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Diary, Thoughts and musings 2005 - 2006
Thursday 28th December 2006 The Day Out
Thankfully the pre-Christmas stress is over for another year but it has been a rather enjoyable festive season --- my first with Gill and family Though we are spending most of the Christmas-New Year interim at mine. Today we cycled up to near by Hare Hill with the intention of having a sneak (out of season) preview of the magnificent gardens but the ornamental lawn with sculptures and surrounding arboretum were closed to the public as is customary with NT properties at this time of year.
Gill however, was suitably impressed with the general Mottram St Andrew setting which seemed to be at its most atmospheric in the misty winter half-light. At this time of year much of rural Northern England has a certain quality of verdant dankness, a becalmed quiescence or a tangible lull in the proceedings before the fertility storm of spring. Our local high rainfall and atmospheric moisture levels promote the most vivid growths of bright green moss and algae on virtually anything that remains still for long enough and these bright greens combined with the rich browns of earth, mud, and leaf mould are the predominant colours of the landscape. I got to try out my new Sony W70 camera in alfresco mode for the first time. The results are quite adequate thus far and at last I now have a digital camera with a satisfying degree of manual control---but it is still just a step on the ladder to a decent digital SLR. I keep pondering the prospect of a return to film and the resurrection of some pretty good kit from previous years but unfortunately the convenience of digital continues to override virtually all other concerns.
Mr P seemed to be airing a number of concerns about London life last time we met but we appeared to reach something of a consensus on the self evident superiority of life in the North. At least one can entertain the prospect of actually being able to own the roof over ones head in many places around Manchester and Cheshire, and more than just a ‘flat’ in an over populated area. Friendlier people, a much less competitive but highly creative cultural industry sector, low density housing, open space and a generally less frenetic pace of life are just some of the things I would recommend about life up here. As would many of the those decamping to the Mancunian suburbs or Cheshire towns and villages from the South. Even by comparison with near by Manchester my local town of Macclesfield seems to be pleasantly ‘relaxed’. Gill is still marvelling at the shear quantity of good quality privately owned shops in the town along with the extraordinary concentration of pubs and inns.
Saturday 22nd December 2006 Mr Partridge got locked out
Of course I had to take photo first in the true spirit of the Wood and Partridge methodology of the past. I do worry that my former partner in crimes against cameras is becoming a little conservative in his ways!
Happy Yule tide to all my reader(s)---- on lookers----
Mr P is now safely ensconced in front of a roaring fire. Next stop the lovely Gill and family then Brother and SIL.
Saturday 2nd December 2006 Different Jazz
Arrrrhggg! 43 on Monday but still able to pass for 28-ish on a good
day; 35-ish on a bad day. I suppose I shouldn't grumble then, but of course I must
digress immediately as chronological age is of no importance what so
ever---naturally.
It's a beautiful bright crisp day in glorious cestrian uber village and such a joy to be
away from the city centre where I now seem to spend much of the week engaged in a rather
satisfying and adequately challenging IT job. But my 'spiritual' home will always be
rural England. Space, fresh air, the expanse of nature and the physical challenge of
traversing the Peak District on a mountain bike are some of my favourite things. Though
of course I do also have the consolation of a stop over and much shorter morning commutes
from Gill's in the characterful 'up market' and satisfyingly leafy Mancunian suburbs
collectively known as the 'Heatons'.
Gill and I continue to fly off into a fantasy world of Welsh small holdings and all
manner of alternative agrarian or rustic business ventures from organic cafes to
alternative energy systems installation.
Incidentally this concept of wholesome environmentally aware and engaged living
(something which I seem to constantly bang on about) is gaining momentum, though its
current manifestation should not be confused with that now rather passé phrase new
age with all of its fashionable resonance's for the urban right on brigade and assorted
mentalists and charlatans et al.
The new "new age" sensibility seems to embody a celebration of physical courage and
wellbeing. It encourages the idea of getting back to nature and the 'environment' in a
more pro active, realistic and robust way and it has become the cult of a generation of
youth with an eye on the Green agenda. It is the new 'new age' zeitgeist of extreme
sports fanatics, BMX and mountain bikers, mountain climbers with a spiritual attitude and
all manner of muscular out door pursuits rather than the hippy dippy variety offered by
the old "new age". New "new age" is a way of life for people that can actually light
fires and regard getting cold and wet as a life affirming experience. It appears to be
the philosophy proffered by the ultra ethical Welsh clothing manufacture Howies and the
cultural thinking behind Add Busters and the concept of "media jamming". It is anti dumb
anti sedentary and anti blind acceptance of the shallow nihilistic attitudes of our
contemporary society.
Digressing again---and gently meandering into the equally glorious world of music. This
month we have Stereolab and something of a coup in the jazz arena. Three for December,
Old stuff yes, but still good and yet another exposition of the slightly eclectic nature
of my taste in these matters.
Stereolab ‘First of The Microbe Hunters’ UMO Jazz Orchestra ‘One More
Time’ Dwight Trible ‘Horace’
The increasing rarity of these wondrously desirable items has finally driven me to a last ditch purchase on Amazon.co.uk, as all other outlets were proving to be less than useless. Although I would consider my lab collection to be pretty much complete, at least in terms of the creative scope of this incredible band’s output I decided to fill in some of the missing gaps. Microbe Hunters is the perfect entry-level album for anyone wanting an introduction to mid-late period Stereolab. It is the stepping stone between lofi avantgardism of their transfigured velvet underground-ish period and the sumptuous joiesence of the equally avant garde and skewed situationist European evocations. The Lab of course continue to defy categorisation even though they are essentially one of the “most important indi bands of the last 20 years” they continue to produce some of the most strikingly unique, interesting and enjoyable music under the ‘pop’ banner.
The UMO Jazz Orchestra is one of the more ‘classic’ outfits in the burgeoning and highly distinctive Scandinavian jazz scene. It’s big powerful and expansive jazz but not quite as we know it. This album is a sort of quintessential example of the Finish jazz ‘soul’ and its hugely dynamic arrangements are strangely evocative of the moody expanse of the Scandinavian landscape and cold seas. It’s unmistakably Jazz but it wouldn’t feel ‘right’ in a Manhattan studio apartment. The much sort after Horace album is much more evocative of the classic American contemporary mode but still pulls a lot of innovative punches. I seem to remember Dwight Trible’s voice having something of odd quality that boarded on mellifluent baritone androgyny---I know that sounds like an oxymoron but it is true I tell you---so coool! The ‘John Coltrain’ track was a real down tools rooted to the spot moment when I first heard it and just can’t wait to hear it again.
Monday 6th November 2006 Local Recall
I have not made an entry on this page for some time, sometimes I feel
that the writing 'bug' has become somewhat diminished of late, there is a pressing need
to get some serious photography in the proverbial can. I suppose this entry could serve
as one of those summing up, end of the year reflections. Though to be honest, I'm keeping
most of it close to my chest.
I have some up to date pictures from the allotment in South Manchester, which is now
almost completely cultivated. Gill and I (and the boys of course) have spent quite a lot
of time planting and rotivating and now finally we can look forward to some serious
produce next year---mostly fruit I hasten to add.
It's been an interesting year in many ways, not least because I have spent much of it in
that glorious state of Hodkinsonesq idleness. I seem to have something of a natural
affinity for this 'make and do' condition of life and somehow still seem to be able
maintain something of an indulgent life style. But of course circumstances have to change
and now I find myself immersed in the commuter grind once again. There are consolations
though, more stop over's at Gill's, allotment visits, and an IT (internet) based
occupation that actually requires tangible intellect---such a relief after several years
job hopping through sales and half baked call centre slavery. But as ever the call of the
wild and that ultimate 'wilderness man' occupation remain pre-eminent in my occupational
dreams and desires----we will get 'real' one day---?
At the weekend I showed Gill the delights of Mottram Hall golf course, more than just a
'golf course'---of course---- it is also notable for its arboreal delights and in fact is
home to the oldest known Oak tree in Cheshire. Now I can hardly believe that just five or
six of us managed to maintain such a huge area in perfect condition through a frenetic
growing season but we did and the work involved is still by far the best and most
fulfilling I have ever had.
I stumbled across a number of almost forgotten photos last night, all lurking in the
depths of my computer. I thought some of these might be worth uploading because although
they all have the curious qualities of anomalous low-grade digital photography they now
seem to be interesting for that. White sky’s, odd chromasticity, and moiré
galore, its something I have tried to promote albeit out of technical
necessity.
Earlier in the year I took a load of pictures of Rob at work and the village churchyard.
Rob is our local village ‘everyman’ who just happens to look after the
churchyard amongst many other things. I think a number of these photos may end up in
strategic places on this site soon.
Thursday 21st September 2006 Radio Days
It's a lovely bright crisp morn tha' knows but the main reason for today's entry is simply to draw your attention to a website which I personally find to be rather interesting. It has also promoted a new section on my links page too. This is a very evocative insight into the early years of Broadcasting House the BBC's principal building in London which is still home to the Director General and much of the corporations radio production. The website is very well presented and gives a thorough overview of operations, building design, and decor in the pioneering 1930s. BH is still a remarkable place but the site illustrates just how glamorous (and quirky) it was in the early years, a showpiece of unique contemporary design with themed studios disguised as sitting rooms. There is comprehensive technical information and lots of photos of technicians in suites. Descriptions of padauk wood furnishings with pale green carpeting very BBC and a sense of indulgent cosy hospitality which is so typical of broadcasting establishments was just as much a part of the ethos then as it is now. Have a look Broadcasting House There are many other interesting links contained within the site and the more technically minded will find the 'Old Radio Broadcasting Equipment and Memories' pages to be absolutely fascinating. It gives some idea of the staggering scale and complexity of the BBC's technical infrastructure.
Thursday 21st September 2006 Idle Nixies
It’s a bit of a broad ranging entry tonight but I feel compelled to begin with my own modest acknowledgement of a new book by Tom Hodgkinson founder of the Idler biannual. ‘How to be Free’ follows on from ‘How to be Idle’ an overview of the essential ‘idler’ philosophy, or dare I say it ‘cult’. From what I can gather ‘How to Be Free’ constitutes yet another self help guide for all those of us wishing to break free from the tiresome shackles or pressures and artificial needs of modern life. I have to say that the idler concept is quite new to me having been largely introduced to this by friends and it does appear to present a more gentle approach to reform than some of my other vague allegiances.
As I understand it the ‘idling’ concept should not be confused with that ugly phenomenon of slobbish nihilism, the flip side of an ugly superficial consumerism obsessed society. But instead ‘idling’ is proffered as an antithesis and connected with a desire to recover a more contemplative existence based on the conscientious rejection of the Protestant work ethic combined with the idea of assigning more time to ones self and specifically for the pursuit of enlightening pleasures. In a way ‘idling’ has more in common with old world values, creativity, and spirituality. Some would describe the concept as a hankering for a kind of quasi aristocratic existence as opposed to the “brutalising” obsession with hard work that predominates in the mindset of the middle class. Its about living instead of careering, the moment, following ones own instincts instead of the pack, bohemian ideals, detachment and job hopping ---etc. Idling also draws heavily on the notions of self determinism proffered by Nietzsche and others connected with the ideals of existentialism
Though I have not read the book as yet, snippets seen in the press would suggest that it takes the form of a series of easily digestible didactic narratives that are so glaringly obvious and yet somehow overlooked. It mitigates all of the stupid conditioning of our times in a playful but still provocative way and even dietary requirements for an idler are discussed. Idling is in fact one of a number of intellectual attacks on the way we live now. There are many others, coming from a lot of different quarters that appeal to people from many different backgrounds and political orientations from Greens, to Down-Shifters and even Neo Conservatives. But all address the need to re aquatint ourselves with higher values and thoughts and more meaningful ways of life.
