I have an album playing as I write this post that is excellent and that you might like to know about.

“All is Two” is the latest release from Finnish band “Huminoita”. You’ll be forgiven if you have never heard of the band because until a week or so ago, neither had I.

For me, that awareness issue got addressed when Huminoita’s manager (from its record label "Luova") got in touch with me via my website and offered me the opportunity to download some material for free. I mentioned this landmark event in a previous post so you can read about it here if you wish (that will save me repeating myself).

I initially downloaded All is Two but have since received a CD (which is more convenient for me to listen to), and it has been played pretty much continuously since it arrived. And it’s because I have enjoyed it so much that you are reading this article.   

The 39.5 minute album has six tracks:

1. The Sheriff
2. Hymn 23
3. Goliath
4. The Pilgrim
5. King of Hearts
6. Hymn 24

​The band is hard to categorise because All is Two is a fusion of psychedelic, spacey and progressive rock mixed with stoner metal, a dash of Jazz and then overlaid with occasional wailing - there is probably a better description than that, vocal harmonising perhaps, but you get my drift.

As an aside, for a band that wants its music to have a more global appeal, not singing probably makes more sense than singing in Finnish. The album tracks can be titled in English or any other language to suit to the market the CD is available in.

Back to the sound - think Pink Floyd mixed with Samsara Blues Experiment, with some occasional Hendrix vibes and a dash of Jethro Tull (because there’s a flute) – and that’s just on "The Pilgrim".

There is no singing, all the tracks are instrumental and the music has to do the storytelling. All is Two is not a collection of singles, it is best listened to in one go, without interruptions and when you can concentrate - because if you do, the listening experience is positively Floydian in its impact (and you will think about Pink Floyd when you hear the saxophone on "The Sheriff"and "The Pilgrim"). 

All is two is like a musical journey that you’ll find yourself drawn into and then immersed in; it is intense and the listening experience almost emotional. There are highs and lows, feelings of light and dark, changes in tempo, bursts of energy and some storm like crescendos – it’s almost more classical in composition than traditional rock.   

​For me the stand out tunes are "Goliath", "The Pilgrim" and "King of Hearts" because these multi movement pieces have everything, and the chugging stoner metal bass sound appeals to me.

These tracks are the middle of the album and whether it was intended or not, the pace starts slow, builds serious momentum and then calms back down (think - foreplay 1 & 2, sex 3, 4 & 5, post coital glow 6).  
 
I mentioned earlier that I had been sent a CD, which is my preference in terms of media. I like to have something physical, and I particularly like to have the packaging. I attach some photos of the open cd sleeve because the presentation of Huminoita around the circles is pretty psychedelic.

Overall, All is Two is a cracking album, I recommend it and, if you are a buddy of mine, I’ll even lend you my copy (Hughesy, you’re first). 

Separately I also have Huminoita’s eponymously titled first release. It is another good listen, interestingly this one has some singing – in Finnish. My favourite track on this album is “Kolmas silm+ñ” because it introduces an element that isn’t on All is Two – namely some death metal type growling.

If you want to listen to Huminoita, the band has a presence on Bandcamp – here’s a link: https://huminoita.bandcamp.com/

You can also find material on Youtube.

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On Wednesday I spent about ten seconds updating my Facebook profile picture and cover/banner image. I made the amends for two reasons, one was to replace the dodgy moustachioed Movember shot from 2014 and the second was to align the imagery on my website, Facebook and Twitter environments.

I don’t upload photos very often; in fact 75% of the photos that are on my Facebook (FB) profile weren’t uploaded by me (and some of them I don’t even like). In making the updates, it hadn’t occurred to me that the new pictures would be shared with all my FB friends.

But they duly were and 24 likes and 16 comments/replies later I remain bemused enough to write this post.

By way of background, I primarily use Facebook (and Twitter for that matter) to act as a signpost to my website. When it comes to FB, I’ll often go days between visits and when I drop in, I tend not to spend more than a few minutes on the site at any time.

Instead of writing on FB, I create articles for www.adrianbaldwin.net. I have always been of the opinion that if I am going to request the time of my readers, I should write posts that are engaging, or humorous, or thought provoking in some way. I am always looking for an angle; I’ll find ways to link seemingly disparate topics together; I’ll present a personal take on things etc. because I want to repay my readers for making the effort. The posts tend to be a reasonable length; some actually take me hours to write and they may be crafted over three or four sittings.

I make the points above because all I did on Wednesday was add a photo - it required no thought and little effort.

The image uploaded was only selected because it shows me, pen in hand, engaging in dialogue and ready to write.

It was/is kind of appropriate. The picture is okay but nicer ones are out there. 

Bizarrely the photo prompted more interaction with my FB buddies than the majority of the website posts I have published over the last four and a half years. I am obviously missing a trick!

Is this experience symptomatic of a social preference for instant, light touch communication over that requiring any investment of time?

Is Adrianbaldwin.net a bit old fashioned? A traditional newspaper in a world of iPads? A conversation in a world of soundbites?

​Am I trying too hard? Maybe I need to do less writing and organise more photographs of myself instead?

Or maybe not because that would be narcissistic and boring.

​I will trail this post on FB - I wonder how many ‘likes’ or ‘comments’ I get?  

I bet the feedback will be disappointing in comparison.

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I came across this news article on the BBC a few days ago and suspected that a blog post was likely even before I read the piece.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35471624

The ONS has been surveying the mental health of the nation.

Here are a couple of key headlines - those aged 45 to 59 reported the lowest levels of life satisfaction, with men on average less satisfied than women.

That age group also reported the highest levels of anxiety.

The Monty Python tune “Always look on the bright side of life” pinged straight into my head but more of that in a moment.

Though I am just about in the target sector (honestly it is only just), I can kind of get why these statistics are representative. The BBC has some suggestions for the survey findings, I have a few of my own.

In the real world, day to day life is mostly made up of repetitive, routine, drudgery. One gets up, one goes to work; once home, one does chores and one goes to bed – repeat again and again – think Groundhog Day!

For me, I’ll admit that days are sometimes pretty dull - time/life slowly ebbing away. And I know it’s worse for Mrs Baldwin who has more of the housework on her to do list.

So here are some reflections; I ended up thinking long and hard about this topic. Could the peak dissatisfaction levels recorded have anything to do with the following (have a read, what do you agree/disagree with)?

​By 45:

• You may still feel thirty but you don’t look it! The effects of aging are visible to all (in my case grey hair, thinning patches around the crown and much less evidence of thinning around the waist).
•  Forty five equals “mid-life” (and arguably mid-life could be 40, or 35 if you think in terms of Lemmy and Bowie). It is a well-known phenomenon that crises occur, particularly amongst the male population, at this mid-point.  Sports cars, motorbikes and affairs with younger folk are often outward expressions of this state of mind/dissatisfaction with the status quo.
• One has an increased awareness of one’s own mortality and that of those close to them. Someone that I knew died recently, he was only 55. That means my life could be done in ten years – that’s a sobering thought!
• One’s career may be plateaued, or worse be in decline. If you end up unemployed, your chances of getting a similar role quickly reduce significantly.
• Yet if you have a family, the likelihood is that you face significant bills for the foreseeable future.

By way of another personal illustration, the prospect of having to fund both my children through university at the same time as paying the mortgage and the household bills causes me anxiety.  And financing my retirement, God only knows how that is going to work. I actually suspect that work will have to feature in one way, shape or form until I drop dead.

And bizarrely (and rather morbidly), dropping dead whilst working actually could be the answer to the funding planning issues facing the Baldwin family…

...because financially, I am actually worth more dead than alive.  

• Your life is being led for the benefit of others rather than for yourself (the kids mainly, and they don’t even realise or appreciate it)
• If you are married and have children, by 45 you are probably exhausted, your marriage has probably lost much of its original sparkle (hoping of course that it’s not already failed) and romance/lust/spontaneity is probably thought about in historic terms (by at least one, but maybe both parties) or in future terms (when the kids leave home). 

And from 45 to 59, I suspect these issues just get more amplified with increasing age.

