horsemouth is back in the wilds

so after a journey in a car horsemouth is back in the wilds.

the triad clothes resale people have done well out of him. TG is up some shelves. he moved most of his books, records and CDs (many of which he will of course discover he now no longer wants).  he has hidden some stuff in the back room (including the guild acoustic guitar on which he recorded funeral music - the one where the strings have lifted making it only really playable as a slide guitar. 

typically the day of his journey was bright and sunny (not to mention hot). it was a great relief to finally get the car loaded up and away.  

they took the high road to birmingham. diverting off wales and west. falling back into the usual pattern at ross. 

a misty morning. horsemouth has promised sten (for he was the driver) some apples and some damsons. 

horsemouth has put up his the lycan poster from sean and the temperance poster that minty gave him. he will see about bargaining with his mum about using his rugs from london in the room (rather than her rugs). 

last days, last night, last morning

so horsemouth met

fiona, luke, myk, vic, vic's friend (sorry dude forgot your name), vadim, boris, enza (michelangelo), suke, kevin, morven, morven's friend, joe, steff (very briefly). 

(horsemouth apologises if he has forgotten to mention you). 

horsemouth went over to the 40 years of the hackney peace mural celebration  sadly he missed kevin g. davy playing as part of the band down in the curve garden. he did get to bump into kevin and talk to him - he was off to the unveiling of a plaque for saxophone player ray carless at the vortex. 

when he got there at about 3 the two sound systems were set up already.  channel one were being classically awesome. 

myk in particular seemed to be having an excellent time. 

mc det (son of uk reggae star jah globe immortalised in the mural) walked through the crowd (and was greeted by many, horsemouth was a little slow off the mark). 

he lasted out til about 6 (he regrets not staying for the end at 7pm).  

anyway he said what he wanted and needed to say (he thinks). 

and he's off. 

it is nearly time to move on to new things

so this is it horsemouth's last full day in hackney as a resident. (boo-hoo)

he is sad to go. his friends are here and he has spent 40 years in this town (give or take a few months here and there).  he moved to hackney (this time) 9 years ago (but he has been away most of the last 2 years). 

but it is time (or nearly time) to move on to new things. 

horsemouth has stripped down his room to the point where the white walls he painted nine years ago are visible. he has given away most of his bookshelves. the raised bed base was made (so it can be unmade). he leaves behind a folding side table in dark wood, one of those vintage indian/ moroccan (variously described) low coffee tables, a chair (also in dark wood) and the world's least space effective CD storage cupboard. 

the shelves that daryl screwed to the wall are still up.

various things horsemouth has hidden in the back room. 

in some ways he has done his work too well and given away/ chucked out too much stuff to give himself anything to do on the last day (and in some ways he has failed to do this). 

the stuff that horsemouth is taking (books and records mostly) sits out in the corridor waiting for d-day (monday). 

he has a plan for the day but he is not sure it is suitable (but it can be re-arranged). 

forgive horsemouth (he has been somewhat remiss)

forgive horsemouth he has been somewhat remiss.

he has failed to tell you what he got up to yesterday (and he is about to tell you what he got up to today). 

today horsemouth went down to the bermondsey folk festival organised by george cunning folk (among others, perhaps pedro is still involved). 

horsemouth, myk and howard missed  cunning folk who opened (but the caught him again later).

next up okinawa sanshinkai did a variety of japanese island musical styles and dances (these reminded horsemouth of the dance to prince charming  by adam and the ants a bit). these got great audience participation. howard had seen them before. 

next up gemma khawaja who did a great version of michael hurley's the werewolf (closer to michael hurley's version that the musician of bremen version) and also a great version of polly vaughn. 

then bity booker - who finished with little boxes by malvina reynolds and did a frog and mouse wedding song (both special requests). 

carragher academy of irish dance were great. 

jacken elswyth was a no show (due to train problems) instead george returned to the stage for a banjo driven set of pop covers (thus illustrating the folk process). 

there was a discussion of the origins of the name balls pond road which presumably impleies there was once a pond. horsemouth said he had never considered the possibility that there was a pond and that this was another example of history being hidden in words. howward seemed to like this idea. 

horsemouth and howard did not hang around for indika ital (fyah mawi & ifatunde orunmila) pleading tiredness and pressures of work. myk stayed (so maybe there will be a report from him). the jubilee line to bermondsey makes accessing al this very pleasant a very easy. horsemouth had flashbacks of travelling to work using it - he must have used it a lot when supporting a student at university of south bank (he would walk in from there).  

horsemouth and howard had a pint each (and manfully resisted any suggestions by each other that they should have more). howard had a cup of tea and ate a curry, horsemouth had a jamaican vegetable pastie and a double espresso. they both stole some of myk's chips and chili sauce from the chips and saveloy he had gotten round the corner. 

so what happened yesterday? 

a busy day

horsemouth went round enza's for lunch (and then came back). then he dropped off some guitars round at ayesha's and hanna's (and they fed him pizza). then - he dashed to a pub in stoke newington to see an art exhibit with enza in part by her friend barney (barney's boyfriend was there and their dog). horsemouth had met them at enza's birthday party about a year ago. 

thus horsemouth's itinerary looks something like this;

friday enza hanna ayesha enza barney (barney's boyfriend)

saturday bermondsey folk festival - myk howard

sunday recovery

monday away

a greyish morning...

