Grey Christmas

Weatherwise this must be one of the greyest Christmases I have ever seen. Christmas has been fine but the weather has not been too cold and seriously is just plain grey. The good news is that since the Winter Solstice we are getting more daylight, as I noticed leaving a desolate workplace at around four of the clock today.

That always makes me think of F Paul Wilson's "Nightworld" the finale of The Adversary series which kicked off with "The Keep". The shortening of the days doesn't stop when it should and hence the title of the book. Check it out, well check out the whole series, there are six excellent book and "The Keep" was turned in to a half decent film by Michael Mann.

I've been listening to a lot of Jethro Tull recently and decided to put a couple of albums on my phone, but managed to just load up the "Aqualung" out takes, but I have since rectified that. Basically the out takes didn't include "Locomotive Breath" which I included in a recent post when it was used as an opener to "Fargo". So a few Tull albums and my complete Janelle Monae and Jordan Reyne collection have been installed for my listening pleasure.

So who do I choose to share with you, maybe Jordan Reyne who's new album "Bardo" is just out but I will choose the piece that stunned me when I first saw her many moons ago at Think Tank, the hypnotically beautiful and disturbing "Shadow Line".

23:29

Why 23:29? The figure just came to me. I don't know why, but I am still reading "Tom Waits on Tom Waits" so maybe that has something to do with it.

Anyway on Monday I finished the Step Challenge and decided I wanted to keep up ten thousand steps a day. The weather has been against me but I have hit more than ten thousand three days running and I am sure I can do it over the next three days.

Tonight I met Kirsty and Mark and Fiona in Bohemian for Kirsty's birthday tea. We had some amazing food and enjoyed company and the excellent atmosphere. We talked TV, film and music and Sparks' "Number 1 Song In Heaven" came on, (the music in Bohemian is always excellent) and Kirsty said she had never heard of Sparks , and it was my fault , cos I am her dad, I mentioned some classic Sparks songs to no avail, but they are now another band for her to discover. I had said that in my opinion they are probably the most innovative and excellent band going, and have put out some amazing music including collaborations with Franz Ferdinand (FFS) and Faith No More.

Then I found out that The Coyotemen are active once more and playing Think Tank? tomorrow night, so that means one last gig night before the end of March.

This means I have been quite active for the last few weeks and intend to keep up the pace. I will find a reason to walk at the weekend, and I will leave you with another Sparks song , "The Rhythm Thief" from "Li'l Beethoven"

Enjoy and sleep well my friends.

It's 21:04

5:15

The worst thing about waking up 45 minutes before your alarm goes off is that you know that by the time you get back to sleep the alarm is going to go off. The other option is to get up, but if you're tired you really want to enjoy your bed and warmth of being wrapped in your duvet. But it's Tuesday morning and you have to get up to get to work.

If you wake up earlier it's worth going back to sleep, but not at 5:15. It does give you a bit of extra day to play with and if I'm tired tonight I can always go to bed a bit earlier.

I'm looking out of the window and it's been raining, which means the lawn doesn't need watering, in fact it is looking very green.

Self Portrait

We have the August Bank Holiday coming up and maybe I'll track down some music event to attend, even though I've missed every one so far this year. Lee Perry is playing Think Tank this Sunday and with Monday off that is a definite possibility.

I saw him at the Riverside and that was just an amazing experience, so that's an excuse to do it again.







Really this post is just a slight moan about waking up too early , but is an excuses to play The Who's 5.15 from their seminal Quadrophenia album and I am currently reading Pete Townshend's autobiography "Who I Am" so again I suppose that's me going off on tangents and finding connections between disparate things which links in to my admiration for lateral thinking.

Anyway it's Tuesday morning, so have a brilliant day everyone.

Vivacious

...is not a way to describe me at the moment. The last couple of weeks I have been feeling lethargic and apathetic. I want to stay in bed late and go to bed early and sleep lots , maybe my body and mind just need rest. I've missed gigs , quizzes , events which people have put effort into and I have not been able to put in the effort.

The fact that I am writing this means I am feeling better and more like my old self and have plans for things like mowing the lawn at the weekend and getting out to see people.

One good thing about this is that it has enabled me to catch up on lots of TV such as Gotham, Wayward Pines , Outcast and up to the end of series one of Penny Dreadful.  The thing is TV does take you away from other things , but lots of my friends binge watch and still manage to have a normal social life.

