A DOG SONG

Having been offered a free submission to a song writing contest and, at first wrongly understanding it had to be in the novelty/comedy category, I chose this one which features a dog

It was an acoustic only track but it had been recently mastered so was in reasonable condition And to prepare for the submission I added it to my material on Reverbnation 
It can be heard there at
https://www.reverbnation.com/sheilakcameron/song/25219899-the-dog-song

The lyric (which is also on that site) makes reference to a lover who has a preference for confiding their deepest thoughts to the dog  And, appreciative of both sides of the predicament described, I am using an old photograph of a dog I talked with frequently and most satisfyingly

                             

TELL ME MORE

The songs on the selection TELL ME THAT NOW are listed below They can now be heard on Bandcamp at https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/album/tell-me-that-now

With the exception of the three tracks with arrangements by Wild Biscuit Music this is an acoustic only selection of songs

1.     A Perfect Landing (with WBM arrangement)

2.     Don't Sigh Even Slightly

3.     Still I Love You

4.     My Love is velvet

5.     Two Inches Tall (with WBM arrangement)

6.     The Mountain

7.     I Walked Out One Morning

8.     You'll Like it at the Waterworks

9.     Lowlands
10. Tell Me That Now (with WBM arrangement)

The following comments are some of those which were used for the songs during previous outings:

1 A Perfect Landing was written in response to the suggestion that a Reiki healing could travel 8000 miles and rid me of a heavy cold

2 Don't Sigh is just another of the many love songs I have written although I do like the chorus

3 Still I love You was one of the first love songs I wrote and I have a memory of singing it to people I had never met before in a house in Muswell Hill London England

4  I am unsure what to say about My Love is Velvet so will say nothing

5 Information about Two Inches Tall can be found on my web site at www.sheilakcameron.com but most of it refers to the recording by Tom Conti  However, Wild Biscuit originally provided the arrangement for my spoken word version and it is good to have it included in this selection

6 The Mountain is surely the song with the most obvious statements ever But it has powerful associations for me

7 The walking out referred to in this song took me to the beach across the road from the house where I originally lived in Masset Haida Gwaii

8 A very early song written after being taken by friends, for the first time, for a walk around the Waterworks in Glasgow

9 There are numerous lyrics for this famous shanty but I recorded the version which I used to sing often a long time ago

10 Also written a very long time ago after the loss of a good friend: it is now a reminder of others who are no longer around 

TELL ME THAT NOW

Many months ago I unexpectedly received a track from the exceedingly generous and gifted John Saich and Mags Russell of WILD BISCUIT MUSIC  It was an arrangement of a small song of mine originally called Loneliness but now entitled TELL ME THAT NOW

And anyone who knows anything of my material will be aware how highly I rate WBM and how fortunate I feel to have had many of my songs arranged by them For me, each and every time, on first hearing, their arrangements have sounded just right

The arrangement for TELL ME THAT NOW is an example But while their contribution was excellent there were technical problems with the vocal and it has not been possible to make the track available - until now

Then, a few weeks ago I contemplated using it - and its title - for a selection of some of those songs which still had no set home to go to A few of them have been out and about before as single tracks on Bandcamp but I am hoping they will enjoy their time together on the same site 
The plan is to get them there soon

The man in the photograph appeared alongside the track LOWLANDS when it was initially uploaded to Bandcamp It showed him at an earlier time in his life 
I described him then and will again as 'not my love but a man I loved' The song LOWLANDS is included in the selection TELL ME THAT NOW

For anyone who would like a bit more information this post is followed by another entitled TELL ME MORE 

UNBELIEVABLE BUT . . .PLUS

Was it a mistake or an aberration? Should I enjoy it or be confounded? Well so far I am enjoying it

When making one of my occasional visits to Reverbnation a site which offers many opportunities to get ones songs heard and which (with the exception of YESTERDAY I FELT TWO INCHES TALL) has rejected all my submissions - I came across the information which is posted below

My material is in the Spoken Word category because, having begun recording a lot of spoken word tracks, that was where I felt it belonged But I also discovered that being in that category rather than e.g. Singer Songwriter (which I thoroughly dislike anyway) my rankings would be improved 

Then, for some reason beyond my comprehension, I saw that my local Rank had continued to be No1 (where it had been for a long time) but my National rank had changed to No 1 and my Global rank had jumped up 215 places to No 3!

