books, films, gigs, events may 2024

books 

- down and out in paris and london (george orwell)

- the world turned upside down (christopher hill) start

- welsh border country (maxwell fraser) dips

- the unicorn (iris murdoch)

-  le cimetière marin (paul valéry and translations)

- munch's graphic works in j.p. hodin's 'edvard munch' (world of art series)

- notes on sentences (luke skrebowski) in versuch no.1 ed. gil leung

- introduction to pierre  clastres' 'chronicle of the guyaki indians' by the translator paul auster

- hamburg/ liverpool comparison in the white review, no.12 and 'wild resistance' LRB blog on adorno and 'radio waves' on ernst schoen, all owen hatherley.

- the war of the worlds, h.g. wells, started.

- guardian article on the playing of 'once upon a time in shaolin' and 'franz kafka exemplary employee'

- the present age (soren kierkegaard)

-  the velvet revolution of claude debussy, alex ross, the new yorker, october 22nd, 2018.

- introduction to 'the turn of the screw and other stories' (henry james) by t.j.lustig

- the garden of time (j.g.ballard)

films

- the usual novara media, outlaw bookseller, bookpilled/ thrift a life as and when

- clip don, moki and eagle-eye cherry 1973 at jazz jamboree in poland

- the architect (and yachtsman)  who moved to douarnenez 

- R4 debussy: composer of the week 

- LRB podcast 'in the shadow of silicon valley', rebecca solnit and 

edmund gordon and thomas jones 'on j.g. ballard'

gigs

minny pops, triple negative, evan parker and bill nace, the renaissance music festival in  crystal palace ( killercorp (tagline the most dangerous band in ipswich), concrete age, die|kur etc.)

events

jonnie and denise's welcome back to hackney party, the gigs mentioned above, wanders with TG, meeting of the communal endeavour on zoom. election of officers. before that a practice round pete's, practices round howard's and up plashet park. tea and cake with TG and myk.  

the doctors, he went to the chemists, death of dennis thompson the drummer of the MC5, the last man standing. death of paul auster.

today a quiet day in

horsemouth has had his coffee. 

he has had a shower. 

he has listened to a discussion about the writings of j.g. ballard. 

he'd probably better get on and blog. 

yesterday a loafing around the house kind of day. except in the evening when horsemouth walked down to  stepney green to meet up with andrew minty and anthony. roughly a 3 mile walk using the victoria park route. he arrived early and so hung around outside andy's block until the time was correct (is this strange behaviour?). 

they then wandered down to the local wetherspoons...

ok ok you know horsemouth has moaned on about the 'spoons and, post-brexit and the lockdown firing of staff, called for its boycott. but really, when all is said and done, he's just a hypocrite (and now you have proof).  there they met anthony (who was sat outside talking to sion) and a little while later max arrived. 

horsemouth remembers two (real) topics of conversation (doubtless more will return to him as the day progresses).

one was wyndham lewis (BLASTer and vorticist, sometime fascist - though to be fair he did later repudiate this), the other the incipient juridico-legal state of sir keir (given their professed lack of carrot labour in government may need to make some use of the stick).  

horsemouth has read a little of lewis's the human age trilogy and a biography of him named after one of his magazines the enemy (jeffrey meyers, 1980). he hasn't read this stuff for a long time, he doesn't know if he still has it. 

minty and sion had to bail early (good to see you both). anthony, max and horsemouth carried on to the bitter end (closing time at the wetherspoons).  everybody was on good form and it was a pleasant drink. 

thereafter horsemouth wandered back home (another 3 miles) - this time using the mare street route. he got a pizza (if he'd held out a little longer he could have got a falafel wrap). 

horsemouth thinks he has come to the end of the drinking bit of his holiday (phew). 

yesterday (during his sitting around and recovering) horsemouth read and enjoyed the first chapter of war of the worlds (chapter one: the eve of the war). the chronology doesn't seem tight enough to assign a particular date to the landing of the aliens but the locations are tightly drawn and can be visited.

today a quiet day in (maybe a gentle restorative wander round the local streets). in the evening a rehearsal with pete. saturday afternoon jacken elswyth's album launch in camden. 

drawing water from the well...

so horsemouth is back from his visit to howard. it is a cold, greyish, morning and horsemouth is recovering. 

they started work at 11. 

horsemouth took over the laramie tuned dadgad, the better to play go your way my love. horsemouth had taken a look at the fingerpicking tablature but soon he got frustrated with this and bodged a semi-strummed version so that he could practice singing it.  

his plan was to get howard to sing it and to leave himself to play it. this worked well. horsemouth recommended listening to the anne briggs version (but howard was resistant). looking at the anne briggs/ bert jansch version there is more for horsemouth to learn. 

then, picking up one of howard's guitars they worked on pastures of plenty. on this one horsemouth plans to sing with howard with howard playing most of the guitar and horsemouth just adding a few notes here and there. horsemouth is singing ok on it (he thinks). 

he then tried to persuade howard that the lobster quadrille by lewis carroll could be sung (or perhaps intoned) ontop of will you, won't you by howard. 

they did some work on on broadbury down (soon to be re-titled the hanged man) mostly round adding melodica instead of organ as on the album version. they also did a little work on blindspot (a neglectd track from the album volume four). 

so after all this they went down the pub.

but it was shut because it was only 3pm and didn't open until 4pm. so they went to the other pub (and that was shut too). so they went and got a falafel (and then back to the first pub).  there they sat out in the back garden listening to music on howard's portable speaker.  

horsemouth's plan was to be sensible and do another 2 for howard/ one and a half for horsemouth session but he got carried away and they may have ended up on four or five.  

thence back to his subterranean lair and some careful recovery. horsemouth took care to eat and to down some paracetamol. 

tonight a catch up with minty (and possibly anthony). 

on the birthday of harry everett smith

 it's the birthday of harry everett smith. 

it's not just that he's an animator. it's not just that he's a music collector. it's not just that he's collector of paper airplanes. he's a genius. but he's also (like fahey) a grump and a curmudgeon. 

the getty museum has purchased his papers. and the books based on his life and collections are starting to emerge - the one based on paper airplanes he found on new york sidewalks, the one based on string figures he'd collected, on egg decoration in slavic cultures.

in the animation above a baphomet appears - one hand pointing up into the heavens another down into the subconscious below. harry was photographed like this. 

today horsemouth is off to visit howard. (they've just got to set a time). tomorrow evening (he thinks) a meet up with minty (and maybe anthony). horsemouth has been playing through go your way my love (he only really knows the anne briggs version, ok there's the bert jansch version where he goes oh woe is me rather a lot) but avoiding the fiddly finger-picking. he might show it to howard and propose it. (they have a gig at the end of august and are working up some repertoire). 

horsemouth is up. he has over-slept (but he does feel thoroughly rested). 

