Saturday 19 November 2011

Talking Heads (Psycho Killer)



This reminds me of when our Paul was in his heavy metal days. Having to sit in a smoky den of the Golden Fleece in Marlborough because he was only 16, listening to their group blasting Rancid, headachesville days, but good fun.

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Chaos Theory (The Butterfly Effect)



Hope that this programme comes out on dvd soon, fantastic.

Alan Turing





Looking forward to attending the reception at Saville Exchange Building to celebrate Tommy Brown, WW2 hero who rescued the Enigma codes from a sinking ship. Tommy had joined the navy as an under-age kitchen hand. When the ship was going down he retrieved the books, climbed up the ladder holding them under his arm. Turing would have been proud. I had the good fortune to meet Tommy`s sister at the last event held at North Shields where I read some of my poems recorded in Monkfish Productions poetry booth.

Turing was persecuted for being gay. He was offered a choice to accept beinging injected with female hormones or jail. He chose the former which drove him to commit suicide. He was in his early forties. We think computing has advanced, what if he`d lived? Because of evolution in computing, this reinforces my belief that we have no need of a creator, just a designer, self organisation....the way to go.

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Fountain of Sorrow (Jackson Browne)

Crocodile Tears

Brother D L and sister in law A here again to sort me out on the computer. De-fragging again and deleting and re-installing itunes. D was working separately in his room trying to put stuff on a disc, he shouted through for DL, he replied "Are you sure it`s not your discs, last time I was round here I went to take one from the tower and at least 10 of them were covered in tomato sauce?" "No, no, they`re fine." DL came back to me and A, showing us a disc "Look at this, I just took it randomly from the middle of the pile!!!" It was scratched to hell. When DL points this out to D, he comes back with "Well I don`t know how that`s happened, I`m very careful with discs. "Right, so Peter Rabbit came in" I said and A added "He came in and shit on them and then wiped his arse on them" To which DL quotes randomly, which he is apt to do. "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile hoping it will eat him last." We all then ping pong about looking for quotes, I like Rupert Murdoch, brother wants Winston Churchill and A would rather listen to Depeche Mode. D has lost interest and goes back from whence he came. My favourite RP quote is "I`m a catalyst for change. You can`t be an outsider and be successful for 30 years without leaving a certain amount of scar tissue around the place." Then we learn from DL that the crocodile quote is one of Winston`s.

DL was talking about music and recommended Mamalian Locomotion, but thought that the track was "Something.......your inhibitions?" We looked for it and turned out it was Shelter your Needs, so very alike!! I suggested we play a Pink cd, DL plays You`re speaking my language by Juliette Lewis and the Licks on youtube and we agree that Pink was influenced by her. I`m really enjoying listening to new music at the moment, inspired by KF who has put some fabulous tracks on my ipod shuffle. Jackson Browne Fountain of Sorrow a favourite among many others. Once I`m familiar with itunes, I`ll be raring to go. D likes Katherine Jenkins.

DL wants to put one of his Radiohead cd`s in my stereo and asks how to open it as it has 3 disc tables, I say left, no the right side of the left one with the 3 little lights, he replies "Don`t apply for a job as an interface designer" (Who would have thought that this lovely little child, pictured, would have such a tongue? It`s a good job that I love him!


We get back on track after D disappears back in his room again. More de-fragging and A mentions that my book case could do with de-fragging, so to teach her a lesson, I make up a bag of 8 or so books to take home with her, she also gets a jumper, but don`t get me started on de-clagging the wardrobe!!


David Luscombe (Photographer, musician, designer)

https://plus.google.com/116133710641268277011#116133710641268277011/photos

Sunday 13 November 2011

60`s Experience, Tyne Theatre Newcastle upon Tyne







A fantastic show at Tyne Theatre, performed by Herman`s Hermits, The Dreamers, The Tremeloes and Union Gap.

JazzCafe (Pink Lane Poetry and Performance) Halloween Party

Fantastic belated Halloween party at the Jazz Cafe. Burlesque by the marvelous Toxic Cherry, haunting poetry by Shaft, comedy resident duo F & L had us all in stitches with their act. Robbie Lee Hurst and improv muscic group were fantastic.





The brilliant Claire Morgan of Monkfish stunned us with her performance, some new acts which were great, but well done to everyone especially Jess for staging the event.

Visited the studio in the old Waygood building on High Bridge with K, we are to have a space here to paint. Must sort my easle out to transport there so that I can finish a painting I have started. Problems at home being too many distractions with computer, books, housework etc, so it will be great to just BE in this fabulous building to concentrate on art for a change.

