It's Just About Christmas ...

I have a little bit of a thing - an obsession. I collect Christmas albums, and the odder the better. The XFM indie collection "It's a cool, cool, christmas" is probably my favourite but at the moment I am loving the great Sufjan Stevens' masterpiece of 5 eps in a box "Songs for Christmas". Build around a banjo, woodwind and softly breathed voices this is a reworking of original hymns coupled with nely written Christmas pop. Nothing gets me more in the mood.

Les Miserables

Never shy of a challenge I have bitten off a chunk of French literature and begun Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. So far, despite it being very discursive and vague (imagine Thackery with a french accent and twice as many words) it is really rather good and the good stuff is just beginning - Fantine has been abandoned, Jean Valjean's soul claimed for God, etc. When I put the book by the bedside last night and switched out the light Fantine had just come across the Thenadier's inn and been fooled by the apparrent domesticity. A quick listen to the soundtrack of the musical tells me this is not a good idea. Don't leave Cosette there, for Pete's sake!

I'll tape it for you

What was once the future is now the past but I have an oblong place in my heart for the humble tape. We used to argue about whether chrome or metal was any good and if anti-noise or hiss-reduction actually did anything. Any bag or satchel I had usually had three or four scummy old cassettes in them and there was a skill to spooling up unwound specimens with a biro. We soon discovered that 120 min tapes sagged in the middle and 60 mins could not fit an LP.
The D90 was the king of cassettes and it's apotheosis, the compilation or "mix" tape. We spent hours labelling the things in tipp-ex and felt-pen, making intricate collages to decorate the box. No adolescent relationship every bore fruit without the exchange of home-made tapes labelled things like "Groovy Tunes" and "Wierd Stuff, Vol II".
It's true. The best album is the one you make yourself.

Jango

This, my dear hearts, is the best thing in the world. Pack it like an i-pod with your favourite artists and bask in the honey. Free and joyful.