Selling out

There are loads of things I have to blog about (such as the weekend's race) but that can wait till tomorrow. Today has been an ugly day, but it's made me think. I've been re-reading The Scum Also Rises, an interesting article about publicity and integrity. The writer, a musician, talks about a fan they met while playing a corporate event:

"He gave me this regretful look as he explained that he was a longtime
fan, he'd seen us play many times in smoky downtown clubs that smelled
of bleach and shattered dreams, and, although he was psyched that we
played his company party, he was also disappointed in us for being such
corporate whores. I quizzed him a little bit on what exactly he meant,
trying to discern whether he was hip to the irony of his disappointment
in us, and he revealed a familiar self-rationalization. He was only
working for this company until his band got signed, or his novel was
published, or whatever, but he would have expected better from us."

I'm pretty scornful about bands and writers who sell-out (and that includes you, Mr. Burroughs and Mr. Sinclair). So why don't I hold myself to the same standards in my own life?

New marathon blog post

I'm in Morecambe tonight (well, Bolton-Le-Sands, actually) ready for tomorrow's half marathon. I'll post about the race tomorrow night, when I'm back in Derbyshire, but in the meantime I've added a new post to the Brighton Argus marathon blog – How Not To Fall Over:

I knew I’d face many challenges in my preparations for the Brighton
Marathon. And it appears that one such challenge is learning not to
fall over.

Right! Time for bed. I've got a big day ahead of me tomorrow.

I’m reading in Melbourne, Derbyshire on September 4th

My next reading is going to be part of the Melbourne Arts Festival in the village of Melbourne. I am going to be reading some of my stories which will then be followed by a performance from poet Les Barker. The event starts at 7:30pm in Melbourne Public Hall. Tickets cost £7 – they can be booked in advance, so get in touch if you want details.

My new marathon blog

As from today I'm one of the writers of a new group blog for the Brighton Argus. The Brighton Marathon Blog features a number of people sharing their experiences of preparing for the Brighton Marathon. I'll be posting every other week about how I'm getting on. This week's post talks about long runs and preparing for the Morecambe Cross-Bay Run:

"When I signed up for the Brighton Marathon a few weeks ago, I found I
was more excited by the training than the race. I like going out for
long runs at the weekend and building up the distance I can manage. I
could do long runs without the marathon but having the goal of a race
helps motivate me. I’m looking forward to building up my stamina until
I can run 26.2 miles in one go."

Please drop by, read the post, and leave comments. The next post will most likely talk about the Morecambe run and the unfortunate accident I had this morning.

The RSS feed is here.

The dark side of book dealing

The last day or so has been rather dull as I spent most of it in bed with a monstrous headache. I did manage to complete a 10-mile run before I was struck down, so it's not all bad.

Meanwhile: I found the text below in a Fortean Times interview with Iain Sinclair.  It's a brilliant thumbnail sketch of a strange and dangerous world:

"I
was dealing books from about 1976 to 1986, and for a while it was
potentially quite dangerous – books and drugs were counter-balanced.
Some dealers were literally getting enough profit in a week to set up
the next week's coke deals. There was a particular house in Cannon St
that's right by the crossroads where the head of the Ratcliffe Highway
murderer is buried, and in this house was a pile of really abstruse
books, lots of first editions, and also all this drug stuff. There'd be
people arriving in the middle of the night and you wouldn't know if it
was drugs or books they were after – both were done with enormous
secrecy. The place was watched room across the road by a disgruntled
book dealer who was acting as a police informer.

It was quite
dangerous back then. One man, Chris Rowden, who ran Bell, Book and
Rowden ended up shooting himself with a shotgun. He was very much part
of this nexus, involved in some very dodgy business. I don't think
things are as bad as that anymore."

White Post Modern Farm

I've had a very quiet day today, mostly spent writing at my desk. I went for a short nap about 2 and woke at 6. I have therefore missed Pride, merely enjoying it vicariously through twitter. I'm going to get an early night tonight and catch up on some reading as I have actual plans for tomorrow (among them a long run).

Meanwhile, here are some photos from April that were lost in the draft posts folder. They were taken at White Post Farm (referred to by one road-sign as White Post Modern Farm – how cool?). Visiting the bird-feeding cage has incredible.

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Sweepings

  • I had some good writing news this afternoon. Firstly I had a
    submission I made on Monday accepted (although it won't see the light of day
    until 2010, which probably makes it my first hit of next year). I've
    also been asked to start a new blog, which will run in addition to this
    one and the EMLN posts. More news on both soon.
  • I went to see Moon and Antichrist on Tuesday. Moon was somewhat
    underwhelming – a pedestrian science fiction story full of
    inconsistencies and logic gaps. Antichrist, while gruelling and
    unpleasant, was a stunning movie, far exceeding my expectations. There's a good discussion of Antichrist here.
  • I love six-word stories, but it's rare to find satisfying ones. This one by Colin Houlson is pretty good.
  • Lolcats were invented in Brighton in the 19th century (via twhume)
  • Lovely timelapse footage of the Elephant Bed exhibition being installed at Fabrica.

A lovely party and some creepy photos

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I spent last weekend visiting my sister at her new house (from which the above photo was taken). It's a lovely place – near Mum & Dad's yet in the middle of the countryside. The garden is beautiful, if a little wild, and the house itself is impressive, although it does need a little work. My sister and her husband invited family and friends to join them on their first Saturday in the property. It was a wonderful afternoon: just relaxed conversation and catching up with the people I know up there. These days I really appreciate the value of a relaxed afternoon eating food with decent folk.

A good weekend was made even better on Sunday morning by a decent 8-mile run. I'm not quite in the condition I'd like to be for the Morecambe Cross-Bay half marathon next month, but it should be good enough.

I took a lot of photos of the new house but I like the ones below, which look like stills from a creepy rural movie.

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