'urgent debates about the future of music...'

horsemouth's travels have ended with tea and a cake with TG and myk down at the gallery cafe. he also remembered to repay myk the tenner he borrowed to purchase god bless the death drive by triple negative on saturday night.

it joins a long list of musical impulse purchases where horsemouth has attempted to prove to himself that he still listens to music  on CD and record, ahem, 'vinyl' as it is now known. though, of course, he does not. 

he streams everything now (including his own work).

and on that topic it is musicians of bremen volume three day, the anniversary of the release of volume three six years ago now. horsemouth remains fiercely proud of it. last night he listened to some tracks from it

after tea and cake with TG and myk horsemouth wandered up towards broadway market with TG and TG met a friend and headed off to an art exhibit. horsemouth headed off home (something in the region of a 5 mile round journey, possibly a little more). 

this 5 miles follows a previous 5 mile walk there and back down to minny pops  just behind the gallery cafe. plus the 4 miles over to cafe OTO to see triple negative and various wombling rounds of the hood and the marshes. 

horsemouth comes to the end of a period of activity (the socialising and catching up bit of his visit to the city). he thinks he could do with a bit of a rest. he has stretched himself (and spread himself) a bit thin. he's having a night off (he's having a boring night in).  he hopes to catch up with minty one evening this week. 

thursday 30th may at 10am AEST in new zealand (horsemouth should check when this is local time -1.30 to 2.30 am) there will be a listening party for once upon a time in shaolin by the wu-tang clan. the sole copy of it in the world will be played.  sadly it did not catalyse 'urgent debates about the future of music', nothing could beat the unstoppable convenience of streaming. 

the continuing (musical) adventures of horsemouth

'a great deal of unhappiness in the last entry. going to pieces. to go to pieces pointlessly and unnecessarily.'  - franz kafka, diaries, 27th may 1915.

there will be nothing from kafka now until september 13th 1915, when he reports that he is writing again because his father has bought him a new diary.

yesterday horsemouth was away at the renaissance music festival in  crystal palace. the last time he was there for a gig was the 24th of august 1985 - he remembers hawkwind, vera lynn, the armory show and spear of destiny. online informs him that there was also the enid, doctor and the medics, the march violets, balaam and the angel, and the comsat angels but he has no memory of them,  or them even being there. 

the way the bowl appeared was also completely different to his memory. 

the renaissance music festival was basically a modern metal music festival (but for free in a park) - he liked killercorp (tagline the most dangerous band from ipswich), concrete age.  he liked the stage as well (which was giant and suitably abstract). horsemouth watched from the hill for a bit and then overcame his distaste for alcohol (he's overdone it the night before) and got a pint - soon after he bumped into enza and they went and sat on the grass and then went up to the stage to watch various bands. there was even a stage in the small room inside the building.  

at one point late on the heavens opened and it rained but the rain falling on the lake in the sun did look great horsemouth had to admit. this mainly worked to drive people towards the stage for the final set of the day by die|kur. which was great but horsemouth was tired by this point and decided to head home. (fielding the regular sunday phonecall from his mum on the way back). 

thanks enza for inviting him (and london overground for transporting him) and crystal palace for merely being there. . 

horsemouth's musical weekend continues

 

horsemouth's musical weekend continues.

having seen minny pops he was off to see triple negative and evan parker and bill nace. 

the evan parker and bill nace part of the gig was excellent - dark and grinding. horsemouth can only compare it with steve reich/ philip glass style minimalism (but he realises this isn't a comparison that improv fans are keen on). 

at the gig he saw myk and dave panos, matthew and anja and dennis (obviously), demetra, anthony. 

triple negative were visibly struggling with something leading to a difficulty in communication (ps. matthew has a new guitar) but it was still a good gig. horsemouth liked the new loops. it kind of reminded him of tricky in a way (again he is aware this may not be people's favourite comparison). his usual point of comparison is flowers of romance era PIL.

before the gig matthew was recommending a book on experimental music. horsemouth will have to look it up.  

horsemouth bought the album above (he owes myk a tenner but then he is seeing him tomorrow). it is curious - this was after a long conversation about how everybody loves their records and CDs but never plays them anymore. 

anyway horsemouth drank too much and is feeling a bit run down today. 

'we are wasting precious time...'

horsemouth was bored. his solution (in a bit) was to go out and see minny pops. 

the vocalist/songwriter/programmer wally van middendorp was there to greet people outside the small church in the complex (curiously enough next to the hall where the communal endeavour often hold their AGMs, curiously enough behind the cafe where TG and horsemouth are due to meet myk on monday at midday)... and who should arrive but myk. 

they chatted. more people arrived (hackney musical types - cos chapman, marina young, lee mcfadden, the drummer from chunktini/ SPEW (is it?)), hannah and ayesha, iona (who was playing), so ayesha and iona from gertrude, iona's husband (dave?), various dutch  people. 

so three songs. each started on the hour (so each separated by nearly an hour). a quiz with t-shirts as a prize. art on the walls. last song, a request, dolphin spurts - the single that was on factory records that UK people might know them from.  

there was a game going on with the gig and what it contains (as well as various games going on with timings). horsemouth found the whole event wonderfully charming. he must say he likes their earliest minimal electropop (these are kind of dnb tempos). the church was a great little space (horsemouth can add it to his list of gigs in churches this year in competition with john clarkson). 

total alcohol 2 small cans of that IPA stuff. total walk roughly 5 miles. 

when it was done myk wandered off early. horsemouth said his goodbyes and wandered back if not through the park as he had done on the way down then past it.

ok it looks like a beautiful day outside. this evening he's off to see triple negative, enza will be there and possibly a few others. in the day there's a plan to meet up with howard but it's not finalised. 

cultural calendar

horsemouth was bored. it was an afternoon. the solution (probably) was to write.

he has a very busy cultural calendar with at least one quality thing a day in it. (sometimes two). 

friday. he arrived he went to jonnie and denise's welcome back to hackney party and stayed out late singing (badly). he then walked back (possibly not wise but then he was drunk).

saturday. he felt ropey so he just mooched around rather than go over and see howard. book-box raids yielded the turn of the screw and other stories  by henry james and genesis of a music by new musical instrument inventor harry partch. 

sunday. he went over to see howard. a bowl of soup, a practice in the park, half a pizza and a pint and a half of beer. in the evening he phoned his mum to check in on her. finds the unicorn (powerscroft road). the unicorn (iris murdoch) is a hard read. it has plenty of dread. you can't quite say what the dread is about but no-one seems to be able to free themselves of it. 

monday. wander with TG cancelled. horsemouth went to the pharmacists and bought some ear wax remover the better to restore the hearing in one of his ears. horsemouth has resolved to take better care of his health. he also walked up the road to aldi and back (returning with a small rucksack full of food), so about 3 miles all told. 

tuesday. a wander with TG. coffee out. 

wednesday. meeting of the communal endeavour on zoom. election of officers. before that a practice round pete's. post meeting a bottle of supermarket beer to decompress. 

thursday. he went to the doctors, he went to the chemists, he did a post-away test kit. he was off to a practice/ meal in the evening round pete's with .pete and leanne.  

friday. gig (he will probably walk down)

saturday. practice? - gig with enza -the cloud forest relocation. commence cat worship

sunday. er. maybe another gig (outdoor festival probably shit weather). he will phone his mum to check in on her. 

monday. lunch (or is that a late breakfast) bookended by a walk (with TG). 

