Coincidences

[hunck]

I dreamt last night my friend suggested going to see Ray Charles in concert and she was all for it. I wasn't keen as I've never been a fan even though I can appreciate how talented he is/was. On looking at the forum this morning, one of the first posts I read was a story about Ray Charles & Dean Martin on the Stevie Wonder Is Not Blind thread.

Why Ray Charles should suddenly pop up in my dream I have no idea.

 

[littlebrowndragon]

Is it a coincidence, then, that I have just recently watched a film about the life of Ray Charles, and this around the time you posted the above?

It was an interesting film. I watched it just after watching The Jolson Story. I enjoyed both. However, while The Jolson Story was pure fabrication, I felt that the film about Ray Charles had far more realism.

 

[hunck]

Is it a coincidence, then, that I have just recently watched a film about the life of Ray Charles, and this around the time you posted the above?

It was an interesting film. I watched it just after watching The Jolson Story. I enjoyed both. However, while The Jolson Story was pure fabrication, I felt that the film about Ray Charles had far more realism.

Stop beaming your thoughts into me while I'm asleep.

 

[Victory]

Very minor but for some reason in the early hours of this morning I had memories of when I watched the TV news report of Philadelphia Police bombing the MOVE group.

Then I just saw that today was the 35th anniversary of that

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/10/move-1985-bombing-reconciliation-philadelphia

 

[PeteS]

Very minor but for some reason in the early hours of this morning I had memories of when I watched the TV news report of Philadelphia Police bombing the MOVE group.

Then I just saw that today was the 35th anniversary of that

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/10/move-1985-bombing-reconciliation-philadelphia

I remember that from the day. Truly appalling.

 

[hunck]

Feckin' hell - I'd not heard of this. According to the report, 500 police had besieged the house, blown the front off, tear-gassed then water-cannoned it & fired 10,000 rounds of machine gun fire into the building before the bomb was dropped.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Feckin' hell - I'd not heard of this. According to the report, 500 police had besieged the house, blown the front off, tear-gassed then water-cannoned it & fired 10,000 rounds of machine gun fire into the building before the bomb was dropped.

Just shocking.

 

[Kryptonite]

This isn't a personal experience, but one I read many, many years ago in, I think, the TV Times.

A woman was leaving her house one morning just as the post arrived. One of the items delivered was a postcard from her mother who was on holiday in Spain. The postcard described how the mother had met the actor Leonard Fenton aka Dr Legg out of Eastenders while in Spain.

As the daughter is walking down the street reading this, she collides with another pedestrian, looks up to apologise... and its the actor Leonard Fenton aka Dr Legg out of Eastenders!

 

[David Plankton]

This isn't a personal experience, but one I read many, many years ago in, I think, the TV Times.

A woman was leaving her house one morning just as the post arrived. One of the items delivered was a postcard from her mother who was on holiday in Spain. The postcard described how the mother had met the actor Leonard Fenton aka Dr Legg out of Eastenders while in Spain.

As the daughter is walking down the street reading this, she collides with another pedestrian, looks up to apologise... and its the actor Leonard Fenton aka Dr Legg out of Eastenders!

I like the idea of this as a coincidence, but it would be even better if there was someone in Spain impersonating the actor Leonard Fenton. And getting away with it.

 

[Krepostnoi]

I like the idea of this as a coincidence, but it would be even better if there was someone in Spain impersonating the actor Leonard Fenton. And getting away with it.

Those in the know call the imposter Jake the Peg.

 

[Victory]

Chinese Ambassador to Israel Du Wei, dies age 59 at his home in Israel.

Last week US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Israel, criticised China's handling of the Covid 19 outbreak, and warned the Israelis not to get too close to China in economic terms.

On Friday the Ambassador fired back and criticised Mike Pompeo.

Sunday - Ambassador found dead at his home.

I actually think this is one of those coincidences that happens, and is begging for a conspiracy theory.
But there is none, because I just think that assassinating an ambassador is very serious and oversteps the mark in the diplomatic game.

If the Israelis were not happy with him, they would expel him.
That is unlikely anyway, given that China is working on a proposal for a new rail line in Israel and on infrastructure work at an Israeli port.

And it would be extreme beyond belief if the Americans took him out for criticising Mike Pompeo.

