What brands do I associate with?

Daily writing prompt

What brands do you associate with?

View all responses

Me and my favourite brands – only joking!

I’m not a ‘Brand’ follower.

I don’t see myself as ‘associating’ with any particular brand, especially luxury brands. Just because I might admire certain brands, or specific branded products, doesn’t mean that I associate or connect with them in a moral, sentimental, or image enhancing way. I also don’t believe in brand loyalty in an exclusive sense as most brands are run by big corporations who don’t care about their customers as much as making a fat profit. Brands, brand quality, price and customer service standards are constantly changing so I am unlikely to provide un-wavering loyalty to any.

Brands as a status symbol

So many people these days define themselves by the brands they use, whether clothes, IT, food and drink, cars, etc. I find people’s obsessive brand loyalty e.g. Apple i-products, BMW, Nike, Starbucks, etc. quite staggering. Yes, they may be satisfied with their brand experience but such loyalty is often the result of slick marketing and the desire to promote their own image and identity rather the excellence and value for money of the brand.

Wearing a luxury brand or using a particular tech gadget can make a statement about who we are. They have become a way for us to express our identity and show our status. I know people who go for brands which they can’t really afford due to peer pressure and the need to impress. I’m at a loss how students can afford i-phones. I struggle to understand why even well-off people would spend several £1000s on wrist watches or £100s on perfume.

I’m lost when people talk about luxury brands. I’m especially clueless on fashion brands. If someone was dressed in designer clothes, draped in luxury accessories (watches, jewellery, glasses and the like) and smelling of exotic perfume or cologne, I would not probably not recognise those brands. I’m not too good on recognising brand logos either so badging wont help. And if I read ‘Rolex’ on a someone’s watch face, I would probably assume it was a fake (so many out there). So, luxury brands are lost on me.

I don’t understand people’s unwavering loyalty to Brands

I do understand why, in this complicated and uncertain world why people look to recognised top brands to make the shopping or business experience more certain, and risk free even though it will probably cost them more. Its easier to go with brands that are predictable and have an appeal shared by other people. But I am amazed by how many people seem so impressed by a brand (because they see it as stylish, prestigious, innovative, dependable) that they feel the need to become ambassadors. And in this era of social networking they feel they must share their experience on-line and promote the brand. I think this is often because they are they really trying to promote themselves and establish an identity for themselves.

I don’t feel the need to engage with Brands

The brands themselves pester us for endorsement by wanting us to follow them on social media, review them and engage with their customers. A clever promotion strategy by the brand, but for me, a waste of my time and energy. If I am not satisfied with the brand, I will complain or ask for my money back. Posting a good review may make someone else’s purchasing decision easier and more informed but I really can’t be bothered.

‘Influencers’ make a good living promoting products by feigning their admiration for certain brands and convincing people they are cool, trendy and prestigious. To their audience, it is exciting and engaging, but for me, it is just another form of advertising. And since I don’t do Instagram, TikTok, Twitter or Facebook, I’m oblivious. Of course I am influenced by some advertising (aren’t we all?) but whatever branded product I consider, I’m less focussed on the ‘branding’ and more on whether it does the job and is worth the money.

But I do respect some Brands

So in conclusion, I don’t consider myself ‘associating’ with certain brands, especially luxury ones but I have purchased branded products or services that have given me a good experience and have been great value for money. Some even stand out. For example:

My Krups espresso coffee maker which has made me lovely coffee since 2012.

My Skoda Octavia car purchased in 2020 which has not put a foot wrong.

My Superdry shirts which have been washed hundreds of times and still look and feel good.

Cafe Nero which I think provides consistent good coffee and service.

Richer Sounds which has provided excellent service in choosing, buying and upgrading my hi-fi.

John Willie Lees and Timothy Taylors Landlord beers which have provided the fuel for many a good pub night out.

Remy Martin Champagne VSOP brandy which helps me chill-out in luxury.

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How would you design the city of the future?

I happened to come across this old WordPress prompt only recently and it made me wonder. Having spent most of my working life as a Chartered Town Planner, I should have a view on this.

It’s an interesting and topical subject because almost everywhere you look, someone is building a brand new city.

For example……..

• Gelephu Mindfulness City, Bhutan (1,000 sq km)
• Nusantara, Indonesia (2,561 sq km)
• Dholera Smart City, India (920 sq km)
• New Administrative Capital, Egypt (714 sq km)
• Belmont, USA (101 sq km)
• California Forever, USA (202 sq km)
• The Line, Neom, Saudi Arabia (34 sq km)

What will these new cities of the future look like?

