Forgot

I was going to post this yesterday but got waylaid by other stuff, so I will post it now , even though it is quite late. Yesterday I went to work and convinced I had forgotten something , but wasn't too sure what it was.... until I got in and realised I had left my work pass at home. My work has the most pedantic lost pass process ever, they give you a piece of card that can't be used for anything useful like getting you in through doors, then you have to contact someone so they can escort you to the office, and if you want to go out you have all this rigmarole again.

The thing is visitors get normal passes.

So I went home to get my pass and got into work 45 minutes later than I expected.

On getting home from holiday I received a bowel caner check kit from the NHS which you use to send a poo sample to be checked. This is the second one I've had and even though it's simple, it is a funnily unpleasant experience getting the sample, it can't land in the toilet, then you place it in a tube ans send it back for testing (which is done at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.) so I should know in a week or so the results. This is standard preventative procedure and I'm sure all will be fine, but it's always good to check.

I have friends who have suffered from and been treated for many forms of cancer, and when I was kide cancer was the end, but now people have a far better chance to survive which is great, but I've also lost friends and that is something that is horrible. You have your memories but you no longer have your friends.

I'm sorry this seems to have nosedived but I didn't mean it to, just happy that I am being looked after by the NHS which despite certain people making out that it's free, it isn't, we all pay for it in outr National Insurance and taxes.

So I've gone with Ronnie Spector's take on the great Johnny Thunders song "You Can't Put Your Arms Round A Memory" although I thought it was "You Can't Wrap You Arms Round A Memory" . Either way,  it's a great song so please enjoy, if that is the right emotion for a song about loss.

Stay positive, it's what keeps us going, believe in better.

Two Still Stand

The Travelling Wilburys always struck me as  rich rock stars' indulgence, and although I do have all their records the concept grated on me and I found a lot of their songs forgettable. But there was a few geat tunes in there such as "End of The Line" and when you hear Roy Orbison's voice come in on "Handle With Care" you just wonder how the others dare sing in his presence, it's an absolute incredible monster of a voice compared to the others.

Unfortunately we lost Roy and George and yesterday amid lots of confused reporting we found that Tom Petty had gone. Six yeards older than me her went out after finished a fortieth anniversary tour still doing what he loved in a universe that some people only get the Andy Warhol fifteen minutes of fame. Tom never got old, he lived life how he enjoyed it and could have gone on  for a lot longer but it wasn't to be.

The first Tom Petty song I heard was "Anything That's Rock and Roll", a knowing re-imaginig of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" with the Heartbreakers which I bought immediately and followed up buying their eponymous first album , which also contained the Byrd's tribute "American Girl". There was a little confusion at the time because Johnny Thunder' Heartbreakers were very active at the same time though obviosly more punk than Petty.

When Tom released his first solo album, I wondered what we would get and was rewarded with the gorgeous "Free Fallin'" and so it went on. There is always a lot of new music, but I do have a few Tom Petty albums in my collection and a Tom Petty record always give you a lift on the radio. I've just realised he shares the same surname as Buddy Holly's producer, Norman Petty, I must find out if there's a connection there.

Anyway there are two Travelling Wilbury's left standing and still very active, Bob Dylan and Jeff Lynne, and while since "Face The Music" I haven't been overly impressed with Jeff Lynne's output (the ELO were meant as an experiment in what the Beatles would have done after "Strawberry Fields" if they had continued on that road) , but Bob Dylan's out has varied from from the brilliant ("Tempest") to bland ("Triplicate")

I was disappointed but not surpised to see HMV have a huge Tom Petty display up to capture all the real fans, but that's just business.

Anyway it's time to go to work, have a brilliant Wednesday my friends.