Stina Nordenstam

I bought a Stina Nordenstam EP Called Something Nice about 8 years ago on a whim in a second hand CD shop in Epsom. Apart from knowing it would probably be Scandinavian and a bit etherial, and I thought not very well known . Since then, I only played one track, but the CD was so scratched i never got it to hear the rest. Now miraculously, the CD has been i-tuned and i can hear every song without a stutter. Very whispery. and etherial and strange. And now i hear about her again in other places. So i will probably go searching for more of Stina.

Newcastle upon Tyne

More work this week in Newcastle - after visit one i know what to expect. I can plan better for the long train journey. This time i'm planning to stay in a B&B away from the city centre. Curious to think that that 6 weeks ago i had no idea where i would work, and that i cant predict where i'll be going in 6 months time. Impermanence of my way of life needn't be a stress. Someway i can trust to the next change, adapt again.

BBC News - Push for 'Great Green Wall of Africa' to halt Sahara

found this article – considering its about something that would completely tranform the planet its surprising it hasnt had enormous publicity.

Sign of the times, but currently the focus of the world seems to be on the short term economics of BP oil spill rather than long term initiatives 

BBC News - Push for 'Great Green Wall of Africa' to halt Sahara

April

Finished my contract in North London and now at home. seems every day has been clear sky and peace and quiet. plenty of time to reflect and look ahead. Spending some time each day in the garden, chopping and clipping, removing weeds. I'm reading more everymorning , usually till about 7.30am. Seems the pace of life can be much slower and less rushed. Less opinions, less food, less load. less driving, less travelling,
Went up to London yesterday, prospecting. Not really satisfying, although RB suggests i work on a book. I can feel the pressure to involve and start things. But for now, i'm declining the opportunity to be in the race. lets leave it behind for a few more days..

The American West - Dee Brown

Another 3 week book just nearing the end - The American West by Dee Brown
As well as filling my head with facts and stories of Texas, Kansas, Wyoming and Montana it
has a fantastic bibliography - titles referenced include
Triggernometry
Davy Crockett - American Comic Legend
Helldorado
Hot Irons - Heraldry of the Range
Marquis de Mores at War in the Bad Lands
The works of Sitting Bull
Lead and Likker
Let 'er Buck - a story of the passing of the old west
Last of the Bad men - Tom Horn
The Ghost-Dance religion
A Lone star bo peep and other tales of texan ranch life
And of course a number of biographiies including Billy the Kid by Pat Garrett and the book on Wyatt Earp by Stuart Lake. Then the autobiographies such as Them was the days by Owen P White and
Gun Smoke by Sarah Grace Bakarich - published in Tombstone in 1947

wouldnt it be great browse them all.

particularly poignant were the chapters on the Sioux and Cheyenne wars. The book is full of detailed maps of the battles leading up to little big horn, the river crossings and movement of the tribes as the buffalo were slaughtered. Two weeks ago it was the tribal leaders - Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Crazy in the Lodge, Red Cloud, Swift Bear, Spotted Tail. Dull Knife, Captain Jack of the Modocs and the great Joseph of the Nez Perces. LAst week it was the Goodnight-Loving ranchers in Texas, setting up the giant cattle empires and spreading northwards. culminating in the Billy the Kid Legend in 1881. Today i read about the Blizzard Winter in Montana at the end of 1886. Montana Ranchers had already evolved into Stuart's Stranglers, a vigilante group set up in 1884. Then after the devastation of the herds in the winter the feuding between Cattle ranchers and rustling homesteaders that culminated in the Johnson County War

So only about 40 pages to go including the life of Geronimo. - who died only in 1909. Wyatt Earp survived him until 1929. So much evocative history sprawling across the landscape of the States from 1850 to 1900.
Hope others can follow and try this ramble across the wild west with me

California at Last

Staying in Half Moon Bay, its about 9am and we have already been up and spent time in the Jacuzzi. Nice peaceful place, so pleased with the choice of Hotel. Yesterday was long travelling via Vancouver with the highspot a view of the Rockies from the plane.

Clive Sinclairs True Tales of the Wild West

Another find from the Fiction section of the library - What struck me was the elaboration he uses in the stories. You need to pay attention when you read Clive Sinclairs short stories. for a couple of pages you can drift, he even includes photos, then he'll have you reaching back for an allusion to a character that you nearly missed.

I enjoyed the second story in the book - Calamity Jane turns the tables even more than the first one about Custers last stand and wounded knee. And of course its hard to tell where the autobiography stops and the fictionalising begins. The hint at the start of the story that the Observer/Artist and Subject/Model roles interact takes on a rather surprising turn at the end, and I'm looking forward to more convolutions of character and observer in the next section

so a 5 star find for me - Clive Sinclair - i suppose its a style of literature i like - Annie Proulx, Murakami and David Mitchell all seem in a similar vein



and a quick postscript. Ive kept up the 19th Century reading as well. This evening i made it half way through a Henry James short story published in "the Yellow Book 1894 called "the Death of the Lion". This one is hard work not only because im reading a facsimile edition as a PDF. the language really doesnt say much at all. You have to work out the drama almost as a side issue. The style is so allusional so many references i couldnt understand - i suppose thats what attracts me to it is the attention it needs