Zoolon – George Blamey-Steeden

OLD LADY & HER LIGHT-BULBS

*‘Pics of an angry sea & friendly clouds’*

Hiding away where no one can find you is so much better than living out a pandemic locked away in a no man’s land where everyone thinks they ‘absolutely‘ must scores moral points.

The old blind lady knew that. She’d lived through wars and famine and years of the hatred of people like her, who knew stuff but couldn’t see a thing.

In the supermarket the woman on the checkout who sighed a lot told the old lady that light-bulbs weren’t essential items for blind people in lockdown. She said, “You must know you’re only allowed to buy essentials these days.”

The old lady put it to the woman who sighed a lot, that her Guide Dog could see and that was why she wanted a light-bulb. Request denied, the old lady wandered off home.

On Guy Fawkes night the explosions of fireworks scared the life out of all the dogs, cats and confused bats in the neighborhood. The woman on the checkout who sighed a lot had agreed with all her customers that fireworks were essentials.

Time for some gentle music for sad, sometimes silent, times. ‘A Life’ it’s called. It’s from my ‘Dream Rescuer’ album available for download from BANDCAMP I hope you enjoy;

If you’re interested in my inexpensive PROMO VIDEOS FOR AUTHORS hit the link here or aim at the one at the top of this blog.

As ever, if any poets out there are interested in having their poems turned into songs then click here to check it out: POETRY TO SONG

If you are looking for all my other music then you’ll find it to download on BANDCAMP or you can stream and/or make a playlist of it on SPOTIFY

If you’re thinking about new t-shirts and similar for yourself, or as Christmas presents, you might be interested in ZOOLON’S MERCHANDISE

SEMI-FINAL TIME & LIVING IN HOPE

A few months ago ReverbNation gave me the opportunity to submit a song to the people organising the annual ‘International Song Contest’ in Nashville. I forgot all about it until the news that my number, ‘Devil’s Kiss’ – a ballad featuring the unique Fifi Rong sharing the vocals with me – had been accepted.

Yesterday, I got advised;

Hi George,

Congratulations!

A song that you entered has been selected as a semi-finalist in the 2019 International Songwriting Competition (ISC). We received more than 18,000 entries, so this is a remarkable achievement!

I’ve been told it will be another two weeks or so before I know if I’ve made the finals – that’s left me in ‘I live in hope’ mode. There’s a lot of awards and rewards to be had for those who reach the top of the pile. Also, there’s a whole mass of judges including my favourite band of all time, Coldplay. Time will tell!

Some of you may have heard the song before, some not. Here it is along with the lyrics if you want to sing along. I hope you enjoy;

Devil’s Kiss
You ask the questions I hide from
I write the songs you won’t hear
Leave now in the company of egos
Stay safe where dreamers get to dream

Daylight, midnight, twilight’s just the Devil’s Kiss
Moonlight, sunlight, twilight’s just the Devil’s Kiss
Don’t let the panic start to build
Start to build

You’ve been up on that mountain
Seething – no one left breathing
Don’t let me fade into despair

Daylight, midnight, twilight’s just the Devil’s Kiss
Moonlight, sunlight, twilight’s just the Devil’s Kiss
Moonlight, sunlight, twilight’s just the Devil’s Kiss

I hate photos of me. At times like this the obligatory mug shots shared across this and other platforms I’m told are advisable – accepting that that might not work in my favour! ‘Gulp’ mode!

As ever, if any poets out there are interested in having your poems turned into songs then click here to check it out: POETRY TO SONG

If you are looking for all my other music then you’ll find it to download on BANDCAMP or you can stream and/or make a playlist of it on SPOTIFY

SHE COULDN’T HELP HERSELF

‘Black Widow Marionette’ – Artwork by Johan Swanepoel

All decent blokes support the feminists. However, in one society the masculists – is that a real word? – need a helping hand. You probably knew this already. In case you didn’t, ‘Black widow spiders are arachnids that are known for the females’ unique appearance and tendency to eat their mates’ – courtesy of livescience.com.

