Uncle is close to dying now. Got a chest infectionand is looking even worse. I think it could be 2 weeks max now. At least he is Mountbatten so will get the care he needs until he passes
Real Greek Yoghurt is almost the best thing one could ever eat. It puts all other yoghurts immediately into the shade. Greek tomatoes are the fruit they truly are. They spoil you for any other tomato. Oh, and for something properly sweet. Greek Delight is waaaaaaay better than Turkish. As for a recipe dish, try Spanakopita. That is just oh-my-goodness-how-can-this-be-so-good, stuff. Greek food - yum ! please log in to view this image
Yeah. Not taking his meds as well. On one hand I hope he goes soon to stop the pain. But then well you know.
If he's in pain that he can handle then let him decide. It's easy for me to say, I know, but my Dad died at 81 of prostate cancer and he barely took any meds either, preferring to see out his days with a bit of whisky, occasional humour when he was awake, and doing exactly what he wanted - which was to have everyone doing everything for him. In the end he was so weak that one day he asked me to take him to the toilet because he wanted to get out of bed for 5 minutes. And I was able to pick him up out of his bed and carry him like a baby. That was the closest he ever got to losing any dignity, and that's the most important thing for your Uncle right now. That episode summed up the struggle for my Dad and how he coped. It was hard for the both of us but we came through it well. My Mum was 101 yesterday and she's quickening her descent. Sometimes the best thing I can hope for her is that she goes quickly. Then again she doesn't have anything wrong with her except at her age her desire to live comes and goes. She only revives when she suddenly decides she wants to. Simple boredom will make her sink. It's up to her now.
On a lighter note, I watched another great film last night - Trumbo. Came out last year, starring Bryan Cranston, he of From the Earth to the Moon, and latterly Breaking Bad. It's about the post WWII clampdown by the USA House Committee on Un-American Activities on US Communists and Left Wing Liberal Democrats within Hollywood. It involved workers across the skills sectors from Scene Builders to Scriptwriters, with a few Actors thrown in too. It descended into McCarthyism and became farcical, but not before a load of people were blacklisted with their reputations and lives ruined. These Americans had become members of left wing parties purely as a counter to the upsurge of fascism in Europe and America, and they stood for workers rights. Now they were being hounded as anti-American. This beginning to sound familiar? The film's title comes from Oscar winning screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, famous for leading the Hollywood resistance. He devised a way to beat the blacklist. Set largely in the 1940-50's, it shows a sumptuous and booming post war Hollywood where the workers wanted some of the share instead of just the screen credit. It makes for a great story, well acted by all [especially Cranston and Diane Lane], and behind it lies a fabulous jazz soundtrack by composer Theodore Shapiro. Great name. On this showing he's the modern day film score successor to John Williams. Thoroughly recommended. Soundtrack taster:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35787187 Sad to read that Keith Emerson has died. I saw Greg Lake a few years ago and he talked about how Emerson wasn't fond of Lucky Man so messed around on the moog for a solo, yet the final result is excellent. Contradictory to the rest of the songs tone, but nevertheless brilliant.
Another one bites the dust,sad sad year so far,saw ELP at the Gaumont in the early seventies and they were absolutely brilliant.Wow I feel bleeding old tonight.Rip Keith.
I have a few ELP albums and recently dived into Brain Salad Surgery, and it still sounded great in places. Here's Keith, Greg and Carl doing a great rendition of Jerusalem:
Stewart Lee's 4th series shows no sign of dimming in quality. Brilliant as usual. Episode 2: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b073gp8d/stewart-lees-comedy-vehicle-series-4-2-islamophobia
I was at that gig at the Gaumont! Tarkuses on both sides of the stage and Emerson leaving the Moogs playing in their own at the end. ELP still hard-wired into my musical genes, along with Lake's first band King Crimson, Emerson's previous band The Nice, and not forgetting Carl Palmer in Atomic Rooster. Great times to be a prog-rocker. RIP Keith Emerson, the first man ever to banned from playing in the Albert Hall.
I saw them then too! They certainly put on a show. Emerson was an exceptional keyboard player and always came across as a normal guy (if you except the knives in synth malarky). Suffered from the backlash as Punk Rock exploded but he and ELP produced some exceptional stuff. Most loved piece for me remains 'America' from West Side Story, with the Nice. Thanks for the music and memories Keith.
Calories are frightening little devils...especially as so many cafes display the calorific content of food. Fish and chips in Sainsburys represent about two thirds of a woman's daily allowance and nearly half a man's. And are similar to one slice of carrot cake in M and S. Though not on a diet...puts me right off....have never bought either now I see that. Must affect sales.
