Blowin'

Playlist
Carl Wayne/Roy Wood – Beyond the Move
Roger Joseph Manning Jnr/Brian Reitzell - Logan’s Sanctuary
Steve Harley – The Cockney Rebel
John Coltrane – Live at the Half Note
John Coltrane – The Classic Quartet (8CD Box Set)

A day spent mainly sleeping as the recuperation continues – more slowly than I’d like...

In the evening, I’d woken up enough to join Anne watching Celtic v Hearts whilst I listened to John Coltrane on the old Nut Phones – the live set led me to the 8 disc box of every studio recording of this classic quartet (from 1961 – 1965) featuring Mr Coltrane on saxes alongside McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums...



It’s an evening like this that bears the rewards for having such a vast library of music to hand...

Very tasty indeed...

And made all the better by Hearts beating Celtic 2-0 at Parkhead – who’d have thought it, especially when Hearts were uniformly believed to be fielding a “shambles” team while Celtic played their strongest side available...

Wonders never cease...

Ended the day with the hour long “Coronation St” special re Sarah-Louise Platt’s wedding – spoiled by her psycho half-brother’s fake suicide – something very nasty needs to happen to that boy soon...

Highlight of the Day : Celtic 0 Hearts 2...

It's a bloomin' miracle I tells ya...

Playlist
Various – 185 Classic LPs Jukebox Playlist (on Shuffleplay)
Carl Wayne/Roy Wood – Beyond the Move
Roger Joseph Manning Jnr/Brian Reitzell - Logan’s Sanctuary
John Coltrane – Live at the Half Note
Colosseum II – Electric Savage
Jadis - Photoplay
Steve Harley – The Cockney Rebel

Inspired by “Radar Love” from Golden Earring’s classic 1973 album “Moontan” appearing on my Jukebox Shuffleplay this morning, I compiled a playlist of “classic albums” from the 1,300 or so there are in the box...

So, spent much of the day listening to 185 of these albums in shuffleplay mode...

I consulted IT Guru Martin yet again re yesterday’s debacle with the Internet connection and got a few pointers. Also, with the aid of another PC, I printed off some tips from the Tiscali website...

I’d of course phoned them last night. After going through various options for a few minutes I was told by the recorded voice that all their customer service people were busy and I could call back later or, get this, e-mail them with my problem...

If I had any hair, I’d pull it out...

By way of some up-cheering I found a copy of the 2CD set of John Coltrane’s 1965 gigs at the Half Note Club in New York for a mere £8 in HMV’s sale – other copies in the sale were priced down from £22 to £15 so, a double bargain...

Back home and a pile of little parcels awaited me while a card advised there was one which was too big to come through the letter box...

A 3CD Anthology of Steve Harley, a soundtrack to an imaginary sequel to the film “Logan’s Run” and a disc of previously unreleased tracks from the vaults of former Move men Carl Wayne and Roy Wood along with some long-awaited ink for the printer had all arrived – this last meaning my mailing out of copies of CBQ’s “Ersatzreal” CD could get back on track after a slight delay...

Armed with my print-outs and some new listening materials, I trudged upstairs looking forward to a stressful night of arseing around on the PC trying to get t'internet to work again...

I switched on PC and thought "what the hell, before I start, I might as well try just one more time" clicked to connect and lo and behold.....

Here I am back in cyberspace...

I don’t know what I did but I like it!!

Just after tea, Meg the Black Cat brought yet another wee mouse into the house, this time dropping it at Anne’s feet in the living room and freaking her out...

After the initial panic and some moving of furniture, the beast was gathered in the trusty mouse-saving pint glass and escorted from the premises...

Meg is grounded...

Retired upstairs and downloaded a couple of albums, Colosseum II’s “Electric Savage” which Dr Prog raved about recently and Jadis’ 2006 neo-prog offering “Photoplay” – both v good indeed...

The Coltrane was exciting listening but, if I'm honest, it was the old familiar sounds of Cockney Rebel which probably constituted the best listening of the evening...



....an evening rounded off by BBC3’s showing of next week’s “Spooks” - oh yes!!

A good day indeed...

Highlight of the Day : Saving yet another mouse...

Do the hokey cokey...

Playlist
Various - Jukebox Shuffleplay

Spent the entire evening trying in vain to fix the computer...

Having consulted IT Guru (and builder of our system), Martin, he advised that the Motherboard we have should have USB 2.0 drivers on its installation CD and all I needed to do was reinstall the content of the motherboard CD...

So, I did this and, indeed, the ports became superfast USB 2.0 ports (for free when it would've cost £50 for PC World's time and USB 2.0 card)...

However, on rebooting, I found I'd lost the internet connection...

Try as I might I couldn't get it back...

Very, very annoying and frustrating..

Eventually, after around 5 hours, I gave up and went to bed...

At no point this evening was I to be seen relaxing on the settee...



Highlight of the Day : USB 2.0 Ports achieved (but at a cost)...

Still slow...

Playlist
Bjornstad/Darling – The River
Jewel – Goodbye Alice in Wonderland
Suzanne Vega - Beauty and Crime
Various - Pigs and Pyramids : All Star Versions of Pink Floyd Songs

Breakfast at home...

To PC World for our booked appointment to have the computer’s ports upgraded by the addition of a USB 2.0 card...

While we waited for the work to be done, we went next door to Oddbins on a quest for some good Italian wine – this Friday we are hosting another family wine night at Crispycat Towers...

Having chosen the Veneto region and three excellent wines which originated there, we headed back into PC World...

The call came to go back to the Tech Guys’ corner and we were advised that we couldn’t add a USB 2.0 Port card to our PC as it conflicted with the elaborate Sound Card I had installed at outset for my music recording exploits...

With a few wise words in our ears and a refund on our credit card we made our way home and reinstalled the PC tower in its place...

Still slow...

In the evening, “Coronation Street”, the last in the series of “Michael Palin’s New Europe” and “Match of the Day 2” entertained...

Mid-evening Meg the Black Cat brought another, smaller (than has been her wont recently) mouse into the house and deposited it in the CD room upstairs...



It made its way behind one of the “Walls of Sound” (seen above on the left of the picture) which had to be completely dismantled to save the beastie while Meg languished locked in the bathroom...

Suffice to say the mouse was saved and deposited in a garden a few doors away...

Highlight of the Day : Saving another mouse...

Home made triumph...

Playlist
Various – My last 100 CDs
Jewel – Goodbye Alice in Wonderland
Pet Shop Boys – Pop Art
Uriah Heep – Live in Europe 1979
Ketil Bjornstad/David Darling – The River
Suzanne Vega – Beauty and Crime

Worked on the PC first thing at 7:30 while waiting for Anne to surface...

A new Uriah Heep double live CD arrived from e-bay and entertained me while I waited...

Soon we were on the road heading for Patisserie Florentin only to find it packed out, with no room for us...

So we went round the corner to the wee Italian place on St Stephen’s Street and enjoyed a croissant and Latte (me) and strange Italian sandwich and white coffee (Anne)...

Tasty...

