Orange and Cyan Arts

Car Boot Corner

2012-01-29T16:35:00.001Z

The winter sun didn't bother making an appearance today but thankfully, dozens of booters did as another year of retro-treasure hunting begins! The first car boot of the year and it was cold but as always, fruitful!

With two pairs of socks on each, we headed off to one of our favourite stomping grounds, Canford Park Car Boot and there was some speedy purchases made from the first three stalls we visited! Tam picked up Jo Verso's Cross-Stich for Children which has yet more beautiful, inventive and colourful designs from the popular craft author - bargain at £1. Next, Abbo got his 'buy of the day' after spotting a Dog's Playing Pool rug bundled up at the end of the stall. A perfect accompaniment to the 'Dogs Playing Poker' print we have in the kitchen, the bold colours and flying cigar butts will be brightening up our hallway.

Half an hour later and whilst purchasing a couple of 1980s kids LP's featuring the cast from Rainbow and the green bird with aviophobia Orville, we bumped into our friend Jamie from Fish4Junk. With clients all over the world including NYC, Tokyo and of course Bournemouth, F4J are the experts in tracking down delicious, 100% retro and vintage goodies - their fine selection of plastic 70s kitchenalia always sings to our orange and cyan hearts. Out hunting for goodies, Jamie proudly announced that F4J are now also part of the Dorset Curiosity Centre which sounds like a great excuse for us to already start planning our next day out! After comparing swag bags, we said goodbyes as Abbo had spotted some Bullseye poly metronic hard flights on a nearby stall!

As the cold seeped in, we managed to grab a telephone and address book and of course more lovely postcards. Sadly the bread and cake man wasn't there this week so no treats but a promising start nonetheless to the car booting year!

A Short History of Gingerbread

2012-01-28T23:45:00.000Z

What a strange and delicious thing.

Inspired by an afternoon of creating ninja ballet dancing and zombie rabbit eating gingerbread, I thought that this delightful substance needed further exploration and a higher profile by demonstrating its versatility and tasty prowess.

As an eating experience it has it's origins in the grand old time of Mesopotamia where it was believed to having healing properties. Following this, twas brought to Europe in the 10th Century by an Armenian Monk, Gregory of Nicopolis.

He taught its secrets to French priests and Christians and the medicinal myth was perpetuated as it was introduced to Sweden by German immigrants in the 14th Century and some Swedish nuns used it to ease indigestion.

The first imported gingerbread man was credited to our great HRH Queen Elizabeth I, who bestowed important guests with charming G-Bread likenesses of themselves.

However, the first record and honour of G-Bread being made in the UK is held by...Market Drayton where it was made in 1793 (by Roland Lateward). I love the fact that it proudly displays its heritage on its welcome sign.

It's even been referenced by ole Billy Shakes, so if it's good enough for him, then it's good enough for me. From Love’s Labours Lost:
"And I had but one penny in the world. Thou should’st have it to buy gingerbread."

After the Grimm Brothers' tale of Hansel and Gretel described a house "made of bread," with a roof of cake and windows of barley, German bakeries began offering elaborate gingerbread houses with icing snow on the roofs.

It is from this moment on that not only the edibility of this wonderful creation opened up, but the fact that you could make, decorate and embellish this wonderful substance into things like this video game inspired ginger bread biscuits.

I think a trip to Market Drayton could well be on the cards.

Postcards I Love You

2012-01-23T17:09:00.001Z

For me they're a hallowed sliver of card which capture an experience and a moment in time that you want to share with someone else. They hint at a story and they hint at multiple stories through their combination of words, images and stamps and they create this link between two people and places and provides an indicator of what people find significant.

They are a personal treat and an investment of time. The hunt for the postcard to match the receiver is part of the fun. It matters not if it's a day trip to Bognor Regis or a fortnight in Tasmania; the quest, the ritual of finding what bounty the place has to offer is brimmed with happiness and then trying to find a stamp, engaging with locals and shopkeepers to try and determine the optimum value to ensure the speediest flight back home.

Postcards effortlessly convey distance and are a useful delayer of gratification. You can be mischievous and tell some outrageous lies on the back "killed a moose whilst getting married to Darlene last night, boy can she Howl!"

