Journal

On this morning’s park walk with Rudy, he had an anxious bark at a passing dog. I was caught in the crossfire and got a wee bite to the leg. Now, a while back that would have been unremarkable – he’s had long-term lead anxiety which appears aggressive and has given me some cuts and bruises. But, we’ve worked hard on it and he’s been doing brilliantly, so it was a surprise and a disappointment.

But since my initial reaction, I’ve come to realise a couple of things and wanted to reflect on them here so that I can understand them and progress.

Firstly, a word on how it felt. The small bite itself ain’t much fun but I think what’s sorer is that I love that wee guy and put a lot into him and it feels like a harsh return. I also feel disappointed in myself for allowing it to happen. Okay, it feels good to have noted that!

On reflection I think I can be a bit less hard on both of us. While I’m really confident these behaviours will continue to become rarer, they’ll occasionally happen… and that’s okay. I’m happy that me and my dog-pal are both doing our best!

With that said, I have some good ideas about why this particular one happened and how to improve things.

Recently I’ve been particularly vigilant when Rudy passes the first other dog on the walk. And I’d been sure to give him a small pre-emptive lead and vocal correction when he shows too much interest. Importantly that’s before it has a chance to develop further. This comes from the training we did and has been working really well. It also serves a dual-purpose by setting the tone for the rest of the walk. I realise I had forgotten to pay particular attention on that first doggy drive-by and now know I can fix things by incorporating it again.

I also realise I was distracted – a work issue was preying on my mind. Slightly different territory here, but the lesson is for me to literally say aloud “I’m annoyed at this thing and I realise I’ve let it frustrate me and hog my concentration even outside of work. That’s pointless and I’m gonna let it go.”. I did that today and immediately felt better and more relaxed. Not only will that help with my concentration, I’m also pretty sure that “calm Laurence” is gonna promote “calm Rudy”.

The last realisation is that during his best behaviour he’s been sleeping elsewhere but last night I gave in to the puppy-dog eyes and let him sleep on our bed. Time to stop that one. It’s not just that i get a better sleep minus the furry hot water bottle. Importantly, when he sleeps and relaxes on his own (in his own space) it’s better for his all-round confidence and behaviour.

It was helpful to reflect on that. I’ve been enjoying a lot of blissful, peaceful walks with the wee guy recently and long may they continue.

I’ve reached the halfway point of short summer working weeks and long weekends, and they’ve been great so far. I began this long weekend with lunch at the Broadcroft Hotel in Kirkintilloch for my parents’ emerald anniversary. My Uncle Liam was there too and we all really enjoyed it.

I had panko breaded Stornoway black pudding with apricot & plum chutney to start, followed by fish pie, then a coffee to finish. In the words of Larry David it was all pretty, pretty good. It’s also pretty, pretty impressive that my folks have been married fifty-five years. My mum was delighted to find a specific Emerald Anniversary card to give Dad, which contained some amusing words about their steadfast love!

Saturday was even more of a food-fest. After a blissful long walk at Pollok Park with Rudy where we spotted a baby highland cow, I met Clair for breakfast at Outlier. The food was nice (I had scrambled eggs on toast with trout) although there was a reassuringly long wait for it. (To be fair, they were mobbed when I arrived). Have to also mention: their cakes are banging!

Later, I visited Martin and Izzie where Paul and Rita were visiting with their lovely twin baby boys Liam and Jack. The hosts treated us to some french delights – saucisson, cheese, brioche, lentils, lovely bread – and the assembled friends enjoyed a good natter about life, work and travels.

Kiro Tempura have returned to our area as a popup and later on Saturday night Clair and I paid a visit. We had a tempura set of hake, mackerel, prawn, sweet potato, pumpkin, greenbeans and sweetcorn and it was delicious. Hope it goes well for those guys – the food was ace and the service friendly.

Lovely time catching up with my niece Amy for lunch at The Old Mill in Killearn on Friday. We chatted about her trips abroad, her ongoing love affair with Taylor Swift and about family.

I squeezed in more family time on Sunday when Dad visited while Mum was meeting cousins at Bellahouston Park. We had a good laugh watching Rudy and our neighbour’s dog Coco (who was visiting) roll around, while got ready to head off for a work trip to Wimbledon.

Today could be summarised as “a good walk followed by a good craic”.

Mark and I (along with Jura) made the short trip to The Whangie where we enjoyed a hike and a blether. On our return to Glasgow we met Clair and Gillian at the Rum Shack and gulped down some jerk fish and chips and other carribean-themed delights from their menu, plus a couple of pints. A good Saturday.

