What did I do yesterday, nothing but sleep
and watch movies, a day of relaxing. I
slept until late morning, trotted off down the shops for a few bits and pieces
and then chilled out. I watched all
three Iron Man movies and listened to Carly Rae Jepsen’s EP entitled “Talk to
Me”. The only way I can describe the EP
is lush or heaven in digital download format.
Am I the only one who misses the gritty sound of a vinyl record playing
at 33 or 45 rpm with a diamond tipped needle bouncing across its surface?
I remember the day my dad got a bonus at
work and decided to spend it on a music system.
Not just any old system, Oh no he wanted the best for his growing record
collection, most of which I still have.
We drove into town and paid a visit to a shop called B&B Hi-Fi. They did not just sell music systems but
tailored a system to suit your tastes and home.
My dad set his heart on a Technic’s system with separate record player,
amplifier, radio and cassette deck that had auto reserve for tapes so you did
not have to change sides. The speakers were
solid and were so heavy and the speaker cable as thick as my little
finger. The amplifier was rated at 100
watts, which did and does not sound a lot today but what made it stand out was
that you could turn the volume all the way up and there was no distortion
regardless of how high you went. The
quality of the sound was so beautiful and the record player or should I say
turntable made records sing which such grace.
Every Sunday evening starting at four in
the afternoon I would switch the system on and select the radio for input and
cassette for output and record the Top 40.
I had a set of TDK tapes, 120 minute capacity that I used and I would
play them back over and over again throughout the week. So Sunday afternoons were the Top 40 and
mum’s Sunday roast with dad carving and mum panicking and me doing the washing
up. It use to annoy mum when I got down
from the table to change tapes but dad was always on my side on that one. It is funny as it was the Top 40 that brought
my dad into the 20th Century when it came to music. The Pet Shop Boys were playing and he turned
around and say “I like this sound who is it?”
Well I nearly choked on my roast potatoes, here was a confirmed Don
Williams, Dr Hook, and John Denver follower rocking the Pet Shop Boys. Sadly my mum did not go in for music that
much but she did like Phil Colins and Barbara Streisand.
Thanks mainly to my dad I have grown up
with a very eclectic taste in music and my iTunes library has everything from
classical through to the present day.
Even One Direction has a place in my library. If you know me you know that I am passionate
about the music of Scritti Polliti and more recently Owl City. I do not know what it is about the two groups
but the lyrics and songs are so wacky and out of this world, well they are
refreshing for sure. Combine that with
my passion for the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy series and you can see
where my mindset and imagination gets its inspiration.
Sadly the Hi-Fi system is no more but it
did give the family and me nearly 30 years of service. I think dad paid close to a £1,000 for the
whole thing back in, well I was but a wee boy, that is not a bad investment for
sure. That got me thinking and wondered
how many of the musical devices I have will still be with me in 30 years
time. Will my iPod will be usable, I
doubt it as any future upgrades to iTunes or its supported operating systems
will make is redundant but not before the battery or a component fails
first. After all a battery can only be
recharged so many times, yet I have a set of records that placed on a record
player will still play a tune. So how do
I protect my music collection that is now sat in its entirety on my computer
but backed up? How long will I be able
to carry it with me as I journey through life?
What will stop me from doing so, how knows, maybe nothing I honestly do
not know. All I know is that I can enjoy
my music now and that is a very good feeling for sure.
What did I do today, well the first thing I
did was upset someone close to me and I was entirely to blame. I hate letting people down and more so if
they are upset too. I know I cannot make
everyone happy all the time and sometime it is going to be out of my control
but it does not make it any easier to shallow when it happens. It sort of knocked the rest of the day into a
cocked hat and I was in the dog house for most of it but the day did get slowly
better. The shopping done and packed
away it was off to the favourite haunt and spend a few hours out enjoying some
excellent beer and the beautiful weather.
Sat watching others do the same and the more energetic ride along the
canal path on their bikes. There was one
blip in the otherwise beautiful afternoon, two young men arrived outside the
pub in a hail of speed and brake dust in an open top BMW and parked in the
disabled parking. They bound out of the
car and went into the pub, clearly very healthy and not very disabled. They strutted around the garden in a cock
sure manner with their Perrier water looking like they owned the place. Once finished they shot off down the narrow
country lane at break neck space and a cloud of dust. Everyone in the garden who witnessed it had
the same thought in that they hoped pair’s arrogance and stupidity would be
duly rewarded. As the dust settled
people got back on with enjoying the weather.
