angels
A phone call today from a cheerful young chap from Future Music. He wanted some quotes on whether I felt software production could ever take over completely from the 'hardware' studios, and whether the production values were as tight in software production. I couldn't think of anything inspiring on the spur of the moment so I had to phone him back. I remarked that he was working on New Year's Eve and he told me they were working to a deadline for the March 2002 issue! This made me reflect on our humble blogging life, where today's hot news is tomorrow's archive.
Anyway I called him back and mouthed on about how some producers favour the Leonardi da Vinci approach, but how I am more of a Jackson Pollock in the studio - splatter it about, that's my motto.


London's Capital Radio have just compiled a 'hot 500' based on listeners' votes - they just reached the number one a few minutes ago.
Here's the top five:
5. U2 - With Or Without You
4. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On?
3. George Michael - Careless Whisper
2. John Lennon - Imagine
1. Robbie Williams - Angels
OK, hats off for Marvin, but dear oh dear, eh?

moving story
Thanks to the very wondeful Tara, I now have a website.
Tara built it for me yesterday.
I've retained the same format, but it means far more flexibility to do stuff - post photos, stream music, etc.
I'll keep posting here in tandem with the new site for a few days, but if you'd like to keep in touch (and I hope you will), please change to my new address:
www.stupidlyhappy.com

pas de deux
To London, on a blisteringly cold evening, to see 'The Nutcracker' at The Coliseum. I saw Derek Deane's eccentric, but endearing, production two years ago and in the intervening period (when it has toured extensively), there has been some tweaking and twiddling but, essentially, the choreography has remained intact.
We had dinner at (surprise!) the Italian restaurant next door to the Theatre, where, by an odd coincidence, an old friend of mine was seated at the next table but one.
There was, however, one very noticeable difference from my last visit to see this production, in 1999. On that occasion, the Theatre was full to capacity. Last night, the place was barely half full. The 'bin Laden' effect, I guess, as the centre of London was also remarkably quiet for a Saturday night.

twinkle twinkle
One of my favourite places to stop off each day, amongst the driftwood, flotsam and jetsam of the web, is APOD - or to give its full title, 'Astronomy Picture of the Day'. Each day NASA produce what is generally a stunning shot of the wonders of the universe. It's worth visiting just for the sheer beauty of the compositions.
Throughout history, of course, those that have added to our knowledge of the universe have often been ridiculed. Galileo was an extraordinary man who invented the microscope; and developed the use of telescopes, in order that he could make detailed studies of the planets in our solar system. Galileo endorsed the theories of Copernicus and asserted that the planets revolved around the sun.
It seems incredible now, that this theory was not only scorned by his peers but that he was accused of heresy by the Church and, indeed, forced to renounce his beliefs and live his last years in exile.
However, the spooky denouement to this story is the bizarre tale of Galileo's finger.
Even today, some people are far from convinced.

first hand account
This guy was on the flight with Richard Reid

tongue 'n' groove
Lawdy, lawdy - this is what she's done now!
Every day is a new adventure for Laura.
I think she's great.

bacon sandwich with granary bread
Sasha stopped by the office this morning and so we went to lunch, with her friend, Ranu.
We were talking about movies and, in particular, the way Bollywood movies just don't crossover through the cultures.
Bollywood movies are (generally) made in India and tend to follow a strict format:
Girl falls in love with bloke; parents don't approve; they are kept apart; bloke finds opportunity to undertake heroic deed; girl's parents change mind; joy is unconfined.
I went back to the office and watched the planes landing as the sun set.

83 with a bullet
Amazon.com have taken two more of my musical outpourings and so now three can either be downloaded for free, or you can just listen to thirty second sound bites. It's quite strange because I had an email from Amazon just before Christmas, requesting CDs for them to hold in their warehouse, to sell to an unsuspecting public ;-) but it seems that because I'm not resident in North America, some contractual thing is in the way of that.
Their chart changes daily I think - but as I type this, 'Vietnam' is number 83 which is better than being number 84, I guess!
It'll probably be number 183 tomorrow.....

my relationship with kylie minogue
Well, The Kylie thing started out in a very innocent way, when I just happened to mention, in passing, that whilst out for dinner two weeks back, some of us were debating who was the cooler, Kylie or Madonna. A deep philosophical debate, I agree.
I said that I opted for Kylie, because I had seen her new cinema/movie theater ad for Agent Provocateur. Well this started a flurry of people visiting this site, via search engines, as they clearly desired a peek at Ms Minogue wearing her undergarments.
Soooo.... to be helpful I re-posted the link to where this ad may be viewed.
This brought about another surge of visitors, through the search engines.
So I put the link for the ad right at the top of the page, so visitors could just link right to it and not have to scroll down and search.
Now, if you try searching for Kylie/Agent/Provocateur through, for example, Yahoo you'll end up right here. I hope Kylie appreciates the career boost I'm giving her here!
;-)

sizzling
Wooo! I'm number 92, and apparently 'hot'.
heheheheheh.

without a paddle
I don't have a very good attention span for films or tv drama. I tend to lose interest after about thirty minutes, so I did well over the holidays (by my standards) as I watched two movies: Elizabeth, with Cate Blanchett; and Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow.
Last night BBC1 ran a two hour 'feature length' version of 'Jonathan Creek' (wonder if it has found it's way to the USA yet?) - it's a series which has made an unlikely sex symbol of it's star, Alan Davies. It was too long at two hours and had an outrageously daft plot, but it was curious in that the writer, David Renwick, managed to throw in some passing references to other films, dramas, novels and legends, including such diverse entities as Batman and Oedipus.
However, it was very comforting to find that the storyline agreed with my first rule of drama:
As soon as you see Steven Berkoff's name in the cast list, you won't have to look too far for the murderer.
In this case, Berkoff was the murderer of the murderer, which was a novelty, I guess.


