Blue

   Blue, here is a shell for you
   Inside you'll HEAR a sigh
   A foggy lullaby
   There is your song from me

Summer Solstice

21st June. Midsummer solstice. Longest day of the year. At 11.30pm last night, my housemates and I decided to jump in the car and head to Stonehenge to witness first hand what exactly goes on during the night before the longest day of the year and when the the rope barriers are removed from around the circle of stones. I imagined a lot of drugs, dreadlocks, Druid dress, drumming, pagan rituals and chanting. There was drumming and I did spot a couple of older gentlemen with feathers in their hair, but the atmosphere of this once spiritual ritual was similar to that of a rather rubbish festival. The site was sprawling with Security in high-vis vests, sniffer dogs, burger vans, metal fencing and people passed out at your feet. One group of girls stumbled past at 1am looking like they had walked straight out of Topshop and had only ended up there because they had heard that this was the non-festival festival to be seen at. We were planning on staying to watch the sunrise, but by 2am we had had enough of the contradictory atmosphere, so headed back and were in bed, drifting off to sleep, just as the sun was starting to wake up. 

Broke

Early this morning I was full of positive intentions of completing as many tasks that I have put off for too long. First on the list was to recover some cushions. As good as my intentions were, I seemed to have misplaced my patience which resulted in a broken/tangled/knotted bobbin compartment in my sewing machine. I have left it in the corner of my room with the hope that the Fix-it Fairy will come and sort it out when I am turned the other way.

Tea please

Today I have drunk 4 cups of tea already and it has only just passed midday. I have a lot of time for tea. Especially the good stuff...loose leaves which give you 6 cups of tea, each infusion letting you see them slowly transform from their dried state back into their original open form. I also love meeting people with a passion and last week I had the pleasure of meeting Kate from Lahloo Tea, a Bristol based company which specialises in artisan teas from tiny little farms in China, India and Africa. As much as I thought I loved tea, Kate's knowledge and love for the subject is inspirational. One (of many interesting facts) that I learnt was that all 'tea' (white tea, green tea, black tea) comes from the same bush. Much like grapes to wine, the type of tea that is harvested is dependent upon the age of the leaf, the soil and the climate. The younger the tea leaf, the more delicate the flavour and the lower in caffeine. Right, I'm off to have cup number 5...a darjeeling I think.

Running away to join the circus

No jokes...with a little it of hard work, some chalk powder and guidance from my good friend Holly Black I really think that this whimsical, childhood dream could be realised. Today was my introduction to the circus skills and physical challenges that are the trapeze, the rope and the hoop. I am not going to use the deep crimson bruises and elephantitus swelling at the backs of my knees, the burns on my feet and callouses on the palms of my hands as barbed wire fences in front of my dream cloud. Instead, I am going to have a very hot bath, apply some serious moisturiser and jump straight back up on the apparatus. How could I not with the inspiration and gentle motivation of a truly talented good friend? When Holly Black leaps up on to the two foot wide metal bar, it is as if she is being suspended and maneuvered by invisible wires as the thought of her just having an incredible sense of balance and bodily awareness seems completely impossible. And the whole magical display is made even more wonderful when you remember that there are in fact no wires or puppetry and she does posses great levels of strength and control. These are some high levels that that I will (one day) achieve. Until then, I had best start practicing my pull-ups. 

Spring (...a little late)

I know we are heading rapidly towards the great British summertime (despite the delayed April showers this evening) but I had some films developed today from the end of the winter season. It seems strange to describe springtime as "the end" as it is the beginning of the new. I think it is a good point at which to impose a transition as things are changing and growing all around us. We become part of our environment.

'The Summer Book' Tove Jansson

"How did it die?" Sophia yelled. She was angry.
"Of unrequited love," her grandmother explained. "He sang and scolded all night for his scolder hen and then came along and stole her away, so he put his head under the water and floated away."
"That's not true," Sophia screamed. She started to cry. "Long-tails can't drown. Tell it right!"
So Grandmother told her he had simply hit his head on a rock. He was singing and scolding so hard that he didn't look where he was going, and so it happened, right when he was happier than he'd ever been before. 

5x5

Places times past future present next?

