quite hasty praise

hello there

not so long ago i got, well, if not all excited then a bit carried away believing that them what do the apple stuff (technology, not fruit, look you see) actually deserved some credit. this was in relation to an early model of the ipod, details of which can be found via clicking here, which remained armed and fully operational after several years of being laid dormant. fear not, for this is no tale of overt woe, as the device still works. it is just, of course, that at heart (or essentially) apple does wish it were french. 

having grown somewhat tired of the existing vibes on the device when i fired it up (see that link for the music what i had on it) i decided to change a few songs. my plan was to just take out one or two songs and replace them. in terms of replacement music the kind of vague idea (or intention) was to simply use some of the songs what i had bought off of itunes, since they were mine (in theory) to do what i wished with. 

my first step into what i (foolishly) assumed would be a world of quickly changing a few songs on the ipod was to remove one or two already on it. yes, indeed, If I Can Dream off of The King, Elvis Presley had been selected for such, as i remain at a loss to explain why on earth i ever added it. did this go well at all? not really, not really, no. 

no matter what i right clicked, left clicked, double clicked or highlighted it was simply not so that the apple software had any interest in letting me remove any tracks. i had authorised the pc, it was all logged in and what have you, but no. vaguely i could recall a reasonably similar scenario the last time i attempted to do this, having a sense that the only way the f*****g thing was going to allow me to change one or two songs was via doing a "factory reset" and thus changing all  the songs. great. 

for some reason i thought it would have been a good idea to show off the weight of this ipod in the previous post. i simply forgot to weight it, meaning (of course) no picture to add. this has been rectified with the above image, then. cannot think of who(m) this may be of interest to, but there you go. 

right, where was i. oh yes, the simple task of removing and adding songs. once the ipod had gone through the "restore factory settings" thing, which (to be fair) didn't take that long, off i went to my library on that itunes software. the intention was to download a few of my purchase and add them on. before it would let me download any of my purchased a thing flashed up (surprisingly in english, not sure at this stage why they don't put it all in french) saying i had to agree to the new "terms and conditions" before i could download them. not entirely unreasonable, except every time i clicked on the button to go and glance at them (momentarily) and just blindly click ok the whole f*****g thing just kept f*****g crashing. great. 

doubtful that to many of you shall be all that interested in what i have playing as i go out and about on strolls, or the occasional train ride (when the trains are running and not being french). on the off chance that one or two of you are interested, here you go. 

pretty decent mix, i oh so modestly say. mostly i am annoyed that i have momentarily "lost" some favourites from the Starstruck soundtrack. infamously this magnificent set of songs has never been released on compact disc or as a "digital download" (that i doubt apple would let me download anyway). i have no doubt that i have the mp3 files on a hard drive somewhere. just not sure where, exactly. 

to just sort of load the device (the ipod) up and get on with it "for now", all of these songs are mostly from purchases i made where the people paid have a decidedly non-apple (or if you like non-french) approach and let me download them again. beyond that it's songs which were on rather more easily accessible external drive things which took my fancy. will for the most part let the songs speak for themselves (if you can be bothered to read through them), except to say that Disintegrate off of Suede, played via this device sans audio limiter, just gets better and better the louder you play it. i very much encourage you to test this. 

otherwise, all remains (surprisingly) good with this quasi resurrected device. i did have concerns that the battery may have deteriorated over the years, which not even me at my most annoyed with them could i really blame on apple. not so, merrily, for it seems to be holding out just fine. i use this for at least thirty minutes to a whole hour (or close enough) each day. the battery test light has remained on green and i have had no need to charge it for a couple of weeks. unlike other apple things. 

well, that's that. unless there's some unexpected clamour (or similar demand) for me to share the details of any further changes i make to what's on it i am not sure there's all that much more i will have to say abut this ipod. things do change, mind. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

reading eventually returns

greetings reader

well after a somewhat unexpected pause in such it is so that me (moi) and reading is once again a thing. there are indeed reasons (or a reason, look you see) for the delay in posts on this subject, but i have every confidence i will be referencing that as i go. or we go, if you keep reading.

as would be (reasonably) usual, then, a look at the two (2) novels what i have most recently gone done read, followed by a "spoiler free" overview. from there on one of them rather exciting spoiler warning things should be considered as existing. but, as usual, i would imagine the overwhelming majority of people with an interest in either would already have read them, and there's not that many inclined to go read something on my suggestion. 

from the left (if i have got that right) it's a return to the world of a "proper" and real time tale of Charlie Parker in The Instruments Of Darkness by John Connolly. this one was mostly all right, which is a worrying thing to say when usually the are breathtakingly brilliant reads. and then it was on to what i believe (or think) is going to be the final posthumous novel from Michael Crichton (completed, it says here, by James Patterson), Eruption. not a bad novel, per se (if that means what i think), but one has the sense that the much missed Mr Crichton didn't get round to finishing it off with good reason. 

once again, for the dozen or so people who will read this (and my thanks for doing so), you are given every caution that a **SPOILER WARNING** is here for you to note or ignore. should for some reason you have an interest in my reading habits, indeed these two did skip merrily over a rather large pile of books what i have here to read. 

it would, following on from that last paragraph in a neat if somewhat unexpected bit of linear writing, be usual for me to go ahead and read any John Connolly novel as soon as i can after getting it. there was to be no exception for this one, The Instruments Of Darkness, although a delay did happen. yes, provenance fans, my place of purchase was Tesco, and from what i recall i didn't even wait for it to be "book of the week" or anything like that, paying a straight (or flat) £6 immediately to get my hands on it. 

plot? a lady is accused of murdering her son, despite no (to be blunt) corpse (or body) and somewhat scant evidence (more on that in a bit). her lawyer is entirely convinced of her innocence, and so enlists haunted (to put it mildly) private detective Charlie Parker to help him work the case to prove her innocence. doing so sets them against public opinion, a prosecutor and law enforcement agents set on getting her convicted for purely political reasons and an apparent malevolent force hiding in plain sight. unexpected help comes in the form of someone who shares Parker's gift or curse for having the troubled deceased communicate with them.......

hmn. my reading of this novel was, alas, interrupted for a bit due to that medical intervention where i suspected i might end up no more. i did indeed (for now) live, and was eventually able to resume reading this novel. not sure if that affected, or otherwise tempered, my reading of it. certainly i would have liked to read it without any unpleasant medical interlude, but there we go. 

his novel had all the key features of a classic Charlie Parker novel, just assembled in a way that was dangerously close to "colour by numbers". by no means is this any sort of insult, but at times it felt a bit too much like Connolly was trying to be "a bit Stephen King" with the structure. this i felt mostly when it all went off on a tangent with quite a lot of pages dedicated to a back story of a side (but important all the same) character, which is kind of what King does. undoubtedly Mr King was a profound influence on Mr Connolly, of course, for it cannot be accident he based the protagonist of so many of his novels in Maine. 

