Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Cat trap...

Playlist
Rheostatics - The Story of Harmelodia
Rheostatics - Night of the Shooting Stars
Rheostatics - 2067
The Uglysuit - The Uglysuit

Daytime - uneventful...

Apart from Meg the Black Cat trying to trip me up on the stairs...



Evening, post the Exec Producer's very tasty Lamb Casserole with Asparagus and Mash, it was off to Mr Peri Urban's for a rehearsal...

Prior to that though, a relaxing coffee and chat...

Stu (for that is Peri Urban)...



...and Ali (who has an aversion to being caught on camera...



...advised they will shortly be taking in a new cat....

Of course it was through cats that I first met them in 1984 when Anne and I received Crispy the Kitten from them, smallest of the litter born in their then home in Easter Road...

The rehearsal went swimmingly, despite my still not quite right voice, post the lurgi - and only a couple of songs are yet to be fully mastered...

Back home, Meg and I watched "Newsnight" while Anne snoozed on the settee...



Highlight of the Day : Singing and playing...

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Village idiot...

Playlist
Rheostatics - Introducing Happiness
Rheostatics - The Nightline Sessions
Rheostatics - The Blue Hysteria

An uneventful day...

Spent the early evening watching TV before retiring to the back room to this scene...



...where I rehearsed the 30 minute set for Secret CD on 4 November...

Tomorrow night I will travel again to Mr Peri Urban's house for our third full rehearsal...

Watched last night's premiere of the new USTV series "Flashforward" - reasonable and I will continue to tune in...

The storyline seems way far away from that of the book on which it's based though...

Researching that lead me to Robert A Heinlein's entry on Wikipedia...

I loved reading his books back in the eighties - I think they're all in the attic now - with so many CDs, there's hardly any room for our extensive book collection - so that's where the majority resides...

Ended the day with "Newsnight" and the laughfest that was Ed "The Village Idiot" Milliband trying to defend Gordon Brown's conference speech...

Best comedy of the week so far...

Highlight of the Day : Set runthrough...

Monday, September 28, 2009

Random hedge...

Playlist
Rheostatics - Introducing Happiness
Crazy Wisdom - The Reptile Tapes
Allan Holdsworth - Discography on Shuffleplay

Up early and burning a 4CD set for old music chum Malcolm Logan, whom I was to meet tonight for drinks, following our reunion at Count Brodski's 50th in August...

The pack comprises over 50 songs recorded by our group at Anne and my's record shop "Reptile" between 1993 and 1998...

Also in the band were Count Brodski himself and the late lamented Mr Charlie Dootson...



That's demonic Talcy on the front, pictured at Brodski's bash...

Suffice to say, we had a high old time in a bar in Haymarket, chatting over the old days, bands we'd been in, who sacked whom etc etc...

We agreed to meet again soon...

Your corresponent made his way into the night, a little the worse for wear - so much so that pictures of random hedges and trees were taken...



However, some possible CD cover art also emerged...



Home to the lovely Exec Producer and furry wee cat...

Highlight of the Day : A meet with Talcy Malcy...

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Skinking...

Playlist
Rainbow – Rising
Alice Cooper – Fantasy Set List (CD-R)
King Crimson – Lizard
David Essex - All the Fun of the Fair (LP)
Joe Loss & His Orchestra – 45s (CD-R)
Various – The Best of the Milano Jukebox 1969-1994
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Acoustic Soundingfall

Up late (7:45) and did some tidying in the back room...

Today, however, Meg the Black Cat preferred to sleep in an empty box than help out...



Not to worry...

Anne eventually emerged around 11 am and helped with getting stuff up into the attic – just in the nick of time however, I discovered the Kenwood CD Player was malfunctioning and so I swapped it over for the Marantz – which has served me faithfully since 1989...

The Kenwood seemed to be protesting its innocence – although the protest took the form of falling off the shelf onto my head – so into the attic it went...

To my mum’s at 12:30 and presented her with the Joe Loss CD then off up to The Howgate for a slap up lunch – our only meal of the day...

My mum had a great time and really enjoyed the food, which was top notch...

Starters : Broccoli and Brie Soup for Anne and mum, Cullen Skink for me...

