Friday Photo(s) #79

Last week I took a bus over to the town I work in and walked home along country footpaths. I've done the jaunt before, more than once, but was trying out a new route this time. I estimated that it would take around 1¾ hours and for the first few miles all was going swimmingly, then I hit the first of two sweetcorn fields I'd have to cross. Footpaths should be maintained by the land owner, regardless of whether or not there's a crop in the field, so I followed the wooden 'Public Footpath' sign into the field, which was only slightly overgrown at this point. As I pressed on, the worn down path beneath my feet became gradually less obvious as previous walkers had presumably given up the ghost and turned round. By the time I realised that the footpath was completely gone and I couldn't actually walk any further, the sweetcorn surrounding me was over head height - I felt disorientated and even a little panicky. For the photo below I was holding the camera up over my head and shooting blind. It took me some time to hack my way out, imagining I was roughly retracing my steps, but I actually emerged from the corn some distance from where I entered it, such was my disorientation. Long story short, taking a series of alternative footpaths around the field instead of walking across it added considerably to my step count. 

Fortunately the second sweetcorn field, a mile or so further on, was perfectly maintained, offering a clear cut footpath straight through the middle of the towering crop - you can see it disappearing into the distance in the photo at the top of this post. A short while later however, the next phase of my pre-planned walk was scuppered by a stretch of country footpath that had been officially closed by the Parish Council, damaged by off-road vehicles apparently, necessitating yet another detour for me. I eventually arrived home, wearier than anticipated, more than three hours after setting off.

Here's The Coral, summoning the spirit of early Pink Floyd I feel, with an appropriately titled tune from their 2004 LP 'Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker'.

Song of the Corn

Supermarket Soundtrack

One morning in October as I clocked in for my shift, I couldn't help but notice that music was playing through the public address system, a system until then only used for imploring reluctant members of staff to 'jump on a till' when an unexpected rush occurred or to berate an inconsiderately parked customer into moving his or her vehicle. Yes, a nominal internal company radio station was on the air - in reality an external drive playing a selection of random tunes interspersed with social distancing information. The music, however, was awful - truly awful. I'd consider myself to have a working knowledge of pop music, but this stuff was unrecognisable and bland in the extreme, falling slap-bang into the category of aural wallpaper. The weeks went by and gradually it became the default background noise of a working day. Of course I expected to hear random Christmas songs phased into the playlist as we entered the festive season, but what I didn't bank on when I walked into the store on December 1st was to hear this belting out of the system.

The Coral - Jacqueline

You could've knocked me down with a feather. It was yer actual Coral....playing at work! Next up was 'Talk of the Town' by The Pretenders. Then 'One Vision' by Queen, which was slightly less welcome to be honest, but you get my drift. Suddenly, without warning, we were getting proper songs by proper artists instead of endless bucket loads of dreary muzak. Yes, this stuff is indeed interspersed with the anticipated Christmas songs, but wondering what tune is coming up next has certainly put a spring in my step each day. To date we've had music from artists such as Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Bob Marley & the Wailers, The Supremes, Steve Winwood, The La's, James Brown, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Sam Cooke, early Rod Stewart, The Travelling Wilburys, Dusty Springfield & The Four Tops to name but a few - and just yesterday 'Penny Lane' by The Fabs themselves, it really is all over the place and has become a welcome soundtrack to my working day. Even the festive tuneage stretches beyond the blindingly obvious. I mean when was the last time you heard this one going head to head with Slade and Wizzard in your local supermarket at this time of the year?

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Christmas All Over Again