A sad loss...

Spent much of the day loading new CDs into the jukebox, artists beginning with C, D and E but mostly ELP and Eno, of whom I have an inordinate amount of discs which, for some reason, weren't on the machine already..

Maintaining the exercises - the morning pains also remain, though I slept till 7:00 today..

But I have nothing to complain about really - as Jamie called to let me know that Jim Park's dad died on Sunday. I called Jim with my condolences but there's nothing you can say really in these circumstances...

Jim had told me when he visited a week or so ago that his dad had been ill, but this was out of the blue...

Jim Snr was a great guy and a real character with a brilliant and dry sense of humour. In the late 70's and early 80's we used to spend a lot of time at the Park residence in S Queensferry and, despite all the drinking and shenanigans we got up to, Jim's mum and dad were always very supportive of everything we were doing...

I expect a big turn out for his funeral - he will be missed by many different groups of people both old and young and for a variety of reasons...

A sad loss...

Lowlight of the Day : learning of the passing of Mr Park

Take a look at the lawman....

Woke at 4:30 with strange pains all round my body but especially in my arms and legs. So I got up....

Took one of the "special" painkillers I have for my shoulder. Ironically, the pains I'm getting may be from their side effects. Or the arm pains could be from my sleeping position while the leg pains might be due to my abandoning the moon-boot too soon?

Didn't burn a disc from the hard drive today. This is typical of me. I say I will do something regularly and then don't do it - maybe tomorrow...

I do burn a 2CD set though of 20 No1 Singles and 21 songs from No 1 albums from my lists yesterday...

I also continue with the Jukebox refill - mostly David Bowie and others beginning with "B" today...

In the evening we enjoy "Life on Mars" (featuring T Rex, Bowie, Slade, Hawkwind and Sweet music-wise...tasty - last week they even had a Uriah Heep track!) and the quite brilliant "The Thick of It" and, of course, the highlights of Hearts thrashing Hibs 4-1 on Saturday...

I wonder why they didn't use Bowie's song for the titles in "Life on Mars" - it was played in the first episode and fitted perfectly...

"Take a look at the lawman, beating up the wrong guy, oh man wonder if he'll ever know - he's in the best selling show"

...quite appropriate for a cop catapulted back in time to 1973....

By 11:30 I am extremely tired after the early rise but still need the Jukebox to get to sleep....

Highlight of the Day : "Life on Mars"

An interesting fridge....

Up at 7:40 today and decided I'd burn an album a day until I get through all the albums waiting on the hard drive to be brought into reality...

Today it's "Time Machine" a 3CD collection from the Vertigo label which I borrowed from the library just before I broke my ankle...



The weather is bright and cold today....



Anne wakes up on her birthday a couple of hours later and I venture forth without the moonboot for the first time....



....as we drive to Patisserie Floretin for breakfast...

I break with tradition and have a Latte and a Bacon Roll...



Back home, Anne watches the Ice Dancing show from last night while I compile a list of all the No 1 singles I've bought when they were actually released...and here it is...

1970
Elvis Presley – The Wonder of You
1972
Chicory Tip – Son of My Father
Nilsson – Without You
T Rex – Metal Guru
Alice Cooper – School’s Out
1973
Wizzard – See My Baby Jive
Suzi Quatro – Can the Can
Gary Glitter – I’m The Leader of the Gang (I Am)
Wizzard – Angel Fingers
Gary Glitter – I Love You Love Me Love
1974
Mud – Tiger Feet
Terry Jacks – Seasons In The Sun
Gary Glitter – Always Yours
David Essex – Gonna Make You a Star
1975
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel – Make Me Smile
David Bowie – Space Oddity
Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
1976
Wings – Mull of Kintyre
1978
Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights
Boomtown Rats – Rat Trap
1979
Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall pt 2
1980
David Bowie – Ashes to Ashes
1983
David Bowie – Let’s Dance
1986
Falco – Rock Me Amadeus
1987
Pet Shop Boys – It’s A Sin
Pet Shop Boys – Always On My Mind
2002
Girls Aloud – Sound of the Underground

And so Girls Aloud’s debut single was the first time I’d done this for 15 years...

This spurs me on to do the same for album purchases...

1973
Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
David Bowie - Pin-Ups
1974
David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
Mike Oldfield - Hergest Ridge
1975
Wings - Venus And Mars
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Queen - A Night At The Opera
1977
Yes - Going For The One
Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks
1980
Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel III
Roxy Music - Flesh And Blood
David Bowie - Scary Monsters And Super Creeps
1982
Roxy Music - Avalon
1983
Pink Floyd - The Final Cut
David Bowie - Let's Dance
1985
Bryan Ferry - Boys And Girls
1986
Peter Gabriel - So
1988
Morrissey - Viva Hate
1989
New Order - Technique
1992
Cure - Wish
1993
David Bowie - Black Tie White Noise
New Order - Republic
Pet Shop Boys - Very
1994
Pink Floyd - The Division Bell
1995
Pink Floyd - Pulse
1997
Mansun - Attack Of The Grey Lantern
2000
Radiohead - Kid A
2001
Radiohead - Amnesiac
2002
Moby - 18
Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head
2003
Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
Dido - Life For Rent
2004
Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin
2005
Coldplay - X & Y

Looks like I am more of an albums man....

These lists demonstrate how my personal taste and that of the record buying public as a whole have converged (but mostly diverged) over the last 30 odd years...

Then, it’s time to watch QoS thrashing Airdrie 2-0 on Scotsport First...Great stuff...

And then a surprise birthday visit from sister Sheila, her husband Andrew and their grandson, Kerr - my Grand-Nephew...



Then we head to Anne's mum's for a birthday tea. Once again, my ankle is unsupported...

We have a great time at Anne's mum's with all the family - there is roast beef and yorkshire pudding and a very large cake - Anne's mum makes the best sponge cake in the world...

Here are the before and after shots...




Oliver and Kitty are on particularly good form. Kitty likes to turn on the tears when things don’t go her way...



While Oliver always likes to help when it comes to coffees, teas and biscuits and cheese. When he opened the fridge to get the cheese, something happened which made the lid of the butter pop out.

We said "It must be a magic fridge" but he said "No, it's an interesting fridge". He is 4. He is funny...



Back home, we relax by watching "Lewis" and "Hyperdrive"..

Anne declares her birthday to have been a good one...

Highlight of the Day : Anne’s Birthday

Celebration...

A lie in today till 9:00 and then a relaxing breakfast of coffee and croissants followed by my ankle exercises which seem to be doing the trick. There is far less pain overnight now and my mobility is much improved..

Then I tidied the computer room and broke down the studio, packing away the various keyboards and effects units as I won't need these again until I have written some songs, which I will do on the guitar and computer...

Lunch is a small bowl of Tomato & Basil soup followed by some lovely left over pasta from last night..

Then Anne leaves for the football at Tynecastle - the Edinburgh derby, Hearts v Hibs - she's very nervous...

I start to refill the Jukebox with some missing albums by my favourite artists starting with Laurie Anderson, saxophonist Iain Ballamy and The Beatles...

The results come in and, not only have Hearts thrashed Hibs 4-1 but, at last, Queen of the South have won a second game this season by beating Airdrie Utd 2-0 at home...

We're off out tonight for some drinks and a meal to celebrate Anne's birthday tomorrow. We're meeting Anne's best friend Lynn and her partner, Ross for drinks at a local hotel and then on to a Chinese Restaurant....

Because of my leg, we can't walk to the hotel (which is around 15 normal walking minutes away) but have to take a bus. Due to my increased confidence and mobility I was set to wear my normal boots for this outing but chickened out at the last minute, thinking I might be tempting fate and that my ankle could swell up during the evening - so I strapped on the moon-boot and off we went...

Here's Anne on the way up to the bus...



Lynn and Ross are already in the bar when we arrive. Ross still plays rugby and has sustained a bad injury to his eye today - leaving him with the look of a boxer...

In the bar, quite by chance, Anne and Lynn meet a girl who was in their class at school and whom they haven't seen for around 28 years. Everyone agrees no one's changed a bit - ha ha!

Turns out this girl (woman now I suppose) lives round the corner from us...

Due to my snail's pace gait, Ross and I take the bus along to the chinese while Anne and Lynn walk and we meet up again outside..

The meal is excellent, complimented by much alchoholic intake. Anne is pleased we didn't arrange for "Happy Birthday to You" to be played and a candle bedecked cake to be brought to our table - as was the case for three other diners tonight....

A shared taxi home to Meg the Black Cat then we watch Harry Hill before retiring....

Highlight of the Day : Going out with Lynn & Ross (and QoS winning at last!)

Spring cleaning, rating, footie and Mozart...

Today I reached the point where the 60GB of memory in my Jukebox was just 100MB away from being totally used up. I had reached a total of almost 13,000 tracks and around 1,250 LPs...

So I've cleared out the jukebox and am now back down to 11,182 tracks and 1,037 albums, having deleted 1,818 tracks from 163 LPs. This has free'd up 7GB of memory...

During the day I listened to and rated the following albums, currently on the hard drive:-

Rooster : Roster - good
Killers : Hot Fuss – good
Maroon 5 : Songs About Jane – not good
Keane : Hopes and Fears – not good
Kasabian : Kasabian – not good
Scissor Sisters : Scissor Sisters - OK
Green Day : American Idiot - good
Kings of Leon : Aha Shake Heartbreak – OK
Depeche Mode : Playing the Angel – good
Magic Numbers : Magic Numbers – not good
Kaiser Chiefs : Employment – good
Neil Young : Prairie Wind – good

I will burn some soon to add to my collection..

