Eeyore looking sad by a tree.
“It’s snowing still,” said Eeyore gloomily.
“So it is.”
“And freezing.”
“Is it?”
“Yes,” said Eeyore. “However,” he said, brightening up a little, “we haven’t had an earthquake lately.”
The Bright Side
A Good Day
I ran a four hour film challenge in Saltburn today. 4 groups of schoolkids, 4 film makers and four hours to make 4 short films, from script to screen.
It was inspiring. The kids really seemed to enjoy it. I know I did. We had a grand screening of the films this evening and they were… of variable quality, as you’d expect, but they all had their moments and one of them was hilarious, with kettle-related violence and some truly mental dialogue. The kids were so proud of themselves, as well they should have been.
It got me thinking about film making again. What with one thing and another I haven’t felt able to devote any energy to the film stuff for quite a while, but watching the enthusiasm and creativity of those kids today…
I miss it. I think it’s time to step it up again.
The Jamming Arabs
Ha! Well, talking of music, I just found this footage I’ve never seen before of fat Harris bopping about on stage with a bass guitar. I think this might have been the last gig The Columbos did. The song is The Peacock’s One More Chance.
The Columbos used to be The Jamming Arabs. I know, terrible name, but it seemed funny at the time. We had a record out last century. Surf-punk-ska-pop-a-gogo.
If you’d lke to hear what a big mix of The Ramones, Beach Boys, Madness and the Banana Splits might sound like, you can download the album Never Bin Surfin here. It’s high-speed shouty sunshine!
Bazookalele
Another musical day. The sunshine inspired me to open a bottle of Fentiman’s, lift my ukulele down from the top of the wardrobe and have a tinker and a strum. It’s not a great ukulele, it only knows four chords at the moment, but I’m hoping to teach it a couple more over the next few weeks.
Anyway, four chords is more than enough to write a song with, especially if one of those chords is a sad one, like D minor, so that’s what I did.
I can recommend strumming a uke if you’re feeling a little under the weather. It’ll shine a little ray of Hawaiian sunshine into your soul.
Made-Up Love Song #43
This is just fantastical in so many ways. Beautiful song, inspiring performance.
Hope you find some wonder this Wednesday. x
Home
I know when I’m low
that I need to be in the town where they know
what I’m like and don’t mind.
Elbow: Station Approach
Nature Anthem
When people ask if I have any ambitions: why yes, I wanna…
Taken from “Below the Radio”, Grandaddy’s compilation of tracks that inspired and influenced them. It’s a great album.
I swear, where I am right now, this could be happening right behind me. It probably is. I shan’t look.
Tucker’s Law
I might have to get one of those teatowels, although I suspect I may be one of the c-bombs in question.
Ths clip is an out-take, of course, from the simply excellent The Thick of It, whch I’ve just discovered is available in its entirety on YouTube.
It really is one of the best British comedy series of the century so far: witty, smart and profane, with suberb performances across the board.
I wonder, if Chris Langham had been able to walk backwards while appearing to walk forwards, whether the general public might have found it easier to forgive him.
678
At the back of my mind, I was always hoping that I might just get by. Ha. Ah well. Sing on.
More comedy later. x
Friday’s Short Story
Gazing up at the stars that cloudless summer night, I felt compelled to speak.
“Hi God,” I said.
I didn’t believe in God. I had no faith at all. Then again, nobody I knew had any faith in me, and I existed as far as I could tell, so I reasoned it was worth a try.
“God,” I said, “I’ve made a mess of things.”
I paused: no answer. I took this as a cue to continue.
“Really badly. So, I was just wondering. Could you maybe help me fix everything? Make it all better? Somehow?”
“No,” said God, “Not really. Sorry.”
“Oh,” I said.
“I am sorry,” said God.
“No, it’s fine,” I said. “I didn’t really… I mean, I just thought it was worth asking.”
There was an awkward pause. I wanted to leave but… How do you leave the presence of God? He’s omnipresent. You can’t walk away from Him, you’d just be walking towards Him at the same time. So I just stood there for a bit.
“I could give you some advice, if you’d like, ” said God, breaking the silence. “For what it’s worth.”
“Right. Er… yeah, ok,” I said, “Why not?”
And he whispered in my ear. It was good advice.
It wasn’t really applicable to my current situation, but it was good to know that, if somewhere further down life’s winding path I was to get attacked by a grizzly bear, I’d know what to do.
“Thank you, God, ” I said. And he was gone.
Thinking about it, the last time God sorted out a big mess it involved carpenting a nice man to death over a long weekend, so I could see why he’d be reluctant to intervene in this case.
Me, I’d have considered it.
******
The Big Mess by Harris
more tiny tales
Ramshackle Charm 