I'm not going to bother giving a "Hey, I haven't updated my blog in ages!" disclaimer any more - you're all just going to have to accept that this only receives attention infrequently, and deal with it. If nothing else, I'd have nothing to say if I updated more frequently.
As I write this, i'm sat at my Mother's computer in sunny Lulworth, all the doors of the house flung wide open and the breeze ruffling my hair. While some folks are enjoying this warm weather that we've so unexpectedly been blessed with, I on the other hand am doing my utmost not to sweat too much.
So, what's happened? Well, gradually various bits of work dried up, and it seemed like I was being found things to do, rather than doing things that needed particularly doing. So I upped and left, and am in fact on my long-talked-about travels, although as yet I've only made it as far as my old stomping grounds.
This brings back some odd memories. I recall wandering about the mean streets of Poole and Weymouth, New Rock boots girding my feet, black spiky bracelets about the wrists, and rather tasteless t-shirts in black with sexy vampire chicks on the front, on my way to buy Dungeons and Dragons books*, and Nightwish CDs.
Nowadays, I guess I look like quite the old folkie. Tasteful blues, greys, and earth tones are more my cup of tea, and i'm usually wearing a fine hat complete with feather, and carrying a musical instrument of some sort. I guess things change.
It strikes me that my brothers and I, if combined, would make an unlikely musical combination. Richard is a very talented guitar player, who mainly plays what I think of as Heavy Metal (but am probably wrong), with complicated finger-tapping and distorted harmonies and whatnot. He so far outstrips me in ability that I can barely comprehend what he's doing sometimes. Antony, on the other hand, is interested in keyboards, and I get the feeling he's more into 8-Bit music and J-Pop. Combining these three flavours would either make the worst racket ever heard by man, or a brilliant fusion that could be called... DigiClangFolk. I don't know.
Another thing that never fails to surprise me is how much music is going on down here. Since getting here i've been to a folk session, and joined my old pals the Wareham Whalers at one of their sea shanty sessions. The folk session was good, with some great songs and humorous ballads sung and enjoyed by all. I even played my whistle a bit, which was a change from the norm. The practice with the Whalers was a great craic as well, although the "discussion" about recording of songs that they had at the start put me rather ill at ease to begin. Nonetheless, the songs were all executed in fine form, and I sang a few of mine to great acclaim. I then got a lift back with Dave Knight, the father of one of my old school friends, Emily. That's the trouble with coming into something late on - now i'm a little bit of a musician, it turns out a lot of my old pals were all along, and I never knew!
So, cutting this one a little short, my movements are as follows - Dorset for a day or two more, then heading East to visit Molly for the last time in a while. Various other places en route to Falmouth, and then the old haunt of Cornwall, due for a gig in October with the Falmouth Fish Sea Shanty Collective.
That's all for now.
Dan.
* That's not to say that a certain amount of tabletop-roleplaying-gaming and listening to Symphonic Power Metal don't feature in my lives a bit.
