'Tying Up Christmas News'

Well, it is nearly time for me to cease writing this blog again for another year... Christmas has not really 'kicked into life' for me in a lot of ways this year but I am happy in the circumstances how I have defiantly tried my best to enter into the spirit, keep doing all the festive things I love and stay jolly.

Ironically, I now have another good friend in hospital! I spent part of Christmas Day with Robert and he made us both a nice christmas lunch. We pulled crackers (both of mine went off as well!) shared a bottle of wine, had a few laughs and watched the Queen's speech. Robert has been a 'creaking gate' for a while now and his health has not been great but on the 27th he had a heart attack and is now in the James ward at The Conquest hospital. I saw him yesterday and he was tired and sounded awful
(he has a chest infection as well) but thankfully was still his usual self so, hopefully, all is not lost just yet. He is at least in the best place for care now and will HAVE to eat the right things rather than stuff that's not good for him...

Add to this the shock of finding out that George Michael died on Christmas Day and you have a lot of 'time is passing so blooming fast' like memories and thoughts buzzing around your head, don't you? I was one of the first people in this country to become aware of Wham! I bought the original 12" version of 'Wham Rap' in Flyright Records in Bexhill-on-Sea when it ended up in the 'cheap bin' and think I still have it somewhere. 'Young Guns ( Go For It!)' followed and was a hit and that started the ball rolling. I always admired George Michael as a gifted songwriter as he was capable of writing what I call 'candy floss pop tunes' alongside brilliantly adult and emotive songs like 'Father Figure' and 'A Different Corner'. Both of the latter are I feel classics as is 'Last Christmas'. It is sad that George had such a troubled personal life but he obviously had a heart of gold from what we are now hearing of his legendary generosity. I was not so keen on his later work ( a bit too self-indulgent) but there was no doubting the man's genius...

On a more personal note, while I lost (as usual) on the Boxing Day Gee Gee's, this time I did share a win as well when my nap, 'Does Your Dog Bite' won at Kempton at 8/1. I only got the one winner all day so lost 50p myself but in my joint bet with my 'punting pal' Vakis we won about £50.

Finally, my post about 'getting up to a lot of good' is probably best forgotten as though I had the best of intentions my act of kindness was not so well thought out as it should have been and so I caused a bit of heart ache as well as fun by what I did. Still, all is sorted now so I must 'live and learn' and not let the spirit of Christmas carry me away in future...

P.S) I am glad to say that I received a card from one of the 18 households I carded this year as part of 'Operation Spread Christmas Spirit'. Last year I posted over 50 cards and failed to get one back so to receive the card you can see here was extra special...

Lots of love and BE SAFE New Year's Eve!! xx

'An Emotional Day'

Things never work out as you think they are going to in life, do they? As I posted earlier, today looked like being a VERY quiet Christmas Day indoors with just me and my Mum and Dad but it did not turn out like that!

No, in the end I received a phone call mid morning from my friend, Robert. He had not heard from me for a while and had not received my usual card so rang to see how I was. Now, as you all know, I have not been 'at the races' with Christmas this year and have had difficulty focusing so I had not sent him a card nor even bought him a present yet!

Robert is a good friend, however, and knows me of old. We may be totally different people but he does his best to understand my 'fevered brain'. Before I knew it I had been invited to his house for lunch! This was a most welcome offer as Mum was not cooking anything much today having made the effort to do a lovely dinner yesterday. For her to have 'one less to worry about' was thus going to be good. Mind you, my brother, Geoff, had changed his mind about coming today as well so I needed to be back home by early evening to meet him and his kids, Sam & Sophie for the VERY unceremonious present opening session!

Amazingly, on the way around to Roberts I spotted a £5 note laying in amongst a pile of leaves! That was a nice Christmas bonus! What filled me with even more joy though was that the £5 note had a prefix that started with the letters AL. I could not help laughing out loud when I spotted that and looked up to the heavens and thanked my old mate, Alan Gaywood, for the fiver from beyond the grave! I know its crazy, but I choose to believe that there is no such thing sometimes as a coincidence and today was one of those occasions. It would be typical of Al to give me his last £5...

After a really festive Christmas lunch with Robert (who is not normally much of a one for 'the c word') and having watched The Queen's speech to the nation on the telly it was time to return home. Oddly, I felt rather flat for a while when I got back so decided to have a bath and freshen myself up a bit. A good old soak often helps if you are feeling a bit down...

As soon as I wanted to have my bath my brother turned up with the kids but they were staying a while so I carried on with my previous plans.

Sophie opens one of her presents from me..

When it came to finding the presents I had got for the family I had a bit of a job. Space is at an absolute premium in our house these days and I could not find some of the cards I had written! In the end I had to either give up on them or write a few new ones but poor old Mum missed out because I had used up all my spare cards doing 'Operation Spread Christmas Spirit' yesterday!

Anyway, in the end the present giving session went off quite well and I did manage to get a few nice family photos (as you can see) to share with our Australian side of the family in Victoria. Sam did not even know about them so I spent a while telling him all about them and how we are related. Good job Trevor & Lesley are as family orientated as I am down under! If It wasn't for Trevor and I using Ancestry.com a while back the two sides of the family would not know anything at all about each other!

Dad, Mum and my brother, Geoff.

Lesley & Trevor May from Victoria in Aus

Sam (my brother's boy) is all smiles!

Once my brother and the kids had gone I set about opening my presents! My mystery benefactor's purple box turned out to be a battery operated Christmas Train set! Ideal for a 51, nearly 52, year old kid! HA HA HA I also got a pair of Elves slippers with bells on from my friends, Sally & Ro and loads of thoughtful gifts all individually wrapped up from Stephanie, Simon and Solana!

Prezzies from Stephanie, Simon & Solana

Jan sent me a poetry book from Oswestry and Bin & Bean Kennedy a swanky new writing book with a magnetic cover - I even got a Balloon Modelling Kit from Martin & Vanessa - all good fun stuff!

Lastly, I set about opening my Christmas gifts from the St Clement's Church Christmas Fair. I got some LOVELY fragrancies including a TED BAKER one (not bad for a £1, eh?), a LONG Toblerone to look forward to polishing off and  a Star Wars Sticker Set! HA HA The most odd gift of all though was a tin of pilchards! I know its Hastings Old Town guys but, really! For Christmas???

So, there you have it, my Christmas Day in a nutshell. A lot more eventful and emotional than I had expected and bargained for. I still miss my old buddy, Al and will be glad now in a way when I see 2017 on the calendar rather than 2016 but Christmas does at least make you aware of what you STILL have for now and that sometimes is just enough...

'Merry Christmas!'

Another year, another Christmas day! Well, I'm STILL waiting for the 'fanfare of trumpets at dawn', the Willy Wonka like experience to cap the morning, the LAVISH and happy family present opening gathering this evening and to look out on a freshly laid carpet of snow BUT it is CHRISTMAS! Ho! Ho! Ho!

