Lockdown Diary - Thursday 11th June 2020

Thursday, Thursday, Thursday.  I struggled again to get up early today: for some inexplicable reason I seem really tired at the moment, as if sleep is having no beneficial effect. Consequently I didn't go for an early walk, though given the impending downpours probably no bad thing in that respect, at least.  I did manage to be at my desk and working by 8:30 though. Not sure if that's good or bad.

As for Tuesday and Wednesday, work dominates the day, with the Idler 'Drinks with...' tonight being the oasis in this desert of work.  The guests tonight are Charles Hazlewood (who is a conductor, amongst other things) and Ed Hopwood (who is described as  one-man band).  From this remove, neither of them seem to be up my street, however I will have an open mind and see what unfolds.  The philosophical diversions of Dr Mark Vernon are always worth a listen, at least.

Just left the Idler 'Drinks with...' and, wow, that was so good and unexpectedly so. Charles Hazlewood is inspirational, one of the best of these chats so far.  His conversation, covering things like the importance the drone to music and attitude to music, with the spirit being more important than the form, in execution, was just great.  Two mentions for Tangerine Dream and a rave review of the Prophet 6 Synth Keyboard (used to create the Soundtrack to 'Apocalypse Now'): he then went on and set up a drone on the Prophet which Ed Hopwood played harmonica over - Charles in a swimming pool in Wells, Somerset and Ed on a barge just off the Thames near Kew.  Charles was so interesting I'm going to have to listen to his recent Desert Island Discs.  It made my evening:  there's nothing I like better than watching or listening to something you expect not to find that interesting and it completely overturns your expectations. On occasions like these it's good to be wrong. Buzzing.

Then before I knew it, it was time to make dinner.  Since we finished 'TEOTFW' last night there was a democratic vote to choose the next series we'd watch. 'Altered Carbon' won, so we watched an episode of that. The jury's out on it, I need to watch more episodes to see if I'll get into it. It was OK, that's all I'm saying thus far.

Then the usual...

This is a song that took root when I first heard it and it's haunted me ever since.  Somewhere in the background, ever present.  Damien Jurado sings 'Allocate' from the album 'The Horizon Just Laughed'


[[Which it often does]]

[[]]

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