Hide and Seek was a 1984 single for family pop band “Five Star”.
I was suddenly awakened by a sharp slap to the face. Startled, I raised my head, squinting, trying to avoid the glare of the light. My cheek was stinging, almost burning, but the sensation was quickly overshadowed by the pain of my other afflictions which I was blissfully unaware of whilst in my drug induced slumber. My body was stiff and aching from being tied in this awkward position for so long. My wrists were sore with open wounds from the friction of the rope. My head was pounding from whatever they had injected into me.
“Where is it?” he demanded.
I could hardly see him through the light, shining full in my face. I could hear his footsteps coming towards me on the bare floor boards. The room sounded empty. Suddenly the smell of dust and wood was replaced by the smell of aftershave and mouthwash as he pushed his face into mine, pulling my head back by my hair. I let out a cry.
“Where is it?” he hissed.
“I don’t know… I don’t know what you’re talking about” I croaked as tears welled up in my eyes.
He released his grip, throwing my head forward.
“Don’t play games Roberta. We know you have the recording” he said calmly as he walked away and disappeared out of my vision again. “I have someone searching your home right now, as we speak”
My tears began to spill from my eyes. I couldn’t be strong any longer. I was exhausted. I was in so much pain. And I was scared.
“Please… I don’t know anything” I sobbed.
At that moment my cries were suddenly halted by the sound of the door opening. Footsteps followed. I couldn’t see what was happening; the light was too bright. All I could do was listen:
“Well?”
“Nothing”
“What do you mean ‘nothing’?”
“Nothing. I searched everywhere; the car, the laptop, the CD player… all I could find was rubbish music”
“Detail it. What did you find?”
The other man sighed heavily as he searched his memory “Ok, in the car stereo was Craig David ‘The Story Goes…’” he began. “In the glove box was all kinds of rubbish; more Craig David, Lionel Richie, Bill Withers…”
“I like Bill Withers” the boss interrupted.
The other man hesitated “Ok. Well, anyway there was also a Duets tape with soppy love songs, a ‘Motown Heartbreakers’ tape, and get this… Five Star” I could hear a crack in his voice as he stifled a laugh. The boss was not amused.
“Did you listen to it?” he demanded.
“Of course I did” replied the other man “Well, you know, just to check that the recording wasn’t on it”
“Ok, what else?”
I heard the rustling of paper.
“In the CD player was songs from the Movies, you know, old stuff; Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, that sort of thing. In the cassette player was Billy Holiday. Lying around the place was a Leslie Garret cassette, again with songs from old Movies, and a Declan CD”
“You’re kidding” scoffed the boss.
The other man chuckled “No, serious”
“That little boy that the old grannies liked?”
“Yeah”
They chuckled together for a while and then the boss suddenly stopped.
“Ok, that’s enough, what else?” he asked sternly.
The other man stopped laughing and cleared his throat “On the laptop she’s recorded loads of Sheryl Crow stuff, but the last thing she had listened to in Winamp was Mariah Carey”
“And what about her mobile phone?”
“Stevie Wonder ‘As’ when you press play, and Stevie Wonder ‘Sir Duke’ as the ring tone. Actually, loads of Stevie Wonder, and some chart stuff as well”
There was a pause for a while.
“I listened to it all boss; there’s nothing there”
Another pause followed.
“Ok, get rid of this chick” he said to the man, and then as he walked towards me again he raised his voice slightly “Well, it looks like you’re free to go, beautiful; you’re guilty of nothing more than having no taste in music”
He switched off the light and all I could see was blobs in front of my eyes. I heard his footsteps fade as he walked out of the room, and after the other man had untied me, he followed, quietly singing to himself; “Hide and seek, it’s just a game we’re playing, hide and seek. Swear I’m gonna find you, sneaking up behind you, hide and seek…”
I was left sitting there, alone, as if I had imagined the whole thing. They left no evidence of ever being there, apart from the chair I was sitting on. As I struggled to my feet I could see the first glimpse of sunlight through the window. It was going to be a beautiful day. And I still had the recording…
This post is in response to the Music Meme that Jane tagged me with ages ago! Each tagged person is supposed to list the first 10 songs on their ipod when they select “random”, but although I own an ipod, it’s hidden somewhere in the depths of the abyss – also known as a cupboard – and I never really used it much anyway so it doesn’t have all of my music on it. So I decided to go to the 5 things I use most often to listen to music - the car stereo, the CD player, the cassette player, my laptop, and my ‘phone – and list what was in them at that time. Now I’m supposed to tag 5 people…
I would like to tag Catherine, Rhea, Hobby Bobby, SirBusy (although he might be too busy), and… … Grannys.Myth.Peeler.
