Sunday 17th February: ...and my latest excuse for not seeing any live bands this weekend was that I was working in Glasgow...
Apart from meeting up with an ex-colleague (and ex-Orange Wednesday cinema partner) the highlight of this trip was trying (and liking) Chili Beer. This is a North American lager-style beer with an actual green chili pepper in the bottle. The beer has a chili kick and is very drinkable, if you like spicy food. Check out the website to see a chili beat up a lime.
At the risk of turning this blog into more of a diary, here are another couple of things that went on this week.
It was half-term for Elizabeth so I took a couple of days off work so that we could do "family" things. These things turned out to be two trips to walk around some of the spectacular Yorkshire countryside. Wednesday saw us in Dalby Forest in brilliant sunshine, while it drizzled on us while we walked around Aysgarth Falls on Thursday. Whatever the weather, Elizabeth loves being outside so she really enjoyed herself and Dalby Forest was so nice that I bought an annual pass. Now we have to go back.
Musically, I did buy a bunch of cheap CDs from Tesco, some of which I've had a chance to listen to, others I haven't.
"This is the Life" is last year's debut album from Amy McDonald, bought on the strength of the single (and title track), which makes her sound Swedish. She's actually from Bishopbriggs, just outside Glasgow where, coincidentally, the ex-colleague mentioned above lives. Amy wrote all the songs on the album (co-wrote one) and plays acoustic guitar as well as doing all the vocals. The album is a bit samey throughout, but quite listenable.
Mark Knopfler's 2007 album "Kill to get Crimson" is more guitar, less pop. The ex-Dire Straits frontman treats us to some laid back tunes which come across as more folky than anything else. This one may have to grow on me.
Also from last year is "This Time", ex-Spice Girl Melanie C's fourth album. I already had her first two and have seen her live twice (stop laughing). This, along with her third album, was released on her own label, meaning that all the musical choices on it are hers. She co-wrote all the songs. Not had a chance to listen to this one yet.
"Cuts Both Ways" and "Into the Light" are 1989 and 1991 albums by Gloria Estefan. I previously had these on vinyl, bought during the height of Estefan's popularity in this country (which also saw me see her live). I still like her admittedly commercial Latin pop songs and ballads.
"Supernatural" and "Shaman" are Carlos Santana's 1999 and 2002 albums. I've only just discovered Santana's superb guitar-playing but haven't listened to these yet. Like Estefan's albums they are special minimally-packaged CDs from Sony. This range covers quite a wide-spectrum of both music and time and feature two albums, released in a cardboard sleeve. While not perfect for me (I remove CDs and booklets from jewel cases and put them in CD holders to save space - I can't do that with these more eco-friendly cases. Not that I'm complaining.) Tesco are selling each pair of albums for £5. Bargain!
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