The case for support

So the case for support. Why you should give us your money. why our little cause and our little organisation are deserving of your time, talent or cash. Such a tricky question. and so hard for people to answer, especially the people who see the benefits each and every day. Sometimes I just want to write DUHH!! and dump my collective experience of my organisation on to the mind of whoever it is I am trying to convince.

I want to tell them about the enthusiasm of the 4 teenagers who nervously edged their way into the building and then virtually exploded with ideas about what they wanted to do at the place. So many ideas, so well presented, argued," there is no other place to practice our music where we live, we've got to go all the way across the other side of town" and later "can we put on a gig here? Here's how we'd market it, and here's what we would server in the way of refreshments, and security would work like this..." they virtually leapt on my idea for learning how to take better pics using phone cameras, they've all got them, we've got the biggest disabled access darkroom in the city, this seems like a logical extension of that ethos.

The only thing stopping all of that happening right now? money.

And not even that much money, mostly just time and a bit of skill. when you see that kind of effort, energy and potential swilling around the place you just want to empty your own pockets and get it done.  That's the impulse we need to spread. That's the enthusiasm that is so easily contagious when you spend more than a few hours at the place.

RAKU

We did some Raku as the final of 4 sessions on the ceramic extension course I've been taking. Good fun it was too. Out in the playground of an old school, right in the city centre, with a big old tank of gas and a modified dustbin lined with spun aluminium. Odd setting, but so very right.

The portable kiln is filled with our pieces, made from special clay, and painted or dipped in special glazes, then we blast it for 30 mins while we snack and gossip.

Once Yvette, our tutor says so, and ONLY when she says so the pieces are man handled out of the kiln...

...and dropped in yet more dustbins filled with sawdust and shredded paper , which of course bursts into flames and is very dramatic.

Once cool, but still hot enough to make steam on being dipped in buckets of water, they are cleaned , scrubbed and polished. something magnificent happens at some point during the process. Probably mostly when they are thrown in the sawdust and shredded paper.

My pieces, two replicas of the larger Kaftans we got in Istanbul, so I can't take any credit for the shape, but the pattern is all me.

*

I'll be back in September.

Thinking about a revolution...

This would be a good place to dump all the stuff I'm learning about fundraising as I go through my internship.

Should a dirth of opinions worry you?

Or is it just a sign of maturity, that you have grown comfortable with the world and
It's faults, more accepting of peoples idiosyncrasies. The angriest I have found myself
In recent years was when a hotel didn't have a lift up to their first floor.
not that anger should be mistaken for an opinion. An opinion, in my opinion, is a choice between things and a conviction that your way is better. My problem is I can nearly always see other peoples points of views and see the merits in them. Perhaps it's a consequence of the very few responsibilities I have these days, I'm rarely forced to choose, so anything is ok for me. Doesen't help with writing fiction characters just go with the flow and that's nearly always dull.
Http://ollfindyourvoice.wikispaces.org for fiction without opinions.

Fiction, writing of.

It's been a long time coming, but I've started to put effort and time into writing fiction. With the help of Ray Ross phd, and the mutual support of about 8 regulars at the University of Edinburgh Life Long Learning course.

I'll discuss the reasons and method later, but for now, I'm going to put the class exercises up here.

The reprise...

So the action has moved over to turning over a new Leith, Buffy's excellent new blog. And now that she is well established I won't feel bad for restarting to post here, not that it's a competition, but if it were, I would not be accused of stealing her traffic.

The action has moved

Were not in France anymore, so this blog is being closed down. The new action is over at Tumblr.com Check out Turning over a new Leith !

The first nostalgic thought

Here's something I miss; I miss the days when music was so important to me I used to hang on the New Musical Express to hear what new 3 minute slice of sound would tell me more about the mystery of life I was charging headlong into. I miss the excitement of a release date for the new album by whoever, the anticipation and excitement.

Someone gave me the entire discography of the Kings of Leon today, it was an afterthought, a bonus, an offhanded gesture, 'oh you might like this'... 3oo Megabytes of ones and zeros later and it's all there, the first tentative album, the second stronger sound, the third storming guitars and anxious, nervous drums of power.

I compare this with the precious individual who introduced me to Sonic Youth, we talked about some other album we had both enjoyed and a couple of days later he said he would make me a tape of some stuff I might enjoy. He did it over a weekend, curated a mix, composed a side, and another, 90 minutes in all, hand wrote the track listings on the card insert, each track name and artist, in small, legible capitals; in blue biro.

He brought it to school, and gave it to me, I turned it over and examined it as a stereotypical Japanese businessman examines a new business card. I asked questions, got answers, and made projections in my mind. I couldn't wait till I got it home to play it, no walkman for me till later, and years later till I felt comfortable in public with earbuds in.

Each song was considered, treasure, pondered. I've just had Kings of Leon playing as wallpaper for two hours now, I did other stuff. I hope it's me, but I don't want to value music less.

The compressed final sandwich

The compressed final sandwich
Originally uploaded by Ben from England

The sandwich 2 days in the making. The Mufalletta, italian with many delicious ingrediants. An olive salad spread, with garlic, two types of olives, sliced peppers, capers, anchovies, lemon juice, pepper, herbs de provence, all marinated for 24 hours.
Spread half of this over the bottom of a hollowed out bread bun, and then layer slow roasted tomatoes, we used big beef tomatoes roasted in the oven for 2.5 hours. Then layer provalone cheese, the sharpest you can get, goes great with the sweetness of the tomatoes. Next comes meat, the core of most great sandwiches, Mortadella, cut thicker. And soprasada, wafer thin. Lettuce and then the rest fo the olive salad.
Wrap it up in clingflim and compress it in the fridge for a couple of hours, to let the flavours mingle, then cut in half, or even quarters and enjoy with a nice jammy wine, such as a Malbec, form the Cahors region of France. Miam.