Then a stroll down to Stockbridge and I visited the Oxfam music shop, picking up a great little piano and cello CD on the ECM label by Ketil Bjornstad and David Darling...

We listened to this on the way home, where Anne did some tidying up in the garden while I compiled a “one track each” folder of MP3s from the last 100 CDs I’ve acquired, with a view to putting 50 each on the two 250MB MP3 players I have...

This took me till around half time of the footie afternoon – Hearts tanked 3-1 away to Kilmarnock and QoS managing a draw away at Livingston to go bottom of the league (but only 3 points off fifth – such is the closeness of this division)...

Updated the diary and downloaded Suzanne Vega’s “Beauty and Crime” while Anne watched “Strictly Come Dancing”...

Then, as Anne gave the final touches to her latest in home-made curries, a chicken tikka massala, I watched “Robin Hood” – it really is dreadful rubbish but I can’t resist it...

Suffice to say the curry was superb – very tasty!

Post meal we listened to the Bjornstad/Darling CD whilst we read – only to discover an annoying fault in the hi-fi which will require some attention..

Finished the day with “Match of the Day”...

Highlight of the Day : Anne’s home made curry

Wood for trees...

Playlist
Pet Shop Boys – Pop Art
ELO – Balance of Power
ELO – Secret Messages
Jason Falkner - Bliss Descending
Motorhead – Overkill
Motorhead – Bomber
Motorhead – Ace of Spades
The Damned – Stiff Singles 1976-77
Jewel – Goodbye Alice In Wonderland

Up early and round to the doctor’s with Anne driving...

I am prescribed more painkillers but advise I intend to resume my position with “The Man” on Monday. The doc counsels more time at home but I really need to get back out there...

The pain is less than it was last year though the sleepiness seems a lot worse...

Back home and two CDs arrive from e-bay - ELO’s third and second last albums. While each have their moments, the group was past its best by now methinks – but I am a bit of a completist in these matters and the search is on now for a reasonably priced copy of the final album, “Zoom”...

After lunch we watched taped episodes of “Ugly Betty” and “Heroes”, the latter being the best episode by far thus far – and we’re seventeen episodes in apparently...

Around 2, Jane arrived with Ollie & Kitty, as Ollie wanted to watch a Dr Who special which he has on DVD but hasn’t seen at home yet. It’s the one with the big Spider Empress thingy and Catherine Tait...

After his mum and sister departed for the shops, we started watching. Suffice to say Ollie had a good laugh at the snoring sounds emanating from the direction of his tired old uncle David in the corner...

After the film we took a look at our pictures from the visit to the Dr Who exhibition in July – Ollie was there last week with his mum...

I gave him a box set of ten Dr Who paperback novels which may prove a little hard going for him but I know he’ll enjoy them...

He is Dr Who mad!!

Here is a happy wee boy with his tired, old, ill, unshaven uncle...



After Anne took Ollie home and returned, we watched Corrie then I loaded some recent purchases into the small MP3 players I have for bedtime listening...

I realised I really, really like Motorhead!!



Then it was:-

The brilliant “Have I Got News For You”...

The even more brilliant “Armstrong & Miller” – best sketch of the night was the two RAF airmen in WWII having a conversation in posh tones using present day chav dialogue...

The ever-brilliant “My Name is Earl”...

During the commercial break, Meg the Black Cat came through the cat-flap, stopping three quarters of the way up the stairs rather than, as usual, coming into the living room to see us...

Suspicious of this, Anne went to see why Meg was avoiding us...

The answer came in the shape of a rather large, energetic but frightened mouse...

In the panic which followed Anne's discovery, Meg let the mouse drop and it leaped back down to the front door, followed swiftly by the black would-be killing machine...

Once again, the trusty mouse-removing pint glass was brought into play and, after Meg had been unceremoniously dumped into the living room, one large, bewildered mouse was taken to a safe place near Crispycat Towers and released into the night...

After the second half of Earl, we watched the frankly not that great “Dear Green Place” – the latest from the “Chewing the Fat” crew...

And, finally, the frankly excruciating “Jonathon Ross” – think of the money the BBC could save for its factual programmes if it didn’t have to pay this man £17m...

What were they thinking?

Highlight of the Day : Saving yet another mouse...

TV is king...

Playlist
The Damned – Stiff Singles 1976-77
Jewel – Goodbye Alice In Wonderland
Motorhead – Bomber
Glenn Gould – The Alchemist (DVD)
Uriah Heep – Classic Heep from the Byron Era (DVD)
Pet Shop Boys – Pop Art
Grand Funk –Thirty Years of Grand Funk

Waited all day from 8 am for the arrival of the TV...

Pop Art arrived from e-bay and I amused myself by listening to this amongst other things, mostly yesterday’s purchases, along with a couple of DVDs...

TV arrived at 2:40 but I couldn’t unpack and set up until Anne came home...

Meg the Black cat was very interested in this new large item sitting in the living room – it was like some of the opening scenes from “2001 : A Space Odyssey” - I opened the top of the box and took out the instructions for a read through and she immediately tried to gain access...

She is a cheeky cat...

Once Anne arrived home we got it all set up – it’ll take a bit of getting used to as it’s just so big. Our last telly was 21” and the one prior to that was a 16” portable – but, as Anne’s eyesight has worsened over the years, the need for bigger and bigger tellies has arisen (it says here under the "stupid purchase justification" section...



Watched the end of the Aberdeen game – humped 3-0 in Greece and a bit of the Spurs game – beaten 2-1 at home and lost their manager – before watching “Holby”, “Question Time” and Paul McCartney on the “Electric Proms”...

While the latter was good from the point of view of seeing a Paul McCartney gig, it was hardly in keeping with the spirit of the festival, as there was very little, if anything, either new or daring, about his greatest hits set...

Highlight of the Day : Big new TV

Alright with the boys...

Playlist
Various - Jukebox Shuffleplay
ELO – ELO I
ELO – ELO II
ELO – On the Third Day
ELO – Face the Music
The Damned – Stiff Singles 1976-77
Motorhead – Overkill
Small Faces – The Darlings of the Wapping Wharf Launderette
Petula Clark – Downtown : The Pye Anthology
Uriah Heep – Blood On Stone : Anthology II
Deodato – The Greatest Hits
Various – Old Grey Whistle Test Vol 2 (DVD)
Peter Gabriel – Musicladen Munich 1978 (DVD)

Into town today and off to the infirmary for my post op check up...

My stitches will dissolve in time I am told...

However, I wasn’t very reassured as to the competency or otherwise of the surgeon’s assistant when he advised I no longer needed the sling (considering I’d discarded it the day after the op on the surgeon’s instructions) – or when he referred to the op having been on my left rather than my right shoulder...

Once again the pins and needles in my arm and hand were discounted and I am to return in three weeks...

On the way home I changed buses in Princes St and so made my way to FOPP to check out their latest offerings – came a way with seven items...

Back home, commenced listening to these...

Dr Prog arrived around 7:30 and took me round to Count Brodski’s where we watched an Old Grey Whistle Test DVD – some excellent stuff and some not so excellent stuff - followed by the Peter Gabriel concert from 1978 we’ve been trying to get together to see for the last month or so – well worth the wait – recorded just 6 days after Alan and I saw him at Knebworth back in the day...



Home just after midnight...

Highlight of the Day : A night out with the boys

It's football Jim, but not as we know it...

Playlist
Various - Jukebox Shuffleplay
Rheostatics – Last Ever Concert (3xCD-R)
Return to Forever – Where Have I Known You Before
Allan Holdsworth – Velvet Darkness

Today I burned a three CD set of the last ever concert by my Canadian favourites, Rheostatics...



Then I listened to it – all three and a half hours of it...

In the evening, we watched Rangers’ goalless draw against Barcelona – a hard fought point but I’m afraid it hardly constituted “football”...

Listened to some crazy jazz fusion as I watched...

Before retiring for the night, I bought a new LCD telly off t’internet...

Highlight of the Day : Rheostatics

Simpsonized...

Playlist
Various - Jukebox Shuffleplay
Echoboy - Volume 1
Echoboy - Volume 2
Rental/Leer - The Bridge
The Move - Message from the Country
The Move - The Early Years

Slept in again - I have become so sleepy these days...

Took the dressings off my op wounds for good - seem to be healing well...

In the afternoon, watched "Hot Fuzz" on DVD - very funny and far better than Simon Pegg's latest vehicle, "Run Fatboy Run" - more like "Shaun of the Dead"...

Found a website where you up load a photo of yourself and it "simpsonizes" you...

Here's me and my executive producer...



Note the Simpsons' cat playing Meg the Black Cat...

In the evening Anne to keep fit, me listening to The Move...

Then "Doc Martin" and tonight's "Coronation St" double bill...

I await discs from e-bay by Pet Shop Boys and ELO...

Highlight of the Day : Losing my dressings...

Nod, the land of...

Playlist
Various - Jukebox Shuffleplay
Porcupine Tree – Fear of a Blank Planet
Stars of the Lid – The Ballasted Orchestra
Dream Theater – Dark side of the Moon (Live)
Allan Holdsworth – Velvet Darkness
Asia – Fantasia : Live in Tokyo
Fad Gadget – Best of

A quick day...

Up late again due to being sleepy and the late night last night...

Burned the remainder of the albums from the hard drive onto CDs – these ones required to be put together more carefully as the tracks ran into each other and I needed not to leave any gaps...

Around 1 or so the CID arrived with some clothes from the youths they’d arrested last night re the break-in next door – I was able to identify one of the three garments in question...

I have made copies of all my statements so I don’t forget what I said if I’m actually called as a witness...

Once they’d gone, I fell asleep again only to be awoken by sister-in-law Jane calling to offer a lift round to her mum’s for tea – Anne was going straight there from the railway station – due to arrive around 4:30...

I fell asleep yet again but woke up just in time to get ready...

Round to Anne’s mum’s and a lovely family tea, though nephew Ollie is still in very annoying mode...

Brother-in-law Keith announced he and Maureen will marry in the summer – good news!

A taxi home and Anne gave me a package from Macclesfield Craig containing discs by Echoboy, an LP I used to have, Robert Rental & Thomas Leer’s early electronic classic, “The Bridge” and a 2CD best of by the now sadly departed Fad Gadget – which I listened to while we watched “Match of the Day 2”...



Good to have Anne home again...

Highlight of the Day : Return of the executive producer...

Robbing hoods...

Playlist
Various – Jukebox Shuffleplay
Uriah Heep – Studio Anthology 1998-1970
Plus tracks from:-
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic – Sonic Geology
Various – Burning For Buddy
Brian Eno – 77 Million Paintings
A Silver Mount Zion – He Has Left Us...
Fennesz/Sakamoto – Cendre
Mingo Lewis – Flight Never Ending
Tangerine Dream – Sheffield 1974
Cluster – Sowiesoso
Paul McCartney – Memory Almost Full
Coldplay – The Remixes
Randy Pie – Highway Driver
Randy Pie – Kitsch
Nine Horses – Money For All
Larry Coryell – Spaces Revisited
Tony Williams’ Lifetime – Emergency
Return to Forever – Where have I Known You Before
Allan Holdsworth – Velvet Darkness

Woken by the phone at 9:40 – a very long lie in for me for a change, which might have been even longer – it was Anne to say she’d been struck down by food poisoning of some sort...

Luckily her trip wasn’t ruined as I received word later in the day that she was out and about and in the evening I was advised that she and Lynn were back out on the town...

As for me, well I was up and about by around 10am and decided to burn the majority of the discs I have on the hard drive at present – all in all 21 new CDs were added to the collection...

Then I compiled a 20 track disc with one each from all of Uriah Heep’s studio albums...

Watched a dreadful programme, “Mobile Act Unsigned” which was a kind of trendy version of “The X Factor” for bands playing original music – the panel comprised that annoying blonde DJ who smiles all the time and is “down with the kids” (Jo Whiley), an A&R guy from Universal (who are offering a contract to the winners) and Alex James (is it?) from Blur – joined this week by guest judge Calvin Harris...

Suffice to say the panel’s tastes did not really dovetail with my own – in fact it was rather frightening to see what they thought was “brilliant” and “best song I’ve heard all year”...

While trawling the Radio Times tonight to try and find the name of the annoying DJ, I note that Radio 1 now has a two hour “Punk Rock Show” – do you think they’ll ever have a two hour “Prog Rock Show”?

Finally watched “Pan’s Labyrinth” – a very good film, if a bit violent in places and a tear jerking ending...

In fact, almost the entire rest of the day was spent watching TV (and taking painkillers) – “Michael Palin’s New Europe”, “The Culture Show”, bits of the Rugby World Cup Final – a good show from England, though they never looked like winning – “The Vicar of Dibley” (first episode) and then “Robin Hood” which I’d taped earlier...

Then a quick surf and off to bed...

Or so I thought...

While typing this with the headphones on, I heard some thumping from the house next door – on investigating, I found three or four youths trying to kick their way into the house...

Incapacitated as I was re the arm op, I couldn’t wade in with a big iron bar and beat the shit out of them even if I’d had the courage to...

So I called the police and then the neighbours in question, who came home immediately but the kids had run off...

All the other neighbours heard it too and some saw it – so we had a strange kind of neighbours meeting in the street around midnight with seven households represented...

The police arrived and advised they’d apprehended some suspects and now it was statement time – so I’m sitting up waiting for them to return with their paperwork...

Apparently this gang of little shits has been going around these parts for the last month or so, out of their faces and carrying out break ins...

Dirty wee bastards...

If this was CSI, I’d be able to manipulate this picture to see their faces...



But it isn't...

The police woman returned around 1:15 am to take my statement and left around 2 am...

I don't know why they aren't just equipped with videocameras or even sound recorders to take statments - it would free up so much time...

Of course if it ever comes to court I fully expect the wee bastards to get off on some technicality or other...

Meanwhile it's now four hours since I first decided to go to bed so it's over and out for me...

Highlight of the Day : Crime fighting

Soporific...

