Weather for lovers, or it's vintage daaaahhhling.

I am by no means immune to the charms of the hipster's favourite genre of clothing; vintage. In fact my vintage Italian army satchel arrived from ASOS Marketplace (ASOS itself wasn't dangerous enough?!) just this morning and is pictured below:

I am also the proud owner of a 1940's French marine nationale  peacoat, which I picked up in a market in France for the very reasonable price of €50.
I did, however, find myself flabbergasted when wandering into The Vintage Showroom in the Seven Dials area near Covent Garden, I was browsing the military shirts and looked at the price tag of a very taggarty old one - £95. Now, really this was just out of curiosity as I have recently been looking at them on ebay (still, to my mind, the best, most convenient place to buy 'vintage' clothes), but when one finds oneself being charge nearly ten times, yes, 10x, the price of a virtually identical shirt on ebay, it does rather bring to mind the 'money for old rope' adage. I will not be parted with the best part of £100 for anything less than something seriously wardrobe changing/augmenting, which I'm afraid said shirt fell substantially short of. Dream on Messrs. Hipster. Vintage, is dead? Probably not, there are people out there who will undoubtedly fall for it. Poor fools.

More interestingly, the reason I was in London was a. to meet up with two dear friends, one of whom I have not seen in far too long and b. to go to the Royal Opera House to see Il Barbiere di Sivilgia. More on that later. Now, going to London alone provides me with an excuse to dress to the nines, but going to the ROH, even more so. I decided to go all out and wear suit, shirt, tie (as is only fitting), contrast waistcoat, boots and complimenting pocket handkerchief:

 

The first, demonstrating the complimenting tie and pocket handkerchief and the second the complete ensemble. Admittedly looking a little tired, but I had just been to London for the day and back! Allowances must be made.
I have also been following with keen interest the photos come in from the Paris and Milan menswear shows and am still enjoying the layering that has been so prevalent recently. Ideal for the British weather all year round. One's choice of material and colours is vastly enhanced by this effect and I for one will be glad to see it continue. I was disappointed by the Jean Paul Gautier show, however, the supposedly Bond inspired show seemed to be just that little bit too French for my tastes. As Mr Le Sartorialist said, the shows this year were rather disappointing, even his strongest choice at Milan; Bottega Veneta, seemed rather staid and dull. A little too much leather, a little too much monochrome and not enough variety to my mind. Ermenegildo Zegna, however, I did rather like, a good use of subtle autumn colours and complimentary checks on various different items of clothing and a lot of red bode well for the coming Autumn.

On to the evenings main event; the opera. It was a delightful opera buffa, a comedic opera, brilliantly sung, acted, choreographed and directed. One highlight was the earthquake scene when the entire stage was tilted from side to side with the entire cast on it flung from side to side while singing in a brilliant comedic performance. It was a wonderful first time for me at the ROH, but one I will certainly be repeating and one I cannot urge you to try too. Opera is a music form that has an unjustly earned reputation for being fusty, boring and elitist. Granted we were in a youthful minority, but that is no obstacle to enjoying oneself. Glyndebourne next? Who knows!

Now, a day in London is hardly complete without a good meal and particularly when going to the theatre/opera it is a part of the experience that enhances it enormously I think. So, we went to Brown's and in a rather shorter period of time that I would have liked, I consumed a  wild boar and chorizo burger while my friend had a rather tasty looking pasta dish. All in a all a restaurant I would highly recommend for its excellent food, warm ambiance and highly professional service.

 Aside from the opera,  I have been enjoying a rather rocky kick in the last couple of days. Largely owing to watching BBC Four's documentaries on Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden, both of which make for fascinating, entertaining and informative viewing. The first major metal gig in India with its thousands of screaming fans is a sight that truly warms the heart. Rarely does one see such honest passion nowadays in western audiences. The Lizzy documentary, while largely of a more sober not, was just as enjoyable and as a result I am currently listening to one of Lynott's lyrical masterpieces; Cold Sweat. Other than that, not much to report musically, except if you haven't heard Thin Lizzy's 'Live and Dangerous' go out get hold of it now, it is the greatest live album ever, no argument and magically captures the band's live energy on record.

Plans for my dinner party are coming together nicely, I will be cooking the ham recipe and I will be sure to report back to you on how it goes down!

Bon App a tous et a toutes!

Joe

Moncler, my new favourite fashion blog and military shirts.

