K-Pop Saves the World

K-Pop Saves the World (c)
 


By Michael Casey

Yuri of Grils' Generation

As I flagged yesterday I’ll write something about Pop Stars today, I’ve even changed my usual Font. I did think of one thing and then another, then I had a splat idea. Its the Jackson Pollock school of writing after all, as we lie in our beds the Angel of Death approaches, and the Dove of Peace is just a tiny tiny mustard seed in comparison. I am talking of the looming nuclear war in North Korea.
Read these two links before I resume, with a fresh coffee in my hand.
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/north-korea-threatens-to-sink-japan-reduce-us-to-ashes-and-darkness/ar-AArUtCD?li=BBoPWjQ&ocid=mailsignout
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzJvBgsFjvQ&list=RDEzJvBgsFjvQ&t=4
The 1st is a worrying news item, the 2nd is K Pop.
I’m listening to REM as they sing “Everybody Hurts” I’ve chosen their Automatic for the People album as the backdrop while I talk to you all. Sorry Justin and your Beavers I’m not going to mock you, you do a good enough job on your own. And Snoop you walk your own dog, Eminem go back to school, but Justin dear Justin, I taught you everything you know, now its time to use your 20/20 Vision.
Instead I want to talk about Music, if it be the food of love play on. I wish I could lip sinc the entire film Moulin Rouge as I love it so much. My favorite scene is where the black guy punches the count and save Nicole Kidman. But I digress as ever, but I have such great legs so I should be in a dress. So today’s idea is K Pop for Peace.
Some 23 million people in North Korea are being led by somebody who could be a fat rapper, who has spent everybody’s 50cents on Nuclear Bling, who could poison his own country’s water supply when the mountain where the testing is done collapses around him. In the South everybody has everything, they even have FOOD. So what are we to do to avoid the 1st Strike from USA, or a very close 2nd strike if the Panzi, which is a Chinese word for Fat or Pig, tries to get in first. The Logic Of Madness, this is actually a simple concept if you put yourself in the shoes of the madman. This is where the madman kills everything he loves, such as his own family, and then everybody just cannot understand why. Sadly we see such cases in the newspaper from time to time.
The Dear Leader loves nobody, he is corrupt and just loves his own position. So why will he listen to say a fat guy with silver hair in shades from Birmingham? He has not looked in the mirror and changed, he has not had a road to Damascus experience, he has no Soul. He hacked our NHS, it was only saved by a young guy who is now in Jail in USA for something, its due in court soon. A comedy about North Korea, not very funny in the artistic sense resulted in Sony being hacked. People forget Koreans are very clever, even if just in the Military sense in the North.
So what are we to do?
Pack up all your troubles in your all kit bag and sing, yes sing. All you Rappers and hard men out there, why not sing for Peace. I dare you to have a Dream, like King and yes like Abba. Pop stars always say in answer to what is their one dream, world peace, that was until one DJ punched the pop star, be realistic the interviewer shouted.
So Snoop follow your dog’s lead, 50 Cents lend us a penny, no not for a pee, just show us your sparkle, and all the rest of you out there in Hard Man Wrapper Land. Your time has come. Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. And the answer is sing Take me Home Country Roads and all the John Denver hits. Yes, all you hard rappers out there, Sing Country. And may Buddy Rich rock and roll in his grave. As for all you gyrating girl singers there is room for you too, as I sit here talking to you Love Hurts plays again, so you Ladies can sing that and shake as only you can shake, while I finish my Lemonade.
Then here’s the clever bit track back from Sony to North Korea and let them hear the music. Let them have a Soul, let them dance. All of North Korea’s public address system is taken over by music. First the rappers singing country, they will be the storm troopers of love. Then Let the music sing let the music take over. Surround North Korea with K-Pop the only language they understand. From South Korea, from Japan and from China too, not forgetting a few Russians.
Constant K-Pop, the music of fun and laughter and very pretty girls, not forgetting Gangham Style. Broadcast at them on every radio frequency, on every IP address, take over the North Korean nuclear program with K-Pop Music, and not forgetting Abba. The Dear Leader presses a button and all he gets is every tv and computer coming to life with K-Pop, and then the population have something to really cry about. Cry with happiness because K-Pop has saved them from the starvation of the spirit. This should be a cue for a Rapper to sing something good, but are any of you good enough? I’ll have a sip of lemonade while you reach for your dictionary. But I’m sure King would know what to say. Or do we just ask the King, Elvis to say a word now. Yes maybe Mr Gangham Style himself should start singing in the Ghetto. North Korea needs to leave the Ghetto and enter the sunshine. Sing Rappers sing, Take me Home Country Roads, in Korean.

