Thursday, January 31, 2008

Chairman of the bored....

Playlist
Richard Shindell - Vuelta
Richard Shindell - Somewhere Near Patterson
Richard Shindell - Sparrows Point
Various - Invictus Club Classics
Various - Invictus Club Classics Vol 2
Lee Morgan – City Lights
Art Blakey – A Night in Tunisia
Cecil Taylor – Conquistador!
Jaco Pastorius - Word of Mouth
The Concert of Sound - 21st Century Classics

OK so I find going to the gym thee most boring thing in the world - but I need some exercise and I'm not yet ready to resume five-a-sides on a weekly basis so, basically, it's walking...

Every weekday morning, after walking down the hill from Crispycat Towers to catch the bus, I'll be alighting at Haymarket and walking into the town centre and, as has been the case for some time now, around lunchtime, I will be seen trudging along the length of the Princes St parallel Rose St to FOPP and back...

Of course this means that, most days I'll need to buy a CD or a book or a DVD or something to go into the big skip when I snuff it (or to Dr Prog and Count Brodski's collections should they outlive me)...

Today, two £1 compilations of tunes from the Invictus Label - top stuff - 42 tracks for two quid - has the world gone mad???



Then on the way home, I will reclimb the hill to Crispycat Towers - all the while enjoying the offerings of the Jukeboxes...

But not tonight - a wee drink and then, much to my surprise it transpired Anne was still out and about at 9pm with chum Lynn, having been out for lunch earlier in the day - so I joined them for a swift half and an Americano at All Bar One before Lynn's Ross came to pick us up and take us home....

While Anne listened to the happenings surrounding the transfer window - I wrote up the last three days of this nonsense whilst listening tracks from the last few CD acquisitions as I converted them to MP3 and added them to the famous jukeboxes...

...which included a couple more from e-bay too...

Highlight of the Day : Beer and Coffee with Anne and Lynn

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Handball ref - ref, handball - och for f.....

Playlist
Various – Jukebox Shuffleplay
Erasure – Nightbird
Lee Morgan – City Lights
Art Blakey – A Night in Tunisia
Cecil Taylor – Conquistador
Natalie Merchant – Motherland/Ophelia/Tigerlily
John Coltrane – Dakar
KD Lang – All You can Eat
Heligoland – Pitcher Flask & Foxy Moxie
Lucia Micarelli – Music From A Farther Room
Allan Neave – The Isle Is Full Of Noises
Wes Montgomery – Finest Hour
Bernd Satzinger’s Wurschtsemmerl - Same

The unrelenting acquisition of CDs bought for no other reason than they are perceived by me to be “a bargain” continued apace today, with a further fourteen entering the red book, kept since my first CD, Brian Eno’s “Thursday Afternoon” twenty three years ago...

Up early and left Anne still a-slumbering as I visited the doctor and received an “all clear but watch yourself” scenario from my new bestest friend who bears the same name as my brother-in-law and my song-writing nephew...

A new mindset is required in relation to my overall food intake otherwise I’ll be dead in ten years or less...

With that happy message ringing in my ears, we were off to Glasgow for a day’s shopping followed by the CIS CUP Semi Final between Glasgow Rangers and Heart of Midlothian – tickets purchased before Hearts’ season went down the pan...

Arrived in town around 11:15 and drove out beyond Hampden, parking at Kings Park...





....from where we took a train back to Central Station, arriving around midday...




After a nice sandwich at “Breadito”, we split up, with me visiting record and, surprise, surprise, clothes shops and Anne visiting shops she liked...

A few hours later, we met up, me having bought ten new CDs – seven from FOPP, two from Missing and one from Borders and Anne having succeeded in acquiring an “outfit” for her brother Keith’s wedding in the summer along with sundry other clothing purchases and me surprising everyone with having also procured four new shirts...


We went to my new favourite Glasgow coffee shop, "Ten"...





...where we enjoyed some lovely coffee - a machiato for me...




A superb early evening meal was had at Fratelli Sarti on Renfield Street (highly recommended - two course plus coffee for £9.95 – drinks on top)...





....before we headed back out to Kings Park on a train full of singing Hearts supporters...



The game was overshadowed by the crushing inevitability of a Rangers victory however, when the breakthrough finally came, a few minutes into the second half, the Gers’ captain Barry Ferguson clearly handled before firing a fierce volley into the net...

The injustice effectively ended any hope Hearts had of progressing and a further, legitimate, goal, killed the game after 68 minutes – we stayed till the bitter end though and suffered the further injustices of various pointless police switching off of traffic lights and blocking of roundabouts which delayed our return to Crispycat Towers via a circuitous route involving the M74 to Carlisle...