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this pleasantly messy town

last night with mike H horsemouth was more sensible than he usually is and so is not too badly damaged this morning.

he went over for a farewell meeting with colin. truly it was colin's support in the communal endeavour that enabled horsemouth to get things done and to play at the top of his game. horsemouth has commented before of his leaving that it was 'emotional'  and so it is. 

horsemouth has spent 40 odd years in this pleasantly messy town he will miss it terribly. 

his plan is to walk the clothes rail round to TG's and then have a brief wander to keep his mind and body occupied. 

yesterday morning up 8am after a good night's sleep. 

fiddling about until TG arrived then they took the two raised shelves (horsemouth could point them out to you on a picture) and the larger curved end shelves round to T's using the trolley. they pause several times on the way. later TG came back and picked up  the folding shelves (that just left the clothes rail). 

in the afternoon (after baked beans on toast restitution) horsemouth went for a wander up the canal towards the anchor and hope and then back round via a street he used to live in. (broadly counterclockwise). 

p.s. horsemouth got called 'uncle' by a dude in a shop - so he's starting to look his age (clearly). 

horsemouth will try to be more sensible than he usually is

horsemouth was up early tidying things up and sorting things out and hiding things in the junk room.

yesterday TG round in the morning (1030 or so). shift the chest of drawers back to his and one of the IKEA-type wooden file trays. they took the art nouveau styled kitchen unit off the wall (and then TG decided he didn't want it anyway). 

(TG probably round tomorrow to shift the two foldable shelves, the nice rounded edge wall unit and a metal clothes rail.)

having worked (like workers) they then went up to the falafel restaurant on chatsworth road to celebrate. 

horsemouth then returned home to catch up with sten, have a chat in the kitchen, and then agree the order of service for moving day (dependent on the car keys being found). 

the crossbones graveyard celebration

after a brief afternoon snooze. horsemouth headed off to crossbones graveyard for the monthly vigil.  john constable was there and up from glastonbury. there was a eulogy for pirate radio dj brimstone (jason fisher) by his father. 

horsemouth then walked back with sammi and max up to shoreditch high street before cutting through via the flower market to take a look at two flats on the nags head estate that he used to live in on.  

then on hackney road he waited an inordinate amount of time for a 55. 

today more furniture shifting/ room emptying/ waiting for people to get in touch. in the evening back to the dread pub in soho (michael and becky and anyone else who is about). horsemouth will try to be more sensible than he usually is. 

visit schedule

saturday howard, 

sunday recovery, ian, daryll, his brother

monday TG, the bank, melissa

tuesday TG, sten, sammi, max

wednesday  TG, mike H, becky(?), anyone else who is about...

thursday

friday

saturday bermondsey folk festival

sunday recovery

monday away

still in the glorious sunshine

'horsemouth is returning from his post drinking session hangziety...

horsemouth is up and has been out for an early morning womble in the golden light. it looks like it will be a lovely day. the powerscroft road  book-box was jammed full of leavings from the street jumble sale the day before,,. 

the sheer amount of books he has to shift functions as a criticism of his literary taste. horsemouth's strategy has always been this is cheap and it looks like it could be interesting - this has stood him in good stead for many years (but now that he comes to move it he sees the error of his ways)...' 

he has it all stacked up in the corridor anyway. (he does hope he's got the proportions right).

still in the glorious sunshine

he went for  a walk with TG up to the velodrome. they talked (as they do) and then made their way back to horsemouth's where horsemouth tried to give away what remains of his furniture. 

TG took a set of white painted wooden shelves - narrow, freestanding. he took photos of the rest the better to have a think about them. 

next horsemouth was off to the bank to sort out his financial embarrassments (tick - done). he went via the overground to highbury and islington and then walked from there. in the bank the same crazy seated queueing thing (horsemouth does hope he didn't cut in line but he thinks he did). 

back by the 30 jumping off at hackney central and walking through by the church tower. kids coming out of school to be picked up by their parents or walking home. 

still in the glorious sunshine (almost t-shirt weather). though ian has just pointed out there's a storm cloud coming. outside the building work continues. 

as the sunlight faded horsemouth headed out to try and see in  the equinox - as he cut through the side streets he met melissa (he hasn't seen her since he first came back to hackney). they chatted and then he was away. the equinox happened on the corner of morning lane. 

horsemouth then returned home counterclockwise (he got a bag of chips on the way). 

later a wedding announcement and a plan to go out wednesday night. horsemouth has a plan to go out tuesday night as well (hopefully he will pace himself properly). 

this morning a reminder of hermeto pascoal. horsemouth is unsure what he will do with the day. 

