Saturday 24 November 2012

Pie and Pea Supper

Lets have a pie and pea supper
a supper fit for a king
then after our pie and pea supper
i know a few songs we can sing

oh for a sing-a-long supper
think of the fun it will bring
we'll all be singing our hearts out
full of the joys of spring!

Sunday 18 November 2012

All Over The Place....

I seem to have been all over the place recently. I have been in schools in Blackpool,  Sheffield and up in the North East for the Northern Childrens Book Festival. I was in Walsend, Whitley Bay and Sunderland. I have got into takng snaps wiht my fancy new phone and trying to make little films of my trips. I'll have a go at doing one for the last trip. I like learning new things but these phones are like magic boxes and can do loads of stuff so there is a lot to learn. We never had computors and stuff like that when i went to school. Young people i see in schools are BRILLIANT at all that stuff like my sons are but me.....it takes time to sink in brother!!!!!! But i'm trying!! I have also been writing a lot and selling my new book POETRY BURP. I have been on BBC Radio Leeds and BBC Radio York waffling away about who knows what so its all been busy, but good fun. Today i went for walk in the woods and the leaves were golden on the floor as the sun splintered through the trees. Hang on a mo, i feel a poem coming on.....

Thursday 1 November 2012

Noises Through The Wall

Its like this...my room at home, where i spend a lot of time doing things poets do like staring out of the window, playing the guitar when i should be writing poems, watching load of loud rock n'roll videos on YouTube and generally pretending i'm working..we... this room THE IMAGINATION STATION is nextdoor to my sons bedroom. My sons Ben and Jack spend a lot of time in their own room doing kids stuff like nose picking and pillow fighting and they also play a lot of games on the XBox. So i hear lots of noises coming through the wall. At the moment they are playing Just Cause II. I asked them what its about and i got told that 'Its a bit like James Bond except you are a bad James Bond'. Anyway it all sounds dramatic and i wonder if, when i am lost in my own mind , dreaming poems up, the noises somehow affect what i write. I'll have to keep a chec k on that. If you read a poem i wrote somewhere called 'Bad James Bond', you'll know why.....

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Busy Is Better Than Not Busy

Just looked at the blogaroo and the last one i did is ages ago - maybe when the dinosaurs were alive so..i think i'd better do one. Been all over the shop in October. It normally busy so thats all grand. Got a new book out, POETRY BURP did a week in Northern ireland -which was fantastic by the way, been doing schools all over from Bolton, Blackpool, Chesterfield, Leeds, Gateshead and Sheffield. The Sheffield school is called Nether Edge and i have been in a few times. Its a GREAT school full of great people who love their poetry and its always grand to go back. So yep, been busy driving and travelling all over. Actually my mate the robot man Andy is going to work in Thailand today so i'm giving him a lift - not to Thailand but to the train station. I'd love to work across the sea again these things just seem to appear out of the blue. Fingers crossed. So thats about it really, thats some of the stuff that i've been up to oh and writing of course, always the writing. I asked a class the other day what books were full of, i thought i was going to get words, like books are full of words but this girl had a fra better answer. She said that books are full of surprises!! So now you know. So when you are writing you have to come up with these surprises, you have to be a Suprise Maker!!

Sunday 23 September 2012

What I Do When I'm Not Doing What I Do....

Because this time of year can be quiet for me and i'm not going into so many school it means i have time to do other things. Here are some of the other things i've been dong. I have got a Blackberry and am trying my best to get better at using it. Its an amazing thing really, a magic gizmo,you can get apps for it, take pix and everything man!! I'll try and put sme photos up when i can. I have aso been doing a lot, no, a load of walking. I did the Calderdale Way, a 54 mile walk all around Halifax which was fantastic. I grew up in halifax but on the walk i saw parts of it i never knew were there, so that was great. and the sun shone for 4 days!! Today i did a bit of the Kirklees Way, another big walk all around Huddersfield. When i walk i think and when i think i make stuff up so walking is great for me, what wiv being a poet like innit!!And i have been writing as lot, infact my new book POETRY BURP should be out , touch wood, in a couple of weeks so thats always exciting. I also made another radio documentary for BBC Radio Leeds called Away With Words which got on radio 4, a national station. I was dead chuffed with it. So not visiting schools every day does mean i can do other things so its all grand. The school visits take off again in a week or with schools in Rotherham, Gateshead, Blackpool, Norton and Cookridge in Leeds then i go to Belfast in Northern Ireland for a week. So back on the road soooooon!!!!

