Friday Night News Quiz

New season of News Quiz with the brilliant Sandi Toksvig starts...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/fricomedy/

Batman

Holiday in full swing, apart from 2 days of English camps starting tomorrow.

Must tell though of Batman Arkham Asylum. Another incredible game. Fly about at the Batman and take out hoodlums. Brilliant fun as you are up against The Joker.

Also, probably nearing the end of Call Of Juarez Bound In Blood which has been such great fun. Brilliant cowboy shoot out and gun fights. These 2 games are such a hoot to play. Both rely on atmosphere more than pure killing and it really pays off.

Even those you never play vid games surely, I say surely, would enjoy these games.

Spill

Just found this great and hilarious movie review site with cartoon guys giving great reviews.

Check it...

http://www.spill.com/Movie-Reviews/Default.aspx

Bound in Blood

I've had four cans of Guinness but nevermind, Call of Juarez Bound in Blood is great fun.

Shooting cowboys makes a great change from zombies, nazis and robots.

It's FAB.

The Reader and Batman

Just finished watching "The Reader" which was fantastic. Truly sad and beautifully filmed. Winslet and Fiennes were first rate.

Thankfully I have reached the semester break. The last few weeks have been testing at school and I am in need of rest.

Grandma went home yesterday, and Oi and I have been enjoying some time together with Baby Grace. Peace and harmony reign with just the two of us, I mean, three of us. Grace has been crying a bit actually and I assume it is because she is missing Grandma. She will have to get used to just mum and dad for a while now, and not gran's wizard hands.

I have been sorting out my vast collection of CDs and DVDs. Hundreds have been assigned to the bin, only keeping DL movies, games and original music CDs.

Aswell as that, I have been scanning for movies that escaped the radar, and have been busy DL and burning. A bit of a Warren Beatty fest going on. It is good to scan those internet lists of best movies and get some titles.

BBC podcasts still dominate the Ipod. I spent an evening with Karl last Friday and after some music got onto The Forum and Dr. Karl. Highly entertaining listening even though we were confused by the second or third sentence.

Down in the Hat Yai black markets I picked up the new Batman game. Thankfully this copy successfully crack the "glide" disable feature the programmers had installed. This game looks incredible. TOTALLY INCREDIBLE. I am a might pissed with myself as I am still yet to complete Wolfenstein and Call of Juarez. I hate not finishing a game, which happens way too often.

Love the bonus disc of Green On Red's "Here Come The Snakes" but maybe Chuck's new one is sameold, same old which is sad. There is a cool vid on Utube docu on the new album though which is fun. Chuck has produced some jawls since he quit smoking and got old. Still totally cool though.

So, I'm looking at some time off and a chance to recoop. Some quiet time. Baby Grace now sleeps next to Oi in our bed. I remind her not to crush her. And last night was the first night we all slept together. Yes, we had the night light on, and Grace woke up at 2 until the morning light. I wasn't that bothered, but as usual I have to get out in the day to get some sun to my brain.

Tomorrow I will attempt to get my holiday exercise plan moving with an early morning walk in the park.

Here Come The Snakes - Bonus Disc (It's Awesome)

I picked this up thinking it was the original album being sadly missing from my collection.

Oh My Freckly God! It's a bonus disc with country honk versions and new tracks, including the very surreal "Here Come The Snakes" with some wobbly pipes representing the snakes!

Also includes Yellow House, Fuzzy Mama, Zombie For Love and Tenderloin

http://rapidshare.com/files/180205318/Green_On_Red_-_Here_Come_The_Snakes__1989.rar

Get real, get down and hang with Dan Stuart and Chuck Prophet for an afternoon.

Amadou and Mariam Video

A little video from Mali in case you need some good feeling;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgafofMfBFM&feature=related

New Ron Sexsmith

Exit Strategy of the Soul.

Here;

http://rs303.rapidshare.com/files/138092207/ATPCF-Week33-Ron_Sexsmith_-_Exit_Strategy_Of_The_Soul-16-08-08.rar

Password : www.allthingspcforum.co.uk

Sydney Dust Storms

Reminds me of the Midnight Oil album cover.

The Financial Crash - Podcast Documentary

For those interested dweeb dogs and gummy bears, there is an excellent docu on the financial crash of last year. It goes minute by minute when the one of the biggest banks in the world started haemorrhaging at $8,000,000 a minute. I think I got those figures right.

Anyway it is a great story of how the top dogs pushed it to breaking point. You can also learn how some of those folks were taking home $500,000,000 dollars a year. And you can here the folks on the street shouting, "You ought to go to jail right now!"

Here it is;

www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/docarchive

The Days Roll By...

Nearly at a 4 week break and really looking forward to it, though I suspect I won't be going anywhere. Oi is fairly "stay at home" and this ain't the time to take off with the boys. That's okay, I can do some exercise and watch some movies I have been backlogging. I picked up the box set of "Heroes" season 1 and Grey's Anatomy Season 1 & 2 from the black market at discount prices at about 450 Baht a pop. I tried watching "Merlin" and "Crusoe" a while ago but hated both of them. Maybe Merlin was okay. But I have high hopes for Grey's Anatomy, and so far it seems really fun. Heroes? Hmmm...maybe watchable. I like the Japanese comic guy.

Grace is fine and we had a funny one the other day when, as part of my increased services, I gave her a bath. My handling wasn't up to Grandma or Oi's high standard and you could definitely see Grace's shocked and bewildered look as bath time became a very different experience. It was more like swimming. Gone was the safe, secure grasp and holding technique she is so used to. Suddenly, she was facing the wrong way and floating wildly across the tub. "What's going on?" she said with her expression. "This isn't what I'm used to!" Oi and I cracked up at her startled look. She is developing well.

Hopefully soon we will find a new house in a quieter area. We are overdue a move and I long for the county and a garden.

