It’s a case of life imitating art this week.

It’s a minor bloody miracle you are actually listening to this at all because Ant had one of those head in hand moments whilst trying to download the episode from the Zoom recorder, and managed instead to format the SD card and delete everything we had .

Fortunately he managed to rescue one half of the recording using some whizzy software that was able to partially rebuild what had been on the card (you can indeed do anything with computers these days) which at least gave us what had been captured on my microphone.

The life imitating art bit is that, after having started the chat with an explanation of how an audio compressor works and when to use it, we then had to employ it quite extensively so you could hear us both at roughly the same level. It did indeed make the loud thing (me) quieter and the quiet thing (Ant) louder. Of course (as I will explain) it meant that the village gossip, and the wind, also came to the fore, as we were recording this episode LIVE in my garden.

So apologies for the slightly variable levels and overall quality, but we wanted to be able to share the chat because we enjoyed recording it and it just wouldn’t have been the same if we had revisited it.

Oh and it cuts off a little abruptly at the end, seems the goodbyes were lost in the recovery process.

Love’n’presidential spread

h

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It’s a gentle and meandering affair for this chapter of TCD (…sorry Lucy) which is podcast code for not really planned, and certainly not thought through.

Saying that, the vibe is about right for a chat that takes place at the seaside and touches on fence repair, cricket and Susie Dent.

The thing I can’t forget is to mention the chaps in the boat, who are called Adam, David, Jack and Sam and you can find out more about them by clicking here. The link that Vibes sent me is from Insta and covers them going over the Titanic.

All of this will become clear as you listen to the pod. Oh.. and as you watch the clip, any resemblance to Ant and I rowing around Peasholm Park is purely serendipitous.

Love'n sweating in a hedge…

h

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For this week's episode of TCD (...sorry Lucy) we have been remembering Luis.

So much of what Luis did had a touch of the mystical about it, he sprinkled musical magic wherever he went, and helped music transcend with just the shake of his tambourine.

Of course that goes a long way to explaining his career, and the legacy he leaves behind, but it doesn't explain the multiple ways he has touched the lives of me and the rest of the marillion family. That was down to something else, the magic of the human being that was Luis Jardim.

It was a joy to have him contribute in the studio and a joy to have him on the road with us. It was also a joy to have him join us for TCD back in October 2022 and if you want to listen back to that episode then click the link below.

Chapter 129. Tightening it up when it's a little loose, and softening it when it's a little stiff

Obrigado meu amigo

h

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Of the things that fly-in-and out of this week’s TCD (….sorry Lucy) Gene Wilder was already lodged well and truly at the front of the ol’ synapses. Having finished my evening in Berlin with him (and Anthony having a similar soft-spot), perhaps it wasn’t too much of a surprise that he found his way into the chat.

Combining the letters D, M and T with the number 8 however, wouldn’t have even been a fleeting blip on the radar feed of my brainiacles* before we started. So how that made an appearance was down to kismet, the power of TCD, and a downward slide into nerdishness (which we will henceforth try to keep to a minimum).

The rest of the conversation was bubbling under the surface somewhere, jostling with the other accumulated randomness, and waiting to happen.

Love, and do tell The Edge to turn that soldering iron off. Oh, his poor mother’s carpet..

h

*A word I am proud to introduce to the world, and encourage you to employ whenever you feel it might elevate the conversation.

Fostex DMT8

Hohner Pianet

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Well it feels like quite a while since we were here last… how have you been?

What with the Leicester Weekend, and then dashing off on holiday I can't really remember where we had got up to, not that it really matters because this week was always going to be a bit of a catch-up and reset as far as TCD goes (...sorry Lucy).

What I can tell you is that Lionel Plain, who is one of the Purple folk, came up with an inspired idea for the middle of the pod this week - which was welcome because it meant we only had to flounder around at the beginning and the end!

Anyway, wonderful boating weather!

See you in Oslo x

h

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There is a school of thought that TCD (...sorry Lucy) is just like listening to two blokes chatting in a pub, and there is indeed a lot in that observation that has merit.

It would certainly go a long way to explain the slightly juvenile humour, the occasional grumpy chunter and the fact we often giggle uncontrollably and sound a bit pissed.

And, as is the case with most good pub conversations, every once in a while we actually find ourselves having a relatively serious discussion. Today is one of those days.

Love'n'proper silence

h

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There is a paradox at the heart of this weeks episode of The Corona Diaries (see what I did there…) and it is this.

Getting Lucy Jordache on the zoom call was easy, she was more than up for a repeat appearance on the pod. Getting her to actually talk about herself and her life, was a darn sight more tricky.

But we are nothing if not determined (creatives code for just bloody nosey) and between the two of us we were able to get to know a bit more about one of the significant dollops of glue that holds Marillion in place.

Oh and if that wasn’t enough you also get an update on a PZ T-Shirt pre-order.

Love’n’political skeletons,

h

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We have hit a bit of a milestone, and it is sort of crept up on us. Would you believe it has been five years (and a few days) since we announced the upcoming launch of The Corona Diaries, and pretty much five years to the day that the first chapter (This Strange Podcast) was offered up for your consumption.

And haven't we been through some crazy stuff; in fact haven't we helped each other through some crazy stuff. We are bound together by a heady mix of the half-remembered and the humorous, by the grief and the giggles, by the warm purple glow of our own accidental cult.

So here is (quite literally) to the next chapter, and the next and even to the one after that. TCD (...sorry Lucy) is a journey that still feels like it has a few good miles left in it, and who would we be to argue with that.

Love'n'kismet

h & Ant

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I bet you never thought we would remember to pick up the Holidays in Eden chat. You know, the one we started before the first weekend at PZ. Well we did and we have.

Of course it’s not without the usual TCD (…sorry Lucy) eccentricities. I was post-pub, post-airing cupboard and Ant was in a hotel library (who knew) that had more than a whiff of the Shining about it.

But we did manage to get through to the end, both in regards to the plan and also the recording and we present it for your pleasure.

And for those of you who aren’t familiar with the brand Tena, well you can find out more here. Let’s just say that if you need them, you’ll know.

Right I’m off to try and return some mail-order socks.

Toodle Pip!

h

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I am not really sure how to describe this episode of TCD (...sorry, Lucy). If it helps to set the scene then you might want to consider the following;

• I am/was in Montreal at the time of recording, and Ant was ensconced in his villains lair, in Heckmondwike.
• The wi-fi was more than a bit iffy, in fact for the first five minutes so it was looking like a bit of a non-starter.
• I hadn't put much thought into the rest of my week, and Ant hadn't really put much thought into anything other than questions about my week.

I guess what I am trying to say is that there are undoubtedly a couple of nuggets in #232, but you are going to have to go digging.

Love'n'essence

h

P.S Ant now informs me it was Skegness, rather than Scarborough. But it definitely was a thing in the 80's

P.P.S I did giggle a lot as I was editing it...

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