Andy Letcher

It's a little known fact that at primary school, Tim Henman was beaten in the obstacle race by my (now) girlfriend. Perhaps if he'd won he'd have stood more of a chance of winning Wimbledon.

On second thoughts, nah...

Racing up the Amazon charts, I reached a high of 1600 on Saturday!

One of the many things that I despise about this rotten, wretched, media-obsessed government of ours, is the way that when the chips are down, and their popularity is flat-lining, they launch a full-frontal attack on some wholly inappropriate target. They are masters of legerdemain, their mantra of spin is 'distract and rule'. When the reasons for taking us to war evaporated what did they do but turn on the BBC for the heinous crime of suggesting that the dodgy dossier was 'sexed up' (how can it be that the man who paid the price for war was Greg Dyke for God's sake)? And now, at a time when we feel as betrayed and ground down by the New Labour project as ever we did under the Tory reign of terror, they launch an attack on the judiciary and the legal system.

Tough on the causes of crime, my arse.


I cannot find the words to describe the contempt I feel for Blair and New Labour, the sheer sense of betrayal.

Just returned from a glorious summer solstice at Avebury. Played spangly tribedelic twang-age with Dr Matt Watkins as the sun broke free of the clouds and bathed us in light, the larks filling the sky with song.

Seriously connected.

At long last I have got my hands on a recording ('On Every Street Corner') by folk artist, Paul Gill. Not easy to come by at all. The man is a brilliant politico singer-songwriter, guitarist, whistler and concertinarista - it's criminal that he's not up there playing with the likes of Billy Bragg. But like his fictional outlaw in 'The Ballad of Bill Posters', Paul is hard to track down - you won't find him on the web, on Myspace or Blogspot - perhaps in a Suffolk folk club, or lying down in front of the bulldozers at a road-protest near you.

But take it from me, he's superb. His 'Hard as Nails', a true story of the horrors and hardships of homelessness, deserves to become a classic; as does his skillfully crafted 'Guilty as Charged', listing the reasons why he holds the powers that be in such contempt. It's not just his playing or his lyrics - his singing his superb, a rich sonorous voice with a crafted folk-lilt that never once strays into pastiche finger-in-the-ear territory.

Don't ask me where you can buy a copy. Go out and demand one. Harangue shops and folk zines - we want Paul Gill!

Went fly-fishing today (that's a cultural refernece to the old Yellow Pages ad - 'Fly Fishing' by J R Hartley - which will only make sense to those watching telly in the late 80s). In other words, I went looking for copies of 'Shroom' in my local bookshops. Sad? Yup, I know, but show me an author, especially a first time author, who hasn't done the same.

"Who's it by?" the nice assistant in Blackwells asked. "Ooh, erm, now then, let me think" I replied. "I think it was, or was it now, er, Andy Letcher?"

"Sorry, it's not a book we currently stock. I could order it for you?"

Eventually found a single copy in Waterstones at the back of the third floor. Evidently I have not quite made it to the first division yet. I did note, with some pride, however, that overnight I have jumped 1000 places in the amazon.co.uk sales ranking to two thousand and something. World domination surely awaits.

A lovely surprise in the post today - a vinyl pressing of Delerium Records' 'Fun With Mushrooms' (thanks Richard). Opening it I got one of those pangs of nostalgia - not just for vinyl, but for the days of free festivals, travellers, buses, hash for cash and white lightning. You just don't get bands calling themselves the 'Mooseheart Faith Stellar Groove Band' these days...

Favourite tracks: Boris and His Bolshie Balalaika - Toadstool Soup (of course); Omnia Opera - The Awakened; Praise Space Electric - Electric Sensation; Harrold Juana - Uncle Sam.

Check out www.freakemporium.com to buy the album.

Had the launch party for Shroom last night - an intriguing bunch of friends, family, academics, journos, poets, activists, publishers, hippies and psychedelic survivors from the sixties to the noughties, gathered in a pub in London. And remarkably everyone got along fine.

I learnt the unspoken etiquette of how to sign a book (who would have thought there is an etiquette to scrawling one's name on the frontispiece?) - but it still feels very bizarre being an 'author'.

Felt very well supported and a good time was had by all...