I spent a large part of today perusing a blog I just discovered, quite where I discovered it escapes me, but it is fantastic. It is the wonderful jakandjil.com run by one Tommy Ton, which seems to overwhelmingly feature women's fashion, which is of less interest to me, but occasionally comes up with some incredible men's fashion shots, par exemple: http://jakandjil.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/pittiman.jpg. This photo seems to be doing the rounds from Pitti Uomo, but it deserves it. This old boy shows an incredible flair for textures, patterns, colours and all round sprezzatura, that much sought after magical element that a. allows someone to get away with wearing something that should never work on a normal human being and b. do it with such aplomb that it makes one gasp and wonder 'why on earth didn't I think of that?' Anyway, the blog is well worth checking out for anyone interested in fashion, particularly if you are a fan of Anna Dello Russo as he seems to be rather chummy with her.

Thom Browne's show for Moncler seems to be the  talked about show of Pitti Uomo, it's remarkable use of red, white and blue on the dressage kit and throughout the collection itself (which is also filled with wonderful tweeds, hunting breeches, riding boots and all manner of country-esque wear, all given the Thom Browne treatment - although with very few too-short sleeves and cuffs in sight), had me enraptured from start to end. Even if the music was a little too much for my tastes. Worth having a look though if you like Mr. Browne's work or like the recent trends in field and farm chic

Also, having spent so much time perusing the aforementioned fashion blogs, it has been come to my attention that military is still very much in  and on top of that, the must have item is the military shirt. This seems to be an extremely versatile piece of clothing, worn over t-shirts, under shirt jackets and with a shearling jacket for example. Or worn over another shirt, perhaps red, black and yellow plaid and then under a peacoat with a different check scarf perhaps. Either way, it seems too good an item of clothing to ignore, not to mention it being extremely hardwearing and useful. I shall have to invest in one soon, once I find one I like. I am also, alarmingly, coming round to the idea of a denim shirt, perhaps in a light stone wash. Where once I would have sworn blind never, ever to have worn a denim shirt, I now find the idea rather appealling and have, finally, it must be said, realised the fashion potential of said item. About three years late I know, but that seems to be my way. Dragged kicking and screaming into the now when it is about to be the yesterday and everyone else has know for some time, when the evidence is planted firmly in front of my eyes by a source I trust. Tant pis.

Otherwise, I have been enjoying Bardo Pond's latest opus, featuring their usual blend of tripped out hippie ambiance and psychaedelic rock, even at its longest (21.02 minutes) it still draws you in and, I imagine as it is supposed to, entrances you. One for listening to in a dark, candlelight room when lying on the floor, volume turned up just that little bit too high to really enjoy it. Not all that much else to report musically, I have just heard the first track from the new Flogging Molly album, which seems to lack the vim of their previous albums, but we shall see. One can't always be a punk I suppose.

As a result of having spent so much time looking at brilliantly composed photos I find myself once again wanting to get out there and take photos of everything, everyone and everywhere. Soon I hope to be able to. Once on my travels I shall get properly snap happy and you will get sick of them! Mwhahaha! Something for you to look forward to.

Gastronomically, not much to report, I am no closer to making a decision about my upcoming dinner party, except perhaps doing a glazed ham recipe from Mr. Fearnley-Whittingstall's cookbook, with spiced figs and parsley sauce. It all depends on what the butchers have got in and what takes my fancy whilst I'm there. A trip into town will reveal all.

For now, I shall leave you, but until the next time dear readers!

Joe

p.s. It also dawned on me today, that I look forward to being able to move out of chez les parents (not that it doesn't have its advantages) largely so I can really dress it up and have an excuse to do so (living in London and wandering its streets, one can hardly do otherwise). How funny.

4 x 4 = 12.

So there I was, attempting to read Houellebecq's 'Atomised' (no, again, I can't be bothered to read it in French), sprawled on the floor by my radiator listening to The Mead's of Asphodel (don't ask) when all of a sudden I've dozed off only to wake up groggily and immediately regret it. Ah well, I am getting old - one night out 'til 4am and I'm still feeling it 36 hours later! Shameful.