Had a great night last Saturday. Nearly all the boys were out and we hit a couple of different venues which always helps the monotony factor. Karl, the Englander from Chester, had his first great time out with other white people. Poor lad has quite a lot on his plate with kids and all, but every man needs to hit the town once in a while.

Music - Lucinda Williams.

Awesome Forum this week and FOOC is brilliant too.

New Micheal Moore: Capitalism - A Love Story

Watch his new movie.

It comes out on the 2nd October to rave reviews.

Yes, yes, yes....I know I'm a fruitcake to fill my mind with this junk...blah, blah, blah...and how dare I question your money making system.

...and another I just found out about; American Casino.

Yummy Milk

Portsmouth Hurricane Appeal - PLEASE HELP

A major hurricane (Hurricane Shazza) and earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter Scale hit Portsmouth in the early hours of Friday with its epicentre in Paulsgrove. Victims were seen wandering around aimlessly, muttering "Faaackinell". The hurricane decimated the area causing approximately £30 worth of damage.
Several priceless collections of mementos from Majorca and the Costa Del Sol were damaged beyond repair. Three areas of historic burnt out cars were disturbed. Many locals were woken well before their giros arrived. Skate FM reported that hundreds of residents were confused and bewildered and were still trying to come to terms with the fact that something interesting had happened in Paulsgrove.

One resident - Tracy Sharon Smith, a 15-year-old mother of 5 said, "It was such a shock, my little Chardonnay-Mercedes came running into my bedroom crying. My youngest two, Tyler-Morgan and Victoria-Storm slept through it all. I was still shaking when I was skinning up and watching Trisha the next morning."

Apparently looting, muggings and car crime were unaffected and carried on as normal.

The British Red Cross has so far managed to ship 4,000 crates of Lambrini to the area to help the stricken locals. Rescue workers are still searching through the rubble and have found large quantities of personal belongings, including benefit books, jewellery from Elizabeth Duke at Argos and Bone China from Poundland.



HOW CAN YOU HELP?

This appeal is to raise money for food and clothing parcels for those unfortunate enough to be caught up in this disaster. Clothing is most sought after - items most needed include:
Fila or Burberry baseball caps
Kappa tracksuit tops (his and hers)
Shell suits (female)
White sport socks
Rockport boots
Any other items usually sold in Primark.

Food parcels may be harder to come by, but are needed all the same. Required foodstuffs include:
Microwave meals
Tins of baked beans
Ice cream
Cans of Colt 45 or Special Brew.

22p buys a biro for filling in the compensation forms.
£2 buys chips, crisps and blue fizzy drinks for a family of 9.
£5 buys B&H and a lighter to calm the nerves of those affected.



**Breaking news**

Rescue workers found a girl in the rubble smothered in raspberry alco-pop. 'Where are you bleeding from?' they asked, "Paulsgrove" said the girl, "woss that gotta do wiv you?

Please don't forward this to anyone living in Pompey -
oh, sod it, they won't be able to read it, anyway.

New Chuck Prophet

Yes, Tom told me last week of a new Chuck Prophet album out. I am DL now.

Also, I see a new Lucinda Williams album am also acquiring.

Chuck fans should also check out his website. It's great and if you ever new of producer Jim Dickinson, well, he died. Chuck has a great write up on him on his blog. It makes a great read even if you've never heard of him.

http://chuckprophet.com/blog/

Thanks for all the Fish.

Phew...it's Saturday and a chance to rest.

First up, thanks to all who offered help and advice regarding Fatherdom. It's a tough one, and I am glad to hear I have not been alone in having attacks of jealousy, anger and feeling left out of parenting. I had a chat to Oi and it has smoothed things out. I have requested that I do more jobs with Baby Grace; last night I assisted at bath time, and will do more jobs to be involved. And do more holding, feeding, cleaning up shit etc. Also, grandma plays a key role in the Thai culture thingy so I have to let her do her thing, which is cool because she's so damn good at it, and hardly says a word, just funny cooing and chirping noises - as do we all.

I can report that Baby Grace now has "gripping hands". Something Oi confirmed that is in her baby book. Grace can clasp my little finger allowing me to rock her tiny arm back and forth. She also looks directing at us, and goes from faces of extreme pain to cuddly little smiles in a few nanoseconds.

She is growing fast and seems very well developed. A couple of times a day I play her music. The best choices seem to be Amadou and Mariam and Lucinda Williams "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" album. Men at Work was played earlier too, but they always were a bit naff. I keep repeating those albums and scanning her face for signs of a beat or even just some recognition. As yet, nothing to report. Yet, I am very aware that everything is going in, and assume at some point in the distant future, she will have a love of African rhythms and jungle beats. It is imperative that she understands that Thai pop music does not enter the definition of music and can only be appreciated for it's bubble gum pop contribution and sexy techno cyber babes, who without a doubt are extremely titillating in a purely erotic way. If I fail in this department, then sadly, all will be lost and she will cross over to the Thai/Japanese comic book, disco crazy culture which can only be compared to Shazza, Trace, Trev and Kev of the Portsmouth culture as read elsewhere on this blog. Apologizes to great idols Kev, guitar teacher (from Newcastle) and Kev Wooster (of Brixham, Dorset - through I question that locale too, for cheap ice cream and hard rock (the sicky, pink, crack your teeth variety).

I have just listened to this weeks Science In Action podcast. It is a must and has a great segment on Lake Batik (you know, the big one in Russia). One characteristic that makes it pretty vulnerable is that is is very shallow, averaging only 6 meters deep, though 25 in the centre. Yes, increased development in China, Kyrgyzstan (or whatever the fuck its called) is affecting the amount of water feeding it. There has already been indications that the water level is falling and obviously it is prone tro evaporation also. It is half fresh water and half saline. Scientists have bought it to the attention of respective governments, who as yet have taken no action to preserve the lake. Have a listen.

