In The Dark - #FruitfulSeptember #3

I am not coming to terms with being woken up by the alarm and it's dark. I'm sure last week it was still light when I got up. I know it's autumn but it seems to have been a very fast transitions from light summer days to what we have now. While I like autumn generally, I don't like grey silent skies.

At the moment there is a uniform greyness in the sky, which brings on the sad feeling of Seasonal Affected Disorder, although for me that's just a general lacl of motivation and positivity.

Tonight I will watch teh final episode of  "Veep" although I have plenty of other things to watch , and "Silicon Valley" will keep me supplied with caustic one liners even though there's not a Donald Trump type imbecile figure in yet, although there are a few Jonah equilavents to be going on with.

 

I'm also on the final chapter of "Venus on the Halfshell" and though I know what's coming , it's been a wryly amusing observation of the general human condition , so wil lnow have to get abother book to be going on with, although I am still reading "Imajica" on the Kindle  which , although it's my favourite ever book, I am quite happy to stop and start reading whenever I feel like it, although different devices seem to conspire to lose my place in the book . I have a Kindle and also the app on my Google Pixel 2XL phone, and you would think it would be fairly simple to maintain a book position give the state of technology today.

 

So for #FruitfulSeptember I will share "Blueberry Hill" by Fats Domino with you, and I know it's an obvious one, but there will be a few of those, but the thing is setting yourself the target in the first place.

Why I Don't Write - #FruitfulSeptember #2

I had no intention of writing anything today, and yesterday something happened which made me think , I have to share that , hence this post. Switched on 6Music after listening to "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter" from my Joni Mitchell box set and there was a Genesis like guitar sequence which was playing , but I recognised it a "Strawberry Letter #23" by The Brothers Johnson being spun by Shaun Keaveny. So this is the second #FruitfulSeptember post.

This is the story of the song; 

Why is it called Strawberry Letter 23 not 22? Strawberry Letter 23 was originally a song by Shuggie Otis. At age 17, Otis wrote "Strawberry Letter 23" as way to describe his romantic feelings for his girlfriend. Though the lyrics commonly refer to "Strawberry Letter 22," Otis explains that, "the song is about a love letter. The guy and the girl had written each other 22 love letters. And the 23rd one, he writes is a song."

There is a Shuggie Otis version of the song available as well, and I was sure I had shared this in the blog at sometime before , although maybe it was just on the "Song of The Salesman" site when it was used in an advert.

I've decided that when I go for a walk I shouldn't be bothered about time , that way you can enjoy it much more. On a morning walk I am constantly thinking I need to be back by eight o' clock , to start work, but the reality is that I can start work whenever I want, so I don't need to rush back under normal circumstances.

So the fact that I am posting this shows that it takes very little to cause me to set finger to keyboardand post another rambling missive .

 

So tht's enough for today and hope it has been informative for you.

#FruitfulSeptember #1

I often think that I will just not write anymore on this blog , but then it's a diary and diaries never stop. It also is a method of recording things that I may want to remember. So I will keep writing , I am very contrary in my mind at times.

This morning I took a four mile walk to the Freeman Hospital for a check up and all seems to be in order . They now have an impressive fruit and vegetable stall out the front of outpatients but it is farly expensive, but it is in a prime location.

TV wise I have one episode of "Veep" to go although there is an Amazon Prime Veep vs Trump stream which I shall be watching tonight, which has reminded me , I've still not caught the "Parks and Recreation" COVID reunion show.

This morning was a little grey and now we have rain, so I'm not sure if I will get an evening walk. I know we're past the longest day but the nights and dark mornings are drawing in and after yesterday's heat , today is quite chilly.

I'm sure I wanted to say something else in this post but it's gone , and that will be an excuse for another post tomorrow.

I was, then I wasn't, going to do a sequence based on fruit for September but then thought , yeah I will , and #FruitfulSeptember is a good tag to go with, and to start off with "Overnight Sensation" by The Raspberries who have never featured on this blog. Although this was an excellent record , Eric Carmen went solo and produced som excruciating AOR so it's unlikely you will be seeing any of his solo stuff on here, but you never know, there may be hidden gems in his back catalogue.

Put The Radio On - #AnimalAugust #20

I sometimes find quiet a bit  for want of a word "not good" or worrying , and putting on the radio on (this morning 6Music) improves things no end. Similarly sometimes television can have a similar effect.

Yesterday I watch John Carpenter's "They Live" featuring Roddy Piper in the Kurt Russel role , and has been described as the best "B" Movie ever . The production values are minimal, but so was "Assault on Precinct 13" which contains on of , for me, the most shocking scenes ever. The thing was , watching the film, which was made in 1988 , I saw a lot of what is happening today , and while the film was aimed at the Reagan (and therefore Thatcher) regimes , it is even more relevant today. It's available for free on Youtube here at the moment.

