A controversy in the field of Astronomy has been solved.A exceptionally bright supernova ,so bright it appears 100 billion times brighter then the sun . This is due to a galaxy siting in front of it that amplifies the light and this laid hidden between earth and the supernova but detected by a telescope in H awali.-Science Journal.read more
Saturday, 26 April 2014
SUPERNOVA MAGNIFIED BY COSMIC MAFNIFING GLASS.
A controversy in the field of Astronomy has been solved.A exceptionally bright supernova ,so bright it appears 100 billion times brighter then the sun . This is due to a galaxy siting in front of it that amplifies the light and this laid hidden between earth and the supernova but detected by a telescope in H awali.-Science Journal.read more
HELEN TAYLOR INTERVIEWED BYMARK ANTONY RAINES-GHOSTMAN.
iv always loved things about
bigfoot ,ufos,and all species of animals ect since i was little, my
plans for the future is to still rescue unwanted reptiles and turtles xx
hope this is ok mark xxx
FOX1 PLANE 0
A strange Air Accident Investigation Branch Report blamed a fox crossing the runway for the crash of a 2 seater Jabiru-ahead of it ,noticed by pilot and passenger.The plane suffered gear damage when distraction caused the pilot to be too low air speed.He then continued to taxi to parking area -braked -engine stopped damaging both engine and propeller.BBC2 -50 YEARS.
Before all the the other extra channels we now have it was only BBC2 that was the only other channel.From dodgy beginnings ,power going down so most people unable to watch.We were given comedys-Faulty towers,Not the nine o,clock news,serious-Newsnight to boys toys-Top gear.My first colour was Pot Black it was like a alien experence as only black and white television for years at home.So i salute you BBC2 and may you carry on brringing entertainment through the years ,without the repeats always present of course.
LIONS ENCLOSURE - LAST PLACE TO BE IN A CAR ON FIRE.
At Longleat Safari Park on good friday a people carrier caught fire near lions.Rangers had to use a van to herd a dozen lions back ,prowling near -by-150 yards away.Another van was used to rescue a mother,son,daughter to safety.22 DOGS KILLED BY POLICE -ANIMAL WELLFARE
22 Dogs destroyed on march 27 after undergoing behaviour therapy,neutering,tattooing,mirco-chipping and were legal and not any danger said court.This happened in merseyside when the msnrix unit in a series of raids targeting pit bull like dogs .1 of the dogs was witnessed to be forcefully pulled by the noose around neck taht blood poured from its mouth.
STOP CRUELITY TO ASIATIC BEARS-ANIMAL WELLFARE
130 Asiatic Black Bears were handed back over by a farmer .The bears were used for traditional chinese medicine.28 of the sickest bears were taken to be relocated at Animal Asia base,Chengdk,China.Wednesday, 23 April 2014
robin pyatt bellamy interview supplied by her
1. What is a typical day for you, on the job?
2. What is a typical career path for someone in your occupation?
This sort of research generally starts out as a hobby—there are lots of groups for people who are interested in paranormal phenomena. From there, serious researchers learn how to use all sorts of sources, logic, and science, to form opinions about what the basis is for unusual happenings. Once established as an authority
(accomplished by writing and doing lots of public speaking) doors open for publishing books on the
subject or consulting for TV and Movies. At this stage, very little actual investigation goes on—it is more
academic and appearances. There is really no “retirement” from this field—once you are an established
authority, requests come in for assistance for your whole lifetime.
3. What do you like most about your job? What do you like the least?
What I like most is that there are so few people who do what I do, at least professionally. Most who do are involved in “reality tv” rather than the research. I love the actual historical research—learning about who lived in a place and forming an idea of why they might want to come back to haunt there, or reading reports of bigfoot and lake monsters from before TV was invented. I am also paid extremely well, get to travel, and have a few people who recognize me from time to time. What I like least is that it isn’t regular paid work—I seldom work a full week for pay. I have to depend on the royalties from my books for additional income. It
most definitely is not a living wage—the genre is just to obscure. I also don’t like that my busiest time of
year is around Halloween. Media doesn’t seem too interested in the paranormal the rest of the year so I
end up working 14 hour days from August to November.
4. What skills do you believe are needed in your occupation? Are there any prerequisites or experience
needed in order to be in this career?
There are no prerequisites, but it is helpful to have a good command of language and good public speaking skills. Lifelong learning is a must—a working knowledge of everything from weather to electronics to sound waves to particle physics and biology is crucial. The ability to find the answers you DON’T know is absolutely necessary. It also helps to have a solid background in history and psychology. Special care is needed when working with traumatized witnesses as well. Interviewing is an art, as you don’t want to lead them to any conclusions while you are getting their story.
