Mike's Meandering Mentalities!

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Sat, 24 Nov 2012 13:51:18 -0500

Thursday's Thoughts & Deeds.

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:49:16 -0500

I felt with all that’s happened on Thursday morning I should give (as best as I can recall) the tale of what happened & some of the interesting anecdotes that occurred.

It was a slightly atypical Thursday morning in the cold early days of February, atypical as I had to go to work (Thursday is generally my day off) it did not seem as cold as previous days had been, there were however some treacherous patches on the paths which made it hard going generally, I wandered off to the metro station with a playlist of 90’s alternative rock on my iPod (stuff of the ilk of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Tad, Mother Love Bone, Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins, Soul Asylum, etc…) looking forward to the weekend and the musical tomfoolery I’d be engaging in then. I reached the Metro station as my usual Metro pulled in (very lucky I thought, as I’d missed it once & been stupidly early another time in the preceding days) .

I sat down & rather than pull out “The Girl Who Played With Fire” & start reading it, I decided (I’m not sure why) to look at my phone’s social networking apps, checking the updates on Facebook I saw nothing new that warranted my interest (sorry folks some mornings the updates are just boring), so I took a look on Twitter, one of the folks I follow (name not used due to lack of permission) was on a train ahead of me which had broken down near Pelaw, we were shortly told the train we were on would be going no further than Brockley Whins & on we went, myself filled with a wariness as to what might happen in the near future, I had the forethought of perhaps informing my work I’d be late but didn’t actually do anything at this time (I was hoping the blockage would be removed so we could pass by the time my train hit Brockley Whins, it didn’t pan out this way).

At Brockley Whins the train emptied & everyone (including myself for a short time) loitered on the platform waiting for news, after a few moments I began to contemplate alternatives… I could walk towards my destination, hopefully pass a cash-point & perhaps find a bus, or perhaps find an alternative method of getting in to Newcastle, I consulted Google maps & decided my next move, Simonside (a Metro station on a different branch) was a short walk from my current location so I reasoned I should head for that station, get a metro from there into Newcastle & be only a short while late, off I went through Boldon (an area with which I am generally unfamiliar), on my way I stopped at occasional sources of shelter to determine my route (as the rain was light but persistent) & walked past a chap in a car who had clearly never been there asking where Brockley Whins Metro station was, I indicated a total unfamiliarity with the area and waved generally behind me saying “I’ve just come from there, but I don’t know the area very well, it’s kind-of that-a-way.” He thanked me and drove off.

I found myself walking along a main road, crossed and passed through an industrial estate finding myself at Bede metro station (I was in luck this was one stop closer than my original target of Simonside & there was a train due in 5 minutes heading for “Newcastle” my joy was to be short-lived however after travelling 2 stops the train terminated at Hebburn.

This time however we were told we could catch “any Go-North-East bus” as I walked away from the station I began a conversation with a lady about whom all I know is that she works in Longbenton & she had come from Sunderland this morning, we attempted to allay our bosses concerns at our respective ETA’s & determined upon noticing the queue at the bus stop outside the station to walk down to the next bus stop we could find before that one, which as it happened was an idea one other lady had thought of we stood relaying our displeasure at the situation, the new lady had come from South Shields at about 8:00 that morning so had been waiting some considerable time. We stood chatting together until we flagged down the first bus to come along (it was not a Go-Ahead bus but we were in no mood to be delayed further & the driver accepted that the Metro service had allowed us to board the bus with our Metro tickets & passes).

At the next stop the bus filled up we were joined by a chap in a suit who had ridden from South-Shields to Hebburn, back to South Shields in time to catch the next Metro which promised to get to Newcastle (it didn’t, the chap had left his car parked in South Shields with his jacket in and was freezing in the cold of this winter morning), we all talked of previous Metro delays and the slow progress the bus we were on was making all the way to Heworth, jumped off & made our way to the platform, we stood in the crowd watching the arrival board which said there was a Metro Due to take us to Newcastle & another a minute later, there was a metro stationary on the opposite platform (ordinarily pointed towards Pelaw, South Hylton & South Shields). I considered the facts and decided the Metro opposite was indeed the one which was “due” a point I mentioned to my fellow commuters a moment before the tannoy announcement, we all ran back up the stairs across the concourse & back down to the platform, during which I lost my companions & acquired a new one, we sat & talked through our prolonged journeys as the Metro finally moved us towards Newcastle, I arrived at work around 11:25 and found the place in disarray due to re-wiring, my boss had only recently arrived himself having been delayed by a crash on the road in to town, ironically near to Pelaw.

