Right now...

...Anthony and his dad are thumping about in the master bedroom, attempting to hang some lining paper.

Esme is hiding behind the sewing chair, curled up on the bottom shelf of the bookshelf there, wishing all the noise would stop so she could have a relaxing snooze in the chair rather than behind it.

I have been sorting out oodles of paperwork & either putting it in piles for filing, or shredding it (sorry Esme) into cross-cut piles of fluff that I would quite like to just throw into the air.

But I just sat on the sofa to have a five minute rest while the shredder cooled down & FoleyCat appeared from her secret-hiding-from-noise-spot and curled up on my lap seeking fuss.

So I have sat here, fussing a cute kitty, serenading her with "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" (playing from the pc) and known that right here, right now there is no place I'd rather be.

Then Foley bit my finger & vanished again.

But it was worth making a note of. Too many perfect moments get lost or missed. This one didn't.

*Sent from my iPhone*

Reasons that my iPhone is fabulous...

...number 34598613947259735872048205345018. (no, seriously, IT IS THAT DAMN GOOD)

Ahem.

Today has been a pretty crappy day.

There's been a few of those recently and to be honest it's been an issue for a while.

But I've been avoiding it, naturally.

Today I cracked slightly and went into Tesco after work and filled a basket with stuff, paid for it and then started walking home - in the pouring rain.

Because of the rain and the shopping I could not shake my iPhone when it started playing me music I did not want to hear. I had to pick the first track and then just put up with whatever came next.

My iPhone obviously loves me.

Playlist for Kate's walk home in the pouring rain 26/08/09.

Screamager - Therapy? (I picked this)
The Dark Is Rising - Mercury Rev
Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It - Buffalo Springfield
For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield
Disco 2000 - Pulp
Beautiful Day - U2

The last track started just as I got to the doorstep and then had to hunt through 3 bags for my keys.

Fabulous, fabulous iPhone.

***************************************

Now that I have taken off my soaking jeans, stuffed my trainers full of newspaper and prevented Foley from running under a bus while I checked the gas meter (£19.64) I can actually look at what I bought in Tesco.


I didn't just buy chocolate?????? *faints with shock*

(and with discounts it actually came to under £20 - my cracked brain has turned out sensible somehow).

So tonight I shall be googling how to cook pork belly slices, drinking Bucks Fizz and eating caramel shortcake, nom.

Oh, and being hyper about the fact I've had some visor related news.

Oh, and being proud of myself for finally booking that (long) overdue doctors appointment.

Five months ago...

...it was my birthday (and I became old).

At the time I posted about my plans to put together a playlist of 150 songs for my 30th birthday, the 150for30.

It's still a work in progress.

I'm 37 songs short of the full 150. I've got 34 songs that I need to download (I'm doing 10 a month on payday) and I'm still missing 3 songs for the 0-10 section.

Below is the list of the 37 songs I've found for that time, can anyone help me think of three more?

I'm after the big songs from between 1978 and 1988, I'm sure there must be a few more key songs from that time that I just haven't thought of. Songs that were played everywhere and that have just slipped my mind.

So here's the list, any more ideas? (Keris...I'm looking at you here...)

All Around My Hat - Steeleye Span
American Pie - Don McLean
Babooshka - Kate Bush (TDL)
Bicycle Race - Queen
Blinded By The Light - Manfred Mann
Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell
Buffalo Stance - Neneh Cherry
Cathedral - CSNY
Christmas Must Be Tonight - The Band
Dancing in the City - Marshall Hain (TDL)
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
Gaudete - Steeleye Span
Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City - Harry Nilsson
Guitar Man - Bread
Hotel California - Eagles
House At Pooh Corner - Livingstone Taylor
In The Summertime - Mungo Jerry
Karma Chameleon - Culture Club (TDL)
Layla - Derek and the Dominoes
Love The One You're With - Stephen Stills
Making Your Mind Up - Bucks Fizz (TDL)
Only The Good Die Young - Billy Joel
Orinoco Flow - Enya (TDL)
Our House - CSNY
Photographs and Memories - Jim Crace (TDL)
Shaddap You Face - Joe Dolce (TDL)
Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
Spirit in the Sky - Doctor and the Medics (TDL)
Stand and Deliver - Adam Ant (TDL)
Stuck In The Middle With You - Steeler's Wheel
Sunshine On My Shoulders - John Denver
Take On Me - A-Ha
Teach Your Children - CSN
The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
The Weight - The Band
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham
We Will Rock You - Queen

(TDL)= To DownLoad.

