04
Mar 10

Running for a good cause: part 1

So, I’m now officially entered into the Great North Run 2010

I’ll be running to raise money for Maggie’s cancer caring centres, and the fundraising is off to a brilliant start with a hugely generous 1st donation from the lovely Sarah Baskerville (@Baskers) – if you see this lady, buy her a drink!

I’m not a natural runner (or even a natural exerciser) but under the expert eye of Graham Moxon at the Reset Health & Fitness Centre, I’m now in training & hating loving every minute of it.

I’ll be blogging regularly about my progress (well, maybe not regularly, but every so often. for sure. definitely). And I will also be making regular pleas for your money, for which I apologise in advance.

However, if you’d like to contribute right now, you can nip over to my Just Giving page ;)


28
Feb 10

A short, naive but hopeful election plea

Dear politicians,

With the general election imminent, here’s what I’d like you to do to help me decide whether or not I’ll vote for you:

  • Tell me what positive actions you will take, if elected, to improve the lives of the citizens you will have the privilege to represent. Give details, not vague assertions & aspirations.
  • Tell me what positive actions your party will take , if given the privilege to form a government, to improve the lives of the citizens it will have the privilege to represent. Again, give details, not vague assertions & aspirations.
  • If you want to tell me about what you or your party have already achieved, provide evidence.
  • Don’t tell me what your opponents have or haven’t done, or will or won’t do. I’m interested in what you’ve done or will do.
  • Be grown-up – leave the squabbling and name-calling in the playground. and encourage your supporters to do the same.

Thanks :)


11
Feb 10

Goodbye Lee

Earlier this afternoon I heard the very sad news that Alexander McQueen had died.

I had the great privilege to work for Lee (Alexander was his middle name) for a short time in the early 90s. Lee was just starting out, I was looking for work experience, and he was the first designer to answer the phone when my tutor started calling round to see if she could find me something!

After a brief meeting at his then flat in Tooting, where he grilled me about my design skills, and rubbished my attempts at tailoring, he agreed to take me on to help him prepare his first catwalk collection.

We spent the summer working out of, and sleeping on the floor of, a flat in Chadwell Heath owned by his sister (Well, I slept on the floor – Lee had the bedroom!), living on hummus, soup & fresh air. And the odd night out on the town!

As well as more mundane jobs like running errands and sewing, Lee also gave me the freedom to design some pieces for the collection, as well as the opportunity to work with some of the people producing textiles and accessories for him.

After the summer, when I returned to college for my final year, I carried on working for Lee in my spare time until the show in the Autumn, and afterwards, until the demands of producing my graduation collection took over.

A vague plan to start working properly for Lee after I graduated fell through due to lack of money and we lost touch when I went travelling, bumping into each other only a few times in the years since then, though I continued to follow his brilliant career.

Working for Lee remains one of the best experiences of my life – he taught me a huge amount about fashion & design, but also about life in general too. And it was great fun. He was hugely talented, inspiring, generous, hard-working, brilliantly creative  - his death is a huge loss in many, many ways. My thoughts go out to his family and friends.

Goodbye Lee


10
Feb 10

A new blog post

Yes, that’s right,  this IS a new blog post!

I’m finally fulfilling my commitment to blog more regularly (after being shamed into it)

I don’t know what to write about though.

Google Buzz? Nope, it’s already been covered by about a gazillion people already.

The weather? Nope, it’s cold but that’s  normal for winter, no?

So. Um…I’ll be back shortly


20
Jan 10

A commitment

OK, I really mean it this time…I’m going to start blogging regularly again.

At, least 3 times a week.

Definitely, this time.

Honest


11
Nov 09

Oh dear, still not blogging

Hmm, seems I’ve failed to keep to the commitment I made in my last post to blog at least once a week.

Let’s start again shall we?


17
Oct 09

Wow, I haven’t blogged for ages!

For some reason (probably laziness) I haven’t blogged for ages.

But I resolve to try harder in future. At least one blog post a week. Honest


18
Aug 09

What I did (on another day of) my holidays. More culture innit

For the past few years we’ve taken a day out from relaxing by the pool to head into Arles for the annual Les Rencontres photography festival.