Sunday 2 September 2012

Big Blue Boat

I wrote this poem cos i liked the title and i have had it floating around in my head for a while. The first version of the poem was longer but when i looked at it i thought that they were too many words - some words i didn't need - so i got rid of them and will save them and use them in another pome on another day.

Big Blue Boat

I dreamed i sailed on a big blue boat
i sailed across the sea
thats all this poem is about
that dream, that boat and me



Monday 13 August 2012

Thats Poetry That!!!

So the London 2012 Lympix is over and done for another 4 years. I wasn't bovvered about it to be hinest but i really got into it. did you know that in the first ever Olympics in Greece poetry writing was one of the things that they did. Imagine that now, like mo farrar sitting down and writing a poem against the clock. One of the other things i liked was when someone did an amazing thing the commentator would say 'well that was just fantastic that, it was poetry'. Y'see when something is better than good its poetry. I've always said it!!

Tuesday 31 July 2012

Being Kept On My Poetic Toes...

Normally, at this time of year, all the schools break up for the big holidays and i get a bit of a rest, put my feet up and shout at the dog but this year that doesn't have seemed to have happened.
I have been doing some stuff for Leeds libraries called Breeze In The Park which are some writing events held all over Leeds, all part of a bigger project for the British Library. I have also been doing some stuff for Kirklees Summer school ( hello evryone!!) as well as a summer school event in Liverpool. I am also doing some days for Shefield libraries and North Yorks libraries over the summer so i am going to be kept on my poetic toes. All good, just hope we get some sun...

Friday 20 July 2012

What Do You Think Of The Rain?

I am sat in my Imagination Station and I am listening to the rain. Its rained a lot. When i hear the rain i think of tiny tap dancers dancing on the petals of a blue flowers, i think of wet grass and the slugs having a disco, i think of a audience of little people giving me a round of applause. I thnik of raindrops racing down windows and of big splashy puddles full of rainbows by the side of the road.I think of soneone playing bongo drums really really far away like in the next street and i think of some sausages frying in a pan. What do you think about the rain?

I also think, if i'm being honest, when is it going to stop??

Thursday 19 July 2012

A Lot To Fit In

Here are just some of the highlights of the past coupla weeks at work. I have been all over the country, reading poems out ....went to London, to the Globe theatre and the National Science museum, slept on a scout boat in Canary Wharf, went to Newcastle and Gateshead, did 2 days recording a doc for BBC radio Leeds, went to Kent, to Tonbridge, to Dudley at the Black Country Living Museum, went to Cambridge, looked at the amazing colleges there and went for a punt on the river Cam. I have also been to Blackpool, Manchester, North Yorkshire and Knowsley libraries, all this in the last two weeks!!!
That Poetry Bloke -Taking Poetry To The Streets Where It Belongs!!!

Sunday 1 July 2012

On the Misty Mountain.

Last week i got lost up a big hill. Its a hill i have been up many times called Ingleborough and its always an adventure. It was a bit blustery when we set off, my mate Stooger came with me, but it was ok. When we got to the top it started to rain. We could have turned around and walked down but wheres the fun in that so we carried on like ancient heroes of old ( well , lets face it, you can't get ancient heroes of the future can you...) right to the top. We we walking in the sky. We were looking down on clouds. We were at the top of the beanstalk. It was a bit awesome and a bit scary at the same time. I saw a misty figure approach me. It was a man . he came upto me and said ' are you lost as well?'. It was a great day. When we we eventually got on the right path and came down we saw a bloke looking at flowers. He was a scientist. He told me that Ingleborough is 350 million years old. I thought blimy O riley, that will be a big birthday cake. Imagine all those candles. it would be like the sun....

Monday 25 June 2012

Bread And Butter Theatre Company

Had a great day today. I was in Blackpool,at the sports centre in Stanley Park. I was MCing the Youth Games. There were 1500 young people there all doing some sporting stuff- mini tennis, golf, gymnastics... I met an international hockey player and two athletes are taking part in the Olympics this year. I also met two great blokes who are the Bread and Butter theatre company. There are called Gaz and Fran and they do these two characters that are PE teachers from the 70s. They were great, funny and clever and good to watch. Its great to meet other performers and have a chat with them. The Bread and Butter theatre company, check them out on their website now!!!!!

Sunday 24 June 2012

The Olympic Torch was here and then it wasn't.

I have just done something that i have never done before -no not the washing up - i have just seen the Olympic torch. It was coming through Huddersfield where i live so i thought i'd go and see it. They were a lot of poeple waiting by the road by the train station. It was a bit late and they were loads of policemen on motorbikes high fiving the crowd. A bit of a carnival atmosphere.A few other buses and things went past and then the torch appeared. It was being held by a lady who kind of jogged past us. I don't know if you should really be running with a burning bit of metal but there you go. The whole thing took 2 seconds and that was it. The Olympic torch was here and then it wasn't. Everybody stared walking off. A few of them were saying Is that it? But hey, i've never seen it before and might not see it again so i reckon twas a good thing to do. Anyway i had to get back because England are playing Italy in the quarter final of the Euros. Gulp. Wonder if they'll be a torch...

Friday 22 June 2012

Look Up

I was up in Newcatsle the other day, doing some stuff up there in the posh library that they have got. I got there early and went for a cuppa. I watched people walking past and everyone looked a bit dowen in the dumps. So, as i sat there watching, i wrote a poem about looking on the bright side...

Look Up

Don't stare at your shoes
as you shuffle round town
Look up, look up, look up
when dust and dirt is all around
look up, look up, look up

When things get a little hard to bare
take a deep breath and then take care
hold you head high and keep it there
Look up, look up, look up


Look on the bright side
don't be afraid
look up, look up, look up
soon you'll fizz like lemonade
Look up, look up, look up

Step out of the shadows and into the sun
make a wish and have some fun
be the icing on life's bun
look up, look up, look up

Friday 15 June 2012

Away With Words

I am making a documentary for BBC Radio Leeds in July. Its called away With Words and the radio is going to record me in a school for a day. I'm going to talk to the young people, like i normally do and have a laugh. I hope!!!!!! The theme of the program, got to have a theme y'see on the radio, is 'Hellos and Goodbyes'. The plan is this....i am going to go to Leeds train and bus stations, meet people and have a quick chat. Then i am going to waffle on in a poetic stylee about, well, hellos and goodbyes, then i am going into a school and write about what I've just been thinking about!! Hopefully it will be a bit more interesting to listen to then i have just made it sound and i'm really looking forward to it a lot. I love the radio, its just voices, but i have always liked listening to it, i like the pictures the voices paint in my head... I will be recording the doc over 2 days in July. The school is Field Head Carr Primary in Leeds who sound excited to be involved!!!

Hereford

Just come back from a couple of days in Hereford. I was hosting some book awards in the town hall. Its great to perform in a really big room cos your voice seems to go on forever and it can echo a lot when people laugh. Hereford and the surrounding area looks like a good place to me, lots of rolling fields and big hills that I'll have to walk up and explore. I was in hotel by the river Wye and a great old stone bridge. They were swans on the river and you could see the cathedral across the water. It was all a bit poetic. A big ta to Frankie, Julia, Rachel, Sarah and Helen for making me feel welcome and for the cups of coffee and buns.

Thursday 7 June 2012

Snail Varnish

Another pun poem coming up....

Snail Varnish

I'm onto you
you slippery snail
i've seen your
shiny, slimy trail
like a smear of snot
across the ground
that shows me where
you've been snailing around

If i want to find you
i follow the clue
of your snail varnish
that leads me to you

The Scaretaker

I've been messing about with puns recently - a pun is a play on words - like snail varnish instead of nail varnish, which sounds like a good title for a poem. I've come up with this one - The Scaretaker - which started this poem. It's dedicated to all the caretakers I meet on my travels!!!  

The Scaretaker

He’s the scaretaker
the man with the keys
to a magic cupboard no-one sees

He unlocks the door
when the day begins
mends a tap, empties the bins

The scaretaker
he’s a shadow on the wall,
a creak on the stairs, a footstep in the hall

Steely eyes
hands like claws
with his Mop of Doom he’ll clean the floors

If it’s broke he’ll fix it,
never fear
then like a ghost, he’ll disappear…….

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Footballski

Oh dear. Somethings afoot. Some strange and mysterious beast is about to come to call!! I ma talking about the European Football Championships!! AAARRRGGGHHH"!!!!!! I have watched En -ger-land play for years bow, since i was a little kiddywinky and its always painfull. I feel really sorry for genuine football fans who go through the same thing every week!! I kind of support Halifax Town but 30 odd years of that makes you feel a bit fed up with the game!! I like to watch football on the telly, like Match Of The day and all that. Love to get to a live gamne when i can. My mate , the poet Ian Bland is Poet In Residence at Wigan so i got some freebies and saw a few games there this season. Twas great to be sure. But watching En-ger-land is hard work cos we don't win anything, we don't get any luck and, truth be told, we are just not good enough when it comes to the crunch. I would love us to do well but thsi time, i ain't holding my breath.I am being ultra sensible and rational. Ps- COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thinking About Thinking

