That Will Be An Ecumenical Matter

In common with many other parents, at least according to this, I have been forced to take a deep breath, hold my nose, and join in the hypocrisy.

On balance, I agree with many of the government's reforms over the last 10 years or so, and see a better, more liberal and relaxed society. One thing, however, that sends me into a rage is the concept of 'faith schools' and the concept of selection by children's religion.

Let's leave aside the fatuous idea of a child having a religion for a moment - greater minds than mine have tackled this insanity.

Instead, let's focus on the self-pitying, delusional hypocrisy of religion, and weep at it's stranglehold on public funding in this country.

My wife and I attended our local church, which is associated with a school in our area with marginally better results than others, with our 4-year-old son. This Sunday, I tried to blot out the nonsense (it just makes me angry) by counting the bricks in the wall, when at some point it was decided that the young children should leave the church go and be indoctrinated in an external room. My wife jumped up and took our son, to leave me on my own. I lasted about 10 minutes...

I left to sit in my car and listen to the CD of 'Oxygene' I got in the Sunday M**l last week.

My son came out of the other room waving a piece of paper with trite homilies on, which he had been encouraged to colour in. I really don't know how these people live with themselves.

Turmoil

Apologies for my absence on Friday. Some arseholes cut through my garden fence and made off with all my tools from my garden shed. Bollocks. A day spent at home, waiting for Police.

To make matters worse, Tiscali have managed to 'upgrade' my Broadband service and completely screwed it up. Prior to upgrade 24-30 kbps, post-upgrade 5.8 - 6.2 kbps, IF it connects in the first place, which it seldom does. Thanks, guys.

Twelfth Night

Another trek into work to sit at my desk and apply for jobs. In honour of the season, a playlist composed solely of tracks by the '80s prog rock band 'Twelfth Night'. One of my main achievements over the festive season was finding a signed LP of 'Live at the Target', featuring a live version of 'Sequences', to join my small collection of their CDs and LPs (Fact and Fiction, Collector's Item, Art and Illusion, and now Live at the Target). Similar to Marillion, IQ, Pendragon, Haze, The Enid, and those neo-prog bands of the era.

Blondon Fair - Twelfth Night,
Fact And Fiction - Twelfth Night,
The Collector - Twelfth Night,
Love Song - Twelfth Night,
Sequences - Twelfth Night.

Interview tomorrow, so a lot of revision to do.

T - 4; M - 4.5; D - 2 - take several fat woman, cover them in jumpers and coats and scarves, and squeeze them in to train seats so that they overhang and make my arms ache. Go away, please.

Disappointment Can Wear You Thin

I was away from my computer all weekend, so missed the 'All Day Breakfast Show' announcement HERE. And HERE.

FWIW, I'll add my thoughts in a later post, and just get the tracklist for this morning out of the way:

Telegraph Road - Dire Straits,
Got A Suitcase, Got Regrets - Tom McRae,
Let's Split - Syd Barrett,
Paperback Writer - The Beatles,
Sunny Goodge Street - Donovan,
Ring Out Solstice Bells - Jethro Tull,
Cry From The Street - David Gilmour,
Only Time Will Tell - Asia,
Jack Of Speed - Steely Dan, the best track from a pretty formulaic return album,
Hounds Of Love - Kate Bush,
Birth From Earth - Epsilon Indi,
Photos of Ghosts - Premiata Forneria Marconi. I'd forgotten just how great this is...
Trio And Group Dancers - Charles Mingus. I'd forgotten just how mad this is...

T - 3; M - 4; D - 3

I Don't Feel Pleasure and I Don't Feel Pain

After 2 solid days of rain, a break in the clouds accompanied my walk to the Tube. I had an early start today as, being the bottom of the food chain, I had been delegated the task of letting an engineer in to fix one of our redundant machines. Joy.

I had no real clue what I wanted to listen to today, so started with 'Ambient/Electronic' then got bored of that among the noise of the train and switched to 'Rock, Prog and Rock/Pop':

Strangers - Raoul Bjorkenheim,
Born, Never Asked - Laurie Anderson,
Second Swarm - Bass Communion,
Punk Rock - Mogwai,
Great To Be With You - Yes,
Prophets Of War - Dream Theater,
Three Of A Perfect Pair - King Crimson,
Formentera Lady - King Crimson,
Woodstock - Matthews' Southern Comfort,
Gone to Earth - David Sylvian,
Tux On - Marillion,
Love You - Syd Barrett

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 3

Interstellar Overdrive

No movement on the Danny Baker front. No word about the 'technical difficulties' that beset the Baker & Kelly' 'cast, and I'm so far out of the loop on the ADBS that I'm rapidly losing interest. FWIW, messages on the Treehouse and Cook'd and Bomb'd (now registered users only) suggest that things are improving, service-wise.

