Todays P&L: GBP 60.00 sometimes I don't know why I bother.
Todays Booze: Still clean
Todays Soundtrack: Bruce Springsteen
The markets were nuts today, There was some serious volatility on the DOW30 at the to four in the afternoon, (London time). The general momentum is upside - I feel this is a bit of a suckers rally. The reason being touted is that Greece has no chance of defaulting. Well I could have told you that, but do the Germans know what they are doing by bailing out the Greeks. What next? Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Italy. This reminds me of a sovereign version of the UK banking crisis. If the government had taken decisive action hen Northern Rock collapsed and let those fools go under the speculators wouldn't have targeted RBS and HBOS, which proved far weaker than anyone knew. The correlation between the Dow and the dollar is interesting. America continues to print money in the form of treasury bonds. Gold is falling and I have decided to see how close it can get to a thousand dollars per ounce before choosing an entry point. The real buying signal will be when the analysts and talking heads on the business channel say the commodities rally is over.
Am I losing my mind? I think I might be although there are plenty of people, my father amongst them, that would say I am completely insane. We are not a family that believes in therapy and the like but when I was fifteen my family was going through a pretty hard time and after my art teacher and English teacher made some recommendations based on my 0 level course work I was recommended to see a psychiatrist, which would have been used as evidence in a complicated legal case my parents were engaged in, (long story and any more details would be detrimental to my family). My father refused, even though like any angst ridden teenager I was well up for it, his explanation? "If they get their hands on this fucker, we will never get him out of the looney bin" - charming. I recently told poetry of flesh on her strangely erotic blog about a brain trauma I had in my youth. Here is the story.
When I was very young, although it seems absurd to me that I was ever that young now, I was something of a child prodigy. They didn't really give IQ tests to children in those days, but mine was regarded as way off the scales, even though I was numerically dyslexic. The test used was mental age and mine was predicted at nineteen plus. This was something of a surprise to my parents who thought I was slow because I didn't talk until I was nearly three. When I was laughing as they were teaching my elder brother to read with some children s book and they said to me you can't even talk so I don't know why you are laughing. I then dictated the entire book they were using to my mother word perfect. Anyway apart from being a bit of a smart arse there wasn't much benefit apart from never having to study. One day I was in the street and I saw my older brother, whom I must have been a constant annoyance to, with some friends. I ran towards him probably shouting abuse. It was evening, probably about eight or nine and he picked up a lump of concrete hardcore which unfortunately had a very sharp edge and hurled it at me as I was running full speed towards him. The rock hit me square in the forehead. Anyway It pierced my skull and damaged my cerebral hemisphere. Once I came too, my brother who by now was really scared took me to his friends house where she cleaned up the huge amounts of blood and stuck a plaster over the hole in my skull. I was still dazed and when my brother and I returned home he told me to go straight to bed and not talk to my parents, which I did. They clearly knew something was up because they came into my room and rushed me to hospital. I don't actually remember any of this, its just what was told to me, In fact I don't remember anything sbout my childhood until I left the hospital. I wasn't in long, because there was nothing they could really do, I have a small scar in my forehead which still has a chip of granite in it as a reminder and a solid bump in the middle of my head. Didn't harm my looks much so that's good, but I lost my photographic memory and while still a smart arse probably a hundred or so IQ points. I think Poetry was interested in if I thought it had affected my behavior in any way. As I was too young then and can't remember anything about what I was like before it is impossible to tell. It does seem likely that my willful disregard for my own safety and my compulsive behavior may have been triggered by it. Like I say, I have never been to a shrink so who knows?
My other head injuries are when I was in Lagos and I was arrested by the army for drinking moonshine and buying currency on the black market, I was forced to squat in the sun and when I fell I was kicked by some soldier who I gave some racist abuse to, (did say I wasn't so smart anymore didn't I), and I was bashed over the head a few times with the stock of his rifle - that got me five stitches at the back of the skull and a concussion. And the other One was when I inexplicably fell over in Spain, (the pavements are crap), I didn't have time to brace myself at all and landed face first on a kerb, which broke my nose and left me with a scar between my eyes. It also broke my cheekbones and pushed my front teeth a few millimeters back, (I was really worried I would lose them - cant stand dentists). Anyway those probably knocked off a few more IQ points, in fact, I am lucky I can even make it to the toilet unaided these days.
So that's one of my many stories, am I mad? probably but I have the scars to prove it wasn't my fault.
Today's soundtrack was the boss, Springsteen. Not to everyone's taste but I really like him despite not being an unemployed steel worker from New Jersey. My top five Bruce tracks today are:
One Step Up: Quintessential Springsteen, Its got the lot, Marital problems, beaten up old Ford, drinking in a hard luck town. This song could be about my trading, One step up and two steps back. Instead its about my life, "It's the same thing night on night, Who's wrong baby who's right, Another fight and I slam the door on another battle in our dirty little war.When I look at myself I don't see the man I wanted to be.Somewhere along the line I slipped off track. I'm caught movin' one step up and two steps back" This song is sad but the final verse when he sings "Last night I dreamed I held you in my arms, the music was never-ending.We danced as the evening sky faded to black" and the music shifts into a kind of crescendo, you really feel like all problems can be overcome. This song reminds me of the Lunatic.
Downbound Train - Bruce's entry to the gloomiest song ever competition, who can beat opening lines like "I had a job, I had a girl, I had something going mister in this world, I got laid off down at the lumber yard. Our love went bad, times got hard
Now I work down at the carwash, where all it ever does is rain. Don't you feel like you're a rider on a downbound train. She just said "Joe I gotta go, We had it once we ain't got it any more". She packed her bags left me behind". Is it any wonder I drink so much with music like this on my playlist. This reminds me of being alone in Bangkok when my luck finally ran out.
I'm On Fire - Short and sweet, who doesn't love this song. reminds me of being a kid and not getting the girl I wanted.
Better Days - Optimism at last, This song reminds me no matter how bad it seems I haven't got that much to complain about. "Well my soul checked out missing as I sat listening,to the hours and minutes tickin' away. Yeah just sittin' around waitin' for my life to begin, While it was all just slippin' away" And also to stop feeling so sorry for myself all the time "Now a life of leisure and a pirate's treasure don't make much for tragedy,but it's a sad man my friend who's livin' in his own skin and can't stand the company. Every fool's got a reason for feelin' sorry for himself and turning his heart to stone".
Philadelphia - back to doom and gloom a track that is stunning in its bleakness, " I was bruised and battered, and I couldn't tell what I felt.I was unrecognizable to myself. Saw my reflection in a window,I didn't know my own face". "Ain't no angel gonna greet me,it's just you and I my friend.And my clothes don't fit me no more.
