There IS Always Good

After the disappointment of the Election result all my friends seemed to be under a cloud , with good reason , and yesterday I finished the day with a bone density scan because I have cirrhosis of the liver. When I was diagnosed with that , even my consultant as well as a lot of my friends expected me to take it badly. This guy is a total top NHS consultant who is one of the most brilliant and nicest and most supportive people I have ever met , I wont name him here but his first name begins with Q and if you know me and the Freeman you may work it out. My reply was that because I'd been on a trial that he had asked me to be on (testing a new drug which I'd volunteered for because if people didn't do things like that I wouldn't be here today)  we had caught this very early and therefore knew about it , and though it's irreversible (at the moment) it means I just have to take extra care. If I hadn't been on the trial , I probably wouldn't have known until something bad happened, so in my opinion it was a good outcome.  Oh and he spotted muscle wastage in my left hand which he reckoned was a trapped nerve (this is when I lost the horizontal use of my left hand and it was decided it may have been a TIA) . He got me a referral and sever nerve damage in my elbows was diagnosed and surgery has restored my hand to be 95% back to normal , though I only needed to use of two fingers to play bass guitar !

Anyway after that lot I came back into town and got off the bus on Northumberland Street and was about to cross the road to pick up some money from Ladbrokes when I saw the Globe Gallery. They had an exhibition on of George Chakravarthi’s ‘Thirteen’ thirteen photographic light boxed pictures of characters from Shakespeare who committed suicide. Here's some information lifted from the Globe Gallery Site:

Thirteen

‘Thirteen’ is a photographic installation by London - based artist George Chakravarthi. Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, to mark the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth the work portrays thirteen of Shakespeare’s tragic characters, all of whom meet their ends through suicide. Embedded in light boxes, Chakravarthi has created a series of powerful self-portraits, where he assumes the roles of some of Shakespeare’s most celebrated yet doomed characters: Brutus, Cassius, Eros, Goneril, Mark Antony, Othello, Timon of Athens, Lady Macbeth, Portia, Ophelia, Cleopatra, Juliet and Romeo.

 Chakravarthi says of the project:

 ‘The portraits are multilayered and imbued with colour and texture, created to present my vision of each image and character, revealing the beauty, anguish and complexities found across Shakespeare’s tragedies.’

The Gallery are also promoting Suicide Awareness which obviously ties in with the exhibition. The two ladies who I spoke to were extremely helpful , pleasant and easy and interesting to talk to , I thing I was talking for about twenty minutes while we talked of other projects and events.

We still have a lot to look forward to and we have friends who can see us through and support us when we come up against difficult situations , and remember be there to help anyone who needs it.

The music for this is Medicine Head's Pictures in the Sky , though the Afro haired guy don't really contribute that much :)

Laziness Creeping In

Boots Sushi

Well not really. The new job is so close to home that I hop on the bus , off it , then into the office , it takes less than ten minutes. A side effect of this is that I don't actually hit my 10K a day designated in my Samsung S-Health application. The think is, that I keep trying to do extra walking when I can, so it's not like I have packed in trying to hit the target. Since starting the new job have become enamoured of certain Boots Sushi packs ,falling back on Nudo when Boots don't have the stuff. This stuff is really nice and does fill you and is probably good for you , certainly better than the huge sandwich packs , and bread often makes me feel bloated whereas after this I just feel satisfied , which is good.


As I've said before, my free time has increased and I do feel good because of it, which is improved by the current beautiful weather, and the upcoming glut of music festivals and concerts coming my way , the only real problem being so many clashes.

The new job is Newcastle based , and this is the hundredth time I have tagged Newcastle on this blog, and though I'm not a native (originally from Preston which I have mentioned only 15 times though I still love my home town and all my friends and family who live there) , but that's just some throwaway stats that I am wont to throw in to my perusals.

It's been another good day and this week I'm looking forward to enjoying the challenges of the new job , catching up with friends , maybe getting to a gig or two before a hospital appointment next Sunday (8:30 in the morning can you believe) , but I cannot berate the NHS because they are totally brilliant.

So this is just a short post , talking about nothing , and apologise for not putting anything of substance in here, but I'm sure you will find something brilliant to do tonight , so do it and have fun.

