Surprises , Thunderstorms, Sting, Johnny Cash and Bruce Springsteen

I was well impressed by Johnny Cash's American series, and "I Hung My Head" always struck me as a perfect archetypal Johnny Cash song, that would fit in with "Don't Take Your Guns To Town" or "The Wall", then my friend Paul said

"Do You Know Who Wrote It?"

I said "Isn't It A JC song?"

He said "No, you want to know who wrote it?"

I said "Yes"

He said "Sting!"

That was a huge surprise to me, though when Sting writes good songs they are good. So I thought I'd include the Sting version, then I found a Springsteen version as well, so in this post you you are getting three versions of a great song, two American Icons and one Geordie.

And when you hear Springsteen sing it, you could be excused thinking it's a Springsteen original.


Then last night we had thunderstorms and rain, and I really didn't want to leave my bed. Anyway it's time for work now and I will leave you with the Sting version, all these are excellent, but I like the Johnny Cash one best , but they are all good.

Memory

I may have written about this before, but I've forgotten about it, but it is an excuse to play Robert Wyatt's beautiful "Memories" again.

My memory , ability to remember things , has never been that good. I can't remember quotes, I couldn't remember case names when I did Law (although I could the remember Case outcomes and the reasons for it), so often people will ask me how to do this and I won't know how to do it, but I will know how to find out how to do it generally, not always but generally.

The other thing is that I can usually do maths, so I can work things out and instantly understand formulas and am OK with algebra but get lost with calculus, and I am ok with the geometry. If I can't remember things how come I can sometimes so things without thinking.

I can ride a bike, drive a car, cook , make meals up and I'm ok with electrics. My home network works though at times that is a bit mystical to me, more "Oooh that did work" that knowing something will work.

These days we have computers , the internet and hand held computers that double as phones. There are very few phone numbers I remember these days. You have an app to solve anything you want, hand held dictionaries and scientific calculators as well as satellite navigation (which I have not yet succumbed to, I would rather trust my own knowledge and intuition).

Anyway that's just something that came into my head today, I can remember somethings but I do use technology quite a bit to supplement that.

Have a wonderful evening , enjoy this baking weather and have a great time.

This Has To Be Quick

I've been getting into work later , essentially with buses disappearing between 8 and 8:30 or just being very slow. I'm sure that that I used to know off blog posts in ten minutes, after all they are just diary entries aren't they?

Recently some of my posts have taken up to an hour to complete, yes they may need links and pictures, and sometimes it's difficult to find just exactly what you want but I really wanted to find out if I could write this and leave the house by 7:30 , I started it at 7:19 , it's now 7:27 , so I am not going to do it , maybe another five minutes,

The music I've chosen is "Where Were You?" by The Mekons which was originally on Fast Records (see what I did there?) and I've bookended it with the live and studio versions.

Oh and it's the 13th , and the number 13 can be lucky , it's just the way you look at things , I'm thinking Bakers Dozen.

How Do You See It?

Anyway you still have two hundred words of mine to pick over , and yes it's taken me about quarter of an hour to write this, enjoy the music and  have a brilliant day.

I Find It Difficult To Get Angry

I started the blog And Annoyingly  to vent my spleen and The Red Tops and their readers and supporters and the idiotic right wing and racists, but to be quite honest I find such things a waste of energy hence the fact I have only put up three posts (so far). While I am exasperated by the electorate and public, unless I do something to change it, it is pointless wasting energy getting bothered about it.

So I won't, it is a Sunday and the weather is wonderful, lots of my friends are running in the great North Run and lots of people will achieve a dream today. It's things like that that spark me, make me feel positive, knowing that people are doing something THEY want to do , often for the benefit of others. It's like Jessica Salmon's "Storytelling Of The Ancients" exhibition (which you can watch here) , Jessica put time , effort and ideas into a presentation that was free for the public, and she provided wine and cake. Absolutely wonderful.

Some people spend their life whining about whatever slightly irks them , instead of doing something positive, but then some people are only happy when they or others are miserable. Bad things do happen but you need to try and find something good to hold onto , however difficult that might be.

