'Well, Well, Well...'

Life is a funny old thing, isn't it? I am rather HOPELESSLY behind with my Christmas shopping and card writing this year and am having to admit defeat as far as some of it is concerned but although my usual plans have been scuppered this year I have had TWO lots of great news this December to cheer me up and make it seem more like the kind of idillic Christmas I long to find each year...

The first is news that a long standing friend of mine who is a REALLY nice guy, has just informed me that he has found his TRUE LOVE! No wonder I had not heard from him for a while (I had been too busy to contact him, either!) as he has been spending lots of time in a 'loved up' state! I am tickled pink to hear this good news as the 'old boy' has had somewhat of a bumpy ride life wise this last two or three years and its about time 'lady luck' knocked upon his door!

WHAT a relief to get some GOOD news at the moment, eh? BOY this year has been a hard one to love!!

On a similar footing I am content with my lot this year because I know that two more of the people I care about in this world are going to be TOGETHER again this Christmas after a period of being 'prized apart' through ill health. The road for both of them has been particularly treacherous for some time and the road ahead is not going to be without a few bumps in the road either but I am SOO HAPPY to know that this Christmas my two friends (pictured here) will at least be reunited and able to sit around the telly or a warm fire TOGETHER with friends and family close by for the big day.

 People get so 'hooked' on money and things to do with money but in reality I find its HUMAN things that truly make the world seem a better place. My wish for all of you reading this is that you too will soon be blessed with something WONDERFUL to celebrate this Christmas...

P.S.) Off to my Christmas Quiz at Shorelink Writers later today. Its going to be MAD and lots of festive fun - expect a report on here tomorrow!

Toodle pip!

'First Christmas Card Of The Year!'

Can you believe it! Yesterday I received my first Christmas card for this year. I have to say that I have not been able to interact with as many of the people I usually see regularly at this time of year due to my efforts in helping my friend to move but even so to only have one Christmas card on the mantlepiece by Dec 12th is quite a shock!

This said, I have not written a single card myself yet either! I am SO behind with my Christmas preparations this year and have had to realistically give up on sending my usual card & letter to most of my overseas friends as there is no way now that my cards will reach them in time for the big day...

I think this time around I shall have to do a lot of letter writing and card sending to my overseas friends and family in the New Year - kind of make it a 'hope you had a great Christmas and all the best for the New Year' kind of letter.

I have to say though that i am thrilled with the card I have received! (Pictured here) It is from one of my local Councillors, Phil Scott.
Phil has been very supportive of my work as 'The Clean Up Man' in my local community and has ALWAYS done his best to help whenever I have passed on a complaint or informed him of something which needs urgent attention in my area. I am not a fan of the party Phil stands for but have no problem voting for him as a good man is a valuable asset to any area and whether we agree on a lot of issues or not I trust Phil to at least do what HE truly believes is for the best. Now, how many politicians can you say that about, eh?

The videos Phil is thanking me for are ( I presume) some of the 'Clean Up Man' related ones I have made for my Maybrick44 Youtube Channel. Being in effect a 'down and out' in society these days my words and actions can often 'carry a bit of weight' and grab people's attention simply because if an unemployed bloke of 50 on benefits is clearing the streets of rubbish in his local area for nothing AND is talking about how we could all DO MORE to create a better, more caring and sharing society it must be obvious to all that he has no other 'agenda' for making such a video or doing what he does. However well-intentioned any Politician or Councillor may be the fact that that person is in a well paid job and 'doing alright' for themselves (in the eyes of others, at least) makes it harder for them to get people to listen and think of them as genuine.

I doubt I would agree with all of the things Phil would advocate to achieve a more caring and sharing community (I certainly don't with the party he represents) but having made numerous trips to the tip lately I wish people would TALK TO THEIR NEIGHBOURS MORE before deciding to throw perfectly good things away. The amount of stuff that could easily be of great help to someone else that gets thrown away is staggering! I know it is a difficult subject and WAY less simple than I am making it sound here but we should ALL be trying to do more to help each other - especially the way the world is today. Time, awkward job hours and moving deadlines etc are all reasons why stuff does not get shared about but its a crazy way of going on when if we all shared more we would all have more money to spend on other things!!!

Anyway, I wanted to make this blog post to THANK Phil for his card ( he sent me one last year as well) and wish him and all who act in a genuine way in public service a HAPPY CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR!

To finish off here is one of my 'Clean Up Man' videos to give you some idea of what I am talking about if you are not aware already...

'Presents Being Awkward and Westfield'

I have had quite a bit of bad luck this year in my annual search for 'just the right present for just the right person'! I pride myself on trying to discover/think of something each person wants or would love WITHOUT letting them know in advance or asking them for ideas... I had THREE 'secret weapons of joy' lined up this year for three people and have had my plans scuppered on all of them this time either because they have already bought the item for themselves, there has been a delay of some sort or I ended up buying something that has now turned out not to be suitable for some reason ( like someone buying a new TV and they now cannot plug in their old DVD player to it!) This is all very disappointing not to mention costly as I now have two or three presents with no-one to give them to! Oh well, never mind, I LOVE trying to beat the odds and get someone a great present and when I do manage it the reward of seeing them so happy AND surprised is worth all the money in the world!