While listening to Depeche Mode I checked out the review of the album on Pitchfork (see links) and found the following interesting point of view, regarding "Band Adulthood":-

"Band adulthood is where you've settled into enough of a groove that your core fans know who they are, and everyone else happily ignores your continued existence. Band adulthood is where you make perfectly fine and increasingly subtle and sophisticated new albums, and your members embark on highly touted Significant Solo Projects-- neither of which anyone can really work up any enthusiasm about.

Band adulthood means reviews that are a big swirl of stock phrases like "return to form" and "just may be their best since [insert classic here]"; it's a world of die-hard fans politely trying to convince everyone that actually, this new album, it's interesting, you should give it a listen.

Give any songwriter a couple decades, and the same things will happen-- the writing gets progressively more subtle, more sophisticated, until eventually it's curiously free of spark, always skirting the obvious old hooks in favour of something too professional to even notice. It's all here: the arch, wandering melodies; the methodically constructed key changes; the weirdly formless slow-and-quiet epics; the standard lyrical stew of religion and lust and fragile, innocent, faithful things in a dark, dark world.

The end product, then, is one of those signature artifacts of the Adult Band: an album we hardly even need to review. The core fans will flip for it; it's the best thing they've released in a long while. Everyone else? It's pretty okay. And these days, well, you already know which of those two camps you fall into."

This is why bands like Depeche Mode and Oasis are being outsold by Arctic Monkeys...

The Euro 2008 draw made today once again almost guarantees England's qualification while dooming Scotland to probably fourth place at best...

There are around 17 extra countries in the competition since the break up of USSR, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia....

I'd humbly suggest to UEFA that the "minnows" haven't a snowball's chance in hell of ever qualifying for the finals as long as the qualifying groups are so large (7 or 8 teams) and the finals so small (16 teams - this time including TWO hosts)....

So - I would suggest qualifying be amended to 12 groups of 4 teams with the top two in each going to a 32 team final stages (just like the World Cup) being joined there by the two co-hosts and the six best third placed teams...

I know this would mean the elimination of only 18 countries in the qualifying stages, but it would make the finals more of a spectacle....

The way things are at present, it's almost pointless having the qualifying matches because of the seeding....

But, in a four team group with two qualifiers and everything to play for for third place, every single game would be meaningful....

And more teams at the finals would boost the TV audience hugely, not that we should be concerned with marketing of course....

I've already seen comments in the media that Scotland, while not having a chance of qualifying, will get good TV money for games against France and Italy....

Great, so we're not playing to win the competition but just so as to get as much cash as possible....

The whole thing stinks!

Anytime UEFA want me to organise things for them, they can contact me via this diary....

Finally, today is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mozart...

I finished off the day with the lovely sound of his Mass in C Minor on the old headphones...

Highlight of the Day : Anne's Pasta Bake for tea

I don't believe it...

And for the third day in a row I was out of the house – this time I went to the doctor’s to find out what might be done about the chronic pain in my left shoulder and arm...

I had had an appointment booked for 25 November but had had to cancel that when I broke my ankle on 23 November...

In the car it’d take four minutes to drive there and four minutes to drive back. Couple this with a ten minute consultation and I’d be back home in around twenty minutes...

But I can’t drive so Anne drops me at the bus stop and from there it takes 20 minutes to the stop closest to the doctor’s surgery followed by a very slow walk of 10 minutes to the surgery itself...

I am prescribed extremely strong painkillers with various possible side-effects and the doc is going to refer me to the same physiotherapist who’s now treating me for the ankle...

By the time I have walked back to the bus, taken it two stops to the chemist, crossed the road, picked up the pills, walked to another bus stop, been carried back to the terminus and walked back down the hill to the house, the visit to the doctor has taken around 150 minutes rather than twenty...

Behind the door is the CD from e-bay by Canadian band Sloan, which I talked about a couple of days ago. It’s very disappointing and, following on from the Led Zep and ELP situation yesterday, it looks like the majority of my music choices so far this year have been questionable to say the least...

I've been keeping this diary every day now for almost 11 months. I kept a diary from 1974 until the mid 80’s, nothing as comprehensive as this of course – mostly the entries weren’t even up to the quality of “what I did today” (apart from my two extended stays in Germany in 1979 and 1981 when I did try and keep a daily diary for posterity) no, they were mostly just notes on what records I bought and how much I paid for them...

Anyway, on 26 January I used to always write “I can’t believe it’s X years today since Capital Models recorded The Sweet Thrill of Industry” – we recorded it on 26 January 1980. So, for posterity, seeing as how I am once again keeping a diary, I will say:

“I can’t believe it’s 26 years today since Capital Models recorded The Sweet Thrill of Industry”

Side effects from the painkillers appeared to have kicked in by early evening, as they seemed to be causing extreme grumpiness on my part – but this soon passed and I started on the new ankle exercise regime...

The thirteen exercises take around 40 minutes in total to carry out and make my ankle feel quite sore but strangely stronger....

The painkillers are having only a minimal effect on my shoulder/arm pain though – but I have four weeks’ worth – I’m not sure if some kind of cumulative effect will build up but I hope so....

I honestly cannot remember the last time I had no pain in either shoulder or arm and now that the pain is in my left shoulder, it’s very difficult to play the guitar - which is a good excuse for further postponing any return to performing...

What a moaning bastard I am...

On TV this evening, “Judge John Deed” started off very slowly indeed but ended up being ok. Then “Question Time”, then off to bed – but not before googling “The Institute of Ideas”. One of its directors seemed to be the only person on Question Time tonight who was able to talk any sense....

Their site is here : http://www.instituteofideas.com/index.html and there’s some very interesting information there. Do take a look...

Finally, did you know that the government has now announced that the Education System’s highest priority should be Child Protection?

This would be frankly laughable if it wasn’t so tragic...

Highlight of the Day : The realisation that my Ankle Exercises might just work

Reassessing the zeppelin...

Can’t sleep so up at 5:20 listening to Vivaldi and reading the various links I make a habit of visiting regularly as I‘ve got a couple of days behind....

Back to physio today and I am given an exercise routine involving 13 different painful activities to be carried out twice a day...

Post physio, I follow the same route as yesterday. But today in FOPP I do buy something....

Yes, I proudly took "Emerson Lake and Palmer Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970" to the counter today....

Just as well it's only £3 though because, while the sound quality is good, Mr Lake's bass appears to be out of tune for the entire performance - which, other than that, seems to have been a storming one...

Then for some reason, I also buy "Led Zeppelin I" then get a bus along to HMV and buy "Led Zeppelin II" and "Led Zeppelin IV". But what about "Led Zeppelin III" I hear you cry - well I have that already...

I was never a fan of Led Zeppelin but I have a craving to hear these four albums again (all of which I once owned on vinyl) to see if I was wrong all those years ago to think that, in comparison with Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, ELP, Gentle Giant and Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin seemed particularly over-rated by all and sundry...

An overblown blues band, more or less, is how I'd describe them. Pitiful lyrics with a good deal of their repertoire being re-heated stolen tunes* from unknown backwater bluesmen to whom they thought they'd never have to pay royalties...

[*A list of all the uncredited tunes nicked by Led Zep is contained in an excellent critique of all things Zep which is here : http://www.warr.org/zep.html - this leads you into a very interesting Record Review site... ]

And so I settle down to listen to Led Zep I-IV...

I'm afraid I must report that, while it's good to have the albums in my collection, with the exception of perhaps 10 of the total of 36 tunes spread over the four LPs (Communication Breakdown, Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker, Living Loving Maid, Ramble On, Immigrant Song, Tangerine, Black Dog, Rock n Roll and Stairway to Heaven), the records are just not very good...

But I suppose they were all recorded in less than three years and whilst the band was almost continuously on the road...

But the same could be said for any four albums recorded in the early 70s by the other bands I mentioned, for example:-

Yes - The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge, Tales From Topographic Oceans (1970-73)
King Crimson - Islands, Larks Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black, Red (1971-74)
Genesis - Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England By The Pound, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1971-74)
ELP - Emerson Lake and Palmer, Tarkus, Trilogy, Brain Salad Surgery (1970-73)
Gentle Giant - Gentle Giant, Acquiring the Taste, Three Friends, Octopus (1970-73)
Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother, Meddle, Obscured By Clouds, Dark Side of the Moon (1970-73)

Yup, I think I was right all along and Zeppelin were just not that good, although perhaps if we push Zep a little bit on and take Led Zeppelin III, Led Zeppelin IV, Houses of the Holy and Physical Graffitti (1971-75), their average would be enhanced - but the time frame then moves to four rather than three years. Replace Physical Graffitti with Led Zeppelin II and the quality is still better but not up to the other bands' originality, musicianship and overall listenability...

So exactly what was it that was so great about Led Zeppelin? I guess I'll just never get it...

In the evening we visit my mum in Loanhead - I wasn't really up for it, as I'm so tired at the moment, but Anne rallied me round and we ended up having a rather upbeat night if I say so myself. Mum's ailments were not raised once and, after a short discussion regarding the state of my leg, we talked of happy stuff and generally had a good time...

The Butter Lemon Slims from Sainsbury were most tasty (though perhaps they should have been called "Butter Lemon Fats")...

On the way home from the bus terminus today (which took 20 minutes instead of the non-broken ankle 5 minutes it normally would) I took some photos of the trees near our house, now looking decidedly wintry...



Highlight of the Day : A Visit to my Mum

Afflicted...

A big day today as I venture out on my own for the first time in almost nine weeks. I have an appointment at 8:50 for physio on the ankle...

