Daily Musings with JP Hummingbird

A dramatic day in the life of a common man with uncommon roots. A song from Neil Diamond and a few poems from Baisao. Inspiration from family and friends far and near, old and new. Be kind, rewind. fare thee well. 

Welcome back, after a brief hiatus, an enrgy crisis, Daily Musings returns with poetry from Caroline Bird & Philip Larkin & songs from Dylan, Marley & Bon Iver. There's also a visit from the family and some ramblings on recent read, 'Midnight in Sicily'. Enjoy. Be kind, rewind. Sharing is caring. Fare thee well one & all. 

Thoughts coalesce on a gloroius morning walk. Musings on: Parklife, morning routines, Euros, vendettas, death, the one-eyed monster, home-made pesto, the Queen's Parade, the peotry of birdlife and finishing on the Red Hand Files with Nick Cave's Skeleton Tree.  Be kind and fare thee well. 

The joys of the summer sun fun under friendly fire as life blooms in this long-forgotton Midland landscape. Songs from Dylan. Poetry from Larkin & TS Eliot. Ramblings of the Drunken Troubadour. Expect long pauses and disarray. Thank you for your patience, love & forgivness. And fear not something familiar and unexpected may arise around the very next corner. Be kind, rewind. Share don't st...

Summer parklife has begun: insane carp game at the lake; noisy birds and fish. Family fun: Pizza & sun. New segment: The Red Hand Files with Nick Cave. The finale of Laurie Lea's trilogy. A song: Mermaids. Be kind, rewind; pass it on & fare thee well. 

We touch on the Parklife of Middle England and it's Lakeside birdlife: the prehistoric Swan and the humble Moorhen. The thought train then careens off to North Africa and swoops over Spain, where Laurie Lea is spinning his herioc fable around the absurdity of war. Then we return home to muse upon generosity and cars. Be kind, share, rewind. Fare thee well. 

Today’s episode is an emotional roller coaster from the 90s halcyon days of Richard Ashcroft’s Northern Soul to Fela Cooti park life to the reincarnation of cricket life to our beloved shaman poet Walt Whitman’s descriptions of nature and… a pigeon live on the balcony. Enjoy, share, respond, be kind, rewind. #DailyMusingsPodcast 

Today we run into the rubik's cube of time as working life intersects with reading life. We touch bases with Laurie Lea who is now wandering around Spain with his fiddle and his well crafted obsevations, whilst being cooked by the Spanish sun. We then say hello to Simon Aritage through a few of his beautiful poems. Enjoy!

Back this week with new trains of thought, inspired by the great podcaster Theo Von. And back on the literary wagon: featuring the art vs life conflicts of Philip Larkin (the late, great Coventrian Poet) and the heroic wanderings of the Laurie Lea as he sets off on foot, with his violin and his Cotswold chops, towards Spain. 

There has been a lot of sauntering this week on foot and virtually: Encounters with barge folk, a church pastor, gargoyales and St. Peter (14:00). A plethora of house partys online(12:20). Music reimagined with Magnum Opus Radio (21:00). Poetry from Roberto Bolano (21:00), Thoughts on Nick Cave's new album, Carnage (24:00), a few thoughts on hope (30:00) and Hey That's No Way to Say Goodbye (35:00...

The experiment continues with a celebration of the unbridled joys of diving into literary rabbit holes. There's dawn walks with Nietzsche and Emerson; and far flung friends from the Flip Flopped Potterer in Gozo to the celebrated author/bluehouse librarian Luke Brown. There's playgrounds and parks and birdlife and the online world of connections and reconnections and newfound avenues to explore......

The train of thought experiment continues with the false starts of Spring; further thoughts on hope and the book/movie Papillon - is silence a superpower? There's some reflections on the glorious parklife of England and the contented poet saunterer - is this Baudelaire's vision of the Flâneur? And some brief reflections on money - Is money freedom? Towards the end Philip Larkin makes an appearance...

A leisurely meander through the early signs of spring whilst musing about the word 'hope', the author, Laurie Lea, the conundrum of wealth vs time and a few other tid-bits among the reeds and rushes.

There is coffee talk, talk of mothers, the Peot Shamen section, and the rise and fall of Crystal Mountain, as the Flying Snow Leopard finds its way home.

What do you do when there is nothing to do? Today we visit the snowy peaks of the Himalays and reflect the last week of furlough. Was it time well spent?

Today's episode reflects upon how we view the world: Do we have to create something to be creative? Orwell makes another appearance as he explores poverty through 'Down and Out in Paris & London'. Walt Whitman enters the fray alongside Norman Nicholson, who we are beginning to know quite well at this point.

This episode features the conclusion of Orwell's Homage to Catalunya. There is also an enlightening encounter with the Meme Hunter, T.V.M. And today's poem comes from South American literary great, Roberto Bolano. 

The rise and fall of everything. Have you ever dived head first into a crypto wormhole? Will Clubhouse take over the World? The joys of fallen fallow friendships that live forever. And, 'Listening to an Oxford Lecture Whilst Eating Soup'.  Fare thee well  @JPHummingbird

Is persistence the hallmark of a great artist? Can you hold on to your vision whilst the world fluctuates around you? Today's musings ramble across David Hockney's views on Van Gogh, Leonard Cohen's escape up the Zen mountain and Baisao's journey off that mountain back into the red dust of the world... enjoy.

Man with a Blue Scarf, Martin Gayford: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/sep/26/man-with-blue-scarf-lucian-freud-review https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25901505-norman-nicholson https://www.percykelly.co.uk/gallery/general/

Topics include: The artworks and lives of Van Gogh and Gaugain and more recently the Bristish portratist Lucian Freud. There is also a poem 'Vivekanada's 157th Birthday' that sparks memories of India and the lives we lead.