[ - ]

And for some proper unbiased reportage on the Waterside Festival, here's AMPJam Craig's comprehensive reviews of the Saturday and the Sunday - with loads of great pics into the bargain!

I often idly wonder what the Real World makes of my ongoing half-baked fantasy existence... here is a glimpse through a window. Cheers fella.

June News - Tue Jun 30

I guess the biggest local news story of the month (apart from “er… it’s hot”) was the so-called “Redway Rapist” and the ensuing hysteria – much of it perpetuated on Facebook. While I agree this man is clearly a scumbag of the worst water, I can’t get with the “string him up” lynch mob mentality of those Fbook groups, and the whole thing sounds like it’s getting way out of hand. Though I guess this is the most talked-about piece of local news for some while judging by conversations I’ve had. And while traversing an underpass between Stacey Bushes and Hodge Lea yesterday I saw the large slogan “Watch Out There’s A Rapist About” daubed on the redway. Er, thanks.

Oh, and there was some festival or other – see the photo of the Monkey Kettle mural? As well as popular teen-rockers Equinox on the MK Stage? Kerching! Cheers to Original Mini Monkey KT for sneaking those in! ;-)

In other news, the Midsummer Oak is on its last legs – but what should they replace it with? The sensible answer is of course “a sapling from the same tree” as they mention in the article. But a big part of me thinks that would be the ideal place to put a Jaunt Station so we can teleport instantly to the Moon, or Mars. Who’s with me?

I think I mentioned this story last year – and he’s still going strong! Good on yer, sir. Here’s to the next payout! And talking of payouts – d’oh!!! Plus, Sainsbury’s got Done too. Har har.

The Antiques Roadshow is coming to Bletchley Park! (digs out copy of Police Academy 2 on Betamax)

I think I walked past this very same bungee jump the day after this story was in the Times. Funnily enough, not much of a queue!

Out in the Big Wide World, things got worse and worse almost on an hourly basis for poor old Gordon Brown. Swine flu claimed its first UK victim, unemployment rose to a 12-year high, Labour got a shoeing at the Euro elections, and even one of MK’s own MPs got in on the act. Low times for our PM.

Meanwhile the pox is also still on the manor, so let’s be careful out there. Stay in the sunshine (if you can stand it!). And don’t bum no swine.

To The Toppermost Of The Poppermost - Fri Jun 26

Biggsy was calling me a “svengali” in the staff room the other day. I’m not sure that’s quite what I am. But still…

I think I mentioned at some point before about how I was keen for the Monkey Kettle albums (some-copies-still-available!) to become an annual thing akin to a Local Music version of the Poetry Mag – and I’m already seeing the concept develop in a similar way. The first CD was very much “us and our mates”, the second will be much more of a mix of our mates and established local acts – as we stretch our tentacles further out into the MK music scene in a similar fashion to the way we slowly came to the notice of the Poetry World over those first few fledgling issues. Can only be a good thing, say I.

Anyway – in order to make this output coherent (and in parallel with other projects like the ‘currently-resting’ Monkey Kettle Press and the ‘recently-massively-snowballing’ Monkey Kettle Events) I’m proud to announce the formation* of Monkey Kettle Records, the latest arm of our vast and dissolute local arts empire! ;-)

Another reason why this has suddenly leapt into my mind, quite apart from my post-Waterside keenness to get cracking on with “Monkey Kettle & Friends Vol.2”, is that we finally last week took receipt of the CDs with the recording of the MonKeyVision Song Contest. So if you’re interested in hearing that mammoth 20-band extravaganza, just let me know while stocks last! It may not be the greatest live album ever pressed, but it’s a really good reminder for those that were there on the night - and an introduction to all these brilliant MK bands if you weren’t. Just three quid to you, pet.

To recap then: the first release on Monkey Kettle Records was the first compilation CD, the second has now been the MonKeyVision Soundtrack, but for the third I’m extremely excited to be able to announce that we have signed our first bona fide recording artist to the label! Ladies, gentlemen, Monkeys (impressive drum roll) we’ve only gone and snapped up the lo-fidelity all-star himself, Mr Phil Sky!!! I can still barely believe it!!! I also managed to get an exclusive interview with him for this very blog, which is quite a coup.

Phil, welcome to Monkey Kettle Records. It’s an honour to speak to you. First of all, why did you choose to sign to such an unknown indie label when presumably you could have had your pick of the “majors”?

Well, I just dig the whole Monkey Kettle ethos so when I heard you had a record label I just thought well, that's exactly where I should be. And when I visited Monkey Kettle Tower I was immediately struck with the passion and commitment you guys have for the music, you guys at Monkey Kettle Records seemed to really know where it’s at.

Why thanks! So – do you have an album release date? And are rumours of a “new direction” true?

Well, at the moment I'm aiming for a release date of August 3rd. As far as a "new" direction, well I'm not going to give too much away for now. I can tell you this album is going to be more "song" based than the last one. If the last one was the sprawl then this one is more my super song album.

Sounds smashing! And what’s it called?

The album's called El Tipo. I could translate it but its got a couple of different meanings, I'd rather people figure it out for themselves. At the moment its settled on eleven tracks including Hey Dude! which I've been playing live recently and seems to be going down really well at shows, and there's a really killer latin punk song called Me & Maria which I think might be my favorite track at the moment but I keep changing my mind!

I’m eager to hear it! Thanks. And I don’t think any self-respecting music interview would be complete without me asking you: what is your favourite colour?

Ummm..... probably black.

Phil Sky, thanks.

* I SAY “formation” – I haven’t actually DONE anything other than email Phil a logo to use! ;-)

[ - ]

The Jackson Family lawyer was on GMTV this morning and said “we will never see Michael’s like again”. I think that’s a fairly safe bet. Sleep well, King Of Pop.

(slowly winds a bandage round his hand and wrist in tribute. puts on “Dirty Diana”. nods along)

Graduation Day - Wed Jun 24

Tuesday afternoon I donned my crumpled suit and headed out into another glorious-skied day for Jamesy’s graduation ceremony – masterfully lit at Milton Keynes Theatre by the missus no less! It was a lovely afternoon actually, I’ve been to a couple of OU graduation ceremonies before and they’re always extra-special occasions. A timely reminder of What It’s All About For Me.

It’s about people who didn’t think they could get degrees, about people who didn’t even think they could study. It’s about people with full time jobs and families who are so motivated, so desperate to learn that they add distance learning courses onto their already groaning plate. It’s about the 90 year old woman awarded an honorary degree yesterday who’s been studying with, running student associations of, and vocally advocating for the OU since 1970. And about Jim, taking on two jobs and spending large chunks of his days hunched over a desk in the corner of his bedroom in our various shared houses over six long years. Count ‘em. Six. I can't even begin to measure the kudos.

The top OU face who was in charge did a really rather rousing speech at the end about the nature of the university, and my heart actually felt a little bit like it might have been swelling with pride in my job for the first time in quite a while. So I’m doubly glad I went, though it was a bit disappointing he didn’t get a mortar board. Humbug!

When I graduated (blimey – thirteen years ago next month!) the Chancellor of MMU took my hand in his huge shovel-like grasp and asked me what I was planning on doing next. “I’m going to be a famous writer, please sir”, I smiled. Clock’s ticking a bit on that. Hmmm….

And now down into the Ludamus Storm / Whirl / Chaos / whatever other platitudes I tend to use for these next three weeks when they come around again every year. Actually this year it doesn’t seem that Stormy, Whirly or Chaotic – some of the kids have already learnt all their lines, and cos literally half the script is songs there’s less to learn anyway. Songs are easier than lines, for sure.

