The Music of My Life #13

 I went to boarding school when I was 14. It's an experience I'd never want to repeat.

I was in a dormitory with loads of other boys my age and we all had our little areas about 6ft x 4ft. I had a single bed and a little wardrobe to put my belongings in. And a curtain you pulled across to make it into your own little room.

In between the two rows of beds along the walls of the dorm, there was a walkway around 3ft wide. And at the end of the hallway, there was a solitary 13am socket. Luckily, that socket was only about 15 ft away from my little area,

In my wardrobe along with my clothes, I'd brought my Dansette record player and a motley collection of records.

'Superbad' is to this day my favourite compilation album. 'Talking Book' although can be sad, was a comfort to me.

I'd get my record player out and plug it into the socket, place it on the floor and play my records.

Most of the time I'd be on my own, feeling totally homesick, missing my family. and I'd sometimes have a little sob session on my own.

Other times two or three other boys would be there and they'd have some records (once they knew I had a record player, they brought some of their records) that we'd play. Those were better times.

Even now, all these years later, I can remember how lonely it felt there. When Stevie sang "You and I, we can conquer the world" I knew he was singling about love, but to me it was about me and Stevie getting through another day until I had visitors, half term or the end of term.

These two albums helped me get through some of the loneliest periods of my young life.

Even now hearing 'Talking Book' takes me back to some of the hardest times of my life, and reminds me I got through it.

If you can't see the video, click here

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An example of kindness

We hear a lot about hatred, disagreement and so forth. Each day the media compounds that by reporting about the goings-on around the World, and slanting the reporting to make things worse.

They know that reporting scandal about religion, politics and race will keep you glued. They know that salacious reporting keeps people locked in. Good news never really plays so well.

And social media seems a hotbed for nastiness. People can hide behind their keyboards and say what they like and for the most part, they get away with it. This is why we see more and more ‘trolling’ across different platforms.

 Don’t get me wrong, anyone who knows me knows that I like to have a good rant; I use social media as a way of getting stuff off of my chest. I also find that what I write on social media also helps me clarify my thinking. And I’ve often found that as I’ve thought about what I’m writing, I find that my actual thinking is the opposite of what I started out to write. I then end up writing from a completely different perspective.

 But one thing I try never to do is to slag someone off, to knock someone down, the verbally pull them to pieces or abuse them. When someone does that, I think it says more about the person writing than it does about their victim.

 But the more and more you see it, the more you feel that the World is getting worse. Luckily, I don’t think that is really the case. I just think that kindness gets a bum rap.

 And that’s why today, I want to tell you about someone who I’ve only known for just over 10 years, but who has, during that time, shown me and Debz such great kindness.

 I met Bridget not long after I moved to Cambridge, we came together through our love of music, specifically soul music. We met at various Soul events in the area when I used to DJ.

I DJed at some of the events and was a supporter of others. Bridget used to help out as part of the Cambridge Soul Collective, taking money at events and helping out wherever she could.

I’m not really the most outgoing of people despite how I appear to people. However, I’m very forthright in my opinions, which doesn’t always ingratiate me to some people. But Bridget always seemed to support me when I was fighting my corner.

Back in 2013, we moved to Bar Hill and started bumping into Bridget in our local supermarket, where we’d end up having a chat.

And then, in November of 2106, my doctor found a lump on my kidney that was reported to be cancerous. It meant that I was fast-tracked into the hospital to have my kidney removed just before Christmas.

Knowing that I was the only driver and that it was going to be a problem for me to get to the hospital before 7am, Bridget got in touch and offered to take me to the hospital. I took her up on my offer and on the day I was due in, she delivered me on time.

And since then, whenever we’ve been faced with a situation, Bridget has always volunteered to help us. Can there be a better example of kindness?

And in those years since, she’s always been there for us as shown once again today.

Debz works for the British Heart Foundation and just before Christmas, spent time working in the back office with one of the volunteers who has now tested positive for Coronavirus. Obviously, as is the situation with Covid, social distancing had been observed and masks were worn.

