Halloween

As it’s Halloween, and a lot of my blogger chums will be celebrating I thought I’d post on the subject, if only to relieve the crap postings about my musings.

When I was a child Halloween was never a time of trick or treating, instead we had “Mischief Night”.

Basically the children ran around causing mischief, what it says on the tin in other words!

We were never too evil, and avoided causing old people undue problems.

One trick which sticks in my mind was the time when we took everyone’s gates off and left them in a large pile.

We had great fun the next morning, watching the adults trying to find their gates, to find a matching pair that fitted their drive!

The prevalence of trick to treating seems to grow steadily.

It was interesting to see while visiting the Lakes that some shops were refusing to sell eggs to children. So obviously chaos can even be caused in a relatively sleepy town.

Perhaps it’s all to do with the media portrayal of incidents

Room for a Review

Shit, I can’t believe that WordPress has just eaten my post.

On reflection perhaps it’s best. I’d written about the history of my relationship with Mrs Zilla, all the ups and downs.

In reality the detail isn’t important, it doesn’t add to what I was trying to convey.

I wan’t trying to imply yesterday that it was all Mrs Zilla’s fault, in fact I feel I am more to blame than her.

Recent events and visits to other blogs, have made me reflect on my relationship.

I guess ultimately that no relationship is ever perfect, it involves two individuals after all.

I am not contemplating leaving or changing things dramatically, nothing as major as that.

I just didn’t envisage myself in the situation I am now.

There are things that I’d like to change, and I owe it to myself and others around me to try and make them happen.

I’m not sure this post makes any more sense than yesterdays, so perhaps I should just leave it as this.

A Vroom With a Rue

Not an Ivory Merchant work, but my time away summed up.

It was great to get away, leave work problems and indeed, the whole of Manchester behind.

It struck me at the weekend, that I have now lived in Manchester for half of my life.

Strangely going back to the Lakes still feels like home. All my childhood memories are tied up there, more so beacuse my mother still lives in the same house.

The pace of life up there is far more relaxed, and I always feel more able to draw breath and view things more clearly.

I guess it’s just the ability to get perspective on a different situation by removing yourself from it, if only in a physical sense.

While we were away it was the 11th anniversary of my first date with the now Mrs Zilla.

While we were out for a meal I reflected slightly on how we have changed in those years.

When I first got together with Mrs Zilla, children were never on my radar, and yet, now, with three, I couldn’t imagine life without them.

Well obviously I can imagine, but it seems like an alternative dimension that wouldn’t be as rewarding.

If I’m brutally honest, (and if I can’t be that here, where can I be?) without the children I don’t think I would still be with Mrs Zilla.

Not because I don’t like her, or we don’t get on. I just feel that she’s lost some of her spark since having the children and giving up her job.

She no longer reads books, her openmindedness seems to have shrunk. She enjoys the children and watching crappy tv programmes and that seems to be it.

So perhaps without the children, she would still have that spark? So, I may be wrong in that assumption that without the children I wouldn’t be with Mrs Zilla.

Maybe I was questioning things too much and judging too harshly…..

More to come about our time away, in the meantime I need to catch up with my favourite blogs.

Two posts in one day

no, your eyes are not deceiving you.

This is more of a “I’m off for a couple of days” post, which I didn’t want to mix in with the musical memory lane post.

So please don’t expect anything fun (not that you ever should expect that!) till next week.

A quick word of thanks to Mini and Lily who answered my plea for picture help.

The post below demonstrates my new found skills!

Musical Memory Lane

Another album from the Godzilla CD collection revisited, this time from 1994. A mere (!) 12 years ago, but from what seems like another life time to me. 

Portishead – Dummy 

At that time I was young, with lots of disposable income, well, more than I have right now. 

One of my major indulgences was CD buying. At the time I was working alongside another young buck, who also spent far too much on CDs. 

We would endeavour to cover all different bases of musical taste, buying things that we’d heard were good, swapping them and then honing our collections accordingly. 

I remember, it was him who bought “Dummy” first. When it was fresh out, before the hype gathered around Portishead. 

They were linked in with the whole Trip Hop genre of that time, although I think that was more to with Portishead (the place the band were named after) being close to Bristol, and Massive Attack. 

When I think of Trip Hop records, Portishead are certainly not one of the first names in my head.

Their sound was pretty unique as far as I’m concerned. 

It was more like a soundtrack, not a conventional album. All the tracks are moody and evocative, with Beth Gibbons voice haunting, a bit like Liz Fraser’s, but far more accessible than anything the Cocteau Twins ever did. 

Indeed as I recall they actually filmed a spy thriller type promo, if memory serves me right, called “To Kill a Dead Man”. 

Including a sample of Lalo Schifrin’s “The Danube Incident” only served to highlight this further. The other samples on this album, from Isaac Hayes and Johnnie Ray, to me at least, distance them from the Trip Hop genre. 

Enough of the semantics, let’s get back to the nitty gritty. 

For me, this record evokes a certain time in my life. I was single when I first got this record, but it wasn’t until I got together with the now Mrs Zilla, that this album came to life for me. 

