sandlewood and jasmine

I'd been deserted yesterday evening, in favour of one of those award shows in the West End. Tickets only and I didn't have one.

In truth I was a bit achey anyway from my afternoon cycling, and as I write this on Monday I can feel even more creaks based on my extra cycling session this afternoon.

I'd just settled down to some supper, a mug of tea and the last episode of House of Cards, when everything was plunged into darkness.

I could only see the meal in front of me by the glow from the fire.

Then I looked around outside and could see that the houses opposite and behind us still had power, but our side for the road and all the way back to the main road was in darkness.

Time to locate a torch, using the iPhone as an improvised light.

Then to find some candles, one of which didn't have a proper wick. I improvised with a match and soon had fragrant scented candles and what turned into a fireside acoustic guitar evening. Excuse my lack of coolness for putting the dubious candle into a baking tray as a safety measure.

Of course by one 'o clock in the morning when the awards revellers returned, it was back to normal.

"...Have you been burning joss sticks?"

never let me go or be right back?

I was away in hotels for part of the last week. There was that moment in the evening when the television flicked on accompanied by a whistling sound and tumbleweed blowing across the room.

The schedulers don't know what to programme and so we get badly chopped house makeovers, identiformat blue background talentless shows and an old episode of Top Gear. Like at home, there's many channels on offer but frequently nothing I want to watch.

A continuing mushification* of the mainstream. Babblers force feeding D-listers with antipodean bugs, sweary cookery and quizzes asking whether Waterloo is in Belgium or Russia.

They say that the telephone has already been segregated into traditionalist land-line users and everyone else who now uses mobile phones the whole time. It's supposed to be happening to television too, with diminishing watchers of real-time telly.

Because of travelling I've used series link for ages as a way to store a potentially interesting show so that I have something watch when the main channels have surrendered. Nowadays we can add on-demand and Netflix type systems to provide the 'box set' experience.

It's all further fragmenting viewers, and I'm guessing that advertisers and some TV channels must be worrying about income and results.

Watching a particular show can also become a more singular experience. I've been enjoying House of Cards, and there's some quite funny moments like the corny but slyly entertaining "let's throw the Charity party in the entrance area" segment. There can't be the same shared experience around it when everyone will watch it at different times.

Perhaps it will all even out eventually, like popular movies which are later on television. I only watched the last series of Sopranos fairly recently and can also appreciate the dry humour of its last scene.

Contrasting the olden days experience of a few channels that everyone watches we now have many channels that hardly anyone watches.

I still saw the latest Black Mirror "Be Right Back" episode in real time and of course there will be more such moments, but they are getting less, in the same way that music becomes spotified and books go digital.

The Black Mirror was a social commentary around replicant cloning using a beta release of a coin operated boy. Just add electrolyte.

It somehow reminded me of the mannered approach in Ishiguru's Never Let Me Go, although I suppose in a parallel universe the logic of Ishiguru's body part cloning would somehow precede that of the fully formed automaton in Be Right Back?

Both series of Black Mirror have put together some thought provoking 'nearly feasible now' ideas and run the outcomes.

With all the fragmentation, I wonder if these objects in the mirror are closer than they appear?

* mushification is not yet in the OED

genuine original equipment spare parts

I'm onto the finishing touches for the home-made guitar now.

A padded bag arrived from the USA today with a pickguard in it.

I've already fitted it, but then decided that maybe I prefer the look without one. It's one of those things where even with a selection of colours from my Cadbury's biscuit tin of miscellaneous guitar parts, I'm not sure whether this home-made guitar needs a guard?

Actually, I didn't have a tin of guitar parts before I started this project, so it is quite surprising how I seem to have accumulated enough parts to almost build another one. Of course most of the parts are screws and widgets already laying around that didn't know they were suitable for guitar construction until I started the project.

Come to think of it, the biscuit tin is sort of guitar body shaped...And I do have some broken strings...

football pitch misses earth

The meteor DA14 missed the earth today, although to my surprise another completely different and undetected one hit Chelyabinsk in the Russian Urals, also today.

I'm not sure if these are the kind of things that the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space actually worry about, being that it's no longer outer space by the time it hits the earth.

The report from their 55th session/644th meeting is available here including its discussion about creating a vision for outer space for Africa and ways to improve the security of outer space.

Oh, and curiously, a section about the right to self defence in outer space.

Yet with all 71 member countries involved in this and the no doubt considerable funding applied, it was still amateur astronomers that first spotted DA14. Equally, it's not clear that anyone noticed the meteor in Russia until it whizzed over a motorway and then crashed creating damage affecting around 1000 Russian citizens.


Not counting any unexpected ones like Chelybinsk, the the next biggie isn't predicted until around 2029 or second time around in 2036. The reassuring view is that by the time it is due to hit someone(?) will have invented and implemented a way to handle it.

To avoid too many more embarrassing unnoticed asteroids, the same UN Committee has decided to run a "find an asteroid" competition. They are also working on a technical paper called "move an asteroid' aimed at deflecting a Near Earth Object with inventions such as a Gravity Tractor or white paint applied to the sun side of the asteroid. The latter would cause uneven heating to deflect the asteroid's path.

