For some reason yesterday I recalled Vesta Curry. I have to say it was an abomination and I have no idea how I have progressed to being a lover of Indian food using that as a starting point. An then other brands that have disappeared – Apparently England’s Glory matches made by Bryant and May and long since defunct in this country are manufactured in some outpost of rural Sweden. Wrigley’s Beech Nut – what happened to them? A Chocolate bar called Cabana that was an upgrade on a Bounty as it included Cherries. This list is endless.

What brands do you mourn the demise of and which brands are you glad have disappeared.

First off I am not a Techie.

I have created playlists on Amazon Music that I want to burn to discs and send to friends. I have a Mac. Before it was easy to burn a playlist from iTunes but I don’t know how to transfer from Amazon to iTunes. Its doing my head in so any assistance here is greatly appreciated.

I was watching a fair bit of the Bowie weekend on bbc4 and they showed clips of The Next day which marked his surprise comeback after a few years out of the news. The bonus cd contained Love is Lost (Hello Steve Reich mix by James Murphy) which is perhaps my favourite remix ever. Juyst visited Youtube for this post and the video is pretty cool too. What are your favourite remixes:

I constantly play online scrabble and am fascinated with words used by opponents that I have not previously come across and it is clear some words are either archaic or just out of fashion. For example it is rare that anyone would be referred to as a cad or a bounder these days. When I was at school it was common to use the word rill to describe a small stream. I left school 47 years ago and I don’t think I have heard the word being used or recall seeing it in any work of fiction. I used it in a recent game of scrabble but didn’t score me too many points but it was at the end of a game that I won. I am not advocating the wider use of rill but would be interested in other examples of words you may have used in the past but no longer use.

Two excellent albums in 2020 are Dylan’s Rough and Rowdy Ways and Olaf Arnalds Some Kind of peace. They also have what I assume is a coincidence but who knows?

Bobby Z has a song called I contain multitudes. Olaf on the other other hand is sharing his – We contain multitudes.

I may be missing something but have no idea what the phrase even means but both tracks are great.

Most new music in any given year is by artists already familiar to me. Add music by artists I had heard of but never listened to. Then you get the complete surprises – a band you had never heard of with a song that just blows you away. This song is just so damn catchy.The rest of the album is great too

Dream Wife – Hasta La Vista

I like the idea of an Afterword Room 101 where we chuck out celebrities or everyday items that can be discarded never more to be seen. I think we can be more creative than those ‘stars’ who are paid to give their examples.

Firstly – Michael McIntyre. Sorry just not funny – he is to comedy what King Herod was to babies. And that hair that never moves and the parting in the middle of his head that looks like someone has put an axe through his head.Tempting.

Secondly – ‘Accept all cookies’ every time you go on a bloody website – yes we bloody know. Just fuck off.

Thirdly – Supermarket packaging for Ham or Bacon as an example – you carefully peel it back, take out the bacon you need and put the peeled back plastic back in a close approximation of the position it was in before you opened the packaging. The next day when you fancy the remaining ham/bacon you can guarantee it is curled up at the edges and looks unedifying.

Just three that get my goat, I am sure many of you will have worthy additions.

In the recent past Nottingham had one of the highest Covid infection rates in the country. After lockdown 2 it went into Tier 3. Why then were they allowed to have a Christmas Market that was almost unsupervised and closed down almost as soon as it was opened?

The tier levels arguably don’t make any sense but[ allowing a Christmas market in that environment makes even less sense.

@Baron-Harkonnen posted an interesting list of new and old that he he had been listening to this year. We both share an obsession for buying new music – cant speak for him but my habits are quite possibly an addiction. I thought about his post and was wondering if we really need all this new. In the last 24 hours I have played these old ones:

Drive by Truckers – Go Go Boots Grandaddy – Last place Nick Lowe – Quiet please The best of Nick Lowe (both discs)

I enjoyed listening to all of them very much. But then I thought:

Drive by Truckers have released my favourite album this year and have another new one in December. Grandaddy are releasing a reworking of their best album The Sophtware slump and an expanded reissue of that album. Nick Lowe is doing great stuff with Los Straitjackets and I hope to see an album soon.

So yes enjoy the old stuff but welcome the new would be my motto.

Just to let any of you know who fancy treating yourselves with an early xmas present (or even as a hint to the other half )Prince’s masterpiece Sign O’THE times is available for £ 99 on the SDE site. That is an absolute steal and about £ 60 less than I paid. Fill yer boots.

