It’s Friday, it’s your tune!

Dear all,

Dedication Friday is an invitation for you to send in your music dedications. The song you love and wish to share with others, a time to reminisce, to dedicate in memory of those we have lost, and a dedication to family and friends maybe. A wedding or divorce tune… Or just a little something for you!

My tune for today is below. It is sung by Yazz (originally sung by Otis Clay). This song is dedicated to my friend who celebrated her birthday alone yesterday due to the heavy snow and having to isolate. She looked like Yazz and even dyed her hair the same when younger. It definitely brings back some memories for me, we used to dance to this when out in the clubs. A distant memory now when going out was all the rage 🙂 And hopefully we will again soon, well maybe not to the clubs but a cafe or two will do. The lyrics are hopeful too…….. things maybe a little hard now but we’ll find a brighter day….hold on, the only way is up :).
.
Is there a tune you wish to share with others?
.
If yes, email me: lisa@caringtogether.org.uk or call me: 07436 530073  
.
Click on the highlighted link below to listen:
ps. If it asks you to sign into Youtube, just click on ‘no thanks’ and then click on ‘I agree’, you may also have to watch the start of an advert first, you can skip ad once it shows bottom right – enjoy!
What happened to 'The Only Way is Up' singer Yazz? - Smooth
image sourced: smooth radio

Bingo anyone? Wednesday 20th January 2021@3pm

Is anyone up for some online bingo Wednesday 20th January @3pm? If yes please get in touch before 1pm Tuesday 19th January and I will get some cards out to you on Wednesday morning. We can have a few games and there will be prizes – nothing too lavish of course but they will still be lovely and hopefully it will be a bit of fun too.
.
Email me back or just call me on the details below if yes. If you or your family don’t have the internet or are not too good with zoom then this is ok you can use your phone to listen and hear the numbers being called if you wish. It just means you won’t be able to see anyone, which if you are ok with then let me know. I can go through all this with you.
.
Lisa: Caring Together Mobile: 07436 530073
email: lisa@caringtogether.org.uk

Snowy scene in Leeds this morning…….but where?

Dear all, I have been sent someone’s view from their window this morning. Slightly obscured by the dense snow filled air with just the building in the forefront visible. Can anyone guess where this might be? And I am sure the snow is thicker on the ground by now.

Keep safe everyone.

Shared Moments: ‘Communication now’ by Oliver Cross

I wish I wasn’t frightened of my own voice because then I could spend all day on social media talking to people I don’t know.

Which, at a time when old-fashioned personal contact is mostly outlawed, would mean I could make a contribution to combating the loneliness and anxiety which is supposed to be the main curse of the lock-down age, even more so than thousands of people dying prematurely, which we don’t like to think about.

My problem is that I don’t distinguish, in terms of difficulty, between talking, texting or ‘proper’ writing; any use of words is a serious business to me, so that I can take 20 minutes to fill in a birthday card. An internet conversation involving me would be made up mainly of long pauses and the only message people could take from it would be that my broadband needs fixing,

I’ve not been able to join in the great socially-distanced virtual hug we’re all supposed to be giving ourselves because, as well as my own voice, I’m frightened of strangers (plus, although it’s not immediately relevant, coat hangers, ironing boards and brassicas).

This is why I find it difficult to get involved in conversation with parcel deliveries, bus drivers, barbers, general practitioners or lost people desperately seeking directions. I know this is wrong but shyness is a terrible thing, not because it makes you unhappy, but because it makes you, in many situations, near-useless.

But although shyness is generally a bad thing, unrestrained self-confidence, as demonstrated all over the net and on radio phone-ins, can be equally problematic, by which I mean absolutely dreadful and isn’t it a pity that all the recent huge advances in popular communication have cumulated in Donald Trump?

This shouldn’t have happened because most of us have access to countless sources of information and opinion and, to quote Areopagitica,  John Milton’s great tract on freedom of speech, ‘Let Truth and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worst in a free and open encounter?’

Which might have been true when it was written in 1644 and when I studied it at A-level a few years later, but now Truth looks tattered and vulnerable; after taking a beating from 20th century totalitarians it’s had to deal with 21st century PR companies, sneaky politicians, conspiracy theorists and the incessant shouting of people who want to drown out every version of truth but their own.

Milton, thinking truth had a pure and unassailable quality, would have been quite floored by the discovery of Trump’s advisor, Kellyanne Conway, that there are such things as ‘alternative facts’, which mean the result of the US presidential election can be whatever you want it to be.

This makes things difficult because when Twitter bans Donald Trump from spreading lies and inciting violence, and  Donald Trump Jnr responds by tweeting that ‘free speech no longer exists in America’ I’m not sure where the very small Ariopagitica Support Group should stand.

But I’ve decided that Junior’s statement, published in every corner of America, should probably be dismissed as self-contradictory.

Thank you Oliver, until next time….

Poetry Corner: ‘The Communal Defrost’ by Gary Smith

Jack frost had paid a call,
The morn was all a-glitter.
Icicles dangled from frozen gutters,
The day was cold and bitter.

Greetings of "good morning "
Came from here and there
As the hardy left their houses,
To face the freezing air.

I heard familiar sounds
Echoing around our street,
Neighbours scraping windscreens
And stamping frozen feet.

Clouds of exhaled breath
Rose up to the sky,
As if ghostly, silent steam trains
Were slowly drifting by.

The sound of engines running,
As people warmed their cars.
It was the communal defrost,
Beneath early morning stars.

sourced http:/ www funnypoemsforlife com

‘Monday Mind Workout’ answers for Monday 11th January 2021

Dear all, below are the answers for yesterday’s Monday Mind Workout that was themed around the New Year.

1.The first ball to be dropped in New York’s Times Square happened in what year?
a. 1908

2.The first time that January 1st was celebrated as the beginning of a new year was in 153 B.C. when the Romans moved the first month of their calendar back to January. For what reason did the Romans do this?
a. To coincide with elections of the two highest ranking Republic positions.

3.In 567 A.D., the Council of Tours prohibited the recognition of an official New Year. Why did they do this?
b. They disliked that the date was originated with pagans.

4.What famous Frank was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, on January 1, 1938?
b. Actor Frank Langella

5.In 1583, what event returned January 1st as the observation of the New Year in Europe?
c. The institution of the Gregorian Calendar.

6.The lyrics of the now-traditional New Years song “Auld Lang Syne” began as a poem set to the tune of a much older Scot folk ballad. Who wrote the poem?
b. Robert Burns

7. On January 1, 1877, what happened to Queen Victoria of Britain?
c. She got stuck in her throne, requiring three hours of manpower and twenty pounds of butter to get her out.

8.On January 1, 1906, the government of the Netherlands
made what law?
a. Mandatory licenses required for driving engine-powered vehicles.

9.On January 1, 1962, who failed to pass an audition for Decca Records?
b. The Beatles
10.What name was given to the predicted computer meltdown at the beginning of the year 2000?
a.Millennium Bug

‘Monday Mind Workout’ – Monday 11th January 2021

Dear all, Today’s Monday Mind Workout is themed around the New Year. Best of luck.
 
1.The first ball to be dropped in New York’s Times Square happened in what year?
a. 1908 b. 1925 c. 1938 d. 1962
 
2.The first time that January 1st was celebrated as the beginning of a new year was in 153 B.C. when the Romans moved the first month of their calendar back to January. For what reason did the Romans do this?
a. To coincide with elections of the two highest ranking Republic positions.
b. To honor the god, Janus, god of beginnings and transitions.
c. More sacred sheep were born in January than in February.
d. To honor Tobasco, god of hangover relief.
 
3.In 567 A.D., the Council of Tours prohibited the recognition of an official New Year. Why did they do this?
a. They believed the end of the world would happen soon.
b. They disliked that the date was originated with pagans.
c. To move the date to August 9 in order to replace the Frankish holiday of Stickball Day with a less athletic-themed celebration.
d. Because they were just a bunch of grumpy geezers who hated celebrating anything.
 
4.What famous Frank was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, on January 1, 1938?
a. Entertainer Frank Sinatra, Jr.
b. Actor Frank Langella
c. Football player and coach, Frank Beamerd. Head of the barley cereal syndicate crime family, Frankenberry
 
5.In 1583, what event returned January 1st as the observation of the New Year in Europe?
a. A severe earthquake in Portugal on that date that miraculously took no human victims.
b. Papal fear surrounding a dire prediction by seer John Dee.
c. The institution of the Gregorian Calendar.
d. The 67-year-old Queen of Spain took her first bath.
 
6.The lyrics of the now-traditional New Years song “Auld Lang Syne” began as a poem set to the tune of a much older Scot folk ballad. Who wrote the poem?
a. John Keats
b. Robert Burns
c. Lord Byrond. Dr. Seuss8.
 
7. On January 1, 1877, what happened to Queen Victoria of Britain?
a. She got married.
b. She celebrated her 50th birthday.
c. She got stuck in her throne, requiring three hours of manpower and twenty pounds of butter to get her out.
 
8.On January 1, 1906, the government of the Netherlands
made what law?
a. Mandatory licenses required for driving engine-powered vehicles.
b. A national census.
c. Recognition of Dutch as the national language.
d. Prohibition on the wearing of lampshades as hats.
 
9.On January 1, 1962, who failed to pass an audition for Decca Records?
a. Liberace
b. The Beatles
c. Comedian George Carlin
d. The Jackson Two
 
10.What name was given to the predicted computer meltdown at the beginning of the year 2000?
a.Millennium Bug
b.Millennium Ants
c.Millennium Cat

Shared Moments: ‘Recording equipment’ written by Maureen Kershaw

Dear all,

Conducting yet another sort out of my storage cupboards – I know I’ve done it twice since March – but I have to be more ruthless. Not enough goes out. In truth it goes back,  but in a different order and place. One item which evokes memories is my relatively  new cassette recorder. Many music rehearsals involved the recording on one; the first being a ‘Phillips’ in the 1970s, folllowed by a ‘Sony’ some twenty years later. Bulky and heavy to cart around but they served their purpose. When I last joined choirs I observed small dictaphone type gadgets being used then many years later on phones too. Meanwhile my 2nd issue recorder sat at my feet involving a lot of bending down to switch on and off. It eventually gave in as I started rehearsing for a production at Leeds’ Civic Hall on the Suffragette Movement. I toyed with the idea of a handheld tiny gadget – and ended up with a replacement ‘Sony’. You see I still have several cassette tapes dating back to the 1970s so there is something quite vintage and sentimental about their existence.

There’s the play “When We Are Married” by LIDOS at the Civic Theatre, concert party rehearsals and a recording of highlights of a Leeds Civic Arts Guild show in the early 80s. The recorded productions were made so by setting the machine on the floor of the stage wings, which made for some interesting whispered conversations too. Similarly recordings of a particular TV show would have my Mum interrupting to talk and me saying “shush” followed by Mum’s – “oh sorry!”. At least these are the portable cassette recorders unlike the huge reel to reel tape recorders. My first one at the age of twelve was a second hand ‘Grundig’ on which I would record Alan Freeman’s Top 20 at 4pm on a Sunday afternoon. Who remembers trying to press ‘stop’ before presenters started talking again? A twin-track was my limit but would have found a 4-track one jolly useful. The downside to tape recorders though was the awful moment when the tape twisted, or worse and had to be coaxed back in with a biro pen; oh yes we’ve all been there!

When I listened to Cliff Richard’s radio programme each Sunday night I would part-record from our huge, solid Bakelite radio. The station was ‘Radio Luxembourg’ which required much twiddling and tweaking to control the whistling and wobbly sounds. Then there were the incessant adverts for ‘Horace Batchelor’, the Football Pools man with his spelling of the address – K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M, Bristol. I remember our first transister radio (of a sort) or rather it was my brother in law’s radio which we would take on a picnic, lifting the lid (it was half the size of a record player!) to play music outdoors, a novelty. If I borrowed it,  I would take out in the street and carry around with the lid slightly open – an early transistor! All the technology is so much more lightweight and tinier these days and I often wonder how it will change again in years to come. That said, I love the nostalgia of yesteryear so I think it’s time to discover what other gems are amongst those tapes….

Thank you Maureen once again, until next time…

Picture sourced from Google -RalphsRadio’s

Tape Recorders - Ralph'sRadios

Poetry Corner: ‘Happy New Year’ by unknown

If it didn’t bring you joy
just leave it behind
Let’s ring in the new year
with good things in mind

Let every bad memory
that brought heartache and pain
And let’s turn a new leaf
with the smell of new rain

Let’s forget past mistakes
making amends for this year
Sending you these greetings
to bring you hope and cheer
Happy New Year!

sourced: https:/ www newyearwiki com inspirational-new-year-poems/

‘Monday Mind Workout’ answers for Monday 4th January 2021

Good morning,
‘Monday Mind Workout’ answers from yesterday. How did you do?
1.Which Yorkshire football team got promoted to the football league for the first time in its history?
Harrogate Town football club have been riding on a high this year after securing the promotion, exciting fans all over the county.
2.The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited which Yorkshire city in January?Bradford was the first engagement of the year for the royals this year.
3.In a shock Christmas appearance, who returned to Emmerdale?
Debbie Dingle was rumoured to be returning and her entrance was both a pleasant surprise and a disappointment for fans.
4. Where was Captain Sir Tom Moore born, and what did he do to raise money for the NHS?
Walking a mile a day , Captain Tom Moore’s, who was born in Keighley , impressive achievements were heralded by all.
5.What was Yorkshire man Bob Weighton famous for?
Bob Weighton was the world’s oldest man , passing away at 112 years old this year.
6.Which girl band – with one of its members born in Leeds – are set for a reunion tour next year?
Spice up your life! The Spice Girls ‘ return has been greatly anticipated despite the absence of Victoria Beckham.
7.Which famous Bradford man’s family got into trouble this year, for breaking Covid-19 rules at a wedding?
Zayn Malik ‘s family was caught out with breaking Covid-19 restrictions after hosting a large wedding.
8.Which Hull-born actress became the first dame of Coronation Street?
Maureen Lipman was said to be ecstatic at becoming the first Dame to have appeared on Coronation Street
9.Why did Nicola Adams and her Strictly Come Dancing partner make headlines?
The pair created a stir as they performed as the first same-sex couple on Strictly.
10.Look North presenter Harry Gration stepped down in October after how many years service?
Harry Graiton served an incredible 40 years with the BBC.
11.Where was Harry Gration born?
Bradford was the birth place of Harry, although he currently resides in Scarborough.
12.Which I’m A Celeb contestant said Yorkshire Tea was their favourite?
Vernon Kay knows what’s best – Yorkshire Tea has always been the superior cuppa.
13.Which I’m A Celeb star was born in Morley?
Bev Callard was born in Morley.
14.Which football team had their coach nominated for the FIFA coach of the year award?
Leeds United have had a successful year, meaning it was no surprise that Marcelo Bielsa found himself nominated.
15.A huge 15ft shark was found alive on a Yorkshire beach. Which beach was it?
The unfortunate basking shark was found on Filey beach
16.Where is Yorkshire’s Nightingale hospital based?
Harrogate Convention Centre remains on standby during the second wave of the pandemic.
17.Which Yorkshire bridge did police have to monitor to stop people sneaking between Covid-19 tiers?
Stamford Bridge seemed to become a gateway for those not abiding by coronavirus restrictions. This meant a large police presence watching out for those crossing over the border.
18.Emmerdale, Coronation Street and Eastenders battled it out for the most viewers at Christmas. Who won this year?
Coronation Street pipped Emmerdale to the post this year, with the Queen’s speech winning out over all.
19.Who purchased Leeds-based supermarket giant Asda?
The Issa brothers , who own Walmart bought Asda earlier this year.
20.Which North Yorkshire town was transformed into Darrowby Village for All Creatures Great and Small?
Grassington, near Skipton, was transformed into the fictional village of Darrowby