Ken Loach is making all his films free to view on Youtube , he doesn't need to , but he is allowing people to see his work effectively for nothing. What he will get out of it is a lot of exposure, and deservedly so.

I thought I'd choose The Rolling Stones I'm Free , because most of the time we do have a choice, and if you get the chance take it, don't  pass it up.

Anyway go out and be positive and have a great Sunday everybody.

256

I've just got to page 256 in Pete Townshend's autobiography "Who I Am" and again with my recent semi obsession with numbers he's just on about the story and completion on Quadrophenia , the lead single from that being 5:15 . 256 stick out because it's just the number two to the power eight , that is multiplied by itself eight times. If you do the same with one it's still one. One never changes, multiply it by itself or divide it by itself and it's still one. If you go up to 3 then the powers create much bigger numbers 2^8 = 256 but 3^8 is 6,561 , I doubt I will ever read a book with that many pages.

Yesterday the new Nick Cave album Skeleton Tree was released, and it's great that people are still producing things I want to hear, I love the new single and am sure I will love the album when it turns up.

The Vertigo Swirl In Action

I ordered a copy of Rod Stewart's Gasoline Alley album and Black Sabbath's Paranoid single as I wanted some vinyl with the original hypnotic Vertigo Swirl label. I do like the look of vinyl playing and the Vertigo Swirl does look good. I got a copy of Split Enz "History Never Repeats"  on laser etched vinyl which you can see here.

Anyway it's Saturday and I am going to get back to watching Casino Royale , which is enjoyable. You all have a great Saturday everybody.

I just found this unaccompanied performance by Rod, absolutely brilliant.

Elysian Feels

I love seeing new things and meeting new people. My friend Ruth hand invited me to an exhibition, Storytelling of The Ancients,  which I didn't realise was being put on by her daughter at the Assembly House on Westgate Road. I started well by going to The Assembly Rooms and then got directed across the road to the correct venue.

Jessica and Oedipus

The day was warm and the door was open and I walked in , impressed by what I thought were some very nicely executed murals. I then noticed a room with a fireplace, some books of Greek Mythology and a small image of Cerberus on the green wall , Cerberus being the guard dog of the Underworld, but maybe he is there to keep undesirables away.

I then saw that the murals were not murals , but diaphanous constructs that swayed in the breeze and cast shadows on the white wile under a ceiling decorated with greenery which I think was ivy but could have Bacchanalian grape vines.

Jessica then introduced herself and told me about the exhibition and her love of the subject. Apparently Greeks always  greet guests with food and wine, and although the wine was finished there was gorgeous vegan raspberry  cake , biscuits and soft drinks.




Her friend , possibly Fiona, was also taking photographs and I took some myself as well as a short video, so that I could create a slideshow.

The images included Pandora, Persephone, Oedipus and many others including a wonderful centaur. I've included the slideshow soundtracked by Tangerine Dream's "Sequence C" from Phaedra , so another Greek Mythological connection as Phaedra was the daughter of Minos (see here)  which I've used as the video here although you can hear my waffle on the instagram video here.

So a great strat to the weekend, but if you get the chance , do go and see it, and if you are lucky you will get cake.

Heatwave

I am just amazed by the heat, and a pity most of the day has been at work. This is the sort of day you need to be at a beach or in a park and not in work. I just feel I need a cold shower, but five minutes later you need another one. This is the time you need a swimming pool in the back garden. It's definitely not a clothes day and the worst thing it's work again tomorrow.

There are black clouds and blue skies and the atmosphere is oppressive, but I am sure I can find some comfort, at least I am not in work now.

The weather and situation is not exactly causing inspiration so as I am reading Pete Townshend's "Who I Am" I ll leave you with The Who's take on Martha and The Vandellas' Heatwave.

This post consists of a mere 200 or so words, so here I go on again about numbers, but I've said all that is in my head for the time being and if anything else comes upyou know that I will let you know. Well I usually do., don't I.

Anyway that's enough waffle from me.

Have a good evening my friends.