Someone Telling Stories?

Sometimes life has the habit of running away from you.
And, hands up in the air, I’m as guilty as the next man of not stopping to take a breath and totally appreciating everything that is going on around me.
Why has there never been a Ferris Bueller t-shirt with this quote on??
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbR7axof1wk]

Yes, things have been chaotic of late and so this is my time to stop and take a look around.
Amidst the chaos, (which, I should add, is all the best kind of chaos) let’s take a little break to reflect on all that has happened in the last couple of months.

A great man once said… The times, they are a changing!
True! And I love that. Like I said at the beginning of the year, embrace change!

Having landed the best assignment of my career, (Sorry SKY) in taking on the mantle of writer in residence at this years Tim Peaks venture at Kendal Calling (link), I hastened to get some more musical experience in with a couple of music reviews…(link)
I thought they were pretty decent, but then the good lady says….
Your best stuff is actually when you don’t think too much about it.
You know, it’s the stuff that comes from the heart.
It’s funny; I’ve heard a number of times…”You’re good at telling stories Graeme.”
Then, I heard this, just once… “The two biggest drivers of human fears are not being loved or taken care of and not being good enough.”
Holy Moly!
So!
I’ve been collecting, collating, editing and pondering, for years, over my mountain of writing.
My often surreal, entangling, surprising, cosmically tail stinging work.
Poems are bulging, short stories creaking and all of them screaming to get out.
So, later this year, a collection is coming, for anyone caring to look.
It’s called Funked World, and the title prose, talks of a strange kind of place.
Not perhaps, a place that you see, but one that’s frequented, often by me. Yes, in a book, with videos too. And perhaps some vocal hullabaloo.

But before that, more reviews!
There will shortly be a review of a book by another gentleman who loves “Telling Stories”
Tim Burgess, front man with UK indie* stalwarts** The Charlatans, released his autobiography earlier this month, and it really is a belter.
Snippet:
“This book is written with real feeling. This particularly emanates well when Mr B is describing his relationship with Rob Collins. Right down to ‘the look’ they would share on stage. Writing some of the book must have stirred up some pretty painful memories but through it all Tim remains as honest as his memory allows him to be. Well, he’s not pretending to have led the life of a choirboy you know.”
Full review to follow after Tim’s book reading and Q & A session at The Stand Comedy Club event in Glasgow on Jun 9th. http://www.thestand.co.uk/newsitem.aspx?id=125
Not before The Charlatans perform the sold out 15th anniversary gig of Tellin Stories at Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom the same night though.
From there, it’s on to the Stone Roses at Heaton Park on 30 Jun.

Then, with pen, and Dictaphone poised, it’s action stations for Tim Peaks Diner at Kendal Calling on the weekend of Jul 27-29. http://www.kendalcalling.com/attractions
If you plan on going, come and say hello. As well as Tim doing readings from his book, Edwyn Collins and Nick Heyward will be making appearances too.
Grab yourself a cup of Tim Burgess’s Yorkshire tea, a bowl of Totes Amazeballs then come and tell me all about what you’ve been up to what you’ve enjoyed most about Tim Peaks Diner. It’s shaping up to be a corker of a weekend.

Now, I reckon Ferris Bueller would agree, that is probably just about enough stopping and certainly plenty looking around, for now. I’m off for a chat with Derek Rossi and his eleven hungry kittens. And Happy 75th birthday Renee!
So, until next time it’s back to my Funked World. And back to the chaos!
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/46614071″ iframe=”true” /]

Slainte
Graeme

* a number of genres has and will be used for the band, but for me, and perhaps I just need to drag my head out of the 90’s, they’ll always be indie
** Why that word? Read the dictionary, every definition applies.