Photos past and present

Me with William February 1983

William with Emelie August 2012

Saturday in October

Another Saturday, and a time to myself to read, surf the net, listen to music, which are things I have little time to do at the moment. I heard a programme on BBC Radio 4 with Eric Clapton and hear 'Tears in Heaven'. I must have heard it so many times but never taken the time to listen to the lyrics but did so this morning. Here it is for whomsoever has a look at this blog.

Then on the same theme I thought of this much earlier song.

Can t sleep

I suppose I should count sheep

When he's with somrone else!

I have fallen for this guy. He is cute, has opinions and is just great but he doesn t see me. Oh why is life like this? I would live him to be Mr Right for me.

Changeable

Here are a couple of photos. One taken around 10:30 this morning anthe other at 13:37. This is one of the aspects I really love about life here.

Opening ceremony at London 2012

Did you see this?

The IOC has blocked its use by individuals so you have to watch it directly on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AS-dCdYZbo

The Queen Sequence - Happy and Glorious - London 2012 Olympic Games 

Cole Escola

Hi all of you!!!!! LOL well me the next time I have a look at this!!

For some time I have been following Cole Escola on youtube and blog but haven't really thought much about going to see him for some time. Anyway, today I did try to find out what is going on. His blogs don't seem to have much activity but his youtube site seems to be not only live but lively!

http://www.youtube.com/user/coleywog?feature=watch

I've just seen a video taken by someone in an audience which is just so good. I really is the experience of gay men all over the world. I didn't have much hetero experience so I don't know if it is similar to a straight experience or not. The sound isn't wonderful but here it is and enjoy it.

Love love love!

Did you see the closing ceremony of the London 2012 games? Well I thought it was fantastic and unlike those in the stadium I was alone bit could feel the joy and love. It was just great to see all those young people who had goven their all and won or lost - but the joy was the most exhilarant feeling.

My tomato plants

These atr the only two of 50 seeds planted that have grown. Next year I am going to plant earlier ang get them out earlier. Will the have time to produce frui? On verta!

e portfolios

I'm looking at getting my students to get an e portfolio started in September (Higher Education) and was wondering if anyone had any information that they could let me have as to where students could create personal and private e portfolios. At the moment all I have are sites that are open and this is not really what I am looking for. Any advice?

My first iphone blog

37 years ago today was my wedding day! How things change in life. Although we are no longer married we see each other from time to time and in just a couple of weeks we shall be grandparents! Happy Anniversary.

This is the year of the Sex Olympics

It  was back in the 60's but I remembered this title and thought I would have a look at it on the net only to be surprised about the write up which you can find here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year_of_the_Sex_Olympics

You can also watch the play here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMbwiADe2-o&feature=relmfu

While browsing I also came across some fun stuff :

UK parents found guilty of 'honour killing' - Europe - Al Jazeera English

UK parents found guilty of 'honour killing' - Europe - Al Jazeera English

I found this today. It is something which seems so far in the past. Here in France there are similar things going on - sisters and daughters forced to wear the hijab, or children stolen by one parent who takes them back 'au pays'. We don't hear much about forced weddings although as I write this I have come across this site and what to do if a person finds themselves in such a situation:

http://www.sosfemmes.com/points_de_vue/sujets/03_mariage_force.htm

In French law a marriage has to be consented to by both parties so if this is not the case it is seen as a forced marriage or 'un marriage non consenti' and as such is illegal. There is of course the case of 'consentement alteré' where one of the partners would have wished for the marriage to take place at some other time in the future but due to circumstances has to marry at once. According to French stats, 2/3 of forced marriages end up in divorce.

Here is something about forced marriages and also things that happen to women if they fall in love outside the perceived suiters:

French:
http://observers.france24.com/fr/content/20090917-tue-fille-evite-prison-crime-honneur

English:
http://observers.france24.com/content/20090917-no-prison-those-who-kill-daughters-name-honour-killings

So for a man in many countries, 'Honour killings' are seen as less important and they are given light sentences for killing their family (6-12 months) although in many countries this is changing. In Pakistan, this type of killing now leads to the death penalty (not that I think that this is much better) . However for women things are very different:

 A Syrian woman who killed her husband after finding out that he was raping her daughters got 12 years in prison."

However, something I hear about frequently in France is 'excision' or female genital mutilation - Infibulation. France is the   only country in Europe where there have been trials for this mutilation of young girls.

http://www.droitsenfant.com/excision.htm

Then  there are the Kayan people in Burma where women put on rings around their neck to make their neck longer as it is estimed as beautiful and to distinguish them from men - are there not enough things that distinguish us anyway? Nothing is said about this.