I could blame this on diabetes and maybe that does have an effect , but I wont let it rule my life. This week I've also been doing my own cooking apart from a takeaway last night , plus done a lot of chores round the house , so maybe it's just that  that I have been doing other things , but I have definitely been going to bed early and wanting more than my usual lie in in the morning.

When I woke this morning I had the remnants of a dream , I was working somewhere with a protected computer (the protective device had a green flashing light) which hand been taken over by some malicious entity. I suggested the switch off / switch on solution which worked and enabled to get what we needed including a cryptic email from someone called Huffington , then I woke up. This is allowed to make no sense at all as it was a dream.

Do Dictate

The other plus is that it's Friday and we have the weekend to do lots of fun stuff ... and lie in. I thought the older you got the less sleep you needed. Anyway I feel fine now and I am pleased that I've managed to write something.

The Dictators "Sleeping With The TV On" is appropriate and still gets better every time I hear it and they are playing Think Tank tonight..... I really should go.

Have a fantastic weekend everybody.

A Weekend In The Sun - #56 - 2012 - Black Keys - Gold On The Ceiling

Another brilliant weekend awaits after a very long Fridays involving a full days work , a viewing onf the excellent Tangerine at the Tyneside Cinema then a hike down to Think Tank? to see The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing (review here) . I still have lots to do and the weather is looking great after last night's blizzard, so going to have a run around town town before Preston hopefully dispose of Blackburn.

Transport

The Odyssey is coming to an end , there's three more to go and then it's time to put the book together. So year 56 , 2012 and Gold on The Ceiling from El Camino by The Black Keys , who I have loved since I hear ThickFreakness whenever that came out.

So enjoy the sunshine today and I hope to catch you soon

Phone A Friend Friday - #55 - 2011 - Polly Jean Harvey - Written On The Forehead

Friday is here and today is going to be a long day, it's been an intense week in a lot of ways but I have got a lot done, but amazingly run out of socks , well almost , despite the fact that the laundry basket is only half full and I don't think there's any of my socks in there. But it's going to be a a great night withe a screening of the film Tangerine at The Tyneside Cinema for Transgender Remembrance Day followed by a run down to Think Tank to see The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing , and then possibly a lie in on Saturday before finishing my friend's web site off about the Codonopsis plant family.

Anyway it would be a great idea idea to phone a friend or family member you have not spoken to for a while and maybe meet up for coffee or cake and have a hug and a catch up.

Hope you're is good.

PJH

The Odyssey reaches 2011 year 55. I didn't even look at the charts for this year because that was the year that my favourite female artist released "Let England Shake" one of the greatest albums of all time the difficulty came in choosing the song and I I eventually chose "Written On The Forehead" a brilliant anti war song , and it gives me a chance to add in Niney The Observers wonderful Blood And Fire that it samples. Written on the Forehead refers to either the practice used in military hospitals of identifying what the condition of an injured soldier was or it could be from Th eBook of Revelation 2:24 "His Name Will Be Written On Their Forehead" . I leave that for you you to look up.

Have a wonderful Friday everyone.

Sometimes I'm Suddenly Awake

It's half an hour after midnight and I'm wide awake. I don't know why. I just am. I really wish I could feel like this on a work morning, but on those days i could well easily turn over and go back to to bed. It is quite amazing how clear headed and awake I feel.

I keep thinking of reading a book or watching some TV or listening to music but that might disturb the neighbours. So instead I'm just going to write another blog post.

Now Then Now Then

This week has been good and I'm looking forward to next week, barring an unnecessary trip to London when I have some extremely interesting stuff going on at work, though I will be able to cope, and looking forward to seeing the grammatically challenged The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing at Think Tank on Friday with a few friends, a great venue where I've already seen a few gigs.
Their name is a reference to the chalked graffiti discovered above a section of blood-stained apron thought to have been discarded by Jack the Ripper as he fled the scene of Catherine Eddowes' murder. I nicked this information from the Wikipedia page although Fiona had pointed out the Jack The Ripper connection.

So obviously I've taken a band video for this with a picture of them to peruse at your leisure. Right I will now try and go to bed , who knows , if I sleep on the edge I may soon drop off ......