Well I haven't written anything for ages and now its nearly Christmas. Good. A lot has happened in the last month, some happy some sad, and though I said I wouldn't use this space primarily as a diary for the foreseeable future, that's exactly what I'm going to do now. I'm feeling lazy so this won't be great writing, but it will convey something more than pure fact, I hope.
First to say is that we finished the album (to be mastered in January), and are pleased for and with it. Brown Trout is the best song on there I think, a real settled piece of music that needs nothing else. I like a lot of it a lot and hope a lot of you will like it a little.
Coming back from Seattle was a shock to the system (we had to get our own food and walk to places again etc) but it was a happy shock. The year's business wasn't over just yet though. Not long after our return we made the video for Leftovers, the next single. This involved me dressing up and acting as a waiter. It also involved me eating all the food the studio had to offer, receiving hair and makeup treatment and listening to people clap our every performance whilst shouting "happiness" very loudly. Enjoyably Nathan Barley it was.
Even more merrily than that though, in mid December I had the best holiday in Berlin with Miriam. We went around all the Christmas markets drinking gluewein and eating meats and soups and cakes. We went to a bar called Dr. Pong where the minimal decor and decks were joined by a fuck off table tennis table and a 40 or so players clutching rackets. We ate breakfast everywhere and with everything. We saw the Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and the Jewish Museum, the Reichstag and the Brandeburg gate. We walked and talked and had a real great pre-Christmas relax.
Shit, while I'm doing this boring update process of what's been happening I might as well note that other projects are going well too. A meeting in Durham about my book was beneficial if not comprehensive and Im currently helping do some stuff for E4 (sketches to promote their new website). Plus, excitingly, Duncan and I decided to make a record in the new year. Oh and also I went to ATP where I saw Portishead (ok), Aphex Twin (good), A Hawk and A Hacksaw (Amazing), GZA (Amazing), Seasick Steve (Amazing) and bowled very badly.
As I said though, there have been some lows recently. As well as my elder brother not being able to come back for Christmas this year, band stuff has unfortunately turned a bit sour in the last week. Essentially the label want to drop the name 'The Sussex Wit' and promote Johnny as a solo artist. They don't want to even include the name on the album cover. Lots of things have been said by all parties and band relations are perhaps not at a high point. I think I will carry on playing and promoting this record, but I'm getting to the stage where it all seems like money and bullshit now rather than anything interesting or creative. Hopefully we'll all remember who we are soon and get past it somehow.
Didn't want to leave this on a low note, so here check out Coogan, he's good:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe-TNpl84Ac
Happy Christmas to all who read or pass through.
Sunday, 23 December 2007
Sunday, 25 November 2007
Shopping
Adam and I just went to the store to buy some beers. A man who looked like a shit Thor asked us where we were from. 'England', Adam cordially replied. 'Oh I've been there' said the man. I pressed him - 'Where abouts?' He replied slowly, 'um...Germany'.
Friday, 23 November 2007
'Happy Holidays' (said in high-pitched american accent)
Yesterday was thanksgiving here in the states; a holiday celebrated by religious and non religious alike and a day off for us. Sounds good, but a miscommunication with my ex-girlfriend meant that we happy four found ourselves in the city on 'turkey day' with no place to go and eat the bloody thing. We hit the streets in the car of our producer's wife's, keen to find a slap up meal and some good ol' northwest American fun.... But the place was sad, the streets lined with the homeless and the forgotten (a picture I'll never forget), and no life seemed to live anywhere around.
Luckily, after a long search we found a few scarce openings; a restaurant, a bar and a 7/11, and that’s all we really needed. I feasted myself on the most disgustingly large meal (pork, chicken and lamb all on one plate), had a couple of beers and then ate cookies and played poker back in the place we were staying near 15th avenue. The place was Anne's (the sister of our producer) and was perfect. She was away in China looking for sponsorship for her manga musical and so we had a free run of it as well, just to top things off.
The day before that was also a privilege that I'm keen not to forget. Artis the Spoonman came in to the studio to play spoons on 'Cold Bread' and 'Honk Kong Cemetery'. He's famous not only in Seattle (where be busks regularly) but also worldwide (most notably for his playing on the Soundgarden song 'Spoonman'). He's also perhaps the greatest spoon player in the US at the moment, and is completely and utterly eccentric. Nowadays his playing is rarely on records, not least because he was so hurt that the success of the Soundgarden record didn't bring him incremental return, but thankfully he agreed to do this session with us.
His playing was amazing, never stock or similar and always with a content smile on his face and closed eyes. His instruments were multifarious and odd; spoons of metal and wood, along with forks and other odds and ends. And his performance, fuck, it was just consistently entertaining, wrapping his fingers, hiting his legs and mouth with the spoons and many more moves besides, whenever anyone was watching.
At 60, with old skin, bald head, orange shorts and a toothy smile, Spoonman is completely mad but he's not detached. His manager told us that on the ride over, as with all trips they've made before, Artis told him stories from start to finish, sometimes with tears in his eyes and sometimes shouting with the force of fear and trembling hurtling though his vocal chords.
While we were hanging out in the control room he told us an amazing story too. When he was six his teachers asked him what he wanted to be, and he said a musician. They pushed him further and asked what sort, and he was stuck. He didn’t know what that meant, what it meant to have sorts of music, to have people tell you what was this and what was that, and he was left without words. Very slowly, with his teachers looking down on him, a term apparated into the front of his mind to describe the feeling he had, the feeling that music shouldn’t be the way they wanted it to be, and he said 'Jazz'. His teachers laughed at him..... Looking up at us as if we were they, he shouted, “you can want to be a mercenary or you can want to be a missionary, it don’t matter, if you’re six then there ain’t no offence in none of that stuff…” And he's right you know, he's really right.
Before signing off for today I want to finally say that I’ve decided on the subjects of my Christmas essays for this year. In no particular order they'll be on; 1) ‘the spiritual home‘, 2) ‘mastery and the clogging of freedom‘, 3) ‘honesty vs. truth‘, and 4) ‘on not having seen many films‘.
Till soon.
Luckily, after a long search we found a few scarce openings; a restaurant, a bar and a 7/11, and that’s all we really needed. I feasted myself on the most disgustingly large meal (pork, chicken and lamb all on one plate), had a couple of beers and then ate cookies and played poker back in the place we were staying near 15th avenue. The place was Anne's (the sister of our producer) and was perfect. She was away in China looking for sponsorship for her manga musical and so we had a free run of it as well, just to top things off.
The day before that was also a privilege that I'm keen not to forget. Artis the Spoonman came in to the studio to play spoons on 'Cold Bread' and 'Honk Kong Cemetery'. He's famous not only in Seattle (where be busks regularly) but also worldwide (most notably for his playing on the Soundgarden song 'Spoonman'). He's also perhaps the greatest spoon player in the US at the moment, and is completely and utterly eccentric. Nowadays his playing is rarely on records, not least because he was so hurt that the success of the Soundgarden record didn't bring him incremental return, but thankfully he agreed to do this session with us.
His playing was amazing, never stock or similar and always with a content smile on his face and closed eyes. His instruments were multifarious and odd; spoons of metal and wood, along with forks and other odds and ends. And his performance, fuck, it was just consistently entertaining, wrapping his fingers, hiting his legs and mouth with the spoons and many more moves besides, whenever anyone was watching.
At 60, with old skin, bald head, orange shorts and a toothy smile, Spoonman is completely mad but he's not detached. His manager told us that on the ride over, as with all trips they've made before, Artis told him stories from start to finish, sometimes with tears in his eyes and sometimes shouting with the force of fear and trembling hurtling though his vocal chords.
While we were hanging out in the control room he told us an amazing story too. When he was six his teachers asked him what he wanted to be, and he said a musician. They pushed him further and asked what sort, and he was stuck. He didn’t know what that meant, what it meant to have sorts of music, to have people tell you what was this and what was that, and he was left without words. Very slowly, with his teachers looking down on him, a term apparated into the front of his mind to describe the feeling he had, the feeling that music shouldn’t be the way they wanted it to be, and he said 'Jazz'. His teachers laughed at him..... Looking up at us as if we were they, he shouted, “you can want to be a mercenary or you can want to be a missionary, it don’t matter, if you’re six then there ain’t no offence in none of that stuff…” And he's right you know, he's really right.
Before signing off for today I want to finally say that I’ve decided on the subjects of my Christmas essays for this year. In no particular order they'll be on; 1) ‘the spiritual home‘, 2) ‘mastery and the clogging of freedom‘, 3) ‘honesty vs. truth‘, and 4) ‘on not having seen many films‘.
Till soon.
Monday, 19 November 2007
Twin Peaks (….cos I couldn’t think of a pun).
With tracking for the album nearly finished we used our day off yesterday to visit the place where twin peaks was filmed (about a fifteen minute drive from the studio). Our A and R guy Jay is a huge fan and it was very much his idea to go there. Still, the site itself, even for a twin peaks virgin like me, is completely beautiful. An intense waterfall arises from a huge cavern of green and grey and sprays Spanish tourists with fine, fiddly rain. It was a great place to see, and a real help to get out of our little bubble, even if my legs were stinging in the American cold.
Today all are relaxed and ready for the final push before mixing. I have a few background vocals to punch in and a few little percussive fiddly bits to do as well, but on the whole stuff is really taking shape. I’m at a stage with the record where I think that the things that Im not so sure about at the moment will become things that I accept and warm to in the future, rather than constant niggles. That‘s a good stage to be it, I reckon.
As soon as this record‘s done and dusted, incidentally, I think I’m going to use this little corner of the internet as a space for my essays as well as an online journal. I’ve set myself the task of writing 5 essays before Christmas, one of which will be an edited version of the piece I wrote on approaching moral situations a while back. I’ll post the topics as soon I‘ve decided them.