It might need a very big spray can though. It's good to know there are so many people thinking about this.

You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.

I'm enjoying the American rework of House of Cards at the moment and have been pleasantly surprised. I did enjoy the original British series years ago and it's on my vague list of things to watch again.

The new version has Kevin Spacey in the Francis Urquhart, Chief Whip character which was spectacularly played by Ian Richardson in the original. The new Francis still talks to camera right from the start and despite the transfer from Whitehall to Washington, some of the understated one-liners seem to survive the transition.

Although I can remember the general plot-line, I can't remember the detail in the way that I can for, say, The Killing, Dragon tattoo or Let the Right One In, each of which received a US-makeover but remained too similar to the European versions.

The House of Cards seems to have embraced the alternative US version of politics and an American and quite cinematic angle plays well to this British eye. We also get a few modernisation updates along the lines of State of Play (which was also a UK-tv show made into a good Russell Crowe movie).

So in House of Cards we get banter about blogs and the end of 20th Century-style journalism. I think the original was made in 1990, so the inkies would still have had more of a role than they do nowadays. I know some of the repositioning could be considered formulaic writing, but on the other hand it helps balance out the original storyline.

Kevin Spacey plays a wily South Carolina Democrat House Whip named Francis Underwood, although the euro-Francis drifts to a more US-friendly Frank throughout this version. I wonder if Spacey's time as an arty Londoner on the South Bank a few minutes walk from the Globe will influence this version? The unruly politics of Shakespeare's Richard III and the conniving of the Scottish play are references in the original House of Cards.

Apparently it's currently only available on Netflix. I'm told it's already their most successful series and they've decided to let the full Pilot Episode be viewed without a subscription.

Now why would that be???

You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.

thin, round, with lemon and sugar

We've been flipping a few meetings around. Some of last week's sessions received a battering and a couple of new items have crêped up on me, so there's a few hectic days ahead.

Tomorrow could be quite a squeeze.

Although eggcellently, one of today's gaps gave me time to buy a few lemons.

What with today being Puncake Pancake day and all.

no #vatileaks here - just angels and demons

I see the Pope has quit. Well not until the end of the month officially, but that's still pretty fast for something that most consider to be a bolt from the heavens.

For ages there's been an undercurrent of alleged issues around the Vatican varying from smutty scandals, through cover-ups and diabolik financial shenanigans. There's a whole bunch of stuff in an Italian site based upon the so called Vatileaks from last year.

Some of it reads like a Dan Brown plot-line and leads to speculation about whether the current Pope was part of a holding pattern, waiting to get the new dux in a row.

So who next? Another Germanic type? Available but unlikely?

An Italian? There's plenty to choose from so it's gotta be a strong chance. Maybe the Archbishop of Milan? Or the popular Angelo Bagnasco? Or even Cardinal Bertone to keep it in the Italian family?

An American? the Archbishop of New York in the Vatican? There's a thought.

Someone from Africa? It's a big recruitment zone and would show beyond Europe thinking? Cardinal Turkson?

What about a Canadian? We've done it here with the Bank of England. Multilingual Marc Ouellet to show global thought and remove some of the citadel walls around the Vatican?

There's others too. It'll be interesting to see whether they go for Italianate positioning or global reach in the next chapter.

Dan Brown is probably already scribbling.

spring heeled Jack #FAWM 4

Here we are nearly half way through February and I'm still only on lyric four from FAWM (February is Album Writing Month).

Of course, this year I'd decided that the guitar building project would be instead of penning any more lyrics and I haven't set up any recording equipment to convert any of my efforts into tracks.

One thing I've noticed is that when I first started to do FAWM a few years ago, there was a much higher ratio of lyrics to produced songs. The march of Garageband and general home recording has continued apace and now the lyric only tracks seem to be notably in the minority.

One of the early suggested themes was to write a City Song. Mine's a bit late, but here goes!

People call me a night terror
And they won't go out at night.
Slipping through the streets in the darkness
Sharp claws give more than a fright.

I'm a terror
here in London.
I'm a terror
dressed in black.
Just call me the terror
called Spring-heeled Jack.

Don't go walking round the streets in the nighttime
Under street lights flickering with gas.
I'll jump and blow them out in a second
Face away and you won't feel me pass.

i'm a terror
right here in London.
I'm a terror
dressed in black.
Just call me terror
Jumpin' Spring-heeled Jack

Some bet that I'm a shapeshifter
Sometimes a ghost or a devil or a bear.
Bet if you see any one of these as shadows
Around the corner I'll be there.

Cos I'm a terror
Right here in London.
I'm a terror
dressed in black.
Call me the terror
known as Spring-heeled Jack.

They've sent policemen out to find me
And the Lord Mayor's looking too.
They say my hands can cut to ribbons
better if no one knew.

Cos I'm a terror
right here in London.
Im' a terror in cape so black
Yeah I'm that terror
here in London
Just call me Spring-heeled Jack.

time to squeeze the orange guitar (pt 9)

I've been playing the mostly assembled guitar today. The last few pieces come together quite quickly.