I am getting seriously into Enemy Territories Quake War as I found a bunch of very cheap original copies in the Robinsons Dept. store in town. A miracle find I must say as "original" does not exist in Hat Yai and to find about 5 or 6 of them is unheard of. I have informed the Gameheads in Hat Yai. They are Danny, Patrick and Andy. Danny has already rushed down there I bought a copy. I think Pat and Andy will too. Patrick has just got a mega new PC and connected it to his 42" TV. It looks damn good actually. This is something that I don't think I should do, sadly. My PC monitor is great anyway. Patrick is an ex-soldier. Irish Army and quite into military tactics and stuff. He likes the Ghost Recon series, which is awesome though stressful. However, he saw me playing Battlefield Heroes online the other day and really likes the multiplayer possibilities. This is great news for me as the only guys who I can ever talk to about PC games is Kyle and Joe who live in Bangkok. So it looks like we might have a little community of gamers here. All over 40. Still, we might make an elite squad and take out the Thai contingent or Aussies, or Singaporeans who play online. Hat Yai Heroes, I can see it now. It is burnt into my brain..."He never loved the Emperor."

Fatherhood is indeed strange, and I am definitely going through some kind of a change. Like, I really don't want to die on the way to work. I seem to have very watery eyes these days. Not like, I want to cry, just this feeling that I have a lot of water in them and they feel a bit sunken. Strange. I also find myself more attracted to Oi than usual. Like she's a sexy mum or something. Maybe, I just like the cosy, safe family feeling. She is certainly in her element. Those early feelings that I should marry Oi and that she was a good choice for a stable future together are starting to materialize. I am all for moving to Chumpon, though she is reluctant to go. I guess she wants to maintain some distance between her family or her step father. Her mum is great. I give her a shot glass of Guinness whenever I have some which she readily consumes. I gave her some blue cheese last night which she didn't like at all, though Oi has come to like it. Old socks were mentioned. She washed her mouth out with some apple. I had to tell her that apple and cheese actually go really well together. I think, however, the opportunity is lost, and she will no longer sample any cheese in the future.

Only one week left before the October break. I don't know what we are going to do. I think it will be a stay at home holiday, but I will definitely go on some rides with Don and the boys out to Songkhla for a hamburger or a Thai meal by the sea.

Fatherhood. Or is it?

It's the middle of the night and its probably the best time to write.

Fatherhood.

I seem to be coming apart at the seams right now, and I haven't figured out why. But, I assume it is to do with becoming a father and the change in life.

For some reason I haven't yet felt this bond I was expecting and am being told must be wonderful. Is it because of grandma's presence and superwiz way of doing everything concerning the baby, that makes me feel like a spare wheel? It's my first notion. And I find myself becoming increasingly frustrated and my behaviour erratic and unreasonable as I suffer with this problemette.

I am also having grief with Phit at work which does not help matters but is best left unsaid.

So I see Oi and her mum having a whale of a time with the babe and a constant procession of Thai TV soaps, and although they are very willing for me to join in and they keep refering to me and suggesting I hold Grace, I still don't feel very at ease. Argh!!!

Obviously Grace is totally cute and unreal and everything, but is it me? I have some faith that time will solve this strange wierded out feeling I have.

I am sure in a year I will feel totally different, but right now it is quite worrysome. In fact I feel bloody terrible. This magic bond thing just hasn't happened. just hope when grandma goes home, my feelings will develop.

Peter...thoughts?

Medeski, Martin and Wood

Tom's favourite band is Medeski, Martin and Wood. They are freely available on the Net and as Tom is a massive Muso, I think it only fair to share his choice with you.

I did. And I like it.

It's a dizzy, swirling jazz pattern of sound...

Say Grace

China investment in Myanmar soars

Foreign investment in Myanmar soared to nearly $1bn during the last fiscal year, the country's military government has said, a six-fold increase over the previous year with the bulk of the funds coming from China.

According to a report from the Ministry of National Planning and Development, released on Thursday, investment jumped from $172.7m in the 2007- 2008 fiscal year to $984.9m.

The ministry said 87 per cent of the total invested in Myanmar came from China.

The surge in investment comes despite wide-ranging sanctions imposed on military-ruled Myanmar - formerly known as Burma - that have virtually cut off any investment from the US and European Union.

The country has large and underdeveloped reserves of oil, gas and timber as well as minerals and precious stones.

But human rights groups say that almost half a century of military rule has seen Myanmar's ruling generals exploit the country's rich natural resources for their own gain while leaving the rest of the population mired in poverty.

Strategic projects

China's investment in Myanmar is focused mainly on energy and natural resources, which its needs to fuel its rapidly expanding industrialisation and urbanisation.

According to reports Chinese corporations are involved in at least 90 hydropower, mining and oil and gas projects across the country.

The projects include construction of hydropower dams as well as a large pipeline project across the length of Myanmar aimed at transporting gas and oil to China's landlocked southern Yunnan province.

Despite increased investment, many of Myanmar's citizens live in extreme poverty

The pipeline is designed to open the Indian Ocean for fuel shipments and act as a means to circumvent the congested Straits of Malacca, through which over 70 per cent of China's current oil and gas imports travel.

Sean Turnell, associate professor of economics at Macquarie University in Sydney, told Al Jazeera that resource extraction is the primary means for Myanmar to access to foreign investment.

"Considering the country is a risky place to invest in, projects to extract Myanmar's resources are favoured by the government because it can yield a quick return," he said.

Beijing's commercial advance into Myanmar comes while the United States and Europe impose strict trade and investment sanctions against the military government.

But while the US recently imposed sanctions on the import of precious stones from Myanmar, observers say China's presence in the gem mining and export industry has soared.

A recent Myanmar government-sponsored gem fair in Yangon, the former capital, netted the military government an estimated $175m.

Non-interference

China has become one of Myanmar's closest allies in recent years, but Beijing has long insisted that it does not tie politics to business and follows a strict policy of non-interference in the domestic affairs of other countries.

Aung Zaw, a Burmese exiles and editor of the Thailand-based Irrawaddy magazine, told Al Jazeera that China's non-interference in Myanmar's domestic politics was aimed at squarely protecting its interests.

