Firstly, Happy Thanksgiving to any of you celebrating.
And thanks for all your support about Mum. She's not doing so well right now, pretty confused, and on top of the stroke being forced to give up on the drink, fags and whatever else...so yeah, it'll be a long hard road. I hope she's got it in her.
Anyway, onto happier things -
Sherlock's been wanting to play Christmas songs - I've been refusing until he picks a few - I'm not going through a million of them! But in thinking Christmas songs, I naturally thought 'Slade' - who wouldn't?? So then I followed John around the room playing this, watching him valiantly try to keep a straight face while Sherlock heckled about the lack of Christmassyness and overdose of soppiness...
Then I showed Sherlock this video. And haven't stopped laughing since. I shall hand over this post to him now, and let the rest of you have a laugh:
Lestrade showed me this video and he's been singing it and PEOPLE REALLY LOOKED LIKE THAT ONCE with that hair he says and had stupid shoes like that and trousers that weren't even long enough and Lestrade even said he had some trousers with the squares on and people had hair that was cut as bad as that AND HE REMEMBERS IT and this song is from last century and they still had television then and I told Lestrade all that and he keeps laughing and so does John and those people singing were doing it nearly 50 years ago which is half a century.
101 comments:
I'm sorry it's going to be a long hard road for your mum Greg, we're here for any use we can be as always :-)
Thanks. It's good to know. I mean, I've only ever given up the fags, but that was hard enough, and I was otherwise fit and healthy.
One step at a time is all she can do, right now I'm guessing she has little control over what she's doing so willpower won't come into it until she is at least through the initial messy bit.
Christmas songs are kind of a nice way to take your mind off things a bit? possibly? not saying you should play them but music soothes the soul sometimes :-)
50 years is indeed half a century, Sherlock. I think it says 1971 in the corner? I remember 1971 too, and I can confirm that there were people that dressed like that, and had their hair cut like that, and that there was television then. In 1971, my family had a large black-and-white TV in our living room that was its own piece of furniture. (The screen you saw wasn't very big, but it was a CRT and was very bulky indeed in back.)
L--I hope your mother decides she wants it. And...yeah, we're all here.
AnonyBob - at least they're monitoring her and giving her all the drugs to make it as easy as possible. Apparently she's making her...discontent known, though. I feel for the nurses.
And my favourite Christmas song is 'Lonely This Christmas'! So that's no good :) But Sherlock is plugging away through different ones on YouTube. Probably picking up far more terrible Christmas decor ideas than is healthy.
I wouldn't be a nurse for anything BUT they are trained to deal with people like that so they will know how to handle her ;-)
When we get to December Sherlock could add christmas song recs to your posts, it would make use of all his research ;-) (note Sherlock this is a joke)
don't worry - he hasn't found any deemed 'good enough' yet!
I've just been looking at last December's posts with various Christmas songs, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to have a repeat.
And I hope things start to improve for your Mum. Sounds like a natural sort of response from her: doesn't want to be there, doesn't want to change, doesn't want what happened to have happened. Hopefully in the next few days she'll come to realise that change has to be made if she doesn't want a repeat.
Fairytale of New York by the Pogues is the ultimate xmas song for my money.
But then I do tend toward the morose when the nights draw in!
I could offer some suggestions if I had any idea of the sort of song he would deem "good enough"!
(Although he probably would like something he found himself better anyway.)
Anon - well I think you've got excellent taste, but yeah, Sherlock's already said no to The Pogues. I'm not even asking why. Just glad he found a way to occupy himself for a while that was still and quiet (ish).
RR - I haven't asked him about his criteria. I'm guessing something to dance to would be a bonus.
Somehow, until this post, I hadn't fully processed that Sherlock wasn't born until after the year two thousand...
I'll just be over here, feeling old.
I know! And...wasn't born until a long time after!
I can't believe anyone can be a walking, talking human and not have lived through the millenium.
Come over here and have a cuddle with a clapped out, living, loving wreck :)
I have told you about the time my daughter came home from school and asked what it was like when God created the world.
Greg Lake's "I believe in Father Christmas" has to be my favourite Christmas song. Followed shortly by Slade. You can dance to that one.
See, excellent ideas, this is why I keep you around...
SH - ha!
SH - Greg Lake - another very good song. Would go on my list.
I tried Slade, but he hadn't got over the video yet, so was morally against them on account of their dress sense.
Danger - just hush and remember that by Sherlock's rules you're 'nearly a decade' younger than me.