Playlist
Various – Jukebox Shuffleplay
Mendelssohn – String Quartets
Uriah Heep – Travellers in Time : Anthology
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Anthology
Fripp & Eno – Evening Star
Allan Holdsworth - Velvet Darkness
Coldplay - The Remixes

Another sleepless night...

Anne was up early as she was off to Manchester with Lynn this morning – and off she went just after 8 am as if she was just going to work...

I pottered about and then watched the third of the Bill Bailey DVDs – this one, the most recent (“Part Troll”) was probably the best and included his famous piss-take of U2’s guitar sound and a tribute to Kraftwerk, wherein the Teutonic quartet gave their supposed rendition of the Hokey-Cokey...

My mum called and I invited her round for coffee at 2..

Of course when she got here the medication was kicking in and that, coupled with my lack of visits to the Land of Nod over the last week, led to me fall asleep on the settee while we watched “Dead Men Don’t wear Plaid”...

Mum woke me around 4:15 advising she was going to get going in order to beat the rush hour traffic...

I continued to “rest”..

Around 7, I was wide awake again and called her to apologise for my soporific state earlier on – she advised it took her over an hour to make the 20 minute journey home...

I recorded “Coronation St” for Anne while listening to Fripp & Eno’s classic “Evening Star” album then, upstairs to bugger about in hyperspace again...



Meg the Black Cat was off out on her nightly patrols...

Probably watched more TV than usual, “Have I Got News For You” at 9, “Not Going Out” at 9:30 then I fell asleep again during “QI”...

Anne texted from Manchester – she and Lynn had met up with Macclesfield Craig and his brother Pete and they were on the guest list for a gig in the Northern Quarter...

Caught a little of “Newsnight” and “Jonathon Ross” before taking more pills and heading past midnight with the PC, surfing my links and e-bay and generally just staying up because I didn't want to go to bed...

A strange, lonely day...

Highlight of the Day : Texts from Anne and a visit from my mum...

Comic book guy....

Playlist
Various – Jukebox Shuffleplay
Larry Coryell – Spaces Revisited
John McLaughlin – Electric Dreams
Allan Holdsworth – Velvet Darkness
Porcupine Tree – Fear of a Blank Planet
David Bowie – Outside Outtakes
Cluster – Sowiesoso
Nine Horses – Money For All
Glenn Gould – At the Cinema
Various – The World’s Greatest Trance

Up later today, 7:30 – still not sleeping much – pain in the night combined with nausea and dehydration re the painkillers’ side-effects...

To make matters worse today, upon waking I realised I’d been lying on my right side for what must have been much of the night...

Idiot!

Of course I can’t shave right now and Anne reckons I am beginning to look like a cross between two Simpsons characters - Comic Book Guy and Homer’s oldest friend, Barney Gumble...



In the morning I cheered myself up by watching two Bill Bailey DVDs – which were reasonably funny but not the laughfest I’d expected...

In the afternoon I found an Allan Holdsworth album to download which has long been unavailable – excellent news...

In the evening watched a taped “Ugly Betty” while we enjoyed a Chinese meal as Anne is off to Manchester tomorrow morning with her best friend Lynn and won’t be back till Sunday...

Then “Holby City” after which Anne watched “Who Do You Think You Are” – it seems Olympic champion rower Mathew Pinsent is a descendent of King John – of course if you go back far enough we must all be related to everyone else in some way...

While this was on, I enjoyed some superb Trance Music in the headphones...

“Question Time” and “This Week” brought matters to a close...

Highlight of the Day : “new” Allan Holdsworth

Down to earth...

Playlist
Various – Jukebox Shuffleplay
Larry Coryell – Spaces Revisited
John McLaughlin – Electric Dreams
Tony Williams’ Lifetime – Emergency
Return to Forever – Where Have I Known You Before
Various – Atlantic Waves 2007 Festival Sampler
Electric Light Orchestra - Discovery
Electric Light Orchestra – Greatest Hits Volume 2
Electric Light Orchestra – Face the Music

Of course once I remove the ad above for my new album, this post will be my 1,000th...

Up at 5:30 today and the first part of the day was almost a carbon copy of yesterday...

I am getting very little sleep at the moment, maybe three hours tops – and that’s not three hours solid but spread throughout the night...

To cheer myself up, I downloaded a couple of new albums from the MP3 blogs I trawl every so often – John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell, Tony Williams’ Lifetime and Return to Forever...



Tasty...

In contrast, the latest free CD from The Wire once again contains many tracks which are basically just noises – computer clicks and the like – not even musique concrete, which I can understand, just the noises a computer might make by carrying out its everyday tasks – I can’t see how anyone can find any value whatsoever in this – any answers anyone?

I cleansed my pallet with a bit of an ELO-fest...

In the evening it was of course time for Scotland to come back down to earth football-wise as the team gave a rather lack-lustre performance, losing 2-0 to Georgia. So now all they need to do to qualify is beat the World Champions, Italy, at Hampden next month...

At least qualification is in their own hands unlike England who lost 2-1 in Russia and now must depend on Israel beating the Russians next month...

After the game Anne changed the dressings on my wounds – three holes this time rather than the two last year – but the one at the back turned out to be underneath the adhesive part of the dressing rather than having anything over it to aid the healing process – not good re the removal of the big plaster – owya!

Two episodes of “Heroes” and the England and Scotland highlights on “Match of the Day” rounded things off...

Highlight of the Day : Downloading some excellent jazz fusion

One kay...

Playlist
Various – Jukebox Shuffleplay
Various Composers –100 Best Baroque
Flower Kings – Instant Delivery (DVD)
Various – Hits Downtown to Down Down (CD-R)
Electric Light Orchestra – Singles 1972-78 (CD-R)

Just a brief entry today – No. 1,000...

Apparently, the letter "A" does not appear in the English spelling of any number lower than "one thousand" (I suppose unless you use the word "and" somewhere)...

Up at 4:28 and had some toast to allow me to take my first pills of the day - accompanied by some juice and coffee as I sat with Meg the Black cat and read every page on Teletext whilst running down the battery once again on the Jukebox...

Anne got up around 7:30 and set off to work leaving me to my own devices...

Fell asleep listening to the glory of Mediterranean Baroque – the telly was on with the sound down – made the mistake of putting it up when I awoke and watched some of “Jeremy Kyle” – never again...

Of course I’m not really ill (apart from the nausea caused by the medication), I just have an extremely sore shoulder and arm...

Fetched a Flower Kings DVD Dr Prog copied for me a while back and promptly fell asleep watching that..

Meg didn’t seem interested in going out – she was happy to just lie on me all day...

Started my exercises - the three easy ones first of all...

In the evening we watched an episode from the original “Batman” TV series and “Oz & James’s Big Wine Adventure” – they’re in America this time – this will become a staple...

Listened to some ELO...

Then the triumphant return of “Spooks” – I could watch this show all day, every day – “The Grumpy Guide to Teenagers” was followed by next week’s Spooks on BBC3 – now I can’t wait till the next one...

Highlight of the Day : The return of Spooks

Take two...