Reflecting on satisfaction; the growing awareness that my life is finite has led to me having this mental “bucket list” - but from time to time I find myself feeling frustrated about all the things I want to achieve/have/experience/visit/do (a million unique visitors to my website, motorbike, orgies, Taj Mahal/New Zealand, ride Route 66/write a book) that I can see no prospect of affording/ticking off the list without taking too many risks with the wellbeing of those I am responsible for.   

​If an ONS surveyor caught me during a “life’s a piece of shit” cycle, I might record a low level of satisfaction and/or a higher degree of anxiety.

Because when I think about how satisfied I am with life, I tend to fall into the trap of discounting all the things I have achieved already. Gaining a decent education, owning a house, having a decent job, having my own family, still being married to my first and only wife, paying all the bills, not being weighed down by crippling debt, being reasonably healthy etc. do not satisfy in the way that they should.

I forget how lucky I am. Am I alone in making this mistake?

Probably not!

My mental process when feeling like my life is unsatisfying is:

• Stop beating myself up over what has not been achieved and remember what has
• Park the negative thoughts and focus on something more productive
• Remember that I am where I am because of the decisions I made in the past. All choices have implications. For example, I wanted a family - that means I can hardly complain about the responsibilities now.
• Remember that everything could be so much worse – I could not have what I have now as well as not have what I’ve never had!  
• Look forward to the joy that the ONS suggests will come at 60
• Be sensible, keep mid-life crises type decisions to those that aren’t too destructive
• And “give a whistle”

That brings me back to Monty Python:
 
“If life seems jolly rotten
There's something you've forgotten
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.

“When you're feeling in the dumps
Don't be silly chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle - that's the thing.”

If you are in my age bracket and feeling the levels of dissatisfaction that the ONS has identified, remember Brian and maybe “this'll help things turn out for the best”

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I read an article on the BBC Newsbeat website the other day about female students that use sugar daddy apps to find men, most likely older, that are prepared to help fund them through university, possibly in return for sexual favours.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/35521859/a-quarter-of-a-million-uk-students-now-using-sugar-daddies-according-to-app

The introduction of tuition fees has clearly resulted in some unexpected social change…

…and the mind boggles. This topic has taken my thoughts off in some conflicting directions. Does this development equate to philanthropy or prostitution?

Philanthropy
It could be argued that the sugar daddy (SD) is stepping up to the challenge of educational funding created by the government with its miserly, misinformed (in my opinion) view of the value to society/the UK of higher ed. The imposition of tuition fees has marginalised the less wealthy in society and a new funding model has appeared to fill the void.

But sugar daddy philanthropy is unlikely to get a fellow on to the New Year’s Honours List!

Prostitution
Of course the nature of money exchanging hands for sexual favours has been long known as prostitution. Is the SD market just a new variation on the theme? Well ‘yes’ for obvious reasons but maybe ‘not quite’ for others.

• The older man funding a younger woman is more like a master/mistress relationship than a hooker/punter.
• Also, if the BBC piece is to be believed, the funding/sex link might not be a given. And I suspect that a prostitute is rarely paid for not bestowing sexual favours.
• The typical hooker/punter relationship must surely be short term in nature, unlike a SD set up that could last for three/four years and maybe even longer. 

So is this development perhaps better considered in terms of entrepreneurialism or exploitation?

Entrepreneurialism
Maybe it’s more like plain entrepreneurialism? We are in a capitalist society, a market has become visible and the sugar daddy/student have formed a joint venture to meet the market requirements – there is investment and there is return on investment. For the SD there is the pleasure of knowing that he has helped a youngster gain a degree (and quite possibly the pleasure associated with the occasional blow job or other sexual favour).  For the student, there is value in having a reduced college related debt burden (or cash, accommodation and stuff) and the knowledge that they have no doubt made an older man very happy.

​Exploitation
Have rich blokes just found another way to exploit their wealth to take advantage of young, impressionable women? Or are young women exploiting their bodies to take advantage of the wallets of wealthy and silly men?

Could be either or neither - if there are mutual benefits and there is consent, arguably, there’s no exploitation. 