And what about circumcision of men? This also is often done early in life so the child has no say over what should happen to his body. But of course, since studies in Africa have shown that circumcision seems to reduce the infection rate of HIV even the WHO seems to recommend it in HIV prevetion.  (Siegfried N, Muller M, Deeks JJ, Volmink J (2009). Siegfried, Nandi. ed. "Male circumcision for prevention of heterosexual acquisition of HIV in men". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Online) (2): CD003362. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD003362.pub2.PMID 19370585.) 

Whirlwind

A film about a group of friends who are there for each other; who love each other and then one day someone comes and tries to blow it all apart. This is one of the actors who plays Sean and this is his song.

Video

I was on facebook at few days ago and saw someone had uploaded a video film to facebook using 'Socialcam'. I had the impression that this would upload as a film directly onto facebook but in fact it just creates a link to 'socialcam'. True it is quite easy to upload the link, well it is done automatically in fact, but it is a pity that it doesn't upload the film. I have found something called 'viddy' that I am going to try using to see what that does. Here are the videos I have made to date. They are not wonderful, I am just using them as trials.

First video

Then I made a short film of Tracey and Denis

The weather is getting a little warmer and wetter so the lawn needed mowing.

and after

Les Elections en France

Aujourd'hui nous sommes dimanche 22 avril et c'est la journée du premier round. J'habite juste à côté d'une école où il y a un bureau de vote et je ne vois pas grand monde et surtout le monde que je vois c'est plutôt les femmes. Je ne suis pas français donc je ne peux pas voter dans les élections présidentielles ni dans les législatives. Tous les 5 ans je me dis qu'il faut que je fasse le nécessaire pour avoir la nationalité française mais il y a trop d'administration et je suis citoyen d'un membre de la UE (Union Européenne).

Donc qui ce soir? Peut être y aura-t-il un nouveau président ce soir?

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh nooooooooooooooo!

The whole thing has been changed!!! It is so upsetting when you get to a site you think you know and it has all changed since you were last there. It must be like when a friend has plastic surgery and you are not sure if the old friend is still the old friend or no! Then you get used to him/her and the paff, changed again! Well, most of the time that these things change, the changes are usually for the beeter and it looks mostly like what I know!

Today is Saturday 21 April. I had a real night on Thursday. I went to the first event of a friend's association, The Culture Tree, which is an association which gives people the opportunity to get to know each other and play games using English as the means of communication. It was good but the wine kept flowing and before Simon knew it, he was well over the top! The next morning I found myself in a strange bed - something that I have not done for donkey's years. It was good fun.

As it is the weekend and I have some time, I have been looking at my new phone come everything else these days - it's great! It has siri (which seems to work) and so many other features. You can even use it as a phone!

Last Sunday Nikos arrived for a few days as there are not so many tourists in Romanshorn at the moment, and we spent a few nice days together, some of the time in the garden. The things we (he) planted are coming up and we even used some of the herbs for a salad on Tuesday! Here are some photos.

I just hope I know what to do with these herbs!

Here is my first film which is not very long at all:

One of 'those' days!

Not really one of 'those' days but several of them! It must have something about being off work, haha 'on holiday' but I have just felt so down and depressed this week and really for no reason. I've been reading a little about it on the net as that seems the only friend I have! Anyway that's enough of that! For years (about 25!) I've been telling myself to just pull myself together and get a life. Although I do seem to do this for a time, it never seems to last. At the moment I'm thinking about retirment which is on its way in 6 or 7 years, and I just think that , well, do I really want it if I am going to spend the rest of my life like this?

I know that there are many people on the planet who have these feelings so why don't we just all get together and sort ourselves out?

Doing 'sad' things but am winding down a little

Hi. Yesterday I decided to take a tram ride to see the new shopping mall at the 'Confluence' here in Lyon. Yes, I know, sad but at least it got me out of the house. On  the way to Perrache on the tram, we pass the Comedia cinema so I decided to get off and have a look at what and when things were showing. At 2pm they were showing the new film, at least here, 'My week with Marilyn'. Aren't we all fans of hers, so I decided I would do a brief viré at the new mall and get back for 2 for the film.

Ok, it wasn't Marilyn but Michelle Williams does a great job and it was just great to see something about Marilyn and the cinema in the 50s. I loved Dame Judi Dench in the role of Sybil Thorndike and the innocent but not so innocent Eddie Redmayne who played Colin Clark who wrote about the week.

It is good to see that 'stars' can take on all kinds of roles. The heart throb from the Harry Potter films, Emma Watson, plays a wardrobe mistress and there is even a short scene with Derek Jacobi. This is real cinema. Go and see it.

By the way, I also quite liked the new mall at the Confluence (Lyon) and will be going again to visit the Apple store, among other things.

Hols!

