Things

This week I decided to see my friend Krista so messaged her as I hadn't seen her for a while. She messaged me back and asked if we could meet at six. My first thought was that I was going to to be leaving work at 4:30 and wanted to go home, but thought so be stupid and decided to stay at work another hour so I could catch up with Krista. It was a half hour drink together in the Tyneside and she told me of a film she had been to see and invited me to Queercastle - Nocturnal Novocastrians closing party on Thursday , but it is on all week. so that will be a great thing to visit this lunchtime.

Then I woke up to my biggest ever Discogs order, it may not come off because of postage but we shall see.

I think the point of this is whenever you see an opportunity take it. A half hour chat with a friend can really make your day, whenever you do it, so if you get the opportunity take it.

I came home made my tea (Curried Chickpeas , Fish Fingers and Alphabites due to a Co Op offer though the Chickpeas came from Medina whire I mistakenly picked up a bunch of Mint instead of Coriander - how useless am I at times?).

I then watched the last two episodes of Waco  which to me had just been a suicide cult, however if the series is to be believed this was a group led by David Koresh who was a nutjob , but incredibly intelligent and potentially very dangerous but this was effectively a vicious attack by the FBI and ATF which resulted in the deaths of 75 people because of gung ho incompetence and cover up. Firing incendiary devices into building after you have filled with tear gas ( remembering there were 25 children in there) shows blatant stupidity and disregard for life. A truly great TV series.

So "Zombie" by Jamie T was on 6 Music , I love that record , a great chorus , so that's what we shall have.

So have an excellent Tuesday everyone.

Desert Island Discs

Today my friend Krista published her Desert Island Discs selection on Facebook here, and as such inspired me to do one. I thought I best read the concept of what it is, though I roughly knew it, but here's a definition:

"Each week a guest, called a 'castaway' during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usually, but not always, music), a book and a luxury item that they would take if they were to be cast away on a desert island, whilst discussing their lives and the reasons for their choices."

So that's basically what I'm going to follow, Krista had annotated hers with years and events but  maybe mine wont be that detailed, though hopefully it will provide you with a little insight into what makes me tick. Although this will be albums it is not necessarily my favourite album list, just albums that mean something to me and I wouldn't grow tired of. It also dates me fairly and squarely in the late sixties, early seventies but that's just the nature of the beast.

So here goes:

1. Future Games by Spirit: Still my favourite album of all time and it's sort of a film for the ears featuring dialogue from Star Trek and Sci-Fi "B" Movies with some fine songs and plying. I still listen to it a lot and it still makes my mind fly.
2. Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix Experience: An absolutely gorgeous cornucopia of blues, space rock and containing his take on Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower" which must rate as the best cover version ever, a double album that again takes you places that you want to be.
3. Live At San Quentin by Johnny Cash: My dad introduced me to Johnny Cash, and my friend Chris Waring reinforced that, although he was not deemed cool by my school contemporaries, though he is now. This is one of his live prison albums and just encapsulates the outlaw spirit that a lot of us would like to live.
4. Stranded by Roxy Music: Always one of my favourite bands, and though this was the first without Brian Eno in contains what is probably their finest song "Mother of Pearl" and that is something that would have to be in my music collection.
5. Quadrophenia by The Who: Their second concept album which actually makes a lot more sense than "Tommy" and contained a photo story book about Jimmy the Mod ending up on Brighton beach, which I spent time on when I was down there. Lots of unforgettable songs with motifs for each band member, each representing a facet of Jimmy's "quadrophenia".
6. Blood on the tracks by Bob Dylan: There are lots of choices for Dylan but this has "Lily,Rosemary and The Jack of Hearts" one of my favourites story songs that I never tire of, and "If You See Her, Say Hello" which still makes me think about my split with my first girlfriend. The album was about Dylan's divorce so no surprise there.
7. Scary Monsters and Super Creeps by David Bowie: Again not even my favourite Bowie album but a consistently excellent one with not a dud on there. Maybe tomorrow I would have chosen differently but I wouldn't complain if you put this album on.
8. Li'l Beethoven by Sparks: This is just like a box of musical fireworks. Sparks always surprise and delight and bring a smile to your face and this is probably my favourite album of theirs.

Book:

Clive Barker's Imajica: A thousand pages of majick, adventure, magical creatures spanning five dimensions, and one of those books you just don't want to end, but it is always a delight to read again.

Luxury Item:

A Guitar: And maybe one day I can learn how to play, though just making noise on one is always very therapeutic for me.

So that is my Desert Island selection, tomorrow it may be different but I wouldn't complain if this was all I had on that Desert Island.