And still this hot summer rolls on, though the weathermen are predicting a change over the next few days.
Emi and I rode out to Knaresborough this afternoon and spent a gentle hour sitting in the Marigold Cafe on the riverside, watching people rowing up and down in the small wooden boats that are for hire there. A beautiful, tranquil setting which provided me with some useful subject matter for my camcorder, (which I'd taken with me.)
I've been gathering footage of local villages and scenes from Castle Howard which I'm planning to use in a video which will accompany one of the tracks from my 'Model Village' album. A kind of English country pastoral reverie...
The river which flows through Knaresborough is called the River Nidd. An unusual name which I ought to look up to discover its roots.
In the Marigold Cafe there were some old photographs showing the cafe's history through various periods of time, one of which appeared to be Victorian and portrayed the river frozen solid with ice and the local inhabitants skating on it.
Looking out at the river today, with bright sunlight sparkling on its surface and the happy boaters cutting through the sparkles, it was hard to imagine the river ever being frozen solid enough to support skaters.
The tall, arched railway bridge that spanned the river in those Victorian days still looms over it today, and a beautiful construction it is too. The river is not wide, it's nothing like the Humber, just a narrow, canal-like waterway, winding its way between trees and the ancient cottages and houses of Knaresborough. A very unique and special place which Emi and I treasure.
Back at home, a man called to fix a new 'smart meter' to our electricity supply. This meter automatically sends, via a built in 'phone connection, our daily energy usage to our provider. No more estimated bills, meter readers calling 'round, or self read usage required. It's all done automatically and we now have a gadget in the kitchen which shows us exactly how much electricity we're using and therefore when to switch off lights and electrical equipment that might be costing us more than we actually need.
Seems like a very good idea, especially as there has been a lot of worrying news today from scientists about global warming and the impact our use of energy and fossil fuels is having on the deterioration of our ecology.
The scientists say that we have only ten years left to turn things around before it becomes so irreversible that we're likely to see our species actually die out over the next thousand years...
And still, the man who has assumed the mantle of 'President' of the USA denies climate change and actually wants to empower the fossil fuel industry more than ever.
Words fail me, but disgust, anger, and frustration spring to mind. I believe that Donald Trump will go down in history as the most corrupt, bigoted and ignorant man ever to be voted in as president of the USA. And I hope his reprehensible time in power won't last long.
Here in my studio, my idea of stopping at track 50 of the 'Auditoria' album seems to have fallen by the wayside. I'm now working on track 52, titled, (tentatively,) 'The March Of The Metaphysicians.' A rather dark, brooding track. Will try a mix of this tomorrow.
My lovely son and daughter, (Elliot and Elle,) came round for dinner last night. Always a delight to spend time with them. I know fathers always praise their offspring, but Elle and Elliot are truly gifted with creative talent and I'm very proud of them both. Elliot has been working on a soundtrack to accompany Lotte Rheineger's animated film of Cinderella whilst Elle has been building an independent career as a website designer. She has a unique visual sense and her company 'Elle Nelson designs' should be checked out by anyone looking for something special for their website design. Yes, I know that it looks like nepotism, but she really is very good at this stuff! Here's a link to her website :
And her Facebook page:
Today I launched the re-issue of the 'WAH WAH GALAXY' album. This album was initially made as a limited edition CD for attendees of the 2004 Nelsonica fan convention, then the remaining copies were offered for sale through the usual channels. The album has long since sold out and second hand copies have been selling for crazy amounts on eBay and the like. Well, now it is available as a digital download reissue from my Bandcamp page, and for FAR less money than that being asked on internet sites. The album has been enjoyed and praised by those who have heard it, and now it is available for even more fans to dig into.
I've almost settled on the three titles for the three discs in the 'Auditoria' triple album set. First disc will be titled 'These Stars Are Fire.' The second disc will be 'Mysterium.' And the third disc looks like it will be titled 'Secret Knowledge.' All this could change when I start to assemble the three disc's running orders of course, but this is the state of play right now...
