Insect, bike, prawns, cakes, fish, pie...

Playlist
Various - Recent Aquisitions
Trixie Whitley - Fourth Corner
Blue Hawaii - Untogether
Various - Old CBQ Podcasts

Up early again and to the Virtual DJ to create a two hour podcast featuring music bought in the last two weeks...

Alas, it's too big to post up...

Not to worry...

Out for breakfast to The Pantry, near Patisserie Florentin...

Nice coffee but...

...really, how long does it take to cook a couple of sausages? 

They were pretty tasty though - mind you some of that tastiness may have been down to the long wait...

A walk to the nearby market...

...where your correspondent partook of some jam...

...and the EP chose some lovely bread...

I like the market...

Back home on a scorcher - the flowers were out...

To Tesco for prawns and cakes and then on to my mum's with the wedding photos - which were much enjoyed (as were the unpictured cakes - the prawns were for later)...

Later, over to Lynn and Ross's with Ross's card and a wee present - it was his birthday today...

In his garage, I found these drawers intriguing...

We picked Anne's mum up and brought her back to Crispycat Towers where, while Anne rustled up some very tasty indeed fish pie, me and Mary went through the pics on her digital camera, cropping and generally ameliorating and then adding to a USB stick for printing by next Sunday...

Time for tea...

Anne was excited about her new creation...

...and Meg tried a wee bit...

She advised it was perhaps a little too hot for her...

Duly slightly cooled, it was able to be enjoyed...

Tarte Citron for pudding, with strawberries and cream - there was a boat and it was being pushed out...

Meanwhile, Meg found a favourite spot in the garden...

With Anne's mum heading home under her own steam, it was back to Virtual DJ to create a nice wee early seventies singles mix before enjoying the last of three "Case Histories"...

Highlight of the Day : Fish pie...

What I've wanted since I was 13...

Playlist
Creek - The Return of Symmetry
Creek - 1.0.0
Various - Virtual DJ Setlists
Various - Recent Acquisitions on Shuffleplay

Up early and some work at the PC but no walking into town today...

Instead a good few hours sorting through the pics from nephew Andy's wedding, cropping and generally ameliorating, before putting onto a USB stick to have printed for my mum...

Meg the Black Cat was relaxing...

...as I went for rolls - to be enjoyed back home with eggs...

Later on, shopping with Anne...

On the agenda, picture developing...

During the hour's wait we nipped to Sainsbury for supplies, swithered in Comet over a new radio for the kitchen (decided against) and bought a shoe tidy thing for the porch at Argos...

Back home, started putting this together...

Of course, if you bring a box into the house...

Half way through the work, fellow Creeker (and wedding photographer) Stu Cobley arrived...

We had been going to meet with him in Penicuik with third member of the band, Craig Sutherland but Craig had to pull out at the last minute and Stu was heading into Edinburgh anyway...

It just so happens that today is the sixteenth anniversary of the first ever Creek improvisational electronic quartet session at Reptile Records...

Spooky...

Stu helped out with the construction...

...and showed us his pics from his recent trip to Berlin, which we compared and contrasted with our own from last May...

A good couple of hours...

Later on, whilst listening to some tracks on the PC I thought I'd like to cross-fade but the option seemed disabled on my Creative player...

So I sought out some free to download DJ software and plumped for Virtual DJ, given its good reviews...

It turns out this is the same software I used on nephew Andy's laptop during my short DJ set at his wedding...

Very much recommended - it's what I've wanted since I was 13...

As a consequence of mucking about with this, I was late leaving the house for tonight's MB Fives get together for the returning to France of Messieur Jonathon...

Arrived at Waverley Bridge around 35 minutes after our supposed meet up time at a venue still a good 10 minutes walk away...

Good light waylay-ed me further...

I arrived at The Globe to find no-one there...

I texted the organiser and called a couple of times - no response...

Looked in a few nearby hostelries - to no avail...

So walked back to Waverley Bridge...

Good light waylay-ed me again...

I sat down on the airport bus and took out my phone to text Anne to advise of my early return - to find a text from the boys to advise they were now at The Globe - everyone was running late it seemed...

So I jumped off the bus and walked back again...

A good night ensued...

Jonathon received a wee trophy, engraved with his catch phrase "Putain de Merde!!!"

