Blood Swept Lands

This Christmas both my wife and I agreed we weren't buying for each other and drastically cut back generally all round due to the fact we've spent everything on the new home.

But one present we had agreed on some time back was to buy a poppy each from the art installation 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red', held at the Tower of London, by artist, Paul Cummins, who produced (with the help of an small army of modellers) 888,246 individually hand-made ceramic poppies, of which no two are the same.

Tagged

As I sit at the pc on my own, with no one but two extremely sleepy cats for company, I feel the strange weight of a recent acquisition around the top of my left calf. It is my new 3 hour buddy and companion: the orthofix... dun-dun-duuuuuh!

My left leg and its new companion, the Orthofix, at the start of another 3 hour session.

After a visit with the surgeon it transpires that I have what is commonly know (to them) as a 'delayed-union'; this is where a bone fracture begins to heal but then slows or stops altogether, leaving the healing process at a greatly reduced rate or a complete stop.

Today's Song

 MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL - hope you all are having, or had, a wonderful time :)

At home after eating the usual Christams lunch and feeling slightly worse for doing so - yes, I know, moderation is the key.

So Christmas day now begins its slide into evening, and crap is on television, as usual, so I've decided to post this delightful little ditty that's doing the rounds. Kudos to this young lass, Viktoria Modesta, on many levels. Loving this whole vibe she has going on. Good luck to her - 2015 will surely be all the more interesting (music-wise) with her being around.

If Only...

I'm sure many, if not all, of us have had those 'if only...' moments in our lives when looking at beautiful images of far away places that we'll (most likely) never get to visit in person.

In my email box this morning was something from Stumbleupon containing a variety of 'stumbles' that are deemed fitting for my interest catagories. And they were not wrong. I'm a sucker, and always have been, for gorgeous photos of landscapes, so from this stumble I've selected a few that I (personally) deem to be the best, but more importantly, fall into that group of places that I'd love to visit 'if only...' I had the money. Which, to be honest, is most likely the class the majority of us fall into.

So, in no particular order, here they are ( credit is given to the photographers when the information was made available, otherwise I claim no rights over any of the following pictures, which remain the property of their respective owners ):

Monkey Magic

Just browsing the web and I came across this snippet of a 'story' regarding the young lady in the photo on holiday and attempting to take a selfie with a local monkey. Apparently the monkey didn't approve.

Copyright ThatGuy1331/Imgur/Reddit

Later, when interviewed, the monkey, whom we now know to be called Cecil, said this, "I was just relaxing, enjoying the shade and scratching my butt, when this bimbo shoves her face next to me for a selfie!" He went on to explain the reason for his reaction, "Being a celebrity you accept recognition and adoring fans, but come on, even celebs deserve a day off. I mean, she didn't even ask permission! My agent will have a bf [bitch fit] when she hears about this!"

The woman in question was unavailable for comment. She was last reported seen running towards her hotel six miles away.


The look on the young woman's face says it all. I couldn't help but burst out laughing when I saw this. So I thought I'd share it with you lovely people, especially the animal lovers amongst you.

Personally I'm on the monkey's side - I hate having my picture taken. Part of me would like to imagine it shouting, "Get the f**k outta here!" And how ironic is the statue pose upon which the monkey is sitting. Synchronicity at its best :)

Today's Song

Oncemore, YouTube has revelaed yet another amazing group of musical artistes in the form of an A capella ensemble calling themselves ' Pentatonix ' - the link takes you to their official website.

Consisting of four male singers and one female, their vocal range and skills cover every conceivable instrument and rhythem you could imagine. They cover a plethora of songs ranging from the festive carols (Silent Night being a beautiful example) to well known and popular tunes from the likes of Daftpunk ( a medley of their hits), Gotye (Somebody I Used to Know (my personal favourite)) and Pharrell's ' Happy ', and the brilliantly beautiful ' Run to You ' (not the rock song of the same name) to name but a few.

So here is the Daftpunk compilation from Pentatonix to give you a taster. You'll find them on YouTube, Facebook and all the usual social media outlets. Enjoy.

Question Time

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Web browsers. Love them or hate them, we need them (unfortunately). They are described as being an essential tool to our internet habits, and I suppose I can't much disagree, though I wish I could.

So here is my question: which browser is the best to use?

I've used Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari, and Opera. Personally I enjoyed using Opera, once you got used to its UI (user interface), but I had to change as blogger kept stating my browser was not supported and I needed to change to one that was - enter Google Chrome once more... grrr!