And even as I write this I am taking it to be an aberration But for now I do also confess to being unbelievably delighted 

PS The Global Rank for all genres was 118,829 and this had a steadying effect on my euphoria But then a few days later the Global Rank (all genres) jumped up number to 77,219 and then 58,473 And by January 30th the Global Rank was back to 2 and the Global (all genres) was down to 721 

However on February 17th 2016 the ranks are as printed below and I am even more perplexed than I was before 

GOODBYE BABY BLUES

Now on Bandcamp at 

https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/track/goodbye-baby-blues

with the incomparable Fraser Spiers on Blues Harp

And much improved by master engineer Geoff Allan of Cava Sound Glasgow www.cavasound.com 

The vocal on this track was weaker than I would have liked it to be but I recorded it as a one off after a three day rest from the song 

It felt more like a performance than a recording - even tho I was the only one in the audience And I was so pleased to have got through it from the beginning to the end without making any mistakes I chose to stay with it But in retrospect I should probably have had a few more goes

But what the vocal lacked has been compensated for by the skill and expertise of Fraser Spiers, Brian Young and (as indicated above) Geoff Allan 

There have been several versions but the track presently on Bandcamp is the final one 

GO ON THEN

GO ON THEN has now been given a Barcode and it can be found on CD Baby
Having a Barcode makes a song feel more official although I have not bothered acquiring one for other tracks for a long time 

But when I first I began to prepare my material for being 'out there' I often used CD Baby and I made quite a mess of what I put on there  What I saw recently made me groan 

Fortunately, I am likely to forget what I saw as I did not hang around The groan will be less easy to forget and I will not be revisiting the site again, for a while anyway

Never having posted a Barcode I will do so now along with the link to the song on the CD Baby site 

                             http://cdbaby.com/cd/sheilakcameron24

All that can be heard there is a sample from the track The full version (as indicated elsewhere) can be heard on Bandcamp at 
https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/track/go-on-then-2

THE LITTLE BIG SORT

Deciding on titles is an interesting activity usually requiring a search of what is already out there Recently I decided on a title which no one else had used and was delighted So much so I bought the .com URL and checking on blog titles found it was also available there  Double delights then. And I expect that Double Delights is the name of a product - although I may not try to find that out

Talking to myself as I frequently do, mostly inside my head, I have always thought of the process I have been involved in for several years as 'the big sort' And today thinking I might make use of it for a post I decided to check it out. Alas it has been taken, and in such a way I would not consider using it. The link to a book with the title is below

http://www.thebigsort.com/home.php

Adjusting to that discovery, and aware that my big sort is of minor proportions I have gone for what I think is an adequate solution i.e.The Little Big Sort

As for providing the reason I wanted to use the Big Sort title for this post; I intend holding off for a while  The time to say more has not yet arrived But I am eager to share it  And while waiting for anything is not one of my strengths I will be practising it - with difficulty

CHRISTMAS CONTENTMENT

From the centre of the previous image - a depiction of Christmas contentment

I'M SANTA CLAUS I'M YOURS - baby I'm yours

I've just arrived here from uploading the song I'M SANTA CLAUS I'M YOURS on Bandcamp 
The link is https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/track/im-santa-claus-i-am-yours-2

It is the second time the song has been up there and on neither occasion have I felt it was ready to be there But hey ho as Santa might say - better something than nothing 

