Link: previous journals - Nov-Dec '05

Journal Page.

September 7th. year 5

Eddie is now in Year 5. For some reason, this has only just hit me. Year 5! Big school is suddenly on the horizon. Blimey. Where did all that time go...? There's a line in a Blue Nile song ['I Would Never'] - "I have raised a precious child to be a man..." - I'm wondering again about what sort of a job I've done as a dad so far; about how quickly time is passing, and about how much more time I might happily waste away just hanging around with my kids...

September 6th. Can you own too many cds...?

I own quite a lot of cds. It's not like I buy loads of the things, or at least it doesn't feel like I do. I just sort of accumulate them. And of course I don't listen to half of them, there's just not enough hours in the day for that. Listening to 6music doesn't help - introducing my ears to new and interesting things on a daily basis... At the mo I'm holding out for christmas when my list for Santa will include Lou Rhodes and Guillemots and Nizlopi and Lleuwen Steffan and Cat Power and Camera Obscura and The Red House Painters and the Durutti Column [and and and...] but I suspect that my nerve will break and one or more of those cds will be winging it's way to me in it's cosy Amazon packaging before then...

Here's the thing though. Do you reach an age when you just decided to stick with what you've got, music-wise? When you give up on finding new stuff and just accept that your collection is big enough, that you don't have the time any more to do the music that you've accumulated justice, let alone go off in pursuit of new stuff...?

Greg Lake [of ELP] was interviewed on 6music this morning, and when he was asked about the arrival of punk, he basically wrote off music since 1977 as shallow and more concerned with fashion than the stuff that had gone before. Which was kind of sad, I couldn't help feeling like he'd given up something important - it was a very negative way of coping with change. I don't want to end up like that. I'm looking forward to the days when our Eddie and Joe bring new stuff into the house and I can annoy them by taking an active interest in the music that they're getting into, unless of course it's death metal ;-)

So here's my solution to the problem of the ever-expanding cd collection. Bigger shelves. And then when the extension is built, the vinyl is all coming out of storage too...

On the desk today...

September 3rd. more about Greenbelt; and monasticism, maybe...

Sorry if that last post read a bit miserable... I think that in retrospect, the problem with our Greenbelt this year was that we went with very high expectations, and after the high of last year's big-communion-organising antics, it was always going to be a bit more mundane this time around... Anyway, sorry if I came over all Victor Meldrew. We still enjoyed it, mostly.

On Tuesday the kids go back to school. One of the things that the holidays has brought home to me is just how little structure and rhythm my life has at the mo. Take away the routine of getting them ready for school and picking them up each day and there is absolutely no pattern to my life. I don't work nine to five, I work weekends, I work evenings. It's Sunday evening and I just stopped work to type this. It comes with being self-employed and the major wage-earner in the house, I guess, but also I am a bit of an obsessive 'do-er' of stuff, and a workaholic, which is great if you're a client of mine, but less so if you're a member of my immediate family.

Back in the day, when I was trying to be an evangelical, I think I would have felt that I needed discipline - more bible study, more solid church-stuff, elongated quiet times - religious workouts. But now I really feel like I need to get some sort of rhythm of life things going - I love the idea of daily offices of prayer and the whole monastic thing that, for example, mayBe have got going. A better balance of work and rest.

Part of me believes that once my new office gets built and I can get out of the 6ft square boxroom in which I currently spend most of my waking hours, well then it'll be much easier to develop a healthier life-pattern. And a greater part of me knows that that's probably just wishful thinking... As soon as I clear my current post-Greenbelt work backlog, I'll put some time and effort into researching the whole new monastic thing... watch this space...!

Something else that I've developed recently is this weird instinctive compulsion to find song lyrics in stuff that people are saying to me, to the point where I'm not even concentrating on what they're actually talking to me about. So for example, at Greenbelt Simon Hall said to me, "...it only takes a minute...", and I spent the next hour with Take That! on repeat in my head. This is happening several times a day at the mo and it is not a good thing, even when it's the Smiths. (I must get out more...)
On the desk today...

August 30th. Greenbelt...

Yesterday we got back from our bank holiday weekend away @ the Greenbelt festival in Cheltenham (officially Britain's worst-signposted town). So here, as requested by lovely Ian, is a brief and highly selective run-down of what we did there...