Also along were Colin and Mick...

Also along were Jambo Dave and, lurking in the darkness, Abdul the Morrocan...

...and Nigel and his lovely wife, whose name I'm afraid I did not catch...

After apparently putting my name down for the game this Wednesday(!!), I bailed around midnight and made my way to Princes St for a night bus, for which I had to hang around for another 40 minutes...

...during which time I managed to ensure a young drunk Irish lad would make it to his Grandad's on the correct bus...

To bed around 1:30 - after an enjoyable day...

Highlight of the Day : Virtual DJ download and footie night out and Creek celebration....

Through the doors...

Playlist
Various Composers - Musik In Alten Städten & Residenzen
Kiss -Kiss Klassics
Kiss - Sonic Boom
Tangerine Dream - Tyger
Hawkwind - At the BBC 1972
The Week That Was - Same
School of Language - Sea From Shore

And May has gone...

Out under the morning moon...

I was supposed to have been going along to see The Psychedelic Warlords perform "A Space Ritual" tonight but Count Brodski bailed a couple of days ago and I decided to stay at home and listen to Hawkwind instead...

It just so happened that, while in HMV at lunchtime, I noticed the 2CD version of "Hawkwind at the BBC 1972" for a fiver - this is the remastered version with mono and stereo mixes - I already have the one disc mono concert - given the disappointment re tonight, I snapped it up (along with a 2CD set of solo albums by the Brewis brothers from Field Music - recommended for all fans of XTC)...

A nice wee curry sustained early evening along with the last two episodes of the now cancelled "Wedding Band" - starring the same guy who is in the cancelled "Terminator : The Sarah Connor Chronicles" - no luck...

In between sampling recent acquisitions, "Have I Got News For You" and "Not Going Out" were also enjoyed, prior to the full Hawkwind concert and some watching of the missed Psychedelic Warlords on Youtube - looked good...

Not to worry...

If you're not familiar with Hawkwind, rather unbelievably, their 1971 track, "Master of the Universe" graces the latest Ford advert - the one where the guy dives through the car into a pool on a hill outside Barcelona...



A good start to the weekend, despite not going out...

Highlight of the Day : Kiss and Hawkwind...

A small box of wonderful stuff...

Playlist
Udo Lindenberg - Stark Wie Zwei Live
Udo Lindenberg - MTV Unplugged
Cecil Taylor - Looking Ahead
Nitin Sawhney - Human
Blue Oyster Cult - Agents of Fortune
The Unwinding Hours - Afterlives
Various Composers - Musik in Alten Staedten und Residenzen
Herbie Hancock - Sextant
Kiss - Sonic Boom
Kiss - Kiss Klassics
Toots & the Maytals - Pressure Drop

A bus ride to Stirling first thing...

Picked up by Raymondo and a short drive to Airth Castle...

..for mucho chat and some tasty nosh...

In the afternoon back to a very sunny Edinburgh...

A walk towards Fopp, via Boots for replacement batteries re the much used pedometer...

In Fopp, several albums partaken of - the 2012 disc from new discoveries The Unwinding Hours, Blue Oyster Cult's classic "Agents of Fortune", an album I've never owned but have always kind of wanted since 1976...

I saw them at Edinburgh Odeon, 35 years ago tomorrow, supported by Japan (then a kind of Glam-Metal band)...

BOC had lasers!

Also acquired was Herbie Hancock's fusion improv "Sextant", a two disc Trojan retrospective of Toots and the Maytals and a rocking 2CD + DVD set of Kiss' last album but one, "Sonic Boom"...

A walk from Fopp to the airport bus...

...and home to find the 10CD box of "Musik in Alten Staden und Residenzen" had arrived - music written between 1600 and 1800 and performed in Venice, Lubeck, Vienna, Hanover, Leipzig, Dresden, Mannheim, Salzburg, Eisenstadt and Potsdam...

Wonderful stuff and worth every penny of the two squid per disc laid out for samples of over 40 different composers...

Suffice to say, much of the evening was spent a-listening and a-ripping...

Highlight of the Day : A small box of wonderful stuff...

Filling in the gaps...