Despite that, Debz was tested yesterday, and today she too received a positive result, which means we have to self-isolate until January 5^th.

I wrote a post on Facebook about it this morning and within minutes, Bridget had offered to do some shopping for us. Debz put a list together, and we messaged it across to Bridget.

Within an hour, Bridget delivered the shopping to our door!

And that, in a nutshell, is the perfect example of kindness.

Once again, she’s come up trumps for us. Bridget has shown us kindness for the umpteenth time. She’s never asked anything of us at any time and is always so willing to help. She put herself out for us yet again.

We are so grateful to have her in our lives. Of all the people we’ve met in Cambridge, she’s been the best of all. When I wrote about this on Facebook, other people who know her commented so well about her. All say how kind she is.

All I know is that Bridget has shown not only to us but others how kind she is. Many people are of the same opinion of her as we are. She’s a lovely, caring lady that we all appreciate.

I’m pretty sure that most of us would rather read stories about people like Bridget. She proves by her deeds that the World isn’t as bad as well all are led to believe.

It’s acts such as these that keep my faith in humanity intact. The World isn’t as bad as we are led to believe and won’t as long as there are people like Bridget who lead with kindness and integrity, there’s a chance for us all.

We’re grateful to have her as a friend and she’s an example for all of us to follow.

Kindness is still out there. It shows up mostly when you need it. We’re grateful to be a recipient. Hopefully, we’ll be able to pass it on to someone else once we’re out and about again.

 Thanks Bridget.

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To journal or not to journal

It's really odd, I have moments of clarity where I can remember events from my past vividly, and other times when I can't remember what I was doing ten minutes ago. The problem is, that I’m finding more and more often I’m in the latter camp.

People who know me think I have a great memory because I can delve into my past and remember events or thing with such clarity. However, there is usually a trigger that helps me to remember those things. It’s usually music.

I can hear a song or a snippet of music and I can be transported elsewhere in times past. And yet, without those triggers, I’m pretty poor at remembering things.

What concerns me though, is my short term memory these days. It’s so abysmal that I struggle to know what I’ve been up to on any given day. Admittedly, when we’ve spent so much time locked down and having hardly been out or about this year, it’s made it seem as though one day has warped into another and it seems to be like Groundhog Day on a consistent basis.

 With that in mind, I’m considering starting a journal, somewhere to write my thoughts, ideas, insights, plans etc.

 A few times as a teen, I tried to keep a diary, but after about 4-5 days, I stopped doing it as I never could be bothered. And that has stopped me from trying in the past few years.

 However, last summer, after reading a book by Austin Kleon, an artist who also writes, I decided to keep a logbook with daily inputs of work I’ve done with examples of work I’ve completed and ideas for work in them.

I’ve managed to keep this going since I started and have managed to complete each day, even if, on some days, my entry has read, “mentally drained, can’t think of anything, reading a book instead!”

Therefore, as I come to the end of the year, I’m thinking that maybe I’m now ready to do a journal.

Why? Well, to be honest, I often find I think about something, get sidetracked and the next day, I can’t remember what I was thinking about. If I had a journal, I could scribble whatever it was onto the page, and then when I wanted to revisit the idea, I’d only need to look at the page and what I’d written to give me a chance to look at the subject anew.

I’ve been trying look back to the beginning of this year and to be honest, I really can’t remember what I was doing, but when I looked back to the July entries in the logbook, it was easy to remember associated things to the work because my entries acted as memory joggers.

If I started journaling next year, then perhaps I could go back and see what other things I’d been up to and what some of my thought processes were, which may help to keep my memory more alert than it is now.

At various points in my life, I’ve been a voracious note taker and I used to have filled books of thoughts relating the field of business I was in at the time. Sadly, when my marriage broke up and I moved away, I appear to have misplaced them which is a great shame because I used to refer back to them quite a lot.

So maybe, writing a journal may be the way forward from here on in. It might help me to keep track of my life and enable me to refer to and take a fresh look at things. It may be that I could write down vague thoughts and ideas that could lead to different journeys in the future.

The process of writing down my thoughts and ideas may also keep them in my mind as well which would make them more memorable to me as well.

