Monday To Wednesday

MONDAY

Took part in a group discussion at GC's place. We were focusing on the works of the author Peter James, a local author,who flits between his homes in Brighton and  Notting Hill, and writes crime thrillers and the supernatural.So far up to this point i only read "Prophecy" but skimmed enough of two of his Inspector Grace novels to blag my way in the group discussion. I did some quick internet surfing to round my knowledge of the author and his main character of Grace in the crime novels.The discussion was almost two hours long and ended up with a focus on the book covers and what makes them appealing (or not).

Anyway, we got £30 out of it. Could have lots of beers on that!


TUESDAY

GC,Chris, plus another Chris, and myself went to an evening lunch at the Harvester pub in Patcham. Food delicious as always. Service was good. Convivial company. Relaxing atnmosphere too.

We might rejig the old FTLC into a monthly early evening one, say every second Tuesday of the month,and hence call it something like STDC  (Second Tuesday Dinner Club). First one would be in July.

WEDNESDAY

I did a mystery shop at Wickes in Davigdor Road ( I use to do a survey there for a company in London) in the afternoon. A short easy insulation stock check and compliance job, combined with a perusal around the kitchen showroom, and seeing if a consultant acknowledges me within two minutes.

Afterwards i took the bus to Hove and the Oxfam shop. Picked up a book for £2, "Deconstructing History" by Alun Munslow  (Routledge).




I quickly circumnavigated the other charity shops but nothing inspired me, so i popped in to see Julian at  Fine Records, a superb emporium for classical delights in both CD format and old vinyl.Had a quick chat with him , knowing that he likes to keep up with my sporadic jottings here, and asked  if he had any packaging material i could recycle. Well blow me down with a feather, he gave me two big bags of the stuff, which are ideal for books and CD's, that i thanked him most prefusely dear reader. (Oops, slipping into the Bronte vernacular there).


Through the post my copy of Guy Debord's "Society Of The Spectacle" (Rebel Press) arrived when i got back from Hove.



I do have a film of this which i downloaded from Ubuweb ages ago, but for some reason only watched about half of it, so one day i will watch it in full.

Discogs sales going steady. I  have now sold three items from the Play Trade site (a DVD, a PC game and a book) and now i have 84 items listed there.This could become quite profitable.

Last night i watched half of a DVD in my collection , Damien Odoul's "En Attendant Le Deluge" so i shall finish that tonight.





This morning listening to some Karlheinz Stockhausen "Klavierstucke" and "Microphonie I & II".

Also, i used one of the packaging material from Julian  to send off a CD to Australia later today on my jouney to Lancing, then Wakefield Place and finally Burgess Hill.

Round Trip

I did a round trip visiting charity shops in Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath using one of these Explorer tickets. It allows you to travel anywhere in the Sussex and Surrey area, and i believe you can get as far as Kent on one.

Picked up five books from various charities but , alas , no vinyl. At least, the weather was hot and sunny and apart from the occassional fury from a wild wind , it was pleasant enough to have a picnic if you are so inclined. in Haywards Heath i walked through hte park eating a very cold but delicious Magnum ice cream. There is a certain demiurgic quality to these scrumptious ice creams.

I travelled  back to Burgess Hill and picked up some sundires for the evening , including Greek yoghurt for a homemade strawberry smoothie.

Book wise these are the ones found today -



The Political Philosophy of Jean-Jacques Roussea



A History of The Soviet Union - Geoffrey Hosking



Strange Fruit : Billie Holiday, Cafe Society And An Early Cry For Civi Rights





Sedition and Alchemy, A Biography of John Cale




Iain Banks - The Wasp Factory

Coming back from Burgess Hill i took a sidestep into the Evening Star and quaffed a pint and a half of Dobber (5.9 % ABV). Sitting outside the pub with Mark and Sarge, the obnoxious Colin, drunk as usual, decided to sit with us spouting rubbish and being offensive to the point i almost had an internal paroxysm of indignation. Infact i told the git to shut up and to his face told him that he was too drunk to offer any contribution to the discussion we were having with Becker and Sarah about various subjects, including Becker's naked bike ride on Sunday. Luckily he did not stay long and the two ladies commented on his rudeness after he left.

A couple of shocks in the World Cup - France losing to Mexico today and Switzerland overcoming Spain the previous day.What other surprises can we expect?

My Female Suzerain

L has been nosing her face over my shoulder trying to see what i am writing here on my blog as I listen to  Bach's "Goldberg Variations" by Glenn Gould on the headphones. The words that flow ex nihilo have to be carefully stitched into some coherent order and often i fail at the most contingent situations,especially when you are being watched by an inquisitive spouse. Perhaps she thinks she is some kind of suzerain.

Not only have i been writing, but also i have been putting more things to sell on the Play Trade site, as well as checking my emails.One email came offering a free snack at Yates wine bar by simply joining their mailing list. This i did,and downloaded a voucher for a free burger and chips which i scoffed on the Monday, washed down with a pint of St.Georges Ale (paid for). I often peruse emails for any free offers which might take my fancy.

I see that  a number of Beckett plays and novels have become available again through a more noticebale publisher than John Calder, as previously they were not always easy to get, and some titles had mysteriously vanished from the published lists and hence only available second hand if you were lucky.From an ontological point of view you could say that his ouvre is in that modern existentialist angst akin to the works of Sartre and Barthes.

Tomorrow England play their second game in the World Cup. Their performance needs to improve substantially if they are to progress to the next round. I will be Djing that evening with Ville and Ally Smith down at the Northern Lights anyway and will have to watch the highlights later.


(PS - suzerain is a feudal overlord for the less educated)