It’s been quite a week in the world, hasn’t it? Being a ‘resting’ artist means having the luxury of time to just sit, lie or lounge and watch the world go by, and this week that world has seemed even crazier than ever. The unfolding tragic events in Mumbai and the ongoing actions of the factions in the mess that is the current Thailand political scene have had their effect on lives here in Sean Penn. J was more twidgety than usual during his visits this week - A has relatives who work in the area where the terrorist attacks occurred, so all had spent an anxious few days waiting for the good news that they were safe and well. J and family have also had to put back up plans in place for Xmas travel arrangements, as they are currently booked to fly back to the UK on Thai Air – things are still unresolved as I write this on Sunday morning, with violence between pro and anti government protestors erupting again in Bangkok and at the airport.

All is not entirely doom and gloom, however, as even in Buddhist Sean Penn, downtown is succumbing to the warm glow surrounding the upcoming celebrations around the birth of baby Jebus. The weather has, however, become noticeably cooler, approximating a warm summer’s day in Thurso (Northern Scotland’s Atomic Capital, and birthplace of Robert Dick (noted Botanist), and myself and J (noted nothingnists)) and has brought the unusual sight of the young and trendy of the city sporting fur-trimmed parkas (adorned with the usual baffling mix of cutesy-pie animals and incongruous slogans, such as ‘Lovesexy Micky (sic) Mouse’ , ‘Kiss Teenage Punk’, but thankfully not the very wonderful and straight ahead ‘Jesus F**k’ that adorned a T-Shirt sported by J’s dedicated and chaste housekeeper, a devout Mormon. A had to take her aside, stifle all guffaws and gently explain that in her case, the congruence of the ‘J’ word and the ‘F’ word were perhaps not entirely appropriate…) and the not so unusual sight of babies in knitted wooly hats and mittens. So far I haven’t spotted a Santa hat, but that can only be just around the metaphorical corner.

Whilst we are on the subject ,J’s visit yesterday had a bit of a Festive bent. He bounded upstairs and into my living area (not simply a room… a sea of the necessary detritus of living surrounds me and spills into neighbouring pockets and cupboards and shelves and cubbyholes…), tossed me a large bottle of chilled Angkor (‘My Country,My Beer’ – now there’s a no-nonsense no-frills advertising slogan) with deceptive underhand ease and proceeded to beam from ear to ear as he realised exactly what was thudding out from my well-worn Wharfedale’s…

“Little Feat! Yes!!”

There followed many minutes of reminiscing, which I will not bore you with now but will save up for later, around the 1970’s, hippies, Sandside bothy, salmon fishing, bass players (Jazzbo Riff, to be exact),drummers, Viewfirth Club and on and on and on…. This conversation was punctuated by much laughter and soundtracked by ‘Electrif Lycanthrope’ a bootleg of Little Feat live in 1973 which I had owned on vinyl back in those heady days, loved and played until the grooves bled white, and have just rediscovered lurking as a free download on the internet, mastered off the original tapes by the original engineer… oh joy!
However, this is simply digression. J was full of the joys of impending Christmas, particularly of the $20 fibre optic Xmas tree that A had bought on Friday from Pencils Super Dooper Norodom Store. Subsequent analysis has determined that the actual value (!) is closer to $50 (or more) but mass confusion at the tills (nothing new for Pencils) had led to a reduced price which was welcomed with open arms by A… she had, however, been more than a little concerned by the reaction of J, a confirmed member of the ‘Xmas? Bah Humbug!’ squad to the aforesaid purchase.

No need for any worry, however, as J had experienced such a crapola week at work that even the tears of an ant would have swung his miserable unforgiving heart around, so the sight of a gently fluctuating fibre optic Christmas tree actually sent him into paroxysms of the deepest joy. Not the expected reaction, but welcome nonetheless. The family JAO (to give them their acronymical due) are planning to visit the Xmas Fayre in the Intercontinental Hotel later today (Saturday), so I am expecting the following a) a sixpack (at least ) of beer and b) a blow by blow account of the terrors encountered by J… ‘there be monsters’ indeed…

In the meantime, I’m going to crank up my Eagle 15 watt amplifier, attempt another few home-made whisky sours and revel in the soul stew and rock and roll sauce of prime Little Feat… life is there to enjoy, so don’t worry, be happy!

I’ll write again soon

Ciao

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