To keep my newly installed Christmas tradition going, I DID manage to write and deliver 18 'Operation Spread Christmas Spirit' cards yesterday. I was not able to do it under cover of darkness this time and did get more than a few 'funny stares' from local residents while peering closely at their homes as I walked slowly around with my bag of cards over my shoulder... Still, 18 people will have discovered a card from 'Santa' on their mat ( or stuck in their blooming awful, very stiff letterboxes!) either yesterday or this morning and a few festive chuckles will ( I hope!) have been caused due to the wording inside. I came up with all kinds of silly but fun tales to put in the cards this year including about how Rudolf had a cold and because of that his red nose went out! Poor old Santa (me) could not see a thing and was only saved from crashing the sleigh by the families lovely light show! Now, what more Christmassy a tale could anyone tell to someone they don't know but wish well, I ask you?

Today is going to be a VERY quiet one for me and my folks. It doesn't look as if any of the rest of the family are going to come today and Mum has already opened two of her presents at the breakfast table! I despair with my lot about their 'lack of a sense of occasion' and intend to save opening all of my presents until the light has gone, the Christmas tree is twinkling away and I have time to enjoy unwrapping my gifts and thinking of the people who have sent them...

LOTS of love to you all this Christmas day and make sure you spend plenty of quality time with the ones you love...

'I've Been Visited By A 'Secret Santa'!

While this year has been a difficult one it has had its moments when, as if to say 'don't give up old boy' something nice has happened. The day before yesterday my Mum went to put some paper in the re-cycling and found that someone had left a present on our doorstep!

The Mystery Gift!

 The present was not labelled nor was there a card but I knew somehow it was meant for me and was the result of either my writing this blog, my work as 'The Clean Up Man' or a 'ripple' from last years 'Operation Spread Christmas Spirit' campaign...

Sadly, Mum opened the end of the parcel to see what it was before I could stop her so I already know what is in it but I won't enlighten you all until the big day! I am really pleased to know that 'someone out there' also has the spirit of the season in their heart and shares my wacky sense of humour. I hope they had as much fun 'sneaking up' on my house to drop off the present without being seen that I have when trying to drop cards in people's letterboxes on Christmas Eve! Being a burglar may be a horrid and selfish thing to do but I would not want their 'job' I can tell you! HA HA

It looks like today I am going to have to help Mum with some last minute Christmas shopping but I still have one or two presents of my own to get so that's fine. I am SOOO late this year on competing my Christmas present buying and have REALLY struggled to think of what to buy a couple of my friends. I know there are 'safe' options that I can get but I LOVE to come up with something new, un-expected and different that is just right so have been reluctant so far to buy the 'same old same old'. Still, I am sure my friends would rather have something they like than something different they don't and so I may have to concede defeat this year and 'revert to type'...

Overall, I think I have done quite well this year at keeping Christmas in my thoughts but I can't say I have really felt the 'fuzzy warm feeling' I usually get much. I guess that was always going to be a bit much to ask though this year having lost TWO people who were close to my heart...

Oh well, time to get ready for a days shopping and then I will have my last session of present wrapping to do for this year. I have not written any 'Operation Spread Christmas Spirit' cards out yet either so if I am to do it for a third year...

'4 Days To Go!'

Well folks, we are now nearly at the 'big day' again! As usual, instead of a lovely, soft carpet of snow and a population of Snowmen looking at us through the window we have wet, depressing days and that HORRIBLE grey sky...

Still, Christmas is the 'season that lives in your heart' and so you don't actually need to see it you just need to feel it and know that it is real...

I'm writing this listening to The Manhattan Transfer's Christmas album from 1992 so I'm all wrapped up in great harmonies and lush melodies! The 'Man Tran' are not normally my scene ( a bit showbiz) but this time of year their gorgeous vocal harmonies and show like songs all help create a bit of badly needed glamour!

The run in to Christmas has been a strange one for me this year. I have either been out enjoying myself with good friends and attending Christmas Dinners or I have been at a loose end indoors at home with (too much) time on my hands to reflect on the horrific losses I have suffered this year and how scarey 2017 looks...

I know I say this every year, but Christmas can be and is a difficult time emotionally for lots of people. Offset against all of the happy get-togethers there are inevitably thoughts of those no longer with us and of how things keep changing on you as you get older. Loneliness is especially keenly felt at this time and that is why I try to smile at everyone I meet in the street and make sure I say a cheery 'Good Morning' or 'Good Afternoon' to them with my 'Merry Christmas!' Small little gestures like that can really make a difference and maybe be enough to keep someone who is feeling 'cast off' going.

I hope with this blog I 'connect' with a few people and help bring the cheer and spirit of Christmas into your home!  Here is a little poem of mine I put to music a few years ago. The video may be very amateurish but the scenery is lovely and Christmassy! I filmed it myself in Church-in-the-Wood the last time we had some significant snowfall in my area...

Finally, I had a lovely evening out with my Shorelink Writers club at The New Inn in Westfield at our Christmas dinner party.

Yvonne & Alvin are all smiles!

Someone left me a 'secret Santa' present on my chair while I was taking a few pictures, which was very nice and I will look forward to finding out what it is o the 25th! 'Thanks for all the help' was the message attached to the card. Now, I do try to be a 'helpful fellow' whenever I can to my friends but I've no idea this time who this present could be from?

They really are a great bunch of people at Shorelink Writers and no-one can feel lonely or lost for long at our group because it is such fun and we all support each other - like a family does...

So people, if you are reading this and thinking you could do with something new to be a part of next year make a new year's resolution to come to one of our meetings. We are on a 'holiday break' now until January the 9th but you are most welcome to come along to our next meeting at Tesco's Community Room in Churchwood Drive! We start at 7pm until 9 and the tea, coffee and biccies are all free so what have you got to lose?

'A Truly Heart Warming Christmas Card & Letter'

I was really touched the other morning when I received a Christmas card and a letter 'out of the blue' from someone who knows me only from my 'One Man's Guide to Hastings' series and as 'The Clean Up Man'. I love making videos for my Youtube channel (Maybrick44) and especially videos to do with my home town of Hastings, East Sussex so it gives me a real boost when something like this happens and I get some recognition from someone that they are watching and appreciate my efforts!

The Letter & Card From Dave Booth

The voluntary work I do clearing the streets of rubbish and litter and generally 'looking out' for the well being of my local community as 'The Clean Up Man' can also be a lonely and sometimes soul destroying job but people like Dave Booth, who the letter was from, (thanks so much mate!) who reach out to me REALLY fire me up again to keep doing what I do and to try and make a difference...

