Music was my first love and it will be my last
Music of the future and music of the past
to live without my music would be impossible to do
In this world of troubles my music pulls me through

John Miles penned these words in 1976 and it and it sums up my thoughts exactly.

I have a terrible memory and I put that down to the old grey matter being abused too much by life and maybe a wee bit of booze.

But for some reason I find that Music has the ability to transport me in an instant to a time and a place with vivid memories even in colour, even with sounds and smells.

Music has been a big part of my life since I was a kid. Yet I never learned to play a musical instrument. Still not too late I guess.

Having breakfast in the morn before going to school, we had no TV on so it was the radio. Usually BBC radio 1. It played the chart music of the day. You might have heard of some of these groups.

Such as the Beatles, Argent and Procal Harum.

From all this music listening I decided to grow the hair long and become a hippy as I seemed to be drawn towards most of the groups with long hair and of course the girls looked really cute with their cheesecloth shirts and sexy look oh and there was the free love and the odd joint.

I can tell you find that hard to believe because you need to have hair for that so that you could head bang to such wonderful groups as led Zeppelin and Deep Purple and the one and only Black Sabbath.

But again the years have taken their toll.

I loved them all and still play their music today. And of course you have to play it loud. There is no way you can play this music in a mellow way.

of course, Music can change your mood it can make you sad or happy. It can relax you or motivate you.

I sit in rush hour traffic in the morn and I’ve found that if I listen to Classical FM I arrive at work more relaxed than I have done when I’m say listening to Rage against the machine or Ramstein, which if you don’t know who I’m talking about.

Its like walking into a room and getting your brains smashed out……in a good way. This wall of sound just hits you and pushes the senses that make you want to bounce around and feel alive You need to hear and feel this music , no good playing it quiet

It might be a just a few notes of some disco dynamic like Earth Wind & Fire or Shalamar, but the next thing I’m back in the Cochrane House hotel and it’s 1978

Charlie’s the Dj and I’m up at the decks with a pint in hand and cigarette in the other. ‘The dance floor is heaving and it’s another Saturday night.

This is where you want to be if you want to pull somebody, get a lumber as we would say.

I’m chatting up Lynn, I’ve always fancied her. She wants a record played, I tell her I can fix that and I get Charlie to play the next few tracks for as small fee, usually a Bacardi and Coke and then I follow Lynn down to the dance floor, casually.

Lynnard Skynnard’s Freebird is about to come on. A classic from 1973. The music is Great I’m with Lynn can it get any better. She is the most stunning girl in the room and she is with me.

Charlie announces that it’s time for a ration of Passion a kiss and a cuddle and the music slows down and the lights go down

And then the piesta resistance “

Waiting for a Girl Like you by Foreigner”

I’m there. I’m in

I buy Charlie a double Bacardi that night.

This was a very eclectic time with music because it’s where heavy music began to mix with disco, Reggie and then a few years later we got the Jazz Funk and then along came the New Romantics and in the middle we had Punk.

The Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks the Clash

There was a great mix of music and sounds, a great mix of people.

But there was One such song called the Birdie Song.

You’ve heard of the Birdie Song?

I hate that record with a passion, but it too has the effect of taking me to Majorca in a heartbeat. I feel the heat of the sun I can hear the Mediterranean lapping gently against the beach at Arenal.

I can remember how the 3 of us ken Bert and myself were out swimming when something touched our legs, it must be a shark and we all panicked as we had recently seen Jaws and we frantically splashed about racing for the shore not giving a rats about the others. We raced onto the sand, puffing and panting turning to see what the hell had scared the Crap out of us.

But there was no fin, just possible a small turd that got washed around from the sewage outfall on that headland over there.

We head for the bar as you do in these type of situations and we order cheap champagne from Pepe  one pound a bottle you know, no matter what time of the day or night it was he was there, ready to serve. Cheap Champagne or San Miguel

Ken got sun stroke from his plan to get a suntan on the first day and then concentrate on the woman for the rest of the holiday. It didn’t quite go to plan. He spent 3 days in bed and looked and felt like shit.

We seem to be drunk for the whole fortnight. But we had a great time, I think.

So many Scandinavians go on holiday here and the women are stunning. We had never seen woman like this in the flesh before.

We bumped into some Norwegian guys thinking they might help in our quest to get to know the women and we ended up drinking with them. They were absolutely nuts they lobbed their TV out of their 4th storey window into the pool. So we thought that was pretty cool.

Music has been with us since time immemorial. Ever since man decided to celebrate something we have had music.

It can dictate the mood of an occasion and transform the moment.

At a wedding, the Bride and Groom have their song,

How would the royal wedding have gone if there wasn’t music?

William and Kate’s Big day would have been a bit flat

Have you ever watched a movie with subtitles and then switched the sound off?

How much harder is it to follow that movie, how much do you enjoy it?

