No Music Video Monday post today as I’m busy with my non-blog writing this week. There’s lots of projects I want to get finished by the end of July!
I also had some day job work to do today, which was good. As I mentioned the other day, the summer so far has been a bit sluggish business-wise and I’m almost looking forward to the annual busy period that always happens around August/September.
In the meantime, though, I’m making the most of having time to get on with my own writing. Same again tomorrow.
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello – Señorita It Bites – Calling All The Heroes Duran Duran – Is There Something I Should Know? Heaven 17 – Let Me Go Gunship – The Mountain Prefab Sprout – Cars And Girls
I’m still feeling a bit out of it and not very focused, but I’ve had a fairly productive day for a Sunday – I’ve made a list of the agents that I’ll be approaching this week and have managed a few other writing-related tasks. Back to it properly tomorrow.
OOTD: power shoulders! Jacket Claude Montana (vintage 1980s, bought on Etsy 2018), t-shirt H&M (2018), trousers Bat Attack (2009), shoes Office (2018).
Today’s earworm playlist:
The Midnight and Timecop1983 – River Of Darkness The Midnight – Lost Boy Erasure – The Circus David Bowie – Let’s Dance Miley Cyrus – Mother’s Daughter Oasis – She’s Electric
I was up early for parkrun this morning – I’d not been to Newcastle parkrun in ages. I was a lot happier with my time than I was at Pendle last week, as I’m pretty much back to where I was this time last year.
I’ve spent the afternoon de-hoarding – picking out books, DVDs and CDs to sell online (business has been a bit sluggish the last couple of months and I could do with the extra cash). It’s been a bit anxiety-inducing but I think I will feel a lot better once the stuff has left the house.
I had another nice quiet day to get some writing done today. I’ve also listened to a lot of music and got some annoying overdue admin jobs out of the way.
Back to parkrun tomorrow, and then a weekend sorting a few things out in the house.
OOTD: the nice thing about working from home is that I decide what is ‘office-appropriate’! Jacket Gap (2010), dress unknown brand (thrifted from Steff 2016), tights Primark (2017), shoes Office (2018).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Mud – Tiger Feet George Michael – A Different Corner Duran Duran – Violence Of Summer [The Story Mix] Duran Duran – All You Need Is Now Stormzy – Crown
This was released back in February and was a fairly frequent earworm for me in the early spring, but I’ve not heard it in months so I’m a bit surprised the Now! compilers have held it over for this compilation. It’s another one that annoys me now.
Track 7: Meduza and Goodboys – Piece Of Your Heart
I still quite like this tune! (I’m also endlessly confused by the lyric ‘I’m in Toronto and I got this view/But I might as well be in a hotel room’ – if he’s visiting Toronto, and he’s not in a hotel room, then where is he? Staying with a friend who has a really good view? Why is this not explained in the song?)
Track 10: Mark Ronson and Camila Cabello – Find U Again
I said when I first heard this that I thought it would become a frequent earworm, and it certainly has. It’s also become one of my favourite tracks in the chart at the moment.
I find this tune a bit depressing, which I don’t think is the intention!
Track 32: Elton John and Taron Egerton – (I’m Gonna) Love Me Again
Not actually released as a single – this is from the Rocketman soundtrack album, which got to number five.
I’ve not seen the film, but this is a fairly straightforward semi-cover (I would call it pointless if it weren’t meant to be a close replica!).
Track 33: Kylie Minogue – New York City
Not actually released as a single – this is a bonus track from her recent compilation album Step Back In Time: The Definitive Collection, which got to number one.
The track has a great disco feel, and I love the spoken word intro.
I’m still gutted that, other than this track and a brief appearance by Catfish & The Bottlemen, there has been absolutely no rock music in the charts in 2019. I’m really hoping this trend reverses itself at some point during the 2020s!
I can’t stand this one. It’s way too saccharine for me, and the lyrics contain James Arthur’s favourite ‘romantic trope’ about holding girls’ hair back while they vomit due to overconsumption of alcohol. I have very little patience for that kind of message.
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Taron Egerton on track 32.
Again, this one is from the Rocketman soundtrack and hasn’t been released as an actual single.
It’s another straightforward cover – Taron Egerton’s voice is sort of similar but not identical to Elton’s, which gives it a slight uncanny valley feel.
Track 44: Himesh Patel – Yesterday
Here’s another soundtrack song – this one is from the soundtrack to Yesterday, which got to number 40 in the album chart.
Like the Elton covers, this is arranged pretty identically to the Beatles original, which, as I understand it from reading about the film’s plot, is to be expected.