I’ve just finished reading Bicycle Diaries City, by David Byrne. It’s a log of Byrne’s observations and insights as he pedals through major cities of the world including Istanbul, London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, San Francisco and Manilla.

It was an enjoyable read that ambled along pleasantly throughout but got much better in the final chapters as he describes his efforts to effect change and his thoughts about how things could be.

Hung out with Jason and Lydia, Aldo and Anna today at Sloan’s bar in town. It was a good day – I hadn’t seen the former two for a while and know they’ve had a rough time of late due to a death in the family. They were in good spirits and we enjoyed tasty but well-priced food and drinks. I had Venison Stew, having loved it so much on that recent excursion to Wild Kabn.

Meanwhile I was delighted to hear that Aldo and Anna had bumped into our friends Doug and Zoe while on holiday in Ibiza recently and had all hung out together.

We spent a happy hour or two shooting the breeze. At the end, I went on with Jason and Lydia to Ryan’s Bar in the southside. That’s my third time there; it’s a cool wee spot with a good drinks selection. I was pretty envious of Jason’s margarita.

I had a fantastic time in London last weekend.

When my pal Mark visited Glasgow in May for The Queen’s Park Weekender he asked if I’d like to join him on his Soulsaver boat party in July – maybe even to play some records. Since I hadn’t visited him down south for a while I gratefully accepted and put it in the calendar.

Thursday

I left on Thursday morning having bought a cheaper train ticket using Avanti Superfare. That night, after a stroll through a buzzing Chinatown I met Rob, Kirsty, Johnnie and Kate for dinner at Machiya. We had a great little meal. My highlights were the Nasu Dengaku (miso-glazed aubergine), Broccoli Itame, Pork Katsudon Donburi and the lovely low-alc Hitachino Ginger Lager.

After dinner we went to the ICA (Institute for Contemporary Arts) to check 10 Years of Wisdom Teeth which featured live acts from Surgeon’s Girl, Tristan Arp and Facta & K-LONE. Surgeon’s Girl’s infectious on-stage energy and heady analogue sounds were hitting the spot and it was a shame she was on first and we only caught the last five or so minutes of her short set. And in general we reckoned the music might have flowed a little better if the sequence of acts were reversed. Still, nice venue, nice gig and I also enjoyed their Sunshine Kölsch lager. Afterwards, we walked together for a bit, then when Jonnie and Kate caught the tube at Leicester Square I powered on home. I love walking around cities.

Friday

With a free schedule, my plan was a blissful day of walking, soaking up summer vibes and popping into various record and clothes shops. I’d head southeast from my hotel’s location at Russell Square to Spittalfields then make a beeline north to Stoke Newington via Hoxton and Dalston.

I started by heading along Clerkenwell Rd. I took a turn at Old Street onto Goswell Rd pass by The Barbican Centre. The surrounding residential area really is a concrete jungle to get lost in. It’s kinda otherwordly! I enjoyed that detour and am now keen to go to a gig there.

Next, I headed to The Breakfast Club, Spitalfields. I enjoyed some turkish eggs and a nice americano while reading about an unfolding global IT collapse.. From there it was on to some shops in and around the Spitalfields Market – Goodhood, YMC and the like. It’s cool around there!

Fuelled up and ready to go, I started walking through Shoreditch. Clair had recommended I eat at Smoking Goat and although it was bad timing to pass by as I was full, I peered in the window, saw it looked cool inside and that with dishes like Masaman Smoked Short Rib on the menu, I should come back next time. I kept walking up Kingsland Road, stopping in at Sneakersnstuff then to grab a coffee at Moko Made, a lovely little Japanese café.

By now I had reached one of my planned stops – Love Vinyl in Dalston. I’ve been before and it’s a crate-digger’s dream. This time round I dug out and listened to a whole bunch of different reggae, house and disco. I also really enjoyed the sounds in the shop as they play-tested a new second-hand collection. Jean-Luc Ponty’s Computer Incantations for World Peace sounded particularly nice through their Bozak AR-4 and Void speakers rig as the afternoon sun shone through the windows. In the end I picked up some vintage New Jersey house from Larry Rauson and Cassio, a Janet Davis UK Lover’s Rock 12″ and Unique’s What I got is what you need (which had been on my wants list for aeons – likely since I realised it’s the sample source for 808 State’s Ancodia).

I stopped in for a lovely spot of lunch at Bread and Butter farmhouse cafe before another walk taking me to Next Door records. Tom recently told me about this place, mentioning that the good folks at Signal Sounds will be presenting something there soon, so I thought I’d pay a visit. I enjoyed browsing their second-hand records and cooling down with their home-made lemonade but before long I had to escape the strangely banging-for-4pm in-store DJ set (I’m old).