5. How would you describe the work environment?
The daily work environment is pleasant because I can work from home. When onsite, though, the surroundings can be rather uncomfortable. I habuildings, graveyards and even an old Tuberculosis Hospital. When in the TV studio it is often hot under the lights and tedious when they have to reshoot things.
6. What is the work environment like in terms of pressure?
(Deadlines, routine assignments, activities, etc.) Most of the pressure comes from people who are critical of the work, or even the idea that the work is worthwhile. Many people choose not to believe in ghosts, monsters, UFOs, etc, so they can be rather difficult to be around. Others are critical because they are also doing research and may not agree with my findings and opinions. Answering email can be tedious, as lots of people don’t understand that what they are experiencing has a perfectly natural basis (orbs in photos are reflections of dust, etc). Because I also am physically handicapped, sometimes work in the field can be painful and exhausting. The equipment is heavy and I often have to walk a fair distance. There is always a little “stage fright” when being taped or presenting to an audience. And time pressures during the fall are daunting—many times a TV news program will call me wanting an on camera interview in just a matter of hours.
7. In your occupation, do you work alone or with a team? If you work with a mix of both, which one
would you prefer?
Generally, I work alone. I do have an executive assistant who travels with me when I do conferences and lectures. If I need to be out in the field I have three or four people I call on to assist. I generally prefer to work alone, as it gives me much more flexibility as well as less people to be responsible for.
8. In terms of work hours, are they set or do you have flexibility with them?
I have to be extremely flexible. Most TV shows film during the day, but most venues (the places I would go to do onsite investigations) are only available at night or on the weekends.
9. What are the most satisfying aspects of working in your field?
The most satisfying part of my work is coming to a hypothesis where all the factors fit. A few years ago I did an investigation at an old hotel and was able to do enough research to actually put names and faces to the people we think are haunting it and why they are there. Equally satisfying though is finding a natural cause for weird things that happen—we had one case where the noises in the woman’s home were caused by squirrels. It was really gratifying to give her answers.
10. If you had the ability to do this, would there be anything that you would like to change about your
job?
I would like to be able to have a full time staff (and enough work for all of us to be busy!) I like
managing people and resources, and I’d love to be in a position to pass along the business to someone
someday.
11. Is there any advice that you would like to give to anyone pursuing this occupation?
Diversify! Learn how to do research in general so that you can earn some cash to keep you warm and fed while you are waiting for the more exciting cases. Consider getting a Private Investigator’s license as well, so you have something to fall back on 10 months out of the year. Also, be VERY disciplined. Write a LOT of articles and books, and get your name out there so people know who to contact for this sort of service. Choose your clients wisely, and don’t work with media who will make you look silly.
Most of the time I work from home, so I begin my day at my computer about 830am. I research people, places, and phenomena until about 1pm then do any writing (blog for Cryptozoology, work on my book(s), articles, speeches, consultation reports, etc) Many times I have to go out in the evening to present to a group or to do an onsite investigation. Onsite investigations involve going to a location that has something “weird” going on and using recording equipment (audio and video) as well as observation skills to make notes on whatever happens and what the surroundings are like. Also, I teach adults how to do family and historical research for the Toronto District School Board Continuing Education Department. Occasionally I have to do interviews on TV or radio.
This sort of research generally starts out as a hobby—there are lots of groups for people who are interested in paranormal phenomena. From there, serious researchers learn how to use all sorts of sources, logic, and science, to form opinions about what the basis is for unusual happenings. Once established as an authority
(accomplished by writing and doing lots of public speaking) doors open for publishing books on the
subject or consulting for TV and Movies. At this stage, very little actual investigation goes on—it is more
academic and appearances. There is really no “retirement” from this field—once you are an established
authority, requests come in for assistance for your whole lifetime.
3. What do you like most about your job? What do you like the least?
What I like most is that there are so few people who do what I do, at least professionally. Most who do are involved in “reality tv” rather than the research. I love the actual historical research—learning about who lived in a place and forming an idea of why they might want to come back to haunt there, or reading reports of bigfoot and lake monsters from before TV was invented. I am also paid extremely well, get to travel, and have a few people who recognize me from time to time. What I like least is that it isn’t regular paid work—I seldom work a full week for pay. I have to depend on the royalties from my books for additional income. It
most definitely is not a living wage—the genre is just to obscure. I also don’t like that my busiest time of
year is around Halloween. Media doesn’t seem too interested in the paranormal the rest of the year so I
end up working 14 hour days from August to November.
4. What skills do you believe are needed in your occupation? Are there any prerequisites or experience
needed in order to be in this career?