Blogger.com got hacked into, yesterday, and Ev. has had to spend a lot of time (from his holiday base in Iowa) fixing the holes. I was one of those affected, my password got changed twice and I had to fix a few bugs in the template. Maybe Ev could find a role for Jonathan Creek in Blogger.

disposable society
I'm going to sound like I'm 105 years old here, but.... we're becoming a very untidy nation, here in England. Driving back through Surrey at the weekend, skirting the North Downs, and the Pilgrims' Way I became ever more aware of the discarded cigarette packets, plastic bags and other 'environmental art' that (I assume) had been thrown, on a whim, from passing cars, and now sat patiently awaiting the next gust of wind to send it cascading further in it's journey along the hedgerows before becoming snagged for eternity on some well meaning twig, or branch.
A more bizarre and irritating form of invasive littering is the new vogue to put up stickers or banners on traffic light poles, exhorting the captive viewer to phone (usually a mobile or cell phone) number to make a fortune in five minutes, give up smoking, or lose weight with absolutely no effort at all.
I am very tempted to print up my own version saying :
"Lose weight NOW!!!!! Eat less and exercise more!"
.... and that reminds me - the diet starts here on January 1. It could be a tricky journey


Late news just in: I burned my toast this morning. The smoke is clearing now, but for a while there, it was like a scene from Apocalypse Now.

two brandy glasses
S'funny really. Sliding Doors had kinda passed me by and I remembered her, mainly, for that Oscar speech but it was a strong performance and I'm glad I finally caught up with the movie.


I rode Becker this morning. I don't think he realised it was Christmas. The stable girls had put tinsel around his bridle, and I took him two carrots. Windsor Great Park has an air of mystery in the early morning; there was a wispy mist over the lake, and it drifted over the pathways and swirled around the trees by the water's edge. Becker's 'clop clop' heavy feet echoed across the lake and came back over to us, like an equine Pink Floyd. "Floating down the sound resounds around the icy water underground", I said to myself.
It made sense at the time.

peace
Whether you are zooming about and living it up, or spending this Christmas on your own, I wish you a peaceful time.

comment
(v) To interpose, note, observe, opine, point out, remark, say or utter.
The comment thing is back thanks to a tip from the lovely Karen at Kacroon.
Thanks Karen. xx

northern star
I live in a small village and we don't have many street lights. On a cloudless night, an inky blue sky is home to countless stars that contain their mysteries beyond our reach. I have always found the idea of space, sky and the universe a difficult thread to hold and, as a boy, I would turn myself in knots trying to figure how this universe could be 'infinite'.
Last night was one of these crystal clear nights, and the UFO seekers were up on Cabbage Hill, as usual. From my kitchen window, I can see their torches and car headlights, as they unknowingly re-enact scenes from a Steven Speilberg movie. Sadly, the only close encounter they are likely to meet, is with WPC Peters, the village policewoman, as she undertakes her nightly patrol. She sometimes shares a coffee with the sky watchers, and Cabbage Hill is one of her favourite day time locations too, as she conceals herself at the foot of the hill with her hand held speed trap, aching for motorists to ease over the 40 mph limit.


It is a bitterly cold night in the south of England and there really is only one thing to do - make a big bowl of pasta, and mix it with Tara's magical secret taco mix

taking the ****
Do you remember, I went to the grim Soho night club, Sugar Reef, last weekend? Well.... I'm glad I wasn't there on Tuesday night. I might have needed an umbrella.
Still, it's good to see our sportsmen setting such a good example to their young fans, both at home, and when they travel abroad.

goose?
Penne Restad, a professor at the University of Texas, has written a book about the history of Christmas in America.
Something tells me that her British research, let her down!.
Now, I'd better go find that goose, and start making that plum pudding.......

stained glass and oak beams
So..... to the wonderful 14th century Crown Inn in that very epitome of Surrey villages, Chiddingfold. This is a beautiful part of Surrey, and has all the elements of English country life that I have grown up alongside. The village pond (frozen over today) is overlooked by a working forge, for this is the very heartland of 'horsey' England. Large, rambling, warm-bricked houses keep guard over the village green, and tucked into the corner is The Crown Inn, where I met friends for a smoky, dry white wine lunch. Actually we all had the perfect antidote for a cold, winter, Surrey lunchtime - bangers and mash with onion gravy, followed by homemade Christmas pudding and sauce anglais, and endless pots of coffee. We sat by the enormous fireplace and talked about food, football, Eel Pie Island, Tony Blair, drum machines and guitars, Jenny Agutter, Salvador Dali, Barcelona and why I'm scared by clowns.

