PRESCHOOL CHRISTMAS SONGS

After blogging about the songs I wrote for a class of preschool children in the latter part of last year, I have now found the time to add two more songs I penned for my class of 5/6 year olds to sing at our Christmas Concert.

The children sang the songs with pride and it was great to see them singing with a smile on their faces.

First we sang:

WHAT’S THAT, WHAT’S THAT, WHAT’S THAT NOISE?

What’s that what’s that what’s that noise?

Santa, Santa with all the toys, for all the girls and all the boys.

What’s that what’s that what’s that I hear?

Reindeer, Reindeer coming near, Rudolph the red nosed reindeer!

What’s that what’s that what’s that sound?

The sleigh, the sleigh going round and round, how on earth will he get down?

What’s that what’s that what’s that shout?

Santa, Oh Santa, Ouch, Ouch, Ouch, Daddy forgot to put the fire out!

Then, with the 15 children divided into three groups, we gave them a verse to sing and together sang the chorus to a piece of music:

BAUBLES ON THE CHRISTMAS TREE

Baubles on the Christmas tree are glowing in the light,

The snow outside will fall all night

Wood on the fire is cracking in the heat,

All the boys and girls are fast asleep.

Christmas comes in winter, cold and white with joy,

A time for happiness, a time for toys.

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas.

Baubles on the Christmas tree are glowing in the light,

The snow outside will fall all night

Wood on the fire is cracking in the heat,

All the boys and girls are fast asleep.

Christmas comes in December, at home we share,

A time to give, with love in the air.

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas.

Baubles on the Christmas tree are glowing in the light,

The snow outside will fall all night

Wood on the fire is cracking in the heat,

All the boys and girls are fast asleep.

Christmas falls on the 24^th, my favourite time of year,

A present under the tree, I will open and cheer!

It’s Christmas, its Christmas, its Christmas!

Baubles on the Christmas tree are glowing in the light,

The snow outside will fall all night

Wood on the fire is cracking in the heat,

All the boys and girls are fast asleep.

I hope they bring you as much joy as they did for us. If you choose to sing them, please enjoy it and let me know how you get on.

LIKE A BULLY IN THE PLAYGROUND

Before I write what’s actually on my mind I need to write a post about something that has been troubling me for a long time. That is: a person’s reason to buy a four by four when they live in the city!

Coming from a small town, with old, narrow streets and where once upon a time it was a shock to see a new car, I grew up giving way to the oncoming driver and with a raised hand would return the thanks bestowed upon me for waiting. Now in the modern age of big wheels and bigger exhausts, I now give way in fear of being squashed.

The modern driver of the modern 4×4 knows no such courtesy. The mentality of the bully in the playground is ingrained upon them as soon as they step up into their seat. Whether it is a trip to the supermarket, to collect their small child from nursery or to pick up the take away from the local kebab house, the term ‘to give way’ might as well be a foreign language. Certainly for some, their eyes are only on the prize of their destination.

The drivers don’t get out of the way for anyone, not noticing the small frail driver of rover metro approaching them in the middle of the road, or the mother and baby half way across the zebra crossing. Their elevated position gives them a sense of kingship, a nobility of power.

I have seen inside the bitterness of this betrayal and have observed the bully many times from the passenger seat. This observation shows at once, that a calm, caring individual soon learns to feed upon the fear of his opposite lower counterpart. Remarks like: ‘What are they going to do?’ ‘They won’t hit me’ (meaning crash into me) ‘I’m twice their size!’ Thus ending any love for their fellow small town driver and simply trampling, in their off road 4×4 city mud, the rules of the road. 

But be it a status symbol, keeping up with the Jones’s or just the need to pick on someone, is there a real need for the these big cars in our towns and cities that isn’t completely selfish? Instead, would it not be cheaper for us all to carry placards around saying how much we earn, the size of our manhood and the intense dislike of a certain so and so? At least with Facebook the latter is already achieved.

It would save us money, time, and help save the planet. If only we could make the car companies aware of the monsters they are creating. Surely then they would only sell citron 2cv’s to the entire peace loving world. But until that day, next time you’re face to face with a bully, don’t give in, don’t move, and good luck.

THE PATH LESS TRAVELLED

It’s a common misconception amongst potential travellers, that to find enlightenment or fulfilment of your inner-self, you have to avoid the so called ‘trodden path’.

Firstly, The path is there for many reasons. Regardless of its route, you will find it generally safe, and with like minded people along the same trail, you will have fun. So you can say to those who scorn you for doing the ever so popular routes, that if there was something else worth seeing, the money generated from tourism would create a brand new path of which to traverse down.

If it isn’t trodden before you, stop, there’s probably a very good reason..

More and more I read about people exploring far off parts of the Arctic, or flying over the central Australian outback and naming un-named things as they stop for lunch. But all of these stories carry the same trend, you have to be extremely wealthy to be able to afford to undertake this kind of travel.

