tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36919540126360224622024-03-14T17:37:46.957+00:00Use Passing Places to Permit Overtaking"We stop at every passing place to watch the world move faster than we do" (Idlewild, The Remote Part)Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.comBlogger222125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-63951713919751975412012-01-19T19:17:00.002+00:002012-01-19T19:22:08.458+00:00A perfectly executed bank robbery<a href="http://godisinthetvzine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Dan-Sartain1-296x300.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 296px; height: 300px;" src="http://godisinthetvzine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Dan-Sartain1-296x300.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The latest from Birmingham, Alabama’s Dan Sartain – his 5th studio album – is a perfectly executed bank robbery of a record. Get in, get the job done, get out again, no messing about. As the official press release says “13 tracks delivered in under 19 minutes! That’s an average strike rate of a new tune every 1 minute and 30 seconds.”<br /><br />Sartain’s sound has been described as everything from rockabilly to punk to – memorably – “hillbilly thrash”. One review of his Dan Sartain vs The Serpientes record said it sounds “as if Jonathan Richman wanted to be Hank Williams instead of Lou Reed”, Which about sums it up.<br /><br />From the very first chord of opener “Nam Vet” til its breathless conclusion a whole one minute and thirteen seconds later I was transported to the world of noisy gigs in sweaty wee clubs; in other words the best kind of gigs. For “Now Now Now” young Dan is joined by singer/guitarist Jane Wieldin of the Go-Go’s to deliver arguably the album’s strongest track.<br /><br />The ghosts of The Ramones are never far away in this record; indeed Johnny and Dee Dee appear to be looking over Dan’s shoulder most of the time checking to see if he’s got it just right. And he surely has. Neil Young and Crazy Horse wouldn’t have too much trouble joining in too – tracks like “Swap Meet” and “Boo Hoo Hoo” ring with a primal energy which is completely out of step with much of the manufactured output we hear from at the moment. The fact that most of the songs sound very much alike is only a negative point if you don’t like the Sartain sound; and if you don’t like that then there’s something far, far wrong. I’m thinking of getting one of the lyrics on a t-shirt, track 9 in fact “Fuck Friday, Fuck Saturday, Fuck Sunday. Fuck you.”<br /><br />Keeping it real. 5 stars.<br /><br />Source: http://godisinthetvzine.co.uk (http://s.tt/15ivk)<br />Author: Bryan GreggSingle Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-49313540285494289812011-08-01T00:00:00.002+01:002011-08-01T00:03:58.403+01:00Don't stop believing...Okay, that was a different kind of journey; this one's called <a href="http://www.ijourney.com/singletrackroad">I-Journey</a> and it's where I'm at with the blogging right now:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzu54wkqHNaR6vBXPL8sku0_FwDC1SKj62uFa64BgN8hpYmBztDLUbM575kPYsNkRqKXUZWCTYlmQmNzmrsXU641PF91VzhyssLZ0MCs9Hu8_eP0T6CyoB1HPk_4v6yPVWJI280wH5iM/s1600/ij.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 504px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzu54wkqHNaR6vBXPL8sku0_FwDC1SKj62uFa64BgN8hpYmBztDLUbM575kPYsNkRqKXUZWCTYlmQmNzmrsXU641PF91VzhyssLZ0MCs9Hu8_eP0T6CyoB1HPk_4v6yPVWJI280wH5iM/s320/ij.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635656007970561666" border="0" /></a>Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-26026932584033669602011-06-23T17:21:00.001+01:002011-06-23T17:21:20.720+01:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEbQYEZIuBGr9nMYI7wXZIbRkrYVJcDy6KzN0MdvZUs2GR-f_SpHNc8jiaI_srcPE_iqKWLHrbayH6fU3WJ5SWBIBK9qjsAwVtXQQoG_Fsj_zEBCm_S1LTq820k96oNPH6xAs5taidmZI/s1600/Cake-001-780721.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEbQYEZIuBGr9nMYI7wXZIbRkrYVJcDy6KzN0MdvZUs2GR-f_SpHNc8jiaI_srcPE_iqKWLHrbayH6fU3WJ5SWBIBK9qjsAwVtXQQoG_Fsj_zEBCm_S1LTq820k96oNPH6xAs5taidmZI/s320/Cake-001-780721.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621451115406455570" /></a></p>Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-34516064565467816622011-06-12T13:03:00.003+01:002011-06-12T13:06:43.584+01:00The latest Wordle...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNpPTAPhC5lvv01-_1dMdUPdvKTcscuTnLW7m7bf2WjBBmqtfxdXUJSoh2xFSAXWIVoUNvOu6y4LpgTnwsamlvX9lQMzqI8FehLK8jAxVCD4W0qiVW2Db1pVVoAQMhC0spKWAmr1cuYh4/s1600/wordle.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 451px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNpPTAPhC5lvv01-_1dMdUPdvKTcscuTnLW7m7bf2WjBBmqtfxdXUJSoh2xFSAXWIVoUNvOu6y4LpgTnwsamlvX9lQMzqI8FehLK8jAxVCD4W0qiVW2Db1pVVoAQMhC0spKWAmr1cuYh4/s320/wordle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617303498238691218" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3756771/June_Wordle" title="Wordle: June Wordle"><br /></a>Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-1129011290118566482011-06-12T09:33:00.005+01:002011-06-12T12:54:29.733+01:00Hope I die before I get old...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://themodern-world.webs.com/THE%20WHO.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 339px; height: 342px;" src="http://themodern-world.webs.com/THE%20WHO.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a>Jings, it's a thought isn't it? Not the Who per se but the dieing and getting old bit.<br /><br />I was having a shave in the shower this morning on my new wet'n'dry electric shaver thingy and was struggling to get anything resembling the closeness of a blade. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Kiam">Victor Kiam</a>, where are you when I need you? Anyway, I digress...as I was trying to get the thing to take away that tricky bit under the chin, just at the top of the neck I was reminded of a visit, many many years ago to the old folks home my maternal grandfather was in.