What better way to start this Christmas day than listen to this wonderful rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” sung by 10 year old autistic student Kaylee Rodgers and the Killard House School choir from Donaghadee, Northern Ireland.
Methinks Leonard Cohen might be shedding a tear. Merry Christmas and a prosperous, healthy New Year to you all. Hey Ho!
Our arrival here in Tenerife coincided with the arrival of my Winter Fuel payment into my bank account. I mentioned this fact in conversation with the Welsh Bard, joking that the 116 pints of Alhambra Especial that my £100 allowance would finance should be sufficient liquid fuel to keep me going over the Canarian winter. True to form he came up with his version of Good King Wenceslas:
Chris and Janice, in the sun,
By the wide Atlantic;
Though it seems they’re having fun,
Both are really frantic!
What’s the problem? Flipping ‘eck,
Life can be so croo-el
They have not received the cheque
For their winter foo-oo-el!
Both the Baltzers, feeling hot,
Out in Gran Canaria;
Chris begins to lose the plot,
Life is getting hairier!
How on earth will they survive
With no winter money?
Suddenly the cheques arrive…
Christmas will be sunny!
Sadly since my last blog entry more greats of the music industry have passed on: Greg Lake aged 69
Leon Russell aged 74
Leonard Cohen aged 82
and last but not least the legendary blues and jazz pianist Mose Allison aged 89.
Many great musicians were influenced by Mose Allison including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello, Ben Sidran, Van Morrison and of course Georgie Fame. His musical style and performance is best summed up by Ray Davies:
"When I discovered Mose Allison I felt I had discovered the missing link between jazz and blues" and Georgie Fame: "I fell in love with Mose’s music the first time I heard it. It was just what I needed to hear: the warmth of the voice, the style, the individuality. He melted my heart with the sound of his voice." And that was exactly how I felt when I first him sing. I bought one of my favourite albums of
all time, V8 Ford Blues, when it first came out in 1966 and played it every day
for years and as soon as it was released on CD I bought it again and still play it today.
Here’s a track from that wonderful album:
RIP Mose, a truly great singer and
musician.
Incidentally you may be wondering why I am indoors on
my PC writing a blog when I am in sunnier climes?
The truth is it’s been lashing down with rain and blowing a gale all morning!
It’s over 2 months since I last put fingers to keyboard while
in the Algarve.
Following our return we had 5 weeks to close down the caravan
in Selsey, clear the allotment ready for next spring and prepare ourselves for a
winter in Tenerife.
The end of October was also a hectic time for “Great British”
events.
Firstly “the Irish Gay Cake row”, followed by the final episode of “the
Great British Bake-off” and then the build up to yet another “Celebrities
Getting Paid Loads of Money for Eating Nasty Things” debacle.
Also late October saw the deaths of four men from differing
sectors of the entertainment business.
Pete Burns, 57,
the TV presenter, singer/songwriter and founder member of the band “Dead or Alive”.
Jimmy Perry OBE, 93, the creator of “Dad's Army”, based on his
experiences in the Home Guard during World War II, and co-writer of “It Ain't
Half Hot Mum”, “Hi-de-Hi!” and “You Rang, M'Lord?”.
Phil Chess, 95, Polish-born American record producer who
together with his brother founded Chess Records and were responsible for countless
hits by recording artists such as Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, "Sonny Boy
Williamson, Etta James, Willie Dixon, Howlin Wolf and most famously Chuck
Berry.
Bobby Vee, 73,
American pop star who shot to fame following the plane crash that killed Buddy
Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens en route to a concert at Vee’s home
town of Moorhead, Minnesota. Vee, aged 15, volunteered to fill in for Buddy
Holly with a hastily assembled group he called the Shadows and became an
overnight success.
As you know by now I didn’t get where I am today by writing
odes, I rely on the more eloquent and proficient skills of the Welsh Bard, but
these series of events motivated me to come up with this:
The
Gay Irish Bake-off appeals
Were
met with cries of derision
Whatever
your creed or ideals
It
smells like a real bum decision.
The
Great British Bake-off’s concluding
As
Paul takes the money and runs
Leaving
Mary alone and exuding
From
her wet soggy bottom and buns.
The
jungle in Calais is steaming
Ant
and Dec are camped out on the pier
From
Maplins the campers are screaming
“I’m
a refugee, get me outa here”.
Pete
Burns has stopped prevaricating
Jimmy
Perry has “Put out the light”
And
Phil Chess will soon be producing
Bobby
Vee midst the eyes of the night.
Just over two weeks ago we joined the Great British OAP migration
trail to the Canary Islands.
We are staying in Amarilla Golf, Golf del Sur, Tenerife under
the watchful eye of Mount Teide and overlooking Amarilla Golf course and Marina san Miguel.
This is the 4th year running that we have visited here
and each time it has been for a longer stay. This time we have rented an
apartment until the beginning of April 2017 having decided to spend Christmas
and New Year away from home.
The climate here is wonderfully warm, very rarely too hot
because of the Canarian breeze but suffice to say, even at night, the long
trousers are only worn for the flight and special occasions.
At this time of the year the weather can be unpredictable and
change so quickly – you can wake up to blue skies and by early afternoon the clouds
have descended on you from the mountains. Likewise a dark and cloudy start can
disappear in an instant leaving blue skies and sunshine.
What you can be sure of is that sometime during the day it will be sunny. I'll leave you with this irreverent take on the "Great British" event: WARNING: Do not watch if you are easily offended!