This is sure to get the postman gossiping with your next door neighbour or you can just give a salute and provide some banal information like "the weather is here, wish you were lovely". The restriction of that A6 canvas is hugely satisfying because you can never convey all that you wish to express, but you have to come to understanding that this space is all you're even going to have.

This is an invitation. An invitation to everybody, no matter where or who you are. If you feel like you don't have enough postcards in your life, send me one with your address to my address and let's strike up a postal relationship.

The postcard - how I love the postcard.

World's Strongest Man Final 1983

2011-12-28T11:41:00.000Z

The World's Strongest Man (WSM) was the premier event in strength athletics for 20 years up until the late 1990's. Men from four corners of the earth were invited to compete against each other in a series of unique events designed to test each individual to the fullest. The events had a foundation in Powerlifting, Highland Games and others were created based on mythological feats of strength.

It was at the end of a long day that we came across the televised final of WSM 1983. We'd found TV gold. It had the constituent parts of: a British underdog, early 80s hair styles and fashion, a brilliant referee and a crowd who were a bit too close to the athletes. We were instantly hooked.

A final to beat all finals. A truck full of tension, a barrel load of theatrics and the first time the event had been held outside the USA since its inception in 1977. Christchurch - New Zealand, I bring you, GB's finest, the 2 time Commonwealth Shot Put Champion and Budgie Breeding Behemoth...Geoff Capes.
There were 8 strangely named events which sorted the wheat from the chaff, the men from the boys and the sheep from the goats. Farmers Walk, Bar Bending, Silver Dollar Deadlift, Truck Pull, Rock Lift, Weight for Height, Wool Hoist and Lorry Loading.

All were designed to sap energy, test physical and mental endurance and brutalise any muscle in the human body. There were other characters alongside Mr Capes and much of the focus fell on a young pretender from Iceland, Jón Páll Sigmarsson, with a series of one liners designed to psyche out his fellow athletes ("This is no problem for Jón Páll", "There is no reason to be alive if you can't do deadlift" and "I am not an Eskimo, I am a Viking!"). Jón Páll proved a fearsome competitor in 1983 and would go on to win the WSM 4 times in the future as well going down in history as Iceland's greatest athlete of the 20th Century.

However, 1983 was all about Geoff. Coming first in the Truck Pull and Weight for Height and finishing in the top 3 for all the other events meant Capes was leading with only the final event (Lorry Loading) left. It was captivating to watch as these 12 huge sacks of flour, weighing at least 12 stones each had to launched on to the back of a lorry. The fine flour kept seeping through the porous bags and it got into some of the athletes lungs, including poor Tom Magee who nearly died after he inhaled too much flour and could barely complete the task.

However, Capes knew that he'd done enough and gave a little leap of joy as the final sack landed on the back of the lorry and in his final interview, he declared many pints and drinks were going to be spilled in Christchurch that night in celebration of a little man from Lincolnshire being crowned the World's Strongest Man with a total score of 49.5.

Newark upon Trent - A Glory Town

2011-12-23T10:14:00.000Z

Our inter-nation travelogue continues...It's like Cheltenham, but prettier. It's like Cirencester, but cheaper. It's Newark upon Trent, home of some of the finest set of independent shops and eateries in our fair country.

Sitting atop of the festive shopping pile is Vintage Vixen (run by the lovely Clare Parker) on Cartergate. A ladies only step back into the 1950s. T got two wonderful pieces (Christmas Day and New Years Eve outfits), a flattering aubergine dress and a knitted straw leopard jumper. Both absolute bargains and I got us a huge piece of maori wall art with a corny story on each corner in a wonderful type face and artistic styling.

Two's Company on Kirkgate is a gift shop doing so well, they've opened up two other shops across the country on the back of the shops success in Newark. Our purchase was a wonderfully decorative key plate which has a retro driving licence embedded beneath the glazed surface.

With some splendid architecture including a 16th Century castle (loaded with history and playing an important part in the Civil War), the Gilstrap historical centre, heritage trails, two musuems and Mr glorious River Trent winding it's way through the town, it's a truly picturesque and vibrant market town which also hosts Europe's largest antique fair at the mighty Newark Showground.