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

as he walked back across the park a big and beautiful moon. this morning a bright sunny morning (greying off during the day but even better weather saturday). he doesn't feel too bad after the beer last night (3 small cans and a bottle of supermarket beer). 'the drug that enables horsemouth's writing is coffee' this is true. 

horsemouth has been out for a patrol and was considering a wander up to walthamstow (but of course he will be up there soon enough). he also considered a wander down to bow to check out the new developments (to see how the conversion of chrisp street market is going for example). 

when the game of thrones is over... (the present age)

'the present age is one of understanding, of reflection, devoid of passion, an age which flies into enthusiasm for a moment only to decline back into indolence.' - soren kierkegaard, the present age. 

what a difference a day makes... 

the country will go to the polls on july 4th. (remind horsemouth to be around to vote this time)

'the PM, getting wetter and wetter as he was pelted by rain, was drowned out by (the) d:ream hit 'things can only get better' - tony blair's 1997 landslide anthem'

(and we all know how well that ended...)

still it will be good to get this lot gone.

the government have released a prepping website. horsemouth thinks he's ok even though a recent study  says ‘never-ending’ UK rain made 10 times more likely by climate crisis'. he's got a couple of days worth of tinned food (there may even be some bottled water round here somewhere). 

it is the evening of the day before you will read this. horsemouth has just been over to pete's for a jam (most of the tunes came back really quickly) and now he has returned home in preparation for the meeting of the communal endeavour. he's promised to be back over there for tomorrow evening. 

it is game of thrones day at the communal endeavour when, having been (re-)elected to the committee of managements, the positions of chair, vice-chair, treasurer and company secretary must be diced for (there is a position of health and safety co-ordinator as well).  once again horsemouth will put his name forward for the position of treasurer (he likes the money).

after the meeting horsemouth is self-medicates with beer and a chat. 

horsemouth chickened out of doing something we must not let him chicken out of it ladies and gentlemen. he is using various tasks as an excuse. 

le cimetière marin (la mer, la mer, toujours recommencée...)

 

yesterday a wander with TG 

here we see horsemouth out in nature. except we don't because he is in fact posing against a billboard on a building site. 

after the walk horsemouth listened to the news and had a snooze. (did he mention that the book box by aldi seems to be defunct?). he slipped into a post wander depression. he will return to reading the iris murdoch (the unicorn). additional characters have been added.

it's gone all rainy outside. 

tomorrow (as it was) 

or today (as it will be when you read this) 

horsemouth has a meeting to go to

(and then in the evening there's a zoom meeting).  

he wants to get back up on the horse of the communal endeavour and its decarbonisation. 

the communal endeavour has an interesting accountancy problem - when money from the reserves (the cash at bank) is spent it shows up in the accounts as if it were being paid out of the surplus from the co-op's normal activities (we get the rent in, we pay out the costs associated with that and the office and the staff and whatever is left over accumulates in the cash at bank as the surplus, ok ok it's slightly more complicated than that with depreciation of the assets etc, but basically so). 

consequently when the communal endeavour spend more than the surplus on anything it appears to tip the co-op out of surplus (profit) into loss. the key word to note here is appears - if the money is being paid out of reserves the co-op is still generating a surplus from its normal activities and everything is tickety-boo.

anyway the co-op needs to spend money (on staff restructuring, on insulating the houses up to an EPC C standard etc.). there are ways ('capitalising expenditure') round some of these costs (but not all of them). so the accounts will look like shit for the next few years. 

and beyond this there are the as yet unforeseeable 'events' - section 20ies (where you have to pay for repairs on your estate/ to the infrastructure of the building you own a flat in etc.). they are foreseeable in the sense that they are pretty much bound to happen at some point, the question is how big are they going to be when they come. 

whenever something happens that looks like it might be sortable with money horsemouth always regrets not arguing for the maximum rent rise possible, conversely whenever people complain about affordability he is always glad he didn't go for the highest rent rise possible. hopefully he is charting a nice sensible route through the middle of it all. 

paul valéry's le cimetière marin makes an appearance in iris murdoch's the unicorn, well at least the first four lines do;

'ce toit tranquille, où marchent des colombes,

entre les pins palpite, entre les tombes;

midi le juste y compose de feux

la mer, la mer, toujours recommencée...'

iris has ended the line with an ellipsis (it's an exclamation mark in the original). here  the sea always begins again. 

horsemouth's ear is improving (it's just the rest of him that needs treatment). horsemouth has a meeting to go to (and then in the evening there's a zoom meeting).  

la cicatrice intérieure (prophecy)

'the drug that enables horsemouth's writing is coffee (when he has finished writing he will have breakfast (a bowl of museli) and swap onto the tea).' 

horsemouth wrote this round about this date a few years ago and it is a fair summation of his morning routine. 

'the sea shall rise over your heads and drown you all... all of you!' 

so remarks nico at the start of abschied (farewell). this starts out sounding like a german expressionist poem but in current circumstances may actually be prophecy. 

in a bit horsemouth will go to meet TG and go for a wander. that was his plan yesterday but there was a cancellation. 

horsemouth has been much concerned with the unicorn (by iris murdoch) with its cover by edvard munch (a woodblock print called  a woman's head against the shore from the munch collection in oslo, here is another print of it from the harvard art museum). 

here is more of nico (but this time with music by ash ra tempel.

yesterday horsemouth went to the pharmacists and bought some ear wax softening substance the better to restore the hearing in one of his ears. horsemouth could do with it working. he has been wandering around effectively deaf in one ear for a long time now. horsemouth has resolved to take better care of his health and start getting his minor ailments treated. 

he also walked up the road to aldi and back (returning with a small rucksack full of food), so about 3 miles all told. he went for various wanders round and sittings out in the sun (for the sun was shining) during the day. he didn't make full use of the day but he didn't do too badly.

horsemouth supposes the thing to do not to be wasting time when the weather is nice is to have a hobby. 

he has booked in a meeting for wednesday day (70% chance of rain) and there will be a meeting on zoom wednesday night. 

from today rain (but possibly shine also). 

pastures of plenty (live from plashet park)

here we have horsemouth and howard live from plashet park having just been for a soup and tea in the cafe. (what a beautiful day)

later they will nip down to the italian pub and split a pizza and drink a little beer - 2 pints for howard, one and a half for horsemouth, they didn't want to drink too much, it was a hot day and a sunday, well horsemouth did but anyway...) but before they got to the pub they played some music. as you can see horsemouth is rocking the laramie in standard tuning (which is not ideal). 

part of this was a desire to sing pastures of plenty the woody guthrie migrant worker anthem. as horsemouth remarked to howard this sits very well with his reading of joan didion's where I was from (agribusiness in the californian valleys). to achieve this horsemouth retuned the guitar to eadgce. there's a recording. horsemouth suggested getting out the dulcimer for it. there's also a video of horsemouth chunking through the riff to babylon's burning (seemingly with howard singing magpie on top of it). 

