Good morning everyone, had a dream last night that I was trying to learn some improved guitar skills from Johnny Marr….it was simply horrific as he seemed to lord his ability over me throughout the dream in almost a mocking fashion (what was that about?) but I felt better when I saw how old he was looking and remembered he worked with the Pretenders when they were no longer good. Hah. Stupid dreams…bloody Johnny Marr. Easy trivia – what what John’s real surname and what made him change it?

I’ve let some blogging tasks snowball this week and suddenly we’re heading into what is both Christmas but also the anniversary of Joe’s death in 2002. Sadly the two now go hand-in-hand and the time of year is a simple reminder that both have to be endured at the same time. I remember in 2002 that most people seemed to going about their usual bloody shopping and gift giving with the usual panache completely oblivious to the fact that I was stumbling around in a haze of shock and sadness until well into the New Year. Bastards! Anyway here’s the unofficial calender of events for this week and as I mentioned yesterday try and visit the blog on Wednesday as I’m handing the writing responsibility over to you for the day. If you know of other events please get in touch – click the bold links for extra information

DEC 21 – Radio – KALX in Berkeley, CA, USA Will feature a 3 hour special at 9pm ‘Clash City Covers and The Songs the Clash taught us’ 9p-Midnight PST

Dec 22 – Event – Strummerville Benefit in Belfast, Northern Ireland OhYeah are hosting a special Joe Tribute night featuring 3 bands from Northern Ireland and the Republic too. Admission is just £5

Dec 22 – Event – Groovy Times Strummerville in Erfurt, Germany A special night in Erfurt with live music, DJ and video screenings

Dec 22 – Event – Strummer Tribute Night, London, England – Radio Clash and others performing at The Gaff in London

Dec 22 – Event – King Tut’s Strummer night, Glasgow, Scotland One of the biggest and best events is back for another great night

Dec 22 – Event – The ClashBlog, global a go go Please share your memories or thoughts, favourite lyrics, photos or videos here on the blog. Featuring readers contributions all day long

DEC 22 – Radio – CJAM Windsor, Ontario, Canada College radio station in Canada is planning 24 hours of Joe’s music to coincide with a special rally and awareness day for homelessness in the area. Great idea and visit the link to listen in.

Dec 22 – Event – Strummer Tribute in Philadelphia, PA, USA I think this is the first at this venue (The Tattooed Mom) start at 9pm

Dec 23 – Event – Strummer Tribute Night, Portsmouth, England The 4th annual night in Pompey feauturing Night of Treason and a host of other acts, DJs and more

DEC 24 – Radio – KALX in Berkeley, CA, USA Radio station will present a special 6 hour broadcast to celebrate the life and music of Joe. Noon – 6pm PST

DEC 26 – Event – All The Young Punks Strummer Tribute, Buffalo, NY, USA A boxing day special in snowy cold Buffalo might be just the excuse needed to get away from relatives

Jan 8 – Event – Strummerville night at Komedia, Brighton, England As covered earlier this looks like an excellent night on the South coast if the weather ever improves.

I wanted to get to twelve so I included the blog….let it slide! If you know of any other events or want to add more information let me know. If you are able to attend any of these and can get photos or videos send them in or even scribble an account. Thanks to those who contacted me, if I forgot anyone please give me a shout. Cheers – Tim

Hello again hello again and welcome back to the blog, I just have a few minutes so I wanted to remind you of a handful of events that are coming up over the next few days just in case you are located somewhere that you may be able to take advantage of them.

As I’d written previously the Clash documentary ‘Rebel Truce’ airs this weekend on BBC America which I know you can get through Direct TV in the states, not sure about individual cable television providers. It airs on Sunday night but if you can’t see it don’t worry because as I mentioned it is on YouTube also, although in about nine different segments and lower quality.

With it being December a small slew of Strummerville approved events to mark the anniversary of Joe’s death will be taking place this month. I couldn’t help but think of his lyric ‘except for the ring, of that truncheon thing’ yesterday when watching the events unfold in London. Something tells me things are heading for a bigger breakdown and change in the near future, such a shame that we don’t have Strummer to comment on them. Anyway at some point next week I’ll get together the full list of your Joe Strummer events although one is coming up as soon as this weekend (tomorrow in fact) in Bologna, Italy. Full details are available via this link but the event keeps on growing each year with about 10 artists performing this weekend including a lot of pretty special guests. Better still its going to be STREAMED LIVE online this year, check the link to find out more.

Finally all weekend and through into January Proud Gallery in Camden Town are hosting the exhibition of Clash photography by Adrian Boot. We’ll have more on that over the weekend and the organiser of the event wanted me to let readers know that all photographs are available. If you’re not in London and seek more information about the specifics on that please get in touch with me via the normal methods and I can connect you with the right person.

That should be plenty to be getting on with then, Arsenal don’t play again until Monday so I’ll have time to get at least three more updates in the next couple of days. Be good – and watch out for the Metropolitan Police.

Just a quick sandwich of a post but mainly because I think it’s really worthwhile. I wanted to point you in the direction of the Guardian today who despite suggesting that its readers vote for the Lib Dems in the last election (thanks so much for that suggestion) and an ongoing campaign for Manchester United to be handed the league title even before matches are played (an annual event for the paper) they offset some of their poorer decisions by remaining strong advocates of The Clash and generally good music on the whole. It’s only in the last decade or so where good music journalism is often likely be found in the pages of some of Britain’s newspapers (okay, the Guardian the Times and the Independent) which for us aging readers has perhaps replaced some of the music weeklies we used to read with such fervent consistency. Be that as it may, it’s good to see the Guardian remaining loyal to its roots namely good music which has something to say.

Today’s article is written by Helienne Lindvall and focuses upon her chance meeting with Joe Strummer on a transatlantic flight just a year before he died. The article then expands upon his legacy and the work that Strummerville began in 2003 and has continued ever since. If you are a regular visitor to the blog then hopefully you’re fully aware of the increasing profile and scope of the work carried out by Strummerville; 2010 has probably been the most active year to date for the charity and the continued commitment to fostering new bands and giving them an opportunity to record and play is surely a fine interpretation of what mattered to the man whose name adorns the organisation. I’m excited to see what they can manage in 2011, hopefully the continuation of raising their profile in North America where the impact of Strummer and The Clash remains strong and perhaps even growing.

I found him unassuming, gentle and passionate. He was incredibly generous with his time and resources – especially considering I was an unknown songwriter he’d just met.                     – Helienne Lindvall on Joe Strummer -

Anyway, as ever my rambling nature is keeping you from the article which is linked here so head on over and have a read. The holidays are coming so if you wanna shop at Strummerville once this year – now would work a treat. Tim