Monday 31 August 2020

2020 Contenders: American Aquarium


As mentioned last week, I returned to my workplace last Tuesday. At what would normally be a really busy time of year in the college building, I had the place virtually to myself. There were other people about, but nowhere near the number I'd normally encounter... even in holidays. And this was enrolment week. But most enrolment is being done online this year, and most of the classes still will be. I'll have one "live, face to face" class on Tuesday and one on Wednesday, and I also have a good reason to be in the building on Monday... but I'll still teaching from home Thursday and Friday.

I can't begin to tell you how much better I felt working from work. Many of the serious anxiety symptoms I've faced at home were reduced, even at times forgotten. Except on Friday, when I felt them creeping back up again...

One day at a time. That's all I can do this job now. If I think about next week or the next few months, a black pall rises. As is often the case in this blog, I write this not for your sympathy (though it's always appreciated when offered) but as a record of how I'm feeling now... so that in the future when I read it back, I'll remember how I felt.

“Someday we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny.”

I dunno, Bruce. It's getting harder and harder to believe that line every day.


You know when you hear a new band and you think "wow, that's pretty strong for a debut record!" And then you read up on them and you discover they've been around for 14 years and you never heard them before. I like it that this can still happen at my age.*

American Aquarium are such a band. Americana is the genre. They've obviously listened to a fair bit of Bruce. Good on them.



*Wait a second. On the verge of posting this, I discovered that I have featured the band's lead singer, BJ Barnham, here before. At the time, I said I didn't know whether his former band were still on the go. Glad to see they are.


Sunday 30 August 2020

Saturday Snapshots #151 - The Answers


Following the appearance by Doctor Jones ("the dog was called Indiana") on yesterday's Snapshots, I thought it would be nice to lead today with a woman who could always drink him under the table: Marion Ravenwood, aka Karen Allen. She was pretty good at dealing with Starmen too.

Here are this week's answers...


10. The first book of "Oy! I was watching that!"


The first book was Genesis.

Genesis - Turn It On Again

I'm not sure I can get behind the current yoof attempt to rehabilitate Collins, but Turn It On Again is still a cracking tune.

9. Smug tribes with Spanish heart.


Smug tribes is an anagram.

Corazón is Spanish for heart.

Tim Burgess - Oh My Corazón

8. Fictional world - anagram rejected on grounds of taste & decency.


I could not bring myself to come up with an anagram for Bucks Fizz.

Before you accuse me of scraping the barrel, Bucks Fizz will always have a special place in my heart as the band that encouraged my sexual awakening. This track is just pure cheese though...

Bucks Fizz - The Land of Make Believe 

7. High ranking Smurf priest seeks release.


Father Abraham becomes a Colonel.

Colonel Abrams - Trapped

6. Bird & Davies choose their favourite ice cream dessert.


Dickie Bird & Dickie Davies, sports fans!

The Dickies - Banana Splits

5. If you knew she married Bruce, it'd set your temperature soaring.


If you knew Peggy Sue... got married... to Bruce Lee... it'd give you a fever.

Peggy Lee - Fever

4. Powerful sweets, back to front.


The Mighty Lemon Drops - Inside Out

3. Like Williams with a Bad Attitude, lost on a mad stream.


Robbie Williams meets B.A. Robertson...

Robbie Robertson - Somewhere Down The Crazy River

2. Paltry cuts ban central haulage.


Paltry cuts = Petty Nicks.

The centre is the heart. Haulage is dragging things around.

Tom Petty & Stevie Nicks - Stop Dragging My Heart Around

1. Walking the dog on Lakeland Fells makes you realise what a beautiful planet this is.


Rufus Thomas went Walking The Dog.

Alfred Wainwright wrote lots of books about walking in the Lake District.




More next week.

Saturday 29 August 2020

Saturday Snapshots #151


Time to Witness another edition of Saturday Snapshots. Raid the Lost Ark of your memory and see if you can crack the clues below. Luckily, you don't have to play the game Solo... there's usually other competitors who are willing to help out.




10. The first book of "Oy! I was watching that!"


9. Smug tribes with Spanish heart.


8. Fictional world - anagram rejected on grounds of taste & decency.


7. High ranking Smurf priest seeks release.


6. Bird & Davies choose their favourite ice cream dessert.


5. If you knew she married Bruce, it'd set your temperature soaring.


4. Powerful sweets, back to front.


3. Like Williams with a Bad Attitude, lost on a mad stream.


2. Paltry cuts ban central haulage.


1. Walking the dog on Lakeland Fells makes you realise what a beautiful planet this is.


I've got a bad feeling about this... but don't worry, the answers will be here tomorrow morning.