The story of this rather scrawny little song's most recent plight goes like this

I tried to get it a new dress for Christmas (something that might help disguise this sung by someone for whom butter would not melt version) But the dress did not fit Indeed not only did the dress not fit -  the song refused to wear it 

This required me to think again and make do with whatever else was available And this is all I could find But at least the present attire has never been seen or heard before And perhaps that is about all that might be said in its favour 

As for the image: a version of this was also previously 'out there' It was roughly drawn one Christmas long ago using expensive felt pens on a plywood board 

WILD BISCUIT DELIGHTS

I will be using this post to declare that the song GO ON THEN, with an additional arrangement by WILD BISCUIT MUSIC, was uploaded to Bandcamp earlier today at https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/track/go-on-then-2

I will also be using it to express something of my good fortune in having found Wild Biscuit Music several years ago And I am reminded that when I was initially told about them their logo was the one below And as I was using an image of a dog called Mr Toast in the GLALELL logo (for what was to be my own song publishing company) I considered this to be an auspicious sign 

And so it has proved to be

www.wildbiscuit.com

Their logo has been updated but I have permission to use the one I knew and loved back then 

And now to say some more about THE BISCUITS 

They are - and this is no exaggeration - extra ordinary in what they do They are particularly rare in that you get no sense when communicating with them (or when experiencing the privilege of having them work on your material) that they are interested in anything other than the integrity of the music 

For me, in my efforts to get some of my material out there in a state that would make it worth listening to, they have been not only generous but immensely effective! 

If anyone has not heard their arrangement of WHERE THE LAST TIDE RUNS I can (without embarrassment about my own contribution) recommend a listen 

It is the last track on the album MORE LIKE A RIVER THAN A ROAD (which also has six other tracks arranged by them) And they can all be heard on Bandcamp The link is https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/album/more-like-a-river-than-a-road-seven-songs-from-glasgow-and-haida-gwaii


For those who would like to know more about THE BISCUITS, John and Mags, I would recommend a visit to their web site at www.wildbiscuit.com  There is much more that could be said but it is probably best that I leave them to say it The text below is taken from their site 

Wild Biscuit is a production company, music label and hot-house of ideas for the creative industries. We are based in Argyll on the west coast of Scotland, an area steeped in Celtic resonance yet only a short hop from the urban chic of Glasgow. Collaboration is our principle value, and we specialize in the unexpected.

Wild Biscuit people are
John Saich (guitarist, sound designer, producer). John was eleven years bass player and song writer with Scots Gaelic pioneers Capercaillie from 1987, appearing on eight albums (including Secret People, recorded by Blue Nile co-producer Calum Malcolm) and the band’s Top 40 single Coisich a Ruin. John has written and recorded music for television on BBC Scotland and Discovery, and worked as a musical director at Ullapool High School and as a tutor at the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music.

Mags Russell (composer, choreographer, photographer and producer). Mags has worked in both the commercial and voluntary sectors, and was producer, team leader and designer for MOVE, Wild Biscuit’s most successful cross-artform project. She was co-writer on the The Distance album and Stay Home EP (sharing lead vocal credits on the first and taking solo on the latter)


About the song GO ON THEN: it has been transformed by John and Mags from an acoustic only track into a 'proper' one 

About the image I am using here and on Bandcamp It is cropped from a photograph of strangers in the water on English Bay Vancouver As it made me laugh and the words of the song are rather sad I enjoyed having the two of them together

The feedback I have received so far from those who have now seen the image has been dominated by the word perplexed 

WE MET ONLY ONCE

We met once and I am not sure how we were able to recognise each other
He was a man who probably had some say in the playing of my songs on the Iain Anderson Show But we somehow knew who we were when we saw each other for the first and only time - a few feet inside the doorway of the Waitrose store in Byres Road Glasgow

We stopped looked at each other and spoke He said something kind about my work - I probably thanked him for using some of my songs The conversation lasted for no more than a few minutes