I'm DEFINITELY now getting the Christmas spirit at last. Been wearing my festive jumpers and generally thinking Christmas - all of which is making me feel brighter in spite of the horrid weather.
I went out to see the Christmas lights at Westfield the other day as well (as you can see) which has probably helped get me in the mood. SO nice to see a whole community pulling together to raise money for charity like that. This year they are raising money for St Michael's Hospice, which, is a fantastic cause so I hope they will do well. Gave a little bit myself while I was there. it wasn't a lot but I think if everyone who visited gave £1 the Hospice would receive a HUGE amount in the New Year!

Do give a little to the Westfield Communities cause if you go along and see the village for yourself. It only takes a tiny amount from each of us to make a real difference. In fact, making a small difference to any aspect of your local community can start off a HUGE chain reaction in time. 

As the 'Clean Up Man' I know that better than most!

'Jingle Bells!'

It has been a VERY odd year for me has 2015. I've seen a lot of changes, lost a few people from my life and have essentially 'ploughed my own furrow' as far as the world is concerned. The planet today is nothing like the world I used to know and while things were far from perfect before those who say we have 'come a long way' should ponder on just why it is then that the world is a FAR more violent, dangerous and unstable place now than it was in the 1970's ands 80's - with all its 'Cold Wars' and alleged 'ism's'...

It is precisely why I have felt 2015 to be a strange and 'raw' year that I decided to record something a bit out of the ordinary as my Christmas Youtube Video Single for this year. What about a PUNK version of 'Jingle Bells', I thought? I know! I could include a Dick Emery Vicar who gets his choirboys to shout 'OI! OI! OI! in the choruses and get the guitarist to suddenly burst into a drunken version of 'Rule Britannia' half way through...YES! What a good idea!!!

Well, in spite of having to talk my friend and LONG suffering Producer, Harvey Summers down from the top of high buildings TWICE that is EXACTLY what he and I recorded having enlisted the vocal help of another friend of mine (and unsung Punk Rock pioneer) Sue Butchers. Sue was in the band, 'Siren' in Sheffield back in the late 70's and they were one of the earliest all-girl punk groups. she then went on to front the popular gigging band, 'Debar' before appearing in Tenpole Tudor's video for 'The Hayrick Song' and getting arrested for wearing a Maggie Thatcher mask while filming a video for 'the Angelic Upstarts' in Brighton!

Now, Punk Rock is not very 'Christmassy' but I think a good old raucous knees up is just what the doctor ordered to see out a year which has LONG needed a good kick in the pants out the door!

So, without further ado, sit back and enjoy this festive fun-fest and let's all hope that 2016 is a hell of a lot kinder, nicer and more fun for all!!

P.S)

I would like to dedicate this video to the memory of DICK EMERY, whose fabulous Vicar character was the inspiration behind this idea...

'A Visit To A Christmas Craft Fair At Last!'

Well my friends, it seems that I missed my beloved St Clements Church Christmas Fair this year! In spite of searching the Internet, making phone calls and posting on Facebook I was unable to find out when it was and so my 'favourite festive trigger' failed to fire for me this year...

My bag of 50p pieces and I did manage to go to TWO Christmas Fairs today, however! The first was a Craft Fair at Kings Church near The Conquest Hospital. There were some LOVELY, Christmassy items on sale and some fabulous stalls but (as ever) I was left rather frustrated by the fact that i have no-one to give most such items to for presents and with over 5,000 records, CD's, books etc, etc in my ONE ROOM at home have nowhere to store anything I'd like just for me even if I could afford it!

I got chatting to a lovely lady on the first stall I saw and shared a few of my 'ill advised these days' 70's jokes about relationships. It was her mum's stall and I asked if I could take a few photos of some of the magical things she had for sale. Thankfully, I was allowed to do this (though I think the flash on my camera is broken - boo!) and so you can take a look for yourselves now...

I LOVE the two little cushions and the 'Baa Humbug' cards were such fun! Everything on this stall in fact was beautifully made and I asked for a business card as IF I ever get the chance to do the artwork for my 'Mr. Christmas' album this lady may be worth commissioning to do some custom made pieces for use with the album sleeve etc. I gave the two ladies a copy of my 'Timeless' album for being so nice and all in all it was a typically Christmassy experience for me - my first real chance to enter into the Christmas spirit this year! Here if you are also enamoured is a pic of the lady in questions business card...