my main irk, or disappointment, with this novel was the flimsy, patently obviously false bit of evidence which was grounds to arrest the mother. appreciating something was needed to push the political agenda on the go in it (and move the plot along) it was so obviously misleading that it became a distraction. also there was Louis and Angel turning up towards the end purely, it seems, to shoot some people. that is what they do, after all, sure, but it felt like having them there was a "do i have to put them in" moment from the author, or a misguided idea of "fan service". still, a decent enough read, and nowhere near being close to a big massive "f*** you reader" from the author as, say, The Year Of The Locust turned out to be. 

above is an image i threw together on the off chance i search my own blog (doubtful but still) for something like "what John Connolly novel will be in paperback 2026". there was indeed a temptation to pick this hardback up, but rather let me wait. also that new Stephen King one looks quite class, and so will likely get that next year too. if, of course, i make it to 2026. such things i no longer take as a given. 

yet another immediate purchase next, then, in the form of Eruption off of the late (and great) Michael Crichton. happily, for provenance, this was one of them Tesco book of the week things, so cost £4.50. after the somewhat dark realms of John Connolly i fancied a change of pace, and so yes this skipped ahead of the dozen or so novels i have sat here to read. 

plot? scientists monitoring seismic (which i think is the fancy or posh way of saying volcanic) activity become aware that a big massive huge eruption is about to happen in Hawaii. this is rather bad in itself, but gets made a good deal worse when it turns out that the US military has something hidden on the island which will get hit the worst, and the consequences could be the end of life on a global level........

fairly standard, if (sadly) possibly for the last time, stuff off of Michael Crichton, then. by that i do indeed mean that this is mostly humans vs science vs technology vs nature. nearly all of his novels can be broken down as that, i suppose, except maybe Disclosure, which in retrospect brilliantly (and frighteningly) predicted just how much impact all that (at the time) new "anonymous electronic messaging" stuff would have on the world. one doesn't really need me to point out that Jurassic Park was his crowning glory in terms of this theme. no, alas, this isn't even close to that. 

the problem here, oddly, is that a volcano erupting being at the centre of a plot is quite dull. no, hear me out. it doesn't give much of a sense of tension or drama, does it? what else can you do with a volcanic eruption except get the f*** out of the way of the lava and try to keep the lava away from things that it would be quite bad if it hit. running away from lava holds only a finite amount of interest and can only be done a finite time. proof of this was them two "big budget" films, i think late 90s or early 00s, on a similar subject which didn't make as much money as hoped. 

yet it's not a bad read at all, really. whilst not as riveting or exciting as one may have hoped, there's still a fair bit going on. scientists vs eccentric billionaire and annoying tv personalities, for instance, was enjoyable enough. also the bits when some went "woo hoo, volcano erupting, let us fly over it, what could go wrong". in regards of how it all ends, and you were given a spoiler warning, well, Michael Crichton was always rather fond of that "nature finds a way" line......

both of these novels have (or had) what i call the "100 page syndrome". it's that feeling one gets when there seems to be a fair bit to cover (or wrap up) yet only a hundred or so pages of the novel remain. you fear that it will either be a "to be continued...." thing, which i always feel like short changes readers (there is no law on how long a novel may be), or it's all going to get finished off in a hurry. with both novels it was more in the area of the latter. again, though, i would not say i regret reading either. 

well, as ever (or usual) with posts like this i have not much else to add except to say if any of this was of some use, or passing interest, to any of you, so much the better. many thanks indeed for taking the time to read, or to just have a gander at the pictures. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

variations on the stone roses

who is and who isn't

yes, so once again it's the anniversary for me (and others) of seeing The Stone Roses at Heaton Park. way back in 2012, look you see. making it thirteen years on, at least at the time of writing this. if, and it's a slightly big if, i have the mathematics all correct there. 

long ago was it i had exhausted anything possible to say on the subject of the actual gig, of course, and within the last couple of years i had suggested that i would not be doing any more obligatory posts in celebration of it. so here we, of course, are. 

a slight change this time, as a chance encounter with a new friend (at the Holly Johnson gig) led to a conversation about the ostensible debut album off of The Stone Roses. yes, i have indeed got some (a few) of my copies of the eponymous record out (so to speak) to showcase, if not show off, here. 

to avoid being here all day (which assumes you haven't left already) i have kind of limited this to just copies of (effectively) the same album which are (somewhat) different. oh goodness me, yes, i have quite a few more of it tucked away. when Liam Gallagher said that he bought four (4) copies of the record because it was brilliant i thought nice one man, and also amateur. 

beginning at the (very) beginning seems wise, then. although i am told (no i haven't checked, i rather have conversations than just google stuff) that one of these is a sort of pre-beginning edition, if that is even a thing. so, here we are, The Stone Roses as a single disc release in three (3) variations. one of which is rather bad.........

well, yes, strictly speaking there are four (4) copies there, with the (a) vinyl edition being used as an impromptu backdrop. indeed there are some that will argue the "only way" one should play this album, or any, is in record format (not all records are made of vinyl, but i don't have that much of an issue with people calling records vinyls). this is probably true if (like Jimmy Page, one of the most vocal for this view) you have staggering high end (and expensive) equipment, not the players you can get off of the shelves. failing that (assuming you don't have Mr Page's resources) a decent brand CD player and some quality speakers will deliver optimal sound, thanks. no, also i did not dig out my "special edition" DVD of the album, sorry. 

purely and in its simplistic brilliance it is the original, as intended 11 (eleven) track version of the album where the astonishing genius of it all is. the modern world may not understand this, but once it was so that careful consideration and planning went into the running order of songs on an album. now of course it is (alas) so that they all just get shot out (or "dropped") on streaming services in whatever order you like, chances are it will all just be in a "shuffle mix" or what have you anyway. 

if you noticed that (in the pic before the one directly above) the lettering seemed "darker" on one of the copies of it (the bottom one), well, that's the American edition. quite the monstrosity it is, too, with it featuring thirteen tracks. someone down the record label decided that shoving Elephant Stone in between She Bangs The Drums and Waterfall was a good idea, when it isn't. totes breaks the vibe created, man. also having Fools Gold at the end disrupts the magnificent coda of I Am The Resurrection, being the symbolic, significant and revelatory bookend to the opening, I Wanna Be Adored. 

more specific to the image (directly) above (well above the paragraph prior to this) you will note that one of the copies has a white back. spine too, as the pic below will show. at first i assumed this was some homemade bootleg, or pirate, when i saw it down the market. yet i felt compelled to purchase it anyway, "just in case". i threw images of it out onto the internet to see if any fellow acolytes had ever seen this. what came back to me was news that this was not rare as such, but still a quite nifty find, as it was (is) a "pre-release" version of it, whatever that means. nice that it lists the band and what they do, but i am reasonably sure i have seen "standard" versions with the same on. i probably do have one like that in a box somewhere. 