I walked a thousand miles just to slip this skin" This song reminds me of when I was hospitalized and the doctors said I doubt you will make it through the night. The Nurse three days later said to me you look healthy, but your the sickest person in this ward. The guy next to me died that night.
Other close contenders were Two Faces, The River, Born To Run, Thunder Road Murder Incorporated and Mr State Trooper.
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Friday, 5 February 2010
Sing Blue Silver
Today's P&L: GBP 310.00
Today's Booze: Still nothing
Today's Soundtrack: Duran Duran
Well the markets sold off again and for once, I was, (kind of), paying attention but my capital position is so weak right now I have to be cautious. So I had a few short, (ie I sold the futures, anticipating the price to drop), spread bet trades on the DAX30 and The FTSE100 and made one hundred and twenty and one hundred and ninety pounds respectively. I know it isn't much but as they are spread bet trades, the profits are tax free. When I had more capital I used to take a cash position and hedge it with spread trades, so if I thought the market was going down I would short with a spread trade, thereby avoiding paying tax on any earnings and go long the cash futures because as they are taxed I could offset the losses on my tax returns.
The market seems worn out, people are beginning to ask questions as to what happens next. I always felt that even though there seemed like no alternative the massive liquidity injections would lead to trouble further down the road and it seems that the rest of the market is catching up to this idea. The pressure to keep things going is intense. The Euro is also still being slaughtered as Portugal is the next in line for a potential bail out. This is ridiculous and if Greece and Portugal receive aid, why shouldn't Spain and Ireland and what about all those dodgy eastern European nations. Predictably, all the free capital is rushing back to the US dollar and the treasury ,market but this is foolish, there has to be a better way to employ capital than this.
Today's soundtrack is Duran Duran, it had to happen. Duran are the reason I got into a band. In the grim old UK of the early eighties Duran Duran blew the world away. I have seen them in concert loads of times and they are always great. They were a band who at their peak generated the kind of hysteria that only the Beatles and Elvis had generated before. I love all their songs and picking just five is hard but according to iTunes the ones that won today are:
Is There Something I should Know - A brilliant song , very simple and a request that most men have made when trying to figure out girls, (don't forget Duran Duran's target audience was thirteen to eighteen year old girls and their boyfriends). For a feel good song, this is actually full of paranoia and doubt "don't say your easy on me babe, cause your about as easy as a nuclear war" - only in the eighties and only Duran could have come up with a line like this. This song reminds me of drinking with my guitarist. I left the room to get some more drink and as I walked in he had his beautiful red Schecter guitar, which was seemingly permanently strapped to his body, and he picked out the notes that run through the song.
Lonely In Your Nightmare - Grown up music from Duran on the Rio album. To me this song is about loss.
Liberty - Strange song but quite apt for me, for me it seems to be about how tired you get from all the games man and women play with each other. The stalker is currently ignoring me. Apparently I have done something terrible to offend her - bothered! I often feel like pointing out to her that she was the one who forced her way back into my life, I didn't ask her any questions about what she had been up to all those years apart. OK so I am a bad boyfriend, but she knew this before. "Don't make it every night don't wanna be the love of your life, So if you are inclined to spend a little time I'll be here"
The Reflex - Is this the song of my life, who knows? I doubt if I would have lasted so long if I was just living on my wits. What is the reflex, I guess it is instinct we all have it. If you have ever been in a life threatening situation and due to drunkenness and reckless living I have been in several you know what the reflex is. Its the time I blagged my way across the Mekong after bargaining my way out of jail in Laos. Its the time in Burma I avoided getting married, its the time I escaped a machete attack in Douala in the Cameroons and its the time me and my father got into a bar brawl with five likely lads in Bexley on his sixtieth birthday. Sometimes you stop running and take a few licks, like that line at the beginning of Goodfellas, "Every once and a while I took a beating, the way I saw it everyone takes a beating some time".
New Moon On Monday - A song that was playing the first time I got laid, so good memories for me. Who knows what the lyrics mean "shake up the mixture, the lizard picture", Whenever I hear this song, I remember when I was young and nothing, absolutely nothing seemed impossible.
The ones that could have made it and on any other day might have are The Chauffer, Girls On Film, American Science, Meet El Presidente, Hungry Like The Wolf and Come Undone.
Today's Booze: Still nothing
Today's Soundtrack: Duran Duran
Well the markets sold off again and for once, I was, (kind of), paying attention but my capital position is so weak right now I have to be cautious. So I had a few short, (ie I sold the futures, anticipating the price to drop), spread bet trades on the DAX30 and The FTSE100 and made one hundred and twenty and one hundred and ninety pounds respectively. I know it isn't much but as they are spread bet trades, the profits are tax free. When I had more capital I used to take a cash position and hedge it with spread trades, so if I thought the market was going down I would short with a spread trade, thereby avoiding paying tax on any earnings and go long the cash futures because as they are taxed I could offset the losses on my tax returns.
The market seems worn out, people are beginning to ask questions as to what happens next. I always felt that even though there seemed like no alternative the massive liquidity injections would lead to trouble further down the road and it seems that the rest of the market is catching up to this idea. The pressure to keep things going is intense. The Euro is also still being slaughtered as Portugal is the next in line for a potential bail out. This is ridiculous and if Greece and Portugal receive aid, why shouldn't Spain and Ireland and what about all those dodgy eastern European nations. Predictably, all the free capital is rushing back to the US dollar and the treasury ,market but this is foolish, there has to be a better way to employ capital than this.
Today's soundtrack is Duran Duran, it had to happen. Duran are the reason I got into a band. In the grim old UK of the early eighties Duran Duran blew the world away. I have seen them in concert loads of times and they are always great. They were a band who at their peak generated the kind of hysteria that only the Beatles and Elvis had generated before. I love all their songs and picking just five is hard but according to iTunes the ones that won today are:
Is There Something I should Know - A brilliant song , very simple and a request that most men have made when trying to figure out girls, (don't forget Duran Duran's target audience was thirteen to eighteen year old girls and their boyfriends). For a feel good song, this is actually full of paranoia and doubt "don't say your easy on me babe, cause your about as easy as a nuclear war" - only in the eighties and only Duran could have come up with a line like this. This song reminds me of drinking with my guitarist. I left the room to get some more drink and as I walked in he had his beautiful red Schecter guitar, which was seemingly permanently strapped to his body, and he picked out the notes that run through the song.
Lonely In Your Nightmare - Grown up music from Duran on the Rio album. To me this song is about loss.
