State of the Nation

I rarely post anything about politics, mainly because I tend to think it's a personal decision. I don't often link to anything political on Facebook either unless there is something particularly funny, and at the moment there is very little stuff that is very funny. Plenty of stuff people think is funny, but it isn't. And this week I have done something I haven't done previously. I have unfriended one person and unfollowed a group because I just cannot stand the constant stream of anti-Brexit, anti-Trump moaning.

What worries me most are some basic principals which seem to be lacking. In both cases, the referendum and the US election, there was a legal vote, one side won and to a degree that should be an end to it. If you didn't get the result you want, you work towards making sure the vote goes your way next time. Even with Brexit, where there might not be a next time, you work to get the deal you want and you make the best of it and try and make it a success.

But not in Britain anymore. Or apparently in the States. What happens now is that if you lose a vote you should not accept it and do everything you can to have it overturned. Demand the other side is wrong and demand politicians overturn things. And you do all this by making stupid statements and attacking people, both members of the public and those in power.

Amongst the stupid statements and suggestions are;

Only 37% of the population voted to come out ofthe EU so we should stay in! That might be an argument if that didn't mean that only 35% of the population voted to remain. There is the argument that 50% of the population should have been required but it is irrelevant as that wasn't the condition of the vote. In fact it is rare for any election in the UK to provide a result where more than 50% of the electorate vote for one side or the other.

Politicians must do the right thing and vote to remain and not trigger Article 50! To start with, it is somewhat presumptive to belive that only "your side" can be right. As we now know, most MP's did vote to trigger the vote. How could they do anything else. It really should have been a simple and obvious decision for each MP. whichever way your constituency voted, as their elected representative, you vote the same way. There shouldn't have been a three line whip. The Lib Dems are pulling their normal trick of taking a stand where they believe they can convince some voters to come over to them. They will once again find long term it doesn't work. Hw did anyone think that MPs would overturn the vote. If they did that there could never be another election again because anyone could declare it unacceptable and a precedent would have been set.

For the sake of going on and on I'll leave it there. Most of the pre-vote talk was about how only racists would see immigration as a bad thing. So, what was largely the far left and then latterly people who wuld normally not be so vocal, lay into those who voted out with a venom that if people on the right had used would be declared bigots and racists and evil.

I recently described Facebook as the Home of Righteous Indignation. And that is what it has become to all too many people. I haven't seen a kitten for weeks! It's just constant bile.

It's Saturday, It Must Be Sweden

So today we visited the Swedish Republic of Ikea. I always feel as though Ikea has the same status as an embassy and all their property is considered as part of their home country. Then again I've had a conversation with magpie this week so you cn't expect much sense out of me.

Our nearest Ikea is 106km away on the outskirts of Toulouse and takes about 1hr15 to get there. Then again when we lived in Loondon our nearest Ikea was just under 9 miles away and could take that long to get to. We were after some storage for the lounge and decided to use a modular system so for the last couple of weeks we have been planning out sizes of units, colours of doors, matt/lacquered/textured.....

Saturday probably isn't the best day to go when in reality we could go any day in the week but we had to go out and get our saturday morning croissants from the bakers 6km away so we were nearly there anyway give or take the last 100. So we fought the crowds, walked about a further hundred kilometers round the "yellow brick road to where the display was and then eventually, having marked down all the codes, aisle positions and quantities, descended into the bowels of the store. All went incredibly well and we got absolutely everything except one door. One door costing five euros.

Hopefully we will pass an Ikea when we are next on our UK travels either here or there because I'm not doing that journey again just for one small piece of wood.

Four and Twenty Blackbirds.

This would be an apt title if it wasn't for the fact that there is only one bird involved, it's a magpie and it doesn't end up in a pie.

We look after a house in Pieusse, a village just on the outskirts of Limoux. We do security visits once a month and I was out their earlier this week. There is a resident magpie in the garden. Bloody noisy thing it is, cawing at the top of it's voice, or whatever the noise a magpie makes is called. It particularly likes the fruit of the kaki tree, which we know as persimmon, and you will normally find it there. Anyway, the other day I was walking round the garden when he decided to come and fly down and hop along side me. I'm not great with birds, flappy things that they are, and magpies beaks are a bit of a nasty looking weapon but I retained my composure faced with this six inch predator and as I walked he hopped along side of me. I talked to him and then he cawed at me. I talked again and then it started making a strange noise that then became a few words in French. I picked up bonjour, bonsoir and c'est bien. A bit of repeating and a few other words. So I stopped walking thinking I might be imagining it and he stopped hopping looked at me said a couple more words and then, somewhat bored with the fact I had stopped walking, flew off back to his tree.

To say I was a little surprised would be an understatement. It's not everyday one partakes of a conversation with a feathered friend. I didn't know magpies could mimic humans but a quick google search informed me they can. And this one apparently does. He certainly wasn't scared of me so no doubt he has either heard guests or visitors speaking and learnt the lingo. Which I have to say is somedays better than I think I am doing.

We are a Grandmother.

The Magnificent M and I worked out that since last February we have travelled back to the Homeland 9 times either together or separately. Before we moved here no-one in M's family seemed to have any plans and then the moment we relocate you can't stop them coming up with ideas to bring us back. Last March we were out for eldest daughters wedding. This January M flew back for her sister's hen night who is getting married later this month so we will be across shortly. The big event however was in November when youngest daughter presented her with the first grandchild, Poppy. So I now have a granddaughter-in-sin or, as I am in a marriage sauvage, (wild marriage as the French so eloquently call living together), I have a wild Poppy. And more importantly to me as I couldn't have kids, I have presented my mum with the nearest thing she will have to a great grand-daughter and very excited she is too. So here are a few pictures and I promise I won't flood my blog with baby pictures!

Becoming John Malkovitch André Verchuren

"Not André Verchuren!" I hear you cry. Or not, as the case may be.

Anyway, André is the mot famous of all French accordionists. He has sold over 70 million albums. That's more than one and a half times as many as Eminem. Ha. take that Slim Shady. You've been beaten by a French hair-dyed nonagenarian. Who knows though, by the time he is in his 90's he might also have sold that many.

Still, enough about them, it's me I'm you're interested in. And you'll be pleased to know, even though I only have 30 years to go, I am taking André on. From a standing start. And to that end, just prior to Christmas, I purchased a piano accordion. Not just any accordion but the one in this photo.

The Magnificent M and I had half jokingly, half seriously thought it would be nice to have an accordion now we lived in France. I mean, how much more can you integrate than that! So I started looking how much one would cost. Do you have any idea how much they cost new? Well, do you? I didn't. It's £6,000.00-£10,000.00. No wonder it's a dying art! Firing up ebay I immediately checked out second hand ones and they are still £1500-£2500. So that idea died a death. Then one day I was perusing Facebook when one of those annoying personalised adverts popped up in the right hand margin. For an auctioneers. So, for no reason other than idle curiosity, I clicked on the link to see what they sold, hoping it might have art deco ceramics or jewellery. But it was musical instruments. And in general, stringed instruments. And tucked away, a few items from the end was the piano accordion. A £200-£300 guide price at least made it look a damn sight cheaper than most, and it was a well known make and professional model. So, I put on a very cheeky offer only to be told I hadn't reached the reserve price so I put in the maximum I was willing to pay, still less than the guide price and, rather like on e-bay, it took enough money to reach what was obviously the reserve price but not my total bid. So with 5 days to go I was lead bidder. And that was it. Nobody else bid. Bargain!

Luckily we were going to be in London the week after so we could pick it up in person. And we did. Neither of us ever having touched one before. And so now it resides in it's box in our living room.