"The only reason China doesn't want to say all that much about Myanmar's actions, is because of its projects in the country," he said.

"It is protecting its own interests, but recently, considering the events going on there now, it has voiced concern that the ruling generals may not be able to achieve stability."

Big Trouble In Thailand - Now on TV

You might want to see some highly charged and amusing situations caught on film and presented in a new TV series - all about Thailand.

There is one scene when some con man renting jet skis to tourists demands 44,000 Baht for supposed damage. He ends up pulling a gun on the young lad when he doesn't want to pay. It makes highly entertaining viewing.

Since then, of course, the police and Thai government have got involved and tried to shut down the show - Shame!

I think it is a good thing that these stories are finally making international news. I mean, people get ripped off the moment they arrive in this country. Sometimes even before they have actually arrived (being accused of shoplifting in the King Power duty free stores). The taxi to the city, the connected hotel and meal on the street.

And when anyone complains they get ignored and when it hits international level (thanks to internet) the Thai government jump up and down saying they are being discriminated against.

Check it out on Utube or bitcomet download. Guaranteed a laugh, and JJ makes a great gangsta!

From Our Own Correspondant

This weeks show of FOOC is awesome with reports from the dying Dead Sea, aggressive inhabitants of Las Vegas up in arms against Obama's healthcare plans and mad Chinese turtle breeders.

The report on the annual 3 foot drop of the water level in the Dead Sea is particularly interesting, complete with deserted, once-glitzy restaurants a mile from the present waters edge. The river Jordan can be crossed in a couple of paces where it reaches the sea, the reporter says. And, of course there is some crazy plan to pump water from the Red Sea, desalinate it and top up the Dead Sea. Oh boy!

And I find it bizarre how the population of the US are happy for Bush to spend trillions on an illegal war in Iraq, yet when it comes to providing a government healthcare system, they are up in arms, stating it is the route to communism. Hmmm....the American perspective is indeed strange. Apparently, Sarah Palin described the UK NHS as "evil". I found my two stays in UK hospitals to be quite pleasant, despite being ill. Oh well, it they insist on dying in the streets because they can't afford the ginormous bills, then I guess we will just have to let them. And of course, they have been exercising their "right to bear arms" at the healthcare meets.

I see Chavez is borrowing 2 billion from Putlin to buy weapons. He says they are to defend against Colombia's US arms fed build up. More like against his own poor people marching to get him out. We really have to sort out this leadership thing.

New Wolfenstein

Yes...It's fun to have another Wolfy game to play.

It has received mediocre reviews from the controlling bodies, but I spy many user comments say they love it. Why? For it's simply blast factor. Fun Nazi bashing, crazy zombie shit etc. Yes, it ain't bursting at the seams with the latest, greatest graphics. It is a good old romp for oldies to enjoy.

I see there is an awesome Batman game released that looks fairly mind-blowing.

One thing I like about having a baby, is that it makes many things people are concerned about irrevellivent. Stuff like fashion and new cars. When you have this little life in front of you, not much else matters. Only the games survive. I do also find it necessary to hang with the boys too.

It is still a hard pill to swallow and I have met some surprised reactions that I am not cart-wheeling all down the street that some people would expect me to do. I remember old ship's engineeer, John Emptage expressing his annoyance and fatigue at having to listen to some female fellow council worker at EHDC go on and on about her baby's first burp etc. etc.

I know that I love this child and that this love will grow. Actually, like my love for Oi. I knew when I married her that it was a love that would grow because of who she is. A kind, gentle mum type figure. I could have chased the sexy fox, but I knew that way would lead to ruin. Gee gave me some great advise saying that, "If you marry Oi, it will be for a long time."

Same with Grace. I am not going to stop breathing and jump up and down shouting how unbelieveably wonderful it is to the neighbour and the bloke in the street. It's a baby. It's great. Let's just watch and see this love grow.

You get the brigade that shout, "You have a baby. You have to buy a house. You have to buy a car!"

Do I?

I have to fiancially bankrupt myself because I have a baby? I don't quite follow your logic. I think jigsaw puzzles and trips to look at mountains and lakes might have more benefit personally.

If they want to sail down that river then they can, but don't expect me to jump in after you.

I expect to meet a ton of pushy parents from this time on. There is nothing more loathsome than parents jumping up and down and demanding that their kid is top of the class etc.

Phit told me of one conversation she heard a parent bawling at the nun at school. She was bad mouthing the other mums and dads and pushing her little dreamboat to the front of the class. Big mistake. This nun is like the most wise old bird I have ever met. She's awesome. Just her calm gaze hides a galaxy of intricate calculations on what your saying to her.

To me, being married and having kids is a real tightrope, and the best way to go forward is to do it very slowly, very relaxed and one tiny step at a time. I mean, you wouldn't want all the flowers in the garden to bloom at once, would you? Or would you? Or maybe you would.

Next week, I am likely to have a completely different set of rules to bestow upon unwanted ears.

Just the idle musings of an old donut....

Interview - Mick Taylor

t is a curious effect of the passage of time that The Rolling Stones are now as much admired for their business acumen as for their rock and roll. Nearly half a century after their rebellious beginnings, the Stones remain the world’s highest-earning rock stars.

Their albums have made them £250million and their spectacular tours have grossed upwards of £1.8billion.

Mick Jagger, whose androgynous sneer was once so feared by The Establishment, is now canny Sir Mick with a £225million fortune and palatial homes on three continents.

Unpaid bills:Mick Taylor believes he could be owed millions of pounds in royalties

Even guitarist Ronnie Wood, a relative newcomer who was only made a full member of the band in 1990, was estimated to be worth £70million during his recent divorce.

All of which is a source of bitter amusement to the shambling figure in a dark grey duffel coat, stopping to light his umpteenth cigarette of the day as he walks from his ramshackle cottage in rural Suffolk to the village shop.

