Last Night I Slept Well

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I was up at five this morning as usual.

Two hungry felines paced up and down the hall as they do every morning.

This morning to them was just like any other start to the day in their little lives.

Last night I slept well.

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I usually have no trouble at all in getting a good nights sleep except for one night of the year - December 31st.

This is the night when half the population tries very hard, and usually succeeds, in depriving the other half of the population of a peaceful nights slumber.

Every year as I reach that last day on the calendar I become more and more upset knowing that after a couple of hours sleep that night, I am going to be woken up by inconsiderate people setting off explosives in their back gardens.

So imagine my surprise and relief, when I found out that I had slept right through it.

Last night I slept well.

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I was also pleased to read on numerous web pages, newspapers and blogs, that I am not alone in feeling this way.

Just to quote one - Peter Hitchens had this to say:-

“And as I am actively hostile to the 'New Year', a celebration of nothing in particular generally encouraged by states which loathe Christmas, I'll try to make no further mention of this empty, insignificant moment, for which non-devotees now have to buy earplugs if we wish to sleep, since the 'New Year' lot seem to think they are entitled to shatter the midnight peace with colossal explosions and high-pitched whistles.”

A “Miserable Toad” my sister-in-law sometimes calls me, but this is no so.

I have absolutely no problem with anybody, anywhere, celebrating whatever they like, as long as their celebrations do not in any way affect other people.

Last night people were celebrating a ‘man-made’ event of little significance to me, namely the hanging up of a new calendar on the kitchen wall.

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Society could have chosen any of the 365 days (approx)

that the earth takes to orbit the Sun, as its starting point..

January 1st is not the longest day.

It is not the shortest day.

It is just one of several standards that we all use for convenience.

For example, the taxman uses April for the start of his year.

If last night, at midnight, people were celebrating one orbit of the Earth around the Sun, they were too early by approximately six hours! It takes 365 and ¼ days for a complete orbit.

However,

allow this Grumpy Old Man to wish you all the

Best of Everything over the next 365 days.

2011 could be a 'bumpy ride' for some.

I hope you all, miss the 'potholes and bumps' !

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Slow, slow. Quick quick. Slow.

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I have music books of Marches, books of Waltzes and books of Polkas but nowhere could I find a book of Foxtrots. I have lots of individual sheets of course and I chose this one below for no other reason, than I just liked it.

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A Novelty Fox-trot.

The Foxtrot originated in the summer of 1914 by Vaudeville actor Harry Fox. Born Arthur Carringford in Pomona, California, in 1882, he adopted the stage name of "Fox" after his grandfather.

In early 1914, Fox was appearing in various vaudeville shows in the New York area.

This was the time when the New York Theatre decided to try vaudeville acts between the shows, and they selected Harry Fox and his company of "American Beauties" to put on a dancing act.

At the same time the ‘Jardin de Danse’ was built on the Theatre roof and this was where the Fox-trot dance originated. As part of his act downstairs, Harry Fox was doing trotting steps to ragtime music and it wasn’t long before this was referred to as "Fox's Trot".

I can’t ever remember trying to dance a foxtrot to ragtime! Today, the dance is customarily accompanied by the same big band music to which swing is also danced.

From the late teens through the 1940s, the Foxtrot was certainly the most popular fast dance and the vast majority of records issued during these years were foxtrots. The waltz and tango, while popular, never overtook the Foxtrot.

Now what prompted this post, was that last week, I was in the kitchen with Hazel sitting on the windowsill looking out at the garden through the open back door.

All of a sudden she turned her head to the door - I did the same - just in time to see a fox stroll past. I went to get my camera and looked all around, but nothing, until about ten minutes later I saw him trotting off down the road. This was about eight o’clock in the morning.

We have green wheely-bins here for kitchen and garden waste. They are put out every two weeks and of course the foxes have a ’field day’. They have learnt that all they need to do, is knock the bin over onto its side to get at that old chicken carcass.

This morning I noticed four bins on their side with food scraps all over the pavement.

And this time I did manage to get a picture of Mr (or Mrs) Fox trotting home, not with a bit of roast chicken but a poor dead wood-pigeon.

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Late breakfast.

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"Time and Tide Wait for no Man"

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I have always been interested in astronomy and as a lad longed for a telescope to peer skyward. Alas they were all very expensive.

I have also always had a fascination for sundials, clocks and weird mechanical mechanisms. As you may expect I have quite a few books on the above subjects.

At this time of the year, when it seems the whole world goes mad to celebrate an instant in time, the big mistake they make, is that they all do it at a different time.