Drinks : Cabernet Sauvignon Blanc for Anne, Ginger Beer and Lime for me and mum (me : driving; mum : on drugs)...

Mains : Chargrilled Rumpsteak in a Pepper Sauce with Veg al Dente and Thick Cut Chips for me, Chargrilled Lamb’s Liver with Onions, Mash and Veg for Anne and Salmon with a Saffron Cream Sauce with Asparagus and Potatoes for mum...

Desert : White Chocolate Cheesecake with a Mango Jus and Vanilla Ice Cream for mum and a tasty wee Rhubarb Crème Brulée with Home Made Shortbread for me...

Coffees all round...



Outside we were caught unawares by the paparazzi...



Back to mum’s where we enjoyed some pics of her recent holidays with sister Pam in Salou, Barcelona, Pitlochry and Loch Lomond – accompanied by the jazzy sounds of Joe Loss...

Home for a quiet evening of mainly TV - two taped episodes of “Reaper”, the last two – it’s been cancelled apparently – and the week before last’s “Mock the Week”...

As Anne watched “Doc Martin” on her laptop I took the opportunity to run through the CBQ set for November – sounded not too bad...

Amended the arrangement for “Never or Now” and it’s back in...

“Match of the Day 2” ended off a good weekend...

Highlight of the Day : A belated birthday lunch....

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Time for change...

Playlist
Cockney Rebel – The Human Menagerie
Cockney Rebel – The Psychomodo
Various – Prog 1967-1979
Mozart – Symphony No 1
King Crimson – The Dream and the Illusion (2CD-R)
Ursa Major – Ursa Major
Herman Van Veen – 13 Songs (LP)
Neal Morse - Lifeline
Ferry Corsten – Live in Montreal April 2005
Madredeus – Un Amor Infinito
Various – Last 70 CDs
Joe Loss – Wheels Cha Cha/Latino Cha Cha
Rainbow – Rainbow Rising

Up early (as usual on a Saturday) and some pointless "work" on the PC before heading out to Helen the lovely podiatrist for my six weekly or so "session"...

Over to Pattisserie Florentin for a couple of Pains au Raisins for breakfast...

Back home, Anne was up...

Post breakfast, out back with the ladder to extract a failed bulb from the security light...

Slashed my pinkie and ring finger when the bulb came out with a jerk and I caught said fingers on the stupidly sharp bulb holding things...

Owyah...

Much blood, but we got the bulb out...

Off to B&Q - they didn't have the bulbs we needed - so, over to Tesco, they did and they even had a buy one get one free scenario going on - result...

Also partook of their kind offer on the DVD of "Iron Man" and a lovely new black rain jacket...

Lunch provisions also procured, rye bread, pastrami and edam cheese...

Home and I decided to change round the CD room - perhaps a foolish decision given that my right arm isn't really up to much, taking any weight wise, and there are almost 40 CD storage units to be moved...

Luckily, Meg the Black Cat was on hand to help...





After making a start, a break for lunch and I added some tasty chilli relish and fresh tomatoes to the ingredients above...

Mmm, mmm...

As Anne left for Tynecastle, I got back to the job in hand...



The HI Fi stand is going into the attic, along with the cassette player, CD writer and back up CD player...



Chaos reigned as stuff was emptied from shelves and moved around...

Then the slimmed down hi-fi took up its new position...



CD starage units were duly moved to the other side of the room, recreating the "Wall of Sound"...



LPs and books and other "stuff" were added to the shelves and musical instruments and equipment were strategically placed...



More CDs, box sets etc were added to wall of sound, which crept round onto a second wall..





Finished - just some minor tidying now - if I ever get round to it...

However, the bright sunlight streaming in the window onto the CDs made me wonder if I'd done the right thing...



Well I wasn't going to change it now...

QoS thrashed Dunfermline 4-1 away from home to go top of the league - Huzzah and a hey nonny nonny...

Meanwhile Anne enjoyed a 2-1 win for Hearts against Hamilton and so, to celebrate, an Indian Takeaway was ordered, collected and enjoyed as we watched "Merlin" - the line "double the guard!" was used this week...

I hung around in the living room for a taped "Coronation St" then "Strictly Come Dancing"...

