Showing posts with label Dave Gilmour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dave Gilmour. Show all posts

Monday 26 April 2021

Reading and Pain

This morning I started the second book in the Adversary series by F Paul Wilson (“The Tomb” introducing, I think , Repairman Jack) after finishing “The Keep” which I found a good read although it’s not to everyone’s taste.Second World War intertwined with Gothic horror and “The Tomb” is a continuation although the ending of “The Keep” did not really indicate that there may be a sequel. The Michael Mann was apparently a financial and artistic disaster but does have a cult following but with Ian McKellen and Gabriel Byrne in the cast I will have to revisit it. I am sure I have watched it, but like so many many times I think I thought the film was not up to the book.


This morning when I got up I had some fairly awful lower back pain , finding it difficult to stand upright , and realising that maybe sometimes those bent old people I sometimes see out may be suffering like this. I was finding it difficult to even climb the stairs but still went out for a brief walk, forcing myself upright and eventually the pain did subside. Possibly I had been sleeping awkwardly but the more I walked the less aggressive the pain became. I am not a fan of pain, and it is a sign that there is something wrong. While I don’t mind using pain killers , I won’t use them to be able to do something that is potentially damaging my actual self.


I have to say that using Google Docs to produce the initial draft of my posts for Vocal and for SevenDaysIn is working out. Docs has a running word count so I know what I am aiming for and whether I need to share anything else to hit my word target.


At this point I am about half way through the post, and there are plenty of things going through my head that are worth mentioning.


The music I have been playing while I work has included a couple of early Pink Floyd extracts from the Peter Whitehead documentary “Let's All Make Love In London” from around 1967with an almost embarrassing interview with David Hockney complaining about drinks being a pound in London , although he makes the point that in a New York you could meet a plumber or a film producer , rich and and not so rich and vice versa.. There is also a short Lee Marvin one which has him going on about mini skirts.


Then it was The Decemberists with “Long Live The King” and great twenty five minute mini album which vaguely reminded me of Little Feat who I listened to a lot last week, and have now added to my Google Pixel 2XL phone.


I followed that with David Gilmour’s “Rattle That Lock” which has wonderful cover art work although I find the music a little pedestrian, but as he is Dave Gilmour he can do what he pleases. In my opinion he has still to top his stunning debut eponymous solo album.


Currently I am playing “National Treasures” by Manic Street Preachers , over the top and pretentious but very listenable rock and they have had a lot of hits and a lot of “should be” hits, and thanks to modern music media is very easy to play and listen to. The package is very well presented and also includes a DVD, so when I got it was an absolute bargain.


As I look out of my window it;s still very grey (or should that be gray? Isn’t the English language such fun) . i am surprised that we haven’t had any rain but sure that will come when we need it, it usually does.


Friday 25 October 2019

Odd Socks - #Oktoberfest #30 - Baby Lemonade - Syd Barrett


LAst night I looked down at my feet and noticed one of my socks was blue and one was green. It's just the toe and heel and one is a bluey green and the other is a greeny blue so today I have worn the other mismatched pair. It is very easy to do when you are sorting a lot of socks from the wash to put into the sock drawer.  I know this is a bit boring but it's amazing how many spelling mistakes you can make in a really short sentence. I don't know if autocorrect causes some of the problems , di I really write "si" instead of "is" , my mind says know but I am often wrong.

It is a very wet Friday the sky is grey and heavy and the windows are covered in rain

So #Oktoberfest continues with "Baby Lemonade" a song from Syd Barrett's second and really final album after he left Pink Floyd. Barrett produced some amazing stuff on the first Floyd album but sadly the drugs and possibly other things took their toll. Syd was one of my heroes because of the songs he produced and some of his amazing lyrics. This is probably not him at his best but it is good for the #Oktoberfest sequence and so that's why we include it , and it's always good to hear some Syd Barrett.

Actually listening to "Baby Lemonade" I still love it mostly for the lyric, and have a feeling that the guitar intro is Dave Gilmour , but  still worth five minutes of my time.

Monday 2 October 2017

Birthday Thoughts and Thanks


I was 60 yesterday, but on Friday I was incredibly touched when I had a presentation at work. I walked in at 8 to find my desk desecrated (in the nicest way) with "60" banners and paraphenalia, but in the after noon came the presentation and a bag with a cup , som bottles of coke , a bet for Preston and Liverpool to win (they bothe drew :) ) and a very substantian INTU voucher whuch I am fairly certain will be going towards a new handset as I found that Carphone Warehouse are doing the Google Pixel unlocked, which good.

On Satruday Kirsty and Molly came over with more presents including a great personlaised print from her Juliet and Mark, as well as a DVD of the Grateful Dead's final concert and a Blu Ray of Dave Gilmour at Pompeii..

The weekend was then spent at La Rosa and I got more presents from Fiona, plus a bottle of Bucks Fizz courtesy of the lovely staff at La Rosa. Amazingly there was no TV, Video or Music over the weekend , just quiet, not that I'm getting old but it's nice to have the option. I got a phone call from my Dad too and that was nice , and you can see various presents and stuff on my Instagram Channel here.

So all in all everything goes on as before, I still have lots I want to do, and lots I've not done, but this is a big thank your to everyone who's wished me a happy birthday and I hope I can do the same in 2077. Sleep well everybody.

I'll leave with The Grateful Dead's final take on "Terrapin Station" one of my favourite Grateful Dead songs.

Monday 24 October 2016

One Two Free Four - #ALifeInNumbers #34


A couple of years ago Pink Floyd took out a court injunction to stop albums being sold as individual songs. While I understand this for an artistic integrity point of view, when you are selling, the aim is to make money, and surely it is better to receive a pound or two for two songs that the buyer wants than lose ten pounds that would have been the cost of the album. They won the case but must have changed their minds because you can buy the songs individually now.

I do prefer putting and album on and listening to all of it , but digital music gave us the skip, repeat and program options  and these days there are people who cannot stay to the end on a three minute song. I remember watching an artist on X-Factor covering "Nights In White Satin"  by the Moody Blues which clocks in at 5 minutes , but the X-Factor version finished at well under three minutes. When I mentioned this to the person who cajoled me into watching it, they said "Yeah they do that with all the songs otherwise you'd get bored" which confirmed my preconceptions that X-Factor had nothing to do with music.

Anyway this was one of those songs that was penned in as soon as I thought of doing this. It's "Free Four" by Pink Floyd from "Obscured By Clouds" the soundtrack to La Vallee by Barbet Schroeder. No reason apart from I have always loved the song with it's slight acoustic riff underpinned my Rick Wright's menacing synthesizer, Roger Water's deceptively dark lyrics and some Dave Gilmour perfunctory heavy guitar.

So enjoy this, it's time to go off to work now. Have a brilliant Monday my friends.