how serious is the crisis (and how did we get into this mess)? - seaside towns day three

all well and good. horsemouth has the title. he just had to wait for the day to happen to have the 'content' to back it up. 

following on from st. brigid's eve we have st. brigid's day (and then we will have groundhog day/ candlemas).

seaside towns day three

there was a walk round the park with enza (a catch up but no dinner). it was cold but sunny enough. both pronounced themselves optimistic about the year ahead (and then proceeded to depress each other with the various things the year is likely to contain). 

on the way back horsemouth hit the book boxes - a thriller by desmond bagley from horsemouth's childhood (the spoilers) then book box gold (on roding road) adam tooze's shutdown: how covid shook the world's economy. 

'if one word could sum up the experience of 2020, it would be disbelief.'

covid demonstrated the vast unsuspected powers of the state (ones we had been told no longer existed). we had been told that it was the market that was supernaturally intelligent and was the best allocator of resources but it was bypassed and stood down and a vast state intervention launched instead - the way it always is in fact, the dark secret of neo-liberalism, the prevalence of state aid. 

and yet the covid support measures and its furloughs in particular were a vast hand-over of wealth to the already wealthy (what did you do with your furlough money? you bought food and payed your rent or your mortgage) and that money is now ready to be employed to buy up everything that is for sale (so that it can be rented back to us).  for this reason horsemouth expects house prices to start to drastically rise as soon as interest rates come back down (so that ordinary people can participate in the last fleecing, in hoovering up the last of the stock at vastly inflated prices).

our rulers partied because, as our natural betters, they thought they were immune, but they weren't. (and because of the champagne and the sandwiches from sainsbury's local).

and yet 

how serious is the crisis and how did we get into this mess? asks a podcast on the housing crisis that suggests that the banks buying up housing is a good thing (to increase the supply for rent  you understand). 

horsemouth is a little anxious. he goes to a meeting today and there are two big issues that need to be thought about before they even get onto the decarbonisation thing. he hopes he wakes up early so he can check the emails, drink coffee and eat breakfast before he goes.  

ok let's post it up. 

day two back in the seaside towns

GLC and the 'spoons 

(a match made in heaven)

horsemouth is on his second day back in the seaside towns. 

what has he been up to? well he was up early at 8am and then he went S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G  ladies and gentlemen. he went to aldi (3 miles there and back) to purchase a selection of staples to keep him fed for the next week or so. 

(ok ok he did hit the aldi bookbox - nothing nothing nothing)

he probably has bought too much food and will either have to take some back to herefordshire with him or leave it here as a starter pack for the next visit. 

horsemouth has cooked and eaten some of this already (red kidney bean, onion, chili, tomato and pasta) and he has mopped the kitchen and corridor floor (it all gets a bit mucky when he's not here). he will try and get in a few other cleaning tasks over the next few days. 

in a bit he goes off to andrew minty's. (3 miles there - he may get the bus back). they may even go out for a sneaky pint. 

well he says in a bit. it will be a few hours yet. 

(ok ok the had two pints in the end before minty sensibly called a halt. did they go to a 'spoons? yes they did. and horsemouth walked there and back again - added exercise.)

hereinafter it's wednesday afternoon  (today by the time you read this) a lunchtime wander round the park (with enza maybe - 4 miles there and back).  thursday a meeting (4 miles ditto), a zoom meeting and then in the evening he's off to his brother's for dinner. thereafter he's probably staying sat down and recovering until sunday afternoon (tour of vauxhall). he doesn't want to walk a hole in his foot like he did last time.

wednesday horsemouth will also publish his  books, films, gigs, events list for january 2020(4). 

books (you must understand) is books, newspapers, online newspaper articles, blog posts etc. (basically anything read), films are films, vlogs, youtube clips, podcasts (basically anything watched or listened to), gigs are gigs to which horsemouth physically went to or listened to or watched online, events are just events in the world (or in horsemouth's life). 

he's up. he has his coffee. he thinks he finished off the toast last thing last night so it's museli for breakfast. 

books, films, gigs, events january 2020(4)

books 

- the valleys of the assassins (freya stark)

- alive, alive oh! and other things that matter (diana athill)

- introduction to 'john clare by himself' (eds. eric robinson and david powell), LRB piece 'john clare out of copyright' by simon kövesi 

-  the cleobury mortimer and ditton priors light railway (OPC 1980)

- a quick peek at dumbstruck by steven connor

- torygraph;  an article on yemen, an article on gaza, an article on chicken shit in the wye, an interview with the Qanon shaman, an article on log burning. 

