Category: Events
2008 in review
This year we:
- got well into spinning around on bikes - going to Brighton, Box Hill, Brasted, between Seville and Cordoba, 47.5 mph down Titsey Hill and through London at night (occasionally without lights or a full complement of contact lens – neither recommended)
- got sonically sliced and reassembled by a blistering Autechre and .snd gig in Hearn street car park. Had to leave early, but could still hear the beats a good five minutes walk away
- started a dangerous habit of European city breaks, and had a series of glorious meals in Paris, broken only by some serious dancing in the original Favela Chic
- tried to keep rock climbing, semi-successfully
- left one career; got another job after visiting the pub
- saw (and loved) my first Chagall at From Russia, an exhibition teeming with quality, exhilarating to see Kandinsky’s and Malevich in the flesh
- marvelled at Richard Serra’s malleable steel playground
- shook out some demons at various dread sound systems at my first Notting Hill carnival
- grasped and gasped my way round Roger Hiorn’s Seizure
- tasted madelines (metaphorically) at a Mogwai gig
- cried at a Rod Stewart song
- probably reached the crux of hipsterdom seeing a poet do a reading along to Gang Gang Dance in Hoxton. Whilst wearing jeans that were probably on the skinny side.
- got even more hipsterish when watching some free jazz in Dalston, including a man playing a bin bag filled with gas. It was a furious, exhilarating concert though
- politely clapped to a man prancing around on a JCB
- spontaneously combusted to Herbie Hancock encoring with a Keytar
- pestled my own pesto
- visited Riverside for some World Championship darts, discovered that it’s really not my sport
- still haven’t used the mango destined for that fish curry
- sat on cushions in the Tate's turbine hall and got assaulted by some early computer animation, it was well techno
- completed Crysis on a 32" LCD
- saw Public Enemy at Brixton Academy; Alva Noto at the ICA; 808 State, Arthur Baker and IF at Jacks; Squarepusher and LFO at the Astoria; Loefah and Hijak, Mala and Skream at Black Sheep Bar
- Stuart Lee at the Hen & Chickens and at the Soho Theatre
- Richard Herring, Phil Nichol, Josie Long, Bridget Christie, Will Adamsdale, Pappy's Fun Club and Dave Goreman with free bangers at Battersea Arts Centre
- Steve Coogan at Apollo
- Elizabeth and Rayleigh at Croydon Library Theatre
- lots of Bug at the BFI with Adam Buxton
- Sean Locke at Hammersmith Apollo
- Mighty Boosh at the O2
- Frank McGuiness' Oedipus with Ralph Fiennes at NT
- lost my father
- felt like I was having a heart attack from grief and fury at 3am
- played a lot of Mass Effect
- bought an iPhone
- got a massive boil on the right eyebrow which had to be surgically removed
- moved offices and employer without changing jobs
- properly got into podcasts (Collings and Herrin, Dream Chimney, TwiT, The Tone Generation)
- got Miró, Calder, Giacometti and Braque in some perspective at the Royal Academy
- worked as a teaching assistant
- in the same 6-hour period: attended York Museum of Popular Culture, dressed like a hippy and swore at numerous children despite it being my jobsworth and met Tom Baker while eating a penguin
- had the drummer from the Housemartins and the Beautiful South give a workshop for da kids
08 08 08
2007 in review
This year we:
- repped our ends
- went rock climbing in the West Bank
- held drop-in sessions on equal pay
- queued for 45 minutes at the bar tent before giving up, then;
- teetered on the edge of a Liars’ mosh pit
- started a pupillage
- gawped at Haswell and Hecker's lasers while having our ear drums beaten
- then danced almost solely to the mighty Pan Sonic
- saw Stewart Lee with half the Mighty Boosh in the audience (we’re virtually best friends now)
- dined in Ramallah
- ate fresh fish by the Med, and enjoyed it, despite having to watch someone pose for their wedding video in obscene white trousers
- completed Tough Guy, the best part of which was hearing someone sing “spider-pig” while crossing a rope bridge when we hadn’t seen the movie yet
- ran a half-marathon
- made a disappointing Swiss Roll, cheesecake
- made a succession of great fishcakes, roasts and stews including a mango fish curry without the mango
- watched dancing judges at a Christmas party
- got involved in The Wire, but failed to understand all the Baltimore slang
- developed a dangerous habit for baklava
- went nuts when Diplo dropped Paul Simon at fabric
- went surfing in Wales
- enjoyed fine brandy after seeing Cecil and Anthony at the Royal Festival Hall
- made some kick-ass cookies
- upgraded from Uno to Punto
- upgraded from 50W to 150W sub
- upgraded from Tiger to Leopard
- upgraded from 19" to 32" LCD
- belatedly got into The US Office, The Mighty Boosh and Arrested Development
- visited Debrecen, Amsterdam and Eindhoven
- became an initiate of YC (Yogurt Club)
- learned Actionscript 3 and completed our first >2000 lines published software product
- built our own furniture
- noticed the superglued nails of Martin Simpson at the Croydon Folk Club
- shivered while peering at "For the love of God" (twice), went underground at Christoph Buchel's "simply botiful" and got wrapped up in anslem kiefer at the white cube
good tidings!
sometimes i wear a waistcoat to work. i feel a bit like i'm in a boy band though. i would try mixing in one, but i'm scared of what might happen.
artists/trackles:
cabaret voltaire
radiohead
mambologica
paper boys
was not was
sapphire
villalobos
south london boroughs
LV
mikal - take that jumper off
Exhibitions under development at the Apfrod Gallery
Brushes with the law
A collection of paintings of and by Policemen, Judges, Barristers and Solicitors, including renderings by courtroom artists, selections from political cartoons, doodlings on legal pads and diagrams from Police notebooks.