But theories abound:

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/c...dor-death-comes-amid-us-china-tensions-628315

 

[escargot]

Techy was outside earlier with his laptop, playing music. As I popped out to the shop in t'banger the current song was Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop.

When I arrived home, with a Whistle Test CD playing, the song was Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop again.

There's a portable radio on the garden table. When I'd put the shopping away and sat down I turned the radio up and yup, it was indeed playing Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop.

You can have too much California soft rock.

 

[GingerTabby]

Two interviews on the same radio programme this afternoon brought back memories of two very different times in my past. The first was an interview with an ex-boyfriend of mine who now teaches public health policy at a local university. He was pontificating on various aspects of the current pandemic. The second was a light-hearted interview with a professional musician who plays French horn in an orchestra in another city. I played French horn at school for seven years beginning at age twelve and I found myself agreeing with her about the quirks of the instrument.

Those two facets of my life did not overlap: I was in my twenties when I dated the now-professor and at the time I was no longer playing the French horn regularly. It nevertheless struck me as odd that the two themes would appear on the same radio programme on the same day.

 

[Frideswide]

In the mid-late 1960's I was given a second-hand copy of the 1955 I-Spy Annual. I enjoyed it and remembered it especially because of a treasure hunt - you had to solve clues and turn to page X depending on your answer. The final clue told you which end paper Map to go to and that heat would show the place. I insisted on sticking the book very near to the electric stove and was enchanted when a small cross appeared!

My second favourite part was about Neville Duke, the WW2 Fighter Ace and later Test Pilot. I longed to have someone like that in my family - I adored planes.

Recently I found another copy and did the heat sensitive ink again. Hurrah! Mr Frideswide was suitably impressed and then leafed through the book. He stopped at the Neville Duke section and said

"I remember him well, used to tell me all about the planes when I was a nipper".

Turns out ND was a distant relative of Mr Frideswide on his father's side. I live my life vicariously! and half a century is better than never

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Duke

 

[escargot]

Earlier today I was reminiscing on'ere about playing happily in abandoned cars as a child, and how the aroma of a musty car at the scrapyard reminds me of it.
Techy has been getting his car ready for a run out tomorrow and came in saying 'My car smells musty, you know how scrapyard cars smell?'

I said 'Yup, I certainly do!'

 

[bugmum]

As a family, we like to sit down after 9pm and watch some old box set together before dispatching the teenager to bed. Our current watch has been "Life on Mars" followed by "Ashes to Ashes", and we've just watched one episode per night for the last few weeks.

We have reached the final season of "Ashes to Ashes", and in last night's episode the lead female character discovered the numbers 6-6-2-0 scratched onto her desk. My husband suddenly turned to me and said, "What's today's date?"

"6/6/20," I replied. "Weird!"

"Spooky!" was his response - and he's the level-headed one in the family.

 

[escargot]

The number 13 has begun cropping up in my daily life. I keep having little wins on my online lottery account so that my balance is always £13. I'm finding my personal cash (wallet/pockets) coming to £13 or £13.13. When I count up bits for sewing or crafts there are 13. How many biscuits? 13. It's getting predictable.

Totally meaningless of course. Except that it's nearly the anniversary of the death of someone close who died some years ago, whose birthday was a 13th and who found the number came up constantly in his life. Even after his death, Amex kept sending him letters reminding him that THEY owed HIM 13p.

OK Mr 13, I haven't forgotten you. But next time you send me a 13 in t'Lotto, how about a BIG 13? You know you want to.

 

[Dick Turpin]

The number 13 has begun cropping up in my daily life. I keep having little wins on my online lottery account so that my balance is always £13. I'm finding my personal cash (wallet/pockets) coming to £13 or £13.13. When I count up bits for sewing or crafts there are 13. How many biscuits? 13. It's getting predictable.

Totally meaningless of course. Except that it's nearly the anniversary of the death of someone close who died some years ago, whose birthday was a 13th and who found the number came up constantly in his life. Even after his death, Amex kept sending him letters reminding him that THEY owed HIM 13p.

OK Mr 13, I haven't forgotten you. But next time you send me a 13 in t'Lotto, how about a BIG 13? You know you want to.

I had a similar experience with the number 11 scargy. This would have been back in 2007 and 2008, and many times over that 2 year period I kept noticing the number 11 popping up in my life.

I started to wonder if it meant anything. Mrs DT told me not to be so silly, but it did get me thinking.