Mick Taylor is Ronnie Wood’s direct predecessor and the musical virtuoso behind the Rolling Stones’ golden age.

When the band announced six weeks ago that it was switching record labels from EMI to Universal, much was made of the continuing selling power of classic albums such as Exile On Main Street, Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers – all made in an astonishingly productive five-year period between 1969 and 1974, when Taylor was the Stones’ lead guitarist.

Mick Taylor's rundown Suffolk semi

Taylor, who replaced the erratic Brian Jones, played guitar on Honky Tonk Women, Wild Horses, Angie, It’s Only Rock And Roll and a host of other classic tracks.

He was present at the height of the band’s decadent excess at Nellcote in the South of France in the summer of 1971 and on the legendary tours of America in 1969 and 1972-73.

Yet Taylor walked away from the band at the height of its musical powers.

And while Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts have become fabulously wealthy on the back of music he helped make, Taylor scrapes a hand-to-mouth existence by playing pub gigs and hasn’t seen a penny in royalties from the Rolling Stones since 1982.

Rolling in it: Mick Jagger and Mick Taylor together on stage in 1972

For years, he has refused to discuss his time as a Stone and has brushed off the two questions that have dogged him ever since: why did he leave, and does he regret it?

Now, 61-year-old Taylor has broken his silence in an extraordinary interview with The Mail on Sunday.

It is clear that the scruffy, two-bedroom semi where he has lived for the past 20 years hardly fits the image of a former Rolling Stone. The tiny house in a Suffolk country lane is in serious need of repair and redecoration.

‘Yeah, I know it needs doing,’ he said dismissively. ‘I just don’t feel up for it right now.’

Even less edifying is the unopened stack of bills and threats to cut off the water, electricity and gas. The uncut grass, empty cans in the kitchen sink and the ancient car parked in the driveway with weeds growing through its wheels also tell a tale.

The thick-set Taylor has none of the dandyish elegance of Jagger or the outlaw chic of Keith Richards. His once-golden mane of hair is streaked with grey. He is jowly and far heavier than in his prime – the legacy, he admits, of years of drug abuse.

‘People are always asking me whether I regret leaving the Rolling Stones,’ he said. ‘I make no bones about it – had I remained with the band, I would probably be dead.

'I was having difficulties with drug addiction and couldn’t have lasted. But I’m clean now and have been for years.

‘My life is so much better now than being a drug-ravaged member of the Stones. So no, I don’t regret leaving.

‘But people who really know me ask another question – whether I regret joining the Stones. To me, that’s far more astute.’

In truth, Taylor has always been ambivalent about the Stones – a fact that explains in part why he has never pursued what he believes may be millions of pounds in unpaid royalties.

For all his undoubted virtuosity on the electric guitar, he was never a huge fan of the band and found their brand of bar-room rock and roll musically limited.

Mick Taylor's old car decays in the overgrown garden

‘When they asked me to come to the studio in 1969, I thought they just wanted me to play a session,’ he recalled. ‘I sort of liked them, but was never passionate about the Stones. In some ways I liked The Beatles more.

‘At the first session, I overdubbed the guitar on Honky Tonk Women, but I thought they were all a little bit vain and full of themselves.

‘After doing guitar parts on three songs, I said to Mick and Keith, “If you guys are just going to sit and mess around, I’m going home. I’ve got things to do.” I told them to give me a call if they wanted me to do anything else.

‘The next day, Mick called and asked if I wanted to join. He came and picked me up in his Bentley. I wasn’t impressed by all that and I think they kind of liked that attitude.

‘Part of the charm of the Rolling Stones, as far as I could see, was that they were not technically very good but were very raw and had great ideas.’

Taylor was always set apart from the rest of the band, who had already been together for seven years by the time he joined.

A fresh-faced Mick Taylor back in 1969

He was five years younger than his bandmates and a far more gifted instrumentalist, having toured for three years with the influential John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers.

Furthermore, as a fitter’s son from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, he was genuinely working class, while the Stones were middle-class boys pretending to be rough.

From January 1971, he also had a daughter, Chloe, to support from a short-lived marriage to his first wife, Rosie.

His first public appearance with the band was the Stones’ huge free concert in Hyde Park, which became an impromptu memorial for the band’s founder and original guitarist Brian Jones, who had been found dead two days earlier.

Taylor’s influence on the band was immediately appreciated by critics and fans alike for his brilliant, fluid guitar-playing. And climbing aboard the Stones’ rollercoaster gave him access to an extraordinary world he had never even dreamed of.

‘There was as much sex as you wanted,’ he smiled. ‘That was part of being a rock musician, especially in America. And they always had people around them telling them how great they were and to try some of this or that. I hated that.

'Keith in particular was surrounded by people telling him how great he was when he could hardly keep his eyes open.’

Taylor revealed that around 1972-73, Keith’s drug-taking became a serious problem.

‘Several times the band almost broke up,’ he said. ‘Keith had his own separate social scene and it was obvious there was a lot of drug-taking. There were also problems travelling to certain countries because of all the drug convictions.

‘When I left John Mayall I was a London musician with London friends. But because the band wanted to live in France to be tax exiles, I was forced to go along with them.

'I didn’t need to be a tax exile, I didn’t have financial problems to hide. It was all very well being with the Stones and apparently making all this money – although no one really knew how much because it was all on paper – but I was losing my friends and missing the scene in London.

'I began to realise how big an effect the Stones was having on my life.’

By now Taylor was also dabbling with narcotics. ‘It began as an occasional recreational thing,’ he explained. ‘I never thought I would get addicted. But by the time I returned to London in 1973, I’d become more and more dependent. I was using every day.

The Rolling Stones as they were in 1969, (Mick Taylor is far right), along with two American actors

‘By 1974, I felt I’d gone as far as I could with the band. I didn’t think they’d stay together. The records were doing well but the band was falling apart – it was in chaos.

