Walking out now is treacherous because of the iced up pavements, and what that has meant that I am sure I am doing far more steps per whatever measurement you care to put forward because if I try to walk normally I'd end up flat on my back.
The thought of walking tiny steps made me think of one of my favourite Elvis Costello songs , and to be quite honest that's the only reason for this post. Elvis Costello's real name is Declan McManus , and Declan McManus plays for and scores quite a few goals for Dunfermline Athletic. Also I believe Elvis Costello's dad was an Elvis impersonator and sang the R White's Secret Lemonade Drinker advert.
It shows the way my mind works in that a post about the perils of walking on icy footpaths takes left turn into the connection between Elvis Costello , Dunfermline Athletic and R White's lemonade.
I normally aim for about 250 words in a post , but this is less than half that , but is also my second post today, plus it's quite late and I really need to go to bed. So this is me signing off.
I do fall into the second category and am unlikely to every be totally vegan. As I've got older I seem to be going off meat more. A full English breakfast used to be a must for me , bow I can't remember the last time I had one and certainly don't miss it.
I've never been a fan of steak and I find red meat so heavy on the stomach. Meatless Farm mince is a perfect example , if you use it in Shepherd's Pie or say Keema , and you save some for tomorrow you can feel how much lighter it is than lamb or beef mince. That fact alone should spell out that it's better for you.
I sort of abhor Tofu but both Snackwallah and Vegano have served it up in very tasty meals that I have cleaned the plate with.
Our local Indian , the excellent Rajnagar and about ten vegetarian / vegan main courses and if I eat from there , that's my eating list.
I still drink milk and have it for my porridge and coffee and eggs and fish are always on my menu. Chicken is ok every now and then especially in a curry and am ok with decent sausages , although there is part of me that says I shouldn't.
So I don't see myself being vegan , although lots of work colleagues think I am, but the thing is , barring Tofu , I think most vegan food is excellent and if I am eating out the vegan option is the one that grabs my attention.
So really can we have anything but "Call Any Vegetable" by Frank Zappa and The Mothers (the record company added "of Invention" so as not to be offensive) to play out with? I thought of "Meat Is Murder" by The Smiths but that is a bit too hard hitting , though it's right to be.
Temperatures are rising but the snow is still on the ground , and when I started to type this , nothing happened. Thought the batteries on the wireless keyboard may have run out so checked in notepad , which was working fine and then the blogger software started working again.
It is a cold Valentine's day and the footpaths in places are like ice-rinks, not very safe if you are not steady on your feet.
Anyway the subject of this post is the two books I am reading . "Left Out" is about Labour under Corbyn , and is almost like reading a newspaper. You are not part of what is happening , it's also a physical book so sometimes I can't read it with my contact lenses in. It is very engrossing and interesting but the reader is not drawn into it, and I suppose that is the nature of any book reporting facts, especially when it highlights the faults and frailties of an organisation and person that you have admiration for. Unfortunately , because of our first past the post electoral system , the only alternative to the current government is The Labour Party. It is a book I would recommend to anyone interested in the UK political situation.
The other is "Imajica" by Clive Barker which at over a thousand pages I gave away my physical copy and bought it for my Kindle Fire. I am about a third of the way though and am slowly making my way through it once more, and this draws me into the book itself , you are there, you are part of it, and I know that I will not want it to end (again) but that must come, but although Clive Barker is not everyone's cup of tea , he certainly drags me into he books, stimulating my imagination and leaving always wanting to read just one more page, and then another. This is my favourite book ever, and reading it today , I know why that is.
This week I am considering the abridged audio book of Richard Osman's "The Thursday Murder Club" which is available on BBC Sounds here. I find Richard Osman an intelligent engaging quiz show host and person (as well as Fulham supporter) so a book of his really is something you need to engage with. I have downloaded it on my Kindle Fire so that is queued up for this week.
So what do I share today, I have The Byrds "Untitled" playing as I write this and teh studio album contains "Chestnut Mare" , one of my eldest daughter, Juliet's favourites , and one of mine too , so we can go with this on this Valentine's Sunday afternoon.
It is still cold , so cold that the snow gets a bit slushy during the day then freezes at night. The lowest I've seen is minus eight degrees centigrade and friend in Dalgety Bay have reported minus fourteen degrees centigrade.
Walking out and most of the snow on footpaths has turned to ice, it's the middle of the and the temperature is zero , freezing. It isn't snowing but it is cold, with the only sign that this is over , the fact that most of the snow on the rooves has gone.
