14 Apr 2011

Madrid to London and back, moving offices and some football on the way

I can't believe it's Monday again. And I can't believe I'm starting at 4:45 am again. Something's wrong. It's 5:45 and I'm already driving. By 6 I'm at the airport. Open 4square, check-in, have a smoke at the front door, through to security, monorail to the other building, passport control, coffee. I have taken this early flight to London so many times in the last two months that I feel I could go from bed to the boarding gate with my eyes closed. This morning I woke up with a song in my head, it was "Steady as she goes" by The Raconteurs. How bizarre, when I play my music in the plane, it's the first song that pops up. This is a song about conventional lifes. I certainly don't live one. So, this one's gotta be my song to start the week.

It's Tuesday and I'm still in Rugby. And I thought it was all a dream and I was going to wake up at home this morning! Today a long day planned ahead; without boring you with a lot of work stuff, I will tell you that I have a meeting planned 120 miles (195 km) away from the hotel. The meeting is scheduled from one to three, but will last until five o'clock. I'm meant to be picking up a colleague at Luton airport at 18:45. That's some 190 miles (310 km) from where I am. Long story short: I will hit the road, drive a bit too fast, get to Luton at 19:45, and back to the hotel for half past nine just when the restaurant was about to close, having driven a total of 370 miles (roughly 520 km). Of course, straight to dinner, so I don't hit my room till almost midnight. Officially: One of the longest days ever! So, I decide that my song for the day has to be "All-nighter" by Elastica, one of those small mid-nighties british bands that rose from the stone roses wave and who never got anywhere but left a few good tunes for posterity.

It's Wednesday. Pretty much an invisible day, the only thought in my head the whole day is that I'll be coming home tonight. So it is kinda easy to choose. I feel noisy, mischievous and careless. That makes it easy to choose my band: Welsh band Super Furry Animals. And one of my favourite songs in their catalogue: "The Teacher". Here I go babe, I'm coming home!

On Thursday I wake up relatively late for a school day. It's my first day in the new office. All of my colleagues have been talking about it for weeks. As I am not in the office much lately (7 days in total in 2011!), I haven't paid much attention to the whole thing really. I think I might have been the only one not visiting the new building while it was being finished. But today that changes. Today I get there and I see my new desk and the new furniture and parking lot and all of it. It's a warm and sunny day too. I feel happy. I feel like tapping my car all over (you know, when a cool song comes up and you play drums all over the wheel, the stick, the dashboard, the ceiling, while you sing along... Or am I the only one who does that? C'mon...) I recently discovered this band "Wolf Gang", on BBC Radio 1 in the UK. The conversation in the show was about how it was apparently recorded in a forest in New York or something, and the guys at BBC were mocking the whole idea, as apparently they've never heard of "Upstate New York", and they only heard of Manhattan. Anyway, I downloaded "Dancing with the devil" from itunes a couple weeks later cos it was their single of the week (and it was free!), and I really like it, it's quite up-beat and is definitely Thursday's song.

TGI Friday! Another shiny spring day in Madrid, another short day in the office, a game of Padel in the afternoon, 25º out there, our roof-top terrace is blooming with flowers... What else can you ask for? Have I told you I have an iPad? well I do. And among the thousands apps I have, I have tons of musical instruments. I can't play any, but it's so much fun to pretend that I can! Anyway, a few months ago, I learnt to play "Spring" by Vivaldi, just by messing around with the iPad piano. So, that's the song for the day. I'm not the best in classical music, but isn't this piece just great? It really makes me feel all springy.

Saturday is a hectic day. Big footie game on telly tonight. Some friends are getting together from lunch time for it (it's a 22:00 kick-off!). Lorraine and I had some chores to do in the morning, so we get on with it. For lunch we went to this american joint called "Tommy Mel's diner", which is not great, but not too bad either. On the way back home, my ipod plays some Propellerhead's tune. Lorraine detests it. It gets me thinking how long I haven't played them for. It's gotta be like a million years. Later in the day I go to watch the game at a friend's. It's a tie. Once again my team doesn't know how to defeat them. History repeats itself for the third consecutive year. Theme tune for the day: "History Repeating", by the Propellerheads.

Finally Sunday came along. I feel so lazy! We go out for breakfast. Lorraine has a piece of toast with olive oil and tomato spread on it with a white coffee, I go for my usual buttered toast and a coke (zero). We really feel like doing nothing today. At least I do! I choose "No surprises" by Radiohead today, as it is a calming - feel safe (someone may argue feel depressed, but let's don't go there) song. My parents call and we go out for lunch with them. Some good old fried fishies. Back home for a nice nap, while Lorraine gives making brownies a try. Relaxed sunday. Tomorrow, at 4:45, my alarm clock will remind me that I have to go to London again. But not today, for with no alarms and no surprises, I will spend the afternoon doing nothing.

Music is the answer, but I don't remember the question?

My songs of the day. Week 4

If you read me in fb, you have by now realised that I have made an effort to choose a daily song as the soundtrack for the day, for a good few weeks now.

It all started one (cold) early morning in March, when I was sitting on a plane about to take off on way to London (and it was freaking 6:30 am). It hadn't been the best week at work, and I had received an awful email the previous day, and when I pressed play on my ipad the song that came out was "Imitation of life" by REM - is that a great song or what - anyway, that was a perfect song for that moment, for it has such a feel-good power, and it made me think so much higher of myself (if possible!), and I decided to share it with my friends and family.

Then, I thought that I could share a song every day, to let everybody know how I am feeling that day, and share my emotions and my musical (potentially terrible) taste with the world a bit more than I normally do.

And now, because Lorraine is writing her blog on cooking, for that's what she loves, I am terribly jealous, and have thought that music is my favouritest thing in the world, and why not convert my song of the day in "this week's songs" and explain a bit more why I choose each song or, if struggling to do so, at least tell the world what I was doing when I chose them and why I like them so much.

I am starting on week four, I don't plan to catch up on the backlog, so I might even cheat and repeat songs soon :-)

Anyway, I hope you all read it, enjoy it and make comments on it. As you know, I am always keen on discovering new bands and all that, and if you make me recommendations be sure I will listen to them. That's a promise.

You can also follow me on twitter @avillor, where I normally say a lot of stupid things...