A Brilliant Time in The High Bridge Quarter

Street Food Stalls

Another great High Bridge Quarter Festival today. Lots off food stalls with cupcakes from Sweet Petite Cupcakery , coffee from the Ouseburn Coffee Co , Pies and Chili Vinegar from The Red House , as well as food from Dabba Wal. So the setting was good from the off. The weather kept nice and there were some excellent records played by the DJs.

There were so many food options, I couldn't decide which one to try and ended up not eating anything, though got some things for later on , but we had Jamaica , Italy , England , India, Mexico and The USA all represented in one way or another,. Burgers , Curries , Gumbos , Jambalaya , Cupcakes and much much more.

RPM - Record Player Mecca!!

It was RPM's 25th Anniversary and they laid on free cake as well as knocking 25% off CDs for the day , which I took advantage of with the new Bill Callahan and Factory Floor albums. So the atmosphere was excellent , even The Beehive had tables outside for Al Fresco drinking!

Some Sweet Cup Cakery

The only band I caught were the excellent Transfigure , and I chatted with Grace after the set , a very nice young lady and a more than decent singer.


I sampled bits of the food and succumbed to some Carrot Cake from Cupcakery which I posted on my instagram feed here. The Carrot Cake was very nice and a great finish to an absolutely brilliant day.

An Amazing Day

Wasn't sure what today would bring. I'm certainly a little tired after a 600 mile round trip, but feeling good and buoyed by good news about good friends and being inspired by some great TED talks. I have finished up with a head ache , but that's not really surprising.

No Reason For This Being Here

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's High Bridge Festival for music and street food, then I have another gig on Monday as well as getting involved with a patient focus group.

One of the TED talks was the Peacejam one , watch it love the story about Desmond Tutu when he married them and and the MC5 Manifesto mission statement.

Anyway quite tired , thanks for all your good wishes.

There's Always Something New - Like IOS7

Just had a phone call asking me to be part of a Patients Focus Group for my doctor's surgery, I've agreed to it but going to have to fit the first meeting in between work and a concert.

I got my IOS7 this morning and not impressed so far. Icons look rubbish and first TED talk failed. Download worked OK , but hate new pin lock on it. Still I will get used to it, whether it's Apple , Android or Windows you are locked into their system.

But this, in theory gives us new places to explore and visit , and maybe there will be new frustrations but there will be great things to discover. Though still think the new Icons look horrible.

On the plus side the sun is shining again, and I'm still buzzing after last night's Wire gig , plus there's another gig on Monday. Chapter one of my book is coming along .

So I have my suit out , shirt ironed , tie put aside for tomorrow's interview. I sure tomorrow will be an eventful and successful day for me , and looking forward to it.

Inspiration Comes From The Oddest Sources

My Bedside Book Pile

Although today's source of inspiration is actually probably quite a normal source of inspiration. On of the reasons I write this blog is the hope that one day it will provide me with the idea to actually write a book. Well in six years the inspiration hasn't come , although it has kept my hand in putting pen to paper , or rather fingers to keys.

Anyway beside my bed is a pile of books which one day I should get round to reading. One of the books was "The Ode Less Travelled" Stephen Fry's book on poetry. Within a couple of pages I saw the obvious subject for what could be my book . No it isn't poetry , and while I've written a few songs , a book of my poetry would be a complete no go, though I have a few Felix Dennis volumes in my collection - but is one of the few super rich people I have time for , along with Richard Branson and Chris Blackwell.

Anyway my book has a title and the first chapter is underway , I know how it will end , and know big chunks of what will happen between start and finish.  Once I'm finished I have at least two literary friends who can advise about proof reading , editing , and will tell me if it's rubbish or not.

So it's a case of watch this space. I've downloaded the Amazon Self Publishing kit , but the main thing is the inspiration has finally hit.

A Brand New Day - I Will Tell You Nothing

It's 6:30 am and today has the potential to be a disaster , but let's face it so do most days and they usually turn out to be good. I feel I'm jumping in a the deep end with something that HAS to be done and the sooner I get into it the better. Unfortunately I can't say what it's about but I know you will all send me your best wishes and I know I will come out of the other end probably battered but intact.

I do find it amazing that I can write about something giving no indication what's it's about , but shall we say it's as necessary and annoying as filling in a tax return. So it's not anything like last week's ECG thing.

Anyway because I've told you nothing I'm going to include The great John Cooper Clarke's poem "Nothing" as a YouTube clip and as text: Enjoy:

Nothing by John Cooper-Clarke

"Something is but nothing
Something it is not
Nil plus nil is nothing
Nothings what I got
Nothing on the tele
Nothing going on
Nothing to get worked up about
Nothing by the ton
Nothing times a million
Nothing minus ten
Don't say nothing to no one
It's nothing to do with them
Come all the way from nowhere
And now I'm nowhere else
Where nothing is out of place
No one lives
And nothing smells
Talking to no one
It's like talking to the wall
I give you what I get
I give you bugger all"

You're My Inspiration

It's funny at the moment I feel the need to write. I still haven't come up with an idea for a book but obviously people are enjoying , or at least looking at what I'm putting down. While I know one or two of you are checking this out from things you have said to me , I also realise that there are quite a few others following this.



Today I was coming home from work and decided on a TED talk about the New Yorker catoons by Bob Mankoff. I'd not heard of him before , but he is one of the many intelligent denizends of the USA and very funny with it too. This is the talk and it is well worth twenty minutes out of your day if you haven't already seen it.




I do find it amazing that even though I didn't know what I was going to write about this talk made me put the words down. The thing I like about it is now , this will effectively be here forever and gives both me and Bob a sort of immortality bestowing God like status on both of us so to speak, except he is the talented one.




But really thanks for reading , love hearing from you all and have a great day and night, whichever part of this world you are in.

Beautiful Tits and The Vagaries of The English Language

A friend this morning liked a Facebook Group with that name , and I immediately thought it was a clever reverse double entendre for a page with pictures of birds. Well I was right , it was a page about birds , but there was no clever reverse double entendre applied. You can find the page if you look for it on Facebook. And it got me thinking just about the vagaries and rich tapestry that is the English Languages. By the way if you search for the phrase in Google you don't get pictures like the one below!

Beautiful Tits

I read a lot , and since the times of  Chaucer , Shakespeare who both used euphenisms and double entendres in their work. English folk songs are notorious. Let me tell you "The Bonny Black Hare" is not about an over-sized rabbit, although these days the use of the word rabbit takes you right back in there so to speak! And all the classical talk of swords and sheaths , well you know what that means.

Anyway thought I'd include the Reduced Shakespeare Company's Othello Rap which starts with a mis interpretation of the word "moor",another thread in the rich fabric that is our language. It's also very funny.