SLEDGE MAD SUPER RIDERS!

The snow came in full force today and so we suited up and headed into the the 'big white' for some serious sledging. Now obviously the sensible thing to do would be to leave the little people at home and take just the big monsters as it's quite a trek to the slopes on the downs but that really isn't how I roll and @mamacrow looked like she needed the quiet with #TrojanHero so I took everyone. EVERYONE?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!

Obviously.

The slopes we go to are over a mile away, we have three sledges and there were seven of us. Yup, not even the numbers make sense in this case, and yet that's what we did. I dragged Dot (who is very, very three at the moment) all the damn way on the sledge she became attached to, Petal walked through the snow as did all the others. Along the streets, through the park, across the golf course and up the hill we went and I have to tell you between the stray snowballs that slapped my arse, the not so stray snowballs that slapped my arse and the inevitable piss taking snowballs that slapped into my arse as I dragged Dot I was not finding the trip that funny.

We arrive at the foot of our downs Golf Course hill and Bam! Dot wants to go home. Erg. I changed her gloves, gave her a hug and convinced her to take it in her stride and yes! SHE DID! We reached the top, hammered down that slope a whole bunch of times and then finally Fluff and Petal decided that it was time to shiver and scream (fair enough) and so we headed home. 

The way back was a shoulder carry for Dot all the way while we staggered through the ever heavier falling snow and plenty of moaning whining and complaining because it was cold and they were tired (still fair enough, it was a long journey in hostile conditions). I took it in my stride, tried not to tell the mini's off and for the most part did ok and finally we arrived home over two hours after we'd left, wet, cold but ultimately we had survived. 

I would tell you that I'll be leaving the smalls behind next time but it would be a lie! All day Dot chatted about going down the slopes and how much she enjoyed it. Yeah, that is a heavily edited version of the events but that's ok with me. I hope she looks back and remembers that I took her when I could and we enjoyed all the time we could together as a family. I hope she remembers the wind in her face and the whoosh of the slope. I hope she remembers that it doesn't matter how far somewhere is, if you want to get there and you try hard enough then you can.

Or am I reading too much into all this? 

Probably.

Silent Sunday

NEW BABY!!!

I was awoken by text at six o clock this morning. Mamacrow (my long suffering wife) was indeed downstairs and informed me the contractions were now strong and regular. The night before things had gotten semi exciting but had calmed down by eleven o clock and so she had retreated to bed and I stuck up my regular Monday post and followed her.

I got up, headed down and ran the bath as she puffed calmly on the rocking chair (no she wasn't smoking). The home birth we had in mind had been slightly under threat at the end of last week as she went seven days over her due date and she had been handed a booking in date for the eighteenth to be induced in hospital. Now, thankfully, it looked like we were going to avoid going into hospital, something mamacrow desperately wanted to do (avoid the hospital birth that is)..

Bath, contractions, all the mess and noise of a birth but tone it down and you have the right idea. mamacrow calmly went through the process and didn't shout and didn't really moan at all and no, she didn't take any pain relief at all. She truly is an amazing person. As the contractions got stronger her waters broke, they were very cloudy and contained a fair amount of Mulconin (that's the wrong spelling but the right substance) which meant that no mater what we were looking at a trip to hospital for the baby and her.

At 8 03 the lovely Midwife called for an emergency ambulance, as I listened to her mamacrow sat up and I could see she was obviously having a very strong contraction. I was stunned to look down into the water and see Babies head, I called the midwife (pretty panicked I must admit) and she took hold of  the baby as I helped hold mamacrow up and with one push out came the baby!

Straight out of the water, straight into his mothers arms and covered with a towel to try and keep him warm. We knew we were due to head to the hospital but now it wasn't an emergency, now we could take the panicked rush and bin it as the midwife did a quick check and confirmed baby was absolutely fine.

Baby was born at 8 05. Awesome!

My wife never ceases to amaze me when she takes something like this and makes it look easy, obviously it isn't, but that is what she does. She enters into the pain, hormone floods and instinctive craziness that is child birth without drugs, gas and air, or panic. This is our last child, number seven, we both agree on that so its worth stating even more than normal that she is without doubt truly remarkable.

We went to the hospital later and rested in a quiet room off the ward. The nurse came round and snipped the excess skin in babies mouth so freeing his tongue so he could latch on properly, he was doing well before the snip, he was doing brilliantly afterwards!

