Grand Designs

Grand designs and cats in low definition.

On some Wednesdays we build furniture.

Furniture for cats and people.

Meanwhile this product is in the style of the Greeks and I'm already won over by those two simple words - Greek Style. I am however reluctant to try it, just in case it turns out to be not quite what I'm expecting. The eternal tension between life expectations and the hard face of reality remains and often stops progress or experimentation. It's a cruel world when you're human, but I'm almost ready to get down from this high place and hopefully smell the coffee. What if it's awful?

Webs of Silence

I have become the sort of person who takes photos of spider's webs when out in the garden in the early morning foggy dew. Little did I think that my golden autumn years would be spent this way. All that training, education and workplace experience have led to this kind of thing. The crown of creation on my life and career are now activities that some may consider to be fine examples of wasteful, hollowed out and vacuous pastimes. But ...

"What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare."

"Leisure" by W H Davies.

P.S. Here's George quietly sitting 20' up a tree in a pigeon's nest.

Cellardyke Daily Photo

 

The long and winding roads of central Scotland took me away to Cellardyke in Fife. I traveled via St Andrews University where I made an urgent delivery and also purchased an unexpected emergency duvet (student life etc.), but enough of that. My other job was involved going to Anstruther cemetery to tidy up two family graves that sadly don't really get much care and attention because there's very few family members left alive from my generation who are able to maintain the gravestones. Not an unusual situation I imagine.

The task is a bit of a challenge, locating the graves being the hardest part before brushing them down and cleaning and refreshing the stones and lettering as best as I can. There I am with my orange B&Q bucket of materials; some crazy old man wondering back and forwards among the grave stones squinting at names and dates before settling down onto his knees to clean one. Is this peculiar behaviour in a cemetery? Probably not but it feels awkward at the time. I undertake this work every couple of years and I get an odd sense of well being from it.

Once the gravestone cleaning was done I rewarded myself with a stroll around Cellardyke, my first ever (I suppose my only) home town. It was one of those warm, misty but kind of wild at the edge September days. The sea being in particularly good form. I looked suitably dangerous. Rough and rowdy out across the rocks but reasonably clear and manageable in the community organised Cellardyke Tidal Pool. This busy pool has had recent upgrading works done and it's a credit to those local folks who have pushed and pulled to get the funding and the improvement plans completed. It's a fine wee, if slightly ramshackle corner of the village with the reworked pool, the pizza shack, coffee caravan and an outdoor sports and water sports centre all being well used.

One Word

 

Photo etc. by AG.

Winter is Coming

"Bungle" photo by LB.

The buzzing of a not too distant chainsaw, trees are being hacked into shape. A heavy fog sits on the water and it's droplets move in to drip from branches and hedges. Foghorn blasts resonate across the invisible river. The air is damp and tastes of sea mist. A completely unrelated delivery of logs arrives as a tree branch crashes down in a nearby garden. Cars are moved for safety to allow tree surgery works to get underway. The men hack and saw through the pile of timber and leaves and the debris goes into the back of their truck. 

It is becoming a very wooden Friday morning. Things are being tidied. I empty the log pallet, one dirty log at a time. The winter stock of logs are slowly piled up into storage with a fair bit of honest sweat and effort on my part, strangely satisfying though. I stand back and review the loaded up storage spaces. We're looking squarely into winter already. All three cats snooze quietly indoors through the whole proceedings as their staff continue to plan and prepare the strategy to keep them warm.

If I Were You (A Trilogy)

 "If I were you I'd get that seen to."

- living in a time of 

guilty skin conditions

signs of a judgement

applied on those who stray

who choose to stay away

from the holy places

inside and out -

But I'm clean.

Sixteen Once

"So let it rock, let it roll

Let the Bible Belt come and save my soul

Hold on to 16 as long as you can ..."