Music gives depth and meaning and substance suspense it can do all of this and more.

Mind you Mother Nature’s symphony has been with us forever and she too can make magic.

Sometime in her case it’s the lack of sound that accompanies a vista that makes it more impressive. One of the few times I’m sure it’s better to use the mute button.

When I came into this world I guess they played music and when I leave this world they will play some music I hope.

But what will that be, something obscure I would say.

I have a few ideas for that, but I won’t see the expressions on the faces when they hear my choice.

At my Mother’s funeral we Played Frank Sinatra’s My Way. I had a snigger at that.

I knew she wanted that and when I heard it, it reminds me of the day we spent at Manly having Fish and chips.

That’s the great thing about music it can put a smile on your face when you need it the most

And as John Miles says

to live without my music would be impossible to do
In this world of troubles my music pulls me through

Getting a little sick of the heat and the humidity, even although you can feel the difference from the past couple of weeks. I went for a short walk today nothing strenuous and yet the sweat is running off me.  I’m glad I’m wearing white again as I think any other colour would be very embarrassing. When I got off the bus my shorts felt so cold because the sweat has been running down my back. Role on winter.  The humidity is so high right now that you only have to move a finger and you’ll start to feel the beads form and begin to role. 

Well it’s still hot but I can’t stay home all day in the aircon so I decide to head back to Dongshan for another wee adventure.  The bus takes about an hour or so and as soon as you arrive you run the gauntlet of drivers trying to get your business,  but I politely refuse.
First of all I buy some fuel which comprises of 3 large Baozi or meat filled large dumplings and 2 bottles of water. After last week’s fiasco I thought I would be a bit more prepared.

I get onto one of the green Eco Friendly Boris bikes that they have around Suzhou and head towards Taihu Lake. It’s still hot and humid although today, but it would only be about 35c compared to last week which would have been well over 40c. I wore a white shirt because white does not show the sweat as much and I also took my UV jacket that is very light and great to keep the sun off you,  however it does not take long before I’m soaked and my thin UV white jacket is see through.

I’ve got about 20kms or so to the next bike station and the run will take me along the edge of the lake.  I cycle towards the traffic as I find it a lot safer so I can see what’s coming towards and anyway the road is wide enough to do this. If you cycle with the traffic it becomes way too scary. As I head off there are two cyclists on proper bikes going my way but they are on the other side of the road. The give me a glance when they go passed and give me a second look as they see the crazy old man on a Boris bike out this far.

The road runs the length of the lake and of course it’s relatively flat but when you are on a Boris bike which has no gears then sometimes the slightest of gradients feels like a major challenge. At one point I’m going through clouds and clouds of Dragonfly’s which are everywhere at this time of year. I’m hoping I don’t accidentally swallow one.

It’s getting hotter and the heat off the road is not helping. I’m soaked in sweat but I’m still so so hot. I decide to take off my T shirt and just wear the UV jacket so I pull over to a piece of shade and strip. My shirt feels like it weighs around a couple of kg, it’s as wet as it would be if I had just pulled it out the lake. I wring it out and I am amazed at the amount of water ( sweat) that comes out of it. There’s a good glass and a half at least I think. I don’t think I have sweated this much in years. My shorts are soaked and have changed colour, my riding gloves are disgusting and I’m in need of a shower. I do however have two bottles of water which I may add is not enough, I think 3 or 4 would have been better but at least I am only going 20kms.

I put my T shirt over the front of the bike to dry so I can wear it later.

I pull over after about a half hour for a drink and a wee rest and who do I see but the two guys on the good bikes that passed me earlier. They are very surprised to see me and give me a wave from the other side of the park. It’s bit like the Hare and the Tortoise.

I only stop for about 5 mins and then get back on the bike. I check the GPS and I can’t get a fix on the bike station but I see that the road I need to take is only about 4kms up the road so that’s good. When I reach the road I check the GPS again to confirm the location of the bike station which should be near the bus stop but alas I get no fix. In the distance I hear the thunder and the skies are beginning to darken, which is good because the temperature is beginning to drop. The GPS tells me that the next port of call is a place called Mudu which is about another 5 kms or so up the road so I decide to head for there as I have been there a few times and I know I can easily get the metro from there back home.

10 mins later the rain hits and I’m soaked once more, my T shirt had been drying on the front of my bike as I cycled along and it was just about dry when the rain started so I did manage to get it into my bag before the rain got too heavy. When I get to Mudu I find the first bike station and get rid of the bike. It feels strange to be walking again but I’m glad I can finally leave the bike alone. I change back into my damp T shirt which thankfully is not too smelly and head for the dinner and then the metro.

The metro is so cold because I am still wet. I get strange looks as I’m riding the train, maybe they think I have pissed myself or something, or maybe I’m beginning to smell……..either way I don’t care……..I’m just thinking of that lovely cold shower when I get back home.

