Head Space Daily Words...

Today was haircut Friday.

Taken there by The Velvet Underground and Nico,

My hairdresser waxing lyrical about Jim Davidson.

JB seven inch bought for fifty English pence,

A charity shop bargain.

Skinny Asian man with huge shining eyes,

Liverpool FC hat perched on his head.

Pause for a cause, feet up, take five,

Salt beef and gherkin baguette, devoured.

Back on my way, with an uphill trudge,

Engulfed by the weary, musical smog of Ghostpoet.

Burst water main – no through traffic,

Stand in road to take photo of nothing in particular.

Back home, Adobe Premiere awaits,

A training plan to be devised for my Under 9s.

Dinner to be cooked - a meal for the adults, one for the kids,

As for the rest, lets wait and see.
Roll on the weekend...

Head Space Daily Image...

Here are a selection of posters that have been pasted on the side of the old Endurance pub on Berwick Street, that is set to become a Chinese gastro pub. 

It has been bought by Alan Yau, who set up the Wagamama chain of restaurants. 

You don't get much cooler than a young Terry Hall and Lynval Golding from The Specials, tying it in with the title of the track Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think,) which is a nice way of promoting your new venture to a discerning older crowd (check HSD Tune)...

Head Space Daily Tune...

The Specials - Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think) 

Here is the track from The Specials second album More Specials, which has inspired the poster campaign of an imminent restaurant/pub on  Berwick Street, in London's West End (See HSD Image.) To hear Terry Hall utter the immortal words "hello, I'm Terry and I'm going to enjoy myself first" is priceless, before the tune turns into a good old fashioned knees up...

Head Space Daily Words...

Today is my eldest son’s twelfth birthday. He is a proper little grown up, who is really finding his way in the world. His regard and understanding for people is impeccable, his knowledge and desire to learn is excellent – school is such a different place to when I was a kid – he has a passionate interest in sport and football in particular, is a devoted Aston Villa supporter and has a love and knowledge of music. If he stays on course, he will hopefully have opportunities. My gran and granddad never left their small town in Derbyshire, except for an annual week in Skegness, my mum and dad moved to Birmingham and we are in London. With family in Brazil, friends in Australia and the global way in which life operates nowadays, he can go even further - the world truly is his oyster. Each year when his birthday comes around, my wife always reminisces about how the madness of his birth was in full swing all those years ago and it truly was a comedy epic – although it didn’t feel particularly funny at the time. A planned home birth, complete with accompanying mix tape (see HSD Tune,) went awry as the baby literally got stuck en route, the gas and air ran out, on the way to hospital my wife accused a paramedic of moonlighting as an extra on T.V and when my son finally arrived, he was greeted with the infamous words, “my daughter’s got a willy.” Seriously, if you had turned that day black and white, dressed us in a bowler hat and bow tie, and sped it up a touch, you would have had a classic Laurel and Hardy slapstick caper. It is great to have such a unique story of your entry into the world and one that can be looked back on now with a great deal of humour. Happy birthday sunshine...

Head Space Daily Image...

An array of birthday cards announce the fact that my eldest son is twelve years old today...

Head Space Daily Tune...

Stevie Wonder - Another Star

We all know that Another Star by Stevie Wonder is one of the most incredibly uplifting pieces of music ever made and was originally planned to be one of the tunes triumphantly playing from our sound system, as our first son entered the world. It didn't quite work out that way, so lets enjoy it now, in a calmer, more reflective situation…

Head Space Daily Words...

For over a week I have been like a member of the techno Taliban, holed up in a loft extension in darkest South East London, teaching myself how to use Adobe Premiere. As a result, cabin fever has ensued due to lack of contact with other people and the outside world in general. This solitary state of mind came to a head last night in bed, when, in a semi conscious dream state, I tried to remember and mentally recall – like a human Google street view – the name of every street in the Hunter’s Bar area of Sheffield, which I used to inhabit when I was a student up there. At one point, in my minds eye, I even followed a frog up Frog Walk and took a detour into the cemetery at the bottom of Cemetery Avenue. Strewth. This happens to me every now and then as a freelancer, when I am not working. I get bogged down in some work related mission, before having a funny turn which makes me realise that I am not a hermit; at which point I wash and shave and head out into the big wide world. This is what I did this morning. The sun was shining, people were out and about and life had continued during my self-imposed exile. What I needed was to look at things, hear things, re-invigorate my brain and taste something other than cheese, ham and salad between two slices of whole meal bread. As I walked along Brook Street, I gave my usual passing nod to the Handel and Hendrix houses, as I made my way to The Photographers Gallery. There is an exhibition featuring photos from Andy Warhol, William Burroughs and David Lynch. Lynch’s pictures were of an eerily abandoned industrial site but the other two collections were snapshots of what inspired Burroughs and Warhol in their day-to-day lives. Warhol would generally shoot a 36-frame reel of film a day, taking pictures of what he saw going on around him. Considering the attention to detail involved in his framing and composition,due to shooting on film as well as having to get the film itself processed and developed, it told me that I, with the disposable ability to take multiple shots digitally on my i-phone, had no excuse to not take enough images each day to cover this blog. So, off I went, with Berwick Street, as is often the case, being a creative centre for my pictures. One of my favourite HSD Images from last year was taken outside the Berwick Street Islamic Centre – HSD Image April 26th 2013. Anyway, I digress. The record shops, Sister Ray (formerly the legenday SelectaDisc) and Music and Video Exchange were visited, although nothing was purchased, as with no cash flow, the purse strings are pulled tight. Those old Master Cuts albums are looking a bit tasty for a future raid mind you. A fajita was bought from one of the street stalls - no cheese sarnie for me today - life was observed and several pictures taken. Today, I ceased being a hermit...

Head Space Daily Image...

Outside the comic store at the bottom of Berwick Street. Bango to the Batmobile...

Head Space Daily Tune...

Change - Searching

Those early Master Cuts albums are magnificent and this track by Change with Luther Vandross on vocals from Classic Mix - Definitive Mix Mastercuts Volume 1 is a terrific soul/disco track from 1980. Enjoy...

Head Space Daily Words...

Whenever I enter my eldest son’s bedroom in the morning, after he has gone to school, a fug of Lynx hangs over the place. I like the word fug but I could just as easily have used fog or smog. The stuff hangs there and as you breathe it in, you can feel it cling to your throat, with the scent of boy perfume. It plays havoc with my nasal cavities and I don’t find it at all pleasant but I am not the one at whom the product is aimed - which is boys with rampant hormones. When I was a kid, I used some kind of equally repugnant pit spray that I thought made me smell like a grown up - just a mere step on the path to Brut Splash On, Old Spice or Blue Stratos. Lynx is a product that represents coming of age, of reaching adolescence, mixing it with the opposite sex and standing on your own two feet. Every young lad seems to use Lynx - a product that has well and truly cornered the market. Surely no one above the age of eighteen uses the stuff and I apologise if you are an older user but maybe it’s time to move on – you smell like a twelve year old!! The advertising is all about boys being able to pull girls because they are wearing Lynx. Apparently, according to the Lynx website - where products are listed as Tools Of Attraction - if you use Lynx Apollo you are ‘guaranteed to take girls sky high or even to another planet’ because it gives you the ‘scent of an astronaut.’ This is ironic surely, as an astronaut is the human equivalent of boil in the bag and cannot smell too great. I imagine the scent would be somewhat stale. The ability to attract girls with your sprayed on odour is known as The Lynx Effect, which is a fantastic sales pitch and shows the power of a strong marketing campaign, based on humour. We can all remember the cave girl and bikini ads. The only Lynx effect I can determine though, is one of mild asphyxiation, where a girl agrees to go out with a boy on the promise that she can pop out for some fresh air. As I said earlier, these ads aren’t aimed at me and the teenage boy market is sold hook line and sinker. They love it, they love the smell of the stuff and they love how it makes them feel – grown up...

Head Space Daily Image...

My eldest son's can of Lynx Apollo...

Head Space Daily Tune...

Cymande - Fug

With a scent infused title, here is some classic Camden jazz funk from Cymande…

Head Space Daily Words...

Saturday was a day of football and music - two of the most wondrous things to exist on this spinning orb of madness, upon which we all live. I got up and donned my nylon to become ‘Manger Man,’ to take my son’s U9s team for training. Next up, we were off to Champion Hill to watch Dulwich Hamlet concede in injury time to draw 2-2 with Hampton and Richmond Borough. Then, a short drive home took us back to see Villa regain some pride and play very well at Anfield, to pull off a surprise, with another 2-2 scoreline against Liverpool. Bosh. To round off proceedings was Craig Charles on 6Music with a proper good show of soul and funk. When he played Right On For The Darkness by Curtis Mayfield, (See HSD Tune,) the first lines - when Curtis sings “I am blind and I cannot see” - are so overpoweringly beautiful, that I had to tweet in to the show. ‘Curtis Mayfield’s voice just melts your soul’ I tweeted and less than two minutes later, Craig Charles read my tweet out on air. Social media live in action!! A great end to an action packed day...

Head Space Daily Image...

The floodlights come on at Champion Hill - Dulwich Hamlet's ground...

Head Space Daily Tune...

Curtis Mayfield - Right On For The Darkness

Curtis Mayfield’s voice is one of spellbinding, sweet beauty. This is a song that may be long but I urge you to savour it and take it in. Give it a go – I dare you!!