Don't Stop 'til We Get to Greenock

Part of me would love to have an uber cynical blog that frowned and scowled at everything possible, but the true fact is that would be boring. So in true end of year fashion this is my top songs of 2011... stick them on a playlist while I bore you....

The War On Drugs - Baby Missiles
The Low Anthem - Boeing 737
Micah P Hinson - Stuck On A Job
Bon Iver - Holoceone
... Girls - Just A Song
Kurt Vile - Jesus Fever
Low - Somethings Turning Over
The Decemberists - Rise To Me
Tom Waits - Back In The Crowd
Iron And Wine - Tree By The River
Youth Lagoon - Cannons

 It never rains but it pours. Hmm, shite phrase and 100% not true. However, one thing I noticed recently is that the worst thing about getting caught out in the rain is actually getting home (or getting to wherever your heading). Walking in the rain is actually pretty enjoyable, the worst part is arriving home and having to then deal with the soaking clothes which are stuck to you. There is, of course, no way to combat this unless you walk until the rain has stopped and you have suitably dried - but that's just not practical! Why am I talking about walking in the rain? Fuck knows, I don't really have a point. It's just something I noticed the other day when puddle hopping. I upped the pace to get home, only then to realise that the worst part was ahead of me. I should have embraced the rain and tried to enjoy the walking part.

So, I ask questions.. that's what I do. I ask, and I ask, and I ask. Until there's nothing else to ask. Maybe I ask and analyse until the Nth degree or maybe beyond that. What is beyond that? The Oth degree? Where did the Nth part come from?? Anyway, I like to ask questions and I've realised lately that answers are pretty unfulfilling. Even the most concise of answers is pretty bad, it draws a line under something. It's over. If there's room for another question, I like to ask it; much to the annoyance of people round about me. So anyway, not sure where I was going with that... Yes... Time and Space. Shit! That's some questionable stuff.
If something is a week away, and I'm focused on it, my way of defining how quickly it will come is to look back a week and relate the time elapsed to how quickly it will come. Maybe everyone does that? I don't really believe in regimented time - I'm not much of a modernist. I've got a couple of songs written about this sort of thing, maybe they don't make sense but it makes sense to me. Yeah it makes sense and it's a great way for proverbially wishing your life away! A great and fun task for anyone to get involved in.

Now go splash in those puddles and don't worry about getting home! It'll happen when it happens!

All Things Must Pass

Is it properly possible to re-live something? Even fleetingly? Or are each individual emotions completely unique and never to be rediscovered. Ok, that was a pretty shite start here and exactly the type of thing I didn't want to start this but it's down now and I'm in serious danger of wearing out my backspace key.

Things I've learned recently number 1. I've probably seen my favourite film and heard my favourite song by now. It's looking more and more unlikely that something will grab me the way things have in the past. Lists of my favourite songs (which I tend to compile every few months) are becoming more and more familiar and the task of a song breaking into this elite group is becoming harder. I reserve the right (and really hope) to be proven wrong on this.

Things I've learned recently number 2. I will probably go to Tesco (or some other store of similar ilk) at least once a week for the rest of my life. How deeply depressing! I tried in vain to avoid Tesco for a while, but eventually I was pulled in by it. Shit, I've mentioned shopping on my first post. Grocery shopping no less. However, if I can cut down on the length of time it takes me to get round Tesco by 15 minutes I will save myself 260 hours over the next 20 years. Thats 10 days of my life saved by moving that little bit quicker and avoiding the slow trolley pushers as much as possible. Is that right? Maths was never my strong point!

Think how much better a chance I will have of disproving number 1 if I get to grips with number 2. In saying that, I generally listen to my ipod in Tesco so maybe they go hand-in-hand.

Ok, so back to George Harrison and his horrible thought that indeed 'all things must pass'. Is this right? Surely I still feel the same as I did 5 minutes ago, or is that still classified as the same moment? Fuck, I've asked too many questions now. Who am I to question a Beatle, but I think some emotions can be re-occurring. For instance, if I listen to 'Friday I'm in Love' by The Cure it always takes me back to the first time I heard it. Hmm, I'm disproving myself I think. Shit! I remember the first time I heard that song very vividly and I was excited and happy and probably dancing about my bedroom like a fanny hoping no-one would come in. When I listen to it now I merely smile and think back to then with a hint of depression coating my enjoyment of the song. Do I still like this song? Or do I just like the memories of where I was when I first heard it. I don't think I even listen to it properly now. It just passes me by before I've had a chance to listen to it. Did I ever like it, or did I just like dancing in my room?? No, I definitely did like it and probably still do. Hard to tell though now.

Well maybe George is right, all things must indeed pass, but that's not to say far better things will still re-emerge. I feel the important thing to do (and this is very hard) is to register in your brain that your enjoying yourself while it's happening. That way you can never regret that a good time merely passed you by without you noticing... and it probably makes the memory fonder. You can relate to it easier and with yourself at that moment in time.

Right, my first blog is done and I'm confident its pish but thats fine. I like crappy things anyway. I fully expect to revisit this in about 6 months time and cringe but I won't delete it because its a snapshot and its a moment (albeit a rubbishy one) that has now..... passed!