Author Archives: malcolmsmusingscom

This is Larry and Ray from Men’s Shed. One suggested caption was the old joke, ‘You nod your head when you’re ready and I’ll hit it’. Another was ‘Must get Larry a bigger workbench.’ I prefer it without a caption, imagining what was going on, what happened before and after, imagining their conversation. Under thisContinue reading “Saying Nothing”

When the night has comeAnd the land is darkAnd the moon is the only light we’ll seeNo, I won’t be afraidOh, I won’t be afraidJust as long as you stand, stand by me The original Ben E King version of this great song is always the best; yesterday I enjoyed a different version… The messageContinue reading “Standing with Frogs, Nicholas, Seagulls, and Marion”

I thought I knew Bohemian Rhapsody. I’ve heard it so many times… Freddy Mercury and Queen, the stage-show ‘We Will Rock You’, I’ve played it (badly!) for children to sing… Then I heard it performed by 13-year-old Angelina Jordan. It has different emphases, suggesting different meanings. It’s different, reinvented. Nick Cave talks about life’s turningContinue reading “Reinvention, Reordering, Rebirth”

Yesterday I read: Author and journalist Jemimah Wright: ‘At the end of 2023, Pamela Anderson, 56, went make-up free to the British Fashion Council’s fundraiser in London and the reaction was, predictably, huge. It is very unusual for anyone in the public eye to have their naked face ‘unmasked’; exposing the fact that they areContinue reading “Unmasked”

Yesterday we learnt of the death of the actor Ian Lavender, who’s best remembered for playing Private Frank Pike in the classic wartime BBC sitcom ‘Dad’s Army’. Pike was the naïve, hapless, youngest member of the Home Guard platoon. He’d often get in trouble with its commander, Captain Mainwaring (Arthur Lowe), who frequently referred toContinue reading “Stupid Boy Syndrome”

Yesterday… …walking in the afternoon. There was a beautiful sunset – different shades of blue sky, red and orange sun, white and grey clouds. As we walked the colours changed. We stopped several times to look. We shall never see that particular sunset again, but we shall enjoy other sunsets in the future. …reading aboutContinue reading “It Is No More, But It Still Is”

I can only imagineWhat it will be likeWhen I walk by Your sideI can only imagineWhat my eyes would seeWhen Your face is before meI can only imagine. I can only imagineWhen that day comesAnd I find myselfStanding in the SonI can only imagineWhen all I will doIs forever, forever worship YouI can only imagine.Continue reading “I Can Only Imagine”

Kim’s service went well yesterday. Our church was full. We told funny stories: ‘Mark and Belinda got a frantic call from Kim saying she was stuck under her bed and needed urgent help…’ We heard: ‘When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.’ We sung: ‘Even though IContinue reading “The Present of God’s Presence”

One of the best stories this week has been that of the Japanese macaque that escaped from its enclosure at Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie in Scotland on Sunday. Yesterday, on the fifth day of searching, the escaped monkey was finally recaptured. It had stopped to eat at a garden bird-feeder. Great Yarmouth’s new HerringContinue reading “Escape”

Moseying: walk or move in a leisurely manner. As a child I watched American cowboy films. The good cowboy comes into town, wearing his white hat, chewing his bit of straw, just moseying around… I‘ve had several conversations this week with other ‘senior citizens’ about getting older, slowing down – physically and mentally… walking andContinue reading “Moseying”