When schools close down for the holidays like now well that leave me with some free time to do stuff. I walk, i play the guitar, i write, i watch telly, i play football with my kids but what i mostly do is think. Cos i'm a poet i think quite a bit. I have always had a voice in my head, all my life, a voice talking to me, telling me things i didn't know i knew. Well i think aboit alsorts like writing and ideas. I have lots of ideas, writing ideas that i want to do and here are a few of them - Thinking about getting my brand new book POETRY BURP out as soon as i can Thinking about the next book after that. Thinking about next years BIG WALK -John O Groats to Lands End ( can i really really make it happen, lots of planning and talking to do....)and the book i will write about it. Thinking about writing another book for grown ups. I have already done one , a few years ago now, but i have another one taking shape in my head. Its going to called The Cake District i think. Thinking about trying to get into schools in Scotland. Never done it, would love to. Thinking about more overseas trips. Thinking about the next poem i'll write cos its always my favourite. Thinking about next year cos next year i celebrate TEN years as a professional writer. I know, i'm as amazed as you. Ten years getting away with it. Thats the reason i am doing the BIG WALK really. if not now when?? Thinking about the next radio documentary i am doing for BBC Radio Leeds. Its called Away With Words. Who says writers have holidays eh????

Thursday 31 May 2012

The Big Welsh Wander 2012

Yes!!!! We did the Big Welsh Walk and it all turned out to be all a bit fantastic!! All the schools were great, some of them even let us kip in the actual school itself!! BIG THANKYOUS go to Peter from Stepaside - for the bacon and fresh eggs straight from the chicken, Sharron Davies, not the swimmer from Manorbier and her dad who was called Lionheart or something, Jane from Stackpole and the butties, to Damon, the ex-Welsh Judo champion from Angle,he's had some scraps,Merrick the cricketer from Pennar, i knew a fella from Halifax once, heavy drinker he was, Heidi from Huddersfield in Roch and Jo Jones , it had to be Jones, and Mrs lewis for the proper welsh talking Solva school. Trypty-ping and offy coffee. A big ta also to Andy Williams, not the singer, from Broad Haven school who let us camp on the football field and to Ben, the barefoot bishop of Broad Haven - the place with free bubbles - for the tea and to Clive from St Ishmaels for helping with the bags. Thanks also to Eva Johns from the libraries for sorting the official stuff out. Thanks to the the weather for being kind to us all the way - how lucky were we??? Thanks also to the ever smiling Guru Of The Path who should be on his way to China as we speak, or as i type this....thanks to Alan, i never found his name out but he looked like an Alan for telling us about the sunbathing seals. Good luck also to Glynn and his war on Tesco!! Ta to the man who went and got us a cuppa in his car, just a bloke trying to help a stranger...ta also to the Puffin shuttle bus drivers who love a game of chicken on the little country lanes of Pembrokeshire. The pedal in the middle is the brake. Hello to the good people of Pant and Knockin. It was trip and a half. I won't forget it. I reckon when all the money comes in we will have raised about £900. All a bit on the amazing side really. I will get some pictures up on here when i can.

Friday 11 May 2012

All Welsh To Me

Helo, mae hyn yn y dyn Barddoniaeth a dwi yn edrych ymlaen at gerdded y Llwbr Artfordirol sir benfro gyda mi hen ffrind Andy. Eich gweld yn fuan!!

I Like To Walk It Walk It!!!

Yesterday i was on BBC Radio York talking about writing and poetry and how you get to be a poet and turn it into a job and all that kind of stuff. People seem to be interested in that which is great. I love being on the radio and its something i would like to do more of in the future. But lets get back to the prez. Doing the radio show was the last bit of work i had to do before setting off to Wales to walk the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path. For the last few weeks i have been looking at maps of the walk, reading books and looking for clips on You Tube by people who have done it. I like doing this stuff. Its kind of like research and you find out loads of stuff. Not just about the route you'll be walking and the places where you are going but about the history, the wildlife and alsorts. For example, i will be passing by a place called tenby where a man called Richard Recorde lived. You might not have heard of him but he invented sosmething you will all know about. Richard invented this = Yep, the equal sign. I never knew that!! What did people use before?

