Welcome back.
Sometimes life gets in the way of cycling and music and all I can do is roll with the punches. A couple of weeks ago I booked my commuting bicycle in for a service. When I dropped it off on Wednesday I was told that I probably wouldn't get it back the same day. I was far from happy but what can you do? Then there were a couple of events that came pretty close to triggering me during the week. Certainly this would have been the case not all that long ago. Somehow, I managed to work carefully through them and other than feeling a bit annoyed, I was OK. The sun came out and I finally got to ride to work again and I managed a long trundle on the way home.
Those of you silly enough to look at my Instagram posts will note that it's pretty much all about music. I've removed most TV viewing from my days and have increased the time I spend listening to my music collection as well as reading. It's doing me good. Here's an outstanding track from an album that's had quite a few spins recently.
Southside Johnny and The Jukes - Walk Away Renee - https://youtu.be/saWaoGFfCAM
Well, this episode got delayed by a couple of days; sorry about that. Again, life got in the way.
The weather over the weekend was fabulous here in Canberra and I had planned to get out for a couple of longer rides to make the most of it. Not much beats rolling on quiet roads or cycle paths in the sunshine. On Saturday I decided to head out to Stromlo, down to the Cotter, towards Tharwa and then home via Point Hut Crossing. It was glorious. It was also a lot hillier than I had remembered. Whilst it was only 106km all up, the 1100 metres of climbing and the rough road surfaces definitely hurt. Angus' recommendation of a chocolate milk to aid in my recovery was a good plan. But wait, there's more. Sunday was even more lovely so again off I went. A planned 65km ride turned into 80km and I was completely gassed with about 8km to go. That was a very long last few kilometers I can assure you. It's been a very long time since I've felt that unwell on a bike and it was just because I had run out of energy. There was some dizziness, nausea, a blinding headache and a couple of alarming hallucinations! As my mate Todd reminded me that afternoon, I do have to take into account the fact that I'm 52!
Ramones - I Don't Wanna Grow Up - https://youtu.be/bH17fIsYirI
In mid 2019 some of you will remember that I enrolled in a Masters Degree to work towards becoming a librarian. In the end I had to admit that my brain was no longer up to that level of academic study and I dropped out after two semesters. I thought that I was all OK about that until last week. I watched a fabulous movie called, The Public, which is about a sit-in by some homeless folks at a library in the USA. It's fiction but it could easily be real life. The film was really well written and acted with a cast including Emilio Estevez, Alec Baldwin, Taylor Schilling and Christian Bale. Towards the end though it made me very, very sad that my life hadn't been able to go in that direction (libraries, not homelessness). People throw the term "triggered" around with gay abandon these days but this movie did that to me and I didn't see it coming. I ended up having to work through an issue that I thought was long gone but I'm glad that these days I seem to have the tools to do that. Watch the movie by the way, it really is worthwhile (SBS streaming for those in Australia). This song features prominently in the film.
Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now - https://youtu.be/b0cAWgTPiwM
On Sunday afternoon Bing invited me over for a chat and to be there for him to unbox KISS' super-deluxe version of their 1976 classic album Destroyer. I think that album art is important and if you look at the cover of Destroyer then you may or may not agree that it's their best. Are they superheroes, cartoon characters or rock stars? Maybe all three. We had the chance to listen to the album in the 5.1 surround mix done by Steven Wilson and it might be the best immersive listening experience I've ever had. As well as hearing things that you may not usually hear (including the piano fattening up the bass lines in Shout It Out Loud and the cavernous reverb on Paul's voice) the whole thing puts you in the room, or on stage, with the band. It's like you live the album rather than just hearing it. We did A-B a couple of the tracks with the original 1976 stereo mix and Wilson was faithful to them whilst working his magic. There's a ton of other stuff in the boxset that would probably only appeal to KISS fans but the 5.1 mix itself is a musical treat. They really were the "hottest band in the world". Cork sniffers can feel free to let us know the genuine pros and cons of Dolby Atmos, DTS and all that jazz.
KISS - King Of The Night Time World (live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) - https://youtu.be/NnGvUMefUsg
Recently I commented that I was reading Ulysses by James Joyce. Well, I'm not any more. It was too much for my brain to keep track of and I had to return it to the library unread. I will admit that this was a bit frustrating but I just have to accept it and move on. The library's online catalogue is really quite difficult to search (or at least to get decent results from) and their digital offerings never really seem to line up with anything that I am interested in. And with the demise of the Book Suppository, I went to the bookshop in my lunch break and actually found a book by Charles Bukowski. Cool!
Belle and Sebastian - Wrapped Up In Books - https://youtu.be/iBU-MxydbWQ
A big shout out to Angus who got the coach's award on Saturday as his team demolished the opposition by more than 100 points. I can't wait to get the chance to see him play later in the year. Australian Rules Football really is the best footy in terms of being great for spectators. It's fast, three dimensional and there is always something happening.
The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keeping on, like a bird that flew
Tangled up in blue..."
Sometimes life gets in the way of cycling and music and all I can do is roll with the punches. A couple of weeks ago I booked my commuting bicycle in for a service. When I dropped it off on Wednesday I was told that I probably wouldn't get it back the same day. I was far from happy but what can you do? Then there were a couple of events that came pretty close to triggering me during the week. Certainly this would have been the case not all that long ago. Somehow, I managed to work carefully through them and other than feeling a bit annoyed, I was OK. The sun came out and I finally got to ride to work again and I managed a long trundle on the way home.
Those of you silly enough to look at my Instagram posts will note that it's pretty much all about music. I've removed most TV viewing from my days and have increased the time I spend listening to my music collection as well as reading. It's doing me good. Here's an outstanding track from an album that's had quite a few spins recently.
Southside Johnny and The Jukes - Walk Away Renee - https://youtu.be/saWaoGFfCAM
I busted out the anniversary vinyl edition of one of my favourite records last night. It's a set that includes the LP, CD, DVDs and a book. I'm pretty sure I've never actually played the vinyl and I've decided that's just silly. So Ozzy's classic album Blizzard of Ozz got long overdue airing as I pored over the coffee table book that came with the set. It's a great album that stands the test of time. Randy Rhoads remains a very influential guitarist and many of the tunes have become live staples for Ozzy. Randy's lead guitar is fluid, fast and melodic. Other than Angus Young, he's the heavy guitarist I like to listen to the most.
Ozzy Osbourne - Steal Away (The Night) - https://youtu.be/lBWuLyIqUGQ
Ozzy Osbourne - Steal Away (The Night) - https://youtu.be/lBWuLyIqUGQ
Well, this episode got delayed by a couple of days; sorry about that. Again, life got in the way.
The weather over the weekend was fabulous here in Canberra and I had planned to get out for a couple of longer rides to make the most of it. Not much beats rolling on quiet roads or cycle paths in the sunshine. On Saturday I decided to head out to Stromlo, down to the Cotter, towards Tharwa and then home via Point Hut Crossing. It was glorious. It was also a lot hillier than I had remembered. Whilst it was only 106km all up, the 1100 metres of climbing and the rough road surfaces definitely hurt. Angus' recommendation of a chocolate milk to aid in my recovery was a good plan. But wait, there's more. Sunday was even more lovely so again off I went. A planned 65km ride turned into 80km and I was completely gassed with about 8km to go. That was a very long last few kilometers I can assure you. It's been a very long time since I've felt that unwell on a bike and it was just because I had run out of energy. There was some dizziness, nausea, a blinding headache and a couple of alarming hallucinations! As my mate Todd reminded me that afternoon, I do have to take into account the fact that I'm 52!
Ramones - I Don't Wanna Grow Up - https://youtu.be/bH17fIsYirI
In mid 2019 some of you will remember that I enrolled in a Masters Degree to work towards becoming a librarian. In the end I had to admit that my brain was no longer up to that level of academic study and I dropped out after two semesters. I thought that I was all OK about that until last week. I watched a fabulous movie called, The Public, which is about a sit-in by some homeless folks at a library in the USA. It's fiction but it could easily be real life. The film was really well written and acted with a cast including Emilio Estevez, Alec Baldwin, Taylor Schilling and Christian Bale. Towards the end though it made me very, very sad that my life hadn't been able to go in that direction (libraries, not homelessness). People throw the term "triggered" around with gay abandon these days but this movie did that to me and I didn't see it coming. I ended up having to work through an issue that I thought was long gone but I'm glad that these days I seem to have the tools to do that. Watch the movie by the way, it really is worthwhile (SBS streaming for those in Australia). This song features prominently in the film.
Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now - https://youtu.be/b0cAWgTPiwM
On Sunday afternoon Bing invited me over for a chat and to be there for him to unbox KISS' super-deluxe version of their 1976 classic album Destroyer. I think that album art is important and if you look at the cover of Destroyer then you may or may not agree that it's their best. Are they superheroes, cartoon characters or rock stars? Maybe all three. We had the chance to listen to the album in the 5.1 surround mix done by Steven Wilson and it might be the best immersive listening experience I've ever had. As well as hearing things that you may not usually hear (including the piano fattening up the bass lines in Shout It Out Loud and the cavernous reverb on Paul's voice) the whole thing puts you in the room, or on stage, with the band. It's like you live the album rather than just hearing it. We did A-B a couple of the tracks with the original 1976 stereo mix and Wilson was faithful to them whilst working his magic. There's a ton of other stuff in the boxset that would probably only appeal to KISS fans but the 5.1 mix itself is a musical treat. They really were the "hottest band in the world". Cork sniffers can feel free to let us know the genuine pros and cons of Dolby Atmos, DTS and all that jazz.
I've chosen this particular KISS live clip because it's just a hell of a good time.
KISS - King Of The Night Time World (live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) - https://youtu.be/NnGvUMefUsg
Recently I commented that I was reading Ulysses by James Joyce. Well, I'm not any more. It was too much for my brain to keep track of and I had to return it to the library unread. I will admit that this was a bit frustrating but I just have to accept it and move on. The library's online catalogue is really quite difficult to search (or at least to get decent results from) and their digital offerings never really seem to line up with anything that I am interested in. And with the demise of the Book Suppository, I went to the bookshop in my lunch break and actually found a book by Charles Bukowski. Cool!
Belle and Sebastian - Wrapped Up In Books - https://youtu.be/iBU-MxydbWQ
A big shout out to Angus who got the coach's award on Saturday as his team demolished the opposition by more than 100 points. I can't wait to get the chance to see him play later in the year. Australian Rules Football really is the best footy in terms of being great for spectators. It's fast, three dimensional and there is always something happening.
Little River Band - Playing to Win (VFL promo 1985) - https://youtu.be/GbtiUrHUhRw
And finally, RIP Tiny. You were a lovely wee dog.
The Woozle
And finally, RIP Tiny. You were a lovely wee dog.
The Woozle
"And when finally the bottom fell out
I became withdrawnThe only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keeping on, like a bird that flew
Tangled up in blue..."
Bob Dylan, Tangled Up In Blue, 1975
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