This is NOT an analysis of a song, merely personal observations about a song that I love. Enjoy. Ian "The Scientist" by Coldplay From 2002's "A Rush Of Blood To The Head" album, "The Scientist" rang a chord with me only last year. I have a very special friend who has never given up on me, even after my being an idiot and I thought we might end up going our different ways as a consequence. She is always patient, and tolerant and is very genuine in her interest and generous with their time. We are very different people, with different interests and outlooks - but we get along so well, and laugh a lot. The Scientist was playing in the car and I heard the words. And I cried. "Nobody said it was easy Oh it's such a shame for us to part Nobody said it was easy No one ever said it would be so hard I'm going back to the start" We have always gone back to what first attracted us to each other, built on that and I think that our friendship has come out stronger as a result. "The Scientist"
as written by Guy Rupert Berryman, Jonathan Mark Buckland, William Champion and Christopher Anthony John Martin Tell me your secrets And ask me your questions Oh, let's go back to the start Running in circles Coming up tails Heads on a science apart Nobody said it was easy It's such a shame for us to part Nobody said it was easy No one ever said it would be this hard Oh, take me back to the start I was just guessing At numbers and figures Pulling the puzzles apart Questions of science Science and progress Do not speak as loud as my heart Tell me you love me Come back and haunt me Oh, and I rush to the start Running in circles Chasing our tails Coming back as we are Nobody said it was easy Oh, it's such a shame for us to part Nobody said it was easy No one ever said it would be so hard I'm going back to the start
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A comment in an email from my brother Terry in the States led to an unknown fact that in the not so distant past there was a hamlet on the banks of the River Thames called Ratcliff. Terry had seen the 1967 film "To Sir, With Love" with Sydney Poitier and had noted some of the street names shown which were in London's now developed docks in the East End and was steered to several blogs about the "Lost Hamlet of Ratcliff". Now I think this is quite interesting story... Until the hamlet's demise at the hands of planners, developers and the Luftwaffe, "for three hundred and fifty years it linked the thriving mercantile capital to imperial ports and global trade routes around the world". "During the 19th century, Ratcliff built a new reputation as the home of everything Victorian London loved to hate. There was no shortage of writers, particularly during the eighteen-fifties and sixties, who could barely contain their glee at the exotic excitements so conveniently close to home." "War-time destruction led to major redevelopment, resulting in new-build council estates and roads on a scale unsuited to a residential area. However, although Ratcliff was no longer commercially significant and had become physically fragmented, its reputation lingered past World War II. Ian Nairn, writing in 1966, reflected a familiar image of Ratcliff – “ ‘Cable St, the whore’s retreat’: a shameful blot on the moral landscape of London: an outworn slum area …all that is left of lurid Dockland. Its crime is not that it contains vice but that it is unashamed and exuberant about it.”" The above quotes are from Tom Bolton's 2015 article on Spitalfields.com, "The Lost Hamlet of Ratcliff" <link to the Tom Bolton article here> Apparently, there was also the forgotten Great Fire - "said to be the biggest conflagration that London saw between 1666 and the Blitz" at Ratcliff which burned for 4 days from July 23rd 1794. <Click here to see Greg Roberts' Ratcliff Fire blog> My favourite article, however, is by Godfrey Dykes. This one is full of great bitter commentary. The growth of the population is remarkable: 17th century - 3,500 1801 - 5,000 1861 - 17,000 This of course, coincided with Ratcliff's entering it's most notorious period - "Broad Street, now the east end of The Highway, became a terrible slum. Ratcliff became renowned for drunkenness, vice, opium dens and poverty. The authorities demanded that something be done." "Like Chinatown, in neighbouring Limehouse, Ratcliff was planned out of existence. The building of the Commercial Road, and of the London and Blackwall Railway demanded massive demolition; the digging of the Rotherhithe Tunnel did the rest." "As the 20th century rolled on, the laying out of the King Edward VII Memorial Park, the damage wreaked by the Luftwaffe’s bombs, and the ongoing programme of slum clearance just about finished off Ratcliff for good. As its warehouses fell into decline, they were not allowed to stand, like those in neighbouring Wapping and Limehouse, but were cleared in the name of improvement. Today, of course, those derelict warehouses have been renovated into smart new homes, while the majority of Ratcliff lies buried beneath the roads, railways and tunnel diggings of the riverside." The above quotes are from Godfrey Dykes article, the full text of which can be seen at this link: <http://godfreydykes.info/The%20lost%20village%20of%20Ratcliff.htm > There are a selection of images of the area on this blog page: <https://ratcliffhighway.wordpress.com/> I leave you with the last couple of sentences from the Godfrey Dykes article:
"As the 20th century rolled on, the laying out of the King Edward VII Memorial Park, the damage wreaked by the Luftwaffe’s bombs, and the ongoing programme of slum clearance just about finished off Ratcliff for good. As its warehouses fell into decline, they were not allowed to stand, like those in neighbouring Wapping and Limehouse, but were cleared in the name of improvement. Today, of course, those derelict warehouses have been renovated into smart new homes, while the majority of Ratcliff lies buried beneath the roads, railways and tunnel diggings of the riverside. The only reminder is Free Trade Wharf, which you approach from The Highway – once the Ratcliff Highway – via a huge gateway, bearing lions and the coat of arms of the East India Company. When you pass through the gate, originally built for the bustling area in 1796, you can reflect that you are walking on what was once one of the most infamous quarters of London – but now disappeared and almost forgotten." 1/9/2017 0 Comments There goes the Summer... ?