doh!
Featuring delights such as, 'The Screaming Monkey Medical Research Center', 'Jittery Joe's Coffee Shop' and 'Springfield Cemetery' (come for the funerals, stay for the pie), here, indeed, is the ultimate map of Springfield.

amazin' amazon.com
I've been 'signed up' with amazon.com
You can download one of my songs for free, and they're going to stick a couple of other ones on there in the next day or two.
If you don't want to bother downloading, you can listen to a 30 second sound bite.
Here's the link: apocalypse miaow
Cool, huh?

just wanna bang on my drum all day
A telephone conversation yesterday:
S - "Do you want a drum machine?"
Me - "Uh?"
S - "It's just I know someone who is getting rid of one"
Me - "How much do they want for it?"
S - "Nothing - he's got a new one and was gonna throw the old one away, but he's hardly used it"
Me - "Ooooo! gimmeee!"
S - "I'll drop it off at your office tomorrow"
...... and she did and it rocks! Kickass, as they say.

caffeine addict
Looking for a new hobby? Too much time on your hands? Then why not set out to visit every Starbucks in the world?
Oh look, he's been to the one at Notting Hill Gate but sadly, no photos of his British visit.
Maybe he'll collect Burger King locations for his next project.

a pointer to kylie
Hi! You're the 473rd visitor to have arrived via a search engine looking for a link to the Kylie Agent Provocateur video - I've put it here to make life easier for you:
Kylie video then click on media gallery, then on cinema.
This has been a public service announcement.

have some more cake
Earlier, I stopped off at my parents' place to hand over their presents. My parents only live about twelve miles from here, and I'm too ashamed to say how few times I have visited them this year.
My sister was there, passing through on her way to take the kids swimming. It's a while since I saw John and Hannah and they are growing up fast. John is nearly 9, and Hannah is 5. I played football with them in my parents' hall. John is a goalkeeper for his local team and won the 'player of the year' award last season. I tell him I am very proud of him. They are two lovely children.

oh nigella, nigella, let me be yer fella...
MMmmmm! She glides around the kitchen like a prowling cat in Nikes. Her pasta looked just dreamy and the potato thing with spices had me groaning with pleasure. Oh Nigella - you will have to marry me and make my life complete!
Whoa Nelly! I'm too late
Now, what has he got that I haven't ?

shall i compare thee to a summer pudding?
Ohhh! Nigella, Nigella, Nigella how I'm counting down the hours. The most sensual woman in Britain glides across our screens tonight (Channel 4 8.00pm) as Nigella Lawson appears like a goddess of the kitchen, before my devoted gaze. Oh, yes, she's going to be doing some cooking but it's the way she does it. Such grace, such poise, such overpowering sultriness. Sigh......


In other news.... regular visitors will recall we had a look at Laura's 'red for Christmas' restyled hair.
Well..... she's changed it again!
I like Laura.

do you have a 'club card' ?
"Yes, I just handed it to you"
Well to be honest, the supermarket wasn't tooo bad.
My local supermarket is well known for employing 'the shouting man'. He is the bloke who rounds up the trolleys (carts) in the car park and returns them to their home just outside the store. He bitterly resents anyone using one of his trolleys and patrols the car park alternately mumbling and then shouting incomprehensible oaths to the sky.
"warrrgh grrrrr nnnnnnn wah!", he says.
They had two staff at the door acting as 'greeters'. Despite their false beards and jolliness, I rather think I recognised them as the lady from the lottery ticket machine and the deli counter man. At least they didn't give that job to 'the shouting man'.


Then I was very brave and shopped in Bracknell town centre. This is rather like entering the underworld at the best of times. Christmas shopping promised to be a journey deep into the bowels of Hades.
Bracknell is another one of these hideously grotesque towns that architects have abandoned to the four winds of commerce. Brutal concrete gargantuan tower blocks inappropriately blocking the skyline and inducing hurricane-like winds to whirl around the centre of this monstrous place. Knock it down and start again!

the new pythagoras
Yesterday, I subtracted eight hours from 8.00 pm, and made the answer 2.00pm. I think I should email Stephen Hawking because I may have just altered the state of the universe and the concept of time.

petulant boy
Awww maaannn! I gotta do all this shopping today and I don't wanna do it but I know I gotta do it but I don't wanna do it but I gotta.
I just know I'm going to be stuck in a line behind the woman who has had half her purchases rung up on the till, but then decides to dash off to find something she has forgotten, and the man who waits till he gets to the counter and then wants to ask the assistant detailed questions about his hideously pointless prospective purchase.
"Ring ding a ding ding dong-a-ding"

air
Ah! There you are. Well..... I mentioned a coupla weeks ago that I'd had an invite to a London recording studio to see some new hardware in action. Today was the day. I made the grim mistake of driving to Hampstead in North London - it's just that I abhor the public transport 'system' in London, and will take any measures necessary to avoid going near it.
Anyway, after a tortuous journey of misery and angst..... it wasn't much of a groove, to be honest. They had invited too many people and so I mooched around for a bit, and pondered that this yummy album was made in the very studio where I was currently nibbling a strange tasting sandwich.
On the way home, I encountered the odd sight of a young woman handing flowers (not selling them, just handing them over) to drivers at the traffic lights on the Finchley Road. I thought I was having an acid flashback, but she was real enough. She tapped on my window and I mouthed "no thanks" , and she told me to "f*ck off then", which was sweet, and full of Christmas cheer. One weird day.