I have been doing my 'work' in the streets of Hollington as 'The Clean Up Man' now for the best part of five years and get a lot of pleasure from the result of my efforts every time I see a horrid, smelly area suddenly look new, neat and nice again. In a way, I feel a bit like a 'vigilante' for decency, which is why I gave myself the 'superhero' monicker of 'The Clean Up Man'... It's all a bit pathetic though in a way as I should be working a proper job and creating a life for myself but I just don't feel up to that and lack the confidence required to 'take life by the scruff of the neck'. In many ways, 'The Clean Up Man' gives my battered ego a chance to feel good about who I am and what my contribution to the world is for a change and kind people like Dave really help to keep me going in the 'scarey' world of ours.

Dave is obviously a 'man after my own heart' as he tells me in his letter how he regularly relates to many of the things I talk about and show in my videos. Dave lives in West Sussex now but is yet another of the 'ex-pats' (as I call them) that still have a soft spot for Hastings and get their 'fix' of the place by tuning in to my Youtube channel. It feels good to know that my words and feelings about the place I love are not just 'lost to the ether' and I'm glad that Dave and people like him find comfort and solace in my videos and thoughts...

Dave mentions 'Woolworths' (and the Kings Rd branch), the two swimming baths, our long lost but sadly missed Memorial Clock Tower that was lost due to vandalism and 'your beloved pier' in his letter - and assures me he could tell me a tale or two about them all...Keep up the good work! He says to finish with...

Well Dave, I will! THANK YOU so much for your card and 'words of wisdom' - the boost they have given me is much appreciated, I can tell you! 2016 has been a pretty awful year for me emotionally and it feels really good to know that there are people like Dave 'out there' who notice and who care.

Have a VERY Merry Christmas Dave and all the best to you and your boys for a happier 2017...

'Emerald City' - The Seekers Lost Christmas Song

I am in the process of trying to update my (fairly) comprehensive list of all U.K. Christmas hit singles and as such have been trawling the Internet for information. Ironically, I discovered 'Emerald City' by The Seekers (no 50 - 1967) by going through my own collection of CD's as part of my drive to whittle down what I have to make room for some of the CD's I was left by my mate, Alan.

Listening to bits of the CD's you are thinking of getting rid of is usually fatal as, when you actually hear most of them again, you find that you don't want to get rid of them at all! On this occasion, however, the compilation of The Seekers I was playing was water damaged and so I had already decided to get rid of it and was just making sure there weren't any individual songs I wanted to keep on the computer.

As soon as I heard, 'Emerald City' I thought it sounded like a Christmas single and so I checked it out on the internet. According to Official charts.com the song got to no 50 for 1 week in Dec 1967 as so also qualifies for inclusion in the unfortunate list of songs to reach the lowest available chart position for just the single week. Thankfully, The Seekers had plenty of other bigger hits so they do not join acts like Angel Witch, who's 'Sweet Danger' single was their only hit and reached no 75 for one week (there was only 50 official chart placings available in 1967).

According to Wikkipedia, 'Emerald City' was written by Kim Fowley (a real 60's 'character!) and another of the band members, Keith Potger under the nom-de-plume of 'John Martin' and is a song based upon a fictional visit to the Emerald City in L.Frank Baum's book, 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'. Quite why Fowley and Potger thought that a song about the Wizard of Oz would sell at Christmas time I'm not sure?

Still, I have to say that the song does evoke the 'magic feel' of Christmas time and does feature some VERY cute kids voices in the background so I'm a bit surprised that it did not do better than it did. Mind you, 1967 does not seem to have been a very 'festive' year for some reason? Until discovering, 'Emerald City' I had not found one single Christmas chart hit for that year in the U.K...

Take a watch of the video here and see what you think? Since discovering the song I have been playing it quite a bit! In fact, finding something that I missed before is what has inspired me to do some more research into U.K. Christmas hits and I hope to post an updated list here soon...

Merry Christmas pop pickers!

'My Christmas Quiz Is A Hoot!'

Well, I am glad to say that my annual Christmas Quiz went down a storm at my Shorelink Writers club meeting yesterday. Our last regular meeting of the year (before our Christmas meal next week)  I am usually called upon to put a Christmas themed quiz together for a bit of fun.

Ye noble chocolate rations!

As ever, I supplied the three teams led by Ro, Brian and Alan (2), with a 'chocolate ration' to keep their spirits up and their brains fed during the evening and dressed in a suitable daft way to MC the evening!

With 6 rounds of questions prepared, including a music round where I intended to play 20 or 30 seconds of 10 festive songs and ask the teams to tell me the artists name, there was a lot to get through in two hours. I was a bit disappointed at the turnout as only 13 people showed up ( we regularly get 18-20 at meetings these days) but things happen at this time of year and one of our regular members relies heavily on the trains so the disruption at the moment was always likely to count him out...

Thankfully though, the 13 I did get were all in a festive mood and took quite keenly to the quiz once we started. I did try to split Ro from Sally (one or the other's team ALWAYS wins our quizzes) but Sally objected quite rightly claiming that they always get separated and could not help being so intelligent! Dashed insolence, eh? HA HA HA

Ro (in red) and Sally (opposite) - The DREAM Quiz team!

Suitably attired as Quizmaster!

Having had quite a bit of flack the previous two years for making my quizzes too hard I
REALLY tried to make it all a lot easier this year and had also 'upped the silliness' factor by including rounds about 'Christmas Riddles' and a 'questions you were asked last year but I hope you have forgotten the answers' round!

Introducing the idea of each team playing their joker on one of the rounds for double points I started the evening in hope that everyone would enjoy themselves...

Well, I think you can see from the pictures here that it was a good night! I had planned for 4 teams of 5 to play the quiz but in the end we had to settle for two teams of 4 and one of 5. Sally and Ro were in one of the 4 person teams but soon went into the lead and after scoring an impressive 16 points with their joker in the second round were well ahead even by half time! Brian and Alan (2)'s teams though were locked in a battle for 2nd and dead level at the half-time interval...

Half Time and Ro's ALREADY in a good lead!

My previous music rounds have been slammed as 'too hard' by all in previous years and so this time around I simply played snippets of 10 festive songs and asked the teams to tell me who it was singing - no need for the song title or anything else... This seemed to do the trick as all of the teams did very well and appeared to enjoy the christmas vibes! Both Brian and Alan (2)'s teams scored 5 out of 10 on their prospective joker rounds (doubled to 10 points)  and amazingly at the end finished locked together for second place as they had been at half time - Ro's team having long sauntered past the winning post (as usual!)

Oh no! Ro' wins AGAIN!

Chris 1 and Sian (LOVE the specs) of Brian's Team...

Alan (2)'s team deep in thought

Overall, it was a fun night and I think the best quiz I have put together so far. Just hard enough to get people thinking, it was still easy enough for everyone to feel they were doing well and that is always the mark of a successful quiz!

Onto the last Shorelink get-together of the year next week - our Christmas dinner at Westfield. It should be a great night and a fitting end to another great year for Shorelink...

To finish off here is a track from one of my favourite Christmas albums by Lady Antebellum - check it out!

HO! HO! HO!

