Late nights, late days, but Olivia was out picking up boxes in the light from a lady in the Buy Nothing Porto FB group, a community of people who give away things they don’t need anymore. As I was about to leave she returned with boxes of all shapes and sizes. We didn’t stay home long, I had to take my computer keyboard to the local shop to fix it as I have a Q problem (don’t we all). It and some other keys are sticking, I have a spare Portuguese keyboard with English letters that cover it, not ideal but it works temporarily while the other one is being rescued. From there to the phone shop to get a receipt for yesterday and then down to Cash Converters to look for the things we will no longer have when we move, a cooker, or at least a hob, a microwave, a TV, an air fryer, cutlery. We are always starting again.

We are still waiting for a contract for this new potential place, I won’t talk too much about it till it’s real. But what is definitely real is the fact that we have to be out of the present flat in 19 days. It’s unnerving, we are looking around the place remembering which things are ours and which things are theirs. It’s furnished so if we move to somewhere unfurnished we need a bed, haha, don’t forget the bed. We need a fridge and we need the internet, we went to inquire about that today. No more washing machine, no more dishwasher, conveniences that you get used to. Of course in storage in England we have some of these things, a sofa, a kitchen table but that’s all part of the Archive move, Phase 3. Phase 1, get out of Penzance to storage (check), Phase 2, find premises and renovate them so they can accommodate The Archive, Phase 3, move The Archive to Porto without import duties, Phase 4, the glorious unpacking and set up stage. Phase 5, open to the public as a cultural, musical place of interest, presuming someone out there will be interested in such an endeavour. How far away is that last stage as we approach a potential Phase 2?

Apparently, it was 18°C/65°F here today and although it gets cooler at night, it was still warm enough to wander the streets without the heavy coats and clothing we needed in America. Not that the Portuguese see it that way, people are wearing gloves and scarves, wrapped up, coats buttoned up, jackets zipped, for me, it’s warm, for them, it’s cold. Your perception is formed by your surroundings – on many levels.

We went to the coffee shop where I dropped off a mug I’d bought in NYC for Alex who works there, as per his request. The city psychedelic psupermarket had its usual long line but it moved quickly and we were soon running up that hill towards home. Can I call it home anymore? Inside, I started working on the setup to sing a missing verse from an Arktik Lake song, but I lost the level on Logic Pro and had to wait till I spoke to Andreas who is mixing the record to ask him which button didn’t I press. Or, which button shouldn’t I have pressed? We have been working on the Arktik Lake mixes for hours every other night but we are getting close to being done, so we can send them to Tony and the lads in Sydney for their ears’ perusal.

Music today has been the classic Tom Verlaine masterpiece, Television‘s Marquee Moon (1977). Thanks, Tom for all the amazing music, the inspired guitar playing, thanks for asking me to play on one of your records and teaching me how to play Friction, thanks for the books, the jams and the company. RIP, see you there.

Music Of The Daze