Thursday 28 January 2016

I Love Polly Jean


This is a great reason for me to smile. One of my favourite artists PJ Harvey is to release a new album in the spring The Hope Six Demolition Project. a wonderful taster here

My Dad
Today is my dad's 81st birthday , I've sent him a card and present and a text and will phone him at a reasonable time. That's a pic of him as a boxer.

Really he can be a curmudgeon , but has always been there for me and always encouraged me to do what I want , I totally love him. He doesn't pressure me but does exasperate me at times. but can't all good parents be like that

Anyway we are nearly at the end of January , and nearly at the end of the week , and looking forward to lots of amazing stuff at the weekend and next week





Next week I have 3 nights out already penned in , so I cannot complain my life is boring, feel free to come with me , the ride is going to be immense and intense. As it's my Dad's birthday I am including two of my favourite boxing songs , "No Mercy" by Nils Lofgren and "Boom Boom Mancini by Warren Zevon.

Have a great Thursday everyone.

Sunday 24 January 2016

I Love It When You Smile


Really I do. I go on about looking for the positives , and being positive , but I never really know whether you believe me or take what I'm saying seriously , after all I try not to be too serious. The main yhing I am serious about is being happy and I want  you to be happy to.

This weekends started for me with the amazing BowieBall at Vamos and has been a wonderful time of relaxing , wandering , wondering , playing Bowie songs , remembering the riffs for Rebel Rebel and Ziggy Stardust,  then listening to "Nothing Has Changed" while updating the website Song of The Salesman.

Long Flowing Robe
Music is a great thing for lifting you , making you feel good , and though I have been talking Bowie I am going to include Todd Rundgren's "Long Flowing Robe" as a song which I first heard on a Bearsville EP I bought and it still stays with me as a beautiful song love found and lost and found  again that makes me happy and brings a smile to my face, but with a tinge of sadness.


And listening to this reminds me of the Utopia Song "Feet Dont Fail Me Now". Both have killer choruses so you can have both.








So now go and find something or someone that makes you happy and makes you smile . do it and your day will be better and if it is a person , their day will be better too.

Saturday 23 January 2016

Why The Bible Is A Great Guide For Life - Was Eve The First Scientist?


The Book
If you know me , you will know that I am not serious about the title. I am reading a book about Arvo Part - Out of Silence, and some parts about the various Christian / Biblical concepts irk me to say the least. God was amazing because he said Let There Be Fish or whatever  and there were fish. It's hardly rocket science is it and if you could do that then it's hardly hard. The nearest equivalent we have is switching a light on or controlling something with a remote.






I was taught by Jesuits and for the most part they were practical and reasonable . In one Religious Education one  guy said to the priest:

"What if you get to heaven's gates and St Peter says: We gave you wine , beer , women , gambling , and all you did was wasted it being celibate , you going down"

The priests reply was  "You might be right, we do everything based on faith and belief, but we do drink wine"

I also got to thinking that the Bible is probably the reason for the terrible treatment of woment that is still going on today. All Eve did was effectively try something new. If we don;t do that we don't progress, so maybe Eve was the first scientist. . Yet for that act Eve (woman) takes the blame for everything that goes wrong and has done every since.. No doubt that concept was conjured up by a man , and men have been selecting snippets of the Bible to justify subjugating women ever since.

Anyway no sane God would have the world that we have today , maybe there is a God , maybe there isn't . It may be illogical but I'm hedging my bets.

I also believe that with evolution (which is scientifically proven Creationists) that out soul , being or whatever you call is preserved after the body expires , but that is another personal illogical belief that keeps me hopeful , although i have seen no real evidence for it whatsoever, but I am very positive in my outlook.

Ok what music do I choose for this , Spiegel Im Spiegel by Part I reckon , because his music is excellent, I just think that it's his talent that produces it , not God.

Wednesday 20 January 2016

Good Things


We are in mid January , experiencing the Christmas and New year comedown. However this is only problem if you have nothing to look forward to. I saw an internet meme saying that "Successful People Set Goals" among other things and they are grateful. Last night I watched an episode of The Last Kingdom and Utrid's wife said "God brought you home" , Utrid is not enamoured of the Christian God and said "My sword brought me home".

My goals are to be happy by planning events to share with my friends , and make sure I have things to look forward to with the special people in my life , do a decent job , and be grateful when things go well. It's very seldom that good things just happen to us , but by taking certain positive steps and not sitting at hope you can end up coming into contact with people who actually make your life far more excellent because they introduce you to new things and new people and bring a light into your life.

