Senses working overtime #193

1 Vinyl revival

The market for DVDs has been destroyed by streaming services like Netflix (guilty as charged - I rarely buy DVDs these days).

But...vinyl continues to grow as a format as this Guardian article reports: However, it wasn’t all bad news for physical formats. The continuing vinyl revival generated LP sales of 4.2m – up 1.6% on 2017. Some 12,000 albums were released on vinyl and the most-purchased was the Arctic Monkeys’ Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, which became the fastest-selling LP in more than 25 years, shifting 24,500 copies in seven days after its release in May. 

2 Men Without Women

I moved onto this collection of 7 short stories by Haruki Murakami, this week. He's more hit and miss over the short format - that's the nature of the beast really, but there are some classic Murakami moments in this collection - and it's a cheaply priced entry level book at Waterstones.

3 Roger Daltrey

After enjoying his autobiography I've kept my eye out for his solo albums. His latest, As Long As I Have You, has just been released (it's good too). Since then I've found Daltrey, Ride a Rock Horse and McVicar - all on vinyl. 

All have value but taking a punt on the McVicar soundtrack has paid off handsomely. What a great album! I'd forgotten that Free Me was on there.

4 Lee Child

Picked this up for under 10 quid before Christmas - the latest Jack Reacher thriller. Lee Child never disappoints and this is a great book to read on holiday - although they usually take me a day or so - easy to read, absorbing and addictive!

5 Christmas is football!

Always a frenzy of activity over the festive period - notably Liverpool lost their 100% winning record and Man City lost three games! Loads of drama to follow on MOTD.

As to my teams - Rochdale are solid in the lower reaches of League One and the gunners wobbled. But we still beat Spurs 4-2!!

January transfer window is always interesting. We need some defenders please.

Overtime Steve Coogan
I'm a fan. Here's a Guardian article on him that's worth reading.

Senses working overtime #192

1 Slice of heaven

A celebration of my favourite format runs through my sensual highlights this week.

First up - love this image that came my Pinterest way. Mmm - smell that fresh vinyl!

2 But first, the bad news
Here's more proof that 2018 was a crap year for the high street

Amid the dire news about HMV, I'm hoping the flagship Oxford Street store hangs in there a bit longer.

Even so, it doesn't look good for the old girl. Still - maybe there's a bright side?

3 Record Collector

The latest edition had a story about albums being 70 years old in 2018. I enjoyed the piece which names 70 crucially influential albums (one per year with runners up) but noticed my interest levels dropped significantly from the 1980s onwards. 

4 Silver Lining

Isn't that a beautiful sight!

Back to the future/ back to vinyl: from places like Chaldon Books and Records and Flashback Records - there are still plenty of vinyl stockists out there. 

5 Even Sainsburys 

Yes - you know it's a movement when supermarkets like Sainsburys stock vinyl. 

Overtime In the wee small hours (1955)

Found a copy of this (one of the 70 listed in that Record Collector atricle) in a local charity shop yesterday. First part of a 10 inch brace of releases before the album came out. Probably worth a bit more than the 5 quid I paid for it.

According to wikipedia: In the Wee Small Hours was issued as two 10-inch LP discs, and also as one 12-inch record LP, making it one of the first of its kind in the pop field. It was also issued as four four–song 45-rpm EP discs sold in cardboard sleeves with the same cover as the LPs, not in paper covers like 45-rpm singles.

It's in good condition given it's a couple of years older than me - cover's a bit worn but plays well. Like me.

Senses working overtime #191

1 Merry Christmas everybody
The last set of jewels before the big day. Have a great festive season. See you on the other side!

2 This Is My Song

This peek into a recording studio and real people recording amazing stuff (like grandad/grandson duo pictured) was on the BBC this week and got me all misty eyed. Catch the next episode!

3 Springsteen on Broadway

I was watching this on Netfix while the Light Of my Life was having a bath. When she came out, she joined me and amazingly, for 2 plus hours, we were both glued to the performance (she's not really a music fan so there is no greater testimony to Bruce's electric delivery of his life story than that).

4 Roger Daltrey

Roger is hilarious! He manages to explain his upbringing succinctly, while remaining brilliantly funny. His humorous and recurring mentions of Pete's nose (as an example) are brimming with a honest love for the man - a trick that is tough to pull off.


5 Second best Christmas song of all time!



Overtime Christmas, baby please come home! 
The best Christmas song of all time!! Darlene Love!!!