And yet on hearing that I am never likely to meet him again in Glasgow or anywhere else in the world I experienced a very real sense of loss which goes way beyond what I knew of the man

The following photograph and text were used in a Facebook message from the
Iain Anderson Show and posting it here is a way of acknowledging him and saying thank you

And below is a link I came across today while searching for something entirely different There he was again! 

https://projects.handsupfortrad.scot/hall-of-fame/stewart-cruikshank-radio-producer/

THE UNKNOWABLE NEXT

This title eventually displaced THROUGH THE HEDGE and is now being used on Bandcamp for the latest seven spoken word tracks These were mastered and uploaded today November 5th One of the reasons for the choice was the discovery of a book with the same title But anyway this one is preferred

The bin image has not yet settled to be what it wants to be but the version below is now on Bandcamp alongside the words
The link is https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/album/the-unknowable-next

 I purposely made the text on the image difficult to read

                                

It takes ten minutes to listen to them all but I have made them unavailable to download separately As yet the words have not been uploaded anywhere

IT'S NEVER EASY

The image is meant to say it all  

OUT OF THE PRAM - and on the road

This post is combining the exploits of the clown with the song which I am presently working on - and which is no where ready to be heard unless I impatiently decide to put it out all rough and unready

As can be seen in the image - the clown has now escaped from the pram - or at least is taking the optimistic view that it is unlikely to climb back in - or even be put back in (but then who knows) And it has been joined by a pal with similar aspirations (or it could be, as with the Schizoid Travellers, merely another aspect of itself) Both are keen to cast off the constraints of past inhibitions and are on the road to who knows where

Well that is not a fair description because there is mention of a particular place in the song But for now it will remain in the song - and in my head

Also I will try to locate the Judy Garland version of the song We're a Couple of Swells for anyone who has not heard it - recently

P.S For reasons I am choosing not to share just now THROUGH THE HEDGE is being asked to move aside to give the clown room to breathe in the exquisite air which is also mentioned in the new song

THE HEDGE will reappear when it has been given a trim

The link to the song performed by Fred Astaire and Judy Garland is below 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hrzo5SPaOvg

THOUGH THE HEDGE

This post is an amalgam of two recent ones which have now been deleted

The title THROUGH THE HEDGE is an alternative to the previous THE UNKNOWABLE NEXT Both titles belong with the same set of words  Although, as a reminder, the latter refers back to an earlier post and the advice from an Inuit elder - that at times of struggle it can help to sit down with a good memory from your past until you can work out what's next

The idea that the most recent batch of words might be added to the CLOWN IN A PRAM selection on Bandcamp has been abandoned

A new selection, with the provisional title THROUGH THE HEDGE, is in the process of being recorded Several of the tracks are probably more suited to being lyrics so I am uncertain just now what their eventual fate might be 

At the present time there are ten possible tracks and as these include INTO THE BIN I intend to use a photograph of a bin for the selection

CLOWN PALS

See! There are lots of us around And we're not all in prams Some can be found very close to home but this group*are at a convention in Mexico 

   The picture arrived here via another known clown - and The Guardian

*Collective nouns for clowns include an alley (a group of clowns working together is known as clown alley Alley is the area behind the circus stage used by the clowns as their make-up area) And I didn't make that up - I got it on line from FACTS.CO

Other nouns are a pratfall, a harlequinade and a circus

SCHIZOID TRAVELLERS

Today on the way to a 'better' image for the three spoken word tracks CLOWN IN A PRAM I met a couple of travellers We spent much of the day together

For the purposes of this post and my amusement I am calling them SCHIZOID TRAVELLERS (2) The original version (in the singular) is a painting and it can be seen see at http://www.glalell.com/id71.html

The supposed 'better' image is below and below that are my companions for the day

That they were in a pram is no reason to think they were not excellent company - although I admit that they did not do much talking - a fact which may have added to the pleasure of the experience 

DID MS ATWOOD SWING THE VOTE

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Margaret Atwood: Hair is in the election-season air, but is it crucial to the question of your vote?

