Sweet like a peach, tough like a man; Dirt spins free.
Ears are wet, arms are wide, Dead nerves jolt.
We want signed concussions.
Written for an AllPoetry.com contest, choosing a painting by Jane Davies, whose work reminded me a lot of Trumans Water’s album covers. So inspired I scoured their lyrics for clues and indeed, this work is completely a cento of lines take from their 1993 album Spasm Smash XXXOXOX Ox and Ass.
A bit more lively than yesterday and with a little bit of tension knowing that I have a few things to do. Amy will go out for lunch with Aun so there shouldn’t be any interruptions.
Today I’m grateful for:
Poowanut at Heaven and Hell record store for immediately paying for a couple of copies of the Jornada Del Muerto LPs which I immediately got packed and will send to him tomorrow.
The best thing about today was:
Getting everything done that I had planned. The day went way too quickly though. Even what feels like doing nothing in particular goes too fast and being bored is a thing long past!
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
This one happened to Amy but I got to hear all about it. As mentioned above Amy had planned to meet Aun for lunch but as it approached time to leave she called Aun just to double-check, who then said she was still in bed and hungover and could she cancel.
Amy was rightly annoyed and complained to me about this common occurrence amongst her friends in Thailand.
She blamed herself though, saying that she should’ve known better. As she continued I just kept listening and acknowledging her displeasure and she let it all go with a ‘better just to be by myself and not care about other people.’
Something I learned today?
My football team, Ipswich Town, making a bid to return to the top tier of English football lost their first game this season to West Bromwich Albion.
Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10
I smiled and acknowledged the old lady (she may not have been old) at Utopia in the morning. She gave me a nod and a smile as she left.
I committed to investing time and money in a new release for SpeechOdd and High Voltage.
A random guy had emailed me last week about wanting to buy a CD in my collection and though I really like it I figured I could track it down again and he seemed really desperate to get it so I decided to let it go today.
Another random guy had emailed me about making music together but he thought that I had made a song that was actually done by Trumans Water. I forwarded his message to the band and replied to the guy that I had done so.
What made me smile today?
Walking into Utopia after riding my pushbike from home, I smiled and greeted staff and customers with a smile because I was in a good expectant mood looking forward to that first sip of delicious coffee.
Seeing Cappuccino and Tigger curled up in the cat tree boxes.
Watching a funny video of a kitten running after a delivery guy whilst I was laying next to Amy in bed after having my morning shower.
I feel like I didn’t smile that much really even though I’m pretty happy today.
What puts me in a good mood?
Seeing my students. They can also have the opposite effect but in general, being around all the students at school makes me happy and picks me up.
Coffee helps too!
I took this picture because I managed to capture Cap’s blue eyes.
In my darkest hours of despair I was thankful that you were there You magnified joy through your lens You are one of my closest friends
I’m careful how I wield this word Sometimes I’ve embraced the absurd Finding that words can be deceiving Learned all about sadness and grieving
But you were the pulsebeat beneath My task of living and my belief As time saw me leaving friends behind I take the lessons from all I find
Recreating friendships to maintain my health My bestest friend has been myself
Today I’m feeling:
Calm and relaxed after an ab and chest session on waking. Spent all morning uploading blog entries, drinking coffee and figured some new work for my one-hour classes these next couple of days. Feeling good and positive.
Today I’m grateful for:
Justin Pearson interviewed John Reis on the Cult and Culture podcast talking about his music and friendship with singer Rick Froberg who passed away recently. His death didn’t hit me particularly as now more and more people I admire are passing away. The scary thing is that he was the same age as me and it was sudden and unexpected.
The best thing about today was:
My one-hour class that was so easy. I feel like I haven’t been to work at all. No fuss no bother, the kids did what I asked, they did it reasonably quietly and in time. It didn’t require much thought on their part but it sets something up nicely for their class tomorrow which will require some thought.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
I went to immigration and waited ten minutes until they were due back from lunch but then waited a further ten minutes before having to leave to go back to do my class. I’ll do it tomorrow after my first class. No wukkas.
Something I learned today?
I found out that after the half day that we have this coming Thursday, there will be another next Wednesday too, as it will be ‘art day’. Also, it’s possible that students finish the semester on the 8th or 15th of September, which is only 3 or 4 more weeks! Awesome!
What have I learned from the passage of time?
I’ve learned much, remember less and as the quote today alludes to, also learned little. But that’s not going to stop me. I’m here to grow, I’m here to work, here to do my job of living.
Quote: The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. – Socrates
Relatively, of course. I mean, I know my name.