As per the previous post - I can't deny that I was once a lot younger than I am now, hard to believe I know but I didn't hold on to 16 any longer than anyone else did, nobody does, it's a normal thing. Resistance is futile. I didn't own a Strat either; there were Bibles and belts though, but no actual Bible Belt. My soul took flight and refused cheap salvation, eventually. You're working class in Scotland, it's the 1970s and you're going to have to work because that's what's for you and further education won't be an option ... but you'll still keep on learning. 16 was 54 years ago, or thereabouts. 

I wouldn't want to be that kid again. If I ever met him I don't know what advice I'd give him and it would be a waste of time anyway because I know he wouldn't be listening, too busy dreaming dumb and grubby dreams. Reality hits everyone eventually. The painful truths of growing up and over your mistakes. Maybe giving advice about getting over things is more useful than giving advice about avoiding things. Better to regret doing something than doing nothing (this of course comes with a few major caveats for real life). My generation were 16 once, it was about the time that Jimi Hendrix died.

Night Bird Flying

When Electric Lady Studios were simply analogue: From what I've heard of this material so far, it does sound good, even to my cloth and compromised ears. Sorted and mastered up by the old wizard Eddie Kramer himself. Devotees and  listeners will be familiar with all the tracks, part of that slightly peculiar batch of songs and instrumentals from a time when Hendrix's creativity was wobbling (so I've always thought), in the final year before he died. The old saying still goes though: "even Hendrix playing badly is better than anybody else playing well". Some might see this as another "cash in" package but from what I've heard from Eddie Kramer I'm pretty sure there's a lot of love, honesty and pride in the work that's been carried out on fixing up these tracks. One question might be how come has it taken so long to materialize? Tech solutions, other priorities, legal wrangles maybe. 

So it takes me back to a 16 year old me skipping school and eagerly purchasing "The Cry of Love" from Bruce's Records in Edinburgh's Rose Street in 1970. In truth it wasn't the album I'd hoped it would be but "better than etc." prevailed and a lot of that music has stayed with me over that last 50+ years. From what I've heard so far the remastered i.e. previously unreleased material, is very good. The multiple layering of the guitars on "Night Bird Flying" were tremendous back then. Today they are still as fresh, complex and delightful, even if age, nostalgia and reflection tend to add and remove their own measures of brightness and distortion. 

I guess the audience for this material and these kind of deluxe bundles is slowly diminishing as are the witnesses and the fan base. It's perhaps the last hurrah before some AI monster beats down the studio doors and extrapolates way on into the blue yonder with enhanced and re-imagined Hendrix style music destined to trash the legacy but increase the income from what looks like a new official entity; "Experience Hendrix". I don't really want to be around for that.

The official blurb from Electric Lady Studios: 

A Jimi Hendrix Vision' is an in-depth project from Experience Hendrix, encompassing 3CD/1 Blu-ray of previously unreleased music Jimi Hendrix recorded at his newly-created recording facility in 1970. The deluxe box set offers 39 tracks (38 previously unreleased) that were recorded by the new-look Experience (Billy Cox on bass, Mitch Mitchell on drums) at Electric Lady Studios between June and August of 1970, just before the legendary musician's untimely death the following month. The project also includes 20 newly-created 5.1 surround sound mixes of the entire 'First Rays of the New Rising Sun' album plus three bonus tracks ('Valleys of Neptune', 'Pali Gap' and 'Lover Man'). The Blu-ray includes the critically acclaimed, full-length documentary 'Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision'. The film chronicles the creation of the studio, rising from the rubble of a bankrupt Manhattan nightclub to state-of-the-art recording facility inspired by Hendrix's desire for a permanent studio. Directed by John McDermott and Produced by Janie Hendrix, George Scott and McDermott, the film features exclusive interviews with Steve Winwood (who joined Hendrix on the first night of recording at the new studio), Experience bassist Billy Cox, and original Electric Lady staff members who helped Hendrix realize his dream. The documentary includes never-before-seen footage and photos as well as track breakdowns of Hendrix classics such as 'Freedom', 'Angel' and 'Dolly Dagger' by recording engineer Eddie Kramer. The package includes an extensive booklet filled with unpublished photos, Hendrix's handwritten song drafts, and comprehensive liner notes.