M has yet to touch it and I have tried it once. By God it takes some effort. It's heavy, the bellows take some pushing and pulling, (the trick is you have the shoulder straps at different lengths so gravity helps extend the bellows so you only have to push them back). The good thing compared to the violin is that when you press a key at least the correct sound comes out, no scraping, no screeching. Our cat however, decided I had bought a large box with a filling of cats that were being pummelled and squashed within. She went from lying on the couch to going through the cat flap like a bullet within about two seconds. She did come back and then screeched. I'd like to think she was singing along but it may have been cries of pain.

So at the moment André is unlikely to be spending much time worrying about me, particularly as he is presently sitting on a cloud learning the harp, but I shall not give up. I pledge to you now that by the end of this year I will post a video on this very site of me playing it. Unless you pay me not to. You have been warned!

Blogathon Eve

Excitement is building here in France as we reach Blogathon Eve.

Hardly have the decorations been put away from Christmas before the whole country comes together to anticipate the month-long blogfest. In towns and villages across the nation, communities are starting the celebrations. As children leave school they are presented with the sweet delicacy Pomme D'Amour or as we in the UK know them a TOFFEE-APPLE. The excited chatter of the little children as they break their teeth on the caramelised goodie mounts as they rush to the Halles des Fetes where they are joined by the adults and the great and the good of each commune. As a whole they crack open a bottle or two of pastis and give the ancient toast for the snowy months "Bien Niege" or good snow a phrase that has been corrupted by English ears and eyes leading to the anglicised word of bien-bren and niege-nig or BRENNIG! Once the pastis has been downed it is time to choose the young boy or girl who will be crowned King or Queen. Once the child has been chosen they mount the stage and are presented with the Couronne de MASHER or Mashers Crown, an ornate headpiece made up of old bits of circuitboard and motorcycle parts topped with a luminous GPS unit. Photos are taken of the monarch supported as in previous years by two accolytes dressed purely in budgie smugglers.

The children are then sent to bed and parents stay up all night waiting for the sighting of the first blogathon post of the Spring.

Vive la France! Vive la Blogathon!

Aged

So yesterday was my birthday.

I was 60.

I'm old.

How did that happen?

British Break

Have just come back from a fortnight's holiday in Britain. Because we normally end up rushing around seeing people we came with the intention of having a break afetr the season. In the end the itinerary ended up as;

Tuesday 25th - Loupia to Bourges including a false start when we realised we hadn't got the passports on us. (Luckily we had only gone 5 miles......
Wednesday 26th - Bourges to Eurotunnel, crossing, Eurotunnel to St Albans. We hd 9 minutes of delays all the way up through France and 26 minutes of delays on the UK side.......
Thursday 27th - St Albans to Pentre Halkyn (North Wales), 29 minutes delay to today but only after the sat nav diverted us away from a 40 minute delay. PLus a diversion of our own so we could go get an ice cream at Snugburys and go see this years straw structure.
Friday 28th - A day of not driving because it's a family wedding. Much food and wine taken!
Saturday 29th - Pentre Halkyn - Newark on Trent. Although we were heading back south we decided we would travel via the Magnificent M's sister even though we had seen them for the last two days.
Sunday 30th - Newark to St Albans. Meal out which was luckily just down the road.
Monday 31st - Local driving such as shopping at London Colney and an evening meal at the excellent Godfreys in Harpenden.
Tuesday 1st - St Albans to Richmond upon Thames. Settled into our friends flat for a few days whist they are away. Trip to Ealing so the Magnificent M could have her ears hoovered. She can now tell what I am up to over a 100 mile radius! Then to Park Royal for a long awaited Pizza Hut pizza.
Wednesday 2nd - Richmond to Windsor and back, for a day with a very pregnant G prior to the Magnificent M becoming a Grandma. Potential contractions during lunch turned out to be trapped wind! And a nice take-away chinese.
Thursday 3rd - Richmond to Stanton Harcourt and back. To deepest darkest Oxfordshire to go see M's Uncle Bill. Family gossip time. Well, back via Boston Manor so we could have a take away Indian.
Friday 4th - Not too much driving as I saw Linda followed by a mate in a local pub and M visited friends within a five mile radius. And pie and chips to end the day!
Saturday 5th - Shopping in Kingston followed by a bit of a lounge before heading off to Ealing Cricket Club for their annual firework display. Good, loud and cold.
Sunday 6th - into Richmond centre for breakfast with a friend, then on to a disastrous shop at Tesco's, possibly more on that in a later post. The afternoon passed at the 60th birthday party of my oldest friend whom I've know since we were four.
Monday 7th - Richmond to Bourges via an argument with a eurotunnel employee. Definitely more on this later!
Tuesday 8th Bourges to Loupia. And breathe!

4010kms driven in 14 days. And we have to do it all again, except the Wales bit, in December!

Cast Adrift

The internetwebthingy went down in our village. I don't think the French noticed. I, on the other hand, have been suffering withdrawal symptoms.

June Music Blogathon - Day 30

A song I’ve heard from someone else that I like.

I've struggled with this one. Not because I haven't been influenced by other people's suggestions. Most of my girlfriends in my teens introduced me to groups I wouldn't have perhaps listened to if not for them. My brother has also introduced me to stuff. Most notably Banco De Gaia when he bought me their CD, You Are Here, as it had been his record of the year. But that doesn't lend itself to one song. You need to isten to the whole thing as tracks meld from one to another. And in fact if you loop it you would never hear the beginning or end as that runs through too. It's a mix of Trance. Dub, Arabic/Indian influence, a track with a bazouki.... If you like trance and something a little eclectic it is well worth a listen.

So in the end I am going to choose something by an artist I have already chosen. Cat Stevens. My best friend at senior school was Doug McGevor. and we used to skive off in the afternoons and go back to his house. We would ransack his mums larder for tins of strawberries in syrup and listen to either King Crimson or Mr Stevens. His favourite LP was Tea For The Tillerman. I borrowed it and got into it too. And it still has many of my favourite tracks of his. The one I am going for though is Father and Son. And I could kill Westlife for covering it and managing to completely miss the fact it is theroetically a duet.

Cat Stevens - Father and Son

June Music Blogathon - Day 29

My all time favourite song.

It's difficult to think of just one song as my favourite. There are many that mean a lot and some of those have already been listed on previous days for different reasons. Wild West Hero by ELO is a very strong contender or maybe The Last Resort by the Eagles which I can't believe hasn't cropped up somewhere and would probably have been my choice up until a few years back when I started listening to Nancy Griffiths. Another singer I came to via Radio London although in this case it was actually before they launched. For the month before going to air they promoted themselves with a song list and amongst those was From A Distance by Nancy. I liked the song enough to find out more about her and then realised I liked a lot of her music. She's what I guess would be New Country by genre.
However, the song I have chosen is a duet with one of her backing band. I have sung it in concert with a friend. And when I picked Galveston for a previous category becaue I'd been there this reminds me of that visit too as I drove this road to get there.

I never tire of hearing this nor singing along.

Gulf Coast Highway - Nancy Griffiths

June Music Blogathon

My favourite song from the last decade.

My favourite song? I'm not even sure I can think of a song from the last decade. I've been trying to rack my brains as to what CDs I might have bought in the last 10 years and I know I've bought quite a lot but I can't remember them. And I've certainly bought a few here in France, particularly by Renaud, who as far as I can describe is a punk, folk, rock, traditional singer. A bit of an enfant terrible when he started in the late 70s and still popular now.

And whilst writing this I've just realised I bought a cd here the other week. The first by a group I've liked the music to but never bought anything prior. It's from their CD Drone which I guess is a concept album as I think all the tracks follow through in sort of timeline. Shows how little I know about it. There are a number of good tracks but I will go with a single. So here is

Muse - Mercy

June Music Blogathon - Day 27

A song to listen to at the end of a tough day.