<br /><table><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.finchsquarterly.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/b3186g9-004-300b.jpg" width="180" /><img src="http://www.volksworld.com/imageBank/1/1302_VW_Beetle.jpg" width="180" /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />My dad and I had gone along to see Grampa Michael - who used to drive a white beetle and wore a beige Harrington jacket (not always at the same time) - in a council run care-home in the South Side of Glasgow. He was getting on by this stage and had started to have real difficulty with the day to day stuff. He was in need of a shave so my dad got out Grampa's wee battery shaver and suggested I do the needful. I'm not sure how I old I was at the time but I remember finding it really tricky and dad & grampa having a wee chuckle to themselves about how you needed to get the skin taut and maybe press a wee bit harder with the shaver than you perhaps felt comfortable with. It's only now as an adult I realise how tricky shaving someone else actually is - it's hard enough doing me. But once again I'm digressing. The real point I was getting to is one which came to me under the water jets this morning as I remembered the episode: there's no way you're getting me into an old folks home. The reek of piss, the smell of cooking, the slow decline and the lack of dignity...no thanks.<br /><br />I'm not suggesting the live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse bit - though two out of three as Meat Loaf reminds us ain't bad - but maybe a wee "dodgy handbrake near a cliff" moment might be called for when the time comes...Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-41734013841906180382011-05-29T23:44:00.001+01:002011-05-29T23:44:21.018+01:00The big cd shelf tidy paused for multiple sensational @FRabbits interludes. This guy was impressed... #music<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOUYSH6dQb_LKJvOjwcbrGkpvvF5VHdMG0Zn9ODK3E7k-QGI3TZPiB0qiJhR7G0LGDNVXLGdhjNN3pqUjtUBm1zbnlCC8k2AgI_J0pxDAfQpO6yR9hxoCd4KzYe9o-3yi55ZkPA9tCl8/s1600/290520111789-761019.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOUYSH6dQb_LKJvOjwcbrGkpvvF5VHdMG0Zn9ODK3E7k-QGI3TZPiB0qiJhR7G0LGDNVXLGdhjNN3pqUjtUBm1zbnlCC8k2AgI_J0pxDAfQpO6yR9hxoCd4KzYe9o-3yi55ZkPA9tCl8/s320/290520111789-761019.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612272682795923170" /></a></p>Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-43596377838155165892011-05-28T09:34:00.000+01:002011-05-28T09:35:40.924+01:00Hey, all y'all, remember this. Important stuff. #singletrackroads #driving<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkgJ4rBWERU0a2T29M4gqqEhK0lX1Cc6vp4NJl8bwoVAlNerNd2bmkdrizu5F4C2Udl3f29bWoet5nGaQdY-xbAKfDA2FIo5v-F5LAnTQg7xTXKcmhMRm-4kkZu4qLHv-JEoXVDkDaUYU/s1600/280520111788-740925.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkgJ4rBWERU0a2T29M4gqqEhK0lX1Cc6vp4NJl8bwoVAlNerNd2bmkdrizu5F4C2Udl3f29bWoet5nGaQdY-xbAKfDA2FIo5v-F5LAnTQg7xTXKcmhMRm-4kkZu4qLHv-JEoXVDkDaUYU/s320/280520111788-740925.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611682900574401602" /></a></p>Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-55735958731282744882011-04-15T20:40:00.000+01:002011-04-15T20:42:08.212+01:00It's the vinyl countdown...<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkhWcv9XDuZ2o5AY-H_KnICM8tXjpginlt6p_qg4IqC_LFAiVUm1mr8VYcQ6mYdUs16xzsWIZk1rrF74QViEQW2t1yuRyIcNA2kvUEaVc0UNbf8Hb7Li6VUK45nmPJ7suKqD4b5z5qW8/s1600/060220111459-728213.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkhWcv9XDuZ2o5AY-H_KnICM8tXjpginlt6p_qg4IqC_LFAiVUm1mr8VYcQ6mYdUs16xzsWIZk1rrF74QViEQW2t1yuRyIcNA2kvUEaVc0UNbf8Hb7Li6VUK45nmPJ7suKqD4b5z5qW8/s320/060220111459-728213.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595897980526285906" /></a></p>.Woah! Getting seriously excited about Record Store Day tomorrow. Heading down to Glasgow for the duration in anticipation of seeing Iain Shaw, Admiral Fallow and Frightened Rabbit all doing their live thing.<p>I know it's the night before and therefore hasn't happened yet but it's so good to be able to get excited again by music and the communal enjoyment of it. Music has been my overriding passion for as long as I can remember. Certainly I was hooked long before acquiring Guns n Roses' Appetite For Destruction way back in 1987. Johnny Cash on dad's car stereo was almost certainly to blame.<p>Now, almost a quarter of a century later I find myself - in the style of a grumpy old man - lamenting the passing of 'all the good stuff'. Though to be fair I'm not sure if I mean Britpop and indie or the 1960's.<p>Over the last 18 months or so I've become completely absorbed by the music of Admiral Fallow and Frightened Rabbit. Their lo-fi, folk tinged melancholia, very much like the old Heineken ads, reaches the parts other music cannot; reflective, thought-provoking and uplifting in equal measure. The only problem with these guys is that they're not internationally famous yet. For reasons I've yet to fathom. I know, as well as anyone, how subjective musical tastes are. Indeed they must be. But I'm staggered that neither the Rabbits or Admiral Fallow have yet penetrated the 'mainstream consciousness'...maybe it's better that way.Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-29777927293016288342011-01-04T15:01:00.002+00:002011-01-04T15:03:19.136+00:00I don't know which way to turn...<p><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">*a reposting from my </span><a style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://variousmalarkey.tumblr.com/">Tumblr account</a><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">*</span><br /></p><p>I blogged, some time back, about my plan to maybe, possibly <a target="_blank" href="http://variousmalarkey.tumblr.com/post/1200121951/aye-write">enter a short story competition</a>. At that point I already had the bare bones of the story - I’d extended a very brief piece I’d done at the writing workshop mentioned in that earlier post.