Johnny Cash

While on the subject of the afterlife, I just heard Johnny Cash’s voice in my head. In a booming, godlike kind of way, telling me to have another Jakehead. 

Who am I to ignore the ghost of a legend. 

Mr Head

Since my second in command is away, I decided to occupy myself with a walk. I’d already done a little (pitifully so) work in the house, so a nice walk felt right. 

The light was fading already, so the path through the graveyard was a bit creepy. Not that I’m a believer in the afterlife, but it’s still a spooky place in the dark. 

Spooky, but nice. Anyway, I had a pleasant, four mile-ish walk and am now having a rest in the Schooner, with a relaxing pint of Jakehead. 

There’s a roaring fire and an old Beat album is playing. This is truly a great pub, we simply don’t visit often enough and I’m sorely tempted to stay. I shan’t though, I need to continue my exercise after my Jakehead. The Tyne Bar next I think. 

Oh, a bit of Bad Manners  now.

Bin day

Today is bin day on the hill and our bin is out, awaiting the bin truck. 

Unfortunately, there is a big hole outside our house, so I’m uncertain as to whether our (very full) bin will be emptied today. 

Yes, I know the picture’s blurry, but I’d a bus to catch and I needed some money from the cash machine first (for John the plumber). 

I needn’t have rushed though; the hole has its very own traffic lights, so things aren’t moving very quickly. 

Der-der-der

Last night, I went to the Academy in town, with Trevor – the first time in ages – to see the Fratellis. 

The band was great, but there was a real sound quality issue and that pretty much ruined the performance. 

I’d not heard any of their newest stuff before, but I was both surprised and impressed. But the evening was all about the 10th anniversary of Costello Music. 

An unusual, but good, final song was a cover of Runaround Sue, the Fratellis style worked really well. 

After the gig, we bumped into Mr Towers, who dragged us to the Hadrian teepee to meet up with the Fazakerleys and Mr Pratt. 

So, while the sound at the gig was something of a disappointment, it was an enjoyable night. 

Vodka

My second in command probably shouldn’t drink vodka. 

She can consume beer in huge quantities, while remaining relatively sober. Then, two double vokas later she becomes evil incarnate. 

Beth made this

A few years ago, I used to post pictures on a photo blogging site, Moblog. I came across it after an Elbow gig at the Sage, when the band posted some pictures from the venue. 

One of the cool things about the site was that you could upload pictures via MMS or email. One’s email address or phone number were used to link to an account and a post was pretty much instant. I know that doesn’t sound advanced at all, but it was at the time, before social media caught up. Eventually, MMS was dropped and WordPress became more useable, so I gradually drifted away from Moblog.

Anyway, I found that some very talented people regularly posted some pretty cool pictures. One, for example, used to upload pictures of handmade projects, mostly in silver. Her name’s Beth Dawson and she still makes some pretty cool things. Her blog at the time was called bethmadethis, but you can now find her here, where she also sells handmade jewellery. It’s worth a look. 

Techno space rock

I went to see Matt play in the Tuns the other night. He’d described the music as techno space rock, so how could I pass. I wasn’t sure what to expect, I mean it’s not exactly the norm for my local. 

And they were definitely different. I wouldn’t have thought that it would work, but it did. I’d certainly go to see them again.