Standing in the Rain.

I know this is late, I don’t need reminding, but life has been well to put it bluntly………Busy! Work has been totally crazy; however, I now have a better understanding as to why I wish to treat the human race with contempt a good 85% are total cock wombles (but this is not the blog to explain) hey this Christmas lets try and keep it on the straight and narrow, just this once, Yes? The reason that the pandemic is as bad as it is, is simply because of the selfish cock wombles roaming the streets, I wish I could take a big stick to all of their heads; however, I’m being told by human resources I’m not allowed, which is a shame. I would love to be able to issue cattle prods to all of the staff at work, what no mask, zap! As always, I have already begun to digress, this is not the reason why the blog is late, I have been nice to the wife by attempting to do as many tasks as I possibly can, I really should have done them so much earlier, I’m annoyed as it has impacted on the blog being published, however the youngest leant a hand so I was able to pass the finish line sooner rather than later. To be honest I would probably struggled to complete what I have done without her help, but we climbed the hill and thankfully won the day.

One of the main tasks was too move some of my music collection from the back of the house to the front room, no small task and then the seed was sown for the many cunning plans and small tasks, I had started earlier in the year, matching units were the order of the day and once I had talked the wife into it (with surprising ease I may add) we followed the plan and set off to that magical land called Ikea, we soon realised that the bulk of our order would not fit in our car so we had to go to plan B, and get them delivered, thankfully it was cheap enough and they arrived the very next day. The intention was to store them until after Christmas, you all know me to well, as soon as they were in the house, they were gnawing at me like a rat in a trap, I had to move to plan C!

As I arrived home, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to resist and I think the wife knew that as well, so as there no were objections, I attacked the task in hand with vigour, well my youngest helped actually but I wasn’t in good shape and I hadn’t planned it properly, but I soldiered on, but my knees defeated me with only half the job done. I was not getting any better and working off the floor was problematic to say the least, I finally raised a white flag, I set about a new plan of action I had it, I cleared the table where my lap top is normally found and worked from a sensible height, once completed, I took a small break, but I knew I wanted to complete the task, the plan to move the CD’s the next day fell by the wayside, and I moved the next phase moving over 800 individual CD’s thankfully it didn’t take me too long (cough splutter) and before anybody asks yes they are all alphabetical and then chronological, I’m sad I know, me with my reputation!

The rest of the weekend then fell into a maelstrom of little jobs that needed to be completed, then I had the task of sorting out the rest of the chaos that I had caused, then I had to paint where the other storage had been, dispose of the rubbish, cook, clean and the list went on, just like me I know, so as a consequence the blog fell by the way, not even into the back seat, I simply wanted to start a job and complete it in one go, well kind of I finally managed to finish tonight (Thursday) just before I set about typing this up, I had laid the bulk of the ideas that I had for the blog during a lunch break at work, yes I do take them, usually when I have a deadline for the blog. I simply wasn’t feeling it and as we get ever closer to the big changes coming up, I wanted to feel it, I wanted to do the job properly, I also wanted to enjoy it, I mean that’s really why I do this, because I do enjoy it, however life, work and a million (a slight exaggeration I know) other things conspired against me. But here I am back on task determined to get this posted, you lot might be unhappy with me for being late, but I’m happy with what I have done, I might not have been if I had simply spewed something on to the page!

I know you are all thinking where is the title coming into this, well I was doing exactly what the title says, waiting for my lift to the work  house, and the song was an earworm I didn’t wish to get rid of, I felt(feel) good, well at that moment I did, it was cold and dark and very wet, I felt very happy to be in that moment, which to be honest doesn’t happen very often so I simply went with the flow, I had a couple more days on the poop deck then I was going to let the Christmas buzz wash over me, yes me I was going to join the tribal feeling and “try” and enjoy the days, its not a surprise that I’m a mixture of Scrooge and the Grinch, I’m not a miser (if I have it I will spend it) but I kind of struggle in company and I have the best friends in the world, but I still struggle at times, I am work in progress but I am trying to improve!

