Sunday, January 31, 2010

Those should be Skodas...

Playlist
Various – Recent Albums on Shuffleplay
Various – Gym MP3s
Various – Top 100 Albums 2009
Larry Coryell – Fallen Angel
Various Composers – Your 100 Best Tunes (Complete)
Various – Cloudland Podcast 30
Various – Cloudland Podcast 31
Various – Cloudland Podcast 32
Various – Cloudland Podcast 34
Various – Cloudland Podcast 35

Another weekend over, indeed another month over...

Here's January...



Woke at six to find the sound from my headphones was only reaching my right ear...

Up immediately and tested them on a different MP3 player – somewhat relieved to find it was a headphone, rather than a player, fault...

To Tesco, arriving around 6:10 and new nut-phones purchased...

Back home and I was reaching the final stages of the big CD listing project...

This, however, was interrupted with another visit to the gym, this time with a playlist of 3 minute songs – on the basis of today’s visit however, I think the 5 minute song playlist is probably a better idea...

Back home for breakfast around 10:30 and to see Andy Murray crash and burn before I returned to the listing...

By lunchtime (leftover Jambalaya) I had every CD on the list – except all my CD singles – so very nearly there – just a few hundred to go...

With any venturing forth once again precluded by Anne’s lurgi, we watched the James Bond film, “The Living Daylights”, loaned to us by Chris-with-a-ch, on the basis that some of the early scenes were shot in Bratislava – we are to visit this city later this year...

Of course, we watched it under false pretences - the film was made in 1987, pre the end of the Cold War and so the Bratislava shots were actually filmed just over the border in Vienna...

All in all though, a reasonably enjoyable, if somewhat dated, romp...

Post that, some general mucking about on Youtube – and learning Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” – one of my all-time fave songs...

In the evening, posted up ten new podcasts to the Cloudland Blue Podcasts blog and gave a few of them a listen while I surfed...



“Match of the Day 2” featuring Man U's demolition of Arsenal entertained, as did the, apparently, last ever edition of "The South Bank Show"...

Of course that show should really have a home at the BBC where ratings aren't supposed to matter - I'd noticed in recent times it's been a shadow of its former self, with product tie-ins being the order of the day...

Still, sad to see it go...

Highlight of the Day : Almost completing the list...

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Blessing or curse...

Playlist
Ayreon – Into the Electric Castle
Various – Gym MP3s
Steve Reich – Phases Disc 1
Various – A History of Jazz 1959-2003 Disc 1
John Adams –A Short Ride in a Fast Machine
The Hampton Quartet – What if Mozart Wrote “Roll Over Beethoven”?
Various Composers – Out of Russia
Various Composers – Classical Chill
Debussy – String Quartet in G Minor
Ravel – String Quartet in F

Up around seven and continued with the listing – nearly there now...

To the Gym around 9:30 for an hour...

I had created a playlist of 5 minute songs to help me get through it...

When I’m at the computer, time just disappears without my noticing but, in the gym, time drags like a very draggy thing which has got its claws into a big piece of purchase giving stuff and refuses to allow itself to be pulled into the future...

Back home for breakfast and updated this, then, more listing...

We had toyed with the idea of heading to Dunfermline to see Queen of the South play but this was scuppered by (a) Anne being too ill to leave the house and (b) the game being postponed due to a frozen pitch...

So, more listing...

Then, shopping for the ingredients for this weekend’s culinary experiment,
Jambalaya...







Very tasty and yet another success – and, to cheer Anne up, it was followed by a cheeky wee chocolate banana mousse a la three weeks ago...

My fourth dish already – see? Time flies except when you’re in the gym...

As Anne lay on the sofa, coughing and spluttering, we were entertained by this week’s “Glee” on tape, followed by the very interesting “The Virtual Revolution”, on the origins and future of the internet...



The main man in the collage above is the "inventor" of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee...

Also entertaining, for Meg the Black Cat too, was “Match of the Day”...



Highlight of the Day : Cooking...

Friday, January 29, 2010

Four and nine...

Playlist
Various - Rock & Pop Jukebox on Shuffleplay
Ayreon - The Electric Castle
Weather Report - Night Passage
Various - Top 500 Albums 1959-2008

Birthday of the Exec Producer and a lovely cold, crisp day....



Happy Birthday!



