The Random Jottings Of A Space Cadet

The Future of Mankind

2010-12-14T15:32:00.002Z

I’ve been off the blogosphere for a while as I haven’t been in the best of health. I’ve been able to do little other than play spider solitaire and read Tacitus for the last month. Reading Tacitus is brilliant but spider solitaire is not so much “fun” as just a way of passing the time. Anyway, I must be on the mend as I now feel able to get back to writing this blog. And the subject of my latest blog is...Facebook.

To be specific, it’s one recent development on my Facebook account. I’ve had a friend request from a woman in Malaysia called Mima Md Ramli. Here’s her photo.

I have no idea who she is. Fair enough, maybe she just likes the things I’ve been writing or possibly, and this is stretching credulity a little far I know but, she may just like my face. Maybe she just wants to make friends with people outside her own county and culture. There are very few clues to her personality, likes or dislikes, opinions etc available to people who haven’t accepted her friend request, except for one. She only has three friends; OK, it’s not about the numbers, I know that. But all three of her friends are called Gary Smith, which is also my name.

Now, is it me or is that a bit weird? Maybe she likes the name. Maybe it’s some sort of game where a number of people pick a name at random and the first one to get, say, fifty friends of the same name wins. It could be quite innocent. But just perhaps, just perhaps it may have more sinister overtones.

As you will recall, in the film Terminator, the killer robot is sent back through time to exterminate anyone called Sarah Connor, to prevent the human rebellion against the machines. Maybe this Mima Md Ramli is in fact a killer robot from the future sent back to wipe out all Gary Smith’s as one of them, I’m not saying it’s me, could hold the key to the future survival of the human race in a time when machines are trying to take over the world, and she is using Facebook to track us all down. Yes, spooky ain’t it?

Do I or one of my fellow Gary Smith’s really hold the future of mankind in our grasp? Is Mima Md Ramli really a killer robot from the future? It seems the only likely explanation. So future world, cherish us Gary Smith’s, for your own survival may depend on it.

And as for the killer robot from the future’s Facebook friend request...request denied.

If you, dear reader, are not a killer robot from the future and intend me no harm of any kind and would like to have me as a friend on your Facebook account, then please go here and put in a friend request. If you are a killer robot from the future trying to wipe out all Gary Smiths, then please do not ask for a friend request, as refusal may offend.

Suggested viewing/listening: “Bronnt vs Terminator 2: Judgment Day”

Miner Achievement

2010-10-14T19:13:00.003+01:00

It is heart warming news that the 33 Chilean miners have all been rescued and I am genuinely pleased that what could have been a potentially tragic situation has been averted. It does annoy me, however, that the media reporting on the events of the rescue operation as well as many of those directly involved themselves have been using the word “miracle” to describe the rescue.

Can anyone tell me which bit of the rescue was actually “miraculous”? The hole that the miners eventually reached the surface through didn’t open up by itself, it was made by humans using engineering techniques and modern mining equipment backed, it would appear, by a government keen to be seen by the watching world as caring and capable. It may be surprising that so many people and politicians worked together with little care for the financial cost of the operation and it may be astonishing that what was thought would take months to achieve actually took only weeks but it most certainly wasn’t “miraculous”. Human determination and effort rescued the miners, not an act of divine intervention.

The hole didn’t appear by itself, the rescuers didn’t have wings or halos and the miners were brought to the surface in a metal cage not in the arms of the virgin Mary. So I ask again, which bit of the rescue was “miraculous”?

It’s the same whenever something like this happens; a baby is rescued from the ruins of a building almost a week after it was brought down by an earthquake; a plane crash lands on the sea but doesn’t sink straight away allowing all aboard to be rescued; someone recovers from cancer after being told they would die, etc etc.

Why is it that no-one ever seems to blame their god for causing these things to happen in the first place? How come he doesn’t rescue the baby’s mother and father? Why did he save this plane but not countless others? And why give someone cancer just to cure them later anyway?

The baby is saved because you can survive for almost a week without food and water and importantly people kept searching; the plane doesn’t sink because it is buoyant and the pilot had the experience and training to land it on the sea successfully; the patient is cured of cancer by dedicated health professionals and research into the disease. No miracles there and none to be found in Chile either.

If I am ever involved in a life threatening situation, I hope that there will be enough skilled people around to help me and that they don’t waste their time saying prayers. And if I get through it I’ll thank those real people not some imaginary divinity.

Suggested viewing: “Alive”

Museum Memories

2010-09-23T23:29:00.004+01:00

Here are a few cool moments and highlights from The Smith & Jones Museum of Folk Art.

A lovely woman called Lou from the second hand clothes shop next door came in a few times. She gets to see all the exhibitions at Room 212 and she said ours was easily one of the best she had seen there. Lou recommended the exhibition to a number of people who then came to check it out, including her partner who also really liked the show. I think he particularly liked The Dolls Have Eyes exhibits, and showed a lot of interest in Mrs Kitsch’s brilliant but bonkers Barbie picture.

Lou liked the atheist aspect of my work as did someone she brought to see the show who purchased one of the atheisticks. I need to make more of those.

I’d had a chat with one bloke who liked my work and he told me that he had a friend in Arizona and he went out there at least once a year for a visit. Apparently, he also has a massive Arizona state flag which he puts out when his friend comes over here to stay. Anyway, this man came back to the gallery later in the week with this amazing thing as a gift for me.

It’s the dried up innards of a cacti and will look great next time I do a shrine display. How sweet that he came back to give that to me. The most gob smacking moment of the week though was when on the Wednesday, just 15 minutes before we closed the gallery for the day, I sold this painting “BANG! BANG!” for £300.

It was bought by a couple who chose it after deciding between it and this one, “Helldorado Cantina”.

I was stunned when they bought it. Having taken the painting over to their house after the exhibition I’ve also seen where it’s going to hang. It’s going in their living room over the dining room table. It’s going to be hard to miss.

My favourite moment though was when a guy called Valentine came in and bought a small painting. He had a good look round first and told me that he was driving to work taking a different route to normal. He saw the exhibition as he was driving by, stopped his car, parked up and came in to check it out. I think it might be stretching a point to say I stopped traffic but it’s one thing to pop in for a look as you are walking by and quite another to stop your car on the way to work. He also enjoyed hearing “Ace of Spades” being played in the gallery.

I think it’s fair to say that I connected with some people through the art, or at least differing aspects of it mean something to some people, and that’s something I hadn’t even considered. I thought some people might like it and others would hate it, but I hadn’t thought about it in terms other than that.

Not everyone connected with the work though. When we were setting up one man stuck his head into the gallery and asked why I had so many of the same cacti books. “It’s part of the display” I told him. “Oh right. Well, I’ll have one of those then” he said. “Er, no, they’re not for sale, they’re part of the display”. “Oh right. Are you getting any more books in?” “Well, I’m going to be using some other books in another part of the display but they’re not for sale either, this is a gallery not a book shop.” “Oh right, OK.” Not a word about the art.

A little later someone else asked how much the cacti candles in the window were and another person wanted to buy one of the plastic display flowers but I suppose it’s a compliment that my choice of display items was popular. Oh yes, one bloke with a dog told me he thought the art was a bit morbid. I tried to explain that the Day of the Dead was a celebration of life but I’m pretty sure he didn’t know what I was talking about. I thought I was going to get more comments like that but he was the only one who said anything to me.

I was really apprehensive about showing the work when I was setting up on the Sunday but now that I’ve had a week at a gallery, I can’t wait to show it some more.

Finally, with some of the many peppers and chillis I used in the shrines, I made a chilli for dinner.

As you can see we also used up the last of the tequila too.

You can see a video of the gallery at http://smithandjonesmuseum.blogspot.com/

Suggested listening: “Left Bank Two” by The Noveltones

Show’s Over, There’s Nothing To See Here

2010-09-19T18:12:00.000+01:00

The week of my first exhibition has come and gone. It went by so quickly. I suppose it’s bound to feel like that, especially after locking myself away to paint and create for just over a year. It certainly was the most important week of the year for me and, as I mentioned in the last blog, the positive comments came as something of a validation of the work and the concept behind it. I loved being in the gallery, the whole experience was amazing. I hope I get a chance to do it again soon.

Mrs Kitsch and I are a bit knackered after such an intense week and I think we’re entitled to a short break now. We’re off to the Bengal Raj for a celebratory meal tonight, which I’m looking forward to.

So what’s next? Well, I really have to get myself a job, so I’ll be looking into that. I’ll continue painting and I have a great idea for an art show involving music and members of the public, which I’m quite excited about. I just need to persuade a gallery to let me do it.

Thanks if you came along to the show this week. Even bigger thanks if you bought some of my work. If you didn’t make this time, I hope to see you at the next one. Watch this space.

Suggested reading: “The Observer’s Book of Cacti” by S.H. Scott

The Folk Art of Cactus County #22

2010-09-15T23:14:00.000+01:00

I’ve been a bit quiet on the blogging front of late as it’s been full speed ahead for the exhibition. Well, I’ve got a spare moment now so I’ll bring you up to date.

Sunday we had the preview show in the evening but before we could get to that we had to put all the pictures up and decorate the windows. This took all day and even by the time of the preview opening we still had a few things left undone. Little things though, nothing major. I got a bit worried during the setting up when one guy poked his head into the room asking if he could buy one of the books I was using in the display, followed a little later by another bloke asking if the candles were for sale. Again, they’re part of the display. They completely failed to show any interest in the actual work. This spooked me a bit I can tell you.

Anyway, we had almost 30 people attend the preview and everyone was very positive about the show. Both Mrs Kitsch and I even sold a couple of pieces, which was nice.

The next day we opened the gallery up to the general public for real. Monday was a bit quiet but we sold a few items, mostly badges and postcards but we had some good feedback. Tuesday Mrs Kitsch stayed at home while I held the fort. A few more people came in and there was more positive feedback. I even sold a very small picture. Not a bad day.

Today, the weather was much better and we had a lot more people come in for a look. I sold quite a few badges, a couple of postcards and had loads more encouraging comments. Then with about 15 minutes to go before we closed for the day this couple came in with their young daughter. The mother and daughter had popped in the day before for a look. This time she wanted her partner with her to see the paintings. At this point, Mrs Kitsch and I were being distracted by another person in the gallery who was intent on chatting at us about her trips to the States, when I realised the couple were trying to decide which of two large paintings they wanted to get. It appeared they were going to buy a painting. A large painting. A quite expensive large painting. After a short chat they had made their decision and wanted to buy this picture.

I was absolutely chuffed. They talked about the picture being up in their home and it being something of a talking point. They genuinely liked the painting, obviously, or they wouldn’t have bought it but it’s a new experience for me to have someone like my work so much that they would part with a three figure sum for it. And the fact that they had to decide between two pictures, well, how cool is that?

Now I’m going to have to sell a lot of paintings at this price before I’m bringing home a living wage but it’s a start. And as much as I hoped that I might sell something at the show I really didn’t expect to sell one of the large pictures on a Wednesday just a few minutes before we closed up. When they left the gallery, I was in shock. Now I just want to jump up and down shouting about it!

Today has been something of a validation of what I’ve been working on for the last year or so. Not just selling a big picture but many of the comments have confirmed that I’m on the right track with the concept behind the work. Earlier today, one woman said she liked the fact that I was doing an atheist version of the Day of the Dead; there have been a number of similar comments about the secular nature of the work; also other people have said how much they like the bright colour I use. It’s always felt right to me but until someone else says, ‘yeah you’re right, I like that’, well, you never really know for sure.

So, just three more days to go and if we don’t sell another thing, it’s already been worthwhile.

The Folk Art of Cactus County #21

2010-08-24T20:18:00.001+01:00

Here’s a new piece just finished, a papier mache skull.

I’ve been working on this for what seems like ages and it seems that way because it has been ages. Painting it only took a couple of days, it was waiting for the thing to dry out that took all the time. I made the mistake of building it up from a small ball of papier mache instead of putting a thin layer over a balloon scaffold. But this means that the skull is quite weighty as opposed to being very light, so although I went about it the wrong way, I actually ended up with something better. But it did take ages to dry, I’m talking weeks and weeks.

I’ve had him sitting out in the sun for days at a time, building him up with more papier mache then having to dry that out. Then I kept spraying him with stone effect paint from a can, which made him wet all over again so I had to have that dry out before I could continue. Anyway, I got there in the end and I think he’s been worth the wait. I’m definitely going to be doing more of these but don’t hold your breath, it’s going to take a while.

Things are moving on a pace for the art show in September. Mrs Kitsch has created a blog especially for us to publicise the exhibition and she’s come up with a fab design for the poster, and here it is.

Double kudos to Mrs Kitsch, not just for doing these things but having to do them quickly and on a new laptop after her old Mac died last week. Not the best time for that to happen but then when is it ever a good time? Anyway, well done Mrs K, she’s a ruddy marvel an’ no mistake.

I’ve spent a lot of today sending out a press release about the show, so hopefully we’ll get a bit of local press coverage to draw in the punters. I’ve already had a reply from Steve, the art guy at Venue Magazine who said he thought my work was “by turns macabre and cartoonish” which is a pretty good reaction. I’ll be using that quote a lot I think. He’s going to try and get a photo in Venue in a couple of weeks, which will be great if he does.

Still so much to do like making and painting frames, varnishing, writing accompanying short stories or commentaries for some of the paintings, getting postcards made, and about a hundred other things. I’m really enjoying doing the work towards the show but the stress levels are starting to rise.

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #20

2010-08-18T13:55:00.000+01:00

Three shrines to celebrate some important themes in Cactus County. This first is a shrine to the philosophy behind Cactus County, which is pretty much Epicurean; happiness achieved through a knowledge of how the world works, eschewing religion, superstition and an afterlife, as espoused by the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus and the Roman poet Lucretius.

Then there is a shrine to remember loved ones who have died. The dead live on in the memory of the living, so in Cactus County they celebrate their own secular version of Dia de los Muertos to remember those they have loved who are no longer with them.

Finally, a shrine to the old Wild West history of Cactus County; a rootin’ tootin’ shootin’ kind of place back in the day, apparently.

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #19

2010-08-16T16:04:00.003+01:00

The date of the exhibition draws ever closer (13th-18th Sept at Room 212, see you there) and there is loads still to do before I’m ready. However, I have finished one new work, quite different from my other pieces, which is something of a relief. Here it is with the lovely Mrs Kitsch modelling it.

I started sewing the skull for the jacket ages ago but hadn’t got round to doing anything more with it till last month. In the end I think it must have taken me about a week to do the whole thing. The idea was that I would do a bit of sewing in the evening while watching some telly instead of being idle but I got so caught up with it that I spent all day working on it. I even had a dream about sewing when I finally finished it.

Still, I really enjoyed the process of stitching and sewing (is there a difference between the two?) and have plans for more work involving needle and thread, though not necessarily on to a jacket. Mrs Kitsch has been teaching me new some new stitching techniques (chain stitch looks like a good one) which I’ll have a go at next time.

Star Light, Star Bright

2010-08-13T01:16:00.000+01:00

It’s that time of year again, the Perseid meteor shower. In the past I’ve ventured out on cloudy nights and seen nothing. I’ve also dragged Mrs Kitsch out a number of times to watch the skies with me; on one memorable occasion we sat freezing on deck chairs in the middle of the night, on the seashore wrapped in our coats and for extra warmth covered in towels from the B&B we were staying in. We saw a fair number of shooting stars that night as I remember but mostly I remember being very cold.

This year the weather was much warmer, the meteor shower was at a much more reasonable time; between 10.30pm and 1am rather than 2am to 3am previously; and we get a pretty good view of the sky from just outside the house, so it’s very handy. However, none of this was incentive enough for Mrs Kitsch this time round. I think she may have had her fill of the Pereids. Saying that, she did come out and check on me at one point tonight, which was lovely of her.

Although it was quite cloudy when I first went out this evening, the clouds soon disappeared leaving a relatively clear sky. I saw about a dozen shooting stars in about two hours and only came in when I couldn’t stand stretching my neck skyward any longer and my feet were aching. I expect there are loads of shooting stars shooting over head as I’m writing this but I just can’t carry on tonight. And a dozen is pretty good. Number five was particularly amazing, a very bright tear ripping through the night sky, gone in a flash but burning an image in my mind that will last much longer.

Apart from a number of satellites and planes, the night sky also yielded some geese flying in a “V” formation, white against the black of the sky, one of them saying hello as they flew overhead, making that unmistakable goose “honk” noise. And they weren’t the only wild life out there tonight. When I first stepped out I saw Mr Badger trolling along the pavement, going out of one garden and into another. He wasn’t the only one doing his nightly rounds this evening as Mr Fox also put in an appearance, walking right in front of me. There were a lot of moths out tonight as well.

So all in all, a worthwhile effort, even if I only manage to see a handful of shooting stars. And there’s always next year at this time.

Ancient And Modern

2010-08-09T16:45:00.009+01:00

I’ve been mightily attracted of late to the ancient world, particularly the ancient Roman and Greek worlds. A couple of years back, after visiting the eternal city of Rome for the first (and hopefully not the last) time, I wanted to read about Rome and find out more about things Roman. I'm finally getting round to it. Also more recently I saw a brilliant documentary about Leonidas and the 300 Spartans at the battle of Thermopylae followed by watching the film “300”, so the Greek world was opened up for me too, although I had read Homer’s “Odyssey” after seeing the film “Oh Brother Where Art Thou?” at the cinema a few years back. More recently I got hold of a copy of “Herodotus: The Histories” so I've got that to look forward to as well.

I’ve just started reading Tacitus’ “Annals and Histories” after finishing “The Letters Of Pliny The Younger”. I’d wanted to read Pliny for some time, as I explained in a previous blog but reading him made me want to read “Natural History” by Gaius Plinius Secundus, the elder Pliny, uncle of the younger letter writer. “Ta met’ alla” - one after another.

The Oxfam bookshop at the top of Park Street came up trumps for this particular volume just a couple of weeks back and while reading the introducing by John F Healy I came upon a passage referring to the Roman poet and Epicurean, Titus Lucretius Carus and his epic poem “On the Nature of Things”. Healy says that Lucretius believed that “a knowledge of the laws of physics” would dispel the “mental fears and forebodings that ‘religion’ instils”. Now that is right up my street, so I had to know more about both Lucretius and Epicurus so I followed this up with some brief online research. Can opened, philosophical worms all over the place, including profound implications for the philosophy behind Cactus County, one result of which is that I am going to have to rename one of the towns in the county.

There is much to commend the Epicurean philosophy and I am very drawn to it from the small amount of research I have done so far. Is this to be my new philosophy? Further study needs to be undertaken but as I say, so far I like what I have discovered about it.

So what do Epicurean’s believe? Well, if I’ve got it right, it’s that life should be spent seeking out modest pleasures rather than excess in order to attain a state of tranquillity and freedom from fear known as “ataraxia” and also life without physical pain known as “aponia”. The important thing for me though is that Epicurean’s believed that this could be done through a knowledge of the workings of the world, and they did not believe in superstition or divine intervention. They also believed there was no life after death and that death was not to be feared as we would return to the same state of nothingness there was before our birth.

Now this in particular is something I want to get my head around, because for as long as I can remember I have been afraid of death. Not dying, I’m not so worried how I will die or even of the possible pain or indignity of death but instead of the absence of life, of missing the sensations of being alive. There I times when I think about this and I experience a sensation of utter dread, of complete aloneness in the universe, of an inkling of what it might be like to experience being dead. It only ever lasts a few seconds but for me it is the most awful thing I ever feel. It is worse than physical pain because it seems to stretch out for eternity, an unending nothingness and isolation from everything and everyone I know and love. It’s accompanied by a physical sickness in my stomach, like being in a lift that seems to drop very quickly.

