Happy Birthday Petula Clark!
Petula Clark - Colour My World (Pye 1966)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)
The Four Tops - I'm In A Different World (Motown 1968)
Verdelle Smith - Tar and Cement (Capitol 1966)
Tawny Reed - Needle In A Haystack (Pye 1965)
Petula Clark - Monday, Monday (Pye 1966)
The Kinks - David Watts (Pye 1967)
Del Shannon - Mind Over Matter (Liberty 1967)
Annette Funicello - Bikin Beach Party (Buena Vista 1964) (Connect 3)
Petula Clark - Life and Soul of the Party (Pye 1966) (Connect 3)
The Victorians - You're Invited To A Party (Liberty 1964) (Connect 3)
Al Kent - The Way You've Been Acting (Ric-Tic 1967)
Ella Washington - Sit Down and Cry (Sound Stage 7 1969)
Petula Clark - Don't Sleep In The Subway (Pye 1967) (Birthday: 15/11/32 Petula Clark, singer/songwriter)
Dana Gillespie - Pay You Back With Interest (Pye 1967)
Kenny Lynch with the Laurie Jay Combo - Harlem Library (HMV 1964)
Petula Clark - La Nuit N'En Finit Plus (Needles and Pins) (Pye) (Foreign Language)
Billy Fury - Fool's Errand (Do You Really Love Me Too?) (Decca 1964)
Shotugn Express - Curtains (Columbia 1966) (Half-Time Instrumental)
Two of Each - Summer of Our Love (Pye 1968)
Petula Clark - Downtown (Pye 1964)
The Beach Boys - Heroes and Villains (Capitol 1967) (The A to Z of The Beach Boys - H)
The Beach Boys - Had To Phone Ya (Capitol 1976) (The A to Z of The Beach Boys - H)
Petula Clark - I Know A Place (Pye 1965)
The Small Faces - Tin Soldier (Immediate 1967)
The James Taylor Quartet - Blow Up (Re-elect the President 1987) (Under The Influence)
Toni Daly - Like The Big Man Said (Columbia 1966)
Jerry Butler - Moody Woman (Mercury 1969)
The Lovin' Spoonful - She Is Still A Mystery (Kama Sutra 1967)
Love - The Daily Planet (Elektra 1967) (Connect 3)
Petula Clark - A Sign of The Times (Pye 1966) (Connect 3)
Lori Balmer - Here Comes The Sun (Pye 1972) (Connect 3)
The Strangers - Mary Mary (Pye 1967)
Joe Simon - You Keep Me Hangin' On (Sound Stage 7)
Petula Clark - Gotta Tell The World (Pye 1965) (Two of a Kind)
Petula Clark - This Is My Song (Pye 1966) (Two of a Kind)
Patti Seymour - The Silencers (Solly 1965)
The Overlanders - The Leaves Are Falling (Pye 1964)
The Walker Brothers - Just Say Goodbye (Phillips 1967)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)
In two weeks' time it's my Jocknroll Beat special, featuring a number of tracks from The Beatstalkers, and then it's four weeks of my favourite Christmas tracks. Just don't expect to hear Slade, Wizzard or Band Aid. Feel free to make any recommendations for either, although I have plenty of tracks to choose from already.
Good day and good health.
The Cat
=^..^=
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Stop The Ideas Carousel!
Friday 13 November
I was on my own in the office today so while I was covering all the desks and phones I had some peace and quiet too. No interruptions during Popmaster and a good gym workout at lunch.
Got home to find Flick had made a Playmobil City including an improvised Recycling Centre. She had written and cut out labels and put them on egg cups representing recycling bins. Seven of them were decorated with labels for Glass, Plastic, Metal, Paper, Cardboard, Compost and, er, Poo!
The Good Lady Wife was out in the evening so as soon as The Flickster was in her bed I wasted no time in flicking between channels and not watching anything in particular. In fact, I wasted a LOT of time doing that. Was a bit miffed to find the Sky box hadn't recorded "A Question of Sport" or "Mastermind". Eventually I went to bed at 10.30 pm because I was annoying myself.
Saturday 14 November
The girls were off to ballet, a fair and Dobbies so Daddy was free to do whatever he wanted. Having already been fed and watered before the girls got up, I was already into my stride with my little chores. I tuned into Sounds of the Sixties, as usual, while writing up the notes for tomorrow's radio show. It'll feature ten tracks by Petula Clark, by way of celebrating her birthday. She's an under appreciated singer and certainly better than Sandie Shaw and Cilla Black, who I do like.
Then I started work on three of my Christmas shows for the radio station. Last year I did four and an extra one where I counted down my own personal Top 30 Christmas songs. This year there will only be three plus the extra one. While working out which songs to bin form last year and which new ones I've discovered, I watched an impressive Huddersfield Town thrash Wycombe Wanderers 6-0. Who says men can't multi-task?
When the league football finished I headed back upstairs to wrap the presents I had already bought for K. While doing that I could watch (through the banister) the Wales-Scotland game. Scotland were awful and the 3-0 half-time score remained the same at full-time. It wasn't just awful, it was embarrassing. Defencer Gary Caldwell, who moves like a fitted wardrobe and turns like the Ark Royal, should never play for Scotland again. He's been consistently bad for a long time. Kenny Miller is another overpaid so-called "professional" who flatters to deceive on a weekly basis. And he's got a head like a potato. He and fellow Hun Kris Boyd, the ugliest footballer in the world EVER, have morphed into the same player and Steven Naismith is going the same way. I reckon the pre-match lunch at Ibrox is deep-fried children. With chips and Diet Coke of course. They are athletes after all.
"The Thick of It" is simply genius and it pains me that so many people I work with have never seen it. They don't know what they're missing.
I was on my own in the office today so while I was covering all the desks and phones I had some peace and quiet too. No interruptions during Popmaster and a good gym workout at lunch.
Got home to find Flick had made a Playmobil City including an improvised Recycling Centre. She had written and cut out labels and put them on egg cups representing recycling bins. Seven of them were decorated with labels for Glass, Plastic, Metal, Paper, Cardboard, Compost and, er, Poo!
The Good Lady Wife was out in the evening so as soon as The Flickster was in her bed I wasted no time in flicking between channels and not watching anything in particular. In fact, I wasted a LOT of time doing that. Was a bit miffed to find the Sky box hadn't recorded "A Question of Sport" or "Mastermind". Eventually I went to bed at 10.30 pm because I was annoying myself.
Saturday 14 November
The girls were off to ballet, a fair and Dobbies so Daddy was free to do whatever he wanted. Having already been fed and watered before the girls got up, I was already into my stride with my little chores. I tuned into Sounds of the Sixties, as usual, while writing up the notes for tomorrow's radio show. It'll feature ten tracks by Petula Clark, by way of celebrating her birthday. She's an under appreciated singer and certainly better than Sandie Shaw and Cilla Black, who I do like.
Then I started work on three of my Christmas shows for the radio station. Last year I did four and an extra one where I counted down my own personal Top 30 Christmas songs. This year there will only be three plus the extra one. While working out which songs to bin form last year and which new ones I've discovered, I watched an impressive Huddersfield Town thrash Wycombe Wanderers 6-0. Who says men can't multi-task?
