The Weather

OK, I'm British and that means we talk about the weather. I don't write blogs about it though. Today is different since we've had some extremes:

• started off quite warm, then poured with rain,
• then went cold about lunchtime, then rained again,
• then out of the blue big hailstones hailed down, bouncing off the patio outside my window at work,
• followed by yet more rain, and then it warmed up again...

Who's to blame for all that then?

Mexico

Um, have I mentioned Mexico? No? Oh dear, how remiss of me, please accept my apologies.

Three weeks today I'll be changing for dinner, probably with my skin a bit tingley after having been exposed all day to the relentless Carribean sun and turning pink. Or I'll have burned to a frazzle and be peeling. There are lots of options. This is a holiday to find a palm tree to slob underneath, maybe stroll as far as the sea to plodge and play 'jump the wave' or maybe stroll to the bar for a nice cool beer in the shade... again, there are many options so long as some dedicated slobbing is involved. Chris will be happy with his 'ammock outside the cottage (hotel rooms are in little cottages around the grounds).

There will, of course, be some Indiana Jones-type explorations deep in the rain forest during which I confidently expect to discover a Mayan pyramid or two (I usually discover something on my trips). The Yucatan is like that you see, glorious golden beaches and turquoise seas while inland it's all rain forest and ruins.

The last time I was there was in the '90s and so pre-digital so I've only got a few photos scanned onto the computer (and they're not very good either) so I must take lots and lots of nice sharp, clear digital photos on this trip. I really want to go to Uxmal (pronounced: ooshmal) to take pics of the Pyramid of the Magician which isn't actually a pyramid at all but that's just splitting hairs. And, of course, the glory that is Chichin Itza, a large archaeologic park full of Mayan ruins (it poured with rain the last time I was there so I'm hoping for clear blue skies this time and lots of photo opportunities). The photos in this post aren't mine - they're downloaded from the web to illustrate what I'll see in a few weeks time. My photos will, of course, be even more fabulous.

I am *s0* looking forward to this holiday - I haven't had a slobby beach holiday since Sri Lanka in 2004 before the tsunami. I can almost hear the palm trees rustling even as I type ...

Retro Record Bag

I've been doing deep thinking about my next appearance at the Retro Record Bag evening. I could, of course, just turn up and play some favourite songs but that doesn't, well, seem right. It seems too easy. I need a theme, I need records in a sequence that works.

My last theme was "1972" and I was quite pleased with it, not playing the expected songs but songs that might actually make people think twice (and people seemed to like the songs). I've even thought about doing a secret theme, just playing songs with the words 'record' or 'bag' in the lyric (Pink says 'record bag' in one of her songs) but that might be going too far.

I think I might just make a stately progression through the years, so 1973 could be the basis for my next set list. Maybe just go all-out glam?

My new Sweet 'best of' arrived today and it is fab (naturally). It's got a couple of tracks that aren't on my 'greatest hits' or other Sweet albums and that is pushing me towards a 1973 theme - after all, it was their biggest year when they bestrode the world of pop like gods (slightly behind S L A D E but gods nonetheless).

I still haven't quite worked out how to play Buffy Sainte-Marie in the Record Bag though...

Top Ten iPod

Not much movement in the Top Ten this week which isn't really surprising since it takes a lot of repeat listenings to have enough individual 'plays' to get there. This week I've been listening mainly to playlists of songs I haven't heard for a while and none of those have sufficient plays to get anywhere near the top.

Suzi is still Number One and the only new entry is Kim Weston's 'You Hit Me Where It Hurt Me'.

Vambo Rules OK ~ SAHB

I've been watching my new DVD 'Inside the Sensational Alex Harvey Band', one of the 'Inside' series where people you've never heard of talk about the subject band between film and sound clips. This one actually has lots of interviews with the band and some excellent footage from the '70s, both live and on TV.

SAHB aren't a band I'd listen to every day but bung on a CD now and again and I go 'wow'. Hard, driving rhythms, Zal's wailing guitar and Alex's expressive Glaswegian vocals, all combined to make a unique and very recognisable and original sound. Very theatrical in their stage presence, the music they played and the lyrics Alex spat out, very much an early/mid '70s band that most people who remember them at all probably think of their hit with 'Delilah'. SAHB was the first band I ever saw live, back in 1973 when they supported SLADE, so I have a soft spot for them.

Alex Harvey was a great front man and band leader and it's quite sad that he never really made it big. He started playing in bands in the late '50s, was in 'Hair' in 1966 and so by the time SAHB was created in 1972 he was in his mid/late 30s. When I saw SAHB they'd issued 'Framed' and were promoting 'Next' on the SLADE tour, both a mix of driving rock and some dark and very unusual theatricality. An excellent live band and creative in the studio, who knows what they would have progressed to if they'd held it together.

Alex left in the late '70s and started a solo career and died in 1982 the day before his 47th birthday. Out of a long musical career, SAHB was his peak and most creative time, with 'Delilah' and 'Boston Tea Party' probably being SAHB's biggest and well known hits.

Some of my favourites are:

Sargeant Fury - a '30s pastiche with great honky tonk piano

Tomahawk Kid - based on 'Treasure Island' with the wonderful lines, "Yo Ho Ho, Lets be bold my Captain, And I'll hold your hairy hand, Let's forget the treasure, And we'll skip across the sand."

