31st January 2018: Feeling Of Emergency / Super Blue Blood Moon / Personal Stories

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for the feeling of emergency

for the Super Blue Blood Moon. It was not so distinct from my view here in Suffolk, but was bold and full. Some of the photographed images online were gorgeous.

for a personal email whose sole purpose was to share personal stories. A great privilege to receive.

30th January 2018: Diet / Dog Carers / Deray's Voice / Bill Ponderosa

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for the feeling that came to me as I picked up a paper bag of prescriptions. It conjured the emotions similar those times I've picked up a McDonalds bag. It got me thinking about the similarities between the servicing of diet, in spite of the substitution of content.

for those that are dedicated to looking after their dogs fully, for those who take care with their diet, and walk them regularly and routinely.

for the timbre of Deray McKesson’s voice. It really responses well with the microphones used on Pod Save The People.

for Bill ‘Pondy’ Ponderosa. Perfectly selfish and misguided character.

29th January 2018: Surprise & Sorrow / Howard Shore's Scores / Watership Down

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for seeing someone I let down indirectly a long time ago and feeling sorrow about what happened. Though these feelings hurt, and I cannot amend anything now with this person, I know inside I care about them, and I know that I have learned. May these feeling motivate positive actions to give back in other ways.

for Howard Shore’s film scores.

for Watership Down

28th January 2018: Cinema Memories / Shining Edge Of A Sword / Tastelessness

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for remembering what parts of what cinema I was sat in when I saw certain movies for the first time.

for the sharp, shining edge of a sword.

for the swords my gran kept, disguised as walking-sticks. They were exciting to me as a child. I am still thrilled by their deception.

for tastelessness, expressions of tastelessness. Words and acting as another can take us to imaginary places beyond our beliefs, outside of our beliefs, and these role-plays can help us challenge our feelings and understandings, for ourselves, for others. To play outside what is comfortable. To not pretend we are naive, where the surface level of any expression is all that is considered. Context. Context. Context.

27th January 2018: Surprise Gift / Forgiving Dr M. / Defenders Against Nazis

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for receiving a surprise gift.

for Bob Hercule and Cheri Pugh’s film ‘Forgiving Dr. M’ and the questions it asks. 

for those that sought to protect one another under the threat and brutality of the Nazis. For those who still do. #HolocaustMemorialDay

26th January 2018: Eating In Company / Sunlight In Shade / Peter Greenaway

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for eating in the company of others.

for a streak of sunlight illuminating a passage of path otherwise shadowed by trees.

for Peter Greenaway. Film can be the most incredibly dense and informative medium.

25th January 2018: Cunnilingus / Nicolas Cage / Werner Herzog

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for the pleasure of cunnilingus.

for Nicolas Cage’s screen presence. Even when he’s bad, he’s good. And when he’s good, he’s glorious.

for Werner Herzog. He is a master filmmaker.

24th January 2018: Old Man / Bells In Music / Mark E. Smith

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for the amusement of an old short man shuffling into a short queue in front of me at the Doctors. He did it so seamlessly. I can never know for certain if this was simply his senses not alerting him to his flaunting of the traditional method, or whether he was taking advantage of his societal identity, but it brought a wry smile to my face.

for the bell rings in my friend’s song Send Forth A Smell! messing with my walking. I kept thinking I was about to be overtaken by a bike. It was a peculiar and pleasantly humiliating experience.

for MES and what he brought.

23rd January 2018: Group Dynamics / Snake In The Mind / Flooded Meadows

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for the classic combination: Brawn, Brains, Good Looks & Wildcard. I believe Pod Save America is a current example of this mix.

for a snake (as in growing from a basket, as in reacting to a snake-charmer) appearing in a meditation that then became Twombly’s red hoop-de-loops from the Bacchus series. 

for the meadows being flooded with water, and the way it changes the landscape so.

22nd January 2018: Helping Mum / Matt Chamberlain's Drumming / Eagerness To Write New Songs

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for being able to help my Mum directly with her work.

for Matt Chamberlain’s drumming.

for an itch to write new songs, having handed my previous ones over for mixing/mastering. It has stretched the stomach, strengthened the muscle.

21st January 2018: Omelettes / Calling / James Cromwell

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for Omelettes. It’s a celebratory form!

for a challenge, what I shall imagine is a rubix cube or a number of rubix cubes. I am not certain of the conclusive state, or perhaps where certain chapters will end, but I have faith and imagination for where they might. I have unsolved problems that compel my efforts. I cannot leave them however much, when I am feeling tired, I would like to. This is me, these things are in me.

for James Cromwell, using his privileged position, to draw more attention to those standing up against fracking.

20th January 2018: Dad's Art Books / French Cinema / Dentist Exam Going Well

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for Dad’s collection of visual art books.

for French cinema.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEP5LbhS4MA

for passing an annual dental check-up without incident. Pleased to see X-rays of my teeth too. It's a privilege to see oneself through that lens.  

http://blog.ninapaley.com/2018/01/01/24-free-goddess-gifs/

19th January 2018: Enduring Ofsted / Nursing Stories / Finishing Album Stage

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for my friend seeing out his Ofsted week.

for Mum sharing stories of her days working in Nursing.

for finishing an important stage of an album of songs, and sending out all materials for mixing/mastering. 