A succesful visit to the dresser of hair mid-morning for the Exec Producer was followed by an intimate wee lunch with your correspondent at Brown's on George Street - chicken & bacon toasted panini and smoked fish fishcakes were shared between us...

Off to the cinema then for Anne with sister Jane while, later on, the desired present was acquired by Mr CBQ...

This evening we bore the brunt of the now quite bitterly cold conditions and walked down to the local bar (which was absolutely chocablock with drinkers and carousers) to meet uo with Anne's best chum, Lynn and her partner Ross...

After a couple of drinks, it was back out into the cold for the brisk ten minute walk along to The Chinese Manor House, scene of our excellent bringing in of 2009 just over a year ago....

As we ordered our meal, fish looked on...



...and as Ross proudly showed off his new Abraham Lincoln look, Lynn looked on (no doubt proudly)...



A very tastly meal was enjoyed as the beer and wine flowed freely, with everyone partaking of everyone else's choices, providing the veritable spice of life that is variety...

Around 10:30 or so, we left the restaurant and walked up the hill to Crispycat Towers where some whiskey, gin, banter and coffee was enjoyed, witnessed of course by Meg the Black Cat...



We called it a night around 1 am and Lynn and Ross set off for home through the cold, dark cloudless night...

An enjoyable birthday...

Highlight of the Day : Annie milannie's birthday celebrations...

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Not a necrophile...

Playlist
Earthworks - Earthworks
Earthworks - Dig
Earthworks - All Heaven Broke Loose
Various - Gym MP3s
John Coltrane - The Complete Classic Quartet Recordings

Annie's birthday tomorrow - early flowers were received from colleagues...



Tonight, returned to the gym for more mind-numbing exercising....

Back home, the reward was Anne's excellent signature dish, Red Thai Chicken Curry...

A new recipe book entered the house and one of its offerings will be my cooking project for this weekend...

TV featured "Coronation Street", "Big Bang Theory", "Mock the Week", "Question Time" and "This Week" - with "Glee" taped for future viewing...

Chum Macclesfield Craig is off to hospital tomorrow for a similar shoulder op to those which I have undergone over the last three years - all the best for that big man...

To bed with Mr Coltrane - not literally of course, for that would be necrophilia...

Lights out...

Highlight of the day : Finishing exercising...

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Fire up the fire...

Playlist
King Crimson - Lizard
King Crimson - Red
King Crimson - Level Five
King Crimson - Live in Warsaw 2000

Ah the mighty Crim in my lugs...

Tonight, due to Anne's Mum not being able to make it to the big match, your correspondent was drafted in once again as an honorary Heart of Midlothian season ticket holder...



It would appear however that I am a hoodoo, as the Jam Tarts suffered a 3-0 thumping from Aberdeen...



Even my reminding Anne of the fact that we'd witnessed the mighty Queen of the South thrash tonight's opponents 4-3 at Hampden a couple of years ago couldn't soften the blow...

To add to the misery, Anne is currently under the weather in a cold-virus stylee...

Back home, in the quickly initiated warmth, we watched even more footie on "Match of the Day", including an eminently predictable 93rd minute winning goal for Manchester United against Manchester City in the English version of the Diddy Cup...

All in all then, a bit of a footie day...

Highlight of the Day : Getting the fire on when we got in from the football...

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Tap dancing...

Playlist
UK - In the Dead of Night
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Songs 1997-2009
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Soundscapes - 1996-2005
Great Lake Swimmers - Minds and Bodies
Philip Glass - Notes on a Scandal
Waters - Symphonic Pink Floyd
Haydn - The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross

Nephew Alastair and his sidekick came round this evening to replace our kitchen tap - and a very fine job they made of it too...



In less than 45 minutes it was done and dusted and was looking good...



Other than that, the CD listing continued apace - I reckon I have around 1,400 - 1,500 left to do...

At present I am listing classical discs and have taken the decision, for single composer discs, to date according to the year of birth of the composer...

Earliest disc so far is from the 11th Century - over a thousand years old - sobering thought...

On telly we were entertained by a very fine episode of "CSI" and the excellent and quite hilarious "Newswipe" on BBC4 from Charlie Brooker...

Off to bed with Joseph Haydn's ultra slow String Quartet "The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross"...

Highlight of the Day : My nephew is a plumber...

PS 30 Years today since The Sweet Thrill of Industry...

Monday, January 25, 2010

Fatty joins the gym...

