Monday, January 03, 2022

Yet another integration exercise completed, for now...

Playlist
Creek - Fake Leopard Coat
Billy Sherwood - Return to the Dark Side of the Moon
Various Composers - D'un siecle a l'autre
David Sylvian - The Scent of Magnolia
Various - The Treasure Isle Story
Wizzard - Wizzard Brew
The Velvet Underground  - Lou Reed & The Velvet Underground
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
Focus - Focus III

First Monday of the year and, of course, it felt like a Sunday...


The cats didn't care what day it was they just wanted their breakfast...


Done - then to some work on Creek...


So that the comp can be "1997-2022", i.e. the full 25 years, I set about creating a new mix of the title track, a recording from 1998, but, now, incorporating elements of all the other tracks on the comp...


And lo, it was deemed "not bad"...

Two mixes, one with the main track, one without it...

Post breakfast, Anne was off out with her mum...

My next task was to re-integrate two boxes of CD-Rs - separated a few years ago with a view to ripping them into the iTunes collection - another project that came to nothing - back into the main body of the  CD-Rs...

I could find the cover for this - it was on the end of a box - but, for the life of me could not find the CD....

It's pretty good by the way...


I had to look through every single CD in 12 boxes of CD-Rs to find it...

Breaks were taken and, downstairs, Niko was being his usual inquisitive self...






Back upstairs and the task was being soundtracked by disc 1 of this tasty collection...



...then, by this self made David Sylvian compilation of mainly stand alone tracks collected from here and there...


...then, the first disc of this excellent box of early reggae rarities...


Finally, it was done...

Of the top row here (the focus of my "work"), the first three boxes are card sleeve official CDs, while the other 12 are all my CD-Rs ..


I used to burn all the LPs I downloaded to CD-Rs and even made covers for jewel cases for them...

Eventually, I started running out of space so I removed them all from the jewel cases (which I donated to Oxfam) and put them all into plastic sleeves...

Now, of course, I'm not sure which of them are in my iTunes collection on the computer system...

First world problems indeed...

Anne was home for lunch and Niko's favourite toy became a crisp packet...


...which, when thrown, he chased after, collected and brought back to be thrown again - like a more intelligent version of a dog...


While Mia continued to sleep on a chair in the dining room, the three of us watched two episodes of "Around the World in 80 Days"...


Niko's mischievousness continued unabated...



"Who, me?"


On the "real" "University Challenge", 160 point amassed - very high for us re the "real" version and above our 151 average over the Xmas Alumni specials...

Very proud...

Later on this evening, a programme on Salvador Dali's coverage on the BBC over the decades...

Niko very much enjoyed it, as you can see...







Occasionally, Dali could be seen, sans cat...


...as a less intrusive perch was found...


Finally, the wee man settled down...


A long day...


..but things were done, things were watched and at least one of the cats entertained...

Highlight of the Day : Integration completed...

Sunday, January 02, 2022

Postponed Xmas...

Playlist
The Gladiators - Dreadlocks The Time Is Now
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Events One and Two
Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes - What Kinda Music
The Kinks - Kinks
Ten Walls - AA
Erika de Casier - Sensational
George Braith - Extension
Saunders, Rebecca - Rebecca Saunders: Solo
The Temptations - Meet The Temptations
Bliss - English Music for Strings
Davies, Tansy - Nature
King Crimson - Music Is Our Friend (Live In Washington & Albany 2021)
Juniore - Un, Deux, Trois
King Tubby - Dub
Black Country, New Road - For the First Time
R+R=Now - Collagically Speaking
Merlin - Round Midnight
France Gall - N'écoute pas les idoles
Creek - 1998-02-10
Creek - 1997-06-01
Creek - 1998-02-17
Creek - 1999-09-01
Creek - 2003-02-23
Creek - 2004-06-08 (Live at the Cafe Royal)
Creek - 2005-06-06
Creek - Tarnished
Creek - Creek 2015
Creek - Reconstructed
Creek - 2019

Reasonable upness...


...and working on compiling the line up for the first podcast of 2022...

I have a plan!

Cutting it down to 2 hours instead of 3 and recording on a Wednesday night instead of a Friday...

Each programme will have 20 tracks as follows...

