TOP OF THE STAIRS MUSIC

I am listening to the Bob Dylan Theme Time Radio Shows on BBC 6Music. They go out every Friday evening at 9pm which is far from convenient for most of us especially as it's red and wine and DVD night - so I catch them the week after on the BBC's brilliant 'Listen Again' facility.
This morning I clicked onto a link which says 'listen to the latest show' only to hear the show which was on 2 weeks ago. I emailed the BBC asking could they update their link only to receive an email saying that 'due to the amount of email they receive they cannot reply or action them all' - but suggested I email the show producers direct, which I did, only to receive a reply which said 'due to the amount of email they receive...', well you know how it goes.
Always thinking on the positive I left it a few hours and tried again, thinking that it might have nudged someone to update the link. Well someone obviously read my email [of course several other fans of the show may have emailed as well] because now on the 6Music web page it says:

Unfortunately last Friday's episode is not available on
'listen again' due to rights reasons.

Now, is this the truth or more believeably, is it because the theme was guns? The latter I fear which takes us right back to the debate of if we watch Playstation games do we go out and kill?

Please 6Music, the avergae age of the listener to this kind of show has trouble getting up off the sofa let alone loading a rifle and shooting their next door neighbour for not trimming their hedge!!!!!

Being the completist I am and the fact that the shows are simply billiant, I am miffed!
Also what's the difference between listening to it when it went out on Friday or aftwerwards. If there is a rights issue should it not have been sorted before it went on air?

As I was working in London last weekend took the opportunity to see a show. Cabaret at the Lyric. The set was dark as it closely followed the doom and grit of the original story rather than the glamour of the Kit Kat club. I found this slightly boring as I want a great visual experience when I go to see musical theatre. But the decadence of the scantily clad cabaret performers, both homoerotic and perverse, made up for it.
The production did not grab some of the moments that were there to grab. In particular one of the most chilling and fascinating songs which capture the start of the Nazi youth movement, Tomorrow Belongs To Me, was very watered down only to be slightly reprised in Act 2 which diluted the the impact the song should have had altogether.
Kim Metcalfe also did not grab her moment as Sally Bowles. Great voice but no danger, excitement or evidence of the cocaine addicted mess the character is. Honor Blackman, beautiful and as graceful as she is, is so lightweight. BUT it's James Dreyfuss as the Emcee who is magnificent. From the opening moment he never lets it go, his presence is the embodiment of the utter sleaze the play is all about. You just wait for him to return on stage when he's not on.
If it was not for his performance I would have easily forgotten that I had been.

Have been working at the London Book Fair this week at Earls Court. Great, new venue and it's been a very good fair. The booktrade is in a mess but their is a vibrancy around the halls of people wanting to get the trade working again. Very healthy.

Went to see Cabaret in the West End on Saturday night so will blog my thoughts when I get home later this week.

Up at 7 and swam 20 lengths by 8pm plus sauna and then home to start work. Some days I can do this, others are a struggle to even get out of my pajama's. So I kept the momentum going by kick starting the day with the most mathematical of jazz tunes, Take Five by Dave Brubeck. It's more brilliant each time you tune into it.

Not having my main computer means I can't update or add to my itunes which is a real reason for valium, whiskey and chocolate - all at the same time. Guess I'll manage somehow. Just.

LP's listened to yesterday for possible digital conversion:

In The Heat Of The Night - Imagination
Saw them in concert can you believe, thought they were the sexiest thing around. Got them on CD so only transferring one track: Just An Illusion.

Men & Women - Simply Red
Really didn't like this LP on re-listening, I'm sure I did when I bought it but now Hucknall's voice just screeches too much. Digitalising just one track; Let Me Have It All.
Friends - Shalamar
One of the guys from this group did the first ever 'body popping' routine on Top of the Pops, it blew me away. Taking just their 2 chart hits from this album: A Night To Remember and; I Can Make You Feel Good.

Well, it ended last night and I thought it didn't let anything down. What I love is that it was a national thing, loads of us wanted to know how it finished just like way back when there was only 3 channeled to choose from and we all ended up wathcing the same thing. Even now Jeremy Vine is introducing his features today and one of them is this show and he's saying; 'we're not going to tell you the end in case you still haven't seen it'! How refreshing is this in an age where every soap plot is published in the tabloids before it's screened.

Of course in this over the top PC world it's sparked a debate on policing in these times versus then, god can we just STOP over analysing stuff, it's exhausting.

Stuck with Radio 2 as my computer grinded to a halt yesterday due to lack of virtual memory. Have resorted to using my laptop.

I seriously thought about shutting down my blog today as I just can't seem to find the time to get to it and keep it going. I also don't want to write just for the sake of it ... THEN I took a look at my stats, page previews etc., and was knocked out. Someone [and many more than one] out there keeps checking in on me. So I am going to try and keep it going.

It's not only the blogging, it's getting real time to listen to the music. All halted today as my home computer has Virtual Memory problems [ a bit like it's owner] and a day has been trashed trying to sort it out but it's not happening so it's off to the computer hospital tomorrow and I am back to using my laptop.

I would miss my blog friends anyway ... so .... I'm staying put!