There are probably a few I would think of if I spent the time but one came to mind straight away. It was a song I only came across a few years back with listening to Robert Elms on Radio London. The artist wasn't one i had heard of before that time and I don't think I've heard of him since. I do however find it a good relaxing record, which is what it is all about.

In fact, in a few seconds time I will look for a photo of the artist to post and that will be the first time I have ever seen him. I wonder if he will look as I imagine.

Jeb Loy Nichols - Heaven Right Here



Nope, really nothing like I expected.

June Music Blogathon -

A Song I Would Give My Offspring.

Hands up all those who even for a fleeting moment thought about choosing something by The Offspring. Oh, just me then.

Anyway, I didn't have to think too long about this and I had a few contenders.

First could have been Stan by Eminem. A cautionary tale of what can happen if you get obsessed with something or take entertainment too seriously.

I could have chosen Zombie by The Cranberries. About those who kept, and indeed keep trying, to keep the Irish troubles going.

But I have gone with an anti-war song, though more the former than the latter for me, which shows how everyone believes they are in the right. There have been many versons of this song but I've chosen to go with the songwriters version although it has the lyrics as he can sometimes be a little incoherent. Bob Dylan - With God On Our Side

June Music Blogathon - Day 25

A Song From My Childhood

I am of such a vintage that in the days when I was no'but a lad children didn't really listen to pop music, we had our own records and indeed our own little record players. Amongst the records I owned, along with a number of nursery rhymes, were Tubby the Tuba by Danny Kaye, Big Rock Candy Mountain by Burl Ives and Sparky's Magic Piano by I can't remember who. Once we got to 7 or 8 we would listen to Junior Choice, (no, I'm not old enough to remember Uncle Mac!!), and some of those records came up again, but there was another I particularly liked. And in retrospect I can see how partly the appeal comes from it's comedy value and "cleverness" of concept, something I am still impressed with whether it be a full blown song or the putting together of "one song to the tune of another" in I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue".

Today I present for you.....

The Highway Code - The Master Singers

June Music Blogathon - Day 24

A song that I wish I could play on an instrument.

This is quite a difficult one because my lack of any real instrumental skills mean the answer would theoretically be everything. By the same token the answer is also nothing, because I know there is little chance of me playing it anyway, whatever I chose, so I never even think about it. Had the question been about something I wish I could sing, the list would be endless, mainly with operatic arias.And the one skill I wish I had was to jus sit down at a piano and play, just like they do in the films.

Having thought long and hard, I do have a contender. It's a guitar piece and one of the reasons I wish I could play it is because my younger brother could, and that's bloody annoying as anyone with a younger brother can tell you. I do feel I can claim some credit though for his skills as without me he might never have picked up a guitar. And in particular, my one. My electric one. Which one day I came home to find he had traded in to buy himself a 12 string acoustic. Without a by your leave mind you. Based on the fact that he didn't think I used it much so it might as well be used for something useful for him.

So, I would like to play Classical Gas by Mason Williams.

As long as I can play it better than my brother!

June Music Blogathon - Day 23

A song that I can play on an instrument.

I'd like to think I am a consumate musician across a number of disciplines but in reality I'm a half decent singer, a passable flautist, simple guitarist and a barely competent pianist, (think about grade 1 to 2).

The only time I pick up an instrument these days tends to be open mic nights and then I accompany myself or the Magnificent M on guitar. I have slowly worked through a number of song but last time I performed I suddenly thought about doing a Cat Stevens number abd discovered the chords required for todays choice were in my competency, as long as I changed the key to something simple like C.

Luckily there is no recording of me playing it so you'll have to put up with the original.

Another Saturday Night - Cat Stevens

June Music Blogathon - Day 22

A song that makes me laugh.

Warning. Funny as I might find it to think you'd done it, you probably don't want to have these selections blaring out round the office. And perhaps not in front of children. Although kids today......

My first encounter with Ivor Biggun was his biggest hit, The Winker's Song (Misprint). Many of his song titles are misprints!Beggars Banquet had a record shop on Ealing High Street and this would be played over the external loudspeaker. It was 1978.

I didn't take much notice of him after that although he appeared on television quite a lot but in his other persona as Doc Cox on That's Life.

He reappeared 20 years later when I went to Blackpool with my mate JC in 1998. The club we went to had a favourite track it would play called Anybody Seen My Cock, a tale of a farmer who has a prize cockrel!

It was then I started tracking down some other songs. I could list them all but there are two deserve a special mention.

Hello My Baby, I think possibly his only clean song which is a reworking of an old song. The Magnificent M & I performed this duet in a concert.

My Girl Has Got A Pussy, a song reflecting on his girlfriends cat and what it might have got up to. We would have loved to have done this in concert, that might have woken some of the old dears up in the audience!

In the end I have chosen one that delights me whenever I choose to listen and, in general, very mild for him.
Ivor Biggun - Majorca Song

June Music Blogathon - Day 21

A song that I want played at my funeral.

I'm not a great one for messing about with funerals but personalisation is the way to go these days.

I would stick to the traditional funeral hymn of The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended as I think it is a beautiful tune, and obviously the words are apt. Masher has just given me an idea as he has chosen a Queen song that maybe I would have These Were the Days of Our Lives. I always find that song moving, watching Freddie in the video looking so ill. I know from interviews with the other guys in the group they pretty much had to prop him up to get him through it but he insisted on filming it very quickly and intensely. I think it's the bit when he turns to the camera just before the end and speaks the words "I Still Love You". That would seem to be apt so I shall ponder on this further.

I intend to be a burner rather than a burier, but if that should change I would like, for the procession to the grave side to be accompanied by a New Orleans style Jazz Band, playing a sombre tune within the church and then breaking out into a hot jazz march as we come out into the splendid sunshine beating down on us.

Anyway, on to the main course.

I liked this song from the first time I heard it and also knew I wanted it at my funeral. I think it has a hymn-like air to it and the lyrics which are about one person work for me as talking to a collective group. I fancy disappearing off behind the curtain to the fiery furnace whilst this plays.

The only downside I can see is that I won't get to hear it.

Enya - On Your Shore

June Music Blogathon - Day 20

A song that I want played at my wedding.

Well, having had a wedding, we wanted Stay with Me Baby by Lorraine Ellison for our first dance. It's a great soul song and we both loved it although the content is about a couple splitting up. Maybe we should have considered that at the time as we did split up about 3 years later.

The incredibly camp musical performer in me is desperate to have the wedding procession from Sound of Music. Preferably including nuns.

In the end I have still gone for a piece for in the service, and I think perhaps during the signing of the register. It is from Gounod's opera, Romeo & Juliet. The Epithalamium is sung as Juliet comes down the aisle to be married to Paris. When we performed this opera we never cast for Paris and all his lines were split amongst other soloists. This went well until the Director suddenly realised Juliet was going to walk down the aisle with no intended groom at the altar. They asked me to stand in as Paris and the tenor who was playing Romeo and not on set at that point would sing the part. To cut a long story short, by way of some colluding with said tenor and using him to get permission, I was allowed also to sing the role of Paris in that one section. This is the nearest I have ever got to performing an opera solo as one of the eight soloists who sing outside of the chorus.

This isn't a great recording and I think the soprano is a bit off key at times and the balance isn't right, but this would be something special for the big day although you probably wouldn't know it from this recording.

I should mention at this point Juliet thinks Romeo is dead and comes down the aisle having taken poison and is dead within minutes. On the basis of my previous wedding song choice and outcome, maybe I should choose again!

The Epithalamium from Romeo & Juliet from 2:14:19 to 2:17:58. (See how kind I am to you, not making you listen to the whole opera just to hear that one bit!)

