Some random catchings-up…
Finished Jon Ronson’s ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats‘, which starts off making you laugh at the inanities generated when the New Age movement got into bed with the US military, but turns sobering when it appears that some of the wacky ideas generated by the so-called Jedi Warriors of the 70s and 80s are being employed in novel forms of torture in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. In fact granting some credibility to just some of what Ronson describes here would lead you to the conclusion that the US establishment is one of the most venal and sordid in the world and deserves to be attacked by all and any means. A lot of people have already reached that conclusion, I know. I’m slow.
Out of the Bedroom’s run at Lamb’s House in Leith, Out of Bounds, is going well so far, and the Innocents set there was one of our best. I’ve seen some good performances too, notably Confushian and Jill Hepburn, but lots of others who’ve impressed me. theG.co.uk set wasn’t one of our best, but you win some, you lose some.
I’ve been so busy gigging with my various colleagues I haven’t really put any effort into promoting Romantic Fiction. I need to do some work on that. One nice review has appeared on the OOTB site.
In an effort to become a better guitarist/bassist, I’ve set myself the task of learning one mode each week. This week it’s the Dorian mode. A little bit of scales practice never hurt anyone.
A lot of shopping recently, some of it vinyl or cassette replacement: Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue’ and ‘Hissing of Summer Lawns’, Van Morrison’s ‘Astral Weeks’, Eels ‘Blinking Lights and Other Revelations’, Cale and Eno’s ‘Wrong Way Up’, DVD of ‘Kooyaanasquaatsi’, Tony Levin’s ‘World Diary’ and the Robert Fripp String Quintet (Fripp, Levin and the California Guitar Trio)’s ‘The Bridge Between’. Fortunately I’ve been doing a fair bit of driving or I’d never get to listen to them.