It’s blowing a right old gale outside tonight so let’s turn our minds to bit of indoor gardening for a few minutes. Big shout to our good mate Ciarán over in Vancouver for sending us pics of his chilli seedlings and judging by the ones at the top they’re looking well healthy at the moment unlike ours which didn’t even germinate!
Here’s what we’ve got on. There’s some pea shoots, herbs and some sweet peas just poking through on the tray to the right. Send us pics of how you’re getting on with your sowings. Roll on the warmer weather!
Look at that foxtail lily. It’s been threatening to lift off it’s plastic cloche for days and it’s only the start of march. What a mad plant/triffid it is!
The plastic protector was put back on over it but it looks like Storm Freyahas taken it on a journey half-way down the garden (remember when storms didn’t use to have names and we just used to say things like “The weather’s crap outside” or “It’s tipping it down out there”?). The lily it lives!
While listening again to this week’s Echo Chamber on KFAIwe came across this gem that we missed the first time around. It’s a lovely 6 minutes thing by The Spy from Cairo with Beirut Skank. The longer it goes on the more dubbier it becomes! A tune to listening to in the back room while looking out the back window saying to yourself “I just don’t get this weather, it was lovely at the start of the week and now when it comes to the weekend, it’s like this?” One to listen to with a Bacardi and Coke in one hand and some Cheese thins in the other.
Big shout to Dr Strangedub and DJ Baby Swiss for the first exclusive worldwide playing of Jazz’min & Madtone’s “Open up your heart” on this week’s Echo Chamber on KFAI at 85.20 minutes in (also Madtone’s Interval Signal Jazz is used as a bed at 84.03). Link to the play again of the show here.
As usual it’s a first class show and includes music from The Hempolics, Alborosie meets the Wailers United, Trevor the Technician and this excellent tune from Anchorsong called Testimony (above). Tune! Big up the Echo Chamber!
It was a fine day today but not too much was done in the garden apart from a tiny bit of weeding, a glimpse of some goldfish in the pond (The Lewisham Heron didn’t get them after all!) and there’s signs of life from the Foxtail Lily under the mini-cloche! Roll on the summer when it’ll hopefully turn into the below!
It’s a glorious Sunday and that yellow thing in the sky has returned here in London. Crank up the stereo and belt out some music while you “tip around with a hoe” out the back.
Here’s a lovely tune from Levi Myaz from Trinidad and Tobago called “Forward Home”. It’s a very infectious number which warrants a replay or four! Furthermore it features a dub with backwards vocals and we do love a backwards vocal here! Junior Wize‘s dub takes you somewhere else and takes the use of backwards vocals to higher heights. Tune!
And who can’t forget the groundbreaking and totally bonkers Evol Yenoh from 1968 produced by the great Lee Perry using the vocal of Burt Walters in reverse. Sreknob!
Sunshine keep up this behaviour and spring will be here in no time!
Yesterday whilst walking through Lincoln’s Inn Fields on the way back from a lunchtime shopping trip we spotted on the grass (or what’s left of it), a strange and small-wheeled device tearing up and down. “What the…?” we thought to ourselves.
After a minute of two of head-scratching, a stranger joined us and we both tried to work out what the hell it was. Was it some sort of TV comedy show stunt? Mobile broadband? Or an alien sussing out the area for a possible UFO landing in Holborn?
After five minutes we came to the conclusion it was a robotic lawnmower. It must have sussed that we were interested in it as the thing stopped going up and down in straight lines and made a beeline for us. It stopped just in front of where we were standing then span around a couple of times. We were then waiting for it to say (in a 1970’s comedic robot voice) something like “You have 20 seconds to comply” or “Smile you’re on Candid Camera” but it just flashed a couple of lights on its body in recognition (above) then resumed doing what it was doing.
What the hell is the world coming to? Please don’t tell us we’ll soon be doing away with the humble council gardener and just be left with robots. Who’ll drink the endless cups of tea and eat egg and bacon sarnies in the park hut in work’s time? Who’ll be selling old spring bulbs the council throw away come summertime and who’ll wear the regulation donkey jackets and steel-capped boots?
Another thought, surely these council Robo-mowers can be picked up, demobilised and put in a bin bag and taken to some-one else’s garden (ie. your own) without the park-keeper finding out before it’s too late. Or are they equipped with an alarm that goes off when activated by their owner “I AM A ROBO-MOWER AND I AM BEING TAKEN BY AN NON-AUTHORISED USER” which gets progressively louder until the real owner gets it back?
Or could the government could do a Boris-Bike type scheme with them. You pick them up from the side of the road where another gardener has left them, put your quid in the slot on its side, use it to cut your lawn, then chuck it out on the pavement for the next person. Answers on a postcard please.
Now Robo-mower, do us all a favour go about your business far far away (on a motorway traffic island preferably) while we pour ourselves another cup of tea. “Yes, Master”…
The winner of the Vertical rodent of the week goes to this squirrel seen on the side of Weeds HQ the other day. What you can’t see are the two cats on the pavement below. Gladly the squirrel made it away safely! #squirrelonaveritcaltip
And the winner of the ambient dub track of the week is Adam Prescott with his track Schism (Lion Charge Records). Lovely heavy dub with strange noises that have the touch of the Lee Perry’s about them. Can’t say fairer than that!
And thanks to our good friend Jazzmin Tutum here’s 9 minutes and 33 seconds of excellent downtempo chilled business. The track called Void City Arrival from Smooth Genestar appears in an interesting youtube about the great Bruce Lee that Jazzmin alerted us to. The clip is here and well worth watching!
Look at that foxtail lily. It’s been threatening to lift off it’s plastic cloche for days and it’s only the start of march. What a mad plant/triffid it is!
It was a fine day today but not too much was done in the garden apart from a tiny bit of weeding, a glimpse of some goldfish in the pond (The 
The winner of the Vertical rodent of the week goes to this squirrel seen on the side of Weeds HQ the other day. What you can’t see are the two cats on the pavement below. Gladly the squirrel made it away safely! #squirrelonaveritcaltip
Weeds up to me knees 