Last Resting Place

 "Last Resting Place."

Photo by Andy Robbins.

I think that this simple photo is one of the best I have ever seen. It's also a fine work of art in my opinion and a statement. Everything about it, including the title that it's been given, is just about perfect. The sense of peace and conclusion conveyed is almost overwhelming along with what seems like the supernatural cleansing and preserving power of the cold and the frost. At the conclusion of any philosophical argument it all boils down to the moment that nature delivers and then removes. Something that's true for us all.

I came across this on X-Box Twitter where it was posted with no explanation or back story. You could study the photo and make up your own and that might cover a wide range of things, issues and circumstances, I don't know. There's a lot of rubbish out there on the socials but sometimes, as in this instance, I discovered a wee gem. If you don't get it, I don't mind, my taste is my own.

Thursday Already

I nearly forgot that this place existed.

This blog place that is.

Neglected for a few days.

(as above)

Absent minded me.

Probably a healthy thing.

Irregular.

Not much to say.

Truth is nobody is waiting for the next entry.

Or exit.

But there's traffic.

There's always traffic.

Passing by.

Maybe stopping for a bit.

(as above)

International destinations.

Blanks.

Anonymity.

Machine intelligence.

Bots and plots.

A voice crying out.

There, in an imaginary wilderness.

(as above).

Little France

French black pudding and apple stuff.

Les Merguez, Salad and French Fries.

Somewhat sausage heavy: Dining at possibly the world's noisiest restaurant, Chez Jules in Edinburgh. Loud music and shouty conversations persist in a confined space but despite that it's still an enjoyable experience even for oldies. Makes no sense really at my time of life with my worn out ears, low threshold of pain and what not. Young ears remain resilient until at least age 35, then they collapse like a dry sponge. Cheap (for Edinburgh) and cheerful French food is also available here. Not pictured is what nicer things everyone else had, obviously, and my farewell creme brulee and greasy but tasty onion rings.

We're Almost Everywhere

Our music has been on Amazon for years, even before everyone disliked Amazon and online shopping, exploitation and everything. Sad to say it's not really taken off for us either, we regularly receive only the tiniest of fake buttons on a monthly basis from the great Amazonian cash collecting beast. I blame lack of promotion and imagination on our part, that and the economic downturn which prevails on most of the planet's battered surface.

Cockroach of Vegetables

Our mostly futile bid for some sort of self sufficiency in vegetables took another blow recently*. We've reached the second wave of kale planting as I defiantly tried again with another type of kale plant. Hopefully more resistant to being scoffed by tiny mites. I was encouraged by in depth and verified (?) scientific research found on YouTube that held a view that kale was a plant that couldn't fail. Tough and idiot proof they said. Hmm. It was described as the cockroach of vegetables, one that had survived all sorts of cataclysmic disasters and severe environmental events and moreover is highly resistant to pests. 

Unfortunately the various pests of South Queensferry (most of which are largely invisible) have not read this particular memo. After a week of being planted, these kale plants are slowly being decimated by something unseen. It may simply be God yet again acting out his judgement upon us in the form of pestilence and famine (except for the actual pests), and that's nothing more than we deserve. I take heart however from knowing that some small creature is doing well and feeding it's family from my £3.99 tub of kale plugs ex-Brechin Castle garden centre and in the end are probably scoffing even more of it than we would have had it survived and thrived.

*The peas, potatoes and plums do seem to be OK, maybe we should just plant things that begin with P?

South Queensferry Daily ...

(Above) That time they filmed Crystal Voyager at the Binks.