So is this social development a good or a bad thing? That’s the six million dollar question.

Or maybe not quite as much as that.

Funding kids through university, with £9,000 a year tuition fees on top of the cost of accommodation and other living expenses, is probably a sleep loser for many parents. How will they ever be able to retire; will their children will leave higher education saddled with huge debts despite their best efforts. A £50,000 question perhaps?

​Going to university inevitably involves a bit of sleeping around and having an older person in the mix with a big wallet might not be such a bad thing for one’s offspring.

A good development then?

Well no not really.  From a personal perspective, the thought of my daughter part funding herself through uni by sleeping with old/wealthy men is horrible.

​So what does that mean for me?

Retirement is for wimps, I’ll work until I drop, I’ll spend the next decade a lot less than wealthy, and I’ll try not to think about how many sexual favours I could have earned if I funded someone else’s children through university instead of my own.  

A less than wealthy father - that probably makes me a Sugar Free Daddy! I don’t suppose there will be an app for my type.

And when it comes to favours, I’ll just take whatever Mrs Baldwin is prepared to bestow.

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I recently completed a quiz on the BBC News website to see just how “metal” I am. My expectation was that I’d score reasonably well given that the musical genre has been important to me for the best part of 30 years; but there was a chance/risk, depending upon the questions, that I’d be labelled a fake metaller – a “deaf leopard” (and I hope you get why that label is funny and perfect).

The link below will allow you to test your knowledge.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/8eb5dcb6-10c6-4356-943b-659d3bb1ecef?intc_type=singletheme&intc_location=superbowl&intc_campaign=superbowl&intc_linkname=quiz_howmetal_contentcard3

Fortunately I managed to achieve seven out of ten on my first go (see associated image) and that, according to the BBC, labels me a “faster pussycat”.  The ultimate “steel panther” status was just one mark away. Damn!

Metal has been on my mind for a few other reasons too.

The latest Megadeth album is playing in my car at the moment. “Dystopia” is excellent and I recommend a listen to all my readers (though I accept that my parents won’t be tempted).

Separately, the start of the Chinese New Year celebrations prompted me to look up my associated animal. It turns out I was born in the year of the pig. So I am a pig, but not just any pig – in 1971 the pig subset was “metal”. I am therefore a “metal pig” and, though I have no idea what it means, the label is suitably Black Sabbath enough and I can live with it.

The subject of labels brings me on to Huminoita – a band from Finland. Huminoita’s record label “Luova” got in touch with me last week and sent me links to free downloads of the band’s albums and online press information.

Here’s what was shared:

"Hello Adrian,

Huminoita is a rock band from Finland. Their new album ‘All is Two’ has gained several celebrating reviews on music magazines & blogs all over Europe. Huminoita’s music can be described with the words like psychedelic, stoner, alternative, progressive, instrumental.

You may listen and download Huminoita’s new album via this link. If you prefer CD instead of digital please contact me." 

I have to admit that the approach, made via the contact form on my website, made my day. My appreciation of hard music and my inclination to blog has somehow got me on to the media radar of this record company.

​And I can’t let that sentence pass without some celebration. A business has got in touch with me because my blogger status has indicated to it that a review from me would have some value. Enough potential value to make material freely available to me in the same way that it has been made available to music journalists around the world.

I’ll admit that I felt a genuine degree of excitement and a compulsion to tell a few people the good news. A sniff of journalistic nirvana for me – the first time that I have had any approach of this nature. I so hope that it wasn’t some kind of clerical error!

I duly downloaded two albums “All is Two” and “Huminoita” and I will write a review in due course and share it with you. Because I am an old-school, CD-playing, gig-going and ageing head-banger, it will take me a little longer to listen to the albums all the way the through. Unlike Dystopia, I can’t slot the Huminoita music into my car CD player and listen to it on the way to and from work.

But bear with me because I will pay attention and I will share my feedback; the first impressions are very positive, these Finns rock! The review will just be a post for another day.

Watch this space.

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Adrian Baldwin, has just won a readers’ choice award and I am well chuffed for him.