Donald Trump Alcohol and Me

Donald Trump, Alcohol and Me (c)
By
Michael Casey

What do Donald and Me have in common, nothing. I am a liberal with a small l, I think for myself and would never join anything. As Groucho Marx said any club that would have me as a member isn't worth joinng.

Alcohol is nice, it's relaxing. I've never been much of a drinker and nowadays I probably drink 12 pints a day, sorry 12 pints a YEAR.

I grew up watching our Alcoholic lodgers pissing their lives up a wall. If you see that at close hand you will never be a drinker. Wednesday May 23rd 1979 was a day I'll never forget. One of our lodgers died. I had just got  out of bed as I was on the night shift when Mary Madden, Andy's wife came knocking on the back door. Something was wrong with Andy her husband. He was having a heart attack.

So I pumped his chest, threw the furniture out of the way, then ran up the entry to bang on a neighbour's door. They had a phone, they were the Dixons. One son became a Policeman, a Sgt. Dixon just like in the tv series. But at that moment I just shouted at Mr Dixon to call for an ambulance.

Then I went back to the living room and pumped some more, I could hear a groaning. Then I had to run though the house opening up the doors so the ambulance people could come in. They had the mask and ball pump  thing. But Andy was dead. It was then , and only then that I cried.

I watched as they loaded Andy up and took away his body. Then I had to take Mary to our house I think, to calm her down. My brother arrived home, I told him what had happened. Then I met my mother in the street and told her too.

Mary Madden slept on our front room sofa that night, as she did not want to stop in the flat she rented from us next door.

I was 20, not yet 21 when this happened. Not a nice thing to witness and be part of at such an age. Though worse things have  happened before and after that event. But those are other stories.

Andy was buried a week or so later, the Irish club took up a collection and buried him. he had had 3 or four heart attacks prior to the fatal one on the living room floor over the pallin from our house. His wife did not want to stay so left us and went to live somewhere else.

Andy was harmless and loved his cat, they had had no children. Mary had been a cleaner down the hospital. I think I saw her once again 10 years later in the street, but that's another story too which has just flashed into my mind. Like I said I have total recall for stories, even the ones I wish I could forget.

The moral of the story, Be Prepared, learn CPR, which I did 22years later while working at CPNEC Birmingham. Though Be ready for tears, as 9 out of 10 CPR patients die I read somewhere. My own dad had his heart attack in 1996, but he survived because of my brother's CPR skills, and Almighty God Himself did intervene, you can read it in Padre Pio and Me  which can be found on the Internet.

Now as for Andy Madden, he was harmless, a lot of Alcoholics are. But a life is wasted if you don't know when to stop. Another of our lodgers went to visit dad, and what did the drunk demand? Have you got  a pound for a pint? And my dad was lying in his hospital bed. Having just beaten Death itself, dad was 12 weeks in hospital he was that bad. This former lodger can still be seen 20 years later drinking, when he should just sign the Pledge. Or join the AA.

With this background to Alcohol you can see why I think self control is always the best path. and if you cannot control yourself then just give it up.

I'll finish with God's Irony, I spent 21 years working for ACNielsen as it became and what did we do? We did Market Research into Alcohol Sales. Great People, and all enjoyed their Beer. But they all worked very hard.

So enjoy a drink this Christmas, make sure you make love to somebody you love, not just somebody who looks good through the Lens of an Alcoholic Drink. Obviously It won't be me, I don't look good, Alcohol or No Alcohol required.

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Hacksaw Ridge - Wikipedia

Hacksaw Ridge - Wikipedia

Just seen the Mel Gibson film Hacksaw Ridge, I give it 10/10

Go watch it over Christmas.

Very Humbled  to see such Bravery and Faith.

A True Story from WWII  too

Perfect Passwords for 2018

Perfect Passwords for 2018 ©

By

Michael Casey

They encourage you to change your Passwords every 3 months, I of course change mine as often as I change my socks and pants. Every 2 months, that way nobody comes near enough to steal my Passwords the smell is so overpowering. It protects my Password, why not try it for yourselves. You have already, good, I’ll just open a few more windows, the dog has fallen over and the cat has leapt out of the window even though I live on the 19^th floor.

Passwords should be easy to remember but hard to forget, no not the inverse of my writing, you cheeky people. Little do you know I use your names as Passwords. Of course I have an easy password so the NSA or North Korea can hack me again without leaving Egg Fried Rice all over my keyboard, and my password is nice and simple:- Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch which  as you all know is my local bus station here in Birmingham.