There isn’t much to report from the allotment at the moment as we have now reached a steady state of weed control, though Gill did make a rather nice door for the Moomin House last weekend and it was a perfect fit. In my experience door hanging can be a very tricky business even for a standard size factory made job.
This next bit could get a bit technical I’m afraid----you have
been forewarned!
A homage to the days when electronics technology had soul, a sense of energetic life, and
anyone with an ‘o’ level in physics could understand circuits by site.
Last night I indulged in one of my frequent technical web searches with the intention of
finding some info on the once humble Nixie tube. Anyone of a certain undisclosed age may
remember these distinctive numeric indicator devices which predated the now more familiar
LED and LCD technologies. They are comprised of an intricate overlaid matrix of tin wires
formed into the numerals 0 to 9 and encapsulated in a glass tube filled (usually) with
neon. When the respective numerals are energised (at about 170 volts) with respect to a
common anode the relevant numbers appear to glow bright orange. These tubes are now
highly collectable and much sort after by electronics enthusiasts and retro technology
designers. I had in mind the idea to build my own nixie clock, that is until I discovered
that old but unused nixie tubes can cost as much as £150 a piece, particularly the
exquisite Russian models with very elegantly formed numerals. Of course, I found plenty
of designers and boffins that had already beaten me to it and built some of the most
intriguing digital clocks I have seen.
Here is an example of one of the more refined designs, a Swiss guy made it but unfortunately the name escapes me.
But I like the simple and innovative version below even more. This single tube nixie
clock by Time Guy continually cycles through the respective digits of the current
time so 12:30 is displayed as 1,2,3,0—pause---1,2,3,0,----pause etc and the whole
thing is based on a wonderfully simple and elegant circuit design. Built, I think, around
a simple 7441 driver--- for those in the know.
Have a look at the Time
Guy website for more info, some of his clocks have a strange antique technology feel
and look like something off Sam Lowry’s mantle shelf in Terry Gilliam’s
Brazil. Another interesting retro technology page for my fellow geek minded souls can be
found here Mike’s Electric
Stuff. Mike indulges in a certain object fascination for vintage thermionic devices
(valves or tubes) and lots of other interesting stuff including nixies. It’s also a
bit of a nostalgia fest for those engineers wanting to be reminded of technologies that
were largely pioneered in Britain. Even if you don’t know your heil tubes from your
klystrons or nuvistors from mini pups and the intricacies of RADAR and high energy
microwaves leaves you cold it is still worth a visit if only to peruse a veritable
lexicon of potentially useful band names.
Thursday 14th September 2006 Moomin House
We are finally getting to grips with the allotment, and now the task in hand no longer
seems to be quite so daunting, in fact it all appears to be under control and quite
manageable. We have acquired a wonderful shed come greenhouse with the plot and both the
shed and greenhouse are painted in rather fetching shades of blue. We have decided to
call it the ‘Moomin House’ and once we have the wood burning stove installed
this moomin house should make for quite a pleasant autumnal retreat. The plot has been
strimed and we have just covered about 95% of the main plot with black plastic sheet to
suppress weed growth in preparation for rotivation, possibly in the winter, its all good
hard work but hopefully all of this effort should pay off next year. I’m already
looking forward to a bumper fruit crop!
Allotments seem to have become almost fashionable in parts of South
Manchester. The waiting lists for prospective plots are huge and in many ways we were
exceptionally lucky to get any kind of a plot at all, and especially one that is fairly
well cultivated and complete with a shed and greenhouse. The site has something of an Old
World charm, a sense of neighbourly community which is now sadly all too rare in the
suburban streets beyond the gates. We have already been given enough surplus produce to
make at least three substantial meals, and offered the loan of tools without even having
to ask.
Wednesday 23rd August 2006 Scrub Eraser
Mr P (our man in London) has once again kindly provided me with a handful of CD’s,
and some rather interesting news concerning Woody Alan’s latest film production
which is literally shooting, as we speak, on his doorstep in Kentish Town---more soon no
doubt. But back to the CD’s, two of which have been on my ‘want list’
for a while and the other, is provided more for its curiosity value. These three albums
constitute a rather eclectic cross section of taste but unfortunately the excellent Thome
Yorke and Zero 7 have not quite lived up to full expectations (in my mind ) this time
around. Read on.
The Eraser
Few people would disagree that Thom Yorke is a genius and one of the last decade’s
most influential musicians. But his recent solo project
The Eraser is for the most part a quite radical departure from the sumptuous other
worldliness of Radiohead .
I only really like the title track which I think has the greater musical interest and employs all of Yorke's unique vocal attributes plus his ability to convey an emotive intensity that has a very unusual and effecting character. The Eraser is the most Radiohead like track too but Curiously, something about the structure of this track made me want to listen to Steve Reich’s City Life again----what’s that all about? The rest of the album sounds too much like a tentative stumble through an electronic playground and although this random and loosely structured tapestry of sounds is likely to be highly deliberate it just didn’t really excite me in either an intellectual or emotional way.
The Garden
Zero 7’s latest and much awaited offering The Garden is a bit of a let down
considering the presence of Jose Gonzales; a significant figure amongst the current wave
of new purists. Gonzales’ talents are hugely under-utilised and in some ways
undermined by inappropriate treatments, he seems kind of out of place on this album. Of
course Bins and Hardacker’s electrofication of “Crosses” just
doesn’t feel right when you are used to the Gonzales thing!
There are however, a few stand out tracks, well two to be precise. 'Left Behind' seems to be a new tune by Mr G, a more accurate demonstration of his own style, and 'Your Place' is quite an interesting homage to the Scandinavian nujazz scene which seems to be attracting a steadily growing interest. I think the moodier and more deconstructive feel of When it Falls, and Simple Things continue to be the best offerings from the Z7 boys.
Impeach My Bush
Lastly we have Impeach my Bush the latest album from the self-producing mistress
of “smut” aka Peaches. Mark sent this more for its curiosity and comedic
value, and it does have a fair amount of both but really not an album that would
naturally find its way into my stack. Although Peaches is supposed to take an ironic
angle on the “white trash” electro-clash scene and has something of a female
'Ali G' quality the excessive use of ironic (?) visceral and sexual imagery is a bit over
the top for me. I suspect this would still be a popular find for the UK white
“chav” audience. There is however, an interesting political double entendre
encapsulated in the title. Mark has provided much more interesting offerings in a similar
vain from the likes of Ween and Beck, and I wouldn’t mind a burn of Ween’s
Pure Guava if your listening Mark ??
And now for something completely different, as we used to say.
We have just acquired or are in the process of acquiring an allotment in Heaton Chapel,
its all quite exciting but as yet we are not sure which one of a number of plots we are
likely to end up with. Some have appeared to be better than others but one thing is for
sure all will require a substantial amount of work and clearing of scrub etc. Obviously
we are all thinking about the initial fun of clearing and claiming our own space with all
of the attendant excitement of using power tools and maybe the prospect of having an
intriguing sheded hide away or den. But eventually the real prospect of near
self-sufficiency in fruit and veg provision should become a real asset. Have a look at
Gill’s site for more info Urbanimp
Saturday 12th August 2006 Edale Camp
We have just returned from that week of camping in glorious Edale comprised of four
nights under canvas and one in the so-called ‘camping barn’ at Upper Booth.
The weather was typically changeable for this deep valley setting with a number of quite
windy nights but the large three bay tent proved to be more than adequate shelter, and it
was comfortably warm too!
I love this moody and challenging landscape with all of its transient and dramatically different lighting conditions but alas photographic results have proved to be somewhat less than successful. Landscape is a difficult subject at the best of times but especially when using low to mid range digital equipment on ‘auto’ mode. I tried some contra-jour (into the light) shots in the valleys a very difficult but impressive back-lighting technique---when it works! Most of the results however, are rather hazy (see the view of Hope Valley above) due to the lack of exposure and aperture control not to mention filtering, a polariser would have been a very useful asset here but hey, I did get quite a lot of other interesting pictures which may appear on this site soon.
Gill on the side of one of the Tors.
We all did a heck of a lot of hill walking and cycling to and from Edale either by road or via the Pennine Way “across the top” with the imposing vista of Mam Tor overshadowing the Hope Valley below us. Much of the time at base resounded to the sound of Evan and Adam playing guitar. Kites where flown including two hand made mini kites that Lu and Helen fashioned from bits of plastic and string and ‘extreme baseball’ was played but with surprisingly few injuries!
Evan by the river Noe.
The last night was spent in the camping barn at upper Booth, a very basic form of accommodation literally situated in a very old stone barn with a few wooden benches and a raised area for airbeds and sleeping bags etc. Of course the barn has no lighting or any other “domestic” services so one is expected to make full use of all the usual camping gadgets and accessories. We made extensive use of Gill’s ingenious Kelly Kettle a very simple but effective Irish invention that can boil up to two pints of water in three minutes simply by lighting a small fire in the base. The Kelly Kettle was the only device that could be relied upon in any weather conditions and it was easy to find an almost limitless supply of dry dead twigs to fuel the thing click here for more info.
Gill Preparing lunch in the camping barn.
Tuesday 1st August 2006 Spirit of The Past
I couldn’t let the month of August pass without paying my own
mini homage to Manchester’s “famous” Spirit Recording studios which is
to close and move on after more than 21years as a base for the cities most influential
musicians and the equally acclaimed School of Sound Recording. SSR and all of those free
facilities at Spirit significantly aided my career in the audio production field. But I
guess I was one of the lucky ones in a sense, because I was there when it was the place
to be, circa 1985-86 and vividly remember the frequent and sometimes surprising visits
from Manchester’s very own music elite. This included 52nd Street, Swing Out
Sister, Bernard Sumner and M people no less. The atmosphere at Sprit in those days was
intensely creative and hugely optimistic, all of us felt that we were a part of something
that seemed to transcend the work-a-day ethos of other recording industry training
establishments. Of course, all those in the class of 85 will remember the burgeoning
Stone Roses using the studio facilities and John Squire's spontaneous Hendrix-like jams
in the rehearsal rooms and main studio. The Manchester “take” on electronica
and ‘house’ was forged in this very studio by 808 State.
So many of the old students went on to become significant figures in Manchester music or
ended up working further afield. I still have exceptionally fond memories of night time
sessions with Lawdy Mamma, Virginia Wolf, and the making of a commercial for Piccadilly
radio with my colleague Dave Pike, not to mention all of those great staff such as John
Breakel and Tim Oliver et al. The closure of Spirit is definitely the end of an era for
the Manchester studio circuit.
I’m very much looking forward to a big camping expedition in beautiful Edale with Gill and family next week, no doubt there will be further reports and plenty of photos to follow. Of course we are taking the bikes, and a huge tent for the boys, girl friends, and their friends and partners etc. I suspect that Gill and I will indulge in a little dreamy eyed property window shopping---at some point!
