The Washington Post is reporting that Father Dougal Maguire of Craggy Island is the outside runner to be the next Pope:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26353-2005Apr4.html
It could be just what the Vatican needs! 😉
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Yesterday, we travelled to see the new baby. I was a bit apprehensive, but my fears were for nothing. My new strategy is to actively seek out those events that I would naturally avoid. I am trying not to have fear. It’s a tough one.
But anyway, we saw the new baby and it was a big baby weighing in at 9lb. A big bonnie baby. 🙂 The Missus held her for a while and played the doting auntie. I declined. I am too macho and tough to be seen holding babies! (No – I was just scared – whoops, fell at the first hurdle there, Darren).
But the afternoon went very well and gifts were exchanged and stories were told of breaking waters, dilations and umbilical cords. It was good to commune with the family. Being someone from a very small family (and been denied contact with my errant father’s side of the family), I am always awkward in this situations. I never know what to do or say and I usually say something that comes out wrong. But luckily, I kept my cool and was cool and everything went well. It was a life-affirming experience.
Today, sunshine and work. In the interest in the new stategy, I am thinking of cutting the grass again. 🙂
With regards to the Grand National, my horse finished sixth. Nil Desperandum. Seemed apt and had the form. Luckily, I did a lucky 15 accumulator and two of my other horses romped in (one of them was 100-1 and came third, giving me a decent return) so I didn’t lose too much money. The horses backed by The Missus went out at 10-1 and came back at half-past six (old horse joke). She did badly this year, which is strange because normally her idiot savant gambling abilities enables her to pick the Grand National winner. Oh well, better luck next year, eh?
In the post: Sketches of Satie by John & Steve Hackett CD
Noticed that Tortoise were playing the RFH as part of an African music season (go figure) and nabbed some decent tickets last night.
Today, heading out with the Missus to go to Mothercare. Don’t fear, gentle reader, the Missus does not have a bun in the oven. We are going to buy a gift for her brother’s new baby daughter. That’s right, The Missus has become an auntie and I am an uncle. I don’t think this is going to have much impact on my life as we don’t get along with that side of the family (mainly because they don’t like me for being a poor freelance writer – not that I’m bad at my job, that I don’t earn enough moolah and do an “honest” days work for them). 🙁
This afternoon, gambling on the Grand National. The horses are ready, the potential winners have been picked and my virtual betting slip is filled. Me and The Missus will be hollering for our respective nags. She’s won it before, but I am feeling lucky today.
Brrr…it seems that the icy grip of Winter has returned. It’s cold and miserable, and so am I. 😀
Steve Hackett is playing down the road at the Broadway Theatre in Barking next Saturday so we both decided to see the concert again. It’s a night out and the tickets were a lot cheaper. I just hope it doesn’t get cancelled.
In the post today:
Anna Gabriel – Growing Up On Tour DVD
Got my polling cards yesterday. Oh yeah, I’m going to exercise my constitutional rights on 5 May. Who will I vote for? That’s between me and the ballot paper, I am afraid, but it is safe to say that I won’t be voting for my local BNP candidate.
Caught the third episode of “The Office – An American Workplace”. I am still enjoying it on the same level as the UK version. The characters are well realised and it was very similar to the UK episode where Gareth was put in charge of finding someone who made a pornographic image. In the US episode, the porn was replaced by a health plan.
As more TV shows swap across the pond, the UK is currently broadcasting its version of the successful US-show, “The Apprentice”. Gone is Donald Trump, replaced by Alan Sugar. I am enjoying this show too, but it lacks the scope and complete dumbassness (OK – that’s not a word) of its US counterpart. If you watched the US version of “The Apprentice” you would see how the US “Office” has got it right because they use the same kind of speak.
Anyway, “The Apprentice” UK is still good fun. But I have a problem…Alan Sugar looks too much like Nookie the Bear for me.
![sir_alan_sugar[1].gif](https://www.darrenlock.com/mt/archives/sir_alan_sugar[1].gif)
Nookie the Bear
![e4_2[1].jpg](https://www.darrenlock.com/mt/archives/n_bear.jpg)
Alan Sugar
It was one of those days yesterday. First off, the problem of the Missus’s PC not being able to connect to the wireless network reared its head again. Despite buying a load of new gear, I am beginning to think that this is an issue with Windows ME and that maybe I should upgrade her to XP.
Then some little herbert decided to hack one of my other websites. It wasn’t too serious but it meant that my evening was taken up with putting it all back together again.