Anyway it's the middle of the week, and this week I will see people , talk to people who will make
Smiley Smile
me smile and tell me new things and that will make my life better. Work is scary at the moment because I am dealing with a landslide of paperwork , but it's just a challenge and I will use this to put things in place so that next time I will be able to deal with it. The first time can sometimes be daunting.

But I am already planning things for this year, visiting different parts of the country and just having a brilliant time , and it is going to start today.




I thought I would include a TED talk on smiling , smile more it will make you feel better.

There are lots of bad things in this world , make sure you are one of the good things. and most of all be happy.

Oh OK I'll include the Rolling Stones "Happy" as it always puts a smile on my face.

"I Need Love To Keep Me Happy"


Monday 18 January 2016

Not So Blue Monday


As I write this I am being hit by a severe Denial of Service Attack . I would have thought that my ISP , Virgin would protect me from that , but maybe not.

So today is Blue Monday , the Monday before the January payday , when the money has run out and consumers cant buy stuff not even the tat in this week's sale. It's just one of those things the media throws at us , they want us to be miserable , to butter us up for the next scare story.

12" of Blue Monday
Well you know what ,  I am not going to fall for it. I am gonna post The Jolly Boys version of New Order's Blue Monday killing two birds with one stone , but a cool friend suggested Prince's Darling Nikki , and Prince is Cool as Hell.

It's funny how once you start talking music how the ills of the world can be , at least temporarily washed away. Music is wonderful , listening and playing just makes you feel good , get's rid of pent up aggression can make you happy , make you fall in love , make want to hug someone , make you want to kiss someone ,  make you want to dance.



I am now starting to think of lots of favourite songs that teach us lessons, show us new roads , and lead us to better places.

This Monday may be a shade of blue , but it's a nice shade of blue.

Have a lovely Tuesday everyone


Saturday 16 January 2016

Cat People


This is a short , middle of the night post. I should really be in bed. I would love to be in bed. This week has been totally brilliant for various reasons. One of them was last Sunday I went into town, part of the quest was to get flowers , in a last ditch effort I got some from Tesco. I walked out and walked into my brilliant friend Mike O' Brien who was going to Reflex to get some music but remembered he needed milk and Tesco was across the road . So we ran into each other.

Mog
We talked and said we had to have a catch up , I mentioned the Gramps featuring Lux Inferior on vocals were playing the Cluny on Feb 4th and I had a spare ticket. He forced money on me for the ticket then said we should catch up and suggested Mog On The Tyne , the Cat Cafe , which he is joint proprietor I think.

Loads of my friends are cat lovers and many have expressed a desire to go there , so I will be visiting soon.




But this is how amazing coincidence can be , you take a different turn and a whole lot of unexpected doors  can open.

A Tractor
I was chatting to a facebook friend Denise who sells collectable diecast models at various fairs in the south of the country and was amazed to see so many images from my childhood. The Brittain's stuff here on her site brought back loads of memories here at DJB Collectables.





This week has been exhausting and incredible .

 
I got to see the new Star Wars film , and we lost David Bowie and Alan Rickman, so I will bookend this blog post with Bowie and Rickman , two amazing artists who will live forever in our collective memories. The Bowie song was cowritten and produced by Giorgio Moroder which I didn't know til I wrote this post

Go to Mog On The Tyne and stroke a cat.

Saturday 9 January 2016

Bowie's Blackstar


Yesterday David Bowie released Blackstar. I am not going to critique the album , but the fact that an artist can still command such awe and respect and continually turn the three chord trick on it's head often outdoing his perceived influences at their own game  is still jaw dropping.

When The Next Day came out completely unexpectedly the mainstream media wrote it off , because it was music that they actually had to take notice of . "Where Are We Now"  still amazes me , but when it was the lead single it was written of by mainstream media.

And now again Blackstar will have the same effect , it will polarise opinion , but isn't that what Bowie does? The thing is if you have any modicum intelligence you will appreciate his work or build a coherent argument against it.

Bowie Bowie Bowie
I was speaking to a guy in Bar Loco who said he's just got into Bowie , but he couldn't get past
Earthling , because it was the best thing  he had ever heard. Not your normal starting point in the Bowie canon , but this shows the amazing kaleidoscopic effect of the Bowie enigma , you could start anywhere and work in either direction remembering to be wary before Space Oddity  , though everything since has had much merit.