my glittering movie career (!)
So.... it was 1989 and I had a small (as in tiny) part in a movie called The Krays. I soon discovered that the 'glamorous' life in the movies, actually meant sitting around reading newspapers for five hours, and then filming the same scene thirty seven times for the next three hours. It was absolutely the coolest thing, though, to be in a movie with Billie Whitelaw, Tom Bell and Jimmy Jewell. We filmed on location in Berkshire, and in the East End of London, and I remember playing football with some of the cast and extras as we whiled away the endless hours between scenes.
I got invited to the premiere and I recall my girlfriend of the time, Maryann, laughing hysterically every time I appeared on screen. Huh!
I was cast as a member of The Kray's gang, and the director wanted me to look really mean! I think I looked more like a country vicar!
Here's some photos that one of the crew took, on location.
I'm the geezer in the hat.

semantics
There are so many anagram possibilities with 'blogging a dead horse'. My favourite so far (see strap line) has to be :
'Bangladesh go go ride'.


breaking news..... greymatter or moveable type?..... moveable type or greymatter? It's gonna be a tough call for this boy.....

the king of cholesterol
I've got to spend the next few evenings at home, I think. I'm over-socialising. Today, I went out for Sunday lunch (to a pub in my village) with some friends. I know this dessert thing is becoming a bit obsessive, but I had this gorgeous chocolate tart. it was a work of art.... the thing is, it had this yummy biscuit base, and I just adore desserts with a biscuit base. You know, how it starts off crunchy, and then as the sauce, or the cream, soaks in, it goes kinda mushy. I love that.
Then everyone came back here and we watched Chelsea demolish Liverpool in the Premiership. That is no bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.


There's a lot of diverse music in the UK top forty at the moment. My favourite, though, is a rather tiresome dance track by the ...ahem.... rather attractive Sophie Ellis-Bextor. It's her 'posh' voice that just makes it soooo cool. It makes me smile. Here's a thirty second sound bite of Murder on the Dance Floor. She sounds like a member of the Royal Family.


We advertised for a couple of admin jobs in my office. We got 174 application forms. I have been spending most of the weekend (when I haven't been eating!) sifting through them and deciding on a shortlist to interview. Some of them are incredibly over-qualified, but since September 11, so many of the people who worked at the airport are now having to look elsewhere. There is an increasing number of redundancies in this part of England.
I have some friends who had long planned to spend Christmas in New York (flying from Heathrow, London). They are still debating whether or not to go. I think they should, but then I'm not the one getting on the plane.

riverside muse
Ah! Chiswick, land of my birth! As I drove past tonight,I couldn't help but notice that no-one has yet thought to put up a plaque at Chiswick Maternity Hospital, celebrating the place of my birth. It must be an administrative oversight.
I've been to this same Italian restaurant by the river, in Chiswick, three times in the last year, and each time it has had a different name, different owner, and different decor and menu. Maybe I jinx the place.
Now, James brought his new-ish girlfriend, Ingrid. She doesn't speak English but they have been going out together for about six weeks.As James doesn't speak a word of Swedish, it poses many questions, doesn't it? She seemed quite content to sit there smiling, and it must be said - she was very good at it.
Anyway.... James and I had a very deep intellectual debate. Kylie or Madonna? It's a tough call, I guess, but I definitely spoke out for Kylie, whereas James felt Madonna's merits won the day.
However, I had the advantage of having seen Kylie's new commercial*,for Agent Provocateur, the ummmm......underwear makers (!), which is being shown in cinemas (movie theaters) throughout the land.
I think I could probably live with eating pasta every day. I love the stuff. Stick some sauce on it and I'm a happy man.
Ain't it great, the way Italian places make such a fuss about dessert? You get the trolley brought to your table and the waiters are almost poetic in their descriptions of banana trifles, strawberry gungey thing, and chocolate fudge cake. I had the strawberry gungey thing, with cream. I need never eat again.


*Wanna see the Kylie commercial? Click here then click on 'media gallery' then on 'cinema'. Your life will never be the same...

afghan hound
That Usama bin Laden video... there's some very different translations...

you can't always get what ya want
Awww maaaaannn.... I don't wanna go out tonight. It's too cold and I'm all settled and I've gotta go 'cos I'm giving some people a lift 'cos I don't drink much and so I gotta go, but I don't wanna go, but I gotta go. Ya know?

it's a monochrome world
Delicious Claire has done some work with the 'freezing photo shoot'.

sugar ain't so sweet
* First - thanks for all the emails that have been sent since the comment thing went wonky. I love getting emails and I'll reply to them all - I always do.
* Delicious Claire has been working with some of the shots from the freezing photo shoot day. I'll put up a link to them over the weekend.