Back home, a further four discs were behind the door from e-bay and I listened to a few tracks from my new purchases, which succeeded in cheering me up...




Meg the Black Cat pondered whether any of the new discs might be edible...

Of course we’d forgotten to record “Torchwood”, “Reaper” and “Coronation St”, although Anne watched the repeated late showing of the last of these and we retired well beyond midnight...

Highlight of the Day : A day in Glasgow

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Uneventful birthday....

Playlist
Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind
Bob Dylan – Love and Theft
Bob Dylan – Modern Times
Bob Dylan – Dylan
Joe Zawinul – Faces and Places
Lizst – Annees de Pelerinage Vols 1-3
Chris Spedding – Motorbikin’ Live 1991

A day of (mostly) Dylan – perhaps inspiring me for the next CBQ album? Who knows what goes on in my head...

From e-bay 3 discs of Liszt’s piano music, an excellent world music/jazz disc for the late, great Weather Reporter Joe Zawinul....



...and a misleading Chris Spedding disc bought thinking it was a best of but turning out to be an inferior seventeen year old concert...

Music for cooking and dish washing only...

Made my own pasta dish tonight as Anne, despite it being her birthday, was a little under the weather but hopefully back to 100% for tomorrow’s trip to Glasgow. My cooking proved that Anne is the master and I am a foolish apprentice...

On TV, “CSI” was good but we couldn’t stay up for “Law & Order : Criminal Intent” and so taped it instead...

Not much of a birthday for a poor ill Milano...

Highlight of the Day : Joe Zawinul from beyond the grave

Monday, January 28, 2008

Carpenter music...

Playlist
Various – Jazz & Classical Shuffleplay
Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind

It seemed every other track on shuffleplay today was by jazz saxophonist, Joe Henderson - which is no bad thing - some excellent blowing, man....

To FOPP today and, despite the impending avalanche of jiffy bags, I purchased the last three Bob Dylan albums, with my decision being based on the tracks from each included on the triple CD set I bought last week (and the fact that I was able to get all three for £10)...



A call in the afternoon from James Jamieson, who's been off the radar for far too long. Turns out he has a gig coming up on 6 Feb - at the same club (Secret CDs) where I'm due my first outing of 2008 on March 5...

Crispycat Recordings will revamp his 2004 album "Precious" for the gig, with the addition of some new, acoustic tracks...

At FOPP, I also purchased a couple of DVDs - "Robots" (from the makers of "Ice Age") and the original Batman movie from 1966 - back when it was fun....

As a kid I used to watch every episode and was an avid collector of the Bubble Gum cards. So I spent the early evening watching this and very enjoyable it was too...

Home made soup for tea tonight then I nipped out for some flowers, card and presents for Anne’s birthday tomorrow....

Of the Dylan, so far I’ve only listened to the first, “Time Out of Mind” and it’s mighty good...

Only watched one other thing on TV tonight and that was Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” but it was very much a case of quality over quantity - wing donation (anonymous v named), the laws of dry cleaning, masturbation...

Very funny indeed...

Highlight of the Day : Larry David again

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Quiet, loud, quiet, loud etc etc

Playlist
It Bites – The Big Lad in the Windmill
It Bites – Once Around the World
It Bites – Eat Me In St Louis
Francis Dunnery – It Bites (CD-R)
James – Laid
James – Millionaires
James – Pleased to Meet You
Handel – 10 Concerti Grossi
Various – Motown Dance Party
Dave Edmunds – Subtle As a Flying Mallet
Explosions in the Sky – All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone

Up early again - and spent some time transferring CDs onto the Jukebox again...

I suddenly rediscovered the brilliance of It Bites and dug out all their CD singles to add too...

Made a couple of lists of early 1970’s music for no reason in particular other than I like to remember those simple times when all I did was play football in the park and listen to records in my room...

Breakfast at 10:30, then out to the Dean Gallery as they had a small exhibition of surrealism – however, the main exhibition was of the work of architect Sir Basil Spence, father of much of what is worst of 1960’s architecture and designer of, amongst other things, Coventry Cathedral and the Crematorium where my dad was cremated almost five years ago – and where I’ve seen many others dispatched too...



Lovely mushroom and tarragon soup for lunch in the café...

Back home I listened to music while Anne watched footie before I took her to her mum’s for the family tea which, tonight I missed...

I was off to Glasgow for the Texan four piece, Explosions in the Sky...

Count Brodski ought to have been with me but a clash with a Polish (not Czech - thanks Mr Stu Cobley) stag weekend in Krakow won the day...

Opening act was Matthew Cooper from Portland, Oregon who goes by the name Eluvium – just him, his guitar, some piano sounds, a laptop and some looping technology – I was impressed!

Explosions in the Sky played for over 90 minutes virtually non-stop, moving from very quiet to very loud over and over again with high register guitar lines and non-continuous rhythmic drumming – by the time they finished I’d had enough really – but that didn’t stop me from listening to their LP in the car on the way home (as I had done going) and, generally liking their music and admiring their prowess...



What annoyed me most was (as usual with gigs these days) the audience, with their constant wandering to and fro and incessant chatter to each other and texting on their phones – whatever happened to respecting the performer?

Home and checked e-bay – far too many of my bids have been successful and there will be a few CDs popping through the door over the next week or so...

Highlight of the Day : Rediscovering It Bites

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Vino collapso...

Playlist
Bob Dylan – Dylan
Various – Motown Dance Party Vol 2
Handel – 10 Concerti Grossi
Alice Cooper –School’s Out
The Killers – Hot Fuss
Tortoise – Standards
Robert Fripp – Arny’s Shack 1 January 1980
JS Bach – St John’s Passion
Icehouse – The Berlin Tapes

Twenty eight years today since the sweet thrill of industry was captured...

Up at 6 and continued the ongoing process of transferring “worthy” albums to the jukebox (it takes around 10 mins per album) – I’m up to “H” and “I”...

Meg the Black Cat advised she was in charge of the computer...



Out solo to the podiatrist – half an hour early by mistake, so to the nearby deli for a quick coffee with Mr Dylan on the headphones...

Post footwork back home...

The last two of the seven CDs purchased recently on e-bay arrived in the post - a Motown compilation and Handel's Concerti Grossi - along with my ticket for Explosions in the Sky tomorrow night from Count Brodsi...

After toast and coffee, we walked for the bus into town – we are researching trips...

A healthy filled roll for lunch and then back home – where I foolishly returned to e-bay and ended up bidding for around 20 CDs – I am mad – hopefully my bids won’t all come to fruition!

For the first time in a while, a double win for our teams today, both away from home – Queens beating Dundee 3-2, much against the odds, while Hearts overcame Aberdeen 1-0...

In the evening, the family January meal, which replaces the purchase of any meaningful Xmas presents, and we visited McKirdie’s Steakhouse, after drinks at Cuba Norte...

For me, a lovely starter of sautéed chicken livers followed by sirloin steak with mushrooms, mustard mash and veg – v tasty indeed...

No pudding...

The restaurant has a BYOB policy and we’d taken two bottles of Chianti, of which I consumed more than was good for me...

As can be seen from some of the pics below...



Bus home, Harry Hill on tape, sleepy-peepy....

Highlight of the Day : Another nice meal

Friday, January 25, 2008

You can't make a cat laugh...

Playlist
Various – Jukebox Shuffleplay
Yes – Keys to Ascension
Girls Aloud – Tangled Up

Friday night used to be takeaway night and regular visitors will know that we used to (too) often indulge in Indian, Chinese or Italian takeaways more than once a week but now, with the new regime, we are eating home cooked food at every opportunity...

Tonight, Anne made a delicious North Indian Lamb Curry (from scratch) which was as tasty as any takeway and, hopefully, a lot more healthy...



These days I find it hard to drag myself away from the TV on a Friday evening and so it was I found myself repeating last week’s viewing....

2 x “Coronation St” (with a 30 minute e-bay/Yes DVD break)...

“Moving Wallpaper/Echo Beach” – I’m losing interest a bit in the soap but the first part re its production is still good...

“Al Murray’s Happy Hour” – what a funny man ...



Not according to Meg the Black Cat though...

Ended the day considering buying all the old Girls Aloud CD singles to get the non-album tracks – but I probably won’t...

Bad news for Cheryl Cole in the papers today – my immediate and rather selfish thought was “I hope it doesn’t damage the group” – how pathetic of me...



Highlight of the Day : Lovely home cooking - again

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Chicken and chorizo'ish...

Playlist
Various – Jukebox Shuffleplay
Queensryche – Operation Mindcrime
Eurythmics – Greatest Hits
Goldfrapp – Black Cherry
Explosions in the Sky – All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone

To physio today and young Mary-Jane was impressed with the big man’s movements and added a couple more excruciatingly painful scenarios to the list...

Anne’s cooking took centre stage tonight – her chicken on a bed of cherry tomato and onion sauce was enhanced by the inclusion of some spicy chorizo and accompanied by asparagus and green beans and a bottle of cheeky Italian red...

