Citizen Cope
We have been to a few gigs recently and the first was Citizen Cope at the Scala in London as he promoted is new album, The Rainwater LP.
Driving into town is a challenge that I don’t relish, and it always seems that there is an accident or incident set to hold you up when you need to be somewhere at a particular time that succeeds in raising the blood pressure and stressing me out. Nevertheless I made it and managed to throw some food down my throat before we went in.
The Scala is a great little venue with a mixed past as a cinema and ‘entertainment’ venue. It was well suited for this gig as Cope was performing solo and acoustic.
With an incredible voice and a charmingly rough-but-sensitive quietly strong presence he commanded the space very well. We estimated that majority of the audience must have been American, but there were a mix of youngsters and older folk throughout.
It was one of our favourite gigs so far.
Iron & Wine
One of my favourite American artists, Sam Beam and his country-folk-rock outfit was touring the UK and I saw that they were playing in Liverpool, so I bought tickets. They subsequently added dates in London, but by then it was a done deal, and besides Sue had never been to the ‘pool.
It had been many years since I visited there myself with friends from New Zealand when I first came back to the motherland. It had since been the city of culture that had brought attention and lot of investment to the place.
We were staying in a lovely apartment right on the new dock side development adjacent to the historic Albert Dock. It is long drive up, but we made it in good time arriving at lunch which we took at the docks before walking through the city taking in the sights of the Liver Building before looking in at the Slavery and Maritime Museums.
The gig was at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, a great venue with great acoustics and not too big. But before hand we had a pre-show drink at the Philharmonic Pub across the road, a popular place with fabulous décor (the gents loo attracts a lot of attention) and a couple of snug’s called Brahms and Liszt. I had been here before on my first visit and it had stuck in my mind since then.
The gig was very good and I was impressed enough with the warm-up artist, Daniel Martin Moore, to also buy his album ‘In the Cool of the Day’, a folkie-gospel-country vibe. I also bought the new Iron & Wine album, Kiss Each Other Clean, and was pleased with this too.
The next day we played tourist some more and walked around more of the city, passing by the Cavern Club and then picking up a tour bus to the Beatles’ childhood homes of John and Paul before driving to the spectacular Tudor Speke Hall and back home.
It was a great weekend.
Decemberists
Our next gig was to see the Decemberists at the HMV Apollo at Hammersmith, another American band who are hard to pigeon hole into a category… …rock, alternative, folk, Americana. They are many things to many people, but they are certainly very accomplished and sophisticated musicians. I think the Apollo is a little too big for my tastes and perhaps does not have the best acoustics for this type of music; nevertheless they were popular and put on a great show.
We came in part way through their warm up act as again we had nightmare journeys in, me by car and Sue by train. We had a quick and tasty meal at a nearby Lebanese café and saw the last half of Blind Pilot’s set which we enjoyed.
West Side Story
A different musical event we went to was the local amateur dramatic staging of West Side Story at the Dorking Halls. They made a good job of it but it wasn’t as good as some of the others they have done.
Friday, March 18, 2011
More Writing…
I have been trying to write a new story, Half the Man, Twice the Life, but I have not got too far as work and other things has got in the way and I have temporarily lost my muse.
My story, Space Race, was submitted to the Terry Pratchett writing competition and the finalists are to be announced 31st March. I don’t expect anything to come of it, but I do occasionally allow myself to daydream and hope.
My story, Space Race, was submitted to the Terry Pratchett writing competition and the finalists are to be announced 31st March. I don’t expect anything to come of it, but I do occasionally allow myself to daydream and hope.
More of wot I have read…
Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
I heard the author interviewed on the radio and liked the sound of this story. It was an easy read and tripped along quickly with a nice pace and gentle humour. I found the historical references and description of places had resonance with me as I found links with the themes in other books I had read recently and with a RGP we are playing that is based in an alternative Victorian world. What would have happened if Harry Potter grew up and joined the fuzz?
My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - we do paperwork so real coppers don't have to - and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluable, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.
Now I'm a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden . . . and there's something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.
The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it's falling to me to bring order out of chaos - or die trying.
Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab
Not the sort of book I would normally read, but I was leant this and the sniper book by a friend, so I gave them I go, and I was pleasantly surprised. I think the most interesting part of it was the view into a world of the soldier and how his mind works, the culture and beliefs and seeing how they might react under extreme circumstances. I understand there has been some artistic license taken with the facts and concerns have been expressed about actions attributed to those who cannot confirm or deny them, nevertheless it is quite a good boys-own tale.
In January 1991, eight members of the SAS regiment embarked upon a top secret mission that was to infiltrate them deep behind enemy lines. Under the command of Sergeant Andy McNab, they were to sever the underground communication link between Baghdad and north-west Iraq, and to seek and destroy mobile Scud launchers. Their call sign: BRAVO TWO ZERO.