My chess idea, by the way, is for two teams of two. Let us call them team A and B. First, team A and team B decide if they are white or black. It is important to note here that in this variant of the game each team can be white or black, that is can fight for the victory of the white or black pieces respectively, but do not have to have both players controlling the pieces of the team that they are playing for, that is team A, even if white, do not have to have both players controlling white pieces. So, let us say then that in this game team A are indeed white and team B are black. Then, and here it gets interesting, each team sends one player to play with the white pieces and one player to play with the black pieces. So, on a standard chess board, the white pieces are controlled by player one from team A and player one from team B (who take alternate goes to move a piece), and the black pieces are controlled by player two from team A and player two from team B (who also take alternate goes to move a piece).
As team A are white in this game, player one from team A, who is playing with the white pieces and is white, is trying to win with each go he takes, but player one from team B, who is also playing with the white pieces, but is black, is trying to lose with each go he takes. The same applies, but vice-versa, for player two of team A and B, who are both playing with the black pieces but are on different sides (white and black). Player one and two from each team must work together and frustrate their opponents, even though they are playing with different sets of pieces.
White and black pieces still move in succession, rather than white following white etc. So the play would move, in this game as the example, with player one from team A, moving a white piece, then player two from team B, moving a black piece, then player one from Team B, moving a white piece and then player two from team A, moving a black piece.
AND THERE YOU HAVE IT….!!!
That’s a days work done already….
Today all are relaxed and ready for the final push before mixing. I have a few background vocals to punch in and a few little percussive fiddly bits to do as well, but on the whole stuff is really taking shape. I’m at a stage with the record where I think that the things that Im not so sure about at the moment will become things that I accept and warm to in the future, rather than constant niggles. That‘s a good stage to be it, I reckon.
As soon as this record‘s done and dusted, incidentally, I think I’m going to use this little corner of the internet as a space for my essays as well as an online journal. I’ve set myself the task of writing 5 essays before Christmas, one of which will be an edited version of the piece I wrote on approaching moral situations a while back. I’ll post the topics as soon I‘ve decided them.
My chess idea, by the way, is for two teams of two. Let us call them team A and B. First, team A and team B decide if they are white or black. It is important to note here that in this variant of the game each team can be white or black, that is can fight for the victory of the white or black pieces respectively, but do not have to have both players controlling the pieces of the team that they are playing for, that is team A, even if white, do not have to have both players controlling white pieces. So, let us say then that in this game team A are indeed white and team B are black. Then, and here it gets interesting, each team sends one player to play with the white pieces and one player to play with the black pieces. So, on a standard chess board, the white pieces are controlled by player one from team A and player one from team B (who take alternate goes to move a piece), and the black pieces are controlled by player two from team A and player two from team B (who also take alternate goes to move a piece).
As team A are white in this game, player one from team A, who is playing with the white pieces and is white, is trying to win with each go he takes, but player one from team B, who is also playing with the white pieces, but is black, is trying to lose with each go he takes. The same applies, but vice-versa, for player two of team A and B, who are both playing with the black pieces but are on different sides (white and black). Player one and two from each team must work together and frustrate their opponents, even though they are playing with different sets of pieces.
White and black pieces still move in succession, rather than white following white etc. So the play would move, in this game as the example, with player one from team A, moving a white piece, then player two from team B, moving a black piece, then player one from Team B, moving a white piece and then player two from team A, moving a black piece.
AND THERE YOU HAVE IT….!!!
That’s a days work done already….
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
Back to Bizzness.
I am sitting in the TV room in Seattle contemplating a whiskey and root-beer. Johnny is laying down the trumpet track for Brown Trout Blues and Joe is playing an old recording of Jimmy Rogers on his computer. Work is well out here and the album taking shape. Its a tight schedule for the next couple of weeks because we've got a lot of overdubs to do and not a whole lot of time to do them, but I think we'll get it done in time. Vertigo will sack us if we don't so that's a pretty good incentive....
The talk in the studio today, amongst other things, has focused on what our policy should be regarding corporate gigs. We turned one down recently because of the associations and practices of the companies involved. Its not a matter of being holier than thou, it just strikes us that if we do have a choice in how our music is used then we would all prefer not to support unethical business and industry.
We also collectively realised that when you score a goal in football its basically a licence to do anything in the ensuing ten seconds, as long as people think it a legitimate celebration of your efforts. You can even do stuff that the state frowns upon as long as you don't go into the crowd. I reckon you could even black-up, as unpalatable as that is, without raising too many eyebrows. Perhaps I should email Michael Moor about this and he can make a hard hitting but popular film about it.
Oh and I've invented a new version of chess.... More on that later.
The talk in the studio today, amongst other things, has focused on what our policy should be regarding corporate gigs. We turned one down recently because of the associations and practices of the companies involved. Its not a matter of being holier than thou, it just strikes us that if we do have a choice in how our music is used then we would all prefer not to support unethical business and industry.
We also collectively realised that when you score a goal in football its basically a licence to do anything in the ensuing ten seconds, as long as people think it a legitimate celebration of your efforts. You can even do stuff that the state frowns upon as long as you don't go into the crowd. I reckon you could even black-up, as unpalatable as that is, without raising too many eyebrows. Perhaps I should email Michael Moor about this and he can make a hard hitting but popular film about it.
Oh and I've invented a new version of chess.... More on that later.
Thursday, 8 November 2007
When the shit goes down....
A lot has happened between this and the last post. JFATSW completed a tour supporting Iron and Wine with great gigs in Belfast (a city that I found amazingly interesting bruised and battered as it is), Dublin, London, Cardiff (the best of the lot), Brighton, Nottingham and finally Reading. The tour was a good one, the cities interesting and the other band lovely, but it was still hard... I find the whole process of touring really hard, truth be told. Though the 40 minutes on stage is always incredible, I get little sleep on foreign soil and I feel consistently far away and disconnected. Hopefully this will all get easier.... I did take a photo of some nuns eating a burger king, so it wasn't all tough.
Back on terra firma things are great. I've finally moved in to my house in K town and am unpacking when and where I can. There are a few teething problems with the place but its nothing I can't get my head around. In other news The Box is getting a whole world of airplay, Jo Whiley the latest to give it the thumbs up, and we played the most amazing gig at Madam Jojo's a couple of nights back - a real homecoming. My favourite thing about the night was that a girl in the front row attempted to mouth the words of every song we played but actually knew very few. Her attempt at outdoing her mates must have seemed to the casual observer as a rather polite but still distressing case of Tourette's. Beware you young fans.... I'm watching you closely!
So, its off to Paris for a gig on Saturday and then Seattle straight after that to finish the album... It should be fun work, although not as fun as was going to Primrose Hill on a rare night off with my girlfriend to watch London's multifarious fireworks displays on the 5th of November. That was a pretty glorious evening, and its that sort of stuff that I get excited about. I think in primary school that would qualify me as being 'Gay'. What can you do...?
Best be off then,
hope anyone reading this is good and well,
Matty
Back on terra firma things are great. I've finally moved in to my house in K town and am unpacking when and where I can. There are a few teething problems with the place but its nothing I can't get my head around. In other news The Box is getting a whole world of airplay, Jo Whiley the latest to give it the thumbs up, and we played the most amazing gig at Madam Jojo's a couple of nights back - a real homecoming. My favourite thing about the night was that a girl in the front row attempted to mouth the words of every song we played but actually knew very few. Her attempt at outdoing her mates must have seemed to the casual observer as a rather polite but still distressing case of Tourette's. Beware you young fans.... I'm watching you closely!
So, its off to Paris for a gig on Saturday and then Seattle straight after that to finish the album... It should be fun work, although not as fun as was going to Primrose Hill on a rare night off with my girlfriend to watch London's multifarious fireworks displays on the 5th of November. That was a pretty glorious evening, and its that sort of stuff that I get excited about. I think in primary school that would qualify me as being 'Gay'. What can you do...?
Best be off then,
hope anyone reading this is good and well,
Matty
Thursday, 25 October 2007
Home and Away
I got to enjoy the luxury of my own bed for but a single night. Yesterday, having just landed at Heathrow, we were informed that we'd be leaving for Ireland the very next day (rather than the day after as planned). We're off to Belfast and Dublin to support Iron and Wine on the Irish leg of their European tour but didn't realise that our ferry was booked for the evening before the day of the first gig... It was pretty hellish to find out that we would have next to no time to get over the jet lag or to see our girlfriends, but now, riding along in the tour bus (where blogging is enabled by a wireless system and our new tour manager Chris sits more peacefully at the wheel than Kevin), I am over the worst of the shock. Oftentimes I wonder to what extent the trade off between employment and commodification in this business is warranted, or at least worthwhile, but there are indeed excellent experiences along the way. The last day in Seattle was one such, for instance. A huge fire, built by Ryan's dad Joe, sat proudly burning outside the log cabin at dusk, and we ate the chicken cooked for us by Ryan's mum, played our guitars, and talked and laughed loudly while reflecting on our first session in Bear Creek. Listening back to the CD of the work we did there has so far confirmed for me a lot of the things that I felt in the studio - that we got a lot of good stuff recorded, but a lot of more work and re-preparation is needed. That’s a good thing to get now though, I suppose, its all still to play for....
In other news, I’ve been pretty busy trying to put together a book proposal for T and T about the flaws in the Church’s health policy concerning the treatment of people with disabilities. Desirably, I would like to pitch a co-author work with two other writers in order to increase the dialogue within the work itself and to explore a variety of perspectives and expert opinions on the theme. Dr. Wayne Morris and Prof. Chris Cook will potentially undertake this project with me, but there is still a lot of explaining and convincing to be done. A trip up to Durham to meet Chris is already planned. I’m nervous but really hopeful that he’ll come along with me.
