Past the point

Had a wonderful weekend with pals in Wolverhampton. I took Freya with me and we showed them what life with a two year old can be like. We got out into the fresh air, saw animals of the feathered and curly tailed variety and enjoyed the hospitality of out friends. I didn't take the laptop which meant I've fallen slightly behind on the novel but at least I've passed the half way mark.

Should be days away form announcing the date of the first trio gig. Because of the novel writing challenge I have almost no time for any other musicking (besides practising) this month. Rather than being annoying this s helping me re-charge the musical batteries.

And despite some top notch advice from people who know about these things and whom I greatly admire, my bloody cough is still here. Grrr. Cough.

Berlin

Give or take a few days it was twenty years ago that I was in Berlin. I got there, and had to go home, before the East officially met the West. But I did spend a lot of time in the cafes, listening to the mixture of excitement and worry. People were getting ready for the moment this city and country would be joined again, although a lot of people were getting anxious for their jobs.

I spent some time at the wall, holes appearing already. I chipped away with the rest of them crowds and got to shake hands with guards on the other side. Somewhere there is a photograph of me there with an embarrassing jacket on. I'll dig it out and post it.

A few years later I was back in Berlin, working and I wasn't able to find the spot I have previously been at. I'm hoping to go back again soon. It's one of those cities where magic can happen.

New

Despite the tone of the previous post the main band (Soul Beaver) now has rehearsal dates all sorted. I've spent the night writing a chapter for the novel and sorting out the finer details of record distribution for the trio.

I've also had a surprisingly productive night on Facebook. That's something new.

Don't look back

Last week's illness is pretty much behind me. Aprt from the irritating cough and dribbly nose I feel fine.

This week's trio rehearsal happened a day early and was a chance to play through the whole set to see where it's working and where it's not. The good news was that almost everything is working. The bad news: the same parts that were giving me trouble in previous weeks are still problematic now. Overall the set sounds great but we've now enetered a classic problem - playing too fast. The feeling of conquering arrangements, changes and improvised parts has produced that horribly common afflication of "we're playing well so let's play faster." To conquer this we're going to have one more (recorded) run through, then listen back the next day to attempt some objective feedback. The band's original album, recorded a few years ago with a full line up is now available here. I'm playing bass on all tracks and singing on a few.

Meanwhile, getting rehearsals for a much loved and more established band together has begun proving difficult. In the 'old' days we would meet on a Tuesday with almost every member present. Now I'm wondering if we'll get more than one rehearsal with everyone in place. Being more geographically spread out and having even more children born hasn't helped but at least we're all keen to play. Earlier in the year I witnessed a similar band collapse through the apathy and inflexibility of it's members.

The NaNoWriMo novel is still coming along. I'm hoping to write two chapters tonight and 'bank' one in advance of a weekend away next week. Wiser minds than mine have pointed out the trap of the voices that convince you to keep revising your writing. I'm only going to get through this if I don't look back.

Off we go!

This being 'Year of the Challenge' I couldn't resist NaNoWriMo after all. The first chapter is complete and all I have to do is keep writing every day this month until I have a novel. Just to be clear, the novel's deadline is November 30th.

Gulp.

Writing it down.

At last a good night's sleep. Feeling much better for it.

The cough remains (of course) but I can handle the cough if it isn't keeping me awake all night. Played some music on the Warr Guitar, which helped, but then remember tomorrow is the first of November and I promised myself the start NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). The aim is not to write something great, or even good, but to just get the words down so there's something to revise in December. I'm not sure I have the energy or time to do this but I will try. I suspect music projects will get take priority, but we'll see.

Blugh

Much self pity here at Sick Family Cruttenden. The good news is that Freya is now sporting a normal temperature and will soon be rested and human-like again. The not so good news is that I can't sleep properly for coughing (day three, or is it four of that) and I just answered the 'phone to discover my voice is packing up. Everything is irritating, especially my own cough.

If you're reading this and you're one of those people who never gets sick... oh, never mind.

Health and happiness will be back in due course.

Let the sun shine in.

You'd think that I would have a Spingere fan page box thing on this page, rather than an Eclipse one. Eclipse is a trio I play in whereas Spingere is my project where I do all the work and yet, remain truly rubbish at promoting. So, why compound this by promoting a and I don't even write for. The answer: Eclipse is about to get gigs and as well as playing bass throughout I'm going to be opening the shows with something soundscape-esque on the Warr Guitar. Actually, it's possible what I play on the Warr might not be anything like a soundscape, but I'm going to bring all the kit along just in case the moment feels right.

We're all sick at home now. Freya is running a temperature and I have a rather nasty cold. People who call me in the morning (even people who have known me for decades) ask if I have a cold because my morning cat allergy makes me sound like I've got one. Each time I hear "have you got cold?" I fee like I'm answering for the millionth time... "no, it's my allergy." Today someone asked if I had a cold and I almost shouted back at them "Yes! As a matter of fact I HAVE A COLD!!!"

Maybe I shouldn't write blog entries when I'm feeling the tired and crabby. Sunshine and happiness, everyone.