Guess the Fake
A selection of exquisite counterfeit paintings presented next to the originals. Collect a scorecard at the door, answers at the end.
Swapsies
An exhibition of art objects produced in series that other museums and collectors would like to swap.
Famous Frames
Frames on loan and reproduced from key masterpieces around the world. The corresponding works are identified in a separate pamphlet for those who wish to guess.
Famous Frames II
Spectacles on loan and reproduced from persons of interest around the world. The corresponding individuals are identified in a separate pamphlet for those who wish to guess.
2006 in review
This year we;
- got a banjo for xmas
- got fined fifty quid for littering
- rode the Paris tube one hot summer night, listening to Burial on headphones
- helped arrange a workshop at the Tate Modern (and then failed to show up)
- signed on
- didn't have a sauna
- paid tuition fees late
- got fatter
- got chatted up on the Leeds-Kings Cross train
- got some kittens
- went boating in Cornwall
- got a violin for xmas (and broke the string already)
- got punched for being foreign (we're not)
- used a bottle as a weapon
- played Dungeons and Dragons (well... some of us)
- fluffed our lines at an interview
- puked in a plastic bag... in a moving car
- got recognised by a stranger
- moved out
- moved back in
- watched Edward Scissorhands completely pissed at five in the morning*
- upset a load of people
- listened to Joanna Newsum and got real sad
- disapproved of someone's girlfriend
- made a promise then broke it
- snorted derisively
- didn't visit the cow roast
- got a Master System
- and a NES!
- slept with someone then regretted it
- signed off
- applied for a job we didn't want
- got a scar
- witnessed a burglary
- got Wii Elbow
- experienced the two faces of Mitchell and Webb (at Grimsby Sports Hall)
- had a picnic in Yorkshire amongst statues
- got a train to Truro... with Luke Vibert!!!**
- saw the pretty side of Birmingham
- went to DMZ in Leeds and didn't get in
- took acid in the Derbyshire Dales (not all of us did this, we've got reputations to, erm, build)
- got closer
- drifted further apart
- heard about James Brown first thing Christmas morning
- remembered a dream in which we are killed
- got mistaken for criminals by the local constabulary
- fell out with a stranger in the pub
- bought drugs
- sold drugs
- got eye-deed
- refused to let someone in
- walked along the banks of Warrington canal
- drank cider from the Brandy Wharf
- learnt about insects
- went to a strip-club
- and discovered it was all a front for an illegal drugs syndicate
- and that they served the best pint of Carlsberg Export in town!
- quit without serving notice
- grew our hair long
- didn't buy a single cd
- got free latte at Greggs
- drove to Meadowhall in the fog
- did all our Christmas shopping in one day, at the last minute
- made friends with someone new
- played tennis near Messingham
- played in the snow
- went down to Colchester
- stuck stickers all around Oval
- recommended the Kode 9 album every time someone mentioned Burial
- went record shopping in foreign countries
- visited Berlin
- got a new job
- played with our nephews
- went into town for some boutique beers, then back to leeds DMZ, nonchalantly strolled past the bouncers and danced around our bag for two hours before going to the train station for a four hour wait
- got fitted for a gown
- played guitar until our fingers bled
- played another person’s records in a bar in Nottingham and got a hi-five over the decks for selecting aaliyah’s “try again”
- listened to radio four late into the night and used the information gained to secure a pupillage, which we celebrated by hugging our dad in our underwear
- got cross cross-examining someone
- schooled some fools at jurisprudence and got schooled ourselves in the ways of equity, tax and company
- really dug snow, the book
- repeatedly swum 100 lengths in under an hour, or occasionally a bit over an hour, all the while in speedos
- danced a bit half-heartedly at grosvenor house
- wished we had more vinyl
- composed and disseminated a motto for swim club
- cringed watching ourself on video
- cooked a superb series of pies, both savoury and dessert
- quizzed a butler about the possibility of "beating the light" whilst holding a makeshift staff and trespassing on a wedding reception on a country estate
- sat outside and smoked alone
- had bits of our teeth fall off
- sang along to the gossip in the car with our little brother
- hugged a friend who had returned from basra
- got called a tosser from the top window of a bus in an estate in hull
- consumed, enjoyed, then made notes on ivanov, on beauty, blow up, kadare (x2), old boy, osama, the penelopiad, hidden, blue of noon, money, orphee, the line of beauty, rashomon, snow, the third policeman, portrait of a lady, the double life of Veronique, the great war for civilisation, never let me go, and so many ways to begin
- discussed the merits of gas-powered street lighting
- got the jitters listening to Miriam Makeba’s “Mbube”, even though it was subsequently used on a tv ad
- was taught the difference between moral and personal autonomy in a way which severely changed our world view
- remembered to use the phrase “are you dumb inna headpiece?” in conversation
- dj’d whilst dressed (badly) as a mummy
- refused to give in
- played with our existing nephew
- held our two new nephews
- learnt to play the drums
- drank too much
- finally made some real money
- got an ear infection
- and spent a fortnight on prescription opiates
- got our first parking ticket
- reached new lows on New Deal
- read the local paper regularly
- bought an Oyster card
- drank Dragon Stout stood next to Sgt Pokes
- learnt about the Dutch
How about you?
