The last day of summer...

Today is the last day of summer and is also my mum's 75th birthday. So we're going out tonight, me, my mum, Anne, my older sister, Sheila and her son, Andy the keyboard player extraordinaire....

I'm spending my Newcastle winnings and treating everyone...

Here's the motley crew...you can see which one of this quartet doesn’t carry the same genes as me!!



The meal was very tasty, although Andy was perplexed by the fact that, between finishing the main course and ordering desserts, we sat around for 45 minutes chatting…

He’s too used to eating in McDonalds I suppose…

Afterwards Anne and I took my mum home and sat about chatting in her house for another hour before heading home…an enjoyable evening…

Earlier in the day I paid a visit to my lovely podiatrist re the ongoing toe saga and it looks like the toe may be on the mend...which is great news because now I won't have to have half of it removed in a painful operation type scenario involving local anaesthetic, tourniquets, cutting, bleeding and burning etc etc..

Also, Helen the podiatrist is getting married in a year - so it's good news all round...

Rather fittingly for the last day of a Scottish Summer, although the day started off overcast yet balmy, by mid afternoon it had started to rain, so no sunny pics today just this scary treated collage of my face walking down from the bus stop - well, not my face walking down, but my face while I walked down from the bus stop...



The beast cometh...

Uneventful day and collage city...

This morning I ended up in the Royal Scottish Museum and made my way to the top of the recently added tower (ok maybe around ten years ago added tower)...

I took some pics to add to those I'd taken earlier whilst wandering around Greyfriars Churchyard, the one where the world famous dog, Greyfriars' Bobby used to live by the grave of his deceased master...

Here's a wee collage...as you can see, summer made a brief return today...



In the evening, I decided to make some more collages...

Here're all the photos taken so far in August (one day to go)



Here're all the photos taken in July...



As you might have guessed, here're all the photos taken in June...the repeats of my face are actually slightly different versions of the same photo...sorry about that...



At 9pm, I watched the last episode of Messiah, and couldn't believe the rather improbable ending....

The killer turned out to be someone who had been completely normal until the denouement scene...and someone who was blatently too small to have carried out many of the murders...

An episode of Law and Order winds up the day with a modicum of believability....

And, to finish off, here're all the photos taken with my digicam since its purchase on 11 June...to make a square, the programe repeats the first 29 photos...sorry about that...



Goodnight.

The four seasons, obsession and footie....

As I've walked down the road to our house over the last few days I've noticed the leaves are falling from the trees already and autumn is definitely on its way....

Bottom left is leaves in a nearby garden, top left shows some browning of plants in our garden, while the pics on the right are the last blooms of summer from Anne's garden...



Summer for me starts on 1 May and lasts till 31 August, Autumn is from 1 September to 31 October, Winter is from 1 November to 31 January and Spring is from 1 February to 30 April...

I just wish someone would clarify those dates with the climate in Scotland...

In the evening I laze around, catching an episode of "Corrie" and, later on, the second part of the three part detective story "Messiah" which we started watching last night...

It stars our good, good, personal friend Ken Stott - you'll recall he shared a table with us at the Shore Bar a few weeks back (although we didn't actually speak to him or his lovely companion, other than to say "yes, these seats are free"...)

It seems my recent obsession with Roy Wood and his connections continues...I load a few albums into the jukebox...

The frankly (mostly) weird "ELO 1", the slightly less weird "ELO 2", "Eldorado", "Face the Music", "A New World Record" and "Out of the Blue", all by ELO and each becoming more commercial as the band moves further away from Roy Wood's original vision....

Then Wizzard's two albums, firstly, "Wizzard's Brew", with it's terrible production (I'd love someone to get hold of the original 48 track masters of this and mix it properly, you know, as if it wasn't being played in the room next door and you were hearing through a particularly thick wall)...and then the pastiche-laden "Eddy and the Falcons"...

The day is rounded off with Scotsport SPL, the quite dreadful football programme which is unfortunately the only place on terrestrial TV where the action from the weekend can be viewed...

The programme lasts for 75 minutes. Rangers and Celtic games get around 10 minutes each (or 15 minutes for a clash between those two), while pish takes up a further 50 minutes and all the other games get around 3 minutes each - and, to make matters worse, it's presented by three people of whom at least two know nothing at all about football...

It has much to learn from BBC's Match of the Day...

Windswept...

Following a couple of rather bloated days on the food front, this morning I held myself back to a small slice of toast and a cup of lovely coffee....

After updating the journal, we drove into town...ok I know we should have walked but the weather was less than inviting...



....and it would have taken us around two hours to get there! We were carrying out some essential shopping for birthday cards and batteries...

Both our mums have birthdays approaching (Aug 31 and Sept 10) - hey we're organised.

The batteries were for the new and highly annoying radio alarm clock (don't ask)...

On the way back to the car, we stopped by the Rolf Harris Art Project at the foot of the mound by Edinburgh's main Art Galleries - he's organising a hundred or so amateur artists who are each painting one section of what is to be the largest ever rendering of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

For anyone not familiar with Rolf, you can read up on him here : http://www.rolfharris.com/ The project is similar to one completed last year of Constable's "Haywain"...



each of the small rectangles is an individual canvas around 2ft by 3ft...

Anyway, whilst at this open air extravaganza, the rain started pouring to add to the general misery of the very annoying strong winds..

We headed into the main Gallery and had a look round the RSA Annual exhibition - all modern art - my favourite but not Anne's - but we were just avoiding the weather...

Back out and along to Starbucks for a quick coffee and a biscuit (our lunch, food watchers) and then home...

In the evening, round to Anne's mum's for tea - she's off to Switzerland on holiday tomorrow..