Home to the Railway Club, a charming ode to working men's clubs and histories through the ages it still has a 50p pool table. We've not seen those prices since our glory days back at University in Scarborough (oh those long nights in the cavernous Olympia arcade complete with the best ever bandit - Crazy Fruits). Home also to the famous Tolney Lane which brings an incredible richness and diversity into the population with the traveller community (who I went to Primary School with) who're directly responsible for much of the wonderful famed Newark slang words including: Chavvy, Peeve, Teggys and Yocks.

Just 80mins from London on the train and 20mins from Nottingham and Lincoln and sat proudly astride the ancient Great North Road (known more locally as the A1) and bisecting it east to west is the recently improved A46 aiding all four wheel journeys in the area. Tis very close to Sherwood Forest, home of the Major Oak and Robin Hood himself. There's no earthly reason not to come and share in the delights of this historic market marvel.

Brief Bus Encounters

2011-12-10T16:00:00.000Z

It would seem that we were destined to meet.

Without my car, I had to get to Radio HQ to record the latest two broadcast specials of Sound Tracks (a Bollywood followed by a Video Game focussed hour of entertainment). So off I trotted on the wonderful public transport of Wilts and Dorset buses and in particular the service no.36 which runs from Bournemouth to Verwood and departed at 8.26am.

There was a gentleman on the bus already and a lady boarded at the same time as I to join our friendly driver en route to Verwood. The gentleman alighted at Ringwood and the driver announced to us both that he needed to go and get some more change as he was running out.

It was at this moment that a conversation was struck up between myself and the lady who was sat behind me. Playing with her new iPhone (sold to her by her son) she began telling me that her son has recently started playing Assassin's Creed Revelations and that she's suitably impressed with its graphics but as she's got an addictive personality, she can't play computers because she'd waste her time on them.

I also discovered en route that she was off to Moors Valley Country Park and was learning to cycle with her friend June. This lady was in her late 50s and respect was due as she's trying something new on this cold December morn.

We offered polite goodbyes, she disappeared into the park and I carried on my journey to Radio HQ. All went well, both shows sounding brilliant and I got on the 36 again retracing the bussy tracks through Three Legged Cross and Ashley Heath. Who then gets on the bus outside Moors Valley Country Park, the same lady with her cycle helmet and friend June waving her off.

She came and sat down next to me and started where we left off 200 minutes earlier like we were old friends. She'd be talking to June about the "lovely person" she met on the bus on the way here, but also shared with me she'd fallen off her bike today (it's normally June who falls off) and the last time she fell off was during "The Jewish Incident". Her son was teaching her to cycle and she actually ploughed into a whole family of three generations of a Jewish cycling family and fell off and slightly hurt herself earlier on in the summer. I told her about the radio and she told me that she worked at the Inland Revenue and her time in South Africa. We got off at the same stop, exchanged names and as we parted at the fork of Knyveton Road - Anne hugged me, smiled and strolled on and said she'd listen to the show tomorrow.

It's Chi-Chi-Chichester!

2011-11-19T11:09:00.000Z

Our inter-nation travelogue continues and this time we landed at the West Sussex gem - Chichester! A swift 70 minutes transit from our BH HQ, we parked up and look what faced us; only a cotton picking, cowboy themed, eatery of the highest order, aka Smith and Western.

Genuine country music spilling out the speakers, Cowgirl Charlie serving our every need, cactus and boot wall paper, ribs, loaded skins, wings, corn and ranch beans - check, check, check! We were a happy pair of yahoo's foot tappin and a'stomping all day after this brilliant culinary experience.

Steeped in history and dripping with fine architecture, including the Cathedral (complete with a Knight's tomb) and the 16th Century Chichester Cross. Every place of note must have a Butter Market and Corn Exchange and Chichester does not disappoint. History alert - like many places in England, the name derived from "caester" meaning Roman settlement. In this case the Saxons who arrived following the Roman withdrawal were led by a man called Cissa, hence Cissa's Caester which became become Chichester.

Not only does it fulfil our culinary and architectural desires, Cissa's Caester also helps us empty our pockets with a selection of wonderful shops. Alongside some of the regular high street players like Clarks (incredible customer service - so friendly and managed to persuade us, somehow, to purchase a Christmas present - and made us feel lovely about it as well) and Moss Bros there's a wealth of charming and fine pieces of independent shoppery including:

The upcycling Number 43 and the best vintage shop in the country, One Legged Jockey. Tracey got an original Ladybird, part cape/part extra long body warmer in green and it is a large piece of awesome.

With our guides to Northampton, Southport and now Chichester, we're highlighting some alternative places on our fair isle which deserve a little time and exploration outside of the classic visitor-laden places. Up the Chichester!

Game City 6

2011-11-03T18:26:00.000Z

Twas an adventure in authenticity, a place where a genuine community of interest came together alongside inquisitive residents to share the realm of videogames and all that sails in her.

Over 4 days, the festival is the self styled “biggest and best-loved videogame culture festival in Europe!” and runs over multiple sites in the East Midlands city of Nottingham, during the day time, the night time and inbetween time (with the wonderful addition of Covernomics - a real life, real surveillance, covert mission piece of spy heaven). I wanted to share some of my experiences, some of the panels and debates attended, the people and developers I met and let this act as a guide to my experiences.

My first stop was a conversation between Richard Lemarchand, lead game designer on the forthcoming triple AAA PS3 exclusive, Uncharted 3 and Tale of Tales' founders Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn.

Hearing from Auriea and Michaël, who are a pair of Belgian art game developers and how they offered insights into their approach and creative journey from net art experimenters in the late 90s, to developing an impressive stable of alternative videogame experiences including: the fantastical MMO (minimal multiplayer online) The Endless Forest (an online environment where you appear as a deer, with no rules or goals to achieve), The Path (a short horror game inspired by Little Red Riding Hood offering an experience of exploration, discovery and introspection with all activities in the game entirely optional) and The Graveyard (a micro computer game where you play an old woman who visits a graveyard. You walk around, sit on a bench and listen to a song. It's more like an explorable painting, but there’s a huge difference between the paid version and free version of the game).

Richard also offered an insight into how a certain scene in Uncharted 2 was inspired by Tale of Tales and it was a section where the lead character Nathan Drake came across a small mountain village with a community and the game did not let you shoot or attack its population, in fact if you pressed the attack button, it made you shake hands or wave at the village members. Richard was trying to build this narrative and emotional connection between the lead character of Drake and the villagers because later on it the game (spoiler alert) the village gets burnt down.

Auriea and Michaël were fascinating, charming and achingly articulate throughout and with their creations offer a genuine alternative to the big time computer game behemoths which I’d heartily recommend that you engage with. Head over to Tale of Tales to find out more.

Later in the evening, we experienced Renga from Wall Four, which was the world’s first 100 player laser-controlled video game. It combined strategic conquest elements from games such as Civilisation with action phases inspired by old-school arcade classics such as Defender. It rewarded coordinated movement but allowed formations to emerge without advance planning as players observe other lasers and join emergent groups, sort of like an improvisational dance. As a collective experience, it was exhilarating, something akin to the feeling at a sports stadium when the crowd become one, we were a hive, a pack all working the greater good. A totally unique experience.

The next day was all about the Zombies, one of the large successes of Game City 6 and previous incarnations is that they often theme days and today was all about those beloved half –dead henry’s.

Each day began with a breakfast debate at the wonderful Broadway Cinema chaired by the Guardian Games’s Keith Stuart, today was: Love, Rage and Horror – are games emotional enough? There was a stellar panel including Simon Parkin (Eurogamer), Phil Fish (Fez Dez Rez), Richard LeMarchand (Naughty Dog), Mike Bithell (Thomas Was Alone), Andrew Smith (Spilt Milk Studios) and Rob Yescombe (formerly Free Radical and Crytek).

Richard offered us “games elicit certain kinds of emotions, competitive games elicit triumph, success and frustration”, and Phil replied with “Silent Hill 1&2 are the finest piece of horror on any media and we worked with fear specialists who said turning left down corridors is scary and different ceiling heights in different rooms is also scary”. The next topic was sadness with the videogame Heavy Rain appearing heavily and Keith cited the greatest fear if you’re a parent is the loss of your child and that was why Heavy Rain was so successful, Simon replied us “games are great at revenge stories, but not redemption”. Finally the 7 men on the panel spoke about love with The Sims and Ico leading the discussion. Simon “The Sims tries to mechanise love in a dry way, it’s an economy. Whereas in Ico, you have to lead this small waif through different lands and you have to look after her or she’ll be sacrificed.” Keith shared: “if you come to a standstill after you’ve run around with her, you can feel her heartbeat through the controller”. The debates were genuinely interesting, covered a range of topics and brought us insight from a diversity of panellists who wouldn’t normally talk about these sorts of things.