"Let it Snow"? "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"? "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"? (I love "White Christmas," but I don't suppose you can dance to it. Although it does have a beat... :D)
--RR (who is even older than Lestrade)
Oh you guys. I'm not even 25 yet and I already feel old sometimes when I think about the fact the the baby I started looking after when he was just a week old is going to turn 9 next may. And his brother who was just about to start school then is now a teenager. He is nearly as old as I was back then.
Kids really make you see the time that has passed because they change so much in such a (relatively) short period.
I would think he's seen those - I imagine they're high up the lists on YouTube. I can wait for him to find something - if he's even meant to be looking.
even older than Lestrade
wow that must be old!
Anon - I'm amazed Sherlock hasn't yet asked me for a presentation on how we all felt when the wheel was invented... ;)
You've been asked about dinosaurs though right?
I feel like there's an xkcd for this occasion.
I'm amazed Sherlock hasn't yet asked me for a presentation on how we all felt when the wheel was invented... ;)
An interpretative dance. *nods*
Hah, sadly he knows more about dinosaurs than most people. He did ask about electricity once, though...cheeky sod. And still can't believe I'm not making it up that we didn't used to have bank cards - or shillings :) And he definitely can't believe anyone ever survived without the internet or computers. Especially in my job - he just cannot fathom having to wait for people to look at fingerprints, or write reports by hand or on typewriters.
I love kids and their idea of time, it always makes me wonder what their kids will be asking about and thinking they're making up ;-)
The irony isn't lost on me that he only believes what I say once he's checked with the internet...
I asked my Dad once if he was one if the Jarrow marchers...
What was his reaction?
I asked mum if my Dad fought for Hitler in the war...(yes, I wasn't particularly well informed on the subject...). I got a clip around the ear.
My father's father fought in the first World War!
(A fair number of my friends' grandparents--and a few parents--had camp tattoos. Almost none had four living grandparents. So I knew WWII was practically yesterday.)
My father's father lost an arm in the first World War. He did have an artificial one - he kept it in a drawer.
Was he mad at Woodrow Wilson, SH? My grandfather never forgave Wilson--NEVER!--for running on "He kept us out of war" and then turning around and joining in. :D
I'm sorry SH but that made me laugh.
John, Greg I hope sleep treats you well tonight and the morning brings a new day full of good things :-)
I protest. 41 years is not almost half a century! And there was a good deal of difference in the fashions of 1962 and 1971. But I do agree that some of the interesting decisions of the fashion designers of the seventies were... well... best left to that decade, shall we say? Although given a choice between highwater trousers and the current fashion for drawers that are never pulled up to even the hip, I'll take the highwater hiphuggers.
As for Christmas songs, if Sherlock were singing, I'd say Gaudete, but for dancing... hm...
I'll have to think on that one. I have a lot of Christmas music though, so I'll rummage through it for ideas.
My dad fought in WW2, but do you know, I'm not sure I have a relation who actually went to the war in WW1? One grandfather was wheat farming in Montana then, and I've never even wondered about the other one. Time to ask my sister, the keeper of the family history!
rsf
Anybody else here feeling a great urge to say "Don't mention the war!"?
I fought it bravely ;-)
You can't possibly have fought in it...you're not even as ancient as me! ;)
I think you got away with it!
Lancs. Anon
...So, that's two egg mayonnaise, a prawn Goebbels...
See, it's not all bad being old is it? The fund of available comedy is at least good!
Night all,
Lancs. Anon
Lestrade - well, my Mum laughed :-p
(I remember being shocked when I realised that half my friends don't remember Live Aid - some of them went even born - whereas I had to record most of it because I was working in Woolies on Saturdays at the time)
(Yes, yes, going to sleep now, or I shall be here all night!)
RSF - when you're seven I don't think a decade here or there makes much difference. I imagine Sherlock claims anything over a quarter of a century ago as 'nearly half a century'.
RR - I can't imagine many people here are that upset by Wilson deciding to ask the US to join the war.
Nameless - the thing I always think about Live Aid that makes me feel old is that Phil Collins couldn't hop across the pond now - because Concorde has been and gone (and was retired before Sherlock was born - another way to make me feel old!). - mind you, so has Woolies!
At seven I'm not sure I could suss out the difference between the US Civil War and WW2, except that one would have had more colorful uniforms if we only had a color tv. Then again, when I was seven, people hadn't walked on the moon yet, and I personally knew people who lived in cabins in the mountains on a full time basis that still used a kitchen pump, kerosene lamps, and dug a new outhouse pit every so often when the old one got full.
