Monday 26 December 2011

A Short Xmas Blog / This Week's Sessions / and a Festive Rant


Yes.  That’s Christmas for 2011 done and dusted.  The Masher enjoyed a wonderful relaxing Christmas Day, only slightly spoilt by having the Queen lecturing me about togetherness in “hard times”.  She doesn’t know the half of it.  And there was something just a little askew with the Duke being top of the News items despite bombs going off in other parts of the World.  

One of the joys of Facebook is that “friends” share their celebration experiences, and it was so good to see so many friends enjoying family Christmases and sharing the “joy” of the season.  It was good to know that all but Julian, who appears to have his annual disaster to coincide with Christmas escaped unscathed, this year for Julian it was brakes failure on his car.    Oh, and my Sister was enjoying a family Christmas with her daughter when they had a power cut.   Reminds me slightly of the Christmas we had as kids when the Aga went out at the crucial moment!  

For The Masher it was a wind down week.  After three months of near constant activity I had a lovely week of chilling out.  Well almost.  Mainly I was doing battle with Officialdom during the day and growing more and more frustrated and dare I say impoverished, by a total brick walled bureaucracy.  As we wilted into the, “sorry can’t do anything until the New Year” part of the week, I think cracks were forming in the mortar.  One hopes that the repair man is off over Christmas and we can push the wall over in the New Year.

However, while I was drinking hot toddies, and adding to the profits of Beecham’s (do those products really do any good?) while letting the body catch up with the activity of past weeks it was good to hear that the regular Clubs and Sessions were all in full swing. 

The reports I had from The Cross Keys on Tuesday night suggest I missed a classic.  

Guests for the evening were Tina McKevit and Matt Hegarty who have made such an impact on the Folk Club scene over the past four years or so.  I’m told that they performed highlights from their Folk based Theatre, “Workhouse”, and stunned the audience with the drama and music.  I really am looking forward to experiencing the Show myself, and I believe in January they may be performing more highlights at Nellie Folk (that’s the fourth Monday in the month).  

Acoustic Rotherham is doing it’ best to harry these sometimes reluctant and modest performers into recording and touring “Workhouse” so watch out in 2012 when we hope you’ll be hearing a lot more about this duo.  

Impoverished as we currently are, The Mashers and Acoustic Rotherham were not able to send out individual Christmas cards to our Supporters or the artists who have given so much of their talent to the cause of “grass roots” music during the year – so demonstrating our usual cheapskate methods our Web Site Christmas Card will remain available to all our friends, new and old, for the Festive Season.  It may be open, but the sentiment is genuine.   If you’ve not already opened the Card GO HERE

In Poets Corner I’ve published (nepotism lives) a poem that Son Number 1 wrote way back in 2002, so I think the Copyright has run out.  It received critical acclaim at the time and was published in a BBC collection of poems written by young people.  You can find it HERE
Just a reminder to Poets and or Creative Writers, Poets Corner is for you! The success of the page will depend upon how many folks send in material to be published.  So come on boys and girls show the World just how creative South Yorkshire is. 

Also on the Poetry side of the margin, I have made Roy Blackman’s only published collection of Poems “The Ruskin Collection” available on the Web Site HERE   For those who don’t know this Collection of Poems was made possible because of Roy’s year of study at Ruskin College, Oxford in 2001 /2002 where he passed out Top of his Class.  Roy used the small Prize Award he received to self-Publish five hundred copies the Volume which has been sold out for many years, indeed Roy did not even have the foresight to keep a Copy back for himself.   We’ve published the book as a PDF file.  There are around thirty five poems in the collection, and amongst the reflections of a Ruskin Student in Oxford, something I can relate to personally, you’ll also find a few of his more well-known compositions.  While the reproduction is not of the best we hope you will not find the small £1.99 charge too much for the Volume? 

