I’m going to go live over at thejourneyman.posterous.com where all these posts have been imported (mostly intact)…

I’m basically cutting out all hosting companies and instead going over to hosted services, especially the awesome ones like Posterous, Tumblr etc. It’s where the future of the web is going, along with self-designed customisation features. In the future, the web will be truly open and diverse, and we’re getting there quicker everyday.

I gave up developing websites when I realised it was causing more stress in my life than enjoyment. I do like to stay challenged, but there are smarter people than me working on the web and making it more awesome by the day. I’m respecting their abilities and passions and focusing my own… and that’s just all cool.

…and the name of the thing changes again (obviously) … this one is nothing to do with the western flick, just a new appreciation about what I ramble on about on these posts.

I dislike the term “New year’s resolution(s)” so creating challenges is a good way to evaluate a desire or goal, and put some analysis into how we’re going to try changing and so here are Eleven things I intend to do in 2011

1. To plan and execute one photoshoot per month.

   To plan and execute, ah 2011 is looking up already… Most often I’ve either planned photoshoots infrequently or have just taken my camera out on trips. This way, I’m researching places, going at the best times of year, and at the right time of day. I expect to get my ass out of bed for a few sunrise trips at the very least.

2. Take up Keyboard/Bass lessons

   I want to do this so for many reasons. To advance my ability to write music, to challenge myself to work on my musicianship skills, and to help me achieve my ultimate goal of writing some material to start a reggae/ska band.

3. Join a walking group, and discover more of Wales.

   Pretty straightforward this one, and probably one of the easiest too. No thinking involved, just boot moving. The obvious ulterior motive is scouting places for photography shoots (and the opportunistic shots I’ll capture along the way). With a group and a commitment, I’m more likely to get out more often, and no real need to plan anything.

4. Read my library books, and magazines.

   I’ve decided I might possibly try achieving this one by going to cafes alone and drinking fine coffee. Either on lunch time, on the weekend, or while doing some pre-photography mulling around. Maybe I’ll start reading before bed again too, that used to work well.

5. Do more shopping locally.

   This is tougher than it sounds. It pretty much means going to a butchers, the farmers markets, and even high street stores instead for clothing and such.

6. Study the art of song, melody and lyric writing more closely.

   This is allied with point 2 above, in that the aim is to work on reggae/ska material. I might approach this by deciphering how the artists I like do their craft. This is a real toughie, and it really depends on where I find the time to fit this in as to whether I’ll gain from any activity undertaken on this.

7. Write more.

   I heard about this challenge52 thing which suggests you keep up with blogging by doing at least one post per week. I decided I wouldn’t follow that officially but at least try to do it. Maybe just updating my progress from this post. This should be relatively easy. To write more includes lyrics, which will be less easy but I’m going to give a go at starting to do it more regularly.

8. Finish learning my Taiji form.

   This is already pretty much on the cards, but I aim to practice the form more at home and to really work on the aspects that are weak. I count my general Martial arts work into this point too, as it is all interlinked: see next point.

9. Rise earlier.

   I found that when I have gotten into a routine of rising early, I actually enjoyed the earlier start to the day, and training before the day started helped my stay just a little more sane and centred. It takes dedication to stop being so much of a lazy bones. (Perhaps a new mattress would help maximise those hours I do sleep.) I will also have to get on the wagon for extended periods so that alcohol is not disrupting my sleep, and that’ll help my martial arts work overall.

10. Get on top of DIY home projects

    This one is a real challenge and more. I have a few things I’ve bought or planned for various walls, floors etc of my home, but always put off getting them done. I see lists ahead, and perhaps much decorating. We’ll have to wait and see how this one works out. I think all I need is a series of tasks and a general timetable.

11. To be more openly communicative

    hmmm… I was kind of scraping the barrel for a last point to make it to 11, but this blinder shot into my skull and for a dazzling moment I thought it sounded like enough of a challenge, and something I think I do need to work on. It kind of revolves around being less self-centred, having less need to control circumstances and just being ‘cool’ with everything and seeing everything in a more positive way. Whoa!

