Ms Moem | Poems. Life. Etc. | Page 47 of 80

Music Monday 5

Music Monday is brought to you with a mainly soulful, acoustic r ‘n’ b flavour, featuring tracks from Esco Williams, Mic Lowry and Delleile Ankrah!

First up: Esco Williams – Oh Jordan

I discovered this track via the MOBO Awards twitter stream. I instantly fell in love with the beautiful harmonies and listened to it on repeat for weeks! It’s got a totally different vibe to any act around at present and Esco deserves to go a long way. It feels really organic. Esco is a singer/songwriter/producer from Liverpool and he is a winner of the MOBO Unsung award.
As an aside, I just know that my Mother would’ve loved Esco’s music too, and that in itself makes me smile.
I was delighted to find another of his songs, Breaking Bones, on youtube.

Then I stumbled across a group of young chaps who had posted a cover of Beyonce’s Drunk in Love. They go by the name of Mic Lowry and they are a boy band from Liverpool. Again I fell in love with the harmonies, and I have to say that this group contains some seriously powerful voices. Individually they are Ben, Michael, Delleile, Akia & Kaine. There’s something fascinating about a group of lads who look like they might be more likely to rap or just be hanging about doing normal teenage stuff………until they open their mouths to sing and those melodies just flow like they’ve been recording artists for decades.
Then I discovered that they were mentored by Esco Williams and it all slotted together like the orchestra on prom night!
Here are a few of their covers.

Beyonce – Drunk In Love Cover by Mic Lowry

Rather Be – Clean Bandit ~ cover by Mic Lowry

MNEK cover by Mic Lowry – Ready For Your Love

And finally I discovered a cover of a Chris Brown song I hadn’t heard before, by one of the singers of Mic Lowry, Delleile Ankrah. This is him apparently just messing around, but having gone on to listen Chris Brown’s own version, this young man has far more soul in his voice!

Chris Brown Take You Down cover by Delleile Ankrah

So have a listen to all these talented chaps. I could happily listen to a full album from any or all of them. Ones to watch!
What music has been doing it for you this week?

This is post 35 of 100 blogs in 100 days.

Inspired by Morph

Inspired by Morph, the creation of Aardman animations, I had a go at making my own stop motion animation; also known as claymation. I always enjoy flexing my creative muscles and trying new things.

Meet Lil Mo, my versatile purple plasticine friend. For a first go at claymation, I was rather proud of it and I have learned some valuable to lessons to take on board for my next creation! I hope to get round to having another go in the not too distant future. It was fun attempting to get to grips with the basics of making a inanimate character move.

It has given me an even greater respect for the work of Aardman now knowing that just a few seconds of screentime can take half a day to co-ordinate. And I am only at amateur level. When you are creating animations on the levels that they are, it is little wonder that things can take years to come together, especially when you look at everything that must go into their films and shorts; from scripting and storyboards to sets and character moulding – it is just awe inspiring.

Just in case you didn’t know, Aardman are the geniuses behind Morph, Shaun The Sheep, Wallace and Gromit, Creature Comforts and so much more. Think of any well known animation over the last 20 years or so, and it’s usually Aardman that is behind it!

So I hope you liked my little Morph inspired character!

This is post 34 of 100 blogs in 100 days.

100 blogs in 100 days

Today’s Troubles

Today’s troubles. One could argue that we are in the midst of great times, so why are our teens today so troubled? You only have to cast a glance on online news sites, or open a paper, to see stories of teen self harm and suicide. More and more they seem to be so overwhelmed with life, that they are choosing extremely drastic and permanent measures as a way of escaping. They just don’t see bright futures ahead.

Todays’s Troubles is a poem written by Ms Moem.

But why don’t they? In an era of instant gratification, is it because if something is further than a click away, it is just too much to bear; too much like hard work? Or perhaps that they have less freedom today that they might have had twenty or thirty years ago, with more helicopter parenting keeping them on a tight leash or tiger parenting pushing them into being busy and aiming to achieve things that don’t mean much to them.

