Yes, I do know that song

A memory that keeps surfacing for me is one that happened only a few months ago, I think it was over the Summer because my youngest brother - who this post features - was looking forward to starting University - something he has worked very hard for.

Let's sidetrack a bit before I dive too deep into the event - my taste in music is...not so much unique, but rather I don't quite care about it. I listen to what I like the sound of and this usually consists of anything with good use of guitars and drums. I love golden oldies like Sinatra, Elvis, The Beatles, ABBA - who doesn't? I love a lot of old songs I don't know the artists and/or, in some cases, the names of. I bought the Toploader album - Onka's Big Moka - just for Dancing in the Moonlight, and it was a number of years later before I actually listened to the entirety of it and realised...I liked all of their songs, Achilles' Heel being my favourite - it barely makes any sense, but it resonates with me in a way that I actually understand what it's about. I remember my father buying the Trogg's album because my brothers and I loved the Wild Thing song from the Lion* adverts - remember those? Back when a 8-piece bucket of KFC was cheaper than it is today** - I never got around to listening to that completely...it got misplaced.

I'm only 24 at the moment, and these are the songs I love as well as a lot from the 80's/90's. There are a few songs I like from this decade, but honestly? Almost every song sounds the same to me, though one band I will faithfully listen to is Linkin Park. Say what you will, but I commend the boys on their efforts and experiments - the Black Eyed Peas never got flack for getting 'creative', and I doubt any of them have a set of pipes like Chester - the man's voice is heaven-sent. Okay, that may be going a little far considering Danny Glover's voice is chocolate for my ears...I know...I was surprised too...

...Oh if my SatNav was voiced by Danny Glover...

In Memoriam - Frank Waters, my Step-Grandfather

Not my ideal second post, but I feel like I should at least write something.

Over the Bank Holiday weekend, my step-grandfather, Frank, was admitted to hospital due to a heart attack. He suffered another one and died at the age of 81. At this moment his funeral plans are being organised by his eldest step-daughter, Irene...but I don't think we're invited (more on this later)

I don't have very many memories of Frank, simply because we hardly kept in contact with my father's side of the family and after their divorce, we just never kept in contact - there wasn't really any reason to since the whole point was to break ties completely. From the one lasting memory I do have from my very young years, I get the impression that he was quite strict - I took a bite from something on his plate and put it back and he tersely told me to finish it. Other memories have him being more pleasant as I grew older, but we never spoke much and I never got to know him.

The last time I saw him was about 4 years ago - my mother's younger sister and three cousins had come over to visit from New Zealand and wanted to meet my father's younger brother as he had attended a funeral and met them briefly. My cousin and I knocked on his door and the youngest of his two daughters answered; despite the obvious flash of recognition in his eyes, he insisted he didn't know us, when I mentioned we had come with my mother, and denied going to New Zealand, until my cousin spoke up and he caved. We entered and it was then that we saw Frank in the front room - I remember it had once been a living room, but had since been converted into his room due to his deteriorating mobility. He seemed so happy to see us and greeted my mother warmly, though we didn't stay long.