april jazz challenge

As a general rule i am not a fan of radio; the ratio of 57 minutes of rubbish to maybe 3 minutes of good does nothing to entice me and i'm quite content to let my friends sift through the chaff and bring me the tasty wheat. Even though i don't deserve it. However, since choosing a "going to sleep" album became such a chore, i now opt for either complete silence or 30 minutes of radio 2 (usually accompanied with a quick prayer that Janice Long will stay off the air) to help me off to sleep.

Anyway, last night i was treated to a jazz documentary. Usually, when jazz comes on i think "that's nice, i really should listen to some jazz sometime" and then something catches my attention (a spot of light, etc) and i forget. My problem with jazz is that i know nothing about it, obviously it's a wide area and i don't just want to stroll into Fopp and scoop up a load of CDs that i'll hate.

So, last night, i heard a piece i liked and made a note of it, at least then i'd have somewhere to start, find an album with the piece on, then find similar stuff. Much like i did with Oasis -> Wonderwall -> What's the Story -> Britpop. Except faster, and with goatees.



Therefore, my challenge for the month is to listen to NO contemporary music, try and identify some jazz albums i will definitely like and buy them, and if there's time try and do the same thing with classical music (of which i am slightly less ignorant). I'm not going to name names, cause right now i only know the most mainstream exponents and that would make me sound like someone who doesn't know much about something.

The trickiest part of this challenge is that i have 2 CDs arriving in the next week - 'Panchpuran' by Bill Jones and 'April' by Sun Kil Moon.

cupboard love

Going to have to be a quick one. Today, as you may be aware, is April Fool's day, and after a decade of inaction i decided to actually make an effort this year.

My scheming began in January when i was dossing in Hobbycraft and hit upon an idea. Basically i would buy a bag of stick-on eyes and attach them to inanimate objects, namely my housemate's food in our fridge.



Having left it perilously close to procure the eyes i was left with a very tight schedule this morning - John Lewis opens at 9am, my driving lesson is at 10am, between that i had to locate and purchase the eyes, walk home, do the deed, photograph and get out of my house before my housemate wakes up.

The most fun part was loitering outside John Lewis at 8.55am. Anyway, because many of the things in the fridge are too colourful and cluttered i decided to attack the cupboards as well. I am particularly keen on the shady-looking jar of Lloyd Grossman's Thai Green Curry Sauce, lurking at the back.



So, yes, it's 9.56am now and providing the glue holds i should be home and dry. Better run, but first check out this slightly eerie fridge shot. Never has houmous looked so threatening.