When the league football finished I headed back upstairs to wrap the presents I had already bought for K. While doing that I could watch (through the banister) the Wales-Scotland game. Scotland were awful and the 3-0 half-time score remained the same at full-time. It wasn't just awful, it was embarrassing. Defencer Gary Caldwell, who moves like a fitted wardrobe and turns like the Ark Royal, should never play for Scotland again. He's been consistently bad for a long time. Kenny Miller is another overpaid so-called "professional" who flatters to deceive on a weekly basis. And he's got a head like a potato. He and fellow Hun Kris Boyd, the ugliest footballer in the world EVER, have morphed into the same player and Steven Naismith is going the same way. I reckon the pre-match lunch at Ibrox is deep-fried children. With chips and Diet Coke of course. They are athletes after all.
"The Thick of It" is simply genius and it pains me that so many people I work with have never seen it. They don't know what they're missing.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The C Word
Thursday 12 November 2009
Yesterday came and went. I observed the two-minutes silence in the gym before doing my resistance workout. Being Wednesday it was Daddy Cabs between 4.30pm and 7pm.
After putting together a radio show for 22 November - my last “normal” one of the year - I plonked myself in front of the telly and watched “High Anxiety”, which I had saved on Sky+. It was fun looking out for the Hitchcock references. After “Never Mind The Buzzcocks” I retired for the evening only to be woken up at 4.10 am by a little person who’d had a bad dream about a cat who had bitten her nose, after she failed to find a shark! Bless.
I put her back to bed but couldn’t sleep myself so I lay awake wondering what I would I would’ve done if I’d won £45m. I know that it’s an ultimately pointless exercise that only encourages disenchantment but it killed some time. (I had actually given a brief thought to getting up and going to the gym before work but I dismissed that idea just as quickly because (a) the gym hasn’t been so busy at 11 anymore and (b) I just couldn’t be arsed). I decided that I would like my own little venue, which would host gigs by, well, whoever I wanted. I’d have Jackie Leven and Roddy Frame playing, Teenage Fanclub together with The Orchids and any strings would be provided by my pals in the Cairn String Quartet (“very nice girls, very clean”).
On the way to work the petrol light came on in the car and I wondered where I’d get fuel. I headed for Craigleith Retail Park only to find a poorly lit car park (I ignored the road markings because I couldn’t see them) and a closed petrol station. As I leave the Park I see the Shell logo ahead and chastise myself for forgetting about this petrol station, which I pass twice every day. I’m in and out the petrol station very efficiently and back on the road to work.
I need to get to work sharp because the car park, which is only for those and such as those, is being used for an event over a number of days and, coupled with local roadworks, means spaces are at a premium. I also need some cash but I decide to park the car first and then walk back around the corner to the bank. Spending my lunch in the gym means I don’t really get much fresh air during the day so I don’t mind the walk. Not that there are many people about. I do like the serenity of the early hours – the calm before the storm, if you like.
It’s official! Christmas is upon us as I’ve dug out the Christmas Card address spreadsheet. We all have one, right? RIGHT? I used to keep a note of who sent us one and who didn’t. If we didn’t get one for two years in a row they were chopped off the list - I'm brutal that way. Over the last two years we’ve received cards from people we don’t know or at least can’t work out who they are. I think one is from a distant cousin but the others, Karen and Andy, I’ve no idea. Even she-who-must-be-obeyed can’t work out who they are and she remembers everyone and everything. (Well, almost everything – her tendency to forget to charge her mobile and /or switch it on infuriates me but that’s another rant for another day!)
Fell asleep on the settee tonight. Watched a "Modern Family" double bill while suffering heartburn (I knew that second ginger cake was a bad idea) and then wasted the rest of the evening watching nothing in particular.
Yesterday came and went. I observed the two-minutes silence in the gym before doing my resistance workout. Being Wednesday it was Daddy Cabs between 4.30pm and 7pm.
After putting together a radio show for 22 November - my last “normal” one of the year - I plonked myself in front of the telly and watched “High Anxiety”, which I had saved on Sky+. It was fun looking out for the Hitchcock references. After “Never Mind The Buzzcocks” I retired for the evening only to be woken up at 4.10 am by a little person who’d had a bad dream about a cat who had bitten her nose, after she failed to find a shark! Bless.
I put her back to bed but couldn’t sleep myself so I lay awake wondering what I would I would’ve done if I’d won £45m. I know that it’s an ultimately pointless exercise that only encourages disenchantment but it killed some time. (I had actually given a brief thought to getting up and going to the gym before work but I dismissed that idea just as quickly because (a) the gym hasn’t been so busy at 11 anymore and (b) I just couldn’t be arsed). I decided that I would like my own little venue, which would host gigs by, well, whoever I wanted. I’d have Jackie Leven and Roddy Frame playing, Teenage Fanclub together with The Orchids and any strings would be provided by my pals in the Cairn String Quartet (“very nice girls, very clean”).
On the way to work the petrol light came on in the car and I wondered where I’d get fuel. I headed for Craigleith Retail Park only to find a poorly lit car park (I ignored the road markings because I couldn’t see them) and a closed petrol station. As I leave the Park I see the Shell logo ahead and chastise myself for forgetting about this petrol station, which I pass twice every day. I’m in and out the petrol station very efficiently and back on the road to work.
I need to get to work sharp because the car park, which is only for those and such as those, is being used for an event over a number of days and, coupled with local roadworks, means spaces are at a premium. I also need some cash but I decide to park the car first and then walk back around the corner to the bank. Spending my lunch in the gym means I don’t really get much fresh air during the day so I don’t mind the walk. Not that there are many people about. I do like the serenity of the early hours – the calm before the storm, if you like.
It’s official! Christmas is upon us as I’ve dug out the Christmas Card address spreadsheet. We all have one, right? RIGHT? I used to keep a note of who sent us one and who didn’t. If we didn’t get one for two years in a row they were chopped off the list - I'm brutal that way. Over the last two years we’ve received cards from people we don’t know or at least can’t work out who they are. I think one is from a distant cousin but the others, Karen and Andy, I’ve no idea. Even she-who-must-be-obeyed can’t work out who they are and she remembers everyone and everything. (Well, almost everything – her tendency to forget to charge her mobile and /or switch it on infuriates me but that’s another rant for another day!)
Fell asleep on the settee tonight. Watched a "Modern Family" double bill while suffering heartburn (I knew that second ginger cake was a bad idea) and then wasted the rest of the evening watching nothing in particular.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
When Is A Right Turn Not a Right Turn?
Wednesday 11 November
I finally finished my two entries for the Hospital Broadcasting Association awards. All I can do now is wait. Now I can concentrate on putting together my four Christmas shows. Last year I did a fifth show, on Christmas Eve, which was a countdown of my Top 30 Christmas records of all time. I might try and rope my mate Dave in to assist me on that one. I’m actually working on Christmas Eve so I may have to record it. I thought it was great that so many people volunteered to do shows on Christmas Eve last year only to then find out that they all recorded them except for me! I remember last year because I had to pull over on the way to the show because I was going to be on Radio Scotland, talking about working over Christmas (i.e. hospital radio) and Christmas music in general. I managed to combine both topics on air.
Today’s #baddriver was a cracker. At approximately 0605 this morning, while driving into Edinburgh from Fife, a red Subaru Forester T755NGA in front of me turned RIGHT on to Craigcrook Road, which is clearly marked as a No Right Turn from Queensferry Road, at the busy junction with Quality Street. Luckily there were no vehicles coming the other way.
Apparently there would be little point in reporting this idiot unless I have two witnesses (including me). It is also unlikely that cameras would cover that junction, except for “traffic flow”. C’est la vie.