Nephew Craig brought along his flatmate, Lee and much hilarity was enjoyed by all re the things young people get up to these days...

Drugs, travel, dance and food...

Up remarkably early considering the all day drinking session yesterday...

Before breakfast, Gary and I had a pre-meal double dose of Ibuprofen horse tablets to get us up and about and, by 8:30, we were down in the Hotel Restaurant.....

After a fine buffet breakfast, we walked up into Newcastle town to have a look around the shops – Gary bought a DVD for his kids while I convinced myself I had enough CDs...



Back at the hotel we sat outside laughing and joking about the previous night’s shenanigans – one of our number was sporting a rather badly swollen nose, having walked into a glass door which he thought was already open...

There were many tales of falling over and general stupidity...

We left on the bus at 11 am for a rather subdued trip back to Edinburgh. I’d burned a few CDs for the journey – all the tracks were upbeat Number One hits from 1963 through to 2004 and were spread over 8 CDs...

Here are some photos taken from the bus window...I like the stand alone trees...apologies for the passing traffic...



We finally got to Princes St at around 2 pm and I got a bus from there back home...there was some post for me - Iona Marshall has sent me her debut CD - it's really rather good...

While QoS went down again, this time 1-0 away at Clyde (and so remain bottom of the league), Anne was away to Tynecastle to see the mighty Premier League topping Jam Tarts extend their lead by thrashing Motherwell 2-1 while the wee team from Edinburgh, Hibernian FC, destroyed Glasgow Rangers 3-0 at Fortress Ibrox...

Anne phoned me on her way home from the match, impatient to discover who Hearts had drawn in the CIS cup, so I googled it and told her Kilmarnock at home – not realising I was looking at last year’s draw...they’ve actually got Livingston away – oh how we laughed at my faux pas...

In the evening it was ballet time for us and we drove into town to the Playhouse Theatre...

It was a nap that I was going to fall asleep at some point – but I did manage to keep my snore score down to just the one rather embarrassing grunt!

Anne spent the evening nudging me awake every so often...

The show itself (ok, what I saw of it) was quite excellent – the type of ballet I enjoy....



The music was by Stravinsky and Webern (with a wee bit of Bach thrown in) and the dancing was superb...

Funnily enough, I was able to stay awake for the Indian meal afterwards, for which we visited the Shanaz Tandoori, directly opposite the theatre...

Anne’s food was pronounced excellent although my own was a bit bland and disappointing...

Back home and the last episode of “Still Game”, taped from last night, rounded off a rather tiring, but nonetheless enjoyable, day...

A Day At The Races....

Today I was off for a trip to Newcastle Races followed by a night on the town.

The day started with breakfast with tons of bacon, sausages, black pudding, and scrambled eggs. Of course I stayed on the eggs in line with my vegetarianism....

There was so much bacon and sausages wasted it reminded me of why I became a veggie in the first place. The pigs dying for no reason as their meat ended up in the bin...

Onto the coach for a two and a half hour drive down the A1 and we cracked open the champagne. Martin, IT expert and creator of our home computer, was onboard and we discussed the creation of the universe, quantum physics and other hot topics with self-confessed CBQ and James Jamieson fan, JY Johnny, as we sped southwards.

After getting lost in the city centre, we finally made it to the hotel, right on the banks of the Tyne.

I was sharing with Gary, who you may recall refused to sing at the karaoke night back in April (ok you probably won’t recall, but I do). Here’s the view from the window...



Then off to a nearby Chinese Restaurant for lunch – but we were already well behind schedule and we left the restaurant, after a splendid meal, at almost 3pm..

We were due at the Racecourse at 4:30 where we were to partake of a large buffet meal - barely an hour or so after finishing lunch...



The drink was flowing freely again and bottle after bottle of wine was delivered to our two tables.

I had just one bet, taking the favourite in the first race – it came third I think. However, we then decided to have a sweepstake on the third race as there were eleven people at our table and eleven horses. I drew number 4, third or fourth favourite at the off – it won...

Here are my winnings...



Later we had another sweepstake over the two tables with an even larger pot – my horse came second by just half a length – though I suppose if I’d won again it might have sparked a riot...

By the end of the last race, mostly everyone was out of their faces on drink as we stotted back to the bus to head into the city centre to a bar and then a club...

The bus was well and truly a party bus by this time with people dancing up and down the aisles, Gary lying on the floor at the emergency exit and much outrageousness all round...

We pulled up and piled off and made our way into a place called “Jimmyz”...

After around an hour (so that’d only be about 10pm I suppose) we had to leave en masse as one of our number who was particularly pished, couldn’t understand that he had to pay for drinks with cash and insisted on handing his useless credit card to the bar staff – police were apparently on their way – I took the requisite £34 from the man in question’s hand (oh yes he had the money alright, he was just too drunk to understand what to do with it) and paid the lady – then we all left...

Outside we got split up and a few of us ended up at the club we were supposed to have hit around midnight – it was empty of course as it was still only just after 10. We’d been drinking all day. Not a good recipe for a civilised night out...

Those of us left together ended up going back to the hotel and sitting around in the bar getting even more drunk...JY Johnny managed to pour his drink over himself at one point

Various excursions were made for chips and to bring home other members of the party who called form various locations to find out where “the action” was...

I finally got to bed around 2:30 after we tried to carry on the “party” from the bar in other people’s rooms...

I didn’t sleep well – although Gary reckons I must have due to all the snoring...

An entertaining day....I think...

Nervous tension...

Tonight was the CBQ gig at Lamb’s House for Out of the Bedroom’s Fringe run, “Out of Bounds”. I had still not fully recovered from my flu bout and we were chronically under-rehearsed, in fact, Andy, Jamie and I were about to play the songs for the first time tonight as a trio.