I just finished reading a great book too. George Pattison’s ’The End of Theology and the task of thinking about God’. There’s a lot in there to think about and a lot that I’m still trying to penetrate. It is definitely one to re-read. One of the most interesting suggestions he makes is that the very notion of doctrine is a presupposition of a final answer to a timeless body of questions - a way of doing theology that he finds wrongheaded and overly metaphysical. Rather, Pattison argues, the task before us is to continually think about God using the resources of the present, the conceptual categories available to us from the past, and the hope that is accredited to us from the future. More on this soon, I hope.
In other news, I’ve been pretty busy trying to put together a book proposal for T and T about the flaws in the Church’s health policy concerning the treatment of people with disabilities. Desirably, I would like to pitch a co-author work with two other writers in order to increase the dialogue within the work itself and to explore a variety of perspectives and expert opinions on the theme. Dr. Wayne Morris and Prof. Chris Cook will potentially undertake this project with me, but there is still a lot of explaining and convincing to be done. A trip up to Durham to meet Chris is already planned. I’m nervous but really hopeful that he’ll come along with me.
I just finished reading a great book too. George Pattison’s ’The End of Theology and the task of thinking about God’. There’s a lot in there to think about and a lot that I’m still trying to penetrate. It is definitely one to re-read. One of the most interesting suggestions he makes is that the very notion of doctrine is a presupposition of a final answer to a timeless body of questions - a way of doing theology that he finds wrongheaded and overly metaphysical. Rather, Pattison argues, the task before us is to continually think about God using the resources of the present, the conceptual categories available to us from the past, and the hope that is accredited to us from the future. More on this soon, I hope.
Sunday, 21 October 2007
Seattle Studio Diary. Post Four
Its been a long, long, nothingy day. We did a lot this week - 'Shore to Shore' and 'Brown Trout Blues' being the core of our work - but one day off yesterday and the tast of sweet, sweet rest, and we're flaking. After coming back from the city, where we stayed at Matt the engineer's house once more, ate Vegan Pancakes and saw a Pimp's clothing shop, we're all completely burned out. We're ready to go home, I think, satisfied that the work of this week and the last has put us in a good position for the next session. I for one am certainly missing people and places and my own space, and that's making me less than excited about what's going on in the studio at the moment (currently the bass track for 'Leftovers' FYI). On top of all this, we've all, Ryan included, become far shorter with each other's ideas and opinions on the songs as time has gone by. Nothing has suffered for this whatsoever, and if anything its just symptomatic of our big brother like existence in this place over the last two and a bit weeks. We've all had an incredibly amazing time out here and enjoyed each others' company a great deal, but like my dad says the last luxury of a holiday is coming home.
If I haven't happened to mention it before we keep ourselves entertained when waiting to record with Youtube and Xbox. To communicate this passion it is only right that I pass on to you this excellent Chris Morris clip, which we stumbled across the other day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ecxW3KPUD4
If I haven't happened to mention it before we keep ourselves entertained when waiting to record with Youtube and Xbox. To communicate this passion it is only right that I pass on to you this excellent Chris Morris clip, which we stumbled across the other day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ecxW3KPUD4
Tuesday, 16 October 2007
Seattle Studio Diary. Post Three
I'm excited. We just recorded the most amazing version of 'Sally'. It had been a hard day up until a couple of hours ago so having anything good laid down by the end of it was a bit of a surprise. Till late we had put all our efforts into trying to rework a live version of 'Leftovers' which just didn't come. We left it in the end to turn our attention to another old tune, and this one we absolutely nailed. You'll have to hear it, but next to some of the more interestingly processed tracks on the album it will sound wonderfully organic and beautiful. We're progressing really well in the studio come to think of it, lots of songs are getting there and 'Leftovers' is our only sore thumb. If we keep going at this rate it should be a really excellent first session. Incidentally, while I'm talking music stuff I should mention, in case anyone is reading this, that our first headline tour has just been announced and details will be up very soon on the myspace page.
Today was our first day back in the studio after two days off. We used the weekend to get out of the cabin in which we live, work and play too much Xbox, and go and see the city. It was a weird couple of days. On the first, as well as meeting up with my ex girlfriend who has just moved to the west coast, a transvestite tried it on with Joe at about 2 in the morning and got really very annoyed when our cellist told him, "I'm obviously not gay", then a taxi driver shouted "don't ask me that fucking question" at me when I asked him if the girls on the street corners were prostitutes, and finally the only place that we could buy alcohol from late in the evening was a strip bar. Or rather, we thought that the only place we could buy alcohol from late in the evening was a strip bar. On entering 'The Lusty Lady' we realised it didn't serve beer at all and was in fact frequented solely by little men pleasuring themselves in small cubicles. We were forced to pay five dollars so that Joe could chat to a girl fully-clothed for five minutes. This way we were not beaten up for being there without pleasuring ourselves in small cubicles.
On my second day in Seattle I met a man who self publishes his own crappy novels, but impressively so. He even buys huge cow hides so as to be able to hand make the book covers himself too. His latest work is about Lucifer being reborn on earth but with one vital weakness....you guessed it, a human heart. 'Fuck me, a human heart', you say, 'won't he fall in love with God who is coincidentally born on the earth at the same time as he but in the form of a beautiful woman?' Well yes, reader, yes he will. As intrigued by the story as I imagine you are, I bought one of his books. No that's not fair, it wasn't only because I was intrigued by the story, but also because I was intrigued by how incredibly proud he was of the preface he had written to his story, which he asked me to read over and over again.
In the evening of our second day off we ended up seeing a Bat For Lashes show for free because they kindly put us on the guestlist. Their stuff is a bit too drama school for me, but its not offensive and it was really cool to see some live music in Seattle. I hope we get to play here one day too. Before we finally got to our resting place for the evening (the floor of our studio engineer Matt's place), however, a final weird kick in the tail of the weekend occurred. The taxi driver driving us home, more friendly than the one we had had the previous evening, turned out to know someone who worked at Loughborough University in the physics department, and in all probability will know my dad. I guess you just can't escape the stench of that Borough of Love (/Lough...)....
Today was our first day back in the studio after two days off. We used the weekend to get out of the cabin in which we live, work and play too much Xbox, and go and see the city. It was a weird couple of days. On the first, as well as meeting up with my ex girlfriend who has just moved to the west coast, a transvestite tried it on with Joe at about 2 in the morning and got really very annoyed when our cellist told him, "I'm obviously not gay", then a taxi driver shouted "don't ask me that fucking question" at me when I asked him if the girls on the street corners were prostitutes, and finally the only place that we could buy alcohol from late in the evening was a strip bar. Or rather, we thought that the only place we could buy alcohol from late in the evening was a strip bar. On entering 'The Lusty Lady' we realised it didn't serve beer at all and was in fact frequented solely by little men pleasuring themselves in small cubicles. We were forced to pay five dollars so that Joe could chat to a girl fully-clothed for five minutes. This way we were not beaten up for being there without pleasuring ourselves in small cubicles.
On my second day in Seattle I met a man who self publishes his own crappy novels, but impressively so. He even buys huge cow hides so as to be able to hand make the book covers himself too. His latest work is about Lucifer being reborn on earth but with one vital weakness....you guessed it, a human heart. 'Fuck me, a human heart', you say, 'won't he fall in love with God who is coincidentally born on the earth at the same time as he but in the form of a beautiful woman?' Well yes, reader, yes he will. As intrigued by the story as I imagine you are, I bought one of his books. No that's not fair, it wasn't only because I was intrigued by the story, but also because I was intrigued by how incredibly proud he was of the preface he had written to his story, which he asked me to read over and over again.
In the evening of our second day off we ended up seeing a Bat For Lashes show for free because they kindly put us on the guestlist. Their stuff is a bit too drama school for me, but its not offensive and it was really cool to see some live music in Seattle. I hope we get to play here one day too. Before we finally got to our resting place for the evening (the floor of our studio engineer Matt's place), however, a final weird kick in the tail of the weekend occurred. The taxi driver driving us home, more friendly than the one we had had the previous evening, turned out to know someone who worked at Loughborough University in the physics department, and in all probability will know my dad. I guess you just can't escape the stench of that Borough of Love (/Lough...)....
Thursday, 11 October 2007
Seattle Studio Diary. Post Two
Well we've been here four days and the jet lag is subsiding. We haven't had time to venture into the big city yet but we have had time to visit a coffee booth round the corner where a mocha is served to you by a girl in a bikini. Tasty. Tracking for the album is well underway too. Tickle Me Pink is coming on a treat and The Box is sounding like a lunging Waitsian monster full of aggression and vigour.
So, things are progressing nicely. All in all there are thirteen tracks to record in contention for a spot on the album, and I think that all thirteen will be good enough to make the cut. On the wall of the control room in the studio are sellotaped 13 A4 sheets containing the name of each song to be done and who is to play what on it. I find this quite an oddly exciting sight. For the first time in a fair while I have a real sense that what we are doing here is making an album, a cohesive thing with its own parts and scenes and stages. I just hope to God that we manage to express in the recordings our sense of fidelity to our original ideas and our sense of appreciation of the moment and place that the songs find themselves in now.
So, things are progressing nicely. All in all there are thirteen tracks to record in contention for a spot on the album, and I think that all thirteen will be good enough to make the cut. On the wall of the control room in the studio are sellotaped 13 A4 sheets containing the name of each song to be done and who is to play what on it. I find this quite an oddly exciting sight. For the first time in a fair while I have a real sense that what we are doing here is making an album, a cohesive thing with its own parts and scenes and stages. I just hope to God that we manage to express in the recordings our sense of fidelity to our original ideas and our sense of appreciation of the moment and place that the songs find themselves in now.
