'So Here It Is - Merry Christmas!'

Yes, I know that I probably used a line from the Slade classic to announce Christmas Day last year but what the hell - it is the best Crimbo song ever!

I'm feeling quite emotional this morning for a number of reasons. One is that I watched a Christmas version of the EXCELLENT, 'Back In Time For...' series last night and it brought back so many happy memories of my Christmases as a kid. For those of you unaware of the series it revolves around a modern family (The Robshaws) who agree to embark on a social experiment the aim of which being to place the family in a home that has been re-decorated to mimic this era or that. The whole family are given clothes to represent that era, have their hair done up in the popular styles of the day and are supplied with a manual telling them all about the 'social etiquette' of the period etc...
In effect, the experience is about as near to jumping into Doctor Who's Tardis and whisking yourself back in time as you can get!

Well, with a remit like that you can understand why an 'old fashioned dinosaur' like me loves the programme! Watching it is not only interesting to see how the family cope with life as it was back then (the things they discover that are now long gone they love, the modern things they miss, the lifestyle and how they cope with the social changes) each programme has LOADS of 'I remember that!' Or 'I had one of those!' Moments and as such can be a bit of an 'emotional battering ram'.

In last nights episode The Robshaws had to live through a 1970's, 80's and 90's Christmas and it was lovely to see some previously familiar  household 'old friends' on screen again. Each Christmas the family have tasks to do in keeping with the era and so in the 1970's they had a large Christmas tree to decorate with as much tinsel and stuff as possible! The tree was a real one that had been specially treated (by being dipped in a special liquid of some design) to ensure that it would not be a fire risk and that it would not drop pine needles all over the place. On Christmas Day of each year the family would unwrap Christmas presents popular from the time and so in the 1970's Mrs. Robshaw got a fur coat and the presenter of the show, Giles (he pops in and out of the show) received the Evel Knievel toy that I had as a kid that you wound up and then released.

Thanks to Glenn E Walker for use of this pic

 It was GREAT fun and BRILIANT for inspiring the imagination as it came with some cones, a couple of ramps and other accessories that you could use to create 'death defying' leaps for your Evel to master! In reality, of course the toy was pretty USELESS at even travelling in a straight line as the model of 'Evel' was rather 'top heavy' and thus the motorbike had a tendency to fall over more often than not shortly after you released it from the 'winding up ramp'. Whatever its failings, however, LOADS of kids of my age had lots of fuj lining up the ramps, using some of their Matchbox toy buses to give Evel something to jump over and then trying to get him to complete a successful jump! When you think about it? The real Evel Knievel was more famous for his spectacular crashes than for his successful stunts so I guess in that respect the toy was a pretty accurate representation of the man! (lol)

If you get a chance try to catch a re-run of the 'Back In Time For Christmas' series. I missed the first part myself covering the 1940's, 50's and 60's so I will be looking for that myself.

As for 2018? Well, I don't look forwards with much positivity these days but who knows? Each new year is a fresh start one way or another and so you can never discount something magical happening!

LOTS of love to all of my family and friends this Christmas and to all of you who subsequently find this post on the Internet xxx

'It's Nearly Time!'

Well, I have had a nice, relaxing day at home today! After a busy week of visiting friends, Christmas meals, 'Tom's Midnight Garden' at The Stables Theatre (very good!) and a trip out to Pett to attend the annual, 'Carols in The Barn' event (where we all gather  in a barn, sit on straw bails and sing Christmas carols accompanied by cattle and a whole host of other farm animals) it has been nice to take it easy for a change.

I had a good time at my Shorelink Writers Christmas meal in Westfield, which is where this festive photo of me was taken. Didn't do the 'rounds' of the Westfield lights though as, with all things this year, I arrived rather late. Things have definitely been stressful regarding Christmas this year and I do feel I've let myself down in a number of areas but I guess I ought  to be thankful that I've had plenty to do and people to see.

Me in one of my 'conservative' Christmas outfits!

Tomorrow is likely to be another quiet day at home though my brother and his kids are coming to visit in the evening. It will then be time on Boxing Day for my annual tilt at the bookies! I think I only really bother now because its traditional - I can't recall EVER winning anything worth having on a personal level during the Christmas period in over 30 years! Me and my mate, Paul DID win a few quid on our joint bets last year though so I shall keep my eyes peeled for any pigs I see flying over my house in the next few days!

As I'm getting older I'm beginning to feel the lack of a 'Mrs Christmas' in my life more keenly but I am TRULY blessed with some WONDERFUL friends and more of them are female these days, which is a HUGE improvement on the previous 40 odd years! I can even count a 'funny story' regarding my 'perceived love life' amongst my 'boring life stories' to tell people thanks to his fact, which revolves around a coffee bar in Hastings I visited on three consecutive days with three different female friends! The woman behind the counter gave me some VERY disapproving looks  on the SECOND day when I turned up with someone new and on the THIRD day she gave me that kind of 'I don't know how you do it or where you get the energy' kind of glance! When my friend that day was overheard saying that she'd better, 'give her husband a ring' as we were being served I was surprised not to get my hot drink poured down the front of my trousers! (lol)

Actually, its quite un-nerving how 'universally trusted' I am with other people's wives!

Hmm, It must be the way I walk, I reckon!

(Note for the P.C. Brigade ... JOKE! ITS A JOKE! you know, HA HA and all that? LOL)

Happy Christmas folks!