I do dislike folks who talk as if they know everything, too sure of themselves that they only see what confirms their beliefs. It’s one of the reasons to ‘not read the comments’ – something I need to remind myself of more often.
So I am not one of these people who talks as if they know everything. Even of the things I know, I’m unsure. I was an ‘expert’ in IT for a bit, but now I am clueless. I used to make 100+ coffees a day as a barista, but now I don’t know if I could even make myself a half-decent cup. I was on top of the goings-on in the Chinese music scene and now I barely know anyone involved.
Everything I knew before doesn’t matter now, meaning that in reality, it didn’t matter then either.
It was just my interest.
No one cares that I released the last two Trumans Water albums on CD because Trumans are not as well known as they were in the 90s and no one wants CDs these days.
But I did that. That counts in my own tally of value at the end of the day.
I took this picture because Gui’s mum let Tokyo off her chain as she kept barking at the people in the garden who were cutting trees. When she got bored she came into the shop and lay down like this. Luckily no other customers came at this time.
Am I sitting down yet? Are my feet touching the floor? No recognition of reality Is it worth existing anymore Am I breathing air? Is blood pumping through my veins? No recognition of a life itself No usefulness remains
*inspired by a story from Seneca
You determine the quality of your mind by the nature of your daily thoughts.
Robert Greene, Daily Laws
Today I’m feeling: Happy but a little on edge Today I’m grateful for: Our air fryer which nicely cooked the Hainan ginger fake chicken I ate for dinner with rice and cucumber (to counter the hot chilli sauce dressing). Amy has made me 3 servings to freeze for when she has gone too. I suppose I could learn to use the fryer too but I just don’t bother cooking by myself. The best thing about today was: Undoubtedly, both my classes which I took a very relaxed attitude towards whilst still having the kids semi-engaged with activities. Even the kids that get annoyed with me did some work and seemed to enjoy what we were doing. Some days I love them all. Today was one of those days. Tomorrow should be too. One class making Christmas cards and another two just doing online quizzes and then it’s the weekend again (finally – last night I thought it would be Friday today until I realised it wouldn’t and felt the energy drain out of me!) What was out of your control today and how did you handle it? Amy is grumpy today, maybe PMT, so I’m trying to not bite at her and let it pass. I’m not always successful and she got angry when I misheard her about something and reacted badly. I let it blow over and apologised for misunderstanding and just tried to carry on as if nothing happened. I don’t think we’ll have good communication for the rest of the night, so let it lie and wake up tomorrow to a brand new sunny day, or at least we get to start again. Something I learned today? Hayden has Covid again. Hopefully, it’s not as bad as the first time and he recovers soon. I messaged Ellen too, who I haven’t been in contact with for about six months and since China relaxed their lockdown policy a couple of weeks ago, she and many of her clients got Covid too. I think China’s tough covid policy was the best way to deal with it and hopefully, now the virus is weaker there will be fewer deaths from infections. It’s amazing to me that other countries didn’t take it as seriously. What tattoo do you want and where would you put it? The next tattoo I get will be some Cardiacs lyrics on my right calf. I also want to get a Boognish tattoo but not quite sure where yet. Still thinking about the weird Trumans Water Spasm Smash cover too.
I took this picture because there’s spiders living in the trees!
I am so happy and grateful to Benjii – a long-time collaborator with tenzenmen and his help with working with Trumans Water – one of my favourite bands. It gives me a further source of pride for the things I have been able to do with the label.
I don’t know how much longer we can keep this up. The ducks and drakes of evil are for a lesser form of people. The razor cuts, one hundred and twelve times, across the throat, the voices of reason.
Highly curated, carefully selected and specifically ordered* for your listening edification by world-renowned DJtenzenmen, who has over 100 years of experience in this business.
This week there’s music from Action Beat, Slapp Happy, Shudder To Think, 7 Seconds, Marnie Stern, Sleaford Mods, Slade, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sun City Girls, Umlaut, The Dickies, Dangerous Girls, Jawbreaker, Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Users, Orthrelm, Massicot and Trumans Water.
Incidentals taken from the Church of the Sub Genius Hour of Slack.
Listen right here or Podbean, Stitcher, Apple, Amazon…..all those cool places I guess.
I am so happy and grateful for a few hours of whisky-inspired singing to old favourite songs in my room last night. I am so happy and grateful for the nice shirts I like to wear. I started wearing them at work just to stand out a little from the boring office shirts people always wore. Now I really enjoy a good-looking shirt.
Music from The Monkees, Midvale School for the Gifted, Future of the Left, Vibrators, Blackbyrds, P.K.14, Christian Death, Blast, Trumans Water, Dinosaur Jr, Chavez, Cows, Show Business Giants, Full Moon Band, Slang, lovers.tiff, Minutemen and Marc Thor.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful that I can find Toblerone here in this small town in the mountains of Thailand. I can find almost everything that I need and many of the things that I want.