I checked my Twitter feed around this time to find out that my friend who was trapped on the train had finally been allowed off after about an hour and a bit, all in all a terrible morning’s transportation.

The very next day I had my pass checked twice by ticket inspectors, I nearly gave them a serious earful for the shenanigans of the preceding morning but decided to simply compose an email requesting compensation for the hassle I experienced & the lack of tangible information or service regulation we all experienced that cold dreary morning.

My thanks to those who spoke to me that day it was good to know that I was not alone in the infuriation & that people when faced with trouble can talk & share problems with strangers in a similar situation to maintain morale.

Incidentally here’s another blog about the same morning’s events:

http://jonathancarling.tumblr.com/post/17341775988/12-02-09-worst-public-transport-ever-metro

Aww hells yes… like an update of Falling Down… this...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:47:13 -0500

Aww hells yes… like an update of Falling Down… this movie looks like it lives the dream we don’t like to admit having had, perhaps excessive… perhaps that’s what we need?

I don’t condone any kind of gun ownership by the way…

robsheridan:

This looks amazing.

Infrequency causes issues...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:53:45 -0500

Now, I don’t blog often (because I’m lazy) but I’m always thinking of stuff to say, some of it becomes tweets, some works it’s way into lyrics, some just waits too long & becomes outdated & irrelevant (a feeling I get about myself every now & then). I should (and at some point might) get into spoken word properly, I tried it a year ago near enough, loved it & never went back, the other option is to use my You Tube account to start Vlogging (Video Blogging as I understand it to mean, my English is (not quite) proper English, not tech-head speak), both require some effort. The first is more intensive (I need to leave the house to do it) but guarantees an audience, the second is more initially expensive but I can do it from home & am pretty certain that someone might watch, then start picking it apart & I will know what it is like to be “Trolled” (again I don’t quite know, it’s computer jargon, I’m guessing it means people will start taking the piss & never listen to reason til I block them because you can’t beat the crap out of someone over the internet!).

This is gonna be a digest of half digested recent ideas, maybe,

Thinking Too Much

I spend too much of my down-time going round in circles in my head, questioning my motives, second guessing long irreversible decisions, debating my own spiritual well being & personality.

Then I sit cursing others & their apparent joi-de-vivre.

Could I have had a better life?

No I’d have made all the decisions I made thus far & was often too stubborn to listen to reason so wouldn’t have accepted the foolishness of dropping out of college first time through.

Where am I getting myself?

A healthy dose of humility should stave off the urge to point out my fellows’ failings & in doing so opening up to have my flaws revealed.

I am still a child effectively.

Dexy’s Midnight Runners are making me think through my decisions again, a pastime only indulged while listening to my oldest, still current, musical love.

OK so not quite a digest, the other idea has legs & I think I can expand it to a decent standard so it will be a post in it’s own right later, the same with at least one of the other ideas that’s become a note on my PC, most of the notes on my phone are lyrical (if they survive you’ll catch them in a musical project later), I guess there’s not much I needed to say right now.

Quitting my addictions...

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 13:11:32 -0500

Addictions come in many guises, mine are somewhat minor afflictions which cause only mild distress when withdrawal is exercised, they are predominantly social networking & games on my phone, caffeine and to a (thankfully) much lesser extent alcohol, I intend to back away from these addictive pastimes & beverages, my success will be measured by the fact of my not drinking coffee & booze & my absence from social networking, all easy to fake so not too hard really.

If I fail to add kudos to your next big tweet/status update, don’t hate me, I am ignoring it, but not necessarily you, Facebook messages will be checked, wall posts & mentions will not, I hope to action this cessation soon.

TTFN.

Blogging will continue…

Tearing myself apart

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 02:51:00 -0500

Besides being an awesome lyric (I think it’s a Rollins Band song, ooh there’s my going to work soundtrack sorted today then!) the title of this blog is kinda apt at the moment as I’m working my (aching) butt off 6 days a week right now, having a (bi-monthly) crisis of musical conscience, recovering from an accident 3 days ago that should be just a comical memory by now but remains a pain in the arse/back/elbow (although fortunately I’m nearing my usual working capacity now), on top of this it’s not too long till the annual gifting ceremony designed to look like a Christian festival that should re-kindle retail around the western world (but won’t cos the bankers have buggered it up).

I’m concerned about the global economy in a “how big is a trillion?” kinda way (I don’t think I’ve ever seen a trillion of anything!), I’m bothered by the lack of business being done at work as this may result in staff cuts (nothing has been said, nothing is certain but I’m worried), but worst of all I’m truly alarmed at my inability to finish a coherent sentence without several passages in parentheses.

My big bugbear with this year (Because everything else has been great, have you met my wife? She’s brilliant!) is the musical dissolution, I started the year in 2 bands, both of whom dissolved (I appear to be a catalyst in the death of bands, this scares me), I started some work with a couple of guys who I work OK with but the distance needed to travel & where I am with what I want to do cause me to question the viability of the project.

I thought a lot about re-forming Johnny’s Last Resort, but it wouldn’t be the same without Paul, I’d be forming a band similar in name & vocal style only really, plus I’ve not asked Paul if he’d be OK with it, I know last time I spoke to him he wasn’t in a Johnny’s Last Resort place, I do own the rights to the lyrics (where such rights exist) but the music (and all the recordings/video work) belongs to him, he is the man behind those aspects, I simply wrote some words, occasionally played a bass on recordings & shouted a bit.

So what am I on about? I’ll be honest, I don’t actually know. The end of the year is nigh I’m still not picking up a guitar (except for demonstration purposes or to teach my uncle a few chords), I still can’t put a solo performance together (it’s getting worse each time I try I swear!), & I’m not entirely sure I want to, maybe I need to re-assess who I think I am & focus on the stuff I can do & do reasonably successfully but I need to work out what that stuff is first.

My last live performance was on my Stag Night, in May, that’s sobered me up!

... but seriously...

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 07:18:00 -0500

Every day we are presented with an endless stream of tedious pre-approved information from the news outlets & the media bombard us with all of the worst kind of controlling “entertainment” designed to keep us watching hour after hour as it infiltrates our minds with it’s advertising schtick. We allow it to become our choices & it presents us with opportunities to explore similar turgid diversions & ignore the fact that we are slowly losing control of our lives & being bled dry by poor decision-making & greed, the whole thing is reminiscent of the fall of rome, & here it comes again.

We are slowly destroying our planet by trying to make things easier for ourselves and those who have the most are content to simply keep it and watch as others suffer, thinking “How can one person make a difference?” One person can make a difference by simply saying “no more, I will not sit idly by and watch as our society flounders in it’s effort to maintain an always unfair status-quo, I will not sit here with all my possessions that I have no ready use for while others are starving, I will not allow myself to become a bloated shit-bag while children starve & die of diseases I was innoculated against as a baby, we are all human beings and we should all be the recipients of Human kindness!”

I do not pretend to know the answers to the problems of Third World hunger, religious differences & violence, (I will not readily condemn religion, it has done (and continues to do) some good for many people, but those who mis-interpret it are clearly causing problems), Crime (why should any of the crimes of our society be tolerated in any way shape or form? If you wrong me shall I not seek my vengance? 30 years is not a life sentence, being raped can be because of the poor protection for victims of this most heinous of crimes.). But it seems to me that fair distribution of food & shelter would certainly be a good start… If you live alone, why do you need a 5 bedroom home when there are people living on the streets?

I can’t pretend I’m perfect, I know better than that, but it may be necessary to start at the top & work down. I don’t, as I say, know the answers, but the questions are certainly stacking up now in my head, and that’s a start.

doroexplainsitall: butyourelikereallypretty: But You’re Like...

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:15:52 -0400

doroexplainsitall:

butyourelikereallypretty:

But You’re Like Really Occupying Hollywood.

These are brilliant.

doroexplainsitall: butyourelikereallypretty: But You’re Like...

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:15:10 -0400

doroexplainsitall:

butyourelikereallypretty:

But You’re Like Really Occupying Hollywood.

Another one.

doroexplainsitall: butyourelikereallypretty: But You’re Like...

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:13:49 -0400

doroexplainsitall:

butyourelikereallypretty:

But You’re Like Really Occupying Hollywood.

And another!

Musical Moments part 2

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 10:01:00 -0400

I am covering these in no particular order now, I’m sure Pink Floyd preceded my introduction to King Crimson, but this is a big influence (and has been sampled for a rap tune recently, making it almost topical) so here it is.

