Tuesday 25 December 2012

happy christmas

happy christmas. 

here is a christmas album free to download freely recorded from my reunited first band dih with an ever increasing number of friends.

http://archive.org/details/DihAndFriendsChristmas2012

Sunday 23 December 2012

Christmas Present thank you letter from Snow White


Dear Dopey and the rest
of my six, lovely little friends
this is just a tiny note
just to let you know
while i was here
and you were gone,
I just wanted to thank you
for your Christmas Present,  

but while I was here
and you were gone
I just wanted
to let you know
you had left the price tag on,

nobody had replaced
the burnt out old fuse
nor the plug which looked like
if it had been left there
much longercould have melted
the wrapping paper.

I am a little stunned
it looked likesomebody had already used it
and worse still
didn't bothered cleaning it
when they had finished
with it
or bothered drying out
the instructions. 

I cannot believe
another name is quite visible
underneath my name
and my address is nothing
like Snow White's Pleasure doTN22 3NJ. 

I am blazingthe wrapping paper
looked like it had being
half ripped open
which made me think
somebody messed
around with it
last christmas
and thought to themselves
there is no f**king way
I am keeping that
and I'll recycle it
to some other sod
the following year. 

So while this is just a note
while I was here
and you were gone,
I would like to say thank you
for your gift
of a hedge trimmer, 
and would just let know
in addition
that the used blow up reindeer doll
you also sent
has being returned
to Santa Claus
and he's coming
round to yours
to kick the Sh*t out of you later 

Love Snow White 

Sunday 9 December 2012

Dockyard Prayer Part II (New Poem)


















Dear all;

Here is Part 2 of Dockyard Prayer, the new sequence me and Jeff Dawson (aka Jeffarama!)
have been writing.

It can be read here 

Enjoy!

Andy N

Thursday 6 December 2012

If the art galleries shut (new poem published)














Dear all;

As some of you may know, I have been going to Write Out Loud - Stockport for a bit now and have been concerned about the possible closure to this (or the shortening of hours).

As a member of Stockport, we got together to produce a ebook to send round to a number of the local press to highlight this.

My Poem can for this be can read here


Thursday 29 November 2012

A Dockyard Prayer Part 1 (New Poem)
















Me and Jeff Dawson (aka Jeffarama!) have released the first part of a new sequence
of poetry 'A Dockyard Prayer' Part 1.

It can be read here

Hope you enjoy!


Wednesday 21 November 2012

latest news and views 21st November 2012


Hi all;

Hope you are all enjoying this sink into Winter.

Not a great deal going for me at the moment as most of my spare time outside work is getting ready for Christmas really with Cathy and my family, but some little bits of news in bite sized chunks:

1)     At the end of October @ Acoustic Wednesdays in Manchester. Me, Jeff and Petrova aka A Means to an End played our last gig for the foreseeable future there, debuting two new songs ‘Dead to me’ and ‘Return to Kemptown’ and loads of our old classics (Links to follow) and had a great time in a respectful, quiet night. Will defo want to play there again in the new year. A new gig is pencilled in for March 2013 at Open Mind and I guess we’ll squeeze something else before that too.

2)     I did Guitar and verse in November replaying a old poem ‘Ghosts of Manchester Victoria’ and with pre programmed musical backing ‘Kemptown’ (2012 Mix) (Links to follow also) and also debuted again ‘Migration’ to Write Out Loud, Stockport a few weeks later again.

3)     I have also carried (sadly without Amanda this month) at my writing workshop ‘Writers of the third kind’ and am making plans for that as I type also for next year. (Watch this space).

4)     Sadly as some of you already now, my charity book I am going to run with my partner, Cathy ‘Unique, Driven and Determined’ has hit big problems with one of the charities we were going to support has now finished off and the other is up in the air too. Cathy is going to think over Christmas about what to do and hopefully after Christmas, maybe February time we can start planning for what we can do next.