 

pastures of plenty would of course also fit with nomadland (the old and poor driven out of their houses and into migrant work and van life). 

so what is horsemouth reading? 

he's reading the unicorn by iris murdoch (edvard munch cover). modern independent woman accepts job with strange family in remote old castle with strange neighbours. this is another book box special (powerscroft road, yesterday morning).

horsemouth and his busy social schedule

horsemouth was supposed to be going out for a wander with TG this morning (but he's cried off til tomorrow). horsemouth is trying to arrange a busy social calendar for his visit. at the moment the weather is wonderful but (of course) this can't last.  today a trip to the chemists to get something to unblock his ear. 

 

'imprecise space of narration' (post session slouch around day)

'the imprecise space of narration  - that unreal beyond where everything is apparition, slippery, evasive, present and absent.' - maurice blanchot.

ok so horsemouth is back in the wen but he's not feeling the joys of summer yet. mind you he was feeling  them friday night (perhaps a bit much so).

yesterday he had one of those post session slouch around days (the weather was a bit grey and variable in the morning though it cheered up in the afternoon).  he was nonplused that the day was a saturday not a sunday.  he was thinking of meeting howard yesterday but cried off because of post drinkage (maybe they'll get it in today).  

sunday, monday, even tuesday look like better days for 'stuff' (more sun).  

monday morning  he has a walk with TG booked. from wednesday the weather seems to be going to shit again. wednesday night he has thinking of trying to physically meet up for the communal endeavour meeting (and then go out for beer after) but  it is probably all better done through zoom anyway. 

next weekend probably another meet up with howard. probably try to book in a wander round with max et al and one with minty at some point.

next week off to the cloud forest to feed yin and yang the cat gods and browse the charity shops of walthamstow.  

so far he has added two books to his accessions diary. 

the turn of the screw and other stories  by henry james (he lifted the blanchot quote from the introduction) and genesis of a music by new musical instrument inventor harry partch. this last one if quite a find (opines horsemouth).

the day dawns most beautiful, let us see what it contains. 

horsemouth is back in the wen

horsemouth is back in the wen, after a very good night out round at dave and claudia's (er. and a longish walk back because he was too impatient to wait for the various night buses) he's feeling a bit slow and unco-ordinated. (he has a feeling he won't be getting too much done today). 

horsemouth seems to remember singing running free by iron maiden (with adam on guitar) - can that be right? denise sang ride on  (with alice and jo on harmonies). towards the end dave played some of the gnossienne and la vie en rose. 

ok horsemouth is back off to bed. in a bit he will rise and get a shower. 

today horsemouth returns to the wen

it's 1980 and  PIL are on american bandstand.  

it's the 90th anniversary of the birth of 'neither structuralist, nor marxist' anthropologist pierre clastres (author of the chronicle of the guyaki indians as translated by paul auster - archive.org have a copy with his photos of various guyaki tribespeople). 

horsemouth has been struggling with howard's version of pastures of plenty. at the moment he can't find anything he's playing that will sit with it. howard is doing a fiddly fingerpicking thing and horsemouth keeps falling off. howard has pulled the 'G' from the last line (well most of the time) leaving a vamp back and fore between C and Aminor (well in fact he's doing it with a capo on the 3rd fret so that's Eflat and Cminor).  

horsemouth has got the pretty polly derived tune (he believes) but the shift to G then back up is the bit of the melody that really appeals to him. he's retuned the guitar with the b string up to c to make playing the Eflat and Cminor easier (he's noticing the arthritis in his finger joints more).

ah well maybe something will click when they meet up. maybe he'll try putting howard over the anker speaker and see if that gives him a better balance. horsemouth and howard have a gig the end of august and horsemouth wants to get match fit for it and have a better more integrated show than last time. 

today horsemouth returns to the wen 

denise and jonnie are over visiting and horsemouth wants to catch up. 

he's back in h______ the first week (there's a meeting of the communal endeavour and a triple negative gig), thereafter he's away cat-sitting at the house in the borderlands (fka. the cloud forest located somewhere near walthamstow). he will try to get in a visit to his brother while he's up that way and do some book buying in the charity shops/ get in some drinking with friends/ go for various walks and excursions. 

saturday june 1st there's the jacken elswyth album launch gig. a matinee at greennotemusic. 

it's the evening before all of this is due to start and horsemouth has just noticed the rain starting (he's been waiting for it all day).

last night horsemouth dreamt he was alone on a frozen plain dressed in a blanket. a large bird with very small wings was succeeding in flying away through the trees. 

online meeting done bin walked down the drive horsemouth goes to deliver the eggs 'at the crossroads'

'it will take two decades to fix the housing crisis, and I fear it’s going to get worse before it gets better.' 

- rick de blaby, chief executive of get living.

so what did horsemouth learn in his online meeting then?

that  decarbonisation is being prioritised for home owners - why? 

because they have the money to do it. 

the money to decarbonise social housing simply isn't there (yet), either in government, in local authorities or in the willingness of the financial system to loan it out.

there is (of course) a conflict in some ways between the need to address decarbonisation and the need to address fuel poverty. 

what would our typical user on a prepayment meter make of the need to run an air source heat pump constantly to achieve maximum efficiency? the truth is that many people do not heat their homes adequately or even at all because they cannot afford to do so, and with rents increasing by an average of 9% this year and wages and benefits not matching this people are going to continue getting poorer in real terms. 

and the next two decades will be the decades of the housing crisis (as even the robber baron developers will tell you). 

to be in fuel poverty is defined as having less than £36k combined income per household per year (and typical gas and electricity bills). so, for the communal endeavour, if there are 4 people in a shared house they might not be in fuel poverty if they all earn as little as £9k a year. 

the EPC (energy performance certificate) rating and survey has two separate scales, one for energy performance and one for carbon emissions,  the government introduced the certificates in light of concerns about energy efficiency and fuel poverty and is now retroactively using them to diagnose more complicated issues relating to decarbonisation. 

tariffs are a big thing now that we have come out of the government price cap - if a combination of smart meters, batteries  and agile tariffs can get the price of your electricity down from 27p a kwh to 9p a kwh and at this price point many strange things become possible - heating with electricity for example at a similar price to heating with gas but with no CO2 created in the generation of the electricity. 

but of course there are no guarantees tariffs for electricity are going to stay low - particularly with the expansion of the grid that will be needed to deliver that additional juice. further the high interest rates we are currently experiencing (and are likely to experience for a while) and the high rate of cost inflation (in building materials for example) makes decarbonisation mare expensive and slows it down.

he must have a chat with his brother's eldest joe (who knows all about these things). 

so far for all the cheerful stuff.

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here in the countryside it is a bright sunshiney day (storms later apparently). yesterday was surprisingly good. horsemouth did some weeding down in the bottom garden. he did the tasks and he went for walks. 

. 

'the fire's burned, the ashes spread, the lifted light hears all that's said...'

the day's tasks? 

hop the eggs round to the crossroads (more of a t-junction really). 

take the recycling bin down to the bottom of the drive (like an actual physical wheelie-bin, not just a computer icon). 

in theory the weather will be greyish and cooler but with possible sun in the afternoon.  thursday a thunderstorm. friday just a rainy day. 

and friday horsemouth will be back to the wen. (the weather should be decent in the evening then there there's a possible thunderstorm saturday afternoon). 