There are no prerequisites, but it is helpful to have a good command of language and good public speaking skills. Lifelong learning is a must—a working knowledge of everything from weather to electronics to sound waves to particle physics and biology is crucial. The ability to find the answers you DON’T know is absolutely necessary. It also helps to have a solid background in history and psychology. Special care is needed when working with traumatized witnesses as well. Interviewing is an art, as you don’t want to lead them to any conclusions while you are getting their story.
5. How would you describe the work environment?
The daily work environment is pleasant because I can work from home. When onsite, though, the surroundings can be rather uncomfortable. I habuildings, graveyards and even an old Tuberculosis Hospital. When in the TV studio it is often hot under the lights and tedious when they have to reshoot things.
6. What is the work environment like in terms of pressure?
(Deadlines, routine assignments, activities, etc.) Most of the pressure comes from people who are critical of the work, or even the idea that the work is worthwhile. Many people choose not to believe in ghosts, monsters, UFOs, etc, so they can be rather difficult to be around. Others are critical because they are also doing research and may not agree with my findings and opinions. Answering email can be tedious, as lots of people don’t understand that what they are experiencing has a perfectly natural basis (orbs in photos are reflections of dust, etc). Because I also am physically handicapped, sometimes work in the field can be painful and exhausting. The equipment is heavy and I often have to walk a fair distance. There is always a little “stage fright” when being taped or presenting to an audience. And time pressures during the fall are daunting—many times a TV news program will call me wanting an on camera interview in just a matter of hours.
7. In your occupation, do you work alone or with a team? If you work with a mix of both, which one
would you prefer?
Generally, I work alone. I do have an executive assistant who travels with me when I do conferences and lectures. If I need to be out in the field I have three or four people I call on to assist. I generally prefer to work alone, as it gives me much more flexibility as well as less people to be responsible for.
8. In terms of work hours, are they set or do you have flexibility with them?
I have to be extremely flexible. Most TV shows film during the day, but most venues (the places I would go to do onsite investigations) are only available at night or on the weekends.
9. What are the most satisfying aspects of working in your field?
The most satisfying part of my work is coming to a hypothesis where all the factors fit. A few years ago I did an investigation at an old hotel and was able to do enough research to actually put names and faces to the people we think are haunting it and why they are there. Equally satisfying though is finding a natural cause for weird things that happen—we had one case where the noises in the woman’s home were caused by squirrels. It was really gratifying to give her answers.
10. If you had the ability to do this, would there be anything that you would like to change about your
job?
I would like to be able to have a full time staff (and enough work for all of us to be busy!) I like
managing people and resources, and I’d love to be in a position to pass along the business to someone
someday.
11. Is there any advice that you would like to give to anyone pursuing this occupation?
Diversify! Learn how to do research in general so that you can earn some cash to keep you warm and fed while you are waiting for the more exciting cases. Consider getting a Private Investigator’s license as well, so you have something to fall back on 10 months out of the year. Also, be VERY disciplined. Write a LOT of articles and books, and get your name out there so people know who to contact for this sort of service. Choose your clients wisely, and don’t work with media who will make you look silly.
Naomi West-interviewed by mark antony raines
What inspired you?
I have always been intrigued by the unknown. After reading Nick Redfern's Three Men Seeking Monsters, I became acquainted with Jon Downes and the CFZ. It didn't take me long to figure out that the CFZ had nothing to do with tulpas, but I was inspired to investigate the flesh-and-blood Texas Blue Dog (AKA the US media's chupacabra). I have since been uninspired by the media's twisting of the Blue Dog facts and seeing physical evidence and DNA reports entirely ignored by a public that would prefer to relegate investigators to the lunatic fringe.
What are your aims/ future plans?
What are your aims/ future plans?
My aims for the future are to investigate cryptids purely at my own leisure without a mocking TV crew tagging along. I may look some more into the Blue Dog, but I'd like to return to my old love of the unknown and look into claims of local Bigfoot sightings.
On the flip side, I'm also interested in getting involved in fish-breeding projects. I am an avid aquarist and love the natural world as much as the "para natural" one.
Suggested topics for interviews with Robin Pyatt Bellamy
Media Talking Points
Suggested topics for interviews with Robin Pyatt Bellamy
How did you get interested in paranormal research?
Throughout my life I've had “weird” things happen. Finding a group in Toronto that would allow me
to combine a love of research with the need to explain those weird things led me to make a career out
of both.
Do you believe in ghosts?
I don't disbelieve. I am what is known as a skeptic—I search for the truth without a mindset one way
or the other.
What's it like to be a “Ghostbuster”?
I'm not a ghostbuster! I'm a paranormal researcher. If I were to “bust” the ghosts, I'd have nothing to
research!
What is white noise?
White noise is that light static you get on the radio or tv when there is no active signal where you are
tuned. Some believe this aids the spirit world in communicating with the living.