‘Mick and Keith weren’t talking or working together and it was taking longer and longer to make the albums. So as well as Keith’s addiction there was Mick’s frustration and my own disenchantment and disillusionment with them.’

And Taylor confided: ‘I was a bit impulsive back then. I had a reputation on stage of being quiet, but off it I wasn’t. We used to fight and argue all the time. And one of the things I got angry about was that Mick had promised to give me some credit for some of the songs – and he didn’t.

‘I believed I’d contributed enough. Let’s put it this way – without my contribution those songs would not have existed. There’s not many but enough, things like Sway and Moonlight Mile on Sticky Fingers and a couple of others.

'I took offence and that was a contributory factor in my departure. But I’d never seen being with the Stones as a permanent thing.

‘When I told the Stones’ office I was leaving, they asked for my gold Amex card. Mick tried to persuade me to stay, but I told him I was fed up and how my drug problems were beginning to worry me.

'Mick suggested taking six months off, but I’ve never been good at taking advice. Maybe I should have listened.’

Given all that, it is perhaps not surprising that it was not an amicable split. ‘When I left, they cut off my money for a year, just like that,’ said Taylor. ‘But I had to leave because
I was frustrated.

‘I had a creative relationship with Mick, but I was also bored for a lot of the time. I wanted more and they wanted to remain the same. I also wanted to deal with my drug problems. I believed if I removed myself from that situation I would sort myself out.’

But life outside the band was not easy. Taylor divorced Rose, sold his gold records, moved to New York and squandered most of his money on heroin and cocaine. ‘I was addicted then, using anything I could get,’ he said.

The downward spiral continued even when he flew back to Hertfordshire to sit at his father’s deathbed.

‘My father was dying of liver cancer and was in terrible pain in hospital,’ Taylor recalled. ‘He said he knew I’d been using drugs and asked if I would ask the nurses for stronger painkillers. I did and they gave him morphine. I sat there trying to balance the irony of the situation.

'My father needed morphine to ease his pain and there was me, addicted to the stuff for pleasure. I was so disgusted, I felt numb.’

Taylor moved to Los Angeles in 1990 and enrolled at a methadone clinic in Hollywood Boulevard.

‘I joined the line of junkies. I was a virtual down and out,’ he admitted. ‘My lowest time was in the clinic on Christmas Day. A nurse gave me a tumbler of methadone and said, “Have a nice Christmas.”

'I told her there wasn’t any Christmas for junkies. I decided to go back to England to find a cure, however painful.’

Since the end of his marriage to his second wife, an American called Valerie, Taylor has lived on his own and rarely sees his daughter Chloe, or Emma, a second daughter by a one-time backing singer with his band.

But he still plays music with friends, including former Jeff Beck keyboard player Max Middleton, ex-Manfred Mann guitarist Denny Newman and ex-Snowy White drummer Jeff Allen.

On the days he has some money, he roots through the stack of bills and pays the ones he can. When he doesn’t, which is often, he phones his friends and suggests they play a few gigs in local pubs and clubs, living out of the back of a Transit van.

But what about his royalties from the Stones? ‘In 1982 they stopped paying me. They’d signed to a different record company and had new contracts and were advised they didn’t need to pay me any more,’ explained Taylor with a shrug.

‘Until then, I’d had a contract with Rolling Stones Records which was licensed to Atlantic Records – the same contract as the rest of the band.’

The deal gave him an equal share of performing royalties, though Jagger and Richards shared the writers’ royalties. But when the Atlantic contract expired, the band’s management used a loophole in Taylor’s contract to stop all payments.

‘I should have got a lawyer,’ he said. ‘But instead I called them rude words and asked how they could just stop paying me. They all know it’s not right. In fact it is outrageous. They get all the money and I get the plaudits and praise, even from Mick.

‘I’ve tried to talk to Mick a couple of times, but I realise that hiring a lawyer is probably the only way they’ll take me seriously. But they figure I’m not going to do anything about it.’

Taylor thinks for a moment, then adds: ‘I’m going to do something about it because it’s morally wrong to cut my royalties for those six albums.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1213013/The-Rolling-Stone-whos-stony-broke-Why-Mick-Taylor-lives-rundown-Suffolk-semi-shabby-car.html#ixzz0QwarJ6PS

Oi and Grace

Citizen Journalism

Saturday and a day of rest. I get utterly exhausted by Friday and last night I chilled out with Don, Tom and Karl at Don's shack. It was good to get out of the house and hang with the boys.

I got a good nights sleep too. Today, I had a nice swim and went shopping. I bought Oi a sweet handmade clock for our 1st wedding anniversary tomorrow and some dried fish for the cats. Oi is surprised I am buying such a delicacy and then giving it to the pussies who live in the swamp out back.

I have been listening to some great BBC podcasts under the Documentary series. Todays was about Citizen Journalism and the rise of the blogger. In countries like Egypt and Burma it makes a real impact for the people and finally they can communicate their stories of oppression to the outside world. I think it is awesome.

Hollywood badboy Charlie Sheen has come out about the 9/11 inside job. He has my full support.

It's 3.30pm Saturday afternoon. I think I am ready to begin the new shooter, "Wolfenstein!"

Grandma Returns

Grace is more than two weeks old now and has grown considerably already. She is very content and spends her time sleeping, drinking milk and taking a bath. She doesn't cry much and loves bath time.

Grandma came back today at 6 in the morning from the night bus from ChumPon and promptly fell asleep in front of the baby. I said to Oi, "Does the baby need Grandma or does Grandma need the baby?". Yes, Thais love babies. I got Oi to get the old lady next door to meet the baby. She had a fit and was shrieking and wailing at how wonderful it was. We eventually got her to leave. I felt bad because her 17 year old niece was killed in a car accident in the USA a couple of years ago. It was horrible. She was a student at my school. I thought seeing baby Grace would be nice for the old dear. I was right and she loved it. I even had a motorcycle taxi driver, who hangs around in the swamp at the back of the house, call me from outside when I was standing in the kitchen. "Baby" he shouted over the banana tree. "Yes." I replied. This is Thailand. Strangers talking to you from outside while your making a coffee in your home. Gotta love it.