Showing posts with label Memes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Memes. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
Once Upon a Time…
Are you sitting comfortably? I’m going to tell you a story. It all happened a very long time ago but my memory of events are still as sharp as ever.
Now, we’ve all heard of the great feats of mankind – climbing Mount Everest; travels to the North Pole; even landing on the moon – it would seem that there is no conceivable place on earth, or anywhere else for that matter, that man has been unable to leave an impression – a boot impression that is.
But this was a place that no man had ever trod.
Much like a message in a bottle which is washed out to sea, many had written their hopes, their dreams, their cries for help, and the secrets of their heart, and sent them out to this place in the hope that someone – anyone – would respond to their call; not knowing if, by whom, when, or where that message would be opened and read. Oh yes, in that sense man had left a very big impression on this place. I dare say if this place really was like the sea there would be millions of bottles all floating together, all different shapes and sizes. I can almost hear the chorus of clinking chinking sounds right now.
Yes, it was a place in Cyber Space, known as The Blogosphere. This is where my little story begins.
Isn’t it amazing that we can look right into Cyber Space and even view events on the Blogosphere in detail through our powerful Cyber telescopes (computers) and yet no man has ever stepped foot there? Even water has been walked on. Anyway, one day on the Blogosphere I saw a bottle floating towards me, figuratively speaking of course, that had my name on it. I opened it and found…
...a Meme. *dud dud daaaah* (dramatic music)
What would I do? Would I respond immediately, or would I add it to my ever growing list of half finished blog posts? Yep, you guessed it; it went on my pile of “things to do”. That’s not to say that I didn’t appreciate having a Meme sent to me; what greater compliment could there be than someone else wanting to know my views and tastes? But… well… I wanted to be able to write my response and send on the Meme to others in an imaginative way. I wanted time to paint the bottle if you like; make it pretty.
I answered the questions and then filed it, waiting for the time, energy, and imagination to strike all at once. I waited. And I waited.
I continued waiting, and in the meantime I had 5 children and 12 grandchildren. Eventually it was time for me to be frozen in a pod. It was pretty routine by that time; a lot of people were being frozen, awaiting the time when mankind could reverse the aging process and cure mankind’s diseases.
Many years later I was thawed. I was surprised to see so many elderly looking people, as I was expecting to be released from the pod only after Scientists had found a way to reverse the aging process. It was then that they dropped the bombshell on me:
The Meme that was sent to me by Jane was of great importance, and by not responding to it I had inadvertently prevented essential information from being passed on through the generations – information that would have helped Scientist to find a way of reversing the aging process and cure many diseases. Without this information they were forced to resort to spending their time working out the mathematical formula for the perfect bacon butty.
The full weight of what they had said sat heavily on my shoulders.
“What can I do?” I asked, with tears stinging my eyes.
“Do you know where you stored this Meme?” they asked.
“Yeah, I think so”
“Go and get it, we need to see it”
So off I went. I was a little stiff I can tell you; I was well into my eighties when I was frozen and that was hundreds of years ago. The bus service wasn’t what it used to be either, and it was never good in the first place. I waited around for so long that I wondered if I would have been better off being frozen again until a bus came.