The spider climbed the old brick wall
He was looking for a bed
He’d left his web unattended
At least that’s what he said

By the time he’d reached the rooftop
He stopped to take a rest
And that was when he saw her
She looked great, he was impressed

So he thought that he must tell her
She was the most beautiful black spider girl
She smiled and said ‘thank you, Sir’
And gave him a sexy twirl

Later, under a full moon
They made love on a chimney stack
When that was over and done with
Was the time of her attack

She didn’t plan to do it
It’s just the way that she was made
She ate him alive for supper
Straight after getting laid

She never could help herself
Every lover she had got ate
Not one of them escaped her bite
Was it bad luck or was it fate?

Today, just my ‘heartbeat silhouette’ song called ‘Tick Tock’. I hope you enjoy.

If any poets out there are interested in having your poems turned into songs then click here to check it out: POETRY TO SONG

If you are looking for all my other music then you’ll find it to download on BANDCAMP or you can stream and/or make a playlist of it on SPOTIFY

MIXED-UP HUMANKIND

No. 5 – HUMAN ART; Loire Valley, France – The Troglodytes

No. 3 – HUMANS (part 1)
Humans are intelligent?
That’s what most humans say
But if you look at human leaders
They’re as bright as a cloudy day

No. 3 HUMANS (part 2)
We’ve got a planet in its death throws
We’ve got wars, got rape and racist crime
If that is called ‘humanity’
“See you, another time”

No. 2 – HUMANITY
I’m not seeing where the good hang out
But I know we’re out there somewhere
It’s time we get real and go public
We can make a difference if we take the dare

No. 6 – HUMAN EVOLUTION
I started wondering when the first creature who decided to walk out of the sea realised that if it stayed underwater any longer it would probably drown. Motivation?

No. 4 – HALFTIME HUMAN (above)

No. 1 – HUMAN OBSERVATION
Some people look like a rabbit in the headlights most times. Others look like the headlights. On balance, I prefer rabbits to headlights.

No. 7 – ACCIDENTAL HUMAN ART (below)

My mad moment over, time for some music. One of my backing tracks, ‘Chilled Our Groove’. I hope you enjoy;

If any poets out there are interested in having your poems turned into songs then click here to check it out: POETRY TO SONG

If you are looking for the above or all my other music then you’ll find it to download on BANDCAMP or you can stream and/or make a playlist of it on SPOTIFY

SNOWFLAKES AND FIRE

‘The Sea Puts on a Show For Free’

I was fighting with insomnia when I wrote this. Couldn’t sleep. It didn’t help that The Arsenal had lost to the Chavs in a game we deserved to win. It’s at times like these words choose themselves and I keep out of their way.

The death toll is rising
Snowflakes and fire
In the tent of the future
We planned to conspire

You gave me a smile
I got lost in a dream
I haven’t got answers
You haven’t a scheme

One day on the top of death’s channel
We looked down at the ocean’s floor
And like the dying native American
You shouted out, ‘You know, there is so much more’

Holding hands as we jumped from the cliff edge
Down to the still water below
We made sure to remember what the dying man said
‘After fire there is always snow’

Here’s a number from Volume One of my Backing Track collection. It’s called a ‘DIRTY ROCK GROOVE’ – IN A MAJOR’. You’ll find them all at MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL I hope you enjoy;

If you are looking for the above or any of my songs and instrumentals then you’ll find it to download on BANDCAMP or you can stream and/or make a playlist of it on SPOTIFY

MARILYN, THE PAPARAZZI & PLANET MARS

‘Not my lucky day’ – read on!
I tried my best but couldn’t find the photographer’s name for this, so I can’t credit it

Weeks and weeks of rain. Every now and then some hailstones; every other day early morning frost. So, totally unexpected, on Christmas morning here in South-East England, sun – zero wind, blue skies, calm sea. A decent day at last. Getting it all wrong I went out with the big coat on and no sunglasses. It should have been the other way around. I’m good at getting weather related stuff all wrong. Here’s some of the pics I took, plus the Marilyn one I never got.

