No.212

Last Friday I promised something for dog-lovers, so here it is!

Thanks to funnyjunkz.com

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Most schools in Scotland re-opened last week after the holidays - a sure sign that summer will soon be over. But what exactly happened to summer? Yet again, it seems to have passed us by.

In ancient times the Greek physician Aratus, an early weather forecaster, once wrote, “If croaking frogs drone in the swamps, drenching rain shall fall from the clouds.”

Well, there must have been a great deal of droning in the swamps this year!

It wasn’t till the 19th century that weather forecasts became a realistic possibility and in 1861 a Met Office forecast appeared in the Times newspaper. However, following an objection from the Royal Society, the venture was halted and no further forecasts in the press appeared for another 11 years.

There was a time of course when people relied on old weather rhymes. We all know “A red sky at night is the shepherds’ delight,” or a variation of it.

Here are a few others -

When black clouds cross your path,
Black clouds much moisture hath.

When clouds appear like rocks and towers,
The earth’s refreshed by frequent showers.

Mackerel sky, mackerel sky,
Not long wet and not long dry.

Realising that I would be posting this blog on 24th August, I was astonished to find this verse -

If 24th August be fine and clear,
Then hope for a prosperous autumn that year.

Next week I’ll let you know what the weather was like on the 24th.

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I don't have any information about this photo.

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The strange business about 24th August reminded me of another coincidence I experienced some years ago.

It happened one evening in October 2009. There was a completely cloudless sky here, and I was so impressed with the very bright full moon that I called on Jean to come and have a look.

I then went to get something to read, and I found a book I had bought many years ago, but hadn’t looked at for quite a while - “365 Tao” by Deng Ming-Dao, a collection of thoughts for every day of the year. As I picked it up, it fell open at 3rd October - what a coincidence! Yes, that very day was October 3rd.

But that wasn’t all.

You can imagine my astonishment when I read the words on that page. Here they are -

Silver disc: Let me call you goddess -
You, with your mirrored face,
Tonight, of all nights, your shape is perfect,
Your presence sublime.
You know it too. You appear before the sun has even set,
Glorious without your cloak of night,
Gazing down in supreme splendour,
To make this dusty world pastoral.

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This is a photograph of the “Husband and Wife Trees” at Lynncraigs Farm, Dalry, Scotland. They are blackthorns. The photo was taken by Roger Griffith and was made available by public-domain-images.blogspot.com. This is an example of inosculation, where trunks or branches of two trees grow together.

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Following my remarks last week about modern pop songs, I’m finishing today with what I consider a really first class song from the past. Published in 1939, “All the things you are” was written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. In this clip, uploaded by Adamfulgence, the singer is Carly Simon. The lyrics are shown below.

Time and again I've longed for adventure,
Something to make my heart beat the faster.
What did I long for? I never really knew.
Finding your love, I've found my adventure,
Touching your hand, my heart beats the faster,
All that I want in all of this world is you.

You are the promised kiss of springtime
That makes the lonely winter seem long.
You are the breathless hush of evening
That trembles on the brink of a lovely song.

You are the angel glow that lights a star,
The dearest things I know are what you are.
Some day my happy arms will hold you,
And some day I'll know that moment divine,
When all the things you are, are mine!

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NEXT POST 31ST AUGUST

No.211

WELCOME!

It’s now four months since my last post here and I’m looking forward to this new series.

My aim of course is to make it as interesting as possible, and I hope that my choice of material will have your approval.

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Are you a cat-person? If so, this picture is for you. (Dog-persons, your turn will come.)

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Knock, knock!
Who’s there?
Ken.
Ken who?
Ken I come in, it’s cold out here.

When did you last hear one of those?

There was a time when “knock-knock” was all the rage and it seems to have been popular all over the world - Australia, Canada, America, South Africa, India. etc. In France they were known as “toc-toc,” in Holland it was “klop-klop” and in Japan “kon-kon.”

Here are a few that took my fancy -

Knock, knock!
Who’s there?
Luke.
Luke who?
Luke through the keyhole and you’ll see.

Knock, knock!
Who’s there?
Lionel.
Lionel who?
Lionel get you nowhere, better tell the truth.

Knock, knock!
Who’s there?
Ivor.
Ivor who?
Ivor good mind not to tell you.

Drawings of this little man peeping over a wall were to be found everywhere during World War II and, just like the “knock-knock” craze, its popularity spread all over the world.