* that's us that were pissed, not eddie.
** ok, so he was in the same carriage. he had his kids with him. he also had a mr sparkle tee shirt on. look, it was definitely him, he's smoked scunny hash. we're mates. ahem.
MP3 transmitters - that's us right?
BBC News: Ban on MP3 transmitters is lifted
Expect very localised Kentrax pirate radio from Dec 8th onwards! Ten four.
R.I.P.
Ferenc Puskas 1927-2006
Change of Proposition
To follow on from Jon Wozencroft's comments, he first noted how Warhol retrospectively edited his own utterances; when asked for clarification on his comment that we would all be famous for fifteen minutes, he claimed that what he had meant was that we would all be famous in 15 minutes. The gloss placed on this by Jon was what a difference that proposition made - as if most words in sentences have little or no function and so could be changed without any perceptible alteration in meaning! My interest lies elsewhere, how Warhol was rewriting his own history, the wit, and the change from everyone having a slice to everyone being within tantalizing distance. As noted, this was then followed by reporting Ian Curtis' mid-concert digression:
"There are some things that you'll never understand...she's lost control"
When trying to find reference to this for the post, I could only find
"There are some things that we'll never understand...she's lost control".
Ah, that crafty switcheroo. Maybe I misheard. Anyway, in the song itself, we start hearing about how "I've lost control" before the heavy repetition of the title, showing how easy this transference business is. In hommage to this, I have posted a mix that has nothing to do with the above, but does share a title.
mikal - change of proposition (zshare) (26:41)
madlib - public disservice announcement
la funk mob - motorbass get funked up
various artists - no. 9 (no.9,5 by funkstörung)
air - solidissmo (EDC remix)
prefuse73 - living life
raymond scott - memories: "bufferin'"
plastikman - concept 1 (thomas brinkmann remix)
blackdown - crackle blues (burial remix)
plaid - cost III (wrong speed? no such thing)
the books - exclamation mark
They're at it again...
The Baghdad proclamation of Lieutenant General Sir Stanley Maude, March 19, 1917, accompanied by 600,000 troops:
"…Our military operations have as their object the defeat of the enemy, and the driving of him from these territories. In order to complete this task, I am charged with absolute and supreme control of all regions in which British troops operate; but our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators. Since the days of Halaka your city and your lands have been subject to the tyranny of strangers, your palaces have fallen into ruins, your gardens have sunk in desolation, and your forefathers and yourselves have groaned in bondage. Your sons have been carried off to wars not of your seeking, your wealth has been stripped from you by unjust men and squandered in distant places. […]
It is the wish not only of my King and his peoples, but it is also the wish of the great nations with whom he is in alliance, that you should prosper even as in the past, when your lands were fertile, when your ancestors gave to the world literature, science, and art, and when Baghdad city was one of the wonders of the world. […]
But you people of Baghdad, whose commercial prosperity and whose safety from oppression and invasion must ever be a matter of the closest concern to the British Government, are not to understand that it is the wish of the British Government to impose upon you alien institutions. It is the hope of the British Government that the aspirations of your philosophers and writers shall be realised and that once again the people of Baghdad shall flourish, enjoying their wealth and substance under institutions which are in consonance with their sacred laws and their racial ideals. […]
Many noble Arabs have perished in the cause of Arab freedom...It is the determination of the Government of Great Britain and the great Powers allied to Great Britain that these noble Arabs shall not have suffered in vain. It is the hope and desire of the British people and the nations in alliance with them that the Arab race may rise once more to greatness and renown among the peoples of the earth, and that it shall bind itself together to this end in unity and concord.
O people of Baghdad remember that for 26 generations you have suffered under strange tyrants who have ever endeavoured to set on Arab house against another in order that they might profit by your dissensions. This policy is abhorrent to Great Britain and her Allies, for there can be neither peace nor prosperity where there is enmity and misgovernment. Therefore I am commanded to invite you, through your nobles and elders and representatives, to participate in the management of your civil affairs in collaboration with the political representatives of Great Britain who accompany the British Army, so that you may be united with your kinsmen in North, East, South, and West in realising the aspirations of your race."
Extracted from Robert Fisk's The Great War for Civilisation, which is an essential read, an inessential paperweight and a completely useless replacement watering-can.
Olivier Messiaen - Oraison (1937) (from An Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music Vol.4).
