Conspiracy, Autocorrect and 1984

I went to write this post there was this link to a Messianic Bible which apparently proves that English Bibles are flawed and this proves that Jesus (Yeshua) is the true Messiah. I though the Jews were still waiting for the Messiah. Can't say any more but it's a bit like saying the Hebrew Spiderman comic corrects the errors of the American Spiderman comic.

I'm not sure why the ad came up apart from the face that I have been including a lot about "2023" by The Jams and "The Illuminatus Trilogy" by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea (which is shaping up to be rather good (lots of conspiracy theories based on actual conspiracy theories in a vaguely underground detective novel.

The last nigh I met with Chi Onwurah very briefly after autocorrect on her email told me to meet her at "campervan" opposite the Tyneside Cinema. What she thought she had sent was Ampersand which is in Commercial Union House for the fortnightly Labour Party meeting , but I will catch up with her properly in next couple of weeks to talk about my various issues with the current state state of the Labour Party , but also how we address the "idiocracy" that belies every word of the right wing media.

Maybe given all this, and the fact that "Space Oddity" is playing on the radio , we'll go with "1984" by David Bowie because your devices ARE watching and listening to you. I found this very hard edged live take from a 1973 NBC TV Special from The 1980 Floor Show which produced the album "Diamond Dogs" as the George Orwell estate refused permission for Bowie to use 1984.

Sharing

There was a homeless guy in th epassage down the side of the Tyneside Cinema asking for spare change. I said I had none (which was true) but was going to visit my friend Krista at Kota to make a donation to Craig Puranen Wilson's memorial seat at the Tyneside Cinema. She wasn't in so I slipped a note under the door, and you can still donate of Facebook, but Facebook won't accept anything from me and won't say why despite me raising a ticket about it, so my only way of donating to causes is to send money to the person running it.

Anyway on the floor below is 586 Records and I was hoping to find a reggae 12" and saw "Jammin'" by Bob Marley on 12" and it has a live take of "No Woman, No Cry" on the "B" sided and was reasonably priced giving me change from a fiver.  I had a crack on with the owner who was listening to 6Music remarking I wasn't sure whether it was live or a recording as Tom Ravenscroft sounds so much like his dad John Peel.

This meant I had some change for the homeless guy who asked the guy in front of me if he had any spare change and I think he was surprised that I had come back and gave him some money. The thing is you can't always do that, and sometimes beggars can be aggressive or unfeasibly persistent hassling you for more after you have given them something, but most are grateful for any help you can give them, so I try to help when I can

So this is another excuse to listen to "No Woman, No Cry" by Bob Marley, and we all know what he would have done.

More Strange Dreams

Good night's sleep but more weird dreams. Often dreams take it something you have seen or are thinking about and I've seen a lot of these Butlins Music Weekends advertised which I think are a great idea but have never got to one yet. But this one had shared flooding showers with no towels, some American artist playing "music you cannot buy" and me playing Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues". Like all proper dreams it made no sense whatsoever but there's obviously bits of real life in there. Our showere ever so oftent needs the drain pod clearing and if I didn't ot would eventually flood, but once every six moths keeps that clear.

Yesterday at the Tyneside Cinema we saw the excellent "Batteries Not Included" while brunching before watch the excellent "Darkest Hour" which features Gar Oldman doing an excellent turn as Winston Churchill. Oldman is a great actor not tied to type as demonstrated by the dreadlocked half-caste drug dealer in my favourite file "True Romance".

Walking yesterday was down but the weekend pverall was fine. It's the 15th of January and I am well over half way to my target for the month, but had my first diabetic hypo (3.3) last night after walking for a pizza.

Apparently it's Blue Monday today (most depressing day of the year), but I am going to have a great day and you should too. It's strange how the media and tradition push things like this on us and we take them on board and make them true. So I've included the brand new Simple Minds song "The Signal and The Noise" for you to enjoy.

Have a brilliant Monday everyone.

