I was sitting in Edwards, a pub in Ealing Broadway, London. It's a place I like to eat in frequently, and I like to relax with a half pint of bitter.
Now they played a certain song on the radio - though it turns out not to be a radio, but a computer sending songs out to the pub. I remember the wonderful indie guitar sound, and beautiful female vocals singing "oh, and i don't care..."
What was this song? It had a really catchy edge to it, and every time I visited Edwards they played it!
I asked a member of staff to find out the song, but that day they failed to play it, and could not find it, even though I tried to sing those few lines I could remember. So I used Google, and tried all manner of ways to word "and I don't care..." or ... "Why should I care...." and all I got was a whole bunch of other songs, similar words, but none even close to that elusive song. It was getting to frustrate me a little. If this song was so good, then what of the rest of the album? Who were they?
Now, here is the strange bit of the tale. I love buying cd's, and have amounted over two thousand of them. Sometimes I see certain cd's and I pass them by - this is what happened with Captain. It was on sale for a tiny £2.99, in a charity shop - the Heart Foundation, to be exact. It was there every time I visited that shop. I looked at the track listing on the back - nothing familiar. No songs called "I don't care" and no titles I was familiar with, and I left the cd with all the others I chose not to buy that day. The cd sat there for ages!!!
Today, Wednesday 12th December 2007, this morning, at 11.30, I went to eat in Edwards. I asked the barman a favour. "Hi, I'm curious about a song that you play here, usually between 11 and 12 am. I really like it."
And I sang those remembered lines, hummed as much as I could of the tune.
But the barman was puzzled. He couldn't place the song.
"If it comes on, give me a shout, and I will get someone to find out for you" was the barman's kind offer. I was thankful, and sat with my half bitter and a meal - a tasty big breakfast.
Robbie Williams was playing, along with other pop stuff. I was losing hope of my song coming through the speakers.
And then it did! I rushed to the bar - "This is it! This is the song!"
I must have seemed a little crazy, as I was so excited. The barman sent for a female staff member. She came to my table, paper in her hand.
"There we go", she said. "Captain - Broke - that is all it says for the song."
With big smiles and much gratitude, I had the band name at last. I could now go and Google the song, and hopefully find the album title. I could check HMV....
And then it hit me. Captain... Captain... I had seen this! I knew that name, had seen that cd! But where? I ran through my mind. Was it Star Sailer? I'd seen them on cd, never bought that one. Sailor... Captain? No No. I had seen Captain!!! I was sure!
I remembered where I had seen it, and that it was a sort of blue covered cd. I could check HMV - and so I did. It is not too far from Edwards, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw that very cd sitting in HMV - and the song Broke etched as deep in words as it was in my mind. Could it be... that I could get this cd cheaper... in the Heart Foundation?
It's coming on christmas time - it will be gone, I'm sure. Thoughts raced in my mind. HMV has it, but i need money back for christmas. I raced like a lunatic to the charity shop. And there it was, as it had been for so long. And for a mere £3.00 I had that song in my hands. What an amazing album it really is - and the only one released by the band so far. Now that is magic!
Wednesday, 12 December 2007
Sunday, 18 November 2007
Thoughts...
Philosophy Sandwich
You will need:
• Loaf of bread
• Butter
• Mustard (depending on preference)
• Ketchup / Mayonnaise / Salad Cream (if Mustard is not to your liking)
• Stanley Victor Keeling – Descartes 1934
• Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan – Indian Philosophy 1956
• Dr Martin Heidegger – Being and Time: A Translation of Sein Und Zeit 1996
• Friedrich Nietzche / Helen Zimmern – Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future 1997
• Armand Augustine Maurer – Medieval Philosophy 1982
• Pierre Hadot – Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault 1995
• Ludwig Wittgenstein - Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus 1981
• Deepak Chopra – Ageless Body, Timeless Mind 1993
• George Berkeley – A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge 1982
Make sandwich. Eat. Enjoy.
Ipod Discovered
Report: 200,000 M.E.*
They found it deep in the earth, a primitive gadget for recording sound, in the days when sockets and plugs were used by primitive men for harnessing electricity. This large and bulky object is inscribed with the glyphs I-P-O-D, and is fairly heavy considering its purpose.
The ipod used the old and tired formula of using a quartz display, and plugs for sound to enter the ears. Much has been done to replicate the power point used in those distant times, and the ipod is now running in several museums. Results show some wonderful glimpses into the music that this race enjoyed, albeit very simple compared to today’s standards.
• Modern Epoch (A.D. 200,000)
•
Tyrannosaurus – But Did We See Him?
1st Caveman Ghost: I never did see a Tyrannosaur. Did you?
2nd Caveman Ghost: No, not me. Not ever.
1st Caveman Ghost: They always depict us sharing the same space and time with a T. rex.
2nd Caveman Ghost: Yes, that is true. They don’t seem to be able to accept the fact that millions of years divide our existence.
1st Caveman Ghost: Well, there are those out there who doubt the existence of Tyrannosaurus itself.
2nd Caveman Ghost: Really? How can that be? They have the fossil bones to prove it!
1st Caveman Ghost: Yes, but tell them that, and they will draw a blank, never talk to you again, probably – and walk away, chuckling. You know the sort.
2nd Caveman Ghost: Indeed. It is hard for man to accept that which he has never seen – or maybe never will see – so denial is better than acceptance.