I was chatting with an acquaintance a while ago who’d said they have room for only two such interests in their life now. It was a strange thing to have said, as I told him, I’d come to the same philosophy only that I’d chosen to stick with three things.

Essentially, these are the things that I take most value from doing, and which bring meaning to my life. These three things are (in no order of preference):

• Music
• Martial Arts
• Photography

Music has always been a passion, but while I got interested by web design stuff, I neglected it for far too long. In the meanwhile, and as I’ve gotten older (my late 20s), I’ve come to discover an affinity with Reggae/Ska/Dub as a collection of genres and have been inspired to write music in this form. This is where my energies are going in regard to music, but I also intend to use 2011 to seek teachers that can help me rebuild and advance areas of my musicianship and playing.

Photography represents something on an enigma for me. I find it terribly hard to get out there sometimes and shoot, but when I do I love it. As landscape is what I am focused on mostly, it is also a solitary endeavour that yields a spiritual result. Getting motivated and going out alone, overcoming inner reluctance and fear. I also need to meet other photographers, and again I intend to set aside a considerable sum of money for courses and equipment to help me advance.

Martial Arts / Taichi Chuan has allowed me to train my body and reverse the aging I felt creeping over me during a few years of physical inactivity.  It is still a young interest of mine, but I require something to help me stay healthy and the martial arts is a great process by which to learn about discipline, and one’s inner self. Luckily, very little money is required (apart from the monthly fee for attending class each Thursday, and the odd weekend course every few months). This one is a bit more time intensive, but it is also good that I can do it anywhere and all I need is me (and a bit of space)!

Too many cooks … and all that jazz

So where does this leave these other little hobbies of mine? Well they still have a little space, but no, I don’t want to be an expert Human anthropology or World history. Nor Web design, or Typography! These things I can certainly appreciate but I’m not interested in them to the same degree – I simply can’t be.

I respect that for many people these things I dabble with are their passion, and their purpose, but they do not inspire that same fire inside of me, and they are not things I can excel at. And y’know, that’s just ok. It goes without saying that we don’t all have to be experts in everything.

Back in September, I’d just met someone very sexy. Our first time together was perfect. From day one we were inseparable. I wanted to play with her buttons night and day. We went everywhere together. We listened to music together. We looked up at the stars in the night sky. She even got on great with my friends… and we communicated so perfectly.

For a while, everything was fine between us, but it wasn’t long before things started to change. It first happened while we were on honeymoon. She just shut down on me. We were back to normal so quickly, and I kept hoping it was just the one time, but things just seemed to get worse.

That was back then, but now, I just can’t turn her on anymore. I’ve tried and tried but no matter how hard, she wont let me in. Thinking back, she was always so hot, but I was too excited to notice.

Now that something has come between us, I just can’t communicate with her anymore.

I’ve come to realise that it’s over. There’s no other way forward but to separate, and send her back under warranty …

…

Three months ago I got a new phone. A HTC desire. Brilliant. Here was a real Smartphone, I mused. Without being tethered to a desktop PC, I could be online and offline anywhere I cared. It was perfect.

Anyway, that was then, but while I was using the GPS about one month after receiving it suddenly shut down and went into a re-boot loop. I thought it was strange and annoying but I didn’t think much of it at the time. It continued to do reboot nearly everytime I used the GPS in conjunction with an app. How ffing lame.

Last night it rebooted after being used for a while browsing the web, via wifi, and it wouldn’t get past the HTC screen. I left it overnight and decided I’d try again in the AM. Well no hope would bring this bitch back. Not even a hard reset.

So it’d going back for a flash and OS install (I presume) to 3 mobile. I fully expect that to fail miserably at solving the key issue of the circuitry overheating (the white-coloured 3mobile sim card has what can only be described as a circular scorch mark on it[!!!]) and if indeed that’s the case, it looks like I’ll be further inconvenienced with another wait while I send it to HTC to get their oppinion on it, and hopefully, get a replacement under the two year warranty …

PHOTO © ROBERT HEGENAUER – USED WITH PERMISSION.

