Psychological Travelling

Re-Opening

2009-06-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

I thought I might come back to this one day. So much has happened in the last eighteen months. My ex-partner left me and went back to the UK with our two daughters and I stayed in France. But now the time has come for me to return too. I will leave great weather, daily swimming, peace but also Ryanair, constant battles with the language and a feeling that I am divorced from the real world when I am here. So back to the UK it is at the end of October.

Blog closed

2007-12-16T01:03:00.000-08:00

I have decided to close my blog. It has become too self-indulgent. And as someone recently said to me 'boring'. So, the only reason to write it would be for myself - so I shall continue in written form. The second reason is that I have not kept to my promise of honouring the greatest diarist of all - 'Chips' Channon. He said 'what is the point of a discrete diary - one may as well have a discrete soul'. I have not revealed what has really been happening in my life over the last twelve months. The happy professional experiences have been balanced by unhappy personal experiences and it is to those which I now need to devote my time.

Snow in the Sud

2007-12-15T05:02:00.000-08:00

10 minutes from the Mediterranean and we have thick snow. Izzy, my naughty youngest has never seen real snow before and is transfixed. Lily, nearly eight is now building an 'homme de neige'. I have a garden full of happy children - about eight at the moment because Lily is the social animal par excellence. 10 days ago I was in the 35 degree heat of Port Au Prince Haiti. What a change. Extremes are wonderful.

This morning I have had english TV installed. Anyone who has had to endure french TV - endless programmes of people talking in the studio - will understand my joy.

And from a persoanl point of view I made an early start on the new book and good progress is being made. This has to be written by January 20. 35,000 words to go. 1000 per day.

Santa Claus is coming to town

2007-12-12T09:45:00.000-08:00

The first sighting of a cuckoo in March/April signifies the arrival of spring. And the christmas equivalent is the first playing of Phil Spector's 'Christmas Album' in December. Today, Lily and Isabelle and daddy got to work on the tree accompanied by The Ronettes, The Crystals, Darlene Love etc. Lily knows most of the words so we were able to sing along to the famed 'Wall of Sound'. Lovely.

I must remind myself not to email gripes to my publisher when I have had a couple of glasses of wine. I said what I wanted to say but probably not with the tact I should have.

Ed Doolan

2007-12-11T12:21:00.000-08:00

So much has happened recently that I forgot to mention a recent appearance on the Ed Doolan show on BBC West Midlands. Ed is also known as 'Mr Birmingham' an institution in the Midlands rivalled locally only by Carl Chinn - although Ed is Australian. I was invited on to talk about Positive Thinking and was given fifteen minutes. The 15 minutes soon became one hour as we took lots of texts and a few calls on the subject. I, of course loved every minute of it. Ed himself has had a few problems with his heart and we had an interesting sidetrack on whether positive thinking can pull you through health problems. He believes it can - as do I - and gave the example of how he had a serious heart operation twenty years ago a week before Christmas and that what pulled him through was the desire to broadcast his traditional Christmas day show. He was duly wheeled into the studio on Christmas morning. What they hadn't told him was that there was standby ambulance outside throughout the whole show in case of any relapse. Of course, there wasn't.

He re-enforced my belief that we need to continually create 'why's' to live for.

I wanted to also say that I really like Birmingham and from a personal point of view getting close to a place by being on a radio show helps no end. Not a fashionable view perhaps but it is a transformed city.

Perfect pop

2007-12-05T21:18:00.000-08:00

'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More' - The Walker Brothers.

Discuss

Bits and bobs

2007-12-05T15:51:00.000-08:00

A joke apparently attributed to former UN Secretary General Perez De Cuellar. When asked how many people worked at The United Nations he replied 'about half of them'. I met the good half this week.

Does it annoy you when people insist on putting 'lol' on their emails, messages, blogs etc? I had to look this up tonight. It means 'laughing out loud'. If you have to put this sort of mindless stuff in what you write I think you probably need a personality transplant. Or a wider ranging vocabulary. Or both.

Tonight, as I checked back in to my hotel - The Ibo Lele in Petionville, Haiti - the lady in reception offered a 'massage', with eyes raised on the word 'massage'. I walked off and ten minutes later she was on the phone to my room. Non merci. Do I look that lonely? Or desperate? Or perhaps she was.