I included a Jordan Reyne song because I am going to see her in May and she is one of the most impressive artists I've discovered in the last twelve months.

Health Report and Yakuza Fast Food Delivery

Since Thursday I've been feeling full of a cold, Friday was a very long day with lots of waiting at bus stops and train platforms , freezing wearing nothing but a light suit, the result of which was yesterday I spent all day bar five hours in bed, hot and not feeling too good. It's not 'flu because I think I'm getting better, with the help of lot's of drugs like LemSip, Paracetamol and Chocolate. Yesterday throat felt like I'd swallowed sandpaper and every time I coughed really did hurt. But the main thing is I seem to be a lot better this morning although still full of a cold.

The lump that I was worried about after returning from holiday is now almost gone, so it probably was an abscess and the antibiotics that I finished yesterday seem to be doing their job, though I'll have a wander over to my doctor's surgery this week to make sure all is ok. Thanks got I'm in the UK and have the NHS so my first thoughts aren't "Can I Afford this?".

The final thing is that last night Fiona had a Chinese Take Away for tea. At 9:30 last night there was a fairly insistent knocking on our front door. I stumbled downstairs , managed to open the front door and was confronted with a shaven headed stocky Chinese guy telling me in no uncertain terms that I had ordered a meal and I owed him £15. I said he must be mistaken as we'd had one earlier, so they must have duplicated the order or something. He then showed me the printed bill , which I took about a minute to focus on, then pointed out that he was on the wrong road!! His demeanor changed and he was very apologetic, after which I went back to bed to continue my recovery.

I've just thought Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London has a beg section on Chinese Food , so that's the song for this post.

Those Naughty Lumps - An NHS Interlude

Back from a great holiday, but on Monday noticed a small lump on my pelvis, where te leg meets the torso. By today it has become much bigger. It's not painful or anything but obviously needs seeing to. So went to local walk in centre on Ponteland Road , combining it with a small shop at Aldi. The nurse wasn't sure but though it was an abscess, and suggested I saw my own GP, but if there were any problems to come back and see them as they are open til 8 pm and all weekend.

I took up her suggestion and my own practice (Thornfield Medical Group)  got me in to see someone at 5 today, amazing considering I walked out of the walk in centre about 2. The GP had all the notes taken from the walk in appointment and reckoned that it is an abscess and said I should get on anti biotics straight away, and then if things aren't right to go back on Wednesday.

NHS

How bloody brilliant and efficient is that. You walk in and get sorted out straight away. This isn't an emergency, but just an example of how brilliant the NHS is at looking after us. i could go into a rant about certain things, but I wont, just have to say how brilliant our NHS is.

So now it's weekend so everybody enjoy themselves.

I chose this Warren Zevon song , which makes me think of the attacks the NHS is under from the money men. The NHS is not a marketing opportunity it is a service.

What A Shower .. and The New U2 Album

Last week I took the last plaster off my left elbow, with a little trepidation after the last time it was open to the air, but it's brilliant to have a shower and just wash your arm instead of trying to avoid getting it wet.

Also I've listed to the new U2 album "Songs Of Innocence" and it's fine, if a bit U2 by numbers, but this is a band still going after 35 years with it's original line up and they have produced an album that is good to listen to. As yet nothing jumps out like say "Vertigo" or "Desire", and still thing that "Zoo Station" is very hard to beat as an opener.

The whole thing is a marketing stunt by Apple and U2, but it's generally a win/ win situation they get the publicity and the consumer get's an album by a major band. Simon Donald (Him off the Viz) is not pleased though and reckons this wouldn't have happened on Steve Jobs watch. Under Jobs he reckons yo had the illusion of your iTunes library being yours and private, and the U2 album appearing there is like a thief has broken into your house and left you a present , but he has still violated your privacy by coming into your house uninvited and with no announcement.

U2 Live

Anyway playing the new album reminded me of how great "Under A Blood Red Sky" is. It's very short and remember it was a "budget" album when it came out, and songs like "Gloria" , "Electric Co" and "40" still often play over in my head.

It's the start of a new week, I'm gonna have a great one , you have one too.

First Week Of September - Judas Priest and Sodom and Gomorrah

..and I've been lax in my posting, but actually busy. Work quietened down so I could actually take a day of to enable me to go for a job interview, however I had also to fit in a visit to the plastic surgery bit of the RVI to follow up my visit to casualty last Saturday and all seemed good and they gave me a new supply of big plasters for my elbow.