So I don’t get to bask in the glow of Waterside glory for long – though the plaudits and positive feedback keep drifting in. Still can’t believe we keep pulling these things off! I guess we're graduating too, finally. ;-)

The Dog Whisperer and his canine attendants were waiting for me in the “Triceratops underpass” on the way to work this morning. Or so it seemed. I am sure he may yet have some part to play – for good or ill – ere the end. And then the blogging of Matthew may rule the fate of many.

Waterside 2009 - Mon Jun 22

Man oh man. Where to start? This weekend might even have been one of the highest points of the entire Monkey Kettle story so far – and just think, it’s only taken us ten years to get to this dizzying level of aptitude! What staggering feats might we achieve by 2019??? :-D

Now incorporating the former “Poetry”, “Acoustic” and “Youth” Stages all in one dainty package, “Waterside Stage 2” (aka ‘the Monkey Kettle Stage’) seems to have grown steadily into the coolest corner of the Waterside Festival: the place to chill out with great music and artistic entertainments. That’s what people kept telling us, anyway. Or maybe it’s cos there’s more space to lay on the grass down our end, who knows? Still… for us, this was the dream made real.

If you missed it, For Shame. This was the final line up - with links to MySpaces etc where they exist – so you can create your own re-enactment at home with finger puppets. There’ll be photos coming soon. Or alternatively, there’s even YouTube footage already – this from the beginning of Rooh’s masterful Sunday set, filmed literally from inside his guitar case.

I think the only way to go really is for me to do my traditional list of the Top Waterside Moments – this year swollen to a whole 10!

(in no particular order)

1. The Monkey Kettle Mural. I didn’t envisage it ending up like it looked, for some reason I’d assumed it would be more visual and colourful, rather than a heaving mass of liberal graffiti and slogans - but I was blown away by how popular it was! It’s so good in fact we’re going to exhibit it at the Monkey Kettle Exhibition this Autumn!

2. A sea of hand-waving in the crowd (and it was a crowd – easily over 100 people by then, our biggest ever at the Waterside) during the Sunday afternoon sunshine indie-pop set from whippersnappers Equinox. Smiles on everyone’s faces. Possibly the high point of the entire weekend.

3. The only brief spell of rain during the whole weekend occurring during the special “Poetry Hour”, but then hitting on the idea of getting everyone into our tent. A cramped impromptu poetry jam ensuing.

4. Various singers interacting with the procession of passers-by walking just in front of the stage: Rooh, Jef and Big Laundry Bill all flexing their stagecraft. I can’t decide if I’d rather the path wasn’t right in front of the stage or not. Somehow it works!

5. Grahame taking cover requests from the audience, and captivating them every bit as much as he did at The Cannon last Thursday. The dude is a true pro. I can’t remember 100% from previous festivals but I think the girls dancing to his Bob Marley cover were the first girls ever dancing at one of our stages! Momentous!

6. The moment a few notes into The Stylaphonics’ third song when the crowd realised “The Style” AKA Simon was blipping the intro riff to “Take On Me”. An epic set, taking their fantasticness to a far wider audience than last year’s Dudefest. Plus they had the only pyrotechnics of the weekend!

7. Laying back on the grass (after a hectic Sunday morning set-up with a few technical problems) and just listening to the blissed-out dance jams of Dusque. The ideal way to kick off day two. As I said in compere mode afterwards, the only thing better would have been gently waking up to sound of their grooves in my own tent nearby.

8. Spotting Pete Winkelman up by the wall at the top of the hill, smiling and nodding his head along to the raucous sounds of Big Laundry Bill. Also in the same set, seeing the faces of the families sat in up by the canal in deckchairs trying to work out what exactly it was they were seeing and hearing.

9. The slickness of my sound teams: Grahame & MBS on Saturday, Phil & Brian on the Sunday. Man, is it me or are we getting better at this? Heartfelt thanks to ‘em all, not to mention my various stallholders, and… well… anyone who came really. God willing we’ll meet again in 2010.