I finally finished my two entries for the Hospital Broadcasting Association awards. All I can do now is wait. Now I can concentrate on putting together my four Christmas shows. Last year I did a fifth show, on Christmas Eve, which was a countdown of my Top 30 Christmas records of all time. I might try and rope my mate Dave in to assist me on that one. I’m actually working on Christmas Eve so I may have to record it. I thought it was great that so many people volunteered to do shows on Christmas Eve last year only to then find out that they all recorded them except for me! I remember last year because I had to pull over on the way to the show because I was going to be on Radio Scotland, talking about working over Christmas (i.e. hospital radio) and Christmas music in general. I managed to combine both topics on air.
Today’s #baddriver was a cracker. At approximately 0605 this morning, while driving into Edinburgh from Fife, a red Subaru Forester T755NGA in front of me turned RIGHT on to Craigcrook Road, which is clearly marked as a No Right Turn from Queensferry Road, at the busy junction with Quality Street. Luckily there were no vehicles coming the other way.
Apparently there would be little point in reporting this idiot unless I have two witnesses (including me). It is also unlikely that cameras would cover that junction, except for “traffic flow”. C’est la vie.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Moody Tuesday
Tuesday 10 November
For much of the journey home last night I trailed behind a light blue Fiat Punto (W971OFB) that had a wobbly back left wheel. I haven’t seen such a wobbly tyre since I watched the last Kerry Katona fitness DVD. I kept well back.
Flick’s weekly forgetfulness began with a scarf and one glove! She’d forget her own head…blah blah blah…you know the rest.
I performed a lot better on University Challenge last night than I normally do. Okay, I wasn’t so much “on” University Challenge as shouting-at-the-television-while-University-Challenge-was-on. I was particularly pleased to get all of the countries of the three African Champions League football teams. Kick on.
Also watched The Gadget Show, which always has an amazing prize list. So much so that Harry Hill took the mickey out of it on his TV Burp. Forget the £90million Euromillions jackpot, I’d settle for the Gadget Show bumper prize hamper any day. Okay, most days. Well, on a Monday night.
Did some more work on my HBA entries before bedtime and investigated my “slip” from Sunday. Thankfully the faux pas is barely audible and you would only really know what I said if I told you the word and where it was on the recording. Phew! Okay so it was hardly in the Ross-Brand league but it was enough of a worry for me to confess all to the chairman. Honesty is, almost always, the best policy.
Work came and went today. Busy enough not to get bored but ultimately unsatisfying.
For much of the journey home last night I trailed behind a light blue Fiat Punto (W971OFB) that had a wobbly back left wheel. I haven’t seen such a wobbly tyre since I watched the last Kerry Katona fitness DVD. I kept well back.
Flick’s weekly forgetfulness began with a scarf and one glove! She’d forget her own head…blah blah blah…you know the rest.
I performed a lot better on University Challenge last night than I normally do. Okay, I wasn’t so much “on” University Challenge as shouting-at-the-television-while-University-Challenge-was-on. I was particularly pleased to get all of the countries of the three African Champions League football teams. Kick on.
Also watched The Gadget Show, which always has an amazing prize list. So much so that Harry Hill took the mickey out of it on his TV Burp. Forget the £90million Euromillions jackpot, I’d settle for the Gadget Show bumper prize hamper any day. Okay, most days. Well, on a Monday night.
Did some more work on my HBA entries before bedtime and investigated my “slip” from Sunday. Thankfully the faux pas is barely audible and you would only really know what I said if I told you the word and where it was on the recording. Phew! Okay so it was hardly in the Ross-Brand league but it was enough of a worry for me to confess all to the chairman. Honesty is, almost always, the best policy.
Work came and went today. Busy enough not to get bored but ultimately unsatisfying.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Heave on - to Euston
Saturday 7 November
I forgot to mention that yesterday, while at the gym, I received a missed call on my mobile from 07973100194. Being wary not to call back numbers I don’t recognise I Googled the number. I looked at one web forum and many of the contributors seemed to suggest that this number was either being used by Orange, a company pretending to work for Orange or scamsters. Either way you should ignore any calls from this number and, if you do answer it, don't give them any information whatsoever. The number of calls being received from this number has increased drastically since people starting noting interest in the iPhone. It puts me off using Orange but I'll delve a bit further. I hate aggressive sales like this. Some people were getting repeated calls but, so far, I’ve only had one.
It’s always concerned me that you can only contact such a major communications company as Orange by snail mail. I wrote several letters to them on an issue I had with dodgy texts and I never got one reply. I also don’t like the way they try and make their dolphin, elephant, aardvark and duck-billed playtus contracts sound like Pay As You Go.
Felicity wrote a short story called “Fantastic Charlotte”. She read it to me and when she finished I said, as any parent would do, “Very good, darling”. To which she responded, “Yes, but it needs an ending!” Brilliant.
Did some more work on my HBA entries and pottered about until the brilliant “The Thick of It”. However, while watching the extra bits on the BBC’s Interactive red Button, I made the fatal mistake of lying down on the settee and promptly fell asleep.
Sunday 8 November
A lie-in of sorts. I watch “Match of the Day”, taped from Saturday night (so I can skip through the studio analysis and just watch the “action”), while the girls have breakfast Normally they go to church but today K and D are heading off to the shops. I go to church religiously, once a year at Christmas. Even the lure of a Kinder egg wasn’t enough to persuade Flick to join the ladies–who-like-to-shop.
Flick went to a fancy dress birthday party yesterday, as a cat, and won a Rugrats DVD in one of the games. The fact that she was the only one who bothered to enter this particular dancing contest didn’t matter – she’d won! She spent the morning watching all 8 episodes from the DVD. Normally she doesn’t get to watch so much telly but I had a load of stuff to do in the study and she was happy enough. A win-win situation.
I put my radio show playlist up on this blog, the Jocknroll blog and my Facebook page before heading off to the radio station early. I’m going via Toys R Us at the Chapel Retail Park on the outskirts of Kirkcaldy to see if I can get a Playmobil advent calendar. I’m met with chaos. It seems Christmas shopping has now started in earnest, with all the dithering knuckle-dragging pedestrians and equally clueless drivers turning a potentially stressful afternoon into a living, breathing, mong-infested nightmare. The car park seems relatively small for the size of the place and all those people who can’t walk the length of themselves are circling round and round and round trying to get a spot nearest the store they‘re heading for. I give up on this idea and park at the furthest end of the car park, outside B&Q. It’s not exactly a big Retail Park and you could easily walk from one end to the other in under 5 minutes.
My trawl round a mobbed Toys R Us is fruitless. They have Playmobil but no advent calendars. Argos doesn’t have Playmobil either. After a cursory glance round PC World - a shop I dislike - to look at Mac Books and Windows 7, I head back to the car and leave through the alternative, quieter exit.
I pop into Asda to see if they have Playmobil and leave instead with Men’s Health and some Lucozade. I head off to the station and get there before Graham has even started his show. He does the 3 until 5 slot and plays a lot of stuff that you wouldn’t normally hear on the radio. Decent rocky, folky, bluesy stuff but not averse to the occasional bit of pop. It’s not my cup of tea but whatever floats your boat. He does play the occasional track that makes me wander from my studio to enquire, “What was that?” Today he opened with a great Canned Heat track. He begins the second half of the show with an hour-long interview with The Bee Gees that he recorded three weeks ago. I’m impressed. I like him and we have some good banter together.
The chairman points out that the entry I sent him for the Speech category at the awards needs tweaking at the start and finish and there’s an overlapping bit after a minute. I listen to it and see exactly what he means. Sometimes when you’ve spent so long working that you can easily miss something. It’s good to get fresh ears on it. I’ll sort the problems when I get home.
With the proposed Speech entry sorted I need to re-do the Specialist Music entry. Some of the Andrew Collins interview features on my specialist Music entry and I need to take it all out, with the exception of the conversation about Joe Meek and The Honeycombs. I’ve got a couple of ideas for additions from today’s show. I need to emphasise the mod/soul element of the show more.
The show doesn’t start well. The first record is supposed to be “One Fine Day” by The Chiffons but I play The Ronettes “You Bet I Would” by mistake. As it’s the first track I play, straight out of the news, it doesn’t get introduced so the listener doesn’t know it’s the wrong track. However, I know and I’m pissed off. I put far too much pressure on myself to do the perfect show and I end up making at least one error per show. I want to do a consistent show but not a consistently error-strewn one.
One thing that really annoys me is when I’m doing my show is when someone just walks into the studio unannounced or without so much as a knock on the door. Some presenters don’t mind it but I do. I find it off-putting. Graham and I respect each other’s boundaries and I try not to overstay my welcome in his studio when he’s on air.
Disaster struck during the second half of my show. For some reason I left my mic open and, for reasons I won’t go into, I swore. I don’t know if the sound of the record masked it or if it went out on the air but it wasn’t deliberate. I was concerned enough to scan my recorded show when I got home. I haven’t heard anything yet but I’ll need to give it another closer listen tonight. If it went out it’ll probably mean a suspension, which, in the run-up to my St.Andrews’s Day Jocknroll show and my four Christmas specials, would be a sickener.
The rest of the show passed in a blur as I beat myself up over the cock-up. Luckily I had Felicity to cheer me up when I got home. She had used some plastic bricks to make a train platform and a train. She said her train had 18 carriages. I said, “That’s a long train”, to which she replied, “Yes, it’s the London train!” From the mouths of babes…
I forgot to mention that yesterday, while at the gym, I received a missed call on my mobile from 07973100194. Being wary not to call back numbers I don’t recognise I Googled the number. I looked at one web forum and many of the contributors seemed to suggest that this number was either being used by Orange, a company pretending to work for Orange or scamsters. Either way you should ignore any calls from this number and, if you do answer it, don't give them any information whatsoever. The number of calls being received from this number has increased drastically since people starting noting interest in the iPhone. It puts me off using Orange but I'll delve a bit further. I hate aggressive sales like this. Some people were getting repeated calls but, so far, I’ve only had one.
It’s always concerned me that you can only contact such a major communications company as Orange by snail mail. I wrote several letters to them on an issue I had with dodgy texts and I never got one reply. I also don’t like the way they try and make their dolphin, elephant, aardvark and duck-billed playtus contracts sound like Pay As You Go.
Felicity wrote a short story called “Fantastic Charlotte”. She read it to me and when she finished I said, as any parent would do, “Very good, darling”. To which she responded, “Yes, but it needs an ending!” Brilliant.
Did some more work on my HBA entries and pottered about until the brilliant “The Thick of It”. However, while watching the extra bits on the BBC’s Interactive red Button, I made the fatal mistake of lying down on the settee and promptly fell asleep.
Sunday 8 November
A lie-in of sorts. I watch “Match of the Day”, taped from Saturday night (so I can skip through the studio analysis and just watch the “action”), while the girls have breakfast Normally they go to church but today K and D are heading off to the shops. I go to church religiously, once a year at Christmas. Even the lure of a Kinder egg wasn’t enough to persuade Flick to join the ladies–who-like-to-shop.
Flick went to a fancy dress birthday party yesterday, as a cat, and won a Rugrats DVD in one of the games. The fact that she was the only one who bothered to enter this particular dancing contest didn’t matter – she’d won! She spent the morning watching all 8 episodes from the DVD. Normally she doesn’t get to watch so much telly but I had a load of stuff to do in the study and she was happy enough. A win-win situation.
I put my radio show playlist up on this blog, the Jocknroll blog and my Facebook page before heading off to the radio station early. I’m going via Toys R Us at the Chapel Retail Park on the outskirts of Kirkcaldy to see if I can get a Playmobil advent calendar. I’m met with chaos. It seems Christmas shopping has now started in earnest, with all the dithering knuckle-dragging pedestrians and equally clueless drivers turning a potentially stressful afternoon into a living, breathing, mong-infested nightmare. The car park seems relatively small for the size of the place and all those people who can’t walk the length of themselves are circling round and round and round trying to get a spot nearest the store they‘re heading for. I give up on this idea and park at the furthest end of the car park, outside B&Q. It’s not exactly a big Retail Park and you could easily walk from one end to the other in under 5 minutes.
My trawl round a mobbed Toys R Us is fruitless. They have Playmobil but no advent calendars. Argos doesn’t have Playmobil either. After a cursory glance round PC World - a shop I dislike - to look at Mac Books and Windows 7, I head back to the car and leave through the alternative, quieter exit.
I pop into Asda to see if they have Playmobil and leave instead with Men’s Health and some Lucozade. I head off to the station and get there before Graham has even started his show. He does the 3 until 5 slot and plays a lot of stuff that you wouldn’t normally hear on the radio. Decent rocky, folky, bluesy stuff but not averse to the occasional bit of pop. It’s not my cup of tea but whatever floats your boat. He does play the occasional track that makes me wander from my studio to enquire, “What was that?” Today he opened with a great Canned Heat track. He begins the second half of the show with an hour-long interview with The Bee Gees that he recorded three weeks ago. I’m impressed. I like him and we have some good banter together.
The chairman points out that the entry I sent him for the Speech category at the awards needs tweaking at the start and finish and there’s an overlapping bit after a minute. I listen to it and see exactly what he means. Sometimes when you’ve spent so long working that you can easily miss something. It’s good to get fresh ears on it. I’ll sort the problems when I get home.
With the proposed Speech entry sorted I need to re-do the Specialist Music entry. Some of the Andrew Collins interview features on my specialist Music entry and I need to take it all out, with the exception of the conversation about Joe Meek and The Honeycombs. I’ve got a couple of ideas for additions from today’s show. I need to emphasise the mod/soul element of the show more.
The show doesn’t start well. The first record is supposed to be “One Fine Day” by The Chiffons but I play The Ronettes “You Bet I Would” by mistake. As it’s the first track I play, straight out of the news, it doesn’t get introduced so the listener doesn’t know it’s the wrong track. However, I know and I’m pissed off. I put far too much pressure on myself to do the perfect show and I end up making at least one error per show. I want to do a consistent show but not a consistently error-strewn one.
One thing that really annoys me is when I’m doing my show is when someone just walks into the studio unannounced or without so much as a knock on the door. Some presenters don’t mind it but I do. I find it off-putting. Graham and I respect each other’s boundaries and I try not to overstay my welcome in his studio when he’s on air.
Disaster struck during the second half of my show. For some reason I left my mic open and, for reasons I won’t go into, I swore. I don’t know if the sound of the record masked it or if it went out on the air but it wasn’t deliberate. I was concerned enough to scan my recorded show when I got home. I haven’t heard anything yet but I’ll need to give it another closer listen tonight. If it went out it’ll probably mean a suspension, which, in the run-up to my St.Andrews’s Day Jocknroll show and my four Christmas specials, would be a sickener.
