paraplexed.com

It had to be done. For a long time now, the Paranormal Hotel blog (formerly Helga's Chickens) has been renamed to PARAPLEXED while being accessible only as paranormal-hotel.blogspot.com.  But today I have finally treated the blog to its own domain. We are now paraplexed.com (though the blogspot address will continue to work).

All that remains is a sense of purpose. And a feeling '21 is going to be a good year... 

The Centrifugal Governor

Balls! with which Stephenson has tamed the steam

and harnessed it to do the work of man,
small as you are, each flywheel, shaft and beam
is subject to your governance, your plan.

Some, in their innocence, were unimpressed.
'A top, a whirligig, a childish gift,
a bagatelle', they said, but little guessed:
the faster you revolve, the more you lift.

And even as you rise, you stem the flow
through cylinder and piston, ease the thrust
on cam and bearing, mollify the show
to dignified decorum, as needs must.

Happy 80th, John Lennon

John Lennon would have been 80 on October 09, 2020. I thought I'd mark the occasion by covering one of his songs, 'Oh! My Love' from the Imagine album. John's lyrics are usually very personal, heart on sleeve, so that it can feel almost intrusive to sing them. But he only made it to 40, so somebody has to do it.

The Bull, Jake Thackray, cover

Setting off at a fair lick, it wasn't entirely unpredictable that it would crash. Shame it happened so near the end...