Shocking Visitation...

SEVERAL DAYS ago,whilst I was having a phone chat with a friend in deepest,darkest Cornwall,I was forced to face a life-long fear...I opened the frontdoor to see a very attractive woman police officer,who asked me re phone calls which I had been making to a certain female painter and decorator in the wee hours of the morning....The said officer said that,should it happen again,I would be arrested and charged with making nuisance phone calls.I told the police officer,who was very nice,that I have Bipolar Disorder,and tend to do unwise things when in Manic Mode,which is true.

Twenty four hours later,I heard a very insistent ring at my frontdoor....I intuitively knew it was the Old Bill!However,this time it was not a woman police officer,but a guy resembling the Incredible Hulk!!The police officer,who wore spectacles,asked if he could come in....he was at least 6feet 2 inches in height and almost as broad- he had feet like flipping plod,sorry,clod -hoppers- must have weighed at least 16 stone- I almost shit a pile of bricks!He was actually a very decent guy,but I was so terrified I could not utter a single word...

WILL VERY soon be a YAP- a Young -Aged Pensioner!I absolutely refuse to grow old gracefully...I somehow do not think too many people of my age can sing like I can,though there are one or two individuals who appear to take great pleasure in informing me that,as a singer,I am total rubbish.Such remarks really help one to aspire to be the best that they can possibly be...The FACT is,that however good or otherwise one's voice maybe,singing is excellent exercise for both the lungs and diaphragm;it also helps to raise one's mood,or vibrational energy,and THAT must be a very good thing indeed.I will never allow other people's put-downs to stop me from doing what I know to be one of the most beneficial of all activities and exercises- never!Those who DO allow others to stifle their self-expression and vibrancy of being often prematurely end up resting peacefully in what I call a wooden overcoat,or coffin.Conformity is deadly to one's spiritual,mental and physical well-being.I am absolutely certain that one of the very greatest and most enlightened medical doctors of the last hundred years,Dr Patch Adams,would wholeheartedly agree with these sentiments.

In my view,the greatest lyrical tenor of all time was not Mario Lanza or Enrico Caruso,but Beniamino Gigli,who died in 1957 at the age of 67 years.Interestingly,not one of the great operatic tenors have lived beyond the age of 70- Caruso was just 47 when he died of TB in 1921.Mario,who died at the very young age of 38,was very special in that he was so very versatile and oozed the X-factor from every pore of his being.And of course.he was extremely handsome,as is the blind tenor,Andrea Bocelli.Beniamino Gigli's voice combined sweetness of tone with great power and volume.So very vibrant and resonant was the celebrated tenor's  voice,that his pianissimo could be clearly heard from a considerable distance..Of all the great operatic tenors,Andrea Bocelli is the only one who is relatively slim- both Lanza and Luciano Pavarotti were very heavily built.Luciano was exceptionally handsome when in his twenties and thirties,in fact he was even more good- looking than was Magnificent Mario.

THE SAID Scottish Samaritan called Bob found my chat very entertaining,in fact he assured me I am more than comical enough to be a successful Stand-Up Comedian a' la Lee Evans- if only I could find the COURAGE to step onto the stage!!Lovely Leela also feels I have a gift of comedy,and I thank her for that comment...No hard feelings,Leela!And ditto John,who is brill at what he does,as am I.

I HAVE just this minute finished speaking to a Samaritan,who was both very helpful and understanding.The Sam,who is based in Colchester,is a Scotsman and comes from the formerly very tough city of Glasgow.Although I'm in the Black Abyss,and feel and look far more dead than alive,I could not resist the temptation to slowly morph into my very convincing Scottish accent!Of all the dozen Sams I have spoken to during the past few months,he is the only one who originates North of the Border.Like all Samaritan Volunteers,he refused to talk about himself,which is fair enough.He,J,has some knowledge of Bipolar Disorder,which is more than can be said for the other volunteers with whom I have spoken.A nice guy.I actually told him my real name- I ALWAYS say my name is Leo...I doubt whether there are many people called Leonardo in this country.In Italy,perhaps,but not the UK,and certainly not in Wacko Clacko!As I have commented in an earlier Blog post,I have never had to wait more than 15 seconds before hearing the familiar words,"The Samaritans,how can I help you?"And calls cost less than 1.5 Pence a minute after 7.0PM.Despite the rather petty rules and regulations governing volunteers total anonymity,The Samaritans are an absolute god-send,a god-send peculiar to the UK only.

More beings than there are grains of sand...

I HAVE,on several occasions,commented that there might be more intelligent beings in the Universe than there are grains of sand in the Sahara Desert...Let us look at the ASTRONOMICAL FACTS...According to Astronomers,there are literally thousands of millions of galaxies,some of which will be comprised of billions of Stars,and many of those will have their own Planetary Systems....Our own galaxy,The Milky Way,is said to contain more than one hundred billion Stars...Our magnificent galactic neighbor,Andromeda,may contain even more mighty Suns...Some sources believe there might be intelligent beings on the Red Planet,meaning,of course,Mars...It's quite possible given that Mars is a very Earth-like planet in that it has canyons,peaks- Olympus Mons is the highest mountain in the Solar System- icecaps and,of course,deserts...and, perhaps,vast quantities of liquid water,also...There could well be literally thousands of trillions of Earth-like planets in the Universe....In which case,there might be more sentient beings in the Cosmos than there are grains of sand in the largest desert on Earth...And many of these Extraterrestrial Beings will be awesome and extremely frightening to behold,so strange and different to us are they in their appearance.Many of us have heard of The Mantis,so-called because of their close resemblance to the strange-looking insects known as the Praying Mantis...I,for one,would NOT wish to have a Close Encounter with one of those very cuddly-looking entities!