I stumbled across the music of Jamaica-resident European Reggae artist Alborosie by accident while scouring Spotify for new music, although I distinctly remember only warming to one specific track at the time while I was skipping through from artist to artist. Spotify is both a blessing and a curse for this.

For me, in appraising Alborosie as an artist one of the most essential factors in consideration is the authenticity of the music. A clearly talented songwriter and producer, Alberto D’Ascola cuts a mean tune. Fronted bass and chattering percussion and that ever present ghostly off beat reggae chord-strike; it neither mimics the Reggae legacy nor pushes it too far away. It has authentic originality. The timbre sweaters under a hot  sun, and the lyrics tell stories as exotic as Jamaica’s landscape.

It’s a rudeboy town It’s Kingston town

Kingston Town is a song that hands out a reality check. Behind the texture of sounds created to draw the listener into the experience, the lyrics tell a place of hardship and survival, of danger and violence. The simplicity of the song’s musical construction gives it a sparse slow-marching continuity, which Alborosie’s chanting proclamations fall in step. 

I’ve added lyrics underneath the video, which might help the uninitiated decipher a few of Alborosie’s astute observations. I couldn’t understand the Jamaican Patois at first either, but it gets easier with a wider listening of Reggae. 

Alborosie – Kingston Town from Geejam Productions on Vimeo.

Some man have no money and steal try fi beg a thing
If you no drop no green, a straight up dissing thing
Sound a bun(block)traffic it’s a slow riddim
Jay-z have a move rough, Dem buss di M-16
Some man a drive out pon dung dem have di latest thing
Machine fit inna dem jeans a show off girls and bling
Smell of marijuana round di corner dem juggling an
One mad man gettin frustate outta di garbage bin hey…

This a di gun land, blood run cool pon the white son
Concrete a bun baton path hope your teen but
Babylon bwoy them till a youth, and one whole woman no chance
While a next set a monster di ratatatantan
Them dig more grave than rooms up a Hilton
Small community, get what shoot by a blood star
Every weekend same routine, what you function
push them call more dead than 9/11 destruction, hey..

Di gal dem pants tight like rubber suite
And a dem blows one tidy sum dem do perfect boobs
Dem always a smile if you go bear di isle
Dem gonna play you one trick if you a mamas bwoy
It’s a tough man town, theres no crown and no throne, It a go,
lick you down, With a,dancehall sound
If you a stranger and you’re drive, make sure you know the route
You don’t wanna get salute by a, gun dispute

LISTEN UP

Two seemingly similar albums above, except that the one on the right is a more recent USA edition, which also features songs from the earlier EP ‘Kingdom of Zion’. Notably the song ‘America’ which was track #1 on the former release appears much later in the USA edition. I bet some marketing bodies were involved with that decision, as the song itself is less than complimentary about American ‘Foreign Policy’, and given this is Reggae -aka rebel music- rightly so.

America come to fyah(fire) di big gun
I and I see di old church bun(burn) down
America trick we and go all ways from di truth
I and I behind Jesus suit
well
stars and stripes nuh is not my salvation
dem want fi globalize di world
wid di americanization
uncle son Barry Johnny inna Vietnam
dem waan go Barry Johnny again inna Afganistan

Alborosie began his music career releasing singles, culminating in the Soul Pirate release. Another short set of  much more commercially aware singles followed in the Kingdom of Zion EP. Escape to Babylon being Alborosie’s first studio album.

Check out Alborosie tracks on We7. Mek sure fi buy after yuh try!

Don’t miss Alborosie’s official Twitter and Facebook accounts to keep up with news on the seemingly unceasing studio and live work from man himself.

Any other Alborosie fans out there feel free to shout up in the comments. I’ve yet to meet another fan, outside of social networking sites such as last.fm. I personally can’t wait to hear his next studio release, which going on recent interviews will be something with a big sound and taking his music to the next level: Alborosie interview on JahWorks.org.

