Merry Xmas casual browser!
Today, I received the following gifts from The Missus.
CDs
The Rutles – S/T
Neil Innes – Taking Off/Innes Book of Records
Robert Wyatt – Greatest Misses
Rothko – Not Gone, Not Forgotten
Anthony Phillips – Soundscapes
DVD
Van der Graaf Generator – Godbluff Live
Monkey Dust – Series One
Books
Nick Mason – Inside Out
From my mother, I received a bread maker, which has to be one of THE best gifts I have ever received from her. I am currently having fun trying to make bread. Normally, I do it the old fashioned way, but the machine is quite hypnotic when it starts to mix and knead the dough automatically.
I hope you all got what you wanted for Christmas.
Yesterday, we both went to the theatre. We headed to Theatre Royal, Drury Lane to catch the Producers. It was a shame that Nathan Lane was “indisposed” but the show was still very good. Cory English, the understudy for Mr Lane, acquitted himself perfectly and was very good in the role of Max Bialystock. We both enjoyed the show very much and I wept with laughter throughout.
Then we headed to the Theatre Royal, Stratford for our annual Xmas Eve panto performance. This year it was “Sleeping Beauty”. My God, this was the WORST pantomime the Theatre Royal had put on in about 10 years. The script was poor, the jokes non-existant and the music numbers weak. Last year’s “Little Red Riding Hood” was a masterpiece in comparison. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.
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“Merry Xmas, Mr Lock,” says the Inland Revenue, “Here’s your present from us…a nice tax demand to be paid by 31 January 2005”.
Bah, humbug!
Yesterday, I had the misfortune to witness the worst Christmas dinner ever served. As a treat, we took the Missus’s grandmother out for Christmas lunch at our local. I had the sense to refrain from the seasonal menu as I had already turkey last week. The food was luke-warm, the vegetable raw and the parsnips incinerated.
“Maybe they will redeem themselves with the dessert,” suggested I.
The Christmas pudding was then served COLD, rock-hard and with a miserly dollop of piss-weak, luke-warm custard. I took one mouthful and pushed my bowl away. The rest of the party followed suite. The serving staff must have heard our loud remonstrations as they promptly disappeared from view. We wanted to air our greivances as we left, but – surprise, surprise – all the staff were AWOL. So if you want a REALLY FUCKING AWFUL Christmas dinner, pay a visit to the Plume of Feathers pub in Loughton. They are charging something like £50 for that uncooked slop on 25 December, so be sure to book ahead.
Now it looks as if I will need to find a new local! 🙁
Someone’s trying to make a monkey out of him!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4117059.stm
Or you could just: Build a Better Bush
That’s enough of the ol’ politics. I am sure that old Dubya is a nice guy, really. He just hangs around with the wrong sort of people – the real people who run the US!
Managed to flog another copy of my 4-CD boxset “Sows’ Ears & Silk Purses”. The strange thing is the guy that bought this copy already got a copy in the summer. I’m thinking that maybe he wore out his original copy of this masterpiece. Either that or he’s found the ideal Xmas present for someone he really doesn’t like! 🙂
Today is the shortest day…so I guess this should be the shortest diary entry…
I’m selling some of my music collection.
Click here for my auctions.
It’s Xmas, so bid generously, folks!
Got sent this link. How comes Jesus doesn’t stand over the Freelance Writer? No – he’s got plenty of time for the golfer, the french horn player and the sodding clown, but no time for the likes of me. I guess that’s because all us freelancers sold our soul to the devil, right? 😉
Yesterday I got the chance to accompany The Missus and her office chums on their annual Xmas lunch. We waited over an hour for our food to arrive and when the main course did turn up it was a little cold. Being British, we didn’t complain – we just ordered more wine. Afterwards, while chatting at the bar, The Missus came over a little unwell. I instructed her to go outside for some fresh air. This she did, and then promptly passed out! Unfortunately, I wasn’t there to catch her and she was rescued by some members of the restaurant staff. I felt really bad because I didn’t even know what was happening until she had recovered and returned. How embarrassing!
In the post I received a copy of the video “Tales from the Widow Jane Mine” which is about the making of the CD “From the Caves of the Iron Mountain”, a record that was recorded live in an abandoned mine. It is one of my personal favourite records and the video was really interesting. Here’s a clip for your perusal:
If you like this, check out the video and CD from www.tonylevin.com.