FEED ME

Well. It was always going to happen....

A few days after posting my comments on a need for a Brennan JB7 hi-fi, I finally allowed Anne into talking me into ordering one .

So. It was delivered on Monday (or more accurately I collected it on Monday after they tried to deliver it the weekend before). And I've got to say - I'm more than happy with it. It does exactly what it sys on the tin (so to speak).

I'm really just starting the process of loading it with music, and given that I've got a few thousand disks it is going to take time. It goes through a two stage process. In the first instance it loads the CDs in loss less format (and you can play them straight away). However, when you next leave it in standby mode it silently starts to compress the files into your chosen format.

I can't say I've noticed any degradation in sound quality at all - though I'd be the first to admit that my ears are not perfect. One of the first albums I loaded was Andy Sheppard's "Soft On The Inside" as I always use the track "Carla Carla Carla Carla" as a sort of personal "bench-test" to check out the quality of a system - and this passes with flying colours.

So. As I say all I have to do now is plough my way through the old collection and load it. At the moment I'm still at the stage where I'm loading it with, mainly, stuff I want to listen to a lot. But I'm also trying to add more obscure stuff by starting to go through the collection in order. It takes about 5 minutes to load a CD ... so without sleep I could get everything loaded in about eight and a half days!

So. Friday's bargain find - The Mingus Big Band "Que Viva Mingus" (£1.99 - Barnardo's) has the honour of being the first album that has been loaded directly into digital format without being listened to first on a CD player.

It looks as though from now on CDs will simply be the means of storing and transporting the media rather than the primary source of listening. A brave new world.

BLACK ROCK 5

Went through to Kinghorn last night for the Black Rock 5.
Despite the name it's probably closer to 4.5 miles and it's one of those "there and back" routes - but with a difference. The difference being that you turn by going around the titular "Black Rock" by wading out into the Forth and getting your dangly bits bathed in cold water!
First half mile or so is a quick dash through Kinghorn, down on to the beach. Then it's, usually, a nice straight run out over firm sands to the rock. I say "usually" because there was little nice about it last night. Despite it being quite sunny there was a stiff head wind up to the rock. Very tough going.
Got round the rock not too bad, and then, upon emerging from the Forth after those first few strength sapping steps when you feel like your shoes and kit weigh a ton, I just got into quite a nice rhythm and tried to reel in the two runners in front.
The soft sand part as you come off the beach is another obstacle that breaks any rhythm you might have - just before you start the long steady climb back through the village.
The ending is a quick little descent past the local train station, before turning under a viaduct and a lung bursting steep hill to the end (perhaps about 200m). The crowds here though are amazing and really carry you along.
Once through the really well organised finishing funnel you wind your way through the Ship Tavern to be presented with your bottle of beer (so, given my teetotal status that's two bottles for Anne).
Keen to see the results. That's the third time I've done that race - and the slowest I've done it (27:50). BUT, strangely, I think I might be slightly higher up the overall results, so perhaps everyone was slowed down a bit by the conditions. Whatever. I'm not really too bothered. It's one of those races where simply taking part is fun.
Once Anne finished and got her beer we started to make our way back to the changing area. But on the way we decided to "fuel up" with some chips - the food of champions!

Decided that I'm not going to do the Traprain Law race today. In one way I'd quite like to. But a race last night, then that, then the Portobello Prom race followed by next Sundays Peebles 10K trail race might be a bit too much. I do enjoy these short fast races, but I also want to stay injury free.

MY NEWT'S MINUTE....

I was just popping out to the back garden the other day, when I noticed what I thought was a bit of plant stalk on the doorstep.

I was just about to kick it out of the way when it moved...

Closer inspection revealed it was a tiny newt - a young one I assume. Almost translucent and nearly invisible against the wet concrete of the slabs.

Lucky if it was two centimetres in length. Happily I managed to get not too bad a picture of him before he scurried off....

MESSY RUNNER

Last nights club run was a bit of a hilly one. 8.5 miles in total, with the first half taking us out of Dunbar and up “Starvation Brae” before attacking the south face of Brunt Hill and then starting the relatively fast 4 and a bit miles back to Dunbar via Spott and Wester Broomhouse.

A strange night. It was really misty and wet – it looked more like a November night. But still very warm and muggy.

Strange observation…. Well actually it was Richard who made the observation. We both did exactly the same run. Same route, same paths, same fields. So why, given we took about the same time, did he come back spotless while my legs, arse and even my back were covered in mud and …. Well stuff that coos had left in the field.

Must be the way I run – I think in some way I must “flick” my foot. Dam messy whatever it is!

Still. Just what the doctor ordered after spending a shitty day through in the “Dear Green Place”.