18th January 2018: Counsellor / Power Of Wind / wetransfer

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for my Counsellor. 

for the power of the wind - as described by pulled-up and flattened trees, roadside.

for wetransfer, and the ease it offers.

17th January 2018: Dad & Binoculars / Forgiveness / Complimentary Music

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for the unusual image of looking out of my bedroom window to see my Dad looking back, from the pavement, looking back just above - up at the roof through binoculars.

for forgiveness.

for a complimentary Chow Mwng EP with TQ magazine.

16th January 2018: Transition / Limmy's Twitter / Good Work Done In The Dark

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for transition, in all its forms, but most for the idea of everything always being in transition, there is nothing that is not transition. If something appears still, what it is off-set by is moving, and therefore a transition is still occurring.

for Limmy’s use of twitter. Few utilise character, irony, bravery, and what is in between words/meanings so well is this medium.

for those who check for and recognise good work done in the dark, without needing the vindication of the crowd, public approval for dopamine etc...

15th January 2018: Martin Luther King Jr. / Rainbows / UK Citizenship

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for the commitment of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King

for rainbows.

for being able to listen first hand testament of the process one must go through to gain UK Citizenship, and the great number of hoops one must go through to gain it.

14th January 2018: Merlin / David Sylvester Interviews / Mum Visiting A Friend

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for Merlin, the Beagle.

for the style and content of David Sylvester interviews with Francis Bacon.

for Mum visiting a friend.

13th January 2018: Lord Buckhead / Album Wrap / Creativity Keeping You Up

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for the level head of Lord Buckethead in these times.

for my album wrapping up for mixing this week. The end in sight!

for creativity keeping you up late at night.

12th January 2018: Turkish Delight / Maggi Hambling / Bowie Miming

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for Turkish Delight.

for Maggi Hambling

for Bowie showing Warhol how he made him feel in that filming session. Miming pulling his guts out.

11th January 2018: The Wicker Man / Crème Brûlée / DACA Deal

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for The Wicker Man - the music, the songs, the tension, the texture and grain of the film, the performances, the sensuality, the sexuality, the fear, the turnings. I love this film very much.

for Crème Brûlée

for those fighting to secure the rights for DREAMers in the DACADeal.

10th January 2018: EW / Queen / Memory Of The Feeling Of Book, Not The Book

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for Endless Window and their ongoing triumphs.

for Queen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HivQgkNSO8k

for the memory of a book that I read in childhood that I faintly recall, but cannot locate. For the warm feeling the memory of it gives in spite of my not being able to recall hardly any firm details.

9th January 2018: Sex / Masturbation / Pro-Active Discussion

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for present and connecting sex

for casual or eager masturbation

for parents / teachers who pro-actively open up dialogue about sex with their children early.

8th January 2018: JR / Long Talk / Gesamtkunstwerk

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for JR
http://www.jr-art.net/

for a long talk with a close friend about important passions.

for them informing me about Gesamtkunstwerk, and thankful for the energy and inspiration that concept encourages.

7th January 2018: The Holy Mountain / Live Performance / Social Media Is A Tool

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for the film, The Holy Mountain

for a live performance in 2018 confirmed, and supported.

for the mantra ‘Social Media is a tool’. It is something to aid, to be useful. If it is not serving you and your life, you are in service to others through it or entertaining the void.

6th January 2018: Friend's Birthday / Telephone Call / Cracked Lips

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for a friend’s birthday.

for a telephone call catching up with a good friend.

for cracked lips.

5th January 2018: Matt Berry / Ben's Photography / Kinder Scout & Edale

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for the many talents of Matt Berry. Such a joyful and skilled performer and artist.

for a friend’s photography skills and their generosity in taking some photos of me. It felt part of an important ritual, the end results additional to the process.

for Kinder Scout and the memories of the trip to Edale I had with my middle-school as a pre-teen. For a football game on concrete high up in our lodging, bunk-beds, the vistas. The teacher’s almost successful attempt to keep Alton Towers a secret as a surprise treat on our final day of the trip.

4th January 2018: Proposition / The Puzzles Of Songs / The Blob

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for a lovely proposition from a friend, and something further to look forward to in 2018.

for finding the sources to the love of a recently discovered song - realising my attraction for its heart was established a long time ago in a few different places. Pieces of a puzzle over time.

for the film, The Blob. I watched it too early as a child and it scared me greatly. I think it was to do with the fact it moved slowly and steadily and yet people found themselves incapable of escape. Time/death perhaps. Predator/Prey perhaps. Avoidance not being an option, perhaps.

3rd January 2018: Paracetamol, Garlic, Lemon & Water / Being Looked After / Healthiness

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for paracetamol, garlic, lemon and water.

for being looked after and cared for.

for being ill helping me to appreciate when I am healthy.

2nd January 2018: Fist Bump / Mentos / End Of The Party

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for a stranger’s fist-bump on the train.

for the emotional links to various times in my life the taste of Mentos gives me.

for the end of the party, and looking forward to spending time working again.

1st January 2018: Endless Nights / Piccadilly Records / The Keep

Today, to be thankful / to be grateful,

for endless nights.

for Piccadilly Records

for the film, The Keep.