Playlist
Brian Eno – The Drop
James – Whiplash
David Bowie - Outside
Eno/Wobble – Spinner
Passengers - Original Soundtracks 1
Various - Jukebox Shuffleplay

Back to the infirmary today and it was a successful visit – and so it’s taking a while to type this...



Arrived at 7:30 and seen by a Staff Nurse at 7:45 – unfortunately they’d lost the folder I’d been reading last Tuesday with all my pre-op notes in it and so we had to through it all again...

Around an hour later, a meet with the anaesthetist, again going over all the questions I’d answered last week...

And, to keep my mind occupied while I waited, I re-read Brian Eno’s diary again, this time making it through from January to March...

On the Jukebox, I selected the albums he was working on in 1995, the year in which the diary was written...

A quick chat with the surgeon and I signed the consent form – I tried to raise the issue of the pins and needles in my arm but he said “let’s just deal with this operation first” so I left it at that....

To theatre at 10:30 and I wish I’d been able to take my camera to capture the sight of me in disposable slippers and hat with my disposable dressing gown on the wrong way round over my less than flattering robe...

Wheeled along to the anaesthetist’s room where, unlike last year, he was able to inject a blocker into my neck, having first located the nerve that made my arm jump up and down...

Next thing I knew I was in Recovery and, for some inexplicable reason, asking the nurse about Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band?!?...

It was 1:45...

There was not too much pain as I came round. My entire right arm and shoulder were numb from the blocker...

Snoozed on and off while I waited for the drip to empty into the back of my hand...

I had the best toast in the world (ever) then the surgeon came round and confirmed the operation had been a success...

I struggled to get dressed and had to prove I could pee under my own steam (so to speak) before being seen by the Physio...

I received a variety of painkillers as Anne arrived around 5:45 to take me home...

Still remarkably little pain – although by now I’d had one full dose of the drugs and the blocker still had around six hours to go until it wore off...

I had an insatiable urge for fish and chips and so we stopped off at the Bar-B-Q chippie on the way home..

Watched two episodes of Corrie and a programme on Shared Appreciation Mortgages then caught up with my e-mails and stuff while Anne watched “Doc Martin”. Ended the day with “University Challenge” and “Newsnight”...

However, upon retiring to bed, I found that if I lay down on my back or my “good” side (the only options), I couldn’t breathe – it was as if someone was kneeling full-force on my chest...

I tried sleeping sitting up whilst listening to the jukebox and was eventually able to lie flat at around 1:30, although I didn’t get much sleep as the pain started to kick in – so I listened on to the jukebox in shuffleplay mode...

Eventually, I couldn’t take anymore and got up at 4:28 am for more medication...

Highlight of the Day : Waking up in Recovery...

The mystery of the missing pie...

Playlist
Santana – Abraxas
Lucy Kaplansky – Live at the Beachland Ballroom Cleveland Ohio
Electric Light Orchestra - Discovery
Electric Light Orchestra – Time
Santana - III
New Order – Singles
Kraftwerk – Werke
The Rolling Stones – Out of Our Heads
Alice Cooper – The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper
Deep Purple – Rarities
The Rolling Stones – Goats’ Head Soup

Up at 7:30 and drove to buy some flowers for Anne re our anniversary today – of course I also couldn’t resist the offer of two 2CD sets for £10 and bought some Santana and some ELO – discovering later that I already have one of the ELO albums...



Having accomplished that mission, we set out for breakfast intending to go to Vittorio’s on Leith Walk – on arrival however, we found it doesn’t open on a Sunday till midday...

So we walked around the block to our old street (1983-1987), Montgomery Street and what was once a run down newsagent’s shop, now a mecca on two floors for the young trendy café set of the east end of Edinburgh, Renroc...



And very tasty it was too – coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice and an excellent cibatta each along with a leisurely skim of the Sunday papers...



Back home I continued the burning of the Lucy Kaplansky concert I downloaded the other day – we will see her playing at The Pleasance in December...

Anne finished off the cooking of our anniversary curry before Chris-with-a-Ch arrived – he has a 30Gb I-Pod and was looking for some music from my collection to help fill it up...

The meal was up to Anne’s usual standards with the lamb curry being preceded by home made pakoras – like our brunch this morning, it was deemed very tasty indeed by your correspondent...

Chris regaled us with tales of what young men get up to these days, including a short film on his mobile phone of one of his friends jumping into the river Forth in just his underpants following Scotland’s win yesterday...

Not recommended in October – or anytime of year really...

Chris left for a trip to his lady friend’s place out in Penicuik with two discs containing 27 albums in MP3 format to help him out re the almost empty I-Pod...

Meg the Black cat promptly disappeared and, two hours later, Mr Quartet was reduced to walking around the dimly lit neighbourhood in his slippers, shaking a small bag of cat biscuits, while Mrs Quartet resorted to getting the big torch out from under the stairs...

After around thirty minutes of this, Meg strolled in the back door from who knows what hiding place – no doubt she’d been watching us all along...



The cat search spoiled our viewing of John Bird and John Fortune’s South Bank Show profile and then it was time for bed before tomorrow’s return to the infirmary...

Highlight of the Day : Honeymoon breakfast...

The Count, the Doctor and the plain old Mister...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Ersatzreal
Dream Theater – Dark Side of the Moon
Kraftwerk – Werke
New Order – Singles
Deep Purple - Rarities
Pink Floyd – The Wall Demos
The Rolling Stones – Out of Our Heads
The Rolling Stones – Goats’ Head Soup

Up early and updated the diary before setting off to the podiatrist for my regular toe therapy session...

Back home for breakfast with Anne having purchased some rolls and our weekly lottery ticket (no winnings yet again)...

Then I burned a copy of Dream Theater’s live rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” for Dr Prog and set off to Count Brodski’s to pick up Alan and Penny and take them into town...

Alan and I met up with the good doctor at the Record Fair and spent an interesting hour or so browsing though the wares...



I bought discs by Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Kraftwerk and New Order – total outlay? £8 including the £1 entrance fee to the fair – and fair it was, as you can’t say fairer than that etc etc...

Brodski shelled out considerably more than me for various items including a vinyl copy of Tangerine Dream’s classic “Phaedra” album (one of my all time faves) and a single by, erm, Bob Seger...

The Doctor of Prog appeared to partake of nothing but was thrilled with his Dream Theater disc having thoroughly enjoyed their show in Glasgow on Thursday night...

To Starbuck’s for a refreshing coffee (chocolate for the Count) and wraps for the boys and some delicious Dutch Biscuits for Mr Quartet. Penny rejoined us and was somewhat flummoxed by our chat re Emerson Lake and Palmer and the mighty Yes, of whom the Pennster had not heard (she is young...)

We bade each other farewell and I drove Brodski over to a work scenario in Portobello to the exciting sounds of his favourite group of all time, Kraftwerk...

Then a leisurely drive home via the coastal route to Crispycat Towers to pick up Anne. We headed to Jane & Bobby’s for the Scotland v Ukraine game (they have Sky, we don’t)...



Unbelievably, Scotland were up 2-0 after just 10 minutes – at one stage though, possession was shown as 63/37 in the Ukrainians’ favour...

