Six Hundred Thousand and Ice Cream at Closing Time

I passed that mark today on my Million Step Challenge, so I thought I would tell you. Given this morning deluge and thunderstorm I wasn't really expecting to get that much walking in, but I managed to walk all the way into work and post a couple of things on my instagram channel here.

I must say the colours on my Sony Xperia XA phone are sometimes a bit too ultra vivid, but sometimes the pictures and video are amazing. Generally it has been a cheap phone that is doing it's job, but still not up to my Samsung Note 4 (but that gave up the ghost), though I am tempted to go for a refurbished one maybe, but I shall see.

I don't know if I mentioned this, but I was looking at some posts from 2015 and was surprised how brief they were. I'm sure I mentioned this two posts ago, but I was wondering why I couldn't get a post done in ten minutes like I used to and obviously I must be writing more. I like to think that I write at least 250 words, and seem to remember that at school we had to write 100 word essays, but these days I would struggle to keep to 100 words (I think).

In work I do documentation and am a great fan of white space, as I believe it makes the document easier to ready, and therefore it's better for getting information across. I've read books recently that had small writing on densely packed pages and that would have put me off had I not really wanted to read the book (I'm thinking Tom Waits on Tom Waits) and that segues nicely int a song I heard on my ramblings this morning, somewhere in Arthur's Hill, I didn't recognise the voice at first, or in fact during the song. The music , phrasing were wonderful but I had to check and it was Tom Waits singing "Ice Cream Man" from Closing Time

Summer Solstice Discoveries, Rembetika and Surf Music

Today is the Summer Solstice and looking out the window it's raining and we have heavy thunder. I haven't seen any lightning yet, but that's just a matter of time, although the weather is saying it's going to be a hot and sunny day (in the south).

The radio and Facebook are full of the corpfest that is Glastonbury. I think that the Eavis family have done a great job and deserve their success, but so so many people go to Glastonbury because it's Glastonbury and the music seems irrelevant. They then start complaining if this year's Robbie Williams isn't headlining. It's almost like X-Factor, you know what to expect, and sometimes it may not be to your taste. This Friday Radiohead play the Pyramid Stage, a relic from the very first Glastonbury (in concept), and the BBC are broadcasting lots of acts. I've never been to Glastonbury and doubt I will ever go, but these days there are so many alternatives that I don't feel I am missing out.

Just seen my first lightning  followed by crashing thunder.

The main reason I am writing this post is because I was reading Electric Eden this morning and discovered something about "Misirlou". I'd always assumed it was a Greek folk song picked up by Dick Dale and "surfed up". Most peoples first contact to this piece was on the opening to Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction", Tarantino has a way of unearthing great records for his films, think of "Little Green Bag" by the George Baker Selection, Tarantino's inclusion in "Reservoir Dogs" moved it from Sunday afternoon Radio 2 to cool.


But the western gestation of "Misirlou" predates Dick Dale by some years. A guy called Steve Benbow was stationed in Egypt and taught himself guitar to fill his boring days. One of his favourite tunes was a Greek Rembetika song called "Misirlou" (which apparently means "Egyptian Girl". Rembetika is a particularly harsh Greek folk music form so was suited to Benbow's steel stringed acoustic.  I think Benbow recorded it and it was also recorded by Davy Graham as "Miserlou"(sic).

I couldn't find Benbow's recording but found a celebration concert by Peter Oliver.

Whether Dick Dale picked it up as a Greek folk piece or from Benbow's or Graham's recordings I don't know, but if you've read this you now know about it.

SP if you are going out north of Watford take your umbrella and waterproof gear or you may get quite wet. I'm not sure if I will hit my 11K steps today but I did make 15.5K yesterday and am 30K ahead of target.

Have a great day everyone.

Monkey F

Yesterday evening I was looking for iced lollies in the local supermarket freezer and for a split second saw a sign the said "Monkey Kiev" or "Kiev Monkey", I looked again and it was Chicken Kiev, I couldn't see any sign of a monkey anywhere, unless you count me.