Later in the day there was a Scare Tactics panel with James Moran (Severance and Doctor Who), Gerard Jones (DC, Marvel, Dark Horse) and Rob Yescombe again. James and Gerard provided great content and bounced off each other really well. Gerard spoke about “how cat scares (the quick startle) are not really interesting and a good scare for adults is based on suspense, anxiety and something being unsettled”. James offered us a piece of classic Hitchcock “where it’s scarier to show a bomb and then create a 10min scene about what might happen rather than show the bomb explode.” He also mentioned the film Threads (a documentary-style account of a nuclear war and its effects on the city of Sheffield) as being quite scary as well. Gerard also said that “what’s scary to a 3 or 4 year old child is adult scowling face looking scary. Suspense is unbearable to young children, kids can watch heads being chopped off, but being glared at is really scary.” For me there was a significant amount of information which was being recycled by Rob who was re-telling horror content from his previous session and the breakfast earlier on in the day. I feel that this should have considered by Game City or it may be that Rob doesn’t have a lot to say.

My final encounter with the zombies, apart from the fabulously made up green shirted volunteers around the city square, was an insight into the funding, conception and development of a hotly anticipated running game and audio adventure called Zombies, Run! created by Six to Start. It will be available on your iphone and smartphone by the middle of next year and I know it’s going to get a lot more people active and exercising who might not have gone for a run before, but now they’re running from zombies, collecting items and building your base back at HQ, a genius idea!

My final musings are linked to encounters which I was actively involved in; Covernomics and Several Amazing Things About Tetris (1984).
SATAT 1984 was a seven hour performance lecture all about the mid 80s tetronomic gaming masterpiece Tetris. However, this lecture by Pat Ashe lasted as long as you stayed alive in the game and the blocks didn’t fill the screen. A brilliant concept, fascinating factoids learnt and a charming performer. PS I’m sure I also got the highest score of the day. From Russia With Fun!

Covernomics was another durational experience but this time over 4 days. Through email, phone calls and illegal rendezvous it instructed you to go undercover, decipher codes, assemble electronic devices, accrue assets and survey other agents in the field whilst avoiding detection. Agents were assigned daily tasks (I’m not revealing too much detail as they want to return next year) and I’m pleased to report that I completed Operation GC6 and was one of the top ten of agents.

For me, Game City 6 captured the true spirit of a festival with oodles of positivity oozing from the staff, volunteer teams and exhibitors which in turn infected us, the participants to be generous, encouraging and enter into the essence of debate and inquiry which the festival fostered so well. I only encountered a small percentage of the festival, but what I experience I was left sated and elated and will no doubt return to future iterations of the wonderful and valuable experience that is Game City.

Images courtesy of Game City, Tale of Tales, Nintendo, Six to Start

Player vs Character

2011-10-29T00:19:00.000+01:00

BAFTA Games Writers Panel supported by The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain

Welcome to BAFTA, it’s all nipples and grenades.

A fascinating 90 minute panel debate between four of this countries finest video games writers; Jim Swallow (Deus Ex Human Revolution), Rhianna Pratchett (Heavenly Sword), Ed Stern (Wolfenstein) and chair for the night was Andrew S Walsh (Prince of Persia) who between them have shipped over 80 titles into our lives and tonight explored the huge question of Players vs Characters. Structure for the night, there were three anchor questions posed to each panel member alongside a smattering of questions from the floor. First up…

What is a games character?
Jim and Rhianna made the differentiation between character types with Jim going for the “characters are empty vessels that you fill” (in Deus Ex, he tried to create a backstory and narrative for the character Adam Jensen before empowering the player to let them choose one of the four possible pathways and approaches through the game) and Rhi coming back with “but I like to play games with full characters like Max Payne or Alan Wake as you get a certain agency over them”. Ed popped in with the crucial addition “the best character in most games in the environment”. This sparked a bit of gush fest over the Bioshock and the environment of Rapture.
For me, the success of Bioshock is how it looks and sounds, how the NPCs and audio diaries help you construct the back story and aid you in a process of information discovery, it’s not spoon fed to you in a dirty little cut scene, like the recent barrel of bilge The Cursed Crusade. Round two.

Player vs character
Jim came in with the ultimate writers’ aim of immersion: “It’s the holy grail, trying to suck you in. We want to bring a story to you and offer you a beginning, middle and end.” For me the crucial word in that was offer, the choices that a player can or cannot make enhance their own personal experience. He also pointed a finger at overly long cut scenes “I’m looking at you Metal Gear Solid” which Rhi added to “If you see your character doing something brilliant in a cut scene but then can’t do it in game, that creates a gulf between player and character and breaks the invisible link”.
There was a consistency of opinion that writers are often brought into the process too late, never get the chance to work with actors when the lines are recorded and so a line that could have been laced with comedy at the very beginning because of the intricacies of pauses, intentions and inflexions are often lost in translation. In a startling revelation, Ed stated that “most actor scripts are written in excel”. Imagine having to read 100,000 lines of text from a spreadsheet, it certainly cannot aid the content and context of the game.

What else shapes and defines a character?
Ed came straight off the bat with “genre expectations are usually tough and conservative”. Rhi added that platform has something to do with it, she created Overlord 1&2 on the Xbox and PS3, but it also had different iterations on the Wii and DS, so the world of Overlord existed on all those planes, but the restrictions of age groups for the Wii and DS versions meant that some of the characterisations of the minions having to be altered. A vital point made by Ed was you should be able to give the 5 second, 30 second and 2 minute pitch to different audiences, because “someone else will be making your character move, someone else will be giving him a physical dialogue”, the implementation is being given to different teams. Jim answered one of the floor questions about “would a writer ever have a great idea and pitch that to a studio?”, the answer was a resounding no, it’s about what will sell, not what’s the idea? Andrew added with great timing, what sells is nipples and grenades. Film/game tie ins were mentioned and some brutal truths exposed again where studios spend all their money on acquiring the licence and so have less money on the game, other times including Blade 2, where the games developers were given absolutely no access to the script, artwork, scenery or even the crumbs from their dinner, yet still had to create a game which launched on release of the film.

It was a very stimulating night with 4 very different personalities, all thoroughly warranting their place and each adding something to the debate in their own unique style. Coming next at BAFTA Games is an evening with Bioware in November, Mass Effect 3 anyone?

Bread

2011-10-14T23:01:00.000+01:00

The B3063, aka Charminster Road in Bournemouth, is home to many a good eatery and restaurant (Nippon Inn and Starz Bar are well worth a visit), but the culinary highlight for me is a small, independent, no nonsense Turkish bakery called Pasha.

Bread is often at the forefront of my mind, it being my favourite foodstuff by a country mile; it has such variety in shape, taste and texture. There is nothing better than a hollow sounding, soft centred warm crusty cob which fills your nose and belly with doughy happiness. We don’t need any butter here, just dry and crusty bread.

Pasha make the best Pide ever – a deliciously day fresh stone baked Turkish flat bread, often consumed within 10 minutes from time of purchase. It’s a rare day if Mr Pide makes it off the B3063 complete because he is just so irresistible.

I offer a small insight into my devotion to this delightful foodstuff. It was a Christmas day, in the last year of the 1980s and I asked my Auntie for a fresh crusty 800g bloomer for my present. Opening up my bready package, I was so happy to have a whole loaf to myself to tear and carve up in giant doorsteps; the joy I felt was unbridled. A recent personal surprise for me was the introduction into the market of the 1kg Tiger loaf, an absolute monster, fun for all the family and costing less than for 152 pennies.

Along with fishes, if it’s good enough for Jesus and can feed the 5000, it’s good enough for me. Bread – I wanna make it with you.

…and the Lord said, let there be D A N C E

2011-09-29T00:55:00.001+01:00

Over the past 7 days I have seen over 10 pieces of dance, performance and staged spectacle. This is my outlet for sharing some of the ubertasticness of these physical offerings.

It all started quite beautifully with the exquisitely economical Jane Mason who performed her new work Singer, a 30 minute ode to all the things interesting to her like ambiguity, weight, light, song and construction. A refreshingly simple presentation yet rich with emotion and connections, it left room for the audience to absorb and process the environments that Jane presented. She also presented her awarding film Andout with some wonderful soundscape by Jules Maxwell.

It was then ramped up in scale to a complete polar opposite. The four story temporary glass fronted Electric Hotel was constructed outside in Bournemouth and the audience witnessed and heard (through a delightfully composed soundtrack played to the audience individually over pairs of headphones) a mysterious incident, which shall remained unnamed. Twas an adventure in repetition, with slight glitches in the movement presented again and again, filmic in its construction and how the audience could follow multiple narratives of the hotel residents over and over and over again.

Next stop was the launch of a new dance space, South East Dance Studios, in Kent with 7 different pieces for the audience to watch and take part in. The delightful Mayakaras (a Kent based youth dance group under the watchful eye of Lila Dance) entranced the audience with a performance full of attack and authenticity missing in many “professional” works. Tony Adigun created (with students from Hextable School) a processional site specific work moving the audience in and out of corridors, studios, shower rooms and foyers, Billy Cowie's 3D film Tango de Soledad and Rosemary Butcher kicked the night off with architecture/roof/aerial dance framed by a slowly fading dusk light with some luminescent wings. Swanley have never had it so good.

Finally a brutal and ferocious presentation of a new work by La La La Human Steps, choreographed by the ever pioneering Edouard Lock from Montreal. Ballet like you have never seen. Timed to the nano second, met with precision on both the musicality and physicality, the dancers ooze panache yet create exquisite shapes with such swiftness, you begin to question whether they are indeed human. A relentless 90 mins, with no break, a new score by Gavin Bryars and some of the finest lighting design, dancing and choreography you’re likely to see.

Who Loves Northampton?

2011-09-13T21:07:00.000+01:00

...well we sure do, after landing in the county town of fair Northamptonshire yesterday.

A brilliant market town with oodles of interesting architecture and history. We embarked on a town trail, following a map of over 20 highlighted venues and points of interest and had a jolly time doing so.

Our first major port of call was this little beauty, the Guildhall. Home to all sorts of local authority activity, the interior was simply divine, lots of detail in the brick work and even the stained glass had been in situ so long, it had sunk to the bottom and thickened. It had the look of a mini St Pancras hotel about it.

We only made our way around the town because we found Oliver Adams, "150 years in the baking" who aided us with their tasty bakery offerings. I encountered a pineapple cake, which we were informed by the pastry operative had its origins in Scotland where there's a larger dome. Tracey had a large bun complete with fruit and all sorts of other filling.

There's a large cultural and artistic heritage to be found as well including the only house that Charles Renee Mackintosh created in England, a gold award winning historic house chocked full with Mack attacks, the Royal and Derngate theatre which is an impressive building (though the programme is a trifle safe) and the art gallery has an internationally renowned collection of shoes (the local football team is known as the cobblers due to the main historic industry in the town).

The market square was also a little stunner and here's an old postcard view, though it hasn't changed a jot. A conker also fell on my head in the local graveyard, so I won't forget that in a hurry.

Thanks for having us Northampton, you were wonderful!

The Chain Gang

2011-09-05T16:11:00.000+01:00

Beaming with pride, we head up to my (Ian) home town this Sunday at the invitation of my Auntie Irene with Tracey and my mum. Not just an Auntie - but a Councillor, not just a Councillor but the Deputy Mayor of Newark upon Trent.

A feisty widow who lives on Yorke Drive (think Beirut roads, poor sink estate reputation and plenty of odd and colourful characters) Irene has served her community as both a Cllr and community elder for many years, trying to right local wrongs and make sure the voices of her wards are heard and acted upon by the powers that be.

The invitation in question is at the Parish Church for the Annual Battle of Britain Commemorative Service, followed by a reception at the Town Hall afterwards in the presence of the the Mayor himself Cllr Bryan Richardson. I loved receiving said formal invitation with the coat of arms of Newark emblazoned across the top in gold leaf.

A little bit of history for you. The wavy water, otter and beaver all reference the importance of the River Trent that runs through the heart of the town and the arms were granted in 1561 with the motto "Deo Fretus Erumpe" (translating as Trust God and Sally Forth) added in 1912.