Liberty - Strange song but quite apt for me, for me it seems to be about how tired you get from all the games man and women play with each other. The stalker is currently ignoring me. Apparently I have done something terrible to offend her - bothered! I often feel like pointing out to her that she was the one who forced her way back into my life, I didn't ask her any questions about what she had been up to all those years apart. OK so I am a bad boyfriend, but she knew this before. "Don't make it every night don't wanna be the love of your life, So if you are inclined to spend a little time I'll be here"
The Reflex - Is this the song of my life, who knows? I doubt if I would have lasted so long if I was just living on my wits. What is the reflex, I guess it is instinct we all have it. If you have ever been in a life threatening situation and due to drunkenness and reckless living I have been in several you know what the reflex is. Its the time I blagged my way across the Mekong after bargaining my way out of jail in Laos. Its the time in Burma I avoided getting married, its the time I escaped a machete attack in Douala in the Cameroons and its the time me and my father got into a bar brawl with five likely lads in Bexley on his sixtieth birthday. Sometimes you stop running and take a few licks, like that line at the beginning of Goodfellas, "Every once and a while I took a beating, the way I saw it everyone takes a beating some time".
New Moon On Monday - A song that was playing the first time I got laid, so good memories for me. Who knows what the lyrics mean "shake up the mixture, the lizard picture", Whenever I hear this song, I remember when I was young and nothing, absolutely nothing seemed impossible.
The ones that could have made it and on any other day might have are The Chauffer, Girls On Film, American Science, Meet El Presidente, Hungry Like The Wolf and Come Undone.
Monday, 1 February 2010
I Know When To Go Out, I know When To Stay In
Today's P&L: GBP 180.00
Today's Booze: Nothing
Today's Soundtrack: David Bowie
Another sketchy day for me in the markets, I slept in and missed the European market open. By the time I was ready to go the futures were already way above fair value. I couldn't really get into the day as I had to do things for other people,(I am not the most giving of people). On top of that they screwed up my appointment at the hospital, my appointment has been changed to April. Which means I will have to go clean for an extra two months. I had assumed that if I got the all clear I coul have a glass or two of wine or beer. Anyway, I made two small spreadbet trades on the FTSE100 and the DOW30, but completely missed a good entry point on the gold futures.
Sterling is up and down against the dollar as the British economy continues to be fragile and the buffon Cameron seems unable to build a decent majority and the election looks set to be the sixth of May. I suppose the British election is unlikely to gain as much attention as the American one, after all "UK elects smug, over-priviliged git" hardly has the same ring as "US elects first black President", does it?
Anyway, the music of choice today was Bowie, another heavy hitter, and almost impossible to pick just five songs but iTunes knows best and today my favourite David Bowie songs were:
Ashes To Ashes - A song I've always liked and a massive hit. In fact the whole Scary Monsters and Super Creeps album was brilliant. Perhaps this got the top spot today for the line "Time and again, I tell myself, I'll stay clean tonight". I remember watching the video on Top of the Pops.The scary clown costume, Major Tom, suspended in his space suit and Bowie in a padded cell.
This Is Not America - Bowie with Pat Metheny, quite beautiful, for me this song is about clash of cultures but also the expectations in life that are often unfulfilled.
Life On Mars - Absolute classic, "But the film is a saddening bore, because she's lived it ten times or more, she could spit in the eyes of fools, as they ask her to focus on..." The lyrics are madcap but you just feel what the song is about - I suppose its different for everyone.
Loving The Alien - Another song about the clash of cultures, Believe in the strangest thing, like loving the alien", I have been out with lots of women from different cultures, (Well, in most cases going out with is a bit generous, does it count if you have to stop "because were landing"). Strangely though, I have rarely felt uncomfortable in whatever environment and no matter how racist they were. I suppose white people just don't feel racism as much as other ethnic groups.
The Man Who Sold The World - "Years and years I roamed ,I gazed a gazely stare, At all The millions here. I must have died alone, A long long time ago.
Who knows, not me, I never lost control, You’re face, to face, With the man who sold the world". A nihilistic song, that reminds me of my crazier days.
The close contenders were Modern Love, Putting Out The Fire With Gasoline, Ziggy Stardust, Day In, Day Out and Jump, They Say.
Today's Booze: Nothing
Today's Soundtrack: David Bowie
Another sketchy day for me in the markets, I slept in and missed the European market open. By the time I was ready to go the futures were already way above fair value. I couldn't really get into the day as I had to do things for other people,(I am not the most giving of people). On top of that they screwed up my appointment at the hospital, my appointment has been changed to April. Which means I will have to go clean for an extra two months. I had assumed that if I got the all clear I coul have a glass or two of wine or beer. Anyway, I made two small spreadbet trades on the FTSE100 and the DOW30, but completely missed a good entry point on the gold futures.
Sterling is up and down against the dollar as the British economy continues to be fragile and the buffon Cameron seems unable to build a decent majority and the election looks set to be the sixth of May. I suppose the British election is unlikely to gain as much attention as the American one, after all "UK elects smug, over-priviliged git" hardly has the same ring as "US elects first black President", does it?
Anyway, the music of choice today was Bowie, another heavy hitter, and almost impossible to pick just five songs but iTunes knows best and today my favourite David Bowie songs were:
Ashes To Ashes - A song I've always liked and a massive hit. In fact the whole Scary Monsters and Super Creeps album was brilliant. Perhaps this got the top spot today for the line "Time and again, I tell myself, I'll stay clean tonight". I remember watching the video on Top of the Pops.The scary clown costume, Major Tom, suspended in his space suit and Bowie in a padded cell.
This Is Not America - Bowie with Pat Metheny, quite beautiful, for me this song is about clash of cultures but also the expectations in life that are often unfulfilled.
Life On Mars - Absolute classic, "But the film is a saddening bore, because she's lived it ten times or more, she could spit in the eyes of fools, as they ask her to focus on..." The lyrics are madcap but you just feel what the song is about - I suppose its different for everyone.
Loving The Alien - Another song about the clash of cultures, Believe in the strangest thing, like loving the alien", I have been out with lots of women from different cultures, (Well, in most cases going out with is a bit generous, does it count if you have to stop "because were landing"). Strangely though, I have rarely felt uncomfortable in whatever environment and no matter how racist they were. I suppose white people just don't feel racism as much as other ethnic groups.
The Man Who Sold The World - "Years and years I roamed ,I gazed a gazely stare, At all The millions here. I must have died alone, A long long time ago.
Who knows, not me, I never lost control, You’re face, to face, With the man who sold the world". A nihilistic song, that reminds me of my crazier days.