Made hot dogs with the kids at my private class tonight. The Xenophobes were complaining that the bread was hard and hurt their teeth. Oh dear. I told Gee that jaws are disappearing as all food nowadays is cut up and prepared unlike the caveman days when we had to chew.

Private class is good and I always throw in the facts I learn from my radio shows to give the kids some education.

Watch District 9. It is awesome in every way. Many new ones coming that look cool too.

Nasty floods in Istanbul.

Aljazeera has a great doc (People and Power) available in online about the Pres. of the Congo running up million dollar holiday bills while his people stave on land contaminated by the gas flues and acid rain. And still the IMF bail him out. You know his wife, the one with the big hair.

Got 2 new games from the black market. Wolfenstein and Call of Juarez. Peter will recall we completed Call of Juarez 1 when last he passed this way. I ain't played them yet as I am still hooked on Battlefield Heroes.

Baby Grace is getting her daily dose of Amadou and Mariam. We have abandoned the classical music and switched purely to African rhythms. That album "Welcome to Mali" is just so fucking awesome. I am trying to get all their stuff, but some of it comes down as flac files and I haven't found a free converter yet. Anyone now more equally brilliant music like Amadou and Mariam?

I ain't been sleeping well lately. Not because of the baby. I don't know why. Am tired but don't feel comfortable.

Swimming is good and a perfect tonic every time I feel a bit naff. The empty pool is always welcome.

Kids at school are great. Happy and bright and most of the class are passing tests with flying colours. It is amazing how infectious being able to read is. They lap it up. I wouldn't do anything else. I see other people working in other industries and thank my lucky stars I do something so fun. Also, instilling goodness in kids is paramount.

Oi is loving being a mum. Always kind and soft and she knows to take care of me too. She's a perfect mum. Grace is so lucky to have her. As am I. On Sunday it is our 1st wedding anniversary. We still haven't had a chanced to do to much together but I think the farm will be coming into play quite soon. I will stock up on coffee before we go.

Two weeks break quite soon. I get another two weeks at Chrimbo cos I teach at a Catholic school and then in March it will be the huge holiday again. I was planning on going to the volcanic lakes in Sumatra but I should probably stay with the baby this time.

District 9

Somehow I found a copy of this GREAT movie.

UFO's in South Africa.

Check it out as soon as inhumanly possible.

Grandma Goes Home

Grandma went home today to check on the farm. Don't panic! She's back in a few days.

This also means I can watch TV again and hang about in the Living room more than usual, rather than being re ligated to the com.

It gives Oi and I a chance to be alone together and to chill with Grace. It's been great though, and Oi's mum is my style (i.e. silent)

I look forward to family hols on the farm, drinking early morning coffee and looking out of the 2 walled kitchen onto the fields. One day we might move up that way and I can find work in Chum Pon town.

So, it's back to the pool for me as soon as I have digested my lunch. Then I have to write a couple of tests for the kids at school.

I saw Karl from Chester on the weekend. He is a mellow and cool guy with simple aspirations like my own and has a young son too. It's nice to meet a fellow Englander for once. Tom has disappeared in a cloud of private classes.

I am happy to have this young family now. Things are very nice and has long as we keep guiding the ship in the right directions, it should be smooth sailing. Some things here you can't change, like the crap schools, but I will figure this out as we approach such problems.

I'm so glad Oi is no longer preggers. It got terribly boring and soon there is the chance of a rub and a tug again, as The Hiver used to put it.

Hey! Old Man Don started in another new school and got a date in the first couple of weeks. I told him not to make a grab for her tits on the first date and he might stand a chance. He has just has his floor tiled in his rented house. It looks good. God! Why am I telling you stuff like this?

The Forum this week was fucking excellent and I recommend a listen. They were talking about the rise of the East and the demise of the West, about Kalu Yagi (the Indian bull on one leg that Echobelly sang about) and a great quote from a conversation between Clinton and the Chinese Pres. Bill asked him, "What do you think about the French Revolution?" The Chinese Pres replied, "It's too early to tell." This referring to the Chinese view of progression occurring very slowly and the thousands of years Chinese culture has developed as opposed to the relatively quick West (USA anyway). Well, I liked it. I'm glad the girl host is back on it too. Last week they had some wet bloke and I couldn't listen to it.

I was checking out movie trailers on Utube yesterday. Looks like some good ones coming down the line. Check it out.

Following my bosses wishes I have tried playing classical music to Grace. However, I can see that Oi and her mum are a bit bemused by it, so I keep switching back to African Amadou and Mariam. Damn it, you can feel the good vibes and rhythms floating about the room. Yes, folks and ladies, the grand education program has begun, which a music journey from the beginning of time. Grace will be jumping off the ceiling as soon as she can.

That's it. Back to global wipeout and UFO moon bases on the other side of the moon....

....and did I tell you about UFO's knocking out test nukes fired by the Yankees at the moon. According to sources, aliens won't allow us to fire missiles into space....

Laters....Yo!

Bathtime

Report in The Guardian - Climate Change

Climate change: melting ice will trigger wave of natural disasters

Scientists at a London conference next week will warn of earthquakes, avalanches and volcanic eruptions as the atmosphere heats up and geology is altered. Even Britain could face being struck by tsunamis

Kirkjufell volcano erupting above the town of Vestmannaeyjar, Heimaey Island, Westmann Islands, Iceland. Photograph: Emory Kristof/National Geographic/Getty Images

Scientists are to outline dramatic evidence that global warming threatens the planet in a new and unexpected way – by triggering earthquakes, tsunamis, avalanches and volcanic eruptions.

Reports by international groups of researchers – to be presented at a London conference next week – will show that climate change, caused by rising outputs of carbon dioxide from vehicles, factories and power stations, will not only affect the atmosphere and the sea but will alter the geology of the Earth.