Poster for Les Rencontres dArles 2009

From July till September the city hosts exhibitions across the city in art galleries, churches, official buildings and in the disused former railway works, the Parc de Ateliers.

The entrance to Les Rencontres d'Arles

The huge former ateliers or workshops, named after their former uses (Atelier de Mechanique, Atelier des Forges, etc.) are left pretty much as they were with temporary exhibition spaces built inside. Or in the case of one now roofless building, turned into an open-air cafe.

A former railway atelier in Arles, being used as a bar/cafe space by Les Rencontres d'Arles

Each year a guest curator helps to select and commission the artists and works to be included in the festival. This year’s guest curator is Nan Goldin, one of my favourite photographers, whose ‘The Ballad of Sexual Dependency’ is being presented in a slideshow in one of the disused railway office buildings.

As well as some of her other work, the exhibitions also include a selection from her own photography collection and shows by her invited guests. My personal favourites include Marina Berio’s drawings of negatives large scale in charcoal, Lisa Ross‘ images photos of Uighur holy sites in northern China, and Antione D’Agata’s sometimes explicit Agonie series.

As well as the Nan Goldin curated exhibitions, the festival also includes a large number of other shows. Highlights for me include a retrospective of Willy Ronis and the work of the nominees for this year’s Discovery Award, including Olivier Metzger’s brooding nocturnal images, Yang Yongliang’s twist on traditional Chinese landscape paintings, and Moira Ricci’s moving series of photographs of her late mother, into which she has carefully inserted her own image, looking at her mother.

Les Rencontres d’Arles runs until 13 September


15
Aug 09

What I did on (one day of) my holidays. A little bit of wildlife and a little bit of culture

On the way to see some wildlife in the Camargue this morning, we stumbled across Chateau d’Avignon (always nice to get a bit of chateau action in on a trip to France. Don’t be fooled by the name though. it’s not in Avignon. or even near to it).

Unfortunately it was closed for re-building work. But…

Nature Morte

Instead of just closing up the house, the gardens and outbuildings have been used for an open air art exhibition. Using mostly the same materials and tools as for the rebuilding work, the artists have created specially commissioned sculptures and installations.

Untitled sculpture

There were some really witty and interesting pieces and it was a really great surprise to come across the exhibition in a place I’d least expected it. Though it was great to travel into the Camargue and see wild white horses, pink flamingos and black bulls, being a bit of a culture vulture this was a real highlight of the day for me.

Giant wellies

If you’re in the area (It’s near Aigues-Mortes on the edge of the Camargue) over the summer, it’s well worth a visit (it’s free). It’s not mentioned on the Chateau’s website, but the nice lady on the gate said it’s open until the autumn.


31
Jul 09

Some people I follow on Twitter who you might like to follow too. no pressure though

@51m0n
@abeeken
@adebradley
@AlastairReid
@alncl
@benjibrum
@Blatter
@bongbot
@brianhoadley
@brumfailcamp
@carriebish
@ChimeraX
@ChrisUnitt
@colalife
@corbysays
@cosmicgirlie
@cosmodaddy
@danielatkinson
@danosirra
@danslee
@davebriggs
@davidwilcox
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@DougCoupland
@Dr_Black
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@KerryMP
@laurahyde
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@LeonieWatson
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@LittleLaura
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@simond
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@Stephen_Cross
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@stuartparker
@suw
@technicalfault
@the_anke
@ThePickards
@theplayethic
@thoroughlygood
@timdavies
@tom_watson
@Zombie_Claire

Because I’m too lazy to get my act together & take part in #followfriday on Twitter, here a suggested list of just a very few of the people I follow who you may care to follow too.

I was going to add the reasons I follow each person, but due to the aforementioned laziness and being generally exhausted by swineflu, I haven’t bothered. Suffice to say, they all either informed, insightful, funny, clever, epic visionaries, just bloody lovely, or all all of those things. Anyway, don’t take my word for it, give them a follow (or at least check their recent tweets)

Here they are in alphabetical order (which seems fairest. don’t want to get into rankings and all that malarky. and sorry to anyone who isn’t on the list – it’s just a representative sample, nothing personal):


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