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Pictish Stones and Early Crosses Photo Set 3, Meigle Pictish Stone Museum, Angus, Scotland, 26.5.18.
His mind was like a cruel prison, giving his captive soul a sight of freedom, but no more.
Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting.
A hoe is sad; sad with herself and the acts she has committed to. A hoe, you may question, is feeling pathetic and wants to lie under her bed and listen to the pipes, flooding out her mind and body with the groans of the underworld. However, a young Ali cannot. She is in a foreign land of pancake landscape, probably fake accents and white-tanned people who are a major stress to her. People that which believe her and her family to be mythical more-than-porcelain beings: she is in England.
Coming into the historic village of Culross from the west on the left you have Balgownie House, within the grounds to the right of the house you will see the ruins of what I gather was a hospital, canmore tells us it was founded in 1639 by George Bruce of Carnock for the maintenance of six poor and aged women from the town or parish. Having become ruinous, it was removed about 1765, four boundary stones being erected to mark the extent of the property previously attached to the hospital. The site now falls within the grounds of Balgownie House, covered by the carriage drive I took pics of through the gate, the street running too the right of the gates takes you to Culross Palace, also built for George Bruce, more pics later.
Dead Man Fall “Bang Your Drum”
A: I’m a sucker for a strong drum beat – especially something that starts a song as powerfully as Dead Man Fall’s “Bang Your Drum.” Confession: I immediately fell in love with this song when Craig Ferguson lip-synced to it on the finale of The Late Late Show. The lyrics said exactly what Ferguson wanted to say to the world one more time before he ventured forth into new adventures. And that’s what the song does for me too. “Bang Your Drum” has become my manifesto for 2015. It’s my New Year’s resolution. It’s a reminder that I need to keep doing and keep moving forward. Wow. Isn’t it amazing when a song can do all that for you?
M: What amazes me is that you discovered this song just as "resolution time" was upon us. I can't think of a more positive, more fitting song to kick off the New Year. We usually try to start every year with a dedication to making positive change in our own lives and often in the lives of others. "Bang Your Drum" tells us to keep at it, to not give up, to put our heads down, keep banging those skins until you reach your goals. So, my question is: is this a discovery of coincidence, of shrewd timing, or of plain old fate?
A: All of the above I think. Even though I have been listening to this song for a month or so, its message is even more important to me now as we get to that point in January when New Year’s resolutions usually fall by the wayside. I’ll be honest. These past two weeks have been hellish. Friends dying, unforeseen and uncontrollable changes occurring potentially altering tomorrow’s landscape, and my mind and body reacting to the stress of the moments with aches and pains and fevers. But the drums keep me marching to their different beat.
M: The drum beat that you love so much is almost tribal in nature, driving the song to its emotional climax. And there are horns on this track... that’s what I am a sucker for – a great song with horns!
A: Dead Man Fall have not been around for a long time but Des McCabe and the other members of this Scottish band have known each other since school and have played in other groups. What brought them together? Similar musical influences – from New Order to Primal Scream. And you can hear that in their music.
M: I love the laconic way McCabe sings throughout the track. He hangs back a bit, letting the beat do the work, allowing it to punctuate the message in perfect fashion. And as you say, it's a message we all need to tell ourselves. To remind ourselves that accomplishing what we want to accomplish is really, when all is said and done, up to us as individuals.
A: Getting the proverbial thumbs up from Craig has done the band good. As of January 2015, despite not having a recording contract, “Bang Your Drum” is charting in North America. And for this I am thankful and not surprised. Right from the beginning, the drums are almost aggressively freeing. And then comes the bass guitar laying a foundation for some very important ideas:
I've been thinking about the things that are stuck inside my head and I can't get them out and I 've been waking at four in the morning I don't know why I can't get back to sleep again tonight
I can relate. Sometimes we all think too much. McCabe’s vocals start introspectively – almost matter-of-fact. And then his energy and drive and conviction and pride and passion grow to the point where nothing and no one can or will stop him from doing the things that he wants to do.
And then there’s this:
I am wishing that I was making a list of all of the good things that I ever done with my life and everybody says I have wasted wasted every chance I ever had to be somebody
I can relate to that to. But most of the time the ‘everybody’ that the song refers to… is ‘me.’ I hope that dash of self-awareness is charming.
M: The video is suitably charming as well. Especially near the end when an array of Glaswegian locals (I assume) appear in grainy footage. And about 23 seconds in, one of the band members walks down a ramp into what looks like a lounge. I don't know if it clicked for you the way it did for me, but I was instantly reminded of the old RAT (Radio and Television Students) Lounge in college where you and I spent many happy, silly, lazy, sleepy, and creative moments for three years of our lives.
A: Now that you mention it, I can see that too and it’s 1986 all over again. “Keep banging on your drum and your day will come.” It’s a simple idea. Keep doing what you do and what you love and what you are good at and eventually everything will pay off. So I will do that too. And so I don’t forget that, I’ll keep listening to this.
M: Dead Man Fall have a great, original sound, and they deserve the attention they are receiving. And I plan to keep right on listening too.
Finished. finaly.
Well thats it, "A Pale Shadow Creeps" has finaly been released and i can sit back for a week or two before i start re-working "Feathers" which hopefully should hit the shops sometime before christmas though as always me and deadlines dont always gel.
A Pale Shadow Creeps sees me jumping Genre's again though not nearly as much as Cornelius did. Rather i see it as an extention or extrapolation of some of my earlier books.
Rooted firmly in the mystery and suspense field it follows "Rob" a writer in search of a successful novel. Following advice from an already succesfull novelist Rob buys a cottage in mid-Argyll, Scotland, to find inspiration and a hero for his make or brake novel. He has plowed every last penny he has into this final chance for success.
He buys an old cottage at Kilmartin and settles in to write his novel but all is not right for whilst walking to one set of standing stones he particularly wished to see Rob stumbles across a stone cairn.
Of itself there is nothing unsual in this as mid-Argyll is littered with ancient relics; cairns, stone circles, standing stones, burial mounds, duns and hill forts. But somehow this one seems different and for some reason quite frightening even to Rob who loves such places.
From there the story develops as Rob seems to be haunted by a wraith or spirit which scratches at his door and howls in the night but doing little damage other than being unsettling.
But the spirit has a dark purpose and Rob will find out what it is all too soon for his liking.
