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Scooped a scallop shell off the beach last night, and thought: might as well take it with me! SIR WALTER RALEIGH in Daiphantus, 1604 ; written about 1603. THE PASSIONATE MAN’S PILGRIMAGE. GIVE me my scallop-shell of quiet, My staff of faith to walk upon,My scrip of joy, immortal diet, My bottle of salvation,My gown…
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A quick visit to Cee and Jays and then Tesco to buy waterproof map bags, water bottles, a spur-of-the-moment 2-in-1 bum bag/rucksack, toothpaste, travel clothes washing liquid, Sudocream, Johnson’s Baby talcum, Pampers wipes, Anadin (oh, for Askit Powders…)and doubtless there will be more to add before I head south from Shetland on Wednesday. I’ve all…
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(After WM) Without Bicycles Without bicycles, Mao Tse Tung would not have won Even though revolution comes from the barrel of a gun It may also come from sweaty backsides and Sturmey Archer gears On Brooks leather saddles, which need careful breaking in, but will prove rewarding. If you persevere. For years. In tears.…
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Very curious. In the (with hindsight) odd and innocent world of early 1970s Scottish evangelical folk and rock (now THERE’S a niche!) Paul Openshaw was someone spoken of with reverence and a degree of awe. He was the first person I had ever seen who owned and played a Dobro (a proper one, too, none…
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Everything is coming together for the Mull2Muckle/Fairly Long Ride, which pedals off officially from the Mull of Galloway lighthouse on the evening of 8 June. But today, I started with the first 10 miles. Plus 13 for luck. I’m taking a week off broadcasting to do the mainland Scotland section of the ride, but I’m…
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I I first played the guitar in public when I was 12. That was 44 years ago. A lifetime of dreams in wood and wire. I still have that first guitar, a little Selmer. I still play it. But, oh, how I used to fantasise about a ‘proper’ flat-top, jumbo, something exotic and glamorous like…
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Sl 378 Cover Corrections
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I don’t like – to paraphrase the excellent Santa Fe singer songwriter and art activist Joe West – jam bands. I dislike sessions, noodling, showing off, and virtuosity in the service of itself. For me music is about the song or the tune first, and it is in the creation of that work and its…
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…in my humble opinion… Tom Waits: Bad as Me Gillian Welch: The Harrow and the Harvest Frank Turner: England Keep My Bones Babybird: The Pleasures of Self Destruction Laura Marling: A Creature I Don’t Know Josh T Pearson: Last of the Country Gentlemen Ryan Adams: Ashes and Fire British Sea Power: Valhalla Dancehall Arcade Fire:…
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That was my Christmas present two years ago, that weather station thingy. There’s a wireless connection to a screen inside, but frankly, I’m not sure how it works or what it means. The wind is always worse than the weather station says, because the anemometer is too sheltered. If it weren’t, it would be in…