Playlist
David Reilly – Anthology 1977-2007 (on Shuffleplay)
Cloudland Blue Quartet – The Deeperdown EPs
Various – Gym MP3 Player
Bang on a Can – Music for Airports
Debussy – Works for Piano

Look at this in the middle of town...



What’s the world coming to?

This afternoon, post “The Story of Roxy Music” (on tape), to the vet with Meg the Black Cat, for her annual check up...

We don’t know how old she is but the vet reckons thirteen – she is sprightly for such an age – and the vet likes her...

A booster injection and the scraping of tarter from her teeth (the latter not appreciated in the least by our feline friend) set back the CBQ household over fifty of your English Pounds...

Ouch...

But she’s worth it!

Here she is lounging later – the gap in the collection is a bunch of classical discs mid-listing...



Tonight I did the unthinkable and joined the local gym...

Aaaarghhh!

So – to get my money’s worth I must attend at least four times a week I reckon – my legs are very sore indeed right now...



Need to get used to it, as I am very fat indeed, fatter than I’ve ever been, and must do something about it...

I shall probably look back at this in a year’s time and be even fatter – hopefully not though – we’ll see...

Fatty joins the gym...

Highlight of the Day : Not the treadmill anyway...

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Underestimating is my business...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Ersatzreal
Dexter Gordon – A Swingin’ Affair
Donald Byrd – Freeform
Hank Mobley – Hank Mobley Quintet
Horace Silver – Doin’ the Thing
J R Monterose – J R Monterose
Jackie McLean – Jacknife
Kenny Dorham – Whistle Stop

More listing today – single artist compilations were completed, as were all Crispycat CDs I have (even I don’t have them all!)...

This leaves classical and various artist compilations and a few other bits and bobs here and there...

Today, we also had to go and buy a new tap for the kitchen – nephew, and newly qualified plumber (he will be rich) Alastair is popping out on Tuesday evening to replace our given up the ghost current tap...



So, to B&Q and new tap secured – in the car park, Anne asked me how much I reckoned it would cost – my laughable response of “£10?” was proven to be laughable when we viewed those on offer...

Oh well...

To mum’s – her video has broken – a tape stuck inside and, on her orders, we secured a Tivo Box for her this morning on the net – taking the opportunity to purchase the same one for ourselves...

In the not too distant future the term “on tape” will no longer be seen here...

Ironically, we fixed mum’s video (invalidating the guarantee) by merely opening it up and removing the offending tape...

She is still looking forward to the box though...



To Anne’s mum’s for Anne’s birthday tea – it’s her birthday this coming Friday...

Keith and family were absent but the rest of us made enough noise to make up for that...

Home Made Steak Pie had been chosen in advance by Anne...



Accompanied of course by chips and (not pictured) veg...



And followed by Anne’s Mum’s best sponge in the world – this time with strawberry induced pink icing...

Kids love a cake...



And of course some strawberries on the side...



Post tea, it was off, for the first time in a long time, to The Listening Room, where the headliner was Jill Hepburn, whose new CD "Snowflake" joined my collection this week...



I was late in arriving but was nonetheless offered the chance of a two song slot in the open mic...

I took the opportunity to air "Lights Out" and "The End of Everything", both from the last but one CBQ album, "Erstazreal"...

Surprisingly well received, including by Count Brodski and Lady Penny, who just happened to be at The Blue Blazer bar tonight by coincidence, post a film at the Filmhouse...

Although suffering from a cold, Jill put in a good performance and I would hope she managed to shift a few CDs...

A brief post gig chat with chum Scott Renton included an invite to his stag pub crawl in a couple of weeks' time...

Home and enjoyed two programmes on BBC4 re, probably my greatest influence, Mr Brian Eno...

Lights out on another good day...

Highlight of the Day : Performing well...

Saturday, January 23, 2010

No seat is safe in this constituency...

