Mike's Ramblings...
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Mike Whitaker" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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10:46 am
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Someone at work asked how old I was....
So, in the best tradition of my previous employer, I gave them a puzzle to solve.
I share a birthday (but not year) with someone very famous. His memorable quote was made a LONG way from home, and according to most versions of the story, he didn't say /quite/ what he planned to say.
Another famous speech started the process that sent him there. I was born in the year the man who made it was killed.
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10:19 am
[Link] | Best Haynes Manual Ever!
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08:48 am
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Revision
For those interested, I rewrote the last verse of A Little Bit Of England on the train this morning. Works better, methinks.
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10:22 pm
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Moleskine time again :)
I went out for a walk from work at lunchtime. There's a very.. London, very English thing that happens on the corner of Shaftesbury Ave and Charing Cross Road just about all day every day - someone is handing out free phonecards for some company or other.
And they're almost never English.
I was reminded of a Radio 5 feature on Polish students doing work on farms in England - someone asked the local unemployed teenagers if they'd do the jobs, and the answer was 'no way'.
I'm not xenophobic, or racist. This song is more me wondering aloud.
And it's bloody hard to remember chunks of lyrics when you're driving! :)
( Lyrics behind the cut )
Current Mood:  accomplished
Tags: lyrics, music
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02:14 pm
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AKICOLJ
Does anyone know of any print-on-demand services that fulfil ALL the following:
a) link to an online shop so I can sell the damn thing?
b) handles both US and UK customers without killing one or other with postage charges?
c) allows me to use my own ISBN?
d) will do spiral/wire binding?
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11:03 pm
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I wish...
... my GAS budget wasn't earmarked till October or later.
'Cause.... the things I could do with a Strat-zouki!!!!
Having said that, it does look as though it's just a Strat with two extra tuners, extra nut slots, and a modified bridge, and I'm not sure if the high and low courses aren't a bit close to the edge of the fingerboard.
Current Mood: wistful
Tags: gas
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07:58 am
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New toy! and for sale notice :)
At last :)
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) deborah_c bought my Troubadour octave mandolin off me last month, which, while I enjoyed, isn't really big/deep/resonant enough for what I want (it seems to suit her perfectly, so life is good).
To replace it, I've acquired a Blue Moon large-bodied bouzouki from Hobgoblin, which I had them fit with a cheap and cheerful Belcat pickup -- normally this fits externally, but they've fitted it under the soundboard and drilled a hole for a jack socket. With the addition of some decent heavy strings, it sounds awesome - instant Steve Knightley.
(Note to anyone else eyeing one - they come in two versions, and the newer shipment have a truss rod - do not try putting heavy strings on the older ones, because you'll bow the neck!)
As for the for sale, I'm rationalising my collection of odd stringed instruments, and the following are surplus:
- Antoria electric mandolin - sunburst, single pickup, volume and tone controls, f-holes, pear shaped (not in the bad sense :) ). Pictures available on request and I'll restring it for you. £100 or near offer.
- No-brand (as far as I can tell it's a Gremlin or similar import for Hobgoblin etc) laud - basically it's a Spanish six-course/12-string mandolin. It should apparently be tuned AEBF#C#G#, but I keep mine in GCFBbDG (guitar capo 3) - sexybass has a similar one he keeps in DADGAD or a transposition of it. Quite light steel/silver strings, kinda mediaeval-looking. Again, pictures on request once I've bought it some new strings. (You can hear it on "Theoden King" on my 'The Oak, The Rowan and the Wild Rose'). £70 or near offer.
Current Mood:  artistic
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07:45 am
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On writing
The bout of insane creativity continues - that's 5 sets of lyrics in 10 days. (See previous LJ entries if you don't believe me)
Part of it is definitely down to having the Moleskine, and carrying it with me everywhere - being able to scribble down ideas, snippets whenever I can is really helping. I'm also sure that the quality of said little notebook helps - it's nice having something that looks and feels good to work in. And telynor is dead right about a fountain pen too. :) Having picked up a black Lamy Safari at Rymans yesterday, I've discovered two things:
- it makes me write slower and neater, because
- writing becomes a joy, above and beyond just a means of getting words down on paper. I find myself writing things down more!
I haven't owned a fountain pen since senior school (barring a few calligraphy pens at university), and I'd forgotten how tactile and pleasant the act of laying ink down on paper with a nib is compared to using a biro or even a gel or fibre tip.
Current Mood:  contemplative
Tags: creativity, me, moleskine, writing
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06:03 pm
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Do Moleskine do endorsements?
