Virtual Friday

It’s the last day of July. The sun is shining and (even) Croydon looks relatively pretty today. Plus I am off work tomorrow in order to sing at a wedding, so I have a definite end of week feeling. Oh, and it seems we just won the Test match too!

The diet/exercise regime is obviously working because I have lost ten pounds in the month of July. And that’s dipped my weight down into a new number of stones which makes me happy.

Looking back at the month, what is odd is that there was a period of a week up until a week ago where I really lost very little, and I also really ate very little too. The obvious answer is that eating too little slowed my metabolism down and so I didn't lose the weight. Since then I have consciously upped the calories and the weight has started to shift again.

I think the exercise has a large part to play in this. In general I am at the gym four times a week or more, and there will be at least 30 minutes of fairly vigorous cardio involved in that. Plus I have also started to try and fit in a walk every day. It turns out it’s quite easy to fit in a walk of about 4km around Croydon over lunch, which certainly shifts some calories, and makes me feel better. And I haven’t been mugged once yet.

So, whilst I realise weight loss will slow as I move towards target, I am in sight of the goal now – the stones number is the right one. I may not make it during August, but a real prospect surely of hitting target by the end of September. And then comes the difficult part – maintaining it.

I can’t speak for women, but most men do like competition, and setting/beating targets. So I do walk more now I have a phone app that tells me how far I walked – “oh if just go that way that will get me up to…” and the little “yes” I express (perhaps out loud) when the weigh in is good. But maintaining will remove at least that second goal. “Yep – as is” is a lot less motivating. I’ll see how that goes when I get there.

In other news I've only three more days at work before I take some holiday. In part this gives rise to panic – as a just about manageable workflow looks anything but when I think I’ll have two and a bit weeks when I'm doing very little of it. But a larger part of me is looking forward to the break. I've started planning what I want to do – catch up with some family and friends, do some writing and quite a lot of music, and generally relax too. I suspect eating well will be harder – because it’s easier to be tempted by food when just at home rather than in the office. But then I have more time to spend burning calories too.

And I'm looking forward to tomorrow’s wedding – we are singing four pieces through-out the service, which will I'm sure be followed up by a catch-up in the pub. Happy days.

Depending on Your Appetite

One of the consequences of my recent move has been a need to sort out my music collection – with the aim of being able to move away from physical CDs and to an electronic solution. Not because it's better – it really isn't – but simply for convenience and to save space.

Having successfully sync’d everything I have bought from Amazon and iTunes I set myself the task of uploading 10 CDs a day until I had finished the balance, and at the weekend I completed it.

One of the joys of this of course is that you get reminded of CDs that you hadn't played for ages, which has led to me revisiting Prefab Sprout in a big way over the last week. A band I had a lot of time for in the 90’s – at least musically (I still think that the lyrics can fall just the wrong side of clever-clever). And it’s still good – they have now been uploaded to the MP3 player as well. What is interesting is that my ranking of the albums has certainly changed over the years – and that Steve McQueen is now unquestionably my favourite. Great songs but a simpler set of production values that Jordan or Langley Park – which I now see as a bit overblown. (Swoon, the first album is simpler still, but for me the songs just aren't as good.)

And so, it was with my quest for simplicity in mind that I went for the first time to Balham Ukulele Society’s fortnightly Jam session on Sunday*. I’d never played a uke before – well maybe I’d strummed one once or twice – so getting thrown straight in with no concessions to beginners was a steep learning curve. I think I did OK though – enough of the hand shapes are familiar from the guitar that I could have a decent go anyway. And thank you to Rachel who leant me a uke to practice on between now and the next time.

Of course, the different tuning makes for some oddities for anyone thinking in guitar language. Not least that the E chord seems to be incredibly difficult. But most uke songs seem to be in G, so that’s OK. Until you come to sing them. Still, it’s another thing to keep my diary ridiculously full.

Other news, my beloved 5 year old iPhone 3GS finally bit the dust. Well, got to the point that I could only get a signal standing next to a phone tower anyway, which kind of renders the phrase “mobile phone” questionable. I have a new one and am still at the stage that I am amazed that I don’t have to charge it for three days at a time.