AUTUMN EQUINOX

a rare in capitals heading from musicians of bremen.

the autumn equinox occurs monday 22nd september at 19:19 BST. 

(horsemouth is not sure when that is for you where you are, wherever you may be). 

he types this the day before he has been tidying out his room in the house preparatory to his brother coming round with the car and them loading it up with stuff (books mostly). 

he has made a trip to the clothing recycling bank to chuck away a load of socks. he has been up the hill to the book bank to give away some books. 

it seems to be jumble sale day in the local streets (very dangerous to an acquisitive beast like horsemouth). 

he did a run down to the local shop for bread and cheese and spread and then over to the aldi for more cookable food. he dropped off some books at the aldi book-box. 

7pm his brother has just been. horsemouth has sent him off with a ton of books (probably not literally but it felt like it). 

11ish his brother messages saying he has arrived safely. this means part 1 of horsemouth's two part scheme has succeeded (now on to part two).

his current plan for the equinox is to go into his bank and see if there is any reason why his bank card is misbehaving (as it seems to be). 

darn it horsemouth has missed open house -  the event where you get to wander round the usually shut up bits of london and an incredible string band tribute.

horsemouth is up and has been out for an early morning womble in the golden light. it looks like it will be a lovely day. the powerscroft road  book-box was jammed full of leavings from the street jumble sale (so horsemouth could not drop off his leavings there). 

the sheer amount of books he has to shift functions as a criticism of his literary taste. horsemouth's strategy is basically this is cheap and it looks like it could be interesting - this has stood him in good stead for many years (but now that he comes to move it he sees the error of his ways). 

horsemouth is returning from his post drinking session hangziety. he plans a walk with TG in a little while. 

horsemouth in the golden morning light

horsemouth is up. he's made one visit to the book-box already (dropping off not picking up). the sunlight is golden and the streets (sunday morning) are quiet. 

last night a phonecall from his mum (so that's good). and he's expecting another tonight. 

er. sad to say horsemouth fell over on an escalator while drunk on the way home from meeting howard up the pub with pizza - where they had a pizza each er. and some beer, and some more beer, and... well you know how it ended up. 

he had some chips on the way home after all that excitement. 

the good news - he's richer than he thought. the bad news his debit card seems to have decided to stop tapping (perhaps it is just temporary). 

in a bit he will go and get some bread and cheese and such like. 

'16 chickens (and all is well)' (it is not the equinox)

it is not the equinox until the 22nd (he is told)

horsemouth has met this problem before. there is no 0720 bus on a saturday - there's no bus until 0920. last time he beat it by walking to pontrilas (to go see alula down in malvern), this time he's just going to have the day 2 hours late. 

he should still make east ham by 4pm. 

he'll probably keep a running commentary going on his journey. 

ok he's up. he has unleashed the chickens. he has changed the bedding on the bed. he has made sure he has his house keys and cash etc.). 

ok it's 11.35 and he is leaving a rainy newport. the route via newport is more expensive (but takes less time). he has been lucky with his connections so far. the journey takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes (newport to paddington) so he should be in paddington by 13.20  which means he should be round howard's about one hour after that. 

in which horsemouth plans ahead

horsemouth will leave for the wen on saturday.  he plans to leave early and catch up with howard in east ham. he feels slightly guilty about this. it means leaving his mum on her own all day saturday and sunday. 

sunday will be a day of rest (and packing) evening he will be loading up a car with his brother (hopefully that will enable him to get lots of stuff away). his brother will then drive up arriving sunday night. 

in the week he will wander round town trying to meet up with friends in the week. enza should be around after mid-week,  mike H (and becky) should be back from their travels. 

saturday 27th there's the bermondsey folk festival (12 - 5pm) thing (gemma khawaja, jacken elswyth etc. weather currently showing as sunny but not too warm) he will try and meet up with howard. 

sunday will be a day of rest (and packing). horsemouth would go back then but he would face a four mile walk from the nearest bus stop to his mum (one of the few buses in herefordshire that operates on a sunday). 

monday he will return to the wilds. hopefully with all his chattels and suchlike but failing that at least with some of them and a plan. 

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hanging around to go bell-ringing. not a marvellous day. a quick walk on the common. the smell of tomatoes when they are watered. 

he has been calculating train fares - it seems like the cheapest way is via birmingham new street  to euston - it looks like he can get it down to £37.95 (return) by judicious choice of trains and by the acceptance of a 4 hour journey time (trains and waiting only). this compares favourably with the £50.50 and 3 hours 45 minute journey time to paddington (incorporating a similar 30 mins wait at worcester). 

'.... soon all of us will sleep under the earth...'

'.... soon all of us will sleep under the earth, we who never let each other sleep above it.' 