Then, while Anne watched “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, I listened to the three discs which arrived from e-bay (initially whilst doing the dishes and tidying up the kitchen) – a classic of eighties US prog from Queensryche, an eighties goldmine of hits from Eurythmics, and an electronic tour de force from Alison Goldfrapp...


Ended the day with the Thursday night staples of “Question Time” and “This Week”

Lights out tonight with Explosions in the Sky following a text from Count Brodski who’s off to Poland this weekend and so who can’t attend Sunday’s gig in Glasgow – for which he’s apparently posted me a ticket...


What a nice man..

Highlight of the Day : Lovely home cooking

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Devilish...

Playlist
Various – Jukebox Shuffleplay
Faure – Complete Piano Music

As you knew would happen, I finally succumbed to the lure of the 4 disc box of Faure’s complete piano music – recorded by Mr Jean Hubeau just a couple of years before he died...

And very beautiful it is too...


Spent much of my time today listening to this and it put me in mind of another 4 disc set I have – Debussy’s complete piano music – one of my all time favourite classical sets....

On TV, the debut tonight of new US show “Reaper” which I found to be excellent – one of those shows where, whilst watching, I found myself thinking “I could watch this all day if they were to just make it so that it did that”...


Elsewhere, “Torchwood” continued – it’s still getting better but just isn’t quite where it ought to be yet....

Between these two, the first episode of “Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA” – more repeated scenes than the UK version (US attention span difficulties?) but, essentially, the same set up and just as fascinating – if I was thinking of opening a restaurant, he’s the man I’d want telling me what to “fucking” do...

Lights out...

Highlight of the Day : Reaper

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Drivel quotient high....

Playlist
Various – Jazz & Classical on Shuffleplay
Handel – Violin Sonatas/Oboe Sonatas
Mozart – 100 Best Mozart
Electronic – Raise the Pressure
Ferry Corsten – Mixmag 03/06
Bob Dylan – Dylan
Cimarosa - Overtures

As I lay on the music room floor last night doing the exercises which will hopefully one day allow my right arm to return to normal, I had this view of my guitar, which I’ve not played now since early September...



The sky was red this morning but the forecast snow never materialised...



At FOPP I succumbed to my 3rd £3 Yes DVD in recent weeks, this time the classic line up reunion concert from 1996 “Keys to Ascension” – I have both of the double CD sets which feature the concert and accompanying studio recordings...

Also restarted my search for 18th Century music with a disc of Cimarosa’s opera overtures - apparently, other than Herr Mozart, he’s the only composer whose operas have been performed continuously since his lifetime. Mr Cimarosa was very popular indeed in the late 1700s...

Also fell for the latest 3CD retrospective from Bob Dylan...

The red one...

I already have a 3CD compilation released in Australia around 1979 or so but only 20 of the tracks are duplicated and some are different versions....

So, of the 90 tracks spread of over the six discs, there are 70 which are unique to one set or the other...

Of course it’s Bob Dylan we’re talking here so the singing’s not that great – the packaging is though – by the time we get to the third disc it sounds like he has a peg of some sort keeping his nose closed...

Despite these small criticisms, I’m still enjoying being introduced to his wider catalogue and may buy more of the later stuff...

As well as these new purchases, when I got home, the first two e-bay discs had arrived and, after an excellent beef stew from the hand of Anne, I spent the early evening in an electronic haze with, aptly, Electronic followed by a banging trance set from Ferry Corsten...

A better storyline this week on “CSI” with an hour’s break for some more Dylan and some Cimarosa and then “Law & Order : Criminal Intent”...

One more pic from this morning...



OK, that’s enough drivel now – lights out...

Highlight of the Day : Anne's beef stew - tasty!

Monday, January 21, 2008

What you want to be when you grow up...

Playlist
Various – 100 Recent Albums on Shuffleplay

Yet another purchaseless visit to HMV today – the copies of the Faure box set are dwindling...

I convinced myself not to buy considering 7 CDs are winging their way to me from e-bay as I type...

An evening of goggling the gogglebox with two episodes of “Coronation St” sandwiching a better heat of “University Challenge” which featured the freaky Cambridge team from last week – luckily Manchester beat them and they won’t be back...

Then, whilst recording the second part of “Messiah : The Rapture”, we watched the first in a new series of “Grand Designs” where a couple spent £350,000 building a house in a hole in their garden – it looked a lot better than it sounds...



I’d like to have been an architect...

The day ended with another first episode, this time of Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” which was superb – looking forward to it being a staple for the next 10 weeks if we can remember to look at the cable schedules rather than just the usual five terrestrial channels..

