RHYTHMS OF THE WORLD FESTIVAL 2008 IS ON...

Well ain't that good news ?

Yes, it's back... Hitchin's very own 'RHYTHMS OF THE WORLD' Festival is on...
So book a weekend in your diaries.

JULY 12th and 13th 2008 is the date and Hitchin (I mean come on... where else would it be ?) is the location... and what is more it's not even spitting distance from the town centre...
So... here we go again... The Arcadeclectic Stage is being booked from this moment on.

DID'JA MISS ME ? 'COS I'M BACK...

Here we are again, back safely on the old site after taking a couple of months out to do some other things...

One of the things I get accused of quite regularly is being confrontational, contentious, or just plain '...ist' (You can fill in your own frontpiece for the
...ist) misogyn, rasc, fasc, or the odd '...obic' which is the other usual diatribe from some of the more humourless P.C. brigade about some of the things I do live on stage, so I have started posting the odd poem and critiques of others on another site where I will happily explain those of mine on site. Hopefully not in the detail I had to go into regarding one particular item that garnered me two death threats from the local branch of the I.R.A supporters club when I originally performed it, but if you take a look you'll get the drift.

The beauty of this particular site is that it caters to writers of all types of things so I can post some scurrilous re-writes of popular songs that people like to hear done live, along with the odd poem or two and any other form of writing I care to do and most of the time I get some intelligent feedback... (which makes a nice change...)

Because everything is done on a four to one ratio, ie. I publish one and then I have to review four from other people everything is kept to a reasonable perspective and it seems to work reasonably well, so here is the link that gets you in to the site...

http://morewriting.co.uk/ Just punch it into your search engine and click 'go'.

When you actually get in you can browse all the works in there including some of mine but should you wish to post criticism or praise then you will have to become a member.
Unlike some who keep their names hidden I publish under Chris Ripple so I'm quite easy to find, so if you get in and want my stuff then find something I've written and click on my name.

Here are a few that are in there...

Poems. Picnic On A Rainy Day.
Hearts Of Darkness.
Armageddon there... But Slowly...
To Erin The Side Of Peace.
The Monster Kids.
The Office Christmas Party.
The Crown Vs Christmas. F.
The Perfect Express Hut Pizza.
In Praise Of Thoughtful Drunkeness.

Songs. Frostie The Snowman.
Anarchy In The Tory Part-ee.
Golden (Gordon) Brown.
Stevenage Woman (Redneck Woman).

Anyway, that's what I've been up to since Christmas apart from taking a well earned holiday in which I went to visit my ex-work colleague who lives in Africa, the facts of which amazed even old cynical me, so watch this space and when I manage to get it all down I'll post it up with some pic's somewhere between this site, More Writing and the Myspace.
Bearing in mind it was supposed to be a holiday, I attended political meetings and rallies, helped dig out an open sewer, picked up litter, paid off corrupt policemen and nearly got arrested when flying back into Gatwick as a heroin smuggler... (It was baobaob (Monkey bread) which is an African fruit that you pound to a powdery flour and then use as a cooking ingredient... it tastes sort of sweet and sour at the same time... and bearing in mind how many Africans are in the U.K. it seems suprising that H.M. Customs and Excise have never heard of it...)
All good fun playing with 'The System' nevertheless...

There are loads more photo's in myspace so click on the link if you want to take a look.

The Sunday 2nd December gig...

