It's funny, the drive down to Litton was remarkably relaxing despite the numerous fogbanks and traffic bottlenecks in places. I must say I am very tired after the journey but wish I could have taken some photographs of the sun through the fog and the amazing images that the fog threw up (is that a good choice of words?)
I am always amazed by the images that nature creates for us and often they are only there for seconds, so I am grateful for the handiness speed and quality of my two year old Samsung Note 4 phone that sometimes allows me to capture these images. Like the crane holding up a cloud from a couple of years back. A few seconds later that didn't exist.
We're close to the end of November and I thought I may have just hit double figures, but I have actually done over twenty posts this month, that surprised me.
I can actually write quite a lot of rubbish, but I am so glad that people actually read it. Several people tell me they look forward to my writing, and that is one of the reasons I do keep writing. Anyway I need to choose a song for this post and decided on "Sonia" from Robert Wyatt's "Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard". It's remakably uplifting and many years ago when I first got made redundant I put together a radio show for a local station and used it as a theme tune, but it never got broadcast.
Enjoy your Saturday Night my friends and enjoy this wonderul Robert Wyatt piece. Is it Jazz or What?
My friend Julie mentioned that's it's good to be "glass half full" rather than "glass half empty". It's always good to appreciate and enjoy what you have rather than being dragged down by what is, for now, unattainable. Remember the glass can always be topped up.
I'm not saying that people should be satisfied with what they have, it is always good to attain more, but as long as it's done with love, happiness and enthusiasm and not to the detriment of others. In fact it is good if you can help other and make their lives better, that will make your life better and fill your glass nearer to the brim.
I am very tired but Julie's comment inspired me to write this, she is a wonderfully positive person, and the only person along with her husband who celebrates their wedding anniversary with a music festival. Now how is that for filling up your glass.
So this is another blog post that is really about nothing, but it's just a message to all my friends to say enjoy your life, find something to smile about, always try to do good, and you will make the world a more wonderful place.
An in other news my friend Nicolle is going to review my friend Jessica (and Asher's) Wildflower Cafe for her magazine, so life is good.
The weekend is here and I'm going to sign off with one of my favourite uplifting songs, "The News" by Carbon/Silicon. Now that's a way to kick start your weekend. Sleep well and refill your glass my friends.
It is quite amazing the number of people who focus on the bad things and miserable events. These are usually people who have more than adequate lives. Often the people who have things the hardest are the most positive and find things to enjoy because the have found ways , one way or another to deal with the bad stuff.
I always try and look for positives, even when things go wrong. Luckily for me I am in an extremely good place, yes I would like to not have to go to work, to do what I want, but I know I will be sleeping in a warm bed and can have holidays and have a wonderful circle of friends, and to be really honest, work is a pleasant and interesting place to go, with some great people and daily interesting problems.
So try and distance yourself from the negative vibes, be like Oddball in "Kellys Heroes" and the song today is the wonderful "Prag Vec at The Melk Weg" by Half Man Half Biscuit. Look up that title on Google, see where it takes you, do something to put a smile on your face, smile at people, have a great day and push those negative vibes away.
Last night the rain was battering the back of my house, the front got off lightly but I wasn't going out the door. There were streams running down the road. The thing is this is extremely mild compared with what others have to put up with. Speaking to a friend in Japan , he's nowhere near the quake zone but he said they've had a tsunami warning "but we're always getting them".
The problem is weather like this is not exactly inspiring, you can hardly use an umbrella because of the wind, but it's nice when you are inside sheltered from it, though I feel sorry for people sleeping rough or who can afford to heat their homes and in the UK their number are growing daily. The other night I was in Newcastle and the charity was out feeding the homeless , when I see them I always slip them something. We are the sixth richest country in the world apparently, this should not be happening. Here's Shelter if you want to contribute.
Anyway it's time for me to get off and brave the elements and I will leave you with Half Man Half Biscuit's opener from the Wylam Brewery, Palace of Arts concert on Friday "Outbreak Of Vitas Gerulaitis" , have a great Tuesday my friends and don't get too wet.
Well it's here, the finale, the last #ALifeInNumbers. I had decided on Smoke (EFS 59) by Can from the album "Flow Motion" but it's blocked in this country on Youtube and I do apologise to anybody who can't see any of the videos on here. It's a great piece well worth tracking down and would have been a great finale piece.
I was going to wait til tomorrow, but for some reason I am aching badly and my blood sugar was dropping rapidly, but I am OK and will be in a warm bed soon.
So the second song, and I don't know how I missed this is, of course, Simon and Garfunkel's "59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)" , I mean what a song to finish on. I was looking through my Simon and Garfunkel box set and was surprised that they only made five albums, plus the soundtrack to The Graduate which is effectively a compilation, plus their Greatest Hits.
So it's now late on Sunday night so I will quietly sign off this sequence, and I hope you have enjoyed it. Sleep well my lovely friends and I will find something else to keep my fingers going tomorrow.
While I am writing this I am listening to my friend Juli's show AMOK on Pride Radio so you can time this at 7pm on Sunday night.
It is one of the non 6Music shows where I am certain to hear something I haven't heard before, as well as being fun to listen to. That's another benefit of the internet the sheer choice of listening and watching options. The only problem this gives me is that the amount of time I have is still the same, but the amount of choice I am given increases exponentially almost daily.
Internet radio can be brilliant as AMOK proves, go and give it a listen and release you inner Industrial Goth.
Number 58 has been awkward to track down a song for, I have a couple in my collection that would have done but decide to look a little further afield and came across "58" by The Age of Stella and found this live take from The Maze in Nottingham. These are a band I have never heard of but I am well impressed with their stuff.
This is the penultimate post in this sequence, and I may actually hit the 120K hits by the end of number 59 which is a brilliant one to end #ALifeInNumebrs on.
I often hear (and see thanks to social media), people complaining that there is nothing on television. That is in these days of so many channels that you can get lost. The thing is you can only watch one thing at once, but some people seem to think that means they can only watch one thing, their TV diet is often X-Factor, EastEnders and if they are feeling adventurous maybe Coronation Street and Britain's Got Talent. Needless to say I don't watch these , but I do remember the days before BBC2 existed and you couldn't record anything.
It is true that since the digital explosion there are an awful lot of channels filled with unwatchable dross, but this very fact means that there is always something that you can watch. Groucho Marx once said that he found TV very educational, if he walked into a room where the TV was on he'd walk out and find a book to read. TVs have always had an off switch.
Today the options to watch high quality content has never been better. There are films and TV series that I will never see despite them being must watch programmes. Dexter, Braquo, and 24 are three that immediately spring to mind.
Also I remember everyone complaining about repeats on television, now you have whole channels screening repeats DAVE and GOLD are two that spring to mind though there may have been name changes and one may be the other.
Anyway we are up to number 57 in #ALifeInNumbers and it has to be Bruce Springsteen's"57 Channels (And Nuthin' On) which does hit the nail about the choices we are presented with which are maybe no real choice at all.
Me, I find that 6Music , Radio 2,3 and 4 then BBC2,4 , Film4, Sky Living, Atlantic and Arts provide me with far more than I need. If I then add Youtube and TED then that gives you a small indication of my tastes.