- from 'I know the truth' by marina tsvetaeva(1915). (trans. by elaine feinstein). 

above marina tsvetaeva's I don't need you anymore performed by polina agureeva. 

god that's a rough life (read the wikipedia). 

here a rainy morning (what is global warming going to make happen? more rain). 

this evening bellringing (almost certainly). 

as a kid in caerphilly in about 1980 horsemouth remembers a discussion about local punk bands. the name mutilated jelly came up. 'but they're not really punk' said someone. 

next week back to the wen for the 'final' clear round, tidy up and move. horsemouth will probably go on the saturday, his brother will probably arrive the sunday night. on the sunday evening together they will load stuff into his car (hopefully). 

reading in order

'you encounter the characters in the wrong order, as in a bad dream...' - brandon taylor, is it even good? brandon taylor reads zola, LRB, 4th april 2024. 

it's a tuesday afternoon (when he writes this) and horsemouth has to get on. 

monday he was making progress. tuesday he has let his eye go off the ball. 

ok he went for a walk (counterclockwise) round the common and walked a letter of his mum's down to the post box. 

ok so he  just got some removals firms to contact. 

remind him to lock up the chickens (he forgot monday night). 

yesterday (in 1852) thoreau goes over to fair haven pond. there are a lot of hawks there, 'what makes it such a day for hawks? there are eight or ten in sight from the cliffs.' 

in his article for the LRB brandon taylor ponders over the order in which the  rougon-macquart novels of zola should be read (modifying vizetelly's recommended order), he struggles with the dull ones (these, the sin of abbe mouret, the dream, are the rare ones, seldom seen in the penguin livery.  these are ones that horsemouth hunted for high and low (and having started them they languish unread). if taylor takes against nana, he takes up l'assommoir, germinal, earth, la débâcle.

it is a grey rainy morning. horsemouth has unleashed the chickens and he has his coffee. he is trying not to get anxious about making the move and paying for it (as usual nothing is ever simple for him). he keeps on hoping it will all get magically sorted (or at least not go horrifically wrong). 

as usual horsemouth always feels like he is in the wrong place to exert effort upon the problem. 

man with a van for a journey out into the wilds - any suggestions anyone?

'no one will tell me what I am, nor knows who I was...' 

- fernando pessoa, the book of disquiet, 16th september 1931.

phew

ah but horsemouth is a wee grumpy beastie. 

he has (however) got the TESCO order delivered, done a walk to the village and back (to post a letter and hopefully that is that task done correctly). 

he has also ordered the heating oil for the house (they can't tell him when they are coming but hey ho). anyway sometime this week it will arrive (and then his mum can refuse to pay for it). 

his brother is coming up the evening of sunday 21st september and presumably going back sunday 28th 

horsemouth has just tried to see if he can get his brother to take up  another sneaky extra carload of books (looks like it's a runner). 

he's looking at man and van, he's looking at self-storage. (at least he has a fallback plan he thinks).

now to pay for it. 

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

horsemouth has just done his last meeting for the communal endeavour 

he's kind of pleased to have got it done. they talked and horsemouth realised they have learned nothing from the twenty or so years he knew them. 

fortunately horsemouth is gone. it is no longer his problem. 

he carries a lot of stress from those years it will be interesting to see what happens when it leaves him. 

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

well it's the morning. horsemouth is up earlier than usual. wait let him check where the sun is rising (it is still behind the hill). as the autumn and winter progress the sun will roll southwards towards the mouth of the valley (and possibly, to some extent,  counteract the rising later effect with a getting up above the hills earlier effect). 

rainy day (rain all day)

rain. rain all day (nearly)

horsemouth should not be surprised by this. he has already survived two winters in the wilds in this tranche (and the third is on its way). 

indeed he should know that (in general) the climate is due to be warmer and wetter as a result of global warming (warm air can carry more water vapour so hence more rain). more than this the over saturation of rain clouds can lead to rain falling in different places leading to crop failure and then the more rainfall when it does come resulting in more flooding. 

fortunately horsemouth's mum's place is half-way up a hill and not prone to flooding. the village down the road has the dulas brook running through it (so it is prone to flooding). 

but things do get soggy and muddy. it gets difficult to get up onto the common and walk on it. it gets difficult to take exercise. 

at some point you just have to put on your boots and raincoat and go out into it regardless. 

on this day in 1871 kilvert dreams of giving his wedding speech. 

later. it is raining more heavily. a last recalcitrant chicken has to be coaxed into the shed. 

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and now the written-in-the-morning part of the blogpost. he watched lea ypi (uk and albanian passport) and aaron bastani (uk passport and iranian azeri heritage) discuss the fall of empires (ottoman, austro-hungary), multi-ethnic empires as opposed to ethno-nationalist nation states. as an albanian  male lea ypi's brother can't get a visa to come here (and yet there is work, which is why there are so many albanian males in the boats). it's the passport you hold that gets you access. 

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

today a delivery from TESCO, a letter is sent, and horsemouth gains more clarity with his plans.

the last night of the proms

'somehow things seem to look brighter and more cheerful this morning...' - kilvert on this day 1871. 

'investigating from the very edge of the last plague' 

- benediction after the eating of the sheep, ostia, sergio citti and pier paolo pasolini (auto-translate). 

saturday afternoon horsemouth and howard met for zoom beers.

one topic of conversation was the repurposing of vaudeville tune ta ra ra boom de ay to the current chant of we want our country back. (many other words fit to this song why don't you just fuck off springs to mind). 

