Grape and wheat...

Playlist
Various - Last 10 Months on Shuffleplay

Another month away...



Tonight, post a reasonably uneventful day, I was out with chums a-drinking and carousing, which resulted in my returning home to Crispycat Towers in a worse for wear condition and later than promised...

It was of little consolation that I'd had the presence of mind to snap my mode of homeward transport...



Suffice to say, there will be some, absolutely justified, Executive Producer input tomorrow, along with, no doubt, rather a sore head...

Red wine and Weissbier - not good (in hindsight)...

Highlight of the Day : A-drinking and carousing with chums...

Struggling for input...

Playlist
Various - Last 10 Months on Shuffleplay
Todd Rundgren - Go Ahead. Ignore Me
Laura Pausini - Singles II
Various - Discs Currently On The Shelf

The weather has broken and it's back to normal, late March gloom...



The Splinterheart flowers are, however, making progress...



Lovely soup for tea (no pics)...

A visit from next door neighbour Bianca - she is 31 - we first met her when she was just 7...

As is my wont sometimes, I took all the CDs from the shelf in the living room and laid them out on the dining room table...



I have acquired all of these since 22 January - am I nuts?

Very probably...

Anyway, also this evening, a nice wee portrait of the pie...



Some surfing of the Alice Cooper Group's recent induction into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame and that's about it really...

Lights out...

Highlight of the Day : Annie's soup...

Fields of silk...

Playlist
Yes - The Word is live
The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium
Brandon Flowers - Flamingo
Fields - Fields
King Crimson - DGM Downloads
Michael Nyman - Film Music
Laura Pausini - Singles II (CD-R)

The weather is worsening...



A wee package arrived from Whitley Bay containing a re-released disc of music with a King Crimson connection, "Fields" by Fields, with drums by "Lizard" participant Andy McCulloch...



OK, this was never going to set the world on fire but it does contain some contemporaneously tasty prog from 1971...

Spent this evening, apart from a break for the last the series of "Silk", (a) continuing to rip single composer classical CDs from my collection which ought to be on my classical jukebox but, for some reason aren't and (b) making more DVDs and CDs for sister Pam, with whom I had a long call mid evening...

She continues to do well, now almost two thirds of the way through her initial intensive treatment and still no serious side effects, apart from some hair loss...

Annie made some chicken soup for tomorrow so the house was full of yummy aromas...

Highlight of the Day : A chat with sister Pam...

Deadly rice, oooohhh...

Playlist
David Reilly - Bravura Vols 1-3
Herbie Mann & The Bill Evans Trio - Nirvan
Herbie Mann - Memphis Underground

Nothing much happened today...

A month already since I bought the new camera - this is the seven hundred and twenty ninth photo taken so far (and the only one of today)...



Stretchy cat...

Other than possibly jeopardising my health by eating the reheated remains of last night's risotto (you're not suppose to reheat rice apparently), I spent the evening preparing DVDs and CDs to send to sister Pam and watching the second part of this week's ludicrous "Waking the Dead" story...

None of the light hearted cameraderie of "New Tricks" - imagine if Alun Armstrong, James Bolam and Dennis Waterman were transferred into the gloomy Trevor Eve team...

Possible exhibiting of my artwork drew a little closer but it's still not in the bag...

Need to go now, pains in the stomach...

Highlight of the Day : Not the risotto anyway....

Quantity not quality...

Playlist
David Reilly – Various Old Tracks and Stuff
Sly and the Family Stone - Life
Joe Zawinul – Zawinul
Hill – String Quartets
Ginastera – String Quartets
David Reilly – Bravura Vols 1-3

Well, I almost felt like I wasted today kind of but it all turned out right in the end, maybe...

I was labouring big time with the idea of a new compilation package – the problem is I’ve created far too much music over the years...

“Just include your best stuff, Dave” I hear you say – but I’ve been listening to loads of things I’ve ignored for years and there’s lots of stuff there which I think is good...

Too much...

And I’ve been creating “remixes” of really old stuff from the late seventies, which, of course because they’re “new”, I want to include...

What it definitely won’t include though, will be the full 60 minute mix of December 1977’s “The Drone Effect” (twice as long as the original)...

Idiot...

Lost an hour in the night but up around seven anyway and working on the above...

Other than a short break for breakfast, spent the whole morning and early afternoon arseing about with running orders and different versions of various tracks etc etc et-bloody-cetera...

Meg the Black Cat was very interested - can you spot her?



Took a break to watch Brazil beat Scotland 2-0 in London – soundtracked by two recent acquisitions to try and cleanse the palate...

Then wrote this up whilst listening to some of the, in some cases, very long indeed, instrumental pieces I gathered together yesterday morning from across the years...

I’m afraid I’ve never been a great one for the old adage “Quality not Quantity”...