All i have to do now is pack my rucksack, drive down to Wales with Andy, my mate who's coming along again and er...walk 186 miles in 12 days. It might rain (it will), it might be windy, we might have a heatwave ( we won't), a mad sheep might chase after us, Andy might get attacked by a goose on a bike, aliens might beam me up in my tent....who knows what'll happen. Exciting innit!!

 My Just Giving page is now up and running but people have been having a few problems with it. If you can't get through on www.justgiving.com/craig-bradley please try www.justgiving.com/thatpoetrybloke. Any donations will be greatly appreciated - thank you!!!

Sunday 6 May 2012

Big Welsh Walk

Looking forward to the BIG WELSH WALK.

My old mate Andy and me are getting things together, like tents, rucksacks and thick socks!! It's a lovely day today and we are hoping to get a few nice days along the way. The schools in Wales have got on board and I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone. My Just Giving page is now up and running but people have been having a few problems with it. If you can't get through on www.justgiving.com/craig-bradley please try www.justgiving.com/thatpoetrybloke. Any donations will be greatly appreciated - thank you!!! We will try and blog whilst on route, but we could be in the middle of nowhere - so it might be when we get back before you hear anything!! Adios Amigos

Thursday 3 May 2012

The Edge Of The Sea

Been all over the place recently. I was down in Dudley at the Black Country Living Museum which was great then i was up in South Sheilds talking about how important books and reading are then i was in Rotheham at the launch of the brand shiny new Riverside libary - and very good it is too - and yesterday i was up in Sunderland at the young Librarian Awards in Castle View Academy. It was one of those new massive open plan schools. About 100 people came -mums and dads- and it was great do! I met Morgan who told me that his name means -The Edge Of The Sea. Never knew that. I also met Henrique and ben who were absolute satar performers and should be movie start in the future. Well done to all the winners and keep up the good work!!!

Wednesday 25 April 2012

And Still It Rains....

Where is all the rain coming from?? Its seems like it has been raining for weeks and weeks now. I have planted loads of flowers and stuff in the garden and they are like ENOUGH WITH THE RAIN, i mean i know we need some water but blimy!!! I am going on a BIG WALK -i'll tell you more about that later -in two weeks and i'm hoping that this wet weather is going to break and all the clouds shake hands and call it a day!! Come on Mr and Mrs Cloud, be friends will yer!!!!!I have forgotten what the sun looks like, er a banana? or it is an orange?? Dunno, i think i might open a shop that sells umbrellas and wellies and call it Umbrellas are US!! Or Wellyland or something. I'm just glad that my skin is waterproof. 3 Wet things that i don't like 1) Wet Bread 2) Smelly Wet Dogs 3) Socks

Mountains

I have just read a brilliant book called Mountains Of The Mind and its by a bloke called Robert Macfarlane. Its all about,er...mountains and why people want to climb them. Its great to discover a nerw writer that gets you thinking. Its like learning to read all over again!! If you like mountains then you should read it. I am reading another book by the same bloke called Wild Places and thats brilliant as well. There is a bit in it where he talks about a snowflake landing on his sleeve and melting away like a ghost passing through a wall. Wild Places, its brilliant!!

Wednesday 18 April 2012

Other Peoples Back Gardens

I was in Walsall this week at Whitehall Infants and got the train there and back. On trains you go past lots of peoples back gardens and as i was looking out of the window this poems kind of appeared.....

Sneak out in your back garden
and peep over the wall
in other peoples back gardens
you can see it all....

I've seen a rabbit hutch
and a sports car on bricks
I've seen an old ambulance
that nobody wants to fix

I've seen a million trampolines
with kids bouncing up and down
I've seen an old boat
going rusty and brown

I've seen a shopping trolley
and a mattress for a bed
saw a bloke in a vest once
painting a shed

I've seen a paddling pool
and a big pile of tyres
a donkey, some ducks
and a load of bonfires

i once saw a cat
that got stuck up a tree
in other peoples back gardens
who knows what you'll see...

I'd Rather Make Flapjacks

I have another new book coming out soon and at the moment i am reading through it to make sure that everything is OK before it gets all printed up. Doing this is called proofing and you have to read and read and read to make sure that everything is right and all the bits are in the right place and everything!! You have to put full stops where they should be and all that kind of thing. Its one of those writing jobs I'm not that fond of to be honest but you have to get it right. I like writing and having ideas and i like making those idea as good as i can but putting dots and dashes in the right place.....i think I'd rather make flapjacks.
The book is called POETRY BURP and will be out soon!!!!!
I hope.

Thursday 5 April 2012

Kayak V Canoe...which ones bestt??? FIGHT!!!!