My final night in Haiti. 'When was the last time you did something for the first time?' For me this was a view of the world I had never seen before. Of course, the next time I come it won't quite be the same. First time experiences in life mean everything. From birth right up to death. Perhaps Darfur next? Or DR Congo? Or East Timor?

Haitian Bee Gees

2007-12-02T18:38:00.000-08:00

An evening indoors avoiding various Haitian biting things. Having done lots of work, prepped for tomorrow etc. I treated myself to an hour of You Tubing. I got Frank Zappa in my head and spent an hour watching various live version of his Allman Brothers cover 'Whipping Post'. Marvellous. If you don't want to do the full hour but want to see Frank at his best head for the 1984 New York version. 7 minutes and a great vocal performance from Bobby Martin.

Last night I went with my hosts Berta and her partner Jongee to see a band described as Haitian Bee Gees. They sounded so awful at the gate that we didn't even venture in. A great piece of fish at a local restaurant instead. A quick drink after where I saw the largest cockroach I have ever seen. Red and winged.

First time in Haiti

2007-11-30T18:02:00.000-08:00

Writer Ursula Le Guin said that it is not the end that matters as much as the journey to the end. I am enjoying the journey and I suspect that whenever I sit back and reflect on my life I will think that the last month of it has been special.

I started 3 weeks ago in Bosnia and what a place that was. I then made a number of speeches in the UK which seem to have opened up some life changing opportunities and then it was back in France for just a few days before the journey to Haiti where I am now. I am really in Africa although Haiti resides in the Caribbean.

Two high points already. I arrived from Miami via New York (‘Just a New York conversation rattling in my head’ – thanks to the Half Note) with American Airlines (is there a worse airline in the world?) and was regaled by a fantastic Haitian band employed to entertain new arrivals as they get off the plane and make their way to the terminal. They were great. I was whisked through customs by my ‘meeter and greeter’ when everyone else was getting a grilling and within ten minutes I was on my way to the UN compound.

The second high point was a conversation with Shqipe Hebibi, a Kosovar who is also a good friend of a friend of mine back in Kosovo, Arlind Bakraci. Shqipe has a story to tell. Shqipe was working in Afghanistan in 2005 when she and two others were abducted by Islamic fundamentalists on their way to lunch in a UN 4x4. Your chances of not surviving were, and still are, minimal. Shqipe said that everyone tells you that at moments like that you think your life will flash before you. What actually happens is that everything happens so quickly that you can’t compute what is going on. They were held for 27 days and became the lead news item around the world. Shqipe was very, very lucky. It seems that a wealthy Kosovar had made contact with the kidnappers and that the Moslem link together with money had eased her release as well as the release of her colleagues. As someone who is fascinated by the psychology of what happens in those situations I asked Shqipe how she now feels looking back. What she said really interested me because she says that she now tries hard not to forget anything that happened. So the 3 hostages talk about their experiences so they don’t forget. I had imagined that you would try to forget everything but for the three of them this clearly isn’t the case. They will be ‘there’ for the rest of their lives.

My hotel (Hotel Ibolele) is stuck in the side of a mountain overlooking Port au Prince – the higher position keeps the Malarial mosquitoes away – and while my room is one of the worst I have stayed in I have a twenty metre pool for my own use it seems. So every night I swim in the dark, in delicious heat and enjoy Cajan fish and Haitian rice. The mangoes here are stunning and the best fruit I have ever eaten in my life. I am eating 3 per day. Haiti is the world centre for Mangoes – over 150 varieties. So at breakfast I have a plate of mango and banana, fresh coffee, some bread and jam, a fruit juice made from fresh lemons and limes and I can see all of Port au Prince beneath me and for about 70 km. A warm breeze gently eases me into full work mode. I haven’t felt this well for 10 years.

In the midst of all this journeying Sam, my new Commissioning Editor has given me the go-ahead to write the next book. So December and January in France with my babies writing and reflecting on a marvellous passage in my life. And what is more I am booked out completely for February, March and April. I almost forgot to mention that I have just won a contract with the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. Enjoy the peaks Doug.

I am sorry if this blog sounds overly smug and congratulatory but I write it partly for myself. I just want to remember the special times.

I am finding time for music and today it is The Dells and a great piece of Northern Soul ‘Wear it on our face’. But a mention too for Charles Mingus’ ‘Haitian Fight Song’.

