A minor meander...

[Redundant]

...that's what my mind spends most of it's time doing, in between moments of panic, moments of joy and moments of "what the...".   As everyone knows misery loves company and so does meandering apparently, because here I am.   Musically I'm in an acoustic mood, so I'll leave space for a few bits of what I am listening to right now.   Feel free to exit this post at any point because it really isn't going anywhere.

Here's the first, Jack Savoretti and "Written in Scars". This has a brilliant intro which is reminiscent of Ennio Morricones music from the spaghetti westerns before kicking off properly, excellent track:

https://youtu.be/gHDnbmrpreQ

First meander.   Do you remember when the only rubbish on television was the actual programmes?   Now we have truly adopted the Americanism of putting little "motifs" or other rubbish on our screens, because it really really matters that I remember what channel it is I am watching.   Even more important is my desperate need to be told what's coming up next, particularly just before what is generally considered the climatic point of a programme, i.e. the ending.   As for the youtube videos...

Billy Bragg - "Swallow my Pride" is next, in a melancholy mood:

https://youtu.be/bj7xLhMEvh0

Ain't love grand!   Probably like most couples, my wife and I are not shy of saying "I love you" [to each other I mean, although it can be fun freaking out strangers by saying something similar to them].   There are times though when I look at my wife and I realise just how bad my life would be without her, and when I say "I love you" at that moment, I can feel it with every bit of my being, it almost physically hurts.   Oddly I get the same feeling, only more often, when I see cheese on toast...   [Sorry but it was all getting far too girly].

Brandi Carlile - "The Story" - Just love this womans voice:

https://youtu.be/o8pQLtHTPaI

Some humour is needed, so this is a bit of a steal, called "...and that's when the fight started"

My  wife and I were sitting at a table at her high  school reunion, and she kept staring at a drunken man swigging his drink as he sat alone at a nearby table.

I asked her, "Do you know  him?".   "Yes", she sighed, "he's my old  boyfriend.  I understand he took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago,  and I hear he hasn't been sober since."

"My  G-d!" I said, "Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?"

And that's when the fight started...


My wife sat down next to me as I was flipping channels.   She asked, "What's on TV?".   "Dust" I replied.

And that's when the fight started...


So, Saturday  morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made a packed lunch, and slipped quietly into the garage.   I hooked up the boat up to the car and backed out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day.

I went back into the house,  quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed.   I cuddled up to my wife's back; now with a different anticipation, whispered, "The  weather out there is terrible."

My loving wife of many years replied, "And, can you believe my idiot husband is out fishing in that?"

And that's when the fight started...


Finally, and congratulations and warm thanks if you made it this far, Johnny Cash - "Hurt", a cover version of a great Nine Inch Nails song, recorded a year or so before he died.   One of my favourite tracks:

https://youtu.be/iCdBc5uByFQ

[Roger Kettle]

Red, please feel free to meander as often as you like. Always a joy. I'll get on to the music this evening.

[Redundant]

Thanks Roger, my wife likes it when I "meander" here occasionally, it means her ears get a rest.   I hope you enjoy the music.

[Redundant]

I already have my next "oh g-d not again" subject in mind, but it's going to take a little work.   I felt compelled to provide advanced warning on this one, giving you the chance to avoid reading it even accidentally.   It's central premise will be the class system, it's evolving structure and the social and political ramifications involved.

On the positive side it will almost certainly contain references to those whom Rudyard Kipling referred to as "...members of the most ancient profession in the world" and other similar but political entities.   Don't say you weren't warned.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Red, please feel free to meander as often as you like. Always a joy. I'll get on to the music this evening.

Likewise, Red. And I did enjoy the music as I read it. I have long since had the wonderful and extremely poignant Cash version of 'Hurt' on my iPhone.

[Rob Baker]

Red, please feel free to meander as often as you like. Always a joy. I'll get on to the music this evening.

Likewise, Red. And I did enjoy the music as I read it. I have long since had the wonderful and extremely poignant Cash version of 'Hurt' on my iPhone.

Yes, it's a very poignant song.  A few years ago Channel 4 showed a group of old folks in America learning 'Hurt' in order to perform it in their care home.  I don't mind admitting I cried like a baby while I was watching it.

[Redundant]

Likewise, Red. And I did enjoy the music as I read it. I have long since had the wonderful and extremely poignant Cash version of 'Hurt' on my iPhone.

Yes, it's a very poignant song.  A few years ago Channel 4 showed a group of old folks in America learning 'Hurt' in order to perform it in their care home.  I don't mind admitting I cried like a baby while I was watching it.

Many thanks Tarqs.   Rob, I can't imagine not crying like a baby in such circumstances, I actually did that when I saw the video of Johnny Cash actually performing the song, so I avoided posting that one!

[Redundant]

I'm going to call this an addendum to "A minor meander," I was loath to start a new thread.   For years I have banged on about television.   My central point about television is political, you may remember from earlier posts I am clinging to socialism as in individual, fully aware of its inherent weakness when expanded beyond that.   I have formed the opinion some time ago that television is the enemy of the masses, and here's why.

Before so called home entertainment, we had to make our own efforts, and those efforts didn't always centre on the home, we actually went out an joined in with other activities, some of which were political.   I fully realise just how easy it is, after a hard days work, to come home, have your meal and slob in front of the goggle box, I did it for years.

But this plays perfectly into the hands of "the system".   "The system" isn't a singular political party, it is more a totality of political and economic factors, controlled by politicians and essentially the "haves", and it's design it simple, maintain the status quo, increase the wealth and keep the "have nots" in their place.

Recent events [in my opinion] confirm that this design is even more successful than they probably ever imagined.   Politicians can now lie openly, and simply shrug off any criticism this might engender, car manufacturers can lie and invent, get caught occasionally and carry on, albeit with  slightly less money in the bank than before.  Banks can almost bring down countries, and then bounce back to have another go, jobs have just become another economic factor and the first to go when profits are threatened.

It's a win win situation for "the system" at the moment, there must be dances of glee going on in all the places that the "have nots" will never see.   It's not just television which creates this utopia for the "haves".   The breakdown of communities, the loss of faith in all things, the increasing apathy, the almost global "well there's nothing I can do about it" pandemic, all have their place.

Television is a big player in this scenario, it feeds the masses the entertainment it craves whilst at the same time feeding the gravy train.   It fills time between sleep and work so that the great unwashed don't actually have to think, talk, organise, all of which would be dangerous to "the system".

I know, it's all just another conspiracy theory, but it's mine and there's little I can do about it.   So I stopped watching television several years ago and tried to 'develop' my social ethic but then you come into contact with some terrible people, the ones who know about the gravy train, and just want to get on it.   Some do, most don't but they'll lie and cheat and feed of the "have nots" while they are doing it.

So eventually I lost faith that ordinary people could make a difference, I kept up my no television rule accept for a not so subtle flaw, I started downloading films and television series.   I justified this by the notion I wasn't falling for the reality based rubbish, I was only watching quality stuff.

A nonsense.

For some reason, even in the face of a world that's going to hell in a hand-basket, today I seemed to have realised just how bad a nonsense it really is, so all films, television series etc have now been wiped off my computer.   I have a couple of plans that will hopefully mean my time will be spend more constructively, but in reality anything would be better than sitting watching other  people pretending to be other people and getting paid for it.

As for politics, socialism, apathy and "the system" I have no plans, my renewal of faith doesn't seem to have stretched that far yet.

My, I wasn't expecting this to be so "epic, ah well, I have time now!"

[Mince]

But then you'd miss Game of Thrones.

And if you're going without watching live television, dispense with the television licence and have fun slamming doors in the faces of their 'enforcement officers', or 'scum' as we like to call them.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Blimey! If you feel that way about television, wait till you discover the Internet!

Oh, hang on...   

[Redundant]

But then you'd miss Game of Thrones.

And if you're going without watching live television, dispense with the television licence and have fun slamming doors in the faces of their 'enforcement officers', or 'scum' as we like to call them.

That and The Black List, Vikings, Billions etc, all deleted and yet I feel better.  The licence remains, I suspect inflicting my personal viewpoint on my wife would not even be survivable.

[Redundant]

Blimey! If you feel that way about television, wait till you discover the Internet!

Oh, hang on...   

    Fortunately the Internet is interactive and full of possibilities, just so long as you don't lose the off switch...