Wednesday 26 August 2020

Positive Radio For Negative Times


I was very pleased when Radio 2 began airing Bruce Springsteen's lockdown radio show for free - considering it's on a subscription only station in the States.

Bruce's laid-back delivery is perfect late night listening... though I guess he's preaching to the converted with me. In between records he shares reassuring thoughts on lockdown, thinly-veiled political commentary and, in my favourite episode yet, wistful memories of summers gone by that sounded like Ray Bradbury read by Rod Serling.

But it's the playlist that impresses most, moving effortlessly from soul to country, rap to punk, reggae to disco. Where else will you find Lonnie Donegan, Lana Del Rey, The Bee Gees, Future Islands, George Jones, The Pet Shop Boys, Bob Marley and Bon Jovi all on the same playlist? Except maybe this blog... I guess you might be able to see the appeal to me: already a Bruce fan, now I discover his musical tastes echo my own. 

In the first show of the series, he played the track below as a commentary on how it feels to be in lockdown. Now obviously, like many people, I currently have issues with the gentleman in question, but I don't have issues with the song. And if you'd told 20 year old Rol that one day he'd been listening to a radio show in which one of his top musical heroes played a record by another... well, he'd have said "bring on this lockdown, if that's the outcome".



Monday 24 August 2020

Positive Songs For Negative Times #28: And We Danced...


I've only been in work two days over the last 5 weeks. Once for some new staff interviews, once for some badly organised training. Apart from that, I've been doing my best to help Sam have a good summer holiday... West Yorkshire was plunged back into semi-lockdown a few weeks back so he's been forbidden from seeing much of his friends, I've only been able to take him to his Nanna's a couple of times, and no holiday clubs or sports' camps like he's done in previous summer holidays to break up the monotony of spending so much time with daddy.

But today I was back to work for real. Except I'm not, because I'm still working from home a lot of the time and will still be teaching the majority of my lessons online until at least Christmas. I'm hoping they'll actually let me go into the building tomorrow for the first time since March, and hoping they'll allow me to continue doing that at least two or three days a week for the foreseeable future... but I'm having to beg for the privilege.

I know there is a danger to my physical health in going back to the office... but there's a greater danger to my mental health in continuing to work from home.

I'll keep you posted how it goes.

There's still a question mark hanging over the future of this blog. Not whether I'll continue it - but where. If blogger scrap the old interface completely, I find the new one so hard to use, I may well jump ship to Wordpress. It'll be a shame to lose the meagre position this blogger link holds in the blogosphere, but I can (and already have) exported all my old posts to Wordpress, and I'm hoping most people reading this will follow me over there if I'm forced out of here.

Regular service will resume soon - either here or elsewhere - and I'm looking forward to my new interactive Tuesday feature, which I'm hoping won't be quite as labour-intensive as the Hot 100 became. And the Mid-Life Crisis and Positive Songs will also continue. Speaking of which...

The Hooters will primarily be remembered for their Top 30 UK chart hit Satellite, a song I bought on 7", along with their beer commercial follow up, Karla With A K. One of their biggest hits in their homeland USA however was never heard over this side of the Atlantic. It's as good a song as the other two though, and worth revisiting here...




The older I get, the more I miss the 80s. I know it wasn't actually that great at the time, but with rose tinted glasses, it looks blood brilliant. I find nostalgia strangely calming in these turbulent times, even if I know it's nostalgia for something that never really happened. There's still a great comfort to be had in fake nostalgia.


Sunday 23 August 2020

Saturday Snapshots #150 - The Answers



Here we go again. Thanks for playing. I hope you're all keeping well.

Answers...


10. Minor piercing... though it looks bloody painful to me!


Morris Minor.

The Prince Albert piercing gets another mention!

Feelings bring us pain.

Morris Albert - Feelings

9. Ban worms! Knock it off.


Ban worms was a simple anagram.

Sam Brown - Stop

Very nice segue from #10 to #9 if this was a radio show.

8. Jenny said when she was just five years old, there was nothing happening at all... except an Italian god.


"Jenny said when she was just five years old, there was nothing happening at all..." comes from Rock n Roll by the Velvet Underground.

If Jenny was five years old, she would be a child.

Italian for God? Dio.

Dio - Rock n Roll Children

7. Robert Wagner is not allowed here. Neither is Stefanie Powers. But tiny scared arachnids are fine.


Robert Wagner & Stefanie Powers were Mr. & Mrs. Hart. (When they met, it was Moidah.) Ban them!