In The Court Of The Crimson King an Observation by King Crimson

My first King Crimson experience (and my second, third and fourth at least) was the opening track “21st Century Schizoid Man” from their début “In The Court Of The Crimson King”.

The track was introduced to me at a time when I was getting into Heavy Metal (I believe Metallica were one of my favourite bands already at this point), my father was making the point that heavy music was pioneered a lot earlier than I had thought, and as is often the case Dad was right, the song opens with ominous wind sounds (one imagines a dark night and brooding menace, or at least I did) this is swiftly and startlingly followed by the main riff which is played in unison on guitar, bass, and saxophone (Ian McDonald makes the sax sound evil when he wants to) this is followed by the verse a sparse vocal shouted & distorted over a discordant chord in slightly jarring time, the riff re-enters after this followed by a second equally disturbing verse, then the tour-de-force mid-section with unison runs, mad solos & more musical muscle than four men in a room should be capable of, followed by a final verse and the riff which ascends almost impossibly to a massive crescendo followed by silence. That is how I heard it those first times (I wouldn’t discover the breadth of styles and dynamics on the 5 songs that make up the album until much later when I dared listen past the first tune) the song affected me so much I would sneak a listen every now & again and copy the one song to a cassette for my walkman (there was nothing the song would go with elsewhere in my music collection so jarring jump cuts to the Levellers, Spin Doctors or Dexys Midnight Runners were not uncommon on my compilations at the time.

Obviously when I heard the remainder of the album I knew this was a band I was going to like, so I told some friends of the discovery I’d made to see if they had heard of the band, they had but their experience had been very different, my Dad’s records only covered the early 70’s career of the first few line-ups of the band, so when I was told they were active in the 80’s & 90’s I was intrigued. I was introduced to Discipline which is an entirely different beast to the roaring viciousness of “21st Century Schizoid Man” it opened with Elephant Talk a song whose lyrics were an alphabetical list of words to describe speech and whose interludes were a series of quirky solos and odd refrains, and that was before I realised Tony Levin was playing a Stick Bass!

I was from around that point a King Crimson fanatic, I followed the fan-managed Elephant Talk web page religiously, learning the riffs from their transcriptions and following the discussions of material, I even became a member of the King Crimson Collectors Club (every now and again we would receive an exclusive, obscure, otherwise unavailable live (or rehearsal) recording from Robert Fripp’s collection (or in some cases other sources were used) which would often feature live recorded improvisation.

I became fixated on these live improvisations to the point where at the end of the life of my first band Bateman myself, Dougie Walker (Bateman’s Drummer) & Paul Wood (a man whose impact on my life cannot be overstated, we have had an almost symbiotic musical relationship at times) formed a new band and simply invented new music every week, then repeated the process for our one gig with a list of chord changes to go to & speed indications for the drums, one of my favourite memories of live performance (in fact that’s another blog post there to list my favourite gigs I’ve played… for another time).

King Crimson remain one of my favourite bands, I no longer listen to them every day but I am always aware of their influence when I play anything I’ve written, they are part of the firmament of my life now & worthy of investigation if they aren’t already part of your CD/mp3/DVD/Record/casette/8-track collection.

Nobody Likes Loulu

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 06:41:00 -0400

Everyone I know has heard & disliked the new Lou Reed Metallica album Lulu, they are all saying things like “It’s not Metallica!” “It’s a bit like St Anger but with Lou Reed talking over it.” “It’s shit, I’ve only listened to (anything from 1-4) of the songs.”

It’s absolutely brilliant!

Actually it’s not… it’s far from the perfect album (2 tunes clocking in a little shy of 20 minutes which could’ve comfortably kept the best bits in less than 10), the whole thing works as a cohesive work, an album as a whole, not just individual tracks, sure the riffs and complexity aren’t to Metallica’s usual standard, they aren’t supposed to be, it’s not a Metallica album! Lyrically there are some oddball lines here & there (Lou Reed is a good lyricist but not the world’s greatest, here he is trying to remain true to a concept), James Hetfield is apparently the table, this seems to be about to become a regular response to anything Metallica related on Ultimate Guitar. But there are some interesting musical moments and nicely weird soundscapes conjured up in places with the help of a small string section, the riffs are by no means on a par with current Metallica oeuvre, but they are an accompaniment to the lyrics, they work in that context, this is Metallica out of their comfort zone, this is Lou Reed doing something unexpected & challenging (not the first time “Metal Machine Music” was an insane risk when Lou had just gone solo in the 70’s and was starting to gain a fan-base), this may not win Lou Reed any Metallica fans (It might not win Metallica any Lou Reed fans either), but it is not without merit, there are hints here & there of The Velvet Underground (John Cale era) which made me smile a little when I heard them.