It has been suggested that the idea came from the character called Chad, who had been created by a British cartoonist in 1938. However its popularity seemed to begin in America and, like so many other novelties, was exported to the UK and beyond.

The drawings in chalk, paint, ink - in fact anything that would make a mark on walls, lamp posts, street signs and posters, would turn up in the most unusual places and continued right into the 1950s.

There were other names by which he was known - Clem, Smoe, the Jeep, Private Snooks, and in Australia the caption was “Foo was here.”

I suppose part of the fun of “Kilroy was here” lay in the fact that it was so easy to draw - even a small child could make a good attempt at it. Why not have a go yourself? Perhaps you try it out on your neighbour’s filthy car using your finger. But make sure you’re not caught!

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This is a great view of Multnomah Falls in Oregon, showing the footbridge and the upper and lower falls.

Thanks to public-domain-images

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Bad Report - Good Manners
(Spike Milligan)

My daddy said, “My son, my son,
This school report is bad.”
I said, “I did my best I did,
My dad my dad my dad.”

“Explain, my son, my son,” he said,
“Why bottom of the class?
“I stood aside, my dad my dad,
To let the others pass.”

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Now, here’s something rather special. This painting “The Dutch Proverbs” by Pieter Brueghel the Elder is unusual; it’s said to contain illustrations of 16th century sayings and idioms, and the suggestion has been made that 100 examples are included. Obviously quite a bit of time would be necessary to see how many proverbs you recognise, but it might be fun.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

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Finally, a thought to leave with you.

Did you see the closing show of the Olympics? A brilliant spectacle of course, but the music - I thought it was awful. There was just one good song in the whole show and that was “Imagine.“ In my day pop songs had great melodies and well-written lyrics. (Yes, I know we had our rubbish songs, but they belonged to a small minority.) Do you agree with me?

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NEXT POST FRIDAY 24th

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No.210

80 PLUS COMES TO AN END TODAY

During the last few years I’ve often used the blog to record memories of my boyhood and I always marvel at how different the lives of today’s children are from what I experienced. I’m repeating a few examples.

I REMEMBER the lamplighter with his long pole. I thought he had a great job.

I REMEMBER that every so often buskers would appear in our back-court and sing one or two songs. Housewives would open their windows, throw down coppers and the singer would move on to the next tenement. Sometimes one of them would play a tin whistle or do a dance, and I’m told that before the First World War German bands toured the country entertaining in back-courts.

I REMEMBER the horse-driven vans which visited our street, and the occasion when the horse which pulled the baker’s van fell down. Someone sat on its head as it lay on the road, while the baker undid all the belts and straps. Only when that was done was the animal able to get up, unharmed.

I REMEMBER message boys on bicycles. They were usually employed by food shops, and they had the job of delivering what housewives had ordered.

I REMEMBER that in the wintertime we went to school wrapped up in layers of clothing. Boys always wore caps and short trousers; in those days we had to wait till we were 15 or 16 before we got long trousers.

Royal Terrace where we lived till 1936

I REMEMBER seeing American comics. They were the size of broadsheet newspapers and had lots of pages. And the content was so different from our “Tiger Tim” and “The Rainbow.”

I REMEMBER that cigarette packets each contained a picture card. Many subjects were covered including sports personalities, film stars, dance band leaders, comedians, cars, locomotives, birds, animals, fish and many more.

I REMEMBER that the best room or parlour was used only on special occasions. That’s where the piano would be and the instrument was generally kept locked. (Did they keep it locked to prevent a burglar stealing the keys?)

I REMEMBER that, when drivers parked their cars on a hill (even on a slight hill), they would place a brick or a large stone at a front wheel to prevent the vehicle moving off.

I REMEMBER that, at primary school, if there was torrential rain in the morning, the school would close at lunchtime and we got a half-holiday. In such weather the boys would cram into the playground shelter at the morning interval, stand up on the long wooden bench and stamp their feet in time to their repeated cry of “We want a hauf!” (a half-day)

Lairdsland School where I got my primary education

I REMEMBER that sometimes a pupil would have an epileptic fit in the classroom. The child was usually writhing on the floor, while the rest of us sat in awed silence. I don’t recall the teacher attending to the victim - the fit passed quite quickly and the lesson was resumed.

I REMEMBER that a good number of my class-mates came from much poorer homes than ours. The boys were all dressed alike, in trousers and jackets of a coarse brown material, these having been provided by the School Board.

