Story snippet

Brian works in our excellent local second-hand bookshop. I was in there the other day and bought a slim volume about the 60s by Jenny Diski. This prompted me to ask Brian where he was in the 60s. He told me that for one year he was in Vietnam. He had been conscripted from his home in Texas and found himself in the mobile air corps, buzzing around in helicopters. When I asked him whether he'd found himself in the front line he explained that while serving on the choppers, he jumped off one day as they were landing and his glasses fell off, got lost. At this point they moved him to an admin job because unusually he could type. It took them a long time to replace the glasses, they had to fly them in from Japan.

When Brian got back from Vietnam after the standard year (half a year for officers) there was a GI Bill which enabled him to go to university in Texas, in Austin, where he studied history. It also enabled him to come to London in 1972 to do his Masters, at LSE I think. He's been here ever since.

He also told me that he recently got his UK citizenship at a ceremony in Islington town Hall. He was impressed by the lady Mayor who helped make a real event out of it.

Star Spot No. 337

Mandy Patinkin - Saul from Homeland
Parliament Hill

Mouse moment

I am sitting on a bench outside Kenwood house, slightly set back from the sandy path. An Irish woman appears beside the man and woman sitting just forward and left of me. She is exclaiming about a mouse she has just seen, along the benches to the left which are out of my sightlines. She hates mice, she tells the couple on the bench (I don't think she knows them). Then her husband appears at her side. He looks like a cartoon mouse. Big front teeth. Long nose. Thin face. A cap right out of the Aristocats. The man of thr bench couple surmises that it was perhaps her bright red shoes which attracted the mouse. She said she had seen a rat at her feet at the nearby cafe once. "Perhaps it's a baby rat" she muses. "No, it's a mouse" says the mouse husband.

2019

First music of the year 🎶 U2 - New Year's Day

First food of the year 🍉 raspberry

First viewing of the year 🎥 scenes from Bohemian Rhapsody

Star Spot No.455

Alex Salmond - Millbank Tower, home of RT TV

Dream fragment

Last night I dreamt...

I am performing a TS Eliot play but we have not rehearsed and I have no way of knowing which lines are mine. I notice at one point from a pencil note in my old Faber edition (with a faded blue paper cover) that I read this play in 2015 (it had the exact date but I forget).

It's a stressful experience and I am happy to wake.

Exeter

29+30/11/18 1st ever trip

The Phoenix cinema/arts complex - pitching session

Exeter Cathedral - choral evensong

Moroccan dinner - incl. rose tea & chicken/apricot tagine

Northernhay Park - war memorial

Princesshay - mediaeval ruins

Cathedral quarter

River Exe & quays

Star Spots No.s 223, 224, 225 & 226

7/11/18 Kevin Whately - May Fair Hotel

6/11/18 Alistair Campbell - Somerset House

9/18 David Morrissey

9/18 Ed Milliband - Vue cinema, L Sq

Creative Accounting No. 155

The Small Faces - Lazy Sunday Afternoon = proto-Punk + English Music Hall

cf Kinks, Ian Dury

Re: Rome - MIA

19/10/18
Palazzo Barberini
Talk at Cinema Quattro Fontane
Cocktails at British Embassy in Villa Wolkonsky
Night walk home with Ali

20/10/18
Walk around Caesar's Forum and Colosseum and Palantine Hill
Lunch with Lesley on Via Veneto
Villa Borghese gardens - met the tattooed Aussies
Michael Apted talk
Indoor Market & drinks with Shane & Lesley (in trendy area just above Forum)

21/10/18
Walk to Vatican area - classic car rally
Vatican
Church service near Vatican - Church of Holy Spirit of sonething
Lunch al fresco
Gardens of Castel di Sant'Angelo
Night visit to Trevi Fountain

22/10/18
Via Veneto to Villa Borghese gardens


> On 19 Oct 2018, at 10:35, Adam Gee <adam@arkangel.co.uk> wrote:
>
> 18/10/18
> LHR T5 - Rome FCO - Roma Termini
> Hotel Anglo-Americano - Barberini
> Palazzo Barberini
> Sistine chapel show
> Tiber
> Aperol Dinner al fresco with Canadians
> Night walk home via Trevi Fountain
>
> 19/10/18
> Via Veneto
> Villa Borghese gardens
>
>

Rome - MIA

18/10/18
LHR T5 - Rome FCO - Roma Termini
Hotel Anglo-Americano - Barberini
Palazzo Barberini
Sistine chapel show
Tiber
Aperol Dinner al fresco with Canadians
Night walk home via Trevi Fountain

19/10/18
Via Veneto
Villa Borghese gardens

Star Spots No. 234-237

Paul Brady
Donal Lunny
Andy Irvine
Kevin Burke

Barbican

Star Spot #734

Mark Rylance
The Jugged Hare, Barbican

Star Spot No. 788

27.9.18
Nick Clegg - Somerset House

Re: Paris - Sept 18

Thurs 13th contd

Icônes exhibition - New Wave photos, Marais

Ile St Louis - reading by river

Monument to Deportees

Past bouquinistes to Shakespeare & Co. - bought Paris Echo

St Germain for dinner
Fish soup

Celine's - Celine & Una

Fri 14th

breakfast Cafe Dome, Villiers

Rue Mallet-Stevens
16e

lunch Rotunda
cod in mushroom sauce, frites

Musee Marmottan Monet
Collections Privees*

walk through 16e to Seine at Tour d'Eiffel

read by river, late afternoon

dinner Oberkampf Le Tagine

back to Celines - movie

Sat 15th

17e wandered around the quarter all day
Batignolles
lunch opp 17e Marie

Gare du Nord - St Pancras



Wed 12 Sept
>
> Eurostar to Gard du Nord - met tax inspectors on their way to Florence
>
> to Celine's - Blvd des Batignolles 17e
> Local lunch - pizza napoletana
>
> circle round the neighbourhood - beer outside Cafe L'Endroit
> Chausson aux pommes
>
> Walk to Sacre Coeur & Butte de Montmartre at sundown
> Sacre Coeur - lit candle
> Dinner at Cafe Bruant
>
> Soupe a l'oignon
> Moules creme frites *
> Crepe suzette *
>
> Thurs 13th
>
> Cafe Monceau - bread, jam, coffee
> Metro Villiers to Arts & Metiers
>
> Walk to Musee Picasso
>
> Lunch cafe des musees
> Potato veloute
> Lamb & creamed pots
> Chocolat mi-cuit & pineapple
>
>
>

Paris - Sept 18

Wed 12 Sept

Eurostar to Gard du Nord - met tax inspectors on their way to Florence

to Celine's - Blvd des Batignolles 17e
Local lunch - pizza napoletana

circle round the neighbourhood - beer outside Cafe L'Endroit
Chausson aux pommes

Walk to Sacre Coeur & Butte de Montmartre at sundown
Sacre Coeur - lit candle
Dinner at Cafe Bruant

Soupe a l'oignon
Moules creme frites *
Crepe suzette *

Thurs 13th

Cafe Monceau - bread, jam, coffee
Metro Villiers to Arts & Metiers

Walk to Musee Picasso

Lunch cafe des musees
Potato veloute
Lamb & creamed pots
Chocolat mi-cuit & pineapple

Creative Accounting No. 589

Brian Yorkey / 13 Reasons Why = Brian Elsey / Skins

Creative Accounting #442

The Equalizer = The Accountant + Sherlock Holmes (2009 movie)

The Equalizer 2 = The Accountant + Taken

Star Spot

John Simms at Elvis 68 Comeback at Phoenix Cinema, East Finchley
16/8/18

David Byrne - American Utopia Tour

Setlist at Hammersmith Odeon (aka Apollo), London 
with Stu

Lazy

I Zimbra
(Talking Heads song)

Slippery People
(Talking Heads song)

I Should Watch TV
(David Byrne & St. Vincent cover)

Dog's Mind

Everybody's Coming to My House

This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
(Talking Heads song)

Once in a Lifetime
(Talking Heads song)

Doing the Right Thing

Toe Jam
(Brighton Port Authority cover)

Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
(Talking Heads song)

I Dance Like This

Bullet

Every Day Is a Miracle

Like Humans Do

Blind
(Talking Heads song)

Burning Down the House
(Talking Heads song)


Encore:

Dancing Together

The Great Curve
(Talking Heads song)


Encore 2:
Hell You Talmbout
(Janelle Monáe cover)

Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul

27/7/18 Stu

Empire, Shepherds Bush

Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul Setlist
at O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
Soulfire Tour 2018

SETLIST 

Sweet Soul Music
(Arthur Conley cover)

Soulfire
(The Breakers cover)

Lyin' in a Bed of Fire

Inside of Me

The Blues Is My Business *
(Etta James cover)

Love on the Wrong Side of Town
(Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes cover)

Until the Good Is Gone

Angel Eyes

Under the Gun

Some Things Just Don't Change
(Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes cover)

Saint Valentine's Day
(Cocktail Slippers cover)

Standing in the Line of Fire
(Gary “U.S.” Bonds cover)

I Saw the Light
(Little Steven cover)

Salvation
(Little Steven cover)

The City Weeps Tonight
(Little Steven cover)

Down and Out in New York City **
(James Brown cover)

Princess of Little Italy

Ride the Night Away
(Jimmy Barnes cover)

Bitter Fruit
(Little Steven cover)

Forever

Encore:

Say Those Magic Words
(The Birds cover) (with Ali McKenzie)

Got to Get You Into My Life
(The Beatles cover)

I Don't Want to Go Home
(Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes cover)

Out of Control
(U2 cover)

Out of the Darkness
(Little Steven cover)

Brighton (July 2018) 2

Mon 9th
Alfriston - Clergy House, river walk
Upper Dicker river walk

Tues 10th
Talk at Portslade school
Hove

Wed 11th
Rottingdean - ploughman's lunch
Ovingdean

Thurs 12th
Brighton - lunch with Colin; Quadrophenia on beach

Fri 13th
Brighton with N - Quadrophenia alley; Terre a Terre

Sat 14th
Ovingdean - swim at high tide
Rottingdean - ploughman's lunch with N; swim at low tide

Sun 15th
to Dieppe


>
> Thurs 5th
> Elizabeth & Des, Una
> Walk around Marina breakwater
>
> Fri 6th
> Seven Sisters walk - Crowlink - Birling Gap - East Dean
> Picnic East Dean green
> Saltdean swim
>
> Sat 7th
> Annie C
> Walk Woodingdean
> Swim Rottingdean
> Eng beat Sweden
>
> Sun 8th
> Nymans
> Swim Black Rock
> Dinner Brighton sea front
> Walk Brighton-Marina
>
>

Brighton (July 2018)

Thurs 5th
Elizabeth & Des, Una
Walk around Marina breakwater

Fri 6th
Seven Sisters walk - Crowlink - Birling Gap - East Dean
Picnic East Dean green
Saltdean swim

Sat 7th
Annie C
Walk Woodingdean
Swim Rottingdean
Eng beat Sweden

Sun 8th
Nymans
Swim Black Rock
Dinner Brighton sea front
Walk Brighton-Marina

Creative Accounting No. 800

Stevie Winwood = 2/3 Phil Collins + 1/3 Peter Gabriel

Creative Accounting No. 799

Liam O' Maonlai = Jim Morrison + Kris Kristofferson

Star Spot No. 556

14.6.18
Stephen Mangan
195 Piccadilly

Yesterday's happiness experiment entry

Angelique Kidjo playing Remain in the Light at Festival Hall with N - a fella with learning disabilities in a red African shirt whose head was exploding with joy

A good creative mentoring session with SW - various clear impacts

Healthy Sushi feast with N

Yesterday's happiness experiment - Finland

Evening walk around the coast from the harbour past islands to the cafe where N & I sat one bright midnight

Delivering the first session for Short & Sweet C including hearing the projects for the first time

Salmon soup at the glass cafe by the wheel

Yesterday's happiness experiment entry

Watching 13 Reasons Why on the plane to Helsinki

Talking to Ma about Andrew Lloyd Webber

Listening to Desert Island Discs in taxi to Gran Marina

Recent Happiness Experiment entries

Sat 2/6/18

Starting a new hardback novel: How to get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia

Being asked for fatherly advice by D & Luca

A twilight drink of Spiced Rum & Ginger Ale (my new drink of choice) with U on Pond Square, Highgate

Fri 1/6/18

Good feedback from a Short Form Video course at Channel 4

Lunch with Roger G in Notting Hill - hatching book plan

Last Ulysses seminar of the academic year at Senate House

Recent Happenings Experiment entries

23/5/18 Wed

Contemplating Gaudi's beautiful La Pedrera during my morning flanage

Morning coffee on a leafy sidestreet reading Sick Puppy

Sight of the Scandinavian palette above Copenhagen

24/5/18 Thurs

Energetic Digital Mindset workshop at YLE

Sitting in the dappled shade of a tree after work at Pasila

Watching Netflix downloads on the plane - The Crown

Yesterday's Happiness Experiment

Vichy Catalan in a cafe in a Barcelona Square (reading Sick Puppy)

Midnight wander in Gothic Quarter

Dinner with Arnau and various docheads

Happiness experiment entries

Yesterday

Sailing the Eastern Baltic in front of Helsinki with Vali, Miko & Ritva (eating white fish & mussels) at sundown

Delivering a Crossplatform session at YLE

Remembering the grey MTB my dad used to sail on Whitestone Pond for me

Sunday

Eating liver at the Gran Marina, Helsinki

Reading Sick Puppy across the bed

Arriving in Helsinki again - a place I'm really getting to know

Finland

population 5.5M
75% covered by trees
188,000 lakes
5.2% speak Swedish
7% of land agricultural
1917 became independent
1995 joined EU
200 MPs

Yesterday's Happiness Experiment entry

Watching the royal wedding of Harry & Meghan with U

Meditating in the bower path in lower St Pancras & Islington cemetery

Reading about Preraphaelites in garden with D & U - summer sunshine Saturday afternoon