I left mamacrow and Baby at the hospital at 3. 30, picked up the kids from their granma's (who lives next door) and have sorted the house and chilled with the kids. We can't wait for mum and baby to come home tomorrow and I think that they both proved they were awesome today.

Baby was 8lbs and 10 ounces, has a very strong neck and is named (quite fittingly I think) Hector.

Here come the awesome baby pics.

Music Monday 'Having a pop'

Augustus Hill: When you take revenge on somebody, you are actually paying them the highest compliment possible. It's like saying, "You've affected my life to such an extent that I must reciprocate. I must affect your life as deeply as you have mine". Revenge may be the ultimate Hallmark card. Yeah. When you think of it like that, the cliché is true. Revenge *is* sweet. 

I watched every episode of an American prison drama called 'Oz'. It was harsh and depressing and brutal and in all honesty I loved it.

I think its some of the best television ever filmed. 

I recognise that is a seriously ridiculous thing to state when so many shows have been filmed and how the hell can you compare 'Doctor Who' to 'Oz' or 'Dexter' or 'M*a*s*h' ? You just can't. The genres dictate how brave, confrontational and even upsetting the episodes can be and yet I stick to my guns. This is pure television Diamond! Gold is for good shows, even great shows, but Diamond? Its A  super stamp!

No, you haven't tuned in on the wrong day; this is Music Monday, but today I became aware of a cowardly attack on someone I know and like and presumably Revenge was the motive. So here we are. Looking for revenge in revenge? NO! We are here to show people that we are better than their attacks and their petty little snipes at us. 

Fuck em! Its jealousy and its bitterness and you know what? Its small. 

Lets rise above revenge and negative arseholes and catch a ride on some majestic tunes; music to make the soul soar so that when we look down and see the blacken souls of our detractors we know we have touched the sky while they are still rolling in the dirt.

BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER by Simon and Garfunkel

A HOBBITS UNDERSTANDING (Frodo and Sam's theme) by Howard Shore

An odd choice? No. Lord Of The Rings is a story of epic battles and a world conflict, where wizards throw spells and warriors clash swords, and yet its also about how the smallest of people armed with hope, bravery and brotherly love can move mountains.

For me Sam and Frodo are the real heroes, forging their way through the world of horror, loss, pain and danger out of hope for a better future, free of evil. Its long, its amazing and it makes me fill with that warm fuzzy hope that there is not only amazing people doing amazing things out there but that they are doing it against amazing odds.





SHINNY HAPPY PEOPLE by REM

Another odd one but we have to remember that being there for each other isn't just for when all is shitty. Nope, the world is full of shinny happy people that make our lives awesome. The arseholes get to be on the news but the day to day gems get to rest in our hearts.





HAND IN MY POCKET by Alanis Morissette

This song always makes me smile, always makes me feel relaxed, reminds me that I am the master of my own emotions and reactions to negativity. That I can take it on the chin because even though I have plenty of things that warrant criticism I also have a vast amount of awesomeness too, that more-often-than-not cancels the bad out.



and finally we have a song that should stir the good, loving feelings in anyone and lift them above their petty negativity and bring them to see we all live on this same sweet Earth, all have good and bad in us and that it only takes choosing to look for the good to be able to see that this is indeed...A Wonderful World




My version of the truth is that this is indeed a wonderful world, filled with wonderful people and you know, when you come into contact with the ones the are intent on spreading their own brand of bitterness you have the choice to make. Do you become one of their disciples and pass that shitty vibe on to the next person that crosses your path or do you just look around, say 'fuck it' and walk away?

In the end you probably do yourself the greater favour by taking the higher ground whenever you can.

Slightly preaching tonight, slightly weird and perhaps slightly disjointed. Sorry folks, but that's the funny thing with these emotions and situations. It's never simple.

Hope you enjoyed the tracks and the words. See you next week.

Silent Sunday

The Chronicles Of Professor Elemental!!

You may remember (if you've been reading for some time) that yours truly went on a wee adventure into acting early last year? Well, after a long wait and many months of excitement the Chronicles Of Professor Elemental has been released!

YES!!!!

So, thoughts? Well the episodes are posted below and so I won't ruin anything but I will say I felt it was really funny, with clever dialogue and the people in it totally nailed their parts. Great! In truth I was exceptionally worried I'd not only look uncomfortable and stupid but I'd also be buggering it up for everyone else but gladly I think they managed to keep me in but have me not kill it.

