Pets live again!

I'm waiting for this evening when I will be going to see the Pet Shop Boys live for the 4th time! I have been thinking about my enjoyment of their music which is rooted in a love of their lyrics and their runes and theri elecotrnic sound. It's these two aspects together. And their live performances are a sheer theatrical delight. I could wax lyrically about this and have done in previous blog entries. But today I want to acknowledge that when I first met my partner in 1990 I had a new copy of Discography - Pets Greatest hits. She moved up to Sheffield and I used to work 2 days a week in Sheffield. So travelling from Leeds on the train to work and to see her I played Discography on my Walkamn (remember those?) So my developing relationship with her was linked to the Pet Shop Boys! More recently replaying the video for 'What have I done to deserve this?' featuring Dusty Springfield I am reminded that Dusty one of my late sister's favourite singers. So it begins to hang together or weave together. And I love the Englishness of Neil Tennant and the English humour of Chris Lowe and how they don't belong, but they do. This is so me. I don't belong and I do. I am a successful academic and a lost mixed up small town kid inside. Both is true, both is me. I can lecture audiences of 400 in London, Nairobi, Bangalore without batting an eyelid but sometimes I feel so guache(?) in one to one encounters outside of the counselling room!