Playlist
Schubert - Octet
Cage - Complete Piano Music
Udo Lindenberg - Discography
Tangerine Dream - Le Parc
Tangerine Dream - Dream Sequence
Anne Sophie Mutter - Mutter Modern

Up early and breakfasting with Schubert...

In the garden the flowers are a bit later than usual in blooming this year but they are starting to...

...including in the new blue pot...

Journey into and from town accompanied by the piano music of John Cage...

Back home again, the first of a few not great Tangerine Dream CDs popped through the door - I have decided to fill in the gaps between "Hyperborea", their last on the Virgin label and "Livemiles", purchased last week, their last with Christoph Franke...

Meg the Black Cat looks enthused by this latest pointless project...

I think she prefers the smell of her tale to the music of the mid to late 80's period of our friendly German synth gurus... 

Ended the day buying more nonsense cheap CDs on Amazon, a CD single (my first for aeons) by Fehlfarben, a couple by Udo Lindenberg and and German Udo tribute album including covers by Nina Hagen and the Humpe sisters...

Lights out...

Highlight of the Day : Surfing for Deutschrock...

Groovy, man...

Playlist
Emerson Quartet - J S Bach : The Art of the Fugue
Alban Berg Quartett - Bartok String Quartets 1 & 2
Cage - Complete Piano Music
Cecil Taylor - Love For Sale
Cecil Taylor - Hard Driving Jazz
Cecil Taylor - Unit Structures

A bad start to the day as, half way down the road, I realised I had forgotten my specs...

When I did finally reach the bottom of the hill - after a double back to collect specs scenario - I boarded the bus into town only to find my bus pass expired yesterday...

OK not quite as bad as those times when my Jukebox battery runs out of juice but getting there...

A call to mum to be advised the results of a recent X-Ray show the infection in her lungs is yet to fully clear up - hence recent shortages of breath...

The dizziness continues to improve a little and visits from chum Janette last night and this morning buoyed...

In the evening, some quick updating of this while Anne cooked another brilliant spaghetti - seafood and chorizo tonight...

On the Tivo, a documentary on Ronnie Barker - laughter and tears...

Late on, having been soundtracked this morning by Bach and this afternoon by Bartok, it was the turn of John Cage and Cecil Taylor from '59 and '66...

Groovy, man...

Ended the day with "New Girl", "CSI" and more far out sounds...

Highlight of the Day : Anne's spaghetti...

Eclectic acquisitions...

Playlist
Tartini/Paganini - Violin Concertos
Various - A Beginner's Guide to African Funk
Tangerine Dream - Green Desert
Brian Eno - Pellisero Wine Promo CD
King Crimson - Cadence and Cascade

To mum's first thing to ensure all ok...

It seemed to be, although she is not 100%...

But at least today she was able to get up and get downstairs...

A return to Quattro Zero, my new fave Italian, for a nice tasty lunch with chums Raymondo, Big Al, Margarita, Wenders, CK, Trace and Paulster...

Back home, some catching up...

Here, the acquisitions thus far for May - an eclectic bunch...

On telly, "Vicious" and "The Job Lot" were removed from the schedules due to the seemingly inexorable  "Britain (Plainly Has Not) Got Talent"...

Oh dear...

I must wonder at the mentality of those who enjoy such utter pish...

Live and let live though, I suppose...

Meanwhile, I fell asleep during the last in the series of "Law & Order : Criminal Intent"....

Idiot...

Highlight of the Day : Lunch at Quattro Zero...

General disconnect and vertigo...

Playlist
Hawkwind - A Space Ritual
The Unwinding Hours - The Unwinding Hours
Cecil Taylor - Looking Ahead
Cecil Taylor - Hard Driving Jazz
Various - A Beginner's Guide to African Funk

Up before six again...

Some work on the computer set up this morning, general disconnect of everything followed by a tidier reconnect...

A call from sister Sheila around 10 am to advise mum was ill again - this time dizziness in the extreme...

A trip to B&Q re some stones for the back garden, a quick lunch and then most of the rest of the day, apart from a couple of hours at Anne's mum's was spent out at Loanhead looking out for mum...



She spent most of the time asleep...

Enjoyed "Back to the Future III"...

Home around 11 or so...

A long, not particularly enjoyable day...

Highlight of the Day : tidying up the PC set up...