So Anne drives me to the bus stop and I get a day ticket and the No 1 bus takes me to within 50 yards of the clinic and I arrive right on time...

This is the buzz...

My feet are different colours from each other. This is because the circulation in my left foot is not working properly. This is why my ankle is still so swollen...

As a result of this failure in circulation, the fluids which normally go into the ankle and foot and come back out again are going in and staying there. They then become scar tissue on the muscles inside the foot and ankle and cause them to seize up. And that's the current situation...

So I need to really exercise the ankle and foot as much as possible to try and get rid of the scar tissue on the muscles and free my leg up again otherwise I will be sort of disabled...

Youch

So I have another appointment for tomorrow...

I take another bus down to Princes St and hobble to Fopp. I didn't realise what a struggle it would be to try and walk any appreciable distance but a struggle it certainly is - but it's good to be outside...

And so my first time in Fopp for nine weeks. So what did I buy? Nothing...

Leaving Fopp, I buy a sandwich for lunch and go to Princes St Gardens for a seat. I take a couple of snaps. Here are the Castle and the Walter Scott monument (aka Thunderbird 3)...

And a lovely sky...





I get another bus along to the West End of Princes St and HMV - I have a £10 token and am itching to spend it...

I buy a 7CD Box Set of Vivaldi played by Neville Marriner and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. I am wary of this but upon getting home I checked all my previous Vivaldi purchases and find that of the 48 Pieces included, there are 31 which I don't already have - and can you have too many versions of "The Four Seasons" (I think this is my fifth) or "L'estro Armonico"?

For just a further £3 on top of my token, I obtain a 3CD set of French Chamber music along with the Vivaldi set. This includes nine works by Faure, Franck, Debussy and Ravel, none of which I have already - and very fine music it is too. Favourite so far is Franck's "Violin Sonata in A"...

And then I get sucked in and spend a bit more on three more CDs - Suzanne Vega's "Retrospective" a 2CD set with the second disc being live performances and a new demo (well new in 2003 anyway). I have all Ms Vega's albums already but these tracks are remastered and sound crystal clear....

Second is "The Best of Jeff Beck" - of course it's the best from 1967-1969 mostly featuring Rod Stewart on vocals. I bought this for the three tracks which were on one of my first ever singles back at the end of 1972 - "Hi Ho Silver Lining" backed with "Beck's Bolero" (actually written by Jimmy Page and featuring Keith Moon on drums) and "I've Been Drinking"....

"Beck's Bolero" was one of my favourite tracks back in 1973 when I first started making up my own charts - don't tell me you never made up your own charts when you were young??

And last CD of the day is the 1st volume of Saint-Georges' Violin Concertos on Naxos. A great disc - I bought Vol 2 back in June and of course we heard one of his symphonies last Thursday at the SCO concert...

Before coming home I buy a present for Anne's birthday on Sunday...

Back home, I exercise the ankle as best I can...

In the evening, Anne makes a spectacular Spaghetti Bolognese and I write up the diary whilst listening to Faure, Franck and Vega and then get some more exercise in on the leg...

Highlight of the Day : Walking (after a fashion) in Edinburgh Again

Oh Canada...

Forgot to mention that I won a CD on e-bay yesterday....

It's by Canadian group Sloan. I'd not heard of them but, during my surfing recently re Rheostatics - you know, the Canadian band who I really really like - I found that, in 2000, Rheostatics and Sloan had two albums each in the top ten of the All Time Top 100 Canadian Albums (Joni Mitchell's "Blue" was No 1 while Rheos were at 4 and 5 and Sloan were at 3 and 9). So I wanted to find out if I might like this Sloan group. So I've bought a CD off e-bay and await its arrival. I will keep you posted...Rivetting stuff, I know...

And today I also won the Francoise Hardy box set I've been watching. It cost me just £7 for a 3CD box set - unfortunately it's coming from China and the postage is a further £9. C'est la vie. I've analysed the tracklist and, of the 74 tracks, there are 37 which I don't already have. So that's a bit of a result all in all for £16....

Other than that, got a phonecall asking me to attend for physio tomorrow morning...

And in the evening, whilst watching "Life on Mars" another phonecall and it's time for the highlight of the day - our old chum James Jamieson is on the way round for a visit....

He brought round two new recordings and loaned me two books "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" (hmm, I've got over 4,000 of them already!) and "The Rough Guide Book of Playlists" - both are ideal for anyone who, like me, likes a list......

Jamie's newest new song is called "The Morning After" and it's a cracker with a soaring hook line. The second track was a tidied up version of "The First Line" which he brought round last month - and which is also top notch...

Here's Jamie concentrating on listening to his songs while Anne, his No 1 fan, gives me a knowing look (dig the stripey wallpaper)...



I play him my embryonic chord sequences and we have a chuckle at them - but 12 months from now, they are likely to be fully fledged CBQ tunes...

Two months today since I broke my ankle...it's still sore.

Highlight of the Day : Another Visit from Jamie

PC and TV...

Up reasonably early and today we go to Patisserie Florentin for breakfast - a treat for me to be out of the house. The excitement continues with a visit to B&Q for a new dish drainer for the sink!

Back home, the rest of the day is spent pretty much as usual - PC and TV...

On e-bay, I'm watching a 3CD box set from Francoise Hardy, and consider a DAB Radio for Anne's upcoming birthday, but when she discovers she can hear Digital Radio via our Freeview Box, the idea is rejected...

I watch "Stargate" while Anne listens to Celtic whapping Motherwell 3-1 away from home, leaving Hearts 10 points behind - but there are still plenty games to go...

I tape today's "Enterprise" as it's the second of a Ruth McCarter (2 parter) and we already have last week's episode waiting to be watched...

Once the taping is over, we start to watch this double header - it's a good Klingon story...

During this, Anne's making a lamb roast - she is enjoying my no longer being a vegetarian and, if I'm honest, I am enjoying the wider choice....

Highlight of the evening is an extra long episode (40 mins) of Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" - if you ever loved "Seinfeld" you must see this show....

The snooker final drags on and, over an hour after it's supposed to have started, we finally give up waiting for Match of the Day...

Highlight of the Day : Le petit dejeuner at Patisserie Florentin

Francoise Hardy is lovely..

So here's what I did on Saturday 21st January 2006...

1. Got up at 7:04 and surfed the internet then updated this diary

2. Woke Anne up at 8:30

3. Prepared breakfast

4. The postman brought my new Francoise Hardy CD - we listened to it whilst breakfasting

5. After breakfast Anne went out and I watched "Prince of Darkness". Definitely not as good as I remember, though Alice Cooper's lineless character features more than I remember

6. Anne returned and, as she headed into the garden, I went back to the computer and worked on three more chord sequences for some 2006 CBQ songs

7. Then I fished out my Francoise Hardy CD collection and uploaded the new CD and several others into the Jukebox

8. I then found a Francoise Hardy discography website and spent some considerable time working out which tracks from her twenty three original albums released in France I have on the FH original albums and various compilations in my collection. It turns out I have 151 of the 268 tracks in question, plus a further 44 not included on those original LPs. I have much Francoise Hardy vinyl - it did not find its way into the Reptile Record Shop's stock. I can't access those LPs at present though, so cannot count those tracks

9. By this time it was almost 5pm and time to peruse the reults. Both Hearts and QoS lost. Damn

10. I surfed again and posted a couple of comments in response to some kind comments left on yesterday's entry

11. I wrote a lyric "Please Stay Here With Us" - it may become a song this year

12. "Harry Hill's TV Burp" lit up the early evening. Hilarious

13. This was followed by takaway pizzas from a local restaurant - very tasty - accompanied by some lovely red wine

14. As Anne watched "Dancing on Ice" I wrote this. Whilst writing, a track from today's new Francoise Hardy CD popped up on shuffleplay on the Jukebox

15. Later tonight we will watch "Casualty", "Sea of Souls", Rich Hall and "Match of the Day"

16. To round things off, I am posting this lovely picture of Francoise Hardy. She's lovely. Of course she'll be 62 this year, so she doesn't look like this now but she's still lovely...



Highlight of the Day : Writing a new lyric

A tentative return...

Up early - hospital today

Copied Fripp & Eno's "Evening Star" to the hard drive with the intention of making a loop of the main backing theme which is in itself a loop created back in 1975 by Messrs Fripp and Eno...

Didn't do this though as I got caught up in my daily round of "websites I visit"...

Before I knew it, it was almost 10 am and sister-in-law Jane had arrived to take me to the infirmary (with the emphasis on infirm)...

I wasn't confident of a resolution today as I've been having so much pain in the leg during the night and my mobility is improving at a snail's pace...

Arrived at 10:30 for a 10:40 appointment and, by 10:40, I was sitting in the X Ray waiting room along with many other unfortunate souls - most of whom seemed to be in the opening stages of what I've been doing for the last eight weeks...

By 11:20I am at the next waiting station, X-Rays having been done and opinion about to be dispensed...

At 12:10 I am called...

