Tuesday, December 23, 2008

SoiSong in BKK Dec08


SoiSong in BKK Dec08
Originally uploaded by sleazybkk
So Ivan went home yesterday after an intense couple of weeks completing principle recording and design of the the new SoiSong album called xAj3z. It is a fantastic piece of work, even though I say so myself, and I am looking forward to hearing people's reaction. I really hope they love it as much as I do.

My main task now is to try and come up with moving images that not only compliment the (strange) music, but also can be juggled in a live setting to produce new and interesting variations.

No wallpaper or eye-candy for SoiSong, if at all possible ,-)

...but I guess that will have to wait for few days - My mind is on turkey and stuffing (or should that be "being stuffed" ,-) xxx

Now that's what I call a Christmas Tree!

Have a bearable Christmas - My memories of Christmases in England are mostly ones of conspicuous consumption followed by hangovers of various kinds, boredom (and possibly additional family stress) so if you are able to avoid any of these, I applaud you! ,-)

I hope everyone finds (or at least makes some progress towards) what they are really seeking in their heart in the forthcoming year (and I remembered to write seek, rather than desire, although that can work too).

I am looking forward to 2009 with some trepidation (largely on account of the weakness of the Pound and strength of the Thai baht), and somehow 2009 seems like a weird, somewhat malign number.

I guess I shall just have to think of it in the Thai way which is far prettier - 2552.

On any case - Have a Good One :)

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Years May Come and Years May Go

Ivan arrived safely at the Compound yesterday, to finish tweaking the new SoiSong album, which I have probably already said is wonderful, and to work on our new live show, which will go in so many new directions, I can hardly imagine...

So I probably won't have time to update this blog till Christmas, unless something funny happens.

He pointed out that in my last blog I wrote that 1984 was 14 years ago, and now you mention it that does seem slightly out ,-) but I blame my fingers rather than my mind - so easy to type 14 when you mean....  errrr... right.... 24!

What me senile? Where am I? Have I been t tis planet bepore? :) 

Thursday, December 4, 2008

X before I encouraged him to get famous/crazy ,-)

This is X soon after I first met him. I think we was about 20 then.

BTW I feel like I'm walking a fine line with this blog between opening my heart and home to you guys...  (which I regard as a good thing - in these days of everybody-knowing-everything-immediately, there really isn't much Mystery any more, just a 'knowledge-transmission-breakdown') 
...However I AM conscious that on the screen, rather than in person, some of my revelations, if I'm not careful, might be taken the wrong way, or get me (or someone I love) into trouble.

If you are shocked or made uncomfortable, by any of my blogs, or think anything I've written too dangerous to say...

[After all 1984 WAS 14 years ago, already, and things haven't got better in those 14 years - It turns my stomach that in the UK now, even a kid's drawing of his little brother or sister if they're not wearing clothes, could send both the parents AND the kid to prison! What on earth are they thinking?]

...please write to me immediately and I will take it down.

This blog is about Openness and complete Honesty - which you may have realised was what Coil was about too - NOT Incarceration.

Luv2all :)

PS I'm starting to get why the Dalai Lama smiles all the time :)

Back on our heads

So after a brief (24 hour) r'n'r session with a couple of mates [detail expleted, in this public blog at least] I am now back in full organise mode, as Ivan in arriving on Sunday [airport gods permitting] and we have a ton of things to do not only to complete the wonderful forthcoming SoiSong album, but also to decide how best to move forward with gigs, profile-building etc. The new record is SO good (IMHO) thanks to Ivan's immaculate and sublime audio stylings that it deserves to reach as wide an audience as possible.

Ivan is unusually reticent when it comes to pushing himself into the limelight, and I have been rather hanging back, for fear of coming across as the "more famous" of the the two of us, when in reality he does most of the work (the important work anyway). However face to face we will be able to sort out lots, I have no doubt.

