Friends (Not the Sitcom)

This afternoon, I caught up with a friend I haven't seen for a couple of years.

The fact we haven't been in the same room for so long is, frankly, a little bit ridiculous. We both live in the same town. That's the way it goes; you end up making more effort with the people who live further away, and neglect those who live closest. Why is life like this?

(Don't respond.)

Thankfully, our friendship is such that's it's easy to pick up where we left off. There's no judgement about the time that's passed. We just get on with it.

It was lovely to see her and to hear how things have been going. We had a heck of a lot to fill each other in on and not enough time to do it. That's okay. Hopefully, we'll get back into the habit of seeing each other more often. She came armed with a wedding gift too, which was lovely, plus a batch of biscuits. You can't fail with biscuits.

The rest of the day was filled with a doctor's appointment, a meditation class, sending out emails to the acts appearing at tomorrow's London Mostly, and tinkering with my solo stand-up. I'd had a specific routine in my mind for tomorrow's gig that I'm not sold on. Then on Sunday, I had an idea for a bit of material that I think might be stronger. The question is: do I go with the skit that I know better but may not be funny, or take a risk on a thing I think has more potential, but I barely know. The jury's out. I'll decide tomorrow, damn it.

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...

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...

'Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream..."

While I’ve been practising meditation for quite some time now, I’ve recently taken to using the mindfulness app 'Headspace' . If you’ve never meditated before, or you’re an old hand at it, it’s a great resource, offering daily ten-minute guided meditations that create a sense of progress, rather than stagnating and going through the same process every day. Until I started using the app, I’d often listen to a handful of audio guided meditations I have on my phone in case of a brain emergency. If you see me with my eyes closed and my earphones in on public transport, I’m probably doing this (unless I’m sleeping and using this blog as an elaborate alibi). While the tracks on my phone are great, they can get a little repetitive as I become too familiar with them and start to anticipate everything the person on the recording will say. This is where Headspace is great, as it offers you a daily course with a different focus each day, as well as pl...

mostly david ephgrave

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