Since I was near Kate’s Stoke Newington flat, this was an another good opportunity to meet Johnnie and Kate and they recommended The Axe. We had a cool, covered outdoor table to enjoy a great chat and their impressive selection of beers on draft (including Edinburgh’s Vault City).

Saturday

I started the day at the Sandwich Street Kitchen, whose meditteranean breakfast is banging. From there, it was time for a walk to Soho where I visited Maharishi before a spot more record shopping at Phonica, where I picked up a lovely new Terre Thaemlitz 12″. From there I headed to King’s Cross and Coal Drops Yard.

It was a lively Saturday afternoon round there. Folks were watching The Wizard of Oz on a big screen while kids were playing in a nearby fountain. The shops and market stalls were buzzing. There were lots of cool food stalls which I would have loved to try but they were mobbed and I was short of time. So after grabbing some stall merch for Clair I headed into Spiritland for a coffee, sandwich and to hear some stellar music played on a beautiful soundsystem. Phillis Hyman’s Living inside your love really hit the spot.

My final fling was Mark’s Soulsaver boat party, leaving from Blackfriar’s Pier. It was great fun! The boat was pretty ballin’. I playing a short warm-up set, mostly on the boogie tip but sneaking in the just-acquired Janet Davis reggae tune first. The other DJs, Guy and Mark, had loads more heavy artillery than me so after the first hour they took over and I enjoyed the view of the Thames and London landmarks from out on deck.

It was a real shame that our mutual friend Andy, who was also due to travel down from Glasgow and DJ, couldn’t make it due to the sudden death of his sister. We missed Andy and our thoughts were definitely with him.

When we reached dry land around 11pm there was the option of an after-party but I’d been keeping it pretty sensible throughout the trip and enjoying decent sleeps so I continued in the same vein before my trip home in the morning. I was pretty proud of managing to control my natural FOMO!

Lastly…

Here’s a guide map I made during the trip.

Today I made good use of a Friday off work. After spending the morning attending to a few bits and bobs while listening to some lovely music I then met Gillian for lunch at a mutual favourite The Old Fruit Shop. We had a great chat then enjoyed a stoat around nearby Linn Park. It was sunny enough that were folks swimming beside the waterfall. We had to watch our step to avoid a swarm of teeny-tiny baby frogs (thanks to the lady who pointed them out!).

Later that night Clair and I visited Pho in Glasgow which was pretty good! To start we shared summer rolls and a Vietnamese chicken and prawn pancake – both delicious – then I had king prawn pho which was also lovely. They had a nice line in non-alcoholic drinks too. Clair had a nojito and I had an alcohol-free negroni, then we followed up with coconut and pineapple water.

We ended the day back at home with Rudy watching the opening ceremony of the Paris olympics while eating an empire biscuit.

A good Friday.

He was a prince.

Alejandro Innaruto’s description of Ryuichi Sakamoto puts it perfectly.

This BBC Sunday feature offers a fascinating insight into an amazing man. I loved it!

It starts with how 1952, the year of Sakamoto’s birth, was an important year in Japan’s post-war transition. It explores his influences including Debussy, his exceptional talent for melody combined with a taste for experimentalism, and how with YMO he satirised anti-Japanese prejudice. It covers his anti-nuclear stance, and how he is a huge icon in Japan where they see him holistically for everything he represented.

Most of all I just marvel at his music – it perfectly captures my taste (and I realise after this documentary that I still have so much of his to explore, which is a happy thought). I loved the parts where the commentators gush at the beauty of his Last Emperor soundtrack (“every note is like paradise”) and when Alejandro Innaruto relates his experience of first hearing the opening two notes of his soundtrack for The Revenant.

For James’s 40th, Clair bought him the gift of some vouchers for the “wild cooking” and dining experience at Wild Kabn Kitchen, Ardkinglas Estate, Cairndow near Loch Fyne. The idea was that we two, James and Grant would go but with Grant looking after a recovering Toby, Toad stepped in.

I didn’t know much about Wild Kabn in advance and wasn’t prepared for how off the beaten track it was! From Glasgow you head out beyond the Rest and be Thankful and Arrochar toward Loch Fyne but toward the end of the journey you’re driving along the world’s narrowest wee track and beating your way through tree branches, which all adds to the excitement.

We were having the Sunday lunch by fire and, since it was a beautiful afternoon, we sat outside the greenhouse, right in the middle of the woodlands and with mountains in the background. We were at a trestle table beside two other couples and enjoyed chatting.

All three courses were fantastic but the venison was stunning.

Afterwards we had a lovely walk around the estate and onto the beach at the loch.