And so, (as they say in all the travel guides) to London's glittering West End, where I met up with some friends, and we had dinner at Odin's in Devonshire Street. Good atmosphere and yummy food. I had medallions of beef with some sauce thing with it, but as ever ... dessert was the big deal for me - I had date and ginger pudding with butterscotch sauce and it was just the greatest thing since the last greatest thing.
Odin's was established by the notorious London restaurateur, Peter Langan. Peter.....ermmmmm ...... liked a drink or two and one night a few years ago set fire to his house while he was still in it, and died as a result. Langan collected some cool pieces of art which hang on the walls of the restaurant. A David Hockney piece was right behind my head.
Then against my better judgement, I got talked into going with everyone to the most hideous place, Sugar Reef in Soho. Noisy, brash, silly braying people laughing sooo loud so they'll be noticed, and as if that wasn't enough they have a swimming pool type thing in the middle of this awful so called nightspot. We didn't stay long!

potential suckage
Any blogs that were relying on 'loopy reblogger guy' or 'snorcomments' are now in the same position as moi. These sites just can't cope with the volume of traffic they're getting, because 'Blogback' can't take any more subscribers. I hope I'll get the time to create a website over the Christmas break, for music and stuff. I'll link the blog in and create a stable comment thing. That's the plan. Sorry for any potential suckage.

exposed!
OK.... I scanned * four of the rough cuts from Saturday's freezing cold photo shoot. I had a call today from the B's manager, Rob, to say they will knock out some sample copies of a cd using some shots from Saturday, but I don't know which ones yet.
Because of the copyright issue over 'Vietnam', they're gonna press some copies with 'Prisoners You Are Free' - the full length version and the 'radio edit' mix, and with 'Ciao Cello Sphere' tagged on too.
Anyway, here's the shots.


* Somewhat disgracefully, you can't download the drivers for my old scanner, a Hewlett Packard. So, inevitably, I went and bought a new (rather groovy) one. Being me, I couldn't stop there.... so I bought a digital camera as well. I just stopped short of buying a new guitar today, too. There is no hope for this boy!

a night to remember
D'ya know, I've been driving everyone mad today because I can't stop singing this song by Shalamar
S. is working in my office for two days and so we went to lunch* together, and I kept singing it to her.
'When you love someone it's natural not demanding' I serenaded this rather upmarket bar. We may not be able to go back.


* I had diet pepsi and this wonderful bacon sandwich in thick crusty bread with a few 'twirly' fries. Once again - the healthy option.

comment nightmare
Pah! just when we thought the comment fiasco was over, with the demise of loopy reblogger guy..... now this one joins the 'loopy club'.

tangled up in blue
A last minute decision to join some friends at a freeeeeezing Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea play Newcastle. Although there wasn't a goal until the last minute, it actually was a very good match, with both sides putting out their strongest available teams. Both Chelsea and Newcastle had chances to win the game (Gudjohnsen hit the crossbar for Chelsea), but it wasn't until the very last minute that Zenden crossed the ball and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored with a volley to put Chelsea into the semi finals.
Although all the Chelsea fans genuinely cheered, I couldn't help feeling there was a tinge of relief that we wouldn't have to stay in the cold for extra time!

Matt's father
Remember I mentioned Matt's dad? It isn't looking too great at the moment.

it came out of the sky...
There's a hill in the village where I live. I'd like to tell you it has a romantic name like "Moonlight Hill" or "Bluebell Rise" or something.
Sadly, it is called 'Cabbage Hill'. Not very dreamy, but each November and December, it becomes familiar territory to legions of skywatchers, as it has some notoriety for sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects.
Driving home late at night over Cabbage Hill, I will usually see some rather chilly looking enthusiasts staring skywards, with their binoculars trained on the heavens, and with a flask of coffee near to hand. There are several sites in the south of England that are alleged to have visitors from beyond our world.
I have no idea whether there is any credibility to such suggestions, or whether there is a rather more rational explanation

i'll believe it when i see it in black and white
I whizzed round to the photographer's studio this afternoon to pick up the snaps from Saturday's photo-shoot. I was momentarily distracted by the sight of her cat peeing in a pot plant, but regained my composure, and collected the photos. Actually they're not bad at all; artistically shot in monochrome and I look very mysterious and funky in my shades and long black coat.
"Why is he telling us about them? We don't wanna description. Let's see 'em!"
Yeah well the scanner fault is bigger than both of us, and I was just thinking.... I've spent an age trying to figure out the problem and I can't get it to do it's job. (Lawd knows I feed it and water it - what's the problem Mr Scanner?). So I guess I may as well just go buy another, 'cos this could go on forever.
In the meantime..... use yer imagination. Imagine a bloke, about 5'10" or 5'11", 210 lbs, short funky hair, in a bleak, foggy farmyard, amongst derelict buildings. He's wearing a long black coat, a black scarf, shades, and is playing keyboards. There! You don't need the visuals!
Pah!