Highlight of the Day : Curb Your Enthusiasm

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Taping not uploading...

Playlist
Various – Classical Jukebox on Shuffleplay
Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxgene
Porcupine Tree – Fear of a Blank Planet

Up early again...

It’s good to be up early at the weekend – the intention is always not to waste free time – of course at some point time is, for want of a better word, wasted – or is it?

I decided to take all the classical tracks I deleted from the main jukebox back in April 2006 (but which I, of course, backed up to 2 DVDs) and load them up into what has thus far been the jazz jukebox...

Annoyingly, while the first DVD went without a hitch, the second failed miserably in every attempt at being recognised by the computer and so half the collection, all tracks with titles commencing with a “P” and beyond, remain in limbo...

At 10 we were off out post a quick home breakfast of coffee, toast and juice – the new regime means the takings at Patiserie Florentin will be down I’m afraid – our target was Cineworld, scene of many enjoyable movies in the Summer during the Film Festival but, today, for a preview screening of the Reese Wihterspoon produced “Penelope” starring Christina Ricci and James McAvoy...



Quite an enjoyable film but a strange scenario re location and accents with half the cast being American and the other half British and with stock footage of New York combined with scenes obviously shot in London with cars driving on the left – but maybe that’s being picky – it was a fairytale set in an unreal world I suppose and it was OK (for free)...

Back home and some lovely home made vegetable soup for lunch followed by more trying to get the content of an MP3 DVD onto the computer (while Anne watched Rangers beat Inverness with a last minute goal)...

I even found a programme which claimed to allow me to convert the soundtrack of a DVD into a WAV file – of course it didn’t work either – so an afternoon of frustration...

Bought The Mail On Sunday purely for the free Jean-Michel Jarre – a remastered recording of his classic first album “Oxygene” – I’d forgotten just how good it is....

Finished off the day (after Anne had watched “Ice Dancing on Ice with Celebrities”) with “Match of the Day 2” while I recorded both “Messiah : The Rapture” (episode 1 of 2) and “Alien v Predator”, both for future viewing – and of course I still have the dreadful “Primeval” from last night...

Highlight of the Day : Classical music back on the agenda

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Celebrate good times, come on......

Playlist
Various – 100 recent Albums Jukebox Playlist on Shuffleplay
MacAlpine Brunel Chambers – CAB
Thad Jones – Detroit-New York Junction
Paul McCartney – Memory Almost Full
Various – Troja Dub Box Set
The George Benson Quartet – Live 1973
The Horace Silver Quintet – You Gotta Take A Little Love
Tony Williams’ Lifetime – Emergency

Up at 6:15 and decided to change the CDs on “The Shelf” (I keep 100 CDs in the living room)...

Rather than the last 100 in chronological order, I amended this to:-
50 Non Jazz/Non Classical (20 New; 10 Recent; 10 Re-Issues; 10 Compilations)
30 Jazz (15 Pre 1970’s; 15 Post 60’s)
20 Classical

So that took a wee while and passed some time...

I ended up with around 35 different CDs on the shelf from those which had been there before – especially since, of the last 100 I’ve bought, only 3 are classical...

At 11:30 Anne departed for Tynecastle for the latest Hearts v Hibs derby (12:30 kick off), leaving me to potter about and indeed watch some of the match on Setanta in between bidding unnecessarily for CDs on e-bay which I really don’t need...

I ended up winning discs by Queensryche, Handel, Electronic, Ferry Corsten, Goldfrapp, Eurythmics and a double Motown compilation – all of which should be winging their way to Crispycat Towers next week......

Meanwhile Hearts beat Hibs 1-0, on balance probably deservedly so - a fast paced match but with very little skill on display...

Spent the afternoon watching Sky Sports News soccer results thing with the videoprinter waiting for Queens to score some goals – eventually they did and my favourite team overcame Greenock Morton 3-0 at Greenock by virtue of a second half hat-trick by substitute Stephen Dobbie – an excellent win which takes Queens to the giddy heights of 4th in the table – but it’s still very tight...



As of today, Anne and I have been together for 28 years and, by way of celebration, we went for an early evening dinner to a little Italian place at Haymarket, La Bruschetta....

Candlelit, with Italian baroque to accompany a superb meal for which I’d especially shaved my head and donned my black shirt – as opposed to the brown jersey/tracky bottoms and weeks-on-end-unshaven head I’d been sporting earlier in the day...



Can you spot the difference?