Saw some bands. But not too many. Nizlopi were very fine indeed, as were Bodixa (newly endorsed by radio 2 - yay!). The festival was headlined by Daniel Bedingfield, and I caught about one minute of his set as I made my way back to the campsite... he was doing a between-songs anti-trafficking spiel that mixed up references to nazis in 1930s Germany and William Wilberforce. Hmm. Sue heard more of him than I did, but her thoughts on his performance are not fit for publication on a family-oriented blog such as this... (she didn't like him much)
I also managed to catch Steve Lawson twice this year [having failed miserably to hear him at last year's festival] The first time around he was playing with a jazz singer called Julie McKee, doing a variety of unlikely tunes in a smooth-jazz-bass-and-vocals stylee - highlights included 'Video Killed the Radio Star' and - I kid you not - a Slipknot tune. Pretty good stuff. On the Monday evening, whilst most punters were otherwise engaged with the packing of tents and/or driving home, Steve was on again with members of his Recycle Collective. This was definitely the best thing I saw all weekend (but obviously don't tell Steve that I said that...) - a bit loose round the edges at times, but uplifting and beautiful and kind of transcendent. The best bit was a tune that was improvised around Juliet Turner singing a short refrain about Joy and Happiness... simply stunning. Also, I was the victim of an unprovoked heckle from the stage - rock'n'roll, eh?!

Eddie and Sam Simkins did a short animation course in the Tank, and we got to go see the premiere on the Monday, which was really cool - they served fizzy elderflower cordial in plastic champagne flutes and made a bit of an event of it.

Mark Berry's 'Set Sail' installation was also pretty cool - me and Eddie enjoyed having a play with that...

Our installations seemd to go down quite well. I was initially a bit pissed off at where they were situated - effectively in a corridor outside a performance venue - but actually, i think that a lot of folk got to see them whilst queueing for stuff - people who otherwise might not have come across them. So that worked out ok in the end. We re-used the Radiohead stuff that we'd done for last year's Together For Peace festival, set up a little meditative journey based on Simon/Peter's experiences with Christ, and also had a small room with ideas of redemption all over it. The feedback that we got for all three was really good and it's pleasing to have produced stuff that people have appreciated using and found helpful...

I also loved watching 'Curse of the Were-Rabbit' on the big screen in the pouring rain, and the Q&A with Nick Park that folowed (best questions - 'What's your favourite song?' and 'What's your favourite dinosaur?') and meeting up with Sue's bro and sister-in-law and the neices and nephew. And hanging out with various Revive and Bodixa-types was as great as ever. It was especially good to spend some time with the Hills again - I shared a house with Mike about seventeen years ago, and it's criminal that we haven't seen more of each other since we moved up here to Leeds - they only live five minutes drive down the road. They've not changed much - Mike's missus Peridot is as charmingly bonkers as ever... you gotta love that family. We will definitely make the effort to see 'em more often from now on...

But having said all that, I have to be honest and say that I struggled a bit with the festival this year. The theme - 'Redemption Songs' - seemed a bit less central to things than in previous years, and there was less art around than I've remembered from past events. (Maybe I just didn't find it...) Maybe it's all just getting a bit too familiar - the novelty's wearing off...? I also arrived in a bit of a mood, and then lost my first two night's sleep to a stupidly-undersized and hugely uncomfortable sleeping bag, so i was in full-on curmudgeon mode almost from the off. In previous years there's been a revive service during the weekend to plan towards whereas this time we had just the three installations to put in. Setting them up was great - very enjoyable, but once they were in place and operational, there wasn't anything much for us to get our communal teeth into... And having done the big sunday communion last year, maybe this time it was always going to feel a bit anti-climactic. Sue felt similarly, so it's not just me, though the kids both loved it as much as ever... maybe I just need to lighten up a bit...!!

Anyhow, it was good to catch up with Matt and Donna, and Stumps and Sarah and Amber and Millie, and the Maybe crowd, and [very briefly] EvilHarv, and Steve, and beard-less Simon Emery, and Fran, and Rory...

And now we are home - the fourth load of washing is dripping on the clothes line, and I have to mow the lawn and get a couple of jobs out before my folks arrive tomorrow for a few days' stay... no rest for the wicked and all that...!

August 18th. Catching up [part two]...

A bit later than planned...!

Scotland.

We went up to Scotland for a few days - staying in a B&B near Castle Douglas and exploring the many and varied delights of Dumfries and Galloway. Sue has decided that she wants to retire to Kirkudbright [not sure if that's imminent or not] and Joe also now wants to live North of the Border. Cream O' Galloway ice cream has something to do with their decisions I think... It was actually a fairly cultured holiday - we took in several exhibitions and galleries, and ate really well [not a deep-fried mars bar in sight]. The highlight for me was a visit to the artist E A Hornel's house and gardens, which have been fantastically restored. Well worth a visit if you're ever up that way. The boys' holiday highlight was playing with the dogs on the farm where we stayed [this was especially pleasing for us as it looks like Joe has finally begun to get over his dog-phobia...] Needless to say, we'll be going back up there again before too long.

On the Desk...