June Music Blogathon - Day 19

A Song That I Listen To When I’m Sad.

Interestingly, it is always a song that mirrors the mood rather than change it when I choose what to listen to.

This one is no different and is a song that I can wallow in sadness with for a time. It's a break up song. John Denver is probably better known for his country numbers and also Annies Song, written for his first wife. This song is not part of his country ouevre but I am assuming it was written at the time of his break up from his fisrt wife. If not, then I think the experience played a great part in the writing of it.

So, here is my wallowing song. It's a live recording and for reasons he explains at the start, there are a few wrong notes on the piano, but there wasn't a particuarly good studio vrsion available on you tube.

John Denver - Seasons of the Heart

June Music Blogathon - Day 18

A Song That I Listen To When I’m Happy.

A song that Brennig so very nearly chose for one of his earlier posts. I like the Manics without owning any of their CDs. Because of that I mainly know their singles, plus the song they wrote for Shirley Bassey. But of all their singles I love Autumnsong the best. I like the intro, I can sing along, it's happy music, it's in my vocal range for singing along at volume. It's... oh, it's just great.

Manic Street Preachers - Autumnsong

June Music Blogathon - Day 17

A Song That I Listen To When I’m Angry.

I'm quite partial to a bit of Eminem when I'm riled but there is one record that means more to me when angry than any of his.

Back in 1983 I locked horns with my branch manager when I worked for an insurance company in Birmingham. It didn't end well for me, not because I was in the wrong, but in those days the company involved felt it was necesary to back a manager regardless of the circumstances. For a month I was forced to go in and work in a seperate room so I had no contact with the other staff.

To start each day, I would get ready for work, and before leaving it would be on with the headphones, volume up high, and focusing on the day ahead. The song that prepared me for a new days fray was

Anarchy In The UK - The Sex Pistols

June Blogathon - Day 16

A Song From A Favourite Album.

I have many "favourite" albums. Handfuls. Even more than that. So what to choose?

I've dipped into my Desert Island Discs selection. I've always had an idea that should I ever be asked to take part, (cue hysterical laughter), I would want a selection of different music representing my tastes. One of the chosen artists would be Barbra Streisand. What a wonderful singer. I would have loved to see her live but the last chance I had she was charging £360 for the cheapest ticket which was a little steep for the likes of me.

I have gone for the title track off her album Superman which I spent many a happy hour playing until one day, being the lazy sod that I am, I took it off the gramaphone and left it on top of the night storage heater. By the next morning it was somewhat circular but undulatiing. It did play, but the pitch of each note was matching the undulations of the record itself, which was interesting in it's own right as to why that might be, but ultimately bloody annoying from a listening point of view.

And I know it isn't cool to fancy Barbra but my 20 year old hormones definitely perked up with that cover shot.

Streisand - Superman

June Music Blogathon - Day 15

A Song That I Wish I Heard More Often On The Radio

I managed to go see Procul Harum in the 1970s a number of years after Whiter Shade of Pale hit the charts. I'm not sure whether it was a group collective decision or not but Gary Brooker refused to play and sing their biggest hit when playing live. They did however play their two other big songs, Homburg and Salty Dog. I had both those singles. The copy of Homburg I had, got scratched and the line, "leaving ony ash filled ashtrays" then continued shtrays, shtrays, shtrays etc. Hearing it live seemed very weird when they just continued straight on. Salty Dog however remained pristine and is probably somewhere is storage waiting for me to reclaim it.

I think it is a great tune and it does occasionally get played on the radio but I think it could stand a few more hearings.

A Salty Dog - Procul Harum. There is no copy of the original single on You Tube that I can see. This is a live version from 10 years ago and is rather good with added strings, choir and Gary deciding not to be too far up his own backside. It's a also a couple of songs so you don't have to listen to the whole 11 minutes!

June Music Blogathon - Day 14

A song that I hear too often on the radio.

I have taken the liberty of choosing one I hear too often on UK radio and another that I hear too often on French radio.

My choice for UK radio is two fold. Once because I really don't like the song, maybe this should have been the one for hate, as I really don't like it a great deal. I find the sentiments too twee and also having a particularly boring tune. But more than that it represents a group of songs that I detest. These include, Hi Ho Silver Lining, The Time Warp, Brown Sugar and others that I can't think of at this precise moment. What connect all these songs are that 50 year olds who have had too much to drink think they should get on the dance floor and strut around making fools of themselves. In the case of Imagine they feel it is neccesary to sing along and stare into the distance whilst holding up a lighter, or they would but they gave up smoking a few years back, so instead they hold up their pints.

So my UK choice is Imagine - John Lennon.



My French choice is a record harking back to the singers of the sixties who have now passed on or groups that have broken up. It's by Jane Birkin of Je t'aime (mais non plus) fame. It's still breathy but certainly not sexy. I don't particularly like the song but it is the chorus I can't stand. And for one good reason. She lists a number of 60s artists who died, (although Buddy Holiday died in 1959 but his music was still played obviously during the 60s). and then includes T Rex. No, you stupid bint, T Rex is a group, you mean Marc Bolan. And what's worse, T Rex didn't become that until the seventies. Get your facts right. Tyrannosaurus Rex recorded 3 singles in the 60's before they became T Rex and released their first single 1970. And you still mean Marc Bolan!!!! Aaaaarrrrgggghhhhh!!!!!!

I need to lie down in a darkened room!

Ex-Fan Des Sixties - Jane Birkin

June Music Blogathon - Day 13

A song that I used to love but now hate.

Like others, I think hate might be too strong a word but in my case it is a record that meant one thing and now represents another.

Come December, I would never start to think Christmas was imminent until I heard the first playing of Merry Xmas Everybody. That would usually be after my birthday on the 13th. But over the years in an effort to try and jolly things along and create as much xmas hysteria as early as possible I started to hear it earlier and earlier. By the time we came to France you would get the first hearing by early November if not before. Bloody ridiculous! And so now I don't want to hear it at all because it represents ever more commercialism of Christmas as the first place you will hear it will be a supermarket.

Bah Humbug!

Merry Xmas Everybody

June Music Blogathon - Day 13

So this time I'm on the wrong list, but fear not, as well as this one that I had planned, I shall shortly also post the one that everyone else is posting today.

A Song That Fits My Personality

Well, this is a difficult category. There was a quote I saw the other day - Personality is what you are like when no-one else is looking. Maybe that is your true personality but I think I spend more time with my public persona. Those who read my blog, particularly way back, probably know more of the true me than many of my "real" friends. I know that's the same for many bloggers. There is a sense of security online that you don't have in realworld. That of course can be taken to extremes when Facebook is used to chronicle every little thing because you forget it is in the public domain. However I am getting off topic.

When things are going wrong and you are having a tough time you can't always show it. And for much of my adult life I have worked in sales and you learn, as you do with acting, and there are many parallels, that no matter what happens you switch on the smile when you start working. I have had two occasions when I have been very near to breakdown and had to reach out and ring a doorbell when you aren't sure you can do it. The song I have therefore chosen to day is from the opera I Pagliacci. He plays a man who is a clown in a show. His personal life is falling apart and he is going to pieces but there he is, with all sorts of stuff going on, but it is time to put on the make-up and smile....

The famous aria Vesti La Giubba performed by Jose Carreras

June Music Blogathon - Day 12

A Song That No-one Would Expect Me To Love

Most of my friends know I have such an eclectic taste in music that there probably isn't anything that would suprise them so I am picking a track from two different genres that aren't normally associated with me.