Hey there, Dear Reader - it is that time again.
I really don't know where the time disappears to, but it is update time again. For reasons not understood by me, I have been tired for a lot of the past few weeks. It could be the fact that it has been warm. I think that I have been sleeping OK, it hasn't been too hectic, and there really has been very little work around at the office - so to quote the King of Siam, "It is a puzzlement". So, Pop Pickers - Here We Go !
My dearest friend had a birthday on 11 August, so on the following day we went up to the Smoke. From Victoria, we went on a 38 bus to Green Park and strolled around Buckingham Palace, St James' Park where we enjoyed a picnic. We then took a 24 bus tom Leicester Square and ambled through Covent Garden.
We saw the matinee of Mamma Mia! at the Novello Theatre on the Aldwych. I loved the music, I love the film and I love the stage show - it was a blast!
After the show, we walked back to Shaftesbury Avenue and had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe - it was enjoyable, but they have reduced the menu so choice was not as it has been at past visits.
It was a lovely day with good company. Birthday Cake eating waited until the following day. <more photos here>
We had another great weekend on the 19/20 August.
Layla, my friend's daughter reached the grand old age of 8, so a garden party with a Trolls movie theme was held on Saturday. Nan, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and me all descended on Reigate for the celebration. The next day was actually Layla's birthday, so a special Big Day Out on the Isle of Wight was planned. An early start, down to Portmouth for the 09:00 ferry to Fishbourne. It was another brilliant, but long day ! <Photos here>
Bank Holiday Monday - 28 August - was a very hot and sunny one here in the South East. It was the second day of the Edenbridge and Oxted Show.
I loved it and we had had the bonus of VIP access. <more photos here>
Just 5 years and 1 month left on the mortgage, so it is fixing / extend / remortgage time - all of which, to be frank, leave me a little cold. My mortgage advisor told me that there should not be anything to worry about, so I should contact the building society direct. I arranged the meeting, during which I was told that I would not be able to borrow any more on the mortgage. This surprised me as my current outstanding plus the few thousand extra that I asked for would mean that I owed approximately £40,000. They told me that the property was worth about £272,000. I cannot see where the risk to the lender is, after all if I default they have a charge over the property. But , what really got to me was not that they said that they could not lend me any more for the five years left on the mortgage. What rankled me was that, having said "No", they offered me a personal loan over the same term (5 years) , but at a higher rate of interest. Seems a little skewed to me ! I am not paying that, so I got back onto the Mortgage Advisor who looked and managed to arrange the deal I wanted in 3 hours.
The transfer deadline window has not been kind to the Arsenal. Mr.Wenger needs to get things moving or sorted by the end.
I was alarmed to read that about 17 players are going to be out of contract during 2018. Not good reading for a fan.
I was opening some post at the office the other day and noticed a blaze of colour on the envelope. I had forgotten just how many colours the British Definitive Stamps came in, but the sender was obviously using up whatever ones they still had.
Boring note - the crossing out in felt tip or pen is how the Royal Mail cancel the used stamps these days. it seems that the tidy round franking stamp is sadly thing of the past. Any way, on that bombshell I wish you farewell until next time and ask that you take care and be careful. Pip pip !! "Days" by The Kinks This is NOT an analysis of a song, merely personal observations about a song that I love. Enjoy. Just a plain lovely song by the genius that is Ray Davies from 1968. Gentle rhythm, understated vocal a real thing of beauty. It's message is poignant. Thank you for the time we have and spend together. It is limited and finite but thank you. Treasure it. Wonderfully, I don't think that it drops into melancholy. Let's celebrate and remember the love we have made when we were together. Even when you are gone. I think the uber-wise John Lennon once said that you never die while people still talk and remember you. "And though you're gone, You're with me every single day, believe me." Fast forward to 1989 and the beautiful version by Kirsty MacColl. Ray Davies was told at one of his own gigs that it was good that and "old time" artist was happy to play a new song like Kirsty MacColl's "Days". "Yes", he said, "it is a pretty cool song." I saw Ray Davies at the Hop farm Festival in 2014. Sadly, he lost his sister only a couple of days before.He played two songs and dedicated them to her - "Come Dancing" which is about her trips to the local palais to dances, and "Days". I cried. "Thank you for the days, Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me. I'm thinking of the days, I won't forget a single day, believe me" "Days I'll remember all my life, Days when you can't see wrong from right. You took my life, But then I knew that very soon you'd leave me, But it's all right, Now I'm not frightened of this world, believe me." "And though you're gone, You're with me every single day, believe me." "Days"
Songwriter: RAYMOND DOUGLAS DAVIES © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc Thank you for the days, Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me. I'm thinking of the days, I won't forget a single day, believe me. I bless the light, I bless the light that lights on you believe me. And though you're gone, You're with me every single day, believe me. Days I'll remember all my life, Days when you can't see wrong from right. You took my life, But then I knew that very soon you'd leave me, But it's all right, Now I'm not frightened of this world, believe me. I wish today could be tomorrow, The night is dark, It just brings sorrow anyway. Thank you for the days, Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me. I'm thinking of the days, I won't forget a single day, believe me. Days I'll remember all my life, Days when you can't see wrong from right. You took my life, But then I knew that very soon you'd leave me, But it's all right, Now I'm not frightened of this world, believe me. Days. Thank you for the days, Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me. I'm thinking of the days, I won't forget a single day, believe me. I bless the light, I bless the light that shines on you believe me. And though you're gone, You're with me every single day, believe me. Days. |
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