 * The title of this post is taken from the song Sound Killa, featuring the lyrics “Alborosie tell the people, Ring the Alarm, Another song is dying”, featured on the album Soul Pirate.

Okay, slightly heavy-handed on the imagery, but the point is that to make it as an artist, and to be paid for that work, you have to translate your music into sales. People have to find you and be willing to part with some cash to say they value your artistic contribution.

With streaming, your music is accessible to many people on-demand, but you might be fooled to think that would harm your revenue. That’s an all too simple analysis, and not really the fuller picture.

exposure

That you can expose yourself to more music than you might otherwise have done is something I value in the service. I recognised this and it is one reason why I have a premium Spotify subscription (also, I didn’t like the ads interrupting my listening, ok!).

Plays on Spotify translate to royalties, albeit there has been contention on how small the revenues are. Yet, it empowers listeners to make wise choices over where they choose to spend their money. The system is self-organising. We’ve evolved from hearing a radio-play and buying the album in hope (and occasional disappointment) to being able to pick and choose. This spreads the available revenue, but means that value is given for value.

No artist would want someone to spend money on their music and feel disappointed, but it does happen. Why aren’t we honest and say that streaming (i.e trying before you buy) isn’t such a bad thing if it gains you dedicated fans and followers? It increases the possibility of them finding you.

Finding you finding me

Yet, Spotify has allowed me to find and support artists I discover, buying CDs or digital downloads as endorsement for my appreciation of their music.

I bought the rare Alborosie disk Soul Pirate after hearing his newer album on Spotify. I liked it enough to actually take a risk and it was Spotify that allowed me to make a purchasing decision.

Maybe for some people music is background noise and don’t get into specific artists and genres too seriously, but then with streaming at least some of what you play translates into a payback for the artist. Hopefully as the technology becomes more widespread and matures, those plays get translated into decent revenue for artists.

As things go, I would say streaming services are lesser the evil than illegal downloads and fileshares.

P.s If you require an invite, just shout up as I’ve amassed a number of invites since I first started with Premium.

There’s an evolution to every photographer’s work, and inevitably perhaps we all start off making rubbish photos. Maybe not rubbish observations, but lack the eye or skill to make the photo the best it could be. I have no idea why I missed this shot among the ones I’d taken in Pontneddfechan last September, but I saw the potential again when riffling through old shots (a library gaining mammoth proportions, mostly from neglect I hasten to add, and I dread the task of ridding my drive of all the crappy shots).

I’d clearly done some post-processing on this, and the original shot by the camera didn’t quite get the white balance right, but my effort at correcting is was just as awful. I suppose that’s a cross you have to bear, but thankfully when I readjusted this shot anew I was really surprised that I could get it right almost immediately and that it was really a shot I could be proud of. Gaining a natural look in my photos is something I’m coming home to – post processing is ok in small proportions I’ve learned, better still not to have to do much to the photo. I’ll still make mistakes but that’s why I do this.

It’s probably about time I head off to these falls again, as there’s still some places I’ve not yet been to and discovered. There are lots of shots on flickr of these falls for obvious reasons, and when I go next my aim will be to try capture something as unique as this one.  The last time I was there in March spring had not yet come, and it was barren, so many of my attempts at shooting came off looking drab and uninspired; another point to keep  in mind for all seasons is to shoot with awareness and not with finality over getting the shot you’d hoped for.

I post a lot more photos up these days on flickr, and while some of them will still be disasters or increasingly as I’ve noticed, rather samey, I like positing there to try and keep a momentum going with my photography.

Yep, it’s nice catchy title, but I’m being obtuse. As you’ll see, the fags are cigarettes, and the bitches, well they’re not bitches at all – really more like witches, and that’s about addictions and rituals stuff.. spells over you bla bla. So ok, I fiddled the title to win your love.

Let me get to the point….

I’m less than 24days away from a whole 12 months off cigarettes. For anyone who looks to free themselves of the insidious effects of cigarette smoking, there are typical known short term challenges, and long-term ones not so often discussed.