Tuesday, 9 October 2007
Seattle Studio Diary. Post One
We're in and settled at Bearcreek studios outside of Seattle. (Google 'Bearcreek Studios' for a virtual tour of the place and pictures of Lionel Richie sitting where I am now.) It really is the wilderness out here. The only shops within range of our log cabin studio - where the roof is populated by owls and the lake outside is frozen - are minmarts run by women who must be inbred or else have too many teeth for their too small mouths. Despite all this, cellist Joe - king of the leftfield - still opted to buy a four pack of 'goat weed' aphrodisiacs on arrival in case any of the local sister/brother lovers needed chemically convincing that he is indeed a good egg.
My purchases have been much less lively, but have made me exceedingly happy none the less. I did the tourist thing, as tourists should, and bought everything under the sun in the hick minimart that I love and can't get in the UK (no doubt because it is banned for very, very good health reasons.) So, after I'd eaten a huge corn dog, many Cheetos and drunk a gallon of Mountain Dew I felt good and ready for the day's work.
The day's work was essentially setting up. A great drum tech named Greg - old, bald and armed with expressions like "this is whacked" and "this is really fucked up", which I think means 'rather good' or something similar - tuned in two kits for me to play here in the next few weeks. After this, the guitar, bass, vocals and cello (which Joe has hired over here) were all dialled in and we're now just about ready for the first session proper, which will be focused on tracking 'Tickle Me Pink'. We're going for something in between the live version and the version we released on 'The Epic Tale of Tom and Sue' and Im pretty confident we can get it down. Im sure it will be "whacked" or "really fucked up". More when I know more. Good.
My purchases have been much less lively, but have made me exceedingly happy none the less. I did the tourist thing, as tourists should, and bought everything under the sun in the hick minimart that I love and can't get in the UK (no doubt because it is banned for very, very good health reasons.) So, after I'd eaten a huge corn dog, many Cheetos and drunk a gallon of Mountain Dew I felt good and ready for the day's work.
The day's work was essentially setting up. A great drum tech named Greg - old, bald and armed with expressions like "this is whacked" and "this is really fucked up", which I think means 'rather good' or something similar - tuned in two kits for me to play here in the next few weeks. After this, the guitar, bass, vocals and cello (which Joe has hired over here) were all dialled in and we're now just about ready for the first session proper, which will be focused on tracking 'Tickle Me Pink'. We're going for something in between the live version and the version we released on 'The Epic Tale of Tom and Sue' and Im pretty confident we can get it down. Im sure it will be "whacked" or "really fucked up". More when I know more. Good.
Saturday, 6 October 2007
Back from Tour and off to Seattle on Sunday
The last three days have been hectic for JFATSW. We've been supporting Jack Penate in Wrexham, Portsmouth and Birmingham, had a video shoot for The Box single and been interviewed for channel four, all while trying to get our shit together for Seattle and recording. Nothing has been straightforward. The lovely people at Vertigo Records had booked me a ticket to Seattle for 'Andrew Edmonds', for instance. 'Andrew Edmonds' is not my name. It is the name of my favourite restaurant, but I don't think that would give me any leeway at the Passport check. I made Vertigo change the ticket...
Touring is a funny old business, its basically loads of driving for a 40 minute buzz. Again, because I have to pack now and have no time to spare, I'm going to be lazy and bullet point some of the more interesting events that occurred on tour.
* We were so late for the Wrexham gig that we had to rush on stage straight out of the van and therefore without a soundcheck. There was a TK Max opposite the venue itself. The Gig went well, the TK Max had no bearing on this.
* The Metros, who we also toured with, were consistently described by their tourmanager as "talentless little shits". The main reason for this was that the tourmanager himself was two days away from receiving The Golden Ticket for the Holiday Inn - a free pass to any Holiday Inn in the world given to someone who has stayed in the hotels over 1000 times - when, on the very first day of this tour, he was banned from the chain for life. His "little shits" had played laser quest with some fire extinguishers in the halls of a Holiday Inn in Norwich .
* Our Tour Manager's driving was so dodgy that a tally of how many times we got shouted at by other drivers totaled about 15. At one point a hacked off driver deliberately overtook us and then put the breaks on so fast that I thought his intention was for us to crash right into him. Pretty hairy. Kevin was not shy about letting other road users know his irritation either. At one point he instructed Adam (sitting in the front passenger seat) to roll down his window and call the van driver in the left lane 'a cunt'. Adam, put in an awkward situation, did rather well. He rolled down the window and said, rather apologetically, "apparently you're a cunt". Kevin loved it.
* In Birmingham we had to walk through a wake to get to the gig. Unexpected.
* We went through Kintbury. It was amazing. So peaceful. I want to go back there. Portsmouth has a nice beach too with an amazing lighthouse near the pyramid centre where we played. I would go back there too if it wern't for the official crime statistics.
Right, back to packing...
Touring is a funny old business, its basically loads of driving for a 40 minute buzz. Again, because I have to pack now and have no time to spare, I'm going to be lazy and bullet point some of the more interesting events that occurred on tour.
* We were so late for the Wrexham gig that we had to rush on stage straight out of the van and therefore without a soundcheck. There was a TK Max opposite the venue itself. The Gig went well, the TK Max had no bearing on this.
* The Metros, who we also toured with, were consistently described by their tourmanager as "talentless little shits". The main reason for this was that the tourmanager himself was two days away from receiving The Golden Ticket for the Holiday Inn - a free pass to any Holiday Inn in the world given to someone who has stayed in the hotels over 1000 times - when, on the very first day of this tour, he was banned from the chain for life. His "little shits" had played laser quest with some fire extinguishers in the halls of a Holiday Inn in Norwich .
* Our Tour Manager's driving was so dodgy that a tally of how many times we got shouted at by other drivers totaled about 15. At one point a hacked off driver deliberately overtook us and then put the breaks on so fast that I thought his intention was for us to crash right into him. Pretty hairy. Kevin was not shy about letting other road users know his irritation either. At one point he instructed Adam (sitting in the front passenger seat) to roll down his window and call the van driver in the left lane 'a cunt'. Adam, put in an awkward situation, did rather well. He rolled down the window and said, rather apologetically, "apparently you're a cunt". Kevin loved it.
* In Birmingham we had to walk through a wake to get to the gig. Unexpected.
* We went through Kintbury. It was amazing. So peaceful. I want to go back there. Portsmouth has a nice beach too with an amazing lighthouse near the pyramid centre where we played. I would go back there too if it wern't for the official crime statistics.
Right, back to packing...
Sunday, 30 September 2007
2 gigs, a clown and some monkies.
A bullet point list of things of interest in the last week (because I'm too lazy to write much):
* I played in front of 2,000 people at the Astoria, supporting Jack Penate. Joe, our cellist, was the clear star of the gig. Having not taken his huge outdoor coat off until after the first number, he quickly gained a lot of attention. Loud chants of 'Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe' from the crowd were followed up by more outrageous claims: 'Joe is the new Messiah', and so on. The gig was fast, fun and flippant - a half an hour set to charged-up indie teens who didn't know our stuff. Quite fun.
* I saw Joanna Newsome at the Royal Albert Hall. Incredible. I think she's maybe the best on the circuit at the moment, both in terms of performance and material. 'Emily' was my favourite thing she played - heart stoppingly good.
* I said a farewell to my friends Zimbler, who is off to South Africa for a year, and Donal, who is off to Clown School in Paris for a couple of months. The latter is going to film his pursuits. The results should be pretty odd but compelling viewing, as Donal is pretty odd and compelling himself.
* I met a girl yesterday, at my girlfriend's sister's birthday party, who lives with and documents the behaviour of 180 monkeys in Texas. She told me that one of them has a sort of wonky small leg. He is called Gimp. No joke. I asked if I could adopt Gimp. She said yes. I asked her to set up a facebook page for Gimp to facilitate contact between me and him. She said yes. I will keep you updated.
* I played in front of 2,000 people at the Astoria, supporting Jack Penate. Joe, our cellist, was the clear star of the gig. Having not taken his huge outdoor coat off until after the first number, he quickly gained a lot of attention. Loud chants of 'Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe' from the crowd were followed up by more outrageous claims: 'Joe is the new Messiah', and so on. The gig was fast, fun and flippant - a half an hour set to charged-up indie teens who didn't know our stuff. Quite fun.
* I saw Joanna Newsome at the Royal Albert Hall. Incredible. I think she's maybe the best on the circuit at the moment, both in terms of performance and material. 'Emily' was my favourite thing she played - heart stoppingly good.
* I said a farewell to my friends Zimbler, who is off to South Africa for a year, and Donal, who is off to Clown School in Paris for a couple of months. The latter is going to film his pursuits. The results should be pretty odd but compelling viewing, as Donal is pretty odd and compelling himself.
* I met a girl yesterday, at my girlfriend's sister's birthday party, who lives with and documents the behaviour of 180 monkeys in Texas. She told me that one of them has a sort of wonky small leg. He is called Gimp. No joke. I asked if I could adopt Gimp. She said yes. I asked her to set up a facebook page for Gimp to facilitate contact between me and him. She said yes. I will keep you updated.
Saturday, 22 September 2007
An awkward smattering of celebrities...
A couple of nights ago I attended a party to celebrate the opening of ComedyBox - Warner's new internet comedy project. Some of my comedy troop's sketches, if comedy troop is the right thing to call it (which it isn't), will be exhibited on the sight, hence our invite. The night was fun, free and filled with big name guests - Little Mo from Eastenders, Alan Davies and Sarah Cawood (her with red hair off top of the pops) to name but a few. You see, big big names.