Although my faith in their being a deity is a little on the low side, I did grow up in the church choir and became a server. I sometimes go to church and when I di, it is a well known fact that I like traditional hymns and none of this happy clappy rubbish which is meant to appeal to young people. Obviously, not that I am. It's just that I'd rather listen to thrash metal. There have been a couple of "christian" singles in the charts over the years that I've liked, none of which were by Sir Cliff, although I didn't mind his verion of Little Town of Bethlehem. One I can think of is What if God was one of us by Joan Osborne, linked just in case you don't recognise it.

I also like a bit of country music, mainly some of the old stuff but not averse to new as well. But then you knoe that, I just picked Dolly & Kenny yesterday.

So today I am combining the two subjects and coming up with a country hymn based on a gospel song. I discovered it on a country music compilation of lesser known works and singers and I'll normally play it and skip back for another listen and a sing along. It's catchy, foot tapping and sing-a-long happiness.

Why, I almost want to mosey on down to the good Lord's house and have me my fill of his goodness!

Standing on the Promises by Jeanne Pruett

June Music Blogathon - Day 11

A Song That Is a Guilty Pleasure

I have a few I could put in for this category which is a bit worrying. The one I have gone for I always enjoy singing along to and is also the Magnificent M and my choice for a Karaoke duet. To admit that I sing along to this record or perform it in public brings looks of increduity, disdain or elicits a bout of laughter implying how anyone liking this could possibly show their face in public. Just for once I have little more to say other then grab a hairbrush and sing along to

Islands In The Stream - Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton

And just for the record I sing the Kenny Rogers Part!

Well, most times I do....

June Music Blogathon - Day 10

A Song From A Band That I Hate

To be fair I'm not sure there are any bands that I hate, although I'll probably think of some after today. But there is one band that I think are incredibly over-rated and I can't stand all the adulation they get.

It's those lovable mop-tops, the Fab Four, in other words, The Beatles.

It doesn't help that I can't stand the Liverpool accent.

The way people go on about them you would think they had invented music. People go on about how they were the first group to do this, that, the other. But just because they might have been the first to do something doesn't mean they were any good.

And what about all the teenagers and twenty-somethings who think the Beatle were the greatest band ever. Why. I've never heard anybody who didn't live through the 60s actually give a reasoned argument, even if I don't agree. My suspicion is that all these youngsters like them due to an outbreak of Emperors New Clothes.

I don't think they were particularly talented. I don't think Paul McCartney really appealed until he started Wings. Ringo is a bit of a non-entity. George did some really interesting stuff post-Beatles and for God's sake don't get me started on John Lennon. He will be appearing in another category later on, and it isn't the "my all time favourite song" one.

When I do music quizzes if there is going to be one big gaping hole, it will be any questions to do with them.

If I got near to enjoying anything they did, it would be Sgt Pepper.

So do I go with one of the songs I hate, or one that I can at least listen to.

I've decided on the latter. So here is what I think is probably their best song from my perspective.

A Day In The Life

I could have gone with She's Leaving Home which I rate about the same level.

If I had to choose second in line it would have been their tribute act, Oasis.

June Music Blogathon - Day 9

A Song From My Favourite Band.

How do you decide who your favourite band are? It changes virtually from minute to minute and depending on mood. Then, will the next album be better or worse than the average? That's the sort of thing that would have kept me awake all last night if I hadn't been silently singing the song that I gave as an answer some hours ago.

So, I narrowed down the band by thinking of records that have been played often, despite their age. Have I bothered to see them live? Yes, in this case, and possibly the best gig I have ever been to as a spectacle. And then I chose a track that I never tire of listening to.

I have liked the Electric Light Orchestra from the beginning. I remember 10538 Overture being released and the mix of "rock" music and string arrangements, particularly the heavy use of cello, and I was hooked. Jeff Lynne's vocals are always good as are his lyrics. I suppose they are middle of the road in many ways but I don't care. And then, 40 years ago next year, (where the hell did all those years go!), they released the LP, "Out of the Blue". Kenny Everett had a copy on release day and played it through twice, back to back, on his radio programme on Capital. Not something that could happen these days in the era of playlists. And for me, the standout track. Wild West Hero. I saw them live at Wembley in 1978, the picture below from one of the eight nights they sold Wembley Arena out for, the first group ever to do that. And Jeff Lynne is a vastly underrated musician and producer, or at least with the public. Within the trade he is highly thought of.

Three years ago I wrote and directed a revue show for the musical theatre company I was with. It had a wild west theme. One of our group had arranged Mr Blue Sky, from the same album, for a previous concert, as a four part chorus number, so I got her to do the same for Wild West Hero. It was the last song played in the first half and I had one of our young male leads to start and end the song. At the start of the second half we had a silent film I wrote and directed in which he starred as a wild west hero. I doubt I'll get the chance to do something like that again.

Wild West Hero



As we appear to have diverged a bit as there were two differing lists of subjects to follow perhaps I should have chosen this track instead.

Humph!

Having got my music post all ready for today, it turns out the list compiled a couple of months back is in a different order to the one listed just before the start. You will have to wait until this evening for todays offering. Is there a song to fit the personality of someone disgruntled?

June Music Blogathon - Day 8

A Song That Makes Me Fall Asleep.

The glib answer would be - pretty much anything by Yes. I tried to get into Prog Rock, and my brother would have Yes playing regularly but I never gelled with it.

The song I have decided to go with might make me go to sleep but I think it is really meant to liven things up in the bedroom department and it would certainly be top, or near the top, of my slow dance choices. I think it might be my age! I find it's like wrapping myself up in a big duvet and stretching out like a well-fed cat. Certainly, if I am having trouble going to sleep, I just run this in my head and I drift off on a fluffy cloud of contentment.

Sometimes I really worry about myself!

Todays Choice?

Move Closer - Phyllis Nelson

June Music Blogathon - Day 7

A Song That I Can Dance To

Once upon a time, in my prime, I would have been able to link to Memphis Soul Stew by King Curtis. My mates and I had a particularly energetic routine based on the moves you see whenever you watch Northern Soul clips. Alas, my ageing knees preclude me from reliving those heady days, the only consolation being that none of those friends can manage it these days either.

My choice therefore has to be something a little more sedate. And it's a song from 23 years ago. Blimey, doesn't time fly! It's by Sannie Charlotte Carlson, although that isn't her stage name. She provided one of those cheesy europop songs that had a group dance to it. And dance I did. And still do when I get the chance.

Saturday Night by Whigfield

June Music Blogathon - Day 6

A Song That I Know All The Words To

If I have to stand up and perform a chart song, I think the only one I would stand a chance of doing would be Bohemian Rhapsody. Where I do have a bank of songs where I know the words are in shows I have taken part in. One of my favourite is from Gilbert & Sullivan's Patience, their satire on the Aesthetic Movement. Although I didn't sing this song I did learn it as I particularly liked it. I played Major Murgatroyd whom, along with two of his other officer friends, decide to become aesthetes as all the women had gone off military men and taken to swooning over poets and artists. It is dressed in his aesthetic garb that I occasionally appear online on various sites.

However, todays song is sung by Bunthorne, the lead character. Sit back and enjoy the word play of

If You're Anxious For To Shine.

June Music Blogathon - Day 5

A Song That Reminds Me Of An Event.

The year is 1977. And it's the August Bank Holiday weekend. Me and my girlfriend, Gail, have decided to go away for the weekend to spend our first night together. Not only is it our first night together but another first, to use a phrase which shouldn't frighten the women or horses, a night in which I arrived as a boy and left as a man. It is the only time in my life I have visited Herne Bay. I managed to find a hotel to stay in although it was actually a pub that had rooms to let and it wasn't the world's highest quality resting place, but it's a special place to me.

I married that there Gail in 1979, but for a number of reasons we ended up apart some 3 years later in 1982.

