This is this.This ain't something else.tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50747132006-05-27T09:59:01ZBlogger
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trueCliff2006-05-26T08:56:00+01:002006-05-26T12:40:06Z2006-05-26T07:59:57Ztag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074713.post-114863039719700698Schuylkill, Var and ThamesI have always lived near rivers and they have always held some mystery for me. I don't know why, but I really like them and the path to my heart is lined with steep muddy banks.
When I was eleven or twelve, I started collecting stones from rivers. It's a weird time in anyone's life - I didn't get the idea from anywhere, but I gather a bunch from the places I had been or from people I knew whofalseCliff2006-05-25T09:13:00+01:002006-05-25T15:23:53Z2006-05-25T08:26:35Ztag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074713.post-114854559575939140Top Ten Songs About Rivers1. Many Rivers To Cross - Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff is overlooked as a great songwriter because he's in a niche. It's more a groove than a rut, though which I've always said is a fine line. This is a great song tune. It's a sad song that sounds happy.
2. The Theme From Easy Rider - The Byrds
Not just because of Roger McGuinn's laconic, somnambulant voice, but because the lyrics are so plain thatfalseCliff2006-05-24T15:47:00+01:002006-05-24T14:57:06Z2006-05-24T14:57:06Ztag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074713.post-114848262629322081Happy Birthday Walter
My grandfather
also: The waste of ghostsfalseCliff2006-05-24T09:08:00+01:002006-05-24T08:25:24Z2006-05-24T08:11:18Ztag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074713.post-114845827828804603Who's The Daddy?When I was a kid, I thought it would be cool to be older, because I'd know how it felt to be an adult like my parents. Then I could think like they did and see the world from their perspective.
Not that I didn't like being a kid, or lived for the future, I just wanted to see the world like they did. I think that's why I became a journalist, because I was always interested in seeing how otherfalseCliff2006-05-23T10:28:00+01:002006-05-23T09:56:45Z2006-05-23T09:44:32Ztag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074713.post-114837747239358769ConnectionsOver the last three days I:
1. I wrote an article for a magazine, which is considering publishing it
then
2. Went for a walk in Burnham Beeches with the kids while Wife was busy
where I
3. Met a nice lady just back from Tibet (she mentioned it, I didn't say anything, I swear!)
so I
4. Decided I should be nicer to strangers
and on the way to work the next day
5. Saw a woman who dropped afalseCliff2006-05-22T08:36:00+01:002006-05-22T07:57:52Z2006-05-05T19:42:58Ztag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074713.post-114685817880027081Toy NastiesSon, 6, is playing with his Transformers and Star Wars Lego, off in a world of his own. His Tranformers were doing a stand-up routine, telling knock-knock jokes featuring bums and poo.
But the Star Wars Lego had more pressing business.
Him (matter of factly, in a Star Wars Lego voice): "Can you help me please? Somebody shot my baby."
Me: "Son! Please play nice!"
Him: "It's just a game they'refalseCliff2006-05-19T08:34:00+01:002006-05-18T23:09:41Z2006-05-18T22:59:24Ztag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074713.post-114799316456106035Malta Turned Me DownThe best Eurovision song ever was Soldiers of Love, the Belgian entry from 1987. During the chorus, which went "soldiers of love... soldiers of love", two guys in combat fatigues raised their guitars above their heads and then lowered them to thrust them downwards in stabbing bayonet movements while dollybirds danced around them in dramatic self-abandon.
It came eleventh, in front of afalseCliff2006-05-18T08:55:00+01:002006-05-18T07:57:13Z2006-05-18T07:57:13Ztag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074713.post-114793903325469445There's That ThingFamiliarity is a weird thing - you don't pick up on things around you until you notice them.
What I mean is this:
You meet someone with a wonderful name, and then suddenly you start hearing and seeing that name around, but you know it's always been there, you've just had no reason to notice it before.
Another example is that someone tells you they've bought one a certain make of car. "Yeah,"falseCliff2006-05-17T08:46:00+01:002006-05-17T10:14:56Z2006-05-17T08:28:29Ztag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074713.post-114785450937285786This Land Is My LandSpeaking of quirks, I've always wondered (and will probably never know) why people like different landscapes. Me, I like stillness. Tundra, preferably, but I'll take anything simple. I like the mystery or it, throw in some fog and I'm in heaven. Swamps are ok, too. Don't get me started on Spanish moss. Deserts are OK, but I don't really like the heat. Rolling hills have stillness and are good,falseCliff2006-05-16T08:45:00+01:002006-05-16T09:34:21Z2006-05-16T07:53:02Ztag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074713.post-114776598282838827Praise The QuirksMillions of years ago, the ornithocheirus flew across the Atlantic Ocean to mate before it died. It was a pterosaur, and a big one, with a wingspan of 12 metres. Heavy, too. Although the ocean was only a few hundred miles across in those days, it was a long way for him - unlike feathered birds today who can flap their wings, this dinosaur sort of glid.
In order for him to make the journey safely,false