Anyway, so I finally got around to poring over GQ's 50 Best-Dressed Men List 2011. As I stated before, I'll spare you an in depth analysis, but suffice to say, as ever, there were some surprises and some less so... Simon Cowell at 43, I can hardly credit. Even if he has ditched the too-high jeans and t-shirt look. Mark Ronson at 34; well I've never been a fan really. Particularly with that shock of white blond hair. Ray Winstone at 28; pleasantly surprised. He does always look dapper. Even in those orange speedos. George Lamb, despite being hugely irritating is well dressed at 19. David Gandy at 17, nothing more need be said really. The rather loathsome David Walliams at 11, even in Tom Ford he looks like a lecherous old man. Tom Ford at 7, he's in a rather different league and as such 7 (777 being the number of God in Hebrew numerology) is both appropriate and not good enough. And Aaron Johnston at Number 1, which is a rather predictable choice given his position as winner of GQ's Best-Dressed Man Award last year, but not entirely unfair either. Overall, not a bad selection. Only one glaringly absent entry; Daniel Craig, who, for my money, is consistently the best dressed man on the circuit.

More importantly, Pitti Uomo, the world's largest men's fashion show, has come and gone. I fully intend to examine it closer, as well as awaiting anxiously The Sartorialist's coverage of it. I think I shall possibly investigate going next year also. I can think of few places I would like to be more, particularly with camera in hand and dressed to the nines all day every day.

I have given my travelling wardrobe a little more thought and have come to the conclusion that one of the essentials of any travellers wardrobe ought to be an unlined jacket, as sported by yours truly here:

It is both light and easily foldable meaning it is ideal for those seeking to travel in style and also adds some of the formality of a regular blazer/suit jacket, while maintaining the relaxed nature one tends to adopt when travelling. All in all, a must have. I think it goes especially well with summer clothing and colours, the light colours all compliment each other and when paired with a dash of colour, for example a brightly coloured belt, it makes for a very pleasing outfit.


Musically, I am currently enjoying a bit of a curveball, Deadmau5's new album; '4x4=12' (no, my mathematical skills are not THAT bad!), which features some seriously sick bass lines and some tracks that are sure to be huge club hits, listen to this if you don't believe me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuAdd1Ih-qY. On a totally different note, thanks to a review of the latest Earth album, I have discovered The Dirty Three. They are an Australian three piece, composed of drums, guitar and violin who somehow create instrumental pieces that are both droning and fascinating. Not something that can be said to happen everyday.
Continuing my preparation for my upcoming opera outing I have recently listened to both Tosca and Nabucco, both of which are extraordinary. Tosca I would say is particularly sublime, offering a listening experience that is equalled by very little else.

I am, as I mentioned above, reading Michel Houellebecq's 'Atomised' (Les Particules Elementaires), although I have only just started reading the first few pages, so I shall refrain from casting comment just yet. My expectations are, however, high, given how much I enjoyed 'Lanzarote'.
I shall be giving some serious thought to what to take away with me in terms of reading material over the next fortnight. I shall need something that can be re-read and re-read endlessly. Not an easy task. I suspect it will have to be a collection or two of poems/short stories.

Recommendations are welcomed.

Joe

'Wednesday night and I'm at home alone again...'

Leaning against the window of an m&s in mayfair two things become clear, the first; it is definitely a case of location, location, location when it comes to style - come to London and one will see more people, better dressed than anywhere else in Britain I have been to. And second; capes are on their way back in. Now, anyone who attended pitti uomo last year will, I'm sure be able testify to that fact, but to actually see evidence of it with my own eyes and more importantly, in everyday wear, is satisfying. I have just seen two gentlemen wearing them. One a black gentleman (when talking about capes is there really any other acceptable epithet?) Who was wearing matching, loud tweed cape and jacket with a tan pair of trousers and brogues - looking none too dapper and the other a chap who looked as though he had just walked from the Austrian Alps, complete with robin hood style hat with feather and a dark green cape that hid his arms. Rather dashing I should say.

There is, however, a negative: the omnipresent 'trainer'. When people watching in London, which I can't recommend enough, this particular piece of footwear is altogether too common.
If you are incapable of finding comfortable and vaguely stylish leather shoes, you simply are not looking hard enough. The trait is particularly unbecoming in women, worse still when they are wearing a well cut jacket and trousers/skirt. The contrast between the uniformly dark colours of the british working wear and the invariably garish white acrylic and nylon is most unpleasant to the aesthetic eye and ought really to be verboten in my humble opinion.
As for men wearing them, if you plan to run or cycle home, wear them with suitable sports clothes and all is forgiven, but all too often they are seen with the scruffy, middle-aged backpack-carrying business man who has usually either unbuttoned his top button and pulled down his tie, or more likely now isn't wearing a tie at all and instead has opted for the drooping, stained, yellowed formely white collar that displays his second and third chins for all to see. I realise that not everyone's feet or budget are suited to hugely expensive shoes, frankly my budget is well shy too, but that doesn't stop me from wearing leather shoes everyday, all day and furthermore succeeding in finding comfortable AND stylish shoes. If I do say so myself. I recommend you try Fly London and Dune to begin with and if you still come up shy, try going to Office, Jones, or some other highstreet shop. There is a pair of shoes out there that will be comfortable and make you look like you care a little about appearance.

