Wandering Through A Parallel Europe

"The Entropy Tango" by Michael Moorcock is a wander through a parallel earth, mainly in Europe with trips to Canada and the East. It is only 152 pages long so I expect to finish it this week.

If you want to buy a book my dark poetry is on the link below.

The music is "Radio Free Europe" by R.E.M.

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 others. C'est La Vie.

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

Tollbooth - #FruitfulSeptember #4

 I was in Edinburgh at the weekend and at one point when into Deacon Brodie's . Now I know nothing about Deacon Brodie apart from the name and the fact it's a big pub on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh.

 

Ben Johnson's words:

"A greatly respected member of Edinburgh‘s society, William Brodie (1741-88) was a skilful cabinet-maker and a member of the Town Council as well as deacon (head) of the Incorporation of Wrights and Masons. However, unknown to most gentlefolk, Brodie had a secret night-time occupation as the leader of a gang of burglars. An extra-curricular activity that was necessary to support his extravagant lifestyle which included two mistresses, numerous children and a gambling habit.

It is said that Brodie’s bizarre double-life inspired Robert Louis Stevenson, whose father had had furniture made by Brodie. Stevenson included aspects of Brodie’s life and character in his story of a split personality, ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde’."

I also found this account of the trial of Deacon Brodie 

The titular character of the novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark claims to be descended from Deacon Brodie. His double life serves as a metaphor for her duplicity, as well as her self-imposed demise.

I must have misread the name in the quote of his final words , I thought that one of his forenames was Tollbooth but that's where he was held before his final demise. 

The only other time I have seen Tollbooth used as human nomenclature is it the title of the Paul Kantner and Grace Slick album "Baron Von Tollbooth and The Chrome Nun" which I think I bought for the title alone.

So for #FruitfulSeptember I am going with "Raspberry Beret" , the Prince song , by the Hindu Love Gods which is a Stipe-less REM with Warren Zevon

Thwarted

I'm giving the Laptop update attempt a rest, the guy is comping to fix the roof link later and the weather is good. I also decided to pay for the Garden Waste Collection for this year found the site and it told me to follow a new link if I was renewing. The new site is a beta site that doesn't work, so I thought I'd try the normal way. It told be I can't because I have paid before (last year).

It does amaze me the sheer volume of online idiocy who's normal excuse is YOU (the customer) must be doing something wrong. I don't know if  I've just become immune to it or what , but I just feel it's another example of the idiocy and buffoonery profligate in our world today. This is the page and the new link is at the bottom, but it resides here. It may work when you try this or they may change it on the live page to a live address.

I also woke up very early and couldn't get back to sleep and now feel tired, but I am showered and dressed and ready to get off to work, so no real option to go back to sleep, also I have a piece of work to do using my three screens at work before I work from home this afternoon.

So really what better song to share than "Gardening At Night" by REM, which I first heard when I bought the album "Epobymous",  who I've never featured in a post before which surprises me, Enjoy your day.