One the move

Another of my little expeditions starts tomorrow with a drive up to Caen-Ouistreham to get the ferry to Portsmouth.  After that I’ll be in Lincoln, Sheffield, Winchester, Farnham, and Newbury before heading to Stansted for a flight to Prague.  I’ll be at Europarc 2007 in Český Krumlov for a few days, and then heading back here to the hills of the Massif Central, and hopefully to some more Indian summer weather.  I think I’ve cracked blogging, tweeting and flickring away from base now, so keep your eyes peeled.

A little Carlinhos Brown to bring out the sun (No.3)

Along with a few others from my World Music Deezer Playlist ...

Evelyn

"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination." - Oscar Wilde From Evelyn on twitter

Pangea day

This looks like a great idea, spread the image.

Batala at Notting Hill 2007

Another clip, longer, with one of the new tunes for this year. Luvverly

Rhod Gilbert

I got a video clip sent to me of a wonderful luggage stand-up spot, and have now sleuthed enough to discover it's someone called Rhod Gilbert.

Li'l lamb and pig

Sounds a bit like that dozydotes an marezydotes an lilamsee divy etc. thingy.

In fact me an l'il lamb made a pig at the weekend. i think he turned out pretty well. Shame we can't animate him; he's got a future this guy...

Deezer

The more I use Deezer, the more I like it. Listen legally and free to streaming music.

Guerrilla eating out

A link from twitter's panmesa to this article from the San Fransisco Chronicle about speakeasy style restaurant experiences in California. The phenomenon builds on a kind of rave-like secret word of mouth network taking advantage of ad-hoc opportunities to eat together for a price. It's spontaneous, unpredictable, and seems to be getting popular. I like the idea and maybe it's worth a try here. I'll see what mrs francerant thinks.

More from the festival des creatifs

These are the two stone sculpture pieces I worked on over that first weekend of August.

Batala at Notting Hill 2007

I wasn't there. I wish I had been, but I wasn't. Next year I will be. This clip, like most of its type, lacks the sound quality to do it justice. This is just the warm-up!

Sea Otters and Their Stones

While surfing through LinkedIn contacts I came across a guy called Tim, who has a website. And on this website he tells us why the site is called otterstone.

Sea otters feed on clams and sea urchins from the sea bed. To crack open the tough shells, the sea otter pounds them against a stone which it balances on its chest. An otter keeps a favourite stone in a 'waistcoat pocket', which is a fold of skin under its armpit. Otters carry their favourite stone with them at all times throughout their life no matter what else happens.

I've had one or two breathtaking moments watching sea otters do this, when I lived on the shores of Loch Etive in Argyll, but I didn't know that they kept the stone! That's outstanding! Thanks Tim.

(Credit to Mathew for the photo.)

Sketching

Been sketching with li'l lamb since she got back from her first day at school. This is my effort, it's not Leonardo but it whiles away the time and keeps the eye hand coordination in use. Lamb didn't like her effort, but I might get permission to show you a part of it. Don't hold your breath.

Festival des Creatifs

I mentioned the festival recently with a view to putting up a photo or two of what I got up to. Here's the first one. A print from a lino cut. Great fun to do, absolutely compulsive, transported be straight into 'the zone.

As yer man Fraser said, 'we're doomed, we're all going tae die'

Listening to this after a trawl through my old tapes, I found it hard to believe that when this was a round I really believed it was likely to happen ... Was that just me?

Trade a paperclip for a house

Here's the full story - chapeau, as they say in France

To be human

...

To remember
the other world
in this world
is to live in your
true inheritance.

...

What to remember on waking by David Whyte

Creativity

Somehow I didn't find the time to mention all the creative workshops we managed to enjoy over the first weekend in August. One of our friends organised a 'Festival des creatifs', with 25 workshops of various sorts to enjoy, for an all-in family price of 10 €. Bargain. I spent most time sculpting stone, and had a ball with that. (Photos to come when I've collected my camera from where it was left on Saturday night.) But also managed some lino-cutting and printing, (fantastic) ; and woodworking, (too many machines involved). The rest of the family did kite-making, making paint from natural colours, and scultpure using stuff from the tip. We had a great time. Being able to play and create without pressure as an adult is a rare enough experience. I have dreamed of getting some buildings together to make supported adult creative play an opportunity all year round. You know, nice place to stay, great local food and booze, and a nursery play room for grown ups and children to get stuck in and messy. What do you reckon? Should we try?

Animoto - create your own videos from stills

just came across this site, and tried this one out. Bit of a mismatch between the music and the photos, but you get the idea!

Uplifting

Music I mean. Here's a clip of Rodrigo y Gabriella, wonderful stuff. Buy it! Go and see them live! You won't regret it.



I also came across a new composer at the annual concert in the local church. Two Dutch guys, Pieter Grimbergen and Erik Lips, have put this on every year since 2002, and it attracts a full house every time. The new (to me) composer is Carlos Guastavino. I'm looking for some recordings to listen to.

And we're doing a local series of our first gigs as a Batala band - Samba Massif, at Langeac, (today), Brioude, (Saturday), and Blesle (next Tuesday).