Coming back from holiday to a pile of work isn't very pleasant, so I was a bit down for a few days afterwards. Here's some of the stuff that I've been working on...

Greenbelt.

I've also been working on stuff for Greenbelt , which is approaching rather rapidly. We're doing three installations over the weekend, at least one of which will be situated in the New Forms Cafe, so if you're going to the festival, have a look and let us know what you think. The main thing that I've been doing is an meditative installation based on Simon/Peter's journeys with Christ. I've been painting up big slabs of chipboard, Leesun has been crafting a series of meditations to go on cd and I think that when it all comes together it'll be really smart. Elsewhere we'll be reprising the radiohead things that we did for last year's Together For Peace weeks up here in Leeds [James Shaw has lovingly nursed my contribution back into life] and creating a small redemption room. If the weather holds, it should be a really good weekend... I'll post photo's after the event...

Other random stuff...

Eddie's been away for a few days at the oakes holiday centre in Sheffield. It was pirate-themed, and he came back sporting a [false] moustache and having obviously had a whale of a time there.

Last weekend we did the NMPFT* for the first time since we came up here. It was a long overdue visit and the boys loved it. Eddie in particular got a real kick out of seeing real-life sets from 'The Wrong Trousers' and exploring the Ray Harryhausen exhibition that they're running at the mo. They also have this 'TV Heaven' section which is basically an archive of 900 old TV programmes and a cluster of little viewing booths which you can book to go watch them in. We [Ed] chose the pilot episode of Doctor Who, which was great, in a wonky black and white kind of a way. They have a couple of life-size daleks too. We were only there for a few hours - next time we'll make more of a day of it.

Leicester's season has picked up after a dismal beginning. (I know that you're probably not much bothered, but it's essential to the general mood of this household that we pick up where we left off last season...)

There's more to write, but I have to go do stuff now - I'll try to make sure that I don't leave it so long before the next entry!

In the meantime, a veritable plethora of merchandise with my stuff plastered all over it is now available here. Naturally I take a great deal of professional pride in seeing my work finally appearing on one of these. Cheers for now, see you after Greenbelt, if not before...

*National Museum of Photography, Film and Television

July 31st. Catching up [part one]...

Well the deadline crisis came and went, with a mad, last-gasp rush to the post-office and a triumphant return to the office only to discover that I'd completely missed out an illustration... doh! Anyway, with the able assistance of Martin and Lloydy, i got it all just about done and sorted in time. (Mind you, I am now fully expecting to hear back from the client with a list of niggling little revisions and tweaks...!)

In the meantime, as promised, here's a bit of a catch-up.

Camping.

The other weekend we went camping with KFC (Kid-Friendly Church). 27 of us in a gated field in the finest camp-site anywhere, ever. The amenities are sightly primitive and situated up at the top of the hill (we were camped a way further down) but the view is just incredible. And the beach is not far away. We drank beer, lost a game of dads v lads footy to Joe's last-gasp winner, ate at Swell (highly recommended), discussed hell with Rob, I crouched down too far in a rock pool and dampened my shorts in a rather embarrasing area much to Eddie's amusement, drank more beer, relaxed, and just generally had a fair old time of it. Marvellous.

Stockport.

Sue's mum had a dentist's appointment the other week, and wasn't looking forward to it. So I have this sudden thought that we could go over and see her. I suggest this to sue at about 4.30 - it's a Friday and the kids have just finished school, so it's do-able. Thing is, Sue's mum won't want me and the kids worrying her if she's had a traumatic time in the chair, so how about I take them off to see a football match or something. And hey, it just so happens that Leicester are playing a pre-season friendly at Stockport County that evening, just down the road from Sue's mum... So off we go. City are a bit iffy in the first half, but run out fairly comfortable 3-1 winners and three of the goals are down our end, so we're happy. The boys got to meet Rob Kelly too and the whole thing only cost 16 quid so all in all it was a top night out. Oh yeah, and Sue had a nice time with her mum...

July 26th. v busy...

No time to talk - deadline crisis looming! Will post a big catch-up entry next week, all being well.

meantime, here's some stuff that has been on the desk lately...

And if you've a spare fiver burning a hole in your pocket, you could always go here to buy a copy of this

[which I am rather proud of...]

July 14th. The Doctors

So I went to the doctors. Turns out that I have a haematoma in my leg, which is quite exciting as it sounds like something that they'd shout on ER as they rush down the corridors but at the same time is relatively harmless [at least when it's in your calf, like mine is] Not only that though, but i have raised bilirubins [insert your own joke here] which means that I may have Gilbert's syndrome. Sadly, it's nothing to do with him and it is again, a pretty harmless condition, although on wikipedia one of the syptoms listed is "brainfog", which explains a lot... anyhow, sometime soon I get to go to Seacroft for an ultrasound liver scan to determine if I have the condition or not. [Well, it's a day out...]

