Friday, June 30, 2017

Eschewing the root canal treatment...

Playlist
Amon Duul II - Tanz der Lemminge
Patti Smith Group - Radio Ethiopia
Robert Fripp - Let The Power Fall
Various - A History of the Single - The 2010s
Roxy Music - Street Life - Greatest Hits
Barry White - All-Time Greatest Hits
Glass - Solo Piano
The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones
Nina Hagen - Nunsexmonkrock
Yes - Classic Yes
Uriah Heep - Live At Shepperton '74
Tom Waits - Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
Toto - Dune OST
Chris Rea - Shamrock Diaries
J S Bach -  Goldberg Variations (Gould 1955)
James Brown - Live & Rare
Various Composers - The Original Sound of L'Oiseau-Lyre Volume 2
Tangerine Dream - The Virgin Years: 1974-1978
Various - Wow! That Was The 70's
Saga - The Security Of Illusion
David Bowie - The Complete Singles Collection 1964-2017
Alice Cooper - Welcome To My Nightmare
King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King (40th Anniv)
John Wetton - Battle Lines
Various - Pure... Rock
Yes - Time And A Word
Fauré - Complete Music For Piano
Various - The Wire Tapper 25
Black Widow - Sacrifice
Art Garfunkel - Art Garfunkel Album
The Doors - Absolutely Live
Various - Now That's 1970-06 - 1970-12
Mendelssohn - Lieder Ohne Worte
Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention - One Size Fits All
Hawkwind - Parallel Universe
Hawkwind - Hall Of The Mountain Grill
Kamasi Washington - The Epic
Katie & Marielle Labeque - Piano Fantasy : Music for Two Pianos
Various - Cloudland Blue Eclectic Selection 2017 Vol 27
Sparks - What the Hell Is It This Time? [Single]
Ethan Iverson - Construction Zone

Awake at 4am in agony with horrendous toothache - painkillers taken then snoozing, up at 7 and out and down the road for a bus around 7:30...

By 8:40 I was at the dentist...

Around an hour later, this...


The offending tooth removed in three parts, including a gold crown...

Removed by these...


I now have matching spaces...


As to how this might affect me, we'll have to see...

A bus home, whilst upon which I received a text from TalkTalk advising their engineer had been mucking about with our internet and I was to text back either "fixed" or "not fixed"...

Upon arriving home, almost inevitably, the text was sent "not fixed" - another hour long telephone call, by which time the anaesthetic had worn off and I was once again in agony...

At the third/fourth attempt, it seemed we'd finally got to the bottom of the problem and it appeared matters were resolved, however, I advised I would monitor for a further 48 hours just in case...

(Update : Matters remain unresolved!)

A visit to my mum in hospital called off due to pain and tiredness and so, a phone call instead - she has had a few other visitors over the last couple of days and so was reasonably happy...

I have not watched any telly now for two days - since all my series are finished...

Rest undertaken before recording the next podcast...

Just after 8pm, I set off to drive to Glasgow Airport to pick up the ladies - succeeding in staying awake on the drives there and back, despite the rather large painkiller intake and lack of sleep...

It took an hour from landing for them to appear at pick up, then, due to night time roadworks, the convoluted drive home took 90 rather than 60 minutes...

And so, home around 1am - a very long day...

Tiger had popped by to say welcome back to Anne...


Booty...





Good to have the EP back...

And June is away...


Highlight of the Day : Tooth out, EP home...

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Partying down, internet up...

Playlist
Hawkwind - Doremi Fasol Latido
The Who - Tommy OST
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Love's A Prima Donna
Various - This Is...The Front Line
Automatic Man - Automatic Man
Eddie Jobson - Zinc / The Green Album
Moebius & Plank - Rastakraut Pasta
Ollie Howell - Self-Identity
Roll The Dice - Until Silence
David Wehr - American 20th Century Piano Music
Alban Berg Quartett - 20th Century Masterpieces
Various Artists - Cloudland Blue Eclectic Selection 2017 Vols 1-52
David Bowie - Christiane F : Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo
Roxy Music - Country Life
The Cure - Faith

Well...

This morning, after resetting the router once again, this...


It was up all day...


Late afternoon, into town for a wee party to celebrate chum Wheelers' 40th birthday...


An excellent night...

Your correspondent was home by 11 not too the worse for wear...

He took to his bed with a slight pain in a tooth...

Highlight of the Day : Partying down, internet up...

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Internet junkie ahoy....

Playlist
Adrian Belew - Mr. Music Head
Alaska + Dinarama - Fan Fatal
Be Bop Deluxe - Drastic Plastic
Paul McCartney & Wings - London Town
The Rezillos - Can't Stand the Rezillos
Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings And Food
Television - Adventure
Brian Eno - Music For Films
Trevor Rabin - Trevor Rabin
Styx - Styx
Poets Of The Fall - Clearview
The Flaming Ember - Roots Of Hip Hop (Mojo Presents...)
Katy Perry - Prism
Kodály - Orchestral Works
Roger Waters - Smell the Roses [Single]
The Clash - London Calling
Alice Cooper - Flush The Fashion
The Psychedelic Furs - The Psychedelic Furs
Various - Cloudland Blue Eclectic Selection 2017 Vols 26 & 27

This...