What is Cryptozoology?
Cryptozoology is the study of animals science has yet to fully discover and categorize. Bigfoot, Loch
Ness Monster, and the Mothman are examples of possible cryptozoological creatures. At one time, the
Giant Squid was thought to be imagined, but now it is recognized as a “real” creature.
What is the weirdest thing you've ever experienced?
Probably the most interesting for me (and weirdest for those not in this field) was a conversation with a
ghost. I was staying at the Lowe Hotel in 2005 and a man dressed as a riverboat captain was standing
in my room looking out the window. He spoke to me, told me his name, and that there was a boat due
in. I checked with the owner of the hotel and even though there was a festival in town at the time, no
boats were scheduled to dock. The next morning there it was, just as predicted. I've researched this
Captain—this event is the subject of my most recent book
Suggested topics for interviews with Robin Pyatt Bellamy
How did you get interested in paranormal research?
Throughout my life I've had “weird” things happen. Finding a group in Toronto that would allow me
to combine a love of research with the need to explain those weird things led me to make a career out
of both.
Do you believe in ghosts?
I don't disbelieve. I am what is known as a skeptic—I search for the truth without a mindset one way
or the other.
What's it like to be a “Ghostbuster”?
I'm not a ghostbuster! I'm a paranormal researcher. If I were to “bust” the ghosts, I'd have nothing to
research!
What is white noise?
White noise is that light static you get on the radio or tv when there is no active signal where you are
tuned. Some believe this aids the spirit world in communicating with the living.
What is Cryptozoology?
Cryptozoology is the study of animals science has yet to fully discover and categorize. Bigfoot, Loch
Ness Monster, and the Mothman are examples of possible cryptozoological creatures. At one time, the
Giant Squid was thought to be imagined, but now it is recognized as a “real” creature.
What is the weirdest thing you've ever experienced?
Probably the most interesting for me (and weirdest for those not in this field) was a conversation with a
ghost. I was staying at the Lowe Hotel in 2005 and a man dressed as a riverboat captain was standing
in my room looking out the window. He spoke to me, told me his name, and that there was a boat due
in. I checked with the owner of the hotel and even though there was a festival in town at the time, no
boats were scheduled to dock. The next morning there it was, just as predicted. I've researched this
Captain—this event is the subject of my most recent book
Robin Bellamy View interviewed by mark antony raines
You asked: QUESTIONS -WHAT INSPIRED YOU?
I can’t say I ever was really “inspired”. I began as a ghost researcher and family historian. The group I was associated with at the time lost their director of Cryptozoology and I got tagged to fill in. I’ve been at it ever since. I was just about to “retire” when Jon Downes of the CFZ (Centre for Fortean Zoology) asked if I would to the Canadian blog site for them and I’m still here!
WHAT ARE YOUR AIMS? I’m all about education. I love to lecture and to write, and my goal is to teach people how to really learn about these odd beings around us. It drives me crazy when a mangy dog gets misidentified as a “Chupacabra” or people flock to pay money for an obviously fake Sasquatch. My goal is to get enough information out there that “regular” scientists no longer see only the weirdos and the gullible and maybe someday start doing funded research on these yet to be discovered creatures. WHAT PLANS DO YOU HAVE FRO THE FUTURE I’m not sure what the future holds. I’m aging, so my time in the field is pretty limited. I am working on a book on how to do simple science at home (as it relates to paranormal studies)—tentatively called “Xenoforensics” and once that is done there are several others waiting to be started. That could mean that I travel to lecture less and study more, which I would really enjoy. There aren’t a lot of female cryptozoologists in North America; especially those who involve science in their study. I will never be a Jane Goodall, but I will try hard not to retire until there are a few more potential Goodall’s around.
Sunday, 20 April 2014
FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES
What has Corinna's column of fortean bird news got to do with Cryptozoology? Well, everything actually! In an article for the first edition of *Cryptozoology* Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out-of-place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. - *Herons flock to Somerset Levels as nests hit recor...* - *INVEST... more »
Saturday, 19 April 2014
GAVIN LLOYD WILSON: Interviewed by Mark Antony Raines (aka Ghostman)
What inspired you?
I'm going to break this question down into two separate areas. On the one hand there are the musical influences and on the other there are the actual subject matters that inspire individual pieces of music.
With Spurious Transients, which is essentially my solo recording project, my number one musical influence were those bands from the so-called "krautrock" movement (which of course everyone says never existed, but we've got to call it something). Bands like Neu!, Can, Faust, Kraftwerk. About 7 or 8 years ago I'd been listening to those first three albums by Neu! and decided that I wanted to make my own music in the krautrock vein. I really loved that motorik/apache beat and the hypnotic grooves that could be attained often driving along on just the one chord. I also liked the more off-the-wall avant garde pieces of music that say Can or Faust had recorded, and really liked how the juxtaposition of having a strident up-tempo motorik track opening an album to be followed with a very down tempo more sedate ambient piece.
