Update on my activities

 I an now retired three years but still working PT

Day 3 Lock down

Day 3 of lock down. Took my first e-support session with one class of L6 students this morning, just over half of them were awake and available, in order for me  to check their progress. I have issued them with study tasks and advice. They are studying the major political parties at present of the UK, and most of them seem to be getting on OK. I phoned over half of them using Microsoft Teams, voice only, and most were very clear. Off to read my paper now and have a bite to eat. This afternoon I cleaned some windows in the back of the house then had a nice lay in the sun for a while, then went for my afternoon walk. Soon I have to take the dog (Mac) the Vets for a check up. The evening will pretty much be similar to last night, and I dont drink through the week as a rule, so Wed is usually a non drink night.

Day 2 of Corona Virus lockdown. Normally working in a 6th form college, so thrown out of routine. Got up about 8.30am which is roughly an hour and a half later than normal when a workday. Read the paper, the liberal Guardian, check my work email and respond accordingly. Drink some more coffee, and by midday take the dog for a walk nearby with my wife. Hardly anybody out but we see a few people and our paths don’t cross. Back for a soupy lunch, my fave is tomato. Then we watch some daytime TV, which I swore I would not do. Do a few minor jobs in the house and put my new water distiller on. Do some more College work by communicating with a few students via Microsoft Teams, then ready for a late afternoon snooze. Wake up at 6.00pm, for a spot of TM, followed by a brisk evening walk on my own as Wifey not up to it. Pass two single people and five kids on bikes! Get back and remember I have a blog that I haven’t used in years!! The time is 7.30pm, so soon to eat and then more telly, followed by a late night read. TBC...

1970s albums review 3 - The Kinks

The Kinks have always been a big fave band of mine since the 1960s (and my childhood!) and although in the early 70s they produced some really good and interesting albums, as this blog is about my album faves and when I was actually buying the albums, I begin with 1975's 'Soap Opera'. I also saw this performed live as a semi-theatrical rock opera at the Liverpool Empire in 1975 too. I found the album very novel and it contains some classic Ray Davies songs with no strong single booster though. 'Face in the crowd' , 'Ducks on the wall' , and '9 to 5' were all about the mundanity and ordinariness of most of our lives, and in a way it did jolt me big time as to what I was actually doing at the time, which was working in a car factory (Ford's of Halewood). This album more than any other made me think about life and it's purpose, as Ray Davies has always been a bit philosophical in his writing. Not long after I would visit the USA for the first time and there decide to go back into education when I came back (as I failed miserably first time round) which I did successfully for the next five years. A game changer of an album indeed. My rating though 8/10. The next album I bought of theirs was 1977's (they didn't release one in 76) 'Sleepwalker'  which was more of a standard rock album with some very strong tracks on. I was now studying A levels (Sociology, Politics and History) and had moved out of the family nest with a flat and a close girlfriend to match! The punk revolution was in full swing and although I was hip to some of that, I still stuck to my faves, and of course the kinks. Some stand out tracks were; 'Stormy sky', 'Mr big', and 'Life goes on'. My rating 8/10.