1. The swelling remains to a significant extent - but I am assured this is just the body trying to heal the break along with all the other damage done to the tissues around the ankle area

2. Although the specialist is happy with the progress made over the last two weeks and shows me today's X-Ray along with that taken a fortnight ago in order to demonstrate the improvement, to the untrained eye (i.e. that of the patient), there seems very little difference in the big black line stretching for four or five inches through my outside leg bone. But everyone is different apparently and it takes longer in some for the bones to meld again (subtext - your break isn't healed yet)

3. Thankfully, there will be no operation because the bones, whilst broken, are not out of place and merely need time to grow back together - but age is not on my side of course and I ought not to play football again

4. The consultant (senior to the specialist I'm in the room with) is happy with the progress

5. I'm to be started on physio next week to get the ankle moving again

6. I am out of any significant action for another two weeks but am allowed to move around the house without the moonboot

7. Further X Ray and update in six weeks when it's hoped the bone will have healed and the physio will have had an effect on overall mobility (I hope so because, by then, it will be three and a half months since the accident)

At 12:25 I am outside the Physio's room waiting for a first meet...

We decide on a "least inconvenient" venue for the treatment and the physio gives me some tips on what to do at home - her motto is "tease the tissue" - in other words, don't do anything more than that which doesn't produce any pain...

At 12:40 we are finally exiting the hospital - it's been a long wait for Jane and I apologise but she's fine and very understanding...

We drive to her mother-in-law's to pick up the kids (Ollie and Kitty) and then head to McDonalds for some Happy Meals....

Once I'm home and on my own again, the depressing thought kicks in that it's clear it's still going to be a while before I'm back to normal...

I take off the moonboot in any case and start to walk about without it - which soon produces some pain...

In the evening we have the Friday night takeaway - but these days, everyday seems the same...

I am buoyed by calls from my mum, Anne's mum, and Jamie - all interested in knowing how things are going - and Jamie sends the regards of many regulars from Out of the Bedroom...

And so today, I get started on some songwriting, picking up the guitar for the frst time since October and working out two or three initial chord sequences and recording them quickly to Cakewalk with a hummed melody line...

Then Anne and I watch "Judge John Deed", which makes for an engaging 90 minutes, the excellent third episode of "My Name is Earl", the best of "Chewing the Fat" (even though I have a 4 DVD set containing every show) and, finally, a programme showing adverts from around the world, which is mildly entertaining...

Then I set the video to record John Carpenter's hokum "Prince of Darkness" which features Alice Cooper as a bike-frame weilding wino and which I must already have seen around three times...

The one thing which draws me to the film is the central premise that people from the future are trying to contact the protagonists in their sleep to warn them of the danger...

If only they'd done that to me on the night of 22 November warning me not to play five-a-sides the next day....

Highlight of the Day : A tentative return to songwriting

The horns are too loud...

The day started with me noting that two live Allan Holdsworth CDs I have aren't yet on the Jukebox, so of course I needed to transfer them...and I did...

Then I listened to them as I pottered a way on the computer, blogging and creating a painting of Jim Park based on a second photo taken of him yesterday - you can see the results on "Mr Quartet's Artworks Site" (see links)...

After yesterday's talk re the devaluation of music, I received a coincidental e-mail from Creek-buddy Stu Cobley....

I'd mentioned to him when he visited recently, the ease with which you can buy the latest top 40 albums on one DVD in MP3 from from e-bay for around £10 including postage...

So that's what he's gone and done and he's enjoying the disc immensely...

In an msn conversation later in the day, we decided there was one aspect of the situation which the research referred to in the BBC article didn't consider...

It provides a service to music lovers like us, who like a bargain, but still appreciate good music...

For example, Stu said:-

"no way i could have afforded those albums buying them from a store being a student and it does bring music you wouldn't normally listen to, to your attention by bands you wouldn't have bought any material from. I was listening to Radio 1 this afternoon driving home from college and heard the new Madonna single which i thought was alright and now i have the album on DVD i can listen to the rest of it."

So perhaps the research is more pertinent to people who've never had the attitude towards music that people say over 30 have, e.g. teenagers?

Nowadays though, it does seem as if people are less selective about what they buy because music is just so damn cheap - which has positive and negative aspects...

Got an e-mail back from 5-a-side guru Nigel Simpson to say I'd got the date wrong for the awards night - so I had to resend the e-mails to everyone...

Then I took a hobble to the Post Box at the end of the road to mail CD orders to, hopefully, soon-to-be-happy CBQ fans...

On the net, I bought two tickets for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra tonight. Ground floor seats and no big stairs so, as long as we can park nearby I should be ok...

Then I made my first CD purchase of the year, a 1967 album by French chanteuse Francoise Hardy - who should really have been on my list the other day of people whose new albums I would buy as soon as they were released...

Webmeister Craig calls over the ether to ask if Anne and I are up for Erasure in April - The Acoustic Tour - but we decline having only seen them last year and not fancying an acoustic version much, or the idea of shelling out another £50 towards Andy Bell's shiny suits...

In the evening, after a "burns supper in a tray" from M&S - "this isn't just any Burns Supper in a tray, this is an M&S Burns Supper in a tray" as the TV ad would go - which was actually very tasty, we drove to the Queen's Hall for the concert...

The setlist was:-

Rameau : Suite from "Nais"
Haydn : Paris Symphony No 85 "La Reine"
Chevalier de Saint-Georges : Symphony Op 11 No 2 (Overture from "L'amant anonyme")
Mozart : Symphony No 31 "Paris"

Rameau is the most successful Opera Composer of all time apparently - at one time he had six operas runing simultaneously in Paris on two or three month runs. A politician who objected to his music then passed a law saying that no composer could have more than two operas staged at any one time...

The staging of Rameau's operas was so elaborate that, nowadays, they are hardly ever performed. The pieces played tonight comprised the incidental music from one opera and was very entertaining indeed...

Although Haydn's Paris symphonies bear that prefix, he never actually wrote them in Paris - he didn't have to go there because he was already so famous. He wrote six in total and was paid five times as much for each one as Mozart received for his Paris Symphony, which he did write whilst visiting the city and in such a way as to try and have the maximum appeal to Parisien audiences. It worked of course.

The St Goerges Symphony lasted just nine minutes but was a fitting inclusion in the programme. You can read more about this extraordinary character here http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/default.asp?pn=Composers&char=S&ComposerID=1843

We were sitting at the side of the Orchestra and so got the same perspective of the concert as we would have if we were sitting at the back of the second violins.

We had an excellent view of conductor Frans Bruggen who, despite looking around 200 years old, is actually only 71...

Let me tell you that, for the second half of the concert (Haydn/St Georges/Mozat) we were far too close to the French Horns for comfort!!

An enjoyable evening nonetheless and it was good to get out of the house...

When we got home Jamie had phoned offering to take me to Out of the Bedroom - I called him back causing him much embarassment as his mobile went off in the middle of a performer's particularly quiet song...apologies for that...

We ended the evening just chatting in front of the fire with Meg the Black Cat sleeping comfortably on my lap as we listened to the compilation CD I gave Anne at Xmas...

Quite a good day, all in all...

Tomorrow it's back to the infirmary for more X Rays and, hopefully, the all clear - but I'm doubtful...

Highlight of the Day : SCO at the Queen's Hall

Music la la la....

Another bad night with the ankle pains - feels like my foot's coming away from the end of my leg - not to worry though...

Up early and prepared the breakfast...



Mid morning and the postie brings February's edition of Wire magazine. I suscribe to this periodical. I can't say I read very much of it though. I buy it mostly for the free CDs of weird music which are given away with it every so often....

Back in 2002 when I launched the Crispycat Website, one of my aims was to promote my more "experimental" music via the pages of this magazine but I've never gotten round to it, despite having renewed my subscribtion at least twice since then...

This month there is a weird double sided DVD with the magazine - it's called SonicActs XI :The Anthology of Computer Art and is promoting a festival of the same name which is taking place in Amsterdam next month (www.sonicacts.com)...

I love Amsterdam - must go there again soon...

As usual with the Wire promos, some of the stuff on the DVD is really good, some of it's pretty bad and some of it just makes you go "huh??"

Whilst downstairs to get the icepack from the fridge I flick the TV on and stumble across an old edition of "Horizon" which was discussing the extinction of the dinosaurs....

The latest theory is not that they were wiped out by an asteroid hitting the earth (although one did hit and seems to have been the final blow) but that the dinosaurs were gradually becoming extinct for around three milion years before that impact due to various other factors affecting their everyday lives...

A three million year wind-down...

And we think 100 years is a long time...

Inpired by the Wire DVD, I decided to explored the video making capabilities of the new digicam. Quality is good. It records around two minutes before running out of internal memory - but I also have a memory card I've not attached yet...

Mind you, I need a better subject than "me hobbling down the stairs" or "me preparing a sandwich for lunch"...

In the afternoon, I prepared a couple of recent CD orders and then tidied up in anticipation of the visit from Jim Park - the man who broke my ankle (completely unintentionally of course and with no blame attaching)...

Jim duly arrived and, as promised, he'd brought some exotic fruit including a pineapple, some lychees, a big round yellow thing whose name escapes me, a banana, some tasty strawberries and some very small oranges (possibly tangerines) and a couple more bananas - all of which was very much appreciated...

Here's Jim with his big pineapple in his hand...



I'd liked to have been able to go to Glasgow tonight to see Dar Wiliams but my leg's not up to it, though I am hoping to make it to a classical music concert tomorrow night...

We had a lovely curry for tea whilst watching "Coronation Street", follwed by Jim's strawberries - then I went off upstairs to sort out the categories and mail out the voting papers for the 2006 Five a Sides Awards Night next month....

The 2004 Xmas Awards didn't happen till April thanks to my procrastination and became the 2005 Awards, so we're getting the 2006 awards in early. Of course with the old broken ankle I'm having to seriously consider whether I'll return to play again at some point...

The last eight weeks has been a hard price to pay for the privilege of an hour's worth of mostly being bent over double out of breath with my hands on my knees or being hit on the legs, body and face whilst utilising my excellent goalkeeping methods...

