Surpass the Impossible and Kick off with Momentum!

Sorry for there being no post last week - Craig said he was going to do one and then didn't. Boo Craig :(

Anyway, I just started re-watching Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagan, and made myself a motivational poster:
I love Kamina's ridiculous self-belief (and the way its basically just a series of constantly escalating battles, ending with one where they fight the universe itself - because once you've beaten up a planet, where else can you go?). I also love how the buildings all have faces - imagine a city where all the buildings were anthropomorphised, each with it's own personality, and choosing where to live was more like choosing a pet(?) than weighing up the location, amenities etc. That's something Calvino never considered (I think?).

One day I intend to write a book (or a film, or a game, or something...) that mythologises Glasgow - the city coming to life as an enormous sentient creature; buildings growing limbs and consuming their occupants; feral children racing along the tenement rooftops, more fox than child; red Clydeside roaring back to (un)life, the ghosts of all the workers betrayed by Churchill, Thatcher (etc.) streaming onto the streets to reclaim their city. And it would have to be set in winter, when the sun hangs so low and casts that incredible yellow-gold light across the city. The point is, you walk in New York or London, even Edinburgh, and you're walking through all sorts of myths and stories - these are places that get used in films, books, music all the time. But to my mind, Glasgow only really has a few such stories (No Mean City, maybe Lanark, the sickly sweet stories in Belle and Sebastian songs...), despite its incredible potential. That's what the council should be spending its money on - a mythology - not the commonwealth games, or all those horrifically ugly buildings down by the river.

So, um, took a bit of a detour there. What I meant to write about was what we did on Wednesday. Which was:
A butternut squash, tofu and pea curry. Also;
Where's My Cake?
As usual for the first sketch of a song of ours, it's very sketchy. I don't like the sound of Craig's buzzy guitar in the second part, or the way my bassline and his buzzy part there are so repetitive. I also think we've used that initial chord as our initial chord in quite a few songs now. Time for a new chord!

Click to see the curry recipe:
More...

• 1/2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1tbsp thai red curry paste
• 250g butternut squash
• 225ml vegetable stock
• 200g coconut milk (can)
• 3 kaffir lime leaves, bruised
• 100g frozen peas
• 150g firm tofu, diced
• 1tbsp soy sauce
• juice of 1/2 a lime
• finely chopped red chilli to garnish

1. Heat the oil in a wok, add the curry paste and stir-fry over a low heat for 1 minute.
2. Add the squash, stir-fry until coated with the oil/curry paste.
3. Add the stock, coconut milk and lime leaves. Bring to the boil, and simmer gently for 15 mins until the squash is cooked.
4. Add the peas, tofu, soy sauce and lime juice, simmer for 5 mins until the peas are cooked.
5. Serve in bowls, garnish with the chilli.

Finally, the best game I've played all month: