Tales From The Crypt - Tuesday 27th December 2022

I have agreed with son #3 that I'll make celeriac soup today.  It's a Christmas family favourite and we've had seafood starters the last two days.  What else I will do, who knows? The only thing I have decided is that I won't be going to the shops!

I'm going to read James Joyce' short story, 'The Dead', which is the last story in 'Dubliners' and is set at Christmas.  It's a story of great subtlety and nuance (as are all the tales in 'Dubliners') and so I need to savour every word and sentence.  Once I've finished it, I'm going to watch John Huston's film version of the story, which is supposed to be excellent.

Amongst all the usual interruptions that we get every day, I did manage to start 'The Dead', but not finish it.  Maybe tomorrow.

This week, but not today, alas, I need to sit down somewhere quiet and do some planning for 2023. It could well be a year of much change, though exactly how much is uncertain.

After lunch son #3 and I made celeriac soup. We'll have it as a starter before tonight's salmon.

We ate dinner whilst watching 'The Detectorists' Christmas special, which was excellent and featured the briefest appearance by Professor Alice Roberts. Shame.

Off to bed via a chat with Q who made a visit to the Lake District today, in particular the Windermere area and the Lakeland mega-shop.

Nia Archives / 'Baianá' / (Single)


[[]]

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Love, Poetry and Revolution - Wednesday 1st January 2025

Image
The old year stretches out behind me and the new one beckons me. I haven't made any resolutions as I believe that you should try to improve every day and learn from things you got wrong.  Doesn't always work that way, but trying is half the battle. What I want most this year is for E's suffering to end as soon as possible. We don't even know the full extent of it, only the part of the iceberg that's out of the water. Over the past few weeks, her decline has continued apace, such that we are now keeping one eye open for signs of sepsis.  Fingers crossed it happens sooner than later. This weekend I should be off to Amsterdam with Q and her daughter (who is returning to her home there) to celebrate Q's birthday, hot on the heels of Christmas. I had a neck, head and shoulder massage at the Sue Ryder hospice yesterday which set me up nicely for New Year's Eve.  I have three more sessions to go and I can try reflexology (which I might try) and reiki which sounds l...
Read more

Love, Poetry and Revolution - Sunday 8th January 2023

Image
A later start, mainly because I need to get packed and return 'home' today and I don't want to go. My target is to leave at around midday, though that's not set in stone. Q and I had breakfast and were joined by her mum.  Scrambled egg on toast followed by toast and marmalade.  Need to get organised, sadly, and so I continue. Packed, car loaded and time to say goodbye. Q's mum returns to Australia at the weekend, so I'll not see her again for a while. It's been good to get to know her, and we'll hopefully meet again at some point later this year. I'm home. The roads were unusually quite and I did the journey in just over 3 hours, including a stop to buy lunch, coffee and take a break inspired by a call from nature. Unfortunately on my return I was greeted by coloured lights, and so my first task was to bring Christmas to an end with the help of sons 1 and 3. Son #3 made dinner (sea bass and play it), and son #1 and I watched TV while we ate. Time for...
Read more

Tales From The Crypt - Monday 28th June 2021

Image
I've only gone and bloody well done it! Welcome to the first of my 'Tales From The Crypt': I'm bored as fuck with the old title and anything to do with Covid:  obviously I'm still going to adhere the guidelines and protect the vulnerable person I care for and about, I'm not a complete and utter bastard. We all have a part to play in keeping one another safe.  Sermon over. Started the day with the return of the early morning carer who's been on leave for two weeks - updated her with the latest news, which she was keen to hear. Knocked up and ate breakfast early, in order to finish eating 2 hours ahead of yoga at 10:00, then it was a bit of organising to get the compilation CD completed and ready to post. Off to the post office just before 9 a.m. to complete the process and then return ready to head for yoga at 9:30 a.m. Back from yoga after a chat with one of the other class members, followed by a longer chat with the teacher: I gave her a bit of a life updat...
Read more

World Shut Your Mouth

Image
A lot of people seem to go to gigs to hear the headline act, but nothing more (not to mention those who don't seem to go to hear the music at all?)  I'm  always keen to hear the support, especially if I've never heard of them as you never know what you'll find. And so I found myself at the front of the stage in SUB89 waiting for Tom Hickox to take to the stage. Never heard of him or heard anything by him, so looking forward to hear what he does. As the hour of 8pm arrived, he took to the stage and seated himself behind a large electric piano, joined by Sam Grimley on various guitars. From his opening number, I was struck by his voice - he really has presence on stage. For the first song or two I just thought, 'yeah, he sounds OK, but...', and wasn't really drawn in. A couple of songs had great stories behind them, and his spoken intros to 'The Lisbon Maru' and 'The Dubbing Artist' were intriguing.  The song that really land...
Read more

Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble at South Street Arts Centre in Reading 27th May 2017

Image
Inexplicably this is my first visit to South Street Arts Centre though I've lived in the Reading area off and on for more years than space allows. After this visit, though, I will plan to return again especially to see bands but probably other gigs. Why? It is a great size - a really intimate venue in which to see bands - and a really friendly venue, like seeing a gig in a room in your own home (assuming you had a fairly large spacious home). The support act was a band called Mauno from Canada who've been supporting Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble on this leg of their tour. A four-piece with 2 guitars, bass and drums playing I guess some kind of hybrid of pop and rock with Talking Heads-style rhythmic shifts. Not being familiar with either them or their songs it took a couple of numbers to get into their sound, but as the set progressed it became clear there was something interesting going on, both lyrically and musically.  In such a small venue it was great to see the...
Read more