May I recommend. . .

[Stanley]

I posted in Mystery Objects on the IWW and had to play this video afterwards...... Three minutes of pure magic. If you want more, look for 'Songs of Free Men. You'll never regret it.

[Big Kev]

The £4.99 toolbelt from Aldi, very useful for those DIY jobs, I like that it comes with a pre-attached beer bottle opener for when that DIY job becomes too much

It feels quite robust, lots of useful pockets and a holster for a screw gun, metal loop for a hammer with both velcro and a strong plastic clasp on the belt.

IMG_20250216_155855~2.jpg

[Stanley]

\we don't hear performances like this often enough. Take 3 minutes out of your day for pure magic.

[Tripps]

Well done. . On a hunch I googled Terme di Caracalla Roma and as I guessed the clip was recorded there. (Caracalla Roman Baths)

When I was in Italy for six months in 1971, - the Hotel had a couple of free tickets to an evening opera performance at that venue which they gave free of charge, on request, to guests at the hotel. It never occurred to me to take them up.

I wish I had now. . . . but as Mr Dylan enigmatically once said -

Ah, but I was so much older then - I'm younger than that now"

[Stanley]

I have a similar story David. Once of a day in 1980 Susi took me to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl where I was bowled over by Dave Brubeck and a blind bloke playing the piano..... I found out later he was called George Shearing. I was so fired up that I bought tickets for another performance, Pink Floyd doing I think it was 'The Wall' at another venue. Then I found out I had got the dates wrong and flew out two days before the performance. It would have cost money to change the ticket. I have always regretted taking that flight......

[Tripps]

Mr Dylan came into my view today. First George Galloway confessed to being a fan, and described him as the "poet of his lifetime" and the best since Shakespeare. You'll not find me arguing with that George. Then whilst dozing with "American Roots" internet radio station on - the "high lonesome sound" - they don't have news breaks or adverts, or DJ's egotistical prattle - just music, I heard this track from Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks".

A typically mysterious and enigmatic line caught my attention and I noted it as "the one eyed undertaker - he played the flugel horn".
I checked the lyrics and they say it's "futile horn", and I think it probably is. Good to know I'm not wasting any of my valuable leisure time. . .

Here's the full thing . . . .
'Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm
And if I pass this way again, you can rest assured
I'll always do my best for her, on that I give my word
In a world of steel-eyed death, and men who are fighting to be warm
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm
Not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved
Everything up to that point had been left unresolved
Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm
I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail
Poisoned in the bushes an' blown out on the trail
Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm
Suddenly I turned around and she was standin' there
With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair
She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm
Now there's a wall between us, somethin' there's been lost
I took too much for granted, I got my signals crossed
Just to think that it all began on an uneventful morn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm
Well, the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount
But nothing really matters much, it's doom alone that counts
And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm
I've heard newborn babies wailin' like a mournin' dove
And old men with broken teeth stranded without love
Do I understand your question, man, is it hopeless and forlorn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm
In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
I bargained for salvation and she gave me a lethal dose
I offered up my innocence I got repaid with scorn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm
Well, I'm livin' in a foreign country but I'm bound to cross the line
Beauty walks a razor's edge, someday I'll make it mine
If I could only turn back the clock to when God and her were born
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

[Wendyf]

I think it's my favourite Dylan album, along with Desire.

[Stanley]

Never seen those Lyrics before David and no, you are not wasting your time. Thank You!

[Stanley]

This isn't new but I tripped over it today and it's hilarious. We all need a good laugh every now and then....

[Stanley]

I sent it to the kids in Oz and many of them haven't seen the Big Yin before...... He was a great hit.

[Tizer]

Thanks for posting the Dylan lyrics, Tripps. I'm a fan too and it brings back some good memories. When I was an undergraduate in Liverpool I spent some years living in a bedsit in one of the big old houses on Prince's Avenue. A few doors away some of my colleagues lived in a large flat in another of the houses. It was sparsely furnished but benefited from the presence of a piano. We often gathered there and one of the group, a Welsh lad with a good voice (no surprise) would sit for ages playing the piano and singing Dylan songs. Much beer was drunk and we never needed drugs!

[Tripps]

Thanks for posting the Dylan lyrics, Tripps.

You're welcome. I thought only Wendyf and I were fans on here.

But nothing really matters much, it's doom alone that counts
And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

I once visited a friend who lived in a flat on Princes Avenue in Liverpool. That would have been around 1960. I recall it as a not too savoury area, and feel obliged to point out that there is no apostrophe in either the Avenue or the Park. Sorry - I can't help it. . . .

