Martha's Irrational Fear Of Goats

What more can I say?
Martha told me to write about it. Vote Goat :)
Ross, be nice...

What I Really Do...

This basically covers my ponderings for today...

A Driving Ambition?

Welcome back, Internet Dwellers, to my cave of mystery. My name is Plato (not really) and I have many wonderful things to discuss with you. Or not. At all.
Today I am pondering driving, because I am terrified of it. And I thought I'd let y'all know.

So basically, whilst I am enjoying learning to drive and am looking forward to the day when it will be another skill I can claim I have, I am also worried that, every time I get behind the wheel of a car, I'm going to break/damage some poor, unsuspecting citizen. Or Jason.

Jason. No, sorry, that's Andre...

For those of you who don't know, Jason (Peter Andre) is my driving instructor. He is known as Peter Andre because that's who he reminds my parents of. (Sorry Jason, if you're reading this, but then again, I don't know why you would be. Actually, it's not exactly rude, so I'm not sure there's anything to apologise for apart from giving you/him a nickname that wasn't known about.)

Anyway. Driving is possibly the most scary thing I have ever done. Ever. Including Operation Saw which wasn't actually that scary, but involved beans. How can people do this on a daily basis? If you do it wrong, you die. Then you're dead. Forever.

Also, why did anyone ever invent the car? We would have no need for them if the buses and trains worked better; if we didn't have cars we'd be healthier because people would be more inclined to walk short journeys. Buses would run better because there'd be more need for them and less traffic and they'd cost less because there wouldn't be such a need to conserve petrol, lowering fuel prices.

Plus there would be far, far less pollution; cars produce more CO2 per person than any form of public transport, including planes and boats. Not having cars would reduce that, especially with things like commuting and school runs which often only have one or two people in the car anyway, whichis even worse.

Sorry, rant over. But basically, once I pass my test, I will not be driving very often if I can possibly help it.

P.S. I found out why Ashley's hair is now the colour of a banana wrapped in sunshine. If you don't know, then I'll leave the surprise for you to discover for yourselves.

A Brief Note

Dear All,

As you may be aware, Clive Dunn died on Tuesday.



For those of you who don't know (and you should be ashamed that you don't) Clive Dunn was an amazing actor who played Lance Corporal Jones in Dad's Army as well as gracing the musical charts with his song "Grandad", which is sublime. Really, it is. He also had a song called "I played the Spoons", but it's not as well-known. Although it is probably more epic than "Grandad".

Since I first watched Dad's Army, I really loved Clive Dunn; Jonesy is an amazing character and it must've taken a lot of skill to make it so believable. How could such an old character be played by such a young man? And, as everyone knows, his "DON'T PANIC!" approach to life was both practical and hilarious...

 

He has been an inspiration to many people of all ages and he will be dearly missed.



Choir, Singing and the Community of Music

Hey there, random folk of the Internet! Today, because it is a huge part of my life which I could not live without, I am pondering music. For those of you who don't know me, you should know how great my need for music is; if I don't go to band or choir or something, I'm usually singing. Or singing in my head. Or singing out loud and singing something else in my head (this, as I'm sure you can guess, has lead to some fantastic mash-ups...)

So, today I was at choir and, whilst Mr Werner was prancing about like a prancy thing (he is a beautiful man), I realised how much I love being there, in choir. We have all these little in-jokes, like the altos and their sexy E-flats and how diva-y the sopranos are meant to be (from experience, they're not really). Like many things, the Chamber Choir is like a kooky, awesome family and I'm really going to miss it when I leave next year.
By the way, that's true of all the other choirs too, but you really notice it in the Chamber Choir because it's so small and tight-knit.

Then there are bands... *Sigh* Where do I begin? Well, there's Bean Band (more formally known as Concert Band) which is, much as it pains me to say it, really good fun! Mr Bean doesn't realise how funny he is, and we often end up laughing at him being amazing. Then there's everyone else. They're all fabulous too, and (even if they do have tendencies to dye their hair canary yellow) I love them dearly. Some of them, like Hannah, Emma, Joanna, Lizzie etc. (that is by no means an extensive list) are far more used to my quirks and therefore pull faces at me during band, which is good for when it gets boring, or Ben has a solo... Like the choir, it's very close, especially after Belgium and we're sort of like the most dysfunctional (extended) family that has ever graced the Earth's surface. Apart from the Splorers, of course.

Finally, we come to Soul Band. Like every other musical activity I do, this is the highlight of my week. We are so close and, although there are meant to be only a few of us, there are twenty in the horns section alone. This makes us beautiful; even Ben. Even Tom. Even Ashley's hair.

Especially Ashley's hair. It's beautiful, despite its luminescent qualities.

Plus, Miss McNally is the most inspirational person I've ever met; she's actually taught me so much about life, entirely by accident and she lets me wear hats to rehearsals and concerts, which is awesome :) The Soul Band is a mad, laugh-a-minute comedy roadshow of a family and I love it more than anything I've ever done in my life. Ever.

Except perhaps Scouts. Although, nobody in the Scouts can play "Teddy Bear's Picnic" as an impromptu duet on trombones. That's gold.

So yeah, this is what I do with my life. It's beautiful and I wouldn't change it for the world, although next year I will have to. I'm going to miss it so much! If any of you are reading this, I love you guys!

Oh, and I finally found a vegan song (sort of). It's called "Save Me Now" and it's by Jeff Lynne. Give it a listen, it's beautiful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VChiKsQo534

Communication

Well, I'm back with a vengeance ladies and gentlemen!! I'd love to say it was because I've had nothing to do, but to be honest, I've had absolutely no time. So, whilst lots and lots of things have been happening, I haven't bothered to update y'all. I'm excited about my life at the moment and (although it is fairly standard, for me) I am very happy for my friends, whose lives are all picking up!

Anyway, there is something fairly major I'd like to whinge about/ponder today. Communication. There is one specific person, who will remain nameless, who does not reply to any message that I ever send him. Chances are, he won't read this, because I don't really matter. Thing is, he is a good friend and I see no reason why he wouldn't reply, he must just be lazy. Or I am bad at judging my friends. But it's sometimes quite important that we talk & organise things outside of school and he doesn't bother to reply, which is annoying.

On the other hand, there are some people who share every. Single. Detail of their lives with you. That gets annoying (oh, right). But seriously, those people who tweet or update Facebook every time they sneeze. It just gets really annoying. Really, really annoying. Yes, person I haven't seen for six years, it IS raining, well done!

Sorry, obviously I have a lot to moan about today and little interesting to say. I'll try and put something fun up in the next few days about Ross and his amazing, erm, hose. And our Death Match, that was epic. I came second! ;)
But seriously, Captain, if you read this (why would you?) It's be nice to actually be able to talk to you. Some of it's fairly important.