Of course, the big new ‘eco’ or ‘smart’ cities will incorporate a plethora of sustainability features and cutting edge technology. They will include car-free streets, cater for electric and self driving vehicles, and will incorporate mass community transit. We will see drone travel and deliveries. They will be planned to accommodate 10 or 15 minute communities so that everyone can access the places they need to go within a 15-minute walk or bike ride in order to reduce travel and commuting. Buildings will be higher and bigger with bridges in the sky. Underground developments will be commonplace.

These ‘smart’ cities will use digital technology and data to make them safer, healthier, and more efficient urban environments. They may have their own waste water and supply and management systems. They will use renewable energy and use low carbon technologies for more sustainable living. They will have built-in flood management and will be resilient to climate change. They will have greenspace networks and corridors built in, along with urban farms, recreational open space and wildlife habitats.

Etc. etc.

These things, done correctly, are clearly good and sustainable (and hopefully, won’t be restricted to big cities).

Will these brand new cities be better than the attempts of the past?

When recently established new cities were conceived, they seemed exciting and the answer to so many population, social and economic problems.

Take Brasilia. It was an example of how modernist architecture could forge a futuristic utopian society. It was planned for a population of just 500,000, but today this has risen to 2.8 million and more than four million including satellite towns. The centre has stunning architecture, transport links, smart plazas, green networks and the necessary big city facilities. But the majority of the metro area’s residents live in the unplanned surrounding urban sprawl that it attracted. The city is now seen by many as antiquated, unsustainable and soulless.

Look at Dubai. Dubai’s population is expected to increase by around 2 million to reach 5.8 million by 2040. This expansion is supposed to be guided by a sustainable masterplan with technology and greenspace at the forefront. But for all its planning so far, it seems to me to be one of the most unsustainable places on earth. The Emiratis don’t have much choice where to live city-wise but if you ask ex-pats why they like living and working in Dubai, the reasons they will give are: it is safe (you don’t mess with the Emirates), there are big tax benefits, jobs are well paid, there are great leisure opportunities and good healthcare (provided you have a well paid job). I’ve never heard anyone saying they like living there because of its integrated communities, its connection with nature and wildlife, its culture or because its a great balanced place to bring up a family.

So, yes, new cities of the future should be better.

But will they be successful?

They may be more smart and sustainable but the indications are that they will also be high density, high rise, and designed to reduce unnecessary movement in the interests of the economy and sustainability. Will these cities be designed to give us freedom or control our freedom? There are human rights concerns that the so called ‘smart cities’ will have the ability to track and control our every move and activity and could collect more of our personal data than we would like.

Will new cities sustain the necessary funding and investment to make their visions a reality? Will they become too big to manage and adapt? Will they be built to satisfy the visions of megalomaniacs rather the needs of those people who are going to live and work in them? Will they be compromised by stupid politicians, pompous architects, greedy developers and bureaucratic obstacles? Hopefully not.

Would I live in one?

The thought of living in any big new city doesn’t excite me. I like to visit the attractive parts of cities that have history, culture and vibrancy, but I don’t want to live in one however well-planned it appears to be. The thing is, I don’t like big. And most big cities keep getting bigger. They attract wealth and employment opportunities but also inequality and poverty. They also generate more pollution and more crime than small towns.

Its probably an age thing but I feel more comfortable, more safe and more social in a small town. I want a low-rise urban environment with local greenspace and spaces for social interaction. I want good strategic connections to other towns and countryside. I want to be able to walk to a local area of countryside and to every day facilities such as shops, pubs, leisure and health facilities. There are reasons why the residents of so many small market towns in England are the happiest. They like human scale, compactness, a close knit community, familiarity, legibility and the feeling of having less anonymity. They feel less stress and anxiety than city dwellers.

Small towns are already sustainable in many ways and have relatively high density living but with liveable spaces. With strong planning controls they can stay that way and get better and more sustainable.

Conclusion: Lets design ‘small towns’ for the Future!

We can’t just keep expanding our current big cities incrementally and expect them to function properly. Conversely, the financial cost of a building a new supercity is mind-boggling and they will no doubt be designed with economic returns in mind so one wonders how sustainable they will actually be. Also, in these uncertain times they present a massive risk for private and public investors.

So this is my suggestion. Instead of building big new cities of the future, think ‘new small towns of the future’. There is land to build them, even in the UK. We just ensure that Green Belts surround them so they can’t extend or merge with other towns or swallow up the countryside. We need to ensure that they have essential facilities, have land allocated for jobs and essential uses, and are connected by strategic transport links to other parts of the region and other regions. We need to ensure that peripheral strategic transport routes do not become an excuse to target expansion through more unplanned housing estates, business parks or retail parks. We need to ensure they are innovative, attractive, safe and embrace culture and learning. They need to be planned by town planners, environmental experts and infrastructure providers. Architects should design the buildings and spaces.

This might just work in other countries but, in the UK, I feel it’s just pie in the sky. The countryside lobby and the Nimbys (the not in my backyard brigade) will fight against new towns and cities even in areas that have no special open land value. They would rather see existing ones expand incrementally and continually to the point they lose their identity, their setting, their valued local natural assets, and the good will of residents. The Government won’t go for it because it would be too difficult and the Nimbys wont vote for them.

So there we are.

Have you any thoughts on how you would design your town or city of the future?

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Thursday Doors – Beverley, East Yorkshire

This week, my contribution to Thursday Doors comes from Beverley, East Yorkshire, England.

Thursday Doors is a weekly photo challenge hosted by Dan Antion on his site “No Facilities”. Here, you can see some wonderful doors from around the world.

We recently visited this lovely market town for a couple of days. It is located some 27 miles south-east of York and 9 miles north-west of Hull. It inspired the naming of the city of Beverley, Massachusetts, which in turn was the source of the name for Beverley Hills, California. Medieval Beverley was a wealthy town and it is clearly a prosperous market town today. It has a towering gothic Minster, attractive market squares and smart Georgian town houses.

I posted some photos of windows there in a recent post in response to Ludwig Keck’s Monday Window photo challenge, but here is a small collection of doors I couldn’t resist sharing with you.

Gateway to the Dominican Friary, Beverley (See plaque below)

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Door with leaded stained glass window reflecting the adjacent Minster.

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Modest Georgian terrace with simple but elegant doorway.

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Beverley Minster

At the west end of Beverley Minster are two large wooden doors carved in the early 18th century by a York wood carver named William Thornton. On the doors are figures of the four gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Beneath the figures are their symbols – an angel, a lion, a bull and an eagle. Between the symbols and the figures are four carvings representing the different seasons of the year.

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Hope you like them!

Smartphone Apps. Do we really need an app for everything?

There’s an app for everything these days – often for things where they’re not really needed.

We all managed to do business with each other for years and years without having to rely on an app every time we want to buy or order something. Now were being pestered to download these apps every day and its annoying!

I don’t want another App.

A couple of years ago, at a garden centre cafe in Cheshire, I was asked by a server to order our two coffees by downloading an app or by using their website. This practise is now commonplace in cafes and restaurants. Often, I’m asked to scan a QR code which eventually downloads an app just so I can place an order or pay. I just can’t be bothered. I will order from the counter or I will walk out.

When I go to supermarkets, the tiller at the checkout asks me if I have got the app and I say no and that I don’t want one. It irritates me that I will miss out on price reductions but I have this conviction that ultimately it will cost me more in the long run with these apps.

When I do on-line shopping I decline the offer to download their app and I will order via their website, on my laptop which is full to the brim with security features. I will not use my smartphone to pay for anything or to do on-line banking. (I don’t trust smartphones either) My bank encourages me to use the app but, interestingly, on a recent visit, the bank advisor confessed she didn’t and wouldn’t use the app.

Dentists, doctors’ surgeries, healthcare companies, cinemas and theatres are rolling out apps to make appointments and bookings, even though the old way worked fine. (Perhaps not doctors though; getting an appointment always required cunning, threats and cries of pain and despair.)

I realise this is the mindset of a grumpy, distrustful, older person who can’t be bothered to get with the times and rejoice in the wonders of appage. However, its just the way I am and not because I am e-technically challenged. I just think that these Apps, the companies they serve and my smartphone are a bit smarter than me.

I don’t want a relationship with my product or service provider

I appreciate many of you love fiddling with your phones and enjoy waving them at scanners everywhere for fun. You will argue that using an app will make future purchases easier and more convenient by avoiding phonecalls or speaking to real people. We’re told that an app can make us aware of promotions, offers, etc. and allow us to communicate with the business and its customer community on social media. The thing is – I don’t want a bloody relationship with this business or its customers. I just want to do the deal and move on.

I’m not alone. I read that almost 80% of us have abandoned transactions in the last year because a brand wanted to force us to install their app in order to do business with them.

Apps are clogging up my phone

On a practical level, if I downloaded just a fraction of these apps, my phone would clogg up and die. I know a lot of people download them just to delete them after they have done their business but I really couldn’t be bothered.

I don’t trust Apps and the companies concerned

My real reluctance to use apps stems from my mistrust of the big companies concerned and what they do with my data. Once you’re set up on the McDonalds app, it might make your next order easier but in this age of endless data breaches, is ordering your burger 30 seconds faster worth the risk of a stolen credit card number?