It may also keep me on track with things I want to do on a regular basis. I may get more done. Especially if we ever get our normal lives back in the not too distant future. 

One of those thoughts I have had and written down during this time when we seem to be stuck at home, may become an idea that kickstarts a new challenge once we can get back to doing other things. 

All in all, I think there are probably more pros than cons of doing so.

Or it may just be another thing that I start and after a while drift away from.

We shall see...

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A lesson learned early.

Last night as I was trying to get to sleep, a memory came into my mind which has played a huge part in making me the man that I am. I hadn't thought about it for a couple of years and it hadn't really made that much impression on me until last night.

I was 5 or 6 at the time, and playing on the beach behind our arcade at Burnham on Sea. I had a bucket and spade and I was digging a hole (as you do).

A much bigger boy came over to me, punched me a few times and chased me away.

I ran back to the arcade to my Dad, and was crying as I told him what happened.

What he said and did at the time has greatly influenced the man that I have become.

I can't remember the exact words, but basically, he made me go back and fight the bigger boy and stand up to him. He followed a little way back to make sure I didn't get a good hiding as the boy was much bigger than me. Dad made me point the boy out and then he said something that has stayed with me throughout my life.

His words went like this, "Don't come crying to me that someone's punched you. There won't always be someone to sort it out for you. You have to stand your ground no matter how big they are."

Weeks earlier, I remember my brother Bill had come home bleeding after having been beaten up by some of the local teens. He stood out because he had a London accent in a town full of Somerset accents and he was well dressed. If you like he was a minority.

Anyway, Dad made me go back. I went back down the beach (scared as anything I might add) and went up to the boy and told him I wanted my bucket and spade back. He told me I couldn't have them, so although scared, I ran at him and hit him. The punch knocked him over (I don't think he really expected it) and we started grappling on the sand and he started to hurt me again.

After what seemed like an age, my Dad separated us and we came away with the bucket and spade.

Since that day I've never liked fighting, but I've always stood my ground, never backed down and fought when I had to. And as a showman's son who went to boarding school, I had to fight a lot. I was called a smelly gyppo, a pikey. in fact, any derogatory term that could be used, was.

The fact is, it toughened me up and made me stronger. It also made me more aware.

Whenever I was in a situation where I thought a fight was going to happen, I always looked around me and surveyed the area, checked out who the people that were causing the trouble were, and decided who I was going to hit if it all kicked off and how I was going to get out of the situation unscathed.

In today's environment, with knife crime, as it is, I wonder if I'd still be here to tell the tale.

My Dad's words all those years ago and the things he taught me along the way, have made me the man that I am. I'd like to think that I've always stood up for myself and not backed down (and I'm not talking about fighting).

I've never gone looking to cause trouble and if possible, I'd rather not argue either.

But I will not be put down. So those things my Dad said to me have stayed with me to this day. He was a wise man, my Dad.

I'd much rather be like I am than one of the namby-pamby grizzle arses that many people have become these days.

Mind you I've never understood what makes people bully or why they have to make others feel inferior either. I don't suppose I ever will.

 

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Christmas - the good ones and the bad...

When I was a child, Christmas was a thing to behold.

My Mum loved Christmas and so it was a massive thing for us. We'd be woken up by this bright white light shining in our faces. It would be Mum with her cine camera, telling us that He'd been and that it was time to get up.

It was always in the middle of the night when she got us up, she couldn't wait!

We'd go into the living room and there were always so many presents. All of our Uncles and Aunts bought us presents (that would start us off with around 10) and then presents from Mum and Dad, my brother and sisters as well as presents from family friends.

My memories of this time were of being in a loving home, surrounded by family, eating more selection boxes than enough, watching telly as a family, drinking cherryade and generally having a good time.

We were very lucky to have had all that as kids.

As I got older and my sister had here kids, I discovered that Mum was worse than I thought.

I didn't know at the time, but watched many years later, as my Mum, on Christmas Eve, couldn't wait until the next day when her Grandchildren came around, would unwrap all the toys she'd wrapped for them, play with them, and then wrap them back up! She couldn't wait.