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National Post | August 21, 2015 | Last Updated: Aug 21 10:08 PM ET
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THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham HughesLiberal Leader Justin Trueau speaks to the media during a federal election campaign stop at the annual gay pride parade in Montreal, Sunday, August 16, 2015.

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Hair is in the election-season air. I didn’t put it there – those attack ads on Mr. Trudeau introduced the subject, with “Nice hair, Justin” – but now that the hairball has been coughed up, so to speak, let’s consider it.

Hair is a big deal. People spend a lot of time worrying about their hair and a lot of money altering it. Some sculpt it, some dye it, some shave it off. Some hide it under scarves and hats because God, in his or her many forms, has taken a serious interest in hair – telling people to grow it, conceal it, cut it, refrain from cutting it, wear a wig in place of it, not let Delilah hack it off, and so on. Some are born with hair, some achieve hair, and some have hair thrust upon them through laws and customs. Some hair goes missing, leaving either a Mr. Clean macho look or a bowling-ball one, as with Mr. Duffy. Some hair is curly, some is straight. Luck of the draw.

Fashion can be a cruel taskmistress, hair-wise. Many are the photos of us with odd hair from former times that we presently seek to conceal. (Ducktails? Beatles bangs? Flowing hippy locks?) My own hair can be interpreted as “Pre-Raphaelite” or “frizzy” depending on the hostility level of the interviewer. I’ve lived through those 50s smoothening adventures with a product called Dippity Do as well as the nightmare straight-hair Twiggy years of the late 60s, which involved other failed processes. After that I gave up.

Is hair the measure of a man, or woman? Is character destiny, and is hair a clue to character?

But back to the hair-strewn attack ads of the Conservatives. What’s the point? Women will recognize “Nice hair” as a pickup line, so I suppose addressing it to a political opponent is a way of girlifying him: the Conservative ad-writers would see girlification as inherently demeaning, their view of girls and women being what it is. But “Nice hair” makes them sound a bit envious, too: no one has ever accused Mr. Harper of having “nice hair.” It also makes them sound trivial. Hair, an election issue? Really?

But let’s suppose that hair is indeed crucial to the question of your vote. Is hair the measure of a man, or woman? Is character destiny, and is hair a clue to character?

Let’s try this hair quiz:

Of the three national male leaders, which one travels with a personal grooming assistant – lavishly paid for in whole or in part by you, gentle taxpayer – so that none of his hairs will ever be out of place, supposing they are indeed his and not a wig, as some have supposed? (Hint: Initials are S.H.)

Which leader, on the other hand, doesn’t need such an assistant because his hair is “nice” enough already? (Hint: initials are J.T.)

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean KilpatrickIn the name of all that’s decent: can’t the press at least let Stephen Harper grieve a little?

And which one wouldn’t know what a personal grooming assistant was if he fell over one? (Hint: Initials are T.M.)

Yes! You got it right! Smart you!

Next: Why should the taxpayer foot the bill, even in part, for the micromanagement of Harper’s hair? Is his hair in the public interest? Is it crucial infrastructure? A matter of national security? Or is the pampering just a matter of narcissistic vanity?

Maybe it wasn’t altogether wise for the Conservatives to bring up hair: it focused the hair spotlight. Start with one candidate’s hair and we can’t help thinking about the topside garnishments of the others – not only what they might signify, but also what they might be costing us.

Will the Conservatives now lay off on the personal-appearance attack stuff? Doubtful: they’ve got a thing for it. Jean Chrétien’s paralyzed face, laugh a minute! Trudeau’s hair, woo-woo! Who’s next? “Nice tits, Elizabeth?”