PS Try this - originally by The Poozies - but I think this version may be better.

High upon a lonely moor a widow lived alone;
An inn she kept, and as she slept, the pillow heard her moan:
“For many’s the time a traveller has spent the night with me,
But there’s not a man in all creation gives content to me.

“For some can manage once or twice, some make three or four,
What seems to me a rarity is the man who can do more.
I’d give anything to find him, in heaven or in hell!”
And as these words were spoken, then she heard the front door bell.

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
And the wind blew cold and lonely across the widow’s moor
And she never ever turned away a traveller from her door

The widow boldly ran down the stairs, the door she opened wide,
And as she did a tall and handsome stranger stepped inside.
She gave him bread and brandy, and when that he was fed,
He said, “My dear, now have no fear, it’s time to go to bed.

“For I heard your call way down below and I’ve come to see you right.
But you must come to hell with me if I can last the night.”
She said, “You randy devil, to this bargain I’m agreed,
For hell on earth, or hell in hell, it’s all the same to me.”

Then they both fell into bed and the devil was working well,
He thought before the night was through that she’d be his in hell.
But when they came to number nine the widow cried, “Encore!”
And when the twelfth time came around again she simply cried for more.

At twenty-five the devil felt compelled to take a rest,
The widow she said, “Come raise your head and put me to the test.”
At sixty-nine the widow laughed, “Again! Again!” she cried.
The devil he declared, “Now I can see just how your husband died.”

At ninety-nine the devil he began to cry and weep,
He said, “I’ll give you anything but let me go to sleep.”
Before the morning light was up the devil hobbled home,
And the widow, still unsatisfied, once more was left alone.

She lay there and grumbled as she thought of ninety-nine,
“If only that old devil could have made it one more time!
I’ll call him up again tonight and see what can be done,
With a bit more application, he could make it to the ton.”

But when she called to him that night, no devil did appear,
For the first time in eternity the devil he shook with fear.
“Of all the pain and torment I’ve witnessed here in hell,
I never knew what pain was ’till I rang her front door bell.”

[Stanley]

I read that lyric..... You can say that I was surprised.... But then I have led a sheltered life!

[Tizer]

I once visited a friend who lived in a flat on Princes Avenue in Liverpool. That would have been around 1960. I recall it as a not too savoury area, and feel obliged to point out that there is no apostrophe in either the Avenue or the Park. Sorry - I can't help it. . . .

Thanks for that. Yes, `not too savoury' is correct, at least when I was there. It might be quite different now. It was a convenient place for students to find a room or a flat and the street was a main bus route into the town centre. The houses are large, built for the merchants of the 1800s, and several storeys high. The house I was in and the next door one were owned by the same landlady. She'd had the basement made into a very large flat which was beautifully furnished and probably resembled the original house in its heyday. My place was a bedsit, a bed, table, a few chairs, washbasin in the corner, gas ring for cooking, gas fire - and of course a coin meter.

I hadn't thought about Princes v Prince's until you mentioned it. I probably knew at the time that it was Princes Avenue. However when I checked on Wikipedia I find that Prince's Park is said to be correct because it was named for Edward, Prince of Wales. It seems strange that the avenue and the park should be given different dedications - and a photo on the Wikipedia page shows a plaque to the designer of `Princes Park' (stet), Sir Joseph Paxton. There's nowt so queer as language!

NB. Also I see that Princes Street in Edinburgh is a bone of contention. Locals say it should be changed to it's correct name with an apostrophe but the council claims it would cost millions of pounds.

[Tripps]

We have some experience of the matter in Cambridge (of course).

Apostrophes in street signs.

PS Gold star for "stet". Now we just need to get everyone to use "sic" correctly.

[Stanley]

Stet was new to me. Not sure that I understand it!

[Tripps]

Third person singular, present tense, subjunctive mood, of the Latin verb Sto / Stare - to stand.

I understand it to mean 'let it stand - do not correct'. Used by proof readers.

Pompous or what? . . . .

[Tizer]

Stet. Much used when I was writing news stories to tell the subs to leave the word as it stands (as Tripps explained). Probably used very frequently by Giles Coren! Terry Pratchett learnt the lesson when he failed to put stet after using the word numinous - the editor changed it to luminous. It probably sent Terry into Coren mode!

[Stanley]

Thanks for that Peter, now I understand. (It takes me a bit longer to catch up these days.....)