Audacious April.

[Sweder]

I'm still trying to figure out what the hell Nuclear Device is all about *. . .

*. . .I think the "nuclear device" in question was probably just wild-eyed speculation about the construction of a nuclear power plant. As far as I can see, B-P never stated a lust for nuclear weapons . . .

Not sure on the historical accurracy here . . . the Stranglers rarely allowed hard facts to get in the way of a good song, but the lyric

I sell desert stretches like a big rubber glove
To Japan for a Nuclear Device

indicates (to me at least) that we wasn't so much swapping land for a bomb, rather selling the land for the Japs to test on. The line

All the animals look so strange
All victims of a testing range

seems to support this theory.

Something I always liked about that track was the clever interaction of the chorus at the end. The boys sing in a 'round' - like we did in school with Frere Jacques - and at one point the words overlap beautifully -

Getting rid of Abos one by one and
Way down under Australia

combine to make it sound like

Getting rid of Stranglers one by one

They didn't just throw this stuff together you know

Go Buddy Go was my absolute favorite track for ages.
Then I bought Rattus Norvegicus - the first LP purchased with my own brass - and fell in love with London Lady, Princess of the Streets, Down In The Sewer and, of course, Ugly.

It's only the children of the f***in wealthy that turn out to be good-looking . . .

[SIZE="1"]Go Buddy Go was released as a single - double A side with Peaches - but also on a bonus CD with Rattus along with Choosy Suzie. Check out Celia and the Mutations and Celia and the Fabulous Mutations - the Stranglers were Celia's backing band. They did a mean cover of Mean To Me and perhaps the definitive version of Mony Mony, including a blood-curdling contribution from JJ Burnel on backing vocals. Great stuff.[/SIZE]

[Sweder]

Oh yes . . . what I meant to say was excellent stuff this month. It's been a real boost reading your reports as I deliver perhaps the finest ever impression of a Sloth this week

Another Guinness with G&T chaser there, barman . . .

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

. . . the Stranglers rarely allowed hard facts to get in the way of a good song, but the lyric

I sell desert stretches like a big rubber glove
To Japan for a Nuclear Device

indicates (to me at least) that we wasn't so much swapping land for a bomb, rather selling the land for the Japs to test on. The line

All the animals look so strange
All victims of a testing range

seems to support this theory.

It's true that Bjelke-Petersen allowed massive tracts of land to be sold to Japanese developers, but I'll be buggered if I can find a nuclear connection. Lots of bands wrote anti-Bjelke songs, usually after a confrontation with the Queensland police, who (as was later proven by a Royal Commission) were rotten to the core, and acted as Bjelke-Petersen's political thugs. Street marches were banned in Queensland during those awful years, and I personally know one bloke who was arrested for merely making a slight pig noise in the vicinity of a Queensland policeman.

According to one newspaper article I came across, in the Stranglers' case the police jumped up on stage during a Stranglers' gig in a Brisbane pub, and a fight broke out when the cops tried to stop the performance. This was in the late 70s, when anything Bjelke-Petersen and his police thugs didn't like could be easily stopped because it nearly always constituted an "illegal gathering", which was a gathering of three or more people who did not have permission to do so. Queensland was in some ways worse than South Africa under apartheid. I was there briefly in 1979 (probably at the same time as The Stranglers, funnily enough), and I was horrified by the place. It was a very long time before I went back.

Something I always liked about that track [Nuclear Device] was the clever interaction of the chorus at the end. The boys sing in a 'round' - like we did in school with Frere Jacques - and at one point the words overlap beautifully -

Getting rid of Abos one by one and
Way down under Australia

combine to make it sound like

Getting rid of Stranglers one by one

They didn't just throw this stuff together you know

Clearly! Pretty clever stuff. You can check it out here if you want to hear what we're rabbiting on about.

See? You can learn a whole heap of useful stuff here on Running Commentary. From a perfect bacon sandwich recipe to political history and musicology.

Cool.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Ha ha, a rest day! And just as bloody well too, I'm pretty sore today. Tell you what though - half a bottle of red works a whole damn lot better than bleedin' ibuprofen.

But.

A 12km looms tomorrow. What's a bloke to do? Guess I'll run the sod and then have that other half bottle.

Yeah.

Now that's a plan.

[El Gordo]

Ha ha, a rest day! And just as bloody well too, I'm pretty sore today. Tell you what though - half a bottle of red works a whole damn lot better than bleedin' ibuprofen.

But.

A 12km looms tomorrow. What's a bloke to do? Guess I'll run the sod and then have that other half bottle.

Yeah.

Now that's a plan.

Hmmm. Funny, but it reminded me of my 40th birthday which was celebrated at http://www.manoir.com/web/olem/olem_a2a_home.jsp -- which I'm sure you knew was the joke...

[Seafront Plodder]

Hmmm. Funny, but it reminded me of my 40th birthday which was celebrated at http://www.manoir.com/web/olem/olem_a2a_home.jsp -- which I'm sure you knew was the joke...

Indeed. I make a point of never eating anywhere where the menu uses the 'word' jus

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

What a day.

Today was "Open Day" at work, which resulted in thousands of the unwashed demons of hell (i.e. members of the public) traipsing through my work place with all the dread hassles that entails. Not to mention a good dose of Murphy's Law which ensures all those calamities that normally don't happen, do now happen given that it's the worst possible time for them to eventuate.

At least I was getting paid. Most of the poor buggers (fellow employees) had been coerced into giving up "just two short hours" of their time to help out, which of course meant they worked their arses off for the full 6 hours (and more) that we were "open" for. Ah well, such is life in the glamour industry that is public broadcasting.

Urgh.

Given there was little time for such luxuries as refreshment breaks, I left work feeling completely shagged out and dehydrated, but still had to shoehorn a 12km run into my schedule before heading out again to drink strong beer and red wine with a bass player mate of mine.

I won't say it was a pretty 12km because it wasn't. It was carved out of a block of pure antagonism laced with ascerbic difficulty and a good dose of indifference. But I ground out the bugger and thus completed a 34km week, and totalled 127 kilometres for the month, which is by far my best month of running ever.

So I really did/am enjoying that half bottle of red. And also a six-pack of Coopers' Sparkling Ale - you guys definitely can buy it in UK, so track it down and try it. It's good gear. It's easy to spot - it has a distinctive old fashioned red label. It's one of the last independent family-owned breweries over here not yet bought out by the multi-national conglomerates (not for want of trying). A bit like Harvey's, perhaps.

So. April was a corker of a month for me as far as the running is concerned. It's the first April in which I've not been forced to stop running through injury. This bodes well for the rest of the year. It hasn't been easy - in fact it's required a lot of care and attention to prevent injury. Measured running, ice and rest as well as anti-inflammatories have been dished out in large quantities to keep me going, but it has worked. Now to move on. And that means hill work and speed work.

And probably a lot more red wine.

Hehe.

Life's good when you run.

[Moyleman]

Good on yer MLC Man.

Fantastic kiloage for the month - keep it up. I'll raise a cold Guiness to you.
A sparkling beer doesn't sound quite right.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

I'll raise a cold Guiness to you.
A sparkling beer doesn't sound quite right.

Thanks Moyley ... a Guinness will do nicely, in fact, brilliant.