The close contenders were Modern Love, Putting Out The Fire With Gasoline, Ziggy Stardust, Day In, Day Out and Jump, They Say.
Saturday, 30 January 2010
That Ain't Working
Yesterdays P&L: GBP - 540.00
Yesterdays Booze: Nothing, alright nothing, (do I sound irritable)?
Yesterdays Soundtrack: 80's madness but mostly Dire Straits
Another lousy day trading, I over traded and caught the market wrong every time. when I brought DAX30 futures it was at the top of the market and when I sold FTSE100 futures it was just at the bottom of the market. Another bite out of my rapidly dwindling trading capital. Damn. I am too old to go on the game. Still at least I am learning to cut my losses quickly. This has always been my major problem as a trader, I hang on to losing trades far too long, convinced that I am right. This is overconfidence that kills you. I may be almost as smart as I think I am but the market doesn't care. If you do what I do to make a living the golden rule is ride your profits and cut your losses. I know this but I also hate admitting I am wrong.
My music was eighties, mostly Dire Straits. No longer a fashionable band and looked down upon by most people but I disagree. I think Mark Knopfler is a genius the sound he makes from a guitar is exquisite. He was born in Glasgow but moved to Geordie land, (talk about out of the frying pan into the fire), when he was a child. His parents brought him a guitar but failed to take into account that he was left-handed. Most other guitarists in his position restrung the guitar and played it upside down. Knopfler simply played like a right-handed person would, which probably accounts for his extraordinary finger picking style.Picking just five of his songs is hard as my favourites change all the time. Its easy enough to pick the huge hits like Money For Nothing, when Dire Straits were for a while the biggest band in the world. I remember buying a copy of Brothers in Arms on vinyl the day of its release and knew it would be huge, it was one of those moments when everything aligns. MTV siezed on the , now laughable, cgi video but moreso it was the decision to release it on cd. At the time there was really only a few cd production plants in Europe and Dire Straits were selling so many copies that they effectively closed one down, forcing other artists to delay their releases. Anyway my five favourite songs:
It Never Rains - from the Telegraph Road album, this song is a hymn to the down on their luck. But its more than that it is about how human nature is to fight against all the odds, because when all is said and done, what else can you do. For me it reminds me of a lot of key moments in my life when, by coincidence it was playing on my walkman. When we arrived in gray old Tilbury and split up this is the song I was listening to as I wandered where I was going to live and if I would ever see my family again. When I lost my first job, this was the song that was in my headphones on the train home The line that gets me every time is at the beginning, "The bigger they are babe, The harder they fall on you, And you you're always the same you persevere, On the same old pleasure ground
Oh and it never rains around here, It just comes pouring down". The emphasis he puts on "you persevere", just cuts through to my heart.
On Every Street - The lead song from the record that had the unenviable task of following Brothers in Arms. It seems every artist that has colossal success with a record struggles afterwards. Wacko Jacko after Thriller, Fleetwood Mac after Rumours and Pink Floyd after Dark Side of The Moon has this problem. All the follow up albums were good and all went multi-platinum but the expectations were so high. Still I suppose there are worse problems to have. To me this song is about lost love. It reminds me of every break-up I ever had. They all end badly, if they didn't they wouldn't end at all. Knopfler is no singer but he uses words beautifully, "The lowdown - a picture of your face, Your injured looks, The sacred and profane, The pleasure and the pain. Somewhere your fingerprints remain concrete. And it's your face I'm looking for on every street" Reminds me of going to places where old girlfriends used to go, just to see if they were as unhappy as I was.
Telegraph Road - I song I discussed in a previous post. The story of the beginning, the achievement and the end. Both the town that was built around the telegraph road and the life of one of its inhabitants. The song speaks for how dreams fade and how love can wilt if circumstances conspire against you, "I'd sooner forget, but I remember those nights".
Sultans of Swing - I have also discussed this song in greater detail before. The Sultans, such a grand title for a London pub band. This song is about dreams. I love this song but it reminds me mostly of my guitarist, he came from a shitty background and really wanted success but life got in its way. I am sure he is happy enough now but if he had the chance to go back, to really push and to become what he dreamed about, I think he would snatch it in a second. It was different for me, He had all the faith in the world in me but I just lacked the urgency, I couldn't see the clock ticking while he felt every second of his life draining away.
Communique - Is this song about the messiah? What would it be like for Jesus in a second coming, "Maybe he could talk about the tricks of the trade, Maybe he could talk about himself, Maybe he could talk about the money that he made, Maybe he'd be saying something else". I have the terrible feeling that if there was a second coming it would be televised and Simon Cowell would probably say, "No I'm sorry, the sandals just don't fit the market and the beard is all wrong, Sorry Jesus but you are not going through to the next round".
Tunnel Of Love - A song about growing up and about leaving home. "She took off her silver locket and said remember me by this, she put my hand in my pocket, I got a keepsake and a kiss". Life leaves its marks on all of us, we all end up bruised and scarred in some way, but just imagine how terrible it would be if it didn't happen.
Imagine never feeling the pain of that first heartbreak, or the excitement of that first crush. This is what makes life worth living. I think my biggest problem is I am just too jaded.
So thats Dire Straits then, I listened to lots of their songs the ones that nearly made it were Espresso Love, Private Investigations, Waterline, Love over Gold, Your Latest Trick, Walking In The Wild West End and Portebello Belle.
Yesterdays Booze: Nothing, alright nothing, (do I sound irritable)?
Yesterdays Soundtrack: 80's madness but mostly Dire Straits
Another lousy day trading, I over traded and caught the market wrong every time. when I brought DAX30 futures it was at the top of the market and when I sold FTSE100 futures it was just at the bottom of the market. Another bite out of my rapidly dwindling trading capital. Damn. I am too old to go on the game. Still at least I am learning to cut my losses quickly. This has always been my major problem as a trader, I hang on to losing trades far too long, convinced that I am right. This is overconfidence that kills you. I may be almost as smart as I think I am but the market doesn't care. If you do what I do to make a living the golden rule is ride your profits and cut your losses. I know this but I also hate admitting I am wrong.
