Jun. 10, 2018
As much as I hate to write about writing, especially when I write so infrequently, I feel I need to reboot this blog. I wrote so few posts in recent months I considered giving up altogether. I’ve been stressed. Sometimes this manifests in being unable to sleep. Sometimes it manifests in all my interests and ideas seeming to be completely pointless. Sometimes one of those precedes the other. Sometimes it works vice versa.
Feb. 23, 2018
As a wedding present, Ingrid’s Mum Maria kindly took us for a trip along The Great Ocean Road, the longest war memorial in the world. Stretching 151 miles from Torquay (not that one!) to Allansford, the road was deliberately built as a tourist attraction as a means of providing meaningful work for troops returning home from the First World War. Regarded as one of the world’s greatest scenic roads, it certainly holds it own against things like the roads I experienced in Chile and Bolivia when I travelled over the Andes.
Feb. 21, 2018
On our second full day in Australia we went shopping in central Melbourne, before Ingrid’s mum Maria picked us up ahead of our trip along the Great Ocean Road. We took the metro into the city. I always love watching the fabric of cities knit itself together around train lines and Melbourne is no exception. Along the way, Ingrid had plenty of stories to tell about the various places she had lived.
Feb. 20, 2018
On our first full day in Melbourne we took it easy. It was warm and sunny, so different to the weather we’d left behind! Ingrid needed more time than me to sleep off her jet-lag. I sat in the sunshine and read the book I’d ignored on the plane. An easy read, it drew me into its characters. I’ll post a review later, perhaps after I have read the sequel.
Feb. 19, 2018
It seemed to last forever but we made it. We left for Heathrow at 6AM and left London at around midday. I waved goodbye to home for nearly four weeks. We stopped over in Dubai for an hour or so while the plane refuelled. We walked in circles trying to shake off the fatigue. I’d equalled one of my longest ever flights just getting to Dubai and now I was facing almost twice as much time again.
Feb. 2, 2018
Not being much of a drinker, I’ve never felt the need to do dry January. Also Ingrid and I sat in a restaurant in Barcelona on January 2nd drinking for the third night in row. We hadn’t got off to that great a start. Well today marks the completion of a dry month: dry January with a two day lag. I also (mostly) managed to keep to my other goal of eliminating sugar from my tea and coffee.
Tags: Sugar, Self Improvement, Eighteen
Feb. 1, 2018
This year promises to be exciting so this week I tried to buy a diary. One of those day-to-a-page affairs for scribbling down all the things I’ve seen and learned about. I thought they might be cheap now the calendar is turning to February. No such luck. There were a few week-to-view diaries going for half price in Waterstones but nothing suitable for my needs. I have lots of Field Notes notebooks if my urge to write gets too much to resist.
Jan. 25, 2018
Ingrid and I renewed our Cineworld passes as it is the season to go to the movies and check out the Oscar contenders. You nod along sagely while dreaming up superlatives to show how much you agree with the taste-makers. Or you can call such-and-such movie a pretentious load of crap. With “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”, it’s more the former. But I don’t have to say anything pretentious about the cinematography or its timeliness.
Jan. 12, 2018
For new year Ingrid and I met up with Ingrid’s friend Ros at Barcelona airport. We went from there to Cadaqués on the Costa Brava. A winding drive over steep hills leads you down to a cute bay with the typical white houses and terracotta roofs. All the window frames were painted just the right shade of blue. The surrealist artist Salvador Dalí lived and worked in the area. This meant a trip to Figueres to see his Theatre-Museum and on new year’s eve a walk over the hill to Port Lligat to visit his house.
Tags: Happy New Year, Europe, Spain, Photos, Seventeen, Eighteen
Dec. 31, 2017
10. Grails “Chalice Hymnal” Some albums are good because a band continues making the music that you love. Some albums are good because a band takes their ideas a step or two further than before. Chalice Hymnal is that rare album that does both of these things. The references to past albums include the track Deeper Politics and Deep Snow II, and, as per albums past, these tracks evolve slowly out of languid guitar hooks and smoky atmospherics.
Dec. 29, 2017
10. Rolling Blackouts CF “Julie’s Place” Sometimes you just want a simple pop song about going out somewhere. I enjoyed the Rolling Blackouts’ EP “The French Press”. It contains many catchy tunes as I noted in my review. “Julie’s Place” is the best, speaking of a need to be somewhere or a promise that you will go there. Given that I often listen to music between places, it’s nice to have a song or two like that on my playlist.
Dec. 27, 2017
Bjork Utopia “Utopia” is Björk’s ninth album. It’s a happier album compared to the emotional wreckage of “Vulnicura”. But while “Vulnicura” was a compelling if uncomfortable listen, “Utopia” is more comfortable and, unfortunately, not that compelling. This is old ground retrodden with few glimmers of past glories. The brevity, succinctness and sharpness are all gone. Even on the best songs (the first three), there is very little strength in the lyrics.
Tags: Album Digest, December, Music, Bjork, Phoebe Bridgers, Watter, Neil Finn, Seventeen