This one is for bardling. who asked if I'd thought about writing it after she read the words to the first Dr. Who inspired song I wrote today.
I hadn't.
Then.
( More spoilers for 'Journey's End' )
Current Mood:  pleased
Tags: lyrics, me, music
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01:07 pm
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I am a walking Moleskine advert
Started on the train, finished at lunchtime.
I blame telynor, if nothing else 'cause I bought a fountain pen before finishing this.
( Warning: Contains spoilers for the Doctor Who season finale 'Journey's End' )
Current Music: me, music, lyrics
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11:14 pm
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Songwriting Log: "Waiting In The Deep"
After I wrote my post on songwriting, I thought I might try and chronicle the creation of a song at some point.
I wasn't expecting Waiting In The Deep quite so soon, but since it's fresh in my mind, I'll see what I can do. Basically, I'm reconstructing this from memory and the crossings out in my Moleskine!
( So here goes... ).
Current Mood: contemplative
Tags: me, music
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09:28 pm
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Dr Who.
I have not seen the finale yet.
Nor has bardling.
I've already seen TWO FRODDING SPOILERS in my first half page of friends posts.
Please PLEASE can folks keep their snark, comments, critique, flames and the rest behind cut tags for at least a frodding DAY?
Current Mood:  grumpy
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09:22 pm
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The Moleskine strikes again
Moleskine + transport = win, be it plane (This Is My Land), train (The Miller's Tale) or car* ( Waiting In The Deep )
[*] Relax, bardling was driving!
Tags: me, music
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01:50 pm
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By (semi-)popular request.
( How do you write songs, Mike? )
Current Mood: thoughtful
Tags: me, music
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09:09 am
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Meh.
Sometime between 2340 last night and 0705 this morning, some unmitigated wankstain who should have been left out on a hillside at 2 days old decided that it would be fun to steal the radio from my car WHILE IT WAS PARKED AT THE MILL HOUSE, since it would probably pay for todays round of coke/heroin/Es/meth/booze/whatever for him or her.
Annoyingly? The car was probably unlocked, since the clicker is on the fritz.
Current Mood: royally fucked off
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10:08 am
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Rabbits!
Or whatever it's traditional to say at the start of a new month.
Looking back at June, I'm quietly boggled to find how creative I've been. Specifically:
That's more songs in a month than in the last decade, pretty much.
Which leaves me wondering exactly why June was so productive? Must be the new Moleskine? Although - I did write the words for "Jack" after coming back from a US Filk Con in 2006...
As an aside? It's interesting these are all very 'folky' rather than 'filky' lyrics.
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07:22 am
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The Moleskine strikes again...
I woke up this morning with a song in my head.
Not someone else's song, nor even one I'd written.
But.. most of a brand new song.
Tune and all.
On a subject I'd not even been considering writing about.
Grabbed the notebook, headed for the train, and finished it on the train.
Still boggled.
( The Miller's Tale )
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: 'The Miller's Tale' in my head
Tags: music
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11:36 pm
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Lisa Lân (Fair Lisa)
A couple of decades ago, when Anne and I were first starting to work up a shared repertoire of music, I bought her a book by Michael Raven with settings of various folk tunes for recorder. One of them was a lovely, simple modal Welsh melody called Lisa Lân, which I really wished had words, and rather stuck in my brain - it's something I often noodle on in dropped-D kind of tunings on guitar.
Today, having spent a good half hour fiddling with it in "cheater's DADGAD", on a whim I Googled for it, and found both the original Welsh words and a translation, and a very nice live version by Cerys Matthews (ex- of Catatonia). Sadly, the translation was very literal, and unsingable...
So I set to work.
( Lisa Lân )
( Guitar notes - not for the faint of heart... )
Current Mood: creative
Tags: music
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11:35 am
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Mike's US Tour '08 (Appendix)
Since several folks asked, I will be putting up an MP3 of Three Days Away from my Duckon set (recorded by phillip2637, to whom many thanks) just as SOON as I can get it off the MacBook!
[Edit] ... or from Philip. Here you go.
Current Mood: happy
Tags: me, music
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11:24 am
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Mike's US Tour '08 (Part 3: Contata)
Following on from parts 1 & 2...
( Contata )
Thanks to redaxe, dvtune and gorgeousgary for loan of guitars, and to ladymondegreen for letting me have a concert set! I had a BALL!
Next time, though? Bringing my own guitar!
Current Mood: cheerful
Tags: me, music
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