Apps are a way for companies to get customers hooked and to track us, get our data and send it to others.

Many apps are tracking us in a way that is not necessary. The more they know about you, the better they are able to market and sell to you. They will sell your information to other parties that want to reach you too. Over half of all apps share your data with third parties and not just for your benefit. I read there are not many legal restrictions on how much data they can collect and what they can do with it.

I also read that you may download an app not realising that it is in some way connected to another app or is integrated with social media. That way, everyone gets a bit of you. In theory you can restrict the permissions you give to some apps but I have to admit, I struggle to understand all the various permissions that mobile apps ask for and consequently I am probably not as careful as I should be in granting access to my data or to other apps on my phone.

Many of you will say, “What does it matter? Life is too short and I don’t care who has my personal, information, or who tracks my movements, habits and preferences and I don’t mind targeted ads”.

Well I do! I don’t want to be compromised, manipulated or do business on the basis of offering up information that is unnecessary for companies to provide me with the product or service I want. I know the big companies don’t really care about me as an individual but having data on everybody as a whole and being able to extrapolate trends, statistics, public opinions, etc. is unnerving. In a discussion on Reddit, someone suggested, “The possibilities of this are unimaginable power on a country/world level: ability to swing elections, influence public opinions to achieve political goals, huge financial gains by investing in predicted stocks/products, etc. Google wields power a Bond villain could only dream of. And the scariest part is we don’t even know if it’s being used on us already. Most likely yes.”

That’s getting a bit heavy isn’t it so I’ll get back to my point. I’m not convinced apps are for my benefit. They want information about me that they can use for their own purposes. I know I share some of my activities, interests and views on my Blog site but I’m careful about what I say. Here I feel in charge and unintimidated. Using Apps, I feel I’m being controlled and conned. And I’m not convinced they offer more convenience when doing business.

Monday Windows – Beverley, East Yorkshire

My contribution to Monday Windows this time comes from Beverley in East Yorkshire, England. My photos were taken last week on a two day visit to this lovely town and I just had to share these with you on Monday Window.

Monday Window is a photo challenge hosted by Ludwig Keck. Check out his link – Monday Windows to his site to see more wonderful windows.

Beverley is a market town some 27 miles south east of York and 9 miles North west of Hull. It inspired the naming of the city of Beverley, Massachusetts, which in turn was the source of the name for Beverley Hills, California. Medieval Beverley was a wealthy town and it is clearly a prosperous market town today. It has a towering gothic Minster, attractive market squares and smart Georgian town houses like the one we stayed in (see below).

My first set of windows are taken of Beverley Minster.

Here are some other Beverley buildings with interesting windows.

The following show ‘Newbegin House’ (where we stayed)

Our Room. (No I didn’t by the way)

I’ve lost my Blogging Mojo – again!

I’m not looking for sympathy. I’m just saying.

I feel I should apologise though because not only have I lost the ability to focus on writing anything interesting and entertaining, I have lost the inclination to connect with the blogging world. For the last few months, I have offered little or nothing to the Blogosphere. I have become disinterested, discombobulated or perhaps just plain lazy. I should also apologise for not getting round to commenting on your Blog posts. I still read some (probably not on the day you posted them) and I do appreciate them. However, I am finding it hard to think of anything witty or engaging to say in response.

By way of some explanation, I have been busy with family life and other things. Part of my malaise is probably down to some health issues of those round me. Also, my general state of mind is telling me I should be doing things that are useful or practical rather than indulging in what I have been thinking might be a frivolous and perhaps slightly narcissistic, self promoting hobby.

I am becoming an unsociable blogger. It is a long time since I had a new follower and I have stopped caring if people unfollow me. I never felt the need to have a large following. I’m a fairly shy person and promoting my blog is just not my style. You wont be surprised that I am not really on social media. I communicate with friends in person, on the telephone or by text or whatsapp. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are the devil’s work as far as I am concerned and if I used those platforms, I wouldn’t know what to post.

Also, I find blogging increasingly intimidating. Without blogging regularly, promoting my blog on social media, scheduling posts properly, optimising posts for SEO, I will not get enough traffic and followers to get traction. If I cant be bothered to do it properly then why do it at all? Is it worth blogging to just a handful of people?

I am aware that whilst I can think of many topics that interest me and would form the basis of a blog, I struggle to convince myself that I have an interesting angle and that could put together an entertaining post.

So what now? Should I call it a day or should I persevere?

That’s a rhetorical question really. It’s up to me to decide.

I have read the many tips for overcoming bloggers’ block and I have revisited the reasons I stated blogging in the first place. That is to ……

• Document my life, my experiences and my thoughts
• Learn new skills (writing and IT Skills)
• Exercise my brain
• Meet interesting people and to learn
• Share my love of photography and music
• Contribute and support other bloggers and their interests and causes.

