G: Hello, my hairy relative

Look in to the eyes of a gorilla - preferably a living, breathing one right in front of you - and you will surely come to the conclusion that you and the gorilla share at least some common ancestry.

And that, at least as far as I'm concerned, is a real reason to be cheerful. We should count ourselves lucky to share some genetic links with these noble, impressive animals.

I have looked gorillas in the eye, but before you run away with the idea I am some sort of David Attenborough or Dian Fossey, I should point out that my close encounter with gorillas was at Howletts, the wild animal park in the Kent countryside.

A gorilla deep in thought.

It might be that in an ideal world there would be no gorillas for me to meet in the wilds of Kent, they would all be in Africa living long and happy lives. But this is a far from ideal world and all types of gorilla are classified as Critically Endangered. At Howletts and its sister park at Port Lympne, also in Kent, there have been 130 gorilla births which presumably indicates that the animals feel "at home" enough to reproduce successfully.

As I said earlier, in an ideal world the gorillas would all be having a high old time in their natural habitat and in that sense this reason to be cheerful is also a reason to be sad because by far the biggest threat to gorillas is humans. There is a big trade in their meat and deforestation drastically reduces their habitat. In addition, they fall victim to the Ebola virus.

So, while I might look a gorilla in the eye and feel privileged to share some ancestry, he might look at me and wish that I and all my kind would just leave him alone.

Anyone who was reading my Blogging A to Z entries last year and who is blessed with a retentive memory might recall that I expressed admiration for The Kinks. Not much wonder, because they have written tons of good songs including Apeman, which seems an obvious, but dare I say brilliant, choice to go with this posting.

• Question: Have you ever been able to be close to a gorilla? Tell us more in the comments section, we want to know.

 * Gorilla picture by Dozyg (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

F: It's a reason of two halves

Some of you may have worked out from the title of this post that the letter F reason to be cheerful is football. Let's be clear about this, I am talking about what is technically known as association football, in which the round ball is kicked. Americans are inclined to refer to this game as soccer.

Cue a collective groan from all those who can't stand football. Well, I'm sorry, but I like football and I happen to think that at its basic level it is a very democratic sport. I accept that its international administration does resemble the activities of the Medici family in 15th and 16th century Italy, but in some ways that is partly why I like the sport. The political manoeuvring can be fascinating.

Football can offer something for everyone - tears and laughter, pleasure and pain. It is a lesson in life: strive and you will succeed, except for when you don't and some feckless chancers come out on top causing you untold angst.

I have no doubt that there are fans of many other sports who are adamant that their chosen sports are superior to football. All I would observe is that football is one of the few sports where kids will just get on and play it in the street or wherever they happen to be. They may play it badly, following rules that they interpret in their own way, but give them a ball - any size will do - or even just a tin can and they'll get on with it.

Youth football in Cambodia. Most of the  players appear to be
barefoot apart from one who has just one flip-flop.

For sure, it is easy, and not unfair, to be critical of football for the way the top tiers of the game are dominated by money, but for those of us who follow more humble teams, money only becomes an issue because there's not enough of it. As long as our team survives to fight another day and maybe, just maybe, has a really good result which leads us to think that this will be the season they exceed expectations then we're happy.

So why the title for this post? Those of you familiar with football pundits, those people whose ability to talk seems to be in inverse proportion to being able to come up with any meaningful comments, are reputed to refer to football as "a game of two halves".  In football-watching circles this is known as stating the bleedin' obvious, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Lots of songs to go with football, some better than others. New Order's World in Motion was recorded to be the official England team song for the Italia 90 World Cup. Sadly, not even having a group such as New Order doing your team song was enough of a help although England did get through to the semi-finals. Ah, well, there's always Russia 2018....if we qualify.

• Question: Do you support a football team? If so, which one? If not, why not? Answers in the comments section beneath, please. For those of you who are wondering, I support Gillingham, pride of the middle reaches of English League One.

* Picture of Cambodian footballers used under General Product Licence.

