I'm still Terrible Blogger and Terrible, Terrible Chips

In my previous post I mentioned I had mostly moved over to Instagram because of ease of posting. Well, I'm still doing it. 

If anyone is wondering why I'm filling my stories with birthday posts, it's mostly my way of trying to stay mentally fit. I've dedicated time every morning to read through who's birthday it might be and learn something about why these people are famous. The first 2 months was me just posting birthdays but not sharing why I found them fascinating. Some people were kind of obvious, some are just favourite musicians, actors, etc. Anyone who brought me some joy in my life via their art or science. 

I won't be offended if you can't be arsed to look at any of them. I certainly can't look at everyone's stories. But there is is. I'm looking up people, trying to learn stories and facts. Sometimes it's just a person I hadn't know was responsible for certain things and often it's just an excuse to listen to some long forgotten song. 

It's vernal equinox today. So here I am just prattling on, no focus still. But hoping new season, new year, new beginnings, new start.

I'll get there.

Oh, wait. I mentioned chips. 

So this atrocity was put out by Frito-Lay. 

Behold. HAVOC Bulgogi Blaze chips. 

As a 1st generation Korean I can confirm all of the following: 

• No Koreans were in anyway involved in the creation of this abomination. 
• And if they were, they have lost their sense of taste
• My ancestors are weeping

Aroma: Something between a subtle hint of sour body odour and vinegar, which immediately enrages me because vinegar never equals hot and most hot sauce makers haven't been able to figure it out. So instead of the intense pain of heat, you're stuck with your mouth imploding from the taste of 9 volt batteries and acid. But I digress.

Taste and texture: So, the chip is a wavy ruffle kind of deal. It is a well made chip. It is satisfyingly crunch like a good chip should be. And then... it tastes like... weird barbecue seasoning. If you've had barbecue chips, you know what they taste like. They're actually fairly decent, with the right amount of smokey sweet, hint of ketchup seasoning.

This was as if you'd ordered your chips from Wish. Poor flavour, like expired dollar-store popcorn seasoning made in some unknown people's democratic republic buried deep between the USSR and China if such a thing existed. Which it no longer does because either China or Russia annexed it. 

I noticed that this bag had a 'Vegetarian' label on it. And immediately felt sorry for all the vegetarians who have given up meat and then you punish them by offering this sad trip into No-flavour town. 

There's even this cute label on the bottom corner claiming these chips are supposed to be hot. Alas, the amount of heat from the seasoning would best be described hot, like a warm summer day on the rejected planet of Pluto.

This is a sad day in the North American chip market. So sad.

The Tale of the Peanut and the Long COVID epilogue

Hiya!

I'm a terrible blogger.  

I have found Instagram to be an easier outlet for my creative bursts, such that they are. So if you miss my adorably trying and annoying online presence, please, feel free to follow my Instagram account. It's public for now and will remain that way until the weirdos (read: incels, anti-vaxxers and freeDUM convoy creeps) make it an uncomfortable space and then I'll let my nasty alter ego take over and the internets will be like over-stimulated apes and chimpanzees screeching and tossing handfuls of shit all over each other. (Yes I know it already is like that, but this corner will be amalgamated into that too).

If you cared enough to read the whole previous COVID post and are concerned, I may have neglected to mention that I was, at the time, under an enormous amount of stress. Without getting into the boring and personal bits, a huge change in my life came along and we got through it okay but the journey was one hell of a challenge. 

I'm not longer living in the big city and have left to live in in the boondocks of Canada.

Silver Birches - Tom Thomson

I'm practically living in a Group of 7 painting and it's been quiet, sometimes too quiet, but peaceful.

I can say, with some certainty, that the Long COVID symptoms were also symptoms of extreme duress and the two simply fed off each other and turned me into a hacking, coughy, fatigued mess of a person. 

My stomach aliments, now that we've mostly fully investigated them, likely pre-date COVID and were noted by another doctor/dentist, but largely dismissed because I wasn't familiar with any of the symptoms of acid-re-flux. I did a barium swallow-test and it seems that I do suffer from it but didn't understand that was what was happening and it was obviously made worse with the stress.

Barium swallows are yucky. Normally I have a strong constitution when it comes to conventionally 'gross' food items, but this one was a little difficult on an empty stomach. Imagine drinking chalk. That's pretty much it. If it came in another flavour, it would be like drinking coloured chalk. Needless to say, I'm in no rush to have another one.

My oesophagus is okay tho. No damage. 

My fatigue comes and goes, but with the major stress I was experiencing now gone, the fatigue isn't as bad anymore, but still concerning because I shouldn't be this tired all the time. 