Google Chrome boasts to be one of the fastest. And it is. For the first 24 hours, then it starts slowing down, and down, and down. It was the reason why I dumped it last time.

(Edit) I used Firefox in the past and found it to be very good, but security (at the time) was questionable, which led me to look elsewhere.

Internet Explorer has its quirks and eventually begins to feel 'buggy'. Safari, well, it's ok on the Mac, but doesn't translate well (to my mind) for the PC.

Is there ANY browser out there that actually works properly?

EDIT: here is a link to a 'Top Ten' review of web browsers - How could I have forgotten Firefox! It's very informative, so hopefully some of you might also find it helpful.

"Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!"

Evolution of a Blog

Evolution, it would appear, is the natural progression of life. If it doesn't evolve it dies out due to mother nature's natural selection process. Only the strong survive. Adaptability on all levels being paramount combined with the use of tools to aid in the quest for resources has ensured the proliferation of many, many species.

The blog is no exception to these rules.

I say this as I have come to notice a change in my blogging habits, as may have some of you. Initially it was anecdotal and advisory regarding the subject of role playing games. Then it crawled out of the water and took its first shuddering breaths on the dry land that is home to the beast known as the 'writer'.

Short fiction, five sentence fiction, longer fiction and poems became the dominant beast, striding fearlessly across a new, lush vista and unexplored land. Dotted along the way, snuggled amongst the dark shadows and crevices of rocks, and the leafy gloom of wild vegetation, smaller thoughts and inklings developed, watching the passage of words as they strode about, unchallenged, fighting between themselves for domination.

Small glittery eyes, sparked with a cunning and intellect waited patiently, knowing something was coming. A change. A new direction and focus. A moment.

A darkness swept over the landscape of words, followed by a void. But safe in their dark sanctuary the smaller thoughts huddled and waited.

Time passed and calmness replaced the void. Light bathed the land with warmth and hope. It was time to step out from the shadows. Time to claim their moment. Smaller thoughts regarded each other with curious fascination. A new path beckoned. Inklings search for the content. Smaller thoughts grew into ideas and cooperated with the inklings, finding material for their evolution. Out of this genesis of smaller thoughts, inklings and ideas the evolution of the blog was born.

What it is, I have no clue? But what I do know is that this creature I breathed life into on 4th May 2011 is a far different creature. More lithe and supple. Reaching beyond the original parameters of its inception, and hopefully extending its longevity far into the future yet to come.

On that thought, has your blog-creature morphed and evolved in a way (or ways) that you had originally unintended? I'd be interested to hear.

Chillin' Out Ambient

Regular, and semi-regular visitors to my blog should know me well enough by now and my 'tastes' in music and if I ever find something I feel is worthy of a sharing moment, then here it'll be.

Just returned from my physio session and sitting at the pc chilling out to random music via the mighty wonder that is YouTube, and lo! Here be a wonderful ambient track by a couple of collaborators know as Miyuki & Jan Amit (the latter is one artist I was searching for when finding this).



The following link takes you to Jan Amit's stream on Soundcloud - a young and talented musical artist I think you'll agree. So, with less babble from me, and straight to the track, entitled, ' Sublime Moments '. Pin back your lug holes and prepare to be chilled. And if this doesn't do it, take a valium-thingy.




And here, for the ambient purists amongst you out there, here is the original track from Jan Amit that brought me to his musical talent.
An pure ambient track entitled, ' Around '. I'd be interested to read your thoughts on both tracks and whether or not you like them, or if it has turned you onto the ambient path? Enjoy.

Compilation Album Review - 'Fade to Black'

During my current recovery I've been listening to a lot of music, and having exhausted my iTunes library I decided to browse through Apple's online store to see if there were any bargains to be had.

To my delight I found this album: Fade to Black - a brilliant compilation of 23 themes taken from the very best of Nordic noir, US crime series, and thrillers such as Breaking Bad, The Killing, The Wire and Peaky Blinders. The link will take you to the UK Amazon site where you can see and listen to the complete track listing.

It features the musical talents of Mogwai, Massive Attack, Placebo, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, to name but a few. In all honesty, there are artists I'd never even heard of, let alone knowingly listened to their music, but in reading the content list I realise that many have been part of my subconscious listening due to the fact I've watched several (or more) of the listed series.

If any reading this are a fan of the music from the film, 'Inception', then you'll feel right at home as several of the tracks follow that pulsing, throbbing bass line dosed with malign intent.

This has been my 'go to' album during my redecorating of the downstairs rooms, and one of my favourite tracks is 'Pause' by Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo, so I've included it here for your listening pleasure. Enjoy.