5)     My next poetry collection ‘The End of Summer’ (and maybe last full length) is coming together slowly. I currently have I think 43 or so possible poems towards it. When I have a few more, I can then getting the best of them together for it.


Sunday 4 November 2012

live pictures solo and with a means to an end october / november 2012

A Means to an End - live acoustic wednesdays, manchester october 2012







Andy N live at guitar and verse, november 2012









Saturday 20 October 2012

the end of summer (Shoot 3)

More pictures trying to get a mood for my next poetry book 'the end of summer'



















Tuesday 9 October 2012

latest news and views - 8th October 2012


Dear all;

Hope you are all enjoying the beginning of autumn. For me, it has been somewhat quieter over the past few months, partly because of a change in work circumstances which I won’t go into, but also more health problems which put me into hospital and caused my family no end of worry.

During this, my band did a gig at Salford Music Festival which was fun to do despite the fact I was only just out of hospital (which the pictures which I need to upload from my camera will show).

Besides that, I have done Write Out Loud Stockport a few times which was great fun, despite the fact I think the art gallery which hosts it is going to reduce it’s hours and cause no end of hassle (Possibly going as far as folding the group all together) and Guitar and Verse too, where in September me and jeff debute d a new song ‘Samantha’ which will hopefully come into the regular live set.

Otherwise, I have recently blogged a new poem ‘Migration’ elsewhere on this blog which can be seen here: ). http://onewriterandhispc.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/migration-new-poem.html

 There are a new few videos online of me performing:- these are:


(me at guitar and verse, October 2012 reading – heavy metal gig at dukinfield town hall, summer will rise again and mitrgation)


(A means to an end, Samantha – guitar and verse, September 2012)


(Drums of their flick knives, guitar and verse, September 2012)

I have also done a track for my friend, Amanda Silbernagel which can be downloaded here:


Otherwise now, A means to an End are out gigging on Wednesday 17th October 2012 at a night in Manchester called Acoustic Wednesdays in the centre of Manchester (Address to follow) for a good 45 – 50 minute set I think with me, Jeff and Petrova flying on all cylinders.

Not much else planned yet beyond this point as I am getting prepped for Christmas now sadly and I want to be writing more than performing but will keep you informed of course. 

Saturday 6 October 2012

Migration (New Poem)



The flat near Longford Park
Is still a huge mystery
And got demolished shortly
After you moved.

You don’t remember much
About Moss Lane East
Apart from that one winter there
When the boiler kept breaking down
Reducing the window
To floods of tears.

You only remember
That first spring at Barton road
When your football shot
Smacked your sister that hard
In the face
It left that much blood
On the pavement
Your mother must have used
Twenty buckets of water
To wash it out.

By the time your brother arrived
You had moved a little up the road
And within a week of moving in
Ended up going to your nana’s funeral
And didn’t shed a tear during it
But didn’t stop during the wake.

Ripon Road where two of your cats
Are buried, is less happy
As is that flat on Fountains Road
Where you lived temporary
Before mould became
A permanent, unwelcome guest.

Chatsworth Road
Where you lived into your 20’s
And beyond
Is painted with much
Happier, wider brush strokes
Even though it was opposite
Your old high school
That also expelled your brother.

Now of course
You live in a different town
With memories
Like sails in the mist
Bleeding over the sunset,

Etched in the past
Like closed factories

Windswept in a wordless language.

(Inspired by Paul Auster's Winter Journal)

Thursday 4 October 2012

The End of Summer (Front Page Poetry Book Shoot 2 - 04/10/2012)


Dear all;

Image cover ideas for my next full length poetry collection 'the end of summer' taken in tameside yesterday morning. 



















Saturday 8 September 2012

Red Cross - pictures from the missing exhibition September 2012

These pictures was taken by Nick Armbister and focused on a exhibition by the Red Cross in Ardwick, Manchester focusing on missing people.

One of my pieces, 'the missing boy' about my friend Alex Humphrey was featured here.

Thanks to Nick for letting me republish these here. It is a topic very close to my heart. I am only saddened I was unable to attend.