Head Space Daily Words...

Life is all about peaks and troughs. Not mountain peaks like Everest and Kilimanjaro, or containers used on farms to hold pig swill; what I am talking about are the highs and lows that keep this thing interesting and prevent you from disappearing into a deep swirling abyss of dark nothingness, like the figure of the man caught in the spinning fractal of the posters for Hitchcock’s movie Vertigo. Speaking of which, I saw Vertigo on TV last weekend and by Christ, it is mental. Talk about suspending your disbelief!! In the Night Garden on Cbeebies is more credible – although Vertigo is a cracking film – and Igglepiggle in the James Stewart role, wouldn’t quite work. Anyway, back to peaks and troughs. One long running trough has been a lengthy workless stint, from which I have just emerged for the next two weeks but firstly, I am going to talk about the wonderful peak from last Saturday night at the Jazz Café in Camden Town, where we went to see Carleen Anderson. For those of you who do not know or remember, Carleen Anderson was the vocalist on Young Disciples 1991 LP Road To Freedom, which is one of the all time great albums. If you don’t own a copy please go out and buy one, as artists who make exceptional music deserve our support.  Carleen commanded the Jazz Café stage. Her voice and vocal range is gob smackingly profound. On her opening track I was surprised by how deep and full her voice was in the opening section but by the end of the same song, she had taken us through a breath taking array of high note vocal acrobatics.

That was the warm up. When a singer gives you a moment so perfect that time seems to stand still, when your surroundings seem to melt into oblivion and a sense of ecstatic disbelief takes you over, it is an extremely precious event. This happened when Carleen sang a version of Deniece Williams’ Free and my word you were taken to another place, at the wonder of how such a beautiful sound could be emanating from another human being’s mouth. Speechless.

On the Sunday following the gig, I was asked to begin a two week spell of work, starting on the Tuesday. This was a significant peak, rising from a tedious workless trough and is one that will hopefully grow higher. Being around people again is a novelty in itself after a time out and a welcome change. I can hold conversations once more. It is like being set free!!

At the time of writing this HSD entry, I was on the District Line, just leaving Gloucester Road Underground station, with Deep Inside by Hardrive playing on my i-pod. This is another one of the tracks I have recently converted from vinyl to audio file. I have good memories of this tune, when Masters At Work were at the height of their powers. Take a listen at Head Space Daily Daily Tune.

Future high points include next weeks Unknown Mortal Orchestra gig at Islington Assembly Hall, which will be a new venue for me. This band has really caught my imagination in recent years and I am enjoying what I have heard from the new album. I saw them play live around eighteen months ago at the Electric Ballroom in Camden and was blown away by their live performance. They will play Shepherd’s Bush Empire in November, which could be another future peak.

Next up is Aston Villa’s final Premier League game of the season at home to Burnley, followed a week later by the FA Cup Final at Wembley. You never know what to expect as a Villa supporter. Take today for instance. A 6-1 thrashing away to Southampton was a trough, wrapped in the peak of guaranteeing Premier League survival, due to other results going our way in the afternoon. Now we are staying up, we can get well and truly focused on the Final. The FA Cup is the greatest Cup competition in world football so for myself to be going to the Final with my two lads, is sensational. The occasion will be a landmark in their young lives. Arsenal are at the other end of the scale to the Villa but this is a one off match, so you never know and being serious underdogs against the Gunners is no bad thing. It stands to be a huge day, regardless of the result and if we won, it would go down in history and become one of the all time great peaks.

With one more week to go at work, another trough looms large but hopefully more work will follow soon to enable me to fund a more peaks. Peaks and troughs – make the world go round.

Head Space Daily Image...

The glorious view that I love from the members room at Tate Modern...

Head Space Daily Tune...

Deniece Williams - Free

Carleen Andersons version of Free, live at the Jazz Cafe was out of this world...

Hardrive - Deep Inside

Classic Masters At Work from 1993. Deep house at its finest...

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Can't Keep Checking My Phone

Brilliant new tune from UMO...

Head Space Daily Words...

Somewhere amongst the day to day - the school drop off, the washing up, contacting clients, the washing, staying on top of the accounts, the ironing, updating the CV, preparing dinner, and everything else that goes on in the brief window of time before the school pick up – it is essential to occasionally break the solitude of freelance life with some pure escapism. For me, this usually takes the form of football, gigs, galleries and movies.

On Wednesday, I saw Sharon Van Etten at Shepherd’s Bush Empire. She sounds fantastic on record but seeing a person or band perform live, crystalizes their brilliance. It’s as if seeing is believing and of course personality comes through, making it a more intimate experience. Sharon has a sense of humour; she looks strong and fragile at the same time. I don’t know how to categorise SVE’s music and I don’t want to, other than to say it is highly personal singer song writing. On stage she has a good time with her band, constantly exchanging looks and laughs with her keyboard player, whose deeper tone on backing vocals juxtaposes with Van Etten’s higher pitch. Her voice is sensational and there is a pure humanity and emotion to the music and lyrics. Beautiful stuff. Sharon has a gift and through pure hard work is finding success.

Today, I went to the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square. Simply getting out into town, having a coffee on Old Compton Street and seeing the world is vital. There is so much life in Soho, it is ridiculous and fantastic. After a spot of people watching, it was a short walk to the PCC to see Blade Runner, the Director’s Cut – the first time I had seen it on the big screen.

Although the movie is actually harsh, bleak and brutal, there is also something incredibly beautiful about it. Those sweeping, futuristic vistas are awe inspiring and the Japanese lady on the billboard, forever selling us her wares, with a nod and a wink is a recurring image, alongside the Coca Cola ad. No matter how bad things are, there will always be capitalism and coke!! Then there is that spellbinding, unnerving, yet gorgeous Vangelis soundtrack and when all is said and done, love, even for a replicant, waves two fingers at a messed up world. So, there is hope for all of us!!

I wonder where next weeks escapism will come from...

Head Space Daily Image...

Here is a photo of Sharon Van Etten from her Shepherd's Bush Empire gig on Wednesday night...

And here is a photo of possibly the greatest cinema in London, the Prince Charles in Leicester Square...

Head Space Daily Tune...

Sharon Van Etten - Every Time The Sun Comes Up

This is the final track on Sharon Van Etten's Are We There album.

Head Space Daily Words...

On Tuesday, I mistook my thumb for a carrot and sliced clean through the top of it. Well, not actually clean through the top of it, that makes it sound like a pre planned neat and tidy operation. It was more like whilst chopping said vegetable for my son and his friend’s tea, I came across what my brain, in that instant, registered to be a stubborn carrot. In response, I pushed down harder, to sever this tough piece of sausage and chips garnish, at which point my brain clocked that I was actually and quite forcefully, scything off the end of my right thumb. The blood flowed. There was claret everywhere, which is why kitchen roll exists. Wrapped around my injured digit, blood soaked into the extra ply tissue paper. Dinner was served, then whilst my son and his mate played on the Wii, I hoped the bleeding would magically stop. Alas, it was not to be. As I drove my son’s friend home, with more kitchen roll saving the day, I fully appreciated the value of my thumbs, as I discovered that driving without my right thumb required a concerted effort. Two hours after being butchered and the blood still gushing forth, I took myself and my thumb to the Urgent Care Centre at Lewisham hospital.

The waiting room was full of unexpected emergencies with tired looking people staring with concerned faces. I booked myself in and after a short wait, was seen by a nurse, just as the soaking piece of kitchen roll, wrapped around my thumb, was being rendered useless. The nurse told me I would need a tetanus jab and endeavoured to put a bandage over my thumb. He began to unroll the bandage, wrapping it around my hand and asked quite sternly, as if I was being deliberately obstructive, “can you please straighten your thumb?” I looked him in the eye, in all seriousness and replied, “sorry, no I can’t. I have an unnaturally bendy thumb,” which is absolutely true – I cannot straighten my thumbs. When I give a thumbs up, it’s like looking at a boomerang. Anyway, he gave me a strange look and continued working around my curvy thumb.

Two hours of waiting around followed, sometimes sitting, sometimes pacing the brightly lit corridor. The drinks machine was empty. There were no cups for the water fountain. As I wandered aimlessly around, I realised that I was following my own trail of blood. I let the nurse know and offered to clean it up. “Don’t worry, it’s seen much worse,” he answered. There was a woman I recognised from the school run in the waiting room. She was experiencing chest pains and I hope she is O.K.

Eventually, I was seen by a doctor, who gave me the tetanus shot and then began to remove the bandage. “Straighten your thumb please,” he ordered to which I had to laugh, “I really can’t” I answered, “I’ve got a super bendy thumb.” He saw the funny side, “Oh, I see,” he said and laughed back. With the bandage removed, bleeding stopped, cut cleaned up and a couple of strips of  plaster to keep the end of my thumb attached, I was on my way.

I salute the doctors, nurses and staff of the NHS, who work at our hospitals, keeping communities afloat, as the people suffer unexpected, random injuries and are struck down by strange illnesses. Without the NHS we would simply fall apart as a society. This Conservative government tried to close Lewisham A&E recently but the people fought back and kept it open. The nearest hospital in my borough would have been three bus journeys and an hour and fifteen minutes away. Your local hospital is such a vital institution and without greater funding, the NHS is at huge risk. I witnessed it in action on Tuesday night and was blown away by the professionalism and dedication of the staff. I doubt they will remember the night of the Super Bendy Thumb but I certainly will.

Head Space Daily Image...

My super bendy, bleeding thumb, photographed at Lewisham A&E...

Head Space Daily Tune...

Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones

In honour of my sliced up thumb , Let It Bleed by the Rolling Stones.