It’s not only the English that are mad when it comes to walking in the mid day sun, some Scottish folk are just as stupid.  Yesterday I went to Dongshan by bus with the intention of walking one of the treks I’d been on before but as usual this can be easier said than done.  I couldn’t remember where we started the walk the last time so I went to the entrance of the park.

The road started to climb almost immediately and it was so steep in places I was walking on my toes. It wasn’t long before the sweat was running down the schuch o’me erse and everywhere else for that matter.

It was only early and I really thought that it would be a bit cooler out here.

I eventually got to the top of the ridge and came across a great look out where you could see right across to the other side of Tai Lake and really everywhere because I was on top of the mountain. There was no shade and I’m glad I brought my UV brolly to shade me.  I made the mistake of only buying one bottle of water but I did have 3 large peaches which I had to consume not only for some liquid but also for energy.

I made it to the top……….

I did not expect to be walking for this length of time because I was going to repeat the walk I had done before but then I’ve missed the track along the way and so I have no choice but to stick to the main road until the end.

I thank fully found the road back to civilisation and passed some nutter on a push bike going up the way.  Now these hills are steeper than Mount Coot-tha just to give you some idea.

I got to the bottom and saw some buildings and so I’m hoping for a restaurant or a shop at least,  only a shop but I buy 3 bottles of water and drink two of them there and then and feel almost human again. Don’t forget to carry enough water with you,  it could mean the difference between life and death.  No restaurants so I have to travel a further 4km to get back to the centre of town and the bus. Everything still seems closed and I can’t find food anywhere.  When I get back to the bus station I see a small place selling dumplings so I buy a couple of the big ones as I no longer have an appetite

My body is running on empty but I just get on the bus for the hour long journey home. To add insult to injury, there are a couple of old folk that sit behind me and talk as if they are at either ends of the bus. I don’t know how to say “Shut the Fuck up!” in Chinese yet. I can say it in a polite way but I don’t want to be polite.

Once home the shower and the aircon make me feel almost human but I am knackered. An early night for me me thinks

Fancy a cuppa. Below the local UBER

Now I don’t think the KM’s are correct cause ma steps are no that big, but still a good effort I thought

A quick reality check😆

Well there are many great things in life that are 57 apart from myself of course. You can also have a 57 Chevrolet, Heinz 57 or even a 5.7 Litre V8. Fifty-seven is the sixteenth discrete semi prime and the sixth in the (3.q) family also just in case you didn’t know and of course in Binary it is 111001₂

I even think that 57 sounds a lot better than 56, I think 56 sounded so awkward but now I feel a whole lot more comfortable being 57, but of course I don’t look a day over 35. What’s the secret to my good looks well I think it must be all the oil that the Chinese use in their cooking, I’m slowly becoming preserved as I eat my dumplings and other foods. It’s not such a bad thing I guess if you look this good.

I went out with friends on Saturday night to the French Paradox Restaurant in Suzhou, I haven’t been to a French Restaurant for many years and to be honest I haven’t missed it one bit. I actually went for my 40th with my then girlfriend. But on Saturday Nicky and Karl invited me out with friends and it turned out to be a surprise Birthday bash which was just bloody marvelous.

it was a lovely we place although the prices were enough to give you palpitations. I was encouraged to have Beef Tartare which for the uninitiated is raw beef, but hey I just had some raw Salmon too.

It was an interesting dish but not one I’ll be running back to that’s for sure, I like my meat cooked just a little and to be honest it was more about the texture which was just not enjoyable. The platter on the other hand had real cheese and ham which was marvelous but the Foie gras you can keep. Those crazy French have some weird tastes. Give me Black Pudding any day.

WE had cake to finish and the owner was kind enough to give us all a glass of bubbly to wash it down. It was a night I’ll remember for a long time.

You will notice that there are no candles because they could not find a cake big enough to fit them all on.

As the temperature increases the streets become quieter and more folk stay inside their homes or go to the shopping centre for some relief from the heat. I can’t stay inside for too long as I feel I will go stir crazy, so I often leave the house and do this too.

I will often ride on the metro because it’s closer to my apartment and I’ve noticed that as the temperature is rising there are more and more people heading down into the stations. There are long corridors and the stations are quite large and so many of the old or those with young families come down here for a few hours to escape the blistering heat. There are labourers sleeping here trying to miss the mid day sun. It looks like a war zone at times with bodies everywhere but the good thing is that the authorities don’t seem too concerned and so they are left alone. 

Not liking summer when I don’t have a car, fuck it’s hot.  The humidity is also a killer, but as Clarkson says “you don’t have to pee much! 

Well it would have been my Mothers birthday today if she was still with us, so Happy Birthday Ma and it gives me a great excuse to have a single Malt

Slainte