Filed under: on the horizon, on the mind, on the streets, on the travels, on the turntable, on the waves | Tags: Aberdeen, flickr, memories, new blog, photos, Thank Folk For That
i’d like to throw a few things your way this evening if that’s ok :)
first of all, i have a new blog!
it is chiefly aimed at spreading the wonderful world of folk to the masses, but will also include a number of other music genres etc just to keep you on your toes! i’d absolutely love it if you could pay it a visit once in a while, but don’t worry, The Checkered Mind will still continue as i splurge out nonsensical, longwinded ramblings from day to day!
click the link below to go to Thank Folk For That!
the first post is a review is of Bon Iver’s new self-titled album, and as a little treat i’ll pop it on here too so you can get a sneaky read in :)
secccondly, the end is drawing near on University life. four years of pure, unadulterated, dedicated studying (ahem…) has come to an end and as i begin to pack away all the junk i’ve collected, i can’t help but feel somewhat sad that i’m leaving this Scottish seaside town, despite my many moanings over the years!
i’ve met some quite brilliant people, done things i never thought i would, lived in some hell-holes, somehow blagged my way through essays and exams coming out with as little history knowledge as i had back in 2007, made some hilarious mistakes, made some never-regretful decisions, been to liquid at least 10 times, more than i ever should, shared some historical moments, waded into the north sea resulting in a 5 second case of bollocks-loss, been to rugby games, balls, and mountains, written a bloomin’ dissertation, watched dolphins at sunrise, danced like a twat in exodus, snowboarded, went on the hunt for the legendary one legged prostitute at the docks (lol) and bought a fish that eats better than i do…so Aberdeen, it’s not been too bad!
and, finally, having pretty much nothing to do this week, i thought i’d go on a few travels – went back up Bennachie with Cal and Marc, visited the insane ‘shop’ near Montrose again, mooched on down to Edinburgh for a few days and hit the beach with the camera and Sloan…here are a few snaps from my travels, and you can see more on my flickr if you click the link on the left :)
this week my dad has been emptying my grandparents’ house after (finally) selling it following their passing…for all of us it has been emotional, no more so for him as it is the same house he spent his childhood. however, it has also been a time a great discovery and history, as we’ve found hundreds of photos, some dating back to mid-19th century. we’ve also found amazing, retro trinkets including a 1980′s ‘boombox’, some sensational leather suitcases, classic cameras (quickly snapped up by yours truly!), old toys, vintage china/cutlery/etc, and much more! it’s been really quite awesome discovering family history that we had no idea about. and a personal favourite find was my grandad’s RAF uniform, log book, medals, etc…unbelievably beautiful things that filled me with pride and joy…
here are a few pictures i took of our findings…
hmmm…apologies for the quality, but you get the jist!
from top we have: a couple of awesome, vintage suitcases, my grandad/dad’s tin of toy cars (including some that date back to almost a century ago!), two olddd chocolate boxes, a picture of my great grandad in his WW1 uniform with a fellow soldier buddy, a british flag owned by my grandma from VE-Day, a bunch of grandad’s WW2 things (including his medals, RAF badge, a stub from a wax museum when he was stationed in Kabul, and a 1944 five franc note), next his RAF uniform and log book, a couple of trinkets from around their house (including a drawing made by my grandma, a brilliantly classic jam holder and our Clan Davidson emblem), a retro games board, my grandad’s pretty brilliant school photo, an RAF guide to ‘what to do on leaving the service’, a clipping from the local Runcorn paper reporting my grandparents’ wedding, a toy bus that was made in 1920, and finally a leather suitcase packed with photos, letters, books and my grandad’s huge collection of stamps…
x
Filed under: on the mind, on the muddy fields, on the travels | Tags: bolton, cup, F.A., manchester, marathon, nonsense, stoke
it will come as no surprise to you that next weekend is FA Cup weekend and that two of the four semi-finalists are rivals in this fair northern city…the other two are Stoke and Bolton.
