THE MILKMAN OF HUMAN KINDNESS (...and his better half)

It was the best part of 12 days ago that something real nasty happened to my PC that required it to be sent away to someone who knows about these things. I was told that I'd be without it for a week....but it took a lot longer. And when it did come back, everything that had been stored on the hard drive was gone.....

Luckily, I do keep all of the music files on a back-up external drive, and I'll spend most of the rest of today restoring things.

Even more luckily, I've a great friend out there who averted disaster in respect of this particular piece of work by, at very short notice, stepping in to keep things ticking over in my absence.

In fact, 'ticking over' is a great disservice to the quality of postings and tunes that have appeared here over the past week and a bit courtesy of Ctel and Mrs Ctel. If they had merely stepped up to the plate with a couple of lines and the odd song, I'd have been delighted. Instead, they put a lot of thought and love into each posting - selecting songs that fitted in perfectly alongside the usual stuff you find in here - so much so that I even had the thought that I should ask the PC surgeon to delay his work just so that you can continue to be regally entertained....

But no, I'm going try and get things back to normal ASAP, although even that's going to be complicated....so if you want your ctel fix, you're just going to have to make your way over to his own place - Acid Ted.

The thing is, that tomorrow I go off on holiday for a week, and in time-honoured fashion, will have a series of related posts written in advance to ensure there's something to read and listen to every day. That means a number of posts that I've been meaning to do - including reviews of recent gigs by Leonard Cohen and Roddy Frame - will need to remain on hold for a while longer. It is likely to be almost December before some sort of normality returns here.

For now, I really do just want to say the very biggest thank you to the Ctels. I did get by with more than a little help from my mates.....

mp3 : The Wannadies - Friends

PS

I haven't been able to do more than read e-mails on my works PC this past while - those of you who have dropped me a line with some requests for songs will have to be extra patient. Sorry.

PPS

Mike at Manic Pop Thrills is promoting his first ever gig later this week. It's on Friday 21st November in Dundee, and will be headlined by the ever excellent De Rosa. It's a bargain at just £4 a ticket, and if you're from that part of the world, then I do insist you go along. More details here.

PPPS

Without my PC, this has felt like my theme tune

mp3 : Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Man Out Of Time

Happy Listening