So you would think I'd love Christmas as well with all those wonderful memories.

But I would be a liar if I said I look forward to Christmas each year. Or December as a month if I'm totally honest.

I do have mitigating reasons and one which I've alluded to before.

The years 1991 - 1996 were bad ones for me and my family. We'd lost our business and everything went downhill.

As I've said at other times, there was a period of 18 months when my wife and I lived on beans on toast pretty much every day in order to be able to feed our kids well.

And the pain I feel about their birthdays and Christmases during this period still eats away at me today, as those years should have been the best in regards to having young children.

I've never forgotten the despair I felt, looking around car boot sales to find second-hand toys and games we could afford in order for them to have presents. It was especially worse when you consider that their birthdays and Christmas were in the same month.

And even all these years later, I still feel guilty about having them in that position at the time. I completely recall seeing what other kids were getting and feeling a total let down as a parent.

In time things got better but over the years the regret over what we had to do still lingers.

I know they didn't understand the situation at the time and were always happy with their presents (and for that I'm grateful) but I always felt awful.

I was flicking through some photos recently as I was looking for photos for the boy's birthdays and came across photos from this period, and even now over 20 years later, I still feel sick when I look at them.

I really do try to enjoy this time of year, but for me, it's never easy, particularly when I see kids getting a load of money spent on them. It just reminds me of how rubbish I was as a provider for far too many years.

PS: Since I wrote this the other day, all our plans for the next week or so have been turned upside down.

I've decided that I'm not going to get wound up about it as It'll only make me feel worse. I'm going to settle in front of the telly, hunt out all my favourite DVDs, eat the good stuff and make the best of it.

I hope you can do that too.

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The Music of My life #11 (The Christmas edition)

It was coming toward the Christmas of 1973, and Mum asked me if there was anything I wanted for Christmas that year.

My old record player was on its last legs as I’d had it for 5 or 6 years by then, and you have to remember that I was only 13 in 1973, so my old record player wasn’t in the best of condition as I’d had it since I was 8 or 9.

Mum told me there was no chance of getting one as I already had one and as well as that I also had a cassette recorder and a reel to reel tape recorder! She said it was about time I started looking at other things. But the truth was, apart from records and tapes, there wasn’t too much else I wanted.

My other great love at the time was football. I didn’t have a favourite team as such, I just loved playing. Me and my next-door neighbour, Jon Ashton, only lived five minutes away from the beach at Burnham on Sea, and we’d go down there in the winter and play football behind the lighthouse.

Although I didn’t have a favourite team, I had plenty of favourite players. Jimmy Greaves had been a favourite but he'd retired by that time. George Best, Alan Ball, Rodney Marsh Stan Bowles, Tony Currie and more were favourites.

So I didn’t want a particular football shirt, I used to collect plenty. I had a red one, so I could be Manchester United, Liverpool or any team that wore red. I had a blue one, so I could be Chelsea or Everton. You get where I’m coming from. It wasn’t like it is today where shirts are specific to clubs.

I did have an Arsenal shirt as they were different, And a West Ham One too.  In fact, I think I had around 10 shirts. So I’d wear them and go out and I had a shirt so that I could be the player of choice.

But I was also getting to the age where I was not really wanting to continue getting football shirts. In fact, I’m not sure that I had too many more once I reached 13. And I’ve never wanted on since (with the exception of a Weymouth shirt I had many years later...but that’s a different story.)

So I was pretty much stumped as to what I wanted for Christmas – my heart was set on a new record player, a Dansette one in red or blue, I didn’t mind which colour.

And as much and kept on about it, Mum and Dad told me it was off the table. I wasn’t getting a record player. I had too much music stuff.

They were adamant that I had too many records and I needed to start thinking about my schoolwork and that I would probably do better with a desk for my room!

And so as you can probably tell, I wasn’t really looking forward to my Christmas presents this year.

The more I begged, the more they said no.

And so on the morning, I wasn’t too excited about getting up. There wasn’t going to be too much I was looking forward to. Only a bleeding desk!

So when I came into the living room and saw the big box wrapped, my heart sank. It was a desk!

I unwrapped the presents but left the big one, I couldn’t face it.

Mum kept saying that I should tidy up my bedroom and make some room for the big present. But I didn’t. I opened my selection boxes and settled in to watch Christmas morning telly.

Mum was on my case telling me to open my big present because she wanted to get all the wrapping paper bagged up and put in the bin.

Eventually, I decided to open it. It was a desk. I knew it. I may as well get it opened.

But as I started unwrapping it, it felt strange. It wasn’t has heavy as I expected. I got the paper off, opened the box, and a smaller one was inside it.

I was confused. I opened the next box and inside it, another one.

Now I knew it wasn’t a desk, I was just confused.

It took two more boxes until my present was revealed. As I opened the last box, I lookd in and my eyes lit up!

There, in front of me, was a blue Dansette record player. The exact one I wanted. And on the record deck was this year’s Christmas Number One, Slade’s, ‘Merry Christmas Everybody.’

I was over the moon! Exactly what I’d wanted. And what’s more, Mum and Dad had really enjoyed playing their game with me.

It made the Christmas of 1973 so memorable for me.

If you can't see the video, click here

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James' Top 10s - Christmas Songs

 I've got to be honest, Christmas Songs aren't my favourite genre of music. That's mostly because by the time the big day arrives, I've been hearing them for nearly two months.

But fortunately, this year, because our social distancing and lockdowns, I've not been out and about so much, and therefore, don't feel as though I've had them shoved down my throat so much.

And in sitting down to work out my Top 10, I've noticed that I like a lot more than I think I did.

And so, after consideration, I've compiled my Top 10 favourites. They quite likely won't be yours. Som may, but some won't.

What's surprised me is that there are none later than 1964. No Slade, No Mud, No Wizzard....

So here is my Top 10 Christmas Songs.

10 Perry Como & he Fontaine Sisters - It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

If you can't see the video, click here

9 Burl Ives - Holly, Jolly Christmas

If you can't see the video, click here

8 Lou Monte - Dominick The Donkey

If you can't see the video, click here

7 Eartha Kitt - Santa Baby

If you can't see the video, click here

6 Max Bygraves - Jingle Bell Rock

If you can't see the video, click here

5 The Ronnettes - Sleigh Ride

If you can't see the video, click here

4 Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick

If you can't see the video, click here

3 Darlene Love - Winter Wonderland

If you can't see the video, click here

2 Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song

If you can't see the video, click here

1 Frank Sinatra - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

If you can't see the video, click here

I hope you enjoyed my choices. Let me know below what are your favourites.

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The problem with comparing yourself to others.

Sometimes, I look around at other people who are doing  what I do and realise that I’m nowhere close to so many of them in terms of talent.

Some, I’m better at what I do (at least I think, in terms of work quality), but they’re still more successful than I am.

And it can lead to hours of overthinking and beating myself up. Often asking the question, “What am I doing wrong?”

I’m beginning to believe that doing that never helps. All it seems to do is make things harder. It doesn’t aid creativity, it doesn’t aid confidence.

I was intrigued to read something the other day that made me think. I subscribe to writer James Clear’s* weekly newsletter and in it this week he was talking about this very subject. And he quoted Martha Graham, one of the most important dance choreographers of the 20^th Century,

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of the time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.”

As James went on to expand, “Martha Graham’s advice takes this concept a step further by explaining that not only are you a bad judge of your own work, it is not your job to judge your own work. It is not your place to compare it to others. It is not your responsibility to figure out how valuable it is or how useful it can be. It is not your job to tell yourself, “No.”

Instead, your responsibility is to create. Your job is share what you have to offer from where you are right now.”

And it certainly made sense to me. Instead of beating myself up, it makes sense to just get involved in what I’m doing and enjoy the process.

I’m sure that then, the resultant work will be better because instead of second-guessing each step, trying to make sure I’m better than someone else, I can enjoy what I’m doing for its own sake, resulting in less stress.

I think that then, there will be an automatic improvement in what I do.