A few years later, I started to feel slightly anxious as the date 11/11/2011 approached – although nothing of note happened on that day.

This is quite coincidental however – I was born on the 11th day of the Month, as was my elder Brother, and Eldest Brother. My Mother was born on the 9/02 and Dad 04/07. Mrs DT birthdate is the 16/04 – odd eh??

I have just googled seeing the number 11 everywhere, and apparently it means that Angels are trying to communicate with me, to encourage me to stay positive in life - not sure about that though

 

[escargot]

I have just googled seeing the number 11 everywhere, and apparently it means that Angels are trying to communicate with me, to encourage me to stay positive in life - not sure about that though

I'd take that!

 

[IbisNibs]

The number 13 has begun cropping up in my daily life. I keep having little wins on my online lottery account so that my balance is always £13. I'm finding my personal cash (wallet/pockets) coming to £13 or £13.13. When I count up bits for sewing or crafts there are 13. How many biscuits? 13. It's getting predictable.

Psst! If you switched your online lottery account from Pound Sterling to US Dollar amounts, you could have 25% more biscuits show up! That would be a snack of 16.25 biscuits!

 

[Coypu]

Techy was outside earlier with his laptop, playing music. As I popped out to the shop in t'banger the current song was Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop.

When I arrived home, with a Whistle Test CD playing, the song was Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop again.

There's a portable radio on the garden table. When I'd put the shopping away and sat down I turned the radio up and yup, it was indeed playing Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop.

You can have too much California soft rock.

The big question is did you stop..

 

[bugmum]

As a family, we like to sit down after 9pm and watch some old box set together before dispatching the teenager to bed. Our current watch has been "Life on Mars" followed by "Ashes to Ashes", and we've just watched one episode per night for the last few weeks.

We have reached the final season of "Ashes to Ashes", and in last night's episode the lead female character discovered the numbers 6-6-2-0 scratched onto her desk. My husband suddenly turned to me and said, "What's today's date?"

"6/6/20," I replied. "Weird!"

"Spooky!" was his response - and he's the level-headed one in the family.

Alright, it seems a bit naff to quote my own post, but it happened again!

We were watching a Simpsons episode over dinner - we have about 600 episodes recorded on a device in the kitchen, and we work our way through them in the order they were recorded. Tonight's recorded episode was the one where Grandpa Simpson wants to go back to the pub in Ireland as part of his bucket list, and whilst he and Homer are getting drunk (and buying the pub), Marge takes the children out sightseeing. They arrive in Dublin on Bloomsday - "It must be June 16th," says Lisa, at which point Son No 2 yelps, "Today's June 16th, that's weird!"

"Just like that Ashes to Ashes episode," pipes up the Teenager. (Wow, she DOES listen occasionally!)

 

[escargot]

I had a similar experience with the number 11 scargy. This would have been back in 2007 and 2008, and many times over that 2 year period I kept noticing the number 11 popping up in my life.

I started to wonder if it meant anything. Mrs DT told me not to be so silly, but it did get me thinking.

A few years later, I started to feel slightly anxious as the date 11/11/2011 approached – although nothing of note happened on that day.

This is quite coincidental however – I was born on the 11th day of the Month, as was my elder Brother, and Eldest Brother. My Mother was born on the 9/02 and Dad 04/07. Mrs DT birthdate is the 16/04 – odd eh??

I have just googled seeing the number 11 everywhere, and apparently it means that Angels are trying to communicate with me, to encourage me to stay positive in life - not sure about that though

Were your elevens up?

I really wanted to show you Eleanor Bron saying this but will have to settle for a version with Mel Brooks -

His elevens are up!

 

[Dick Turpin]

Were your elevens up?

I really wanted to show you Eleanor Bron saying this but will have to settle for a version with Mel Brooks -

His elevens are up!

Elevens up.???? Never heard of that expression before Scargy. Didn’t know it was a thing, is it a thing.???

Anyway, I’ve just got my son to take a picture of the back of my neck (excuse the homemade haircut,- Mrs DT is no Vidal Sassoon) and thankfully, my Elevens are not up…..well not yet anyway.

 

[escargot]

Elevens up.???? Never heard of that expression before Scargy. Didn’t know it was a thing, is it a thing.???

Anyway, I’ve just got my son to take a picture of the back of my neck (excuse the homemade haircut,- Mrs DT is no Vidal Sassoon) and thankfully, my Elevens are not up…..well not yet anyway.