It was the perfect laid back album for those post coital cuddles. You know the moments I mean. The ones where you’re entwined in someone’s arms, and it feels so good. Time loses meaning and you have songs in the background that suit that laid back, post laid mood. 

Such is the power of this album on a personal level that, Mrs Zilla, passing the room I was in, came in and said, “I’ve not heard this in ages. Do you remember those nights in that house on Beech Road.?”  

That’s how good an album this is for me. 

I may have to leave it lying round the bedroom….. 

If in doubt beg for help

I seem to be bereft of post ideas.

As usual a cornucopia of ideas occur to me while going through the humdrum of life, yet I sit down, press “Write New Post” and everything withers away. Well not quite everything, the weather isn’t that cold yet.

So in a time of need I’m going to ask for help.

While I’m loving the reliability of WordPress, I’m finding the day to day stuff, a tad more tricky than I used to on Blogger.

A case in point is my ability to post pictures, as evidenced by my posts below.

Why do my picture efforts come out looking like they’ve been pixellated on some dodgy reality cop show?

Can someone, anyone, explain to an idiot like me, how to get better results from pictures?

It must be Monday

Another weekend sweeps by, and I find myself back at my desk.

Still, this is a short one, I’m off later this week, so another trip to the Lakes beckons.

My weekend was fairly shocking in terms of quality time. I felt below par for most of it, and yet I seemed to spend my whole weekend doing laundry.

Mrs Zilla seems to have this knack of washing the Godzookies’ and her clothes, yet mine seem to linger in the washing basket.

It’s not as if I leave them strewn all over the house, they are placed where they should be, yet lie there, neglected. 

I seem to be the only person capable of ironing too. At least with ironing I get to listen to some music, I guess.

Anyway, before this turns into a rant about domestic chores (which I could seriously do) I also spent some time this weekend investigating my current quandry.

Regular visitors will know that I asked advice on buying an MP3 player recently.

Following exhaustive research and consideration on my part I may have reached a conclusion and a decision.

Everyone seemed to rave about ipods. Having considered my needs – roughly 40 minutes each day, a huge 80gb ipod seemed unnecessary.

I read lots of scare stories about screen getting scratched etc etc. Then I realised that I’m not going to sit on the tram flicking through pages of options.

I want something easy to use, I don’t need lots of gimmicks or colour screens.

Thankfully Apple have just released a new ipod shuffle. It comes with 1gb memory ( about 240 songs) and is made as a clip.

So it will clip to my clothes and only weighs 15g, and is just 4.5 cm long!

                                  

There is no screen, and it plays (unsurprisingly)  on a random, shuffle basis.

My my reckoning this ticks all the boxes I require. Small, no frills, with enough memory to load my favourite songs, which will be played on a random basis to me.

The added bonus, is that it only costs £55.00.

I’m still looking for the catch!

…and breathe

I am looking forward to the weekend.

There is nothing that we have to do, so no pressures to be anywhere at any particular time.

I feel tired and drained. So a nice recharge of the batteries is going to be welcome.

Godzooky 1 breaks up for half term today. So there is much excitement, with lots of fun planned for the day.

School photos are also being done, and we’ve gone for the option of having a group photo, with all the Godzookies on.

So I’ve got the proof of that to look forward to when I get home.

I don’t envy any photographer trying to get sincere smiles from all three of them in one frame!

I’m not sure if it’s the time of year, with darker mornings and evenings. Or if it’s the fact that I feel run down.

But I feel like something is missing, or not quite right.

I can’t put my finger on what it is, but something just isn’t sitting right.

Hmmm, maybe it’s the early onset of a midlife crisis? 

Friday Flash Fiction

It’s Friday, so get a character, and a plot, write a short story using 55 words and tell Susie that you’ve played.

 

 

                               

 

 

The daffodils nod slowly in the breeze, affirming his suspicions.

The world whirls by, turning relentlessly, no time for anyone but themselves.

A pitying glance is thrown his way, eye contact avoided.

Stirring himself, he knows the priority, his goal.

 He must try and find a bed for the night, before the hostels are full

Don’t pity me

The nasty head cold has enveloped me in it’s mucous grip.

 My head feels like it’s full of that expanding foam stuff, yes there are plenty of gaps to be filled!

I’m playing the martyr today, still coming to work and carrying on as normal. Hopefully Mrs Zilla will follow my lead, and stop moaning about what is just a cold.

The worst thing about it is my need to pee last night. I played football and so to rehydrate, drank lots of water, probably about 6 pints over the course of the evening.

Normally a visit before bed time would suffice, but last night I had to get up at least four or five times. I’m blaming the cold, but I did get a horrible insight into what it’s going to be like when I get older!

Sorry, too much information there probably.

Can I blame the cold for my childish giggling last night too?

I was watching part of a programme about Britain’s oldest drivers. They were mainly in their 90s apparently.

What made me giggle like a schoolboy though was one elderly posh lady. She was about to go out for a drive, but couldn’t locate her walking stick.

The simple phrase of her saying “Where the fack (pronounced that posh way) is my stick?” had me in fits of giggles. Mrs Zilla therefore thinks I am childish.

I just find posh, old ladies swearing funny.

I may be beyond help