Each man laden with 15 stone of equipment, they patrolled 20km across flat desert to reach their objective. Within days, their location was compromised. After a fierce fire fight, they were forced to escape and evade on foot to the Syrian border. In the desperate action that followed, though stricken by hypothermia and other injuries, the patrol 'went ballistic'. Four men were captured. Three died. Only one escaped. For the survivors, however, the worst ordeals were to come. Delivered to Baghdad, they were tortured with a savagery for which not even their intensive SAS training had prepared them.
Sniper One by Sgt Dan Mills
This is the second war story I read, and I found this was even more interesting than the first. Perhaps this is because it was more successful and showed more of the battle conditions.
April 7th 2004: a year to the day since the city had fallen. Saddam had been deposed. The Marines and the Para's were long gone and rarely made it into the news. When Sgt Dan Mills and the rest of the 1st Batallion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment flew in, they were supposed to be winning hearts and minds. They were soon fighting for their lives.
Within hours of arriving in Iraq a grenade bounced off one of the battalion's landrovers, rolled underneath and detonated. The ambush marked the beginning of a full-scale firefight during which Mill's killed a man with a round that removed his assailant's head. It was going to be a long tour.
Like some post-apocalyptic Mad Max nightmare, the place had gone to hell in a handcart. Temperatures on the ground often topped 50c, sewage systems that had long since packed up, the stench of cooking waste and piles of festering rubbish that grew wherever you looked. Throat-burning winds, blast bombs and well-trained, well-organised militias armed with AKs and RPGs and a limitless supply of mortar rounds were the icing on the cake.
If any of Mills's 18 man sniper platoon had thought that the people of Al Amarah were going to welcome them with open arms, they were forced to rapidly reconsider. For the next six months, isolated, besieged and under constant fire the battalion refused to give an inch. Cimic House, their HQ, may have been shit, but it was home. And its defence, the most intense the British army fought in 50 years, was a modern day Rorke's Drift.
The comical tragedy or tragical comedy of Mr. Punch by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean
This is a grown up comic (graphic novel) with a dark tale and spooky imagery.
A dark and frightening fully painted novella, MR. PUNCH tells the tale of a young boy's loss of innocence results from a horrific confrontation with his past. Spending a summer at his grandfather's seaside arcade, a troubled adolescent harmlessly becomes involved with a mysterious Punch and Judy Man and a mermaid-portraying woman. But when the violent puppet show triggers buried memories of the boy's family, the lives of all become feverishly intertwined. With disturbing mysteries and half-truths uncontrollably unraveling, the young boy is forced to deal with his family's dark secrets of violence, betrayal, and guilt.
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
War Horse is a children’s book but it has a lovely written style and the themes are weighty and moving. Not only has it been turned into a successful stage play it is now a film due out this year. I think though a lot of its power lies in the imagination of the reader, and I would urge all parents to give it to their kids.
This book recounts the adventures of a horse as he moves from life on a farm into the battles of World War I, the story of a friendship lasting through the toughest of tests.
Through the eyes of the war horse, Joey, Michael Morpurgo tells this moving and powerful story of survival on the Western Front.
I heard the author interviewed on the radio and liked the sound of this story. It was an easy read and tripped along quickly with a nice pace and gentle humour. I found the historical references and description of places had resonance with me as I found links with the themes in other books I had read recently and with a RGP we are playing that is based in an alternative Victorian world. What would have happened if Harry Potter grew up and joined the fuzz?
My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - we do paperwork so real coppers don't have to - and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluable, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.
Now I'm a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden . . . and there's something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.
The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it's falling to me to bring order out of chaos - or die trying.
Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab
Not the sort of book I would normally read, but I was leant this and the sniper book by a friend, so I gave them I go, and I was pleasantly surprised. I think the most interesting part of it was the view into a world of the soldier and how his mind works, the culture and beliefs and seeing how they might react under extreme circumstances. I understand there has been some artistic license taken with the facts and concerns have been expressed about actions attributed to those who cannot confirm or deny them, nevertheless it is quite a good boys-own tale.
In January 1991, eight members of the SAS regiment embarked upon a top secret mission that was to infiltrate them deep behind enemy lines. Under the command of Sergeant Andy McNab, they were to sever the underground communication link between Baghdad and north-west Iraq, and to seek and destroy mobile Scud launchers. Their call sign: BRAVO TWO ZERO.
Each man laden with 15 stone of equipment, they patrolled 20km across flat desert to reach their objective. Within days, their location was compromised. After a fierce fire fight, they were forced to escape and evade on foot to the Syrian border. In the desperate action that followed, though stricken by hypothermia and other injuries, the patrol 'went ballistic'. Four men were captured. Three died. Only one escaped. For the survivors, however, the worst ordeals were to come. Delivered to Baghdad, they were tortured with a savagery for which not even their intensive SAS training had prepared them.