For bonus points, can you guess any of the 14 songs from that list that have made it onto my work playlist...

I completely intended...

...to blog yesterday, and then suddenly it was bedtime and I realised I hadn't. Bad me.

Right then.

On Sunday (after the Grand Prix) I cooked Chicken in Garlic Sauce, which was flipping gorgeous!

It looked like this:


The recipe suggests serving it with boiled new potatoes and green beans, but since I did my usual thing of forgetting to do anything to go with it until five minutes before it was ready to serve, so we had lots of peas and sweetcorn instead.

Apart from the fact there seemed to be gallons of sauce left (the recipe is for 4 and I didn't cut any quantities down) it was absolutely perfect. It's definitely going to be made again, although next time I think I shall try reducing the sauce a lot more!

Lovely Twitter is not only keeping me informed about all the latest F1 shenanigans (Lewis, Lewis, Lewis...cheats never prosper!) but it also won me a prize!
The folks at the Naxos Music Library had run a Twitter competition to win a free months subscription as part of their 30th birthday celebrations. All you had had to do was DM @naxosrecords for a chance to win.

They contacted me on Wednesday to say I'd won it but then Anthony promptly brought me back down to earth by asking me if I'd noticed the date...
Luckily he was very wrong and so I now have a whole month of picking myself some music to listen to. I don't know much about classical music so if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

*Anthony has just phoned me so I have completely lost my train of thought*

Um.

Erm.

Here, have a cat picture.



In fact, have two.


(I love the fact Foley seems to have too many legs in this one)

Stand And Be...

...Counted.

Timed Meme No. 1

1. Put your iPod (itunes) on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!


IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
The Knowledge - I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Extraordinary Girl - Green Day

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - Mercury Rev

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Ridiculous - Bowling For Soup

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Frittering - Mercury Rev

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Comes Love - Joni Mitchell

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
4 + 20 - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

WHAT IS 2+2?
Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting - Elton John

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
I'm Going Slightly Mad - Queen

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Ride Of The Valkyries - Wagner

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Take On Me - A-Ha

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Annual Rule Changes - I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Today I've Lost You - Take That

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
As I Come of Age - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Whiskey In The Jar - Thin Lizzy

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Wake Me Up (Before You Go-Go) - Wham!

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Unknown Legend - Neil Young

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Dear Jessie - Madonna

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Tiger Lily - The Bluetones

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Heard You Were Dead - The Bluetones

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
The Four Seasons: Spring - Vivaldi

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Nice Guys Finish Last - Green Day

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Beetlebum - Blur

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Polly - Nirvana

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Paddy McCarthy - The Corrs

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
I'll Stand By You - The Pretenders

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Simple Like The Truth - Darius

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Stand And Be Counted - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Very freaky. Some of them fit perfectly, others (like the Wham one) are simply very strange. Loving the fact that ISIHAC got itself in there.

Musical...

...meme.

Make your band's album cover!

1. Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2. Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.

3. Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4. Use Photoshop (or something like picnik.com) to put it all together.

Here's mine:



and just in case anyone wants to know more about the Minakshisundaram-Pleijel zeta function...just click on the name. (then nod and smile like you understand it. If you do understand it...stop reading my blog and go and invent time-travel or something.)

Blue, blue...

...blue.

January has me in its miserable grip.

Every single customer at work is rude and or abusive - the winner being the woman who called me a f**king cow when I asked her to put in her pin number while she was on the phone to a friend.