Awake

It's 30 minutes past midnight and I'm sort of wide awake, Part of me wants to sleep and part of me wants to do things. It's not really practical leaving the house or getting the guitar set up, and I don't really want to watch TV (having caught up a bit on American Horror Story and The Walking Dead) so I thought well maybe I will just put something don in the blog.

The wek in Orton I had plans to record stuff and possibly write stuff but ended up doing what I was supposed to do , relax, rest , see my dad, catch up on some TV (the excellent "Deadwood" , well series one) and do a bit of walking and enjoy the countryside around Orton. The cottage is quiet and relaxing and still doesn't habe Wifi although most local pub such as The George , The King's Head and The Black Swan do , but I still managed to trash my data, but that's part of what you do when you are away.

Anyway I am back now and have written a few words, and hopefully it will have moved my mind a bit closer to being able to sleep. I hope to be going to the Tyneside Cinema later today to see  "The Death of Stalin" which should be great fun.

I leave you with a cracking version of "In The Midnight Hour" by Wilson Pickett with Bruce Springsteen, but I'm not sure you can buy this version, but thanks to Youtube you can listen to it.

Sleep well my friends , and I hope my my mind will rest for a few hours now.

Phone A Friend Friday - #55 - 2011 - Polly Jean Harvey - Written On The Forehead

Friday is here and today is going to be a long day, it's been an intense week in a lot of ways but I have got a lot done, but amazingly run out of socks , well almost , despite the fact that the laundry basket is only half full and I don't think there's any of my socks in there. But it's going to be a a great night withe a screening of the film Tangerine at The Tyneside Cinema for Transgender Remembrance Day followed by a run down to Think Tank to see The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing , and then possibly a lie in on Saturday before finishing my friend's web site off about the Codonopsis plant family.

Anyway it would be a great idea idea to phone a friend or family member you have not spoken to for a while and maybe meet up for coffee or cake and have a hug and a catch up.

Hope you're is good.

PJH

The Odyssey reaches 2011 year 55. I didn't even look at the charts for this year because that was the year that my favourite female artist released "Let England Shake" one of the greatest albums of all time the difficulty came in choosing the song and I I eventually chose "Written On The Forehead" a brilliant anti war song , and it gives me a chance to add in Niney The Observers wonderful Blood And Fire that it samples. Written on the Forehead refers to either the practice used in military hospitals of identifying what the condition of an injured soldier was or it could be from Th eBook of Revelation 2:24 "His Name Will Be Written On Their Forehead" . I leave that for you you to look up.

Have a wonderful Friday everyone.

But That Was Nice

After the bad night I had a relaxing weekend , mooching round watching TV , taking in some Blues courtesy of Monkey Junk at The Butterfly Cabinet and Cluny. While wandering down Northumberland Street came across the excellent Wandering Sons , a brilliant two piece , percussion acoustic guitar and voice. , they had CDs on sale and I immediately bought

Amy

Today was in Next buying clothes talking to a girl with an Amy Winehouse Beehive , and she asked me if I'd seen the film Amy and told me she'd seen it at the Tyneside Cinema so we chatted about film and music before I went on my way.

Got told again at  work that they were happy with what I was doing , which is a definite plus 

It has left me on a complete up and life is extremely enjoyable at the moment.

You all have a good day

Celebrate The Good

This post was going to be about negative stuff, but I thought I am always telling people to concentrate on the positives , because it's the easiest thing in the world to find fault , so maybe I am a bit special because I will always look for the good in everything.

I miss a bus , I walk to the next stop and benefit from the walk

I miss a train, I have longer to read a book , listen to music, talk with friends.

Last night I became a Friend of the Tyneside Cinema, because it's the only Cinema I'm aware of north of somewhere South and it's a wonderful place , the people there are lovely and I love going in there.

Vamos!

You also meet lovely people there , last night I ran into Craig and Krista and they introduced me to a young poet and we chatted about diverse thinks such as South and Central America  , film , Vamos and Isabel Sarli. Craig and Kirista went to watch a film and the poet left with a hug.

