I keep meaning to cut down the level of Radio Silence on this blog, if only because it seems disrespectful to anyone who tries to keep up with it.
My excuse is that I have been busy with various things here in London: shows to cover, bands to see, another band interviewed, etc.
Not to mention that I spent pretty much all of last sunday faffing about in the snow.
Speaking of which, snow seems to have a strange effect on London. Londoners themselves seem to consider it the most irritating imposition on their lives, a personal insult from the heavens. Whereas foreigners like myself are gobsmacked by the sheer beauty of it all, and overcome with melancholy at the transience of what we are seeing.
But maybe the transience of snow in London is what makes it special. In various locales on the North American continent it apparently snows continuously from november through to Easter, depending on the latitude and altitude. But snow that hangs around isn't just an novelty that overstays; I've read that in NYC the first snow of Winter turns the dirty streets into a postcard, but by February it has all turned into filthy slush that soaks your boots and freezes your feet.
Other news: I finally finished The Pilo Family Circus, which was enjoyable enough. Though it really didn't seem to hit its stride until the last few chapters. Knowing that the writer is schizophrenic did put a strange perspective on much of the story; I wonder how the world would have regarded much a Stephen King's work if his drug and alcohol problems had become widely known two decades earlier...
This week I have much to do, not least in terms of job searching.
In the meantime, over and out.
-J