Another problem I have been having is with my bank, Abbey (or Abbey National as my card and chequebook still calls them). I ran out of cheques and urgently need a new chequebook. I ordered a new chequebook from the ATM machine a fortnight ago but nothing has arrived, so I called their help line to find out what was going on. Unfortunately, Abbey has outsourced to an Indian call-centre and so this makes communication a little difficult. I am pretty good with accents, having been raised in the East End of London and going to school with children from many different ethnic groups, but the woman I was dealing with spoke so fast and had such a strong accent I had to ask her to repeat everything. Then she couldn’t understand what I was saying…
So it took me about 10 minutes to get through the security clearing, before she told me that there was a block on my account meaning that I can’t have another chequebook. This completely stuffs me and makes my bank account with the Abbey useless. So I ask why? She can’t tell me. She says I must go to my local bank to find out. I don’t want to do this, I just want a new cheque book and carry on with my business unaffected. I wouldn’t mind if the Abbey had sent me a letter or phoned to call about this block, but instead I have been left in the dark and to worry that my chequebook has been stolen in the post. So now I will be withdrawing my money and going elsewhere, partly because the Abbey never warned me about this, partly because of the Indian call centre. I am going to take my cash to the Nationwide Building Society, which has vowed never to outsource their telephone operations.
Then Alex the Wonderdog decided to throw up on the stairs at midnight and I did a bit of a Jack Douglas and spilt the bowl of disinfectant/puke water all over myself.
Moan, moan, moan…will this man ever stop? 🙂
![259_camtp02[1].jpg](https://www.darrenlock.com/mt/archives/259_camtp02[1].jpg)
Firstly, I am a big fan of Steve Hackett and of all the big progressive rock guitarists, I think it is his influence (by osmosis rather than obsession) that has affected my own guitar playing. While I know his electric stuff really well, I am not as familiar with his acoustic work, despite owning the albums. My problem is that I have a mental block when it comes to pleasant instrumental music – I never remember the titles. The same goes for the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. I know all the albums, but if you ask me to name their songs by rote, I would fail. Strange innit?
Anyway, we were running a little late, but it was a lovely Spring evening, with the rays of the setting sun illuminating the South Bank as we walked briskly to the gig. We literally arrived with seconds to spare before Steve Hackett took the stage to applause. He talked about the evening and how he was going to be his own opening act, playing solo before being accompanied by his brother John on flute and Roger King on keyboard.
I recognised some of the tracks: Bay of Kings, Calvacanti, etc and there were a sprinkling of songs by other people: an interpretation of Classical Gas and Tales from the Riverbank and a piece as a tribute to Segovia. There was also an obligatory outing of “Horizons”, which was rearranged for this performance. There were a few issues with tuning and Steve explained how the heat from the audience caused the strings to have a mind of their own, but I didn’t hear any major problems. Again, he fluffed a few bits, but I wasn’t complaining. I was held spellbound for 50 minutes as his fingers worked the fretboard. This was the first time I had witnessed this kind of music being played this close-up. It made me feel very inadequate as a musician and I realise that I am just a chancer compared to someone of this calibre. I felt like going home and selling my guitars after that session.
When the first half finished, I turned to the Missus to ask for her opinion and I noticed the man sitting next to her was wearing a very peculiar hat. It was a standard baseball cap, but on the top was a stereo microphone…yes, we were sitting next to a bootlegger. So when SH finished his opening and left, this man took his hat off and hid his minidisc recorder. Oppositely, I put my hat on to hide my bald head and headed out to buy some goodies from the merchandise stall. As usual, it was a bit of a scrum but I picked up the new Hackett album “Metamorpheus”, John Hackett’s “Checking Out of London” album and a DVD “Once Above a Time”. Then we returned to the concert.
For the second half, he was joined by his brother John and Roger King. The first track their played together was “Jacuzzi” one of my personal faves from the Defector album. In a stripped down form, it was bright and bubbly and very summery for this Spring evening. They even wheeled out some old Genesis tunes – “After the Ordeal” was performed live, which was a big thrill because I don’t think this was ever performed by Genesis in a live context. The highlight for me and the Missus was a sublime performance of “Hands of the Priestess” from the “Voyage of the Acolyte” album. The flute playing was amazing and Roger King’s keyboards really complimented the song, and this was sequed into a section of “Hairless Heart” from “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway”, which kind of caught me by surprise. The trio also played some Eric Satie numbers including Gnossienne #1, but I felt the energy began to ebb through some of the weirder Satie stuff.
I really enjoyed this concert and it was quite different for me as I am used to rock gigs where the music drives you along. In this context, I think the energy and concentration of the audience drives the music. It was nice to hear some old stuff, some new stuff and some stuff I had never heard before. It was a real challenge and I enjoyed it very much.
But thing is that the man in seat D11 didn’t enjoy the gig that much. No he sat for the entire evening with his hat recorder on his head with his face pointed exactly at the PA system, whereas we had to turn 30 degrees to watch the stage. Imagine paying for a ticket and not actually watching the performance…? I couldn’t do that!