mintybloggydiarythingy 2.0

Week from Monday 17th March 2025 - This week's "MUSIC PROJECT" involves my 'processing' the latest release from PAKT, recently obtained as a (slightly pricey) download from the Bandcamp concern. It's a selection of tracks from their American Tour of last year, when PERCY, ALEX, KENNY and TIM were joined on some dates by keyboard wiz ADAM HOLZMAN, him out of Miles Davis's and Steven Wilson's bands. At times, they sound even more like the BRAND X of old, in full-on "TMIU-ATGA" mode! Which is fine by me! But mostly this week, everyone is raving about STEVEN WILSON's new album "The Overview" in all its various incarnations. Indeed, it's already 'TOPPED THE HIT PARADE', as you young'ns say! I didn't pre-order it from a shed in Norwich myself, nor did I rush out and buy it from HMV, as I have established a 'policy' with new music of 'TRY BEFORE I BUY'. I'm unable to understand why some people ...

Week from Monday 10th March 2025 - On Friday I'd missed a call from the GP PRACTICE. So on Monday morning I dutifully called them back, just in case it was something important. Once I got through (you know what their phone services are like!), I learnt that the call had been from someone called a PHARMACIST TECHNICIAN, whatever that is. I then wasted most of Tuesday, waiting in silence for them to call back. The call never came, so I suspect it was just somebody doing 'BUSYBODY' stuff, rather than anything for my own benefit. At the same time, I got a TEXT 'inviting' me to book my 'Spring' COVID jab. Why does nobody at the Health Centre learn to use E-MAIL? They stubbornly insist on contacting me via SMS, so I have to convert the message to HTML or PDF, then transfer the file from the phone to the laptop, before I can click on the embedded link. You can't reply directly to the text itself and they don't take bookings over the phone. It turns out th...

Week from Monday 3rd March 2025 - HAPPY MARDI GRAS, Y'ALL! Lazy-ler-bongtong-rooly and all that! I celebrated the day by listening to plenty of ZYDECO, the REBIRTH BRASS BAND and the WILD MAGNOLIAS. I did verily eat pancakes. In search of something that I could share on my Bloosky timeline, I stumbled upon a YouTube clip of THE MUPPETS explaining Zydeco music on an old episode of "SESAME STREET". I occasionally dipped into the LIVE coverage of the Mardi Gras parade in NEW ORLEANS. There were problems, apparently. At one time when I tuned in, one of the floats had got WEDGED solid going 'round a corner, holding up the entire procession. Later, I learned that they had to re-route and cut short the parade because of the threat of high winds... I also had a glimpse at the goings on in RIO DE JANEIRO, but I didn't 'stay' for long. There is, in my opinion, no more boring activity than watching OTHER PEOPLE DANCING, glittery costumery or not. And they sure...

Week from Monday 24th February 2025 - I schlepped up to the HORSE PICKLE again on Saturday, for my regular armful of PAMIDRONATE. I got there ridiculously early, as I had to make allowances for the BUS DRIVERS currently marching to their own drum. I got dealt with fairly quickly though, so I also schlepped down to the City Centre. I found even more TANGO NUEVO CDs in the chazza shop in Arundel Street. Somebody must have cleared out all their TANGO in ONE GO - 'A Band Of Abandoned Bandoneons'!?! A couple of them turn out to be a bit old-school and corny (Strictly Edmundo Ros!), but the majority are rather classy, jazzy MODERN CHAMBER WORKS in the ASTOR PIAZZOLLA mould. Most of the 'good stuff' is purely instrumental, of course. But as any vocals are in sultry Spanish, and they tend not to be mixed 'UP FRONT & IN YER FACE', they don't demand your attention at the expense of the (sometimes quite complex) music. Some pieces are texturally similar to "...