</p> <p>The theme of the competition is “A Wrong Turning” and, alas, it appears that’s what I’ve taken. Certainly I’ve reached something of a creative cul-de-sac, if not a complete dead-end. Though arguably they’re one and the same thing.</p> <p>I digress…indeed I should probably be spending time on the story rather than doing this, but I’m stuck. I’m loathe to extend the turning/journey/road analogy further but I really am at a bit of a crossroads with the thing. I’ve got around 1500 words. Many of which I like, I even like them when they’re put together into sentences and paragraphs! The trouble is, as I often find with any story writing I do, it strikes me that the words would be better spoken or read aloud - a play, or a screen play perhaps.</p> <p>Entering the competition has, somehow, become important to me. Not necessarily because I want to win, nice though that would be, but because I’d like to try to see through a story or piece of work from start to finish.</p> <p>With blogging, whether that’s been about music, campervans, teaching or whatever, it tends to be more diary-like: events happen, they’re digested and discussed, something else happens (or not) and that’s that. They are in and of themselves and because they’ve actually happened (gigs, trips, etc) it’s easy enough to recount them and to try to make them interesting, perhaps even humourous. The problem I have with story-telling is that I tend to become,as one of the workshop leaders put it, “elliptical” in my narrative: i.e. I ramble on all over the place without ever necessarily getting to any particular point and it all goes a bit stream of consciousness-y. I like to think of that as the Irish ancestry coming out there, if not trips to Ireland itself: wandering off on the back roads and byways (perhaps stopping here and there for a Guinness and a packet of cheese and onion ‘Tayto’) before getting to somewhere nice - a second hand bookshop, say, or a convent-run delicatessen in Clonakilty - without necessarily having set off in that direction.</p> <p>The more observant amongst you will notice that I’ve done it again.</p> <p>Where does all this get me then? Surely a story needs a beginning, a middle and an end? Especially if it’s a <em>short</em> story - even more important to get in, do the business, tie it up and get back out again quickly. Much like a bank raid or a Buzzcocks single. Short stories aren’t, it seems to me, about copping out with a “dot dot dot” type ending, a “to be continued” vibe hanging over the whole enterprise like a coldly calculated Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks animated series…</p> <p>Or maybe that’s just me? Maybe it’s okay to leave things up to the imagination of the reader. I know that, personally, I’m always <em>hugely</em> disappointed by an unsatisfactory conclusion. I can moan to my other half for <em>days</em> when a book - or film - ends in what I’d consider a half-arsed, careless, lazy or just plain lame fashion.</p> <p>Starting, now there’s another problem. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” - that, for me, is poor. A well-known, for sure, starting line but a poor, indeed lazy and meaningless one as well. “It was the day my grandmother exploded” from Iain Banks’ The Crow Road on the other hand, now there <em>is </em>an opening line. I mean, you just <em>have</em> to read on after that, don’t you? What kind of soulless monster would stop reading after an opening sentence like that?</p> <p>I know the beginning has to be carefully considered but if I even <em>attempted</em> a start like Banks’, I’d just be off into the realms of the contrivance…never mind the fact that I’ve now done over 650 words on this displacement posting alone.</p> <p>Ach well. I suppose I should really get back to it. I know! Got it at last! <em>“It was the best time when my worst grandmother exploded…”</em></p>Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-36258171467607371982011-01-04T13:09:00.002+00:002011-01-04T14:52:45.808+00:00Give us this day...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.foodprocessing-technology.com/projects/franz-bakery/images/4-bread-rolls.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 223px; height: 163px;" src="http://www.foodprocessing-technology.com/projects/franz-bakery/images/4-bread-rolls.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Well, that's something I wouldn't have found myself doing five years ago, voluntarily eschewing the delights (sic) of the nearby mini-market (!) and heading to the kitchen to actually <span style="font-style: italic;">make</span> some bread rolls. From scratch. Without using the breadmaker.<br /><br />It's an experimental recipe, I grant you. Indeed it's one that I'll not share until I see if it's worked, lest I receive a host of messages saying "you put <span style="font-style: italic;">what </span>in it<span style="font-style: italic;">?!</span>" Let's just let nature and yeast take their respective courses.<br /><br />I'm working on the principle that, since I understand the basic science behind the bread-making process, I can adapt it a wee bit to suit my mood and purpose. Here's hoping anyway, otherwise tonight's burgers are going to be served minus their jackets!Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-80538608274833403202010-11-24T19:30:00.003+00:002010-11-24T19:45:13.347+00:00Scents and sensibility...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://jewishsinglemaltwhiskysociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/pencil-shavings.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 293px; height: 195px;" src="http://jewishsinglemaltwhiskysociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/pencil-shavings.