I used to have a password to celebrate the love I had for an old boss, BigFatBastardIHopeYouBurninHell, they say that phrases are easier to remember after all. Nowadays I have, GivemethePainKillersQuick as a favourite password. Along with, DADDYNeedstoPEE, or BloodyUselessKidneys are amongst the revolving passwords I use.

Passwords can be words of joy such as, FrenchKisswithGeography as a way of remembering your first boyfriend or girlfriend. NoodlesMYBaby is another over used Password. PrawnAgainNoodles does the rounds too as a password. NOSaladERver can be a good Password. HEARTattackwhen is another favourite.

All your bad habits can be used as passwords. Only people who really know you well will have an inkling about what you are on about. KimlovesDonald is a favourite with the NSA janitors, its the only way they can access the toilet paper store. Donald10000DegreeSuntan is a favourite with North Korean hackers. Really when all the nastiness is over they can all do the Degree course in Japan for Gaming. In fact the son of a friend of my wife’s is doing that course Computer Gaming. He may or may not be visiting in the New Year so I’ll have the chance to persuade or bore him with the idea of using my stories as Games. Then no doubt he’ll change his Password to, BoringOldWhiteHairedF

But it proves my point, a sentence is a funny Password and easier to remember and much harder to hack.

I did have I Love Dan Brown as a Password but my daughter guessed it in a nanosecond. Obviously I don’t love Dan Brown, because he is a man and although I don’t mind people being Gay, I am not. Dan Brown would have to be a North Korean Army Girl before I would even look at him. I can hear my wife laughing in Shanghai as I write this. Also as good as the Film versions of his stories are, I think he cannot write at all. Make money yes, but write no. I can tell you what HIS next Password will be, FATBIRMINGAMLOSERWITHWHITEHAIR

Me I think I can write, 30 years worth, but without somebody or anybody opening that door and allowing oxygen to my words, then I’ll just be the fat silver haired writer in shades from Birmingham England. FOREVER UNDISCOVERED could be my Eternal Password.

The point about Dan Brown is that you can have a reverse Password, something you hate can become your password, such as ILOVECABBAGE could be a child’s password. IHATEKIDS is the Password that removes the wheel clamp from Santa’s Sleigh. Nobody is going to interfere with Rudolf because of the IHATEKIDS Password.

I’ve just remembered I was in Killarney once with my aunty Delia and one of her many friends was the Tangny family who ran the water treatment plant for the town, and had a pony and trap coach. This may have been Christmas 1973. There were very high fences about because the deer can jump so high. I was going to make a joke about Rudolf but my aunt kicked me under the table. Why, because one of the family was called Rudolf. Now only I know this story, so any passwords that use part of this story could never be broken.

Yes I know I write so much that I could give away a Password,but then again have you read all the 1,200,000 plus words, with all the jumbled up possibilities. But far far worse than that what would the NSA or North Korea find on my computer or websites? Or even in my books? OK, I’ll tell you.I have a picture of Donald Trump on his  hands and knees in the Oval Office along with Hillary Clinton. They are both fully clothed and there is a caption saying “WHERE IS OUR INTEGRITY”  Standing next to them is a naked FBI boss, and there is another caption “SEARCH ME I HAVEN’T A CLUE”

Well I think that’s enough for today, events in today’s news in UK gave me the idea for Passwords. But as you know anything can give me an idea, such as wind, either in the sky or beneath the sheets, so consider yourselves lucky that TODAY was my PASSWORD.              

The trouble with technology

       The trouble with Technology (c)

                   By

          Michael     Casey

The  trouble  with technology is that we all use it  , now if we just left it all alone then we all have no problems . Simple really but we all just cann't leave it alone , we all just have yo use it  . In the beginning if we wanted water we'd fetch the bucket and drop it down a well . My mother was born just  30feet from the sea , but they were fortunate because they had their own well , so they went outside and dropped the bucket down the well and then they had water . Then technology comes along and we just turn a tap and we have clean water instantly . We have hot water too , at the turn of a tap . In one generation so many changes . However technology then works against us , because we assume it will always work and that there will be no problems

We don't even know where the stopcock is , so our homes flood and then we discover we are not covered by our insurance .