Now I know in reality that once I am dead there is no way I will feel the absence of life, I won’t feel alone, I won’t feel anything. I know that, I understand it rationally. But trying to marry that understanding with this fear and dread of death I have is very difficult. So anything that helps me deal with my fear of being dead definitely needs looking into.

By the way, the modern use of the word “epicurean” meaning one who seeks excess pleasure in all things, particularly food, is quite at odds with the original philosophy that I’m talking about here. Although, given my love of food and the quantities of it I indulge in, it may not be totally inappropriate.

It’s given me a lot to think about both personally and also because the Epicurean philosophy has so many connections with my view of the philosophy of Cactus County. I think the founders of the county would have known about Epicurus, Lucretius and the elder Pliny. They would have been inspirational to such a scientifically and atheistically minded people as much as Darwin was to them. So, the three towns that make up Cactus County are now to be called Cactus: the original settlement and administrative headquarters for the county; Evolution: where the mines of Cactus County are located and where many fossils have been found and also home of Carson’s Robot Factory; and Ataraxia: the location of Cactus County’s world renowned university, telescope and particle accelerator and named for the Epicurean state of tranquillity which according to Wikipedia is “synonymous with the only true happiness possible for a person. It signifies the state of robust tranquillity that derives from eschewing faith in an afterlife, not fearing the gods because they are distant and unconcerned with us, avoiding politics and vexatious people, surrounding oneself with trustworthy and affectionate friends and, most importantly, being an affectionate, virtuous person, worthy of trust”.

So, my recent voyage into the ancient world has born some philosophical fruit. And it makes a change from reading books about space. I have a long way to go in my reading about and understanding of the ancient world and still further to go in my personal philosophical journey through life. But having discovered this Epicurean philosophy I feel, I believe, I have found something that connects me more strongly not only to the world around me but also to the ancient world of the past, and there is much comfort and pleasure in that thought.

Suggested reading: “Natural History: A Selection” by Gaius Plinius Secundus, Pliny The Elder, translated by John F Healy.

Show Me The Monet

2010-07-26T10:39:00.003+01:00

I’ve just had it confirmed that Mrs Kitsch and I have secured the rather brilliant Room 212 on Gloucester Road for a joint art exhibition! We have the space for a week from the 12th to the 18th of September. More details to follow.

The New Two

2010-07-26T10:23:00.004+01:00

So the summer of 2010 continues with more car boot sales and two new space acquisitions, or as I prefer to think of them, new recruits into the Smith Space Programme, or SSP.

This first one entered the programme a couple of weeks ago. I think it cost just 50p.

I think he’s ceramic with a wooden space pack or MMU (manned manoeuvring unit), and most likely homemade. I like his simplicity and if I ignore the MMU he’s wearing, his posture and suit remind me of Alexei Leonov, the first person to walk in space. He’s not very big, just a few inches high, simple with a naive elegance, in stark contrast to the SSP’s other new recruit.

This brash newcomer is Go-Go Gorilla and was an incredible 25p. He’s about 2 feet tall, and a red light flashes inside his helmet when he talks. That's right, that's what I said, he talks. Not only that but he shakes when you press his launch button.

I’m not making any of this up. Press the pad on his right hand and he says five different phrases. The first one isn’t really a phrase just a strange kind of spacey bleeping noise, but press the pad again and he says “Rogie dodgie (?) I read you base”, “Get me out of this monkey suit”, the rather sad “I miss the jungle” and my personal favourite “Houston, more bananas please”. The voice sounds a bit like the actor Wallace Shawn, who you may remember from such films as “The Princess Bride” and “Toy Story” (he’s the voice of Rex the dinosaur) but most notably for me as the Grand Nagus in TV’s “Star Trek; Deep Space Nine”. But it might not be him.

Anyway, when you press the pad on his left hand he says “3, 2, 1, blast off! Yahoo! Yeehi!” and he shakes, quite violently. Easily the best 25p I’ve ever spent.

His feet are weighted (I think he must have gravity boots) so he stands up by himself. This morning I introduced him to the senior chimponaut in the SSP, Space Monkey.

They’re already planning their first space mission together. I can’t wait to see the photos from that one.

Moon Day 2010

2010-07-20T14:05:00.007+01:00

Happy Moon Day!

July 20th is the anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon; I call it Moon Day and as of last year, the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11’s arrival on a new world, I started a new tradition for myself to honour the space programme and the people who took part in it.

This morning starts as usual with the feeding of the birds and making Mrs Kitsch her morning lemon drink before getting myself ready. Moon Day gets off to a good start when Mrs Kitsch presents me with this marvellous 3D Apollo postcard to mark the special occasion.

It even has some brilliant space stamps on the back.

What a fantastic start to this year’s Moon Day, thank you the lovely Mrs Kitsch. Then it’s down to Mission Control to begin Moon Day in earnest by setting out the mission objectives and having my astronaut’s breakfast. Here are the mission objectives.

Basically, Moon Day consists of me sitting in front of the telly watching loads of space related programmes and films. I’ve arranged a packed mission for myself this year but so long as I manage “Moonwalk One”, “The Apollo Story” an episode of “From The Earth To The Moon” and a couple of Clangers episodes then it would have been a successful mission.

I’m joined in Mission Control by Space Monkey, it wouldn’t be the same without him.

The traditional launch day astronauts breakfast consisted of steak, eggs, toast, orange juice and coffee and was prepared by an ex-navy guy called Lew. I don’t drink coffee so swap that for tea and Mrs Kitsch makes the eggs and as far as I know she was never in the navy. Here’s my astronauts breakfast.

We have lift off. I've had my astronauts breakfast, I'm wearing my NASA t-shirt and I’ve already watched two episodes of The Clangers. I'll proceed on to my next mission objective now which is to watch “Moonwalk One”. Further mission updates will appear throughout the day.

Mission Update:
Moon Day is progressing nicely, all systems are still go. I’ve watched “Moonwalk One” including the extras. It was pretty much what I expected and definitely worth having the special directors cut, two disc DVD. I’ve had it since Xmas but held off watching it till now and it was worth the wait.

However, I’ve also just watched “The Apollo Story: Man’s Journey To The Moon” which was something of a disappointment, despite being presented by the great Patrick Moore. It was made in conjunction with the Science Museum in London with some of it filmed there. Patrick Moore was good but the film didn’t go into very much detail and the quality was pretty poor with the sound going out of synch with the picture. Plus there was this hotchpotch of a montage at the end that included a lot of non-Apollo related images that didn’t seem appropriate. I really couldn't recommend that anyone bothers with this one, you're much better off spending the money on “The Sky At Night: Apollo 11 A Night To Remember”. Still, it was only a few quid from Amazon and I’ve seen worse documentaries. More mission updates to follow.

Mission Update:
I’ve just watched a couple of episodes of “From The Earth To The Moon”, one of my favourite TV series ever. It was made following the success of the film “Apollo 13” and has all the same high quality production values of the film, with Tom Hanks introducing each episode as well as co-writing, co-directing and appearing in at least one of them.

The episodes I watched were “Spider” about the making of the Lunar Module followed by “Mare Tranquillitatis” about the actual landing. Brilliant. I can’t tell you how much I love this series. More mission updates to follow.

Mission Update:
Watched an episode of “NASAs Greatest Missions”, the one about Apollo 11’s moon landing unsurprisingly. Top stuff. Yes I know I’ve seen it before, that’s not the point. It’s still good.

Followed by the film “Apollo 13” with commentary by Jim & Marilyn Lovell. It’s impossible for me to watch this film without the accompanying water works but with Marilyn Lovell actually crying during the commentary I was shedding tears well before the end of the film. Fantastic. A brilliant film to end Moon Day with.

So there we have it, another marvellous Moon Day draws to a close. Before it does though, I’ve found a couple of websites worth having a look at. There’s some good photos on the NASA Goddard Photo and Video's photostream on Flickr and a NASA site about Apollo 11. Have a look why don’t you.

Happy Moon Day!

Suggested viewing: “The Sky At Night: Apollo 11 A Night To Remember”. I watched this for last year’s Moon Day and it’s quite brilliant.

Re-entry

2010-07-19T14:53:00.001+01:00

I’d totally lost track of the date. Tomorrow is July 20th or as I call it “Moon Day”, the anniversary of the historic moon landing by Apollo 11.

I celebrated this last year, the 40th anniversary, with an astronauts breakfast (orange juice, steak and eggs) followed by a day of watching Apollo related TV including a Sky At Night special looking back at the BBC coverage of the launch, landing and splashdown, including a surprisingly moving lift off in black and white, and James Burke doing all sorts of brilliant astronaut stuff, which was all fantastic; plus an episode of The Clangers (the one with the astronaut); the film “The Right Stuff” and some other moon related programming.

A great day and one which I plan on celebrating again tomorrow with some different moon related TV. But as I say, I had totally lost track of the date. I’ve already been to the shops once today but I’m going to have to go out again to buy the steak and orange juice for my astronaut’s breakfast.

The countdown has begun, or at least it will do when I get back from the shops for a second time today.

Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep

2010-07-09T23:30:00.006+01:00

So the other morning in the very early hours I was awoken by birdsong. This happens pretty much every morning and despite the interruption to my precious sleep I actually enjoy it and drop off again with a smile on my face and the birds in my ears.

On this occasion however, it was a new bird noise, obviously not one of the garden regulars (see here for details). The calls were very loud and very shrill, short and regular with the occasional extra note or two at the end of some of them. “Who could this new garden visitor be?” I thought, then turned over and went back to sleep.

At a more convenient hour I got up to feed the birds as usual, still hearing the new bird call, and ventured into the garden to see who was making all the noise. I wasn’t quite awake and it took a while for me to focus properly on the bird at the back of the garden, sitting on the fence and calling for all his worth. As things came into focus I could see it was a baby bird, the large yellow gape was a giveaway as was its round fluffiness. It was larger than a robin and I’m pretty sure it was a blackbird chick.

As I watched he launched himself from the fence and flew in a straight line at the house. I thought he was going to fly through the open door into the house but instead he missed the open door and flew into the closed window and knocking himself silly.

I once saw a baby dunnock do the same thing and die right in front of me, it was very sad. At least this little fellow hadn’t died but he was very wobbly and was clearly semi-conscious; I was able to get close enough to have him put one foot on my hand. I didn’t know whether to pick him up or not and as I was deciding what to do he came round, called out again and ran off behind the pots.

From then on his calls didn’t let up, once every couple of seconds or so. Does the call mean “I’m here, come and get me mum/dad”? It seemed like that anyway but if it was, mum and dad didn’t pay much attention and didn’t come and get him. There were plenty of blackbirds in the garden at one time or another but none of them seemed to take any notice. Only the robin seemed to pick up on the distress calls and he didn’t seem to know what to do either.

The poor thing, let’s call him Chirpy as that’s what he was doing the whole time. He moved about the garden finding different spots to call from, sometimes in good cover, other times a little more exposed. While Mrs Kitsch and I were having breakfast he came to the door and looked like he was going to come inside for a moment. He didn’t though but we did get the chance to take some photos.

My other half and I managed to get close enough to try and give him some bagel soaked in water. He took a little from her but wasn’t keen to take anything from me. I really wanted to pick him up and take him indoors where he would be safe from predators, out of the very hot sun and maybe persuade him to take some more food but you’re not supposed to do that, so despite his pitiful calls, and the dopy expression on his little birdie face, we left him to his fate hoping that mum and dad would come along and get him back to the nest.

Chirpy moved around the garden again for a bit, still calling out and we went indoors. I kept checking on him and could hear him even when I couldn’t see him. At one point every time he called you could see the bushes move, so he was obviously in there somewhere. Then I went out again later and nothing; no calling and no sign of him. I wish there was a more satisfactory ending to this blog but there isn’t. There was no sign of him for the rest of the day. I hoped to hear or see him again today but there’s still no sign.

He may have flown out the garden too far for us to hear; he may have got back to the nest and not have the need to make so much noise; or something less palatable but all to “natural” may have occurred. I don’t know. Poor chirpy.

It was good to get so close to a chick but a bit too distressing for me to see him so obviously distressed. As Mrs Kitsch said of nature quoting Thomas Hobbes, its “nasty, brutish and short”. Poor Chirpy, poor us.

Suggested reading: “On the Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection” by Charles Darwin

More Space Books

2010-07-05T20:13:00.003+01:00

What do you do when you have no money and no more room for books in the house? In my case you buy more books. My name is Gary Smith and I am a bookaholic.

Before we get to the books though I’d like to say a big thank you to Michelle, aka Cowboys and Custard, for the fantastic rocket gift she presented me with on a recent visit to her lovely house. Thanks Michelle, as you can see the rocket has proudly taken its place alongside some of my other space ornaments.

So, on to the latest additions to the space library. First, Norman Mailer’s “A Fire On The Moon”. Mailer was asked to write about the moon landings by Life Magazine and this book is the result. I haven’t read it yet but I gather it’s not altogether complimentary about the endeavour but then he was a wife beater and something of a miserable bugger, so what can you expect?

Last year the brilliant Taschen published “Moonfire” a book that added Mailer’s writing to some amazing NASA photos to create a really special book and one that’s definitely on my “must have” list. If money was no object though I would absolutely have to have the special edition of the book. The special edition was limited to just twelve copies, it comes in packaging that opens out into a lunar lander and it comes complete with a piece of actual moon rock! Unsurprisingly, it costs thousands. Come on lottery! Meantime, I’m more than happy with my second hand copy of Mailer’s original.

Next up is another copy of The Obverser’s Book of Manned Spaceflight. Yes, another copy as I already have the second edition of the book with a picture of the ASTP on the cover.

This is the third edition with the space shuttle and a space station on the cover. Now of course I’m on the lookout for the first edition with a picture of Skylab on the cover. The Observer’s books are just lovely aren’t they? I found some interesting websites about them recently, so if you are into the Observer’s books you might want to have a look here, here and here.

Finally, I bought the latest edition of Spaceflight Magazine as it had an article on Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke and another on Russian spacedogs. I couldn't not get it could I?

Keep watching the skies.

Suggested reading: “Moonfire: The Epic Journey of Apollo 11” by Norman Mailer

The Joy Of 6

2010-07-05T18:58:00.001+01:00

The BBC Trust has rejected the proposal to axe 6 Music. Well done to everyone who made their displeasure about DG Mark Thompson’s insane idea known to the BBC and in particular to the BBC Trust. We did it. Thank you.

Suggested listening: 6 Music

Big Money

2010-07-03T19:34:00.004+01:00

This may well go down in the history of our small family as the summer of car boot sales. The weather has been lovely so it’s well worth being outdoors. Also Mrs Kitsch has been quite industrious and sold a number of things online, so we’ve been out there looking for lovely kitsch and vintage items to re-stock her online shop. The trouble is of course that we also end up buying stuff for ourselves and all the good work we did de-cluttering when we moved house a few years ago is being undone. Still, what ya gona do? Well, actually, we could go to a car boot sale and sell stuff rather than buy it, but who wants to get up that early? Exactly.

Being the eagle eyed scout that I am I completely failed to spot these two fantastic items, fortunately my other half was on the ball and got them for me.

I’ve had a brief look online but haven’t found anything out about them yet. They’re metal, quite heavy, about the size of a digestive biscuit and obviously souvenirs, possibly paper weights, rather than proper coinage. I’ve put a £2 coin next to them for comparison but maybe I should have used a digestive biscuit after all. I was thinking of including coins in my art work so these things are just right to help me with that.

Unfortunately, the Americans still deem it necessary to put the phrase “in god we trust” on their money; well it is the official motto of the United States so it’s not much of a surprise really. As I’ve mentioned before, I refuse to paint anything religious in case I’m mistakenly seen as endorsing religion, so I won’t be using that phrase in my work, however, the Latin phrase “e pluribus unum” meaning “out of many, one” seems to sum up America far better to me and I’ll be happy to include that in any future work. I’ll probably make up a coin design rather than try and reproduce an actual one anyway.

We’ve also been hitting the charity shops hard recently too where I spotted a couple more books. Blimey, not more books Gary? Yes, more books. This one about The Flaming Lips was only 50p so how could I not get it?

I’ve been a fan of The Flaming Lips since I saw them at Glastonbury several years ago. If you ever have the opportunity of seeing them play live then grab it with both hands, they have to be one of the best live bands of all time. I don’t know that much about them though so this book is a welcome addition to the library. Did I mention it was just 50p? Anyway, then there’s this little book.

Now I picked this up intending for Mrs Kitsch to make badges out of as it’s full of cute little pictures of squirrels and other woodland creatures. But then we sat a read it the other the day and it’s quite delightful. It tells you all about a year in the life of a squirrel in a very factual way and frankly if I had kids I'd get the whole series and read it with them. I learnt things from it, for instance, when the female squirrel is about to have her young she evicts the male squirrel from the drey (nest) and he and some of the other evictees move in together for the duration. It’s full of stuff like that, brilliant. Anyway, it’s really sweet and I got rather attached to it, so I’m keeping it. What can I say, I love squirrels. They’re the British equivalent of monkey’s so what’s not to like.

I rather like the grey squirrels, unfortunately, not everyone shares my opinion and there are plans to cull them in Cornwall so that the less attractive (I’m not keen on those silly tufts on their ears) but native red squirrel can get a foot hold again. This seems mad, not to mention racist, to me but what do I know about it? If we’re going to get rid of, or at least reduce, so called “non-native” species where do we draw the line? Rabbits aren’t native to this country, probably being introduced here by the Normans. And how far back do we go before we regard something as British? If you go back far enough there were once lions and elephants and all kinds of plains animals roaming around what is now Britain but I don’t see anyone suggesting re-introducing lions back into the country.

I suppose you could draw comparisons with the American grey squirrel taking over the land from the native British red squirrel with the white settlers in the United States taking over the land from the Native American Indians. Bury my nut at Wounded Knee. Still, I like the greys so I say move over Tufty, there’s a new squirrel in town and this town ain’t big enough for the both of yous. Anyway, it’s called evolution and obviously the reds simply aren’t up to the job.

Suggested listening: “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots” by The Flaming Lips

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #18

2010-07-02T15:50:00.001+01:00

Howdy partners, here’s another gem from the world of Cactus County. This is called “Cactus County Desert Scene” which pretty much speaks for itself.

I’m afraid that at the moment I can neither confirm nor deny rumours that some of my work has been bought by Charles Saatchi for his Museum of Contemporary Art, as I’ve only just started these rumours and I want them to spread a bit first. Anyway, this piece is acrylic on canvas, 18cm x 13cm.

Sunburn

2010-06-24T18:16:00.001+01:00

So much for the new job. Long story short it hasn’t worked out so I’m back on the market again. Any offers? On the plus side I can now take advantage of the good weather and take Mrs Kitsch on an impromptu trip to the seaside.

I don’t know what it is about the seaside, and in particular the sea, that draws me back. I’m sure I can’t be the only person who gets the urge every now and again to be by the sea, or better still in it. Is it a primal thing? It has been suggested that the hairless ape that is our species evolved into modern humans because we left the jungles and forests for the coast, the so called aquatic ape hypothesis. Living off shellfish and swimming in the oceans shaped us to become what we are today and in evolutionary terms that wasn’t so long ago. So maybe the urge to return to the sea is a primal thing after all. All I know is a trip to the seaside was very much in order, the weather was good, we had the time, so off we went with phasers set to “fun”.

