Time

It's weird, over the last couple of months I seem to have less time to do what I want, often missing out on things so that I can have some me time to recuperate from the exertions of whatever I'm doing during the week. I haven't attended a gig since November and I've forgotten last time I met someone socially, the nearest being dropping in on my friend Krista at her KOTA place in the Grainger Market.

Tomorrow I go to the Freeman Hospital for a Liver Biopsy coincidentally the same day as a friend of mine is there for the start of his chemotherapy, hardly the best conditions for social interaction.

So what do I do , I set up another blog to give out free horse racing tips here. So I'm still looking for things to do, I'm also still trying to sort out recording possibilities with my set up, having discovered how to use the arpeggiator in GarageBand on the iPad, as well as catching up on TV and listening to music, at the moment "Queen" by Perfume Genius , followed by the stunning "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" by Pere Ubu , both stunning records.

I hope this doesn't sound as though I'm complaining, I am making plans to do things and will be definitely more active in the new year. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to sleep and had 30 hour days not taken up with 8 hours of work, but don't we all feel like that.

I'm lucky that work is a pleasant place to work with some brilliant people there, and they also do a great job that I am glad to be a part of.

So what temporally themed song should I choose "Time" by Pink Floyd or David Bowie? I will probably shock you by choosing Coldplay's "Clocks" but the Buena Vista Social Club version.

Have a lovely night my gorgeous friends.

Friday 13th ... You Better Run, Rum, Run

 I really wanted to write something positive about the number thirteen. The thing is humans are conditions by society, parents , whatever to believe in superstitions. Single magpies, black cats , and lot's more.

I was thinking along the lines of a baker's dozen where an extra loaf was thrown in, in case one was not up to scratch.

There's a lot of reasons given why thirteen is bad, such as Judas being the thirteenth one at the Last Supper. But surely Jesus was the odd one out as he wasn't an apostle. We have twelve calendar months , but thirteen lunar months and the word lunatic is derived from Luna and the phases of the moon that brings out a change in certain people , not always for the better.

If you search the internet for "Lucky 13" you will come across albums by Bert Jansch and Neil Young although nothing about why 13 should be considered lucky.

Today is also Friday which is not deemed good for travel and combining it with 13 you have not a great omen for travel. Also it snowed today, so making it more likely that drivers would have an accident. Friday the 13th is also the name of a horror film series (here) and also it's the title of albums by The Damned, The Misfits and The Stranglers.

The song I will give you is "Run,Run,Run" , the opening track from "A Quick One" by The Whoabout all those reasonless supertitions, which I am sure you will identify with. Time for bed now, sleep well

Bruce and Zlatan

I've just finished reading "I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic" his autobiography co written with another guy, and have now started Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run". The style of writing in a universe apart, Ibrahimovic is not the best at expressing himself, whereas Springsteen, as we know from his song is a master with words. However, they both share an incredible love of cars (Zlatan - Ferrari, Bruce - Cadillac) , and more importantly they both keep you interested and wanting to hear what happens next.

Zlatan

Bruce

Thinking about it I know I will read and finish Bruce's book , book Zlatan's is 330 pages of quite small print, which, once I got into it kept my attention until the end, so the biggest success, in my eyes is "I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic". I would recommend both books even if you don't like football or music.

I'd have both of them in my house or go for a drink with them.




 
Anyway I've woken up to snow, and today is my last day of work before my liver biopsy , and given that there are so many Bruce Springsteen songs to choose from, there are many I could call my favourite, but Cadillac Ranch from "The River" (the title track of which was written about his sister and her husband) is the one I am going to go for.

Wrap up, keep warm, and it's Friday , so have a wonderful day my friends.

The Sound of Guns

I was up at 3 o clock this morning , there were bins in the middle of the road and mine and my neighbour's had blown over, so I got up and moved the bins off the road. The bin lorry still hasn't turned up, but obviously once emptied, they need putting somewhere safe fairly quickly. The wind doesn't seem to be letting up , and there's apparently snow on the way.

