Being the Twenty-ninth of May 2009...

Lynda, Colin and Ken listen with rapt attention to a recording of Colin and Bill 1:1's unique rendition of 'Spanish Ladies'...

So, that was the last night at the Regnum...
We now enter the 'Week of Transition' with it's programme of ritual bathing, intoning of portentous incantations and sky-clad whirling ecstasies (watch out for link to YouTube upload)

This is how we said goodbye...

It Was a Lover and His Lass: David
Spanish Ladies: Colin/Bill 1:1
Lord Franklin: Ken
The Honeysuckle and the Bee: Mave
My Young Man: Jane
John Riley: Anthony
What Have They Done to the Rain?: Bill 1:2
Sea of Heartbreak: Berry
Where Do You Go To My Lovely?: Mike P.
Ladies Won't You Marry: Bill 1:1
Goodbye Jimmy, Goodbye: Jenny
The Rose of Allendale: Ray
Seven Days: Anne
The Water is Wide: Margaret
Swing Low Sweet Chariot: Maggie
Untitled Guitar Based Rhythmic Improvisation: Daniel
Haul Away For Rosie: Paul
Lullaby of Birdland: Lucy
Here Comes My Baby: David
1000's or More: Colin
Good Company: Ken
The Boy In the Gallery: Mave
Down In the Valley to Pray: Jane
Columbus Stockade Blues: Anthony
My Old Man: Bill 1:2
This Time: Berry
Mr. Tambourine Man: Mike P.
When I Fall in Love: Jenny
The Happy Wanderer: Ray
Isle of Hope. Isle of Tears: Anne
Another You: Margaret
Fever: Maggie
All I Have To Do Is Dream: Lucy/Paul
Goodnight: Bill 1:1

You may experience the following series of emotions (based on the Kübler-Ross model) following our departure from the Regnum:
01) Denial
02) Anger
03) Bargaining
04) Depression
05)Acceptance

On the other hand you may just be breathing a sigh of relief..

Being the Twentysecond of May 2009...

"I'm so excited about what I'm going to say that I can't wait to say it...
So I won't say anything now...
That would spoil it for everybody..."

There will be a prize for anyone who can tell me who might have uttered the quote above...

Here's what we did (E&OE)

Fallen Moon: David
Both Sides Now: Paul
The Unquiet Grave: Lynda/Paul
Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me: Lucy
The Lark in the Morning: Bill 1:1
The Sailor's Prayer: Eddie
Molly Bawn: Jane/Dave
When I Get to the Border: Mike P.
Country Roads: Josie/Heather/Gerry
No Use For Him: Ray
Rise Like Larks: Mave
Masochism Tango: Ken
With God on Our Side: Margaret
The Happy Man: Colin
It Must Be True: David
You Are My Sunshine: Paul
Daylight Again: Lynda
Solitude: Lucy
Slow Waltz From the Thomas Hardy Collection/Drink Up Your Tea Love: Bill 1:1
Dancing With You: Eddie
Birds: Jane/Dave
The Folker: Mike P.
Put Another Log On the Fire: Josie/Heather/Jerry
Oh Lord It's Hard to be Humble: Ray
Waiting at the Church: Mave
Indian Lass: Ken
White Rose of Athens: Margaret
Pleasant and Delightful: Colin/Lucy

I feel a change coming on...

Blog's First Anniversary (missed...)

In all the pre-indoor picnic panic I completely forgot that the 13th of May was the first anniversary of the City Folk Club Blog...
I just wanted to say th..a...
Hmmmmm...
Cake.

Bill Sings a Jolly Song at the Indoor Picnic...

Misinterpreted Scenarios No 1...

Club M.C. shouts blasphemous imprecations at ceiling while awe-struck acolyte looks on in wonder...

The May Queen ...

At our May Celebration Picnic we welcomed Jane, and crowned her Queen of the May ...

(I'm still working on the video. For the moment youtube is being uncooperative.)

Later ... Cracked it! Follow the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wco3ezRoL2s

Being the Fifteenth of May 2009...

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." G.B. Shaw.
Right on Bernie...

When the Spring Has Come: David
Lisbon: Bill 1:1
3 Ravens: Margaret
Lady of Autumn: Eddie
Black Boys on Mopeds: Jane/Dave
Diego's Bold Shore: Anne
Can't Help Loving That Man of Mine: Brenda/Berry
The House of the Rising Sun: Les/Ken
Tall Ships: Mave
Biding My Time: Ken
People Will Say We're in Love: Berry
Annie's Song: Lynda
I Don't Care Where They Bury My Body: Paul
Banks of Sweet Primroses: Colin
It Was a Lover and His Lass: David
Streets of Forbes: Bill 1:1
Who Knows Where the Time Goes: Margaret
Lady of Beauty: Eddie
Pale Blues Eyes: Jane/Dave
The Parting Glass: Anne
Air on a G String: Mick
A Fine Romance: Brenda/Berry
There Ain't No Future in the Past: Les
Anderson's Coast: Mave
Love Minus Zero/No Limit: Ken
Here, There and Everywhere: Lynda/Paul
Zena, Zena, Zena: Berry
When All Men Sing: Colin.

I should point out that Mr. Shaw also said:
'Hell is full of musical amateurs: music is the brandy of the damned.'

Our Agent In The Field...

You may be forgiven for assuming that the organisation of the City Folk Club is some-what haphazard and probably undertaken by a troop of monkey acolytes on unicycles.
(Sigh, those were the days..!)
But no..!
We have a dedicated group of forward thinking planning facilitators whose job it is to imagineer solutions to destiny feasibility scenarios...
Here we witness Mr. Beresford Greene (for it is he) and his monkey acolyte 'Ben' testing the Wyke Guide Hall for you over 20 years ago...!
Never let it be said that we are in anyway complacent when it comes to the management of our gathering...
(Not like that troop of unicycle riding monkey acolytes I can tell you...!)

Being the Eighth of May 2009...

I'd like to be able to pass on some nugget of received wisdom but am engaged in invocational chanting to the sun (which also involves ecstatic whirling, dancing and banjo flailing...) to ensure passable weather for the May Day hoo-ha on Saturday...
Sadly, due to local opposition, I am unable to perform the required ritual 'sky-clad' and so there can be no guarantee of any success...
See how willfully I sacrifice what remaining dignity I may, or may not, have for your future comfort and enjoyment...

For those with short-term memory deficit, here's what we did:

Sweet Little Mystery: David
Dancing at Whitsun: Colin
The Soldier: Bill 1:2
Country Roads: Gerry
Gentle Maidens: Ian
The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood: Anne
Blackwaterside: Mick
Summertime: Brenda/Berry
Home: Berry
Galway to Graceland: Mike P.
A Begging I Will Go: John
You've Got a Friend: Margaret
Suds in the Bucket: Les
Oh Very Young: Paul
The Day That the Circus Left Town: Maggie
Hold the Past with Love: Roger
You and Me: David
Hey Fred: Maggie
Seacruise/Over the Waves: Berry
Searching for Lambs: Colin
Blow Ye Winds: John
Queen of Hearts: Margaret
Lord Inchyquin: Ian/Roger
The End of the World: Lynda/Paul
A Hard Rains Gonna Fall: Mike P.
Some Beach: Les
Big Grand Coolie Damn: Paul
Wonderful Tonight: Gerry
Lady Eleanor: Bill 1:2
The Grey Cockrell: Anne
Further Along: Roger

Hum-luma-looby-dooby-walla-walla-bing-bong-hubba-hubba-number 6 the loop-a-roopah-buzz-buzz-ubuntu....
All together now...!
(etc. etc...)

Being the First of May 2009...

Just to prove we can continue in an 'adult' fashion in the absence of the grown-ups we did these:
(I missed the last few songs as I had to explain our proposed move to Steve upstairs...)

Matty Groves: David
Cryin' Waitin' Hopin': Paul
The Thrill is Gone: Lucy
Hal An Tow: Bill 1:1
The Mermaid: Eddie
How It's Meant To Be: Margaret/Yvonne/Mike
Please Don't Call Me Louise: Mike
Nottingham Town: Steve
Julia Clifford's Polka/Din Tarrent's Polka: Mick
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? : Margaret
Never Any Good: Mike P.
Colours of My Life: Les
Jack In the Green: Mave
A Place Called England: Mave/Ken
Bear Hug Blues: Maggie
In No Strange Land: Roger
Angels in the Shadows: David
Diddy Wha Diddy: Paul
Slow Dance: Eddie
The Turning of the Year: Yvonne/Mike
Nothing to Add: Steve
O'Carolan's Draft: Mick
The Rose: Margaret
I Am a Rock: Mike P.
? : Les
? : Mave
Hard Cheese: Ken
? : Maggie
Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor: Roger.

A Quick Trip to the New Venue...

A brief film of a walk (!!??) from the Cattle Market Car Park to our new venue...

Beresford Greene Speaks (Fifteenth Fit...)

TOPICAL STUFF

Obsessive/Compulsive Behaviour

Have you noticed how, over recent years, we have all got a lot savvier about the human condition? So much so that now, owing in large measure to various magazines and the university processing of our young, one's social success might depend in no small measure in having knowledge of some pretty awful psychiatric conditions.

Always good for a light hearted laugh is the use of "Tourette's syndrome" which seems to be a compulsion to swear out loud. "Oh B---s, I have to say B-----ks right now in order to be noticed. After I get over my anorexia, I'm gonna count all the telegraph poles from here to the High Street."

Of course these conditions have to be very severe in order to qualify, but one that affects many of us in a mild way is to do with fashion, and in particular, fashionable words & phrases.

We've had "INNIT" for a while now, but many years ago, when I first really noticed the human susceptibility or weakness for word fashion, it was "at this moment in time" that caught my ear as one might say. All my bosses were so affected. "Idiosyncratic" was another favourite for a time.

To get up to date, surely you cannot have missed the very latest propensity to be the first and most frequent to utter the word "PANDEMIC." To enunciate this right now demonstrates, yes in a single word, just how alive and "with it" one actually is.

Of course the sad thing is that we would probably do better to get this so called SWINE FEVER right now while it's in its milder form. If it should it return later in the year history has it that it will be much more severe and likely to be a mass killer.

Now I don't know about you, but I would say that having congestion does not help with my singing one jot. Smoking, however, helps very many with their singing voice. From Frank Sinatra, through Sammy Davis Junior to Matt Monroe, we might be quite amazed to learn just how many there are that employ this trick. Some very close at hand are quite unable to sing at all without a whiff of the weed at frequent intervals.

Now just to round off I want to try and be the very first to utter a particular superlative on the club BLOG. I am bequeathing this little gem to the world through this channel as I think you deserve to have some of the fame that you obviously crave. For you will be able to say with absolute truth that you were there at the very start of it. Pandemic will give rise to the new word or phrase: - "FILLI-CHOPS-NUBBER"

Let's see how it goes - eh!