10. The baking sunshine. The whole thing. Or is that cheating? Anyway. Time for bed. Again.

[ - ]

Ah, so many fond memories the Monkey Kettle Stage(s) have given us already – a drenching in the sideways rain of the first ever day and a headline slot from the now-all-but-forgotten Stone Circle topped off by a mad night in the pub afterwards on the second in 2007; and then in 2008 a festival of two halves, with gripes and noise up in the Courtyard on Saturday made up for by brilliant mellowness down by the canal on Sunday. Coooerl. Stand by for 2009! It's going to knock the other two into a cocked hat! The dream of being MK's answer to John Peel draws ever closer! ;-)

Gordon Bennett & His Many Wives - Wed Jun 17

Why is it that attempting to answer questions we think up at picnics invariably leads to the creation of so many further questions to ask? I suppose life is a rich tapestry and all that – maybe we shouldn’t attempt to totally unravel it…

Anyway – the origin of the phrase “Gordon Bennett!” is not certain, though there’s plenty of good suggestions and the general consensus thus far (esp. in the comments section) can be seen here.

Likewise to back someone “to the hilt” does indeed mean – as we theorised at Giles’ birthday picnic in the gorgeous sunshine on Sunday – all the way. If a sword is pushed into something ‘all the way’ it goes up ‘to the hilt’, of course. Still… I’m not sure the connotation is the most reassuring in the sense of the phrase we were discussing. If someone backs me to the hilt, I don’t want them sticking a sword right into me vitals!

And after Phil’s story of the young Mormon girls who came a-calling at the weekend led into a discussion on Mormonism at same said picnic, I went on to look up Caroline’s question of why male Mormons can have multiple wives but female Mormons can’t have multiple husbands… In their defence, it’s only Fundamentalist Mormons that still practice this, but actually we were all wrong anyway – in the original polygamous set-up, Mormon women could have multiple husbands. I did not know that! It may all be barmy… but still! Wahey, eh? (nudges you with an elbow) ;-)

Sorry I’m otherwise low on content at the moment – stand by yer beds though for full textual and visual coverage of the Waterside though! :-D

[ - ]

Man, that changed quick. About an hour ago I was saying goodbye to the Missus outside the Theatre in blazing sunshine, shades and a beautiful sky. Now it's almost dark and pouring down.

Still... it can do what it likes between now and Friday. Then it's got to be sunshine all the way. I have ordained it.

Brain Sludge - Thu Jun 11

I dreamt Diane had convinced me, Helen and James to take part in a robbery from a shop. I think we’d got so desperate for cash that this seemed like the only way out. We even went as far as practicing it – going into the shop, and at a signal from Diane legging it really fast outside and round the corner. But on the morning of the heist I suddenly came to my senses and decided it wasn’t worth it. I went round to see James to try and talk him out of it too… “have a think, Jim… if we’re caught robbing a shop there is actually a very real possibility we might go to prison…”

But of course by now the dream had been infested virally by some of my not-so-subconscious stress at the busyness of Arts Life in Milton Keynes, and so the latter part mainly revolved around me trying to draft and redraft an email to Diane where I explained why I wouldn’t be turning up for the robbery later that day. But somehow I just couldn’t get the wording right. First it was too formal, then too casual. And meanwhile the clock was ticking inexorably onwards towards the time I was supposed to meet them for the blag!

I love dreams. As I was saying to Darren last night on the dog n’ telephone, almost all of the best things I have ever written have come either directly or indirectly from a dream. It’s probly cos the nature of dreams adds that all-important layer of inspiration / imagination that it’s far harder to tap into when you’re awake. Dreams skew. I find it difficult to think ‘round corners’ when I’m awake, but dreams think in every direction. Maaaaan. ;-)

I’ve been dawdling at a leisurely pace through my old LiveJournal (if you like, the Blog which pre-dated this Blog, circa 2003 – 2006) cos I think it’s time I shut it down and scrubbed it out. As with my first ever website (on something that was called Xoom) and my first ever non-work email address (with something that was called Postmaster), the world has moved on. But reading back over it is comforting too - in a way - seeing who I was during that time span, to see that my highs and lows then were higher and lower, and that I have moved on too.

