OLD

OLD

Yes

I am old now

and lucky to be 

You are still 

yet young and with luck

maybe you'll be old too

Yes 

you may laugh as I 

stumble with my words

at my poor eyesight

and my walking with a stick

Yet 

I was born when Elvis

was King

I saw the Beatles for the first time 

The Rolling Stones

And Jimi Hendrix 

The flower power generation

I rode the white swan

with Marc 

Through T.Rexascy

Punk

Blonde when they were new

Long before you were born

I was having fun

a child of the greatest generation 

Yes 

I am old now

May be one day 

you might be too

and smile at the youth

like all the old do

knowing we did it 

all before 

you 

©️merimaat 22 March 2025

YOU'D BE CRAZY NOT TO BUY AND READ THIS BOOK - THE CLOSEST THING TO CRAZY - MIKE BATT

 I came across this book on Bluesky from a post by the author Mike Batt and thought well the title The Closest thing to Crazy was some title, wasn't it a song by Katie Melua,  we (my wife and I loved).  It was. 

The only thing I really knew about Mike Batt was he was the Wombles so that was the other reason I went for the book.

It is not that often that I sit and read a book in a few days,  which given the time it takes to go for a cuppa, have something to eat and do the other boring stuff of life would mean that the actual time I have spent reading this book is no more 12 hours in total.  I have not read a book that quickly in years.

The book reads like a diary and that is one of the reasons why you want to keep reading it, because let's face it we're all quite nosey and like to read what people really think and what they are really doing or have done.

On another level it is also an education about "show-business" the music industry in particular which Mike is very honest about and it is worth reading for that alone.

I can't remember another book, apart from maybe Diary of a Rock'n"Roll Star by Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople, that a person has been this honest about their life and their character, which Mike is and sometimes startling so.  Every voyage through his life and emotions are here on the pages, from love, hate. anger, through to depression and joy.  There are many things that within that we can all relate to and even smile as he takes you on this voyage (remember our teenage years etc).

Apart from what I have stated earlier,  I really didn't know much about why Mike is so famous and then you get to know who has worked with and it is like a wow, okay another wow, wait what he spent an evening with Marc Bolan & Mickey Finn !!  Another Wow is when you, wait Mr Womble, wrote that and that happens a few times throughout the book, saying to yourself I never knew that and I must look that up and watch that on youtube.

There is so much to enjoy reading this book, that I really could not list them all really I just couldn't.

Mike this is a great book and thank you for sharing your life through it.  I will never meet you, but in so many ways I already have and have had the most wonderful few hours in your company, hours I will cherish as time well spent.

I have stated that You'd be Crazy not to buy and read this book and I believe that is true, it is a great read from page one to the last page and I really can not recommend it highly enough to everyone. 

SPYMASTER THE MAN WHO SAVED MI6 by Dr Helen Fry - my review

 Unless you are an historian, or have read any of Dr. Helen Fry's books, the name Thomas Joesph Kendrick will mean nothing to you at and yet he is a person whose life and work should be known to us all, well those parts that are not still classified.

Spymaster the man who saved MI6 is the 3rd book that I have read by Dr Fry and wanted to read this one because Kendrick kept coming up in those previous books and I wanted to know more about him.

Dr Fry takes us through the life of a person who had great skills, charm, wit and great intelligence.  A person with great humanity in the best meaning of the word and one who never spoke about his work and died unkown, to world in general and yet it is because of him and the people he worked with we are here today. Not only are we here today, so are those families of the Jews that he saved during his time in Austria.  That part of the book was very harrowing to read, as the depth of the depravity of the way the Jews were treated is fully explained by Dr Fry.

There are many pages of this book that are "hard" to read and yet fascinating at the same time and we learn how close London came to being the first city to be bombed with atomic bomb.  

We get the full understanding that here was a man who knew what had to be done and how to get it done and mostly had the support of others, although this not always true.

