THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?"

LEAVES

REMIND ME,TREES,WHY YOU LOSE

Your treasury of leaves in this Season..

Is it just dandruff from the scalp of old trees?

Or a carpet of future dreams ,scattered like Johnny Appleseed?

Coolness now-relief from Summer heat/that kept us indoors

dependent upon air conditioning..Outside now-to walk among trees

that shake and shimmer with Fall's bright gold colors..Ask me

why we love this chilled change-we reply -You are the Prelude

to the Book of Winter..You prepare us for Future Freezes..

Step by step,leaf by leaf,we descend in temperatures..

Only love will keep us warm within.Only leaves will remind us...

They shall be our messengers/harbingers of greater Beauty.

COMING THIS WEEKEND

KEVIN AYERS STORY

It shook me up, interviewing Kevin Ayers. “I've felt like that my whole life,” his daughter tells me New Statesman When I was a very young journalist I was sent to interview Kevin Ayers, the singer of Soft Machine who'd thrown off fame and was now living, aged 61, ... CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO Kevin Ayers featuring Ollie Halsall When Kevin Ayres died a few years ago many of us mourned.  John Peel wrote in his autobiography that 'Kevin Ayers' talent is so acute you could perform major eye surgery with it. .. Read More

HAWKWIND NEWS

	Hawkwind and five more artists confirmed for Ramblin' Man Fair 2020 Louder Ramblin' Man will take place at Mote Park, Maidstone, Kent, on July 17, 18 and 19, 2020, with the news that Hawkwind will headline the Grooverider ..
	Hawkwind, Monster Truck and four more for Ramblin' Man Fair 2020 Planet Rock Space rock legends Hawkwind will play a special 50th Anniversary Show headline the Grooverider Stage bill on Sunday 19th July. They top a bill that ... CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO Space Ritual Live - Special Edition 2DVD/2CD - £29.99 Space Ritual Live  2CD1DVD - £19.99

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D minor (Philippe Jordan, Proms 2013)

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Shuttleworth

John Shuttleworth is a fictional singer-songwriter and radio presenter created by English comedy actor and musician Graham Fellows in 1986. Shuttleworth is in his late 50s and is from Walkley in Sheff..

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GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: The Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

Live in Germany '78 DVD/CD - £14.99

SHUTTLEWORTH EN PASSANT

Martin Smith: No excuse for acts of reckless stupidity blighting football The Star Sheffield's fictional king of beige John Shuttleworth got a surprise mention during BBC Five Live's coverage of Chelsea v Newcastle on Saturday. CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO Shuttleworth John Shuttleworth is a fictional singer-songwriter and radio presenter created by English comedy actor and musician Graham Fellows in 1986. Shuttleworth is in his late 50s and is from Walkley in Sheff.. Read More

KEVIN AYERS: New book

New Kevin Ayers book out in November Louder Cult Canterbury legend Kevin Ayers is to be celebrated in a new book, Shooting At The Moon: The Collected Lyrics Of Kevin Ayers which collects ... CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO Kevin Ayers featuring Ollie Halsall When Kevin Ayres died a few years ago many of us mourned.  John Peel wrote in his autobiography that 'Kevin Ayers' talent is so acute you could perform major eye surgery with it. .. Read More

RICK WAKEMAN'S BOX OF BOOTS

Rick Wakeman to release Official Bootleg Series box set Louder Rick Wakeman is to release a 10CD box set later this year, capturing his live work recorded between 1974 and 2014. Box Of Boots: Set Of 10 Live ...

RICK WAKEMAN To Release 'Box Of Boots: Set Of 10 Live CDs: Official Bootleg Series' BLABBERMOUTH.NET Giving an official release to some wonderful historic concerts previously only available to a few people, keyboard legend Rick Wakeman will release ...

CHECK OUT THE WAKEMAN EMPORIUM

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?"

ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER

SO I GO TO DOZEN ST

Where WORDJAZZ alumni are to do an indoor improv.showpiece

I walk out the back,where musicians from Wednesday night's open mic are practicing

So we get to improvise together-then the WORDJAZZ folk begin

and i listen to them..They are densely succinct,with no space for words

so i head to HIDEAWAY for the Open music jam and clothes swap.

Drew and Dex are playing with a keyboard Captain America Tshirt wearer

I chime in with elemental praises-particularly for air,water and earth

I castigate fire for California and droughts and brushfires

but the instruments are far too loud to be heard,so i converse outside

Conversation is a cure for ennui and frustration.We laugh loudly.