If you got nothing to talk about then there’s always the weather. Over the last couple of years though, the weather has become a major conversation for most people. Extremes are getting hit everywhere. And now having said that……
It’s not just a surprise to me that it’s so cold here in North Thailand at the moment, even the locals say they’ve never felt anything like it. We all probably forgot what it was like last year. It’s a bit of a shock to the system though and apparently, this ‘winter’ cold will be over within the week. It’s actually a nice temperature but I can’t enjoy it because everyone got sick and thought it best to share it with me, so I’ve been rugged up and sleeping it off for what feels way too long. Hanging out daily with hundreds of sick kids doesn’t help much either.
Another annoying thing is that the temperature had just become appropriate to crack open the bottle of Malt Whiskey I’d been sitting on since last year. After a couple of nights of enjoyment, the sickness took hold. Maybe it’s related? When it’s not school holidays I’ve pretty much stopped drinking now, so I’m a bit out of practice. This has had some positive health effects in that I’ve lost a little bit of weight without having to do any exercise. I would like to do some exercise though but……I’m fucking sick.
Anyway, in between working and coughing I’m also in the middle of planning a ten-day or so South East Asia tour for Worlds Dirtiest Sport from France, which is basically Kevin from Trumans Water and his one-man band. I’m very excited about this. It’s a great excuse for me to get to see some other parts of Southeast Asia that I haven’t visited yet, to enjoy watching Kevin play each night and to discover the local scenes and bands there. As well as catching up with some old (and newer) friends.
Whilst doing this I also have to arrange myself a new UK passport, as that is what my Thai visa is attached to. I got this Australian passport that I’ve never used and not sure when I’ll be able to! This will mean having to make two quick trips to the British Embassy in Chiang Mai on working weekdays. This is my opportunity to use the word palaver.
those days
Dealing with the moving targets of Thai bureaucracy has hardened me somewhat to the bullshit bureaucracy I had to deal with in Australia and the UK with all the visas, passports and information requirements. This time should be a cinch. Famous last words.
these days
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful to be around the kids at school. Even if they are shitbags they never fail to make me smile many times a day. I can go home with those smiles and forget about how little they actually learned.
Did it lists
“You may not wake up tomorrow”
What did I do well today? Where were my discipline and self-control tested? Where did I do good? What did I do bad and why did this occur? Furthermore, how can I improve?
Wrote in gratitude journal.
Understood more about my students.
Prepped next week’s regular class worksheets.
Downloaded Daily Stoic Introduction and saved to Drive.
When I first looked at this question I found within myself a general lack of excitement. Not in a bad way. I enjoy many many things that I do or can do but there’s nothing in particular that makes me excited. Everything at the moment is giving me great satisfaction.
The one main thing I have planned is to organise a tour for Kevin from Trumans Water and we’ve been talking about it for a while and yesterday I started contacting the first promoters and the first show kinda fell together so quickly and easily that it has given me confidence in being able to make it work and to do a good job.
I’m looking forward to visiting a couple of new places such as Kota Kinabalu and Yogyakarta. I’m also looking forward to hanging out with Kevin as Trumans Water has been a favourite band of mine for a long time. I still feel a sense of adventure stronger than a sense of excitement though.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful to Kru Tam to help me fix some things at school so that I can teach the lessons I want to teach. Some of the rooms don’t have video set up properly and a technician needs to come and fix the TV screens. Thankfully Kru Tam is there to help me sort it out.
18 Apr 2021 – None of the things that would have helped me got fixed in the end and I had to come up with other ideas. But at least the Thai teachers looked as if they were helping me!
I think I successfully passed my first test. The kids seem to be ok with my style of teaching and the lessons I wrote went ok – I’m still trying to gauge the level of the main class though.
I was also uplifted enough to drop into CRPAO after school and meet some of my old students. It was heartening to know how much they like and miss me. I think I can make good connections with most kids. Let’s see where this job leads.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful to have the opportunity to work with Kevin from one of my favourite bands next year. It’s exciting to think I can meet and help them. I love this aspect of my life. It’s a lot of planning ahead but I look forward to doing that.
23rd March 2021 – With a couple of weeks until a tour across Malaysia, Sabah, Singapore and Java was due to start we had to cancel everything because of the Covid pandemic. I still need to get refunded for the flights as I don’t think the tour will happen within the two years the tickets are being held for us. Not quite the ‘journey is better than the destination’, more, the ‘planning was better than the reality.’
1994ever 