It got me thinking how many times our brain sees something that isn't there. This probably explains the majority of ghosts and UFOs but people are still adamant that such sightings are real, even though there is no concrete proof. I have had a few supernatural encounters, but everyone could explained logically. I've probably written about before but I'm not going to expand on it here, maybe later.

I am currently melting keeping cool by eating strawberry splits, but that can only last so long.

Anyway this is just a short post on mistakes, so we will sign off with Warren Zevon's "Monkey Wash Donkey Rinse". Sleep well my friends.

Dreaming of Arcadian Driftwood

Just woke up and showered (sorry if that brings unwholesome images to mind), and just had one of those dreams that sticks with you, well a bit of it did. Maybe it had something to do do with how I was feeling over the weekend and maybe done, but the bit that stood out was that I was driving at speed over a long bridge over a river (it may have been the Humber Bridge which I drove over in the eighties when contracting at Smith and Nephew in Hull). The problem was there were a lot of roadworks and in some parts the road was completely missing so you had to drive close to the sides to circumvent the gap or be fast enough to jump it. I did both.

The thing is, like most dreams this was totally impossible. If there were roadworks there would be speed limits and cameras, and you wouldn't have to jump gaps. I suppose that's a little like life, sometimes everything is not as straightforward as you expect it to be, but you generally get on with things and eventually things may settle down  and life can get back to normal. I'm not sure where I was going but I must have succeeded (I often do) and then I woke up.

I was look at some posts from a couple of years back and was surprised how short they were, often just a paragraph or even a sentence! I was sure that I could knock off a post in ten minutes a few years back (last night's was almost an hour of writing and this will be thirty minutes I would think).

I'm currently reading the excellent "Electric Eden" by Rob Young (with all it's mystical references to Arcadia and Albion and other places) and came across a situation that I've seen many times. Cecil Sharp and the English Folk Music Society documented folk music by going out in the field and writing it down.  Field recording technology had been around since the early 1900s and was being used by Alan Lomax to record "in situ" music in the USA which is now online somewhere at The Smithsonian. Bert Llloyd was the UK's answer to Lomax and started recording songs by the people singing the stuff now, not sanitised for mass public consumption. Up to this point there were only four recorded folk folk songs that had been captured, also industrial folk music had been completely ignored. Anyway I suggest you delve further if you are interestd, if you have this you have the whole internet at your disposal.

I've chosen "Acadian Driftwood" by The Band , just because the phrase came to mind and it's a lovely song to start the day with, and I always thought it was "Arcadian Driftwood", you learn something new every day. And yes this post took me more than half an hour to write. Have a good one everybody.

One of Those Weekends

I usually write, when I feel inspired or happy. I really don't like complaining or saying that I'm down. This weekend was an opportunity to do lots of things and, actually I've done nothing. I'm feeling apathetic and lethargic and divorced from any social interaction.

Yesterday I just about managed my 11K steps but today I doubt I'll hit 5K. I haven't been feeling that good, but as I write this I feel some sort of Adrenalin buzz. Yesterday and today I thought maybe I should write a blog post, but just couldn't motivate myself to do it. Now as I'm writing this , I know that after I've posted it , I will go out and do half an hour's walking , listen to some music, and feel much better for it.

It's ironic that the extremely good warm weather today is one of the reasons I haven't walked , the week before last it was bad rain one day that kept my waking down to 3K steps. In the Million Step Challenge I am more than 25K ahead of schedule and the intention is to hit a million steps by the last day of July. I think that will happen. It's quite funny to see some people's reactions when you say you are doing a millions steps. My friend Karen (proprietress of the wonderful Kazbat's Den) does 20K steps a day (she has a dog) making my 11K steps pale into insignificance, and you can see she is far fitter than me. I bought a studded belt from her two years back and despite repeated wear, though it's quite thin leather, it's still like brand new. If you want a leather belt or anything Goth , pierced or Majickal go there, it is absolutely wonderful.

Anyway, I am already feeling better. I've done catch up TV this weekend (American Gods, Ils, The Aliens, The Blacklist, Doctor Who)

Oh and this morning moved my record player this morning downstairs into the front room. I know my mate Marek from RPM has told me to get a proper one, and RPM have some beautiful vintage ones (take a look here), but my GPO is fine for me. I'm not an audiophile so that with my soundbar will be fine.