The blog I go to for happy thoughts and positive thinking, cjane, has had no end of crap being talked about it in various places due to her success (subject to confirmation) in the 2008 Weblog Awards.
This includes criticism of the fact that she has been fundraising for her sister, the fact she has been raising her sister's kids, the picture of herself as an angel in her blog header, and the fact that she has been moderating her comments over the last six months in an attempt to keep things positive and upbeat. Good grief. I worry about the world when people stop understanding jokes and sarcasm and decide that she's an evil person who only gave her nephew gum for his birthday.

Plus I'm feeling broody/empty, a currently unsolvable problem.

So tonight I have come home and dug out a song guaranteed to make me cry my eyes out.



Then I put on the song with the longest intro in the world (lyrics start at 3:24)



Then Anthony walked in the front door, I put on a song from my 150for30 play list and the world got brighter.



(Forgot today was Thursday, that goes a long way towards explaining me ranting!)

150 songs...

...for my 30th Birthday. (Part One)

Once upon a time I wrote a post about music. Then I wrote a small follow-up to it.

I found those 18th Birthday Tapes the other day (they so deserve capitals) and was reading through the track listings and smiling at the memories that appeared.

So I decided to create my own playlist for my 30th. One hundred songs that represented the thirty years that I'd been around. Then I hit a few snags...mainly the fact that I couldn't narrow it down to 100. So I upped it a little. The list is now 150 songs, split up into 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 sections so that each decade gets a fair shot. Not every song is in the decade it was released in, they fit in where I remember them within my life.

It's been very good fun - although Anthony is a little scared by some of the choices, and is very scared by some of the songs he didn't know that I then played him.

As I suspected in that first post, there are a few songs that have carried across to the 150. There are also a few that haven't due to not conjuring up a moment in my head. The Beatles are a casualty for this very reason, as are The Rolling Stones. I know. Shocking isn't it. They summon up a general time (sixth form and uni respectively) but no specific memories so I've had to be ruthless and chop them out.

While I'm working on the 150for30, here are my 100for18 - the result of three days choosing and locating the songs (as I had to find all the LP's/tapes with them on) and three weeks or so of Dad arranging them, copying them onto the reel-to-reel and then making the cassettes.

Queen - Headlong

Del Amitri - Driving With the Brakes On

CSN - Just a Song Before I Go

Eagles - Take it to the Limit

Livingstone Taylor - House at Pooh Corner (which I want on the 150for30 list, but this version isn't on iTunes so I've had to go for the version by Loggins & Messina - meh)

Neil Young - Pocahontas

Beatles - Revolution 9

CSN - Long Time Gone

CSN - Cowboy of Dreams

Billy Joel - Only the Good Die Young

Chicago - A Hard Habit to Break

Don McLean - American Pie

Jim Croce - Have to Say I Love You in a Song

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Blinded by the Light

Oasis - Morning Glory/The Swamp Song/Champagne Supernova (since they all just flow into each other on the album)

Four Seasons - December '63

Beatles - The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill

Jim Croce - Photographs and Memories

Eagles - Hotel California

Billy Joel - Piano Man

Elton John - Candle in the Wind

Neil Young - Rockin' in the Free World

Beatles - Yesterday

CSNY - Deja Vu

Jim Croce - New York's not my Home

Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Ash - Oh Yeah

Boyzone - Key to my Life

Levellers - Hope Street

Commodores - Easy Like Sunday Morning

Jim Croce - Operator

CSN - Suite: Judy Blue-Eyes

Beatles - Hey Jude

Neil Young - Like a Hurricane

Beatles - Ticket to Ride

Doors - Strange Days

Madness - Our House

CSNY - Our House (two very different songs with the same title - I always loved the fact Dad put them together)

Billy Joel - Always a Woman to Me

Stills-Young Band - Long May You Run

Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever

Queen - Radio Ga-Ga

Chris De Burgh - Lady in Red (on the tape track listing as by Chris Rea for some reason)

Dodgy - Making the Most of

Aerosmith - Cryin'

Ash - Girl From Mars

Who - My Generation

Bonzos - I'm the Urban Spaceman (Produced by Apollo C. Vermouth, otherwise known as Paul McCartney)

Fleetwood Mac - The Chain

Oasis - Wonderwall

Al Stewart - Song on the Radio

Mama's & Papa's - California Dreamin'

Byrds - Mr Tambourine Man

Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

CSN - Military Madness

Chicago - If You Leave me Now

CSN - Teach Your Children

CSNY - Ohio (These two songs are forever linked in my mind)

Eagles - Best of My Love

Bluetones - Carnt Be Trusted (When I wrote this on the list Dad asked if I needed spelling lessons, then he said the band needed them!)

