@52Blogs - Week 8 - Valentines

“Valentine”

I love.

I love everyday.

Whilst I'm at it I make sure I declare my love everyday I need no card company to tell me I must declare it in the form of gift.

That's the history of Valentines day, it was "re-invented" by Hallmark in the early 1900's to increase sales, for me the day is simply a commercial bastardisation of something you should do every day with all your loved ones.

Whilst I'm not usually a big Country Music fan, I do subscribe to the words of Garth Brooks, in his beautiful song, If Tomorrow Never Comes.  "So I made a promise to myself, to say each day how much she means to me and avoid that circumstance, where there's no second chance to tell her how I feel" 

Here are the lyrics in full and a link to the song if you want to listen.

Sometimes late at night 

I lie awake and watch her sleeping 

She's lost in peaceful dreams 

So I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark 

And the thought crosses my mind 

If I never wake up in the morning 

Would she ever doubt the way I feel 

About her in my heart 

If tomorrow never comes 

Will she know how much I loved her 

Did I try in every way to show her every day 

That she's my only one 

And if my time on earth were through 

And she must face the world without me 

Is the love I gave her in the past 

Gonna be enough to last 

If tomorrow never comes 

'Cause I've lost loved ones in my life 

Who never knew how much I loved them 

Now I live with the regret 

That my true feelings for them never were revealed 

So I made a promise to myself 

To say each day how much she means to me 

And avoid that circumstance 

Where there's no second chance to tell her how I feel 

If tomorrow never comes 

Will she know how much I loved her 

Did I try in every way to show her every day 

That she's my only one 

And if my time on earth were through 

And she must face the world without me 

Is the love I gave her in the past 

Gonna be enough to last 

If tomorrow never comes 

So tell that someone that you love 

Just what you're thinking of 

If tomorrow never comes

http://www.veoh.com/watch/v252342NR4FnNQk

That is all

@52Blogs - Week 7 - Practice

Ok so I chose practice

Jacqui and I have been flat out recently in our efforts in keeping Muzz Buzz going whilst we are working hard at getting our Practice, Byford Legal, properly and fully off the ground.

What have I learned so far?

I need to practice patience
I need to practice good time management
I need to practice at being more supportive of Jacqui as she bares the bulk of the family weight
I need to practice being subordinate, I'm not the boss any more
I need to practice at better timeliness on my 52Blogs

Ill do better next week
That is all

@52Blogs - Week 6 - Books

“books”

This week we are asked

What do books mean to you? Do you have a particular relationship with books? A warm one? An antagonistic one? Are books merely printed words on a piece of paper? Or a screen? What is Steve McGarrett really on about when he says: “Book ‘em, Danno!”

Reading has been a foundation in my life, as a young boy I took to reading as fervently as a teenage boy leaps to a nipple.  I always hold precious the memory of sitting on my Dads lap reading to him the adventures of Dick and Dora and their little friends Nip and Fluff.  I remember devouring books and often reading books my sister was reading who was 2 years older than me.

I was introduced to Science Fiction when I discovering Isaac Asimov's Robot series which I loved and then followed up with the foundation series.   I enjoyed the "possibility" of Sci-Fi, how things could be and I have had a life long love for the genre which can be evidenced by my unhealthy obsession with Star Trek and Star Wars.  My Brother in law introduced me to Fantasy, the first book in this genre I read was the Magician, a book I have recommended to many folk since.  It is a terrific example of all that is good in Fantasy and if you liked the Magician you would love the rest.

I love epic series of books best, they are a significant investment in time and emotion and also allow you to immerse yourself into the world the author is creating.  Some of my most loved series are by the truly awesome, greats such as JRR Tolkien, Izaac Azimov, Raymond E Feist, George RR Martin, Philip K Dick, Frank Herbert David Eddings, Robin Hobb and Stephen Donaldson just to name a few.  If you haven't read their books stop what your doing and immediately begin to read them.

Books, they can be escapism, they can be educational, they can be provoking, they can be the basis of religious practice or the chronicale of our time.  But mostly they are simply important.

That's all I have to say about that

@52Blogs - Week 5 - Special

This weeks topic is Special, where we are asked

"What does ‘special’ mean to you? What do you find special about the people and things around you? What makes you special? Whatever happened to politically motivated ska revival band The Specials?"

I've chosen to answer these questions specifically lets see how it pans out.

What does special mean to you?

Special is a much abused word, it has become the go to word for sports commentators the right of passage word for wannabe hipsters and the abused word by most teenager.  For me it means something better than normal, something memorable, something moving, something inspiring or something awesome.  I think to qualify as being special it must stir my waters in some way.

What do you find special about the people and things around you?

I love people and I can find something special about everyone I meet, what I most am attracted to in people is a beautiful mind.  To define a beautiful mind is difficult and simple at the same time, to me its the ability to have an unbelievable understanding of things without smashing that ability in the faces of others.  Simply put I have information and I can decipher this problem however I am not going to belittle you whilst I share that with you.  If you can do that then your special.  

The other kind of special in people is the one where people who for no other reason than a strong sense of right, stand up for, fight for or defend another, whilst that other is being wronged.

What makes you special?

Not much, I'm lucky to be surrounded by awesome people, so I bask in there collective specialness all the while not possessing a skerrick of special of mine own.

Whatever happened to politically motivated ska revival band The Specials?

Im glad you asked.  Since the break-up in 1981, of the original line-up, they have reformed several times to tour and record in Specials-related projects. There has never been a complete reunion of the original line-up.

In the early 1990s, members of The Beat teamed up with members of The Specials to form Special Beat.  The band toured and released some live albums. In 1996, several members of The Specials reunited to record Today's Specials, a studio album mostly of reggae and ska covers.  This was followed in 1998 with an album of originals, Guilty 'til Proved Innocent!, featuring guest vocals by Tim Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen of Rancid. The band toured heavily in support of both releases. These albums were followed by Skinhead Girl in 2000 and Conquering Ruler in 2001. 

On 30 March 2008, Hall stated that The Specials would be reforming for tour dates in Autumn 2008, and possibly for some recording.  This was officially confirmed on 7 April 2008. In December 2008, the band had announced 2009 tour dates to celebrate their 30th anniversary. It was announced that founder member Jerry Dammers is not set to join the band on the tour. Hall was quoted as saying "The door remains open to him".  However Dammers described the new reunion as a "takeover" and claimed he has been forced out of the band.
The Specials performed at Hyde Park with Blur and New Order to celebrate the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.

In August 2012, The Specials released their brand new live album called More ... Or Less The Specials Live on CD and vinyl, featuring "the best of the best" performances from their 2011 European tour - selected by the band themselves.

On 10 January 2013 the Specials announced the departure of Neville Staple via the following message on their web site: "We are very sad Neville cannot join us on The Specials UK tour in May 2013 or indeed on the future projects we have planned. He has made a huge contribution to the fantastic time and reception we have received since we started and reformed in 2009 . However , he missed a number of key shows last year due to ill health & his health is obviously much more important . We wish him the very best for the future."

Anyhow y'all that is all