Le Staglio Weekendo

Ah tis been quite a while ago already, set off with the lads for the stag weekend to the infamous 'Jigs n Reels' festival on Rathlin island.
Pretty much a loada tents in a field, a bunch of stages & army tents hosting all musical types from Drum n Bass in the crusty top to turgid raawk in the wonky tent at the bottom of the field.
Onsite amenties consisted of a tap in one corner and 4 portaloos in the other, but rough and rootsy is how we like it.
Prob wasn't the best idea tae camp 4 metres in front of the main stage since mister technowotnot from Frankfurterland played a marathon set from 12 midnight to 9 the next morning. I can still hear the crazy beats echoing in my head some weeks later.
Highlight was def Kwames high energy 'Bounce' set for Homespun with Francos all night turf speranza keeping the troops warm.


Fat harry imitates the foreland of Rathlin with his big noose!

The crusty revellers migrate

Mojos beard gets out of control

No sleep till monday....let the dancin' begin

Francos work of art

Kwame lets rip in the Homespun tent with some latin beat classics

Buckfast master on the loose

fires still going at 2 in the morning and attracts peoples from the murkness of the night much like moths around a lamp

A wet, tired and bemused German
Aye a good fish supper can do wonders after all that sleepless-ness
L-R, Mr Magoo, Hambo, Franco, Mojo, Mad Max, Fat Harry & Neilio

It is........worldwide!

My 1st love.....the old Citroen Hy, its a beauty!




Gilles Peterson and his kids watch Sebastien Tellier knock out the anthemic 'La Ritournelle' against the backdrop of boats floating in the med...ah yes.




Theatre de la mer, just before RJD2 take to the stage.





Great beach, scorching sand, cool sea, constant sun,just what the South of France was made for.

Baby I'm Board

Sbeen too long since the old board's been taken out for a decent run, took her out down the Holywood rd the other night to get to a party.
Reminded me of a reccuring daydream i have, harking back to my year in Australia, (1999/2000) back in the days when 'Young Weeksie' 1st introduced me to longboards.
It couldn't have been more than a few runs round a floodlit carpark but 6 months later I returned home & bought 'Mojo'(a 3ft9"Sector nine from Boardwise in Glasgow).

Ever since I've had this mental picture in my head, of revisiting Oz, board in hand, stepping off the plane, heading straight to Newcastle.
Somewhere down by the main beach theres a sweet little tarmac strip that runs its length with just enough gradient to get some decent speed.
In my head, I'm on the board carving down the hill till the wheels sing with the smell of hot rubber and humid summer air.
I get to the bottom of the hill, take one more run and head back to the airport.
Spun.

BEATS 'N PIECES

Wee hoose (nae moose)

Its been a while in the waiting but finally 'we' are the proud owners of a wee house. But don't be thinking this is the bit where I grow old and weary and start wearing ill matching pullovers while pondering over pastel tones in B&Q.
Well trips to DIY mania are probably inevitable. I did however manage to skate from my present abode on my longboard down the hill to the house in Sydenham the other day, whilst maintaining a youthful presence and make like I had something un-important to do other than pollyfill miscellaneous holes in the plaster.

There is something unnerving about the world of home improvements that you have to fight hard not to get sucked into. Our house is in relatively nice condition save from some mind boggling orange and pine colour schemes and a few scattered faux-antique light fittings.Yet there is almost some unspoken expectation that you must be in some hurry to transform the place in the time it takes to make an episode of 'Changing rooms'.
As the old song goes, 'we have all the time in the world'...just as long as you can make it to B&Q before 9pm.

Spaced out

Interesting challenges on a project I'm working with at the moment. I recently recieved a commission to produce photographic work which will be permantly installed in the new Health & well being centre, opening on the Antrim rd.
Its quite an interesting building and I certainly feel encouraged to be selected amongst a number of local artists.
I have been given two spaces to work with. One is a ground floor cafe with two seperate walls to work with, which is fairly straightforward. The 2nd is a top floor beautifully designed staff canteen with views overlooking Cave Hill & West Belfast through a series of simple but elegangtly placed windows.
The areas I have been given are the spaces between the windows around the circumference of the wall. This creates several issues, as the space is already in a way a work of design/art in the way it has been architecturally created and presents the outside landscape to the viewer. Any added visual material will not only contend with the view but also break up the continuity of the entire wall.
It is an interesting predicament to overcome before I can create the piece/pieces and how they are be mounted on the wall.
In some way the work needs to respond to the space itself but also the world outside without intruding but sit comfortably within it.
Answers on a postcard too.....

Careful now