w.atching the w.orld unw.ind

Today's lyric:

"Seeing without ever being told
Something to say, shut away, blackboard so grey
Anyway - I'm dreaming, out along the back row, out the window
Cast away
Be free with me."

Roy Harper: "The Lord's Prayer"
From the album: "Lifemask"

Hard to believe old Roy's still gigging after all these years.

Apart from being the surprise vocalist on Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the machine" track on the "Wish you were here" album and appearing with them on stage at one of the brilliant Knebworth concerts, the last time I saw him live was with two other audience members at Portsmouth's Guildhall.

A memorable concert. How we heckled.

Today's lyric:

"Soft spoken with a broken jaw
Step outside but not to brawl
Autumn's sweet we call it Fall
I'll make it to the moon if i have to crawl
With the birds I'll share
This lonely view...."

Red Hot Chilli Peppers: "Scar tissue"
From the album: "Californication"

The Ginger Whinger is into her last week of kittency. As luck would have it, I'm being sent to Geordieland at the time she's likely to drop, so Mrs. D's charged with the photographic evidence.

When she's resting (The Ginger Whinger, that is, not Mrs.D.) her belly looks like a bunfight in a pillow case. Occasionally a limb will suddenly stick out at 90 degrees and wake her up with such a jolt that she falls off the sofa back.

Must get some pix to post...

Labels: kittens

Today's lyric:

"People are trying, new ways to travel
But the trains are going much too fast*."

The Battered Ornaments: "The Twisted Track"
From the album: "Picnic: A breath of fresh air"

* obviously this lyric was penned many, many years ago my thanks to flowerbedmusic. And how things have 'improved' since then..

Anyway, off to deepest S6 again for yet another meeting. Probably get kicked off at Gidea Park (again). Deep joy.

Enjoy your weekends, y'all

Ooh - and thanks to everyone who came here to read about Kimi Raikkonen having a shit

Today's lyric:

"When the wind blows through October skies
And you wake up in the cold twilight
And you stretch your hand out and there's nothing there but the night."

Bob Geldof: "A Gospel Song"
From the album: "The Vegetarians of Love"

Sorry, #1 colleague's away on business and it's just so, so busy here.

But your call is important to us, so please try again later.

Today's lyric:

"They said "Someday you'll find, all who love are blind.
When your heart's on fire, you must realize smoke gets in your eyes"

Bryan Ferry: "Smoke gets in your eyes"
From the album: "The Ultimate Collection"

You see them as you pull into each station.








The conscious (or unconscious?) raising of the arm through 180 degrees, from thigh to mouth, taking the last drag before boarding the non-smoker train.

If f.i.l. survives the final radiation treatment to kill off the cancerous cells in his lungs ("After 60 years of smoking - he's only 74 - I guess it finally caught up with me"), I must ask him if he actually enjoyed poisoning himself for so many years?

Apparently it's "smooth" muscles (like the gut, which work without conscious effort on your part) which like the nicotine 'hit' you get from fags?

Latest on the Macca divorce (1)

She's ditching him because he kept on singing "The long, unwinding leg" at her..

Latest on the Macca divorce (2)

He's dumping her because she kept beating him at "Twister"..

Ithangyew

Today's lyric:

"Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man! Look at those cavemen go
It's the freakiest show
Take a look at the lawman beating up the wrong guy
Oh man! Wonder if he'll ever know, he's in the best selling show?
Is there life on Mars?"

David Bowie: "Life on Mars"
From the album: "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
and The Spiders from Mars"

Giancarlo Fisichella on Michael Schumacher's post-retirement career:

"After a few months, he's going to be boring"

Never a truer word, Fizzy...

And Kimi Raikkonen's excuse for missing Pele's lifetime presentation to Schuey:

"I was having a shit"

That's what you missed, Kimi...

Today's lyric:

"I looked on but hesitated
I failed to interrupt
You're so hard to tell the truth to, so easy to corrupt
I'll memorize your face, your tragic smile, the hurt look in your eyes
As you betrayed yourself to the part of him that dies."

Elvis Costello: "Harpies Bizarre"
From the album: "Mighty like a rose"

Did I mention Number One Son has returned chez nous?

Life seems to have slipped almost alarmingly back to two years ago - the last time he was semi-permanently ensconced with us.

Strange but pleasant to have some male company around the gaff..

Today's lyric:

"On soft gray mornings widows cry, the wise men share a joke;
I run to grasp divining signs to satisfy the hoax.
The yellow jester does not play, but gentle pulls the strings
And smiles as the puppets dance
In the court of the Crimson King."

King Crimson: "The Dance of the Puppets"
From the album: "In the court of the Crimson King"

Having read so many bits of books while studying (and, in general, over the millennia) I can't honestly remember if I ever read The Exorcist in full. So it seems quite 'fresh' in my mind. And already quite unnerving...

Today's lyric:

"My Favourite Things" are playing again and again
But it's by Julie Andrews and not by John Coltrane
Endless balmy breezes and perfect sunsets framed
Vintage wine for breakfast and naked starlets floating in champagne
All the passions of your youth are tranquillized and tamed
You may think it looks familiar, but you may know it by another name."

Elvis Costello: "This is Hell"
From the album: "Brutal Youth"

Level 42 kicked off with "Dive into the sun" from their new album, then sensibly reverted for several tracks to the "stuff from the Victorian period" (according to Mr M. King) thus getting the capacity crowd on side.

A great gig and the usual superb acoustics at Pompey's Guildhall and a great weekend(ish) with Ol' Sparky, for whom I - almost - got Blogger working again...

Today's lyric:

"I've combed this town from top to bottom
Try to get around but my legs are broken
Every time I miss it 'cos I ain't got a ticket
48 hours need 48 thrills!