It has a ‘walking’ app on it. I should backtrack a bit here. In order to try and lose some weight I started using a free website thing called ‘My Fitness Pal’. It’s a diary really. You plug in goals, and the exercise you do and the food you eat (it has a huge database of these which makes that quite easy). And this is quite motivational – even though no-one else can see it - the thought of typing in “three bags of crisps and 17 bourbon biscuits” in the “Dinner” field is a deterrent. And I can use it on phone and I-Pad as well as PC. Anyway – it links to all sorts of applications, so on both Saturday and Sunday I used the pedometer thing and was pleasantly surprised how easy it is to burn calories without it seeming like it, simply by walking around. So that’s added to the routine now too.

Generally my fitness regime is going pretty well. I started it, in theory, around the middle of May, though in practice didn't get going until June. But in the eight weeks since I've eaten well, and exercised at least four times a week. I've lost a bit of weight and feel a lot happier with that sort of thing as a result. Of course, the progress will slow down now – the first few pounds are the easiest. But a huge benefit of living alone is that I can avoid treats and snacks very easily – by not buying them. So I am optimistic that the five weeks from now till end August will bring further progress.

Well, that’s enough – the train is pulling in and I’ll post this later. Off to rehearse for a wedding this evening – where we are singing on Friday. I don’t think they need ukuleles but I will ask.

___

As I come to post this, I thought I would share this from John Oliver – the UK satirist/ comedian who seems to be taking America by storm. When there is so much crap going on in the world, this made me smile - #gogetthosegeckos.

* of course, this isn't the reason at all – someone invited me, but it’s a nice narrative link!

Hatfield Poly-instrumentalists

I would generally say that I am too old for music festivals. They combine crowds, camping and mud in a way that does not make them attractive to me. If they are your bag, then great, but not any more.

However, on Sunday I overcame my prejudices and went to Folk by the Oak, at Hatfield House, in Hertfordshire. I thought you might like to see my review.

I usually associate Hatfield with three things - the annoying boys-only pint-swilling college at Durham Uni,  the Poly, and ("and the North" - the band, not the road sign). I realise none of these things exist any more in that form, but I am a child of my time.

But Hatfield is also the location of the Tudor house where Elizabeth I grew up - which sits in rolling landscape about five minutes from the station. (The fact I could get back in an hour to Balham on public transport also gave this festival a big plus for me when I considered it!)

This is a 'one field' festival - very little traipsing required. A main stage and a small covered "Acorn" stage (see what they did there?), with beer, food etc all to hand. Very much a family feel - entirely safe etc.

I think they said over the PA that attendance was about 6,000, and it didn't feel overly packed out at that - plenty of room to sit watching the main stage and picnic, which is how we spend the afternoon session.

I'm not going to give you chapter and verse on all the acts, there is a list on their website above. I was going to focus on the stuff that had brought me to the venue. I would say thought that Kathryn Tickell and her new band (the Side) were excellent. Infectiously catchy and danceable as ever.

And I would also highlight from my visit to the Acorn stage (it was raining and there was cover there) that the Keston Cobblers Club is a fabulous act. Talented multi-instrumentalists, good songs, clear (well I though so) Mumfords and Bellowhead influences, and a tuba. You should see them if you can.

But the main reason for going was to see Richard Thompson performing a solo acoustic set. If you don't know Thompson's work, where have you been? Guitarist and writer in Fairport Convention, at the end of the 60's, and since then a successful act, firstly in a duo with his wife and latterly solo. He was voted one of the top 20 guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone, though he is as far away from the smooth "Clapton-style" of rock guitar as it is possible to be whilst still actually being a guitarist.

And? Just wow! A string of songs well known to the crowd (I jotted down a set list on the go and have stuck it at the bottom if you care - sorry for any inaccuracies). Mostly pretty faithful to his originals. Interspersed with a pretty deadpan, self-deprecating chat which shows the benefit of years of gigging.

It is hard when you listen to Thompson on disc to believe that there is only one guitarist there. You would swear there were three of them, given his ability to play a bass/rhythm line and lead at one time. Oh, and sing as well. This is a man who you just know could pat his head and rub his stomach at the same time with ease, and before breakfast at that. Stand-out track for me is (and will always be) 1952 Vincent Black Lightning. This song combines spellbinding guitar work with a tragic love story about a bad boy and his girl, and his motor bike. "And he gave her one last kiss and died. And he gave her his Vincent to ride". But the slower numbers like Beeswing (Beeswax, as someone next to us in the crowd called it) showed a subtle beauty to match it.

Thompson isn't doing many shows in the UK this year - but does have a new acoustic album out. If you can't see him, listen to him - he will brighten any day.

And the closing act of the festival was singer/songwriter/violinist Seth Lakeman. About half our group was very keen to be up at the front for this one - they find Seth's arms very attractively muscular. (That's what you get with all that fiddling I suppose.) I know Lakeman's work quite well - and have always thought it OK, but a bit samey - a fast song and a slow song and not much other variation. Catchy, but not really for me.

But live, he is a different proposition. This is a serious band of musicians. Pretty stripped back - just Seth plus four, but real talent from everyone. His female co-vocalist (Lisbee Stainton) added real musical colour, and blended beautifully with Lakeman's voice. And the energy in the performance was astonishing, throughout the band. I will need to listen again to the records, either I have taken them too lightly and dismissed him as talentless because of his folk 'poster-boy' status, or perhaps recordings just don't capture the performance well enough - they don't get the energy.

Oh, and for myself, I didn't see what the fuss is all about concerning his arms. I suspect that's a 'girl' thing.

So - Folk by the Oak - under £40, and a very worthwhile day. Come along next year.

___________
RT setlist (E&oE) with a link to Vincent Black Lightning if you are itnerested.

When the Spell is Broken, Walking on a Wire, Valerie, Saving the Good Stuff, Johnny’s Far Away, Pharaoh, Vincent Black Lightning, Who Knows Where The Time Goes?, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, Between You and Me (a work in progress – letters during WWI), Good Things Happen to Bad People, Beeswing, Wall of Death, Down Where the Drunkards, One Door Opens, Tear-stained Letter.

You Put The Load Right On Me

Still catching up from the blogging desert of recent weeks, and as you will notice, am doing so thematically rather than in any sort of temporal way.

So today it's about all things health and wellbeing.

Earlier this year I was investigating the 5:2 diet. It seemed OK to start with but played merry hell with my energy levels. I simply couldn't exercise on 600 calories - in fact it made sleep difficult. Plus I more than compensated on the other days. Now, the diet does proclaim some benefits other than pure weight loss, in terms of levels of certain enzymes in the body etc. But as I didn't have the kit to check any of those, I can't comment. I just got to the point that it got in the way of life and made me unhappy. And so it was never going to work for me*.

But I then did find that towards Easter, my weight was creeping up again. In fact by Easter or a little after it had crept up by half a stone compared to where it had been at Christmas. This is a sort of elephant-y creep - not overly subtle. I was still going to the gym, and the cause was simple. Eating too much. Both at meals and as snacks. Mid-afternoon chocolate bars were creeping in, and late night biscuits and cheese.

In other words - all the stuff that we know is bad. I wasn't overly happy and I ate. Better than self-medicating with booze or worse, but not great.

Well, I'm pleased to say I have managed to get on top of that again. The extra weight has come off (with a bit more as well). I feel much better, and feel I have found a "diet" - way of eating is a better phrase - which works for me on an ongoing basis. Let me tell you what I've done.