I must admit it sounds rather good.

There's a few tweaks to apply. The capacitors I've used are probably too high in value which means the tone control mainly works between 10 and 7.

The multiple push-pull switches for the various modes of serial, parallel, one coil, two coil all work brilliantly and the result is a superb range of tones. I've also reversed one of the humbuckers so that the now inner rails have hum cancellation. It seems to work, although I've no idea what it would have sounded like if they had been the official way around.

The 'everything on' setting is deep and growly and the lead guitar setting is surprisingly clean and clear. Plus there's a whole gamut of in between settings. Not to mention adding back in some pedals and reverb.

I've only put some temporary strings on it at the moment to test it and later I'll be adjusting the heights of strings, humbuckers and string intonation (although at the moment it seems remarkably good with proper harmonics bang on the 12th fret). For tuners I've used the locking type, which are also very simple to use and seem to keep the strings rock solid.

Quite a few people making guitars will copy a specific model. Contrariliy, I think it's given me the freedom to use anything I feel like, so although it may be hybrid, it's also unique.

It's quite a pleasing project and one where I feel I'm learning quite a lot about how guitars work. With hindsight it might have been easier to start with a Fender style because they use separate plates for most of the controls. Fender's stratocaster shape is also mainly 'open-plan' as well, which would make the wiring and so forth much easier to get at.

I've still got to add the scratch plate, the bits to hold the straps on, some plates to cover the gubbins at the back and generally fiddle around with the setup.

There's a few dinks in the finish from when I was wiring it, and so I may just have another look at the paint job, although it's probably about as good as I could get it for a first attempt.

Now back to February Album Writing Month, with a dangerous musical instrument to accompany my lyric writing.

(Building a guitar? See also parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

the home-made orange guitar body has sound (Pt 8)

Well, all the wires are inside the guitar body now.

Or so I thought...

I decided to plug it in and see what it sounded like without a neck or any strings.

Silent would be a good answer.

Unfortunately, not to be. There was a big hum when I touched the tone controls.

Brrp.

I realised my mistake. I'd been thinking of the guitar body as a ground. Like in electronics, earthing to the chassis is a pretty routine thing. Of course, the guitar chassis is made of wood, so doesn't work too well.

Another round with the soldering iron, this time to make a pretty little silver wire circuit between the four control knobs, so that they share a common earth.

It's worked a treat and I just get a hiss when I turn the amplifier up high now, with everything else ominously silent.

My next experiment was to hold the plugged-in neck-less guitar body face to face with my unplugged telecaster. Strum the strings on the telecaster and see if the new guitar pickups could sense the vibrations?

Yay.

It works. In all the main switch positions. The guitar has sound.

Now to add a neck, bridge and the strings.

Then to learn about intonation and action.

building the orange guitar (part 7)

Everything is starting to look orange now.

Although out of the haze, a guitar shaped artifact is beginning to take form.

As I suspected, the bodywork is proving the most difficult. Some of it has been a question of learning as I go along. I've now reached the stage where some of the metal parts are coming together, although there's still a fair amount of wiring to complete inside the body. I've realised that guitar maker Fender put their controls onto little plates for a reason.

By comparison, my design means threading wires all through the body and I'm starting to wonder if that switch in the 'Les Paul' position was such a good idea.

It creates a diagonal channel right through the middle of the guitar, from the plug socket which is bottom left to the switch which is top right.

I've also had a few dramas with the clear coat lacquer, which does all kinds of interesting things after it's been sprayed. I gather I should wait about a week and then to sand it to get it very shiny, using 2000 grit.

I'm agonising over what to do about the fretboard now. I've got a nice rosewood finger board with some cream coloured inserts, but I don't know whether to paint the exposed wood areas. I'm thinking to leave it 'natural' as a tell tale-sign of the 'Made in England' nature of this guitar.

I'm hoping to fire up the circuits this weekend, to check for hum. There's another 20 or so connections to solder first.

ee-bac-gone?

I see the new Baccalaureate (Baccalauréat?) exam system promoted by Mr Gove is to be abandoned?

A pan-European idea purportedly scuppered by European Union procurement rules?

Or is the red light some handily contrived excuse because everyone in the 'education franchise' thought it wouldn't work?

Gove condemned GCSEs as insufficiently demanding, instead requiring more 'O level-like' end of year exams instead of assessed coursework. He wanted the certificate-less system in place before the next election and the first exams in 2017 - which teachers, Ofqual, many MPs didn't believe in or believe possible.

For le bac, the French have had since Napoleon's time to get it working properly in its various BAC S, ES and L guises.

It will be interesting to see how Gove's climbdown gets spun today. With Orwell still in the syllabus, there's a kind of doublethink around what is being said.

As a member of the Notting Hill Set, Gove is firmly in the Cameron, Osborne, Vaizey clan. But maybe not Bullingdon enough for the support that Osborne receives.

So let's guess which of Gove's advisors break cover over this one?

No 'Gove-levels' certificates for the right answers.