Day 2: Liver & onions for lunch

I’m around half-way through day 2 and I’m prepared to take a human life for shear amusement. You know how most people could never conceive me sitting still for 5 minutes? Imagine doing it for 5 fucking days.

I’ve taken it upon myself to get to know all of the staff by name; morning, evening and night. I think these people are so used to getting shit all over (at times, literally) that it’s a strange but welcome change to have someone ask them how they’re doing. That, and I’ll never get tired of making jokes about my bottles of pee; something which I feel you can really only do once you know someone by first name.

High point of my morning has been Stephanie emailing me a set of SAP procedures to review so that I can improve the efficiency of our stock take for next year. Conversely, today’s low has undoubtedly been the verification from the doctor that I’m here until best case, Friday, worst case, Monday.

I don’t know about you, but I could use some music. I won’t lie, I’ve been listening to Blind Melon and Super 400 for most of the morning, they’ve already been covered sometime ago, and even further ago. I will instead reveal one of my best kept musical secrets. Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m refusing painkillers, but I feel I’ve let this lay dormant for long enough.

The Verve Pipe is one of my favorite bands, Brian Vander Ark is one of my favorite songwriters, and their self-titled second release is in my top 10 desert island records. Yes, this is the same band who brought you the supposed ‘one hit wonder’, The Freshman (a song which I wish could be burned pure in the fire of a thousand suns). However, the remainder of Villains was an incredibly well thought out and balanced album. Truth be told, even Freshman was a good track… it just got so overplayed it made your mom look tight.

Their third and final release together was 2001’s Underneath. Proving that every band must peak, it was a very solid collection of songs, but was still hidden beneath the shadows of the band’s self-titled second release. Start to finish, Vander Ark created a perfect series of driving anthems, rock ballads, and fragile lullabies which are aligned to do what so few bands even attempt anymore (let alone succeed); create an album. Certain modes and harmonies are reused throughout the album, bringing a sense of familiarity to each song. Even the lyrical themes of each song stitch back to back, almost as though the album tells a story of looking, love, leaving and loss.

Believe me when I say that I have been listening to this album on a consistent basis since it’s release in 1996, so I know what I’m talking about. Enjoy the video below, however do the album justice and go pick it up so that you can appreciate the full genius, end to end.


-Can we get you any painkillers for your ankle?
-Will they help me get out of here sooner?
-They should help you feel more comfortable, but sadly won’t affect the timeline.
-Then no… the boredom is far worse than any physical sensation.