The Waterboys - Watford Coliseum

30/4/18
Out of All This Blue

Medicine Bowl
1 All She Is **
2 A Girl Like Johnny *
3 Nashville Tennessee

4 Man What a Woman
5 Bang the Drum ** Scott & Wyckham
6 Long Strange Golden Road - Kerouac On The Road recording intro
~~~
Encore:
1
END

Santa Fe
If The Answer is Yeah
Morning Came too soon

Nearest thing to Hip

1 Mike Scott
2 Steve Wyckham
3 Brother Paul* - organ
4 Professor Rob - drums
5. Aengus from Dublin - bass
6 Dublin backing singer f
7 Nigerian/German ditto

Star Spot No. 449

Stephen Merchant - Moro

Creative Accounting

Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faun - X = theme to Lawrence of Arabia

Phil Lynott - X = Bob Geldof

Star Spots

Mackenzie Crook
28.3.18 East Finchley Station

Mako Vunipola
24.3.18 London Olympic Stadium

Bill Oddie
17.3.18 South End Green cafe

Star Spot #533

Ed Milliband
Ken Loach

Curzon Soho
1/3/18

Star Spot No. 544

Anthony Gormley - lift in Barbican (talking about Adam Curtis) 26/1/18

Star Spot #431

Brian Kennedy - Glasgow Airport 24/1/18

Star Spot #807

Benedict Cumberbatch - at Ottolenghi, Islington

Creative Accounting - Stuck

Revolutionary Road (1961) + 1 = Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962) + 1 = The Graduate (1963)

Recent Happiness Experiment

Thurs 23

Watching the clouds blow over against an azure sky (in back garden)

Writing up Cycle of Life proposal - thought up on walk down to bus stop

Deep talk with D

Fri 24

Driving through London at night listening to Any Questions

Lunch with N at Amici including chat with Maurizio

Finishing Reaction Time proposal to round off a productive work week

Happiness Experiment - York

Wed 8

Choral Evensong at York Minster - intercessionary (?) prayers for cathedral visitors

The driving enthusiasm of the Hyde Family Jam busking near The Shambles

Acquiring Osbourne's The Entertainer hardback at Minster Gate second-hand bookshop

Thurs 9

Watching docs at closed Yorkshire Museum at night at Aesthetica Short Film Festival

Evensong at York Minster from the wooden seats by the bossman

Reading in the late afternoon sun outside the Minster - Paper Towns

Star Spot #388

Stephen Fry - Piccadilly near Hatchards 2/10/17

Happiness Experiment - Belfast

WED 27th SEPT BELFAST

Porsche Boxter ride into the city

Early morning working in quiet as sun rose

Meeting with Richard Williams in cafe - long time connection with NIS

TUES 26TH

Docklands LR to City Airport in sunshine with glimpses of water

Showing Emma-R Proxy fine cut at her & Jonathan's place

Mentoring sesh with Roger at Carluccios St P

Helsinki - Happiness Experiment

Sun 24/9/17 Helsinki - by the sea

Reading Paper Towns by the sparking sea

Working outside at a cafe by the sea with Ritva

Walking back to the hotel through the autumnal city listening to Van's Healing Game on my red ipod

Sat 23/9 Helsinki - on an island

Working in a room in the barracks building on the fortress island, working through from first principles

Walking round the island in the sunshine

Walking through the evening city guided by Ritva to the fine restaurant - cauliflower soup, pepper steak, berry granita

Fri 22/9 Helsinki - YLE

Watching A Date for Mad Mary on my hotel bed

Working on a big whiteboard at YLE working out strategy

Evening walk through docks to beach, listening to Brilliant Trees on way back

Thurs 21/9 - RCA

Spacious hotel room in Albertskatu overlooking the Alexander theatre

Teaching digital creativity at RCA Garden House

Lunch outdoors with Neville B

Happiness Experiment - Vienna

30/8/17

ORF
Terra Mater

Watching The Ivory Game at Terra Mater's villa

Dinner in gast garten with Doc Campus folk

Walk up from Hietzing to ORF in morning sun

31/8/17
ORF
The Third Man - Burg Kino
Prater

Watching The Third Man for first time in years in cinema in situ - followed directly by view of the Riesenrad

Walk in hot morning sunshine to Schiele's studio and death place down Hietzinger Hauptstrasse (then up to ORF)

Talking to Jon on the birth of his son from Viennese bus

Happiness Experiment - Vienna

28/8/17

Vienna - Ferris Wheel, Prater; Walking tour of Jewish Vienna 1st

Doing Harry Lime on Wiener Riesenrad - EFA approved

Walking tour of Jewish Vienna culminating in Rachel Whiteread's bunker-library memorial

Evening drink in beer garden with Tom from ORF

29/8/17

Neulengbach

Finding and having exclusive time in Schiele's cell - contrast to 1984 - window glimpse

Visiting Schiele & Wally's neighbourhood outside of town in summer afternoon sun

Taking pride in the Kindertransport memorial in Westbahnhof thanking the British

Happiness Experiment - Vienna

27/8/17

Schiele pilgrimage to Tulln - with triple coincidence - see SP4

Dinner with Daniel Karslake in Hietzing (where Schiele's studio was)

Reading Barbara Trapido Hornplayer with feet dangling in Danube under a lowering sky at 34 degrees (following snooze on a park bench listening to river sounds)

Happiness Experiment - Vienna

26/8/17

LHR to Vienna
Half-circuit boat tour Danube/Danube Canal
Banks to Donaukanal

• seeing The third Man ferris wheel whilst walking across town
• boat ride along the Danube and round the Canal, with a posse of Rhinemaidens on a hen-do
• sundown by the banks of the Donaukanal, reading Atomic Blonde and drinking spritzer & coffee

Happiness Experiment - Ireland

6/8/17
Carlingford
Carlingford via Ballymascanlon to Rush

Water colour painting of Carlingford from far pier

Rainy walk with kids to far pier via Murphy's railway cottage (about to be changed)

Walk along base of Slieve Foy with U via Abbey

7/8/17
Rush
Dublin (Mairin & Joe's)

Finding fossil for Des on Walk around Rush shore from harbour to our beach without path with Enfants Terribles

Rush pub with N to watch Gaelic match over coffee & red lemonade

Dinner near Joyce's house in N Dublin with Joe, Mairin & girls

8/8/17
Rush
Dublin
Holyhead
Chester
home

Listening to S Town en famille

Getting Fish Fight job outside Italian in Chester

Entering home to see Ziggy

Happiness Experiment - Ireland

5/8/17

Rostrevor
Carlingford
Newry

Painting Carlingford Lough from Rostrevor

The lanes and cottages around the Rostrevor Inn eg Water Street

Going to the cinema in Newry with D & N - Baby Driver

Happiness Experiment - Ireland

4/8/17

Church Hill
Gartan - Glebe House
Kilmacrennan
Rostrevor

Dinner with Seth & Deirdre in the Rostrevor Inn including live music from Dermot McQuaid who played May You Never & Whiskey in the Jar for me

The John Craxton in Derek Hill's house

Doing a watercolour of the view from The Rappa

Happiness experiment entry - Donegal

3/8/17

Church Hill
Narin - beach
Glenties - Paul Moore
Ardara - Tony Gallagher

Drawing seascape on Narin beach

Having tour of Paul Moore's empty Connie building in Glenties main street

Chatting with Tony Gallagher in Nancy's, Ardara

Happiness Experiment entry - Donegal

Tues 1st August

Church Hill
Ards Forest Park - Meabh, Des & Elizabeth
Glen - Glen Restaurant/pub

Chatting deep with the kids on the beach - D, N, Meabh
The wild flowers along the beach path - Ards Forest Park
The steak at the Glen - best in years (from Limmerick)

Wed 2nd

Church Hill
Ramelton - Roy Greenslade
Kilmacrenan - Coffee Time
Letterkenny - Speer's
Rathmullan beach

Sneaky peak into Roy Greenslade's 18C home & library
Buying a soft cotton granddad shirt at Speer's old clothes shop
Walking & writing on the beach at Rathmullan

Happiness Experiment - Donegal

Sun 30 July

Glenveagh - head of the glen down to the lake
Letterkenny
Ramelton

The double bass player playing at the Bridge Bar, Ramelton after dinner & drinks with Anita & Don

The wonderful walk down from the head of the glen to Glenveagh House

Driving home in the rain from Ramelton listening to Serial

Mon 31st July

Falcarragh - Dee & Seamus
Dunfanaghy
Killahoey beach
Wild Atlantic Way
Horn Head

Watching the Enfants Terribles swimming at Killahoey while reading my book

The liquid amber birch in Seamus' garden

Looking down over the beach and coast towards Bunbeg - over wild fuchsias

Yesterday's Happiness Experiment entry - Ireland, Donegal

Sat 29 Aug - Church Hill, Donegal

Church Hill
Glebe Gallery
Glenveagh

Playing table tennis with D

A Camden Town Auerbach in the Space exhibition at Glebe Gallery in the middle of Donegal

Watching The Verdict en famille from The Rappa's film collection

Ireland Summer 2017: Recent Happiness Experiment entries

Thurs 28 July

Playing chess with D in new space in National Gallery of Ireland

Hanging with Meabh, D & N in the Photography Gallery, Temple Bar

Watching Young Offenders with the De Burcas - Sean, Meabh & Orla

Rush
Dublin - National Gallery, Trinity, Hapenny Bridge, Temple Bar

Fri 29 July

Being welcomed to The Rappa, Church Hill, Donegal

Meditating on the beach at Rush during my run

Dinner conversation en famille at Larkins, Newmills

Rush
Castleblayney
Letterkenny
Church Hill, Donegal

Ireland Summer 2017 - Yesterday's Happiness Experiment

Wed 26/8/17 Chester to Dublin/Rush

Long walk along Rush beach at sunset with Des, Dylan, Noah - very low tide, Lambay Island looking magnificent

Lunch outdoors on deck at Dylan's overlooking Menai Straits - at Menai Bridge

Listening to Serial in the car en famille as we drove across North Wales to Anglesey

Chester to Menai Bridge (via Colwyn Bay)
to Holyhead
to Dublin Port
to Rush (Elizabeth & Des)

Star Spot No. 322

Lenny Henry - Groucho Club

U2 Joshua Tree 30th anniversary tour (Twickenham)

(Whole of the Moon)

Sunday Bloody Sunday*
New Years Day
Bad (with "Heroes" and "Where Are We Now?" snippet)
Pride

Joshua Tree LP
With or Without You**

The Joshua Tree

Where the Streets Have No Name (with "All You Need Is Love" snippet)

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

With or Without You**

Bullet the Blue Sky

Running to Stand Still

Red Hill Mining Town

In God's Country

Trip Through Your Wires (with "Love Me Do" snippet)

One Tree Hill

Exit

Mothers of the Disappeared

Miss Sarajevo (Passengers cover)

Beautiful Day (with "Starman" snippet)
Elevation
Vertigo (with "Do You Remember Rock'n'Roll Radio?" and "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It)" snippet) (Uno Dos Tres)

(Love works in) Mysterious Ways (with "Miss You" snippet) (women icons song)

Ultraviolet (Light My Way) (Syria song)

One

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/u2/2017/twickenham-stadium-twickenham-england-4be407ea.html

Brian Eno
Vanessa Redgrave
Stella McCartney

My U2:

• Live Aid (1985)
• Twickenham (Vertigo?)
• This

"Fans attending The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 night two in Twickenham enjoyed a slightly different set from last night. There were more than 10 different songs snippets featuring band favorites David Bowie, the Beatles, the Ramones, and the Rolling Stones.  Both Stella and Mary McCartney were given shoutouts from Bono, which explains why there were so many Beatles snippets.

"Mysterious Ways" made its European leg tour debut as another female fan was brought onstage during the song.  

During "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," Bono praised Alice Wroe for the HERStory project. Ahead of "One Tree Hill," Bono remembered both Greg Carroll and actress Natasha Richardson, acknowledging that her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, was in the audience. Bono also thanked "on behalf of the entire nation" Brian Eno: "Let me say this off script: There wouldn't be side 2, and there wouldn't be a side 1 if it weren't for Brian Eno, who's here tonight.

Bono dedicated the show to the people of London and to the heroes of the London Fire Brigade. He also thanked his cousin, AJ Rankin, for being one of his heroes as he "always has my back.

The next show is in Berlin on Wednesday."

Sat 8th: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/concerts/u2-joshua-tree-tour-2017-twickenham-stadium-review/

Star Spots No. 221

29/6/17

Michael Grade - outside House of Lords

Robert Winston - Embankment tube platform

Happiness Experiment entries - Sheffield

12/6/17 Mon

Reading 'After the Fall' on the train in 1st class

Helping interactive documentary makers at MeetMarket Sheffield DocFest

Watching one of the few good VR/360 programmes I have seen - about Rode, a Melbourne street artist

11/6/17 Sun

Discussion about You have no idea how much I love you with Amir Bar-Lev & Molly after the screening

Planning a doc with Yony L

Dinner at Piccolino with Andy, Alex, Alison & Charlotte plus encounter with Bill

10/6/17 Sat

Met Walter Murch

Annual dinner with Ritva at Piccolino

Breakfast with Daniel & DocCampus folk