uh oh
Well.... the photographer just called to say she has processed the shots she took on Saturday, and that I can pick them up tomorrow. I was hoping to link them into here but my scanner has suddenly decided to say "Sorry, scanner could not be initialized. (scanner not found)". So, I'll have to figure that one out first. At least I'll have an excuse if the photos turn out to be ermmmm 'unflattering' !

salad days
I went over to Twickenham for lunch with S, and The George wasn't very busy at all. There are so many places to go for lunch in Twickenham; there are more bars, pubs, cafés and restaurants than there are people to go in 'em, it seems.
Me: "mmmm I'll have the steak baguette please.
Waitress: "sorry, we're out of baguettes. I can do you a rap"
Me: " a rap....what like Snoop Doggy Dogg or something?"
Waitress: "no! a wrap! like a tortilla!"
Me: "oh....ok....I'll have one of those then."
Actually, it turned out to be filled with 90% salad and 10% steak, but I guess it was the 'healthy option' steak wrap.
Following a recommendation by Gary Day, today's soundtrack was provided by the divine
Natalie Merchant and her live cd, recorded in New York City in June 1999. Natalie has one of the most gorgeous voices and this is exemplified in her beautiful reworkings of David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' and Neil Young's classic 'After The Goldrush'

clip clop
Man....it was sooo cold. I've just been for a two hour ride in Windsor Great Park. If you take a lookie at the map on the link there.... I go in throught the Blacknest Gate that you can see at the bottom of the map. I live about two miles away from there so it's easy peasy. Now that Mattie is definitely retired * , I am borrowing a horse from the stables and today, I rode Becker, a huge bay and a feisty fellow indeed. It is so odd not to be riding Mattie.
Windsor Park was pretty much deserted, except for a few joggers and some hardy walkers, with their woolly hats and woolly socks. I couldn't be sure if the socks were inside out. I don't think they were, but mine were, of course. ;-)


* Mattie is having a happy retirement, living a life of luxury. He comes out to play on Monday afternoons when he has disabled kids ride him for a half hour or so.... just walking so he's OK about that, and, from time to time, he will go out for a hack with one of the younger horses just to keep the junior calm, and show them the ropes. He likes to be in charge.

don't forget the ribbon...
In 1955 Housekeeping Monthly had some advice on how to keep your husband happy. Now remember, "his topics of conversation are more important than yours".
heheheheheh!

shere
So.... after this photo thing, the photographer whizzed off to go to a wedding (true!), so we headed off to meet up with some friends in Surrey (which is the next county south from Berkshire).
Shere is just the most typical English country village, nestling in a valley between the Surrey Hills. We had dinner in this place - The White Horse and it was sooooo yummy. Log fires, Christmas trees and a lovely warm atmosphere. For dessert, I had 'Oreo Cookie Madness' , a huge Oreo cookie with a great wodge of ice cream in the middle. Lawdy lawdy.
The soundtrack for the journey home was provided, as ever on a Saturday night, by the Bob Harris show on BBC Radio2. He just plays the very best of music from right through the ages.... like tonight the Spencer Davis Group followed by Natalie Merchant. I forget how much I adore Natalie Merchant, until I hear her on the radio.

photo opportunity
Well...... it went like this. First, a bit of background. As well as producing and mixing for others, I make a noise too. About this time last year I started using the name Apocalypse Miaow, as a 'one off' joke for music, because it was just a play on words from the Coppola movie. I've mentioned before that Gary Day said it looks cool to have 'remix by Apocalypse Miaow', so the name just kinda stuck around. I went through a burst of creativity this year, and when I was producing 'The Buddhistas', their manager listened to some of my stuff and liked it. The two tracks getting attention are 'Prisoners You Are Free', and 'Vietnam'. The Vietnam one I wrote and put together as a direct result of the prompt of Apocalypse.....but the problem is that I have sampled some of the soundtrack from the movie (Apocalypse Now), and so far, we can't get permission to release it, with the samples on.
In fact, Audiogalaxy won't even let me stick it on their site, because of the copyright thing.
Anyway, while all this is going on (and on!), the B's manager said he was going to organise a photo shoot for my embryonic musical career. Today was the day, and so on a freezing cold Berkshire afternoon, there I was posing ( with my keyboard ) amongst the rubble of derelict farm buildings and an old barn. I asked the photographer if I could have a set of the photos and she said "yep", so as soon as I get them, I'll post them up so you can have a lookie.

have each other with cream
So, you know that Cure 'Greatest Hits' cd, I was given the other day?
Man, I just love it to pieces, and there is a 'bonus' cd with it, which features acoustic re-works of all of their top toons. Well, I have been playing this bonus cd thing to an unhealthy degree. And I can't stop singing 'Lovecats'.

serious bit
Matt could do with some positive thoughts today, and if you're the praying type - maybe say a prayer for his dad. Matt is a good man.

bridle wear
Y'see the funny thing is.... I actually do have a horse, and we do go riding in Windsor Great Park. Mattie has to retire though, because he is getting older now and his legs are getting wobbly and he can't jump.
These photos were taken a few weeks ago. We were practising 'dressage' movements. Mattie was teaching me, rather than the other way round. He has been my best buddy for nine years. I am going to miss riding him, more than I can tell you.
The 'bonus' photo is me in a London radio studio.

