Gathering of the Red Ant Army

Technically not really a gathering, more of a march to the shops and back again, numerous times a day. This keeps the Red Ant war machine in good order I presume. There's no commentary here, no music, no actual observations, just some random background noise generated by other ant observers and passers by. They were all passing by and a few were, as you'd imagine also passing through. Sometimes sad, sometimes blue, glad that I bumped into you etc.

I'd write more if I could but this "new version" of Blogger is as clunky as the old version and whilst the format is possibly better in some smart techy way I'm struggling to see any significant improvement. Then again why should I expect improvement or even consistency from something that I think I get for free (I assume we are not counting the blatant sharing of data and information that trundles on somewhere in the background as Google toys with my poor choices, thoughtless clicking and the occasional shopping indulgence made via Amazon). Free but not really. I blame Putin and Trump.

Boys - Black Stuff

It's all over the local Bookface pages like a sticky rash, there are yellow signs popping up in the street and a pamphlet has arrived through our letterbox. We are being warned. Cheap, cheerful and invariably messy road upgrading technology will be imposed upon our worn out street. Using state of the art technology invented about two hundred years ago and inspired by the Romans and the Flintstones, hot tar and cold chips will once again coat our road surface. The big day is Thursday, weather and Edinburgh City Council's Budget permitting. 

I'm less than excited about this so called "improvement". A summer time tar parade of black goo and scary thoughts of loose chips ricocheting like bullets across car windscreens and the sweaty temples of bald headed old men isn't wonderful. The blocked drains, the tar coated shoes, the petrol heads screwing up the virgin surface with Fiesta powered burn-outs, the glued up bicycles. Ugh. A bleak and terrifying weekend lies ahead with WD40 and elbow grease at the ready to clean up all comers, all goers, all animals and various parts of once pristine car bodies. It's murder if it gets into your teeth or the water supply they tell me.

Cat reacts to news of imminent local road repairs.

Bog Roll Blues

The less than perfect consequences of Scottish street artists trying to succeed with 3D effects. A well deserved "A" for effort however, "C+" for humour and wit. Today's rain will have obliterated it by now so I'm glad I captured it yesterday.

This song isn't really blues, or bog roll blues (as done by the Groundhogs many years ago on Who Will Save The World), so it's not blues but it's not happy either. No clear idea as why ice cream and fresh fruit feature here at all. 😏

Song about a cat

Monday: Here's a song about a cat. The cat was called Syrus but that may not have been his real name. He was a bit of a wild one and he was a great fluffy ginger Tom. We took him in from a cat rescue centre. He stayed for a while, entertained us and pretty much kept himself going in rabbits. Then one day he just didn't come home. We never saw him again.

Two Easy Pieces

Today's activity and two found objects: Probably gardening, searching for hidden treasure, practice pronunciation, wash strawberries, check the weather, more gardening, more trailing cables, move brown bins around, plant things, stop and think and reflect.

Tuna the day:

Edinburgh Daily Photo

 

Things around here are not anywhere close to normal for July 31st, (my first time visiting the city in months) not a lot of people. These are views from the threshold of the Harry Potter shop, I didn't venture in this time either. Previously we'd hiked up Arthur's Seat, scoffed an iced latte, eaten a hasty picnic and paddled in the pools of the Scottish Parliament, not sure that was a part of the original design's functional concept. Busy day and 28C for much of it .... then along came the rain.

Her Majesty

Dear Impossibles,

Just a note to say that in these long July evenings I like nothing better than kicking back and listening to a few of your tunes along with a good measure of brandy and ginger and a 99p box of Maltesers.  At the moment this song is one of my favourites. It did make me wonder if you knew that Analog Mann is in fact the German spelling for Analogue Man? A mistake perhaps? I don't suppose you did know that as you're both uneducated commoners and of course nobody really cares about the finer points of language these days. 

Anyway, best regards.

Elizabeth.

P.S. No M.B.Es for either of you this year and you can't have Cambridge either as I gave it to one of my grandsons.

Silence

This track was recorded in Germany in October 2002 on a sunny Sunday morning, pretty much live with only a second guitar overdub added later. It was recorded onto Sony mini-disk, not the usual CuBase we'd used on the other tracks. This was mainly because we had some extra time left to record and the actual computer system had crashed completely so the Sony system was used. I still like the live, punchy sound and the simple drum track. The cover art shown here wasn't really used other than for a handful of copies and the actual CD was never put out for sale.

Easy

Just for a change and to remain topical but not controversial, this blog may actually share and promote small segments of our music, past, present and furtive. (Imagine if you will an awful, irritating, sycophantic, mid 70s, Radio 1, put on, mid-Atlantic DJ type drawl), "This one's EASY!"

Into The God Head

Unrelated to weather: For technical reasons this blogsite is temporarily closed to unworthy visitors and bots for internal rewiring, exterior lighting alterations and minor switching modifications. The duration of the downtime is presently unknown and whilst we hope that it will not be too long, time is not predictable unless a reliable clock is installed and we don't believe such a device exists other than in some virtual sense. Here's some music you can use to alter states, shape shift or simply modify your basic metabolism - should you wish to. If you can see this then we can see you. Treble Clefs all around. 🎼

Air Kisses

Starting the week right now as I've woken up into a Monday morning. A steaming cup of milky Cooncelatte before me and some seven halved and pipped strawberries behind me. Outside the usual rain prevails. Here's an old tune we recorded earlier in the century and remastered for the umpteenth time in June.

Greeny '59

Peter Green's 59 Les Paul. Simply wonderful.

This is a pretty good, first hand piece on the life and music of Peter Green.