I’d tried to rehearse the set without my words and music but failed miserably with regard to the song “Snowfall” and so decided to drop it from the set and replace it with “I Re-Arranged The House”.

At the hall and when Andy arrived we had a quick discussion re the changes and he convinced me to play “Snowfall” on the basis that he’d back me on piano and I wouldn’t play – in the same way as we were to do “Very Small”.

So we rejigged the set list to move the two piano pieces away from each other and got ready to go.

By 9:30 the hall had filled up nicely and we took the stage after the first open-mic slot. The onstage sound was not the best – my guitar was far too loud and so I had trouble hearing Jamie or Andy. Reports from out front though said the sound was fine.

The finalised set was:-

A Nice Job In A Small Town
Half A Lifetime Away
Snowfall
The Gardener
Twenty Twenty Vision
The Crocodile Song
Very Small
The End Of Everything

Unlike many of the acts, we seemed to be in the minority in that we’d actually taken note of the fact that the set was to be 25 minutes and timed our songs accordingly.

Most of the nights have over-run because of people playing for too long. I heard of one particular prima donna who, when told he had 8 minutes left, proceeded to play his three longest songs. Arse.

Anyway, our 25 minutes came and went, though I only really started to enjoy it once we got to “The Crocodile Song”. Of course the “woof woof” interlude re the small dog in “The Gardener” got a laugh...

We were followed by Lisa Paton – she has a superb voice and a great relaxed performance style, though she confessed afterwards to being hugely nervous – it didn’t show – I wonder if my nerves do?

We stayed for Andy Patterson, another accomplished singer-songwriter, who mainly used the piano, and then headed home as I wasn’t feeling too great and Anne wanted to get home.

Andy had already left after Lisa’s set and so we left Jamie to fulfil his task as compere for the evening...

So no more live gigs for me now.

Yikes!

Off the drugs today - which led to a slight relapse - but it's only a cold after all so get on with it.

The weather looks good today but the picture lies - it's cold and windy, almost autumnal and we're only half way through August. In Europe floods are taking lives in Romania, Austria, Switzerland and Germany...



This building looks very grand but it's actually just a place where records are stored (as far as I know). I like the look of it though...

Tonight, Andy stops by for his one and only rehearsal of the CBQ set for tomorrow night's gig at Lamb's House...

The first run through is pretty terrible - the second is an improvement and then we concentrate on a couple of songs which seem to be causing him more problems than most...

In the end we seem to have it nailed and I have confidence in his talent - he's never let me down yet so I'm fairly relaxed about playing a set with two people who've not actually played it together with me as a trio yet...yikes!

The rest of the evening is spent on the computer trying (without a hint of success) to solve a problem Anne has in getting into the Hearts web site - which she could do perfectly well up until a week or so ago...

Intending to wing it...

Back out of my sick bed today and drugged up on Contact 400 and double strength horse tablets of Ibuprofen. Here's a rather non-descript photo of the foot of Lothian Road. Kind of sums up the day...



The evening was another matter however as James Jamieson came round to rehearse the CBQ set for Thursday night. We ran through it twice, the second time with hardly a single error - then, just for fun, we played through a couple of Jamie's tunes from Sunday...

Then downstairs to watch the end of the football and check the results - another win for Hearts in the CIS Cup, away at Hampden against lowly Queen's Park...

Worryingly for your resident Queen of the South fan however, was the fact that both St Johnstone and Dundee were knocked out by 1st Division opponents St Mirren and Stranraer respectively...

This does not bode well for the Queens' league campaign as both St Johnstone and Dundee have walloped us recently...

Tomorrow night I rehearse with Andy and so CBQ will take to the stage on Thursday without having had any "full band" rehearsals of the set....but I'm sure we'll pull it off!

The set list was finalised tonight as:-
A Nice Job In A Small Town
Half A Lifetime Away
Twenty Twenty Vision
The Gardener
Snowfall
The Crocodile Song
Very Small
The End Of Everything

Never mind "Very Small"...

How about "Very Ill"?

I finally fully succumbed to the flu today...had to cancel the planned CBQ rehearsal for Thursday's gig...

I spent the entire day in bed....

Ouside the weather was beautiful...I was inside either sleeping or blowing my nose...here's a view from the window...



Hope I feel better tomorrow....

Could be worse of course..I hear on the news that Dr Robert Moog, inventor of the Moog Synthesiser has died...where would Yes, Genesis, ELP and a whole host of others be without him..here was one man who truly changed the face of popular music...without Bob, there'd have been no "Son of my Father" by Chicory Tip...

Going back to bed now...

Excessive use of paper...

Decided today that the flu would not stop me from going about my normal business...

This proved to be rather a large error of judgement...

Anne and I went to patisserie Florentin for breakfast – you know the score – lovely croissants and coffee etc...

The latest edition of Ian Sclater’s magazine, “Instant” is there and I’m mentioned in an article on the open-mic scene in Edinburgh as the most prolific participant, with over 200 solo and collaborational releases under my proverbial belt...

My production credits are also mentioned, in particular the last two Out of the Bedroom CDs...

So that’s good...

Anne heads to the hairdressers to spend a big wad of cash on looking lovely, while I’ve arranged to meet up with Dr Prog at the record fair uptown...

I am having to blow my nose every ten to fifteen seconds and, when I do, water squirts out my left eye...

At the fair, I find a compilation of one of my teenhood heroes, Roy Wood. It contains a track I’ve been trying in vain for years to find on CD, “Oh What A Shame” which was a big hit for Roy in 1975 – it may even have been his last top twenty hit...let me check one of my big books...indeed it was, making number 13 in May 1975..

Here’s a picture of Roy in his heyday....



