Not just another pretty phrase

Lines we have loved

This is just a bunch of stuff I like.

The Guitarists Collective is a web site put together by some of my friends who are into playing guitars in a big way. Every month, we set each other a task which we have to solve musically using guitars. There are some truly astonishing players on the forum, and even though I've only contributed a few pieces, it's helped me enormously in my playing and composing. We're not sad, honest - some of the music is terrific.

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Alan Fletcher, one of the designers who started the extraordinarily good and influential Pentagram design business has a fantastic book out called "The Art of Looking Sideways." It's my kind of book - a thumping great smörgasbord of Stuff (stories, quotes, facts, visuals, ideas and so on) that he's collected through the years. Published by Phaidon, it costs £24.95, which at over 500 pages is outrageous value.

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"Dear God, give me inspiration!" (Graffiti on a bridge over the M1 southbound near Luton.) A plea from the heart, if ever there was one.