Playlist
Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels
Love Revue – Love Revue
Morrissey – Years of Refusal
The Whitest Boy Alive – Rules
The Olympic Symphonium – More in Sorrow Than In Anger
Alice Peacock – Love Remains
South Central – The Owl of Minerva
Bidiniband – The Land is Wild
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Soundingfall
Kleerup – Kleerup
Eels – Hombre Lobo
Editors - In This Light and On This Evening
Muse – The Resistance
Jason Lytle – Yours Truly, The Commuter
Kristofer Astrom – Sinkadus
DJ Hell – Teufelswerk
Various – Chris’s Mystery Compilation
Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions
Jill Hepburn – Snowflake
Michiel Borstlap – Gramercy Park
Avishai Cohen Trio – Gently Distorted
Grachan Moncur III – New Africa
Grachan Moncur III – One Morning I Woke Up very Early
Portico Quartet – Knee Deep in the North Sea
Miroslav Vitous – Universal Syncopations
Iron and Wine –Around the Well
Hawkwind – The Charisma Years
Killers – Day and Age
Neil Young – Harvest
Rush - Chronicles

Ah, Saturday again and up early, as ever, at the weekend...

The CDs chosen for Chris's compilation continued to soundtrack while I, in turn, continued on my quest to list all my CDs on the PC...

Of course, whenever I was collecting a batch from the back room to bring through to the computer to add them, there was a good chance Meg the Black Cat would pinch my seat, leaving me with the rather uncomfortable on the bum, Ikea stool...

And so it did indeed come to pass...



After much listing and listening and a late breakfast with Anne, I popped into town to return the discs borrowed some three and a half weeks ago from the library, when we last met up with Dr Prog...

A call to his home to try and elicit a similar meet today was unfortunately fruitless and so, with some classic Jazz in the cans, there were fines a plenty awaiting your tardy correspondent...

However, spending around £5, including the fines, I came away with more goodies - all from the jazz section and featuring works by Avishai Cohen, the great Grachan Moncur the Third and the reasonably new kids on the block, the Portico Quartet...

Last but not least, an ECM disc by Miroslav Vitous, late of Wether Report, which also featured John McLaughlin of Mahavishnu Orchestra and Chick Corea from Return to Forever...

A veritable trident of fusion...

Back home, more listing and listening while both Hearts and Queens took on their respective league leaders, led 1-0 and ended up sharing the points...

Around 6:30, it was time to choose the meal I was to cook tonight...

I opted for Creme Fraiche and Coriander Chicken on a bed of Crushed Potastoes with Parmesan and Pine Nuts...



To Tesco for the ingredients - man, pine nuts are expensive...



As usual, I followed the recipe to a tee...



Well, almost - as I served the dish to Anne, I realised that, although I'd chopped the coriander, I'd forgotten the instruction to add it at the last minute...

This was quickly remedied however and I was forgiven this minor error...



Post dinner (another triumph apparently), the day was ended with more listing of CDs...

I do like a list...

Highlight of the Day : Cooking for Anne...

Friday, January 22, 2010

Tits...

Playlist
Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels
Love Revue – Love Revue
Morrissey – Years of Refusal
The Whitest Boy Alive – Rules
The Olympic Symphonium – More in Sorrow Than In Anger
Alice Peacock – Love Remains
South Central – The Owl of Minerva
Bidiniband – The Land is Wild
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Soundingfall
Kleerup – Kleerup
Eels – Hombre Lobo
Editors - In This Light and On This Evening
Muse – The Resistance
Jason Lytle – Yours Truly, The Commuter
Kristofer Astrom – Sinkadus
DJ Hell – Teufelswerk
Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions
Various – Chris’s Mystery Compilation

Finished off Chris’ disc and put the cover together...



The day was soundtracked by the albums featured...

To FOPP at lunchtime and bumped into brother-in-law Bobby, as I often do in this emporium...

He bought the new Eels album at my suggestion, while I availed myself of the latest from Biffy Clyro, leaving the Eels for another day...

Biffy is a strangely disappointing band – their work, for me, never seems to live up to the expectation fuelled by the hype, clips on TV and their Pink Floyd-like album covers...

Maybe it'll grow on me...

I had hoped to see chum James Jamieson perform tonight with his covers band but we’d already arranged to undertake a fine Indian meal in Dumfermline...

Despite this, at Jamie’s request, I did manage to drum up a few attendees this week and await Jamie’s report with anticipation – his setlist certainly sounded entertaining...

And so off to the former Scottish Capital, meeting up with Anne and Chris at the Seven Kings and from there on to Khushi’s restaurant...

A superb meal I must say – in fact the lamb karahi I enjoyed may well be the best curry I’ve ever had – or maybe that’s a bit of a Biffy Clyro Campaign statement...

Didn't get a pic, but here's the bill...