I am certainly not the player I was even ten or twelve years ago (despite Jim's protestations otherwise - he's so kind!)

I mail out the categories to all and sundry and await the responses which I'll then need to collate and count prior to the Big Night...

Then, I came across a recent article at the BBC Website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4599340.stm) which confirms my growing fear re the worthlessness of music thanks to the proliferation of downloading and MP3s....

My own thoughts were sparked by being able to buy things like:-

Every edition of Now That's What I Call Music on 2 DVDs for a fiver
Every No 1 Hit from 1960-2005 on one DVD for a couple of quid
Three thousand hit singles on 3 DVDs for thirty quid
and, if I wanted,
The latest Top 60 albums on a couple of DVDs for a fiver....

Just go on to e-bay and search for "MP3 CD" and watch them all pop up - the entire recorded output of several bands is now available for around the price of a couple of pints of lager...

The BBC article says recent research by the University of Leicester has shown that the "Download Generation" is apathetic towards music and does not seriously appreciate songs or performances....

Apparently, the ease with which songs can now be accessed means many music "lovers" are no longer excited at discovering and playing unfamiliar work...

Psychologists monitored 346 people during two weeks to evaluate how they related to music...

They found music had "lost its aura", was seen as a commodity, is taken for granted, no longer requiring the "deep emotional commitment" which was once associated with music appreciation....

The Scientist in charge, a Dr North, opined that his findings
"could explain the popularity of TV talent shows such as X-Factor and Fame Academy, which give viewers a rare chance to engage and appreciate music and live performance that is missing for today's iPod generation"

To which I say "Eh???"

People are turning to the X Factor for musical appreciation????

He adds that, while in the 19th Century, music was seen as a highly valued treasure with fundamental and near-mystical powers of human communication, in stark contrast to previous generations, current mass media has meant music has become much more accessible and is now merely a soundtrack to everyday life, rather than something life-changing and special.

"The degree of accessibility and choice has arguably led to a rather passive attitude towards music heard in everyday life" he added.

I'll go along with that, but not the X Factor nonsense...

I finish off the day with the second episode of "Hyperdrive" and then a listen to the Wetton/Downes CD while Anne snoozed on the settee...

Highlight of the Day : A visit from Mr James Sebastian Park

More lists and tidying...

I'm beginning to worry about the ankle again as it is becoming extremely painful during the night and certainly doesn't feel as if it's healing...

Putting that to one side and continuing with the keeping the leg up for periods and applying the icepack, I went to the computer for the usual day of surfing when I should be working on my music...

Had a discussion with John and Ali on Saturday night about what an opportunity this is for me to write and record new music but, to be honest, I just am not inspired to pick up the guitar - in fact I haven't played the guitar since my cover of "Louie Louie" at John's 50th back in October, nearly three months ago - although in the intervening period, I have recorded a new album, "Sospiri", the orchestral collages disc, with which I am rather pleased - you can check out an excerpt over on "Mr Quartet's Music Site" in the links...

There is a cupboard in the computer room which contains loads of videos and what's left of my vinyl collection - a couple of shelves of LPs and 12" singles (probably around 800 in total) and several boxes of 7" singles - the majority of my collection went into stock at Reptile Records when we opened back in 1991...

I opened the door for some reason which escapes me now and Meg the Black Cat, in normal cat-like fashion, jumped in and buried herself amongst the rubbish which also inhabits the cupboard....

In trying to get her back out, much of the rubbish ended up on the floor and so I resolved to give it a bit of a tidy up..

I found boxes for various things, some of which we no longer own, for example:-

2 Creative Jukeboxes
A Very Expensive Pair of Grado Headphones
A Portable Panasonic MP3 CD Player
A Transistor Radio
A Mobile Phone
A set of Home Phones
A Filter Coffee Maker
A Coffee Percolator
A Lean Mean Grilling Machine
A Set of Bathroom Scales

It was like the conveyor belt on the Generation Game...

So those are for the bin...

Also clogging up the cupboard was my entire stash of CD mailers which I tidied up...

A big GAP cardboard carrier bag full of other, smaller carrier bags (this is no doubt Anne's collection of you-never-know-they-may-well-come-in-handy-again things) and numerous black cloth and other material bags, sort of record bag type bags were also clogging up matters - so I fitted most of these inside each other and returned them to the cupboard

There was now room to tidy away two big plastic boxes of "stuff" into the cupboard...

So, in the end, although I have not created any room in the cupboard it certainly looks a lot tidier and the floor of the room is now minus two large plastic crates of "stuff"...

Here are me and Meg looking smug after our work in the cupboard (in the background are some of the boxes to be discarded)...



Although no more empty, it is now easier to access the hundreds of old videos in there and I dug out a couple and watched them, a very funny one of me rehearsing a proposed live set in the shop back in 1993, which also contained a dreadful recording from the radio made by my dad in the same year of me being interviewed on a local station...

I was asked what the difference was between my ambient music and lift muzak...

I declared that my music was "better" - ha ha ha - I've never been the greatest at talking up my work...

I also re-watched Channel Four's Top Ten of Prog Rock, which provided a strange result for anyone who is familiar with the genre, but the skewd result stemmed not from the subjective value of the music (e.g. no Gentle Giant) but from being based on 1 point per week spent on the albums chart, 10 points for each top ten album and 10 points for each top ten single - thus the inappropriate high placing for The Moody Blues and Camel....

The rundown was:-

10 Camel
9 King Crimson
8 Hawkwind
7 Rush
6 Emerson Lake and Palmer
5 Yes
4 Jethro Tull
3 The Moody Blues
2 Genesis
1 Pink Floyd

This prompted me to listen to some Moody Blues and, you know, I really quite enjoyed that...

In the afternoon, another call from Mr Jim Park. He is coming to visit me tomorrow around 4pm so I'm looking forward to that - although he's one of my oldest friends (I've known him for over 25 years) I don't think he's ever been to Crispycat Towers...

In the evening we watched part two of "In Search of Mozart" which prompted me to listen to Vol 1 of his Complete Symphonies (1764-1768) - written between the ages of 8 and 12 - quite astounding...

Then I scoured the "what's on" pages for Edinburgh and Glasgow and compiled a list of upcoming concerts I'd like to see:-

January
18/1 Dar Williams – Glasgow (This is tomorrow and a rare chance to see one of my favourite singer-songwriters but I will miss this as I'm not really able to travel to Glasgow at present due to the leg problem - for some reason it's more difficult than it was when I had a plaster)
19/1 SCO Rameauu/Mozart/Haydn/St George – Edinburgh (Maybe??)
26/1 SCO Prokofiev/Mozart – Edinburgh (Hopefully!)

February
01/02 Clogs and The Books – Glasgow
5/2 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Edinburgh
9/2 John Scofield/Turnage - Edinburgh
12/2 Sparks – Glasgow
13/2 Laura Viers – Edinburgh
15/2 Orch of Sc Opera Arensky/Elgar/Bach/Mozart – Edinburgh
20/2 Maggini String Quartet Mozart/Bridge/Beethoven – Edinburgh
23/2 SCO Stravinsky/Mozart – Edinburgh

March
10/3 John Wetton/Geoff Downes – Glasgow
11/3 Cara Dillon – Edinburgh
15/3 Orch of Sc Opera Mozart/Berg/Dvorak – Edinburgh
16/3 SCO Haydn/Beethoven/Mozart - Edinburgh
25/3 SCO Cutler/Ligeti/Lutoslawski/Bartok - Edinburgh
29/3 Jane Siberry –Edinburgh

April
6/4 SCO Stravinsky/Mozart - Edinburgh
7/4 Genesis In the Cage – Glasgow
22/4 SCO Lindberg/Abrahamsen/Aho/Valen/Vasks – Edinburgh
22/4 Gidon Kremer ShostakovichMozart - Edinburgh
27/4 Mogwai – Edinburgh
28/4 Scottish Ensemble Sibelius/Rautavaara/Bartok - Edinburgh
29/4 SCO Mendelssohn/Mozart – Edinburgh

May
3/5 ECAT Ensemble Rihm/Janacek -Edinburgh

June
24/6 Scottish Opera Mozart – Edinburgh (or 14, 16, 22/6)

Quite a lot of Mozart there but 27 January is the 250th Anniversary of his birth...

Finally, an e-mail arrives from the Committee at Out of the Bedroom...

They're asking me if I'd like to produce their 4th compilation CD (I produced the 2nd and 3rd)...

I said the only downside I can think of at present is my immobility due to the ankle and asked for more details re timescales and participants...but something else to look forward to perhaps?

Highlight of the Day : The Genius of Mozart

Bating the believers pt 2...

Acquired my second CD of the year when I burned my copy of the new Madonna album "Confessions On A Dance Floor" which I got from sister Pam when she was up for Xmas...

Here's a pic from the inner sleeve - not a very flattering outfit really...



The album starts well but flags a litle towards the end. Despite the plaudits it's been receiving, I don't think it's as good as either "Music" or "American Life"...

I was able to burn this as my new cache of blank discs arrived by courier. I went to the back door followed by Meg the Black cat - she was intent on escaping into the back garden and was ultra confident of success - but when I opened the door and she saw the big yellow parcel and the scary man, she turned tail and ran upstairs...

The evening was taken up with telly....

Anne went to her keep fit class so we recorded the two episodes of "Coronation St". In the mean time I watched the first ever episode of "Due South" - I'd forgotten how entertaining this show was - during the commercial breaks I jumped over to "Third Rock From the Sun" and "Spin City" for a few more laughs...

