The Frozen Island

I've been enjoying the snow, mainly from the warmth of my flat, but when I saw this photo on the BBC site I had an urge to go out. There are loads of beautiful snow photos everywhere on the web this week but none of them are mine. I need to remedy that as soon as I pluck up the courage to go outside and get over my fear of slipping on ice and ripping open the stitches from my operation last week (yes, I am a wimp). In the meantime, enjoy this NASA satellite photo from yesterday (7 January) of the whole country under a blanket of snow...

Beverley Knight on 'Mastermind'

Did you see Beverley Knight on 'Celebrity Mastermind' tonight? Bev set the standard in the first round when her specialist subject was Prince, scoring 16 with two passes. She then trashed the others (including Michael Howard, ex-Tory leader) by scoring another 13 points in the general knowledge section to pick up the trophy. It was good to see her cheeky grin when she was asked the Lenny Henry question.

Skimpy black frock and heels to the sky, Bev needed no help in delivering correct answer after correct answer. I don't know if there's a 'champion of champions' edition of the programme, but if Bev's on I'll have to watch.

Well done Bev!

Amanda Palmer & The Boston Pops - 'Missed Me'

I feel slightly ashamed for not blogging about Miss Amanda Palmer at all this year so far and I must put that right.

Miss Palmer played a New Year's Eve concert with the Boston Pops in Boston and clips of that undoubtedly great event are finally leaking onto YouTube. Filming wasn't allowed in the concert hall so all the clips I've seen look like they come from mobile phones, but why let that stop me from having a good look at a show I couldn't attend?

Here's the opening sequence with the Pops providing an orchestral backing to the Dresden Dolls song, 'Missed Me', about a pervy old man who chooses the wrong little girl to make his advances to. It's nice seeing Amanda run round the hall uncovering older men everywhere who just happen to have musical instruments. The last man uncovered on stage is Miss Palmer's own man, Mr Neil Gaiman, playing the "american chainsaw tuned to the key of DESTROY" as Amanda so eloquently refers to it in her latest blog (see photo below). Without further ado, do the clicky thing and watch Miss Palmer open her show...

Directgov Advert

Have you seen the new telly advert for Directgov? It's so much better than the stupid orange dog advert that ripped off the music from 'Belleville Rendezvous', this one actually has *people* in it! Directgov is a glorified website but there's no sign on a computer in the advert, which is odd.

It advertises Government services, like driving licences and stuff, all very useful things, but I can't help but wonder how much it cost. There's a celeb in every scene, from Suggs to Honor Blackman, and that must've cost a pretty penny without the cost of buying prime-time telly slots. One might almost suspect there's going to be an election later this year...

The good thing is that it'll probably do good things to Labi Siffre and Madness's bank accounts since the music is based on Labi's 'It Must Be Love' (it becomes 'It Must Be Gov' - wow for the originality) which was also a big hit for Madness, hence Suggs taking part and being a London geezer busking outside a tube station.

The Imagined Village - 'Space Girl'

Take a look and listen to the video for one of the latest songs from The Imagined Village, the delightful 'Space Girl' with Eliza Carthy taking lead vocals. I was introduced to this song when Eliza and The Imagined Village sang it at the Tower Festival last summer and I'm pleased to say it's on their new album, 'Empire & Love', due for release on 11 January.

John Lydon on 'The Culture Show'

I managed to drag my eyes away from watching the snow fall on South West London long enough tonight to watch the special edition of 'The Culture Show' on BBC4 featuring none other than John Lydon himself. It was recorded at the start of November when John and Public Image Ltd got together to practice for the pre-Christmas gigs and a short clip from it was shown at the time. Tonight we got the full 30 minute show.

The show was made up of an interview with John in the rehearsal room, clips from Pistols and early PiL videos and various other clips, with John talking about everything from childhood ailments and reading Shakespeare to moving to America to get away from the incessant police raids. He spoke of PiL as being far more emotional than the Sex Pistols, allowing him to express anger and sorrow, like writing 'Death Disco' for his mother when she was dying from cancer and she loved the song. It's still a challenging and harrowing song today, nearly 30 years later.