Before you get too confused about that sentence, I am referring to the other one (although maybe I should use another one, there will of course be more of them/us out there). To be frank (he was my granddad by the way) there isn’t a split personality thing going on here - rather a completely different personality altogether. I am (did you guess yet?) referring to Adrian Baldwin the author, not Adrian Baldwin the me (the myself, the I).

Though I get that this is starting to sound (or maybe that’s feel) a bit schizophrenic?

It’s okay though because that is actually appropriate given the nature of Adrian’s book. I have written about my namesake and his novel “Barnacle Brat” a few times before – Leon, the central character is a bit, well a lot really, bonkers.

Previous posts:
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/adrian-baldwins-barnacle-brat-and-linguistic-confusion
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/barnacle-brat-review.html

Now to get to the point of this one - Adrian has just scooped an Underground Book Reviews award for the Readers’ Choice “Indie Book of the Year”.

https://www.facebook.com/UndergroundBookReviews/app/126231547426086/?app_data=%7B%22from%22%3A%22user_wall%22%2C%22ref_id%22%3A%22oecixy%22%7D

Baldwin nailed 36.1% of the vote and would you believe it, I actually helped a little. I voted for his novel and I encouraged my Facebook friends to do the same – and a vote for him is sort of a vote for me, well at least my name anyway (though it’s obviously his too and I don’t mind sharing).

One day Adrian Baldwin will appear in lights and that will be great – it won’t be my Adrian Baldwin of course, it will be his but it doesn’t matter which one of us achieves greatness – either way Adrian Baldwin will be cool and his written word will be celebrated.  

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www.adrianbaldwin.info the author's site
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I came across this article the other day about running preferences and read it with interest because I enjoy running as a means of keeping fit, or at least an approximation thereof.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35399598

​The piece portrays an indoors vs outdoors divide when it comes to preferences for exercise. The indoors type typically runs on a treadmill in a gym and the outdoors type prefers the fresh air, changing scenery and the interaction with nature.

From a personal perspective, I find treadmill running extremely dull, it is repetitive, monotonous (just think about the drone of the machine) and it is more expensive too because of the need to pay for gym membership to gain access to the equipment.

You won’t therefore be surprised to know that I am firmly in the outdoors camp when it comes to my running preference. For me, running is more than just a means of getting some exercise and challenging the flab, it is also a way to relieve stress, think/reflect, observe the world around me and have some time out.

It isn’t about looking cool (and believe me I don’t), it isn’t about showing off to other exercise devotees, it isn’t about the narcissistic pleasure of looking at myself in a mirror and it isn’t about listening to MTV (or whatever they pipe into gyms these days).

Don’t get me wrong, as a red blooded male, I’ll get some pleasure from looking at fit, pretty females in Lycra at the gym; but I came to terms long ago with the facts that I am no spring chicken anymore, have negligible “eye candy” appeal and certainly don’t look at my best when all hot and sweaty.

And anyway, there is a risk that if one is distracted by eyeing up the “talent” rather than concentrating on the running, one might fall off the end of the treadmill.  

Treadmill running lulls one into a false sense of one’s own skill level. The treadmill will have some form of speed indicator but my experience is that has no relation to the pace you actually run for real. To illustrate, when in running events outdoors, my pace varies between 7.5 and 9 minutes miles depending upon how far I have run and how knackered I am. 7.5 minute miles only occur when I am right up for it and am at my best – the pace doesn’t tend to hold much past a couple of miles at a time.  In the gym, I have had a treadmill report to me that my pace is six minute miles…

…and that must be bollocks.
 
For balance, running outside does have some drawbacks, you often come across dog owners who don’t control their pets properly, you may end up with dog shit on your shoes, fresh air is inevitably mixed with pollutants, some dullards just don’t get out of your way, the weather can be nasty and running in the dark can be a risky business.

But running outside is more rewarding in my opinion, the articles suggests that it is better for your body (because it’s less repetitive) and I think it’s better for your mind. Running outdoors takes you out of your own world and puts you into the real one.

And let’s be frank, life is enough of a treadmill anyway, why spend more time on one!

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