Don't Keep Calm - Go Wild!

A short ranty post this . I sick of all these idiotitic KEEP CALM posters that say KEEP CALM KILL A ZOMBIE or KEEP CALM PAY YOUR TAXES or KEEP CALM DRIVE A SPORTS CAR. All of those scenarios cause people to go wild and annoy me intensely. The original KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON motif was sensible and fine , but it doesn't mean you can add anything to KEEP CALM , it should make sense.

Incidentally the first time I saw this was at the magnificent Barter Books in the old Alnwick Railway Station.





So
I've added my poster. Feel free to copy and distribute

Problems, Solutions,Good Things, Art and Valhalla

We all have have them , sometimes they seem insurmountable. Sometimes you feel as though you are up against a brick wall and there's no way forward. Sometimes you find an alternative and it might be wrong , but sometimes you find an alternative and it's right. This breakthroughs are often inspired by totally unrelated happening within your life or experience such as a piece of good news or something great happening with a friend. For weeks I've been trying to work out how to do something with misfuctioning software. I had the option of trying to roll back the software (as yet the company haven't found a solution but they normally do) , or hand coding , both pf which I loathe and to lazy to do.

Then lots of little good things including Katie Pukrik's song selection on 6Music this morning (Springsteen's "Thunder Road" , Sparks "Number One Song In Heaven" among others) , good friends I've spoken to in years reappearing on the scene, and amazing film "Valhalla Rising" (who needs a plot and dialogue if it looks brilliant , and has Mads Mikkelsen  <Hannibal>as a one eyed mute) and today I shall wander over to Summertyne , and the weather is still excellent.

Anyway all this set a light bulb of it my head and though ah - that might work, and it did , so the site is now finished for another year. You can check out Bob Armstrong's wonderful paintings here.

Also got some news last week that the loss of control over my left hand is likely to be a trapped nerve not a TIA as first proposed.

Try Everything - Fireships, Blondie , The Police and Stateside Diner Shakes

It's one of those things. I have lots of albums I've not listened to, Today for te first time I decided to play "Fireships" by Peter Hamill and was stunned by the first song "I Will Find You" , an amazing alien splicing of Blondie's "Presence Dear" and The Police's "Every Breath You Take" . You haven't a clue whether the protagonist is a love struck, caring  admirer or an evil , devious stalker with the latter being the favoured outcome. I've included the song just because it really is a case of you don't know what you're missing.

Stateside Diner Ice Cream Pancake

Then coming back I finally decided to visit the amazing Stateside Diner and treated myself to a luxury mint milkshake absolutely lush. The have a free rock and roll CD based juke box , serve alcohol in the form or wine , spirits and bottled beers and of course lots food. So glad I've finally gone in there and intend to visit a lot more often. Their Facebook page is here so if you are ever near Central Station in Newcastle , check them out.




So as I say , never be afraid to try anything , and even try anything and if you have music make sure you listen to it. Don't download buy and forget you have it , as I have a habit of doing.

Snake Oils

Well actually Hemp Oil and Omega 3. I get my Hemp Oil from Holland & Barrett and my Omega 3 from Boots , and I can recommended that they both seem to work from me. Hemp is a very versatile product and the way Omega 3 works was brilliantly analogised for me by a diabetic nurse which I documented here.  It is , of course , possible that effect is a placebo effect and I just think I feel better, but if something causes that then you tend to perform better and just generally be better.

Last night one of my friends Chris Ball told me a story about someone who was taking loads of vitamin supplements , which "must be working because they make my wee smell funny". Chris is responsible for the excellent but brief "Ape of Wrath" blog.

Also he mentioned that the government were going to push aspirin as  a "Vitamin S" cure all , unless you are advised not to by your doctor, which then becomes a bit of an iffy policy to say the least. I personally think you should generally try and get your vitamins by eating the correct (fresh) foods (fruit and vegetables),  but people will still swear by their little rattling plastic containers.

All The Sevens

After last months daily song , the blogs taken a rest but today is 7th of the 7th ad the name of the blog is 7 Days In ! I'm surprised we've not been bombarded by chain mails quoting ancient Chinese legends that will bring you untold wealth if you pass it on to 7 people. Did they have email in ancient China , I think not.

Today Andy Murray plays Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final with the press and various idiots sharpening their blades to say how he can't cut it when it really batters , and he's a miserable Scot and he has no personality.

My thoughts on Murray . I love because he annoys the fuck out of the media , is totally focused on the job in hand , and delivers !! Though if Scotland becomes independent he'll be just another foreigner who's won Wimbledon. We're still waiting for an English man or woman. Murray is brilliant , and I must I used to hate John McEnroe as a player , again he did the job, but he is absolutely brilliant as a pundit , going to have to get his autobiography , that WILL be worth a read.

Also another gripe is English pronunciation , names like Cholmondely and Waldegrave are pronounce Chumley and Walgrave. The Scots can be as bad Menzies in Mingies ? It's E N Z not I N G !! But the worst is Feng Shui. This is an english representation of the oriental ideagram, there it's say what you see FENG SHOOEE , NOT FUNG SHWAY . It's an E not a U andas for the second word I wont even go there.

Oh and I'm English so its Zed Zed Top not Zee Zee Top and it's Jay Zed not Jay Zee. And on that not I'll finish the video that so upset Jay Zed and Alisha Keys!!:

This Is The End ... Beautiful Friend

Today is Slacktonbury at The Schooner with Strange Bruise and Slack Babbath , so looking forward to that and the sun is shining too.


Well it's the last day of June and the final day of my June's Tunes blog project . The obvious song to finish with would be "The End" by The Doors , a great song , but then Chuck Berry's "30 Days" popped into my head so decided to go with that. I've put together a Grooveshark playlist so you can listen to all the songs in one place if you are that way inclined , but it will clock in at around two hours. Maybe I should have been a DJ! Anyway here's the playlist:

And here's Chuck Berry's 30 Days:

Iberian Penultimate

Sarah's Cake

Well this weekend has had a vaguely Iberian feel. First of all a good friends surprise birthday with lots of champagne , cake , wine and lots of to die for tapas started the weekend off. Then today I wandered into town to see the Vamos takeover of the  High Bridge Quarter. There was some great music , notably Brassy B with the salsa ska skewed crossover and amazing food.

Vamos

 

However despite there being an amazing array of food available there were still people with McDonald's bags down there. The Vamos festival goes on for a month and there are some amazing events , and I am so pleased to have been there today.








The music music chose itself for June's Tunes , Mink DeVille's "Spanish Stroll: