The Corona Diaries

Who says you can’t teach on old dog new tricks, well to be fair lots of people - including me as it goes - but you know what I mean.

So for this episode of TCD (sorry Lucy) we are having a crack at something a bit different, based around an idea that Ant had. I happened to mention a few weeks ago that I rarely listen back to the Marillion albums and haven’t done for quite a while. Consequently my experience of our back catalogue tends to be in rehearsal and on stage.

Anyway he suggested that I sit down and work my way through our back catalogue, taking note of what struck me whilst I was listening back to them now. And do you know what, it sounded like quite an intriguing little musical experiment, so here we are.

Anyway we start, where all good stories start, at the beginning. So sit back and prepare yourselves for Seasons End.

Love’n’full fibre

h

TCD Merch Store

Become Purple and support the show

The Invisible Man Volume 1: 1991-1997

The Invisible Man Volume2: 1998-2014

Facebook

Instagram

Website

The first TCD of September (sorry Lucy) and we are starting with what could be loosely called ‘a plan’.

Following some imaginative intervention from the Purples, we have a rich vein of chat suggestions to mine over the coming weeks, starting with a belter from Roger Harvey.

But I ain’t going to spoil the surprise, so you will just have to listen for the details - and of course we will also be requiring you all to help provide the clarifications when the timeline gets a little hazy.

Love’n’linen

h

TCD Merch Store

Become Purple and support the show

The Invisible Man Volume 1: 1991-1997

The Invisible Man Volume2: 1998-2014

Facebook

Instagram

Website

It’s literally two years since we had an episode quite like this one. And in an unusual foray into accuracy I can give you the exact details, because it was Chapter 122

The reason I know this is because that week Ant was on holiday in Catalonia, and as such he recorded his half of the conversation in a lively cafe in Platja d’Aro.

And, literally just for the hell of it, he is back in the same spot - only this time it was a hotel reception. The good news is that the Wi-Fi was considerably better, so actually getting something in the can was a lot easier. The downside is the background hubbub that you get in that particular environment. Meanwhile, I was in Denmark with toddlers.

Tweaks have been made using expensive Spanish digital software, but it is a little nosier than usual so please bear with.

Anyway onto business, because those of you who appreciate a well-run council waste facility, or indeed are unsure about the nutritional make-up of your breakfast bowl, are in for an absolute treat.

Love’n’tow-balls

h

TCD Merch Store

Become Purple and support the show

The Invisible Man Volume 1: 1991-1997

The Invisible Man Volume2: 1998-2014

Facebook

Instagram

Website

Big shout out to Roger Harvey, who in a round-about way has filled the middle of the TCD doughnut this week. Confused? Well let me explain..

As you know I read a bit of something in the middle of each week's pod. Since I got through all of The Invisible Man diaries, I have been rooting around the bottom of the digital drawer looking for interesting (and previously unread) stuff to include. And, as most of you are aware I tend to do this a bit 'on the hoof' each week.

Anyway this week I had to message Ant in a panic to see if he had any inspiration, because I had lost all track of what I had (and hadn't) read already. After a few minutes contemplation he recalled that Roger Harvey had been in touch to share pictures of a handwritten excerpt I wrote for the Web Magazine in the way back when, about my 100th show.

So that is what you have got, and it is thanks to another Mr.H that you have that at all.

Cheers Roger...

Love’n’mosi-bashing

h x

TCD Merch Store

Become Purple and support the show

The Invisible Man Volume 1: 1991-1997

The Invisible Man Volume2: 1998-2014

Facebook

Instagram

Website

It struck me as I was listening to chapter 215 that one of the quirks of recording TCD (sorry Lucy) is that the process is often interrupted by what has gone before. It isn't exactly a 'ghost in the machine' because it is all very explainable, and indeed predictable.

Let me try and enlighten you. The way I record my half of the conversation involves overdubbing onto a file that contains snippets of previous recordings; you know the kind of thing, old diary readings, the musical idents we use to transition between sections and odd bits of crooncast. Because I am not great at muting these before we start, every so often they spring into life becoming audible to both Ant & myself mid-conversation.

This week it was the jingle for spreadsheet corner that made an appearance, momentarily throwing us both a curve-ball, and resulting in a slight break in the flow as we re-centre.

Of course you, dear listener, are privy to the reaction rather than the cause so I thought it only fair to explain how and why this semi-regular phenomena comes about.