Do we need to reduce the expectations placed on the younger generations? Let kids be kids, and not have to worry about planning their whole lives before they’ve even begun to really live?

I know it is easy to say with hindsight, but so many of the superficial things that teens worry about *will* pass. It is heartbreaking to read stories of youngsters so consumed with sadness and worry that they are hurting themselves and taking their own lives. And I’m not denying that some might have serious problems, but we all have a duty to try and help them see that some of their solutions might not be the wisest options.

I don’t have the answers, but I do worry for them and for subsequent generations going forward.

How can we cheer up our youngsters and make them see that today’s troubles won’t last?

This is post 33 of 100 blogs in 100 days.

Forever | Fun Wedding Poem

Forever?

Will you love me when I’m ancient
Will you feel the same as today?
Will I still make you have butterflies
And feel proud in every way.

Will you still chat to me daily
And try to make me laugh?
Will you still give me a cuddle
And sneak a peek at me in the bath?

Will you still wake up each morning
And turn to me with a grin?
Will you still tell me I’m beautiful
And mean, outside and in.

Will you always want to hold me
And want me to feel blissfully safe?
Will you still know what I am thinking
Just by reading what lies on my face.

And if you still want to go ahead with this
Then here’s to our life together
So answer yes to all these questions
Then there’s no doubt this will last forever.

Forever is a wedding poem written by Ms Moem.

If you would like to purchase a printable copy of this poem that you can use for your wedding, to be able to give a copy to the person who will be reading at your wedding, and another to share with your registrar, you can find one here on my etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/550704523/forever-printable-poem-for-your-wedding

Forever is part of a collection of my wedding poems which is available to purchase on amazon.

Ms Moem – Love and Marriage

Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-And-Marriage-Ms-Moem/dp/1470984148

Amazon US http://www.amazon.com/Love-And-Marriage-Ms-Moem/dp/1470984148

This is post 32 of 100 blogs in 100 days.

Learning is Life

What is learning to you?

To me, learning is life. Learning is frontiers extended; pushing through the barriers one by one.

And I am not necessarily talking about formal learning, though of course that has its place.

I am talking more about the little snippets that you pick up just in passing. Or something that sparks your interest so that you then go on to research a bit deeper.

Once you’ve learned something, it can be very hard to remember what it was like not to know it, and to realise that other people might not have been privvy to the same information you have. So, it becomes easy to assume that others will always know what you are talking about, when in actual fact, that isn’t the case. Help others on their learning journey, by breaking down and passing on your knowledge in a simple way.

This is post 31 of 100 blogs in 100 days.

100 blogs in 100 days #100blogs Day 30

30 days ago, on a whim, I agreed to try and write 100 blogs in 100 days. When I first heard about the challenge, I really had no idea if I would be able to either commit to the amount of time or to produce the amount of content required to fulfill the full #100blogs.

But, day by day, I have managed to produce a blog post, and published it. And now we’re on day 30, almost a third of the way through!

So what are the benefits of accepting the #100blogs challenge & writing blog posts every day for 100 days?
I have written poems and quotes, made ‘blog pretty’, found new readers, increased blog traffic and grown connections across all the platforms I participate in. I have had some banter with some of the challenge participants and had a peek at the insights into their various industries. I have found new topics and inspiration and all in all, I am really glad I started this.
I’m building up a fabulous library of blog assets as I go along, which I can re-purpose elsewhere and as we all know, content is king!

Focusing a bit deeper on the possible benefits of regular blogging, I will be looking to extend my 100 blogs efforts across to my bespoke poetry blog, although the schedule there will not be daily.

I am starting to think about what will happen when the 100 days comes to an end. I am not sure yet whether I will continue daily blogging after that point, as it is a lot of pressure. But saying that, it is a positive pressure. I am enjoying the feeling of accountability, without the actual accountability, if that makes sense. It also feels great to part of something bigger, and gives a daily conversation starter that many people who work from home might not have; stepping out of the isolation zone!

