Songs for the Long Haul [572]
Greetings from The Borders...
I’m Christian Payne. Autotelic, analogical thinker and collector of unnecessarily pretentious openings. If you’re new here, welcome.
Click all the buttons. Especially the heart. Love makes reality better than your dreams. We could all use more of that right now.
In this weekly dispatch I seek out novelty, connection, what we share and consume, plus where we might be heading. Thanks for joining in.
#TheAction
A week of sunshine frolics and drama.
The first frolic came straight after posting the last dispatch when I headed to a gig in Berwick. A late birthday present I shall share more about below.
Then the following day was Record Store Day. I had no plans for joining the queue this year, despite it being a regular in my diary for a long time. But living where we do there is nothing within about 60 miles. A dedicated record store in Berwick Upon Tweed would clean up (…Just saying).
But as I was to be chaperoning my kids into Newcastle so they could go do their own thing, I figured I’d go and see what was left. After a shout out in my last dispatch John Hill messaged and we arranged to meet up. With someone with such great local knowledge it was a no brainer that we should go explore the local record shops and ale houses.
As it was lunch time the queues were manageable but all the records I might have invested in were gone. Luckily John got what he was after and the bars had more than enough ale to keep us merry.
I was kind of happy that the records I was keen on were all gone, as purchasing five records in one day would be a chunk of cash at today’s prices. Plus I am always easily tempted in among the frenzy of people vying for limited stock.
But all was not lost as you will find out in a bit (also down below).
The main drama of the week came on a dog walk. There is so much wildlife around our way that you might see deer, hares, badgers, birds of prey and who knows what else on a single dog walk. Deer often being more common than rabbits.
I’m pretty careful to make noise with a hand clap or a whistle when rounding a hedge or cresting a hill, but sometimes it’s not enough to warn wildlife that we’re approaching.
This photo was taken a few minutes before the dog chased and caught a deer. And not a small one.
The deer are always super quick and can leap massive fences. Apart from on this occasion.
We must have approached the woods downwind, with the sun behind us. There was a roe deer in the shadows, invisible to me, but the dog caught it’s scent.
She was off before I could put her on the lead and although the deer ran it must have struggled in the ploughed field as it bounced off the fence.
The dog got caught the deer’s leg and as I sprinted towards the screaming deer, I was shouting at the dog to let go. I tried everything but the she was in that primal mode I’ve only seen once before. As I got to the deer and grabbed at the dog she managed to go for the deer’s throat and started dragging the huge terrified animal, keeping it between us.
Every time I tried to get round the deer the dog would rotate her prey. I’ve no idea if she thought this was some kind of game, or if I was in competition with her. It took me jumping over the deer and lunging at the dog collar to get a grip. Still she would not let go and the deer looked done for. It had stopped screaming and the body was now limp.
I twisted the dog collar and for a micro second she loosed her grip and I was able to pull her off. The deer’s head flopped to the floor and I had to straddle the dog with my arms round her to keep her away. There was no blood. On the deer, or round my dogs mouth. I was thinking she must have strangled it.
Just then the deer’s eyes opened, it stumbled to its feet and ran off towards the woods. As the dog struggled in my arms, I held tight and got her on the lead. Utterly relieved the deer would get to live another day.
A part of me wondered if it was functioning on adrenaline when it ran away. And that perhaps it had then collapsed from shock. So later that evening I returned to search the scene and surrounding fields with my daughter. We saw some deer in the distance running away from us. Nothing else out of place. As the sun set we were glad that all seemed well.
#TheSeen
A few snaps taken in Edinburgh. (Larger resolution on Bluesky)
Been watching the cartoon Final Space with my daughter. I know we’re only 7 years late…
We are one season in with two more to go. Sad that it was cancelled after series three with no finale, but there’s a graphic novel coming out soon to tie up loose ends.
#TheWords
Just finished the book ‘Bound for Glory’ by Woody Guthrie.