It reminds me that perhaps it’s time to once again pick up the book, ‘What To Say When You Talk To Yourself’ and follow some of it’s lessons.

After all, I talk to myself pretty much all day, as does everyone else. Each thought, each time I beat myself up when I tell myself I can’t, it just takes another little slither of self-confidence, which though it may not seem much at the time, will, over time, end up causing me to have so little self-confidence that I won’t try anything.

Luckily, I’m like a terrier. I keep snapping at the ankles of my situations and hate to give in. But the negativity keeps coming back.

And it’s why I read self-improvement books. They’re like a little boost of positivity that I can take whenever I need it.

It’s why I subscribe to newsletters of people that are moving on in life. I like to hear what they have to say.

We’re surrounded by negativity all the time. Just browsing Social Media will show you that. And it’s even worse when it’s us telling ourselves we can’t do something. When we’re beating ourselves over the head with defeatism.

It’s why I often delete people from Social Media; it’s why I constantly take a break from people. What's the point in enduring pessimism?

And when I read a positive book, it gives me the opportunity to take a break from me and listen to someone sharing their perspective on success. Not just of business, but in relationships too.

I was lucky to be raised and surrounded by people of good morals as I was growing up. Sadly, most of them have passed on and I find a lot of that same support in a book, or in a newsletter.

Don’t get me wrong, it may have taken a long time, but it took me until I was in my 50s before I realised that I like the person I’ve become. However, I am still a work in progress.

And I’ll leave you with this thought. 

If you are thinking to yourself, “Ah, but James, you’re no better off than me. You’re nothing to shout about.” Just imagine where I’d be if I didn’t get the input I get when I’m reading the positivity. Things could be a whole lot worse.

* You can find more about James Clear at JamesClear.com

 

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The Music of My Life #12

It's 1980, I am 20 years old. In my car, I've got UB40s 'Signing Off' album, the new Diana Ross album produced by the guys from Chic, and all manner of cool and trendy stuff as befitting someone of my age and standing,

But hidden under my front seat, is a cassette of this, Barry Manilow's 'Manilow Magic'. When I'm not with anyone, this comes out of hiding and into the player.

I'm a sucker for good songs sung well, and this album has that in spades. From 'Looks Like We Made It', to 'Trying To Get The Feeling Again' and my favourite 'Weekend In New England'. Oh yeah...'Copacabana' is there as well.

And looking back now, I wish I'd have been upfront about it. This album is just stunning. I loved it then and still do.

Like I've said before, my musical tastes really are diverse,

If the video doesn't play, click here

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The Burning House and what I'd take

I bought a book a few years ago. which has caused me to evaluate what’s important to me in my life. It’s called ‘The Burning House’ and the premise is that your house is burning. You have to get out fast. Suddenly you are forced to prioritize, editing down a lifetime of possessions to a mere handful. Now you must decide: Of all the things you own, what is most important to you?

So are the things that are important to your life practical, valuable or sentimental. This is what separates us as individuals and makes us the people we are.

At first, I started to think about what I’d hate to lose in my life. Well, all my music for starters. I’ve been collecting for as long as I can remember. I’d be in a terrible mess if I still had all the vinyl I’d bought over the years. Luckily, back in 2002, I started to convert all my records and CDs into mp3 format.

I now have all my music on hard drives, well on one hard drive and two back up hard drives. There is also my playout computer system that has 46,000 songs that I can choose from for my radio shows. These songs are backed up onto 298 mp3 CDs as back up. So basically, It’s all comfortably backed up and can all be accessed from one of 3 hard drives.

Photos play an important part of my life as I’m a nostalgic kind of guy. I have all my photos on CDs and hard drives. All my pre-digital photos have been scanned and they are also on a hard drive. When my Mum and Dad died, I took possession of three suitcases full of their old photos. These photos have played such an important part of my life. When I used to visit my parents, we’d often get the photos out and my Mum would tell me about the people on the photos. They were a part of the history of my family and their friends.

I’ve managed to scan those as well and have them backed up - one of my sons has a back up as well.