The rest of the show passed in a blur as I beat myself up over the cock-up. Luckily I had Felicity to cheer me up when I got home. She had used some plastic bricks to make a train platform and a train. She said her train had 18 carriages. I said, “That’s a long train”, to which she replied, “Yes, it’s the London train!” From the mouths of babes…
Sunday, November 08, 2009
The Cat on "Where The Action Is" Kirkcaldy VRN 1287 AM - Sunday 8 November 2009
Another cracking line-up, even if I do say so myself (and I do):
The Chiffons - One Fine Day (Laurie 1963)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)
The Castaways - Liar Liar (Soma 1965)
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Yester Love (Motown 1968)
Noel Scott Engel - The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime) (Philips 1967)
Emitt Rhodes - With My Face On The Floor (Dunhill 1970)
The Cookies - Chains (Dimension 1963)
The Leaves - Hey Joe (Mira 1965)
Scott Walker - Butterfly (Philips 1969) (Connect 3)
The Butterflys - Gee Baby Gee (Red Bird 1964) (Connect 3)
Cher - Elusive Butterfly (Liberty 1966) (Connect 3)
Dusty Springfield - Windmills of Your Mind (Mercury 1968)
The Essex - A Walkin' Miracle (Roulette 1963)
Creation - Making Time (Planet 1966) (Birthday: 8/11/44 Jack Jones, drummer)
Billie Davis - Angel of the Morning (Decca 1967)
The Cryan Shames - Sugar and Spice (Destination 1966)
Brigitte Bardot - Bubble Gum (Mercury 1966) (Foreign Language)
The 23rd Turnoff - Michaelangelo (Decca 1967)
The Flee-Rekkers - Fireball (Piccadilly 1963) (Half-Time Instrumental)
Michael and the Messengers - Just Like Romeo and Juliet (USA 1967)
The Honeys - The One You Can't Have (Capitol 1963)
The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations (Capitol 1966) (The A to Z of The Beach Boys - G)
The Beach Boys - Games Two Can Play (Unreleased) (The A to Z of The Beach Boys - G)
The Ivy League - Lulu's Back In Town (Piccadilly 1965)
Lulu - Are You Ready For Love (EMI 1969)
Camera Obscura - The Sweetest Thing (4AD 2009) (Under The Influence)
The Chantels - I'm Confessin' (That I Love You) (End 1958)
Mike Stevens and The Shevelles - The Go Go Train (Pye 1967)
The Velvelettes - I'm The Exception To The Rule (VIP 1965)
The Beatstalkers - Sugar Chocolate Machine (CBS 1967) (Connect 3)
Chocolate Watch Band - Let's Talk About Girls (Tower 1967) (Connect 3)
The Seeds - Chocolate River (GNP Crescendo 1977) (Connect 3)
The Toys - A Lover's Concerto (DynoVoice 1965)
Barbara Ruskin - Yesterday's Coffee (President 1972)
Electric Prunes - Ain't It Hard (Reprise 1966) (Two of a Kind)
Electric Prunes - I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) (Reprise 1966) (Two of a Kind)
Nancy Sinatra - Your Groovy Self (Unreleased 1968)
Felder's Orioles - Turn On Your Lovelight (Piccadilly 1965)
Aphrodite's Child - The Four Horsemen (Vertigo 1971)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)
It'll be doing a Jocknroll Beat special on the 29th and then four weeks of Christmas tracks. Feel free to make any recommendations for either, although I have plenty of tracks to choose from already.
Good day and good health.
The Cat
=^..^=
The Chiffons - One Fine Day (Laurie 1963)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)
The Castaways - Liar Liar (Soma 1965)
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Yester Love (Motown 1968)
Noel Scott Engel - The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime) (Philips 1967)
Emitt Rhodes - With My Face On The Floor (Dunhill 1970)
The Cookies - Chains (Dimension 1963)
The Leaves - Hey Joe (Mira 1965)
Scott Walker - Butterfly (Philips 1969) (Connect 3)
The Butterflys - Gee Baby Gee (Red Bird 1964) (Connect 3)
Cher - Elusive Butterfly (Liberty 1966) (Connect 3)
Dusty Springfield - Windmills of Your Mind (Mercury 1968)
The Essex - A Walkin' Miracle (Roulette 1963)
Creation - Making Time (Planet 1966) (Birthday: 8/11/44 Jack Jones, drummer)
Billie Davis - Angel of the Morning (Decca 1967)
The Cryan Shames - Sugar and Spice (Destination 1966)
Brigitte Bardot - Bubble Gum (Mercury 1966) (Foreign Language)
The 23rd Turnoff - Michaelangelo (Decca 1967)
The Flee-Rekkers - Fireball (Piccadilly 1963) (Half-Time Instrumental)
Michael and the Messengers - Just Like Romeo and Juliet (USA 1967)
The Honeys - The One You Can't Have (Capitol 1963)
The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations (Capitol 1966) (The A to Z of The Beach Boys - G)
The Beach Boys - Games Two Can Play (Unreleased) (The A to Z of The Beach Boys - G)
The Ivy League - Lulu's Back In Town (Piccadilly 1965)
Lulu - Are You Ready For Love (EMI 1969)
Camera Obscura - The Sweetest Thing (4AD 2009) (Under The Influence)
The Chantels - I'm Confessin' (That I Love You) (End 1958)
Mike Stevens and The Shevelles - The Go Go Train (Pye 1967)
The Velvelettes - I'm The Exception To The Rule (VIP 1965)
The Beatstalkers - Sugar Chocolate Machine (CBS 1967) (Connect 3)
Chocolate Watch Band - Let's Talk About Girls (Tower 1967) (Connect 3)
The Seeds - Chocolate River (GNP Crescendo 1977) (Connect 3)
The Toys - A Lover's Concerto (DynoVoice 1965)
Barbara Ruskin - Yesterday's Coffee (President 1972)
Electric Prunes - Ain't It Hard (Reprise 1966) (Two of a Kind)
Electric Prunes - I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) (Reprise 1966) (Two of a Kind)
Nancy Sinatra - Your Groovy Self (Unreleased 1968)
Felder's Orioles - Turn On Your Lovelight (Piccadilly 1965)
Aphrodite's Child - The Four Horsemen (Vertigo 1971)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)
It'll be doing a Jocknroll Beat special on the 29th and then four weeks of Christmas tracks. Feel free to make any recommendations for either, although I have plenty of tracks to choose from already.
Good day and good health.
The Cat
=^..^=
Saturday, November 07, 2009
When I'm Not Cleaning Windows
Monday 26 October
Wrote a review of Sergeant’s debut album for the Jocknroll blog. It’ll certainly be one of my albums of the year come the time people start making lists of their albums/records/TV shows of the year, which is any time now.
Things have calmed down on the drive to and from work and while I’m still swearing like a trooper in the car at some of the imbeciles who’ve been allowed to grace out roads I’m less inclined to ‘out’ them on Twitter under the #baddriver tag.
Had the gym to myself today. I’ve upped the Shoulder Press by 1 weight and I’ve replaced “the plank” with some sit-ups for a few weeks just to see what difference they make.
Today is the first day of Daddy Cabs picking up both girls on the same run. I now pick K up from a more stress-free train station. By that I mean that I don’t get wound up by witnessing lazy people parking in Disabled bays or blocking off other vehicles because (a) they can’t be bothered to find a parking space (it’s hardly the biggest car park in the world) and (b) they can’t walk the length of themselves (some of them could do with the exercise – since when is being fat and lazy a disability?) There are always plenty of spaces at the new station and the journey to and from is generally less stressful.
