Diamond White - directly responsible for my reproductive output x2 and many embarrassing experiencesNighttime turns to morning, it's a cold but sunny day, and I resolve to STOP slipping old Quireboys lyrics into my text. If it started raining I could maybe slip some GnR lyrics in. But it didn't. With hopeless optimism, I put a new battery in the RememBird and headed out birdspotting. Have decided I need a PSP so I don't have to stop playing Star Wars just for the sake of going out. Did a big figure-of eight walk, down the track to the beach, up the cliffs, seawatch, back through Newtonhill to the Retreat, then down and up and round Cran Hill, back to the railway bridge and hame. Afraid it was dull again. Blue Tits and Robins. Not that I want to disparage Blue Tits and Robins. Jeez, if they were rare we wouldn't be able to stop talking about them. But as it happens (ladies and gentlemen) they're common as muck, especially in sunny Newtonhill. For the RSPB magazine, I saw a Chaffinch having a bath, and for Birdwatch magazine, I pished for a bit and brought a further 4 Chaffinches out of cover, and two Blue Tits and a Robin. 2 more Robins having a fight up the cliff sides, while a Dunnock and Wren watched. Offshore... 4 Common Gulls, 2 Great Black-backed Gulls feeding, + 2 Guillemots, and 2 Bottle-nosed Dolphins swimming about. Yada yada. I enjoyed the sensory-overload of 5 hybrid Hoodie x Carrion Crows feeding around the enormous dung heap on Cran Hill - when they spread *that* it spells DOOM for Newtonhill. Ach! Meadow Pipits, Skylarks, Magpies. Sorry I've got nothing to interest the casual reader. Mmmmm casual readers. You are welcome here.
My mind started to wander.... but that's OK - it came back. I've been watching the Dr Who spinoff, Torchwood, which on the whole is pretty dire, except for all the girl-on-alien sex etc. Last two episodes were interesting. One the other night they all went off to investigate aliens making people disappear in the Welsh Valleys. In the end it turned out there were no aliens involved - it was just Welsh farmers eating each other! I object! Being one third Welsh by residence (eh?) I thought it perpetuated stereotypes of rural communities being made up of suspiciously closely related, socially inept primitives. It was a cheap shot at the people we all know are the TRUE GUARDIANS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE! The other episode, I only saw 5 minutes in the middle and 1o at the end, but I think I picked up on the nuances of the plot. Housing estate built on ancient woodland site... fairies in the wood (who are really aliens, obviously) get cross and start killing people and taking children away. Actually, I think that might be true. Suburbia - where they cut down the trees and name the streets after them. That used to happen all the time where we used to live in West Lothian. You used to drive past bits of habbo month after month, and then one day it would be gone and there'd be one of those yellow signs advertising new developments called things like 'DeerPark', 'Birchwood Estate', 'Red Moss' etc. The worst one I remember was called 'Waterside Meadows'. I bet all the middle-management money-men commuters wonder why they can't get house insurance and their gardens go all squelchy in winter. Am I digressing? Maybe there's a hidden message here. Maybe it's not very hidden. Diamond White is driving my life tonight. And it's drunk!
Not sure what happened in Newtonhill. We live on a relatively modern estate... but the streets are all C-list celebrity saints... St Michael's, St Ternan's, St Peter's (guess he's an A-list), St Ann's. They must have dissolved a monastery, slaughtered the good people, and built houses on top. Btw did you know the best way to preserve Scotland's wildlife is to plant trees all over the top of it? It must be true cos I saw it in a leaflet.
Anyway, inspired by The McKinney, I thought I could post my top five songs of the week too. First one... the one most likely to make you go wtf? is by a band called Love/Hate, and is in fact one of the top five of my life. In fact I think everything self destructive I've ever done has been a direct result of this band. I even had a Budweiser-can crucifix of my own. Diane made me hang it from the rafters in our garage in Winchburgh, and I left it there when we moved out. Nice surprise for the person moving in. I saw this band once, at the Buckley Tivoli (oh yes!). Went on the bus. How they were not HUGE I will never know.
My mind started to wander.... but that's OK - it came back. I've been watching the Dr Who spinoff, Torchwood, which on the whole is pretty dire, except for all the girl-on-alien sex etc. Last two episodes were interesting. One the other night they all went off to investigate aliens making people disappear in the Welsh Valleys. In the end it turned out there were no aliens involved - it was just Welsh farmers eating each other! I object! Being one third Welsh by residence (eh?) I thought it perpetuated stereotypes of rural communities being made up of suspiciously closely related, socially inept primitives. It was a cheap shot at the people we all know are the TRUE GUARDIANS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE! The other episode, I only saw 5 minutes in the middle and 1o at the end, but I think I picked up on the nuances of the plot. Housing estate built on ancient woodland site... fairies in the wood (who are really aliens, obviously) get cross and start killing people and taking children away. Actually, I think that might be true. Suburbia - where they cut down the trees and name the streets after them. That used to happen all the time where we used to live in West Lothian. You used to drive past bits of habbo month after month, and then one day it would be gone and there'd be one of those yellow signs advertising new developments called things like 'DeerPark', 'Birchwood Estate', 'Red Moss' etc. The worst one I remember was called 'Waterside Meadows'. I bet all the middle-management money-men commuters wonder why they can't get house insurance and their gardens go all squelchy in winter. Am I digressing? Maybe there's a hidden message here. Maybe it's not very hidden. Diamond White is driving my life tonight. And it's drunk!
Not sure what happened in Newtonhill. We live on a relatively modern estate... but the streets are all C-list celebrity saints... St Michael's, St Ternan's, St Peter's (guess he's an A-list), St Ann's. They must have dissolved a monastery, slaughtered the good people, and built houses on top. Btw did you know the best way to preserve Scotland's wildlife is to plant trees all over the top of it? It must be true cos I saw it in a leaflet.
Anyway, inspired by The McKinney, I thought I could post my top five songs of the week too. First one... the one most likely to make you go wtf? is by a band called Love/Hate, and is in fact one of the top five of my life. In fact I think everything self destructive I've ever done has been a direct result of this band. I even had a Budweiser-can crucifix of my own. Diane made me hang it from the rafters in our garage in Winchburgh, and I left it there when we moved out. Nice surprise for the person moving in. I saw this band once, at the Buckley Tivoli (oh yes!). Went on the bus. How they were not HUGE I will never know.
And the rest.... I won't embed these for the benefit of people who have lost interest by now... but check out:
Smashing Pumpkins - Today. The best song ever, with the best video ever. I wish our ice-cream man had the same Mad Max feel.
Alice in Chains - Nutshell. My physical desire for all members of Alice in Chains, even the dead one, needs no further comment.
Cure - Friday I'm in Love. I KNOW that if you like The Cure you're meant to say that the early stuff is best, and that Killing an Arab is your favourite song, and later they sold out, etc etc. But sorry. I 've GOT the Killing an Arab album and it is largely sh*t. This song is genius... I don't care if Monday's blue, Tuesday grey and Wednesday too. Thursday I don't care about you, it's Friday I'm in love!
Abrasive Wheels - Burn 'em Down. Leeds punk band, early 80s, still going but now fat. Even at this stage (82 video) they had lst the urgency... a couple of the band members used to hang around our house. It's where I first learnt the seductive smell of glue. Genius song. Caused troubled when some kids really did burn down their school.
Confession. I aren't really drinking Diamond White tonight. It's too classy and expensive. I'm on ASDA White Lightning. I'll regret it in the morning. Still, nothing lasts forever, and we both know hearts can change. And I'll just end up walking in the cold November Rain. ha ha! Got it!
4 comments:
Nice choices. Loved thre Abrasive Wheels. I always wanted a mohican but I was too worried about what my nan would say. Guess that was why I never made much of a punk.
Hi Doc,
1) Lots of streets here in Cork are named after saints, but these are mostly the ones built when we were still a God-fearing Catholic nation, not the Mammon-enslaved capitalist paradise of recent years.
2) 'Torchwood' is utter shite, and this from someone who used to love the original 'Doctor Who' series (the 1963-1989 one). That John Barrowman was amazingly filthy on 'Never Mind The Buzzcocks' too.
3) I have no intention of posting YouTube links on my blog, so, if the McKinney and Menzie have stopped, you can too!
H
Yay! Pop-pickers! It's over! Tom - you made me remember how much I liked Public Enemy! Sometimes I think that nostalgia is all I've got to look forward to (eh?).
I always wanted a Mohican too, but I was worried about looking like a tw*t!
What's your favouirite Doctor? Tom Baker for me.
Not really a fan of hip-hop, mainly due to the ridiculous posturing and boasting of today's Escalade-driving egomaniacs. That Public Enemy choon wasn't bad, mind!
Never wanted a Mohican, I was always way too safe and moderate to even think of such things.
Early Tom Baker for me too, before he became convinced that he was bigger than the programme, and put in performances that reflected this.
H
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