Of course it's entirely possible that you have never ever noticed, in which case 'as you were'.

Love'n'seam sniffing

h

TCD Merch Store

Become Purple and support the show

The Invisible Man Volume 1: 1991-1997

The Invisible Man Volume2: 1998-2014

Facebook

Instagram

Website

I was minded on listening back that we spend years fine-tuning our quirks, in fact I am not convinced it's a process we ever actually get to the end of.

But these are the things that define who we are. So to know me is to know both my caffeine routine and how I close an overhead locker when I am on a plane.

So I say 'embrace all quirks without fear or self consciousness' and respect and cherish those of the people that you encounter along the way

Because life for me often involves an imaginary pogo-stick.

Love’n’specialist-dusting,

h

TCD Merch Store

Become Purple and support the show

The Invisible Man Volume 1: 1991-1997

The Invisible Man Volume2: 1998-2014

Facebook

Instagram

Website

This week's TCD (sorry Lucy) reminds me of when you take a drive to somewhere you travel to often. Not a quick-round-the-corner to the shop kind of trip, more a journey that you know well but maybe takes an hour to two.

Sometimes you arrive at such a destination, not really remembering exactly how you got there. You know you have been in the car for a couple of hours, and that you have covered 103 miles but as to the specifics of the journey, well that kind of went by in a blur.

So when I came to edit #213 I couldn't really recall what Ant and I had talked about. I knew we had met at the pre-arranged time and that we had talked for an hour or so, but as to the details, hmm...

So, in short, I may well have had the same experience you are just about to have yourself.

Love'n'Tolstoy

h

TCD Merch Store

Become Purple and support the show

The Invisible Man Volume 1: 1991-1997

The Invisible Man Volume2: 1998-2014

Facebook

Instagram

Website

It’s the end of an era, sort of.

Back on the 27th April, 2020 the first episode proper of TCD (sorry, Lucy) was published and we have been chucking them out every week for well over four years.

But with 212 that streak comes to an end, because as of next week we are changing our cadence. 

I don’t think either of us expected to still be doing this after 50 episodes, let alone 200, and of course life has moved on bringing more pressure on diaries and the time available to keep the content coming. And because we want to ensure we continue to provide extra stuff for the Purple community we have decided to make TCD a fortnightly release, and produce patron-only bits in the weeks in-inbetween.

So if you have been contemplating Purpleness then maybe now is the time, and if not we now recommend listening to each episode twice, a week apart, because if you are anything like me you will have forgotten it all anyway.

Love'n'Gillian

h

Apologies for missing last week (though very soon you will know why) This one was a little tough in prospect but alright once we got going.

It sounds a bit different owing to Ant not being able to get his tech to work (post Spanish-holibobs) and having to use the USB mic instead of the flash one he normally uses.

Having said all that, in many ways it is an archetypal episode of TCD - bawdy seaside postcards, eccentric village-folk and me with one leg in a fantasy-world, and the other one standing on a box. She was used to that…

Love'n'oranges

h

TCD Merch Store

Become Purple and support the show

The Invisible Man Volume 1: 1991-1997

The Invisible Man Volume2: 1998-2014

Facebook

Instagram

Website

Well it's been a bit of a palaver this week, trying to get TCD (sorry, Lucy) ready for the outside world.

The recording seemed to go well, but when I was putting it together it became apparent that Ant had forgotten his trademark 'and we're back' after the diary reading, so I had to crowbar one in from a previous episode. Actually on that point, the first person who can correctly identify which of the previous 209 episodes it came from can have a bag of Starmix.

So I got around that little faux-pas, only for Ant to message me and break the news that the diary section which I recorded on Tuesday, has actually been used in a previous episode. So not only does that mean I have read and recorded it twice, it also means you will be getting a definite sense of deja vu.

After a high-level executive discussion, we have decided to leave it as is, because it's a good bit of diary and you’ve all had several sleeps since you heard it last. Hopefully you will enjoy the refresher.

Oh, and did I mention that Tim Sidwell was in attendance? No, well he was and as usual he was an absolute poppet and not a bit “Hollywood” except for occasionally calling us “darlings”. How wonderful!

Love'n'rama

h

TCD Merch Store

Become Purple and support the show

The Invisible Man Volume 1: 1991-1997

The Invisible Man Volume2: 1998-2014

Facebook

Instagram

Website