Our Day Out 1977

Great story written by Willy Russell of Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine fame, about a group of deprived liverpudlian school children who go out on a day trip. Any one hunting down all the Play for Today's will want to see this one as it was re aired in '78 for the series before being turned into a stage production.

RIP Our King of Sexploitation Stanley Long and a great Norman J warren

I recently found out about the death of Stanley Long, British exploitation and naughty movie maker. His work has spanned most of the British sex film industry, working with many to be stars including (much to her attempt to hide it) Elaine Paige. Here's a good obituary. Long's death reminded me of another director Norman J Warren, and his amazing film Prey (1977). Here are some stills of the crackers but brilliant sci-fi film, which has an amazing performance from Sally Faulkner as a man hating lesbian psychopath who has to deal with an out of space cat man intent of ridding earth of humans.

Bunti's Picture Show - Ian Ward

In in attempt for a life less ordinary Ian Ward, heavily influenced by the space age and the American car industry began to design his very own automobiles, a heady mix of opulent Hollywood and Watford suburbia. As his skills grew the automobiles became more architectural, platforms held up by doric columns and curly civic water features. These in turn progressed to more free forms held together in symmetry - these dream machines very reminiscent of Louis Wain and mandalas. Well worth a visit to the Horse Hospital to see these - on until the 29th

Bye Bye Kentish Town

Soon we will be leaving Kentish Town, and London at that. To commemorate here are a couple if songs and videos that sum up K Town life. The block in the Madness video is actually our one as Suggs's mum lived here, and Only Love Can Break Your Heart is filmed in Kentish Town, Gospel Oak and the Lido down the road...Ta ta for now.

Kurt Rowland and Elwyn S. Richardson

I found these two in Oxfam in Bristol - so great.

Museum of Endangered Sounds

A nice archive of dying sounds...

Local Network Audio

Alex, who has been roped into making soundtracks for any video work I have made has pulled together all his audio work and whacked it all into his new website...it's very good...But then I would say so! Above are some stills from a multiple monitor work of mine, you can hear the audio on Alex's site.

Bruce Lacey

This week has been full of Mr Lacey and I am very happy about that.. We went to a screening at the BFI 'In an English Country Garden', and have just got back from visiting his show at Camden Art's Centre - if you can make it I couldn't recommend it more, it's a great mix of his automaton machines, and ritual aids. The posters for various performances are beautiful. The BFI are releasing a DVD of his films if you cant make the show.

Reynolds Stone 1909-1979

Anyone that has a British passport will have their own little work of Reynolds Stone. He was a highly noted english wood engraver, engraver, designer, typographer and painter. Throughout his career he designed the the crest on the front of the British passports (The Royal Arms). The famous clock logo for the Times. The Minerva typeface, many stamps, more fonts one fondly named Janet after his wife for private use, the £5 and £10 notes, did the letter cutting for the Winston Churchill memorial as well as the huge art advocate for London Transport Frank Pick. Taught briefly by Eric Gill at the Royal College, he also in later life carved the gravestone for Benjamin Britten! Wow.

Niki de Saint Phalle

A bunch of images of work by the amazing Nikki de Sainte Phalle as well as some stills from the film Femina Riddens (1969) for which she created the amazing opening legs and the vagina dentata.

Chagall at All Saint's Tudeley

At the weekend we visited the only church in Europe that has had all it's stain glass windows designed by the Russian artist Marc Chagall. One of the windows was commissioned as a memorial window to a girl and friend who died in a sailing accident off the Rye coast, and depicts an image of her ascension to the after life. Well worth a visit if you find yourself around Tonbridge.

Woman's Hour 7 - Street Beat

Neighbours

I have just been making my way through The story of Film programme that was aired on More 4, amongst some amazing things came Neighbours, a Norman McLaren film from 1952 which I had not seen but is very well known. Picasso was a big fan of this.

Beltane New Follower

Happy Beltane!

As a may giving here is Baron's new video for New Follower..a splendid ambiguous rural ritual.

Mass Trespass 1932

Today is the anniversary of the Mass Trespass at Kinder Scout, in the Peak District, Derbyshire. Before this date walkers were denied access to open land, the trespass acting as a protest against the landowners and gamekeepers claiming ramblers would ruin vegetation and pollute water supplies. The 1932 trespass dawned the Ramblers Association which culminated in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, which legislates rights to walk on mapped access land.

The debates are far from over and this year Leaders of the National TRust, Ramblers and the Open Spaces Society, which was founded in 1865 to protect common land, are expected to fire up an opening rally at Edale with warnings about the potential effects of new planning laws and the slow progress of mapping most lowland areas for open access. Although I find issues with both new planning and conservation problematic, the "right to roam"to open land seems a fundamental right...here is another interesting article regarding the Localism Bill from the Guardian.

Womans Hour Listening Party

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Come along this Saturday if you are free!

Mirage Men Film

Here is a sneak trailer of the most awaited Mirage Men Film based on the book by Mark Pilkington..It looks fantastic! As is the book which I could not recommend more..

There Goes the Neighbourhood

I have not posted in some time..but I have been busy and the fruits of my labour may be seen at Copenhagen Place from April 19th - 29th..

Day of Wrath - Carl Dreyer

Tonight at the BFI!

Baron 7"

The Baron 7" has arrived and will be available soon...We also spent the last weekend recording for an album and I got to use a Kaoss Pad 2...a long held desire.......
Here's what it looks like in the flesh.

Land of Blue Light

Stones - The Mind Beyond

The previous post talks of Meriel the Ghost Girl, but the next episode I watched in The Mind Beyond series is totally great. Broadcast the year before ITV's Children of The Stones, this is a great curse tale mixing ancient law and pre-pubescency like only the BBC could. Again you can watch it all on youtube.