Thursday, January 19, 2023

It's Official: The City Folk Club is no more!

 Yes, it is true, but the phoenix is rising!

You will know that we abandoned our long-standing relationship with the Girl Guides Hall in Chichester during Covid and the lockdown aftermath thereof.

Since then regular readers will have observed that we have operated 4 successful sing-arounds at Chidham and Hambrook Village Hall ...


 These have been on a near- seasonal basis and have been enthusiastically supported by many of our friends from CFC and an 'occasional' newcomer.

Thus we have become ...

THE OCCASIONAL FOLK CLUB

The upstairs room is warm, has a pleasant ambience and great acoustics.
There is adequate parking behind the hall, wheelchair access and a lift!
We have use of the downstairs kitchen.

Our sessions have been held on 'occasional' Sunday afternoons, commencing at 2.00pm and finishing about 4.30.
The sing-around format is as before, and participants are asked to contribute a small sum depending on attendance numbers, (about £2.00,) to cover the expense of hiring the venue.

The informative blog remains https://cityfolkchi.blogspot.com/, and is now headed,
'The occasional Folk Club'.
This will be updated regularly for future events.

Contact details: email cityfolkclub@gmail.com.
... or telephone Colin at 01243 574021.

So, make a note on your calendar about our next event ...



Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Happy New Year! from Special Bitter

The link between this BLOG and London Apprentice has long puzzled me. Yet more of a puzzle is a link to City Folk Club BLOG. All these Blogs are almost archives and rarely accessed, There is a need to alter the link to defunct email addresses. I will try to do that today. 

Monday, January 2, 2023

New Year 2023

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR from London Apprentice

Life goes on but at a reduced rate with much natural and unnatural attrition. It seems that every day we lose someone that has been around for a long while. Last year there many but perhaps none so lofty as our queen of 70 yrs ER2. How can life here ever be the same again? I wish Charles III well as he comes to our throne at such a difficult time. There is much hardship for which our people are ill prepared. Technology marches on and needs to if we are to retain our lifestyle and save the planet which is warming faster than ever. The UK has lost 50% of its habitat. There are those who care but their actions merely make a bad situation even worse. There are strikes that emanate from dissatisfaction with the status-quo. On the technical front the difficulties range through nuclear, hydrogen, and batteries.  More automation and robotic machines threaten jobs with consequential unrest.  

I will confess some astonishment at the link between this Blog and that of CFC. It also links to my Special Bitter BLOG. Both need to have defunct email addresses changed. 

NOTES FROM 20MAY2023

It is 2 years since my accident on the stairs which curtailed my ability to play the guitar at all for 12 months. I am pleased to ay that the predictions that my "rotator-cuff" injury would take at least 2 years to heal have come true and aside from a slight discomfort I am back to playing bad notes as well as ever!

A couple of items on the morning news took my -er ear. The following transcribed from my rough notes.

AI WORRIES – Artificial Intelligence likely to create as many new jobs as it costs says professor. Concerns of population now risen to 68%. A thereat to humanity? BT to slash 55000 jobs by 2030. The march of the robots. Stephen Hawking said AI was mankind’s greatest achievement and greatest threat. Gutenberg Printing press C1400. Lawyers, Bankers, Accountants all under threat. Google Chief Dr Geoffrey Hinton (75) resigned over his fears of unethical use and regretting his involvement in the developments.  Existential threat to mankind. Chat robots that invent answers. Dystopian state inevitable. Forty percent of jobs in 1960 are not available today. Will it mean that no-one will have any income? What of the Tax-take and pensions? Inference, deduction, assumption issues. Mental health issues likely to rise if people not occupied. Humans always corrupt the use of new technology. Bad intentions prevail. Humanity always adapts to new challenges…. Mmm!

DOG DEATHS - A minority have a dog in order to intimidate. Breeds are not banned and no law has been been broken. Dangerous dogs act. A group of people who want an aggressive dog at their side. A status symbol. Why no licence? Type of owner has changed. Staffordshire Terriers are not all aggressive. “He’s never done this before” does not stack up when investigated. Time-line of aggressive development becomes obvious says a top source.


Saturday, December 10, 2022

The Turn of the Year ...

 So, here is wishing you all a happy and restful festive season.
Now let us consider folkie activities for 2023.

The next session of The Occasional Folk Club will be on Sunday 8th January, 2023, beginning at 3.00pm at

CHIDHAM & HAMBROOK VILLAGE HALL, CHIDHAM, PO18 8TL.