Yesterday was also National Record Store Day but I completely ignored it , essentially because I sort of have enough records and don't need any more. To buy a record it has to be something special and barring coloured vinyl and picture discs there seems to be very little inventiveness in album cover production today. I may be wrong but I wish someone could show me an interesting album cover that is worth exploring while you listen.

The "Star Wars" John Williams and Jack White's  "Lazaretto" hologram editions are exceptions and they are both in my collection, so there is room to be inventive.

I was also thinking of all the record sellers that have disappeared . In Newcastle there was Hitsville UK , Volume and Spin , plus the national chains Our Price , MVC , Virgin (which briefly became Zavvi) and Boots and Woolworths sold records too.

Luckily in Newcastle we still have a lot of independent in Newcastle which you can see here

#AnimalAugust continues with "Boris The Spider" by The Who and I found a great claymation for it by GawainKnight , though possibly not for extreme arachnophobes.

Have a great Sunday

Not Doing Things - #AnimalAugust #19

I think I've done enough posts fro #AnimalAugust , but while working from home I listened to "Classic Quadrophenia"which features, among others,  Alfie Boe as Jimmy. Then I decided to revisit "My Generation" , the album by The Who and towards the end of that is the excellent instrumental "The Ox" featuring Nicky Hopkins on piano and I thought that would be a perfect addition to the #AnimalAugust sequence.

I hadn't intended to write anything today , but , as I've said before this blog is a diary where I record things of interest to me , and I had forgotten about "The Ox" . It's by no means the only decent track on the album but is a definite stand out as you can hear on the video in this post. It features Keith Moon's manic drum work , showing how important drummers are in rock bands.

The Ox was the nickname of the Who's bass player John Entwistle , one of the finest ever rock bassists.

So this is going to be a very short post because it's juts a marker for "The Ox".

Just Support Art - - #AnimalAugust #18

Working from has got me listening to CDs again. I did start listening digitally , and because my record player is downstairs , vinyl is not an option. I am listening to CDs that I have probablty never played but felt I needed in my collection, so I am slowly working my way through th eBruce Springsteen "Sound Stage" 15 Cds of radio broadcast , plus today there have been a couple of Yes albums and a couple bt Stomu Yamash'ta .

I usually start the day with a bit of 6Music and then drift into the CDs.

I bought a lot of my music because I felyt I should have it and should support the artist , so yesterday I was listening to "Coconut" by The Archie Bronson Outfit. I don't know what possessed me to buy the album , whether it was a recommendation or I had heard something , but it was a great listen, and I also feel good that The Archie Bronson Outfit will have gor a decent chunk of the CD sale rather than the 0.000001p they would have got if I had listened to it on Spotify.

Other art forms require our support as well , however we do it , by either buying the art , paying an entrance fee or donating , or ideally from taxes , so artists don't have to worry when they are next going to eat.

Art can take many forms and all of them need our support, however we can, so buy , support , go and watch. We need art.

Continuing with #AnimalAugust (I am surprised I hav posted 18 times this month already), I am going to go with the beautiful "Beeswing" by Richard Thompson , one of my favourite singers , songwriters and guitarist.

Just Do Art - - #AnimalAugust #17

Art takes many forms. I believe that for something to be art, it must have an effect , even if that effect is negative. One of the problems is that usually we expect art to be free . It's OK to be free at point of interaction as long as it is properly funded.

I always say that to produce art you just have to call it art. That may sound frivolous but you could call an empty coffee cp art if you present it in the right way.

Also with art once the artist has created the piece then when someone sees it then there is an audience.

Funding can be you paying for art , through taxes or through an entrance fee , but artists have to be able to live if they are to produce at.  I keep trying to do things but for some reason don't have the discipline to produce a finished product. I remember as a teenager joining a band on Tuesday for a gig on Saturday then writing and rehearsing and doing the gig , I really need to get that fire back, although it's best when you are doing it with someone else where you can bounce ideas.

I have incredible admiration for people who do thing solo. The inspiration for this post comes from my friend Hildy Harland who , despite the lockdown destroying all her scheduled work is still producing and sharing he art online.

#AnimalAugust will be "Journey of The Sorcerer" by The Eagles adopted as the theme for The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, and really all artists are sorcerers  because they create something where there was nothing , whether it be a paining , a dance , a song or a story.

Apologies if this has been an incoherent ramble , but we need to look out for our artists or else we will just have corporate  advertising.

Also if you don't like the art you see , do something yourself.... at the moment I'm just limited to this although there is the odd short story and poem in my many posts.