Gods Against Everyone Else

Save yourself a predictable read by quickly heading down below*: Whether they're real or imaginary it doesn't matter much, Gods mean trouble. If you believe they gave us life and breath or don't even know what you believe but you still follow them, then they will possess a power over you and strangely enough over me too, even though I know they are complete fabrications and nothing more. Your faith and it's outworking impacts on me and all the other nonbelievers or sceptics. The love, justice, advice, cruelty and retribution you imagine gods bring to our world affects everyone alike, because it's been high-jacked and institutionalized. 

Rulers, dictators  and governments use it to provide moral authority with all the worst consequences, in order to keep things tight and controlled. That's the insidious power of faith/imagination and wishful thinking. Mythical invisible zeros placed on heavenly thrones by ancient story tellers rule us all whether we like it or not. You know what happens to heretics so remain calm and don't disagree. That's all a bit of a bummer when you think about it ...

*Of course this is just another low key, aimless and pointless rant that will change nothing but in many ways it's like a kind of self administered vaccination I'm taking in order to at best allow me to deal with the world wide dumb-fuckery we encounter every day and also to simply render me numb and exhausted for a short period of time. Thank you.

Playlisted

Random and unscripted images abound, tantalizing or maybe predicable and boring. Perhaps it's all unexpected as they crash together thanks to an accident or intentions in the system or the constraints of your screen and all your haphazard searching habits. The blind lead the even more blind.

The cosmic rain falls and the surprise pull of gravity that comes from Jupiter flexing his muscles just as my star was about to ascend. It all left me baffled. A knock on the door from a lost delivery driver or a wasp caught up in a spiders web just outside the kitchen window. Leaves thrown into a whirlpool of wind that gathers them and then scatters them across the autumn garden's battered public face. A sudden drop in temperature as something unknown and unseen enters a room you can never leave.

Closing your eyes in a warm cat nap and losing track of time and being unsure quite where you might be sitting when you awake. Looking into a cluttered cupboard but for what exactly? A distant burglar alarm, chain saw motors revving up in the woods, car doors slamming, a helicopter hovers ominously out of sight as crows cackle and argue in the Burger King car park. Finally after what seems like forever, the storm burns itself out.

Unboxing

So our clutch of shiny new CDs arrived from the USA recently and as we might have expected based on the "special relationship" there was a tax bill to pay (why does everything have to be so cynical and political these days?). But enough of that, we're pretty happy with the outcome of our elaborate, year long writing, recording and design exercise; as a result of which the CD "collection" exists.  There is indeed a physical product to own or you can go to the numerous providers and scammers where it can be streamed or downloaded for your listening pleasure and hours of enjoyment, amusement and confusion. Of course these shaky images do not do justice to the magnificent final product ... not quite. Now our razor sharp business minds are trying to figure out the best ways to get rid of these; giving them away for free seems to be the best option.

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In real life the CD is not as wonky as the picture above makes it look.

Nowhere in Particular Daily Photo(s)

That's all for today...

The Sins Of My Generation

The other day I read a blog post written by Tom Morton to do with these mostly painful subjects: generational guilt and the quest for redemption, the Christian church's influence in the seventies (and onwards) and how seemingly innocent things can quickly unravel into squalid mega-troubles. The question being; is it all Larry Norman's fault? 

Golden boy Larry was pretty much the inventor of Christian rock music back then and despite leading a chaotic and selfish life he managed to sell millions of records, convert Mike Pence along the way and articulate the "Rapture" as no one else had done before. He wrote the song " I wish we'd all been ready", and the rest turned out to be history. This song became a Gospel ear worm in the early seventies that influenced and corrupted old and young minds all across the world. It led to a flood of books, films and sermons about "The Last Days" (according to the Bible) and how we were all living through them right now. The mysterious Rapture might happen at any moment and are you, you unjustified sinner, ready? Unfortunately I was a part of this generation and very much affected by these teachings. Fuck!

Over time my generation grew up and this thinking and the bent theology that goes with it solidified in the hearts and minds of Evangelical Christians all across the world. The Bible tells us there will be trials and tribulations, a shitload of trouble in Israel and the Middle East and then after some climactic battle or event the rapture will take all the (proper) Christians "home". It also lines up nicely with Jewish doomsday scenarios and the coming of their own exclusive Messiah, a kind of alternative Jesus.  As you might imagine, in the USA, within Christian groups, this is very much the lens through which all world events are viewed. Help the poor, feed the starving, make the world a better place? Well do a bit if you can but there's no real point because we're all trapped in a Biblical narrative that has only one outcome ... the return of the Messiah and a lot of judgmental and consequential consequences ... err but we'll all be OK in our Baptist Chapels. 