I might take some time to consider these and hopefully pull my blogging self together. Hopefully I will find some inspiration from somewhere. If I stop blogging altogether, I think I will miss it.

Maybe I will return with something involving photo or writing challenges if my brain and imagination decide to kick in.

Watch this space.

P.S. There is no image to accompany this post. I couldn’t find any suitable memes or images and I don’t understand the copyright rules. (Another fail!)

Born in 1954. Baby Boomer recalls………

This St Nicholas is as old as me.

Daily writing prompt

Share what you know about the year you were born.

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I was born in May 1954. On casual reflection it seems a very long time ago but when I look at videos and photos of back then, it seems even longer ago.

Just to set some context for you youngsters out there, this was 2 months after post war food rationing finally ended in UK. Just the day before I was born, Roger Bannister ran the first 4 minute mile.

The Prime Minister is Sir Winston Churchill, age 79. Dwight D. Eisenhower is US President.

Some famous people born that year included: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Jackie Chan, Jim Belushi, Ron Howard; German premier, Angela Merkel; and (in the music world), Adam Ant, Elvis Costello, and Annie Lennox.

In popular culture ………

• ‘Rock Around the Clock’ was released by Bill Haley and the Comets
• NBC’s ‘The Tonight Show’ was first aired with Steve Allen as the host
• Marilyn Monroe married Joe DeMaggio
• Elvis Presley began his music career

Popular Films that year included:

• White Christmas
• The Caine Mutiny
• The Glenn Miller Story
• On the Waterfront
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Popular Books included:

• Live and Let Die – Ian Fleming
• Lord of the Flies – William Golding
• The Lord of the Rings : The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers – J. R. R. Tolkien

Life in the 50s……….

When I listen to and read what people say, I question the clarity of those rose coloured lenses many people look back on the 50s with. Speaking to family and others, however, there does seem to be a consensus about what life at the time was like. From what I can glean, there appeared to exist a stoic mindset and a post-war optimism despite the difficulties of life for most ordinary people. Despite those difficulties, most people had pride in and loyalty to their country and seemed to share a common purpose in life. Families stayed together through difficult times, everybody knew their neighbours and had a sense of belonging. People were more trusting than today. Its true that people would routinely leave their street door on the latch and hang a key on a piece of string behind the letterbox when they were out so that their children to come and go as they pleased. Such trust was not always justified. One day my Nan got broken into after leaving the key on a string. (She got punched in the face by youths and was shook up but she chased them away). Breaking in and mugging of old ladies was rare and it was generally safe to walk the streets. There was very little vandalism, very little litter and hardly any graffiti. Telephone boxes were fully glazed, the telephones worked and each box contained a set of local telephone directories.

‘Health and safety’ hadn’t been invented though and children had few ‘rights’. We played outdoors, climbed a lot, fell out of trees and got dirty. Boys under 11 all wore shorts and legs were full of scrapes, bruises and iodine stains. We were taught discipline at home and at school and corporal punishment was freely administered for bad behaviour. I can only remember the odd smack on the back of the legs at home but the cane on the hand was a regular occurrence at school. Youngsters respected and feared people in authority such as policemen, teachers, and park keepers, knowing that a reprimand for misbehaviour would lead to another when Mum and Dad found out about it.

Sweets were no longer rationed, so kids did their best to overdose with obvious repercussions for dental health a few years down the line.

In the Home…….

Houses were cold and draughty in winter. I remember the frost that formed overnight on the inside of bedroom windows and those cold lino floors. The kitchen was a workplace which always seem to be filled with steam. Kids always knew their way round the kitchen but I knew to get out of Mum’s way on washing day.

On Sundays, everyone had a roast dinner and did you know that that 50 percent of young children drank tea with their meals? Bread and beef dripping was considered by many as a treat. (Not by me by the way). Baking was a big thing in most households then and not just a hobby or TV entertainment like today. Many households didn’t have a fridge so food shopping for groceries was a daily event.

I remember that in the 50’s most adults seemed to smoke and there were ashtrays in every room, even in the bedrooms. Many homes still didn’t have a bathroom so people would either wash in a tin bath by the fireside or in the kitchen. The toilets were often outside.

Only three million British households had a TV set in 1954 but TV was largely irrelevant to most kids as most play activities were outdoors in the streets with little traffic and parked cars to get in the way. Only 14 per cent of households owned a car! Until I was about 5, dad and granddad used bikes.

Kids activities and games……….

