Today was a mixture of sorting out, seshes, and lyric writing. So I spoke to Arctic Lake Tony at 11AM and then went back to bed, I’d only managed 5 hours sleep and in fact, the same thing is going to happen tomorrow when I speak to Tim who is also in Sydney – at 10AM! I got up for the Spurs vs Chelsea game (0-0) – they kinda cancelled each other out. After that, I set about breaking down the amps in the studio live room and storing them properly in preparation for our Portugal trip. They’re heavy, but I managed to arrange them without damage to myself, the walls or the amps. I actually have a photo on Olivia’s computer of how the amps are stored because with little space they have to be placed in a certain way in a certain order and this is the best system – you forget. Although something may be a little weird as we have both stubbed our toes on the JC120.

We have a lot of Handwritten & Illustrated Lyrics to finish before we leave – Luscious Ghost, You Whisper, You Bring Your Love To Me, Turn Away To The Stars, Melody Of The Rain,…Olivia does these great illustrations, she has endless talents. I once saw her walk across a tightrope between the Empire State Building and The Chrysler Building whilst riding a bicycle upside down and juggling live sharks and she did it at such a speed that she managed to get the sharks into water tanks that she had also balanced at each end of the rope before they died.

Thanks to everybody that has been supporting the Indiegogo MOAT Poison Stream campaign, we are at 70% with 6 days to go. 75% is the goal that we would like to achieve in these tricky times. Of course exceeding the goal would be most helpful as the expenses pile up, just the postage and the journeys to Mozambique, Bohemia, and the arctic to find artefacts for the Mystery Boxes have been pricey. The prints were made and sent from Mars and the album will be manufactured on Jupiter. Supermodels and janitors were asking for T-shirts so they had to be made in 200 different sizes. The mastering was done inside the Tardis and production and studio costs were from worlds where the imagination is expensive. Making a record can take your breath away if you’re trying to do it really, really properly.

The MOAT – Poison Stream Campaign

I ate leftovers and Olivia snacked and we had half an eye on Arsenal vs Wolves (1-2). There was a bad head injury for Jimenez and we hope he will be ok. But did you see the Formula 1 crash where Romain Grosjean’s car broke in half and burst into flames and then he rose from the flames alive, unbelievable. I still wonder why sport is legal and marijuana isn’t.

This from the net:

Portugal decriminalised the personal possession of all drugs in 2001. This means that, while it is no longer a criminal offence to possess drugs for personal use, it is still an administrative violation, punishable by penalties such as fines or community service.

The right direction which they are now trying in Portland with marijuana legal in a lot of US States and all of Canada. Have a look at this page as to where Open Carry (the act of publicly carrying a firearm on one’s person in plain sight) is legal, as well as other state gun laws.

You can see the states where marijuana is legal and will be legal in the US here, look at the years it became law and consider how many were imprisoned in the past.

What’s my point? It’s quite obvious and I do know what I think is more threatening especially coming from a country where the police don’t have guns. Then there’s alcohol and the prescription medicines, hm humans, we’re at it again.

Music today has been Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, I’m not sure why, I just wanted to hear Father Of Day, Father Of Night (Dylan song) from Solar Fire (1973) and it just went on from there. That wonderful eerie beginning into the splash and then the organ and then the band comes in with that lilting Pink Floyd drum beat. Sung by Mick Rogers who also played guitar and was the lead singer on the previous three albums and the two albums post Solar Fire but somehow managed to leave before the band had a No. 1 US hit with Blinded By The Light sung by Chris Thompson.

On this album, Colin Pattenden played bass and Chris Slade played drums. Slade would later join AC/DC for a spell but was also in The Firm with Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgers, played with Gary Numan on I, Assassin and many more. Well-known session singers Irene and Doreen Chanter sang on the album. The band’s namesake Manfred Mann had been in the successful sixties Pop band that also bore his name and this was a major change of direction as the seventies arrived. In between with Manfred Mann’s Chapter Three he made two more jazzy albums. You can see how the band was popular in the seventies, the style fit perfectly. He seems like an unlikely character to be so successful despite the talent, you just never know where lady luck will smile.

Song Of The Daze