Wednesday, November 17, 2021

The Days Of The Leaves.


I hadn’t been out for a walk since our visit to Stourhead about five weeks ago, so yesterday afternoon I made the supreme effort to get out in the fresh air and go for a walk up to the White Horse. It was quite a cold day, but because it was uphill all the way by the time I got to the top of Newtown I was nicely warmed up. In a field near Beggars Knoll I came across a dark horse silhouetted against the autumn sky and the trees. This was a good photo opportunity. I tried calling him over for a close up, but he didn’t want to know. I took a couple of pics anyway and carried on along the lane. The trees looked magnificent in all their golden autumn colours. 


I didn’t appreciate autumn at one time because I thought it was a harbinger of winter, short dark days and months of cold. It used to give me an underlying feeling of melancholy, but ever since I have read books like The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle my attitude seems to have changed. I am learning to live in the present moment and not think about what the future has in store. With this state of presence you can enjoy the beauty of nature in all its glory because now is the only time that exists. When winter does arrive I am sure it will have charms of its own if you have the right attitude. I took a few photos of the trees as I walked along. Even the ground beneath the trees looked wonderful, carpeted in various shades of red and yellow leaves. Eventually I left the lane and walked across the fields towards the famous White Horse. It is more like an old grey mare these days. It always looks better from a distance than too close up, so I took a photo when it appeared through two bare trees. 


As I got closer there was one solitary blackbird sitting on top of a tree which looked wonderful, but sadly when I reached for my camera, it flew off. I sat on a bench and observed the panorama down below with Westbury away to the left. It was very peaceful with just the occasional distant rat a tat tat of gunfire from the army firing range on Salisbury Plain to disturb the tranquility. Eventually, my reverie was interrupted when I noticed the sky turning darker and a rainy mist spreading along the fields below until I could feel it on my face. I thought I better be heading home and set off back down the hill. I did feel quite pleased with myself for shaking off the slough of inaction, getting some exercise and being at one with nature. 

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.


Tuesday morning: It seems like quite a nice day today. I might make the supreme effort and go for a walk this afternoon. I’ll just tell you what I did yesterday, which isn’t really a lot. I went to Morrison’s to get some provisions. On the way there I had a quick look in the charity shops. I saw a CD for only 50 pence called
Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager by Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. It was the name that attracted me to it. It is the sort of name that makes you curious to find out more. Also, the title seemed to compliment the book I am reading at the moment, The Giro Playboy. I had heard the name before; I think he played on one of the stages at Glastonbury a few years ago. I played it yesterday afternoon, and I’m listening again this morning. It is very nice eclectic music and I like the left-wing sentiments of the album. Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly is a name adopted by singer-songwriter Sam Duckworth born in 1986. This is his first album released in 2006. According to Sam his stage name came from Retro Gamer magazine, from an article about superhero games such as Batman containing the heading "Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. He is only 35 now, so he must have only been about 20 years old when the album was released, quite a precocious talent. Sam was once the victim of a racist attack which has led him to be an active supporter of the Love Music, Hate Racism campaign. He has released six albums since this one. If he returns to Glastonbury next summer I will certainly go and see him. I highly recommend this album. It is the best 50p I have spent in ages. I have shared a video below if you want to hear more.


I went to the pub yesterday evening. I still sit outside even though it is cold. I don’t like going in the bar because of the fear of Covid even though I have had two jabs. I’m getting my booster jab on the 25th. I had two gin & slimline tonics. I have decided to stop drinking cider because I think that is why I have got a fat belly. After that I went home and watched University Challenge, but I only got ten answers right. I can’t remember what I watched after that, so it couldn’t have been very interesting.  
ps, I just remembered, I watched England beat San Marino in the World Cup qualifier 10-0. Poor old San Marino.



Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly - War Of The Worlds

Sunday, November 14, 2021

The Giro Playboy & The Seventh Veil.


Sunday was a bleak, grey damp day. I didn't go outside, apart from topping up my pond and feeding my shubunkins. I  noticed that the three of them have grown quite a lot since the fourth one died earlier in the year. I wish they would breed, that would be something to write about. I actually quite like days such as this because I didn’t spend any money. Once you go out you start spending. I’d rather wait until there is something worth going out for. I listened to the
Iggy Pop show on BBC6 Music and Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour. You hear some great music on this station. To pass the time I also started reading a book called The Giro Playboy by Michael Smith. My brother Paul gave it to me a couple of years ago, and he said it was a great read. I had forgotten about it until yesterday. Faber who published it said it was a Beat classic in the making, and one reviewer said it was like Rimbaud on the dole.


I have only read about sixty pages so far, but I think it is very funny in a sad meaningless way. It is an account of the empty existence of a lonely drifter living in bedsits in Brighton and London. I’ll tell you more about it later when I have read a bit more. It made me think that I could do the same thing because my life is just as uneventful as his. I don’t have to wait until I go to a gig or buy an album to have something to write about. I could just write about doing next to nothing, which I suppose I am doing right now.  In the evening I watched an interesting documentary about the making of  Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys on Sky Arts. I think I had seen it before, but still enjoyed it. Even later I watched a black and white film from 1945 called The Seventh Veil starring Ann Todd and James Mason. It kept my attention and had some nice classical piano music in it, but I don't think it was Ann Todd playing it.


This morning I have to get dressed and venture out to get some provisions because I have eaten everything in the fridge. I might have a mooch around the charity shops as well. Anyway, I can’t think of anything else to tell you about now. If anything remotely interesting happens later I'll tell you about it tomorrow. 

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