Saturday 30 June 2007

the rain has stopped !

It has stopped raining. Thats a relief as i was getting a bit concerned about it. I thought that when i woke up i would be seeing people float past in Gondoliers like in Venice along the canals selling Cornettos like in the ad you used to get on tv. I wonder if you get them in the flooded areas of the country ?
I am going shooting then. I always remember not to point a loaded gun at anyone. No matter how much you dislike the person !!

visitors tonight

there are some people coming round tonight. Its wet so i hope not that many show up quite honestly. Just not in the mood at all as i am peopled out and need peace +quiet . Its a friends stag day tomorrow and we are supposed to be going clay pigeon shooting of all bloody things. If its wet theres no way i am standing in a muddy field shooting and paying 70 quid for the privelage if its raining. Last time i went to a clay pigeon shoot i was 15 and was playing with one of the traps that fire the clay pigeon into the air. It went off and i was hit on the head by the clay pigeon that was travelling at high velocity. No harm done though.

about myself

From all over the place. A bit of unpredictable life. anything can happen. Young for my age. Very friendly. I dont like unpleasent rude people or yobs or anything like that. I work for myself as i dont fit in to other peoples way of doing things. very independant. Generally quite calm and wouldnt hurt a fly but sparks will fly if someone trys it on or rubs me up the wrong way. Zero tolerance of bullshit from people. will always help someone and will always stand up for the underdog. Hypersensitive and noise sensitive. Always the outsider looking in on everyone. I know a lot of people but not many close friends. Generous. Outgoing Rebellious Anti authoritarian. Persistant. I quite like fighting but it doesnt happen often. Ilike much the same things as everyone else more so if its expensive. I have Aristocratic blood on one side of my family that is french in origin going back to the Norman times but i am not sure exactly what it is. Almost clean living and health conscious. Into fitness as well. I hate sport. An animal lover but not in the literal sense ! I should be on a stage but that will never happen i dont think but you never know. Self educated. Self everything really. never really had a "plan" in life as such but i always new what i wanted anyway. Dont let the bastards grind you down i always think. F*** them. If anyone says you cant do it or you will never succeed then F*** them off as well. I am a strong believer in being "free" and a strong sense of responsibility to others. I dont like being pushed around by anyone.
That is if they are stupid enough to try. Kind to people and polite at all times. I like problem solving and i have very good organisational ability as well. Lifes an adventure waiting to happen.


In all seriousness recently i was considering going on selection for the S.A.S reserves forces as i have contacts that are Ex sas. The age limit is 32 years old but i am told they may make an exception for me because of fitness and other reasons but they would need to be convinced obviously. I dont know for sure really but the training would be interesting. Its just an idea. No previous military experience is needed either. I would love to go on some of those hikes and exercises. What puts me off is fighting the governments dirty illegall wars. I simply know too much about the government and their dirty tricks.

spooky story update

that story is being published on a website. its down at the moment as it is being updated to feature that story. i think its unprecedented but there are lots of other sightings but none that recently and none as dramatic as they are often sighted from a distance. never that close up and for so long as this one.

Friday 29 June 2007

REM

The most boring band in the world. They are an alternative band. Alternative to what ? .Something interesting probably.

full moon

There is just the most amazing sky looking out of the window with a mackerel sky slowly drifting past a full moon . its warm with no breeze. Magical.

first ever job

My first ever job was a summer job selling ice creams outside a cafe on the west Hill in Hastings next to the castle above and oerlooking the Old town . If it was quiet it didnt matter as i would just sit there and read a book or whatever plus the odd visitor who would stop and chat. there was the most astonishing thunderstorm overhead once as well. it was often straight down to the beach afterwards for a swim in the sea or to jump off the harbour arm if it was high tide.

Over the road from the cafe lived a girl i knew called Humanni. the spelling is probably wrong but that is how it is pronounced. I swear on my life she was an absolute lookalike of a young elizabeth Taylor. Stunning. I would love to know where she is now and about at least a dozen others that i used to know of equal stature. Make that 2 dozen. I hope they are all happy in their lives whatever they are doing. An absolutly wonderful time living in Hastings was. Perfect. Catherine Cookson who was up until fairly recently was one of the worlds top selling authors before harry Potter books was my next door as such before she moved. she wrote endless cheesy romantic novels set in the 18th century that have been translated into just about every language known to man. she used to let me swim in her pool in the summer if i knocked on the door and asked nicely.

here we go again. I used to know one of the members of Steeleye span who used to bring all his kids to the cafe for an ice cream. there were at least 5 of them [kids]. theres a big folk scene in hastings. all the folkies always drink a lot it seems. Preferably ale or real Cider. they are not lightweights at all. you get the Green Man festival as well that is a celebration of all things pagan concerning the celebration of May Day. This includes the almost unique sight of the procession through the old town of all the pagans in their get up of Antlers and oak leaves like something from another age. fascinating. Complete with a maypole. I went to 2 or 3 barn dances once as well then. Its an american idea i think.

I remember going to 2 or 3 hunt meetings in Battle on boxing day as well with that horrible lot who hunt. Awful people on horseback. Still it got you out of the house on boxing day.

last wishes

A friends father died recently. I am not sure of the circumstances exactly but Drew was a bit of a hedonist and went out of his way to smoke as many cigarettes, joints, and drink as much as possible. In the ambulance he was and with his last breath he asked the paramedics " Do any of you have a cigarette, a joint, or some alcahol as it may be my last chance before i go ". Thats dedication ! He would have laughed. I miss his open house get togethers on Lewes bonfire night. Everyone does that in lewes bonfire night. open houses if you know them and sometimes they dont mind if you dont know them if they like the look of you when you wander in to their home.

John Martyn

I saw John Martyn live once at the concorde 2 in Brighton. John Martyn is a bit of a pisshead and is scottish so when he is pissed which is most of the time unless he can drink in his sleep as well so when he talks it is an unintelligable scottish slur of speech. Danny Thompson who is a well known double bass player said on stage while John Martyn was having an alcahol break " 30 years i have been working with John and playing music and i still cant understand a f****** word he says !! " It was just so funny.

age

I have now aged an extra 1,900 years due to a typing error. Not to worry. i am 39 yrs only.

Disappearing objects

why is it that if you are looking for an object like a book or a cd, particularly if you have referred to it in conversation choose to hide itself or disappear completely once you start to look for it ? have they got minds of their own and somehow listen in to your conversation and decide " right, i am going to hide now just to annoy you as i know you need to read or listen to me for some important reason. i will make you search everywhere around the house at least half a dozen times making sure that you will get more annoyed each time as desperation sets in as you realise the futility of your searching not to mention your wasted time. Its great fun that bit is. Later on i will suddenly reappear as if nothing has happened suggesting you just werent looking properly."i was here all the time !

! "

This has happened for the second time in 2 days. that digital camera is somewhere at work unless it has "walked" but that is very very unlikely. the other is example happened just

now. where is that book on classical architecture that i bought 2 months ago , read once and then straight onto the bookshelf.

its just stupid and very annoying. perhaps a quantam physicist would like to explain what and how and where these things go to as i cant explain it. it just pisses me off.


I think the trick is to forget about it and not look anymore to trick the object into reappearing as it thinks you are not interested any more. A bit of cunning psychology always works this way !

music ? part 2

It all seemed to start going wrong when Coldplay appeared then this endless glut of earnest singer songwriters appeared as well . 2 or 3 of the new accoustic set are alright but the rest are forgettable. why not listen to John Martyn or Nick Drake or Tim Hardin or Gordon Lightfoot or lots more that i cant think of right now instead and try the real thing instead of the copyists.

I cant think why anyone would ever want to listen to Coldplay. Whats worse than listening to a silly little twat droning on about how terrible everything is. Life is tough for middle class ex public schoolboys who have sold millions of albums to fuckwits who buy them. They would never have survived in any other musical climate ever. Chris Martin claims that Echo and the Bunnymen were an inspiration. Yes Chris they are everything your band isnt and never will be. enough said.

Music ?

I have said very little of interest so far but that will happen in time and i only write when i am inspired anyway.
last night i happened to turn on CH4 late . There was some music programme showcasing new upcoming bands. I watched 3 of them. two of them i have already forgotten about. The third band was called Seven heroes. I am not going to bitch about them as at least trying but they were quite possibly the worst i have ever seen ever. I just dont know what has happened to music these days. sorry to rant again but it seems talent and charisma are no longer required to be in a band. They never say anything of interest ever in interviews or in their songwriting. Also being creative and breaking new ground, experimenting etc doesnt seem to be in anymore. Thats not to say that a lot of older bands and musicians etc werent "experimental" either but even if they were inspired by blues etc ,but they always added something of their own as well to make a unique style. What is the point in a band that sounds like their album was made 25 years ago ? I would rather listen to the real thing that was made 25 years ago quite honestly. I have the advantage of being "older" than some obviously and i grew up in a house where there was always lots of records plus a steady diet of radio one. john Peel was always a favourite plus Your favourite rock requests with Anne nightingale was as popular with us as going to church on sunday was for others as this was always on on a sunday evening after the top 20 rundown. I always remember listening to john peel and there just seemed to be an endless supply of new music that was good. Lots of home taping as well.


I am going to attack the younger generation of musicians now so if anyone doesnt like what i am about to post and you are in a band then i aplogise now as no doubt there is talent still out there. There has to be . to refer back to Seven Heroes et al then i am sorry but you are not the future of music. You are the death of it. You have no charisma. you cant play you cant write songs you dont even look good. Now lots of bands in the past didnt look good. Lots of bands in the past couldnt play well. All bands need to be able to write songs to some degree. So even if a band cant play well, doesnt look like Duran Duran on a photoshoot a certain amount of charisma and songwriting is required to make a splash. This new generation of bands just seem to somehow miss the point of music altogether. Perhaps its an age thing but music to me has always represented something that is anti establishment. That was always the point even if the musician or musicians were not outwardly rebellious in any way. Being a musician was always about not wanting a " job " as such and just doing your own thing instead. It was a statement against straight society as such.

These days a lot of bands are as straight as everyone else and its just like having a job nowadays. Get your friends together with you , buy a guitar, bass ,drums, get a vocalist and hey presto ! ! we are a band ! amazing. Also looking like any nondescript sruffy student type with a "haircut" plus brighton stubble also helps a lot. Complete lack of irony is good or alternativly that special type of "student " irony helps consideraby as in " we love watching endless reruns of kids tv from the seventies and eighties" with the t shirt to match. Theres hardly any girls in these bands either but maybe they just have a bit more taste than that. They are all a bit "beery" these bands as well. Geezer culture i reckon myself. Brewed in the uk piss as well probably. I could go on but i wont but i could but i wont.

Its inevitable that if something gets absorbed into the mainstream it becomes bland. All this Myspace business has opened doors for musicians that were otherwise closed unless you had friends in the "biz' or were lucky enough to get your demo listened to by someone in the "biz". I am not a musician but i have always known a lot of musicians. Some well known, others not known so much. I dont do this deliberatly as in saying " i know musicians ! I know people or have aquaintences that are well known " as that would be stupid. Its just the way things seem to work out for some reason. I dont seek their company deliberatly either. A friends sister years ago worked in music promotion years ago in london. It was called the Agency and i think this was the one that was promoting Primal Scream, Oasis, the Orb plus lots of others as well. This meant i never had to pay to see live music as i just had to make a call, but not too often as it would be taking advantage and becomindg a Ligger. But it was interesting while it lasted and there was a lot of hedonism but i never got involved in that as i just wanted to see the music not to mention all those free cds and records etc. I could just walk into the office and help myself to them. This agency was runned by Alex Nightingale [ son of Anne Nightingale] who was a complete lunatic and a drug fiend. In one case he completely trashed the office that he ran the agency from which was a bit traumatic for my friend there. So she left that agency to work at another . I forget who or what that agency was but she didnt last that long there either as she was stressed and overworked and in the end she gave it all up as at some point she had a nervous breakdown and couldnt go out for 3 months. So the "biz" isnt fun or glamourous at all and also there ended all my privelages as well but it was a fun chapter while it lasted, never to be forgotten but thats it now. I still have my copy of Weekender by Flowered Up as well from those days. If anyone hasnt heard that track then do so quickly as you are missing out. Its 13 minutes long and sums up the whole "weekend culture" perfectly .


I am not saying that hedonism is clever but all these new bands could learn a thing or two from all those bands and what being in a band is about particularly having stage presence and songwriting. To cut to the chase a lot of new bands dont have any "balls" to use a cliche. They dont have any electricity or energy about themselves and they never look like they mean it. They are just "having a go ". Chancers. Go back to poly or uni. do something else.

" I had so much to drink last night that i cant remember anything !!! " shouted out in a pub at lunchtime by one studenty musician type to his oh so ironic and cliched friends with their silly hair and t shirts just fill me with utter disdain not to mention their sexually explicit retelling of last nights events with a stripper or prostitute for the benefit of proving to the whole pub how "hedonistic" they are. How very rock and roll . How boring. Fuck off and die. do me a favour. Please.

Apologies for being harsh if anyone who reads this is in a band. I dont wish to knock everyone down who is trying either as it isnt fair to generalise but this is my blog and i will speak my mind otherwise whats the point ? The floodgates have opened now and there are far too many average or below average musicians these days. Anyone can get noticed now so hopefully the talent out there will start to show.

Once again no offence to any musicians who read this. Its just my critique of the state of things these days.

There is one new band who i think are called the Twang ? although that could be wrong but its the band that has that shouty geezer who doesnt sing as such but sort of sounds like a louder version of The Streets with a live band for backing. they were voted NME best new band and they played Glastonbury as i saw them on Tv. they are excellent so all is not lost and i am sure there are others as well. Seems like a genuine guy who didnt start out with high expectations but just did his thing and got noticed as talent always gets noticed.

Thursday 28 June 2007

I just found out too late i think that Lemon Jelly were [or are ?] playing live with support from Don Partridge who is a one man band and sang Rosie in the sixties. I know him fairly well and he has been caught drink driving for the 5th time now and may lose his licence to drive which means he wont be able to earn a living playing around the uk unless a driver is found. I just find the idea of lemon jelly and don Partridge quite funny really.

Wednesday 27 June 2007

oh for fucks sake . lots of rain on saturday and sunday. There goes the weekend . Bollox.
I have a site meeting at my main project with one of the people from the property development company. they are based in south kensington london. They are refurbishing a large 5 storey house in a square in brighton. The building is grade 1 listed so all repairs and alterations have to be done in a certain way that is in keeping. Unfortunatly for them they have wrecked half the building already through lack of knowledge and care and attention and letting unqualified labourers etc tear through the building ripping apart this and that without a second thought. For example they have pulled down entire ceilings that could easily have been saved. This is where we or i as there are 3 of us and i am one of them. We work with English Heritage and not only do the work but also say how to do it to provide the clients with a building that is historically accurate in how it looks and how it is repaired. These particular clients have got themselves into a bit of a mess and we will have to troubleshoot it as usual. I have to price the plastering to reinstate it in the traditional fashion. The prices out at 120quid per sq meter. when you think there is 5 floors of it to do it just makes my head hurt at this time in the morning but its a lot of money whatever. That will teach them to pull ceilings down next time without thinking. As soon as i walked into that building i just thought oh my god another fine mess they have got into and another fine mess to get them out of. I am not quite qualified yet to dish out advice officially but 90 quid per hour is the going rate for correct advice given to clients that is recognised by English Heritage. I have been taken under the wing of a qualified building historian as a "trainee" building historian.

Tuesday 26 June 2007

Another of my may sound like bullshit but isnt stories. At a party at someones house in hastings when i lived there the singer from Sigue Sigue Sputnik appeared from somewhere. none of us knew him i dont think, also how did he know about it anyway? I dont know myself as i never saw him again after that.
just read stephens [buttonmans] blog all about the property game and property development. I sort of do this as well. I have something in the pipeline that will hopefully be finalised this year.
Its a one off.
This is or was the kitchen and servants area at the back of a large regency house in X . Its in a very desprable square [ to the rear of ] Thats more than enough information about it as in location because property is a nasty business especially in X . Just going to property auctions and looking at who is present tells you enough about that. Thats why i dont go to them. These sort of people are not to be trusted. sharks etc. I dont do property development here [or anywhere] normally at all because of prohibitive prices and the fact there too many vultures and too few pickings for them. Its nice to get one over them all.

the place i am talking about is not for sale to the public as it is a private deal yet to be finalised between ourselves. It is basically 4 walls, no floors, no roof, with various brick vaults and side tunnels leading off it. Its 2 floors deep roughly but quite deep. Down one of the side tunnels there are 2 further tunnel entrances that are bricked up. I cant break through these yet but rumour has it they run the entire length of the street and its a long street that goes down to the sea. These entrances. may be the only access to it. They were servants tunnels.

The idea is to turn it into a house that is below ground.

This is one of or *the* last building plot in this area. [apart from the one next door, but that has already been claimed by someone i work with]. I very much doubt i will ever get another opportunity like this ever again in this place.
Idiot friend of housemate came round this evening. One of those types who thinks or is deluded that he is so intelligent or is unaware of how unintelligent he is. One or the other. same thing. He frequents Youtube a lot and has named himself "alienated" [quite well known so he says] I cant be bothered to look. Alienated from what ? people with intelligence ? probably as that is the effect he has on me anyway. Waste of space. Watch him fall to pieces as he loses the arguement. "But i said.... If that was true... etc.... " boring. Shut up. He owes me half an hour of wasted time. Its like a losers club with housemates friends. I would rather have solitude anyday than bother with them. I get quite used to having my space invaded by these types so i just retreat. They just sit around drinking endless cups of tea, sitting there like zombies or mostly talking rubbish mostly. Thats the problem with brighton, too many of these types who cant be bothered to motivate themselves at all ,so they just sit round getting stoned and saying how everything is wrong to them. I am glad i am not a member of that club. Never have been. Never will be.

Rant over.
In about 1992 i was refurbishing a flat in london. It was in Campden hill road . that is inbetween Kensington High Street and Holland Park or Notting Hill . To get to Holland park tube you could either walk up the road or use the long alleyway that runs parallel to Holland park itself.

There wasnt much to do in the evenings so we used to go out. There was no bathroom for a bit so we went to West Kensington Sports centre to pay a quid and have a bath.

At night the alleyway was a gay pick up joint and they used to line the alleyway just hanging around waiting to pull. It was a bit disconcertiong at times and even more so when i realised one of them that i noticed a few times i used to know at school ! Not a friend, just someone i recognised i have to say. I think eventually the police cleared them out as there must have been complaints.

Monday 25 June 2007

peterwolfblog.

Well you have to start somewhere. So : I did some building work for Hugh Hefner as in playboy magazine. I was given 1 washing machine and 1 dryer at the end. they were american toploading machines. It doesnt do much for me but it made you wonder what had been spinning around in those machines !