Different world!
rsf
Ah, good point, L.., *blushing embarrassed smilie here*
(My grandfather was particularly annoyed because he emigrated to the US specifically to avoid being drafted, and then...)
he moved to avoid the war? how odd.
Oh, no, he moved well before that. He lived in Poland, and emigrated to avoid being drafted by the Russian Army--a 20 or 25 year term (I forget which) with no way out, and absolutely no way to keep kosher, obey the Sabbath laws, obey times of prayer, or keep ANY religious requirements at all. He fled, at no small risk, for the right to be Jewish.
Now, my mother's family (including my infant mother) only left Europe by escaping from a Nazi detention camp and by some miracle making their way from Belgium to Occupied France, where they lived in hiding until they could get a ship to the US.
I think my favorite Christmas song is Judy Garland's Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
It's a little bit sad, but hopeful. I hate how the song has been changed so much that it's almost trite, compared to the original
Don't think you could dance to it, though. For that, Rock Around the Christmas Tree is always fun.
Every year one of the big colleges in the States releases a list for the professors. It's stuff about the incoming freshmen, sort of to make it easier for the different generations to understand each other.
This year's incoming freshmen could've been the children of Ferris and Sloane from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". Iconic movie of my HS graduating year. Yeah, when I heard that I had to sit down for a while.
Jingle Bell Rock is also good for dancing.
Good morning Gents, I hope more sleep was had in your house than was managed in mine!
Wishing you all good days and hoping you have some better, happier weather today :-)
Sorry to hear you had a bad night, Anonybob.I hope you can all get some rest today - or at least don't suffer too much from the lack of it!
sleep is for the weak! or the sane ;-)
caffeine and cuddles will keep me going.
I hope your day is going well.
Kestrel, I've stopped looking for that professor's list each year. It's gotten too scary. It isn't my birthdays that make me feel old, it's other peoples!
Anony, I hope you can sneak in a nap today among the caffeine and the cuddles.
L, I need to keep a bunch of children amused today who don't have school and are bouncing from too much turkey and pumpkin pie. And thanks to you, I'm taking a roll of tinfoil to school. Tinfoil wigs for everyone!
rsf
sadly daytime naps are banned even when she's poorly RSF but I'm sure I'll make it through somehow :-)
I meant a nap for you, Anony! Even if it does get you the side-eye. ;D
rsf
I meant me as well RSF, they're a bit of a tag team my two, tiny was wide awake and demanding attention until ten mins before I had to pick shorty up from school who has now taken over the wide awake and demanding baton ;-)
I can't sleep when they're awake that would just be way too dangerous!
not long till bedtime now though (hopefully)
AnonyBob - I can only imagine the chaos that would ensue if John and I had a nap and left Sherlock to his own devices - and yours can act as accomplices (and, undoubtedly, alibis!) :)
I'm all for team work but they are pretty scary sometimes, the reason they still have a gate on their room is so I can sleep a bit past 6 and still know they're safe and not up to mischief!
I think Sherlock may well have created the largest ever degu run or experimented with stink bombs if left unsupervised which is probably worse than mine could manage just yet ;-)
Well, but...Sherlock was very good the other morning, getting into bed with John and reading his bee books and not causing any chaos at all. And he takes very good care of his degus, too, for almost a full year now.
(I'm not saying he should be left unsupervised, not at all--John was right there, of course!--but he is getting to be quite responsible, which is lovely to see. :))
The other morning he had a very explicit understanding of the consequences of doing anything other than that.
And in the morning he has a very basic drive of hunger that takes priority over chaos-making.
I would never suggest kids are intentional about the chaos they make RR Sherlock is growing up into a very responsible young man BUT children should not be left unsupervised unless they are 100% safe and having a nap is as much leaving them unsupervised as popping out to the shop except you'd only go to the shop for ten mins whereas you'd sleep for an hour maybe.
Even being in a different room from small people can be unwise. Although so long as you can hear them it's normally okay briefly. It's when everything goes quiet that you worry.
*ahem* I very specifically said that I wasn't saying he should be left unsupervised--just that he's not quite so irresponsible as all that.
SH - silence, or, if there are two of them, whispering...
RR - I don't think anyone ever implied he was irresponsible.
My no sleep made me think what I'd written wasn't clear RR and that somehow you thought I was calling Sherlock irresponsible which wasn't what I was meaning to say so I was just trying to clarify what I meant.
anyway I'll go away now and try and get my small people to go to bed early (not a chance I hear them cry!)
I am RESPONSIBLE and I have to remember to be and to be PATIENT even when I'm ENTHUSIASTIC and that's things like taking care when I help cook because i can't chop things as fast as Lestrade even if I want to and those words are some written on my board at school that Mrs N makes us to help us remember things.