'the fire's burned 

the ashes spread

the lifted light 

hears all that's said 

we are undead...'

horsemouth is trying to work out where harvey bainbridge copped the lyrics from. any thoughts? it seems rubiyat of omar khayyam-ish to him. hawkwind have a history of lifting poetry (longfellow a psalm of life, shelley hymn of apollo verse 3 etc.) as well as employing poets - michael moorcock, robert calvert and summarising novels (particularly under calvert) - steppenwolf, high rise, damnation alley, jack of shadows. 

chat GPT (or the microsoft search assistant copilot) liked it anyway but the poems it suggested as 'like' it (the hollow men, t.s. eliot etc.) weren't that convincing. 

horsemouth is not the only person to be sitting with kafka's diaries of late - the LRB (that is the london review of books) have been doing it also. they plan to put on a show at st. mary's church hay on wye on the 1st of june to coincide (roughly) with the centenary of kafka's death on the 3rd. it will feature music from max richter's the blue notebooks featuring some readings of kafka and ceslaw milosz.

horsemouth (as you know) will be away. 

howard's epistle to horsemouth has arrived. 

horsemouth has read it. he will not be telling you very much about it because (hey) it's a private letter. what he will do is show you what howard wrote on the outside of the envelope 'a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse' (as well as the address obviously otherwise it wouldn't have got here, plus there also had to be a stamp affixed). 

well it's a beautiful morning. horsemouth has bin out and watered some plants (not that they need it). hopefully the runner beans will grow up the trellis fast enough to avoid being eaten by the slugs. 

horsemouth has a meeting today 12 to1 on blended finance. 

'two drop' rainstorms (eternal now)

'lost all regularity in writing' - franz kafka, diaries, 14th may 1915.

yesterday lots of hideous stinky (but seems successful) fucking around with the drains.

horsemouth is waiting for the real rain. he wants to see if the temporary shelter he has fabricated for his runner bean plants will work. it is not his finest (engineering) moment but as long as it doesn't get too blowy it will survive. 

(he will let you know here how it goes. so far the rain just seems very determined.)

the serious rain is due to start at about 4pm. we are talking of about 8 hours of it. broadly we get wednesday off (and then it's more of the same). (admittedly according to the bbc in the wen the weather looks a little better - no 'two drop' rainstorms for example). 

having missed eagle eye cherry's birthday (may 7th) horsemouth has also missed the anniversary of the recording of eternal now - first and last tracks may 1st, the rest april 30th 1973. but horsemouth supposes it is the eternal now. of the people who played the don cherry gig horsemouth showed you recently (1973 jazz jamboree in poland)  bengt berger and christer bothén also play on this one. 

it's the morning after. it's sunny(ish). horsemouth has moved the covers from the runner bean plants. he's going to try to get out for a quick walk again before it starts raining (which he did). horsemouth and his mum may be lucky, the storm may have blown itself out and they may be into an OK day. the bbc weather is showing it alternating rain and shine at about 50% all day (horsemouth is not clear what the percentage figure means). 

horsemouth has started on maxwell fraser's welsh border country. it mentions the motte and bailey castle at ewyas harold (as visited by the reverend kilvert for a picnic probably built on the orders of william fitzosbern earl of hereford from 1067). 

there's a storm coming and horsemouth has a problem with the drains

 don, moki and eagle-eye cherry 1973 at jazz jamboree in poland. 

don cherry, trumpet and doussn'guni,

dodou gouriand, soprano;

christer bothén, doussn'guni, tenor; 

bobo stensson, piano; 

jane robertson, cello; 

palle danielsson, bass, 

bengt berger, drums, tabla; 

moki cherry, tamboura (and the textile art behind the band)

and eagle-eye cherry (dammit we missed his birthday 7th may 1968)

this time last year (and into june) horsemouth was mad for this stuff. it's a pleasure to be reminded of it.

oh dear there's a storm coming and horsemouth has a problem with the drains

yup. yesterday afternoon (after putting in the runner beans and having been for a walk on the common) horsemouth noticed that the level of water in the drains near the house was very high. so he opened up the inspection hatches . (the water was very high in these as well). he decided it seemed to him that the blockage was between the last inspection cover by the house  and the septic tank itself. he drained the inspection cover sink with a bucket (ew), chucked some enzymic cleaner down there and rodded through from the house side of it as far as he could and this morning he will rod through from the septic tank side of things (and chuck some enzymic cleaner down there) and see if that clears the blockage. if that fails there is only phoning a drainage company (and this with several days of heavy rain coming in). 

after that he had a shower (not thinking for a second that this would add water to the inspection cover sink and left his clothes out to be rained on).

remind him to cover up the runner beans before the storm hits tonight.  

ok so far today success (he thinks) with the drains. he's not convinced with the covering for the runner beans (he thinks the decision to put them out rather than to wait was dumb) but the weather forecast doesn't show strong winds so he may just get away with it. his mother tried to give him some advice on it but frankly horsemouth was not that receptive.

infinite liberty (scribbles, sketches, drawings, failed works, models, studies, thoughts, conversations...)

'all sorts of people dreamed of an utopia and infinite liberty...' - chestlin, persecutio undecima, in christopher hill's  a world turned upside down. 

 '... scribbles, sketches, drawings, failed works, models, studies, thoughts, conversations - are of interest. those that show the thought processes of the artist...' 

- sol lewitt, paragraphs on conceptual art, artforum, june 67 

well this is kind of max brod's idea. and the idea of autobiography. kafka was struggling to produce something much more modernist and minimalist and pared down in his fictions and brod spoiled it by slathering it all in autobiographical sauce.

how many years do we have to sit with kafka's diary with him claiming he cannot write until we are obliged to go yes he really struggled to write. horsemouth is trying to do it in real time he's up to the diary entry for 5th may 1915 ('nothing. dull slight headache. chotek park in the afternoon.' )

'for each work of art that becomes physical there are many variations that do not.' - the twelfth sentence from sentences on conceptual art, sol lewitt (1968).  this is  precisely what kafka was trying to foreclose. 

howard is sending horsemouth a letter.  he's taken to sitting in cafes writing letters with a fountain pen. they had zoom beers (horsemouth had one bottle of butty bach). horsemouth proposed they cover pastures of plenty. after the phonecall he took a look at it and decided it might be a bit too complicated. 

(night time. there was just something moving at the window. horsemouth thought it was the face of  the black cat had got up on the glass roof (but no it was a moth)). 

it's another beautiful morning. horsemouth is going to start shovelling dirt before it gets too hot and then, later on in the afternoon there's due to be a thunderstorm and a week of rain begins (eek). he's been hearing fat old sun by pink floyd in his head a lot lately. he's realised it was a tune he learnt from a songbook without having heard the original (thus he learnt it incorrectly but he doesn't seem to have done too badly). 

all ideas need not be made physical (the formation, development and obsolescence of words)

' all ideas need not be made physical' - sol lewitt, 10th sentence in sentences in conceptual art (1968)

 'all intervening steps - scribbles, sketches, drawings, failed works, models, studies, thoughts, conversations - are of interest. those that show the thought processes of the artist are sometimes more interesting than the final product.' 

