Friday

Yes it's the 13th and had an early night last night . The Feedburner feed seems to be dropping off but this time may be because I haven't posted for a couple of days through essentially laziness, apathy and tiredness.

Last night I watched at excellently subversive comedy  film called "The Brand New Testament" which relocates God to Brussels and he is nothing but a git , and his rebellious daughter is brilliant , there are some very funny scenes especially after she escapes through washing machine after Jesus advises her what to do is a very small cameo and God's wife follows the evolution of her personal copy of "The Last Supper" painting. Really enjoyed that.

According to the doctor I'm getting old but in very good condition so all is fine on that front.

I could go on about it being the 13th but I've written about that in the past here so today will be just working before the weekend and picking up my pre ordered copy of "Hypersonic Missiles" by Sam Fender on vinyl and signed by the lad himself from Beyond Vinyl.

After yesterday's rain it looks like another summery day though no doubt it will be cold, it is Autumn after all, not Summer any more.

So it's Friday , the weekend is nearly here so what do we go with. As it's the 13th we'll go with Beck, Bogert and Appice's cover of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" for no other reason than I 'm too lazy to think of anything else.

Today could be a lazy day.

Friday Night

"Blackness Within Blackness

Shadows Within Shadows

Darkness Within Darkness

Hidden and Sightless

This is Life For Some ......."

I'm not sure what brought that on, reading "The Fourteenth Letter" may have done it.

It's Friday night and I am ready for the final episode of "Timewasters" the rather excellent spiky, jazzy, time travel comedy with class lines, lots of laughs taking on institutionalised racism and sexism with more than a little good music.

I think they have been influenced by Post Modern Jukebox but the comedy quality an dthe music is totally spot on, so I'll include a clip from the series and  a take on Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" by PMJ , ironically returning almost to the Stevie Wonder original ("Past Time Paradise" from "Songs In The Key Of Life").

Finding Timewasters is a little difficult but there may be a legal option here.

So I suggest you sample all of these musical and visual treats, you will feel much improved by them.

Sleep well.

Reading Out of The Prison

It is very hot (for me) . My phone says 17°C but it feels a lot hotter so I have taken action, but enough of that. On Friday' on the way up to Scotland, I decided I would read Michael Nesmith's "The Prison" novella / Short Story while listening to th eaccompanying album. You should finish the book when the soundtrack finishes.

But doesn't everyone read at different speeds? During reading the ticket inspector needed my tickets and a stopped reading but the music played on.

And guess what, as the final notes of the "Closing Theme" played, I finished the story.

That was a bit of a surprise as I just read at a fairly leisurely pace.

The story is slightly surreal and confirmed what many people had said that Nesmith is a better songwriter and performer than he is an author, but it's brave and , in my opinion, successful attempt. I 've read the book, listened to the music and am still coming to terms with what it was about, but I still have a wonderful album that I can revisit at my leisure.

When I got home Edgar Froese's "Solo" was waiting for me, and this is an example of how the value of music has plummetted. There are six albums spread over four CDs and it cost me a little more than a tenner. That's close on five hours music for the price of a single album. It's a great collection and I would have thought twice about paying twenty pounds for it but at that price I thought it was fine (rightly or wrongly) to inflate my music collection.

I alsmentioned to my friend Maureen about how brilliant Bill Bryson's "A Short History Of Nearly Everything" is and how I bought a lot of copies when it first came out to give to my family and others.

So on this hot first of July what to play, well Stevie Wonder had an album called "Hotter Than July" and from that we'll borrow "Master Blaster (Jammin)".

Hope you can sleep

Superstitions

It's weird how tradition and what you are told from childhood conditions you to accept superstitions. One Magpie for Sorrow, the number 13, walking under ladders are a few examples of this.

However I have just changed my perceptions in the last couple of months I love seeing Magpies and even a single one brings be joy, although there is no doubt they are bullies. A Bakers Dozen is thirteen and lets face it if you get thirteen items it's usually better than twelve if you want them. I still don't walk under ladders unless there's no other option and it's actually safe.

It looks like I'm going to make my steps for the month despite continually falling off the pace but am now in Yorkshire so should get some walking in

Anyway pleased that Preston are still in with a slight shout for the playoffs although that would relegate Burton who are on a run of three wins and fighting for their Championship lives.

Anyway we shall see what today brings, so I'll leave you with Beck,Bogert & Appices cover of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition".

So Shattered ....and Oasis

Last night was in bed at 7:30. I just dropped into bed I was so tired, I obviously need a holiday (which will start with a five hour drive tomorrow). Anyway I am awake now and discovered a cover of The Beatles "Birthday" by Oasis on Youtube. I'm surprised that Oasis didn't cover more Beatle's songs , well I suppose they did but just changed the words and titles and put Gallagher on the songwriting credits .... allegedly. Just a joke. Oasis have done some excellent stuff , though my mavourites are Champagne Supernova, Step Out (a Stevie Wonder lift for a change) and Acquiesce.

Still feeling tired , but it's my last day for a week, so I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Superstition

It's the 13th day of the year and also the 13th day of the month and some people regard 13 as an unlucky number. It has been ingrained into me that it's unlucky , but there is no logical reason for it. Numerous reasons are given such as Judas was the 13th guest at the Last Supper (well they all made up the 13 so anyone could be designated as the 13th one) and bakers used to always add an extra loaf to batches of a dozen in case one wasn't up to scratch. Well given in most cases that all the loaves would be fine doesn't that make 13 actually lucky for the recipients?

I's like seeing magpies , one for sorrow and two for joy , but it's all about interpretation. Missing a bus could be the the "sorrowful" event and catching one could be the "joyful" event. It's just how you choose to look at it.

It's like horoscopes, those wonderfully ambiguous, snippets of promise, given to us by the snake oil merchants that call themselves astrologers. Here's one of mine for today, I'm Libran by the way and that supposedly makes me a balanced personality:

"Once again, your dual nature pops up -- but this time, it's making life sweet! You can see both sides of every issue, and you can also find new ways to bring your people together. Have fun!"

Hmm, well that's clear as a thing that is not very clear. We shall see how sweet life is today and I will post tomorrow and see how I can fit events to prove that this was true (that should be easy ).

I always encourage positivity in myself and others, but that doesn't cause things to happen , but it will drive you towards instigating thing that will be beneficial to yourself. If you can be happy , and positive you are more likely to be confident in your decision making then either reap the benefits of the correct decision or easily deal with the fall out from an incorrect one. Always look for the positives in a situation.

Anyway there can only be one song for today, can't there? Stevie Wonder on Sesame Street does it get any better than that?

An addendum to this post, nothing in my "dual nature" manifested itself, nothing I did made life sweet , though lot's of communications received did that, and I didn't get an opportunity to bring people together that I was aware. Monday was a day much like any other, but if I do notice any horoscopes that come true I will say.

Magna Carta

On this day in 1215 King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta , to in theory create a fairer society for the people and not subject to the whims of a despotic ruler. Well actually it was more about maintaining the barons' interests than actually being for the good or the people as a whole. Much like every government since up to the present day. Here's an audio of the event.

So obviously that should have influenced my June's Tunes choice for today. Problem being that the first band that come to my mind are the seventie's beardy folkies Magna Carta who never really set my world alight. There was a song called "Lord Of The Ages" that went on a bit with portentious spoken bits , which is  available on Youtube here and is just as toe curlingly awful as I remember. Anyway was trying to think of a related song , maybe "Sign Your Name" Terence Trent D'Arby or "Signed, Sealed , Delivered I'm Yours" by Stevie Wonder or "King" by UB40. Decided to go with Stevie Wonder: