The twin boys were looking at the peacock on the roof.
"Spread your tail feathers then." said the first boy
"Go on, Go on, Go on, Go on." said the second boy
"Mum why won't he spread his tail feathers?" said the first boy
"Because he has two females on the roof with him, and he feels he does not need to bother. He is spoilt for choice. But if you made out that there was another male peacock in the vacinity then he might get worried and make a show. Males behave stupidly when there is competition about."
"How do we make the sound of a peacock?" said the second boy
"Just make a sound like a 2x4 going through a circular saw." said the mother.
"Like this "KKreeeccccccKKKKK?" said the first boy, smiling at his brother
"Yeah that should get him worried." said the mother, proud of her son
"KKreeeccccccKKKKK" said the second boy, immitating his brother
"Not so loud" said the mother, wondering what the passersby thought
"KKreeeccccccKKKKK" said the first boy, his eyes popping for effect.
"People are looking" said the mother, getting agitated
"KKreeeccccccKKKKK" said the second boy, flapping his arms like wings.
"Stop it now your drawing attention to yourselves" said the mother. trying to grab hold of them.
"KKreeeccccccKKKKK" said the first boy, ignoring the peacock and screaming in his brothers face.
"That's enough." said the mother, swinging her shopping bag at the boys
"KKreeeccccccKKKKK" said the second boy, nose to nose with his brother and the spit flying.
"Just wait to you get home" said the mother, aiming a drop goal kick at their backsides.
"KKreeeccccccKKKKK" said the first boy, grabing his brother around the neck and getting him in a headlock.
"Your dad is going to hear about this" said the mother, chasing after them through the bushes.
"KKreeeccccccKKKKK" said the second boy, tripping up his brother
"No more pocket money for you" said the mother. grabbing them both by the scruff of the neck
"KKreeeccccccKKKKK" said the first boy, flailing his arms about wildly in an attempt to escape.
"Will you stop that!!! No more sweets for a week!!!" said the mother., shouting after the boys as they sped off down the road together.
"KKreeeccccccKKKKK " said the boys in unison.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Clivia flowers again
We got this plant last year at our house warming party. It bloomed for quite a while and then lay dormant over the winter, and was left to "suffer". Just left in a cool dry place, and over the winter months it did nothing.
Only in February did we begin watering again and and adding some fertiliser. A few green shoots began to sprout from the centre, and then some sort of buds that did not look promising at all.
Slowly however a stalk began to form and now we have been rewarded by a new set of glorious orange flowers.
Everything has its season.
Only in February did we begin watering again and and adding some fertiliser. A few green shoots began to sprout from the centre, and then some sort of buds that did not look promising at all.
Slowly however a stalk began to form and now we have been rewarded by a new set of glorious orange flowers.
Everything has its season.
Monday, April 18, 2005
Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
Went to the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain's Concert in Espoo tonight. There are two more nights Friday 15th and Saturday 16th and if you are a fan of dry British humour then it is a treat. Tonights performance was sold out, and if you decide to go here is a tip get in the queue early are get right down the front and sit at the tables on the dance floor instead of the seats in the theatre.
I happened to sit down the front near Dave the long haired one and he selected our table to give presents to. I received a two day old copy of the Guardian, and the man who was sitting next to me go a used ferry-boat sticker, while his two children were given a used British rail ticket and a used stamp. As you can well imagine no expense is spared on this tour.
What can you expect? Well music from that great classical composer Johan Sebastian Hendrix. They also do modern composers like Stockhausen in a Johnny Cash style. Kiss by Prince gets a going over, and well as a cossack interpretation of Leaning on a lampost, the George Formby classic which now becomes Lenin on a lampost. The ying-tong song by Spike Milligan gets a good thrashing as does the Robert Johnson song "Hot tamales and their red hot". Songs by Marylin Monroe get featured twice, and there is a very moving performance of a Tom Waits tune.
The featured instrumentals include the theme from "the good the bad and the ugly," and that bit of music everybody knows from silent movies when the hero has to made haste to rescue the heroine who is tied to the railway tracks. At one point they had 5 people playing the one small ukulele at the same time, as a novelty. They also did a rendition of Finlandia, which brought the house down.
The concert lasts 2 hours. Drinks are served at a bar, as well as coffee and cakes. At the interval they sell their latest CD which they will autograph, although George did comment that he believed they would be more valuable if they remained unsigned.
Picture taking with flash was forbidden doing the performance, but nobody seemed to mind if I popped off a few shots when they were accepting applause.