My music was eighties, mostly Dire Straits. No longer a fashionable band and looked down upon by most people but I disagree. I think Mark Knopfler is a genius the sound he makes from a guitar is exquisite. He was born in Glasgow but moved to Geordie land, (talk about out of the frying pan into the fire), when he was a child. His parents brought him a guitar but failed to take into account that he was left-handed. Most other guitarists in his position restrung the guitar and played it upside down. Knopfler simply played like a right-handed person would, which probably accounts for his extraordinary finger picking style.Picking just five of his songs is hard as my favourites change all the time. Its easy enough to pick the huge hits like Money For Nothing, when Dire Straits were for a while the biggest band in the world. I remember buying a copy of Brothers in Arms on vinyl the day of its release and knew it would be huge, it was one of those moments when everything aligns. MTV siezed on the , now laughable, cgi video but moreso it was the decision to release it on cd. At the time there was really only a few cd production plants in Europe and Dire Straits were selling so many copies that they effectively closed one down, forcing other artists to delay their releases. Anyway my five favourite songs:
It Never Rains - from the Telegraph Road album, this song is a hymn to the down on their luck. But its more than that it is about how human nature is to fight against all the odds, because when all is said and done, what else can you do. For me it reminds me of a lot of key moments in my life when, by coincidence it was playing on my walkman. When we arrived in gray old Tilbury and split up this is the song I was listening to as I wandered where I was going to live and if I would ever see my family again. When I lost my first job, this was the song that was in my headphones on the train home The line that gets me every time is at the beginning, "The bigger they are babe, The harder they fall on you, And you you're always the same you persevere, On the same old pleasure ground
Oh and it never rains around here, It just comes pouring down". The emphasis he puts on "you persevere", just cuts through to my heart.
On Every Street - The lead song from the record that had the unenviable task of following Brothers in Arms. It seems every artist that has colossal success with a record struggles afterwards. Wacko Jacko after Thriller, Fleetwood Mac after Rumours and Pink Floyd after Dark Side of The Moon has this problem. All the follow up albums were good and all went multi-platinum but the expectations were so high. Still I suppose there are worse problems to have. To me this song is about lost love. It reminds me of every break-up I ever had. They all end badly, if they didn't they wouldn't end at all. Knopfler is no singer but he uses words beautifully, "The lowdown - a picture of your face, Your injured looks, The sacred and profane, The pleasure and the pain. Somewhere your fingerprints remain concrete. And it's your face I'm looking for on every street" Reminds me of going to places where old girlfriends used to go, just to see if they were as unhappy as I was.
Telegraph Road - I song I discussed in a previous post. The story of the beginning, the achievement and the end. Both the town that was built around the telegraph road and the life of one of its inhabitants. The song speaks for how dreams fade and how love can wilt if circumstances conspire against you, "I'd sooner forget, but I remember those nights".
Sultans of Swing - I have also discussed this song in greater detail before. The Sultans, such a grand title for a London pub band. This song is about dreams. I love this song but it reminds me mostly of my guitarist, he came from a shitty background and really wanted success but life got in its way. I am sure he is happy enough now but if he had the chance to go back, to really push and to become what he dreamed about, I think he would snatch it in a second. It was different for me, He had all the faith in the world in me but I just lacked the urgency, I couldn't see the clock ticking while he felt every second of his life draining away.
Communique - Is this song about the messiah? What would it be like for Jesus in a second coming, "Maybe he could talk about the tricks of the trade, Maybe he could talk about himself, Maybe he could talk about the money that he made, Maybe he'd be saying something else". I have the terrible feeling that if there was a second coming it would be televised and Simon Cowell would probably say, "No I'm sorry, the sandals just don't fit the market and the beard is all wrong, Sorry Jesus but you are not going through to the next round".
Tunnel Of Love - A song about growing up and about leaving home. "She took off her silver locket and said remember me by this, she put my hand in my pocket, I got a keepsake and a kiss". Life leaves its marks on all of us, we all end up bruised and scarred in some way, but just imagine how terrible it would be if it didn't happen.
Imagine never feeling the pain of that first heartbreak, or the excitement of that first crush. This is what makes life worth living. I think my biggest problem is I am just too jaded.
So thats Dire Straits then, I listened to lots of their songs the ones that nearly made it were Espresso Love, Private Investigations, Waterline, Love over Gold, Your Latest Trick, Walking In The Wild West End and Portebello Belle.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
London Calling
Todays P&L: GBP -350.00
Todays Booze: Still clean
Todays soundtrack: Varied
I was doing nothing in the markets today, didn't really have a grip and wasn't paying much attention. I was up about one hundred and ten pounds then rashly shorted, (sold), the DAX 30 too late in the day, so ended up with a loss. Damn, wish I was drinking.
Music today was London based, it is surprising how many songs mention or about London. I am not a Londoner but I love this city its the nearest I have to home, although Bangkok comes close as my second home. I remember when I first came to London to live. I had been here before as a child but mostly on my fathers ships or going to Heathrow. Coming here to live was odd. My mother still hadn't broken it to me that we were leaving the North West where I had been for a few years and was in school. She took me for a walk around the city and we had a drink in a pub near where the Shakespeare theater is now. I was twelve but could get served a pint even then. It was a Sunday and the city was deserted, then we moved towards the West End which is always busy.
Recently, I walked around the Old Victoria docks, I remember them from when I was about six, then they had lots of ships and they hummed with activity, I don't ever remember them being as crowded as the docks in Liverpool, which when I was at school, we would go and meet my father when his ship arrived. He worked for one of the oldest British shipping companies, Blue Funnel we called it although all the ships were named after Greek myths. I think the first ship I went on was called the Memnon or perhaps the Menastheus. I remember my mother picking me up from school and driving along the dock road and their being hundreds of ships. The Royal Docks were never that busy but my father assures me that in the sixties there were miles of ships. Now it is quite desolate, it is an extraordinary place but it hasn't had the rebirth that Canary Wharf had and its just on such a massive scale it is difficult to see what could fill it up. When I first moved to London Canary Wharf hadn't been built and the whole of the docklands was a mess. The people were forgotten about, "economically nonviable" was the term the government used. But that was London the wastelands of the old docks to the overpriced boutiques in Bond Street. My mother took me to dinner in Belgravia that first evening, there wasn't anywhere in the North West that had places to eat like that then. I guess apart from the ship, the most expensive restaurant I had been to at that time was the Clarence in Dublin. Anyway I fell in Love with London, I like to think I know the place as well as most but even now I find myself getting lost sometimes.
My favourite London Songs:
Baker Street - Touch and go with this and my second choice, but I think this just edges it, partly because Rafferty is a jock in exile also. The lyrics mean a lot to me, the world weary "He's got this dream about buyin' some land, He's gonna give up the booze and the one night stands And then he'll settle down there's a quiet little town and forget about everything". Or what about that feeling everyone in London has had at one time "Winding your way down on Baker Street, light in your head and dead on your feet, Well another crazy day, you'll drink the night away and forget about everything. This city desert makes you feel so cold It's got so many people but it's got no soul and it's taken you so long to find out you were wrong, when you thought it held everything." Shit this song could have been written about me and maybe twenty million other people.