Monday 27th July 2006 We Have it All
Computers
Yet another radical revamp of this website is in the offing and it has become something of an all-consuming project, but this project is proving to be more consuming than first hoped. You see, I want to make it a lot more concise and impart some quality of stylistic coherence. Someone once described my more considered photos as being a bit like “visual haiku’s” and this notion has kind of stuck in the mind. I suppose there is a certain zen like effect in the quality of intensely studied details and forms. So I have decided to radically minimalize the home page (at least) in an effort to try to enhance and support the intrinsic qualities of existing and forthcoming photo projects. Of course this “minimalization” will eventually spread to the rest of the site.
Now there is a need, or a trend, to make websites as forward compatible (if that’s the term) as possible. My old and slightly non-compliant table lay outs are just not good enough, and nor are they likely to be widely supported across a range of browsers. So, I will have to get to grips with Cascading Style Sheet controlled layouts. I have been using CSS to conform the text and links aspect of the site for a number of years, but this CSS layout shilarney is proving to be a lot trickier. I insist on doing it all in note pad because I like to have a sense of being in total control of every aspect of the coding---more trickiness-arrrrgh!
Music
Whilst we are broaching the subject of trickiness it may be a good time to risk modest incredulity from some of my fellow jazz nusouls and confess to setting up a frazy.com list that includes vintage (Peter Gabriel period) Genesis and King Crimson albums. Yes they were all a part of my erstwhile vinyl collection, a collection that incidentally contained many more classics and collectables than the current CD collection that has replaced it. But there is no denying that some of these old masterworks were some of the best albums ever made by rock musicians at a time when the genre was genuinely “progressive” and comparatively new. I have become obsessed with the idea of recovering as much of this old collection on CD as possible, though I would prefer older CD’s that are more faithful to the original masters, not re-masters and revamps!
I only have a vague recollection of the form and sound of Foxtrot and Selling
England by the Pound. always two of my favourite Gen albums. But I do remember that
they were both outstanding examples of the “prog rock” idea with coherent
narrative content and a very high degree of musical virtuosity. Selling England was an
almost seamless album with a mellifluous quality that seemed to glide effortlessly
through a range of different but related tracks and it was musically perfect! A lot of
material served up under the banner of “prog rock” was utter crap as too many
bands found themselves in too deep with this whole “concept” album
malarkey and proffered bad and often misplaced music concrete or semmi classical
asides that didn’t work and just seemed pretentious. The more or less good King
Crimson were moderately guilty of this on the potentially interesting Larks Tongues in
Aspic album.
I think I may be getting some inspiration from younger generations who are embroiled in a search for more meaningful and crafty forms almost as a reaction to several decades dominated by electronically fired music or ultra commercial chart nonsense. The growing interest in styles such as post-rock and the metric indulgences of math-rock are in some ways a kind of 21st century prog-rock But non-”rock” like arrangements, obscure tonalities, and polyrhythm are not new things. For wild excessive experimentation, even the use of microtonality, may I refer you to Frank Zappa, Can, and Henry Cow. But despite all of this, or possibly due to all of this my heart still lies in the Nujazz camp and its many off-shoots including the wondrous Stereolab.
Politics
By way of a digression I think I should point out that I do feel a little guilty and somewhat effete for writing in a “weblog” (prefer diary) at the current time and only mentioning personal minutiae. So many other good diarists are much more involved in the important issues that concern the wider world. As I write, a diabolical situation in the so called “bible lands” once again threatens to engulf us all in a wider conflict or exacerbate the global terrorism threat a hundred fold. I read Laurence Hughes' diary and “further musings” and become acutely aware of the peculiar, complex, and self evident nature of the decline of English civilisation. And the other night the ever-irksome Bee Campbell almost caused me to smash the bloody radio in response to her ludicrously out moded and generalised thoughts on gender, and all of them mired in bitter feminist chauvinism. The hottest temperatures on record evince serious global climate change and the silly Daily Express runs an anti-cyclist campaign! But I think I will need to fortify myself before letting rip and expressing potentially inflammatory views on a website that is apparently visited by everyone that either knows me or may want to employ me.
I think we need a breakaway page here at Oliver Wood photos---but hey, at the end of the day lets not forget that it is in fact supposed to be all about that very medium with a few other harmless interests thrown in. Yes computers, music, politics, we have it all.
Its off to the wondrous and lovely Ms Heritage for the weekend----arrrrgh--- relaxant at last.
Monday 10th July 2006 On That Road
Yes it’s the good old B5470 at Rainow, or more precisely the B5470 just in front of
the Highwayman Inn to the east of Rain. I quite like this road; it’s both a
challenging and exhilarating cycling route but probably a little safer than the Cat and
Fiddle Pass. Gill and I managed to get up here in less than an hour via the tormenting
Kerridge route with all of its steep assents. Then we returned via Blaze Hill through
Bollington, an almost continuous high speed down hill mess to the Poachers Arms and
what’s more she could do all of this on a mountain bike---I’m very
impressed!!
Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get too many good pictures, probably because the lighting and all important sky conditions were not to my liking. I did however notice that Rainow was already prepping up for this years Scarecrow festival and a few odd “crows” were appearing here and there and in the more unlikely places but nothing quite as impressive as last year’s collection of straw and cane figures has appeared yet. I will return soon and see if there are any pictures to be had and then possibly press on to Whaley Bridge or Buxton---the joy!
Monday 19th June 2006 Nico Recalled
It’s a quiet Monday following the usual weekend in the company of Gill and family. Unfortunately we did not manage to bike it up to Abney Hall near Didsbury this time but I would like to go and investigate this old place of childhood memories maybe next weekend. Photos could follow.
I noticed that Martin had a copy of the legendary Velvet Underground with Nico album c1966; you know the one with the yellow banana cover by Andy Warhol. I had a vinyl copy many years ago as it became something of a belated punk era icon and must-have item. The poor production quality in evidence on the CD confirms that my old LP was not a duff cut but instead just as faithful a reproduction of Andy Warhol’s accidental or deliberate bad production. Despite this it still remains a quite remarkable album, stylistically at least fifteen years ahead of its time. But as always my favourite tracks are the ones featuring the extraordinary dark voice of Nico (Christa Paffgen), hardly surprising for a fan of Stereolab who in some ways evoke the Velvets aesthetic as did so many other bands not least Joy Division.
Those of us who can remember the pre-Madchester days when Tony Wilson’s Factory organisation called the shots will recall the gracing presence of this enormously charismatic woman hovering on the periphery of the scene and contributing to Manchester’s very own sense of Warholesq bohemia. Nico became something of a resident icon for Factory in those days, confirming its status as a label that had “artistic values” and attempted to echo the traditions of Warhol’s Factory studio after which the record label was named. There was an equally legendary album (within Manchester music circles) produced by Factory’s very own Martin Hannet that featured Nico and superior reworkings of her Lou Reed songs off the 1966 Velvets album but I can’t find a copy anywhere. It was recorded at Cargo Studios in Manchester c1978 and I can still remember the huge “buzz” it generated amongst the black raincoat brigade and all of those in the know. Yes, Nico shared wall space with Ian Curtis in my teenage bedroom and that kind of sums the whole thing up….you had to be there.
It is quite heartening to see that a substantial proportion of the younger generations are still taking music seriously and are able not only to pick out the very best from previous generations but also develop a taste for more contemporary artists that keep the flame of cultural complexity and artistry in (non classical) music very much alive.
Wednesday 14th June 2006 Dead Air
It’s a grey though rather humid day following a whole week of pleasant if rather alarmingly hot weather, you know the thing, unnaturally hot (for the UK), a portentous over-hot that makes one feel as though the thermometer is just going to keep on rising year on year until we all expire. I am trying to devise ideas or even concepts for an enhanced audio aspect to this diary but all unfortunately to no avail thus far. But I think it could be an interesting extra dimension (for me if no one else) a transposition of earlier conceptual “audio diary” keeping. My collection of strange recordings, ambiances, aural “sense impressions”, and commentaries and stories from long gone relatives is probably one of my most precious artefacts and infinitely more engaging than any written diary or even my 8mm film and video archive. But my not inconsiderable audio resources seem to be a little underused at the moment, none however, are portable.
I spent much of the last week with Gill and family in Heaton Chapel, always a most satisfying and pleasant experience. We seem to be passing all of the essential “partnership” tests with flying colours, even working together (another enjoyable feature of the last week) seems like the most natural and uncomplicated thing. However, due to the inevitable time constraints of a working week we did not manage to go on too many cycling adventures. Next weekend I think we are going to see if anything remains of Abney Hall Park and gardens on the Didsbury Cheadle border. I seem to remember visiting as a child, feeding ducks, and hanging around with a group of “alternative” types---I wonder if Abney was some kind of annex to the WEA Rural Studies Centre? I hasten to add that this was all some time before the M62 was built through Stockport, we are talking late 60s!
Gill’s house tends to be something of a hive of creative activity with musical, photographic, painting, and general reprographic activities frequently taking place throughout the night. A lot of guerrilla advertising operations and DIY marketing for websites and CDs is undertaken in the spirit of a clandestine publishing house with a hint of classic “media jamming” aesthetics. A large music room is home to a collection of instruments and recording gear, even a salvaged vintage Wurlitzer organ features in new recordings by Mr Evan Wilson and Miss Talula Hutton operating under the respective banners of Hungry hahaha and Nice New Quilt much of it produced with basic but ingeniously used technical resources and invoking the whimsical feel of vintage melodic folk rock, or new post rock stylings.
Well that in a nutshell is me news for now, the village is looking very pretty as per usual and my ailing camellia has perked up considerably thanks to an infusion of ericaceous plant food---still wonder about returning window frames to their original and more traditional black and maybe even a window box on front bedroom? In a crazy moment I even wondered about classic Cheshire shutters but of course next door would have to follow suite. This place has never had shutters before though so I guess they are out, but it has had black window frames.
Addendum 20:41 hours. My adding bits to previously uploaded entries goes against all normal operating procedure but I feel compelled to note an unsurprising discovery in the music realm. Turns out that Jose Gonzales hails from Sweden and that would explain the unique character of his work, that certain non Anglo-American warp that is constantly drawing me into the realms of Compost/JCR. Gonzales is not new to me as I am sure he has worked in the past with a number of Jazz artists lauded my Mike Chadwick and Giles Peterson et al and may even have been a contender for JCR signing in the past.
It is providing yet more fuel to my argument that there is indeed a certain “cool”, a new kind of “soul” and feeling in music that is being pioneered in Northern Europe and manifesting in forms that roughly fall into the many multifarious Jazz categories including even Bossa and Latin styles. Well there you go; you don’t need me to tell you that everything from Europe is quality personified. I’m desperate to check out more of the Nuspirit Helsinki stuff ASAP, that is if I can find anything on CD as the folks at JCR still seem to have that vinyl fetish and I don’t like unreliable turntables or media that wears out.
PS A few more photos appearing on Gal 2 very soon.
