05/01/2010

• [when | 5th January 2010]

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Inheritance tracks

• [when | 21st December 2009]

We wake up on Saturdays in time to hear the second half of Saturday Live, which always includes the inheritance tracks slot. The premise is simple - pick one track you've inherited from your parents and one to pass on to your children, taking the prompts any way you like, and then talk about them while the track is playing. Simple enough that we often end up discussing what our picks might be afterwards and therefore surely simple enough to turn into an internet meme, yes/no?

The track I inherited from my parents is Tweeter and the Monkey Man by the Travelling Wilburys. It could have been a huge number of things - both my parents are very into music and listened to a huge variety of things. In the end, I chose this track because I also associate it very strongly in my memory with us as a family. It was on a mix tape we had in the car (called Road Songs by me and my brother) which we always wanted to have put on when we were driving home. I particularly associate it with driving home from the round trip to both of our sets of grandparents to exchange presents just before Christmas. For years, we didn't really listen to the verses, just sang the chorus lustily from the back seat, sometimes in our pyjamas if we were driving back late and supposed to be sleeping; in fact I thought it was called "When the walls came down."

It wasn't until years later that I was listening to it and said "I could swear that's Bob Dylan" and Mum or Dad explained to me who the Wilbury's actually were, by which time I was awed to think of these incredible musicians getting together to play in one group. I loved imagining what it would have been like to be a tech at that recording studio, listening to them jam. These days, I love the ballad verses of the song, the pace of it, the weird story. It's very evocative and I almost see it as a comic strip in my mind as each verse plays out. It's a track that reminds me of how much I love music, both to listen to and to make, and that's definitely something I inherited from my parents.


This is the best vid I could find - all the YouTube ones are of a cover. It cuts out before the coda verse but you get the idea.

The track I would pass on to my future imaginary nephews and nieces is Mr E's Beautiful Blues, by Eels. I first got into Eels when Alex gave me a mix tape of tracks progressing alphabetically through the music he'd bought to college with him that term containing Novocaine for the Soul (that was also the tape that got me into Drugstore and Alabama 3). I bought the album, was too ill to go see them when they passed through Oxford, much to my distress, and although I wasn't so into ElectroShock Blues, continued to keep an ear out for them, as it were.

I can't remember now where I first heard MEBB - it probably wasn't on the radio which means oxfordslacker or coalescent probably played it to me when it came out, but I immediately fell in love with it. It's just one of those tunes that you can't help grinning when you listen to - there's something about it that just picks you out of whatever state of mind you're in and pushes you into a kind of laid back, alert happiness, too cool and worldly wise to be perky but coming from the same sort of place. It's partly the bounce of the tune, which should be cheesy but somehow isn't, and partly the content and tone of the lyrics. "Goddamn right, it's a beautiful day." I can't sing that without feeling like actually yeah, it is. Corny, I know, but there it is, and that's something I definitely want to pass on. Not just that feeling, although that's pretty important, but the knowledge that music can be transformative. That when you're feeling tired and grumpy, you can put on your bouncy playlist and within five minutes you'll be belting things out and grinning again. OK, it may not last, depending on what caused the mood in the first place, but just for a while you can get lost and feel good.

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Things achieved this weekend

• [when | 29th November 2009]
• [mood | accomplished]
• [under | house, lists, ou]

• Radiator in my study fixed
• New Roomba battery ordered
• 1.5tb drive for Fry ordered
• New futon cushion for our sofa ordered
• Bin for compostables bought (to replace series of random skanky plastic containers) and lined with biodegradable rubbish bag
• Removed out of date anti-virus and replaced it with free in-date one from Alex's work (great workplace perk!)
• Xmas pressies for Dad purchased
• Xmas pressies for brother purchased
• Xmas pressies for sister-in-law purchased
• Part of Xmas pressies for Mum purchased
• OU course for next year picked out (along with about 6 others I don't have time for!) but heroically not signed up for yet to allow people to buy me OU vouchers for Xmas if they want.
• Amazon wish list updated to facilitate purchase of Xmas pressies for me by other people.
• Lampshade for our bedroom purchased and installed
• New, brighter bulb for living room lamp purchased and installed

Seriously, that first one makes me so happy! With a bit of help from the internet and Alex, all it needed was unscrewing the thermostat, some WD40 on the pin and a little bit of firm pressure to release it and now I am warm in the cat cave again! Lots of these look like really small things but are actually little jobs that I have just not been getting around to for ages and ages and ages so it's really pleasing to have actually got them done.

The OU website is so addictive! I spent about an hour planning out qualifications I could take. I want to take enough second year courses to fill the requirements for 2 degrees! Still, one step at a time, so I'm going for a first year philosophy course which looks really interesting and doesn't involve an exam to get myself back into it. I also spent a certain amout of time being very amused how many of the shows I remember from my childhood can now be bought as complete sets from Amazon. I guess the nostalgia market is alive and well. Have added the Mysterious Cities of Gold DVD to my wish list :)

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28/11/2009

• [when | 28th November 2009]

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• [when | 25th November 2009]

Poll #1490404 History
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: None, participants: 32

Which century did Elizabeth I's reign begin in?

Narrow it down - which decade did Elizabeth I's reign begin in?

I was educated in the UK and...

I was educated elsewhere and...

Inspired by last night when I asked Alex to pick out a medieval This Sceptred Isle for me. He read out the dates on the box and I said sleepily "So, Elizabeth I and James I probably" and he was very impressed that I actually knew that from the dates. I asked him which century Henry VIII reigned in and he found it hard. So am I weird for knowing this stuff, or is he unusual for not knowing it. I can't really remember where I got taught it, I just kind of picked it up. I can also name all the Kings and Queens since William I in order, given a little thinking time, which I know is weird.

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24/11/2009

• [when | 24th November 2009]

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• [when | 9th November 2009]

I absolutely love these things! The PTA used to sell them to raise money at my school and we would all sit around on a Sunday evening going "7 C of the R" and "1760 Y in a M". So far I have got 27 on my own and another 4 with a little discussion with Mum. Am possibly too addicted to go home before finishing the last two.

edit: Finished them with a consult from Alex & Mum. Always more fun with someone to talk it over :) What are those puzzles called anyway?

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07/11/2009

• [when | 7th November 2009]

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07/11/2009

• [when | 7th November 2009]

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03/10/2009

• [when | 11th October 2009]

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03/10/2009

• [when | 11th October 2009]

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02/10/2009

• [when | 11th October 2009]

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• [when | 8th October 2009]

Oh my god! Only 6 months after the first release date they gave, Rockband II for the Wii has finally shipped!

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• [when | 7th October 2009]
• [under | dreamwidth]

I know quite a lot of you on my FP have used loads of different photo hosting solutions - if anyone has a few moments to pop into DreamWidth and give them your suggestions for when they build their photo hosting system we might eventually get something that actually does everything I want (I don't think I have ever found a system which wasn't missing two or three features).

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• [when | 6th September 2009]
• [under | teaching]

Week one of school went really well - class seem lovely and very sparky. We'll have to see how it develops, of course. Not sure if I'm being mean enough to them, but we'll see. If you want the detail, you can read stf_feed or start_to_finish.

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