Freshly Spilled Thoughts

This song by Blu Cantrell was pretty good: “Hit ‘Em Up Style”. Another one I’d forgotten.

She turned out to be a one hit wonder other than one track with Sean Paul, which is hard to believe when the likes of Ed Sheeran (and dare I say it, Taylor Swift) crank out hit after hit that sounds the same.

It’s not about how good you are, it’s about how well these artists are marketed to the public and how much money gets pumped in…

Dean as a kid:

“Wow. It’s been snowing (said with excitement and a sense of wonder), I’m going outside to roll big balls of snow to make a snowman and then I’m going to shove a carrot in its face and call it a nose. Have we still got the red plastic sledge thing? I hope this lasts forever.”

I used to spend hours outside as a kid in the snow with wellies on. My sister would follow me around, not that I knew what I was doing.

Dean as an adult: 

*opens curtains first thing*

“Fuck, it’s been snowing. I’ve got to drive in this and the roads are full of twats. It’s still pretty though.”

Magical vs Practical.

I’m half way through watching a film with Adam Sandler in called “Uncut Gems”.

At the half-way mark it’s been like spending a night out with someone who has bipolar disorder and is firmly on the mania side, whilst spinning plates just to keep the wheels turning in his life.

I think some people would find this kind of viewing exhausting but I’m hooked as there’s never a dull moment.

It’s absolutely bonkers. To live the way he does in the film, you’d have to source a never ending supply of adrenaline and have viagra subscriptions on speed dial.

I am at the point now where he’s gone into Angry Superman mode, which I quite liked because that makes him seem more authentic. At every turn he’s one footstep away from stepping on a mine he’s had no small part in creating for himself.

In between all this he’s placing bets with money he hasn’t got, robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I can’t say I was a big fan of Sandler prior to watching this. I’m sure his comedy films are okay, I’ve just never really watched them.

So far, so good though with Uncut Gems at the mid-point of this frenetically paced glimpse into a world where one man with ambition, lives on the edge of feast or famine.

You don’t quite know if he’s going to pull it off, which is what keeps you watching (I did not intend to write any form of euphemism there).

One of my friends is taking the opportunity to set up her own business now that the New Year has rolled around.

I know she is nervous about it but I’m so super proud of her facing her fear and doing it anyway.

It takes a lot to do that and step into the unknown. Getting over the notion of people possibly judging you and facing the ‘what ifs’.

The sad thing is the most amazing and talented people are the ones that are crippled by all these fears because they care so much about what others think.

Meanwhile, the dork brains are doing it anyway and all they needed was their limbic system (that means the bar is low).

The fear of failure can be so overwhelming it leads to paralysis by analysis, but it’s just how you look at it.

Failure doesn’t define someone and it’s not the worst thing that can happen.

Failure is not permanent.

When you fail you learn, it does not mean you lost.

Ever heard the saying: “I may have lost the battle but I will not lose the war”? (paraphrased)

People usually only fear failure because it puts the spotlight upon them if it happens, so all the people that didn’t have what it takes to do something can say things like, “Told you it wouldn’t work” or “They were just wasting their time”.

These people are all missing the point. It’s easy to be an armchair critic, anyone can do that.

It’s no coincidence that all the people who seemingly know how to run the country are driving taxis.

If you know anyone that has a dream that wants to do something, give them a few words of encouragement or just listen to them.

Reassure and tell them you believe in them.

Sometimes that’s all someone needs to do amazing things because it’s already within them anyway, waiting to be released into the universe.

And if anyone is thinking about doing something, literally ignore all the doubters and naysayers.

All you need in your mind when faced with that is this quote by Bruce Lee:

To win it you have to be in it. Everything a person wants is on the other side of fear itself and the obstacle is the way.

The Sunny Temptress.

I am a huge fan of strongman, particularly World’s Strongest Man.

Always have been since I was a kid, back when Geoff Capes was King.

That contest is basically like Christmas to me… without the shitty songs.

Today we lost one I’d been following for a while.

Pa O’Dwyer at just 40 years of age…

Always a tragically sad thing to hear about. RIP big man.

Eddie Hall has set up a go fund me with a 130k target (looks like they’ll hit it):

Fundraiser by Eddie Hall : Pa O’Dwyer Family

The light that shines twice as bright, burns half as long.

Remember, tomorrow is never promised. If you love someone, tell them today and start every day with gratitude.

We’re all just passing through and time is more finite than we often realise.

I’ve just bought a pair of ice skating boots to get about in.

Wish I’d thought of it earlier.

Haven’t mastered the twirl yet, but I’m working on it.

It always looks so much fun in Charlie Brown…

I used to buy a lot of Dance Albums.

One of them was great and had this track on which I still like today…

Fall in love with music, fall in love with dance
Fall in love with anything that makes you want romance
Make a little softer on the way that you go
Just think that everything you touch could turn to gold

Jam & Spoon – Right in the Night

Messing about with my sister from the same mister, the other day.

