New Year's Eve 2011

In case you have nothing better to do on this coming New Year's Eve you might be tempted out to The White Hart in Ashton Keynes to witness one or two or three of our brethern in another guise strutting their stuff as members of the renegade Party band, The Barking Chickens. They are due to deliver their steaming set of popular tunes from yesteryear mixed in with much tomfoolery and prizes for best dancing and heckles from 9pm onwards, so make sure you get there early to have plenty to drink before they get on.

As you can see, the date has already been highlighted as pretty much the only thing on the calendar in January (apart from our first Workshop on Sunday 22nd January from 5 - 7pm) which just shows how bleak January can be . . .

To liven things up we have the arrival of the vanguard order for the first TMAK47 Calendar. This has already received rave reviews by beholders of the first batch, despite the rather obvious comments from wives and assorted disparagers who snorted "it's a bit like the Calendar Girls except luckily they kept their clothes on"!

We should have the remainder of the main order by the time this post hits the e-streets and will have more information on pricing and availability.

Beer & Carols 2011

A little belatedly, but we received this email from the lovely Shirley Danby, Vicar of our Parish:

"a big thank you to you and the Magnificent AK 47 for coming and singing lustily tonight - it was a lovely community occasion and several people would like it next year and some interest in Beer and Hymns too (in "my place" with beer I heard from one person!!). Please pass my thanks to the guys and to Chris for coming a fair way and I hope they enjoyed it

Have a good Christmas and once again a big thankyou. Shirley"

Well, we think it was a great time had by all, from the daft headgear (can you spot "Chicken Head Stu" as he shall be known from now?), through to the very big smile on Chris Choirmeister's face, particularly during the Malpas Wassail.

Indeed, many thanks to all who took part and helped us end the year on a major high, great to see Nigel of Oxford and the Stroud Crowd, as well as the Swindon 3 and Cricklade 2 (a fair result!).

Wassail!!! Hah!

A message for the SpookMeister

Funny some of the things you can find on the internet.

This is one of those odd moments when you come across stuff and you think, "Hang on, I know some of those people in that YouTube thingy", you watch and, yes, you do know them and then you realise there's something a little odd about it. See if you can spot the continuity blooper, bless 'em.

The bottom line is, Happy Birthday SpookMeister General and keep on singing and inspiring us all.

To see it in all it's glory, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEWMQfwbq9w.

A message from Santa

Received via text now that he has a moment to relax.

"Yo ho ho. Well done my lads. M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S!!

I can tell you that I've been following your progress throughout the last year since you came to my attention when one of my helper elves told me about you. He had heard via the grapevine that there was a bunch of blokes who had taken to rejoicing in Blokeyness and the joy of singing in harmonious unison together (well most of the time).

Thanks for my T-Shirt, although I must confess that it is a little on the snug side and I can only suspect that it was one of the leftovers that would suit a careful lady owner, but I am pleased to wear it under my regular outfit to show solidarity with the chaps.

Have a great Yuletide, you were truly Magnificent the other night in the pub, "Wassail!!", remember to take your own T-Shirts wherever you are and enter the next competition. Just about to run out of credit on my phone now so must go but have a wonderful 2012 and enjoy all your serious silliness.

BGKs
Santa"

Thanks St Nick, I'm sure the Blokes will enjoy your message and will be suitably inspired.

P. S. This posting was in no way influenced by just a little too much Christmas cheer ;-)

IF. . .

Mother's Jam

In a slight change from bringing news about All Bloke singing, we are prompted to mention one of the most delightful non-Bloke Choirs that we have come into contact with over a period of years, namely Mother's Jam.

One of their members, Vanessa Lafaye (Great name btw!), is the driving force behind the magnificent Singing for Laughs concerts in Marlborough where we made our proper performing debut getting on for 3 years ago. We are already looking forward to revisiting in February for what has become a staple event in the town. Can you believe it that tickets are already available and they expect to reach the 180 capacity very soon so don't delay ordering, contact Tel 07967985046 or email vjlafaye@gmail.com.

More info can be found at the Mother's Jam website.

“Victorian Christmas” at Holy Cross Church, Ashton Keynes

We are very privileged to have been invited to perform at the Ashton Keynes Village Choir's Christmas Concert at Holy Cross Church on 10th December.

The evening will have a “Victorian” theme and also a bit of "Georgian"! We plan to perform Tsmidao and "Down to the River to Pray", with some seasonally themed variations on the usual lyrics so pay attention!

The choir will be singing a number of traditional carols to tunes which were popular during Queen Victoria’s reign, and also performing music which, although not necessarily written in the 19th century, would have been popular with audiences of that time. The programme includes Zadok the Priest and Panis Angelicus (which you may remember from the TV drama “The Choir”) plus loads of favourite Christmas songs. They will also bring you seasonal thoughts and stories with a selection a readings by local ‘celebrities’.

Thanks to Heather Milnes their Musical Director for allowing us to sneak in another chance to perform acts of pointless grandeur in public, this time with (jingle) bells on!

Mraval Jamier - Questions and Pronouncements

Questions have been asked about the precise nature of the words for Mraval Jamier. This has prompted much consulting of ancient texts and academic research of the most prestigious kind and has resulted in the following presiding judgement:

Incantation (Verse) 1

Mraval jamier (and that's all there is for the first verse)

Incantation (Verse) 2
Ghmets mai i ne bos X2 (the vowel sound in bos is half-way between boss and boast)

Tsveni sitsostkhle (for the sound after sitso and before le (as in lay) just start with an s and chuck in as many consonants as you can in one glottal movement)

Incantation (Verse) 3

Mraval jamier (and that's all there is for the third verse)

Oi

An example of this in all its glory can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxWEw8JVmhA from the High Lords of all Spookyness themselves.

Many thanks to the learned Doctors of Spookyness and their diligent acolytes for their pursuit of the truth in deciphering and pronouncing on this important matter. Needless to say, their precise identity shall remain cloaked in secrecy to preserve the mystery and so as not to undermine their credibility as ordinary Blokes.

Where were you when? And the winner is?

One of the highlights of our recent Pow Wow was the announcement of the winner of our "Where were you when?" T-shirt competition.

It was a very keenly fought contest with entries from quite literally all over the world. The ultimate winner was of Absent Bob and his helicopter in the desert with his suitable look of pointless grandeur. Typically enough being "Absent Bob" he was, er, absent, but we drank his prize in his honour (don't worry Bob, your two pints of Stroud Brewery Budding is still behind the bar waiting for you).

Joint 2nd were Stuart in Tokyo

and Cricky (Chris A)'s Nephew in Sydney (allegedly. . . ).

Thanks to all who took part, especial thanks to Cricky for organizing the T-Shirts.

Here's to the next season's competition.