America is mostly empty
The clearest way into your own mind is through Wilderness
Once one gets away from the big cities, the USA is mostly wilderness.
On my recent road trip, sometimes the only thing in the wilderness was the road, a broken down fence, and a distant power line.
Sometimes there’s a road sign. Zzyzx is actually in San Bernadino County, California, and you get there by the 4.5 mile long unpaved Zzyzx Road. We didn’t go there, because there’s bugger-all there. However, Zzyzx does feature in music and films, (movies).
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
pictures taken by the girl riding shotgun with a Lumix
Forgotten Modern History
In December seventy years ago the French decided they would stay in Indochina. This set off a chain of misery which did not end when the Americans were defeated by Vietnamese communists in 1975 with the fall of Saigon. French occupation of Vietnam ended with their defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. The Vietnamese Cambodian war then went on until 1991.
Billy Joel ~ We Didn’t Start The Fire
Please listen responsibly.
Perhaps we should all learn a little more forgotten history.
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Black Velvet
After Black Friday ~ Black Velvet.
Black velvet is one of Life’s most sensual pleasures.
If they were starting their careers today, Rockwell and Picasso would probably both be painting on black velvet. ~ Brad Holland
There’s a drink called Black Velvet, made from half Champagne and half Guinness. Poured properly the two liquids stay separate in the glass ~ until one begins to quaff that is. (Quaffing is like drinking except you get drunker and spill more.) Allegedly first made by the bartender at Brooks’s in London in 1861, this cocktail is almost guaranteed to make any lady quite amatory. There’s something quite sorcerous about Black Velvet. To complete the evening get her a Black Velvet choker.
A very nice Canadian whisky is also called Black Velvet. Trust me, this is as smooth and dark as its name suggests. One of the nicer things about some Canadians is that they can spell whisky.
Black Velvet is also a very cool song, first recorded by Alannah Myles ~ and subsequently sung by anyone and everyone who thinks they have a voice. And sadly, anyone who has been drinking black velvet in a karaoke bar.
I’m not certain I can recommend the rock magazine Black Velvet, but at least there’s an on-line digital issue.
All women look good wearing black velvet. In fact, does the classic LBD look any better than when it’s a black velvet Little Black Dress? Is there anything sexier than Christian Louboutin Black Velvet evening shoes?
I know there are 1001 other products, stores, bars, cosmetics, girls… trading under the name Black Velvet. Some of these are better found for yourself. Some of these are better left alone.
If a guy wants to be a very cool guy, then he needs to sharpen up his urban survival skills and learn stuff like this.
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Don’t Worry Be Happy
Every motivational writer says that true happiness is a state of mind.
Happiness cannot be travelled to, owned, earned, worn, or consumed.
Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute to the full, with joy, grace, and consideration for others. Happiness is loving and being loved.
So, don’t worry, just be happy.
Please listen responsibly.
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
poetry and the modern man
Back when Fred Flintsone was a boy I had to learn poetry in school. Back then I didn’t appreciate poetry at all. Teaching poetry to a bunch of hard, canny, North of England boys must have been a frustrating task. We all thoughts that poets were effete, pretentious, and of doubtful sexuality. Most of all, we thought they were ‘southerners’.
What I didn’t realise back then is the depth of thought and feeling that a good poet puts into every single word and stanza.
Adventure, history, love, lust, myths and legends, tragedy, unrequited love, war… all of these and more are to be found in poetry. And, even a short poem evokes feelings that the longest novel cannot even begin to touch.
Today is November the 11th. In 1918, on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month the guns fell silent.
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England.
The Soldier ~ Rupert Brooke
Poetry is also about love. If you want to melt the heart of a woman try poetry. If her heart is unmoved, then move on, because she just isn’t worth the effort.
‘Tis better to have loved and lost,
Than never to have loved at all.
Tennyson
And just to prove that a great line never dies;
Please listen responsibly.
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
they are extremes
So, what about politics? There’s nothing useful for this Englishman to say about the US Presidential election. Less than useful is I thought British politics was bad until I took an interest in the political goings on in the world’s most powerful nation.
Right now, politics in the United States of America seems just a bit… extreme.
Here’s a song for whoever wins.
Please Listen Responsibly.
Whoever does get into the White House, I hope my American friends will continue to survive and thrive in Freedonia.
~
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
on the beach
If I could, I would spend all of my time on the beach. My local beach, or in Australia, California, Miami, Texas, or the Windies… just so long as there is the sea and the sky. Lighthouses, a cool villa, and a gorgeous woman would be good too. I would settle for a hut to sleep in. To be honest, I can do without the guy playing the guitar.
Chris Rea ~ On The Beach
please listen responsibly
On The Beach is also the title of a novel by Nevil Shute, which was turned into a chilling movie starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner. (I think Ava Gardner has such a look of a dirty vamp about her.)
please watch responsibly
If your girl talks about the 2000 Armand Assante movie, it’s cool if you not only know about the earlier film, but also the book.
As for my beach. It’s lonely, cold, and grey down by the sea today.
~
Jack Collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Without a Woman
All last week I’ve looked and felt like something from a Halloween Fright Night.
That’s down to some distressing personal news I received, followed by a very heavy intake of bad booze and worse food. I got extremely sick, and upset someone I care for ~ again.
All I hope is the story expressed in this song hasn’t come true.
Senza Una Donna ~ Zucchero & Paul Young
Please listen responsibly.
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
self-knowledge
~
I owned a book,
and it had never been opened.
So all I knew of books was that there were words on the cover,
and some more words on the spine.
And then, one day,
I opened the book and started to read the words inside.
~
Vincent ~ Don McLean
Please listen responsibly
We can only go so far in making our life the way we would wish it to be.
~
poem and musing by jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Extremes of Behaviour
Why Do I Go To Extremes?
Most people like to know where they stand. It’s part of human nature to want the people you know to be same person today that they were yesterday, and to be able to rely on them to be that very same person tomorrow.
In general your friends want to be able to depend on you. Usually the people you come into contact with will become wary and suspicious if you suddenly turn into a crazy person, especially if you often become that crazy person. This goes doubly if you’re male and the friend in question is a woman.
Call it mood swings if you like, but if there’s a sudden and expected change in the way you feel and behave, especially when you’re angry and unhappy, you’re going to hurt someone. You will probably cause emotional distress to several people, they may never trust you again, they may become distant and feel threatened by you. If it’s bad enough you may sadden, offend, upset, devastate, and cause anguish to someone you love, and they may just walk away from you.
I know, because I’ve been there.
If you want your relationships to thrive and survive in the urban jungle, then find the cause of your mood swings, and then find yourself the cure. It may be hard, you may be crazy, but very few women are looking for a lunatic.
Billy Joel ~ I go to extremes
Please listen responsibly.
~
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