I also picked up a CD by American “jam band” Phish, “The Story of the Ghost” along with three obscure jazz CDs, Joel Harrison’s “Free Country”, David Binney’s “Balance” and the New York String Trio’s “Gut Reaction”...all quality stuff...

We meet up with Anne at FOPP – her hair looks great...

Back home and I research Roy Wood’s career (using several of my big books) and compile a 2CD chronology of all his A and B sides from 1971 through to 1976, both solo and with The Move, ELO and Wizzard...

I’m still missing a couple of the more obscure B sides which don’t seem ever to have made it on to CD...

I am very familiar with the hits of course but it’s the B sides which are the revelation here. Roy never seemed to put any B sides onto LPs and there’s a vast treasure trove of material there that most people will never have heard...and on many tracks Roy plays everything himself and supplies all the vocal tracks, even speeding things up to provide girlie backing vocals...

The man is a genius but all most people know him for is “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” (which is of course THEE best Christmas song ever..eat your heart out “Away in a Manger”)....check out www.roywood.co.uk

In the evening is Jamie’s gig at Lamb’s House.

Anne and I dine out at The Raj Indian restaurant nearby then head to the hall. The guys on the committee have done a great job. The stage is set up like someone’s bedroom – including king size bed!

Sister Sheila arrives with Andy and Adele while I try and write down some ideas as to what to say between the acts as I am compering tonight’s show...

Did I mention I am having to blow my nose every ten to fifteen seconds and, when I do, water squirts out my left eye?

The show goes well, we have a couple of open mic slots including the opening act, a guy called Roddie Huggan who’s come all the way from Forres in the North of Scotland just to play a couple of songs – he’s excellent..

Impossible Songs turn in a great opening set (it seems they’re playing every time I go to a show these days) getting things off to a great start...

They are followed by Davy Watson (who I introduce as Andy Watson!). I’ve never seen him before, but he’s also very good, fronting a four piece featuring two acoustics, double bass and accordion....

Then it’s time for the James Jamieson Trio, he's under pressure because his mum, dad, sister, brother, aunt and uncle are all in the audience...

Despite having had only one ramshackle rehearsal together, we pull off a fine set..the highlights are probably his three newest songs, “The Eco Song”, “Welcome To This World” and “On The Inside” and the great closer "Trash Can Secrets"...Andy’s piano and strings are a welcome addition to the sound..

After the break, during which Jamie’s mum won the raffle, Fraser Drummond turns in a superb musicianly set during which he manages to play acoustic, bass flute, mouth organ and banjo, accompanied by his sidekick on second guitar...

Rounding off the night is Norman Lamont who seems to take half the remaining audience with him onto the stage. Not content with that, he then succeeds in getting everyone else left in the hall to join in on various types of percussion including tables and chairs and pulls off a great set...

Finally, Roddie Huggan returns to play one last song and bring the night to an end.

I get home at one o’clock...

Did I mention I am having to blow my nose every ten to fifteen seconds and, when I do, water squirts out my left eye?

N-n-n-n-nineteen...

Stayed in all day today in a vain attempt to beat the flu...

Anne went to Tynecastle in the afternoon and watched Hearts beat Aberdeen 2-0 to extend their run of wins in the SPL to four and pull an unbelievable 5 points clear of Celtic (who lost to Rangers).

A great start to the season for the Jam Tarts.

Meanwhile the, ahem, “mighty” QoS lost again, this time 3-1 away to Dundee. They even had a man sent off. Although I only expected Queens to have 3 points from their first three games (two of which were away to the two strongest teams in the league, St Johnstone and Dundee) they only have 1 point out of nine and are now bottom of the table.

Nephew Andy came round for lunch and, in the afternoon, while Anne was out, we didn't rehearse Jamie’s set, no, we sorted out Andy's CV so he could apply for a job in a recording studio in Sheffield...

In the evening, despite Anne saying I should stay in, I decided to go along to other nephew, Craig’s birthday barbecue at his grandparents’ house. A huge multi family gathering ensued. I wasn’t drinking due to my poorly state...

Here's a picture of the birthday boy...



Got back home around 11 and watched the English premiership highlights before retiring....feeling lousy...

Sniffing, coughing, marching...

Still bunged up today but feeling slightly better this morning. It's a lovely day (apart from a big rainstorm around 4 o'clock).



I ought to be staying in bed to get well for Jamie's gig on Sunday but my sister has tickets for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo and it's a sell-out show. I feel I must go, even though I'm not 100%....

Anne and I park in town and walk to the Royal Mile and to our current favourite Mexican restaurant, Pancho Villa's. The food is superb and we also partake of some Mexican beer then walk up the Royal Mile towards the castle, taking in some of the free Fringe entertainment on the way, including a fascinating moon-walking act....

The queues are already forming but we duck round the back and into the Castle Arms for another drink before walking to the front of the queue at around 8:30 - the show starts at 9...

The crowd appears to be mostly old people – with any youngsters being, in the main, tourists...

We take our seats and are joined by Sheila and Andrew, young Andrew (keyboard player extraordinaire) and Adele, and younger nephew Alasdair and his girlfriend, Julie....(Julie's dad works for one of the sponsors and got us all free tickets)...

The show is certainly spectacular – stirring music including massed pipes and drums, fireworks, marching and throwing around of guns and bayonets by crack Norwegian troops, corny comedy, gunfire, re-enacted sea battles etc etc...



However, after 90 minutes sitting in the open air, I’ve taken a bit of a relapse and can’t wait to get home....

Despite being sick as a parrot, I do still watch “Meet the Magoons”, of which bbc.co.uk/comedy wrote..

“There wasn't a single laugh in Meet The Magoons and it was littered with gratuitous foul language”...

I’ll give it a chance though, because it features the guy who plays Naveed in “Still Game”, which I also watch on video before heading for my sick-bed at half past midnight...