The music that accompanied us to and from our seaside destination was a two disc collection of work by Ron Goodwin, which may seem an odd choice for an ex-indie DJ but “Elizabethan Serenade” and “Miss Marple’s Theme” simply can’t be beaten. There are some real classics in there too like “633 Squadron” and “Where Eagles Dare” but the best bit was trying to guess those tracks we didn’t know or at least what type of film they came from or what its basic theme was. Good old Ron’s use of the musical cliché kept us guessing along nicely with tracks like “El Morocco Tea Rooms”, “Tropical Mirage”, “Laughing Sailor” and “Handyman”. It certainly passed the time in an entertaining manor, especially on the return journey through all the many stretches of motor where a speed limit of 50mph was imposed because of road works, two separate incidents of upturned cars on the hard shoulder and the threat of “pedestrians” on the road. The upturned cars and the warning signs of “pedestrians” on the road were around the Bridgend area, so it’s possible the incidents of suicides in my old home town haven’t abated. Tragic.

However, disc one of Ron Goodwin came to an end as we entered The Gower in South Wales, a favourite place of ours that we’ve visited on a few occasions. The beaches there are very good and there are a lot to choose from. This time we selected Oxwich Bay not far from The Mumbles. Within about 15 minutes of settling in a spot by the dunes we were in the water. I floated about on my “turbo sport surf attack” inflatable ring (how long have I had that thing?) while Mrs Kitsch, unable to resist the lure of the briny, was soon swimming about like a West Country Esther Williams. Marvellous, just what we needed and the water wasn’t too cold either.

The plan was to go back in again a bit later but there were sufficient clouds to prevent the sun from keeping the water warm enough and we only managed a paddle later. In between our aquatic adventures there was much relaxation with Mrs Kitsch reading and me stretched out fast asleep (insert your own gag here about locals trying to rescue a beached whale).

Now although I said there were some clouds, there was still a lot of sunshine and the sensible thing to do would have been to put on some sun cream like my other half did but I deliberately decided to forego being sensible and get a little bit sunburnt. I can’t remember the last time I got sunburnt. All the talk of skin cancer and frankly the simple lack of really hot weather over the last decade or so mean that I just haven’t had sunburn in a very long time. So I thought, sod it, a little bit of sunburn, why not? How bad can it be?

Its twenty four hours later and you can fry an egg on the heat coming off my knees. My pink knees. My very pink knees. And it’s not just my knees, I’m a bright neon pink on my legs, the tops of my feet, my neck, shoulders, arms, and my chest and belly. I’ve totally irradiated myself; I look like lobster boy from a carnies freak tent. It stings quite a bit too. And do you know what, its fine. I’m sunburnt, it hurts and its fine. I didn’t intend to get quite so burnt but I really don’t mind that much.

I’m reminded of family holidays in Porthcawl more than 30 years ago (bloody hell am I that old? unfortunately, yes) and a time before health scares and rubbish summers. I remember playing on the dunes there, trying to fly a red kite with my brother and my dad. I remember that the sunburn hurt a lot which I didn’t like obviously, but the skin peeling off later on was pretty good in a ghoulish sort of way, you know how kids are.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you shouldn’t take precautions against sunburn and I’m not advocating getting sunburnt as a good thing that everybody should do. Not at all. It’s just that I haven’t experienced it in a long time and I just wanted to feel what it was like again.

A one off shouldn’t cause any long term problems and I’ll go back to covering myself in protective creams again after this but just this once, I wanted to experience a bit of sunburn. However, I do think I might have over done it somewhat, I certainly didn’t expect to feel quite this bad. But I can’t honestly say it wasn’t worth it.

We ended our lovely day out at the seaside by driving to The Mumbles for fish and chips and ice cream (is this another primal urge? Could it be that our aquatic ape ancestors also enjoyed fish and chips and ice cream? I think more research needs to be undertaken in this area). Even here I indulged in excess and purchased a rather large strawberry flavoured 99 with nut sprinkle from the wonderful Joes Ice Cream Parlour. It was brilliant though.

So what with the sea, the sun, the fish and chips, an ice cream and spending all day with Mrs Kitsch, all to a Ron Goodwin soundtrack, it was a pretty good day.

I slept for ages last night and dreamt about a thrash metal band called "Our Message Is Older Than Your Message Is". I even heard a couple of their songs in my dream, they were pretty good too, a bit like Slipknot, a far cry from Ron Goodwin. In my dream the band members also toured as solo performers and had a song about that as well. I have no idea what any of this means, if it means anything at all but it seems like a pretty cool name for a band.

Suggested listening: “That Magnificent Man and His Music Machine: Two Sides of Ron Goodwin” by Ron Goodwin

Avantgarde Hummings

2010-06-22T11:16:00.001+01:00

A lot has been written about popular composers over the years but very little has been written about the worlds least popular composer, Avantgarde Hummings, from Salzburg.

You know more of the works of Herr Hummings than you think you do. His work is performed daily across the globe by an army of devoted followers despite most of the rest us disliking his music intensely.

Avantgarde Hummings has rejected conventional methods of both composition and instrumentation in favour of a more industrial method. He also insists that his work is not performed in the more traditional concert halls or music venues or indeed at the more regular time of early evening. Instead, the maestro is adamant that his works are performed outside in the streets of residential areas, most often in the early hours of the morning or late at night.

His preferred instruments are pneumatic drills, cement mixers, steam-rollers, skips, lorries and most vehicles from the JCB range. As well as his “works for road gangs and builders” he also composes more intimate pieces; I am sure you will be familiar with his various chamber works for lawn mower, hedge trimmer and leaf blower. He has also written some solo pieces like “Man With Hammer” and “Man With Drill”. You may also have heard extracts from what are regarded as his two masterpieces “Concerto for Black and Decker Workmate” and the massive “opera for road movers” called the “Ring Road Cycle”. However, two of his most performed works would have to be “Erecting and Dismantling of Scaffolding at Dawn” and “Bin Men In The Morning”.

Some of his more experimental works from his “after dark” period include “Car Doors Slamming at Midnight”, “Argument for Couple at 3am”, “Dog Barking Incessantly” and the ever unpopular “Car Alarm”.

So next time you are woken by an unexpected clamour just lie back and enjoy one of the many works of this most prolific and unpopular composer, Avantgarde Hummings, from Salzburg.

Suggested listening: Extracts from “The Complete Works of Avantgarde Hummings” outside your home shortly.

For Fox Sake

2010-06-22T01:40:00.001+01:00

Experts will tell you that fox attacks on humans are about as rare as hen’s teeth. So why is it that just weeks after the Tories get into power we see in the news that there have now been two attacks on children by foxes, one in Northern Ireland and another more recently in Brighton? Why? I will tell you why. It’s because the Tories want to overturn the ban on fox hunting.

After the first attack I said to my brother that we would see more such stories in the news as a way of getting the public “on side” for this change in policy. And what do you know, a couple of weeks later, another fox attacking a child story.

There’ll be more of these in the coming months; foxes spreading disease stories; foxes killing pets stories; foxes claiming expenses they’re not entitled to stories; foxes in league with Bin Laden stories. You wait and see, it will happen. And then in about a year or two, if they’re still in power, the Tories will overturn the hunting ban. I’ve watched Spooks, I know how these things work.

Frank Sidebottom, Thank You

2010-06-22T01:06:00.006+01:00

What a terrible year this is turning out to be for rock stars. It seems like we’re losing at least one a month; Jay Reatard, Paul Gray and Mark Linkous to name just three. Now tragically, Chris Sievey has died. You may not recognise that name but he was the man inside the papier-mache head that was Frank Sidebottom.

Frank Sidebottom is dead. I don’t ever remember writing anything quite so sad as that last sentence. Frank was an indie hero who spanned the worlds of comedy and music. He loved space, football (particularly The Robins), Timperley, singing and colouring in. And those of us that saw him perform live or bought the records or all too rarely saw him on TV, loved him.

I was lucky enough to interview him once. I still have his mobile number in my phone. I bought him a pack of colouring pens for his fantastic drawing. He told me he went through a lot of pink doing Little Frank’s face, so I got a couple of extra pink ones. Here’s a really bad photo of me with the great man.

That was taken at Moles Club in Bath in 2007 during the comeback tour. I must have seen him about three times in all. He was a truly unique and gifted performer. You can read some of the tributes fans are leaving on his website here.

I can’t believe that Frank/Chris has died, but he has. You know he has. He really has. Thank you, Frank/Chris.

Update:
I've just discovered that there is a campaign here to get Frank's latest world cup song "Three Shirts On My Line" to number #1. What a tribute that would be. They need to get make it available on i-Tunes and Amazon first and then decide on a which week to got for, so keep an eye out for that. Meantime go here to see the fantastic video.

Suggested listening: “Frank Sidebottom's ABC And D: The Best Of” and "E F G And H: The Best Of Vol #2" by Frank Sidebottom

Why Did This Have To Happen?

2010-06-07T10:47:00.005+01:00

Why did this have to happen?

Why?

Suggested listening: "Steady The Buffs" by The Buff Medways

Space Is Really Big

2010-06-02T12:44:00.004+01:00

I’ve added another fine book to my personal library of space literature with the bargain purchase of “Space: The Ultimate Frontier” by Michael Sharpe from the British Heart Foundation charity bookshop.

OK, so there was some water damage to this book but it wasn’t too bad and the book cost just £4.50. To put this in context, new the book costs almost £30 and even good condition second hand copies go for about £25. Why is this book so expensive? Well, it is enormous coming in at a massive 59cm x 43cm x 2.5 cm, so it’s over half a meter high. I think a pictorial example of exactly how big this book is would be helpful at this point.

See what I mean, it’s huge. As well as the slight water damage to this copy, I have discovered online that there are some errors in the text with some later editions of the book coming with an update sheet to correct them, which my second hand copy doesn’t have but really, look at the size of it. And the photos inside are marvellous.

The book covers all the manned space flights from Gagarin’s historic Vostok 1 in 1961 to China’s second manned space flight in Shenzhou 6 in October 2005. It also includes a couple of X-15 sub-orbital flights, so it’s pretty extensive. However, it’s the large scale photos that really make it.

And all for just under a fiver. Bargain. One online reviewer of the book says he keeps his copy in the corner of a room and turns a new page over every day, which seems like a splendid idea to me. However, I’m not sure we’ve got a room in the house where we could do that at the moment. Oh well.

Buying this book has reminded me again of a question I ask myself from time to time; why do I keep buying so many books? I’ve bought and read a large number of books on the subject of the space race and have several more waiting to be read. I also intend to buy yet others and read them too. However, I also have a large number of books on many other subjects, some I’ve read, many I haven’t. Surely it would make much more sense to just borrow books from the local library when I actually have the time to read them. I’d save a small fortune and have less clutter in the house. I can’t even use the old argument of having them to hand for reference purposes, not since the introducing of the world wide web.

No, there really isn’t a justification for it at all when you think about it rationally. But as I’ve mentioned before, I really do enjoy the process of browsing in bookshops, an exercise made all the more pleasurable when it’s for something in particular; the thrill of the chase and all that. But also, how wonderful to come across an unexpected delight, as in the case of my most recent and oversized purchase. It may not be my only vice but as vices go it’s not such a bad one, is it? If all I leave this world when I die is a house full of books, well, that’s not such a bad legacy really.

Everything Is Nice

2010-05-27T23:53:00.004+01:00

Yesterday morning I got a text from my friend Rowena recommending a gig at The Mothers Ruin that same night. Well it’s a been a few weeks since I’ve been to a gig, I haven’t seen Row in a while and frankly I don’t leave the house enough these days, so that evening after a rather fine mid-week roast lamb dinner cooked by yours truly, I left the cocoon and headed towards Ruin, so to speak.

The Mothers Ruin is only a small venue but I’ve seen some really good gigs there previously including Demon’s Claws and The Lovely Eggs. The band that Row recommended to me was Schnauser who I hadn’t seen play live before but I knew them from when I was on the radio. I liked what they had sent me then a lot and played a few tracks on the show and I'd wanted to see them live for some time. Here are Schnauser in moody black and white, there’s John on drums, Alan on his recently purchased 12 string electric guitar and Holly on bass.

They did a good set and lived up to the promise of the demo CD. Bristol gig going legend Big Jeff was in attendance, of course, and he nailed it as ever when he described Schnauser as sounding like a mix of Super Fury Animals and Ben Folds with a touch of Pavement. Big Jeff is very good at pointing out the bands that other bands resemble, mostly because is knows so many bands and has seen a lot of them play live. And of course he danced all the way through their set. Big Jeff will dance to anything. I’ve seen him at a lot of gigs; he’s always at the front and he always dances. Here he is at last night’s gig with Rowena snapping away at Schnauser.

Big Jeff’s fame has spread beyond Bristol and he now enjoys a nationwide reputation with a lot of visiting bands getting to know him from his pole position in the mosh pit and his idiosyncratic dancing style. By itself this may not get him noticed but he’s at least 6 feet tall with a mane of curly blond hair and one of those faces that wouldn’t look out of place in a Sergio Leone Western. If they were ever to erect a statue of Blackbeard in Bristol, and I think they should, then Big Jeff would be the ideal model for this city’s most infamous son. He may look slightly scary but he's a sweet guy and he really knows his music. He's pretty good performing music too, I shall never forget his solo Manic F performance, quite brilliant and very impressive. Jeff has also appeared in an episode of "Skins", performed on stage with Kid Carpet at a number of gigs and festivals, featured in Venue Magazine's top 100 Bristol people, and if you Google "Big Jeff Bristol" he crops up on Google Images.

After the gig I chatted with Big Jeff, Row and Schnauser and ended up giving a lift home to most of them. So a good night out, a top band enjoyed, I caught up with Rowena and Big Jeff and it got me out of the house. As Marc Riley would say, job’s a good ‘un.

Suggested listening: "Kittyhawk" by Santa Dog.

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #17

2010-05-25T14:00:00.001+01:00

Having pointed out in the last couple of blogs that the images in my work don’t always have meaning, here’s one that does. It’s called “The Truth Of Atheism Burns As Bright As The Surface Of The Sun”. The green stars reference the fact that all the elements of the natural world are born in stars; these elements are only released into the universe on the death of a star, hence the skull, which here is made of fire, like the sun. Blimey, plenty of meaning there then.

When I started this picture it was meant to be another red, white and black painting but after completing the border I got the idea of doing a skull made of fire, so threw out the original idea and just went for it. It’s acrylic on canvas, 36cm x 45cm. This might be the last painting I post for a while as I start the new day job next week.

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #16

2010-05-24T11:22:00.003+01:00

I’ve been working on a lot of small pictures lately so it is good to have a bigger painting completed for a change. This piece is 51cm x 40cm, acrylic on canvas and is called “Stars and Shields” for want of a better title. Once again, best not to look too deeply for meaning just enjoy the rhythm of the piece. My intention is that for each painting there is a short written work to go with it; not quite sure what I’m going to write to go with this one though. Anyway, here it is, I hope you like it.

Also, I’ve just discovered that there was a short silent Western made in 1912 called “The Cactus County Lawyer” staring an actor called George Gebhardt. More recently, there appears to be a stage musical called “Trouble In Cactus County” (if you follow this link then click on 'past shows' then click on 'Trouble In Cactus County' you can read a synopsis of the show plus there's a photo from it) written by Ken Starcevic with songs by Simon D'Souza. One of the characters is called Carlotta Del Rio, which is quite brilliant. I think both Ms Del Rio and Mr Gebhardt may find themselves named checked in a future written piece to accompany a painting by way of a tribute.

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #15

2010-05-21T12:39:00.005+01:00

Here’s the latest from Cactus County. First up a piece called “Three Red Stars”. I’ve been working on this for ages but I think it’s finally done now. Don’t ask me what it’s about. I recently heard a quote from Samuel Beckett (the playwright not the time travelling scientist from “Quantum Leap”) where he advised a director of one of his plays “Don’t think about meaning, think about rhythm” and that certainly applies here. Actually, now I think about it that pretty much goes for all my work. Whatever. Unfortunately, this photo doesn’t really capture the colours correctly, the blue is darker and there is silver around the little white stars in the red circle. Acrylic on canvas, 40cm x 30cm.

Next up "Calavera With Small Bird" which is acrylic on wood rather than canvas, 24.5cm x 28cm. This is one of my favourites. I think for once I managed to paint the skull I wanted. They don’t usually turn out quite like I plan but this one is pretty close.

Now a couple of small pictures in metal frames. I got the frames from a charity shop and they kind of suggested the paintings that needed to be in them. Here are the results.

And finally for the moment another deer painting "Deer Licking A Daisy" and is acrylic on wood, 13cm x 15cm. I must have a go at painting a whole deer not just its head but that’s a painting for another time. I hope there’s something here you like, check out my Flickr site, you may find something you like there, if not here.

Uncomic Relief

2010-05-19T23:50:00.005+01:00

So after nine weeks of waiting I still hadn’t been told the results of my MRI scan. This is two weeks after I made a series of phone calls to get them at which time I was told I should hear by a further week to ten days but that frankly seven weeks was too long to wait and apologies were given.

Ten days came and went so after two full weeks I got back on the phone and left a couple more messages – it was of course too much to ask that the phone would be answered by a human being but I half expected that anyway. This did the trick and the neurologist’s sectary called me back and gave me the excellent news that the scans were normal. This was a massive relief I can tell you. So all this talk of tumours was totally bogus and had me worrying for nothing. Gee thanks.

That was yesterday. Today I had the complaints people at the hospital finally replying to the message I left them on the phone yesterday, again full of apologies and additionally telling me they were sorry for not getting back to me before now. Yes, I was right to be upset that I had to wait nine weeks to get the results. If I wanted to make an official complaint then that may go towards investigating what had happened and hopefully new procedures would be put in place so it didn’t happen again. What? I’ve got to make an official complaint to get that to happen? Yes. So you already know that you have a serious problem but you won’t do anything about it till I make the complaint official? Yes. You can’t just look into it now? No.

So let’s see if I’ve got this right. The only way I got my results was for me to make a series of phone calls at my own expense after having to wait, on what we are all agreed is, an unacceptable time, during which I’ve been worried sick. Now for you to make sure this doesn’t happen again, it’s down to me, again. Have I got that right? Yes.

At this point I’m afraid the stress of the whole nine weeks since the MRI and the four weeks prior to this when my GP, sorry, former GP, had put the wind up me by talking about tumours in the first place, well, it all got to me and I had a bit of a go at the woman from complaints. No, I wasn’t going to do anything else, as far as I was concerned they already knew all the facts and should look into it without my further involvement. What if my results hadn’t been normal? What if that two months delay was the difference between life and death? Why should it be up to me to do more when they themselves could just find out which idiot or what poor procedure was responsible? No, I’m not prepared to put myself out anymore. I’ll leave it for some other poor sod to have his results delayed two months and let his grieving relatives make the complaint instead. Like I said, I lost it a bit.

Having checked online, it looks like the complaints procedure is a bit involved, so I just left a comment on the BRI website comments page instead. I know that such comments are ignored by the NHS as there was a programme about it on Radio 4 recently but I feel like I’ve got something out of my system, if not what is ailing me in the first place.

This all started with my homeopathic dispensing GP and his less than encouraging initial diagnosis. I’ve now discovered another GP’s surgery close to my home, so I’m going to change my GP. I would now like to point you in the direction of my friend Tessa’s recent blog which is definitely worth a read.

I have an appointment with another neurologist next month. Hopefully, this one will have some ideas about what’s wrong with my foot that don’t include me being at deaths door. We’ll see but for now I’m feeling very relieved. I can start listening to long playing records again and not stick to reading just short stories.

Suggested listening: "Slowly But Surely" by Holly Golightly

House Of Cards

2010-05-16T17:39:00.003+01:00

The quest to fill the house with more crap continues a pace with some rather fine acquisitions of space themed playing cards and some old random cigarette cards. At least they don’t take up much room. We’ll start with the old random cigarette cards.

As you see they are pretty random. The intention is to use individual cards in various collages with other odds and ends but I think they look pretty good all together like this. I’ll end up doing something with them though, it just needs a bit of thought. That’s one of the things I’ve discovered about making art is that there is an awful lot of thinking involved. I can stare at a piece I’m working on for ages thinking about the next step. It may seem like I’m just throwing paint at a canvas sometime but honestly, I do have to think about it. Anyway, with these cards I also got this lot...

