GlassEngine

I was thinking that this blog is like having the back off my mind (as I was saying about the Peggy Salinger book). Not all of it of course. The fact that this is instantly public acts as a sort of filter but depending on what any particular blog is about, it should really be free and un-restrained. I know that some of the entries in other blogs are completely off the wall and there is no real chance of understanding any more than the basic idea behind them. However, I think blogging should be like poetry in that you can recognise a great poem even if you do not really understand it all. Something about The Passionate Eye has also seeped into my mind. I get an almost overwhelming feeling of the complexity of the world and the thoughts of all that you could record in a medium such as this. It's like the fast bit in Koyaanisqatsi. The track called The Grid which backs the speeded up film of US Cities in the film. It suggests that there is too much going on, too much to take in and no time to experience all that the fast pace of living suggests you should take in which after all is what Koyaanisqatsi is all about.

The track which precedes The Grid on the album is called Pruit Igoe which refers to the Pruitt Igoe building in St. Louis, Missouri. (The spelling is different on the album) which was a famous failure as public Housing and was deservedly blown up in 1972. The architect - Minoru Yamasaki was also the architect for the World Trade Centre though he didn't live to see that one of his buildings destroyed. I like buildings, I like bridges (my dad designed them for the local authority) but I am not sure about the need for them all the time. There is no consistency in building code at least in this country. London has the worst mish-mash of skyline you could imagine. All of the classic buildings have been over-shadowed by characterless concrete facades which have been put up with no thought for their surroundings. Building upwards has been discredited as proved by the number of tower-blocks brought down in this city over the last few years. The last one was on a quiet sunny Sunday morning a few months ago which was filmed for yet another morbid and almost pornographic examination of why the WTC collapsed. I SAW THE WTC COLLAPSE ON THE DAY AND THERE IS NO WAY I WILL FORGET IT SO STOP SHOWING IT.

I have had to stop and listen to the Hildegard von Bingen album to calm down. I mentioned a few days ago that I couldn't remember the exact track. Well, the album is A Feather on the Breath of God and the track is Columba aspexit. I can't find the exact album so you will have to do your own searching for the track as I have chilled out and just for the moment I don't really care about anything. Any religion at this location is seemingly related to football. The Quarterback is toast, not God and he plays for either the Ordinals or the Cardinals or maybe he is a footballer rather than a baseball player. Anyway, I bet he has never heard of Marmite. Michael Stipe has I am sure.

A Crab Canon of sorts

I love Marmite. I always have. It seems to fit with the idea of complexity in the world because of the interesting way it is produced. We used to drive along the road by all the breweries in Burton on Trent where the Brewer's waste for Marmite used to come from. Now it comes from all over the country and because this waste is so variable, Marmite is blended and they have a panel of employees who decide on the proportions in the blends. I heard one of these blenders saying how, although he tastes Marmite all day for a living, he still eats it at home for his own enjoyment. This fits with the view that you either love Marmite or hate it. I Love marmite.

If you put a spoonful of Marmite on a plate and pat it with the flat of the spoon, it will eventually go white because it oxidises. Sadly I know this to be true because I have tried it and not in a school chemistry lesson either. Proof is at hand courtesy of John Peel. And here is the h2g2 entry for Marmite and its antipodean cousin Vegemite.

Marmite is great.