'Baldy - The Gingerbread Man'

One of the Christmassy things I picked up during my time in Skipton was a VERY festive cuddly Gingerbread Man (who I've named 'Baldy' after his Dad - me!) who came supplied in a plastic bag with a few chocolate truffles. I LOVE Gingerbread Men and ALWAYS feel guilty when I take a first bite into one (Ouch!) as cakes or not I suspect Gingerbread Men have feelings! Seeing as their purpose in the world is to be a 'lovely snack' or a 'fun cake' I also know that Gingerbread Men fear going stale and being thrown away much more than being eaten. In fact, it is the duty of each Gingerbread man to maintain a 'soft and delicious upper lip' when the time comes for him to lose his head and little Gingerfolk learn all about how happy they make us all when we eat them at school - so actually, there's no reason for me to feel bad at all!

Baldy and his friends

'Baldy' is SO CUTE its unreal and I did wonder when I was in the VERY Christmassy shop near Skipton Market if I should buy one of his relations to give someone for Christmas? Knowing how important it is to the Gingerfolk, however I was worried that the recipient of my gift might not be as keen as me and I would NEVER want to be responsible for a Gingerbread Man to end up either in a bin or reduced to being sold at a boot sale! You have to be in touch with you 'inner child' to fully appreciate the magic Gingerfolk bring to your life and a lot of people I know are now WAAYY too adult to empathise with a Gingerbread Man.

I asked Baldy why there aren't any Gingerbread Ladies? Actually,  once you hear his answer the reason is quite obvious when you think about it. Baldy told me that the first person to make a Gingerbread Man was Queen Elizabeth 1 of England. His ancestry goes right back to a bowl of dough made in the 16th Century he said and Queen Elizabeth crafted the first batch herself out of love for some of her male guests. The feminine touch that created those first Gingerfolk was so full of love in fact that Gingerbread Men do not need female partners to reproduce themselves they only need for someone to copy the recipe Queen Elizabeth 1invented and for that person to follow the instructions she left behind and 'POOF!' a whole tray of new Gingerbread Men can be created!

Baldy's Pal

Isn't that great? Perhaps I would have done better had I been a Gingerbread Man? It would certainly have saved me a fortune on dating agencies - that's for sure! (lol)

Baldy has made friends with a chocolate Santa and his polar bear friend at the moment and the Christmas tree decoration I bought from L.R. Ceramics at Skipton Town Hall Market comes to life and hangs around his neck at night time when I'm asleep. I'm glad Baldy has his little decoration buddy as Santa and the Polar Bear will probably disappear over Christmas - as will many of the real Gingerfolk who are currently resting in paper bags in cupboards at home or on display in the window of your local bakers...

'Christmas At 'Teddy Tinkers'!'

One of my favourite places to spend time at during Christmas is a 'Vintage & Retro' shop called, 'Teddy Tinkers'.

'Teddy Tinkers' - 134 London Rd, St Leonards.

Just One Of Teddy Tinkers Festively Dressed Windows

All the info you need!

Not only is it run by a VERY smiley and friendly lady by the name of Kate Rosie, all of the stallholders that make the shop what it is are both knowledgable and enthusiasts for anything from the past (like Kate!.  Almost ANYTHING you can think of is available at 'Teddy Tinkers' (Kate named the shop after her Teddy Bear as a child - she still has him!) and the days of 'over the counter' conversation accompanied by a cup of tea or coffee are well and truly alive and kicking, unlike most 'modern shops' where the emphasis is usually on 'whipping you out of the store as fast as possible once they have taken your money'. No, at Teddy Tinkers you can genuinely feel free to browse and take your time to decide if you want to buy something or not.

Actually, I reckon that Kate has a 'secret deal' with Santa himself as she always seems to manage to 'find' a selection of wonderfully nostalgic and magical 'festive blasts from the past' to make my eyes go all big and wide every year!

Old Fashioned Paper Streamers, Yay!

Noddy annuals- REALLY take me back to happier times!

Take a look at some of the 'old friends' that Kate has in stock this year. Noddy was on T.V. a lot when I was a kid and it was such a lovely, innocent and inoffensive little cartoon. It makes my blood boil when I think how today there would be uproar about a character being named 'Big Ears' and how even the slightest hint of a golliwog would be frowned upon. How sad people have become - taking offence at the slightest thing - the way we are going the only thing that will not be 'inappropriate' is looking in the mirror and with my mug that's not good news for me! (lol)

You can find Teddy Tinkers on the internet and on Facebook and Kate has uploaded hundreds of photos of the AMAZING things they have for sale there! Aside from this years festive delights you can also find vintage clothes and furniture, toy cars, models, ornaments, ephemera, badges, photographs, movie magazines, sheet music and a whole host of stuff!

An old collection of Christmas Carols.

The shop also seems to be stocking a growing selection of LP records as well for you rare and collectible vinyl lovers out there - so if you're still stuck for ideas this Christmas why not check out 'my favourite shop' and get something really special and unique for your beloved this Christmas!

Finally, I used to get a group of my friends together at Christmas time to go out and do some carol singing. We used to knock on doors and sing, 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' as that was about the only carol we knew! (lol) Our hearts were in the right place but we should have worked MUCH harder as far as learning the words of a selection of festive songs was concerned! I did write out cards for those who gave us some money on the door step though which said, much love for Christmas from 'The Tony May Singers'!

Ah, those were the days!

'Some Belated Feedback From Last Year's, 'Operation Spread Christmas Spirit!'

I was delighted the other day to receive a Christmas card from a couple called 'Lisa & Tony' that I do not actually know!

So why did they send me a card, I hear you ask? Well, I popped a card in to their house LAST Christmas on my Christmas Eve travels to deliver my 'Santa' cards in honour of the lovely Christmas light display they had put on. Seeing as initially I failed to receive a single card from any that I delivered last year that Lisa & Tony made a note to send me a card THIS year shows that my efforts WERE all worthwhile after all!

