The world is full of idiots...

Playlist
Mozart - Piano Concerto No 12 Arr. for String Quartet & Piano
Various Composers - The Art of the Baroque Trumpet
Barber - Capricorn Concerto and Other Works
Maximilian Hecker - Mirage of Bliss

Up reasonably early and out with Anne to Stockbridge, past this wee dog at his window...

...for breakfast at Patisserie Florentin...

Word from Count Brodski - we were to meet at 11:20 am for the bus to Glasgow for a day of music...

A quick stroll round the village within a city, including a visit to Oxfam, where a disc of baroque trumpet music and another of works by Mr Barber joined the collection...

Quickly home to pick up my bag then back to Murrayfield to meet up with Brodski...

This pre-arranged trip meant I was unable to attend the funeral of a friend - but I am sure Mr D would understand my logistical inability to make it...

A quick journey to the West ensued, during which Brodski and I compared notes on our remaining elderly parents and reminisced about school days...

In Glasgow we stopped by Mono for a browse, some purchases and some tasty food, before heading into the centre, past this rabbit on a wire...

...and to the Arches for the days' events...

We ended up witnessing just four of the performances, plus some of "The Cabinet of Dr Cagliari", shown with the original orchestral soundtrack, due to the electronic act which had been set to provide the soundtrack being a no show...

So we saw Golden Teacher...

...we bathed in a purple light...

We saw the main event for us, Herr Dieter Moebius soundtracking Fritz Lang's "Metropolis"...

Symptomatic of the rather shambolic organisational skills on display was the fading out of our hero's performance to set up the next band...

Moebius did not start late and, surely, the organisers must have known how long the film would last?

He was disappointed, we were disappointed...

The Count hung around the stage area and secured autographs for us both...

We did not visit the cafe in the venue...

Then we caught Remember Remember's set, played out in front of a Japanese film and somewhat enjoyable...

We met old musicking chum Alan Martin, up from Troon for the day, purely by chance - we saw him last at the Michael Rother gig in Edinburgh a couple of years back - he is off soon to Wrexham to see the ex-Neu! and ex-Harmonia cohort of Mr Moebius...

A quick nip to the chippy over the road from the venue and back in for the last show of the night, Jeff Mills soundtracking Fritz Lang's "Frau im Mond" - which I judged to be better than his more famous "Metropolis"...

We chose the room where you could enjoy the music on headphones...

Unfortunately some of our fellow audients had difficulty understanding the concept and proceeded to shout comments at each other at the tops of their voices - it seems the world is full of idiots...

An enjoyable time was had despite this...

...and we were able to wait until the final frames, before heading back up the bus station for the trip home...

...which went without a hitch...

A walk up the hill for your correspondent and into bed around 1:30 with one of today's new purchases on the headphones as I drifted off...

Highlight of the Day : A great day out with Count Brodski...

With the intention of hawking...

Playlist
Edgar Froese - Solo (1974-1983) The Virgin Years
King Crimson - A Young Person's Guide to King Crimson
Mozart - Piano Concerto No 12 (Arr for String Quartet & Piano)

A beautiful day on Crispycat Hill...

...and uptown...

In the post a disc of Mozart, despite already having a huge box of his complete works - for this was a version of his 12th piano concerto, arranged by Amadeus himself for string quartet and piano and expertly rendered by the Alban Berg Quartett and Mr Alfred Brendel...

Tasty...

In the evening, Capital Models reconvened to play for the first time in seven weeks...

In the course of the evening, we played 5 of our 45 known covers and then played them again sans vocals, recording with a view to creating a wee demo to hawk round possible venues to peddle our covers-based wares...

We also worked on three brand new ideas for 2013 CM songs...

And played a couple of differently keyed versions of our song "Computer Operator" from 1979/80...

An enjoyable evening...

Home not too late and the day was rounded off with a what started slowly but turned out to be quite funny film in Ben Stiller's "Tropic Thunder" - in which Tom Cruise managed to steal the show...

Highlight of the Day : Playing with the band...

Being froeserred...

Playlist
Edgar Froese - Aqua
Edgar Froese - Epsilon in Malaysian Pale
Edgar Froese - Macula Transfer
Edgar Froese - Ages
Edgar Froese - Stuntman
Edgar Froese - Pinnacles
Cloudland Blue Quartet -Riverleaves

A day of electronic excellence from Mr Froese (and, at one point when the batteries ran out on my main machine, me on the back up)....

In the evening, home alone with Meg the Black Cat, as Anne was off out to see "Cats" with best chum Lynn...

Accordingly, pasta and "Terminator : the Sarah Connor Chronicles" were enjoyed, before I retired upstairs for more Edgar, as I brought this up to date...

