SO SAID THE SAP: January 2018

Monday 29 January 2018

NOTHING BUT THE MOON

In a while I plan to have completed another small lyric video This one will be for the song My Love is Velvet which has been newly arranged by Wild Biscuit Music www.wildbiscuit.com

The song may also appear on Bandcamp although the decision to use only an image of a Tiree moon as photographed by Alan Millar of https://lifeontiree.wordpress.com might be a problem With no text the image might disappear too much (as it does here) into the black of the Bandcamp page The decision not to add any text had much appeal this morning - that may change

Taken from one of Alan Millar's photographs of the moon

Alan has given permission to use one of his Tiree moon photographs and I have chosen one with the darkest sky to go with the opening line of the song 'My love is velvet like the darkness'

The video has now been completed and the song has been uploaded to Bandcamp The links are https://youtu.be/qF70p3cjpsM and
https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/track/my-love-is-velvet

Friday 26 January 2018

MORE SWOOP AND SWAY

This post will make more sense if the latest small video has been accessed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR2XcX_OvXQ but the before and after message is the same

Of course every day is unlike any other day and some are decidedly more pleasurable than others But it is a delight to wake to the sound of doves in a banyan tree and to be reminded that what we are and have become is not set in the stone of our own lack of imagination - amid the fears of what experience has cautioned us might happen if we try to spread and stretch our wings too far

Well no one in this video (and yes it is small at just over a minute) is advocating the 'too far' but they are favouring the idea (if only for themselves) that a bit more swoop and sway should surely be ok

Monday 22 January 2018

DUMPING THE DIRGE

Rather than the (elsewhere mentioned and aspired to) good tuneful singable song - the one I chose to use on the next lyric video could be accurately described as a dirge

Of course I did not think this when I was working on it but having now revisited it - in preparation for the video - and having checked up on the definition of a dirge* I have now wholeheartedly accepted it is one And without any hesitation I have taken on board the message from the lyric itself to 'leave it behind' But not until the video has been completed

Anyway, once I had lined up the song to work on - and in keeping with - at times - a troubling - at times - tendency to persevere - it would have been harder to give up on it than to continue with it

Several failed attempts were made to shorten the track but I eventually decided to use the full length version It had been professionally mastered and it proved difficult to neatly lopp off the numerous repetitions at the end: although I appreciated it was in need of some radical lopping

The image is as stolen as it was the last time I used it Its relevance to the song only becomes evident well into the track And for anyone for whom a dirge might have some appeal - as it obviously had for me when I recorded it: the video is now on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqYtNRUqQTk - for a while

* A dirge is a song or piece of music that is considered too slow, miserable, or boring

Friday 19 January 2018

AND LOVE IN YOUR EYES AND THE SEA

‘All you really need is the sea and love in your eyes and the sea’

News that the sea song is being used by Women of Substance Radio reached my tired eyes this morning - although I did know it was coming!

The song can also be heard at

https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/track/all-you-really-need-is-the-sea

Thursday 18 January 2018

A SORT OF EPK FOR SKC

The EPK has now been made - but may be remade very soon
It’s a bit plonky but it can be found at http://youtu.be/1xxtbSEK20Y

Wednesday 17 January 2018

ACROSS FROM THE WALL

In amongst the lyric videos which I was revisiting recently I saw an old attempt to devise an Electronic Press Kit (usually referred to as an EPK) Disliking what I saw I decided to get rid of it and have another another go

The new one is now in the making

Some images have been identified and some words have been chosen All that remains is for me to record the words and align them with the images This will need to wait until I am reunited with my main recording equipment but having got this far I am impatient to declare that it is on its way

And I can achieve that (if only for my satisfaction) with the above comments and an image from the EPK which, as you will see below, is of a wall

With this EPK I may be paying homage to my father

P.S There is a coloured version of the wall but as some of the other images are not coloured I am choosing to make them all black and white

Friday 12 January 2018

LOST AMAZED AND USEFULLY INEFFECTIVE

In some respects I would feel both lost and amazed if I were to find that my various attempts to sort out my material were at an end And why would I not be? Most of the time I can't remember much of what I've written and recorded and by continuing to add to it the task of remembering is made more difficult

If, therefore, I ever reached a stage of being well organised I would probably be amazed And at times in my life when I was unsure about what I should be doing next - without that task - I would feel lost

But every now and again when the mood takes me - or when I get a reminder from others who have read a post or listened to a track - I renew the effort with added determination And the latest of my never ending attempts was to bring some order to all the various lyric videos I have uploaded to YouTube over several years - and to make them available on one channel The original idea was to obtain a simple URL that I could use in a post or an email

The link below is evidence of how successful I have been so far

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfi01sG5tj2kmLHtgizChwv1tvEXVA0s4&app=desktop

Thursday 11 January 2018

BLACKBIRD AND BROKEN BITS

The third foray into the workings of iMovie gets me back in touch with the favoured subjects of being bad, of broken bits and of blackbirds
And with the foray now completed the link to the video on Youtube is https://youtu.be/zDmlOfRByvM

Choosing to do this also provides me with the opportunity to say that I have personally never known a bad girl But I have known girls who have had bad things done to them and who have (in various - and sometimes disturbing ways to themselves and others) let it be known how bad they feel
I have also known boys who have had the same load to bear and this song might easily have been called BAD BOY BLUES

Wednesday 10 January 2018

TWO WELL LOVED SHEEP

With several writing ideas under consideration and trying to take it easy - creatively and otherwise - I have continued with my lackadaisical (and rather unsuccessful) foray into the workings of iMovie The latest effort - using an old recording of one of my many short songs - is entitled I LOVE SHEEP
And as I discovered today, on line, (and how pleasing that was) sheep are amazinginly well loved

Of all my encounters during the summer, those with the two sheep in the photograph below - and with some of their pals and relatives - were undoubtedly among the most pleasurable

The link to the video is https://youtu.be/a8q_QCpjnZE

Sunday 7 January 2018

JUST AROUND THE BEND

The image below is of a road on HAIDA GWAII whereas the song ON THE ROAD TO HAIDA GWAII is about a road that will take you there
And the following link will take you to a very basic lyric video of the song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk6wmjsN5ws

Tow Hill Road

Tow Hill Road is a road which I - as happens with many of those who are on the islands for only a few months or years - came to know well but only as a relative stranger would know it Nevertheless it can leave you with such fond and profound memories you are unlikely to ever feel free of them - and indeed would never wish to be

And as the New Year begins I remember especially fellow travellers Mr Toast, Vicki and Jim and Wendy and hope all who journey along there in future will find in the forest and by the sea as much solace and comfort as I often did

The purchase of a Subaru when all other remedies for lost love have failed is not a serious recommendation - although I may well follow through on it myself - anytime soon

P.S And thanks again Aldo

Thursday 4 January 2018

ALDO FROM GUATEMALA

Another delight! And I have let Aldo know how pleased I am that he liked the song ON THE ROAD TO ROAD TO HAIDA GWAII

Again, as I find often, a positive response from a complete stranger can get me working on a task I have been considering - but have been uncertain about- for days or even weeks

Recently I tried using iMovie for two very basic lyric videos and had thought I might make another using this song Thanks to Aldo I’ll probably now do that!