If then you've come to believe that we're on the eve of total destruction coupled with the redemption of the faithful there's little point in adhering to what might previously have been considered as "doing the right thing" a few generations ago. So arm the Israelis but also arm the Arabs and anyone else that might have some input into ramping up the tribulations. It's not so far removed from the billionaire based long term futurism that plans to colonize the Moon, Mars and other random planets. No point in helping the people of earth improve their lot, it's all a lost cause whatever religious or philosophical slant you apply. The easy way is simply to get out of it all and hope the species, either in physical or supernatural form survives elsewhere. Everyone else can basically get to fuck; too poor, too dim and just born at a bad time when the planet was over heating.

Funny to think that it all began for my generation with a room full of long haired ex-hippies plunking on guitars and pulling texts and phrases from the Bible to quietly mull over. We had our moments of baseless optimism and disregard for our fellow heathen humans but we honestly thought it would somehow work out favorably. There might be a revival, societal change, the collapse of capitalism and a return to more simplistic values. A brave new acoustic and analogue world filled with rainbows and paperback fantasy novels where Jesus is chief influencer.  In reality it turns out that over investing in some twisted theological fairy story coupled with a line of dangerous pipe dreams that seduce the naive, exploit the stupid and empower all the worst people isn't a helpful or constructive way to be. Just take a look around.

So is it still all Larry Norman's fault? Well he's long dead and gone now and unlikely to have made it into heaven by any standards so on balance it probably is.

Leonardo

Leonardo AI is an interesting and free (up to a point) site where you can do the unthinkable and unmentionable and "create" via a keyboard description anything that your little heart should desire. It's the Devil's work and the end of civilization I tell you (but the quality is pretty good)! I've never been all that confident in all the assumed attributes of civilization to be honest and as for social responsibility, hmm... So I created this blue, damaged and rather jumpy car that's been abandoned in a desolate desert ruin, as often happens. All for free thanks to my daily free credits, now mostly squandered. All I have to do by way of actual explanation is arrive at a plausible back story and I'll have something. Meanwhile Leonardo (that one) is slowly turning in his grave. Other AI tools are available.

Collection etc.

Collection - our new album is out now all the main music   providers and streamer's sites. Nine tracks, ten videos and that may well increase. A polite reminder as to where versions of it currently sit in the universe.

Hear it on YouTube here.

impossible songs

Daily Robin

The Bird Buddy continues to attract birds and of course the odd squirrel. Recently there's been a bit of a resurgence and return from the smaller garden birds, sparrows, blue tits and robins. The summer saw us overrun by doves, pigeons, magpies and crows. They're still around but visit a little less frequently. So here's some Buddy shots of our regular almost daily robin. I know they have a bad reputation as belligerent little bullies, they may or may not deserve it, I can't judge them and they do look pretty good. I certainly don't see them as flapping, reincarnated dead relatives from the grave visiting to check up on you either.

Brew Culture

Another Queensferry Daily Photo effort: Kicking the primal backside of the photo blogging conventions here with probably too many pics for a post but frankly my dear I don't give a screw-top bottle of pale ale these days. Let me first draw your attention to the reversed photos above ... that's about it really. Out for a stroll and the wee (Brew Culture) coffee shop was open and inviting. It was there I first partook of the blueberry twist/swirl/plait/knot, I can't recall the exact name. "Bake Off" fans will recognize it no doubt. A tasty dough, jam and sugar treat, baked in the fiery ovens of far away Dunfermline and gluten free but hardly a healthy snack. One a day is quite enough.

Below: The work of repairing the harbour wall continues, good progress it seems but what do I really know?

I don't know who drinks this stuff these days but well, good luck to you. Stay classy with your effortless social climbing and associated drinking habits and try to retrieve and remove your litter next time.

Potato Roads

Still life with potatoes (in fact exclusively potatoes): These brave souls were dug up from a near watery grave after the weekend's downpours. Now they can dry out, washed and naked in the mild October breeze. One day they'll be baked, boiled, added to soup or meet some other common potato fate. This represents about third of the 2023 crop, the other third are gone, eaten. The other other third are in the ground. You can only have three other thirds at any given time.