This is just a very short post , the day before Valentine's day and it is the thirteenth. Strange how sending a Valentines card to someone you don't know turns you into a stalker in todays environment , and I am sure there is a great horror story in that situation . Someone gets a card from a stranger and that marks them as the next target. That could destroy the Valentine's card industry.
St Valentine was a clergyman who was martyred but is also the patron saint of epilepsy. Wiki details are here
So what song do I share?
I know it's the day before but I know the Motorhead / HeadGirl / Girlschool "St Valentine's Day Massacre" EP is on YouTube in full , so we will go with that. The lead song on the EP is a cover of "Please Don't Touch" by Johnny Kidd and The Pirates. I find it slightly odd that the CD copies are now selling for more than the vinyl copies if you check out the links below.
The actual massacre is described thus:
" 1929 murder of seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang that occurred on Saint Valentine's Day. The men were gathered at a Lincoln Park garage on the morning of that feast day, February 14th. They were lined up against a wall and shot by four unknown assailants who were dressed like police officers. The incident resulted from the struggle to control organized crime in the city during Prohibition between the Irish North Siders, headed by George "Bugs" Moran, and their Italian South Side Gang rivals led by Al Capone.[1] The perpetrators have never been conclusively identified, but former members of the Egan's Rats gang working for Capone are suspected of a role, as are members of the Chicago Police Department who allegedly wanted revenge for the killing of a police officer's son"
I was out walking tonight , it was -2°C (this morning was -7°C) and thought this is just perfect. The snow crunched underfoot and there is no slush or skating rink footpath sections just beautiful white snow, and I am loving it while it's like this. There is no wind, rain or driving snow like last week and it is just perfect to walk in.
This week has been listening to lots of #MusicWhileYouWork and today I found a very unusual CD called Hindi Horrorcore by Andy Votel who does a lot of remixing and you can see examples below, it's just not an expected genre of anything , but I have the CD in my collection and it is definitely listenable, so I've included it here using the paste video option so we'll see how it goes.
It's close to midnight so I best sign off now. The temperature now is -8°C
Having had a reasonably restful week I thought I would get up in the middle of the night and write this post just to prove that I can. I went to bed at 11 o'clock and woke up at 8 o'clock , so the fact is I got a very good night's sleep, nine hours. I may try again tonight.
So I've gone through the day , and the weather is still so dreich and I do not think I will wake up to write another post. I've not done much today but my weekends are for resting and recuperation.
I have not even listened to any music today , but done some reading and managed to keep warm and dry.
I didn't do much walking either so in terms of doing things this has been an unsuccessful day, I am even tempted to not share this as this post is as uninspiring and uneventful as the weather at the moment.
So for a weather related song we shall go with "Like The Weather" by 10,000 Maniacs. No I shall go to bed.
Yesterday was a non work day for me , so I went out walking and managed to meet and chat to two of my neighbours , Emma and Manjit , twice. Now in this lockdown it's unusual to see people to speak to in person, we can , phone and videocall but two even meet two people is unusual , and to meet them twice in one day is definitely out of the ordinary.
There's been a cold North Wind today and the weather is dreich , cold and grey still , absolutely uninspiring, and though I walked different paths today it was more like a chore than an achievement.
My reading is still between the excellent in a car crash kind of way "Left Out" and the excellent in an excellent type of way "Imajica". The thing is although reading "Imajica" on the Kindle is very slow , it just means I will spend so much longer in that magical universe,
TV is continuing with "The Daily Show" , "Shrill" , "Cobra Kai" and a new one "Resident Alien" and today the Queen Platinum Collection has provided all my #MusicWhileYouWork and there is a lot of good music in there. Although that is only three hours I did have a lot of meetings.
The reason I was listening to Queen is because my mate Jim had posted on Facebook about "Innuendo" containing his favourite Queen song ever, which is a high recommendation given that Jim must be close the the world's number one Queen fan to the point that his scrap books were used on official Queen releases. However he didn't mention the song , and I don't have the album, but knew the ludicrously amazing title track graces Volume II of the collection , but I'm going with another favourite of mine "Las Palabras de Amor" featuring Mr Bulsara in a very smart suit.
It's a long while since I posted three times in a day , but I am doing it just because I can. It's quarter to ten at night and I know tomorrow I can have a lie in.
As I have said before , I do like a good night's sleep. but even ten years ago on a work night I could be up a three o'clock and then back to bed before properly getting up at six o'clock or whatever.
I hit the last episode of "Silicon Valley" not realising it was the finale, but there are plenty more series to pick up on that have not even started, and as well as that there are books and music to continue on with.
