Someone please comment!

^^^^From bbc.co.uk archive.

May I draw your attention to a superbly written blog - http://theturkblog.wordpress.com which contains some wonderful poetry, all by the same guy, Nick Turk. Without reading his blog I would not have discovered the huge crime against literature - Cheryl Cole - talentless chav who beat up a toilet attendant - is to be paid £5m to write a fiction book.



:O



What is the world coming to?

Please, if this book gets released, do not buy it. Spare a thought for the real writers out there with real talent who struggle to earn a crust. Come on. Which book would you rather read? That written by someone who has studied the art of writing a story and can do it well, or the opposite, who pays a ghostwriter to do it for them, such as Jordan, Billie Piper et al...Basically, if you have a brain, you will know not to purchase this book.

Anyway...

Just to keep readers updated, I have started working for Oxjam, I have been speaking to people at work, getting the word out about it, and I have put up a poster and some leaflets at my place of work. If this sounds interesting, find out more here.

I have just 4 sessions left until I will have completed my PTLLS course! Yaaaay!

I'd like to take this opportunity to say that I have been on a diet and have been working my butt off at the gym since January and have lost 9 lbs. I would like to lose 26 more by my 23rd birthday on the 6th May.

Okay, lots of personal information there I know but maybe it will encourage someone to post a comment, maybe about their own struggle with their weight.

I want this blog to be as interactive as possible, so pleeeeeease comment. If you disagree with what I say, yes, I still want you to comment. I'm all for healthy, adult debate.

I will reply, I promise!

Some amazing, uplifting, talented people!

^^^Taken from www.myspace.com/thekingblues

On the London Underground you will find some amazing musicians.

One I saw recently is a man called Jean Claude Madhero. Listen to one of his beautiful pieces of music here.

I like him because he has a marvellously eccentric taste in clothes and his music is very uplifting.

As you may already know, I like poetry, but it's a dying art. There are very few poets today that manage to their work heard or read by a lot of people. One of the few is the incredibly talented Scroobius Pip. A genuinely gifted poet, he performs regularly on Radio 1 on the "Spoken Word Surgery". His work is often backed by Dan le Sac, who puts some beats and tunes to it.

Have a look at the video for his most famous piece, "Thou Shalt Always Kill". I find this an hilarious social commentary as well as an excellent collection of verses.

Also, have a listen to another poem by him which I feel is just as good called Letter From God

The fact I and lots of other people know about him is thanks to Radio One who are brilliant at showcasing new, original talent. Here's another gem

Couple of amazing songs

Headless Heroes' album Silence of Love is well worth listening to. Here is a track from the album called "The North Wind Blew South". It evokes thoughts of folk music of the 1960s and 1970s and is simply beautiful.

Here

I wonder if there is anyone out there who has not heard "Paper Planes" by a very talented young lady calling herself M.I.A. yet? It has most notably been featured on the soundtrack to recent box office smash "Slumdog Millionaire".


The song itself is so good on so many levels. It's actually an ironic look at immigration which I think is very clever but the sound is amazing. It was pointed out to me that it is a sample of The Clash's "Straight to Hell" which means it's not totally original but from what I've looked up, a lot of Strummer and Jones fans are actually pleased that their forgotten treasure is attracting listeners again.

Paper Planes

Seriously though, M.I.A. is one amazing woman. Check it out

Just a thought

If the music tastes of the children are today are significantly influenced by X-Factor, American Idol et al, where does that leave the world of tomorrow?

Indie

Oh I do love that website!

I've just been to my stepdad's allotment which was great fun! I did a lot of digging.

Did anyone in the UK watch "Your country needs you" last night?

I usually don't bother with Eurovision or X Factor or any other waste of time television programmes but my mother was watching it so didn't have a choice.

Did anyone think the wrong person won? Neither the twins or Jade had any talent in my honest opinion. It should have been Mark that won it. It was crystal clear to me. The public really shouldn't get have a say in who gets picked for Eurovision because they were dumb enough to put Alexandra Burke's brutal murder of Hallelujah at Christmas number one.

