Therapy For Me

W/C 7th October 2024

However I was also very wrong, though as it turned out probably not because of a well thought through plan.

The fact is that the Tories are now going to lurch to the right, in a desperate and misguided ploy to try and regain some of the votes they have lost to the Reform Party. One group of headbangers try to appeal to another group of headbangers, all with the zeal of the converted.

I find it hard to believe that we are going to have to listen to even wilder diatribes on why the UK isn't sovereign enough, or didn't Brexit hard enough, and that all the answers lie in a referendum on membership of the EHCR.

You may be right, but that isn't the place that you win from.

Stay safe.

You May Be Right - Billy Joel

War Game Documentary

Therapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.

If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.

W/C 30th September 2024

You will hear me talk about the Penshaw Monument in this weeks TFM, and pretty much everything I said about it was (on further investigation) wrong.

It is in fact a memorial rather than some sort of Victorian Folly, and was built to commemorate the death of John Langton, the first Earl of Durham and the Governor-General of British North America. It is indeed officially know as the Earl of Durham's Monument.

What is true is where it stands, on Penshaw Hill near the village of Penshaw, between the towns of Washington and Houghton-le-Sping in County Durham, and that for many locals it is the reassuring sign they are in the right place

So I got some of it right.

Stay safe.

The Tipping Point - Tears for Fears

James Blunt

Penshaw Monument

Therapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.

If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.

W/C 23rd September 2024

I am writing this at 10:02 on the 27th September.

By my reckoning it is the 54th time I have witnessed this date, and would imagine that for forty-odd of those occurrences I should have some recollection. Except I am not sure I have.

I have probably done many interesting things on this day through the years, for example it's possible it is one of the first days I spent at University back in 1990. I may well have been to a gig, or stood at Bramall Lane watching the mighty Blades on this date over the years - but ask me for specifics and I have none to offer.

Wouldn't it be great if there were some way to retrieve that information, a sort of retrospective diary-on-demand, to remind you of the significance of this day, over the years.

Stay safe.

Memory of Water - Marillion

Bilberry Reservoir Disaster

Therapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.

If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.

W/C 16th September 2024

So I sat outside the British Library for a bit this week (as you will hear) with my face in the sunshine, and it was bloody lovely.

There was a place to get coffee, one of those horse-boxy, old caravan style ones, and so I ordered a flat white. The coffee they were serving was 'origin' and it took me right back because the first time I had origin coffee was in Padstow about 15-20 years ago.

It turns out that they are celebrating their 20 year anniversary, and the reason I stumbled across the brand in Padstow is that Cornwall (Porthleven, to be precise) is the origin of their story (see what I did there...).

Needless to say the coffee was smashing, particularly as it came with a thread to the past which allowed me to think back to early morning walks along the Camel Trail.

Stay safe.

How Far We've Come - Matchbox Twenty

Origin Coffee

Therapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.

If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.

W/C 9th September 2024

Jarvis is so cool.

And it doesn't matter what you think of Pulp as a musical force, he is just very, very, cool. As you will hear the choice of today's title came very much in the moment and as such I wasn't expecting to be listening to this song, or indeed watching the video.

And it is so Pulp, so Jarvis, so bloody cool.

Stay safe.

Help the Aged - Pulp

Cabin Pressure

Therapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.

If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.

W/C 2nd August 2024

As a slight departure from the norm I have chosen the live version of this song, taken from the Secret World tour. The reason being that it is one of the best live DVDs I can remember having seen.

Back in the early noughties I was working for a music instrument retailer called Academy of Sound. I was working in the purchasing team, and every so often I would get little special assignments.

What that meant in this case was that I spent a week or so in the Preston Store helping with a departmental rejig, and this DVD was playing on repeat all the time I was there. it's actually about the only thing I can remember about the visit.

Stay safe.

Come Talk To Me - Peter Gabriel

Therapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.

If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.

W/C 26th August 2024

I don't actually follow the crowd on this album, I loved it then and I love it now. Yes it is over-blown, and pompous and so, so, impressed with itself, but do you know what I really like that about it.

There was still other good stuff to come, but this was Oasis at their swaggering best, and this is why they still hold a fascination for some many people.

For once I am going to forget the cynical side of what has happened this week, and just wallow in the sheer joy of having the brothers back around and causing mayhem.

Stay safe.

Be Here Now - Oasis

Therapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.

If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.

W/C 19th August 2024

This has to be one of the nicest spots I have published a podcast from. I am sat overlooking the sea at the Cafe Iconic in Sant Antoni de Calonge, for no other reason than I need to immerse myself in there Wi-Fi gratis.

We are getting to the back-end of what has been a fantastic time in Catalonia, firstly in Girona and latterly at the coast around Palamos. This really is a very special place to spend some time, and a reminder of how life is shaped by the local climate. The promenade is currently dense with a mixture of runners and walkers - everybody seemingly in transit to somewhere else - in a way I would not expect back home at 8am on a Saturday.

For someone who likes to observe human behaviour, it's a joy to watch how the world spins and all the local interactions and peculiarities.

But enough of this whimsy, I have a croissant to finish, and a café amb llet to start, and if that wasn't enough there is a game of beach paddle (or is it padel) that is reaching a thrilling climax.

Stay safe.

Walking Down Your Street - The Bangles

Therapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.

If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.

W/C 12th August 2024

I can’t remember ever going over 30 minutes for a TFM before, though now I have said it out loud, it is probably not that unusual.

Of course it’s an achievement that cuts two ways.

For me, it means I have decluttered my brain and let go of some stuff that probably wasn't going to do me much good, especially if I continued to dwell on it. And it has also given me the chance to reflect and smile again at some of the quirks of the week.

For you, it means an extra 5-10 minutes of your life given over to a rambling fifty odd year old and his first world neuroses.

But them, as the saying goes, are the breaks.

Stay safe.

Closing Time - Semisonic

Girona Opera Fella

Therapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.

If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.

W/C 5th August 2024

It seems a little counter-intuitive to have selected this particular episode title, given some of the stuff that has been going on this week, but as you will hear I have had cause to smile at number of things through the week.

Also this is a song that 'I knew' for years before I actually tell you who it was, and even when it had been released.

And do you know what, it's a song that illicit the same response so all the more reason to share it this morning.

Stay safe.

Smile - The Supernaturals

Therapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.

If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.