And... Capital Punishment

Perhaps I'm getting old. I never thought I'd write this... but I may be in favour of capital punishment.

I think it was Viv Stanshall's Sir Henry Rawlinson who, when asked what he thought of capital punishment, said: "Capital!"

The "Sir Henrys" of the world have always been in favour of stringing them up. But I never have. In any circumstances.

Not until now. The Delhi gang-rape case changed things.

It wasn't a conscious change of mind. I just found myself feeling that the men who committed this unbelievably awful assault on a woman had forfeited their right to live. They deserved to die.

And it isn't even a "rational" change of heart or mind. I'm still against capital punishment — for all the well-rehearsed reasons that any sensible person would be.

But for these men, if it were down to me, I would make an exception.

Vinnie Vidi, Vici

I added an And... to the blog because I was beginning to feel that Words And Music couldn't cover everything there was to write about.

But then along comes drumming legend Vinnie Colaiuta (pictured) and explains how "thought is the enemy of flow".

In answering the question what does he think about when he is playing, he goes beyond philosophy and seems to chime with the teachings of Jiddhu Krishnamurti on the role of thought.

Colaiuta says in the latest issue of Modern Drummer magazine: "The answer is basically: nothing. Thought happens in a completely different way out of flow. Out of flow, it's contemplative and analytical and problem-solving. In flow, it's completely different. It's like a real-time programme running in the background that doesn't interfere with what's going on. The ability to adapt in a given moment is beyond the scope of another type of focused thought process."

Whether Colaiuta is familiar with Krishnamurti's teaching, I don't know. Whether he is or not is irrelevant, since he has got to a similar place (although Colaiuta is talking about drumming, while Krishnamurti is talking about the whole of living): the assignment of thought to its "proper" role — "in flow" rather than dominating, separating, judging, creating images, creating the self, creating pasts and futures...

This truly meditative aspect of playing must apply to other instruments. But was it not the ancient sage Ginger Baker who once said: "Sometimes you're not playing the drums... the drums are playing you."

From Tiny Acorns...

Not only has Like A Flower sold a few copies... but reviews are starting to appear... I smiled in particular at this one...

Gardener's Questing Time 8 Jan 2013

By J. Clarke

Amazon Verified Purchase

A horticultural thriller that comes over as a cross between Amateur Gardening and True Crime magazine, this had me gripped from the very first page. Lots of twists and turns, some superb writing and a plot to (literally) die for. As Raymond Chandler said, "a good story cannot be devised, it has to be distilled". If that's so, this is of the finest vintage.

If you want to check out whether such comments are justified, you can buy the book... and read more reviews... by clicking here.

And... The Economy

I never studied economics. So I'm ignorant about how the economy works on the national, regional and global scale. Mind you, I'm probably not alone in that. And even the people who seem to know don't seem to know that much more.

I may well be wrong... but aren't we in trouble because we've filled our lives and our homes with crappy things that we don't need (at the same time as eating a lot of things that aren't actually food, and drinking a lot of things that are killing us)?

And now we don't have so much money, we're not buying so much crap. But because so many people's lives are bound up with making and selling crap to their fellow human beings, we're kind of stuck...

When we were all buying things that we didn't need like there was no tomorrow... we didn't realise that one day there would be no tomorrow...

And...

Well, the blog has acquired another And...

Mainly because up to now I've been writing — mainly — about the worlds of writing and music...

But it seems time to expand a little... and maybe occasionally to say things less often said... at least, that will be the aim...

But that doesn't mean there won't still be posts devoted to words and music... and both of them at the same time... as well as the odd And...

So whoduggit?

I know a number of people have actually bought - and some have even read - Like A Flower (my tale of life, death, love and gardening - aka the whoduggit).

If you are one of those who have read it, it would be wonderful if you'd put up a one-line (or even one-word) review on one of the websites selling it.

Most of the links are listed on the website... and if you haven't bought it yet...