richard melville hall
Moby has a blog. ...and very good it is, too.

seamless link
Look...we're all adults aren't we? I think I can trust you with this. It's not like it's criminal or anything, it's just something I do. I have to do it. I really do.
I wear my socks inside out. Always. No exceptions.
My socks have to be black, always, and worn inside out, always. Y'see I hate the feel of those seams that they place in socks so that it rubs right across your toes. Why do they do that? Why sew in a stringy thing there at all? I believe it may be a conspiracy. Chiropodists throughout the land may be bribing sock manufacturers to sew in pointless seams to cause discomfort to toes, hence bringing new business for foot doctors.
So I wear the little cotton fellows inside out, to minimise the discomfort trauma.
If bra makers suddenly decided to sew in a pointless stringy seam across the (ahem ... sorry about this....) nipple zone, there would be trouble, I'm sure; but these sock degenerates just carry on regardless. "Pah!", they say, to the poor sock wearer forced to endure toe top discomfort, or suffer the ridicule of his peers for his inside out habit. I believe the time has come to strike back.
Boycott stringy seamed socks, and bring some order to the footwear world!

we missed you, hissed the lovecats
An absolutely gorgeous sunset over London this afternoon.... but I just can't stop these words swirling round and round and round and round my head.

ciao loopy reblogger guy
Thanks to a suggestion from the lovely Gina, I have a new comment thingy. Hoorah!

the remix doctor
So....I had a call last night from J.... asking if I could come to their city studio today, because they wanted me to recreate the kinda jingly jangly sixties guitar sound I used on "Got Me Anyway" a few weeks ago. J. had been given my number by Mike from the band. He had been trying to get this particular sound but was running out of time. The funny thing is that I wasn't happy with the guitar playing on "Got Me Anyway", so it's strange to be asked to recreate it, in another context.
I parked the car at the office and took the tube (subway in the USA) to High Holborn. This part of London is the centre for the Law Courts, and has many architecturally appealing buildings. I liked some of the new buildings that are growing up there too.
I stopped off at Starbucks and had my regular "Coffee of the Day", but I found the idea of their Gingerbread Latté a bit of a turn off. I don't want to try that thanks.


Anyway.....I worked on the mix for a few hours and everyone seemed happy with the result. So, I was about to leave when a strange thing happened. The assistant studio manager, Sue, who I have only met ...maybe twice before, came up to me and said, " Oh I heard you were coming so I got you this", and she handed me a copy of The Cure's Greatest Hits. Is there some hidden message there? I dunno.
Things got a little weirder outside as I headed back to the tube station. Coming out of a shop on High Holborn was Graeme Le Saux the Chelsea and England football player. It's always strange when you see someone 'famous' out of context. He had a lot of shopping bags and he waited for a cab. You never have to wait long in Holborn. There seems to be thousands of them.
I think I'll play the Cure cd tomorrow. It can be my official soundtrack.

out of the loop
I've pulled the comment thing out, as loopy Reblogger guy's site is just too unreliable. In other news, the people who supply my blog email also are having problems at the moment. If their site isn't up and running tomorrow, I'll create a new blog email address. Ah! This bright and brave new world of communication, eh?

no comment
Awww man..... the Reblogger comment site has gone wonky again. I can't find a reliable comment link site. All the good ones are so over-run that they aren't accepting new blogs.
So, I ended up with the loopy 'Reblogger' guy.

miaow
Stop what you're doing, and go read how Jim fell in love with the calico cat.
(December 4 entry)

fact or fiction?
Woooohoooo! I'm an official contributor to Gina's festival of untruths The Liar.
Ain't that the truth?

hot play
Just over a year ago now, I split up (a friendly split, or as much as they can be), with Fay. We had lived together for five years, so it was odd at first. One day I was watching some dumb antiques programme on the tv, and the next day I was able to watch as much sports as I wanted. One day, the bathroom was filled with perfume, hair conditioner and mascara; the next day, just my shaving stuff.
I felt a little bit sad at first, but then I saw it as a chance of renewal, and it's funny, ya know, I feel like I'm such a different person, just one year on.
As I was going through this process of change, this time last year, one album, in particular, was never far from the cd player, whether at home, or in the car. It's weird, isn't it, the profound effect music can have? I played this cd again today, as today's soundtrack to my adventures, and I immediately remembered the feelings and the strangeness I felt last winter.
Parachutes by Coldplay is, quite simply, a magnificent album. Eleven (there is one 'hidden' track) songs of exquisite simplicity and yearning. Chris Martin's wonderful, crystal clear vocals have a warmth touched by his Devon accent, and from the opening chords of 'Don't Panic' to the dying embers of 'Everything's Not Lost', this album never dips in quality for one second. A cd that will make you happy and sad, both at the same time.

good housekeeping
Today, at vast expense, we paid two 'management consultants' to come to the office and tell us what we already know.
Still, that's showbiz!

poorly illustrated bloke
There was a truly horrible pile up on the M4 motorway this morning. It took me three hours to get to the office (33 miles), but I'm not complaining. The people involved in the crash (several cars) will have had their lives changed forever - I just got to the office late. I see some sort of a crash most days. When I came off at my exit, another car had ploughed into the traffic lights. It's mayhem trying to get into London.


