2007 and all that

So, how was it for you?
In common with every newspaper and blogger in the world, with a few notable exceptions, I thought I'd have a wee look back on my highs and lows of the past year and maybe look ahead to whatever 2008 may throw at us.
Musically, the juggernaut of shite vomited (is this medically possible?)up by the likes of X Factor rumbles on. Ruining the once quite exciting prospect of waiting to discover what would be the Christmas No.1, something which has long since been over taken by whatever Simon Cowell says it is. The last time I was really excited about the Christmas Chart-Topper was back in the days of The Mike Flowers Pops. Sadly that year it was popular children's entertainer Michael Jackson who took the crown. Of course, it was the lovely Kevin Greening who championed Mr Flowers all those years ago. Of whom I will write at a later date. For now, Cheers Kevley.
Other lows in the world of music came in the relentless dumbing down of BBC6Music. Once an oasis of quality, now just a pale imitation of it's earlier self. That plays Oasis. What was once innovative and experimental, is now a rest home for former Xfm presenters and at times a playlist not out of place at Radio One. It is possible that I'm a bit miffed that Andrew Collins has gone and Gideon Coe has been shunted. And Phill Jupitus has also gone from Breakfast. Is nothing sacred.
Still on the plus side, Radiohead released their most accessible and upbeat album in a long time. Initially only via their website, but now on retro-compatible formats such as cd and vinyl. Go on, treat yourself. For myself, my musical year seems to have been taken over by digging out old favourites, and now my i-Pod is jam packed with Ultravox, Everything But the Girl (before they discovered dance music) Prefab Sprout, The Cure and The Smiths.
Book wise, I seem to have fallen out of love with novels. Either that or I've been reading some old tut. I do still enjoy reading, but these days I'm happy to spend my time with autobiographies and some of the post-"Round Ireland with a Fridge" type of books are still worth a look. Although, strangely, I've been quite impressed with Jimmy Carr and Lucy Greeves book on comedy and jokes. I posted earlier about Gordon Brown and his book on Courage, I still recommend it, but you might want to give Alastair Campbell's Diaries a bit of a body swerve. They could, and indeed should have been more exciting. But there was too much self censorship in those pages. I'll bet Malcolm Tucker wouldn't have wimped out in a similar way.
Television has had it's moments too. I won't go on again about it, much, but Doctor Who managed to produced some truly outstanding drama in the episodes Blink, Family of Blood and Human Nature. The "scandal" surrounding competition phone-ins never went away, with the upshot being...well pretty much as you were really. The BBC self flagellated, but re-introduced phone in competitions, ITV and Channels 4 and five looked a bit shamefaced for a couple of days but soon got back to whoring their soul, and the newspapers, with their own agendas, lapped it up. 2008 will be pretty much the same.
The sublime Life on Mars finished, but will be back, Back, BACK ish as Ashes to Ashes later this year. BBC Sunday nights were enlivened by Cranford and Stephen Fry did the business over on ITV as a slightly darker "Doc Martin" type. Doc Martin on the other hand, although a ratings hit, looked tired and past it's prime. Panorama gave us the extraordinary sight of a Scientologist not being the most flaky person in a room, thanks to incredible Shouty Man. John Sweeney. However, in his defence, if it had been me, given the circumstances, I'd have decked the Scientologist chap many hours earlier and then proceeded to dance on his twitching bones. It is possible I have some issues when smug and bullying representatives of religious cults are involved. UKtvG2 suddenly became "Dave", although as yet, no-one called Dave has changed his name to UKtvG2. Unless of course, you know better...Cyril.
Politically it was a year of change. Scotland now has, nominally, a Nationalist Government, run by Alex the Moon faced Gimp. This probably came about, not just by the mistrust in Labour but by the local difficulties experienced by The Scottish Socialists, who managed to tear themselves to shreds, lose any seats, and goodwill they may have had and had a wee bit of bother with the News of the World too. Round 2 of Sheridan versus News International is looming, and I'm not sure if my favoured outcome is possible. Surely both sides can't lose?
The evil that is David Cameron continues to weave it's malodorous spell on the country, and there seems to be no sign of his career being de-railed anytime soon. What is the power he has over the media? And indeed in voters in general. John Sweeney and myself should go round and shout at him. Isn't it time the rumours about Carlton, and their former employees were substantiated? It's not that I genuinely believe David Cameron is a Satan worshipping, bestialitist horse botherer with a vociferous appetite for cocaine, I just want to hear him deny it on Andrew Marr's Sunday Morning programme on BBC1.
Labour on the other hand quite brilliantly managed to eradicate any good will left to them. Even after the long goodbye from "Tone". Crisis after crisis, sloppy handling of PMQs and dithering of the highest order-again-from Gordon Brown has more than helped the Tories get back into the forefront of British politics. There appears to be no way back for Labour at the moment. And given the betrayal of trust demonstrated by the Party since 1997, it's hardly surprising.
The Lib-Dems finally got round to knifing their leader, again, and as I know very little of Nick Clegg, I'm going to say very little about them. It's what they're used to really. All I will say is that I still think they would be in a better position had they not dumped Charlie Kennedy. It is possible he had a drink problem, but only if judged by UK standards. He's from Fort William. By those standards he's a big girly lightweight.
On a more personal note, 2007 was the year I stopped buying a regular newspaper. I realised that all the bits from The Guardian I actually read were available for free on the GU website, and the bits I didn't read contributed to a large pile of waste paper. I've started to take a closer look at my health following my visit to hospital. With luck, the only thing about me jaundiced in 2008 will be my view of world. Sadly, thanks to spending too many weeks in hotels, followed by Christmas and New Year, my diet has left a lot to be desired in recent weeks, but I'll be back on track soon. Really must stop eating so much butter. And sugar.
I've changed jobs, but much as I'm enjoying my new work, I don't think it'll last, I want, indeed need some adventures this year. Maybe this'll be the year I step off into the void with my eyes shut. It's been a long time since I last did that. The Tories were in power then. It's good to step out of the comfort zone.
So what do I hope 2008 will bring?
I'd like to get my life back on track really. I've been bumbling about far too much recently. I've become weary of my own company. I'm tired of going on holiday on my own, and I'm tired of waking up at 3am on my own too. There is a section, Parenthesis, in Julian Barnes 1989 work "A History of the World in 10 and a half Chapters" I always seem to come back to, which sums up most of those late night insecurities and feelings. It's not the lightest bit of reading in the world but... Sorry, I digress.
I hope things are different this year. I hope I'm different this year.
Maybe it's time to say "Yes" a bit more.
Actually, there's no maybe about it.
Anyhoo, enough looking back at 2007, let's see what 2008 has to offer.
Soupy Twist.