2-1 at half time and I foolishly predicted a 4-2 win for the Ukraine. In the event, a glorious 3-1 victory was achieved by the plucky Scotsmen...

Still top of a group containing the World Champions and Runners Up and one of the Quarter finalists...

Meanwhile England, in their group of minnows and fairly rubbish opposition in general (I am not biased), won 3-0 against Estonia – one mistakenly dribbled through the keeper’s legs, one mighty deflection and an excellent header in off the post from the edge of the penalty box (by an Estonian defender)...

To cap a good day for them, their rugby team has unexpectedly made the World Cup final – but that is, of course, the Diddy World Cup...

In the evening it was the usual double header of “Strictly Come Dancing” (which I avoided, preferring instead to tidy the back room to the sounds of the Rolling Stones – discovering their version of “Hitch Hike” is on one of the discs purchased today – I am familiar only with Alice Cooper’s own 1965 version which they recorded in order to sound like the Stones) and “Robin Hood” which is absolute rubbish but somehow watchable..

I collected a lovely Chinese Takeaway and we enjoyed this with a bottle of champagne, a present from Anne’s mum for our anniversary tomorrow, while watching last night’s “Ugly Betty”, before falling asleep during “Sportscene” after witnessing, once again, Scotland’s glorious triumph...

A good day

Highlight of the Day : Scotland’ eighth win in a row...

Tragedy plus time equals comedy

Playlist

Dream Theater – Singles 1992-2005 (CD-R) 

George Benson – The George Benson Cookbook 

Kenny Burrell – Kenny Burrell 

Deep Purple – Anthology

 Creek – 2008 

Television – Adventure 

Lucy Kaplansky – Every Single Day 

Kraftwerk – Radioactivity 

Del Amitri – Hatful of Rain 

After copying a recipe from the internet for Chicken Tikka Masala, which Anne had just seen made on some cookery competition show or other on ITV, we set off for an evening’s entertainment - for tonight we had been invited to Count and Countess Brodski’s for tea... 

Alan and Penny were in great form and we enjoyed Penny’s lovely home made lasagne with salad and crusty bread, while Alan played sommelier with some tasty red wine... 

With the excellent post-meal coffee, we were surprised by a zesty sponge cake which Penny had also made with her own fair hands (or rather flower, sugar, water and zest and stuff) which was presented with sparkling sparklers in celebration of our 24th wedding anniversary – the good Count was our best man on that Friday all those years ago...

   

As the night progressed and several more bottles of wine, both red and rose, along with copious amounts of gin, tonic and beer were consumed by the intrepid trio (I was driving), the conversation, understandably, became slightly obtuse at times but was of course always entertaining...

   

The Count revealed the details behind his strange text a couple of weeks back, when he pulled out of an intended visit to the jazz bar citing “health issues”... 

The problem he had is far too sensitive and, frankly, painful, to relate here.... 

Suffice to say, we overcame the nature of the discussion of the events in question by falling back on the much used old Woody Allen adage, “tragedy plus time equals comedy”...

Thankfully, non-life threatening, the situation will be resolved in a few months time with the kind of surgery which we boys are loathe to contemplate at any length...

Owya!!

The drinking and carousing continued long into the night, with Anne and I returning to Crispycat Towers around 1:30 am with the promise having been made that I would return to Brodski Manor at 10:30 tomorrow morning to drive the duo into town – for this week there really is a Record Fair happening...

Highlight of the Day : A visit to Chez Brodski

Two Jims and Spanish fanboys...

Playlist
Various - Jukebox Shuffleplay
Dream Theater - Once in a Livetime
Dream Theater - Live at Budokan
Dream Theater - Score

More orders arrived for the new CD today, while I posted others out...

I had been planning to go through to Glasgow tonight with Dr Prog to see Deam Theater supported by Symphony X - a veritable night of progtastic sounds - however, thinking I would be two days on from my shoulder op, I had pulled out...

With the op falling through until Monday, at lunchtime I tried to get a ticket, but to no avail. Dr Prog very kindly rang the box office and was advised there was a good chance I'd get one on the door...

All things considered though, including current arm pain, I decided just to stay in with some Dream Theater live CDs instead - and so, for the second week running, Dr Prog was in Glasgow enjoying some excellent music live, while I played some of the same in my living room - Anne was out with best chum Lynn...



Spent some time today discussing upgrades to the Crispycat website with webmeister Craig and also added listening buttons to my last two song albums, "Deeperdown" and "Anotherhappyday" on the music page - which you can also hear by clicking on the links in the Crispycat Jukebox over to the right on this page...

Bouyed by a fan e-mail from Spain for both CBQ and the elusive Edward Spark, whose e.p. from 2005 has been the subject of recent investment...

Profit? 24p per disc...

Rock'n'roll...

Apparently I also almost inadvertantly ruined Comedian Jim Park's laptop with my description of hospital food - sorry Jimbo!

More buoyancy provided too by a new offer from old chum Jim Igoe of Out of the Bedroom founding fame...

Highlight of the Day : Website activity

Good news today x 6...

Playlist
Isaac Hayes – Hot Buttered Soul
Pet Shop Boys – Fundamentalism
John Abercrombie – Timeless
Edward Spark – She Don’t Like Techno
Creek - 2008

Good news today...

1. Operation rescheduled for Monday
2. More beats from Craig re "Creek 2008"
3. "Spooks" returns to TV next Tuesday
4. Anne cooked a lovely dinner – steak with mushrooms, asparagus and mashed potatoes
5. "Heroes" was fine again tonight
6. Spent some considerable time preparing CDs to ship around the world

What more could I wish for?

Highlight of the Day : Operation rescheduled

A day sitting in a chair...

Playlist
Various – Jukebox Shuffleplay
Creek – Demo Beats for 2008 Album
CBQ – A Day Sitting In A Chair

In 1998, I wrote and recorded an 18 minute instrumental piece of music entitled “A Day Sitting In A Chair” – I can’t remember exactly why I called it that, no doubt it’s a line from Brian Eno’s 1995 diary, “A Year With Swollen Appendices”, but perhaps I named it for today...

Up at 6:30 and left the house just after seven...

Drove round the City Bypass to the poorly positioned Edinburgh Royal Infirmary – for today was to be the day of my right shoulder operation...

It may have been an omen that we arrived, as instructed, at the Day Surgery Department, only to be told I wasn’t on the list....

A quick check of the computer and I was advised I’d been transferred to Ward 208...

We walked back outside to the main entrance, through the labyrinthine halls of the hospital, to said ward...

“We’ve got a problem with the beds” I was told “We don’t have any free at the moment so everyone’s having to wait in the day room”....

I took a look into this small room to find it packed with all the other poor souls waiting on procedures and no space for me...

It was 7:35 am when I was given a seat out in the corridor...

At 2:30 pm after having read most of Mr Eno’s diary (again) and several of the swollen appendices, I asked what was happening, because the battery in my trusty Jukebox was dying a death...

At this point the staff discovered a bed had been lying empty for some considerable time...

