catharsis

Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn,Damn, Damn, Damn: That's better! (I never was one for swearing).

(that's an awful picture , I look dehydrated!)

and in a packed programme tonight

I still don't know the purpose of this blog! misery and TV seem the dominant themes. I find I temper what I write in case an acquaintance (there a few - honest) should happen upon it. Self Censorship! horrific. Had the day off today , never removed my dressing gown (save to shower obviously)or left the house, surely I would be a hermit if it weren't for the need to earn money - that's right I'm depressed again! an almost constant state since I was divorced. Thank goodness for Music and the internet! Well I have to be up for work in six hours , so its goodnight from me , and its goodnight from...er... no one. No doubt I shall return soon with more joyful stuff to buy (leaves room in a huff!) - The title is of course ironic

...in which I watch Television

It's cold. After a very long shift at work, I was sitting , avec blanket in front of the TV ( I almost never watch anything as it's broadcast ) I decided to watch "The Aristocrats" which has been on the pvr for weeks . Well what can I say it was hilarious. Perfect for the crappy mood I was in ( actually that's the mood that I spend most of my time in ). I am not easily offended, and this movie didn't offend me, but it's not one to watch with Mom. I laughed and laughed and laughed (for some reason especially at the mime !)

I finally was able to buy American Gothic box set on DVD. It's one of those lost TV gems that at least had one full season (Firefly!) Like many of the best TV shows (The Avengers, The Prisoner, My name is Earl)it exists in a Universe of it's own, with it's own weird internal logic. It's eerie rather than scary and it's a crying shame that it never had a chance to develop (Firefly!).

Feeling better now?

Boy, that guy below needs to cheer up! Sorry for that self indulgence, are blogs meant to be cathartic? I suppose they are what you want them to be.

Let me recommend something cheerful. The Beiderbecke Trilogy, that marvellous 80's show , has just been re-released on DVD. Starring ex likely lad James Bolam (who although born in Sunderland, and starring in two of the most Iconic Geordie TV shows, namely "Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads" and "when the boat comes in", doesn't seem very fond of the North-East. - Beiderbecke is set in Leeds, practically the Midlands from where I sit!).
It's rather expensive at the moment, but as soon as it drops below £20 I shall have it! I just love the "matter of factness" of this show, the characters and the wit!

Humbug! sob sob

I don't really enjoy Christmas. I enjoying being with my daughter for a few hours ( she doesn't live with me) but I always volunteer to work on the 25th (likewise Christmans Eve, Boxing Day, New years Eve and New years Day)as Christmas is very lonely on your own . It must be 10 or more years since I felt any hint of a "Christmas spirit". I'm not a misanthrope, but Christmas just means crowded shops and over-indulgence, and hypocritically, wishing I had some presents - maybe I'm just depressed (you think?) - I'm certainly very lonely.

But Just to show you I do have some Human emotions, I watched The Elephant Man today, and found myself in tears. It is Lynch's most accessible film , and most Human. Many of us move in social circles that provide us with a veneer of safety. Merrick at the Theatre was safe , but when he stepped outside of that comfort zone into "reality" like at the railway station, that safety was ripped away like a curtain. ( Perspective - I was recently beaten in the street by 5 youths, I think it was because of my beard - reason enough for many!)
Wow - navel gazing, self pity and film reviews all in one post! maybe I should have thrown in a recipe?

A mundane coincidence

Well last night I was playing my newest DVD ( Old Grey Whistle Test Vol2) the first and only track I played was "Ladytron" by Roxy Music, very nice you might think, but my point follows. I switched off to watch Q.I. on BBC4 , and strangely the very same clip was playing (sounds of the 70's I think , strange eh? You'd think Cosmic Forces would have better things to do than arrange this wouldn't you ? how many random events had to occur, it had been delayed for weeks (from CD-WOW)but just happened to arrive yesterday.
(That explains my sudden burst of Ladytron tracks on Last FM then)

I highly recommend The OGWT DVDs. CD-WOW has them especially cheaply (that's why I bought 'em!)

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

I've just checked my weekly charts on Last FM. I fell asleep in front of the computer the other night (this is not an uncommon event) I was listening to Emo Phillips, and whilst I slept the track was repeating, now it's my most played track - oh dear (three other tracks in my top 10 are also sleep induced).
We all secretly want to look cool (to varying degrees). I find myself sometimes skipping music tracks so they don't appear on my charts,(although at other times I couldn't care less). Sometimes those guilty pleasures slip through (like the Lazytown soundtrack!!). I play most of my music at random using the marvellous mediamonkey, I really can't recommend this player enough. You know the urban myth about the ipod shuffle feature ( I don't own an ipod by the way, but apparently it tends to dwell on certain artists) well on shuffle mediamonkey seems to favour anything by Elvis and (rather bizarrely) the Soundtrack to UFO (great old Gerry Anderson show for you youngsters) out of the thousands of tracks available.

I wish 1980 had been like the above mentioned TV show. I'd have loved a nehru suit and gull winged door car (oh hang on I was too young to drive - honest)