Well what a pile of crap this year has been. A glimmer of hope as we approach its end but I think we are still a way off normality. Music has been my escape this year more than ever. Below are twenty discs that have made my days brighter than they otherwise would have been. They are not in order but all have done well to get into the twenty as there are plenty more lurking outside:

Elvis Costello – Hey Clockface Bright Eyes – Down in the weeds where the World once was Brigid Dawson and the mothers Network – Ballet of Apes Jess Williamson – Sorceress Bonny Light Horseman – Bonny Light Horseman Lucinda Williams – Good Souls better angels Cornershop – England is a Garden Flaming Lips – American Head Rose City Band – Summerlong Three Queens in the Mourning and Bonnie Prince Billy- Hello Sorrow, Hello Joy Jarvis Cocker – Jarv Is Bob Dylan – Rough and Rowdy Ways Drive by Truckers – The Unravelling Lost Brothers – After the fire, After the rain Waterboys Good Luck seeker Olafur Arnalds – Some kind of Peace Mary Chapin Carpenter – The dirt and the Stars Dawes – » Continue Reading.

Following on from the physical ailments post I was curious to hear other peoples comments on sleep. Most of us on here seem to be of a similar age group where sleep patterns most definitely change if my friends and my own experiences are anything to go by. I usually go to bed around 11pm and have no difficulty in getting off to sleep. Nor do I have any difficulty with say a power nap on a Sunday afternoon. Nor do I have to get up in the middle of the night for a pee thankfully. However it is rare I can sleep past about 5.30 am and am often awake at 4.30 – 5 years ago I would sleep until 7am without ever waking up in the middle of the night. What changes and is there anything we can do to improve our lot?

We store our saucepans in a cupboard that is just above head height. Whenever I try to get one out or put one back I can guarantee that the lids coming flying out at me and create an almighty crash as I fail to catch them or they elude my grasp. We have stored them different ways – on their sides in between the stored saucepans or upside down in the saucepan so that we can store other saucepans on top. It does’t stop the damn things having a life of their own.

And another thing – baked beans. My wife only likes a few, I like more but not three quarters of a tin. When making saturday brunch i emptied just half of the tine into a saucepan. Now here is the problem – when you empty half the contents into the saucepan ALL of the sauce goes in. I put the remainder of the can into the fridge for the next day but when the next day comes the beans are as dry as a Nuns chuff because all of the sauce went on the first serving. Drives me nuts.

Inspired by the live gig you would like to see again post I thought about gigs I looked forward to that left me cold. There have been a couple for me. I am a big fan of the recorded work of Los Lobos yet when I have seen them live (twice) they have failed to move me. I have heard live tracks of theirs on disc and they have it in them to be incendiary. Yet both times I saw them they appeared to be going through the motions. Another huge disappointment was Robert Cray – recorded output fine. I expected a live performance with extended solos etc but nada – almost a note perfect facsimile of his albums. Really what is the point?

I always thought that piece of metal you put in your mouth that makes vibrating noises somewhat akin to a didgeridoo was know as a Jews Harp. Reading a tribute to Ennio Morricone in this months Uncut I saw it referred to as a Jaw Harp. That would make more sense but is clearly wrong (in my head). Which should it be or can it be both?

What other curiosities can we resolve through friendly debate on this site?

I have perhaps 3500-4000 albums in my collection. I do not have any albums by anyone called Brigid. Then all of a sudden in the month of July I get two in the shape of Brigid Dawson and Brigid Mae Power – nothing intentional but it is a little odd.

Anyone else experienced any odd happenings recently?

Today i learned that Jackson Browne was once a member of The Nitty Gritty Dirt band. I never knew that.

What have you learned recently that took you by surprise

Was just shopping on the tax dodgers site and it seems they are no longer listing track names on albums/cd’s – what on earth is the point of that. One could argue if you are buying a new release cd you don’t need to know the track names but certainly if you are looking at compilations or deluxe versions of releases I would have though it was a pretty basic requirement. I might start buying somewhere else as this is another sign to me that they want you to be streamed music or kindle books. They can fuck right off whist I have the choice.

This months Mojo has a Bowie themed CD Crash Course for the Ravers. It contains much unfamiliar to me tracks by Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson, Gail Ann Dorsey and Robert Fripp amongst others. It is absolutely brilliant and if you are not a subscriber to Mojo I urge you to go out and buy the issue or steal it if you have to.Fabulous stuff. They normally go in the bin after one listen – this one won’t.

Amazon Deutschland have a 17 disc boxset Chet Baker – Milestones of a Jazz legend for a tad under £ 15.00 for anyone interested.

I heard this on the radio yesterday and was shocked. I thought I would listen to it again this morning just to check if it was a bad I thought it was. It is. The original is a great uplifting song. Mark Ronson has turned it into a godawful dirge. Off with his head. https://youtu.be/lRysND5-Kj0

Kudos to 6Music for playing my favourite Midlake song Roscoe on my drive in to work this am. Very melodic but strange strange lyrics that I can’t easily make sense off. The line that almost acts as a chorus in a song without a chorus is ‘Whenever I was a child I wondered what if my name had changed into something more productive like Roscoe’. Makes little sense to me either stand alone or in the context of the rest of the song.

We know songs like I am the Walrus are difficult to make sense of but this is a seemingly serious song which I assume is supposed to refer to something. Any other examples out there that you would like to post?