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Fitting, really, that this jpeg should come courtesy of the Jewish Malt Whisky Society (.com) who were clearly trying to describe an aspect of the taste and smell of a particular single malt (<a href="http://jewishsinglemaltwhiskysociety.com/?s=rick%27s+sample+%238">turned out to be a Sazerac Rye, 18year old</a>) - pencil shavings, cinammon and vanilla. Jings, sounds bloody marvellous. Anyway, I googled - as one tends to do these days - images for pencil shavings and this was my favourite (on page 1 of about 14squillion).<br /><br />Why did I google pencil shavings? I'd just been helping the wee man with his homework and he needed the sharpener unjammed. He was having a multi-media experience, researching homework - polar bears - online then writing up his findings in his jotter and I was thinking as I stoked the fire that it was great for him to be able to do this, to have the world's information at his fingertips; when all of a sudden it struck me - though the web has given us many things it has also - so some people lament - led to the demise of some key skills: handwriting, spelling, grammar and punctuation.<br /><br />What's more, if we keep digitising at the rate we're going, someday, perhaps sooner than I'd like to think, we'll have no need of pencils and their associated shavings and sharpener jammings will be lost forever...<br /><br />What then for the Kosher quaffers? "Hints of I-phone 4 with top notes of polycarbonate?" "Oy vey! No! I'm getting cinammon bagel and a hint of kevlar..."Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-67729936128225484202010-11-15T17:25:00.006+00:002010-11-15T18:44:39.040+00:00Breakfast of champions...<div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.constantlyhealthy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/healthy-breakfast-honey1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 323px; height: 219px;" src="http://www.constantlyhealthy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/healthy-breakfast-honey1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></div><br />So. For no good reason I was singing away to myself in the shower this morning, it was "Honey Be Good" by The Bible, erstwhile home to singer-songwriter genius, <a href="http://boohewerdinesblogthing.blogspot.com/">Boo Hewerdine</a>.<br /><br />It's a fantastic song but I've not heard it in an age so I've no idea why it popped into my head. However, there's always a however, it got me thinking...<br /><br />Never a good idea.<br /><br />Inspired by "<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0079fy9">Get It On</a>" on BBC Radio Scotland, I decided that Honey Be Good would be ideal in a "breakfast" themed show. What else, I wondered to myself, might make it onto the playlist? The shower's never the best place to start writing lists so I had to wait until I came out to write them all down.<br /><br />Obviously I'd start with Suzanne Vega's <span style="font-style: italic;">Tom's Diner</span> just to set the scene, then maybe <span style="font-style: italic;">Breakfast</span> by Eugenius. I could stick <span style="font-style: italic;">Breakfast at Tiffany's </span>by Deep Blue Something in there too. Obviously no good breakfast is complete without Orange Juice, so maybe <span style="font-style: italic;">Rip it Up </span>followed by <span style="font-style: italic;">You're So Vain</span> by Carly Simon, for the "clouds in my coffee" - appropriately enough featuring Sir Mick of Jagger on backing vocals, so we're alright for a little <span style="font-style: italic;">Brown Sugar </span>with our caffeine rush. Oh, and not forgetting <span style="font-style: italic;">The Milkman of Human Kindness</span> from Billy Bragg to pour in too.<br /><br />At this point the seasoned breakfaster is looking to move up to something a little more substantial. Perhaps a <span style="font-style: italic;">Sally Cinammon-danish</span> courtesy of The Stone Roses or even something from Pastry Cline. Apologies. Maybe anything by Muesli Elliot? Again, sorry.<br /><br />A lighter option, of course is to head towards the Beastie Boys' <span style="font-style: italic;">Yo-gurt! Bum Rush The Show </span>topped off with something from Lemon Jelly. Tori Amos' <span style="font-style: italic;">Cornflake Girl </span>or perhaps something from Oat-is Redding or Po-rage Argainst the Machine could help pile on the carbs. <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><br />If you're still hungry, of course, there's always Sugar Puff Daddy or Damien Rice Krispies, whilst those of you looking for a cooked breakfast could do worse than Smokey Bacon Robinson & The Miracles or something from the Eagles, maybe one of Glen Frey-up's compositions<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Echo Beach </span>by Martha and the Muffins or Paul Young and his <span style="font-style: italic;">Little Bit of Toast</span> might go well with anything by the Jam or Marmalade...washed down with a mug of Hot Chocolate.<br /><br />You might want to finish off by paying compliments to the chef on the way out...Sam Cooke.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2vgXBkwBEt5TauK_qt9YCkGm9yTiffJB-YhtcBwHSvHafH3jsWPwcs29CjOo45uQQBEvt5Lvr8QIrqCd52bEguHBUI5-KxfaOLUR3jlQJXtY6nv99ulYn2X7CVlkNMWWldiPVLZ3vbKE/s1600/soulfood.jpeg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 170px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2vgXBkwBEt5TauK_qt9YCkGm9yTiffJB-YhtcBwHSvHafH3jsWPwcs29CjOo45uQQBEvt5Lvr8QIrqCd52bEguHBUI5-KxfaOLUR3jlQJXtY6nv99ulYn2X7CVlkNMWWldiPVLZ3vbKE/s200/soulfood.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539849063961714402" border="0" /></a></span>Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-27575766452368364352010-11-14T13:07:00.005+00:002010-11-14T14:21:37.671+00:00There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments...I've just been outside to collect some wood for the fire...cold day here in the Wild West...the old garden's looking a bit sorry for itself. It's suffering at the moment from what might be called seasonal neglect: i.e. it's cold, damp and dark outside most of the time so I can't be arsed going out and tidying the beds and what not.