If we have a cheeky gander at the map of Britain we can see where these 3 cities are located(ish), as well as London…
what i would like to know is….why for the love of God have the F.A. decided to host the semi-finals (as well as Arsenal vs Liverpool and West Ham vs Villa) down in London, over the same 2 days and for late kick-offs and on the same weekend as the London marathon!?
i unfortunately will not be heading to the capital to watch the ‘derby’, but my mum is, as are thousands of mancunians, boltonians and…stokers(!?) Traffic is likely to be mental, trains will be bursting and people trying to find hotels etc will most likely be clawing their brains out by now!
one of the most idiotic factors is that the United – City match is at 17:15…meaning that if the game ends up going to penalties, the best part of 90,000 people will be heading up the motorway or pissed on trains at eight or nine in the evening, with a three and a half hour journey ahead of them, which they’ve already done once that day…violence is also another factor that will have to be dealt with. 90,000 fans kicking around the stadium until the early evening with beer aplenty?…surely that can’t be a good thing.
of course passion for the game will most likely take over, but surely the F.A could have used their noggins a little bit…there’ll be 40,000 people dressed as bananas and chickens running about the place all morning! And, on the Sunday, several thousand scousers will be heading down along with the Stoke and Bolton fans for the two four o’ clock fixtures…
finally, isn’t going to Wembley part of the whole FA Cup Final excitement? making teams head down for the semis and then the final a few weeks later seems to have drained a bit of the fun out of recent years. players have the incentive for a final at Wembley…not any more. this year looks to be different with the two Manchester teams competing, however i still believe that Wembley is for the final, not any other rounds.
essentially, it is all down to money though…for a start, Sky want late kick-offs for the extra viewers. moreover, the country is in debt, we’ve got an Olympic Games to fund, why not pimp out Wembley as much as possible! in the past it was Villa Park, St. James’, Old Trafford or somewhere in London for the semis, depending on the teams…now it’s all about the cash so they’ve packed us all off down south on a petrol-guzzling, 400 mile round-trip, nonsense journey…
nevermind…i guess me and Rooney will just have to watch it down the local…
x
Filed under: on the film reel, on the horizon, on the mind, on the parchment, on the projector, on the streets, on the travels, on the turntable, on the waves | Tags: aberdeen uni, climate change, hard rain, mark edwards, project
if you’ve been on campus at any point this week, im sure you’ll have noticed the Hard Rain campaign near Elphinstone Hall and King’s College. i really hope that most people will have had the time to stop and take in the pain, shame, beauty and hope that is presented by Mark Edwards’ display….however if not, here’s a little bit of info (taken from the uni website) that may draw you into paying the exhibition a visit…
Artist Mark Edwards, one of the few environmental communicators to have personally witnessed the global issues that are defining the 21st century, will speak at 6pm on Tuesday March 22 in the Regent Building Lecture Theatre on the King’s College Campus.
Mark’s presentation — introduced with photos synced to Bob Dylan’s prophetic 60s masterpiece ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ shows habitat destruction, overconsumption, poverty, pollution, climate change, war, loneliness and despair gathered from Mark’s expeditions to over 150 countries over 40 years. The presentation explores the state of the world and its people, and brings alive the policies, technologies and lifestyle changes we need to adopt to reinvent the modern world to be compatible with nature.
The accompanying 60-metre outdoor photo exhibition will open beside the Elphinstone lawn on the King’s College campus on March 14 until April 12.
The exhibition has been seen by over 15 million people across all continents and has attracted huge public and critical acclaim. It has been shown at venues as diverse as the United Nations Headquarters in New York and national governments including Scotland, Australia, Belgium and Cuba, to the European supply chain for McDonalds, and the community of Wormwood Scrubs prison.
Hard Rain is being brought to the City by the Aberdeen University Students Association Climate Change Project and funded by the Scottish Government.
Jamie Peters, who represents the Climate Change Project, expressed his hope of the benefits the exhibitions and inspirational talk would have on the University and wider community of the north-east, saying: “The Climate Change Project has been engaging students in environmental discussion and equipping them with the tools to reduce their own environmental impacts since last summer. We are hoping that by hosting Hard Rain we can continue to get the community involved in making positive contributions to the environment and allow them to adopt more sustainable lifestyles.
“We have started a number of initiatives that are designed to reduce the community’s carbon footprint, save students money, help them meet new people, learn new skills, and reduce their carbon footprints in as fun a manner as possible. We feel that every single student can find something in our project that they can get involved in and hope that this exhibition will allow us to engage with even more people.”