Word from sister Pam via my mum, she will be to Edinburgh up on 23 April - have added a pic of her to the entry for Friday - lookin' goood......

Cooked dinner – Leek & Pancetta Risotto...



...soundtracked by Senor Ginastera's crazy quartets...

Tivo’d “Glee” and “Harry Hill’s TV Burp” then live “Junior Doctors” and another preposterous “Waking the Dead”...

Then (probably not) finalising the now 3CD (formerly 5CD) compilation, 1977-89, 1990-1997, 1999-2011, including one new track and various new mixes and edits...

Just in time for bed...

Highlight of the Day : Working on my music...

Coast...

Playlist
Various - Last 10 Months on Shuffleplay

Up early and some working on remixes for the compilation – mucking about with music which is now almost thirty five years old...

Copying too, full versions of various instrumental tracks recorded over the years...

At 9:45 we set off for Carlisle, re my speed awareness course to avoid three penalty points for having been caught speeding whilst ferrying sister Pam back to Hemel Hempstead in December...

We drove non-stop (no speeding!) and arrived around mid-day...



Enjoyed lunch at Circle Café Bar – very tasty chilli pea soup and BLT for me, carrot and coriander with tuna mayonnaise for the Exec Producer...





A wee wander round...





...then time for me to head to the Community Centre for the course...





Here’s what I learned...

Speed limits and how to tell what the limit is on the road you’re on...
The stupidity of the excuses we use for speeding...
The chances of someone dying if you hit them at a particular speed...
That 95% of crashes are due to driver error...
That most fatalities occur in rural accidents...
That the latest figures show around 7 people a day are killed on the roads...
That there are no real benefits to speeding...

The five watchwords are:-
Concentraion
Observation
Anticipation
Space
Time

COAST...

From now on, I won’t be speeding...

At six, I was out again and drove to pick up Anne, who opined five hours of shopping time in Carlisle was probably three hours too many...

We set off for home with the intention of stopping off at Biggar for an Indian...

Just made it before the A702 was closed for the night re roadworks but the restaurant was full...



So we drove on home and picked up a takeaway from the Bombay Feast...

A less upbeat call from Pam tonight, a bit down re everything that’s happening – amazing really that she doesn’t have more days like these...

I think I managed to cheer her up a bit...

Two episodes of “Silk” on the Tivo and then bed...

Highlight of the Day : Learning why it’s stupid to speed...

You can tuna fork...

Playlist
Various – Last 10 Months on Shuffleplay
The Mars Volta – Deloused in the Comatorium
Brandon Flowers – Flamingo
Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Welcome to the Pleasure Dome
Sly and the Family Stone – Life
Herbie Man & The Bill Evans Trio – Nirvana
Herbie Mann – Memphis Underground
Glenn Gould – Slaughterhouse Five OST
John Grant - Queen of Denmark

Weather still holding up...

Daffs are out...



Sun was out...



Walked to FOPP – no intentions of buying but...



...some new titles in their £3 offers – debuts by Mars Volta and Frankie, jazz from flautist Herbie Mann, 1968 album from Sly and Brandon Flowers’ solo debut – got 32 that last one since I spent so much...

Back home, a parcel - the last awaited CD from e-bay, Glenn Gould’s soundtrack from the movie of Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five”...



This soundtracked some cooking...



So called seafood pasta...

Meg the Black Cat was unimpressed...



Annie was out on the ran-dan re chum Michelle’s birthday celebrations...

Good phone call with sister Pam, her spirits are high, she has her wig and is coming up to Scotland in a few weeks’ time once the initial treatment is over – she’s half way through...

She’s even talking about returning to work – very few side effects thus far, other than her hair finally coming out in clumps over the last few days – so wig acquired timeously...

Lookin' gooood...



Spent the evening listening to new acquisitions and working on the recently started compilation project...

Drove back to town and picked Anne up just after 11 – back home and hit the sack, tired again...

Highlight of the Day : Pam sounding very well...

Not a Tuesday...

Playlist
David Reilly - New Compilation
Various - 104 Albums 1959-2010 (Shuffleplay)
Beethoven - Adagios

Continued listening to a new proposed compilation, erm, continues...

Yet another beautiful, sunny day and I took the opportunity at lunchtime for a walk down to Stockbridge...



No purchases made in the plethora of charity shops along its main street...

Just as well as, back home, a forgotten purchase from e-bay had arrived, a two disc set of Beethoven adagios (and other slow movements)...

Post some tasty pasta from Annie, this new acquisition soundtracked the scene in the kitchen as we set about making just as tasty banana and toffee-sauce pancakes...



Mmmmm, mmmmm...

Tried to phone sister Pam but she was on the phone to other chums and, I therefore surmised, "OK"...

Two episodes of "CSI" were followed by snoring on the settee from your correspondent, then bed...