Boys and girls played street games together, such as ‘chariots, ‘hopscotch’ and ‘British bulldog’. In the playground schoolgirls practised handstands and cartwheels with their skirts tucked up under the elastic of their navy blue knickers, while the boys played marbles, conkers or swapped bubble gum cards. For many children, the Saturday morning pictures (cinema) was a highlight of the week. Every week, 200 to 300 unruly children would descend on a cinema for a couple of hours of film entertainment. The manager would regularly stop the film and threaten to send you all home if you didn’t behave. It was controlled mayhem with the stalls and circle filled with children cheering for the goodies and booing the baddies. It introduced us to The Lone Ranger and Zorro and the slapstick comedy of Mr Pastry.

Anyone remember Lucky Bags and frozen Jubblys and getting a sore tongue from sucking on gobstoppers, aniseed balls and Spangles? Then there were those old Smith’s potato crisps. The salt was in a twist of blue paper and you always had to rummage around for it at the bottom of the bag. All your pocket money would go on sweets and comics.

Urban Areas……….

Some larger urban areas suffered with smogs – known as pea-soupers – caused by fog combining with coal fire emissions. In 1952 a particularly thick smog shrouded London and caused the deaths of an estimated 12,000 people! I remember those pea-soupers in Manchester but only in the early 1960’s.

As a young child, I remember the war-torn areas of town, dilapidated housing, derelict land and cleared bombsites (playgrounds to us). I also remember the new housing estates, shopping centres and public buildings being built – many of which have since been demolished.

Music…….

It was the decade of skiffle music with Lonnie Donegan and of the start of rock’ n’roll with Bill Haley, Elvis Presley and British singers, Cliff Richard, Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde, Billy Fury and Adam Faith. Rock ‘n’ roll may have arrived but for the most part, all I remember on the radio until the 60s were ballads.

Conclusion…….

I was glad to be born in 1954. I missed the war and its worst subsequent effects and I was just about the right age to appreciate the more exciting parts of the next three decades. There was something cosy about growing up in the 1950s. Life was safer, less complicated and more structured. Children were allowed to be children for longer. Yes, the 50s weren’t perfect. There was more real poverty, mortality was greater, and not all values and attitudes were exemplary. And though I was glad to be born in 1954, I wouldn’t want to live through the 50s again. Time moves on and we should embrace every day and celebrate what is good about ‘now’ (something I often struggle to do).

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all !

Performing on stage at a Blog near you ……..

Daily writing prompt

Have you ever performed on stage or given a speech?

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Yes. I have I have performed on stage and delivered speeches in public.

I found both to be rather scary.

Public Speaking

I couldn’t avoid delivering speeches, or rather making presentations in public. It went with the job. Before I retired, I was a Town Planner with local government, managing a team preparing Development Plans for towns or parts of towns. A necessary part of the public consultation process was explaining the planning process and exploring options and proposals for growth and conservation over a 10-15 year period. This was often in front of a large public audience, who didn’t want to see any development at all. Consequently, they were often hard gigs. Speaking at Planning Committee meetings and public hearings and enquiries were also hard but slightly more predictable and formal.

I was pretty bad at public speaking at first but over the years, I improved. I’ll never be a natural public speaker but I did learn how to engage and hold my own with a mixed audience comprising objectors, residents, developers, fellow professionals, local councillors, public bodies… and even more scary individuals like planning inspectors and planning barristers. I learned how to plan my speech or presentation, how to project myself, adapt my content for the audience, and to run a question and answer session (which could get heated and a little personal) without it falling into chaos. I also got better at presentation techniques, avoiding death by powerpoint, and in avoiding or at least explaining town planning and related legal jargon in simple English.

Even so, I never felt that I had done a great job and I would beat myself up for days afterwards, analysing how I could have done better. What I’ve concluded is that you can never over-prepare, and, if you’re not a natural speaker, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take acting lessons. I know a senior manager who did this to learn how to project and articulate better, memorise, be more self aware and to increase confidence. It worked for him, but I think I would struggle. Thankfully, I don’t have to stand and speak in front of hundreds of people any more.

Performing on stage

By contrast, my more artistic performances on stage as a drummer in a band in the 1970s and early 1980s were much more pleasurable and I do look back fondly on them. Yes I did sometimes get stage fright, especially when our rehearsals hadn’t gone well. And yes, we didn’t always go down well with the audience. But what the heck, I was a student and I didn’t have to make a living at it. Also, I was too young and carefree to let a bum gig bother me.

I was a student in Leeds, Yorkshire the time and got together with mates on my course and a friend I was living with who was studying music at the Leeds Music College. We played at various types of venue and as a joke, always gigged under a new name reflecting the venue, usually including rude or disparaging content.

