Monday 5 November 2012

Fed Up....


A very wise man once opened an article with "I'm depressed".

That was it, the opening paragraph. Just those words.

I know what he means. Last Friday I was just about to leave the office for the weekend when the actuarial Pension-Splitting report turned up. This long-awaited document sets out how the lawyers and the pension companies are going to smash my company pensions into smithereens, and how much they're going to charge me for the privilege. Just to add spice to it, it's caveated out of existence.

Had a bit of a cold coming during the day. Over the weekend this escalated into a pretty severe virus. All I could do was hang around listlessly in the flat. I didn't want anyone over in case they caught it, so I haven't spoken to anyone in three days. I'm off work today which never usually happens.

Poor, poor, pitiful me, right ? Well, no actually....receiving that report right at the end of Friday would have ruined an ordinary weekend. But feeling so zonked has helped me ponder it more calmly. Also I've been able to relax a bit, just watching TV, fooling about on YouTube etc. I'm normally far too driven to do things like that, so it's been good to spend time on trivia.

Highlight no. 1 - watching that sprinkler unit drench those Liverpool fans at Anfield. I still find it hard to forgive them for how dull and negative they were when they dominated English football in the early eighties.
Highlight no. 2 - the surreal moment where the Arsenal player took Van Persie's shirt at half-time. Maybe he'd forgotten that he was playing for the other team (just like the defender in the 3rd minute).

Best of all - listening to the re-mastered version of "Sailor" by the Steve Miller Band. What a great, great, artist Steve is, and this record is brimming with sonic creativity, strong songs, and inventive playing. The atmospherics in "Song For Our Ancestors" and "Dear Mary" come off beautifully, and the section with the climbing guitars at the end of "My Friend" is a literally hair-raising piece of music.