Queen - We Will Rock You

Ruth - Fear of Flying

Neil Young - Round and Round (It Won't be Long)

CSN - Simple Man

Billy Joel - Uptown Girl

Huey Lewis - The Power of Love

CSNY - Helpless

Beatles - All You Need is Love

Mungo Jerry - In the Summertime

Bluetones - Putting Out Fires

CSN - Horses Through a Rainstorm

Billy Joel - Christie Lee

Doors - When You're Strange (With the voice of my friend David at the beginning saying "These really are strange days, and they're full of strange people too")

Beatles - Birthday

Bluetones - Bluetonic

Queen - Killer Queen

Dodgy - Grassman

Alanis Morrisette - You Learn

Bryan Adams - Run to You

Doors - Light My Fire

Neil Young - Unknown Legend

CSN - Blackbird

Billy Joel - The Ballad of Billy the Kid

Beatles - Good Day Sunshine

Crosby & Nash - Cathedral

Beatles - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Jim Croce - Time in a Bottle

CSN - Chicago/We Can Change The World

Alanis Morrisette - Ironic

Crosby & Nash - Carry Me

Blur - Charmless Man

Queen - Don't Stop Me Now

Al Stewart - Year of the Cat

Billy Joel - Famous Last Words

Anyone still here?

So lets see... at 18 I was in a phase of listening to a whole lot of my Dad's music, with occasional bursts of Billy Joel and Queen (courtesy of Mum), and a few dribs of current tunes.

One of the reasons I split the 150for30 into three sections...

In the last two weeks...

...there has been a fair bit of singing at work.

Every now and again a little snatch of a tune will escape from Richie Fingers and then he'll go "Kate, what's the next line?!?"

It's all about Flanders & Swann. Now raise your hand if you've ever heard of them (not you Emily...we know you have).

The song below is not one of the ones we have been singing, but it's the one you're most likely to recognise.



The one we have mostly been singing is this one, but unfortunately this video is all stop/start on my PC, hope it works for you!

First day back at work today...

...and naturally it was pouring with rain this morning.

So I put up my umbrella and turned up my iPod.







and Drops of Jupiter by Train (that I can't embed).

All in all, a damn good start to the day.

150 songs...

...for my 30th birthday.

(and yes, like the book list this post is dated the day I was born.)

(and yes, this post is a work in progress...)

0 - 10

All Around My Hat - Steeleye Span
American Pie - Don McLean
Babooshka - Kate Bush
Bicycle Race - Queen
Blinded By The Light - Manfred Mann
Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell
Buffalo Stance - Neneh Cherry
Cathedral - CSNY
Christmas Must Be Tonight - The Band
Dancing in the City - Marshall Hain
Dancing Queen - ABBA
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
Gaudete - Steeleye Span
Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City - Harry Nilsson
Guitar Man - Bread
Hotel California - Eagles
House At Pooh Corner - Livingstone Taylor
I Don't Like Mondays - Boomtown Rats
In The Summertime - Mungo Jerry
Karma Chameleon - Culture Club
Layla - Derek and the Dominoes
Love The One You're With - Stephen Stills
Making Your Mind Up - Bucks Fizz
Only The Good Die Young - Billy Joel
Orinoco Flow - Enya
Our House - CSNY
Romeo and Juliet - Dire Straits
Shaddap You Face - Joe Dolce
Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
Spirit in the Sky - Doctor and the Medics
Stand and Deliver - Adam Ant
Stuck In The Middle With You - Steeler's Wheel
Sunshine On My Shoulders - John Denver
Take On Me - A-Ha
Teach Your Children - CSN
The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
The Weight - The Band
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham
We Will Rock You - Queen

******************************

10 - 20

Alisha Rules the World - Alisha's Attic
All I Wanna Do - Sheryl Crow
All That She Wants - Ace of Base
Alright - Supergrass
Animal Nitrate - Suede
Bartender and The Thief - Stereophonics
Basket Case - Green Day
Birdhouse in Your Soul - They Might be Giants
Boys are Back in Town - Thin Lizzy
Carnt Be Trusted - Bluetones
Country House - Blur
Crazy for You - Let Loose
Creep - Radiohead
Day We Caught The Train - Ocean Colour Scene
Disco 2000 - Pulp
Do The Bartman - The Simpsons
Doin' The Do - Betty Boo
Drugs Don't Work - The Verve
Everything Changes - Take That
Fields of Gold - Sting
For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield
Girl From Mars - Ash
Girl In The Dirty Shirt - Oasis
Goodnight Girl - Wet Wet Wet
Hand in my Pocket - Alanis Morissette
Hey Dude - Kula Shaker
How Bizarre - OMC
Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice
I'll Be There For You - The Rembrandts
Ironic - Alanis Morrisette
Just A Girl - No Doubt
Lady In Red - Chris De Burgh
Lemon - U2
Love Me For A Reason - Boyzone
Love Shack - The B52's
Man! I Feel Like A Woman! - Shania Twain
Million Love Songs - Take That
Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor
Oliver's Army - Elvis Costello
One and Only - Chesney Hawkes
Parklife - Blur
Pure Morning - Placebo
Raspberry Beret - Prince
Secret Smile - Semisonic
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Staying Out For The Summer - Dodgy
Steal My Sunshine - len
Stupid Girl - Garbage
Things Can Only Get Better - D:Ream
Three Lions - Baddiel & Skinner
Town Called Malice - The Jam
Two Princes - Spin Doctors
Unbelievable - EMF
Unknown Legend - Neil Young
Urban Spaceman - Bonzos
Wake Up Boo! - The Boo Radleys
Why Does It Always Rain on Me - Travis
Wonderwall - Oasis
World in Motion - England New Order
Young at Heart - The Bluebells

******************************

20 - 30

Addicted to Bass - Puretone
After Hours- Bluetones
All The Small Things - Blink 182
All The Things She Said - Tatu
American Idiot - Green Day
Bad Day - Daniel Powter
Beautiful - Christina Aguilera
Beautiful Day - U2
Buck Rogers - Feeder
Call My Name - Charlotte Church
Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
Complicated - Avril Lavigne
Dancing In The Moonlight - Toploader
Dark is Rising - Mercury Rev
Dirrty - Christina Aguilera
Drops of Jupiter - Train
Du Hast - Rammstein
Feeling Good - Muse
Follow Me - Uncle Kracker
Girl All The Bad Guys Want - Bowling for Soup
Kiss The Bride - Elton John
Kokomo - Beach Boys
Leave Right Now - Will Young
Little Less Conversation - Elvis & JXL
Livin' on the Edge - Aerosmith
Long May You Run - Stills Young Band
Mambo No. 5 - Lou Bega
Memphis Soul Song - Uncle Kracker
My Way - Limp Bizkit
No Tomorrow - Orson
Northern Sky - Nick Drake
Plug In Baby - Muse
Put Your Records On - Corinne Bailey Rae
Ready To Go - Republica
Rock Star - Nickleback
Rushes - Darius
Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
She Hates Me - Puddle of Mudd
She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5
She's So Lovely - Scouting For Girls
Sitting Down Here - Lene Marlin
Smooth - Santana
So What - Pink
Something Kinda Oooh - Girls Aloud
Teenage Dirtbag -Wheatus
The Middle - Jimmy Eat World
Thousand Miles - Vanessa Carlton
Truly Madly Deeply - Savage Garden
What I Go To School For - Busted
Wish I Was A Punk Rocker - Sandi Thom


******************************

I shall be gradually working on links for all of these, and a couple of songs may change if I suddenly find something that I really should have included.