And so I was led to Ward 209 and told to get into the gown provided, in preparation for the op and was fitted with my ID wristband...



Around 3:35 pm, the anaesthetist came by and took notes and told me what would be happening during the procedure...

And then I waited, with some trepidation, for the process to begin...

I psyched myself up - I projected myself forward to the point where I woke up in Recovery - but, alas, it wasn't to be...

At 5:15pm the surgeon’s assistant came by and told me, rather matter-of-factly, that the operation was cancelled as they’d run out of time...

Very disappointed, and not a little hungry, having eaten nothing since 7:30 last night, I welcomed the evening menu - the food provided however, left much to be desired - over-microwaved soup of an indistinct nature, cod in a cheese sauce which had a certain je-ne-sais-quoi about it and a so-called fruit trifle, the fruit element of which was still frozen...

Not tasty...

Anne phoned to see how I was getting on – she set off immediately to pick me up, arriving around 45 minutes later – and a further 45 minutes later we were back home...

Apparently the surgeon’s secretary will “write to me with a revised date”...

Compare and contrast with last November’s op at the private Murrayfield Hospital (even though the op was done on the NHS using Murrayfield under a special initiative to alleviate waiting lists)...

Arrived 7:30, to theatre 9:00, recovery at 11:00, discharged at 5:00...

How much money does the NHS actually need to make it work efficiently? Where do our taxes go exactly? Down the drain it appears...

On the upside, webmeister Craig has produced a second and indeed a third new rhythm bed for the 2008 Creek album – now that's what I call tasty...

And so I'm back home and, in the evening, we watched the first of the new "Ugly Betty" series - it'll take me a couple to get back into it - then "CSI Miami" - the usual nonsense - and "Newsnight" within which the latest spin and subterfuge of the Labour Government was not quite exposed as much as it ought to be...

Highlight of the Day : Some new Creek beats...

Welcome distractions...

Playlist
Alice Cooper - The Best of the Alice Cooper Group 1971-73 (2CD-R)
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Ersatzreal
Dream Theater - Octavarium
The Divine Comedy - A Secret History
The Bad Plus - Prog
Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing
No Man - Together We're Stranger
Cowboy Junkies - Crescent Moon

Launched the new album this morning and yesterday with various announcements and e-mails - more to come post the op tomorrow...



Orders coming in already but of course there's a postal strike at present...

A quiet night in was brightened up by a visit from James Jamieson, who called round to borrow the main mic from Crispycat Studio - he's looking to record a new album at the end of the month...

We sat around listening to music for a few hours and generally chewing the fat about this, that and the next thing...

Took my mind off tomorrow - I seem to be far more concerned this time than last November when I had my left shoulder "done"...

Ended the night watching the highlights of Saturday's Hearts game with Anne...

Highight of the Day : A visit from James Jamieson

Upload, upload, upload...

Playlist
Creek - 1.0.0
Alfred Schnittke - String Quartets 1-3
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Ampersand
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Anotherhappyday
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Deeperdown
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Ersatzreal

Spent much of the day uploading MP3s and creating the Crispycat Jukebox for this site (see right)...

Firstly, uploaded 10 minute excerpts from each of the four discs in the Creek anthology which goes live tomorrow...

Then, whilst enjoying Mr Schnittke's string quartets, prepared more material for t'internet...



Out for breakfast and a wee walk around Stockbridge...

Back home, Anne watched her new favourites, Sunderland, go down to Arsenal, then Gretna beating Celtic for 80 minutes before succumbing to two quick goals and losing...

To Anne's mum's for the birthday tea for Jane and Maureen - young Ollie was particularly annoying today having seemingly developed a propensity for screaming...

His sister Kitty, on the other hand, was perfectly behaved and a wee angel...

Out at night to The Listening Room for Ian Sclater's performance - only to find it postponed and the room full of rugby fans watching Scotland v Argentina on the telly...

Home again for "Match of the Day 2" and then "Heroes" then bed...

Highlight of the Day : More CBQ MP3s uploaded...

Searching, finding, achieving...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Ersatzreal
Mendelsohn - String Quartets
Various Composers - 100 Best Baroque
The Divine Comedy - A Secret History
The Divine Comedy - Fin de Siecle
Four Tet - Remixes
Edward Spark - She Don't Like Techno EP
Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain
Daryl Hall - Sacred Songs
Faithless - Forever Faithless
The Rolling Stones - The London Years
King Tubby - Crucial Dub
Genesis - Carpet Crawl '99
Rush - Snakes & Arrows
Various - Acoustic 3
King Crimson - A Young Person's Guide to King Crimson
Bob Dylan - Masterpieces
Lou Reed - NYC Man

Up around 5:30 and I was a man with a mission - and that mission was to research how I could put my music up on the net in full quality MP3 format without running out of webspace on the Crispycat website...

Without going into all the trial and error scenarios, suffice to say I eventually succeeded and, after around three hours, the new album was up and available for all and sundry to dip into and the Crispycat site had been amended allowing people to hear, with a couple of mouse clicks, exactly what I've been working on for the last two years...

Tomorrow I will add some Creek to the site - I'm listening to "1.0.0" as I type this up...

After some dish washing with the masters of the baroque and breakfast accompanied by Mendelssohn's string quartets, which I saw on Robert Fripp's diary the other day, he has been partaking of too, and some tweaking of the new online music facility, we headed uptown around 11 for the Record Fair with Count Brodski and Dr Prog...

As we walked along to the venue I received a text from Brodski - no Record Fair, his information was wrong...

Some communication by mobile allowed the four musketeers to meet up at FOPP instead...

As usual, I spent some considerable time walking around with CDs in my hand which I knew I'd never listen to (much), e.g. Ted Nugent, Ben Harper, The Clash, Gene Simmons - but, in the end I bought just one disc, a best of collection from The Divine Comedy - a band I never liked until earlier this year when one of their songs popped up on Pitchfork and I immediately put them on the radar...

Brodski partook of a Laura Nyro album while the good doctor availed himself of "Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds" on DVD and a 2 disc set of John Wetton and John Payne era Asia...

Meanwhile, Anne wandered around, bumping into each of us at different stages of the select and purchase ritual and, generally, waited for the point where we could all just go for a coffee...

That point eventually arrived and we sat outside Jenners enjoying come Kaffee and Kuchen (or chicken sandwiches in Dr Prog's case and Hot Chocolate instead of coffee for the Count)...



With an agreement in place (post-op shoulder pain dependent) to meet up a week on Wednesday for the viewing of the 1978 Peter Gabriel concert and, possibly, dinner for Anne and I at Brodski Manor next weekend in celebration of our 24th wedding anniversary, we bade each other farewell and headed off into the sun...

Once home, Anne prepared for her visit to Tynecastle (Hearts 4 Falkirk 2 - both Falkirk goals were blatently offside) while I continued to work on "stuff" including copies of "Ersatzreal" for sister in law Jane ("she'll never listen to that" opined Anne) and brother-in-law Keith's partner, Maureen - they each celebrate a birthday on Wednesday and it is the birthday tea tomorrow night...