Stuffed up...

Rubbishy day today.

Wet and cold weather and my flu has taken hold big style. So much so that I have to contact the OOTB committee and drop out from my duty tonight as reviewer, exchanging it for an early night...

Just to adorn the post, here's some roadside greenery from near our house...



Jim Park has left a comment re my "critique" of his show. Like the show, his comment had me laughing out loud. Only a few nights left now, so do go along - "Park's Circus" - it's in the Fringe programme..

I'm off to bed....

Pile up...

I know you all love Meg the Black Cat so here's a gratuitous shot of her on the back step this evening, shortly before she was chased back into the house by the evil Black and White Cat With The Bell....



A "day off" today....

But I have a bad cold, which has snuck up on me over the last couple of days, so I'm a bit under the weather - which today is overcast. I'm still too hot though, due to the affliction...



In the evening, we watch Scotland v Austria. Scotland are a revelation in the first half based on recent performances and, unbelievably, go in after 45 minutes, 2-0 up.

Being a friendly match though, changes are made at half time. Scotland continue to hold their own but end up losing two goals in the last five minutes or so and it ends up a 2-2 draw...

However, there's some good news from Denmark, where the Danes thump England 4-1...oh dearie me....

I'm reviewing Out of the Bedroom tomorrow night, when they'll be having a Bob Dylan covers night so, tonight, I ought to have been learning a Dylan standard to perform but I am just toooo ill (sniff)...

A few releases are starting to pile up at Crispycat Towers and it's nearing the time for my annual cull of the catalogue...deletion frenzy!

Due for release "soon" are live EPs from James Jamieson and CBQ, new studio EPs from Creek and Edward Spark (his debut), the latest soundscape album from CBQ, the updated 2CD CBQ Songs and Soundscapes 1977-2005 Anthology and, of course, the long awaited "Deeperdown" if I ever get around to recording the vocals and then moving on...

Today I realised just how far my stupidity can go on e-bay as a book which I bought about eight weeks ago arrives. It's a list of vegetarian restaurants across the USA. I bought it for a couple of pounds because the co-author is one of my favourite singer songwriters, Dar Williams.

Clearly, this has to rank as one of the most pointless purchases I've ever made...



Art Blakey continues to entertain me as I update the journal...

Arbiters of taste...

Acceptable weather today - a few clouds but generally sunny....



Bought a couple of CDs from FOPP - Art Blakey's 2CD set "Meet You At The Jazz Corner of the World"- recorded live at Birdland in September 1960 and featuring Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons and Jymie Merritt.

It was originally released on record as Volumes 1 and 2, so to get both sets for £7 was a bargain indeed. There are some questions over the recording quality but I think it's just fine as a live document of a great band at its prime....



And for a measly £3 I picked up "Neil Young's Greatest Hits". OK I know NY has had perhaps just one bona fide hit during his almost 40 year career ("Heart of Gold") but, to be fair, the disc does say "based on original record sales, airplay and known downloads" - so watch out for CBQ's greatest hits soon based on the same criteria....not

I probably have all the tracks already but the set has been remastered from the original master tapes and has a clarity to it which is missing from previous compilations like the 2CD set, "Decade"....

Mr Young's disc sat alongside Prince's last album and David Bowie's "Reality", both also going for just £3. Now, both those albums (and indeed NY's GH) were touted by the critics as being pretty good....

So what happens here? Does the record company just make too many copies, overestimating the extent to which the public will be swayed by plaudits in the music press and so the overpressing ends up at FOPP who somehow buy up all the leftovers for 50p a disc each??

Whatever the cause, it means bargains for me from time to time...

Back home and , as usual, Meg runs out to meet me - saying something like "Miaow miaow"...



In the evening I pick up Jamie from his house, where he lets me hear some of his latest recordings, two new self penned songs and a nice cover of Bowie's "The Man Who Sold The World"...

His daughter, Madison, and her friends are impressed with the way the handle works on the boot of my car, pronouncing it "cool"....here are those arbiters of taste....



We head out to Penicuik where we learn one last song to complete his set for Sunday, then run through all the tracks trying to iron out any bugs as quickly as possible.

By 9:15, we're finished the first stop-start run through and I want to perhaps go through it again but Jamie wants to go back to town to catch Jim Park's show near the Castle - so we leave Andy to continue rehearsing along to the "Live at the Roxy" disc and give ourselves 25 minutes to get back to Edinburgh, find a parking space and get to the venue....Neil Young provides the soundtrack...



We make it with about 30 seconds to spare.

OK, the show, "Park's Circus" (at the Roman Eagle Lodge, Johnson Terrace, 9:55 £6) is not up to the standard of seasoned professionals like Richard Herring and Dara O'Briain (who, let's face it have been doing the Fringe for years) but it certainly has its moments and it's good to see Jim doing a 20 minute set - the longest I've seen him perform.

All four comedians hold their own before a difficult-to-win-over crowd, including Jamie and me in the front row...

Jim's managed to get a couple of groups of colleagues/ex-colleagues from Standard Life and Royal Bank in so it's fairly full but the majority of the audience doesn't seem to get the comedy...

Notwithstanding this, Jamie and I had a few good laughs at the material and enjoyed a drink with Jim afterwards in the nearby Castle Arms...

Then I took Jamie home and arrived back just after midnight and to bed listening to Art Blakey on the walkman...

Crispy's birthday...

15 August - Crispy's Birthday - She would've been 21 today...

Up early (for a Monday anyway) and at 5:45 I am at the computer splitting the wav. files of Jamie and my’s performance last month at the Roxy. This is so that I can burn all his tracks onto a CD to give to young Andy tonight – he was finding it a bit of a pain to scan through the two 25 minute tracks he had for initial listening purposes. I took the opportunity to edit out some glitches caused by the initial hard drive recording, some tuning up etc etc.

