Bloody hell, it's gorgeous.

I love it.

The Runcorn Bridge.

Peace.

Richard

TV................



Since we moved into this house 5 years ago we haven't used our ageing video recorder to record anything. Why?..., because there's almost nothing on TV that is important enough to worry if you miss it. Anything that is good is released on DVD so you can then choose to rent it..We acquired a DVD recorder and I used it twice. So it's recorded some of the better bits of the Live 8 thing and The Church on the Commonwealth games..

Not been switched on since, and NOT LEFT IN STANDBY MODE EITHER!! ARGHHH!!!

Kids and TV... . Luckily my almost-3-year-old says "I don't like the adverts, they are just telling me to buy stuff I don't need". (am I a bad parent for planting that phrase in her little mind?) She does say "I want that" a bit, but doesn't get all upset when we say no. She's doing well, but we got a long way to go.

As I read on Kilbey's blog today (which prompted this rant..) Go read a book.

That said.. I still love Coronation Street.

Peace,

Richard

White Bread Black Beer

I HAVE to recommend a new CD to you.



Perfect pop, with an intellectual edge.
I just got White Bread, Black Beer by Scritti Politti. Lyrically it's interesting and well crafted and the music is beautiful. The VOICE however is just so .. er... er..heart wrenchingly gorgeous. Green Gartside made this record in his house in Hackney, yet it sounds like Trevor Horn spent months and millions on it . (without it having that over-polished sound he sometimes produces.. though his work on Dear Catastrophe Waitress by Belle an Sebastian was perfect.. am I rambling..?)
Anyway, if anyone buys it and is disappointed, well.... I'll buy the CD back from them to give to someone else. (this offer applies to the first 2 people to contact me with genuine grievances about my recommendation! :-) )
Peace,
Richard

Where are we going?

Back in the mid 80's, after my grandfather died I was in a rock club doing my rock club thing one night when a relative stranger approached me. Her name was Michelle. I vaguely new her face from the local area. She told me she'd just ben speaking to my grandfather. (!) I'd just split with a girlfriend and was a bit down. Her message from him was that I would be fine and that one day I'd marry a girl with red hair and be happy. (I did, and have two red-haird children to prove it).

She then went on to say that he'd said I'd not believe her.. indeed she was right.....so he'd said to mention that I was wearing his wedding ring and told her the story about the little mark inside it, which i could get verified by my father . He also told her a couple of things regarding his parentage, that i didn't know and that completely stunned my father when i asked him, who then had to ask his mother, who confirmed the stories to be true. Michelle just couldn't have known these things.

What am i saying here?

Well, I never believed in an afterlife, but since then I believe that our souls exist after we die. How or why or in what context, I know not. Either way, my grandfather came to me with a positive message.


Make of that what you will.

Peace,

Richard

Work.. so bad they have to pay you...

I work to pay for my life. There's loads of far more intellectually stimulating writing out there on working for a living, but here's my take on it.

When I was younger and had no real plan for a working life, I fell into a job within the the industry I still work in. I end up paying out money to some people who really deserve/need it, but mostly it's just shuffling money around from one greedy bastard to another. I hate that, but through a lack of planning to some degree I'm now in a situation where I need to maintain my salary to pay a mortgage and support a family. I know if I REALLY made an effort I could change all that, but I'm fundamentally lazy and don't mind admitting it. Lazy for myself, that is, I'll work hard for my family or for others that i wish to help, but I'll rarely work hard for myself. Is that bad? Well I suppose it's my own choice and I deserve the luxury of letting myself down if I wish.

Anyway.. what I'm saying is that I make no apology for my work.. I do it because it's all I know and it facilitates my life. Crap but ... er.. real.

Life has it's compensations..My lovely kids and all sorts of stuff...

Peace,

Richard.

I'll pray for you...

Er.. pray all you like.., but don't tell me about it.

On another blog I read regularly the blogger made some comment about "straights" and drugs and stuff and a commenter pulled him up sharp and ended by saying "I'll pray for you"

This annoys the hell out of me. Allow the guy do do what the hell he likes and don't patronise him with your prayer to your imaginary sky-god. Pah!

http://stevekilbey.blogspot.com/

Back....with two beasts....

Eh? Yes.. erratic at best..

I now have two children. I'll not tell you much about them, as I don't really want you to know. My life is mostly about them, out of desire and necessity. I'll say this much. Love for a child is the best emotion I've ever had.

I do try to maintain a foot in the door of my own life, however. I am still moved to tears by music and injustice, so that helps with keeping up a healthy interest in the world outside my house. Mostly. Practical issues keep me working for a cocksucking financial institution, but as a number of people have reminded me, (hello Merrick) we are all hypocrites. It's just a matter of degree....and I'm trying my best.

I like to write correctly, but will admit to being a little too lazy to type very well, or to continually spellcheck. That's my excuse... I want you to believe, as I do, that poor spelling and/or choice of words or sentence construction is as a result of time deficiency rather than stupidity. I'm proper clever really. Often I'm too lazy to prove it.