Monday 7 November 2011

Germaine Greer and Guy Fawkes

Enjoyed the talk by Germaine Greer at the Sage, a full house. A more mellow self, but still hugely entertaining and informative. Freedom, children are the least free of our society, which begins from being swaddled and then ordered around. I agree that children need rules, but I didn`t ever have any growing up and was allowed to roam around as I pleased without restriction.






A mix of bad parenting and free thinking. The old saying "Never did me any harm." comes to mind, but is that true or did me and my brother just "bury bad news" as they also say? Greer explored Sharia law, the hijab, women`s lib, rape and orgasm comparing the latter to revolution, it doesn`t last.

Guy Fawkes gathering at my brother D`s and sister in law A`s.....We open the patio door and there is much steam from the oven. Husband D`s glasses steam up and he asks me for a tissue. He is very irritated as I root through my bag, not quick enough for him, so I say "It`s not going to kill you to wait for a tissue is it??" my brother shows where his allegiance lies when he says "It would if you had cyanide on your eyes"

My brother made a pizza, his own base to which he`d added yeast. It is the
6th of November, Sunday. He`s showing off wafting the dough which has risen due to addition of yeast. Jamie like, he spreads the secret ingredients,then black olives, fresh prawns and 2 cheeses. The taste, I have to admit is wonderful, bastard!!! We quaff red wine and sister in law A saws wood to fuel the chimenea. Brother D pontificates on using a patio heater, could his carbon footprint be sullied? I point out that the people who pontificate to us on such subjects AKA Tony Blair, have 3 houses and have enough furniture in their homes to supply a small rain forest, fly around the world more times than Tom Pepper, so why should we worry about a teensy weensy little patio heater? We KNOW that we are adding to global warming, but it`s only a tiny contribution, isn`t it???

So... we dress up in halloween costumes that I brought and brother says "It`s not technically Halloween is it?" to which I reply
"Well, it`s not technically Guy Fawkes being the 6th is it?" "Aye" he says "Fair point, another drink?"

Being a greedy cow, I have eaten chilli with loads of cheese on top and a slice of pizza. People are in the garden setting off rockets and going "Ooooh, that`s a lovely one" and I spy a bowl of nuts on the kitchen table. After eating most of them, brother D is really concerned when I say "Lovely nuts" he gasps "They were for the bird table, they`re not fit for human consumption!!" to which my lovely husband drawls "That`s ok, she`s not human"

We hear A shouting "Is it ahad" The fire she means, so we need more wood.
D and A take it in turns to saw wood and we sit outside from 6.30- 11.30, it`s freezing cold, but we are well wrapped up in our woolly coats, scarves, witches hats, wings and vampire capes. Nobody remembered the false nashers which we had last year.

Brother D wants to show me the spiders colony they have in their shed, WHAT, is he mad, can`t he remember the near fainting fits at the sight of a spider. Although I am reaching at the thought, he still goes on to describe the "lovely patterns" on their backs "Shut up, or you will end up on the bonfire!" But, he`s back in the good books as he rang next day to find out if I`m ok after gorging on birdy num nums. (For the people who don`t get the reference, it`s from The Party starring Peter Sellers, watch it, the best film ever)

BBC 3 Free Thinking Festival (Celestial Navigation Radio on ne`fm)

http://celestialnavigation.podomatic.com/entry/2011-11-04T17_34_06-07_00

Enjoyed reading my poems with Catherine Graham at The Sage on Friday. Wilfred Owen`s poem left a lasting impression of war, waste of young lives, it is still happening.

"Coming live from the Sage Gateshead in the hour before the start of the Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival:
We speak first with Matthew Dodd, Editor of Speech at Radio 3 about the Free Thinking Festival and why everyone should come to the Sage this weekend to hear a myriad of speakers and ideas.
Then we remember the poet Wilfred Owen who was killed on November 4 1918. His parents received the news a week later on 11 November - Armistice Day. Three poems of Owen read to a background of excerpts from Benjamin Britten's War Requiem.
Then we have the return of the 'Daughters of Tyne' - local poets Catherine Graham and Yvonne Young who read their poems about the area as it once was, 'women's work' and many other local memories. - all bound together with the music we grew up with."

My Sharona (Reality Bites)



Love this film and the music.

Thursday 3 November 2011

Free Thinking Festival at the Sage (Friday 4th November 4-6 p.m)




Will be reading my poems and prose with Catherine Graham at the Sage this Friday as Daughters of Tyne. Amina Marix Evans is hosting (Celestial Navigation Radio) for BBC3.

Mandelbrot

Mandelbrot Sets

We don`t need a creator, only a good designer