Mushrooms and goats cheese followed by lamb for Anne, a small portion of Rigatoni with tomato and Italian sausage sauce followed by fillet steak for me, both accompanied by sauted potatoes with Rosemary, and French beans, with a sweet for each if us comprising profiteroles in Belgian chocolate sauce accompanied by Americanos...

My first treat really of the new regime, under which I’ve lost a couple of pounds so far and which must now be my template, basically, until I die – if that day is to be staved off for as long as possible...

The lovely Italian red wine was my first alcohol since New Year’s Day, other than a glass of Advocaat and lemonade during the latter part of our stay on Arran...

We were home in time for “CSI : New York”; the new series of “Law & Order” and “Match of the Day” – a good day...

Highlight of the Day : Anniversary dinner with Anne

Friday, January 18, 2008

Chicken on tomatoes....

Playlist
Biffy Clyro – Puzzle
K D Lang – Hymns of the 49th Parallel
My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade
LCD Sound System – Sound of Silver
Editors – An End Has A Start
Girls Aloud – Tangled Up
Nine Horses – Money For All
OK Go – Oh No
Pet Shop Boys – Fundamental
Rush - Snakes and Arrows
The Violet Archers – End of Part One
Wetton/Downes – Icon
Adrian Belew – Side Three
Alice Cooper – Dirty Diamonds
Dar Williams – My Better Self
David Bowie – Reality
Gabriel Faure – Violin Sonatas
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Anotherhappyday
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Deeperdown
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Ersatzreal

On the jukebox today some recent and not so recent favourites on shuffleplay...

Back home, some Faure, having once again ignored the 4CD box set in HMV – you just know I’m going to buy it eventually – even more so since it’s £12 in the shop and £18 on the net – both reduced from £21...



Anne cooked a lovely chicken dish from scratch tonight – chicken breast in breadcrumbs on a bed of cherry tomato and onion sauce with baby corns and asparagus – very tasty indeed...

Friday night is telly night (no change there then) as we watched two episodes of “Coronation St” including the touching death scenes of Vera Duckworth, “Moving Wallpaper/Echo Beach” and “Al Murray’s Happy Hour”...

Thereafter, I listened to a few of my favourites from the three CBQ albums I posted up last night...

From “Anotherhappyday” : “Perfectly Simple”, “Everything You Ever Wanted” and “What on Earth Have We Done”...

From “Deeperdown” : “Where Are You”, “The Beauty of a Foreign Land” and “Snowfall”...

From “Ersatzreal” : “Starting to Worry”, “The Angels’ Kiss” and “The Luckiest Man Alive”....

Why not try them yourself and hear what this is all about...

Girls Aloud on YouTube and then, off to bed...

Highlight of the Day : Once again, Anne’s culinary expertise...

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Rich and Eddie...

Playlist
K D Lang – Hymns of the 49th Parallel
Biffy Clyro – Puzzle
Deep Purple – Fireball
The Whitest Boy Alive - Dreams

I am continuing to stave off buying Faure’s complete piano works at HMV...

Tonight, Anne was out a-drinkin’ with Lynn, so I took the opportunity (as there was nothing worth watching on the box) to view the first episode of the 1987 BBC sitcom “Filthy, Rich & Catflap” (on loan from Chris-with-a-Ch), the long lost link between “The Young Ones” and “Bottom”...



It brought a couple of smiles to my face and the occasional guffaw - I'd forgotten how much like "Bottom" it was...

Took some time to add links to all the songs from my last three song-based albums...

"Anotherhappyday", which I started recording around five years ago this month and which was released in August of 2003...

"Deeperdown" which I was working on when I started this diary and which finally saw the light of day in November 2005....

"Ersatzreal", the whole two year production process of which was noted on these pages and which I issued last October - do take a listen to any of the songs...

Fell asleep on the settee watching nothing in particular, only to be awoken around eleven by Anne’s call for a lift home...

Watched a bit of Question Time

Everyone back safe and sound by midnight...

Highlight of the Day : New music on the headphones

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Low fi and hi fi...

Playlist
Various - Jukebox Shuffleplay
The Whitest Boy Alive - Dreams
KD Lang - Hymns of the 49th Parallel

A parcel arrived from new dad Macclesfield Craig containing a disc by Berlin low-fi pop combo The Whitest Boy Alive - very good indeed, nay, excellent...



Meanwhile at FOPP I shelled out a fiver for KD LAng's 2004 celebration of Canadian song containing brilliant covers of Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Jane Siberry, Ron Sexmith and Bruce Cockburn - why no Rheostatics? - not to worry...



On telly "Coronation St", "Masterchef" while we ate Anne's latest, a scrummy mouthwatering pork and chorizo dish in a light creamy tomatoey sauce - mmm, mmm - I saved my food points all day for that one, I can tell you...

