little more than a placeholder

A week or so later

2008-11-13T19:10:56Z

In the name of closing a few tabs, here are a few of my favourite post-US-election links:

The Boston Globe’s “The Big Picture” blog is often excellent. They had a really nice selection of photos of President-Elect Obama.
Jason Kottke collected a whole variety of electoral maps
The Guardian collected many-a-homepage to show how sites around the world reported the results
and of course the flickr set showing the First-Family-to-be watching the results roll in

Ambridge Acoustic Revue - Dia de los Muertos

2008-11-03T22:40:34Z

The third in our series of Ambridge Acoustic Revues was another roaring success. Noting the date, Rob had suggested we adopt a Day of the Dead theme and decked the building out in fine style. And for a special treat Garry created a fabulous puppet to greet people on the door.

Jon and Phil, our usual house band, were off on tour with Beth Rowley, giving the evening a slightly different feel. Jez kindly stepped in on drums, and Foy Vance joined a couple of the others to lend some bass to their tunes. Hayley, Jon, Foy, and of course Iain played well, and all in all it was immensely enjoyable. We hope to have another one ready to announce in the next couple of days.

In the meantime, the rest of my photos are on flickr.

Burn After Reading

2008-10-27T13:08:10Z

I’d listened to a few reviews and didn’t go into this latest Coen Brothers film with high expectations but having enjoyed every one of their previous films (except, perhaps, their Ladykillers remake) and considering myself a committed fan I’d hoped to see something the reviewers had missed. Or at least enjoy a riotous, if inconsequential, romp along the lines of Intolerable Cruelty.

But no.

Forty minutes in I was pulling out my phone wondering how much longer there was to go. Most of the time I just watched in disbelief as lines came and went that were clearly intended to be jokes but just fell flat. There was another hour or so before we could leave. It was quite a comedown after No Country For Old Men and I left with my faith in the Coens deeply shaken.

Design Cities

2008-10-27T13:00:37Z

The Design Cities exhibition–running at the Design Museum until early January–has been on our list for quite a while and we finally made it along yesterday. The exhibition focussed on seven cities that the curators argued had in turn dominated world design over the past 160 years, and laid out a number of iconic items from each. It seems like almost every exhibition we’ve visited in the past couple of years has been dominated by chairs and this was no exception, but there were also a range of other devices from tableware to consumer electronics.

I had been expecting more exploration of cities themselves rather than a focus purely on the items produced within them. There was a sketch of a proposal (not accepted) for the Chicago Tribune building (interestingly given that Chicago wasn’t one of the featured cities), the obligatory photograph of the Bauhaus, and a quick look at one of the new Olympic facilities being built in East London. But other than that the built environment was ignored and that was a shame. It would have been interesting to have had more depth and an exploration of whether there’s any connection between city planning, architecture and the aspirational consumer goods that actually dominated.

The exhibition started and ended with London, arguing that London is currently the focal point of contemporary design but then leaving a dangling question of whether design has such a focus in our globalised world. It felt like that final section was rather confused as it raised the question but didn’t really grapple with it.

The place of communications was another area that wasn’t really serviced as it could be. The time spent exploring each city’s products in turn was a good introduction, but there wasn’t enough space for looking at the wider ecosystem in which each city enjoyed its moment of glory, how the trends moved on, and so on. Presenting that might have left the visitor better able to assess the questions about whether we have or need a focal point for global design today.

Overall it all felt like the introduction to a great exhibition and a little incomplete, but worth a visit if you’re in the neighbourhood.

Snowshow

2008-10-13T08:08:10Z

I don’t think I ever got round to blogging about it, but I really enjoyed Katie Chastain’s debut album when it came out a few months back, particularly for Nathan Johnson’s production work. Nathan’s been busy working with some big names but it’s good to see that he and Katie have had time to put together a video to go with her song ‘Snowshow’. It’s a lovely example of what’s possible with some home-made props and a single-camera shoot.

Katie Chastain - ‘Snowshow’ from Nathan Johnson on Vimeo.

News Blow

2008-10-12T16:08:32Z

Reading Chuck Klosterman’s Brief History of the 21st Century (via kottke) I was left wondering (as so often with future-fiction) how much of it is really about the modern day:

A report from the American Medical Association expresses fear over the proliferation of news blow. “It appears,” the report concludes, “that prolonged consumption of news blow renders the user incapable of relating to any person not engaged with an identical strain of the substance.” Society is no longer separated by geography, culture, or language; humans now group themselves solely through the shared use of specific info drugs. A divide emerges between Americans on the West Coast (who primarily smoke news blow synthesized in rural California) and people living in the East (who snort a more potent strain developed in Baltimore). Over time, people in New York and Los Angeles find themselves unable to communicate about anything — they now understand the most basic building blocks of information in totally different ways.

