These posts have now been reminded of my favourite Judy Collins songs which I have on vinyl somewhere around the house. A couple here:
I had never heard "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" before. Thank you for that. Remember the days when songs actually had meaningful lyrics and you could understand each word?
Yes I do Lara sign of getting old isn't it, I love most of Jimmy Webb's songs this is his own rendering I will be having a nostalgia weekend now
I have been in Lisa's daughters house in Bracknell ( near London) since Tuesday, helping Lisa look after her three grandchildren while her daughter Katya and her husband are on holiday in Cambodia and Vietnam. I have settled into the routine of cooking for the family and doing the school run and shopping for food and so on. I really love Miro who is just one and a real sweetie. The other two are Dmitri who is 12 and Anisia 9 both very good well behaved children. I have come to realise that I am a much better grandfather than I ever was a father. I remember being largely emotionally absent with my daughters and too wound up in my work and renovating houses and all the other stuff I was involved with in those days. I feel with the wisdom of age I could have made a much better job of parenting, but I guess I did the best I could at the time with the experience I had. Miro ( Miroslav )
I guess the shock of hearing that David Bowie had died put me into a reflective mood, and I spent some time yesterday listening to some of the favourite musicians of my youth. One who has been long forgotten is Tim Hardin who went the way of many artists at that time, dying of a drug overdose. I loved his fragile songs and delivery, and did see him on his last UK tour in the '70s, sadly he was near the end and obviously heavily on drugs so his performance was that of a broken man. I have many fond memories of my life at the time his songs were popular. Here are a few, the first "If I was a Carpenter" became a worldwide hit with many cover versions.
I am back at home in Worcester now and I have been sampling the liqueurs that Katya brought back from Cambodia for me. The one is my favourite Amarula, the other a local Cambodian one based on the fruit of the Tamarind tree, `It has an unusual slightly sour taste but very drinkable
I've had tamarind balls in Trinidad, so I think I can imagine what this tastes like. They had a rather sweet and sour mixture of a taste that felt a bit odd at first, but I got to like them.
That's exactly it Tom an odd mixture of tastes, but quickly becomes likeable, I can see the bottle may not last long
Well, I'm being rather forced to have a drink or four this evening. Firstly, we got a free case of beer from Hook Norton and secondly, I received another box, this time containing twelve copies of my novel. This, along with the dismal rain that never seems to end, seems like a good excuse.
Sounds like a good excuse Tom but then who needs one really, watch you don't exceed you 14 units a week though ..................or is it a day
As I finish off a glass of Hook Norton Greedy Goose, I reckon that's about seven units this evening. That leaves a few in reserve for the rest of the week. A pleasant little sip and a most entertaining Liverpool v Arsenal game on the telly...not a bad evening's work. (I've recorded the BBC4 arty programmes as well).
Going back to Tim Hardin, I like this version of his song "Misty Roses" by Colin Blunstone" who I followed in my youth, and he is still alive, seemingly one of the few left these days.