15th of January, here in the Shire, is halfway through winter, by some calculations….I’m looking forward to Spring
Thoughts on Chelsea - Bournemouth
-
lovely to see Reece score
-
the first goal was sublime.
-
Not entirely sure how Jackson wriggled free of three of their players for that goal
-
our confidence is so fragile…it felt like it evaporated in the half a minute after that Sanchez’s misplaced pass
-
Maresca could probably have made the changes earlier
-
all 11 of our players seemed to be making mistakes…whether that was Bournemouth playing well or us playing badly I don’t know
-
I really need to nail down the best way of getting back to Waterloo
-
I’m far too old to be running up escalators to make the 22.50
Nice story about Brian Clough in the Telegraph today, from the Liverpool player Phil Thompson
Thompson views that rivalry as one of mutual respect rather than among the most hostile in English football. “I knew how much the Forest lads loved Cloughie from the England get-togethers and experienced a little of his man-management myself,” he says.
“There was a game at the City Ground when I had a bad ankle injury and it needed stitching up. I was on the treatment table and in a bad way with the doctor working on me, pulling the skin over my ankle. Cloughie popped his head in and could see what was going on, so started talking to me and telling me what a great player he thinks I am.
“He just kept talking away and it dawned on me later how he was taking my mind off the injury. Не went up in my estimation after that.
Reasons I’d like to be famous
- to be one of the VIPs on a half-marathon (because they get very well looked after)
- so I could get the people on the Who Do You Think You Are show to do my family tree (because I can’t really be bothered )
Currently reading: Blue was the colour by andy hamilton 📚
Currently reading: Blue was the colour by andy hamilton 📚
This won’t be a popular view amongst football fans, but the Third Round of the FA Cup does make me think more kindly of VAR ⚽
Really enjoyed ‘Better Man’. Worth seeing at the cinema, if you get the chance, if only for the Rock DJ bit
There was a very ‘Radio 4’ exchange on the radio just now
-
what was the last gig that you went to?
-
it was one of the Gallagher brothers…but I can’t remember which one
Random painting I like - The Gardener by Simon Saint-Jean.
Podcast episodes that I've enjoyed recently - Armando, Cillian, Barbie, 'the Stalin of the Steppes', Troy, Princess Di, John Wilkes Booth, UFO's, etc
Strong Message Here - Political words of 2024
Barbie and the plasticity of pop - Switched on Pop
UFO sightings: an otherworldly history - History Extra
Cillian Murphy - WTF with Marc Maron Podcast
The Hated and the Dead - Khorloogiin Choibalsan
The Rest is History - Stephen Fry and Troy
Hancock’s Half Hour - Fred’s Pie Stall
A right royal night out - Witness History
You Are There (TV Series) - The Capture of John Wilkes Booth (April 26, 1865) (1953)
WTF with Marc Maron Podcast Episode 1449 - The United States of Conspiracy w/ Robert Guffey
Lenny Kaye nails some moments “when the universe shifted”. Word In Your Ear … Word In Your Ear.
The Rest Is History - Podcast Episode 392. JFK: The Road to the White House (Part 1)
BBC Soul Music - I Say a Little Prayer for You
Paul Sinha’s perfect pub quiz - Bradford
Word In Your Ear -David Gedge – and a postcard from Peel
Word in Your Ear - Simon Napier-Bell - Marc Bolan, the Who, chains, feathers and German police
Dashiell Hammett - The Maltese Falcon — Backlisted with crime novelist Mark Billingham
There are many, many more at: Podcast episodes I’ve enjoyed
I’ve done a #sketchnote to use to talk through an introduction to VS Code.
I’m not sure if it will work….but we’ll see
Me vs. Rolling Stone magazine
My thoughts on the top 20 songs from Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. These thoughts clearly say more about me and my taste in music than they do about the songs themselves…but I thought it was fun
20th. Robyn: “Dancing on My Own” ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I’m a sucker for a sad banger
19th. John Lennon: “Imagine” ⭐⭐⭐ I like the simplicity, but, contrariwise, I’m a bit bored with it
18th. Prince and the Revolution: “Purple Rain” ⭐⭐⭐ The only act in Rolling Stone’s top 20 that I’ve seen live, but there are a dozen Prince songs I like better
17th. Queen: “Bohemian Rhapsody” Dreadful drivel.
16th. Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z: “Crazy in Love” ⭐⭐ Resistance is futile
15th. The Beatles: “I Want to Hold Your Hand” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The best at their best
14th. The Kinks: “Waterloo Sunset” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The other best at their best…although to be honest his voice often doesn’t work for me, for some reason
13th. The Rolling Stones: “Gimme Shelter” ⭐ Every 10 years they came up with a song that I’ve loved. Gimme Shelter isn’t one of them.
12th. Stevie Wonder: “Superstition” ⭐⭐⭐ I’d like to like Stevie Wonder more than I do, but as with Ray Davies, I don’t quite get on with his singing voice
11th. The Beach Boys: “God Only Knows” ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A work of genius, but it came on the radio when someone close to me was seriously ill. I’ve not been able to listen to it since
10th. Outkast: “Hey Ya!" ⭐ I can sort of see why people like this…but I don’t. Maybe it’s too tricky for my simple taste.
9th. Fleetwood Mac: “Dreams” ⭐ Pleasant enough
8th. Missy Elliott: “Get Ur Freak On” ⭐⭐ I prefer Work It
7th. The Beatles: “Strawberry Fields Forever” ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Cleverer than I Want To Hold Your Hand, but not quite as good
6th. Marvin Gaye: “What’s Going On” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ All the stars aligned, magically
5th. Nirvana: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” ⭐ A bit heavy for me….and a pale imitation of punk rock
4th. Bob Dylan: “Like a Rolling Stone” ⭐⭐ I am not a big Dylan fan, but I like the Greatest Hits
3rd. Sam Cooke: “A Change Is Gonna Come” ⭐⭐ I am a big Sam Cooke fan…but this isn’t my favourite. I think this polls well with critics because they are endorsing the message as much as the song
2nd. Public Enemy: “Fight the Power” ⭐⭐⭐ Loses one star for slagging off Elvis,
1st. Aretha Franklin: “Respect” ⭐⭐ It goes without saying, this is a great song, but it’s not as good as I Say a Little Prayer.
Further to the above….if I’d done a list of 500 All Time Best Songs there would be folk, and reggae, and Elvis, Eddie, Buddy, Chuck, and Smokey in the top 20. I think.
I think the psephology of it is, in at least some cases, that some of my favourite artists had a lot of songs to choose from, whereas, say, Queen has one obvious choice, Aretha has two, Nirvana has one, and the Kinks have one.
Back to work thoughts. As they almost said in The Go-Between “2024 is a foreign country. They did things differently there”
I’ve been out a’pinting
There was a marvellous covers band…it’s extraordinary how potent pop music can be