In the Dust

I have been playing around more with the idea of juxtaposing text onto surfaces where you wouldn't expect to see it. I especially liked this pne as the text looked like it had been there for a long time. If you want to read more about artistic process visit my artists blog at:http://visual-poetics.blogspot.com/

Edinburgh and all that

Have Just got back from the Edinburgh Festival, the highlight of which, for me was a comedian called Tim Minchin, who was extremely funny (as well as a very good singer). He is coming to Norwich in November and I would higly recommend seeing him if you get the chance. There is quite a bit of his stuff on You Tube but mostly not as funny as his new show - plus you really have to have the whole package with the talking as well as the songs.

I wasn't that impressed with the shows at Edinburgh this year, although there were some good ideas in the shows we saw they generally just seemed to be lacking something.

Lattitude

Lattitude Festival was fun. highlights for me were:

Simon Armitage reading from his new book "Gig"

Gig is not a book of poetry, it is about Armitage's lifelong passion for music and is very funny. Hearing him reading from it made me want to go out and buy it immediately but I am holding out for the paperback.

Carol Ann Duffy who read extensively from her book "The World's Wife".

Franz Ferdinand whose performance was great but who could have done with a little better rapport with the audience.

but the highlight of the weekend for me was definitely Sigur Ros. I have to admit that even though I am a big fan of the band I did initially have some reservations when I saw that they had been programmed as the headlining band on Saturday night. But I needn't have worried they were amazing. Giving an energtic and electrifying performance with great lights and effects.

All in all the festival was great, but it was considerably bigger than last year and they had not increased the size of the venues within the site. That was ok for the outside stages but for the inside venues it was a real problem. It was really hard to get anywhere near to the comedy tent and even the literature and poetry tents were full to bursting with may disappointed people who could not get in. I felt that their biggest mistake though was to programme bands as big as Blondie and The Coral in the Uncut tent, which, was just too small for the crowds who wanted to see them. You couldn't even hear them properly outside as the music from the main stage was too loud.

Lorca and The Clash

Is it a coincidence I wonder that one of my favourite poets of all time Federico Garcia Lorca is mentioned in a song by the Clash? Or was I subliminally programmed to like him after spending years as a teenager listening to the album London Calling. Lorca is mentioned in the song Spanish Bombs.

Spanish Bombs

Spanish songs in Andalucia

The shooting sites in the days of '39

Oh, please, leave the vendanna open

Frederico Lorca is dead and gone

Bullet holes in the cemetery walls

The black cars of the Guardia Civil

Spanish bombs on the Costa Rica

I'm flying in a DC 10 tonight

[Chorus]

Spanish bombs, yo te quiero infinito

yo te quiero oh mi corazón

Spanish bombs, yo te quiero infinito

yo te quiero oh mi corazón

Spanish weeks in my disco casino

The freedom fighters died upon the hill

They sang the red flag

They wore the black one

But after they died it was Mockingbird Hill

Back home the buses went up in flashes

The Irish tomb was drenched in blood

Spanish bombs shatter the hotels

My senorita's rose was nipped in the bud

[Chorus]

The hillsides ring with "Free the people"

Or can I hear the echo from the days of '39?

With trenches full of poets

The ragged army, fixin' bayonets to fight the other line

Spanish bombs rock the province

I'm hearing music from another timeS

panish bombs on the Costa Brava

I'm flying in on a DC 10 tonight

[Chorus]

Spanish songs in Andalucia,

Mandolina, oh mi corazon

Spanish songs in Granada, oh mi corazon

my other blog

I have another blog about art and the written word.
you can visit it at http://www.visual-poetics.blogspot.com or click the link.

Bowie/Brel

I was watching "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" last night and was reminded once again how much I like the song "My Death." Bowie has done a few Brel covers and he does them really well. They suit his voice and the words are really mournful and poignant. I was disappointed though at the sound quality of the special edition DVD, if anything it is worse than that of the version I taped of the TV in the 1980s.

jaques Brel's lyrics seem more like poetry to me than song lyrics.

Once

We watched a really good film last night called "Once". I wasn't sure I was going to like it but I can't recommend it highly enough. The film is made great by the naturalistic acting of the two main characters and also by the brilliant soundtrack featuring the two leads. The music reminded me a lot of damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan at their best. It is so refreshing to watch a film where the story isn't tied up neatly for you. In the great tradition of European films "Once" is more about what doesn't happen and what isn't said than what is and that is what makes it so beautiful.