Well, here we are again... Safe and sound after doing my bit for culture.
Seeing it was The Astronauts 30th Anniversary gig, Mr Astronaut packed the gig with the usual suspects from the past and the now, starting with just Rico from the Astronauts... just as a little taster of what was coming, and then it was the turn of Mark's current outfit...
The Otters opened up their bit of the proceedings in their usual Psychedelic Punk Folk Rock way and proceeded to get a little momentum going for three numbers. This band is so good and so different that they deserve to succeed big time, but will they get an opportunity ?
Your guess is as good as mine. Suffice it to say that Dennis is a phenominal drummer for his age, and Dom' plays a nifty lead guitar. Joe, the bass player on the other hand, keeps thinking about leaving the band. It would be a shame if he decided to do so but I'm sure Mark will carry on with them. They're too damn good to waste.
The Otters were followed by Steve Lake who used to be in Zoundz alongside Joseph Porta (now currently propping up the drumming chair in Blyth Power). Steve played acoustic guitar and his quirkily humorous cynicism hopefully won him a few more converts. He was followed by a solo set from Alan Clayson of Clayson and the Argonauts fame. Alan decided that since he was playing solo he'd play a load of old 1960's cover versions including Johnny Remember Me... Personally I think he'd have been better off doing his own stuff but then what do I know ?
Jon and Jo from Lika Sharpe followed Alan but without their bass player as his Mum had just passed away and he was therefore unavailable but even without they managed to keep people's interest. I like this lot. That having been said I've known Jon on and off since Chron Gen days and his stuff is always worth a looksee. Shame that Jo was going down with a cold and was losing her voice but she coped until the end when she managed to turn into Kermit's sister and just croak a soft 'thanks' to the audience.
Then it was yours truly's turn...
Last week when Mark had originally mentioned that he'd like me to introduce The Astronauts with one of my poems I couldn't really see the sense in it. Oh yeah, I was up for doing it but I didn't really know how I'd fit in ?
Leave it to Mark Astronaut to see the whole thing in his frame of vision.
The poem he wanted was 'Flashback, Big Business & Fastbuck' which is about as autobiographical as I have ever got and which actually talks about a time which predates The Astronauts by about five years which leaves it safely mired in the 'Hippie' ethic of which I am a dinosaur or relic whichever you will.
Doesn't matter though, it worked perfectly as an intro' and when Rico hit those first few chords over the ending I could see what Mark meant...
and The Astronauts were superb.
My mate Grant Meaby who took all the shots of me while I was up on stage, reckoned that on a good day The Astronauts could take on anyone in the world musically and show them how it's done...
Not a lot I can say about that apart from agreeing with him because this was definitely a good day.
Great gig, and a worthy 30th Anniversary for Welwyn Garden City's finest.
There are a few pictures on the blog and the rest are stuck away in the Chris Ripple myspace pics.

Ripple rocks on...strangely... again.

So, here we are again and blowing my own trumpet, but I had a blast as usual...
Joy T. opened up the proceedings as compere and did a nice little opening set
and she was followed by the 'Rock band' of the night, Letchworth's Hot Wet Dogs.
Bearing in mind the age of this bunch who are just about to start their GCSE's they do make a very nice noise. Even Bob Mardon and Mark Astronaut are quite impressed by them so I'm glad to have given them another go, as I did book them for 'Rhythms' this year and they impressed then,also. Definitely a good band.
Then it's me... A bit of relevant old stuff and a few newies of which the re-do of The Stranglers 'Gordon (golden) Brown' is probably the highlight until I managed to blot the old copybook with a bit of Sam Cooke's 'Twisting (Fisting) the night away'.
Whoops ! Ok, it is overtly sexual but it was past 9 o'clock so no apologies, and besides I did offer the crowd a choice but they all wanted a 'new' one...
To finish we had the guys from Welwyn Garden City, Noble Drowning Heroes.
I really like what they do but they are very experimental in their outlook and 'tunes' are not what they are into. I find them quite challenging and they will definitely not be everyone's cup of tea but they are mine...
I had a good night. What more can anyone ask ?

Saturday gigs and Sunday gigs...

Here's a couple of dates for your diary...

Brian Robert Neal is giving a reading at Royston Public Library on the afternoon of Saturday 29th September
and
Chris Ripple is playing Hitchin's Club 85 on the evening of Sunday 30th September as part of the 'Ripple rocks on...Strangely' gigs, along with Hot Wet Dogs and Noble Drowning Heroes. £3.00 entry and please, please, please bring I.D. if you are old enough to drink but don't look it. The bar shuts at 10.30pm but the music can go on until 11pm. Running order is as follows...
Your Compere is Joy T. Chance and she will open proceedings followed by Hot Wet Dogs, Chris Ripple and Noble Drowning Heroes.
At this time I would like to extend my thanks to the local rag for not mentioning a gig I'm performing in... again... It's a regular occurrence so check the gig guide in the 'Comet' because that's the only place it'll be mentioned... If I ever get famous they can kiss my black cat's arse before I talk to them... So watch this space !