Like all media parties this one had its hilarious wacky edge; the waiters practically naked and covered with green body paint... And, like all media parties this one left me feeling a little guilty as to excess of this fair isle. Still, Bill Bailey's band, with Kevin Eldon as front man, played a stormer and I got hideously drunk in front of my girlfriend. So all good there then.
However, that hasn't been the strangest night of my week. No, not really. The previous evening Flynn and The Wit played the inaugural HUSH night at the Royal Albert Hall. What's HUSH Matt I can hear you cry? Well, Sir, HUSH is a new project to encourage younger people into the Albert Hall, albeit not into the main space but into the Elgar Room - an old restaurant oft frequented by Laurence Olivier and his monologues.
The event had been bigged up hugely by everyone involved, and by the press too, and though I never get a huge sense of occasion at things like this, it was indeed a special night - great crowd, good set and excellent feedback. It was a little strange though, with band and audience alike not completely sure as to how to inhabit this quite unusual space. The audience itself was a pretty mixed bunch too, it must be said. Braces-clad teens rubbed shoulders with old Albert Hall dignitaries, making it a quite bizarre spectacle from the vantage of my drum stool.
My favourite part of the evening, however, has to be when an unaware Lillie Flynn told a bemused interviewer how thrilled she was to be playing in a room that had seen the likes of Sir Laurence of Olivier perform here in the past. Genius.
Like all media parties this one had its hilarious wacky edge; the waiters practically naked and covered with green body paint... And, like all media parties this one left me feeling a little guilty as to excess of this fair isle. Still, Bill Bailey's band, with Kevin Eldon as front man, played a stormer and I got hideously drunk in front of my girlfriend. So all good there then.
However, that hasn't been the strangest night of my week. No, not really. The previous evening Flynn and The Wit played the inaugural HUSH night at the Royal Albert Hall. What's HUSH Matt I can hear you cry? Well, Sir, HUSH is a new project to encourage younger people into the Albert Hall, albeit not into the main space but into the Elgar Room - an old restaurant oft frequented by Laurence Olivier and his monologues.
The event had been bigged up hugely by everyone involved, and by the press too, and though I never get a huge sense of occasion at things like this, it was indeed a special night - great crowd, good set and excellent feedback. It was a little strange though, with band and audience alike not completely sure as to how to inhabit this quite unusual space. The audience itself was a pretty mixed bunch too, it must be said. Braces-clad teens rubbed shoulders with old Albert Hall dignitaries, making it a quite bizarre spectacle from the vantage of my drum stool.
My favourite part of the evening, however, has to be when an unaware Lillie Flynn told a bemused interviewer how thrilled she was to be playing in a room that had seen the likes of Sir Laurence of Olivier perform here in the past. Genius.
Monday, 17 September 2007
Some Updates
Well Bestival was really tough - bad organising in the small tents (sound men on Ketamin and so on and so forth) made it stressful, but in the end we played an incredible gig, one of my favourites in fact. End of the Road, on the other hand, was just continually lovely. I got to see some bands - I'm from Barcelona, King Creosote, Seasick Steve, Yo La Tengo, Jeffrey Lewis, Joan as Policewoman, Pete and the Pirates - met up with loads of my friends who came down, and played great sets with both Fireworks Night and The Sussex Wit. Bonza.
The fun's not over either. I have the Royal Albert Hall gig to look forward to on Wednesday. Its sold out already, which is a great thing. I think it should be a really great experience. I'll be sure to report back.
In slightly weirder news, I heard that Andrew Mellows (see two posts below) is now in prison for dealing drugs. Strange old world really....
The fun's not over either. I have the Royal Albert Hall gig to look forward to on Wednesday. Its sold out already, which is a great thing. I think it should be a really great experience. I'll be sure to report back.
In slightly weirder news, I heard that Andrew Mellows (see two posts below) is now in prison for dealing drugs. Strange old world really....
A Phenomenology of Moral Decision Making - #1 The Speed of Decision Making
I was taught religious ethical theory in consistently drafty classrooms and lecture halls from the age of 16-23. Nothing was warm. The commonality of a cool study environment was matched by a perpetual chilliness in the air - an atmosphere not of discontent but of relaxed introspection. This was anything but Klaus Klostermaier's theology at 120 degrees Fahrenheit. It was more like doing theology in a freezer bag.
Choices and questions were presented to us in those classes, and are still presented in similar classes today, as theoretical options to be mulled over and pondered. Choices and questions were presented to us as possibilities having received, and as demanding, a good deal of reflection and head space. Nothing was to be rushed in the great game of 'what are we to do'?
The reality of making an ethical decision is, of course, much different. Most important to recognise is that one does not approach an ethical decision, rather, an ethical decision approaches you. The luxury of a free consideration of what to do in any given situation, or even for that matter the ability to frame a given situation into an array of equal ethical possibilities, is non-existent in a world governed by the forces of practicality, communality and time. It is this last factor, time, which is the most unpredictable and unforeseeable variant in the process of having to make a moral decision, and the one that requires immediate attention.
When a situation arrives in which one has to make a decision with no clear and simple alternative satisfactory to both one’s conscience and the general course of things, a timeframe in which to make that decision almost always accompanies it. The pressure of making a decision, and how one assesses the resources that one has at one's disposal to make it, will always be affected by the urgency of the decision itself.
In some cases that urgency can be a useful resource in itself, clearing away theoretical detritus as the mind and heart become fixed on what is central. In other cases though it can be only confusing, causing panic and distress to muddy any clarity with which one previously had approached the events at hand. Most often, I feel, the latter is truly the case. The reality of having to make a decision and having to make one quick stultifies earlier reasoning. One has to start afresh and has to make quick ground to come to a conclusion that he is happy with.
Whatever the effect of time on ethical decision making is, that it has an effect is undeniable. If then, I may say finally, if then ethical theory is to have any value for those who study it, the restrictions that present themselves on the occasion of an ethical decision arising - restrictions that limit one’s possibility of choosing from the numerous ways of approaching a moral decision - must be noted with the same expertise as the numerous ways of approaching an ethical decision itself.
Perhaps the chilliness of those old classrooms and lecture halls shouldn’t have been the norm, perhaps now its about time for a justified climate change.
Choices and questions were presented to us in those classes, and are still presented in similar classes today, as theoretical options to be mulled over and pondered. Choices and questions were presented to us as possibilities having received, and as demanding, a good deal of reflection and head space. Nothing was to be rushed in the great game of 'what are we to do'?
The reality of making an ethical decision is, of course, much different. Most important to recognise is that one does not approach an ethical decision, rather, an ethical decision approaches you. The luxury of a free consideration of what to do in any given situation, or even for that matter the ability to frame a given situation into an array of equal ethical possibilities, is non-existent in a world governed by the forces of practicality, communality and time. It is this last factor, time, which is the most unpredictable and unforeseeable variant in the process of having to make a moral decision, and the one that requires immediate attention.
When a situation arrives in which one has to make a decision with no clear and simple alternative satisfactory to both one’s conscience and the general course of things, a timeframe in which to make that decision almost always accompanies it. The pressure of making a decision, and how one assesses the resources that one has at one's disposal to make it, will always be affected by the urgency of the decision itself.
In some cases that urgency can be a useful resource in itself, clearing away theoretical detritus as the mind and heart become fixed on what is central. In other cases though it can be only confusing, causing panic and distress to muddy any clarity with which one previously had approached the events at hand. Most often, I feel, the latter is truly the case. The reality of having to make a decision and having to make one quick stultifies earlier reasoning. One has to start afresh and has to make quick ground to come to a conclusion that he is happy with.
Whatever the effect of time on ethical decision making is, that it has an effect is undeniable. If then, I may say finally, if then ethical theory is to have any value for those who study it, the restrictions that present themselves on the occasion of an ethical decision arising - restrictions that limit one’s possibility of choosing from the numerous ways of approaching a moral decision - must be noted with the same expertise as the numerous ways of approaching an ethical decision itself.
Perhaps the chilliness of those old classrooms and lecture halls shouldn’t have been the norm, perhaps now its about time for a justified climate change.
Thursday, 6 September 2007
Besti-post
Yeah, still not getting anywhere with this blog-post name lark. I'm playing Bestival with Flynn and the Wit on the weekend, get it... Unfortunately, as well as lacking a decent blog-post name I am also lacking a fancy dress costume for the event itself. I imagine though that I will make a substantial effort and will look pretty bloody good as a result - this is my usual way of dealing with these events and the usual consequences of such dealings.
In related news, we the band are currently in our familiar rehearsal space in Hackney demo'ing stuff for the new album, which we're recording in Seattle with Ryan H (see a few posts back) in October and November. Its going great guns so far, if a little tiring. We've had a lot of amazing press recently too, mainly the broadsheets. The Daily Mirror is yet to cover us. Fuck, I must also say that I have eaten some extroadinary sandwhiches recently, including A) Chicken Tikka and B) Ham and Tomato. I am pleased with all these events.
Another Animal Poem:
The Jungle Poem by Andrew Mellows.
Nb I say Andrew Mellows, the reason this poem is funny is because there is no way in hell that he didn't copy it.
The Jungle Poem by someone who is not Andrew Mellows.
Whenever I see a lion crying
I often want to say
Get the giraffe to give him a laugh
and chase his cares away.
When the elephant is down in the trunk
and looking rather glum
Get the chimp to monkey around
and let him be his chum.
And if the cheetah does not play fair
at the jungle sports
Get the baboon to swing down the trees
and pull down his spotted shorts.
