Anyone still here?

Hellooooo.. *waits for echo* - I feel like Burt Lancaster in "The Swimmer" when he arrived home from an epic journey to find his home deserted, the garden choked with weeds and the front door locked. Bleakest end to a film ever - discuss. And yes, I know it was allegory.

Anyway, here's some drivel.

Frieze Art Fair and the Ambassador's Gaff

We got invited to the Swedish Ambassador's residence in London, la di da. There was an evening to showcase the work of Susanne Simonsson, a Swedish artist who works in a similar way to wifey. We recently bought one of her paintings and that was enough to secure an invite via the gallery ("Fred") where we bought it.

My main mistake on the evening was to blank the Ambassador on the way in, due to not realising she was the Ambassador. I later apologised to Nicole (the Ambassador), who turns out to be a very nice lady, if a little tall for my taste. Anyway, having got over my embarrassment I happily drank too much free wine and enjoyed the talk by Susanne, and another look at her paintings. Both Susanne and Fred (get me, on first name terms with the hoi polloi) recognised us and came over to talk, which was nice. Didn't buy any more pictures, which probably disappointed Fred somewhat.

The rest of our weekend in London was also quite arty. We did the Frieze Art Fair on the Saturday and the Tate Modern on Sunday. Frieze was in Regents Park, and consisted of one very large temporary enclosure containing thousands of interesting things. I got through the "I don't get it" barrier with contemporary art long ago, and now I can happily say I like or dislike things without feeling like I missed something. Some of the paintings were spectacular, some weren't. Here's Lyn writing home about it, in her patented posh-finger-typing style....and here she is hiding her embarrassment behind an enormous sycamore leaf...



The Tate have a large installation.. installed, by a Chinese artist with the wonderful name of Ai Wei Wei. I wonder if he sits in meetings and demands it's my way or the.. never mind. Anywei (SWIDT?) the installation consists of one hundred million (yes, that's a one with eight zero's) hand-painted porcelain sunflower seeds, on the floor of the turbine hall. Apparently on the morning of our visit the decision had been made to rope off the area, supposedly for health and safety reasons (the dust, you know. That got me moaning), but a more plausible explanation is that the good old British public were taking the damned things home at an alarming rate. Bear in mind, we'd only need to take one each and half of them would be gone. Here's what it looked like...
And here are some images from the Frieze Art Fair..




Phone Shenanigans

Shortly after getting back from Thailand (Did I mention Thailand?) I upgraded to a smartphone with O2. Of course I didn't go for an iPhone, because I believe in supporting the competition, even when the competition is rubbish. I got a Nokia 5800 and it was absolutely fine, if you ignored the fact that the screen was unresponsive and had to be operated by a daft little "Wand" that clipped on the back. Otherwise it compared well with wifey's iPhone, in fact I scored major points when wandering round London using the GPS route-finding widget, and my phone actually gave verbal instructions at junctions where the iPhone just dumbly flashed a little blue ball.

Overall it was a viable alternative .... until I sat on it. The screen (always the weak point) developed a crack, which grew over a period of a week until the screen was virtually unreadable. I began to look around for repair options. Lo and behold, during our stay in London I got a call from Northern Telecom telling me that they are now managing my O2 business account, and would I like to upgrade? (I think that's what he said, he was very scouse) Well of course I immediately said there was some mistake and I'd already had my free phone, but no, the scouser assured me I was due another. I was delighted, if skeptical. Anyway, to cut a long story short (oh, shut up) I settled for a free upgrade to an HTC Desire, which is, as of course you know, voted "Best Smartphone" in a lot of tech publications. I'm reliably informed that my new phone has arrived today and is waiting for me at home. I'm stupidly excited.

In other news

Feverish Halloween preparations are underway, basically consisting of a trip to Matalan to buy a costume. Mine's the Devil. The Hooded cloak and facepaint I can deal with, but the plastic trident, at most a foot long, is not good enough. I can feel some DIY coming on. I've also been tasked with finding some halloween music for Saturday's party, and Lucy you can rest assured I've been diligent.

