jamie goode's wine blog: Spring, some telly and a nagging injury

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Spring, some telly and a nagging injury

Was meant to play cricket yesterday, but unfortunately it was called off because of the weather. Probably a good thing: I would have played even though I'm crocked, with a nagging, persistent hamstring injury (that makes it sound like I'm some fit wannabee sporting dude) that just won't go away. I'm a bit of a child when it comes to sport. I love it - it's a beautiful distraction from work and real life.

The weather really has been appallingly bad for the last three weeks or so, with heavy rain every day and unseasonally low temperatures. But today was a proper spring day, and so we went for a long family walk in the Surrey countryside (East Horsley), followed by a pub lunch. The kids were a pain, though. Especially older son, who has been appalling all day, throwing toddler style tantrums. The problem is he's 11 and a big lad, so when he loses it, he needs serious effort to restrain him. His crowning moment so far today has been to lock himself in the bathroom, throw the waste basket (full) out of the window, and use Fiona's cosmetics to write 'F*** You' on the glass. Charming.

Last night I didn't work, but instead we watched some telly. The wonderful Peep show has started a new series, and there was a wine reference. Yes! Mark was meeting up with an ex (Big Suze) to tell her he has chlamydia, but when he finds she's single again he decides to not break the news and instead turn it into a date. Classy! He grabs the wine list and asks her if she wants some wine. She asks for Barolo, her favourite. In a distraught state he scans the list, going further and further down until he finds a Barolo for £45, which he orders through gritted teeth. He tastes it and says its delicious, adding in an aside to himself, 'Obviously it's not really delicious like chocolate or coke, but for wine it's delicious'.

We also watched 'James Taylor, one man band' on BBC4. James Taylor is a dude - he writes some fantastic songs, even if some of them do sound a bit the same. Very early in his career, before things really took off, he came to England and spent two weeks in Twickenham (where we lived for several years, and a couple of miles down the road from where we now are). I never knew that. One of the guitars he was playing, which looked like a small-bodied Martin, has the most beautiful tone. It was mesmeric.

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5 Comments:

At 3:51 PM, Anonymous Rob said...

I saw that James Taylor concert as well - what a great singer songwriter. A good example of how the simplest music is sometimes the finest.

 
At 4:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fab indeed to see James Taylor on BBC TV. His guitar is an Olsen.

 
At 6:10 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

Olsen? That explains it. Legendary guitars. Last time I looked the waiting list was closed and second-hand versions were going for more than they cost new.

 
At 3:19 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

As the programme that followed the James Taylor concert reminded us the early 70s were a halcyon period for singer-songwriters, e.g. Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, Carole King (although she'd been writing pop songs for the record industry previously).

Quote from her allmusic.com biography: "When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century".

malcolmwilliamson

 
At 3:45 PM, Blogger bsmith said...

loved JT's 'drum machine' too - a kind of pianola plays-itself drum kit, if that makes sense. James Taylor has made a career out of making people have a warm feeling in their stomachs. I don't mean that in a bad way!

 

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