To An Independent Listener: the Delia Derbyshire installation

I was a lucky child, growing up in the 70's and 80's, for many reasons. But what i'm thinking about particularly is Dr Who. Not the Dr Who of today, which can be entertaining in it's own way, but rather the Dr Who of the 70's, with the wonderful Tom Baker, the jellybabies, quarries pretending to be alien landscapes and perhaps best of all, the theme music. I never wondered who was responsible for this fantastic, other-worldly music when I was little. But now I know it was a lady called Delia Derbyshire, although she doesn't get much credit for it.

Delia was part of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the 60s, where a few little studios in Maida Vale were the home to a bunch of people who chopped up bits of reel-to-reel tape and spliced them together to make 'music' which was in some ways ahead of it's time, but also very at home in the space-age 60s.

A few months ago I heard a feature on Radio 4 about the rediscovery of the 'lost tapes' of Delia Derbyshire. I was entranced. I had heard a little of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop a few years ago, but it's rare for any of the recordings to be broadcast, as far as i'm aware. So I was surprised and delighted by the few little clips that were played: beautiful, melancholic, dreamy tracks; electronic dance music; strange sounds that transport you to another dimension.

Now I've had the chance to hear more of Delia's marvellous music, at an installation at the Bloc Studios, Eyre Street, Sheffield, as part of the Sensoria festival. The installation itself was minimal; a smallish room with one light, a screen showing a film of Delia's actual tapes and various letters she'd received about the broadcasts of her music etc, and a speaker.

As soon as I went in and sat down my imagination was taken on a wonderful ride by the music; from ethereal, floating sounds to repetitive electronic beats; at times relaxing and restful, then haunting and unnerving. The recording was on a loop and because I sat there with my eyes closed, lost and enveloped in the soundscape I also lost track of time, but I think it lasted around 25 minutes or so. I stayed well past the bit "where I came in" and I found it difficult to drag myself out of what felt like some sort of hypnosis. I was truly relaxed and my mind was probably somewhere else. It really was a wonderful experience.

There is something particularly primitive and pure about Delia's music that I really love; to me, it feels like emotions represented in sound-forms.


You can listen to some of the music on the Delia Derbyshire site: http://www.delia-derbyshire.org/
and there's more on the BBC site as well: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7512072.stm

A very nice person has put up the fantastic BBC Four documentary from 2003, Alchemists in Sound, this is part one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKPGzX5kZd0&feature=channel_page but they have put up the rest of the programme in 6 parts.

Sensoria Festival site: http://www.sensoria.org.uk/event/exhibitions/delia-derbyshire-installation/

Violent Films Double Bill: Let the Right One In and Bronson

I don't usually make a point of watching violent films but these two caught my attention and I just needed to renew our Showroom membership to see them... I'm glad I did because they were both really good!

First was 'Let the Right One In', a Swedish film about a 12 year-old boy, Oskar, who is bullied at school and finds a very unusual friend. Oskar's world is a cold one, both in the constantly falling snow, and in the treatment from his abusive schoolmates. Eli, the girl who moves into the flat next door is also cold, but in a different way. These two loners soon become close friends and we start to learn Eli's secrets, including the fact that she isn't really a girl...

What I particularly liked about this film was how the relationship between the two teenagers developed and endured the strangeness of the situation they found themselves in. This is essentially a love story, albeit punctuated by some very gory and disturbing moments, and it's the love story that I remember most.

The second film, Bronson, although violent, was quite different. A British film, this gives the life story of Michael Peterson, or better known by his 'fighting name' Charlie Bronson, a Luton man of whose 34 years in prison, 30 have been spent in solitary confinement. Charlie is a man beyond comprehension and almost beyond containment.

The film portrays him as a man addicted to violence for violence's sake. From school violence he progresses to serious crime, in the form of armed robbery in 1974 for which he received 7 years, however because of his behaviour and the prison authorities' inability to understand and contain him, he is still in imprisoned in solitary. Tom Hardy plays Bronson brilliantly, at times deeply menacing, then gleeful and fun-loving, but always intense. Hardy also put on 3 stone in muscle for the role, an impressive feat indeed. This was a fantastic portrayal of a complex man who was likely to have been deeply mentally disturbed and the way the prison system influenced his behaviour.

The Man Behind The Slime!

count arthur strong, originally uploaded by Joey 7.

At last! I bought our tickets to see the venerable Count way back in January, and now we've got to see him in person! It was a fantastic night, I laughed so much I gave myself a belly-ache! :D

If you've never heard of Count Arthur Strong, then you're missing out... he's the creation of Steve Delaney, and a bit of cross between John Shuttleworth and a music hall act. Count Arthur was a big star back in his day, and he's many many adoring fans now... He's had four series on Radio 4 which are all available on CD, which I heartily recommend if you don't think that laughing is pertinent. Now, I have a very big laugh when I hear something truly funny, but the woman next to me was the polar opposite... I kept glancing at her, she had the slightest mona lisa-type smile... and we were sat in the front row!! I LOVE laughing, it makes me feel wonderful, I cannot understand why someone wouldn't laugh... she could have laughed at me, making a fool of myself laugh like a hyena!! :D

To be honest, I wish i'd stayed behind to say hello to the great man himself, but I didn't, I hadn't got the patience to stand around waiting. Plus I wanted another rum and coke... well, it is Friday night!! But I was so so sad to see him go off stage!