A bright sunny evening today…



I head out to Penicuik for a rehearsal with Andy of Jamie’s songs for his gig this Sunday. Jamie can’t make it so it’s up to me to teach Andy the songs initially, with the help of the Roxy CD.

On the way, I stop in at my mum’s. She’s undergoing physiotherapy just now re her legs and back and part of it is to cycle – so I’m lending her my exercise bike. As you can see from the photo, Meg the Black Cat uses it more than me…



After re-building the bike and ensuring my mum could use it, I continue up to Penicuik. Within 80 minutes, Andy has learned the basic structures and chord sequences of Jamie’s songs – what a fast worker – we’re rehearsing again tomorrow night with Jamie this time – it may be our only rehearsal as a trio before the gig!

By 10 o’clock, I’m back in the car and heading home – just in time to see Hearts’ three goals against Dundee Utd on Saturday….

A Matter of Life and Death...

I did stuff today...

Up early – burned a new King Crimson compilation to go with the b’dillions of others I’ve burned – I think they are my favourite band...

Weather overcast then rainy – phoned Jamie and he wasn’t up for Leithstock re the weather – so Anne and I went down on our own to catch some of the early acts - just as the weather picked up a bit – saw Tommy Mackay, Scott Renton, Chris Brown, Impossible Songs and first half of Norman Lamont...

I picked up a copy of Al Stewart’s album, “Past Present and Future” at one of the market stalls (the music was taking place alongside Leith Market). It’s an album I’ve been looking for for a while...I first heard it at my old chum, Rory MacRae’s house when it was released in the early 70’s...Rory was influenced by his older sister and brother re music and liked Al, Incredible String Band and Roy Harper – while his friends (including me) liked T Rex, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Gary Glitter and erm Chicory Tip...

I have to say the Leithstock attendance was disappointing. A few members of the general public plus the aforementioned acts...

There are thirty people/acts doing the week long Lamb’s House gigs and sadly, of those, apart from me and Jamie (who was there for around an hour between my two visits) not one turned up to support today's event, even though it was to advertise the upcoming gigs that those people are doing...

This lack of support is typical of the open-mic scene here...

Anyway, the reason we only caught half of Norman’s set was we were off to the Dean Gallery for the Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibition there...



It’s the widest ever exhibition of his work, including many previously unpublished photos. He’s basically a photo journalist who’s travelled the world snapping everyday scenes in a vast number of countries...nice job if you can get it...

All the pics are black and white, and many you’ve seen before without necessarily knowing there by H C-B.…..

Our favourite was one of some old Spanish priests at a midnight mass – while I also enjoyed seeing a portrait of Francois Mauriac – the inspiration behind “The Crocodile Song”...

We came home and Anne listened to the footie on the radio (Aberdeen stuffed Rangers 3-2 and Hearts got their third victory in a row and consolidated their position at the top of the league with a 3-0 away win at Dundee Utd) whilst I played three songs without referring to words or music – “Half a Lifetime Away”, “Skylines Full of Cranes” and “The End of Everything”...

I’d been discussing the fact that I don’t really “know” my songs with Anne and Norman this morning and so decided to see if I really didn’t know them...seems I at least know these three....

Then I went back down to Leithstock and took a few photos...



Caught Torpedo Buoy’s set and part of Flowers For Algernon before having to head back home to pick up Anne to go to her mum’s for tea...via the Dean Gallery for a couple of snaps (I’d forgotten the camera this morning).

At night when we arrived back, our neighbour Fiona was outside her garden – a wee fox (just a young one by the looks of it) had collapsed outside another neighbour’s gate – it must have been hit by a car on the road along from our houses and managed to make its way around thirty yards or so away from the road but no further – Fiona had phoned the SSPCA to try and help it – but, by the time she got through after waiting in a queue for 15 minutes, the fox had died...

A rubbish end to the day...not least for the fox of course – and I’m quite sad now...people are always intrigued as to why I’m a vegetarian – stupid people sometimes ask “but do you eat fish?” – “erm no, I’m a vegetarian” I say...and the reason is not because I don’t like to eat meat – it’s because I don’t like the thought of creatures, sentient beings, being killed for us to eat...simple as that. And to see a fox (or a bird or a squirrel for that matter) die from being hit by a car – I don’t like that either....but that’s life and death I suppose...

Falling down and out of steam....

A strange day for me today....

I didn't really do anything - which I hate on a Saturday - cos I love Saturdays and normally try and pack them full with stuff...

I was up at 5:45 but did virtually nothing...this week on the jukebox I've been mostly listening to Alice Cooper - on Tuesday I selected 100 tracks from across the 24 studio albums and saved them as a playlist on the machine....I listened to the last 12 songs this morning and moved on...

I'd decided I'd sort out our photos as we have a bit of a backlog - five or six holidays' worth over the last year which have never been sorted and put into the album - not that we ever show them to anyone....

We are both reasonable photographers though and have a collection which stretches back to when we first met in 1979/80. But, recently, we've tended to put off the task of choosing the best ones and putting them into the albums - maybe it's too much of a chore but I'd like to think we'll get round to it soon...

Anyway, all I managed to do was write the locations on the front of each packet and put them away again in the bag....and then went back to bed around 7:30....

A couple of hours later, I did the usual Saturday morning run to Patisserie Florentin and fetched the croissants - no photos of them this week though...

Then I kind of ran out of steam...

Last night I sent some "news" stories to webmeister Craig to update the Crispycat site - funny how it used to be the focus of my attention till I started this journal...

