You are allowed to enjoy this…

A nice chap called Nadim wrote some nice words about some of my music:

Darren Lock I Am Not Your Enemy
Cool instrumental stuff from He Who Should Not Be Mentioned Here But Was Anyway. The couple of songs have funky lyrics and take some time to get used to, but they’re great nonetheless. Give the guy a record contract already!

That’s good, innit? Makes it worth it. I get very little feedback or enthusiasm, so I normally presume that no-one actually likes my music once they’ve bought it. This kind of restores the balance and makes me want to make some more music. (I know, I know…you all want me to stop, but I won’t. Mwaaahahahhhaaaa!)
Recently, I found a really neat CD case that holds four CDs. I am a bit of a packaging fetishist and whenever I see a clever CD case or packaging idea, I think about how I can apply it to my own work. I bought a pack of these cases and redesigned the artwork for “Sows’ Ears & Silk Purses” so it would fit. I usually use a four-CD case, which is styled as a DVD case. These are bigger and heavier and it costs me more to ship them to the US. The cases are smaller, lighter and will mean I can ship more off without breaking the bank.



Meanwhile, the sharp stomach pain is subsiding. Hopefully, it will be gone by tomorrow. The self medication with oil of peppermint capsules always seems to work.

While in the garden, I noticed some activity coming from the lawn. Suddenly, an army of flying ants began to take off. Yes, it was that day of the year when all the flying ants disperse to create new ant colonies. I grabbed my digital camera and snapped the seething carpet of black, winged bodies wriggling on the lawn.

It was quite a sight to behold. And then I saw nature playing a cruel trick. The birds of the garden saw the struggling Queen-Ants-to-be and began to snack on the slow and the wingless. Here’s one lucky blackbird who got a tasty beakful:

Ain’t nature wonderful?

So it turns out that the suicide bombers were Brits all along. This wasn’t a surprise to me. Neither was it a surprise that they were, in fact, suicide bombers. There was no way that they could have timed the bombs to go off with such precision without a human element. Trains get delayed, discarded rucksacks get reported, timers fail to go off – so a human trigger was needed. It’s the same with the bus bomber. It is obviously he was meant to go on a train, but he either couldn’t get on a train in time due to delays or he bottled it. If he bottled it, then it might be so that the bomb wasn’t meant to go off on the bus and he was travelling to another train station to wreak havoc?
Anyway, it reminded me of a fantastic animated satire show called Monkey Dust produced by the BBC. The series featured two sports-loving British asian youths from Birmingham, under the guidance of the ruthless Omar, who wanted to bring a holy jihad on the local population. It reminded me so much of what happened in London. Of course, in the cartoon they always failed because they were inept and they always wanted to catch the match on Saturday. You can always tell a good satire when it becomes painful to watch. Monkey Dust will now probably be banned on the basis of those characters.
Not much else has been happening here. I’m suffering from severe stomach cramps again, so I think I must have eaten something I shouldn’t have. This is strange because I’ve been careful with my food and in the past month have managed to lose over half a stone without even being on a diet. But the stomach cramps are painful, but not as painful as they have been or was earlier in the year. I can still walk and function, so there.
Apart from that, things are really nice and quiet. 😉

The sun is shining… Hurrah!
Alex the Wonderdog suffers from a condition known as “Westie Skin” – yup – he is a Westie, so it’s par for the course. It basically means that he is allergic to certain things and when these allergens are about his skin comes out in dark greasy patches which crust over and his fur is prone to fall out. Recently, he suffered another attack and gone some new, more expensive drugs for him. Unfortunately, the side-effects are vomiting and diarrheoa. If he were to suffer these side-effects were are to stop medication. Last night, a 3am, puke-boy decided to redecorate the bedroom and I don’t mean in a tasteful misty buff emulsion. Off the tablets, my walking vomitorium.
On a separate note, The Missus gave me permission to spend money on some new musical toys. I saw a Yamaha RG420 D6 guitar going cheap on a website and the interesting thing about this guitar is that it is a baritone guitar. That means it is tuned down to the key of “B” which makes it a deeper instrument to play. This guitar is top quality with a locking Floyd Rose tremelo and everything and it only cost £149. Bargain of the century. The funny thing is that because it was the end of line stock, the only colour they had was Mist Green. I was happy to settle for this pukesome colour, but you cannot imagine my delight when the guitar turned up and despite having “Mist Green” labels on the box and even tied to the guitar, the guitar itself was a tasteful black. None more black. Apparently, all the cool young kids use these guitars for heavy metal riffing. It’s fun because I am having to rethink all my old tunes on it. I must be getting good because within five minutes of playing it, I figured it all out. 🙂
In the post: the replacement 1Gb memory card from SanDisk
Now here’s the thing. I sent off my faulty memory card via registered post. The post office said it got lost and I was to fill out a form for compensation, which I did and returned with all my paper evidence. Obviously, the card did make to it the supplier because I now have a replacement. The moral dilemma is: should I accept the refund from the Post Office if they decide to pay out? Stupid Royal Mail – no wonder they are always losing money.
In the post (II) – a box of replacement guitar strings. Totally out of guitar strings so I ordered a selection of replacements including my regular Ernie Ball Super Slinky and there’s also a set of Beefy strings for the Yamaha when I need to change those strings. I didn’t realise that with a Floyd Rose tremelo you had to cut the ball end off the strings before fitting them to the guitar. You learn something new everyday! 🙂

Yesterday’s event are still weighing heavily on my mind. I must be getting sentimental in my old age because this attack has really depressed me. One of the things I hate about London is the tube system. You could call it a phobio, but I always hated being stuck underground between tunnels. It’s almost like being buried alive. When I did the commuter shuffle into town, everytime the train stopped in a tunnel, my stomach turned knots.
With yesterday’s events, I empathise with all those trapped in carriages and down the tunnels. It was my nightmare come true. Of course, I always said it would happen, but to see the pictures of the dead, dying and wounded just saddens me beyond belief.
I am supposed to go to a concert tonight, but I just can’t bring myself to be happy and cheerful and enjoying myself after yesterday. I know we are supposed to have the “Blitz Spirit” and we are supposed to carry on and show them that we aren’t beat, but I just don’t feel like whipping myself up into a frenzy.
Pathetic sniffling little git, ain’t I?

Yesterday was a day of happiness because London won the Olympic 2012 bid…
Today is a day of sadness because London was attacked by cowardly scum…

The top search strings that brought visitors to this site for June 2005:
1 nookie bear
2 ashbory bass
3 darren lock
4 formentera blog
5 ashbory
6 darren lee blog
7 eno another day on earth review
8 news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4085484.stm
9 another day on earth fan reviews
10 ashbory or アシュボリー or アッシュボリー　mp3
11 ashbory samples
12 bang her
13 cocksucker blues mp3
14 cocksucker blues.mp3
15 eno bone bomb
16 export from minidisc
17 how many darren’s have aids
18 mp3 cocksucker blues
19 mpiaa
20 music lover peter hammill
An interesting selection of search criteria there. The thing that puzzles me is the popuarlity of nookie bear. Then I realised it, some git was leeching an image of the aforementioned dummy from this site to use as his avatar on a number of discussion board. Hey, I don’t pay the bills so you guys can have a free ride. Cheapskate bastards! 🙁