In happier news, my espadrilles arrived yesterday and I am currently sporting the red and white striped pair as casual house shoes in an effort to decide a. if I like them and b. if I can wear them for extended periods of time. I am decidedly in the positive on both counts so far. Excellent news for travelling in style.

Musically, I have been enjoying a few different kicks recently. I am, as I write, listening to Patrick Sweany's album 'Every Hour Is A Dollar Gone'. It is a wonderful piece of Black Keys-esque (it is in fact produced by Dan from the Black Keys) blues rock, that has everything from the up-beat instrumental Burma Jones to the ultra laid-back Hotel Women - a lament for the 'hotel women' that have come and gone from our songsters life. On a similar-ish note, I have also been listening again to William Elliott Whitmore's 'Animals in the Dark', which is a fantastic, foot-stomping album full of vitriolic lyrics, cracking choruses and brilliant song-writing. I can't really recommend him enough. Have a listen to his performance of 'Old Devils' on Later with Jools: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLoTLq_ArHY. The other kicks are largely focused around metal, thanks to the slightly unusual composition of my current workplace I have found myself surrounded by metalheads and have been revelling in working to the sounds of Lamb of God, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Pantera. Perhaps not to everyone's taste, but if you are at all inclined to the harder end of the musical spectrum then a. you ought to have already heard all of the above and b. if you haven't, why the hell are you still reading this?!

I have got a couple of other things I wish to discuss, but I am tired having just played squash and not having stopped moving for the last three days, so you will just have to be patient.

Bon nuit!

Joe

Ian Astbury, Michel Houellebecq and Roast Pheasant.

I have had a rather frenetic few days, Saturday was my birthday (no, you may not ask how old I am! How very dare you!), Sunday I worked and had my birthday meal and now on this most torpid of week days I have had a very active day. I have done various things today that I have both benefitted from and been glad to do. The former is learning to cut glass at work. A skill I doubt I will have great need of, but one just never knows. The latter is finishing the ever so short Michel Houellebecq book 'Lanzarote' in one equally brief stint.

'Lanzarote', rather predictably, is set for its brief entirety on Lanzarote (I keep emphasising the briefness because it really is so short; a grand total of 87 pages in this particular edition) and follows the adventures of a typically unnamed main character and various peripheral characters that manifest the darker and/or more explicit aspects of Houellebecq's imagination. I ought to have read it in French, but I didn't. I was being lazy. In classic Houellebecqian style, it is brief, to the point, controversial and utterly rivetting. I must read more of his stuff. One for you culture vultures circling out there.

I have decided to follow my natural instincts and next discuss food.

I am not a great one for tradition, with the obvious exception of sartorial tradition, in which case I am most definitely a stickler for it. That said, I do observe on tradition every year on the Sunday nearest my birthday; consuming the eponymous meal - Roast Pheasant. This year, the brace of very fine birds were from J.C. Rook & Son, a local butcher, whose meat I am gradually familiarising myself with and a very fine pair they were indeed (fnar fnar). Flavoured with rosemary and topped with streakey bacon, it really was a delicious meal and some of the most delicious game I have ever eaten. Polished off with sticky toffee pudding, I'm sure you'll agree it was the height of decadence, but a ritual that is only observed once a year and merits special attention.

Musically I am about to reveal my love of all things '80s rock. Guns 'N' Roses are one of my all time favourite bands (we don't talk about Chinese Democracy, it doesn't count) and I enjoy dragging out the statistic that Appetite for Destruction is still the highest selling debut album ever.
On that note, I was given today a copy of Slash's collaborations album, which I am currently part way through the second spin of and frankly, all guilt aside, I love it! It's definitely a case of hit, miss or maybe; the collaboration with Fergie is... odd, but not unpleasant, while the collaboration with Iggy Pop is disappointing, if I'm honest. That said, I was never the biggest fan of the Stooges.
I, however, continue to be pleasantly surprised by the latest outpourings from Ian Astbury (frontman of The Cult (they did She Sells Sanctuary - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I8mWG6HlmU)) and the opening track on which he features on this album is no exception. I also recommend that you check out his EP with Boris called BXI. The rest of it, from the bluesy ballad with Adam Levine of Maroon 5 to the hugely enjoyable track with (quelle horreur!) Kid Rock! (Seriously, check it out, it's called I Hold On and is really, really good.) is really rather enjoyable. I wont say much more than that, except to say; instrumental track with Dave Grohl and Duff McKagan and a track with Lemmy called Doctor Alibi, among others.