Beauty

2007-11-17T12:36:00.000-08:00

Has there been a more beautiful piece of music released in the 21st century than 'Olsen Olsen' by Sigur Ros off the 2000 album Agaetis Byrjun? Why haven't I got into this band before? I think I like to keep in touch with newness but I missed this group totally. They are fabulous. Surely the world's leading rockband? Any american bloggers reading this should get along to a screening of their new film 'Heima' in NYC on 19 November. I am sure there are other showings too.

Are they a throwback or something new? Well there are obvious influences but there is nothing like them. They even sing in an invented language.

Just say no

2007-11-13T02:28:00.001-08:00

I have a fear of lack of activity. This means that when there is a lull I take on work and projects that I should not be involved in. As I look at my diary for the next 9 days I see I am doing loads of stuff I do not want to do. It is not New Year yet but I resolve to learn to say ‘no’. I could be with my children and writing my next book. Instead I am in places like Birmingham doing ‘stuff’ that doesn’t interest me. Fool, Doug. And why do I feel ill all the time? 67 flights this year must have something to do with it.

Musically I have two new albums to recommend. The Robert Plant/Alison Krauss newie is one of those rare occasions where one plus one equals three rather than the usual one and a half. A gem of a record. Does Marc Ribot now play guitar on every album released by anybody?

And I am venturing into the new Sigur Ros. It hasn’t had great reviews but I cannot understand why. It sounds great to me. I will report more fully after a few more listens.

Bosnia

2007-11-10T04:00:00.000-08:00

Waiting in my hotel in Sarajevo for my car to take me to the airport gives me a few minutes to mention my trip to this special place. The high point - although high is the wrong word - was a trip to the famed Mostar. Those who followed the war in the early 90's will remember the name. Almost every building still pockmarked with bullet holes from the street fighting but a quite beautiful 'old town' - little shops, cafes and churches and what they call the new old bridge. The Serbs blew the first one up.

I stopped in a place called Jablanica for a coffee and a chance to look at the stunning snowy mountainous view. From there I could see the famous bridge that Tito blew up in 1943. My driver told me the story of how the Germans stood on one side of the river, Tito's partizans on the other. Tito blew the bridge up and the germans figuring that Tito could now not cross the river went back into the hinterland, safe they thought from Tito's band of brothers. Instead overnight Tito built a new temporary bridge, came round behind the germans and defeated them. It was turned into a film starring Richard Burton the name of which escapes me. The bombed bridge is still there rusting up the side of the river bank.

My hotel where I was staying in Capljina near the Dalmation coast was fabulous. Expecting the usual slightly run down affair I was amazed to be shown the best hotel room I have ever stayed in, anywhere. Being the guest speaker wins one certain advantages!

Today it is airport hopping day. Sarajevo to Montpellier via Vienna and Paris in half a day.

Wilde Travel

2007-11-05T07:28:00.000-08:00

Does, as Wilde said, too much foreign travel dull the mind? I am about to find out. This week it is Bosnia followed by 10 days in Haiti punctuated only by a little public speaking in the UK. I will blog extensively on both Haiti and Bosnia on my return. I still maintain that the strangest people I have ever met (and I have been to some strange places) are the french.

I must bhowever mention my music of the week which is anything by Funkadelic. But particularly the 'Hardcore Jollies' album and 'Maggot Brain'. George Clinton still doesn't get the credit he should. He was, and is, completely mad (in the same way as Lee 'Scratch' Perry) but endearingly so. If I ever go mad I hope it is the same way as those guys.

Halloween

2007-10-25T09:08:00.000-07:00

Why do we have this? I really don't remember ever being aware of halloween as a child or 'celebrating' it at all. And now it seems to be everywhere. Here in France it feels like the build-up to Christmas.

To me it's about evil. So I am being grumpy old dad at the moment. After explaining why I wasn't going to drive her the 1Km to school (pollution, dad's need for exercise), and now the denial of the existence of Halloween I think my eldest daughter is having her worst fears confirmed about the miserable 'old man' alone with his newspaper and music in the corner of the room.

The Onion

2007-10-25T06:53:00.000-07:00

A while ago I blogged on the USB fridge that holds one can of coke. On the occasionally very funny website 'The Onion' I have just seen a spoof advert for the USB Toaster. Today's joke is clearly tomorrow's reality.

This posting allows me to direct you to another spoof piece on the site that had me in hysterics:

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/use_of_n_word_may_end_porn_stars

I hope those of you who are not overly sensitive souls might enjoy it. Those prone to shock...enjoy being shocked.

