The Rik Files

Rik · at 8:48 pm

I forgot just how good this video is.

Should I be embarrassed to admit that I can still remember all the words to the song?

No. I have no shame.

Rik · at 2:50 pm

To celebrate the end of this year's (brown and musty) 70s fashion revival, one of my favourite songs from that (otherwise dismal) decade:

Pussycat. Mississippi. Enjoy!

(I can't wait to find out what next year's fashion colour is going to be. Please, no more tan, no more brown, and no more men wearing sandals and socks!)

Rik · at 11:45 am

Getting a book published is a battle. Allies must be sought in the form of an agent. Publishing castles will need to be beseiged until they capitulate. The hearts and minds of a kingdom of readers must be won - and encouraged to buy the book, of course (I won't ask for the full tithe).

But before the campaign begins - a rousing song:

Ooh-rah ooh-rah ooh-rah-ay ee-ay!

Rik · at 10:45 am

This I love:

I wish I was creative like that ...

Rik · at 11:29 am

That's the driving test that I failed, not a general failure or breakdown. Thankfully the driving examiner had nerves of steel and didn't break down during any of the three poor errors of judgement I made during the test, though he did blanch when I pulled out of the junction into the path of the big red bus.

In other news, I am on that Twitter thingy, apparently as @KaliedaRik; someone convinced me that it was a good tool for keeping up with the latest info on publishing stuff and, as I move serenely through the redrafting of my first novel and start researching agents and other scary beasties, I need all the information I can lay my hands on. Clues on what I should tweet about would be welcome.

Changing the subject: Lily Allen - dontcha love her! Unbelievably, I've only just found out about her - I have no clue about modern music, living instead in a chrysalis of 60s70s80s radio stations. Today I'm in a perky mood, requiring a perky song, I think:

Rik · at 4:02 pm

Well, the driving test dress rehearsal went better than expected ... fingers crossed and breaking legs and stuff for the opening show.

I need to take my mind off all things cars'n'roads: The Gypsy Kings should do the trick ...

Rik · at 8:31 pm

... because I'm in that sort of mood. This is one of my all-time favourite songs, and I feel no shame in admitting that fact:

Rik · at 7:44 pm

... courtesy of Matt Bianco:

And just a bit more, as I'm in that sort of mood:

Rik · at 7:47 pm

... after videotaping your neighbour's funeral on the specific request of the grieving widow, and then editing it all down onto a DVD for her, all in the course of 6 hours, is to listen to a bit of Matt Bianco:

And no, I'm not going to upload the funeral tape onto YouTube. That's just too wierd - even for me!

Rik · at 5:38 pm

I've no idea, though it would be nice to have a bit of colour to go with the grey skies.

What I do know is that I've been cigarette-free for 136 hours now, which deserves a bit of a celebration, yes?

Say hello to the Bluebells:

Rik · at 9:04 pm

Can you see a theme emerging here? Can you sense a touch of word-avoidance in the air?

There's other versions of this song I prefer, but the Specials video is one I remember from my kiddie years, so the Specials version is what you get:

Rudy? Who Rudy, huh?

Rik · at 8:45 pm

... with a bit of you can get it if you really want ...

Rik · at 8:35 pm

... courtesy of the Ramones

Rik · at 10:43 am

Another video to get me in the mood for writing. This Robbie Robertson classic is much more "in the mood" for my book, given that the story is set in a city in the jungles of an alien world, where the only passage in or out is by boat along the great, muddy, windingy, Taete River.

Plague's a-comin' ...

[snipped]

Edit: I've had to snip this because the version I linked to has been removed from YouTube. Which means if you want to watch it you have to visit the YouTube website for the "official" Universal Music Group video - the bastards. Yes, I know, performance rights and copyright violations and all that stuff, but then if I ever finish writing my book, get it sold and stuff, I'm only going to earn money from selling new copies of the books - I'll be getting fuck all royalties from the second hand book trade, savvy?

Rik · at 10:06 am

For those embarking on the perils of NaNoWriMo, a little inspiration from Hayzee Fantayzee:

Rik · at 7:06 pm

The more I stare at this video, the more I come to realise that it's not my voice I hate. I can live with hearing recordings of my voice. No, what I really don't like is the way my mouth moves when I'm talking. I mean, I can get my nose fixed through the miracles of modern surgery. But that mouth is just plain evil.

I'm not convinced adding video is such a good idea. I've recorded 4 of the buggers. I think I could just upload them to youtube then connect them up to my website and ignore the whole thing. I mean, I don't have to watch myself reading poetry - only the strange people who get a kick out of watching people read poetry need to suffer that.

I've recoded my website pages to show video alongside the poems (for those poems with video) - here's the link to the Judgement poem. Uploading the video to youtube.com takes ages - they convvert the video into shockwave format at their end, so even if I wanted to I doubt I'd be able to video more than half a dozen poems each weekend.

Fuck! I wish I could act.

Rik · at 12:43 pm

I've no idea how long this video [edit: now removed] will remain on YouTube. I have no idea whether Ms Anderson, or whoever owns the copyright, has agreed to it being posted to YouTube. So I'll just link to the video rather than embed it in my blog.

It is, without doubt, the wierdest record to ever become a top 5 bestseller in the UK. I loved it at the time, and still love it now. If only more good poets could hurdle the mainstream popularity barriers - without losing their vision and integrity - like Laurie Anderson.

Rik · at 8:30 pm

Rather than scare the horses with a video of me committing poetry, I thought I'd start with a shortish video involving fluffy little squirrels.

You have been warned ...