Commonword Blogs

One of my main projects this year and next is creating a new show with our spoken word/hip hop theatre collective, Pen-ultimate, which comprises myself, Martin Stannage (aka Visceral), Ali Gadema (aka Frisko Dan), Niven Ganner and Samira Arhin-Accquah (aka Lucid).

The working title of the show is A Night On the Tiles, and is based around a high-stakes underground Scrabble game played by a group of gangsters and word wizards. Think of the poker scene at the beginning of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, but with racks and tiles instead of cards and chips. 

I've been back from Nepal for three days and already the memories, along with my tan, are starting to fade. But fortunately, one of the best things about being away was that I kept a regular diary. This is a habit I only seem to observe when I'm in a foreign country, as if my daily experiences at home aren't worth as much as the ones I have when I'm away.

I'm writing this from an internet cafe in Kathamandu's bustling Thamel district, an area bursting with guest houses, bars and shops selling all manner of trinkets and climbing equipment to the backpackers who come here to organise their treks in the mountains.

Another frenetic couple of weeks have passed since I last posted, that have left me without the time or inclination to write anything much beyond a few dull emails. I tell myself that this is because I've had so much on; trips to London to celebrate my sister's birthday and help my girlfriend move house, meetings, gigs, friend's shows to see; but I know these are excuses and if I was into my writing I would have stolen back some precious moments for my work and myself.

So here, as promised, is my second blog post of the week, to make up for my block-plagued absence of the last month.

Something I may grow to love about blogs is their, for me at least, instantaneity. I started writing a post yesterday, which I didn't have time to finish, and after looking back on it I now have to begin again because I feel differently today.

I finally got round to uploading my 'Bullets' poem on myspace, still very much a work in progress, with music by Matt from Atomic Hooligan. Let me know what you think.

At the end of my last post I mentioned an Apples & Snakes project I'd recently got involved with, which has resulted in the first finished piece of writing I've accomplished in months, so it's probably worth a mention. 

A few months ago a guy called Martin approached me about doing some spoken word/MCing for a new band he was forming. Provisionally titled Juggernaut due to the sheer number of musicians - about 15, including strings, brass, guitars, drums, bass and twiddly laptop/keyboard things - the band play a rich mix of jazz, funk, and hip hop with the odd Jewish folk or 50s surf influence thrown in for good measure. And it sounded cool so I said yes.

Well, I knew it was at least a couple of weeks since I'd last (and first) posted on this blog, but said post is dated 2nd of July! Surely it's not been over a month since I wrote something here? No, fortunately it's just a technical glitch, which I don't know how to rectify, making me look slacker than I am. As if I need any help. But yes, it has been a few weeks since I wrote, well, anything really.