2016: reflections (AM)

I know that February seems  too early for reflections but January was pretty intense and  I feel it really deserves some reflection before we move on to enjoy the awesome year that 2016 is bound to be.

2015 ended fine, Christmas went for days but was pleasant and largely lazy and warm and all the good stuff. And 2016 began normally enough, I was in the countryside ringing in the new year with Blizzie and my babies and their babies and some friends of theirs and it was all lovely. Days passed, I went back to work, I quit my job and then hours after that happy moment, on the train home from work I got a message from a friend. 

I was so shocked. I guess it was not knowing he was sick. And he was so, so great. 

David Bowie has always been a great favourite of Miss Soft Crab and I feel like we need to take a moment to remember his excellence. The British legend, who died at 69 after a battle with cancer. 

I actually could not believe my ears when I heard on the radio three days later about Alan Rickman. The British legend, who died at 69 after a battle with cancer. Alan Rickman was so great. When I was little I used to watch this film my mum liked called Truly, Madly, Deeply. It was a romance in which Alan Rickman played a ghost. It was great. But why pretend that the most important part he played for me is anything other than Snape? Shit gets pretty real at the end of Harry Potter and Snape's role and their relationship, well it's pretty...moving (excuse me, I have something in my eye).

I couldn't stop thinking about it when Rickman died. He was a really great actor. I like him a lot. 

They say celebrity deaths happen in threes. But in this case it's just three deaths of old, great, codgers, because a couple of weeks after Alan Rickman, it was time for my parents' cat, Aphrodite. 

She would have been almost 19, we got her when I was around 17 or 18, she used to sleep on my bed and was so sweet. But then I moved out and she became a bitch (possibly unrelated). You had about 12 good seconds of patting her before she'd lash out with her claws but she was still sweet. Doing all that cat stuff like rubbing against your legs (when she wanted something), sleeping in the sun, deserting you. I loved her, but she died sleeping in some bushes as all cats should. 

January, you were not without your delights, but you, unlike others, we're not gone too soon. 2016 onwards and upwards. 

It's Monday (AM)

It's Monday again, readers. Monday.

Some days, when I wake up on a Monday morning,  I want to punch it in the mouth.  Today, I feel kind of fine about it. I slept a lot over the weekend you see. It was so sunny and nice yesterday, and I spent the afternoon walking along the beach checking out dogs. I mean dudes. Checking out dudes. So I feel like I really can't complain.

 

Just to be sure though, I asked my iphone for a second opinion. Not Siri, like you guys with iphones 4  might do. No. I have an iphone 3 which I am hoping holds out until the iphone 5 arrives, even though I ride it bareback which is not sensible if I want to it last. But that's besides the point. What I am saying here is that Siri does not live inside iphone3, so when I want to ask it a question, I basically just hit shuffle on the ipod part, and see what the universe has in store for me, magic 8 ball style. Because song titles tend to be less definitive than magic 8 ball statements, there's often a little back and forth before a position can be reached, but that's OK. This morning's conversation went like this:

 

K: iphone, am I going to have a good day? (hits shuffle)

 

iphone: New York, New York  - Grandmaster Flash

 

K: Holy shit iphone, everyone loves NYC. Does that mean I am going to have a shit-hot day?

 

iphone: Sound and Vision - David Bowie

 

K: Well iphone, you know damn well how I feel about Bowie, so that's pretty definitive as far as I'm concerned. Thanks, friend. 

 

Anyway, I hope ipod and I are right about this day. 

 

NB: After reviewing what youtube has to offer vis a vis clips of Sound and Vision, I have decided to play Let's Dance instead, so that we can all remember David Bowie as the young and beautiful man as he once was, not the old guy singing Sound and Vision he is here (if you really must know).

 

 

Winning combos (AM)

You know what I love? Things that are great and then get even better when paired with another great thing. You know what I mean. Winning combinations. I'm not talking about those things you always think of together, like Joel and Ethan Cohen or salt and vinegar, I mean those things you think of as awesome in their own right but then when paired with something else awesome you think SHAZAM! Winning combo!

Here are some of my favourites combos:

Grated carrot and grated cheese. Now both of these things I love on there own and in all sorts of combinations but when you put these babies together magic happens. I am not talking about carrot and cheese any old way, I am talking about grated carrot and grated cheese. In a sandwich, in a wrap, in a taco, I don't care how you have it but when you put these grated guys together and those long thin strips start to mingle and tangle, oh yeah baby, they get together in loving harmony and it is a goddamn taste and texture sensation. I'm talking juicy, crunchy, creamy, salty, sweet. It's fucking beautiful.

You know what else I love? Blue and red together. These are two of my favourite colours. Look, I pretty much love all the colours when they are done right, but blue and red are really up there for me. Blue especially, it speaks to me. And I think all shades look good with red. Navy, pale, bright. But bright blue and bright red I love above all the combos. It is so fresh on my eyes. I effing love it.

Once I started thinking about winning combos I started seeing them everywhere. Like, I love David Bowie. Heaps. Who doesn't right? And I am digging on Queen more and more. Sure maybe it's because of this documentary that was on TV recently but maybe it's because of all those killer tracks.

I also kind of love Freddie Mercury. When else but in the olden days could a man with such a massive overbite become a super star. And when are these two powerhouses of Bowie and Queen finer than in Under Pressure.* Winning combo. My ears thank you!



*Maybe they have finer moments, I mean how good is Bowie? How do you chose a best track? But this one is such a good one.