The year is now 1990 and I drive for a living, some 2000 miles a week, so go through vast numbers of cd's borrowed from the librry as I travel around the country. I listened to all sorts of stuff including artists I woud never has chosen if I hadn't had so much listening time on my hands. Amongst the thousands of tracks I ploughed through was this one, by someone I would never expected to listen to, singing about a hotel with the same name as that in Herne Bay and with a sentiment I could relate to.

Todays offering is -

The Railway Hotel by Mike Batt

Mike Batt

June Music Blogathon - Day 4

A song that reminds me of somewhere.

Really I should be choosing a song to celebrate it being one year today since we arrived here in Loupia. But as of yet there is no song associated with our new home.

So it's another easy choice, and there isn't a cryptic link between the song and where it reminds me of as the title is the place name.

My Dad got remarried in 1985(?) out in Texas and we went out for the wedding. That's the only time I have ever been to the US. We were based in Houston. We had a hire car and one day we went for a drive down the coast and visited the subject of the song. Everytime I hear it now I remember that journey and the town itself.

Today's Choice is

Galveston - Glenn Campbell

June Music Blogathon - Day 3

A Song That Reminds Me Of Someone

Well I guess I could have gone with either of yesterdays tunes but I haven't.

Like many people I link certain records to certain girlfriends :

Me & Mrs Jones - Lesley Naylor
Close to You - Carole Lacey
If You Don't Know Me By Now - Cathy Bartellot
Eight Days a Week - Some girl up in Burnt Oak I can't remember the name of.
And others besides...

But in the end I have gone for a record which reminds me of my brother. There were many I could have gone for as he introduced me to Bowie, outside of the singles, and also Led Zeppelin although that never really gelled with me. But this song isn't so much something that reminds me of him for his influence, but a song that reminds me that, although I was desperate for a sister, in the end having a brother was pretty special.

From his first eponymous album I present for you......

The Greatest Discovery

Junee Music Blogathon Day 2

A Song That Makes Me Sad.

Well this was so much easier that a song that makes me happy. Not sure if a psychologist would have a field day with that.

I had a runner up song. "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen", the famous version being by Cavan O'Connor I think. Kathleen was my maternal Grandmother's name and was the most important figure for me when growing up. She died when I was 15 and I seemed to lose some of my drive, particularly at school, when she had gone. It's a saddish song but made more so for the personal circumstances.

However, as I say, the choice was not going to be difficult.

Les Miserables is my favourite musical. And no, it isn't a connection between sad and miserable! I think it's some of the best theatre music ever written. But despite being a bit of a sad story it is one of the songs in it that can reduce me to tears for my personal circumstances.

On My Own is sung in the show by a girl who has been childhood friends with a local boy and she has held out the hope that they would be together and more than the friends they have been. He, however, falls in love with someone else and she sings of her unrequieted love for him. When I broke up with Linda it was this song that seemed to fit her circumstances and what she wanted deep down. The circumstances being different but the sentiment the same. It came up the first time for me on the day she was admitted to the local mental hospital. Having been her main carer for so many years she entered the doors and for the first time in 30 years we were seperate. That evening I was taking part in a concert which included a medley of Les Mis songs, this being one of them, athough as a chorus member rather than a soloist. Luckily I think my brain cut out a bit and the concert went fine but I would find it difficult to sing this now.

It's been rather hard checking the versions to link to as I find it so hard to listen to.

And in fact I'm linking to it twice.

Lea Salonga took the original role of Epernine. Of the two, she has the more accomplished voice. If you want the vocals then this is the verion for you.

Samantha Barks played Epernine in the film that was released a few years back. (I enjoyed the film as well). Because you see the context and scenery it perhaps detracts from her singing performance but enhances her acting and seems to have more emotion.

I hope you enjoy watching one or both, but I won't be joining you. It's made me sad enough for the time being. And maybe the said psychologist could have a field day analysing the link of music with guilt.

June Music Blogathon - Day 1

A Song That Makes Me Happy.

Well, this is a difficult start as first of all you have to have a philosophical discussion about what happiness is.....

It was a difficult choice though. There are plenty of songs I like to listen to, but do they make me happy?

There are songs that bring back a time and occasion when you were happy but are they making you happy now or just nostalgic?

I think I have got a song in mind that means a lot of things to me on different levels.

I grew up with Glam Rock, enjoyed my time as a New Romantic in the early 80s, but I have never been jealous of other musical genres to the point that I wished I could be young again to experience it as it should be. Or that was the case until Dance music hit the scene. I like Dance music, understand exactly how the 120 and 140bpm music resonates with the body, and it strikes me as happy music. I suppose that's why there was a sub genre of Happy House. If I was ever going to take drugs it would have been ecstacy, to increase the heart rate to match 120/140bpm. For the first time, I "got" drugs.

But for a short period I was able to be part of that world. When I went to Blackpool for the weekend with my mates, when Dance was at it's peak, I could go clubbing and immerse my self in it. There was one club I would always go to. Heaven and Hell. Heaven played the more commercial chart type dance music whilst Hell was into Trance and Techno. I spent many a happy hour in Hell just being immersed in the beat. Old enough to be wise to the fact I shouldn't actually dance I would just stand there and enjoy being part of the experience.

The song I am choosing reminds me of that time, it could have been played in either part of the club but my favourite memory of it was in Hell, with smoke machines and strobe lighting.

If I hear it now it does make me feel happy and I'm not averse to bouncing along to it as I drive and trying hard not to "throw some shapes" as the younger generation probably never say anymore.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you - Castles In The Sky : Ian Van Dahl

PS - Apologies. I don't have the technical knowhow of how to embed the video and as they will all come off Youtube probably you might have to suffer an advert first. I just hope you don't prefer the adverts to my musical choices!

June Music Blogathon - Intro

Introduction & why I’ve done this challenge in this way.

So, courtesy of Brennig it's time for the second month long blogging challenge of the year. (Note to self - Think of one for October and there will be three nicely spaced out over the year).

I'm sure others will have incredibly clever ideas on how to do this challenge but for me I'm sticking to the tried and tested, explaining my choice and then linking to the music itself.

One thing that has become apparent in choosing the music is that I could have probably chosen 20 pieces for each one and all of them would mean something special.

Hopefully you will find something new to you and hopefully something you like amongst the more better known choices. Who knows, you might even end up with an earworm or two.

A Change is Gonna Come

Prepare yourselves! Tomorrow heralds the month long music blog. From few posts to myriad. It's like Feb all over again but different.

Wrong Again.

Following up the last paragraph of my last post, I was wrong. I haven't and I didn't.

The wedding was great though.

Travel Time

Heading off to Carassonne airport. Will be in York by this evening to prepare ourselves for the Magnificent Ms eldest daughters wedding on Thursday. Hopefully the infection in my jaw which makes me look like a hamster will be sorted by photos at the wedding! Back in France on April 4th with my mummy in tow.

There will be posts in the meantime because I'll have the time and no doubt much to tell.

Messing About On The River

Honestly, the French will call their boats absolutely anything!

Beware the Ides of March

I studied Latin at school. When I say I studied Latin, what I mean is that I was sat in a classroom wondering what the hell they were on about whilst others were actually sat there studying it. Unfortunately on the day I had to decide which subjects to choose for O'Levels I decided to give up Music, the only subject I was ever really likely to do well in, for Latin, on the whim that that particular day I decided I was going to be a dentist and Latin might be useful.

I remember only a few things. I can decline the verb Amo, to love. amo amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant along with two other tenses, amabo and amabam, but I don't know what tenses they are. Still, it's something. The other thing I know is that the Ides of each month are the middle days and that includes the 15th. Including March which was one of the ten months they bothered with. Including the year 44bc. And that was the day, 2060 years ago today, that Julius Caeser should perhaps have taken a bit more notice as to what was going on.