Yes, Eurovision and the music charts are all a farce, I am well aware but still, if the country is being represented at something it should be by someone who is actually talented.

As well as ranting on about the above, I want to use this post to start talking about Indie

Basically I feel that we as music lovers should be doing more to support independent record labels because they allow their artists much more freedom and don't act merely in pursuit of the almighty dollar.

What are your thoughts on this?

I shall talk more about it in future posts.

Little update

The apple-oatey thing was delicious if I may say so myself. Earlier this week I made sticky chicken with mixed veg spicy couscous. It was lovely. I had it for tea in the evening and for lunch at work the following day :)

I have done session 3 for my course and all is going well so far!

Has anyone experienced a line manager that really is pure evil? Because that's what I've been experiencing for over a year!

Anyway!

I've been listening to Jazz fm a lot lately. They do play some excellent music and mention gigs happening around London.

If anyone knows any unsigned bands that wouldn't mind me mentioning them on here please let me know!

I'm getting involved with music promotion for Oxjam. It's a worthwhile cause. Go to www.oxjam.org for more information.

I need your help!

I'm into the second week of my PTTLS course and still going strong!

I'm making an apple-oatey thing in the oven at the moment, a recipe recommended by a friend so I hope it turns out well!

Does anyone know any really good, relatively unknown bands? Please let me know so I can research them! You can post a comment on here or e-mail me. I'll use your comments to make a (hopefully) big blog just talking about the bands.

Here's a bit of poetry that I didn't write.

The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,"O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,What a beautiful Pussy you are, you are, you are,What a beautiful Pussy you are."
Pussy said to the Owl "You elegant fowl,
How charmingly sweet you sing.O let us be married, too long we have tarried;
But what shall we do for a ring?"
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows,
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose, his nose, his nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose."
Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling your ring?"
Said the Piggy, "I will"
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,Which they ate with a runcible spoon.
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand.
They danced by the light of the moon, the moon, the moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.




The lyrics to "the owl and the pussycat" - What is a Runcible Spoon?A traditional childrens poem , or folksong, as the lyrics to the owl and the pussycat have been set to music and recorded by several artisits. The author of the owl and the pussycat was of course Edward Lear (1812 - 1888) and the first publication date of the owl and the pussycat was 1871. Wonderful illustrated graphics have also been set to the words of the owl and the pussycat poem helping to fire the imagination of a child! The burning question remains, however, what exactly is the runcible spoon referred to in the words of the owl and the pussycat poem? The probable definition of this term is that a runcible spoon is a small fork with three prongs, one having a sharp edge, and curved like a spoon. This spoon is used to eat pickles, etc.

Taken from http://www.rhymes.org.uk/the_owl_and_the_pussycat.htm

A little poem

Okay, this is a poem I wrote a little while after the terrorist attacks in London. I don't know if it's a little too political, or maybe cheesy for some people but I feel it's not as rubbish as most of my other stuff! For a reminder of what it's about go to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings

Doves Over London

These people who bomb, thinking of hate
Are not clever, brave or true
The hate that they feel is what they create
When they kill people like me and you

After these deeds they think they shall come
To a divine and glorious reward
But with such evil in mind, all they have won
Is a place where but darkness is stored

If you have been touched by some evil deeds
Pray don’t feel angry, hateful or sour
Pity these bombers full of selfish greed
And you shall hold your own power

For such evil in the world thats causes us pain
Can be culled only by peace and love
So someday these things will not happen again
In place of bombs over London there’ll be doves

Thanks for reading :)

In music news, a good artist that seems to get overlooked is KT Tunstall. I think she's written some brilliant songs. She is very talented and I really enjoy listening to her music. Check her out at http://www.kttunstall.com/ which I must say is excellently designed. My favourite song is "If Only" because it can be about so many things but to me it means something important and very personal. Oh yeah, she also plays guitar!