And so this series of Doctor Who ended last Saturday, with me rather predictably blubbing my way through Rose's 'death'. Not once but twice, 'cos we watched it with Ian and friends again on the Sunday. He blogs about it here - so go have a read. It was a tremendous episode though - even though you had daleks and cybermen at war with one another on the streets of London, it was still all about Rose. Genius. The music was superb, and the stuff with Rose's family was brilliantly done, I thought... the only bum note was the comedy ending, which I just thought jarred too much. You can see why they did it, but it didn't work for me - I wanted to wallow in the sadness for a bit...

On the desk today = stuff for Greenbelt, though I've finally had to concede defeat re those pics that I was doing and posting up here. Maybe they can be resurrected some other time. Greenbelt '07 maybe...

July 13th. Inexplicable...

Things that I find inexplicable [number one in a series of, oh, loads] Why aren't Spearmint really popular and famous? And why are Muse? And the Manic Steet Preachers? I don't get it.

Things that I've done this past week that I haven't done for years - number one. Eat a cheese and onion sandwich [there was no cucmber in the fridge. Or tomatoes] number two. Ride my bike. Sue got it mended for my birthday [the front wheel was severely damaged a few years back when Jim, dressed as a nun, sat on it and I never quite got around to fixing it...]

On the desk today - more of these...

July 4th. Forty Years of Hurt [and counting...]

Firstly, England. So very predictable, but galling all the same. I ranted impotently at the screen and Joe wept when the inevitable shoot-out was lost. So here's the thing - in five and a half years, Sven never once got us playing as a team. Individual talents can get you through the qualifications, and we have players good enough to do that, but there was no system and ultimately the tactics were just too cautious. If we're as good as he and the players said we were, then we should have been going out all guns blazing to kill teams off, not sitting deep and lumping hopeful [and often hopeless] balls up to a lone striker. I thought that Hargreaves was our best player by a country mile v Portugal though, which in itself tells a sorry tale. He was immense in that game, but like Carlton Palmer when Graham Taylor was manager, he offered nothing constructive to the side, only coming into play when Portugal had the ball. Far better to have played Carrick, and to ensure that we kept hold of the ball in the first place. Anyhow, just had to get that off my chest - rant over.

The best thing about the footy at the weekend was that it was followed immediately by Doctor Who, which is shaping up for a fantastic finale on Saturday. [I guessed what was in the void ship about ten seconds before it emerged - a real thrill...] Daleks and Cybermen and the exit of characters that will leave me distraught and blubbing for sure... Can't wait! [Am i turning into a nerd, btw?]

Here's a pic by Joe of me playing footy...

Talking [again] of the beautiful game, last Thursday evening I was the victim of a viscious and unprovoked tackle that's left my lower left calf very swollen and quite literally black and blue [and yellow, with a bit of red around the fringes...] I won't say who inflicted this grave injury as that would be unfair, but James Shaw, you know who you are... Anyway, I bravely played on, despite a swelling the size of a small coypu emerging beside my shin. At the end of the game we had the choice of A&E or the pub, and we opted for the latter, "because they'd have ice". By Friday afternoon, the swelling and bruising was bad enough for a trip to the minor injuries clinic at the Wharfedale in Otley, so I missed the Germany quarter final. After a very short wait, I got x-rayed and was told it was "good news". Couldn't see it meself - all that way, missing the footy, and all just for "quite bad bruising". No fractures, nothing. Very disappointing. [And more evidence for Sue to call upon next time I attempt to contest her claim that I am a chronic hypochondriac...]

Other random stuff - the best tunes for a family sing-song on the way home from Brimham Rocks="Ring of Fire' by Johnny Cash [with Sue doing the BV's] and 'We're Going Out' by Spearmint [even though, technically, we were coming back from being out...]

Elsewhere on the web - Gav plays Footsie with a deadly black mamba, Ian indulges in extreme sports and stalks some model boat enthusiasts and travels in ambulances and kiwi-Steve flies a plane [All very exciting, I'm sure, but you should see the size of my bruise - huge it is...]

I'm reading this, at the mo - it's quite lovely. And I'm listening to the Smiths a lot. And Skinner and Baddiel's world cup podcasts too, which are fantastic - I've got the post-Portugal one to enjoy once this is posted, so I'm off...

ps ...one last thing - when I lost the operating system on my iMac a couple of weekends ago, I lost my address book and all my emails with it. So in an effort to replace the lost info, i'm quite keen to hear from folk at the mo - the address to email me at is curse_you_MacOSX@simonsmithillustrator.co.uk