for the conversation about the album which (vaguely) suggested this article, well. we were all in a pub prior to the Holly Johnson gig and were, of course, discussing music. vibes, man. someone mentioned that they didn't particularly care for The Stone Roses. when it was (not by me) pointed out that i was quite the fan, it went very the English way of doing things, with profuse (and entirely unnecessary) apologies being offered and a pledge to go and play the album again. to be fair one of the dearest friends that i have ever had (doubt he reads this, but on the off chance, hello Ro) dismissed them at the time as being "tree hugging hippie crap" before such a term was popular, and i doubt his view has changed. 

on, then, to the "special edition" releases of the album. surprisingly there has only been (up to now) just the two (2) such reissues of this, with them being the 10th anniversary edition and the 20th anniversary edition. i was surprised (and disappointed) that 2019 brought no 30th anniversary edition, but by then i think they thought people would not buy more copies (ahem) and besides the fall out from the most recent of splits around then probably put paid to any conversations about it. 

rather likely that my "favourite" copy is the 10th anniversary edition of The Stone Roses. in the picture above that's the one at the top, resplendent with a Squire style paint splattered Reni hat. you get the proper version (as in 11 tracks) of the album on disc one, and on disc two you get a few extras (which were mostly if not all on Turns Into Stone) and some "enhanced CD elements". basically videos that you could play on a computer, back when computers still had CD and/or DVD drives. you just needed a CD drive to access this. 

some would argue that the definitive, perfect, best (or what have you) release, at least as far as this format is concerned, is the 2019 20th anniversary edition. this, it is claimed, is the only release where the album has been "properly mastered for compact disc", whatever that (exactly) means. well, kind of. rather famously all of the band were invited to the "remastering", but only Ian Brown turned up. so, if anything, it sounds "like it should on compact disc for the first time" according to Ian Brown. in the booklet you get some class stories from Ian and Mani, with Reni chipping in an odd, abstract thing that either makes sense to someone in particular or no one at all. sadly, alas, John Squire gave no input.

certainly the 2009 edition of the album sounds really good, but then all copies of it do to my ears. the trick is, of course, to make sure you play it at the correct volume. what irks me about this edition is, as you can see above, they go and shove Fools Gold on the end of the album again. quite a shame, they could have just put it on the second disc which features a whole load of supposedly "lost" (yet had been freely available on the internet for years) demos. ahead of writing this i did indeed play the demos again. sound quality is smart, and it's sort of interesting to hear the songs with a more "flowery tree hugging hippie" feel to them. 

a further thing on the 2009 set is a DVD (so far as i am aware they have not ventured into blu ray video) which contains (yet again) the celebrated Blackpool Live film. you get the era related promo videos too, but if we are entirely honest only Fools Gold and One Love are "proper" ones that stand up. yes, the one for Waterfall is quite class, but it's just a compilation off of Blackpool Live. 

oh. now that i have gone done dug it out, wouldn't you know the DVD what comes with The Stone Roses as a 20th anniversary set (which is also called the "Legacy Edition") is just disc one off of the previously mentioned DVD. somehow i had forgotten it was a two (2) disc set. 

my memory was somewhat off, then, as i thought this DVD had one of them fancy DVD audio versions of the actual album on it. rather like the Definitely Maybe DVD off of Oasis, and yes, something on them in a little while. still, this set (albeit second hand) seems to go really cheap online these days. totes worth it for disc two alone. on it you get most of the "Complete Stone Roses" video (minus the hideous voiceover that had), including the celebrated "amateurs, amateurs" performance of Made Of Stone. 

my stereo of choice is a quite decent, mid if not top range Sony "ghetto blaster", resplendent with a tape deck as well as CD player. just the standard FM/AM(MW) radio, mind, as it was made all before this new fangled "DAB" was the norm. if you are wondering what the point of this declaration is it's purely to clarify how i judge "sound quality". by no means does this allow me to differentiate between the variations that much, but to be fair the 2009 copy does seems to have marginally better, or crisp (hello, Faye) sound in comparison. 

you can, as a kind of (quasi) early conclusion, indeed purchase a "bad" copy of The Stone Roses off of The Stone Roses. as exceptional as the song is, the versions (or variations) which tag Fools Gold on the end simply distract from the overall, overwhelming experience of the record as was intended. but no, generally if not strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a poor experience of the album. go and get as many copies of it as you can if you wish to live my kind of life. 

no idea at all why, exactly, they have ceased to "milk" this album. just because (so far as is known) every recording from the time has been released doesn't mean they can't package it and send it out to the shops (or more like online things) again. assuming my dream release, Christmas With The Stone Roses By The Stone Roses (if Bob Dylan and Barbra Streisand can do Christmas records so can they) is now never ever going to happen then i would like at least one (1) more "greatest hits" or "best of set", if just to get Beautiful Thing on CD. yes, i have the limited edition vinyl and two purchased (!) downloads, but still, would be nice to have a disc of it. they hoyed a (one track) CD single of All For One out. 

what of Second Coming? of the many copies i have of it (but not as many as this one) there's only three differences, and even then not much. on top of the standard release i have a "limited edition numbered tour edition" off of Australia, which is literally a slipcase (numbered) over the release, and then a two disc set what came with Crimson Tonight, a four (4) track live EP, showcasing not the best four songs off of the Second Coming album. doubtful any "special editions" of that album will ever come out, i suspect. beyond a general lack of interest in the record (fairly or not) any "unused" recordings most probably got recycled by Squire for The Seahorses (infamously an anagram of "he hates roses"), and then Ian Brown took Can't See Me with him for his solo career. 

right, that's very much "it" for The Stone Roses in this post. well, kind of. something related to it is a bit of a related post i gone done years ago, and a fairly easy to guess at resurgence in interest in it. 

briefly i did wonder why a post i did on a guide to Heaton Park from 13 (or so) years ago was all of a sudden getting 200 - 300 hits a day, and then i remembered. oh, yes, that's right, Oasis are playing there. well, if people are pirating (or linking) to whatever i put on that post, nice one, hope it helps. 

i am indeed not going to be at any of the imminent Oasis shows, a reunion which always seemed best described as inevitable when The Stone Roses was felt to be improbable. cost of tickets and the ludicrous costs of getting to and from the gigs or staying overnight ruled it out. there was a temptation to write a "humorous" yet ultimately cynical thing about all of this, not unlike my post concerning the frustrations i and several million others had about trying to get tickets. you know what, though, i would rather express the sincere wish that the overwhelming majority get beyond their wildest hopes from it all; that they are left with an impact and memories akin to mine of The Stone Roses at Heaton Park. 

who is and who isn't, who is and who isn't

you know you're chewing bubble gum, you know what it is but you still want some

hello there

well, this is slightly unexpected. i did not think i would ever feel compelled to write about the subject of toothpaste ever again, look you see. quite a few years have passed since the dark days of being involved with the murky (if not seedy) underworld of smuggling toothpaste what had love beads rammed into it for no given reason. yet here i am, or but here we are. 