Recently I had an unidentifiable film developed and it turned out to me a rollarcoaster of forgotten times and places. On there were various images of different bedrooms I have rested my head and environments I have inhabited over the last 18 months: Brighton, Surrey, France, Portugal, Cornwall and Austria. Not only did it make me feel incredibly lucky as to have not only visited these places, but to have had the chance to make a home in all of them...it made me start think about my next move. Although the snow is still falling and frolicking in the Austrian Alps, the days are getting longer which means that Spring has almost arrived, meaning Summer is not that far away. When presented with so many options, often decision making is made even harder than with fewer. Do you go for the sensible, yet sheltered option? Or the short lived-lifestyle that is familiar, fun yet on a countdown? Or do you pick caution up and throw it to the wind and wolves and go with the most ridiculous, irrational option? All suggestions much appreciated. Please send via dove to the lost girl of the Arlberg.

J'adore chaussures

Whilst leafing through various back-dated articles on the Dazed website I came across a feature on two photographers, Kate Ballm and Dylan Don, who both have a fetish for shoes. In November they exhibited their collection of images in Paris. I love Paris. I love its subtle sophistication (a thing I merely observe as an outsider, hoping one day to participate). I love its coffee shop culture. I love shoes too. And this photograph. I would quite like to have a large pink balloon to hide behind sometimes.

http://hypebeast.com/2009/11/shoes-kate-bellm-dylan-don/

Four Tet

Irgendwo in den Bergen

So...it has been a while I'm afraid. It's mountain time of year again and I feel this one is going to be super-special. I can safely say I have never been to any space as beautiful as where I am lucky enough to rest my hat for the next five months. The Austrian mountains have a mood of there own...one which is changeable but always intense. When perched on the top of the mountains, the villages and towns below hideaway far below leaving an extensive landscape which appears to be any number of faraway places: sometimes the moon, sometimes the ocean but always the backdrop for a fairytale. I love more than anyone getting first lifts on a day off but have quickly developed a crush on last lifts. There is something incredibly magical and inspiring about knowing that your tracks will be the closing ones as you fly past the piste bashers in twilight.

Swede

In my final year at Uni a good friend and decided to runaway to Norway for a week. Whilst we were in Oslo there was a modest sized music festival taking place, which meant much of the city was plastered in the some of the most affectionately printed posters. One which I climbed a wall to rip off was Lykke Li's, who at the time I had never heard of. Fast-forward four months and there she is in Somerset...playing the Park stage at Glastonbury. Now here she is with Kleerup, who also hails from Sweden.

If this were in a film I would like to see it playing at the transitional time between night and morning when you have just left a club and just want it to be daytime or bedtime. Maybe you are feeling something bad. Or maybe it's just bittersweet?

Jakwob

Heard his remixes of Ellie Goulding's tracks then hunted him down on myspace. Hard to believe this talent comes from someone who has only spent twenty years here. Go listen loud. Brilliant noise and beautiful snap.

http://www.myspace.com/jakwob

p.s....another musical delight that I was made aware of this evening courtesy of the BBC1 Concert for Children in Need, was the legendary Dame Shirley Bassey collaborating with Dizzee Rascal. This is the stuff dreams are made of....what an inspirational partnership demonstrating that anything really can (and does) happen.

Eden Project

Yesterday I visited The Eden Project site for the very first time and was completely overwhelmed by the whole experience. The Eden Project is an educational charity "conceived when the environment had dropped from the agenda and environmentalists had taken on the mantle of Old Testament prophets, doom-laden and jargon-heavy".

The site of the project is not only rich in vegetation but also education and inspiration. Most widely known for its space-age like 'Biomes', The Eden Project is more than just cultivating tropical plants. The vibe you immediately pick up on as soon as you enter the gates (where you receive a substantial discount if you have cycled or walked) is one of genuine positivity that we, as a team, can slow down and maybe even repair the damage caused by our over-indulgent use of non-reusable fuel. Instead of using scare tactics like many movements attempting to promote are more sustainable lifestyle, The Eden Project does not drone on about the dismal state our world is in, but instead focuses on positive, manageable ways of helping not only the future of our world, but our communities and personal lives as well.

Please check out their website, and if you head to the South West at all, then The Eden Project should definitely be sat near the top of you 'to-do' list.