I happened to sit down the front near Dave the long haired one and he selected our table to give presents to. I received a two day old copy of the Guardian, and the man who was sitting next to me go a used ferry-boat sticker, while his two children were given a used British rail ticket and a used stamp. As you can well imagine no expense is spared on this tour.
What can you expect? Well music from that great classical composer Johan Sebastian Hendrix. They also do modern composers like Stockhausen in a Johnny Cash style. Kiss by Prince gets a going over, and well as a cossack interpretation of Leaning on a lampost, the George Formby classic which now becomes Lenin on a lampost. The ying-tong song by Spike Milligan gets a good thrashing as does the Robert Johnson song "Hot tamales and their red hot". Songs by Marylin Monroe get featured twice, and there is a very moving performance of a Tom Waits tune.
The featured instrumentals include the theme from "the good the bad and the ugly," and that bit of music everybody knows from silent movies when the hero has to made haste to rescue the heroine who is tied to the railway tracks. At one point they had 5 people playing the one small ukulele at the same time, as a novelty. They also did a rendition of Finlandia, which brought the house down.
The concert lasts 2 hours. Drinks are served at a bar, as well as coffee and cakes. At the interval they sell their latest CD which they will autograph, although George did comment that he believed they would be more valuable if they remained unsigned.
Picture taking with flash was forbidden doing the performance, but nobody seemed to mind if I popped off a few shots when they were accepting applause.
Guitar solos are from the dark side
You see ukuleles are the only real stringed instrument that humans should be allowed to play. Anything bigger and with more strings comes from the "dark side", that is what George said. Guitars are mutant ukuleles. Genetic abberations. And we all know what we get with guitars... guitar solos.
George warned us that the man next to Dave. His ukulele was just on the border line and that the force from the dark side might be such that we might be subjected to something like a guitar solo, and if it happened then we were under no circumstances to give him any encouragement.
Well sure enought the dark side of the force took over and the fellow with the big ukulele went into a mega thrash of the Byrds "eight miles high" and the other ukulele players were aghast and stoped playing... that is all except Dave with the long hair who was drawn in by the dark side and joined in a solo duel with the fellow with the big ukulele.
One by one the other band members left the stage in disgust, shaking their heads in dismay, and Dave and Rodney (yes that might have been his name) exchanged blistering solos reminiscent of the master of darkness his Highness Hendrix.
Then slowly they emerged from the euphoric guitar solo induced rapture to discover that the stage was abandoned save for themselves, They glanced furtively at each other, and began to squirm in their seats with embarrassment. In public they had had committed the ultimate sin aof any ukulele player and gone over the the dark side by playing guitar solos in public.
And so it proved to be an appropriate momment to have an intermission.
George warned us that the man next to Dave. His ukulele was just on the border line and that the force from the dark side might be such that we might be subjected to something like a guitar solo, and if it happened then we were under no circumstances to give him any encouragement.
Well sure enought the dark side of the force took over and the fellow with the big ukulele went into a mega thrash of the Byrds "eight miles high" and the other ukulele players were aghast and stoped playing... that is all except Dave with the long hair who was drawn in by the dark side and joined in a solo duel with the fellow with the big ukulele.
One by one the other band members left the stage in disgust, shaking their heads in dismay, and Dave and Rodney (yes that might have been his name) exchanged blistering solos reminiscent of the master of darkness his Highness Hendrix.
Then slowly they emerged from the euphoric guitar solo induced rapture to discover that the stage was abandoned save for themselves, They glanced furtively at each other, and began to squirm in their seats with embarrassment. In public they had had committed the ultimate sin aof any ukulele player and gone over the the dark side by playing guitar solos in public.
And so it proved to be an appropriate momment to have an intermission.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
World turned upside down
Deathmetal rockers - dressed in pink
Politicians who sit down - and think
Catwalk models who - eat what they want
Schoolyard bullies who - refuse to taunt
Soldiers who - refuse to shoot
Burglars who - give back their loot
Multinationals that always - go bust
Lawyers that you can - really trust
Food bred for taste - not for shape
Mr. Incredible - wearing a cape
Communists with the - cross of Christ
Cats who love to - play with mice
Christians with the - crescent moon and star
A Tee-totalers office - in a downtown bar
Cooperation and willingness - from a mule
Wisdom and insight - from a fool
No more fear - from the pentagram
Muslims and Jews - eating ham
Chairman Moa hat - on a conservative head
Riches for the poor - and the hungry fed
Only laughter and no tears - from the clown
Heaven on earth - the world turned upside down.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
New life (Resurrection)
Then Lemminkäinen's mother
took them into her mouth
she tested them with her tongue
tasted them to her liking:
"These are some of those ointments
the Almighty's remedies
with which God has anointed
the Lord poured on injuries."