'A Christmassy Walk And Oranges'

I went for an evening walk along George Street in The Old Town of Hastings on the 9th. So much of Christmas is 'best served' when it is dark and the cobbled streets of The Old town really come into their own when you can see lots of Christmassy lights twinkling and flashing above them!

The snag with that though is that it is VERY hard to try and capture the magic of all that with a small camera - especially if like me you are no 'whizz kid' with the technical side of things! As you can see by the pics here, I did my best but ultimately failed pretty miserably!

Still, Christmas is a time when it does you good to get out into the world and give yourself a chance of meeting new people. With people traditionally busying about the shops there is often a chance to stop for a rest on a seat and share a few words with someone you don't know...

In many cases, it is words like this that can make a Christmas for many. I'm one of thousands of single people who often feel isolated at Christmas and while I while I  am lucky enough to have some GREAT friends, when the festivities really get under way they all have families of their own to visit or concentrate on and so I spend a lot of the main days of Christmas playing records in my bedroom at home. Mum and Dad are not really into Christmas at all (especially Dad, whose the ULTIMATE 'Bah Humbugger') and so I have to try and create the festive atmosphere for myself more often than not! Next time you sit down next to or near someone when Christmas shopping say a few words to them - it doesn't cost you anything and you might just make someones day!

Anyway, I made a little video of my walk! Like the photos here, its not great quality but if you want to see it you can do so here...

If you do watch the film, there is a part in it where I take a shot of the front window of the Jewellers shop . I was really taken with that scene as it transported me straight into the era of one of Charles Dickens novels. I felt like Tiny Tim lovingly staring at the toys in the window of the toy shop in 'A Christmas Carol' I can tell you! This morning I had an Orange and the citrus burst I experienced had a similar effect upon me as I imagined the look of utter delight  there would be on one of the poor little street urchins faces in that film if they could have just one segment...I think the Orange is the most 'christmassy' fruit of all and in the right circumstances can really connect with how marvellous a feeling it must have been to poor kids to find a WHOLE one all to themselves at the bottom of their Christmas stocking...

'Up To My Festive Tricks Again!'

I am beaming with delight right now writing this as I have been up to 'plenty of good' again as far as spreading the Christmas spirit goes and can't wait now to witness the fall out from my devilishly nice act! HA HA The Devil certainly misses a trick being an 'old rotter' you know, its MUCH more fun doing something nice and (sadly) much less expected these days!

I can't reveal the exact nature of this 'good deed' as yet but once it comes to fruition I promise I will post and tell you all about it...In the mean time have a listen to this wonderfully Christmassy piece from 1974 featuring the classic voices of Mel Blanc and others. It might just give you a clue as to what i've been up to...

'R Kelly Hits The Spot!'

I have been looking for some new Christmas music to introduce you to this year but haven't found much... Imagine my surprise then when I stumbled across the new '12 Days of Christmas' set by R.Kelly and was pleasantly surprised at how sensitive and festive the songs on it are! Now, to be fair, Mr.Kelly has written some corkers in the past - especially 'You are Not Alone', which I played to death when Michael Jackson died and even tried to sing at karaoke as a tribute to Michael.. 'I Believe I Can Fly' being another great song of his. Sadly, all too often, much of the man's material revolves around sex and is pretty throw away so, while I respect R.Kelly as a songwriter of enormous potential talent I rarely listen to him as a whole album of his usual stuff would bore me rigid (if you'll excuse the terminology!)...

The songs on '12 Days Of Christmas', however do seem to show that the man has a good heart though! 'I really like 'Snowman' (above) and having flicked through the rest of the album on Amazon via the mp3's think I will probably buy the album. R.Kelly's voice has always been o.k. for me - its just what he has been singing I've not liked. He's no Luther Vandross or Donny Hathaway but he does have a nice, soulful and mellow voice when its matched up to good material.

Another act who have a good Christmas single out this year is ABC. I really liked them in the 80's   (The Lexicon Of Love is a great album) but went off them after 'When Smokey Sings' came out as they went all dance-floor and the songs were less interesting. 'A Christmas We Deserve' is not available at the moment on Youtube so I can't steer you in the direction of the video but check it out via the mp3 somewhere on the net...

Finally, I see that Spandau Ballet's, Tony Hadley has released a Christmas album. The reviews are not that great though and I could not find any mp3 previews of it to have a listen to so I will wait until I get a chance to hear some of it before I get too excited! Maybe one day I will finally get my Christmas set 'in the wracks' alongside them all and give them some festive competition!

'The Lights At Westfield'

I had a lovely afternoon at the G.R.O.W. (Grass Roots Open Writers) Christmas meal. Beginning with a visit to a pub in Ninfield for a carvery Christmas lunch once the light started to go it was time to make our way to the 'Capital City of Christmas' - Westfield to see the Christmas lights this year.

I don't think there are quite as many homes in the village this year that have taken part in the annual event to raise money for St Michael's Hospice but it is a tad earlier than I usually go so maybe that is why?

This said, there are PLENTY of amazingly festive sights to see in the village and many of the 'regulars' have gone out of their way to 'up the ante' even more and produce some new displays. I'm not going to show you all of them here because I want to encourage you to go to 'make the pilgrimage' to Westfield to see the sights yourselves but I have uploaded a few of the best pics I took here in order to 'get your juices flowing'!

I shall be back in Westfield for my other writing club's Christmas Dinner (Shorelink Writers) on the 19th so it will be interesting to see if more of the houses are lit up by then or not?

The villagers do such a good job of promoting Christmas and of advertising the Christmas spirit that just walking about the village in December is an uplifting and re-assuring experience! I fear that the whole idea of Christmas is in decline these days (hence this blog!) and so I love it when I am anywhere where it is obvious that this is not the case...

One of home owners has come up with a really great Santa projection show as well! If you stand outside and watch you get to see Santa moving about seemingly inside their house! He looks as if he is delivering presents and even peers out the window to wave at you!

Especially fun for the kids, I found watching it almost transported me back in time to when my eyes would go all big and wide at the thought of seeing Santa Claus dropping off my sack of presents at the end of my bed on Christmas night...

I hope the villagers do well with their collection this year. I did not see as many collecting buckets or places to drop donations into as last year though but like I said it is still a little before the prime Christmas season. Go on! Get yourself and you family and friends out to Westfield and re-kindle your inner children!

'A Wonderful Time At 'Meet Of The Tongue'

I had a great time at last night's 'Meet of the Tongue' event in Robertsbridge! While there were not a huge amount of people there our host, Yvonne Rees, did a splendid job of facilitating a good old-fashioned evening of social interaction and began the night by asking us all to spend a few moments to think of either our best or worst ever Christmas. Accompanied by the soft acoustic guitar playing of regular attendee Derek Povey, we all sat in silence contemplating our answers for a few moments...

Christmas is a time of MANY wonderful memories for me (as this blog stands witness) and so it was hard for me to think of just one Christmas to tell everyone about when it came around to my turn to speak. I had a very happy childhood (in the main, I have always suffered with emotional problems) and Mum and Dad always went out of their way to make Christmas special. I think I have missed that 'special feeling' ever since and maybe that is why I always throw my heart and soul into Christmas in the hope that just for a few days that 'warm inner glow' will return. Most years it does, though often only for a fleeting period, but others, try as hard as I might, the conditions to re-kindle those far off days are just not right. The weather can play its part in that as if it is too warm and sunny (like this year!) then it is harder to transport myself back into that precious Christmas space.

Going to festive events really helps though and I was gutted to find the whole of Robertsbridge having a street party with stalls and fairground rides when we arrived last night. Don't get me wrong, it was amazingly lovely to see a community coming together and making something of the festive season - I was just gutted because had I known it was on I would have suggested to Alvin that we arrive early and join in the fun for a bit. Not having kids cuts deeper at Christmas than any other time of the year and seeing all of their little happy faces whizzing around on the carousel with their duffle coats and bobble hats on was just like something out of a dream for me...

Still, if that kind of made me a bit sad, Meet of the Tongue soon cheered me up. As you will know if you follow this blog ( or read my articles for 'Hastings Town' magazine) I love the intimate and supportive atmosphere that exists at 'Meet of the Tongue'. No matter who you are or where you come from there is always a BIG welcome waiting for you at the meetings and the fact that everyone gets involved by either sharing a song, a story or a poem is great. Whether listening or performing everyone contributes and we often sing songs and create loads of opportunities to laugh. Last nights event was one of the best ever and after Derek finished playing each one of us recounted stories from our lives about Christmas to the whole group. People spend so much time online these days that its actually quite difficult nowadays to find somewhere you can go to get human interaction free of mobile phones and the like.

Aside from our personal stories of Christmas Yvonne provided us all with some of her poems as did a few others. Jane Trott told us a captivating and festive story from Mongolia about God's gift to the world of story telling, Alvin read one of his typically eclectic stories full of science and sex and Sally Fadelle presented more of her powerful poems. We had even more powerful and thought provoking poems from Laurie, while Jan Povey recounted the story of her 60 year old Christmas Fairy and read 'the famous poem' The Night Before Christmas'. Derek Povey meanwhile returned in the second half to read a comical but powerful story of life in the trenches at Christmas and how a mum's Christmas pudding broke down a bastion. As for me, I told the story of my mate Alan and his slippers and sang my tribute song to him, 'You Can't Take Christmas Away From Me' live. As ever, I had to suffer NUMEROUS problems with getting my backing track CD to play properly and there were a few 'false starts' to the song but in the end I performed it well and I think people liked it.

At the end of the evening I stood up to initiate a round of applause for Yvonne, who puts in the work all year to keep 'Meet of the Tongue' going and then it was time for us all to say goodbye and head back into our lives.

If I were you, I'd make attending the next 'Meet of the Tongue' a priority for 2017. January 6th is the date, 8pm is the time and 'The Ostrich' pub in Robertsbridge is the venue. Why not re-kindle your sense of belonging at a good, old-fashioned community style event?

'Its December!'

Well, the calendar now has the word DECEMBER on it! It all starts 'kicking off' from here usually but I seem to have started earlier than ever this year... I have been to three three course dinners in the last week (though only one was an official christmas do) and have been thus living an 'a la carte' lifestyle!

I went to THE MOORINGS restaurant in Cooden Beach yesterday with the residents of R.O.A.R. for their Christmas get-together. Three courses for the special price of only £10 (usually £20) was a bargain I could not turn down and I have done various things for charity to support R.O.A.R. in the past so I did not feel guilty about accepting something from them. It did not feel much like Christmas though as the sun was shining and we had perfect blue skies as far as the eye could see! The sun was low, of course, so that did give you the idea that it wasn't summer but other than that it was more like a cool summers evening than the first day of December!

I had Garlic mushrooms for starters followed by a three cheese pasta bake and Lemon Meringue Pie and ice cream for sweet. You always get hearty helpings at The Moorings and so I was pretty stuffed by the time I got through my lot. Ironically, I sat next to an elderly lady who had just lost her husband in unexpected circumstances and we talked about how it feels and how best to cope when something like that happens. Funny isn't it? How the universe seems to throw you together with someone in the same boat when it would be therapeutic for both of you to speak with another who fully understands your loss?

One thing that always irks me about Christmas though is that whenever I pull a cracker with someone mine NEVER go 'bang!'. I pulled two at The Moorings and neither exploded yet both the other two crackers did when pulled by others on our table!

Some of the items from our Christmas Crackers at The Moorings...

My mate, Alvin, who I went with said that 'My Crackers Won't Go Bang' would make a GREAT title for a fun Christmas song and I think he is right!
I must see if I can come up with a comedy song to fit that title as well as work on another festive title given to me by another friend, Keith, 'Christmas Did Not Send Me You'. I LOVE working on Christmas material and would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE  to get my LOOONNGG delayed Christmas album finished and pressed up. Maybe 2017 will be the year It finally happens? I hope so...

I have been invited to ANOTHER festive meal on Dec 5th and am out again on the 16th and 19th for my writing club (Shorelink Writers) annual bash. Its my Christmas Quiz on the 12th as well so plenty of festive researching to do to get ready for that! Am not doing badly with my Christmas present buying but it looks as if 'Operation Spread Christmas Spirit' may not happen this year as I do not have the cards and am snowed under with other urgent tasks at the moment...

Off to Meet of the Tongue in Robertsbridge tonight where I will be singing my Christmas song, 'You Can't Take Christmas Away From Me' live. The fun begins at The Ostrich Pub at 8pm if you are interested...

Oh well, I hope you are getting in the festive swing of things - in spite of the horrible good weather! HA HA

'You Can't Take Christmas Away From Me'

Well folks, here it is! My Christmas video single for 2017.

It's an unusual kind of Christmas song in the respect that it is a sad one but the words in the chorus are positive and the tone of the whole thing is defiant - especially highlighted by the military drumming...

The song is dedicated to the two GREAT friends I have lost this year, Noreen Leach and Alan Gaywood and was inspired by Alan's total failure to know when he was beaten in life. Al suffered with epilepsy all of his life and was not expected to reach adulthood but in spite of everything he reached 50 and was self employed for most of his life. He was never a rich man nor was he lucky in love (because of his epilepsy) but he was ALWAYS a fighter and a very, very good friend to me. I miss him terribly and always will but no way will I let that stop me from remembering him!

This song is therefore a song about loss and how precious life truly is. There are no guarantees and things can change in a moment but what you have to do is appreciate what you have while you still have it and refuse to let sadness destroy you. In a way this song is like a 'Punk Anthem' to the universe in the respect that it is my way of sticking two fingers up to life and saying 'Screw you, I'm NOT going to let you spoil my Christmas'..

Alan and Noreen ( and all the others I have lost over the years) would want me to be happy this Christmas and I am going to be - for them if nothing else!!