Post the Indian, and Chris surreptitiously taking photos of young girls at a nearby table by pretending to snap the equally lovely Exec Producer and your slighly less good looking correspondent, we made our way through the fog...



...and past some strange shop windows...



...to The Commercial for a night cap, where Chris listed his four best things - scoring goals at footie, coming into money, erm, tits and, erm, I can't remember the last one...

But here's what he looks like when he thinks of those things (and of ladies' bras) but, probably, mostly of tits...



Luckily, he did also like his new CD compilation...



Chris's own mystery compilatiion, made all the more mysterious by having no track listing or cover and Chris being unable to recall what he'd put on it, soundtracked the trip to take him home to Dalgety bay and then on to to Crispycat Towers...

An amazing coincidence though, in that his CD contained a remix of the track by Kleerup which featured on my CD for him...

Spooky...

Back home, Meg the Black cat had found a new perch...



Unfortunately, she managed to knock the mirror down the back of the CD storage unit...



As you can see, she did have a look to see where it went...

Oh well...

Lights out on another good day...

Highlight of the Day : Curry at Khushi’s...

Thursday, January 21, 2010

On the need to brush up...

Playlist
Bidiniband – The Land is Wild
Nick Buzz – Circo
Jill Hepburn – Snowflake

A quiet day initially soundtracked by solo albums from Dave Bidini and Martin Tielli from Canadian faves, Rheostatics...

Jill Hepburn’s CD also arrived and was duly given a spin...



This is only her second CD - the previous one being an EP – despite her having been on the Edinburgh singer/songwriter scene for seven or eight years...

As a result, it contains probably her best 10 songs, many of which I recognised from having seen her so many times at Out of the Bedroom and around town...

A lovely girl and a lovely album - I’ll be heading to the Listening Room at the Blue Blazer on Bread Street on Sunday night to hear her live unplugged set – and might well sing a couple of songs myself...

Need to practise a wee bit though...

Other than that, TV kept me occupied most of the night, with two episodes of “Big Bang Theory” and “This Week” entertaining – unlike “Question Time”...

I gave up on that half way through and retired to the PC to compile a 16 track “2009 Sampler CD” for chum Chris-with-a-Ch, having agreed we would both compile a mystery CD for each other to be exchanged tomorrow...

Highlight of the Day : Big Bang Theory...

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Against the grain...

Playlist
Depeche Mode - Remixes 81-04
Lee Morgan - Various LPs on Shuffleplay
Freddie Hubbard - Various LPs on Shuffleplay
Art Blakey - Various LPs on Shuffleplay
John McLaughlin - Various LPs on Shuffleplay
Genesis - Mail on Sunday Promo
Dead Eyes Opened - Myspace Tracks
Colin Edwin - Third Vessel

Two new CDs arrived in the mail over the last two days, the Depeche Mode and Genesis CDs mentioned last week...



The Depeche Mode disc contains some cracking remixes, particularly "Enjoy the Silence" and "Never Let Me down Again", while the Genesis promo features six live tracks from their last tour, two rare "single edits" and three remixed classics...

Each disc cost just £1.99...

Fair play...

This evening, post Anne's delicious home made chili, I forewent what seems to have been quite an exciting football match between Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers, to write this, to view some videos on Youtube and to listen to the Genesis disc...

Other than that, enjoyed a live performance today by, it appears, one of Youtube's favourite contrarian fund managers, Hugh Hendry - an entertaining man...

..and sang a few songs..

...and listened to the music of the erstwhile drummer from late 80's cohorts Call Me Clive, Mr Spooky Green and his splendid band, Dead Eyes Opened...

Tasty...

Lights out...

No, not lights out - I'd forgotten having received Porcupine Tree bassist Colin Edwin's album "Third Vessel" today from Prog Rock Willie and so finished the day with a spin of said tasty morsel...

Then lights out...

Highlight of the Day : Annie's home made chili...

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Thirty years and counting...

Playlist
Various - 2009/2010 CDs on Shuffleplay
Kenny Werner - Lawn Chair Society
Kurt Rosenwinkel - Heartcore
Christoph Merkl - Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Depeche Mode - Remixes 81-04

Some interesting skies this morning over Edinburgh...



...and a rabbit spotted in Princes St Gardens - I have a soft spot for rabbits...



Apt that it should be such a fine day for, exactly 30 years ago, the Exec Producer and your correspondent first became "an item"...

