Skip to main content

Life and circles

Breaking free of bad habits is hard and I'm beginning to see how much of life is dictated by the past. Truth be known, my bad habits are really not THAT hideous. I swear more than I would like, talk too much and fail to make the most of opportunities sometimes.

If I have more, please feel free to point them out,

But recently I've noticed how some things just keep on happening, over and over. Not necessarily to me, but those around me seem to sometimes appear to draw certain things into their cosmos. No naming names, but there's a couple of circular lives going on around me and all I can do is observe (see? That's me trying not to talk too much).

When I wrote my car off and metaphorically - although not literally - walked away from it, I was forced to spend time on my sofa in recovery. The drugs allowed me to absorb some really, really rubbish TV and it was some of that which showed my lives made up of drama. Drama that came from nowhere or seemed to be the result of self-fulfilling prophesy.

Eighteen months later, I've definitely changed. I don't want everyone to know about my illness, nor my inability to carry a bag without shattering pain in my shoulders. (Well, clearly I'll open up sometimes!) Most people I see have no idea. And I like it that way. It's horrible when you've let slip to someone that you're having a test and they ask you straight after if you're feeling better. Tests don't usually have that rapid a beneficial effect!

Sometimes, breaking the circle by refusing to talk about the stuff of life makes the sun shine. Going round and round, over and over the same ground doesn't seem to make any sense.

What's that saying? If you keep doing the same things the same way, you'll always get the same results. Or something.


Posted via my iPad

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Big Wade - 'Piano Man' out now

Big Wade and Black Swan Theory collectively blends funk, soul, jazz and everything that fills the cracks between those genres: his new album -  Piano Man - on all major streaming platforms ahead of the Piano Man Tour 2024 , which has dates across the US. Piano Man  brings a selection of original and covers, including a stunning version of Autumn Leaves , which reinvents the song as the funky, electronic Autumn . Big Wade's voice takes the song's melody and improvises around and around, with backing vocals and a deliberately sparse arrangement underpinning the song. Similarly, on Children of the Ghetto , the lead and backing vocals blend in with the soulful musicians of Black Swan Theory. Electronics are used with dexterity, often expanding the vocal lines, as in the ethereal and ghostly opening of Don't Let Me Go . However, the tools never dominate - simply adding depth and layers to the funk. Never more than when Big Wade enters a new world in Interludes , including vocals...

Playtime: 'Morse Code Through The Lights'

Every once in a while, an album drops into your inbox and isn't going anywhere. Morse Code Through The Lights is just such an album. Incontrovertibly controversial, this won't be everyone's cup of tea, but this one has absolutely, instantly, made it onto my list of top albums of 2024. Drummer Tom Bancroft and his band Playtime, which began in Edinburgh as Adventures in New Music ten years ago as a weekly session, have produced something delightfully experimental and brilliantly creative. Four of Scotland's most-established jazz musicians - Martin Kershaw (sax), Graeme Stephen (guitar), Mario Caribe (bass) and Tom Bancroft (drums) - tried out new music and new ideas together. Once lockdown struck in 2020, they decided to explore the possibilities of improvising music together online, partly for something to do, and partly because it was something they could do for their audience. Most of us discovered - or thought we had - that improvising online was difficult or impossi...

36 years ago today, my alto sax was stolen

Actually, it wasn't so much stolen as taken in error.    But at the time, we thought it had been removed from backstage at Amsterdam's De Meervaart venue, where I was on stage with The Style Council.     Luckily, the gig was being broadcast on radio and the support act were listening as they drove away. They soon realised the mistake and returned my sax and all was well.     It was the last gig of a great tour - Paul Weller's first European shows since breaking up The Jam.     Another benefit of the radio broadcast is the recording that exists of that show. A good friend of mine - Iain Munn, author of the definitive history of The Style Council, Mr Cool's Dream - gave me a copy several years ago.     Still a good story, after all these years.