Vacation, Spring 2013, Day 1

Quotation of the day ~ Ray Davies: Holiday, oh what a lovely day today.

Yes, yes, yes, i have a week off! Nine days, to be precise, woo hoo! (I'm entitled to five weeks a year but i'm lucky if i get three....)

And what (i hear you ask) did i do today? Well, this morning i beetled on down to the Stratford train station and bought a ticket -- i'm going to Toronto on Friday.  Third time lucky: the last two times i went to the station the ticket office was closed.

Grabbed some breakfast at the local A & W on the way home -- i hate their burgers but their breakfast menu is okay -- and then watched this DVD (for the second time):

An extraordinary, powerful film.
















And that was about it, really. Day 1 in a nutshell.

Here's the latest from my CD collection (cos i know you care):

And of course the playlist:

Mike Oldfield - Live From The European Adventure Tour
The Collectors - Grass And Wild Strawberries
Chicago - VII
The Who - Live At Leeds
Richard Thompson - Sweet Warrior
Big Wreck - In Loving Memory Of
Colin James - Twenty Five Live
James Taylor - James Taylor
Bruce Springsteen - The Rising
U. Shrinivas - Mandolin Maestro
Hector Berlioz - Harold In Italy
The Albion Band - The Battle Of The Field
King Crimson - The Night Watch

Spam-A-Rama Part 2

Quotation Of The Day ~ Anonymous: A gentleman is a man who can play the accordion but doesn't.

A few weeks ago i wrote about how this blog had been so inundated with spam that i had been forced to enable comment moderation, in order to head it off at the pass. (This meant that all comments on my posts would come to me by email and i could then accept them, in which case they would appear, or delete them, so that you, dear reader, would not be troubled by them, or lured to a site offering "real diamonds real cheap.")

For the first couple of weeks, my Inbox had to deal with three or four a day. Where does this crap come from (i asked myself, desperately clicking the "delete" button yet again)?  But then it all stopped. Abruptly. I thought, whew, it's over.

But then, a couple of days ago, it all started again, but worse. I wasn't getting cheap diamonds or imitation Rolexes, i was getting porn.

Now, look. I'm a single unattached male, i have nothing whatsoever against porn, it serves a useful purpose and is often fun. But it has no place on this blog, thank you very much. But here's a comment i was asked to accept or delete today (naughty bits have been edited out):

Ethnic big ***** sexy milf with huge **** hard *** ******* while having her *** sucked chick ******* twister bangladeshi brother sister **** http://******.net.******.in/?roy http://*****.com/?profile-stephanie ashanti shequoiya douglas ***** gateway community college bbw pic forums black laff record productions russian teen avi asians getting **** by a monster **** alex de lesseps and ethiopian girl pictures how to stop sex addition http://********.net/?gallery-clifton [...]

I mean, really. How do they find me? Or is it spambots, just uploading to every blog that comes into their ken? I suppose, as this blog is public, i have offered myself up to anything that comes at me, but the Internet is such a nasty place now.

Anyhoo, here's the next part of the CD collection:

And of course the playlist:

Pyewackett - 7 To Midnight
Payola$ - Hammer On A Drum
Radiohead - O.K. Computer
Siddhartha - Trip To Innerself
Elmore James - The Sky Is Crying
Joan Osborne - Early Recordings
Marillion - This Strange Engine

After Silence

Quotation Of The Day ~ Aldous Huxley: After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. 

And so, with that in mind, all i have for you today is the next batch of CDs:

(Note the dates of these live recordings, and remember what happened in New York City the week before. Her 1981 song "O Superman" includes the line "here come the planes/they're American planes." When she sings those words here, the hush that falls over the audience is palpable, it's an extraordinarily emotional moment.)

And of course there's the playlist:

Rival Sons - Head Down
Jethro Tull - Benefit
Paul Simon - Graceland
Talking Heads - Remain In Light
Billy Squier - The Best Of Billy Squier
Van Halen - 5150
Donovan - Sunshine Superman
Paul Simon - Songs From "The Capeman"
Fernhill - Canu Rhydd
Roger Waters - Amused To Death
Wishbone Ash - Argus
Roy Wood Wizzo Band - Super-Active Wizzo

CD Collection Again

Quotation Of The Day ~ Laurie Lee: At best, love is simply the slipping of a hand in another's, of knowing you are where you belong at last, and of exchanging through the eyes that all-consuming regard which ignores everybody else on earth.

I have a lot i want to write about, but i have no time. Time is such a precious commodity when you get to my age, when you're young you think you have all the time in the world but it flies past and all of a sudden you think "what the hell?" and are afraid to look in a mirror and every moment is important.

So all i have today is my CD collection, part whateveritis:

Ivie Anderson was my favourite jazz singer of all time, ever. Billie Holiday was great, her voice was fiery whisky, but Ivie's  was a very smooth brandy. Jon Anderson, of course, was the singer with Yes.

