The Low Countries

Here I am... There's an exclusive free EP waiting for you when you sign up to my mailing list : nigel-parrington.ck.page/ca5f9cf681?fbc… #songwritinglife #indiefolk #indiepop #songcraft

Cruz Beckham & The Breakers performing the Thomas the Tank Engine theme.

On December 31, 1995, Bill Watterson published the final 'Calvin & Hobbes' comic strip. #CalvinandHobbes

Listen to While Away by The Low Countries on #SoundCloud on.soundcloud.com/tKnFytJQFkcNT6…

Suicide. I'm choosing to be deliberately blunt and provocative in this post because it's necessary. Government, charities, football clubs are all pushing water up a hill in highlighting what is undoubtedly a major health crisis. You take a rope. You put it up in a garage or a tree nearby or far away. You're thinking about every loved one you'll leave behind as you put that rope around your neck. Then you drop. Some are decapitated. Some aren't. All are found by someone who has a lifetime of trauma that will never leave them. A son. A daughter. A brother. A sister. A mother. A father. I know 2 men who hung themselves. One was found by his Mom. One was found by his brother. Neither have recovered fully. 20 and 30 years on. A life sentence for people who were already worrying, terrified their loved one may do something. So just visualise the above and ask, "is there another way"? A segway for a moment. I do a few Q&A's every year. Tales of yesterday with a 99% male audience of my age group. After the stories and fun, my last question back to the audience is.. "Hands up if you struggle with a mental health issue". Nobody ever puts a hand up. Despite 1 in every 3 of 500 attendees statistically struggling. "Ah, nobody, that's fucking brilliant! Well I do! ". I then graphically tell people, stunned into silence about how a rope around my neck in the middle of nowhere jolted me to go home and cry like a baby to my Mom. After the Q&A has finished, something always happens. I'll be chatting to a few guys, saying bye and one by one, men will come over and whisper " I struggle". Or my mailbox the next day will have 30 emails from guys, their partners or kids saying " Dad/Uncle /Brother was there last night and what you said hit them hard". And that's how some people realise that it's time to speak to a pal or family member or even rant to me in an email. It works, I often get a follow up email a year or 6 later saying that they took responsibility for their suicidal feelings and are now flying. Humans are programmed to want to live, to have families and to keep the species growing and thriving. So for a human to want to short circuit that desire isn't normal, and it should never be spoken of as normal. It's the ultimate red flag. If you suspect your mate, Dad, Brother, Uncle is struggling mentally, they deserve your intervention. They deserve a " are you OK, please tell me what's up". They deserve an opportunity to get past wanting to hang a rope over a tree or in a garage and slowly struggle until they die and you find them. If you've been there and trust me I have plenty, then you'll know that text out of the blue, or a footie mate or one of your kids asking jow you are can open the curtains to some sunshine. Because when suicide is your only answer, the room is already dark, and you can't see a way out. So please, fucking pretty please, ask that husband, Dad, Uncle, Cousin, footie pal TODAY how they are. You may be shocked what comes back but extremely glad that you asked. For those who struggle, you're not alone.

RIP Dame Patricia Routledge 😥 I posted this back in May and it went down a storm, both with those who remembered Kitty from Victoria Wood on TV and those who were new to the character. As sad as it is to lose somebody as talented and, dare I say as iconic as Dame Patricia Routledge, we will always have her legacy. And what a legacy that is. Keeping up Appearances, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads, et al. And that’s just TV. For her work on the stage she won an Olivier Award and a Tony. She was also awarded more doctorates than you could wave a stick it, which won’t surprise anyone. Dame Patricia’s final honour, which was awarded to her just last year, was the Freedom of the Borough of Wirrall. Surely it should have been Cheadle! God bless Patricia Routledge x

New @GingerfeatherFM mix uploaded with tracks from recent releases by The Low Countries, Merry Hell, Molly Tuttle, Toby Hay and Ninebarrow. Playlist on the blog... colinbertram.blogspot.com/2025/09/off-be…

Rayner is an icon. This isn’t about tax, it’s the misogynistic vilification of a working class woman for daring to better herself and be outspoken. Male Tories evaded millions, sent it offshore, did all they could to avoid paying tax. Don’t pretend that this is about fairness.

Here's the link ! youtu.be/Zq8KyJebhtE?si…

New live performance of a new song 'Only Sinatra' via @theruaroom #ruaroom #live #onlysinatra #jazzy #songwriting

How great was Tom Lehrer? In 2020, he moved his entire catalog into the public domain because he felt he'd made more than enough money off of it. Enjoy every Tom Lehrer album: tomlehrersongs.com

When my husband died, because he was so famous and known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me-it still sometimes happens-and ask me if Carl changed at the end and converted to a belief in an afterlife. They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again. Carl faced his death with unflagging courage and never sought refuge in illusions. The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again. I don't ever expect to be reunited with Carl. But, the great thing is that when we were together, for nearly twenty years, we lived with a vivid appreciation of how brief and precious life is. We never trivialized the meaning of death by pretending it was anything other than a final parting. Every single moment that we were alive and we were together was miraculous, not miraculous in the sense of inexplicable or supernatural. We knew we were beneficiaries of chance. . . . That pure chance could be so generous and so kind. . . . That we could find each other, as Carl wrote so beautifully in Cosmos, you know, in the vastness of space and the immensity of time. . . . That we could be together for twenty years. That is something which sustains me and it’s much more meaningful. . . . The way he treated me and the way I treated him, the way we took care of each other and our family, while he lived. That is so much more important than the idea I will see him someday. I don't think I'll ever see Carl again. But I saw him. We saw each other. We found each other in the cosmos, and that was wonderful. - Ann Druyan

@GBarsawme thank you for this

Gabor Maté dedicated his life to curing childhood trauma. He once said: "The attempt to escape from pain is what creates more pain." As a father and social worker with 17 years guiding transformation… Here are his 5 lessons to rewire your brain and save yourself🧵

Gene Hackman has passed away at the age of 95. Gene was one of the greatest actors of his, or anyone's generation. He was a powerhouse, as adept at comedy as he was drama. Today is a very sad day, we've lost a legend. Gene was a giant of cinema. R.I.P Gene Hackman

Thank you for your support! 🇺🇦 __ Дякую вам за підтримку! 🇺🇦

Happy 95th Birthday, Gene Hackman Young Frankenstein (1974) Hackman begged Gene Wilder, his tennis partner at the time, for a role in this Mel Brooks classic because he feared becoming typecast. He played the blind man for free and ad-libbed 'I was gonna make espresso.'

"Scene by Scene" with David Lynch, Nov. 28, 1999 (full episode)

This was the peak of television; nothing will ever be funnier than this moment.

Every Troy McClure 'You May Remember Me' moment 🎬 -a thread

Posting about the awfulness of Spotify on the moral free wasteland of Twitter honest-broker.com/p/the-ugly-tru…