DRUNK POSTING - MARVELLOUS!

No lk....she works as a headteacher of a school, about 100 miles away during the working week, and we rent a tiny place up there as a working "base".

She was upset that she couldn't come yesterday, because, as murphy's law would have it, she (her school, really) has a government inspection going on right up until Friday, and there was no way that she could take a day out.

Sorry I'm slow in responding, I'm trying to type and eat hot porridge at the same time.

Dag, a full english fry up is definitely on the cards for lunchtime.

I've just realised....what are you (lk) and Dag (are you still in the USA?) still doing up?

It must be the wee small hours out there, isn't it?

yes, they are small. we like em that way.
i am in the usa still, and probably for good, yes.

i can only imagine how long the day ahead of you will be... sigh. well, we'll be thinking of you.

wee and waning.....

Sorry that your wife couldn't be there with you last night.....

Off to bed with me............

It was a humanist ceremony, with several friends and colleagues talking about Mike's life, and one of them was hilarious. Mike was a pretty good guitarist, and had a strictly amateur band for many years, but the problem was that nobody in the band had anything that could even remotely pass as a singing voice. The funny speech guy told various stories about the times when, as young hopefuls, they would go to various auditions in the hope of hitting the big time.
He read out two letters that the band received from music companies who had listened to their demo tapes. They made Simon Cowell sound like Mother Theresa. It was very funny.........and then, with perfect comic timing, his band was introduced to a rapturous round of applause.
They took up their instruments, and played a tomcat being castrated version of "forever young". Two of them were just about good enough to sing the song in roughly the correct sequence of notes so that we could guess what it was, but the third sounded (as he always does) as if his vital parts had been caught in a mangle.
For the first verse or so, there was so much laughter that it seemed almost irreverent, but by the time the chorus kicked in for the second time, everyone (and I mean, everyone) was sobbing enough to drown out the music.
In the pub afterwards, his firm had put god knows how much into the kitty, and the drinks were free for the whole duration.
The place had been turned over to this private function for the day, and it was so jammed with people, that it took me about fifteen minutes and twenty or so "excuse me's" to get from my side of the pub, to the loos.
I had to shout at the top of my voice to be heard during any and many various conversations with old friends and neighbours, so consequently have my sexy deep grating voice on, this morning.
It was a great send off, for a great bloke.

I'll stop all this melacholy stuff now, and get on with the day.

Once again, thanks for the A2K warmth, people.

Oh...and for anyone who missed my photo in the avatar last night, just think yourself lucky!

Apologies to anyone who DID see it, and hope that it didn't make you have a sleepless night.
It just seemed appropriate at the time, but I soon thought better of it when sobriety shone through.

I won't be doing that again, either.

Cheers to your friend Ellpus. He sounds like a good guy. He has nothing to fear. We the living......The trouble continues for us.

"Do not take thought for your persons or your properties,
but first and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul.
I tell you that the virtue is not given by money, but that from vitue
come money and every other good of man, public as well as private...
The difficulty, my friends, is not in avoiding death, but in
avoiding unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death."
- Socrates

Well, "funeral feast" wasn't a bad "invention".

Hoping, it helped everyone to get over the loss.

I'd thought, you withfraw it because you were "a bit confused" about date/time: St. George's Day is on April 23!

(Just for those, who missed the pic:

Nice words of wisdom, Amigo.

Mike could come out with the odd pearl of wisdom now and then.....

"You're like a sore with a bare head" - Mike, unintentioanlly getting the saying all mixed up, during an argument with his dad (who was heavily receding in the old hair department) circa 1972.

My sincerest compassion for your loss.


It did sound like a fine sendoff.

Hey, Ellpus <hugs>, you done good and right by a good friend.

I have a bit of a lump in my throat, Ellpus, reading your words about your friend & the funeral. Good friends a meant to grow old with us, aren't they? Not fair.
I'm hoping you're feeling a bit revived after your feed of porridge.

I'm sorry about the loss of Mike, Lordie. It does sound like a fine send-off; I hope everyone got to remember him well.

Jezze.
I saw this thread the other day and choose to stay out because I had not had anything to drink.

I figured, I would come back when my typing would be appropriate.

now I see it wasnt a joke at all.

Not that there is much I can offer, or say, but I am sorry i didnt drop a line to you earlier .

I am sorry you are having to go through a loss this heavy. Friends enrich our lives and help create our being.
There will always be a part of you that came from Mike.
Always..
And for that, he will essentially never BE -gone-

just invisible.

love ya. With big hugs. ;-)

You did the right thing for your friend Mike, you all had a
terrific "Irish wake". I think everyone wants to be remembered by, for the good times where laughter
and happiness was present.

When famous Dr. Benjamin Spock died in our little town here, his wife danced on his casket to the tunes of a New Orleans band. Everyone was wearing colorful clothes and was singing and dancing - it was Spock's last wish.

"Spock had once told people he would like a New Orleans-style funeral, with a jazz band accompanying the casket. He said, "I love to dance and I'd love to be saying goodbye to my friends while the band was playing and they were dancing...I want them to remember I was a dancing man in my day."

Wouldn't we all wish for the same!?!

Thanks CJ.

At the service, a Joyce Grenfell gem was quoted, which just about summed it up.
Joyce was a very famous and much loved actress (The St Trinians films, etc) who was stick thin and always played a "jolly hockey sticks" sort of role.

She said :-

"If I should go before the rest of you
Break not a flower
Nor inscribe a stone
Nor when I am gone
Speak in a Sunday voice
But be the usual selves
That I have known

Weep if you must
Parting is hell
But life goes on
So .... sing as well."

As usual I'm the last one to find a thread, nonetheless I feel for your loss Lord Ellpus.

Three of my grandparents had died by the time I was thirteen years old, I know how tough it is and I also know that only time can make you feel better.

The good memories and make it all worth it, thrice-over.

Your friend had a nice departure though, that's for sure. You did right by him.

I stayed away from this thread purposely. I thought that it was some experiment in debauchery, I see that I was wrong.
I hope his memory will bring you smiles long after the tears pass. Id sing you the Warren Zevon song , but I get all misty eyed whenever I hear that one .

Lord Ellpus, I too stayed away from this thread because I thought it was something other than it really was. I'm sorry for that. I am so sorry about your loss. I think as hard as it is to remember those things about him at the time, down the road, maybe it will have been helpful. I know with the friends I've lost along the way I left feeling empty and confused rather than carrying a few good memories with me, even if they were a bit painful at the moment. People can live on in our hearts if we let them. The lessons we learned from them can continue as well. I wish you all the best as you go through this.