I REMEMBER that “the basket class” met in the church hall across the road from the school. This was for children who were considered to be uneducable and included a whole range of cases from just a bit simple to mentally defective. They passed their time doing handwork and, although part of our school, there was no contact between them and us.

I REMEMBER that there were only two men on the staff, the Headmaster and Mr Maclennan who took the Qualifying Class (Primary 7). The latter had a soft Highland accent which I liked to hear when he read poetry to us. His strap, which he used frequently, was never out of his hands, and he would be continually playing with it, rolling and unrolling it.

I REMEMBER we learned the multiplication tables by repeating them endlessly until they became fixed in our minds. Spelling too was taught that way and the whole class in unison would chant “eye enn - in, eye enn - in, ay tee - at, ay tee - at,” and so on. There used to be a lot of suppressed giggles when we came to “up.”

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Finally, Ashoken Farewell composed by Jay Ungar. This piece was No.40 (out of 300) in Classic FM’s Hall of Fame chart announced last week-end.
It’s played on this clip by Mairead Nesbitt of Celtic Woman.
http://www.celticwoman.com/



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The new blog
TAKE FIVE WITH JOHN
begins tomorrow

http://takefivewithjohn.blogspot.com

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No.209

WISE MEN SAY

May I have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
(Reinhold Niebuhr)

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THROUGH THE CAMERA LENS

This is an 1886 photograph of some of the inhabitants of St Kilda outside their cottages.

St Kilda lies 40 miles from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. There had been a small population there for hundreds of years, but since the middle of the 19th century there were never more than 100 people living there. The story of the evacuation of the inhabitants in 1930 is well-known, but I was too young then to know anything about it.

Today St Kilda is owned by the National Trust and became a World Heritage Site in 1986. The island attracts a good number of bird-watchers for it has become famous as a breeding ground for seabirds. Other visitors to the island are volunteers who are helping to restore some of the ruined houses. There’s also a small military base.

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JOHN’S GALLERY

And when did you last see your father?
by William Frederick Yeames (1835-1918)

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

Two Kinds of People by
Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919)

There are two kinds of people on earth to-day;
Just two kinds of people, no more, I say.
Not the sinner and saint, for it's well understood,
The good are half bad, and the bad are half good.

Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man's wealth,
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.
Not the humble and proud, for in life's little span,
Who puts on vain airs, is not counted a man.

Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.
No - the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift, and the people who lean.

Wherever you go, you will find the earth's masses,
Are always divided in just these two classes.
And oddly enough, you will find too, I ween,
There's only one lifter to twenty who lean.

In which class are you? Are you easing the load,
Of overtaxed lifters, who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner, who lets others share
Your portion of labour, and worry and care?

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Spring Song
by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
played by Ronan O'Hora
uploaded by Derwentcub



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A QUOTE FOR 80 PLUS

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.
(Mae West)

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80 PLUS COMES TO AN END ON FRIDAY

THE NEW BLOG BEGINS ON SATURDAY

http://takefivewithjohn.blogspot.com

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No.208

Thanks to http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart for the image

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I like a nice cup of tea in the morning
For to start the day you see,
And at half-past eleven, well, my idea of heaven
Is a nice cup of tea.

I like a nice cup of tea with my dinner
And a nice cup of tea with my tea,
And when it’s time for bed, there’s a lot to be said
For a nice cup of tea.
(popular song from the 1930s)

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“That tea-drinking has become a gigantic social evil no one will deny. In America alone one million pounds, and in England even more, are expended every year in the purchase of the drug; and the evil is growing at an alarming rate.”

That’s the opening paragraph in an article published early in the 1900s.

The writer links the horrible habit with coffee, smoking, cocaine and whisky, and goes at some length describing what happens in our bodies when we indulge in any of those. Having explained how leather is made, he (or she) continues “. . . when a man eats a piece of beefsteak and drinks a strong cup of tea, the tannic acid of the tea combines with the connective tissue of the steak, and the latter is converted into leather.”

Apparently tea contains a poisonous substance called thein, and we’re told that one eighth of a grain of thein will kill a frog, five grains will kill a rabbit, and seven and a half will kill a cat. “There is more than an ounce of poison in a pound of tea, enough to kill seventy rabbits or fifty cats.” Scary stuff!

“The cup that cheers but does not inebriate” is a well-known phrase from Thomas Cowper’s “The Task,” and of course refers to a cup of tea. So I was astonished to read the claim in the closing paragraphs of the article that tea can make you drunk!!!

