30th January 2022 - 5 Questions for February 2022
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Written listening to Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band.

Christyotwisty has asked 5 questions for February and so here are my 
answers.

1. What is one oddball, interesting or new activity that you'd like to try on a night out 
with your partner(s) or friends?

There are a few things I keep meaning to try and organise but fail. 
The first is ghetto golf which is mini golf played in weird locations 
such as a bus, a toilet and pretty much anywhere full of neon 
graffitti. The second is going to a Northern Soul club but mostly for 
the music rather than the dancing. I definitely cannot manage that 
one! Yet these are things I could organise if I really wanted to. The 
exciting things are actually going to some of the Hidden Spaces where 
people open up areas which are normally closed. These are always 
interesting. I remember going on a trip to the breakwater in Plymouth 
Sound. It is a feat of Georgian engineering and has a light house. At 
various times, it was a day trip destination and a posting for some 
poor soldiers who manned a pill box. There are a series of engravings 
in the stones from royal vists. Queen Victoria visited some 3 times 
both as a princess and queen. For Birmingham, I think my choices would 
be the supposed inspirations for Tolkein's twin towers. One is the 
clock tower at the University of Birmingham and the other is Perrott's 
Folly. The other would be exploring the tunnels under the centre of 
Birmingham. They were created for shifting post from New Street 
Station to the sorting centre which is now fancy shops and offices. 

2. What is something red you would feature on a postage stamp?

A post box! It feels a little meta putting a post box on a stamp 
although it probably has been done before. Another daft idea would 
simply be different shades of red. 

3. If you were limited to eating only one type of candy/sweet of the year, what would it be?

Hmmm, a hard choice! I would probably go for extra strong mints. That 
or fruit gums. I do love the chewy fruity flavours.

4. In your opinion, what is the flower with the best scent? (Don't know/like flowers? 
What's the best smelling food/baked good?)

I will probably go for an unusual choice with wild garlic. It gives 
me a sense of nostalgia. The woods behind my parent's house is filled 
with wild garlic towards the end of the summer and the smell takes me 
right back there. Warm lazy evenings sitting in the garden with wafts 
of that pungent smell washing over.

5. What are three songs that make you happy and/or give you instant energy? If you are deaf 
or hard of hearing, what three non-auditory things gboost your spirits and energy?

Always hard to pin these down but...

Peaches en Regalia by Frank Zappa - A wonderful song to clear the mind 
with complex patterns and general insanity. 

Shut Up Kiss Me by Angel Olsen - a big beautiful blast of energy. It 
is about someone trying to get their previously significant other to 
stop thinking and get back with them. However, the manic energy makes 
it work and gives a different impression to the lyrics. 

Restless Year by Ezra Furman - I could have cheated by selecting the 
whole of the album Perpetual People Motion but settled for the opener. 
It puts you perfectly into the mood and is a shouty blast to clear the 
cobwebs.

This was hard to wittle down to just 3. I mostly relied on what I have 
been listening to over the past week.