The brain-fog is the most discerning part of the equation. I still have trouble putting my thoughts into words and will stand there trying to piece together steps of a task that I've done many times before. The confusion bothers me because it puts me one step closer to that unknowable monster that is Alzheimer's. I recently read a book called "Forgetting" by Dr. Scott A. Small, which put my mind a little at ease. It broke down the mechanisms of memory and made it more like an engine repair manual. If you have an issue, you trace it back to the source. They have ways of doing this, they have ways to understand this. They are always working on a solution. By the time things start to really show, maybe there will be a magical pill. Until then, I shall continue to prattle on, take bad photos and be a menace to my corner of the internet.

Writing is a blessing to me because, unless I'm messaging someone, I can take the time I need to remember the words I need to describe what I'm feeling, thinking, imagining. But it, like everything else, is becoming a little harder for me to do. When I was younger, words used to pour from me with ease. But my internal dialogue never had words in it. It's images, feelings, abstract ideas that don't necessarily have words at the ready anymore. My descriptive audio is failing. 

However, it's easier to sit and try to remember, say, the same of a tool, like a set of tongs, instead of standing there in the kitchen heat, staring right at them, and trying to ask my husband to pass them to me before something burns. "Hey, can you pass me the things that pinch?" Yes. I've been reduced to describing the action of the item I need. Our conversations are not unlike this on a daily basis: 

Me: "Can you give me the thing that has ink in it? You write with it. That thing." Pointing desperately

Him: "The pen?" 

Me: "Yeah, the write-y, stylus thingy!"

Him: "Pen."

Me: (Frustrated but seeing the humour in it all) "WRITEY STYLUSY THINGY."

Hopefully my memory and physical coordination organ stays in good repair and I can continue being as non-senile as possible for many years to come. If not, I'll look back on this babble and likely wonder who the eff this weirdo is that wrote all this nonsense.

Favourite 10 Talk Talk songs - my reply to a query from Toby Benjamin

Just prior to Christmas I received a message from author Toby Benjamin inquiring about 10 favourite 10 Talk Talk songs. He mentioned he would select some of it for a post he was going to do for his Spirit of Talk Talk page and honestly I was happy to oblige, but honestly, it wasn't a fair question. Narrow it down to only 10 favourites? Unpossible!

Here is the post where some of my Peanut babble made it mainstream. Woot! Thanks to Toby for the opportunity to stretch my writing chops a little bit over the holidays! :) Below this is my entire unabridged submission to Toby. 

It’s My Life - Hands down, my favourite because it was the first song I’d ever heard by them and it was this song that made me (many years later) decide to find out more about their other releases. Also as much as I hesitate to admit this, it was No Doubt that reminded me about this somewhat long forgotten song in my ill-gotten Napster-made library and made me go looking to get a better (read: official) copy of it. 

Runeii - On first listen this was the song that made me start the track over again because it was so subtle and quiet and clearly every note, sound and pause was meaningful and I knew my full attention was needed. 

Today - My love of Talk Talk made me many good online friends in the last few years. My friend Lorraine (in Australia , I’m in Canada) found this 7” single and randomly decided to gift it to me. It is one of the first actual physical piece of Talk Talk merchandise I owned. Living in Another World - I’ve always loved the power start to this song that set the high energy for the rest of it. Also the climax of the song where Mark sounds like he’s almost shouting. (God only knows what kind of tales you tell). 

Life’s What You Make It - This is the 2nd song by the band that I knew of. But it was different enough that it was a few years before I realized these were the same guys that wrote ‘It’s My Life’ I’ve always loved that about Talk Talk. Their albums sound different. Their albums are very much like those lined up school photos your mom has of you from kindergarten to university. They sound like that to me, except a wide gap from junior school pics (The Party’s Over and It’s My Life) high school (the Colour of Spring) university thesis (Spirit of Eden) and post doctoral (Laughing Stock) … sorry for being so wordy.  

The Rainbow - What a solid opener and definitely the moment I realized what Mark was going on about in his early interviews when he described Talk Talk was more like a jazz quartet. 

Candy - Same as ‘Have You Heard the News’ I have heard the ReAction version and I think I like them better. But I love that even then they were making sure they weren’t background music. The change in tempo, that marching drum beat, in the last half of the song jars you to attention. What happened there? Amazing. 

It’s Getting Late In the Evening - When I first heard this song (knowing it was a B-Side) I was immediately surprised it wasn’t a B-Side for a Spirit of Eden single. The same goes for ‘For What It’s Worth’. Both beautiful songs. 

Time is Time - My favourite non-single track off the album. It just sounded perfect. I couldn’t explain more than that. 