Then we went for a lovely meal at Prezzo before coming.

Had correspondence with various good friends during the day and there was so much good happening.



And this came on to of an amazing weekend with friends and family enjoying the Chase Park Festival under gorgeous sunny skies.

And when you concentrate on good things it sets you up  to look for more things.

I know negative and bad things do happen , but if you are in a positive frame of mind it will help you. There are times even in my new job, when things seem that they are getting too much , with belief in myself , and so much support and positivity from my friends and colleagues there , as well as the company ethos , makes sure that I succeed.

Anyway I hope you all have a great day, I am going to have one , and what else could I have but Baxter Dury's "Pleasure" my feelgood record of the moment.

Shakespeare, Breaking Bad and The Grateful Dead

After a week in which I saw a great production of Othello at the RSC in Stratford (despite the baking heat the aircon kept the temperature constant , so no slowly falling asleep as the place turns into a pizza oven fueled by body heat and stale air) .

Heisenberg at the Door

As well as that watched the last 16 episodes of Breaking Bad , which never let up, not even to the last moment. I wonder if Badfinger benefited from an increase in sales of their records due to the final scene. A particularly tragic band , their leader Pete Ham committed suicide in the seventies despite his song "Without You" hitting Number One when recorded by Harry Nilsson , Badfinger's Baby Blue was the appropriate playout song and I've chosen an excellent mix up that summarizes Breaking Bad using that piece. It is very, very good.

So today has been housework, gardening and preparing for a return to work. I also have material for another two blog posts , one on betting and the other on the Alberts of the music world, but that will be something to keep be going next week. Oh also there is a screening of the final Grateful Dead concert. Information here , at the Tyneside Cinema , which I am going to tomorrow, though the setlist only includes one of my favourites , the gorgeous "Standing On The Moon", should I have two videos? Oh why not , they are both brilliant. Enjoy your weekend.

Brief Encounter at The Tyneside Bar and Cafe where Dali Meets Disney

Today after doing a couple of hours at the excellent Oxfam Books and Music in Jesmond , I got mack into Newcastle and decided to go for a cup of coffee and a cake at the Tyneside Bar and Cafe. I was chatting with the girl behind the bar (who's name I didn't get) and she recommended the carrot and cinnamon cake to go with my coffee and I noticed the film playing. The Tyneside Bar and Cafe has a program of silent film screening every afternoon and a couple of weeks ago I caught some of The Battleship Potemkin. It's really brilliant idea to have these films as a backdrop to be engrossed in as you have your coffee or cake.

Anyway I asked what the film was that was showing and she told me it was a thirties rendition of Faust, she didn't know much of the story of Faust but was determined to find out more having watch most of the film and , like me she was impressed with it. It's a two hour film and you can watch it above. This led to a chat about German Surreal Horror and Salvador Dali's involvement with film and I was racking my brains about a film that I'd seen recently but also seen as a child with some lasting images of strange angular paths and a bearded eyeless monk through a window (yes I remembered that from my childhood). Anyway a girl a the bar called Amy who also works at the Tyneside Cinema and threw in some ideas including Un Chien Andalou and L'Age D'Or but more intriguingly mentioned a Salvador Dali and Walt Disney collaboration. This is a short film called Destino started in 1946 and completed in 2003. You can watch it below and to me it is jaw dropping, I have to thank Amy for telling me about this absolute gem:


However I still couldn't  remember the film I'd seen,

That Path

so decided to search while I had my coffee and cake. After about ten minutes I remembered it had featured in a documentary on European Horror films by Mark Gatiss and then googled European Surreal Horror and there it was "The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari" , which I had discussed at some point with my friend Craig another Tyneside Cinema guy. So I had a really good day , discovering things I didn't even know about thanks to Amy and finally remember THAT film , which I'll use to finish off this post.

