Jazzy D's Soul Notes

Well folks, i arrived back in Whitstable this morning just after nine and when i arrived at the said charity shop in absentia they had already sold the Dr.Who box set. The woman who was there yesterday whom i incidentally gave the wrong bag ws not here this morning , and i think t was the manager, and i was furious - i laid it into her metaphorically speaking. I noticed the bag in the back room and asked her to have a look for the box set but to no avail, she gave me the empty bag and ny receipt for the purchase of the box set was still in there - okay i only paid £2.60 as the rest of the seven quid was done in an exchange.

I went to the Canterbury lost property department at the bus station but nobody had given in the tin of pipe tobacco so that is another three quid down the drain too! I bought some loose stuff later in Faversham to compensate - my fave coconut flavour tobacco.

In Canterbury i did two visits , an outdoor clothing store pretending to look for a rucksack and a pharmacy visit about hay fever remedies.

I found the following CD's for a quid each on a charity shop whilst walking around Canterbury.



You could call this ambient jazz.




Another cool jazz album



Plus this classical collection of songs and arias.


Best weather yet. Rellay nice and warm and i spent a good hour and a half in Faversham sunbathing at my favourite spot before going home. Now listening to that Jon Hassell CD.

Sunday i took the bus over to Miadstone for a visit to a Pret outlet and picked up a cheap paperback from HMV. The book is "Revolutions In The Head, The Beatles Records And The Sixties" by Ian MacDonald  for 99 pence.



Afterwards i caught the bus to Chatham and Rochester and ended up getting some quality pipe tobacco from the Wine Emporium.



In all it was a good day.

This morning I went to the Office and then over to the island for a meeting.

On the way took the Sony music player and listened to some cool jazz, such as the soundtrack to "Blow Up" featuring Herbie Hancock.. Great jazz never dies.

Wednesday morning I caught the train to Sittingbourne to do a Pumpkin visit, and then, rather at stopping at Faversham took the train to Whitstable to catch a bus going to Canterbury, as both exits at Faversham were manned.

In Canterbury I did a Jessops visit. I then went to the newsagent opposite another Wetherspoons pub and got this pipe  shag at last -




“Elementary my dear Watson”

Afterwards I caught a bus to Hythe to do a charity shop visit. Bought two CD’s and two books for a fiver. One of the CD’s was by Razorlight and I thought that my cousin might like that one. The other CD is by Talk Talk , “Natural History, The Very Best Of Talk Talk” (Parlophone).

The two books are -
Edmund White - The Farewell Symphony (Vintage)
James Hawes - White Powder, Green Light” (Vintage)




I then had a meal at the County Hotel in Ashford, a Wetherspoons pub. Tried their new Mexican Burger dish washed down by a pint of Cotleigh Buzzard Ale. (4.5 % ABV). I was going to do a Cineworld visit but that can wait till a Saturday.

Wednesday evening , against my better judgement, I had a few beers with Phil up the Dover Castle Inn. Cousin had been drinking heavily most of the day, and started whistling to the annoyance of Fran. He was quite drunk. After three pints I bid my farewell to Phil. I said to him that I needed to be up early to get the 7.30am bus to Maidstone as I was going to Brighton for the day. I don’t know what time Spot crawled back home.

Thursday morning I was up just after 6 am and got ready for the big day out. I caught the bus on time and via the usual Tunbridge Wells route was in Brighton for midday.

First port of call was the refurbished Waterstones. They had changed the entrance and the first floor with two exits now, the standard one in North Street and a second one in West Street. Upstairs on the fourth floor looked the same to me.

I bought three books and used my five pound voucher from the email the company sent me. Spent £20 on books with a total retail value of £31.

They are -

Barry Miles - London Calling, A Countercultural History of London Since 1945 (Atlantic Books)
Neil McGregor - A History Of The World in 100 Objects (Penguin)
Slavoj Zizek - First As Tragedy, Then As Farce (Verso)




I then popped into the Evening Star pub. Matt was behind the bar. Alice (aka Sharpie Bongo) was there too, but on the other side of the bar having a drink and said she was supposed to be on holiday today. (A familiar story I heard from another landlord, eh Phil?)



