Connected Disconnection - Talking To Strangers

A thought just came to me, well it's come to me many times , and to others. I'm one of the people who uses public transport rather than having my own car. However when you are on public transport everyone is just scanning their phones, even when they are with friends. Sometimes this is a good thing, it ,means you can get information about what's happening in the world, you can even phone a friend, but you will often see friends together ignoring each other because of their phones.

The mobile phone is effectively a personal computer and connects us to each other and to news streams, but sometimes they do stop us from engaging with our friends and definitely from engaging with strangers. You wouldn't interrupt someone you didn't know if they were engaged with their device.

Come Talk To Me

I've used the excellent "Come Talk To Me" by Peter Gabriel from "Secret World" before, but we should all  engage and talk to each other much more, it makes life so much more fulfilling and enjoyable.


I do like meeting new people, even if it's just for the duration of a bus or train journey, sometimes you make great connections that lasts beyond the initial meeting , sometimes it just makes the journey fly by , usually both. This TED talk here demonstrates the joys to be found from taking that step:




Anyway have a wonderful day and enjoy this

Autumn Equinox and Here Comes The Rain

Thursday or Friday was the Autumn Equinox, this means the nights will be longer than the days. Yesterday looked as though it was going to rain, but didn't but it was very grey. Last night there was a huge downpour although it's fine now. The good thing about rain at night is that your don't have to water your garden (which I mowed yesterday).

The less good thing is that grey skies tend to make grey moods in me, sunshine does lift my spirits. I have LED lights in my house which apparently cat more natural light, but I prefer normal daylight.

Gorilla

The thing is that I am lucky in that I live in a wonderful place, with lots of wonderful friends , with lots of opportunity to do things should I so choose. Yesterday I spent most of the day in the house, reading , watching catch up TV, listening to music, playing guitar and messing about with Garageband and taking delivery of a vinyl version of Status Quo's Piledriver which I had purchased for it's Vertigo Swirl label (see here) I love the 3D optical illusion you get watching it , which is why I bought it. I wrote a blog post about it here



Today's music will be Garageland by The Clash for the simple reason that mentioning Garageband reminded me of it.
 
Anyway I think today is a good day for doing something to lift your spirits and make yourself feel happy. It may be having a bar of chocolate , a glass of wine or enjoying time with people you like and giving big hugs. Stay positive

One Must Write

Well I must. Even if it's just ten words. It keeps my blog going and it keeps me going. I would love to be able to write for a living, like my friend Paul Campbell although then I probably wouldn't want to write with limitations (ie someone commissioning me to do something), though I love the way Paul manages to stamp himself on his TV scripts making them watchable and fun, I still love is "Waiting For Godot", Zombies , Film Noir and Mobile phone stamps on a daytime soap , absolute genius. Actually there's a full length version of Godot on Youtube here.

Anyway this week has been totally mad for some reason. I am shattered, so thankfully the weekend has arrived. That means I may have a chance for a lie in and some rest.

I suppose on of the things about living in Newcastle there is always something going on , and the temptation to join in is sometimes too much, however.....

Tonight Preston play Wigan and I am going to have Fish and Chips for tea. I am not going to wear myself out or anything , just hopefully enjoy my evening as a relaxing precursor to the weekend.

And what should we play?

Maybe go with one of the greatest program intros ever.....Fargo using Jethro Tull's "Locomotive Breath" from the album Aqualung.

Have a great start to the weekend my friends

#LikeNoOther #4 Single Ladies - Beyoncé

This may seem an odd suggestion for such a big pop song by a big pop star, but this, in my opinion, is a great original construct. There is a tune and a dance drum beat and that makes it very commercial and listenable. Beyoncé's Single Ladies is absolutely monstrous in the best possible way, almost scarily so enticing with it's pop sensibilities while something threatening lurks in the background.

Then the master stroke is the orchestral drone that creeps in and underpins the record, similar to the dragging bass on Siouxsie And The Banshees Peek-A-Boo (see here) , this morphs into a grating orchestral theme worthy of any monster movie such as Godzilla or King Kong.

