Tribute Bands or the real thing

Got a copy of the local newspaper the other day and was really pleased when I opened it up to find one of my favorite 60's groups "The Animals" is playing at the local town hall in October.
In fact "The House of the Rising Sun" is one of my favorite songs of all time.


I'm a big fan of some of the great British 60's bands and these are one of my favorites so I read on. Actually it turns out the group is actually called "The Animals & friends". Ok I realise it wont be all the origional line up (Chas Chandler died in 1996) but surely 2 or 3 of them will be there.

Read on and the article tells me actually two of the origionals are there John Steel the drummer and keyboard player Mick Gallagher. Hang on I thought wasn't the keyboard player Alan Price so I checked and of course I'm correct, Gallagher actually replaced Price for 3 months only in 1965 before been replaced himself. He later became known as part of Ian Drury's Blockheads but thats another story.

So actually only one of the origional line up is there and thats the bloody drummer. I mean can you imagine the Animals without Eric Burdon on vocals or Hilton Valentine on lead guitar I can't. Its like The Stones without Jagger & Richards, The Kinks without the Davies brothers, The Who without Daltry & Townsend.

I reckon its actually a tribute band and at £17.50 a ticket I think I'll go to the local Karaoke instead.

And just to remember the proper line up :-

Good Neighbours & Friends

Just wanted to mention the good people in my life, lately friends have been so important to me. Since Jane's short illness and sad death which I've been quite devastated about I've had fantastic support from a number of people. So many have contacted me offering their help in any way they can. This ranges from words of support, friends offering to take me out to, to chat if needed. I've even had great support through my blog, MySpace & emails from many of you I've never met. A couple even gave me their phone numbers offering to talk.

This week I'm having it busy, my Dad is in hospital for a knee replacement and my Mum is in a care home while he recovers. I visit my Mum each morning and then its a quick Lunch before going to see my Dad in the afternoon. At the same time I've been trying to clear a couple areas of my garden that are overgrown. This is where the good neighbours come in, the elderley chap next door dug over one area and cleared a lot of weeds, on and off it took 3 days, I didn't ask but he decided to help. He's the type of person that loves gardening but he did do a good job. Ok I think it was part payment because I repaired his lawn mower at the weekend and have previously done a odd job to help him.

My other neighbours are good also another one helped me clear a lot of debri from some big bushes I chopped down. I reckon I'm lucky to live in the area I do people all help each other.

I am a bit down today it would have been Jane's 46th birthday and I reckon we should have been together.
As for getting over Jane , whats happend as changed me. Before I met her I reckon I'd settled for the single life but now I'm single again I'm not sure think I'd like to find someone else. Not just yet though that wouldn't be fair to someone else or respectful to Jane, anyway I'm not yet ready. I think by what she said in the hospital she wants me to find someone else one day, we spoke a lot after she knew the inevitable about things like that. We were so right for each other.

Getting Back on Track

I reckon its now time to get my life back on track following the death of Jane its no good sat around feeling sorry for myself. Its hit me hard because I really did love Jane but I know she would want me to keep going forward in my life. I'll never forget her, I have some lovely photos and fantastic memories, she was so special for me.

I need to keep busy

So where do I go now -

1. Luckily its the start of the TT season and I played at the weekend for my British League Club, we did ok beating Woodfield (Birmingham), drawing with Uxbridge (Burton) & Chesterfield and losin narrowly 5-3 to Drumchapel Glasgow. We were pleased with them results because on paper its a tough division for us. Personaly I won 4 and lost 4 of my games which was ok because I haven't put in the pre-season training for obvious reasons.

2. I need to get going with the weight loss, my holiday, lack of exercise and living out of hotels while visiting Jane have taken their toll. Too many full english breakfasts, Pub meals & Beer do tend to have that effect.
So now I'm watching what I eat and trying to exercise as much as possible, been also working in the garden which will help.
I'll report more about my plans for weight loss and fitness soon.

3. Next Saturday I'm out for a meal with a few old workmates, apparently 3 of them are celebrating Birthdays, it'll be good to catch up with the crowd.

4. Gotta just point out the Footie season is up and running and the Mighty Whites are on their way back, 8 wins from 8 matches, MOT.