- benefits of handwriting article

- rhiannon giddens at the grammys post

films

- brave new worlds (SF doc.) 1993

- rob the nomad (homelessness and hiking)

- nomadland (I live in a car)

- hawkwinge (space bandits)

- the kids are alt-right 

- the eyes of laura mars (giallo adjacent/ john carpenter script)

- sun tunnels (nancy holt)

- various of howard's 'golden glow' mixes 

- bulletin of the atomic scientists documentary

- lots of nina conti's ventriloquism

- universal clock: the resistance of peter watkins

- postmasters and post mistresses drama (ITV)

- die with zero videos

- 'blue nights' excerpt (joan didion and griffin dunne)

- architect and artist joana astolfi film about the portuguese word “desenrascanço”

-  interview with roland allen author of ‘the notebook: a history of thinking on paper’ 

- thrift a life/ bookpilled, outlaw bookseller, novara media. spain speaks.

- triple negative interviewed

- social housing doc. (tortoise: episode 1)

- junkopia (chris marker et al.)

- skillsbuilder video on banks buying up new homes

- not the finger in the ear show

- walking london's black path

gigs none

events 

ptah the el daoud day, koln concert anniversary, centre point occupation 50ieth anniversary, fish island underwater, death of melanie safka, wolf moon, st. brigid's eve.

a new micro-home and plans to return during the hours of darkness to bolt-cropper off the padlock and move in

horsemouth is back from his first day back in the seaside towns. 

so what did he do? 

he went out for a wander onto the marshes with TG. he found a new micro-home and plans to return during the hours of darkness to bolt-cropper off the padlock and move in. 
 

he's going to a meeting thursday morning (10am) and then diner round at his brother's in the evening. there's probably a gig saturday night and a walkabout sunday afternoon.  minty is around monday to wednesday evenings so horsemouth will try and catch up with him then. wednesday day 2.30-3.30pm  a lunchtime wander round the park (with enza maybe).  

great he's just booked minty in for tonight. 

ok so still plenty of available slots if people want to go out for a wander/ catch up etc. 

his original plan was to walk up and raid the oxfam in walthamstow or even the sally army opposite the william morris museum (and see the exhibit there). but he may have to put that off (too far). similarly he could do with doing a food shop - he's got bread, some rubbish cheese and humous (the marge he has already). last night some pasta, white beans, onion and chilies, tonight hopefully something a bit better. 

he's already taken a peek in the powerscroft road book box (you've let yourselves down people in his absence) and dropped off two donations (down and out in paris and london and bear island). 

so he's had breakfast and coffee - now to face the day. 

'education has spoiled me' ( 'it's fucked. it always is...' )

'I always come to the conclusion that my education has spoiled me more than I can understand'                   - franz kafka, diaries, page 18, line 14, 1910, no date given but after the night of the comets, 17th-18th may. 

Q. 'how is everything coming along in london?'

A.  'ugh. (it's ) fucked. it always is...' - matthew hyland (and anja buchele) interviewed on san onofre (22-XXVI triple negative interviú) 

meanwhile. 

meanwhile horsemouth has returned to the wen and is casting round for people to go and visit. 

he's going to a meeting thursday morning and then diner round at his brother's thursday evening. there's probably a gig saturday night and a walkabout sunday afternoon.  minty is around monday to wednesday evenings so horsemouth will try and catch up with him then. 

it's ok he's booked his first meeting 10am TG the park bench (and then a wander up into walthamstow maybe). he might nip up to check the powerscroft road book box first or he might leave it for another morning. he has his cup of coffee but he doesn't have any readily available breakfast so he'll have to do a wander out anyway. 

candles in the rain

so horsemouth returns to the wen (when? in a few hours). 

he thinks he will be around for a week (possibly two). 

he will endeavour get all his visiting and catching up in. beginning with a womble around with TG on monday (perhaps up to walthamstow in search of books). he brings back unwanted/ duplicate copies of bear island and down and out in paris and london to deposit in the book boxes. (he will endeavour to bring back up more kafka). 

thursday morning he has a meeting and then a zoom meeting. next saturday (the 10th) there is a meeting but horsemouth thinks he cannot attend. 

this is a rare morning written blogspot (so don't expect any genius from him). 

yesterday zoom beers with howard (two each and a quick sing-around of am I born to die?).

horsemouth has skipped to the end of the athill. she is contemplating death. 

'my brother was the only person near me who clearly resented death, and that was because he had achieved a way of life which suited him so perfectly that he wanted more...' 

today (halfway through the day) triple negative will be being interviewed. no gig by them this end of the year (which is a shame). 

'If I had it my way, everything would change' (transcendental blues)

 'in the darkest hour of the longest night

if it was in my power I'd step into the light...'

the cheese is sliding off the cracker (says horsemouth's source in CONUS - the contiguous and continental united states (so not hawaii or alaska  or puerto rico but the 48 states that are touching each other)).

'if I had it my way, everything would change'

it makes no sense to horsemouth. with just a little goodwill all round we could have a so much better world so quickly. 

following nicola sturgeon (the former leader of the SNP)'s candid judgement on boris johnson (quote 'a fucking clown' ) horsemouth has modified an internet meme involving messenger pidgeons (life before the internet) delivering the message. if he swaps the order of the images round it will look like the recipient is sending the message (this may be his next task).