Today I changed the link to Crispycat to have it go direct to the music page so visitors from this blog can stream songs and, possibly, order some CDs...there are around 30 tracks for people to listen to there...including seven of the eight songs I think I'll be playing on the 25th at Lamb's House....

Mid-morning Anne went off to the nearby Mall while I played through the proposed set - sounded ok but a bit flat after Thursday's performance - I really prefer not to play solo with one acoustic - I'm just not good enough and people can't get the true sound of CBQ - I prefer to play with others (even if they happen to be me on a backing track)...

I phoned Andy and Jamie and arranged our first rehearsal for Monday night - we'll need to concentrate on Jamie's songs first, as his gig's a week tomorrow and Andy's never played any of his songs before...

Tomorrow, Jamie and I may head to "Leithstock", an all day event down at the Shore at Leith Market - quite a few OOTB'ers are playing sets to promote the upcoming week of gigs at Lamb's House and I think there may be a couple of open slots so we may get to play - Jamie's going to Fringe Sunday at the Meadows (a big park just south of the city centre) tomorrow too with his kids - might tag along to that and then we've got Anne's mum's for tea...

In the afternoon today, we went round to Anne's sister Jane's for a visit (I left Anne there and came back to finalise and rehearse my set - and ended up falling asleep on the settee with Meg the Black Cat lying on my legs)... I took a few photos of their new extension and the kids, Oliver and Kitty - two lovely wee children...



Even though the digital camera is crap compared to my "real" camera, the results are so easy to post up, that's all I get round to - "real" photos require developing, scanning, cropping, etc etc - as a result, the photos in the journal aren't as great as they could be - but, as I'm writing it everyday, the digicam's the best method to get stuff up...

I suppose I should bite the bullet and get a very expensive digital camera (the one I use cost £25 and doesn't even have a viewscreen)...

In the evening we watched a pirate DVD of "Madagascar" borrowed from Jane. Quite funny, with the usual jokes aimed at the children-accompanying-grown-ups. Main message seemed to be it's not ok to eat mammals (especially if you're a lion and your best friend is a zebra) but eating fish is fine...I liked the penguins the best...

Some of the biggest laughs came inadvertantly as we were met with the sight of the bobbing heads of people making their way to and from their seats - it must have been pirated in a cinema...

I spent a couple of hours upstairs working on the computer (listening to, amongst other things, Coldplay's "X&Y" - a great album - I'm certainly not a member of the "Make Coldplay History" brigade) and then went back down for the first "Premiership Highlights" show of the new season which started today...

Away from the big money, in the Bell's 1st Division, another disappointing day for the now not quite so mighty Queen of the South as they could only manage a goaless draw at home to newly promoted Brechin City...by all accounts Queen's missed a barrel-load of sitters and then nearly lost a goal right at the end...

Still at least they're off the bottom spot but they now have two tough away games in a row...

Finally, I saw a story on the news today, in amongst all the hot air about the plight of the people stranded at Heathrow, about a woman whose son was killed on active duty in Iraq. She's camping outside President Bush's ranch in Texas (he's there on holiday).

It just so happens, there's an excellent post on the Cunning Realist's site today (see my links) regarding this same story and I'd urge you to take a look...

My meanderings are inconsequential and basically a "what I did today" piece of pish in comparison with the Realist's superbly argued pieces - but then I am a musician/artist and not a prose writer, political or otherwise - please do take a look for a few moments... http://cunningrealist.blogspot.com/

Hmm...bit of a long post for a day spent doing virtually nothing...but then, bit of a big blog for a life doing precisely the same....

Let there be drums...and tablet...

Relaxing tonight with a curry, my new Art Blakey CD, "Buhaina's Delight" (HMV £4.99)....



...a glass or two of red wine, later on, a lovely cup of tea and a couple of pieces of Lynn's son, Stewart's, home made tablet...mmm mmm...and, of course, "Still Game"....



..an agreeable evening...

Mussolini and crutches...

What a good day this turned out to be….

Weather was rubbish/great – rain showers/sunshine – typical Scottish Summer Day....



I got a new bus pass, which seems to have a picture of someone else on it – it looks like the bloated face of a big fleshy blob...



I may have to revert to my previous pass with a picture of Benito Mussolini adorning it…



Actually, now I see them together, I think I like the new one better...

Anyway, in the evening I’d arranged with Jamie that we’d meet up at the Waverley by 8pm to ensure we both got to play sets at Out of the Bedroom – you have to get your name on the blackboard early to be guaranteed one of the sought after slots....

I took Anne in to town to meet up with her friend Lynn, they were off on a night out for a Thai meal and plenty of drinks – so I got to the venue on time to make the board, adding both CBQ and James Jamieson to the night’s line-up as Jamie arrived just after me...

There was a surprise as my nephew, Andy, and his girlfriend, Adele, arrived too. I’d mentioned to Andy that we intended to play and if he could make it, to come along but I hadn’t expected him to make it – they’d come in on the bus from Penicuik….

If I’m at OOTB on my own, I always find it hard to connect with the other performers but I love it when Jamie’s there too as we form a kind of double act, playing off each other and we had a good time chatting to a few people before we played....

Normally, I’ll watch the whole night but tonight we needed to talk about the music, since we’ve not played together as a trio for over a year and we also needed to discuss preparations for the upcoming Fringe gigs so we spent quite a bit of time downstairs in the bar....

Jamie was due to play at 10:45, then there was to be a break and CBQ was up at 11.05. As it turned out though, some Australian bloke with loads of gear, including a didgeridoo, played for over 30 minutes early on (no-one in charge seems to have pointed out to him the 15 min time limit on slots) so everything was running way behind schedule…

Anne and Lynn arrived just in time to see our sets and old acquaintance from my Reptile Records days, Dominic Waxing Lyrical, had also ventured in from his flat over the road to see us – I’d bumped into him in the street earlier in the night and he’d given me his mobile number to let him know when we’d be playing…

Jamie finally went on at around 11.10 after a glowing intro from the night’s compere, Scott Renton, who bemoaned the fact that it must have been over a year since he’d seen Jamie play a full three song OOTB set.