And the return of "Torchwood" - a much better start than Season One but still something not quite right about it - the trailer for next week looked a stormer though...

Oh well, off to bed...

Highlight of the Day : Anne's cooking once again

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Looking for hits...

Playlist
John Surman – Glancing Backwards : The Dawn Anthology
Various – The Last 100 CDs

Shut out the world today with some very weird early 70’s jazz from Mr Surman...



Another evening of telly...

“The One Show” – a guilty pleasure indeed...

Then, with nothing on till 9pm, we watched “Ice Age 2” on DVD – 2nd night in a row of excellent, entertaining animation...

The new series of “CSI” continued with two stupid stories – porn-king (that should garner a few google search hits) murdered in a “blind” restaurant and go-karter decapitated on the highway...

An hour’s break allowed some recent music listening and an update of this and my other blogs – see links...

Then “Law & Order : Criminal Intent” which of course I’ve not seen yet as I write this but I can advise it was brilliant yet again (I hope)...

Highlight of the Day : American TV shows; British jazz

Monday, January 14, 2008

Elusive unfortunate visage...

Playlist
Various – Jukebox Shuffleplay

Danger "Happy Feet" spoiler below...

Resisted the temptation of a 4CD box of the complete piano music of Gabriel Faure in the HMV sale for £12 – but for how long?

Got word from e-bay that my long-awaited second Sam Baker CD won’t be coming and my funds have been refunded – oh well...

The rest of the day was:-

“Coronation St” times two...

The worst episode I’ve ever seen of “University Challenge” with the stupidest-faced student I’ve ever seen on the programme – the far right member of the Trinity Hall Cambridge team - I scoured the net for a picture of the unfortunate visage but to no avail..

And, for the 2nd time, “Happy Feet” – this time with Anne – I cried when the wee penguin went off chasing the factory fishing boats and ended up in a zoo...



My dad's birthday today - gone nearly 5 years already - and the sixth anniversary of Crispy the Cat's demise...

That’s it...

Highlight of the Day : Happy Feet - again

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Sleepless in Crispycatland...

Playlist
Various – The Last 100 Cds

Couldn’t sleep – up at 3am but back to bed at 5, almost forcing myself back to sleep...

Woke again around 9:30 and up for a light breakfast with Anne...

An e-mail in the inbox suggests the first CBQ gig of 2008 will be on March 5 – though I still can’t play the guitar due to my shoulder operation....

We headed to Loanhead around 12:30 and enjoyed lunch with my mum – cream of leek soup and a ham roll each...

We gave her a digital photo frame for her Xmas complete with over 100 pictures of various family members, Fripp & Eno records and the sky – and she’d programmed it to show just two of them – so I changed that and said I’d give her her faves in a conventional frame – otherwise what’s the point?

Back home briefly, where I compiled some favourite tracks from the last 100 CDs I’ve accumulated and a single CD compilation for the car...

To Anne’s mum’s for tea with the family...

Ollie and Kitty were on good form...



They were nice and quiet whilst playing this game anyway...

Back home again and Anne watched telly as I continued with my stupid compiling...

“Match of the Day 2” should have ended the day but, once again, I couldn’t sleep – this insomnia is annoying...

Highlight of the Day : Family fun times two...

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Cold, crisp, frosty...

Playlist
Various – Jukebox Shuffleplay
Biffy Clyro – Puzzle
Blue Oyster Cult – Blue Oyster Cult
Various – The Big Chill
Various – Jazz Jukebox Shuffleplay

Up around eight, a lovely cold, crisp and frosty morning as attested to by Meg the Black cat...



Out around 10, after some porridge, and walked down to the bus noting a large number of discarded Xmas Trees littering the pavements and gardens...



The frost had had a beautiful effect on cars...



...walls...



...and plants...



...all helped along by the clear sky blue sky...



After an uneventful journey into town, soundtracked by the trusty jukebox in shuffleplay mode, I met up with the good Dr Prog at the music library, from where I borrowed a Bonnie “Prince” Billy live album, the debut from the Killers and Tortoise’ LP “Standards”, all for future listening...

Then, over the road for a coffee and a chat and a lovely panini for the Doc – then down the Royal Mile...



....to Avalanche at Cockburn St where I found Blue Oyster Cult’s 1972 debut for just £1.99....

We made our way to the town centre past the Fruitmarket Gallery...