Waterloo Sunset - This song is almost perfect, it is one of the few songs that I really, really wish I had written and it brings a tear to my eye every time I hear it. Something about this song just seems so right, when I hear it I stop to catch my breath. You walk around somewhere like Waterloo Station with all the people and nobody stops, nobody takes a second. I am sure Waterloo is nothing like it was when the Kinks wrote this track but all I need is to hear those opening lyrics "Dirty old river, must you keep rolling, flowing into the night, People so busy, makes me feel dizzy, Taxi light shines so bright, But I don't need no friends
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset, I am in paradise". This song makes me feel alone but it makes me feel good about being alone.
Tempted - Not specifically about London, but Squeeze are the quintessential South London band. I lived in Deptford / New Cross for a while, what a shit hole. Tempted reminds me of the daily dramas that go on all around us without us ever knowing. People say life isn't like the movies, but the truth is that it is. My life is like Leaving Las Vegas. If you live in a city, just take a look out your window, all those people experiencing pain, sadness, passion...whatever. My problems aren't any more important than anyone else's just because they came with a higher price tag.
In My Darkest Hour - Ok Hanoi Rocks were Danish and this song doesn't mention London, but they were based in London and this song clearly is about London. Reminds me of an allnighter in the West End with my guitarist, we were freezing after getting thrown out of a Chinese restaurant. We wondered down into the underground to keep warm. after a while a train pulled up so we got on it. It turned out to be the Heathrow loop we woke up a few hours later sprawled out on the seats, late for school.
West End Girls - Two pretentious gay blokes who carved out their own space. They should never have been successful but Neil Tennant, who was a music journalist, took a look at the current music scene and said "I could do better". Many people say these things but he actually went out and did it. West End Girls was a huge hit in the UK. I guess there is some kind of lesson there. I had lots of opportunities practically gifted to me and blew all my chances.
So there it is, There could have been plenty of other songs, I listened a lot to the Pogues, Madness, the Jam and XTC. I am not a Londoner but this is my home.
Todays Booze: Still clean
Todays soundtrack: Varied
I was doing nothing in the markets today, didn't really have a grip and wasn't paying much attention. I was up about one hundred and ten pounds then rashly shorted, (sold), the DAX 30 too late in the day, so ended up with a loss. Damn, wish I was drinking.
Music today was London based, it is surprising how many songs mention or about London. I am not a Londoner but I love this city its the nearest I have to home, although Bangkok comes close as my second home. I remember when I first came to London to live. I had been here before as a child but mostly on my fathers ships or going to Heathrow. Coming here to live was odd. My mother still hadn't broken it to me that we were leaving the North West where I had been for a few years and was in school. She took me for a walk around the city and we had a drink in a pub near where the Shakespeare theater is now. I was twelve but could get served a pint even then. It was a Sunday and the city was deserted, then we moved towards the West End which is always busy.
Recently, I walked around the Old Victoria docks, I remember them from when I was about six, then they had lots of ships and they hummed with activity, I don't ever remember them being as crowded as the docks in Liverpool, which when I was at school, we would go and meet my father when his ship arrived. He worked for one of the oldest British shipping companies, Blue Funnel we called it although all the ships were named after Greek myths. I think the first ship I went on was called the Memnon or perhaps the Menastheus. I remember my mother picking me up from school and driving along the dock road and their being hundreds of ships. The Royal Docks were never that busy but my father assures me that in the sixties there were miles of ships. Now it is quite desolate, it is an extraordinary place but it hasn't had the rebirth that Canary Wharf had and its just on such a massive scale it is difficult to see what could fill it up. When I first moved to London Canary Wharf hadn't been built and the whole of the docklands was a mess. The people were forgotten about, "economically nonviable" was the term the government used. But that was London the wastelands of the old docks to the overpriced boutiques in Bond Street. My mother took me to dinner in Belgravia that first evening, there wasn't anywhere in the North West that had places to eat like that then. I guess apart from the ship, the most expensive restaurant I had been to at that time was the Clarence in Dublin. Anyway I fell in Love with London, I like to think I know the place as well as most but even now I find myself getting lost sometimes.
My favourite London Songs:
Baker Street - Touch and go with this and my second choice, but I think this just edges it, partly because Rafferty is a jock in exile also. The lyrics mean a lot to me, the world weary "He's got this dream about buyin' some land, He's gonna give up the booze and the one night stands And then he'll settle down there's a quiet little town and forget about everything". Or what about that feeling everyone in London has had at one time "Winding your way down on Baker Street, light in your head and dead on your feet, Well another crazy day, you'll drink the night away and forget about everything. This city desert makes you feel so cold It's got so many people but it's got no soul and it's taken you so long to find out you were wrong, when you thought it held everything." Shit this song could have been written about me and maybe twenty million other people.
Waterloo Sunset - This song is almost perfect, it is one of the few songs that I really, really wish I had written and it brings a tear to my eye every time I hear it. Something about this song just seems so right, when I hear it I stop to catch my breath. You walk around somewhere like Waterloo Station with all the people and nobody stops, nobody takes a second. I am sure Waterloo is nothing like it was when the Kinks wrote this track but all I need is to hear those opening lyrics "Dirty old river, must you keep rolling, flowing into the night, People so busy, makes me feel dizzy, Taxi light shines so bright, But I don't need no friends
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset, I am in paradise". This song makes me feel alone but it makes me feel good about being alone.
Tempted - Not specifically about London, but Squeeze are the quintessential South London band. I lived in Deptford / New Cross for a while, what a shit hole. Tempted reminds me of the daily dramas that go on all around us without us ever knowing. People say life isn't like the movies, but the truth is that it is. My life is like Leaving Las Vegas. If you live in a city, just take a look out your window, all those people experiencing pain, sadness, passion...whatever. My problems aren't any more important than anyone else's just because they came with a higher price tag.
In My Darkest Hour - Ok Hanoi Rocks were Danish and this song doesn't mention London, but they were based in London and this song clearly is about London. Reminds me of an allnighter in the West End with my guitarist, we were freezing after getting thrown out of a Chinese restaurant. We wondered down into the underground to keep warm. after a while a train pulled up so we got on it. It turned out to be the Heathrow loop we woke up a few hours later sprawled out on the seats, late for school.