"Imajica" is being quite slow on the Kindle but it's why I love it so much, it is so broad in scope and really does drag you right into it (well it does for me), and "Left Out" is a good dissecting of the effective shambles of the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn , who started out well but was never suited to be the leader of the party. I still respect him, but do wish the Labour Party could actually stop the infighting between themselves and direct their energy against the current government who are destroying this country with their self serving incompetence.
I would like to see a similar book about the Conservative Party but because they won the election they are seen as a success, but it wasn't really a case of them winning , it was more Labour didn't even try to win.
So that's just a little of where I am tonight, and I know I can lie in tomorrow so I will share "A Humorous and Interesting dialogue" by Edward II, taken from a 19th century Manchester broadside ballad (from their excellent and beautifully presented album "Manchester's Improving Daily"). It's a dialogue between a master and his workmen, illustrating the never-ending struggle for fair pay and decent working conditions, but used to illustrate how NHS staff are treated by our government.
The weather doesn't really seem to be improving, still cold , wet , dreich. This is my thirteenth post this year , though the second today. so overall I am still scaling down the number of posts though lockdown is affecting me getting out any distance to find things to write about, although artists are still managing to produce output while staying in.
Today has had me listening to a couple of David Bowie CD boxes , the first "The Next Day" and "Station To Station" is playing now. Both are examples of how a really great presentation can be made from the artist to the fans, both boxes are on the list below.
Hopefully the weather will improve and tomorrow on another day off I will get to see my granddaughter Alexis , but me and her mother agreed it's not great to meet in weather like this.
The skies are getting greyer and darker and I still need to gout for a third walk today to try and get my steps up. February is an annoying month , twenty eight days meaning that it reality I need to average 12,200 steps a day and so far this month I have not done anything like that , and in this weather I don't really feel like doing it, but I know that I will, the only thing that normally puts a spoke in my works is illness.
So I know there really isn't much in this post but will share the title track of the album that I am listening to at the moment , it is a definite favourite of mine.
Heaven Knows ......I'm miserable now. Well not really , yesterday started with more snow , and though it's cold it looks nice , relaxing and almost Christmassy in our current lockdown situation, however this has transmogrified into could continuous rain that is extremely uninspiring and hence the feeling of misery.
I saw a meme yesterday that described a collection of Goths as "A Misery of Goths" which I have now decided to use as a title for this first post of a mostly miserable so far February. I couldn't find a really suitable picture but the one on the right sums up my feelings on my walks so far this month.
I hope that things will improve soon , but probably not before the weekend.
I do like that picture and you can click through to see more of their pictures, so ironic that something that is miserable results in a positive find.
I got a text this morning for a Diabetic catch up which these days is by phone and them trusting me to tell the truth, which I do. If I have problems I also get onto my doctor or the hospital , but generally I look after myself and follow guidelines, the only thing that bothers me is that generally I seem to need more sleep, that is I can't do things during the night even once a week, and often think it's great if I'm in bed at nine o' clock
Today or tomorrow I will be seeing my granddaughter Alexis and her mum , my daughter Kirsty , weather permitting , so that is a big plus.
I have also started following an author on Facebook called Lynn Miclea and she shares some very funny memes and will have to get some of her books , she's on Amazon here
I am now a permanent home worker and this gives me time to listen to a lot of music, currently listening to "The Next Day" by David Bowie and am also listening to the pile of CDs I have put up for sale on Discogs. As I've said before I often buy the CDs to support the artist or because I feel that I should have their music rather than any need for it. It's the same with films on DVDs which I am often too lazy to put in the DVD player , and when you do you get all the anti piracy videos which are pointless because you have PAID for it.
So before venturing out I will share the song that sort of originally inspired this post "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" by The Smiths which really should be a Goth anthem shouldn't it? Although The Smiths are hardly your archetypal Goth band.
It's that last day of January 2021 , and this will probably be my last post of January 2021. It is sort of strange to think that this will never happen again , not even in clocks and calendars are reset and we start again. It reminds me of seeing cloud formations or impressive skies knowing that if I don't capture them now with a camera then that will be them gone forever.
I've been wanting to write a book for decades and certainly have the tools to do it, and thanks to ebooks self publishing is now extremely easy via Amazon and others but every time I start , I hit a brick wall. This blog contains one short story contained in posts , but as yet this blog is my only publication. Hopefully I will do more. I have also included a few non-poems. These you can see by following the links
The title came to me as an idea for a story or book but not sure what it means or which way it goes , although I have a few ideas. The main concepts that come to mind are Philip Pullman's "The Subtle Knife" or the wielder of said instrument or films like Christopher Nolan's "Inception" or Duncan Jones' "Source Code". Duncan Jones remember came into this world as Zowie Bowie and is responsible for at least two must see films, the aforementioned one and the brilliant "Moon". The concept of the upside-down in "Stranger Things" also has flowed into my thoughts on this.
