Tag Archive | respect

The passing of a true gentleman

Feb3

I’m sure most of you will have heard of Captain Sir Tom Moore who, last year, raised an astonishing amount of money for NHS charities in the UK in the lead up to his 100th birthday. His idea had been to walk around his garden 100 times before his 100th birthday, and his original aim had been to try to raise £1,000.

Once the media got hold of the story it went viral, and by the end of his birthday the total amount of donations exceeded £32 MILLION!

Yesterday we received the sad news of his passing; apparently yet another victim of this horrible pandemic.

From Wikipedia:

Captain Sir Thomas Moore (30 April 1920 – 2 February 2021), popularly known as Captain Tom, was a British Army officer and businessman known for raising money for charity in the run-up to his 100th birthday during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moore served in India and the Burma campaign during the Second World War, and later became an instructor in armoured warfare. After the war, he worked as managing director of a concrete company and was an avid motorcycle racer.

On 6 April 2020, at the age of 99, Moore began to walk lengths of his garden in aid of NHS Charities Together, with the goal of raising £1,000 by his 100th birthday. In the 24-day course of his fundraising, he made many media appearances and became a popular household name in the UK, earning a number of accolades and attracting over 1.5 million individual donations. In recognition of his efforts, he received the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award at the 2020 ceremony. He performed in a cover version of the song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” sung by Michael Ball, with proceeds going to the same charity. The single topped the UK music charts, making him the oldest person to achieve a UK number one.

On the morning of Moore’s hundredth birthday, the total raised by his walk passed £30 million, and by the time the campaign closed at the end of that day had increased to over £32.79 million (worth almost £39 million with expected tax rebates). His birthday was marked in a number of ways, including flypasts by the Royal Air Force and the British Army. He received over 150,000 cards, and was appointed as honorary colonel of the Army Foundation College. On 17 July 2020, he was personally invested as a Knight Bachelor by the Queen at Windsor Castle. He died on 2 February 2021 at Bedford Hospital where he was taken after being treated for pneumonia and then testing positive for COVID-19.

Rest in Peace, Captain Tom. You were an example to us all and a true gentleman.

Morgan Freeman – Please stand for office, somewhere, somehow

Jun24

In addition to any of my own original posts that I may write, most days I browse through some YouTube videos and, as I’ve mentioned before, I’ll pick on some to share with you, my dear readers. Sometimes I go through a second selection process if I’ve built up a backlog of open tabs awaiting sharing on here.

Then, occasionally, one comes along that I feel deserves immediate sharing because it sends a message; either about how I feel in that moment or because I sense that it has an important part to play in our lives at the present time.

A number of my preselected videos over time have featured Morgan Freeman’s views, but none have condensed the man’s approach to the lives we live more than this short clip.

I SO wish this man were in the White House rather than the present incumbent. Or, maybe, U. N. Secretary General?

Certainly his voice needs to be heard, and heard loud …

Rev. Al Sharpton’s stirring eulogy for George Floyd – You had your knee on our neck

Jun5

It’s so sad that it took the death of one man to bring to the fore such a deep and meaningful expression, but in all my time I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more telling statement regarding the suppression of Human Rights.

Whoever you are, wherever you are, and no matter which minority group (or groups) you find yourself in, I hope that Rev. Al Sharpton’s words will ring out as a call for equality now and in the future.

Get your knees off our necks!!

Sending love and hope to you all.

Black Lives Matter – Five Stars for Rockstar

Jun4

I play a lot of GTA-V Online (Grand Theft Auto 5) which, for those of you who might never have heard of it, is a game produced by Rockstar Games which is intended as a parody of “American life” and is full of violence, killing, gun running, drug running, and assorted other misdemeanours.

When I tried to log in this evening the game informed me that the servers were down and so I went online to their site to see if there was any particular reason for this and was amazed to see THIS on the screen …

Black Lives Matter

In my opinion, for the producer of a game which embodies violence to take a stand like this is quite awesome, especially when the President of the country they are parodying doesn’t give a FLYING F**K for anyone but himself.

There will, of course, be the imbeciles who just complain “Hey, I can’t get on to my game!! To hell with George Floyd!!”. Well to them I say “It’s time to GROW UP!!!”

Wishing you all every peace and happiness, whether you be black, white, brown, yellow, straight, gay, trans, non-binary or a bleached tomato with fungus growing out of your ears.

We are ALL human!

A fresh view on gender stereotypes

May29

I’ve not posted for a few days because despite trying to keep you all boosted up during the current pandemic I fell into a slump myself due to all this prolonged isolation. During this time I have, however, continued to research things that I consider you might enjoy and happened upon this very clever little film which looks at gender stereotypes from a “reversed” viewpoint.

I do encourage you to watch it right through to the point at which the credits start. 😀

 

Thank you

May8

It’s time to say a big “Thank You” to all our front line workers.

Answers to yesterday’s quiz are below the video.

 

The people or characters who said these quotes were …

  1. “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” Henry Ford
  2. “You’re mad, bonkers, off your head! But I’ll tell you a secret: all the best people are.” Alice (Alice in Wonderland)
  3. “You’re never too old to be young” Snow White
  4. “Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm” Winston Churchill
  5. “The best way to predict the future is to create it” Abraham Lincoln
  6. “My momma always said, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get’.” Forrest Gump
  7. “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first” Mark Twain
  8. “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life” J. K. Rowling

Stay safe.

Finding the good in the bad

Feb5

Even though it’s been very mild on the whole, it has been a very long and lonely winter. Severe bouts of depression have been interrupted by our transgender group meetings, visits to my nephew’s place afterwards, and the occasional coffee with friends. For all of these things I am particularly grateful.

The past week to ten days has been a complete roller-coaster of emotions, for various reasons, but this past weekend I managed to feel a blessing on the edge of calamity and it has given me a new perspective.

Continue reading →

Fife Voluntary Action Awards 2018

May10

This goes with huge thanks to my fellow volunteers.

I’m delighted to announce that the local transgender group I help run, Transgender Fife, has been shortlisted for an award in the Equality & Diversity category at this year’s Fife Voluntary Action Awards.

Thanks go out to all who support us and spread the word.

This is quite an achievement in our first year of independence!!

The Ceremony takes place on the evening of Thursday 7th June, so we hope you’ll all be sending love and positive vibes that evening. 😀

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