My path into the world of Christmas is to watch A Christmas Carol, this year I fancy the Patrick Stewart version, then all will be well with the world, then Christmas will begin in earnest, I hate it right up until the moment that I watch whichever version, I look forward to the day, simply because I love cooking the dinner, that’s my treat, I haven’t poisoned anyone yet……………. Yet! then it will be time for some music, music, music and then some more music I have four days off I do not intend to watch any of the box over those days! Have you guessed what’s around the corner for the blog in the new year, really oh well it will be a surprise LOL! What has this got to do with the blog, if you have read the previous 497 blogs rain has featured in a lot of those blogs, I do indeed love the rain, I’m usually happiest when its raining, I’m a true pluviophile! Another thing that’s new is the partaking in the giving of presents, its not something that we usually do but we have decided to this year, you never know I might grow to like it! It could be a new craze, we are simply going with the flow, I really hope that Santa thinks that I have been a good boy.

So, this is officially the beginning of the end, the next blog will be the final “Now Hear This” don’t say that you haven’t been warned! And then the last one before the big change in direction, I’m excited for the new direction, but I know that it will be hard work, this is simply me waffling, I need to be a bit more professional (I know me with my reputation) I know that we will lose some of the casual readers, it is what it is, its looking like we will hit over 72000 hits this year next year I will be happy with 10% of that.

So, say safe stay alive, don’t be selfish think of others, keep watching the skies for incoming, the next one will be here sooner than you realise, so until then………. TOODLES!

Spirits, Ghosts and Outlaws

So, the blog as we know it will soon come to a close and I need to get some of this crap off my chest, musically my life has been likened to a prog rock track long slow passages, frantic jazz chords and oh so bloody long! I feel as if I have gone off road too much, hopefully the new direction won’t be so…. lost!

The one constant has been my friends and music, sometimes music and friends but those two have always been a constant, my brother and I fought tooth and nail, but we were a unit when it came to music, my brother and his friends informed me on the rocky road of pubescence, my friends weren’t too bothered about music with the odd exception then I left school and life exploded, the one constant with my friends, is music the one common denominator with just about 99.9% of my friends and people that I know!

Pubs, friends, music, work, parties, music, more drink more music……………...ooooooh girls and then back to the constant, MUSIC! Ask any girl that I went out with the overlying thrust (ooer matron the screens) music always came first, maybe I was wrong but nobody told me otherwise, they were always present with me, I never ignored them but there was always music, music played a huge part of my life from the age of about7 onwards, I know over the years I have shrank my music collection (vinyl wise) and I regret it, but I never got rid of my 7” singles there was too much history, they mean nothing to anybody except me, their little stories and history.

It was the same with going to see bands, first locally at pubs when I could get in or maybe even stood outside when I couldn’t get in, then to venture off to Newcastle, and then I really spread my wings going further afield and then following groups on entire tours (please see previous historical blogs) through the good times and the bad times, the weddings, and a divorce, I only took my music when I departed. Music has been my safety net rightly or wrongly it has been my constant, it speaks to me, it has helped me through the good times and really helped me in the bad times! The long journeys with my Walkman and a bag full of tapes, my discman and my bag of CD’s and then onto my trusty MP 3 player, damn it has been a good friend, always there for me, never judgemental, always supportive through all of the days.

Where am I going this one, to be truthful I have no ideas, I just want to say thank you to all of my friends I have been to see bands with, the people I have stood shoulder to shoulder in record shops and record fayres over the years, in the bars cracking on about the latest album by so and so damn good times I tell you, the girlfriends who probably thought I was bat shit crazy (they weren’t wrong) I haven’t really matured, my brother and I still waffle for hours about music (about 90% of the time another 8% about work the other 2% everything else) I don’t think any of us (brother friends ) will change, I don’t want anybody to either.

Although I’m not done with gigs, they are getting fewer (obviously Co-vid fucked this year) but musically I listen to more music than I ever have, so I hope you know the direction (after much deliberation) that I will be travelling, why? Simply because I can and I want to, what can I say, I need a hobby so that I think I will do it as a hobby, who is going stop me? If she wants to (probably the wife) I know the numbers will drift but I don’t really care.

