Negative One To Ten

This isn't a news type of blog, but this news has been bugging me for ages now. My favourite band of recent times, Tsunami Bomb, split up a few months ago. A punk band in the best sense of the word, they stood up fiercely for their independence and freedom of voice. In the end it seemed that business pressures overtook the band as they gained more success, and rather than tow the corporate line like so many others, they split.
With just two albums they imprinted themselves on my mind, a sublime mix of incendiary guitars and intricate yet unfussy arrangements provided the perfect backdrop for singer Agent M's forceful cajoling vocals. Okay, let's stop there before I get washed away in a sea of hyperbole. Let's just say that they were fantastic, and I miss them to bits.
Here's one of their lyrics - 'Negative One To Ten':

So these girls live on my street,
or I guess I live on theirs.
They thought I was showing them,
but really they made me aware
just how momentous music is,
and why we should care.
Songs stay with your your whole life,
remind you of time spent and time gone.
Carry you through dismal days,
and help you to carry on.
I owe so many positive times to my favorite songs.
It can be more than just sounds and words -
it can be something that saves you
from yourself,
your thoughts,
your life,
your world.
It can be more than a favorite line -
it can be something that shapes you when you're young,
but give you freedom at the same time.

(Lyrics by Agent M : From the album 'The Definitive Act')

Thank You

I might as well come right out and admit that this post is simply paying tribute to my friends around the world. This summer, more than any other in recent years, it seems as if everyone I know and care about is flying to and fro around the world. Whilst a dear friend of mine from Croatia is about to jump on a plane and make the trip of her life to LA, another from here in the UK is currently sitting in a swish hot tub overlooking San Francisco bay - probably on the lookout for a Nandos, knowing her as I do.
A friend from Australia has visited three times so far, once coming back from Scotland (bringing me an edible cow-poo), once coming back from Italy and who knows where from next time. Whilst here we toured around the country to various towns (and cities, sorry Chester), never stopping still for very long, except to indulge in choc milk and vodka in large measures.
Friends from Germany and Holland have also been and gone twice. I've endured the twin assaults of crazy fans of both Scarlett Johansson and Reese Witherspoon, with a little Evi for good measure!
I mustn't of course forget the great people here in the UK, and trips to Coventy, Chester and other places over the course of the summer have all resulted in great times, lots of ice cream, and sad goodbyes.
There are yet more friends I guess I'll have to wait for the next Dido tour to meet again. Football crazy Spanish girls to whom hugs are long overdue, or personal apologies I still have to make to my Swiss friend whom I missed in London a month or so ago. Then there are friends in Brasil and elsewhere in South America who send me such wonderful gifts in the mail.
So to all of you guys, only a few of whom read I know read this blog, I send out my love to all of you for enriching my life and for just... well, being awesome.

Countryside

Today, I have a lovely picture for you. How could I be anything but inspired having sights like this just a few miles from my house? It's gazing at these rolling views, with the wind bluffing around my ears, that makes me think about things like doing this blog (there you go folks, blame nature, not me). After a time, I can go back there and wonder how many people actually read it.
Walks in the countryside are truly ace though. It must be a combination of the view and the amplified effects of the weather that forces you into feeling both alive and part of some huge organic happening. If this is the place you go to when you are lost, you always come away with hope. As I said, it's ace.
Every time I have friends come to stay there's an obligatory visit, and it always generates such wonderful winning conversations. I guarantee that whatever the topic is on the journey there, it will be an entirely different one on the way back. And by that I mean the whole tone of a conversation will have changed - more positive and more at home with the world.