It says on the back that they are “fortune telling” cards which obviously is just nonsense but they are rather nice drawings don’t you think? They’re the same size as the other cigarette cards so quite small. Again, I was thinking of using them as part of a collage and I’ll let Mrs Kitsch have some if she wants to use them too.

I particularly like these ones above. Now let’s take a look at some of the space playing cards I got.

This is just a few of them. They’re from the Heritage series on space exploration and I like the fact that it’s pretty much up to date with drawings of the International Space Station, Spaceship One and ESA’s Planck & Herschel space observatories along with the usual space race suspects. It probably comes as no surprise to hear that I have another set of different space playing cards specifically on the race to the moon, so I thought I’d include a few pictures of them here as well.

As you see, I keep them in a display wallet where they have now been joined by the new set of cards I’ve just bought. No they are not for playing cards with, are you mad?

There was a bit of space (no pun intended) at the end of the wallet so I filled it up with some other cards (above) that Mrs Kitsch got me a while back. I think they must come from some sort of game. They look pretty old and I like them a lot. Space is ace.

T Plus 21

2010-05-16T01:09:00.002+01:00

Yesterday (Sat 15th May) Mrs Kitsch and I celebrated twenty one years of being a couple. Not for us the regulation trip up the aisle, we did things our own way and just decided to live together and haven’t regretted it for a moment. We did do a sort of wedding thing after being together fifteen years during a holiday in Las Vegas but that’s a blog for another time.

Anyway, to celebrate our twenty one years of unwedded bliss we exchanged gifts, and here’s the fantastic presents I received (she must really love me).

What you are looking at here is “The First Book Of Space Travel”; “The Letters Of Pliny The Younger”; “Encounter With Tiber” written by Buzz Aldrin; and a set of Apollo postcards.

“The First Book Of Space Travel” is an American book published in 1953 before the space race had really begun and well before men were sealed into capsules and sent aloft. It’s obviously a children’s book but has some charming illustrations as you can see...

Quite brilliant. I’m gaining quite a collection of early space books as well as those relating more directly to the Apollo period. I like their optimism and expectation; it’s a shame things didn’t work out like they thought. I’d be writing this from my spaceship on the moon if they had. Regular readers of this blog may recall that as well as a thing for space, I’m also quite keen on things Roman and have been after a book of Pliny the Younger’s letters for a while now. What’s that all about then?

I was watching a documentary on TV about the destruction of Pompeii some years ago in which they mentioned that in one of Pliny’s letters he gives his own eye witness account of seeing the eruption of mount Vesuvius. In it he describes a pyroclastic flow, possibly the first description of such an event. In fact, if I recall the documentary accurately, they said that his description was regarded as exaggeration until pyroclastic flows had been studied in modern times and everything he wrote about was then vindicated. I’ve had it in mind to read that description ever since but not really got round to it. Recently I decided it was time to get hold of a copy of Plinys letters and find out more not just about the volcano but also about Pliny. It’s one of those names you hear of but don’t know anything about who he was. I could have bought a new copy of the book but wanted to get it second hand. However, despite a rather extensive search I’ve not come across a copy. Mrs Kitsch did though and I’m chuffed with it.

Another thing I’m always on the lookout for are space race postcards. I haven’t seen many, it’s not the sort of thing that turns up in charity shops, you have to go to specialist postcard fairs for them, and even I’m not that sad yet, or E-bay, which is where Mrs Kitsch found these top quality items.

Fantastic. But I’ve saved the best till last.

This book “Encounter With Tiber” written by Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes, is a science fiction novel. I knew Aldrin had written one, in fact he and Barnes have written a couple, the other one is called “The Return”. It’s another of the many, many space books on my “to get/read” list so I was chuffed when I opened the package and saw what it was. Nice one Mrs Kitsch. But then, as I was thumbing through it, what did I see but...

Oh yes. It is a signed copy!!! A book written AND SIGNED by a man who went to the moon. THE MOON! I was actually speechless when I saw this. I couldn’t manage to say any real words, I just made noises. I’m still a bit stunned and extremely pleased. Is it any wonder I love this woman as much as I do? I hope she liked my meagre offerings. The thing is, and forgive my sentimentality here, the best present is the fact that she still loves me after twenty one years. I’m a very fortunate man.

A Sight For Saw Eyes

2010-05-15T23:48:00.002+01:00

We’ve started doing jig-saws. I was thinking it was another sign of getting old but then I remembered that Laurel and Hardy film “Me And My Pal” the one where everyone gets drawn into doing the jig-saw at the cost of Oliver’s wedding. There’s something addictive about them whatever age you are. I think that the humble jig-saw taps into something fundamental, possibly even primal, within us.

As a species, we’re constantly look for patterns in things, it’s how we learnt to hunt animals and find other food, avoid predators, figure out the seasons, work out a social order, all that kind of thing. This seeking for patterns is also responsible for getting a lot of superstitions and religions started, mistakenly seeing patterns where actually there aren’t any and filling in the gaps to make sense of it all. Unfortunately, some people are still doing exactly that today even at the expense of logic and rational thought. Anyway, before I go off on too much of a tangent...

Think about it, doing a jig-saw is about finding patterns, filling in the gaps, completing a picture to make sense of it. And once you get started not completing it just seems wrong and wrong at a very deep level. And then there’s that slight sense of anticlimax when the picture is completed. I think that’s because instead of a dead mammoth at our feet we’ve ended up with a picture of some kittens, or a ship, or a landscape, or maybe a dead mammoth if that’s what it’s a jig-saw of, but it’s not food to last the tribe a month. You know, I do think I might be on to something here.

Anyway, whatever it is, Mrs Kitsch and I have been doing a few jig-saws of late and here’s the latest one, another map, this time of the British Isles and Ireland. And only two pieces missing.

I didn’t take a picture of the jig-saw of two kittens we did last week but that’s all the excuse I need to do that one again. And while out charity shop shopping yesterday I bought another kitten jig-saw, this time larger and with even more kittens on it, so no doubt I’ll be blogging about that one at some time or another. And before you start judging us, think about how you spend your leisure time - or possibly time when you should be doing something useful - reading the letters page of the Radio Times, watching grown men kicking a ball about on the telly, sleeping on the couch during Question Time. That’s right, not feeling so superior now are we?

Farewell To The Pad Leader

2010-05-09T22:27:00.002+01:00

With my attention focused on the bank holiday followed by the election, one piece of sad news that I’ve only just discovered is the death of Guenter Wendt on Monday 3rd May. Guenter Wendt worked at Kennedy Space Centre for 34 years and was in charge of operations at the top of the launch tower in what was known as the White Room. He was often the last person that the astronauts saw before they blasted off into space, shaking the astronauts by the hand and ensuring they were happy with everything before the hatch of the space capsule was sealed by his technicians.

Wendt was born and educated in Berlin, was a flight engineer flying with the Luftwaffe during WWII, becoming an American citizen in 1955 when he got a job with McDonnell Aircraft that led him to work in the space programme. Strict but good humoured, Wendt was popular with the astronauts who appreciated that his authoritarian management in the White Room was in their interest. The astronauts nick named him “Pad Führer” and would exchange joke gifts before a space flight; the Apollo 14 crew presented him with a WWII German military helmet before their flight to the moon.

He sounds like he was a great guy, someone who did his job to the best of his ability but also knew how to treat people. He was there practically from the start of the space race through Mercury, Gemini and Apollo and the story of mankind’s greatest achievement would be incomplete without his part in it being taken into account. He was 85 when he died and it appears he led a good and fulfilled life, which is probably the best any of us can hope for. I’m sorry to hear of his death but will drink a toast to his life at the next opportunity.

You can read more about Guenter here, here and here. His official website can be found here.

However, a much more detailed account of his critical involvement with the space programme can be found in his memoires "The Unbroken Chain", which he co wrote with Russell Still and is also on my must get list.

State Of The Art

2010-05-05T17:51:00.002+01:00

Well it’s been just over seven weeks since my MRI scan and I’m still waiting for the results. I rang what I believed was the neurologist’s office last week and had to leave a message on an answer phone. They didn’t bother calling back, so today I thought I’d try again.

After speaking to a human being this time I was told he would chase it up but I could try ringing the neurologist’s secretary myself as that might speed things up. He gave me the number but when I rang of course it was an answer phone. However, she did call me back within an hour or so, apologised that nothing had been done and said she would chase it up. Could she not just give me the results over the phone? No, it looks like no-one has bothered to even look at the scan results. She suggested I make a complaint to the hospital as that might speed things up. Wouldn’t they just sort it out without my making a complaint, surely if no-one has bothered looking at my scans after all this time, wouldn’t I just jump to the front of the queue? Apparently not, apparently making a complaint is the best thing to do. She gave me a number which I rang and of course it was an answer machine.

So I’ve left a message saying I didn’t really want to complain, that all I want are my test results but that if I have to make a complaint to get them, then I was prepared to do that. So, I’m still waiting. I first went to the doctor about this in February and it’s now May. It’s a good job I’m not in a lot of pain.

On the plus side, and if I live long enough, l start my new job on June 1st getting gigs and events streamed over the internet. I’m not entirely sure of all my duties but it’s a three month trial and if I haven’t picked it up by that time there’s always selling the Big Issue to fall back on. Or I might be in intensive care by then.

Suggested listening: “Hope Is Important” by Idlewild

In Doubtful Cases The More Liberal Interpretation Must Always Be Preferred: Cicero

2010-05-02T19:00:00.003+01:00

Inspired by the recent blogs of Kate & Theo and Tessa I’m going to nail my colours to the mast and tell you that I have used my postal vote for the Liberal Democrats at this general election.

It would be great if we lived in a socialist republic, I would vote for that but even the Labour Party aren’t fighting for that any more, which is a great shame. So what choice do we have as electors?

The Labour Party had it all going for them back in ‘97, an overwhelming majority that meant they could pass any laws they wanted and push through policies that would make our society more equal and fair but it simply hasn’t happened. Here’s an interesting fact for you, every Labour government has reduced the gap between rich and poor, all be it very, very slightly in some cases but they’ve all done it, everyone one of them from the first Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald right up to the Callaghan government of the 1970’s. It’s not until we get to the Blair government that it stops. He made that gap bigger not smaller, the only Labour Prime Minister to actually make the gap between the rich and poor in our society worse. How’s that for a legacy Tony? I simply don’t know if Brown has been able to reverse this, however I suspect not. And then there is the war in Iraq. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!

However, voting Labour would still be preferable to voting Conservative. I simply do not need to explain that one, it’s a no-brainer but if you do need it explaining then just Google “the ‘80’s” and see what a mess they made of it. My parents of course don’t see it that way, but then they are devoted Daily Mail readers and have had their minds warped to such a degree that they see a more equal society posing a greater threat to us all than global climate change.

And while both Labour and Tory see religion as bringing society together (I wish they’d point out the stats on that one I’d love to see them) the Liberals have a more secular view on many issues. Not entirely of course, we haven’t reached the stage of human development where it is safe for a leader of a political party in the UK to say religion is divisive by its very nature, generally homophobic and simply illogical and counter to all evidence based argument. Clegg failed to take that opportunity on PM on Radio 4 recently when Eddie Mair asked him about religion. What a shame. Still, one day, hopefully.

And while Labour maybe tainted with some religious bias and be somewhat anti-evidence (you only have to look at the way Labour acted over the sacking of Professor David Nutt, the government's chief drug adviser), the Tories are positively infected with candidates who are Christian extremists. How can that be a good thing? The Liberals on the other hand have shown their secular colours at times, tend to go with evidence based policies and are much more open about equality and similar issues. I don’t think for one minute that they would lead us into a new dawn of sleaze free politics and have everything rosey in the garden. Politicians of all colours seem to be able to do just one thing consistently and that is to let us down. But if it is a choice between the Tories taking us back to the dark ages and more of the same fumbling from issue to issue by Labour, then I for one am willing to give the Liberals a go to see what they can do. They simply can not do a worse job than the other two.

But mostly, wouldn’t you just love to see the faces of both Brown and Cameron on Friday 7th May after they had both lost out to Clegg? That alone is worth my vote. Come on people, do the right thing, you know you want to. We’ll never have a better opportunity.

Suggested listening: “Vote Hacksaw” by Hacksaw.

Vintage And Handmade

2010-05-02T12:48:00.003+01:00

The lovely Mrs Kitsch had another vintage and handmade fair at Chipping Sodbury Town Hall this Saturday and obviously I attended in my capacity as driver and chief hauler of stock. To those new to the wonderful world of vintage and handmade, or V&H as I shall call it here, let me explain.

Vintage isn’t just antique, it has to be lovely and charming and more often than not very, very kitsch; ornaments, pictures, china, toys, books, clothes and fabric, a lot of fabric. It’s often items that you or your family used to have, or that remind you of things you had, as a child. Sometimes it’s that particular thing you used to look at with envious eyes; the toy in the toyshop; the little china dog on your Nan’s mantelpiece; the doll your next door neighbour had that your Mum wouldn’t get you (obviously, in my case the “doll” was Major Matt Mason’s arch enemy Scorpio but you don’t see Major Matt Mason or any of his colleague or indeed his arch enemy at V&H fairs unfortunately); so, it can be stuff you always wanted when you were younger but you never got. By its very nature vintage takes you back, quite often its items from the 1950’s, ‘60's and ‘70’s but people of our age now have to come to terms with the fact that vintage can sometimes mean things from the 1980's too, which comes as a bit of a shock at first. Anyway, that’s vintage but what about handmade?

You’ve probably seen those shops full of lovely things, nice little knick-knacks that you’d love to have but often can’t find an excuse to buy for yourself. So sometimes you and I, I’m not immune, venture into these shops looking for gifts for someone else. Sometimes end up buying a thing that you like, but not necessarily a thing that the giftee would like, so in effect it’s like buying a thing for yourself and keeping it at your friends house, which is fair enough as don’t friends sometimes do exactly the same? I think you’ll find they do. Well, the handmade side of V&H includes a lot of those kinds of items, often extremely well made and quite beautiful. They can range from simple craft items to works of art in their own right. There are a lot of talented women, and it is mostly women, out there doing really superb work.

The world of V&H combines the best of both of the above; lovingly selected vintage items sold alongside beautifully made things, all on the same table. If there is one word that sums up V&H for me it would be nice. Nice is something of an underrated concept. I like nice; a nice cup of tea; a nice cuddle; a nice time; yes, I like nice and V&H is nice; nice people with nice things for sale.

Mrs Kitsch (that's her lovely table above) and I used to do a lot of craft fairs, which I think is a very different scene to V&H. I’ve now attended a number of V&H fairs and often see something I would love to have or maybe I spot something that is particularly beautiful. Whereas, I’ve been to a lot of craft fairs where I haven’t seen one single item that interests me, so don’t make the mistake of thinking that V&H is like a craft fair, they are not the same.

As I said, it’s mostly women that do V&H and they’re also different to the craft crowd. Some of them are just a little a bit dotty it has to be said but frankly that’s not an unattractive quality in my book. Their wardrobe is also much better than the craft lot; lovely vintage dresses or things made from vintage fabric as opposed to the aged hippy look. This goes for the women that attend the fairs as much as the women who take part in them.

And because everything on everyone’s tables is so lovely (a fine example above being the pin cushions that Mrs Kitsch makes using tiny vintage ornaments), they all end up spending money on each other’s stalls, coming away from each fair with new things for the home, or materials for the next art project, or just something to sell on their own table next time. It’s recycling taken to a whole different level.

I love going to these events. I have to be very strong and not buy up loads of stuff myself, but you also meet such lovely people. One woman who had a table next to us was called Claire, she lives in Kent and she knows Billy Childish! Her son is best friends with his son. Apparently, Billy Childish does wear those World War 1 clothes most of the time. Brilliant. Then we sold this fantastic old jigsaw puzzle to a woman who works at the American Museum in Bath, a place Mrs Kitsch and I love to visit, so we chattered to her for a bit too. You might even see our jigsaw puzzle (a brilliant 1950’s map of North America with Canada highlighted in “empire red”) at the museum at some point in the future. How brilliant is that? Very, is the answer.

I’m not sure anyone makes much of a living from V&H fairs, even on a good day no one is going to get rich. Even doing a lot of fairs and having other outlets, like Etsy, especially in today’s economic climate. But then so many worthwhile things don’t make much or even any money, at least that’s my experience. And the V&H fairs are worthwhile, not just for the obviously pleasure that most of the participants get out of it, but also for the many people who attend them and purchase that something special, something you simply can’t get in a shop in the high street and certainly not in a shopping mall. They’re also an outlet and showcase for some very talented artists and creative types. So three good old fashioned cheers for the vintage and handmade fair.

Recommended blogs to find out more about V&H: vintageandhandmade.blogspot.com and kitschandcurious.blogspot.com

Last Night I Thought I Saw A Shooting Star

2010-04-29T14:28:00.004+01:00

Last night I was back at the Louisiana for another top gig, just get this for a line up, first on The Transpersonals, followed by The Ouija Birds and top of the bill The Moles. Well, that’s three headliners as far as I’m concerned.

The comedian and local boy made good Justine Lee Collins is a fan of The Transpersonals and he’ll be sorry he’s not here at the Louisiana tonight as they are on top form. In the past the Trannies have put on some rather shambolic shows but don’t think that’s a criticism; a lot of tight as a gnats chuff bands can only wish they were as good as The Transpersonals on a shambolic night. Recently though they’ve got it much more together and when you add that to their now extended roster of superb songs, they really are a force to be reckoned with.

One of their newer songs “I’m Not A Seeker I’m A Founder” is an instant classic with its hypnotic mix of driving riffs, pulsating percussion, Indian sitar sounds and rhyme riding lyrics. I do have a problem with the lyrics and indeed the whole mystic, pseudo religious side of The Transpersonals. Lines like “science and religion are blending” from the otherwise excellent “You Gotta Horus – Outta Control” do rub me up the wrong way, science is pushing religion further away with every new discovery, but despite my anti-religious stance the fact is that I really like this band despite “where they’re coming from man” and am very happy to count myself amongst their fans.

It would be nice to hear more songs about what a load of old rubbish religion, mysticism and general supernatural belief is but when you consider that atheism is only a few of hundred years old compared to the thousands of years of illogical nonsense it has to battle against, the constant mind numbing propaganda there is for religion, and finally throw in some private experimental research undertaken by band members into the mind altering effects of certain chemicals, well it’s a wonder there aren’t more songs about the mystic than there are. OK, so I don’t believe in what they are singing about but there will always be a place in my universe for The Transpersonals.

I like to think that The Ouija Birds are destined for great things. They’ve got it all, they’re young and look great on stage; they sound great live and on disc; the songs are well crafted with depth and charm; they already have a very loyal fan base; and they have more and better hair than any other band I can think of and don’t kid yourself that hair isn’t important in music; Right Said Fred = bald; Take That = hair like your dad; Jimi Hendrix = a kick arse afro. I rest my case. There’s no afros in this band but they do have great hair in a Mighty Boosh kind of way. Hang on, I’ve got caught up talking about their hair. The Ouija Birds have a lot of really compelling songs and like The Transpersonals have an instant classic in “Warships”. I’ve not heard a Oujia Bird song I didn’t like but “Warships”, like the band that brought the song to life, is really something very special. It can only be a matter of time before this band are on the cover of the NME.

Already it’s been a fine night but now The Moles take to the stage. I’ve been chatting about art to Brin, the main Mole and as I arrived earlier I grabbed a word with bassist Billy who told me the band have finally got a record deal and that their album will be out in October on See Monkey Do Monkey Recordings, a fine independent label that also has The Keys on their roster. Beside me is my friend Richard Pitt from BBC Bristol Introducing and together we are transported to a weird world of psychotic waking nightmares, dead ginger tom cats, people turning into birds, night time strolls in the woods, and numerous other off kilter themes set to tunes that fell threw a wormhole in the space time continuum forever linking 1969 with the now.

The reverberated, distorted lyrics that emerge from the marvellously moustachioed Brin (this band also have great hair, including Brin’s tash) weave their way through the crowd into your brain like that thing in the film Donnie Darko that comes out of his stomach and snakes its way around the house. It’s psychedelic with an authentic 60’s feel but it’s fresh and new, sounding strange and familiar at one and the same time.

Their sumptuous songs have melodies that are immediate and charming with a warmth that wraps round your inner being, and all the while it rocks, boy does it rock. The Moles, for me the very name now invokes a strange parallel world of weirdness coupled with great, great songs.

So another excellent night of top quality underground, psyched out, life enhancing music at The Louisiana.

One final thought only tenuously connected to this gig. A recent full page article in Venue Magazine talked about how local radio still had something decent and different to offer the listener compared to the failings of national radio. Once again Bristol Introducing was highlighted as an example of good radio, just as Bristol Uncovered had been commended in the past when the failings of Star FM were being written about. Consistently praised and overlooked at the same time. Well done to my friend Richard and his colleagues Sam & Toby for continuing to fly the flag of good radio and good music for little or no reward while their day time counterparts fill the airwaves with pointless, tired speech and music that frankly was already old twenty five years ago. So well done Richard, keep up the good work.

We Is Down Among ’Em Charlie

2010-04-26T23:44:00.024+01:00

This is my 50th blog, something of a milestone so it's appropriate that it's a special one.

Yesterday I fulfilled a long held ambition to see with my own eyes an actual Apollo spacecraft. Obviously a trip to the Kennedy Space Centre is my ultimate goal, but till that glorious day I am more than happy with my visit this weekend to the Science Museum in London where I was able to see the Apollo 10 Command Module Capsule. So here I am with Charlie Brown.

As I mentioned in the previous blog, it was important for Mission Control to be able to communicate clearly between the two different spacecraft so giving space ships names wasn't just affectation. Pilots naming their aircraft was something of a tradition in aviation circles, so the Apollo astronauts were allowed to name their spacecraft with the Apollo 10 crew deciding on the call sign Charlie Brown for the CSM and Snoopy for the Lunar Module. Why Charlie Brown and Snoopy? Well, it was the ‘60’s, there was a lot of crazy stuff going on but the mission for Apollo 10, a dry run as it were for the first moon landing by Apollo 11, called for the LM to get close to but not land on the surface of the moon. At its lowest the LM got to just under 9 miles from the lunar surface. While there, they were to “snoop” around the proposed Sea of Tranquillity landing sight. Obviously, one thing lead to another and posterity is left with Charlie Brown and Snoopy associated with one of mankind’s greatest achievements. If it had been Britain not the USA that had first put men on the moon, then we may well have ended up with spacecraft called “Major Clanger” and “Tiny Clanger”, so we really can’t complain.

It would take a couple of days exploring round the Science Museum to see all the wonderful things they have on display but I was there specifically for the CM and the museums other space stuff. With limited time and a limited budget you have to make the most of it which is definitely what I did. However, I did take the time to see some of the other exhibits including a Cray supercomputer...

a replica of Babbage’s difference engine, the very first computer

this fabulous machine that used to make “the pips” to mark the hour

part of an early British particle accelerator

the Rolls Royce “Flying Bedstead”

the Short SC.1 XG900 VTOL research aircraft and yes I know this picture is the wrong way up but I think it shows of the aircraft better this way.

Stephenson’s Rocket

And a V2 rocket.

All this (and a lot more besides) was just on the ground floor along with the space stuff, so one day I’ll have to go back and take a look at the rest of the museum. I didn’t spend the whole day looking at space stuff with my mouth open though, as Mrs Kitsch and I also went to the Victoria and Albert Museum to catch the brilliant quilt exhibition they have on there. “Brilliant quilt exhibition?” Yes but I’m getting ahead of myself. Space.

The Apollo 10 Command Module is the real thing that actually went to the moon and back. However, the museum also has a full scale replica of a Lunar Module.

It was much bigger than I expected and I’m so glad to have seen it, it really helps put some of what I know about the moon landings into some kind of perspective. There was a rather sad looking dummy astronaut standing by the LM.

I always think dummies look a little sad and slightly pathetic, however good the rest of the display. Even this one has a somewhat pitiable air about him. However, I also really like that in a display. That’s why I love small town museums that are past their prime, with displays that are falling apart, moth eaten stuffed animals, that kind of thing.

Amongst the other impressive space hardware, relics and replicas was the actual space suit warn by Britain’s first astronaut, Helen Sharman.

There is another Sharman space suit at the National Space Centre in Leicester so which is the genuine article? They both claim to be the space suit she wore for the mission but they can't both be right. I think the one in Leicester must be one of the spares as in the photos I've seen it looks too clean to have been worn on the mission, unlike the one at the Science Museum. Another fantastic item on display was this rocket...

The Black Arrow was a British rocket designed to launch satellites into space.

Another world beating and successful British achievement that had the plug pulled on it by short sighted politicians. They can swindle money out of us for duck islands and mortgages that don’t exist but when it comes to investing money into something really worthwhile for the nation, forget it. Another display that caught my attention was the replica of the Huygens probe that went to Saturn's moon Titan as part of the Cassini-Huygens mission.

I couldn’t help but notice that some of the chandeliers in the cafe at the VA looked a lot like it. Or is it just me?

I like this replica of the first Sputnik together with a brilliant dummy of a soldier launching an early military rocket. I’m sure there must be some confused souls who have gone away with the impression that Napoleon was responsible for the space race.

Which reminds me, the bookshop at the Science Museum is run by Waterstones. I bought a book there myself, here it is, one of the quite brilliant NASA mission reports published by Apogee.

I bought a several other souvenirs’ of the day including this lot...

Space toys, or as I call them ornaments, and a space blanket (for the brilliant packaging). And the obligatory postcards...

I was hoping there would be more Apollo related stuff but I think I did pretty well on the souvenir front, so I’m not complaining. Anyway, the bookshop. I couldn’t help but notice that as a general bookshop within the museum, rather than one run by the museum, it was selling all kinds of books, not just science and related subjects, and there was a whole table devoted to the “Twilight” series of teenage vampire novels. What are kids meant to think of this? It’s hard enough for some adults to separate fact from fiction, or am I being a bit over sensitive? Probably.

At this point I need to say two big THANK YOUs. First to my lovely partner Mrs Kitsch...

...who stayed with me the whole time I gawped in wonderment at space hardware and didn’t complain once. She even accompanied me into the Force Field...

...which didn’t quite live up to the hype about experiencing a take off in a Saturn V rocket, landing on the moon etc with its state of the art combination of 3D film, moving seats, dry ice, wind, bubbles and simulated smell of the moon (the astronauts reported that the moon dust on their space suits smelt of gunpowder). Still, I’m glad we did it. Thank you Mrs Kitsch for making the day really special. And I really enjoyed the quilt exhibition at the VA, very inspirational.

Also thanks to our friend Pete who pulled strings and used contacts to get us to London by train on the cheap and generally acted as our guide round the city. Even though he kept calling me a geek (OK, he may have a point) we bought him doughnuts, a fitting reward.

So there we are, an ambition fulfilled and my first contact with an actual Apollo spacecraft. Hopefully the first of many. If like me you’d like to see all the actual spacecraft that helped the US win the space race, then go here to see their current locations. If you are going to any or all of these and are willing to pay for a companion to accompany you on your trip(s) I am available. Meantime, I can recommend the Science Museum in London.

John Keating Space Experience

2010-04-26T16:16:00.004+01:00

I was queuing in the British Heart Foundation bookshop when I saw this in the LP rack. Obviously I had to have it.

My record player is still in the box from when we moved but I found somewhere online to hear the tracks and not only does it sound great but I discovered there is a volume 2!!! On this first volume, the front cover shows astronaut Dave Scott during a stand up EVA (spacewalk) during the Apollo 9 mission. The back cover is also from the Apollo 9 mission, being a shot of the CSM (Command and Service Module) whose call sign was Gumdrop taken by the crew of the LM (Lunar Module), whose call sign was Spider.

Why did the crew, Commander Jim McDivitt, Command Module Pilot David Scott, and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart, choose these names for their spacecraft? The CSM was so called because of a combination of its shape and the fact that it arrived at the Kennedy Space Centre covered in its blue protective wrapping from North American Aviation who built it. With the LM’s call sign Spider, the crew once again named the craft after how they perceived the shape of the vehicle. There was a serious side to spacecraft having names as it avoided confusion during communication between the two spacecraft and Mission Control. This was the first time NASA manned spacecraft had names since Gemini 3’s Molly Brown; however, the NASA public relations people were not too happy about these less than serious names. Following the Apollo 10 crew naming its craft after Charles M. Schulz Peanuts characters (more about that in the next blog) the NASA people got their way for more serious sounding names for future craft.

Another important step on the journey to the first lunar landing, Apollo 9 had its own firsts, being the first manned flight of the CSM together with the LM. The crew spent 10 days in low Earth orbit in March 1969 (launch 3rd March, splashdown 13th March) during which they were the first crew to perform a manned flight of a LM. To do this they had to dock the CSM with the LM and extract it from the Saturn booster, also a first. After testing the LM in flight, McDivitt and Schweickart then docked with the CSM where their colleague Scott (the original Scotty?) the CMS Pilot, awaited their return; so this was also the first time that two manned vehicles docked in space. The crew also carried out a number of other tests critical to landing men on the moon including Schweickart’s EVA wearing the new space suit with a backpack life support system designed for lunar EVAs.

John Keating, like many others, was obviously impressed and inspired by all of this. "John Keating Space Experience" contains space age versions of "I Feel The Earth Move", "Rocket Man" and the Star Trek theme alongside some of his own out of this world compositions like "The Unknown Planet", "Prelude To Earthrise" and "Space Agent". His album stands as a testament to not only the cutting edge music of the time but also in its use of Apollo on the album cover, it celebrates the progress of mankind as we reach for the stars.

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #14

2010-04-24T14:02:00.001+01:00

Three more pieces completed this week. It’s funny how some pictures I can do really quickly and others take weeks before I find the final image or background to finally finish them off. Let’s start with the deer painting.

Mrs Kitsch said last week why don’t you paint a deer? As ever she proved to be my inspiration. I like deer and we’ve got loads of kitsch deer ornaments at home but I hadn’t thought if painting one, at least not one that wasn’t just a skull. So, grabbing the deer by the horns so to speak I gave it a go and the result is the picture above. I did this in just a day. It’s 17cm x 21.5cm including the frame which I deliberately left bare to enhance the wood/forest feel of the piece. I did the grass/leaves last as the piece was meant to be just shades of brown but I thought about the forest paintings of Rousseau and thought, what the heck I’ll add some grass/leaves.

This next one (above) I’ve had hanging around for ages, I just couldn’t think how to finish it. I had the cattle skull, the cactus and the yellow/black boarder but there was a lot of red space which needed something, I just couldn’t figure out what. It’s been sitting over to one side where I could see it while I was working but out of the way. Then last night I thought about the dots thing again and decided to try that. It’s another small picture, just 10cm x10cm.

And finally for the moment another scorpion picture called “Evolution: Fact of Life”. It is also 17cm x 21.5cm including the frame, which I did paint on this one. The three flowers at the top of the painting each have slight variations from one another and represent both the process of evolution and the three towns of Cactus County. I tried to make the “Fact of Life” bit like an official stamp. This one I started a few weeks ago but stalled with the top of the picture after I had done the scorpion, chillis, blue flower and pineapples.

I usually have a rough idea of the main thing I want in the picture but not always the finer details like what words I’ll use, if I use any at all. A partially finished picture sometimes suggests itself what needs doing next, or I just sit there looking at it for ages trying to think something up. It’s hard when you restrict yourself to certain themes or in my case avoiding certain themes; I will not paint anything that promotes religion or belief in the supernatural. As most Day of the Dead art works are full of religious symbols this means I have to really think about what to include.

Also my lack of skill doesn’t help; I keep putting off painting things as I don’t think I can do it, then I have a go and it kind of works. So what if it doesn’t look anatomically correct, it’s naive art and being correct isn’t as important as what the painting has to say. Anyway, like the large eagle I am doing at the moment, I am spreading my artistic wings a bit and so far I’m happy with the results.

Brevity Is A Great Charm Of Eloquence - Cicero

2010-04-20T22:32:00.005+01:00

I’m a bit behind on my blogging at the moment. Time to catch up.

It looks like I have got a new job but it doesn’t start properly for a couple of weeks, although I have already had to start doing some work towards it. How will it work out and what exactly am I doing? That still remains to be seen but I’ll keep you posted when I know more myself but it looks promising so far.

One of the Blackbirds in the garden is in a very bad way. His right wing is drooping down somewhat, there are feathers missing from his back and his right eye looks very bad. He seems to be using his left eye more when feeding. His behaviour is now very different to how Blackbirds normally behave in the garden; he hides in the undergrowth and behind the potted plants for very long periods of time and when he does venture out he is very wary, and Blackbirds are pretty wary at the best of times. He ran for cover yesterday on hearing another Blackbird give an alarm call and didn’t come out again for ages. He is still feeding and drinking and is able to fly a bit too, so he may survive. However, I didn’t see him at all today. Because of his injuries and his hiding behaviour I have named him Rogue Male, after the Geoffrey Household thriller. I really hope he makes it.

We’ve been getting regular visits at night from at least one of the many urban foxes that live round here. I’ve seen Mr Fox briefly a couple of times over two nights but his presence is mostly obvious from the large thank you messages he keeps leaving in the garden. It’s like having all the disadvantages of having a dog but none of the advantages. He’s also eating the apple pieces I leave out for the Blackbirds. Half an apple would usually last the birds a couple of days or more but now they’re gone over night, as is anything else left out that is vaguely edible. I wouldn’t mind so much if I saw more of the fox but he’s very selective about when he comes to the garden – mostly when I’m not around to see him.

Still no news about the MRI scan. I’m not that worried as I am now convinced that my foot problem is just that, a problem with my foot but I’ll feel a lot better about it when I do get the results.

I’m loving this good weather and have been out for a couple of walks to at least get some benefit but mostly I’ve been indoors painting. I’ve done so much lately and tried a few new things too. My biggest fans Ben & Caroline have been such a boost. I’m still not convinced there are going to be many people who will want to have a Cactus County original on their wall at home but at least I do feel that I might have something going on here. My better half of course has always been hugely supportive and frankly without her I would never have picked up a paint brush.

While I’ve been painting I’ve been continuing to work my way through the CD collection. I now have a much better idea of the kind of music I like and don’t like. Out are math rock, electronica, dance, and what I would have to call rock, things like Jet and The Mooney Suzuki. I kind of liked that stuff to a degree before but now I just haven’t got the time for it. Much more to my liking are Americana, dark alternative indie, the better Brit Pop bands, stoner rock and doom metal. I’ve got rid of so many things I thought I would hang on to and held on to a few things I thought I was going to get rid of. I’m finding I’m giving a much more sympathetic listen to American sounding bands than to British ones. I’ve always been drawn to things American and now that I no longer have to give everything a fair hearing but instead select just what feels good in my own ears, I’m hearing things in a slightly different way. I still haven’t got back that essential DJ quality of wanting to share music you love with another person. If that feeling ever returns I know I’ll be desperate to get back on the radio. Not anywhere near that yet though.

I finished “Deke!” the autobiography of Deke Slayton at the end of last week. He was one of the Original Seven Mercury Astronauts, who finally got into space as the docking module pilot of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. I really enjoyed this book which was co-written by Michael Cassutt. Without being really insulting he calls things and people how he sees them and the man’s honesty is to be applauded. As one of the original Seven, Deke was there from the start of the US manned space programme right through to the start of the shuttle programme. This means he was intimately involved with Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, ASTP and the Space Shuttle. He flew more than 60 combat missions over Europe and Japan in WWII, was a test pilot, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Minnesota and was instrumental in picking the crews for Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and the shuttle test flights. No mean feat for one man. I would definitely recommend this book without hesitation. You’ll learn a lot about those early US manned space programme days and if you already know a fair bit, then this book will put some of what you already know in a new perspective. Deke is the man!

Thought I’d take a break from space for a little while and am currently reading “Cicero: Selected Letters” which I got for a pound in the British Heart Foundation bookshop last week. I’m still looking for the “Letters of Pliny the Younger” but this will do till I find a second hand copy of that. Ancient Rome and space, my choice of reading material is eclectic, if nothing else.

Suggested reading: “Deke!” by Donald K Slayton & Michael Cassutt.

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #13

2010-04-20T17:02:00.003+01:00

A few more pieces completed including one commissioned by Caroline Martin for her new album! The album will be called “For All That I Do Not Know” and although it took me ages to come up with an idea based on that title, once I had it I managed to finish the picture in a day, much quicker than anything else I’ve done up to now. The piece may not be quite right for the album and may not make it to the finished product but I have to say I enjoyed having a framework to work within and am quite pleased with the result, especially as it’s not a picture I would have thought of doing without Caroline’s suggestions, so whatever happens I’ve got something that I’m happy with. I still need to work on the lettering but I’ll make a start on that shortly. I won’t put that directly on the picture but will do it separately and add it digitally later.

I feel a need to explain what’s happening here. The title is “For All That I Do Not Know”: the moths are attracted to the light but they don’t know why; the dog is watching them and has no idea what’s going on; the space picture represents all that we do not know about the universe, science and, for all but a handful of men, what it’s like to walk on the moon. You may recognise it as a picture I’ve done before, it’s called “Commander Cernan Ponders His Final Words As The Last Apollo Astronaut On The Moon” and I included it in this picture as Caroline really liked it. I like the idea of having pictures within pictures and may use this idea again.

These next two I had a lot of trouble taking a photo of as there is glass in the frames and it kept reflecting. Anyway, this photo will have to do for the moment. I painted the frames too by the way. What we have here is “Cactus Motel” and “Evolution”. Those of you familiar with Cactus County may recall that one of the three towns of the county is called Evolution (well done if you did) and it’s where the mineral mines are located, although there is no reference to the mines or mining in this picture as it celebrates the fact of evolution rather than the town which bears its name. And yes it is a fact not simply a theory, unlike certain other non-science based ideas which are insane and do not have any scientific evidence to back them up. Get with the programme people, you know who you are.

I can recommend the Cactus Motel, which you’ll find in the town of Cactus. They have very reasonably priced rooms, which are clean, comfortable and very nicely and uniquely decorated.

The Hinkley Veltones

2010-04-18T02:01:00.002+01:00

I’m just back from a top gig; the album launch for The Hinkley Veltones new album “Moths” at The Cube, here in Bristol. It was just two years ago that the Veltones launched their amazing debut album “Tied To The Mast” and tonight’s gig was a repeat of that brilliant night; the line up was the same; the packed venue was same with standing room only; and I had a really good time, again.

I had just parked the car when Richard Pitt, my old broadcasting buddy and still the presenter of BBC Bristol Introducing, pulled up in his car. Nice timing. He had arranged for me to be on the guest list, always nice, and as soon as we got into the venue we were meeting people from the Bristol music scene that we both know. This always happens to us at gigs as we are lucky enough to know so many of the bands from this fine city.

Darker Dogs were gathered together and we joined them, so I talked to Caroline Martin & Ben Goode about their upcoming nuptials and my maybe doing the artwork for Caroline’s new album. I think I might finally have an idea for it, so I need to get started on that pretty quickly.