• Regular readers will know I was getting uneasy about eating meat. And so I cut down. Then I stopped meat altogether, but kept in the odd bit of fish. In the last month I have been completely veggie. And I have felt much better. Less bloated, and more energy to exercise. Which has meant more exercise.
• I usually don't eat breakfast. When I do, I then start to feel really hungry again about 11am. If I don't I feel OK until about 12:30. So that is simple.
• I am eating a lot of fruit. And veg but more of that later. Certainly five a day of fruit alone. If I am hungry, I will have fruit.
• Lunch is tending to be salads or similar. If I want something else it will be a wrap, not a sandwich. In part this is because the choice of veggie sandwiches is, basically, cheese.
• Evenings. I am avoiding pre-cooked or convenience stuff. Cooking fresh (perhaps a big pot of something for three days or the freezer). Having had a house for some time with kids who disliked 'bits' in their food meant I got out of the habit of eating what are basically vegetable stews. Loads of veg, plus kidney beans, lentils etc. Or a stir fry.
• Frozen veg is cheap and convenient - you don't have to worry about stuff going off. So I will eat more of this, and less of the big carbs providers - less pasta and rice. (These were I think the things that always did for me - because I ate too much of them.)
• If hungry in the evening, toast with some nice jam, or cereal does fine.
• Oh, and no booze - not that I do anyway, but just remind you of that.

And as the weight has come off, I have both pushed up the gym exercise. More weights (I did very little before) and more cardio. To the point where I am sometimes genuinely exhausted after the gym, rather than just slightly sweaty. And as the weight comes off, the cardio gets easier. So three times a week I'm doing an hour on a bike or bike and run. Next will be some interval training I think.

In addition to this, I am trying to walk a bit more - especially in the nice weather. Just wandering around last Saturday, shopping and enjoying the sun and I walked about four miles. Pretty good, but had I not thought about it, I wouldn't have realised it. Plus walking keeps one a distance from the kitchen...

Which leads me to - measurement. It won't surprise you to know I've got a bit obsessive about this. I'm using MyFitnessPal on PC and IPad to track everything I eat, and all the exercise I do. This is really easy - pretty much everything you do it already has the values for. Plus I use my phone to record walking distances etc for input. Lets me see what has gone well, and badly. And gives me something to be vaguely proud of when I have had a good day.

The next goal is to try and embed all of this - so that it becomes a weigh (geddit?) of life and not just a novelty. If I can get to that point then I feel that I can keep doing this forever. Of course, come the winter weather it always gets harder - suspect soup will be an answer there - and my forthcoming ten days off may test me.

So, it's all good. Except for cigarettes, which I still crave. If I am around smokers, I have to really fight not to give in. The good news in this is that even if I do give in, I then have no desire to have one the next day. Whilst it would be much better to not smoke at all ever, one or two once a month probably won't kill me. Well, it might well, but you know what I mean!


* I know lots of people it has worked for - and am not criticising the diet - just saying that at that time and in that place it wasn't for me.

It's the magic number

During my blogging absence I managed to attend a range of concerts. Normally, I’d have mentioned them on the go, but here’s a catch up for you.

Barts Chamber Choir - Dixit Dominus (Handel) and the Vivaldi Gloria at St James Piccadilly

This is a fabulous venue with a great acoustic. The concert was on the night of the England Italy world cup match so with an English (nominally) first half and an Italian second half, there was something for the conductor to link in to. In art, as in real life, Italy won. I didn't know the Handel at all prior to the gig. It was a lot more intense than I associate with him generally – I know he does powerful stuff, but this had an urgency beyond what I had expected. 

On the other hand, I know the Vivaldi very well, and love it. Sitting in a beautiful church as the Cum Sancto Spirito fugues its way to the end was the highlight of the evening.

Barts Chamber Choir is probably about forty strong, and drawn from the wider Barts choir - clearly comprising some extremely talented singers. They got that balance/mix that smaller choirs can find (which is harder for the choral leviathans I guess). And one of the soloists - Grace Davidson I think, is just angelic. The most amazing voice, with seemingly no effort (or need to breathe). To balance the review, there was also some counter-tenor stuff in the Handel.

Crouch End Festival Chorus Tallis and Others at Southwark Cathedral

Bit of a last minute one for me this – having had a Voxcetera rehearsal cancelled at the last minute, I Facebooked something like “A free evening – what am I going to do?”, and this was suggested. The lead piece was Tallis’s Spem in Alium*.Which is in 40 parts – 8 five part choirs. 