Just come back from a great overnight do in East Barnby with North Yorkshires Looked After Children. I stayed over in a little bunk bed about as big as , er, me!! I spoke to young people about poetry and had a laugh and they went canoeing and kayaking on the river Esk, all dressed in wetsuits and all the great. They looked like Umpa Lumpers or something!!! I asked the expert, a great bloke called mike, what the difference is between a kayak and a canoe and its all a bit complicated. It can depend on where you live and how you paddle it!! You can actually canoe in a kayak and kayak in a canoe...so now you know..... It was a great day out, it rained a bit and got a bit cold but still great fun. A BIG thank you to Helen at NYLAC for asking em and allowing me!!! to come along in the first place...by the way kayak is the same spelt backwards.....yeah man!!!

Monday 2 April 2012

The BIG WELSH WALK 2012

Last year i walked the Coast To Coast path, all 200 miles of it. I performed in 8 schools along the way and raised £1600 for CLIC Sargent, the children's cancer charity. This year i am walking the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path and doing the same thing!! My old mate Andy The Trudger Amos is coming along again. So far i am visiting 5 schools along the way. I hope to get the permission to go into a couple more. If you are reading this, and live in Pembrokeshire and can help, then please let me know!! I am doing the walk from May 14th to 26th. They will be loads more about the walk on my website soon.

Back To Norn Iron!!!

Last week i went to Belfast in Norn Iron -Northern Ireland. I flew there on a little plane with propellers and everything. I have been to Norn Iron 4 times before, visiting schools and i always enjoy it. This time i was performing at the Northern Ireland Children's Book Awards. The event was held in a big, serious college where everyone whispered and looked important. There was 2 hundred young peeeples from schools all over the place. Everyone voted for their favourite book and the winner was Gansta Granny by David Walliams. My son Ben has a copy and i told everyone that i would read it when i get the chance. I have a big wobbly pile of books om my desky-wesky and i have to read all them first!! So HELLO to everyone i met in Belfast and a big TA to the people from the libraries for asking me along.

Thursday 22 March 2012

Frogs and Fish and Big Muddy Puddles

Yesterday i went for a walk up a big hill called Ingleborough. I have been up this hill many times before but i still love walking up it. It is an awesome looking thing with a flat top and steep sides and it can be seen from miles around. Anyway...i scrambled to the top and then walked down a different way. It was really steep and muddy so i tried to be careful. I ended up doing a great comedy fall!! I slipped on the mud and went bum first straight into a big old muddy puddle!! SPLASH!! Even thought they was no-one around to see me i still made an effort and made it look like a comedy fall. I'm always performing y'see!!I think the sheep liked it!! Then i walked with mud dripping of me to the fish pond at the bottom and saw er...some fish and about 50 frogs. Frog were croaking, showing off and going a bit mad. Then i heard something that sounded like a big, i mean really big, lawnmower. I looked up and saw a helicopter, a massive one with 2 blades flying about 5 feet from my head!! Well it was more but it was close. So i had a great day, fish, frogs, big helicopters and a muddy comedy fall!!

Monday 19 March 2012

Chocky Wocky Do Da

First day off in a long time today. over the last five weeks i have been in schools all over the place from Essex to Rotherham to Manchester to Leeds to Blackpool, Wakefield, Stockport, Batley, Liverpool, Richmond and Nottngham and more.....
I have driven about 2000 miles, done about 100 shows and performed to around 3500 people. Thats a lot of poems!!! Today though i well, i did this blog, kipped on the settee and read a book. I ran out of coffee and went to town for a wander. I did some stuff in the garden, like tidy up and wrote a title of a poem in my notebook. The poem is called Chocky Wocky Do Da. I haven't written the poem yet but the idea has landed...y'se when you are a poet, and WE ARE ALL POETS, even on a day off you are still thinking about stuff, the old cogs are still turning. Chocky Wocky Do Da, well it sounds good, kinda funny, baby talk, i suppose it has to be a poem about chocolate or does it.....

Sunday 11 March 2012

The Tornado And The Worm

My son Jack is into trampolining. He makes up tricks and stuff and generally bounces about having a great time. He gives his tricks cool sounding names like Back Bomb, Knee Bomb and Bum Bomb. Today he made up one called the Tornado and one called the Worm. The Tornado is like a big twister and the worm is where you jump really high and wriggle in mid-air. Its a bit like dancing. His fave is the Back Bomb which i invented!! I never had a trampoline when i was 8 but i would have loved one in the garden. All we had in the garden was the er...garden.

