Half Portions

Every time I look out these windows the same tune keeps popping into my head. I'm not sure where I first heard it, but remember having to cough up a hefty fine at the local library after keeping the album - 12 inch, 33rpm vinyl - out on loan well past the regulation four weeks.

That room in the library - just off to the right of the shot here coincidentally - was a favourite place to waste time, browsing the stacks of records and picking out odd artists that you'd never heard of and sometimes coming across an absolute peach. It was like a tiny analogue version of Spotify. My criteria for selection then was, if the packaging looked good, then it had to be good inside too. I still do that nowadays with beer and, just like back then, it sometimes works.

Unfortunately, unlike Spotify, there came a time when I'd been through all the good stuff and was left with only the likes of the Top of Pops compilations (pre-cursor to the Now... series but much shittier). After that, I was seduced by the 6 for the price of 1 offer from a (hopefully) long gone mail order set up called Britannia Music Club which must've been the most expensive way ever of buying albums. Took ages to get shot of that scam.

So, as I sat with my half portion macaroni cheese and chips and staring out the window here at lunchtime, that same tune began going around my head again. It took seconds to fire up Spotify, search for the song, and have it accompanying me as I zoned out to the sweary students on one side and the smoochy pair on the other. Technology saves the day.

It's what headphones were made for