Well feeling abit sore after yesterdays hospital visit and they're still not finished with me , although they are very happy with my positive attitude. The thing is today is a rest day but my dad has this attitude "If you're not working , you're doing nothing , and if you're doing nothing you should be working" and I'm feeling that way this morning. I love my dad , but am sensible enough to look after myself and rest when the doctors tell me too. He once broke hi foot , drove to hospital , got it sorted and they told him to get an taxi or ambulance to get home , but he still drove back.
Anyway I have a new Rough Trade subscription album by Matthew E White called Fresh Blood , and I'd heard the single Rock and Roll is Cold on Radio 6 quite a bit and loved it and the album does live up to that song, well worth a purchase.
Also I watched the film "Good Vibrations" the story of the record label and one of the first songs I heard on it was Blood and Fire by Niney The Observer , which has an awesome chorus which I knew from PJ Harvey's Written On The Forehead from her wonderful Let England Shake album.
It's a beautiful day and as I write this now have the Hozier album playing with some wonderful gospel type call and response choruses. Anyway I am gonna have a busy day resting. You all have a great day.
Yesterday morning I couldn't sleep and posted something on here, but it caught up with me and I was not feeling too good last night. So had a sensible amount of sleep and overall probably have had what could be termed a reasonably relaxing weekend. But it's never too late or too early to write a blog post.
Ready to Rip
I've caught up on stuff , sent off some official stuff , bought some stuff , eaten some stuff , read some stuff and probably forgotten some stuff.
The weather has been cold but I think it is getting warmer.
This week is another busy week with hospital appointments, meetings and more taking up all the free time I have at the moment, but it's good to keep busy.
I also treated myself to a new Blackstar amplifier from GuitarGuitar , which I shall have a play round with tomorrow. as well as transferring some vinyl to MP3 , in particular Women In Revolt and Gary Wright's Wonderwheel after getting some seven inch adapters from Reflex which were not exactly cheap, but vinyl accessories are necessary to it's enjoyment.
Anyway I found "I Know" on youtube for you to enjoy before I hit the sack.
So goodnight , and hit the ground running for this week , and have a totally brilliant one. That's what I intend to do.
Woke up an 3AM , I haven't a clue why. It's Saturday so I know I can go back to bed if I need to. The wind is howling outside , but it isn't raining., though they say if March Comes In Like A Lion , It Goes Out Like A Lamb , so that may bode well for the end of the month weather wise. The best thing is , is that it is the weekend.
From The Back
This week I have been listening to some great music, and am fascinated by the picture of the simple mirrored arch I took in Sunderland this week , just love the disconcerting affect it has. When I look at it from the front , because of the very blue sky I don't see it at first and really have to look before I do see it. Looking from the back it is obvious but from the front , in the photograph it hides in plain sight.
When I took the picture I could obviously see it, which is why I took the picture, but then when I looked at it on my phone I couldn't actually see the thing immediately. It reminds me a bit of the effect of Anthony Gormley's "Domain Field" which when you look at a photograph or from a distance you don't immediately see the figures.
From The Front
Maybe it's my eyes and age but would be interested in your opinion. The Domain Field figures are below from an exhibition in the Baltic a few years back. Anyway I might go and grab a few hours sleep, so you all have a brilliant weekend. For a change there's no music on this one but hope you like the pictures
Despite my age I seem to be always find new music to enjoy, reminded of this by a conversation I had this morning, and sometimes those things are new and sometimes they may have been around for longer than you thought.
Music always has the ability to delight and surprise , challenge and lift your spirits.
The case in point is Baxter Dury , son of Ian Dury. You can hear his fathers mannerisms in his voice , but he has been making albums for over ten years. Given his age this isn't a surprise , but I'm quite amazed that he managed to slip under my radar, and I am a husge fan of his fathers music. Anyway after listening to the new album "It's A Pleasure" the whole of his back catalogue is on it's way to my door.
Similarly a couple of weeks I saw Man Made , fronted by Johnny Marr's son Nile. Talent obviously does run in a lot of families
Another record I bought was a best of John Mellencamp , who's done a lot of excellent blue collar rock , although I also have a sneaking liking for R.O.C.K. In The USA , he's one the artists like Chris Rea who broke free of the MOR machine shackles to plough a worthy musical furrow.
Anyway the song I have to leave you is Baxter Dury's live take of It's A Pleasure , hopefully it will persuade you that buying the album is a good idea:
I thought I was having anger problems, it's happened a few times recently and with just a bit of thought it's dissipated. I thought maybe it's old age or diabetes , and maybe it is , but , as I've said before , anger is such a negative destructive emotion I do always try to deal with it. I was even thinking of starting a Mr Angry blog to vent my spleen , and let's face it it's always the complaints and negative stuff that people seem to go for , how else can you explain X-Factor and Britain's Got Talent?
Anyway the two incidents today were waiting behind someone taking an age at a cash machine , and then a huge queue in Boots where they had one girl serving . It's the management that exasperates me , absolutely not bothered about the customer experience.
To quote John Lydon "Anger Is An Energy" but it does have to be properly directed , and I have always managed to do that and never let it control me, though I never ever queue unless I have absolutely no choice. So the obvious song to choose is Public Image'sRise from which that line is taken , and John Lydon also used it to title his latest book.
Anyway It's the beginning of March and I have a most interesting week coming up , and really need to get to bed due to an early morning physiotherapy session tomorrow. SO have a good week and always look for a way to positively channel and anger you have.
Oh by the way I took thirty seconds to walk to another cash machine across the road , and walked out of Boots because I can always call in another time and these actions left me totally stress and anger free.
In the sixties my uncle remarked that anyone would have to be an idiot to wear a T-Shirt advertising a company name. I can't remember who the company was but it always stuck with me. While I've never had a problem with discreet external labeling like Wrangler, Levis and Lacoste, this are getting quite silly at the moment.
Everyday I see people plastered with Superdry and Jack Wills in particular. No the quality may be acceptable, but wearing their clothes is only one step up from donning a sandwich board. Really everytime I see these people I don't see a style guru , I see a branded sheep. I wasn't thinking of any song in particular but the Kinks "Dedicated Follower Of Fashion" should be nailed on for this.
I know that on my journey to work tomorrow I will see people advertising Superdry and Jack Wills , and when I next go shopping I will buy something that looks class and doesn't need to scream it's name like Fat Face or John Rocha , or even Next.
I can't believe it's four years since my first World Book Night. Then I had 50 Copies of Philip Pulman's Northern Lights. This year it is 18 copies of Roddy Doyle's Dead Man Talking , so one of my tasks is to finish my current book and read this before I give it away so I can appear knowledgeable about it. I always read the book I'm giving away and it's always good to engage with people about it and hopefully either get people to start reading or to restart their reading.
Thinking about this has just reminded me of one of my favourite TED talks about the joy a book can bring , better than any film or play or TV episode because books use and trigger your imagination.
Here is the World Book Night site and a list of this years books. It's on Thursday 23rd of April which is William Shakespeare's birthday and for 2012 and 2013 I wasn't sure why the day (not the date) changed each year. It's also a charity funded campaign so if you want to help click on the button
below and donate a little cash.
That was the second bit of good news , the first being that I have been offered a position of a Systems Analyst, which will be another excellent challenge as well and keeping me off the street. So anyway it's time for bed as I need to get up tomorrow to do seven and a half hours looking for jobs ..... Oh no I don't !!
SO I suggest you watch the TED talk and buy a copy of the book as it;s a quick read and will only cost you a quid.
