Showing posts with label Dylan Thomas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dylan Thomas. Show all posts

Wednesday, 10 April 2024

Berwick

 


I have never been to Berwick, but in the Stuart Maconie book "The Pie At Night"  we find out that it was a favourite place of LS Lowry although we tend to associate him with the North West. We also are reminded of the Jewish origins of Fish and Chips, among many other culinary delights which has given me the ideas to write a Vocal post about the eateries in the Grainger Market in Newcastle.

I am also reading "Carol" by Patricia Highsmith, a recommendation from my work LGBT+ book club, so I will have two on the go, and that is not a bad thing.

He is also an excellent writer and DJ and worth checking out in print or on the BBC. 

I recently discovered that my American Amazon Author page has a feed from this blog which you can see here. It only shows on the .com site but not on others. C'est La Vie.

The music is "The Night Watch" by King Crimson from the album "Starless and Bible Black" that takes it's title from a line from "Under Milk Wood" by Dylan Thomas, because the only Lowry related song is the appalling Brian and Michael song "Matchstalk Men"

Mike Singleton - Vocal Stories

I am not sure if you are aware of my writing on Vocal but these are a few of my stories if you would like to sample them:

  1. Barter Books - An Amazing Bookshop In A Railway Station In Alnwick
  2. The Plagiaristic Poetry Series - Poems Taken From Random-Themed Lines
  3. Another Raven - A Take On Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven"
  4. The Cleaner - An Autism-Focused Christmas Special
  5. An Owl In A Towel - A Beautiful Book by Lesley and Cheryl
  6. Three Reasons Why I Love Settle - Scaleber Force, The Hoffman Kiln and Castlebergh Crag
  7. The Accidental Book - Helping a Great Vocal Friend Resulted In Me Publishing My First Book
  8. Call Me Les - A Great Friend and An Amazing Writer and this is her Instagram

Saturday, 22 April 2017

Read A Book .... You Never Know What You Might Find Out ... Again


It's World Record Store day, my mate Jim wants a copy of The Queen Symphony and I fancy the new The The single, first new music from Matt Johnson in 15 years and it's as good as ever.

I'm still working through "The Age of Bowie" by Tony Morley and today I found out how Marc Bolan (at the time Marc Feld) settled on his surname. Apparently he took the first two letters of one of his heroes' first name and the last three letters of his surname, which shows more than a little ingenuity, that hero was Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan also changed his surname from Zimmerman to Dylan taking the first name of one of his heroes , Welsh stream of consciousness poet Dylan Thomas (I love "Under Milk Wood").

I've included the Dubwood Allstars "Under Dubwood" which I never tire of (but doesnt, which takes Richard Burton's introduction and uses the soundtrack which  is the same as John Holt's "Ali Baba". Can you how my mind wanders?

Anyway, it's a beautiful day, and I have vinyl to buy.

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone.


Saturday, 4 October 2014

Starless and Bible Black



Starless......
I must admit that the first time I came across this ominous beauty of a phrase is when King Crimson used it as the title of one of their great albums. Of course it comes from the opening of Dylan Thomas' wonderful tone poem "Under Milk Wood" :

"To begin at the beginning: It is spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the hunched, courters'-and-rabbits' wood limping invisible down to the sloeblack, slow, black, crowblack, fishingboatbobbing sea."




Anyway, it perfectly describes the feeling of being here in Ampleforth in the middle of the night, but here it id perfect calm and very relaxing, though it was initially disconcerting when I first came as I tend to get a little unnerved in absolute  total darkness when you have no point of reference such as a chink of light through the curtains or late night taxis taking people home or the police helicopter chasing someone down the A1. In Ampleforth there is none of that, just calm and serenity, admittedly in the dark.

Actually the local Church clock auto chimes on the hour, or something does because as I awoke I heard three bell chimes.

Anyway after a good journey down, I found I'd managed to leave my contact lens solution at home (none to be found in Helmsley and about the only thing the loacal Post Office doesn't stock), then realised that I'd left my glasses at home, so once lenses are out the eyestarin gets a bit much for any reading or messing about on the computer, then I realised I'd left the DAB Radio at home (and we have 4!) so that's three things I've forgotten.

Anyway it's almost four in the morning now, so I am going to get back to bed, and leave you with the DubWood Allstars treatment of the intro to Under Milk Wood, which I have loved since Cerys Matthews played it on her 6 Music show. And if you want to watch the recent excellent BBC production, it's here: