Lucifer's Beard

Woke up to some unwelcome indoor waterworks this morning in the front room.

It has absolutely bucketed non stop for the past 18 hours and thanks to some dodgy leadwork and my over zealous tile clearing yesterday the water has found it's way in where previously moss and gunk has probably prevented it.

Thankfully my Dad had a number for a reliable roofer who came round, fiddled with some tiles and lining and sorted out a temporary solution. He's coming back tomorrow afternoon to do a proper repair.

Hopefully the plumber is still coming later today to do a couple of small jobs.

It's all go.

Other than that I've just watched some telly (Frasier & KOTH) and listened to some obscure New Order recordings while I gitter about the house. I don't know what's worse - Bernard's singing or his ham-fisted lyrics. God love him. It was still the best way to go after Joy Division.

Someone actually Blipped a sort of kaleidascopic Unknown Pleasures t-shirt yesterday. Sort of a Gratefull Dead tie-die version of Peter Saville's negative image* of a printout of the flashes produced by the CP1919 pulsar.

*The original image is black on white and you could buy an official shirt and badges in the day with that image as it was used in America.

It's funny how the general perspective of Joy Division held today is so much different to that when the band were actually on the go. History seems to have got a bit warped in that regard. People seem to love the morbidity rather than the excitment.

They were never really a doom and gloom band - just a genuinely exciting indie band. Really, really loud. You have to remember much of the effects used on the albums were not produced live so it was a very stripped down bass heavy sound and often at a faster pace.

I think people have tried to claim Curtis' memory and that of Joy Division as something that it really wasn't and are being influenced by media people who have read in articles, written by people who have read in articles, written by people etc. etc.

Like Jeff Buckley it would have been interesting to see where it all was to lead.

Debbie Curtis detroyed much of Ian's unpublished work following his death so we will never know but New Order did record a few proposed Joy Division tracks in their early stages with Bernard taking on Curtis' vocals.

Anyway, Stephen Morris collects army tanks as does my plumber.

Wonder where he is this time.