And that my dreams are still as important as they always were…

Sept 11th 2003
“Dreamt Simon's boss took me aside and asked me confidentially if it was true what she'd read in the local paper - that Simon had decided to adapt "The Silmarillion" for stage. She'd heard he'd come up with the idea while drunk, so I had to placate her.”

Feb 17th 2005
“In other dream news, I've been having this recurring dream that there are four or five missing episodes from the end of the third series of Monty Python. They were never shown at the time, as they're far too bleak and sinister, with very few laughs. In one of them, they invented the characters who later become The Young Ones. Most of the sketches take place in a very cold, bare, semi-detached house with splatters of blood and bits of meat on the walls. I am fascinated by these dreams. I wish it were true.”

March 28th 2005
“Had a brilliant nightmare this morning where Jennifer Aniston was trying to seduce me (s'okay, it gets worse!), and we were sat in a big chair, with her sitting behind me. She grabbed my arms at the wrist, and started beating out this kind of voodoo rhythm on the arms of the chair with me. It went kind of Beat-Beat Beat Beat Click (the click being a finger snap), and was somehow her taking control of me. I woke up with a start after the voodoo became frenzied, only to discover I couldn't move at all. My arms especially were completely rigid at a ninety degree angle from my body. It was as if Aniston still had control over me even though the dream was over. I lay like that for what seemed like ten minutes, but must have only been twenty seconds, before I realised I was being stoopid and of course I could move. Later dreamed that Wayne had a really slutty sister who was very sweaty and hairy but kept trying to lure me into her massive bed, which was about ten feet off the ground on stilts.”

March 24th 2006
“Dreamt Helen had bought a series of pets that were designed to only live a day, so that each day you could have a different pet. They would look just like a normal pet once you got them out of the packet, they felt alive, they acted like a real animal, but towards the end of the day, they would slow down, start to look sick, then crumble into dust. On successive days, we had a rabbit, a cat and a monkey. Even in the dream I was struck by the unpleasantness of this, and wondered why she'd done it.”

I Got Five On It - Sun Jun 7

1. Quite apart from being all the things I said they were the other week, I subsequently discovered that the BNP also refuse to support the England football team because it contains ‘non-white’ players! (shakes head in disbelief) I suppose at least that means they’re not hypocrites, but come on! David James, Glen Johnson, Ashley Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Theo Walcott, Ashley Young, Jermain Defoe, the superlative Carlton “F**king” Cole? Rio Ferdinand is a world-class defender no matter what colour he is. This is a new low…

2. My collection of impenetrable underpass graffiti grows apace – maybe I should collect everything I’ve seen these last two and a half years of blogging into one list. Yes, a list. Anyway, up at the City is this beauty: “Rotation Is The Violin”, luckily snapped on some dude’s photo website. I have a fond dream that all these bizarre phrases are dreamt up by one person who goes around leaving them places they think I might go. All for my benefit. Thanks.

3. Whose Turn Is It Anyway? - #31, would you believe?!?! I’ve been doing it for far more years than it feels! – went really well Saturday night, as confident and positive as the previous one had been stilted and awkward. Phil and Katherine even turned up to surprise me in the audience – and what’s more seemed to enjoy themselves, so maybe it’s finally time to lift my unofficial ban on mates coming to see me get paid for being myself. ;-)

4. Ludamus 2009 : “Dracula Vs The Boy Band” is all but finished – good news as it’s only five weeks away, but actually that’s quite good form for us! And using our informal genre-rotation system as per recent years: Funny (“The Hills Of Papanuwenwe”, “Zombies: The Musical”) then Dark (“The Block And The Wire”, “Thrupenny Standup”) then Odd (“Pirates”, “The Gadfly”) we’re back to outright Comedy again this year. And as usual, Simon and Grahame and Helen have knocked up some of those great razor-sharp Musical Theatre parodies which are so good they’ve passed beyond parody into actual Musical Theatre. Come see come see come see! Thurs 9th – Sat 11th July @ Stanto.