100,000 into the anti-immigration thing march in the streets of whitehall. the counter demonstration is much smaller and has difficulty getting away. it is depressing times. horsemouth assumes that this will keep on right up until the next election (he doesn't - at the moment - see why the next election should come early). 

at that point it may transfer to electoral politics or it may carry on as a mixture of  the streets and the ballot box (as it is at the moment). curiously the next town up with a prospective reform win by-election is caerphilly (horsemouth's old home town). 

as it turns out ta ra ra boom de ay is not in fact french in origin (as horsemouth assumed - though there was in fact a french version) but merely mock french and american in origin (and possibly african american).  the version that is famous in england is the lottie collins' version. 

(there's a version by elmo). 

howard attempted to share harry mudie and king tubby full dose of dub but horsemouth couldn't play it at the time and could only play it later. 

later he watched ostia a film written by pasolini and staring one of his favourite actors franco citti. 

his mum watched the last night of the proms (for the patriotic flag waving). 

horsemouth doesn't think there is harmless patriotic flag waving but there is certainly less harmful patriotic flag waving. 

'ways, means and prospects...'

'an ever memorable day in my life. I went to the vicarage at 10 o'clock and had a long talk with him on the lawn about my attachment to daisy. ways, means and prospects...' - kilvert, on this day in 1871.

kilvert wants to marry daisy thomas. her father is not encouraging (but he's not discouraging either).  kilvert feels quite low afterwards.

no thoreau for a while (at least not from the stapleton a writer's journal). non-stop is done (horsemouth pronounces it most enjoyable). outlaw bookseller says the hero in non-stop is similar to the hero in hothouse - a small grumpy man unleashed on the world. 

yesterday horsemouth dug up some potatoes.  he went over to ewyas harold to pick up the hereford times. 

this morning the black cat was out hunting on the banking. the chickens are considerably noisier now that there are more of them. horsemouth has gone back to resembling middle-aged goya, fleshy, slightly exhausted. 

last night he watched some of jean-pierre melville's le samourai - alain delon as contract killer in a grey and seedy paris (immaculate control of the colour palette, immaculate music by roublaix).  the only fly in horsemouth's ointment was that it had been dubbed into russian. 

today probably egg delivery.

monday a TESCO delivery. 

an entirely written in the morning blogpost and a break in service (endymion sleep)

'a wretched restless feverish night.' - kilvert on this day 1871.

he has decided he loves daisy thomas. he's about to go and ask for her hand in marriage. 

thoreau (1851) has been walking after midnight again.

'after I spent the greater part of the night abroad in the moonlight. I am obliged to enough more the next night to make up for it, - endymionis somnorum dormire (to sleep an endymion sleep) as the ancients expressed it...' 

sorry people there's been a break in service while horsemouth travelled to the wen, went out drinking and then came  back from the wen. he found the whole process quite tiring (though it was great to see people - michael and mike and the guy from NY/ limerick). 

at the pub horsemouth spent a lot of time discussing the wire and even digressed off into farming (an area where he has no expertise). 

and so you will have an entirely written in the morning blogpost (when horsemouth finishes writing it). 

he's nearly done reading non-stop by brian aldiss which is as knockabout and sardonic as you could wish for. he has egremont here but he's not sure if he will read it. he could take another crack at caleb williams. 

where does horsemouth purchase his clothes?

this morning horsemouth is up and off and out to visit the wen. it is a brief flying visit so don't expect to see him (unless you are incredibly lucky). he has a meet at a pub in soho (55 bus in he thinks - or is it the 56 these days). 

 'an awful lot is changing in fashion retail' 

none of this affects horsemouth. he wears clothes merely to prevent offenses against the norms of this society and to keep out the cold (mostly to keep out the cold).

horsemouth mostly purchases his clothing in charity shops. a lot of clothing he takes from other people second-hand directly (he's not proud). he's not that fussy about what he wears as long as he doesn't have to go shopping with someone else for it. 

recently he's been putting lots of clothes in the clothes recycling bins here there and everywhere because he has too many clothes that he has accumulated over the years. 

yesterday horsemouth was getting anxious. he went out to do the shopping and that sorted him out for the while (then he went to do the egg delivery and that sorted him out for the afternoon).  in the end he got more done - he got the pest control man paid and he got in a TESCO order. 

as a result it started to look like a productive day and he started to feel better about it. a 0% beer with his mum. 

horsemouth has a blocked nose (one nostril only). 