Rebellious Jukebox

Because the interview was finished by twelve I had a half day to myself and wandered into down , finally ending up at the The Laing Art Gallery to see a couple of exhibitions , including Kelly Richardson's amazingly hypnotic "Mariner 9" which I'd seen before at Whitley Bay's Spanish City. Also the excellent "All That Is Solid Melts Into Air" with some brilliant juxtaposed images such as John Martin's "Sodom And Gomorrah" close to Judas Priest's "Unleashed In The East". There was also a brilliant jukebox setting which I wasn't supposed to photograph but did anyway.


Incidentally you can explore The Laing online here which gives you an idea where I was.

Today I'm off to see Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick at the Tyneside Irish Centre which should be a good night.

The weather is great and rainy , but it is September so what can you expect. But all in all an excellent week and if you are in Newcastle this weekend get yourself along to the Laing to see some amazing exhibits.

Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed and Lots of Blood

When you wake up, feel a ping in your elbow and look down and you are lying in a (small) pool of blood, it's probably not the best way to actually start the day. So you get up , run to the tiled bathroom , bleeding all the way, looking at the gaping wound thinking , what do I do? There's no pain just blood. Then lots of toilet roll and Fiona got me a tea towel as the blood started to subside.

I knew I had to go to casualty, but I was fine apart from the blood, so do I call an ambulance, get a bus or get a taxi. We found a big plaster given as a spare from a previous hospital visiABC taxi.
t and that seemed to stem most of the blood, so thought I'll get an

Space Oddity

The thing is as when your bleeding like that your priorities go all askew, so I couldn't wash , shave or shower, so hence the title taken from David Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity, a song that I've always loved.

Five minutes later they're at my door , then half there I'm thinking "Have I got any money?" . It wouldn't have mattered as I had my wallet and there is a cash machine at the RVI.

Anyway gets in , and there's no damage done, lots of sterri strips applied and a new big plaster and now I'm back home. Walked through Leazes Park and the weather this morning is glorious. So the weekend has got off to an interesting start to say the least.

I hope yours is excellent , just without the blood.

Saturday Morning 2:30 AM and an unprovoked dig at Apple

Martin and Dave

Wide awake , although feeling slightly tired, but as it's still effectively late Friday night , very early Saturday morning after a manic couple of week both at work and socially and the fact that I 'm going to see two of my all time heroes Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick next Saturday at The Tyneside Irish Centre, I thought , what the hell , I'll just get up and go and write something and see what's happening in the world.

I've just realised that this has taken me 45 minutes to put together though I've managed to learn a few things, and put another smile or two on my face. I do love the way how one thought can lead to another and if you don't reign in your mind who knows where you will end up.


It's quite funny how online spelling checkers keep tryting to tell me it's "center" not "centre"  , but when I'm using the HTML tag it's <CENTER> not <CENTRE> in one of those rare situations where you get conformity in the name of standards , though I can see Apple trying to change HTML tags just because they are Apple to something like MIDDLEIZE and then patenting the word and their users defending it on the principle that "there must be a good reason for it". Oh and by the way I do have an iPad, which I bought because of Garageband , which, when it decides to work and not hide necessary controls is brilliant, but there's probably a good reason why it does that. As this is just text I'm not going to put in a smiley face or say "LOL", but I am obviously saying these things with my tongue firmly in cheek.

The fact that I was able to write that paragraph means that my mind is obviously wide awake even if my body is not quite there. Though tonight is the first time in ten days I've gone to bed without bandages on my arm, and I can't tell you how good that feels. Having them on was neccessary but , getting them off is brilliant. While I'm not sure I'll be able to play the intro to AC/DC's Thunderstruck just yet I am feeling absolutely great now.

The other thing I'll be able to wash and shower without trying to keep my left arm dry. God bless the NHS.

Anyway everybody enjoy your weekend and this gives me an excuse to post this video as well, by Finnish band Steve'n'Seagulls which really is impressive.