I think the snag with delivering my cards on Christmas Eve is that people think its too late to send a reply by then and so, while (I hope) I give them a smile and spread some festive cheer, I don't get any cards back. Unfortunately, it looks as if I won't be able to put 'Operation Spread Christmas Spirit' into action this year as I don't have any spare cards and STILL haven't caught up with writing cards for family and friends - let alone got all of my presents bought...

That's a real pity as Lisa & Tony's lovely card proves that my campaign was proving a success - I mean, for all I know LOADS of people may have started doing the same thing now because of me!

On a serious note, Lisa & Tony's card was a charity one and so my campaign could also help to raise a lot of extra money for good causes if it were to catch on in a big way! What a lovely thought, eh?

Typical me, I walked into town yesterday and came back to Hollington  via St Helen's Rd. I was going to 'pop in' on Lisa & Tony to say 'Thanks' for the card but was looking for 279 St Helen's Rd not 249! Well, there isn't a 279 as the last house is no 277! Instead of 'fearing I was being stalked' like (seemingly) 50% of the population would these days, however my reaction to this was to think, "Ah, HA! I bet it was SANTA who really sent me that card!

There really is no hope, is there! (lol)

'A Chatty One!'

I am in total disarray this year with Christmas! The time seems to have flown away and I have failed miserably to buy all the presents I need to get and write all the cards I need to write! For a 'Christmas person', like me this is really bad!

Thing is, not only have I been running short of cash I have been drained of energy this year by trying to keep up with an ever lengthening list of tasks I need to do. My room is a BOMBSITE with boxes all on the floor and CD's all over the place, I have been under pressure to write as many articles as I can for, 'Hastings Town' magazine (which I enjoy doing but it all takes time and energy) because the amount of people contributing has gone down at the moment, then there is my voluntary work as, 'The Clean Up Man' to do as well as housework and of course I had a few days away in Yorkshire! To add to the 'workload' this year I also had the mail out of my Christmas CD, 'A Nod To Mr. Dickens' to get sorted as well - though I managed to do a great job on that, I'm glad to say...

Reactions to, 'A Nod To Mr. Dickens' have been great in general and a friend of mine in Canada put up her Christmas tree soon after receiving the album in the post in November and posted a photo of it on Facebook so it certainly helped her get into the festive spirit! Normally, I get myself organised and ready for Crimbo in good time and aim to have all my gifts bought & wrapped and cards written ready to give out/deliver/send by Dec 1st but it just hasn't happened this time. That's a shame as I LOVE being free to enjoy all of the Christmas lights and atmosphere that there is everywhere at this time of year. Battle (a few miles from my home) is MAGICAL at Christmas and I usually make a bee line to go there, browse the shops, have a cup of tea and a slice of cake (in honour of Worzel, of course!) and wait for it to get dark so I can marvel at the twinkling lights on Battle abbey and enjoy the HUGE Christmas tree in the Market Square.

During my time in Skipton I came across a lot of BRILLIANT musical street performers and managed to get a few photos of them to share here. Sadly, I did not get names for some of them - even though I did speak to most! That's typical me, that is! One lot that I did get a name for though was, 'The Sundancers' who told me that they had a few tracks available to listen to on Soundcloud. Unfortunately, though I have found a few artists with that name I haven't been able to find them but you can hear a snippet of one of their songs in my 'Grassington Dickensian Festival Fun - Part 3' video on Youtube.

The Sundancers

The guys voice was amazing and sounded much better than it comes across on the video when you were listening live. I was gobsmacked and asked if they had any CD's for sale after just one song so I hope things work out for the band and that they get noticed soon. It never ceases to amaze me how many wonderfully talented people there are in the world - its just so sad that there isn't room for all of them to make a living out of using that talent...

Four festive lovelies are all smiles!

I also met some festively attired and smiley girls that had been playing some nice Christmas music and congratulated a BRILLIANT group of Carol Singers on their amazing harmonies.

Smiley and youthful carol singers!

I was well chuffed to note how young they all of them were! Maybe the traditional Christmas I love so much isn't on its way out just yet, eh!

'New Videos On Youtube & J.R.R. Tolkein'

Well folks, I have been working like stink since returning from Grassington and have now uploaded two videos of my adventures there to my Youtube channel, Maybrick44. Sadly, we bloggers are no longer allowed to posts video links as part of our posts here and so you will need to actually visit channel Maybrick44 to view the films. While you are there check out the video for my Christmas Video Single this year, 'Heart Full Of Joy' - I uploaded that a few days before I went on my break but forgot to post about it here, until now!

One of the other places we visited on the holiday was Harrogate. Now, I thought Harrogate was a quaint old Yorkshire village like Grassington but actually it is nothing of the sort! We only had about a couple of hours to look round and I did not get to see very much at all because I came across a record shop en-route to the main part of the town and got no further!

Before that, however, I had browsed in a few of the charity shops on the far reaches of the town centre and found a few 'christmassy finds' including a hardback book all about the letters from Father Christmas that J.R.R. Tolkein habitually made up and sent to his children each year.

Aside from, 'Lord Of The Rings' I know nothing at all about Tolkein and had no idea that he was a 'Christmas person'. Mind you, I suppose its not much of a leap of faith to think that a fantasy writer who pens tales of elves, goblins and made up lands might be a 'believer' in Father Christmas and do all he can to spread the word and keep Christmas alive, is it!

The book has lots of lovely colour photos of the letters themselves and of the paintings and drawings that J.R.R. sent with his letters. He even went to the trouble to paint fake stamps on the envelopes and fake post office markings! The letters themselves (which date from the 1920's) are great fun to read and paint a calamitous picture of life at the North Pole and I can only imagine how magical it must have been to have had J.R.R. for a Dad! Mind you, I've been pretty lucky with mine as well - even if he does HATE Christmas!