1970s album reviews 2 - Labi Siffre

 I started to listen to Labi Siffre properly in 1971 as a result of his catchy hit single 'it must be love' and my mum bought me the latest album at Xmas which was 'The singer not the song'. So working chronologically, we start with 'Labi Siffre' from 1970, which was a very pleasant album with no single on it (as he didn't put singles on his first two albums), but it did contain the well known track 'make my day' in which he sang about a'pretty little girl in a blue dress...' and the very unusual (as he was a young man singing from the perspective of an old man!) song 'I don't know what's happened to the kids today'. The single that was out to accompany this album was the very catchy 'get to the country' which was a minor hit. My rating for the album 8/10, good overall but some tracks very good indeed. The second album of 1971, and the first I acquired and heard was a revelation to me as it was very sophisticated both musically and lyrically for a guy with an acoustic guitar! Although he did play the piano and one or two other instruments as well. This album was called 'The singer not the song' and was a clear progression from the first, with a bit of jazz and everything else on too, including a 'protest' song called 'Thank your lucky stars'  which was about global poverty and hunger. However, most of the songs were about love and relationships, as Labi was a modern day troubadour to be sure. He was also at this point in the closet so to speak, but more about that later. My rating 9/10. His albums just got better and the next one in autumn 1972, 'Crying, laughing, loving, lying' , included two hit singles, including the album title and 'it must be love'. This album was something else again with tracks like 'Saved', which was about slavery, and 'Blue lady' describing a lady of the night. Lots of very good strong tracks on this album make it 910 for me, his strongest todate. His last album of the early 70s was 1973's 'For the children' , which was his strongest yet, and his most political Album too. Although no hit singles as such on this one, Labi sounded very angry and railed against god and all! Let's pretend was a great song that included a plea for peace in Northern Ireland, which of course would follow on fifteen years later. A very philosophical album which was critical of the media, and well, everything else, but not love. For me 10/10. During this period of 71-73, I was 16-18 and like most young people obsessed by music and exploration of new things. I actually saw Labi live quite a few times during this time, and mostly at the old Shakespeare club off London road, with some of my buddy's. He was a very good performer, but sadly never quite hit the expected heights as I guess he didn't quite fit in to a nice cosy niche. After FTC, which sadly was a commercial flop, he would endure a lean period, before coming back with a bang in 1988...

1970s Albums review 1 - The Beach Boys

Aloha, I am starting with my fave band ever, the Beach Boys and their four early 70s albums, beginning with 1970's Sunflower. This was their first post capital records album and was more of a group effort due to a variety of factors including Brian Wilson's well documented mental health problems at the time. The album sounded very new in terms of the classic Beach Boys sound, but still retained the essential and magical harmonies that the band became world famous for. The album was recorded in quadrophonic sound which gave it a unique lushness on the production side. I remember one UK music journalist enthusing that it was their 'Sgt. Pepper', it was that good. It is certainly my favourite 70s Beach Boys album, and includes a lot of vocal experimentation with the (Smile) track 'Cool, cool water' which is a bit trippy, plus Dennis Wilson's tender love ballad 'Forever'. The UK version had the recent top five single 'Cotton fields' on too. My rating 9.5/10. The second 70s album the band came up with was 'Surf's Up' from 1971. This album was another group effort and a bit rockier too. Carl Wilson (the band's best vocalist in my opinion) took over production command from Brian, and the result was an album that resonated with the hippy movement as it had a few environmental songs on it such as 'Don't go near the water', and included another ex-Smile track, 'Surf's Up' which was also the album title. My rating 9/10. The next 1972 album in the series was a bit rushed, it was titled 'Carl and the Passions', which was one of the bands early '60s names before they became famous, but had some memorable moments on it including an unusual (for the Beach Boys) rocking single 'You need a mess of help (to stand alone)', and a few meditation type songs which partly explored the philosophy of TM and the Maharishi. In short a good album rather than a great one, and now the band included two non-white South Africans, Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fatarr, which gave it a much funkier sound on most of the cuts. My rating 7/10. The final album in this quartet was a pretty good return to high standards form, 1973's Holland. Unusually for this album the band moved themselves and a recording studio to a small Dutch town close to Amsterdam. The result was a success and Holland sold well encompassing a solid rock type sound with those usual Beach Boys trademark harmonics. The album also included the single and classic concert track 'Sail on sailor' which was a minor hit on both sides of the pond. My rating 9/10, a very good album indeed. This then was the period known as the 'hippy' Beach Boys, when the band throw off their corny candy stripe shirt period from before, and all grew beards and hair! They became 'progressive' and relevant to the counter-culture and anti-Vietnam war movement that was happening in the US at that time. In fact the Beach Boys have always had a transcendental side to their music and their sound developed into a spiritual one after the early teen years were over, and Brian Wilson moved on to create the incredible influential Pet Sounds from 1966, and the abandoned psychedelic Smile album from 1967 (eventually released in various versions after 2004). Surf's Up!

Summer fun

Well, this summer has been a busy one and no time to get bored with my long teacher holidays! I have been exam marking as usual, either side of a trip to New York City with the College I work for. Although a ball breaker exam marking pays for our holiday, this year was Spain for a change! A lovely resort called Albir which was quite chic and a big change from Roccio del mar! In addition we had our grandson down for a week with his dad too and that went as well as could be expected. I have also done a few jobs in the garden, and before you know it I will be back in the thick of it!