Finally I got home. I knew exactly where to look for the Meme; the funny thing is that although I hadn’t responded to it I thought about it often. It felt strange looking over those answers again that I had written all those years ago before filing it away. I couldn’t see anything that I thought would be of great importance to the future of mankind though. It read as follows:
Three Things That Scare Me:
1. The possibility of Mr Man seriously harming himself.
2. Spiders. Even photos or drawings of them, or places where they can hide like small toilets.
3. The thought of being bitten by rats, even though I’ve never actually seen a wild rat in my entire life.
Three People Who Make Me Laugh: (only three?)
1. Mr Man
2. Funky Monkey’s Mother
3. Grannys.Myth.Peeler
Three Things I Love:
1. Mr Man
2. My friends and family
3. Singing and dancing to good music
Three Things I Hate:
1. My own personality flaws
2. Stupid people (that answer covers a lot)
3. When I can’t find what I’m looking for
Three Things I Don't Understand:
1. My Mother in law
2. Other languages
3. People who deliberately hurt others, mentally, emotionally, or physically
Three Things On My Desk: (Well, next to me anyway)
1. My Laptop
2. My mobile phone
3. A glass of diet Pepsi
Three Things I'm Doing Right Now:
1. Thinking
2. Typing
3. Playing with my hair
Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
1. Publish a book
2. Write a film script
3. Write a song
Three Things I Can Do:
1. Ride a horse
2. Touch my toes without bending my knees (even though I’m old and fat)
3. Flip Pancakes
Three Things I Can't Do:
1. Back flips
2. Speak another language
3. See without glasses or contact lenses
Three Things I Think You Should Listen To:
1. The people you love
2. The elderly
3. Children
Three Things You Should Never Listen To:
1. Malicious gossip
2. Self doubts
3. Geri Halliwell
Three Things I'd Like To Learn:
1. How to play the Guitar
2. More crochet patterns
3. Ballroom dancing
ThreeFavourite Worst Foods: (I can’t do the “favourites”)
1. Dodgy “meats” like Liver, Kidney, Heart, Tongue…
2. Dodgy seafood like Prawns, Winkles, Muscles…
3. Mushrooms, except the dodgy ones (just kidding)
Three Shows I Watched As A Kid: (but there were so many)
1. The A Team
2. The Fall Guy
3. Heart to Heart
Three Wonderful People to Inflict My Meme On: (again, only three?)
Aiders
Angela
TP
Once I had returned to the… well, it was a secret location, but once I had returned there they agreed to freeze me again. That was millions of years ago now. I was thawed once more when mankind had found a way to return me to my youth – in more ways than one. Not only do I now look younger than I did in my thirties, but we also know how to time travel.
And that is the end of my tale, for now at least. I suspect that will only be the beginning of my story, because now that I have travelled back in time to post this Meme on my blog I have effectively changed the course of history and I have no idea what the outcome of my actions will be in the future. Oh well. You’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t.
Now, we’ve all heard of the great feats of mankind – climbing Mount Everest; travels to the North Pole; even landing on the moon – it would seem that there is no conceivable place on earth, or anywhere else for that matter, that man has been unable to leave an impression – a boot impression that is.
But this was a place that no man had ever trod.
Much like a message in a bottle which is washed out to sea, many had written their hopes, their dreams, their cries for help, and the secrets of their heart, and sent them out to this place in the hope that someone – anyone – would respond to their call; not knowing if, by whom, when, or where that message would be opened and read. Oh yes, in that sense man had left a very big impression on this place. I dare say if this place really was like the sea there would be millions of bottles all floating together, all different shapes and sizes. I can almost hear the chorus of clinking chinking sounds right now.
Yes, it was a place in Cyber Space, known as The Blogosphere. This is where my little story begins.
Isn’t it amazing that we can look right into Cyber Space and even view events on the Blogosphere in detail through our powerful Cyber telescopes (computers) and yet no man has ever stepped foot there? Even water has been walked on. Anyway, one day on the Blogosphere I saw a bottle floating towards me, figuratively speaking of course, that had my name on it. I opened it and found…
...a Meme. *dud dud daaaah* (dramatic music)
What would I do? Would I respond immediately, or would I add it to my ever growing list of half finished blog posts? Yep, you guessed it; it went on my pile of “things to do”. That’s not to say that I didn’t appreciate having a Meme sent to me; what greater compliment could there be than someone else wanting to know my views and tastes? But… well… I wanted to be able to write my response and send on the Meme to others in an imaginative way. I wanted time to paint the bottle if you like; make it pretty.
