Here, hair, here

I was up at my parents the weekend before last. Sitting on the sofa in the morning, going through the papers with them I became aware that my mum, sat at my side, was studying my head. "Have you had your hair cut?", she asked. I nodded. "Hmm...it's not as good as usual" was her verdict. I had to smile.

Mermen we should turn to be

Listening to a Jason Pierce interview I was interested to hear his view that Slippin' And Slidin' by Buddy Holly is the most psychedelic recording ever made. It seemed unlikely, but I checked it out and sure enough 30 seconds in thought to myself "What the fuck is he on about?". It might be a contender for one of the catchiest songs ever perhaps and, after the quick Everly Bros intro, certainly goes into a very Thirteenth Floor Elevators descending riff. But no, not what I would deem psychedelic.

Slippin' And Slidin'

But then quite recently I heard this version and, of course, the desiccated one knows his eggs.

Slippin' And Slidin'

So just what is it that makes a track psychedelic? I've grappled briefly with the question before, the last time it cropped up here was in reference to the guitar solo in Tame Impala's It Is Not Meant To Be, which, if you remember, I dubbed sub-aquatic. And that, in a nutshell, covers many aspects of the psychedelic experience: the air seems denser, the pressure seems higher, vision may be susceptible to wave-like, shimmering distortion. Stuff like that.

Oh, and this can be U.S.A. part 2. You know, in the around the world thing.

Astro-zombies do furnish a room

When fitting out their studies some people go in for busts of Napoleon or Caesar. Those of a more playful nature might opt instead for Mozart or Shakespeare. When I acquire a study I'm thinking more along the lines of Astro-Zombie.  He's not cheap but then I spent nearly that much on a wardrobe the other day. 

You don't have to be a decaying spaceman to get into my aesthetic good books, but clearly it helps.

Miserable bastards

Living as I do in xxxxxxxxxx I do spot the odd minor celebrity every now and again. Just the other day the woman who played xxxxxx xxxxxx'x xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx in Eastenders was behind me in the queue at the bank. That's the kind of calibre I'm talking about. A few years ago I lived in the same block of flats as the woman who played xxxxxxx in Eastenders. On the day I moved in she helpfully declined to open the gate for me and my brother in law. She just stood there, puffing away on a fag. And remember the bloke who played the xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx'x xxxxxx xx xxxxxxx in Allo Allo? I once saw him put on a most petulant display in the local video shop when charged for three late items. Oh, and I saw xxxxx xxxxxx the other month, he looked bloody miserable.

Knock knock

These are the doors on a church down the road. When I build my dream home I'll either buy these off the church or have some made exactly the same. Unless the dream home swings away again from subterranean hobbit dwelling back to space age pod cluster. 

U.S.A.

There are a few countries that begin with U, mainly due to the popularity and importance of the word United in this matter. Perhaps a bit predictably it was always going to be the USA that occupied this alphabetical slot. Obviously I hate America's imperialistic warmongering and brutal promotion of free market fundamentalism as much as the next whining commie limey, but it would be foolish to deny that the Great Satan has produced most of the greatest music of the twentieth century.

Rather than rack my brains for hours and hours over the hundreds of bands/songs I was going to go for the first band that popped into my head when I thought: American Band! And that was The Velvet Underground, but who needs that? I'll probably post a few tracks, but I'll start with Margo Guryan.

Her album kept popping up a few years ago and I had a listen but it didn't really grab me. Then the other day I heard her album of demos (25 Demos) and it was the most wonderful music ever. Strange isn't it, how that happens.

Anyway, according to wikipedia, Margo was totally into Max Roach etc. and then Bam!! someone played her Pet Sounds and she packed in that jazz noise and took effortlessly to pop.  I find the story refreshing. As is the fact that the winsome Margo was once married to a trombonist. There's hope for us all.

Margo Guryan The 8:17 Northbound Success Merry Go Round 

F.U.N.