And Now For The Not Great News

Royal Blood On The Radio

I've just been told I have Cirrhosis of the liver. It's irreversible so it's just a question of keeping it from getting worse. Essentially it's scarring of the liver caused by alcohol abuse or being overweight or diabetic, so over the last five years it's been the last two items that are the problem. The situation is the same as with diabetes  again irreversible but , I think , manageable. But that's it for the bad stuff. I know the NHS will look after me and have my best interests at heart.






It''s now Friday evening and the weekend is here. Royal Blood are on the radio and I have forty eight hours of fun ahead.

This is the thing , even though some things are not brilliant , there are still lots of great things you can find and enjoy so you have a great weekend and if I get to see you even better.

Have Fun!!

Autumn is Here

War of the Worlds

And no I'm not going to post that god awful Justin Hayward song from Jeff Wayne's "War of the Worlds"  , it's just that I have to switch on lights in the morning and soon the leaves will be turning brown and we'll have all those great autumn colours in the plants and trees. We're getting rain , but most of it is at night so that just means that mother nature waters the garden for you.

I always try to keep a positive spin on things as the UK public often just loves moaning and complaining about things. There's a hell of a lot of great things to be happy about and to put a smile on your face.



Anyway today I am hopefully getting my bandages removed from my arm so I can do things with two hands once more. I've had a week of inconvenience and a little pain (I didn't get any pain killers when I left hospital because I'm hard me! ) , and it's an education when you have to live trying to do things mosly one handed while trying to keep the left hand and arm out of whatever you are doing with the right hand and arm. Throughout all this the NHS has been excellent and

Anyway I'm looking forward to being bandage free and enjoying autumn, and oh yeah it's nearly weekend which is even more brilliant. Enjoy your Friday everybody.

Hurt So Good

Mekons - So Good It Hurts

Well hurt is not good , but thought that was a title of a Mekon's song, but there is an album called "So Good It Hurts" which is used as a refrain in this excellent song from the album.

Anyway I'm getting off the point, today I've been to work with my arm heavily bandaged and generally I coped OK, although it's amazing the number of things that you normally use two hands to do like putting contact lenses in , various ablutions like washing, shaving and showering, and I'm going to have to deal with this for a week, but still I think it will all be worth it, I think I have more control over my left hand than prior to the operation.

 One of the worst things is itching under the bandages which , really , you just have to put up with. So I'm prepared to put up with the inconvenience , discomfort , and pain when I catch myself. As I say the NHS have been excellent to me.

Hopefully I'll be able to play guitar properly and finally do something about putting a band together, nothing big, but something fun. I keep promising to write a song and I will get my writing head on soon. Anyway I have to sort my tea out, so I'll go and get that done and let you enjoy your evening as I continue my recuperation.

Deep Purple in The Operating Theatre

Arm in a Purple Sling

Well this post is being written one handed, Today I had an operation on my left arm to free a trapped nerve at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Newcastle. My experience just reinforced my views on how excellent the NHS is and mty annoyance that tories and daily mail and sun readers want it dismantled in favour of the American system. Nye Bevan's original vision is the way and sensible country should be run.

Anyway that's enough political ranting. The staff on the ward wer welcoming and very upbeat, helpful and supportive. The people on the ward were all extremely upbeat despite have worse things to contend with that I had.

The food was brilliant and there were excellent healthy options.

During the operation which had me led on a bed for an hour and a half while staff chatted to me , played decent rock music (Doors, Deep Purple and Manfred Mann were three that came to mind) and the surgeon found I had a muscle that shouldn't have been there which was putting inordinate pressure on the nerve, then he did the carpal tunnel in my left hand.

At the moment I'm waiting for the anesthetic to wear off, so do doubt I'm due some pain, but today has been as excellent as you could expect considering the carving my arm has got. Anyway have a great night , my day has been fine.

I was looking at a Deep Purple album and I  thought "Might Just Take Your Life" was a darkly humorous take on today.

Good Day

Well today could have been bad, but I've been feeling positive, not that that can cause good things to happen , but it keeps your spirits up if things don't go as expected.  I've had lots of things to do today and then had a potential over hospital stay lined up.

Be Happy

Well today has been good , every conversation has been brilliant , I've got through all my work, stuff turned up in plenty of time to get things complete then when I left for the hospital , I was running a little late while finishing packing , but luckily the bus I wanted was running a little later.

