Will The Wolf Survive?

Will it? I hope so, but will we?

Canis Lupus, for one more time: The wolf will survive because it is a highly adaptable and resilient animal. They can live in a wide range of environments, from icy tundras to dense forest and their pack culture allows them to hunt efficiently and protect their members. Wolves are skilled predators with strong instincts and cooperation skills, which help them find food even in harsh conditions. Their ability to adjust their diet and behavior as habitats change ensures that wolves can continue to thrive, no matter how challenging their surroundings become. Just avoid domestication, you can see what has happened to the other side of the family.

When Karma Swings Your Way

My world view isn't quite complete yet: Here's a Chinese map of the earth that is thought to be from around 1418. Quite a lot going on here that needs unpacking but maybe it's all a fake, even though by now alternative history is really last year's thing. They got the roundness bit of a geoid earth right though. We also know that Columbus didn't really discover anything, religions are all fictional tosh and the Egyptians may have had laser cutting equipment for their masonry work(?)? History is of course "just one thing after another" viewed through an often unreliable or imaginary lens.

Many migrations had taken place in all directions well before 1492, mostly on foot or via flying saucer. The Chinese had rockets at this point in their history too and they've still got all the "rare minerals", the drive and the manufacturing capacity to do whatever they like. We here in the UK's stagnant puddle of mud can't even assemble a decent riot anymore. Funny how the West has always portrayed itself as more advanced and civilized when actually it's not quite how things are or ever have been. Mind you we don't eat snakes yet but we do eat jellied eels.  Anyway nobody really cares. It's not as if we're in control our own destiny.

Deeply Sweet and Thick

Deeply sweet and thick, brings creamy goodness to your coffee and bakes, or so it claims. Purchased in error a few days ago when I seem to have become temporarily confused between the meaning of the words condensed and evaporated whilst browsing in the "whatever and non-specific" bit of the un-refrigerated dairy and cake bake section in Tsc. However a few spoons of this goo added to Lidl coffee now and then seems to be helpful in aiding the operation of the elderly gent's rumbustious constitution. 

If only there was some way that this disastrous appetite for self destruction could be toned down a notch or two somehow. An unbiased risk assessment is needed. I did some on line research and it turns out there is a fatal dose. Twenty four 8oz cans, presumably dropped onto your momentarily distracted skull from a reasonable height.

Lexington Lab Band

Headphones are a must for this (and for most music listening) but be warned it's not a particularly good song: There are a few very talented bands out there who can deconstruct and then play live the complicated and multi tracked tunes done by all those old school rock bands. Lexington Lab are one of the best developers of this school of revised  interpretations that I've heard so far. Look for Band Geeks too, they are up there.

I always thought that this Led Zep tune wasn't up to much, pretty weak and cumbersome, just not quite right. Hearing and seeing this new rendition changed my mind, well almost. Despite what's been added there's no denying that the construction of the melody and the lyrics are still poor, but in this version the complicated guitar parts, drum fills and breaks seem much cleaner and better executed - when played live by these musicians. 

The female vocal* also lifts and improves the whole thing as it's miles ahead of  the original but it's the guitar interplay and sound separation that, in this context, that I really can appreciate. Full credit to the song's authors but they missed the mark, or something, when they recorded it first time around.

*I've noticed that female vocalists often do a brilliant job of covering the vocals of Jon Anderson, Robert Plant, Geddy Lee and many others ...

Life Observed

In the great tradition of the "we were promised jetpacks" moans I recall that around about 1971 we were promised starships. Mostly by unreliable rock stars, comic strips  and sci-fi writers but the idea was out there (Blows Against the Empire etc.). Now here we are in 2025 and these clunky looking earthbound robot "starships" are delivering groceries and fast food on our pavements.  Things are progressing nicely. Don't stop believing ...

I need a new tyre. In order to avoid skills fade I remove the worn tyre and wheel from the car and take it to the tyre shop where they fit the new tyre on the wheel. I then go home with the newly replaced tyre and fit it on to the car myself. I don't save any money or time by doing this but I sleep better at night knowing that I can still jack up a car and change a wheel. 

Somebody, of a certain age I'd guess, wrote this note and then sellotaped to a bus shelter in Rosyth. I've no idea how the back story to this goes or how it might be resolved. Some things are best left in an open ended state.

Un-British etc.

 

One political party can't spell Britain on a bar of promotional chocolate and another says that protesting for the Palestinian cause is "un-British". I'm not really confused, surprised or even disappointed, the days of feeling anything, other than quietly exhausted with them all, have simply slipped away, they are just gone. 