Any awkward situation in life is made better by (delete as inapplicable):

Doing something invisible

Doing nothing visible

Good grooming

Screaming at the top of your voice

Expressing a credible view

Wearing a "band" T shirt

Maintaining a detailed spreadsheet 

Removing a false moustache

Ripping it up and starting again

Using the word "nuance" in a sentence

Purchasing an inflatable boat online

Telling the whole truth

Smoking twenty fags in quick succession

Simply alighting from the bus

Cold pizza

Hiding in a corner

Writing a strongly worded letter/email/text

Giving cats cat treats.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Post Script:

In my opinion it's always best to apply some spray on bleach/cleaner to a toilet brush before tackling the cleaning of the sanitary china.

Dear email bots. Why do I have to unsubscribe when I didn't subscribe in the first place?

Why has nothing been put in place in this country to provide us with a properly functioning government?

Looking at a menu of French foods and thinking, I should like something here but I'm not sure I do.

The characters in TV shows and movies are not your actual friends.

We get the weather we deserve.

Two Eggs Trilogy

Not every day but on some days 

I'll have two eggs for breakfast.

Salvador Dalí's "In Voluptas Mors"

Also used on the "Silence of the Lambs" Butterfly.

A short piece of motion capture entitled

"Copy, cut and paste".

Then and Now

Something from the Cellardyke Echo, 1865.

This remarkable little article, the author of which is unknown, is 159 years old and is taken from a very small local newspaper based in a village in the East Neuk of Fife: Cellardyke. It's curated articles are regularly republished here by the Cellardyke Trust, an organization that covers numerous aspects of old and new stories, photos and historical events from the East Neuk. 

What struck me about this story, apart from actual bizarre events described, is the quality of the writing and the depth of language used. It seems that back in those days a reporter on a tiny provincial paper was far more capable, creative and descriptive with his prose than most modern journalists and reporters are nowadays. I also wonder at how teaching standards for the English language (within the current education system) have perhaps deteriorated or been dumbed down over the years when reflecting on this piece's penmanship. Then, thinking about all that, how well the actual newspaper's readers were served by the standards of reporting ... anyway it's all in the past now. (I don't doubt that levels of corruption in the press back in those days were much different but they could certainly put an entertaining story together when compared to so much of today's popular piffle both in print and online.)

"Anstruther -Lynch Law in the East of Fife. 

In the early part of Monday afternoon, the west end of the neighbouring town of Cellardyke was the scene of a most extraordinary and singular occurrence, so far, at least, as the East Neuk is concerned. At the time in question, a notorious character, of the name of James Haggart, better known by the sobriquet of “Abernethy,’ was seen entering the town of Cellardyke, where public feeling was running very strongly against him in consequence of his being implicated in a case of a peculiarly bad and heartless nature. Whether the matter had been preconcerted or not, we are unable to state, but no sooner had he made his appearance than the women in the neighbourhood gathered together and began to give unmistakable expression to their anger and abhorrence by hooting and pelting him with stones. 

Quailing before the fury of his assailants, the craven attempted to beat a retreat, but he was no match for his nimble-tongued, nimble-limbed pursuers, who continued to shower upon him whatever of hard missile or foul epithet that came readiest in the way. In this manner he reached the top of the road at Caddies Burn, when he was either struck down by a stone, or, what was more probable, he pretended to be under the influence of liquor, and so cast himself, in apparent helplessness, on the ground. This clumsy appeal, however, to move their compassion, was treated with utter disdain by his female adversaries — who had now increased to hundreds— for, amidst a perfect Babel of mingled screams of laughter and yells of execration, they crowded around the prostrate wretch. In a twinkling he was almost buried beneath a mass of potato stems and earth, which were brought by right willing hands from the adjoining field, and a cooling sedative was also now and then administered m the shape of sundry bucketfuls of water. The noise and confusion drew large numbers to the spot, but the graver portion of the community, when they saw that neither life nor limb were in any great danger, moved quietly on when they ascertained the cause, or remained the passive, if not amused, spectators of the extraordinary hubbub. 