Don’t go there, Cons! Because then we’ll all start thinking about “hiding.” Why is he hiding his campaign events from the public? Is he running for Prime Minister of the whole population –– those whose taxes pay, in whole or in part, for him and his hair –– and if so, why isn’t he talking to all of us? Aren’t you agog to know if you’re on Harper’s hidden “enemies list”?Wait! I can see it coming! Mulcair’s beard! The Conservatives will have trouble with a straight-out character attack on Mulcair because they regarded the guy so highly they tried to hire him themselves, so they’ll have to fall back on the beard: “Thomas Mulcair. What’s he hiding behind that beard?”

Why is he hiding what he knew about the Duffy cover-up, and when he knew it?

And if he’s hiding all this, what else is he hiding?

OH CANADA

Many of my songs were made in Canada and the one I am working on at the present time belongs there

When I first landed as an immigrant in 1968 the newly elected Prime Minister was the creative and charismatic Pierre Elliot Trudeau and I wake today to discover that his son Justin will be the new Prime Minister
It is marvellous news
It makes me want to sing

AND GOOD RIDDANCE TO THE OIL ECONOMY DRIVEN MISERIES OF THE HARPER GOVERNMENT

One cannot help but wonder if Margaret Atwood's comments about Stephen Harper's hair played an important part in the outcome of the election
I will relocate them and post them later today And it should be noted - if you read them - that they were later removed from the newspaper which first printed them, prompting Ms Atwood to follow up by asking if she had been censored

PS Am also experiencing deep regrets about what we have in the UK - for the similarily miserable business driven self aggrandising spivs led by the spiv supremo - just call him Dave We should surely be ashamed of what we have brought upon ourselves and those we are supposed to care about

MAYBE COULD BE WHO KNOWS

And further on round the bend: it could be that its all coming together - and about time Or it could be that it's all about to come apart  - again!

But before saying more about what the next move might be some further clearing of the tracks is required And most of the debris which has been spread around in ways that have impeded progress has come from the attempts to establish a blog to augment the main one - and with a name that depicts content but that also feels right

Had I succeeded in finding a suitable one I would not be writing this post

Those which were tried - and have now lost - were SAPSCRAPS, SAPONTHE SIDE and UNSAPPED 

There were reasons for choosing each one but as time passed their appropriateness gradually waned and the reasons for not using them increased e.g. with SAPSCRAPS some of the posts I wanted on there were not scraps 
With SAPONTHESIDE it had unpleasant connotations and I grew weary of the reminder

And with UNSAPPED - it had come from a strong desire to leave the Sap behind but, as explained on the blog (soon to be removed), the condition of being unsapped had been viewed as more aspirational than achievable  - and anyway as said elsewhere we had grown fond of each other Being unsapped was no longer desirable

Which brings me to the newly proposed supplementary blog which - wait for it - I certainly have - is to be called SAPASIDES! Nothing spectacular there then
But it could be THE ONE And if it is it will herald the beginning of a fresh approach to - well to something or other One keeps hoping

And it does arrives with the genuine hope that it will stay around for a while It also puts to bed - and do I love that phrase - any thoughts of replacing SOSAIDTHESAP in the near future - or even much further down the line

PS I do have a small song which was recalled after making recent comments about a fondness for trains It is entitled You Are the Train Driver and is about to become the first new item on www.sapasides.blogspot.co.uk 

Along with it will be any posts which are on the loose from the other redundant blogs 

ROUND THE BEND

Following on from yesterday's intention to bring back - not my bonnie - but the image and the words which belong with the post LIFE AND CARR'S BISCUITS 
Here they are - and let no more be said about them That is a plea to myself
  
First the image
                   
                              

And now the original words

It occurred to me several days ago that the desire to sort out my material (and all else) may have been acquired during my time of packing biscuits in a tin while working in Carr's of Carlisle 
This photograph of the factory (it can be seen behind the row of houses)is dated 1952 - the year I was probably employed there

RE-INSTATED RAMBLINGS

The following comments might be of interest to those who enjoy trying to make sense of other peoples shenanigans If you are not that kind of person I would strongly advise that you avoid them