As it drifts through the American Depression with a mix of poetic travel writing, grit and humour, it restored in me a yearning to travel. Not the penniless vagabonding of the book. Something as romantic and rewarding, but with less coal dust and fewer blisters.Trains, music, hunger, more music and people punctuate a blurred landscape. It felt short for an autobiography, but I enjoyed these myth-making tales from the road.
Guthrie is one of those voices I’ve long enjoyed in song and this book read like I was along for the journey, listening to stories from the man himself.
#TheHeard
So… about this gig I went to see at the amazing Straw Yard in Berwick Upon Tweed… My wife bought tickets to a band called Driven Serious and we had no idea what to expect. She had just seen ‘folk-rock and unplugged’ and thought it sounded cool.
It was. From the off.
On entering the venue I spotted someone in purple flares, flowery shirt and hat. I assumed this must be the singer. He was. After talking for a bit he asked me where I was from. I said lots of places but recently Cambridgeshire. He then said “And Rugby?”
I looked back gone out.
“It’s me Rob Jones.” he said.
The weird thing was that I had recognised his voice the moment he spoke, but in the almost 30 years since hanging around in the same spaces, I struggled to place him. It took a while for my mind to register. We knew all the same people, had been hanging out in the same places and this was another one of those serendipitous moments this place gifted me.
Berwick never fails to deliver these mad moments and music always feels like the alchemy behind them.
The band were cool. Talented nerds all playing their hearts out. It was like a bunch of travelling minstrels had dropped into town to entertain and enlighten us. Such fun. One of the best nights in Berwick so far.
This is their website.
Three days after the official Record Store Day I found myself in Edinburgh. I mooched around and checked out what was left from RSD.
There was more than I expected and was surprised to find The Doors Strange Days Part Two which I’ll be honest was a bit meh… But I also bagged Buddy Guy Sweet Tea. Which is bloody amazing. Click on the pic to hear the album.
I found both these records in the store Underground Solution (pictured in the montage above).
This means there is only three more records missing from my want list and I have a funny feeling Ian from my old local record store Vinyl Revival UK might be able to fix that. I’ll let you know more next week.
Around the same time I was in similar spaces as Rob Jones from Driven Serious, I was playing in a few bands. One was called ‘P-Funk and the Funky Monkeys’. We (Nathan, Ed, Georgi and me) obviously had no connection with the Sci-Fi-esq Parliament or the psychedelic Funkadelic. The name was just inspired by them.
[Seven years ago I shared a track I recorded with them in the Documentally podcast channel. Supporting subscribers can revisit that here.]
My role was to sing, play harmonica and didgeridoo. And when I say sing, In this instance I mean make noises. This song entitled ‘Georgi’s Son’ was jammed out both to commemorate the birth of fellow band member Gorgi’s first child, but also written in a way the child might enjoy it.
There are few legible words and an obvious hat-tip to a new group on the scean called the Teletubbies. Other inspirations might include THC, LSD and Tannat.
Be careful. This could steal seven minutes of your life.
At the bottom of this post is another track written by a lovesick, angstridden me about 28 years ago. It’s the kind of song that was blurted out, ad-libbed and raw into my Minidisc recorder. A quick vent more than anything else, with bonus therapy.
It has never seen the light of day. And probably never should. So I’ve dropped it under the paywall for the more invested of you, who I know will treat it kindly, or at least for what it is… the product of a young, jilted version of me.
#TheConsumed
I saw a small tub of Schwartz whole bay leaves for £5.11. This stuff grows on bushes!
And we’re planning a hedge of the stuff. Perhaps I should consider a mail order sideline for supporting subscribers.
Next week let’s talk about rhubarb. Sheesh.
#TheBody
The company I did my DNA test with asked me if I wanted to do a trial to see if I was a ‘gifted baker’. It’s a bit niche, but I do enjoy baking so I answered a questionnaire and offered up my anonymised DNA data to see what came back.
I’ll not be rushing off to start a bakery but it appears I might be an above average baker.