Infidelity

2007-10-25T06:30:00.000-07:00

A friend approached me the other day with a problem. About 12 months ago his wife embarked on an affair with another man which lasted about 6 months. The affair is out in the open which is fine. He and his wife haven't had sex since the end of the affair. They get on well even now and comfortably life in the same house with their children and provide a loving atmosphere. My friend does not want their relationship to end. He would probably not mind if his wife embarked on another affair. What is important to him is that his children have a happy, 2 parent home which they do at the moment.

His wife has just approached him about a resumption of a sexual relationship. He is not interested although in all other ways he feels close to his wife. By saying he doesn't want a sexual relationship any more he puts home stability at risk. By saying 'yes' he crosses a line he is not interested in crossing. What should he do?

BusinessBalls

2007-10-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

There are a number of vogue ‘business speak’ speak words and phrases that really annoy me. As I earn around 50% of my income as a corporate trainer I get to hear them more than most. Here are a few of them:

1. ‘Best Practice’

This annoys me because I believe in the infinite creativity of people and the potential we have to do something effectively in ways that are unique to us as individuals. The words ‘Best Practice’ imply only one way. A surefire way to stifle initiative and innovation in employees. I notice that some organisations have even started to develop ‘Best Practice’ departments. Surely a recipe for ‘our way is the only way’ thinking. And corporate death as a result.

Government ministers (Ruth Kelly in particular) use this a lot because they think that by using it they signal that they have a handle on their ministerial portfolio and what success means in, for example, the health sector. Will a journalist one day ask her what ‘Best Practice’ means because it means nothing to me at all.

To be able to adapt to the situation you find yourself in to me is a priceless life and workplace trait and will be increasingly so in the future. ‘Best Practice’ is the antithesis of that.

2. ‘Competencies’

Is there a job ad that doesn’t include the word ‘competence’. As opposed to what – incompetence? Competence means base level ability to me. Is that what our organisations want to employ? Surely they want the excellent rather than the merely competent?

And things are getting worse. I see the increasing use of ‘competency matrices’. People get employed to develop this gibberish – usually in Human Resource Departments. What does this add to any organisation? It sucks the money out of investment in the future and sucks the life out of people as it drags them down to a base level of mere ‘competence’.

3. ‘Human Resource Development’

I have blogged on this one in the past. As my fellow blogger Arkangel (http://simplepleasures3.blogspot.com) has recently said, was there a more cold, calculating, inhuman phrase put together to refer to human beings?

4. ‘Singing From the Same Hymn Sheet’

Which means theirs not yours.

5. ‘No-brainer’

Usually said by those who have lost the ability to think at work i.e. lost their brain.

6. ‘Let’s Brainstorm this’

‘Let’s get all the ideas out on the table so that you feel better but in the end we’ll do it my way anyway’.

If I ever use any of the above in my books you have the right to turn me into a human resource (whatever that is). Actually I do use ‘Brainstorming’ in my new book on creativity but I take the position of the cynic on this one. We know that , for most of us, we do not get our best, most creative thoughts in this 'forced' environment. Most of us need time - get the problem on the back-burner - to come up with a creative solution.

Writing to ENO

2007-10-18T05:44:00.000-07:00

I have an MP3 with 15 Brian Eno albums on it and I am trying to listen to all of them in one day while working. Today is book proposal day (1 down and 2 to go) and Eno is the perfect friend to the writer. As I write I am in the middle of Here Come The Warm Jets album. 'Baby's On Fire' is the current track and what a genius track it is. But is the guitarist Robert Fripp or the guy out of the Pink Fairies? Answers Please.

I had a night in London on Monday and stayed at fellow muso and wine fanatic Brian's house. The next morning we felt truly people of the world. He heading to the airport for a plane to Marrakech and me for a plane to Perpignan in France. Soon for me it will be Port-Au-Prince. What a thrill that is going to be. I can feel the butterfiles starting.

Out of jail, out on bail

2007-10-12T14:57:00.000-07:00

Gil Scott-Heron was one of my first musical heroes. Ironically this most ascerbic of commentators on American society has, in the last 20 years been far bigger in the UK than the US. Gil has been in jail for the last two years. He skipped a probation order to appear on stage with Alicia keys (a sure sign that Gil had 'lost' it). But Gil is now out, recording a new LP and has just done his first post jail gig in New York. he will be doing his customary 7 nights at the Jazz Cafe no doubt. And he is recording a new LP. So in honour of his release here are the lyrics to his greatest (and much copied moment) 'The Revolution Will not be Televised'.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat
hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back after a message
bbout a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.

