(Don't) Panic

Today is a work from home day testing the network to see in we can come with coronavirus isolation. While I appreciate that the situation is serious and I may have had it (or a variation) and may still get hit by the more viciously virulent COVID-19  but I hope my natural resilience will see me through, but the media fed majority panic buying and lack of corporate planning has left me quite amazed. Some places are like testing the Titanic's lifeboats after the iceberg hits. I see people using hand sanitiser what seems like every two minutes when there is plentiful soap and hot water (the best defence) available. If it weren't so serious it would be funny.

At the weekend Tesco in Clayton Street was almost cleared of toilet roll, but Poundland (next door) had a huge display of Andrx nine packs in the front door, but of course the middle class red top snops would rather have nothing than go to Poundland.

Sorry for the ranty nature of this but it does give me the opportunity to share one of my favourite Smiths songs "Panic" maybe replace the chorus with "Hang The Red Tops".

Be safe, wash your hands , look after yourself and others, be sensible, and if you catch it stay at home. Think of yourself and others

We Dream of Magic

I know it's because I am reading "Weaveworld" by Clive Barker and just in the aftermath of another confrontation between good and evil,  Cuckoos and Seerkind . It got me thinking, but  magic is often defined by ritual and repetitive performances, and everyone has some kind of repetitive ritual that they do every day.

So did magic evolve from people doing repetitive things or vice versa. Also sometimes something unusual would happen before or at the same time as tings and become associated with the ritual. So you get lucky socks , they "two for joy" with magpies and many more.

Many people claim they are very logical and dismiss magic, but will still do things in a repetitive way that others could interpret as a magical ritual, such as being at a bus stop at a certain time and a bus appears. We know it's not magic, but take a person who was unaware of how our transport infrastructure works and how would they interpret it.

Often magic is just something that cannot be explained .. yet. That's not to say that certain rituals cannot put us into a state of mind which creates a positivity that helps us do things. People solve problems and it's best to have your mind in a good place to do that.

Also remember that most of the time new things fail, but the only way to succeed is to do things and instigate things, things don't just happen (good or bad).

I will go into work today and many people will tell me they wish it was Friday, I tell them they shouldn't wish their life away , find something to be positive about and enjoy now. I have plans for what is happening today including a doctor's visit and an email deployment and planning for a network test so I have plenty going on today.

So given the vague magic theme in this post I'll go with "The Wizard" by Uriah Heep (on Top of the Pops they did a kettle solo, and kettles are good for making tea and coffee which is always a good thing).

I Usually Forget

My memory is not very good at remembering things, I 've said this before, i Law I could remember what happened in Cases but not the name or dates of the case, in English Literature I can remember what happens in a play or novel but not the names of places or characters, when someone asks me directions I know which way to go , but not the names of roads and landmarks , they don't stick in my mind at all, which is possibly why I was so academically unsuccessful.

The odd thing is that I can deal with mathematical problems and am excellent in knowing how to find answers for things and solve problems, but if my memory is actually so bad, how can I actually do what I do? Although there are people of the opinion that I don't actually do anything, but you can't do anything about ignorance 😊.

The post was originally going to be about targets and goals, which we always need to help drive us, well I do. There are the mundane things, but I do want 100 positive recommendations on Discogs , I'm on 96 at the moment though I've sold 140 or so items and currently have something like 250 on sale, and am looking forward to post number 2222 (this is 2212 so ten to go) , so these are little but easily achievable goals.

Back to the main point of this post that is my memory and I am reading and enjoying "Weaveworld" by Clive Barker and while I remember the start and the end and the characters , I don't remember what is currently happening in the book, and if I wasn't so forgetful , there wouldn't be much point in me revisiting books. Previous revisitations have not unearthed much new stuff but this has been a treasure trove and is why I started to investigate Clive Barker's catalogue to the point of getting each book as it was released although I wasn't too impressed with his graphic novels.

I wanted to use "Remember" by Jimi Hendrix but there's virtually nothing on Youtube, but I found this cover by Gracie and The Summit Band which is rather excellent. Listen and enjoy. I can't track them down online but if you find them stick a link in the comments

Didn't Feel Lonely Til I Thought Of You

Yesterday I got home before six pm but had to put the lights on . The house was in darkness as the the lights come on around seven. Admittedly it was cloudy and rainy and the rain was coming down hard, but even so it was still a surprise to me. This morning I have to get off to the Post Office for another Discogs sale , it is strange as CD sales seem to go in spurts the stop and then come on again.

