Lockdown Diary - Sunday 13th December 2020

A colder night, followed by a rainy start to the day.  I've got lots of boring things to do, so the weather isn't going to be a distraction from getting them done.

I'm going to start the day slowly: eat breakfast whilst doing online food shopping and once that's done, start the washing and the rest of today's exciting jobs.

Yesterday I said I'd explain where I'd heard the Bob Vylan track that I'd chosen, so here goes.  One of the little pleasures of Christmas, of which there are many, is the annual 2CD compilation of the best tracks of the year, according to Rough Trade.  It's always titled 'Counter Culture', this years being 'Counter Culture 20'!  The beauty of this set, crammed full of new songs, is that 90% or more of it you'll never have heard, and given Rough Trade shops pedigree in sniffing out the good stuff, the majority of it will be excellent. Out of 36 tracks on this years set, I've only heard three of the songs and heard of eight of the bands / artists - that's how it is such a great source of new stuff. Mystery solved.

After a morning of fun, son #3 and I started making lunch, before being joined by son#2 to finish it off.  All of us arrived in the living room with our lunches and it was decreed we should watch 'The Mandalorian' together - for those who don't know, it's a Star Wars spin-off shown on the Disney channel. We don't have the Disney Channel, but son #2 has signed up to a one-month free trial over Christmas.  The power of having a job and earning money!

Lunch over and between washes I read the Sunday papers. No sooner had I finished reading The Observer when the phone rang and it was my mother-in-law. She lives on her own and misses contact with her daughter and with her grandchildren (I'm pretty sure I come last on that list, I being the evil one that kept her daughter down south!), so these are usually long calls.  Over time I have come to realise that as she doesn't have many people to talk to - she often says I'm the only person she's spoken to in a lot of days - I should freely give of my time.  She tells me she's not lonely, she just misses having someone to talk to about this and that, and then asks if I miss having someone to talk to, given her daughter cannot talk any more.  Of course I do, and I tell her so: I suppose it is one of the ties that binds us together.  I sense that she both wants to be able to call more often but also that she knows how busy I am, nevertheless I tell her that if she needs to talk to someone she shouldn't wait until the weekend, but should call me. As someone once put it, we are family. Though my sisters aren't with me.

I've been debating attending the final Gorillaz 'Song Machine Live from Kong' stream. It's slap bang in the middle of making dinner time, so I have to clear it with the bros.  They are OK with it and may even join me, so I buy a ticket.

Son #2 and I spent ages trying to vast my phone to the TV and seem to have discovered that as it's a Google phone they seem to only support from LiveNow (the streaming platform) via Chromecast, which we don't have. The bastards! With minutes to spare I manage to connect my laptop to the TV and then it begins...

...three or four songs in son #1 joins me.  He's missed Robert Smith (of the Cure), who was physically there and Beck, who wasn't.  It's a damn good show, initially focused on 'Song Machine One', but moving into 'Demon Days' and closing with a spirited rendition of 'Clint Eastwood'. Towards the end son #3 joins us - all three sons like Gorillaz, one of a small group of bands/artists we all share. There is a small audience, so there is some 'live' feel, but most of all it's like seeing the Gorillaz play in a small club, which is brilliant. Next years live shows are at the O2 arena in Docklands, so they'll not be that intimate. Great guests, great atmosphere - so glad I attended.

For whatever reason, dinner has not been started, so I get it going, especially as I had a free pass to the gig. Once the potatoes and fish are prepped and in the oven, son #2 comes and owns the rest of the veg. 

We sit down to dinner at around 9 p.m., much later than usual, and start to watch another episode of 'The Haunting of Hill House'.  We each had a warmed mince pie for dessert, this officially marking the start of Christmas with us all together.  I just have to organise it now!

Only one band will do: Gorillaz.  This is 'Clint Eastwood' from their eponymous debut.

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