A full report, with photo's taken on my new HTC phone (Did I mention that?) will apear here soon.

Laters.

A dream come true

Played music with some musicians - a working class boy's dream. I can't explain how that makes me feel. We had an Irish fiddle player, an Italian guitarist, an English ukulele and harmonica player, and me and wifey (no nationality) on Bodhran. What a lovely evening. No photos though, I was too busy banging the drum. Thanks Ursula, Marco, Roger, wifey, the audience of spouses and of course hostess and prime mover, Maureen.

Next one is in three weeks, and I hope it will be even better.

In other news, what a weekend we've had. London on Thursday evening, saw an opening night of art by Susanne Simonson. We were so blown away, we spent our kitchen on a painting.....
Not a cheap kitchen either. We also managed to quaff far too much crisp white, and both had Brazilians. Meals that is. Friday was the above-mentioned music soiree, then Sunday I was outclassed up hill and down dale by Lucy on the mountain bike. Never mind, it's all good, and I'll be fitter next time.

Lucy, don't get comfy at the front, my fitness will return...

Midsummer Weekend

A weekend of enjoyment, pure and at times not so simple.

It began on thursday evening with the long awaited opening of Wifey's exhibition in Bolton. That went very well, but being the elected driver I wasn't able to get into the swing of things quite as well as some. I got very grumpy at her for drinking too quickly - after all, it's me who nurses her through those 'special' hangovers that last 36 hours. My back began to play up late on, and to top it off by the time we left, Macdonalds was the only option for food. Yuck.

Sandy posing. A new profile pic methinks.

Odette in bio-suit ready to look at Maggie's installation.

Aftermath - well someone had to finish the wine.

Saturday night we went to Deb & Bengt's place for a midsummer party, Swedish style. The herrings and potatoes were delicious, as was the company, and I got to set off a lantern into the beautiful night sky. Never done that, always wanted to. I also managed to fall off the edge of the tiered garden while nonchalantly wandering round the bonfire, curse my dodgy vision. My only excuse is drunkenness, but you can add in a healthy dose of incompetence if you wish. No harm done by the way, thanks for asking.

Went to Shakespeare in the Park on Sunday, took picnic and chairs, had a great time. I've never seen the play and don't remember the story from school, but the programme had a nice synopsis which helped a lot. The travelling troupe of eight actors (Globe Theatre Company - check them out) were very talented and the stage was apparently a replica from the Bard himself's travelling days. The costumes were based around the twenties as far as I can see. There was some Charleston-style dancing anyway. I loved the Puck character, but was told by wifey to stop looking as he/she/it was done up in fetching spangly hotpants and stockings and suspenders. Most distracting. Here's a pic:

Puck and co - most decorative.

In other news, it's Lyn's birthday today. Here she is, being simultaneously delighted and delightful at midsummer..

Happy birthday missus, hope you like the card, and the doggerel.

Later, taters

New Mills Parade and Stuff

Some photo's from the parade on saturday:

Market Street was packed with kids waiting to collect Swizzles...

The rock band in the big truck started playing 20 minutes before the parade began moving, and they were parked right outside our house. Lyn took it badly.

Nice truck, shame about the brewery...

The local stretched-limo company sent a gigantic pink Hummer and a couple of bar girls (Out of shot), to add a touch of slightly seedy glamour.

Second squeeze - me and Odette catch some rays.

All in all a good day was had. As usual, copious amounts of Swizzles sweets were chucked into the crowd by the participants, ensuring the rapt attention of all the kids in town. Jeez I haven't been hit on the head by that many boiled sweets since watching the Tour de France.

Between the parade itself and the imminent England game, the town was quite lively all day. The "Crispy Cod" even ran out of chips, and the party atmosphere continued until about 35 minutes into the match, when a certain shot went in...

