Comfortably Numb...

...was on the radio this afternoon. The live version, the same one that Lovely Girlfriend and I often listen to as we fall asleep in each others arms. And I had to turn it off.

It just wasn't right. I can listen to the original album version, I can even just about bear the Scissor Sisters version, but the live version? Without Lovely Girlfriend? Just wrong.

Luckily, well, lucky if I wanted to listen to a live version of Comfortably Number while Lovely Girlfriend is away, there happened to be a concert on the radio by David Gilmour, and in the course of procedings he and his band managed an excellent live Comfortably Numb which I managed to record...

...but not until after a cable nightmare. All I needed, to connect the radio to the laptop so I could record the most excellent Mr Gilmour, was either a 1/8th inch stereo mini-jack (male) to 1/8th inch stereo mini-jack (male) lead, or alternatively a 1/8th inch stereo mini-jack (male) to RCA audio connectors lead. A doddle, you might think, though perhaps only if you'd seen my audio lead collection about 10 years ago. After spending a frantic half an hour demolishing all known storage areas in the house, I had got to a point where I had two old sets of headphones, a pair of wire strippers, some insulating tape and the soldering iron, when out of the blue the perfect 1/8 inch stereo mini-jack (male) to 1/8th inch stereo mini-jack (male) cable turned up. Right next to the stereo, as it happens.

Then I had to actually test recording the radio onto the laptop. It didn't work. So, to cut a long story short, I had to download recording software, install it, configure it, configure the laptop so it recorded from the right input, and then, perish the thought, I had to put up with banal BBC Radio 2 for 5 minutes before the actual concert started.

But record it I have: it's not a brilliant copy, but at least Comfortably Numb isn't causing uncomfortable "I'm missing you" moments.

And now to complete the "Comfortably Numb" theme, I shall have another drink.