Our biggest gig was at Leeds University Students Union supporting famous guest DJ, (and my radio hero) John Peel. I remember we managed to borrow bits of the University’s own substantial sound system that night. God, we were loud! But despite a seemingly OK prior sound check, my drums hadn’t been mic’d up properly and the drums’ volume was poor. Consequently I had to drum as hard as I could to be heard and the band’s timing suffered in a few places because they couldn’t follow me. Our one roadie, and the resident Uni techy promised the sound levels would be perfect but alas, I doubt Mr Peel would have been that impressed. I was however chuffed to bits that he did say “Well done guys” afterwards and said we’d picked some good “tunes”. Also, the following evening John did a shout-out on the radio saying “Thank you kindly everybody for a great night at Leeds Uni Union last night”.

Technical issues just happen when you play live but on occasions we didn’t help ourselves. The most memorable examples were at the Wellesley Hotel, during a Leeds Polytechnic departmental end of year party. We went with the intention of doing our best gig yet. We had rehearsed and geared our set to covers of classic rock and dance classics to get everybody up dancing. We also included a few folky prog rock numbers to to keep credibility with some of disco hating hippies or proggers.

We had gotten slightly over-ambitious with the electronic effects and props. There were 6 of us and a lot of equipment so we had to extend the stage using milk crates and plywood. Once we got playing and moving on stage, we realised the stage was falling apart. The next thing was I found my base drum moving further away from me as the gig progressed leaving my control of the bass drum pedal rather strained. Stage repairs mid gig can be quite stressful.

Our friend and roadie ‘Dave’ had the bright idea of setting off some 4 or 5 flash charges along the front of the stage during ‘Jumping Jack Flash’. I have no idea where he got them from or what he was thinking! They were connected with wires to an extension lead which plugged into a mains plug in the concert hall. When the switch was flicked, the first flash went off and the house lights went out and some of our equipment died. The effect was far from flashy. Of course we told the audience it was an electrical failure. Once the hotel maintenance man investigated, it was clear that we were the cause of it and we were told not to use the flashes. We continued to play but our next technical cock-up was awaiting. In anticipation of the prog rock mini-set, our roadie Dave had set up a dry ice machine. This was due to kick into action when we played ‘The Strawbs’ song, ‘Hangman and the Papist’ – thereby providing an impressive and menacing mist across the stage. I think Dave was keen to be a showman despite not being able to play a musical instrument himself. But, as students, our resources for this sort of kit didn’t match Dave’s ambition. The machine was an old decrepit affair – basically a cauldron that boiled water into which dry ice was chucked. There was a delayed reaction. The mist didn’t appear until the next song and everyone was mystified as to its relevance. Irritated by the delay, Dave had added more dry ice and the mist started to completely take over the stage and waft down onto the dancefloor. We could hardly see each other on stage and we daren’t move for fear of tripping over something. The crowd moved backwards; more in fear than in awe.

They say disasters come in threes but this night, it was in fours. Just into our second set, I put a drumstick through my snare drum. As I didn’t have a spare skin (such an amateur), I had to turn the drum upside down and use the bottom skin. That thinner skin lasted only one song and the snare wires got damaged too. Consequently the rest of the set was played on tom toms and cymbals only. Many people didn’t notice but I was pretty pissed off by this time.

There are a few more stories I could tell but maybe they could be the subject of another blog.

Have you performed in a band on stage, and do you have any good stories?

Post-Holiday Blues

Es Cana, Ibiza

It is now two weeks since my wife and I returned from holiday in Ibiza and we have come down to earth with a bump. After enjoying a relaxing, sunny break there and after the initial euphoria of arriving home on schedule and seeing the house still standing, that euphoria has turned to mild depression and anxiety.

We returned to miserable grey skies and unseasonally cold temperatures. Just as I convinced myself the weather must soon improve and become more settled, Storm Babet arrived. It’s passed over now but I’m left with the realisation that it will only get colder and the days will turn shorter as we move towards winter. It will be at least 5 months before I feel a warm sun on my face and can wear just a tee-shirt in this country. It is depressing.

Having soaked up the happy vibes and the relaxed, slow pace of Ibiza, real life has now kicked in. The warm sunshine, blue sea, sandy beaches, and meals prepared for us etc. are a distant memory. In Ibiza my biggest decision was whether to drink red wine or beer with lunch. Now we have bigger things to decide and things to do. A lot of them. Some are trivial in the scheme of things but they are nevertheless things I’d rather not have to deal with or which I find stressful.

Let’s go through the list…..

