Lockdown Diary - Tuesday 21st April 2020
Work again. It seems a little strange after a week off, but work it is. Working from home, of course, like so many others across the country, the world, in fact.
Work dominates the day, as it tends to do, so there's not much excitement to report (though I could do without some of the excitement at times.)
I did take delivery of new pair of speakers for the Hi-Fi. I'd been planning to upgrade to this particular model for ages, but last week they went on offer at a ridiculously low price, and I thought 'it's now or never!' They arrived in the early morning and I was incredibly restrained and left them in their box until I finished work in the evening. Unboxed them, swapped out my old speakers and got set up to listen to a few albums that I know really well. I don't think I have the greatest hearing nowadays, owing to loud gigs and fast jet noise close by, but my test of any new bit of audio kit is 'can I hear the difference?'
Undoubtedly the speakers are better than the ones I replaced - the old ones are over 30 years old, and were what I could afford at the time - but the B&W 606s are generally agreed to be best in class / price bracket and I'd be looking at silly money to get something supposedly better. Having bought them there was that moment of trepidation - have I wasted my money? My 'go to' (Lord save me, I've used that phrase!) albums for testing new Hi-Fi are 'Something/Anything?' and 'A Wizard, A True Star' both by Todd Rundgren. (Useless trivia: One of the tracks on 'S/A?' used to feature on Hi-Fi test albums, pop pickers!)
From the opening chords of 'I Saw The Light', I was impressed, I could hear detailing I'd only heard on headphones before, the bass was more present and the overall 'layout' of the instruments was clearer. After a few tracks I switched to 'AWATS', which has a much denser mix on the first side and quite a few vocal-driven songs on the second side. Wow! I was even more impressed with how they handled 'AWATS'. Change of tack to some gentler piano / keyboard instrumental music from Roger & Brian Eno. Still impressed. Then I ran out of time and had to do dinner. Damn! Tomorrow night I will try out some a broader range of music - some dub reggae, electronic dance music, maybe some acoustic stuff and a bit of Satie to calm the savage breast. I am so looking forward to rediscovering some old friends and some new ones.
Poem this week is 'Invictus' by W.E. Henley. Everyone's heard of it, probably quite a few have read it. I'd not been looking forward to it (I knew it was coming up - sometimes I take a sneak peek to see what's next), I guess in part because it seemed to be every Tom, Dick and Harry's favourite poem. As on so many other occasions, my prejudices were unfounded: I stand corrected - and glad to be proven wrong. The place of darkness from which the words spring is evoked in perfect measure. Here it is:
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
(The last couplet is still too well-worn, but that aside, I bow down)
Well, so much for having nothing to say. Or perhaps I've said nothing in a very roundabout way.
Ever since I first heard this medley, way back in my late teens (in a land that time forgot), I have been bewitched by it. It is part of me. From 'A Wizard, A True Star', Todd Rundgren's homage to the music he loved - 'Medley: I'm So Proud; Ooh Baby Baby; La La Means I Love You'
Work dominates the day, as it tends to do, so there's not much excitement to report (though I could do without some of the excitement at times.)
I did take delivery of new pair of speakers for the Hi-Fi. I'd been planning to upgrade to this particular model for ages, but last week they went on offer at a ridiculously low price, and I thought 'it's now or never!' They arrived in the early morning and I was incredibly restrained and left them in their box until I finished work in the evening. Unboxed them, swapped out my old speakers and got set up to listen to a few albums that I know really well. I don't think I have the greatest hearing nowadays, owing to loud gigs and fast jet noise close by, but my test of any new bit of audio kit is 'can I hear the difference?'
Undoubtedly the speakers are better than the ones I replaced - the old ones are over 30 years old, and were what I could afford at the time - but the B&W 606s are generally agreed to be best in class / price bracket and I'd be looking at silly money to get something supposedly better. Having bought them there was that moment of trepidation - have I wasted my money? My 'go to' (Lord save me, I've used that phrase!) albums for testing new Hi-Fi are 'Something/Anything?' and 'A Wizard, A True Star' both by Todd Rundgren. (Useless trivia: One of the tracks on 'S/A?' used to feature on Hi-Fi test albums, pop pickers!)
From the opening chords of 'I Saw The Light', I was impressed, I could hear detailing I'd only heard on headphones before, the bass was more present and the overall 'layout' of the instruments was clearer. After a few tracks I switched to 'AWATS', which has a much denser mix on the first side and quite a few vocal-driven songs on the second side. Wow! I was even more impressed with how they handled 'AWATS'. Change of tack to some gentler piano / keyboard instrumental music from Roger & Brian Eno. Still impressed. Then I ran out of time and had to do dinner. Damn! Tomorrow night I will try out some a broader range of music - some dub reggae, electronic dance music, maybe some acoustic stuff and a bit of Satie to calm the savage breast. I am so looking forward to rediscovering some old friends and some new ones.
Poem this week is 'Invictus' by W.E. Henley. Everyone's heard of it, probably quite a few have read it. I'd not been looking forward to it (I knew it was coming up - sometimes I take a sneak peek to see what's next), I guess in part because it seemed to be every Tom, Dick and Harry's favourite poem. As on so many other occasions, my prejudices were unfounded: I stand corrected - and glad to be proven wrong. The place of darkness from which the words spring is evoked in perfect measure. Here it is:
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
(The last couplet is still too well-worn, but that aside, I bow down)
Well, so much for having nothing to say. Or perhaps I've said nothing in a very roundabout way.
Ever since I first heard this medley, way back in my late teens (in a land that time forgot), I have been bewitched by it. It is part of me. From 'A Wizard, A True Star', Todd Rundgren's homage to the music he loved - 'Medley: I'm So Proud; Ooh Baby Baby; La La Means I Love You'
[[There is actually a fourth song in the medley - 'Cool Jerk' - but this completely destroys the mood and so, very sensibly, whoever uploaded this faded the track before it begins. N.B. It is a soul medley, however despite what the uploader titled it, it's just called 'Medley' on the album.]]
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