Last night I was absolutely shattered so was in bed at 8 O' Clock so I've had a good nights sleep though  I had some weird dreams which like most dreams have completely disappeared from my mind. They were not good dreams though. I noticed on Facebook my eldest daughter had woken from a nightmare so a bit of family synchronicity there.

This week I am having a number of hospital visits prior to a liver biopsy next week,  before a weekend in Whitby at the end of the month. The needle they use for the biopsy s fairly hefty piece of kit but the do anesthetize the spot.

Anyway sorry this is just rambling about nothing interesting, but I will leave you with a brilliant uplifting video from Turbolenza featuring music by the excellent but now defunct The Sound of Guns (Sometimes and Alcatraz).

Have a good day my friends.

Kindle In The Bag of A Rabbit With Wires

That's the end of the first week at work in the new year and Preston North End have been edged out of the FA Cup by the not very mighty Arsenal,. It was similar to the Newcastle match , we should have buried them in the first half but we don't have a reliable striker. Newcastle had Mitrovic , Arsenal had Giroud, but Preston made their opponents look second best on the pitch (unlike the disaster at St James' Park). It's Saturday night and I haven't posted since Monday so thought I had best get something down.

My phone's Bluetooth still causes settings to stop, so I'm forced to use wired headphones. However the ones I have although foldable , and sound OK , are still really too big for my pocket. I really do need to look for something a little smaller, so I will do that after I post this.

I visited RPM and bought Charlemagne: The Omens of Death , a heavy metal album by Christopher Lee on Vinyl. I then visited my friend Krista in KOTA and The Long Play Cafe in The Grainger Market and told them about Christopher Lee's Heavy Metal forays , and example of which is here.

I was surprised that they were unaware of this facet of the great man's art. I've included "The Magic Of The Wizard's Dream" by Rhapsody featuring the great man on vocals.

Good night my friends.

What Goes On? ... Back To Work

Today is the first day back at work after the Christmas break and my mind is very confused. You are suddenly cast from a world in which you call the shots  back into the world where the employer and money men call the shots. I wanted to lie in bed, I wasn't sure what day it was , or what time it was or what needed to be done. There's still a sinkful of washing up , but that can wait until I get home.

I think really what I need to do is to get myself out more when out of work, but it is so convenient to watch my recorded films at home where it's nice and warm , and I can go to bed when I want, only to hit the rude awakening of another day at work.

It's not that I hate work, I just hate that it stops me from doing what I want. If I could socialise and do things during the day the rest at night, I would totally love that, but just at the moment work provides me with the ability to do what I want at weekends and at night.

I think lots of people will feel the same, but I am going to be positive about this. It is wet outside and it's a new day, a new month and a new year, with new things to do, new opportunities to take and new avenues to explore.

Anyway what should we play to kickstart the new work year? "What Goes On" by The Velvet Underground , that's what we'll play , five minutes of total brilliance that anyone can play, and when we ask "What Goes On?" , we go on , the greater things.

Have a great day my friends.

Remember Then ...

... one your biggest problems at New Year was remembering to date your cheques with the new year. It's amazing how in such a short period of time technological advances have made cheques virtually redundant. Barclays did something recently were you could photograph the cheque and send that electronically, but that was just a more complex way of doing normal electronic transactions, while making it more open to fraud. I'm not sure it caught on.

Anyway just one of the ways that life has improved, we have simpler ways of spending money but less of it to spend.

I'm just writing this here because it came to mind, and well , I am just about to crawl into bed. We've got a full day of football tomorrow so hope you have got some fun to be had too.

It's also an excuse to play "Remember Then" by Sha Na Na . I can't believe that I have never included them before, they appeared at Woodstock (I have "At The Hop" on the soundtrack album) and in the film Grease, and I had a couple of their albums in my teens which I didn't replace on CD, although I do have an huge rock and roll section in my collection

Anyway it's time for bed and we don't go back to work til Tuesday