Perhaps between 1970 and 1973 I should have been taking a bit more notice of what was going on in class.

Blogathon Day 29 - Happy Bisextus

So here we are on the 29th of Feb. Last day of the Blogathon. And bisextus. An alternative name for an extra day inserted into a calender. It also covers an extra month inserted into a calender which happens in the Hebrew calender from time to time. I was rather hoping there might be some exellent tradition in France whereby a woman presents a man with a snail encrusted Brie and he in turns pours a bottle of wine over her head. But there isn't. So I drew a blank there.

Still, I heard someone earlier make a slight error in describing it as bisexual day.

So I think the three of us have made it. 29 Blogposts each. Perhaps we should start a new term. Blogsextus. As long as none of us make a mistake and go for a blogsexual!

Blogathon Day 28 - Sunday Subject

This week we visited the village of Montelieu. I may have mentioned it before. It is a village of books, rather like Hay-On-Wye upon which it is modelled. One of my favourite things is this sculpture. I like it just to look at but I also like it because you can see what the sculptor wanted it to represent. Trees make books and both trees and books have leaves. You can see the progression and it's pleasing to the eye, or at least mine. Not for me a lump of granite which a sculptor thinks "represents man's inhumanity to man and shows the disenfranchisement of the masses in the face of a dictatorial regime. My tree is literal and all the better for it.

Blogathon Day 27 - Words Don't Come Easy

as F R David once sang.

Most of my words today have had to be written in my pool course assignment. Not my favourite pastime. I tend to agonise with things like that as to whether I should be succint in answering the questions or try to write absolutely everything I know about it just to prove I know about it. I'm hopeful I have hit the middle ground succesfully. Hopefully this will score enough that, along with exam part, I have enough aggregate score to pass. And all I will find out as far as I know is whether I pass or fail. No score, just the two extremes. Actually, there is a middle way, refer. I think I'd rather fail then get a refer but I'll probably be fine. I might have to wait 6 weeks to find out.....

Anyway, we managed to pick up a new owner today, not too far away either which is good. They are both lawyers and we thought they might turn out to be a bit of a pain and we've discovered they are actually great. Very down to earth and a bit of a laugh. Providing we don't screw up their house and garden I can imagine them turning into friends.

Time for bed and to let all the words fall out of my ears whilst I sleep. Night night everybody, night night.

Blogathon Day 26 - Calling a spade a shovel.

I've had an epiphany. That's a chocolate bar like a Topic but with glace cherries instead of hazelnuts. I jest. But if they did do that chocolate bar I'd definitely have it. Anyway, back to the epiphany.

Now, I might have thought of this before but forgotten, or I might be the last person to realise, but during a conversation about something totally different today I worked out why there is a continual problem over the migrant problem and their presence in the UK. Not from the extremes for they will always be extreme, but for the middle ground. Those who believe themselves not to be racist but are made to feel racist because of some of
their views.

When we discuss modern British society and the ethnic mix of much of the country we describe it as multicultural. And that is the wrong word for this silent majority or slightly vociferous majority to deal with. When they start saying that they are not happy with a multicultural society they are classed as racist but what they would be happier with is a multinational society. And there is a big difference.

We have had a multinational society for many, many years. In fact, centuries. But what we haven't had very often is a multicultural society, and when we have it has always led to unrest, usually war.

The big difference is that a multinational society is made up of people of many nations, and whilst perhaps practicing their own customs, these are kept for private occasions or occasional public performance or meetings. Multicultural society however, gives images where there are a number of cultures trying to get along side by side on equal footing, and that is always going to upset the host culture. Why should their own culture be destroyed or watered down? A further problem then comes that some cultures will wish to be dominant either through where they perceive themselves to be, or should be, or because they are driven by a belief that they should be.

When we came to France we wanted to live in France with, good or bad, French culture. Our next door neighbours are German, and the next village to us has many nationalities considering it only has about 300 residents. I know of Swedish, Norwegian, German, Belgian, English and Dutch residents. And I think they even still have some French people there, but they all blend in. That is why most of the French here are happy to have us around. It can be annoying when you are trying to rush off in the morning and then you have to say hello and have a conversation with neighbours and acquaintances between you and your car, but you do it because that is what happens here, and not to do it will do you no favours. Why should the French give up 2 hour lunches which they've had for years just because the Brits only want half an hour for a sandwich?

When I was at secondary school, we had 1 West Indian, 1 French, 1 Indian, 1 Malawian and 5 Polish boys. That's 9 boys out of 30 who were non-British. And it didn't bother us a bit. They were exactly the same as us, just with slightly different accents or different skin colours. I know that when they were away from school some might go to a Polish youth club as well as a local one, but that is integration. They didn't expect us to go to the Polish youth club because that way they could do some of their cultural stuff, we didn't feel we were left out, and although we might occasionally go to something there because a mate was taking part, they didn't make a big thing of it. No-one resented us being there, no-one resented us not being there.

So, if I was campaigning, whether for the EU refendum or any other vote, I think my mantra would be "multi-nationalism not multi-culturism".

Blogathon Day 25 - And they say kids cost money!

We are back to the UK in March for a family wedding and when we return we are bringing my mother. Even though she has a new pair of knees which are serving her well, our stairs would probably be a bit too much for her and as the only downstairs bathroom is a bath and not a shower we are having to convert that as she can't get her leg over any more if you know what I mean. So as Chris is doing our kitchen he will then change the bath for a shower and all will be well, except for our bank account.

Unfortunately, the sofas we have at the moment are probably going to be too low and soft for her, not so much to sit comfrtably, but to stand up easily again. So we have been chair shopping. And it hasn't proved easy. We managed to get down to a probable chair from Ikea and then went to check a couple of shops in Limoux just to rule them out before we went ahead. The first one didn't have much until we found an electric recliner whcih they had in a sale. down from a 1000 euros down to 750 euros. The colour wasn't really one the Magnificent M wanted but it was a good deal and we might be able to live with it. Now we had to think which of the two we might have. The Ikea chair, with footstool and delivered to us would have been around 450 euros. 300 euros extra for what we thought might be a little more comfortable and with electrics. And there is also an eye on our future as well, our knees aren't getting any younger! So off we go to the last shop just to rule it out, which we pretty quickly did as they really specialise in made to measure chairs for the poeple buying them. The young assistant was trying hard to sell us something but realised we weren't going to be doing anything. So he re asked what it was we were trying to achieve, a chair for my mum which will only be an occasional use chair. "Come with me" he said and he led us out of the side door. Across the way was another warehouse and he beckoned us inside. There were a few rcks of one off chairs and sofas. These he explained were where they had sets of furniture where maybe the sofas had been sold but the customer didn't want the chair. And the prices were good he told us. And they'd damned well need to be compared to ones in the main showroom. And they were. We tried a few but ended up going for a brown leather manual reclining chair for 350 euros. Result! Except for our bank account.

She's only coming for a fortnight but she's costing us a fortune. At least we've got a suitable bed. At least I think we have....

Food of the future

There is a programme on TV looking at the food of the future. Some of the ideas are "interesting" such as printing food using 3d printers. I really can't get my head round how that works. There is also a table that recognises what food stuff you put on it, say a tomato, with the first item it offers suggestions as to what other food stuff might go with it such as mushrom, basil, hamburger, onion, and then when you pick one of those and put it close procimity to the tomatoes and it starts to suggest recipes. As you add another ingredient it refines and suggest other recipes. This seems quite a good idea, particularly when you have a limited number of "main" ingredients.

