'yesterday wrote the village schoolmaster almost without knowing it.'

franz kafka, diaries, 19th december 1914.

horsemouth thought he had a copy of the village schoolmaster with him but he does not (he has the country doctor instead).

oh dear. it looks like horsemouth has left the kafka diaries back in the seaside towns. he has a couple of entries noted down in his diary. he will endeavour to reinstate regular kafka diary entries in the new year - he has a kafka quote for new year (together with quotes from edmond de goncourt and basho)

there was a discussion of IRCAM as a glorious moment of modern music being taken seriously as a cultural force. 

in some ways horsemouth prefers the mad old biddies of the radiophonic workshop (daphne oram, maddalena fagandini, delia darbyshire) to darmstadt and IRCAM (I must get round to reading that book). 

in the UK music concrete was made by moonlighting BBC stage managers gathering up the tape recorders overnight. this music was fit only for children's science fiction series (dr. who, the tomorrow people, the changes) and regional radio station idents. as a result it thoroughly infiltrated the culture. within the british scheme of things it's comparatively low cultural capital meant it was a DIY channel for a sort of european futurist dream. it wasn't part of some russolo/ stockhausen/ mitterand/ attali 'white heat of technology/ new cadres of mandarins' thing. 

if there was an advantage to IRCAM it is that sociologists could observe muppet labs 'where the (musical) future is being made' and watch the wave of cheap digital roll past it.

yesterday evening a meeting of the communal endeavour. horsemouth was a little off form and didn't handle it so well. it got to him. they got to him. he's had a bottle of beer and he is sure he will shake it soon. tomorrow morning a check in with colin to check his recollection of the match).  

horsemouth is reading bear island by alistair maclean - the film crew stuck on the freighter on their way there are getting murdered off (horsemouth is finding it very therapeutic).

there he's going to post this early/ late at night and see if he has any more thoughts in the morning. night-night. 

his main thought is that he really must re-learn to choose his battles. he must also re-learn to care less. it is not so important. whatever goes wrong can be attempted again later. that's him done for a month (basically).