Well at last I have time for some time off work. It is good not having to go to work and being paid, very first time in ages for me but I really should have made some sort of plans! That is my life! Today has been spent classifying my music, how sad is that? Very! Tant pis c'est la vie je suppose. Tomorrow I'll do something super interesting like going to the new shopping Mall at the confluent! Quelle vie! Quelle vie de merde! But for years I have been telling myself to do something about it.

Just having taken a little time to look at the interface here, it looks so much more user friendly. Well perhaps nothing different in fact.

What about some pics from the garden!

Some plants growing!

This is a gladiole and some parsley

this anethe I think it is dill in English

I put this wisteria (yes, desperate housewives) in when I arrived in the flat and cut it down but it has grown back to my great happiness.

The plant to the right was a fruit de la passion but the cold seems to have killed it.

Another general view

In fact it is Nikos who put all of this in and he has now gone off to Romanshorn in Switzerland as that is where there was a job. Will I see him again? Who knows?

Coup de gueule!

Depuis un moment je constate que la périphérique de Lyon, en dépit de la limite de vitesse de 90 kph, est en train de devenir un sorte de circuit pour quelques personnes avec les les gros cylindrés et ceci surtout le matin. Mercredi j'étais en train de dépassé des voitures dans la troisième voie, personne derrière ma voiture, et puis tout d'un coup, surgit de nul part une porche donc je me suis rabattu dès que possible et elle a continué tout droit puis bloqué, elle a dépassé une voiture par la droite puis une par la gauche et puis elle est parti complètement à droite pour prendre le A42 vers Genève. Et tout cela s'est passé dans un clin d'oeil.

Vendredi matin matin il y avait une énorme bouchon vers l'Astrolballe, je me suis demandé pourquoi, un accident avec trois véhicules dont une dans la mauvaise direction. A mon avis provoqué par le même comportement que j'avais vu deux jours auparavant. Bien sûr, la police ne se trouve nul part car la périphérique est sous vidéo surveillance!

La police ne peut pas verbalisé ces terroriste de la route si elle n'est pas sur place! Et tous les jours c'est pareil, les gens qui ne veut pas faire la queue pour entrer sur l'autoroute A42 donc ils restent dans les voies de la périphérique et puis un coup à droite où ils s'arrêtent carrement dans une voie de la périph car personne ne veut qu'ils passent.

Ou les gens qui ne respectent pas les carrefours aux feux et bloquent tous les autres axes!
Ou les gens qui s'arrêtent dans la voie de droite et qui mettent les clignotant pour acheter n'importe quoi et qui provoquent ainsi des embouteillages.

Que ces gens soient sanctionnés! au lieu de sanctionner la mémé qui sorte du tunnel de la Croix Rousse à 56 kph au lieu de 50 kph, car elle n'a pas pu décélérer comme le mec dans sa grosse 4x4 qui a traversé le tunnel à 130 mais qui sait qu'un radar l'attend à la sorte du tunnel et qui freine comme un fou pour sortir du tunnel à 50!

Bon, voilà mon coup de gueule! 

It's a leap year / Une année bissextile!

The next time I shall be able to have the 29th February on my blog will be in 2016 (if I am still living!). I really don't have anything to say except for that. You can find out about leap years on wikipedia as well as a list of the next, quite a few leap years.

It must be great to add a year every 4 years. Does it mean that when you are 40 you are 160 or 10?

Peace Out!

Gays, Gays, Soignons-les! - Que se passe-t-il?

GAYS, GAYS, SOIGNONS-LES !

Source : L'Express n°3159 Paru le 25 Janvier 2012

Dans Actualité

De prétendues « thérapies » destinées à « guérir » l’homosexualité doivent-elles être prises en charge par l’assurance-santé ? Le débat s’est emparé d’un des pays les plus tolérants en matière de mœurs. A la suite de protestations au Parlement de LaHaye, la ministre néerlandaise de la Santé, Edith Schippers, a déclaré ne pas comprendre comment une institution psychiatrique d'inspriation chrétienne, habilitée par l'Etat, avait pu qualifier des "traitements contre l'homosecualité" de "soins médicaux", ouvrant droit au remboursement par les mutuelles. Mais des élus chrétiens conservateurs en jugent autrement. Pour eux, des gays issus d'un milieu religieux traditionnel et souffrant de leur sexualité doivent pouvoir être "traités" aux frais de la collectivité. Ils ont reçu le soutien de 162 médecins et religieux juifs - dont le grand rabbin d'Amsterdam -, qui jugent que l'homosexualité est bel et bien une "maladie pouvant être soignée". "Un point de vue abject", ont dénoncé des militants gays juifs néerlandais. Le grand rabbin a été suspendu.

Depuis toujours les minorités ont été stigmatisé et depuis peu en occident on accepte que d'être gay n'est pas une maladie mais un fait - on est comme ça! Que se passe-t-il?

LIFE!!!!!!! LA VIE!

Marre de la vie en ce moment. Marre de travailler que pour payer les gens qui ne font rien. Marre d'attendre. Marre d'être seul. MARRE

mais ça changera demain, n'ayez pas peur! 

Oh what a beautiful morning!

I love it when we get up and the sky is blue, the sun is shining.

J'écoute Radio 4 en ce moment et ils parlent du fait que l'application pour smartphone envoie de l'information sur nos textes vers leurs serveurs.

We'll become more like the French, what does that mean? No more skeletons in closets. Ah ils parlent des articles de presses sur la vie privée des personnes publiques.

Bon, on continue un peu notre tour des années 70 et 80.

Mort Shuman  - Papa Tango Charlie

Gilbert Montagné - The Fool

Jeannette - Porque te vas

David Martial - Celimène

Plastic Bertrand - Ca plane pour moi

Renaud - Mon Beauf

Et on continuera à un autre moment! / To be continued!

Back home after a short break

I needed a break so this week, being a short holiday in some Universities in Lyon, I made the most of it and went away. I took the camper - which is having a few problems at the moment:

• I need to change the water pump, so there was no running water
• I need to change the switch on the shower - although as there was no running water this didn't matter too much
• I need to have the gas looked at, as neither the fridge nor the cooker is working
• I need to change the only bulb which is difficult to get to!

But despite all of this we had a good time. OK hot water was boiled up on the second stove and then poured using a cup over myself to wash but the heating worked so it was warm and we could cook. 

Anyway, Nîmes was good then we went to a small fishing village and I mean just that, it is still a small village: Niolon, France. 

Then we went to Callelongue, just near Marseille

We looked up and thought it might be an idea to go up the moutain to the 3 caves

Going up on the yellow trail was not that easy!

The first cave

Nikos the 'bear' (pity it is a little out of focus)

A view of the Rhône and the bridge

Hope you enjoyed your little trip!

Et la musique continue!

Encore quelques chansons des années 70 et 80.

Mylène Farmer - Pourvu que tu soies douces.

Bibie - Tout doucement

Jeanne Mas - Rouge et Noir

Chantal Goya - Becassine

Mort Shuman - Papa, tango charlie

Isn't this a young Jane Birkin?

Et voilà pour aujourd'hui.

Feeling nostalgic

Perhaps it is just that it is Sunday and a little grey but I am feeling nostalgic. I've just been watching and listening to a TV programme I recorded some months ago and have not had the time to watch till today. It was just about the popular songs of the 70s and 80s. Songs that I know but could never give a name to: neither the singer (well not always) nor the song. So for those of you feeling a little like a bit of nostalgia, here are some links. Just let me say that I have lived in France since the early 1980s so some of the music, much of it, is French.

Jean-Jacques Goldman - Pas toi

Joe Dassin - Eté Indien

Christophe - Les mots bleus

Mike Brant - Laisse moi t'aimer

Julien Clerc - Ma Préférance

A pity I can't find one of the older versions!

Julio Iglesias - Manuela

Frederci François - Mon coeur le dit que je t'aime

Sacha Distel - Le Soleil de ma vie

Yes, that is Brigitte Bardot

Michel Sardoo - Les Femmes des années 80.

The singer is Michel Sardou but the clip is something else. Universal Music is blocking loads of stuff!! Oh yes, they don't make enough money. 

Rose Laurens - Africa

Elie Medieros - Toi, toi mon toit

 

Desireless - Voyages voyages

And there will be more other days

  

Douce France

Hey, if you're into France you'll just love this series by Arte called 'Douce France' (you know like the song that Charles Trenet sang - Douce France, Pays de mon enfance - and so on.

http://videos.arte.tv/fr/videos/douces_frances_en_bourgogne-6346566.html

Happy New Year - Bonne Année 2012

Yes, yes, yes... I know it is already 8 days into the New Year but I suppose it is the thought that counts!

We spent NewYear's eve (St Sylvestre) at St Baudille de la tour with our friends and it was great as always to spend time with them. It was just a pity that Mireille and Eric couldn't make it as Eric was 'asstreint' (on call). Then we went up to Paris for 5 days where we met up with Kären (my sister) and Martin (her husband). We had a tiring but great time. In fact it was the other way round!! We went to Paris before New year, just shows how life is just passing by. I was back to work on Monday 2nd January. This has never happenned to me before!

Today we went to Vienne (France) to have a look around and to have a beer, it was simple but good fun. Going to finish there as I am talking to Niokos.

B-Happy New Year