At eight it was the concluding part of Richard Dawkins' "The Root of All Evil", my critique of which caused some consternation last week - but I stand by what I said. Some critics have laid the boot into Dawkins saying he comes across like a fundamental atheist - but surely there is no other kind and, after all, he's merely telling it how it is?

Despite the leaps science has made, militant faith is on the march around the world...

Beliefs which can lead to murderous intolerance, are kept alive by imposing religion on children as absolute truth. And of course children have no capacity to judge it for themselves so they will believe it...

We segregate them into sectarian religious schools, where they are taught superstitions drawn from ancient scriptures of dubious origin, which promote a contradictory and poisonous system of morals at odds with reality...

A Rabbi interviewed on the programme described science as one tradition, and Judaism as another. His students are taught about evolution and if only a minority end up believing in it, he says, this is not out of ignorance....

Faith schools are increasing - more than half the Government's proposed City Academies will be run by religious organisations and there's a growing number of private evangelical Christian schools....

ACE – Accelerated Christian Education – has developed a curriculum which includes a mention of God or Jesus on every page of its science text books...

The head of a school which uses this material argues that if there were no lawgiver, there would be no reason to see rape and murder as wrong!

The amazing thing for me, is that no one around these people seems to think they are being stupid in believing what they do. Even worse though, is that there's nothing to stop them propogating this inherent nonsense to young impressionable minds...

Transmitting such a warped reality to children is nothing less than indoctrination, because children are uniquely vulnerable and if they fail to question and shake off such superstition, they remain in a state of perpetual infancy - which I suppose is what organised religion wants...

Best quote of the programme was from Physicist and Nobel prizewinner Stephen Weinberg, who describes religion as an insult to human dignity....

'Without religion, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion.'

The irony of this argument between religion and science, between faith and reason, is that science recognises the majesty and complexity of the universe while religion leads to easy, closed answers.

"Is there no more than just this life?" asks Richard Dawkins. "How much more do you want? We are lucky to be here", he says, "and we should make the most of our time on this world"...

So I spent the rest of the night lying on the settee with my leg up and an icepack on my ankle while I watched the end of "University Challenge" (managed to get a couple of questions right - always very gratifying), "Life On Mars" (while we taped a new "Law and Order" show, "Trial By Jury") then "The Thick of It" then Colin Powell grovelling in an interview with Jeremy Paxman on "Newsnight" and, finally, the highlights of the weekends SPL figures in "Scotsport"...

Highlight of the Day : Bating more believers...

Going down...

A long lie in today after, for the first time in a few weeks, a good night's sleep...

from Friday night, I've abandoned the hot and cold plunge bathing of the foot in favour icepack on the ankle...

This, combined with spending almost all day yesterday in bed seems to have reduced the swelling on the ankle somewhat - for the first time since November...

And the mystery illness which struck me down yesterday seems to be passing though I'm still not 100%..

Re the leg, I still find it difficult to move around without wearing the moonboot but, with the swelling reducing, hopefully progress will continue for the rest of the upcoming week as I'm due for more X-Rays and an update this Friday back at the infirmary...

Took it easy today and did nothing apart from going to Anne's mum's for tea with her family...

Almost got roped into going to see Billy Bragg in May with Brothers in Law Bobby and Keith but discovered upon returning home that we have other plans for that particular day. Close shave...

In the evening watched Match of the Day 2 and Curb Your Enthusiasm...

Highlight of the Day : Noticable Reduction in Swelling Around the Ankle

No motion...

Ill all day today - unrelated to the leg, which actually took an upturn...

Not a great day in any case - it would have been my dad's birthday but he died around two and half years ago and, on his second last birthday, four years ago, I had to take Crispy the Cat (aged 17.5) to the vet to be put down - I was a broken man that day...

Anyway, I was up at 5:30 after waking at 1, 2, 3 and 5...

Went downstairs and lay on the settee with a glass of fruit juice to try and settle matters but to no avail - so back to bed at 8 and stayed there until around 12 when I thought I was ok....

An hour later I was back in bed...

We were to visit John and Ali of Impossible Songs tonight at their new house down near Queensferry and, having not been out socially for almost two weeks, I was determined to go... So, I got up again around 4 pm and lay on the settee again, still not right...

Uplifted slightly by QoS gaining a draw in the league against Hamilton and by Hearts thrashing Dunfermline 4-1 away from home...

Finally ready to go just after 7 - deciding not to take up the offer of an overnighter - meaning Anne couldn't have a few drinks and, with the way i was feeling, I wouldn't be drinking either...

Despite all this, a great evening - Ali's an excellent cook and dinner was superb - although I wasn't eating with my usual fervour and zeal of course. Liquid intake for me for the evening comprised a glass of grapefruit juice and a glass of tapwater...

Before we knew it, it was 12:30am and we decided to head home as I was falling asleep - what a delightful guest I made tonight!!

Here's a picture of John and Ali's lovely cat, Syrus...



Highlight of the Day : Dinner at John and Ali's

Slow motion...

A slow day today. It's a week now since I've been out of the house and that was a hospital visit. The last time prior to that was 2 Jan when I went to see the Messiah...

I listened to some music and watched most of the second disc in the 2DVD Rush set I got at Xmas - interesting to note that, in 1979, bassist Geddy Lee's favourite band was Bruford - Bill Bruford, Allan Holdsworth, Dave Stewart, Jeff Berlin...

Took a few pics around the house - here are my last 100 or so CDs, sitting on a shelf...



In the evening a call from Dr Prog. He wants to go and see a Genesis tribute band, The Musical Box, playing the 1974 2LP classic "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" in its entirety at the Armadillo next to the SECC in Glasgow. But at almost £30 a ticket I decline - even though the band has been licensed to use all the original costumes and films Genesis used over thirty years ago...

Phil (Dr Prog) has already seen the show but wants to see it again..

I agree to go to see Genesis tribute band Genesis In The Cage at the Renfrew Ferry for around £12. They also have various props etc and their chosen repertoire (1970-1980) is wider and likely to produce more surprises than The Musical Box's set...

Other than that, we also agree to make a trip to the same venue to see John Wetton and Geoff Downes..

Second episode of "My Name is Earl" - not as funny as the first but still good...

Highlight of the Day : Watching some old Rush interviews

On shaving...

Like most nights these days, I awoke four or five times last night, each time using the Jukebox to put me back to sleep...

I was listening to the collected works of Canadian band Rheostatics, one of my all time favourites...

I keep getting myself into positions which cause much pain in the leg, which then wakes me up. I also of course still have the frozen shoulder scenario, and that too causes much pain whilst in bed...

Truly, I am a wreck...

Made breakfast then surfed e-bay for a while, continuing to listen to Rheostatics, concentrating now on their latest LP, “2067” which is one of my top albums from 2004...

Then, mid morning, my first CD of 2006 arrived. Technically it’s not really a 2006 purchase since I bought it in December – but it was coming from Russia via e-bay....

It’s the reunion CD “Icon” from John Wetton and Geoff Downes, the two main songwriters from the band Asia, a “supergroup” from the early eighties who released several multi platinum albums before going their separate ways...



It’s probably Wetton’s best effort since his 1994 album “Battle Lines”, the title track of which is one of my all time favourite songs...

Listening to John Wetton and Rheostatics prompted me to compile a list of artists by whom I will always try and buy a new album as soon as it’s released. And so here they are in alphabetical order:-

Fiona Apple, The Blue Nile, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry, Robert Fripp, Fripp & Eno, Peter Gabriel, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, Allan Holdsworth, Lucy Kaplansky, King Crimson, Kraftwerk, Lemon Juice Quartet, Madredeus, Alice Peacock, Pet Shop Boys, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Rheostatics, Roxy Music, Rush, Mathilde Santing, Sparks, Spock’s Beard, David Sylvian, Herman Van Veen, Roger Waters, John Wetton, Dar Williams, Yes

And then I compiled a playlist on the Jukebox featuring only those artists. This totals 3,307 tracks. So over a quarter of my total tracks on the Jukebox are by these 32 artists...

But if I was being brutally honest about my buying behaviour and it came down to whose albums I really, really buy as soon as they’re released regardless of price, then this would be quickly whittled down to just:-

The Blue Nile
David Bowie
Alice Cooper
Brian Eno (Incl Fripp & Eno)
King Crimson/Robert Fripp
Pink Floyd/Roger Waters
Rheostatics
Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry
Rush
Yes

And so, I guess these are my ten favourite groups/artists...

Whilst surfing the net and listening to Rheostatics, I came across this quote on the importance (or lack of) commercial success in the music biz from their guitarist Dave Bidini, who is also an accomplished author:

“Anyone who sells one cassette is commercially successful. I think the notion of discussing commerce and art together is obscene. It undermines the craft.”

This came of some comfort to me!

Also whilst searching for info on the Rheos, I rediscovered this site - http://www.artofthemix.org/index.asp – where people submit track lists of mixtapes, CD compilations and MP3 playlists. You could spend hours on there – but I tried not to...

Today I also took some more photos and in the evening I created some collages....




I also managed to book accommodation for our France trip – in an apartment in a converted tower within an ancient catle’s walls – which should be interesting...

Part of my day was taken up responding to a devout catholic who took exception to my post the other day criticising religion...

After I’d finished this (the results are in the “comments” under the post “Religion is the root of a significant amount of evil”) I realised what I was trying to do was explain to him the essential difference between reason and faith....

So I went looking on the web, found what I wanted to say and have attemted to precis it here...