The Hard Rain Project was established as a charity in 2009 to support educational programmes for schools, universities and colleges, and public exhibitions that campaign for realistic solutions to the interlinked problems of climate change, poverty, the wasteful use of resources, population expansion, habitat destruction and species loss.
here’s a wee interview with Mark Edwards, taken from when the project was on show down in Manchester…
Filed under: on the bookshelf, on the mind, on the parchment, on the plate, on the projector, on the travels, on the turntable
had quite a goodun methinks!…
a fair bit of reading for the diss & a much larger bit of cinema going for giggles!
had a crack at making some of these as part of my procrastination exercise…
made a few cheeky purchases…a soviet typewriter from oxfam for a fiver, a ticket to the scotland-italy game next saturday as a pitstop point on my way home, and my first battered mars bar, from the original ‘batterers’ in stonehaven!
had a spot of man flu, so plenty of custard creams and cups of tea were on the cards…
went on a road trip down the east coast
and wrapped my ears around these three treasures…all absolutely brilliant
x
Filed under: on the film reel, on the streets, on the travels | Tags: Aberdeen, angels, beach, broad hill, by order of me, lomo, signs, statues
as it’s been such a (surprisingly) lovely couple of days here in Aberdabbers, i went on a big mooch across town with the the ol’ cameraro, with a nice lomo add on…here’s some of the snaps!
see my flickr or facebook for more shots from my travels!
x
Filed under: on the travels | Tags: Barbers, Bramhall, Fat, Garden Shears, Shaved Head, Trim
ah the beauty of a trip to the local barber…you’ve got to love it!
today, like all days, the big fella started with his regular hearty cough in the face and uttered those famous words, ‘so what you having?’…i responded with the nice and easy, ‘oh just a trim please mate’….quite a regular, well known haircut day response i thought, but not this bloke…he looked at me as if i’d just pissed on his kids…’no mate, i mean what number?’
right…the famous hair numbers…one for bald as an egg, five or six for a trim…i think…you see in all the excitement i had completely forgotten what any of the numbers meant, thus resulting in me having to repeat, ‘um…i don’t really remember numbers…is just a trim ok?’
‘i don’t really remember numbers!?’ that’s pretty much like stopping him half way through the cut and asking why he wasn’t singing harmoniously like all the other barber shop men i’d met…luckily he just chuckled and muttered ‘yeh, sure thing pal’
so, with a throw of the metal comb, which just managed to miss swiping my ear clean off, he began what i can only describe as hair rape…with what seemed to be garden shears rather than scissors. tugging away at my precious doo, mightily hacking the ginger locks and clearly not having a fucking clue what a ‘trim’ is, we reached that horrible stage…
this stage is the one i always feel the most uncomfortable in…when the ‘trimming’ has begun, we’re both in silence and the radio is playing Whitney Houston just to make the whole thing that little bit more tense. i quickly search the room for pictures to help spark a conversation…there’s one of some lass with her tits out, great start…there’s one of ricky hatton clearly four or five weeks after a fight and edging more towards pig than boxer…and there’s one of john lennon, standing outside the Cavern Club…’ooo’ i think, ‘that could do the trick!’…but once again as my head is thrown around like a baby with a new toy, all that my rattled brain comes up with is…’so, i hear John Lennon’s dead…’
Dom…you’re a fucking idiot
luckily however, he’s stopped me just in time before verbal shit fell out of my mouth to ask how short i wanted the sides…after i allowed him another vigorous cough in my face i gave him my reply…’um, just a fair bit shorter please’ (once again i respond with greatness)…but he carries on immediately fortunately and i decide not to speak…probably keeping things better for the both of us
he’s pretty much finished the sides anyway, thanks to his beloved friend ‘Mr Razor’ which can apparently do a tidy job within 30 seconds…plus I Will Always Love You has finished and The Jam are on, making myself a lot happier and him even more so, as he dodgily bounces around my head with the razor, bobbing his head strangely to the clangs of Weller’s guitar
and then, just like that (and suprisingly fast…6 minutes to be exact!), fat barber man has finished his masterpiece
without any hesitation i blurt ‘yeh that’s fine mate’, not really wanting to stick around much longer, and get out of the chair, brushing the excess ginge off my face and neck. usually this is where money is exchanged hands pretty sharpish, but this fella leans on his sink for at least 2 minutes, breathing heavily and looking slightly puzzled…i give him a sec, fairly concerned that he’s having a minor heart attack, until he slowly turns to me and utters…’that’s…um…eight quid? yeh we’ll say 8 quid ta’….he’s obviously making the price up on the spot, but i don’t really give a monkeys at this point
i pay Mr Fat, pick up my coat, say my swift farewells and leave…looking like a cast member from Jarhead…a ‘trim’ my arse!
mind you…eight quid is pretty good…see you in a fortnight fat lump!
x
Filed under: on the bookshelf, on the film reel, on the mind, on the muddy fields, on the parchment, on the plate, on the projector, on the screen, on the stage, on the streets, on the travels, on the turntable, on the waves
it’s almost the end of another year…so let’s review it!
these are all my personal opinions, so please feel free to agree or agressively criticise, sup to you :)
Best Moments Of The Year
- That first look at Mt. Everest
- Faithless followed by Stevie Wonder at Glastonbury 2010
- Going to the Taj Mahal
- Having an elephant back bath
- White water rafting in Nepal
Biggest Mares Of The Year
- Being told I had to turn back with Everest Basecamp just ahead (but at least im still alive!)
- The Tory Government coming to power
- The World Cup…both the event itself and our bid going to pot
- That bungee jump lol
- Come Around Sundown…get it together KOL!
Best Book I’ve Read This Year
- Lustrum – Robert Harris
Best 25 Albums Of The Year
- Warpaint – The Fool
- Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
- Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
- Stornoway – Beachcomber’s Windowsill
- Foals – Total Life Forever
- Bombay Bicycle Club – Flaws
- Tallest Man On Earth – The Wild Hunt
- Beach House – Teen Dreams
- The National – High Violet
- Lonelady – Nerve Up
- Villagers – Becoming A Jackal
- Gil Scott-Heron – I’m New Here
- GAYNGS – Relayted
- Deerhunter – Halycon Digest
- Broken Bells – Broken Bells
- Delta Spirit – History From Below
- Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History
- Anais Mitchell – Hadestown
- Perfume Genius – Learning
- Phosphorescent – Here’s To Taking It Easy
- Midlake – Courage Of Others
- Band Of Horses – Infinite Arms
- Interpol – Interpol
- Best Coast – Crazy For You
- Robert Plant – Band Of Joy
Best Embarrassing Album Of The Year!
- Ellie Goulding – Lights
Best 25 Singles Of The Year (From What I Know Were Released As Singles…)
- Foals – Spanish Sahara
- Laura Marling – Rambling Man
- Two Door Cinema Club – What You Know
- Warpaint – Undertow
- Aracade Fire – Ready To Start
- Stornoway – Zorbing
- Foals – This Orient
- Mumford & Sons – The Cave
- Ray Lamontagne And The Pariah Dogs – Old Before Your Time
- Aloe Blacc – I Need A Dollar
- Villagers – Becoming A Jackal
- Bombay Bicycle Club – Ivy And Gold
- Gorillaz Ft. Little Dragon – Empire Ants (not a single, but such a fucking ace song!)
- Arcade Fire – We Used To Wait
- Kelis – Acapella
- Black Keys – Tighten Up
- Interpol – Barricade
- Delta Spirit – Bushwick Blues
- Dum Dum Girls – Stiff Little Fingers
- LCD Soundsystem – Drunk Girls
- Lonelady – Intuition
- Beach House – Zebra
- The Morning Benders – Excuses
- Caribou – Odessa
- The Coral – 1000 Years
Best Embarrassing Single Of The Year!
- Katy Perry – Fireworks
Best Band/Artist Of The Year
- Justin Vernon – the dude is just everywhere, again, making sensational music! he features chiefly on Relayted by GAYNGS (a supergroup including the likes of Justin Vernon and Mike Noyce from Bon Iver, Ivan Howard from The Rosebuds, Joe Westurland and the Cook brothers from Megafaun and Jake Luck and Nick Ryan from the Leisure Birds). Vernon also features on many of the songs from Anais Mitchell’s brilliant folk opera Hadestown, based on a modern story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Finally, he even makes a couple of appearances on Kanye West’s knew record!
Best Gig Of The Year
- Interpol (Edinburgh Corn Exchange)
Best Festival Of The Year
- Glastonbury 2010
Best 30 Movies Of The Year (Released In The UK Since Jan 1st)
- Inception
- Un Prophete
- Shutter Island
- Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
- The Social Network
- Toy Story 3
- Exit Through The Gift Shop
- Crazy Heart
- The Secret In Their Eyes
- Gainsbourg
- Le Concert
- Winter’s Bone
- Another Year
- The Kids Are Alright
- Please Give (not released in uk, but seen and liked!)
- The Ghost Writer
- Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Pt. 1
- A Single Man
- Kick-Ass
- Megamind
- Greenburg
- The Town
- L’arnacoeur
- The Lovely Bones
- Certified Copy
- The Road
- The American
- The Arbor
- Robin Hood
- L’Illusioniste
Plus…The Way Back, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, The King’s Speech, 127 Hours, The Tempest, Never Let Me Go and True Grit (not released yet…but i’m expecting them to be pretty darn good!)
Best Documentary Film
- When You’re Strange – A Film About The Doors
Best Embarrassing Movie!
- Easy A
Best Actor Of The Year
- Leonardo DiCaprio – as it has always been said…he doesn’t make a bad movie. And seeing how both the remarkable Shutter Island and the even greater Inception were released this year with DiCaprio playing the lead roles exceptionally, it couldn’t really go to anyone else!
Best Actress Of The Year
- Julianne Moore – i wasn’t sure who to pick to be completely honest, but Moore’s roles in both The Kids Are Alright and A Single Man were really very very good and im certain she’ll be up there with a fighting chance for an Oscar
Best 10 TV Programme’s Of The Year
- Accused
- This Is England 86
- Any Human Heart
- An Idiot Abroad
- IT Crowd
- Five Daughters
- I’m In A Rock N Roll Band
- I Am Slave
- Secret Britain
- Pillars Of The Earth
Best 5 Exhibitions Of The Year
- A World Observed – Dorothy Bohm – Manchester Art Gallery
- The Doors: When You’re Strange – Idea Generation Gallery
- Wolfgang Tillmans – The Serpentine Gallery
- Skin – The Wellcome Collection
- Exposed: Voyeurism, Suerveillance and the Camera – The Tate Modern
Best 5 Sporting Moments Of The Year
- The Ashes (not over yet, but we’re playing pretty damn well!)
- Rooney And Scholes’ last minute winning goals against Manchester City in January and April
- Amy Williams’ Winter Olympics gold medal
- England’s T20 World Cup Final victory over the Aussies
- Mark Cavendish kicking ass in the Tour De France
And Finally…Best Fish Of The Year!
- Barry…because the other one died…
:) x
Filed under: on the mind, on the parchment, on the stage, on the travels, on the turntable, on the waves
im hot off the back of an awesome weekend down in loch lomond, where i met up with some of the manc lads for a spot of camping and a large splodge of drinking…
you can’t really go wrong with trips like those…particularly amongst the hell and chaos of 4th year university and trying to get everything done at once before it blows up in your face! yup, everyone needs a few evenings sat round a fire, under a gigantic sheet of mind-blowing stars, sipping a few beers with the guys and chatting (and occassionally singing) absolute shit :D
nonethless, it’s back to good ol’ aberdeen for more reading, essaying, planning and presenting…note-making, letter writing, listing and stressing…early-starting, e-mailing, cramming, trying to be pleasing…well you get the idea…fun, fun, fun!
i did however take a bit of time out last night to tune into this being streamed live on radio 1:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/events/mumfordandsons/#p00bk86b
four of my favourite, favourite artists doing what they do best, all for our entertainment? yes please!
i definitely recommend having a little looksie at these clips, particularly the maccabees collaboration with mumford & sons right at the end…it’s absolute gold :)
x
Filed under: on the mind, on the muddy fields, on the parchment, on the plate, on the stage, on the travels
YAY! im going to glastonbury again :)
BOO! in a few weeks i have to hand in/present 6 assignments within a teeny weeny time span of a fortnight
YAY! some lectures are cancelled this week
BOO! i have a tenner a week if not less until next loan day :(
YAY! its time for burritos again for dinnerrrr
BOO! i have to cook them in the dark lol
YAY! liverpool are doing shit!
BOO! united could also do with improving
YAY! im going to interpol, frank turner and laura marling this term
BOO! Gamu didn’t get through on ahem..x factor…ahem:P
YAY! im going to loch lomond on friday to see peeps from home!
all in all…YAY’s win…good times!
x
