I was remarking that most of the Christmas songs that get repeated plays on the radio are from the seventies, when it seemed everyone was releasing a Christmas song. Most were decent efforts though I though Kate Bush's and Queen's were not up to their usual standards.
Since then memorable Christmas records have been few and far between, although this may be just due to like of radio play, yest we had "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, "Do They Know It's Christmas" by Band Aid and "Christmas Wrapping" by The Waitresses, but you seldom get to hear "Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas" by The Eels or "Alan Parsons in A Winter Wonderland" by Grandaddy.
My own favourite though is "Christmas Song" by The Raveonettes (from 2011, yes I know nearly ten years old) , who if you don't know them are a sort of cross between Roxette and Jesus and Mary Chain, absolutely perfection. This is my all time favourite Christmas song...... so far.
I've titled this thinking that it sounds like the name for a Brian Eno piece, as I am still reading the David Sheppard autobiography "On Some Faraway Beach" and I am going to add some Brian Eno CDs to my Discogs sale list, not because I don't like them , just because I have digital or vinyl copies and the CDs are probably never going to be played again, so it's time for someone else to enjoy or discover them. They're not up yet because I need to find the CDs first.
One of the results of having the roof leak is that often when I hear a regular noise I assume it's dripping water, that is a leak from somewhere. This happens quite often and the usual culprit is a ticking watch or a clock. Now I know this is something I am able to cope with but there people out there who this would drive to distraction, you almost start looking for things to be leaks.
Since I had the roof fixed properly by Responsive Roofing the situation has been perfect, but the worry is still in the back of your mind though it will disappear eventually I know. I spoken with lots of people who have come across leaks that they just can't track down, often influenced by wind, wind speed and direction. Water can be insidious, discovering ways through that builders did not even think possible, and remember water can wear away pretty robust stuff, look at The Grand Canyon and so many gorges carved by water.
So to go with this I'm going the share "By This River" and tranquil piece by Brian Eno from his "Before and After Science" album.
I'm still hit by 'flu' although the benefit so far is a two kilogram weight loss. Yesterday it was 3:30 pm when I woke which meant I obviously needed the rest and sleep. I searched influenza for treatments and it is very infectious, so this close to Christmas I won't me going into work today, and the reason I'm writing this is that I hit the sack at 8pm and woke up coughing so thought sitting up would give a bit of respite and also make me ready to go back to sleep.
I've been having some mad dreams, one that I had a collection of apps on my phone that would tell me when I could go to the toilet , although they all used different criteria. I think that was just due to the back pain I was feeling , and while I am sure there are apps out there for things like that , it's not something I would have or use, and certainly haven't got , though when I woke I did check, and there is nothing there , the only health based apps I have on the phone are Google Fit and EMIS (for booking doctor's appointments and reordering prescriptions).
Then I had this weird dream that I went out late at night and (remember I live in Fenham, Newcastle) and for some reason was at a Metro station in West Jesmond and there was a bus with a huge bed instead of seats, I then took a bus which went down avery narrow street which reminded me of the main street in Totnes (in Devon) and ended up at the seafront in Seaburn (Sunderland) which meant I would have to walk back. This is what happens in dreams although I am sure it will give any psycho analysts a lot to play with.
As I said this was keeping me awake so now I have it down I can go back to bed for rest and recuperation. Possibly an appropriate piece to accompany this is Marilyn Manson's take on the Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams are Made of This".
This morning I felt like I wanted a Full English Breakfast, but there is no way I could actually eat one, my stomach couldn't accommodate it. I felt like this a few times before and I know this is a side effect of the 'flu' but I have though what a great invention it would be to experience the pleasure of eating, the tastes and textures without actually consuming. I know we have to eat to keep going but enjoying the pure pleasure of taste is wonderful as long as you are eating something that you like.
I thought I would just mention this as I am now suffering from a streaming cold and still feeling a bit battered although better than yesterday.