5. Finally for awhile now I've been thinking about doing something, you know having a direction or a challenge in life. Anyway I'm planning to do so fund raising for charity, maybe organise a number of events. Thinking of doing it for Cancer Research in respect for Jane and maybe help others not have to go through whjat we have in years to come. I actually discussed this with Jane before she passed away and she thought it was a great idea.
Not yet decided on what I'll be doing yet but I'm mulling over a few ideas, first I need to contact "Cancer Research" apparently they provide a advisory pack to help you get started.
Not sure when I'll get started on this project but I will just need some solid ideas if anyone has any suggestions, lets face it everyone knows someone who as suffered with cancer.

Thats all for now but I'll try update on all these things.

Goodbye Jane - RIP

Goodbye my darling thanks for making the last 15 months so special I'll never forget you xxx

Still Can't believe it

I'm still finding it hard to come to terms with Jane's death it feels like a nightmare and I want to wake up from it. I'll not see her sweet smile again, its so difficult to understand why this has happend.

Everytime my phone bleeps I think it should be a text from Jane, when I check my emails I'm still expecting one from her, its so strange.

I'm not looking forward to the funeral on Wednesday, I know its going to be a final goodbye. I'm going down Tuesday and staying over with Janes parents they are really nice people, I feel so sorry for them, it must be hard for parents to bury their Child.

I've asked if I can say a few words at the funeral, it'll be hard and emotional but I feel I need to do it.

My Inspiration

Jane was a very unselfish person, she always put others first.
At one stage earlier in the year I suggested to Jane that I cut back on some of my other commitments so I could spend more time with her, I told her I would cut back on some of my weekend Table Tennis competititions.
She would not let me and her solution was to come along and support me, remember her coming along to watch me play at Swindon for my Veterans National League team. She was quite nervous the night before and really worried she would put me off. Actually as it turned out I think she inspired me and I won all 10 of my matches that weekend helping my team to promotion. She never saw me lose.

Feeling Low

Today I've been feeling down can't get Jane's lovely sweet smile out of my mind things just don't seem real. This morning I ordered my flowers for her funeral and when it came to writing the message I had a bit of an emotional moment.
I'm really missing her which may seem strange because the distance between our homes meant we only met up once a month. However every morning when I turned on my phone would they be a nice message or when I checked emails there would be some joke, we talked on the phone or IM, we just communicated all the time.
To be honest at present I'm so non motivated to do anything, I'm eating too much and just feeling sorry for myself. What dissapoints me is Jane wouldn't want me like this she wanted me to stay strong but its not easy. I really loved her, maybe I can start to move on after the funeral next Wednesday but I'll never forget her.

An Angel

Jane was a fantastic person to know, she was so easy to get on with and always put others first. She also loved animals and one day she really loved was a visit to the Zoo on our last holiday.
When we first found out the devastating news about how ill she was, her first reaction was to think of me, she said she would understand if I walked away from our relationship, she didn't want me to go through a hard time.
No way was I gonna do that and deep down I'm sure she was pleased with the time I spent at her hospital bedside, I really loved her and still do, I will never forget her.

Jane's Music

One thing that Jane & myself had in common was a love of music although our tastes did vary, not saying we disliked each others stuff we both respected each others tastes. Jane was more into voice and loved Elvis, The Drifters, Billy Ocean, Billy Joel, to mention a few. Personally I'm more into instruments especially guitar love classic rock & Blues.

Anyway my todays song is one that Jane wanted playing at her funeral, I now cry when I hear it :-

Goodbye my little Cheesecake

Although I'm obviously still heartbroken over what has happend, I'm trying to think of all the good times I had with Jane over the last 15 months. I remember once telling Jane I give everyone I like a nickname, of course straight away she asked what hers was, I told her "Cheesecake" not just a plain one but "Stawberry Cheesecake".
She asked why on earth I called her that, the answer was easy just told her I found her irresistable just like I do Strawberry Cheesecake. She liked then liked the name and it stuck.
She always had a fun sense of humour and when I visited her in hospital while she was very ill she joked she'd now have to be my "Lemon Cheesecake" due to the colour her skin had gone from the poison in her system.

Here is my todays song for Jane RIP my darling