Last night, I had a brief chat with a mate about Jurgen Klopp taking up a job with the Red Bull football franchise. This has totally alienated an army of German football fans, who adored him, from his previous jobs at Mainz and Dortmund. To them, he has sold his soul. My friend is a Liverpool fan and less bothered, but I have to say that I'll never see Klopp as the purist we thought he was again. It does seem that he's sold his soul to Redbull for cash and turned his back on Dortmund, who are one of the most admirable clubs of all. Apart from Red Bull, the Bundesleague is a far more admirable league than our own, IMHO.
I was reminded of all this later. I was lucky enough to see the Northern lights. The band had just had a reheasal, which was absolutely wonderful. I came out feeling mega energised. I got home and took our mutt out for a late night comfort break. When I looked up, I saw a pink hue in the sky. Sadly, the street lights in Mill Hill prevent a really magnificent show. I was tempted to drive out to Shenley for a better view, but it was late and I had work to get up for. But it was magnificent and I took some amazing pictures.
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My mind went back to a conversation I had with my Dad when I was but a wee nipper. Dad had been a WWII bomber pilot. I had been reading about the Northern Lights and he said "The best time I ever saw them was when I was flying". Being from Australia, he'd never seen them, but he was doing some night flying practice and he saw a magnificent display. He was quite taken, but when he mentioned this to his CO, he was brought down to earth. "They make it easier for night fighters to see you, they are not your friend". Dad then said "It was a cursory lesson, not everything that is beautiful is your friend, sometimes it can be a trap".
He then recounted a story that an old priest had told him, when he was about twelve years old. A man had been down on his luck, when the devil appeared to him. The Devil said "what is your problem?". The man replied "I don't have enough money to eat, I am sleeping on the street and my family don't want to know me". The Devil said "That s really sad, how can I help you?". The man replied "Well if you gave me a million pounds that would help". The Devil said "What can you give me in return?", the man said "I have nothing?". To this, the Devil replied "You have something I want very much". The man asked what this was. The Devil replied "Your soul". The man thought about it. What was a soul anyway, with a million pounds he could have everything he wanted. When the time came, maybe he could go to church and get a blessing and lift the curse?, why not. So he said "Ok, you have a deal". The Devil took out a contract and a million pounds. The man signed and the Devil gave him a suitcase filled with cash. The Devil said "Enjoy, I will see you again when the time comes to collect your soul". The man was overjoyed and set off to check into the finest hotel he could find. He was going to have a wonderful time. As he approached the hotel, he felt a tightening in his chest. His heart gave out. As his soul was departing his body, the Devil appeared and said "I've come to collect what is mine" The man said "But I've not spent my money". The Devil replied "You are a fool, you should have checked that you had time left to enjoy your money". The man expired and the devil picked up the case of money and went on his way.
The story disturbed me at the time. It seemed very unfair. My Dad explained that if something is too good to be true, it probably is. He said "Many times when you grow up, you will find yourself in this situation, it will not be the devil or a million pounds, but if someone wants something you have, which you think has no value, and they are prepared to pay a lot, ask youself why?". I asked Dad if he'd ever seen the Devil. His response was even more awful than I could imagine. He said "We can all see the devil any time we want". I was surprised. He said "I can show you the devil, you won't come to any harm, I'll keep you safe". I was intrigued, how could Dad show me the devil. But I knew he'd never let me come to any harm. I thought he had a picture or a machine. So I said yes. He said "Shut your eyes, if you open them before I say, a terrible thing will happen". So I fixed them hard shut. I held his hand, he went upstairs and then picked me up. He said "Are you sure you want to see the Devil". I said "Yes". He said "Well open your eyes now and stare straight ahead". I opened my eyes and looked straight ahead. Can you guess what I was looking at?
To my amazement, I was looking at myself in the mirror. I was very confused and a tad disappointed. I expected to see a horrible monster. Dad then explained "The only time the Devil will ever harm you is when you let him, he's inside all of us, every time you want to do a bad thing, that's him egging you on. All the bad things in the world are caused when people get greedy and let the devil within them steal their soul and feed their greed." This really disturbed me, so I said "So how do I stop the devil?". Dad replied "That is the easiest thing in the world. Be nice, don't cheat people, don't steal and and don't hurt people. So long as you do good things and try and be decent you'll be fine.
It made an impression on me. I am not sure it had quite the effect Dad hoped. I spent a couple of weeks terrified that if I was naughty, the devil would take me over and I'd turn into Satan. Then I started to think about it. Plenty of the boys at my school were naughty regularly but they were also quite nice most of the time. I figured that so long as I wasn't too naughty I'd be OK. After a couple of months, I asked my Dad if he was worried about the Devil taking him over. It was the question that I figured would give me some idea of the scale of the problem. His response was "Of course not, I go to Church". I was a bit irritated that I'd worried all this time, when the solution was simple and he hadn't explained.
I hadn't really thought about this for a long time, but the Northern Lights reminded me of it. The way Dad described seeing them, from his plane was amazing. I've seen many photo's and they backed up this, but sadly the Mill Hill lights weren't quite as spectacular. It got me thinking about bucket lists. How many things do you desperately want to do, but don't live up to your expectations. I thought of the story of the man that Dad told. It's not having a million pounds that gives you the fun, it's spending it. In fact, you won't get the full value till it's gone. I've often thought of the story and how the bloke should have played it. Of course the answer is you don't sell your soul, but can you get out of the deal once you've made it?
The situation with Klopp answered a couple of such questions I've pondered on most of my life. The dad truth for Klopp is that he's tarnished his reputatation with the fans who built his reputation. He may not care, he has the dosh, but now he's seen as apart of the problem, not part of the solution. It is like your virginity, you only lose it once. In the real world, it is not the Devil that buys our soul. It is mundane greed that kills it. As I mentioned above, our rehearsal was brilliant last night. You can't buy the feeling I had. For me, money really isn't that important. I want enough to get by. Sure, I'd love to win a million or ten on the lottery, but if I did win it, I think I'd rather build a better studio and save a few grassroots venues (once I'd paid the mortgage off) than go on a champagne/cocaine/hookers binge with the proceeds. I guess I am a boring sod at heart, but I prefer the cheap seats at football, the smelly grotty music pubs and the company of friends to anything else. So long as I have that, I really don't need anything else. What would I do with a million pounds anyway apart from clear the mortgage and I'll do that sometime anyway. I do however worry that my missus might sign for me, if I was incapacitated and it meant she could get rid of me. I'd better check that power of attourney.
Here's a bit of fun for you weekend from my band, the False Dots on the glory of old motors!
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