After I left Kings Church I went onto the annual Christmas Fair at The Holy Redeemer in Upper Church Rd, Hollington. It was the usual combination of festive fair, Father Christmas, bric-a-brac and raffles but (ironically) all I bought in the end was a few cheap CD's! Christmas is a time of the year I love but it is rarely easy for me as shopping for gifts often brings home to me the fact that I am still single. I'm pretty good at 'being in my own company' but there are times when it would be nice to have a girlfriend/wife and a family of my own to REALLY fire up my Christmassy side...Mind you, if most of this 'unattained as yet' family should turn out to be as BAH HUMBUG like as most of my British relatives ( NOT you lot in good old Australia - Trevor and co!) then maybe I'm better off on my own! (lol)

Oh well, let's hope I can get into top Christmas gear soon, eh? To finish today, here is a lovely Christmas song I recently discovered...

'It Doesn't Seem Like Christmas!'

Well, I never thought I would say this but it really doesn't seem like Christmas is on the way this year at all to me...

Don't get me wrong I'm not all 'bah humbug' or anything I just haven't got my usual buzz about the whole thing this year yet. Have had no luck in finding out about my favourite Christmas Fair at St Clements Church either and now strongly suspect that I have either missed it or that they have not had one there this year for some reason?

Not feeling as 'festive' as I do normally at present has been sad not least because the world is in the worst state I have ever known it to be. God must truly be holding his head in his hands and bawling his eyes out at the moment. So much hate, so much killing and tit-for-tat murder - how we as a race have ended up like this I don't think any God of any persuasion could say? I mean, what has happened to 'live and let live' - agree to disagree and tolerance?  I have my beliefs and these cause issues with other people but the way to sort out differences is to TALK, LEARN, LISTEN and UNDERSTAND what is going on for someone else. It is not always possible to change minds so the best you can achieve is to ENLIGHTEN others to YOUR way of looking at things and by listening gain a MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING.

Anyway, I doubt there is much chance now that words from any source can stop what has been started and yet, do you know what, if this planet was to be attacked tomorrow by an ALIEN FORCE from another planet everything would change just like that!

Escaping from the ills of the world then seems like a good idea at the moment and as I have recently been introduced to a Christmas single from the late 1960's that Id never heard of before I think I will share it with you all now...

So, what do you think? 'The Bells Of San Francisco' by Carnegy Hall may not be a well known festive tune but right now I LOVE its hippy aspirations and think it would be FAB if all of us could 'tune in and drop out' right now, don't you?

'My Christmas Music - A Jolly Update!'

I am glad to be able to announce that my Youtube Christmas single for this year is now recorded and mixed! I decided this year to do a 'very different' kind of Christmas song in the shape of a pop/punk version of 'Jingle Bells'. Why would anyone in their right mind want to record such a thing? Well, it has been rather an angst riddled year this year and as such I wanted to record something with a bit of bite to it. seeing as I am also friends with one of Punk Rocks earliest pioneers, Sue Butchers, ('Siren', 'Debar', ex-wife of Max Splodge etc, etc) I thought why not do a punky duet?

Sue Butchers

I am now VERY glad that I did because, thanks to the always awesome Mr. Harvey Summers (my friend and Producer) the song has turned out splendidly!

Harvey Summers

 The next stage in the process will be to try and film/put together some kind of video for the song. That's going to be a bit of a challenge at this time of year as poor light and wet, miserable days do not make for good videos. If we were to get some SNOW, however, that would be different!!!

Anyway, I think you are going to LOVE the song - especially if you liked Dick Emery's Vicar character because I do my own Vicar impersonation on the song and he eventually gets into the spirit of the punk anthem and gets the choirboys to do a lot of 'O1i! Oi! Oi!'s in the chorus!! HA HA

On the 'Mr. Christmas' album front, I am hoping to receive the final mix and master of the album before the end of the year. The set has been long delayed due to unavoidable and extremely unfortunate circumstances concerning 'Old Harv' as I like to call him. Thankfully, all that is now in the past and he and Broadoak Studios are now powering on into the future at full speed! You won't find a better Producer or nicer guy than Harvey and I can't wait to hear the final mix of the album!

In fact, I am so thrilled with the 'Mr. Christmas' set that I am seriously considering commissioning, Artist, Sally Woodworld (Priston), to design the cover artwork for the album. Sally is an amazingly gifted Artist and I'm sure her connection to all things natural and traditional events like 'Jack In The Green' will mean that my rather wistful and traditional songs will inspire her to greatness! At this stage we are just 'talking shop' but I'd really love it if she could come up with some custom made pieces for use with the album. Here is one of Sally's most beautiful works taken from her photos on Facebook...

October/Winter Is Coming By Sally Woodworld

I'm sure you can see now why I am so excited at the prospect of having Sally produce some artwork for me! How awesome is the above!!

I will keep you posted on developments and look out for my 'Jingle Bells' video single on Youtube in late Nov or early Dec.

You can see more of Sally's wonderful works of art here...Sally Woodworld's website