There are many other focal points in the book, the part about Hess is just one of those focal points and the book concludes with the full-circle of the Russian threat.  There is so much more packed into this book, that it would take me to write one to tell it all, so I will leave you to read the book to discover those parts.

By the time I completed my reading I felt I had another "hero" to remember.

As usual Dr Fry's knowledge, research, come through. More than that as with the other books of hers that I have read, the information is given in such a way that it is not just dry parchment or interlectual mind swill that bores, it is a book you want to read every page, sub-heading and chapter of and then tell others of your discoveries,  for this book is a voyage of discovery amongst the many other things that it is.

I have not one second of hesitation in recommending this book to others, even those who do not have a particular interest in the history of the 20th century as much of it is relevant today as we see events in the USA unfolding.  THOMAS JOSEPH KENDRICK is a name to remember and THE SPYMASTER WHO SAVE MI6 a book to have in your libriary.

Book Review : THE WALLS HAVE EARS by Dr Helen Fry

THE WALLS HAVE EARS  is the second book that I have purchased and read written by Dr Helen Fry and once again I learnt about it on Social Media where I "follow" Dr Fry.

The cover of the book states THE GREATEST INTELLIGENCE OPERATION OF WORLD WAR 2 and through the pages of the book we really learn it was exactly that as we discover while reading the book just how !   I have put the !,  because once more Dr Fry takes the reader into the world of intelligence at the time and the real people involved, the good and the bad, friend and foe.  

Of the many things that I loved about the book was how the intelligence was obtained, the many ways which I found astounding and astonishing and that I didn't know and I politely suggesst that most wont know unless they read this book or have other means of getting the information.

The "human and inhuman" side of what happened during the world war, is told and reading the book I wondered how I would have reacted to hearing the evil evidence given by those guilty of it as the listeners did.  Honestly I am not sure if I could have controlled my anger and at the very least would have had a lasting emotional and mental scar, which I wonder how many of them did.

The importance of the many ways of the gathering and confirmation of the intelligence is shown throughout this book and you know that it saved lives.

I was horrified to learn from this book, that evidence gathered could not be used at the Nurumberg trials of some who took part in the crimes,  that however is, as is stated in the book, still a matter of debate, but also as the book tells us one of the reasons why was because of the "Cold War" that followed.

Such is the writing of the book, that we become ears as the listerners did and we can hear the words as they were spoken,  over 80 years ago as if we're hearing them now (naturally they have been translated into English for us to understand).  Yet we are left as well with, what more could we have listened to that we are now made deaf to?

In conclusion.

In The Walls Have Ears Dr Fry has done what she does best, tell the facts, the story and makes us think.  Like all great authors she leaves you interested to learn more about the people mentioned.  I have no hestitation in saying that for my first completed book of 2025 it is a great read and a great start to the year of reading ahead.  

Women in the Valley of the Kings etc. Kathleen Sheppard. The Cure for Insomnia, my honest review

 When I first leant about a new publication about the Untold Story of Women Egyptologists,  I was really excited and ordered it from my local bookstore as I always do.  I had to wait and wait for it, but I didn't mind as I thought it would be worth it and the book would add to my knowledge and open up new areas for me to explore.  I have never been so disappointed by a book in my life and in truth, I have found it hard to complete and in the end gave up on, because well I don't have insomnia but if I did this would be the cure for it.

If you care to "plow" through it there are some interesting things, the trouble is that you'll be so bored that you probably will miss them.  What a person's sexuality has to do with Egyptology and why the mention of it is beyond me and this completely put me off the book, but I carried on in the hope that it would get better - it didn't.

In comparison to this book, I have recently read Women in Intelligence  by Dr Helen Fry, which gave the facts about the women as well as the work they did.  Dr Fry kept the narrative going and I learnt much that I did not know and enjoyed reading this book so much I have now purchased another book by Dr Fry.  The author of this book could do well by reading and learning from Dr Fry.

I really don't have much more to say about this book and this is my honest review of it - well intentioned but misses out on so many levels and I honestly couldn't recommend it to anyone. 