The Fog Within

As a general observation and from lived experience I'd say that a big part of life is spent revising and changing the opinions and positions you may have held on things. However because life tends to take quite a while to pass, a person can lose perspective about where they are now compared to where they used to be. We can grow into being droll and petulant creatures without some self examination and external input. 

It's good therefore to take a moment and consider where you are now compared to where you were before. This of course isn't always a sign that things have worked out for the best, not all change is worthwhile or wholesome. Sometimes growth means moving in a number of contradictory directions. I find that a good epiphany now and then can certainly clear the fog from within the soul.

If you manage to live a long life and in that time your beliefs, opinions and values etc. have pretty much remained the same, static even, then frankly I'm stumped. Did you actually "get" everything right the first time round? Have you just settled for whatever landed in your lap and if so what are you doing about it?

So ... they say that how somebody talks about Greta Thunberg is the quickest personality test there is ... for me it's usually been how somebody treats/talks to serving staff in a restaurant or cafe. I get the idea though and perhaps I need to evolve a little more. Another slice of freshly formed fog please.

Tedious Obsessions

 

Already thing's are not quite right: In what is likely to be looked back on by me as an unnecessary butt scratching, kite flying exercise I'm trying to elevate my collection of bummed out guitars on to some kind of higher % useful/playable status. This involves revisiting numerous old and unresolved problems with some reimagined cheap but hopefully effective DIY solutions. I already know it's doomed so I keep my head is down and stay focused ... something might just work. It all keeps my mind sharp and my finger tips sticky, but then again some of that is just the persistence of superglue.

Solar Power is the Future

 

If we've learned anything it's that we've mostly learned nothing. Solar power generation in our area is an unattainable thing because our area is in a conservation area and solar panels are, strictly speaking, not allowed by order of the mighty planning department. That's a very sustainable position to take when considering a bog standard 70's house. Having the cat sit on a tiny pirate panel doesn't really help much either. Ho hum.

Through A Covid Lens

Glittering owl faces, gem encrusted birds of prey and snakes. There's always a snake. A creature saddled with an unfair and undeserved reputation for misleading humanity. This is from the "reflective" phase of covid delirium. I'm just passing through it at the moment.

They took a crosscut saw to some wilder tribal tales and gave us a creation story with so many holes in it that they might as well have used the Owl and the Pussycat - or am I mixing them up with the Jumblies by Edward Lear? Far and few etc? My efforts at study are now looking futile and shallow.

If they'd only allowed the Bible's bits to be preserved in the old Hebrew translation (like Sumerian or Egyptian works) and buried in a lost tomb, nobody would be quoting or even misquoting it today. And the world would be as one ... 

😜

Covid 25

 

Not feeling quite right? Why you may well have fallen foul of the latest strain of Covid, the curiously named Sirius or Nimbus or Stratus strains which are rampant in our corner of the woods. Messing with heads, throats and the simple pleasure of breathing. A plague upon these Harry Potter broomstick model themed ... plagues. I've got it anyway, right where I don't want it. It's mostly a raw, hot and bothered sore throat. Tremors, shivers and a woozy head I can stand but a sore throat, eek!

This isn't medical advice but try riding that dirty covid stallion like some wild mustang in one of those horse breaking scenes from Yellowstone. All dust, spit, sweat and swearing. Then take it to the limit where in some fevered dream you meet your spirit animal, which if you're lucky will be a wolf with the voice and attitude of Jonny Cash - a la Simpsons. It will lead you, guide you even, to the other side and, as they say, you will know when you know.

Three other things that actually helped me: warm salt water gargling, Beechham's Powders (Yes), old school Vic Vapour rub applied externally to the throat. And a fourth thing - as much sleep as you can possibly get. Welcome back to the dark side where, as you might expect, things are a little darker.

Collection Correction

Nothing to correct really. 

This is set in concrete. 

Unlikely to change.

We grow old together.

Staying strong.

Guardians of each other's solitude.

💖

 

Friday 26th.

 Nothing unusual about any of this either.

Try Searching For Another

Nostalgia for one: When Elon Musk purchased Twitter we* all baled out 🪂 shortly after. Simple as that. The news, jokes, stories and scandals stopped.  Alternative media apps arose and to be honest they were/are all a bit shit. So where are we now? Perhaps it's time to seek out and relive the good old days of quirky and mostly irrelevant posts, photos and opinions ... or maybe not. Things have moved on.

Those smart one liners and observations have now quietly disappeared into the ether, as if they never were - and that's because the actually never were anything of substance. They were nothing, just subliminal slices of digital lines, images and creations that have vanished and I can't recall that much of the content right now. The past is slowly getting darker. Not very many people followed me either so I avoided unpleasant interactions and that turned out to be a good thing.