The music here was composed by the VERY brilliant Mr. Harvey Summers (check out his GREAT new album 'Human' with Laura Cole) who continues to be an inspirational influence on me as well as another valued friend. Thanks mate for caring enough to make this one special.

Love to you all, be safe and HAPPY and have a MERRY CHRISTMAS xx

P.S.) I would also like to dedicate this song to my friend DALE SMITH in Michigan, U.S.A. who lost his mum this year. I'm thinking of you buddy - god bless...

'The Grinch Stole Christmas'

My Christmas feeling is starting to take hold on me now! The old '1 dose of St Clements Christmas Fair and shake well' treatment seems to have worked its usual magic!

STILL fighting to get on with Alan's CD collection but have now at last managed to start Christmas shopping for those I do still have. Knowing what to get people is always hard but in some ways it is part of the fun. As long as you get it right in the end that is! Nothing worse than spending a fortune on something nice for someone only to later find out that they did not want it. No, Christmas is a lot more about planning and calm thought than it is just outright love and affection - I reckon Santa must be the best organised businessman in the whole world - even putting Sir Alan Sugar to shame (don't like him!)...

Anyway, tired after the exerts of yet another CD sorting session, I relaxed the other afternoon by listening to the CD soundtrack of one of the best Christmas movies of all time, 'The Grinch Stole Christmas'. Jim Carrey is most certainly a man with NUMEROUS screws loose but boy is he a GREAT actor to hire whenever you need a 'kookie character'. I liked him in 'The Mask' and 'The Grinch' is almost a Christmas caricature of that same role.  The Soundtrack Cd is surprisingly awesome as well and great value with over 20 tracks. I don't care for the opening rap tune with Busta Rhymes (seemingly obligatory to have a rap tune on everything these days) but after that you get a great selection of festive originals followed by the original film score interspersed with some snippets of dialogue from the film. It all works very well and is almost like an alternative way of watching the film itself!

I LOVE the song, 'Christmas, Why Can't I Find You?' by the then 'ickle' Taylor Momsen. Now, I might be a big old BAD old Adulty type person but the sound of a little kid singing a sweet Christmas song melts my heart. No wonder the Grinch fell into a pile of soggy mush over it! Relationships and I have never gotten to know each other (sadly) and so my chances of ever having a family of my own have been nil. I often wonder what kind of Dad I would have been as I LOVE dishing out BIG hugs but somehow the emotional engagement in trying to partner someone else has just never seemed to be 'me'. I have always been a 'bit of a one man band' and I'm not sure I could ever be a 24/7 person for anyone. I do LOVE kids though and enjoy spending time in 'their world' - especially now as I know how HORRID the real one is! Got a bit emotional listening to the soundtrack CD but it is never a bad thing to feel something - far better that than to go through life without feeling anything! Don't you think?

'Christmas In My Heart!'

Some of the prizes I won...

It is beginning to start to feel more like Christmas is on the way again to me now following my much loved visit to St Clement's Church Christmas Fair in Hastings Old Town today. I LOVE this fair and HATE it when I miss it but it is always notoriously poorly advertised as far as the Internet and local press is concerned and so I have often missed it in previous years simply because I could not find out when it was on! Thankfully, a friend of mine on Facebook put me straight as to when it was this year and so I made the 'festive pilgrimage' to the church today from my home in Hollington.

Its a fair old walk from where I am in Hollington to the Old Town and few would take on the climb up all of the West Hill steps from the bottom of Queens Rd to make the short cut across the hill to drop back down into High Street that I did! Half way up the steps I was blowing really hard and had to stop for a bit. "Im getting old" I thought to myself. At the very top of the second flight of the steps I had slowed to a feeble walk... "If I carry on doing this I won't get much older," I thought to myself!

I tell you what though all of the huffing and puffing was worth it! My favourite thing over virtually the whole of Christmas is having numerous goes at the '£1 a go - win a prize every time' stall at this fair. I ALWAYS go mad and have about £15 worth each time because every year the organisers make a great effort to do all of the gifts you win up nicely and thus create some wonderfully festive little presents that you can use to display under the Christmas tree or marvel at ( trying to guess whats inside, of course!) between now and the big day. Getting older, I have very few people left these days to give me presents and a lot of those who do give me something like money or something they know I want because we have arranged it that way.

The total haul this year!

 The childish joy I used to get of 'wondering what Santa is going to give me' has therefore gone and I miss it. So, to create a bit of magic for myself and to put some of the money I save up in my Simon charity lighthouse ( a money box) to good use I love to 'let rip' at this fair and buy myself plenty of presents to look forward to opening on Christmas Day.

I usually get quite a lot of other things as well after browsing the bric-a-brac and festive stalls but unusually this year I failed to find much bar 4 Fairport Convention CD's, which I got for £5 along with a double CD of Barclay James Harvest and a Les Baxter CD. As much as I would love to try my luck at the Tombola or go in for the Christmas raffle I rarely do because the £1 a go - win every time stall seems a better bet!

They usually have a drinks raffle as well but I am very wary of those having seen people 'add tickets' into the barrel in the past (not at this venue though). That to me is wrong and fraudulent and definitely NOT in the spirit of Christmas!

I know the organisers have to make enough money from the stall to cover the cost of the drinks but to offer prizes that no-one actually has a fair chance of winning is mean and nasty in my opinion. I would rather lose money on an honest raffle than resort to such tactics but most people don't seem to see it that way...

Anyway, after a long walk and the thrill of being recognised as 'the guy who always buys loads of presents' by the stall holders I spent a good hour or so in the church looking and re-looking at everything and enjoying the atmosphere. I met an old school friend, Paul Bryant at the fair again ( he is often there when I am) and we spent a good while chatting over a cup of tea and a mince pie ( well, I had a peanut cookie instead). I gave Paul's little baby girl one of the prizes I won one year when the event was held at the All Saints Church Hall in All Saints St and was amazed to see that 'Evie' is now 11! Wow! I could not believe it was that long ago! Mind you, it was lovely to be reminded that my gesture then was obviously appreciated as Paul told me that they still have the cuddly toy I gave her indoors...

We talked about the kind of year that we have both had and I was glad that his has been a lot happier than mine. Paul went self employed this year ( he's a painter and decorator - look him up!) and I am glad to say is doing very well. He is a lovely, caring and thoroughly honest chap so if you are reading this and thinking, 'Ooh, I could do with a painter and decorator I can trust!' then you should hire Paul!
All in all I feel much more Christmassy than before now and hope to start getting my usual 'Christmas buzz' coursing through my veins as we go forward!

'The First Christmas Adverts'

Well people, I am still working flat out to try and catch up with myself at the moment! I feel like a dog constantly chasing his tail at the moment and as soon as I get one thing done and out the way another crops up and starts 'flashing red' as urgent...

I have hardly watched any television of late but did so the other evening to help me relax off. I noticed the first Christmas ad during the break and that REALLY brought it back to me how the festive season is drawing near!

