and so we roll towards the solstice (and thus midsummer and a gig)

and so we roll towards the solstice (and thus midsummer and a gig). horsemouth is looking forward to the gig (though he should probably restring his guitar if he's only taking one). 

yesterday 1971 (so 50 years ago)  battle at armageddon and the ankh of amon-ra were recorded by alice coltrane.  battle and ankh both feature the mighty rashied ali on drums. he also plays the windchimes on the absolutely beautiful harp and windchime introduction to ankh. 

so the DUPs new leader and his first minister seem to have fallen. they won the leadership competition these two (er. but then they lost, and the guy who lost in the leadership competition?  he'll probably get their jobs).

horsemouth feels sorry for michelle of sinn fein for having to stand down (again) and then stand again for the role of second minister (and all that carry on) but he supposes it's a chance to ask for something else from the british government representative (that nice mr. brandon lewis)...

first he promises to legislate in westminster for an irish language bill (now there's something the DUP are going to thank him for doing). now god knows what he'll have to promise little michelle to get her to go back as second minister for a second time. 

horsemouth thinks brandon lewis will  have to fake his own death to get out of this one. he's in a worse position than bob hoskins in mona lisa. 

horsemouth has been watching ninja movies (shinobi no mono). like lone wolf and cub it features the island of tanegashima where guns are manufactured based on portuguese designs.  the ninja are buddhists and, in the style of the assassins, are trying to murder their way to a sensible and stable japanese state. in lone wolf and cub the problem is solved, japan is under the shogunate, the nobles cannot feud openly. zatoichi's problem are a whole order of magnitude smaller. 

horsemouth has started on reading freya stark's the coast of incense (part of her pre-war autobiography). freya is known as an explorer and divides her time between italy and england. she dislikes the rise of fascism, she sees mussolini visiting a trade fair. 

and so we roll towards the solstice (at some godforsaken hour this morning) and thus midsummer (st.joao) and (for horsemouth) a gig.