A night in wonderland… #rbsmuseumlates

Tags

#rbsmuseumlates, art, edinburgh, gallery, museum, national gallery, wonderland

I’d like to thank the folks that couldn’t take up T&L’s other pair of tickets last friday. Without you not being able to make it, me & B would never have gotten to go to #rbsmuseumlates at the National Museum in Edinburgh. They’ve done a few of these but I hadn’t realised that they were timed to be Glasgow-friendly. I have missed out, oh dear interweb, I have missed out.

Themed on A Night in Wonderland there were Victorian costumes and Mad Hatters and drinks with dry ice and wine and mummies and art and craft and -

oh my, what a night. Came away feeling happy, and inspired. Just the way it should be, I guess. There is something about Victorian museums, the grandeur and the monument to learning, that is so sorely missed in the oversimplification and LETS MAKE IT INTERACTIV FR THE KIDZ approach, and that this event seemed to honour. I want to go to more museums and galleries like this and come away feeling energised, like I’ve been let in on a secret.

Pictures, you say?  Oh okay then…

Chris TT, The Admiral, 28/04/12

Tags

admiral, chris tt, gigs, music

I went to see Chris TT on Saturday night, and it was lovely. The song about the last fraggle, taken from his upcoming Jeremy Clarkson / Lighthouse themed EP, is sad & beautiful & funny & will probably make me cry.

Bought 2 CDs from the man himself, as well as from support She Makes War. Well worth the cash, I thought.

 

To hear for yourself:

 

 

Thought for the day

Tags

art, glasgow, Woodlands road

Rymer Records & Becci Wallace

Only twice in my life have I ever heard someone sing and thought “fuck, that’s the real thing.”

I worked in live music venues in various capacities for the best part of ten years, and I only really heard it twice.  Once was the fabulous Lou Hickey, and the other was Becci Wallace.   Words Per Minute fans will recognise her from the photo…

photo by Neil Thomas Douglas - www.NeilThomasDouglas.com

Listen for yourself…

 

You’ve got two chances to see her in the next couple of weeks:

Thursday 15th March – Stereo – 8pm doors

6 acts including Becci – they’re competing for the chance to go to Toronto?  I dunno.  Something like that.  It’s an acoustic set, anyway.

Thursday 22nd March – Rymer Records Launch

Facebook link >>      Official Website link >>

£5 door tax, 7.30pm.  Becci’s doing a trip-hop set to launch her EP.  Also feat Glasgow stalwart Loki and a few others, click the link for details.

#showusyergin

Tags

cider, drinking, gin

So, for the month of February, and a little while each way, I decided to substitute my cider intake for gin.  Just to see, y’know, what happened.  Check #showusyergin on twitter for the obsession that this has become…

Gins I have enjoyed this month include:  Martin Miller’s, Death’s Door, Caorunn, Plymouth, Jensen, Edinburgh.  Shops which have benefited from my gin joint ways this month include: Quel Vin (https://twitter.com/#!/Quelvinglasgow) and the ever-wonderful Good Spirits Company (http://thegoodspiritsco.com/)

Things I saw today

Tags

Kelvingrove museum, sundays, Victorians, words per minute

alt.punk / Lavinia Ludlow – review at PANK magazine

Tags

books, PANK, reading, review

Just what it says on the tin – my review of alt.punk by Lavinia Ludlow is up, over at the PANK magazine blog: http://www.pankmagazine.com/pankblog/reviews/lavinia-ludlows-alt-punk-a-review-by-sara-thomas/

alt.punk is published by Casperion, it’s available here:

http://ludlowlavinia.wordpress.com/http://www.casperianbooks.com/catalog/1-934081-29-9.html

….and the author’s website is here:  http://ludlowlavinia.wordpress.com/

Pinterest as a spur to creativity…

Tags

pinterest, poetry, Writing, writing prompt

Social media’s new darling is my new toy.  Pinterest isn’t new, it’s been around for donkeys, but it’s gotten a boost recently that may have something to do with the fact that it’s one of Facebook’s 60ish new Social (frictionless sharing / Open Graph) apps.

I’d not really bothered with it for ages, thought it was mostly craft stuff (I like craft, but I spend enough time as it is on social media and I was wary of adding another account to the menagerie) but I decided to give it a go, and I’m totally converted to it for use as a writing prompt.

The idea is that you see cool stuff about the web, and “pin it” to a board.  I’ve installed the chrome extension to my machine, so I’ve got a “Pin it!” button on my browser window now.  So if I see a picture (and so far it’s been mostly pictures) that makes me think “ooooh… story in that” then I pin it and go back later.  I’ve also installed the app on my phone so it’s perfect for sitting-in-a-bar-10-minutes-early-why-don’t-you-write moments.

On the advice of (I think) Kirsty Logan, I have a Box Of Stuff at home in which I keep various bits and buttons that I find (usually in the street) and keep for the purposes of rummaging for stories.   But that’s not great for when I’m on the go.  I’ve got a couple of writing prompt apps on my ayephone but in all honesty I’ve never really used them, they just don’t work for me.  However, there’s something about Pinterest that just clicks, and I can see it becoming part of my writing life.

I’m on Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/lirazelf/

And I’ve started a “must put in a story!” board here: http://pinterest.com/lirazelf/must-go-into-a-story/

 

Anyone else using it, or using unusual writing prompts?

Taking a bit of a blog break

…but I’ll be back in January.   Have a good festive season!

 

 

Nazimova

Tags

freak carousel, jewellery

Bought a present for myself this week, while doing a bit of advance xmas shopping.

It’s this necklace, made by Addison from Freak Carousel

There’s a blog about the inspiration and creative process here:  http://addisonstl.tumblr.com/post/10682350951/nazimova-1923

I’ve known Addison for ages and have a number of her pieces.  Freak Carousel is her newest outing, not even a year old yet, and the stuff’s great.  I especially like how some of her pieces, like the one that is now MINE ALL MINE are miniature artworks in and of themselves, not just decorative accoutrements.  She uses original artwork or creative commons/ethically sourced images (no pishy fucking charm jewellery and no ripping anyone else off) and is constantly experimenting with techniques.  Gotta love it.

 

More on their Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/freakcarousel 

Can’t wait for this to arrive!