In related news, we the band are currently in our familiar rehearsal space in Hackney demo'ing stuff for the new album, which we're recording in Seattle with Ryan H (see a few posts back) in October and November. Its going great guns so far, if a little tiring. We've had a lot of amazing press recently too, mainly the broadsheets. The Daily Mirror is yet to cover us. Fuck, I must also say that I have eaten some extroadinary sandwhiches recently, including A) Chicken Tikka and B) Ham and Tomato. I am pleased with all these events.
Another Animal Poem:
The Jungle Poem by Andrew Mellows.
Nb I say Andrew Mellows, the reason this poem is funny is because there is no way in hell that he didn't copy it.
The Jungle Poem by someone who is not Andrew Mellows.
Whenever I see a lion crying
I often want to say
Get the giraffe to give him a laugh
and chase his cares away.
When the elephant is down in the trunk
and looking rather glum
Get the chimp to monkey around
and let him be his chum.
And if the cheetah does not play fair
at the jungle sports
Get the baboon to swing down the trees
and pull down his spotted shorts.
Saturday, 1 September 2007
Dropping in
A lot has happened in the last few weeks meaning little space to blog in - I am very very sorry. Finally, you'll be pleased to know, I managed to put a deposit down on a place in Kentish Town, which after months of looking is a real relief. Its a cool place in an alright area (no sight of used needles on the floors just yet) and im hoping that all the references go through without a hitch. Before all that came about though I was up in Edinburgh for the Festival. It was my first time there and it were rete good. I think that's how you spell 'rete', though perhaps its 'rite' or 'reat'. Anyway I saw some amazing stuff, most notably Tim Key's 'Slut in the Hut' and the Film 'We Are Together', the latter of which is truly an incredible piece of work about the song tradition of an orphanage in South Africa called Agape. It was a necessary few days basically - I chilled out, caught up with friends I hadn't seen in too long and met Jimmy Saville.
I say 'necessary' because I have had a fairly stressful few weeks, which have made relaxation incredibly important. I have had decisions to make recently too personal to share here. Going through this experience has made me come to the conclusion that the speed and surprise of having to make a moral decision renders forethought on their content or possibilities almost irrelevent. It is hard to marry the personal and the theoretical at the best of times, but while spiritually I feel content in providing structures from what I have read to the way I live my life, morally I often feel that there is no adequate preparation whatsoever. To use this blog adequately I hope to develop this thought by offering some sort of phenomenology of decision making in future posts. Don't worry, I promise another few Animal Poems in the near future too. I will not let the shallow nature of Slightly Indulgent slip, I promise...
Right, I must be off to celebrate the 30th birthday of L'Arche Lambeth - the community I worked in for a year, wrote about in my thesis on theology and disability, and feel very committed too. The party is going to be held at Lambeth Palace and Rowan Williams - he who resides in that palace - will preach at a service of thanksgiving. Im looking forward to it a whole lot.
Peace
I say 'necessary' because I have had a fairly stressful few weeks, which have made relaxation incredibly important. I have had decisions to make recently too personal to share here. Going through this experience has made me come to the conclusion that the speed and surprise of having to make a moral decision renders forethought on their content or possibilities almost irrelevent. It is hard to marry the personal and the theoretical at the best of times, but while spiritually I feel content in providing structures from what I have read to the way I live my life, morally I often feel that there is no adequate preparation whatsoever. To use this blog adequately I hope to develop this thought by offering some sort of phenomenology of decision making in future posts. Don't worry, I promise another few Animal Poems in the near future too. I will not let the shallow nature of Slightly Indulgent slip, I promise...
Right, I must be off to celebrate the 30th birthday of L'Arche Lambeth - the community I worked in for a year, wrote about in my thesis on theology and disability, and feel very committed too. The party is going to be held at Lambeth Palace and Rowan Williams - he who resides in that palace - will preach at a service of thanksgiving. Im looking forward to it a whole lot.
Peace
Monday, 20 August 2007
Animal Poem #2
It'll be a busy week. We're putting the finishing touches to our own version of 'Box Song' in a studio in Hackney at the moment. Im also going to the Edinburgh festival next weekend having booked tickets to see Rhod Gilbert, Tim Key, the documentary 'We Are Together' and my friend Kate's play, which should be a whole of fun. On top of this Im pretty tired, having just come back from the Green Man Festival in Wales where we played a really good set to a great crowd in torrential rain. None of this bodes particulalry well for my blogging in the immediate future, but I thought I could at least continue my current series of Animal Poems with Ian Johnson's epic,
The Tortoise...
It's the mildest and slowest of all creatures on this planet.
And as far as age goes it really should be able to manage it.
To over one hundred and fifty years of age.
And man comes along and traps it in a cage.
For its large and delightful shell,
well,
something had to be done about it
ass they were becoming extinct an fast,
once their population was vast,
but it did not last,
so they made exile,
to the fair Galapagos Isle,
Where they could stay and rest in their small but large figures.
All spelling, punctuation and line breaks are Ian's.
The Tortoise...
It's the mildest and slowest of all creatures on this planet.
And as far as age goes it really should be able to manage it.
To over one hundred and fifty years of age.
And man comes along and traps it in a cage.
For its large and delightful shell,
well,
something had to be done about it
ass they were becoming extinct an fast,
once their population was vast,
but it did not last,
so they made exile,
to the fair Galapagos Isle,
Where they could stay and rest in their small but large figures.
All spelling, punctuation and line breaks are Ian's.
Sunday, 12 August 2007
Orthodoxy and Anglicanism Pt.2/2
I suggested in part one of this series of posts that Orthodoxy within Christian faith and practice must centre on the continual affirmation of the centrality and distinctiveness of the Christian understanding of God, and not on the human cultural process' that enshrine this understanding into accessible religious categories, like worship or confession.
If this is indeed the case, then the task that subsequently falls upon us is to consider what in fact the distinctiveness of the Christian understanding of God is. In my consideration, it is the basic Christian notion of God as trinity, a notion that reflects not only the particularity of the Christian belief that Jesus and the Holy Spook are also to be considered as divine, but also that difference within unity is to be understood as a heavenly paradigm.
The beauty of anglicanism, its heavenly truth, is the incorporation of different human cultural process' of enshrining the Christian God within the general unity of its communion. Within its fold, Anglo-Catholics can easily break bread with Charismatics, and so on. Here is, I think, a real expression of Christian Orthodoxy, an affirmation of the centrality and distinctiveness of difference within unity consistently focused on the Christian God.
It is my contention then that the proposal of an Anglican Covenant, a document which would subscribe a basic guidebook for major decision making within each anglican church, is a huge threat to this Orthodoxy. It is a huge threat, because it desires unity at the sacrifice of difference.
Of course, neither can difference be sought at the sacrifice of unity. This is vital to remember also. But, it must be realised that the fundamentals of Anglican doctrine - The Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, the scriptures, the sacraments and daily prayer - have been considered able to safeguard this from happening for hundreds of years. It seems strange that these age old criteria, which have served the church well through a whole load of problematic scenarios, have become doubted within the last ten years or so because of a single issue, namely the ordination of homosexuals.
Anglicanism's unique Orthodoxy is now being uniquely challenged. I sincerely hope it will not be defeated.
If this is indeed the case, then the task that subsequently falls upon us is to consider what in fact the distinctiveness of the Christian understanding of God is. In my consideration, it is the basic Christian notion of God as trinity, a notion that reflects not only the particularity of the Christian belief that Jesus and the Holy Spook are also to be considered as divine, but also that difference within unity is to be understood as a heavenly paradigm.
The beauty of anglicanism, its heavenly truth, is the incorporation of different human cultural process' of enshrining the Christian God within the general unity of its communion. Within its fold, Anglo-Catholics can easily break bread with Charismatics, and so on. Here is, I think, a real expression of Christian Orthodoxy, an affirmation of the centrality and distinctiveness of difference within unity consistently focused on the Christian God.
It is my contention then that the proposal of an Anglican Covenant, a document which would subscribe a basic guidebook for major decision making within each anglican church, is a huge threat to this Orthodoxy. It is a huge threat, because it desires unity at the sacrifice of difference.
Of course, neither can difference be sought at the sacrifice of unity. This is vital to remember also. But, it must be realised that the fundamentals of Anglican doctrine - The Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, the scriptures, the sacraments and daily prayer - have been considered able to safeguard this from happening for hundreds of years. It seems strange that these age old criteria, which have served the church well through a whole load of problematic scenarios, have become doubted within the last ten years or so because of a single issue, namely the ordination of homosexuals.
Anglicanism's unique Orthodoxy is now being uniquely challenged. I sincerely hope it will not be defeated.
Animal Poetry
When I was in the second year of secondary school, aged 13, my class produced a selection of poetry about Animals. It was printed out into pamphlet form, and I rediscovered my copy fairly recently. Reflecting on the anthology some 10 years later I see that it contains some of the most ridiculous verse written in the last 2000 years. I have wanted to share it with others since I found it, and I reckon this is the best way to do so. Over the next few weeks, and perhaps months, I will bring you some of the highlights of this fine collection.
I start with the awesome 'Pussy Cat' by Harpreet Chaggar. As you may guess after reading the first few stanzas of the poem, its main theme is lifted from Pheobe from Friends' song 'Smelly Cat'. Still, even Pheobe herself couldn't have produced the superb nuance of this works conclusion. You'll see what I mean when you read it. Spelling mistakes, punctuation, capitalisation and phrasing are all the author's own work.