The sympathies of some Highland halfdealsmen were, however, more active than those of the townsfolk, for after a vigorous attempt these “children of the mist” at length succeeded in rescuing the drenched and forlorn- looking outcast from the vengeance of the “Lynchers,” many of whom seemed half mad with frolic and excitement. The assistance of the bobbies was ultimately obtained, and under the safe escort of those liveried footmen of the law he was majestically marched off to the lock-up, followed of course by an immense train of men, women, and children. While on their triumphal progress, the heroines who made themselves so conspicuous in this rough and ready administration of justice were vociferously cheered by the large groups of half-dealsmen and others lounging about the shore – a compliment which bashfulness did not prevent them from returning with gratitude and effect. 

So far as we can learn, no bodily injury was sustained by the victim of popular rage, although it is to be hoped that the sharp reproof which he has received will have the effect of making him a wiser and better man for the future, and that it will also be a warning to others that the inhabitants of Cellardyke will not with impunity allow their town to be insulted and dishonoured by practices that make the cheek of humanity blush with shame and resentment."

Great White Blueberry

Hot coffees in heavy cups.

Near end of the season fruit picking: The blueberries aren't quite blue yet. Most of them are white, light green or light blue. Only a few have turned a proper blue but they have an interesting, tart kind of taste. Peculiar but not unpleasant. Different from the store bought varieties. For some reason I didn't really think of blueberries ever making it in the Scottish climate but they do, eventually.

Take Frequent Breaks

Rain stopped play in the mixed fortunes of the world of gardening. I'm sweaty and just a bit sore with stretching, ladder climbing and humping trugs of rubbish, vegetation and litter. Old age etc. A number of fairly angry ants had also run up my sleeve, no doubt with good reasons for doing this. My gloves are not thorn proof either so cutting out brier is fairly hazardous. There's mild pain but no blood. So time to stop and reflect over some Ikea chocolate and a coffee. Unfortunately I fell into a eBay trance and, thanks to a persistent ear worm, bought a cheap copy of MIJ. Not heard it in years. Will I be disappointed? Probably yes at first but invariably no in the longer term. How's your screwed up afternoon going? Yes I like to own actual physical product.

South Queensferry Daily Photo

From Port Edgar: Broody skies over the bridges and breakwater. A cruise liner hides behind Inchgarvie Island, god knows what actually happens on these hulks but people pay good money for the experience. Being categorized as human cargo must feel strange. No lost footballs can be seen in the murky waters, just more murk. Behind us brave aquanauts struggle with paddle boards and a pleasure boat awaits eager passengers as they walk down onto the jetty dodging errant pigeons. 

Tomorrow will be just same except for the weather. Illegally parked vehicles may be fined or towed away so carefully enter your reg. number into one of the machines. If you've a spare £40k why not splash out on a locally sourced and rejuvenated classic Land Rover? You could also impulse buy a boat but that's not really recommended. Try a skillet breakfast from DTH instead and relax afterwards. Best and most sensible solution.

Garden of Leaves Plus ...

No matter what time of year it is our garden always has a carpet of leaves all over it. Seasonal variations of leafy content do apply. Some remain as slow forming mulch or are too difficult or messy to pick up, others make it into the brown bin which is therefore always full. Once there they're never seen again, Edinburgh Council have them in their mysterious grasp.

Ochilview football ground, a reasonable enough place to watch football and despite the name you'll not be seeing anything of the Ochil Hills from it, but that's not why you'd come here anyway. Football on a small scale and pies. Stenny pies are scoring a fair 8/10. A bright Tim Horton's is right next door if you're desperate for more variety.

A well appointed, pointed and painted Edinburgh gable end almost glimmers in the August sunshine. I like the patterns. Around the corner the Fringe money machine is out in full exploitative force with it's garish clowns, potential superstars and ensembles of perpetually touring enthusiasts and drama types.