Roy Stannard's Blog

When you think you know it all, ask the next question

  • The Trouble with Rock Pools

    A poem on life and depth by Roy Stannard Read more

  • Faith in a Big Society

    We negotiate life hoping that the future will bear fruit. Without faith, family planning would be a family gamble. Without faith, we wouldn’t sacrifice for the future – the present would be a cynical, nihlistic pig’s trough of satiated appetites. Nothing to hold onto – or for. The opposite of faith is worthlessness, helplessness and… Read more

  • Songs for a Wedding

    Did Maria Callas expect to end up on a list of the greatest Wedding songs of all time? Probably not. However, here you will find Abba nuzzling next to opera, Callas lip-curling in royal fashion with the human sneer, Billy Idol – along with the Pelvis, Gloria Gaynor, Earth, Wind and Fire and the mighty… Read more

  • Another link in The Chain

    Never thought you would hear another track as good as Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’? At last, one has arrived. Lissie’s ‘In Sleep’ from her ‘Catching a Tiger’ album featured a coruscating yet agonisingly beautiful guitar run from Eric Sullivan. Listen and weep. A classic is born. Read more

  • Indie Love Songs that defined an era 1984-5

    How a song by Ricky Gervais (Seona Dancing – More to Lose) helped me fall in love in 1984 – and sixteen other great love songs compiled here – http://wp.me/pCEKG-7t Read more

  • A letter to the six year old me

    I was a cute kid, light brown hair with bright, wide open eyes, curious about everything, trusting about a lot more. I was a first born so for the first four years of my life I was a prince, the centre of attention and the focus of everything – except that for the first five… Read more

  • England’s Dreaming

    I was working in London. I dismissed the delegates early so that they could repair to the hotel bar in order to watch the game. The feeling of anticipation mixed with a layer of fear (Germany..penalties..average age of their team 4 years younger than ours) was palpable. Read more

  • The Greatest Indie Love Songs of all Time (Vol 4)

    ‘You and me gonna be fine’. Exit hand in hand walking into the sunset. In love? This is your soundtrack. Vol 4 of the Greatest Indie Love Songs of all time. Read more

  • Extinguishing the desire to smoke

    You are not a ‘smoker’, you are someone who smokes. After four hours of coaching Miss Y was set to go, but something seemed not to be right. It was clear that she still harboured a desire to have a cigarette and that this was troubling her. The smoking habit had become a barrier to… Read more

  • The Art of Self-Presentation

    Ok, you have been asked to present a training seminar. Or make a speech. You. The You that normally chokes when asked for the time. Lost for words? More like abandoned in a huge wide open space called low self esteem. We’ll deal with the self-worth issue elsewhere – but let’s get you through that… Read more