There was one section of the programme which struck me as the opposite of new ideas, it was food replacement with bagged protein to make into drinks. This is something you would see on Tomorrows world in the 70s and I suspect even in the 60s as we knew that astronauts had to have freeze dried food and meal replacements when flying to the moon. There was never enough space in an Apollo capsule for all the ingredients for a roast dinner or five. They ran an experiment to see how people got on eating it for a week. And the answer was pretty much the same as every experiment that's been done on this subject. No-one seems to think getting rid of food and living on liquids is a good idea, which ought to tell diet gurus something. It certainly wouldn't suit me. It didn't suit the astronauts. It hasn't suited other people in experiments either. I would venture that if they try this again they will get the same conclusion.

I'm afraid I'm old school, I want to sink my teeth into a burger and chips, not suck it through a straw!

Blogathon Day 23 - Job Sharing

I have discovered that many ideas that the UK Government are "covertly trying to bring in" thereby destroying everything good about the UK, because, as we know, that is what the Tories do. You only have to look at Facebook to realise that as you can't move for posts saying that the Government has destroyed this, that, or the other. Anyway, I digress, as Ronnie Corbett would say.

I have already mentioned that it is cheaper to see a doctor and get a prescription here than it is in the UK even though we have a dreaded pay for health system as oppose to the good ols free NHS, which isn't free. Admittedly, the sticking point is that it is free at the point of access in the UK. Though to be quite honest I would think the majority of people could afford to pay £20 to see a doctor and get a prescription and get £16 refunded a week later, but there you go. Anyway, I digress again.

What I intended to blog about today was another thing that the UK government has suggested which happens here but has caused much outrage in the UK and that is the idea of Firemen acting as paramedics. Now, I know that part of the controversy is that they are talking about merging the two systems whereas here, if firemen are nearer to an injury than paramedics, the emergncy services will send the firemen.

Our builder and colleague Chris has experienced this for himself via a friend. One of his mates, having had a somewhat overindugent liquid birthday celebration managed to fall down 8 concrete steps and landing on his face. It hurt and his head decided to issue forth with much blood. The blokes wife decided to call Chris to see what to do so he went round and discovered he was definitely still breathing so rang the emergency services. (Not sure why the wife didn't do that, but heigh ho). The despatcher sent a local firecrew. Now, by chance, when they got there 10 minutes later, a doctor had just beaten then to it but once he had done an initial check he left the firecrew to deal with it. They spent an hour going over the guy from top to bottom, trating everything they could at the scene to make it easier to transport him to hospital and then they organised the ambulance to take him to Carcassonne, the nearest hospital.

Now, he had suffered a broken collar bone, broken eye socket and broken nose apart from a number of other head traumas but the firebrigade were able to deal with all that in the way the paramedics could which meant a) he got treated quicker than waiting for paramedics, b) the doctor could go to something more serious knowing he was in good hands and 3) despite the French loving a good strike, nobody felt that someone had done someone else's job.

Of course, the UK doesn't want any of these damn foreign ideas, which is a good thing to remember when you next wait an hour for an ambulance to turn up.

Blogathon Day 22 - Counting the Pennies

Or the Cents.

The French tax year ends 31st December and so when we found our accountant last November he asked us to see him late Feb so he could work on our tax returns before he got really busy as all papers have to be filed by end of April and he tries not to let everyone leave it to the last minute. Anyway, today was that day.

The first pleasing thing is that it is just 4 sides of A4 paper and there are large bits where only one part needs filling in depending on how your business is set up. I think on the whole form there were only 12 boxes filled in and 5 of those were zeros. Even I can cope with the idea of that. It doesn't however stop the French complaining about how arduous it all is. When we were on our course last October we took in a UK tax return form just to prove they don't know when they are well off! The next good thing is that if you are "self employed", an auto-entrepreneur here, although you keep records of expenses you don't need to take too much notice as the tax authorities allow you 50% of your income for expenditure. You should be well inside with what you actually spent, indeed, if your costs are more than 50% you probably aren't an auto-ent but a small company, (Sarl), and then you do accurately claim your expenses, so again the tax system works the best way for you, not for the Government.

In the end we were with him for an hour whilst he did both our returns, which would be fast if it wasn't for the fact that half an hour was spent discussing the Magnificent M's pension, so was in effect even quicker. The problem with the pension is that she worked for a local authority and thus it is a government pension and thus she should pay tax in the UK on it. It has been complicated though by the fact that local government stopped running their own pensions and let Capita run them. Now, a pension paid by Capita is classed as a private pension which for an ex-pat means you pay tax in France. Luckiy he had some guidance notes which say, be careful if you have a government pension paid through Capita that you pay in the correct country. The only problem is it doesn't tell you which it should be. So our accountant did what you hope he will do. He has decided that as the pension has so far been taxed at source in the UK then for the year 2015 we pay there, which is good because in the UK, lump sum pension payouts are tax free but taxed in France. Now he is going to check whether from now we can pay in France because if so then the monthly pension would be tax free. Fingers crossed!

And good news, I haven't got any income tax to pay either because the allowances are quite high here and I didn't earn enough. Which is fine by me.

Blogathon Day 21 - Sunday's Subject : Mountains

Since I first visited Switzerland in the mid-70s I aways wanted to live with mountains. Preferably in them. Then when I visited Austria in the mid 1980s I reckoned that, if it was ever to happen, then Zell am See in Austria would be my ideal place. A mixture of mountains and lakes.

But now I find myself living about 45 minutes from the Pyrenees but not actually in them. And I'm satisfied. I have the benefit of seeing them virtually every day and being able to drive into them in about 45 minutes. Just over an hour and a half away we could be in Andorra. But I don't need to live in the mountains to be happy with them.

This is one of the things about The Aude that makes it special. We can be in the mountains in 45 minutes and at the coast in about an hour. We have a great deal of history within an hours drive and massive underground grottoes about an hour way. It could be said to be the "Jack of all Trades" of an area rather than the master of any but I think it gives you all you can want in relative close proximity.

Blogathon Day 20 - Back Home

And so I have returned home from my sojourn in the UK. Home where I physically live. Home where I emotionally feel most at home. And home where the heart is.

I passed the exam part of the course which is good and have all the information I need to do the assignmant which I shall try to break the back of tomorrow and send off this week before I forget everything. Obviously I hope I pass, although if for some reason I don't, I am in the lucky position that my job doesn't depend on it. I got what I needed from the course and hopefully all the pools will have a good year this year whether it's by luck or good management.

I didn't find many subjects at school easy, particularly the sciences. But like many things, I do better now that I have an interest in the subject and I scored about 70% higher in this chemistry based exam than I did in my mock O'level. I still have a tendency to tune out when chemical names are bandied about, hydrochloric this and chlorinate that, but at least I now have a big fat manual to refer to every time there's a problem.

Now all I have to do is wait for the weather to get warmer and then I can open the pools and see which of my chemistry marks was the truthful one and which was the fluke.

Blogathon Day 19 - The Real Thing

Well would you believe it, you wait all your life to go to Harpenden and then you go twice in a week.

Following the meeting with Masher last Sunday, (see how the EU leaders have failed to have any enthusiasm for their talks when they know they were so badly eclipsed?), I returned once more to Harpenden to meet my brother at Godfrey's Fish and Chips.

OMG! As young people like to say these day. Or at least like to text. They are damned good fish and chips. They are possibly the best fish and chips I have had outside Yorkshire. and if not the best, then certainly the second best. So good was the haddock I had, and the batter so crispy and dry, that I was convinced they were cooked in solid fat. By which, I mean as a Yorkshireman, in lard. So when we paid for them I asked and, although they are indeed solid fat fryers, it is solid vegetable oil. As Victor Meldrew said, I don't believe it!

This now means I have a decent fish and chip shop within a thousand miles of where I live. Excellent, even if a bit of a long and expensive round trip to get them.

Now, if I can just get them to skin the fish completely.......