Taphead - I’m not sure why my brain connects this song to Mark’s solo track ‘Westward Bound’. Probably the guitar. I can’t explain why I like this song yet. But I do. I'm happy to listen a few more hundred times and come back with a more cohesive explanation someday.

(This one goes to 11) The Colour of Spring - You said Talk Talk but I love this song very much. It could have worked as the title track for that album. But it seems like such a perfect start to the last offering we were ever going to have from Mark Hollis. It was delicate, with that right amount of measured power behind his voice. I remember reading he said his voice was like one of the instruments and I think it really is here. Thanks Toby and hopefully you’re to use some of my babble. 😃

Blog P.S: There were actually 13 in my list, with Rustin Man Night in Evening City and .O.Rang Moratorium rounding out the final two, but I stopped short of writing anything about them because I felt that they were going to be left out anyway. 

 

 

The Tale of the Peanut and the Long COVID

 

Hello. 

Yup. It's a work night. 

I have a confession to make. 

I can with almost 99% confidence tell you that mega-flu I had back in Christmas 2019? Probably COVID-19, before it was even a thing here. Upon seeing a doctor a few weeks later due to a lingering cough and fatigue, it was dismissed as that 'bad flu' going round. I was prescribed antibiotics (for a virus? I was highly confused at the doctor's treatment but too tired to argue. FYI, antibiotics are NOT for treating viruses. Bacterial infections- YES!) and sent home. I never filled the prescription lest whatever I had would turn into an antibiotic resistant super bug if it was indeed some kind of bug, which it wasn't. It was a persistent deep chest cough, a lingering symptom.

It was probably Wuhan novel coronavirus. (Remember when it was called that. I barely do, but then, I stopped watching the news when my mom had a stroke back in 2018 and given a terrible prognosis which she outlived by almost two years). 

I had fought my first round of COVID-19.

That persistent chest cough broke my rib a month later. I never officially got it checked out because what was the hospital going to do? Overrun with COVID at that time, risking catching COVID-19 for an x-ray to be told, "Yup. You gone done and broke it. Go home. Hold a pillow when you sneeze or cough" didn't seem like a smart idea. I've had a broken rib before. Four in fact. 

Bad flu indeed. 

It would be a month after my first bout with COVID-19 before Canada's patient zero was reported on by the media. At that point, I had a lingering cough, fatigue and brain fog. Fun fact! Patient zero was known to my co-workers who may have come in contact with him. But by then, I was already naturally immunized. 

I suppose I'm fortunate. The fatigue and brain fog I sometimes experience these days isn't as bad as some people have it. I've heard some terrible stories. It's been hard to focus and mundane, day to day tasks have become harder to do. I'm forgetful too, which makes me panicky. My mother had Alzheimer's. I may have it. It's just waiting to rear it's ugly, forgetful head. But I'm still mostly functional and able to make it to work daily.

 

Just when I thought I might be getting better from the bouts of fatigue and brain fog, back in February of this year, I was hit with a bad cold that tested negative each time. But the deep and familiar chest cough was back. It lingered for two months. The fatigue was more pronounced and there was brain fog galore. How did I know it was COVID? Special thanks to my husband who started to get sick the following week and tested positive. For what it's worth, this second round of COVID was a bad cold at it's worst. The vaccine was doing what it was supposed to do. We didn't die... or at least, I think I'm ok. After all, I could be writing this via some awesome Ouija board blog function. 

The chest cough remained for a month after recovering and at the end of it, here I am again, with a potentially damaged esophagus and potentially related stomach and liver issues that I'm currently seeking treatment for. I can't say if they're COVID related or not. Neither can my doctor.

So this is where I stand at the moment. Dealing with a health care system that is catching up after two long years of shutdowns and extraordinary demands. I have other health concerns and so far the push to seek treatment in those areas have been slow at best. One specialist has refused to see me over a potential miscommunication initiated by my family doctor's staff, the other specialist did damage to someone close to me and I repeatedly asked to be referred to another specialist (there's more than one in the city) because of that conflict of interest. So far, I've yet to receive any feedback or follow-up. This long waiting game continues. 

I guess I'm venting a little. Apologies. I knew when I started this blog, I'd eventually let loose and just speak my mind. 

This is me, timidly venting about my health. I tend to keep my heath personal because when you discuss issues like, say, what my blood sugar levels are, everyone is suddenly a dietician or endocrinologist who loves giving out unsolicited opinions and advice. People have made terrible assumptions about my health because of my weight. I understand sometimes it's meant as concerned helpful advice, but unless I asked, don't offer. I'm not diabetic and for the last 10+ years, haven't crossed that line yet.

