The blog of the traveller, observer and writer, Woz.
Happiness is the man with rhythm. Copyright © 2003-2021, Woz

Friday, October 31, 2008

Yeah, this sums it up nicely

Courtesy of KAL

Monday, October 27, 2008

Daddy, what's a 'J. Sheekey'?

I'm sorry, it's not all it's cracked up to be and is a little up its ass. I had a much better fish stew at the Thyme Cafe in Sheffield (ok, it's further to drive, but you know what I mean).

The films however, were very good (despite being unable to get our first choice). First off was 'The Witch of the West is Dead' made in Japan and starring Sachi Parker , followed by the Swedish film 'Involuntary' and rounded off by British production 'Helen'.

'The Witch of the West is Dead' reminded me a little of 'Pan's Labyrinth', if only because there is a similar sense of enchantment. 'Involuntary' reminded me of a 1970s Swedish porno flick - several stories with no connection whatsoever, with the film switching between them after a few minutes (the less said about the 'chalet' section, the better - i'll never do a handstand when butt naked and near a flagpole). 'Helen' featured excellent cinematography and the use of premium stock was genius - it brought out the colours so vividly.

The icing on the cake was a decent fresh lemonade in Canteen - although we thought we had to duck as an old boy (late for his reservation and so lost his table) went bonkers and started blaming the restaurant staff for his being late, etc, etc. At least I didn't use my persuasive skills on him - unlike on the tube train on the way into town in the morning, as I encouraged a passenger to pole dance on the Piccadilly line.

No trip with the iPod Perv is complete without some CD browsing - I came back with 13 - several by Horace Silver, some Tomasz Stanko, Nitin Sawhney and that Algerian pisshead, the fantastic Rachid Taha. The Perv even got me a box set of Ananda Shankar discs. I feel all moist now.

Unfortunately, while driving back, I had to listen to him play some George Formby (the simpering twat with the ukulele) songs that were actually banned by the BBC. Still, it made me drive that much faster.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Those 'WTF?' moments

You know them. I had three today.

  1. A cousin I have only ever met once for about one hour (when I was 9yo) may be coming to visit soon. He is apparently part of the UN effort in Kosovo. That's all I know. I feel like an armoured Travelodge.
  2. A stranger asked me how I could mistake K'Nex for Kleenex in an email reply. Well, I was tired and in a hurry (unsure as to whether the email was going to form a conversation there and then, or just a shot in the dark, awaiting a possible later response). But that answer is quite boring, so I didn't really use it. Instead, I went with giving the impression of being a giant asshole. Also, her (methinks she is female) use of K'Nex was in response to a part of a post where I mentioned Meccano as a basis for penile scaffolding, so methinks the lady doth protest too much.
  3. I am reading some notes I scribbled hours before walking up Guanghua Lu in Beijing the week before last, on my way to a trade jolly at the British Embassy. I had learnt through preliminary research that our current ambassador was previously chairman of the JIC (yes, the late Dr. David Kelly, Iraq war, etc - that JIC), some time after the infamous John Scarlett. My notes refer to Ferrero Rocher, orange jumpsuits, flying to Cuba in extra-rendition class, and offering someone sweet choccie balls to kiss. I am assuming these were for a poem, and not topics for small talk to use with the ambassador. Unfortunately, I was seated at his table, but fortunately, behaved myself.

Right, back to work.

Three films tomorrow at the LFF and the chance to stuff the iPod Perv at J. Sheekey.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

But wait!

A message received from a stranger today has got me thinking - about him/her, but also about me and where I may be.

While I do that, here is an excerpt of lyrics from Soft Machine's 'Moon in June' - specifically the version recorded for BBC's 'Top Gear' in the late 1960s.


Now, I love your eyes
See how the time flies
I think it's so great
You seem to change your fate
By working and playing
Something new in every way
Can be yours in a day
But I wonder...what I'm really saying


I like the gentleness and honesty in those lyrics. Robert Wyatt's voice never sounded so perfectly matched to a song.

Time for a wank.

Wha-?

The blog links are a bit out of date and I haven't posted any poetry or prose here in ages. Just too damned busy.

Shitkicker.

Listening to: the voices, the voices!