An hour long telephone call to TalkTalk and some mucking about by them at their end...

Thereafter, a 15 minute wait then switch the router off and on again...

Guess what...

Hmmm...

Out and into town for a stupidly arranged pointless meeting...

My mood is so affected by loss of access to the internet...

I am, it seems, an internet junkie...

And cold turkey is unpleasant...

Post meet, a drive out to the hospital for a visit with my old mum...


She's always on at me for being so fat...

She's just worried that, like sister Pam, I will die before her...

Oh well...

She's been told another week of intravenous antibiotics is required, with oral antibiotics post that...

She's bored out her brains in that hospital...

To Sainsbury on the way home, more tortellini, noting that their's is twice the price than Tesco, albeit with slightly more in the pack...

Home and another over an hour long call with TalkTalk...

Further mucking about at their end...

Still no access and the promise of a call back from a "manager" by 5pm...

Guess what...

Meanwhile a "specialist" will be looking at matters and it's hoped the situation will be resolved within three days...

Finished off the "X-Files" - it left us with a bit of a cliffhanger and, it seems, there will be a further 10 episodes in 2018...

I am not entirely holding my breath...

In the evening, took a philosophical view re lack of internet and recorded this week's podcast, not knowing if I'd be able to upload...

To bed around midnight...

Highlight of the Day : Podcasting...

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

A visit from a mercenary monkey...

Playlist
Eddie Jobson - Zinc / The Green Album
Moebius & Plank - Rastakraut Pasta
Three Dog Night - Naturally
Nazareth - Nazareth's Greatest Hits
Mike Oldfield - Return To Ommadawn
Orion Tango - The Apple of No
Tomat - 01-06 June
Konono N°1 - Congotronics
The Beatles - A Hard Days Night
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
Orka - Leipzig
Julee Cruise - Floating Into The Night
Gary Glitter - Glitter
Faust - Faust IV
Various - A History of the Single - The 2010s
The Beatles - Revolver
Four Tet - There Is Love In You
Ali Farka Touré - Radio Mali
Ellie Goulding - Delirium
Niagara - Don't Take It Personally
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Rubinmusik 1977-2017
Bjørn Riis - Forever Comes to an End
Orion Tango - Orion Tango
Liars - Mess
Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn
Rheostatics - Rheostatics: Brave New Waves Session
Cockney Rebel - The Psychomodo
Roy Harper - In Between Every Line
Ian Gillan Band - Clear Air Turbulence
Yes - Union

The Exec Producer advised, first thing, that she and Lynn were on a boat to Positano...


Nice...

Meanwhile, having not gone to bed till 3:30 am, I was up rather late...

The internet was working fine and dandy...

And the tidying had gone well...


There was a visit from a wee chum too - although it was, basically, in the window, a couple of treats scoffed and then, back out the window...

Mercenary monkey...


Went through the rock & pop CDs with a view to putting more into the shop on Amazon - could only find around 100...

A fruitless trip to Ikea, gazing at "storage" and coming to realise I'd just be spending cash on surrounding stuff that's already there...

Lunch in their canteen - the aroma always reminds me of Butlins in the early 60's...

Tesco on the way home, for some Irish bread and tortellini - no more fish - the house still bore a rather less pleasant aroma than that at Ikea...

Started watching the "comeback" series of "The X Files" - very tongue in cheek...

Depressing too to see how people have aged...

Comes to us all...

But, when you see people everyday, you don't notice...

Late on, the internet went down and proved impossible to get back up...

Fucksake...

Started to compile the week after next's podcast...

Bed around 1am...

Highlight of the Day :  A visit from a mercenary monkey...

Monday, June 26, 2017

Staying up stupidly late...

