Birthing Machines

I enjoyed the set by my favourite new band Wild Beasts at Reading / Leeds. You can watch it here without having to endure the jostle of the unwashed hordes.

Chapeltown Carnival, Leeds

(Pic by Adelle.)

Amazon reviews of RICHARD are beginning to appear.

Cruci-Fiction

Richard is discussed in the lead reader's letter in this week's NME. I tried to scan it but it turns out my scanner is not a scanner. It's a mere printer (I think).

(Does anyone remember The Severed Alliance debacle?)

Currently Reading

Auntie

The BBC on Richard.

In Haste

A Future In Noise has a very nice in-depth review of Richard up there at the moment. Thanks to them.

I finally watched the film Paris, Texas yesterday.

I also watched the V Festival on TV last night. If ever there was an argument for "indie" music being dead, then this is it. What happened to music having an edge? A potential for danger, mayhem, sex, violence? Sorry folks but the popular kids at school won. And they're wearing expensive sunglasses. If I never hear that human vuvuzela Florence And The Machine again it will still be too soon. She makes Evanescence (remember them?) look cutting edge.

I've been listening to: The Only Ones, Forest, Morrissey, Bad Religion, MGMT, Metallica, Fire Engines, Crass, Frankie And The Heartstrings, Jedward etc.

And I've been posting some thoughts / observations on Twitter.
My profile there is @benmyers1.

Advertisements For Myself

- I'm concerned that summer will end prematurely. It is currently running at 'mid-level concern.' I like autumn, but only when it arrives at the right time.

- I think the world of blogging has peaked and it is all down hill from here.

- This morning I talked to man who had recently chopped the end of his thumb off, but the doctors have done a remarkable job in sewing it back on.

- After that a woman watched me from her window watching Cliff, my dog, have a shit. I watched her watching me watching Cliff. Then I picked up the shit* and left.

- I'd like to replace all the catholic churches of Britain with mosques or maybe gay massage parlours. Or Nando's.

- I'm currently writing three books. One about sex, one about violence, one about watermelons.

- Richard is getting talked and written about quite a bit. It feels weird. Sometimes good-weird, sometimes bad-weird, sometimes just weird-weird.

- 16 years ago today I picked up my A-level results. I got a 'D' in English Literature, a 'D' in Classical Studies and an 'N' (for nearly, I think) in Economics. Afterwards I went and sat on some steps by the River Wear with my head in hands and my hands in my pockets. But, hey, look at me now: broke and still wearing the same clothes, and with worse taste in music.

- The major difference between 1994 and 2010 is: I still got into university. They used to let anyone in.

- There are currently two waxwork replicas of Peter Andre on this planet. Three, if you count Pandre himself.

- I'm currently listening to 90 Day Men, a great band who no-one remembers.

- I wrote and then mailed a postcard to the world. From Wales.

- The English Defence League, a sort of informal support group for men with small penises and / or genetic disfigurements, are planning to march near me in Bradford this month. They're not racist though because their Facebook page says so.

- The last text message I sent read: "I like Jethro Tull." That's not entirely true. I only really like one album by them, but couldn't be bothered to type "I like Aqualung by Jethro Tull."

- I'm unsure as to what I should I cook Adelle and myself for tea.

(* with a bag.)

Currently Reading

104,551 words

'About A Thousand Apples'

At the weekend I picked about a
thousand sour apples from an
orchard that was being squatted
by every flying insect in England.

A competition winner, an interview.

The winner of last week's competition is Joanne Nightingale. Congratulations Joanne.

Please e-mail me your mail address (ben_myers@btinternet.com) and an advance copy of Richard shall be with you post-haste. Maybe sooner....

I've also been interviewed about the book by the good people at a website called Cult Of Richey.com.

Yesterday I spent five hours moving chopped logs from one place to another by hand. This was in North Yorkshire. Today I ache.