I thought I would do a google search on "The Reality Cutter" and you can see the results here , so it seems it's a reasonably original concept and maybe worth pursuing , although by posting this "The Reality Cutter" will drop into the Google search universe.
So what music do I share with you to illustrate this concept? The opening titles of "His Dark Materials:The Subtle Knife" I think fit the idea perfectly. If you haven't read the books and watched the film "The Golden Compass" which excellent , but the TV series does it better , you should really visit all these.
Enjoy your last day of January 2021 (oo that sounds ominous doesn't it)
Today is my dad's 86th birthday and he's still going strong . The problem is the older you get the less there seems to be to get you for your birthday. Personally I don't feel I need anything , and struggle to think of anything that I want. Maybe getting older means socks become acceptable. I got my dad a mug with a pictures of the world's oldest in use post box , as he is very interested in post boxes having installed hundreds.
Today I was out walking and the snow has gone but has left lots of big puddles and a couple of girls pased me and ended up traversing several , which I circumnavigated, and then remembered that the glascially beautiful "Hoppipola" by Sigur Ros is Icelandic for "Hopping In Puddles" and it does sound like that's what it could mean.
It was used as the theme to David Attenborough's BBC series "Planet Earth" so I will share that with you on this very brief post.
Although we have not had snow, temperature have been continually less than zero for more than a week now, meaning that snow has not melted and pavements are covered in frost.
The temperature has warmed a little and though there was a flurry of snow , it's now just continuous rain, and still cold.
The BBC has just stated it's going to be a dry day , but snow and rain in Scotland (for the Scotland being anywhere north of Watford)
Music wise I listened to a lot of Lou Reed the other day , a 5CD set featuring "New York" , "Songs For 'Drella" . "Magic and Loss" , "Set The Twilight Reeling" and "Ecstasy" , and every album is excellent , all far outstripping the David Bowie produced "Transformer" his breakthrough solo album and often listed has his peak.
These five albums prove that Lou Reed solo was far from a one trick pony. "Transformer" contains some stunning songs (my favourite is "Vicious") but we will go with the opener from "New York" "Romeo Had Juliette".
Although we are way past the shortest day (on the Winter Solstice) it is still dark in a morning although lighter in an evening. It's 8AM now and coming light but we will soon be implementing daylight saving again (slightly pointless in a 24/7 society) and will be back to even darker mornings.
This is another post that I started a couple of days ago and then have picked up to finish today. The weather has been dreich although last night we had snow again which you can see on my Instagram channel here.
I have been doing a work course in Power BI yesterday and today so not much time to listen to music, but yesterday I picked out a free copy of "True" by Spandau Ballet and wasn't too impressed , but luckily it's only thirty six minutes. "Lifeline" is good , but the rest is dross although the title track was successfully integrated into the excellent "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" by PM Dawn.
Anyway the song I am going to share is the excellent "Keep It Dark" by fourth phase Genesis from "Abacab" which I believe was titled after it's chord sequence and is one of the many great songs they produced after Peter Gabriel left.
The weather has curtailed my walking. It is cold . It has snowed and turned to slush and them frozen , then rained and then frozen again , although the sun is now out and seems to be melting snow and ice. The temperature is up to 6ºC so nowhere near the -5ºC of the other day.
When walking , it's like you are on a think sheet of ice that crumples underfoot so you are not skidding all over the place , although very often the cleared areas get a film of very slippy black ice.
A lot of the snow is gone but we shall see what tonight brings.
Musicwise I took delivery of a couple of 12" singles of "America:What Time Is Love?" by The KLF although I've seen a picture disc version but £40 is too much for me to pay. I shared a few plays on my Instagram Channel here. The record player I was cajoled into buying by Marek from RPM has been one of my most impressively joyous purchases that I have made (you see it a lot on my Instagram feed)
I will share with you with the excellent "Walking On Thin Ice" by Yoko Ono (with John Lennon on guitar) as it fits with the current weather
Most people see Kraftwerk's music as machine music and came to them via "The Robots" or "Showroom Dummies" or if they think they are really cool "Autobahn" (one of the few non English big hit singles in the UK , the only others I can immediately recall are "Ca Plane Pour Moi" by Plastic Bertrand and "La Bamba" by Richie Valens & Los Lobos and incidentally Lou Diamond Phillips who played Richie Valens in the film "La Bamba" is rather excellent in "Prodigal Son" which also feature a brilliant scenery chewing Michael Sheen).