I answered the questions and then filed it, waiting for the time, energy, and imagination to strike all at once. I waited. And I waited.
I continued waiting, and in the meantime I had 5 children and 12 grandchildren. Eventually it was time for me to be frozen in a pod. It was pretty routine by that time; a lot of people were being frozen, awaiting the time when mankind could reverse the aging process and cure mankind’s diseases.
Many years later I was thawed. I was surprised to see so many elderly looking people, as I was expecting to be released from the pod only after Scientists had found a way to reverse the aging process. It was then that they dropped the bombshell on me:
The Meme that was sent to me by Jane was of great importance, and by not responding to it I had inadvertently prevented essential information from being passed on through the generations – information that would have helped Scientist to find a way of reversing the aging process and cure many diseases. Without this information they were forced to resort to spending their time working out the mathematical formula for the perfect bacon butty.
The full weight of what they had said sat heavily on my shoulders.
“What can I do?” I asked, with tears stinging my eyes.
“Do you know where you stored this Meme?” they asked.
“Yeah, I think so”
“Go and get it, we need to see it”
So off I went. I was a little stiff I can tell you; I was well into my eighties when I was frozen and that was hundreds of years ago. The bus service wasn’t what it used to be either, and it was never good in the first place. I waited around for so long that I wondered if I would have been better off being frozen again until a bus came.
Finally I got home. I knew exactly where to look for the Meme; the funny thing is that although I hadn’t responded to it I thought about it often. It felt strange looking over those answers again that I had written all those years ago before filing it away. I couldn’t see anything that I thought would be of great importance to the future of mankind though. It read as follows:
Three Things That Scare Me:
1. The possibility of Mr Man seriously harming himself.
2. Spiders. Even photos or drawings of them, or places where they can hide like small toilets.
3. The thought of being bitten by rats, even though I’ve never actually seen a wild rat in my entire life.
Three People Who Make Me Laugh: (only three?)
1. Mr Man
2. Funky Monkey’s Mother
3. Grannys.Myth.Peeler
Three Things I Love:
1. Mr Man
2. My friends and family
3. Singing and dancing to good music
Three Things I Hate:
1. My own personality flaws
2. Stupid people (that answer covers a lot)
3. When I can’t find what I’m looking for
Three Things I Don't Understand:
1. My Mother in law
2. Other languages
3. People who deliberately hurt others, mentally, emotionally, or physically
Three Things On My Desk: (Well, next to me anyway)
1. My Laptop
2. My mobile phone
3. A glass of diet Pepsi
Three Things I'm Doing Right Now:
1. Thinking
2. Typing
3. Playing with my hair
Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
1. Publish a book
2. Write a film script
3. Write a song
Three Things I Can Do:
1. Ride a horse
2. Touch my toes without bending my knees (even though I’m old and fat)
3. Flip Pancakes
Three Things I Can't Do:
1. Back flips
2. Speak another language
3. See without glasses or contact lenses
Three Things I Think You Should Listen To:
1. The people you love
2. The elderly
3. Children
Three Things You Should Never Listen To:
1. Malicious gossip
2. Self doubts
3. Geri Halliwell
Three Things I'd Like To Learn:
1. How to play the Guitar
2. More crochet patterns
3. Ballroom dancing
Three
1. Dodgy “meats” like Liver, Kidney, Heart, Tongue…
2. Dodgy seafood like Prawns, Winkles, Muscles…
3. Mushrooms, except the dodgy ones (just kidding)
Three Shows I Watched As A Kid: (but there were so many)
1. The A Team
2. The Fall Guy
3. Heart to Heart
Three Wonderful People to Inflict My Meme On: (again, only three?)
Aiders
Angela
TP
Once I had returned to the… well, it was a secret location, but once I had returned there they agreed to freeze me again. That was millions of years ago now. I was thawed once more when mankind had found a way to return me to my youth – in more ways than one. Not only do I now look younger than I did in my thirties, but we also know how to time travel.