Then float homewards having tasted some of the finest musical improv

this village has to offer-for free..The only cost?PARTICIPATION..

As always-one thing always leads on to another...

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO FILLOW MY DAY JOB

Well, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the third episode in our new series: On The Track Xtra! We hope that you enjoy it. I think the production values are ever improving and we are learning (slowly) all the bells and whistles which are now available via YouTube. I should - however - warn you that If you hear strange noises in the background of the segments which feature me doing a piece to camera, those are the filters of the two tanks in the office; one containing Clarence the walking catfish, and another containing a large and massively elusive leaf fish that we have been looking after for Max ever since he went off to university, something in the region of ten years ago. At least, I’ve always thought it was a leaf fish, and worse, have been telling everyone it’s a leaf fish for the last decade. However, when I looked her up today to try to display my academic chops by giving her Latin name, she doesn’t look like any of the leaf fish on Google. But that’s the way the cookie crumbles. This issue contains Max livestreaming from the Moskvarium in Moscow, and Carl and Richard discussing and me talking about the legacy of Heuvelmans and On the Track of Unknown Animals, Corinna doing Watcher of the Skies with Lilith, and a brief nod to Gef the Talking Mongoose of Cashen's Gap, and a snide dig at our present Prime Minister. I really miss doing the Weird Weekends each year, but with the health problems currently bedevilling the CFZ to restart them is impossible. But I truly hope that these shows have something of the taste of the mixture of hard science, weird shit and surreal odness that made the 17 Weird Weekends such a joy to be part of.

VALE DAVE KING

Dave King, designer of Crass logo, has passed away Punknews.org Steve Ignorant of Crass stated: "I'm absolutely gutted to have to tell you that Dave King, who designed the Crass symbol, has died. He was a bloody ...

YES in Brum and retro-review

Yes, “To Be Alive (Hep Yadda)” from 'The Ladder' (1999): YESterdays Something Else! Reviews His partner in rhythm makes it clear that he's perhaps the utility player of the band: Alan White makes what would be a standard, middle-of-the-road ...

YES to bring album tour to Birmingham expressandstar.com Drummer Alan White added: "I always enjoy coming home to England so I'm especially looking forward to YES' upcoming Album Series 2020 tour.

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

Yes

Yes are quite rightly considered one of the leading lights of the progressive rock scene, a position they have held for more than forty years.Releasing albums such as Close To The Edge, Tales From Top..

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HAWKWIND REVIEW

Hawkwind: All Aboard The Skylark – album review Louder Than War (blog) Fifty years on there may only be Dave Brock still in position in the 2019 Hawkwind line-up, but this isn't the seventies anymore. Things change. CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO Space Ritual Live - Special Edition 2DVD/2CD - £29.99 Space Ritual Live  2CD1DVD - £19.99

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Maria Callas Live: Bizet's Carmen Habanera, Hamburg 1962

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30th Anniversary DVD - £7.99

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Genre Peak - Always Empty

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Genre Peak

Martin Birke's original compositions began getting nationally published in 1990. His history as a drummer, keyboardist, programmer, songwriter and vocalist is in a current variety of US & European..

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THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?"

ILLUSION SEPARATION

YOU ARE NOT A TEST TUBE BABY

You came through a mother's womb

Possibly with a father present and responsible

And medical staff to facilitate your emergence..

You are never an island,nor a mere solitary "self"

You had brothers and sisters,friends,peers ,enemies

All of whom dedicated time and energy to your specific existence

You worked,so you have workmates who acknowledged you

And you have a history of knowing people,who knew you

Even if they are no longer around to contradict you

I will do that in their names.Even if i do not know them.

You are not merely a solitary "self".Never have been

And this response shows and shares the illusion

of"lonely planets" as irrelevant.Planets are not human.

They do not have emotions.They are not"lonely"

And you are part of a human matrix.Get back into it!

WAKEMAN IN CLEARWATER

Rick Wakeman to play Capitol Theatre Tampa Bay Newspapers CLEARWATER — Rick Wakeman will perform Saturday, Oct. 26, 8 p.m., at Capitol Theatre, 405 Cleveland St., Clearwater. Tickets start at $49. CHECK OUT THE WAKEMAN EMPORIUM

YES REVIEW

Yes, “If You Only Knew” from 'The Ladder' (1999): YESterdays Something Else! Reviews Billy Sherwood's electric rhythm guitar delightfully dances with Steve Howe's steel guitar, and the in-the-pocket Yes rhythm section of Alan White and ...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

Yes

Yes are quite rightly considered one of the leading lights of the progressive rock scene, a position they have held for more than forty years.Releasing albums such as Close To The Edge, Tales From Top..

Read More

LEONARD COHEN EN PASSANT

You need to hear about this Leonard Cohen tribute night happening this weekend in Kolkata Indulgexpress Kolkata is finally getting a Leonard Cohen tribute night, where you can go celebrate the late icon's music, life and poetry over some drinks and ...

Leonard Cohen inducted into BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Hall Of Fame The List Leonard Cohen was posthumously inducted into the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Hall Of Fame on Wednesday night (16.10.19). The 'Hallelujah' ...

Leonard Cohen Posthumously Inducted Into BBC Folk Hall of Fame Noise11 Leonard Cohen was posthumously inducted into the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Hall Of ... Leonard Cohen's bandmate Javier Mas also plays guitar.

Former Leonard Cohen backup singer Perla Batalla celebrates her legendary onetime boss in ... Pasadena Weekly 7 will mark three years since the death of Leonard Cohen, the profoundly poetic and widely revered songwriter. This Saturday, former backup singer ...

The Hammonds do Leonard Cohen Wicklow People Ray's love of Leonard Cohen and his daughters' musical talents have become a natural fusion over the years. Their musical careers are varied, as is ...

Whitney's Julien Ehrlich talks about why he has been listening to Leonard Cohen 88Nine Radio Milwaukee (blog) 5 Songs We Can't Stop Listening To is a collection of our newest favorite songs. Every week we ask an artist that we love to tell us about the music ... CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen was a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. His work often explored religion, isolation, sexuality and personal relationships. Cohen has been inducted into the .. Read More

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?"

COSMIC OPTIMISM

ROMANTICISM vs THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Poetic Imagination vs A.I/Robot Programming

C.P Snow's "Two Cultures"still divides us

Will we align with "Un-weaving the Rainbow?"

Or find paths of convergence between Poe's "Intuitive Scientia"

or Richard Feynman's dictum""Mysteries do not lose their beauty when solved"

Do we align with Poe's "Pantheistic Transcendentalism"(a la EUREKA!)

or still follow the inductive reasoning of Bacon and Aristotle's deductive reasoning processes?

Kepler IMAGINED his way,much as modern science (and Poe)posited "Black Holes"/ "Big Bang"/"Expanding Universe"

before there was evidence enough to substantiate such intuitive leaps.Put me with Poe!

Poetry and scientific method are informed by each other-but i prefer William Blake over Sir Isaac Newton.

Intuition Lives!Thanks to poetry,we now have new names for it-"Synchronicity"/"Butterfly Effect"

But it takes a Heraclitus to amplify a Heisenberg.And a Poe to align with Rousseau.

RICK WAKEMAN ON THE CURRENT STATE OF YES (ouch)

Yes Should Have Ended With Chris Squire's Death Says Wakeman antiMUSIC.com Rick Wakeman believes that the band name of Yes should have been retired following the death of Chris Squire in 2015 and he was in favor of the ...

ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/17/19 New Jersey Stage I was really upset because we lost Chris (Squire) and I was dreadfully upset when Chris died because I hadn't seen him in about a year.

Day in Rock Report for 10/17/2019 antiMUSIC.com Yes Should Have Ended With Chris Squire's Death Says Wakeman ... of Yes should have been retired following the death of Chris Squire - Read more

Rick Wakeman Calls Current State of Yes 'Total & Utter Mess' Disrespectful to Late Chris Squire Ultimate-Guitar.Com "I think when Chris [Squire, bass] passed away [in 2015], the name should have been retired and put on a shelf. Steve can carry on playing Yes music, ... CHECK OUT THE WAKEMAN EMPORIUM

RICK WAKEMAN AT CLEARWATER

Grumpy old rock star Rick Wakeman details stripped-back 'concert of emotions' coming to Clearwater Creative Loafing Tampa Grumpy old rock star Rick Wakeman details stripped-back 'concert of emotions' coming to Clearwater. He's at Capitol Theatre on October 26. CHECK OUT THE WAKEMAN EMPORIUM

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Om Namah Shivaya - Krishna Das Live! Songs With Lyrics

Being Sunday I always post sacred music. The name of the deity may change, or even the deity Him/Herself but the spirit remains the same.