The weather was just right, it was hot but the constant breeze cooled it
enough to make the whole experience a pleasant one.
Today also get me thinking about the people
I know, those close, good friends, colleagues and acquaintances. I understand how my actions can frustrate and
something upset those who I am close too, those who I hold in high regard and
with a lot of respect. I get that but what I do not get is why there are people
who seem to spend a lot of their time getting on their high horses, frustrated
and worked up about me or what I do when they make no effort to get to know me
or even understand me. If one is so
interested in what I do then surely one should get to know me better, no? Especially
as I have changed a lot in the last 6 months and that is largely thanks to
someone I have a lot of respect for telling me to grow a pair. I guess in the back of my mind I knew I had
to man up as I was a bit of a wet rag. I
only hope I do not take it to far and go the wrong way. Today’s upset was not a result of growing a
pair but more of me over doing it in the work / life balance struggle. This growing a pair as seen my confidence
grow in strength but I need to keep it in check and be mindful of the feelings
of those around me. It is funny I always
assumed that being happy and enjoying life was largely down to having
confidence, how wrong was I. The BMW
driver today was clearly very confident in himself but he chose to ignorance
and a cock sure nature its bed fellows.
It was so tempting to pour my pint all over the driver seat and
dashboard but that would have been a huge waste as it was a very fine pint
indeed. It does leave me slightly
baffled how some people seem to spend so much time being bitter and twisted or
have no respect or regard to others who they hardly know or not know at all,
all I can think of is that there much be a lot of pain and bitterness inside. I know we cannot get on with everyone but
even at the basic level of existence there should be some tolerance
surely? I have meant some very bitter,
nasty evil people in my time and each time I am at a loss to understand why. Their regard and respect for the fellow
people and their feels does not seem to be very high. A hard life, bad past experiences, lost souls
who are afraid to let anyone in for fear of being hurt again? I am privileged to know and have known people
who have had a very hard and difficult life yet they remain caring, respectable
and thoughtful.
We have the capacity to be many things,
experience so much and have so much depth.
We can be filled with a bitter hatred that sees one take the life of
another and in the extreme we can share passions and emotions that embrace us
so much the world and its troubles are a distant memory. I think one of our greatest strengths is our
ability to express and share our love and passion for each other. Being able to make love to someone, to share
all your feelings and emotions and wrap them up with physical pleasure is a
unique gift and one to be cherished, savoured and guarded. To me making love is not just a physical
pleasure but a deeply emotional one too, one that to get lost in is truly one
of life’s greatest pleasures. You want
to know how my photography makes me feel, how I feel when behind the camera,
well know you know. Mind you it is
easier to find the right button to press on a camera!
Although I do not make love to my camera
that would be very unhealthy and weird the feelings and emotions I have when
behind it are so amazing and strong. All
the creativity being encouraged and teased from within mixed with having to
physically use the camera to achieve something very special. How different is it to gently kissing or
caressing the skin of a lover? I guess
for those who are not passionate about photography a lot different. Photography is like making love to me, full
of passion and all consuming and very special.
I think one of the reasons I love photography so much is that I am a
very emotional and passionate chap. I
love to smile and make people smile, I love to make people laugh and feel
good. I care about the people around me
a lot, especially those who want to be part of my life and get to know me. I have a hug for anyone who wants one, I have
time to listen to anyone who wants to talk or even just sit and watch the world
go by. I always have a smile for
everyone, even those who chose to belittle me and chose not to get to know me.
Today I was also reminded of the work /
life balance struggle we all face and that maybe I was starting to lose what
tentative grip I had. Working nights
last week certainly had me thinking about what I was missing, the time I had
grown use having and sharing. I think
the next few weeks are going to be interesting for sure as I will have an
important decision to make and a lot depends on the outcome of the job
interview and how I get on as an online driver.
I need to get the work / life balance right, especially at the moment
when it is more important that ever.
I am going to close now, I have not read
this post back so some or all of it might not make sense and the command of our
fair language might have been abused more than normal! I am going to put a DVD on and get my camera
gear ready for a trip out tomorrow, the choices are Didcot Railway Centre, St Margaret’s
church, Thatcham Nature Discovery Centre or someone completely random.
Until next time take care and hugs. Oh and a couple of photographs from the last
few days, snaps only.
Simon, Socks, Si, Sci-Fi, Pooh x
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