Books would be another area where I’d struggle. I’ve thought about that, and at a push, I could leave all of them because the favourite books could all be bought again.

I’m not really someone who values possessions too much, I could pretty much sell 99% of the stuff I have and replace with new.

So it comes down to what is irreplaceable – priceless – the stuff that it would break my heart to lose. When it comes down to it, what would I want to make sure I got on my way out of the door?

Well, the most important things to me, are probably worth very little on the open market, but they probably say more about me than anything else I own.

The most important possessions I have are four reel to reel tapes that belonged to my Dad. On these tapes are basically the songs and tunes that made me the music lover that I became so early in my life and continue to be today.

So what’s on them? Well, my Godfather owned a record shop, and my Dad used to borrow all the chart hits of the time, take them home and record them (A& B sides). The music on these tapes comes from the chart period of 1958 to 1960. I’m sure he had more tapes, but over the years they disappeared (although I don’t remember there being any more).

Besides all the singles, there’s one tape that has a very early Bill Haley LP on one side and a Gene Vincent LP on the other side. The Bill Haley LP has songs dating back to 1953 on it, the Gene Vincent LP is from 1957. I've pretty much spent most of my life collecting the songs on these tapes.

The tapes are all still playable, but the music has degraded over the 50+ years since Dad recorded them.

It’s funny, I’d never really thought about it before, but now it seems to me that 2 hard drives and four reel to reel tapes could contain the goods and chattels of my life that are important.

Before I go, I just want to say that I’m talking about the things of my life, not the people!

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Make someone happy...give 'em a call!

 

It’s amazing how something as simple as a phone call can cheer you up.

Last week, I got a phone call from a friend that I’d lost contact with. The last time I saw him was at a funeral some years back.

When my phone rang last night, I was concerned that something was wrong as I haven’t spoken to him for at least 6-7 years.

So imagine my surprise when he said he saw my name and hadn’t spoken to me for a while so he thought he would.

It was lovely to shoot the breeze with him and really good to catch up. I found out all about his family and what they’re up to. I told him my news.

And at the end of it, I felt lifted.

Here’s the thing though – we don’t have each other’s phone numbers anymore. What he did was find me on Facebook and use the messenger to phone me.

I’ll tell you this. Sometimes that’s all you need to do. Just say hello and chat for 10 minutes.

You’ll be amazed by how much I appreciated that. Thanks John!

With that in mind, and with Christmas upon us,  and with many of us spending time away from friends and family this year, it seems like a good time to be making that call to someone who you haven't spoken to recently.

It could be an unexpected gift for them!

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James' Top 10s - Must Watch Movies

 

There are plenty of fantastic movies to watch. 

For me, however, they tend to be old ones. I was brought up watching films late at night with my Mum or sat in front of the telly with my family in the Winter.

I could easily share a list of films that come from way back when, but I'm delving into my DVD collection to pick 10 great films.

They are quite different but all are worthy of watching and with Christmas just around the corner, this is a good time to settle in.  I most definitely will.

You may notice, that most of them are feel-good movies.

10) The Dish

New South Wales, 1969. Australia's largest satellite dish has been given the task of tracking the Apollo 11 moon mission across the southern hemisphere and of transmitting the all-important television pictures of the landing itself. 

The local townspeople are proud to be part of such a momentous event and are eagerly preparing for a visit from the US ambassador. 

Meanwhile, at the dish control station, workers Cliff, Glen and Mitch greet NASA employee Al, who has come to help out. But then, during a party held in the ambassador's honour, a power cut causes the dish to lose contact with Apollo 11. 

Will they be able to sort the problem out in time for the landing, or are they about to fluff up their big moment?

9) A Knight's Tale

The 14th Century takes on a new look in A Knight's Tale, an exciting, action-packed comedic adventure. Starring Heath Ledger, with hilarious performances from Mark Addy. Paul Bettany, Alan Tudyk and introducing Shannyn Sossamon.

Heath Ledger is William Thatcher, a peasant squire who breaks all the rules when he passes himself off as a knight and takes the jousting world by storm. The only thing that stands between William and his dream of becoming the world champion is the bad boy of the sport, Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell).

