Thoughts On Davy Jones–in which I make no apology for getting sentimental.

 

It’s been just over a week since Davy Jones passed away, and it still feels slightly unreal.

My Monkees fandom predates my Beatles fandom. Saturdays and school holidays were spent watching the antics of these four whacky musicians on the their TV show and singing along to the songs. Even when I moved on to other music they lurked in the background and when I first got online in the 90s I sought out information on the Monkees and found this amazing community of fans who not only welcomed me as a fan but also taught me the etiquette of the internet back in those days. (It’s all changed now and sadly not always for the better.)

Over time I gradually moved away from fandoms en masse. Experience jaded me somewhat and as I retreated the collateral damage was moving away from the Monkees list and losing touch with some of the people there. It has taken losing a Monkee to seek out and rekindle those relationships via social media.

It seems alien for there not to be a full set of Monkees out there. The loss hits home at random moments, and I remember Davy’s not here any more. I still go through something similar with the loss of George Harrison. That may have been over ten years ago now but when events come along that he used to attend to almost expect to see him there, and have to remind yourself he’s not on this earthly plane any longer.

The empty feeling will linger, but already happier thoughts are diminishing the sadness. My lovely “cyber family” grew from Monkee fandom and they have been a constant source of love, understanding and support. The music is meant for pleasure, not sadness and therefore will always make me smile. I took a step back from the music for a short time as I made the mistake of thinking it was attached to what turned out to be a very negative time for me, but I was wrong to do that. There’s nothing negative there, just good clean fun! (See what I did there?)

So after some tears it is time to practice what I preach to others all the time – don’t dwell on the loss, celebrate the life and all that that life brought to the world.

Here’s to the Lancashire Midget Greenie!

Sunday walks.

We had a couple of trips out today, including a trip to Worsley Village to see the ducks on the Bridgewater Canal. The canal was frozen in places and the ducks were finding it a tad slippery!



Took some photos too.
The Set from Worsley is here - http://flic.kr/s/aHsjyFGk5V
And as the fog rolled in we also nipped off to Moses Gate Country Park - those photos are here - http://flic.kr/s/aHsjyFWEJa

February, really?

Well, so much for blogging more this year! Haha!

Actually I've been either been working or sleeping. It's been so cold that when I've not needed to be awake for work I've rolled up into the duvet and slept the chilly nights away.

I have some time off coming up, a chance to catch up with myself and recuperate properly. I've ducked out of a couple of gigs already because I'm just too tired all the time. So my "outings" for 2012 shall begin later this month now with a trip to see Barry Cryer.

Although I have nothing planned for this break, I have really been looking forward to it. I'm hoping to get a lot of reading done, although I'm already reading more again having finally replaced my kindle. Currently reading a book about Yes but have a lot of more serious, studious books on standby for reading next.

I'd better get back to work.

Stargazing

 

The BBC is running it’s live Stargazing show again this year. It started yesterday and finishes tomorrow. I quite like the fact that it will encourage people to look up at the night sky and hopefully marvel at how awesome the universe is.

I’m lucky enough to live in an area where the back gardens are shielded from most of the street lighting, and on a clear night, once all the motion sensitive security lights go out there’s a fine view of the night sky.

To this end I spent Friday and Saturday night in the frosty night air armed with my camera and tripod to try out the “starry sky” setting on my Lumix FZ45.

Clicking through for the larger images is recommended

The plough.

Orion

Last night we went on a BBC Stargazing event on the Mersey Ferry the Royal Daffodil. This involved an hour an half trip on the River Mersey. On board was a number of astronomers from JMU to answer any questions while we free to wander around looking at the sky. One of the drawbacks to stargazing from a boat in the middle of a river at night is that is has to be illuminated for safety so there’s was probably more light pollution out there than there is in my suburban back garden. However it was a great experience and I did get a rather snazzy photo or two of the Liverpool Waterfront.

Good bye 2011.

What can I say about this year? Well there's been a lot less "bat-sh*t crazy" stuff going than 2010, thank goodness!

I've enjoyed the year mostly. Sure there's been some downs but in general things have plodded along and occasionally been awesome. I suppose you really can't ask for more than that.

I feel like I've been under the weather a lot since the summer, but maybe I'm on the up finally. I could do with more time out for myself so will strive to achieve that next year. I may even disappear somewhere on my own for a few days. Now that would be a huge leap!

I was disappointed I gave up on the photo-a-day project so I may give it another go. I've signed up to blipfoto which will help keep photos in order for me if I do it. The page is here http://www.blipfoto.com/mysgreen

I'll be whittering about 2011 musical exploits on www.sisterblueird.co.uk before year end. And there's already plenty on the agenda for 2012.

Here's to the New Year!