Having checked the questions for the quiz night I realise that despite adding an extra audio round there are actually less points available than last year! Last year’s quiz went really quickly and there some grumbles about that. In a panic I write some more questions.
Tuesday 27 October
The evening was spent preparing this Sunday’s radio show and giving some thought to my entry for the HBA awards. I was well chuffed to be nominated last year and I know I'll need to improve for this year’s awards. With the awards being in Erskine, along the M8, he station are keen to get as many entries in as possible. Whether we win or get any nominations is another story. Fingers crossed.
Wednesday 28 October
My first #baddriver in a wee while this morning as SN02 ZBV proves time and time again on the route from Barnton to Craigleith that the concept of indicating is an alien one to him. It’s okay, mate, we’re all mind readers capable of knowing exactly what you’re going to do next. Cock!
My daughter was complaining of headaches. Just as I was giving her some Calpol in her bed, she threw up all over the carpet, the bed and me. The smell and mess were not pleasant. Scrambled eggs everywhere! That wasn’t the end of it but I’ll leave it there.
Thursday 29 October
I’m knackered. Maybe all this gym work is taking its toll or maybe I’m not getting enough sleep but I’m exhausted. Last night’s clean up took it out of me and I didn’t sit down until 10pm, which is normally when I prepare for bed. I watched “Never Mind The Buzzcocks” to wind down and then trundled off to bed.
Parking at work is at a premium at the moment due to roadworks. What? Roadworks in Edinburgh? Shurley shome mishtake! At 0618 I got myself parked and took a walk to the nearest cash machine. My attention was drawn to a sticker on the machine as I typed in my PIN. It said “Cash Machine Best Practice”. I don’t know if it was the patronising tone suggesting I wasn’t smart enough to hide my own PIN number from prying eyes or the use of “best practice”, the type of office bullshit wankspeak that drives me up the wall, but it annoyed me. “Best practice” is up there with “equality impact assessment”, “competency framework” and “360 degree appraisal” when it comes to corporate tosh. Almost as bad as L’Oreal’s made up ingredients – Boswelox, Pro-Tensium, Pro-Retinol A…Even Avon are at it now.
Monday 2 November
I just can’t get used to these early starts and although the alarm is set for 5.30am I still have an annoying habit of waking up at 4am!
Did crap on University Challenge. I get annoyed that it makes me feel stupid, even though I’m not (honest). It doesn’t help when she-who-must-be-obeyed reels off answer after answer.
Tuesday 3 November
Took a half-day so I could (a) meet Flick’s new teacher and (b) put some work into my HBA awards entry. The chat with the new teacher was rather brief – I spent more time talking to the Head – but worthwhile in terms of putting a face to the name. Apparently Flick is regarded as “a bit of a character”. I think (and hope) that’s a good thing. I also wonder if every school is like Waterloo Road or Grange Hill. I do hope not.
Wednesday 4 November
Taking an hour off work so I can trail to Glenrothes to pick up a parcel that was undelivered yesterday. Only complaint is that the card didn’t specify whom the parcel was for and if ID was required. Luckily, it was for me and I had my driving licence. Considering the out-of-the-way location of the depot it would be a bit of a pain if someone had arrived with little or no ID or to find that the parcel wasn’t for them but a spouse or family member and then have to trail back home for ID. I only took one wrong turn on the way back to Dunfermline! Glenrothes is a warren of roundabouts and “sneaky” roads and I never leave there without taking some sort of "detour".
After an hour at home Daddy Cabs is back out on the road to collect Flick (today she has left her bag at school) and the Good Lady Wife. We then have less than an hour at home before we have to head out again. I drop the girls off at Rainbows/Guides and head off on the A92 to Kirkcaldy for a VRN meeting to discuss the HBA awards and who will be entered in which category. I’ve put together an entry for the Best Specialist Music category but after the meeting I decide it needs amending to give more emphasis to the mod/soul element of it. I’ve also volunteered a possible entry in the Speech category, using five minutes from the Andrew Collins interview I did in August.
On the way home some twat decides to tailgate me while sticking his full beams on. The lights didn’t seem legal – there was a blue tinge around the outside – and the ferocity of them was blinding. Cock!
Watched “Never Mind The Buzzcocks” and Jamelia, whose music I’m rather indifferent to, was hilarious. During the Identity Parade round she said she knew the answer because the person in the line-up had tried to sell a story on her to the press! Priceless.
Thursday 5 November
Same shit, different day. it's amazing the effect all this exercise is having on me. I'm so much more industrious, concentrating better and generally more efficient and not wasting a minute.
Once again I had the gym to myself. Do I smell? Well, I don't when I first go in.
Made a “Girls! Girls! Girls!” compilation for a colleague. You always hope someone likes a compilation you've made them. I still put as much work into a CD compilation as I ever did with the cassette equivalents. It's just a lot quicker now.
Friday 6 November
E-mailed our property management to point out that a neighbour was parking his car on a piece of grass that we all the local residents pay maintenance for. He usually has three, sometimes four, vehicles parked around his house (and I don't just mean "normal" cars) and he's decided that the one piece of grass in the street (bar everyone's own gardens) is now his. It isn't. He's now badly churned up the grass and the irony is that he's a green keeper! I've never really had a problem with him until now. It'll be interesting to see if the property management, who get a big annual fee from residents both to pull their finger out. My issue is not so much the damage done but the prospect of the bill being passed on to all the residents instead of the perpetrator of the damage.
Saturday 7 November
A very industrious morning and by 9am I'd fed the birds (well, filled the feeders) , de-iced the car, taken the mountain of recycling to Tesco, drunk to cups of coffee and eaten boiled eggs on toast. Listened to the fabulous "Sounds of the Sixties" between 8 and 10 and then turned over to BBC6Music where Andrew Collins and Richard Herring were sitting in for Adam and Joe. Did my radio listening while preparing tomorrow's radio show. Realised that I had pencilled two tracks by Scott Walker and Cher so I've binned one Cher track ("Twelfth of Never") but as one of the Scott Walker tracks was from Scott 4, which was released under his real name on Noel Scott Engel, I'm playing both of those. My show, my rules.
It's going to be an Andrew Collins sort of day because later I'm going to cut my 31 minute interview with him down to 5 minutes as a possible entry for the HBA awards.
Spooky or what? My neighbour, the green keeper, has started to attempt to patch up the deep tyre tracks on the grass but it looks like he's taking turf from another part of the same piece of land! Does he think no-one will notice? Hmm, interesting.
The window cleaner climbs over the side fence before realising that it wasn't actually locked! One of these days, I'll get around to cleaning them on the inside!
Make the fatal mistake of sitting down to watch 5 minutes of a game only to see a pulsating 45 minutes between Swansea and Cardiff fly by. It's 2-2 at the break after a thrilling first half.
Wrote a review of Sergeant’s debut album for the Jocknroll blog. It’ll certainly be one of my albums of the year come the time people start making lists of their albums/records/TV shows of the year, which is any time now.
Things have calmed down on the drive to and from work and while I’m still swearing like a trooper in the car at some of the imbeciles who’ve been allowed to grace out roads I’m less inclined to ‘out’ them on Twitter under the #baddriver tag.
Had the gym to myself today. I’ve upped the Shoulder Press by 1 weight and I’ve replaced “the plank” with some sit-ups for a few weeks just to see what difference they make.