I only paid £1.50 for the book so I reckon I got a bargain as I've not seen nor heard of it before?

Christmas time is THE perfect time to believe in fairy stories and I plan to take the book with me on Friday when I go to my monthly Storytelling, Poetry and Song evening at Horum (The Steelyard Collective - check them out on Facebook) and read out a few of the best of J.R.R.'s festive tales!

'Great Fun In Grassington'

I had a lovely time up in Yorkshire at the Grassington Dickensian Festival! Its rather a LONG way to go from Hastings for a two day break but well worth it in my opinion.

Grassington is a traditional Yorkshire village full of those quaint, olde-worlde stone buildings and its situated high up in the hills so the air is always fresh and clean. I was lucky this time to see real snow on the rooftops of the buildings while I was there and the scenery all around Grassington was also similarly festive looking with its dusting of the powdery stuff!

Even luckier was the fact that none of the pavements were slippery or dangerous as the amount of snow in the area had not been enough to lay on the paths and roads just 'decorate' the tops of things. This was just as well as there are lots of cobbled stone walkways and paths in Grassington and there are a few steep-ish climbs on your way around the village, which could be quite a hazard in bad weather.

Grassington is not very big and you can walk around the market in the town square and look at most of the stalls in around an hour if that is all you want to go there for. The Dickensian Festival works though because of the spirit in which the locals 'get into' both the Christmas spirit and the swing of dressing up in Dickensian clothes!

I met the Town Crier while I was there and he was delighted when I congratulated him and the people of the village for making Grassington the 'Murray Walker of Christmas Attractions'. When people are enjoying themselves and are happy to do all they can to create a lovely, old-fashioned Christmassy environment the enthusiasm they give off is infectious and so most of the fun in going to the festival is in the 'hanging around' to soak up as much of the atmosphere, hear as many of the carol singers, brass bands and other musical performers as you can and watch the many different Morris Dancing groups that 'do their turn' throughout the day.

I took over 100 photos (some of which you can see here) and have a good deal of fun footage to edit and upload to my Youtube channel (Maybrick44) as soon as I can. If you take a look at those films you will see what I mean (I hope!) and get a flavour of what it feels like to be in Grassington on a cold December day.

I was especially lucky to get the footage I did when I did as the longer the day went on the more packed the place became! While it was nice to see people enjoying themselves it does make 'taking your time to savour' something more difficult when you are constantly likely to be in somebodies way. My advise to you therefore if you want to experience the festival in a more laid back and leisurely way is to arrive as early as you can...

During my time in the village I ate a LOVELY warm bowl of Apple crumble and custard (£3) to keep the chill of the season at bay AND went over to the local school where they were selling a variety of fresh cakes, teas and coffee's (another £3). Some of the school children were dressed up as 'urchins' and one of them was ringing a bell and calling people over for 'teas, cakes and coffeees!'. I spoke to some of the mums who were taking part and joked about the use of child labour and had a few nice words with an elderly couple while I sat and munched my chocolate cream slice and drank my tea!

There was also a Tombola but I forgo that as I didn't want to have to carry anything. Back in the village there were regular calls of 'Chesnuts! Hot Chestnuts!' from the street sellers and I managed to listen to a REALLY good Choir singing 'Joy To The World' as well as hear one of the brass bands play a festive take on Jona Lewie's, 'Stop The Cavalry'.

There was also a HILARIOUS double-act of 'Scrooge' sitting in a wheel around cart with a blanket over him and his 'Mad Hatter' like 'friend', who was wheeling him. 'Scrooge' was in a good mood and taking much pleasure from abusing people, wishing them ' a horrible Christmas' and 'singing' Christmas carols as badly and off-key as he could to annoy people!

As the light started to go so the many twinkling lights around the village began to come into their own and just before it was time for me to go it actually started snowing! What a perfect setting for a festive break, eh?

P.S.) I also handed out a few free copies of my, 'A Nod To Mr. Dickens' Christmas album while I was on holiday. My old mate, Alan Gaywood was on my mind as it was his CD collection that paid for the trip and I felt he would appreciate me showing a bit of kindness to some of the BRILLIANT and Christmassy individuals whom I felt were going the extra mile to make Christmas brilliant for others. Hopefully, Charles Dickens would approve of that sentiment as well! I even wanted to give a copy to Scrooge and his 'friend' but they disappeared and I couldn't find them again!

 I  did give a copy to the lovely ladies on the 'crumble & custard' stall (they were also selling other things including mulled wine) who were kind enough to pose for a photo and  also to one of the mums at the school. She had a small boy there and I told her that he would most probably like, 'If Santa Was A D.J.'!

It will be interesting to see if I hear anything from any of the people I spoke to and gave a copy of the album...

I'll write more of my 'adventures' in Yorkshire soon...

'Festive Fun On The Jeff Belton Show'

I had a really fun time this morning as the 'special guest' of Jeff Belton on his 'Full English' Breakfast Show on Conquest Hospital Radio. Jeff is very much a 'big kid' like me and I think we are going to be friends, which is nice. He contacted my old boss, Alan 'Johnny Mason' Esdaile about me after I appeared on Alan's 60's and 70's show on the station when he found out that I had a Christmas song out (it was actually an album) and I went to meet him at his house for a chat. We got on like a house on fire and so he booked me to appear on the show today. I'm hoping to get hold of a CD with the show on it as Jeff played about 5 or 6 of my songs so I really did feel like the 'star guest'!