Count Arthur Strong - a wonderful performer, 50 years in the business and still going strong into the 20th century!

Count Arthur Strong's official site

Free Lampshade with Every 80 Pints of Milk!

night bloom, originally uploaded by Joey 7.

I like to reuse and recycle stuff, both for environmental and financial reasons. But a lot of stuff tends to look either like a 3-year old made it, or just looks like what it started out as. But not this, unless you look very closely... it's plastic 2 litre milk bottles!

The design (called the I.Q. Light, meaning Interlocking Quadrilaterals) is actually not new at all; it was designed in 1972 by Danish designer Holger Strøm, originally for a Christmas display, which he then modified. The design is very clever; various different forms can be made with the identical pieces, and you can vary the size of the lampshade by the number of pieces you use. I used 20 pieces for this lamp because I only had enough plastic to make that many pieces, but I'm planning to keep saving milk bottles and see how big a lampshade I can make! In theory, there is probably no limit... I wonder if there's a world record??

The instructions and template for the quadrilaterals is from Instructables, and a couple of people on there suggested that HDPE (type 2) plastic could be recycled from milk bottles. So that's what I did.

To make this lampshade, I washed the bottles out, cut off the bottom and top/handle part, leaving a piece of plastic which I then flattened with an iron on a medium setting (protected iron with a piece of baking parchment on top of the plastic). I then drew around the template, cut them out, and fitted them together as described here: how to. So all it cost me was the time to make it.

I'm very pleased with it because it's not only a quite interesting and attractive, it was free and I can change it's size and/or shape when I feel like it. And when it gets dusty, I can just take it apart, give it a good wash and put it all together again!

Please let me know if this inspires you to give it a go!
Joey x

I.Q. Light site: http://www.iqlight.com/
Universal lamp shade polygon building kit: www.instructables.com/id/Universal-lamp-shade -polygon-bui...

UPDATE 14 March 2011: I have FINALLY got around to cutting out (with just scissors, I don't have a laser cutter or anything) the 120 modules for the large lampshade, picture of it on Flickr here: The "Milky 120" interlocking quadrilateral modules lampshade. I have been saving up the plastic from ALL our milk bottles since I made the first lamp over two years ago but I was just too lazy to make the lamp. It's actually a bit big at that size, so I'm going to take it apart and make several lamps using different numbers of modules and in different configurations; that the beauty of this lampshade, it's not only free to make and helps the environment by recycling, but you can also change the shape and size as you wish!

Blog Award: Proximidade

Hello and a very (belated, whoops!) Happy New Year to everyone! I had a lovely surprise this evening when Mitsy of the lovely Artmind blog and Etsy shop handed me this award! Thank you Mitsy!

Proximidade is described as follows: 'This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!'

This blog award should be sent to your favorite eight bloggers and they, in turn should forward to eight of their favorites. You should include the text for Proximidade (above) in your announcement blog. I am going to bestow this award to (get your hankies ready!) Knitting Up North, Siansburys, Pink Lemonade Stand, The Small Object, Mrs Kwitty's Cottage, Bibi's Box, Pretty Little Things and Still Cutting Off Tabs. Thank you everyone for writing such enjoyable, colourful blogs! :D

Joey x

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas Everyone!, originally uploaded by Joey 7.

I hope that anyone reading this has a lovely Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

love
Joey xxx

Two Very Different films: Easy Virtue and Waltz With Bashir

It's taken me nearly a whole week to review these two films... whoops!





Easy Virtue

Adapted from the Noel Coward play of the same name, I expected an enjoyable comedy, and I wasn't too disappointed. The Whittaker family live in a large English country house of the 1920's. The son (Barnes) returns from his travels in the US with Larita, a blonde American racing-driver bombshell (Biel) and announces to his family that she's his new wife. The mother (Scott-Thomas) and two sisters are shocked at this American invasion, with Larita's shiny clothes, modern ideas and cigarette smoke, but the father (Firth) seems amused by this breath of American fresh air.

It's an entertaining story and I enjoyed the comedy moments but it seemed to try too hard to shoehorn a side-story about the father's involvement in the first world war and this just didn't work. Who wants to watch something heavy on a Friday night? I need a laugh to start off the weekend!

It would be interesting to see a performance of the play, and Hitchcock's silent 1928 version to see how the story has been interpreted by different people. It's worth a watch, but don't get too excited, it's just a bit of fun.





Official site: http://easyvirtuethemovie.co.uk/


Waltz With Bashir



Although I was at school in the early 80's when the Lebanon war was going on and I remember the regular news reports of the fighting and footage of the devastated city of Beirut on t.v., this arresting animated film showed me how little I actually know about it.

We find Ari in the present day, listening to an old friend from the Israeli army they served in together, discussing what they remembered about the war they both fought in. Ari is distressed to find that he cannot remember the same details which his friend does, so he goes on a journey to find out what his other comrades remembered, to examine his own memories and feelings about the war.

It's a surreal and disturbing journey and the stark, comic-book graphic style of the animation is well suited to the grim subject-matter. It works so well as an animation; the strange and horrific images are simplified and stylized to direct our attention. This is an engaging film and although it was a view from an Israeli perspective, this didn't obscure the power of the story it told.



Official site: http://waltzwithbashir.com/home.html