- sol lewitt, paragraphs on conceptual art, artforum, june 67 

both quoted in luke skrebowski's notes on sentences, versuch no.1: notes and projects, ed. gil leung. 

horsemouth has finished reading down and out in paris and london (from whence 'the formation, development and obsolescence of words' the study of which orwell proposes). the paris side of the adventure is considerably more interesting with its drunkenness and low-life (it could be jean genet if orwell weren't such a prig). orwell persists in trying to solve social problems - proposing that the british doss-houses become places where people grow food (which is very modern). 

horsemouth's mum has had some raised plant beds built and horsemouth has just been throwing soil and compost into one of them (before the day warms up). the problem is the amount of soil necessary to fill them - it means altering the level of the garden (effectively) 

broadly horsemouth will try not to overdo it on the first day. 

he then has most of sunday to fill up the second (slightly smaller) planter. the runner beans (the ones horsemouth has been calling broad beans) seem to be doing well after their night out in the cold and horsemouth will soon plant them out (remind him to check this with his mum first so they don't get out of sync again). 

he also spent a little while this morning debugging his mum's  emergency alarm thingy (having seen it flashing) - it now connects through the wi-fi as well as over mobile phone signal (something that was, courtesy of modern technology, utterly painless to do). 

this is probably why he is posting slightly later than usual.

so how's the dude who moved to douarnenez getting on? 

well the house is gradually getting sealed against the elements, partition is getting built and insulated and the neighbourhood is gentrifying (turning into st. tropez say the locals). of course this is the problem with spending the  money you earn in the city out in the wilds/ in the poorer regions, it drives up the prices for the locals who have not had access to the money making potential of the city.  our architect here is wilfully oblivious to the effect of his actions. 

the universe is punishing him for refusing to accept its gifts

horsemouth is washing himself much less than he used to (is that oversharing?).. he's not sure what this is about, mourning probably. he has changed his underwear, t-shirt and perhaps even socks. he has been for a walk and even paddled in a river. so has he calmed down? he thinks if he's not fully calmed down he is certainly on his way towards it.

the weather and the countryside were beautiful but horsemouth was in a fearsomely shit mood. he had a plan to go bellringing but then the plan didn't work, the lift did not appear (hmm he'll have to find out why that was). this may be his dragon year but he has to admit he isn't feeling it so far (it is like the universe is punishing him for refusing to accept its gifts). 

the only plus side was he sat down and had a chat with his mum. he has his heading back to the wen day and they (allegedly) have a better understanding (horsemouth will see). tomorrow the guy is showing up to install the raised vegetable beds (hopefully that will all go ok but horsemouth admits to feelings of dread about it. it will probably go fine).  

it's another beautiful day in the countryside with picture postcard pretty views leaping out at him from every neglected corner. the speed of its transformation is amazing. (mind you next week it will be raining again so better get the appreciation in quickly). we have entered into the bright quarter of the year (the 13 weeks surrounding the summer solstice) 

dennis thompson the drummer of the MC5 has died. he was the last man standing. (and then there were none). 

that honesty may always be the best policy but, it is important to remember, it is not always guaranteed to work.

oh dear. two steps forward (six steps back). horsemouth has just lost his temper again. the proximate issue was whether the runner bean plants need to be hardened up by being left out at night before they can be planted out. (this is horsemouth's understanding). 

he has compromised. he has put them out in the day. 

now the thing with horsemouth (and you will find this strange from someone who engaged for so long with the communal endeavour) is that he likes to just get on with things, he doesn't like to have to explain or justify what he does. he likes to do things when the spirit moves him and as he sees fit.  he's not really a consensus-checking  direct democrat at all but more of an experimentalist. 

horsemouth is much more likely to go 'let's try it and see' rather than 'is everyone ok with that?'.(actually no, he's more likely to say 'I've tried it already and...' ) 

his time in a band many years ago cured him of any desire to engage in communal endeavour (and yet forced him to do so). this is why horsemouth loved music technology when it happened (MIDI and sequencers and samplers and drum machines) and also why he has subsequently moved in the direction of singer-songwriter-dom and folk guitar. 

horsemouth's life is a mess of frustrations. his general strategy is to try to appear to have stayed calm, to try and move things forward. to not over-attach to things happening (and to try not to plan too far ahead). 

(this is new improved horsemouth, but of course this takes effort and so is very tiring.)

the truth of it is that horsemouth has spent many long years trying to be agreeable rather than being honest with people and thus getting his real needs met (or not as the case may be).  honesty may always be the best policy but, it is important to remember, it is not always guaranteed to work. 

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

such were horsemouth's musings last night. how is he this morning? (wait let him go and get the second cup of coffee).

it's a beautiful day out (so he will probably go for a walk up onto the common. today he will stick to the dry and less muddy routes). it doesn't look like the recycling has been retrieved yet (when that has happened he will go and get the bin). yesterday he read a lot of down and out in paris and london by george orwell (he had forgotten or ignored the anti-semitism) page 100 so far and a little of versuch no1: notes and projects (ed. gil leung) in particular some responses to sol lewitt's sentences on conceptual art (he will discuss these another time).

he also got in a walk to the crossroads and then back round the edge of the base to the abbey. (this was very beautiful also).

this evening (possibly) some more bell ringing. 

today 1871 claude debussy's father (manuel debussy) is arrested and flung in jail as a communard

'debussy was born in the paris suburbs in 1862, to an impoverished family. his father, manuel, held a string of jobs, including china-shop owner, travelling salesman, and print worker. his mother, victorine, was a seamstress. in the period of the paris commune, in 1871, manuel served in the revolutionary forces, as a captain, and when the commune was defeated he spent more than a year in prison.'

- the velvet revolution of claude debussy, alex ross, the new yorker, october 22nd, 2018. 

there's probably more detail in the family and childhood of debussy by marcel dietschy and (noted debussy scholar) edward lockspeiser. horsemouth has a few books on debussy (indeed he has at least one by lockspeiser and one by debussy himself monsieur croche) but they are all back in the seaside towns. 

horsemouth has listened to a week of debussy's music on radio 4's composer of the week. the programme was premised on the idea that debussy was a bad lad and disreputable, borrowed money and didn't pay it back etc. but in the end with a composer all that is really left of them is the music and it is on this that their reputation stands or falls. 

debussy's is a fortunate life where he finds the thing he is good at, he finds the right people to teach him  and gets to do it.

horsemouth has just finished reading landscape with machines by l.t.c. rolt. rolt wants both sides of it, he wants the unspoiled countryside  but he also wants the machines and speed. for a while he reads like the car obsessed son from the murder at moorstones manor episode of ripping yarns but then he is diverted away from this by a mixture of unemployment (caused by the great depression) and the finding again of  his own poetic temperament in a love affair. he begins to write horror fiction for mystery stories magazine as the kind of work that can be done from anywhere (or in particular from a narrowboat cruising round the canals of england). 

rolt is derailed into art and literature. had it not been for the great depression he would probably have remained just an engineer (perhaps reading yeats in the evening). 