With a guide book and no set itinerary it’s a wonderful feeling waking up in the morning not knowing what awaits you. The situations that you come across and the lessons you take from it are all individual. I have many tales about places I’ve been and people I’ve met. And I’ve met people who have been to the same places as me and taken all kinds of different memories  from looking at the very same thing.

For those who walk the route of several million backpackers around Asia and Australia every year, like I did many moons ago, take heart in being one of those several million. But for me the path doesn’t end when you board the plane home.

You take with it your very own experiences and stories, knowledge and understanding of the world. That knowledge you put into practice and the path you proceed along, is truly yours and yours alone. Your’ll be making the first tracks in the dust, and be aware, it will never be trodden again.

SONGS TO SING AT PRESCHOOL

In September 2013 I began a new career of teaching pre-school children in Prague. Although this new path has limited my time for focusing on my next book, it has given me the chance to write songs and poems for the children that I teach.

I have already mentioned the hardship of leaving children when you become attached, and this will be hard at the end of the school year in June, when most of my class will leave for primary school.

Leave as they must, I’ll be happy that with them they take a song or two that I wrote with them in mind. Here are my favorite songs  for these young boys and girls.

THE OCEAN SONG

You can sail upon the Ocean,

You can sail upon the Sea,

A song to remember all the names of these,

Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Southern,

The cold of the Arctic too,

All of the oceans and all of the seas,

Shimmer a shiney blue.

WHAT WE HAVE

We have the Planets and the Stars, Jupiter and Mars,

We have the rivers and the seas, the plants and the trees,

We have the animals and birds, butterflies and bees,

We have our toys to lend, and best of all we have our friends.

LITTLE FISHIE

I had a little fishie,

She climbed into a tree,

She ate all the bananas

So she could look like me.

A million years went by,

A million starry skies,

Now she’s counting fingers

And she can count to five.

 

With our Christmas concert just around the corner, we’ll be writing together again for this special time of year.

ENERGY ENERGY ENERGY

That’s all we hear in Climate change talk. We need cleaner energy, we no longer support oil, we want to get rid of coal and natural gas will run out in so and so years. We need renewable energy, we need it yesterday if the human race is going to survive, we need to use eco cars that run on electricity instead of petrol and we need light bulbs that will outlast our species by a million years.

What we really need is to stop. Stop right where we are and empty our pockets. Look at the contents of our trousers and bags. Look around our homes. Look at the energy consuming possessions we have around us. Look at ourselves and then take a long look at our parents and grandparents.

What did your grandfather do when he wanted to call his friend? If he was lucky he crossed the room and made the phone call on his landline. If he was not so lucky, he walked to the local phone box.

What would he have done if he wanted a loaf of bread? He would have walked to the nearest bakery and bought himself a loaf. What was growing in his own garden to eat?

What would he have done as a child to entertain himself? He would have met with friends and gone on adventures, played outside, got dirty, broke a leg, got into trouble and recovered.

How would our parents and grandfathers have gotten to school? A bus or bike or even walked, some of them miles at a time. It wasn’t that long ago when school was a privilege, not a right. Perhaps some people need reminding of that.

How did your parents open their shutters on their houses? How did they open their garage door? How did they open their gates onto their property? (He probably didn’t even have gates. It’s our modern scared society that makes us all have 6ft gates to guard our own piece of land) How much energy did he save by doing things himself.

How much of his own energy do you think he used to live a fulfilling life? How obese do you think the children were in their early years? It is all related, if we take and take and take energy from other sources and don’t use our own energy to do things, then what do you expect was going to happen? Bigger and bigger energy plants = bigger and bigger waist lines.

It’s all very well to say you don’t have time to do the things that your grandfathers may have done, but we do have time, we just prioritise in all the wrong ways, like reading this blog!

The world has to change and those at the top aren’t going to change it. It has to be done from the bottom up. Once enough people change, the power at the top will take notice, and inevitably, find a way to make money out of it.

If you want change, change.

 

 

FINDING TIME FOR OXYGEN

With the mild winter we had this year, and the excellent Spring that met us earlier this month, I haven’t spent much time indoors. My lack of writing is testament to that. So when I visited the Doctors this morning and became diagnosed with Tonsillitis, told to go home to bed and rest for a week, I thought the first thing I would do, after making a cup of tea, would be to write a post on WordPress. I didn’t think about what I would write about, I just decided to write.

Holding a full time job and training and completing a half Marathon, its hard to find time to write. But now I’ve been given an excuse to let go of the modern World and relax. I’m going to spend the rest of time this week writing my second book, simply called ‘O’ for Oxygen.

For those interested here is what I the book is about:

Oxygen is a luxury product, pure, clean, fresh Oxygen. No longer given to people with health problems, its sole purpose is to start the fires that burn the huge amounts of waste produced every year, every day and every minute in the consumer world that is 2075. 12 billion people walk the planet that is not what it once was. The air is dirty, CO2 covers the earth, burns through the atmosphere. Its only redeeming feature is that it prevents the sun’s rays from frying everyone living on fragile Earth. Mass riots and rebellions 30 years ago prompted a strategy to prevent this overcrowding. One man had an answer, he had the power, but he also had a thorn in his side, in the shape of love. The bell had been rung for round two of the survival of the fittest.

