Gaudete

Last night I think I shook off the 'flu' , I've lost 9lb but think that this may be muscle wastage rather than losing fat. That may be not too good but means that I am still weak but it has put me in a good position weight wise.

This morning on Classic FM a version of the Christmas Carol came on that sounded like the choir was on speed, and though that "Ah, that's another UK hit single that wasn't in English. The ones I can think of are as follows:

"Gaudete - Steeleye Span"

"La Bamba - Richie Valens / Los Lobos"

"Ça plane pour moi - Plastic Bertrand"

"Autobahn - Kraftwerk"

"Je T'aime,...Moi Non Plus - Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg"

I am sure there are at least two more , which I will add if I remember them, there are others with snippets of non English in them but I am just thinking of the ones with no English lyrics at all.

I will leave you with the Steeleye Span take as I am feeling a little queasy, but at least I have done a Christmas Day post.

Enjoy your Christmas my friends.

Disturbing

Today in bed I felt there was someone there with me, I don't know who, but I know someone was looking out for me.

Later I saw a dark sheet hanging over me with hands and a head full of teeth, looking fairly frightening, but I have confidence in my own abilities to fight off flimsy night demons and that is doubled because I know so many people want me back to 100% for both personal and professional reasons, all of them good. The demon stayed where it was and finally melted away but was fairly impressive.

During this influenza some of the side effects have been night blindness, dizziness almost to the point of collapse and a lot of this possibly caused by anaemia, which is not being helped by me not wanting to eat. Today I decided on a fried egg sandwich for breakfast but that just didn't happen, and a trip to the chemist for a folic acid prescription didn't really do me any good either, apart from getting more tablets that I need, thanks to my wonderful doctor at Thornfield Medical Group. I love our NHS.

My mind is tired but by body is awake, I had the heated up remains of a Mirch Aloo Begun from the amazing Rajnagar and managed to eat that without too much of a problem. I am now drinking Hot Chocolate as I write this in the hope I can kick start my body to properly repair itself. I am a bit like my dad in assuming my own indestructibility although I think I look after myself a bit more carefully.

After the dream I think an appropriate sequence would be "Night on Bare Mountain" by Mussorgsky from Disney's "Fantasia" one of my mum's favourite films and a wonderful introduction to classical music for young people, if only they had shown that in music lessons at school I'm sure a lot more of us would have taken notice. The piece also found it's way on to the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack as "Night on Disco Mountain".

The Newest Great Christmas Song

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.

Also they didn't stop with that "Come On Santa" is absolutely gorgeous and "Christmas Ghosts" is sheer perfection.

Water Wins Whatever

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.

Enjoy.

More Strange Dreams

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".

Goodnight darlings .....

Full English

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.

Strange

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.