<br /><br />Ho hum. This is not the work ethic one requires if one is to, as Jake & Elwood put it "live, thrive and survive..." or even keep up with <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00w08q9">Giles & Sue as the do the Good Life</a>. Nevertheless, it was lovely the other night to be able to nip out to the onion bed the other night when I realised I'd none in for chilli. The onion sets weren't particularly successful this year - I think the bed needs some manure or something - but I still got a couple of wee ones for the dinner.<br /><br />The great success that was our greenhouse/polytunnel thing, however, is no more. The stormy weather of the last few days has ripped the plastic and snapped the support poles beyond repair. I'm a tad miffed to say the least - we had loads of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuces and wee leaves from there this year, to say nothing of a couple of lovely squashes, green peppers and this magnificent micro melon!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYJUdV625TrfS40Ci1bXjltxjPM2Q130757Ax3RdYUYT1cfw4HzSPe5DVsGi8f2_mCdyOovgbTd2HokXQ3tvAYGugn9mrxlCpZod0ee9TZHxQ2JhWGmSCF4-n5wUvEvK5c7JvFtjT81nM/s1600/melon.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 110px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYJUdV625TrfS40Ci1bXjltxjPM2Q130757Ax3RdYUYT1cfw4HzSPe5DVsGi8f2_mCdyOovgbTd2HokXQ3tvAYGugn9mrxlCpZod0ee9TZHxQ2JhWGmSCF4-n5wUvEvK5c7JvFtjT81nM/s200/melon.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539410042499082050" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The other point of the tunnel was as a wood store - living in one of the wettest parts of the UK, it can be a bit of a trial keeping the fuel dry: tarpaulins don't cut it as they don't allow air circulation and a well engineered woodshed is outwith my capabilities and free-time at the moment. We'll need to investigate an alternative solution for next year, both for produce and wood storage. In the meantime, the dry wood we <span style="font-style: italic;">do </span>have can come into the house and the glut of green tomatoes will be enjoyed as chutney over the festive season. Farewell polytunnel, you've done us proud...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigR6Sn1_0NgRsZC-w2LFTZdP04E74T7goFosG36bP9CIaSPprqTDfpyX9XLd-0ipvZyabtQnWQ1MHCPY89IfEeF_IeWVn5z1ZPtaIHSpOdux5K3bDzO1B2NGDJvLfmHJ3GV_wyb-vHmV0/s1600/gh.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigR6Sn1_0NgRsZC-w2LFTZdP04E74T7goFosG36bP9CIaSPprqTDfpyX9XLd-0ipvZyabtQnWQ1MHCPY89IfEeF_IeWVn5z1ZPtaIHSpOdux5K3bDzO1B2NGDJvLfmHJ3GV_wyb-vHmV0/s200/gh.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539410172997270434" border="0" /></a>Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-33411715309930323942010-11-04T12:05:00.003+00:002010-11-04T12:13:05.707+00:00Smashing......pumpkins.<br /><br />Well, with the madness of Hallowe'en behind us, the pumpkin festering gently in the porch needed to be put to some use. A wee visit to the Torlundy Farm shop at the weekend saw the kids tucking into a winter-warmer type bowl of spiced pumpkin soup. The Christmassy smells sold that one to me so a wee Google brought up <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/pumpkinsoup_89904">this gem from Valentine Warner</a><br /><br />Assistance from the youngest child in the chopping department (supervised, honest!) helped get from this...<br /><br /><a href="http://naturalfeedback.com/b1/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/jack-o-lantern22.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 184px;" src="http://naturalfeedback.com/b1/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/jack-o-lantern22.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />to this...<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/images/food_16x9_448/recipes/pumpkinsoup_89904_16x9.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 146px;" src="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/images/food_16x9_448/recipes/pumpkinsoup_89904_16x9.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />in little over an hour and a half. We didn't go for the serving it in the pumpkin idea, seeing as we'd already chopped it up and roasted it with cinammon, cloved and nutmeg before even <span style="font-style: italic;">finding</span> the recipe!<br /><br />It was really, really lovely...and we've got tons left to freeze. The addition of home-made bread added an extra wee warm glow.Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-58114320425601714182010-10-31T19:44:00.001+00:002010-10-31T19:55:04.244+00:00Just to watch him die...<span style="font-size:85%;"> (this really should have been posted in the first week of October...)</span><br /><br /><a href="http://s955.photobucket.com/albums/ae40/singletrackroads/?action=view&current=061020101133.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 339px; height: 255px;" src="http://i955.photobucket.com/albums/ae40/singletrackroads/061020101133.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Ladies and gentlemen, welcome, to the loudest acoustic evening of your lives...<br /><br />The Airborne Toxic Event's Mikel Jollett didn't actually <span style="font-style: italic;">say</span> this in Edinburgh last week but he might just as well have...I think the acoustic guitars maybe lasted until about midway through the second song when they were ditched in favour of the full on post-punk-Jam-Clash-U2-if-they-were-any-good wig-out.<br /><br />My god (that'll be Billy Connolly or Chic Charnley then) this lot are <span style="font-style: italic;">good</span>. That perhaps drags understatement into a whole new sphere. The Airborne Toxic event are <span style="font-style: italic;">fantastic</span>: energetic, tuneful, melodic, exciting, inspiring, grinning, bouncing, anthemic, clever, funny, mesmerising, throbbing and <span style="font-style: italic;">loud</span>. In short, absolutely everything you could ever want in a band.