Have a great night everybody, because I have had a great day

Battleships, Garage Rock, Physiotherapy and The Weather

It's been an interesting week, not least the atrocious weather we've been having.  Had a guy out to fix the roof, which has still to be sorted, but had to rescue him when his ladder blew down . We decided to postpone the work until things got a little better.

The great thing about this week is although I was planning to relax I have been up at or before seven each day. I've doing lots but the most enjoyable thing is to actually spend time with people who matter to me and to catch up with people who I've not seen much of.

Garage

 

So it's been a busy week and I have managed to do quite a bit resulting in job interviews for next week, volunteering to work in an Oxfam Music Shop , catching up with friends at the Tyneside Cinema Cafe as well as taking in some of The Battleship Potemkin, the classic masterpiece silent film from director Sergej Eisenstein from 1925, and committing to some work for events at the cinema as well as possibly performing again, as well as spending time talking about garage rock.






Coincidentally early this week , the guy doing my physiotherapy at the RVI told me his father had worked as a projectionist at the Tyneside Cinema which was called something else then and Tyne Tees had done a film called The Messenger in 1959 (two years after I was born)  about his work. I've not been able to unearth anything further about it but if I do I will update this post.

Anyway it's time for bed, another busy day tomorrow.

Downs and Ups and The Graham Norton / U2 Connection

This has been a weird week , exhausting and I was looking forward to a quiet weekend , but that's  unlikely to happen , although it's all my own fault, I could stay in and not oversee so work stuff, but really where's the fun in doing nothing.

The Schooner

The other thing Australia and Pirates (see the Mac Barnett talk)  and the Middle East have cropped up quite a lot this week from various sources such as the brilliant TED talk about books that I've included in this post. Tonight the is a Nick Cave night at the Tyneside Cinema Cafe, on Sunday a U2 tribute band on at The Schooner (I assume it'll be a standard tribute although with the Schooner you might expect a Joshua Trio  - which I believe included Graham Norton though I may be wrong -
type tribute), then on Monday night it's GOAT at Newcastle University.



Also it's my birthday next week and have been tasked with writing my best ever blog post, though best is a very subjective adjective although I have it planned out, but it will be personal and substantial , this is a fun challenging gauntlet to pick up. My current most read post is here and the irony is that if you click through to see what it is it will become even more read. While it's a reasonable post , I don't think it's my best post so far , although to be quite honest I haven't a clue what that is.

Anyway it's time for work so I will sigh off now , have a great Friday and a great weekend.

Mariner 9 in Spanish City

Spanish City

I've been wandering by the Tyneside Cinema recently and been struck by the poster for Mariner 9, named after the Mars Space Orbiter , not a feature film but a media installtion by Kelly Richardson (@richardsonkelly on twitter). Yesterday I dropped in looking for the class postcards that they have stopped doing and again Mariner 9 caught my eye , along with the closing date , Sunday 19th August , meaning I had to go today or get over next weekend , and when you limit your options something always turns up to thwart you so ....

...today I made my way to Whitley Bay , specifically Spanish City , which has served in that past as a ballroom and funfair , but then fell into disrepair befiore peing picked up by North Tyneside council to be refurbished. So the first thing I saw was the spruced up frontage and refurbished dancers and when you enter , under the dome , you get an educational timeline of the place from its beginning up to the present day. Here is the Wikipedia entry with links onward.

Mariner 9 - Kelly Richardson

 Anyway what I really went to see was Kelly Richardson's Mariner 9. What can I say without spoiling it? I desribed it as hypnotic , and  it was amazing. Based on what my be happening on Mars in 200 years , itmakes you mind work and to be quite honest I could have stood all day watching , hoping to spot something  I'd missed. The sheer size shows nods to John Martin , probably the greatest artist to originate from the North East. I also though that it was not a plays for kids , but their were two six year olds mesmerised by the piece.

Anyway I hope I've piqued your interest.  I really can recommend going to see it.

If you cant I've just found it here so you can watch , but I recommend seeing it in situ so to speak,
Mariner 9 from Kelly Richardson on Vimeo.