A Greener Coming Out...

A whole lot better than the official Party Political Broadcast video... watch right to the end!

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Keeping up with Balthazar’s Epiphany...

It was most unusual, to say the least. We so seldom agreed on anything. But this time we all felt something sinister was afoot and were of one mind. Of course, we had to go through the ‘right’ channels, Caspar always insisted we must, he’s driven us nuts with his attention to detail all along. Our journey would have taken half the time if he hadn't meticulously checked and double checked everything. But now he has come up trumps, we all agreed, we simply didn't trust Herod and there was no way we would be advising Herod’s henchmen when we found our ultimate destination.

I must mention this incredible star. It was so vivid, so extraordinarily bright and everywhere we went it appeared to be ahead of us. Believe me, Caspar had ensured our ‘forward’ motion had covered all points of the compass and yet this star was always there. I cannot emphasise how bright it was, enough to light our way and yet it also became the source of our biggest falling out. We kept arguing over and over whether it was following us or we were following it. I always thought it led the way, however, being the youngest I wasn’t considered wise yet. I do acknowledge they had a point though; why hadn't Herod’s astronomers spotted it, surely it would have been easy for them to track? Then I received a right telling off when I simply suggested that Herod’s men could have just followed us, seemed obvious to me! I should say that Melchior had been surprisingly discreet. He managed to keep quiet about the star when we were with Herod, despite making a fool of himself rabbiting on about all the evidence we had amassed to plan our expedition which Herod’s legal team then confiscated.

Anyway, we have reached our destination. Actually, the last bit of our epic journey didn’t take long at all, as you can imagine, even Caspar was keen to leave Herod’s palace as soon as we could. And now it was my turn to be proven right. Despite my earlier pleas to not expect too much they were still taken aback. But I knew what living in an occupied territory was like, my suggestions that the special one would reside in modest accommodation had been repeatedly dismissed with generous contempt.

Mr Joseph opened the door of his humble dwelling appearing completely unphased by our substantial entourage. ‘We’ve been expecting you’ was what he said, with a broad smile, welcoming us over the threshold. And Mrs Joseph, Mary, greeted us. She seemed shy, demure and yet serene. Caspar and Melchior pushed their way forward into the living room and missed seeing the energetic toddler behind Mary. He was playing with some expertly carved wooden pieces. Mr Joseph explained his work included creating scale models for approval by the Temple authorities who kept rejecting them because they were ‘such a fussy bunch’. ‘This is my firstborn’, Mr Joseph proudly added, ‘and my boy keeps finding better ways to make these!’. The shekel dropped, ‘the firstborn’, I felt my heart race.

Anyway, Mr Joseph stoops and prompted the child who then followed him to the where Caspar and Melchior, now seated, were looking both bemused and impatient. Mr Joseph then presented the special one. Now it was the the Joseph family’s turn to be bemused by my fellow travellers’ antics! Of course their gifts, Gold and Frankincense, were exquisitely and expensively wrapped and handed over with much bowing and scraping. Mine, well, yes, I was the youngest so I had the ‘awkward’ present. I turned toward the parents and they sensed my discomfort. Mary looked pensive, gently accepting my tiny phial of Myrrh. And as she turned away I heard her whisper, ‘it’s ok, I know, Blessed be the Lord’.

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Coldplay - tearing me apart...

And I don't care... if you think I'm uncool, bah, I simply love this, so there...!

This touches me on so many levels, those who know me well may figure it out, a big clue is one of the tags below... and it is about time I posted again!

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Wide, wide as the ocean...

Come on come on and shake down those shabby bones.
We're tired and torn, creaking and cracked I know.
When did we last make some time?

Spinning with stars, dreams disregarded.
Days are all full, stuffed and congested.
When did we last make the time,
To be scared of the dark,
Where the gods and monsters hide?

Dust ourselves down.

Show me the way to make me a child again.
We'll be amazed by all we can't name and then,
We can at last stop to breathe,
And be scared of the dark,
Where our mind's got space to dream.

Click to download for FREE!

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Billy, Billy, can you hear what I say?!

