Sunset

Super nice sunset this evening.

Friday x10

At work on Fridays I've occasionally been emailed a random mp3 or two from a couple of colleagues. This gave me the idea to publish a short 10 track playlist each Friday afternoon. There have been two so far this year, the aim being to keep it going throughout 2012...

Friday x10 - 06/01/2012 on Spotify

Friday x10 - 13/01/2012 on Spotify

In terms of tracks I'm going to try to keep my choices as wide as possible, influenced by the superb French radio station FIP which was famously available to us Brighton folk on our FM radios a few years ago. That said, the emphasis will probably err on the side of cheesey-listening and the slightly odd - that's just the way my musical tastes go I'm afraid, so these probably aren't playlists to impress a potential boy/girlfriend with.

Have a listen and see what you think.

And if it's not your bag and you like the idea of listening to a stunningly beautiful album then check out King Creosote & Jon Hopkins' Diamond Mine - my ears have been glued to it for the past three days...

unplug at 8

During the winter I find it's so easy to come home from work, where I stare at screens all day, make tea, wash up and then spend the rest of the evening staring at more screens until it's time to sleep.

This year that's all changing. Inspired by GOOD's 'Unplug at 8' challenge, all my screen-staring activity stops at 8pm from now on.

No email, no blogging, no Facebook, no Twitter. The internet gets switched off at 8pm every evening.

Instead, maybe I will read all the books that have been taking up space on my shelves for so long. Maybe I'll start writing. Or drawing. Or playing board games with M (unless she's staring at one of her own screens). Maybe I will use the time to organise myself and get my bag ready for the following morning, or by making tomorrow's lunch...

The possibilities are endless. It's time to unshackle myself from the chains of the internet, to seize the evening, to -

- time's up, it's 8pm. 

Time to unplug.

Bullitt revisited

I have this little tradition where I try to watch the movie Bullitt during the limbo period between Christmas and New Year. It started in the late 90s when I watched it on DVD for the first time and I've revisited it almost every year since. But lately, in my Bristol years, that tradition seems to have fallen by the wayside. So this year (that'll be last year now I guess), as soon as our last Christmas guest had been dropped off at the station, I was rooting around our cupboard for the box of DVDs we'd retired earlier in the year. Outside it was cold and grim, but indoors was nice and toasty - perfect conditions for my Bullitt reacquaintance. I can't get enough of those late 1960s sunny San Francisco streets and the gutteral roar of the Ford Mustang engines during that incredible chase scene through the hilly streets. Even the opening title sequence with Lalo Schifrin's classic score puts hairs on the back of my neck.

When we visited San Francisco in 2010 I was eager to locate Frank Bullitt's (played by Steve McQueen) apartment in the film. We found it easily, thanks to this excellent in-depth tour of filming locations. The apartment is on the corner of Taylor and Clay Streets. In the film the building was painted a dark blue but has apparently had a few colour changes since then and a garage has been added too.

In the film, Bullitt visits a grocery store opposite his apartment and it was nice to see that the store is still there today. In fact, such was the range of city locations used in the film, it was difficult to avoid running into others as we walked around.

This was the first time I'd seen the film since visiting San Francisco. I can now appreciate how that 10 minute chase leaps back and forth across the city, from North Beach and Russian Hill to Potrero Hill and back again. But this in no way detracted from my enjoyment. Bullitt is a terrific film and watching it again helps to reconnect with that tiny little piece of me that I left behind back in 2010...

rainy afternoon at the seaside

This afternoon we made the short trip west to the seaside town of Clevedon. Despite the rain we took a walk along the pier, one of two Grade I listed in the country (the other is what's left of Brighton's West Pier).

Being by the sea, with the salty air, rain coming down and dark clouds hovering above was a real shot in the arm for me. I really miss living by the coast. There's definitely something different about us folk who grow up beside the sea, I'm pretty sure of that: landlocked towns and cities make me feel slightly oppressed and claustrophobic; I lose my bearings, not having the sea to tell me what direction I'm facing.

The space, the air, the sound of the water, the ability to stand and stare into the distance with only the ocean separating you from all the other amazing coastal places in the world; people just like you doing the same thing thousands of miles away...

Here's to a great 2012 and more trips to the seaside! Happy new year!

wake up and fight

A list to end the year with. Woody Guthrie's new year's resolutions for 1942...

1. Work more and better

2. Work by a schedule

3. Wash teeth if any

4. Shave

5. Take bath

6. Eat good — fruit — vegetables — milk

7. Drink very scant if any

8. Write a song a day

9. Wear clean clothes — look good

10. Shine shoes

11. Change socks

12. Change bed cloths often

13. Read lots good books

14. Listen to radio a lot

15. Learn people better

16. Keep rancho clean

17. Dont get lonesome

18. Stay glad

19. Keep hoping machine running

20. Dream good

21. Bank all extra money

22. Save dough

23. Have company but dont waste time

24. Send Mary and kids money

25. Play and sing good

26. Dance better

27. Help win war — beat fascism

28. Love mama

29. Love papa

30. Love Pete

31. Love everybody

32. Make up your mind

33. Wake up and fight

via Brain Pickings

Cretan sky

More Camera+ post-production.

Bristol's harbourside and M-Shed

Old cargo cranes on the harbourside outside M-Shed

M and I recently made our first visit to Bristol's new-ish museum of all things local, M-Shed to see the Martin Parr exhibition. I'm a huge Parr fan - I find many of his images excruciating and hilarious at the same time and, sure enough, this collection (in his adopted home city) didn't disappoint.

M-Shed has been beautifully redeveloped from the old Industrial Museum and a nice little touch is allowing you out on the top floor balcony to take in the views of Bristol's floating harbour. Before I lived here I'd never heard of a floating harbour - apparently it means the water level is always constant and isn't affected by the tides. I couldn't resist taking a few shots from the balcony - these were shot on an iPhone and pimped out using the superb Camera+ app.

surprise

This very pleasant surprise turned up today, courtesy of Hart's Bakery in Bristol. A birthday present from last week had been a place on one of their breadmaking courses. But then a few days ago they informed us they're having to vacate their current premises next week - meaning there'll be no courses running until they find a new home for the business. So Laura from the bakery delivered this early this morning - an incredibly generous gesture. I hope the bakery is up and running again soon (and preferably not too far away from us!) - it's a gem of a place tucked away behind Whiteladies Road and, take it from me, the bread and pastries are superb!

Mock Turtle

The Mock Turtle tea rooms, near the rather unwelcoming coach station at Pool Valley, is probably my favourite place in Brighton to spend a cold and gloomy autumnal afternoon. For a start, the tea is perfect, served in a pot with extra hot water. And while I can recommend the teacakes too, on our visit earlier this month, we both decided to try the welsh rarebit since we'd missed lunch earlier in the day.

The Mock Turtle, like Brighton itself, has a lovely lived-in appeal: there are the odd chips in the crockery and the odd tea stain but I love it and I'm glad it hasn't disappeared in the three years I've been away.