I came across Kraftwerk on a Vertigo sampler "Suck It And See" , with an almost vicious flute driven piece called "Ruckzuck" and it is still one of my favourite Kraftwerk pieces. Of course that was from their debut album and their sound became progressively less organic and more robotic / mechanical (and that is not a criticism , it is just the way they progressed) , to the point where they replaced themselves with robots on stage.
The reason Kraftwerk came to mind was because "Your Silent Face" by New Order (see last post) was based on "Europe Endless" by Kraftwerk the opener from "Trans Europe Express", which I have included her so you can listen to Kraftwerk where I found them and where they are now.
At the weekend was talking about my favourite New Order songs and my top two I thought were "Temptation" and "Love Vigilantes". Fiona pointed me towards the Guardian's Top 30 New Order songs and I checked out "Your Silent Face" from "Power Corruption and Lies" which is absolutely beautiful, so that has joined my other two favourites , it's apparently a homage to Kraftwerk's "Europe Endless" which I will now have to check out.
When I was listening I thought the synth strings were familiar and think they were lifted for "Sunchyme" by Dario G , which also samples "Memory of a Free Festival" the closer from "Space Oddity" by David Bowie.
I am tempted to track down a 12" vinyl copy of "Your Silent Face" but it was not initially a single so that may be a no go (like "Love Vigilantes").
So a very very short post but I will share both songs with you so you can check them out.
Just at the moment that is my preferred place. Outside is dark and cold and wet. The recent snow was actually pleasant to go out in and make you want to get up but the current weather just makes you want to curl up in bed and stay toasty warm.
Tonight snow is forecast and when i was out tonight an almost powdery rain was coming down. I was wearing a hat but didn't notice it til I got in and realised how wet my outer clothing was.
2021 is proving difficult for me to post on this blog , I don't know whether that's cos of lockdown or the fact I am not seeing people apart from family.
I am listening to a lot of music while working from home, today has been mainly reggae with some Queen and Sisters of Mercy thrown in. I pick things out of my Discogs pile and am glad I kept my CD player as it's a little more hands on than streaming or even playing stuff on my network.
Reading wise I am reading "Left Out" about the self destructive nature of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn.by Gabriel Pogrund and Patrick MaGuire, the sad thing is they could have taken the country forward but were more bothered about fighting among themselves and left the country to the destructive incompetence of the current government.
So what piece of music to share. Yes are known for their over complicated progressive music , and lots of it is very good but one of my favourites is a relatively simple but still clocking in at ten minutes pice from "Close To The Edge" , "And You And I" , the lyrics are often ridiculous , but it gives me goosebump every time I hear it and was once released in full as one side of a single! Listen and see what you think.
It was dreich and depressing , then we had snow which was cold but pretty, and now the snow has gone and it's dreich and depressing the day before going back to work.
Still is always good to try and find something positive and I have been listening to some great music and seen a surprisingly good film "Cold Skin" which sort of reminded me of William Hope Hodgson's "The Night Land" which I have not read for some years , replacing the pyramid with a lighthouse in the Antarctic.
Also have been trying to think of music that is in the same universe as The Moody Blues , and on album that came to mind was "Trespass" by Genesis. While "The Knife" is definitely too aggressive for The Moody Blues but all the preceding songs could almost be a darker Moody Blues.
So I will share "Dusk" with you from "Trespass" , appropriate for this time of year, and still a great song.
We're in the first full week of 2021 , and I posted on New Year's Day, but haven't felt like writing since then. Part of this is the dreich weather we have been having which is not conducive to inspiration. It was Tuesday when I started this and really haven't felt like writing anything.
The thing is I am wrapped up but seriously just want to wear a T Shirt, it's a long time sing I seemed to have the choice.
Oddly I have managed to do a lot of walking although we've finally had snow and that has slowed my walking but increased the steps.
It's a first week back at work and now I am a home worker I think my main problem is not taking a break,
I didn't really want to continue this post and thought about deleting it but then thought I would just continue it.
I have been listening to a lot more music this week , but really need to start making it but am embarrassed to actually play anything too loud. At least with writing you don't make too much noise.
I have started the latest series of "Vikings" with one of the most impressive battles and death scenes I have see, that is sort of difficult to follow.
So what music do we leave you with at eleven o'clock on a frosty Friday night., "America:What Time Is Love" by KLF , seriously what else could I leave you with.
