Speculate to...What?

I'm currently a podcast editing machine, having finished the Rory Bremner episode on Monday, and I'm now in the process of mixing the Mark Morriss episode to clear the way for two more interviews over the weekend.

While it's great to be productive and be working on new content with Glyn, it's doesn't take away my fear about money. Part of the reason for the live interviews was to generate some income to keep Mostly Comedy ticking over through the current crisis but, while they're going well and proving popular, at the moment the cost to do them cancels any income out. And the slow sales for the next few recordings risks us coming out at a loss overall. Either way, I certainly can't pay myself.

Things were already concerning. Because my business made a loss this past three years, I'm not eligible for financial support from the Government's COVID-19 self-employment scheme. Meanwhile, Mostly Comedy's closed for the foreseeable future and is being kept alive by a JustGiving fund that's dwindling. I hope we can claim business rate relief for our office, but there's no guarantee. On top of this, my wife and I are covering the running cost of two properties as we continue to pay the mortgage on my flat until we can sell it to finish buying my mum's inherited half of my dad's house at a barely discounted rate.

Like many people, I'm frightened about what the future holds. I have no job security and am emotionally exhausted from the year-long battle to strike a deal over the house and the Pandora's Box that it opened. All I wanted was a little help from someone I hoped would have my best interests at heart. And it really didn't need to be so difficult.

'...I'm Gonna Look at You 'til My Eyes Go Blind."

Over the past week or two, I’ve been on a bit of a Sheryl Crow kick, largely thanks to rediscovering her cover of one of my most-liked Bob Dylan songs. She has one of my favourite female voices, yet despite this, I only own one CD and that’s just a single (her '97 release ‘Hard to Make a Stand’); on that basis, you can only imagine how much of her back catalogue I’d own if I hated her (it would fall into minus-figures). Dylan, conversely, takes up more of my collection than anyone else, save The Beatles and Paul McCartney’s solo work. He’s one of those artists who, when you get him, you really get him - and once I’d tuned into his style as a student, I'd time and again be blown away by his lyrics; he’ll have more jaw-dropping imagery in one track than other people fit in a whole career. These days, I mostly listen to music in the morning when getting ready, and more often than not, this will consist of a suggested YouTube playlist when I’m in the bath, r...

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera...

Not The Bayeux One.

The Carole King album Tapestry has been my 'getting-ready-in-the-morning' soundtrack for the past few weeks. It's been a favourite album ever since I was a student, which makes for a pleasantly gentle way to usher in the start of a day. I've always been a fan of a well-crafted song, which is something of a Carole King hallmark, ever since she started writing with her first husband in the early Sixties. Tapestry may be an unimaginative choice for a favourite LP, as it suggests I haven't delved that far into her career, but it's still an undoubted classic; anything with '(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman', 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?' and 'You've Got A Friend' on it can't really fail; if nothing else, it proves she likes writing songs with long titles. Next month, she's set to perform the album live in its entirety for the first time at a gig in Hyde Park, which I would have loved to have gone to, if it weren...

mostly david ephgrave

Search This Blog