Pussy Cat
pussycat, pussy cat,
What are they feeding you,
Pussy cat, pussy cat,
What are they feeding you
You smell like a smelly cat,
Smelly cat smelly cat,
What are they feeding you,
Smelly smelly smelly smelly smelly cat,
What are they feeding you,
Smelly cat smelly cat,
What are they feeding you,
Smelly cat smelly cat what were they feeding you,
Smelly cat smelly cat you look like a dead cat,
Dead cat dead cat what were they feeding you,
Dead cat dead cat I will be missing you,
Missy cat Missy cat I am missing you,
Missy cat Missy cat you look as if you are a heaven cat,
heaven cat heaven cat I will be meeting you,
heaven cat is it nice up there,
heaven cat heaven cat does God have a tash,
Bye bye heaven cat
I start with the awesome 'Pussy Cat' by Harpreet Chaggar. As you may guess after reading the first few stanzas of the poem, its main theme is lifted from Pheobe from Friends' song 'Smelly Cat'. Still, even Pheobe herself couldn't have produced the superb nuance of this works conclusion. You'll see what I mean when you read it. Spelling mistakes, punctuation, capitalisation and phrasing are all the author's own work.
Pussy Cat
pussycat, pussy cat,
What are they feeding you,
Pussy cat, pussy cat,
What are they feeding you
You smell like a smelly cat,
Smelly cat smelly cat,
What are they feeding you,
Smelly smelly smelly smelly smelly cat,
What are they feeding you,
Smelly cat smelly cat,
What are they feeding you,
Smelly cat smelly cat what were they feeding you,
Smelly cat smelly cat you look like a dead cat,
Dead cat dead cat what were they feeding you,
Dead cat dead cat I will be missing you,
Missy cat Missy cat I am missing you,
Missy cat Missy cat you look as if you are a heaven cat,
heaven cat heaven cat I will be meeting you,
heaven cat is it nice up there,
heaven cat heaven cat does God have a tash,
Bye bye heaven cat
Thursday, 9 August 2007
Orthodoxy and Anglicanism Pt.1/2
Well I've been promising a post on this subject for a while now, but in reality I have very little developed thought on it. By jotting down a few initial ideas in the next two posts I merely hope to clarify to myself, and to anyone else who is reading this, what I have been trying to get my head around for the last few weeks.
I spose that central to my thinking recently has been an increasing awareness that to posit Christian orthodoxy as a fidelity to a specific set of cultural values/a way of doing church, is wrongheaded. It is an elevation of the human framework of religious interpretation and expression over the central doctrines that that framework is supposed to be grounded in.
In saying this it is not my attention to deny the importance of religion itself. For heavenly truth to be grasped, interpreted and enacted within the world it of course needs the earthly - the skills and effort of that same world's practitioners. Yet having said this, it strikes me as self-evident that Christian orthodoxy must be rooted in divine truth and not in the process of divine truth's translation into practical knowledge and practice on earth. Orthodoxy must surely be about the continual affirmation of the centrality and distinctiveness of the Christian understanding of God, and not the centrality of certain human consturcts that this centrality has inspired.
I spose that central to my thinking recently has been an increasing awareness that to posit Christian orthodoxy as a fidelity to a specific set of cultural values/a way of doing church, is wrongheaded. It is an elevation of the human framework of religious interpretation and expression over the central doctrines that that framework is supposed to be grounded in.
In saying this it is not my attention to deny the importance of religion itself. For heavenly truth to be grasped, interpreted and enacted within the world it of course needs the earthly - the skills and effort of that same world's practitioners. Yet having said this, it strikes me as self-evident that Christian orthodoxy must be rooted in divine truth and not in the process of divine truth's translation into practical knowledge and practice on earth. Orthodoxy must surely be about the continual affirmation of the centrality and distinctiveness of the Christian understanding of God, and not the centrality of certain human consturcts that this centrality has inspired.
Flynn Things
Festivals are a step up. We played our first last saturday in Kent at the quite averagely named 'electric gardens', and have our next tomorrow in Victoria at an under 18 event. Everything is bigger; the crowds, the sound, the stage, the sense of responsibility to put on a good show, everything. Despite all this though I felt we did a good job. It wasn't particualrly nerve wracking but it was unfamiliar and I was glad that the sunburnt fellers joined the girls in cowboy hats to be fairly decent to us. No bottles of piss were thrown. This was a plus.
We've also been recording a fair deal. After doing the single last week, we went to the Mayfair Stuidos in Primrose hill this Monday to do a version of Leftovers with the American producer Ryan Hadlock - him of Gossip production fame. Its turned out pretty good - gritty, energetic and interesting. Hopefully we'll get to work with him a bit more in the near future...
We've also been recording a fair deal. After doing the single last week, we went to the Mayfair Stuidos in Primrose hill this Monday to do a version of Leftovers with the American producer Ryan Hadlock - him of Gossip production fame. Its turned out pretty good - gritty, energetic and interesting. Hopefully we'll get to work with him a bit more in the near future...
Thursday, 2 August 2007
Singularly Good
Today's Opening Thought: I have found myself telling shop assistants at my local Sainsbury's to "have a nice day" before they have the chance to say anything to me. This is surely a bad thing. I know in my heart of hearts that it is not a competition as to who can wish the other a nice day first. The problem is that it is not a competition that I do not want to win. Incidentally, as I hurry out these platitudes I am also aware of another thought arising: I should very much like someone, a friend perhaps, to present me with one of those orange Sainsbury's jackets that Sainsbury's staff are made to wear. I need a decent body warmer and this would really do the trick. The trouble is that the process of obtaining such a jacket for said friend would be lengthy, complex and, most probably, a little unnecessary. Essentially it is plain unlikely, and as such the consistancy with which this redundant thought presents itself in my mind is a little annoying.
Similarly shallow to these opening words, but much more zesty, is This is a Knife - a weekly video podcast which I help to make for channel4.com. I gather from the lack of response to the questions in my last post that this blog's readership is not exactly strong. Still, I earge anyone reading this post to check it out. It is funny and it is about the internet. If you like that sort of thing you will no fucking doubt like this.
On the music front things are well. We are currently recording the next single, 'Box Song', in the Rak Stuidos in London, with Dan Gretch producing. We're all a little unsteady as to its progress - many things need a good ol' tinkering - but we're getting there slowly but surely. Hopefully we will finish up tomorrow in time for our first festival of the summer, Electric Gardens, on saturday. We are busy like this, recording and playing, till November. It's a little daunting but also very exciting. Hopefully it'll mean more time, rather than less, for pottering around with a few side projects that I've got on the go. More on these another day. While Im on the subject of music though I should mention that this month's mojo magazine has an article on us, well Johnny more specifically. Though it can be rather grating that some journalists don't concentrate on the fullness of the band, all kind press is fine by me. Thoughts on Orthodoxy and Anglicanism coming very soon...
Matt
Similarly shallow to these opening words, but much more zesty, is This is a Knife - a weekly video podcast which I help to make for channel4.com. I gather from the lack of response to the questions in my last post that this blog's readership is not exactly strong. Still, I earge anyone reading this post to check it out. It is funny and it is about the internet. If you like that sort of thing you will no fucking doubt like this.
On the music front things are well. We are currently recording the next single, 'Box Song', in the Rak Stuidos in London, with Dan Gretch producing. We're all a little unsteady as to its progress - many things need a good ol' tinkering - but we're getting there slowly but surely. Hopefully we will finish up tomorrow in time for our first festival of the summer, Electric Gardens, on saturday. We are busy like this, recording and playing, till November. It's a little daunting but also very exciting. Hopefully it'll mean more time, rather than less, for pottering around with a few side projects that I've got on the go. More on these another day. While Im on the subject of music though I should mention that this month's mojo magazine has an article on us, well Johnny more specifically. Though it can be rather grating that some journalists don't concentrate on the fullness of the band, all kind press is fine by me. Thoughts on Orthodoxy and Anglicanism coming very soon...
Matt
Sunday, 29 July 2007
A new post.
Ok first things first, this post title isn't even as good as the last one. I know that, I really do. It just says "A new post", and yeah thats not great. I feel your annoyance. I can even hear some of you exclaming with righteous anger about the unnecessary nature of that full stop. But, allow me this one slip. Hold your cries! Its been so long since I last blogged that I thought it would be better to get at least something down on the page even if I couldn't think of a good title for it. Consider this my adequate response. I'll get better, I promise you.
Well with that understood I can at last turn to the meat of this post. A lot has happened between this one and the last, and here is some of it. Notably, from the 14th-21st I enjoyed an amazing week in Tuscany - beautiful company, weather, food and wine. I needed this. I feel refreshed, less angular and comfortable in London again, and for that Lastminute.com, I thank you. Since returning, I got my priorities right and managed to finish the final H. Potter book without first overhearing the ending. This was some feat. I had to leave public transport on a fair few occaisons because I was worried that other people's conversations were edging towards the Wizard's denouement. My experiences inspired the thought that perhaps I should spend a full day or two riding the tube with a copy of the book open on the last page, in my lap. Then, every ten minutes or so I could shout "Harry's Gay??!!!" with shocked surprise before sitting back to watch the general public's reaction. This plan has not yet come into fruition.
One of the reasons I have been slow to put the Potter plan into action is that I've been fairly busy musicing, both with Johnny Flynn and The Sussex Wit (with whom I go into the Stuido to record the first single for Vertigo Records this week) and Fireworks Night (with whom I had a gig last night). Its not all been playing though, Miriam and I spent Monday evening CD shopping in the newly created Rough Trade shop near Brick Lane. Its pretty exciting, if not fully furnished at the time of writing. Its part of this drive to get people buying CD's again, which is an unremmitingly good thing in my mind. The shop is minimalist, fucking trendy, cleverly thought out and stocks Johnny Flynn and S.W. on 7". Im sold, as you can imagine...
