Because I am old, and easily bored, and have the attention span of - oh! Shiny thing! - brown boxes show up addressed to me at my work or home with a fairly distressing frequency (three today). A couple of weeks ago one of the flat, square type arrived, and I opened it up to find a CD I'd forgotten that I'd ordered. Lloyd Cole is going out on an acoustic tour with his son playing guitar for him, and they recorded some of their rehearsals, then issued them as a "white label" for a few dollars through his web page. There's sixteen tracks, 14 of them previously recorded, one new song, and a lovely cover of "Pale Blue Eyes", which has been one of my favourite songs ever since I heard Paul Quinn cover it in a basement just off Charing Cross, a couple of decades ago.
I popped the CD into my car stereo this morning, and listened to it twice through on my commute. I really loved it. The songs were released between 1984 and, oh, now, and the arrangements are very simple. His voice has mellowed, and he sings the tunes to suit. Theres a beautiful, slowed down version of "Brand New Friend" that works particularly well.
Anyway, this got me to thinking about the fact that my favourite CDs of 2012 are this one, and the accoustic re-recordings Martin Stephenson has made of his first four albums. Some of this songs are 30 years old.
When I was first listening to them, I'd have been as close to 1953 as I was to 2013, and if you'd asked me if I thought I'd still be listening to those songs now, I'd have laughed in your face. Except, that in 1983, my parents, who were about the age then that I am now, still had a few things hidden away that I'd sneak out and listen to. The early Stones albums (we were a Stones household - the Beatles didn't get a look in). Buddy Holly. Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash. Each of them sent shivers down my spine, even when I was buying the Sex Pistols, or the Jam, or the Clash and looking down on that dreadful, self indulgent prog crap from the 70's.
I mock those who pay £700 to see the Stones now, but I'll be off to see Martin Stephenson next week. I won't be paying £700 (I doubt that he'll be payed £700 for the gig) but I'll be there. I'll go and see Lloyd next time he comes round. And I hope that some 15 year old, somewhere, is blowing dust off their parents vinyl copy of Rattlesnakes, or The Boy's Heart, and gets the same rush I got from hearing Peggy Sue, or Paint it Black, or RESPECT.
Never underestimate the power of your granpa's cheap music.
Jan. 10th, 2013
..and now I've earwormed myself...
Jan. 10th, 2013 01:53 pmI'm in the office, and even at lunch time I think searching You Tubes for links is taking the piss, so you can have the lyric instead to the tunr that's been in my head since I listened to it driving to work this morning...
impossible girl
So she lay down on the floor
Couldn't stand it anymore
She said so
Another planet for the girl
Another boy against the world
Who almost prayed
And when she says
I want you, boy
Don't lose your head
It couldn't possibly be true
She's the impossible girl
Girl impossible
Bloody Monday afternoon
You want to blame it on the moon
But she says "No, no"
Because there isn't any fair
Because there is no antidote
To her
She calls collect
You cancel everything and yet
Friday she's not there
impossible girl
So she lay down on the floor
Couldn't stand it anymore
She said so
Another planet for the girl
Another boy against the world
Who almost prayed
And when she says
I want you, boy
Don't lose your head
It couldn't possibly be true
She's the impossible girl
Girl impossible
Bloody Monday afternoon
You want to blame it on the moon
But she says "No, no"
Because there isn't any fair
Because there is no antidote
To her
She calls collect
You cancel everything and yet
Friday she's not there
She's the impossible girl
Girl impossible
She's impossibly beautiful
And she's impossibly something else
Is that her lipstick on your shirt?
Hell, you're so mannish, it must hurt
..Another planet for the girl
Another boy against the world
Who almost said
I think I fell in love with you
And then again, my friend
It couldn't possibly be true
She's the impossible girl
Girl impossible
Absolutely sweet impossible girl
Another planet for the girl
Another boy against the world
Any thoughts? WOMFL
Jan. 10th, 2013 03:06 pmOriginally posted by
fiendish_catat WOMFL
I am trying to create a simple 'to do' list in Open Office Calc.
What I would really like is a way to click on something when a task is completed which will then put a strikethrough through that task.
I had thought of have an extra column with a checkbox - but can't work out a) how to insert a checkbox and b) how to make it link so the other columns get struck through when it's ticked.
Any thoughts?
(If you have any thoughts for how to do it in Excel but don't know about OOCalc then they might still be useful.)
((Also - if people know they have people on their f-lists who might be helpful and would like to re-post the query that would be amazing.))
What I would really like is a way to click on something when a task is completed which will then put a strikethrough through that task.
I had thought of have an extra column with a checkbox - but can't work out a) how to insert a checkbox and b) how to make it link so the other columns get struck through when it's ticked.
Any thoughts?
(If you have any thoughts for how to do it in Excel but don't know about OOCalc then they might still be useful.)
((Also - if people know they have people on their f-lists who might be helpful and would like to re-post the query that would be amazing.))