pick of the pops

This quarter I have mostly been listening to?

One of the aspects of last fm I like is if I'm honest the geeky stats side.

I find it pleasing to see what I listen to most and also it keeps you honest no more pretending it's free jazz and concrete musique Chez Moi.

Thank fully I've got fantastic if obsessive taste! I listen to most of my digital tunes via my phone and have a little programme called Mobbler that fires them off to Last FM.

Certain tunes get overplayed mainly because I have a playlist called "take me home" which has if not my favourite tunes the ones that help ease me from the pub via the overland to my flat on the occasions when I want blot out people eating chicken ,reading theatre programmes or explaining about some grisly break up loudly on their phones.

There's nothing much to connect them except they sound good as you stare out at the lights of south London's or to the distant towers of canary wharf or as you pretend not to be checking out what the woman opposite is reading.

I would recommend them to you all, you maybe don't have to listen to them like a intense 12 year old like me. But even if you are live in a tiny croft on Mull you might want to put your cheek to the window close you eyes and drift off as if rocked into music land by Southern tunes express (remember to wake up before you get to Shetland though).....

Clacton: seaside special
L, BLBW and Me took a wander “darn ta Clacton”, putting aside the rail company’s tricks and the slightly gloomy weather reports we had a marvellous time.

Seaside checklist
Parade full of charity shops open on bank holiday Monday tick
Excellent corrugated iron pier hiding behind golden domed façade tick
Suitably noisy cheery amusements tick
Café that sells strong tea and custard creams (& jam(my) rings some say dodgers) tick
GPIC tick (are you listening Hastings!)
Penny falls full of “quality” Teetering Tat tick
Waltzers playing the Jam tick
Chips with curry sauce next to a Sikh family actually eating bhajies on the beach tick
Mini golf course with a tricky “volcano” hole tick
No good beer boo!
A Tractor pretending to be a train to take you to Holland tick
It not raining until 5 pm hurrah
The crappy rail system making us pay £25 for a bus ride and then moving us out of the empty first class carriage so we didn’t have table to put our flask of tea and display our Tat mountain on boo!

Coming home tired happy and having slightly “caught the sun” perfect

I predict a pun storm

26/05/2009
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

as well as an interesting wrestling match with Delia for the title "Goddess of the pie counter".....

Come on let's be having you where are you.....

Turn,Turn,Turn.

pickup closeup
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

Poetry of Lists
Monaco GP:
Saint Devote
Beau Rivage
Massenet
Casino
Mirabeau Haute
Grand Hotel
Mirabeau Bas
Portier
Tunnel
Nouvelle Chicane
Tabac
Louis Chiron
Pisicine
Rascasse
Anthony Noges

I'll have whatever Pixie Geldof is having.....

A very shallow dish :Observer food monthly

It’s sad fact that the Guardian/Observer are getting more slight, trite and shallow every day they seem to have mistaken an obsession with celebrity, fashion and vain aspirational shopping for what people really want from a newspaper enjoyable, informed, accessible writing.
Take the food monthly, today we have “the 50 coolest places to eat” you’ll note not the best, worst, cheapest, tastiest but coolest.

You can tell how muddle headed this is, of the places on the list I’ve been to they aren’t even the best places to eat of their kind in London. Brindisa is a fairly average tapas bar in everything except the bill, and the rock and soul plaice is jolly (love the mural down stairs) and the fish is good but their chips just aren’t that nice. As for the Vietnamese place in Kingsland road it’s tasty and cheap but so is the one down the road and the one in Camberwell or the one on Deptford high street. Also there’s no Hungarian cool places to eat nor any ones in Leeds or Bromley. They all seem to be near shops that sell clothes.