Jeff Belton - Complete with cracker party hat!

Its AMAZING what the power of encouragement can do, you know? Just gaining a bit of recognition for my 'musical achievements' of late has made a HUGE difference to how I feel and the feedback from 'A Nod To Mr.Dickens' has been pretty much universally positive!  

I could get used to this 'radio lark' I tell you and will definitely consider volunteering up at The Conquest myself in the future if I get the chance. I say 'if' as its a worrying world we live in these days and as I'm off up to Yorkshire (to the Dickensian event at Grassington) I've got the 'jitters' about being in amongst a large crowd at this time of year. How HORRID is that? Surely we should not have to worry more about the risk of terrorism than think about the TRUE spirit of Christmas and 'good will to all men', should we?

Two idiots in their element!

With talk of 'driverless cars' and 'automated criminal justice systems' not far into the future now though I realise how far off base I have become with the modern world. I guess that's why I LOVE remembering my childhood and trying to recreate my idea of what Christmas means and is all about on record. Jeff LOVES 'If Santa Was A D.J.' and I still think that track is a 'hit in waiting'. It was truly WONDERFUL to play the fool with Jeff live on air this morning and have some good, clean and honest fun for a change. We had a listener tune in from Russia and so Jeff and I waxed on about the KGB secretly listening in and how they might all be doing the Gap Band dance in Moscow! (lol)

The world could be a much better place I reckon if we could all just accept our differences and learn to 'give each other some personal space sometimes'. The snag with the human race is that we are a) eternally nosey and b) rather greedy and selfish - not a goods combination when you are talking about people, land and cultures!

The festive scene In the studio!

Personally, I think there should be more 'fun' D.J.'s like Jeff Belton on the radio! One minute he's 'rambling on' in a Tony Blackburn kind of way, the next he is talking to his own impression of Frank Spencer! What a BOY! (lol) No wonder he picked a crazy old buzzard like me to appear on his show! I even took a couple of Christmas crackers with me and we pulled them live on air! I actually 'won' one of the prizes and got one of those little spinning tops (which I love!). Maybe me and Jeff could become the next 'Mark And Lard'? I still remember creasing up with laughter when I heard them play Lards scratchy version of 'Mull Of Kintyre' on the air- complete with its 'dodgy' jumps and skips!

Jeff, signing my autograph book...

Jeff is going to see if he can get a recording of the show uploaded to Mixcloud - if he does I will post a link! 

Merry Christmas!

'Some Beautiful Hand Crafted Christmas Cards & More!'

I seem to be in a 'state of denial' this year regarding Christmas! Aside from sorting out the recipients of my, 'A Nod To Mr. Dickens' CD I have only bought two Christmas presents and written out one Christmas card!
In my defence, I have been pretty busy of late and time always sails past when you have a lot on, doesn't it? I've only managed to attend one Christmas Fair as well this time but thankfully that was my FAVOURITE event at St Clements Church! It was there that I picked up these really lovely hand crafted Christmas cards.

 I LOVE cards with blank insides because then I can put what I really want to say rather than have to 'work around' one of those generic type cards. A lot of those words are Christmassy and nice but they aren't very personal and I always like to make sure that people know it is THEM I am thinking of at Christmas time.

It is a shame how the act of sending physical Christmas cards seems to be dying out now in favour of 'e' cards. I did receive a BRILLIANT present the other day though in the shape of an interactive Jacqui Lawson Advent Calendar from my friends, Ro & Sally Gardner. Not only do you get to 'live' in an imaginary cartoon town for a month and access a new part of it or story cartoon each day you can design things that appear in the town as well. I am having such a lot of fun dressing Snowmen and Christmas Trees as well as reading some interesting Christmas trivia and solving puzzles. The only bad thing about this kind of present being that you can't hold on to it forever unlike real toys and gifts. Still, Ro & Sally both know what a BIG kid I am and I am HUGELY chuffed to have lots of innocent fun to tide me over this December. I might even try to video some of the animation from off my Laptop screen to remember it by and/or write some stories based on my cartoon village and the character that walk across the screen from time to time!

Finally, I also got a FAB 5 CD set of Christmas songs called 'An Old Fashioned Christmas' from a charity shop in Hastings the other day for £2.99. Its one of those 'bulky' Readers Digest sets that used to be commonplace - are Readers Digest still about? I used to subscribe for a short time in the 1990's but found that the magazines just kept piling up unread. That's the worst thing about life - there just isn't enough time to take an interest in everything, is there!

I wanted the CD mainly because it includes a few of the 1950's/60's Christmas hits that I haven't got including, 'Must Be Santa' by Tommy Steele. The first couple of CD's are GREAT and set a lovely, old fashioned Christmas mood! We haven't got a tree up yet or any decorations but I can imagine sitting in front of one with a glass of wine and relaxing listening to both CD's. So enraptured was I, in fact, I even listened to the tracks featuring choirs and tenor singers!

'The BIG D Is Here!'

By jove! It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas outside now, isn't it? I think we are in for a chilly festive season this year and there might even be a chance of a truly 'White Christmas'!

The very beautiful Church-in-the-Wood

Now, you might think that we get a lot of White Christmases in this country but in actual fact in the South East of England its pretty rare to see a single snowflake fall on Christmas Day. There have been 10 official white Christmases in my area since 1960 and the last was back in 2004. According my search on the Internet it is odds on that 2017 will be a white Christmas with Ladbrokes so I might get my 'magical carpet of fun' to scrunch around in on the big day again this year!

Sadly, I don't have too many candidates to throw snowballs at though now so any White Christmas would most likely be spend out with my camera making LOVELY films and taking pictures. As I habitually love to make a fresh Christmas video single each year I can eventually use all the footage of snowy scenes and festive places I can get...