I didn't watch the whole thing but I expressed some concern as to why on earth they refer to a dance which, for years, was known as the "Cha Cha" as the "Cha Cha Cha"???

One of my first ever records was Loe Loss' 1961 version of "Wheels Cha Cha" (b side "Latino Cha Cha")...



Within minutes of retiring upstairs, I found these tracks and downloaded them...

Of course the old 7" single actually belonged to my mum and dad - so I will burn a disc of the two tracks and give them to my mum when we see her tomorrow for her belated birthday lunch...

"Match of the Day" was fallen asleep to...

Highlight of the Day : Changing things around/Queens going top...

Friday, September 25, 2009

Alarm bells...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Soundingfall
Various - Last 70 CDs Acquired

A fairly uneventful day...

Anne was out with work colleagues so I took the opportunity to start preparing the next set of podcasts for this site...

Since the last one at the end of July, I seem to have acquired around a further 75 CDs or so...

Enjoyed listening to tracks from those...

Picked Anne up from Haymarket just after nine and, from ten, we watched two episodes of "Law & Order : Criminal Intent"...

A wrongly set alarm caused some consternation for Meg the Black Cat, as your correspondent set it off by walking around upstairs...



Noted that my shelves need a bit of a tidy...





Lights out...

Highlight of the Day : Lisltening to new music...

Thursday, September 24, 2009

A baby's brain and an old man's heart...

Playlist
Jason Falkner - Can You Still Feel
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Soundingfall

Celebrations at the office of "The Man" today for young colleague Gillian who is taking tomorrow off to celebrate her 18th birthday...



Your correspondent was called upon to present a card, gifts and to make a speech...

He recalled what he remembered himself of being 18...

Being sacked from two jobs that summer - one in a department store for, amongst other things, being found inside a wardrobe when it was opened to demonstrate storage capacity to a prospective buyer...

And one with an agricultural contracter with whom he couldn't cut the mustard - best incident being the misdirection of a haystack building tractor so as to have it knock the entire haystack on top of him, resulting in the boss having to waste a considerable part of his day at A&E...

Of course it was also the summer of punk rock - Sex Pistols on "Top of the Pops" and all that...

And "Going for The One" by Yes entering the album charts at number one...

My last summer before I started recording my own music...

32 years on - success appears to have eluded me...

Anyway, here's a gratuitous pic, from the same session, of my right hand lady, Margaret - she is lovely...



To FOPP at lunchtime and bought four CDs - my eyesight is getting so bad however that my illustrative pic is badly out of focus...



So that's CDs by Can, Lo Fidelity All Stars, Culture and Noah & the Whale...

In the evening, down to Musselburgh for my second rehearsal with Peri Urban for the November gig...

I decided to drop both parts of "The Sound of the Fall" and may well end up dropping "Never or Now" as it's a bit tricky...

The others are coming along nicely though and you can hear the official versions by clicking on the titles...

So Long Kid
I Believed You Said We Dreamt
Tomorrow or the Day After Next
Please Stay With Us
We Drove
My House Could Be Your Home
Blend
They Broke the Door Down


Home in time for "This Week" and to bed just before 1 am...

Would be good to have those 32 years back again...

Highlight of the Day : Further rehearsals...

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Done by the hun...

Playlist
It Bites – The Tall Ships
George Harrison – All Things Must Pass

It Bites soundtracked the day into, and back from, town – I forewent music at lunchtime, accidentally having left the jukebox in my bag...

In the evening, as Anne saw Hearts come from behind to beat 1st Division Dunfermline 2-1 at Tynecastle, I stayed at home to see Queen of the South v Glasgow Rangers live on TV from Dumfries...



It took Queens around 20 minutes to get into their stride but, by that time, they’d already lost a goal...

There was one golden opportunity for an equaliser, if Weatherston could just have lobbed the keeper accurately - but he sent it wide..

Queens dominated the second half but couldn’t break down the Rangers defence, and then their sub, Nacho Novo, sprang the offside trap to score a second on the break...

Man of the match, our left back Bob Harris, however...



...scored a superb goal on 90 minutes...



...to make the last 4 minutes of injury time (due to what looked like a possible ankle break for Tosher Tosh) all the more exciting – but, alas, it wasn’t to be and the Hun go marching on...