Today is the first day of Daddy Cabs picking up both girls on the same run. I now pick K up from a more stress-free train station. By that I mean that I don’t get wound up by witnessing lazy people parking in Disabled bays or blocking off other vehicles because (a) they can’t be bothered to find a parking space (it’s hardly the biggest car park in the world) and (b) they can’t walk the length of themselves (some of them could do with the exercise – since when is being fat and lazy a disability?) There are always plenty of spaces at the new station and the journey to and from is generally less stressful.
Having checked the questions for the quiz night I realise that despite adding an extra audio round there are actually less points available than last year! Last year’s quiz went really quickly and there some grumbles about that. In a panic I write some more questions.
Tuesday 27 October
The evening was spent preparing this Sunday’s radio show and giving some thought to my entry for the HBA awards. I was well chuffed to be nominated last year and I know I'll need to improve for this year’s awards. With the awards being in Erskine, along the M8, he station are keen to get as many entries in as possible. Whether we win or get any nominations is another story. Fingers crossed.
Wednesday 28 October
My first #baddriver in a wee while this morning as SN02 ZBV proves time and time again on the route from Barnton to Craigleith that the concept of indicating is an alien one to him. It’s okay, mate, we’re all mind readers capable of knowing exactly what you’re going to do next. Cock!
My daughter was complaining of headaches. Just as I was giving her some Calpol in her bed, she threw up all over the carpet, the bed and me. The smell and mess were not pleasant. Scrambled eggs everywhere! That wasn’t the end of it but I’ll leave it there.
Thursday 29 October
I’m knackered. Maybe all this gym work is taking its toll or maybe I’m not getting enough sleep but I’m exhausted. Last night’s clean up took it out of me and I didn’t sit down until 10pm, which is normally when I prepare for bed. I watched “Never Mind The Buzzcocks” to wind down and then trundled off to bed.
Parking at work is at a premium at the moment due to roadworks. What? Roadworks in Edinburgh? Shurley shome mishtake! At 0618 I got myself parked and took a walk to the nearest cash machine. My attention was drawn to a sticker on the machine as I typed in my PIN. It said “Cash Machine Best Practice”. I don’t know if it was the patronising tone suggesting I wasn’t smart enough to hide my own PIN number from prying eyes or the use of “best practice”, the type of office bullshit wankspeak that drives me up the wall, but it annoyed me. “Best practice” is up there with “equality impact assessment”, “competency framework” and “360 degree appraisal” when it comes to corporate tosh. Almost as bad as L’Oreal’s made up ingredients – Boswelox, Pro-Tensium, Pro-Retinol A…Even Avon are at it now.
Monday 2 November
I just can’t get used to these early starts and although the alarm is set for 5.30am I still have an annoying habit of waking up at 4am!
Did crap on University Challenge. I get annoyed that it makes me feel stupid, even though I’m not (honest). It doesn’t help when she-who-must-be-obeyed reels off answer after answer.
Tuesday 3 November
Took a half-day so I could (a) meet Flick’s new teacher and (b) put some work into my HBA awards entry. The chat with the new teacher was rather brief – I spent more time talking to the Head – but worthwhile in terms of putting a face to the name. Apparently Flick is regarded as “a bit of a character”. I think (and hope) that’s a good thing. I also wonder if every school is like Waterloo Road or Grange Hill. I do hope not.
Wednesday 4 November
Taking an hour off work so I can trail to Glenrothes to pick up a parcel that was undelivered yesterday. Only complaint is that the card didn’t specify whom the parcel was for and if ID was required. Luckily, it was for me and I had my driving licence. Considering the out-of-the-way location of the depot it would be a bit of a pain if someone had arrived with little or no ID or to find that the parcel wasn’t for them but a spouse or family member and then have to trail back home for ID. I only took one wrong turn on the way back to Dunfermline! Glenrothes is a warren of roundabouts and “sneaky” roads and I never leave there without taking some sort of "detour".
After an hour at home Daddy Cabs is back out on the road to collect Flick (today she has left her bag at school) and the Good Lady Wife. We then have less than an hour at home before we have to head out again. I drop the girls off at Rainbows/Guides and head off on the A92 to Kirkcaldy for a VRN meeting to discuss the HBA awards and who will be entered in which category. I’ve put together an entry for the Best Specialist Music category but after the meeting I decide it needs amending to give more emphasis to the mod/soul element of it. I’ve also volunteered a possible entry in the Speech category, using five minutes from the Andrew Collins interview I did in August.
On the way home some twat decides to tailgate me while sticking his full beams on. The lights didn’t seem legal – there was a blue tinge around the outside – and the ferocity of them was blinding. Cock!
Watched “Never Mind The Buzzcocks” and Jamelia, whose music I’m rather indifferent to, was hilarious. During the Identity Parade round she said she knew the answer because the person in the line-up had tried to sell a story on her to the press! Priceless.
Thursday 5 November
Same shit, different day. it's amazing the effect all this exercise is having on me. I'm so much more industrious, concentrating better and generally more efficient and not wasting a minute.
Once again I had the gym to myself. Do I smell? Well, I don't when I first go in.
Made a “Girls! Girls! Girls!” compilation for a colleague. You always hope someone likes a compilation you've made them. I still put as much work into a CD compilation as I ever did with the cassette equivalents. It's just a lot quicker now.
Friday 6 November
E-mailed our property management to point out that a neighbour was parking his car on a piece of grass that we all the local residents pay maintenance for. He usually has three, sometimes four, vehicles parked around his house (and I don't just mean "normal" cars) and he's decided that the one piece of grass in the street (bar everyone's own gardens) is now his. It isn't. He's now badly churned up the grass and the irony is that he's a green keeper! I've never really had a problem with him until now. It'll be interesting to see if the property management, who get a big annual fee from residents both to pull their finger out. My issue is not so much the damage done but the prospect of the bill being passed on to all the residents instead of the perpetrator of the damage.
Saturday 7 November
A very industrious morning and by 9am I'd fed the birds (well, filled the feeders) , de-iced the car, taken the mountain of recycling to Tesco, drunk to cups of coffee and eaten boiled eggs on toast. Listened to the fabulous "Sounds of the Sixties" between 8 and 10 and then turned over to BBC6Music where Andrew Collins and Richard Herring were sitting in for Adam and Joe. Did my radio listening while preparing tomorrow's radio show. Realised that I had pencilled two tracks by Scott Walker and Cher so I've binned one Cher track ("Twelfth of Never") but as one of the Scott Walker tracks was from Scott 4, which was released under his real name on Noel Scott Engel, I'm playing both of those. My show, my rules.
It's going to be an Andrew Collins sort of day because later I'm going to cut my 31 minute interview with him down to 5 minutes as a possible entry for the HBA awards.
Spooky or what? My neighbour, the green keeper, has started to attempt to patch up the deep tyre tracks on the grass but it looks like he's taking turf from another part of the same piece of land! Does he think no-one will notice? Hmm, interesting.
The window cleaner climbs over the side fence before realising that it wasn't actually locked! One of these days, I'll get around to cleaning them on the inside!
