Author: davidjohntooth

I watched in admiration the speech given by President Zelensky regarding the war in Ukraine between his country and Russia; and thought If ever a phrase is relevant it’s the one ‘between a rock and a hard place; the rock being Putin and the hard place being Donald Trump

Now America is forming a peace plan without the involvement of Ukraine.

Even before President Trump was elected he stated that he would end the war in twenty-four hours; well that didn’t happen, but if he gives Russia everything they ask for, which is all the land they have gained, then a sort of peace may happen. but Putin won’t stop at that; over the last few years, he has built up a massive army and munition supply chain and has been rewarded for being a dictator. America has put a lot of money and resources into helping Ukraine and logically Trump is correct to say the EU should be the one to supply the greatest assistance, for far too long Europe and the UK have not taken security seriously enough.

Remember what happened when Germany started to threaten their immediate neighbors in the nineteen thirties? No one thought Hitler would ever invade. They did. We have short memories.

On the rare occasions that I ask the AI system Alexa a question it will always respond by saying either Good morning David or Good afternoon, so I thought I would ask if it uses a voice recognition system. Its reply was ‘I recognize you.’ Must remember not to walk into my office-loft area naked as it could induce a short circuit.

I cut down two very old apple trees in the back garden and had very mixed emotions, my mom bought me the trees over forty years ago and they were small enough for both of them to fit inside my car. But I used the logs to make two reindeer, I have to explain to people what they are, as the legs are too short making them look like Dachshunds. My wife isn’t impressed but as I often say, ‘art is a funny old thing’ and in mitigation the logs were far too short to make something that looked like the real thing. And if a Banana taped to a wall can sell for five million, well I am open to offers, and I will throw in free post and package.

It’s nearly thirty years since my mom died and despite me being a very difficult child I can never remember my Mom shouting at me. She was always so positive and I was so lucky to have parents that were so caring.

Well, you couldn’t make it up the way the world is evolving and the jury is out whether it’s for the better or worse. Most of the changing world map is because of the way Isreal has targeted Hamas in Gasa and Hezbollah in Lebanon this is causing a domino effect with other countries such as the so-called rebel military organization sweeping through Syria But it may not stop there because this toppling of established regimes will be causing the leadership in Iran to have sleepless nights and even the Russian Leader Vladimir Putin in the rare moments when he loses concentration may think about his own longevity.

Humans are designed to put their own and their families survival above everything else, but what is happening in the world now goes far beyond self-protection. Maybe one day we will evolve and love and protect everyone in this world but……

Vladimir Putin

If anyone in the UK had doubts about global warming the weather over the last few months may have changed their viewpoint. Fifty years ago flooding was a rare event that only happened every twenty years but now they happen every few weeks.

But, there could be some truth in the group of people who say this is a natural evaluation that has happened many times before.

Whatever the reason there is little doubt that the way we live our lives is very destructive. Most families have two or three cars but most times only use one The rest stay on driveways made from material that prevents the rain from draining away. Cars are double the size they used to be and very often only a single person uses them. Why? Is it a status thing.? And larger cars take more energy and material to make. We build houses on flood plains without any awareness of what might happen or preventive measures.

How many clothes do we have in our wardrobes that are never used, we buy things just in case and once again they take energy to produce. Once again time will tell who is right.

The rumors are that when the new president of the United of America takes office he will end the war in Ukraine by offering any land the Russians have taken as theirs and possibly add more. And of course Putin will try to make sure that Ukraine never joins Europe.

But long-term Putin may have made a massive mistake; Ukraine will never forget what has happened and there will be a queue of countries willing to help in the rebuilding process, financially and with manpower.

Ukrainians are clever people and given time will develop their own sophisticated weapons so if they are threatened again the next time they will be ready.

This offer of help is not one-sided, Ukraine has many natural resources and will soon rebuild their economy.

I wish them well.

No; it’s not an energy sauce introduced by Heinz that enables a human to go on forever once spread over chips. A UK university has invented a battery that can produce energy for over a thousand years. It uses industrial diamonds infused with atomic energy encased within a protective coating. Just imagine a watch that would keep going forever, pacemakers that never need the battery replacing, cars that run forever and never need recharging.

I have just had a terrible thought, Simon Bentridge who sells watch batteries on Wallsall Market will go out of business; car charging points will never be used again, oil producing countries will become deserts ( sorry they are already deserts; but very rich deserts)

The terrible thought has disappeared because I remember the light bulb that would last forever and it never saw the light of day. This is the only time you will hear about this new type of energy.

I met Jimmy Jones around 1960 although not in person and it would be many years before I found out what he looked like. But Jimmy Jones arrived at a time in my life when I was eighteen years old: a time when my mind and body was a melting pot of emotions and his unusual sound became one of the spices added to it. We never had a TV until much later in my life just a small plastic radio which I would take up to my bedroom and listen to all the latest records so I assume I heard it on one of those Jam sessions then later at the Lacarno club in Hurst Street Birmingham.

Jimmy Jones Was born in Birmingham Alabama In 1931 and raised alongside Gospel singers he had an unusual falsetto voice and a love of tap dancing which he developed by sticking bottle tops to the base of his shoes.

He wrote his first record ‘Handy Man’ Helped by Otis Blackwell which got to Number 2 in the USA and Number 3 in the UK this was followed by Good Timing which reached number 1 in the UK charts. Sadly he had no more hit records but to me these two records were classics and when I watch him singing them on You Tube along with his subtle dance routine it briefly brings back that moment in the sixties.

He was an excellent dancer and could backflip and land in a split position.

We moved into our present house in 1973, it was a new build and the street was still a building site with the footpaths only half finished as was our house; but we were being pressurized to move from the bungalow where we had spent the first seven years of our marriage by the people who were going to buy it.

So we moved and the builders finished the remaining work while we lived there, a few months later our Neighbours Kay and Allen moved next door and stayed for seven years before moving closer to their aging parents. Our next neighbors were Richard and Sue, Richard was a solicitor, and Sue was a teacher. Three children later they moved to a much larger house that was just over a mile away, the one thing that kept the two of us together was that every week we played very competitive five-a-side football until age dictated that we moved our physical activities from the football pitches to a succession of public houses where we talked a very sophisticated load of rubbish but how we enjoyed those evenings.

Our group had shrunk from around ten to just five as the Grim Reaper gradually reduced the two teams to one.

Richard was the person who corrected our age-related mistakes when we were so sure that our facts were correct and they were not. He was still working at the -age -of -seventy-four and had no intention of stopping. He rarely had a day off from his practice and played Crown bowls twice a week. One Friday he phoned to say he wasn’t feeling very well and would have to miss going out that night but would be back the following week.

He wasn’t, Sue told us he had cancer, I phoned him, he was struggling to speak and his condition deteriorated quickly; he died in just a few weeks and took with him all that knowledge.

A look far more convincing than a spoken reprimand, a sharp wit, a need to change the world into a better place, the love of West Bromwich Albion, the local football team. The love of his wife, three children, and eight grandchildren. I could fill a book with things that make me smile.

Our meetings at the Duke Of Cambridge aren’t quite the same, death takes away something you don’t want lose, without explaining why, without giving a reason.

I will miss Richard, he was a good friend.