I did wonder if a non-German artist could produce music befitting the name, but soon discovered there were plenty of others out there all over the world also producing neo-krautrock. So that was my original intention when recording tracks for the Spurious Transients album "Portraits Of A Landscape" (to be released this Summer 2014 on nanoBox records), although I now think I may have gone beyond that original vision and perhaps other ideas have crept in there too. So, the listener might not automatically say to themselves, "Ah, a krautrock record". It's very difficult, this album has been in the making for the last two years and I've be so close to all those pieces of music that it's very hard for me to imagine how anyone else might perceive it. The two sides of the record are quite different, but I believe do complement each other.
The industrial side is very electronic and in places quite harsh (on the track "Industry/Catastrophe" I quite literally went around banging things with a hammer) whereas the nature side is much more organic sounding and features tanpura drones and EBow guitars. A couple of years ago I went to see a concert of classical Indian music by sitar player Purbayan Chatterjee and I really wanted to get some of that kind of vibe onto the album. I used an electronic tanpura to produce that Indian-style drone on a couple of the tracks and also tuned my guitar to a drone tuning, letting the open strings ring out, and fed it through a couple of delay pedals so as to achieve a faux sitar sound.
As to the subject matter, what the tracks are actually about, in a way I wanted it to be a concept album but in the loosest possible sense. I didn't want some enormous over-arching umbrella storyline or some contrived plot of sorts, I just wanted the album to be evocative of... well, in this instance... the landscape in which I am living here in South West Wales. I live just inside the Pembrokeshire border, not far from either Ceredigion or Carmarthenshire, and in general the countryside is absolutely beautiful. I can travel to the beach in about 20 minutes or be up in Preseli mountains in about the same time. There are stone circles and ancient burial sites to visit. The whole place has a very mystical feel to it. I can even look out of my bedroom window and see a standing stone, not 10 metres from the house. You don't get that kind of thing living in the city. But you don't have to travel too far - for example westwards to Milford Haven or else eastwards along the M4 corridor to Swansea and Port Talbot - before you encounter areas of heavy industry which is the complete antithesis to the natural and ancient beauty of the landscape, but of course socially and economically we wouldn't survive without it.
And the other thing is, all along I've wanted to release this album as a vinyl LP record, so I was thinking how do you make the most of the format, having two sides of a record each containing 20 minutes of music? I thought, let's split the album into two parts; one side would be about living alongside nature within the ancient landscape, and the other would be about how that landscape has been appropriated by industry. It's two sides of the same coin, nature versus industry. I'm not trying to preach or say what is wrong and what is right, I'm just illustrating what is there without making any comment either for or against. For instance, on the industrial side of the record there is a track called "Baglan Bay" which was inspired by driving along the M4 motorway at night through Port Talbot and towards Swansea, and watching the lights of the Port Talbot steel works and the Baglan Bay refinery brilliantly illuminated and twinkling away in the darkness like a castle in a child's fairy story. I always thought it was quite beautiful.
What are your aims?
I've never thought of making this album as being some big money making exercise, for me it's more about the thrill of making a record of my own music, getting it out there and hopefully someone is going to buy it! Hopefully they'll like it too! It's only a very limited edition release anyway, which I kind of like in a way, it makes it seem more exclusive, and it's like a reaction against the mainstream music business. Making it available as a vinyl record is a definite reaction against digital downloads, which I absolutely abhor; they suck the soul right out of music for me (having said that I believe the album will come with a free download, so I'm aware of the irony there before someone points it out to me). And it's like when I used to edit a small press Sci-Fi magazine several years ago, it's a small underground operation which isn't designed to appeal to the masses but rather to like-minded souls with similar tastes.
So my aims, I guess, are to make some kind of an impression with this record which should see me infused with the enthusiasm to go ahead and record a second album. I do have a two album deal with the record label, so that is the general plan but I'd rather record something that I am passionate about and would enjoy listen to myself rather than ending up pointlessly churning out a "Metal Machine Music" just to fullfill the contract.The other aim is to actually play some gigs to help launch the album. Which will be interesting as for most of the tracks I had no idea what was going to happen before pressing the "Record" button. Most of the parts were improvised during the recording, and nothing was written down, no notes were made, so I'm going to have to "back engineer" the tracks and see if I can work out how they were played. I don't think I'd want to reproduce them exactly as they are on the record, but I'd like to get the general vibe. And of course it would mean assembling a band of sorts too, as I don't want to be up there playing a lone guitar with pre-recorded backing tracks covering everything else. Actually, I quite like the idea of getting a saxophone player involved, even though there's no sax on the album.