Then we take our seats for tonight’s opening band, the tremendous twosome known as Bucky who do fast, short, loud songs on subjects that most other bands just wouldn’t think of. “Horses And Cars” for instance is about the ill-fated Ford Edsel and that in the late 1950’s early 1960’s some car retailers offered a free horse if you bought the car. This is true and Bucky have a great song about it. They were really on form tonight and the crowd loved them. They reworked a couple of their own songs to pay tribute to The Hinkley Veltones too which of course went down very well.

Next up was Howlin’ Lord. Mark Legassick is Howlin’ Lord and he is a real Lord, having bought a title off the internet. He used to perform as a one man band but these days has someone else playing drums for him and also a bass player. It’s country blues and it kicks arse. I liked what he did as a one man outfit a few years ago but he has improved and matured over the last couple of years and is really rather good indeed.

Then it’s the main attraction, The Hinkley Veltones. When they launched the first album two years ago they were a three piece, Steven Marr, Harry Santer and James Marlow. Recently they added Matt Blackwell on bass to the line up and on this new album and for tonight’s launch they’ve extended the line up to include Toby Field on keyboards (who also presents Bristol Introducing with Richard now and is keyboard player for the excellent Roger Tarry/ Darker Dogs); Chipper Nicholls on cello; Mark Legassick on harmonica; plus Tom Fennell and Luke Spanton, one on trumpet the other on accordion but I don’t know which does which. Anyway, the overall effect of all these extra musicians is quite something to behold, even at The Cube with its notorious sound problems.

I’d heard an unmastered version of the album last year when it was called “A Sleeping Curse”. It’s now called “Moths” which I think is a better title, and is named after one of the tracks. I’ll listen to the new album this week, I haven’t had time tonight, but I don’t suppose it’ll be much different to the unmastered version I already know and love.

Tonight playing live with their extended line up The Hinkley Veltones were magnificent. I think they did all the tracks from the new album plus the two Veltone classics “Man Of My Intentions” and “Baby Don’t Leave Me” off the first album. There are loads of great tracks on this new album but this band have already left their mark on the music lovers of Bristol and beyond with those two tracks. “Man Of My Intentions” would have to be in my top ten of tracks and “Baby Don’t Leave Me” is right on its heels.

But I don’t want to take anything away from this new album. Like the previous Veltones offering, it’s atmospheric and haunting, full of emotion and depth, and it rocks. If you don’t know what they sound like then I urge you to go to their Myspace site and check them out. It’s dark, country tinged, alternative rock, at least I think it is, it’s quite difficult to place it in a genre. It has its own genre really and it’s what the guys in the band call “nuclear and western” which makes perfect sense once you hear it. I bloody love this band and I really want everyone else to love them too. So go get yourself a copy of “Moths” and “Tied To The Mast” because you’ll be doing yourself a big favour.

Suggested listening: “Moths” and “Tied To the Mast” by The Hinkley Veltones

A Bird In The Hand

2010-04-17T12:04:00.008+01:00

OK, so it’s an obvious title but there simply isn’t a more appropriate one as you will see.

I’ve been feeding the birds and squirrels in the garden since we moved in. It’s practically the first thing I do every morning and I feed them at intervals throughout the day. We get a lot of different types of birds coming into the garden, here’s the cast of characters:

Blackbirds (Mr Blackbird and Mrs Blackbird, plus a number of others who don’t really have names)
Dunnocks (at least four, all called Donald)
Crows (Charlie and Mrs Charlie)
Jays (Jay-Z, Jay Vydelingum [named after a news reader on Classic FM], and Squawky plus another one who also get’s called Jay-Z, Jay Vydelingum and Squawky, they share the names)
Blackcap (Andy)
Chaffinch (Wendy)
Blue Tits, Great Tits and Coal Tits (all called Tommy and Babs)
and between 6-8 Wood Pigeons (Ledgy [any Pigeon brave enough to take peanuts off the window ledge], Limpy [he has a really bad limp], Little Limpy [who also has a limp but it’s not as bad], Lieutenant Pigeon [any brave pigeon who doesn’t get scared off easily, which isn’t often as they are very flighty birds] the rest don’t really have names).

There are four squirrels that come to the garden regularly too (Short Tail [he’s got the end of his tail missing], Bouncy, Old Fella [quite a bit slower and less mobile than the others] and of course Mr Nuts, although they all share this name too).

I make no apologies for naming the garden critters, as we call them. I am a man of science and I know that anthropomorphism is not at all scientific but I’m not conducting a rigorous scientific study here, I’m having fun. So as I say, I make no apologies for it all being more Johnny Morris than David Attenborough.

Now I’ve left one critter off the list above; Robbie the Robin. We have at least two Robins in the garden regularly (Robbie and Mrs Robbie), sometimes three. For more than two years now I’ve been feeding Robbie by hand. It took a long time to get him to do it and I have to do it when there is no other food around or he won’t bother, he’ll just go to the food on the ground. Today I was lucky enough to record this event with a few photographs, as you see.

But when he does it, it’s brilliant. He doesn’t stay long, a few seconds at a time but he seems quite comfortable with it and doesn’t always just grab the food and go, occasionally he will stay, look at me, look back at the food then pick a bit up and fly away. He sometimes comes back two or three times within a couple of minutes.

I get so much pleasure from this simple and very brief exchange and although I’ve been lucky enough to have done a lot of wonderful things in my time on this planet, doing this has to be one of my very favourite things. It’s great feeling his little spiky claws on my fingers. And there’s almost no weight to him at all.

Robbie really didn’t like the camera, which I held in my other hand, and it took ages for him to finally land on my hand. He did it a few times in the end, which is just as well as I had to take almost two dozen photos till I had these few that I was happy with. There were a lot of photos of just my hand and no bird.

So there we are, a bird in the hand, as I said an obvious title but an appropriate one.

Suggested listening: “Weather Systems” by Andrew Bird

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #12

2010-04-14T15:58:00.001+01:00

I’ve been a very busy bee recently and have completed some more paintings. They’re quite small. I’ve been collecting some cheap frames from charity shops for a while now with the intention of making paintings to go in them. Here’s the first crop.

You can see individual close ups of each of them on my Flickr site. I’ve got into something of a groove with the painting and just can’t stop. However, I had planned that each piece I painted would also have a piece of writing to go with it and I’m way behind on that. I really need to get on with it but the lure of the canvas is very strong.

Captain's Log (well it had to happen eventually)

2010-04-14T15:41:00.004+01:00

Since I finished working on the radio I’ve cut right down on buying CDs. A good job too as I seem to be spending money I haven’t got on space related items now, particularly books. A couple of recent trips to the shops to buy essentials like bread and milk resulted in the acquisition of the following wonderful things.

Two top buys here, the first is “Manned Spaceflight Log” by Tim Furniss which lists all the US and Soviet spaceflights from Yuri Gagarin’s trip to space in 1961 up to the early shuttle launches in the early 1980s. Fantastic, what a great resource. The photos are all black and white but there are some really good ones and frankly, I couldn’t resist having all that information in one book right at my finger tips. Even with the world wide web, I think there’s still a place for a decent reference book, as even I don’t have the computer on all the time.

In the same Oxfam book shop was “Into That Silent Sea” by Francis French and Colin Burgess. Coincidentally, I mentioned this book quite recently when I wrote a blog about Valentina Tereshkova. It too documents the early spaceflights but goes into much more biographical detail on each of the early space pioneers, both cosmonauts and astronauts. I wish I could read two books at the same time, one in each hand. I have so many books that I can’t wait to read.

However, it not just books I’ve been getting. I also bought more old National Geographics and another Spaceflight magazine. These Nat Geo’s have articles on the US Mercury and Gemini programmes, so how could I not get them? I plan on doing some more space related paintings so you could say it was research. Or you could call it space porn. I mean, look at the thrusters on that!

I also bought this Mexican lottery game in a fantastic shop in Clifton called Otomi which sells loads of fair trade Mexican crafts, food and Dia de los Muertos related items too. What’s not to like?

You play it like bingo apparently, but I got it for inspiration for my art work. I love the pictures, there’s something about naive art which really appeals to me. I hope it appeals to other people too as my stuff is very naive!

Anyway, I may well have got myself a job, so that will help pay for all this stuff. I’m off for a chat about it tomorrow, so I’ll know more about it after that. It’s something to do with streaming boxing matches, gigs, pub quizzes and maybe a new radio show over the internet. Paid work, well there’s a novelty, but one I could get used to. I hope it works out.

Suggested listening: “Keys” by The Keys

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #11

2010-04-11T17:42:00.007+01:00

Here’s the latest from the Cactus County art studio. I hope you like them. Four pieces, acrylic on canvas, all 18cm x 13cm. And yes, those are real chillis.

This one (below) is called “Calavera With 5 Chillis”. Calavera means skull but also refers to other Day of the Dead stuff too. It appears on a number of the pictures I do.

This next one is “All Things Must Pass”. I’ve translated this phrase into Spanish (correctly I hope) and used it in the picture. I’ll use this phrase on more paintings. I’m quite keen on the yellow background and have used it on a few pictures but only this one and the one above are finished.

Below is “Cheque Number #2” the second red, black and white painting I’ve done. It’s much smaller than the first one and the third one I’m working on is bigger than either of them but that one is a way off from being finished.“Todas las Cosas Deben Pasar” appears for the second time in a painting.

Finally this is “Cempasúchitl #1” which I’ve already featured on this blog but I was looking at it the other day and decided I could add something to it. I was going to say improve on it but to be honest I’m not sure if I’ve done that exactly or just messed about with it. Anyway, I’ve added some bronze paint to it and I think it kind of works better. More folk art from Cactus County to follow in a week or so.

Skylab And Other Succulents

2010-04-11T17:09:00.002+01:00

Another weekend another flea market, and inevitably, more artefacts acquired to fill the house with. Mrs Kitsch came back with a number of books, some jewellery and several more bags of buttons (you can’t have too many buttons apparently) while my hoard consisted of this lot.

I don’t normally read Star Trek novels but this was only 50p, so I felt compelled to get it. Despite the evidence to the contrary I'm not obsessed with Star Trek. Keen, maybe but not obsessed. I also got another Observers Book of Cacti, I'm trying to get as many of these as I can to go with my Cactus County art works; a lovely small hard back anthology of war poetry; and best of all four Skylab commemorative coins in a display box. Oh yes! You can imagine how excited I was about that one.

Skylab was part of the Apollo Applications Programme, NASA’s post moon landing manned space programme. The money wasn’t there to do everything they had originally planned for AAP and Skylab was a very much pared down version of what NASA hoped to have following the lunar landings.

Skylab was a 100-ton space station which orbited the earth between 1973 and 1979. It had been hoped that the then new Space Shuttle would dock with it and boost it to a higher orbit so it could be re-used but the shuttle wasn’t ready in time and with no other spacecraft available to NASA, Skylab’s orbit decayde till it eventually re-entered the atmosphere and broke up over Australia.

Only three crews, nine astronauts in all, visited for prolonged stays in 1973 and 1974. Two of these were moon walkers, Pete Conrad and Alan Bean.

Some good science was done aboard Skylab including studying the Sun and seeing how months spent in space affected the human body. Records for time in space were broken aboard Skylab.

It’s a great shame that it wasn’t put to better use but then as now money and a perceived lack of public enthusiasm put pay to that. The guy I bought this from asked if I'd ever been to Kennedy Space Centre as he went there in the 1980's, and presumably bought these coins there. Unfortunately, I haven't but one of these days I will go. I will make it so.

There are a couple of books relating to Skylab and the astronauts connected with it but I’ve recently seen there's a new one out called “Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story” by David Hitt, Owen K. Garriott and Joe Kerwin. I will definitely be getting this at some point (Father Christmas, are you taking note?) and you might want to check it out yourself if space is your thing.

It’s Not Rocket Science

2010-04-09T22:41:00.011+01:00

When an item’s only purpose is purely functional, you would think that its function would be uppermost in the mind of its designer. You would think. However, thinking obviously had no part in this particular objects design or manufacture.

So, is this the worst designed object of the last decade? No, not Mr Monkey, the blue coin. Let’s consider this objects function. It is a parking token for the Clifton Down Shopping Centre car park, brought in to replace paper tickets and thus save on paper and be more considerate to the environment, a very laudable and reasonable initiative.

Now let us consider the token’s design. The token is a very light weight plastic, about the same size as a two pence piece, round and blue in colour, as you can see here with the assistance of Mr Monkey.

Thank you Mr Monkey, nicely done. Small and light weight, therefore easy to drop or let slip from the hand and not easy to hold and drive at the same time but difficult to put down in the car without losing it; round so that it will roll away if you do put it down or drop it; dark in colour so it would be hard to see under a car seat or anywhere else for that matter; and it has no time of arrival printed on it. In the interests of the environment I will forgo the printed time of arrival and accept that a plastic token will in time save on paper. However, would it have been so difficult for the token to be the size and shape of a credit card, slightly heavier and much brighter in colour? Even the token pictured on the pay machine is a bright gold.

Now when you consider the fact that if you lose the token, highly likely given its design, you have to pay £5 to replace it to enable you to leave the car park, the thought crosses your mind, well it crosses mine, that rather than it being badly designed, the token has been very cleverly designed but not for the convenience of the individual who has to use it. Instead it has been deliberately made to be lost and so generate extra revenue for the owners of the car park, who may or may not be willing participants in this scheme. A passing thought you understand, I wouldn't dream of casting such aspersions.

It’s a small thing I know and I really shouldn’t let things like this get to me but I use this car park quite frequently and therefore have to use this stupid token a lot. It’s a really badly designed car park too, for instance, the lifts don’t go to all the floors. What’s that’s about?

As a child I used to believe that mankind was always pushing forward and progressing, with each problem that life throws up being tackled and eliminated for the betterment of all. I’m sure I got that from watching Tomorrows World, one of my favourite programmes right up until my 30’s. Then they brought Peter Snow in to present it and it went downhill, fast, followed closely by my illusion that life was being made better for us all. It seems that the little things that could improve all our lives are being sacrificed by the grasping and greedy for their own ends. A not for profit lottery where all the money goes to charity? No, the man has to have his cut. A cheap and user friendly public transport system? No, we’ll just make using your car more difficult. A radio station that plays real music presented by DJs who know what they’re talking about and who don’t witter on endlessly about celebrity non-entities and reality TV? No, you can’t have that, listen to Chris Moyles instead.

I am grateful that I live in relative comfort and always have something to eat, in a land where if I have a numb toe I can be treated for it, where there aren’t armies with machetes running around killing everyone, where I can vote for a government every few years without being shot at or intimidated or have the result questioned and generally be safe and secure most of the time. I know all that and yet, and yet...that bloody stupid token drives me mad!

Suggested listening: “Nevermind” by Nirvana

Eggs, Bunnies, Squirrels And Ben Folds Five

2010-04-07T01:29:00.014+01:00

Well that was a pleasant Easter. I spent most of it painting, I can’t seem to stop at the moment but I made time to cook a rather nice roast dinner as well, even if I say so myself, exchanged lovely Easter goodies with Mrs Kitsch and we went to an art exhibition. All rather nice.

Here’s what I received from Mrs Kitsch.

The final season of Seinfeld on DVD wrapped in paper which she made extra Eastery with some fine Easter doodles, a chocolate bunny & walnut whips, a hand crocheted “science egg”, and then in cahoots with Mr Nuts the garden squirrel I got a squirrel badge on a handmade card and a splendid miniature statuette of Mr Nuts himself. I’m spoiled, I know it.

Knowing how to show a girl a good time, I took Mrs Kitsch to a great little exhibition at Room 212 on Gloucester Road on Saturday. It was a “Calm Air All Ice” presentation curated by our friend Camilla and her friend Claire and in the style of Sesame Street was brought to us by the number “52”, having work by 52 different artists. It was very good with some very nice pieces in there but I really liked how everything was displayed. Here’s some examples.

Mrs Kitsch and I are hoping to have an exhibition at Room 212 ourselves later this year. Watch this space.

Oh yes, it rained a fair bit, well it was Easter so it wasn’t unexpected but what was unexpected was hailstones the size of school dinner peas.

I’ve never seen them as big as that before, ooh er misses obviously, and they made a heck of a noise as they came down. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be out in that, it would have hurt a lot.

I’ve been continuing to cull the CD collection and went through a day this weekend where I heard mostly stuff I decided to get rid of. I’ve done a lot of that lately and frankly I really needed to listen to some music I loved, as all the “get rid of” stuff was starting to get a bit much. So I listened to the first Saint Low album and “Whenever You’re Ready” by Swell, both of which I’ve recommended on this blog before, but also “The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner” by Ben Folds Five which has to be one of the best albums ever made. If you don’t own a copy I strongly recommend you get yourself one, put it on and let it enrich your life. It’s quite dark, like a lot of the music I like, and maybe not to everyone’s liking but try it for yourself and see. Every track on this album is quite brilliant but if I had to pick one favourite track it would be track #3 “Mess”. Every time I play this album that’s the track I play again at the end, over and over. One of my top ten tracks of all time.

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #10

2010-04-01T23:25:00.003+01:00

As some of my art work has been inspired by the shrines that people assemble in their homes to their departed loved ones for the Day of the Dead Festival, I thought I would put some of it together in the form of a shrine and see what it all looked like. This is the result, I hope you like it.

The Results Are In, Almost

2010-04-01T22:59:00.001+01:00

I’ve just rung my mum and dad up to say I’ve got the all clear from the neurologist. Obviously this is good news. However, I didn’t read the letter he sent me as well as I thought I had and Jonesey pointed out to me that he’s still waiting for the results of the MRI scan. Some partial good news then anyway. I’m not as concerned as I was about the whole thing and don’t expect to hear any bad news connected with the MRI but before I count those particular Easter chickens, I’ll wait before celebrating.

I also got a call from the local doctor a couple of weeks back to say the results from my blood test were also clear except for a very high cholesterol level. He did want me to go and have a talk with him about it but frankly after the last time I saw him, and he scared the living daylights out of me with his spurious talk of tumours, I don’t think I’ll bother. I’ve been drinking Benecol every day since he called and as I have no intention of changing my diet to any drastic level I’ll leave it at that. I think this whole obsession with things like cholesterol and practically every food being bad for you is just nonsense. You only have one life and I don’t intend to spend mine eating like a bloody rabbit.

I made it into the local press again this week. Venue Magazine reprinted my open letter to BBC DG Mark Thompson about 6 Music which I did as a blog here last month. Nothing to do with the guy in the photo, that's another letter from someone else, mine's the other one.

The things I’ve read about this insane decision (to axe 6 Music not to print my letter in Venue) make it clear it is purely a political decision. Thompson is once again caving into pressure from the commercial sector and the Tories and offering up 6 Music as a sacrifice in the hope that they’ll back off and leave the BBC alone afterwards. This makes Thompson’s decision an even worse move than I first thought. That man should never have been allowed through the doors of the BBC in the first place. I hope the BBC Trust sack him and quick, he’s a bloody menace. Bring back Greg Dyke.

That’s twice I used the “B” word. Is that allowed in blogging? Obviously you can’t use language like that at the BBC in case a Daily Mail reader has a heart attack, assuming that Daily Mail readers have hearts to begin with. Ho ho, did you see what I did there? Satire isn’t dead.

Suggested reading: Venue Magazine for all your Bristol and Bath what's on info and other great bits and pieces

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #9

2010-03-30T23:45:00.001+01:00

I’ve recently finished another four of the small 10cm x10cm canvas paintings. I’ve got individual close ups on my Flickr site of each of them if you want to take a look; otherwise, here’s a picture of all four together.

I’ve taken a little bit of a blow on the painting front today as I’ve just been turned down for another exhibition. Oh well. That’s only two I’ve ever applied for but I really thought I would get into this one. There’s another one coming up I’m going to try for. Also, Jonesey has been on at me about setting my own small show up at a little gallery on Gloucester Road. I’ve resisted up to now as I didn’t have enough work to show but I’ve got quite a bit ready now so I think I might give that a go. I’ll let all you fans of the Folk Art of Cactus County (anyone?) know how that works out.