Of course we’re on tender hooks waiting for the arrival of Roy’s CD “Roy Blackman –Rotherham’s Man of Memories”.  As soon as they arrive Roy will be coming around to Masher Towers for a major signing session.  Also look out for News of an Official Launch date and Party.  You can Pre-Order your Copy by going HERE

So, to the immediate days ahead, where you’ll find plenty of Sessions to get out to, allowing an escape from the Turkey carcass and family.   

Tomorrow (Tuesday) The Black Bull, Aughton  is having it’s now Annual all day session , starting at 1:00pm and carrying on until late, with Black Bull type goodies to keep the energy and drinking levels up.  

On Wednesday it’s Nellie Folk at The Bridge in Rotherham, with maestro Rob Slow in the Chair taking us through another fine evening of Folk Music, starts around 8:45pm.  I hope the buses will be running.  

Thursday a Wandering Minstrels Christmas Special, linking into the Red Lion, Braithwell Club who are having an afternoon Session from around 1:00pm.  We’re hoping to find all the usual suspects taking up occupation of the Bar.

Also on Thursday, from around 4:00pm The Yellow Lion in Greasborough will be having a High Tea Session, with Festive goodies and running through to late.  

So plenty to keep the juices running into the New Year.   You can find the listings for December HERE and for those planning for the New Year January can be found HERE

Some sad news to report from The Myke Barritt Music Trust as we’ve been informed of the Resignation of our Secretary Jane, with immediate effect.  We need to thank Jane for all her efforts on the part of the Trust in some very difficult circumstances, and express the hope that her skills will not be lost the Arts Administration of Rotherham. 

Finally, I have been fascinated by the regular adverts on TV for “The Iron Lady”, the film which takes a look at the life and times of Mrs Thatcher.  Dare I trust myself to go off to the cinema to this Bio Pic glorifying the politics of this woman? I think not.  Let us not forget that Thatcher was very much the architect of our current economic and social blight.  I shall always remember on the day she was elected in 1979, my Dad telling me that the World would never be the same again.  And so it proved. 

She set about destroying the Institutions and accepted social standards, turning Communities against each other with the enthusiasm of a Tottenham rioter, and was only saved from electoral oblivion by Argentina invading the Falkland’s.  Even that should have been a lesson to us as the Government went around Europe scrapping up  a Fleet to transport the troops, lessons we didn’t learn from as she continued to pursue her destruction of the Dockyards. 

It was Thatcher who set about destroying our Universities!  Ripping the heart out of Social Science and other Arts Departments with glee, and generally cutting funding to an extent where the National Economy would never again be able to afford to re-build without charging students.

Any thought that she and Reagan were the architects of the collapse of the Eastern block again is a complete fallacy.  It collapsed because it had had it’s time; in simple terms an economy weakened by ploughing money into the “Cold War” eventually collapsed. 
Her vandalism of the Trade Union Movement is now so established.  Her lies during the Miners Strike seemingly unexposed.  

What’s worse is that with the exception of Major, every Prime Minister since her time in power has sought to be compared with her, even Blair that man of the people…………….  Not!

Without doubt she was single minded, didn’t listen to her Civil Servants too closely and was ruthless in dealing with anyone who got in her way or dared to hold a different view.  All the signs of a mad woman.  

So why the hell are we celebrating her in film?  Why are people suggesting that she should be given a State Funeral?  What has she done for our Country that warrants such reverence?  Honestly I don’t have a clue.  

I make no apologies for saying that I find not one single thing to celebrate about the life of this person, other than the passion which drove her to do the things she did often in the face of huge and mass opposition.  If only we on the left could find someone with such passion to drive through change on the scale of Thatcher but to the benefit of all, rather than just the Rich and Powerful.  

And if that is not depressing in itself, we’ll be reviewing 2011 next week………….   Go on laugh!  I’ll lend you some of my Happy Pills if you so wish.

Whatever you’re doing this week, have fun, keep it live, and support local music.

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