What plans do you have for the future?
I'm also playing guitar and bass with Paul Williams in an outfit called The Spookers. Paul appears in places on the Spurious Transients album, but The Spookers is more his project whereas Spurious Transients is mine. As The Spookers we played a couple of gigs at the end of last year in Cardigan, which were quite well received (we even had people dancing at one of them - which was nice), and we have a couple of gigs coming up again this summer and also later in the year.
We've been recording some new material too. One area we are interesting in is combining our music with the spoken word. We've been working with a local poet called Dave Urwin whose poetry is like social comment, very cutting and direct, a bit in-your-face perhaps, but not without humour and very very effective. We were working on one of his poems recently and I commented to Paul that we'd accidentally just re-invented rap.I've also been involved with Welsh progressive/psychedelic band Sendelica, who have been quite prolific in the last 10 years or so having recorded something like 14 albums, and who are very well known on the live circuit. They've recorded with various record labels including their own, and occasionally turn up on releases from cult vinyl-only record label Fruits De Mer. Last year I interviewed Pete Bingham, the guitarist, for a certain upmarket glossy Welsh magazine and we sort of formed a friendship, and then later when they were looking for a bass guitarist to fill-in for Glenda Pescado whose job means that he isn't always available for Sendelica gigs, Pete thought of me. It really was an honour to have been asked to join the band even in the capacity of someone sitting on the subs bench, as I had been - and still am of course - a fan of the band.
When I asked Pete why of all people they asked me, he said that it's because they thought I was someone they'd all get on well with, which is something they consider to be quite important. I wasn't really even a bass player, so it was a bit like being thrown in at the deep end. I bought myself a bass and had three weeks to learn Sendelica's set playing along to CDs of their music each and every day before my first gig with them which was at Leamington Spa supporting Here and Now. The gig seemed to go very well, I really enjoyed playing it, and afterwards I had several audience members approach me and say, "Thanks, that was great, we really liked that." I felt a bit of a fake as I'd only been with the band five minutes and nearly replied that I was just the stand-in guy, but something stopped me and I said to myself "Just take the compliment and enjoy it".So, there'll most likely be a few more Sendelica gigs later in the year, and I'm going to join the band on-stage for their encore at "Crabstock", the Fruits De Mer Records Festival of Psychedeliain Cardigan this coming Saturday 26th May. Glen will be on bass as usual for that gig, but on this one particular song they need an extra guitar, so I'm going to be doing that.Actually I'm quite pleased that Pete awoke the bass within me as I think I now have found "MY instrument".
I'm really enjoying playing bass; at the moment it is my preference over guitar. I was never comfortable with the whole lead guitar thing, being centre stage as it were, and I really found rhythm guitar to be excrutiatingly boring. But the bass has an essential role along with the dums forming the foundation behind the music, so in a way it's kind of at the back - BUT at the same time it does give scope for improvisation and some more fluid playing.So yeah, those are my plans, just to keep playing and making music. If it really is going nowhere in say a year or two's time, then I might have to reconsider and get myself a "proper" job (not that there are any to be found down in this corner of Wales), but for now I'm having a blast.
I'm going to break this question down into two separate areas. On the one hand there are the musical influences and on the other there are the actual subject matters that inspire individual pieces of music.
With Spurious Transients, which is essentially my solo recording project, my number one musical influence were those bands from the so-called "krautrock" movement (which of course everyone says never existed, but we've got to call it something). Bands like Neu!, Can, Faust, Kraftwerk. About 7 or 8 years ago I'd been listening to those first three albums by Neu! and decided that I wanted to make my own music in the krautrock vein. I really loved that motorik/apache beat and the hypnotic grooves that could be attained often driving along on just the one chord. I also liked the more off-the-wall avant garde pieces of music that say Can or Faust had recorded, and really liked how the juxtaposition of having a strident up-tempo motorik track opening an album to be followed with a very down tempo more sedate ambient piece.
I did wonder if a non-German artist could produce music befitting the name, but soon discovered there were plenty of others out there all over the world also producing neo-krautrock. So that was my original intention when recording tracks for the Spurious Transients album "Portraits Of A Landscape" (to be released this Summer 2014 on nanoBox records), although I now think I may have gone beyond that original vision and perhaps other ideas have crept in there too. So, the listener might not automatically say to themselves, "Ah, a krautrock record". It's very difficult, this album has been in the making for the last two years and I've be so close to all those pieces of music that it's very hard for me to imagine how anyone else might perceive it. The two sides of the record are quite different, but I believe do complement each other.