E: Food for thought

This reason to be cheerful is a necessity and I am conscious that I could end up looking like a glutton by mentioning it. Anyway, E is for eating.

It's a tricky subject. These days eating can almost be a political act; what you eat, how much you eat, even why you eat. In a world where there are too many people who do not have enough, or sometimes anything, to eat for me to mention eating as a reason to be cheerful might seem thoughtless, but I hope not.

Although I am not one for saying grace before meals I am very fond of what is known as the Selkirk Grace. It is often attributed to Scotland's national poet Robert Burns, but there is a suggestion that it pre-dates him. No matter, it is the sentiment it contains that I like.

This is how the version with which I am familiar goes:

Some hae meat and canna eat, 
   And some wad eat that want it; 
But we hae meat, and we can eat, 
  And sae the Lord be thankit

To me it neatly sums up the feeling of thankfulness we should all have when we eat. In my book there's never anything wrong with counting your blessings and having food is one of mine.

A British soldier eats his midday meal in a trench
in the snow, while manning part of the front line
along the River Maas in Holland, 8 January 1945.

I chose this picture because to me it underlines what I was saying about counting your blessings. I imagine this soldier would have been glad to have had something to eat and, from the look of him, not have to worry at the same time about enemy action. I'm not sure what he's eating, but it looks to me as if he enjoyed it.

There's a fairly historical feel to this posting so the music carries on in the same vein with music hall artiste Harry Champion singing Boiled Beef and Carrots. I've never eaten boiled beef and carrots, but according to the song it's very good for you. Who knew?

• Question: Have you ever eaten boiled beef? What was it like? I'll be honest it doesn't sound very nice to me. 

* Soldier picture by No 5 Army Film & Photographic Unit, Norris (Sgt) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

D: What would I write about without this man?

Without Ian Dury I wouldn't have the "Reasons to be Cheerful" theme for my entry in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and, more importantly, without Ian Dury my life would be an emptier place.

His songs continue to give me great joy and it's possible I enjoy them more now than when I first started listening to them when I was a teenager.

While many of Ian Dury's songs have a humorous side, others are darker, but all take a delight in using language. What sets the songs off so well is the musical setting, that glorious mix of jazz, rock and roll, funk, reggae and even a bit of music hall.

Sadly, Ian Dury died from cancer at the age of 57, but I hope from the music I put with this posting that you can get a real sense of the vitality of the man.

I'm not going to go on and on with this posting. Instead I want to offer two pieces of music for your, I hope, enjoyment. The first is Ian Dury and the Blockheads performing What a Waste, which was a hit for the band in the late 1970s.

The second Ian Dury song is My Old Man, a gentle, reflective song, but still with a driving bass line. Some of the pictures on the video go better with the song than others, but I think you'll still enjoy the song.

• Question: Have you got a favourite Ian Dury song? If not, why not? Go out and find one. Be warned some of them have quite a bit of swearing in them, but swearing in a "nice" way.

C: Ooh matron! I can see your double entendre

This reason to be cheerful is almost certain to have some people feeling exactly the reverse, but my blog, my rules etc etc and any film franchise that can come up with the line "Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me" can get away with a lot.

Yes, I'm talking about Carry On films, a uniquely British comedy institution which made dozens of films taking their inspiration from music hall and bawdy seaside postcards.

Why do I, a man known for his artistic sensibilities, like Carry On? Well, they make me snigger. This is different to roll around on the floor laughing. Sniggering is something teenagers do when an otherwise innocent phrase strikes them as having a rude meaning. Those of you who have seen any of the 31 Carry On films will know that is the basic method of getting a laugh. Those of you who haven't seen any of the films please don't worry, I've not given away any major secret.

I was probably still a child when I saw my first Carry On film and I still like watching them now I'm a grandparent. I think that should tell you something about the nature of the jokes in the films, which were all called Carry On and then a word appropriate to the content. So after Carry On we got words including Doctor, Camping, Screaming, Nurse, and, one of my personal favourites, Up The Khyber.

