There's a show from Haydock - I said there's a sh...

Playlist

Various - Last 10 Months on Shuffleplay

Katia and Marielle Labèque - Piano Fantasy : Music for Two Pianos

Yes - Fly From Here

Half the year away already...

Off to the Royal Mile first thing to take part in a project which subsidised nicely the recent large outlay on the Alice Cooper box set...

On the way back into town, passed the shop which housed Reptile Records from 1991 to 1995...

Also passed the Ladbrokes where I worked when I was a student...

...I would sit up above the smoking punters, often very hungover, marking incoming betting news on the board (this was in 1980)...

There was always a stooshy if I happened to miss some prices coming in...

There was often a stooshy...

My tenure was not long...

In the Cancer Research shop on the Bridges, I happened across a 6CD box by Katia and Marielle Labèque for just £5 - still in its cellophane wrapper and £30 on Amazon...

Of course I would never have bought it for £30...

Headed home in the sun...

Obtained a pre-release copy of the new Yes album and spent the evening listening to it...

Mighty fine it is too...

Looking forward to getting the real thing...

Managed to get the onloan I-Pod Touch from Dr Prog to connect to the Crispycat Network and listened to a couple of tracks over the net...

Bollinger was drunk...

It's amazing what you can do nowadays - mind you, I still need to download I-Tunes again and sync the player with the PC which seems to be easier said than done...

A flight was booked, despite news of lodgings still being awaited...

On telly, "Mock the Week" entertained, as did the (very welcome indeed) return of "Big Bang Theory"...

Lights out...

Highlight of the Day : New Yes / Big Bang Theory / Holiday...

Most beautiful thus...

Playlist
Various - Top 60 on Shuffleplay
David Bowie – Toy
Caravan – Cunning Stunts
Editors – The Back Room
Laura Pausini – Platinum Collection 2009

Acrobatics from Meg the Black Cat first thing…



A scorcher...





Lovely skies as I left the house...



Once again bumped into Count Brodski in Fopp today as I was wandering around with four Caravan CDs in my hand…

In the end I bought only one, 1975’s “Cunning Stunts”...

On the way home, this seagull impressed...





...while the bus stop scenario annoyed once again...



Still, if that’s all I have to complain about...

Lovely skies as I returned to the house...



Back home, the Caravan LP was deemed quite good but certainly not as good as Annie’s Red Thai Chicken Curry which was enjoyed as we watched “Glee” – even though I'd already watched it when Anne was in Greece...

Also in arrivals today was Editors’ first album, bought on e-bay recently for £1.98 to test that my Paypal was working – yes these are the pathetic excuses I come up with for buying CDs...

Upstairs post “Glee” to do some research on a holiday for the late summer and it looks like we might head for the Franco/Italian border with the possibility of a wee trip into Monaco too...



We need to do some logistic juggling but might be able to make the final arrangements tomorrow, fingers crossed...

Elsewhere, a mail from sister Pam thanked us for the package of Bowie and Pausini shipped down on Monday and being enjoyed in Hemel Hempstead...

Listened to the same albums here in an empathetic way...

Bellissimo cosi...

A call to my mum too on this, the eighth anniversary of my dad giving up the ghost...

Like yesterday...

Highlight of the Day : Holiday planning...

Front line dub...

Playlist
Various – Cloudland Blue Podcast No 4
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Acoustic Set 4/6/11
Neal Morse – Testimony Two
Various – Positive Vibrations
Various – The is The Front Line
Various - This is Reggae Music
Various – Trojan Dub Box Set
Various – Trojan Dub Box Set Vol 2

Nice Greek tan and Greek bracelet for the Exec Producer...



Listened back to the last podcast...

Sounded ok – thinking about doing another...

Why not...

Listened back to the acoustic set I recorded at the start of the month...

Sounded ok – thinking about doing another...

Why not...

Sunny day...





Tasty pasta for tea...

“My Family” and “Sirens” on the Tivo...

A year ago, whilst in Manchester, it seems I bought a three disc set of reggae, complied from Virgin’s “Front Line” label and I’d forgotten that, so I gave it a spin, which led me to a single disc compilation of the same label and, then, to the 4 CD box set “This is Reggae Music”...

Great stuff...

A disappointing “Lead Balloon” was followed by more reggae, from the two Trojan Dub Box Sets......

Highlight of the Day : Reggae music...

Culture overload, not really, just can't get enough, doo, doo, doo etc...

Playlist
Delalande - Symphonies pour les Soupers du Roy
Fasch - Concertos/Orchestral Suites
Benda - Symphonies 7-12
Various - An Introduction to Classical Music
DJ Hell - NY Muscle

Quite enjoyed myself today...

Catching up on the classical discs I bought on Saturday - if I'd bought them on Amazon they'd have set me back nearly 70 squid instead of 20 - bargain...

Other than that, whilst supposed to be researching holiday destinations for the late summer, I got caught up looking at next year's Documenta, dOCUMENTA (13), in Kassel and, from there, ended up at Gerhard Richter's site (added it to my links cos it absolutely rocks)...

Here's an extract of his series "War Cuts"...



..."4900 Colours"...



..."Firenze" (my fave of these)...



..and "Snow White"...



He's the man for me...

Also, whilst writing yesterday up, I got drawn into listening to some poetry over at the Poetry Archive...

Culture city...

Of course, I was thinking culture went out the window later on as I chucked on a CD I found buried under a pile of junk in the back room yesterday which I'd forgotten arrived while Anne was away in Greece..

And so, as I write this, the wierd disco/house/experimental beats of Mr DJ Hell are issuing forth from the Crispycat Soundsystem...

Tasty - and, let's be fair, it's still culture...

Yaroo!

Elsewhere, booked what promises to be a very tasty lunch outing with Count Brodski and Lady Penelope and called our old chum Mr Jorg Sunshine over in Deutschland to see how he's doing...

A call too from sister Pam who is doing really well, enjoying working again and generally getting on fine with her chemo other than a little tiredness...

Her oncologist reckons no need for an MRI at present as she's so well right now...

Why does the bus always stop at the bus stop rather than coming right round to the end of the "Bus Stand"...



...when it has to stop there anyway to wait to cross the road?

I've worked out that, if I got the bus home every day for a year, this rubbish bus stopping scenario would waste just over three hours of my life per annum...

They could save themselves time too by just stopping once instead of twice...

Idiot bus drivers...

Spotted this wee beastie on the way down the road...



And noted the signs re the trees have been torn down...



The big tree's still there for now...



And The Pie is doing ok too...



The vulture of culture...

Highlight of the Day : Culture...

Whatever you say, say nothing...

Playlist
Various - Last 10 Months' Acquisitions on Shuffleplay
Various Composers - An Introduction to Classical Music (2CD-R)

Spent much of the first part of the day on one of my many unfinished projects - that of rearranging the music on my various Creative Jukeboxes...

When all is said and done it's a colossal waste of time...

It seems a lot of my time is wasted because I cannot stop buying and acquiring more and more music...

The early afternoon was spent fixing the PC again after a further viral intrusion...



Thereafter, I set about compiling an introduction to classical music for brother in law Keith, as requested by him a week or so ago...



So, I tried to include most forms of classical music, overture, oratorio, symphony, concerto, sonata, lieder, chamber and 20th Century...

Very reasonable if I say so myself...

And we all enjoyed listening to it, Meg taking it in turns to snooze with Anne...



...or read poetry with me...



The book in question, a collection of Seamus Heaney, was presented to me two weeks ago by Sid Smith when I met up with him in Newcastle...

My favourite so far is "Whatever You Say, Say Nothing", originally from the collection "North" published in 1975...

With the discs burned and listened to and a cover drawn up, it was off to Anne's mum's for a tasty family tea of thai chicken with coriander chutney...

Nice..

Back home and two episodes of "Scott & Bailey" entertained followed by a rather mawkish documentary "The Day John Lennon Died"...

Off to bed hoping for no more viruses tomorrow...

Highlight of the day : Compiling

Dirty treefellers...

Playlist
Soft Machine – Kings of Canterbury
Rainbow – On Stage
Gene Krupa – Drums Drums Drums
John Cale – Slow Dazzle
Free – Fire and Water
Caravan – For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night
Camel – The Snow Goose
UMA – Hymn to Undiscovered Land
Rainbow – Rainbow
Rainbow – Long Live Rock’n’Roll
Dave & Ansel Collins – Double Barrel
The Upsetter – The Upsetter
Delalande – Symphonies pour les Soupers du Roy
Fasch – Concertos/Orchestral Suite
Benda – Symphonies 7-12
Hofmann – Symphonies
Kraus – Symphonies Vol 1
Kraus – Symphonies Vol 2
Alice Cooper – Billion Dollar babies
Alice Cooper - Killer

Up at 6:15 and working on updating the blog,whilst ripping recent acquisitions for the jukeboxes...

Leaving Anne sleeping, I drove over to Count Brodski’s at 9:30, noticing as I went to the car that the builders have started removing some of the trees, fences and undergrowth...



A good chat with Alan and Penny for an hour or so, accompanied by tasty coffee from the hand of Brodski, then off to the Record Fair...

Here we met up with Dr Prog and the three Musikateers spent some considerable time perusing the wares...

Purchases were made, including ten excellent classical music CDs for your correspondent for just £20...

Discs by Delalande, Fasch, Benda, Hofmann, Kraus (x3), Loeffler, Enescu and Schnittke...

An enticing, and autographed, DVD of Patrick Moraz was partaken of by Dr Prog while Brodski bought some vinyl and a three disc set of works by Shostakovich...

Meanwhile, a call from Anne advised a stand off between the workers of Cala Homes and our neighbours re the removal of the trees and bushes between the site and their house...

This good sign was posted up and down the path...



Apparently the council tree specialist had to be called this week when a tree surgeon was spotted preparing for removal, one of the bigger trees which is protected...





But when you’re selling your new houses (albeit with pathetically tiny gardens and albeit situated only a foot or so from the equally monstrous monstrosity next door) for half a million of your English pounds, then a £200 fine for felling a protected tree which was in your way, is hardly going to bother you...





Back uptown, as we left the fare, Dr Prog presented me with one his old I-Pod touches for me to utilise, possibly as a further MP3 player but also regarding new music scenarios, possibly in conjunction with Peri Urban...

Round the corner for a quick Diet Irn Bru and some chat before I had to leave to get to Waverley Station, where I met up with a now wide awake Annie and my mum’s old chum Pat, through for the day from Paisley...

Due to a parade on the Royal Mile, we took a round about the houses detour, finally arriving out at Loanhead...



Leaving the ladies about to go out and enjoy lunch, we drove to nearby Ikea where some organic Pea & Ham nourished and Anne collected a couple of storage items re her holidaying-by-the-pool attire, which she reckons will not be needed now for another 10 years...

To Tesco on the way home for petrol and provisions then back to Crispycat Central to perform various tasks, mainly involving e-mailing and ordering on the PC...

Calamity, as a virus was accidentally downloaded and the entire afternoon went up in smoke as I tried to rectify matters...

After a good three and a half hours of “doing stuff” and rebooting etc etc I finally managed to reset the registry to a point long enough ago that the virus was eradicated...

Meanwhile Annie had prepared a tasty tea of steak, pomme frites, onions, mushrooms and asparagus...

Mmm, mmm...

An evening of mainly catch up on the Tivo ensued with last weeks rubbish-compared-to-Merlin “Camelot”, two episodes of “Law & Order”, the mildly amusing “My Family” and, finally, a live “Camelot”...

Then further hours were spent at the computer, downloading I-Tunes and trying to get Phil’s I-Pod to sync with it...

At 1:30am, having failed miserably, I turned everything off and hit the sack...

A full to the brim Saturday...

Highlight of the Day : An I-Pod Touch from Phil – now if I can just get it to work...

Listing and listening...

Playlist
Various - Top 60 Recent Albums on Shuffleplay
Dave and Ansel Collins - Double Barrel
Various - Milano Jukeboxes 1998-2010 MP3 Disc

Today, I noted work continues apace on the site over the fence...





I await the disappearance of this tree with some measure of sadness...



Now, I know everyone loves a list and I've been playing my current top 60 "recent released" albums over the last few days, so here's what it comprises (in album title order)...

Sky Architect - A Dying Man's Hymn
Jakszyk Fripp & Collins - A Scarcity of Miracles
Dream Theater - Black Clouds and Silver Linings (3CD)
Uriah Heep - Celebration
Bigelf - Cheat the Gallows
My Chemical Romance - Danger Days
Charts and Maps - Dead Horse
David Sylvian - Died in the Wool
Brandon Flowers – Flamingo
IQ - Frequency
Battles - Gloss Drop
Fehlfarben - Glucksmaschinen
William Fitzsimmons - Goodnight
OMD - History of Modern
Wetton Downes - Icon III
Symphony X - Iconoclast
Sumner McKane - In the Blood
Galleon - In the Wake of the Moon
Editors - In This Light and on This Evening
Steven Wilson - Insurgentes
Uriah Heep - Into the Wild
Broken Records - Let Me Come Home
Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
Alice Peacock - Love Remains
Grand Theft Bus - Made Upwards
Dar Williams - Many Great Companions (2CD)
The Bad Plus - Never Stop
OK Go - Of the Blue Colour Of the Sky (2CD)
Bryan Ferry - Olympia
Asia - Omega
Guilt Machine - On This Perfect Day
Glen Hansard/Marketa Irglova - Once OST
William Orbit - Pieces in a Modern Style Vol. 2 (2CD)
Dar Williams - Promised Land
John Grant - Queen of Denmark (2CD)
Peter Gabriel - Scratch My Back (2CD)
Brian Eno - Small Craft on a Milk Sea
The Pineapple Thief - Someone Here is Missing
Steve Harley - Stranger Comes to Town
Jon Anderson - Survival and Other Stories
Neal Morse - Testimony Two
The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night
Midlake - The Courage of Others
Heaven and Hell - The Devil You Know
Justin Currie - The Great War
Porcupine Tree - The Incident
Bidiniband - The Land is Wild
Sarah McLachlan - The Laws of Illusion
James - The Night Before
Muse - The Resistance
The Flower Kings - The Sum of No Evil (2CD)
The Uglysuit - The Uglysuit
Transatlantic - The Whirlwind (2CD)
LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
Eels - Tomorrow Morning
David Bowie - Toy
Marc Almond - Variete
Divine Comedy - Victory for the Comic Muse
65DaysOfStatic - We Were Exploding Anyway
Anathema - We’re Here Because We’re Here
Jason Lytle - Yours Truly, The Commuter

Tasty...

Anyway, who should I meet again today in Fopp but Count Brodski - and we're off to a Record Fair tomorrow which will make it three days in a row...

"So, Dave, what did you get today?" I hear you ask...

Well...

Firstly, two Rainbow albums I didn't have already (always good not to have CDs already when you buy them), their first and third, "Long Live Rock'n'Roll", both of course featuring the mighty but sadly departed Ronnie James Dio..

Then, Dave and Ansel Collins Trojan reggae classic, "Double Barrel" from 1971, featuring their two big singles "Double Barrel" and "Monkey Spanner" and a second reggae based treat, the eponymously entitled "The Upsetter" - of which, coincidentally, the good Count also partook...

Picked up by the Exec Producer and drove home...

Suffice to say "Double Barrel" lasted barely three and a half songs before it was rejected by the EP for being "rubbish"..

It was replaced with her own "Milano Jukebox" collections...

Back home a disc awaited by jazz drumming giant, Gene Krupa - not the greatest but good to have in the "library"...

A quick turnaround and we drove through to Glasgow for a concert of new Swedish music played by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the City Halls...





...where, a long time ago, me and the EP used to sell concert tapes by the shed load...

Anyway, tonight's programme, preceeded by fiery Ginger Beer and a cheeky wee G&T...



....was conducted by Andrew Manze, recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3...





....and featured all UK premieres...

Victoria Borisova-Ollas - Angelus
Britta Byström Förvillelser - Delusions (featuring Tine Thing Helseth on trumpet)
Tobias Broström - Transit Underground
Anders Eliasson - Symphony No.4

Anne wondered how classical music will survive in a few years' time as almost the entire audience were in their eighties!

My preferred pieces were the first and second while Annie enjoyed the Symphony best...

The composer of the third piece was in attendance - he seemed a very nice young man...

An excellent evening's music...



Afterwards, we popped over the road to Pancho Villa's...



...and enjoyed a tasty Mexican dish each before heading back to Edinburgh...

Now that's what I call a Friday...

Highlight of the Day : Out concerting with the Exec Producer...