By the way I should say that I am keeping this post theology free because I intend on posting a few thoughts on "orthodoxy and anglicanism" in the next few days and don't want to oversaturate Slightly Indulgent with God talk. Before I finish though I did think that in case anyone is actually reading this I might take the trouble to pose a few music related questions for you to answer. For fun, that is, for fun. Ok? Good. Right, question number one is this: Are there any songs in recent history that contain the lyric "therefore" in them? There are loads with "because", that beatles track is even called "because", but I literally can't think song with "therefore" as part of the verse or the chorus. If you can you get..., well you just win, I can't reward you with anything material. Moving quickly on, here's your second question. Its a more open one this. What english phrases are least likely to become prevalent within US Hip Hop circles? You see for my money "ah bisto" and "bob's your uncle" are unlikely to be found popping up in Snoop Dog's next hot release. I was wondering what other people thought on the matter? Holler at me, please please do.
Keep Safe.
Matty
Well with that understood I can at last turn to the meat of this post. A lot has happened between this one and the last, and here is some of it. Notably, from the 14th-21st I enjoyed an amazing week in Tuscany - beautiful company, weather, food and wine. I needed this. I feel refreshed, less angular and comfortable in London again, and for that Lastminute.com, I thank you. Since returning, I got my priorities right and managed to finish the final H. Potter book without first overhearing the ending. This was some feat. I had to leave public transport on a fair few occaisons because I was worried that other people's conversations were edging towards the Wizard's denouement. My experiences inspired the thought that perhaps I should spend a full day or two riding the tube with a copy of the book open on the last page, in my lap. Then, every ten minutes or so I could shout "Harry's Gay??!!!" with shocked surprise before sitting back to watch the general public's reaction. This plan has not yet come into fruition.
One of the reasons I have been slow to put the Potter plan into action is that I've been fairly busy musicing, both with Johnny Flynn and The Sussex Wit (with whom I go into the Stuido to record the first single for Vertigo Records this week) and Fireworks Night (with whom I had a gig last night). Its not all been playing though, Miriam and I spent Monday evening CD shopping in the newly created Rough Trade shop near Brick Lane. Its pretty exciting, if not fully furnished at the time of writing. Its part of this drive to get people buying CD's again, which is an unremmitingly good thing in my mind. The shop is minimalist, fucking trendy, cleverly thought out and stocks Johnny Flynn and S.W. on 7". Im sold, as you can imagine...
By the way I should say that I am keeping this post theology free because I intend on posting a few thoughts on "orthodoxy and anglicanism" in the next few days and don't want to oversaturate Slightly Indulgent with God talk. Before I finish though I did think that in case anyone is actually reading this I might take the trouble to pose a few music related questions for you to answer. For fun, that is, for fun. Ok? Good. Right, question number one is this: Are there any songs in recent history that contain the lyric "therefore" in them? There are loads with "because", that beatles track is even called "because", but I literally can't think song with "therefore" as part of the verse or the chorus. If you can you get..., well you just win, I can't reward you with anything material. Moving quickly on, here's your second question. Its a more open one this. What english phrases are least likely to become prevalent within US Hip Hop circles? You see for my money "ah bisto" and "bob's your uncle" are unlikely to be found popping up in Snoop Dog's next hot release. I was wondering what other people thought on the matter? Holler at me, please please do.
Keep Safe.
Matty
Thursday, 12 July 2007
Radio One and Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I still haven't mastered the snappy post title. Please forgive the above as its entirely functional. No doubt snappy post titles are the kind of things that would turn someone like Tom from Myspace into a huge fan of my blog, but still I can't get manage to get my head round them. Actually, having just had the thought that someone like Tom from myspace could in fact like my blog if I had clever post titles, I am now thinking that maybe I'll spend some spare time and thought constructing them. Hmmm, thinking about this new thought in turn, I am even thinking that in the future I will think of clever post titles first and then pursue activities that fall in line with them, rather than the other way round. This will make the whole task easier and will fuck Tom from myspace right up. Yes, Fuck you Tom from Myspace, fuck you.
As it is, however, I have no snappy title and so can only cover the two topics that I have outlined above. Here we are then:
So firstly I played a radio one live session yesterday with my band 'Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit'. It was a really great day. Thanks to everyone who came down to support us, and especially to Tom, Luis, Johnny and Laura for their out-of-place whoops and over-zealous shouts of "Wolfson". The BBC is an amazing place. It smells like any other institution but has loads of hidden extras. While we were there the BBC orchestra, about 100 players in total, were recording in an adjacent room. An amazing sight. Our session, though smaller, wasn't bad itself. We played some of the older stuff - Cold Bread, Brown Trout Blues, Leftovers, Tickle Me Pink and Eyless in Holloway - and it all went down pretty well, even if we were a bit ropey at the start. Part of the whole experience was that we drove down to Maida Vale in our tour bus with our brand new tour manager for the very first time. It was all just pretty exciting basically, even though I had to clear away my drum kit at the end of the day and had a poor tuna sandwich for my lunch.
Secondly, though I will say more on this in a later post, I should briefly mention that I am really enjoying Bonhoeffer's 'Letters and Papers from Prison' at the moment. His critique of Bultmann-led Liberal theology, essentially my own position, is incredibly incisive, radical too. Bonhoeffer's basic objection is the obsession with boundaries that has marked the secularity debate for generations and is still the central concern of theological liberalism. Liberals give ground to the popular philosophical conceptions of the world, says Bonhoeffer, but this very enterprise rises from a mistake in how Christians should speak of God. God is not the answer to a cognitive problem, whether cosmological or existential. If this is the case then liberalism will always be a self-defeating enterprise, he says, an almost continual erosion of God as an increasingly unnecessary explanation corresponding to the rise of human knowledge. Rather, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is not about that which is beyond us, but about that which is in and around us. The significance of the Christ event, central and not on the boundaries, is to be found in human solutions and questions and not in possible resolutions or answers. This is the paradigm shift that is needed, says Bonhoeffer, and not the unnecessary trade off that exists between Christian liberals and secularists - a trade off between where to draw the boundary between the Christian narrative and popular materialism.
I'll blog more about this extraordinary critique as well as Bonhoeffer's ideas of the harmony of man's love for his God and his family, and his understanding of truth as more and less than mere brutal honesty, in the near future. It'll have to wait for at least a week though as I'm off to Italy for a well earned break with my lovely girlfriend on Saturday. Can't wait...
Hope you are all well, oh and Tom from Myspace, I've not forgotten about you....
As it is, however, I have no snappy title and so can only cover the two topics that I have outlined above. Here we are then:
So firstly I played a radio one live session yesterday with my band 'Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit'. It was a really great day. Thanks to everyone who came down to support us, and especially to Tom, Luis, Johnny and Laura for their out-of-place whoops and over-zealous shouts of "Wolfson". The BBC is an amazing place. It smells like any other institution but has loads of hidden extras. While we were there the BBC orchestra, about 100 players in total, were recording in an adjacent room. An amazing sight. Our session, though smaller, wasn't bad itself. We played some of the older stuff - Cold Bread, Brown Trout Blues, Leftovers, Tickle Me Pink and Eyless in Holloway - and it all went down pretty well, even if we were a bit ropey at the start. Part of the whole experience was that we drove down to Maida Vale in our tour bus with our brand new tour manager for the very first time. It was all just pretty exciting basically, even though I had to clear away my drum kit at the end of the day and had a poor tuna sandwich for my lunch.
Secondly, though I will say more on this in a later post, I should briefly mention that I am really enjoying Bonhoeffer's 'Letters and Papers from Prison' at the moment. His critique of Bultmann-led Liberal theology, essentially my own position, is incredibly incisive, radical too. Bonhoeffer's basic objection is the obsession with boundaries that has marked the secularity debate for generations and is still the central concern of theological liberalism. Liberals give ground to the popular philosophical conceptions of the world, says Bonhoeffer, but this very enterprise rises from a mistake in how Christians should speak of God. God is not the answer to a cognitive problem, whether cosmological or existential. If this is the case then liberalism will always be a self-defeating enterprise, he says, an almost continual erosion of God as an increasingly unnecessary explanation corresponding to the rise of human knowledge. Rather, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is not about that which is beyond us, but about that which is in and around us. The significance of the Christ event, central and not on the boundaries, is to be found in human solutions and questions and not in possible resolutions or answers. This is the paradigm shift that is needed, says Bonhoeffer, and not the unnecessary trade off that exists between Christian liberals and secularists - a trade off between where to draw the boundary between the Christian narrative and popular materialism.
I'll blog more about this extraordinary critique as well as Bonhoeffer's ideas of the harmony of man's love for his God and his family, and his understanding of truth as more and less than mere brutal honesty, in the near future. It'll have to wait for at least a week though as I'm off to Italy for a well earned break with my lovely girlfriend on Saturday. Can't wait...
Hope you are all well, oh and Tom from Myspace, I've not forgotten about you....
Monday, 2 July 2007
Hello and sorry for yet another blog
As befits the start of any such internet venture, I must firstly take time to apologise. I am sorry, both to myself - for falling into this particular trap, and to myspace and facebook - for whom the division of my time will be the most costly.
Still, a man has needs and self indulgence is perhaps the neediest. In this space then I will write about theology, misc and music and fill my needy stomach with some well earned blogging pie. I can only hope that you enjoy the products of this essentially selfish enterprise.
Yours,
Matt Edmonds
Still, a man has needs and self indulgence is perhaps the neediest. In this space then I will write about theology, misc and music and fill my needy stomach with some well earned blogging pie. I can only hope that you enjoy the products of this essentially selfish enterprise.
Yours,
Matt Edmonds
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