View attachment 27314

Full marks for elevens-seeking effort there! And a lovely haircut!

Yup, no elevens are on show so you're safe.

The expression his elevens are up! means 'he is dying', because of the appearance of raised tendons on the back of the person's neck.
It is spoken with gruesome glee by Eleanor Bron in the Gatiss TV dramatisation of M.R. James' The Tractate Middoth.

(A highly-recommended version, by the way. It brings out the very dark humour. Not sure if that was James' intention in this particular story but James' own fear of spiders is funny in itself.)

 

[AgProv]

Woke up this morning with an ear-worm in my head - a peppy seventies pop tune called You Can Do Magic. Thinking - damn, now I've got to remember the name of the act. I know the name was a bit twee, followed the lines of "Doris and the Peturbations", or something. Lots of mental associations - Black American group, sort of Motowny, but belonging to that period in the seventies where Motown were losing their apparent monopoly on black American music... I knew I could have looked it up but was in a perverse frame of mind, wanted to remember it without Googling, as you sometimes do. Just to keep my mind active.

And an hour or so later after I'd done morning admin and been out for newspapers and Private Eye - this comes up as a question on Ken Bruce, Popmaster. This American band had a hit in 1973 with You Can Do Magic.. Name the other hit for Limmy and the Family Cooking. (it was A Walking Miracle.) Arguably not that great a coincidence if one of many music radio stations plays the song. But for it to come up as a question in the daily pop trivia quiz...

 

[escargot]

Woke up this morning with an ear-worm in my head - a peppy seventies pop tune called You Can Do Magic. Thinking - damn, now I've got to remember the name of the act. I know the name was a bit twee, followed the lines of "Doris and the Peturbations", or something. Lots of mental associations - Black American group, sort of Motowny, but belonging to that period in the seventies where Motown were losing their apparent monopoly on black American music... I knew I could have looked it up but was in a perverse frame of mind, wanted to remember it without Googling, as you sometimes do. Just to keep my mind active.

And an hour or so later after I'd done morning admin and been out for newspapers and Private Eye - this comes up as a question on Ken Bruce, Popmaster. This American band had a hit in 1973 with You Can Do Magic.. Name the other hit for Limmy and the Family Cooking. (it was A Walking Miracle.) Arguably not that great a coincidence if one of many music radio stations plays the song. But for it to come up as a question in the daily pop trivia quiz...

Both those songs bring back strong memories for me of one of my first jobs, where Radio 1 was played loudly all day.
Nobody asked the patients if they wanted constant pop music. Sadly, back in the day it wasn't up to them.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Woke up this morning with an ear-worm in my head - a peppy seventies pop tune called You Can Do Magic. Thinking - damn, now I've got to remember the name of the act. I know the name was a bit twee, followed the lines of "Doris and the Peturbations", or something. Lots of mental associations - Black American group, sort of Motowny, but belonging to that period in the seventies where Motown were losing their apparent monopoly on black American music... I knew I could have looked it up but was in a perverse frame of mind, wanted to remember it without Googling, as you sometimes do. Just to keep my mind active.

And an hour or so later after I'd done morning admin and been out for newspapers and Private Eye - this comes up as a question on Ken Bruce, Popmaster. This American band had a hit in 1973 with You Can Do Magic.. Name the other hit for Limmy and the Family Cooking. (it was A Walking Miracle.) Arguably not that great a coincidence if one of many music radio stations plays the song. But for it to come up as a question in the daily pop trivia quiz...

Thanks for reminding me of that oldie!

 

[AgProv]

Very minor but for some reason in the early hours of this morning I had memories of when I watched the TV news report of Philadelphia Police bombing the MOVE group.

Then I just saw that today was the 35th anniversary of that

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/10/move-1985-bombing-reconciliation-philadelphia

So what did the Philedelphia Police Force have against Roy Wood, Bev Bevan, Jeff Lynne and Jeff Wayne? I mean, by then Jasper Carrot had long since left the band for a career elsewhere...

 

[Mythopoeika]

I was queuing at the post office this morning, and I noticed that the rather robust fellow in front of me had a tattoo on his leg that showed a picture of a character from the Lion King with the words 'Hakuna Matata'.
Watching a horror film 'The Rezort' and just now one of the characters uttered those very words.