Still he read my e-mail out yesterday on the BBC London show...

Some recent downloads and purchases today to alleviate the boredom:

Winter (Fanfare) (excerpt) - The Enid
Return To Patagonia - Lemon Jelly
O Little One Sweet - Trad. (arr Bach), from a recent freebie CD with the Classic FM mag (my wife's)
The Demon King The Enid
Thinkin' One Thing & Doin' Another - Miles Davis, from On The Corner
Leo - John Coltrane, from Interstellar Space
Just George - Part 4 - Giles, Giles & Fripp
The Reaping - Coheed & Cambria, from their latest album.

I am big fan of C&C, after being introduced to their CDs by a former colleague 18 months ago. This latest album, 'Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow', is excellent, although heavier than recent ones, I think. There's certainly a lot more singing and fewer lengthy instrumental passages. Still very very good. In particular, the 'End Complete' suite is fabulous, following similar suites in previous albums (especially The Willing Well)

The End Complete I - The Fall of House Atlantic
II - Radio Bye Bye
III - The End Complete
IV - The Road and the Damned
V - On The Brink

T - 3; M - 3.5; D - 2, particularly maddening was the arse who settled down in the seat next to me and then expanded to try to take over the arm-rest. I'm not a small man, and a sideways look made him stop, but what the hell did he think he was doing?

Electric Oscar Winning

Another turbulent slow journey through the leafy North London suburbs. The driver had no real idea what was going on 'as my radio is broken'.

Some Jazz this morning. Mmmm, nice...

Desert Song - Stanley Clarke,
Do It Again - Steely Dan, one of my son's favourites,
Flamenco Sketches (Alternate Take) - Miles Davis,
Medley: Vertical Invader / T.H. / Dr. Honoris Causa - Weather Report,
Catch Me If U Can - Scott Henderson, Steve Smith & Victor Wooten
The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines - Joni Mitchell
Hot Fun - Stanley Clarke
Palms for Lester - David Torn, Mick Karn, Terry Bozzio
Three Clowns - Weather Report
Lillette el Ouihda - Cheikha Rimitti, with Robert Fripp and Flea.

A film poster caught my eye, purely because I could work out what it was trying to say. I can't remember the title, but it looked to include Michael Douglas, so I will avoid it like the plague. The reviewer's verdict was: 'ELECTRIC OSCAR WINNING PERFORMANCE', which is surely missing at least a hyphen, if not a comma as well.

T - 2; M - 4; D - 3

All Day Breakfast Show

Well, it's back back back.

The Danny Baker All Day Breakfast Show on Wippit.

So now what do I do?

All the recent chaos, culminating in the excuse of parental illness, was really poor. Yes, his parents were ill, and he did the right thing in taking time off (IMO, FWIW).

But:

Why no news at all except cryptic messages on various Wippit and ADBS websites?
Why did Mr Baker continue the BBC London show without mention (although, to be fair he did miss a couple of shows)?
Why was the juvenile 'keep watching the skies' persisted with? We're not children,
Why, whenever Wippit's service was criticised, the excuse came back: well, 95% of thnigs are fine,
Why is the Wippit interface soooo poor?
Why, now that the ADBSiC is back, do we forget about the previous month as if nothing had happened?
Why is any criticism responded to with 'hey, the guy's parents were ill' (what you do mean Wippit's servers are down all the time and the download process is abysmal? - cut us some slack, his dad's been ill)?


So now what?

Stump up £50 and hope that Wippit improves and the ADBSiC continues with fewer breaks?

Also, the decision to drop from 5 shows a week to 'at least 3' is crap. He's obviously hedging his bets and continuing the BBC London show.


I've decided - if I get the new job, I'll subscribe to Wippit and the ADBSiC. If I don't, I won't. There, that'll show 'em.

Judging by some comments in the Treehouse and at Cook'd and Bomb'd I'm not alone...

Period of Relection

Well, yesterday's interview went well. I'll still keep my other options open, though.

I saw this preposterous idea in the Metro the other day. What the Tube really needs is more things creating heat from cooling fans and more machnery to go wrong. The number of times I've seen the Windoze 'blue screen of death' on these crappy plasma screens... Now the idea is to have ceiling-mounted projectors to blow hot air onto our heads. Presumably they'll have to install air con to counteract the effects...