Of course the media always think cool is an immutable idea that their definition is the only one that counts but they forget that when I was 6 the coolest place to eat was BHS cafe because they had raspberry flavoured pop, that chips are better eaten sat on a cast iron bench fighting off the seagulls on a blustery seafront, that cool doesn’t just mean “whatever Marc Jacobs does”. I’m not sure that sitting four tables away from the bass player of T’arctic monkeys is going to make a kebab taste any better and lastly any paper that asks models for their opinions on where to eat has left the path of wisdom

PS: Oh and in a straight forward good piece about a top Danish restaurant did Jay Rayner really need to tell us what Valhalla is or are we now to assume that the constant waffle about Jade Goody has forced out a working knowledge of Norse mythology (or in deed anything other than the gender of Lindsay Lohan’s current squeeze) out of the heads of educated readers.

Next week Tanya Gold tells us that posh people go to the Chelsea Flower show (sorry it seems she already done that story)

The Dail show on the Thieving MP's nonsense

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Scamalot
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Good day sunshine!

So let's get this right:

the skies as blue as Yves Klein

we don't have to go to work for 3 days

Billy Preston is funking away

and my phones just bleeped with the news that we have a new agent on the team nice guys!

What wonderful taste of AGD to be born this morning on such a lovely day and in time for the qualifying as well :)

Huge congrats to E &R especially to E who did all the hard work, another wonderful step on your adventure.

So let's all have a good weekend, be nice to each other, and if you going mines a pint of pride.

power corruption & lies!

20/05/2009 power corruption & lies!
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

run for your lives barney & hooky have taken over! Check back later for a tune!

Later Update!

Here's Grant Lee Philips with a countrified Version of "Age on Consent" Cheers to BLBW for this one.

Hello Spacegirl

Space week continues:
She may just get her chance after all

Waiting for....

8am Possible Profundity:
Everyone morning there’s a small queue of the walking wounded outside the gp’s surgery round the corner. This morning there was just a solitary woman. She was in her thirties with a brassy blonde pony tail, a dark hoody with something random embroidered either side of the zip and a pair of pale tracksuit bottoms, her arms where clamped tight under her chest and she had a gasper smouldering away between her ring heavy knuckles.

As I walked past she said something (why do people never see earphones?). Taking one of my buds out and cocking my head, she repeats herself.

“We’re all waiting for something mate”
“Thing is I think mines already been and gone”

And with that she turns away and takes long drag.
It was all so rhetorical I’m not sure I responded at all and just walked on.
Tomorrow being and nothingness from the bloke in the station paper kiosk

Last night's tv: 1066 and all that tat

Oh and Ian get those battle axes of
the van an 'all Treacle
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

List of the day:
Anachronism in last night's Channel 4 film about 1066.

Not sure even medieval armies camped on the beach at Beachy Head below the tide line!
Every one had nice shiny white uniform round tents.
The cgi Vikings rowing their longboats the wrong way round.
The general healthy look of all the actors
The English army’s campsite “comic” who seemed to have a rather dinky caplet that had a Burberry checked lining.
The replica of Stamford Bridge seemed closer to pooh corner than anything made by people who didn’t have galvanised steel bolts with square washer and yards of yards of smooth machine cut and planed timber. You half expected to see a sign Wol’s house this way
War as a game of American football, “you open them up on the left and I’ll nip though the middle and nick their flag”.
Oh and why didn’t they shoot the big f*ck off Viking on the bridge with arrows like they did Hardrada later on.
Why is Harald Hardrada the only name you can remember from history?

This is all not to say it wasn't a lot of hairychested chainmail and battle axetastic shouty fighty fun.

Phrase of the week

"Alternative Government" Old pouty lipped posh boy David Cameron and his Old Etonian gang have been spouting this phrase regularly on the news this week. It's all a bit obvious really especially as it's not even new he was spouting it when he slimed his way into the post. The really sad thing is that none of the parties would get my vote today.

North Sound

The Young men and the sea

It looks like our ships come in it's the new British Sea Power ... Double bubble too with tunes and the film of Man of Aran! Did I already say how much I like sea power......

Satellites we love

I always thought my archive of early space pictures picked up in a bundle in a print shop off St Martins lane were fascinating and in their blurry crumpled way well funky.

