A late afternoon wander along the River Thames from Battersea to Putney, London

Well, I am doing a pretty poor job of posting to my blog this year. Theoretically I have more time now as am working closer to home, and only rarely staying away from home, but my spare time seems to be getting eaten up with other interests.

Firstly I am still hunting down 1970's and 1980's punk, post punk and new wave vinyl that I used to own as a spotty teenager which now, as a 50 something, I am desperately trying to find again. Plus there are records that passed me by at the time which I'm discovering for the first time, wondering how I missed them first time around. Punishment of Luxury for example ... this was precisely the sort of music I was listening to in the late 1970's and early 1980's post punk movement but somehow never came across them until this year.

I've also discovered Netflix. Well, this isn't so much of a discovery as we've had it for over a year now, it's more of an addiction to several Netflix series, like House of Cards, Gotham, Hemlock Grove, Jessica Jones, Daredevil and Luke Cage. I used to tut at the kids as they binge-watched their way through series after series, but now I can see why.

Finally, I changed jobs back in April and am now working out of a pleasant, semi-rural, business park. The environment is tranquil but means my lunchtime wanders are restricted to the river. This isn't to say that the wanders along the river are not enjoyable, but they don't have the opportunity for the seemingly endless discovery that my urban wanders through London gave me.

So, where does all this rambling leading me? I guess it's just a reason for my posts being somewhat sporadic this year, but I do have some recent pictures to share. These were all taken late on a sunny, winter afternoon along the River Thames in London, as we walked from Battersea to Putney.

River Thames, looking towards Lots Road power station

River Thames, looking west into the setting sun

River Thames, looking west into the setting sun

This was the night of the super moon but unfortunately my phone pictures don't really do it justice.

River Thames, looking east towards the rising super moon

River Thames, looking east towards the rising super moon

River Thames, looking east towards the rising super moon

So, that's all folks. Hopefully my next post will not be too far away, but you never know what my next distraction may be.

    

I Think I've Hit My Mid-life Crisis - a Vinyl Obsession

So, as I alluded to in my previous blog post, I seem to have hit my mid-life crisis. Whilst I haven't ruled out getting a ridiculously fast car, or running off with someone half my age, my crisis seems to have centred itself around an obsession for vinyl. Having bought a replacement turntable a few months ago, I am now searching out punk, post-punk and new wave records from the late 70's and early 80's in London's second hand record shops, as I used to do as a spotty teenager. Some are records I never had at the time, whereas others are ones that I foolishly sold for next to nothing and am desperate to get hold of again.

One of the most exciting finds was Where's Captain Kirk by Spizzenergi, which was a party favourite back in the day, but that I seem to have either lost or sold over the years.

Spizzenergi - Where's Captain Kirk?

Other finds include a couple of early Human League singles, from 1979, way before they asked us Don't you Want Me Baby. I had downloaded a version of Empire State Human a while back, but had completely forgotten about Being Boiled, so was very pleased to come across this one too.


The Human League - Being Boiled

I don't know why I had never heard much of Eddie and the Hot Rods apart from Do Anything You Wanna Do. I certainly never had any of their records when I was growing up, so was delighted to find a couple of their early singles, Media Messiahs and Quit This Town during my searches.


Eddie and the Hot Rods - Quit This Town

It's hard to pick which of my recent finds gave me the most pleasure as they are all special in their own way, but if I had to choose one from my recent haul then it would have to be Gates of the West by The Clash. The version I came across was actually a two track Canadian demo copy of the Cost of Living EP, so just in a plain sleeve as opposed to the magnificently colouful sleeve below, and only two of the four tracks.


The Clash - The Cost of Living EP

So, in between my Urban Wanders, or indeed as part of my urban wanders, I shall be spending time searching through racks of vinyl over the coming weeks and months until my thirst is quenched and my crisis is a more manageable state. Stay tuned folks.