My mother grew up with an oil lamp hanging above , no luxury of gas lamps for her , as for electricity , that was just a dream . Nowadays how could any society manage without electricity , its impossible to believe life without electricity . No tv , no radio , no freezers , no street lighting , no traffic lights, the list goes on and on . As for indoor plumbing , the luxury of a hot bath , the WC in the home . My mother grew up with no indoor plumbing , if you needed the bathroom as the American's say , then you'd leave the house and pick your spot in a field with the cows gazing on , as for toilet paper you had a blade of grass to wipe your  %^** . As for me we did not have such hardships , we had an outside WC , which we did not have to share with any other family , just 8 Caseys sharing our outside bog/toilet . There was a yard light to illuminate the way and a light in the toilet too . Which was sheer luxury compared to my mum's and my dad's childhoods . My dad would always come home and immediately switch off the yard light because it was wasting electricity . Then a shout would go up "Put the light on" , and my dad would always say "I didn't know" . Then there was the indignity of running out of paper . My brother Tony had a very good sense of humour so it was always the case that I'd shout from the yard "More Bog Roll" which is the English slang for toilet paper . Tony was kind so he'd always bring out a fresh supply  of paper , only he liked to tease so he'd push one sheet , just one sheet of paper under the door and say that's all there was in the house , and that mom said I'd have to use my finger . Then he'd go away laughing . He always left a full roll of  paper on the doorstep , much to my relief .

Simple technology , we all take for granted , water and electricity . What does all this technology do for us ? It gives us independent comfortable lives , we have clean water , hot water , light and warmth . Then with the miracle of TV we can all watch the world go by , from the comfort of our homes , or the local bar whichever is our true home . We are now a global village as has often been said , but then we become  anti social as its easier to watch tv than to interact with real people , we'd rather watch fiction on tv than have a real life . But with technology we can send an email to our neighbour across the  road , with pictures and video , rather than leave our castle homes , rather than going over for a coffee and a bar of chocolate .That's one view the optimistic view says that we truly can break down barriers by using the miracle of email to keep us connected though we are thousands of miles apart . I have to hold my hand up and admit that I am an email Junky , I did send  up to 5 emails a day to my friend in another part of the office , because we were both having fun . Then when I fell in love with my one true love it was ONLY because of the miracle of email that our love survived .I sent my girlfriend  long long  emails everyday for 6 months . She was in Shanghai while I was in Birmingham . My heart was breaking with love and hope until finally she came back to me . I'd come home from work at 3am and hit the keyboard , with luck because of the time difference we'd actually be live  and talking almost in real time .You cannot imagine how heart rending it was to come home to an email , to get up in the afternoon and read an email before going on night shift .I think whoever invented email should be made a saint, without email our love would not have lasted . An exchange of letters takes 14 days from Birmingham to Shanghai , so thank God for email and God himself KNOWS just how much I mean that , Sainthood is not high enough reward for the inventor of email .Is it Saint Bill Gates ? The telephone is fantastic , but too expensive , I know my phone bill reached 4 figures , but an email can be read over and over again , and even printed off , so it is a letter.

So I confess email is the most important leap in technology of the 20th Century , as far as I am concerned .

The next stage in the technology story   are mobile phones that send/receive video and tv , so we are literally wired up where ever we are in the world science fiction becoming science fact . We all used empty match boxes to pretend we were Captain Kirk  communicating to the Enterprise but now they are here for real . If you have been in a theatre,church,hospital and these things bleep you have to decide for yourself are they useful  or just a real pain in the *&^% . On balance they are good , but people have to be a lot more considerate , nobody else wants to hear their conversations if they are in church or at the theatre or even cinema . I remember a conversation I had at dinner on Xmas Eve just gone , the guy sat next to me happen to design mobile phones , he was very very good at his job , but I did warn caution about saturation point being reached . Then today 4months on , I am proved right , the mobile giants are in trouble , why , because of saturation point now being reached .

I don't want to end on low note , so I'll tell another anecdote , we all remember when we had our first colour tv , how wonderful it was and how we all marvel and the colours . The BBC started showing snooker because of the colours , and now tv without snooker would be unimaginable . Then remote control came in , so we'd try different positions and even outside the house and through the glass into the room where the tv was . Technology makes us all like children , its supposed to be a triumph of engineering and technology but really its our greatest toy , and our greatest joy . On Saturday my dad will come out  of the old peoples home to spend the day with me and my Chinese wife in our home . I'll be able to show him the internet and I hope  I can bring tears of joy to his eyes as I show him County Kerry on the computer monitor . Sitting in my living room in Birmingham he can read the Irish newspapers and see his homeland where he started as a blacksmith  in the 1930s . This is how we should be using technology .

                                              End

20/4/2001

              ************

the next year my dad died

Glad you all stopped by this year 2017

It was great you all stopped to read my stuff this year.

SADLY YOU NEVER BUY THE CHEAP EBOOKS ON AMAZON

https://www.amazon.com/MichaelCasey/e/B00571G0YC

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Michael-Casey/e/B00571G0YC/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

but maybe you'll tell your friends in the Media and I'll finally earn a few pennies.

www.michaelgcasey.typepad.com  to hear me read a few of my stories.