As ever the boys in the white short sleeved shirts and buzz cuts have trumped everyone again with this stunning picture of the shuttle in front of the sun.

Can you imagine being so remote not just stuck on a station platform in Norfolk remote, or I’m the last one in the office on your own but you know such a very, very long way from home. Can you imagine what they must see. I’m not sure why we’ve not sent a painter or poet into space other than their floppy hair would get caught in the helmets and the blobs of gouache might play hell with the navigation computer!

Anyway well done to Nasa for this stunning shot. If you do want to see my space pics they are still in orbit over here I've just added a new picture.

The proverbial weekend breakfast

All happiness depends upon a leisurely breakfast.
There is no such thing as a pretty good omelette.
You can’t make omelettes without breaking eggs
There’s no use crying over spilt milk
Out of the frying pan and into the fire
The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.
You can’t have your toast and eat it
Brown for bacon red for sausage
Hope is a good breakfast but it is a bad supper
There's many a slip twixt cup and lip
The man who has forgotten to buy tea for the third day running has left the path of wisdom and must walk to the shop without any socks.


Windsor for the Derby- The Egg



The Beastie Boys- the Egg man

The Shame

Joker Badge circa 1990
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

Sad sad day....

The sad sight just now on Newsnight of seeing the Chief Exec of McDonalds being able to take the moral high ground and lecture our MP's in morality. Followed by the worst display of blame passing and truth dodgying I've seen in a a long time!

Sun bird

Sun bird
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

This one's for AC.

Glorious sunset optional

Getting better all the time.
The Wedding present

Carry On Up the High st

George st
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

In this world where people put expenses claims into the mother of parliaments for Iced gems can't we go back to the "olden" days like 1987 when Bernard Bresslaw was a star attraction.

Bernard has a strange place in my imagination as the first time we got shown a sex education film at school they also showed a Science lab health and safety film with Berrnard in it for some reason. For a long time the 2 are mixed in my mind. As far as I can tell if you don't want to get pregnant don't go in a bubble car to have a frothy coffee with Bernard and Kenny Williams.

Fill your boots

MP's expenses:
I've just been looking at the list of expenses from the parliament website. One striking inclusion (partly as he's the second entry) is that Gerry Adams claims the working away from home allowance. Fine you might think what with lots of cold water between his constituency and Westminster apart from the fact he's never taken up his seat; "they work for us shows "no appearance at Westminster.

My MP Joan Ruddock can't claim an allowance as Deptford is only 25 mins (you know the average distance everyone else lives from work) from Parliament although handily her (ex)husband who she lives with (it seems) is an MP for Aberdeen so their home in South London gets paid for that way. The sort of arrangement that if it involved diddling the housing benefit would have everyone up in arms.

Another minor point is the cost government computing £1,200 each year to lease 5 computers and 2 printers so 5 grand to lease some pc's for four years. Central government computing being so hapless that if you asked them to get someone round to look at your hard drive, you'd get back from work to find both Steve Job and Bill Gates in your fronts room and after eye watering bill your hard drive would still make that clicking noise and not boot up all the time.

None of this would matter so much if the same MP's from all sides had not got us involved in needless wars, not kept an eye on the banks, produced sustainable transport and Housing policies, wasted millions on make us less free by introducing ID cards, and wasted billions on PFI schemes. Presumably the likes of Hazel Blears was to busy moving house all the time to run the country morally and ethically.

HP BD AB

Break out the Cream Crackers and boil up some beetroot...

I know he'd hate the fuss and all he'd want is a round of sandwiches and some Coffee and walnut cake and cuppa. But please recharge whatever your drinking and raise a cheer for Alan Bennett's it's his birthday today (and of course his brothers too!)
here's AB talking about embarrassment something only Tony Blair and woodlice don't seem to suffer from.

Tiptoe through our shiny city

Beech Collection
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

with our diamond slippers on.....

Went out and about last night: had a swift banks's in a pub name after a prison reformer then wandered down TCR to see "state of play". Which is a very enjoyable political thriller, I never saw the telly series so can't compare the two.