Helsinki - Happiness Experiment

2/6/17 Fri

Coast walk from Ritva's market building to main port market building in Friday evening sun ☀️ with N

Happiness & appreciation at end of Short & Sweet Programme 1 at YLE

Seeing classic American cars cruising near the port in the evening sun of 2nd day of Finnish summer

1/6/17
Dinner at the Green Vault in Kallio including lamb tartar

Wandering around Kallio in evening sun with N

Cafe chat with N outside Kallio cafe/hairdresser watching the world 🌎 go by

31/7/17
Trip out to Lonna island 🌴 in evening sun with N

Exquisite meal both outside & in including white fish

Watching participants near finished films including Long Live the Porn King and What is the essence of stand-up? (with my guard scene)

30/5/17
Walking through Helsinki with N round lake in evening

Reading Before the Fall on a plane ✈️

Sharing my hotel room with N

Star Spot No. 287

Charles Dance - Renoir Cinema, Brunswick Square (now Curzon Bloomsbury) 3/5/17 at launch of Sheffield DocFest with Daisy Asquith & Alex H

Happiness Experiment Entries - Finland

23/4/17

Reading 'My Promised Land'

A late afternoon walk through Helsinki in the cool Spring sunshine to meet Noora - the ship building, the post office, the station, all under an azure sky

Bumping into Andrew Missingham by chance at the airport, coming off the same plane - small world

24/4/17

Teaching (short form video at YLE)

Reading in the park above the port after work

Getting my old dual-time watch fixed at Stockmann

Temps Perdu

Loppylugs record shop, Edgware

mentioned in passing on Radio London this morning

David Hockney - Tate Britain 17/3/17

Artist Surrounded by Artistic Devices 65

✓republish on SP4

Rubber ring floating in a swimming pool 71

figurative abstract

cf O'Keeffe

my bro is only 17 1962

cf Boty - cut swear word

cf Basquiat

phrases recur in 

3rd love painting 60

we 2 boys together clinging 61

quite chaste

the most beautiful boy in the world 61

bacon influence flesh

1st Marriage 62

use of bare canvas

chair theme

pool theme

boxes like Bacon

Letraset

Sunbather 64

X water 'devices'

Medical bldg 66

cf Riley

figurative abstract 

cf O'Keeffe - flat on abstract figurative bldg scenes

A Bigger Splash 67 *

X water devices

cf OKeeffe palette

X grass (plant?) devices 

just missed absence of people

the core work

EPICS 

American Collectors 68

paired portraits 90 degrees connections or not btwn couples

por of an artist (pool w 2 figs) 72

another pair

a diff 90 degrees

weird mirror reflection 

geldzahler & chris scott 69

90 degrees

X glass devices

✓ SP4 on devices

isherwood & bachardy 68

90 degrees with head

mr & mrs clark * 70/1

☐ find cane steel chair loft

X carpet devices

2 45s to make 90

regency roots gainsborough

my parents 77 *

flower pot theme

mirror avatar child between them

Tate has all the great ones

cf his shoes in My Mother Bolton Abbey

cubist photography (composite polaroid)

gregory swimming la 31/3 82

those werent water devices - painted on pool

like a compilation of old london exhibs

Nichols Canyon 80

great palette - original

going up garrowby hill 2000

variable pov with distortion

mapness

the 4 seasons, wolfgaye woods 

summer

cubist

extension of polaroids

ipad drawings - process captured

ipad to paint - digital to concrete

(from EN)

Creative Accounting No. 533 - Ghost in the Shell

Ghost in the Shell = Bladerunner + Robocop + Crouching Tiger + Frankenstein

Happiness Experiment entries - Finland

Monday 27 March

Dinner overlooking sea inlet with Noora in Helsinki

Evening walk through Helsinki in the lowering sun

Watching Inferno movie on the plane to Finland, Hollywood nonsense

Tues 28

Successful three hour lecture to 150 YLE staff, punctuated with cinnamon buns

Dinner with Ritva & Raimo at the art nouveau bank building - including Riesling & fish soup

Meeting about Finland centenary TV dance event with Markkus & Ritva - burst of idea generation

Wed 29

Short Form Video workshop at YLE - starting to engage with the ideas

Lunch with Erko talking docs

Run at sunset along the waterfront (with still frozen sea) to a small island

Thurs 30

Reading Bright, Precious Days on the way home from a bright, precious day

Watching more short form with the workshop

Reuniting with U

Fri 31

Creating more ideas with Distillery

Dinner with the Enfants Terribles at Yalla Yalla

Reading the end of Bright, Precious Days

Star Spots No. 656 & 657

17/3/17
Bill Nighy
Tate Britain

16/3/17
Stephen Frears
BAFTA

Cubist Bill

Star Spot No. 655

Emma Thompson
Hampstead Heath 12/3/17

Alex Brooker (The Last Leg)
Northern Line 9/3/17

Marble Arch cinema

Odeon Marble Arch (1963)

Disney Cinema
Robin Hood
Terry Thomas - I sssay sire

Odeon
The Cure in Orange - Tim Pope
Hear My Song - Princess Di

Disney St Martins Lane

Ionic Golders Green

Creative Accounting No. 388

Time Tunnel (1966) = Vertigo (1958)

Happiness Experiment entries 27/12/16 - 3/1/17

Tues 27/12/16

1 Intimate chat with JRT (£0)

2 Country walk with U between Essendon & Newgate Street (£0)

3 Reading Tom Stoppard's Travesties in the garden with water-rock (£0)

28/12/16

1 D's pals round for his 17th (£80)

2 giving D some guitar music (£20)

3 walk to copses & Parliament Hill in the fog en famille (£0)

Thurs 29/12/16

1 Walk in Kenwood in the sunny fogginess (£0)

2 Reading Ali Smith’s ‘Autumn’ in the sunny winter garden (£0)

3 Re-broaching ‘Ulysses’ (£0)

Fri 30/12/16

1 woods walk & talk with Martin - Queens & Highgate Woods (£0)

2 finishing Reasons to Stay Alive (£4)

3 watching Humans 2.0 (£0)

 

31/12/16

1 Matthew’s friendship and compliments (£0)

2 Ian’s warmth (£0)

3 Reading by the Christmas tree (with music) (£0)

Sun 1/1/17 New Year’s Day 

1 Reading TS Eliot (Murder in the Cathedral & The Waste Land) and listening to his poetry read by Jeremy Irons on Radio 4 (Prufrock & The Waste Land) (£0)

2 Watching Agatha Christie mystery in front of fire with U & N (£0)

3 Cake with rose water made by Annie B (£0)

2/1/17

1 Supporting & being supported by PJE  (£0)

2 Visiting George Michael’s house and floral shrine  (£0)

3 Supporting JRT with Dave P - visiting him in Benedict Cumberbatch’s flat with top-floor cinema  (£0)

3/1/17

1 Reading The Affair outside in the freezing garden & by the Christmas tree