Topical references my forte, as always. But Alyson was on the right track. Coming up with a clue for Devendra was beyond me though.

Devendra Banhart - Little Yellow Spider 

6. Airborne proposition from Barry's girl x 200.


Barry's girl was Mandy.

X is 10 in Roman Numerals. 200 would be CC.

10cc - I'm Mandy, Fly Me

5. King's footwear manufactured by German free man... sounds like a psycho!


Carl is a North Germanic male name meaning "free man".

Antony Perkins played Norman Bates in Psycho.

This song was made more famous by the King of Rock n Roll... but the original was by...

Carl Perkins - Blue Suede Shoes

4. Bono return - clown vanish!


Not that Bono! Think instead of the one who knew Cher...

Clown vanish is an anagram.

Shawn Colvin - Sonny Came Home

3. A bear for the Twins... you might find something humerus here.


Teddy bear + Thompson Twins...

Humerus is a bone in your arm.

Teddy Thompson - In My Arms

That's such a joyous video, especially when Rufus arrives. Happier times...

2. Staring contest between Marvin & Child interrupted by fashion designer in romantic trailer.


The eyes of Lee Marvin & the eyes of Lee Child interrupted by Jasper Conran.

Isley Jasper Isley - Caravan of Love

Very different from the Housemartins version, but the original is still pretty cool.

1. Arthritis... don't fall off!


Arthritis causes. among other things, Stiff Little Fingers. (With me, it's my thumbs!)




Saturday 22 August 2020

Saturday Snapshots #150


Normal service will be resumed one day.

In the meantime, here's more Snapshots...

Identify 10 top tunes from the clues below, please.



10. Minor piercing... though it looks bloody painful to me!


9. Ban worms! Knock it off.


8. Jenny said when she was just five years old, there was nothing happening at all... except an Italian god.


7. Robert Wagner is not allowed here. Neither is Stefanie Powers. But tiny scared arachnids are fine.


6. Airborne proposition from Barry's girl x 200.


5. King's footwear manufactured by German free man... sounds like a psycho!


4. Bono return - clown vanish!


3. A bear for the Twins... you might find something humerus here.


2. Staring contest between Marvin & Child interrupted by fashion designer in romantic trailer. 


1. Arthritis... don't fall off!



Answers tomorrow. Until then... let's be careful out there.


Sunday 16 August 2020

Saturday Snapshots #149 - The Answers


Here they are...

10. Every day's the same - no wonder these rogues want to be let into hell!


Rakes at the gates of hell?

The Rakes - Work, Work, Work (Pub, Sleep, Club)

9. Is there a (half) man present?


Half Man Half Biscuit leads us to the Cookies.

The Cookies - I Want A Boy For My Birthday

Morrissey & Marr's debut home recording was a cover of this song.

8. Touching Paul Rodgers, with sugar.


Paul Rodgers was in Free.

Cream & sugar.

Cream - I Feel Free

7. Bedfordshire birds nest for the weekend, on Radiohead's desert island.


Leyton Buzzard is in Bedfordshire.

Radiohead sang about Fake Plastic Trees.

The Leyton Buzzards - Saturday Night (Beneath The Plastic Palm Trees)

6. I am not in either... look in the mirror, as the adverts used to say.


Take I from either and you're left with Ether.

If you really want to know, look in the Mirror, as the tabloid ads used to sing. When I were a lad.

Ether - If You Really Want To Know

5. No moon after B52 love missile.


The B52's shack... under attack... on a dark night.

Shakatak - Dark Is The Night

I hated Shakatak when I was a teenager too. Now though, I feel a curious nostalgia for the chart detritus of my youth.

4. Scottish wife found in crummy Georgian pub.


A Scottish wife would be a Mc-Bride.

Dahlonega is in Georgia. Of course!

Ashley McBryde - A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega

3. Donald grew, Dan growled, Rod wangled. But George was all on his own.


The first three are all anagrams... but George on his own would be a Lonely Boy.

Andrew Gold - Lonely Boy

Can't believe it's take me 149 (+) weeks to feature that.

2. Seymour's kleptomania exposed.


Jane Seymour is addicted to stealing... but now she's been caught.

Jane's Addiction - Been Caught Stealing

Brian held the drummer's paint can. Now that's a claim to fame!

1. Gemuflect. Pork scratchings and a cuppa.


A diamond is a gem.

Genuflect means "to lower one's body briefly by bending one knee to the ground"... or kneel.

Pork scratchings are crackling.

Rosie Lee.




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