Not to worry eh? It’s only a game...

Highlight of the Day : Bob Harris’ goal...

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Don't bother doubling the guard...

Playlist
Alan Morse - Four O'Clock & Hysteria
Neal Morse – Sola Scriptura
Spock’s Beard – Day for Night
Spock’s Beard – Feel Euphoria
Pet Shop Boys – Rare Remixes (CD-R)
Innerpartysystem - Innerpartysystem
Muse – The Resistance
Brian Eno – Empty Landscapes (CD-R)
Cosmic Jokers – Galactic Supermarket
Gabriela Montero - Baroque

Enjoyed the music of Spock's Beard and its alumni today...

On making my way back home, the late evening, early autumn sun entertained...



As did a discarded jetstream over Crispycat Towers...



Saturday's "Merlin" was as dreadful as ever - the biggest disappointment being that King Uther didn't utter the immortal line "Double the guard!!"...

Spent much of the evening integrating CDs bought over the last couple of years into the general A-Z shelves...

Disaster as the five foot tall pile of CDs by artists beginning with the letter "E" tumbled to the floor...

Great...

Highlight of the Day : Seeing the covers of some CDs not seen for a few years...

Monday, September 21, 2009

Out on the ridge...

Playlist
Various – Prog Rock 1967-1979
Mike Oldfield – Hergest Ridge

Back to reality today...

Enjoyed reading The Wire on the bus so much, I carried on whilst walking towards the road and nearly got myself run down...



Ah, that Kraftwerk review...

A lovely cod based dish from the Exec Producer nourished and was followed by a poor performance from your correspondent during "University Challenge"...

Two taped episodes of "Law & Order : Criminal Intent" took me to bedtime and Mike Oldlield's classic, "Hergest Ridge" in the cans...

What a day!

Highlight of the Day : Reading something other than the Metro on the bus...

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Slate, sea and sky...

Playlist
Various – Jazz Jukebox on Shuffleplay
Eliza Gilkyson – Land of Milk and Honey
Eliza Gilkyson – Hard Times in Babylon
Neil Young - Decade
Laura Pausini – Primavera in Anticipo
Girls Aloud – Out of Control
Pet Shop Boys - Yes
Various – US Hit Singles 1970-75

Up around 8 and had a coffee while I waited for the rest of the crew to emerge...

Entertained by the jazz jukebox on shuffleplay and Friday’s papers...

A slow, lazy breakfast followed, at which we were joined by Brigit and Norrie...







By the time we finished, we were into the long lunchtime period without any ferries running and so we would have to wait until 3pm..

We took the opportunity to take a wee walk around Cullipool...





First to Birgit’s cottage to watch as Ophelia the Corn Snake was fed her every-ten-day meal of a defrosted dead rat...

She is quite cute...





The attack on the rat was swift and final, even although it was already dead...

Then, out into the garden to admire Birgit’s ongoing self sufficiency in fruit and vegetables...







And a wee reminder of a time when her home town in Germany was close to the Iron Curtain...



Down to the shore to admire the views...



Norrie’s book “Slate, Sea and Sky” was well illustrated by the vista...



Along to the site where, if funding can be secured, the proposed “Centre for the Atlantic Islands” will be built. Both Norrie and Birgit are on the Trust Fund committee which is seeking to bring this to the island....



It’s hoped that by 2012, this will be a modern gallery, museum, concert hall and café/restaurant/bar...



Luing certainly needs it as, at present, there’s nothing here but 200 people, some animals and the scenery...



We took a slice of slate home with us...



Back to Norrie’s to view his garden – again self sufficiency is the watchword...

This unfortunate beastie guards the back door...



And so time to leave, Norrie autographed a copy of his book for Count Brodski...



...and we were off to the ferry, from where the islanders bade us a fond farewell...



We stopped off at the Wee Butt and Ben in Callander for tea and would have been home to Meg the Black Cat a bit more quickly if I hadn’t missed the offramp for Edinburgh on the way down the M9 and sent us towards Glasgow...

So, through Falkirk and home, where “Match of the Day 2” made us feel like we’d never been away...

Highlight of the Day : Last few hours on Luing