A call from Count Brodski with finalised arrangements for Saturday, when your favourite Love Parade and Boom! alumni (in fact, the only Love Parade and Boom! alumni) will take a train trip to Glasgow...

We will (hopefully) enjoy an eight hour multimedia festival of sound and light at The Arches, featuring, among others, Cluster mainstay, Herr Dieter Moebius and two (count 'em), two Fritz Lang films and Robert Wiene's "The Cabinet of Dr Cagliari"...

OK "Metropolis" is perhaps not as great as many think it is but looking forward to hearing how Moebius interprets matters, having been a fan of the man since discovering Cluster via Eno in the late 70s...

Rather stupidly, I see from the running times that, to catch the Moebius set, we'll need to forego the end of "Cabinet"...

What were they thinking??

The Count is also swithering about Kraftwerk at T in the Park later this year - they are his favourite band - but T in the Park is his least favourite possible venue to see them...

Ah, the dilemma...

Now awaiting a possible taxi call from the Exec Producer...

Highlight of the Day : being Froeserred..

Seeing the wood and the trees...

Playlist
Shostakovich - Complete String Quartets
Roy Wood - Music Book
The Move - Singles
Wizzard - Singles
Roy Wood - Singles
Electric Light Orchestra - Singles
Edgar Froese - Solo (1974-1983) The Virgin Years

Snow on the ground first thing as I abandoned my initial selection of Shostakovich for Roy Wood...

At lunchtime, an excellent meal at The Red Squirrel with chums Margaret, Fiona and Pam, the latter not having been seen for around a year and Pam now with a year old daughter...

The meal wasn't even really marred by the fact that a particularly crunchy French fry managed to rebreak my front tooth - the repair carried out last year having borne up fine until today...

An emergency dental appointment has been (so far unsuccessfully) sought...

Back home a bit of a Roy Wood-a-thon took over the evening, as I compiled a collection of top 40 hits by The Move, Wizzard, ELO (with and without Mr Wood) and his own solo efforts...

That was despite having undertaken a fairly similar exercise a few years ago, the results of which lie within this plastic sleeve...

A kick in the pants off 50 singles all told...

And, mostly, top stuff too, meiner Meinung nach...

Highlight of the Day : The music of Mr Wood...

The view from the bridge...

Playlist
Various - Acquisitions 2012/13

A visit to Fife today on the train...

...and back again...

Other than that, a tasty Chinese takeaway sustained in the evening, along with probably too much TV, although "Death in Paradise" entertained as usual...

The first half of Celtic v Juventus was also watched - but we missed goals two and three...

Not to worry...

Highlight of the day : Travelling by train...

A distinct lack of lack of rivettosity...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Patience and Events
Michel Oudar - Cahier pour Michel Oudar
Shostakovich - String Quartets

Can't remember much happening today, soundtracked by two collections of CBQ soundscapes, compiled especially for the "Starlightnight" box set...

Other than that, I finally got round to starting to listen to the recently acquired 5CD box of Shostakovich's complete music for string quartet - a live recording by the Emersons - although it is edited from various live performances at which the audience were requested to be extra quiet...

Great stuff...

Another live disc, from French pianist Michel Oudar, featuring works by Scriabin, Diennet, Risset, Boeuf and Berio also entertained, after having lain alongside the Shostabox, untouched, over the weekend...

I probably watched some TV too...

Apologies for lack of rivettingness...

Highlight of the day : More new music...

Ungoosed and goosed...

Playlist
Various - Acquisitions 2012 & 2013
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Starlightnight

Sometimes I just go too long before writing this to remember what I've been up to...

So I look to my pictures to try and recreate...

I can see I walked to the store for two lovely warm croissants (not so warm by the time I got back)...

Spotting this wee beastie on the way...

Post breakfast I worked on reactivating a 60GB Jukebox, long thought to be goosed - and, wonder of wonders, I succeeded...

I then tried my magic on the one 30GB Jukebox which is programmed to work with windows and which recently seemed not to be allowing any new material to be added...

Suffice to say, it's now goosed...

OK so I'm 30GBs up on the deal I suppose and the "new" 60GB machine is now my "latest acquisitions" Jukebox and stretches back to 1 January 2012...

Late afternoon, I walked down to Jane and Bobby's for Kitty's party, with my last album in the cans and sounding good, even if i say so myself - while Anne, as agreed, drove past me on the way...

This isn't her...

A fairly relaxed party for Kitty, whose new wee chum, Rafa the Dog was the guest of honour...

3D TV was attempted and rejected as being too weird...

Lovely home made chili and birthday like cakes were scoffed...

...and a firework was lit....

Just after 6, out to my mum's to meet up there with sister Sheila, whose birthday it was today - for some reason I did not record the event but we had a good time nonetheless...

Back home around 8 and some TV and some listening rounded off the weekend...

Highlight of the day : Birthday parties and reprogramming...