After a pint and bite it was a swift double espresso (betcha can't guess where!) and then a stroll through the cheery but tipsy streets .
"are you calling me a pikey" falls backwards into a baytree in a wooden pot.

"no, you go first dahling I'm not comin out.... I did that eight years ago and it was hellish and anyway I can't afford anything new to wear at the moment" ......

It must be time to go home desperate gangs of the worlds youth are cueing behind metal barriers all long coats, side burns and hair gel to get into those loud grim looking bars on Haymarket all this just to shout at girls while being deafened by the Kings of Leon.

Down the hill to Charing Cross, only to have to move carriages because a sweaty ratboy with bad tramlines was doing chiropody with pen knife in the first one.

After that it was coincidence night: turning the corner as the National faded in my ears their songs happened to be just there peeking out of a hedge.

Anyway I found this homemade vid on Youtube. It seems to get gushing reviews but is just my age or are clowns in videos not profound just well funny? But good luck to guy it's far better than those clips of hard rock with "meaningful" photoslide shows of American soldier over them that YT is so full off



Anyway I hope you have chance to slip "your diamond slippers on" soon and if you don't own any National records in the words of CMDR. J.L Picard you'd "better make is so number one" soon.

How I stopped worrying and learned to love ..... Morris Dancing!

Chippy tat tableux
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

God bless bank holidays,....and god bless the sea side. It's years since I've been to Hastings but me and BLBW had excellent time at the Jack in the Green festival this May Day.

And yes we even enjoyed the Morris teams, not so much the traditional white hanky teams but the covered in weirdness scary face paint mad drumming ones! The traditonal ones still seemed a little repressed and full of people who needed a lot help getting into their groove. The other wilder teams (often tellingly with female dancers) just seemed to be having a better time.

In a mass with giant dancing sculptures, a weird dancing bushes (jack himself) and the crowd dressed up and draped in greenery it was excellent spectical, even in the chilly breeze.

It was much more fun than the parallel Bikers convention that was also going on, which seemed a little staid (curiously), lots of people in their leathers wandering round eating chips and looking at strangely uniform bikes. Where the hanky morris teams had a strong hint of accoutancy about them the bikers had a whiff of the free lance IT consultant, even the mulleted rotund bikers on home-made trikes seemed to be strangely conservative (such careful stitching on their rebel patches) .

I'm, always surprised how bland Harley Davidson's look even with their chrome and fringed saddle bags they always seem a little smooth and corporate, thankfully the Modernist Brotherhood (79 vintage?) made a small showing later in the day even if the had just called the AA :(.

We had such a good time we didn't even manage a round of mini golf!

So which is the next seaside town we should visit and why?

Ropey Dahl ?

I was wandering round Gravesend yesterday(as you do) and was pleased to see (sorry it wasn't a good picture) that Gandhi's Indian restaurant has an "all you can eat buffet". Having lived a frugal life I'm not sure Mohandas would take up AP's advice on taking a big plate!

Rent

Apparently Renters owe more money to landlords than any time since the 80's with up to third of of the poor dears owed money.

Firstly weren't rents really low in 80's oh and well nearly 100% of renters are owed money from landlords in avariciously raised rents and randomly withheld deposits. I can't find much sympathy for many of these buy to rent landlords whose only concern when times were good was that the money came. They took a gamble a lot of the time with borrowed money and it's gone wrong. It's telling this story is told from the landlords point of view not the people who lost their jobs and can't pay their rent.

Duff decision?

Good and Bad News
Yay ! to having a woman Poet Laureate Boo! to having a poet laureate at all.

I think a national poet is not a bad idea but hymning praise on Charlie “I’m NIMBY me” Windsor and Harry “Yah, I found it in my great uncles closet bladdy well fits perfectly even had the armband” Ginger nuts, is no fit job for any moral being.

As usual poetry is the best way to say this, so over to Tony Harrison and his thoughts on the subject.