Sniper One by Sgt Dan Mills
This is the second war story I read, and I found this was even more interesting than the first. Perhaps this is because it was more successful and showed more of the battle conditions.
April 7th 2004: a year to the day since the city had fallen. Saddam had been deposed. The Marines and the Para's were long gone and rarely made it into the news. When Sgt Dan Mills and the rest of the 1st Batallion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment flew in, they were supposed to be winning hearts and minds. They were soon fighting for their lives.
Within hours of arriving in Iraq a grenade bounced off one of the battalion's landrovers, rolled underneath and detonated. The ambush marked the beginning of a full-scale firefight during which Mill's killed a man with a round that removed his assailant's head. It was going to be a long tour.
Like some post-apocalyptic Mad Max nightmare, the place had gone to hell in a handcart. Temperatures on the ground often topped 50c, sewage systems that had long since packed up, the stench of cooking waste and piles of festering rubbish that grew wherever you looked. Throat-burning winds, blast bombs and well-trained, well-organised militias armed with AKs and RPGs and a limitless supply of mortar rounds were the icing on the cake.
If any of Mills's 18 man sniper platoon had thought that the people of Al Amarah were going to welcome them with open arms, they were forced to rapidly reconsider. For the next six months, isolated, besieged and under constant fire the battalion refused to give an inch. Cimic House, their HQ, may have been shit, but it was home. And its defence, the most intense the British army fought in 50 years, was a modern day Rorke's Drift.
The comical tragedy or tragical comedy of Mr. Punch by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean
This is a grown up comic (graphic novel) with a dark tale and spooky imagery.
A dark and frightening fully painted novella, MR. PUNCH tells the tale of a young boy's loss of innocence results from a horrific confrontation with his past. Spending a summer at his grandfather's seaside arcade, a troubled adolescent harmlessly becomes involved with a mysterious Punch and Judy Man and a mermaid-portraying woman. But when the violent puppet show triggers buried memories of the boy's family, the lives of all become feverishly intertwined. With disturbing mysteries and half-truths uncontrollably unraveling, the young boy is forced to deal with his family's dark secrets of violence, betrayal, and guilt.
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
War Horse is a children’s book but it has a lovely written style and the themes are weighty and moving. Not only has it been turned into a successful stage play it is now a film due out this year. I think though a lot of its power lies in the imagination of the reader, and I would urge all parents to give it to their kids.
This book recounts the adventures of a horse as he moves from life on a farm into the battles of World War I, the story of a friendship lasting through the toughest of tests.
Through the eyes of the war horse, Joey, Michael Morpurgo tells this moving and powerful story of survival on the Western Front.
New Music…
As part of my birthday gift I bought a whole heap of music (perhaps more than I should have). Some of it was old classics to recapture my youth, and some was new tunes…
Old Classics
History: America’s Greatest Hits by America.
Showbiz Kids: The Steely Dan Story by Steely Dan
The Very Best Of 10cc by 10cc
New Stuff
In The Reins by Iron & Wine with Calexico
Mayhem by Imelda May
Hedonism by Bellowhead
Down The Way by Angus & Julia Stone
Bright Lights by Ellie Goulding
The Place We Ran From by Tired Pony
Volume Two by She & Him
There will be peace in the valley...when we get the keys to the mansion on the hill by Alabama 3
Old Classics
History: America’s Greatest Hits by America.
Showbiz Kids: The Steely Dan Story by Steely Dan
The Very Best Of 10cc by 10cc
New Stuff
In The Reins by Iron & Wine with Calexico
Mayhem by Imelda May
Hedonism by Bellowhead
Down The Way by Angus & Julia Stone
Bright Lights by Ellie Goulding
The Place We Ran From by Tired Pony
Volume Two by She & Him
There will be peace in the valley...when we get the keys to the mansion on the hill by Alabama 3
Birthday Party…
Sue held a birthday party for me this year. Normally we go away as I am not keen on being the centre of attention, but she fancied a ‘bit of a do’ and I was happy as she agreed to make sausage rolls and chocolate cake. We had a house full of guests and had a good time talking, drinking and dancing to the music. I hooked up my laptop with iTunes loaded to a portable hard drive and connected it all to the stereo. There was loads of booze and I received a whole heap of great pressies.
Bin-a-while…
I haven’t blogged for a while but this has been due to life getting in the way, or at least work. I have been very busy for the first few months of the year and it is a terrible inconvenience. After work I have been mentally drained and unable to focus on creativity. It is not so much better now, though there is a slight lull, so I will try to post updates before we go away on holiday.
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