The industrial side is very electronic and in places quite harsh (on the track "Industry/Catastrophe" I quite literally went around banging things with a hammer) whereas the nature side is much more organic sounding and features tanpura drones and EBow guitars. A couple of years ago I went to see a concert of classical Indian music by sitar player Purbayan Chatterjee and I really wanted to get some of that kind of vibe onto the album. I used an electronic tanpura to produce that Indian-style drone on a couple of the tracks and also tuned my guitar to a drone tuning, letting the open strings ring out, and fed it through a couple of delay pedals so as to achieve a faux sitar sound.
As to the subject matter, what the tracks are actually about, in a way I wanted it to be a concept album but in the loosest possible sense. I didn't want some enormous over-arching umbrella storyline or some contrived plot of sorts, I just wanted the album to be evocative of... well, in this instance... the landscape in which I am living here in South West Wales. I live just inside the Pembrokeshire border, not far from either Ceredigion or Carmarthenshire, and in general the countryside is absolutely beautiful. I can travel to the beach in about 20 minutes or be up in Preseli mountains in about the same time. There are stone circles and ancient burial sites to visit. The whole place has a very mystical feel to it. I can even look out of my bedroom window and see a standing stone, not 10 metres from the house. You don't get that kind of thing living in the city. But you don't have to travel too far - for example westwards to Milford Haven or else eastwards along the M4 corridor to Swansea and Port Talbot - before you encounter areas of heavy industry which is the complete antithesis to the natural and ancient beauty of the landscape, but of course socially and economically we wouldn't survive without it.
And the other thing is, all along I've wanted to release this album as a vinyl LP record, so I was thinking how do you make the most of the format, having two sides of a record each containing 20 minutes of music? I thought, let's split the album into two parts; one side would be about living alongside nature within the ancient landscape, and the other would be about how that landscape has been appropriated by industry. It's two sides of the same coin, nature versus industry. I'm not trying to preach or say what is wrong and what is right, I'm just illustrating what is there without making any comment either for or against. For instance, on the industrial side of the record there is a track called "Baglan Bay" which was inspired by driving along the M4 motorway at night through Port Talbot and towards Swansea, and watching the lights of the Port Talbot steel works and the Baglan Bay refinery brilliantly illuminated and twinkling away in the darkness like a castle in a child's fairy story. I always thought it was quite beautiful.
What are your aims?
I've never thought of making this album as being some big money making exercise, for me it's more about the thrill of making a record of my own music, getting it out there and hopefully someone is going to buy it! Hopefully they'll like it too! It's only a very limited edition release anyway, which I kind of like in a way, it makes it seem more exclusive, and it's like a reaction against the mainstream music business. Making it available as a vinyl record is a definite reaction against digital downloads, which I absolutely abhor; they suck the soul right out of music for me (having said that I believe the album will come with a free download, so I'm aware of the irony there before someone points it out to me). And it's like when I used to edit a small press Sci-Fi magazine several years ago, it's a small underground operation which isn't designed to appeal to the masses but rather to like-minded souls with similar tastes.
So my aims, I guess, are to make some kind of an impression with this record which should see me infused with the enthusiasm to go ahead and record a second album. I do have a two album deal with the record label, so that is the general plan but I'd rather record something that I am passionate about and would enjoy listen to myself rather than ending up pointlessly churning out a "Metal Machine Music" just to fullfill the contract.The other aim is to actually play some gigs to help launch the album. Which will be interesting as for most of the tracks I had no idea what was going to happen before pressing the "Record" button. Most of the parts were improvised during the recording, and nothing was written down, no notes were made, so I'm going to have to "back engineer" the tracks and see if I can work out how they were played. I don't think I'd want to reproduce them exactly as they are on the record, but I'd like to get the general vibe. And of course it would mean assembling a band of sorts too, as I don't want to be up there playing a lone guitar with pre-recorded backing tracks covering everything else. Actually, I quite like the idea of getting a saxophone player involved, even though there's no sax on the album.
What plans do you have for the future?
We've been recording some new material too. One area we are interesting in is combining our music with the spoken word. We've been working with a local poet called Dave Urwin whose poetry is like social comment, very cutting and direct, a bit in-your-face perhaps, but not without humour and very very effective. We were working on one of his poems recently and I commented to Paul that we'd accidentally just re-invented rap.I've also been involved with Welsh progressive/psychedelic band Sendelica, who have been quite prolific in the last 10 years or so having recorded something like 14 albums, and who are very well known on the live circuit. They've recorded with various record labels including their own, and occasionally turn up on releases from cult vinyl-only record label Fruits De Mer. Last year I interviewed Pete Bingham, the guitarist, for a certain upmarket glossy Welsh magazine and we sort of formed a friendship, and then later when they were looking for a bass guitarist to fill-in for Glenda Pescado whose job means that he isn't always available for Sendelica gigs, Pete thought of me. It really was an honour to have been asked to join the band even in the capacity of someone sitting on the subs bench, as I had been - and still am of course - a fan of the band.