The main lesson I have picked up from this, is to say yes to things that might seem out of your comfort zone. Who knows where it might take you!

The author of Business Networking for Dummies, Stefan Thomas @noredbraces puts it in a slightly different way: Enter your adventure zone!

This is post 30 of 100 blogs in 100 days.

Palindrome Poem

Q. What is a palindrome poem?
A. A palindrome poem is a verse that reads the same forwards as it does backwards.

Here’s an example:

Life is joy.
Brightly shone she.
Knowing not if what
happened never happened
would it
change things.
Maybe.
Circling thoughts.
Did it happen?
*ponders
Happen it did….
Thoughts circling.
Maybe things change.
It would.
Happened? Never happened?
What if? Not knowing,
She shone brightly.
Joy is life.

This is a palindrome poem written by Ms Moem.

I think palindrome poems are rather clever! What do you think?

This is post 29 of 100 blog posts in 100 days.

The Ballad Of Fat Brenda

Photo credit: Fat Brenda on Twitter

Refrain:
Oh do you know the Weathy Arms
They sell the dodgy ale.
The Rovers is the place for me
It flamin’ never fails!

(1)
I’m a working girl, Fat Brenda,
At Streetcars for me sins.
Folk call asking for a ride;
That’s where it all begins.

(2)
I share the load with Eileen;
She thinks she’s quite a belter.
But she’s more of a bumper car
And I’m the helter skelter.

(refrain)

(3)
My fingers work the switchboard
While my tongue could charm t’bees.
Folk expect a free happy ending
When they flamin’ call to chat to me.

(4)
One bloke wanted to marry me.
He sounded quite a dish.
He threw up int back of t’taxi.
Fit fer nowt, he were far too p*ssed.

(refrain)

(5)
Not got time for a full time lover
Though I’ve got buckets of love to give.
It’d interfere with me nights out
And I tell you, I know how to live.

(6)
I rock up to work in my lycra.
Looking beltin’, no word of a doubt!
But I’ve never been so insulted…
Steve said me kebab meat were hanging out.

(refrain)

(7)
I told him he wouldn’t know fashion;
Not if it slapped him in t’face.
Said he was lucky to have my ample charms
To liven up the place.

(8)
He said it wasn’t up to him
And that punters had complained.
I were sorry some fares were frosty
But my strawberry mivvi weren’t to blame!

(refrain)

(9)
Steve insisted the miniskirt had to go.
I told him that this weren’t over.
I staggered across t’cobbles
And went to sort me head out in the Rovers.

(10)
There’s a moral to this ‘ere story.
Well, a loose one, of flamin’ course.
There’s nothing that a pint of unbranded
And a Betty’s hotpot cannot sort!

(refrain)

The Ballad of Fat Brenda is a poem written by Ms Moem.

If you’ve not heard of Fat Brenda before, you can often hear her mentioned on Coronation Street.
Alternatively, see the character played on twitter by the multi-talented Steve Huison! @FatBrenda

This is post 28 of 100 blog posts in 100 days!

What Do You Do When You’re Having A Bad Day?

At midnight, even bad days come to an end. | quote Ms Moem

Bad days! We all have them! But it is important to remember that a bad day doesn’t mean a bad forever. At midnight, even bad days come to an end; a chance to reset and come back out on top.

What do you do when you’re having a bad day?

Some cry it out. Some brood. Some people like to exercise. Some people find comfort in chocolate. Some like to journal it and process it on paper. Some lift their spirits with a brisk walk. Others dance it out.

It took me many years to realise that my mood seems to be directly linked to whether or not I have listened to music. A music free day does not a happy poet make!

That’s just an average day. But what about those days where life just seems to get on top of you? The days where the decision hasn’t gone your way, or something has happened, or even those ‘hormonal days’.

Again, for me, music is the cure-all! If my mood can’t be lifted by my favourite musicians, then it is REALLY bad!

What lifts your mood when you’re in a slump? How do you get yourself out of it?

This is post 27 of 100 blogs in 100 days.