eventually he settles into a strange mixture of lives of the engineers (he has read samuel smiles in a second hand bookshop edition - 7s 6d) and h. j. massingham inspired nature writing. together with robert aickman he founds the inland waterways association and he was instrumental in the formation of the iron bridge gorge museum trust.  

yesterday a better day in the wilds. the task that was proving divisive got done. 

this morning a misty morning but sunny. a friend is back over in october. today some work and then some sitting out and reading. perhaps the usual missions with the eggs and with taking down the recycling bins. 

a year in the countryside (sweet earth flying)

one year in the countryside 

(it's the anniversary of horsemouth's coming out here into the wilds of herefordshire).

true he has been back to the city for something like two months all told in that time (he should total it up).

in that time he tried to support his father through the getting treatment for his cancer, the treatment of his cancer itself and then to support him through his death. then to support his mother through the funeral and the adjusting to the new dispensation (the illness and then death of the family dog for example). we are now coming back round to the point where he started (planting vegetables etc.).

there is a fair amount of consternation at the new tasks. horsemouth is wondering about the wisdom of his being out here at all. shouldn't he just leave his mum to get on with it? there's an alarm system. there's a friendship network, there are community tasks. 

there is no plant and produce sale at the village hall this year. instead there's a goodbye do for the postman who is retiring. 

in a bit (like the day before) a walk on the common. probably then rake up some more grass (a task his mum has described as 'a waste of time'). 

after a boiled egg and two slices of toast for breakfast horsemouth has just had two cheese and mayonnaise sandwiches for dinner, he's got a small pot of tea to be getting on with also. this is the usual pattern. 

yesterday was the last day on which rain was likely. today possibly even sunshine. (until the weekend). we have days approaching 21C. 

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

it is the morning. horsemouth has his coffee. it's flooding down in texas/ it's flooding down in rio grande do sul/ thailand is steaming in the heat - it is (some of it) el niño (and some of it is global warming). here it is grey and overcast. this week decent. next week rainy and shit. 

it is the second day of the annual sweet earth flying festival (recorded may 6th and may 7th 1974). it is the 50ieth anniversary in fact. 

'confusions about the place and the way in which I grew up...'

this will be the first entirely written in the morning blogpost in a while. 

yesterday afternoon zoom beers with howard. he has developed a sudden interest in the writings of joan didion and has ordered a copy of where I was from. 

coincidentally horsemouth has just read this and, inspired by his conversation with howard, took to re-reading it (hopefully with greater attention this time);

'such was the blinkering effect of the local dreamtime that it would be some years before I recognised that certain aspects of 'our california heritage' did not add up... this book represents an exploration of my own confusions about the place and the way in which I grew up...' 

howard was also threatening to watch chinatown (a film about LA and the water). 

joan is a californian. but not a johnny-come-lately californian (an okie or a bakersfield country fan) but a descendent of 'wagons across the mountains' californians. she taught herself to write by typing in hemmingway sentences, and her own sentences have that flinty quality. 

howard has taken to spending a lot of time in cafes writing.(like physically writing). maybe there will be a letter. hmmmn. interesting horsemouth barely does that anymore.  the nearest cafe is about 2 miles away but even so it would take considerable improvement in the weather for horsemouth to go up on the common and write and read. almost everything he 'writes' these days he actually 'types' (as he is doing here).  

horsemouth has been looking at baby I love you so by jacob miller. it seems to be an Aminor and Dsus2 song (with C and Dsus2 bits) (Dsus2 a D with the treble e string left ringing) mostly (there maybe a G in there).  this is the basis for augustus pablo's king tubby meets the rockers uptown. 

horsemouth is plotting his visits back to the seaside towns.  he is planning a gig (perhaps even a duo gig) and beginning to think about repertoire once again. 

horsemouth and a giant talking beetle

'nothing, dull slight headache. chotek park in the afternoon...'  - franz kafka, diaries, 5th may 1915.

o tempera! o mores! it had to happen. ladies and gentlemen I present to you,

'franz kafka exemplary employee'

'so he never turned into a beetle?' asked one of horsemouth's friends.

well, yes, he did.  replied horsemouth, but even then he came into work and attempted to represent his clients in court. hell he came into work early (despite some unfortunate troubles on public transport) and stayed late.

the problem with franz kafka 

there is of course a problem with franz kafka, at least as he is presented by max brod. you can read endless pages of franz whingeing on about not being able to write, but that is the irony, you can read them because max did not burn them as he was asked to do. he did not present you with kafka how kafka wished to be presented. he has allowed kafka's dull prosaic life to invade the scene of his fictions. 

faced with kafka's fictions and what is known of his life the modern world says  but he couldn't really have been like that and re-invents him as a do-gooding lawyer, an advocate of the poor. how long before it gets remade for netflicks? with a female side-kick? and a love triangle? perhaps the negative side of his consciousness could be represented by a giant talking beetle. 

once again with chick corea's return to forever - horsemouth is a big fan, in particular of the first two tracks (the first side we would have said), of flora purim's witchy warblings and screams, the drummer's no slouch - airto moreira and of course there's stanley clarke.

yesterday a beer with his mum. there was due to be zoom beers with howard but howard cancelled and horsemouth did not notice his un-cancellation until it was too late. 

paul auster is dead

yesterday horsemouth and his mum visited TESCOs (the kettle had died and needed replacing). the bbc weather reported rain all day for yesterday and grey for today but seems to have become more optimistic with time and is now showing more sun (as a possibility). we shall see. 

horsemouth made sure to get a two pack of  lavazza and a block of cheddar (and four more butty bachs). 

after that horsemouth went for a wander round on the common and found himself stamping round in a high dudgeon for no real reason - his house in london he finds frustrating, co-op politics he finds frustrating, and off he goes when really he should be paying more attention to careful footing and the beautiful scenery. (no he did not fall over in the mud this time). 

horsemouth is thinking about the possibilities of camping in hereford (at the hereford rowing club) and thus getting out and seeing some weirdshire gigs. also there's a sharron kraus/ alula down gig july 3rd  in nearby ledbury for example (scroll down for the details) and ledbury is even on the train line from london. remind him to pick up his tent and a sleeping bag when he next goes back. some friends are over the weekend of the 18th may and he's back cat-sitting on the borderlands from the 25th.to early june. 

--------------------------------- 

paul auster has died. 

auster translated one of horsemouth's favourite books, pierre clastres' chronique des indiens guayaki. ce que savent les aché, chasseurs nomades du paraguay into the english text chronicle of the guayaki indians. this  horsemouth found in a second hand bookshop and read.   

the translation itself was found in a second hand bookshop having been  presumed lost. it was rescued from oblivion, the same oblivion reaching out to destroy the guayaki indians. horsemouth was surprised to discover any of the guayaki living such is the dismal picture clastres paints of their future. horsemouth does not know if the band studied by clastres still survives, even if they are almost all the individuals who met clastres will be dead. 

‘although I have been back to paraguay several times, I have never seen the guayaki indians again. I have not had the heart to...’

clastres is himself dead. dead in a car accident. auster wrote; 

 ‘no matter that the world described in it has long since vanished, that the tiny group of people the author lived with in 1963 and 1964 has disappeared from the face of the earth. no matter that the author has vanished as well. the book he wrote is still with us... a small triumph against the crushing odds of fate...’

and now auster is dead. 