1st Caveman Ghost: Have you ever seen a ghost, then?
Artificial Plants?
They are made of synthetic leaves and bark. They look like trees and ivy, and they smell like, no. They have no smell. Not yet, anyway. Well, not as far as I know.
They are like a real plant, only without the awful hassle – the tedious, monotonous task of daily watering. They don’t grow either, so they are instant. You can place them ideally in the locality of your choice.
So! Let’s all chop down the forests, and plant a plastic tree for every real tree instead! Let’s save the earth from her awful task of watering. Let’s put an end to those really difficult plants, they are so hard to get on with! Plastic is better. It takes eons to decay, and doesn’t give the carboniferous by-products of coal, that is so, so bad for our planet when it is burned, adding to the high carbon levels in our atmosphere.
We love concrete cities, and we hate the plants. We hate to see real flowers in the garden, so we pave over them, and make a driveway for our 4x4, and hey! That machine will never emit as much carbon as a decaying tree!
Plastic plants for plastic people! You know it makes sense… :o(
You will need:
• Loaf of bread
• Butter
• Mustard (depending on preference)
• Ketchup / Mayonnaise / Salad Cream (if Mustard is not to your liking)
• Stanley Victor Keeling – Descartes 1934
• Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan – Indian Philosophy 1956
• Dr Martin Heidegger – Being and Time: A Translation of Sein Und Zeit 1996
• Friedrich Nietzche / Helen Zimmern – Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future 1997
• Armand Augustine Maurer – Medieval Philosophy 1982
• Pierre Hadot – Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault 1995
• Ludwig Wittgenstein - Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus 1981
• Deepak Chopra – Ageless Body, Timeless Mind 1993
• George Berkeley – A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge 1982
Make sandwich. Eat. Enjoy.
Ipod Discovered
Report: 200,000 M.E.*
They found it deep in the earth, a primitive gadget for recording sound, in the days when sockets and plugs were used by primitive men for harnessing electricity. This large and bulky object is inscribed with the glyphs I-P-O-D, and is fairly heavy considering its purpose.
The ipod used the old and tired formula of using a quartz display, and plugs for sound to enter the ears. Much has been done to replicate the power point used in those distant times, and the ipod is now running in several museums. Results show some wonderful glimpses into the music that this race enjoyed, albeit very simple compared to today’s standards.
• Modern Epoch (A.D. 200,000)
•
Tyrannosaurus – But Did We See Him?
1st Caveman Ghost: I never did see a Tyrannosaur. Did you?
2nd Caveman Ghost: No, not me. Not ever.
1st Caveman Ghost: They always depict us sharing the same space and time with a T. rex.
2nd Caveman Ghost: Yes, that is true. They don’t seem to be able to accept the fact that millions of years divide our existence.
1st Caveman Ghost: Well, there are those out there who doubt the existence of Tyrannosaurus itself.
2nd Caveman Ghost: Really? How can that be? They have the fossil bones to prove it!
1st Caveman Ghost: Yes, but tell them that, and they will draw a blank, never talk to you again, probably – and walk away, chuckling. You know the sort.
2nd Caveman Ghost: Indeed. It is hard for man to accept that which he has never seen – or maybe never will see – so denial is better than acceptance.
1st Caveman Ghost: Have you ever seen a ghost, then?
Artificial Plants?
They are made of synthetic leaves and bark. They look like trees and ivy, and they smell like, no. They have no smell. Not yet, anyway. Well, not as far as I know.
They are like a real plant, only without the awful hassle – the tedious, monotonous task of daily watering. They don’t grow either, so they are instant. You can place them ideally in the locality of your choice.
So! Let’s all chop down the forests, and plant a plastic tree for every real tree instead! Let’s save the earth from her awful task of watering. Let’s put an end to those really difficult plants, they are so hard to get on with! Plastic is better. It takes eons to decay, and doesn’t give the carboniferous by-products of coal, that is so, so bad for our planet when it is burned, adding to the high carbon levels in our atmosphere.
We love concrete cities, and we hate the plants. We hate to see real flowers in the garden, so we pave over them, and make a driveway for our 4x4, and hey! That machine will never emit as much carbon as a decaying tree!
Plastic plants for plastic people! You know it makes sense… :o(
Sunday, 11 November 2007
Steve's DVD Collection
Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children: 2 Disc Special Edition 2005
K-Pax: Collector's Edition 2002
K-Pax: Collector's Edition 2002
Saturday, 10 November 2007
Friday, 9 November 2007
Castlevania 64 - Demon Castle Dracula's Apocalyptic Blog
Castlevania 64 - this has to rank among my all-time favourite console games, and I had the fortune of owning the old faithful Nintendo 64 machine - seems like an eternity ago now! This game was forever running on that dinosaur, and the only other game I played as much was probably Top Gear Overdrive.
Castlevania 64 is not an easy game to work with - the jumps are incredibly tricky, very frequent, and extremely frustrating. But the atmosphere is the key to this game, with superb music to help along the way. From giant skeletons to vampires sucking on the jugular, Castlevania is one game that has a special place in my memories, and I am extremely thankful that the game is now running on an emulator, all the details lavishly glowing from a flat screen monitor, which is much better than the small tv screen I used to stare into.
This is just some of the Castlevania 64 stuff I have been wanting to add here in blogland for yonks...
Castlevania 64: Game Soundtrack Album Front & Back
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