Even the maligned Tin Machine , "Under The God" is still a metal masterpiece , and "Little Drummer Boy" with Bing Crosby , well he's David Bowie , he can do that , and yo will enjoy it.

So go and buy Blackstar . My own favourite is still Station to Station , but put any Bowie album on the the turntable and I will listen until the needle lifts.

Have an amazing Saturday everyone.

Tuesday 5 January 2016

I Love Bill's Cafe


Although this blog started out as a travel blog , well that was the idea , which acounts for about 1% of the posts , it's seldom I talk about places that I've been for there own sake , but Bill's Cafe in Old Eldon Square really does deserve talking about. I don't what first attracted me there ,maybe the simplicity of the name and I just fancied a full english breakfast. The implication of the name was a greasy spoon type , but you walk into one of the coolest places you can think of.

The people are welcoming m, there is great art in there , the menus are on vinyl records (I'd rather vinyl was played than used as a menu but what the hell) , the food is excellent , plus they have cake , coffee , and alcohol. You can get a bottle of prosecco with nibbles for about £15.

Yesterday I dropped in for a a baked potato with tuna and a San Pellegrino for dinner, and it's got to the stage where I don't have to look a the menu.
Bill's Is Great

There were a few people in and after I came in , a couple came in with a child. From one of the girls positioning she started breastfeeding her child, I assume this because she had her back to me. While she was feeding the guy cam up and took her order. The whole point of this is that nothing out of the ordinary happened , it was just totally normal, some friends of the couple came in said hi and when the child was finished and sat on a chair she was happy and well behaved.



It was just so nice to be in a place where a woman feeding her child is just an everyday occurrence.

A big up to Bill's Cafe , I love the place and you won't regret going for a coffee , drink or meal.

It's lovely and welcoming and a shining of example of how everywhere should be.

I've included Billy Bragg's Handyman Blues because the song and video make me feel as warm and loved as a visit to Bill's cafe

Have a wonderful day.

Monday 4 January 2016

I Didn't Make A New Year's Resolution


I didn't make a New Year's Resolution . It didn't slip my mind because every year I just resolve to try and be happier and compassionate for my friends , family and people in need. The New Year is a good place to start , but really my plans involve just doing the best I can in all areas.

Some people see Christmas as a time for being nice before spending the last year acting like an unreality show judge or competitor. I will go into work today and that is going to be a topic of conversation.

There is plenty in this world to go round everyone , and working together will create even more, greed IS NOT good.

King Charles
So if you haven't made a New Year's Resolution let my vague premise be  your guide. Today will be the first day back at work for many people. Be positive , be nice ,  smile a lot , and take chocolate with you , plenty of chocolate.

I chose this King Charles song , because , well I dare you to listen , and not come away feeling happier. Smiling is good.

Have a brilliant , brilliant day.

Saturday 2 January 2016

Temptation


This morning I learned something new. I was convinced that Bryan Ferry had covered The Everly Brothers Temptation , an amazing song, but it was The Price of Love another amazing song. But it turns out that Temptation is in fact a cover of a 1933 hit for Bing Crosby, which I actually knew but the Everlys deconstruction makes it almost a different song. See what you think.


Use It
Oscar Wilde said "I can resist anything but temptation" and he is one of my heroes , a great writer , with and disgustingly treated by the law of the time , which was much the same as it is today.

Still on the Temptation as a song title we also have Heaven 17's Temptation , but my absolute favourite has got to be New Order's which gives me goosebumps and makes me just want to sink into it and surrender to the Temptation.



It doesn't get much better , so I hope that I have provided you with enough temptation , and I hope you can't resist either.

I hope your New Year is as good as my mine my totally gorgeous friends.



Friday 1 January 2016

Here Comes The Future


Well it's here
 2016 
Another year
New goals 
New friends to meet 
New experiences To Be Had
New Starts To Be Made
New Places To Go
New Books To Read
New Hills To Climb
New Waters To Swim

Conquer You Fears
Help Others
Hug and Kiss Frequently
Love Each Other
Look Out For Each Other

These Are New Times
We will make them brilliant
Hello 2016
Pleased To Meet You

I Love You All

Welcome

The music is Al Stewart's Nostradamus , a great song about a ramshackle propheteer.