So there you have it, one step closer only three left to go, the name game is in play (an album I’m listening to as I type this) I am looking forward to the future, I’m hoping that it does alright but its being done for me and no one else, lets see what happens, so watch the skies there will be another blog along soon, sooner than you may think, but until then ………...Toodles!

Sacred Hour.

I think Magnum would be in my top five of number of times I have seen a band, not always by choice. I first came across them supporting BOC, and I thought they were really old men then, I was only around 14 so everyone was, I enjoyed them they did the type of music I liked, well I thought I liked. Over the coming years they supported more bands than Budgie (and that takes some doing) and after a couple of times of watching the same set I was kind of getting bored with them.  I went with my brother and a friend to see the Tygers of Pan Tang at the city hall in support of the Spellbound album, a radical departure for them, a new singer and some wunderkind called Jon Sykes allegedly some kind of modern guitar god (erm not quite but he was on the way) well he at least had the ego! A band called Alcatraz opened (they had an album out on RCA called Radio 4, I only remember this because It was going to be one of my first official writing jobs outside of my circle of friends, before they got dropped, I would have to wait another six months before I was offered a paying job for writing lyrics!

They finished and then it was announced that Magnum would be on in ten minutes, an inward groan, I really was sick of the same set list, we agreed to give them two songs and then head off to the bar, imagine my surprise when they opened with two new songs from their yet to be released new album Chase the Dragon, they had  my attention, now I will admit here and now in my eyes this is their perfect album, I like them and virtually all of their albums but this was the pinnacle for me, my brother and friend buggered off to the bar, I stayed and watched and listened to their majestic brand of pomp and circumstance!

They still looked (really) old, but the new songs were simply superb, the Tygers struggled even with their vim and vigour, they simply were a pub band after what I had just seen. The album still wasn’t released for at least 8 months and I still got to see them at least 5 times, I had started to travel to see bands, I had a taste for them, most of the gig is in the north east that I attended were also were attended by my wife and she and a friend were close friends to the band especially Bob Catley, where a group of them manged to run out of petrol delivering baby clothes to him and his wife, the reason I mention this is simply because I probably went to dozens of gigs and she was there and I never knew, well at Judas Priest I did when she walked down aisle, oh matron the screens, but I digress.

Another half a dozen shows and I didn’t care as long as they did songs from Chase the Dragon, alas it wasn’t to last, they released the Eleventh Hour album and although I liked it, I was working away from home more and consequently starting seeing more bands (I know what a slut) they released On a Storyteller’s Night and it was a glorious return to form (but not a patch on you know what) and I caught a couple of shows, none of the band seemed to have aged at all since that first show in 1978 but they still looked bloody ancient! They then moved on to a major label and had Roger Taylor produce a couple of albums, I liked them but I didn’t actively seek them out, move on a few more years and they were back to an independent label and I hadn’t seen them in about six years and I hated the album (it has grown on me) I caught a show on the tour and didn’t enjoy it at all loved the classics but I had simply been away too long.

By this time, me and wife were partners in crime and money was tight, gigs were curtailed to the odd occasion as opposed to being a matter of life and death! It would be a further 12 years before we got to see them in the flesh again (Bob hadn’t changed one bit Tony had) , I wasn’t not looking forward to them, but I wasn’t jumping for joy I had seen them well into double figures and didn’t think I would get a kick out of them, boy was I wrong, and who were the young guys on stage with Bob? Damn it’s the band, energetic and exciting with great new songs, I loved them and yes they did do a couple of classics, I was a pig in heaven, after that I got the albums and went to see them every year, loving the fact that every year they were doing new classic albums, my only complaint there was nobody to reign in Tony Clarkin, a great song writer but some of the songs did not need to be that long, still classic material, but come on just because you can fit 88 minutes onto a cd doesn’t mean that you have to! I have to admit the last time we saw them in 2017 I was disappointed that they did over  an hour’s worth of a new album that was released on the day of the gig, good songs but deep cuts that are complex, they need time to seep into the blood stream, not like the bad old days, like the good old fashioned romps that they used to do, still great songs but yeah they need a little time to digest, it all went wrong from there as people left or were sacked, ever decreasing circles too much touring, with too much new material, I kind of get that you still want to feel relevant, but it’s a fine line and they were cutting their own nose to spite everything else.