Morning Moon

This morning the sky looks blue and almost cloudless and the moon looked very clear in the sky so I leapt out and took a picture.

Unfortunately when I use the 50x Optical Zoom I can't keep the damned thing steady so a halfway decent picture is a plus. The one to the right is one that came out OK.

It's a thing with eyes and cameras, the camera can never capture the detail that the eye sees, although sometime it manages to capture things that the eye can't possibly see. A very odd conundrum that I don't have any intention of working out at the moment.

Yesterday I was listening to a Best of Kevin Ayers compilation , one of his bands (The Whole World) featured Mike Oldfield on guitar and was struck how, like with most artists, the early stuff is the most interesting and adventurous, although I did move onto my favourite album of his "The confessions of Doctor Dream" which I never tire of , featuring the excellent (no departed) Ollie Halsall on guitar, who's advice of  practicing with heavy gauge strings and play with light gauge I took , and in a very hot venue my guitar kept going out of tune, and I had to retune as I played. Afterward I was complimented on my on the the fly tuning / playing.

So in memory of Mr Halsall and Kevin Ayers both now gone , one of my favourites "Didn't Feel Lonely Til I Thought Of You", I found a live take for you to enjoy, with some excellent guitar duelling.

To Be Positive

Walking into the back room where my computer, keyboard and stringed instruments lived I thought I'd left the light on , I hadn't, it was sunlight reflecting off the houses at the back into the room filling it with light. Sometimes benefits and good things come from unexpected sources.

Although it's still cold the fact that it's not too windy and there's little rain means that walking into work is far easier and I am less and less tempted to take the bus, although this morning have to take a bus to Haymarket to post off another CD that I sold on on Discogs. The other day I found that the minimum Paypal withdrawal is now six pounds, which is a surprise , but is fine by me. My latest sale was only a fiver.😊.

I recently found that pressing the Windows Key and ";" simultaneously  gives you a list of emojis that you past easily , that added to Windows Key and "L" to lock your computer (which my youngest daughter told me about) and a couple of useful things to know.

I am happy with my new reconditioned Google Pixel 2XL which allows me to take reasonable pictures and video as well as being fairly quick , also being a Google device it keeps up with Android system updates and has unlimited cloud photo storage so although it can't take an SD card you are never short on space.

So what should I share this morning, one of my favourite Top of the Pops memories when Can hit the top 30 with "I Want More" , and I want more positivity and good stuff to come to everyone and everywhere.

Water Music

When showering this morning I thought I could hear music maybe in the pipes , maybe in the water. It's like when you think you can hear something in another house, or a passing car or someone with headphones on. You cannot quite grasp what it is and when you switch the shower off it stops, so it's obviously in the water. This happens quite often with me, and I suppose it's brought to the fore because of the Clive Barker books I'm reading which always have that world just out of your sight or ken, be it music , lights or images.

Because this was music probably caused by water I thought of Handel's "Water Music" which is a rather essential classical piece which I enjoy , although last night I was watching  a wedding on "Brassic" (which is an excellent Joseph Gilgun creation with a cracking soundtrack)  and the music was Pachelbel's "Canon" which has been used as a basis for so many songs (the Farm's "All Together Now" for instance) but one of my most striking moments was when I saw Blair Dunlop (Ashley Hutching's son) tap it on his guitar (the Trace Bundy arrangement) at an Albion Band concert many years back.

I couldn't find a Blair Dunlop but I did find Trace Bundy's TED performance, the sort of guitarist who makes you feel you may as well give up. Amazing stuff, and brilliant arrangement of a beautiful tune.

Halfway Down The Stairs

I'm halfway through "Weaveworld" and it's still got me grabbed, maybe because it touches on so many places that are familiar to me while maintaining and definite other worldliness. The thing is, when you revisit a past favourite , there is always that slight feeling that it may not live up to what you thought it would be, although being a Clive Barker tome I feel on fairly certain ground, and it is proving remarkably excellent on this particular revisit.

Of course I am also re reading "Imajica" on the Kindle Fire so it's a double helping for me , which may actually slow down progress, but who cares when it's so enjoyable.

Similarly the purchase of "Confusion" and "Blue Monday"  12" singles whilst in Edinburgh made me wonder whether my favourite New Order song "Temptation" was available in this form , and it is, so that was ordered and arrived today. My second favourite New Order song is "Love Vigilantes" but do I really need that on a 12" single.... we shall see.

So half way through "Weaveworld" made me think of "Halfway Down The Stairs" by Robin the Frog (nephew of Kermit the Frog in The Muppet Show). My mind drifting off in unorthodox tangents again.