, but not special, I wasn’t inspired either making it or eating it, I cracked on some more, I then headed out to catch peeps up to no good, it was sparse pickings my reputation is ruined peeps know my routine coming back off the holidays, but I enjoyed seeing people, people who help and play the game nicely, I kept walking and was soon in the centre of town, I had done more than I thought I would  have so I decided to head to the hills, back home to Gimpsville!

I had just missed the bus so decided to wait at the stop there was a few people but not tons, the line grew and then I saw the troglodytes at the base of the hill, the biggest I thought at first was drunk or off his face with something else, there were two others following in his wake but I was simply praying that they weren’t getting on my bus. They were making huge waves through people, the biggest causing chaos, the others appeared to be apologising to the destroyed masses, I didn’t think that at the time I simply thought “NUGGET”

Then around the corner came my chariot, and all of a sudden there was a lot of people crowding forward, it was like fans hiding outside a hotel as Kiss pull in to book in (ancient history maybe another blog) anyway I manged to get back to my rightful place at the front when the troglodytes pushed through the queue, to be honest I wasn’t taking any notice as I was trying to retrieve my ticket for the machine, when I was sent sprawling into the side of the bus, unfortunately I had my air buds in my hand as they were in the way of my ticket in  my jacket pocket, if I had known I was going to sent flying I would have simply thrown them in the road, save the pratt a task, they went flying and landed under the bus, my retort was a little blue, I hadn’t realised that it was the giant troglodyte, I was annoyed and slightly sore, as it was my dodgy shoulder that had been shoved, I then tried to retrieve the air buds and I was on my hands and knees under the bus, I didn’t see goliath taking offence at my witty retort, thankfully after much scrambling on the floor I retrieved my stuff, the bus driver was helpful (strange that) and as I got on the bus I saw the other two Neanderthals giving the big lad a slap (or two) and talking fiercely, on reflection I think they were trying to get him under control, as I sat down one of the ladies who had helped me said that he had been coming back to have a go at me when the other two took control and ushered him off the path towards the  garden area out of the way, I hadn’t seen this but if he had come back when I was on the floor trying to retrieve my gear he would have easily kicked me to death. Sorry but did I say how bloody big he was, oh yes he was MASSIVE!

As I reflected on the way home, was he drunk or was he on an illegal substance, there is a local gated community (prison) quite close to where I get my bus and the first thing they do is get rat arsed, but it was the other two and how they responded, it was like they were trying to  herd cats uphill literally, was he an outpatient, were the other two carers, and I use the term loosely, there is a mental health facility on the route home were they trying to get him on the bus to get him there, he definitely didn’t want to get on the bus, and he was angry, really angry as he trooped up the hill it gave me cause for concern thinking please god let me get on and get the hell out of his way, they were giving him some tough love out the public eye, maybe he needed it, again as I reflected on the ride home, I am way too old for this shit, he would have ripped me limb from limb, and these days I couldn’t fight my way out of a paper bag, actually make that a wet paper bag! I do the journey there and back every day, I hope if he is a client of the mental health facility, that he doesn’t remember me, oops!

What is actually going on in the world people are generally just so aggressive all the time, you see people all the time in the news, simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, today that was very nearly me, beware they walk amongst us! I’m fine just a little sore, but I am most days so it’s nothing new, I hadn’t intended to write this blog as I had intended to something different, something I hadn’t done before (and still haven’t) that one might rear its head by the weekend, fingers crossed.

So, there you have it I told you I have the bit between my teeth, I have also been collating ideas, I had a great one in my head as I drifted off to sleep last night and in my head I said I would remember it, what I do remember is a voice in the back of my head shouting “DUMBASS” yes you guessed it I forgot it, ah well you win some you lose some, so once more a blog arrives like a ninja in the night I hope you enjoy it, but watch the skies for more incoming keep spreading the disease as the last one did great numbers, here’s hoping that this one will do the same, so until the next one…………….Toodles!

DEF CON ONE.

 

Warning incoming I am at DEF CON ONE!

This is a warning, I am on a roll, I am inspired, today whilst it has been an eye opener, the writing bug has been lit and is well and truly about to go off like an Apollo rocket, let me explain.

The intention for the last 12 days was to carry out a lot of small tasks (well I thought they were small) and I got distracted, the wife is struggling with life, I won’t bore anybody with the details, those close to us know and understand, there are some incredibly hard times ahead of us, and all I can do is man the tiller and point her in the right direction.

Life has been and is still incredibly shit, but my intention is to be a pillar of support, its no surprise the list of tasks that I wanted to complete, simply hasn’t happened, I have made a start but I feel like the third Reich in the middle of a bad Russian winter, I haven’t been lazy, simply I have been dodging curveballs, all for the sake of the wife, who is drowning not waving, but damn she is still fighting and has no intention of going down, bless her.

Music has played a big part of my twelve days holiday, and no you don’t have to guess, the name game is a band not a song, although I have used their song titles in the past for the blog! I played their music and that set the ball roll bouncing down the road, although my preferred music is melodic, AOR, Prog type of stuff I do have a dark past dating back all the way to 1977 when punk exploded and I like some thing loud and fast, anyway one of the tasks I set myself was to log and give a short description of the blogs, I’m trying to avoid duplication of titles and subject matter, however I have to read them and try and work out what the hell was going on in my mind at the time and to work out were the titles come from (about 95% are song titles) the rest are plucked from god knows where!

As I started pulling the ideas together for this, I am playing the only Signal album (Loud and Clear)  and drinking copious amounts of Buffalo Trace ( I don’t do small measures) because I have had to read the blogs to do a summary, I have fell back into good times and bad, recollecting some fab times (and not so fab times) with some awesome people and one or two bullies (they know who they are) a job I thought would take two to three days has so far taken two full days and I am only up to July 2012, talk about falling down a rabbit hole. What it has done though has inspired me to set down a number of plans writing wise, firstly I do intend to complete a new book at some point this year, with all new material, you heard it here first, I might even resurrect my original story that I still tinker with although I am stuck in quick sand as I do feel at times that it is generic(it’s not I just keep second guessing myself, damn where’s my editor when I need her, she’s a lady you know) I do intend to blog more frequently (sorry peeps) and no this isn’t alcohol induced, I have realised how much blogging has helped my state of mind, so I do intend to crack on.

I had intended to do a couple of minor blogs before the end of the year but life stepped in and kicked our arses, the intention is too still do them over the next couple of days so watch this space, they might come thick and fast over the next couple of days, but hopefully will settle down to one blog a week, just like the old days, to do this we need to have a social life so this may prove awkward, but with a willing heart the intention is to keep to my promise, the tee Hee Club will rise again dammit! the first couple wont do fantastic numbers because of the subject matter, but I feel I need to get them out, so don’t say that you haven’t been warned!

So,have the holidays been any good? To be honest I have no idea, we have been mired with the shite we call life, but we are here, medical matters from all corners are the order of the day at least I’m not top of the list for once, so watch the skies, spread the disease/word, the blog is back and hopefully biting, yes there will be some historical ones, I have the bit between my teeth and feel the desire to write and then write some more, musically and historically I do believe there is a rich vein of material to be recovered, onwards  and hopefully upwards and not sidewards, can I just say I know this is going to be our toughest year, its going to end in tears we know this, but its how we conduct ourselves through those tears, it indicates the strength of purpose and the type of people we are, we will not be beaten, we will crack on, no matter the shit that is going to come our way, and I will indeed blog about it, “Bob” withstanding intend to be the rock that helps the wife through these dark times ahead,  so until then stay safe stay alive and until the next one…………………………..Toodles!