As someone once said, my weight is of no concern to you unless I'm sitting on your face.

While we do have free health care, the wait to see anyone tends to be long and frustrating and so I vent a little more. What healthcare we do have certainly needs to be protected. I urge everyone to keep pressuring the powers that be to ensure that our access to healthcare remains and gets better, not worse. 

I'll update occasionally for my own sense of blog fulfillment but don't expect daily whinging posts about how horrible I feel. I try to keep things light, positive and funny. 

If you have concerns about COVID-19 or other health concerns, while I don't mind if you want to comment about them here, I might even comment back if I can think of something to say, but I can't offer advice. I'm not a medical professional, which is where you should go for these kind of things. I can only offer a "there there" and a pat on the head.

COVID-19 and Post COVID/Long COVID resources: 

World Health Organization

WHO-COVID Information

WHO-Long COVID Information

Health Canada 

Health Canada-COVID Information

Health Canada-Long COVID Information

Center for Disease Control (CDC-US)

CDC-COVID Information

CDC-Long COVID Information

DISCLAIMER - I'm not an expert by any means on COVID. I've provided links from the three top health organizations that I'm familiar with above for some reference and starting points if you are seeking information. If you believe you may have COVID-19 or are suffering from Post COVID/Long COVID, seek medical attention for appropriate diagnoses and treatment. 

Stuff I'm Listening To (Morning Groove Edition) - Hugh Laurie

Title: St. James Infirmary (From A Celebration of New Orleans special)

Lyrics:
When I die, bury me a straight laced shoes
A box backed suit and a Stetson hat
Put 20 dollar gold piece on my watch chain
So the boys'll know I died standin' pat

Why?: My newsfeed on my FB sometimes brings me some new stuff that’s pretty freakin’ good and serves as my morning groove as I’m getting ready for work. Like this lovely piece.

Hugh Laurie is one of my favourite doctors and a damn fine pianist.

Link to song (in case you didn't want to sit through the whole show): https://youtu.be/AzEBH6DZJVk

So for reasons beyond my understanding, the person who posted the clip of the piece won't allow playback on other sites, which I suspect has more to do with driving traffic directly to his YouTube channel than anything else. Fortunately for me, i was able to clip a piece for my social media to share my newfound discovery with my friends and, it made me seek out the entire show, which blessedly does exist and it posted as the main feature here. So pleasant researcher, internet rabbit hole bonus. :D 

Hugh Laurie's discography (as of 2022): 

Let Them Talk (2011)

Didn't It Rain (2013) 

Live on the Queen Mary (2013)

Deezer, YouTube, Spotify, Hugh Laurie Blues Website

Transcription: The Italia Uno Deejay Television Talk Talk Special

Translation courtesy Elena Carla Maria Cantoni (Grazie! https://www.facebook.com/groups/133866179978426/user/100000892584323/)

Video from Silvana Mendes Facebook here: Special Talk Talk, una produzione Italia Uno per Deejay Television Prima Parte (Talk Talk Special - a Italia Uno production for Deejay Television - First Part)

https://www.facebook.com/silvana.mendesdossantos.5055/videos/852563345520470

 

TRANSLATION from ITALIAN

First guy from audience: “Look I expect to space out! It’s been a depressive week, but now I am here and… ‘fiieeww’!!”

 

First girl from audience: “I await a concert with a music that is different from what we are usually used to…”

 

Second girl from audience: “I already saw Talk Talk in Milano and they were wonderful. I expect they will be even better here today, with all these people…”

 

First interview – Mark: “Why do I close myself in the wardrobe after the concert? Well, it happened twice in my life and both the times there were TV troupes in my room. You see, when I come back to the hotel and I am alone, I can slip into my bed and sleep. But if I come back and I find TV people in my room, so I begin to look for a better place to be quiet and I found out this best place is my wardrobe!”

Mark (in italian) on stage when introducing “It’s my life” song: “This song is very important to me because its title is ‘It’s my life’!!”

 

Second interview – Paul: “I have to say this was the best concert we ever did.” 

Lee: “It is a fantastic audience.” 

Mark: “Well, what can I say? I had fun. There is not so much to add, really. It was great and I had fun. I like doing concerts.”

 

Third interview, probably on the bus to the concert (not so easy to distinguish who is saying what) – 

Paul: “Here we are guys! All together while we’re going to the concert!” 

Lee(or Mark?): “First scene, ciak one!”

 

Fourth interview, immediately after the third, minute 10:16 – 

Lee: “Before getting on the stage I think about how I am going to play, I prepare myself psychologically, I think about the beats of the different songs and similar things…” 

Mark (laughing): “Before getting on the stage I train drinking two bottles of Gin!” 

