My so obviously god given guitar talents.........

I seem to have really gone off track with my original intentions for this blog, however, thoughts take us wherever the wind blows.

My recent reflections have been on music. My musical taste has always been diverse (I know, everyone says that) but I have been pretty single minded in what I like and dislike. My first love was rock music and over the past 15 years that has vied with classical music as my weapon of choice. I was recently rocked by the deaths of the legend Ronnie James Dio, Pete Steele of Type O Negative and Paul Gray of Slipknot. Dio was that magical cartoon character that was larger than life and the epitome of rock, unbending, unchanging. Pete Steele reflected the depreciating humour and cool rock attitude that you either got or didn't. A remarkable voice and an amazing producer. Paul Gray was the new breed, new attitude and new times, I have to admit that I am not a huge fan but I saw the band on the web announcing his death and they all broke down in tears, that moved me. It made me think about my own mortality and more importantly, how come rock stars seem to age in a different time zone to the rest of us?
Jimmy Page allegedly appeared on half the recordings released in the '60's, he's 126 years old and looks great. Maybe it's magic, maybe taking copious amounts of drugs keeps you young. Even new boys like the guys from Guns 'n' Roses look good for their ages, is there any evidence, apart from death, that drugs are bad for you?
Cliff Richard is 181 and looks great for it. I know Cliff gets a lot of bad press and I personally lost interest after "Move it" (reissued in the late '70's) but I can't believe he looks that good without the aid of the same drugs that Jimmy Page took. And Macca. How come he looks so good? I'll tell you, drugs. Due to my lack of drug use, I expect to be dead any day now, from natural causes.

It used to be that Rockstars died in a blaze of glory. Drugs, alcohol, plane and car crashes. Now we have our rebellious heroes getting old. Many look great but then you have some that show every single day since they were created (rockstars aren't born), on their faces. Keef Richards, legend and rockstar, 128 years old, has a face so craggy that mountains model themselves on it. To quote Billy Crystal in "City Slickers"...."He's like a saddlebag with eyes." Ozzy, Iggy and Lemmy aren't slacking on the aging front either.

This brings me round to emulating our heroes. How many of us didn't want to be a rock god? For those that play guitar, joining a band, maybe recording a demo and then playing Wembley and touring the States, it all looked so easy. It occurred to me that all the greatest stars are either my heroes or my age. A friend of mine recently joined a band and I was envious. I couldn't believe that I was envious, I don't have time for a band and I'm too old, aren't ? It seems a little "midlife crisis" to me, but I can't help but think.........
Then, just when I thought I was safe, another friend mentioned a parents day where they all bring an instrument and I am depressed to say that I was tempted and was seriously considering it. It did worry me so I spent a few hours last night practising and realised that I wasn't as good as I remembered I was. Then I found out that it's a Sutton day so I won't be around for it. The shame of it is that my wife said it would be fun and that's a green light. What most people don't consider, is that guitarists are a competitive lot and I know how this would pan out. You'd bring your best guitar and secretly bring your loudest amp, to drown out any competition and you learn an impossible lick, often known as the guitar shop lick, something so incredibly flash to put the staff in their place and let them know that they're dealing with a "Professional". You drag out this lick to intimidate other guitarists but it never works as they all have one too and they are all, invariably, better than mine.
I am still uncertain about this whole "get old and rock out" thing. It's all a bit Clapton for me, (I never understood why he had the nickname "slowhand". He's a guitarist, you want a name like "blindingly fast hand" or "holy crap how fast were those fingers, hand". Then he was quoted as saying that it's not what you play, it's what you don't play........No, it's what you play and how many damned notes you can fit into it that counts, Mr Bloody Slowhand. I loved his work with Cream, he had fire and passion, they split up and he got old overnight), and that's my concern. As I'm getting older, the things that I shunned in my youth are appealing to me. Dads rocking out does actually sound like a lot of fun and, like "Dad dancing", it is fun but am I really ready to enter this stage of my life, voluntarily, no kicking and screaming? Do I hide my so obviously god given guitar talents under a bushell or go whole heartedly and embarrass myself? There is that saying, "It is better to regret the things you've done than those you haven't". All a bit "Do as thou wilt" Aleister Crowley to me but a tricky dilema all the same.

It seems to that our rockstar heroes do reflect our lives after all. Some are getting old disgracefully, some are accepting it with dignity, and others, like Dio, Peter Steele and Paul Gray, don't make it. I am still finding my category and it is a struggle but I hope that I am not in the latter.
Just to finish with a few lines from "Say hello to Heaven" by Temple of the Dog.

"I never wanted
To write these words down for you,
All the pages, and phrases
All the things we'll never do.
So I blow out the candle and
I put you to bed"

Life is looking dull......

