So Far Away - Carole King & James Taylor #on_this_day

Quines coses han passat en els 30s de gener? Pos, resulta que al 1649 li van tallar el cap al rei Charles I d'Anglaterra. I pocs anys despres, al 1661 li van fer a Oliver Cromwell "2 anys despres del seu mort" ! Que? Resulta que el lider dels parliamentaris en la guerra civil contra els monarquics, va morir al 1659 pero quan els monarquics van tornar al poder, li van des-enterrar per poder "executar"-li com calia!

Al 1948 li van matar a Ghandi.

Buscant noticies més "light" ...

Al 1969 els Beatles toquen en public per ultim cop.

I al 1971, Carole King llança al mercat el LP Tapestry.

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So, what's happened on previous 30ths of January? Well, apparently in 1649 King Charles the First was beheaded. As was Oliver Cromwell, in 1661,"two years after his death"! What?! Well, it turns out that when the Royalists got back into power, they dug up the Parliamentarian leader and "executed" him. As they say, he who laughs last ...

Ghandi was killed in 1948.

On a lighter note, the Beatles last played in public in 1969, and in 1971 this "wonder of the modern world", the LP Tapestry, was released by Carole King.

A nice cup of tea - Binnie Hale #Tea

Coneixeu alguna cosa millor que una bona tassa de te? Jo tampoc.
La cançó del 1930s ho diu tot ....
........
Anything better than a nice cuppa? Thought not ...

 Some folks put much reliance
On politics and science
There's only one hero for me
His praise we should be roaring
The man who thought of pouring
The first boiling water onto tea

I like a nice cup of tea in the morning
For to start the day you see
And at half past eleven
Well my idea of heaven
Is a nice cup of tea
I like a nice cup of tea with me dinner
And a nice cup of tea with me tea
And when it's time for bed
There's a lot to be said
For a nice cup of tea

You can talk about your science
And your airships in the sky
I can do without the wireless
And you'll never see me fly
The public benefactor of the universe for me
Is the genius that thought of pouring water onto tea

I like a nice cup of tea in the morning
For to start the day you see
And when I get the breakfast in
Well my idea of sin
Is a fourth, or a fifth, cup of tea
I like a nice cup of tea with me dinner
And a nice cup of tea with me tea
And when it's time for bed
There's a lot to be said
For a nice cup of tea

They say it's not nutritious
But still it is delicious
And that's all that matters to me
It turns your meat to leather
But let's all die together
The one drink in paradise is tea

I like a nice cup of tea
In the morning
For to start the day you see
And at half past eleven
Well my idea of heaven
Is a nice cup of tea
I like a nice cup of tea with me dinner
And a nice cup of tea with me tea
And when it's time for bed
As I think I may have said
I'd like a nice cup of tea

You can talk about your liberties
They talk of women's rights
I don't want to make no speeches
Because the one that does is trite
And anyone can have my vote and chuck it in the sea
But golly there'll be trouble if they try to touch me tea

I like a nice cup of tea with me dinner
And a nice cup of tea with me tea
And when it's getting late
Almost anything can wait
For a nice cup of tea

Yesterday once more - The Carpenters #EveryShaLaLaLa

And for a groovy laid-back Sunday morning ....
"When I was young, I'd listen to the radio (using "would" to express a past habit, of course - you listening, English language students?) ....

Thinking of you - Dexys #Catalan_independence

A continuació, una petita actualtització en anglès pels possibles lectors no-catalans del bloc, sobre com va el tema de l'independencia ... a nivell personal, cada dia estic més content que ERC va arribar a ser el segon partit en les eleccions i optimista que aixo arribarà a bon port :)

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So, you may be wondering how the "Catalan question" is going on ... well, my last word on the subject gave the election results.  Since then, the winning party has decided to form a minority government, with only 50 of the 135 seats available. However, this is more than double the vote of the second place party, which only got 21 seats. Added to this is the fact that this second-placed party does not wish to form a coalition govt, but shares the same opinion on holding a referendum for independence as the first. Hence, they have come to an agreement where they will support, or not hinder, the government on certain issues so that it can get on with the job of governing the country, as long as said referendum will be held before the end of 2014 :)

Here we go!

The Spanish government has already said this referendum will be illegal and will not be allowed, but as about 80% of Catalans believe otherwise (and maybe 60-70% would vote for independence in this referendum), the question is who is mightier, the people or the law? What is democracy?

The Spanish government are approaching this situation from the opposite direction of Cameron and the Scotland referendum. Can you imagine David Cameron trying to stop Scottish people speaking their own language (a tricky comparison, but you get the idea) or refusing to pay money owed to Scotland until the "come to their senses"? Or threatening to imprison and court-martial the Scottish PM, or even send in the tanks? All this on top of daily rants by politicians and media about how nasty Scottish people are etc. Would that encourage Scottish people to stay within the UK? Well, that's the Spanish approach - beat them with a stick until they love you!!

