2009 — 11 May: Monday
And so another weekend comes and goes... just like that. I must say, I enjoyed Almost Famous but I would be hard pushed to describe the extra 40 minutes or so of material that the director fitted into this extended cut. It was all pretty seamless. No matter. Time for tonight's picture of Christa, and the (still astonishing, to me) observation that it's now 18 months since her death. Amazing.
I'm pretty sure this would have been in 1977. But it's now approaching midnight and time for some sleep. G'night.
My trusty alarm clock...
... rang me a few minutes ago, suggesting that as the BBC's forecast for today is wall-to-wall blue, but wet and wild for the rest of the week, hadn't we better get our boots on? He's right of course (except that his boots are actually still in my boot as he forgot to take them out a couple of days ago). So I'm shovelling in some breakfast while the latest batch of bread defrosts in time, I hope, to turn some of it into a packed lunch. Wherwell beckons, I gather. It's 09:37 — tick tock.
Later
Just over seven miles later, in fact, and 16:18. Lovely sunny walk, with a fresh breeze and not too many contour lines. Nice little parcel of goodies from Amazon waiting on the front door step and, while I sup a refreshing cuppa, an interesting piece here examining the book by Laura Miller that I ordered last December and enjoyed shortly after it arrived. (More than Jordan Davis did, too, by the sound of it.)
The goodies?
Well, having bought and enjoyed the re-recorded "Songbook Volume 1" aka "Midnight Voices" by Pete Atkin and Clive James, I was delighted to see (in that "Mojo" magazine) that their six albums have now finally been re-issued, complete with updated track-by-track annotations by the two gentlemen. From the 1970 "Beware of the beautiful stranger" through to the "Live Libel" of 1976 (which, "with hindsight, Pete and Clive now feel equivocal about"). Magic!
But when did CDs1 become more expensive than DVDs??? These two films together cost no more than just one of the CDs...
Right!
Dishes done. Black bin wheeled out. Tea made. I think I shall raise a small glass of sherry to Christa's memory and toast "Absent friends" — why not? It's 21:29 and time for something suitably entertaining for the evening, methinks. Thanks for your phone call, son!