A good day but knackered...

Highlight of the day : Walking in the sun and cooking with Anne...

Not creeking with cobblers...

Playlist
David Reilly - New Compilation
John Grant - Queen of Denmark
The Czars - Music from the film "I'd Rather be...Gone"
The Czars - Before...But Longer
The Czars - The Beautiful People Vs The Ugly People
The Czars - Goodbye
The Czars - Sorry I Made You Cry
Ginastera - Complete String Quartets

Another lovely, sunny day...



Visited FOPP again at lunchtime but, today, on an errand to secure another Yes box-set and post off to a blog-reading chum without such a nearby emporium of goodies...

In the evening I wandered around town, killing time until meeting fellow Creek music-maestro Stuart Cobley...



In Blackwell's Books I found a CD of Mr Ginastera's complete string quartets...

Met with Stu around seven and we went to The Elephant House, complete with its annoying crowing that J K Rowling supposedly wrote part of her dreadful Harry Potter pish there...

An americano and an iced coffee each later, we popped round into Victoria Street to the Liquid Rooms for tonight's gig by John Grant...

We were surprised to find the venue seated but, despite our coffee related belated entry, we managed to find two places...

Support act Sea of Bees was a girl who sang, with studied naivety, in a squeaky, baby voice - like Joanna Newsome - very annoying and, frankly, dreadful...

Mr Grant took to the stage accompanied by "Chris" who, like Mr G, also played keyboards - the duo swopping around between the three keyboard set ups during the evening...



Almost the entire "Queen of Denmark" album was played during a brilliant performance, which also included a couple of tracks from The Czars' back catalogue...

Between song banter was excellent and humerous, in direct contrast with the music, which was almost entirely downbeat (in fact beatless) - much to my liking...

The seated audience remained silent during each song but a few morons at the back, standing in front of the bar, could be heard chatting (maybe people can only shut up and listen at a gig if they're sitting down?) and there was of course the constant to-ing and fro-ing to bar and bog - thankfully kept to between song interludes...

Here's a taster of the gig from Youtube...



Post an enjoyable evening, we returned to Stu's car where we made the sign of rock...



...before I was whisked back to Crispycat Towers...

A good evening...

Highlight of the day : John Grant in concert...

Meg's birthday, taken in her stride...

Playlist

David Reilly - New Compilation

Yes - The Word is Live

Joe Zawinul - Zawinul

Another lovely day...

...and a great big Happy 14th Birthday to Meg the Black Cat...

She has now officially resided at Crispycat Towers for 6 of our human years - and she covets the inside of my guitar and equipment bags...

She is great...

To FOPP again at lunchtime and, today, a £3 jazz disc - Joe Zawinul's 1971 album "Zawinul"...

A good chat with sister Pam again today - her bloods are fine and the treatment continues apace with little or no side effects thus far...

She's worried it's not working because she feels so well - I said it's the side effects that make you ill not the work the treatment does...

Of course, I'm not a doctor...

Headed home just after five...

...and a quick turnaround and over to the Music Box at Stevenson College for the third get together of Capital Models...

Once again, we were the quintet of me, bassist Jamie "James Jamieson" Frain, guitarist Angus "Gus" Bolton and our two drummers, Jim "Victoria Biscuit Tins" Park and Keith "Multi Instrumentalist" Apter...

Here are Gus, Keith and Jim playing hide and seek...

...here's Jamie looking a bit puggled after a hard night's work...

..and here's your correspondent giving the thumbs up, flanked by the two drummers...

A different night to the previous two, where we basically set up the equipment and proved to ourselves we could still play the thirty odd year old tunes...

Tonight we started to kind of work on things - so in a way it was less enjoyable but in another way it's kind of set us up with a potential future...

Again, we recorded the evening's musicking but I doubt there will be anything worth uploading quite yet...

The next step is for us to get together away from the rehearsal rooms and work out some arrangemnts then take them back and add the drums and percussion and see how things pan out...

The now obligatory band shots were taken in the deserted car park...

Back home, updated this and listened to recent purchases, my own stuff having soundtracked the day...

Highlight of the Day : Musicking with my old buddies...

The word is life...

Playlist
David Reilly - New Compilation
Yes - The Word is Live

A lovely day...





To FOPP at lunchtime...





...where I bumped into brother-in-law Keith buying some Charlie Mingus...

For my own part, I acquired this for £10...



Post keep fit for Annie, our late dinner was a new dish, warm potato, pancetta and crab salad...

Mmmm, mmm...

A call from sister Pam - doing really well she advises - no hair loss as yet and her batteries charged over the weekend, which included visits from several good friends and much action...

The rest of the evening was spent working again on music, with a break for part two of "Waking the Dead", "2012" and a repeat of "Lead Balloon"...

Highlight of the Day : Anne's new salad...