Whilst the proverb 'confession is good for the soul' rolls off the tongue readily best selling author and Greenbelt Festival speaker Frank Schaeffer has made it into an art form in his latest novel 'And God Said "Billy!"'. Having already given us the fictional 'Portofino' and autobiographical 'Crazy for God' confessions he now offers readers an even more compelling work, a gritty and challenging literary journey beautifully written with lashings of humour encased in layers of grace.

The characters are so authentically vivid that they spring to life within Schaeffer's colourful narrative to such an extent that I felt I, too, became part of the story, surely indicative of a great piece of writing?

Schaeffer is known for his antagonism of right wing fundamental evangelicals and they do not come off lightly in this book. Yet they are not just a soft target by any account, there is far more to this with layered themes that cover many challenges including homophobia, racism, pornography, corruption, spiritual abuse and hypocrisy. I doubt many 'evangelicals' will ever read this and if they did their prejudices about Schaeffer would be re-inforced rather than challenged, he tells it how it is in a righteous and ruthless fashion with f-bombs in the dialogue rather than tame cliché.

The irony is that the Bible is quoted frequently throughout and whilst initially the book's hapless hero justifies everything he does, including criminal acts, utilising a blatantly literal interpretation of biblical texts, as the book progresses that approach morphs into a genuine quest for the deeper meaning contained therein.

In summary it's a romp into the dark from the different darkness of assumed light and a subsequent rescue in the most unlikely of places. It's a tale of losing 'redemption' to be truly and profoundly redeemed via a heady mix of thriller, some Russian Orthodox church history and a gut wrenchingly moving ending that took me completely by surprise. I simply couldn't put it down!

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Gabriel's Anthem for Father's Day...

Whether recently parted, as for Peter G, or for a longer time, miss you so...

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It was thirty years ago...

As listed here: Billboard Charts from 30th April 1983

Although, technically, by 1983 After The Fire was no more we re-convened to film a video ready for the early days of MTV in the US. The first part was filmed in The Venue, Victoria, and then the crew re-created the scene on the top deck of a double decker bus. This was then driven around London during the early morning between 3:00am and 5:00am, I think it was February, with all and sundry getting very cold indeed! Ultimately the video was banned in the UK by the BBC for having the 'scary' tarantula spider. The irony was that when we were filming it was so cold the spider became ultra docile and the only way the owner could get it to stir was to heat the underside of the table with a blowtorch. Suffering for our art... (no animals or insects were harmed in the making of this video).

And we were SO broke!

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Spontaneous Indigenous Intervention...

Checkout the natural and instinctive harmonies that break out as NZ folk celebrate a significant change in their laws with the Māori love song 'Pokarekare Ana'...

Full story here.

P h/t Steve Lawson

Bring back bronco...

Sometimes even Apple cannot deliver... iPad #fail...

P h/t Lawrence Wood

Kicking up Good Vibrations...

Terri Hooley is a radical, rebel and music-lover in 1970s Belfast, when the bloody conflict known as The Troubles shuts down his city. As all his friends take sides and take up arms, Terri opens a record shop on the most bombed half-mile in Europe and calls it Good Vibrations. Through it he discovers a compelling voice of resistance in the city’s nascent underground punk scene. Galvanising the young musicians into action, he becomes the unlikely leader of a motley band of kids and punks who join him in his mission to create a new community, an Alternative Ulster, to bring his city back to life.

Good Vibrations is released in the UK and Ireland by The Works UK Distribution on March 29, 2013.

Music holds, heals and invigorates, gives Dignity

A cracking little project for the metropolis of Leeds recorded and produced in Hope & Social's studio The Crypt... Checkout the full song from the gifted Jasmine Kennedy, available for just one of your British pounds (or more!), a sensitive cover of Deacon Blue's 'Dignity' here:

• More about the Love Music Leeds project
• Blog post entitled: Tales from the Crypt
• My earlier post about H&S: Rolling Sideways with Hope and Social

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The Boss and the miracle of music...

