Head Space Daily Words...

This week has been a week of the dentist, with a filling for one son, a milk tooth extraction for the other and as I sat on the top deck of the 172 bus yesterday, passing through Brockley, I was nil by mouth for the next two hours, as I had just been given a filling myself.

My plan of having a coffee at Tate Modern, overlooking St.Paul’s and the Thames, had to be delayed. I’ve been to the museum a few times this year. It has become my freelance hangout when I’m not working. Get out, see things. So far, I have taken in the Conflict, Time, Photography exhibition and seen the fantastic Marlene Dumas exhibition three times. She is damn good. Her paintings draw you in and wrap you up. The second time I went, I was accompanied by the slurring, downbeat drawl of Ghostpoet on his latest album, Shedding Skin.

Work has been fairly good so far this year, with this week and the first week of the year the only ones when I have had nothing lined up. A few good weeks don’t make a good year though, so hopefully I can keep it rolling on. Having time off allows me to update my showreel, get the accounts in order and put out the feelers.

Books are something that I am trying to introduce into my life in 2015, by having one always on the go, instead of only reading a book on holiday each year.

Books read so far this year:

Brand New Ancients – Kate Tempest

Just Kids – Patti Smith

New York Posts - Dan Boulton

Hamlet – William Shakespeare

Put Me Back On My Bike (Tom Simpson Biography) – William Fotheringham

Currently reading:

London Belongs To Me – Norman Collins

As well as the Ghostpoet album, I have enjoyed the spiritual vocals of the debut, self titled LP from Ibeyi, French Cuban twin sisters whose father was a member of Buena Vista Social Club, until he passed away several years ago. Another album that has never been far away from my ears this year is New Street Adventure’s No Hard Feelings, a truly British soul record, in the vain of late Jam tracks like Beat Surrender or the more acid jazz type vibe of the Style Council.

Last night, I saw New Street Adventure at the Jazz Café and they were excellent (see HSD Tune.) A band called Normanton Street, with which I was very impressed, supported them and they really have something to offer. The lead singer has a truly soulful voice. Two guys accompany her, one on guitar, the other on bass, who add spoken word, whilst a drummer supplies jazz beats and between them, they provide pared down and effective rhythm and backing. I hope they have a successful career, (see HSD Tune.)

I intend to see more gigs this year and already have Sharon Van Etten, Carleen Anderson and Unknown Mortal Orchestra lined up over the coming months.

Football, along with music, is life’s other essential element. The U10s team, which I manage, is doing very well and making progress, whilst in proper football, where the players get paid a hundred thousand pounds a week to behave like naughty children, I took my boys to see Villa beat West Brom 2-0 in the FA Cup Quarter Final. What an unbelievable atmosphere. The noise, as the game kicked off and following the two goals, was immense. It is almost indescribable, as you have to experience the effect to appreciate it properly but the sound is so overpowering, with so many different noises occurring simultaneously, that your brain cannot decipher what to focus on and so becomes utterly disorientated in the cacophony of thirty thousand screaming voices. Brilliant.

Benjamin Zephaniah, the Birmingham born, Villa supporting wordsmith and poet, came onto the pitch at half time to help raise the Villa fans to another level. My eldest son has been reading Benjamin Zephaniah’s work in his English lessons, so it had even more significance and was impressive for him to see this man who he has been learning from and about, in person.

The first question anyone asks when they know you went to the game is, ‘did you go on the pitch?’ We were in the Upper Holte End, looking down as events unfolded and of course, we wouldn’t have gone on the pitch anyway. When a local derby kicks off at 5.30PM, allowing people to drink all day, you will get high spirits and exaggerated emotions – that’s what alcohol does. So, on the one hand you get a pitch invasion from over excited Villa fans, having just won the game and on the other hand, you have vandalism and violence from defeated Baggies fans, hurling seats down from the stands. Due to the result, Villa fans who invaded the pitch after the final whistle win the moral high ground, as that was an outpouring of positive, over the top emotion, whilst the violence from the West Brom fans in defeat, an outpouring of negative, over the top emotion, can never be condoned.  The BBC, police, Aston Villa football Club and the stewarding of the game needs to be looked at. The match should never have been allowed to take place at 5.30PM on a Saturday evening. It is just asking for trouble and the people in charge for not having seen it coming, need to get their heads out of the sand.

Enough said...