 

stop me if you've heard this one before (the dream of home ownership)

new day? new housing secretary....

stop me if you've heard this one before

'the labour government inherited the worst housing crisis in living memory, with a shortage of homes creating soaring house prices that block families from their dream of home ownership...

 let’s get britain building.'

to be brutally honest horsemouth doesn't expect anything like the amount of housing the government are claiming they are going to build will actually get built - and certainly very little of what does get built will be social housing for rent (the type that would do the most to alleviate housing poverty). 

because past experience...

and whatever does get built the existing infrastructure will be expected to carry the additional load (because it will all be more efficiently run with AI and because wes streeting's reforms will be pure genius). 

the dream of home ownership

the dream of home ownership is a big part of the problem. because the politicians view their job as satisfying that aspiration of people not as solving difficult and intractable social problems such as homelessness, poverty and bad housing. the one is pleasant to think about, the other is not. 

historically home ownership was actually possible for many people. it no longer is. 

horsemouth thinks it is important to defend people's ownership of assets (like their homes) and not to allow their complete impoverishment. similarly it is important to prevent the market from controlling the majority of the housing in the country - it is, or can be, a very efficient extractor of value leaving little for people to actually live on. 

he realises this is not marxist orthodoxy. 

he would like the labour party to be focused on building council housing (or its equivalent) this would save it a ton of money on the benefits bill, it would stop (or slow down) the wealth transfer from taxpayers to private landlords via housing benefit.

here a beautiful morning

tomorrow horsemouth is off to the wen for a lightning visit. today (as is usual whenever he travels) he wanders round with itchy feet. 

the equinox and the end of the month

aargh! hassle with horsemouth's escape plans!

horsemouth (as usual) wants to be away early (just to make sure it actually happens). 

and then he will be back (like he says he will).

he's going into a tube strike (god knows what that'll be like). 

he doesn't see the problems as insuperable though. 

allegedly the elizabeth line will be running. allegedly the overground will be running. the buses will be running. 

the meet is a pub in soho. horsemouth thinks it should work. 

right now, as horsemouth types this (sunday evening 20.31) the shadow of the earth is upon the moon. ok 20.43 nearly over. 20.56 nearly over.  he missed the red moon earlier. 

and right now (again). it is 07.41 in the morning. horsemouth has just fed the chickens. he will be back out later to water the tomato plants and shovel the chicken shit out of their shed. there is an autumnal nip in the air. he has his coffee. he has taken a look at the grauniad (currently running an uglification campaign to get people to subscribe). 

horsemouth is reading non-stop, rather than watership down, rather than caleb williams. 

soon enough the radio 4 news (though no longer news briefing).

it's a beautiful morning (but cold).  coming up - the equinox and, at the end of the month, a last visit to the room in the wen. 

several ill-assorted companions go on a quest

'we are receiving our portion of the infinite. the art of life! was there ever anything memorable written upon it?'  - thoreau, journals,  on this day in 1851. 

'fanny and dora came by the 4.10 train in very good form except that dora had a headache. fanny promises to play the harmonium in the church for us next sunday and we went to the church to practice before supper.'  - kilvert, thursday 7th september 1871.

tonight a full moon 19: 42 BST (the one last night looked beautiful)

the next 3 are super moons - low to the horizon and thus appearing very large. 

7th october – 18:20 BST - harvest moon 

5th november – 15:55 UTC

4th december – 14:48 UTC

and because the full moon in december is early so is the one in january and thus we can expect 13 full moons in 2026 (woo-hoo). 

horsemouth is reading brian aldiss's non-stop (which he is finding strangely similar to douglas adams's watership down). several ill-assorted companions go on a quest. 

saturday he walked up the hill to fetch a pail of water? 

no, to deliver some eggs. there's an art exhibition thing going on all over herefordshire this week. as he passed the abbey they were setting up. as usual horsemouth is keener on the idea of this than on actually visiting anything. there's music stuff too - which he should get out and see.

last night a zoom beers chat with howard mostly about triangles - ok no, mostly about steering clear of the topic of work. howard has just finished to the lighthouse. 

above vetiver (a band of youngsters) and their version of hurry on sundown by hawkwind (this horsemouth always assumed to be one of dave brock's busking anthems). the video features footage from social seminar:tom (1972) a UCLA made public health film on hippies and drugs. 

this morning it is raining. horsemouth is not sure what he will do today. he will make plans for next week. 

horsemouth the failure (pseudo-legal gibberish)

a while ago there was a youtube post by andy edwards on ‘failed musicians’ but (here horsemouth opines as a failed musician) there is no failure in music. 

under the old regime of ‘the record company, the deal, and the sales’ he played, he learned, he practiced, he fly-posted, he played paying gigs, he played benefits, he saw other bands, he played on (other people’s) stuff that was released, he wrote, he recorded. if (at the end) it all crashed and burned then he survived, he came back.

and he enjoyed it. (even if he was angry and frustrated a lot of the time)

but ‘success’ (adulation, groupies etc.) eluded him.

and then he came back (in the era of myspace, social media, streaming and blah)

and ‘success’ continues to elude him - but ultimately he makes music for all the reasons above. he enjoys doing it. 

there is thus no failure, there’s just stuff that didn’t work as well as you had hoped.

of course music is not the only area of his life that horsemouth has failed at but because he doesn't view it as a failure, it was something he was glad to do, he is happy to tell you about it

all this was 'inspired' by a substack post of;

'I want to hear a podcast about the strivers (the majority) who didn't make it.'

this would be useful - because the assertion that our efforts are bound to be crowned with success is a dangerous one (because they are not). 

