SOFS

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School’s Out For Summer. So sang the less-attractive-than-you-might-think female vocalist, Alice Cooper.

It’s been a long, long year, with highs and lows throughout, but (and staan terug because this is one of those proud dad posts) I’m a very proud dad today. Again.

Earlier in the week at the primary school prize-giving, our daughter got awards for her academic performance and overall effort. Add this to a Grade 2 singing exam triumph and a ‘best in the category’ Eisteddfod performance earlier in the year and she’s done really well.

And then today, the boy, fresh from representing the school at the Regional and International Science Fairs, came out with certificates for effort in Maths, improvement in History, Art and Design & Technology and excellence in ICT. He’s done brilliantly, especially after a little dip in term 2.

And just in the last few minutes, I’ve received a faultless end of year report for the girl and right now, I’m feeling pretty good about what we’ve raised here.

I’m looking forward to more academic (and other) successes next year, but first – finally – I think they’re both due a well-deserved holiday.

HTTH

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There’s a new album out from the gravelly voiced legend that is… that was… Leonard Cohen, Thanks for the Dance. I was never a huge fan, but I’ve given this one a listen because I was so intrigued by this song, Happens to the Heart. The video – like the song – portrays a movement through life and beyond, and you can sense that this is a genuine story being told.

The extreme postbox video (ruined by the WordPress media player, but particularly good on Theater [sic] Mode on Youtube gives this a real arty feel and weirdly concentrates the mind on what you’re seeing and hearing.

Cohen’s posthumous album came out last month. With these things, as I was saying to a real fan (of Cohen, not of me) earlier today, I always wonder if it was what the the artist would have wanted to have done next (the album, not dying). Also, is there another album’s worth (or more) of unreleased music out there? And if so, would you? Would they? Would Leonard have done?

Perhaps musicians need to have a wholly separate will for their musical wishes. Perhaps Leonard Cohen did.

#TrollingTheGuardian

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Not really moving on from my angry rant about political hysteria comes the wonderful twitter hashtag #TrollingTheGuardian. An open opportunity to take the piss out of their columnists who, by way of their wildly lefty thinkpieces, have been doing exactly the same to us for years and years now.

People have been busy, and the results are hilarious.

Some examples of the genre:

And now, as if to demonstrate just how utterly bonkers some of the Guardian’s headlines are, let me tell you that several of those examples above are actual genuine Guardian headlines. Yes, including the poo one.

If there’s one thing that can be said for The Guardian, it’s that at least it doesn’t hide its left-leaning. Rather it celebrates it, like a little hammer and sickle pin badge on its beret; like something to be proud of. Compare that with The Independent, which still claims to be… well… independent, but is actually chilling alongside the Big G on the red side of the bed.

Twitter hashtags come and go, but #TrollingTheGuardian is one that I will be revisiting regularly.

Really?

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Premier League football on a Tuesday, Wednesday and a Thursday? I almost forgot to sort out my fantasy league team before kick off.

I also almost forgot to write this. Fortunately, I didn’t.

Today’s been a day of prize giving, shopping and Dodgeball. I’ve tried to keep my back happy all day, and I’m now knee deep in analgesia and hoping for a better sleep. Last night was a painful mess.

Wish me luck…

Debilitating

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There’s an active competition going on between my spine and my sacroiliac joint as to which can cause me the most pain at the moment. Sadly, it’s a close run race, and thus neither side is willing to give up, end this ridiculous charade and allow me to get on with life.

My lower back is a battleground, and it’s properly messy right now.

I was fine for a lot of today, and then absolutely nothing happened and I was in agony again. Experience has shown that sitting down for any length of time is clearly not a good thing and so I have been spending a lot of time standing up. But then standing still is also not a good thing, so a degree of gentle mobilisation seems to be the best way to keep the pain away. Sounds straightforward, but then, have you ever considered why you stand still or why you sit down every now and again?

You need that rest.

And yes, those breaks are nice, because they take the strain off your body for a while and allow you to relax. When you can’t do that, it’s exhausting. Add to that the fact that everything takes longer than it should, stuff dropped on the floor just has to bloody stay there and we’ve got a whole summer holiday coming up which looks like it’s going to be ruined unless there’s a Christmas miracle, and you might just begin to see how debilitating this whole thing is.

On the plus side, I’m getting lots done (slowly), because there’s not much joy in lying down either, so I’ve just been plodding on through my neverending list of jobs. Even this post is being written standing at the kitchen counter, because I’m actually too scared to try and sit down at my desk.

It’s a complete pain. Literally. It’s been more than two weeks since I did nothing to injure myself, and I really thought that I would be mended by now.

Bit of a moany post? Well sure. But well deserved. I am so tired and so f[lip]ing frustrated at the moment.