mostly this stems from me wishing to get a modest size tube of toothpaste for my recent travels to go and see Holly Johnson. it seemed a bit ridiculous to take a "regular" size tube with me for one night, even if in this ludicrous century it is so that toothpaste has become the main victim of "shrinkonomics". off i went shopping to see if i could find one of them quite small packs, meant for people intent on travelling as lightly as possible. no luck, alas. surprising, really as since we are in "summer", or at the least a time when people are off on holiday, i had assumed the usual shops where one gets such things would have them out (so to speak) for sale. won't be surprise if they only appear for sale around October or so, and then at a "reduced to clear" price. 

that there above is the only tube of toothpaste what i could find that i deemed small. well, not, not the only one. beside this "peaches and cream" flavoured one they also had a lime one. neither, to be honest, seemed like good ideas for a toothpaste flavour, but this appeared to be the lesser evil. oddly, going on how many packets (or boxes, or tubes) of each remained on the shelf, the lime one appears the more popular. just who is it that brushes their teeth on a frequent (or regular) basis and has been saying that they wished the experience was more lime? well, the marketing types heard them. 

provenance of this peaches and cream toothpaste? after trying a number of shops more renowned for stocking medical and/or health stuff, it was Poundland where i found this. yes, indeed it was one of the items which they still sell for, as the name of the business suggests and used to confirm, £1. whilst this tube was somewhat bigger than the "travel" one i wanted it's entirely possible it was cheaper than what i would have likely paid for that which i sought, so there is that. 

above is my trusty and now (exceptionally) well travelled Bowie bag. i bought it a few years ago when there was the rare instance of a "sale" on the official Bowie website, which meant prices of items were slightly reduced to be closer to the real world cost of items, rather than what Iman (or whoever) thinks they are. quite a few of my friends (i don't have too many) were surprised when i went with this one, resplendent with a "Japanese" style, expecting me to go for a more well known, or if you like classical, design. this one just "spoke to me", and to be fair it has won many over. also i have had conversations with people about it, as people observing me wandering around find it quite striking. striking enough, at the least, to have speaks with me. 

of the many class qualities this bag has, and yes i appreciate it seems i am side-tracked from toothpaste but hold on for it will all make sense (kind of), size and space is not, alas, one of them. when it landed my immediate thought was that it was somewhat smaller than i had hoped. doesn't even have pouches or pockets on the sides. decent "kangaroo" pouch (with zip) at the front, though. my dedication to using it does have a price, then, and that cost is having to be very selective about what i take with me in it on my travels here and there. hence me looking for a small tube of toothpaste. 

it actually took me a lot longer than you might think (or reasonably expect) to confirm that this peaches and cream flavoured toothpaste was even toothpaste. not sure if you can see in the first picture, but the front of this tube makes no reference to it being such at all. on the back it does, in quite small print, but don't strain to look as it's unlikely you can make that out in VHS mode. you shall just have to chance it here, take a little risk and trust me. curious that they should hide this.

so how was it? as in (or i mean) using the toothpaste? well, it got the job done, which is all i really expected. very foamy for a toothpaste, if i am honest. also the taste was, pretty much as i had anticipated, something that created the sense of brushing your teeth with gum, be it bubble or chewing in nature. unusual, but not all that bad. as i am both cheap and not keen on waste i suppose i will end up using all of this, mostly to get rid of it as throwing it out feels just wrong. 

did the best i could to get a picture of the peaches and cream toothpaste "on the brush", so to speak, and that's what you have an image of there. i took it as a given that no good could come from me attempting a selfie whilst using it, and i certainly was not going to go around the hotel asking anyone if they would like to come back to my room and take a picture of me brushing my teeth. 

risking sounding like my Dad and his fetish for the love bead loaded toothpaste i am rather surprise and certainly disappointed that spearmint flavoured toothpaste appears no longer to exist. normally, or usually, i would just get "whatever" toothpaste as a preference, usually just the cheapest of the known named brands. of late i have had a weird inkling to use a spearmint one, yet cannot find such anywhere. maybe they have rebranded it and i missed out on hearing the new name. strange that somehow there exists a market for peaches and cream (and lime) toothpaste, yet none no more for spearmint. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

holly johnson tour 2025

welcome

so yes, then, this post shall do what it says on the box, or if you will the title. more or less, at least, for it is all about the one night of the tour i got to go to, look you see. which was the gig in Newcastle at the city hall (or 02 or what they call it now, but everyone knows this legendary venue by the original name) just one week prior to the date of this being published. 

indeed, as something of a warning, there is some video of a poor quality. there is the odd snatch of fury in them where the footage is not bad but the sound isn't great. should you be looking for videos or other such recordings of the gig (or any of the other nights from the tour) i would suggest having a look somewhere else, as undoubtedly people with (much) more better phones will have done a (considerably) better job of it than moi with my rather lacking device. 

for a confession, or maybe a declaration of shame, i did hesitate about going to this gig. it was on a sunday, which is both unusual and, at the time for my verk stuff, a bit tricky as i would have needed to take a week off from being sent all over the country. the sense of doubt passed relatively quickly, however, as i remembered more of who i am, and a Holly Johnson gig would and should be more important than anything else either in this world or the next. also, or further, went right ahead and purchased one of the "VIP experience" tickets, which was kind of twice the price of a regular one. yes there was some hesitation with that too, but then i went if not now then when. more on that, in particular what you got for that cost (just somewhere north of £100, from what i remember), as we go.

mostly, though, what you got was a "priority seat" with what they said would be a really good view. i am guessing my hesitation cost me a seat in row A or B, but then as you will see from the pics, my seat in the centre of row C meant i had a full tilt face on right up and close view of Holly. so that, in itself, meant that i got exceptional, worth every penny value off of my ticket. the shame of even doubting going ahead with that will linger for a while. 

very strange (indeed) to be seeing Holly Johnson in concert without Uncle Colin being stood (or sat) right there next to me. famously he was there for the two previous ones, all the way back in 1987 (see any post i have gone done on January 10 just about every year i have done this blog) and then a couple of years ago (here). certainly i asked if he wished to go again, but he politely declined, speculating that there was every chance they'd be away on holiday at the time. also, if we are being honest, he isn't quite as big a fan of either Holly or Frankie as i am, and seeing him twice is likely twice more than he had ever anticipated in his life. still, not buying two regular tickets, with my mental gymnastics, kind of meant that one VIP ticket was "same difference". 

not that i was "on my own" at the gig as such. but yes, i do (rather) like going to gigs (and the cinema) on my own. people suspect that this is "loneliness" but not really. i am off to see a live act, or watch a film, not chat to a friend. for this one the legendary g-man had arranged a get together before the gig, and as it turned out we all had seats reasonably close to each other. truly a fantastic bunch, with all of us remaining passionate about a band what ceased to exist 38 (or so) years ago. of the gang (so to speak) one had come all the way from America for (mostly) the gig, and one had a VIP ticket for each and every night of the tour. respect, man, respect. 

quite some way into this post and i haven't really said much about the actual concert, have i? nothing new there with my usual approach. all i can give is an entirely (purely) subjective review, and that is it was breathtakingly amazing. when he (Holly) came out (so to speak) and i was right slap centre full tilt in front of him as he did Welcome To The Pleasuredome, the tears welled up in my eyes, i am unashamed to say i felt a level of joy, elation, euphoria and a "high" if you will like one seldom ever gets to experience. my wish in this world is that everyone has something in their life that they are just as passionate about and they get to experience what i did that night. 