Note to self: Mileage as of today: 6,037.9
Monday 5th June 2006 Imps' n' Dragons
Another fine weekend in the company of dear Gill but alas no fire breathing metal ants (see previous entry) as always there are just so many other good things to do (naturally) and so the castlefield photo expedition fell by the way side. We cycled over to Fletchermoss Park again (a small but beautiful oasis in Didsbury) and managed to get some decent pictures of one another and some shots of various horticultural delights for Gill’s site. I should really up load my “tree portrait” to replace the photo above in order to maintain a degree of chronological currency though the picture above is hardly out of date…
The green issue, or consciousness as I like to call it, seems to be inspiring an ever growing number of friends and acquaintances who previously espoused the ideology of the far left, or not in some cases! Gill and I of course have well entrenched “green” credentials and endeavour to live according to principals at all times but again there are times when I can’t help feeling those teeth grinding pangs of youthful militancy resurfacing in support for the more radical idealism. It seems as though a number of folks in this camp strive for a notion of “green” as the antithesis of all that is wrong with modern Anglo American or more specifically Western Society, there appears to be a kind of reactionary element in evidence. A force for turning back “new labour” nabipambism, the more negative aspects of a general social and educational “feminisation” as well as the gross and vulgar excesses of capitalism and transposed chavish culture and material aspiration across all classes; all of those essential matrixes of “dumbing down” and perennial enemys of analytical thinking. A desire to wrench the population away from the somatising effect of an ever more manipulative and degrading media culture and return to “real” natural living and genuine free thinking individualism within a context of righteous collectivism. This is not wishy washy sandal wearing stuff either but sweat and soil, media jamming, anti fashion, subvertising, revolutionary luditism, proffered by hard talking and frighteningly passionate individuals that seek to adopt totally independent life style strategies beyond the bounds of consumerism and the state. But they call themselves Radical Greens not anarchists or Neo Marxists Revolutionaries. Green may be the new Red in some ways but in some other quarters it appears to have also become the new Black. That’s right we are spending a lot of time at the “Basement” and it can only be described as an education and a revelation
What more can we say, I know I could go on and on and cite other commentators that
address similar issues albeit primarily concerning ideas of social reform and from very
different angles that really have nothing to do with an environmentalist subtext. But of
course we must remain within the status quo, see and feel, don’t think and analyze,
don’t protest, consume conspicuously, don’t conserve. All non commercial
culture is subversive, football and celebrity are the only true art forms, you look smart
in a 4x4 on over congested urban roads, and cyclists are a dangerous menace to
pedestrians. We live in Daily Mail noddy land for sure. There is of course no hope what
so ever, everything is just too badly screwed up but I suspect some people will enjoy the
inevitable falling sensation when it comes.
But I digress and return to the weekend. Instead of fire breathing ants we had what can only be described as a mini pagan fire festival though as it was getting dark we had to light it with a Zippo rather than a magnifying glass and straw kindling. I think we even managed to summon up the dragon like apparition of a fire spirit rising up from Gill’s incinerator bin….now that’s spooky.
Thursday 1st June 2006 Thoughtcast
Current weather: Nimble nimbus moving in nebulous formations bringing intermittent precipitations. Sudden downpour drenchings bad but pressure still rising, weekend good.
Not a great deal to write today but maybe next week there could be a few stories to tell and also we could have a veritable avalanche of photos, though a decision as to where to put them on this now overcomplicated website could prove to be a real headache. Further thought and layout mods could become something of a preoccupation but I am trying not to descend into the realms of total nerdiack obsession.
It’s off to dear Gill’s at the weekend then possibly into Manchester to see an open air event in Castlefield that promises to be rather entertaining. This “event” is a kind of street theatre but with one major difference, all of the players are giant metal flame throwing machines, further reports to follow.
Wednesday 17th May 2006 Fab Three Suites Me
Again we start with a music theme today. Martin Wilson of Here Are Photos fame was kind enough to let me have a copy of the Jose Gonzalez Veneer CD last weekend and I can confirm that Gonzalez has collaborated with the Z7 boys on The Garden contributing both vocal and instrumental input on at least one track (Futures), though much of the latest Z7 offering does sound a little commercial to me with less of a hint of the vaguely deconstructive feel of earlier albums.
'Fab Four Suture' by the irresistible Stereolab is close to the top of my list even though some pundits claim that this consistently recognizable band are somewhat post peak and becoming a little too samey. I will reserve judgment but somehow know exactly what to expect from the Fab Four compilation of limited edition 45s.
I suppose Dwight Trible’s ‘Horace’ is the most exciting find. It has taken the best part of five years to find a copy of this engaging homage to Jazz legend Horace Tapscot by one of the few truly decent Jazz vocalists but this could be an expensive US import job I’m afraid. The ‘Coltrane’ track really left an impression when I first heard it on Mike Chadwick's JFM show in 2002 with its amazing Doppler like slewing harmonies and that strange sophisticated moodiness that only left-field jazz can invoke
A return to the Audio Engineering field still beckons but unless I can
get a free place on the excellent SSR ‘V Project’ up skilling course I fear
that any attempt at re-entering what is in effect one of the most high tech industries
around could be rather futile at my age.
At least during the last couple of weeks I have been able to indulge that other passion for working in some sort of quasi agrarian way albeit modestly. I volunteered to help my friend Rob maintain our beautiful churchyard last week as he is suffering the after effects of a broken collar bone. This week the task in hand seems rather daunting as mowing, strimming, and generally maintaining the aesthetic integrity of such a large and ornate area of arboreal delights seems almost too much for one person, but it is fulfilling and a lot better than being stuck indoors at this time of year.
I feel I should make some passing comment on the recent local elections like other more eloquent and well informed diarist that are known to me but I don’t seem to have an awful lot of the relevant facts to hand. The Greens did get a fairly decent amount of support in the handful of Macclesfield wards that actually had a Green candidate, in some they were even in second place behind the Cons or Lab. Strong support for the Lib Dems in favour of the Cons was also evident around Macc. Inevitably though, the overall sway was predictably and rather unimaginatively (if I may say) biased toward the Conservatives. The Green manifesto does make for a refreshing and potentially exciting future predicated on sound and intelligent humanist values applied to all aspects of life and society but I fear that this level of sophistication is beyond the reach of too many folks mired in the mindless treadmill of consumerism, trash culture, and well to do self interest. I think all such lofty ideals are hindered by the fundamentally degenerate nature of our species and a consistent desire to operate in a Darwinian fashion avoiding notions of cooperation and natural symbiosis. The broad problem of a basic scientific illiteracy (which is now endemic in the UK) is another short coming that excludes people from a clear objective understanding of the nature and importance of environmental issues and sustainability theory, the fundamental subtext of most Green Party principals. Some of us fear that the only way to push these issues forward is by direct support for the burgeoning militant green organisations or the various anarchic anti capitalist movements espousing ( sometimes disingenuous) environmental motives and purporting to be anti the corporate style of faux environmentalism proffered by new Labour gob shites. Others seem to adopt an almost fatalistic or “survivalist” approach and prepare for the coming chaos of a world disorded, driven to conflict, and then irreparably damaged by climate change---- It’s a case of run for the hills and pray for Armageddon mentalism.
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Tuesday 2nd May 2006 Requisites
Just a brief entry today, it’s a “flat” kind of Tuesday following the fun and warmth of the weekend and the mundane financial worries have returned to haunt me yet again! Three things to motivate; essential requisites you might say. I do need to upgrade my digital camera but could never afford an SLR on current budget so I have settled for the Sony Cybershot P200 as an interim---they are very good cameras indeed. But I digress
Music needs are thus. Gill’s son’s have introduced me to the delights of Iron
and Wine aka Samuel Beam and so far my favourite I&W album has got to be “Our
Endless Numbered Days”. I never stop liking this moody hazy “sub pop”
thing and particularly the track “Cinder and Smoke”.
But this is the real excitement---yes, at last, the magnificent and ever satisfactory Zero7 have finally got another offering in the pipeline. The Garden is the third album from Messrs Hardacre and Binns and it promises to out do “Simple Things” and “When it Falls” for shear atmos and inventive polish. Brief snippets hint at something along more soulful lines but with more than a slap of vintage mysticism and the ever present jazzy sophisto. Jose Gonzalez, and Sia Furler are guesting on this exciting mix up---you never can tell with Z7 but I suspect this has a very good chance of becoming my top album of 2006!
Sunday 30th April 2006 Gill' n' Nancy
It was yet another bright sunny day and we finally managed to get up to White Nancy cycling from Prestbury---naturally. We were armed with a borrowed Sony Cybershot P100 camera, a much better machine than my A205 but unfortunately White Nancy proved to be a very difficult subject to capture. I think this was due in part to the lighting conditions and the huge contrast (dynamic range) of this famous white object with shadow foreground against sky. But photographic disappointments did not detract from a lovely weekend with the even more lovely and capable Gill!
On the way back we stopped off at the revamped Lord Clyde in Kerride, one of my favourite
refuelling locations on the Middlewood Way blast. By now the weather was positively
balmy, though conditions atop Kerridge hill were typically gusty and a little chilly when
the sun went in. Long range visibility was no where near as good as it can be in autumn
or winter but we could still clearly see the land marks of Jodrell Bank, Stockport and
Manchester. The new and ever ascending Beetham Tower near Castlefield was remarkably
clear and well defined in the distance.
Note to self, Total millage as of today: 5,817.9
Thursday 27th April 2006 Didsbury Revisited
Spring really is here now and a number of consecutive warm and sunny days have helped to lift the mood and inspire a degree of optimism, though I’m rarely lacking in that latter quality.
Gill and I managed to bike it into Didsbury last weekend and it was certainly a more fulfilling trip than one I made (and commented on) last year. This cultured and cosmopolitan Manchester suburb was positively buzzing with the old vibe, the essence of studentvile that characterized Didsbury when I was a kid visiting my grandmother’s house just outside the main town. But the blight of the megaplex mess on Kingsway is still just as irksome as ever. This temple to consumer orientated culture and artificial indoor activities was partly responsible for sweeping away the old Parswood rural studies centre, a very bohemian institution run and managed by the Workers Education Association and a place that offered some sort of a glimpse into the delights of rural life for inner city kids , now of course its just an over sanitized picnic area completely overshadowed by the giant tin shed temple to fast food, manipulative main stream cinema, and bingo.
We managed to stay 'up the smart end' for most of the visit and in this more halcyon time of spring Fletchermoss Park and the Parsonage Gardens looked just as good as ever. The photo of the magnolia tree above was taken in Parsonage Gardens close to the location of mum and dads wedding photos and my christening shots.
Next weekend I'm taking Gill up to one of my local vantage points, the famous white Nancy atop Kerridge Hill. Photos and reports to follow....indubitably.
It’s a short entry today but I felt compelled to note some recent thoughts and observation on photography---I think it is a sort of motivational dialogue with myself in truth.
I have got to get a Nikon D70 digital SLR as soon as poss. One of my contacts on Flickr has produced some outstanding work with one of these “affordable” SLRs and I know from first hand experience that this is a very satisfactory make. At one time Nikon was the king of Japanese cameras.
My good old FG20 saw
me through college and more than ten years of film based shooting and it has never let me
down. The shutter still moves like silk and the exposure meter remains highly accurate
and reliable. Unfortunately, my days of film based work are petering out; I find that the
convenience of digital (even bog standard digital) hugely out weighs the stress and
tedium of a processing and printing stage.