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

horsemouth is currently interested in the *birthcertificatebond* scam having recently encountered a believer in it. 

he appends a uk financial ombudsman report on a case where this was attempted. 

'like the rest of the freemen on the land woo it's an accretion of pseudo-legal gibberish' - a friend.

he thinks of it as a wish-fulfillment. but our efforts are not bound to be crowned with success. simply uttering some pseudo-legal gibberish will not exonerate you of all your debts. it will not in fact mean that they owe you money. 

it can be said to have failed again.

but let us look at that variety of failure. for many years the people involved kept up their mortgage payments despite doing the things they wanted to do (photography, yoga) that didn't pay very well, covid marked a shift as times became hard and so consequently the woo arrived with its wish fulfillment of free money and freedom from debt. 

some years down the line having exhausted the processes the eviction came but, here is the important thing, they would probably have spent more renting housing and on moving costs than they paid on the mortgage, the mortgage debt will probably be cleared by the sale of the property, even if they end up in debt as a result of it seeing as they have no real assets it can only be recovered gradually. 

the move (the dog)

horsemouth was getting anxious about doing the move. 

he's really got to get on and do the move. 

he has been living out in the wilds for more than two years now (effectively) but has still not done the move.

of course no sooner has he started thinking about it than persecuting demons start popping into existence (persecuting demons of the 'frustrator' variety). pretty soon he imagined fights over parking space etc. etc. once again every hand was raised against him etc. etc. etc. 

it is surprising that this is how it is for him. it looks (on the surface) as if he gets stuff done. but really, deep down, he's a filthy procrastinator. 

meanwhile he got in another walk on the common. there was rain (but there was also sun). he picked some tomatoes, a cucumber and a pepper in the green house. he sat over by the far greenhouse and listened to the world at one news. 

there was a discussion of property taxes - taxes on property are low when compared with taxes on transactions - VAT, taxes upon wages, NI, capital gains tax. 

of course there is considerable resistance to the idea of tax on property. look at the rates which led to the poll tax which lead to council tax. look at inheritance tax. look at stamp duty. 

of course as a poor person with no property horsemouth should be in favour of a tax on property but his general theory is that it should be paid by the richest of the rich (and then downwards from there as needs be). otherwise the danger is that it taxes the mean and meagre assets of the poor and removes their assets from them by means of that taxation, transferring their assets to the rich (who can afford them because they are rich). 

now (of course) in the marxist view of things this is  inevitable - the proletariat are precisely those who have no assets and so nothing to sell but their labour and that anyone who has assets now will watch them being stripped away. and yet for much of horsemouth's life that was not the case. many poor people (and people of modest means) were accumulating assets. 

horsemouth wonders about the effect on the communal endeavour will be if there is a tax upon housing assets - will social housing be excluded? 

horsemouth supposes that labour have a great need to raise taxation and plenty of political capital they can burn with people higher up the income scale. thus they might end up doing the progressive thing out of desperation rather than out of political commitment. after all they have just slightly less than four years before they have to face a general election again (no later than 15th august 2029).  

there are plenty of other opportunities to gauge the mood of the electorate and these are not likely to encourage in labour the belief that they can win a second term. 

further the only 'real' issue at the moment with the electorate is immigration (allegedly) - therefore labour have carte blanche to get on and vote through new taxes (they cannot get any more unpopular than they are going to be anyway). 

who knows labour may even attempt to get some variety of proportional representation through (now there's an interesting piece of political calculation).  the next election will already extend the vote to 16 and 17 year olds so maybe that's a bridge too far. 

last night bell-ringing and then the dog. the dog was busy (pool competition). there was a discussion of RVs and the works going on over by the old trout.  

an entirely written in the morning blogpost

 well this bit, the accessions diary, is lifted...

accessions diary - hereford 03/09/25

- ormond by maria edgeworth (gill's irish classics) - £1

- non-stop by brian aldiss, sf masterworks - £1

- wylder's hand by j. sheridan le fanu (atlantic classic crime) - £1

- the road to serfdom by f.a. hayek, routledge - £1 

all these were from one book shop (the st.michael's hospice one out at whitecross). 

horsemouth then walked back into town and investigated the rest. 

in oxfam he found a duplicate copy of the le fanu (but for £3). he saw another copy of ronald blythe's stories. he saw a little raft of desmond bagleys. other than that it was dull, dull , dull - do you not read books my fellow herefordians?

so to explain his choices

ormond is an irish historical novel in a similar livery to horsemouth's copy of victor hugo's toiler of the sea etc. 

non-stop is in the sf masterworks series  and aldiss was an engaging cove (kind of like terry-thomas)

wylder's hand is crime fiction by le fanu who is mainly known for his gothic writing (so it should be good).