I’ll keep you updated with the progress. xx

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I have already written about how great I think my book is under the ever-so comical title blowing my own trumpet.

I have even told you how all royalties will be going to Partners in Health, a fantastic charity bringing hope to the poorest places on Earth.

So when someone else writes praise for ‘the waiting room‘, I feel it my role to help promote that person’s opinions. All for a better cause.

The words were written after I submitted ‘the waiting room’ to the Self Published Book Awards, ran by Chapter One Promotions, where Wendy Kearns, the competition Judge, wrote:

the waiting room by Ricky Barrington.  A very cleverly written book and the storyline about ‘the waiting room’ is a truly brilliant idea for a book.  You are transported to and fro with the author who has the skill to really take you inside the story so you feel you know the characters and you can feel what they are feeling.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the emotional journey it took me on but sadly it was let down by it’s lack of editing.  

I am still looking for an agent to take up this book, plus the two manuscripts which sit unfinished on my laptop. Any offers?

ALL ROYALTIES TO PARTNERS IN HEALTH

Still looking for a Christmas gift? By buying R.S. Barrington’s The Waiting Room, you can give twice this Christmas! Here is why:

When I read anything written about or by, Dr Paul Farmer, I feel deeply moved and heavy of heart. Here is a man who has given his life to people who, without him, would have had no life. As often as I can, I spread the news of the fantastic work that Partners In Health (PIH) has achieved, and what they continue to do, in some of the poorest and remote places on Earth. 

I implore you to read up on what they have done and what they continue to do!! www.PIH.org

I am often asked how I came to know about PIH. When I answer that my favourite band has connections with Haiti, the country that PIH was conceived in, the conversation turns to Arcade Fire.

On their 2007 tour they donated $1.00, €1.00 or £1.00 of every ticket directly to the charity. Arcade Fire front duo, Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, found out about PIH after reading Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains, and later went on to compliment the Haitian proverb by using it as lyrics in Sprawl II, from their third album The Suburbs.

As a fan of both Arcade Fire and the work carried out by PIH, I continue in the same vein with all royalties from the sale of my book The Waiting Room going to the charity to help in their continued good work.

So this Christmas, Give Twice.

TEN OF THE BEST : ARCADE FIRE

Arcade fire are recieving some stick for asking fans to dress up at their forth coming shows. The band request this so the audience feels a part of the show. We went to one such event and we didn’t see one person not dressed up. If you have a problem with dressing up, grow up, or don’t go. These are ten of our best pictures from Arcade Fire in Paris at the Pavillon Baltard, 22nd November 2013. Dressing up is all part of the fun…. 

I dream about this all the time, it happens I can’t find the words.

FIRST THOUGHTS TO REFLEKTOR ON

I have to state that I am a massive fan of everything James Murphy. His produced work, his musical talent and his hugely successful LCD Soundsystem. I was devastated to hear the news that they were to split up. But I had been luckily enough to see them live on several occasions, touring worldwide with the ever popular Arcade Fire.

When the news came through that Murphy would be producing the new Arcade Fire album I had no doubts that it was going to be great. Come the hour and I have now got hold of the album. All shrink wrapped and shiny.

When the single ‘Reflektor’ was released on the 9th day of the 9th month at 9pm I was as excited as a pig at home. When the first few bars hit my ears I have to say my first reaction was disappointment. It wasn’t the Arcade Fire I knew and loved. But then again, when their second album, ‘Neon Bible’, and third Album ‘The Suburbs’ was released I then too, had a new introduction to my favourite band.

So why did I instantly feel frightened when I heard the opening of ‘Reflektor’ on that special day? Knowing ‘Reflektor’ the album was being produced by someone whose own last album had an average song length of seven minutes, I knew it couldn’t be a song that burst into theme like that of ‘The Suburbs’. ‘Reflektor’ the single, builds into what is Arcade Fire, it doesn’t jump at you like their earlier singles. This dances its way into your senses, sways into your subconscious dragging you with it.

I was scared to listen to those two brand new vinyls and not hear who I wanted on the other end. Like calling your wife and hearing a mans voice. No one wants those unnessaccary upsets. I gave in and listened to the whole of ‘Reflektor’ and danced with a smile on my face untill the very end.

The whole album is the same as it’s title track. Catchy layers that build into an orchestral masterpiece that is hard to put down. Both discs are as fantastic as their partner, it is tough to choose which to play, my favourite song changing everyday.

So after to listening to the album I have to send a massive thank you to both parties, James Murphy for keeping LCD Soundsystem alive through the medium of ‘Reflektor’ and to Arcade Fire themselves for yet again offering the world something to listen to, dance with and reflect on.

 

xx