....and up over Princes St to FOPP where I purchased the latest from Biffy Clyro, along with a best of from James Brown and a 2CD set of, ahem, acoustic “chill” type music “The Big Chill” – which, I found out later, contains several of those annoyingly twee tunes which are cropping up on adverts all over the place these days (e.g. Vashti Bunyan)...

Then to the Record Fair where we found Count Brodski already searching for any elusive Kraftwerk pressings which he may not already own....

Here he is on the right, with Dr Prog on the left...



Needless to say, Brodski did indeed find a hitherto unowned Kraftwerk 12” single...

Some man!!

His partner Penny popped by before we all went our separate ways, me to M&S for some warming soup for lunch before catching the Airport bus back to Corstorphine (no wonder I was on my own up the back)...



...and climbing the hill to Crispycat Towers, noting some lovely red berries on the way...



In the Scottish Cup Hearts went two up on Motherwell at Tynecastle before succumbing to a comeback while Queens walloped Junior League side, Linlithgow Rose 4-0 at home, to face either Morton or Gretna in the next round. If Hearts can overcome Motherwell in their replay, they’ll play either Dundee or Highland League Huntly...

While I watched the absolutely dreadful “Primeval” (how did they ever get to make a second series??), Anne made a lovely Coriander Chicken curry...



...and we ended the day with the new series of “CSI : NY” followed by “Sportscene” which had the most coverage of Queen of the South I’ve ever seen on prime time TV...

Finally congratulations to our Macclesfield chum Craig whose partner Michelle gave birth to their son this morning...

Welcome to your new lives!

Highlight of the Day : A wee day out with Dr Prog and Brodski

Friday, January 11, 2008

All in a mouse's night...

Playlist
Various – Jukebox Shuffleplay
Dexter Gordon – One Flight Up
Various – Last 100 Cds
Various – Breakdown Very Best Euphoric Chillout Mixes

While I brought home the bacon, Anne spent the day in her dressing gown on the settee in front of the fire – still under the weather and putting my own paltry symptoms into perspective...

Despite her illness, she still managed to make what must go down as her best soup ever (to date) – a very, very tasty lentil and tomato hybrid – mmm, mmm...

Just as we tucked in though, there came the sound of the cat flap flapping and a manic entry into the room by Meg the Black Cat, small mouse in jaws...

As ever, she dropped it, awaiting our appreciation of her hunting skills, whereupon the mouse darted under one of the settees and Meg was firmly banished to the dining room behind closed (but, tantalisingly for her) see-through doors...

The settee was up-ended, the frightened beastie was collected into an old Pringles tube, kept for precisely this situation and which replaces the perfectly good but now reticently used pint glass which we used to use to transport small beasts back to the outside world...

Outside in the evening frostiness, the poor wee mouse was rather reluctant to evacuate the crisp-tube, hanging on by its tiny claws...

Eventually, it emerged, checked its surroundings and bounded off into the undergrowth...

The rest of the evening passed off uneventfully as we watched the goggle box virtually all night:-

Last night’s “Moving Wallpaper” and “Echo Beach” – a great add to our regular viewing...



....two episodes of “Coronation St”; tonight’s “Moving Wallpaper” and “Echo Beach”; “Al Murray’s Happy Hour”...

Also called Dr Prog and wished him a good New Year – tomorrow we will trawl the music library and Anne advises she saw a poster the other day advertising a Record Fair...

Count Brodski has also been informed via voicemail...

Highlight of the Day : Anne’s soup/Saving a small creature

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Shakin' all over...

Playlist
Sam Baker – Pretty World
LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
Various – Trance Masters
Various – Jukebox Shuffleplay
Steve Harley – The Cockney Rebel
John Coltrane – One Down One Up
Various – Last 100 Cds

Did I mention I was still ill with the lurgi I contracted over a month ago – sleepless nights, coughing, spluttering, flu like symptoms without anything ever going “full-blown”...

Seems to be the way I take a “cold” these days – ill for weeks on end...

And so, last night I was up at 1:30 and spent the night shivering on the settee so Anne could get some sleep and not be bothered by my incessant coughing....

But tonight Anne was hit...

She was out at the ballet with her pal Debbie to see “The Sleeping Beauty” and very good it was too by all accounts, with a lovely Indian meal beforehand...

Back home I cooked a small steak with mushrooms and onions for my own sustenance before settling into an enjoyable evening of music listening while the VCR took in some stuff for future viewing...

Around 11 the call came in and Anne was so unwell she didn’t want to wait for me to drive into town to pick her up, preferring instead to jump into a taxi...

Once home, cold and shivering, Lemsip was applied and into a pre-heated bed – poor wee lamb...



Highlight of the Day : Appearing to be not quite as ill as Anne