Although we were going to see them this year Co-vid got out ahead of them and the tour like so many others were cancelled and so no more gigs this year, hopefully Tony has been working away like a beaver he is after all a great song writer, and he looks younger than me now……WTF!

So there you have it I knew I could do it why the title (spoiler alert) the blog kind of follows what Bob would always say when introducing the title, it takes me about an hour to type these up and check then check some more so it is kind of like a “Sacred Hour”  enjoy and watch the skies for incoming we are near the end game for this phase of the blog, well kind of, I know I have kind of given the name game away but I kind of can, so until the next time stay safe and until then …………Toodles!

Dreaming.

Praise the lord I thought I was still in a downward spiral, thankfully my head has been given a bloody good shake (thanks Dr Vodka).

Life as a whole has been freaking me out, the new normal, I don’t bloody think so, how the family have been putting up with me I have no idea, thankfully my sleep pattern hasn’t been too disturbed, well I say that, but I have been dreaming (hence the blogs title and yes the name game is in play) so vividly, I have mentioned this previously, I am not used to this vivid multi coloured kind  of distraction, places that are so familiar but just so altered, things that have kind of happened, with a different outcome, but then people who I don’t know twisting it into a different reality!

They are so vivid but fade so fast, then there is a fog of confusion for the rest of the morning as I try and piece them back together, with little or no success, this then leaves me bewildered, the fact that I have so much time on my hands through the day I think  is adding to the problem, what the hell do I know I’m the victim to all of these dreams, as I have mentioned before I hadn’t dreamt in over 30 years now everything seems to be on x6 on the Sky TV remote, it’s not helping, they aren’t sex dreams or even violent just, yeah I have no idea, people who I haven’t seen since I left school, well lets just say a long time!

It hasn’t been  helping me or my general demeanour, I do try to be a happy camper (I know me with my reputation) but they are so intense and real, I relived the same nightmare (24 hours a day) for that 30 years and although that is not that far from the surface, I have the tools to deal with that, well in a simplistic kind of way!  I simply do not know how to get a handle on the emotions that they generate! I was starting to feel like a prisoner, not wanting to go bed, actually because of the lock down, I didn’t have to go to bed, so I avoided it and it simply made it worse, I then realised that what I was missing was actual human contact, not necessarily people who I knew (although I do miss my friends) just some interaction with others, I need to go outside, you know where other people are, now why I didn’t think of that before, this time around I hadn’t even gone into the yard to do my exercise, I stayed in the house, my human battery needed to be recharged, thankfully my grandson give me the push I needed insisting that we go for a walk on each of the days that he was here!   

I had noticed I was also becoming superstitious, simple things I was avoiding, this wasn’t normal (for me) is this the beginning of me losing my mind (what little I have left)  I needed to shake my head (quite a lot) I realised the dread once a year day was fast approaching and I have fallen back into old habits of not celebrating the day, in fact coming to resist it, as its simply another day closer to death (isn’t every day) I was up early and put all of my dreams out of my head I got ready and left the house, a small walk to the bank (I hate not having ready cash in my pocket even just a fiver) then some shopping, well food shopping nothing for me …..kind of…. I spoilt myself with a couple of pork specials (if you know Gimpsville you will know what I am on about) they were simply divine! Straight home then dragged the slow cooker out to make the tea (I know it was barely 09.00 but I like to be prepared) I was in a much better frame of mind, go figure!

The day progressed and I went with the flow, a few issues with technology, but I got over the hurdle and kept going forward, as the night went on I decided it was time to have that drink I had been promising myself, oh dear I bottle of vodka later and a load of music from YouTube (sorry to anybody who I know on Farcebook) I went to bed a happy camper, and I didn’t dream at all, it was bliss, I got up the next day refreshed and feeling good no hangover, I knew that I had to crack on, the rest of the weekend has been me formulating future cunning plans, playing lots of music trying to get the title of this blog out of my mind, it’s the earworm of the week, and its not a band I would normally listen to! back to work soon and I can’t wait, I’m not looking forward to going back to the crap that I have to do but I have so missed people, little do they know that one or two of them actually do help this grumpy old git!