One final, more cultural note. I have, at long last, tracked down a recording of Il Barbiere di Siviliga, which, much to my delight, I love! It is easily on a par with Cosi Fan Tutti and possibly even it's sister opera; the Marriage of Figaro, which is to my mind the finest opera ever written. I grow more and more excited about my impending trip to the Royal Opera House to see the production they are doing of said Rossini opera.

I am in a rather frantic mood (frenetic?), so I apologise for the even-more-rambling-than-usual nature of my post, but hope you will come back for more!

Joe

'Is there something wrong?' she said. 'Of course there is'...

Ok, so first things first, I took part in an RSPB working party on one of the local reserves the other day, it's not something I did out of any great moral volition or ornithological interest, but rather out of a desire to get out of the house and take some exercise. Anyway, you can see what we got up to here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/groups/broadwaterwarren/blog/archive/2011/01/05/volunteers-help-reveal-the-history-of-the-reserve.aspx (see if you can spot me) and please do feel free to take part in any way you can. I know it will be appreciated.


Second, I ordered two pairs of espadrilles yesterday! One in red and white butcher's stripes and one 'natural' beige and thin black stripes. I'm probably more excited than I ought to be to try them on. Also, I bought the new GQ today, complete with Best Dressed Men List, which I will be discussing at greater length later (don't worry, I'm not going to dissect every entry, just a choice selection). Also, for those of you familiar with The Sartorialist, he has recently been the subject of a beautiful little documentary that you can find on his blog: thesartorialist.blogspot.com (highly likely to be the most linked website on my blog). A short film that I think really shows a. why what he does is both interesting and valuable and b. why he is so successful at what he does.

I'm reading a fascinating book called 'Watching the English' by Kate Fox. It's a rather humorous observation on various anthropological and sociological traits of the English character. It's well written, funny and wonderfully perceptive, I recommend it.

I'm listen, as we speak, to Ali Akbar Khan's epic, 80 Minute Raga. An extraordinary recording and one I would highly recommend for anyone vaguely interested in 'world' music (a term I dislike intensely, but one that will have to suffice for now) and/or just seeing how long you can sit listening to one piece of music. Something I find myself doing perhaps a little too often. This piece of incredible folk music was a favourite among the more worldly aware hippies during the '60s and one can easily see why. Images of Lennon, Gerry Garcia and sundry others sat around getting high to it are very easy to imagine.  Also, in more contemporary news, I discovered last night in the minutes before I went to bed a collaboration between Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling and the Dharohar Project that is really quite something. The mixture of sitar, banjo, two different types of folk music and the exquisite voices of Laura Marling and the chaps from Mumford & Sons is a sound that has to be heard. Just one other musical thing, I have been listening to an awful lot of Pearl Jam recently. Particularly the Lost Dogs b-sides and rarities collection, which I love, especially for Yellow Ledbetter, both one of the first Pearl Jam songs I heard and one of my favourites, along with Alive. Anyway, if you are not familiar, familiarise yourself this instant!

 I am well fed and well watered and with that I shall bid you, dear readers, a fond adieu!

Joe

Points of information

At some point in the not too distant future this blog may morph into more of a travel blog than it's current somewhat undefined nature. Yes, you guessed it, it's because I am going travelling. Thereby narrowing down my demographic substantially - make of that what you will.

Which, naturally, raises the question of style when travelling. A. Is it possible? and b. is it practical? My answer to the first is of course, 'of course!' and to b. well... that's up for debate. By dint of the travelling I'm going to be doing, which will be backpack based and definitely not with any particular grandiosity or expense I must logically reflect this in my choice of clothes. Also, the fact that I will, with any luck, be doing some fairly serious work on various ranches I have connections to, which of course means dressing sensibly for seriously manual labour in what one might suspect is a fairly hostile environment.