It was a very sympathetic interview, with the interviewer starting off by outing himself as having bought 'Metal Box' when it first came out (huh! I got 'First Issue' when *that* was released) and being an out and out fan. But that in itself makes a change, with John allowed to talk without being cross examined.

If you've got a spare half hour in the next week you could do a lot worse than scurry over to the BBC iPlayer to watch the show while it's still availabe. You know it makes sense.

Para-Umbilical Hernia

For some reason I've been humming and ha-ing about whether to tell you about my most recent operation for a hernia and I don't understand why I've been hesitating. Anyone who's looked at this blog over the last 4-5 years will know all about my ailments and operations for a slipped disc in both 2007 and 2008 so, in a sense, this is just the latest installment. I had been hoping to get through 2009 without an operation but that was not to be - I had the operation on 30 December. Let's start at the beginning and , hopefully, this might be of use to anyone in a similar situation.

Back in October I noticed a slight lump in my stomach, just above my belly button. I had no idea what it was and then started worrying that it might be cancer (the mind can play interesting tricks sometimes). It only showed when I stood, not when I lay down. I was seeing my doctor for a check-up anyway, so I mentioned it and was sent straight-away for a scan at St George's Hospital in Tooting that identified a small hernia, followed by a specialist assessment that confirmed it and decided I needed surgery to correct it. A few weeks later I was given a pre-admission appointment to check that I was fit enough for an operation and I had that on 23 December, at which point I was offered admission on 30 December for the operation in the day surgery clinic. I said 'yes'.

What is a hernia? In my case, it's a weakness in the stomach wall that allows a part of my upper intestine to poke through my stomach wall and manifest as a small lump. Because it's beside my belly button (in my case, just above) then it's an umbilical hernia. That's the simple description. It might have been years in the coming, gradually weakening my stomach wall, or could have developed from being too energetic a few months ago, no-one knows. Interestingly, although I talk about my 'slipped disc', it's actually a herniated disc, so I have some history with the 'H' word.

I was advised by the nurse to get some sweat pants/joggers or, as I'd rather think of them, tracksuit bottoms, to avoid putting any pressure on my stomach, so I bought some from Primark for £2.94. £2.94!!! I was stunned but, hey, I've been wearing 'em!

I turned up just before 12 noon on 30 December to the day surgery unit, filled in forms and then changed into the backless gown, the paper underpants, put on knee-length surgical stockings, then put on my socks and slippers to keep warm, as well as my dressing gown. Various medical chats later, blood pressure taken, blood sugar taken, anaesthetist telling me what will happen, surgeon drawing an arrow on my stomach to show where the hernia is and then I sat reading until 3.20pm when I finally went through to the operating surgery. This was it. On came the monitors on my chest, in went the drip into my wrist and then on came the gas mask, deep breaths, very deep breaths trying to go out as quickly as possible to get it over with ...

... and then I was drowsily awake in a ward, throat very dry, not seeing a thing because I didn't know where my glasses were. And a distant pain in my stomach. My head was telling me that I was in the clouds while my belly was pulling me down to earth. I think that was about 5.30pm and I had a glass of water and a cup of tea with two slices of thin white bread toast (my mouth was too dry to eat more than 1.5 slices of toast before the tea was finished). I was impatient to be off and leave the hospital so every time I spotted a nurse I pretended to be fully awake even though I was drifting in and out of sleep and my head was fuzzy with the drugs.

I was eventually allowed out of bed around 7.00pm and was escorted to the day room, then allowed to get changed (when my sweat pants came into ther own) and I had a chance to see the dressing covering the wound on my stomach. I saw the slightly blood-stained dressing but what I really noticed was my shaved and partially hairless stomach - that's what looked really odd to me. Around 8.10pm I was given two kinds of tablets and allowed to leave since Chris had come to pick me up in a taxi to take me home.

