Friday 16th of March, 2001
Bleary this morning. After breakfast I dig out a mini-amplifier and play some chord-melody type stuff. Am beginning to worry about the angle that the guitar is at, the consequent angle I'm holding my guitar, and the effect on my shoulder.
Outside, the scaffolding that has been up against the wall since early January starts to come down. I have no idea whether or not they have done anything. They did a lot of exciteable scraping and banging for the first couple of days but nothing since. Just before I left for Sassoferrato it appeared that they had taken it into their heads to leave up the ladder that gave access to the scaffolding after they went home. This was an excellent idea in an area like this - with its wide variety of students, drunks, wayward youths and other people who welcome the exciting opportunities that free access to people's living-room windows affords. Apparantly a call to the landlord (mentioning that the situation would have to be brought to the attention of the Proper Authorities, whoever they might be) and they took the ladder down again fairly sharpish. Presumeably they were unwilling to fall under the Proper Authorities' gaze. Haven't seen anything of them since, until today.
While it was up (and while people were on it) there was a constant paranoid sense that I might look up and see someone peering in. That will be gone, at least. Hopefully, when they take the scaffolding away, the wall won't fall into the street.
And more sunlight, perhaps, in the coming springtime.
Lunch
Nap
Begin work on an epic track big orchestral string arrangement, tympani and a synth arpeggio that lays over the top. Although it's just the kind of thing that usually gets played under a voiceover on a travelogue, I find the mechanics ofputting such a thing together entralling - so enthralling that I forget the time and rely on cheese and biscuits for dinner.
Lisa B.calls - long chat about music, life, work and how to get pages saved as epses to print to an inkjet printer successfully. During the call I realise that I don't have to practise/perform with the Moog Poet tomorrow. Some relief.
Go back to the Epic track with Comic Relief with the sound down in the background.
Celebrity Big Brother - Jack Dee wins. It looks like he might have been the most entertaining thing on it. Probably a bit of a shock to be officially designated the most popular man in Britain. Or at least a bit of a shock for Jack Dee.