In reason, you only accept conclusions which are proven to be true - conclusions based on sensory evidence and logical inference from such evidence...

Faith, on the other hand, is belief unsupported by facts or logic - the blind embrace of ideas despite an absence of evidence or proof...

From this, it follows that the only ideas that are reasonable to believe are those you know to be true by means of reason....

Spirituality, notably in the form of religion, is of course a staple of human civilisation. Even in today's modern societies, a large majority of people believe in gods and supernatural entities and practice divinity worship and rituals...

However, the important thing to remember is that its principles are not based on reason. They are based on the methods of faith : emotion, authority, doctrine, revelation, popularity, and so on....

These methods cannot reveal anything about reality itself. Thus religion gives false comfort, incites people to believe lies, and its moral principles are irrational....

The concept of "God", a supernatural infinite Creator being, is metaphysically absurd. Indeed, the notion that any “gods” could exist is absurd.

The falseness of religion and gods does not imply that our inherent desire for spirituality is bankrupt though and while spirituality may be a valid pursuit for most people, current religions are certainly not valid ways to find it.

Christianity, Islam, and any other such religious systems, ought to be rejected in favour of rational spirituality, or nothing at all. Unfortunately, that is highly unlikely to happen...

And so I am a sceptic. Which doesn't mean that I doubt, it means I need to apply a rational method of examination of extraordinary claims and, the evidence for extraordinary claims must be extraordinary itself based entirely on logic and the senses....

We must look to both theory and practice, as both point to the same reality - theory to what is possible in general, practice to what has been achieved in one particular instance...

When subjected to this, religion fails miserably and so I must reject the idea emphatically...

People die from pseudo-medicine, waste money on pseudo-science, and lose their lives or livelihood in the worship of gods....

These are all areas where a little rational thinking can go a long way....

Occam's Razor is a corollary of the demand for objective evidence...

It states:-

"Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate" or
"plurality should not be posited without necessity"

The words are attributed to the medieval English philosopher and (rather ironically, I suppose)Franciscan monk, William of Ockham (ca. 1285-1349)....



However, what is known as Occam's Razor was a common principle in medieval philosophy and was not originated by William, but because of his frequent usage of the principle, his name has become indelibly attached to it....

So, if we are confronted with two hypothesis that explain the same set of facts, then the one that necessitates the least entities or mechanisms is the best one...

For example, Evolution and Creationism both purport to explain the same facts, but Creationism entails at least one more entity, which is a Creator...

Stupid Creationists sometimes attempt to apply Occam's Razor in defence of geogenesis, claiming that theirs is the "simpler" theory as compared with evolution - i.e God said "shazam" or "abracadabra" and there was everything all ready to go...

But Occam's razor pertains to not assuming more than what is needed and so this demonstartes a failure to understand the principal, as a shorter theory is not necessarily true....

So there we are...

And rather appropriately, I shaved my beard and my head today...

I think that’s probably enough now...

Highlight of the Day : Getting the Accomodation booked for our next Holiday

A visit and a delivery...

Up just after eight and finished off transferring albums to the Jukebox and then finalised the playlist re my favourite 200 albums acquired in 2005 – over 3,000 tracks – and left this playing all day in shuffle mode...

Just as I was preparing lunch I got a call from old chum and Creek cohort, Stuart Cobley, so I invited him round for lunch - and round for lunch he came...

He brought some excellent chocolates and we had a good chat re various new comedy shows on the box “My Name is Earl”, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Hyperdrive” which starts tonight..

We also discussed his ongoing photography career (he’s so lucky as this is what he wants to do and, so far, he’s been able to do it), stories of the ankle break and we made a comparison of notes re the ability or otherwise for us to make any meaningful contact with co-Creekist, Count Alan Brodski of Brodie...

After Stuart headed back home, I spent some time researching blank CDs and ended up ordering 200 to cope with ongoing demand for “Deeperdown”, “Through the Day”, “Live at the Roxy”, “Sospiri” and “Calling Card 4”...

I ended up ordering from a company called Farfield due to their connection with ambient music and in particular, a guy called Matthew Florianz from whom I bought a few superb albums a couple of years ago...”Molenstraat”, “Open Stage 1-3” and “GrijsGebied” (as featured in today’s Picture of the Day)...

Whilst partaking in an interesting debate with a chap who mailed me regarding my anti religion post on Monday (see comments under that post), I was listening out for the delivery of the new digital camera but to no avail...

After dinner, our next door neighbour brought it to our door – turned out the delivery man arrived and I didn’t hear him. Quickly unpacked it, loaded up the batteries and started taking pictures immediately...



Then I loaded the software on the computer and started to muck around with the pics I’d taken. Created a couple of collages, posted a pic to the Pictures Blog (see Links) and created a Self Portrait for the Artworks Blog (see Links)...

Then in between looking for suitable accommodation for our upcoming trip to France in the Spring, I nipped downstairs to watch “Hyperdrive”...

Like “Life on Mars” the other night, it was ok but didn’t really live up to expectations - though it does feature The Actor Kevin Eildon as seen on Lee and Herring’s “This Morning With Richard Not Judy” a couple of years back...

I will be tuning in next week...

Without accommodational success, I went to bed at 12:15...

Highlight of the Day : A visit from Stuart Cobley

I blame the parents...

Another "nothing" day...

Watched the X Files film. I think I must have seen the second half at some point in the past as I remembered everything from the scene where they discovered all the bees in the middle of the desert...

It was still enjoyable though...

Got a phone call from Mr Jim Park out of the blue. He'd read here about my ankle setback and came over all guilt ridden. He shouldn't though because it was a 50/50 ball and a complete accident - it could easily have been he who was laid up in his home for seven weeks (so far). He promised to come and visit me soon and bring some exotic fruit...

In the evening we watched the second of last night's episodes of "Coronation St" on Video. What a great feeling it was to see Gail's big Scots boyfriend pinning the whining little ingrate David up against the wall and giving him a good talking to. Of course that's not allowed in the real world anymore and that's why, generally, kids are so well behaved these days, showing respect to their parents etc etc...

Of course, the Scot denied everything to Gail (and she believed him, ending up hitting the boy David herself becasue of his incessant cheek and selfishness) and so the producers are lining the Scotsman up as villain of the piece and the little shit of a boy as the hard done to victim...

Coincidentally, I saw a poll on the news today, what with the Government's latest anti anti-social legislation being announced. The poll asked who was responsible for unruly behaviour by children. Unbelievably, 13% of those questioned said it was the Government's fault...

OK the top answer, at 63%, was the parents but we all know the correct outcome should surely have been 100% the parents...

Later on we watched the first of a three part documentary on Mozart on Channel Five to celebrate the 250th anniversary of his birth. What a genius he was...

Finished off the day transferring the last of my 200 albums of 2005 onto Jukebox and finalising the playlist which includes all those CDs – at close of play I still had three to transfer...

Highlight of the Day : A Telephone Call from Jim "Chopper" Park

Religion is the root of a significant amount of evil...

Nothing much happened today. Spent all day on the computer and all night watching TV...

Firstly I watched episodes two and three of new Channel 4 US import "Invasion" on video, and I think I will continue to watch - although I missed the pilot due to bad video recorder programming...

Then we both watched the first of this evening's episodes of Coronation St, which as as entertaining as ever. We taped the second and Anne will probably end up watching that on her own...

Then, at 8, the best programme of the year so far...

Richard Dawkins' documentary "The Root of All Evil? Pt 1 : The God Delusion"...

In my description below, I've quoted freely from the programmes microsite at www.channel4.com

Like me, Richard Dawkins is astounded that religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth based on hard evidence....

In this two-part series, he challenges what he describes as 'a process of non-thinking called faith'...

It seems amazing that, at the start of the 21st Century, religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth...

Especially since science, based on scepticism, investigation and evidence, must continuously test its own concepts and claims whilst faith, by definition, defies evidence: it is untested and unshakeable, and is therefore in direct contradiction with science and, I would say, reality......

In addition, though religions preach morality, peace and hope, in fact, they bring intolerance, violence and destruction...

The growth of extreme fundamentalism in so many religions across the world not only endangers humanity but is in conflict with the trend over thousands of years of history for humanity to progress – to become more enlightened and more tolerant...

I felt sorry for the poor Catholics (and others) traipsing to Lourdes year after year in search of some miracle cure. 80,000 descend on the town annually and have done so for over 100 years. So that's around 8 million who, over a century, have placed their faith in a miracle restoring them to good health...

The Catholic Church has recorded just 66 authenticated cures (excluding of course anything actually astounding e.g. the growing back of a severed limb)....

Give it up guys...

It's not difficult to demolish the claims of religion as fairytales, and dangerous ones at that. But there is more to religion than ancient stories and articles of faith...

People are seduced by the sense of belonging promised by religious groups - but this is a 'shared delusion'. If you are one person believing yourself to be Napoleon, it's pretty hard to keep it up. But if you are one of millions sharing in the same delusion which has been drummed into you since birth then...

Can't wait for part two next week, "The Virus of Faith"..

Brilliant..

This was followed by new BBC1 drama "Life on Mars" which was just "ok" but good enough for me to tune in again next week...

Then the great political satire "The Thick of It" which was hilarious and is a "must see" item..

Then I listened to Robert Fripp's excellent soundscapes CD "Love Cannot Bear" before retiring...
I'll leave you with the thought that, apparently, around 45% of the population of the USA believe that the universe is less than 10,000 years old...

Highlight of the Day : "The Root of All Evil? Pt 1 : The God Delusion"

A great day for Clyde and a list of CDs....

