Here we are, 8.30 on a Saturday mornin'. Grey skies and plenty of rain falling down. Pretty cold but not too bad. London livin'. There aint much chance of there being any sun today that's for sure- it's gonna be pretty relentless as far as shit weather is concerned. Don't think it matters much though, got Maria Muldaur on the system and her Dylan covers album is a pretty damn fine release I have to say. Something about it which makes me think she understands these Dylan songs on quite a deep level, maybe even better than Bob himself. After all even though Bob wrote them at the end of the day he is only a conduit, as I am sure he will be the first to admit. Her interpretations of them feel live, like the way Bob would play a la Never Ending Tour and there can be no better compliment than that.
Think it's gonna be a bits an' pieces kind of today with nothing big on the horizon. There had been the faint possibility of me going down to Wales this weekend with my old friends Richard & Bruce (who was coming over from Greece for the weekend to see his sick mother) but they haven't called so that means that either they haven't got it together or they have decided they would prefer to go down without me. Kind of relieved really. Thinking about the prospect of going down to Wales in the week only brought on feelings of tension. And let's face it, when the weather is like this the last people who are going to cheer you up are the Welsh. Not that I can complain about them too much of course since I was born in Cardiff way back when in the distant yonder. '62 to be exact. My Daddy's Welsh born as well but as far as me Ma is concerned she comes from Cumbria, land of the lakes and the ancient rocks.
If we had made the trip then me and Rick would have visited old friends who still live down there in South Wales, whilst Brustus visited his mum, but to be honest (and it is painful I know) I just don't think I would have had that much to say to them. The old friends that is. They have their opinions about things and in many respects they regard a place like London as little more than a big city of evil. Which of course it is, but the point is that it is also so much more besides...so very much more. Yeah, it would have just been a couple of days sittin' there and listening to other people speak, voicing their opinions about this and that. Opinions I am familiar with and which I can safely predict will not have changed much since when I last them which was a few years ago now. Could be wrong of course, no one is always right that's for sure. But I don't think so.
Anyway all that was wrote above was done this morning. When it was raining. Mid-afternoon now and the weather has cleared up, even a bit of blue sky. So much for my earlier certainty that the rain was going to be here all day. Done a few things since this morning. Went down to Borough Market pretty much right after I finished writing those paragraphs above. Tamdin had asked me to get some belly pork from our favourite butchers down there. So I took the tube and got off at Bank and walked through subway that connects Bank and Monument stations. Love that piece of enginnering I have to say, the labyrinth walkways, escalators, platforms and stairs lurking beneath the ground. You could stay down there for hours. Just wanderin'. It was still raining when I walked across London Bridge and descended into Borough Market. Not as busy as usual because of the shitty weather. Bought the belly pork and also bought a pork pie which I thought would be nice to give to my dad as a belated birthday present, I'll get him a nice bottle of whiskey from Oddbins later so hopefully that and the pie will go down well when I see him tomorrow. His birthday was back in Jan when I was in Asia.
After I bought the meat I thought briefly of walking along the South Bank and into town but then decided against it. No point really, had nothing that I wanted and I would have only ended up feeling tired. Just went back across the bridge and up King William Street to get the tube back to Woodford from Bank. Whilst I was on the tube Richard called me on my mobile to see if I was still up for going down to Wales. Apparently Brustus had only arrived from Greece at 4am so they were running late. On top of that he himself had only just returned to London from a week in Portugal the day before. Told him that I wasn't up to it. Told him I had thought about it earlier in the week and had realised that the fires of enthusiasm for a trip down to Wales were not burning brightly enough for me to make the effort to actually go. Guess it looked good from a distance but then the closer it got the less attractive the whole thing apeared to be. Rick didn't seem to mind, in fact he might even have been quite happy that I wasn't going to be around. We left it that we would meet up town sometime in the next few weeks. Drop eachother an e and go from there. That usually translates into it being a couple of months before we get it together. Told him to say hello to Brustus for me and that was that.
Late morning by the time I got back to the house. Came in and made myself a cup of tea then did a bit of messing about on the laptop for an hour or so before heading out again. This time I took the car and I was out on the search for a replacement plug for the sink in the bathroom, that and the fact I and also looking for a plastic container with a screw cap that would be able to contain around 20-25 litres of liquid. Tamdin was after one of these in which to put some Tibetan chang that she was in the process of brewing up for the Tibetan new year part next weekend.
First I went down to B&Q in Beckton to try my luck there but completely drew a blank. No plugs, no containers. I was suprised that they didn;t even have a plug replacment for the sink, and more than a little a disappointed as well I have to admit. But that was how it was. Then I came back along the North Circular to Halfords in Chingford thinking they might sell plastic containers but apart from 5 litre plastic petrol cans they had fuck all. Turning out to be not as simple as I thought it was gonna be. By this time it was past one o'clock and I was beginning to feel pretty hungry. I'd only had a couple of pieces of toast all mornin'.
