I'm Missing The Snow

This morning I finished "Left Out" which while it mostly depressed me on the infighting in the Labour Party but left with the observation that Corby had moved the party back to the Left , but I home that Starmer has something lined up to destroy the Tory party because he's being very quiet at the moment.

Next up is "Fake Law" by The Secret Barrister which doesn't start well as it intersperses right wing idiot quotes from the press , parliament and the rest, and is almost like a Daily Mail article but it is what you hear from so many everyday people who can't be bothered to think or look into what they are reading. I have been guilty several times but luckily have friends who can put me right.

The snow has gone and temperatures are up , but generally the weather is grey and uninspiring .I don't need two coats , gloves and a furry coat to go out in and while it's a bit brighter it's a bit meh. I  thought I would pen a non-poem on my thoughts , so I supposed it is still causing some inspiration. 

"I Miss The Snow

Crunching underfoot

The bright white pavements

Parks and Fields

I Miss The Snow

I Miss The Snow

I miss The Snowmen

The animal trails

A bird , a cat, a dog

I Miss The Show

I Miss The Snow

The iced puddles and ponds

Electric Brilliance from The Winter Sun

And still that crunch underfoot

I Miss The Snow"

So that's a non-poem for this day off, and the weather is boringly mild but I will nip out for a walk soon. While I'm writing this I picked up a CD called "Raw Rockabilly" from my Discogs pile , the music is great but the cover is a bit iffy as it contains the Confederate flag which has been adopted by American Nazis in the same way the St George's Flag and Union Jack have been purloined by British Nazis . It's also an anti Black Lives Matter image now, but when this was designed it was a redneck image but was not seen at that time as a racist image, which it undoubtedly was. I'd never seen it as a racist flag , but I had all the bits which if I had bothered to put them together, I would have immediately seen that it was. We all have to be continually learning and to be educated.

So musically will go with "Please Don't Touch" by Johnny Kidd and The Pirates from that album. More rock and roll than rockabilly but still a great record, which Motorhead and Girlschool updated for the St Valentine's Day Massacre EP which I have posted about recently and in the past (follow the tags).

Tiny Steps

Walking out now is treacherous because of the iced up pavements, and what that has meant that I am sure I am doing far more steps per whatever measurement you care to put forward because if I try to walk normally I'd end up flat on my back.

The thought of walking tiny steps made me think of one of my favourite Elvis Costello songs , and  to be quite honest that's the only reason for this post. Elvis Costello's real name is Declan McManus , and Declan McManus plays for and scores quite a few goals for Dunfermline Athletic. Also I believe Elvis Costello's dad was an Elvis impersonator and sang the R White's Secret Lemonade Drinker advert.

It shows the way my mind works in that a post about the perils of walking on icy footpaths takes left turn into the connection between Elvis Costello , Dunfermline Athletic and R White's lemonade.

I normally aim for about 250 words in a post , but this is less than half that , but is also my second post today, plus it's quite late and I really need to go to bed. So this is me signing off.

Vegan or Omnivore?

I do fall into the second category and am unlikely to every be totally vegan. As I've got older I seem to be going off meat more. A full English breakfast used to be a must for me , bow I can't remember the last time I had one and certainly don't miss it.

I've never been a fan of steak and I find red meat so heavy on the stomach. Meatless Farm mince is a perfect example , if you use it in Shepherd's Pie or say Keema , and you save some for tomorrow you can feel how much lighter it is than lamb or beef mince. That fact alone should spell out that it's better for you.

I sort of abhor Tofu but both Snackwallah and Vegano have served it up in very tasty meals that I have cleaned the plate with.

Our local Indian , the excellent Rajnagar and about ten vegetarian / vegan main courses and if I eat from there , that's my eating list.

I still drink milk and have it for my porridge and coffee and eggs and fish are always on my menu. Chicken is ok every now and then especially in a curry and am ok with decent sausages ,  although there is part of me that says I shouldn't.

So I don't see myself being vegan , although lots of work colleagues think I am,  but the thing is , barring Tofu , I think most vegan food is excellent and if I am eating out the vegan option is the one that grabs my attention.

So really can we have anything but "Call Any Vegetable" by Frank Zappa and The Mothers (the record company added "of Invention" so as not to be offensive) to play out with? I thought of "Meat Is Murder" by The Smiths but that is a bit too hard hitting , though it's right to be.

Three Books

Temperatures are rising but the snow is still on the ground , and when I started to type this , nothing happened. Thought the batteries on the wireless keyboard may have run out so checked in notepad , which was working fine and then the blogger software started working again.

It is a cold Valentine's day and the footpaths in places are like ice-rinks, not very safe if you are not steady on your feet.

Anyway the subject of this post is the two books I am reading . "Left Out" is about Labour under Corbyn , and is almost like reading a newspaper. You are not part of what is happening , it's also a physical book so sometimes I can't read it with my contact lenses in. It is very engrossing and interesting but the reader is not drawn into it, and I suppose that is the nature of any book reporting facts, especially when it highlights the faults and frailties of an organisation and person that you have admiration for. Unfortunately , because of our first past the post electoral system , the only alternative to the current government is The Labour Party. It is a book I would recommend to anyone interested in the UK political situation.

The other is "Imajica" by Clive Barker which at over a thousand pages I  gave away my physical copy and bought it for my Kindle Fire. I am about a third of the way though and am slowly making my way through it once more, and this draws me into the book itself , you are there, you are part of it, and I know that I will not want it to end (again) but that must come, but although Clive Barker is not everyone's cup of tea , he certainly drags me into he books, stimulating my imagination and leaving always wanting to read just one more page, and then another. This is my favourite book ever, and reading it today , I know why that is.

This week I am considering the abridged audio book of Richard Osman's "The Thursday Murder Club" which is available on BBC Sounds here. I find Richard Osman an intelligent engaging quiz show host and person (as well as Fulham supporter) so a book of his really is something you need to engage with. I have downloaded it on my Kindle Fire so that is queued up for this week.

So what do I share today, I have The Byrds "Untitled" playing as I write this and teh studio album contains "Chestnut Mare" , one of my eldest daughter, Juliet's favourites , and one of mine too , so we can go with this on this Valentine's Sunday afternoon.

-3°C

It is still cold , so cold that the snow gets a bit slushy during the day then freezes at night. The lowest I've seen is minus eight degrees centigrade and friend in Dalgety Bay have reported minus fourteen degrees centigrade.

Walking out and most of the snow on footpaths has turned to ice, it's the middle of the and the temperature is zero , freezing. It isn't snowing but it is cold, with the only sign that this is over , the fact that most of the snow on the rooves has gone.

This is just a very short post , the day before Valentine's day and it is the thirteenth. Strange how sending a  Valentines card to someone you don't know turns you into a stalker in todays environment , and I am sure there is a great horror story in that situation . Someone gets a card from a stranger and that marks them as the next target. That could destroy the Valentine's card industry.

St Valentine was a clergyman who was martyred but is also the patron saint of epilepsy. Wiki details are here

So what song do I share?

I know it's the day before but I know the Motorhead / HeadGirl / Girlschool "St Valentine's Day Massacre" EP is on YouTube in full , so we will go with that. The lead song on the EP is a cover of "Please Don't Touch" by Johnny Kidd and The Pirates.  I find it slightly odd that the CD copies are now selling for more than the vinyl copies if you check out the links below.

The actual massacre is described thus:

" 1929 murder of seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang that occurred on Saint Valentine's Day. The men were gathered at a Lincoln Park garage on the morning of that feast day, February 14th. They were lined up against a wall and shot by four unknown assailants who were dressed like police officers. The incident resulted from the struggle to control organized crime in the city during Prohibition between the Irish North Siders, headed by George "Bugs" Moran, and their Italian South Side Gang rivals led by Al Capone.[1] The perpetrators have never been conclusively identified, but former members of the Egan's Rats gang working for Capone are suspected of a role, as are members of the Chicago Police Department who allegedly wanted revenge for the killing of a police officer's son"

Snow Go

I was out walking tonight , it was -2°C (this morning was -7°C) and thought this is just perfect. The snow crunched underfoot and there is no slush or skating rink footpath sections just beautiful white snow, and I am loving it while  it's like this. There is no wind, rain or driving snow like last week and it is just perfect to walk in. 

There are some pictures on my Instagram Channel here, and there is a particularly good short snowy video here , and it is on Instagram here.

This week has been listening to lots of #MusicWhileYouWork and today I found a very unusual CD called Hindi Horrorcore by Andy Votel  who does a lot of remixing and you can see examples below, it's just not an expected genre of  anything , but I have the CD in my collection and it is definitely listenable, so I've included it here using the paste video option so we'll see how it goes.

It's close to midnight so I best sign off now. The temperature now is -8°C

In The Middle Of The Night

Having had a reasonably restful week I thought I would get up in the middle of the night and write this post just to prove that I can. I went to bed at 11 o'clock and woke up at 8 o'clock , so the fact is I got a very good night's sleep, nine hours. I may try again tonight.

So I've gone through the day , and the weather is still so dreich and I do not think I will wake up to write another post. I've not done much today but my weekends are for resting and recuperation.

I have not even listened to any music today , but done some reading and managed to keep warm and dry.

I didn't do much walking either so in terms of doing things this has been an unsuccessful day, I am even tempted to not share this as this post is as uninspiring and uneventful as the weather at the moment.

So for a weather related song we shall go with "Like The Weather" by 10,000 Maniacs. No I shall go to bed.