Parnassus' own Brian Robert Neal on Stevenage Boro' F.C's win at Wembley...

One of the great things about Parnassus Performance is the effort and energy that the members put into their live performances... This is one of the items that Brian performed live at Stevenage Leisure Centre for Stevenage Arts Festival in June of this year after he'd gone to Wembley to see Stevenage Boro' F.C. win the final of football's F.A. Trophy cup, becoming the first football team to win a cup competition on the new hallowed turf which is a record that all of Stevenage should be proud of... even if they are not football fans, and... It was a damn fine game too, being exciting to watch and just as importantly, it was played in a sporting manner... which is more than can be said for some of the teams of overpaid prima-donnas who usually 'perform' at this particular venue.

Owing to the death of the C.D. drive we cannot currently download any live events and so in all its pride and glory... Here is Brian's football monologue in full.

It was taken from issue no. 16 of http://www.myspace.com/thebroadhallway... The Stevenage Boro' fanzine who were the first to print it in full, and when the C.D. drive is replaced and vista accepts some of the cleanup software without rejecting them out of hand, you should be able to download a complete live version from this site... And while we are on the subject...

If you go down Brighton way

Any home game Saturday...

You'll find a bloke by the name of Attilla The Stockbroker (a poet of some reknown in the circles we move in) doing all the match links at the game and throwing off the odd scurrilous rhyme for Brighton fans with some abandon... Now other teams have official poets too... So... ????

You can tell where this is going, can't you ?

How about it Stevenage Boro' ?

Come on... Join the real world and have a little fun and I promise not to mention all those bottles and glasses that the mindless fuckwits who spill out of the Executive suite and Broadhall suite

throw straight over the hedge into Roebuck Woods... (seven champagne bottles after Wembley... and the rest...) Any chance somebody could have a word with the offenders and ask them to cease and desist ? It is not just anti-social, it's bloody dangerous too...

Maybe I should write a poem... ?

Anyway... Enjoy Brian's poem... Note for any opposition fans... The bold type bits are for singing and chanting.

Me ? I know nothing about football... I'm a Man. City supporter.

Parnassus Performance Re-Issue Department...

Well... It seems to have taken forever but we've finally got our backsides in gear and done what (at least seventy people) have asked for. All the old cassette releases have been cleaned up by going back to the original two track masters and digitalising the tracks and we are finally making them available again to the cognoscenti of that sort of thing, but with as many extra tracks as we can find in the archives added.
They are all being re-issued by our own Peasant Poetry label in no particular order, so if you had a favourite from way back in the nineties then this is the place to come.

The first re-issue is in glorious lo-fi mono anyway because that is how it was recorded and that is...

EIGHT GO MAD... IN EDINBURGH.

Those of you who already had the cassette version will know that the edit of the gig ran for ninety minutes but the cd doesn't. Unfortunately, cd's are not quite as long as ninety minute cassettes and so the editor's scissors had to come into play for a little judicious cutting... Only fifteen minutes, but it had to be done and hopefully without ruining the flow of the event.

While I'm on the subject, those of you who are awaiting the 'Kocaine' album re-issue of 'What Attitude Problem ?' will have to wait a little longer as the four track master of one track has gone missing and when it finally turns up Andy has kindly said he'll re-mix the album totally to get rid of all the compression we used, and so, until I find the master...

Unless otherwise notified all Peasant Poetry Backtrack issues will be available for £3.00 each when available, and so far there are no plans to make them available for download although this might change in the future.

Certain other items will however be available, so keep watching this space for details...

Issue No. 2 will be Grant Meaby's 'From A Fragile Landscape.' Details of which will be posted as soon as...