It had been reported that some girls in a tea factory had been arrested for being drunk and disorderly, despite having taken no alcoholic liquor. Instead they had chewed tea leaves constantly as they carried out their work in the factory.

“In many an English cottage home you invariably find a pot of villainous tea brewing on the hob all day long . . . . the impaired digestions and decayed teeth which cause so many of our recruits to be rejected . . . . has become a question of national importance.”

Not to worry, however. I found the following in Wikipedia, and I think I’m quite safe enjoying my daily four cups.

“Tea leaves contain more than 700 chemicals, among which the compounds closely related to human health are flavanoides, amino acids, vitamins (C, E and K), caffeine and polysaccharides. Moreover, tea drinking has recently proven to be associated with cell-mediated immune function of the human body. Tea plays an important role in improving beneficial intestinal microflora, as well as providing immunity against intestinal disorders and in protecting cell membranes from oxidative damage. The role of tea is well established in normalizing blood pressure, lipid depressing activity, prevention of coronary heart diseases and diabetes by reducing the blood-glucose activity."

Finally, it was the writer Norwood Pratt who gave this advice :-

“If you are cold, tea will warm you; if you are heated, it will cool you; if you're depressed, it will cheer you; if you're excited, it will calm you.”

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Of course there's only one way to finish the blog. This is an excellent video by Softly Jazz (Conchita Castillo - vocals, Marina Fainytska - piano and Andrij Malyarenko - bass guitar) with a modern version of “Tea for Two.” The accompanying pictures are great.



Thanks to “Sweetvoiceforyou” for the video

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The next post here will be on Wednesday and then the final post on Friday.
The new blog TAKE FIVE WITH JOHN begins on Saturday.
http://takefivewithjohn.blogspot.com

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No.207

WISE MEN SAY

Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony
(Mahatma Gandhi)

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Thanks to http://hazelruthes.blogspot.co.uk for the image

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The Easter Bunny is a symbol that had its origin in the pagan festival of the goddess Eastre. The Anglo-Saxons worshipped her through her earthly symbol the hare or the rabbit.

The Easter bunny was introduced to America by German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s. Children believed that if they were good the Oschter Haw (Easter bunny) would lay a nest of coloured eggs. Boys would use their caps and girls their bonnets to make nests for the eggs. The use of elaborate Easter baskets came later as the tradition of the Easter bunny spread through out the country.

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Still Life with Peaches
by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

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Here are two very short poems -
very appropriate after the awful weather we've had lately

Spring is not the best of seasons.
Cold and flu are two good reasons;
wind and rain and other sorrow,
warm today and cold tomorrow.
(Anon)

First a howling blizzard woke us,
Then the rain came down to soak us,
And now before the eye can focus -
Crocus.
(Lilja Rogers)

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I've never seen anything like this before.
It's the Haute Dog Easter Parade at Long Beach, California.
Thanks to justinrudd for uploading it.



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ONE MORE WEEK TO GO!
And then this series of 80 plus comes to an end, being replaced by a new blog
TAKE FIVE WITH JOHN

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Thanks to http://vintagescrapbooking.blogspot.co.uk for the image

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No.206

WISE MEN SAY

Some days you just have to create your own sunshine.
(Sam Sundquist)

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THROUGH THE CAMERA LENS

This photo probably dates from around 1900 - a time when a man with a camera always attracted a crowd



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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

Fairies’ Song
Leigh Hunt (1784-1859)

We the fairies blithe and antic,
Of dimensions not gigantic,
Though the moonshine mostly keep us,
Oft in orchards frisk and peep us.

Stolen sweets are always sweeter,
Stolen kisses much completer,
Stolen looks are nice in chapels,
Stolen, stolen, be your apples.

When to bed the world is bobbing,
Then’s the time for orchard robbing,
Yet the fruit were scarce worth peeling,
Were it not for stealing, stealing.

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JOHN’S GALLERY

Landers Peak
by Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902)

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DO YOU REMEMBER

Housewives’ Choice

This was a daily record request programme on the BBC Light Programme broadcast from 1946 to 1967. The signature tune was “in Party Mood” by Jack Strachey and it’s played here by the West End Celebrity Orchestra. Uploaded by markh5682



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A QUOTE FOR 80 PLUS

There is absolutely nothing to be said in favour of growing old. There ought to be legislation against it. (Patrick Moore)

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Tomorrow 80 plus Music Mix includes a clip from Showboat of Paul Robeson singing “Old Man River.”
http://80plusmusicmix.blogspot.com

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