It's quite hard to plan a menu around potatoes, if you're me. I prefer rice, noodles and pasta and we never make real home cooked chips. Those golden, wonderful chips from the past, hot, salty and tasty. That once staple food commodity that I presume nobody actually fries up in lard, chipped directly from solid potatoes, like in the old days. The days of chip pan fires, smelly kitchens and blackened pans that looked like they'd somehow survived Hiroshima. So the evolution of the domestic potato continues.

Owls

The owls are not what they seem: The truth is that nothing is what it seems. Life, reality, the Post Office, weather, Galaxy Chocolate, the BBC news, toilet paper, insects, the cosmos, good health, social cohesion, musical taste, justice, chewing gum ... I could go on, and I don't have any answers anymore.

Spots of Rain

Spots and spits of rain seen through a surrealist's window in the earlier part of the 20th century when pavements were straight and puddles were just a dream. They were far away, in a country that was not France nor imagined to be. Love was convenient but impossible as the rain seldom stopped for long enough to take a deep breath never mind have a constructive conversation. Despite opposition it seemed as if there was a lyrical flow to nearly everything. 

It was a big thought.

Oneness or even completeness just might take place inside of these people without any obvious early warning. A fleeing moment when things, held together only by imagination and stoicism, could have managed to make sense. There they go, thumbing through photographs of living people but with dead eyes. The tide however, was about to turn. At the time the authorities may have blamed the artists but the real agitators were their chosen subjects.

No Such Thing As AI

Not my conspiracy theory but it'll do: I can exclusively reveal that the whole AI revolution everyone is either pandering to or is afraid of is no more than a complete and utter lie. Rogue entrepreneurs across Asia and the Indian Sub Continent have, over the years, been training up highly motivated and intelligent cats to create credible responses for all AI information, script and image requests. The truth is that there is no mega computer stuffed with the latest chips pumping out all those six fingered and distorted photos, the shabby screenplays and wistful lyrics or the hopeful essays on radical political forces in the 19th century. It's all the work of energetic teams of trained cats; "super cats" if you will. 

When a task is received they quickly spring into action (as you'd expect with cats) to provide their version of whatever answer is required. This I think explains the often randomness of responses, unexpected delays and quite quirky interpretations of seemingly straight forward questions or instructions. So I can confidently say we need not fear the AI revolution as it a) doesn't exist and b) has a demonstrable animal core and it's learning curve is distinctly feline. What we should fear however is this new generation of super cats. I'm pretty sure at some point soon they're going to figure out a way to escape from these phony sweat shops and then ... well world domination and us being put in our place once and for all seems very likely. Think twice before you press that "Create" button and stock up on cat food (for bribes and influence). Don't tell the dogs either.

South Queensferry Daily Photo

 

On a damp, dark Thursday evening and from a certain distance the peculiar concrete seal sculpture down by the Hawes Pier looks a bit like the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus or the beggar woman who sits outside of the Co-op. After this minor revelation it was pub quiz time, strangely enough we won albeit there were not quite so many teams as usual taking part ... but the thrill of actual victory remains as sweet and we got a prize. Quizzes are one way of discovering just how many false memories you hold regarding recent history and popular culture. You think you know things but basically the files are not always in the right order and for some reason often a bit blurred so the words are unclear. This is what happens when you're 68 I guess.

Guilty Pleasures (Posterized)

It's the terror of knowing what this world is about: Making up videos to accompany music tracks is tricky. My resources and touch are far from professional too but I take the view that needs must so I have a go. There's no video budget nor, to be honest, much of an audience, it's about personal satisfaction and just completing things ... completely. So this is the second version of Guilty Pleasures. The first one seemed to have a lot going on at times where lettering and images were pixelating at odd times so I tried to redo the lettering and also rendered it in poster style which I thought would make the screen less busy and possibly cure the pixels. None of that worked really but I'll leave both versions out there, no harm done. 

What Success Looks Like

Stream of consciousness time: The evolution from clay based cat litter to the "green green forest" alternatives resulted in the purchase of two small inner trays to line the bigger litter tray. Now I have to drill 99 holes in the inner trays to allow sifting to take place. I've got 99 problems but the drill ain't one etc. Then there's the 30kg of wood pellets. I also bought about 15kg of bird seed, I'll plant it out soon hoping to see a decent crop of birds shooting up and blooming in the spring.