<br /><br />Any band, yes, any band who have the sheer cajones to segue from their own "Missy" into Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" then into a rockabilly/punk version of "Folsom Prison Blues" has got to be worth seeing. The energy of the Cash cover in particular reminded us all where Johhny Rotten and co. got their ideas from. In my mind's eye, as I watched Mikel and the gang, all I could see was this:<br /><br /><a href="http://worldclassshitty.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/johnny-cash-finger.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 284px; height: 251px;" src="http://worldclassshitty.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/johnny-cash-finger.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Really. That good.<br /><br />Obviously I could go on and on and do a full gig-review and all that kind of thing but really, for a flavour of just how fantastic they were (and are) the other fans who've seen them over the last year or so provide a great variety of positivity <a href="http://bit.ly/abwBZY">here</a>.<br /><br />One reviewer, though, reminded me of part of the evening which should be adopted by other frontmen at gigs: one particularly talkative punter near the front was chatting all the way through the opening couple of numbers and clearly, in such an intimate setting, was making himself heard by everyone from the drummer to the stewards at the back of the hall. Mr. Jollet proceeded to lob a plectrum and a volley of abuse in his face much to the delight of the crowd - "that's the great thing about Scotland, you either wanna love someone or beat their f***in heads in!"<br /><br />Yup. The Man In Black would be proud, after all, Johnny shot a man in Reno for less...Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-75822822361126365162010-10-12T15:40:00.003+01:002010-10-12T15:54:42.054+01:00You'll be betrayed by your accent and manners...<div class="pp_items"><div class="pp_item" align="left"><p>Well that was an, albeit brief, education.<br /><br />Seeing as how we are, in actual fact, in the city (Edinburgh) I thought I'd start this blog with a wee Jam lyric. The musically inclined amongst you will spot that indeed I have...but it's from 'Strange Town' and not 'In The City'. How the memory plays tricks. I'd convinced myself that "they say don't know, don't care and I gotta go mate" - Mr. Paul J Weller's tale of a young man coming to London from the outlying provinces -Woking in his case - and finding the big city a tad unfriendly, was told in 'In The City'.</p><p><br />A quick Google gave me pages of lyrics for the song but not the ones I recognised. What on earth was going on? Searching for the lyric rather than the title brought me to Strange Town...whaddya mean all The Jam's songs sounded the same?!<br /><br />Anyway, none of this is the point. The point is we're in, what for the kids at any rate, is a strange town. Much uncharacteristically tight hand-holding and country-comes-to-town gazing up at high things and double decker buses as we walked from our hotel to the playpark in Princes Street Gardens.<br /><br /><a href="http://moby.to/a8cpts" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.mobypicture.com/17ac245f0137555882302da21496886b_view.jpg" alt="Posted using Mobypicture.com" /></a><br /></p><p><br />I once wrote, many years ago now, on another blog, about how a trip to Ireland had been measured in playparks on account of the wee man's obsession for a swing and a seesaw. It's easy to see the attraction. You get to run about mad, jump on things, make a racket and bounce up and down without so much as a sideways glance from the parentals.<br /><br />It's a bit like being a child in a primary school. I josh.<br /><br />The park diverted the weans for a good forty minutes before a wee grey squirrel had them tearing off in hot pursuit. Their hot pursuit, however, soon had the little rodent tearing off in the opposite direction...</p><p>Onwards then towards the bright lights of Lothian Road in search of some child-friendly sustenance. Having gotten over the shock - and major disappointment - of our old BC (before children) haunt, The Traverse Theatre Cafe Bar, being closed...</p><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPlreRQGi88VSTyjYQV6JMpXxNCo5eCedbZYP1bsQtthKmLOFMrhrNosmgQVptoVAVe3MryEJVK0cek-lzna-OxfVi-gErPUUazq7Zhwo1AZI-AVplJRSgY0i5NnOCgUMgwUKEVbpcb84/s200/trav.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527171360209614530" /><br /></div><div class="pp_item" align="left"><br /></div><div class="pp_item" align="left"><br /></div><div class="pp_item" align="left"><br /></div><div class="pp_item" align="left"><br /></div><div class="pp_item" align="left"><br /></div><div class="pp_item" align="left"><br /></div><div class="pp_item" align="left"><br /></div><div class="pp_item" align="left"><br /></div><div class="pp_item" align="left">...I took the munchkins across the road, past the newly funked-up Usher Hall, to the Filmhouse.</div><div class="pp_item" align="left"><br /></div><div class="pp_item" align="left">Six o'clock on an October Sunday and it was <i>heaving</i> - a real cross-section of folks, all tucking into hearty looking (if a trifle lentil-friendly) fayre...a tad on the pricey side though and none of the spaghetti bolognese that the youngest had been requesting...I don't think the veggie lasagne or chickpea curry would have satisfied her somehow. Och well, across the road once more to cheap & cheerful Dario's for pizza and pasta. Sometimes simple is best.</div><div class="pp_item" align="left"><br /></div><div class="pp_item" align="left">On the plus side, we returned to the Filmhouse later for ice cream and a pint. Vanilla for me, IPA & Guinness for the wee ones...