Rolo thinks we’re mad and he’d be right…  

Dean’s latest film review:

Lou (Netflix I think)

Starts off okay. Main character is a hardened female badass in her more senior years (or at least that’s how she appears).

It’s great when they’re like that, I wish they’d stay that way all the way through the film.

There’s nothing worse than someone seeming like they are a cold-blooded assassin with a set of skills that would make the boogie man quake in his boots, only to find out later that they collect teddy bears and enjoy listening to Tony Blackburn whilst doing their knitting on Sundays.

The plot quickly unravelled to something very far fetched and unbelievable. It’s almost like they started writing the script drinking coffee, then went out for the afternoon and carried on writing the rest after a night out on the town, three sheets to the wind.

“The public will never believe this!”

“Doesn’t matter. Just blow something up”

“Cool. Then what?”

“Make the badass seem a bit more human by showing their caring side”

“Yeah. The audience will lap that up. And then?”

“Another explosion. Fight scene. Narrate it with something that sounds wise, like they went through something meaningful together”

“Liking it. After that we should definitely go out and get pissed or something”

“It would be rude not to.”

Overall Verdict: Film follows familiar tropes. A star or two for the initial bad assery. The rest was quite lame. 2.5 drinking horns max out of 5.

I had to travel today and all I can say is that it was a case of perilous misadventure.

The roads are so icy and the gritters are nowhere to be seen.

Are they all having a day off with the work-shy bin men?

At one point I got out of the car it was literally like an ice-skating-rink under foot.

If that is what Torville and Dean had to go through on a daily basis, they are welcome to it.

By the time I’d got back I was glad to still be in one piece.

The Lickey Hills looked nice on the TV though, laden with snow and not a footprint in sight.

Of course, if you go through the back of the wardrobe in this weather you end up in Narnia (Sshhhh… it’s just magic).

Rabbits!

I’ve just been writing out a list of my interests, which is by no means exhaustive. This is what I’ve come up with so far:

I also like cars but not the shit ones made with no heart or soul.

HNY.

I went back to my old gym today and ran on a treadmill for 20 minutes (walking/sprinting)

It was tons better than the one at my other gym and I felt like Sebastian Coe, albeit temporarily.

After that I went full Sparta mode for another hour in a meeting with gravity.

Now it’s New Years Eve and it’s time to indulge.

Yin/Yang. My new life philosophy.

I’m genuinely excited for 2026 and I’m as ready for it as I’ll ever be.

Wishing you all health, wealth and happiness in the year ahead.

I don’t take anything for granted, so with the caveat that the omnipresent one allows me to continue, I’ll leave you with the immortal words of Arnie in Terminator:

“I’ll Be Back.” 

Happy New Year 2026 in advance to all readers of this blog…

^^ I almost chose Eddie Murphy saying “Merry New Year” but I went with bewildered yet excited Chandler Bing instead ^^

My advice is not to make New Year’s resolutions.
People only break them.

If you do make one, choose something realistic like:

“I’ll eat fish and chips on Fridays and drink the finest wines known to humanity.”

I find people can stick to that ’cause they do it already 😉 Well, some people drink Carling but there’s no accounting for taste is there.

It’s better to choose things you don’t mind doing than commit to something that feels like a job.

I’m more into the Yin and Yang principle…

If you eat a Hobnob, run to the bus stop just up the road.
If you eat a generous pie, you just bought yourself an hours worth of exercise.
If you eat a doner kebab, there’s no hope, so start praying. Amen.

Triglycerides R Us isn’t a place they sell toys, but you’ll find all the kebabs under one roof

If I had a kebab shop I’d call it “Kebabs of Wonder” (who could resist one)

Of course, you can go too hard with these things… as the bishop once said to the actress.

Sorry. I can’t help myself.

The innuendo is strong with this one.

Yoda Dean.

In all seriousness, I hope that everyone who frequents this ‘virtual bar’ has the best year of their lives.

Feel free to help yourself to drinks when I’m not here.

I’m off to have a sneak peek at 2026 before it realises I’ve already gate crashed it early…

Today’s fortune cookie read (this is totally true, I don’t make up fortune cookie shizzle):

“Your help will be needed in an embarrassing situation“

Told ya.

My cup of intrigue doth spilleth over.

I don’t mind a hands-on approach as long as it’s not helping a cross-dresser out of their corset.

Back in college days we used to ignorantly take the piss because someone we knew was heavily into this indie band. One day I found myself listening to this song and ended up liking it. You might call it a guilty pleasure of sorts (ssshhh… don’t tell anyone) and that’s why I have to play this one out with Armchair Anarchist by Kingmaker….

These lyrics had pretty high shock value back when this song came out:

“I’m a young transvestite
I wear clothes that women like
In fact I’ve got a lovely silken blouse
That just gets me so aroused

What do you think of me?
What do you think of me NOW!”

