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This is a beautiful piece of video dedicated to Wangari Maathai who died yesterday of during an operation for cancer at the age of 71. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for promoting conservation, women’s rights and transparent government – the first African woman to get the award, she also founded the The Green Belt Movement, which has planted 20-30 million trees in Africa. She will be greatly missed.

SONG OF THE DAY – I am Awake -Polly Bolton

I love this woman. Polly has written a song for Wangari, but I can’t find it this morning so you can have another of her beautiful compositions which again is a real affirmation for being alive on a grey Monday.

I am awake it is a new day

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I did a little post about Shocking Blue, just the other day and felt that I cannot really miss out posting two versions of their biggest hit. I shall leave you to find Bananarama’s Fabulistic Poseury Karaoke Extravaganza version for yourself. Like I said the other day, I found a version which was the last time Mariska Veres sung live a few months before her death in 2006, and the audience sing along, which is very lovely. So here we are a version from the early 70’s and the early 00’s.

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….so there is really no point in beating yourself up about the things you are not good at. Today we are going to remind ourselves about the things we do well. Many people were not supported enough as children and were left feeling abandoned or unfed, so easily fall into the place of feeling negative about themselves, it can take years of work to get over childhood traumas.

So today we are going to remember that every single one of us has at least 5 special qualities and talents (and I wish I  can remember where I heard this) You maybe the best  warm up act, the best  ‘finisher offer’ of tasks, the person who makes everyone feel good about themselves, the leader through the storm, the person who know exactly how big the space is where the wardrobe used to be, the person who does the scoring when you play darts,  the one who always delivers the best jokes, the person who knows that ‘that dress does not do anything for you’, the best parent even though you don’t have kids, the best cake maker, the best cake eater…..SO MANY TALENTS, SO OFTEN FORGOTTEN

Why not for today, have a proper good go at focussing on what you do that is good and put a lid on all the things you do that someone made you feel  insignificant or wrong about. Also remind someone you meet today of one of their special talents that you appreciate.

Lets do it! We are all wonderful unique beings…yay!

SONG OF THE DAY- Then Came You -Detroit Spinners and Dionne Warwick

I have arrangeded this for four part Acapella. We are singing this next week at Bishopsgate Singers  at Maxine’s request..thanks Max. The arrangement is finished wrapped up  and ready to roll. Such a great song.

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Today is the  Equinox. The moment happens at exactly 09.04am  in the UK all you need to know about the equinox . In many places today, as the label says, night and day are of equal lengths and it is now officially Autumn. That also means we have had the Harvest Moon, which is the full moon we had on Septemebr 11/12 and is always the full moon closest to the Autumn Equinox, sometimes before, sometimes after. Often, the Harvest Moon seems to be bigger or brighter  than other full moons. I remember being in Brittany one year and seeing the harvest moon, it seemed so much bigger and redder than any moon I had seen before. ‘The warm colour of the Moon shortly after it rises is caused by light from the Moon passing through a greater amount of atmospheric particles than when the moon is overhead. The atmosphere scatters the bluish component of moonlight which is really reflected white light from the sun, but allows the reddish component of the light to travel a straighter path to one’s eyes. ‘

SONG OF THE DAY – AUTUMN LEAVES

Performed by Eclectic Voices, The Bishopsgate Singers, The Highgate Newtown Community Singers a few years ago now. It is an acapella arrangement of mine,  but we added a jazz trio for this performance. Lovely.