When I got into the hospital I explained to the doctor the situation, he agreed and said they'd do all the tests and if I was ok then I could go home for the night. The price of this was I have to be back at the hospital at 7.15 tomorrow morning , but it's worth it knowing that my blood is fine and I will get a decent night's sleep.

I hope your day has gone well too. There's nothing like a smile from you to put a smile on my face, and that's why I've included this excellent TED talk about a humanity test. Have a brilliant evening, I've had a brilliant day so far, full of sunshine even though it's raining.

Never Stop

Never Stop Having Fun

Well the last two weeks and the next two weeks for me have been and will be almost non stop. This is not a bad thing although time flies by and disappears as you try and fit everything in. Due to holidays at work we've only had half a team in, but everyone's working extra hard to make sure all runs smoothly and it's actually a pleasure to be in working with the girls and guys, who are absolutely excellent,  supportive with problems and helpful whenever you need them.

There's things we need to do before the bank holiday and I have a day and a half in hospital in the middle of it (tomorrow and Tuesday), I could have done without the overnight stay which they say is because of the ITP but they are just covering themselves and not too arsey so I'll go along with it. As I continually say the NHS is brilliant and hopefully I'll be able to play the guitar properly after the op, which would be amazing as I've never been able to play it before.

Also I am to blame for some of this time congestion as I've also fit in gigs by the Star Spangled Chestwigs, Penetration , Culture (tonight) and Bad Pollyanna (on Friday), so the latish nights are my own fault really, but wouldn't miss them for the world.

And this si one of the things about having fun and being positive, life is much better when you do things , and even better when you do things you enjoy , and even better when you do things you enjoy with friends and people you like like and love. Like I was out seeing friends on Friday and that was fantastic Paul , Fiona , Sarah , Colin  and Graham are fantastic company any day of the week, and that's just five people I'm lucky enough to have in my life.

Today I still have lots to do, but the sun is shining and the wind is blowing but that is fine, no rain at the moment. I know this week I will see many more friends, and have lots of fun , and have the odd moment where I think "I need to sleep" , but really I'd rather be doing something and enjoying myself.

The title is taken from and Echo and the Bunnymen track, so have a brilliant day everybody, my weekend is nowhere near finished and I hope yours isn't either , wherever in the world you are. Keep on smiling

Still Tired

Well the biopsy has really taken it out of me, along with a lot of blood. I'm still feeling run down, want to just get into bed and sleep for about sixteen hours. Unfortunately there's work needs doing and the next two weekends are going to be rammed as well so it's unlikely I'll get any respite.

I feel I am improving , but not as fast as I would like.

The staff at the Freeman have been brilliant, and I know I can drop by any time I want. Work have been extremely supportive, so I'm not under any unnecessary pressure.

Anyway that's the boring stuff out the way. The weather is still excellent although it's been a bit gray today. I do have a lot of great stuff coming up , just need to rest when I can so I can be 100% when I need to be. I have recieved encouragement from around the world , and that's one of the great things about the internet, a few words from someone can really lift your spirits, and ever you can say and share something nice you should do, because it lifts both of you.

I do like positive stuff, and positive attitudes, that show that people care for each other , and sometimes that can be as little as saying hello.

The River

Anyway tomorrow is the 4th of July, American Independence Day , and that means I have a song for this post from one the many Bruce Springsteen albums I love , The River.

I really didn't know what I was going to put in this post, and thought I might get ten words out, but was also thinking that I hadn't done a post this month. Well now I have, and I'm feeling good , but I will be in bed soon. Hope you have all had a great day and are looking forward to an even better weekend.

Hospital Time

Well went in today, had two ECGs , heart rate was slow in the afternoon , but given that I had been lying still for a long time after the biopsy I didn't think that was too surprising, and neither did the doc though he did and extra ECG to make sure all was ok.

The worst part was having to spend nearly six hours on a bed not moving for ANY reason, even when they kept giving me cups of tea, by the way wee is quite heavy in those cardboard containers ....

Still caught up on TV and couple of TED talks and got in some reading.

Apart from the lump of liver they also took a hell of a lot of blood so could explain why I'm feeling a little tired.

All's I can say is that everyone today has been brilliant, there was no pain, little discomfort, and only a bit of blood was spilled. I am now going to go to sleep and will be working from home tomorrow while I get my strength back.