A CBQ track, Rock, Funk/Soul, Reggae, Ambient, Contemporary Jazz, Classical, Prog Rock, Dub, Pop, Leftfield, Classic Jazz, Contemporary Classical and a track from each of the week's seven LPs of the day...

That should work...

For the non "LP of the Day" tracks, I will do my best to play from recent acquisitions...

For the first episode, I have 17 tracks at present, to which will be added LPs of the day for tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday...

Anyway, breakfast...


And then, working on Creek - I hope to upload all of our recordings to Bandcamp over the course of 2022 but want to start off with a compilation...

It will feature a track from each of the years, of those 25 (1997-2022) since we formed, that we've been active, in one way or another, i.e. 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2011, 2015, 2018 and 2019...

Spent some time choosing the tracks and listening back...


...and doing a cover...


Around 12:30, out and over to Straiton to do my mum's shop then to hers for an hour and half or so for chat, lunch, coffee and showed her the pics from here from Xmas Day to yesterday...

Which kind of proved to her that her life is not any less boring than mine...

After over a year of having to repeat everything we say, this Friday sees a visit from "the man" who will hopefully resolve her ear issues...

We'll see...

At 3, to Jane and Bobby's for a delayed Xmas meal with Mary, Olly and Kitty - so Mary got to see Olly before he goes back to University...

Drinks and chat and then to the table - starting with lovely cheese dips...


...with which Olly was pleased...


...as was Mary despite this artistic pose...


There had been much prep throughout the day and right up to the last moment (here, Yorkshire puddings are being poured)...


A few minutes later, yum...


...followed by home made (and sadly unpictured) tiramisu...

With Mary's 90th happening this year, we looked back at previous big family trips away on the blog here (plus the following three days) and here (plus the following three days)...

Olly and Kitty very much enjoyed seeing their younger selves...

Here, a couple of "out-takes"...

2012


2017


What a difference 5 years makes when you're young...

When you're old, it flies past and not much seems to change, but it does...

A very kind lift home from Olly and a couple of things watched before hitting the sack...

Xmas was back, for a short time...

Highlight of the Day : Postponed Xmas...

Saturday, January 01, 2022

Into the year and missing the blue...

Playlist
Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
Alice Cooper - School's Out
King Crimson - Islands
Lindisfarne - Nicely Out of Tune
T Rex - The Slider
Al Stewart - Orange
Argent - All Together Now
Sly and the Family Stone - There's A Riot Going On
George Braith - Extension
Miles Davis & John Coltrane - The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961
Miles Davis - Twenty Classic Albums Vol One
Lester Young - Lester Leaps In
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew

Up late...


Cats cavorting (or one of them was anyway)...


A new year...


During which all of these turn 50 years old...




Those who created them are either dead or in their 70's, 80s or older...

If, in 1972, I'd had unlimited cash but was only allowed to buy LPs charting in the UK for the first time during that year, here's what I'd have bought (the first 17 were released pre 1972 but didn't chart till then)...


...and here's when I'd have bought them...


Yep, a new year but the time wasting continues...

At 10:15, this from Vienna...








...was accompanied initially by this from the EP...


...while a vocal Niko looked on...



Featuring Japanese coffee from Jane and Bob...


It seems I fell asleep half way through "The Blue Danube" and missed "The Radetsky March"...

Oh well...

The French thing continued apace as the 3rd season was uploaded to Netflix today - which was a Saturday but, rather annoyingly, felt like a Sunday...

Accordingly, with nothing else to do, out for a wee walk...





Back home to relax...



Our proposed meal out with my mum this evening was called off again, due to her not feeling too great...

I enjoyed some jazz in the back room and rearranged the CD player slightly, for easier access to the mini amp...




A tasty Indian takeaway nourished - replacing the proposed Indian meal with mum...

We both watched "Dr Who" from Anne's settee, as the cats had usurped me...


Very good indeed and featuring the Daleks...

Also "Superman & Lois Lane" was good, as was "Scot Squad" - a much better future Hogmanay staple than "Only An Excuse" ever was...

And we ended the day by binge-ing to the end of Season 3 of "The Hook Up Plan"...

Didn't take long to get through three seasons - we only discovered it a few days ago...

That's TV these days I suppose...

Goodnight Niko...


Highlight of the Day : Dr Who...