PicturesWordsMusic

Rowland Jones with The Transfusion Trio

2012-01-24T21:38:00.000+01:00

Words. . oh, to have said something memorable . . .

2012-01-23T10:44:00.000+01:00

I love quotations: Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, Shaw, Dickens; all the usual suspects, but what I really love is the wacky stuff, and Guy Debord is a particular favourite.

Debord was a French Marxist theorist, writer, and a founding member of Situationist International. Some consider his book Society of the Spectacle (1967) to have been instrumental in the Paris uprising in 1968. And he was a drinker. He defined Psychogeography as “the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals.” Another definition is “a whole toy box full of playful, inventive strategies for exploring cities…just about anything that takes pedestrians off their predictable paths and jolts them into a new awareness of the urban landscape.” Heavy duty, philosophy? Well, yes and no. “This apparently serious term ‘psychogeography,’” writes Debord biographer Vincent Kaufman, “comprises an art of conversation and drunkenness, and everything leads us to believe that Debord excelled at both.” One of the ‘playful, inventive strategies’ involved taking a city map and taking a route from A to B simply following the directions on the map: second left, first right etc….. the absurdist element was that the map was not of the city in which the journey would take place. Therefore Debord and his colleagues/drinking buddies would, for example, carry out a journey in central Paris using a street map of Berlin: a journey which involved a large number of re-fuelling stops – a sort of Philosophy Crawl – sounds like fun! In his own words: ‘I have written much less than most people who write, but I have drunk more than most people who drink’

Of course it was not only Debord, who enjoyed intoxication. Julian Trevelyan, British surrealist and fan of psychtropic drugs wrote: ‘On mescalin, I have fallen in love with a sausage-roll’

And, with or without stimulants, Jean-Paul Sartre said, enigmatically, ‘Jazz is like a banana, it has to be consumed on the spot.‘

They’re all such great lines. I’d be happy to go down in history, having said one great phrase, such as, um . . . er . . . . . ah well, there’s time yet . . . . .

I think my best effort to date is: 'Do it yourself is a reply not a motto!'

Book Review: The art of looking sideways by Alan Fletcher

2009-11-06T00:36:00.002+01:00

The art of looking sideways by Alan Fletcher

The introduction ends: 'The art of looking sideways is the ultimate guide to visual awareness, a magical compilation that will entertain and inspire all those who enjoy the interplay between word and image, and who relish the odd and the unexpected.'

TIGRE 1996-2009

2009-11-04T22:14:00.005+01:00

12 kgs of cat & character! For many years, he would spend every day sitting on the lap of an lovely old lady called Annanina. After she died, for some time he went every day and waited outside her apartment.

A lot of people will miss him. I know I will.

Rome

2009-11-02T09:45:00.003+01:00

Glorious weather in Rome for two days. Played at Il pentagrappolo with Blues Trail and Blue Fuse

Thinking Neologisms . . . again

2009-10-28T20:31:00.002+01:00

Syllabus
Absurd public transport

I'm thinking neologisms.....

2009-10-24T09:34:00.003+02:00

monotamy a boring marriage.

mahogamy a solid marriage.

the wonderful Stephen Wright

2009-10-04T09:21:00.000+02:00

I went down the street to the 24-hour grocery. When I got there, the guy was locking the front door. I said, "Hey, the sign says you're open 24 hours." He said, "Yes, but not in a row"

Tropea Blues

2009-09-14T23:15:00.004+02:00

Not posted for a week or two because I was invited to play at Tropea Blues! It was wonderful!!

Puzzled of Umbria

2009-08-14T17:19:00.001+02:00

Why when I innocently type into Google 'belt clip watch' do I get

adult sex video clips, all pantyhose sex....??!!

Hmm......

Legend: Les Paul Dies at 94

2009-08-14T09:11:00.003+02:00

Les Paul, the virtuoso guitarist and inventor whose solid-body electric guitar and recording studio innovations changed the course of 20th-century popular music, died Thursday in White Plains, N.Y. . He was 94. Apparently Les Paul guitars account for 50% of Gibson Sales!!!

www.nytimes.com

Trasimeno Blues

2009-07-27T15:44:00.011+02:00

Opening night with a collection of 80 vintage Fenders!!

Then Matt Schofield: great young British Blues player: good voice!

Jamencuz!

2009-07-27T15:25:00.004+02:00

Did a series of three gigs with Carmelo: Cortona in the main square: a location I've always wanted to play!...ever since I saw Steve Winwood and Tito Puente there, eleven years ago........ Then Citta della Pieve at Bistro del Duca and then I Girasoli in Camucia.

Cena della amicizia PACIANO

2009-07-27T15:21:00.003+02:00

Played with Alberto di Giacomo: percussionist from Rome: great fun!

Reflections on the starving artist

2009-07-13T12:31:00.002+02:00

Reflections on the starving artist

Excerpt:
'The artist looks back on a poor, unfortunate but colourful upbringing and reminisces about a personal struggle to achieve their goals, despite the negative elements of their early days. It also implies that a certain level of personal suffering, is beneficial, almost mandatory, for the creative soul. I don't believe there is any evidence that implies any correlation between suffering and creativity. There are certainly examples of artists dying in poverty, only to be discovered' posthumously, however that doesn't imply a causal link between starvation and inspiration!'

Scary...

2009-07-13T12:24:00.000+02:00

I read this on you tube today!

'I was six and my grandpa introduced me to the james gang.'

where did the years go.....

Good ole Jean-Paul

2009-07-10T11:25:00.000+02:00

‘Three o’clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do’
Jean-Paul Sartre

2009-07-03T20:51:00.002+02:00

Elvis Doom and Gloom

2009-07-03T12:05:00.001+02:00

"There are now at least 85,000 Elvii (SIC: Elvis Impersontaors) around the world, compared to only 170 in 1977 when Elvis died. At this rate of growth, experts predict that by 2019 Elvis impersonators will make up a third of the world population."

Michael Jackson

2009-06-27T09:35:00.005+02:00

Whist uploading the previous post, I was browsing idly, and came across a site claiming that Michael Jackson had faked his own death, with friends of the paramedics who found him saying, it didn't look at all like him etc. etc.. Quite a 'believable' conspiracy theory? yes until you read that the next story is, wait for it:

EGYPTIAN PHARAOH FLEW ON UFO

amore

2009-06-27T09:16:00.005+02:00

This is part of an ongoing project entitled: 'At a slight angle to the universe' completed for an exhibition entitled Contaminazioni Urbane: this year's theme being love.

Love can put our lives out of balance. We don’t know where (and often, who we are…) Every second alone could be a year; but every hour together seems like no time at all. Time changes. We lose our sense of equilibrium and sense of direction. In this project, I wanted to try to emulate this sense of confusion; when love contaminates our daily normality.

'At a slight angle to the universe' AMORE from Rowland Jones on Vimeo.

thoughts on user names

2009-06-26T17:27:00.000+02:00

Why DO people want to call themselves moondrivel gumboot macvitie or some such??!

GIG: Caffe Venezia Chiusi

2009-06-16T09:38:00.006+02:00

Stefano as usual delighted to have live music: played ate and drank for three hours.........

GIG: Panicale

2009-06-16T09:24:00.006+02:00

Festa in Piazza in Panicale to celebrate the opening of Simone's restaurant!
Free food and wine : hence loads of people, so we did an impromptu concert! Great fun!

Qantas

2009-06-16T09:16:00.000+02:00

After every flight, Qantas pilots fill out a form, called a "gripe sheet," which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humour. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas' pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers. By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an accident.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P: Left inside main tyre almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tyre.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.

P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.