ostensibly the tour was to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Welcome To The Pleasuredome album, despite this year (2025) being the 41st anniversary of it. well, the last tour was kind of presented as a similar form of celebration of Relax and the Blast album but was also a year out. does such matter? not really, just thrilled that he's taken a shine to being out (so to speak) performing again. 

got a bit distracted there. well, no, he did not opt (or elect) to play the whole of that album in full. for a start something like, for instance, Ballad Of 32 might not have gone well, and getting a (then) Prince Charles impersonator (unless it was really him on the record) to discuss orgasms might have been a bit excessive. still, we got Black Night White Light from that album, which was ace. further we got Wish which was otherwise a live rarity, and then Happy Hi, introduced as a fan favourite and was the b-side for the Welcome To The Pleasuredome single. alas, no Krisco Kisses or (my personal favourite) Only Star In Heaven, but cannot argue with what we got. 

in respect of Holly's solo material, not as much as on the previous gig. hopefully this was purely down to the tour being what it was and no adverse reaction to those numbers, as they were great. we got the four singles off of Blast, plus Penny Arcade. for the latter, Holly has spoken of his disappointment that it never really took off as a single, for he was always proud of it. rightly too, as it really is a brilliant song. from Frankie's second, less ("fewer") well received album, Liverpool, just Rage Hard and then Watching The Wildlife, the latter feeling like being another song Holly seems rather prouder than proud of. some expressed "surprise", if not quite disappointment, that there was no Warriors Of The Wasteland, but you can't do them all. as a frame of reference, when The Stone Roses did their thing way back in 2012, it is not like loads of people got all upset with the sparse selections off of Second Coming.

for talking in between songs, Holly remains his beautiful, unfiltered, honest, direct and unapologetic self. unsurprisingly the most well received comment was when he spoke fondly of the last time he played a gig in Newcastle. this was (he was assured by a friend) in late 84 or early 85, when Frankie delivered a blistering set for The Tube's Europe A Go Go thing (there are good copies online). mostly he shared this as means of an introduction to Born To Run, which they played then, but he did say that his favourite memory from that gig was "going cottaging in the town". 

risking the (not entirely unfair) accusation of simply showing off, a gander, then, at my VIP stash bag, plus the other "merch" purchased, and one exceptionally special item. 

with regards to what your VIP experience ticket got you, that would be the smart black bag, the lanyard, the enamel badges and (shown below) a signed print of the tour poster. for the "merch", well, an absolute immediate purchase was the scarf. not only do i (appreciating it is summer right now) likely need a proper scarf, it was the BANG! branding stuff my heart craved back in the 80s but never got. sure it's the Holly logo rather than the Frankie one in the equation, but still. since they never go up to my more generous side i didn't immediately purchase the t-shirt featuring the same equation. however, on reflection, i was sure i would regret not getting one. besides, my present health plight means that i seem to be losing weight, by default or design. might be it shall fit one of these days. 

extra special shout out to g-man, and indeed his extremely talented son, for the glass coaster you can kind of see at the bottom left of the t-shirt. to commemorate both the gig and the rare get together of so many of us fans he had his lad make some of these, individually numbered, so we would always have a keepsake from it. blown away by the generosity, the sentiment and very much the high grade quality of it. 

have no idea if anyone wishes for a closer look (or gander) at the signed print, but here you go. just an initial for the signature, then, but that's cool. after all i do have other signed things off of Holly, with one of them in particular being rather special to me, forever. 

here you go, and you have been warned of the quality, with the "best" of the video snippets i took. these are the ones that seem (or appear) not too bad, which speaks a lot of the quality of the ones i discarded. since the gig commenced with Welcome To The Pleasuredome, so does this set of videos. 

my good friend Codename : Magic would have got reasonably (if not quite) cross had i not sent him a clip of Americanos, so indeed i forwarded one and here it is for you too. 

as i have mentioned before it is, for some reason, that most people consider Americanos to be the best or most memorable one from Holly's solo career. it's not bad, but i have always loved Love Train more, which is indeed the next clip for you. 

final three (3) videos are, unsurprisingly perhaps, the "big 3 (three)". starting off, then, with the brilliance of Two Tribes. need i remind you this (in 1984) stayed at the top of the charts for a then remarkable record setting nine (9) weeks, at a time when people had to actually go and buy the records to get it chart. 

it was never at number one as long but Relax remains the biggest selling single, and likely the one song that Frankie Goes To Hollywood shall eternally be remembered for. and why not. very pleasing indeed to see if not the same then similar leatherman doing boss dance moves on the backing screen for this, as was the case at the last gig. 

ending the gig, and indeed this run of (poor quality, sorry) videos, is of course The Power Of Love. the third (and sadly final) number one for either Frankie or Holly, and then just for a week, right before the Band Aid single came along and changed everything. should you play this next clip do note that you get quite a bit of the audience, in particular one enamoured lady, singing it. and singing it at different times to what Holly is. 

over the years Holly has spoken of how this one (The Power Of Love) is his favourite, of how he would wish it were this song that he is remembered for. quite rare for any artist, in any medium or forum, to single out just one work so, and from what i recall of (reasonably) rare live performances by him during the 90s this was (i stand to be corrected) the only song he would perform. i shall forever remember him for every excellent song he shared with us, to be honest. 

beyond the ones already given here a couple of special shout outs. first, in a couple of senses, Lee Griffiths. he was the support act (at the personal invitation of Holly) and was remarkable. gifted guitarist, brilliant songwriter and a wonderfully, witty and engaging person. i was delighted to get the chance to meet him after the set, get one of his tapes (discs) and he signed it for me. really hope that i have the opportunity to see him again one day. huge shout out to Holly's support band, each of who(m) was in blistering form, and whichever gifted artist (or artists) was/were responsible for the most impressive visuals on the screen. 

and a big shout out to Newcastle. wow. it's always been a fantastic night whenever i have been there for a gig, but just how orientated they are to all having a good time came to the fore. not only was Holly playing the (brilliant) City Hall, there was the matter of Sam Fender playing a (presumably sold out or damned close to it) gig at St James Park. how the city coped is a lesson to all cities for big events, with particular emphasis on that there London (innit). all bars and what have you were heaving, but service was not a problem, and all there in whatever capacity were friendly, co-operative and determined that they would have fun, everyone would have fun. 

right, that's probably quite enough for this post, even if i have somehow managed to not write all that much of the gig itself. hey ho. 

shall i get the chance to see Holly Johnson again? who knows. i never expected to see him, or any Frankie, ever again after the split in 1987, so will gladly take these two recent opportunities as some of the best bonuses life has thrown my way. not sure the budget shall allow for another VIP experience if he does hit the road again, but you never know what's hanging until it drops. 