Suggested listening: “Dead Letter Chorus” by Llama Farmers. I can’t believe this album is over ten years old now. It still sounds great though.

Tog Love Frome

2010-03-28T14:30:00.008+01:00

Long story short, Jonesey made me a toy dog one time and on the back she stitched “To G, love from E” or as I read it “Tog Love Frome”. So the dog’s called Tog and he loves Frome. We went to Frome yesterday and of course Tog had to come with us. He got very excited about a trip to his favourite place and insisted on having his photo taken by the sign as you enter the town.

Check out Jonesey's blog to find out more about Tog. We went to Frome largely because there was a vintage fair taking place and Jonesey wanted to check it out in case it was worth her doing it next time. I think it just might be. Here’s a splendid fellow in the entrance to the fair.

We both ended up buying a few rather marvellous items (not the fine fellow above unfortunately) and added to these when we scoured the town’s charity shops afterwards. A damn fine days thrift shopping! Here are some of the things I purchased.

Did you spot it? I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw it and it was only £2 as well. I’m pretty sure it’s an original 1969 commemorative mug but even if it’s not it’s still brilliant.

“The Eagle has landed”

Interesting that the mug refers to Aldrin as “Edwin Aldrin”, that makes me think this is a contemporary item. He got the nickname "Buzz" when one of his sisters mispronounced "brother" as "buzzer" which got shortened to Buzz. In 1988 he legally made Buzz his first name. And no, I am not watching that dancing with the stars thing even though he’s on it. Anyway, the name “Buzz” doesn’t appear on the mug.

“We came in peace for all mankind”

You have no idea just how excited I was when I saw this, I could not believe my luck. It’s so rare to find any space items at vintage fairs. Result!

It wasn't just space stuff though, I also lived up to the name Jonesey calls me on her blog, Mr Kitsch when I came across these two fabulous items.

Happiness is a plastic pineapple and an old Mexican themed tin. I’ll be using these as part of the display when I finally get round to showing my artwork.

I also picked up a number of old black and white photos. I plan on sticking them in a book and making up stories to go with them. “Tales of Cactus County” maybe, we’ll see.

So a jolly good day out in Frome, wonderful things acquired and I dressed in vintage gear to get into the fair free. Some people will do anything to save a couple of quid. Tog Love Frome. Gary Love Frome. Everyone Love Frome. What’s not to like?

Suggested listening: “Project Infinity” by Man Or Astroman?

The Mercury 13

2010-03-26T12:41:00.004Z

I’m currently reading Deke Slayton’s autobiography, he was one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts who was grounded for health reasons but who became the Director of Flight Crew Operations at NASA and who eventually made it into space as the docking module pilot for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Anyway, that’s by the by.

After doing my belated Ada Lovelace Day blog about Valentina Tereshkova yesterday, last night I got to the chapter in Slayton’s autobiography where he talks about her spaceflight. The coincidence continues. One of the results of her flight was some small pressure for NASA to have a woman astronaut. Thirteen women had taken and passed the same medical tests that the male astronauts had undertaken and where did they do this? At the Lovelace Foundation for Medical Education and Research. However, this foundation was not named after our beloved Ada, this was the clinic of Dr. William Randolph "Randy" Lovelace II, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dr. Lovelace was head of NASA’s Special Committee on Bioastronautics.

In 1960, he and Brigadier General Donald Flickinger put award-winning civilian aviator Geraldyn "Jerrie" Cobb through the same physical and psychological testing regimen that Lovelace’s Foundation had developed to help select NASA’s first astronauts. This was done privately and was not part of NASA’s astronaut programme.

After Cobb passed the tests a number of other women went through the same evaluation programme. Together with Cobb, these women got the unofficial title of the Mercury Thirteen, after their male Mercury Seven counterparts. The trouble was that NASA had very strict criteria for selecting astronauts, at first just picking test pilots and as women weren’t allowed to be test pilots in the US at that time, quelle surprise, they just weren’t in the running. You can read more about this at http://history.nasa.gov/flats.html and there are a number of books on the subject. I haven’t read them yet myself, they’re now on my ever growing space race book list, but here are just two of them you might want to consider reading.

“The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight” by Martha Ackmann

“Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream” by Tanya Lee Stone

Ada Lovelace Day, Belated

2010-03-25T15:15:00.010Z

I spent most of yesterday painting, so missed Ada Lovelace Day, the international day of blogging to celebrate woman’s achievements in technology and science. Unforgivable. So I’m celebrating The Day After Ada Lovelace Day with a belated blog on the subject of Valentina Tereshkova, born on the 6th of March 1937 and who on the 16th of June 1963 became the first woman in space.

Valentina Tereshkova was launched into space aboard the Soviet Vostok 6 spacecraft and returned to earth after almost 3 days having completed 48 orbits of the planet. To put this into the context of the space race at the time, with this flight Tereshkova logged more space flight time and earth orbits than all the American Mercury astronauts combined and at 26, she was also ten years younger than the youngest Mercury Seven astronaut, Gordon Cooper. Her call sign during the flight was Chaika, which means seagull and this was later commemorated as the name of an asteroid, “1671 Chaika”. Vostok means East or Orient.

While all the American Mercury astronauts were military test pilots, Tereshkova worked in a textile factory and before that a tire factory. However, she wasn’t just picked at random to prove the superiority of all Soviets over their capitalist counterparts. Tereshkova was a keen parachutist before volunteering for the cosmonaut programme, making her first jump in 1959 aged 22. Being a parachutist was just one of the criteria for being selected for being a cosmonaut (as at this time cosmonauts jumped from their spacecraft before they hit the earth, not recommended without a parachute) and Tereshkova was one of five finalists selected from more than four hundred original applicants. Tereshkova was the only one of the five to get an opportunity to fly in space, however, all five undertook a lot of rigorous training before they were considered for spaceflight.

Once in orbit Tereshkova performed a number of tests on herself, collecting data on the female body's reaction to spaceflight. She experienced nausea and physical discomfort for much of the time but wasn’t alone in this, a number of cosmonauts and astronauts suffered with this problem, she was probably just more open about it. Tereshkova maintained a flight log and took photographs of the earth’s horizon, which were later used to identify aerosol layers within the atmosphere.

The Vostok 6 was launched just two days after Valery Bykovsky’s Vostok 5 spacecraft. Although the two spacecraft came as close as 5km and were able to communicate by radio, they did not rendezvous in space. A space rendezvous is a tricky manoeuvre and wasn’t accomplished until 1965 by the American’s with Gemini 6A and Gemini 7. This isn’t to take anything away from the Soviet achievement; the American’s were still way behind in the space race at this point. Bykovsky in the Vostok 5 maintained his orbit for 5 days, to this day the endurance record for a solo spaceflight. He landed three hours after Tereshkova’s return to earth. The Vostok 6 was the final Vostok flight being replaced by Voskhod (meaning ascent or dawn), although this was actually a modified Vostok.

Valentina Tereshkova became of Hero of the Soviet Union and an inspiration to women everywhere. Not bad for someone who first went to school aged 8 or 10, leaving at 16 to work in a factory like her mother. Tereshkova’s father, Vladimir Tereshkov, was a tractor driver who became a war hero when, as a tank leader sergeant, he was killed in the Finnish Winter War during World War II. When she was asked what reward she would like for making her historic spaceflight, Tereshkova asked that her father’s remains in Finland be found, which they were and they also placed a memorial to him there.

Although Tereshkova’s time in school had been short, she continued her education by correspondence course. After her spaceflight she studied at the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy, graduating with distinction as a cosmonaut engineer and earning a doctorate in engineering in 1977. She was also a prominent member of the Communist Party and held a number of important political positions. In 1997, in post Soviet Russia, she was retired from the Air Force and the Cosmonaut Corps by presidential order. While at President Vladimir Putin's residence in Novo-Ogaryovo for the celebration of her 70th birthday, Tereshkova said she would like to fly to Mars, even if it was a one way trip.

Valentina Tereshkova was married twice, the first time in November 1963 to another cosmonaut, Andrian Nikolayev, with Khrushchev himself presiding at the wedding party. Tereshkova and Nikolayev had a daughter Elena Nikolaeva-Tereshkova, who was born in 1964, and was the first person to have parents who had both travelled into space. Elena is now a doctor. Tereshkova and Nikolayev divorced in 1982. Her second husband, Yuli Shaposhnikov, died in 1999.

Tereshkova has done much to promote feminist issues and women’s rights as well as being a space heroine. You can find out more about her by reading the book “Into That Silent Sea” by Colin Burgess and Francis French. I haven’t read this book myself yet, but I’m told it examines the lives of a number of the very first cosmonauts and astronauts including Tereshkova’s life and spaceflight in some detail along with interviews with Tereshkova herself.

Harry Carpenter

2010-03-24T14:16:00.006Z

I was sorry to hear about the death of sports commentator Harry Carpenter a few days ago. He was one of those ever present “people on telly” while I was growing up, like Frank Bough, Roy Castle and Morecambe and Wise. I used to watch a lot of boxing when I was a kid, it was just one of those things we did as a family. There were numerous big TV events we would all sit and watch together, cup finals, the Grand National, Miss World competitions, Eurovision, the Royal Command Variety Performance, it was just what you did back then, before many of us became aware of the wider social and political issues associated with some of those events, and before we realised that some of those shows just weren’t very good; and in my case when I got older I realised I just didn’t like sport. We watched because of a combination of innocence, ignorance, and national pride but mostly because we enjoyed doing it. I have so many fantastic memories of my family from when I was young and getting excited about Roy Castle being introduced to the Queen after the Royal Variety Show is just one of them.

However, there was an added thrill from watching boxing for us as my dad had been a boxer before my brother and I were born; I think he had his last fight the year he married mum, which was 1963. So when we watched the boxing, not only did we have an on hand expert to explain the finer points of the match but an extra tinge of family pride by association. I remember being allowed to stay up late to watch one of Muhammad Ali's fights. Actually, now I think about it, it wasn’t that we were allowed so much as it was expected that we would stay up and watch the fight. It was important, like attending a family wedding or sitting at the table for dinner, doing anything else was simply unthinkable.

My dad always liked Harry Carpenter’s commentaries on the BBC. There was another regular fight commentator over on ITV but my dad didn’t like the way he did it, so we were fans of Harry. And he was good, he knew what he was talking about, described exactly what was going on and did it all in this wonderfully enthusiastic, avuncular style and not just boxing but loads of other sporting events too. So as soon as I heard on the news on 6 Music I rang my dad. It was one of those pieces of information that you feel a need to share with someone and the only one I could share this news with was dad.

He’d already heard. Yes it was sad but he was 84, that’s a pretty good age to get to. Yes, he had commentated at some of my dad’s fights, one time saying something like my dad was “the apple of his trainer’s eye”. It turns out my dad had met Harry Carpenter on a number of occasions including once when he came into a souvenir shop in Sweden while my dad was there with another fighter by the name of Dick Richardson who was in the same “stable” as my dad, that is they shared trainers, managers, facilities etc.

I don’t really know where I stand on boxing these days. On the one hand I consider it dangerous and barbaric but on the other I am immensely proud of my dad and his achievements in the sport. He was in the top five featherweights in the UK at one time and by the huge number of cups and trophies we used to have at home (loads more than in the photo above) he was really good at it. I consider Muhammad Ali to be a genuine hero, someone who had style and charm as well as being exactly what he said he was, the greatest. My dad was also the greatest (there can be more than one “greatest” because of the different weights). I know my dad must be disappointed that neither I nor my brother took up sports but then I’m disappointed he left all his trophies behind during a house move. What you gonna do?

So I was sorry to hear that Harry Carpenter had died. He seemed to be around a lot when I was a kid, back in the day, when we used to sit together as a family and enjoy watching boxing on the telly, feeling family pride that my dad was accomplished in the noble art, “know what I mean, 'Arry”.

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #8

2010-03-22T22:20:00.005Z

Here’s the latest folk art from Cactus County. Firstly a space painting. It’s called “Commander Cernan Ponders His Final Words As The Last Apollo Astronaut On The Moon” a big title for a small picture.

It’s only 13cm x 18cm but I plan on doing a larger version, this was just to see if the idea worked. It’s not meant to be technically accurate but I hope it captures the spirit of the thing. I rather like it. Cactus County is heavily involved with NASA and space flight via Carson’s Robotics but it’s all very hush hush and I’ve no idea what they actually do. They’re very unhappy with President Obama’s decision to cancel the Constellation Programme but are much happier with his health care plans. There are not many Republicans in Cactus County. Right, more pictures.

This is the same size as the moon painting but returns to the skulls theme again. This is “Cempasúchitl #1” the traditional Day of the Dead flower, or marigolds to you and me.

Here’s an even smaller picture, just 10cm x 10cm called “Cactus And Snake”. The idea with the very small pictures being that most people won’t want to fork out for a larger (and more expensive) one but might be prepared to pay a little amount for a small one. We’ll see how that works out.

Now, I’m quite pleased with these things, I call them “atheisticks, which is kind of self explanatory - sticks for atheists. Atheisticks are used by the people of Cactus County to celebrate their atheism. They hang them with ribbon off doors, lamps, in cars, everywhere really. Here’s one on a cupboard.

They can be decorated in any way, most often with symbols of rationalism, things like portraits of famous free thinkers, atheists, scientists, natural history and space themes etc. The atheisticks pictured here celebrate a secular Day of the Dead which is very popular in Cactus County.

I think it’s a great idea for people to celebrate their atheism and this seems like as good a way as any. I’d be chuffed if they took off as an idea to help spread atheism around the world. I’m thinking big as you can tell but before I get too carried away, these are the only ones at the moment. Well, you have to start somewhere.

Suggested listening: “The Fake Sound Of Mikabomb” by Mikabomb

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #7

2010-03-18T17:35:00.003Z

I’ve finally got back to painting again after clearing a space in my room and I can’t tell you how good it feels, I’ve really missed it. Here’s a piece I was working on previously called “Welcome To Cactus County”. I was unhappy with how it turned out so I just left it. Then I picked it up yesterday for the first time in months and saw how I could improve it. Jonesey had recently got a lot of old greetings cards from e-bay, some of them over 100 years old. A few of them had shiny gold bits on which really worked. Thus inspired, I got out my small tube of gold paint and highlighted the edges of the skull, the sunbursts and other bits as you see.
I’m much happier with that. I think it’s finished now? I’d better not mess about with it anymore, so I’ll say it’s finally done. I’ve also started work on a small space picture which is a sketch for a bigger version I’m planning. I’m hoping to have that done by the weekend. Watch this space...

Suggested listening: “Saint Low” a beautiful album by Saint Low aka Mary Lorson, ex-Madder Rose.

Mostly Moonwalkers

2010-03-18T17:21:00.009Z

Well how marvellous, I’d forgotten I’d sent off for this. The Astronaut Central catalogue!
While surfing the space sites a few weeks back I came across Astronaut Central who sell signed and flown astronaut related items. It’s all a bit out of my league but they will send you a free catalogue if you give them your details. Nice one!

It arrived this morning and I’m a bit excited about it. Lots of really good pics of signed photos of “mostly moonwalkers” plus some reproductions of Alan Bean’s paintings. For those who don’t know Alan Bean was the Apollo 12 Lunar Module Pilot, which makes him the 4th man to walk on the moon; he also flew in Skylab; and now he spends his time painting space scenes, capturing what it was like to be an astronaut and incorporating bits of his space suit and actual moon dust into the art work. That’s one of his pictures on the cover.

The catalogue was accompanied by another of space art from Nova Space. Lots of work depicting landscapes from other planets, galaxies, that kind of thing. It’s pretty good but I’m much more excited by the other one. If you want to get a free catalogue for yourself check out these sites www.astronautcentral.com and www.novaspace.com however, I suspect I’m in a rather select group of people who get excited by the idea of a catalogue of photos of astronauts.

Suggested reading: “The Man Who Ran The Moon” the excellent biography of NASA chief, businessman and Washington bureaucrat James Webb by Piers Bizony. Top stuff.

Testing. Testing. 1, 2, 3.

2010-03-17T12:42:00.002Z

Oh dear. It’s not Morton’s Neuroma.

That’s what the neurophysiologist said on Monday after he’d given me some mild electric shocks to test the nerves in my foot. He also had to put two rather large needles into my foot. The one in the top of my foot hardly hurt at all. The second one went into the more sensitive arch of my foot had hurt quite a bit when electricity was passed through it. Fortunately that was the last of those tests, a good job too as that was when I almost passed out. “You’re not the first to do that” said the doctor. I’m not surprised to hear it. I may have had more painful visits to the dentist than this but I’ve also had much less painful visits to the dentist than this. However, I was expecting it to be worse than it was, but it was bad enough for a whimp like me.

The weird thing about the large needles was that they were wired up to a computer and you could hear the sound of the nerves in my foot reacting to the electricity. It was a bit like a Geiger counter but much faster. I asked if he could e-mail me the sounds but he couldn’t. I would have used them in an installation, never mind.

Well, I wanted proper up to date, proven medical tests rather than sheep’s bladders and seaweed and that’s exactly what I got.

Anyway, his opinion was that I’d be in much more pain if I had Morton’s. He asked me if I had back trouble. I don’t. So what the hell have I got? Does anyone have Hugh Laurie’s number? Jonesey is being lovely and reassuring reminding me that it’s most likely a benign neuroma and not anything “serious”. The neurophysiologist said the neurologist would be able to make a diagnosis after the MRI scan, which I had later that same afternoon.

The MRI scan was much more fun. Jonesey and I waited in this sterile, bare, white waiting room and we both thought it was a bit like something out of the film 2001. It got more like that when I went in for the actual scan. I had to lie down and the radiologist gave me a pair of headphones to cut out some of the noise (MRI scans are very noisy) and then she placed a sort of visor thing over my head. It was a bit like wearing a space helmet. Then I’m slid into the machine for about ten minutes while they scan my head. It was brilliant, I enjoyed every minute of it. It was quite like that bit in 2001 when he’s in his space helmet and you can only hear his breathing, except you could only hear my breathing when the scanner stopped making a noise.

Then I’m slid out, the visor is taken off and in I go again for a twenty minute scan of my spine. I’d brought ear plugs as I knew the scan would be loud. Before I was slid in for a second time I put in the ear plugs then replaced the headphones. This took the edge of the noise and as all I could do for the next twenty minutes was lie still, I just relaxed and almost fell asleep. The time whizzed by and before I knew it, it was all over. What a fantastic experience, easily the best thing about this whole business so far.

Then this morning I went for a blood test at the local surgery. I should have the results from that by next Monday. I’m not sure when I’ll get the results from the MRI. So it’s just a matter of waiting, nothing more to be done at this stage.

My brother is a diamond geezer and has offered to lend me the money to fly to New York for a few days to get away from it all. How brilliant is that? I shan’t take him up on this incredibly generous offer but I owe him one just for the suggestion. Anyway, although I am concerned and can’t help but think about worse case scenarios, I’m not going to sit at home brooding about it. Until I know for sure what is going on its life as normal.

On the plus side, Jonesey and I went to a friend’s birthday dinner at the weekend and had a really lovely time. Ben (the birthday boy) and Caroline are great. They’re brilliant musicians (check out these links you’ll be glad you did: www.myspace.com/darkerdogs - www.myspace.com/carolinemartinsmalldog - www.myspace.com/thecedar - www.myspace.com/rogertarry) and they asked me if I would DJ at their wedding later in the year. I was so chuffed to be asked, I can’t tell you what an honour it is. I don’t normally DJ at formal events as I tend to clear dance floors with my, how shall I describe it? Let’s say individual music selection, however, there is no way I’d pass this up. I am totally made up about this. I’ll be sharing DJing duties with Nick who drums in their band and they will be supplying a playlist, so hopefully, I shouldn’t go far wrong.

