Monday, September 05, 2005

What's It All About?

Prompted in part by Barrie Sillar’s recent query regarding me putting up a picture of the contents of my CD and book shelves, I thought it might it might be good to put the fun back in fundament and supply a weekly picture of what’s being read when I visit the toilet!

Now I realise that this might be just a touch too much demystification of the online diarist and that for many the notion of knowing what someone is reading whilst, ahem, going through the motion might be just too much detail. Yet I’m sure I can’t be the only one who seeks to improve my mind of a morning with the aid of a tome or two.

In my experience the best kind of bog book is nearly always a slim volume of poetry. Unlike weighty blockbusters books of poetry lend themselves to easy browsing - and if the worst comes to the worst and the paper runs out (or more likely in our house being shredded by a pesky ginger cat) well at least you’re not entirely helpless.

Now it may be a flash in the pan but please feel free to send me details of your reading material (no samples please!) of poetry or any other reading matter, complete with a photograph and appropriate commentary and I’ll post them up in the blog.

Grand Opening Offer - Two For The Price Of One!

Summoned By Bells A Verse Autobiography by John Betjeman
Familiar Territory by Rupert Loydell


2 Comments:

Blogger Stuart said...

Hi Sid

I've been reading your blog since it used to be on DGM and have followed it as it has migrated across the internet. I enjoy what you have to say - plenty to make me think, and a good few things to make me smile.

I like the idea of this new blog. Shall be following it with interest...

Stuart

P.S. I really enjoyed reading your King Crimson book. What happened to the promise of books about Talk Talk and Eno (or was I imagining it?)

9:31 PM  
Blogger Sid Smith said...

Hi there Stuart,
thanks for your kind words re the Crimbook and for taking the time to look in on the diary.

As for previous projects. . .
The Talk Talk bio is something I will come back to in the future. After an intitial good start with lots of co-operation from the band, the book stalled when I realised that there was still some unfinished business going on. Sometimes the time is right and sometimes the time will be right but not just now.

The early reseach wasn't wasted (including an exclusive interview with original keyboard player Simon Brenner) and went into the sleevenotes for EMI's Introducing...series.

The Brian Eno book stalled quite a while ago. I simply lost confidence in what I'd written, and being someone who suffers from depression was cast into the very depths of doom and gloom.

Every now and then I come back and blow the cobwebs off the surface and add a few hundred words (or take out a few hundred words more like).

Recently it was suggested that I focus on a series of essays about my fave Eno albums and that helped a lot.

Not finishing the thing does kind of way me down but I have no doubt it will be completed at some point.

Elastic Rock (progressive music between 1967 - 1977) is my other great unfinished book although I'm heading off to London later this month for a series of interviews which should have it wrapped up and in the shops by the summer.

Notice I was careful not to mention which summer.

12:04 PM  

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