Regeneration

Hello. Whilst you weren't looking I had a bit of a tidy up, and freshened the place up a bit. So farewell then purply lilac look. Farewell picture of Hadleigh Castle in Essex. Hello blackness and cleaner lines. And for this Festive time at least, have a snow dusted Tardis. Well, aren't all blogs filled with Doctor Who these days?
Well, no, actually. Certainly not the ones I read anyway, but I digress.
For the last month or so I've been finding my feet in my new and slightly grown-up job.
After the old shop closed, I tried working in a call centre for a while. This wasn't ever going to be permanent, but I thought I'd give it 6 months until I felt 100% fit again. I lasted 2 months. And only because I spent one week in hospital, had a weeks holiday and then worked a weeks notice when I came back from my holiday. Otherwise, I would have managed 5 weeks, and then chucked myself in the canal. I can't name the company I worked for, all I can say is they are
British and involved in Telecommunications. And without question, the worst company I have ever worked for. And I used to work for House of Fraser.
So, throwing caution to the wind, I decided to "Live the Rock n Roll dream" I got a job in a bank.
Oh yes! Home Insurance fixed premiums for next 3 years? High Interest Current Account? Saving for your child's future? That's m'job. And to be perfectly honest, I've enjoyed it so far.
Mind you, the best part of 3 weeks stuck in the Jurys Inn in Glasgow leaves you yearning for decent grub. Thankfully, Blue Lagoon chippy round the corner saved me on a couple of nights. Here's a wee tip should you be staying in the hotel mentioned above. Do not, under any circumstances have the vegetarian option. Ever. Doesn't matter what it might be, just say no!
I could have sicked up a more appetising lasagne. And the vegetable tikka masala? I was in Glasgow, they have Indian restaurants there, lots of them. Really really good ones too. What possessed me to have the lumps of green pepper in a runny sauce, I shall never know.
Mind you, the beds. I have seldom slept so well in my life. Either they were the finest beds in the world or the AirCon was blasting out Valerian and Lavender.
I do like Glasgow though. Always have, but I've sort of ignored it in recent years. If my training did nothing else, I'll always be grateful for the fact it rekindled my love of the city.
And most of the people training with me were lovely. And funny. And I shall miss them.
Not sure they'll feel the same about me, but who knows. Maybe one day we'll all meet up again and talk about APR and BGC. Maybe not.
Think of this post as a filler. I'm currently trying to emulate Gwen and post 56 Things About Me
but I'm stuck on number 4. So bear with me.