A film put together as part of the MusiCares 2013 Person of the Year award made to Bruce Springsteen. To check out the whole of The Boss' acceptance speech is a splendid idea!

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Is Somebody Singing...?

A fascinating collaboration between the International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield, the band Barenaked Ladies and the Canadian junior choir the Wexford Gleeks. Band lead singer Ed Robertson is a self confessed space geek, a common theme amongst many musicians ;-)

I watched the video a couple of days ago, thanks to my blogosphere chum Mike Todd (checkout his original post here) and found I kept returning to watch again. I find there is something deeply moving despite the simplicity of the piece. To me it exhibits the characteristics of a Secret Chord moment, where many elements combine to make it thus...

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Eat, Fast and Living so for 6 months...

About 20 years ago I had a random cholesterol test when the local surgery were carrying out tests with a new piece of equipment and I hit the jackpot! After a further test with an the overnight fast the GP said I should change my dietary habits and, as a result, 6 months later was in the higher end of the ok zone.

One of the outcomes of Dr Michael Mosley's own tests, comprehensively documented on BBC's Horizon programme where he utilised the 5.2 fast system, was a substantial reduction in his cholesterol levels as well as a reduction in Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1) plus a healthier pancreas. The loss in his weight was almost a by-product benefit of this process, rather than the core mission. When this program was first transmitted back in August 2012 I was captivated by the notion of both the health and spiritual benefits of the fasting aspect of this scheme so decided to embark on it too.

I have now reached the six month mark (26 weeks) of consistent adherence and, whilst I have yet to have a current blood test to measure the cholesterol levels, I definitely feel better for it overall and I am now no longer in the BMI overweight category. I have to say the first few times I underwent fast days (I've now settled on Mondays and Thursdays) it was tough, particularly in the evening after eating the restricted calorie meal... I longed for some extra nibbles!

Using my weight as a guideline, it seems I have reached some sort of plateau now, although I can tell letting up on the regime would gradually restore the pounds. So, just for the record and in case you're thinking of trying it, here's the evidence:



If you missed the full programme, it is available on Dailymotion here and the book, co-authored with Mimi Spencer, which effectively covers what was in the program and also gives some suitable restricted calorie recipe ideas, is called The Fast Diet: The Secret of Intermittent Fasting - Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, Live Longer.

Of course, am now pondering timely Lent thoughts ;-)

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Sorry girls - spatial awareness and all that...

Banksy takes cover!

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Driving in My Car...

Info-graphic from research carried out by the Tesco Insurance Comparison website, click image to zoom in...

Tesco Compare users respond: UK’s most popular Driving Music

February 5th, 2013

What do Brits listen to most while driving? The results of a recent competition held by Tesco Compare showed that, from postcode to postcode, Queen are the champions – and by some distance, too.

In September 2012, the comparison website launched a competition that questioned motorists on their choice of in-car music. 30,000 responded to the question, "What is your favourite song to drive to?" The results are published today in the infographic Queen of the Road. Over 75% of the country’s postal districts returned a decisive Mercury as Motor Monarch vote, almost exactly 50% more than Adele, their nearest competitor. Queen’s Greatest Hits, originally released in 1981, was recently confirmed by the Official Chart Company as the UK’s biggest selling album, with sales approaching 6 million.

The London-based rockers did not top the charts in every district, however, and the pockets of resistance make for interesting analysis in themselves. The survey showed that Adele keeps the motorists on track in Bromley, Truro, Wigan, Crewe and Southall, while she shares equal stereo time with other artists in Ilford (with ABBA and Michael Jackson), Worcester (Coldplay and Take That) and Sunderland (George Michael).

Perhaps the most unusual findings showed a small outcrop of passionate Louis Armstrong supporters at the wheel in Slough, and a loose but significant scattering of Killers and Gerry Rafferty fans populating the roads around Llandrindod Wells.  
The Drivers’ UK Top 10 came in as follows:

1.        Queen
2.        Adele
3.        Madness
4.        Coldplay
5.        ABBA
6.        Take That
7.        The Beatles
8.        Meat Loaf
9.        Bon Jovi
10.      Rihanna

Individual songs that scored very highly included Don’t Stop Me Now and Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Someone Like You by Adele and Driving in My Car by Madness.