many thanks for reading, and if you went to this or any other gig on the tour (or all of them), really hope you had the same blast i did!

switch off your shields, switch off and feel. 

ipod resurrection

now then

much of this post shall be, in truth, quite the rarity. this is because i am going to give a fair bit of compliment and credit to Apple. as in the technology company and not the class record label, look you see. well, for a sense of perspective, praise for what Apple used to do. undoubtedly there shall be a bit of a chance for me to make some derogatory comments about them along the way. 

not so long ago, as in within (say) the last couple of months i came across a device that i hadn't used, seen or even thought of for close on a decade. that would be one of the first ipod things what came out, the ipod shuffle. as you will see in the picture below, one of them "USB stick" looking ones, with an at the time pretty remarkable capacity of 512MB. with not all of that dominated by sh!tty Apple operating software. from what i recall my (former) (considerably) better half got it with a phone contract or similar. just as well that she is highly unlikely to read this and ask for it back. 

would, after all this time (and less than pristine or considerate storage) would the thing still work? that's likely the most pertinent question, and the answer is yes. not straight off the bat, of course. i had to charge it up, but was most delighted to find yeah, it charged, and it worked. retained all of the memory too, which we shall get to. or i will, you can to if you continue reading. 

credit where it is due, then. not only for building a device that has worked and remains working for over two decades (!), but for the quality of sound. if you accept that the mp3 format sacrifices quality for the sake of convenience then absolutely no device plays these files as well as an ipod. yes, i have tried a number of different mp3 players, used high quality headphones and not one comes this close. rather a shame, then, that they ditched it. their business model is, of course, to get you to buy one of their phones at least once every two years and pay them monthly for the hideous thing that is "streaming" music. don't even get proper headphones anymore. by the way, yes, these are the original headphones that came with it too. also high quality. 

on switching the device (the ipod) on and pressing "play" after charging a bit i was quite impressed to find, or if you will hear, that it really retained memory. the first thing i head was not just Speed Of Life off of David Bowie, but that song about a minute or so in. wow. assuming that the battery was going to be none more dead, that's some hardware they came up with to retain that. unless it's all a lot easier than i, being non-technical, would presume to assume. 

just look at that above. yes, it is what you think - an Apple product with a regular, normal, actual USB connection thingie. how splendid. this was of course all before they insisted on developing their own such things to connect devices. simpler, happier days. quite easy to just plug it in and charge. 

it was not, of course (we are talking Apple here), so easy to access (or "see") the music on it. my memory was that this device was one you could just plug in to a PC and "drag and drop" files without any sh!tty Apple software being required. either my memory was wrong or things have changed. at first i just got a blank folder when i plugged it in, which had me fearing it was "blanked", but then i went hang on, how could i have heard Bowie if so. reluctantly, then, i installed the dreaded "itunes", and after that had to install some "special app" that allowed itunes to access the ipod. they really don't like anything about customers other than their money. which, i suppose, is true of any business. 

entirely fair to say that Apple now reflects the very worst of our world. that's the instant gratification, immediate and ready disposal attitude which prevails. quite rare that any of their "new" products are all that much of a leap forward or enhancement on the previous, but still people driven by the illusion of aspiration the brand has carefully (and ingeniously) cultivated want "the latest". i rather preferred them, even liked them, when they simply made an outstanding product that did the job better than anything on the market and let you get on with it. 

perhaps the main overt difference between Apple then and now is buttons. from what i recall that supposed genius what established the company didn't like buttons, and so decided that no one else could like them and sought to get rid of them. again, exemplary reflection of how the world now seems to think. but, look at those buttons there. well, yes, ones on the front too. on the back you get a nice slider sort of thing that lets you move between off, shuffle and play in order, and a helpful button to give an indication of battery left. for the latter, no matter how long i leave it on charge it appears to remain red. oh dear. still, so far on strolls (not long or far) it has held up. 

a really big plus with this model iphone is no audio (or volume) limiter at all. you just keep pushing up on the volume button and up it goes, right to the point that either the headphones blow or your eardrums bleed. from what i recall it was the French, or if you prefer les connards, who insisted on a volume limit getting forced on to the devices. quite typical of them. they did, after all, foist the horrors of "scart" ports on videos and teles across Europe too. who on earth would play any French music loud, anyway? oddly i ended up doing so, now that i think. 

quite class to see my "playlist", or if you like "mix tape" from quite a few years ago......

the presence of Beautiful Thing off of The Stone Roses says that the last time i plugged in this ipod and updated it was 2016 or 2017. quite likely i did so for strolls around the village, in those long since gone days prior to my era of exile. 

having taken the ipod with me on strolls now (2025) it's played a decent random (shuffle) mix. on my travels it has played Emotional Rescue off of Stones, the just mentioned Beautiful Thing, Hot For Teacher off of Van Halen (the drum intro was where i discovered no volume limiter), Six Months In A Leaky Boat off of Split Enz and the Carla Bruni recording of Absolute Beginners. yes, she is partially French, but not entirely from what i remember. oh yeah, also I Want To Live In A House off of the soundtrack for Star Struck (proper Australian 80s film of that name). whilst listening to that i had to remind myself that i was out in public and perhaps shouldn't be singing along. 

somewhat confused to see i added If I Can Dream by The King, Elvis Presley to it. were we to take it as a given that all of his songs are excellent, this is not one i have ever felt a need to play on all that frequent a basis. oh. 

a few shall (undoubtedly) scoff, scorn or mock the idea of "only" 512MB of memory on anything. the default these days is all in GB if not TB. you know what though, like the 90 minute blank tape (or 80 minute blank CD for that matter) it means you have to be careful with what you add on. one has to consider choices and select (or curate) only really boss vibes. having access to absolutely every song ever made sounds quite class, but what's better is just taking along the ones you dig. 

yes, my plan was to get this ipod working and then create a whole new playlist (or mixtape) for my present day strolls and occasional train ride. to be honest, though, for now i think i will just get my groove on to the vibes i have found on it. it isn't a bad collection at all, if i do say (type) such myself. well, maybe some slight tweaking, but mostly i think i can just dig all these tunes for a bit. 

do i think there will (or shall) ever be a full tilt ipod "resurrection" or revival? as in lots of people all of a sudden wanting to use them again? no. the "comeback" (or revival) of records, tapes and, quite interestingly, compact discs is because those physical formats contribute to and enhance the music experience. an ipod was always just the convenience, as brilliant as the sound is and as excellent and robust as this model remains. still, i am happy to have it all armed and fully operational. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

reports of my death are greatly exaggerated

greetings

well, yes, it was me (or if you will moi) that kind of sort of "reported" on my death, as it were. mistaken, i appear to have been, look you see. for those at a loss as to what this is all about, other than my use of a literary quote for a title (well done if you know the source), it's more or less (as in actually) a follow up to my recent medical incident and subsequent plight. quite likely that, if you are of a mind to do so, reading about that before reading this is a good idea, if you like things to make at least vague sense. so, to that end, here is the link to my account of that. 