Playlist
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - The Emperor
Joe Henderson - Mode For Joe
Chicago - Toronto Rock'n'Roll Festival 1969
Ellie Goulding - Delirium
The Beatles - A Hard Days Night
Niagara - Don't Take It Personally
The Beatles - Revolver
Ali Farka Touré - Radio Mali
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
Faust - Faust IV
Julee Cruise - Floating Into The Night
Tomat - 01-06 June
Liars - Mess
Madoromi - Live Vol 4
Barclay James Harvest - Barclay James Harvest
Shostakovich - Shostakovich: Symphonies 5 & 9
Baccara - Yes Sir I Can Boogie
Anita O'Day & The Three Sounds - Anita O'Day & The Three Sounds
Vance Joy - Riptide [Single]
Human - Being Human
Messiaen - Turangalîla-Symphonie
Curran - Inner Cities
Jackie McLean - Swing, Swang, Swingin'
King Crimson - Thrak (2015 Stereo Mix)
Laura Pausini - Live In Paris 05
Bob Holroyd - Ten Years Of Phonica
Gubaidulina - Seven Words, Silenzio, In Croce
Various Composers - 20 Jahre Edition Zeitgenoessische Musik
AC/DC - Greatest Hits
Alice Cooper - Old School
Alice Cooper - Theatre of Death
Alice Cooper - Pretties For You
Alice Cooper - Easy Action
Alice Cooper - Love It To Death
Alice Cooper - Killer
Alice Cooper - School's Out
Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
Alice Cooper - Muscle Of Love
Alice Cooper - Welcome To My Nightmare
Alice Cooper - Alice Cooper Goes To Hell
Alice Cooper - Lace And Whiskey
Alice Cooper - From the Inside
Alice Cooper - Flush The Fashion
Alice Cooper - Special Forces
Alice Cooper - Zipper Catches Skin
Alice Cooper - Da Da
Alice Cooper - Constrictor
Alice Cooper - Raise Your Fist And Yell
Alice Cooper - Trash
Alice Cooper - Hey Stoopid
Alice Cooper - The Last Temptation
Alice Cooper - Brutal Planet
Alice Cooper - Dragontown
Alice Cooper - The Eyes Of Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper - Dirty Diamonds
Alice Cooper - Along Came A Spider
Alice Cooper - Welcome 2 My Nightmare
Alice Cooper - Hollywood Vampires
Alice Cooper - Paranormal
Hawkwind - Doremi Fasol Latido
The Who - Tommy OST
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Love's A Prima Donna
Various - This Is...The Front Line
Automatic Man - Automatic Man
Eddie Jobson - Zinc/The Green Album
Moebius & Plank - Rastakraut Pasta

Up early and, out back, Tiger the Cat was stalking some seagulls, who were feasting on next door's garage roof re some kindly supplied by neighbour Pietro bread..


All the other gulls had fled, leaving just these two brave souls - in the end though, it was a stand off and the bread was partaken of in relative peace...


Meanwhile, indoors, some tidying was undertaken...



End result not shown as not yet available...

And, in Sorrento...


The postie brought this - originally ordered in April to arrive on 4 May...

In the meantime, I've been enjoying the free download...


For much of the afternoon and early evening, this...


Advice has been sought and received...

In the early evening, a listen to my current fave track from each of Alice Cooper's 28 albums 1969-2017, the first seven by the original group...


Dinner was cooked - no fish today...


...and enjoyed with a cheeky wee glass or two of 14.5% red wine...


Meanwhile, Tivo wise, both "Agents of Shield" and "Supernatural"'s latest series were finished off...

Disappointed to note the end of Crowley in the latter...

Oh well...

The final scenes were watched a around 1:15 am...

Then, some listening and surfing until a rather stupid 3:30 am bed hitting...

Highlight of the Day :  The Coop blasting...

Sunday, June 25, 2017

Mitigating mackerel is not easy...

Playlist
Konono N°1 - Congotronics
Ali Farka Touré - Radio Mali
Julee Cruise - Floating Into The Night
Tomat - 01-06 June
Niagara - Don't Take It Personally
Orka - Leipzig
Liars - Mess

Up reasonably early...

Weather looked good...


So I decided to stay in and sort out my CDs, soundtracked in the main by yesterday's purchases...

First, I removed two sections of jazz...


...to the window sill...


Then made my around the room, integrating around a year and half''s worth of acquisitions worth of discs into the rock & pop A-Z...


As I made my way around...



...the number of empty sections decreased...






  ...until...



...after just over two hours...


...the task was complete...


...only for me to then discover I'd missed around a dozen or so discs from the very start of the alphabet...

Hmmm...

Next time...

Out to the hospital...

And a walk from a free parking spot...







Mum was disappointed with her efforts for her walk...


...and so took a second shot at matters...


Ice cream was provided by her favourite son...

OK, only son...

Back to the car...


..and home via Sainsbury, where tea provisions were secured - mackerel fillets and potato cakes, which I cooked with onions...


Very tasty but, subsequently, the house stank of fish...

Back upstairs to integrate the jazz acquisitions from the last 18 months...


...which took less time, there being fewer CDs of that ilk...

More episodes of "Supernatural" enjoyed, as was a fleeting visit from Tiger the Cat - I'd opened the windows and doors to try and mitigate the mackerel...

And then, the film "Looper"...

I do like a bit of time travel hokem...

As the sun went down...




...I went around the house closing all the windows and doors, having failed miserably in my attempt to mitigate the mackerel...

As I entered the bedroom, who should I find but a cheeky wee Fang the Black Cat...


I allowed him to stay till midnight, before putting him out the window...

Lights out...

Highlight of the Day : Long overdue CD integration...