666 - The Number Of The Beast !!

Greetings World's...

I logged this ol' computer thingy & made a nasty realization... up until yesterday, I had posted 666 times !! All hail the number of the beast... no, really - 6 6 6 !! Oh well.... How many of you out there, have heard Iron Maiden's 'Number Of The Beast'... with that really great spoken intro ?! Go check it out - it's really a nerve tremble !!

Ok - it's another Tuesday, here in the wilds of England... tho' - having said that, it's been a pretty good day !! Better than the rain they had at the memorial service for Mr Mandela (is that the correct spelling ?) - it was really pouring down.... yet everybody was singing & dancing away, in the stands, while the speakers took their turn to say a few (too many) pleasantries !!

One of the BBC commentators made a point, that the stadium wasn't full..... heck, the people were up in the high stands, right under the roof sections.... they were not going to stand out in the open & get wet thru' !! Maybe the place wasn't full - but, there were enough people there, to tell their Grand Children.... "I was there..." !!

Ok - My Family....

Well - our Daughter, ME, is sat a few feet away from me... putting up with listening to my music, while she "plays" on her iPad thingy..... I think she is going out, to her boyfriends, in a while...... As for our Son, J, well - he is still over in wales, at Uni. Long time readers will know all of that... so, I'll just keep repeating myself.... just for any "newby's" who happen to log in !!

That just leaves My Wife & Dearest Friend... B... who, as it's a Tuesday, has gone to her weight watchers meeting - followed by a bit of shopping, at the nearby supermarket. I'm not really sure what time she will be back - but, it'll be a few hours yet....

That  means, if ME does go out, I will be home alone !! Time to turn the music down to deafening & wake up the rest of the village !!

I had a quiet smile to myself, earlier.... a place where I'm getting a Cd from, asked if I could let them know when it arrived - as they posted it yesterday, it should reach me today !! Why the "quiet smile" - well, simply put - we can go days, with-out seeing a postman, so to expect something to reach me, the following day... it's a bit of a leap of faith, let's put it that way !!

As it turned out - nothing did reach me today... so, I wasn't too wrong, on my guess !! It really is a bit of an out of the way village. Ok - we're on this main road thing - but... we are nowhere, really..... completely off the map, as far as places go !! Never mind - our friends know where we are... and that's always a bonus !!

One of the places, where we used to live... well, we always thought the postman would wait until he had a few letters for us, before he delivered them to us.... we really did live off of the beaten track !!

Right - moving on... to the music of the moment... I'm actually playing the Allman's 'Winterland' concert, from 1973.... it was part of the 4 Cd package, that came out while I was stuck in the hospital. I really should play it more often than I do, but.... there is always a "but"...... the bootleg of the show had been out, in various forms, for most of the last 40 years, so I kind of know it toooooo well, really !!

Never mind - I won't do a track listing for it.... I'm sure I've done one before.... but, I will do a listing for a show, that I was playing earlier. It's Dream Theater's 3 Cd set, from their 'Chaos In Motion' tour - just looking at the date, on the box, it actually came out in 2008 - I didn't realise it was quite that old !!

Anyways - the tracks are:

CD 1

1) Intro/Also Sprach Zarathustra
2) Constant Motion
3) Panic Attack
4) Blind faith
5) Surrounded

CD 2

1) The Dark Eternal Night
2) Keyboard Solo
3) Lines In The Sand
4) Scarred
5) Forsaken
6) The Ministry Of Lost Souls

CD 3

1) Take The Time
2) In The Presence Of Enemies
3) Schmedley Wilcox
                       a) Trial Of Tears
                       b) Finally Free
                       c) Learning To Live
                       d) In The Name Of God
                       e) Octavarium

The last track - as you might have already guessed - is just a 21 minute medley of stuff. It's really just a bit of "fun" to close the concert with - I would say, it's a bit of a free for all, "jam session" .... but, to be honest, Dream Theater never seem to stray too far away from their set list & the exact notes, in each song, are played note for note perfect, each & every concert I've heard them do..... so, it's very far from a "jam session" - it's too well rehearsed !!

That's not a big deal... I enjoy their live sets, but - there's that "but" word again - I do like a bit of a change, just now & again !! I really played the show, to compare it to the recent, 'Live At Luna Park'... I don't know why - I guess I just wanted something to play.... nevermind !! I should play the studio albums more often - they're on the shelf, behind me, but.... I just seem to pass them by !! Oh well.....

Getting away from music...

Tomorrow is the 7 day's mark, since my last surgery.... and, tomorrow afternoon, B is driving me down to Exeter, back to the hospital, to have my dressings removed. If all has gone well, the skin graft will have "taken" & (hopefully) I can lose Curiosity - my latest vac pump - and just have regular dressing put on the wound !! That would be sooooo great.... after  6 & a bit months, to actually be on the road to recovery - well, I can't tell you how much that means to me !!

I think - and I might be wrong - the area, where the skin graft was taken from, will stay as it is, for another week - to give it more time to heal. I'm kind of hoping they might do both dressings, but.... that's up to the Consultants, I guess !!

Worse case scenario - again, I'm guessing - is that the skin graft didn't take & we have to think again about it all.... time will tell, I guess !! Oh yes - they also took the bit of bone, out of my spine, that was in the way and were going to do some tests on it - I think, to see if the infection had got into the bones, or was just a tissue problem !! It's all too complicated for me.... I'll just do, what I've done all summer, and let the people (who seem to know better) get on with it !!

As long as I don't have to spend much more time, in the hospital, that's fine by me...... I just want it all over & done with now, so I can plan the next part of my life !! No matter what happens, tomorrow - I doubt that much will happen before Christmas - but, I could be very wrong on that.... I'll have to wait & see how things go !!

Right - my plans for the rest of the night..... Well, ME has just gone out -m so, the music has got a little bit louder & that's fine by me !! As for any other plans - well, I don't know really.... I have to send an e-mail and that's about it, really !!

Oh - I better make sure the Mini Egg is fully charged, ready for tomorrows trip !! It ain't going to be very nice, just making the trip down to Exeter - but, if the iPod fails mid-journey, that would be just too much !!

Right - I'm away... as always, I thank you all for logging in & taking the time to read my words..... 667 seems to have gone well - well enough at least !! Thanks again... until next time...

Bye Bye