The main thing I need to do today is buy a few MORE beds, as, despite the fact the numerous houseboys living in my compound often share with one another, dorm style, us farangs (limeys. poms, foreign debbils or whatever) usually have at least a bed of our own. I expect they're worried if we shared I might roll over and squash them! :) NOT to mention me snoring, drooling, oozing, leaking or other distasteful effects when unconscious! LOL :)

Also my first and best mate X is returning from a week of Buddhist retreat today, rendering the Sleaz Compound extra full, since my best English mate is in guest-house number one. Hopefully the quiet time away from city diversions will see X a little calmer and more centred than he was before.

In general Thais are SO good at having a good time (unlike most other races who, even when they're sh**-faced, generally do not REALLY enjoy themselves, IMHO) that unless circumstances (or the auto-pilot) apply the brakes, then given enough rope, gas, dosh etc Thai's sometimes turn into the Runaway Train of Fun... Which, if one's not careful, can get lost without a trace down long-forgotten, overgrown sidings leading off through the jungle, to some distant, rusting mine-workings, or abandoned asbestos factory, where they smash into the buffers, "Bourne Ultimatum-style", bursting into flames, and then things can get messy.

Although I am always conscious that I provided the gas for Geff's (John Balance's) Runaway Train (and feel kind of guilty for that), I know he would have turned off the main track onto his own siding without me long ago, probably before he was 20, and at least I got him to produce some great records and writing on the journey, that brought pleasure to millions..... [okay it was thousands and thousands, but whose counting? ,-)]

X by contrast, though 1) a great singer, 2) an ex-rent boy, and 3) my original Thai boyfriend (pattern ringing any bells?) has the knowledge of how to live without ANY money; he was a temple 'orphan' boy and through his teens survived on almost nothing, and at least he knows where the "auto-pilot switch" IS, if those robotic "Pull Up, Pull UP" voices start sounding in the cockpit! 

Poor Geff preferred sitting on the wings with the wind in his hair, and did not know there WAS a cockpit!

God Bless Him, and you too! :)

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

A Very Big Plane


A Very Big Plane
Originally uploaded by sleazybkk
BTW sitting at Narita I saw, for the first time, the Airbus A-380, which as you may know is a 'double-decker' throughout. Its absolutely huge!

To be honest I cannot understand how its possible to lift its immense weight, esp when fully laden to 36,000 ft and since any technology that is incomprehensible may reasonably regarded as magic, my question is this:

Are those big buildings one sees around the edge of airports actually housing huge factory chicken farms to provide sufficient unfortunate beasts to be sacrificed in rituals in the hold, as the planes trundle along the runway; thereby causing satisfactory lift-off??? ,-)

We should be told!

Sleazy goes Home


Sleazy goes Home
Originally uploaded by sleazybkk
After a door-to-door journey back from Boston lasting about 168 hours (rather than the normal 36!) I am pleased to report I am home safe and sound.

The protests that paralyzed the airport in Bangkok are now over and notwithstanding forthcoming elections, argy-bargies or whatever, day-to-day life in Thailand seems to be relatively unaffected, despite the dire tone of TV reports.

I can't see that anyone planning to come on holiday to Thailand would have any reason to fear coming, and can still have a wonderful time.

Business Lounge Toilet The Long View, Narita


Business Lounge Toilet, Narita

Just in case you were wondering what untold luxuries travelers in airlines' business class receive (besides free boze and internet) here are some photos of Narita's business Men's room!
I am going to try to keep this blog up to date, notwithstanding the extra half hour or so a day it may take. This is not so much to keep people officially informed about my work; you should check out

www.myspace.com/soisong and www.myspace.com/thresholdhouse for that...

but just as a kind of diary to remind myself what I was thinking/doing, day by day, as well as hopefully saving time duplicating news mails to my many friends who care (which already takes hours a day). Please do not mind that others are reading the same stuff, it IS still addressed to you personally, if I have given you the link to this page.

I will attempt not to write anything too incriminating, but please regard anything herein as privileged information, not intended for Pop-Bitch or the Sun, unless I die with my head down the toilet or similar, in which case, be my guest!

luv
slZ