Tuesday, 24 November 2009

Discarded Thing

Discarded thing
Lying on the floor
Neglected in public
Where were you before?

Discarded thing
Were you happy then?
Do you remember
Way back when?

Discarded thing
What happened to you?
Who left you to this?
What did you do?

Discarded thing
Did you let someone down?
Hurt them in some way?
That they didn't want you around

Discarded thing
Do you want a second chance?
Take my hand
Let's dance



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Now playing: Julie London - I'm in the Mood for Love (Every Night at Eight)
via FoxyTunes

Monday, 23 November 2009

Windows No.1

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Now playing: Hip Optimist - Anafey (Half A Stinky Submarine Mix)
via FoxyTunes

Thursday, 19 November 2009

Hot Streak - Body Work



If there's one type of music responsible for my current tastes then it has to be 80's electro.

When I was a kid the coolest thing in the world was breakdancing and body-popping. I still can't do the moves, but like skateboarding if I had three wishes the first two would be taken with these.

Sad, but oh so true.

This track by Hot Streak captures the vibe of most of the electro tracks of the time.

Not one of the most influential, but certainly much sampled and one of my favourites.

It always evokes images of the massive ghetto blaster stereos, New York streets and Big Bird. Hey, I was a kid!

Wednesday, 18 November 2009

The Thomas Carter Chronicles

Okay, so let me explain this slightly pretentious sounding title.

I've been writing this thing on and off for over 13 years now. As inspiration has taken me and time has allowed I have bursts of creativity where I progress the plot or flesh out the characters a little.

As a result I now have pages and pages of stuff written at various stages of my life, informed by the experiences up to that point.

As an example, one scene was written very vaguely and was a chase scene. My experience of life at that point was fairly limited so I didn't have the vocabulary to describe it in any detail. It just stood as a chase scene, that demonstrated two things, the title character's furtiveness and paranoia and also establishing doubt as to whether he was running from something real or imagined.

Some years later, I took a job in London and stayed a lot in various cheap hotels around Kings Cross. After being there for some time and again picking up my previous notes to occupy me on a quiet evening, I re-wrote this chase scene, now using Kings Cross as a character too, the environment now interacting with Thomas. The scene instantly became more alive as he ran the back streets and took refuge in the kind of hotel I stayed in.

So now, with time on my hands once more, I am revisiting my previous notes. This time though these drafts are being made public via the blog to invite comment and feedback.

I would say that the whole story takes in such a wide range of influences that its difficult to say which it takes on more than most. Especially as it yet has to be written, or read, with a cohesive narrative. There are still a number of gaps that need to be filled in my notes so these first drafts will actually get published straight away without me having done re-writes. If you come across these inelegant pieces please forgive me for any weaknesses displayed there as they exist at that stage only to bridge gaps between more established pieces.

There is one bias that will be displayed here and that is I will be re-tooling my initial stories for publishing on the blog. That means they will, in effect be scenes or vignettes that may be from any character's viewpoint or none at all. Of course, should the dream happen and someone decides to pay me to turn it into a novel or something else then I will probably have to bring a halt to this type of publication and go back and re-shape it all again!

I believe the story will have many twists and turns to keep you coming back and whilst it will have elements of fantasy about it I have attempted to ground it as much as possible in depictions of real people, with genuine emotions and reactions. One of my hopes is that you will grow attached to the characters and want to find out what has gone on in their lives. Only your feedback can tell me how successful I've been though, so please leave comments.

If you have any questions you'd like to ask me I would be honoured to answer them and will do my best to inform you of anything related to the story, but without giving away too much of future developments.

I thank you for visiting and reading.

Chris

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Now playing: Dizzee Rascal - That's Not My Name
via FoxyTunes

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

Truth and Beauty

Some people want to see the beauty in things
I want to see the truth
Beauty can be used to disguise anything
Truth allows you to appreciate a thing for what it is
I don't want the consolation prize of 'at least it looks good'
I want to know i've actually found what I was looking for in the first instance
I want to know my motives were correct to begin with
And if they weren't then I want the chance to change that
When I get what I want and i'm not sure I'm right
How can I be happy with the embodiement of something I didn't really know I wanted
I need to peel back the layers where beauty makes it's home
In the world around me
And more difficultly
Myself
The truth is that people often lie to make themselves more beatiful
Lying not just to others but to their own hearts first
I am my own enemy in my search for the truth


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Now playing: Lamb - Gorecki
via FoxyTunes

Monday, 16 November 2009

Frustrations No.5

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Now playing: Bruce Hornsby & the Range - Way It Is
via FoxyTunes

Thursday, 12 November 2009

Oopsy Daisy - Chipmunk



Chipmunk has been on my radar for the past year and whilst I like his attitude and think he has a lot of potential for the future of british music, as usual I like to wait a few years to see if tracks and artists stand the test of time before adding them to my 'lists' (well, apart from the 'My New Favourite Songs' list which are an indication of what I like that doesn't make me look like the old fart that I am).

That said, however, this track is unavoidable for me at the moment and whilst it wouldn't make it as a new favourite it does qualify as a break up song.

Whilst I can suspend my disbelief that an 18 year old rapper has felt the true depth of serious relationship breakdown (although I'm sure he's already had more girlfriends than I'll ever have!) the lyrics do speak to what I've been through.

The clincher though, was the line 'you got my heart beating like an 808'. That is a classic, which helps me to realise life is too short to spend worrying about how hurt you are all the time. Especially when the symbolic vessel of our emotional being is compared the soulless electronic pulsings of a manufactured box with knobs on.


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Now playing: Asha Bosle - Aye Naujawan Hai Sab Kuchh Yahan
via FoxyTunes