Decided to next try Homebase in Walthamstow and there I was able to find the right kind of sink plug that I was looking for. Relief! Cost a tenner which I paid for on my credito card, feeling pretty happy that I found it as I was beginning to worry it was going to be one of those fuckin' things that would prove to be incredibly difficult to find for some weird inexplicable reason. No water containers in Homebase though. Ended walking down Wood Street in Walthamstow and trying a couple of hardware shops there. and was finally pointed in the direction of Briggs, a camping shop further down Forest Road. First shop I went to on Wood Street had nothing like what I was lookin' for but the woman in there was kind and helpful. From her I went to another store further down the road and it was from there that I got the advice to go to Briggs. Walking down Wood Street and lookin' about me made me wonder how those businesses survived. It looked kind of dead, thoroughly dead in fact, but then again I guess that looks can be deceptive. Quite a few places I remembered from years ago were now deserted and shut up. The whole scene made me worry for the people who still had to try and cut a livin' there. Those folks were a thousand miles from the City and the riches it was possible to earn there that was for sure. That was London for ya.
Got a couple of rank tasting veggie pastys from Percy Ingles (a notorious east London baker) which I ate in the car before driving down to Briggs on Forest Road. Walking into Briggs I had one of those rare magic moments where I found exactly what I was looking for. The place was a bit throwback to a different time but the important point was that it had what I wanted when no place under the sun looked like coming up with the goods. A few minutes later I was ten quid poorer but nevertheless I was very happy. Tamdin was going to be impressed I was confident of that. She was not going to have more problems as far as the chang was concerned that was for sure.
So done all that today as wrote above and now it is 3.30 pm. Afternoon weather still bright but not as much blue sky as there was before. Think I need to go out and buy my dad's whiskey and then maybe walk down to Waitrose to get some food to eat tonight. Easy night tonight as far as the old cooking is concerned. Pizza in other words.
Early evenin' now. Been out got my pizza and the whiskey for my dad. Pizza: Waitrose pepperoni. Whiskey: Arran 10 yr old malt. It's good sometimes to walk down to South Woodford from Woodford rather than always just going in the car. Get to see things from a different perspective. Exercise as well. Walking down there I looked out across to the east over the bottom of the Roding Valley towards Chigwell and I kind of got a hint of the longer, lighter days coming along. Don't know what it was, just an intimation in the way the clouds had aligned themselves on the horizon I guess, well something like that. Love that walk, Woodford to South Woodford and then back again.
Drizzling again and I think that weather wise it is going to be a pretty shitty evenin'. Just as well I'm staying in. Think I'll do some meditation soon and then have a couple of beers before my pizza. What a life! What a wonderful dream life! Really, I feel so lucky to be able to live the life I do. So precious. So wonderful. Ok, maybe not all the time am I able to think like that but when I do I know it is right. Fuckin' right on. All things must pass however and time relentlessly moves forward...
Thinking about time now because I'm reading a book called "Rubicon" which is basically a history of the Roman Republic when the Roman Empire was at it's height. Quite amazing stuff. A formidable bunch of total bastards is what the Romans were there ain't no mistake about that. Now they are just an echo in history, a distant echo, albeit a pretty damn loud one. So much of them that was flesh and blood and of extreme importance at the time is now simply not known and even the most skillful of scholars and historians of today can only try and piece things together.
Late evenin' and this is the last that is going to get wrote before it is all posted up. Writing this whilst casting my ear over my latest playlist which happens to be a compilation of Led Zeppelin's greatest moments and of course in that regard there are many! Oh yeah, hammer of the gods and all that. Hey, here is the tracklist so you can see what your missing -
Nobody's Fault But Mine from Unledded - Page & Plant
29 Palms from Fate of Nations - Robert Plant
Nobody's Fault But Mine from Presence - Led Zeppelin
Mighty Rearranger from Mighty Rearranger - Robert Plant & Strange Sensation
Bron-Yr-Aur from Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
Blue Train from Walking Into Clarksdale - Page & Plant
- well those are the first six but there are 14 in total which I think is a pretty good number to have on any playlist. I'm sure that if you are familiar with the material you will get my drift, you will see how utterly brilliant the music is and how if you have any sense at all you will just want to go out and get it, or if you have the cds..burn one for yourself. Not convinced? well how about the next haf doz for ya -
That's the Way from Unledded - Page & Plant
What is What Should Never Be from Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin
Mornin' Dew from Dreamland - Robert Plant
- and on it goes...
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