‘Where it all went wrong’

Down at the harbourside, although a good distance away, outside of the posh hotel I saw a dead-ringer for Marilyn Monroe, like the ones in the posters you see everywhere – white dress and stereotypical blond-dyed hair – draped seductively over the bonnet of this old motor on some sort of photo shoot it looked like. I’m supposing ‘seductively’ is the right word although alternatively the scene did look a bit like a tragic accident what with her being flat on her back on the bonnet of a car! Anyhow, such an odd thing to see on Christmas morning. I was too far away to get the pic and it was obvious, even to me, the professional photographers hanging around, plus the regular people out for a walk all managed to get the pics they wanted. I had a jealousy moment. By the time I made it there all I got was this shot of the vintage car. I could have run flat out I suppose but that would make me look a bit over keen to get there – even though I was over keen to get there! Running would definitely be embarrassing. Passers by might think I was a weirdo. I’d never make it as a paparazzi.

‘Wrought iron versions of 007 & friends’

‘Now that’s what I call a roundabout’

‘Western Dock still being updated’

‘Colour version of same Dock – taken from Western Heights’

Having missed the Marilyn look-alike shot I had this random thought that I’d more chance of getting a pic of the surface of Mars than get lucky on Christmas Day, hence today one of my older songs, not yet on an album even though it got curated a couple of years back called ‘RED PLANET’. I hope you enjoy;

If you are looking for music then you’ll find mine to download on BANDCAMP or you can stream and/or make a playlist of it on SPOTIFY

LETTER IN A BOTTLE

‘Claudette Colbert still from Cecil B. DeMille’s ‘Cleopatra’ movie 85 years ago’

He was thinking to himself that he’d never written a letter. A proper letter, using a pen and paper. A letter he would write, sign and post. He decided he’d have a go although the absence of pre-emptive text was worrying him. His spelling wasn’t that great. After more thought he came up with the idea of writing a love letter. The only problem being that he didn’t know who to write to as he didn’t know anyone. Because of that he went for a random ‘too whom it may concern’ type of letter.

After going down to the shops to get hold of a pen (he didn’t own a pen) and paper (the only paper he had at home was toilet paper) he wrote his love letter. The letter didn’t say much. Just his address and a couple of lines that read, “Dear Whoever You Are, I’m looking for a soul mate to love. If you’re interested please get in touch, Yours Sincerely, Джордж” – his dad was Russian.

The only problem was that he had a letterbox phobia so instead of posting the letter in the post-box up the road he went down the seafront. It was handy he lived by the sea. He took with him the letter, an empty bottle and a cork. He was pleased to have thought of this idea because had he posted the letter in an envelope it didn’t have a forwarding address written on it anyway. Making sure the tide was on the way out he put the letter in the bottle then stuffed the cork in, then chucked the bottle in the sea.

Cleopatra also lived by the sea. She was out walking her leopard along the shoreline when she spotted the letter in a bottle. The cork was stuck in the bottle. She tried to pull it out with her teeth. She failed, so she smashed it on the rocks, careful to pick up the pieces. Джордж’s letter made Cleo smile. She decided to reply. The stamps cost her a small fortune as she lived in Egypt and he lived England.

When Джордж received Cleo’s letter he was over the moon. He took a ship all the way to Egypt and met up with her at her grand palace. Джордж was most impressed. That night they had a meal together at a McDonald in Alexandria. They got on well and planned to meet up again the next day, even though Джордж was allergic to big cats. After Джордж had given Cleo a polite kiss and said, ‘Goodnight Cleopatra’ he went back to his hotel and wrote her this song.

Here’s Cleo’s song. I hope you enjoy;

The instrumental album this number is on is available to download via the link below;

ZOOLON – THE NEW 007?

‘Milo the laser chaser’

What an interesting couple of days in the life of Zoolon.

First of all I’d taken a visit to a pal of mine and his girlfriend who had just moved into a new flat they’d bought. It’s a nice place. Better still, not long after I arrived so did Milo the 8 week old kitten. He’s black & white like my old Border Collie, Skipper was. I bought Milo a present from a pet shop. A laser chaser. He got hooked chasing its images. I like Milo. I want a cat for myself now. I’ve never had a cat before.

