Author: stone2013

This is amazing and wonderfull ….
just hope I don’t get on the list..

http://www.worldsworstrecords.blogspot.com/

About the Old Bell Enfield

Got to love this 🙂

 

Well whats happening then. My Car has had a few bits wear out so its in the shop as the USA folks say, but hopefully it will back with me soon 🙂 We have had a couple of really good gigs with the Delta Ladies & Elephant Shelf recently and we have finaly got around to sorting out our recording dates for the new ES album down in Burnham-on-Crouch and we also managed to catch Ian Segal doing an acoustic live broadcast for St FM which I have to say was rather good and a bonus though Burnham-on -Crouch is always worth a visit  but it was very cold and damp looking on our last visit. I quite fancy living down that way, so who knows it could happen 🙂

I had a go at a bit of photo shoping  so here is an idealised version of me. Well why not or perhaps the Black and white version available soon. I am also having a bit of a fight with video editing software too, which works but is not quite what I need to match up sound tracks as it has no way to nudge the sound tracks which I can do fine in adobe do da but it is not able to handle HDVC in its native format. I also need a faster computer but I want to make the right choice. As in not too expensive!

 

 

I have been clearing out loads of old papers, you know the sort of thing. Electricity bills from 6 years ago, or credit card staments and that sort of stuff. I shred most of it and it goes in to our rather efficent recycling system that we have in Battersea for the last few years. On thing which I kept was a notice of the first domain name that I registered and that was way back in 1997. I first built a one page website in 1996 which came as a shock as I had not realised how long I have been using this internet thingy.
Almost makes you feel nostaligic for the days of 33k modems(unless your out in the countryside using dial-up as one or two poor souls still are). I also just hooved the inside of my number 1 PC as they are very efficient dust magnets and it makes the fans work very hard, this one has 3 pumping away and it must be about 6 years old now. I have still got my first decent spec pc which is about 10 years old and on a new power supply, runing linux dual boot with windows 98 me.
I have lots of notebooks with old song lyrics and bits of tunes, some of which got recorded and some which never actualy got to see the light of day as well, just so much stuff. No wonder the flat is feeling a little crowded. I used to write songs with people all over the place getting them to send me lyrics by snail mail and then eventually sending a cassette back. The pace of life seemd a lot slower then, so was it more fun or less? the fact that everything is instant or nearly so to me seems to have taken soem of the colour out of life, as we seem to need more and more stimulation.
On with the tidy-up operation now before its either the end of the world or time to watch Dr Who.

Elephant Shelf trying out a new number at the Star in Ewell

Ok its May and nothing much is any different, though the suns out and shining for a change. I have written a couple of slight obscure pieces of music and thats about its really. A couple of ES and Delta Ladies gigs to start the month, that went reasonably well, and I have mislaid my Camera. I think I have hidden it somewhere in the flat but I can’t for the life of me think where. So not wildly exciting, but  thats sort of the way I like, peaceful and slightly dull 🙂
I look to friends for the exciting stuff at  the moment.

Our first gig at the Jook House in Worthing backing Linda Gale Lewis.

Photo by Roger Morton

You can see more of his pictures here >> www.fantasticphotos.org

I have felt a bit odd recently and have been visted with a few panic attacks after not having them for a few years. As some of you may know they tend to manifest when you are realy relaxed rather than under stress. Usually what sets them off is hyper-ventilation so ther eare ways to try and control that of course, but its really quite frustrating as I thoght that they were athing of the past. When I was younger I used to wake in the middle of the night with them and very unpleasant it was too. I am just hoping I can get these under control again rather than have to go and get some meds for it.

Its been not a bad month apart from that with a few fun gigs and also the news that Elephant Shelf will be playing on stage 2 at the Cambridge Rock Festival this August and we also have some other festival dates for this year, so thats got to be good.

Well its been a funny old year so far, I have to say. It got off to quite a shaky start one way and another but I am feeling a bit more positive about stuff now. Hooray. I have been doing a lot of musical woodshedding particularly on the Piano to delve in to pastures new, but I have been avoiding writing anything new for the moment as I am some what direction less musically right now.
We have had quite a few well received Delta Ladies and Elephant Shelf gigs so far which is very gratifying too. Money wise there is just about enough on tick over to keep rolling too for the moment but long term solutions are still needed. What these are remains to be seen! It often seems the case that what ever I get involved its one step forward and two back again. I still don’t react well under stress so I try to organize my life to avoid unnecessary tension. It doesn’t take to much to set me off even at the best of times, but I don’t want to medicate myself out of consciousness either. I have a good bunch of supportive friends but they are also people that I work with so again life can get a little awkward. One of the big problems is that I need space to do my own thing with out distraction, but I can get quite morose when left on my own. I do have to be a little careful as if I get two excited or enthusiastic if can often swing into mania eventually. Thats quite difficult to explain to people as they don’t really know what mania is.
Both my parents suffered from extremes of mood, so its not that surprising that I seem to be similarly afflicted. The worst aspect of this is that there are times when I can’t concentrate on anything which makes me worst than useless. I seem to have been getting towards that state recently rather too often lately.