Tuesday 9 February 2016

Who in the cosmos is Raphael Marechal?

Good question! However, I don't think we should upset ourselves, dear reader(s). 'He sounds like a supernatural being, boss. Is he one?' Well, he's French, Voice. So ... I don't know. He might be supernatural, or he might just be a normal French guy. 'What does LinkedIn say?' LinkedIn says he has twenty years experience in emerging markets and asset management. And as it's Raphael's profile, it's actually him saying it. So ... 'Can we take his word for it?' Another good question! I don't know if we can trust him, Voice.

Oh, by the way, the news. The news is that our Raphael has just got himself a new job with Nikko Asset Management. He's a senior portfolio manager on the global fixed income team in London. Unfortunately, his LinkedIn profile says he's still at BlackRock. 'Maybe he is, boss.' No, Voice! That's all over now. Mr Marechal has got to put the past behind him. No one wants to know him at BlackRock any more. 'What?! Maybe he has dear friends there, or romantic attachments. He is French, you know.' I don't care, man!

Christ! Raphael, son, if you're reading this, I urge you to update your profile ... TODAY, yeah? / I know what it is, my friend. It's fear of the unknown. How do you think I felt when I left the burning desert, astral and physical, and plunged into the DIZZY(!) world of my conceptual literature? Yes, I was scared, but I still did it, didn't I? Soon, I'll even be leaving financial shamanism behind for rock and roll shamanism. I'm sure that will be scary too. However, I refuse to let fear hold me back. You should be the same, Raphael. Everyone will love you at Nikko, anyway. You're making a big fuss about NOTHING.

...

Well, that's my good deed for the day. Anything else? Music? I bought The Libertines' first album the other day, Up the Bracket. It's pretty good, but I think they should have included the song What a Waster. / My music? I rewrote the lyrics to My Heart yesterday. I didn't add an extra verse though. Three verses is enough.

Oh, I forgot to mention it: my recording of It's Just a Joke, Man was only the first take. With You're Lying I had to do hundreds (maybe a thousand) of takes over a two-year period. So try and tell me I ain't rockin' and rollin' NOW(!), man. 'Poppin', Mikey.' Whatever. In the free world!!!


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Later. Yes, it's later, and I've had me dinner. I've decided to scrap My Heart and Gilly, Gilly. A controversial move, I know, but it's for the best. My new song is making me see things differently, yeah? [I need to do a lot more writing now, if I can find the time and the energy.] I wrote It's Just a Joke, Man in eight days, and wrote and recorded it in ten days. That's some sort of record for me. / I hope you don't mind my going on about it, reader(s), but I get bored shitless writing about finance all the time. Oh, I'm sure you understand ...