When I asked Pete why of all people they asked me, he said that it's because they thought I was someone they'd all get on well with, which is something they consider to be quite important. I wasn't really even a bass player, so it was a bit like being thrown in at the deep end. I bought myself a bass and had three weeks to learn Sendelica's set playing along to CDs of their music each and every day before my first gig with them which was at Leamington Spa supporting Here and Now. The gig seemed to go very well, I really enjoyed playing it, and afterwards I had several audience members approach me and say, "Thanks, that was great, we really liked that." I felt a bit of a fake as I'd only been with the band five minutes and nearly replied that I was just the stand-in guy, but something stopped me and I said to myself "Just take the compliment and enjoy it".So, there'll most likely be a few more Sendelica gigs later in the year, and I'm going to join the band on-stage for their encore at "Crabstock", the Fruits De Mer Records Festival of Psychedeliain Cardigan this coming Saturday 26th May. Glen will be on bass as usual for that gig, but on this one particular song they need an extra guitar, so I'm going to be doing that.Actually I'm quite pleased that Pete awoke the bass within me as I think I now have found "MY instrument".
I'm really enjoying playing bass; at the moment it is my preference over guitar. I was never comfortable with the whole lead guitar thing, being centre stage as it were, and I really found rhythm guitar to be excrutiatingly boring. But the bass has an essential role along with the dums forming the foundation behind the music, so in a way it's kind of at the back - BUT at the same time it does give scope for improvisation and some more fluid playing.So yeah, those are my plans, just to keep playing and making music. If it really is going nowhere in say a year or two's time, then I might have to reconsider and get myself a "proper" job (not that there are any to be found down in this corner of Wales), but for now I'm having a blast.
VICKY -BORNEAN ORANGUTAN HAS U.K FIRST SINUS OP
Picture is of Vicky-a 29 year old Bornean Orangutan undergoing Sinus surgery.This was carried out by Jawed Tahery -Human sinus surgeon-at Chester Zoo Animal Health Centre the first time this operation has been done in U.K.Vicky who was suffering Chronic Sinusitus and now is on the mend and breathing easier.
WHAT IF?
Nuclear war- if a nuclear war was to happen the following would happen:instantly vapourised,ripped apart by shockwave,slow death from radation poisoning.The earth would become conaminated and skys dark due to smoke for years .Asteriod impact: silmar to nulear bomb -intense burst of heat at ground zero and everything flatten.Pandemic- something like black death or spanish flu would spread easily due to densely populated cities and being able to travel continents via cheap flights. Coronal mass ejection -an event that happened in 1859-charged particles erupt off the sun and when or if hits the earth sets the magnetic field into affecting electral systems haywire.In turn this would affectv law ,order ,civilation due to depending on electricity completely,sleep safe.
MAN BOOBS -YES ME
I hate to admit but i belong to a group of men who like to stay quiet.But its time to face the music and say yes i have man boobs or moobs.If you was me without a vest or a t- shirt it would stand out and i know it makes people laugh and take the mickey but thats cool .Its time for all men affected to stand tall.
THE GREMLINS IS LAUGHING AT ME
I like my computer but sometimes i swear ,shout and even threaten to throw it.I know sometimes its me and others the little gremlin that lives inside the laptop.Days and days go no hassle then the gremlin comes out to play -slow,signing in differcult ,putting in a virus ,i think its not just me.
RADIO(I STILL LOVE YOU)
Why radio ,i enjoy as it can bring you from chart music to a chat about dinosaurs finds in the space of finding the channels .When i was young it was a way of finding songs I liked and put on my tape recorder before the presenter spoke -John peel was great for this.now i am older I find the local news and stories of county lived in is like being an adventurer travelling through.Radio 5 is my main station for research for my blogs and has excellent podcasts -so i say radio we still love you-queeen.
Saturday, 12 April 2014
PUFFINS GO BACK TO LUNDY
A lucky group of young puffins were released on Lundy Island ,off the coast of Bideford ,Devon. The puffins were among 4o seabirds rescued during feburary storms-3 in total.The birds spent 2 months at r.s .p.c.a Westhatch Wildlife Centre then taken by Ms Olderburg to Lundy.This was good for puffins and lundy as the numbers of puffins fell to just 5 in 2003 due to rats-now eradicated-and now more than 180 are on the island.HEAD&SHOULDERS APES AND TIGERS SAVED UPDATE
The makers of head&shoulders proter&gamble have pleged to stop souring pakmoil from plantations were ORANGUTANS and SUMATRAN TIGERS rainforest are being cleared.
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