There's No Lights On The Christmas Tree Mama, They're Burning Big Louie Tonight ~ the title says it all!

Next ~ a tale of sex and gonorrhea and brothels and whores and the army and ... oh, just about everything sleazy...

Last of the Teenage Idols ~ autobiographical about Harvey himself, wonderful when he screams out the title as the chorus

Boston Tea Party ~ I loved this when it came out in the summer of 1976, so different from everything else in the chart at that time

So many great songs. There's a good compilation with samples from all the albums called 'Faith Healer - An Introduction to SAHB'. 'Faith Healer' is another favourite song, sinister and throbbing with menace - beware!

The other members of SAHB still get together now and then to play live. I can't quite imagine them without Alex. I'm listening to 'Anthem' at the moment, drums and bagpipes, a song that I think was played at his funeral.

It's only a bullet point...

It's only a bullet point but it's my bullet point! And I'm so pleased it's there.

Take a look at the Budget Report 2006 and scroll down to parapgraph 6.60 and it's the second bullet point . It's not a lot of money but it'll make so much difference to the children and families involved.

All the evidence tells us that the more disadvantaged families lag far behind in taking up ICT. In social grade AB households with children of school age computer ownership goes virtually hand in hand with Internet access (93% have a computer and 92% have Internet connectivity) but in DE households it's much different (60% have a computer and only 43% have connectivity).

This funding isn't enough to deliver a level playing field for these children and families without a computer and access to the Internet at home but it'll be a great help.

First step...

I took a first step into a more colourful world this afternoon by going to Homebase down by Streatham Common station (dragging Chris along as a potential beast of burden). I want to re-decorate my flat from top to bottom - the last time I did that I earned myself a slipped disc that still flares up so, obviously, I intend to be careful. The first step was to get an idea of what's on the market these days by way of colour, equipment and related stuff.

I want colour, but maybe a bit more muted than I have at the moment (Tibetan gold skirting boards and aztec golden doors in the hall might be a bit much for some people). I picked up some paint brochures to get an idea of the range of colours.

I've been meaning to paint a bookcase in my hall for ages and never quite got round to it. I've painted bookcases before in plain (or plainish colours) but the aim this time is to paint it white and then use that as the base for painting a design of some sort on it. I even bought some acrylic paints a while ago, thinking they would be the right thing to use but then Cressida Bell said it was best to use emulsion paint (using 'tester' pots) and then varnish it. She should know. I've got white emulsion and brushes but no colours, so I got primary colours - bright yellow, red and blue, but couldn't find a green enough green (all the greens were very pastel). Never mind, I can make green from blue and yellow. It's been ages since I painted so I'll use this as my trial.

When we got back from Florence last year after being immersed in classic art for a week I wanted to enroll in a life drawing class but couldn't find anything that fitted my hours or wants (most of them were during the day). The CityLit does, I think, do a termly evening class but it gets very over-subscribed. I'll need to look into it again.

Top Ten iPod

It's that time of the week again:

Back to the Drive - Suzi Quatro
Apply Some Pressure - Maximo Park
Public Image - Public Image Limited
You Boyz Make Big Noize - SLADE
Grafitti - Maximo Park
God is a DJ - Pink
Anarchy in the UK - Sex Pistols
I Won't Let It 'Appen Agen - SLADE
Do You Believe In Miracles - SLADE
Buick MacKane - T.Rex

I haven't listened to iPey much this week since I've been off work but there are a couple of new entries and, sadly, Buffy's dropped out of the top ten entirely (although she's at Number 11 and 12 and then Number 25). And of course, Suzi is Number 1 with the title track from her new album!

Packing crates and emails

I made it into work around mid-morning to find my desk surrounded by big plastic packing crates and my computer (a nice new Dell) full of emails. And, o joy, I was half an hour late for a budget meeting to discuss how to split up 'our' millions (yours really, tax-payers money). I stayed at work till 7.40pm so I could start unpacking and sorting myself out in my new workspace.

Aren't I just the dedicated one?

ooh ow just a little bit, ooh ow just a little bit more

... or not as the case might be.

If you've been waiting with baited breath for the continuation of my open-plan office adventure then you'll be distraught to hear that I haven't actually been into the office yet this week. My back (the disc of infinitate slippage) has been playing up for the past couple of weeks and I think the packing on Friday was the final straw and it went on strike.

I could feel it coming on all day on Saturday, gradually getting stiffer, more painful and more awkward. On Sunday and Monday I was waking up at unGodly hours and hobbling into the kitchen for tablets before eventually heading back to bed to try to sleep before waking up a few hours later for more tablets. It's just so annoying not being able to stand up straight and having to hold onto furniture to move round the flat. And painful. Ouch. Paracetamol and codeine are a great help once they kick in.

It feels a lot better this evening and my back 'opened up' quicker this afternoon, enabling me to stand up straight without holding onto something. I should be able to make it to work tomorrow. I'll travel late to miss the rush hour (I'm not that stupid) but getting up and about should be good for me. I'll miss the Record Bag at the Retro Bar tomorrow night (Thursday) but I think that trying to do that as well might be pushing it a bit too far.