...just a quick thing...

I thought I'd keep things up to date with a tiny post before I clear off for a week.
Spent much of this week in hospital in Inverness, as a sequel to my earlier illness. The last couple of months have been a bit odd to say the least. What with jobs coming and going, the hospitalisation of my father and indeed myself, and a couple of other things I've not posted such as my 99 year old Grandmother's dementia, and subsequent failures of the care of the elderly in the Scottish Highlands. Forget all the crap spouted by the Daily Mail-centric opinion writers about our old folk getting free, wonderful health care. It's bollocks. In fact where I live they've taken to shutting down the odd place here and there just to make things a bit more difficult. To listen to the people who phone 5Live and LBC, you'd think the care homes here are swimming in milk and honey whilst the inmates, sorry, residents, are sung to their slumbers by Aled Jones and Daniel O Donnell, before being wrapped in cotton wool, and fed quince and grapes...
However, that is for another blog, later.
I just wanted to say that having been for all my tests and scans, apparently I'm fine. Nothing suspicious, "in fact", and I'm quoting now, "Mr Soupy Twist, you can go home whenever you like..." Sadly the surgeon did tell me this 5 minutes AFTER the last bus from Inverness to my hometown had left for the evening. So I got to spend another night in the Highland Capital's lovely hospital, mind you, the food's not bad at all, and the staff are very jolly.
And now, I'm going to take myself off for a week. In fact, as it's November, I'm off to a caravan by the Ayrshire coast. And if you're passing, please feel free to pop in for a cup of Ginger and Lemon Tea. And a pizza. And some chocolate.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. And Ultravox.

The clocks have gone back, the nights are drawing in and deep within the primeval heart of every man a desire to lie in the dark listening to old albums awakens. Alright, perhaps not every man, but certainly me. Every year it happens. One day I'll be going about my normal business, the next, it's a cold, wet, dark Sunday night and I'm lying on the floor, headphones on, re-living my teenage years. And I reckon that this has been going on for over twenty years now. And this year, it started today. Quite without warning I found myself drifting in and out of conciusness listening to Ultravox's Lament album. Which I probably haven't listened to in full since I was about 20. In the old days, I would have supplemented my inappropraite album listenign with the Early Sunday Evening musings of Annie Nightengale. Straight after another God forsaken Top 40 Countdown with Bruno Brookes, or Simon Bates, which came itself, straight after the aural shite-fest that was "Sing Something Simple". Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, Autumn. Now don't get me wrong. I like Autumn. I love watching the colours change from green to red, gold and brown. There is a freshness in the air and there is sense of change. I enjoy Spring for much the same reason. But this year, Summer wasn't exactly brilliant, even by the standards I'm used to, and it never really got into gear. So for some months now, there has been an overall feeling of "meh" about the place. In truth, I've been waiting for Summer to start. But now I have to accept that this year, it's been and gone. I believe it was a Thursday.I suppose you'll want to know why I came to be listening to Ultravox.