So again another step towards the end of this era, something that has also been prying in my mind if the truth be told, the next couple of blogs will be happy and historical, that’s a promise, one I intend to keep, honestly I have a reputation to keep up, some people have gone AWOL in the last couple of months (and are missed) but numbers are pretty consistent as is the reading of old blogs, I have given up trying to work out why, so watch the skies for incoming, I have turned the corner and have shaken this dumb asses head, so onwards, thanks for all of your kind words, life is shit so what, onwards, again if you want to ask a question for the last “Now Hear This” get it in because I will be compiling it in the next two weeks as it stands I have 120 questions some are simple variations of previous “Now Hear This” blogs so if you have a burning question you never know it might just get in there, so watch the skies, until the next time……Toodles!

Sunshine on a Rainy Day.

I know it’s a one hit wonder (but it helps the name game into the home stretch) but it kind of is what my mood has been like, thanks to my grandson who has lifted my mood if only for a little while, let me tell you a little bit of the week that has past!

To be honest although I almost completed my small list of tasks that I wished to carry out, it did nothing to improve my mood, I was generally grumpy, not with others, but with myself, thankfully I did not eat my way through the house, I wanted to, but I was a reasonably good boy, simply because I knew that it would not improve my mood, that in itself did not help me, I was generally angry with myself for no other reason than I could be, I reverted to jealousy a trait that rears its ugly head from time to time, something that as a general rule I don’t like as I get older it flairs up from time to time, I’m sure a qualified person could tell me why, me I’m thick (bless me) and  I haven’t got a clue!

Thankfully these thoughts do not last long I know enough to give my head a shake, again writing and music has not helped at all, I have tried to lift myself out of the doldrums, I have to a small degree been successful , but I know I still have a long way too go. As hard as I try “Bob” has been nipping at my heels, again the sense of failure has been flooding through me as I can’t shake him.

Furlough the second time around has not been helpful to my mental health and its almost like a game of snakes and ladders, thankfully I am still playing! The week has dragged and I only have myself to blame, thankfully at the end of the week we agreed even though he is not in our bubble to have our grandson, bless him he has his own issues and we will be there to support him as best we can, he arrived on the Friday night and it has been (he is still here as I type this up) a blur of activity to keep him occupied, thankfully he has been quite good because at times he can be quite a handful, the change of environment has kind of helped him and me, yesterday we went for a hobble, well I hobbled and he scootered the youngest came along to look after me rather than the grandson. The day dissolved into night and we had a few issues last night as ours is an old house and he isn’t sure what these noises are.

He has been a godsend, knowing that he needs us is a good thing, can we help just a little and he and his family need a slight respite from each other, thankfully he dragged me from the depths of my despair and he helped kick “Bob” squarely in the butt. We have a number of cunning plans for today including another hobble, hopefully this will continue the upward curve of my mood.

A really bad couple of night’s sleep hasn’t helped its almost like “Bob” is trying to get around the fence to me, the intention is to ignore him, tonight I intend to have a drink, yes alcohol simply to help me stay asleep, my next plan is to sort through the tons and I mean tons of music I have and simply get rid of stuff that I will never play ever again, sacrilege, this morning out of 18gyg of music I kept two discographies and 12 other albums! I know but simply not required, I need to have greater quality control.

My grandson being here this weekend has simply been a ray of sunshine in the crappy rainy week that I have suffered, I am not beaten I know that I have had a crap week but I will not be beaten, the numbers have been consistent it almost seems like people have been getting snuggled down with pop corn to enjoy some misery (only kidding) there have been some kind words from people who don’t really have no connection other than this blog, hopefully this wont change after blog 500, this blog is the first blog written on the “new” laptop I finally bit the bullet but there have been some hiccups along the way that certainly haven’t helped me with my mood, so watch the skies for incoming, until the next time…………………………..Toodles!