5. Is there a better feeling than slowly waking up in a comfy bed knowing it’s still the weekend, you’re not hung over, the Missus made it home from work alive (6am though! Ow!!), and best of all it’s raining outside but you’re snug and warm? I’m not sure that there is. What an excellent start to Sunday.

The Aylesbury Walk - Fri Jun 5

Okay – finally managed to get my “new” digital camera hooked up, so here’s the brief recap (for those that are interested!) of mine and Diane’s Long Walk To Aylesbury a couple of weeks back now (the sequel to last year’s Long Walk To Bedford). For those that aren't interested… look away now.

THE LONG WALK TO AYLESBURY

We left Bletchley at about half nine – having elected that in future our Long Walks will depart from the borders of MK not the centre. The Bedford one was an exception cos of our past dream from the Campbell Park Beacon.

And our first stretch of walk was a very pleasant way indeed to kick things off: along the Canal, through Stoke Hammond to a place called Three Locks. Where sadly the pub was not yet open at 10.23.

From there we climbed up a relatively steep hill for us, to a village called Soulbury. A lovely little place – where another pub was not yet open at 10.55.

From Soulbury we went off-road for the first time – relying heavily on our map. Which for some reason this time, possibly cos I’d got the wrong one out of the Library, didn’t show individual fields. So we had to fall back on our sense of direction far more than before. And encountered stiles between fields like this one – hardcore rambling:

(click)
MMT: It’s 11.14, we’ve stopped for our first proper Sit Downy rest...
DH: And it’s raining.
MMT: Spitting a little bit, we’re in a, er… field, looking at some kind of… monkey… apparently monkey enclosure. Not sure what it is. (pause) Er, still off-road, gonna have our first taste of lembas…
DH: Yep. I got stung!
MMT: Diane got stung well bad.
DH: By one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen, at least fourteen individual stings, from a fucking nettle.
MMT: I found some Dock Leaves though, didn’t I?
DH: Yeah, you did.
(click)

The path to Aylesbury essentially consisted of traversing a series of small ridges in which nestled obscure North Bucks villages – small in theory but higher than many ridges in MK. Between Soulbury and the next village, Stewkley South End we almost got lost a couple of times – but using pylons as landmarks we just about survived. And at 12.24 we saw our third closed pub of the journey thus far.

Between Stewkley South End and Cublington, the subsequent village vaguely SSW, the landscape got a lot prettier. We did have some problems with Public-Rights-Of-Way that didn’t seem like Public-Rights-Of-Way, including a farmyard with some barking Alsatians, but there was also a “Community Woodland” which was very pretty.

By now the pubs were finally open, so we didn’t linger in Cublington but kicked on looking for somewhere to stop for our second longer rest. The weather was a definite factor on this walk – it alternated between mild rain and warm sunshine, seemingly at the whim of whether we had coats on or not. Whatever we were dressed for, it did the opposite.

We finally took our longer break on a small wooden bridge across a dried up brook in between two fields, one of which was the loveliest big yellow field I’ve ever been in:


After this lunch stop things get a little hazy – not least cos my Dictaphone packed up, so all I have to go on is my memory and the photos. I know that after Cublington we reached possibly the prettiest little village of the whole day, Aston Abbotts, just before 3pm.

And between Aston Abbotts and the last village, Rowsham we saw our best panorama of the day – cresting a nicely farmy hill we suddenly saw the Aylesbury Vale down to our right. Spectacular. Aylesbury itself was within view, though still a way off. And what was that in the centre of Aylesbury? Some sort of huge castle? Is there a huge castle in Aylesbury? News to me…

We’d had some discussion about the best way to take between Rowsham and Bierton (which is virtually the outskirts of Aylesbury). In the end our aching legs and pelvises cast the vote for the quickest route on paper – along the hard shoulder of the A418. This turned out to be the lowest point of the trek – a fume-laden dice with death alongside one of those horrible single-carriage A roads people drive far too fast along. By the time we reached the fields again just north of Bierton we were suffering indeed:


But there wasn’t far to go. Unlike the final “walk down” into Bedford via Kempston, the road from Bierton into Aylesbury was relatively pleasant.

