Kind Of Blue, and also listening to a very cranky two year old! If he doesn't stop soon I'll take off KOB and put on some late era Coltrane. Then we'll see who wins!

the sciatica kicked in last night, I'm in agony and slept one hour.
However, the FPO is looking after me and I am mastering scales on the telecaster.
Every cloud.

David Attenborough's wonderful 1975 series A Tribal Eye, I'm now listening to Bill Evans and will shortly eat lamb, chickpea and mint stew and watch Life on Mars. Then I will go to bed.

First Sabbath album, Purple's Machine Head & In Rock, JungleLand to Electric Ladyland side 4 which obviously leads to John Wesley Harding and now currently Side 1 of Bringing it All Back Home. Just getting warmed up!

to the Green Pajamas CD that arrived today and then I have the thrilling task of undercoating an internal door. Then beer - SA Gold and bed for a read - probably The Northern Clemency.

Life on the edge

Sitting in our study (well, out spare bedroom which we cleared out and filled with desks and shelves) working on a college assignment that's due on Monday evening. This one is a history paper about the Saville Report and is proving particularly tricky.

Have spent the day looking out the window at the blue sky and dreaming of a time when deadlines and exams will be a thing of the past. It won't be any time soon however..
Anyway, enjoy your Miles and your beer and your Ant and your Dec and your Sabbath and your sciatica (well possibly not your sciatica) and raise a glass to those of us who aren't spending out Saturday night the way we'd prefer to.

Although saying that, I'm giving this another hour and then spinning into town for a few jars of stout. I'll finish this yoke tomorrow!

Now, if only i could write 200 words in a history paper as quickly as i wrote those 4 paragraphs!

Have a great Saturday night!

...to transform a bundle of notes, scrawled across two seperate notebooks and various other pieces of scrap paper, into 1500-2000 words on London pigeons.

So tonite I'm staying in. I've just had a rather mean chicken curry while watching the final few episodes of 24 third series on DVD. Right now I'm pissing about on my laptop posting stuff on facebook and listening to a Jeff Healey live album as I type this. Might read a bit of Charlie Murray's "Shots from the Hip" later before I turn in.

vinyl, authoring up a DVD of her webcast gig this week in Paris. Dukes of Stratosphear, Bowie, Scott Walker. magazine, British calypso and Hancock (Tony not herbie) vinyl platters to follow. Reading new copy of rival music mag and song by song book on the afforementioned Scott

well paying some attention to film 4 and some to my laptop, I'm sure Aliens will distract me soon enough.

ain't indoors,she's working (a Nurse).Night shift,has swapped with a mate.So i'm here thinking
"Wrong arm of the Law" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056704/
"The Big Job" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058969/
or
"Ladies who do " http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057241/ bought on ebay 3 quid.
Haven't seen the Big Job for while Sid James, Dick Emery,Deryck Guyler,Slyvia Sims,Lance Percival,very tempted but first last night's episode of Fringe.
Have a good evening all

no lighty!

have now undercoated one side of door, have polished off the very splendid bottle of SA Gold (bought last summer in Pembrokeshire whilst camping and not got round to slurping until now - that's the joy of being distracted from the good things in life by the presence of kids) and now actually fancy slurping another. The other side of the door can wait until the morning.

have sat down and rewatched City Of God, which it turns out is still an incredible film. Am now turning my attentions to the lovely vinyl version of the new Mogwai LP which is nestled up cosily next to my turntable.

Really made me laugh as I've just sat through that while eating dinner (don't tell me kids don't change your life, and what was the old guy thinking?).

Pasta sauce was great but still not quite hot enough (8 birds eye chillies and the kids didn't even ask for a drink, Christ knows what we're doing to their taste buds).

Now desperately hoping a piece of Stilton will defrost in front of the fire as me and the GLW want to uncork some port (got to try to get out on the bike in the morning though so should maybe quit now).

in Dubai airport, wondering about going for a quick drink in the seafood restaurant/bar just round the corner before my flight to India at 4.15 local time. Would much rather be at home in front of a fire (it was snowing when I left this morning) watching The Killing on BBC 4 with My GLW...no spoilers please I'm gonna iplayer it first thing when I get home on Friday.

9th birthday tomorrow, so she has 3 school friends round for a party, DVD and sleepover. FPO just shepherding them into bed and I'm on my 3rd glass of rose. Probably be woken up at some disgusting time tomorrow by the sound of thumping 9 year olds but thankfully, have next week off as I work in a school and it's half term. More rose me thinks.

That accompanied steak frites dinner. Have spent the day listening to the Radiohead album and putting off a writing a twenty page report for work. Will have to do it tomorrow. A few episodes of Hustle (I know I know, but I just like the formula and love Adrian Lester's voice) and then jim jams MOTD and beddy bye boes. Life is grand.

I am trying to knock myself out with a large whiskey and setting the alarm for 3.15am.

That's a full workin' day, lad, etc.

Actually, it's not in the slightest. Just some odd hours and then I have to drive my daughter to the airport for 5am.