Suggested listening: Darker Dogs EP

All The Treasure We Find

2010-03-15T00:11:00.004Z

I think the blogging might be getting out of hand. Jonesey and I were going to a flea market today and I said “I hope I get something so I can do a blog about it”. Oh well, too late now, I’m already on that slippery slope and there’s no going back.

As Clearlake so nicely put it “We’ll go jumble sailing when the weather is fine” and that’s just what we did. And I did get a couple of things both for 50p. The first bargain was this ace sci-fi book from the 1960’s.

I don’t read a lot of sci-fi but I couldn’t resist this cover, not at 50p. Then in a box of odds and ends all at 50p each I found this little gem.

Again, as Clearlake said “Who knows all the odd little things that will sail into view?” and this odd little thing is simply charming. It’s about 5cm long by about 3cm high. Is it a cake decoration? I don’t know but it’s a winner. Our house is full of crap like this. Brilliant, we love it. Jonesey got loads of stuff too but you’ll have to check her blog in a couple of days to see what she got.

Suggested viewing/listening: “Jumble Sailing” by Clearlake (from the excellent album “Lido”) on You Tube www.youtube.com/watch?v=flhEOL-MO8E

One Painful Step For A Man

2010-03-14T23:02:00.014Z

Actually, that title isn’t entirely accurate, I’m not in very much pain, however, I have got some numbness in a couple of the toes on my right foot. I was told by my lovely other half that I should get it checked out as it could be a sign of diabetes. Diabetes, great, though maybe not a huge surprise when I think about my diet, far too much sugar. Still, loads of people live with diabetes, John Peel had it. It wouldn’t be a lot of fun but I could live with it. I’d have to. And if untreated it can be very nasty. So yes, best to get it checked it out, so a few weeks back I went to the doctors.

When I explained my symptoms’ to the doctor, and following a brief inspection/test of the problem area, I fully expect to hear him talk about diabetes. Well, he did mention it but only to say that it’s only likely to be diabetes if you have the numbness in both feet. I don’t have that so it could be a tumour, something up here (he indicates his head) or maybe something in the spine. Do I have any back problems? No I don’t. Erm, hang on, back up there doc, did you say tumour? In fact he used the word tumour about half a dozen times during my consultation. That was bad enough but the look on his face, well, it wasn’t the comforting look of reassurance I was expecting. It was more of a “dead man walking on the green mile!” kind of look. He mentioned something about nerves and tumours again, there was a sharp intake of breath and he said “I could send you to a neurologist but I don’t know how they’d test for that really. [pause] Do you want to leave it for a bit and see what happens?”

Do I want to leave it, what after you’ve been bandying the word tumour around? “Er, no. I think I’d like to start tests as soon as possible.” So he arranges for an appointment with a neurologist and I make my way home. Tumour. Well, I didn’t see that coming. Somewhat shocked I explained what happened to my partner and we have a cup of tea. Well, I’m British, it’s what we do. Whatever the crisis, however terrible the situation, a cup of tea can only help. Yeah but it’s not a cure for a brain tumour though, is it! Still, it’s more comforting than the doctor was.

After a couple of weeks I have my visit to the neurologist. He didn’t smile much either but at least he didn’t have a look on his face like I wasn’t going to make it to the end of the consultation. He confirmed the numbness and arranged for some more tests involving needles and electricity and an MRI scan. I’ve got all that to look forward to this week then I get the results in a few weeks time. And guess who’s going to give me the test results? That’s right, laughing boy back at my local surgery.

Did I mention that it’s an NHS surgery specialising in homeopathy? That’s not why I go there, it is my local surgery, it’s the one I have to go to but alongside regular, tested medicines they also dish out homeopathic remedies, I can’t bring myself to call them medicines. I think all the doctors there are from Germany or Holland, anyway it’s somewhere where they still use crystals and seaweed and they check your horoscope before they check your blood pressure. Just my luck, I’m scared into thinking I might have a brain tumour by a doctor who worships the wicker man. I thought I would be living on the moon by 2010 not being treated for a terminal illness by being hit on the head with a sheep’s bladder. Beam me up Scotty and have Bones waiting in the transporter room with his tricorder!

Anyway, I don’t want my family worrying unnecessarily so I didn’t tell them anything until this weekend. I’ve been terrified enough for all of us, no point scaring anyone else till I know more myself. The reason I’ve told them now though is that I discovered for myself what it is I have, and it’s certainly not a bloody brain tumour, thank you very much Doctor Placebo.

This is what happened. I woke up at 5am one morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. As you do in the dark of the night I got to imagining the worse and scared myself even more. Later I confide in my lovely other half about being awake half the night and she tells me I’m being silly as it’s almost certainly a neuroma in my foot rather than a tumour in my head and not to worry. I look neuroma up on the internet and find a thing called Morton’s Neuroma which pretty much describes what I have to a tee.

Up to now I’ve been thinking that a best case scenario is that I have diabetes but more likely given the look on the face of Doctor Death and his liberal use of the word tumour I should stick to reading short stories from now on and not bother listening to any long playing records. But Morton’s Neuroma isn’t anywhere near as bad as even my best case scenario and while I’m checking it out online I keep seeing the word “benign”. What a lovely word that now seems. So the end isn’t neigh just yet, although this will only be confirmed when I go through all the tests and scans. However, I’m pretty confident in my self diagnosis, enough to stop being so terrified.

So what is Morton’s Neuroma and how did I get it? Here’s a picture I lifted off the net.

Lovely isn't it? It’s a swelling of a nerve in the foot mostly but not always between the 3rd and 4th toes, I’ve got it between the 2nd and 3rd, trust me to be awkward. It’s quite common and is caused by pressure on the toes or ball of the foot. A lot of middle aged women get it from wearing high heeled shoes. I’ve been wearing nothing but trainers for the last twenty years and I’ve not been drawn into the world of cross dressing so I was at a loss as to how I might have got this particular ailment. Then I noticed that when I’m working at my desk or sitting at the table eating, I naturally put my feet under the chair and tilt my feet up from the back putting weight and pressure, yes you’ve guessed it, in exactly the right place to get a neuroma. I might have been doing this for years and just didn’t realise. You’ve been warned dear reader so make a note of how you sit, and ladies and cross dressers maybe you should save the heels for special occasions.

Anyway, well done the internet, you’ve diagnosed my disorder and dispelled my worries about tumours, hopefully. Then tonight while I was looking for a suitable picture to illustrate my problem I found some more websites and blogs all about it, including some I wish I hadn’t read about the tests I’m about to undergo this week with one blogger describing it as "torture" and really "hurting a lot". So I’m really looking forward to Tuesdays adventures in medical testing. I’ll keep you posted.

Suggested listening: "You Need Feet" By Bernard Bresslaw.

Artscare Gig At The Junction

2010-03-13T15:56:00.012Z

I went to the party for the launch of Artscare Records (www.myspace.com/artscarerecords) CD #2 last night at the new look Junction and what a really terrific gig it was. I knew it was going to be good as the line up included some of the very best that the Bristol music scene has to offer. The full line up was We Are Strangers Minds, The Dagger Brothers, Los Conios, Kid Carpet and headliners The Moles. Plus The Hysterical Injury left their guitar and drums at home and took up DJing duties between the bands. As the great Marc Riley might say, jobs a good ‘un.

I managed to get in on the guest list thanks to Mr Artscare himself, Dave Thomas. Dave is what is known as a top bloke. He runs this DIY label which promotes some of the best underground bands in and around Bristol, he also plays in a fine band called The Broken Arm Of Love (www.myspace.com/thebrokenarmoflove), does some DJing, occasionally goes over to the States and plays over there and has a day job which I think involves him working with prisoners. On top of all that he is one of the nicest guys you could meet and is genuinely enthusiastic about the music we have here in Bristol. And when I arrived he gave me a big hug and called me a legend. It’s hard not to like Dave.

I’m also greeted warmly by all the members of The Moles (above - the greatest band on the planet) with bassist Billy Fuller (who actually is a legend, he also plays with Robert Plant, Beak and Fuzz Against Junk) telling me he misses my voice being on the air waves. In case you don’t know I used to do a show on the radio that promoted local bands and alternative music generally, so I’m fortunate to know a lot of really lovely and hugely talented people involved in the Bristol music scene. After a quick chat with The Moles I spot Annie Gardiner and Lee Stone from The Hysterical Injury (www.myspace.com/thehystericalinjury) behind the decks so go and have a word with them.

Annie (above) is great, she has a brilliant band in which she is an axe wielding rock heroine, she used to drum with the awesome Venus Bogardus (www.myspace.com/venusbogardus) and was fantastic at that too, she writes about music as well and again is just such a lovely, genuine person. That was always the best thing about working in radio was meeting all these wonderful and amazingly talented people. In fact it is the only thing I miss about not being on radio, as I just don’t get out to gigs as much as I used to.

First on is someone called Giles from the band We Are Strangers Minds (www.myspace.com/wearestrangersminds). I don’t think I’ve seen him play before, it’s difficult to keep track and the band used to be called something else. Anyway, his breathless vocals and haunting guitar drift over the noisy crowd who greet the end of each number enthusiastically. They should do, this guy is brilliant. If my broadcasting buddy Richard (www.myspace.com/bristolintroducing) hasn’t already had Giles in on the show to do a session then I recommend he does so.

I haven’t mentioned the comperes yet and I should do as I was always a little frustrated when I didn’t get a mention in gig reviews when I was introducing bands. It’s two blokes who seem to be called Mr Tits (www.myspace.com/mrtitsband). I recognise Ant the drummer from Langur (www.myspace.com/langurmusic) despite him being in drag. They’re doing a nice job of getting the audience worked up and have obviously gone to a lot of effort giving each of the bands a questionnaire to fill out. They pick out some of the bands responses in their introductions, a great idea but not carried out to its best effect as the one who isn’t Ant is reading the answers and having a lot of trouble doing it. The trouble is revealed later in the night when he admits defeat and gets his reading glasses out. But what they lack in style they make up for in exuberance.

Next up it’s the Dagger Brothers (www.myspace.com/thedaggerbrothers) who have style in abundance. You really have to see this duo in action to really appreciate just how good they are and what they are doing. They’re dressed in sleeveless blue jump suits and while one sings and dances, going into the audience, the other interprets the songs through the medium of expressive dance, all to an electro backing track. There’s a whole homo-erotic 80’s thing going on here, they even have a song called “Do You Remember the 80’s?”. It’s very funny and as someone said to me, they have no shame. Good for them. More power to the Dagger Brothers.

Halfway through their act my good friend Mike Territo appears. I haven’t seen Mike for a few months and it’s a nice surprise to see him here. He’s in the music business now himself, working with new bands, acting as tour manager, taking bands round the country, dealing with press that kind of thing. He’s working with a band called Wilder (www.myspace.com/wearewilder) who are being touted as the next big thing from Bristol. He’s just done a session for Hew Stevens with them in London and Steve Lamacq was there too. It turns out that Mike knows The Moles via Andy who is with him tonight. Andy drums with The Ouija Birds (do check them out as well, they’re really something special www.myspace.com/theouijabirds) who it also turns out deps on drums for The Moles. It’s a small world (but I wouldn’t want to paint it, as Steven Wright said).

A word about the venue. The Junction is a very small pub on Stokes Croft that used to be run by a guy called Bob who was a really good chap who put on some terrific nights of music over the years but he never had the money to make the most of the place. He gave it his all but in the end the money just ran out. I lost count how many benefit nights we had there for him. I don’t know what he’s up to now but I do hope his life is less stressful.

Now The Junction is under new ownership and they’re making some big changes, opening the place up so that it now looks twice as big as it used to. There’s still a long way to go but it’s a step in the right direction. The sound was a bit off last night but again that’s something they’re still working on but it’s still a great place to see bands.

The next band on is Los Conios (www.myspace.com/losconios) who are excellent as ever. They played a lot of fine new songs and with new haircuts and suits they look very different to the last time I saw them. They still kick out the jams though.

It’s all running very late now but the night is a long way from done. Kid Carpet (www.myspace.com/kidcarpet) is our penultimate act and he does a lot of new material too. You have to love Kid Carpet (below). I love what he does so much I asked him to play at my 40th birthday party ahum years ago. He uses second hand synths and equipment plus a lot of kid’s toys to make his music and he’s a frenetic mover on stage too. On one level that is entertainment enough but his lyrics are insightful and full of social commentary. There’s a lot going on here and his new material is amongst his best including some “adverts” which are funny and full of meaning at the same time. Top stuff.

Which leaves the headline act, The Moles (www.myspace.com/themolesuk). If you like the psyched out rock of the late ‘60s then you will love The Moles because that’s what they do but not covers, it’s all original. It sounds fresh and new and at the same time could have been made 40 years ago. It’s the real deal and the songs never fail to give me a lift but seeing them live just blows my mind man.

The songs are quite brilliant, I think it's Brin Davies (below) who writes them. He says he's written a rock opera about a ginger tom cat. There must be someone somewhere who can put this on? Anyone from The Who want to help here? The Moles rock my world and I want them to rock yours too, so please check them out. They're playing at The Louisiana in Bristol on 28th April with The Ouija Birds and The Transpersonals - blimey another killer line up. I'll see you there.

So, a top night of music at The Junction was had by all and it's hats off to Dave from Artscare and all the bands.

Suggested listening: Artscare CD #2 compilation

The Last Man On The Moon

2010-03-12T15:41:00.003Z

When Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan got an itchy nose while wearing his space helmet he could scratch it by moving his head toward a little piece of velcro specially placed inside the helmet for just such an occasion. I didn’t know they did that. I learn something new with every astronaut autobiography I read and by the time I finished reading Gene Cernan’s autobiography last night I’d learnt quite a bit more than the little bit of space trivia about scratching your nose.

“The Last Man On The Moon” is just excellent, a thoroughly enjoyable read and if you haven’t read any astronaut autobiographies before I’d recommend this one as a good place to start, despite it being the last in the series, so to speak. Although for a really detailed look at Gemini and Apollo you can do no better than Michael Collins autobiography “Carrying The Fire”.

Cernan’s book follows the story of the space race as seen through the eyes of a Navy aviator watching the unfolding events of Sputnik, Gargarin and Mercury right through to his own considerable involvement in Gemini and Apollo. It captures the competitiveness of astronaut life including the revelation that Cernan had a serious leg injury that he and one of the NASA doctors played down to avoid him losing the historic Apollo 17 flight. Cernan speaks about the result on family life of large egos, a massive work load, extreme pressure and the worry over whether a spouse would actually come home at the end of the day, not just from space flight but from all the other flying undertaken during an astronaut’s working day on earth. Astronaut wives were taken for granted by NASA and let’s be honest by the astronauts themselves. It was expected that they put on a show for the press for ever telling them they were “proud, thrilled, and happy” while they almost certainly felt stressed out, under pressure and scared and Cernan acknowledges this in his book. Although he survived his time as an astronaut, his marriage did not and he takes the blame for it.

Gene Cernan may well be the last man on the moon for many years to come. I suspect the next person on the moon will either be Chinese, and good luck to them I hope they make it, an extremely wealthy individual with as much courage and skill as money, or maybe a very fortunate person with those abilities who has the financial backing of an extremely wealthy individual or corporation. Whoever it is though could do worse than to read a few astronaut autobiographies before they go because nothing about being in space is easy or safe, something highlighted in Cernan’s book.

Working within the confines of a space suit makes the simplest task a huge undertaking and while space suits have improved and developed since Apollo that is a fact that cannot be altered. Working or even just manoeuvring in the totally weightless environment of space brings about problems of leverage and action/reaction. Even on the lunar surface with its low gravity, forcing a drill bit into the solid moon rock found under all the surface dust is still very strenuous work.

On the moon, even something as simple as holding on to a rock or a tool involves using a very tight grip through the many layers of a protective glove. Both Cernan and his fellow Apollo 17 moon walker Harrison Schmitt had blisters and cuts all over their hands as well as aching arms and legs that would stop most of us in our tracks. They had to work through the pain for three days on the lunar surface. When things broke or didn’t work properly it was tough, exhausting and time consuming to persevere or make repairs, if repairs could be made at all.

Living and working on the moon is never going to be easy and it’s tragic that we aren’t able to take advantage of the experience of those who have already worked in those conditions while they’re still with us. The giant leap and those few first steps should have lead us on to a running pace by now but the next time the moon has visitors from earth, they too will have to make small steps.

I don’t expect that Gene Cernan will remain the last man on the moon. Almost certainly one day, and it may be 50 years from now or 500, but one day people will again walk on the lunar surface. However, Cernan will always be the last Apollo astronaut and the last man in the twentieth century to kick up the dust of that magnificent desolation that is the surface of the moon and you can share in that experience by reading his book.

As for me, my next astronaut book is Deke Slayton’s autobiography. He was one of the Original 7 Mercury astronauts but who was grounded by health concerns. Although he missed the opportunity to fly as part of the Mercury, Gemini or Apollo moon missions he was in charge of all the other astronauts at NASA and he finally got to earn his astronaut wings as the docking module pilot of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. We have lift off, again.

Suggested reading: “The Last Man On The Moon” by Eugene Cernan

The Story Of Man's Greatest Adventure

2010-03-11T17:32:00.009Z

Well that was a worthwhile trip to the shops. Not only did I manage to get a mother’s day card and something for my friend’s birthday this weekend but I picked up some rather splendid Apollo related merch as well. While checking out the Amnesty International book shop on Gloucester Road (sorry Auntie Christine, no sign yet of “Defence Until Dawn”) I saw this little treasure...

...and it was just £1.50, bargain! And as it says on the cover, the book does have some excellent photos “in exciting colour”. Then a couple of charity shops later I came across a number of National Geographics, including a few with space themes; two on the Space Shuttle and one on Skylab.

Now I’m not as much a fan of the space shuttle, not in the way I am obsessed with Apollo. Somehow it just doesn’t have the romance of the earlier space race days. However, some of the Apollo astronauts flew the early shuttles and they’re in these editions of the NG. But Skylab, fantastic, that was part of the Apollo Applications Programme and had moonwalkers aboard. Three for a pound, result!

Unfortunately the Apollo Applications Programme didn’t get much further than Skylab and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). Ah, the plans they had but then as now the people with the power and the money to make things happen simply didn’t have the vision or the inclination to push things forward. Such a shame.

Then my final acquisition was the latest edition of “Spaceflight”. I don’t get this every time it’s an odd magazine and aimed at the really nerdy space geek. OK that is me to an extent but in this magazine they list every space flight that takes place and report on the latest in space activity. It’s great that there is somewhere that documents all this stuff but I only usually get it when there’s an article that’s moon or Apollo related. There’s an article in this edition titled “Goodbye Moon” about the decision by the US President to cancel the Constellation Programme.

So mission accomplished, I got everything I went out for, I didn’t have to pay for parking and I got myself some top space literature into the bargain. Nice one.

Suggested listening: “Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks” by Brian Eno (containing my favourite piece of music "An Ending (Ascent)"

Jim Al-Khalili

2010-03-10T12:04:00.001Z

Honestly, I’ve got the whole Horizon thing out of my system now but this morning I remembered the excellent programmes by Prof. Jim Al-Khalili on quantum physics, another on chemistry and the best one of all on chaos theory that all had me glued to the telly. This guy knows how to explain science in such a way that even I am able to get a handle on most of what it’s about. I don’t think any of his BBC documentaries are available on DVD yet but they will be at some point and will be worth getting and watching. Meantime, they may be on the BBC i-Player (?). He has written a number of books although I haven’t read them myself (so many books, so little time). Anyway, if you want to watch a decent science programme, then do check out anything by the good professor.