Recently the thought has crossed my mind that a. I intensely dislike sandals and b. that while flip flops are the height of travelling ra chic/practical on a beach, I am not overly keen on the idea of wearing them all day round and particularly not on a night out. So, I have been giving some thought to what other options I have available to me. Shoes I already own: all largely smart and not shoes I want to ruin travelling. With the possible exception of some red, white and blue boat shoes that might be perfect. (Not to self, check shoes do not inflict hideous blisters as I suspect they might well.) Leading me to what I need to get in order to have alternatives to the already mentioned flip flops (what do you call a french man who wears sandals?*) and boat shoes. Espadrilles spring to mind, in various bright colours; a red pair and a white pair I think. That ought to do the trick.

As for the rest of the clothes I plan to take, that remains to be seen, but I will give it some further thought - I'm thinking white jeans, blue linen trousers, shorts of various shades and possibly a pair of chinos too. Not to mention scruffy blue jeans for working in. Shirts of light colour, a few, and a fair few t-shirts of mixed colour. (Not thought given to it then...)

Music wise, I just got hold of a rather splendid album by a band called The Greenhornes. It's a mix of one part The Who, one part The Rolling Stones, one part Mott the Hoople and perhaps a little Triggerfinger (a dutch stoner rock band that are in and of themselves well worth a listen) to top it off. I hardly need say it, but I've been listening to a lot of The Who recently, having never really properly listened to them before owing to a poor selection of tracks on a greatest hits my Dad has, I recently discovered an alternative collection while cooking GUMBO! the other day that is much, much better! Creole cooking and classic rock, is there a better combination?! Gumbo is so easy to cook and really delicious, I can't urge you enough to try it sometime.

Which segues nicely into my final point. Having recently received the River Cottage Cookbook as a gift (I wonder what the occasion can possibly have been?!) I have been poring over it and found myself, slightly alarmingly, fascinated by the section on wild foods - wild meat, wild salad, wild herbs, nuts and funghi. I can't say as I'm going to go give up all foods except those I find in the hedgerow, far from it, but I am now interested enough to want to at least investigate them when out walking the dog. Who knows what might end up in the supper.

Mycelially yours,

Joe

*Philippe Philoppe

Ramble ramble ramble

Writing in the small hours of the night one ponders all sorts of weird and wonderful things, from Ginzberg to Daltry to my own writing style. The insights into particularly the last are, as you might imagine, the most interesting for me. Having just finished an arts degree I have spent quite a lot of the last four years writing essays of one kind of another, although it must be said, not as much time as I ought to have done. What really interests me about the difference between now and then is that now it becomes clear how rambling my writing style really is. This only dawns on me now, when I am actually writing something because I want to, rather than because I have to. Poor timing I realise.

For example, in my previous post I started writing about the inevitable bias in the fashion and clothing retail world. While beginning the post in a relatively coherent style, I'm fairly sure I went off on a tangent pretty quickly. So, to correct that, I would like to say, for the record, my point arose as a result of attempting to find out more about who had done the wardrobe for the men in the film that I discussed at some length later in the post; The Brothers Bloom. I looked high and low for said information, finding virtually nothing, but finding an enormous amount on Rachel Weisz entire wardrobe. Frustrating, as you might imagine.

I have, I believe, just demonstrated my point fairly concisely.

Having cleared that up, I shall push on to newer, more exciting things. I do, once in a while, get the urge to do something ridiculous like write a poem. It's not so much an urge to, but rather something more organic, pretentious as it sounds.

I saw the love of my life,
arriving sylph like and pure
on some ersatz feeling
that none of us really knows.
It became a lurid, palid thing,
before leaving,
returning to its prior state.

God knows what that was, but it needed venting.

This is what writing when I should really be sleeping does to me. Anyway, something to make this worthwhile you reading, assuming you have stuck with it this far; I had a fantastic meal today at a local gastro-pub. Venison, rabbit and pheasant stew with celeriac mash, herb dumplings and red cabbage, followed by an incredible apple and cinnamon crumble with vanilla ice cream. If that doesn't get you salivating, I don't know what will. (One of these days if you are really, really lucky I'll cook it for you!)

More seriously, those of you who are, like me, suckers for all things southern rock i.e. Lynyrd Skynyrd, have a listen to The Marshall Tucker Band. The flute intro from this song has been stuck in my head all day : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUL68ZeclcA&feature=related and if that isn't enough to make you sit up and take notice, know that they were regular touring partners of Lynyrd Skynyrd and deserve a lot more recognition than they have received.

Joe