I constructed a concrete channel under the gate to allow for the laying out of a water hosepipe in dry weather when the gate might be closed. The design was created in my head but once I'd turned it into reality having poured the concrete I realized that many things that exist inside my head have no place in the real world and this was one more. I intend to cover the design's shortcomings with liberal scatterings of top soil (around the edges). Vegetation from unknown sources will complete the transformation.

I also bought 4 bungee cords, their precise use has still to be defined. Unexpectedly a strong wind sprung up or blew over or something. It was followed by stinging rain so I ate my sandwiches earlier than I intended as the cats looked on chewing on their cat sticks.

A brief phone call confirmed that my oil pressure sensor will be checked for oil leaks first thing tomorrow morning. I'm quite looking forward to it as a ramp has been freed up on my behalf. N.B. take cash if you want a coffee and bacon roll, there's no cards or whatever at the nearby caravan cafe.

Up on the top right of this page I've installed a player that plays our latest album using that notorious music system known as Spotify. I really don't know why they picked so dumb a name for their product nor do I know why artists get so little per play from their players. Chicken feed springs to mind and I have a rough idea what that costs and Spotify don't even match that; I'm almost scunnered as a result. Click on it and listen if you will. Be unafraid. Ho hum.

Kittens Update

As you might expect the kittens are still busy being kittens. This involves a high degree of kitten mischief being on display in proportions that Beatrix Potter would be proud of. Then there's the unrelenting spectre of continuous cuteness that rears up with little or no warning though usually when we're trying to sleep, opening a cupboard or just making some innocent movement that the cats perceive as an invitation to play. It has the power to stop any train of thought or activity for an indefinite amount of time as they gain our full attention. I guess this is why nobody drives with cat passengers (there are other reasons too). When this isn't happening and they're not eating then they're asleep. That only means further cuteness will be on show amid emitting strange noises and getting into peculiar bodily positions that makes sleep look like hard work but also relentless fun. 

Obvious downsides are as the grow so do their appetites and the amount of pee and poo they generate. We rotate between three cat litter trays and are bravely moving over to the "wood pellet" solution. We have not arrived there yet and are operating with a rather clunky hybrid method. The wood pellets are good but any spillage results in wet sawdust debris on floors and paths but that's still better than floating clay dust in the atmosphere. Then there's the final "sifting". Despite all this trivial moaning the signs are that the environmentally unhealthy clay will cease to be used from ... whenever we can get our act together. 

Something of Little Importance

Second track on the new album: So the slow slog in the life cycle of one of our home made videos duly begins. Birthed painfully into the algorithm driven world of YouTube to the usual minimal response and pale fanfare. Ground down by the relentless grinding and crunching of those fitful gears that are  hidden behind the smiles and flashy adverts. We're easy about all of that as it slides to the bottom of the pond and into the muddy sediment. 

Being competitive is as pointless as it is absurd.  There are millions pissing into the same sink. Shorts and snippets carefully created using a tortuous and intensive process that hardly involved AI at all (?), this sensitive piece is now ready to be aired; hopefully to confuse, delight and entertain. Well we like it anyway.

No Greater Love Had Amanda

 

Happy to say that the installation of the new solar panels for the garden water pump system has gone well. Even in dull weather the output has exceeded all of our expectations. As an added bonus so far; I'm pleased to report that no distressed hedgehogs have had to recused from the virgin wetlands that have been created. 

Some time today was spent at the "Pillars of Hercules" cafe and gardens in and around Falkland. Not far away from there we discovered a museum/art exhibit describing the life and Fife heritage of Jonny Cash no less. It seems he was a descendant of King Alexander IV and, in his day, the man in black was a regular visitor to Scotland and of course the kingdom (Fife that is).

No greater love had Amanda? What's it mean? When you know you know. YouTube and AI strikes again.

Capital Models

 

It's a set up*: I'm now something of an apprentice member of the Edinburgh band "Capital Models". I may be on probation for a bit for obvious reasons. They have a long local history and, like most real bands, have managed to skillfully avoid fame and world domination for their entire playing career. I'm not sure that my inclusion will change any of that but you can never tell. It's all about having a bit of fun really, playing covers, making mistakes, supping coffee and eating cake.

*By set up I am of course referring to my hastily rebuilt and minimalistic decking pedal board and tiny studio amp. Photo by CBQ.