Day 118 - Jazz and bubbles

Ah... what's up doc? It has been a long time since I watched Bugs Bunny. Elma Fudd and that wascully wabbit used to be on TV all the time but these days kids have far more choice.  To celebrate Bugs Bunny Day I eventually managed to find some episodes on YouTube to watch whilst ironing. I say eventually, finding episodes wasn't difficult but getting them to play on the TV took a few attempts.  It was only when Elma finally trudged onto the screen that I realised we have an old DVD which would have worked fine. New tech isn't always the easiest or best! Oh well. I was all ready to reminisce and say how they don't make them like they used to but to be honest (as it is Honesty Day!) it wasn't great. Bugs wasn't the heroic good guy I thought he was. He was the tormentor rather than the tormentee and the jokes were few and far between.  Much like with Popeye was, Bugs Bunny isn't something I'll be rushing to share with the kids. Roll on He-man day!

Next up was International Jazz Day. I stopped into Oxfam at lunchtime and  noticed that they've categorized their CDs. Happy days. My idea of jazz is taken from the film "The Commitments" where they refer to it as musical masturbation, it isn't something I'm drawn to but I thought that maybe a CD would help to change that view.  I had a nose through the new jazz section but the names were all familiar, Etta James, Dinah Washington. I wouldn't have called them jazz, I already have some of their stuff. Instead of a new CD I therefore decided to listen to Jamie Cullum's show on radio 2. Or at least I intended to, Bugs Bunny got in the way. I eventually celebrated by watching a Jazz program on iPlayer. There was a lady called Georgia somethingorother who was singing over  freeform double bass. It was as though the bass player was doing his own thing, just plucking away without a tune. She was then singing but not to the music being played. I remain a sceptic. Hurrah for jazz, kind of.

Something which made me smile today took place during my attempt to celebrate Military Brats Day, as I am one. I was born in Berlin (hence the recent pilgrimage) and spent 8 years there. I thought that I'd set up a Facebook group to try to meet other army brats but found that there are already loads of them. I asked to join one and so am waiting now. Whilst waiting I had a look on Twitter for other people posting about the day. It was this which made me smile. I've always had issues with being an army kid. My friends at secondary school had stories about when they went to nursery together but I didn't join them until I was about 10. I was also called the posh kid for years simply because I didn't have an accent so that wasn't much fun. The twitter post however was talking about how the flower of the military brat is the dandelion. At first this doesn't sound that great but the post went on to talk about how they put down strong roots wherever they land and how home his not a static place but where the heart is. It rang a cord with me (much more so than the jazz did) and then I saw the host of golden dandelions in my garden when I got home and it made me smile.

There were lots of other celebrations today but I'll quickly share two more with you before bedtime. I wasn't expecting to be able to celebrate Bubble Tea Day as I couldn't find a shop selling the stuff in Solihull. I did however find one whilst running between trains in Birmingham so I grabbed one to go. It was my first bubble tea. Very strange. I assumed that it would be like a cappuccino but it only has a few bubbles in it, and they're huge! They give you a giant straw to cope with them. I plumped for a cherry tea. The drink was pleasant enough but then you get these squishy lumps in your mouth which you have to pop. It feels like how eating frog spawn would feel, I imagine.  The taste wasn't unpleasant but the sensation was peculiar. Once the drink has gone you also end up with bubbles which are difficult to suck up. I'm glad that I gave it a go but I doubt I'll be running back for more.

Finally it was Raisin Day. I didn't have much to say about it, I celebrated by buying a bag of raisins for the office.  I then found out that one of my colleagues eats 21 raisins every day. I didn't get a chance to ask him why that specific number so I googled it to see whether it was a thing. I found a video on a YouTube channel called Healthpedia which praises the benefits of raisins and specifically suggests eating 21 raisins every day. Apparently great things will happen. Might be worth a punt.

I need to go and make sandwiches for tomorrow, that's all folks!