this is all intended as a sort of follow up, since i kind of (more or less) suggested i would do so. also it's somewhat easier to put the story here for all of interest to see rather than repeating the tale again and again. yet note it is rather wonderful, and unexpected, to have the level of care and concern expressed in my direction with regards to all of this. no, i would not have thought i was worth all the effort of being kept as a going concern, but here we are; here i am. 

let me try and give some updates in a vaguely organised (if not structured) way, then. no, please note, absolutely none of this is me throwing punches around and preaching from my chair. mostly, as i mentioned just a little while ago, this is for the benefit of friends and family around the world concerned about me. equally, i suppose, it is to distress those that care not for me and would really rather i was no more. i am of no position to lecture or "tell" anyone how to do anything. perhaps, though, if someone in the seven billion or so of us in the world is going through what i am, well, if this offers some help, so much the better. 

eyes and feet

during my second or third medical visit, although i think third (after blood tests so yes), when i got told what, exactly, had mostly gone busted with me (undiagnosed and thus untreated diabetes, for those who have declined to read the initial post), i was somewhat confused, bewildered, (partially) unwashed and somewhat slight dazed. whilst i took in, or absorbed, all that was said, i didn't necessarily grasp or understand it all immediately. one of the more confusing things was the line "you have diabetes so you need to have your eyes and feet tested". this was information i set aside until a letter came in the post advising me of the number to call to make an appointment. which i did. 

on making the appointment, which was indeed for both my eyes and feet (well both eyes and both feet) i was told to rather not drive to it and also (or further) to bring some sunglasses, for it was quite likely my eyes would be very (as in extremely) sensitive after the tests. which brought to mind certain ideas of just what, exactly, laid in wait for your humble narrator. 

it turned out all to be not quite so dramatic as the (if i have the spelling right) ludovico technique, and no there were no films to watch. but also no, they were not kidding about my eyes being left quite sensitive after it. 

being somewhat unaware, if not negatively ignorant, of what exactly diabetes was beyond a general understanding i was somewhat lost as to how something that (ostensibly) related to blood made the state of my eyes and feet so pressing. as it turns out diabetes can f*** with your eyes in a sneaky way, as in it does damage "to the back" of them, and can leave one blind without any warning. oh. for feet and, apparently, due to circulation or what have you, us diabetics don't necessarily feel all cuts or abrasions down there. no, not "down there" in that sense, lower, still talking about feet, thanks. it is, then, important to check them (feet) every day,  to make sure all is well. should it be that not all is well then medical assistance is required, with the alternate being possible toe loss. 

a nurse had the rather thankless task of checking my feet. whilst i do try and keep my feet in a reasonable condition i wouldn't go so far as to say they are presentable or particularly interesting to look at. the tests on them were of a "pin prick" or if you will tickle nature. for these i had to sit with my eyes closed, and indeed i did take my glasses off for good measure, and play "say when" on each instance of me feeling something touching my feet. 

passed the test, my feet did. don't really think it is right (or correct) to say i did, although of course yes my feet are part of me. a text message came in (as has been the way of all recent diagnosis) to say that i was considered to be at "low risk" for foot damage, so long as i looked after them. to this end the advice i got, and as you can see above acted on, was to purchase some aqueous cream (and/or E45) and apply it daily to my feet after washing them. so i bought one of each, but am only using one at at time. rather unlikely that anyone will be all that interested, but now on a morning i shower, put some of this on and lay with my feet up reading as it dries. a cautionary word was given to me to not get or leave any between my toes, as i would likely not feel it, and left there could caused damage. quite certain there was a line in French Connection about picking (or checking) between toes. wearing comfortable, proper fitting shoes is also important, so just as well i got them air max earlier in the year, despite the headache of the predictable IOC ban as a consequence. 

should you not like seeing images of moi, and no one could blame you for having disdain for such an idea, then you are not likely to care for the next image. 

going back to my eyes, then, and no, they were certainly not p!$$ing about when they said that my eyes might be sensitive after the tests on them. effectively this test involved putting some rather sharp liquid in my eyes, which smarted a bit, leaving it to dry or "settle" whilst they checked my feet. after the feet test it was off into a chair with a device and a really blinding light set off. which turned out to be the flash to capture an image of the back of each eye. hence me giving a rare outing to my outrageous and yes, indeed, sexy sunglasses. never ever have my eyes felt so delicate and fragile. thankfully that sense passed after a few hours. anyone who considers driving after that eye test is completely, as it totes, f****d in the head and needs their licence taking away. 

very happily a letter, or if you like another letter, arrived, telling me that the results show no signs of me having something called diabetic retinopathy. which is rather fortunate, as i don't wish to go blind and, as some may recall, there's a suspicion that they worked out i had diabetes north of ten (10) years ago but kind of forgot to mention it. so, all good for now, but i do have to go back and get both eyes and feet tested every year. or annually, if that sounds more better. 

cigarettes

there was a very great and real fear (or hope, for some) that in my follow up appointment, which happened a month or so after all of that incident and subsequent diagnosis, that i would get told that i would need to quit smoking. no, as it turns out. well, yes i should stop, but no, not instructed or ordered to do so in any "or else" way. from what i could tell the nurse was well aware of just how passionate and enthusiastic i am about smoking (sorry), and thus concluded that there was little chance any instruction or advice to quit would be paid the respect it should. clearly i am, after all, intelligent enough to know it's both stupid and bad. that said, it has been suggested that i cut down considerably. perhaps i will. 

medication, testing and treating

i am aware of some people (some i remain eternally fond of) who(m) get despondent, sad and, if there is a difference, depressed at the prospect of needing to take medication "for life". this i get, but do not feel myself. taking pills daily does not mess with my schedule too much. even if it seems like a really, really formidable amount of them i need to take. 

quickly doing some adding up, using fingers and my head, says that on a "maximum pill day" i need to take 9 or maybe 10 a day some days. mostly these are all in the morning, so get taken with coffee after breakfast. yes, as you can see, i have them in separate boxes, labelled with what i need to take when. also i have some paper on the fridge (not a euphemism) where i jot down what i have taken and at what time, so i don't lose track. so long as i remember to write it down. 

certainly, or for sure, i would agree it's not all that great to be taking a whole raft of pills daily, but then i am also aware of what is likely to happen to me again if i do not. on balance, then, a reasonable ask of me to keep going. so far as can be told, they are working. possibly one negative (as such) to the pills is that at my most recent appointment it was decided to keep me on the "temporary" ones, the name of which begins with "g" and the remainder of the name is not possible to pronounce by mortals, for another couple of months. i did have a "milestone" of sorts in place for that, with the idea being that i would only take it for a month and then that was crossed off the list. hey ho. 

above, in the symbolic format of VHS mode, is a puncture mark and some bruising off of my most recent check up. it was, for reasons of no need to be referenced here, necessary to take blood from both of my two arms. initially i was going to call his my "heroin chic" look, but that would be incorrect as it assumes heroin is the only drug what someone would inject. so i shall just have to refer to it as my "junky chic" look, for anyone who really wishes to look at my arms. 