As I write this, they are probably letting off fireworks in Australia and it will be another 20 hours or so before the celebrations start in California.

So you see it is very difficult to celebrate a man made ’time event’ at the same time.

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Who decides when the New Year starts?

As there are 365 ¼ days in a year, it starts at a different time EVERY year.

Who decided on twelve months in a year…..and why not thirteen?

What on earth is a week…..seven days! Why seven?

I could go on, but….you see these are all man-made periods (person-made sounds awful).

The calendar is essential but why celebrate the turning of any particular page or the hanging up of a new calendar on the kitchen wall?

Call me Pagan if you like but I see more logic in celebrating the celestial recurring events like the Winter and Summer Solstices and the Spring and Autumn Equinox.

They are unchanging, immovable events and always ’On Time’.

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So shall I celebrate my 365 ¼ days of blogging?

No I don’t think so, but what I will do is thank everyone, and I miss no-one out, for dropping in, reading and commenting on some of the most ridiculous rubbish and corny jokes ever to float out of Bourne End.

I have enjoyed it……sometimes I’ve been at a loss for a good story but it has all been a bit of fun.

I have managed to keep up a daily post, but have often wondered if this is wise. Maybe the quality falls off, maybe I repeat myself (a bit like the telly these days!), perhaps I should only write when I have something important.

I was going to reflect on this over the Christmas break, but guess what? I missed you all too much.

So off we go into the man-made year 2010, although I got there on December 22nd, and I want to wish you all that you would wish upon yourselves.

I have no favourites and no awards to make…..with one exception.

That goes to Foody or Singing Chicken as she has shattered the glass on my “Commentometer”. I haven’t counted them all but it must be well over 250 encouraging comments.

But as I said….Thank you all.

See you next year.

Kippers, KD, Dickie and Uncle Bernard. xx

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From the Organ Grinder and friends!

Think I'll just wander out and look at the stars.

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"Happy New Year"

The Old Clock Winder

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I'm going to be a bit lazy today.....with two pics and a song.

(Thanks Deb for the idea of watches/clocks.)

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A German clock winder to Manchester came

And Peter Von Gherkin was the old German's name

All up our street with his little brass bell

"Some clocks for to wind," this old German would yell.

Refrain:

I toodalum, I toodalum, I toodalum I ay

I toodalum, I toodalum in the old fashioned way

I toodalum, I toodalum, I toodalum I ay

Well I winds 'em by night and I mends 'em by day

ding dong, ding dong, ding dong, ding dong.

He's met a young woman in Stephenson Square

She said as her clock was in need of repair

She took him upstairs and he followed with delight

In less than ten minutes, he'd set her clock right.

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Now this old German was the ladies' delight

He often went to 'em by day and by night

And some went too fast-like, others went too slow

But nine out o' ten, he could make 'em all go.

While they were busy at what they was at

All of a sudden there came a rat-tat

And in came her hubby who got such a shock

To see this old German winding up his wife's clock.

Our clock it was bent and knocked out of repair

Well that poor old German, he got such a scare

That never, oh never, for the rest of his life

Would he wind up the clock of another man's wife.

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It was 10 o'clock at Midnight

     
Have you noticed that in 'nature' not many things come in tens or fives?

OK well we have five digits on each hand and I expect there are some five pronged starfish ......but not many.

Nature seems to prefer ...fours, eights and sixteens.

Now how about fifteen?  The only things to come in fifteens are eggs from ASDA.

I went into our Post Office yesterday (closure threat lifted) and asked for a book of ten second class stamps.

"Sorry, they don't do a 'ten' " she said, "They come in dozens".

How nice to hear 'dozens' I thought.

Now you ask......why some sheet music with a clock face on it?

Well, the other day I came on this bit about "Metric Time".

God, will the eu leave nothing alone? 

Then I found out the year was 1792.

So how do you fancy a metric pocket watch?

This one was made at Limoges when “metric-mania” swept through France after the Revolution in 1792.

It has a decimal dial divided into 10 hours and 100 minutes.

Needless to say, like a lot of enforced metrication, the idea did not catch on.

In fact, in order to make things easier, they placed a small dial at the bottom showing ‘old-fashioned’ 12 hour time!

Luckily this form of metric madness did not cross the Channel way back in 1792, as the English could recognise a daft idea a mile off.  Mind you it took the French 10 years of this chaos before they finally scrapped the concept of “Decimal-time

           Time by moments steals away

           First the hour and then the day

             Small the daily loss appears

            Yet it soon amounts to years.