Also performed, in an entirely unaccompanied programme was the Vaughan Williams G Minor mass, some Bruckner, a rendering of the Buddy Holly song “It doesn't matter anymore” by Orlando Gough and the premier of a “Salve Regina” by Hughes.

Crouch End is a very high quality choir, and I was impressed by what they did. I didn't quite 'get' the Buddy Holly thing, but liked the Salve. Vaughan –W is what it is. Which leaves the Tallis. I was near enough the front to have the choirs wrapped around me, so I got a placing effect in the music that you would miss from the back. And it was clever. But it left me feeling that it was done in 40 parts to impress, and that perhaps that got in the way of the music a little. Not my favourite.

Chas ‘n’ Dave – St George's Beckenham

Well – what is there to say? I don’t think CnD’s music particularly suits a traditional church setting – for me they will always be better hear in the low-ceilinged social club. Perhaps on a holiday camp in Camber Sands. And incongruous only begins to describe the dancing and drinking (strictly BYO – the communion wine was safely locked away).

If I was looking for words to describe Chas n Dave’s music, I would certainly go for ‘fun’ but also ‘efficiency’. You probably can’t be in the game and touring every five minutes for five decades without getting it down to a fine art. But they are a tight band, doing things well, but with real economy of effort – songs are incredibly well drilled, and I felt that if I had seen them any other night, the performance would have been the same. I don’t mean this as a criticism – but it’s as near to one end of the spontaneity continuum as it is possible to be without a backing track. (The other end – Dylan – about a mile further along than anyone else!).

My other key observation – Chas Hodges sits really high up to play the piano – if I invoke the spirit of Peter Hook here some of you will know what I mean. I don’t know why – but it interests me.

But it was tremendous fun anyway – how can you pass on Chas ’n’ Dave?

There’s a bit of a hole in my gig diary over the next month or two, so feel free to draw my attention to anything that is interesting.

*I know it’s silly, but Spem in Alium still sounds like a dish from a menu in a Monty Python sketch to me 

Here's a tune for Anthony

I'm back. And with an unusually cryptic title. Did you miss me? Be honest. Oh, well, never mind.

But the blogging hiatus is officially over. And there is so much I want to talk to you about. Since the last blog I've been to some great gigs, from Chas n Dave to the Crouch End Festival Chorus. Plus I saw Rob Newman (Newman & Baddiel) last weekend - wonderful gig.

I've sung at the Albert Hall. I'm preparing to sing in a Prom (not plugging tickets because it's sold out, but Radio 3 Monday 18th August if you are interested). Oh, and I did a karaoke last week.

The "not eating meat" thing is turning out to be quite easy, with the exception of lunches - dear God, I never want to see a cheese sandwich again. Other stuff can take longer, though actually just requires a bit more consideration in advance. I feel hugely better for it. And I am persevering with going to the gym. Probably as a result of those two things, I've lost a bit of weight, which makes me feel better, and makes the gym easier - so a virtuous cycle is ensuing.

And as I write this, Michael Gove is off to be chief whip, which makes me feel wonderful. And someone I used to sit next to in lectures at university has joined the government, which makes me feel old.

I may delve a bit more into any and all of those  in the coming weeks, because normal service will now be resumed.

But, all this is that nervous chatter you have at the start of an appraisal or something isn't it? I'm skirting round the substantive and letting you gorge yourselves on small talk. So?

So, I've had a bit of a change in my home circumstances, necessitating a change of address etc. Unlike famous people, I'm not going to write volumes about it, or invent new phrases to explain things. Because that's, frankly, wrong. My blog has stuff in it about me*, which no-one else can legitimately take offence at, and about public figures, who are fair targets for what they get. I don't talk about real people.

So, I am fine. I have had the support of, help from, some very good friends over the last six weeks, and am now readjusting to some different, and somewhat straitened circumstances. I am still very definitely in Balham. I don't think that there was every an alternative. In fact, I live here. And it is very nice.

That's it. No biggie. Nobody died. It's just that in all this, there wasn't time, Dear Reader, for you. Don't worry, I'll make it up to you...


* and the 'me' of my blog is, you realise, only a view of me. Everything you get is true, but you don't get everything.