Make me smile...

Playlist
John McLaughlin – Industrial Zen
Sam Baker – Cotton
Charlie Haden – Complete Remastered Black Saint & Soul Note
Happy Apple – See Sun Spot Run : An Introduction
Brenda Lee - The Very Best of Brenda Lee...With Love
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - In Pursuit of Illusion
David Essex - All the Fun of the Fair
David Essex - Gold and Ivory
XTX - English Settlement
Charles Mingus - Cornell 1964
Eric Dolphy - The Illinois Concert
Cannonball Adderley - Money in the Pocket
Joe Zawinul - Zawinul
Ives - Symphony 1, Emerson Concerto
Various - Gatecrasher Classics

Up just after seven and ripping discs borrowed from the library three weeks ago and not looked at since – they had to be returned today...

I noted from the hard drive that I’d already borrowed the Grachan Moncur III disc in January and had obviously forgotten...

Idiot...

The Charlie Haden five disc box contains some cracking stuff...

Then, ripping yesterday’s purchases to add to the “Last 12 Months” jukebox – leaving three discs ripping while I nipped to to the store for croissants for breakfast...

These tasty beasties were consumed, along with fresh orange juice and lashings of coffee, in the garden with Annie and Meg the Black Cat re today’s lovely weather...

Then, to compiling a Happy Apple introduction for brother-in-law Keith, whose birthday it is tomorrow, 24 days older than your correspondent...

Then, off uptown to today’s record fair – stopping off at the library on the way to return the now ripped CDs...

The fair was reasonable – loads of CDs and records -as you might imagine - and DVDs - I pondered over two box sets of seasons one and two of "Roswell High" (Dr Prog is heading tomorrow and Count Brodski was going along in the afternoon)...





Suffice to say, I partook - but not of said DVDs...

Classical discs by Charles Ives and Elliott Carter were joined in the bag by a 2CD set of David Essex (albums from ’75 and ’77), a CD/DVD set from Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel (live in Germany in 1976) a three disc set of dance/trance from the Gatecrasher stable and last but not least, I finally succumbed to a long held desire...

For £2.50 I bought a 30 track best of Brenda Lee – which includes her 1966 hit “Coming on Strong”, as featured in the lyric’s of Golden Earring’s late 1973 hit “Radar Love”...

Yes, I’ve wondered what this song sounded like for nearly 40 years...

It’s quite good actually...

BAck home, the garden was looking good in the midday sun - thanks to Annie's hard work on it...







Then , to ripping all this new stuff to the hard drive and on to the juke box, now the “Last 11 Months Jukebox” since I’ve bought so much recently that a month of discs has been knocked off the capacity...

Listening to Steve Harley led me to a Norwegian broadcast from January this year, during which he played three songs, including "Make Me Smile" (of course) but also "Sebastian" with a full orchestra - first time apparently since recording the track back in 1973...

The performance starts around 98 minutes in and goes to the end of the show....

For any Uriah Heep fans, there's also a segment featuring Ken Hensley and band playing "Circle of Hands" (around 28 minutes in)...

Then, off to Tynecastle with Anne to see Hearts play Motherwell (her mum was on a lunch, so, for today, I had to play the part of a female old age pensioner – not as hard as it might seem...)

Met up with Jane, Bobby, Ollie and Kitty on the way...



A nil-nil draw ensued – with, on balance, Hearts the better side I think even although Motherwell hit the post in the first half and the bar in the second....

Kick off...



Hearts fans...



Motherwell fans...



Full time...



On the way home, we noted this heron on the nearby river...



Dropping Annie off, I popped to Tesco for ingredients re tonight’s cook...

Note the large sun and the plethora of trolleys, discarded  by the lazy inhabitants of Edinburgh...



Back home again and we enjoyed some wine in the garden with Meg the Black Cat (she declined the drinks)...







I took a walk to the building site that was once a college, and happened upon this squirrel, in nest building mode...







Then, to the kitchen, where, to the groovy sounds of Mr Mingus in 1964, I concocted a chestnut mushroom and crunchy pepper pasta with crème fraiche...











Very tasty, if i say so myself...

On telly, we enjoyed Tivo’d “Law & Order” and “Glee” before “Match of the Day” (with new acquisitions on the headphones) – which I gave up on half way through, hitting the sack around 11...

Another good Saturday...

Highlight of the Day : Relaxing in the garden on an otherwise busy day...