Truth is I've been sticking stuff onto a "popular fruit based mp3 player" and in between transferring the entire Radio series's of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy and loads of lovely stuff from the 4AD back catalogue onto it, I've been going through my not so fashionable music too. And there is a large part of the music of the 80s I still hold dear, as it was the music of the school discos, the soundtrack to my growing up, the stuff I pretended to hate but secretly went out and bought. So yes, there is a lot of stuff by The Smiths and This Mortal Coil on my portable tunefest, but there is a good chance that OMD, Johnny Hates Jazz and Curiosity Killed the Cat may find themselves in there too. Poor Ben Vol-a-vaunt, where is he now. Bless him, I wonder if he ever realised how much of an arse he looked in that beret of his. He's probably giving style tips to JayKay on HatTwattery as I type.

Actually, I think I may return to this theme in the coming days. Your Guilty 80's Musical Secrets. Book your place in Father Joseph's Pop Confessional now.

quality music-at a price you can afford

Poll Position

So, after months of frenzied speculation, and a poll rating that has gone up and down like Casanova's underpants, Gordon Brown has ruled out a snap election. It says so as BREAKING NEWS on BBC News 24. Although, if the rest of the British Media is to be beleived, I should take everything said by the BBC with more than a pinch of salt. Obviously, if it were a cynic, I might be inclined to believe that the other outlets of the Media in the UK may have their own agendas when it comes to pepetuating their anti BBC bias. I might say that, if I were a cynic.

Oh hold on, the chaps and lady chaps on Sky News are saying it too. So it must be true.

Mind you, it seemed highly unlikely it was going to happen anyway.

The Labour Party have no money to fight another election so soon after the last one, the Tories have had enough of licking their -often self inflicted- wounds, and are putting on a united front. A report in the Sunday Telegraph on the eve of the Tory conference suggested Lord Ashcroft had already spend £10m on campaigning before the election had even started. Hoping to repeat the success of his previous campaign when in the first three months of 2005 he paid nearly £300,000 in donations to 33 candidates in marginal constituencies. The effects of this were clear for all to see: 11 of the candidates unseated Labour candidates and five vulnerable Conservative MPs were saved. This time around, he is refining the campaign to target an even smaller group of seats, and Brown knows the effects could be far more serious than in 2005.Gordon has been in the leader's chair for 101 days now, and probably doesn't want to run the risk of being turfed out of job he's waited so long to have.

So, has he bottled it?

Possibly. Or he could be the shrewd, prudent political power he clearly feels he is.

For a man who wrote such a fine selection of Political essays under the collective heading of "Courage" it is claimed he has, at times, been shown wanting when it's come to demonstarting the courage of his own convictions. When the whole of the UK fell out of love with Tony Blair, Gordon Brown didn't go for the kill, he stayed in the background, "brooding" if the media were to be believed. Maybe. Or he showed loyalty to his Party, and his leader, knowing that an all out civil war would do irrepairable damage to Labour. For many, the long dark years spent in the wilderness weren't all that long ago. If a week is a long time in politics, 18 years is akin to the rise and fall of the Mayan empire.

Only time will tell if PM Brown has shown weakness in ruling out an election now, or if he's shown great courage.

Politics is a fickle business. 7 days ago, Gordon Brown was hanging ten as he rode the crest of a wave, bouyed by a surge in the polls, this week it's "Just Call Me Dave" Cameron that's on a high, mind you, after all his years working for Carlton he should be used to that. That and talking unprompted for hour upon hour...

By which I mean, they were once a very successful Media organisation, with very impressive communication skills.

Personally, I'm quite glad that there isn't to be an election just yet.

It's Autumn and Hallowe'en is just around the corner, surely opening the door to ghoulish visions of the undead imploring you to choose between a trick or a treat, would only get in the way of Hallowe'en for the kids.

Boom, and if you will, tish... thank you very much, I'm here all week, try the soup.

A Glimpse Into My Soul

Just a quick one, this weekend I'd been going through my old phone and binning pictures and other junk, when I came upon this snapshot. Possibly the finest episode of Holby City ever. Coming up next on BBC1, Casualty, Harry stumbles across Davros in the staff canteen and Charlie and Josh are killed by The Master. Obviously this picture seems to imply that my Sky+ is filled with episodes of QI, Holby and Torchwood. This couldn't be further from the truth. It's mostly episodes of Shaun the Sheep.