Flickr in fact is proving to be highly educational, it is a sort of show-case for the digital idiom and one thing that strikes me about the medium of digital photography is the new found acceptance of a semi ‘pictorialist’ approach. Once again photographers are free to manipulate their images almost to any extent and still command respect from the photographic establishment, such manipulations have become intrinsic to the new medium. The process of ‘denaturing’ photography in the pre digital days was sometimes regarded as an almost sinful or treacherous act. It implied a desire to make the photographic image conform to the values of painting whilst simultaneously denying the photographic medium’s own unique set of artistic and cultural ‘values’. Now you are no longer seen as a photographic apologist if you over saturate to the point of melt down, apply all sorts of masks and layers, or radically denature the subject through post processing applications.
Saturday 8th April 2006 Changeability
Current weather: Indecisive warm blue fits and starts. April showers and hailstone mixed wi rain’ n’ lighnin. Light icing--- plus fair degree of light refreshment etc.
Some may have noticed that I have set up a ‘Flickr’ page which now runs in concert with my own website, so far I have found Flickr to be rather good, it’s a great meeting place for photographers of all levels and constitutes a kind of documentary resource in a way. That is if you consider it as a massive world wide repository for images captured by millions of cameras with thousands of up loads a week. However, I do worry (probably needlessly) about the possibility of ‘theft’ or something that the folks at Flickr refer to as ‘creative identity theft’ i.e. the reposting of other peoples photos and passing them off as original work. Now of course I have gone and done that paranoid thing of stamping all of my new JPEG uploads with my name which completely ruins the photos, but unfortunately I have also thought about extending that modest safe-guard to the stuff on this site.
Photography is set to become the main objective once again. Right now I’m working on a couple of developments that will help to increase the image capacity of this site albeit in terms of aesthetic organisation and presentation. I don’t think it would be wise to increase the number of thumbnails on the home page, so now I intend to have a second gallery of thumbnail links in the form of a simple ‘table’ page----hurrah for that.
I’m hoping to go up to Edale ASAP with a view to getting some good landscape shots, maybe even from atop Mam Tor. It is a fabulous location which also has some familial connections as my Uncle Harold Leonard was the live-in Station Master at Edale from the 40’s right through to the early 60s.
Music wants and needs have swung back to good old Compost /JCR records mostly thanks to trawling through the online back catalogue of sound clips. I had almost forgotten how good outfits like 'Koop' were. Jazzanova and New Spirit Helsinki are on the grab list again! This highly innovative music connects back to more youthful days---never a bad move! I have also recently discovered the beautifully mellifluous Iron & Wine (aka Samuel Beam) curtesy of Mr Martin Willson of Herearephotos. It’s a very different kind of music, a form of transfigured ‘Country’ that has a hint of early period Simon and Garfunkel whimsy. I gather that Iron & Wine conforms to a new genre known as ‘Sub Pop’ which appears to place an emphasis on acoustics, lofi or simple production techniques, and rural or agrarian imagery.
Thursday 1st March 2006 Around' n' About
The first day of spring “officially” and its cold as hell, (sorry that’s a rather naff oxymoron courtesy of Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’) but it is bloody cold tonight. Of course, the main consolation is a pin sharp clear sky and a wonderful tapestry of infinite celestial curiosities---the joy!
A couple of weeks ago Gill and I decided to spend part of our usual weekend together cycling around Manchester and then riding back to Heaton Chapel along the Ashton Canal. This was a curious trip for the Cheshire lad now more at home with the peaks and plains but never the less an interesting adventure. We joined a cycleway, part of the Transpennine Trail that runs around the back end of Levenshulme. A vaguely familiar route though this time I was not lost, caught in pouring rain (and mud), and generally feeling miserable.
Just as we started the final leg of the trip home we came across this place (Debdale Reservoir ) it is amazing how deceptive (and different) the Mancunian suburbs can be at times. One minute a dense urban sprawl then a wonderful vista that reminded us that we are just within touching distance of the Peak District. Of course, the city is always an interesting place to visit even for us two country folks with roots in Cheshire and Wiltshire respectively.
Vegetarian and radical leanings were indulged at the Earth Café and The Basement complete with its radical book shop sporting ALF T-shirts and ‘Burn the Rich’ cigarette lighters. We went and sold out, or rather went and had a quick half in the now much more bourgeois setting of the never changing Dukes 92 in Castlefield, though in my day it was full of stylish ‘scallies’ and the lovedup generation on a pre/post Hac chill out. Manchester is continuing to re-invent itself and yet more new development or revamping of existing structures is taking place, the city is once again a jungle of tower cranes and some very innovative architecture.
One of the most exciting aspects of all of this (for me) is the prospect of Tony Wilson having some sort of design (conceptual) input which according to a recent edition of ‘Building’ magazine is the case. I think he has been appointed (self-appointed?) as some sort of overseer or guru for Manchester’s vision of the future. This could go either way; a landscape of inspired design and living, or a transient over trendy burst with built in obsolescence---see ‘Madchester’ though the master mind behind Factory and ‘In the City’ is a good choice for keeping old Manc on the map---I suppose. Don’t really care---we are going to be agrarian radicals. Its back to my second home in Heaton Chapel for a long weekend on Friday; warmth and love and the rest of it ahhhh.
Love love love love ya tiger head.
Wednesday 25th January 2006 Out of Season
This site is getting a bit weak on “photography” which of course was the prime reason for its conception---initially. I have thought about returning to the more “hands on” world of chemical (alchemy) based imaging, my rather pompous way of defining traditional methods---sorry. My cheap digital camera keeps letting me down! Is anybody making an affordable one with proper exposure metering and a display screen with a realistic gamma characteristic I ask myself? Any way, the image above is a golden oldie from my Derek Jarman inspired film days, it was shot through an “augmenting lens” (an old magnifing glass) as part of an experiment to manipulate focal length in an irregular manner. Admittedly the image is a bit out of season and contravenes a concept of topical illustrations but I thought I would use it just to brighten things up a bit. I do feel somewhat aglow at the moment anyway.
Gill and I had a good time together last weekend and a bit of passion and “romance” is just what the doctor ordered so there, things were getting a bit barren down here. I am trying to keep it “family orientated” (what ever the hell that means) so I must digress immediately. We did get to climb up the church tower courtesy of Mr Nuttal. It’s a very interesting vantage point that allows one to survey the whole of the village and I sometimes wonder if the church website would ever consider having a live webcam up there. Rob said that the church clock no longer chimes because the system has “gone out of sequence” but I still miss that chiming of a night th’ knows, in sequence or not, eight rings for six, reversed quarter peels, and silent hours included. Mechanically speaking the system can’t be all that complex, I seem to remember Rob telling me that it operated on a similar principle to a pianola with a cam system that could be changed to create different peeling tunes.
The new job is not yet off the ground, but I’m getting there and looking forward to the prospect of working mostly from home for a decent wage. I have to go and see some folks in Manchester on Friday then it’s off to Gill’s for tea in Heaton Chapel. It’s good to have excuses for going into the near Manchester suburbs for a change. It’s an interesting and useful contrast to life in Macclesfield and one that points up the relative advantages and qualities of both locations, which are remarkably different considering a separation of only 15 to 17 miles. It’s a big life init.
Anti-matter
I am the space
around the letters
forming the words
of others.
Take me away and
still the words
will hang in the air
before deciding
to fly where
I would not let them go.
Or fall and risk the tread of feet.
Gill Heritage
Thursday 19th January 2006 Momentum
I’m broke but otherwise not worrying much---yet! In fact, I feel quite up beat, as things are definitely a changing (or words to that effect). I have a new job which involves working from home in a sort of business research capacity, the earnings potential is quite good too, however a start date all depends on IT resources being up to scratch and able to cope with specialized software demands. Suffice it to say that I am not feeling too optimistic about that as this rather ancient 486 machine can’t do jack all,. I load Adobe Reader it it’s just about run out of gas.
My new friend Gill is coming over tomoz, hopefully she will be able to stay until Saturday. I plan to show her all of the ancient Prestbury sites and she may even be treated to a climb up the church tower (if we can find Rob and get permission that is) I hope these tower climbing escapades are OK and that I am not incriminating anyone there!
That reminds me, St Peter’s clock used to chime the hours and divisions, but alas no longer, I wonder what has gone wrong? In fact, the clock has not chimed for more than two years. Once Rob and I were in the bell room when the mechanism swung into operation, it was impressive to see all of the pulleys and intricate mechanisms that connected the clock to the Church tower bells suddenly go into a state of frenetic animation. I do like the sound of church clocks chiming in the night. In fact, I think it is an essential sound for any English village.
I’m still pursuing classical music interests following something of a rediscovery of a hitherto dormant collection of recordings by some of the key pioneers of “New Music” and particularly that which has originated from the USA within the last twenty years. As mentioned earlier I am so keen to hear some more of John Adams stuff. Reich is also continuing to produce some interesting and apparently more “linear” conceptions with a piece specially commissioned for the London Symphony Orchestra later this year. I suppose Adams is a kind of minimalist too though I think the concept is applied in a much more subtle and sophisticated way having something to do with massive textures that shift about or undergo surface modulations. Apparently, this is an idea that underpins Shaker Loops and Harmonium (to an extent). It has only just occurred to me that “Loops” has virtually no significant key changers but instead creates a sense of momentum in the form of shifting patterns and hugely slowed down harmonic rhythm. I wonder what ‘Common Tones in Simple Time’ is like.
Friday 13th January 2006 Imps of The Forest
Things seem to be improving on all fronts---at long last! The meeting with ‘red headed hot spot’ was a wonderfully warm, easygoing, and tactile affair, the promise of a much needed salvation from the gray wilderness is in the air---so there. Let’s hope its goodbye to mentalistics from here on in. Gill is an impressive gal, a wonderfully talented writer of poetry and prose living a genuinely bohemian life in a south Manchester suburb. She is helping to bring me back into line with my own creativity and expressive insight---well lets hope so! More anon, indubitably.
Music for the evening: John Adams ‘Harmonium’ (San Francisco Symphony Orch and Chorus, version) I love this powerful yet ‘transparent’ composition and as with the Reich piece mentioned previously it seems to transport the mind back to a time of expansive thought and heightened cultural sensitivity. Though I have to say that the Emily Dickinson setting based on the poem (elegy) ‘i could not stop for death’ is almost too emotional for me at times. The piece has an incredible speaker busting dynamic range and encompasses all of John Adams signature modes from shimmering minimalism to airy Copland-esc sparkyiness and crescendos with a head launching emotive effect. I must discover more of Adams work; he was always one of my favourite composers when I graduated from minimalism to the so-called “New Simplicity” in the 80s. My other favourite Adams piece is the inimitable ‘Shaker Loops’ (San fran symph orch version) another interesting exposition of mimetic rhythm forms and cross stitch counterpoint effects. That’s right I’m in a classical mood at the moment. Life can be complicated with a taste broaching everything from Stereolab, to Coltrain and Adams, that’s for sure!
As ever I will be glad to see the back end of March, I find this late winter period to be very draining and it’s a time when the SAD symptoms can start to set in if one is not careful. I am managing to maintain a high uptake of endorphins thanks to plenty of the usual super human exploits on bike plus commando assault riding escapades in the hills, always good for training the thighs and stretching the chain. I did once snap a chain on a 1:5 assent near Teggs Nose, now that is what I call power!!