The films, which were made for a pittance, featured the same cast over and over again and in some senses they played the same roles over and over again. What is more, you can see the jokes coming from a mile away, but no matter there is still something strangely innocent about them and they cheer me up.

There are numerous jokes so bad they're good that could be quoted from Carry On films, but this will always remain one of my favourites.The line is from Carry On Cleo and is uttered by the late and great Kenneth Williams.

As to music to go with this, well, it's proved a little difficult. I've chosen Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas. This, by the way, was not the title of one of the Carry On films. The video is worth watching if only because it will make you wonder whether Spinal Tap was such a spoof, after all.

• Question: Do you like watching Carry On films or would you sooner be repeatedly slapped round the face with a piece of wet cod? I suppose it's possible some of you have never even seen one of the films, if so, it's time to give yourself a treat.

B: A bundle of joy...we hope

What better reason to be cheerful could there be than my letter B in this challenge which takes us to the very beginning for us all, yes, that's right, babies.

To hold a newborn baby in your arms is to hold hope. To think of anything other than the potential for good embodied in that baby is to give in to all that can make life so dark.

I am aware that giving birth and raising babies is hard work and that some people are decidedly ambivalent about having children, but even so, my point remains, each and every baby that is born could grow up to be the most wonderful person ever.

A baby, er, hatching out.

For those of you who do not already know, babies do not hatch out of eggs as the illustration above appears to suggest. Having listed babies as a reason to be cheerful, I am fully aware that some babies grow up to be wrong 'uns, ranging from people who park selfishly at the supermarket to full-blown monsters who become mass murderers. Be that as it may, without hope, without clinging on at least a little bit to the possibility of goodness in all of us we might as well throw the towel in now, and I'm not ready to do that.

Today's musical offering to send you whistling on your way is Rachel Sweet singing B-A-B-Y. It's not about babies as such, but it does have the word baby in it a lot. Also it is a mighty fine single from Stiff Records, which, of course, was Ian Dury's label and he gave us Reasons To Be Cheerful.

• Question: Are babies bundles of joy or do you agree with writer Cyril Connolly, who said: "There is no more sombre enemy of good art than the pram in the hall." Not that I'm trying to influence you in the comments I hope you leave but...c'mon now, Cyril, lighten up a bit.

*  Picture of baby from Wellcome Images and used under a Creative Commons Lience.

A: Only small, but packing a tasty punch

And off we go! It's the start of the A to Z Challenge in which I am writing about reasons to be cheerful.

Inspired by Ian Dury and the Blockheads' single Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3, my choices might appear idiosyncratic, but I suppose we all have our foibles.

So my A reason to be cheerful is the anchovy. They're only small fish but they add a lot to all sorts of dishes and I love 'em.

I realise they're not to everyone's taste and if you happen to be related to an anchovy - I dunno, it might be possible - you might not like the idea of me eating one of your relatives.

Be that as it may, anchovies are eaten all around the world in various forms. Their strong taste comes from the curing process and if eaten uncured they have a much more mild flavour. Anyway, it's the smack round the tastebuds I like them for.

Anchovies appear in all sorts of dishes ranging from pizzas to beef stews. Yes, that's right, a beef stew can be made even tastier with the judicious addition of a few anchovies. No, I don't think you then need to call it beef and anchovy stew.

A PERFECT MEAL: A box of anchovies and a tomato.

Music plays an important part in my blogging and I try to pick music that's appropriate to the subject. So, songs about anchovies? Well, actually there is one, sort of, and here it is. It's from the popular cartoon show Spongebob Squarepants and if you listen very carefully you will hear the word anchovies, but maybe only once.

I'm not going to make this entry too long, we've got a long way to go and I don't want to wear you out, but just a couple more points. I should say at this stage that not all my entries in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge will be about food, although it is a subject close to my heart. Also I'd really welcome your comments in the section below.

• Question: Do you like anchovies or do they send you heading for the restaurant door? Give me your answers and any other views in the comments section.

To find out more about the Blogging from A to Z Challenge click on the badge at the top right.

* Anchovies picture taken by Kurt Kulac and used under a Creative Commons licence.