In other news, Lyn's assessment day is today and preparations have been intense. We'll probably have a sigh-of-relief celebration tonight - assuming the assessment is positive, of course!

Summit talks - or at least top-of-the-staris talks. This was after Lyn, with days to go before assessment, discoverd wrinkles in her expensively mounted images. I resorted to taking photo's and left the trauma counselling to Maggie.

In other news, a nice walk round Kinder Reservoir happened on Sunday, for Stewart's birthday. Eight walked, eleven ate and drank at the Sportsman in Hayfield. It was a lovely day despite the light rain. Countless times as we walked in the beautiful Derbyshire hills I was reminded that this is what I came home for. Perfect climate, beautiful countryside within walking distance from my front door, good friends and a decent pie and pint at the end of the day.

More news to follow, when the results are in. Laters.

Some ramblings

Well met, fellow traveller, and sod you too..

I was trundling along the A56 coming out of Salford (some say the best thing to come out of Salford, ho ho) yesterday, when a red Hyosung 650 roared past me. For those who don't know or care, I ride a yellow Hyosung 650, and there aren't many around. The bloke stopped at the next lights, I pulled up alongside. Normally when two bikes are at the lights there's a nod or a grunt exchanged, a bit like saying "good morning" to total strangers when going to the village shop. It's a recognition of membership in society. Car drivers don't do it, because they are in fact permanently indoors, indeed they are in their own little living rooms watching the road go by on telly. This detachment explains some of their dick-headed behaviour. Car drivers are bemused by bikers acknowledging each other, but I ask you - who's normal here? Anyway, I digress. The bloke on the red Hyosung blanked me completely. He roared off and I sheepishly followed, feeling a bit rejected. I doggedly pulled up alongside him at the next lights and deliberately engaged the chap in conversation. He was pleasant enough, but I felt like there was something missing. Finally he jumped and said "Bloody hell, you're on a Hyosung!". He was instantly more friendly and we discussed the bike's merits, comparing notes on breakdown costs and the perils of cheap and cheerful motorcycling. It's a rare biker that doesn't even look at other bikes, let alone check what make they are. Anyway we parted good friends, and if I see him again on the A56 I will, of course, blank him completely.

Physical jerks

I got such a cob on with this bad back, that I dipped out (see what I did there?) on swimming yesterday. Consequently I will go at lunchtime today and swim my little heart out. It's all I can do on doctors orders. I hope I get referred to a Physio tomorrow, this is killing me. Exercise has been a lifelong habit, and I worry that I've worn out some major parts, pushing an imperfect geometry so hard for 30 years. The "Fitness freak" label is one I accept gladly, but the reasons for all the exercising is not as obvious as you might expect. Some say vanity is the main reason (must keep in shape!), others talk about endorphin addiction. My take on it is, I spend my working life on projects that often last for months, with no sense of closure. It can be difficult at the end of a working week, to feel a sense of achievement when all I've done is make a few blog updates and fill in a timesheet. When I go for a bike ride, or a game of squash, or even a run or a swim, there's a beginning and an end, and something always gets done.

Art

Wifey's under severe stress, with only one weekend left before her third year assessment. She's working basically 16 hours a day. This is the point at which I start to get equally stressed, as she tries out new ideas on me, which seem to completely contradict the ideas she's been working on for the last three months. This business of engineers living with artists is extremely strange. How can you spend three months working so hard on a piece of art, then do something completely different with hours to spare before the deadline? Answer; it's not about the original idea, it's about the process. Weird, mind-expanding stuff. She normally gets good marks so it must be working. Now where did I leave those beta blockers?