HADDINGTON 5

I don't know what sort of sun-god, deity or idol they worship in Haddington, but it certainly seems to shine on them. Nine times out of ten it always seems to be sunny and hot for their races.
And yesterday's ASICS Haddington 5 was no exception, it was an absolute scorcher.
I was looking forward to doing this race this year. The timing of the Edinburgh Marathon means that I've missed it for the last couple of years, but the shift in the marathon this year gave me a couple of weeks between the races so I thought I'd give it a go.
Met up with some other runners at the registration tent for a bit of a blether. Then a couple of us went for a bit of a "warm up" (as if that was needed).
I know this will be unpopular with some, but I was pleased when it was announced that mp3 players were banned from the race and anyone caught wearing one would be pulled.
A bit of race instructions from the starters and we were off....
Usual jockeying for position during the first few hundred yards of Nielson Park, bit of a lung-busting climb over the bridge past the Tynesdie Tavern then it's heads down and eyeballs out on stalks for the more or less four mile circuit of quiet country roads (though not "closed" roads - hence one reason for the mp3 ban), before the final fast section back over the bridge and into the park.
I'm sure there is a "proper" way to run a five mile race and I'm sure more experienced runners know how to pace it, but I adopt a fairly simplistic approach that can be summed up in one word... "Charge"!!
Clocked the first mile at about 5:45 and just gritted my teeth and tried to hold on. By the first mile I was already drenched in sweat and cooking up. I threw my hat to Neil Scott who was marshaling at about the 1.75 mile point - I really shouldn't have been wearing it. On some sections of the course it was like running through an oven.
For about the first three miles I was trying to chase down the black and yellow vest of a Falkirk runner and finally managed to catch and pass him just about at the four mile mark.
However, I never really got the far away and he got his own back by passing me on the road before the run into the park.
Still. I managed to get 29:24, eighth overall and 1st local club vet. Pleased with the time and happy to add to Dunbar's modest haul of silverware (we got three).
I enjoy these shorter runs during the summer. Just as well really, as I've got a few of them lined up! Still... can't neglect keeping the weekly mileage up so I was out for a longer run this morning. In thick mist and heavy rain! What a contrast from yesterday.

ELLINGTON & COLTRANE

Among the names of jazz luminaries few shine brighter than Duke Ellington and John Coltrane.
If you were to get most people to list their ten most important jazz figures ever, it's more than likely that these two names will always appear near the top of the list.
Jazz modernists who may shy away from traditional sounds would not deny the influence and impact of Ellington, while likewise those who can't attune themselves to Coltranes later avant garde work would still recognise the defining change it brought about to jazz.
So... you'd think that a collaboration between these two would produce some of the best jazz you've ever witnessed.....

Sad to say it doesn't. The album "Duke Ellington & John Coltrane" recorded in 1962 is a bit of a strange confection. 7 tracks (5 Ellington, 1 Strayhorn and 1 Coltrane composition) of swinging ballads. Expertly arrange and expertly executed. But that's about as much as you can say. There just isn't the "spark" that you would have expected between these two.
I don't know if they didn't hit it off, or if one (or both) were having bad days when it was recorded. But it just doesn't gel.
To my mind, if anyone, it's Ellington who at least appears to make the attempt to move away from his usual territory and edges towards the modern, whereas Coltrane, here, just plays it straight. To be fair to Coltrane he was in a sort of "fallow" period in '62 and hadn't really got the sound yet that would define his later work yet (A Love Supreme - 1965). Perhaps he was simply in awe of Ellington. I don't know.
Good album. Hell, a "great" album by most standards, but it could have been amazing.

MELLOW

First became aware of Steve Lodder through his collaborations with Andy Sheppard.

Obviously, since then I’ve become aware of a lot of other stuff he’s done, including working with the late George Russell and John Harle.

Got a couple of albums he’s done “under his own name” as well, including one “Above The Clouds” – duets for saxophone and church organ (with Mark Ramsden on sax) that is exceedingly good and has a sort of ECM-European-classical-churchy feel about it. Very atmospheric – an album more for dark winter nights though for some reason.

And different types of music suiting different seasons is an apt subject for the latest album I’ve got, that also features Lodder on piano.

“Songs Of The Year” by Threeway. A trio led by bass player/composer  Ben Crossland and also featuring Steve Waterman on trumpet. 12 tunes that while not exactly linked to calendar months track the changes in the [English] countryside during the year.

As you would expect from tunes dealing with rural settings its all very gentle and peaceful stuff. Sort of “chamber” jazz meets “Springwatch” – but without the cute pictures of baby animals. Very smooth and mellow.

How smooth and mellow? Well this mornings cattle truck through to the D.G.P was not only delayed, overheated and badly ventilated as usual, but was also reduced from the usual six busy carriages to a “cram-‘em-in” three! And I still felt relaxed at the other end.

Now that IS mellow!