A Borodin Post, Now That Is Culture

Okay enough of posts containing dubious music and horse related information. It's time for a little bit of culture I suppose and lets go classical as I struggle through a book on W.B Yeats with

"O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance?"

All very deep for a Tuesday morning and as far removed from Cheltenham as possible. I'll be honest I'm using the classical music as inspiration as I trawl through the form pages!

Horses And Dreams of Galveston

Cheltenham starts in about fourteen hours not that I'm counting or anything. The only tip I got so far is for Kempes in the first at half one or so. Cousin Vinny the favourite is reported not to be 100% so a few shekels will be invested in the ex flat horse who should have plenty toe for the normally helter skelter opener. Also the fact that the horse is named after a footballer helps even though same footballer deprived the poor Dutch in the '78 World Cup Final. The song for Cheltenham will be Wichita Lineman (or was it Rhinestone Cowboy, I always get the two horses mixed up) as Glenn Campbell was reported to be flown over by two millionaires as a horse with the same name as the song was running in the Bumper (National Hunt flat race). A week of cigarette butts and the hope that no one takes my thumbs stretches out ahead of me!


Just for the heck of it, i might as well post Galveston too, cracking anti-war tune.

I Dunno If I'm Really Livin'

A quick post today seeing as I spent the better part of the morning chasing my tail around government departments! I think I require something upbeat to lift the gloom and what better than an Eels songs to put me in the mood required to adequately attempt some programming fixes. Also bought a book of poetry by Bukowski, whoever thought you could get 100 hundred pages out of gambling, drinking and drugs. There is hope for us all!

The Way Young Lovers Do

The "Bodies" exhibition in Dublin was a port of call this weekend. I don't know but I felt it was a very uncomfortable experience, I can't quite put my finger on why seeing as I thought I would be very comfortable with the whole thing but once I got in there it just felt very wrong. You have to ask yourself did the people who are on display there ever sign up to the whole thing. I just felt it would be very sad that at the end of your life you are more or less public entertainment. In a word, troubling. To keep on the theme I think today I will pick a song from Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, an album which deals in life's journey from birth to death. This is one very melancholic post that really doesn't answer any of life's great questions.

To Silence... Yeah, to Simon

So Manchester United continue their relentless march to the title while the bottom half of the table continue to play the collective game of musical chairs. The excitement to Cheltenham is building as I put away a little stash that I like to call the "investment fund" which in fact is the quantity of money I'm going to lose on horses over the next seven days (I'm using investment fund in the same way that Lehmann Brothers used the term). Take no notice of any tips that may be posted as any money I will have on will no doubt doom the horse to certain failure.

The Okkervil River stuff is really growing on me and I can't believe that the band has been around for a number of years and I had never heard of them. Blame it on the lack of a decent independent radio station in my local area although considering the power of the internet that is a pretty lame excuse. I think The Concretes are going to be my band of choice today with the song that appeared at the end of Its All Gone Pete Tong. Also the lead singer provides vocals on the Peter, Bjorn and John song Young Folks (thats the end of random trivia for today). Doff of the cap to the dog for introducing.

We Are But A Thought

After some rummaging around the lastfm website (and no lastfm, I am not going to be a Fionn Regan follower and stop playing the dreadful "Penny in the Slot" song for me) I have become a signed up follower for American band Okkervil River. I think they are a cross between Wilco and Ryan Adams, their lyrics are dark ("Sometimes the blood from real cuts, Feels real nice, When it's really mine, And if you want it to be real, Come over for one night,And we can really, really climb") and the sound is very much guitar driven. The song "For Real" is the stand out track from the angst laden "Black Sheep Boy" and worth investing a few of those hard earned shillings or just downloading Vuze (conscious dependant of course).

On a completely seperate note I saw this and it scared the shit out of me, and there I was thinking Fraggle Rock was scary!

The Mess We're In

The genius of Polly Jean Harvey and Thom Yorke combined with an art student who has way too much time and creativity on his hands combines to make it the youtube find of the day.

Heart of Darkness

"They were men enough to face the darkness", as Conrad puts it far more succinctly than I ever could as I now face the dark demons of popular music(nothing like going dramatic is there).

This is a list of shame if I'm honest. For some reason these songs are in my head (damn you radio!!!) but not on the sacred god that is i-tunes (I swear). I defy anyone who claims that these ain't infectious/ultimately annoying/ I wish I had their producer and I'd be a god damn millionaire.

Lady Gaga: Poker Face
Katy Perry: Hot N Cold
The Fray: You Found Me
Andrew W.K.: Party Hard

and finally below, Five For Fighting 100 Years.

I feel dirty after that post, a good long cold shower and a long look in the mirror is required.

Another Reunion

Note to self, get my hands on the tickets for the Crosby,Stills and Nash gig that is going to be on in our little backwater this summer. This group have been around for ages and thanks to a very informative BBC4 (gets my vote for channel of the year, damn iplayer doesn't work in Ireland, solutions on the comments page please!!!!) documentary a couple of months ago I finally figured out their importance for West Coast music and am able to draw a rather faint line from Buffalo Springfield through them to the Eagles.

Unfortunately not containing Young this time they still will provide a decent evenings entertainment. The vocals and quality of song writing is enough to fill anyone's musical dreams. Nash provides a tenuous European link to the operation and it will be worth entrance money alone to hear this song live. I'm a country music fan at heart.

A Weekend Of Learning

Things that I've learnt this weekend.
1. Rugby at times is the greatest game on earth and I would be mangled if I ever had the guts to play it.

2. Liverpool will never win the league in my lifetime as the manager doesn't understand the concept of playing a forward.

3. Never put any form of money on Arsenal to win at home, I am now down one house.

4. The NME are definitely sponsored by a hair-gel product. I haven't seen so much hair since that Pat Benatar video.

5. My undying hatred of all things associated with Friendly Fires and Empire of the Sun (record execs pretty much seeing whats popular and then blatantly copying it)

6. U2 have a dislike for paying taxes.

7. Glasvegas seriously rock, and their lead singer dude reckons he is Joe Strummer.

8. Suspicious Minds like you have never seen it before....