I get back home. An article in The Independent newspaper said that the GCHQ (aka M15) secret service were looking to hire dyslexics. Part of what the paper wrote said, ‘The nation’s intelligence services are directly looking to recruit people with dyslexia, the head of GCHQ has confirmed.’ Apparently they like how dyslexics think. That got me thinking ‘that’ll do me nicely’. I’m dyslexic and might end up being the new James Bond; probably the first ever dyslexic James Bond. I hope my first Bond girl hasn’t got a long, complicated name though. Long words are a dyslexics nightmare.

The German language has loads of long words, like;
Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft’.

They’ve got hundreds of words like this one. I wonder how Germans, let alone dyslexic Germans, play Scrabble?

The thing is my mother, in particular, thought I should apply for the MI5 gig. Later on she started to have doubts. She even said, “You’ll never apply, I know what you’re like.” I gave her an all-knowing smile and replied, “How do you know I haven’t?” You see spies never blow their cover. Maybe my music is just a front?

It might be of interest that after a long layoff Zoolon is now back on SOUNDCLOUD I thought it time to give them another try. I’ll see if they can match people like Bandcamp this time around, plus they represent yet another outlet for my music. Here’s a song from that source. It’s called ‘Hooked’. I hope you enjoy;

https://soundcloud.com/zoolon/hooked

On the subject of music. Here’s my BANDCAMP link where you will discover my seven albums. Here’s a taster of the two new ones; the backing track ones. I hope you enjoy;

WE ONCE WALKED HAND IN HAND

‘Before the Light Went Out’

Mother Earth is now a victim
She’s not a magnet any more
We’ve stripped her of her blue, green cloak
Looked the other way as her children were washed up on the shore

“Let’s give her a cloak of plastic
That’ll warm her up real good
Tell you what? Let’s make all things out of plastic
Let’s set fire to the forests, burn that stack of wood”

Mother Earth never had a voice
Never need one when we walked hand in hand
That was before the swarm turned up
The mob of humans who took command

I’m thinking this backing track, ‘Emotional Groove – A Minor works with the words. It’s a little dark; a little laid back. Hope you enjoy;

Emotional Grove is from my Guitar Jam album. If you want to find out more re this or any of my other work it accessible below;

THE ARTIST

I can’t draw let alone alone paint. However, fellow blogger Ted Giffin can. Not just can, he’s actually a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Indiana University, the Herron School of Art, plus he’s a musician as well.

So, I get to see a pic of me (above) on his blog. I let my mother take a look and she says she want’s it for her birthday. Ted obliges. Not only that, he paints version two (below). She’s over the moon.

I get speaking to the old man. He says, and I quote, “You couldn’t ask Ted to knock one out for Shirl could you? I’ll add it to her list of b’day presents.” Shirley = my mother. Once more, Ted obliges. Her birthday was a success all round. Her pic below.

We were all in a Turkish restaurant on the big day. The old man reminds me that back in 2017 Ted did the artwork for the front and back covers for his book, ‘Notoriously Naked Flames’, so for good measure I’ve included these also, for no other reason than it shows, yet again, that Ted is a great talent.

I recommend you check out the work of TED GIFFIN and, if you don’t know him already, see what you’re missing.

Time for some music. Here’s one from the new album available on BANDCAMP . It’s called ‘Melancholy Groove’. I hope you like it;

Tag: Zoolon

SEMI-FINAL TIME & LIVING IN HOPE

SHE COULDN’T HELP HERSELF

MIXED-UP HUMANKIND

SNOWFLAKES AND FIRE

MARILYN, THE PAPARAZZI & PLANET MARS

LETTER IN A BOTTLE

ZOOLON – THE NEW 007?

WE ONCE WALKED HAND IN HAND

THE ARTIST

Guitar Jam, Vol. 1 – Zoolon Audio Backing Tracks

by Zoolon Audio