Music-wise, I can't think of anything to connect to the above, so it's another track from Brian's LP Of 2012!

Pennies from Heaven - Sarah Vaughan #Diners_al_Carrer

De vegades comento alguna diferencia "socio-cultural" entre lo que veig a Anglaterra i aquí a Catalunya. Pos, aquí un de ben estrany ... cada dia quan sortim al carrer a Anglaterra trobem monedes pel carrer (normalment de poc valor, entre 1 i 20 peniques, però tot suma). A Tortosa (Catalunya), no.

Existeix la teoria que aquestes monedes tenen tan poc valor (entre 1,5 i 25 centims) que a la gent anglesa li fa mandra acotxar per a agafar-les, però jo crec que deu haver una altre motiu. Crec que és que són funcionaris del govern que surten de nit, com una mena de fada, deixent petits regals pels carrers, per qui tingui la sort de trobar-les el mati següent. Ja se sap, qui matina ....

...

From time to time (every blue moon), I try and comment on a social difference my keen eye has observed between Catalan and English lifestyles - well , today's one of those days. Every day when we go out in England, we find coins on the pavements, carparks, shop floors ... but very very rarely does this happen here in Tortosa (Catalunya). What's the difference? Some people say it's because the English are too lazy to bend over to pick up a mere coin (even when it's worth as much as 20p). I have a different theory, though. I think the government has a special team of workers (a kind of tooth fairy if you like) who come out at night and leave coins in public places for the fortunate ones to find them the following day. As they say, the early bird ....

Incapable of love - Dexys #LP_of_the_year_2012

Ja s'han acabat les votacions i podem dir per fi quin ha sigut el Disc del 2012 per Tannu Tuva.  Redoblamenet de tambors..... s'obre el sobre i surt el nom .... One Day I'm Going To Soar pels Dexys (abans conegut com a Dexys Midnight Runners). Original, a no pugui més, quines veus, quins instruments, i quin humor, una retornada d'aquelles que fan historia. Despres de 20000 anys sense saber res de Kevin Rowland, que tregui aixo de la maniga ens deixa sense paraules. 

Per la cançó us deixem aquesta "conversa" que ens recorda als grans duets de Meatloaf, salvant les distancies!

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So, the votes are in and counted. We can finally announce Tannu Tuva's 2012 LP of the Year - drum roll, ..... opening the envelope .... it's - One Day I'm Going To Soar by Dexys (formerly known as Dexys Midnight runners). A classic pop-soul album, but amazingly original at the same time. Great voices, great instruments, and a great sense of humour! What a comeback! Years and years without hearing anything from Kevin Rowland, and he comes back with this! 

For today's song, what about this beauty which somehow reminds me of those duets Meatloaf used to amaze us with.

Beatles, Clint Eastwood and Bill Fay #newmusic

Primera entrada del bloc per l'any 2013, i encara que ja han passat dies, toca comentar la musica que vam rebre de regals de nadal. Despres de calcetins, potser el regal que més il·lusió em fa és la musica.

Pos aixo, aquest any m'ha tocat el segon disc dels Anthology dels Beatles :) Nyam nyam, bonissim, com tot el que han fet. M'encanta sentir les primeres versions de les peces que ja son classiques, o B-sides o "rarities" que dificilment sentiries si no fos per aquesta col·lecció.

Després ens ha tocat la BSO de la pel·lícula del Changeling de Clint Eastwood. Ja feia temps que volia agafar una de les BSOs que Clint mateix composa, m'encanten, i sobretot em van perfecte per a la "banda sonora" quan estic treballant a l'ordenador. Clint i un got de whiskey i ja et pots enfrentar a una nit de feina davant el teclat!

El tercer CD és el nou de Bill Fay, Life is People. Per si no esteu al cas, Bill va gravar 2 LPs bonissims al principi dels anys 70, i despres res més fins l'any passat. No puc fer el xulo i dir que ja li coneixia des de sempre - jo li vaig descobrir potser fa 5 o 6 anys a traves d'un article i vaig buscar els primers LPs pènsant que ja s'havia jubiliat o desaparegut del mapa. Sorpresa total quan l'any passat va publicar aquesta joia.

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Although we're well into 2013, this is my first post and we have to go over the Christmas music present list. After socks, what else could one wish for at Christmas but a few musical gifts.

This year I got the 2nd volume of the Beatles Anthology collection. Pure delight for Beatles' fans, with its early versions, B-sides, rarities, and a bit of Beatles' banter.

I also got the soundtrack to Clint Eastwood's film, Changeling, composed by the great man himself. Perfect listening for late night computer work. Clint's music, a keyboard and a glass of whiskey and the night is yours.

The third LP was the new one, Life is People, by Bill Fay - his first new work since 1971 I think!