Melting glaciers will set off avalanches, floods and mud flows in the Alps and other mountain ranges; torrential rainfall in the UK is likely to cause widespread erosion; while disappearing Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets threaten to let loose underwater landslides, triggering tsunamis that could even strike the seas around Britain.

At the same time the disappearance of ice caps will change the pressures acting on the Earth's crust and set off volcanic eruptions across the globe. Life on Earth faces a warm future – and a fiery one.

"Not only are the oceans and atmosphere conspiring against us, bringing baking temperatures, more powerful storms and floods, but the crust beneath our feet seems likely to join in too," said Professor Bill McGuire, director of the Benfield Hazard Research Centre, at University College London (UCL).

"Maybe the Earth is trying to tell us something," added McGuire, who is one of the organisers of UCL's Climate Forcing of Geological Hazards conference, which will open on 15 September. Some of the key evidence to be presented at the conference will come from studies of past volcanic activity. These indicate that when ice sheets disappear the number of eruptions increases, said Professor David Pyle, of Oxford University's earth sciences department.

"The last ice age came to an end between 12,000 to 15,000 years ago and the ice sheets that once covered central Europe shrank dramatically," added Pyle. "The impact on the continent's geology can by measured by the jump in volcanic activity that occurred at this time."

In the Eiffel region of western Germany a huge eruption created a vast caldera, or basin-shaped crater, 12,900 years ago, for example. This has since flooded to form the Laacher See, near Koblenz. Scientists are now studying volcanic regions in Chile and Alaska – where glaciers and ice sheets are shrinking rapidly as the planet heats up – in an effort to anticipate the eruptions that might be set off.

Last week scientists from Northern Arizona University reported in the journal Science that temperatures in the Arctic were now higher than at any time in the past 2,000 years. Ice sheets are disappearing at a dramatic rate – and these could have other, unexpected impacts on the planet's geology.

According to Professor Mark Maslin of UCL, one is likely to be the release of the planet's methane hydrate deposits. These ice-like deposits are found on the seabed and in the permafrost regions of Siberia and the far north.

"These permafrost deposits are now melting and releasing their methane," said Maslin. "You can see the methane bubbling out of lakes in Siberia. And that is a concern, for the impact of methane in the atmosphere is considerable. It is 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas."

A build-up of permafrost methane in the atmosphere would produce a further jump in global warming and accelerate the process of climate change. Even more worrying, however, is the impact of rising sea temperatures on the far greater reserves of methane hydrates that are found on the sea floor.

It was not just the warming of the sea that was the problem, added Maslin. As the ice around Greenland and Antarctica melted, sediments would pour off land masses and cliffs would crumble, triggering underwater landslides that would break open more hydrate reserves on the sea-bed. Again there would be a jump in global warming. "These are key issues that we will have to investigate over the next few years," he said.

There is also a danger of earthquakes, triggered by disintegrating glaciers, causing tsunamis off Chile, New Zealand and Newfoundland in Canada, Nasa scientist Tony Song will tell the conference. The last on this list could even send a tsunami across the Atlantic, one that might reach British shores.

The conference will also hear from other experts of the risk posed by melting ice in mountain regions, which would pose significant dangers to local people and tourists. The Alps, in particular, face a worryingly uncertain future, said Jasper Knight of Exeter University. "Rock walls resting against glaciers will become unstable as the ice disappears and so set off avalanches. In addition, increasing meltwaters will trigger more floods and mud flows."

For the Alps this is a serious problem. Tourism is growing there, while the region's population is rising. Managing and protecting these people was now an issue that needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency, Knight said.

"Global warming is not just a matter of warmer weather, more floods or stronger hurricanes. It is a wake-up call to Terra Firma," McGuire said.

Exclusive - Grace Sneezes!

Home

Another great documentary to watch is called "Home".

Find it if you care to.

The Disclosure Project

Interviews with retired pilots and government officials regarding close encounters with UFOs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA9cwUN0drc&feature=related

A UFO Future

Following on from the Kuwa UFO incident, there is a possible scenario. One that we are already very familiar with. The Kuwa incident is the one UFO story which seems credible. 62 school children all saw and reported the same thing - in childlike fashion. If you have watched the interviews you will know what I mean. The grave thing though is the warning the aliens put into the minds of some of the children about air running out on planet Earth.

This can put forward the theory that aliens are indeed watching us. This might explain the huge surge recently of UFO sightings. You can check out Utube. Strangely, much of this is absent from media.

The possibility that we are being observed due to a rising danger we are putting ourselves it. It makes sense that any alien life might be concerned enough to at least watch with developing interest.

Intervention? We have to wait and see.

So, here's another question I have developed;

"Is technology good?"

...along with my other question....

"Is the universe alive?"

"Is technology good?" of course can be answered by it depends how you use it. I guess that has to be followed up with something like, "Are we ultimately responsible enough to use technology for good?" or something like that.

Global Oxygen Depletion

Here are some of my thoughts.

Politics, institutionalised society, religion....all that is a sham. A smoke screen to blind the world. The natural world is being driven into the ground. It won't be long before it starts to really come apart at the seams. Greed breeds greed and those who have allowed themselves to be driven by it become further and further away from any course of the real purpose of our existence. And the more you drink, the more poisoned you become. So that all this stuff that floods our TV's, media etc. just blinds us further and leads us further away from any chance of survival. The entire current system of governance is wrong and deliberately shields those in power from responsibility of their actions.

Things will start to go horribly wrong fairly soon.

Other forces are in the universe. The institutionalised world we live in has no relevance to what is really going on in the universe. Other forces exist that we have not yet discovered. These forces will begin to play a part in our existence and will determine our fate.

Kuwa Zimbabwe 1994

I have been teaching Mysteries to my teen class and came across this incredible report of a UFO sighting by 60 school children in Zimbabwe.

Check it out;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjgW2Lqs4EY