West End Girls - Two pretentious gay blokes who carved out their own space. They should never have been successful but Neil Tennant, who was a music journalist, took a look at the current music scene and said "I could do better". Many people say these things but he actually went out and did it. West End Girls was a huge hit in the UK. I guess there is some kind of lesson there. I had lots of opportunities practically gifted to me and blew all my chances.
So there it is, There could have been plenty of other songs, I listened a lot to the Pogues, Madness, the Jam and XTC. I am not a Londoner but this is my home.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Good Times, Bad Times
Todays P&L: GBP 220.00
Todays Booze: Still dry
Todays Soundtrack: Hard Rock Wednesday, Led Zeppelin
Another dry day, this is getting ridiculous. I want to drink and feel I should at least have a whiskey, but I think I shall wait until after I have seen the quack.
The markets were negative today, despite Apple promising to revolutionize the way we have our media with the all new iPad. Caterpillar set the tone by announcing dismal earnings before the US market opened. They are an interesting company to watch because aside from being one of Americas declining industrial manufacturers, they usually give a good indication of the tone of the construction market, both retail and commercial. A more key indicator was the S&P500 future trading below 1,091. I am not a chartist, (someone who rigidly follows by and sell indicators on the charts that are generated by asset movements), but there are so many out there and so many program trades, that it pays to follow them. 1,091 in the S&P is a below the moving average and a point where the people who are bullish, (have brought the market), may feel inclined to give up their positions, thus causing further selling. It is difficult for me because my overwhelming belief is that the governments are in far more trouble than we know as a result of bailing out the private sector. This should mean they have to raise rates in order to attract investment which should lead to inflation and in an inflationary environment the last thing you want to be holding is fixed income bonds, so equities are usually as inflation proof as you can get, apart from gold of course which if it drops to 1,000 dollars per oz I will be buying.
Today I was listening to a lot of rock music, which and I know this is a cliche, but I find difficult to listen to without a bottle of Vodka and Wild Turkey, (I am nothing if not a traditionalist). When it comes to hard rock for me it has to be Zeppelin. One of the few bands I wanted to see but never got the chance. I was too young when they were at their peak and was somewhat annoyed when the Stalker told me she had two tickets to go and see the O2 reunion concert but gave them away as she was too busy to go. This was prior to our reuniting. Anyway, my top five Led Zeppelin tracks:
Whole Lotta Love - For a lot of people my age in the UK it was the music from Top of the Pops. A brutal, simple song that batters people into submission, the lyrics are questionable at best, but that doesn't matter just turn those amplifiers up all the way. Reminds me of talking to my guitarist friend at school, discussing how we were going to take over the world.
All Of My Love - One of the least popular Zeppelin songs ever, but I love it. Robert Plant supposedly wrote the lyrics in memory of his dead son. Even an industrial, commercial monster like Led Zeppelin is allowed to show some emotion sometimes.
When The Levee Breaks - Classic Led Zep hyper blues and possibly the most sampled drum sound of all time. The song is all about how nature can really screw up the plans of men. It reminds me of a mad holiday in New Orleans, sitting across the river looking at Algiers, wondering how long I could stay before I got mugged. Actually got mugged the next night coming back from the Napoleon House and heading behind Jackson Square - got to love New Orleans.
Rock And Roll - More good time music, to me this song seems to have an almost irresistible urge to it. For some reason when I am listening to it I can't help thinking of a snake oil salesman in some frontier town, possibly with his sidekick playing honkey tonk piano. Led Zeppelin will always seem more American than British to me.
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You - Led Zeppelin back in the days before it was all about the high octane volume and the money. Robert Plant sings like he never read Tolkien and Jimmy Page resists the urge to crush everyone into submission with a guitar riff. Bonham still hits the drums like they are weapons of mass destruction but that's just the way he was apparently.
So that's my favourite Led Zeppelin songs. Even New romantics like me in the eighties wanted to strut the stage like Jimmy Page and almost everyone who picked up a guitar HAD to learn the riff from Whole Lotta Love. Other bands did similar things, Black Sabbath may have been heavier. Deep Purple may have been bluesier, The Who may have been louder but Led Zeppelin were just more. I remember in the punk days reading a headline in some music paper, (Sounds or the NME - remember them)? The headline was Led Zeppelin saves the music industry and the by-line was new album causes world-wide vinyl shortage.
Disclaimer
I am not responsible for what may happen if you read this post backwards.
Todays Booze: Still dry
Todays Soundtrack: Hard Rock Wednesday, Led Zeppelin
Another dry day, this is getting ridiculous. I want to drink and feel I should at least have a whiskey, but I think I shall wait until after I have seen the quack.
The markets were negative today, despite Apple promising to revolutionize the way we have our media with the all new iPad. Caterpillar set the tone by announcing dismal earnings before the US market opened. They are an interesting company to watch because aside from being one of Americas declining industrial manufacturers, they usually give a good indication of the tone of the construction market, both retail and commercial. A more key indicator was the S&P500 future trading below 1,091. I am not a chartist, (someone who rigidly follows by and sell indicators on the charts that are generated by asset movements), but there are so many out there and so many program trades, that it pays to follow them. 1,091 in the S&P is a below the moving average and a point where the people who are bullish, (have brought the market), may feel inclined to give up their positions, thus causing further selling. It is difficult for me because my overwhelming belief is that the governments are in far more trouble than we know as a result of bailing out the private sector. This should mean they have to raise rates in order to attract investment which should lead to inflation and in an inflationary environment the last thing you want to be holding is fixed income bonds, so equities are usually as inflation proof as you can get, apart from gold of course which if it drops to 1,000 dollars per oz I will be buying.
Today I was listening to a lot of rock music, which and I know this is a cliche, but I find difficult to listen to without a bottle of Vodka and Wild Turkey, (I am nothing if not a traditionalist). When it comes to hard rock for me it has to be Zeppelin. One of the few bands I wanted to see but never got the chance. I was too young when they were at their peak and was somewhat annoyed when the Stalker told me she had two tickets to go and see the O2 reunion concert but gave them away as she was too busy to go. This was prior to our reuniting. Anyway, my top five Led Zeppelin tracks:
Whole Lotta Love - For a lot of people my age in the UK it was the music from Top of the Pops. A brutal, simple song that batters people into submission, the lyrics are questionable at best, but that doesn't matter just turn those amplifiers up all the way. Reminds me of talking to my guitarist friend at school, discussing how we were going to take over the world.
All Of My Love - One of the least popular Zeppelin songs ever, but I love it. Robert Plant supposedly wrote the lyrics in memory of his dead son. Even an industrial, commercial monster like Led Zeppelin is allowed to show some emotion sometimes.