Ambient music this morning, for a chilled-out Friday of nothingness:

Mother and Child - David Sylvian, the instrumental version from 'Camphor'
Flight Feet & Root Hands - Andreas Vollenweider
25 Avril - Mad Jazz Piano - Brian Eno
Where We Lived - Brian Eno & Jah Wobble
1987 - Robert Fripp
Drugged - Bass Communion. This is an amazing piece of work. The shimmering guitar chords always take me by surprise and send a shiver down my spine every time,
The Dredger - Ice
1986 - Robert Fripp
Madrigals of the Rose Angel - Harold Budd
The Healing Place - David Sylvian

T - 4; M - 4; D -3

Are You Looking At My Pint?

The smoking ban (in public places, at least) has had a weird effect. I don't smoke, but I could at least live with the smell and pollution - now, after 2 weeks of holiday and a month or so of the ban being in place, I feel nauseous every time someone lights up around me. It's not a psychological reaction to the act of lighting up, but a response to the smoke itself.

Cook'd and Bomb'd

Fridays are becoming increasingly hard to deal with. I just know that I'll get to work and my boss will be 'working from home', but the CFO will be there to check I don't leave at 4.59 instead of 5.00. The good news is that I have an interview next week...

I've downloaded a whole load of Baker & Kelly Radio 1/5live and Talksport/Virgin MP3s via Cook'd and Bomb'd HERE, which, if the quality's pretty terrible, are good fun.

The Nightfly - Donald Fagen
Whatever Would Robert Have Said - Van der Graaf Generator
The Power - Suede
Silver Bullett The Observer All Stars, from the Trojan Dub Box Set Volume 2

I had some writing to do this morning, so removed my iPod. God, it's quiet on a Tube train.

The Independent reported today that the listening figures for Radio3 has gone through the floor. It's still 'bedding in', apparently. Idiots. Hardly a surprise, as I suggested here and here, amongst many more posts.

The Independent really annoyed me by replacing the usual 'Great Works' art appreciation thing by Tom Lubbock (who's away) with some garbage 'picture' by someone called 'Sean Scully' and proceeding to describe this juvenile crap in glowing terms. I don't know who you are, Sue Hubbard, but it's neither big nor clever.

T - 3; M - 4; D - 4. Get me out of here, someone.

Telepathological

From the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

... Kakrafoon has a sentient species known as the Belcerebons. Sentenced by Galactic Tribunal to be telepathic, the only ways of blocking out these messages is to either talk constantly about anything and everything...

Well, today, I was plagued by several groups of women who did nothing but chatter inanely. I was tempted to ask them to shut up so that I could listen to my iPod... First a gaggle of hags on the Northern Line, then two different groups on the Piccadilly. For God's sake.

Folk today, for no apparent reason than I've just added this Genre from my home library to my iPod:

Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Neil Young
First Breath - Richard Thompson. This, from 'The Old Kit Bag', is just superb.
Dealer (1st Alternate Version) - John Martyn, from the fabulous 'One World' re-issue.
Crayon Angels (2) - Judee Sill
Emoni Ennen - Värttinä. Just great a capella singing
Songs In Red And Gray - Suzanne Vega
Strange Feelin' - Tim Buckley
New Nothynge - John Renbourn
My Man On Love (2) - Judee Sill
O Death - John Renbourn
Voices - Nick Drake
Rainbow River - Vashti Bunyan
Luka - Suzanne Vega, from the recent Radcliffe and Maconie session,
Ploughman Lads - Nic Jones
Human Remains - Tom McRae
See Saw - Devendra Banhart
Never Any Good - Leonard Cohen

After CD-WOW completely screwed up my order (delay after delay after delay - I'm not going to use them again), they should arrive from Amazon before the end of the week - hurrah!

T - 4.5; M - 4; D - 1

"Mick Jagger is monogamous, year-on-year"

Thanks to Mark Kermode for supplying the headline for today's post. It comes from his discussion of 'The March of the Penguins' in the latest Radio 5 podcast, and it made me laugh out loud. Worringly, Radio 5 have chosen to put an advert for some football thing in the middle and played ridiculously loud music over the last 30 seconds and Mark's review of Surf's Up. To make matters worse, the last 10 seconds of the Podcast consisted solely of this inane jingle, so it wasn't as if it was out of time, or anything. Please stop doing this.

I've found (via the Cook'd and Bomb'd forum) some old Baker & Kelly Football shows from Radio5 and TalkSport, which I'm enjoying at the moment. The sound quality's a bit ropey, but it's still great to hear this combination again - they kept me sane towards the end of my PhD write-up.

