Blank Pages

Today's P&L: Weekends, suppose I could trade the gold in the middle east

Today's Booze: Still being good, 2 pints of Aspinall Cider, 1 Pint of Stella Artois

Today's Soundtrack: The Rolling Stones


Well as my drinking is likely to dwindle until I have seen the quack, I have added the soundtrack to my day. I have been listening to other artists but the band of the day has been The Rolling Stones. I think I have almost all there records on my computer - records, how quaint! Next I shall be talking about going to the disco. The Stones are a little like me, against all odds they keep going. I have seen them in concert a few times and they are excellent. Still I suppose if you do anything long enough you develop a certain aptitude. A lot of people deride their huge money-making tours, but hey they give the public what they want. First Stones concert I saw was in the early Eighties, a European tour they knocked together after the success of the Still Life American tour. By all accounts they hated each other at this point but they still put on a good show. Back Then they played Wembley Stadium without any of the huge screens we are used to now. I actually met Jagger once in the club of a hotel in Bangkok, didn't get long to talk to him as he is very distant. For a small guy he is very impressive. He gives the aura of being much taller and I doubt I have seen a man who stands as ramrod straight as he does. Anyway after listening to The Stones all day, my favourite five tracks are;

Under My Thumb - The ultimate misogynist song of all time. I like to think I am not a misogynist, but I defy any man to listen to this and recall a time when he was messed around by a woman he probably cared too much for.

Gimmie Shelter - The song that rang in the changes from the hippy Sixties to the Seventies. An absolutely brilliant song that, to me screams of paranoia and desperation. When I hear this and close my eyes I see an eight track bolted to the side of a helicopter flying over Viet-Nam during the war.

Miss You - Still in the Seventies, The Stones go Disco, (told you). Disco music was supposed to be happy though. Jagger sings this like a man who is too tired, seen too much. Strangely it makes me think of back in the mid eighties after an all night party with a high school girlfriend. Not in the city, in the suburbs. That cold early morning feeling you get when you have been up all night. You are tired but you don't feel it because you are excited to be with someone. You exchange some small words of affection at the end of her road, kiss briefly and walk home feeling like you own the world.

Anybody Seen My Baby? - One of the Stones least popular records but this song is good. Predictably it speaks to me of loss. For me it reminds me of endless hours in Airports in Asia looking at people as they walk past, scanning the faces of women to see if it was either The Stalker or later, The Lunatic. KLIA in Malaysia is an especially soulless airport where I would wander through the oversized and bizarrely empty walkways, Knowing it was a place that my ex girlfriends were likely to fly through on a regular basis, but really what are the chances of bumping into someone in an international hub airport?

Wild Horses - I don't know why I love this song.

So why did I call this post blank pages? Well, I have been staring at the expensive buttery pages of the journal the Stalker gave me trying to think of what to write. Its so odd, in front of a keyboard I can type away, but its all vapour. Having the beautiful fountain pen she gave me in one hand and the clear, expectant page in front of me seems so real, like you are committing to something. You can't just backspace so its like if you write something it better be worth it. Its so long since I have written anything by hand as well, I doubt my penmanship is up to much.