Numbers and your Life

Numbers and your Life ©

By

Michael Casey

I was looking at a house online, we are viewing it soon, and I thought about the house number. It does not matter a damn or does it? Would you live in a house numbered 13? Or would you rename it Thirteen, just to be on the safe side? In the next street there was a house number 13, a man died in it and his body was not discovered for a while. Would the present happy family living there recoil if they knew. It was over 20 years ago, his name  was Brian, life of Brian or death of Brian if you like. He had a goatee and a very fat dog. So that’s number 13 for you, not forgetting Judas being the 13^th man.

In Chinese the number 4 sounds like the word for Death, go to your local Chinese takeaway tonight and ask them to say 4 and Death and see if you can spot the difference. And get me some prawn crackers while you are there. I bring this up because along time ago a house numbered 4 came up but my wife immediately said NO. In Chinese there are 5 accents or tones, so Ma can mean Mum/Ma or Horse. So be very careful with your pronunciation. Or you could be very unlucky and get a clip around your ear, no matter what number house you live in.

I’ve just had a look at the Numerology site on the Internet its amusing and makes you think too. Numbers and their combinations matter to people, such as Birthdays and Anniversaries. So Numerology has much to say about numbers though I could say much to say about nothing if I bastardise Shakespeare. I will be meeting Will down the Trader in Old Forge and Singing Anvil tonight so I’ll apologise to him then, he owes me a drink for saving his life. But that’s not in any of his plays as Anne can be quiet a bitch at times, his words not mine.

So 11^th Nov 1977 , or 111177 is a magic number in my own life. My dad’s Birthday, he was 56 then. I was 19, my life had changed, I had a door slammed and locked in my face. Though it turned out to be a turning point in my life as it led to me turning a corner and ending up as a computer operator 6 months later. I can remember my dad shaving in the kitchen sink, the bathroom was so cold after all, and he said something would turn up.My eldest brother said try computers and that led to secure employment for 21 years, the angel on my wall is the leaving present from that job.

So that date is burnt into my brain, the other thing my brother said years later was look at the negatives when buying a house. So estate agents already know to their cost what I want, thanks to my brother’s advice.

Are there any other special numbers, yes of course there are. The day I get my first Royalty check, the day my play Shoplife is on the stage maybe with Julian Cleary and Lilly Savage as my Angels. My mother used to say with the Help of God and two Policemen. Perhaps God does finally help with my Artistic side, and its 2 Gay men instead of two Policemen. I have no idea what either of them knows about handcuffs and truncheons, maybe they’ll taser me for my cheek, should I turn the other one?

I should say though that would be Futurology, not Numerology, apart from when the money comes in, though round the back of where I live there is an accountant, we used to be altar boys together. Fact is stranger that Fiction always, I just hope I have a talent to amuse people. That’s not about numbers, lucky or otherwise, its about sweat and hard work. Though the Help of God and Two Policemen would be greatly appreciated, whether or not they are Gay is unimportant, just a sense of humour required.

***********

a few hours later my daughter said she wanted a new book, a trilogy in fact called NUMBERS....

Stating the Obvious

I'll state the obvious. I know from 15 years ago that my "serious" pieces are not "liked" as much as the humour pieces. A guy I met at CPNEC had a look at my then site and said as much.

I also know from my computer room days, and I started in 1978. And there's another story to be told before I got there.

But back in 1978 we had AC and silver foil like protection for the computer room so it would not get too hot.  And that's why I wear shades, because it was so bright outside after you left the computer room.

 Later we had surge protection, Bill Lucy was our electrician, hello to him if he sees this.

So when I read that today BA was brought to its knees, and NHS also had major problems I ask myself, are they just stupid or what?

If you remember the James Bond film where Bond first meets the new Q and Q says while in his pyjamas he can bring mayhem to the world THEN

You all know that Computer control the  world.

So YOU DO AT LEAST 3 BACKUPS, AND HAVE THEM OFF SITE

YOU UPDATE SOFTWARE RELIGIOUSLY

YOU HAVE AT LEAST DOUBLE OR TRIPLE POWER REDUNDANCY

SO IF THE POWER DOES ITS BACK UP IN SECONDS

IF THINGS ARE SO COMPUTER RELIANT WHY IS THIS NOT DONE

THESE THINGS ARE NO BRAINERS IN TODAYS  WORLD

COST IS NOT AN EXCUSE

DO WE ALL WANT TO BE BACK IN THE STONE AGE WITHOUT COMPUTERS?

WE WON'T LOSE FACEBOOK AS THEY HAVE COOL SERVERS ETC

IF FACEBOOK WENT DOWN 2 BILLION PEOPLE WOULD COMPLAIN

BUT IF ALL SORTS OF UTILITIES GO DOWN PEOPLE WOULD NOT COMPLAIN AS MUCH

SO WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT FRIENDING STRANGERS ON FACEBOOK

OR HAVING UNINTERRUPTED WATER OF ELECTRICITY

AND IF MARK ZEE IS READING THIS STOP POSING FOR YOUR PRESIDENTIAL RUN

FACEBOOK MUST COMPLY WITH MEDIA LAWS, THAT'S COMMON SENSE TOO

OR IS THE BOTTOM LINE JUST MONEY TO FINANCE THAT PRESIDENTIAL RUN

THIS IS ALL SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN EVERY FORM.

AND NO I'LL NEVER RUN FOR ANY OFFICE, JUST FOR PAINKILLERS FOR MY

ARTHRITIS.

SO MR ZEE HOW ABOUT PUTTING 1,000,000,000 USD INTO A PAIN RELIEF FOUNDATION

AND GET YOUR FRIENDS AT DAVOS TO DO THE SAME.

THEN FACEBOOK WOULDN'T JUST BE A WASTE OF MONEY

SILLY SPEECHES MASSAGING YOUR EGO OR CONSCIENCE ARE NO GOOD WHEN YOU

FACE YOUR MAKER IF YOU BELIEVE IN ANYTHING.

BUT I'D APPLAUD IF YOU DID SOMETHING FOR THE LEAST OF MY BRETHREN

YOU CAN LEARN A LOT FROM BG.......


so I'll stick to my comedy in future, but I do have a brain too.
and why did I add this snap to this piece?

Michael Casey 28/May/2017

The Ballet Dancer who met the Belly Dancer

The Ballet Dancer who met the Belly Dancer ©

By Michael Casey

Now they say that Truth is stranger than Fiction, so the Tale I’m about to relate is 100% true, especially the unbelievable bits. There was once a girl I was chasing, and she introduced me to Ballet. I had got a buy one get one free offer from the Hippodrome here in Birmingham, it was actually on the anniversary of my mother’s death. So was my mother pulling strings from beyond the grave?

Anyway we went to the ballet, and so when I went on holiday to Barcelona in the Spring I noticed a sign saying Russian Ballet and it was £10 which is cheap for ballet even back then. The night before the ballet was due to be on I was in a bar in Las Ramblas, I noticed a girl with really pretty chestnut hair, so obviously I spoke to her. She turned around and had a strong American accent, and a broken nose to match. She said she was a student.

I staggered home to my hotel in Pallell Ley, I had managed to relearn my Spanish by doing 15 mins of study every day for 3 months prior to my trip to Barcelona. It was 25 years since the exam and I’d never been to Spain. I was really pleased with how my Spanish worked. Now I was going to go to Russian Ballet in Barcelona. The next day I got to the theatre early and we had a selection from the Nutcracker. Two days ago I took my 2 daughters to see it here at the Hippodrome, the Birmingham Royal Ballet now has its home in Birmingham.

The Russian Ballet had 2 giant speakers but no orchestra, but it did have great dancers. As I watched I noticed a girl with great hair and as she danced closer and turned I could see she had a broken nose, it was the girl I had met in the bar the night before. I told my friend the story when I got back to Birmingham, we both laughed. There was a giant ballet set for the Arena off Broad St so we decided to go there. Yes who came dancing across the acres of stage, only the Russian with the broken nose. I laughed, my friend was overwhelmed by the men in tights, I’ll say no more than that.

My friend stayed a friend, but years later my second daughter reminds me of her, the same mannerisms, 12 going on 80. Now later that year I met my future wife, and yes you’ve guessed it, she was a ballet dancer. Well only in a photo that her mum had back in the flat in Shanghai. However my wife had a friend who WAS a ballerina in the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Yes Really. I was in fact positively vetted by Lai, we met in a straight pub in the gay quarter, the Queens Tavern up the side of the Hippodrome. Lai was wearing a bomber jacket, as if she had landed her plane on the roof of the Hippodrome. In Chinese Lai questioned my wife about me and my prospects. In the end it was the fact that I was a Christian that swung it for me.

Now I am married to a Shanghai girl, who looks 20 years younger than she is, I look as old as Santa Claus, with a quadruple heart bypass and painful arthritis, and we have 2 very clever and pretty daughters. It’s God’s sense of humour, ugly dads have beautiful daughters, and let’s not forget what my mother once told me, Love will Conquer All.

So now my girls have discovered the Birmingham Royal Ballet, at least Subway around the corner from it IS cheap, I was there 2 days ago before and after The Nutcracker, and I can say the two lads running it are very nice, as is the food. So dine at Subway before and after the ballet. You may bump into us at Beauty and The Beast and at Subway.

Ballet is very graceful, and yes I am more like a belly dancer myself. As I watched the Nutcracker I shed a gentle tear in the dark as I looked at my 2 daughters beside me, last Christmas could have been my last Christmas but for the Grace of God. As we all know Ballet Dancing is God’s Belly Dancing.

Ballet and Life something from 2 years ago

Ballet and Life ©

By Michael Casey

Well I hope you all liked last night's middle of the night post. I got a good few views on my other site, but if sex is in the title that tends to happen even if it’s not about sex after all. I’m not in such acute pain today, the Saturday before Christmas, so we had a family day of eating Toblerone and watching a docudrama about Rudolf Nureyev. It was really good and follows on from my girls seeing their first ballet.

We also heard the sad news that a neighbour has died of a heart attack, he was a couple of years younger of me.  His kids are the same ages as ours and go to the same school. Made us think of my situation almost a year ago now. I suppose it was not my time to go. I told my wife she should treasure me, or think of the insurance money. If I had known the pain levels after a triple bypass which turned into a quadruple I may have taken my chances without having it. Though it’s the arthritis which is the biggest bastard coming back to tease and haunt me.

My big daughter, who wants to be a doctor, say’s I have to wait around for her little sister to get her PhD in English or something. Their cousin got a double first in English in York and is now doing her Masters in Birmingham, any job offers for her direct to the University. Though I prefer if you go to www.michaelgcasey.typepad.com and help me seek my fortune on the radio and teaching English via comedy, I really want a nice house and a dog before I do die.

It is nice that me and the girls have found another thing to share, ballet not Toblerone. I can see my small daughter’s mind growing at such a fast pace, it’s wonderful, she will outpace me in 3 or 4 more years. Intelligence is speed of thought, not age or how much you know, it’s the speed of your engine. My wife’s uncle who was a Political Editor in Shanghai and then worked in USA, he said my small daughter really was so quick, and he’s right. So it’s my job that she stays Silly too, never be so serious that you forget to have fun too.