Gill shares my liking for the spring and summer time. She’s an avid gardener and all round green fingered imp of the forest, and as for all (this way inclined) the green growing seasons are just so much more fun.
Fallback
Winter falls
With deadly hush
Clocks freeze
Light is slowed by slush.
Fogged brain
Cannot remember sun
Smile does not
Breast the horizon.
Mind depressed
Beneath extended night
Pushed past equilibrium
Of equinox
Palling and splintering until
Only a subterranean
Bulb of self
Lies waiting for
The kiss of spring.
poem by Gill Heritage
My younger brother hits the big 40 today . Happy birthday Toby!!
Now I do feel old---not!!
Tuesday 10th January 2006 Icing The Cake
I’m recollecting happier times. It’s a bleak January day and I’m not adapting quite as well as I once could to prevailing circumstances and that worries me more than the circumstances---if you see what I mean. I’m loosing an innate ability to adopt a guerilla attitude to life---damn! Have I become bourgeois---well I hope not! What has happened to my situationist life skills I ask myself and I wonder if this is yet another age thing? I’m too tied down for a non-committed man, its mentalism of the highest order. There is a whole world out there, different countries and cultures and I should be indulging in adventure and throwing all caution and possessions to the winds.
Any way, on a brighter note I will be meeting up with a new potential friend in Manchester tomoz, she seems to be quite nice and rather interesting but I’m just looking forward to a day out of sorts---oh you reckless old crazy guy. I do worry that I may find myself ensconced in something a little too domestic for my liking though. But also I wonder why that should be an issue for me anyway. We shall have to see if attitudes will change this year?
I generally prefer to live in a rural environment but The meeting with aforementioned red headed hot spot tomoz will enable me to asses the lie of the land. To Consider if I may be content with a temporary move back to Didsbury or Chorlton (let the cottage) mainly in an effort to counter the stasis of nine (of my best) years spent in a gorgeous but sleepy dormitory for third time homebuyers and the super rich. Ultimately of course, Kerridge, Rainow, or Shrops and the Welsh borders beckon.
Sunday 1st January 2006 Happy News Year ?
We are stuck with my “grungy” photo from the 23rd I’m afraid.
Music for the morning: Steve Reich ‘Variations for Winds Strings and
Keyboards’. It is a long time since I listened to this piece of music though it is
one of my favourite Reich recordings. ‘Variations’ has a warm intuitive feel
(relatively speaking), and it is not quite so intensively processional as Reich’s
other more overtly ‘minimal’ and experimental compositions. Some have defined
it as one of his most “classical” sounding arrangements and for me The part
for keyboard (organ) that forms the foundation of 'Variations' is a bit like a decanted
and looped Bach toccata. The thing that is so unusual about this piece (for Reich) is the
more fluid approach to performance. 'Variations' departs from the usual methodology of
transcribing percussion like patterns to any conceivable instrument and delineating a
musical “process” in the form of rhythmical augmentation and diminution.
It’s hard to believe this is by SR at all.
It all takes me back to a vivid late October morning in London, watching the skyline from my Langham Place hotel window, the view across London was like an effecting homage to human endeavor; a bit like a frame from one of those Godfrey Riggio films. Steam rose into the crystal clear morning air from air conditioning stacks and the hands of the Broadcasting House clock ticked away the minutes. It was one of those epiphany moments when everything seems to correlate in a fortuitous and effecting way. This was the day after an important BBC job interview and I remember the intense sense of optimism and awe at the prospect of a career within such an historically significant organization. Of course, it was also the pre Burt era, (Alistair Milne was the DG) and a career in broadcasting still had some vestige of august cultural significance. The industry hadn’t quite dissolved into the bottom line extension of the marketing and PR “trade” as much of it has now.
‘Variations’ was playing on R3 and its expansive and broad ranging 20th century feel was a perfect accompaniment to the mood. I looked across to BCH and thought of all of the historically significant figures from cultural icons, to world leaders, that had passed through that immaculate greco/roman art-deco entrance hall. As well as a 1001 other voices that had steered and comforted the national consciousness through the darker moments in history and I felt so excited about the prospect of being in some small way a part of it. The moral of this story is that I need to retrace options for engagement in a cultural life of sorts. I may not really have any profound talents but I do have the knowledge and skills that are essential to the facilitation of film and media production in a technical sense. But above all, I guess I wish I could just recover the optimism, enthusiasm, and clear sightedness, of my early 20s
OH! Of course---happy New Year. Nothing happened---naturally. This is going to be a year of autonomous ambitions or revolutionary life changes. I am doing what is right for me, not diligently slaving away my precious time and efforts for the non benevolent and under rewarded benefit of others! No doubt when the spring comes I will return to a simple desire to work out doors in forestry or something of that kind---I always do---hehe. My brother and SIL are coming down later today, we plan to have a jolly good nosh up in one of the village’s eateries---so looking forward to that.
2005 was not such a good year for cycling. Current mileage is 5,371.2 that equates to 1,753.5 miles for the year. Normally I would expect to be in the 2,500 range, which of course confirms super human status---naturally. More interesting bike stats: I have done 4,291.2 of these miles on my Muddy Fox mountain bike both up hill and down dale :-)
Christmas Eve 2005 Ohm for Christmas
I will be doing absolutely nothing tonight for reasons partly outlined
in the previous entry but, to be frank, I don’t really care. I’m just looking
forward to being with my Brother and S-I-L tomoz.
I will just take this opportunity to wish my reader (?) i.e. myself (probably) a very
happy festive season and a satisfactory New Year. Sorry about the “Ohm for
Christmas” it’s a very bad pun, which should become evident in a moment to
those with a hint of electrical knowledge at least. If not however, just assume that it
is one of my inimitable dyslexic typos and carry on regardless.
I have finally decided that my first objective for 2006 is to get myself qualified as an Electrical Contractor, more as a means of providing a steady “back up” income and some degree of autonomy. I can’t understand why I have never considered this lucrative and opportunity rich transfer (transposition even) of innate technical aptitudes; it would have saved a lot of bother. It’s a fairly straightforward business and appears to be rather undemanding in terms of technical and theoretical aspects though that is relative I suppose. It’s really all part of a general effort to establish a multitude of more fulfilling and lucrative options for these “rainy days” I do need to muster something resembling a sort of coherent “life plan” for 2006 though, and now I do feel very strongly inclined to practical, technical, and artisan, forms of work. It seems to be a good quasi alternative to creative activity. And, it has to be said, that it is all so much more rewarding (for me) than trying to support myself with an endless round of dull clerical jobs. I need to actually do something and to be engaged with a responsible knowledge-based skill again.
Despite current prevailing circumstances, I continue to feel rather happier than of late, full of energy, and I do feel a lot more positive; quixotic delusion is a possibility here mind. What a relief to have recovered from the inertia of recent weeks though! Laurence Armstrong-Hughes’ “musings” inspire a yearning for more enchanted and semi itinerant bohemian lifestyles, there is very little to convey in these “Diary” entries as my own lifestyle tends to be rather fixed in more ways than one. It certainly doesn’t help when this writing activity is undertaken as a means to ameliorate ‘cabin fever’ (sorry no pun intended) and the lack of other activities, which is often the case unfortunately.
Again I must digress. The album (CD) than one simply must obtain by any means necessary and ASAP has got to be the much heralded ‘Summer in Abaddon’ follow up to 'Blue Screen Life’ by the boys from San Diego, other wise known as ‘Pinback’. In some ways, a fascination for this semi ‘low key’ indie-rock outfit represents something of a sea change or diversion in taste for me. A transient drift from the jaunty bounce of Stereolab. The thing about Pinback is that they really do sound unique (mostly) where as the Lab tend to be ‘unique’ in terms of an off beat structure and sentiment set within a context of fairly traditional arrangements and modalities. It has a hint of something we have heard before albeit in the late 60s, and The High Llamas appear to follow suit of course. Pinback on the other hand do something very odd with ‘downtuning’, vocals doubling baritone guitars, and frenetic crossing counterpoint effects, and they are predominantly acoustic to boot! I will just give due credit to Mark here as he was responsible for introducing me to Pinback as well as encouraging an interest in Zero 7 and I think I could have ignored the latter on the grounds of a handful of chartistic tracks.
Seasons greetings once again!
Wednesday 21st December 2005 Pin Up Yr Ears
Here we are again, almost at the end of another year and yet, as ever, I just feel as though I have gone full circle and returned to a starting point of sorts, all grand designs on the new frontier seem to have gone a little awry this year. Maybe it has been daned in the stars (or what ever) that 2006 will be my year of “self-seeking” success and proper fulfillment, a time of revelations and possibly revolutions too no less. I’m definitely steering well clear of nonsense and tripe in 2006 that’s for sure; see previous entries. Yes indeed, I do really want to try to abate the trend for seemingly endless repetitions on this weblog too! I think I will also have to revise my theory on the prospect of odd numbered years being luckier than even numbered ones. Suffice to say that I do actually feel quite happy at long last, free to be myself, and again I’m calling the shots---hurrah!
I’m not quite so sure how this festive season is going to pan out yet, but it is more than likely to be a two date itinerary at best and definitely erring on the side of low key activities. A no money situation is partly to blame here though one does have to admit that the onset of a ‘certain age’ and the propensity to eccentric reclusion is not really conducive to social whirling; I’m in slow spin mode this year. Anyway, twirling hurts if you have a lot going on in ya head. One of my local establishments is doing an Irish themed New Years night complete with five piece Irish band---that will do me fine. Christmas day is the usual round of ineffectual “middle-class” chatter and jovial idealism with my jolly brother and sister-in- law and always culminating with a very good nosh/piss up so that in a nutshell will have to suffice.
Sometimes I feel compelled to use expletives in these writings for various emotive reasons, but I have to remember that my normal and quite robust Northern English vocabulary is not really appropriate to this website as a consequence of an incoming link from my local church. I am very happy for that mind, even as an agnostic, some would say Neo Pagan (which in fact I am) but dash it all sometimes I really want to fire off some high quality high impact cus words tha’ knows!
Many years ago Mark sent a burn of Pinback’s ‘Blue Screen Life’ CD, and for some reason which now totally defies comprehension this outstanding indie-rock trio seemed to go unnoticed. Recently I discovered it again, lost amongst a substantial collection, I’m now totally enamoured with the band and they are enjoying joint first place with Stereolab. I sent a copy to Kaz last week and she loved it too. I don’t know of any other outfit that sound quite like ‘Pinback’ though there are passing hints of vintage ‘Cure’ in those delectable baritone guitar sounds and very odd tonalities which are somehow wonderfully mellifluous in a very distinctive way. The band have perfected the art of semi heavy subtly in a way that the likes of the Chili Peppers could only dream of and now I know I have to get ‘Summer in Abaddon’. But how the hell can you improve on the perfection of ‘BSL’, apparently ‘SIA’ does---it must be something very special!!
