I haven’t spoken to Thom yet, but judging by his
entries here and reading today’s papers the outcome of Copenhagen is a
bloody disgrace … I wanted to put something up on DAS, as a kind of
personal round-up to the year (also because I rather pathetically don’t
contribute much to this), so excuse me if I kick off in a somewhat
dejected manner, because in fact none of what I write seems at all
relevant or important in the face of serious climate change …. This is
the bottom line for all our lives whether we choose to face it or not,
and believe me I choose not to most of the time in the name of my own
personal happiness and subsequently of those around me … anyway here
goes ..
I read an interesting book in the Summer by a man called
Terence McKenna, entitled “Food of the Gods” .. his hypothesis is that
certain natural plants have been integral in explaining mankind’s
development in the spheres of language, intelligence and culture… it’s
really fascinating, but a particular passage popped out at me, whilst
reading, and it seems particularly relevant now:
“Looking down on Los
Angeles from an airliner, I I never fail to notice that it is like
looking at a printed circuit: all those curved driveways and cul de sacs
with the same little modules installed along each one. As long as the
‘Reader’s Digest’ stays subscribed to and the TV stays on, these modules
are all interchangeable parts within a very large machine. This is the
nightmarish reality….. the creation of the public as a herd. The public
has no history and no future, the public lives in a golden moment
created by a credit system which binds them ineluctably to a web of
illusions that is never critiqued. This is the ultimate consequence of
having broken off the symbiotic relationship with the Gaian matrix of
the planet. This is the consequence of lack of partnership; this is the
legacy of imbalance between sexes; this is the terminal phase of a long
descent into meaninglessness and toxic existential confusion.”
Now, I
don’t walk around with this stuff in my head every hour of each day, in
fact the opposite would be true. I’m happy feeling so grateful to the
deck of cards that I’ve been dealt. Yet it’s always there, this knowing
that we are all living in “The Age of Stupid’ … I’m sure most people
feel the same way….. Yet our leaders seem incapable of leading …
managing would seem a better word, or rather mismanaging…… Leadership
implies wisdom; it implies vision and dynamism; the ability to foresee
problems, create solutions and see them through … does that sound like
our leaders? NO it doesn’t… And why is this not the case? What is
preventing them from leading? Is it the power of big
business/corporations/ the financial industries? It looks increasingly
like it … vested fucking interests, no degree of what’s fair for all …
plain and simple self-interest. I don’t know about you but most people I
know don’t make decisions solely on what works best for them … it’s a
balance between what is good for others too…
This is officially a
rant now and I may not post it .. apologies to my brothers in the band
if they are reading this and don’t like it .. tell me I’m being an arse
and I’ll take it down..
10 mins. Later:
Apologies for an about
turn in mood here, but I want to write something positive …. When we
returned from touring Mexico, Brasil, Argentina and Chile for the first
time this year I intended to post something about the amazing experience
we had .. well I didn’t of course, so here goes. Thank you to everyone
who came out and saw us, those shows were particularly special .. there
was something unique and marked about every night .. and to play our
music in that magical continent .. what an honour .. Thank you so much
for having us. I’d also like to add in the dates we did in the Summer,
our first visit to Austria and Prague and our first Polish show since
’94 …. And then of course there was Leeds and Reading … Amazing for us,
particularly the last night at Reading.. it felt like a fitting finale
to it all .. Thank you thank you thank you…..
The vibe in the camp is
fantastic at present, and we head off into the studio in January to
continue on from the work we started last Summer .. I am so genuinely
excited about what we’re doing, but for obvious reasons I can’t divulge
anything more.. anyway we all love surprises don’t we? 10 years ago we
were all collectively (that’s the band) in the land of Kid A .. and
although hugely proud of that record, it wasn’t a fun place to be ..
What’s reassuring now, is that we are most definitely a different band,
which should therefore mean that the music is different too and that is
the aim of the game….keep it moving.
Inevitably, there’s all this
best and worst of the decade list type stuff going on at present and I
was going to do my office chart for films of the year, then it turned
into of the decade, but then having watched ‘Harold and Maude’ again the
other night it’s just 10 great films to watch over Xmas …..
1.
Harold and Maude
2. Sideways
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey
4. Where
Eagles Dare
5. Son of Rambow
6. This is England
7. Being There
8.
The Year of Living Dangerously
9. Finding Nemo
10. Moonraker
There
has to be a Bond film there and although definitely not the best I have
a bit of a soft spot for Moonraker, … I always loved the Rio and South
American scenes .. so much so that when it came out as a kid I went on
my own and watched three consecutive matinee showings of it .. also
those in the know will have noticed that Hal Ashby directed both ‘Harold
and Maude’ and ‘Being there’ … he was an incredible director, well I
only know those two films of his, but I intend to check out the others.
One
last thing .. this year I got embroiled with the whole file-sharing
issue… my whole angle has been is that it’s too easy to blame all the
current ills of the music industry squarely at the feet of those who
illegally file-share, which is what the major labels have been doing ..
they don’t seem to want to take any responsibility for our current state
of affairs .. well I think that’s bollocks and hypocritical, and of
course the whole subject is not black and white, which they like to
portray it as … there are no clear cut heroes and villains in this. But
if you’re interested there is a fantastic podcast by one of our national
treasures Stephen Fry .. he speaks so eloquently on the subject, with
such good sense, reason and pragmatism .. here’s the link:
http://www.stephenfry.com/2009/07/27/series-2-episode-4-itunes-live-festival/
Here’s to you all having a peaceful and happy Christmas in
spite of all the current madness … and good luck to us all in 2010…
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