Panty Rap - Frank Zappa
Radio Free Moscow - Jethro Tull
All My Love - Led Zeppelin
Tundra - Jethro Tull
Coyote - Joni Mitchell
Certain Surprise (Live At Regent's Park, 1978) - John Martyn
(Ein Klein) Heldenleben - Gryphon
Spanish Castles In Space - The Orb
Titanic - Francesco De Gregori
Blessed Relief - Frank Zappa
Albatross - Fleetwood Mac
A Fire In The Forest - David Sylvian
The Gunfighter - Harold Budd
The Man's Too Strong - Dire Straits

To do this week: apply for job, listen to the end of the last Test, finish a couple of Reports and record ths Armando Ianucci shows from last week's BBC Radio 7.

T - 2. Time stood still on the Misery Line, as a normal 30-minute ride took twice as long.
M - 4; D - 4.

I'm Going to Chop You Into Little Pieces

One of these days...

In preparation for a telephone interview, a bit of reading up on the Tube. That was the plan, at least, until a couple, obviously 'with Very Important Jobs' and 'Very Much In Love' started debating the best way to get to somewhere on the Central Line for his Very Important Job in a Very Loud Voice.

'I could go here [points to map above my head] then change onto here and take this line [points]',
'You could also go here and change there'
'That's where I used to work at my previous Very Important Job'
'Oh yes, I was Very Much In Love with you then'
'I could go here instead and change on to here. I could be at my Very Important Job a bit earlier'
'Yes, or go here, where I change for my Very Important Job'
'Yes, that would be good'
'I have a Very Important Job too'
'I'm Very Much In Love with you'
'Yes, we both have Very Important Jobs, don't we?'

Shut up. Shut. Up.

No music today, as I just wanted to kill.

I did, however, listen to the latest ADBS featuring the Dirty Fan Mail boys, on my walk from Tube to workplace. Very funny...

I also have a Very Important Job.

T - 4; M - n/a; D - kill them all.

Second-Hand Sounds, Future Sounds

A really irritating journey this morning, with a coven of three women chatting vacuously throughout the time. Even with my iPod bolted to my head I could still hear them cackling away.

Shuffle All:

Catholic Girls - Frank Zappa,
Evening Star - Fripp/Eno. Just beautiful,
Sweet Baby James - James Taylor,
Cantonese Boy - Japan,
Kerry - Gentle Giant; 4 seconds of the keyboard player from Under Construction
Bed In The Corner - Cockney Rebel,
In D - Durutti Column. Beautiful recording,
No One Can - Marillion. More good production, in contrast to the recent 'Somewhere Else',
Islands - King Crimson. Just great. I know this album is poorly thought of in prog circles, but I love it. Excellent trumpet,
Intergalactic Radio Station - Vangelis, from his late-80s period of guitar-laden electronic pop (Direct, The City etc.),
Thank You - Gentle Giant, from the poor 'Giant for a Day' album,
Just a Bit - Robert Wyatt. More great trumpet usage,
Cirkus - King Crimson. Another old track from the 70s,
Curly Dub - Lee 'Scratch' Parry. The bass is a bit over-driven, but it's probably not made for tinny little iPod headphones,
Pi - the blessed Kate.

T - 1; M - 4; D - 1.5

On This Day, Like Any Other Day

A fatalistic train driver announced that my train 'was for Kennington via Charing Cross, although, on this day like any other day, there are signalling problems which meant that that could change'.

First, though, I had to contend with the return of the wheeled briefcases. A woman drove over my be-sandalled foot this morning, which a) caught me surprise so that I squealed like a girl and b) bloody hurt. Stop It. Stop. It. Some of the 'bags' are getting so small they're almost handbags. One moron had a computer bag on wheels; pick it up, don't drag it behind you to career around like an unruly child.

As the mystery train made its way southwards, the effect of the signalling failure became obvious as more and more people tried to cram on the train. Welcome to the Olympic City.

Some bright spark has apparently come up with the idea of putting blocks of ice under seats in carriages to cool them down. Yeah, that'll work. Until they melt and leak and bugger up the electrics and cause puddles etc. etc. My solution is to run more frequent trains, more efficiently, so that they're not all full of hot sweaty bodies.

london

Well, there we have it - £400,000 spent on something my cat could have come up with. Apparently, it appeals to the brand-conscious youth of today.

I particularly dislike that lower case 'l' in London.

And I have no idea what that central square is. If the top left squiggle is a '2', why does the one in the bottom right need this extra element?