ECM Records

2007-10-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

I am 'playing' tonight. And I am playing with ECM records output. And I am listening to Qaws by Anouar Brahem, Jan Garbarek and Shaukat Hussein and I am thinking it is one of the most remarkable pieces of music I have ever heard - Garbarek's blistering quasi-arabic sax solo near the end is one of his finest moments and Brahem flies. ECM records was the label that took innovatory jazz to a new level and made Scandanavia the leader in jazz progression from the 1970's. It has retained that position to this day. George Russell, the great band leader thought the Scandanavians second only to Africans in their innate sense of rhythm.

Anouar Brahem is a Tunisian Oud player who has yet to produce a track that is anything less than interesting. For those that don't know him his album 'Thimar' with Dave Holland and John Surman is a useful entry point. But his greatest is 'Khomsa'. One of my five best albums of all time. His latest 'Le Voyage De Sahar' is fabulous too.

The Rugby World Cup

2007-10-12T04:08:00.000-07:00

Rugby is proving itself. As are the French. And I believe we are witnessing one of the best sporting competitions ever held. There are two reasons for this. The first is the rise of the ‘smaller’ nations challenging and sometimes beating the ‘bigger’ ones. This has now made the sport ‘global’ rather than a manifestation of empire. We have crossed the bridge. The second is the amazing level of support. It is interesting to compare this world cup with the soccer one. In the early rounds of the soccer world cup you often get games played in almost empty stadia. But in the RWC even the minor games – USA v Tonga for example – have been attracting crowds of 30,000 plus. This would be unheard of in football. I was reminded of the 60,000 crowd who watched a world cup qualifier between Georgia and Russia a couple of years ago. The French deserve credit for their great support and I was thrilled for them that they reached the semi-final. I was at Lyon airport at 10.30 on Saturday night and was able to join hundreds of people huddled round two screens for the last 15 minutes of the match against NZ. A wonderful atmosphere.

And now, against all the odds, England are playing France in the semi-final. How did that happen?

The Life of a writer

2007-10-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

You know when you have been selected to take a more diffcult path in life when your books are translated into Korean, Arabic and Albanian and not Spanish, Chinese or any other language with huge commercial potential. I look forward to the £4.97 royalty cheque (6 month period ending October 2007).

With 3 books planned I have been writing synopses. Actually I lie. I have been trying to write synopses whilst listening to huge amounts of music. As I haven't given musical recommendations recently this is what is currently 'tickling' me according to my itunes playlist:

Dave Douglas - Freak In
Astor Piazzola played by Gidon Kremer
Promise of a Fisherman - Santana
Gilles Peterson in Africa (Fela Kuti tracks)
J Dilla - Donuts
Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See
Five Stairsteps - Behind Curtains
Harold Budd and Brian Eno - Ambient 2
Chico Hamilton with Eric Dolphy - Ellington Suite
Airto - Seeds on the Ground
Zbiegnew Preisner - Kieslowski film soundtrack music

And that was just today...

Bliss was it...

2007-10-10T06:00:00.001-07:00

...in that dawn to be alive.

I am going to see Pharaoh Sanders live at the Jazz Cafe.

And I cannot wait.

Feeling down

2007-10-09T04:27:00.000-07:00

Getting bad feedback from a client is not nice. And reminds me not to take work that doesn't interest me for the sake of the money. I am nearly at the point where I can choose my work. Perhaps now is the time to be hyper-ethical and take only that which 'tickles' me.

The lesson - don't try to deal with a subject like feedback skills in front of 100 hyper-analytical, introverted lawyers. I corpsed for the first time in five years. The last time was when I had 200 hundred housing workers for a day and I was asked to do a workshop on teambuilding. No-one told me they were going on strike the next day.

cosmorgasm

2007-10-09T04:22:00.000-07:00

I was at Vienna airport on Saturday evening and, browsing through the magazines I saw this on the front of Cosmopolitan:

'THE BLENDED ORGASM'

So deep. So strong. How you can have one tonight.

Now, I have tried a few things in my time, but I had never thought of reaching for the magimix as a means of satisfying a woman. Perhaps this is where I have been going wrong.