Make the fatal mistake of sitting down to watch 5 minutes of a game only to see a pulsating 45 minutes between Swansea and Cardiff fly by. It's 2-2 at the break after a thrilling first half.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
The Cat on "Where The Action Is" Kirkcaldy VRN 1287AM - Sunday 1 November 2009
After last Sunday's Hallowe'en show, we're back to a "normal" one:
Mark Wirtz Orchestra & Chorus - I Can Hear Music (Decca 1969)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)
Sam and Dave - I Thank You (Stax 1968)
Herman's Hermits - No Milk Today (Columbia 1966)
The Staple Singers - When We Will Be Paid (For The Work We've Done) (Stax 1969)
Jan and Dean - Like A Summer Rain (J&D 1966)
Little Milton - We're Gonna Make It (Checker 1965)
The Beas - International Girl (Chattahoochee, Year Unknown)
Helen Shapiro - Queen for Tonight (Columbia 1963) (Connect 3)
Ike & Tina Turner - Mojo Queen (Sue 1963) (Connect 3)
Georgia Lynn - Sugar Shack Queen (Challenge 1963) (Connect 3)
Yvonne Baker & The Sensations - Party Across The Hall (Argo 1962)
The Beatstalkers - A Love Like Yours (Decca 1966)
Traffic - Rock n Roll Stew (Island 1971) (Birthday: 1/11/46 Ric Grech, bass)
Roger & The Gypsies - Pass The Hatchet (Seven B, 1965)
The Slickers - Johnny Too Bad (Trojan 1970)
Anne Kern - Tant Pis, Tant Pis Entre Donc (Come On In) (Ducretet Thomson) (Foreign Language)
Chris Farlowe - Yesterday's Papers (Immediate 1967)
Booker T and the MGs - Green Onions (live) (Volt 1962) (Half-Time Instrumental)
Mitty Collier - Help Me (Chess 1965)
Ginger Davis & The Snaps - I'm No Run Around (Rollercoaster 1961)
The Beach Boys - Forever (Brother 1970) (The A to Z of The Beach Boys - F)
The Beach Boys - Fun Fun Fun (Capitol 1964) (The A to Z of The Beach Boys - F)
The Who - Barbara Ann (Polydor 1966)
Fontella Bass - Safe and Sound (Checker 1966)
The Slingbacks - Hot On My Heels (Vinyl Japan 1993) (Under The Influence)
Erma Franklin - Light My Fire (Brunswick 1969)
The Liverbirds - Shop Around (Star-Club 1964)
Debbie Dean - Don't Let Him Shop Around (Motown 1961)
Barbara Carr - My Mama Told Me (Chess 1966) (Connect 3)
Mama Cass - California Earthquake (Dunhill 1967) (Connect 3)
Etta James - Tell Mama (Cadet 1967) (Connect 3)
The Action - Little Boy (Unreleased 1967/1968)
The Shangri-las - Hate To Say I Told You So (Sokane 1964)
Eddie Floyd - I'll Take Her (Stax 1967) (Two of a Kind)
Eddie Floyd - Big Bird (Stax 1967) (Two of a Kind)
Jo Ann Garrett - (I've Decided On) A Whole New Plan (Chess 1966)
Nicky Scott - Backstreet Girl (Immediate 1967)
Irma Thomas - Long After Tonight Is All Over (Imperial 1964)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)
It'll be doing a Jocknroll Beat special on the 29th and then four weeks of Christmas tracks. Feel free to make any recommendations for either, although I have plenty of tracks to choose from already.
Good day and good health.
The Cat
=^..^=
Mark Wirtz Orchestra & Chorus - I Can Hear Music (Decca 1969)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)
Sam and Dave - I Thank You (Stax 1968)
Herman's Hermits - No Milk Today (Columbia 1966)
The Staple Singers - When We Will Be Paid (For The Work We've Done) (Stax 1969)
Jan and Dean - Like A Summer Rain (J&D 1966)
Little Milton - We're Gonna Make It (Checker 1965)
The Beas - International Girl (Chattahoochee, Year Unknown)
Helen Shapiro - Queen for Tonight (Columbia 1963) (Connect 3)
Ike & Tina Turner - Mojo Queen (Sue 1963) (Connect 3)
Georgia Lynn - Sugar Shack Queen (Challenge 1963) (Connect 3)
Yvonne Baker & The Sensations - Party Across The Hall (Argo 1962)
The Beatstalkers - A Love Like Yours (Decca 1966)
Traffic - Rock n Roll Stew (Island 1971) (Birthday: 1/11/46 Ric Grech, bass)
Roger & The Gypsies - Pass The Hatchet (Seven B, 1965)
The Slickers - Johnny Too Bad (Trojan 1970)
Anne Kern - Tant Pis, Tant Pis Entre Donc (Come On In) (Ducretet Thomson) (Foreign Language)
Chris Farlowe - Yesterday's Papers (Immediate 1967)
Booker T and the MGs - Green Onions (live) (Volt 1962) (Half-Time Instrumental)
Mitty Collier - Help Me (Chess 1965)
Ginger Davis & The Snaps - I'm No Run Around (Rollercoaster 1961)
The Beach Boys - Forever (Brother 1970) (The A to Z of The Beach Boys - F)
The Beach Boys - Fun Fun Fun (Capitol 1964) (The A to Z of The Beach Boys - F)
The Who - Barbara Ann (Polydor 1966)
Fontella Bass - Safe and Sound (Checker 1966)
The Slingbacks - Hot On My Heels (Vinyl Japan 1993) (Under The Influence)
Erma Franklin - Light My Fire (Brunswick 1969)
The Liverbirds - Shop Around (Star-Club 1964)
Debbie Dean - Don't Let Him Shop Around (Motown 1961)
Barbara Carr - My Mama Told Me (Chess 1966) (Connect 3)
Mama Cass - California Earthquake (Dunhill 1967) (Connect 3)
Etta James - Tell Mama (Cadet 1967) (Connect 3)
The Action - Little Boy (Unreleased 1967/1968)
The Shangri-las - Hate To Say I Told You So (Sokane 1964)
Eddie Floyd - I'll Take Her (Stax 1967) (Two of a Kind)
Eddie Floyd - Big Bird (Stax 1967) (Two of a Kind)
Jo Ann Garrett - (I've Decided On) A Whole New Plan (Chess 1966)
Nicky Scott - Backstreet Girl (Immediate 1967)
Irma Thomas - Long After Tonight Is All Over (Imperial 1964)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)
It'll be doing a Jocknroll Beat special on the 29th and then four weeks of Christmas tracks. Feel free to make any recommendations for either, although I have plenty of tracks to choose from already.
Good day and good health.
The Cat
=^..^=
Saturday, October 31, 2009
BT Total Crap
I still find it a bit freaky that you can have a good rant about a service like BT Broadband on Twitter and within minutes up pops a Direct Message from BTCare saying "If you are having connection problems with your Broadband DM me your details and I'll perform some diagnostics on the line."
Having just done a line test with BT I got the following message: "We estimate your maximum connection speed to be 0.256Mbps. This is the fastest speed your line can support." If that's the case, stop trying to sell me supersonic (up to) 20MB packages and do some work on my line and/or exchange. I don't suppose Sky will be any better on this line.
Having just done a line test with BT I got the following message: "We estimate your maximum connection speed to be 0.256Mbps. This is the fastest speed your line can support." If that's the case, stop trying to sell me supersonic (up to) 20MB packages and do some work on my line and/or exchange. I don't suppose Sky will be any better on this line.
I'm All Right Jim!
I received an e-letter yesterday from my local MSP which included this lovely piece of I'm-All-Right-Jackery: "After a long battle with First Scotrail, I have persuaded the Managing Director to increase the capacity on the 17.52 from Edinburgh. If Scotrail are truly to persuade people to use public transport as their first option, then it must be an attractive option. As a regular commuter on this train, I know my constituents’ concerns were warranted. Now Scotrail have agreed to increase the seating capacity on the 17.52 from the present 140 to 189 from the new timetable change on 13 December."
So what about the other commuter trains to Fife, Jim?
So what about the other commuter trains to Fife, Jim?
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