YES!!

As you watch (I hope you will) you'll see me in a brown suit looking flustered, Roo (our wonderful twelve year old) as a 'space saver' and my lovely wife @Mamacrow as a gorgeous, very made up lady in episode two's 'You remind me of a car' song.

YES!!! (No, I don't know what I'm on about either. Sorry)

So I hope you watch it, enjoy it, appreciate its wacky, off the wall humour and then do us a favour? Watch it again. You see everyone involved needs it to be in demand so they can get a shot at perhaps some form of extended television contract! So watch it and then do me a favour and stick it on every now and then. You know, kind of go back and be a repeat offender? Then the other thing you can do is to tell other people about it so they can do the same and get the hits up and give the mini-series the boost it needs to convince the people that make the decisions that this one? This one is the right one for them!

Now I can't imagine I'd be returning to the show if it was commissioned (they'd have money to hire good people that can act) but I know the other people involved in the project are awesome and would get some love! Obviously Professor Elemental (super chap I have much love for and whose music makes me smile), Ben Field (the great director and guy that gave me the opportunity in the first place), Moog (he did all that amazing animation and also held that big furry thing that picks up sound while filming), the awesome Grace (who plays Clara and really is a lovely person) and Dan (an excellent, friendly guy with an evil laugh and a talent with unicycles).

It would be great to see these wonderful people get some recognition, love and reward for their hard work, patience and talent. Thanks for reading and please...get watching and word spreading!












So, now you've seen it I hope you feel motivated to leap off and do some great people a big favour and help give The Chronicles Of Professor Elemental the best start in life it could get, by giving it as many hits as possible!

Thanks for reading and watching.

Music Monday: Sleeping sounds

First Music Monday of 2013 and the new baby hasn't appeared so my mind wanders to those sleep interupted nights ahead, wondering how we will get this new addition to sleep as well as the others did?Thinking about the music that will switch this child into sleep mode has brought me to pick five pieces of music that clubbed our other children into slumber land, sometimes highly unexpectedly.


USE YOUR ILLUSION by Guns & Roses

Yep, its a weird thing to sleep to but our first child found Axel Rose and his crew so engaging he'd just completely spark out. Was it the amount of times @Mamacrow played the album on c.d or was it that he became bored of the legendary frontman's bullshit at such a young age and just shut himself off? Who knows.

Which song do we put up? I don't want to fight about it at all, but if we did it would be a very polite argument...






Agaetis Bryrjun by Sigur Ros

I know, I know, what the fuck? Well I have no idea how well known they are but they are Icelandic and, well, kind of odd. Its synthetic and melodic, hypnotic and sometimes I think its cool and other times I'm a little conflicted and think it maybe a bit to odd and shit. Not sure.

Roo has always been a weird cat but this is certainly summing up his alternative choices. The album was sent to us by an Internet friend we chatted too who wrote for the the same Star Trek on line role playing game. He was a nice kid and the collaborative nature of the writing for the station our characters were based on was certainly something I feel was a very valuable experience in the early years of my writing.

Roo would hear this and off he's pop. Blink and he was out. Awesome.




BAT OUT OF HELL by Meatloaf

Right, now you'd think this is something not to sleep to right? I mean it gets loud, it goes quiet, then it goes all loud and then slinks back to quiet...you get the idea right? Mad as it sounds The Wig was able to pop off to this with-in minutes, but if you turned it off, he'd wake up. Now I love a bit of the Loaf myself but it was certainly a bit odd.

Still, I think we'd all agree that we don't give a fuck what it is that sends them off, so long as it works! :-)






ORANG-UTAN by Urang-utan

Yes, early seventies rock seems to be the flavour for our seven year old at present and though its not what he listened to as a very small monster it counts here as I think its still a bloody weird choice of what to sleep too.

Now this track is called 'Chocolate Piano' and no, I have no idea why.






So we have had four past tracks and albums, I will now look into the future and predict what our soon to be born baby will want to bed down too.

Ready?






Obviously to have this selection I'd need to own a copy of the song. I inform you somewhat sheepishly that I actually have two...


See you next week, thanks for reading and listening and I ask a simple question; what did your children go to sleep to? Did you use music at all? If you didn't or don't have kids then do you sleep to music?

Don't be scared to comment. I promise I don't bite...