Monday indeed…and yes it seemed like one all over the place today. Testy people in the petrol station, dogs barking at the wind and even the usually mild mannered cat of the house was in a bit of a strop. Get over it – its nothing more than a day of the week. I wasn’t subscribing to it until the postman came, while he did have his usual assortment of bills and pizza coupons he also had to his credit a kind gift from a Clash blog reader (Thanks again Michael!), what he didn’t have was my Clash themed license plate for the car! Again! Perhaps (and knowing Arizona it might be) prison inmates still do bash out car plates on rocks in the hot sun here? In either case the state needs to have my plate here by Friday or I’ll just add a Rancid sticker to the back of the car. When the cop pulls me over and I explain its in lieu of The Clash I’m sure he’ll understand. Can I blog from jail?

I was going to launch into a filthy tirade about the extended and annoying delay to the notice of Gorillaz tour dates for the US (you grow up and you calm down), to me it seems that they’ve already annoyed people in mainland Europe by canceling shows (you start wearing the blue and brown) and frustrated those in the UK by rescheduling dates and now are taking the Mick pun intended by stalling on the US dates and/or somewhat confirming some. Its creating a buzz I suppose but I don’t really think its necessary nor overall a positive thing. I wonder if Damon is calling the shots or they simply are trying to coordinate some venues that work best with the calendar? So I’ll relent from a tirade I suppose but I’m not impressed really. On the other hand there is also some good/cool news from .5C/G

In keeping with the tradition of all that can be genre defining and global about the best artists they played a unique show in Damascus Syria this week. Of course Damascus isn’t on the tour schedule for most touring hip bands, in fact according to the report on the BBC today it was the first time a major British act has played in Damascus. The concert itself carried some political overtones  which might be best left to the expert analysts – but in a sense playing in a country that’s being squeezed out by Western culture reminds me of Billy Bragg going play concerts in what was then East Germany and the USSR in the 1980′s to try and bring the two cultures a little closer together and raise awareness. Here’s a link to the BBC feature and a few snippets from Damon Albarn are below, visit for the photo of an pretty unhappy looking Simonon if nothing else. I wonder that was said right before that photo was taken?

“By virtue of being the first big western act to arrive in Damascus I think hopefully that’s the beginning of a dialogue, and that in itself is meaningful for Syria as a whole.” and explaining the album title: “I think the world is becoming like a plastic beach. It’s not a prediction, it’s something that exists now. We’ve got to accept that it’s got to be cool to recycle.”

OK back tomorrow with more Clash centric pondering and hopefully some tour dates. I also have to write up my thoughts on the special anniversary This is Big Audio Dynamite legacy edition in the days ahead. It’s such a great record. Thanks for dropping in as ever, if you learn more about this and that share it with us all. Cheers – Tim