the hayek he got because it was in routledge. he may be able to pass it on to his brother or, failing that, read it. it's that libertariano-conservative opposition to central planning (as inherently totalitarian). now this variety of nonsense is in decline (in favour of ethno-nationalist varieties of conservatism) but it's still there in the public consciousness as a set of automated responses to  any problem (privatisation and the market).  

horsemouth (once again) struggled with the bus system - the schools are back so the 2pm bus departed earlier than usual but because of roadworks it arrived late. it was not shown on the automated board (because it was supposed to have departed earlier). the paper timetable showed it as only running on a saturday. 

nonetheless it actually arrived and horsemouth got on it. at the pontrilas end there was no connecting bus up the valley (so horsemouth walked the two to three miles). 

he did more walking about than he strictly needed to in town. he didn't get round all the charity shops (but most). he got a bag (well a box) of chips at one point (£2.90 jesus). 

later he wandered the eggs round to the crossroads and then watched the institute. the cool kids survive, the saintly kid dies, our heroes escape to become fugitives (series 2). 

rainy and grey this morning. chickens seem ok. horsemouth will go and recover the bin from the bottom of the drive in a bit. it has rained so horsemouth does not need to water the garden. 

an eviction (the institute)

an eviction. 6am. mortgage stuff. 

horsemouth helped carry some stuff (a sofa, a few chairs) out to the hire van from where it was stored at the village hall. 

for the second quarter of 2025 1,340 homeowner mortgaged properties were taken into possession, which is 10% greater than the previous quarter but lower than long-term averages. so something in the region of 5000 a year.  horsemouth doesn't know if that will be going up or if the weaker mortgage payers have already been rinsed out of the market. 

the beer is cheaper but the countryside has many hidden costs. today horsemouth is off into town (probably bus back so he can do a wander round in search of books). 

here some abdel gadir salim nujum al-lail 'the stars at night'  (horsemouth once robbed a guitar part from it - but he got it wrong). 

wade schuman of hazmat modine (as part of the three pieces series) talks about how wonderful another album by abdel gadir salim is the merdoum kings play songs of love. 

great - horsemouth is still on the hook for the gas and electric back in london (piss and shit). further encouragement (if encouragement was needed) to get the fuck out of dodge. that's his mood spoiled. ok fuck it - it's a tenner a week, it's hardly major (it's the least of his problems).  

he was watching a stephen king thing called the institute - which was moderately entertaining. 

a slow shipwreck

'we cannot write well or truly but what we write with gusto. the body, the senses, must conspire with the mind. expression is the act of the whole man...' 

so remarks thoreau on this day in 1851. fernando pessoa takes another view;

'unknowingly, I have been witness to the gradual wasting away of my life, to the slow shipwreck of everything I wanted to be ...

however, as an ironic spectator of myself, I have never lost my interest in observing life.' 

- fernando pessoa, the book of disquiet, fragment 140 (212), 2nd september 1931. 

horsemouth has been looking at the bromyard folk festival (11th - 14th september). sadly there's no railway station and it's a two bus jobby at minimum (and not a runner on the sunday er. because there is no bus). it looks like the bus is intended to get people from bromyard to hereford (but not necessarily to get them to bromyard and back). 

from here on in an entirely written in the morning blogpost.

horsemouth watched some french crime thrillers - he attempted to watch some novara media coverage of what is going on (but it was just too depressing).

he took and posted some photos from up on the common. 

he cobbled together a piece for substack on marguerite duras' practicalities. (he had to check he hadn't done this before) and read some of watership down (which rattles along quickly and efficiently). 

he has some broad beans to get in as over winter ones - 'earlies' for next year. 

the embers begin (meteorological autumn)

on this day in 1871 kilvert dines at hay castle.

no writing advice from thoreau today (or at least none that laurence stapleton has seen fit to give us) but some tomorrow. 

the embers begin - september, october, november, december.  meteorological autumn will begin. 

the sun and heat decline. the winter and dark draws in. after the equinox we pass into the dark half of the year. 

horsemouth will be turning over the pages of the calendars. the two of horses, the two of deer, the three of humans (october is the two of humans once again). 

he watched the big shots/ les caids (1972) serge reggiani does the walter mathau super-competent older bank-robber bit but the movie belongs to the young lovers juliet berto and patrick bouchitey. there's an engaging prison break, a solid bank robbery and an escape through the catacombs. 

there's an enjoyable streak of post-68 rebellion in the movie. juliet berto is in la chinoise also. 

he then watched the mackintosh man (1973) paul newman and dominique sanda in a third man style comedy thriller (lifted from desmond bagley's the freedom trap). it's not a good film. the tone is uneven and the soundtrack (by maurice jarre) is just too third manish to be survivable. 

because of the films (and because of a phonecall from his brother) horsemouth forgot to lock up the chickens. thus they were there to greet him at the gate in the morning (oops).  yesterday rumblings of thunder, today possible thunder storm. 

horsemouth has started reading watership down (an enjoyable read so far).  wednesday they are off into two on some agricultural hell mission.