Flashmob days.....

I'm walking through Castle Gardens, a little park in the heart of the city.It's lunchtime, and as I make my way towards the banks of the River Soar, I can hear the distant sounds  of a song dragging me  screaming back to the eighties.

Turning a corner , I'm confronted by a thousand people in front of a stage.

Many are wearing blonde wigs....some of the men look like the tartiest transvestites around. Think Sean Bean in his latest television appearance.

There are cheerleaders with impossibly long ,fake tanned legs, in very short shorts.

 There are big butch security men ,

lots of students, and they're all dancing.

And here's more on stage with blond wigs.....these are the top bods at the university...

And there's more and more of them....

all lip synching and performing moves like the Mobot to Bonnie Tyler blasting  out...."Holding out for a hero". I hated that song back then and I haven't changed my mind all these years later.

But let's not be churlish. The wig wearers and hyperactive dancers are all there for a very good cause.It's a lip synching flashmob, all there to raise money for two exceptionally good causes -. LOROS, the wonderful hospice in Leicester where my mother in law died, and PROSTAID, which raises funds for research and treatment for men with prostate cancer.

The flashmob is the brainchild of the charismatic Dominic Shellard, who's Vice Chancellor of De Montfort University. He throws himself into his role with gusto.......

 

 

 

 

But it's not just a flashmob...there's a film being made with a back story and some sort of a plot....which involves my mate Jonathan Lampon from work, some Leicester Tigers players (well, hello...), Leicestershire cricketers  and Alan Birchenall, all round good egg, and local footballing leg end .


Why is Jonathan hiding...and not in the limelight for once?? Oh...it 's all part of the act...? Mind you,  with a blond wig like that, I'd be holding it and in hiding too....

 

 

 

The atmosphere is great... seeing so many people lip synching, dancing together ,and having such bloody fun on a Wednesday lunchtime and raising thousands of pounds for charity is heartwarming, life affirming. I can't wait to see the video ....

But after an hour of dear old Bonnie belting  out  from the speakers, just don't, and I repeat don't   .... sing, whistle, or even hum the tune to "Holding out for a hero "near me in the next few weeks. I may not be responsible for my actions.

Today's track is NOT a Bonnie Tyler one. Appropriate as it would be....I don't think so....

Instead...what about "Heroes" by the Wallflowers? I really like their version of the Bowie classic.....

 

dog days

I'm a patient sort of person in all areas of life..I'm prepared to wait for something special, and I'm never been one who wants instant gratification.

Just as well really, because I've been waiting for another dog for three years. It's three years since Molly, my last working cocker spaniel died. Now she was a dog and a half. Funny, beautiful, loyal and a joy to be with, she was loved by our whole family.

She arrived as a tiny eight week old puppy and during her time with us she became  a mum and a grandmother. We kept one - Paddy, from her litter of six, and then Paddy gave birth to a solitary pup called Fizz.

It was great having three generations altogether. We hardly had to train Fizz...she was kept in line by the others, and to watch their relationships with each other as a family unit was a privilege.

Some dog owners I know have rushed out to buy and new dog immediately when theirs has died -to cover that awful gaping hole in their lives. My first instinct was to do just that, but Mr thinking of the days didn't agree.He felt we should wait.So we did. Wait and wait. I've said I'm patient, but three years is a very long time. Too long.

It was when I went to Australia back in March  I realised how big that gaping hole still was for me. I stayed with my friends Leigh and Andre  the first nine days in Perth. What lovely, good friends and great  hospitality .And what adorable dogs they have.

Bijou the Bulldog and Turner...

Staying there for nine days..I really relished their company. Bijou is slobbery,as subtle as a brick, and as graceful as a two ton truck. Turner is playful and intelligent., and they're both such affectionate dogs.They both gave me such a welcome every morning when I woke up and when I came back to the house. It felt good, and made me see just how much I did miss having a dog around.

Anyway the upshot is, Mr Thinking of the days has finally come around to the idea of having another canine companion....and on Friday we went to see a litter of puppies about three miles away.They're Patterdale cross border terriers, and there were five of them running around on a farm with their Mum , Dinky. Four girls, one boy , and all taken except for one

 Look, here she is.....I've called her Boo.

Here she is again.....

She's seven weeks old, and quieter than some of her sisters and brother....isn't she cute?

We're going to pick up Boo next Friday, and to say I'm excited is an understatement. Roll on Friday!


So what about a music track? I was thinking of Dog by Damien Rice, but then I remembered seeing this video a while back. I defy you to watch this dry eyed.

The music is courtesy of Queen, and it features videos of dogs welcoming their owners back from military deployment.

A day of remembrance

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month

Such a sad day for so many...when millions of us think about the sacrifices made by so many in wars past and present. When we remember those who lie in a foreign land...

I always feel very emotional on this day every year.....and today the day is as depressingly dark and grey as I feel.

This is the view from my kitchen window at 2 o clock in the afternoon. 2pm- talk about matching my mood

My grandmother Annie was one of three children,the baby of the family, born years after her two older brothers.They both fought in the First World War. Percy, the youngest brother was a young lance corporal when he died in 1915 - he was 19 years old.

I know in which foreign field he lies, I have photos of his grave in France.There is also just one precious solitary photo of him shyly smiling into the camera, standing in uniform outside a military tent ,so heartbreakingly boyish.

Albert, her older brother died during the Second World War.He was a Major by now, wore a much smarter uniform, but it wasn't enough to save him.

Annie went on to have a girl and two boys too.One of them was my father Freddie who continued the family tradition - I have two brothers. One of them was only a teenager when he got caught up in the Falklands War.He was in the Royal Navy - he signed on to see the world for three years.He was coming back home across the Atlantic from the USA on his final trip when his ship was redirected down to the Falklands.

Instead of bringing out the bunting and hugging my brother...I didn't see him for nearly a year.A year of avidly listening to the news every day, waiting for his letters,and praying that I wouldn't have to face what Annie went through .Luckily I didn't....

But like my great grandmother, grandmother and father ....yes, you've guessed ..I have a girl and two boys.

And I hope with all my heart that they will never have to make the sacrifices that Annie, Percy and Albert made all those years ago.

Today's track? Not from the First or Second World War - it's an anti war song that defined a different generation from theirs...From 1970...Edwin Starr