DIY avoidance in excelsis! Yer author actually doing the dishes! (Pic by Beccy Connell)
A week and a half of holiday, at home, left largely to my own devices – so what am I gonna do? Probably a slightly less down at heel version of the habitual routine I’ve been practising since I was a nipper, when faced with similar downtime. Spin some records, read, smoke, read, change the record, glug a coffee, play some guitar (with varying degrees of success), change the record, watch half a film, smoke, read, do the washing up, spin some records, watch half a film, read, glug a coffee etc…
Nowt too bad about that, rite? It’ll be a gas for a few days, then I’ll start on the DIY avoidance therapy, which is basically a version of the above, with all of the sheer lazy-assed joy taken out. Eventually, it’s out with the pencil & paper and ruler – let DIY battle commence!
I’m afraid of power tools, especially being left-handed, as the ‘always on’ button is on that side of the handle, so every time I pick up one and take a manly grip, it’s “Raaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr!” time. No fun. And psyching myself up by spinning a slice of vinyl braggadocio, such as old Bo’s “500% More Man”, that don’t work, neither…
After a few days of couch, crisps, cold beer and wading thru stuff I haven’t gotten around to playing/reading yet, I’ll be as ready as I’ve ever been, currently am and forseeably will be to put up some book shelves in the front room. These mythical MDF beasts will house the mountain of tomes that’re currently cunningly disguised as furniture, by dint of a coupla old rugs.
Ah, books. I worked for public libraries for years and could order or get a-hold of pretty much owt I wanted, so I developed a pretty serious reading habit, which I’ve had to scale back on and leave purchases to the odd splurge and charity shop/boot fair happenstance, much like my vinyl consumption…
Years ago, I usedta go see the late, much missed Mike Hart at Compendium books in Camden Town, to load up on the latest and shoulda been the greatest. Nowadays, I thriftily check the local Oxfam bookshop, go booting, charity shopping on Saturday morning, and occasionally take a trip with Nadia out to a rather special industrial unit in Somerset called The Book Barn. In terms of gotta-have-it newbies, I do the triple check between Amazun marketplace, FleaBay and AbeBooks.co.uk – can’t afford not to…
Am currently half-way thru re-reading Iain Sinclair’s “Lights Out For The Territory”, which is bringing up some great memories of early-1990s shenanigans in Shoreditch, back when most of the pubs closed at 8pm, and you didn’t go into the ones that were open, unless you liked tits, razors or both. A well-thumbed volume of Damon Runyon shorties is by the bed; Brian Chidester & Dominic Priore’s great-looking but rather insight-less “Pop Surf Culture” is under the coffee table; I’m halfway thru Leiber & Stoller’s pretty snappy but kinda too breezy autobio, “Hound Dog”; and my pal Louie gave me a book about an all-black US car racing circuit in the 30s, “For Gold & Glory”, which looks fascinating. Oh, and Jon Savage’s new tome is vibrating at monolithic pitch somewhere around the general environs…
Yikes! How am I ever going to find time to build those shelves?
Recent spins that makes me grin:
“Sweet Thang” – Jack O & The Tennessee Tearjerkers (Goner)
“I Want To Be Evil” – Eartha Kitt (RCA)
“Six Pack” – Black Flag (Alternative Tentacles)
“Shot By Both Sides” – Magazine (Virgin)
“Smorgasbord” – Slim Gaillard (Verve)
“Low Rider” – War (Island)
“Slummer The Slum” – The 5 Royales (King)
“Incendiary Device” – Johnny Moped (Chiswick)
“Authentic R&B” – Various (Stateside)
“Calypsos Too Hot To Handle” – Various (Monogram)
“She’s Gotta Wobble” – Sugar Boy (Imperial)
“Together” – Various (Designer Records)
“Let Her Dance” – Bobby Fuller (Mustang)