Packed the twins off to bed. Chilli with FPO and 12 year old. Grown ups shared a bottle of Moldovan Sauvignon Blanc (it was ok). An episode of Battlestar Galactica followed and then with the 12 year old in bed we've just spent nearly 2 hours sorting out which bit of Brittany we 're aiming at for our summer hols. Bed now - nighty night.

I had a long and rare and nutty day of overtime today, and will be working tomorrow too. Have been happier. So have broken recent Chubby Checker rules and Got The Beers In. (Scales may be playing up anyway. Either than or I have dropped 20 lb overnight.)

Just watched Winter's Bone and am now watching Chelsea being knocked out of the cup, so the day is not a total loss.

Last night spent with FPO and daughter No. 1 in her Birmingham student house, then home to Macclesfield this a.m. on the train, in time to play hockey. A bit of gardening when I got home, then watched the Man U/Crawley game (they should rightly be proud of themselves), had fish & chips in absence of FPO (who has gone on to Brighton to see daughter No. 2), and watched 'Once'. This was the highlight of the day, a truly outstanding film, and I hadn't even heard of it until I found it on the box. Finally, I watched the Mark Knopfler documentary you lot gave mixed reviews of last month. I liked it; I wasn't aware of what he'd been up to since Dire Straights.

Good night.

A late dinner, because the kids were working late, and then we all sat down to watch the remake of I Spit On Your Grave.

I thought it dragged a bit in the first hour, but after that... the kids actually stopped texting for a bit!

(When I say kids, they are nearly 18, nearly 19 and 22 so no need to call social services)

Been for dinner at a highly-rated Southsea restaurant. Arse it was. Highly-rated it will no longer be once my Good Food Guide report goes in

The wine list was shite as well. As was my espresso. But the pea-shoots were all curly. And the gels and foams were wobbly and foamy. I'm always suspicious of foams. It looks like the chef's flobbed on the plate. I don't expect that with my meal. I'm not Michael Winner. And gels. Why? "How was your gel, sir?"

"Rubbery."

"Oh thank you so much. I will tell the chef."

Now I'm at home, still pissed-off that I paid good money for ponced-about wank.

Watched the Man Utd Crawley game with son.It gets increasingly hard to persuade teenage members of the family to spend time away from a screen so live footie offers the chance to talk and spend time with my boy.He will be off to University in September and we will really miss him.

The GlW cooked a lovely Beef & Guiness stew and then we enjoyed a warm/sad/charming ITV film "Lost for Words" Pete Postlewaithe and Thora Hurd at their best.Sky plussed it months ago and it's just superb.

Discovered Thornbridge St.Petersburg Imperial Stout, brewed only 10 minutes walk away, never previously tasted and as good as beer gets.

Now deliberating whether I should have another before watching the second episode of the Killing shown on BBC4 earlier tonight.The best drama the BBC has shown for ages and they had to buy it from Denmark.All in all a grand night.

Jimmy Webb at the Parish Church of St. Mary, Brighton.
Both entertaining and moving, just yer man and a grand piano.
And the last episode of The Killing to look forward to.

The Mum's playing up (no wonder, her cancer scare last year has equalled another visit with op. and short stay in the 'ossie), she's inconsolable and I'm being way too grumpy. Coming off one sort of pain meds to only move onto a new set with a painkiller and red wine interlude to get me over the hump. Lack of sleep and having a mate over last night for a 'drink & vid sesh' plus the chapel being freezing tonight, compounded my grump.
Finding out this The Sisters Of Mercy are still peddling cheap hard rock knock off even on their 30th anniversary gigs in their heartland of Leeds hasn't improved my mood. Then I stuck on a copy 'my neighbour' found for me of Talking Woodstock. It has Spanish subtitles. Try as I might I can't stop scanning them.
Remnants of a bottle of red and 'Basket of Light' by Mr. E's faves, The Pentangle, on now and I feel like I'm coming in to land.

Ah'll sithee!

An "its an knockout" for the 21st century. And just like IAK, perfect for watching with the kids on a Saturday night with a fish and chip supper. Had a friend round with his 2, so there were 7 of us (plus cat and 3 goldfish) watching yesterday. Actually the cat was watching the goldfish.

If only Primeval, Dr Who or Merlin were on at the moment we would have a great communal Saturday night. Drink was not taken.

...emailing my cousin with advice on whether to introduce a paywall for his mash-up / remix podcast (Ramdom Thoughts), prepping for the press visit to my dance class on Monday and hankering for some proper cod and chips with plenty salt and vinegar. All after a hard days work at the refinery.

Spent Saturday night coughing and sneezing through the United match then sneezing and coughing,just for a little variation through The Killing. No drink was partaken of and scant amounts of food eaten. Feeling too lousy to cook and the GLW is laid up with her old nemesis,her injured back. We've been too crocked to visit the Aged P in hospital for the past four days so we're both feeling very low and worried.
Hopeful however of being recovered enough by the end of the week to be able to limp our way over to the pool of life for a spot of mingling.
Life eh.

But last night we were all at our splendidly hospitable neighbours house after an afternoon outdoor ice skating session just off the seafront. Excellent company and food washed down with Californian Zinfandel.

and Kirsty Young. Desert Island discs BBC Radio 4 podcast + Cup of tea. Lovely.