This is going to be a very short post because there is not much you can say about a Full English Breakfast , it is what is, and I used to be able to make room for one any time, now it's not so often. I still love the smells , tastes and textures although I am unable to enjoy it as often as I used to do.
I say this is a very short post, but I still think it will pass 250 words which I always set as a general target, and in the past I have done some very short posts, more like notes rather than blog posts.
The song I have got to go with is "Don't Quote Me On That" by Madness for opening line:
"Eggs, Bacon, Beans and a Fried Slice"
I love that song (originally the "B" side of "Night Boat To Cairo"), I love that band.
It's 5:30 am on 21/12 , I've had 9 hours rest if not sleep, and have had back pains and was semi dreaming that I had a email and spreadsheet strapped to my back and that was causing the pain. I know that makes no sense whatsoever and kept thinking of I could close it the pain world go away. The pain has gone and so has the email / spreadsheet. I was trying to think why that was in my mind but there is no reason for it.
I am still very hot (the heating isn't on) but think I am improving, though I think today will be another day in bed just resting and recovering.
I do have Christmas cards to send and thanks to Amazon have got all my Christmas presents.
One good thing about this illness is that it helps with weight loss, which in my situation is a good thing.
Given I am stil not 100% (not even 50%) we will go with The Pogues "Sick Bed of Cuchulainn" , the opening song from "Rum, Sodomy and The Lash" ,which is rather more energetic than I feel at the moment.
'flu' is one of the few words with a double contraction, from the full influenza. Last night I came home feeling like I had been stamped on bu cloven hoofed animals and spent an hour just shaking and finally retiring to my bed. Today I intended to go to work and bring home my laptop, but I wasn't even up to that, so spent today in bed in two hour sleep blocks, also only my sight was affected , when it was really dark I could see nothing, and that is scarier that the physical pain.
I know this is not real 'flu' because I can get out of bed and do things , I got hit by this ten years ago and could not leave my bed.
This is why I have been relatively quiet, and I hope I feel better soon, because it doesn't feel good at the moment. An appropriate song I suppose is "Still Ill" by The Smiths, and I found a live take from The Tube in 1984.
I know this post is short but I need to get back to bed, I've only done 212 steps today and have obviously fallen behind with my blog posting but hopefully will feel more up to it soon.
Yesterday I used some recording software to create a blog post. The name Opa Loka came to mind, I know it is a song by Hawkwind and could refer to the city in Florida , which I didn't know existed.
I had to edit it and it's still messy so I need a lot of practice to start using it in earnest.
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Right I'm just going to actually try this as a blog post.
I'm walking.
I just walked across the frozen Leazes Park and I want to see if this actually captures the text, so that I can actually use it for a blog post.
I'm actually walking while I've just put out a stream of consciousness and ,so to speak, a lot of writers use software to actually scripts or whatever, and then you've got to go through and edit.
I've actually done one of these once before, but obviously I've not done this much, but this one I'm trying to actually hit 366 posts this year and I need to do maybe another 16 .
I'm just walking back now. It's very very cold so I'm not too sure what music I'll use to soundtrack this but obviously I'm going to get this text, get it back, format it, and it'll make no sense whatsoever so it's going to be a "Stranger Things" for you and just another test for me but it would be great if I could actually talk and make sense as it means that you can actually say things and nobody's stopping you you can put it out and you can say what you want.
Really I use mine as a diary to remember things or just record things that I either have missed or I want to remember and want to be able to go back to, and I'm not too sure how the police siren is going to affect this because that's what was happening as I'm recording but I'm going to actually stop this now as my hands are absolutely freezing at St. James's Park.
Need to get across the road to Citygate and hopefully get in the warm have some porridge and maybe a cup of coffee and thinking maybe some Hot Chocolate. I know that Tesco actually sell that so I will divert via Tesco's get some hot chocolate and maybe we'll have a soundtrack by the band Hot Chocolate you actually did some very very good records so this is the end of this ok