Overall, this second "Longest Walk" took the same kind of time-frame as the first: eight hours or so; and the distance as the crow flies is similar. But we both decided on reflection that this walk was more interesting – and at the same time more challenging, cos we had a destination in mind from the outset:


When we got into Aylesbury town centre it turned out the castle we'd seen from miles away was actually a huge horrible Seventies Tower Block. Still. There you go. Another one ticked off. I dunno what’s next. Northampton, I suppose.

(goes for a sit down)

The Taylor's Tale - Thu Jun 4

Excuse the sporadicity of Blog entries (given the rise of Twitter maybe Blog entries should now be called Bleats? Certainly seems apt!) recently. Some of the things in my life at the moment I don’t really think its appropriate to share, other things I am literally not allowed to share, so we’ll just have to make do with surface level chatter for today.

I’ve been learning about calories and how many of them are in the foods I regularly eat, which has been interesting. I mean, it’s not really anything I didn’t know already – chip shop chips Bad, Tesco’s Apple & Grape Snack Packs Good – but it’s interesting knowing the numbers. And I honestly didn't know that the vending machine flapjacks have twice the calories of the chocolate bars! And there’s me scoffing them down regularly thinking “mmm… nuts and oats and fruit – this is by FAR the healthier option than a Lion Bar”. D’oh!

I’ve also been out in the sunshine. Once my manky old sinus cold (I know! WTF, right?) finally subsided I took every excuse I could to get out into the hot rays of Summer. Me and Diane walked round Caldecotte lake to do some pre-ramble scouting; I walked to Stantonbury to swim with Phil; and I walked to Haversham on Sunday afternoon to visit the folks. It’s been brilliant. And this is just the start – Summer Of Love 2009. Finally. “The One”.

And I don’t know if the two things are linked, but with The Sunshine has also returned The Writing. Or maybe it’s not The Sunshine that’s brought it back so much as The Reading. Sick and tired of grumbling about how my love of poetry seems to be dwindling, I’ve gone right back to the start* and am currently very much enjoying a stroll through The Canterbury Tales. Which I am slightly embarrassed to admit I’ve never read before. Though not to come across too literary all of a sudden but I’m finding the Modern English translation (ably conducted by Nevill Coghill) a little jarring at times. Maybe I should give it a go in the original Middle English… (fiddles academically with beard)

I’m also re-reading the brilliantly comprehensive “Lives Of The Poets” by Michael Schmidt, which I’ve not read for a long time, and that’s enthusing me again too. Cos it's a big old history we're a part of, and I find that incredibly inspiring. So I’ve written two poems and a great new Vodka Boy song in the last week. Let’s assume this is not a false dawn, rather the start of a new Golden Age. ;-)

Right – what next? MADCAP AGM again, the finishing touches to “Dracula Vs The Boy Band” (oooh must set up the Facebook Event), Whose Turn Is It Anyway? on Saturday and all the usual. Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero. Kiss kiss.

* Yes yes yes, I know – ALMOST the start, and of ENGLISH poetry not World Poetry, but… shut up. Pedant. ;-)

[ - ]

As you know, I'm not a religious man. But for the next three weeks I'll be praying to the Random Confluence Of Positive Events which has seen the weather soar into the heatwave blue-sky Summer we've been long promised - and seen Diversity win Britain's Got Talent - that we get a grand beautiful weekend for the Waterside on 20th / 21st.

Cos the third annual Monkey Kettle Stage has got a cracking bunch of bands, poets, artists and whatever else we can find to share with the world. For an up-to-the-minute (kind of) guide to who's playing when (and links to many of their MySpaces so you can dig their faboso soundz), simply click here.

This is going to be the one, comrades!