Since then I've had good days and bad days, I've discovered the joys of the afternoon nap and the difficulties of going to the toilet (the sit-down kind) without putting any pressure on the stomach that might break the stitching of the stomach wall. O joy. I went to my doctor today for more pills and a medical certificate and was reminded that I'd only had the operation four days ago - because of New Year and the weekend it seems like a long time ago, but it isn't really. I still need pills. I haven't dared change the dressing yet - with my back, I wanted to see the scar, wanted to twist and turn to see it in a mirror, but with this wound, it's right in front of me every time I have my shirt off or I'm naked, and I'm sort of trying not to see it. Maybe once my stomach hair has returned to hide it a bit then I won't be so squeamish, but, for the time being, I'm happy to leave it a while longer before I see it.

So, there you are - my latest operation. The wound is a bit sore at the moment and that's a reminder to take the tablets before bed. I need to keep moving, to do a bit more each day to help it heal healthily. I'll take the dressing off in a couple of days time and see what it looks like (shudder). If you're unlucky I *might* post a photo...

Suzi Quatro - 'Singing With Angels'

It's taken a couple of years to happen, but Suzi Quatro's song of love to Elvis, 'Singing With Angels', is finally released next week. It's available to pre-order on iTunes, Amazon and other download sites. I prefer the rockin' Suzi Q to the balladeer but it'll be interesting to see how the single does.

Buffy Sainte-Marie - 'Soldier Blue' Compilation

There's a new Buffy Sainte-Marie compilation due for release from Vanguard. Called, 'Soldier Blue: The Best Of The Vanguard Years', it's out on 25 January with the following tracklist:

1. Universal Soldier
2. The Circle Game
3. Now That The Buffalo's Gone
4. Little Wheel Spin And Spin
5. Soldier Blue
6. I'm Gonna Be A Country Girl Again
7. Mister Can't You See
8. Cod'ine
9. God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot
10. He's An Indian Cowboy In The Rodeo
11. Helpless
12. Native North American Child
13. My Country, 'Tis Of Thy People You're Dying
14. (He Played Real Good) For Free
15. The Vampire

It's not the most inspired setlist and Vanguard is clearly targeting Buffy's European tour in January/February. Still, if it gets more people listening to Buffy then it's done its job and, you never know, there might be different versions of some of the songs. It's already advertised on Play.com.

And, before I forget, there's a great video for 'Darling Don't Cry' on Buffy's site with some great film of a pow wow festival so, go on, do the clicky thing and take a look...

Welcome To A New Decade

Welcome to 2010 and the start of a new decade. A new year and a new decade is all a bit artificial and I've never been a great one for New Years Eve celebrations but it's a way of marking time, of recognising change and progress. The speed of change seems to be increasing and what is that doing to all of us?

Ten years ago, shortly after the world didn't end following the Y2K debacle, we welcomed in the 21st Century. I remember TV programmes like 'Tomorrow's World' in the '70s and '80s predicting the future, smearing jam on those new fangled CDs and still playing them, flying cars and all sorts. Some of those predictions have come true and others are still miles away (where's my personal jetpack?).

Ten years ago I didn't have a computer or a mobile phone. I used a computer at work and had a work mobile phone but why would I need a personal one? Sites like Facebook didn't exist and probably weren't even dreamed of ten years ago. Now we have blogs like this one that allows me to publish whatever I want to the world and, last month 3,000 of you looked at my blog. That's an astonishing number of people to look at my badly written scribblings and photos but I hope you find something here worth looking at.

I think back to my grandfather who was born in the 1890s and died in the 1990s and the changes he saw in his life, from horse and carts being the standard mode of transport in the countryside of Northumbria to seeing men land on the moon. The 19th Century is pulled through into the 21st Century through me, only two generations on from the horse and cart and here I am talking about it to the world with a few key strokes. Whatever next?

I was born at the start of a decade so new decades usher in potentially big changes for me in terms of age but that's where it ends. This year I will become 50, a big life-changing event, or is it? In my 49th year I attended 39 gigs, more than I've ever attended in a single year before. It's not a very scientific measure, but it's a proxy for being active and getting out and about and doing things, keeping body and mind alive and alert. That wasn't the way of life for my dad's generation - you did less as you grew older, not more. The pace of life is changing and we're changing with it. Embrace the change.

Happy New Year!