What better place to plan a summer holiday than in a sunny Southsea Diner where the rockabillies are literally bouncing?
After two cups of coffee I was also bouncing of the red plastic benches while spottydog calmly booked a hotel in downtown Turin.
a very busy hotline, very personal service, hot and personal
Jonny Cash sang personal jesus
Since the arrival of a woodburner in the wendy house, things have started to get
Disco inferno is the current tune of choice
The Trammps sang Disco Inferno
Home can be anywhere, anytime,
It can be in more than one place and time.
Home is always there and never there.
Unlike Rome my home doesnt need time to be built.
Like a shadow it follows me around.
Always welcoming, its presence waxes and wanes through my days.
Morcheeba sang rome wasn’t built in a day
During the recent snow, cars moved very, very slowly and often moved into unintended places with slow, steady momentum.
It’s difficult to forget the world while shivering. Its worth a try. Getting a good wood burning stove is also worth a try
snow patrol sang chasing cars
the sound of the subway phone
John Foxx sang underpass
Recovering from an intensive weekend de-savaging the wendy house garden:
Savage garden sang I want you
Today we listen to internationally* celebrated behaviour therapist Dr. Amelia Prank-Hirst present the key canons of her best selling clinical text book on effective handling techniques for your pet human male – ‘he’s just a man’
This lecture was performed for a small group of international psychiatrists and legal specialists in the back garden of Doctor Prank-hirst’s modest wooden wendy house on the outskirts of downtown Stockholm. The meeting is more commonly known as the ‘Stockholm stand summit’ (SSS).
From this lecture we learn that men
I’m sure we’ve all seen the results of these simple behavioural support guidelines not being followed by owners of males – gangs of men wandering the streets at night, shivering, falling over, hanging around in fast-food joints and pubs.
Tammy Wynette sang stand by your man
The snow is disappearing to the sound of modern English’s optimistic little ditty. This song came to my attention on a compilation audio tape cassette that Bambi used as part of his courting ritual.
Modern English sang I melt with you
At 12 yrs I considered having a crush on Greg Lake because of his voice, song writing skills and wonderfully smooth unblemished skin. Sometimes he even looked 12 years old….
Greg Lake sang I believe in father christmas
(I suspect he didn’t actually believe)
Poets for Oxfam
John Hegley delivering St. Georges day
In my dream I was still living with the *anker that I actually left in 2000 after years of building up the pluck to walk out. Tight black leather jeans, tears bullying, and that was just his his contribution to the dream, mine was even more icky. I fell over several times at a cricket match during the game. Most embaressing.
Godley and Creme sang Under your thumb
The supermarkets are stocking up with spirits for the drinking-even-more-than-normal usual season. Buy one get one free. When-ever I see a whiskey bottle I think of Phil Lynott, his long legs and unfeasably tight jeans (before the invention of Lycra or Spandex). Phil’s alcohol and drug problems have somehow become aligned in my consciousness with the local seasonal overdrinking.
Thin Lizzy sang Whiskey in the jar
Vegetarian ex-psychiatric nurse John Darnielle’s talent and presence was one of the exquisite highlights of living in the USA.
The mountain goats sang This year
I’ve been lured away to stay with a friend’s family in Cairo. How lucky is that?
There will be sunshine on sand, pyramids, sweat, bizarreness in bazaars, bobbing on boats, the grandest of floppy hats and the lovely Egyptian people.
Sand maybe getting into crevices, interferring with normal blog posting services, friction and chaffing. Please be patient, we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause
(Sax warning)
Madness sang night boat to Cairo
Prefab Sprout put their finger on a fundamental truth when they pointed out that some things hurt much more than cars and girls. Cars and girls have been kind to me so far, some things have been less forgiving, for example Dentists, Ski Lifts and Curb Stones
Prefab Sprout sang Cars and Girls
and it tells my time
In 1984 I rented the ‘Tea Warehouse’ for the night. For my time. I found some friendly DJ’s with large and obliging record (Vinyl albums) collections. They were prepared to indulge my taste and keen to get better aquainted with some of my gorgeous girl friends, as indeed they did.
I have memories of dancing along the street to the Warehouse at midnight for the start of the party. Dancing between the traffic. I remember kissing the policeman who lured me back to the pavement with the promise of a chance to wear his helmet.
The Psychedelic furs sang ‘Heaven’
In my day, before personal cell phones, there would be one phone in any household, if you were Lucky. All incoming calls came through this one, shared, phone. In our house the parents answered the phone until, as teenagers, our friends started to call us (rather than their parents calling our parents).