something that does annoy me, or was at the least getting me down, was the persistent blood testing. yes, i know it's important to measure that my blood sugar is remaining at the right level, but this one really is a routine breaker and maker. currently, or presently, they have me testing it 7 - 8 times a day. 

my fingers, and i sort of "rotate" between two on one of my hands (not saying which), are taking some strain from the frequent picking. also, this something i have to do from waking up right through to the point of retiring for the night (going to bed). indeed, yes, first world problems, "oh you think that's tough you should see what so and so has to go through", not much of an ask to help keep you alive, etc. fair points, each of them and all the other criticisms of my complaint that i have failed to list. however,  all i can do is comment on my experience. 

for the "score" i get on the tests, as an ideal (as in it must be this) the reading needs to be between 6 and 10. mostly, with the medication and the changed diet (of which more later) i am getting this. oddly the biggest problem has been it going lower than 6. should it fall below (or "fewer") than 4 i was told to take immediate action to fix, but no one said what that action was, exactly. also i did not ask. should we pretend there was a film called Godfather III, which we are all agreed it is better if there is not, then just maybe i remembered a scene where Michael Corleone had a "diabetes attack" and ate chocolate to fix it. with that the only theoretical reference, on the day it dropped to 1.1 (!) i immediately got a mars bar to  see if that would sort it. yes it did. 

it would appear, going on not being told to cease, that this testing is carrying on for a while yet. perhaps forever, or so long as i live. hopefully, mind, not as frequently as i have been doing it for the last, what six or so weeks. 

wee wees

bit of a delicate matter, this, but all the same likely important. for a couple of years now it has been that my body gave no warning when i needed a bathroom in order to "spend a penny" or, if you like, go for a gypsy's kiss. all of a sudden it was "go now, or trousers will be wet". this was something i wrote off as being one of those unspoken changes that come with age (since i am north of 50), or possibly that prostate cancer thing which i haven't had a test for. as it turns out no, this was yet another warning sign off of my body that something was wrong, with the thing being diabetes. all things of this nature have, merrily, returned to "normal" with the medication. should i need a bathroom (not in the way Spiros does to make short term yet mutually beneficial friendships) my body gives ample (or fair) warning. 

diet

weirdly this has been the easiest thing to change and, in truth, adapt to. everything about my general physique says no, i would not usually eat "healthily". of late, however, i had found myself leaning towards healthier options, but still laced with "treats". clearly, as with the bathroom stuff, it was my body raising all sorts of alarms with cravings that i more or less ignored. 

over the last month or so i have probably eaten more stir fry than i had in all of my existence prior. it is with great thanks to young William (that one) that i have learned how to make such a dish. yes, for those of you reading this thinking "but it is simple", once you know how to it is, but if you have never ever gone done it before then you need to be shown. 

great joy is to be had making a stir fry. for a start, i do love mixing in a variety (or variations) of herbs and spices, with none of them "danger stuff". letting you know the secret what William let me know is that adding copious shakes of a jar (or tube or what have you) of onion granules is the proverbial "game changer" for a most excellent stir fry. usually it is a chicken one i make, although for a change i did go and do a steak one a couple of weeks ago. steak is totes ludicrously expensive here at the moment, mind. i have considered a pork one, but i am somewhat reluctant in case i f*** up the cooking the pork part. eventually i shall be brave and give it a go. 

my breakfast has seen something of a change. outside of fancy hotel breakfasts (gone now that i do not travel these lands for verk so much any more) my standard was croissants. these would be 'posh' freshly done ones as a weekend treat, and a bag of (no doubt highly processed) 'regular' ones during the week. now, as you can see, a bit of a difference. 

at first i just had some cereal which, according to the label on the packaging, was low in sugar, adding in some plain "Greek style" yoghurt. credit to Gill (of NZ) for teaching me the art of buying frozen fruit, nuking it (as in putting it in the microwave for a bit) and mushing it in. the above picture shows a mix of strawberries and blueberries for this, but the number one to do it with is easily raspberries. 

so as to (in a proverbial or actual way) mix things up from time to time i shall still pan (stir) fry some chicken, but instead of full tilt stir fry i will do a "mediterranean roast veg" mix. no, never did i think i would actually eat either my "5 a day" or an amount in excess of that, but here i am. oddly i find myself actually looking forward to these meals, rather than seeing eating as a formal necessity. which kind of indicates how i had let eating be a simple, whatever, means to an end. 

beyond that, other changes have been to dramatically reduce sugar intake. not remove entire, as that is not the demand or requirement. coffee now sees me have one or just one half a teaspoon of sugar rather than two (or more) and usually tea is now a sugar free thing for me. also, as things presently stand, the last takeaway i have had was that one Burger King (sorry to single them out) on the afternoon of the rather dramatic medical incident. have neither missed nor craved them. for dinner (or "lunch" if posh or southern) i still go for a supermarket meal deal, only selecting the "healthier" options. unless my blood level score prior to purchasing says "consider a mars bar". 

exercise and appearance

there has been a friend or two of mine who(m), even allowing for a sense of the theatrical, have wondered just how, exactly, i was still alive when my three digit (!) blood sugar level was of a nature that would normally only be recorded by someone that was in a coma, dead or moments from death. a kind of regular exercise appears to have been my saviour if not salvation. each day i would usually walk at least a couple of miles, sometimes more. without this it is likely i would have been proper f****d quite some time ago. since i am not going to start going to gym (they don't have ashtrays or what one would consider natural smoking areas) i shall just make sure i keep the walking up. 

looks have not, if we are honest, ever been all that much of a strong point for me. not traditionally handsome was a wonderful description someone once gave of me. but, in terms of weight and appearance, well, over the last two to three years i had for some reason been losing (not "loosing") weight, possibly down to all the walking and eating slightly better. all i know is that i have to keep purchasing smaller sized trousers, and belts. t-shirts will always be long baggy ones, i love them. 

final picture below is a selfie, you have been warned. 

i am also getting told that i am looking "a lot more healthy", sometimes (every now and then) with qualifications such as i "have colour back". and things like that. with my penchant for selfies i suppose someone of a mind to do so could go through the previous posts here and look at pictures over the last few years, comparing them to the one above, taken really recently (at time of writing). i would suggest that i am indeed feeling better, but then i was feeling not too bad at all right up until the point of that episode what required medical intervention. 

yes, for those who do look at pics of moi and have paid attention, the ridiculous, large, growing for over a year beard has indeed gone. i did one of them video call things with Mum and she absolutely knacked me for the state of it, telling me to get it shaved. so i did. you are never too old to get knacked off of your Mum, or ever too far away, apparently. keeping the long hair, for now, mind. i always wanted it as part of my belief in rock and roll, just not had the patience before. 

right, that's it for updates, or at least that shall do. more than enough, i think. apologies for this not being quite so exciting as the last update, indeed sorry for it being boring. what has not been boring, though, has been the monumental, unexpected level of messages of support and all the offers of help. thank you all, it means a lot and has made quite the difference. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!