Everything that has been said about this being a rubbish Metallica album is true, but that doesn’t really matter because it’s not a Metallica album. If you’re finding it difficult to understand what they are getting at I’ve been there (I’m still there to be honest), this is album does not blend the best facets of Metallica with the best facets of Lou Reed, instead it’s a concept album (Metallica & Lou Reed do prog… how do you like those apples) that tells a strange tale which once heard does bear re-listening, challenging it may be, but I’ve found the rewards worthwhile, I’ll be buying it when it comes out properly.

WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO VISIT ON YOUR PLANET?

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:05:09 -0400

For no particular specific reason, although I’m fully aware it is a beautiful country, Canada, also on the short list, Dublin (Guinness Factory!!!!), and that’s all I can come up with right now.

Musical Moments part 1

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:54:00 -0400

I shall be posting a series of blog posts (on a blog… what are the odds!), as I recall and recount them, telling (as best as I can remember) the tales of where & when I first heard the music which has since formed part of the musical firmament of my life, there are no real reasons to do this per se, it is simply a (possibly interesting) semi-literal, possibly fraudulent stagger through my subconscious (my memory is not my most reliable feature). However in the spirit of sharing (too much) here is part 1 of said series (who knows it may also be the end, I am sometimes that lazy), enjoy.

Incesticide My Introduction to Nirvana

My first experience of listening to Nirvana was listening to Incesticide when I was about fourteen or fifteen, it was my introduction to music of a style that would go on to soundtrack my life & (to a greater or lesser extent) define the musical directions I would later choose when I played an instrument of my own. Upon returning from a trip to town (my recollection is HMV in Newcastle) with two new albums my cousin (who was older & at the time had more diverse musical interests) bought, Nirvana’s Incesticide along with “Blood Sugar Sex Magic” by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers when I was staying over one weekend.

We sat down to listen through my cousin’s stereo system, which as I recall only had one speaker, (not really mono just half the sounds!) & my cousin put the Chilli Peppers album on first saying it would probably be more my type of thing, now while it is a fine album, I was initially left cold by my first listen to Blood Sugar Sex Magic (my cousin loved it at the time however), I may not have been enraptured by the Chilli Peppers album but when, with, to my recollection, some words of warning about the music, my cousin put Incesicide on, I was captivated. Before this music was, to me, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Dexy’s Midnight Runners & the Top Gun soundtrack, after this nothing would be the same for me again.

From the opening bass notes of Dive, dirty, lo-fi, noisy, gritty, guttral almost primal angst-ridden music with under the layers of distortion and the hoarse shouting a melodic sensibility that was captivating and undeniable filled my senses from this limited audio reproduction device, I was enthralled. Dive was followed by Sliver, a song where we could hear what Kurt was singing, had a vague sense of it’s meaning but at the time, could not understand the full depth of the lyrics, though they were all the more captivating for that fact. The first 8 songs on the album hit me like a lightning bolt, each was a revelation in and of itself, as with a lot of things as a teenager the back end of the album got somewhat hazy on that first listen, there’s no doubt I enjoyed it but other things took precedence and I was no longer just listening to it, other things drew our attentions.

The fact remains even now, within that 45 minute period I became hooked on Grunge, I would later acquire Nirvana’s catalogue myself (starting with In Utero soon after it’s release & Bleach soon after that), along with gems from such grunge icons as Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains… etc. but Incesticide was and will always be my first foray into grunge.

It just boils my blood!

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 02:27:00 -0400

Apparently, due to government spending cuts, many councils are cutting grants. This in turn is pushing many Charities to the wall, meaning they will no longer be there to provide much needed services for those that need them.

Correct me if I’m wrong but there are some fantastically well to do people in the country who have done little or nothing to aid it’s ailing economy (I’m not, for once, talking about the piss poor decisions made by government on economic policy), this is supposed to be a “Big Society” why don’t those with enough spare cash actually give a hand (was going to say lend but thought better of that) here, to help the less fortunate?