Also listened to the divine Divine Comedy and burned another album of theirs I've had on the hard drive for a while and a Four Tet 2CD set, while printing off covers for six albums burned last month...

Meanwhile Queens were beaten at home by Dr Prog's favourites, Dunfermline, 1-0...

QoS had a penalty saved in the last minute - they are now down to 9th spot and have taken just one point from the last possible nine - it's not looking good...

In the evening, "Strictly Come Dancing" started again followed by the new series of "Robin Hood" - both are tosh but will no doubt become Saturday night favourites over the coming months...

While Anne read up about Hearts and just how much Falkirk's two goals today were offside, I listened to a few records before we retired to the living room for "Match of the Day" - Aston Villa were lucky to win today - I omitted to mention I watched a sterling fightback against them by sister Pam's team Spurs on Monday night, 4-1 down back to 4-4 with the equalising goal in the last seconds of injury time...

All in all a busy rewarding day - trying not to think about Tuesday....

Highlight of the Day : Putting up my MP3s and meeting up with chums...

Starting prices...

Playlist
Bill Rieflin - Birth of A Giant
Devics - The Stars of St Andreas
James Jamieson - Thirteen Songs
Rheostatics - Best of (2CD-R)

Off to the hospital this morning for the pre-op...

Good to get it officially confirmed that I am obese...

My blood pressure is normal though, 120/80, so that's not bad...

One downside of the consultation is that the pins and needles in my right arm and hand are apparently nothing to do with the shoulder...

During the day, a discussion with webmeister Craig re the quality of the tracks at Crispycat which are available for listening, led me to research a way to store full MP3 files "off-site" and link to them to allow more condusive-to-buying-my-CDs style listening for visitors to the site...

It's important I achieve this before releasing the new album on Monday - especially as I can't promote it live due to the upcoming operation...

Here's one of the pics on the sleeve...



News too of another record fair tomorrow - Count Brodski and Dr Prog will be in attendance...

In the evening, after copious amounts of wine and a tasty lasagne at Bar Roma with Anne, Michelle and Karaoke Tracey, it was out to a Breast Cancer fund raiser - a race night...

A good time was had by all, including old chum Ian Sclater, who'll be doing a 45 minute set at The Listening Room on Sunday night...

Back home, we watched tonight's "My Name is Earl" before retiring somewhat the worse for wear...

Highlight of the Day : Race Night

Rush, push, dash...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Tracks dumped from Ersatzreal
Rush - R30 DVD
King Crimson - Eyes Wide Open DVD
King Crimson - Heavy ConstruKction (CD 3 Improvs)

Anne was out tonight so, forgetting we had some of her lovely pasta left over from last night, I treated myself to a Chinese and watched the first half of Aberdeen's European game - a 1-1 draw ended an exceptional week for Scotland's teams...

I heeded what the old guy at Partick Thistle said a couple of weeks ago though...

Why should you support Scottish teams in Europe other than your own? If they do well, they make financial gains which merely widens the gap between them and your own team...

Fair enough...

After wasting time on the PC, I watched Rush's "R30" DVD, filmed during their tour in 2004 - which Anne and I saw, kind of. We had to crane our necks for 3 hours at the Glasgow SECC just to see the tops of the wonder-trio's heads...



So, this year, when the tour was announced and I saw it was to be the SECC again, I passed, preferring instead to watch them in the comfort of my own home...

Thanks to old music buddy Mr Rip Reynolds for pointing me in the direction of the Scotsman's review of last night's show - wonder of wonders - a fair review of a gig by an unfashionable band...

The truth will out...

Fell asleep watching King Crimson - due to tiredness, not the quality of the music - before receiving the call to go and collect a rather worse for wear Anne...

Home again in time to see This week...

Highlight of the Day : Rush

Shock to the system...

Playlist
Kronos Quartet - Phillip Glass String Quartets 2-5
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Ersatzreal
Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out

A shock today as, in the mail, came a letter from the infirmary...

I am to go on Friday morning for my pre-op check-up and next Tuesday is the day of my shoulder operation...

I knew it was coming but I thought I'd have a bit more notice...

Of course I am immediately trepidatious (if that's a word), more so after going back and reading about my op last year and the aftermath thereof...

This time it's the right shoulder so I may very well look like this a week today...



Out in the evening to Count Brodski's ex-girlfirend and our (and his) continuing chum, Julie's, for she has given birth, just six weeks ago, to Daisy Honey-Bee - yes I know, stupid name but there are reasons behind it...

Julie's not had a great time of it over the last few years but the baby is her dream come true...

DHB is very small and resembles Elvis Presley in his 50's prime...

Back home and we ended the night watching a fairly pointless yet engaging documentary on the children who sang on Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall Pt 2"...

To bed with dread...

Highlight of the Day : An introduction to Daisy Honey-Bee

Accidental erasure and intentional gushing...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Erstazreal
Mendelssohn - String Quartets 1-6

Watched football – Rangers away at Lyon managed an impressive 3-0 victory while Arsenal won 1-0 as did Man Utd...

As usual I got bored just after half time and came upstairs to do some stuff on the PC...

Webmeister Craig has updated the Crispycat site with the details of “Ersatzreal” but, in doing so, accidentally erased my “Complete Discography” from the music page...

It took me 2.5 hours to put it back, however, that gave me a golden opportunity to enjoy some more string quartets by Mr Mendelssohn, having purchased this 3 disc set in the HMV sale today...



Tasty...

Some really exciting stuff over on Robert Fripp's diary (exciting for me anyway and people like me). Fripp is remastering some of my all time favourite music i.e his two albums recorded in the mid 70's with Brian Eno, "Fripp & Eno (No Pussyfooting)" and "Evening Star"...

He is only now discovering the wonder of playing "The Heavenly Music corporation" at 16 RPM rather than the standard 33 and a 1/3rd RPM - a delight I first encountered at the tender age of 15 in 1974...

And, wonder of wonders, he has unearthed the tape loops he and Eno used in their famous Paris concert of 1975 and is contemplating reusing them and recording new solos over the top...

Oh yes - if this comes to anything I will be ecstatic...

OK that's enough gushing...

Highlight of the Day : Possible new Fripp & Eno...

Get the fire brigade, etc

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Erstazreal
Depeche Mode – The Singles 86-98
Mendelssohn- String Quartet No 6
Gary Jukes – Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets
Mozart – Serenade Gran Partita

Helped Anne cook a chicken tonight by putting it into the already heated up oven as she went off to keep fit class...

All went well until she returned to find the kitchen and dining room full of smoke and me obliviously watching TV in the living room...

She advises it’s like living with a teenager...

Notwithstanding my faux pas, the chicken turned out fine and dandy, though Crispycat Towers was rather more smelly than usual...

Whilst the smoke gathered in the rear of the house, I listened to an excellent Mendelssohn string quartet whilst perusing the paper, then answered an amazing 21 questions on University Challenge – though it may only have been 16 as I was counting on my fingers...

Meg the Black Cat is possibly becoming Meg the Sock Cat – not content with hogging my sock drawer, she’s now been drawn to my socks in the washing basket...



Highlight of the Day : Not burning the house down...