</div><div class="pp_item" align="left"><br /></div><div class="pp_item" align="left">Edinburgh. Done.</div></div>Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-26584539145436766572010-09-29T22:31:00.002+01:002010-09-29T22:38:12.198+01:00You wear loose clothes and you try to stay cool...This is magnificent. Hymn #101, Joe Pug.<br /><br /><object width="400" height="275"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/E4C9rmW9dLc&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/E4C9rmW9dLc&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="400" height="275"></embed></object>Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-31765779463154117352010-09-22T23:07:00.003+01:002010-09-23T17:16:05.839+01:00Is there anybody alive out there?<div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/12/2010/08/500x_car_radio.jpg"><br /></a></div><a href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/12/2010/08/500x_car_radio.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 254px; height: 160px;" src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/12/2010/08/500x_car_radio.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Radio. Justify the reason behind your style.<br /><div class="pp_items"><div class="pp_item" align="left"><p><br />So. That's Springsteen and Teenage Fanclub already and I've not even started my story yet. Seems everyone loves a bit of radio.<br /><br />More to the point, and admirably demonstrated in Fort William on Monday night, everyone (still) loves Auntie Beeb.<br /><br />In these times of voter apathy and the supposed 'me first' culture, I was truly gratified to hear such a groundswell of opinion in favour of what is, for me, the classic communication medium. It very near brought a tear to the eye.<br /><br />Before anyone starts to worry, I've not simply been approaching random people and asking whether or not they listen to the radio. No sir. I was the one approached in the street and asked that very question.<br /><br />How rude!<br /><br />Tbc</p></div></div>Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-91542434544337184332010-09-22T22:45:00.002+01:002010-09-23T17:17:11.687+01:00Various Malarkey...<div class="pp_items"><div class="pp_item" align="left"><p>Hmm. Possibly some of the above to be hosted at <span style="text-decoration: underline;">tumblr</span><a href="http://variousmalarkey.tumblr.com"></a> in the near future.<br /><br />Poems, stories...who only knows what. We shall see. </p><p><br />We all love a bit of malarkey...</p></div></div>Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-35375074773058381402010-09-20T10:24:00.001+01:002010-09-21T21:00:19.049+01:00Watercolaaar studios...<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-zvoCrWYTXxbtNrcjSNceEKoVwmiadvdfXJobgiJ3LL0gZLI-8J_jSB3RwT9bfGsAqMCItAMaMZaeRCUEUej9maAYgM9L7sp38Ydo9ljPfhsUayMmztC3Qce40RrcWCmTnNqzxwc1sBU/s1600/190920101032-733077.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-zvoCrWYTXxbtNrcjSNceEKoVwmiadvdfXJobgiJ3LL0gZLI-8J_jSB3RwT9bfGsAqMCItAMaMZaeRCUEUej9maAYgM9L7sp38Ydo9ljPfhsUayMmztC3Qce40RrcWCmTnNqzxwc1sBU/s320/190920101032-733077.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518924886242766002" border="0" /></a></p>On <a href="http://www.talklikeapirate.com/">International Talk Like A Pirate Day</a> it was fitting that the brilliant <a href="http://www.mtdesolation.com">Mt. Desolation</a> gig at Nick Harper and Mary Ann Kennedy's <a href="http://www.watercolourmusic.co.uk/studio.htm">Watercolour Studios in Ardgour</a> should be identified by an old dodgem car flying the Jolly Roger.<p>I love the idea of Captain Jack Sparrow, Long John Silver or Captain Hook thundering around with a pikie on the back trying to ram the Admiralty...</p><p>Arr me hearties, walk the plank and avast behind...scream if you wanna go faster!</p><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Wee Edit: Simon Willis has blogged the gig <a href="http://simon-willis.blogspot.com/2010/09/mt-desolation.html">here...</a></span><br /></p>Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-67264850201434463512010-09-16T23:13:00.001+01:002010-09-16T23:13:08.447+01:00Are Friends Eclectic?I would just like to point out that, since the last post, I've finished my 'mix tape' : it includes contributions from people covering Madonna, Thin Lizzy and Leonard Cohen.<br /><br />Don't say you weren't warned...Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-22105189634775073992010-09-16T05:39:00.003+01:002010-09-16T22:21:52.105+01:00and I love the PRS cheques that you bring*<div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.nicolecifani.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/mixtape.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 422px; height: 371px;" src="http://www.nicolecifani.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/mixtape.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">image via http://www.nicolecifani.com/</span><br /><div></div><br /><br />I'm currently involved in the setting up and organising of a <a href="http://www.threelochs.co.uk/">book festival</a> in the village. On the whole it's been an interesting and rewarding process, though the committee structure and the two-and-a-half-hour meetings are beginning to grate now.<br /><br />We've got some great stuff happening. The most eagerly anticipated - by me at any rate - is certainly our "<a href="http://threelochsguests.blogspot.com/p/friday-17th-september.html">Evening of Uisge Beatha</a>" featuring the oft-mentioned (on this blog) <a href="http://www.thebeatcroft.com/">Tom Morton</a> presenting his Malt & Barley revue, a whisky tasting with an Islay, Speyside and a Lowland malt and a showing of the 1949 classic "Whisky Galore!"