Of course it’s tricky to believe that the US would break into halves along east/west lines (I’d expect a more patchwork effect), and really, the whole piece is rather US-centric. But it’s an entertaining and quick read.

News blow continues to splinter society. Though technically still a union, the U.S. splits into two autonomous halves that have no relationship with each other. The same thing happens in Europe (now divided into seven vague provinces), Russia (which fractures into five regions), and Africa (which becomes five superstates, plus Madagascar). Select diplomats attempt to bridge the gaps by consuming multiple strains of news blow simultaneously, but these attempts lead to depression and catatonia.

Curiosity and Legacy

2008-10-09T16:57:17Z

Being a little more removed from the US presidential elections this time around has been a bit of a relief. I’m still horrified that there’s even a question over which of the two candidates will win (Obama’s too right-wing for me, but that’s US politics for you), but at least we’re outside the myopic gaze of what passes for the media on that side of the pond.

Slacktivist is, of course, right on the money about the travesty that is Sarah Palin’s candidacy, and it was that which came to mind as I watched video of Doris Kearns Goodwin talk at TED about Abraham Lincoln’s thirst for knowledge and quest to educate himself. Her talk is well worth a listen, but be warned it may leave any watcher of contemporary presidential politics dispirited.

Belated Greenbelt Artifacts

2008-09-27T11:10:09Z

It’s taken a month, but I’ve finally sifted through my Greenbelt photos, picked out a few passable shots, and uploaded them to flickr. It was far more satisfying last year when there was time for me to do some editing and uploading as the festival unfolded, get around and capture more, and be a little more responsive to how the photos were working out. But there are still a few shots I’m pleased with, and editing them is a nice reminder that I did make it to a little of the festival.

You can find them over here.

It’s also been very satisfying to see the video content begin to come together. There were some great responses to the live streaming a group of us put together (which you can read about here, here and here) but there’s also something great about the more carefully edited (well done, Jenny) material that you can find on the GB site.

In fact, witnessing the recording of a couple of those videos were among my highlights of the festival this year. So much so that I’m going to break with my usual habits and embed them below. Enjoy!

Foreign Slippers featuring Beth Rowley at Greenbelt 2008 from Greenbelt Festival on Vimeo.

Iain Archer and family at Greenbelt 2008 from Greenbelt Festival on Vimeo.

A few post-greenbelt thoughts

2008-08-28T10:01:09Z

This year’s Greenbelt programme contained a piece by Maggi Dawn, who sadly wasn’t able to be at the festival. Reading the programme on the tube back from a post-festival get-together, I really connected with Maggi commenting:

Whether Glastonbury or Global Gathering, at their heart, all festivals are actually less about gazing at bands from the back of a field, and far more about the day-to-day encounters we have around the site. We have a fundamental need for these real-life meetings, because without them, we cannot create or sustain community. Yet, strangely, that’s one of the paradoxes of this idea of festival: we immerse ourselves in order to be able to leave it. Showing up is what makes the festival work, but Greenbelt is also all about not being at Greenbelt, about taking the infection away and breeding it in the day to day communities that sustain us.

I love the second-half of the paragraph, but it was the first that really struck me. I had one of those years where I felt like I didn’t really see the festival in the programme sense. I turned up for a few minutes at several gigs, and took a lot of photos (all of which sit on my laptop awaiting editing, I’ll post again when something’s on flickr) but I wasn’t able to really get a sense of what the festival was like this year. And that’s okay.

David Dark and I had a brief exchange about the “deep magic” (I called it magic, he added the deep) that keeps so many of us working at the festival. We run ourselves ragged, get frustrated, and channel it all into conversations about how we’ll fix it for next year. Always next year. (almost) Always hopeful. It’s quite a thing.

The festival may or may not be in perpetual beta, but the feature set is somehow compelling.

Ambridge Acoustic Revue

2008-08-03T11:00:00Z

The first of our little musical get-togethers at St. Luke’s went so well that we’re planning to make them a regular fixture under the name “Ambridge Acoustic Revue.”

The next one will be on August 30th and if all goes according to plan will feature Julie Lee, Lobelia Sabo and Aaron Roche. And of course it will once again be ably hosted by Iain Archer.

For those of you who are planning to attend Greenbelt you can think of it as a little afterglow from the festival, and for those who aren’t… well, we suspect it’ll be a highly enjoyable evening of music.

If you’re so inclined you can let us know you plan to attend on facebook or last.fm.