Then she anointed the weary one
tended the ill-befallen
anointed through the gaps in bone
and through the cracks in limbs
anointed below and above
slapped the middle once.
Then she put this into words
she declared and chattered.
"Rise up out of sleep
get up out of dream
from these evil places
from the bed of hard luck!"
Kalevela (Resurrection)
Lemminkäinen's mother heals her son.
Monday, April 04, 2005
Arise with healing in his wings
The pope died at Easter. The easter message has been about death, suffering, and most important of all ressurection.
So over the weekend in Rome, thousands of people were praying for the pope, and I expect most of them are feeling some dispair or sadness. So what would be the last word the pope would have for the masses of people waiting for a final message from him? It is the measure of the man that he did not focus on himself, but instead directed us towards song and rejoicing.
I picked something up on Flickr from someone who has been struggling with depression. I felt the words were full of hope, and this person by uttering them was bringing hope to himself and others. Words are like that once they are spoken or written they can become a blessing. So I am writing them down here as a blessing.
"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people, and hallelujah is our song." - Pope Giovanni Paolo II (Karol Jozef Wojtyla)
The photo itself is very symbolic since in the old testament a white dove features in the story of Noah, in that it returned with the olive branch to the ark, and this has become a modern symbol of peace. While in the new testament the dove has been the symbol of God's Holy Sprit which decended like a dove when Christ was baptised in the Jordan river.
In this photo the dove seems to have another meaning, and Karol Jozef Wojtyla is watching his own spirit soar away to a better place where every tear will be wiped from our eyes and there will be no more suffering.
So over the weekend in Rome, thousands of people were praying for the pope, and I expect most of them are feeling some dispair or sadness. So what would be the last word the pope would have for the masses of people waiting for a final message from him? It is the measure of the man that he did not focus on himself, but instead directed us towards song and rejoicing.
I picked something up on Flickr from someone who has been struggling with depression. I felt the words were full of hope, and this person by uttering them was bringing hope to himself and others. Words are like that once they are spoken or written they can become a blessing. So I am writing them down here as a blessing.
"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people, and hallelujah is our song." - Pope Giovanni Paolo II (Karol Jozef Wojtyla)
The photo itself is very symbolic since in the old testament a white dove features in the story of Noah, in that it returned with the olive branch to the ark, and this has become a modern symbol of peace. While in the new testament the dove has been the symbol of God's Holy Sprit which decended like a dove when Christ was baptised in the Jordan river.
In this photo the dove seems to have another meaning, and Karol Jozef Wojtyla is watching his own spirit soar away to a better place where every tear will be wiped from our eyes and there will be no more suffering.
My kids in 1986 (smiling)
Laughter is a good thing. Smiling is good, even a snigger is permissable. A discrete titter behind your hand is OK, but there are times in life when you need to blow coffee out your nose in an explosion of laughter.
You get giggles from tickling but that is sort of cheating. A belly laugh that comes rumbling out of the depths of you is good for your soul, but the best laughs are the ones you do in unison, with other people... lets call it orchestrated laughter. No that gives the idea that it is organised and structued in some way. The laughter that has refreshed me the most is more like free form jazz, the noises of laughter are all improvised.
These times do not happen very often but they are characterised by abandonment and helplessness. Birds in Spring sing their heart out. There is joy in the sound of their voices, the warbling and the whistling. Laughter is something like that. Non-verbal communication of happiness and hope.
These are the laughs that leave your breathless, gasping for air. What do you feel when you are swamped by your own laughter, and joy is ringing in your breast like a bell.
It is like listening to a scratchy recording from the 1930's and recognising the wonder and the beauty of it all and saying Oh Yeah!! Oh Yeah!! Oh man!!
You get giggles from tickling but that is sort of cheating. A belly laugh that comes rumbling out of the depths of you is good for your soul, but the best laughs are the ones you do in unison, with other people... lets call it orchestrated laughter. No that gives the idea that it is organised and structued in some way. The laughter that has refreshed me the most is more like free form jazz, the noises of laughter are all improvised.
These times do not happen very often but they are characterised by abandonment and helplessness. Birds in Spring sing their heart out. There is joy in the sound of their voices, the warbling and the whistling. Laughter is something like that. Non-verbal communication of happiness and hope.
These are the laughs that leave your breathless, gasping for air. What do you feel when you are swamped by your own laughter, and joy is ringing in your breast like a bell.
It is like listening to a scratchy recording from the 1930's and recognising the wonder and the beauty of it all and saying Oh Yeah!! Oh Yeah!! Oh man!!
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