2 watching Titanic documentary

3 writing SQT proposal

I will enjoy my day

Creative Accounting #325

Lalaland / Birdman = soulless Hollywood crap X too clever for own good

Creative Accounting #324

Emma Stone (Lalaland) = Lindsay Lohan (Freaky Friday) - attractiveness

Creative Accounting #323

Arrival = Inception + Gravity + Interstellar + The Day The Earth Stood Still

Creative Accounting #322

Amy Adams / USA = Nicole Kidman / Aus

Boxing Day Happiness Experiment entry

Paying an early morning visit to George Michael's childhood home in East Finchley eight hours after his sad passing was announced

Long walk from Clapton to Victoria Park, Hackney with N under an azure winter sky

Reading in the winter sunshine after my jog (water-rock on) - some Jack Reacher pulp fiction

Christmas Day Happiness Experiment entry

Nighttime tour through an empty London with D & N including Primrose Hill (with its red light punctuated view) & Waterloo Bridge

Cooking a turkey for the family which was just so

Placing some flowers (kindly given by the florist at the end of our road) with U on the memorial for Arlington (Rowton) House, Camden Town, as mentioned by Patrick Kavanagh (a favourite of Bronagh) in 'The Green Fool' - home of many a solitary, lost Irishman

Paul Nash - Tate Britain

1889-1946
pantheistic
Slade

Influence of Blake
Redon - Symbolisme

Wittenham Clumps
13
watercolour ink chalk

We are making a new world 18
from the ashes of destruction...
blown back to prehistory

the menin road
Nature still triumphs

after the battle
18
waterc & ink
Munch

ypres salient at night
18
whistler - palette
nativity - star(burst)

landscape always eclipses figures in these works

Ardizzone

wood on the downs 29/30
saw de chirico in 28 - key influence - uninhabited surreality
ben nicholson palette - mushroom & grey

night tide 22 ink wc
vorticists

winter sea 25-37
full abstraction

the shore 23 leeds
perfect balance of abstract & figurative

nostalgic ls 23-38
ernst
devereux

surrealism
cubism

he has Nature as his core - his whole oeuvre revolves around landscape

Unit One 33-35
exhib touring 34/5 mayor 4/34
edited Herbert Read
Hepworth Nicholson Moore Burra Wadsworth

Tristram Hillier
pylons 33

Wadsworth
dux et comes 1 32
organic abstract forms cf moore

b nicholson
1933 milk & plain choc
scraping/etching powerful
great abstract sense - sculptural
scultpure + collage
Picasso

surrealist objects & poems exhib London Gal 37

eileen agar
ladybird 36
nude in seethru cape

ernst exhib mayor 6/33

forest 36/7
wood
glove stretchers

wood on the hill 37
sculpture transposed to painting

only egg 36/7
box backed by photo
cornell
"boxed assemblage" = surrealism

found objects

landscapes with large foreground object cf okeefe

int surrealist exhib London 6/36 burlington gals

nash V okeefe

equivalents for the megaliths 35 tate
ernst
magritte

ls fr a dream
36/8 tate
magritte
okeefe

battle of ger 44 iwm
bold palette
epic cf John Martin
perfect balance fig & abs

totesmeer 40/1 tate
tate book before school
perfect blend of ls & surr

ls of the briwn fungus 43
spare, stripped down
distinctive palette
clump cf tomb trees h heath Adam Z last wk

pillar & moon 32-42
ls & architdcture

ls of the moons last phase
44 liverpool walker
clumps
rouuseau

equinox = equal day & night

ls of the vernal equinox 43 *
looser command
deeply surrealist

Todays Happiness Experiment entry

Delivering Masterclass on Short Form Video in Site Gallery, Sheffield overlooking the pop domes

Visit to Graves Gallery for small photography exhibition (Street Photos) after which, on the street, I chatted about freemason signs & antiquities with a benign drunkard

Low yellow winter sunlight bathing the red brick and towers of the city (after meeting with Milan)

Street View: Photographs of Urban Life (Graves Gallery, Sheffield)

cartier-bresson
palermo 72
2 boys playing with wheel, hearse in bg
life & death momento mori - dynamism of kids vs parked hearse

garry winogrand
american legion convention dallas 64
ignoring amputee in ground
amputee in iwn dimension like nuck drake in my photo

fountains fell yorks dales 3/8/08
simon roberts
couple picnicing by road
tranquil - watching nature on own terms

colin jones
children c75
skipping along foot of wall
backdrop of solid brick
shadow of house opposite adds mystery

sheffield = city of seven hills
paul nash did photography in last 14 years
martin parr did series on bad weather britain

happiness experiment entries

tues 22 nov

wisdom from roger g at mentoring session in st pancras

chat at october gallery with james birch about christine keeler - kind gift of mayor catalogue

ciggie chat with photographer ray stevenson on stairs by rock archive (on my old stomping ground near carleton rd) about bowie, pistols, who, crosby s&n etc. as I collected my miles & trane photo (which i promptly took down to frameworks to finish)

wed 23

calm chat with N after the storm

shakshuka in HGS strip park

meeting with meagan the pagan at old st about edin tv fest

Estonian Happiness Experiment entries

Thurs 17 Nov
Lon - Helsinki - Tallinn

late lunch alone in a candlelit restaurant (art nouveau style) with Amos Oz & Louis Armstrong

working in the flow on my Tallinn keynote on the plane to Helsinki

initial wander into Tallinn old town, serenaded by a heavy metal guitarist, freezing despite his long hair

Fri 18

Delivered keynote address to mark 90th anniversary of broadcasting in Estonia in Tallinn University (on stage where Umberto Eco spoke) in front of Chairman of ERR, Head of Baltic Film School & 250 others

Evening walking tour of upper old town with Juri, an Estonian TV personality - enjoying the atmospheric lighting

My 1st Thanksgiving Dinner at the house of the Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy where I met DCMs & other diplomatic types from Germany, Norway, Sweden, France, Spain, Georgia, Austria & others

Sat 19

Ran workshop at Baltic Film Media Arts & Communication School with Alessandro

Siesta to Kind of Blue

Vegging out with Grand Tour ep 1 in hotel room

Sun 20
Tallinn - Helsinki - Lon

Inspired to resume writing When Sparks Fly 2 in wake of workshop - wrote almost 2,000 words on journey home

Reading Judas by Amos

Listening to Natural Mystic

exhilerating dream

dreamt at about 4am today. I use a wooden item, the spatula in our kitchen but larger, as a snowboard. the dream is the ride downhill. it is viscerally thrilling, slightly scary at times, white with snow, fast - twice i lose visibility in the driving snow and have to take a chance my blind direction is ok. I finally halt in such a blind upwards ramp or bridge. when i halt and some visibility returns there are a few people in the vicinity, New York street workers in hard hats. i awake with the exhilaration of the ride.

Coincidence

9.X.16
School near Olympic Stadium where Dylan had Frantic Assembly audition had a quotation on the wall from Ulysses by Tennyson (possibly "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield")

Podcast (10?.X.16) Richard Flanagan on The Narrow Road to the Deep North in which the protagonist constantly refers to the same poem

I was trying to recall where I'd come across the poem at the school and it cropped up while jogging within a day or two (on a podcast I'd already listened to)

National Gallery

Van Gogh - Sunflowers 88
Distinctive pale lemon bg
Narrow palette - yellow/mustard green
Fantasy decorative piece

Gauguin - Vase of flowers 96
Wide palette
Aspect of death & decay
Less abstract than VG
And less epic

Braque - Olive Tree 07
Style derived from Gauguin/VG/Post-exp
No black
Pastel palette
Curved lines not hard edges of Cezanne

George Bellows - Men of the Docks 1912
Claustrophobic NY composition
Cf Cez??
Contrast with France - epic Modernist urban

Surprise - Rousseau
91
Is Tiger surprised by lightening or human?
Blake
Tiger not properly grounded
Rain v effective
Michael Franks

Klimt - hermine gallia
04
Cf Gainsborough
Cf Sargent
Grey & pink palette Cf Whistler
Raised jewels are a flaw

Matisse - Greta Moll
08
Same held hands pose as above
Almost a caricature face yet a strong impression of the woman

Seurat - bathers at asnieres 84
Epic
Urban bucolic
Monumental, statuesque - classical
Strong L > R movement
Individual faces yet universalised - 4 figures are generic, 3 particular
Mirror-like water effect
Coherent palette, luminous

Monet - Waterlilies, setting sun c07
Smooth reflection layer v rough actual layer
Floating reality

Money - Gare St Lazare 77
Solid iron v ephemeral steam
Nature free zone Urban modernity

Star Spot #266

miriam margolyes
bafta

Flesh - York Art Gallery 3/11/16

1 FLESH

Francesco Francia - Lucretia c1508
Vivacious light palette

Italian School - Pieta 1575-1642
Right arm = Classical death cf Chatterton

Style of Tosa School
Kusozu: death of a noble lady & decay of her body
Cf Sam Taylor Wood
Sequence of 9 images

Bacon
Henrietta Moraes on blue couch
65
(Manc art gal)
Cf Soutine Carcass of meat
Cf Picasso - facets of face

Kossoff
Seated nude 63
Cf Auerbach - thick paint technique

Freud
Girl holding foot
87 etching

Masterful fine hatching technique

Degas
Study of girls head 1870s
Interesting palette - strokes of pale green & yellow

2 ANATOMIES

Jacob Kramer
Clay 28
Leeds Art Gal

Slade
Foreshadowing of Holocaust

3 STILL LIFE

Helen Chadwick
The philosophers fear of death
89

Infinity or hourglass
Hairy belly v chicken flesh

4 ABSTRACT FLESH

end

BURTON GALLERY

LS Lowry
Clifford's tower
52/3
Linking the ages
Jewish resonance

Arthur Studd 1863-1819
Went to Samoa & Tahiti with Gauguin

Robert Medley 05-94
Bicyclists agst blue bg 51
Festival of Britain commission
Sketchy black outlines very 50s

Hockney
Egyptian Head Disappearing into Descending Clouds
61

Lightness
Carelessness of youth

Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
Orange Form 56
Nicholson & Hepworth /St Ives
Beautiful subtle textures

Nicholson
1934 (1934)
Cf Picasso still-lifes
Complexity of texture v simplicity of form

Gwen John
Young woman in red shawl
20
Cf Schiele - hands
Wonderfully subtle palette

Jacob Epstein was friend of Paul Robeson
Visited Harlem dancehalls together

Harold gosney
Reverie
2015 oak

Grew out of the shape and cracks of the wood

Fungai
Dead Christ supported by 2 angels
1480-1520

Fingers in wound so powerful

End

Micro-story

A brown man walking past with his two young children in the grounds of a hospital. The boy is younger, the girl (in her bright pink puffer jacket) is about six. The man laughs as he walks past, explaining she had just read and asked about the sign back there. It says: Sexual Health Clinic.

Yesterday's HEE

Sneaking in to Christ Church Southgate to see the Burne-Jones windows - beautiful faces, exquisite textures

Reading in the church yard carpeted in yellow leaves

Cinema trip with D to Everyman Muswell Hill - laughing at my Dr Strange joke going back to the car

...and this was the worst day of my life

This weekend's Happiness Experiment entries

Fri 21 Oct

Invitation & hug of friendship from Neville B

Glass of stout in Exmouth Market with Matt C

Jack Reacher popcorn movie with N & D

Sat 22 Oct

Autumn walk in Totteridge - godsky over the medical institute

Quiet of an empty cinema with U

Listening to book podcasts on my jog

Sun 23 Oct

Vanilla ice cream at Kenwood near yellow trees

Afternoon sleep in the sunshine falling across our bed

Reading The Circle in the garden with my water-rock first thing

Today's HEE

Bumping in to Bertrand M & coffee in Broadwick St

Calm dinner with N at Lebanese in Southgate

Thinking up The Glass Bowl at Hospital club

Yesterday's HEE

Touching the Christine Keeler chair (at V&A You Say You Want a Revolution exhibition)

D asking first question to Michael Fassbender (about variety of his roles) at The Light Between Oceans BAFTA screening

Parrots and various birds flying past round window

Recent Happiness Experiment Entries

Tues 11 Oct

Laughing at Jewish joke with N & Ma

Warmth of Max Gog

Gerald Laing (spontaneous visit to) exhibition at Fine Art Society

Wed 12 Oct

Yom K service at Clore Manor with Ma - lifting the scrolls

Walking & talking in orchard with N & D

Reading Jonah & commentary in memory of Dad

Thurs 13 Oct

Friendly chat with Tim Lovejoy in Camden French cafe

Working out film festival with Claire P at Stolle

Connecting with Ronen after all these years (met at 13 & 14)

Fri 14 Oct

Lunch with Scott & Katherine in Gt Marlborough St where people I knew kept walking by

Thinking up The Photo tv idea with Dave F

Friday night gathering at Clive & Jeanie's with Jonathan, Carl, Alexis, Jackie & Jack