For me they are required reading! i.e apart from reminding me about what I have been doing I frequently do not know what I will be doing next until I see it written down

As fast and as briefly as possible then - and as a prelude - with a bit of luck - to something other

The black and white printed version of the Blog Book was followed by the printing of a more slender coloured version Reflecting my response to them both I may - if time and inclination coincide - produce a much better edited and formatted third version

The tortuous formatting of the Blog Book left me wondering why I had decided to make a book - other than I thought it was a nice idea - and that the site might disappear for some scary technical reason which would be upsetting - for a while anyway

The post entitled LIFE AND CARR'S BISCUITS needs to be brought back  to the main blog where it originally belonged  The criteria for what gets included have been vague and changeable with only hints of the rational The intention is to improve on this

It was good to find I wasn't the only person who liked the words of THE BEAR, THE BIRD, LOVE AND THE RAIN For a while I thought they were the best thing I had written and - and that can be viewed as a decidedly sapless assertion  

I continue to hope more people will listen to them They can be heard on Bandcamp at https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/track/not-always-safe-to-touch 

As confessed in an earlier post I had got carried away with my liking for the title LYRICS ALL SORTS - but establishing it as a separate blog had only caused confusion for me and others However before leaving it for ever I realised I was reluctant to delete its accompanying image and along with these ramblings it has been reinstated- see below

 

Which brings me to the continuing need for a supplementary repository for posts which do not fit the rather nebulous criteria used for the main blog 

I am continuing to equivocate between SAPLESS at www.sapless.blogspot.co.uk and SAPONTHESIDE at www.sapontheside.blogspot.co.uk  One or both of them will indeed be needed for those posts which are (or soon will be) on the loose or in need of a home 

To conclude the ramblings: after multiple detours the new train - hopefully having off loaded some of its more sap scarred baggage on the way - should be coming round the bend soon

HAD IT LOST IT

The words referred to in the post CLOWN IN A PRAM have now separated out into a spoken word threesome, a possible rap entitled INTO THE BIN and the previously flagged possible song
The threesome, A LONGING GOES TO REST, FROM DEEP DOWN IN THE LOCKER and CLOWN IN A PRAM can be heard on Bandcamp at https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/album/clown-in-a-pram

I am holding back on the title of the possible song as - in keeping with the tune - it has not yet decided what to be

The title for this post is playing hard to get

CLOWN IN A PRAM

This first of five lots of recently written words was uploaded to Bandcamp today They are perhaps a bit odd but they are also a bit honest

Of the other four - one lot is definitely on the way to being a possible song but, as yet, I cannot be sure it will get there

The remaining three will probably be recorded before joining the clown

About the clown's face: I decided to rearrange the face from a self portrait and play around with it until the problem of giving it a workable mouth got me down - well down a bit - but not overwhelmingly so  But there were other things needing attention and I chose - although also not an easy task - to leave the mouth behind 

I might upload some of the early attempts to achieve a workable mouth (i.e. one which was not too sad or smiling too much - but then again I may not

Meanwhile below is the image which is or was on Bandcamp last time I looked - and below the image is a link to the spoken words

https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/track/clown-in-a-pram

EQUIVOCAL ACROBATICS

Although exhausted from leaping between Word and PDF documents and attempting to circumvent unfamiliar formats on the way to achieving a reasonably acceptable outcome I will - nevertheless - soon have two copies of the blog book

The first - a black and white version (which I will add to the copies of other books I've made) helped me to get to the second which is perhaps a more interesting product. Much reduced in content (that was an improvement) it also has coloured images. 

Was it worth the effort? The answer is I don't know

But the deed is done and while the books might get dusted in future - depending on where they are stored - they will definitely not be receiving any further editing. 

There have been some gains as previously suggested. I rarely read what I have written on the blogs so the process of re formatting the content has forced me to read some of the posts. And therein lies a story for the telling elsewhere - if at all.