On Sunday night I had two pints of Nottingham's most famous laxative, Shipstones Bitter which made it a good job that I had booked yesterday off work to concentrate on 'proper' work. By proper work I mean a lot of catching up in my home office. I should do this on a semi-regular basis really as it was a hugely productive day that I wrote a list for the day before and pretty much stuck to apart from a few things that aren't urgent. It could have gone wrong and I might have stayed in bed until the middle of the afternoon and got nothing done at all, but thankfully Jack was agitated and seemingly desperate to get outside. I usually walk him before work and on days off he doesn't usually get taken out until about nine or ten, he gets a walk at around two o'clock in the morning so he always has a good unload to tide him over. Today though he wanted to get out and I pulled on some clothes and he dragged me down the road until he eventually let go with an almighty deposit. Of course I am a responsible dog parent and would musically have picked it up and put it in the bin, but I would have needed a spoon for this, my saving grace was that he did it on a verge on the side of the path underneath some nettles so at least it wasn't going to become a burden on someone's shoe. He kept assuming the position throughout the walk and appeared to be in discomfort for the most part of our outing, he was just dripping the remains out so I decided to keep him out until he seemed to have emptied himself and we ended up being out for two hours.
Once I had made breakfast and attempted to feed Jack (he didn't want anything and I didn't force the issue) I set about getting on with it. I rattled through and managed to record Sunday's podcast and did all the uploading and set up the blog page so all I have to do on Sunday is press a button and it is done. After doing some advertising for the next gig I recorded a small podcast to preview it, something I think I will do for all of them from now on, and uploaded it straight away. Once that big job was out of the way I ploughed through the outstanding admin tasks, emailing all and sundry with various replies and comments before it was time to have a late lunch. The interview with Will Robinson about Waterfront was emailed in to the paper as was some information about The Sunday Alternative Live in the hope that they will do something with it.
Jack seemed to be over the worst so he must have just eaten something that didn't agree with him and upset his stomach, to be honest I have mornings like that. To help him to get his appetite back I took him to the park to chase his ball for a while. I still don't like to take him there any more since the incident on Good Friday, but he is over it even if I am not so it isn't fair to deny him of it. I tie the lead up around the gate and don't move from the spot now, always on the lookout for someone coming in who ignores the rules and then swears blind that right is on their side. Jack chased and fetched his ball non-stop for about forty minutes before picking up his ball and walking to the gate, his way of showing that he has had enough fun and exercise for one afternoon.
I had wanted to do some recording of the Bowie Day audio book but couldn't really motivate myself to do that, so I attempted to kick start another of my projects. It started as a joke but I am determined to see if I can do it, and that is the kazoo Christmas album. Sitting at my desk and tooting out a respectable rendition of 'Silent Night' I became aware that I was being watched, turning round I was confronted by Jack sitting there with an inquisitive look on his face. Every time I tried to continue I just started laughing, so if A Kazoo Christmas With Steve Oliver doesn't see the light of day then you know who to blame.
The Sunday Alternative #50 is available from here.
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August housekeeping
We are now in the eighth month of the year and at a standstill as far as work is concerned. In unrelated news, it is my birthday on the 27th of this month so a nice present would be a donation using the PayPal button. This would be spent on creating podcasts, documentaries, short films, comedy sketches and various other entertainments that I will make available to enjoy online for free.
The above t-shirt and bag is also available to buy, all the money goes to the same creative fund. They are on my shop page.
I'll play you a kazoo song request, find out how here.
Letter of complaint written for you for £2, here.
steveEoliver@gmail.com
