Hi Isabel,
Never having been to this event and so looking forward to it I'm not sure whether we are to book a spot or just turn up and go for it?
Andy Millican
Comment is about 'Don’t go down to the Railway Inn with anyone else but us!': Write Out Loud's poetry jam returns to Marsden jazz festival venue (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Thanks Stephen! 😀
Comment is about A Postcard From R.A.F. Oulton (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
Interesting, MC. But your Suffolk ancestors will have had ancestors. At some point in that line there will be foreign blood. Lucky for you they were welcomed into Britain otherwise you might have been born less “privileged”, French (say) or Indian or Arab. Who knows?
What we do know is that unless you can trace your ancestry back to Neolithic Britain, you will find, as all of us would find in this mongrel nation, that we are cross-breeds from various immigrations.
Comment is about WHEN WE WERE A KINDER NATION (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
That was fantastic, Steve! Can't believe I'd never seen that one before. PS Looking forward to reading one of your Ukraine poems at the launch later this month. A great privilege.
Comment is about Greg Freeman (poet profile)
Original item by Greg Freeman
A great day! Well done to everyone!
Comment is about Homecoming (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Hi Greg
I found a clip from The Fawlty Towers episode with Bernard Cribbins.
https://nortonsafe.search.ask.com/search?q=Mr+Hutchinson+Fawlty+Towers&page=1&ctype=videos&geo=en_GB&doi=2020-04-28&cmpgn=mar20&o=APN12179&p2=%5EEQ%5Emar20%5E&ueid=50d99701-1706-401b-9b6f-d61472206408&qo=navTop
Comment is about Greg Freeman (poet profile)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Thanks, John B. I wonder if tanks can be booked for speeding, or worse ('could you blow into this, sir?'). It would take someone brave to do it - Clint Eastwood is too long in the tooth.
Thankyou, John C and Greg. Yes, there is a sense of Ukraine fatigue around, but I will try to keep posting. Among all the tragedy and horror, there is an element of the ridiculous e.g. The Russian Naval (navel?) Parade yesterday, to keep spirits up.
Thanks for the Nicola Jennings' cartoon link, Greg. Don't put your hand anywhere near there!
And thanks to Keith, Jon, Julie, Stephen and Holden for liking this.
Comment is about Tanks (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thank you so much, John. I will keep plugging away, although in a sensible world I would not have to. Let's hope that such a world comes into existence sooner than we fear.
Comment is about Blockbuster (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thanks for the likes and comment John… They certainly did😁
Comment is about Come On England (blog)
Original item by julie callaghan
Meriel Woodward
Mon 1st Aug 2022 14:34
Like it Dad! Well predicted. Not sure you’ve got it right with LT though… 🤷🏻♀️Xx
Happy Birthday for tomorrow 🥰
Comment is about Girl power at Wembley and advice for Liz Truss (blog)
Original item by hugh
Thanks Keith Jeffries, you are much appreciated.
Comment is about new days seen (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
Would that be before or after the Anglo-Dutch war? 😉 I'd never dispute the varied origins of those who decided to settle
here or the fact that they, like the parents of HM The Queen,
were of "home and abroad" bonds of matrimony. Love knows
no boundaries, they say. When I last checked, my own
ancestors derived from 1700s Suffolk and S.E England. Some
served (and two died) in the armed services; another was a
coachman on the Dover Road during the French Revolution,
I visited the location on Shooters Hill where an inn still stands
and the opening chapters of Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" has added resonance for me. Others scraped a hard living in
the various trades of their times, occasionally as inn-keepers and the like. I hope to fork out more dosh in due course to commission further reliable enquiries into the family history.
It has provided a fascinating insight into the past on both a
personal and general level and the last report promised
further success in going back further via the different records,
ecclesiastical/parish etc. that were kept in typically thorough
fashion, albeit that the spelling of names could be a bit
casual/problematical !
Comment is about WHEN WE WERE A KINDER NATION (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
They certainly did, John, with passion & determination! 🏆😄
Comment is about The passion & the pride (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
I was watching on ‘live text’ minute by minute from on holiday. One observation from my wife who has never shown any interest in women’s or men’s football.
Having watched two games before the Germany v France semi, she remarked how refreshingly clean and free from the typical footie antics the women’s game was. Then came the German bullies which rather deflated her optimism. By the sound of the text I was watching the final was a bit of a bruiser but the English girls weren’t cowed. Bravo the girls!!!!
On a humorous note I saw this
Men: it’s coming home, it’s coming home!
Women: FFS we’ll get it ourselves!!!
Comment is about Homecoming (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Commenting from the Dordogne at 11am and 32c.
I love this Greg and the Al Stewart reference rings well today. My favourite line of his (from another song) was always…..
“It’s eighty degrees and I’m down on my knees in Brooklyn”
But we used to substitute Brooklyn for wherever we were at the time.
Great memories my friend
Comment is about The road north (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
John,
Thank you for commenting on my comment. Your words reminded me of Henry David Thoreau in his book "Walden Pond", in which he says that most men live out their lives in quiet desperation.
Thanks
Keith
Comment is about CB (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
This poem speaks clearly of the consequences of what the world witnessed in the Japan of 1945. God forbid that we are in a similar scenario but I fear we are. In this poem you paint a scene of dread so well. When Putin walked so easily into the Crimea we should have stopped sleep walking and issued a clear ultimatum but we were too busy buying his gas and ended up appeasing him with useless sanctions. All dictators have common traits. The parallel between Hitler and Putin is so obvious. Remember the Sudeten land? Luhansk and Donetsk?