Details of the exhibition, which is basically Lyn's third year efforts, and those of two of her colleagues, open to the public for four weekends (thur/fri/sat), are at www.neoartists.co.uk - the title of the show is "Farrago" and it's happening at 28 Corporation Street in Bolton. The dates are shown as 25th June to 24th July, but I believe it finishes on the 17th July. I have to say, the quality of the woodwork, the lighting and the electronics are faultless. I suppose the art's ok too. By the way, if you're used to thinking of her as a painter, be prepared for a sudden left turn.

Laters.

Carp in the Park, and Owls

We went to Queens Park in Bolton on Sunday to see Carp in the Park - no, not a rock band - it's a big fish on legs, which is designed with removable wooden scales that are painted by children in the area. It's a project by Lyn's friend Maggie (see photo), commissioned by the local council as part of a sclupture trail being built in the park. It went very well, and by 2 in the afternoon all the scales had been painted and were laid out to dry. The fish will eventually be installed on an island in the stream that runs through the park.

While we were basking in the glory of the fish, I noticed the stall next door had a fantastic collection of birds of prey, including to my lasting delight, a Eurasian eagle owl. I talked to the nice lady whose husband was flying the birds around, and apparently nobody gets to touch the larger birds in case they get angry and snip off the odd finger. However I was allowed to hold "Circle", a small female tawny owl. I was beside myself, grinning like an idiot... I have always loved owls. Oscar the eagle owl was immense and regal and sat on his perch ignoring everyone. Apparently keeping these birds is not very easy so my dream of owning one is still in the future - possibly when I retire.

My photographic skills were at an all-time low so all I got were some blurred shots of "Dupe" the Bengal eagle owl being flown around. I got one good one of him about to land on the bloke's glove...
One of the birds, a 9-week-old barn own ("Fred" - extremely cute) had flown up into a tree and wasn't coming down despite all the tasty morcels the guy offered it. I think it wasn't sure about the crowds, and probably came down later. Hope so anyway.

Plug for the bird sanctuary: http://cuerdenbirdsofprey.com

There was also a bloke discovering large reptiles trapped in logs..

All in all, a good day was had. This is what we want eh? Who needs elephants and sword-swinging tai chi? Not me.

Laters

Derbyshire Open Arts

The bank holiday weekend went by in a flash. Notable events:

• Cluedo and Pictionary at new mate Sharon's place
• Buying art in New Nills
• Bike ride to Chapel

Had a lovely time in Sharon's on Saturday, drinking eating and playing Cluedo, which I loved but isn't to everybody's taste, and Pictionary, which reminded me that a) I can't draw for toffee and b) my missus is brilliant at it. Lots of jolly japes, wizard weezes and general mathem. I won't go into detail but a cetain naff Europe-based pop music competition will never be the same again. It's a while since I saw someone nearly throw up from laughing, so thank you Martin.

Derbyshire Open Arts is a festival where artists all over Derbyshire who want to have their carpets ruined, play host to other artists who don't, and their houses remain open for the three days as temporary galleries. Lots of art gets bought and lots of tea/coffee/plonk gets drinked. Wifey has been known to take part, but this year she's so busy with Uni she hasn't really produced much showable stuff so didn't bother. However we toook some time out on Monday afternoon to visit two houses in New Mills. I loved one particular drawing of a street scene in New Mills so much that I had to buy it. No idea where I'll hang it, or the very nice but slightly erotic life-drawing by the same artist (Clare Allan - www.clareallandrawings.blogspot.com), but they are lovely items to own. I was just too late to get the original of the street scene (damned red spot) so had to settle for a print (3/50), but I got the original of the life drawing, ha!

That reminds me, I'm thinking of attending life-drawing classes. Watch this space for news and bad sketches.

Later that day, and no doubt buoyed by caffeine, I decided I'm tired of this bad back and I'm going to ignore the damned thing and take exercise anyway. I dusted off the trusty MTB and trundled round my usual route to Chapel, over to Hayfield and home. All road, no mud, about 20 km. My back hardly complained at all, and the old lungs and legs felt much better for it. I slept well ast night, that's for sure. Not sure I'm brave enough to pick up the squash racket just yet, I might give it another week or so. Swimming at lunch time is a good habit I've managed to get into, so overall the flab is being kept at bay.