And I've just spilled a full cup of coffee across my already-messy desk. It's at this point that I should write something like 'breakfast fail', but I'm not that predictable, or American.

Best wishes.

Currently Reading

"No other book has so comprehensively and passionately drawn together the disparate threads of Britain's inidiginous - and often snobbishly-dismissed - music as Rob Young. Electric Eden captures all the pastoral innocence, naiviete and buccolic eccentricity of this island's fertile folk scene, from Vaughan Williams through Nick Drake to The Wicker Man and Julian Cope, stopping at various leafy lanes along the way. It's not only a valuable historical document for future generations, but an inspiring read." ~ Me

An NME piece, a Guardian piece.

Hello friends.

If you happen to be buying NME today, I've written a guest column about my book, headed 'Why I've made fiction out of Richey Manic'.

I've also written an article about literary readings - or rather, certain writer's aversion to reading in public - for The Guardian.

All of this actually makes me look a lot busier than I am, when in fact I've already had two walks and a trip to the Co-Op today, and it is still only 2.07pm.

Win a copy of 'Richard'

It's competition time.

If you'd like to be in with a chance of winning a limited, uncorrected advance/proof copy of Richard complete with typing errors and very pink cover simply name a famous Richard below.

Eg. 'Richard Dawkins'.

The winner will be selected by Cliff, a small dog, and then notified or announced here. The competition closes Monday August 16th at whatever time I get up.

At the moment this is at the unprecedented time of about 6.45am.

Thanks. Good luck.

Most Played

People have been asking me what I've been listening to of late, so for anyone who cares, here is a selection of some today's 'most played' tunes on my small white disposable, over-priced, limited-shelf-life fetishised piece of must-have lifestyle technology. I don't neccessarily like all these bands , but I do like the songs. I would describe this list as 'painfully indie', and have refrained from adding songs that will make me look cooler. In no particular order:

Lil Wayne - 'A Milli'
Vampire Weekend - 'A-Punk'
British Sea Power - 'A Trip Out'
Can - 'All Gates Open'
Pete And The Pirates - 'Mr. Understanding'
Teardrop Explodes - 'Sleeping Gas'
Zero Boys - 'Cilivisation's Dying'
The King Blues - 'Let's Hang The Landlord'
Dead Kids - 'Into The Fire'
Foals - 'Cassius'
Thistletown - 'Oak And Ash'
The Libertines - 'Sally Brown (demo)'
The Dead 60s - 'Riot Radio'
British Sea Power - 'Remember Me (2001 single version)'

Currently Reading

'Richard' in NME

NME have done a news story on Richard. Thanks NME.

"The book is set against the backdrop of a Tory-run Britain in the 1980s and early 1990s," Myers explained. "During those final pre-Britpop years before alternative music turned into something else..."

Urgent Notice

I've got really good at throwing recently.
Please get in touch if you need any throwing doing.

I'm also listening to lots of Jedward,
reading about Modernism,
eating hard dough bread.

Holiday

We went to North Wales.

Wales was wet, Wales was good, Wales was mystical and mysterious and full of nice cheese and scones and castles. We climbed some mountains and sat in a hot-tub beneath the stars (who says writing doesn't pay?) and visited places such as Dolwyddelan, Harlech, Porthmadog, Borth-y-Gest and Blaenau Ffestiniog, where I experienced a strange sense of deja vu.

It turned out I had been there when I was 2 years old so it wasn't anything as inexplicable deja vu at all - it was 'recognition'.

We got lost quite a few times, and ended up stumbling through woodlands and brambles and marshes. Which, I'm sure you'll agree, is much more fun than sitting on a beach in the sun drinking cocktails.

(the rarely seen Pointed Tit)

Currently Reading

 "Quite good - if you like Philip Roth."

"Funny, poignant, sad, suprising."

Currently Listening

 
 "Folk songs and 1950s BBC field recordings about railwaymen"

"Under-rated mid-West youth-punk from the early 80s."