It was at a party in my flat in St Mary's Street (where, 11 years later, we opened our first record shop together) following a gig by my then band, Capital Models, at the nearby Netherbow Theatre on the Royal Mile...

To celebrate, we had drinks at the rooftop bar of Oloroso and then at nearby Tonic, before heading to a fine little Italian restaurant, Librizzi, on the corner of Castle St and Queen St where we enjoyed a very fine meal accompanied by some tasty Italian red wine...



A very enjoyable evening...

Don't know where the years went though, seems like yesterday...

Oh well, onwards and upwards...

Highlight of the Day : Celebrating in style

Monday, January 18, 2010

Everyone likes a list...

Playlist
Various - 2009/2010 CDs on Shuffleplay
Nucleus - Elastic Rock
Music Music Music - Macbeth
John McLaughlin - Belo Horizonte

This morning, even on Crispycat Hill, the majority of the snow had finally gone...

Only on the hills in the distance was there any still to be seen...



The evening was split as follows - dinner, listing all my jazz CDs, watching my Alma Mater, Edinburgh University, take an absolute pasting on "University Challenge", listing all my jazz CDs, watching the excellent "Law & Order : UK", watching the possibly even more excellent "Glee", listing all my jazz CDs...

By the end of the night...



...I was in the position where every original artist studio album I own was listed on the PC - just single artist compilations, live albums, boxsets, various artist compilations, CD singles, classical discs and my own output to list now...

The project continues...

Meanwhile, here's a list, in reverse order, of the 43 artists by whom I own at least 10 studio albums - those with asterisks are those by whom I have the full catalogue of original studio albums thus far...

43 Art Blakey 10
42 Donald Byrd 10
41 Andrew Hill 10
40 Jackie McLean 10
39 Pet Shop Boys 10*
38 Dream Theater 10
37 Hank Mobley 11
36 Electric Light Orchestra 11*
35 Adrian Belew 11
34 Lou Reed 11
33 Madredeus 11*
32 Kraftwerk 11*
31 Grand Funk Railroad 11
30 Gentle Giant 11*
29 Rheostatics 11*
28 Lee Morgan 12
27 John McLaughlin 12
26 John Coltrane 12
25 Bryan Ferry 12*
24 The Beatles 13*
23 The Cure 13*
22 Mathilde Santing 13
21 Robert Fripp 13
20 Peter Gabriel 13*
19 Pink Floyd 13*
18 King Crimson 13*
17 Udo Lindenberg 14
16 Freddie Hubbard 14
15 The Church 14
14 Allan Holdsworth 14
13 Marillion 15*
12 Joe Henderson 15
11 Genesis 15*
10 Herman Van Veen 17
9 Rush 18*
8 Tangerine Dream 19
7 Sparks 19
6 Brian Eno 20*
5 Uriah Heep 21*
4 Yes 21*
3 Alice Cooper 25*
2 David Bowie 26*
1 Miles Davis 32

Everyone likes a list...

Highlight of the Day : List progress...

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Leeks go awol...

Playlist
Various - 2009 & 2010 CDs on Shuffleplay
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Ersatzreal
Kristofer Astrom - Sinkadus
Sonya Kitchell - Words Come Back To Me
Johnny Winter - Johnny Winter
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Soundingfall

Up at 4:44 feeling gruesome...

Eventually, the Trumpets of Satan having been silenced, back to bed and, consequently, slept in till 9:45...

"Something for the Weekend" was followed by "The Dark Knight" on DVD...

We both agreed that, while this was very entertaining, we enjoyed "Batman Begins" more...

I can't see why everyone raves about "The Dark Knight" - it's good, but not that good...

Mid afternoon on this lazy day, Meg the Black cat lounged on the settee...





...while I surfed, uploaded several new podcasts to be published next week and then sang through a ten song set - my first playing of the guitar this year...

Not bad...

Then, to Tesco's for the ingredients of tonight's culinary efforts from your correspondent...



Leek and Pancetta Risotto - very hard to get a risotto right texture-wise apparently...

Also doesn't help when you forget to buy the leeks...

Onions were quickly substituted...



...and, after around 50 minutes, the dish was ready...



Anne was amazed and I triumphed again - "texture just right" was the opinion of the second helping scoffing Exec Producer...

Eschewing "Celebrity Dancing on Ice", I retired post dinner to continue the list work and to write this up for the last two days...

Highlight of the Day : Cooking...