Went to hear a friend’s blues band, with the curious title “More than your Marsworth”. The band gave an excellent set, including a great rendition of one of my favourite songs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sSCUQVvJJU&feature=player_embedded
Hendrix’s ”Little Wing”. This brought to mind a dream I once had, where the song was playing: there were many horses running along a beach at sunset – and the light intensified, so that the entire sky appeared to be on fire. This image always returns to me when I hear the song. To illustrate how differently a song can be interpreted by different people:

Some 'other' versions ....
Jimi Hendrix version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqzZUJN-jfI&feature=related
Derek and the Dominoes version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G5CJFrO2Oc&feature=related
The Corrs version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5rVgxmekeM&feature=related

Still envious of the 'Love Spirals' super-chilled west-coast podcast style, almost more relaxing to listen to than the music itself. all 78 podcasts so far can be found at: http://www.lovespirals.com you can download their tracks and those of other bands in a variety of formats, from low compression aiff to aac, mp3 at http://lovespirals.bandcamp.com

overheard a conversation about punk rock albums. The main thing about punk for me, is what it paved the way for. 'post-punk', where you no longer had to fit a neat stereotype anymore, you do what you want to, whether it is loud or quiet, play a violin, jazz or folk or new country. It wasn't the genre that mattered anymore. Back to the old adage: 'It isn't what you do, it's the way that you do it'. this band do it very well, catch them live.

a song which I had never heard before made me feel nostalgic. Maybe because it was typical of the era that it was created in. like hearing a new song...but in the past. The song was 'Stay The Night' by ex 'Cars' vocalist Benjamin Orr, which I heard on a road trip in California in the late summer. So now the song reminds me of the 80's, and the California hills and sunshine.

I was watching a tv interview with a former political prisoner in which he described how he started to feel like he could survive the confinement when he dreamt of a song by Leonard Cohen called 'Sisters of Mercy'. It occurred to to me how important the creation of the alternate or parallel reality can be, either for survival, or for most of us, just for health and well-being. Not so much as a retreat to a fantasy world, but as an accompaniment, to keep spirits high. It's important not to neglect our parallel realities, while at the same time not losing touch of the more basic one.

As sometimes is the case, while working on on a song which is difficult to finish, a new part of the song becomes the start of a new song instead, so ending up with two songs.
Hoping to upload some results soon.

One of my contacts on a social networking site added a status message which simply said: ' is happy'. With the nights getting darker and colder, and not having had a good day, the suggestion that someone out there is having a good day, was a good thing. Music is a great platform for sad or happy, angry or chilled-out vibes. Thinking about a particular person, or a place or time can help to inspire music. A current song I'm working on has an imaginary location of the bay area of Northern California. The mist, the steep hills, wooden houses, the sea air. Whether the song will be any good is yet to be known. My guitar's right here, so maybe I can finish it...