I know the answer, the rich don’t care enough to do anything to help the wider population who are currently struggling to get through life (some without jobs due to cuts).

To my mind these are the times when we should all try to help each other, the government are clearly on a mission to enrage the most important people in their “Big Society” so we need to make it work without expecting the halfwitted incompetents who hire phone hackers as PR agents to help (they won’t).

These are my opinions I am somewhat short of all the facts but I decided it was worth ventilating at this time.

"Before you talk, listen. Before you react, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you criticize,..."

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:07:25 -0400

“Before you talk, listen. Before you react, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try.”

- Ernest Hemingway.

mysgreen: I think I find this far more amusing than I...

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 12:48:04 -0400

mysgreen:

I think I find this far more amusing than I should!

It made me laugh a lot too… interstellar keepy-ups!

Optimism? Seriously?

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 06:16:20 -0400

In a year which for it’s first six months has presented nothing but musical collapse, with fingers which no longer hold the knowledge & strength for a sustained bout of musical activity I am hopeful that events will soon begin to unfold which can bring about a recovery of my musical muse (sorry for the alliteration) and return me to the auditory canals of those who wish to listen… I am contemplating some old covers, a new (to me) approach and a small scale operation that could comfortably function if (by some chance) someone out there wants my musical input in a project.

I’m not even going to think about the musical side of my most recent half-a-year, negativity seemed to rule the roost, self-hate filled me at times, I remained aimless & shiftless for what seemed like a long time. Meanwhile I did of course marry my wonderful wife and that has to be a lifetime highlight. I am making that my resounding memory of the past 6 months.

Actually there’s not as much to this as I’d expected. Oh Well, not many people will read it today anyway, it’s far too nice out to sit indoors.

Peace out y’all!

Check out my history...

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 15:15:11 -0400

Check out my history...

I've been at it for some time... talking to myself?

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 15:08:02 -0400

Complaining about things?

Well… yes… but trying not to now…

Playing music?

That’s the one…

I’ve been a “musician” for some… 15 years almost now, working my way through a small corner of the local music scene, listening to more bands than I thought existed in the mid ’80s, getting a massive amount of pleasure from it too.

What’s my point?

I’ve played bass in bands for 12 years easy (technically speaking during each of the last 12 years I played bass in a band at least once), I tried (and had success with) lyrics & vocals, I occasionally played guitar, noodled about on a piano (“Fire In Our Hearts” by Bateman), & generally had a good time hiding out of the limelight until more recently. Now I’ve developed a sense of self-importance, like my opinion is one everyone should hear & understand, expensive musical tastes & a sense of nostalgia for bands many will not have heard or seen far beyond necessity (or validity!).

I have an iPod full of music I love/like/would like to investigate, most people do, I have a guitar (3 actually), not so many have that, I have a gigging amp/equipment, I have a (very poorly) PC dedicated to recording music (something I’ve not done at home in 7 months now due to my PC’s state), I have hundreds of varied & intriguing CD’s, I have a few vinyl records.

I have a lot to work with in the world of music, except (due to circumstances both within & without my control) a band, my latest theoretical path is to go solo using a looping pedal (an investment I have yet to make for financial reasons). In the past I’ve surrounded myself with both talented & cool local musicians whose chemistry in a band led to some very interesting music & some wonderful gigs where we appeared to entertain some very open-minded audiences around the area (most notably the entirely improvised gig’s audience & the audience who saw Johnny’s Last Resort with a singer whose throat was in no fit state to perform the way he did). I sell musical equipment for a living, a career I kind of fell into & never climbed up from.

Would I like to do something different with my career?

Maybe, just to try it out & see how it worked.

Do I still see myself performing in bands?

Not right now oddly enough, the right people are nowhere on my musical radar.

Do I see this solo performance idea having any success?

To be honest it seems unlikely I’m notoriously lazy & often if something like a financial barrier presents itself, rather than overcome it or work around it I’ll give up.

Am I a self-destructive creator?

Yes I create when I’m hard on myself & provide internal conflict, I won’t follow anything through properly, I won’t do a thing if it’s too difficult or involves parting with something I’ve held on to for a while.

Am I spoiling my shiny new blog by pseudo psychoanalysing myself & then doing nothing to change the same old story?

Yes.

I will stop there.