The first song was “Ribbons of Pride”, a new one that, until now, only he had heard before. It was downbeat but with a trademark JJ melody line (he’s great at that) and went down a storm. Then I joined in on “King’s Country” and “Trash Can Secrets” – again a great reaction from the audience…

They fitted a song in between us by a young white Rasta guy on crutches (?!?) while, in the background, the keyboard was hastily set up for Andy – who by this time had probably had a few drinks too many – but that didn’t have any effect on his performance…

After a rather flattering introduction from Scott, mentioning the upcoming new album (jokingly referred to as my 41st – it’s probably more like my 241st) we kicked off with a fairly laid back rendition of “The Crocodile Song” which of course Andy co-wrote. It seemed to have kind of Caribbean lilt to it.

Then into “Very Small” which always sounds great with the piano – true to form, the OOTB guitar I was using had gone out of tune so I stopped playing after the first verse and just sang over the gentle accompaniment of Andy and Jamie.

Last was “Half a Lifetime Away” which I let them start and then joined in again to keep the tempo going. We got a great reception at the end of the set and I really enjoyed not playing solo – all the pressure was off and the loose playing somehow added to the enjoyment – we definitely need to rehearse a few times before the gigs though…

By the time we finished, Andy and Adele had missed their last bus home so, while Jamie took Anne and Lynn home, I drove Andy and Adele back to Penicuik, finally getting in just after 1 am…

As I was leaving the club a girl shook my hand and said she was in Edinburgh for one day and she'd been brought along solely in order to see Cloudland Blue Quartet. She said she thought we were brilliant...moments like these are what I do this for...

What a good day this turned out to be…

Dead flowers and blue skies...

Today is the birthday of Count Brodski my old school buddy and the only blogless Creek member – Happy Birthday Al – keep it wide, big man!

My chum, Margaret Hewitson also celebrates her anniversary of emerging into the light today – Happy Birthday Margaret!

It’s yet another scorcher today, apart from one almighty rainstorm for five or ten minutes mid afternoon...



Here ends the weatherhindcast.....

I got an e-mail today from Friends Reunited to say someone or other had been added to one of the lists where I am also listed. This reminded me that I tried to update my profile a few months ago but it wouldn’t save.

However, I kept what I’d tried to upload and so today I tried again and it worked.

Since I’m not a fully paid up £7.50 a year member of Friends Reunited, I can’t e-mail people back when they contact me via the site, so I left a few clues as to how to find me – i.e. Google “Cloudland Blue Quartet”...

This evening, there’s a message from a girl who was in my class at primary school, who I remember very well...but she’s not used the clues I left because the message is via Friends Reunited...

She asks if I am a member of a Barber Shop Quartet....

I think, on balance, Friends Reunited is a good thing – though I believe many a marriage has been wrecked by people getting in contact and trying to rekindle their past.

I’d add that the girl who sent the above message was a school-chum and nothing beyond that...

Although everything we have in common is so far away in the past, it does bring back good memories when I look down the list of familiar names from thirty odd years ago and wonder what they’re up to now.

Of course many have updated their profile but very few get beyond “I am married/single, with x number of kids, living in (enter place-name) and I work as (enter job-title)”....

Oh for a little bit of imagination sometimes....

Tonight when I get home, Meg the Black Cat comes trotting out to meet me and poses for the camera while rolling around on the slabs...



After swithering whether or not to go to Stirling to see the mighty Queen of the South play Stirling Albion in the CIS Cup I decide I am a hoodoo after Saturday’s thrashing and stay at home...they lose 2-1 anyway so I figure I've probably saved myself £12 or so...

Instead I re-burn the Soundscapes CD with fades rather than cross-fades – sounds better but still needs some fine tuning I think...

I’ve chosen a picture for the sleeve – a poppy which is growing out of the road at the back of our house...this was taken two days ago...



And this is the poppy today...not long to go...



Life is short, art is long....

Milky Bars and kittens...

Spoke at last with Jamie today and we won’t be able to rehearse this week but we decide to go along to OOTB on Thursday and to play on at least two of each other’s three songs.

Jamie’s delighted that Andy can play on his date – of course songs will need to be learned...

Listening back to the proposed Soundscapes CD, I decide that cross-fading all the tracks into each other and creating one 50 minute piece is a step too far....

In the evening Anne and I go along to the Assembly Rooms, the largest of the fringe venues I think, to see Dara O’Briain’s stand up show.



It’s very funny indeed – an hour of non-stop chat from this likeable Irishman who has the audience in stitches within minutes of taking the stage. There were too many highlights to mention them all, but his pieces on kittens, having an English child, anti-gay jokes, the Milky Bar Kid and “You Are What You Eat” were stand outs for me.

After the show, a quick drink in the bar which is set up every year in what is really just a dead-end road which runs down the side of the building and then home, chuckling...

What passes for summer...

A quiet day today...it's another scorcher here in sunny Edinburgh...these are the days we expect at this time of year but the few days we do get like this between May and August constitute what passes for summer here...

Probably just as well as I don't like it too hot...



I finish off what might be the new CBQ soundscapes CD tonight - four ten minutes scapes plus four three minute interludes, all of which I shall meld together on the hard drive and listen to over the coming days and weeks, deciding whether to allow it into other peoples' homes....

No word from James Jamieson so I will call him tomorrow to arrange rehearsals for the upcoming gigs on 21 and 25 August...