Kicking for kicks."

The Clash: "48 hours"
From the album: "The Clash"

Go see Witchy for a spell. She's seems a tad morose today...

Enjoy your weekends, y'all

Today's lyric:

"The lift is always full of piss, the fifth floor landing smells of fish
Not just on Friday, every single other day."

Pulp: "Mile End"
From the album: "Trainspotting"

Ian Dury and The Blockheads: Hit me with your walking stick

Labels: Made now?

Today's lyric:

"When your ship comes in, will you be ready to sail with the tide?
And when your ship comes in, will it be a galley full of slaves?
Or a sun-streaked schooner?"

Level 42: "Ship"
From the album: "Retroglide"

we will be going to see with Ol' Sparky and Mrs Buddy1 on Saturday at Pompey Guildhall.

Never seen 'em before (Level 42, that is, not Mr and Mrs Sparky) so looking forward.

And mebbe there'll be time to fix his damn 'puter so that he can homeblog again?

* Note to self. Remember small, orange-handled screwdriver - to jam in the works when I get frustrated with whatever's blocking Blogger chez lui.

Today's lyric:

"Now if you see me drinkin' bad red wine
Don't worry 'bout this man that you love
Don't you think it's sometimes wise not to grow up?"

Rolling Stones: "100 Years"
From the album: "Goat's Head Soup"

The Ginger Whinger is about half way through her gestation and developing nice little panniers along her flanks.

A litter of four would be ideal, as it would mean they'd be small enough not to cause too much of a problem to push out. Also, on the old 'economy of scale' principle, it'd make the selling price much more in peoples' budgets, who would otherwise be unable to afford the average 400 quid market price.

Probably though, she'll end up with one monster kitty and we'll end up keeping it, 'cos it'll have cost a mint to produce!

Labels: kittens

Today's lyric:

"Lucy you're my girl, Lucy you're a star,
Lucy please be still and hide your madness in a jar,
But do beware: it will follow you, it will follow you."

Brian Eno: "Some of them are old"
From the album: "Here come the warm jets"

Absolutely no idea why I've called today's post that?

Last week was unbelievably mental at work* and copping a cold just about put the tin lid on it.

But reasonably recovered today and partnered again, so at least I can share the grief. It'll take a full hour to de-brief.

* so bad, I missed my own third Blogday. So, Happy three years and one week Blogday to me!

Today's lyric:

"Disembodied voices
Floating in the air
This place in the darkness
Could be anywhere."

The Finn Brothers: "Disembodied voices"
From the album: "Everyone is here"

I can't believe I'm ill again

After just a week of waking up with the hot and colds, a bu99er of a headcold that makes my voice sound like it's reverberating inside my skull, and my nose leaking an unbelievable amount of gunk.

Where the fcuk does it all come from?

Ah well - saves on red wine.

Enjoy your weekends, y'all...

Today's lyric:

"All the stuff they tell you about in the movies -
but this isn't chocolate boxes and roses.
It's dirtier than that.
Like some small animal that only comes out at night.
And I see flashes, of the shape of your breasts, and the curve of your belly.
And I have to sit down, and catch my breath."

Pulp: "F.E.E.L.I.N.G. C.A.L.L.E.D. L.O.V.E."
From the album: "Different Class"

not 'liscious" as a little lad once replied when I asked him if his dinner tasted good.

And it certainly is a 'gustin' day out there today.

Today's lyric:

"People are strange, when you're a stranger
Faces look ugly, when you're alone
Women seem wicked, when you're unwanted
Streets are uneven, when you're down."

The Doors: "People are strange"
From the album: "Greatest hits"

The man sat opposite me in the carriage took a blank, sealed and stamped envelope from his manbag and with a biro from the same source, wrote an address on it.

Now with both items clearly in the same bag when he picked it up this morning, why would you wait to be sat on a packed, jostling and swaying train to complete the task?

Today's lyric:

"Run, rabbit run!
Dig that hole, forget the sun.
And when at last the work is done,
Don't sit down - it's time to dig another one.

For long you live and high you fly, but only if you ride the tide
And balanced on the biggest wave, race towards an early grave.."

Pink Floyd: "Breathe"
From the album: "Dark side of the Moon"

* too busy to blog.

Sorry.

Today's lyric:

"Holidays are dirt-cheap in the Costa del Malvinas
In the Hotel Argentina they can hardly tell between us
For Teresa is a waitress though she's now known as Juaneasy
In a tango bar in Stanley or in Puerto Margarita
She's the sweetest and the sauciest, the loveliest, the naughtiest
She's Miss Buenos Aires in a world of lacy lingerie."

Elvis Costello: "Tokyo Storm Warning"
From the album: "Blood and chocolate"

It occurred to me that a history lesson when I was thirteen would have had four decades less of current affairs to learn about than kids today would have to learn.

Forty years less history.

And I began to wonder how much data we are actually supposed (or need) to remember?

We are daily bombarded with so much information by tv, t'internet, radio, books, newspapers, other people, work, magazines etc. etc. It must be impossible (if not unnecessary) to commit everything to permanent memory?

So, your name and address, obviously. Or is it? If you carry (or remember to carry) a driving licence, you've got your name and address on that. So you could forget who you are every day - thus freeing up some brain cells - and just look it up whenever you're asked your name. And when you get off the bus/train at night, show your licence to a total stranger and they'll point you in the direction of home. Just put it into Temporary Memory and empty the Recycle Bin when you get indoors.

Married or partnered? A photo in the same wallet - or purse - (or in your iPod?) plus a note to say the brunette in the picture is your spouse and you got married on the eleventeenth of Noctember 1998, means that's more data you can drop.

The possibilities are endless. Except if you forget where you put the wallet/purse.

Then you're fcuked...