… my musings on, er, "stuff"
Track of the week 27/11/16
A comfy sofa and an episode of “Narcos” beckons to end the weekend, so not much time to wax lyrical about this track, so I shan’t. Worthy of track of the week … or should I have picked the original, you decide …
bonus track of the week
Pic of the week 27/11/16
Its busy, busy, busy at Peabody Towers at the moment – me with reports, Becky with black Friday orders, and two days supply at WCJS on Thursday & Friday, Sophie working at Hallmark cards in Clarks Village and Sam all loved up and spending his time with his girlfriend, so not much time to think about this post, just whap up a photo of me on the sofa watching Narcos. (Note the co-ordinating socks & headphones!)
Oh, and to add to the rich mix that is the variety of life, on Tuesday morning the boiler packed in and stopped giving us hot water. Three smelly days, one diverter valve and £300 later its working again.
Two weeks to the end of term – light has been glimpsed at the end of the tunnel.
Track of the week
When I was at school, every October half term we would go to Mansfield to visit relatives, staying with Granma & Granpa Waite at (55?) Beck Crescent.
One year – I think, probably when I was in the lower sixth, so Jane & Rog were not there as they had gone off to uni – I made an important, and life changing, discovery.
A year or two earlier, Granpa had been made redundant – he didn’t seem to perturbed, he was due to retire within a year – and with some of his redundancy money he bought a music centre: turntable, cassette deck and radio all fashioned into one long unit.
But that wasn’t my discovery. No, my discovery was piece of black plastic – “Stax Soul Explosion” LP. I guess that it was originally (uncle) Tony’s or Rick’s, but had been left at home. And boy, what a discovery it was – some of the greatest tracks I’ve ever heard were on that album. The next day I went out and bought myself a C90 tape cassette and recorded the whole album and for years to come I played that tape. I don’t know what ultimately happened to it, but its music is now ingrained in my soul.
And on it, I discovered The Staple Sisters belting out this brilliant track (which, I’ve since learned, was a cover of the original by the band The Band) and another – A Long Walk to DC.
Play it, enjoy it, take a load off Annie, and put the load on me.
Pic of the week 20/11/16
So Friday saw, at long last, exeat arrive. The opportunity to have two – yes, two – full days off was seized eagerly by all. And I have been disciplined enough to take those two days off as days off and not fill them with school work. ‘Tis now a manageable 3 week chunk until the Christmas holidays (although the wearisome prospect of reports – again – rear their ugly head.)
Bit of a calamity on Saturday – the clothes came out of the washing machine soaking wet. Re-spun them, still soaking wet. Opened the filter and loads of water drained out. However, couldn’t clean the filter and, more importantly, couldn’t re-seat the filter without getting a leak, so a new machine was needed.
I was due to ref in Ilchester that afternoon, so reserved a machine from Curry’s in Yeovil and went straight their to collect it after the game (Huish AFC v Oddcombe Reserves 1-0 to the visitors. Match report video below.) Car park was heaving, had to double park. Came out 15 mins later to find a parking ticket. Bu&&er. And the machine wasn’t as simple to fit as I’d hoped (hole for plug in work surface not big enough)
Oh well, all’s well that ends well. Machine now in and working properly, old machine disposed of at the tip.
And with a bit of extra time this weekend, a wrote a (short) post on my maths blog. I really do need to start doing so more often. I enjoyed doing it when I did, and its (the blog) is a great resource/record – would be a shame to let it fall into disuse.
Last night we got battered by Storm Angus – very windy & noisy in the night, but no damage done.
After lunch today, I spent 30 mins with Sophie helping her with her maths – Core 1 circles, and Core 2 Trigonometry. And now its time to go swimming with Sam. I could get used to these two day weekends!
Match Stats
Huish AFC 0 Oddcombe Reserves 1
Open Age, Yeovil & District League, Division 2
0 Yellows 0 Reds 0 Pen
Match fee: £25
Track of the week 13/11/16
Struggling for inspiration for track of the week this week I did a bit of YouTube hopping, and then I remembered the best band in the world, ever, The Jam.
Sound Affects was the first Jam album I owned (thirteenth birthday, I think?) and I always loved this track – fancied myself as the boy about town (and still do!)
See me walking around I’m the boy about town that you heard of
See me walking the streets I’m on top of the world that you heardOh like paper caught in wind
I glide upstreet, I glide downstreet
And, as ever, Paul Weller nails it with the lyric:
There’s more than you can hope for in this world
Pic of the week 13/11/16
So the sofas have arrived, pictures put up, … now its time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the completed sitting room.
Looks good!
Track of the week 6/11/16
As a child of the late ’70s and ’80s, I grew up with the credence that “disco” was inherently uncool, manufactured and rubbish.
Today, at the tender age of 47, I finally feel I can come out of the closet and declare my love for the genre. The sheer joy, glamour and dancibility of the music makes them irresistible. I was hard pushed to make a choice as to which track would be “the one”, but More More More is it.
Although I think I had realised it myself many years ago, it was only when watching the (brilliant) “Get Down” on Netflix that it crystalised in my mind that the reason I liked so much hip hop, house & garage etc. was for the snippets of sampled tracks rather than the new hip version. On the Get Down, Grandsmaster Flash explained how you needed to find a bit of a track that you love – with no singing on it – and that is the bit that becomes the basis of your track. For me, that snippet occurs after about 2.19mins in my track of the week. Must have a go at sampling & mixing one day.
And because I’m coming out in this post, it demands an extra track of the week:
(bonus) Track of the week 6/11/16
Pics of the week 6/11/16
Last week the clocks went back and the second half of term began, always a significant milepost in any year, marking the shift into the dark, dreary days of late autumn and winter.
But its been a busy week, hence a gallery of the week rather than just one pic. Sophie’s 17th birthday, so the L Plates are out and she’s learning to drive.
My refereeing certificate and badge from the FA arrived through the post, confirming my appointment as a fully qualified level 7 ref. I am rather proud of this achievement. (Ref-ed today: Somerton Utd U13s v Stoke Wolves. The wolves ran out as 5-2 victors)
The tree in the back garden has turned the most vibrant shade of flame red – really rather striking. To be fair, the weather has been pretty good (read: dry) although in the last few days it has turned cold – and not just a little chilly, proper, sub 10 degrees, with wind to go with it, cold.
And so as the weather turns and the nights lengthen, it’ll mean more time spent indoors, so its a good job the sitting room is finished, to await the arrival of the sofas on Friday.
And it was this week last year that it all began – the builders arrived and knocked the garage down. It was exciting, and I’m pleased we did it, but I’m glad its finished!