Well, when the most exciting thing I've done in months is experiment with adding a slice of lime to my glass of sugar-free Pepsi Max then what else can I say?
I've had a deeply boring summer. A painful one, a stressful one and a life-changing one, but boring. Not an exciting one at all. It occurred to me yesterday that I haven't even been shopping in about four months, hardly even online. I must have yet another, as yet undiagnosed, ailment causing this, of course. The lack of shopping hasn't helped my credit card balances because they're simply off-set with buying tickets for things later in the year. Now that I can get about a lot better I must start doing things again.
I need to conquer my food crisis. I was wandering around late on Thursday lunchtime getting stressed out trying to find something to eat and ended up having a sort of black-eyed bean filled pitta bread thing from the health food shop in the absence of anything else. I then had meetings which meant I couldn't eat more than a few mouthfuls and when I got back to my desk after meeting the minister from the Caiman Islands (I even wore shoes for the first time in months) it was nicely dry and tasteless. I put it in the bin. Then worried about eating something before seeing 'Wicked', gave up and got a cheese salad sarnie at Victoria station.
If I was only diabetic ("
only"), that would be one thing, but cutting out cheese, low-fat, low-salt, low-cholesterol, low everything plus being vegetarian is what causes the problems. I actually cooked yesterday. Yes, cooked, not just heated something up. It took ages and it was lovely - and was excellent from a diabetic point of view (my blood was only 8.7 which is possibly the best ever). But it was terribly bad from a salt and fat perspective. Aruna would be both pleased and saddened.
I washed it down with Guinness. I am so bad. But also good, since that's the only alcohol I've had all week. I've stopped drinking during the week (and comparatively negligible at weekends). Sobriety is helping my fitness regime (as is the absence of cheese) but it limits one's options. In fact, I've had so little booze over the last month or so that I'm quite possibly the most sober person I know - even Christopher turns up half cut having swigged free wine when he goes to meet his film star friends.
I think I'm in the 'mourning' phase now. The second doctor I saw about the diabetes back in June said I was taking the news remarkably well and that a lot of people stressed out on being diagnosed. Way back then I was worried about my back, not all this new stuff happening to my body. I think it's possibly just really hit me over the last month. I've had time to get used to the idea now and what it means for me and am starting to manage it - unsuccessfully so far, but I'm trying. I even got a book about it so I can try to understand it better and manage it better. It just takes time. I've also sort of developed a split personality - I'm not diabetic, my body is.
But, in any case, I'm off shopping tomorrow. I will go to the HMV store on Oxford Street after work, waggle my credit card around a bit and buy things. I want, nay need, 'The SLADE Box'. I will then browse, check whether there are any new Buffy's about (I always check cos, well, you never know...) hunt for the new Indigo Girls record and generally do the picking up and putting down thing - except I will retain some in my hand. I will look in Borders for vegetarian cook books. Time permitting, I may pop along to John Lewis and Debenhams to look at suits (my new, soon-to-be svelte body will require new clobber shortly, or at least that's the plan).
I need to re-acquaint myself with people I haven't seen in months as well (yes, this possibly means you, so watch out). I also want to see the Kandinsky exhibition before it closes next weekend - some art will be good for my soul but I doubt the crowds will be.
Another new Dresden Dolls track? Oh yes indeedy! My cup is overflowing.
To allay my severe distress and trauma on Monday I invested in some revenge shopping on Amazon and I got it today. Pride of place belongs to 'The Definitive Story of CBGB - the home of US Punk', a new double CD compilation of bands that played at CBGBs in New York and some fab stuff is on there.
Idina Menzel is over from America to reprise her role as Elpheba, aka the Wicked Witch of the West, and Helen Dallimore plays Glinda the Good. It's a double-header show that only works if these two make it work and they did, especially in the great set pieces. Miriam Margolyse and Nigel Planer were also in the cast and, from the looks of her, Miriam was thoroughly enjoying it. And so did I. I have little critical faculty at the best of times but I've lost it entirely with this show - it speaks to me in words of magic and I'm entranced.
OK, what I mean to say is, 'O feckity feck feck!'
I saw some of the Stiff programmes last night on BBC4 and that reminded me of Jane Aire & The Belvederes. I had two of her singles way back when ('Yankee Wheels' on Stiff and 'Call Me Every Night' on Virgin) and two tracks by her on the Akron compilation issued by Stiff (with the scratch and sniff cover). I never got her one and only album. Of course, none of her music is available online (or none that I've found so far) but one track, 'Yankee Wheels', is on a Stiff compilation so I need to get hold of that. I need more and so the quest begins.
Other joys glimpsed in the programmes included Rachel Sweet in all her youthful loveliness. She was a mere 16 when she had her first hit with B-A-B-Y and it was great to see her being interviewed and on Top of the Pops. Her records have survived into the CD age with some killer tracks (some are on my iPod for regular listening). And more of her music is becoming available, such as two '80s albums discovered by Chris a while back (and they are very '80s sounding indeed!).
I couldn't help but exclaim aloud those words when I saw a photo in my new SLADE book with that caption. It made me chuckle.
The glorious, old tree opposite my house is being devastated. The chainsaws started yesterday and they're continuing today, a nice sunny Sunday afternoon shredded by the buzzing as the lovely tree has bits lopped off. Where will it end? Is it being trimmed or is coming down? Only time will tell.
Happy birthday to Don Powell, drummer with SLADE for forty years, who is sixty today (and looking good on it too).
He wrote some of the early songs with Jim - they're quite different to the songs Nod and Jim wrote, a different sound and feel, but I like them. And apparently he's writing again.
My SLADE-dar is failing me. This wonderful new book, Cum On Feel The Noize - The Story Of SLADE, has been published for a week and I only found out about it yesterday.
I've been sent a rather odd record by an online chum called 'Velvet Tinmine'. It's a collection of glamrock songs that didn't quite make it - 'junk shop glam' as it's been christened by Record Collector. And what an odd collection it is.
Iron Virgin sound like an early 'B' side version of the Sweet when they were allowed to play their own harder songs. Their contribution is 'Rebel Rule' and I quite like it. And here's a photo of them.
I am in a state of shock. It seems that I have just procured through the interweb a lost Buffy CD, a CD that was issued in 2004 and then withdrawn almost immediately for some reason - Live At Carnegie Hall.
homes, oh no. My role is to facilitate it, make it happen, supply the money and the incentives, that sort of thing.
and this is what the designers have come up with. They did 20-odd designs but I've gone for these two, one for signage and the other for letter-head. I think they're quite fun!
Now, the Sex Pistols see it as a piss stain but Suzi wouldn't say no to being inducted into the Hall of Fame and good on her.
The Dresden Dolls played at the Reading Festival last weekend and I've just been pointed to the review of the festival in the Independent online which states:
I avidy read Amanda's latest blog this evening (a particular treat for me) and my face gradually fell. Isn't it almost illegal for the red-tops (no names, no pack-drill, no libel suit) to report accurately?
I spent some enjoyable time reading Lise Lyng Falkenberg's SLADEblog today. There are some great photos of Don on the blog - here's one I nicked of Don with the new CDs. He's looking good.