The obvious cravings, irritability, etc, kick in within a few hours, but the long term effects remain largely unknown -once the initial and more obvious hurdles are over, people seem to think that’s it. No way, did you really think so? Well, in honesty it came as a surprise to me too.

Part of kicking the habit is the ritual, and the other part is the comfort. As someone who quit and is approaching their year anniversary, this is my analysis. A tale of fags, bitches and witches indeed (well, it had to fit on one line).

Building the Ritual

The reasons why someone smokes are complex and certainly change over time, reflecting the varying stages of addiction. When younger, the impetus to smoke can be a range of superfluous factors, however addiction subsequently arises when the focus for smoking changes from external factors to personal internal ones.

Over a period of smoking tobacco casually, the person learns to use tobacco in ways which become ritual. It is at this stage that the physical and psychological attachment begins. A fag before breakfast. Before arriving at work, for a break, for lunch, before a meeting, and so on. It has been suggested by other psychoanalysts that smoking becomes an emotional crutch, something to lean on that helps us cope.

It’s no surprise then that it’s removing or replacing the crutch which poses the biggest hurdle, not kicking the addictive nicotine.

Quitter

Anyone facing the challenge of quitting fags must face down all psychological and physiological cravings. These are ‘prompts’ from ingrained ritualistic use, and must be unlearned and life de-ritualised.

You can might make it past the hard stress of physiological withdrawal of a few hours with determination. You can make it through a few days, but  that  cup of coffee, that place, that specific time you always smoked, – all these will continuously trigger the ritual in the months ahead.

And don’t forget, your crutch is gone too, and you have to walk the minefield alone. I’ll tell you this also; the absence of that old comfort will cause severe emotional disorientation.  It isn’t a happy place; It’s like a bully came along and stole your puppy right from your arms and won’t give it back.

A very probable reason then why so many people return to smoking having only managed to refrain for a short period.

On a low gun run

Over the course of several months, the initial addictive/ritual phase gives way. You’re no longer reminded of the old need for the crutch day-to-day. You successfully de-ritualise your everyday experience, but what psychological effect does this have in the long term? The absence is not so immediate anymore, but the psychological power you once gave over to the ritual still needs fulfilling.

Sometimes it will get tough, that’s life. It’s doubly tough because you can’t rely on things you had to get you through; the easiest crutch will always be smoking again. The cravings may not be there, but their absence in times of crisis causes behavioural changes which can be equally difficult to deal with.

Witches & Bitches…

From my own experience, I found that during those crisis moments I stopped being the relaxed centered personality I knew, and instead became agitated, restless, angry, snappy, selfish, withdrawn. Like a spell had been put on me.

I dived to the bottom of an endless sea of need, searching for a pearl that I thought I could see, just a few feet in front of me. I grasped for it, but could never reach; everything else was discarded in the grasping.

Unable to see the bigger picture; I didn’t have anything to lean on, or comfort me. I was like an animal without an escape. It wasn’t fun. Certain things that occurred –sometimes but not always beyond my control- that didn’t make things any better, probably worse, but those really are tales for another time.

Ending the void

To move past the initial phase and make it through the long run takes self-discipline. Motivation is short lived. That’s getting started, self discipline  takes a commitment to changing your life not for one reason alone (health, money, etc) but as the reason. Ironically, its just like a ritual.

My only tip to quitters on the matter of overcoming the void left behind once smoking is gone, is to fill the new space with something active. To take your mind away, and all the better if it helps improve your health. Mine happened to be Tai Chi (Taiji Chuan) and the Martial Arts. Learning something new is fun, and this is your best bet at learning to walk without the crutch again. You can’t use it always, but you have something there in the background to work with.

Eventually, even the long run gets easier, and you re-center yourself, adjust, re-awaken from a dark dream, and you’re once again ready to shine.

That’s what the case was with John Brown’s Body. A band which I completely overlooked the first time I put their tunes on (via Spotify). I found them because their counterpart musical outfit are much more notoriously well known, probably not owing too much to their moniker 10 ft Ganja Plant, but instead their music which is rooted in re-creating original Reggae sounds.