I had a pint of a beer from the East London brewery Brodies. Their White IPA, (7.2 % ABV) a dark straw coloured ale of immense heaviness in gravity but light on the tongue. I then had another decent half of it in the same glass.




It had turned 3pm so I walked through the North Laines to Sandpiper Books to peruse their back room of one pound cheapies. Found another interesting book from there -

Leonard Garment - Crazy Rhythm, From Brooklyn and Jazz to Nixon’s White House, Watergate and Beyond (Da Capo Press)




I then caught the bus to Tunbridge Wells for another Wetherspoons visit, the wonderfully named Opera House. Had a chicken jalfrezi curry washed down with a pint of the coriander flavoured Thornbridge Jaipur Ale (5.9 % ABV).

After that delicious meal, I walked down to the station to catch a train to Tonbridge for another Pumpkin visit. Then rather catch the bus to Maidstone I decided to continue on by train to Sevenoaks, change there for the Swanley one and then from Swanley back to Teynham via Rochester. Arrived back at 8.30 pm.

A long but very enjoyable day.

A trip to Rochester this afternoon after a stint in Sittingbourne earlier. Cousin went shopping this morning and we were on the same bus to the town.

After a couple of drinks at The Summoner I caught the train to Rochester to visit a Cancer Research chazzer. Bought a DVD and a book from them and some LP's a and a CD from an indoor market.



Then some more pipe shag form the Wine Emporium, some Irish Oak flavour.



The LP's are -

Peaches & Herb “So Hot!” (Polydor)
Stan Getz “Greatest Hits” (Verve)
Syreeta “Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta” (Motown)

only 50 pence a pop.

The CD's are -

Missy Elloitt “This Is Not A Test” (Elektra)
Aphex Twin “Come To Daddy Mini Album (Warp)

and the book -

Tim Lott “The Scent Of Dried Roses” (Penguin)

Big shout to my cousin in his ff tweets today , specifiably referring to me as a musicologist , philosopher and fanatically reader. Right on, man!

The weekend is the end of my current auction on Ebay. Hope I sell some stuff well.

Today I took a bus to Faversham as I really needed the fresh air and away from the stifling atmosphere of a boring village. The sun was out and it was quite a warm morning and a lot brighter than it has been recently.

I arrived in Faversham , a mere five miles away , but a return bus journey costing £5 makes Arriva buses more expensive than any route radiating from Brighton. Also after seven in the evening there are no buses.

I first went to Boots to get some more shaving gel, but actually , I decided to visit this salubrious town to look for a seller of flavoured pipe tobacco. The first two shops I had no joy but on my third attempt at another outlet I discovered the only shop (so the counter assistant told me) that sold pipe tobacco in the whole town. They only had two flavours available, cherry , and my favourite, vanilla and cherry combination. I bought 25 0z.

I then looked around the charity shops and a couple of second-hand bookshops. The charity shops had little to tickle my fancy but the second second-hand bookshop , Past Sentence, had a good variety of books. I gravitated to the philosophy and history sections and bought a copy of Rousseau’s “Social Contract” (Penguin) for two pounds.

I had a pint of Red Late before I left ,and then walked with a happy gait smoking my briar pipe full of quality shag, I felt like being part of a club that included (until recently) Stephen Fry, Albert Einstein, Sir Conan Doyle, and Marcel Duchamp, plus fictional characters like Sherlock Holmes - all pipe smokers dear Watson.

Thursday I will be back in Brighton for a few days. I have the 2011 Dark Star Tasting Notes on my person and they are brewing some new seasonal and monthly ales which I want to try.

Last Wednesday I was in Sittingbourne again as I wanted to pop into the local 99p Stores to pick up some Heel Balm and vitamins. I popped into the Summoner for a pint of beer I had from the Nelson Brewery a foaming glass of Nelsons Blood (6.0 % ABV) and it was only £1.70 a pint. The brewery is based in Chatham. The beer is really lovely, and fulsome. I ended up having a second pint of this dark brew.