Sunday 26 February 2012

Laptop People

Twas indeed a crazy mad week last week. 750 miles, 5 schools, 23 hours of performances to around 1200 people!! I still had time to write a quick poem though....

Laptop People

You see them in the park
you see them in the street
you see them in the cafe
when they get something to eat
drink and a doughnut, coffee and a bap
the laptop people
tap tap tap

Download a document
download a map
the laptop people
tap tap tap

You see them in the supermarket
you see them on the bus
they never ever stop
cos they're always in a rush
way too busy to take a quick nap
the laptop people
tap tap tap

They'll never escape
the computor trap
the laptop people
tap tap tap

Thursday 16 February 2012

Toast On Beans

Toast On Beans

Day one made I some toast on beans
made I them tea my for
tea had I all own my on
which means beans me for more!!

My friend round came house to my
just to hello say
she had a little pie of piece
and we'll tomorrow play

Words these are up all jumbled
the order wrong seems all
glad i'm this poem is too long not
its just a nice one small!!

Monday 13 February 2012

WORDSURFING - Eyes and Teeth

The word DAISY comes from the saying the days eye. Being a flower the daisy closes up at night and then opens up in the morning when the sun comes out. The old people from years ago thought that when it opened up it looked like an eye, an eye that signalled the start of a new day. That's how we get the days eye/daisy!! Flowertastic or what!!!

Speaking of flowers and stuff, the DANDELION gets its name from the french meaning dent de lion which means lions teeth. Over the years this got changed to dandy lion then to dandelion. Cool eh!!

By the way, a dandelion is not a weed, a weed is just a flower in the wrong place so in a cabbage patch a rose would be a weed!! Its just how you look at tings innit!!

Rivet The Robot - Part 1 - The Beginning

It was the first day of half term today so i did the only thing i could do...i started making a robot on the kitchen table. To be honest i haven't really got a kitchen table but that's a detail you don't need to know..although you know it now....anyway, the robot thing...my mate Andrew the Robot Man Amos wanted a robot so i said I'd make one. Its not a real metal one that moves like Robocop and all that but a cardboard box kind of model one with papier mache ( is that how you spell that?) and glue and bits of sticky tape, y'know the kind of robot you make at school when you're 7 and its indoor play cos its raining outside.
The robot is going to be called Rivet and the plan is to make him/her this week ( i think its a him, i think a girl robots wouldn't be called Rivet, she'd be Rivetta) and when i do I'll take a photo and put it on here and the next thing i'll do then is, well that's obvious, the next thing I'll do is build an army of robots and take over the entire world...then I'll be able to get a REAL kitchen table....

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Sunlight On Snow

I was up in Newcastle libraries yesterday and as the train went up through North Yorks the sun came out and lit up all the snow that was on the ground. It was beautiful and i thought that i'd better do something so i did this....

Sunlight On Snow

Its just like
some Hollywood special FX
when sunlight shines on snow
the snowflakes dazzle
alive with light
that makes them glitter and glow

The whole world becomes a diamond
as it puts on a show
this miracle happens everytime
i see sunlight on snow

Monday 6 February 2012

Read Yourself Away

In the Library Read away with Craig Bradley That Poetry Bloke



Sometimes i forget just how many poems i have written. There are poems that i read out in schools and then there are othes that just wait in the book until i happen to come across them. Well i was in Chester library on saturday performing some poems when Carol, the library lady asked if i could write a song about the library. I started writing some words and it rang a bell in my head. I thought i have done something like this before. I wrote a poem a while ago called Read Yourself Away and i dug it out and put it to music. Sometimes its a good thing to go back and have a look at some old poems that you have written and give them a chance!!











Click the play button to hear the song I hope you enjoy it!!



Read Yourself Away

In the library you'e never alone
with a world of books to call your own

Monsters, pirates, wizards and elves
are waiting for you on the shelves

Books with maps, books with cars
books with horses, books with stars

Books are just like little boats
flowing with the tide

they'll open up a brand new world
and take you on a ride

If you've never been on one
why not start today?