Gardening

The garden was in a state before we went away thanks to the lousy weather. The grass was long and now it’s even longer and still too wet to mow. There are weeds everywhere, the shrubs have had a late growth spurt, the pond needs cleaning, the outside tap needs mending, there are a million horse chestnut shells to clear up (which means the squirrels have buried the conkers throughout my garden and in my planter pots) and the lawn has grown clusters of mushrooms and moss. It’s a mess but I don’t feel inclined to go outside to do anything.

Pest Control

We now have visitors in the loft so I will need to go up there, put poison down and try and work out how they got in. (Vermin by the way, not squatters)

Roof Works

I will need to continue spending hours on the phone and banging my head against the wall trying to get somebody competent and willing to repair my ageing porch roof and to top up my loft insulation before the winter.

Decorating

We have arranged for the decorators to paint the walls in our hall stairway and upstairs landing, so I’ll have to do the prep for that and afterwards we need to gloss paint 6 doors.

Financial Planning

We need to review our financial situation. World events, crazy governments and financial institutions have conspired to prevent us from making anything from our savings and investments. In real terms we are worse off and we need to review things. It would help if I was savvy in these matters but I’m not, and having spoken to our financial advisor I am none the wiser on what to do.

Health Matters

We need to organise a private medical consultation for my wife because the NHS appointment promised last April has not happened and the hospital doesn’t know when or if it will. I need to see the dentist about whether he can save my ailing tooth and try not to have coronary when he tells me how much the solution will cost.

I have late middle-aged spread, not helped by my holiday, and whilst my wife and I have adopted a post holiday healthy diet, I need to exercise more. I promised myself I would go to the gym but I haven’t made it yet and have only managed to do a few exercises at home. Its not fair that us old guys find it much tougher to burn calories and build muscle.

House Hunting

We’re not enamoured with the way our home town is changing and we want to move, probably closer to my daughter and family in Cheshire. There, house prices are much more expensive so even downsizing will cut into our savings. Whilst I’m looking forward to finding our ideal home I’m dreading the stressful process of buying and selling. Thoughts of moving make me wonder why I’ve made no attempt to start clearing the tons of accumulated rubbish in our garage and sheds.

I could go on.

I know what you are thinking…. we are lucky to have some of these problems bearing in mind the plight of some people and the cost of living crisis. And it’s not as though I have to go back to work after our holiday as I am retired. But I find, as I get older, that I lose the drive and inclination to spring into action to deal with the crap and the stressful. Also, as winter kicks in and my SAD syndrome leads me to be irritable, fed-up and just want to hibernate in the living room, it’s even more of a struggle to motivate myself. Luckily, I’ve got a wife who can help to motivate and organise me. Also, I have a wonderful family who will distract me from some of the crap and keep me laughing.

A Google search on ‘Post-holiday blues’ revealed that it is a real phenomenon that affects a lot of people. One site suggested that the terms post-holiday ‘blues’, or post-holiday ‘depression’ are dramatic and that what we really experience is a’ post-holiday normalisation’. (see interesting article published by Deakin University in Australia). Other sites suggest there can be serious repercussions for mental health (although I would have thought that is the case in only a minority of cases). Whilst browsing, I thought I would ask AI to suggest ways to combat post holiday blues, and it came up with quite a few, including the following.

• Host a post-holiday party (Not a bad idea if if I could find enough people interested and I could be bothered)
• Find an activity or interest inspired by your holiday to take-up or learn. (I suppose I was very struck by Flamenco guitar music, DJ-ing electronic dance music, and sampling Spanish wine, but only one of these is likely to fall within my capabilities.)
• Print or post your holiday photos or memoirs (Yes, I’m doing that so I should see my blogging as a kind of therapy)
• Reach out to others to say how you are feeling (Yes, and I would, quite rightly be met with “Boo-Hoo… get over it!”)
• Start planning your next holiday (Now that’s more like it!!)

Thursday Doors – Ibiza

Come and knock on my Thursday Doors. This time I’m posting some door photos taken on a recent holiday in the Spanish Balearic island of Ibiza. I hope you like them.

Thursday Doors is a weekly photo challenge where lovers of doors and architecture can admire and share their door photos and images. If you’d like to join in, create your own Thursday Doors post and share a link to your post in Dan Antion’s Thursday Doors photo challenge on his site, nofacilities.com.  

All over Ibiza you will find doors like this advertising the clubs and party events. Well, it is the party capital of the world!

A funky door in Santa Eulalia

An apartment on the slopes of the hilltop in Ibiza town. The car is just right for those narrow streets. Made me smile.

I nearly missed this wonderful door.

There are some great old wooden doors here

Another funky door.

I’ll post more Ibizan doors another time. If your interested in looking at some nice Ibizan windows,see my last post or visit Dan Antion’s Thursday Doors photo challenge