It has glitter, an important memory aid.
Those are very good words to remember, Sherlock, and a very good example.
(It being a good idea for you to have supervision isn't about being irresponsible, by the way, it's because things happen that take either experience or more people or both to take care of.)
It has glitter, an important memory aid.
*nods* it would work for me!
because I put the glitter on and stuck on the words that Mrs N gave me and it's so that we remember what to do to get good stuff like when I do glitter and make things then I have to TIDY after and not leave it because if I don't TIDY then I won't be allowed to do it again and that would be bad.
Can we have cauliflower with our dinner but normal ones one like this:
http://www.digitalstar.net/microecologies/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/romanesco.jpg
PLEASE
Err...not sure I can get one at short notice, Kiddo! Can we get one tomorrow?
I suppose.
Mrs N has good ideas--and that cauliflower is beautiful, Sherlock! (I quite like tidying, myself--then everything is where I want it and I can find it all again when I want it.)
I'm going away for Shabbat now so I'm going offline, so I will wish you all a lovely evening and a fun Saturday tracking down the cauliflower in it's lair (or the market)!
does it taste like normal cauliflower Sherlock? or have you not tried it before?
I think Mrs N must be a really clever lady coming up with such good ideas to help you learn things :-)
I haven't had one but Lestrade says it's like a cross between a cauliflower and broccoli
Will you let us know if you like it when you've tried it Sherlock? it sounds like it could be an interesting thing to try :-)
I'm cooking curry. John's worth it...right?.............
That fractal cauliflower looks fantastic Sherlock. I'd love to know how it tastes.
Lestrade - It must be love :-) Just remember to get him to taste it during the cooking process...
I will definitely taste it for you. More than happy to.
I'll taste it until it gets to the chilli stage...
sounds like love to me :-)
What do you have Greg?
I've got curry too, just...with only the smallest amount of chilli. Mainly nice, safe, tasty spices. None that hurt.
And it's the least I could do for him.
I see, that makes sense :-)
And it's the least I could do for him.
sorry what??
Because he's been so amazing this week. With Sherlock, explaining all the medical stuff to me, looking after me. Seems like cooking him his favourite as a bit of a 'thank you' is the least I could do.
ah right, I get it now.
Food is the way to any man's heart :-)
Nawww how lovely :) giving up time, energy and tastebuds for the one you love :) what curry are you making?
Have been trying to comment for the past few days but my laptop clearly doesn't like you lot, it's got terrible taste.
Jaws - doesn't really have a name! I just make it up... and then hand over half the pot to John who ruins it all with chillies. ;)
And there are actually leftovers of the spicy part, because no one can eat it but me. :)
Although Sherlock tries, every time.
well that's tomorrow's lunch sorted then John :-)
Sounds like you enjoyed it but how do you eat really spicy stuff and manage to taste anything after?
I wouldn't want to eat a plate of curry and then try to taste anything particularly subtle, but normal flavours I have no problem with. Despite the fact that L keeps telling me I'm burning my taste buds off one at a time...
Anonybob - I can tell you what he isn't allowed to try and taste after! (not until he's brushed his teeth).
It sounds like you must have seriously robust taste buds, I have only ever had mild curry and I couldn't taste things properly for hours.
Do you have much planned for your evening or is it just a friday night, end of the week, crash?
I was wondering about that Greg but thought I'd best not ask ;-)
I have friends who had a Japanese hot pot the other day and it was so spicy they were sweating and they both kept saying it was the best thing ever. I could barely sit next to it and kept worrying that they'd splash and contaminate my sushi.
AnonyBob - as if asking on this blog is ever a problem!
Kholly - it's like living through chemical warfare being in this flat when John's adding the chillies in his bit of dinner.
Aw, Anony. I hope you get some sleep tonight, then! Naps are Not Optional in my family until you go to kindergarten, even if what you do at naptime is stay in your bed reading quietly. Probably why I still want to take a nap after lunch even at this age. (My nephew tried to convince my sister that people are not nocturnal, they are dayturnal, but he still had to nap.)
Sherlock, your words sound like excellent advice, and I expect they're really easy to see with the glitter. I wish some of the kids who visit my library were better at remembering to TIDY. We had tinfoil all over the place by the end of today, and not everyone helped clean up.
John, do you like Texas style Chili or do you mostly go for curries when you cook? And would you like a recipe for jalapeno jam?
rsf
I don't think I've made either chili or curries. I would, however, love a recipe for jalapeno jam.
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