There’s one thing which distinguishes John Brown’s body from 10 ft Ganja Plant, and that’s their progressive ‘Future Roots’ sound. Amplify then, is already one step in the past, and one in the future. That band-members have earned their stripes as Reggae all-stars via 10ft is one reason why I believe JBB succeeds in creating a very fresh, vibrant new Reggae sound. Unfettered by the need to re-create that obvious thread to the past, Amplify brings the instruments of that sound and out comes a forceful, upbeat, conscious and musically re-mixed sound. They call it ‘Future Roots’.

If I was to recommend just a few tracks as a taster, my faves would be:

• Amplify: Upbeat, almost latin-esq rhythym.
• Give Yourself Over: Inspiring and conscious sound
• Push Some Air: Rousing gig-ready shouter
• Ghost Notes: Chilled out, slow rocker

There are numerous outfits which ape Reggae styles, and usually they come off sounding a little too tongue in cheek even if the sentiment is genuine. This couldn’t be further from what John Brown’s Body achieve, seamlessly integrating a distinctive classic sound of reggae and creating a new kind of Reggae. Bass, Brass, Horns, off-beat guitar strikes, lucid and tuneful vocals, expert percussion. It’s all there. Turned on its head.

Image Source

Inspired by bands such as John Brown’s Body, 10 ft Ganja Plant, Fat Freddy’s Drop and others etc. Big fan of Reggae/Roots, Dub and such… not looking to copycat or recreate other’s sounds – want to branch out and create new music with solid reggae foundation.

Looking for musicians in Cardiff/South Wales area (or nearby) :

Vocalists (and/or) Singer/songwriter/guitarists
Drummer/percussionist
Bassist
Keys player
Brass (trumpet/trombone)

Get in touch if interested

My musical background

I played in a Heavy Rock band previously, and haven’t picked up the electric guitar since we fizzled out. I used to solely play classical too, and I got my Degree in Music, well it was more of a history degree overall with interesting interlude modules like electro-acoustic composition. I’m feeling the need to produce music again after various phases and Reggae is compositionally a good challenge and the bonus is I love making those grooves and vibes. I want to be able to utilise my PC as much with making a sound and recording it.

Ok, what do you mean by Reggae?

Roots/Rock/Reggae

I don’t know when it happened but since using Spotify I’ve branched out how much I listen to. Yeah, I always did like Bob, but I’ve expanded my uptake; I like Old School artists like The Abyssinians, Culture, The Heptones, The Gladiators, The Toots & the Maytals, Burning Spear and Max Romeo, and some Roots/dancehall artists from Jamaica like Alborosie, Capleton, Sizzla. It was the Dubs of Lee Scratch Perry and King Tubby which really opened my eyes to that stuff though.

Reggae/Funk/Future Roots

I’ve also started following the new breed of Reggae which has sparked from Ithaca NY, with bands such as John Brown’s Body, their counterpart outfit 10 ft Ganja Plant. Then there’s a wicked UK-based band, the BackBeat Sound System, which I’m following since seeing them live earlier this year. Plus, there’s a whole scene happening in New Zealand with bands like Fat Freddy’s Drop and The Black Seeds. So a Reggae revival is already happening.

It was mainly the second wave of interest in more contemporary Reggae has inspired me to want to pick up the guitar again and write music. In the past I had a reason for playing, but I never really felt as if I was doing it with any great purpose. I can’t say that I feel divinely inspired now, but since I enjoy reggae so much it seems reasonable that it’s what I’ll play on guitar mostly.

I want to create a fresh and contemporary reggae sound based on the rich musical delights of Reggae, Dub, Ska and Rocksteady. I’m living in South Wales (UK) and that’s where I’m going to try and start this band.

… and possibly other guitarists and songwriters too. I’m posting this up here since there seems to be no great rush of people interested on joinmyband.com, and I figure someone that interested in Reggae is going to find this post if they type “reggae band south wales” into google.

I’m not interested in mimicking any other band, but I want to get a group of dedicated reggae/dub/ska fans together to write great material. If that’s you, then feel free to give me a shout