I spent today walking (in reality hobbling very slowly) around the house, including up and down the stairs, without the aid of the moonboot. In retrospect, perhaps I was trying to do this too soon...

The hot and cold bathing of the injury continued, along with three sets of very painful exercises. My willpower re doing these every hour is, frankly, pish.

After brunch, Anne goes out to the garden while I update the diary....

Later she excitedly updates me re the fact that Clyde are beating Celtic 2-0 at half time having missed a penalty (for which the defender should’ve been Red Carded but went totally unpunished) and having had two other earlier goals chalked off – both for no good reason according to the pundits.

So it should really have already been be 4-0 to Clyde despite their having missed a penalty and Celtic should have been down to ten men...

Clyde had the ball in the net one more time in the second half - again it was not off-side as decided by the officials. The frankly Mighty Clyde FC managed to hold on after the frankly Dreadful Glasgow Celtic FC got a late goal - So much for Roy Keane....

A great day for Clyde! (they also hit the post - could've been 6 or 7 goals to 1)...

We watch Enterprise - I missed Stargate because I was collating the list of CDs below...

Late night, I stayed up with Meg the Black Cat to watch John Carpenter's "Ghosts of Mars". Enjoyable rubbish...

And so, after much deliberation I've finalised a list of 100 CDs which I enjoyed in 2005, with my favourite in each category in bold. My overall favourite CD of the year was Brian Eno's "Another Day on Earth".

100 CDs I Enjoyed in 2005

New

Fiona Apple-Extraordinary Machine
Adrian Belew-Side One
Adrian Belew-Side Two
Coldplay-X&Y
Alice Cooper-Dirty Diamonds
Brian Eno-Another Day on Earth
Four Tet-Everything Ecstatic
Robert Fripp-Love Cannot Bear
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel-The Quality of Mercy
Madredeus-Faluas de Tejo
Paul McCartney-Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard
Brad Mehldau-Day Is Done
Porcupine Tree-Deadwing
Spock's Beard-Octane
Herman Van Veen-Hut Ab
Laura Viers-Year of Meteors
Dar Williams-My Better Self

Recent (But Pre 2005)

California Guitar Trio-CG3+2
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft-15 Neue DAF Lieder
Enchant-Tug of War
Fennesz-Venice
Girls Aloud-What Will The Neighbours Say
Francoise Hardy-Tant des belles Choses
Alice Martineau-Daydreams
Moby-Hotel/Motel
Neal Morse-One
Neal Morse-Testimony
Rheostatics-Night of the Shooting Stars
Shivaree-I Oughta Give You A Shot In The Head
Stars of the Lid-Gravitational Pull Vs The Desire for an Aquatic Life

Reissues

David Byron-Take No Prisoners
ELO-On The Third Day
Emerson Lake & Palmer-Brain Salad Surgery
Jethro Tull-Thick As A Brick
M-Official Secrets
Mahavishnu Orchestra-Visions of the Emerald Beyond
Mick Ronson-Play Don't Worry
Mick Ronson-Slaughter on 10th Avenue
Michael Rother-Esperanza
Sparks-Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat
Uriah Heep-Demons and Wizards
Uriah Heep-Return to Fantasy
Uriah Heep-Sweet Freedom
Uriah Heep-The Magician's Birthday
Uriah Heep-Wonderworld
Herman Van Veen-Die Anziehungskraft der Erde
Velvett Fogg-Velvett Fogg
Yes-Fragile
Yes-Relayer

Live

Bruford-The Bruford Tapes
Earthworks-Footloose and Fancy Free
Falco-Donauinsel Live
Grand Funk Railroad-Bosnia
Kraftwerk-Minimum Maximum
Lou Reed-Animal Serenade
Tangerine Dream-Royal Albert Hall 2/4/75
Uriah Heep-Live

Jazz

Art Blakey-Buhaina's Delight
Grant Green-The Complete Quartets
Andrew Hill-Black Fire
Andrew Hill-Judgement
Freddie Hubbard-A Soul Experiment
Bobby Hutcherson-Oblique
Jackie McLean-Action
Medeski Martin & Wood-End of the World Party
Hank Mobley-Poppin'
Moraz/Bruford-Music For Piano & Drums
Lee Morgan-Charisma
Tony Williams-Lifetime

Classical

J S Bach-Complete Oboe Concertos
Beethoven/Wranitsky-Oboe Trios
Anner Bijlsma-70th Birthday Box Set
Dvorak-Complete String Quartets
Philip Glass-The Civil Wars
Janacek-Piano Sonata 1.x.1905
Marini-Curiose & Moderne Inventione
Mozart-Complete String Quartets
Saint Georges-Violin Concertos 1, 2, 10
Vivaldi-Bassoon Concertos
Vivaldi-Complete Oboe Concertos

Single Artist Compilation

Jason Falkner-Necessity
Isaac Hayes-The Man
Allan Holdsworth-Against the Clock - Best of
King Crimson-21st Century Guide Vol 1
King Crimson-21st Century Guide Vol 2
Procul Harum-The First Four
Rheostatics-Best of*
Hans-Joachim Roedelius-Auf Leisen Sohlen
Shangris Las-Best of
Jane Siberry-Summer in the Yukon
Soft Machine-Out Bloody Rageous
T-Rex-Singles A's and B's 1972-1977
The Tubes-Dawn of the Tubes
Roy Wood-Singles 1971-1976*
Yes-The Ultimate Yes : 35 Years
*Compiled by me

Various Artists Compilations

Blue Note - A Blue Conception
Blue Note - Out of the Blue
Constellation Music Until Now
Harvest Showdown
Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal : Island Anthology 1967-1972

..and I am continuing to enjoy listening to these on shuffleplay on the Jukebox....

Highlight of the Day : Clyde 2 Celtic 1

'Mon the Queens...

Awoke with a very sore leg and put on the moon-boot to get downstairs. Jane and I bought a couple of new washing up basins at B&Q yesterday to bathe my swollen ankle in (a) very cold water for 1 minute and then (b) very “warm” water – I suppose this could also be described as “hot” water – for 1 minute, in a ten minute exercise to be repeated up to three times a day...

And so Anne helps me to do this...

After lunch, Anne sets off to Tynecastle for Hearts’ 3rd Round Scottish FA Cup tie with Kilmarnock while I fall asleep on the settee with my leg elevated...

I am awoken by a phone call from Meg the Black Cat’s ex-mum, Julia who’s just arrived back in the country from holiday and wants to come and pick up Pandy the Fluffy Slasher Cat...

After this I fall asleep again and am awoken by Julia’s knocking at the back door. I promptly fall off the settee but luckily don’t damage the leg as it’s fully protected in the moon boot with the firmest Velcro fastenings in the world...

I am so drowsy I don’t even offer Julia a cup of tea...

She seems to have had a good time on her two holidays since bringing Pandy to us on Christmas Eve despite the first, to Florence, being marred by her niece having to be taken to hospital, and the second, in Amsterdam, being marred by her own ear infection and the bitterly cold weather....

We build Pandy’s carrying box and put her in it – no resistance on the part of the Fluffy Slasher and she’s off home before we know it. All the time Meg the Black cat is upstairs asleep and oblivious to the fact her little cat friend has strangely disappeared...

After Julia leaves, I check the scores on the net whilst listening to some funky sounds. Hearts beat Killie 2-1 while Queen of the South get a late equaliser to draw 1-1 with Hamilton Academical and force a replay on Tuesday...

They have now drawn with the top two teams in their league (St Mirren and Hamilton) in their last few games. So they’re not all that bad – they’re just not getting the breaks – that’s my view anyway...

In the evening an Indian Takeaway and Casualty then Sportscene Match of the Day but only after I buy a new digital camera - the Kodak Easyshare CX7530 (a full review etc is here http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/cx7530.html)...

Highlight of the Day : Queen of the South not being beaten

Slashed and set back...

What a disappointing day this turned out to be...

It started badly when our guest cat, Pandy the Fluffy Cat, whilst jumping from the window ledge in our bedroom down onto the bed, managed to lascerate my forehead with her claws.

Scarred for life no doubt, blood everywhere etc etc...

This is the situation two days later...



Then to the infirmary, very kindly given a lift by sister-in-law Jane....

The plaster is removed. It’s now six and a half weeks since I broke my ankle in a foolish 5-a-sides tackle with Mr Jim Park.....

The break is still not healed and seems to be worse than first thought. I cannot put any weight on it and so am prescribed a “moon-boot” to wear...




I can walk even worse in this than in the stookie. I also have various exercise to do and must bathe my ankle in cold and hot water to try and reduce the swelling which is still severe even after over 40 days...

I am to return for further X-Rays in two weeks...

Upon returning home I update the dairy and review the links – I do this from time to time, having added new blogs I've found, and which I like, to my favourites. I then replace irregularly updated blogs with these new ones...

In the evening, I have ringed a programme on BBC4 about Mozart but fall asleep with my leg elevated (again to try and reduce the swelling) and so miss it completely...

After this nap (and much noisy snoring apparently - although Anne can provide no actual evidence of this), I am wide awake for new US import “My Name is Earl”. The first episode bodes well for the series...

Anne retires to bed but I stay up and end up watching “Jason X”, the ninth sequel to the original John Carpenter film “Halloween”, with Pandy the Slasher Cat....

This time the gratuitous killing spree takes place on board a space ship. The special effects are great and the film is very enjoyable...

After the film, I finally give in and go to bed at 1:30 – I am staying up late as I know how little sleep I will get due to the pain in the leg...

Highlight of the Day : My Name is Earl