And that is the end of my tale, for now at least. I suspect that will only be the beginning of my story, because now that I have travelled back in time to post this Meme on my blog I have effectively changed the course of history and I have no idea what the outcome of my actions will be in the future. Oh well. You’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Tagged with a Meme
Meme (rhymes with gene) - A term coined in 1976 by British Biologist Richard Dawkins. To imitate or to copy. A cultural item that is transmitted by repetition; memes are the cultural counterpart of genes. Examples are tunes, ideas, catch phrases, clothes fashions etc.
I thought my lungs would explode. My heart was pounding. I had stopped running for a moment to catch my breath. My legs were weak. As I hid, a smile broke across my face accompanied by an involuntary giggle; the thrill of the chase, and the satisfaction of outrunning the one who was “it”. I felt like a child again. My childhood memories of running across the playground came flooding back. “Tag!” I heard someone shout, suddenly waking me from my daydream. I looked over my shoulder. It was too late. She’d tagged me and ran away… I had no choice but to play the game...
A - Available/Single? No, I’m married.
B - Best Friend? Mr Man.
C - Cake or Pie? Both. I don’t mean either, I mean both.
D - Drink of Choice? Hot drink: Barley Cup, Cold drink: Diet Pepsi, Alcoholic drink: Malibu. Or Archers. Or a cocktail. Or Baileys… (just kidding, I hardly ever drink alcohol)
E – Essential Item You Use Everyday? My mobile phone – it also contains my address book and diary. Choosing a mobile phone is as serious to me as choosing a marriage partner. Edit: Bog roll - and I take that as seriously as choosing a marriage partner as well - you have to when you use as much as I do.
F - Favourite Colour? Chocolate brown. No, olive green. No, chocolate brown…
G - Gummy Bears Or Worms? Worms are cuter but I wouldn’t eat them.
H - Hometown? I was born in Luton. Edit: Home of the worst one-way traffic system. Did you know that even the schools in Luton have one-way systems in their corridors?
I – Indulgence? Too many. Thornton’s continental chocolates. Expensive toiletries to pamper myself with. Eating/drinking out – cafes in the day time, restaurants in the evening.
J - January Or February? Can I let you know in March? Edit: Whichever one has the most snow.
K - Kids & Their Names? None of my own but I have 15 nieces and nephews with yet another on the way. Some of their names include Hyacinth and Freda. Parents can be so cruel.
L - Life Is Incomplete Without? Love. Edit: and laughter.
M - Marriage date? 27th October 1997.
N - Number Of Siblings? Four brothers and two sisters.
O - Oranges Or Apples? Apples.
P - Phobias/Fears? Spiders, and small toilets (because they’re usually home to spiders and there would be no room to escape!) We have lived in this house for 9 years and I have never set foot inside our small outside toilet.
Q - Favourite Quote? I quote things constantly, from adverts, songs, films… so how long have you got? Edit: "I've never seen anything like it in my life!" - Funky Monkey's Mother.
R - Reason to Smile? I love and I’m loved.
S - Season? I like all four for different reasons, but I don't like the change between each one.
T - Tag People? Mr Grumpy, Aiders, Angela and TP. If I thought they would play the game (or notice that I have tagged them) I would also like to tag Tom Reynolds (and it would also give him something to do while he's off work with a bad knee!), John Robertson, Mark Myers, and OSB. I think their answers would be funny.
U - Unknown Fact About Me? If I tell you it won’t be unknown will it? Edit: Besides, I can't think of one (or I can't think of one that's interesting). Another Edit (April): I've finally thought of one! I like to have the last bowl of cereal out of the box because I think the crumbs make it taste better.
V - Vegetable You Don’t Like? Asparagus.
W - Worst Habit? Why would I want to tell you that? Edit: I have too many bad habits anyway, including changing my mind all the time, so I couldn't possibly choose a worst one!
X - X-rays You’ve Had? My jaw. I think the conclusion was I just talk too much.