When The Levee Breaks - Classic Led Zep hyper blues and possibly the most sampled drum sound of all time. The song is all about how nature can really screw up the plans of men. It reminds me of a mad holiday in New Orleans, sitting across the river looking at Algiers, wondering how long I could stay before I got mugged. Actually got mugged the next night coming back from the Napoleon House and heading behind Jackson Square - got to love New Orleans.
Rock And Roll - More good time music, to me this song seems to have an almost irresistible urge to it. For some reason when I am listening to it I can't help thinking of a snake oil salesman in some frontier town, possibly with his sidekick playing honkey tonk piano. Led Zeppelin will always seem more American than British to me.
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You - Led Zeppelin back in the days before it was all about the high octane volume and the money. Robert Plant sings like he never read Tolkien and Jimmy Page resists the urge to crush everyone into submission with a guitar riff. Bonham still hits the drums like they are weapons of mass destruction but that's just the way he was apparently.
So that's my favourite Led Zeppelin songs. Even New romantics like me in the eighties wanted to strut the stage like Jimmy Page and almost everyone who picked up a guitar HAD to learn the riff from Whole Lotta Love. Other bands did similar things, Black Sabbath may have been heavier. Deep Purple may have been bluesier, The Who may have been louder but Led Zeppelin were just more. I remember in the punk days reading a headline in some music paper, (Sounds or the NME - remember them)? The headline was Led Zeppelin saves the music industry and the by-line was new album causes world-wide vinyl shortage.
Disclaimer
I am not responsible for what may happen if you read this post backwards.
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
All My Troubles Seemed So Far Away
Yesterdays P&L: GBP 200.00
Yesterdays Booze: Not a thing
Yesterdays Soundtrack: The Beatles
Still no booze! If Keith Richards can give it up for a few months then so can I. Still not concentrating on trading properly, which pisses me off to no end as when I don't have any money on it my initial assumptions are generally right. I had a pretty good idea that Apple were going to do well and drag along the rest of the market. Apple seems to be able to do no wrong right now, which is curious as they generally supply a high-end segment in the market and the current recession should have favoured the lower end. Apple are quite a brand. I mainly use pc computers for working on but have owned a number of macintosh computers in the past and of course I have my Apple ipod touch. They seem to have made paying over the odds satisfying, like German automobiles. Products like this make you feel good even if you know you could get the same basic product cheaper. Its like my Montblanc pen or Patek Phillipe watch. I imagine its how women feel when they spend a lot of money on shoes or handbags or when someone gives them a gift from Tiffany. Anyway, I shall probably buy a new Apple computer when I have some more disposable income and just use it for something like music or video or something else I fancy myself doing in the future - a true vanity purchase.
Today I have been listening to lots of different music but mostly the Beatles, it really is an apple themed day. I suppose everyone likes the Beatles. but even people as old as me can't really appreciate the impact they must have had in the sixties. My father makes it out like the Beatles would release a record which would be number one until they released a new record which would take over. I knew they were huge but they couldn't have been that dominant. Anyway, my top five Beatles records:
Eleanor Rigby - An impossibly good song, perfect for those who feel isolated, first time I heard it was watching Yellow Submarine when I was a child. "All the lonely people, Where do they all belong"?
Penny Lane - For me this is a feel good song, although someone once told me that Penny Lane actually used to be the site of a slave market in Liverpool. I was at a Paul McCartney concert when he sang this and he seemed so ebullient when he sang "Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes" the crowd went nuts. But what is "Four of fish and finger pies"?
Paperback Writer - Ambitious song. A young man on the make, who wouldn't want to be a writer? You have to love the verse that goes;
"It's the dirty story of a dirty man
And his clinging wife doesn't understand.
His son is working for the Daily Mail,
It's a steady job but he wants to be a paperback writer, Paperback writer."
Help - What a surprise, someone like me loving a song like this, actually if I am honest I prefer the stilted cover version Tina did on her Private Dancer album."When I was younger, so much younger than today, I never needed anybody's help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured"
Nowhere Man - This song appeals to me so much, I am not one of life's planners. I just tend to ricochet from situation to situation, seems like its always been that way.
Yesterdays Booze: Not a thing
Yesterdays Soundtrack: The Beatles
Still no booze! If Keith Richards can give it up for a few months then so can I. Still not concentrating on trading properly, which pisses me off to no end as when I don't have any money on it my initial assumptions are generally right. I had a pretty good idea that Apple were going to do well and drag along the rest of the market. Apple seems to be able to do no wrong right now, which is curious as they generally supply a high-end segment in the market and the current recession should have favoured the lower end. Apple are quite a brand. I mainly use pc computers for working on but have owned a number of macintosh computers in the past and of course I have my Apple ipod touch. They seem to have made paying over the odds satisfying, like German automobiles. Products like this make you feel good even if you know you could get the same basic product cheaper. Its like my Montblanc pen or Patek Phillipe watch. I imagine its how women feel when they spend a lot of money on shoes or handbags or when someone gives them a gift from Tiffany. Anyway, I shall probably buy a new Apple computer when I have some more disposable income and just use it for something like music or video or something else I fancy myself doing in the future - a true vanity purchase.
Today I have been listening to lots of different music but mostly the Beatles, it really is an apple themed day. I suppose everyone likes the Beatles. but even people as old as me can't really appreciate the impact they must have had in the sixties. My father makes it out like the Beatles would release a record which would be number one until they released a new record which would take over. I knew they were huge but they couldn't have been that dominant. Anyway, my top five Beatles records:
Eleanor Rigby - An impossibly good song, perfect for those who feel isolated, first time I heard it was watching Yellow Submarine when I was a child. "All the lonely people, Where do they all belong"?
Penny Lane - For me this is a feel good song, although someone once told me that Penny Lane actually used to be the site of a slave market in Liverpool. I was at a Paul McCartney concert when he sang this and he seemed so ebullient when he sang "Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes" the crowd went nuts. But what is "Four of fish and finger pies"?
Paperback Writer - Ambitious song. A young man on the make, who wouldn't want to be a writer? You have to love the verse that goes;
"It's the dirty story of a dirty man
And his clinging wife doesn't understand.
His son is working for the Daily Mail,
It's a steady job but he wants to be a paperback writer, Paperback writer."
Help - What a surprise, someone like me loving a song like this, actually if I am honest I prefer the stilted cover version Tina did on her Private Dancer album."When I was younger, so much younger than today, I never needed anybody's help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured"
Nowhere Man - This song appeals to me so much, I am not one of life's planners. I just tend to ricochet from situation to situation, seems like its always been that way.
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