The NHS is totally brilliant, a shining beacon that shows how a country should look after it's population. Thought I'd include a little of the excellent Midnight Oil, just because they're Australian, brilliant, and I can.

Sunshirony, Bad Pollyanna and The NHS

Yes it's a made up word , but the sun outside is gorgeous and tonight I'm on a solo flight to see three Goth bands including the wonderful Bad Pollyanna  at Think Tank in Newcastle. I didn't realise they were from this sceptered isle!  I'd originally planned to get there about 9 , but the band posted on Facebook that they were coming on at 7:15 so lucky I checked  and thank you for that Bad Pollyanna.

This week has been absolutely mental and I didn't know whether I would get through today in one piece or without causing major damage, but I think that workwise it has come through fairly successfully working with some really nice people, despite being at home.

My liver biopsy has been postponed because I didn't notice that really important point on page five of the letter that I was sent (I should have stopped taking aspirin at the start of the week) , hopefully I will remember for any other similar things , but thank God I can have a little moan about that , rather than being in the USA and wondering if I can afford it. Michael Moore's Sicko is a very worrying piece but one you should watch. This is what the Tories want in this country, they are trying to destroy the NHS by outsourcing services to their cronies who bleed the NHS and then the government tells us that we cant afford so we have to privatise it. Rant over, have a great night , the weekend starts here

White Heat

When I was having my second lot of blood taken at the hospital a nurse told me she's been looking for a CD copies of a Newcastle Band called White Heat, I'd never heard of them but said that most things could be found. Anyway there's a few things on youtube (see them performing their debut single above) and this is what you get on Amazon. Discogs is also a good place to look here.

There's info about Bob Smeaton their lead singer here.  There's more stuff here. Their stuff was released on the Valium label , not Virgin as she thought. You can get the album on CD here though from Retro Records who do classic vinyl on CD.

Unfortunately I think there are also some poodle rockers who get in the search mix, but this post is for that nurse who took a lot of blood without causing too much discomfort.

This has been a public service announcement.

Always Look For The Positives

Today I need to find a chemist. It's not an emergency but I need to go to a chemist. I know there is a chemist on Ponteland Road maybe about three quarters of a mile away next to our local NHS Walk In Centre which is next to Aldi.

However Google searches show nothing. If you go to Streetview (a brilliant useful tool) it shows it's still a bike shop (look here) although I know the chemist has been there about 12 months, because I have used it several times, but I don't what it's called or anything.

So I will have to walk there, becase I'm sure that like the NHS Walk in Centre it will be open seven days a week. This means I will get a walk, get some exercise and have a pleasant walk as it's a nice day today. I know people who would be smashing their computer screens if this were the situation, but in every situation there are always so many positives if you are willing to look for them.

The James Brown classic came to mind, but don't you think Ed Sullivan looks and sounds like Richard Nixon?

Have a positive day and keep on smiling.

Back Now

And off to work soon. I've spent the weekend driving back and resting and not really doing much bar watching some catch up TV such as the brilliant Elementary, Blacklist and Arrow and the truly atrocious Hostages (good idea for a film not a TV series but although it's not been recommissioned it'll be a staple of daytime TV in future ). I am watching Hostages just to see how bad it can get, apparently based on an Israeli TV series, like the excellent Homeland, which went off the rails after the first series but still kept your interested to due to excellent scripting and compelling characters.

Also noticed in the proliferation of betting shops a "Set Your Limits" campaign. Don't they realise that anyone addicted to slot machines, daily lotteries , or the proliferation of betting options will not do that , the only people who will are those in complete control. Then you add the facts that William Hill are looking to open shops 24/7 because slots and electronic casinos are open 24/7 , then combine this with one staff member per shop, and Paddy Power  taking bets and joking about the Oscar Pistorius , see this Guardian article, and it shows that they are only interested in one thing.

Tonight I have a meeting at my local practice' patient forum (details here) so am going to away from the house for 13 hours again today , but it's good to be involved with these things and you can't complain about things if you don't get yourself involved.

Anyway I know that this is not my normal sort of blog post, and I apologise, but when I get home tonight hopefully I can post something more positive and uplifting. Still enjoy your day, I know I will.