Mother's Theme Music - 'Stranger on the Shore'!

Written by clarinetist Acker Bilk for his young daughter & originally named "Jenny" after her, the piece "Stranger on the Shore" was later used as the theme tune to the 1961 BBC TV drama series called Stranger on the Shore, and has been know as that ever since.
I remember watching the serial as a child with my Mother and the haunting music became a favourite of hers.

In fact it was the first UK recording of the 1960s to reach Number One in the US charts.
We listened to "Stranger on the Shore" together many, many times over the years and the more I learnt of my Mothers past, the more it's melancholy chords seemed to sum up her life.
When she died fours years ago this early morning and I subsequently had to choose a piece of music for her cremation, it was the obvious choice.

A late afternoon image taken @ Brighton, last November - the TV drama was filmed there...

"Here I stand, watching the tide go out
So all alone and blue
Just dreaming dreams of you
I watched your ship
As it sailed out to sea
Taking all my dreams
And taking all of me
The sighing of the waves
The wailing of the wind
The tears in my eyes burn
Pleading, "My love, return"
Why, oh, why must I go on like this?
Shall I just be a lonelyStranger on the Shore?"

Words by Robert Mellin

Funny Cats - 'Woody' style drinking and shower - now a Memorium Tribute to DemonSpawn!

Originally posted 15/09/09
Friend Wilma's cat, appropriately called The Demon Spawn is on the crazy side, so when she found an even more eccentric puss's You-Tube video she had to share it on her blog.
And, as I always thought cats hated getting wet, it amused me greatly too, hence posting it again here.

Postscript.
Was shocked to find this @ Wilma's today...

Stimpy the DemonSpawn
September 15, 1993 ~ September 18, 2009

May he be showing his feisty spirit over @ the Rainbow Bridge!

Goldfinger by Shirley Bassey!

With True Colours Thursday, this week being GOLD, I was reminded of this which has to be the best, most remembered theme music to any of the James Bond films!

The Third Man [1949]

Today's 'My True Colours' post 'Sky Watch Friday - The Giant Wheel', reminded me of another wheel & ride.
But, this one is from the classic film noir movie 'The Third Man', that has never lost its fascination for me, partly due to it's instantly recognisable & haunting film score played on that quirky instrument the Zither!

For anyone unfamiliar with the story, written by Graham Greene & later published as a short novel...
Holly Martins [actor Joseph Cotten], an out of work novelist, arrives in a post war Vienna divided into sectors by the victorious allies, and where a supply shortages has lead to a flourishing black market.
He arrives at the invitation of old school friend, Harry Lime [Orson Welles], who has promised him work, only to learn that Lime has been killed in a suspicious car accident.
From talking to Lime's friends & associates Martins soon notices that some of the stories are inconsistent, and when told by the British Military that late Harry Lime was nothing more than a thief & a murderer, he determines to discover what really happened to his friend.
Martin discovers he's still very much alive [he was the mysterious "third man" at the scene of the fatal accident].
And Martins also learns, the painful truth about Lime's black-market activities which include diluting penicillin with tragic results.
He subsequently, arranges a rendezvous with Lime at the huge Ferris wheel in the centre of Vienna.
This scene also includes the famous cuckoo clock speech too...

Ossie, the English Springer Spaniel puppy!

As I never knew my Springer Spanial Hero as a puppy, there no way I could resist, 9 weeks old Ossie playing in grass with a plastic bottle.

Luciano Pavarotti [1935 - 2007]

It's hard to believe it's two years today since the world lost his wonderful voice!
Pavarotti was without doubt one of the finest operatic singers of his generation, and one of the all time greats.
This is his final performance - singing Nessun Dorma @ the Torino Winter Olympics 2006...

Monty Python - How to Irritate People - The Airplane Sketch

I'd completely forgotten this routine.
Knowing pilots, as I do thanks to Little Buddy, I know the boredom they suffer on long haul flights & some of the pranks they're capable of getting up to too!
But thankfully, none like this one...