Packed with action, comedy, romance and treachery and with a sensational soundtrack including music from Robbie Williams and Queen, this action-packed comedic adventure of medieval gallantry.

8) Blazing Saddles

Cleavon Little plays an escaped black convict who ends up being given the poison chalice job of the new Rockridge Sheriff by scheming railroad developer and politician Hedley LaMarr (Harvey Korman). 

Notionally sent in to protect the ungrateful Rockridge community from marauding gangs, his only ally turns out to be alcoholic former gunslinger The Waco Kid (Gene Wilder). 

Though initially expressing racial prejudice the townsfolk eventually adopt the Sheriff to help them outwit Hedley LaMarr, deciding to construct an exact replica of their town to fool the invading posse. The film descends into postmodern chaos as the action spills out of the film set into wider Hollywood.

7) Memento

An absolute stunner of a movie, Memento combines a bold, mind-bending script with compelling action and virtuoso performances. 

Guy Pearce plays Leonard Shelby, hunting down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The problem is that "the incident" that robbed Leonard of his wife also stole his ability to make new memories. 

Unable to retain a location, a face, or a new clue on his own, Leonard continues his search with the help of notes, Polaroids, and even homemade tattoos for vital information. 

Because of his condition, Leonard essentially lives his life in short, present-tense segments, with no clear idea of what's just happened to him. 

That's where Memento gets really interesting; the story begins at the end, and the movie jumps backwards in 10-minute segments. 

The suspense of the movie lies not in discovering what happens, but in finding out why it happened. Amazingly, the movie achieves edge-of-your-seat excitement even as it moves backwards in time! , and it keeps the mind hopping as cause and effect are pieced together.

6) 12 Angry Men

 At the end of a murder trial in New York City, the jurors retire to consider their verdict. The man in the dock is a young Puerto Rican accused of killing his father, and eleven of the jurors do not hesitate in finding him guilty. 

However, one of the jurors (Henry Fonda), reluctant to send the youngster to his death without any debate, returns a vote of not guilty. From this single event, the jurors begin to re-evaluate the case, as they look at the murder - and themselves - in a fresh light. 

5) Il Postino

On a remote Mediterranean island young Mario Ruoppolo (Massimo Troisi) is hired to deliver letters to exiled love poet Pablo Neruda (Philippe Noiret). 

The two develop a close friendship, and Mario enlists the poet's help to win the heart of the beautiful Beatrice Russo (Maria Grazia Cucinotta). During the courtship, the poet in Mario emerges, and he realises he need not depend on Neruda.

4) Schindler's List

This incredible true story follows the enigmatic Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who saved the lives of more than 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust. 

It is the triumph of one man who made a difference and the drama of those who survived one of the darkest chapters in human history because of what he did. 

3) Grease

After their summer romance ends, Danny (John Travolta) and Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) are unexpectedly reunited at high school when the latter moves to Danny's town. 

However, their relationship stalls when it becomes apparent that Sandy is not 'cool' enough to date gang leader Danny. Hit songs include 'You're the One That I Want' and 'Greased Lightning'.

2) Cinema Paradiso

Giuseppe Tornatore's loving homage to the cinema tells the story of Salvatore, a successful film director, returning home for the funeral of Alfredo, his old friend who was the projectionist at the local cinema throughout his childhood. 

Soon memories of his first love affair with the beautiful Elena and all the highs and lows that shaped his life come flooding back, as Salvatore reconnects with the community he left 30 years earlier.

1) Field Of Dreams

Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) is encouraged by a mysterious voice to build a baseball pitch on his land. 

According to the celestial guide, this unusual step will result in the appearance of the ghost of his father's hero, the baseball legend Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta). 

Bemused yet intrigued by the heavenly intervention, Ray risks his livelihood installing the pitch, and finds an unlikely, and unwilling, partner to help explain the reasons he is doing so: burned-out radical author Terence Mann (James Earl Jones).

The majority of these films are well known - but if you've not seen it and don't find subtitles, check out Cinema Paradiso - it's a masterpiece!

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