There's a certain amount of local unrest about this building:

..which is being buit at the back of some shops in New Mills. I can't remember what it's for, but they have a lot of work to do if it's not going to be an eyesore in the town. Maybe some creative cladding. It's an area where planning permission rules are fairly stringent, so nobody can quite believe what's happening. There are dark mutterings of brown envelopes....

Here's a blurred picture of an artist at work...
It's a rare and elusive moment so I make no apologies. The fruits of this labour (and the suspected cause of my bad back - 11 extremely heavy doors) can be seen from June 24th to July 17th in Bolton town centre, and if you're at all artistically minded I recommentd a visit. There are three artists running the show, which is called "Farrago". Get along there, or miss something wonderful.

Still awaiting the arrival of my stuff from Bangkok. That means I'm still drumless and quite bereft. Reduced to practising on pillows, the shame of it.

Later taters.

Ooyah

(wrote this last week, forgot to post it...)

My back is killing me. I have an appointment at the quacks on monday. Meanwhile no heroics. There are people in the new office who are aware of my near-legendary squash prowess, and they are queueing up for a drubbing, but I'm having to make sissy excuses because of my back. I hate being sick in any way, it's a personal insult from god. (..who?)

Work fairly slow, I begin to wonder if there really was any hurry for me to get here. Oh well, I'm sure it will get busy eventually.

Wifey and I have done two successive evening shifts at the installation site in Bolton this week. We've built a wooden frame around the staircase with a door (my poor back), so no light can leak into the installation from the stairwell. It'll be worth a visit when it opens if you're remotely interested in contemporary art. Details nearer the time. For a relatively unimportant (apart from the hectic rush for a first-class degree) third-year show, an awful lot has gone into this, and the other things she's done this year. I can't wait to see how busy we get when the final year rolls around. I may have to retire and become a full-time chippy/electrician/ladder-carrier/general handyman.

(..and now this week..)

Doctor prescribed the stronger anti-inflammtory drug Diclofenac, which has made me feel like I'm 25 again. Nothing hurts. You know you only notice things when they suddenly disappear? Well it turns out I've had aches and pains everywhere and just been ignoring them. Shoulders, back, knees, wrists, all feeling fine now thanks very much. I'm going to hate it when I have to stop taking these pills. I even feel like I could manage a game of squash, but best not until I'm off the sicklist. Doc reckons the back will be fixed after a week or so.

Work stayed boring for a week, got interesting for a few days, and is now boring again. Damn.

In other news, I found out yesterday that Leftfield have reformed with most of the lineup from 1991 (Leftism album) and are playing Manchester on 5th June and Sheffield on 6th. Must drag the missus along to one of those. I think they clash with some arty stuff - serious discussion ahead (gulp).

Speaking of arty stuff, Lyn filled the kitchen with white plaster fingers. I took some photos and made an animation, but the effect was much more spooky, even gruesome, in real life.



In other news, it seems we are going to have house-mates, in the form of Odette, and later Emma and Jody. One question - where will I put my drums when they arrive from Thailand? It's all temporary while they sort out jobs and places to stay, hopefully in New Mills. It will be nice for our social sphere to expand a little.

While we're on drums, I had my first drum lesson since my return yesterday and loved it. Loads of new stuff to practice as soon as I get some kit. That boat can't arrive fast enough.

Have to go, time for my medication. Be good.

Art Project

With special thanks to Peter F for pointing me in the right direction electronically, here's something I threw together for Lyn's latest installation. She wanted something which would make the lights appear to "Breathe"..


Yes, that is tupperware. It's a quality job.

Oh well, back to the 200 plaster fingers we have to make for the other piece she's doing. I feel like I've entered the twilight zone. At least I'm not getting shot at.

Laters