Wednesday, December 29, 2010

know your conjurer



To those of you who looked no farther than the sacrificial goat, you left the feast empty bellied; to those of you who asked no more from pablo's danseurs than a festive showing, you missed a merry treat.

Squatters on the Bleachers - and there are a few - will be aware by now of my fixation on the astral unravellings of one Daevid Allen; the dark archipelago where hippie collided with punk in those eruptions from Planet Gong. The liaison was fittingly brief. It culminated with a startled Dingbat Alien fleeing passing searchlights - luminous burning spearings - to seek refuge in the bush; it ended with Mark Perry's ATV hijacking a free bus in the Here and Now.

In much the same anarchic spirit, Dave Sez of Know Your Conjurer - aided and abetted by pinkpressthreat - wassailed the house to alert me to a Megapost on some very hard to unearth gems from the band first formed in Ladbroke Grove in 1974. Never once in print jams and unreconstituted vinyl rips. Soundboard Recordings. What began as one man's labour of love seems to have escalated into something more deeply collaborative.

From who ? Where ?

Know Your Conjurer. From Pablo to Bosch. * * e d o * *.

This unforseen doffing of the - conical - cap took far longer to orchestrate than anticipated. A two fingered jab at the keys, and my dashing off to shake a knitted monkey over the crib. Lest I forget, I would like to say a brief hello to baby Cal, too, who entered the world to share his birthday with Stacia of Hawkwind just three short evenings ago. Glad tidings.

Three weeks on the heels of my own impossibly small son; Milo, the Sagittarian. Registered, at last, today.

Know your conjurer.

13 comments:

Holly said...

Milo!

Wonderful name.

For me, forever associated with The Phantom Tollbooth ...

ib said...

I haven't come across it; The Phantom Tolbooth. Or seen it. But that is the nature of phantoms. I will have to hunt a copy down to read to him when he is just a little older.

said...

Milo no middle name B. It’s no Pablo Dillinger...but very kool. & weirdly synchronicitous. Unlike your choice of waiting until you met this new soul to learn his name, the Black Dahlia & I lucid dreamt names for his or hers. Ours turned out her, & we had picked for a girl LAO (square, triangle, circle...which we created) Elanya (a variation on my mother’s middle name Elaine [a family hand-me-down tradition name]). Had it been a son, we had dreamt Nilo Wilder...Nilo not unlike Milo.

I learned so much from my daughter that I am sure your life will increase by Leaps & Bounds (by Singers & Players, OnU Sound). For your wee bairn Milo I send especially “Alla La Dreadlocks Soldier”.

ib said...

Hey, brother Nathan. Happy New Year! To you, the Black Dahlia, and Lao.

A piper appeared down the street 15 minutes ago to usher in the sporadic partying. 30 minutes after the bells proper, but I hear he's a family man. Rosa and I walked out onto the veranda, bit we could not see him; it was not so cold out there but cold enough not to dally. Milo came to in his crib just a minute or so before the stroke of 12.

LAO (square, triangle, circle...) I did not get it before, the perfect symmetry, but I do now. Nilo Wilder; Pablo Dillinger... Milo. Neat.

The gift of song is appreciated. Milo, I gather, has roots in the Germanic - "peaceful" - and Latin "soldier". "Alla La Dreadlocks Soldier". Perfect.

Anonymous said...

Know your conjurer - well, good old Hieronymouse - great scene - reminds me of personal experiences with the very cool trick, when performed nice, known in Bulgarian as Tuka ima - Tuka njama (here it is - here it is not) - spent a fortune in Amsterdam one high strung midday some 25 years ago, trying to out smart clever street hustlers - well, I never made it - until years later, in Bulgaria, where this con was explained to me. The Bosch painting shows the trick performed with 2 boxes - that is serious magic - I mean, 50 % chance of finding the right box where the white object is being covered - that is just too easy!
Milo - that is a great name! - can't think of from where I know Milo, but I think I do. Even better! Of course there is Venus de Milo, and other ancient god like statues found on the Greek island Milos, stolen and proudly exhibited in Louvre and British Museum.
Great party tonight - on came the turkey - and roasted pig shoulder - plenty of good red wine and champagne) without a hint of lost class struggle - rockets, of course - all children behaving good - Satellite of Love - things looking UP!
All the best wishes for the new year to you all - especially to those young and tender - you will inherit the earth! Got to go, already breaking the first resolution about going to bed………… Just got to spin Chantells Children of Jah b4 the horizontal!
Still Anonymouse

ib said...

A feast, Still Anonymouse! You are organised. We discovered we had miscalculated with the New Years Day shopping, and ventured out at 8:20PM last night to the Chinese Takeaway to line our stomachs. It was more civilized than it sounds.

"Tuka ima - Tuka njama". I will remember that. I'm glad you raised the subject of the Bosch painting. I grabbed at it because it fitted the task so well. Two boxes, yes, but I don't know if the pickpocket on the left is working with the magician or merely an opportunist. The 16th century double whammy.

There was a kids tv show called the Tweenies. A character in it called Milo. My older son, who watched it a lot while still potty training, was aghast. It came nearly out the blue and quickly worked its way up the shortlist. My wife swears she mentioned it first months ago.

The Chantells. Nice choice on clearing the dance floor - or the plates - before the lights fade. Happy New Year to you all.

Löst Jimmy said...

Happy New Year ib, I am far afield in Latin America as appears to be my station at this time of year. Sharing the rays of sun with annoying ants and persistent ringing of a thousand church bells.
I want to wish you and yours the very best for 2011.
By the way thanks for the Motorhead - Motorhead track link on the 26th - a good a reason as any,

ib said...

Happy New Year, Löst Jimmy. I could happily live with the peal of church bells, not so sure about those ants. Or vice versa ? Either way, I don't believe you are missing much; the uniform grey day here after the Old Firm fixture. Hungover stoicism and broken resolutions, a tide of traffic creeping out west to B&Q.

Best wishes.

Löst Jimmy said...

They even screen the Old Firm game live on telly here, I resisted the urge to indulge, well it was 6.30am if that were excuse enough to turn away.
The ants have invaded the bedroom here, at least for now they have not evolved into bed climbing as they were adept in Cuba. I'll be back in Caledonia before I know it and there black scurrying bodies but a skin crawling memory.

Löst Jimmy said...

PS. Milo meet Enya (b.26/07/2010)

ib said...

Ay, caramba! Enya. Your's, Löst Jimmy ? How did I miss that ?!

I did not rouse myself to watch the game here either. I have had my fill of domestic footballing nonsense and all the pish which goes with it. Enough shrieks ringing out through the night, bed crawling ants or not.

Löst Jimmy said...

Mine yes indeed, for being so small they managage to fill the world like nothing else don't they!
Incredible!

ib said...

Well, belated congratulations, Löst Jimmy ! Virtual contemporaries, then.

For such small packages, their presence is huge indeed. Smiling or gurning. Brimming with wakefulness or - all too - briefly off to the land of nod.