As I didn't really post enough or argue with anyone or properly engage on issues, for me it was almost fun while it lasted. I was a casual observer, only looking over the fence into someone else's garden, mainly out of curiosity and Fomo. Perhaps it was all just a mad, cosmopolitan but lucid, slow running illusion, now best forgotten. So forget it.

*I have no clear idea what I mean by "we". 

Water Skiing Over the Abyss

A bright and clear morning here in EH30 and yes there is always something happening on the river. This morning while checking in on the day from our lounge window, I spotted an enterprising person out water skiing behind a powerful speed boat around the pillars of the Forth Railway Bridge and effectively buzzing a cruise liner (the QE2 no less) parked nearby. A decent photo was not possible so I've no real proof of this but it did happen and the circles and flybys lasted for about half an hour cutting sharp patterns of wake across the water's surface. The Forth's murky H2O㊌ has now settled back and the cruise passengers are headed out on their little ferries to explore Edinburgh and beyond, oblivious as to what went on earlier.

I wondered at the state of mind of the skier. It was still and chilly, the water very calm and there would be no admiring crowds or much notice taken of his display. He's probably in the zone but I'll never know what zone that is. This doesn't happen every day, we see a few jet skis zip by but they're more of a nuisance thing, buzzing around with no particular place to go. As an activity it seems futile at this location and in the Scottish climate. Water skiing however, as I viewed it today, is much more meditative and mystic, a practice and a ritual that because of it's (almost) solitary context I felt privileged to view - but he was probably just having fun, getting wet and exhilarated because he could.

Success In Things That Don't Matter

At some fairly deluded and immature point in my young life I can recall just wanting to be as cool as the movie star Robert Mitchum. All those tough and moody film noir roles must have gotten to me. A truly vague, formless and ridiculous ambition for someone of my stature and background. But there you go, the odd things and ideas that we pass through, leaving curious little sets of memory to be savored or sometimes only a bad taste and a slight shiver of discomfort. 

Now we are slowly sinking into AI's cosmic soup and the self inflicted but unintended consequences of it all, part of a generational misstep where our mobile phones continue to know more about us than our families and friends do.

CBQ - Keepsake

 

Stratocasters in the Frame

These have interesting back stories - but that's for another entry when I have more time and inclination.

Bad art and design: bad art and design applied to an iconic piece of art and design. Does this make the whole final product just another mediocre bit of pointless tinkering being carried out needlessly while perched uneasily on the brink of a cultural precipice? I've no idea, not even sure if I ever thought about this before or why I thought about it in the first place. Do I find these things pleasing? Well actually I do, they can brighten up my day like a cat's random antics, sunlight through the window or the voice and conversation of my beautiful wife. 

In Search of Old Gods

 

I recently found out the numerous copies of  "The Wind in the Willows" are abridged in such a way that the "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" chapter is removed. This was/is done to protect children from the content as it is considered to be both "disturbing" and "frightening". Hmm. A great white protestant bit of educational engineering being exerted, or so I suspect. "Damn those simplistic, influential and infantile authors and their devious spiritual explorations" ... presumably barked sometime in the early 20th century etc. and still common today. Don't mention God's wrath and judgement, eternal damnation and the numerous acts of extreme violence included in the Bible.

I've always loved the Wind in the Willows and think that the "Piper" chapter as one of the finest and most moving things I've ever read. A simply beautiful piece of writing. For me it marks a high point in the book but fully understand that it's a significant leap from the peaceful riverbank activity and the Toad related chaos of the other chapters - but that's fine. Is there some sort of rule that says a tale can't be developed or explored in different directions as it is being told?

The Piper chapter never seemed out of place to me, it's like a dream sequence within it's own context and true to the magic of the story. It captures that very primal mystery of a simple, animal encounter with the gods. The moment when you have a sense of things bigger and outside of yourself that can't be explained or fully grasped ... but in that moment very real. Something I suspect most children will have a developing sense of and that is naturally understood and has been experienced though perhaps not believed in, by most rational and reasonable people. Don't deny children the opportunity to explore, I could go on but ...

Improvising

"What happens to time-awareness during (music) improvisation?" 

Derek Bailey "The ticks turn into tocks and the tocks turn into ticks." 

All responses may include mistakes. 

All writings are improvised unless they're not. 

I don't really know anything about musical improvisation.

By that I mean, nothing worth stating as a theory.

Small collisions may produce content. 

Sometimes.