Hopefully the bus service will be better than 2004!

On that front I am due back in the studio with my mate, Harvey Summers on the 4th of this month to try and put the finishing touches to this year's song, 'Heart Full Of Joy'. I like the song very much and find it a jolly one to sing so am hoping to learn it properly in time to be able to perform it at a few social gatherings over the Christmas season. We are nearly there with the bulk of the song so I'm hopeful that the 4th will give us enough time to complete work on the track to my satisfaction. I have also been invited to be a guest on the Jeff Belton Conquest Hospital Radio Breakfast Show on the 6th of December to 'have a laugh' and play some selections from, 'A Nod To Mr.Dickens'. If you like you can tune in to that from 9am -11am here...http://www.conquesthospitalradio.co.uk

I went up to meet Jeff at his home last week to discuss the album and his plans for the show and we got on like a house on fire! Talk about a 'big kid' like me! Jeff has his own 'man cave' full of CD's, musical equipment, records and the like that looks suspiciously like my bedroom upstairs and I am looking forward to being a part of his 'full english' breakfast show!

Finally, I have had a GREAT day today with my friend, Yvonne at the R.O.A.R. Christmas meal at Pevensey Bay. A three course meal for a £10, good company and a few drinks with  plenty of festive chat and memories was the perfect way to start the 'D month' and I have a lovely warm glow inside me writing this!

A cute little guy, isn't he!

Let's hope that the rest of this month turn out to be as happy, eh?

'Tom's Midnight Garden'

I have lined up a night out for myself at The Stables Theatre in Hastings on the 22nd of December this year! I'm going to see 'Tom's Midnight Garden' - the film version of I have on DVD and cherish. For some reason I find this romantic ghost story a really emotional watch and I have found myself in floods of tears the couple of times I've seen it...
There is something about the story of how when the old Grandfather clock strikes thirteen that a lonely boy gets to meet an orphan girl called 'Hatty' in a different time period via a garden that no longer exists that really taps into who I am and reminds me of my own life story. Sadly, I have never managed to quite find my 'Hatty' and relationships have been a no-go area for me so 'Tom's Midnight Garden' is I guess for me a chance to be Tom...

I also have a good cry if I watch 'Casper' - especially at the end where he comes back to life as a real boy just for a while. Life is not just about making records, having fun, working or going on holidays to see the world its about forming close, loving relationships, sharing and caring and one way and another I have missed out on HUGE parts of that - in spite of how lucky I have been in other ways.

It might seem an odd thing to do near Christmas to go to a show pretty much guaranteed to upset me but sometimes you have to 'live the dream' even if the consequences are pretty harsh, you know?

If I come away that night having felt something thats no bad thing! Christmas should all be about feeling and I only wish there were more people in the world these days unafraid to try feeling rather than choosing to be scared of everyone and everything! I see conversations on the Internet about what is socially acceptable now and hang my head in despair!

"Is it sexist if a Woman asks for a female taxi driver" being one of the latest. By gum, in the 'bad old 70's' the sex of a taxi driver would not even have entered anyones head! You wanted to go somewhere so you called a cab and a taxi driver turned up at your door and took you there - end of! Have we REALLY slid so far down the ladder these days to even be scared to death of getting into a taxi with (potentially) a member of the opposite sex? Well, if we have give me Christmas (MY way), Tom's Midnight Garden, a lovely romantic ghost story and a HUGE box of tissues any day!

'Heart Full Of Joy'

Because of financial constraints I have not been able to continue with my 'recording career' for most of this year but was determined to at least try and come up with my annual 'Christmas Video Single' for Youtube and was prepared therefore to 'raid my piggy bank' one last time to fund a couple of sessions in the studio to try and produce something.

Having written and been pleased with the idea of 'Heart Full Of Joy' I teamed up earlier this week with 'my old sparring partner', Harvey Summers to see what we could make of the song. My plan was to just produce something fairly basic revolving around him playing an acoustic guitar and me singing but as usual things didn't work out that way!

Harvey Summers Last Single

For those of you unaware of Harvey, he is a bona-fide GENIUS and if you are lucky enough to 'dial him in' to an idea of yours and get his creative juices going then you are well on the road to creating something special! My plan therefore to record something 'stripped back' and acoustic flew out the window in the first minute or so as Harvey LOVED my idea and 'the muttering' started.

Now, when Harvey starts muttering (to himself) about the ideas flying into his brain about how to compose the music for a song the best thing you can do is sit back and let him get on with the task in hand! I NEVER cease to be amazed at how brilliant he is and am always confident with 'Harv' at the helm that the end product is going to be AWESOME.

As with all recording sessions, however there are 'challenges' that crop up along the way and so I do 'chip in' my thoughts and ideas if and when I think they might be helpful or when I feel strongly about something. I do get Harv a bit 'ratty' sometimes if he is 'in the moment' but I understand why that happens and don't take anything to heart. The great thing with Harvey and I is that we both know what the other one 'brings to the party' and also have great faith in the fact that anything critical said either way is intended only to help. I don't understand any of the computer programs that Harvey uses to build the basics of the musical arrangements and that occasionally causes a few problems but I'd rather get my old mate cross occasionally that see him sit there without an idea in his head after listening to my demo!

Anyway, after two long-ish sessions we now have about 90% of the work done and I am hopeful that I will have a Christmas Video Single to upload to Youtube again this year. The video may not end up that marvellous though due to the time factor but I am always thinking of things and on the look out for great pictures so I might yet surprise myself!

Santa LOVES the idea for 'Heart Full Of Joy'!

Sadly, we are not allowed as Bloggers to add links to videos on Youtube here anymore (boo!) so you will have to keep an eye on my Youtube channel, Maybrick44 if you want to see and hear 'Heart Full Of Joy' when its finished. I will of course post a note here to let you all know when I have uploaded it and it is available. One more session should complete the song and the current plan is to try and fit that in within the next week -fingers crossed!

'St Clements Provides Plenty Of Christmas Cheer!'

St Clements Church

I had a lovely time today at my favourite Christmas Fair of the whole year!  The St Clements Church congregation always make a great effort to present something that is full of fun, colour and atmosphere and my Christmas pretty much starts with their Christmas Fair!

This year was no exception and I bumped into Amber Rudd while examining the home made Christmas decorations, cards and gifts stall. She said hello to me (we have met before) so I’m not sure if she recognised me (my Cowboy hat is memorable even if I’m not!) or was just being polite. Now, I know The Conservative Party are not perfect and I can’t say that I am happy with all of their policies either but I do feel very sorry for Amber as she has been the subject of a lot of very personal attacks of late and I don’t think that shows a good side to politics. Because of that I did my best to make her feel welcome, smiled and told her that it was “lovely to see her here”. I wanted to ask for a photo for this blog but decided to let the poor girl have some 'quality time away from the cameras’ in the end…

Anyway, I spent the best part of two hours browsing the stalls and FARMING the £1 a go - win every time stall, as ever! The people on that stall all know me and welcome me each year and so I always do my best to help them sell out! 

The one thing I did find troubling this year though was the fact that most of the people running the event and manning the stalls this year were elderly. Its a worrying trait that these kind of community events, fates, fairs and indeed Christmas itself all seem to be kept alive more than ever these days by the older generations. Even the people I chatted to over a cup of tea and mince pie were a fair bit older than me. Now you know why I try to do all I can each year to spread Christmas spirit and thus ( hopefully) continue to re-inforce it and the wonderful traditions that go with it. Not being a religious person myself there’s a certain irony in me ‘leading the charge’ on that front I suppose but no-one can say a bad word about any of the volunteers at St Clements - that’s for sure!

Oh, and I even won a 'star prize’ on the bottle stall! After telling the lady running the stall that I was going to ‘invoke the spirit of Tommy Cooper’ in order to try and win something this year and that knowing Tommy if I managed it I'd probably pull out a ticket that said ‘Drinking is bad for you’, I went and won a star prize with the first ticket I chose! Good on you Tommy! I suppose you could say that it all fell into place ‘just like that!'

Well, I don’t know what the rest of the festive season will hold for me this year but at least I can now say that I LOVED one part of it!

'Chestnut Tree House Children's Hospice Christmas Appeal'

Christmas can be a stressful time for all of us but imagine for a moment how you might feel if you had a small son or a daughter with a terminal illness. It doesn't bear thinking about does it but sadly there are a number of parents each year who have to face up to dealing with a Christmas with a child for whom that Christmas is likely to be their last.

I really don't like to campaign for 'Good causes' these days because I feel we all have ENORMOUS pressure put upon us these days already. Money is invariably tight and at this time of year things can get very stressful - all of which do nothing to aid the reputation of Christmas and continue to spread the festive spirt - both things I am passionate about, as you know...

This said, I try to send at least a small donation to this wonderful Charity based in Arundel each year and would therefore ask if you are already thinking of doing something for Charity this year that you choose to support Chestnut Tree House and help them ( and me) make a success of their Christmas appeal this year.

 The theme this year revolves around the enchanting story of 'The Snowman' and its Author, Raymond Briggs is personally endorsing the whole thing (THANK YOU, Raymond!). If you would like to find out more about Chestnut Tree House you can do so here http://www.chestnut-tree-house.org.uk/

If you like you can also support the Chestnut Tree lottery - details of which you can find here http://www.chestnutlottery.org.uk/

Whatever, THANK YOU for reading this x

'It's Creeping Up On Me Again!'

"There HAS to be an easier way of NOT making a living" is a phrase I have repeating to quite a few people of late!

What with FINALLY getting all of my 'A Nod To Mr.Dickens' CD's off to friends and family around the world, WORKING MY SOCKS OFF writing and researching a VERY ambitious article for 'Hastings Town' to do with my 'Festive 50' local music records that 'define Hastings musical history so far' AND continuing my voluntary work as 'The Clean Up Man' the time has just disappeared of late!

I have had some GOOD news though as 'The Clean Up Man' has been nominated for an award! I'm up for the 'Against All Odds' award from HVA (Hastings Voluntary Action) having been put forward by Pete Shoesmith M.B.E., who is involved with the Hollington Youth Centre across the road from where I live. I regularly clean up the Youth Centre car park and grass verges and have done now for almost 6 years. Whether I actually win the award or not, its lovely to get some recognition from somewhere - thanks Pete!

The pics you see with this post are 'festive' ones I took a couple of weeks ago out near Sellindge in Kent. While they are autumnal rather than snowy I think they are pics that make you feel really festive and depict the kind of 'idillic Christmas' scenes you see in ads by 'Marks & Sparks' on T.V. each year...

Its my FAVOURITE Christmas Fair of the year again this Saturday! Yes, folks I will be off to St Clements Church armed with my usual bags full of 50ps in search of loads of their '£1 a go win a prize every time' stall again! I always get some good prizes every year, lots of chocolate and the odd 'WTF' kind of prize! Last year on Christmas Day I unwrapped a tin of pilchards! NOT the greatest of presents to receive, eh? Makes 'socks, pants and handkerchiefs' sound like 'Harrods finest hamper', don't you think? Anyway, I am a well-known character at the Church at the event these days and each time I go I feel the spirit of Christmas within me and come away knowing that my special time of the year isn't far off now...

Sadly, I'm often unable to sustain the high that St Clements Christmas Fair gives me as 'much as I love them' most of the rest of my family are NOT Christmas people and can be 'old miseries'. Last year the '£1 a go etc' stall sold out completely thanks to me! When other people see me having loads of go's and see the smile on my face they all want to join in. I always think that alone sums up Christmas for me and how it should be - if we were all to be happy and smiley at Christmas the joy would be infectious! I like to think of myself therefore as 'the Murray Walker' of the festive season! Even if I am an bit of a misery the rest of the year round! Trust me to be 'out of step' with every one else, eh?

'The BIG Mail Out!'

Well, it has taken a LONG time to reach this point! My Christmas album, 'A Nod To Mr. Dickens' has been almost a DECADE in the making and there were plenty of times during that period that I thought it would never be completed. The fact that I have been busy therefore looking up addresses, packaging CD's and making trips to the Post Office to send copies of the finished article to friends and family all over the world is understandably then for me a triumph!

The Front Cover Of My New Album!

It's amazing how many of the people you know that you have either out-dated contact details for or no details at all bar a connection on social media or their phone number! The amount of time I have spent trying to locate this person or contact that one has been considerable but I am glad to say that it has all been worth it!

One of the lovely things to come out of making such an effort is that you re-kindle old friendships and I have heard back from a friend of mine I haven't seen since the early 1980's recently! I met Eric Pitteloud when he came to England from Switzerland to study (I think?) and though we only knew each other for about two weeks or so we managed to almost squeeze a lifetime of memories into that time! Eric was a D.J. back then at home and I think I was either on a Manpower Services Commission Scheme at Debenhams or unemployed - I'm not sure now? Anyway, we met at  the 'Speakeasy' night club in Kings Road when my old mate, Terry Har (Johns) was behind the decks.
I recall one of the big dance tunes at the time being 'The Voice Of Q' by 'Q' https://youtu.be/PAP6OAmbWO0 and Eric and I both wanting to buy the last 12" copy of The Buggles, 'I Am A Camera'. I was a selfish git in those days and bought it for myself rather than letting Eric have it to take back with him - I've always regretted that - but I don't think I had met my old mate, Alan Gaywood then so had not been around people that were likely to be generous.

I e mailed Eric to let him know that a copy of 'A Nod To Mr. Dickens' was on its way and got a lovely e mail back from his daughter, Valerie with some family photos as well! Great to see how he and his family look now and I am so glad that he has done so well in life! I have sent a few pics of me and mine back this morning and we all plan to try and keep in touch more often from now on. I have even been offered the chance to go and stay with them in Switzerland for a while, which would be great! I haven't got a passport these days though and finances are not great but things might change!

So, you see, the 'old fashioned' way of getting involved with Christmas still has its advantages and brings some joy! Ironically, I wrote a new Christmas song called 'Heart Full Of Joy' only the other week so I must have known!

More soon...

'Back For Another Year!'

Well folks, it's beginning to get near that time of the season again! Creeps up on you, doesn't it? I hope you are all well and have not had too bad a year since my last post. That sounds like a pretty big ask though the way the world is at the moment but I'm wishing you all well anyway!

2017 has been a year of extremes for me. I've either 'worked wonders' or things have gone incredibly badly - there hasn't been a lot in between. I won't bore you with the bad stuff  but focus instead on the GOOD! My big news for this year is that my LONG delayed (I never thought it would ever happen in the end) Christmas album, 'A Nod To Mr. Dickens' is now a reality!

As you know if you read this blog regularly, I sadly lost my old mate, Alan Gaywood last year in July and was left his entire CD collection. Well, with 1,500 CD's of my own already I had no room for another 2,500 and so had no option but to do a good few orders to some of the online 'de-cluttering' websites. While this was sad (I would have loved to keep more of them than I have) it did allow me to find the extra cash required to fund completion of 'A Nod To Mr. Dickens'. I could only afford to have 100 pressed up (so in time the CD is going to be WELL collectible!) and plan to distribute most of them myself to friends and family this year. As ever, my producer, Harvey Summers has done a FABULOUS job on the mixing and mastering of the record and I am very proud of what we as a team have achieved. Obviously, I would have preferred to accomplish the task without losing Alan but at least the album will stand as a testament to our friendship into the future...

I shall 'unveil' the album cover art work here nearer to Christmas!

On the subject of new Christmas music, my favourite rock band, Cheap Trick have just released their first Christmas album! I've not got it yet but I'm sure it will be a blast and I am looking forward to hearing their version of 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday' by Wizzard. CT have been quite prolific of late (following a long hiatus caused by legal action between the band and their old drummer, Bun E. Carlos) and so they have continued to be like a 'crutch' for me in the modern age as I've been listening to them for well over 30 years now!

Tom Chaplin of Keane also has a new Christmas album out on Nov 17th called, 'Twelve Tales Of Christmas'. There are no Mp3 previews up on Amazon for the record yet but it looks like another mix of originals and traditional festive classics so far. There is a 'Strictly cash-in' double CD compilation album 'by' Rev Richard Coles  out on Dec 1 as well featuring a mix of classical pieces, tenor singers, choirs and the like and Gwen Stefani releases the album, 'You Make It Feel Like Christmas' on the same day. Sadly, I find her voice a bit nasally and irritating so I doubt I will 'play' as far as that one is concerned but you should check it out if you like bubbly pop.

With plenty more festive releases to come no doubt (love the pun?) I look forward to waxing lyrical with you all again in the run up to the big day!