This blog is happy to endorse the balloon bending powers of Rodneys Balloons (balloon modelling for every occasion). He was doing his stuff down at the local fair (every year held on the first rainy Saturday in May). Incredibly, some people were not buying them.

New feature random words

Car crash Carlos - he sounds like an amusing fellow.
Exploring Fabienne Delsol - I wish.
Jazz Jesus & Mary Chain - the direction they should have taken after Darklands.
Weird war Welsh Wendy - doesn't mean anything, I just like the sound of it.
Flook folk music - like sweet soul music but hairier.

Jonathan Livingston Parkbench

Exploring, I found this today. Lovely isn't it? Almost too nice to sit on. Overlooking a lake as well. It's in a good bird spotting area, I spotted a Jay (which I class as a minor bird spotting treat) and additionally a largish, green bird. In the brief glance I got I think it was probably crested. Colour and size-wise it could have been a woodpecker. But I didn't notice a bright red head. 

With the beetles

Tempted by the presence of David Attenborough I wandered down today to a local mini wildlife safari. I didn't catch the great naturalist in the end, but I did have a pleasant time. The first things that caught my attention were some slow worms, such lovely little creatures. Just like little snakes really, apparently they're all over the place if you look hard enough. They were good but I probably spent longer at a table displaying beetles.

I've been fairly keen on beetles ever since I saw a documentary about dung beetles years and years ago. The programme mentioned a theory that the ancient Egyptians may have formed some of their ideas about mummification and reincarnation from observing the dung beetles' antics. I was persuaded.

I love the look of them as well. I bought one once (Acrocinus longimanus it says on the label) stuffed and mounted in a glass case from a shop on Portobello Road, and which my wife won't let me hang on the wall. I've some sympathy - I can admire them aesthetically under glass or at a safe distance, but I admit I do freak if they try to get in the bath with me, or otherwise invade my personal space.

One summer at college we were plagued by may bugs, really horrible things. Everyone was freaked out by them. As the link says, they made a really loud clicking noise when flying, which only added to the terror. And I remember what inexpert flyers they were. I was having an excellent go on Raiden in the games room one evening when we heard the clicking. Transfixed by the game I could see, reflected in the black glass panelling, my mate Syd ducking as the beetle repeatedly dive bombed him. After the last of my spaceships had been zapped I turned round to see that the frenzied bug had flown itself into one of the fluorescent strip light boxes and was stuck on its back.

Happily there were no may bugs on display today, instead we had a live specimen of a rose chafer and about four dead stag beetles. Perhaps not co-incidentally I have actually encountered both these characters in the wild. Well, if you can call the high street the wild. Walking down Twickenham high street (just outside Blockbuster) I saw a rose chafer wriggling away on its back. I know in these circumstances one should adopt an Olympian detachment, but instead, very carefully, with the tip of my shoe I nudged it the right way up. I was rewarded with the sight of a dazzlingly golden beetle which then took off almost vertically.

(I do my best to help little creatures in distress. Apart from big hairy spiders. They get hoovered up I'm afraid. I'd like to get over my fear of medium to large spiders. I have tried, once I staggered in drunk to find the missus cowering from a gigantic spider in the living room. I lunged at it and I remember touching one of its legs. But he sprinted off. He could smell my fearlessness. Or possibly the booze.)

Despite the fact that I always keep an eye out for them when I go to Richmond Park my only sighting of a stag beetle was on my way to a Chinese takeaway at Busch Corner a few years ago. Quite a busy street, there's Syon House over the road I suppose, but it's basically an urban environment. Anyway, I saw a stag beetle there making its way along the pavement. One of its antlers was damaged and it looked a bit confused. After a good gawp I moved on, only to be passed almost immediately by a group of teenaged boys. I feared for the beetle but when I looked over my shoulder the hoodied gang were coo-ing in wonder at the disorientated lucanid. A most uplifting experience all round.