Track 45: Grandmaster Flash and Grandmaster Melle Mel – White Lines (Don’t Do It)
We’ve already had this track on Now! #3…because the Now! compilers are doing exactly the same thing as they did on the last compilation, and so the last few tracks are all bonus tracks that originally appeared on the third release back in 1984! Now! #3 is also being re-released today, on CD for the first time. I really need to start picking up these re-releases again – I got Now! #1 on CD last summer but haven’t bought Now! #2 yet.
Because the Now! company was posting Duran Duran pictures in order to tease the re-release on social media, I was hopeful that they’d include The Reflex as a bonus track, but sadly there was no love for it this time round – I’ll just have to enjoy the original White Lines (famously a DD cover a decade later) instead!
A fairly busy Thursday today. Geth and I were out at Slimming World in the morning – we both had small gains but that’s to be expected after a weekend away – and after a trip to the polling station to vote in the PCC elections, I spent the afternoon getting the house ready for our boardgaming gathering tonight.
Back to writing tomorrow!
OOTD: a slightly different weigh-in outfit! Sunglasses Ray-Ban (2019), t-shirt Campus Crew for Toronto Blue Jays (2018), leggings Primark (2018), trainers Reebok (2017).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Madonna – Papa Don’t Preach Duran Duran – To The Shore The Beatles – She Loves You Duran Duran – Secret Oktober Madison Avenue – Don’t Call Me Baby
It’s another phone box from the London Marathon route – the last before we get into the giant series of phone boxes that run along the Thames on the final stretch leading up to the Houses of Parliament.
Red phone box, Byward Street, London, 28th April 2019.
Not that I’m giving up my ukulele class any time soon – I’m already looking forward to the next term that starts in September – but it was really nice today to have a whole entire day to myself on the sofa!
Yesterday’s uncomfortable distracted mood was all gone – I felt so much more focused today – and so I was able to get nice big chunks done on four of my ongoing writing projects. I’m going to be a bit busier tomorrow, but I’m hoping for a similarly productive writing day on Friday.
More videogaming and music this evening.
OOTD: like this outfit too 🙂 Blouse Lucky Winner (vintage 1980s, bought at vintage fair 2018), jeans Levi (2018), trainers Reebok (2017).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Duran Duran – Big Thing Ta Mara & The Seen – Affection A Flock Of Seagulls – I Ran Tyler Lyle – Lost And Found [The Midnight Remix]
To clarify, this is the Pizza Express oven pizza that you can buy in supermarkets, not the one at the restaurant! I had one at the weekend when I was in Colne.
Pizza Express Margherita.
This is a nice oven pizza – tasty with a good sauce. The standard size is a lot smaller than most supermarket options, which makes it a good choice for a lighter meal.
My mother-in-law gave me and Geth another one to take home, so we’ll be having that as a post-weigh-in treat tomorrow afternoon.
I’ve been really, really distracted lately. Today so far has been especially bad. So far I have:
Gone out running wearing my heart rate monitor strap without my heart rate monitor attached to it.
Got dressed in a completely ineffectual manner due to my continual attempts to put clothes on in the wrong order.
Set up the dehumidifier outside the bathroom as usual but not actually turned it on while I had a shower.
This kind of thing is just getting worse and worse at the moment and I’m actually starting to get a bit worried. It doesn’t help with my time management either, as I’ll drift off for a while and then suddenly realise two hours have passed without me noticing. I’ve always been a daydreamer but it’s getting to the point where I’m struggling to function.
My run was okay this morning though. I’m building up my distances again in preparation for the Great North Run in September, so I went out for an 11k – I didn’t feel that great during the final kilometre as I had a stitch and was running out of energy a bit (need to start eating my breakfast beforehand again), but on the whole it was a nice jog round.
The aforementioned distraction means today has been a bit of a write-off work-wise as I’ve not been able to concentrate on anything, so I’ve been trying to get into some useful reading this evening that will help with upcoming projects.
OOTD: comfy post-run outfit. Hoodie Uneek Classic for Mesh (2016), t-shirt Punk Masters (2018), leggings Miss Fiori (2015), trainers Reebok (2013).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Tears For Fears – Everybody Wants To Rule The World Johann Pachelbel – Canon In D Miley Cyrus – Mother’s Daughter The Midnight and Nikki Flores – Jason Duran Duran – Come Undone Gunship – Dark All Day Rod Stewart and Tina Turner – It Takes Two Robert Parker and Miss K – ’85 Again
