UNSEASONAL WEATHER, UNSEASONAL CAKE - AND A LOT OF HANK

You can't be a runner and get hung up on the weather....
BUT. I can hardly remember the last time I woke up and looked out of the bedroom window without seeing a fresh covering of snow! Admittedly, it's hardly more than a dusting and it's mostly gone by mid morning, but give us a frickin' break here!
It really does start to erode your willingness to get out there.
But "getting out there" I am. Quite happy with this last weeks mileage, but I still think it was the right thing to forgo the 50k in Perth (tomorrow).
Instead I'm going for a few long un's this weekend at a nice steady pace. See how I am after that then maybe look at the fixtures for something.

Being off work yesterday I did briefly think about going out a run, but decided that "no" rest is important to overall performance too, and ended up just having my normal rest day.
Did 13 this morning and enjoyed it. Although I did overdress a bit and was starting to feel a bit too hot towards the end. So I was quite happy in the last mile to stop for a wee while to let a couple of the local sheppards and their dogs move a flock from one field to another (over the road I was running along). Don't normally like to stop during a run, and especially towards the end - it's always harder to get started again. However, while the snow is a bit of a pain for me it must be a complete nightmare for these guys right now, during lambing season. And also, the bottom line is I'm lucky enough to just be out "playing" - they are working.

In keeping with weather, when I got home from my run, and after my shower, I had a coffee and a bit of Christmas cake!! Oh yes indeed. We still have more than half our Christmas cake left!

Got a fantastic new jazz acquisition to work my way through this long weekend.

If you were to ask me - and there's no reason why you would - who my favourite sax player is, I would probably list about a dozen or so straight off the top of my head. And Hank Mobley wouldn't be one of them....and I don't know why.
So why am I enjoying the Hank Mobley "Capitol Vaults" box set so much?

Mobley was a fantastic hard-bop tenor sax player and a stalwart of the Blue Note stable of musicians. He made a load of records as leader (got a few of them) and appeared on many more as a sideman for other musicians (got a load of these).
It maybe happens in all artistic fields. You get a few "stars" who grab all the limelight and a whole host of amazingly good, proficient journeymen, tapping out quality work time and time again...but never quite getting the attention.
This set that includes all the master takes of nine Blue Note albums from 1958-59 does not have a single bad take among them!
You get Mobley in quartet, quintet and sextet settings and, while no individual piece is going to change your life, the collective works make you realise what a great player he was. I sometimes feel that a box set is too much to listen to in one sitting. Not this. Some albums or collections are "great" because they contain one, or a few, outstanding pieces. This is great, because the entire thing is so good.
The collection also features some of the Blue Note greats from that era (Horace Silver, Art Blakey etc.) And stands as a testament to a great time in jazz history.