Bitter, cold....

Playlist
Preisner – Silence Night and Dreams
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Soundingfall
Wayne Shorter – Beyond the Sound Barrier
Nels Andrews – Off Track Betting
Charlotte Gainsbourg – 5:55
KD Lang – Watershed
Soft Cell – Cruelty Without Beauty
Tom McRae – King of Cards
Jackie McLean - Jacknife

Track of the Day
Zbigniew Preisner – To Love (4:34)


Attempted to rise at 5:18 – failed...

Back to sleep – woke around 7 and, after listening to the works of Mr Preisner, rose around 7:40...

Preisner is my featured track today – it has a very long and quiet fade out but it’s worth enduring that for the overall beauty of the piece, the last track on the album...

Through the snow...



...to lovely podiatrist Helen at 8:45 for six weekly, costly, toe fix...

Then, into town where I proceeded to lose my reading glasses somewhere between parking off Charlotte Square and arriving at FOPP off St Andrew Square...

Foolishly (after hearing it back home that is – terrible posh girl vocals from evident “non-singer”) bought a Charlotte Gainsbourg CD hoping it might be reminiscent of Françoise Hardy...

A rather better purchase was the special boxed 2CD edition of KD Lang’s last, “Watershed”...

To the record fair but no sign of Count Brodski (or Dr Prog whom I had also made aware of proceedings last night via voicemail)...

So retraced my steps in a vain attempt to find my glasses...

Back to the fair by 11 and Brodski had just arrived – and proceeded to buy many vinyl albums and singles and a couple of CDs...



For my own part, I picked up Soft Cell’s CD “Cruelty Without Beauty”, Tom McRae’s fourth album “King of Cards” (excellent stuff) and an unknown quantity, Nels Andrews...

At 12:30, I had to leave and head home (via Herbie’s deli for some sandwiches for lunch) to allow Anne to get off to Tynecastle for the 1-0 cup defeat to Falkirk who, in the last round, coincidentally ended Queen of the South’s hopes in the same competition...

Nels Andrews graced the Cloudland Blue Mobile’s stereo for the journey and was found to be superb...

After Anne left for the footie, I watched a bit of an old episode of “Roswell High” before heading upstairs to rip the five new CDs...

I had also been tempted to buy a double LP on Blue Note by Jackie McLean (which would’ve been my first LP purchase for over 20 years - probably) but, in the end, decided against..

And lo, this afternoon, I downloaded the CD from the net (albeit with fewer tracks than the 2LP set)...

Anne returned from the footie less than enamoured by the proceedings – apparently Falkirk’s goal was “a mile” offside and Hearts were awarded a penalty and, just as they were ready to take it, the ref changed his mind and awarded a corner instead...

Ouch!!

Chris-with-a-Ch and Dawn arrived from the Kingdom of Fife to whisk us back over there for a night out...



To a bar in Dalgetty Bay initially, where we met up with chums Ferret, Zee, Chris and Meg (not a black cat but a man – with no idea how he came by the name)...

Taxis to “the Town” which is how Dunfermline is referred to in this neighbourhood...

Drinks at the Seven Kings where we were joined by Competitive Dave...

At this point the camera went a bit haywire...



Finally, to Kushi’s where a (very fine indeed) Indian meal was enjoyed by all and sundry – both your correspondent and the Exec Producer enjoyed veggie pakoras followed by a very tasty Lamb Karachi...

The drink was flowing due to the BYOB scenario – and they don’t even charge corkage...

On leaving, we met Roger Spence, jazz impressario extraordinaire and leading light of Assembly Direct and the Edinburgh Jazz Festival – he was wining and dining his performers of this evening, a Frenchman and a Rumanian, neither of whom spoke English to any great degree...

I will see Roger again, I hope, when I venture forth to enjoy one of my hits of the 2007 festival, Fabian Kallerdahl, whom he is promoting next month in Edinburgh...

Our journey home was longer and more frustrating than I would have liked as, upon arriving at the station at 23:23 for the last train home, the 23:42, the automated info advised this train was postponed until 00:25 due to engineering works...

Anne couldn’t believe the announcement...



I spent the hour long wait in sub-zero temperatures repeatedly walking from one end of the very long platform to the other, and managed around five “laps”...



A taxi from Haymarket and home to the very welcome electric blanket...

A good day...

Highlight of the Day : Out with the Fifers...