I've read many "2016 sucks" posts on Twitter and other comment pages. I
haven't written mine yet, but after Victoria Wood's untimely passing
yesterday, I think it's about time. If you've been through my posting history, you'll know I've been writing about my favourite music, and I planned to hopefully introduce people to some left-fielders. However, after the dismal start to this year, the focus is on just one song.
Just one song? Well, one song from a brilliant album by Laurie Anderson. I've been a fan since I first heard O Superman, but Strange Angels (1989) was the first album where the focus left the spoken word and vocoder, revealing the most mesmerising singing voice. The album, which gave rise to the "Empty Places" tour (and we all have those Empty Places in our lives), touches on themes of missed chances, bad decisions, defiance and loss. The tracks include "The Dream Before", which revisits Hansel and Gretel in their twilight years, shacked up in a flat in Berlin, with Hansel wistfully pondering his feelings for the wicked witch; "Coolsville", where the vocals overlay each other with a slow, fading echo to tell a tale of unrequited love, and the delightful "Babydoll", wherein Laurie complains about her very bossy, male brain.
But after hosts of angels singing in the garden, kerjillions of stars and describing Heaven as "...a perfect little place that doesn't really need you", we come to the last song, Hiawatha. The song that takes the idea of Empty Places to its logical conclusion as it brings the album itself to a close. Starting with the opening stanza from Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha, sung in the upper register with crystal clarity, the song leads into a meandering melody that brings in the familiar metaphor of hanging new stars in the sky, with late and lamented characters from the history books and popular culture carrying on their lives in the hereafter. There are obscure references aplenty, and even The Star Spangled Banner makes an oblique appearance. Then, the song goes back to its beginning, describing a dark forest of pine trees on the shores of a bright, sea-like lake; all those angels fade away in the long denouement as Laurie vocalises over the sparse, yet warm and comforting, music.
Dear 2016 - we have enough stars in the sky for now, thank you.
Friends - I'd love for you to listen to this song (or the whole album). I was going to post a link to the song on YouTube, but there were no official uploads of Hiawatha, and those that I found had "fan videos" to accompany them which detract from the song, as all the imagery you need is in the music. You need to close your eyes and drift away with this song. Indeed, on the cover of the album, even Laurie is seen with her eyes closed. It would be a pleasure to send this song to you via the iTunes "gift" system - let me know if you'd like a copy.
Thursday 21 April 2016
Thursday 31 March 2016
Turning over a new leaf
I now appear to have arisen from my blogging hibernation with an appropriately nature-related idea for a post.
Living in a top-floor flat wouldn't suit those with green fingers, but it suits me fine not to be mowing the lawn every week in summer or scraping up piles of leaves in the autumn. I do, however, have a rather large windowsill in the kitchen, and it would be a shame not to use it. A few years ago, it was full of chilli plants, but it was a battle to get rid of the greenfly (although diluted washing-up liquid in a cheap squirty-bottle thing from one of those pound shops did the trick). The final straw was when I bought a rather nice chilli plant from a dedicated chilli plant farm - it turned out to have a few stowaways - really unpleasant black flies that soon infested every plant in the flat and proved impossible to remove.
As a result, the last couple of years have been relatively plant-free. I have a small Aloe plant that has spawned seven or eight baby Aloe plants, but they look so happy snuggled up in the original pot that I don't want to disturb them... Then, along came a DIY Bonsai kit for Christmas, which remained in the "pending" pile for a while. With the new house due to be started at the Edge of Exmoor, I suddenly thought that the trees in the kit could be grown to full size for the Ians' new garden! So - out came the kit. Red Maple, Mountain Pine and Silver Birch - a nice trio.
The initial batch was four of each species. The stratification process began on 10 February 2016; seeds were soaked overnight then planted in the special compost pellets in the kit, the pellets were put into perforated plastic bags and off they went into the office - cool and light, but not direct sunlight. Two weeks in the office were to be followed by six weeks in the fridge to simulate winter (trees like that kind of thing, apparently), before going back into the office to germinate.
Surprisingly, two of the Mountain Pine seeds germinated during the first two weeks in the office. They are now on my windowsill and the original leaves (needles) are now being joined by more, tiny needles. The rest of the seeds are still in the fridge - no signs of life there yet!
A couple of weeks ago, I started off the rest of the Red Maple - they went into the fridge today, and I started soaking the remaining Mountain Pine seeds this morning. At least I have two trees growing, so that'll be a start for the Ians' garden - although I bought myself one of those little Bonsai pots, you know, just in case those green fingers grow back again.
Living in a top-floor flat wouldn't suit those with green fingers, but it suits me fine not to be mowing the lawn every week in summer or scraping up piles of leaves in the autumn. I do, however, have a rather large windowsill in the kitchen, and it would be a shame not to use it. A few years ago, it was full of chilli plants, but it was a battle to get rid of the greenfly (although diluted washing-up liquid in a cheap squirty-bottle thing from one of those pound shops did the trick). The final straw was when I bought a rather nice chilli plant from a dedicated chilli plant farm - it turned out to have a few stowaways - really unpleasant black flies that soon infested every plant in the flat and proved impossible to remove.
As a result, the last couple of years have been relatively plant-free. I have a small Aloe plant that has spawned seven or eight baby Aloe plants, but they look so happy snuggled up in the original pot that I don't want to disturb them... Then, along came a DIY Bonsai kit for Christmas, which remained in the "pending" pile for a while. With the new house due to be started at the Edge of Exmoor, I suddenly thought that the trees in the kit could be grown to full size for the Ians' new garden! So - out came the kit. Red Maple, Mountain Pine and Silver Birch - a nice trio.
The initial batch was four of each species. The stratification process began on 10 February 2016; seeds were soaked overnight then planted in the special compost pellets in the kit, the pellets were put into perforated plastic bags and off they went into the office - cool and light, but not direct sunlight. Two weeks in the office were to be followed by six weeks in the fridge to simulate winter (trees like that kind of thing, apparently), before going back into the office to germinate.
 |
| Reaching for the blue |
Surprisingly, two of the Mountain Pine seeds germinated during the first two weeks in the office. They are now on my windowsill and the original leaves (needles) are now being joined by more, tiny needles. The rest of the seeds are still in the fridge - no signs of life there yet!
A couple of weeks ago, I started off the rest of the Red Maple - they went into the fridge today, and I started soaking the remaining Mountain Pine seeds this morning. At least I have two trees growing, so that'll be a start for the Ians' garden - although I bought myself one of those little Bonsai pots, you know, just in case those green fingers grow back again.
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