(milk reminder)

'completely indifferent and apathetic. a well gone dry...' - franz kafka, diaries, 3rd may 1915.

meanwhile (in 1808) the valiant people of madrid are being massacred by the french army. 

'the first great picture which can be called revolutionary in every sense of the word, in style, in subject, and in intention' - art historian kenneth clark, 

and meanwhile too, today is bandcamp friday, the 40th bandcamp friday (there are a number of special events and listening parties). horsemouth thought he had one of howard's golden glows to play you but he doesn't (it turns out to be 3rd april 2020 not 3rd of may - ah well so it goes).

yesterday horsemouth went for a wander on the common and then he and his mum wandered down to the village hall so that she could empty out the coin meter.  but they had forgotten there were the local council elections going on and it was being used as a polling station (so they returned home empty handed, though on the way back horsemouth did find a muddy 20p piece lying in the road). 

while it rained he reviewed a few books on goodreads;

 - landscape with machines (ltc rolt)

 - diaries 1926-1957 (antonia white, ed. susan chitty)

 - where I was from (joan didion)

 - nostalgia (mircea cărtărescu) 

he constructs his reviews from the isolated comments he has made here and there on this blog and on facebook. he writes not too badly (as you know) and has a good eye for a quote so, by and large, they don't come out too badly.. 

he's reading a lot less than he used to (and spending more time farting about on the internet). the sun is good for reading because then he can sit outside and read (and it is harder to read of a computer screen when the sun is on it and even laptops are intrinsically less portable than paperback books). 

horsemouth chickened out of going bell-ringing last night (he is now cursing himself for a fool) but he will go next week. there are quite a few bell related events in the next few weeks, he will either try and blag a lift or walk over (about an hour and a half) to attend them. or maybe he will bottle out we shall see. 

currently the plan today is to go to TESCOs (the kettle has died and needs replacing for a start). the bbc weather reports rain all day (and grey tomorrow). ah yes he has been reminded, the milk. 

this record (boho dance) (rubbish bin reminder)

 

'this record is a total work conceived graphically, musically, lyrically and accidentally 

– as a whole... 

the whole unfolded like a mystery... 

it is not my intention to unravel that mystery for anyone.' 

- joni mitchell, sleevenotes to the hissing of the summer lawns (1975) 

it is the afternoon of wednesday the 1st of may and the mist has at last cleared and the sun is finally shining. horsemouth has delivered the eggs and taken the rubbish bin down to the bottom of the drive. (he has put up more bamboo canes for the broad beans (whenever they should need them) and moved a bench (at his mother's insistence). 

he sat out and read owen hatherley's account of a visit to hamburg (the white review, no.12.) and a short story by álvaro enrigue about a samurai in mexico at the time of new spain (was this a thing? or is it some kind of steampunk game?). apparently it was a thing.

'his short story ‘a samurai sees the sunrise in acapulco’ (tr. rahul bery)... expands on a period in the 1600s when japanese merchant ships, guarded by samurai warriors, docked in mexico...' 

danse bohémienne is one of debussy's first compositions, written at the age of 18. it's kind of dull and too busy at the same time. it's difficult to tell from bad debussy why he is so good. he has been composer of the week on radio 4 but they have a knack for playing what is bad by him, what is rare (or unfinished) rather than what is good (too many wailing sopranos). there's a tendency to take the orchestral and sung pieces over the piano pieces. 

we have only just reached deux arabesques and prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (when it begins to get good, you can hear things from the first arabesque being recycled later).  

joni mitchell's boho dance she declares to be named after a 'tom wolfe-ism' lifted from the book 'the painted word' on the art world.   

'...the ritual has two phases: (1) the boho dance, in which the artist shows his stuff within the circles, coteries, movements, isms, of the home neighborhood, bohemia itself, as if he doesn't care about anything else; as if, in fact, he has a knife in his teeth against the fashionable world uptown. (2) the consummation, in which culterati from that very same world, le monde, scout the various new movements and new artists of bohemia, select those who seem the most exciting, original, important, by whatever standards -- and shower them with all the rewards of celebrity.'

perhaps this is what makes horsemouth think of joni as joan didion in song? the dryness, the coldness, the observation. 

today is the second of may - in madrid in 1808 the peninsular war is about to turn. the people rise up against the napoleonic occupiers and the francophile ruling class. it inaugurates bloody years of guerrilla war in spain (as chronicled by goya in his prints los desastres de la guerra). 

today a rainy morning. in a bit horsemouth will go out and check on the state of the bins. 

BELTANE (international workers day)

when it is the morning horsemouth will go around changing the calendars.

his dore abbey calendar will show a cross on the roof. the countryfile calendar (two copies - office and kitchen) will show a somewhat crazed sheep. his brother and his wife's calendar downstairs (dining room) will show his brother, and his wife, and their youngest high above the river in porto. 

horsemouth has been transferring events to his diary. 

wednesday may 1st - egg delivery, take down the rubbish to the bottom of the drive. (egg deliveries wednesdays and sometimes saturdays, rubbish and recycling alternate week by week. tuesday and fridays take milk over to the garage). 

thursday may 2nd - bring the hopefully emptied rubbish bin back up the drive, celebrate the 1808 rioting of the population of madrid against the napoleonic invaders. (fail to vote in london mayoral election - sorry sadiq).

friday may 3rd - continue celebration of the 1808 rioting of the population of madrid against the napoleonic invaders. bandcamp friday, publish a golden glow and a kafka quote from 1915. 

saturday may 4th - mum goes to the garage (pick up the saturday daily torygraph which includes the TV guide). 

sunday may 5th - publish a golden glow and a kafka quote from 1915.  perhaps some more discussion of the mokrani revolt.

tuesday may 6th - publish a golden glow.

wednesday may 8th - 1871 claude debussy's father (manuel debussy) is arrested and flung in jail as a communard. 

thursday may 9th - deathday LTC rolt (whom horsemouth has been reading recently and plans to read more of)

and so on...

round about the 22nd may horsemouth will return to the wen. 

there are a number of gigs (mini pops, triple negative) he wants to see and he has promised to cat-sit a house on the borderlands. 

at some point in june there will be the meeting of the communal endeavour members in the houses with the guys who have been designing the retrofit of the insulation to the properties. further ahead he has noted some free classical gigs at the QEH at the start of july, some free organ recitals at dore abbey every saturday in august, and the hereford river carnival nearly the last saturday in august (24th). first saturday in september hymn of praise by mendelsohn at the abbey (£5). 

yesterday border checks on the vast majority of foods coming from the EU started (a full 8 years after brexit because they've been putting it off). horsemouth expects it to be proper shit with camembert doubling in price and halving in availability etc. 'we might not always have cheese like we used to...' 

this morning another olafur elaison installation - the sun strobe lighting the mist in the valley (but soon the sun is risen and hidden behind clouds and now it is just misty). now it is due to stay grey all day and then rain in the evening.