I had lunch with S., who used to work for me. She wanted to talk because she is having a lot of trouble with a (male) co-worker, who is...'over-interested' in her and won't take 'no' for an answer. Of course, you may say, "Well she should complain, tell her Manager, or tell the guy to take a hike", and maybe you're right, but she thinks this guy is still her friend and she doesn't want to cause him trouble. She just wants him off her back. She had a serious 'talk' with him yesterday and he seemed to understand, but he's still making inappropriate comments and so on. I told her she really should tell her boss, so that it's 'noted', even if she thinks she can handle it for now.


Damon Gough is Badly Drawn Boy and his quirky cd
The Hour of Bewilderbeast provided the soundtrack for today's journey. This is a bizarre collection of songs, which meanders along until reaching a sublime peak with the glorious "Disillusion". Look out for the video for "Disillusion", it's a brilliant piece of work.

zoooooom!
Somehow, I don't think this dumb ass scooter is going to help me beat the traffic chaos in west London. Not at 12 miles per hour anyway.

air time
I get quite a lot of invites to studios and stores to see demos of new software and various bits 'n' pieces of equipment that will allegedly change my musical world. For example, remember I went to Turnkey, last Friday? Well, I had an email from them today, inviting me to a "Creamware on Tour Day" on 13th December. I don't think I'll go to that, 'cos I know what Creamware can do...but this email is a different matter:
" Dear Terry, We would like you to join us at Air Studios at Lyndhurst Hall in Hampstead, London, on **th December for an informal day of demonstrations and an opportunity for you to have 'hands on' experience of using Carillon Audio Systems. (then blah blah blah about lunch being provided, and who to reply to etc) ...'Carillon, hardware and software seamlessly integrated'......"
wooohooo! Air Studios is owned by Sir George Martin, who produced all the Beatles stuff in the 60s. Now that's cool! I'm a-going to that one!

taco bell in england, and being a closet hippy
It was very foggy this morning, in the south of England, and so the usual tedious snaking crawl into west London took even longer than ever. For some unknown reason I picked up the best of the Doobie Brothers cd this morning, on the way out - so the Doobs provided the soundtrack of the day. I'm sure their moms would be proud.
Add that to my habit of burning incense, and lighting candles at home and I guess I may as well go live in Haight Ashbury and join the Grateful Dead.
At lunchtime I avoided eye contact with all the street salesmen and women and zoomed around the store to buy the stuff I didn't have for Tara's taco mix. Well, when I got home, I figured I would have to halve all the ingredients or it may be too much; also I had to look up what a 'skillet' is, 'cos I had no idea (it's a pan!). Anyway, in the end it worked like a dream and was the most gorgeous, yummiest thing. See the recipe below. Make it, and find paradise. ((((( Tara )))))

news from the kitchen
Tomorrow, I'm going to make Tara's taco mix
Man, I tell ya, I am sooo looking forward to that (the eating bit, not so much the making bit)

at least it isn't rothko
Yes....I can't deny a heavy Mondrian influence

good hair day
Laura has painted her hair for the Christmas season.
As you can see, her hair doesn't stick up in the wrong places. I will have to ask her for some tips.

pants on fire
Gina's new site The Liar is simply wonderful. Go see.

out of the blue
Soooo cool to get a call this afternoon from one of my oldest friends, Annie.
She said, "Hey mister, whatcha doin' tonight?"
I said, "Hmmm, not a lot"
She said, "Hey, why don't we go out for dinner?!"
I said, "Sounds good"
So we went to The Old Hatchet in Winkfield and Annie smoked lots of Marlboro Lights and ate lemon chicken, and I had steak, as I would. Dessert was very, very yummy - profiteroles.
We talked about The Beatles, Chelsea's win earlier today (well actually it was me that went on and on about that), and we mused about some mutual friends.
A really good evening. The soundtrack for the drive home was provided by the ever groovy Bob Harris on BBC Radio2. Great music from Steely Dan, Cream, Judie Tzuke and many other tracks of immense gorgeousness.

bad hair day
No matter which hairdresser I go to, or how much it costs, I always end up with
sticky-uppy hair

blue is the colour
I was born a short distance from Stamford Bridge, the stadium of Chelsea Football Club (they call it 'soccer' in the States). My father started to take me to games when I was a very small boy, and thus was a love affair born.
Being a Chelsea 'fan' has been an ordeal at times, through the years, but it is all worth it on a day like today when Chelsea
have gone to Old Trafford and beaten Manchester United. the current champions, 3-0.
"Come on you Blues!!!"

sports news
The notorious national football stadium, in Kabul, will be seeing action today. This has been the site of so many executions, in recent years.
However, today, a football match is being played there as a sign that 'normality' is returning for the Afghan people.
Extraordinarily, a full Afghan league programme resumes on Monday with games taking place throughout the country.