<br /><br />Having finished all of <a href="http://www.ianrankin.net/">Ian Rankin</a>'s books (obviously those would be the ones he's <span style="font-style: italic;">written</span>, I've not been and ransacked his shelves or anything)<a href="http://singletrackroads.blogspot.com/2010/07/old-town-top-rankin.html"> some weeks ago</a> now I've recently discovered the joys of a further two Caledonian crime writers: book festival guests <a href="http://threelochsguests.blogspot.com/p/saturday-18th-september.html">Allan Guthrie and Stuart MacBride</a> and they're both appearing at the festival, reading and leading a writers workshop so that's all to the good...</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>I've landed (albeit at my own suggestion) what - for me - is the plum job: choosing the music to play in the background. Great stuff. Regular visitors to the blog and my <a href="http://www.twitter.com/singletrackroad">Twitter feed</a> will be aware of my fairly catholic tastes but, as a former hospital radio presenter, I know that personal proclivities must oft be subserviant to the tastes of the people. Why else would self respecting DJ's play Michael Buble?</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>So it is that I'm tasked with setting the mood, creating - if you will - a suitably literary ambience. I'm thinking that <a href="http://www.thevaselines.co.uk/">The Vaselines </a>"Rory Ride Me Raw" might not quite set the right tone. </div><br /><div> </div>Obviously the sweary words are out, which kind of puts half my record collection in the Family Fortunes "uhh uhh" bin. But I'll try to be as obscure as possible.<br /><br />At hospital radio (and when I'm playing stuff in the house for one of our Deuchars IPA fuelled dancing about sessions) I like to try to get from song to song as subtly as possible - not in a Fatboy Slim mixing style or in an obviously linked way like Maconie&Radcliffe's Chain. Though I do love how the Chain can get you from, say, Fools Gold by the Stone Roses to California Girls by Dave Lee Roth.<br /><br />Gold-Aztecs were big on it-Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera brilliantly covered Van Halen's Jump on an early EP-Dave Lee Roth sang the original version, since you asked...<br /><div><br />I digress, as is often the way.<br /><br />Yeah, getting from song to song subtly isn't <span style="font-style: italic;">necessarily</span> of the utmost importance here. No; what I'm looking for is more of a <span style="font-style: italic;">vibe</span> - a sense that <span style="font-style: italic;">all</span> of the songs are right and that it doesn't matter where in the sequence of songs you come in, or indeed zone out.<br /><br />That philosophy is the kind that might get me from, say <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pte3Jg-2Ax4">Thirteen by Big Star</a> to Nina Simone covering Leonard Cohen's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3B0iJQcXmk">Suzanne</a>: two tracks and artists with, apparently, little in common but on closer inspection both carrying the same languid, leisurely, thoughtful delivery which - I hope - will mark the whole "set" at the book festival.<br /><br />I, for one, am looking forward to the challenge. Now, how do I segue into NWA's F*** Tha' Police...?<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />*The Beautiful South, Song for Whoever </span></div>Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-56694403652619481012010-09-12T09:29:00.000+01:002010-09-12T09:32:13.935+01:00Spring is sprung, the grass is riz...<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhguUqIRYfyIlYUUb2D_JSX2tfONk7D4uW_ZDv8yUBTP04msq0Wnx3Ak3xJguN-fKaRtwo6_4FWl_2Nf3w68JR-fQIJwcKitJVME4qmo_cKpnDF0bKoMAQskALBHGuEy4XNsBSgRWD5Y0k/s1600/12092010877-733936.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhguUqIRYfyIlYUUb2D_JSX2tfONk7D4uW_ZDv8yUBTP04msq0Wnx3Ak3xJguN-fKaRtwo6_4FWl_2Nf3w68JR-fQIJwcKitJVME4qmo_cKpnDF0bKoMAQskALBHGuEy4XNsBSgRWD5Y0k/s320/12092010877-733936.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515942036587511666" /></a></p>...I wonder where the burdies is? They say the burdz is on the wing, but that's absurd...the wing is on the burd.<p>I remember my dad and grampa telling me that wee rhyme. It came to mind this morning when I was hanging out the washing; the garden is awash with twittering swallows and blue tits. It might be just about time for the swallows to do their heading 'sarf thing and that means, for us here in the wild west, the nights will soon be 'fair drawing in...'<p>Aye. It'll be winter soon enough...Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-16548594742920627602010-09-11T11:09:00.000+01:002010-09-11T11:12:28.735+01:00Off to find the old walker's lost boot...<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwpz-8W1FCGXFmYE15BhUvkZ1Z-Q61CXB0H5xG7isNCKxD6mlzQPUzIuqytv2zq0bHk4_a03Yl72zwB4cnZltuWS39SRvIB_ylBDDweYKSY5heHZ_6EQDhKlNK0phXz5ZQ_W8Pd8HHOI/s1600/11092010874-748736.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwpz-8W1FCGXFmYE15BhUvkZ1Z-Q61CXB0H5xG7isNCKxD6mlzQPUzIuqytv2zq0bHk4_a03Yl72zwB4cnZltuWS39SRvIB_ylBDDweYKSY5heHZ_6EQDhKlNK0phXz5ZQ_W8Pd8HHOI/s320/11092010874-748736.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515596783209862962" /></a></p>Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3691954012636022462.post-42978758334638079832010-09-02T21:44:00.000+01:002010-09-02T21:45:50.457+01:00We know he is a whizz of a wiz if ever a wiz there was...<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZgKqCn_ywcTaCmnFy4Dt8cohAh3uGNBtDzmW6ojgGDeAuT1Y4hxeL-b6iy4hZkCKmcXRuq0yPyT7FW83_lDxmtRkQkw3qMJkngPRiJu4PspaVW35MKx5_sb5FojVa0UOcvSF1KK4X2w/s1600/28082010779-750458.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZgKqCn_ywcTaCmnFy4Dt8cohAh3uGNBtDzmW6ojgGDeAuT1Y4hxeL-b6iy4hZkCKmcXRuq0yPyT7FW83_lDxmtRkQkw3qMJkngPRiJu4PspaVW35MKx5_sb5FojVa0UOcvSF1KK4X2w/s320/28082010779-750458.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512420229735067202" /></a></p>I'll explain later...Single Trackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659569441973581784noreply@blogger.com0