A day off, but I didn't really catch up on my sleep as there were no curtains in my bedroom in Toby's house so I was up at about 7. But I got to take it easy, then did an hour and a half of phone interviews before we went out for a proper Yorkshire lunch of fish in beer batter, with chips and mushy peas. Ah back to my roots. Had I stayed here rather than moving away when I was 4 then I would have got to eat this every day.
Though I hadn't liked mushy peas as a kid and even know baulked at them a little due to that memory. I liked Bird's Eye peas and only Bird's Eye peas and so didn't like it when anyone gave me anything else. There was a slight flavour of mint in the peas I had today, which took me back to a buried memory of being given some minty peas on some occasion (and I don't remember where or when, just the terrible non-Bird's Eye taste) and my disgust and disapproval at the sacrilege.
Despite that horrible childhood memory I liked the minty, slushy peas today. I was a fucking idiot for only liking Bird's Eye, but obviously so much of our childhood tastes are down to familiarity (or not) rather than how something actually tastes. I was a very fussy eater pretty much until my year off when I became a vegetarian and suddenly by denying myself something my horizons ironically broadened considerably.
And now I eat whatever is put in front of me, including meat and even, if I am hungry enough, non-food products.
I more or less elected for tomorrow to be my day off (in spite of the gig in the evening) by doing the drive from Yorkshire to Wales this afternoon (and I didn't actually arrive until about 9pm, though I did stop off for a while to write my blog). As I drove into Wales, reminding myself to slow down due to the speed cameras here that have caught me three times (I bet I still fucked up somewhere though) I was pretty exhausted and almost on autopilot. They have the time displayed on all the electronic noticeboards on the motorways and it was 2012. I wondered if the money-grubbing Welsh could argue that for one minute every day they are advertising the film of the same name and claim money from the producers. It would certainly have made me go to see the film, if I hadn't seen it already and thus known that it was shit.
When you start thinking along these lines it is probably a good idea to stop driving, but I was further delayed within just a mile and a half of my hotel as the police had shut off the road that led to it. I so just wanted to lie down on a bed by now, but was forced to try and find another way round, but with little success. Luckily I arrived back at the road block and was able to tell my sat nav to find a route avoiding this particular road and it magically got me around the whole thing. I love technology.
In other news the fight to save 6Music seems to be gathering momentum. If as many people support it as have tweeted Andrew or me to blame the demise of the station on us then it will surely be saved. I would be very sad to see the station go, not just because they've started giving me work or because they are keeping my colleague Andrew Collings busy and thus saving him from being out on the streets, shouting abuse at women, but it is also one of the few digital stations I tune into and it does provide a service that is not being given by anyone else. The BBC and I have had our ups and downs, but I still love them even when they have treated me badly or failed to make my stuff. I fear for its future and I hope it will continue forever and though I agree they should be concentrating on making stuff that is of high quality and which is not covered by the commercial sector, I can't see that 6Music is the correct thing to be getting rid of.
I actually think there's a reasonable chance that 6Music will be saved and if enough of us make a fuss it then apparently that might help. Apparently
this is a good place to make your views heard.
And
sign this petition too!