This song impressed me the first time I heard it nearly seven years back and it has lost none of it's potency, which is very impressive coming from someone who may be seen by some as mainstream pop.

If you haven't heard it listen to it , listen to it loud and prepare to be steamrollered.

360° of Circles

I am tired, well my body is, but my mind won't let me sleep. I'm up to page 360 in "Who Am I" and one of my favourite who songs is "Circles" which appeared on The Who's "Ready Steady Who" EP (On the blue Reaction label if I remember rightly), I once had that I bought for about 30p from Palace Records in Preston and sold for £20 at Probe Records in Liverpool. I didn't plan to do that, but that's the way it happened. Though if you click through on Circles you will see that The Deluxe My Generation CD which cost me about a fiver , is going for over a hundred pounds. I won't be selling mine though.

Glastonbury When It Was Good

The Palace was a record shop cum coffee house near the old Public Hall and I used to spend a lot ofsixth form time in there when I should have been studying, but listening to music, chatting with friends and drinking coffee was much more preferable that study. Then picking up decent second hand stuff like the original Glastonbury Soundtrack , triple album in it's pyramid sleeve, with the odd dud , like a band called Lucifer the album sleeve was black and the music was a fuzzy bass playing six notes that even I could play.







We used to frequent that place in preference to pubs, and to be quite honest, I'm probably the same now, preferring Bohemian places like Bar Loco to you chains and pubs.

Anyway maybe I will go to bed now, so enjoy your night, and have a nice lie in.

The Limit

Yesterday and today I have played a lot of vinyl on my GPO turntable, you can see a few posts on my Instagram Channel here . Music playing has sort of evolved , my own take on it is here , but while I sometimes use Youtube and did use Grooveshark , I am not a fan of streaming services. Radio stations are good because there is human intervention. Digital storage is convenient when you are on the move , but it can become background music.

I'll Be Bach

Vinyl requires your attention, I have just listened to Wah Heat!'s "Seven Minutes To Midnight" and Holly Johnson's "Americanos" and now I have "The Moog Strikes Bach" by HansWurman playing . All of these records required more than the touch of a button to play , and it's a joy to see the vinyl spinning. You don't get that with CD or digital (although I am playing it through a digital soundbar and I do rip vinyl through the GPO deck to digital, but that is just for stuff that is not available digitally. It does amaze me the number of glaring omissions still not available digitally.



 


But this is the limit I mentioned in the title, after three minutes I may have to change the record, put it back in it's sleeve , get another one out and put it on the turntable. This is while I am typing this out. You have to give the vinyl your attention.

So I have to get on today, and as Prince Buster left us I am leaving you with his rendition of Judge Dread on vinyl on Blue Beat.

Time to go and do my stuff now, but playing vinyl is therapeutic and enjoyable.

Still Looking For My Swirly Vertigo Vinyl

EnjoyTheBedFeeling

I thought I'd write a poem.

I pretty rubbish at this

But it's how I felt

EnjoyTheBedFeeling

EnjoyTheBedFeeling

The Mattress Fits You

The Sheets Do Too

The Feel Just The Right Warmth

The Pillows are Perfect

The Window is Open

The Breeze is Lovely

EnjoyTheBedFeeling

I don't want to get up

I wish it was like this

When I got into bed

I know work is a neccessary evil

But I have an Hour yet

To 

 EnjoyTheBedFeeling

Warm

Cozy

Warm

Perfect

Perfect

EnjoyTheBedFeeling

The thing is it's Saturday tomorrow so this is a distinct possibility for all of us.  And I need some music to go with it, and I think Kites by Simon Dupree and The Big Sound (who later morphed into the excellent Gentle Giant)  but be a perfectly ethereal way to wrap this up. The video is something I took at the Washington Kite Festival in 2010 which I went to with Fiona, my friend Nicky and her children Sharné, Alisha and Donovan

Sleep well and have a brilliant weekend my friends.