Terribly tired last night, and retired early. Which means today I’m up with the dawn, swishing opening the curtains to Mr Gershwin’s An American In Paris on Radio 3. It’s good curtain opening music.

I really love waking up to Radio 3’s news bulletins. Just the basic headlines and details, spoken soberly and evenly. Just enough to keep you in touch. If you need to know more, you tune elsewhere. Otherwise, back to the music. You go from reminders of the worse deeds of humanity, man killing man (more often than not), followed by the better deeds of humanity, such as Mr Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers.

It’s also a good way of feeling better about getting out of bed full stop. People have died; you haven’t, yet. So be thankful, get up and use your life. And if it’s not what you want to do with your day, or indeed with your life, change it. Write a symphony like Tchaikovsky, or do whatever you have to do in a beautiful way. Be the Tchaikovsky of data entry. Help others; all help is beauty. Try not to hurt anyone.

One more note about my short visit to Dublin. In Ireland, Magners Irish cider is called Bulmers, and always was. They can’t be Bulmers elsewhere because their rivals in the UK (who make Strongbow) are also called Bulmers and own the name, at least for cider. It sounds like a huge coincidence, but on further investigation (ie Wikipedia) it transpires that both companies were once associated. People moved companies, tradenames changed hands, the usual petty things. But on going to a Dublin bar, I found it amusing that a famous Irish cider is called the same all over the world, except in Ireland itself.

Ian Watson sends me a list of some more angel songs:

“The Black Angel’s Death Song” by the Velvet Underground
“Angels With Dirty Faces” by Sham 69
“Gabriel’s Wings” by the Family Cat
“Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel
“A Sinner Kissed An Angel” by Frank Sinatra
Something from the “Wings Of Desire” soundtrack

I mention this because I remember “Gabriel’s Wings” very well. One of those songs which could have been a massive hit had it not been recorded by a ragged low-budget indie band. Likewise “Gabriel” by St. Christopher. The indie scene has always been full of better songs than many of those in the mainstream chart, from the 80s till now. But of course, a good song is never the whole package. The Family Cat never had the legs of Girls Aloud. In every sense.

If I were one of those shadowy men behind the pop acts, I’d buy up the better indie songs and give them to the boy bands and girl groups with shinier hair but duller songs. It has happened on occasion. The Sundays’ “Here’s Where The Story Ends” was covered by a jolly dance pop outfit, and became a hit. And Cher had a hit with some lesser-known indie song which escapes me.

Tonight, in lieu of seeing anything at the cinema which we can agree on, I’m seeing Prick Up Your Ears at the ICA with my friend Ms Shanthi.

Thoughts on the movie Sunshine. Looks great for its UK Lottery money, Cillian Murphy is great, and I like the fat gold spacesuits especially. Only drawback is that the plot is too full of sci-fi cliches for my liking. I’ve been told that they’re not cliches, they’re influences, references and deliberate homages to other films. But that just makes me want to watch the other films instead: Dark Star, Silent Running, Alien, Cube, 2001. Even the more recent Event Horizon and Sphere seem more original than Sunshine, at least in the plot.

I think in these pop culture-saturated days, there has to come a point where you must be careful not to pay homage and make references so much that it’s at the expense of your own work. Don’t go to pains to join in when you could blaze your own trail. This applies to bands, too. If you like someone else’s work so much, go and start a website.

Which is in itself a reference to a Joss Whedon-directed episode of Angel. The ballet one. Sorry.