Realize.

I know the spelling of the title is Americanised, take it up with the band that wrote the song, it’s their spelling not mine! And yes, the name game is in play!

Again, yet another shite week, writing and music have not helped, I have tried my best, at least my fellow inmates haven’t thought me to be grumpy, mind you they always have a tendency not to take any notice of me, go figure.

Another short one and again its primarily bile, not that has hurt numbers for the last one, maybe peeps are simply happy in with me in my misery, I have a number of tasks I want to get completed this week, so I intend (hahahahaha delusional fool) to focus on those tasks in hand, I will be really grumpy if I don’t get them done, two big jobs and then the rest a smattering of smaller tasks, I’m hoping that upon completion it should lift my spirits.

Pornography, that  got your attention, this is the last hint of what the new blog will be like in 8 blogs, well 7 after this one, when I mean pornography, I mean something that I love, I want to write something typically topical and something that I hold dear to my heart, you all seem interested , all will be revealed in the weeks to come definitely by blog number 499!

I have been sleeping the sleep of the dead this past week, actually going to bed late so as a consequence getting up a lot later, I get up more disoriented than normal, I don’t think that this is helping my mood, so this will be my last late one, the rest of the week will be early to bed and then early to rise…..fingers crossed, and then hopefully this should improve my mood, I know we have been here before but what do I know, I’m not happy being grumpy.

The last few blogs have done really well, I have been surprised, and thank you for all the nice comments, but no it doesn’t change my train of thought, actually I have zero concentration, which if I’m truthful its not helping these next 7 blogs (I know 8 if you include this one) could be a tad bumpy, I need to get my arse in gear so that I can produce some decent work as I want to go out (this phase) with a bang not a whimper!

And that’s me done I have no intention of repeating my same old gripes it is what it is, I have a cunning plan, let’s hope I can stick to my guns, so watch the skies for incoming, until the next time, as long as I can get my arse into gear………..Toodles!

Lonely is the word.

It’s a Sunday at least I think it is, another lockdown and another spell in self inflicted prison, at least that what it feels like!

This won’t be a long one, as I’m not really in the mood to witter and if I do, I half expect to have a man with a white coat banging on my front door, with a coat that fastens in the back. Go figure! I know this lock down is literally a little over three weeks but I barely got through the last one with my sanity intact I’m not looking forward to the second round!

The last one was full of light and some good weather, this one does not have the same ring to it, here I am in day three, in a foul mood wanting to eat the house, a smashed tooth and generally a bad attitude, what will I be like in three weeks, damn I feel the need for a drink, hopefully music will sooth the savage beast, I certainly have no intention of staring at the idiot box.

I have attempted a number of blogs this week, but I have spiralled out, simply because I knew what was coming, a few blogs detailing Black Sabbath gigs and other various historical ones left me feeling empty with no intention of finishing them, I have been flat after all of my attempts, I usually have a bit of an uplift from my efforts, not this time, so I will get in and get out and simply say I have been trying, very trying.

So here is my upshot for the past week, finally the orange Cheeto man has been disposed of, I don’t care who gets in I wouldn’t trust either of them, work has been demoralising, simply because of technical issues, I got to see some peeps I haven’t seen in ages and then I realised there was one or two I hadn’t seen in a couple of weeks, life is shit at the moment, what else can I say!

All of my positivity has been drained from me, I will do my best to try and replace it with some fresh optimism, lets see how that works out, I don’t like the world or even myself at the moment! I will need to get out into some fresh air at some point otherwise I will go bat shit crazy, so as I tend to say in these situations ……...onwards!

So there you have it, I’m not happy I hate the world and I need a tooth pulled that about sums it up, don’t worry I have been here before and I haven’t slaughtered anyone yet………yet being the operative word, jealousy of how other people live their lives is impacting on me and how I live mine, health issues are kicking my arse and to be honest I have lost the fight today, but tomorrow will be better, that I promise, it has to be time to head back to the cave, leave me be I will be fine, until the next time keep watching the skies for incoming…………..Toodles!

And yes the name game is in play, have at it!