Cycling mileage note to self: 5,362.4
Sunday 30th October 2005 Mars Ascendant
Last night was a good moody night, one of those nights when I have a clear sense of the ethereal harmony of things, the characteristics of the seasons, the weather, an almost syneasthetic sense of correlation’s. Actually, I was out and about on my bike but I don’t really know quite where I was as I managed to get lost somewhere between Adlington and Pot Shrigley on very dark lanes. Eventually I found my way back to the secluded Macclesfield Canal and made a very precarious return journey along the rutted towpath to the familiar setting of Whitley Green. The prospect of a “strange encounter” and the possibility of having to route an assailant or a misjudged high-speed manoeuvre resulting in an impromptu slam dive with bike seemed to add to the excitement in the dark darkness. Yes I know, I’m weird crazy personified :-)
It was a bracing night with a fierce looking sky made up of hard edged broken cloud scampering to the east in a jostling squally fashion and allowing the impressive stars to show through; albeit somewhat tentatively. My favourite planet Mars looked fabulous last night, skulking low in the south and standing out from the crowd with its unmistakable fiery orange glow. There was a curious mood of ominous portent with a robust war like essence to this red theme’d and typically seasonal night. Don’t ask me to explain! Actually, I have quite a soft spot for Jupiter too, naturally! It’s an interesting and highly energetic world perfectly suited as the Ruler of Sagittarius---but of course.
I am continuing to indulge in a sort of nostalgia for the music of my youth, or rather shall we say the missed (non-attentive) years of my pre adolescence. Actually, my adolescence was firmly rooted in the “Punk” era of the late 70s, a time when one had to pretend not to like any of the preceding genres. Nearly everything we hear now appears to be in some way derivative and it is easy to convince oneself that the non “classical” music styles have run out of material and exhausted all possibilities for invention and progression.
This is why I like to loose myself in a sort of retrogressive journey of belated discovery trawling through obscure 70s back catalogues for those fiendishly well arranged and ambitiously orchestrated “P Funk” masterpieces from the early 70s and virtually everything on the Stax label. No one does music with this sort of quality now. It would be fascinating to delve into the John Peel shows from the pre-Punk era too if only to get an angle on the “underground” or serious and innovative stuff when all we can think of is razzal dazzle commercial rubbish. Who can remember “Family” and those gritty social narratives set to organ rich compositions with a hint of 70s TV themes?
Sunday 16th October 2005 Becalmed
Current weather: Bright and sharp with mellow baby blue skies, no cloud. Leaves are on the turn and falling (floating) in gentle gusts of crystal like air, general condition of joyful refreshment.
I descended into a rather strange maudlin mood yesterday, lost in some inner melancholic space. I can’t really understand what brought this on, but I suspect that it may be yet another sign of aging, I have reached an age where one is prone to become acutely aware of life having changed beyond all recognition in some way(s), there is a growing feeling of alienation. A vested interest in real nostalgia is now plainly evident and the desire to share my thoughts and feelings with anyone in a similar frame of mind is so very intense. This whole state is probably due to a combination of factors in truth not least an ongoing concern about the prospect of a widening rift between myself and a very dear long term friend. Now I long for her simpatico company, I want to give as much love and show as much compassion as I can, time is running out. At times like this I succumb to moments of intensified pity and get upset by the plight of others in relatively mundane situations. The poor minimum wage kids that served me in a sandwich bar chain with studied automata like routine and made to conform to some half-baked notion of “service” and faux “team work” was such a situation. There is nothing more demeaning than suppressed individuality, but I guess I just feel sorry for people that are unable to do more with their lives. In fact any form of human degradation or degeneracy depresses the hell out of me, the latter appears to be almost intrinsic to life these days. Obviously, there is no hope for us, and the degenerates and the unsympathetic insensitives always outnumber those with genuine selfless compassion.
I spent most of Saturday mooching around some old haunts in the Southeast Manchester conurbation, places that are associated with long gone but much loved relatives and the happiest memories of childhood. Didsbury is a small town only about four miles from the city but it was the place where my dear Maternal Grandmother lived and provided lodging to several generations of Manchester students. A town that was indeed once famous for its student and academic population, a mostly Victorian setting of redbrick, mature tree lined streets, and enchanted parks with tennis courts and ornamental gardens. Suffice to say it is of course no longer quite the same. Major retailers have muscled in, and a dreadful temple to low brow entertainment has blighted the skyline with it’s industrial shed like homage to “megaplex” manipulations in the name of megabuck profiteering. There are no radicals or the sort of people that seemed to be exciting foils to the twin set Cheshire Set of our Hale home just another seven miles further south. The famous ABC TV studios where a generation of black polo necked students from the Manchester University Drama Department cut their teeth on Armchair Theatre has gone, and there is now a keen sense of the general “dumbing down” and moribund middle class conformity of provincial student life.
From the town centre, I cycled up to Morningside Drive where Gran used to live. A short journey through Fletcher Moss Park and then out on to Millgate Lane and passed the traffic island by the Lawn Tennis Club, that famous main location in Ready When You Are Mr McGill. Morningside has not changed much I hasten to add, though the famous Galleon lido at the back of Gran’s house with its blue and white poolside buildings disappeared many years ago. The sounds of laughter and bodies slapping into the water were the sounds of summer at gran’s in the 70’s
Instead of getting the train from Stockport, I decided to cycle the 12 miles home. Another depressing journey through the blandscape of the decaying urban fade-out into Cheshire lushness. It’s the first time I have ridden this particular route instead of the much more scenic Eastern approach from Hale or Alderley Edge. I arrive home in a state, which I believe can be defined by a term that sounds like (shar-may-vu) a bit like déjà vu but this is the psycho-shock of the melancholic estrangement effect familiar to all depressives and travelers. A sense of the colour bleeding out of life, home minus it’s normal "hart' n' soul" comfort of familiarity etc. Though this “sense” seemed to pervade the whole of my day (quite aptly) and it was not ameliorated by the release of 21 miles worth of cycling endorphins. I was too tired to go for a night time homage to White Nancy or similar, but the never changing and timeless spatial delights of the natural environment just seem to suite my temperament better than the urban setting. The latter always seems to make me feel depressed rather than physically and spiritually invigorated.
Mental note to self: must get a better digital camera!!
Sunday 2nd October 2005 October's Here Again
Current weather: Cold steel air lashing persistent gray rain and ground awash with remnants of late summer fruits. Sullen trees shrug off murky leaves in early autumnal gesture of resignation, general state of aqueous messiness.
It is generally turning a lot cooler and wetter a lot wetter! They say that we are in for an exceptionally cold winter this year, a situation that is likely to be compounded by the arrival of a ghastly avian flue out break . I think I should start to bring in the winter fuel supply just in case, and I may get the “back up” coal supply sorted. I could not live in a house without open fire(s) though, but many people just don’t seem to realize how incredibly expensive this glorious and highly effective mode of heating can be. Thirty quid’s worth of coal will only last a week in the cold season and this is without recourse to any daytime pyromania indulgences.
For the first time ever, I have resorted to a little HTML “scrumping”. Mum’s term for taking illicit cuttings from other peoples gardens, she was a keen horticultural anarchist. In my case it is only a matter of “borrowing” the "table" lay out of “live journal” hence the slightly more ordered look of this page and I am sure such things are permitted.
I am now in dire financial straits, in fact this is the first time I have been in any kind of “straits” for more than six years and the situation is just totally life sapping. One tends to forget how important routine and structure in life is, and without it I seem to deteriorate very quickly, energy levels usurped by irregular sleeping times, late nights, and poor diet. It’s not all bad news though…well in a sense? I will be returning to my previous employer in order to work on a new “project” beginning on the 10th and in the current circumstances anything that promises salvation from poverty is welcome. At the moment, I am expected to live for a week on a sum that would normally only last a weekend, bills are impossible!!
I am looking forward to the prospect of a little manual work next week, all thanks to my friend Rob, the village everyman and general odd job man; every English village has one. I always enjoy a bit of proper work, the kind of thing that stimulates real hunger and thirst leading to a sound nights sleep. I seem to have become a little less active on the bike lately and this is due again to not being able to afford proper fuel. A consequence of this is a somewhat diminished up take of endorphins those wonderfully enlivening hormones that are, in truth, better than any “substance”. As a consequence, I feel less motivated to do anything, and concentration seems to have gone out of the proverbial window.
Thursday 22nd September 2005 Oileán Lathghlas na Heireann
I have a friend who has just taken up an Irish language course and this has in turn inspired my own exploration of the ancient Gaelic language and the Irish Language Movement. The Irish form is a very close relative of the Scots form, which continues to be widely spoken in the Outer Hebrides. Naturally, I tend to have something of a soft spot for all matters concerned with the Gaelic and Celtic cultures due to my own Scots Irish background and I am infinitely more proud of this than any associations with Englishness. Manchester and Liverpool have very strong connections with the Emerald Isle and something in the region of thirty percent or more of the local populations have Irish connections. There are a lot of opportunities for learning the language in Manchester; and the city is also host to one of the UK’s largest Irish folk festivals.
Still no change on the work front, it is for want of trying at the moment though so tough! I think I need to take a leaf out of Mr L A-Hughes’ book and become a fully fledged reactionary albeit with differing views.
Thursday 15th September 2005 Special K
Karen (a very close and dear friend) has sent a post card today praising my web activities! I think she has been more or less oblivious to these efforts during the course of our long friendship that goes right back to college days. Although she is only fifteen miles away we have never the less continued to engaged in something of an ongoing and quite significant exchange of letters. I write many thousands of words each year, and now this "project" seems to have acquired something of a shared semi biographical significance. A veritable repository of crystallized thought constituting an on-going account of a life shared through mutual interests and understanding. It is of course much more significant than these rather tired old weblog entries. I think I am often quite exhausted from putting so much of my writing effort into the wonderful Kaz letters.
No change as of today, the general situation continues to be the same and my attitude and mood is also relatively unchanged, see previous entries, revolution is in the air...certainly in this house. I wonder about the possibility of becoming a green activist? Though, I wouldn’t half mind getting back into the Inland Revenue if only to pursue certain organisations and swoop on even the slightest hint of miss doings. I quite liked the possibility for "righteous" power that came with a job in the Revenue!
Tuesday 6th September 2005 Keep Watching The Sky’s
Life continues to trundle along in low gear, but I’m getting by and enjoying the personal freedom though now it is interspersed with moments of intense boredom and pangs of restlessness. I am in the running so to speak, for a council job in a department concerned with environmental and building issues, the term "environmental" is used in a general sense here. It would be great to get back into Public Service life.
Apart from all of the terrible human tragedy, the recent spate of both natural and man made calamities (9/11, Asia, Katrina etc) have illustrated the relative importance of various occupations and skills. When disaster strikes we need Engineers, Emergency workers, Health Workers, and Construction Workers, in other words those people that have the skills to restore vital services, save lives, provide shelter, and boost morale. I think I have spent too much time in useless and effete bourgeois occupations! At the end of the day the "workers" skills are the only ones that matter, the only ones with any validity. Also let us not forget that these terrible events serve to demonstrate the awesome power of nature and are a mere taster of things to come if she is wounded and usurped by our own greedy and selfish demands.
But I digress, again I have been enjoying night time constitutionals on my bike, have to keep those wheels turning, the legs pumping its better than any substance I know! The routine night time trip includes Prestbury to Rainow via Kerridge and back through Macclesfield, the "Kerain" or the "Maccerainer" if going in the opposite direction, a real test of physical capability. The other regular is Prestbury to Bollington, across to Pott Shrigley and then back through Bolli to Pres or the "Bolipot Loop".
The last couple of nights have been wonderfully mild and yet clear, once out of the lit zone and heading up into the Peaks, I can at last fully savor the wonder of the night sky. It is particularly good at this time of year as those classic northern constellations Cassiopeia and Ursa Major are well aspected throughout the night, but you can also see the milky way when reaching the high point before the descent into Pot Shrig. I just can’t help but stop and look up, and then of course I become transfixed. There is something about this type of landscape that resonates with the cosmos and I don’t know how to define it, a primordial quality, or a certain timelessness perhaps. Last night the sky scape was complimented by a lot of activity in the "approach stack" for Manchester Airport. The sight of aircraft circling high above the White Peak with landing lights projecting ten mile long beams was just surreal, like a scene from Close Encounters. Then an enormous meteor shot across the sky, it appeared to change from a dazzling blue white to a vivid crimson colour and projected shadows on the ground! I have never seen such a display and it was awesome. Unfortunately, the likely culprit could have been metallic "space junk" not very romantic, though maybe the prospect of having seen a piece of the earliest ventures into space burn up is quite romantic. My brother once told me that one is supposed to report sightings of burn ups or "fire balls" of this magnitude because A) they could have resulted in the atmospheric penetration of deadly radioactive "space junk" or top secret "space junk". B) They could have been incoming Russian ICBMs. And C) meteors of this magnitude could be mere fragments of something much larger on the same course. So, I may have witnessed the prelude to the end of the world last night.
Tuesday 23rd August 2005 Green Is The New Red
Times are hard once again and my underlying contempt for all of the
nonsense of modern British society is running high today. I’m longing for a
fulfilling occupation that is as far removed from the nouvelle bourgeois mode as
possible. No more offices, meaningless post industrial money mills, or degradation of the
soul. I want a real, connected, down to earth, out door or environmental occupation. A
timeless real-man's occupation in beautiful surroundings, autonomy and responsibility,
enlightenment, and a feeling of peacefulness with no fear of life or death. I want to
become part of nature, to feel insignificant but also part of an elemental force, and no
I’m not having acid flash-backs but instead really just want to be true to
myself.
I feel a little stressed about the current redundancy but it is nothing I can’t
cope with, I am a natural born survivor but I am also happy to be free again with a sense
of new opportunities. I used to watch the guy that trundles around my village in a little
van doing tidying jobs here and there and often thought he had a better job than I did.
Down shifting is the buzz phrase amongst the new generation of over worked high flighers,
there is a desire to join the burgeoning Green revolution and to rediscover inner meaning
in life, to have more free time and less destructive pressure. Of course the term Down
Shift is relative; for me it would mean reverse gear but I think you understand my
point.
I feel that I need to utilize the gene that drove my dad into the RM commando’s instead of fannying about in silly offices in the name of effete abstract meaninglessness. I have a Scots Irish ancestry this means that I need to be active and have an aversion to ties! It also means that I have a capacity for thrift and I need to be willfully autonomous otherwise that temper flares up.
I feel excited about the future in a "global" sense, the idea or prospect of Green politics galvanizing the collective consciousness into some form of anti capitalist pro cooperative activity almost as a kind of situationist revolt. Green ideology will become the prime discourse of reform within the next ten to twenty years and a turning back or turning away from excessive consumption will become the new way. It is already evident amongst some of the younger generations that the notion of less materialism is good and identification with material wealth and over use of resources is "un cool". The idea of "bling" is already derided as a mark of "chav" identity. The response to the recent Live8 concept is very encouraging because it demonstrates the willingness of hitherto moribund and complacent younger generations to get involved in ideological debate, protest, and issues concerned with economic inequality, and environmentalism. Of course, us older folks that still remember the spirit of 68 or 78 and never managed to jettison left wing sensibilities after graduation have always been there. It’s all a good thing, mark my words. I know so many people of my own generation that now have an interest in some notion of a simpler, more natural, and courteous existence and a nostalgia for a past that we can only just remember.
Last weekend I had a rather enjoyable trip over to Timperley to see my
folks, perfect cycling conditions. It is quite remarkable how traveling on two wheels
under ones own effort changes a perspective on life. The sense of freedom and physical
potency that comes from being able to do things most people would consider either
impossible or fatal is quite rewarding. But you also get a very different perspective on
the environment when traveling this way and I enjoy the altered sense of distance and
feeling of adventure and challenge within the context of relatively local journeys. I
think now is the time to make plans to get other skills accredited. Nobody within a
hundred miles seems to need the services of a professional Sound Engineer. But I could
also easily qualify as an Electrical Contractor and don't really understand why I have
never seriously considered this before.
Mileage: 4,760.9
Saturday 9th July 2005 Scarecrow's
It’s a very hot Saturday and an even hotter Sunday is to follow! Today I decided to have a cycle ride up to Kerridge and then on to Rainow a small village about four miles from home and nestling in the foot of the Peak District National park. It is a very enchanted little place at times as is Kerridge and both seem to embody a genuine spirit of rural living with more than a hint of folkloric shenanigans. Today Rainow was gearing up for a curious annual ritual where the whole village is bedecked with home made mannequins in a range of guises and sometimes set into thematic tableau’s. They are called "scarecrows" no doubt a homage to the art of making artificial human figures. Each "scarecrow" or tableau has a number and label attached some proclaiming a thematic title and no doubt to aid a judging process. Figures made of straw clamber up walls and sit on fences. A character dressed in teenage ice hockey gear sits on a garage roof and round every corner and on every verge is some strange little figure representing a situation or person from real life such as a resting cross country runner. The whole thing has more than a hint of transmogrified pagan ritual to it and no doubt would appear to be a rather creepy concept to many urban folks. The earnest collective effort and anthropomorphic mimetics sometimes evoke a hint of the Wicker Man. See Rainow Curiosities
Lenny White. Venusian Summer
I have gone into something of a substantial retro mode with music tastes at the moment, a
temporary rest from the "cutting edge" though cutting edge as in the old Mike
Chadwick show on JFM is where most of this current retro interest was fostered. Its never
a bad idea to delve into the genuine creativity of the old school and proper musos
playing real interments with panache. The reformed Floyd at Live 8 certainly showed most
of the current generation of bands how it really is done and they still blew away most of
the competition in my mind. Right now, I am after something of an old classic in the
Jazz/Funk mode. Lenny White’s Venusian Summer album from 75 has been on my
want list ever since I heard the Mating Drive track on JFM years ago. It was a bit
of a hackneyed genre (fusion) even then, but never the less this album by the legendary
jazz rock drummer is set off by a pure mind blowing exposition of guitar playing with
incomprehensible fret work the like of which you just don’t hear now adays. Also,
thought about getting that old CSN&Y potboiler Déjà vu if only
for the hauntingly melodic and psychedelic title track.
On the road to Rainow. Total mileage as of today and since Jan 2003: 4,468.5 Miles.
That's 850.8 miles since Dec 2004..Poor show!
Tuesday 3rd May 2005 Pitta Patter
Current weather. Tangy scented air at body temperature gives way to soft lazy rains and assorted earthy aromas. Negligible wind speed, mogadon tripping cloud formations ranging from steel grey masses to white tendril sirius barely occluding the dopey gong bong of a sun. General condition of heightened sensuality with ultra virile overtones.
If I could control the seasons a year would consist of twenty four and a half weeks of May, twenty four and a half weeks of June, and three weeks of mid to late October.
Next weekend (weather permitting), I think I will have a ride up to one of my favourite local spots near Mottram St Andrew or the NT ornamental garden at Hare Hill and try to get some good pictures. I have not visited this place for some time but I seem to remember an almost eerily enchanted "secrete garden" consisting of a large and immaculately tended lawn enclosed within four walls and set in the middle of nowhere like some strange surreal disembodiment. This garden as I remember, was dotted with large wire sculptures of figures on horseback, and at one end there was a grotto like pergola strung with ivy and climbing roses. It always struck me as the perfect setting for a surreal photographic homage to the Greek Earth goddess Demeter. However, at that time I think I was having some sort of Ken Russell delusion ..best forgotten hay! Or maybe it was just one of my odd "smoke" dreams?
I keep on trying to find a way to make this website look and feel more atmospheric. But I just can’t be bothered trying to learn any more IT stuff and can’t afford to splash out on a computer that would be capable of running the more dynamic authoring software. So notepad and HTML scripting is where it will have to be at for the moment.
The spring time has also got off to something of a good start on the musical front too as I managed to finally get hold of a copy of Stereolab's exceptionally rare Sound Dust CD. It is an unusual outing even for the Lab and seems to depart slightly from the usual Gane and Sadier formula. Sound Dust often evokes a darker and even quite sombre tone in parts. The situationist essence of other albums seems to have been replaced with an odd mixture of existential angst and a hint of more personal longings.
It is a rare thing indeed for me to find a Lab album with less than 100% appeal. But I fear that the only track on Dust that will stand the test of time (for me) is Nought More Terrific Than Man if only for its well crafted quality of ... something jazzy, don’t forget we are dealing with a genre defining or defying force here, and I can’t quite decide wheather Nought More Terrific is some kind of proto Paul Hardcastle tune or not as the case may be...man!...naturally!
Sunday 12th March 2005 Well Sprung
Spring is in the air and I feel fine! This year, my favourite season is promising to be a
time of genuine rejuvenation and change. Yes I have gone and done it (!) that is handed
in my notice at work and jettisoned a rather unsatisfactory occupation in favour of
something not all together dissimilar, but more convenient, and local, and something that
offers a degree of flexibility. It all feels like a bit of a return to the more
"bohemian" existence of earlier years. I’m starting to act on impulse again and
throwing off all constraints and routines in favour of some good old self-seeking destiny
control. It is after all so much better to be in the driving seat of ones life rather
than being dragged along in some trailer and well and truly stuck in a rut. Even if this
destiny vehicle crashes, at least I will feel gratified in the knowledge that I have
taken control of a situation, and that sense of objective control, however errant, is
quite important to me. It is better than being a passive "victim" and surrendering to a
useless fate at the hands of others.
I love this time of year more than any other, a sensual reinvigoration blowing away the drab sterility of late winter. My prised potted camellia is in full bloom, it seems to provide an early but disappointingly brief show of colour. Still, a very elegant and "old fashioned" i.e. indigenous looking shrub that suites the setting quite well. I need to replant the front border this year as I really do miss looking out onto a bit of greenery. The previous owner had a very vigorous plantation of laxiflorus, a distant relative of the highly toxic Ragwort but for most of the summer I looked out onto a mass of yellow daisy like flowers, not so keen on those strange blue-green leaves with white underside though. I still have an ambition to make an 8mm time lapse film of my ultra vigorous Irish tree Ivy growing over the bedroom window until it has completely blocked out the light how weird would that be? They say that you can hear this stuff growing in June.
I keep on returning to Laurence Armstrong-Hughes’s on line journal (musings) page currently recounting canal borne adventures in the fabulous county of Shropshire. It all tends to evoke happy fun memories of long gone canal boating days with my parents. We had our own 45-foot boat moored up at Poynton and did the trip down to Oxford on several occasions. I must admit that the Macclesfield Canal and Shropshire Union leg of the journey was quite outstanding. Also, chugging through the Harecastle Tunnel at 4mph was an unforgettable experience and not for the faint hearted. It is the best part of 20 to 30 minutes in pitch black with sometimes less than three inches of headroom and you can’t see a light at the end for ages!
Tuesday 26th January 2005