And here's the most recent playlist:

T. Rex - The Slider
Richard Thompson - Something Here Worth More Than Gold: Real Rarities
The Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame
Ofra Haza - Petuyim
Jethro Tull - Catfish Rising
Jethro Tull - The Broadsword And The Beast
The Kinks - Think Visual
Jon Anderson - Change We Must
Mike Rutherford - Smallcreep's Day
Jann Arden - Jann Arden
Marillion - Sounds That Can't Be Made
Peter Hammill - Fireships
Paul Rodgers - Electric
Briam Plummer - No Questions
Dire Straits - Alchemy
Rush - Roll The Bones

No More Pippi Longstocking / CD Collection

Quotation Of The Day ~ Spike Milligan: Are you going to come quietly, or do I have to use earplugs?

Loved the books, hated the movie. As you may recall, i started off on this Pippi Longstocking kick because i was seeking the roots of Lisbeth Salander, one of the most compelling characters in all contemporary fiction (IMFFHO). Astrid Lindgren's three books about Pippi were great, i loved them, she's so much fun. (But did i find Lisbeth's Salander's origins? Not really.)

Encouraged, nonetheless, by Pippi's charm in the books, i watched the movie, "The New Adventures Of Pippi Longstocking." 

Errrr, it's awful. Okay, admittedly as a man hobbling towards the decrepit end of middle age i'm a very, very long way from the target demographic, but really, it was ...

Actually, the girl who played Pippi was okay -- Tami Erin was her name:  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0259433/bio

The rest of the cast was dreadful, though. God, truly nauseating performances and ham sandwiches all around. I shall treasure the books but otherwise my Pippi research is over.





Here's the next batch from my CD collection:

(This is a new one, so it's out of sequence)

And nothing else but the playlist tonight, folks:

Various Artists - Action!
Joan Osborne - Bring It On Home
Various Artists - What's Shakin'
Maggie Reilly - Midnight Sun
10 c.c. - How Dare You
Joe Satriani - Unstoppable Momentum
Howland, Laug, Morrison & Pinnick - Live at the Baked Potato
King Crimson - Larks' Tongues In Aspic
The Move - Shazam!
King Crimson - Live In Japan 2003
Richard Thompson - Electric
The Kinks - Sleepwalker
Rival Sons - Head Down
Jethro Tull - A Passion Play
Thin Lizzy - Black Rose: A Rock Legend
Mike Oldfield - QE2
Donovan - A Gift From A Flower To A Garden

Pippi Longstocking / CD Collection

Quotation Of The Day ~ Astrid Lindgren: "But nightshirts aren't dangerous," Pippi assured her. "They don't bite anybody except in self defense.”

Ah, yes, Pippi Longstocking. What a character! I just finished reading the third book in the series and i wish there were more.

Otherwise i have nothing much to write about so i'll just add the latest in my CD collection:

And, of course, the playlist:

Blodwyn Pig - Ahead Rings Out
Thin Lizzy - Black Rose - A Rock Legend
Richard Thompson - Electric
The Kinks - Everybody's In Showbiz
Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield Again
Saga - Full Circle
Iron & Wine - Woman King
Happy The Man - Happy The Man
King Crimson - Thrak
Van der Graaf Generator - Maida Vale
Jethro Tull - Pasadena 1977 (bootleg)
Dick Gaughan - Live In Edinburgh
Ofra Haza - The Governess
Rockpile - Live
Pink Floyd - A Saucerful Of Secrets
Jan Akkerman - Live
Wishbone Ash - Here To Hear
King Crimson - The Night Watch
Maggie Reilly - Rowan

The Wait

Have you ever pondered the amount of time you spend waiting? Waiting for something to happen -- for the bus / train / plane to arrive, waiting in the supermarket check-out line (especially annoying when you're in the 10 Items Or Less line and everyone in front of you has twelve items and all you have is a bag of kitty litter), waiting at the dentist's office when your appointment is for 2:30 and you're now watching three o'clock approach. One of my particular favourites is going to the beer store at Christmas time and being in a line of people who've (a) never been in a beer store before and have no idea what they want and / or (b) don't really grasp the concept of the debit card.

It's a substantial waste of valuable time. Speaking of waiting, though (and here's a leap) what about waitressing? Oh, ah, right, they're not called waitresses any more, are they, they're called "servers." I can't get behind that, though, because to me a server is a computer or program that supplies data or resources to other machines on a network. So, to all of my friends in the hospitality industry who work as waitresses, i will take all of your slings and arrows.

But have you ever watched really good waitresses doing their thing? I was at my favourite pub the other day. It was the middle of the afternoon, usually a very quiet time, when they became busy unexpectedly: a party of thirty showed up (without a reservation). I won't say anything about how arrogant that is:  30 people? No problem! At McDonald's. But not everywhere is Micky Dee's.

Now, i won't mention the name of the pub (although you can find them on Twitter at @STFDKelseys) but i watched those girls go to work and it was like watching a well-executed football play. It was a delight to see such professionalism. (I think about the waitresses at the restaurant where i work -- they'd be wandering around, slack-jawed, wondering what to do next and crying for help; what a contrast.)

Anyway, thumbs up Jen, Catherine, April & Brittany: your tips that day were undoubtedly insufficient to compensate you for your work, and your art.

Oh, and here's the next bunch of CD covers -- we're in to the Tori Amos section:

And the playlist:

Yes - Going For The One
The Electric Prunes - Mass In F Minor
Kensington Market - Avenue Road
Thin Lizzy - Live At The Hammersmith Odeon
Colin James - Twentyfive Live
Al di Meola - Casino
10 c.c. -- Live In Santa Monica