We were up early this morning in a Bolt on the way to Leroy Merlin to look at what we need to get the water aspect of The Archive up to speed. This led to Filipe the plumber coming around which led in turn to let him take control of what we put in the water closet, the bathroom, and the kitchen but it was important for us to get an idea about what the options were by going to a home depot type department store that had sinks and taps and loos and the like – just so we could contribute. He came and looked and opened cupboards and made suggestions and has now gone away to work out the figures. The exciting world of basic amenities.

We returned to meet our landlord who it seems has misplaced his keys to the premises. He’s going to have one more try to find them (maybe in dad’s car) before we cut him another one, as we have a new security gate the key he had for that doesn’t work anymore anyway. From there Olivia went to the food shop and I went to return an LP at Tubitek, Carole King’s Legendary Demos was very warped so I took it back and replaced it with one that was less warped, that was the choice. It was so tight in the sleeve, which probably had something to do with it. Beware of the tight shrink wrap.

It rained on the way back but I had my LFC umbrella, a prezzie one year from Olivia’s parents. I already got a birthday card from them this week for Sunday’s birthday, a black and white picture of Mick Jagger standing next to someone wearing a T-shirt that said “Who the f*** is Mick Jagger” except it wasn’t blanked out, I suppose an English expletive sent from Germany to Portugal isn’t offensive. Thanks, Guyz. Olivia and I returned at separate times and left our umbrellas at the entrance, except the next time we opened the door, one of them was gone, not the LFC one so it might have been a Porto fan.

I had a sesh at 6 with Matt in Brooklyn and another at 10 with Jeff in Ohio. It’s so cool doing these sessions because taking today as an example, Matt sent me an acoustic song, Jeff an electronic one. In between seshes, Haaland broke the premiership goal record for a season (surprise, surprise) and Liverpool beat Fulham (sorry Biggles) which has them in fifth with five wins in a row. The tables have turned, but I’m sure it’s too late for the Champions League.

My sore throat and cough are annoying, but hopefully slowly improving. I drowned my sorrows in the RSD Suede demo release from the debut album that wasn’t there the other day and the Tori Amos B-sides from the singles for the first album Little Earthquakes. Interesting limited editions to the collection.

Talking of interesting editions to The Archive, music today was the RSD release of Gong’s Angel’s Egg (1973) from the Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy (Volume 2). It came with the original booklet that is long missing from my original copy. Prepare yourself for some trippy walks through strange gardens in upside-down worlds.

Music Of The Daze