Have you seen the lovely advert with 'Buster' the dog having fun on the trampoline in it yet! I'm not an animal lover but I must say that I think its a BRILLIANT and very heartwarming ad. I can honestly say now that brands like Marks & Spencer, Coca-Cola and John Lewis are helping to make Christmas Christmas for me nowadays with their festive adverts. Its almost as if they have taken to 'stepping up' to fill the void left by the Christmas singles that our favourite pop acts used to come out with each year. I hope Marks & Spencer do well at Christmas each year these days as it is they whom I attribute the current trend to. I guess Coca-Cola would have something to say about that but they are an american company and (however great and Christmassy) their ad's are their ad's are more for american audiences than british ones. Marks & Spencer seem to put the British pride back into Christmas and most of their adverts over the last few years have made my mouth water with desire for their food products AND left me with a 'fuzzy warm feeling' about the fact that Christmas is a time for love and celebration... I reckon that's quite an achievement for any brand, don't you?

Sad to see Marks & Spencer suffering so much financially but sadly, though their food products are always top quality and delicious, a lot of them are quite pricey and out of reach for the 'minimum wage' household budget. As for selling clothes I'm surprised in a way that they have not been able to continue making money doing that. Of all the things I do buy online I rarely buy clothes because of the hassle of sending things back if they do not fit or don't look quite the same colour wise when you get them. Much better to see and feel an item of clothing in store and be able to try it on and decided there and then if it is what you want. I guess the lack of finance thing comes into the equation again here though. Often when you buy something online you can 'spread the cost' of doing so over a longer period and/or get loyalty points but in store this is not always the case and even if it is when you can see other people are waiting in the queue behind you it kind of puts you off wanting to ask for things or paying by card when cash is quicker. Mind you, I say this as a 51 year old shopper - I doubt it would occur to most younger people as they are now used to doing things by card or electronically...

There is another GREAT Christmassy advert out at the moment featuring a little storyline about a carrot called 'Kevin' and it has Santa and his Reindeers flying off at the end. It is for Aldi and is such good fun! If you have a festive bone in your body it will press all of your feel good buttons!

I must admit that it sounds odd to be going on here about adverts that I really like at Christmas. I do recall getting SERIOUSLY fed up with the dull and generic ones that used to 'invade' our television screens each year at this time back in the 70's. Most were so predictable and low budget that you just got fed up with seeing them over and over. Now that brands are being forced to do more and more to stop people fast forwarding or ignoring their ads they are working much harder to produce something that is not only informative and a good selling tool but that is entertaining and engaging as well.

I truly hope that we do not see the closure of Marks & Spencer in the coming years. Having lost Woolworths and BHS to internet shopping they and Debenhams are two of the only 'traditional British high street' chains we have left...

'It's Creeping Up On Me!'

Normally at this time of year I am beginning to get the 'festive tingle' in my bones and starting to get the urge to begin playing Christmas music. I always find it odd that I perpetually get the urge to play Christmas tunes in advance of the actual festivities beginning but I guess its because getting into the right frame of mind to enjoy all that the festive season brings is an important part of the process...

This year, however, I am hopelessly behind with everything due to the urgency of sorting and getting rid of the CD's I was left by my old mate, Alan Gaywood. I have been working like stink over the last three weeks or so to sort, sell, box and send CD's to all of the online de-cluttering websites and in many ways it has been just like being back at work at Masons Music (a wholesale company) where I worked for 10 years selling music related merchandise like band t shirts, woven patches, caps and hoodies etc...

Ironically, I heard earlier this week that Masons closed down on the 4th of November. Life can be pretty cruel sometimes and even though I left in 2009 I have remained friends with my old boss and was hoping against hope that he and the business could survive the current trend and keep going. Sadly, the recent resurgence of vinyl records and the boost to the merchandising industry that shall bring has not come soon enough nor strongly enough and with mp3's taking over and rock music taking a backseat now to rap and R&B (which is not merchandisable) the writing has been on the wall for some time...

I feel very sad about the loss of my old workplace and upset when I think of the staff who will all now be looking for work again. To come out of work at any time at the moment is bad news but to come out with Christmas on the horizon and the worst trading period of Jan-Mar to come after that is even worse. Still, most of the lads I knew were good at what the do and most had good computer skills as well so hopefully they will be alright.

I have send out now over 30 boxes of CD's since I started! Alan was a lovely bloke but boy did he like a lot of C.R.A.P. music! Nothing very Christmassy about bands like 'Marduk' and 'Dark Angel' and while I like a bit of reggae now and then some CD's are INCREDIBLY samey and drive you nuts! I am getting very panicky now that Christmas is going to creep up on me this year before I am ready. I have e mails coming out of my ear holes, articles that need writing, social engagements coming up and performances that I need to rehearse for all waiting on the back burner while I try to get the CD situation under control! My bedroom has always been bad but it is SERIOUSLY bad now with boxes of CD's even stacked along the only remaining floor spaces. I can just about get in the room and round the front of the bed and that's it!

I noticed the other day that the Christmas Fayre at The Holy Redeemer in Upper Church Rd is coming up on the 26th of Nov and that reminds me that I need to find out when my favourite Christmas Fayre at St Clements Church in the Old Town is going to take place this year. I have missed out on it at least two of the last three years and will be gutted if I do so again! So much to do and so little time. Not only that but I am acutely aware that I need to spend some time on trying to build a life for myself with someone as well because time is running out for me at home - that's if I survive, of course...

Oh well, nothing more that I can do at the moment than try to keep pressing on with the CD's and see what tomorrow will bring...

'My New Christmas Video Single'

As you will know, if you follow this blog or keep in touch with my Maybrick44 Youtube channel, I am in the habit of recording a brand new Christmas song each year as a kind of homage to the days in the 1970's when a lot of recording artists did the same in order to try and secure the cherished No 1 spot in the charts over Christmas. In those days there was no such thing as the 'X-Factor' and so it was a relatively straight 'fight' fop pop acts who wanted to come up with a special single to try and capture the festive mood. Though it is not a very original choice, I personally think that the best Christmas single of all time is 'Merry Christmas Everybody' by Slade because it is not only festive but probably the most joyous, bouncy and fun rockin' party record ever made as well...

I may not always make Christmas records you can dance like that to but I have had my moments over the years with songs like 'If Santa Was A D.J.' and 'December 1973'. This years song, 'You Can't Take Christmas Away From Me', however is a rarity. Its a sad song with poignant lyrics, a defiant, 'NOTHING is going to ruin my Christmas' type attitude and a positive Christmas message all rolled into one. Having lost two long standing and close friends this year I was inspired to write it as a dedication to them both and especially to my friend, Alan Gaywood, who suffered all his life with epilepsy and yet refused to let it dominate his existence. Alan died suddenly from an epileptic attack on July and I have been struggling to come to terms with his loss ever since. it feels good to know that I have imortalised him in a song and I have now put together a video for the song which I plan to upload to 'Youtube' in early December. It would have been lovely to be able to spend a fortune on making a professional video for the song but I'm not ion the financial position to do that and so I have spent my time instead on selecting a set of beautiful, festive and often fun photos relating to the lyrics and to Christmas to tell the story instead. Amazingly, I got the idea for the video from the box of slippers I bought for Alan last Christmas that still sits upon the top of my Dad's wardrobe. Take a look at my first post here this year if you want to know why I still have those!

