Songs I Like (248)

~ beetleypete ~ 22 Comments

This was something of a different song from Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. It didn’t capture the attention of the record-buying public at the time, and failed to get into any charts in 1972.

In the UK, it quickly became adopted by fans of Northern Soul, who liked the bass beat of the song and found it perfectly suited their unusual dance style.

Because of that the record company re-released the album version as a single in 1975, and it went straight into the British Top Ten, peaking at number seven. The sales earned them a Silver Disc.

I had the original single in 1972, bought the longer version in 1975, and still love to hear it today.

Beware
Of his promise
Believe
What I say
Before
I go forever
Be sure
Of what you say

So he paints a pretty picture
And he tells you that he needs you
And he covers you with flowers
And he always keeps you dreaming
If he always keeps you dreaming
You won’t have a lonely hour
If a day could last forever
You might like your ivory tower

But the night begins to turn your head around
And you know you’re gonna lose more than you found
Yeah the night begins to turn your head around

Beware
Of his promise
Believe
What I say
Before
I go forever
Be sure
Of what you say

For the words may come too easy
If you don’t believe I’m leaving
And goodbye will come too quickly
If you really think he loves you
If you really think he loves you
You would give your love so sweetly
If that day could last forever
You would fall in love completely

But the night begins to turn your head around
And you know you’re gonna lose more than you found
Yeah the night begins to turn your head around

But the night begins to turn your head around
And you know you’re gonna lose more than you found
Yeah the night begins to turn your head around
And you know you’re gonna lose more than you found
Oh the night begins to turn your head around
Yeah, the night, the night, the night, the night, the night, the night
Yeah, the night, the night, the night, the night, the night, the night
Oh the night begins to turn your head around

A Trip To The Norfolk Seaside

~ beetleypete ~ 41 Comments

Yesterday was very sunny, albeit quite chilly too. We decided to go ahead with a planned trip to the West Norfolk seaside town of Hunstanton, 30 miles from Beetley.

I have not included photos of the trip, as I posted quite a few of the same place last year and it hasn’t changed.
Here’s a link to those if you didn’t see it at the time.

Sunny Hunny

On quiet roads, we arrived in 35 minutes, and found an almost empty car park. When we visited last year, Julie didn’t use her mobility scooter, and it was very hot that day. This time, she rode her scooter along the seafront and into town, and the chilly wind from the west made her hands very cold.

After a nice light lunch in the Coffee Pot Cafe, we went further into town and Julie bought some thin gloves.

Then we went back down to the promenade and carried on in the other direction. We eventually found somewhere to sit out of the wind in the sunshine, and enjoyed the fresh air and sea views before heading back to the car.

On the way home, we stopped off in the town of Fakenham, to visit the Kinnerton chocolate shop. This is a factory shop where they sell ‘seconds and mis-shapes’ of various chocolate products that are made for Marks and Spencer and other leading retailers, but not considered perfect enough to be sold in their stores. The chocolates are a real bargain there, and Julie stocked up on gifts for her grandchildren and her sisters.

We were home by 4:30pm, and agreed it was a fine day out.

Nice Times (10)

~ beetleypete ~ 45 Comments

Continuing this series about memories that make me feel positive.

You can see the previous entries from this link.
https://beetleypete.com/?s=nice+times

I was 13 years old, and really liked a girl in my class at school. The summer holidays were coming up, and one day near the end of term I managed to summon up the courage to talk to her on her own in one of the corridors. I nervously asked her if she would like to be my girlfriend, and do things together in the summer holidays. To my amazement she said “Yes”, and I walked home from school feeling ten feet tall. It didn’t last of course. We only met up three times, and on the last time she told me that she wasn’t my girlfriend any longer. But I never forgot that moment in the school corridor.

At the age of 59, I was standing at a bus stop in Trafalgar Square, Central London. Two young women wearing backpacks are walking along in my direction. One of them is holding a small map, turning it around in her hands, and looking confused. Her friend says, “Let’s ask that old guy at the bus stop. He looks kind, and I bet he knows his way around”. They were American tourists, and I showed them how to get to where they were going.
And they were good judges of character too. ☺️

Walking Ollie on Neatherd Moor in Dereham, I stood talking to two ladies as Ollie ran around playing with their Labrador dogs. We chatted about dog ailments and medical issues, what we gave them to eat, and usual dog-walking stuff. One of them asked me how he coped when he was left alone, and I replied that he was never left alone other than for an hour each week when I went to the supermarket. I explained that I would never have got a dog if it was going to be left alone all day, and that we didn’t even go away for weekends or holidays unless it was to somewhere we could take Ollie with us. As Ollie and the Labradors ran back to us, one of the ladies turned to me and said “You are the most responsible dog-owner I have ever met. It was very good to talk to you”. That felt nice to hear.

Crazy Stats

~ beetleypete ~ 48 Comments

Over the last few weeks, my daily views have been shown as well in excess of 2000 most days, and over 3,000 on some days.

This is far from normal of course, so I started to look into what was going on.

Four old posts have been viewed many times. A post from 2018 about Ollie has been viewed 1,995 times in just the past seven days.

Ollie: The skin he’s in

This book review has been viewed at least 100 times a day for ten days.

Book Review: In Search Of A Revolution

Another 2018 post about blog followers is also receiving daily views in excess of 100 each day.

3000: A rather pointless milestone.

Last but not least, this post has received (exactly) 80 views a day for a couple of weeks now.

The seasonal lull

It has to be blog-scraping for AI, and the location for most views every day is the USA.

But I am intrigued.

Why those four posts? And why view the same ones every day for weeks now?

Can’t AI get it right the first time? Another mystery of the Internet!