An example of a very bad artist is Basshunter . The lyrics are just awful, the songs are simply uninspiring in general and the videos are also terrible. I don't think it's good to see scantily clad women in music videos in the daytime. What about impressionable children? And their poor ears, having the bad music on top of all those images?

http://www.basshunter.se/basshunter.htm

That's my personal opinion though. I don't mean to offend anyone.

Update about me and an update about music

I attended my first PTLLS class on Monday which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was a real keener and submitted my homework via e-mail on Tuesday night. I've had it back and I've made the grade on them so woohoo!

A problem I've got is confidence. The course requires me to do presentations and a "micro-teach" for my peers. I tend to fall to pieces on anything that involves me speaking in front of an audience. Quite badly. Which doesn't bode well for teaching, does it, haha!

I seem to be alright when I perform my poetry though. I mean, I feel the nerves, I shake and everything, but on camera I look okay, just a little shy.

I'm hoping to get on the poetry circuit again as it's been nearly a year since my last performance.

Maybe reading out poetry in public will help me gain confidence with the teaching course, or vice versa??

Anyway, in other news.

Amy Winehouse has been offered her first film role - as a music teacher! I say, hurrah!

Amy is a fine singer and musician. I recommend people listen to her first album "Frank" which in my opinion is much better than "Back to Black".

Back to Black is essentially 60's style Motown, whereas Frank is more her style, it's total jazz with a contemporary beat and feel. I hope her new album will return to this genre.

Yes, she has drug problems but she is getting help and has put on weight recently which is excellent news for her fans and the music world.

I downloaded Frank from iTunes for a very reasonable price.

For some relaxing music and an interesting website, please go to www.mywoollyhat.com .

This is a loooong post...

I love St. Ives in Cornwall. Beautiful beaches, art galleries, cornish pasties and ice creams. However what a lot of people don't know about St. Ives is its excellent music culture. It has a very big blues scene. My favourite St. Ives band for the past donkeys' years has been Dirty Livin' Rhythm Band which can be found at http://www.myspace.com/dlrb .

They are looking for a lead singer if anyone is interested!

By the way...

LISTEN TO REAL MUSIC! Don't listen to X-Factor rubbish. I've had my ears tortured for the past four days at work having to listen to Burke murdering "Hallelujah" on GWR fm twice a day. Come on, this cannot happen again! Stop the awful covers!

Kiss FM is utter rubbish, while we're on the subject of bad radio. Listen to Radio 1. They always showcase new bands and DJ Colin Murray really helped the Christmas Jeff Buckley campaign by publicising it at the beginning of one of his shows and playing the definitive version of "Hallelujah"

Just think, "what if I were in a band, trying to earn a crust"?

Mixed bag

I saw a band at The Golden Lion in Bristol with my boyfriend a couple of months ago called the Manfredi Funk Initiative which totally blew me away. They're a funk/jazz band with a very talented saxophonist.

I really like to see a good saxophonist because I play the clarinet and it inspires me. I enjoyed them so much that I booked tickets to see them again on New Year's Eve!

Have a little listen here:

www.myspace.com/mfiquartet

Now, here is a lady with a lovely singing voice, Adrianne Sebastian Scott. She is also a Jeff Buckley fan, which gives her extra brownie points in my eyes!

http://www.myspace.com/adriannesebastianscott

Aaaand to close, I'll leave you with a little bit of light-hearted poetry from myself...

Poem about Fruit

I bought a bag full of fruit today
It cost me under a pound
An orange, some grapes, a banana
And the ripest plum I found

It was something that would be good for me
And help me lose some weight
'Cause fruit has a low G.I.
Or something I was told by a mate

So I made my way through the bag
Boring though it was for me
'Til all I had left was the orange
Which I looked at thoughtfully

As I peeled I noticed it
Was mostly made of water and air
And as I took a bite
I tasted bitterness there

But it was not as bad
As at first it did seem
'Cause I smothered all over it
A big dollop of cream!