John thank you for this
Keith
Comment is about 6 and 9 August 1945 (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
There's another one, from Liverpool, here https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0019r7h
Comment is about Ahoy there! BBC radio programme looks at the dialect poetry of 'island city' Portsmouth (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
The dawn of realisation. This is a good poem
Thank you
Keith
Comment is about new days seen (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
John,
Thank you for your comment. This realisation which prompted the poem has come about gradually and I hope the time available to have a second chance is now present.
Thank you again,
Keith
Comment is about A Second Chance (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Bravo, Stephen. There is pall of Ukraine fatigue setting in so I agree with Greg - keep posting.
Comment is about Tanks (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
I never know what to say about your Ukraine poems any more, Steve, except to say thanks for keeping going with them, and making each one different, and so effective. But there's this cartoon, by someone I used to work with ,https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2022/jul/31/nicola-jennings-on-the-russian-blockade-of-ukraines-grain-exports
Comment is about Tanks (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Yes. 'Football's Coming Home' brought a tear to my eye! Bravo you lionesses! 😆
Comment is about Homecoming (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
A fab poem, Greg. Glad you reposted it. Evocative of a time I remember well, my own university days in the years of the cat. 😀👍
Comment is about The road north (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
A story told with great passion and sincerity, Keith. It must have taken courage to write this poem. Well done you! 👍
Comment is about A Second Chance (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Modern life, Ruth! Sad funny... I really like it!
Comment is about He's an insta lover (blog)
Original item by Ruth O'Reilly
AND THEY DID IT!!! 😆
Comment is about The passion & the pride (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
You capture the scenes we all watch on TV perfectly, Stephen. I particularly liked 'odd little race'. The whole thing is utterly bizarre, isn't it?
Comment is about Tanks (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Fantastic poem, Stephen. Great imagination in the construction! Desperate topic but you continue to shine a light upon it and I'm glad you do.
Comment is about Blockbuster (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
"The strongest men are the most alone." Ibsen, quoted by CB and JAJ.
Comment is about CB (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
So from what immigrant stock do you derive, MC? Mine is Dutch. The queen’s is German. It’s not so bad once you get used to the idea that you have immigrant blood in you.
Comment is about WHEN WE WERE A KINDER NATION (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Hooray England ‘s dreams have come true,Predicted to win by Hugh😃
Comment is about Girl power at Wembley and advice for Liz Truss (blog)
Original item by hugh
2-1 for England just a few mins left
Comment is about Girl power at Wembley and advice for Liz Truss (blog)
Original item by hugh
Oh no 1-1
Comment is about Girl power at Wembley and advice for Liz Truss (blog)
Original item by hugh
IC - Aguably our greatest monarch, Queen Elizabeth the First (Good Queen Bess) took action to limit immigration which she
declared to be in the interest of the well-being of her nation.
Certainly, over subsequent centuries, there have been numbers
from varied origins who have been granted the privilege (and
it IS a privilege) to seek a home here for various reasons, often
due to persecution. You quote a number of them yourself.
It seems that your current theme can be accused of "simplistic
altruism" when, hot on the heels of those from Afghanistan + all those - legal and illegal - from other lands inimical to our
religious and social values, comes the arrival of 100, 000
Ukrainians. Hardly justification for saying we are a less kind
people than before. Check with Good Queen Bess.
KJ - you dispute any earned right to live in this country.
Would that apply to those who fought
and died in its service so that what
they knew and valued could survive, those images surely indelibly marked in
their hearts and minds as they went off
to war. I am of WHOM I was born. As,
I'm sure they too will admit, so are the
most recent arrivals to these shores. People and origins are an interwoven
fabric that serves to guide their futures.
Comment is about WHEN WE WERE A KINDER NATION (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Did this guy ever get it right. CB is a personal hero of mine.
Thanks
Keith
Comment is about CB (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Thank you to: Frederick, Stephen A., Holden, Moonlight and Carol for your likes of this poem. Thank you also to Stephen G for your comment. The poem is I suppose a clear example of how subjective poetry can be which often confuses the reader. Thank you all for reading the poem.
Keith
Comment is about A Second Chance (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Thanks Holden.
“We’re all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn’t. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.” CB.
Comment is about CB (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Indeed Carol! Indeed! 🙌
Comment is about Life’s a broadway musical (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
Yes Carol, me too, but the killing and suffering in Ukraine continues as NATO refuses to commit troops because of Russian nuclear blackmail. And we know what the appeasement of Nazi Germany lead to in the 1930s. We should have called Putin's bluff in February and so saved thousands of Ukrainian lives.
Comment is about 6 and 9 August 1945 (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Thanks!
Comment is about Reading to Literature students in Chile. (blog)
Original item by Graham Buchan
This is so well expressed, Keith, and your sincerity and honesty comes across through the words.
Comment is about A Second Chance (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
A perfect description, Brenda. Every word beautifully chosen.
Comment is about Summer Rain (blog)
Original item by Brenda Wells
Greg Freeman
Mon 1st Aug 2022 23:24
Thanks for the cheers, John, JC, Graham, and Steve, and for the Likes, Julie, Stephen, and Holden. A poem I claim no credit for, that just wrote itself.
Comment is about Homecoming (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman