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Sunday 27 March 2011

Autobiographical Sketches 59 - Spare room

My dad bought loads and loads of PG Tips so he could get a free clock radio. We kept the packets in the spare room with his golf clubs.

Autobiographical sketches 59 - Camping in Ireland, donkey

Autobiographical sketches 58 - Camping in Ireland

Autobiographical sketches 57 - Parents rowing at night

Autobiographical sketches 56 - Deeply Vale Festival

Autobiographical Sketches 56 - Class at Cautley

Autobiographical Sketches 55 - Cautley Spout

Autobiographical Sketches 54 - Bolton hiking

Tuesday 22 March 2011

Autobiographical sketches 47 - dressing Matt's wound 2

Autobiographical sketches 46 - dressing Matt's wound 1

Painting

Painting

Painting

Painting

Painting

Painting

Painting

Paintings

Foulkestone pot head - Cowan side

Foulkestone pot head - Sanderson side

Foulkestone

The old heads

Autobiographical sketches 45 - making pot heads

Monday 21 March 2011

Christopher Isherwood and the unreliable memory

I've just been listening to CI talking on the BBC about how his memory would make things up. He'd argue with Auden over quotes - asserting that certain quotes existed - but then never could find them in any reference books. It drove poor Wystan quite mad. Apparently.

My dad used to accuse my mum of having a creative memory. It drove her quite mad. I think that was just horrid old-fashioned sexism. Poor mum.

The umlaut

Peter Mulhausler was very concerned about the proper use of his umlaut. I haven't used an umlaut at all on his name in this blog. Sorry Peter. I'll try and find it and maybe go back and correct this one day.

Autobiographical sketches 44 - singing saluang in Sumatra Barat

so after being inspired by Peter Mulhausler I went to South East Asia meaning to get across to Melanesia and Polynesia but never made it. But I did learn to sing saluang music with friends from Sumatra Barat in Bukittinggi.

Autobiographical sketches 43 - Jude's linguistic tutorials with Dr Mulhausler

He always had a little cup of tea that he never washed so it just got more and more stained. He said 'Do you think it matters that my insides look like this?' I said 'No, they're inside'. We agreed on this.
It helped as the other stuff we talked about was rather complicated - Chomsky's mentalism, Skinner's behaviourism, sociolinguistics, pidgin and creole, high and low language (as it was called) in the Pitcairn Islands ...


Autobiographical sketches 42 - Jude taking exams at Oxford

Autobiographical sketches 41 - Blanaid drawing - Grimthorpe House

We used to live in Clerkenwell. And Blanaid used to sit in the lounge drawing for school projects. She used to make little books, writing and illustrating them. I have no idea from where she gets that kind of urge.
She went to Clerkenwell Parochial, it's a really old primary school. Charles Dickens used to visit there to talk to the children.
It was a church school and the church attached to it was the Holy Redeemer, a really, really REALLY High Church - we had parades with all the old Italian-London floats and statues etc.
Father Paul, who wears one of those round topped wide brimmed black hats still is the vicar there.
I now rehearse in the church with my choir, the Collegium Musicum of London. What a coincidence you may think?
That's Sophie, our cat sprawled on the floor. She had only the use of three legs since an accident on Broadford Road in Ladybridge, back in Bolton, when she was staying at my mum's. That road was really dangerous for cats, the cars used to fly round.

Autobiographical sketches 40 - Blanaid's piano concert in Hampstead

She was very good at the piano you know! Still is ...

... her teacher was called Felicity ... she was very nice ... wish I still knew her ... she was from Australia.

Sadness

Sad, sad, grief ... life goes on with sadness

Matt is healing now but he's in pain. His scar is really causing him a lot of problems. The pain is written all over his face in lines of skin and in his eyes.

Falling

Neighbours

Autobiographical sketches 39 - James enjoying a beer in our garden last summer

Autobiographical sketches 38 - James Francesca and dog


Shadows of James and his younger sister walking their dog Jessie in the park

Autobiographical sketches 37 - James drumming

We used to hear James's music through the walls of our semi - really miss it.


Sunday 20 March 2011

Foulkestone rehearsal and recording

Another quick rehearsal squeezed in on a Sunday evening. With Matt's help we recorded two songs - 'Talisman Crew' and 'One Cold Morning in December'. Good work!

Friday 18 March 2011

Nightmare

Poor James from next door died suddenly at college. It's been a terrible time. I've been having nightmares, this is what they are like.