“Despite the abundance of modern pop music, it turns out that Queen retain the audio affections of the UK’s road users,” said Gemma Whitton, spokesperson for Tesco Compare. “Personally, I find listening to music while driving is quite therapeutic and helps me concentrate on my journey. I remember that when I bought my first car, the most important feature was the stereo. These days, I have a playlist of Driving Music on my iPod." 

So we prefer the anthemic stuff then? Happy to reveal my in transit listening habits are a tad different ;-)

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Folk music tradition matters...

This last week I decided to watch the BBC red button transmission of the annual Radio 2 Folk Awards. I have learnt that there are more sub divisions in this genre of music than realised at first, with various factions trying to claim their particular style is more authentically orthodox than the rest. My sense is that this is a problem that tends to arise where there is a clearly defined sub-culture, which folk music surely is.

One of the issues that manifests itself is the 'big fish, small pond' syndrome. Some of the music was simply not that great! A bit like poor versions of mainstream equivalents, even prog. rock (to my prejudiced ear) got a look in. There were notable exceptions from the delightful Karine Polwart and the sublime rendition above from Lifetime (he prefers 'lunchtime') Award recipient, fiddler Aly Bain.

This piece is played with such amazing sensitivity and surpassed anything else that I heard during the evening. Of course, it may have been different actually being there, but from the audience reaction I reckon this was most likely a Secret Chord moment! Unashamed plug warning: read more in Jonathan Evens and my wee book, The Secret Chord!

There are those that have managed to 'crossover' (that dreadful description) to the mainstream, in the last few years Seth Lakeman and Bellowhead to name but two, both of whom have amazing talent and virtuosity. This year an 'outsider' was invited to cross back, as a guest, into the fold, from the big outside world, namely Billy Bragg, who also received a special award.

It was all a bit like going to church, those who knew what was going on were fine, to us on the fringe some aspects were a total mystery (church), lots of meaningless drivel (bad sermons), some inspiring speeches, (good sermons), plenty of average music (typical), a rousing hymn at the end (predictable) and the transcendent rendition from Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham (a rare and precious sacred moment which reminds us what it's all about).

There seems to be plenty of energy devoted to maintaining traditions (back to church again!), but those that choose a higher calling prefer rather to build on the traditions and land up producing something very special, long may that continue...

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Motif Matters

Here is an example of a musical element that now resides in my composer's toolbox. This is by no means a finished product, just a better quality version of an idea on real piano that I recorded onto my iPhone to capture the inspiration. On the iPhone I tend to use Voice Memos or, if I can lay my hands on it at the time, the Blue Microphones Blue Mikey 2.0 iPhone/iPod Recorder. Then the next stage was to re-record using the Avid / Digidesign ProTools LE (version 7.4.2), two tracks of Nord Stage in real time. Having create an instrumental mix I then 'heard' this soprano vocal part in my head during playback, so promptly added that and re-mixed as above...

Sometimes these 'sketches' are absorbed into complete pieces, such as those included in the collection entitled Sotto Voce on Bandcamp.

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Sensing the Divine in engineering...

Have been a fascinated viewer of the Extreme Railways series on Channel 5 presented by Chris Tarrant. This week's edition featured the Konkan Railway which runs down the West coast, covering mountainous and marshy terrain thought by the British to be totally unsuitable for a permanent way. Built over 8 years between 1990 and 1997 by a wonderfully enthusiastic team who overcame some incredible obstacles despite a heavy price paid in life and limb. The highlight for me was hearing the Chief Engineer Rajaram Bojji proudly escorting Mr T to a vantage point to witness the incredible Panval Viaduct, at 210 feet the third highest bridge in the whole of Asia:

It never stops amazing me, it fills my heart with such a happiness I'm telling you. There must me some kind of ultimately divine spirit which makes humans to think and do things which look apparently impossible.

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Whoever has an ear to hear...

For those with family members, friends and senses that understand, an excellent mini TED talk...

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