Shared phone
Skillfullly avoiding parental or sibling interview of people calling-in was tricky. It is a skill today’s youngsters have not had to learn. The role of phone sanitizers has also been reduced by the relative lack of phone sharing. I can’t remember the last time I called a number then asked ‘Is [name] there?‘
Department S sang Is Vic there?
John Peel once described ‘another girl, another planet’ as an artful little caprice.
I’ve always rather fancied that the other planet is planet Wendy
Planet Wendy is definitely a good place to be another girl
the only ones sang another girl, another planet
In 1979 I realised the full implications of an electric friend. Charged with excitement and a six pack of batteries I wasn’t too sure where I could get my hands on an electric friend. I settled for some curling tongs instead. This probably explains much of my subsequent love life.
Tubeway army sang ‘Are friends electric‘
An outstanding little bouncy song with an optimisitc message for people who are near the bottom.
Yazz sang The only way is up
My nieces look like they’ve escaped from Bananarama. Having mislaid their dictionary during the breakout they are now tackling the ravages of teenage boredum. Dedum.
Grunting and liberal misuse of the original anglo-saxonisms helps alieviate the condition. I’m thinking of trying it, small doses. But, as yet, I can’t bring myself to part with my 1982 Collins concise.
Banarama sang ‘Robert DeNiro’s waiting’
The Wendy House has a novel coil-spring doorbell circa 1960′s. For some reason it isn’t working. WD-40 and a bit of fiddling hasn’t yet fixed it. I do enjoy a personally relevant, memorable, chorus delivered with passion. Ring my bell!
White Stripes sang Doorbell
On Holiday! Out in the country! Sheep, cows, fields, tractors, all the advantages of rural living. Anything could happen…
The farmers boys sang in the country
Before metro-sexual, with the aide of Niel Innes, people like me imagined urban spacemen. I grew-up with a crush on Niel Innes. He wears hats, plays the piano, and has eyebrowse that raise towards the centre of his brow. Excellent.
Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band sang I’m The Urban Spaceman
The lines ‘hey you, you’re such a pedant, you’ve got as much brains as a dead ant, as much imagination as a caravan site… …but I still love you’ have a touching brilliance that appealed to me as a child and are still poignantly pertinent
Niel Innes sang how sweet to be an idiot
Magnus Pike’s arms, face, and language worked like a symphony. Together they could explain and make memorable complex science. They could add unexpected, playful, dimensions to music videos.
Thomas Dolby sings she blinded me with science
My favourite 6 ft blonde bar staff in the ‘sack of potatoes’ used to call me his favourite Cher. Cher after Sonny and before her substantial body resculpture. I suspect the nose, attitude and hairstyle were the main points of similarity.
Meatloaf and Cher sing Dead ringer for love
Term of endearment or insult? Sometimes it can be difficult to tell.
The first time my college roomate from Sheffield called me a ‘Mardy cow’, apart from having to ask her what ‘mardy’ was, I was a tad offended. No-one had ever called me a ’cow’ , to my face, before. Clearly I’d had a sheltered youth. My Sheffield room-mate quickly put my right on this one, cow is a term of endearment. Apparantly ‘Mardy Cow’ was an affectionate expression to convey her extreme disappointment that I wasn’t going to be joining her for an evening of heavy metal music appreciation. Not really my bag.
I’d rather be a crazy sheep listening to the likes of curiosity killed the cat, I can’t help admiring the lyrics and behatted lankey body movements of the rather charming Ben. But not my room-mates cup of tea. I called her a mardy cow and she replied by demonstrating how her long hair accentuated the head-banging experience. Excellent.
Curiosity killed the cat sang Misfit
Angst in penguin suits, with plummy accents, on plucky ukeleles, by post-teenagers. Despite all the apprarant innapropriateness, it seems to work quite well.
The Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain sing Smells like Teen Spirit
While studying for my Doctorate I saw the talented Dr. Robert and marvelled at his ability to complete a Doctorate so young. In those days I used to confuse optimistic love songs with optimistic political songs.
Still do
Nursing a heavily chaffed-heart under a recent piercing, a 100% cotton vest and an outsized mohair jumper. Yet I still managed to believe this song was a rallying call to vote against Margaret Thatcher rather than an optimisitic love song. Planet Wendy can be pretty twisty at times.
Most times
The Blow Monkeys sang It doesn’t have to be this way