Time for Men to Support XX Women and not be silent about what is happening to them

 I have watched with increasing anger what is happening to XX women, I really should not have to put the double X here and just say women and everyone know what I mean,  to a point where I can no longer be quiet about what is happening to them and nor should any XY male either.

We men can no longer remain silent as women are increasingly having to face daily threats to their safety in toilets and other public places, nor their life long dreams in sports stolen from by cheating males who pretend they are female, when quite clearly they are not, they don't even look like a woman nor even a male in so called "drag".  

We men can not rely on our governments, those that we have elected to represent us,  to protect women, because these governments increasingly  use "equality and human rights " for a very, very small minority to take away the "equality and human rights" of the majority of the population that is women who are 51% of it (approximately).

We can not rely, as stated above on sports governing bodies to protect our women from being hurt by these ones who are men in their shape and size and have an unfair advantage because of it when against women who are XX women.  I fear that soon a XX women will be seriously hurt or even killed by one of these types "competing against them.

We can not remain silent when others put our wives and female relatives, or any female in danger, because of a pervert claims to be "a woman" when quite clearly they are not.

We must stand with women and say a "law" does not determine what sex you are biology does. A law makes for a "safe hiding place" for the paedophiles  (pedophiles) who claim to be women as is being shown time and time again in every country in the world. 

We must stand with our women against those who are indoctrinating our children when their young minds and bodies lack understanding and yes confusion about their own sexuality, we had those periods as teenagers for example.  Right now women are leading in this and saying louder and louder enough is enough. 

We must stand with women like the author J.K. Rowling who has faced on line abuse by the so called transexuals who really aren't that at all and have no feminine features at all.

We can not stay silent when rapists who "identify as a woman " are allowed to use the same toilets that are meant for the exclusive use of women.  Nor can we remain silent if these ones demand to use changing places that are meant for women.

We men must support our XX women who are having their "rights" taken away by twisted men who are pretending to be women.  Yes I am using the terms twisted men and pretending here, because that is what they are.

We can not speak out about other nations which take away women's rights, because of "religion" when it is happening in our own countries and we mostly remain silent about it. 

This is not a political thing, nor about taking the "rights" of others away. IT IS ABOUT SAFETY OF OUR WOMEN AND GIRLS. 

I know that many will disagree with me, yet I do not want to have to think that the only place that my wife can safely use a public toilet is when she takes me to use the Disabled Toilet with me and we are the only ones able to use it.  I am sick of seeing men steal and cheat women out of medals in sports, because they "identify as women "this is completely wrong.  

I CAN NOT NOR WILL I REMAIN SILENT ANYMORE ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING AND I WILL SUPPORT REAL WOMEN FOR MY MOTHER, MY WIFE, MY SISTERS AND THE MANY WOMEN WHO ARE MY FRIENDS AND FOR THE WHOLE OF WOMANKIND BECAUSE IT IS THE CORRECT THING TO DO.  

IT IS TIME FOR ALL MEN TO SUPPORT XX WOMEN AND NOT BE SILENT ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THEM - IF WE REMAIN SILENT THEN WE AGREE WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR ETERNAL SHAME  

A STAR - BIG SIS SUZI

A STAR - BIG SIS SUZI

MY STAR

HAS LEFT MY SKY

TO CONTINUE HER JOURNEY

ALTHOUGH I DIDN'T ALWAYS SEE

HER

I ALWAYS KNEW SHE WAS THERE

SHE WAS MY GUIDE 

WHEN I WAS BUT A CHILDE

MY LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

WHEN NO OTHER SHONE

NOW IN A FLASH  SHE'S GONE

NOT FOR EVER 

FOR THAT COULD NEVER BE

JUST NO LONGER EARTH BOUND

IN THE CONSTELLATION GEMINI

IS WHERE SHE'S FOUND

FAREWELL SUZI

BIG SIS

FOREVER MY STAR

LOVE

LITTLE BRO

KEVY

©️Kev T Brown 2024 - for Suzi