Senses working overtime #190

1 Another work-heavy week

That means the interweb piles up unread and unacknowledged. Instead a steady diet of Brexit catastrophe on the BBC nightly news has been the order of the day.

2 Pointless

This precedes the BBC 6 o'clock and we've become addicted. Zander and Richard are a great comedy duo!

3 The Tattooist of Auschwitz

by Heather Morris has been my current book. Truthfully, I haven't had much of an opportunity for sustained reading so I've dipped into it over the week. Hopefully I'll be able to get into it more next week. Given it's the last week of the term that's unlikely but I live in hope.

4 Alan Parsons Project

I picked up a couple of APP records from Chaldon Books and Records a few weeks ago and these have been steady support this week. Specifically Pyramid and Tales of Mystery and Imagination.

5 Sexist advertising to be banned!

The Guardian ran this news item during the week about sexual stereotypes used to sell products, with some vintage ads that made me wonder what kind of world I'm living in these days. 

Overtime Endgames
There are a couple of Marvel products to look forward to: Captain Marvel and the latest of The Avengers mega movies.

Senses working overtime #189

1 Jerrrrrreeeeeeeey
Missing Jerry. Although he's not giving us too much thought I suspect.

2 How to emotionally detach from criticism

It's not always peaches and cream in Wozza's world. I needed an article like this one this week. Feel better having read it too.

3 Poetry corner

I sincerely hope
you have not
come to believe,
that simply because
you ran off & got
married behind
my back, you
are somehow
entitled to keep

my tape measure

Leonard Cohen (2002)

4 Smooooth
Wanna try and fall back in love with 90's smooth jazz?




5 Edwards Audio

I'm in love with my new turntable!!

Overtime Train 
This came on a compilation CD in the Purdmobile and I hit repeat. Been singing it all week!

Senses working overtime #188

1 H D T
Loads of heavy hitters in this edition of JFTT. We've got the Fabs, 'Trane, the Band, poetry corner, and kicking us off this week - Henry David Thoreau.

Let's get this arty party started!!

Austin Kleon has a nice piece in his blog about Thoreau (and I want to tell him to read Walden: Life in the Woods!). He also explains why he put stickies over the eyes.

2 The Biblio-Mat

Ingenious device and a great idea to dispense old books to a good home. Love it!

3 The Beatles by The Beatles

This album is always in my top 5 of all time (usually sits at number 2 behind John Lennon/The Plastic Ono Band). There have been reams written about the album but this was a nice podcast style interview with Giles Martin that you might like.

4 The Band's It Makes No Difference

Excellent piece from The Immortal Jukebox on The Band and that song.

5 Poetry corner

We asked the captain what course
of action he proposed to take toward
a beast so large, terrifying, and
unpredictable. He hesitated to
answer, and then said judiciously:
"I think I shall praise it."

Robert Hass (1979)

Overtime The church of John Coltrane

Senses working overtime #187

1 William Goldman - Titan.

My wife and I were travelling on a train in to London last Saturday. I buy the Guardian and read it during the journey. I turned a page and gasped.

William Goldman had passed away.

I've written one fan letter in my life so far and it was to William Goldman after I read his close to autobiographical novel The Color Of Light.

I have read everything I could get my hands on over the years. Watched and collected his movies.  Worshiped his style.

He's a genius. A titan.

2 Forever Young - Bob Dylan

“Forever Young, I wrote in Tucson, … I wrote it thinking about one of my boys and not wanting to be too sentimental. The lines came to me, they were done in a minute. I don’t know. Sometimes that’s what you’re given. You’re given something like that. You don’t know what it is exactly that you want but this is what comes. That’s how that song came out. I certainly didn’t intend to write it – I was going for something else, the song wrote itself – naw, you never know what you’re going to write. You never even know if you’re going to make another record, really.”

3 Blue Note covers. Yeah man.


4 Keepy Uppy - venue for footie activity criticised!

Hilarious!! Sounds a lot like school, doesn't it! The chamber for the House of Commons looks like a good spot to me.

5 Personalised Netflix thumbnails.



Overtime Yeah!!
After a crunchy week at work I needed to read this before heading into the weekend - which is why I'm dispatching this bulletin early - before Friday goes to bed, Shock. Horror.

Now read this and then have a great weekend!!

“Be yourself, everyone else is taken”

I don’t agree with Oscar Wilde on this one.

In fact, almost no one else is taken. You definitely can’t (and shouldn’t) be someone who already exists, but the number of slots left is infinite.

Each of us can work to become the person we seek to be. A better version of the person we are right now.

Doing work we’re proud of for people we care about.