I am probably not the only one who felt a little tear sting their eye when the news broke that Robin Gibb was on his deathbed. There probably aren't many of us, young or old, who haven't at some point in our lives enjoyed the wonderful music of the BeeGees. How utterly delightful it is to now know that Robin Gibb has come out of his coma and is speaking to his family again. The BeeGee brothers have been struck by some awful tragedies in their lives - how lovely it would be if Robin and Barry could lightened our lives with a little bit more of their very special brand of music for a few years longer. Poor Robin is facing some serious challenges though with bowel cancer, liver failure and pneumonia. But he's already faced survived against the odds - let's hope he can make the distance.
Anyway, this morning I suppose I was subconsciously thinking about the BeeGees and I came up with a scenario for a short story;
A man walks into a collector's shop wanting to sell his collection of old albums. The shopkeeper recognises him and after exchanging pleasantries he agrees to buy the record collection for a few pounds. Later, as the shopkeeper sorts through them he sees Barbra Streisand's Guilty album. He's a big fan of Barbra so he pulls it out of the cardboard box and as he inspects it he sees a cryptic message written under the album title.
What might happen next? Does anyone want to offer up a cryptic message to get the old creative cells working further? I always find a little bit of input from others can be quite stimulating. So, if you got an idea for me let's be having it! I might even send this scenario to a writing buddy and see what he makes of it too. The more the merrier!
In the meantime, here's Barry and Barbra singing Guilty. Having watched the video below a number of times I think my favourite excerpt is not Barry arriving on stage halfway through the song or Barbra's kooky faces but the close up of the three adults in the audience so obviously enjoying the performance with smiles on their faces and in their eyes. The woman looks like a young Elizabeth Taylor too - although I don't think it is her. Isn't it great to see people looking happy and enjoying themselves?
Christmas is really on the way and those folks on the radio and in the shops just won't let us forget it will they? Yep, the incessant playing of seasonal songs drives me up the wall! In fact, by the time the Big Day is here I will probably be having nightmares about Cliff Richard turning up in my bedroom singing Mistletoe andWine. Not a lot could be worse - except perhaps discovering that when your husband said he'd scored a birdie it wasn't quite the birdie you were thinking of.
Still, Mrs Tiger Woods has now got the opportunity to renegotiate her generous prenuptial settlement into an even more generous one. Fabulous! Only wish I'd done a prenup myself. Mind you half of nothing isn't a lot. (Although access to Mr T's garden shed is quite appealing.)
Whoops, got off track there; it's a bad habit I'm afraid. Anyhow... I love that Christmas spirit and some of those old songs like Slade'sMerry Christmas Everybody, Wizard's I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day and the ultimate classic Bing's White Christmas. Of course, there are some great contemporary Christmas songs too like Wham's Last Christmas and Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You but nevertheless there comes a time in December when I have to switch off the radio because I just can't stand Christmas songs any longer.
And that's what I did this week; I just wanted to hear some truly timeless songs that I can listen to every day of the year, year after year.
So I looked through my CDs and decided to alternate between two unique sounds both of which I adore; the superb voice of Barbra Streisand and the equally superb voices of the BeeGees. And of course, when you put Barbra and the BeeGees together you get something even better...
You get a little piece of magic.
Here's one of my all time favourite songs sung by Miss Barbra Streisand and Mr Barry Gibb and you know what? I never feel Guilty about listening to this song over, and over, and over again.
Hmm...Barry looks kinda good in tight white pants. And it explains the voice. You wouldn't want to sit down in those trousers though would you? I had a bit of a problem like that myself once. Yep, I went to a conference wearing tight black trousers. Unfortunately it was only when I got home I released I'd developed a rather large split in them. Just as well I was wearing my super dooper big black granny knickers - imagine the embarrassment if everyone had seen my Little Miss Saucy pair! Yikes, it doesn't bear thinking about! Still Barry does looks fab in tight white pants. Maybe not as good as John Travolta in Saturday Night fever though..... Although Barry doesn't have little green men whispering in his ear which has got to be a major plus.
By the by, I just read John Travolta turned down an opportunity to fly on Richard Branson's Virgin space shuttle. Apparently, he couldn't afford time of work to do the six months astronaut training. Hmm.... I didn't know John Travolta was so short of cash! Perhaps he has to pay a personal seamstress to stitch him into his pants daily or maybe he's just eaten too many pies and is worried about fitting into one of those tiny little seats??
Nah, I can't believe either of those.... I think he's just too scared of running into those little green men.
Okay, somebody watch my back please:)
Ps - I really like Barbra; she's such a modest lady. All that money and she still finds a second use for her tablecloth.