I'm not sure what I'm going to do now the election is all but over. We are still dissecting what has actually happened and how this affects us. There appears to be a great feeling of positivity but thankfully it isn't the dumb acceptance that "things can only get better" as in the Blair election victory. I have some hopeful optimism, now my disbelief has settled.
Conservatives doing a deal with the Libdems? Never happen and then lo and behold, it did. I have to admit that my first feeling was anger, I wanted a decisive Governement and a coalition is not something that we English do. Watered down politics and backroom deals is not democracy, it's something we laugh at the European nations about. However, in the cold light of day, David Cameron has pulled a masterstroke. He has potentially negated the need for a Labour party, rebranded the Conservatives into an all encompassing party and shared the hate and the pain that is to come, between the two parties.
Being English, suspicion is a part of our nature. I can't help but look at the Camron deal and wonder what is left for the Libdems after the honeymoon is over. Come the next election, would they really go gracefully back to opposition of the opposition, the third place guys that mean nothing? From power to nowhere in one easy stroke. Their future is far more in doubt and providing this coalition lasts the 5 years, I will be interested to see what happens next.
The plus side to this coalition is that it showed who the decent and honourable members of the Labour Party are. John Reid, David Blunkett and Diane Abbot deserve a special mention for not trying to crap on the electorate. Peter Mandelson and Alastair Campbell are now shown to be the maggots that we all thought they are and I am pleased that David Cameron has out manouveured them.

Being a sceptic on Europe and the euro, I am heartened to see that some of my faith in the pound has been justified. I do feel sorry for the poor old Germans and the other nations that were dragged into this huge power grab on our economies and way of life but from where I'm sitting, there but for the grace of God go I! Greece, Spain, Portugal, it seems that the euro is in a very dangerous place. There is little enough money to go around without having to bail out economies that potentially shouldn't have been in the euro to start with. If I was a member state, I would be asking some very probing questions on the who's and why's. I guess that once you have an unelected Governing body, who do you ask? Democracy is a delicate balance and once that balance has been steam rollered, it is difficult to put it back short of civil unrest or revolution, unless you're English and then you suck it up, complain alot and do very little. The French take to streets, burn sheep and blockade ports over the slightest thing. Look at the Greeks, all retiring from the civil service at 40, pensions for life that are passed on to their families in the event of their death and they are rioting, burning banks and pregnant women because they feel hard done by. I think that I may prefer the English way, it spares women and sheep and the changes may come slower, but they do come.

I'm not too sure what I am going to do now the election is over. Life is looking dull after all the excitement. I do have one consolation though, I do not follow football except that every 4 years I become a rabid fan of the World Cup, and as that is only a month away, I shall ensure that my England T-shirts are washed and pressed and I shall be singing Rule Britannia whilst trying to remember how the hell I drank so much of this goddawful beer in my youth and later, more importantly, as I lie there vomitting with my head on the rim of the toilet......why?

The Puzzle of Puzzlewood

I visited Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean for the second time yesterday. It is truly spectacular. I visited it last October and it was in the dying throes of Autumn, but its magnificence was incredible. This time I visited in Spring and it was breathtaking. I can see how it influenced Tolkein, it is surreal, Middle Earth meets reality.
It was so vividly green and twisted, a fairytale made real. I would thoroughly recommend that all photographers visit Puzzlewood, those that like Froud and Tolkein and all small children should also go. It is impossible to capture it in a photograph and do it justice. I tried and I failed....that could have been my lack of ability I guess, I prefer to blame the subject!
Puzzlewood is a puzzle on many levels. My first is commercial, why is this place so hidden from the public at large? I discovered it by accident and although there were quite a few people there and many TV bits have been filmed there, it is a little patch of paradise hidden from the World. In a sense I shouldn't complain, it means that I stand more chance of taking a shot devoid of people and have a fallback location that works come rain or shine, Summer or Winter.
The second puzzle of Puzzlewood for me, is how come the forest around Puzzlewood is different? It isn't as gnarled, it is more conventional and doesn't have the ancient character of Puzzlewood. I am sure there is a simple explanation, maybe the surrounding forest is more recent but I don't know.
I have a few new shots of it on my Flickr page, as I said, they really don't do it justice and I will certainly be heading back in Summer and early Autumn to see how it changes and to try my luck again.

It just amazes me that we are so lucky in the UK, to have these little pockets of heaven. Near me is Waddesdon Manor and estate, it is a haven, beautiful grounds, a good history and it has "that" feeling about it.
Cumbria and the Lakes is the obvious choice, as is the Peak District, both incredible and for different reasons. I like trees and water, the Forest of Dean, Morden Hall Park (for reflections), Kensington Gardens, Apsley Guise, Woburn Woods, Wendover Woods, all worth visiting. I have visited the Seven Sisters on a couple of occasions and have yet to take a definitive shot of them. If you go there then you must also visit Battle Abbey and Bodium Castle. If time allows then you must visit the magnificent ruin of Corfe and go see Blue Pool and maybe Pevensey Castle as well. I haven't ventured into the Northeast, Wales or Scotland yet, I still haven't visited East Anglia in detail, not even Essex and Kent, I haven't touched Birmingham or done enough in London. This Country is packed with things to see. It is fast becoming my quest in life to know England better. To know its character better.

Puzzlewood has it's puzzles but it was a chance discovery for me and it has left me with an evangelical feeling to sing its praises but it leaves me with a slight sadness, how many more places are there like this? How many more hidden jewels off the beaten track that I will never experience? Visit Puzzlewood and you will know what I mean.