Anyway, I am very pleased with the video I have put together and think it is both poignant and festive. It did make me cry when I watched it back though (and my Mum!) so be warned - it might get to you as well! (lol) I do hope though that the positivity in the chorus and the defiant nature of the song will shine through for you all after the initial impact resides. Do let me know what you think when you see it - I want to remember my friends and tap into your hearts but I don't want to ruin your Christmas!

Oh well, under two calendar months to go to the big day now! Are you getting prepared yet? I have a few presents sorted out and done up but I'm a long way behind on my preparations this year due to having to sort out and sell off Alan's CD collection. Still, I'm getting 'stuck in' to that task so hopefully by mid November I will be able to concentrate on Christmas full time...

Love to you all x

'The Result Of Last Years 'Operation Spread Christmas Spirit Campaign''

Hi all!

I have just remembered that I have not yet given you any feedback on the result of my 'Spread Christmas Spirit' campaign last year. To refresh your memories, I spent most of Christmas Eve last year walking the streets popping cards signed 'From Santa' into the letterboxes of people I do not know who had made a good effort decorating their homes with lights and decorations. I also dropped off two 'Secret Santa' gifts - one of which was a nice bottle of wine - as gifts to those I thought had made the best efforts of all.

Well, I can tell you that the response I got from people last year was AMAZING! Yes, NOT ONE CARD nor acknowledgment did I get back for my 46 cards and two prezzies! I had to laugh - what a mug I was walking the ends of the earth delivering cards to (hopefully) put smiles on faces over the festive season on a cold winters night! The previous year I delivered a few less cards ( I think - can't remember now?) and got 7 back - some of which I uploaded here but last year my efforts fell on deaf ears...

To be fair, I did deliver the cards on Christmas Eve so there would not be time after that to post me a card back ( my name and address is always on the reverse of each card as I do not wish to scare anyone) but you would have thought that SOMEONE would have written me a letter or sent me a card or note after Christmas to say how much they had enjoyed it or similar, wouldn't you?

Time is going to be at a premium this year and so I don't know if I will get the chance to write out loads of cards like I did last year. I could include my e mail address in the cards or on the back of the letters to encourage a response but the whole idea of my campaign is to try and get people to engage once more in a traditional Christmas - make an effort to do something festive to interact with their neighbours! I HATE the fact that Christmas card writing is dying off and being replaced by those animated e-mail cards ( though they are lovely!) because cards on the walls or on the mantlepiece are part of what make a Christmas scene and a jolly room to open presents in on Christmas Day. Cards everywhere show that you are thought of, loved and valued and are a permanent reminder over the festive season of that. E mail cards are lovely but once you have seen them they 'live' only on the Internet and even then I'm not sure you can keep them forever, can you?

I used to put up ALL the Christmas cards I had EVER been sent when I was a kid each year! Yes, I did! (lol) The last year I did it I had cards all over the entire expanse of my bedroom walls about two thirds of the way down... The walls of my bedroom are decorated these days with posters, badges, picture disc records and all kinds of other memorabilia and so I can't do that anymore but I still have 100's of Christmas cards from my past...

Oh well, let's see how things pan out this year? Having lost two dear friends I am going to have to work at being my usual happy self this Christmas but I'm going to manage it because I know that is what they would want... More soon.

'Here We Go Again!'

Hi everyone! I hope that this post finds you in good health and in during a good time in your life. 2016 has been a VERY emotional year for me as I have very sadly lost two friends of long-standing this year.

Noreen at home on her 90'th Birthday

My friend, Noreen Leach died on April the 9th aged 98. Noreen was kind of a 'substitute Gran' to me and I kind of 'adopted' her when my real Gran died in the 1980's. I spend the next 30 years or so visiting Noreen at her home in Old Church Rd, Hollington and used to make a big effort each year to decorate her house with Christmas decorations and lights as if it were my house. Noreen used to love it and because I have never had a home of my own so did I. We used to spend many a Christmas sitting in her front room with the lights twinkling away just talking and sipping a Sherry. It was all old fashioned and traditional and made both of us feel happy. Sadly, due to her age, Noreen had to go into a nursing home for the last five or so years of her life and so both of us missed out on the enjoyment all my efforts and each others company provided towards the end...

You can see a brief video of Noreen and I at Christmas' here. Lots of happy, innocent memories! I think Noreen used to like to think of me as her 'toy boy' sometimes but she was always just a special friend to me...
Losing her I have also lost any connection with the rest of her family. They were very tolerant and understanding including me in their plans for Noreen's sake but I guess they would not be human if they did not wonder about my motives as a young man hanging about with a much older lady and I kind of knew at her funeral that I was once again 'an outsider' and not a member of the family, you know? Still, I loved Noreen and had many happy times with her and all of them. I have never been interested in money (other than it can make things possible that cannot be without it) and would always choose having someone in my life to having their money or possessions...

To try and make it easier to write this difficult first post I'm listening to something suitably old
fashioned in the shape of Ray Anthony! Yes, I bought up a load of Christmas CD's earlier in the year and quite a few of them are old orchestral, waltz style CD's. I think I would have loved the romantic era of ballroom dancing! I know I certainly found a lot of the ladies at the 'War & Peace Revival' I went to a few years ago much more attractive in their frilly skirts and cute hats than I do todays 'bovver boot' tattoo's and trousers lot! Sexist? Well, maybe but I guess I just love the illusion of a pretty lady dressing to look feminine and sweet...

The second person to have died on me this year was also a friend of mine for over 30 years. Alan Gaywood was about as far removed from the 'flash harry' and 'egotistical twit' that I am as you could meet. Alan was a true 'rock' and I saw him once a week almost every week for 30 odd years. He died very suddenly from an epileptic attack on July 1st and I am still struggling to get over his loss. Having a quiet, loyal and tolerant person like Al in your life one minute and then not the next is a HUGE shock to the system and I have felt a bit 'haunted' by him and memories of him since he died. There seems to be another special memory around every corner, you know?

Alan Gaywood in January This Year

My Christmas video single for Youtube this year 'You Can't Take Christmas Away From Me' was inspired by and written for Alan and I have been recording it over the last couple of months with SUPER Producer Harvey Summers at Broadoak Studios in Little Common. Harvey has done a BRILLIANT job on the song and I am now in need of working on a video for the song to upload to Youtube later this year. Watch this space for more on that as we get closer to the big day!

Well, that's my news. Sorry, it's not more upbeat but I promise not to depress you all with too much misery in the run up to Christmas so don't worry!