Y - Your Favourite Food? This changes daily. At the moment I'm craving a roast dinner because my oven doesn't work and I haven't had one in ages.
Z – Zodiac Sign? Not into that kind of thing.
Photo's from Google Images
Edit: 14th Jan 2007 - I wanted to change my answers already - See Worst Habit!
I thought my lungs would explode. My heart was pounding. I had stopped running for a moment to catch my breath. My legs were weak. As I hid, a smile broke across my face accompanied by an involuntary giggle; the thrill of the chase, and the satisfaction of outrunning the one who was “it”. I felt like a child again. My childhood memories of running across the playground came flooding back. “Tag!” I heard someone shout, suddenly waking me from my daydream. I looked over my shoulder. It was too late. She’d tagged me and ran away… I had no choice but to play the game...
A - Available/Single? No, I’m married.
B - Best Friend? Mr Man.
C - Cake or Pie? Both. I don’t mean either, I mean both.
D - Drink of Choice? Hot drink: Barley Cup, Cold drink: Diet Pepsi, Alcoholic drink: Malibu. Or Archers. Or a cocktail. Or Baileys… (just kidding, I hardly ever drink alcohol)
E – Essential Item You Use Everyday? My mobile phone – it also contains my address book and diary. Choosing a mobile phone is as serious to me as choosing a marriage partner. Edit: Bog roll - and I take that as seriously as choosing a marriage partner as well - you have to when you use as much as I do.
F - Favourite Colour? Chocolate brown. No, olive green. No, chocolate brown…
G - Gummy Bears Or Worms? Worms are cuter but I wouldn’t eat them.
H - Hometown? I was born in Luton. Edit: Home of the worst one-way traffic system. Did you know that even the schools in Luton have one-way systems in their corridors?
I – Indulgence? Too many. Thornton’s continental chocolates. Expensive toiletries to pamper myself with. Eating/drinking out – cafes in the day time, restaurants in the evening.
J - January Or February? Can I let you know in March? Edit: Whichever one has the most snow.
K - Kids & Their Names? None of my own but I have 15 nieces and nephews with yet another on the way. Some of their names include Hyacinth and Freda. Parents can be so cruel.
L - Life Is Incomplete Without? Love. Edit: and laughter.
M - Marriage date? 27th October 1997.
N - Number Of Siblings? Four brothers and two sisters.
O - Oranges Or Apples? Apples.
P - Phobias/Fears? Spiders, and small toilets (because they’re usually home to spiders and there would be no room to escape!) We have lived in this house for 9 years and I have never set foot inside our small outside toilet.
Q - Favourite Quote? I quote things constantly, from adverts, songs, films… so how long have you got? Edit: "I've never seen anything like it in my life!" - Funky Monkey's Mother.
R - Reason to Smile? I love and I’m loved.
S - Season? I like all four for different reasons, but I don't like the change between each one.
T - Tag People? Mr Grumpy, Aiders, Angela and TP. If I thought they would play the game (or notice that I have tagged them) I would also like to tag Tom Reynolds (and it would also give him something to do while he's off work with a bad knee!), John Robertson, Mark Myers, and OSB. I think their answers would be funny.
U - Unknown Fact About Me? If I tell you it won’t be unknown will it? Edit: Besides, I can't think of one (or I can't think of one that's interesting). Another Edit (April): I've finally thought of one! I like to have the last bowl of cereal out of the box because I think the crumbs make it taste better.
V - Vegetable You Don’t Like? Asparagus.
W - Worst Habit? Why would I want to tell you that? Edit: I have too many bad habits anyway, including changing my mind all the time, so I couldn't possibly choose a worst one!
X - X-rays You’ve Had? My jaw. I think the conclusion was I just talk too much.
Y - Your Favourite Food? This changes daily. At the moment I'm craving a roast dinner because my oven doesn't work and I haven't had one in ages.
Z – Zodiac Sign? Not into that kind of thing.
Photo's from Google Images
Edit: 14th Jan 2007 - I wanted to change my answers already - See Worst Habit!
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