This year my big daughter passed her exams and is now studying hard with a view of getting into Medical School in 2019.

My  other daughter still amuses us and Totoro our cat goes out all night doing God alone knows what.

Me I'm still enduring 50 Shades of Pain from my Arthritis and post quadruple heart bypass pain.

My kidneys are not too hot either

Other than that I'm really pleased with the writing, I've written over 83,000 words in 15 Down. when I reach 100,000 then I'll launch it as  my 15th book in Amazon, 15 Down.
My tally is 1,222,924 words now according to word count.
30 years of writing after 20 years of listening to BBC Radio4 . 50 years of my life gone.

I don't think I'll reach the 3 score and 10 that the Bible used to say, but so long as I can write despite the random painful attacks of pain, I'll do my best to keep on writing. Though its murder at time with all the pain. Lying down can sometimes bring on pain too. I do have good days and even weeks but pain is a persistent part of my life now. One of my daughters has even forgot when I was not in pain and screaming for the pain killers. If I took stronger stuff I'd be an addict, SO I DON'T TAKE THAT KIND. Life is a compromise and I want to keep my brain.

That's  the end of my Papal message for this year, so God Bless you all, starting in Poland and Ukraine and then they world over.

Michael Casey the fat silver haired writer in shades from Birmingham England

Honesty is the Best Policy

Honesty is the Best Policy ©

By

Michael Casey

First of all a big thank you to the Polish shop around the corner, I lost some money in the shop and they saved it for me till I realised and came back. Its the new sticky slimy notes, plastic notes we are now cursed with in England. I also have too much rubbish in my coin purse. So I have now got rid of the rubbish so I hope I won’t lose any more money in future. So once again a very big thank you to the girls in the Polish shop.

So events have provided me with a source idea to talk about. I could talk about pain, but it bores you all so I won’t tonight. How honest are you? As honest as the day is long? Or are you forgetful, deliberately. Being the son of Kerry parents I suppose I’m very honest. I’m of an age where I feel guilty if I see a Policeman, we do have Police and Lawyers in the family too. And my mum always used to say “with the help of God and 2 Policemen”.

So if you find a wallet would you keep the money, or try and trace the owner, or hand it in to a bank should there be a bank card inside. Or would you head for Amazon and buy as much as you could with the card. Sadly I know that some people would head for Amazon. In the past nobody would even dream of it now people are jealous and can and would be tempted.

If you borrow a quid for the last bus home would you seek out that person at the bus stop next time to repay them? Or would you think they were stupid to help you? When does it does not matter become it does matter? Is 3 quid the threshold at which you must repay the loan, or is it 10 or 20 or 30. Or never because they are a fool and you have taken advantage of them?

When you meet an old friend do you lie to them and say you meant to ring them but you never did. Its 5 years since you were last in contact. Do we all casually lie about this and that? Only the old friend now lives around the corner for 3 years, and has seen you pass by for years. So you weren’t really friends at all. You were perhaps lying to each other.

We lie about our jobs and our promotion prospects, about where we live and how great our boyfriend is. We say our wife loves us to bits, when in fact she ran off with the bingo called 18 months ago. And on it goes. Till there is no truth left at all.

If we were both blind we could lie and say we were black, or Indian, or tall and thin because we could not contradict each other, because we literally could not see the truth. As my dad use to say of Politicians, he couldn’t be honest even if you paid him. So lying becomes the norm and we do all become Politicians.

They say Honesty is its own reward, or God will save the world for the sake of one Just man. In the end you really do need a good memory if you want to lie, so just how good is your memory. I have total recall, but only for stories, otherwise I forget where my keys are, or what I had for breakfast. I do know where the paracetamol and the Movelat pain killers are, I sadly can never forget that these past 5 years. But I have no need of lies.

This means my tolerance for liars, no matter how small is zero. Liars tend to lick their lips as they lie, and can never look you in the eye. Watch out for that, and see if I am right. Remember too in my hotel days we’d meet thousands of people, my guess is 100,000 people I spoke to during my 3 years there.So I used to be able to read a person in 20 seconds. Now I’m not as good, but don’t lie to me, as you could end up in a story.

Now I’m going to bed so I’ll say goodnight. Or am I lying and I’m going out drinking and gambling with my North Korean Army Girl defector? Well as you cannot see me licking my lips, or looking away from your gaze you will never know. Not unless you see a fat silver haired guy in shades snuggling up to a North Korean Army Girl defector here in Birmingham at our own German Market. But I can hear laughter from my Shanghai wife, even though she is is bed in Shanghai as I talk to you. And no I am not lying, honest folks, that’s the truth.