A very wise man once probably said that you should keep records of your life so that you can look back on it when you're older and wiser and see what it was like. Why miss out on the nostalgia? Well, I'm sure a wise man will have said something like that. However, I also know for a fact that unwise people may feel the same. There's a benefit in recording 1st hand, what's happening. Posterity is a good thing to save things for. Conversely, you can't spend your life recording things, or you'll never have any 1st hand experiences, as you'll be too busy to do anything but record stuff.

I like to record my life and look back on it. I do a lot of stuff, and a diary is one way to keep track of "how it was". A quick look back on the archives for 12th July tells me this:

• Last year, I was too busy to blog in July
• The year before, I was "in training" for Edinburgh, and also managed a first date with my now long-term girlfriend
• In 2007, I was blogging about 4 times per day (something to do with the end of a job that I'd run out of love for) and was obsessing about the Ukulele Orchestra
• In 2006, I was gigging in Huddersfield at a weird gig
• In 2005, I was still living in Newcastle, it was swelteringly hot, and I did my 250th gig.

Well, I found that interesting.

So, now I sit here, after gig 867 was performed on Friday last, with gig 868 coming up on Thursday. Gig 870 is a preview of my Edinburgh show in Southampton on Saturday, fact fans. With facts all over the place, I'll ask if that's what recording is all about? Well, no. In fact, the really important recording news is that I've started recording an album.

You're recording an album Ashley?
This isn't the first time I've recorded an album. I made a CD for The Musical! with Chris back in 2004. We recorded it pretty quickly and did a pretty ok job of it, all things considered. It was something we could sell after the show, and we sold quite a few of them. It was a nice thing to have. I made way more than we were ever going to sell, but you learn by doing.

As I've got a new show for this year, it's time to make an album of the soundtrack to the show or somesuch. As I write, I'm not 100% sure what exactly will be on the album. Let me think. The following tracks should be on there (the ones in bold have been recorded):

1. Introduction (Spoken)
2. Oh No, He's Started To Sing (Song - maybe live)
3. Songs Have Things In Common (Spoken)
4. Walking On The Joker (Song - maybe live)
5. Music is as old as mankind (spoken)
6. Even Cavemen Get The Blues (Song)
7. The catholic church bans a note (musical routine)
8. They Banned Bossa Nova (song)
9. Seven types of "sing" (spoken)
10. I'm Classically Trained (musical routine)
11. Not everything we sing is a song (spoken)
12. Song 1 (song)
13. Elton John does stand-up (musical routine)
14. You could sing the yellow pages (Song - probably live)
15. Story song intro (spoken)
16. Song 2
17. T.B.D. some sort of story song
18. How to write a love song (musical routine)
19. Heart metaphors and how to avoid them
20. Love is like... (song)
21. Complacency songs - watered down music (spoken)
22. Punk loses its edge (song)
23. Easy? (musical routine)
24. Pain intro (spoken)
25. Hotel Hell (song)
26. Elton John stands up again (musical routine)
27. Attitude and Nietszche (spoken with music)
28. RAP and how to neutralise it (musical routine)
29. Novelty intro (spoken)
30. Song 3
31. Christmas songs (spoken)
32. Christmas Song For Jews
33. Commercial intro (spoken)
34. 30 seconds
35. Putting it all together (spoken)
36. The Seven Deadly Sings (song)
37. Bonus track: tbd
38. Bonus track: tbd

Streuth... Lots still to record.

Other things
I've now realised I have no time to do anything other than sort this stuff out... so quick list of facts from the recent past:

• My piano's foot pedal broke, so I bought a soldering iron (mine is temporarily in locations unknown) and fixed it
• Thursday last week saw a brilliant reception for the show in Reading - everyone was there
• Friday last week saw me performing the show amongst a large amount of heat and road noise in Manchester, it was less engaging for the audience, who were immersed in the noise from the street as much as the show
• I had some pictures taken - oooh
• I need to lose weight
• I had a nice weekend

Right - must get on with recording stuff.