Sail into a sea of books
and read yourself away

Tuesday 31 January 2012

WInter Tales

Winter tales - Been getting up at daft O Clock and going into schools. The mornings are dark and freezing - sheets of ice are nailed to the street with stars - so i have to scrape the windscreen of my car. The frost does make cool pattern on the glass, swirls and stuff like a modern painting.
-Then i get in the car. I can see my breath, its cold so i put the blowers on. After a bit they warm the car but are loud like a cow snoring, so i can't really hear the radio. I hear bits of songs like the chorus and thats it. La la la la. Then all day i have a bit of a song in my head. And the sound of snoring cows.
- You drive past people shivering at bus stops. People should look bigger in the cold cos of all the big coats but i think the cold makes people shrink. Like Umpalumpers
-When i drive i wear a hat, a scarf and gloves cos the steering wheel is freezing. I look like old car drivers used to look when cars were first invented and didn't have windows or a roof. I'd really like one of those clown style HONK horns like the old cars used to have.
- Then i tend to get lost a lot on my travels. I use people as my sat nat and always ask the way. Sometime they have no idea, sometimes they know and really help and sometimes they get a fancy phone out of their pockets with maps on it. They look at me with sad faces cos i haven't got one, like i am a person from the past. I kind of like that. La la la la.

Monday 16 January 2012

Ten Quid

A coupla blogaroos ago i banged on about titles for poems and one was Ten Quid, its a kinda lesson on how not to spend ten quid, but then again, maaybe its what ten quids are really for....you decide......

Ten Quid

I've got a little moneybox
I keep it on the shelf
I think I'm gonna empty it
and go and treat myself

So I counted all the money out
and that is what I did
I went down the cornershop
and spent ten quid

I've always been a spender me
never been a saver
I bought a bag of Monster Munch
Pickled Onion Flavour

Then I bought a Snickers Bar
then I bought another
I will keep one just for me
and the give one to my brother

Then I bought some M and Ms
and some chewing gum
Then I bought a chocolate flake
especially for my mum

I really wanted doughnuts
but the shops had none
so i blew the rest on sweets and stuff
and my ten quid had gone......

Colder Than Ice - cream

With the winter comes the dark cold frosty mornings. Oh yeah. Because i get up at daft o'clock when i am visiting schools everything in the winter is pitch black. Take this morning. I was in a school in Manchester which is only about 30 odd miles away from my house. Well, this morning, cos it was freezorama it took me two hours to do a one hour trip!!!! It took me about twenty minuto to de-ice the car. I have a little winter kit that i take with me -- woolly hat, gloves and scarf, big ugly leather jacket, fancy cup that keeps a cuppa coffee warm, although this morgan freeman it didnae work cos it was cold. Five degrees below freezing. think about that. This morning it was colder than ice-cream. I got a bit lost cos i always do. Maybe i should invest in a sat nav, but i like maps and the thrill of finding a place!! makes me feel like i have accomplished a great and noble deed. The misery of getting lost is eclipsed by the thrill of the find.

More chilly starts coming up this week!! Keep wrapped up and stay toasty.

Thursday 12 January 2012

The Ten Quid Grown Up Table

I have had these three titles for poems flying around in my head for ages. The three are one called Ten Quid, another called Wobbly Table and the last one is Groan Ups. I like titles but sometimes three come at once and you don't know which one to start. Lets have a look... The Ten Quid one i like because i haven't seen a poem called that and it just sounds dead normal, like people say it all the time. I think its important for so called normal things to turned into poems, so i'll get to work on that. But hang on a mo, i like the Wobbly Table idea as well, because it sounds like it could be funny. Like you could start this one by saying...These table is really wonky/ like a three legged donkey...and say where you end up. But the Groan Ups title is great cos it has a pun in the title. a PUN is a a play on words and the play on words word in the title is groan, cos you don't say groan ups you say grown ups, so i'll give that a shot as well. I can't wait to get started on these poems but first i have to put a new shelf up in the Imagination Station, which is the room where i work. Hang on..Imagination Station, sounds cool, could easily be a poem, infact come to think of it so could New Shelf......

Monday 9 January 2012

150 not out.

This is my 150th blog entry. I feel like i should have a big cake and loads of spam and beetroot butties!! I sometimes wonder who reads this stuff but if anyone does please let me know.
Happy 150th!!!

Wednesday 4 January 2012

Evil Archie is watching.....

I am trying to get better at blogging and i want to get more stuff on here, pictures of daft stuff that i see on my travels, and videos, that kind of thing. My mate Evil Archie has told me to get upto date with all the new gizmos and to improve my techo abilities so i will try my best!!

Books and Stuff

Got this book from the library. I saw it on the telly and thought it was brilliant but the book is even better. Its called Planet Word and its all about language and words . Its a big 400 page hardback so i better go and get stuck into it!! This year i want to read more , i read a lot anyway but i want to do it more and so i'm going to read all the books that i have got and not buy anymore....

Check it out yourself!!!