Paul: “I do not think about anything before a concert. I get on the stage and play, just that. It’s simple.”

 

Again second girl from audience: “[I loved]… when they sang ‘Dum dum girl’, that is my favourite song from them…”

 

Fifth interview, from minute 24:10, on the bus – 

Mark: “You know, there is this guy here (points the cameraman with finger) that is following me everywhere! I woke up this morning…” 

Paul(?): “And you got up…” 

Mark: “No! No! I did not ever get up and there was this guy with the camera filming! But who are you?! (Shouting) Who are you??!!” 

Lee: “I was under the shower, under the shower!! (from under the shower) Stop! Cut! I do not want to see you no more! (this last part added by italian translation)”

 

Again on the bus – Interviewer: “Which is the main difference between Italy and the other countries where you played?” 

Paul: “Here they speak Italian!” 

Mark: “ Yes, it’s true! They speak Italian!”

 

Sixth interview, with the crew, minute 27: 

Interviewer: “What does it mean [for you] to be touring with TT?” 

Phil Reis: “It’s a question of life!” 

John Turnbull: “It is like delivering a baby!” 

Ian Curnow: ”It’s a terrible thing!”

 

Final greetings, minute 29:40 – 

Mark: “I would like just to say that it was a great pleasure to work with Deejay Television!” 

Paul: “Ciao Deejay Television! Thank you!” 

Lee: ”Bye Deejay Television! Over and out!”

Transcription: Talk Talk - Bravo TV Exclusive Interview + Studio (14.6.1985 Bravo TV)

Hello! I know, it's been a long time. A recently released into the wild video has turned up. From June 14, 1985 Bravo TV (Germany).

I can't take credit for the transcription. This is from the fabulous digital illustrator, Nika Purkis. Thanks Nika, you're awesome!

Text borrowed unceremoniously from Facebook (of course posted with kind permission from the amazing lady Nika):

Ok, here's a first go at transcribing/translating (I stuck to what was actually said by the guys as best as I could, please correct where I misheard stuff!) This was highly entertaining

==============

{on the tube}

 

Guy: {starts mid-sentence}…this is not the case anymore with the dudes you are about to see, they are among the top stars of the international music scene…

 

Lady:… and are currently recording their new album at Battery Studios. This is Talk Talk!

{outside Battery Studios}

 

Lady VoiceOver: On this road in Northwest London is where Battery Studios are located. From the moment you step into the place it is obvious that only top quality work is produced here. From Iron Maiden, Yes, to Cars..this is where only the best musicians come to record their stuff.

 

{TT walking in}


 

Lady VoiceOver: And when these guys are in productive mode it’s well possible to catch a few funny quips during the interview as well. The boys are really just up to mischief.

 

{the piano scene}

 

Mark: This is a piece from our new album.


 

Lee: That’ll probably set the single. {?}

 

Paul and Mark: yeah…

 

Lady (VoiceOver): A track from the new album? well, that doesn’t sound promising! One “plang” on the piano, and stupid faces. They are taking the piss, right!?

{She’s asking them something inaudible while sitting down, Lee says "I’ll sit here" but I didn’t catch Mark}

 

Lady: You’re working now on the new record?

{I can’t quite catch what Lee’s saying..”there’s a something here”? }

 

Mark: yeah.

 

Lady: What’s gonna be the name of the record?

 

Mark: Don’t know that…. Don’t know.

 

Lady: And when is it gonna be finished?

 

Mark: Uh..about 2, 3 months? 4 months? September, October perhaps. Unless it takes longer.

 

Lady: When you began with Talk Talk, Mark, didn’t you have the wish to be a pop star?

 

Mark: No I only ever wished for one thing…and that was that I could sit here and do this interview with you right now… {laughs} it’s beautiful innit…it’s beautiful.

 

Lee {laughs}: beautiful…beautiful

 

Lady: Ok, but seriously now: what does your recording process look like?

 

Mark: ah right. Lee comes in, right, and he starts hitting things. And we all go ‘ah stop that bangin’... stop that bangin’.
 But he won’t, right, until someone says: if we tape it…will you stop banging. And he’s yeah, alright,… and so we tape it, and he stops banging.

 

And then Paul comes around, …..oh that awful noise..that noise…dum dum, dum dum….so we tape that.

 

Lee: …and then we invite people down to make noise…

 

Mark: Yeah…

 

Lee: …so we can put it on tape.

 

Mark: Yeah. Trying to make it a bit better, with just him and Paul this thing is terrible. It is rubbish. It’s absolute rubbish. So we invite people who can actually play, to make it sound nice. And that’s it really.