Tim the Guitarist

YouTube video by Sit Down Zumock Michael Mcdonald SCTV

Always makes me think of the Rick Moranis sketch...

Quote from Dwight D. Eisenhower, who, prior to his presidency, had been the U.S. Supreme Commander during WWII.

So he probably knew what he was talking about more than most (he also coined the term 'military industrial complex' and warned against what has - seemingly inevitably - happened since).

YouTube video by skinny pimp radio Stephen Smith, Pete Seeger & DJ Spooky - The Bell (Paranoia Network Remix(

This feels as relevant now as it did 20-odd years ago...

The 'Board of Peace' looks more like Spectre every day.

I genuinely believe most people are inherently decent, and can see Farage for what he really is (even if they can't see the shadowy funders behind him).

There's a very small group of people who love the dog-whistle rasicm, but their loudness masks just how much of a minority they really are.

Table showing Gorton and Denton by-election result Columns indicate: Candidates gaining more than 1% of the vote, Party, Candidate, Vote share & Change since 2024 Green Hannah Spencer 41% ▲+28% Reform UK Matt Goodwin 29% ▲+15% Labour Angeliki Stogia 26% -25% Conservative Charlotte Cadden 2% -6% Lib Dem Jackie Pearcey 2% -2% Turnout: 47.5% (BBC)

Crickey it's not even that close.

If Reform win today's #Byelection - Lab will pivot even further right.

Lab win - they feel justified in having moved rightwards.

Greens win - Labour blame it on losing a share of their vote TO Reform & continue moving right.

Either way, they'll miss the truth... They need to return to the left.

Q: How would you improve the music industry? A: Burn it to the ground and start again. I would fire everybody in every major record label, every streaming [platform], every major company in the industry. I would get rid of everybody at the top. Let's start again and make practices ethical for the artists making the music.

Kate Nash in the current Amnesty Magazine. 🔥

Wowee that's impressive.

The river Thames at Richmond (London) with small moored boats in the foreground. Blue skies with small white clouds overhead and the buildings on either bank of the river can be seen to the sides.

The Royal Opera & Ballet building in London. On the right is a column-fronted stone theatre, and to the left (more prominent in the picture) is a more complex glass frontage.

A black door with intricately carved concave stonework (a supraporte?) above, and with a small black iron railing above that. Some of the surrounding buildings & shop frontage can be seen to the sides.

View from The Millennium Footbridge over the River Thames, looking east (downriver) to Southwark Bridge aim bridge in view). Parts of London Bridge and Tower Bridge can be seen behind this first bridge. On either side of the picture are a mixture of buildings, old and new. Prominent features include two redbrick towers on the left and a crane in the distance on the right.

Last batch from #London (until next time).

Vibe, people & food all brilliant. Weather was... mixed, to say the least, but what do you expect from an English winter?

Further proof that those claiming London 'has fallen' are lying (or haven't been & were lied to).

#photography #musician #travel

In case it wasn't clear, I've been in #London (meeting friends and having two work-related meetings about exciting future projects).

And yes, I am bloody well going to post about it because I don't get down here as often as I'd like nowadays.

Covent Garden tube station, with its brick facade painted a glossy red, with tourists and commuters outside.

Russell Square tube station, also with its brick facade painted a (slightly darker) red, with commuters outside and the raid in the foreground. A bare tree can be seen on the left side of the picture, across the road from (but leaning slightly towards) the station.

I'm a big fan of the painted red brick station buildings in central London. They seem to hark back to their Victorian origins...

#LondonUnderground #tube #London #photogrphy

The road leading to St Paul's Cathedral (pictured right); Old buildings lining the left of the picture with a road in the foreground.

A three-dimensional abstract art exhibition in the Tate Modern; various black squares suspended from the ceiling with a blue line running through them. There is also a blue line running along the gallery wall, leading to shifting perspectives depending on the position of the viewer in the room.

St Paul's Cathedral with The Millennium Footbridge in the foreground (with lots of tourists wearing warm coats and hats). The weather is overcast and grey.

Signage detail painted onto the red brickwork of a corner café. Blue skies above.

More random London shots...

#London #February #art #architecture #travel

Wouldn't this be a lovely thing to happen here in the UK?

The north side of St Paul's Cathedral; camera angled up towards the dome & bell tower.

Columns & stairs at the main (west) entrance to St Paul's Cathedral in London. Cloudy skies above and some of the buildings of Ludgate Hill in the background, on the right (same light coloured stone as the Cathedral).

Been Londoning. Here's some generic tourist shots of St Paul's Cathedral.

'half-truths' are more insidious because there's an element of truth involved (although it's often trace amounts).

BBC #r4today currently repeating & amplifying Jim Radcliffe's xenophobic remarks and Nick Robinson is using it as an excuse to interview Nigel Farage.

Cue the dog-whistles & half-truths...

Agreed. I often play it at covers gigs and it always goes down well.

Got my green rocker back after what feels like ages away with my guitar repair guy (for reasons which, to be fair, were beyond his control).

But it's not green anymore.

It has new pickups (under the gold foil covers) and has had the Bigsby removed.

It's also teal now.

#guitar #guitarist #repairs

The 'current vibe' sounds like neo-feudalism, which is exactly what the tech bros and 1% have been working towards for years.

Remember, it didn't start with gas chambers. It started with politicians dividing the people with "us vs them". It started with intolerance and hate speech and when people stopped caring, became desensitized and turned a blind eye.

Now, more than ever, it's important to remember what can happen if we allow our humanity to be diluted by indifference.

This sentiment applies everywhere & to all the peoples of our shared Earth.

#HolocaustMemorialDay

A big slice of chocolate cake & a small coffee cup (a double espresso) on a black tabletop.

Today's coping mechanism #coffee

The most basic advice for humanity is to live in such a way that, after you're gone, people celebrate your life, rather than your death.

If a government truly believed it was in the right, surely they wouldn't need to lie about the actions of their armed forces?

If you're living somewhere outside the USA, one thing you can do is pressure your leaders to boycott World Cup and Olympic events here.

That's a beauty 😍🎸🎶

I went to the one at Castleford years ago. The one time I made it to the bottom (without completely stacking it) I almost ran over a full line of children 😱

I only ever got *slightly* better.

If the media had any sort of backbone (or the regulators any teeth) they would refuse to repeat the announcements & PR of any politician / influential individual unless they submit their arguments to thorough examination (instead of endless airtime unhindered by fact-checking).

I think it would be quite nice for me to be able to wake up in the morning and think about my plans for the day, and more broadly about my own little life, instead of immediately having to ponder the overnight actions of The Guy Over There

Ha! Snap!