Holding up a mirror to the listener is a clever bit of provocation.

I doubt many people will remember this song now, or even the group.

But some things stay with you longer than you expect them to.

The brass balls of the proverbial monkey were indeed so cold today that they froze right off.

What words would convey something falling off, if such a travesty were to occur unexpectedly in inclement weather?

The tragic plummet of the plums, maybe? Sounds more like a bad musical score 🙂

Anyone going commando in December is apparently going to receive a medal for bravery.

Into the Breach!

Medals are a funny thing aren’t they…

The ones I like the sound of are:

The Purple Heart and The Iron Cross

Who wouldn’t want one of those.

It’s almost impossible for other people not to be impressed if you put a type of metal or a colour in front of the medal.

Pink may be the only colour that wouldn’t work and you don’t want cheap alloys either.

“Ooh, look at you with your Pewter Cross. What did you have to do to get that? Step over a puddle?”

Not so keen on what you have to do to end up with a good one though.

Can’t we all just get a lovely sounding one for being really good at the Coconut Shy.

“What are you doing Dean?”

“Oh, nothing much. Just after a Purple Heart for accuracy when I take out these coconuts.”

Roll up, Roll up.

Here’s a picture of me and the fam when I was a kid. It’s not the most crystal clear picture, but it may be my favourite photo of all time and I can’t even remember it being taken. The one with me and my grandfather is a close second. I’m not entirely sure why this one sticks more than the others, there’s just something about it that nourishes my soul.

Looking at it, I guess really it’s about love and togetherness but at the time I was probably thinking, “Why is that person pointing that at me?”

A time when I had an abundance of hair and before I discovered dumbbells, beer, women and song… not necessarily in that order.

Wow look at that t-shirt (I loved it).

If I could, I’d go back to that point in time tomorrow. But that isn’t possible.

You only really notice the beautiful things you cherish later on, I suppose.

So onwards we go into 2026. Hell to the yes.

I once created an Instagram account and forgot all about it. Not a heavy social media user then (lol).

7 years on someone I know sent me a message on there, so I had to reset my forgotten password to read the message.

I reset my password. I read the message.

So far, so good. I tittered.

I put one photo on there, seeing as I was there (first in 7 years) and had people liking it I haven’t seen or spoken to in years.

The internet is a strange ‘ole place but you know something, if you ask me it needs more mystery.

It was a beautiful thing when people you spoke to had to ask questions.

It’s good to share things but some stuff should remain private.

Like the ones that say they are at the airport about to go on holiday. They might as well write, “Feel free to burgle the house while I’m grinning at Heathrow”

Are people really so desperate for validation? The answer to that is YES… they are.

The internet is the biggest paradigm shift to happen in centuries and people are using it to tell each other they’ve just chopped up some carrots. About as exciting commentary as watching fresh paint dry.

These are the same people that will use AI (the most powerful thing since the Internet FWIW) to find out who is in Love Island.

I haven’t got a mic to drop so I’ll just drop this freshly chopped carrot instead.

The period between Christmas Day and New Years eve is something of an anomaly in the yearly calendar.

Christmas is over, the crackers have run out, some turkey is still remaining and
it’s still okay to hanker after a roast potato (good luck with the trimmings ’cause there’s none left).

There’s usually a TV special on that you’re willing to raise one eyebrow about…
at least in prospect.

It won’t be Gavin and Stacey though, so that won’t be occurring (just ask Nessa).

Other than that everything temporarily slows down.

The roads are quieter. People become humans ‘being’ instead of humans ‘doing’.

Some of them even smile, which is a hard thing for Brits to pull off, even
with a tube full of toothpaste at their disposal.

No pressure to be anywhere or do anything.

Which makes a change. 

It’s a rare little pocket where nothing is required of you.

One can just exist and watch the world go by for a while.

(always sounds posh when you say ‘one’ doesn’t it)

Boxing Day is the equivalent of an interlude on a good album, if Christmas Day
lived up to expectations.

If it didn’t, then it’s just a bad single that never charted (lol)

And I quite like it.

New Year next. When I was a kid I would sometimes let the new air in with my grandfather.

He’d actually open the front and back door of the house with a great deal of glee, so this
was very much a ritual.

I remember one year just before the clock struck midnight, Sticky Moments was on TV with
Julian Clary singing “Like a Rhinestone Cowboy”.

Forget the New Year, his show was on a few days too late because that was
truly camp as Christmas.

Anyway…

Back to enjoying not having to do anything in particular for the rest of the day.

I’m playing this one out with Fantasy by Mariah Carey.

If you play it through a decent stereo, it’s something else…

Merry Christmas from moi to vous.

Fin.

This is the most Christmassy Tony Soprano gif I could find and I haven’t got time to look for a better one.