Villains and Villains

Johnsone, Putin, Xi Jinping, Trump.

There's a lot of traffic on here that appears to be centered around Russian, then the USA, then various random countries. I can't really make much sense of it other than to conclude that it's primarily bot driven and just at a very low level combing the net for intelligent life based on references. They won't find much actual information or deep criticism here, this is really just a temporal personal playground. I do wonder at the effort expended to infiltrate it however, the point of it all, which is I suppose to make the point that it can all be done, easily. As if we didn't know that. 

All governments share degrees of corruption and the desire to manipulate, it's a planet of humans we live on so what else would you expect? The joke is that the unspoken truth (by them) can be clearly seen despite the clinical and cynical masks the media and their grinning spin tries to provide. The puzzle is untangling it, an exhausting and possibly futile process for those hoping to get to the truth. I'm tired of that. I see the dark side of governments as weeds, you expose or destroy or restrain a clump in one corner of the garden but just as they've been dealt with up pop more in another corner and so on. The weeds tend to prevail. Politics is a career toilet and there are mostly villains and then more villains.

Fishing Cat

A day at the Zoo: No, just No. This cannot be a thing nor an actual product of so called Mother Nature.

Putin Test: So I place the name "Putin" randomly in the blog and check the daily hits and traffic location counters later. Hmm.

A walk in the park

Finally the rain gave up about two o'clock, by which time we were drookit, shoes muddy, clothes wet, hair dripping, not feeling too good. Returned home and dumped everything into the washer. Then, risking more rain,  back out into the afternoon again and behold, the parting of the clouds, the removal of the moisture, the clearing of the heavy air and some late July sun at last. Now enjoying a relaxing walk in the glowing blue green world of underbelly of the park.

Burgh Surveyor

The old windows on the local council offices hearken back to more simpler times when local services,  building works and sanitation were carried out "in office" and not contracted out to some multi-faceted conglomerate with shareholders in Russia, China and the Middle East. My first ever job was a trainee sanitary inspector. I wasn't a star performer and only lasted about five weeks before moving onto a progress chaser post in a factory making potentiometers. Anyway the standard council joke back in the day went along the lines of "she was only the Town Clerk's daughter but she let the Burgh Surveyor" and so on. Those in the offices loved telling this to any newbies, it was all part of some tame initiation into a long lost world of clipboards, dark wooden desks and box files. Seeing these window's faded lettering brought it back, briefly.

Putin's little helpers

"Nothing to see here, nothing bad or unethical has happened, everything is fine, we're in complete control, we're getting things done, sorting out Brexit, curing the current virus, world beating tracking and tracing, getting "it" done  and of course we're all working very hard all the time on the resolving these and the other important  issues that matter to you. So can I be really clear and remind you that we always have your best interests at heart and we will never compromise our standards, integrity or long standing principles, we are the Conservative UK Government and we know what's best for you. You can trust us 100%." 

P.S. And all you stupid, surly and ungrateful Jocks can just fuck right off back to your wasted glens and pathetic crofts, thank you (we'll be dealing with you later).

My P.P.S. from @coldwarsteve.

The Wearing of Masks

Some folks say that it's a patriotic duty, you must be a good citizen and don a mask when required. Saltire designs and Joker smiles, football teams and floral patterns. So I'm slowing growing used to, perhaps even becoming almost fond of mask wearing. A new part time ritual. I only wear a mask in shops where there is the threat of humans and I'm not in shops very often, maybe a few times a week and only for a few minutes but the mask is fine. It brings a strange kind of anonymity that's enjoyable, maybe I wont be recognized, maybe if I committed a crime I'd somehow get away with. Maybe I can frown or mouth swear words and nobody sees. Most likely I wont behave like that  but I might try. 

But if it did, "The masked man did it!" They'd shout as I ran out of the shop with a wad of cash and all the other masked men would be suspects and would break into a run also as people everywhere panicked. In the comedic chaos and confusion I'd make my get away. Then, in some safe place I'd stop to think and wonder why it is that panicked has a k in it. It would help me de-stress after the robbery. After a short period of reflection I'd find a discrete way to return the money (unless it was from a shop I didn't really like or it was a business supporting Brexit or donating funds to the Conservative Party) or give it to some noble cause. 

So that's a new genre of fiction, a mask triggering over confidence, insanity and uncharacteristic behaviour in the person wearing it which leads on to some kind of epiphany and redemption all the time avoiding the spread of the infection. Maybe that's already been done.😊

Four Riders

Rider One: PAIN.

Rider Two: SUFFERING IN PEACE.

Rider Three: A MORBID OBSESSION WITH SOME KIND OF WEIRD SPAGHETTI AND MUSHROOM BASED BODY PASTE.

Rider Four: THE POSSIBLE TACTICAL INDIFFERENCE ENCOUNTERED WHEN FIRING A ROCKET DIRECTLY INTO THE SUN.

A local interpretation of the The Four Horsemen of the Apostrophe rendered in broken glass, dumped carpet and lawn shavings. It's been a long running and exhausting project. Exclusively photographed and rendered in some digital form and inspired by materials found beside the South Queensferry recycling centre due east of the Scotmid. If you don't believe any of this then simply visit the site and see for yourself. Strict parking restrictions and troublesome terms and conditions nearly always apply and please be mindful of social distancing requirements. Undue noise after dusk will not be tolerated and may result in prosecution. This includes throaty laughter and all statements made using overstated regional accents and verbiage.

Sunday Morning Cats

Cats enjoying the Sunday morning sunshine, safely indoors.

Sunday afternoon washing machine (detail).