That was another thing, I needed a one plug AUX adaptor so went to the box in the garage where my cables, plugs etc are piled , as I was sure I had one, but no, it just looked like mass of liquorice strands so I though I may have to go to Maplin. This also was a bit of a downer for me, and I am not sure why, because I had solutions.

Then I ordered a cable from Amazon, went down again, thought I would look in the box and the first cable I pulled out was the one I needed. So I sent a cancellation request to Amazon, and played my first record downstairs , the laser-etched "History Never Repeats" by Split Enz (a bargain £3 from RPM) so that ended up fine, and I have a bit more room upstairs andmore music downstairs.

It is amazing how therapeutic that just writing this can be, There are a hell of a lot of my friends who have a lot more to deal with than me, and I do think about them and am there for them  when I can be, and when I think of the horrific events of the last few months I do realise how well off I actually am. I have spoken with people including my dad over this weekend, and he is dealing with stuff (by building extensions and putting roofs on at 82 like you do).

Sometimes just doing things actually kicks off the good stuff in you.

Anyway it's a new week and there will be lots of good things to come this week, I am sure, enjoy this gorgeous weather my friends.

#LikeNoOther #7 Brando - Scott Walker and Sunn O)))

Scott Walker may only mean being one of The Walker Brothers to you with songs such as "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" and "No Regrets", but when he left he ploughed and interesting solo furrow, covering Jacques Brel (as did Bowie) and displaying a wry sense of humour on the excellent over the top "Jacqui".

As he's aged, his mind and artistry has gone further and further out from the mainstream, with album titles such as "Bish Bosch" and "Soused", which sound inconsequential, but if you are willing to give them the time, they will pay you back in spades. If you put them on at a party, they will probably empty your house fairly rapidly, but anyone who stays may someone worth investing your time in.

"Soused" was made with noise/drone giants Sunn O))) , and when I first heard "Brando" my jaw dropped. How could you describe this, a voice in the realms of musicals and opera backed by slabs of stabbing sound that keeps up for close on nine minutes. No one I've spoken to can describe it, but they are definitely affected by it.

It deserves to be played loud, it is monstrous and glorious, and three years on it has lost none of it's power.

I am glad we have Youtube so I can share these things with you.

Take a listen when you have half an hour to spare. It will make you think

Coffee In Pints

I'm no Mug - Oh sorry I Am!!

I know I'm not the the most gentile or sophisticated person you might have encountered, but last night I decided for tea to have some packet onion soup (how sophisticated is that?), which required a pint of water to make it up. I was going to have it in a bowl but thought maybe I'll just try a cup full.

When I emptied the pan, there was room to spare in my mug!! We got the mugs over fifteen years back on  a holiday in Budapest, memorable for many things including nearly getting arrested for fare dodging on the metro.


What happened is that three stations had automatic ticket machines that were not working, so at the main interchange I approached a couple of ticket staff about where I could get a ticket. The older one said we would be arrested if we didn't hand over our passports. The younger one looked embarrassed, her boss was obviously someone used to the old communist methods and the assumption that everyone is out to cheat the system. We got away with on the spot fines, and were directed to a ticket office three levels up, where we served by a very affable old lady who spoke not a word of English (me not knowing a word of Hungarian, the presumptive ignoramus that I am), but we still managed to sort out tickets for the rest of the week, by sign language and smiles.

The thing is for fifteen years on a Saturday and Sunday and non work day morning I have been drinking my coffee in PINTS. You go in to Starbucks and Costa and they have all sorts of not specific names for their cups, so I may have been having pints there as well. It's just that you never think of going into a coffee shop and asking for a pint of coffee do you? Well I don't. If you go into a pub you will order a pint of beer or lager (or if in The Turk's Head in Darlington wine), but not a coffee shop.

The song I decided to go for is the angry "Perfect Coffee" by the wonderful Kate Tempest. There were lots of other options but I think this is something good to make us aware of the times we live in.

Anyway it's a lovely day and it's time to set off for work, have a great one my friends.