It looks at a selection of markers associated with tasting etc. But that was far less interesting to some of the other results the test flagged. Over the years I have found the perfect time for me to have my single coffee of the day is around 10 am and if I have a second coffee or one early/late afternoon I have a terrible night’s sleep.
It seem that the reason is this:
“Your genotype is associated with slower caffeine metabolism. Your body takes longer to clear caffeine, so its effects, including alertness, restlessness and potential sleep disruption, might linger for longer.”
It sure does. One coffee does me fine and also keeps the habit cheep.
Another trait that was flagged and I will be continuing to flaunt is this:
“You are likely to have a higher threshold for heat and pain, meaning discomfort from minor burns, heat exposure or small injuries registers less acutely. In a busy kitchen this can be an advantage, as working near hot ovens, handling warm trays or managing the occasional knock may feel less disruptive to your focus and workflow.”
I’m regularly accused of having asbestos hands and any injuries around the land have to be pretty severe for me to reach for the painkillers.
I know this is all a bit of a gimmick but i’ve never had this much access to data relating to my genetic make up and it’s fascinating knowing some of my ‘quirks’ may well be hard coded.
#TheFound
While walking the dog i’ll often find potsherds in the fields. (A potsherd being a fragment of pottery. The ‘sherd’ is a reference to ceramics as a ‘shard’ is to glass.)
No idea how these pieces (one possibly dating back 200 odd years) find their way into what sometimes feels like the middle of nowhere. I used to wonder if a farm worker was taking their best crockery out into the fields for lunch.
Most likely it’s the site of an old cottage, near an old tip or meeting place, or perhaps household rubbish was chucked on a dung heap and it found it’s way into the muck spreader.
I searched online for ‘blue transferware of man and woman fishing’ to see if I could find the one pictured on the left anywhere. No joy. I’ll continue to save up the pieces and when I have enough I might go find some kind of expert who might be able to shed some light on these finds.
#TheThings
I like big batts and I cannot lie.
Picked up this recently. It’s to run the radios in my field station but should there be a power outage, it can go with my other stand-by sources.
It’s big enough to charge my phone 70 times, my laptop about 20 and could run a fridge for two days. It can also boil a kettle 15 times, although i’d mostly boil water on a fire in a power cut as we’re not short of wood.
#TheLinks
Battery tech for EV’s is on the up again with some impressive new charge speeds.
Have you added yourself to the Documentally community map?
A boom of independent bookstores, just when we need them most.
My Italian Grandmother always called the wardrobe the garderobe and now I finally know why.
Some of my other places include these… plus Letterboxd for film logging, Discogs for my physical music collection, Strava for documenting exercise, Untappd for new beers I might sample, my audio RSS feed stores recordings, Vivino for questionable wine reviews, YouTube for vlogging, Mastodon for decentralised social, a ham radio newsletter, foto for random photos, or search ‘Documentally’ on Wire and Bluesky. Plus ask me if you’d like to connect on Signal.. 👍🏽
And the best customer service award this week goes to… Sam and Harvey.
We need more repair mode rather than growth mode.
Everybody needs a cultural atlas.
#TheThanks
Thank you very much if you share and link to my posts. I’m sure it all goes some way to getting the word out to any curious folk who might find something of use here.
And super special thanks to those supporting subscribers who pay a small amount every month to receive this dispatch and all other content. You really do keep it going. Thank you. ♥️
If you are in a position to be able to pay a little to keep these words, ideas and curation happening, please consider an upgrade by clicking this button…
Or if you prefer a random hat tip, you can do that via PayPal
All errors in this dispatch are signs of life.
I may be back in Edinburgh next week but i’ll mostly be tending to the land etc. If there is anything you’d like to know about the things I haven’t said, ping. Till then, have a great weekend and enjoy the weather.
“If you hit a wrong note, it’s the next note that you play that determines if it’s good or bad.” – Miles Davis
Sing.
See you out there.
Over…