Hair Battle Spectacular

2011-08-25T22:15:00.000+01:00

There's a brand new TV channel on Freeview here in the UK called Really. It has lots of wonderful, high quality programmes like Extraordinary Breastfeeding, Farm Of Fussy Eaters and Spa of Embarrassing Illnesses.

However, the greatest hour on the small screen for the next 4 weeks on Thursday 8pm is the loudest, the most monstrous, introducing the première series of Hair Battle Spectacular.

Part sculpture and part pop art, fantasy hair has been inspired by pop culture leaders like Lady Gaga and Nikki Minaj with each challenge requiring contestants to create outrageous coifs and mops.

There was 10 contestants to start and each week they enter a boxing ring and are whittled down one by one. They present their hair creations in a high octane and stylized performance with a truly awful rap/poem overlayed as a bad soundtrack when their models enter the arena. After each challenge, the judges, lead by award-winning fantasy hair designer Derek J (he has the most fabulous kitten heels), and 2 others - critique the stylists on creativity, execution and overall presentation. It's just been commissioned and starting screening a second series in the US, so we should hopefully get a large piece of hairy action when series two lands.

One man has created the biggest impression on me, Mr Tsunami (real name Nate). He created this for the wedding themed week and transformed the model into a table with a cake on top. It looked like a warped Cousin It.

Hair pieces have dropped off en route on some weeks and I've seen exquisite hair do's and plenty of horrendous hair don'ts. Be careful though Hair Battle Spectacular is quite addictive and I'd encourage readers to take least two steps towards the world of fantasy hair the next time you visit the barbers!

The Writings and Emily Speed

2011-08-24T08:44:00.000+01:00

In November 2008 I exhibited at the Artists' Book Fair in Liverpool and met Emily Speed, who coordinated the event, commissioned some new book works and created a jolly nice environment and atmosphere for both sellers and buyers.

As an exchange for selling my wares during the event, Emily took a copy of two of my books, The Writings of Ian Abbott Volume 1&2 and The Writings of Ian Abbott Volume 3&4.

They were both small, square, hand made, concertina books with 10 miniature performances encased in them. 1&2 had a cover made from cardboard and 3&4 had a cover made from polystyrene. They were exhibited at quite a few galleries including the beautiful Chapel Gallery in Ormskirk.

Emily currently has an exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park and I love her new limited edition Egg Plaster Casts, but she got in touch again recently for another purpose. She's been asked to put together a present of artists' books for four departing members of a-n's board. a-n's mission is to stimulate and support contemporary visual arts practice and affirm the value of artists in society.

So four copies of both Vol 1&2 and 3&4 (original editions) will be making their way to various departing artistic board members over the coming weeks and that's good news all round. I'm currently creating some delicate space travel themed books which will be highlighted here and for sale very shortly.

Dirt

2011-07-30T10:39:00.000+01:00

We love Dirt.
We love the filthy reality of everyday life.
We love the Wellcome Collection's exhibition on this grimy little topic as it looks at our relationship with muck, how we ignore it, how it affects us and how it has been represented by artists and social commentators.

There's over 200 extremely well chosen objects on show from 5 key periods in the last 450 years (from Joseph Lister's pioneering Carbolic Spray instrument to an original John Snow map charting the Cholera outbreak from the Broad Street pump in the 19th Century), the layout of the objects and the path you take through the gallery also enhances the exhibition experience, an act of foul minded curational brilliance.

As munchers of good information design (thank you Mr Tufte), it was great to see the work of John Snow alongside the Report on the Mortality of Cholera in England by William Farr as well as brilliant pictorial insights into the first and second International Hygiene Exhibition held in Dresden, Germany in 1911 and 1930.

The older work fascinated us, some of the engravings of Geertruid Roghman depicting domestic servitude are beautiful in their virtuosity but challenge the viewer by having the subject face away from us.

We couldn't help but love this scathing illustration, Monster Soup commonly called Thames Water, from William Heath as The Thames became more polluted in 1815 in an effort to relieve the bulging cesspools of London.

The idea that 'cleanliness is next to godliness' strikes through most of the work, but the Wellcome Collection must be in purgatory because although they had so much dirt on display, it was a very well ordered and crisp environment and it would have been nice to feel a bit grubby, maybe get a little dirt under our fingernails, as we went round.

However, we heartily recommend that you leave those dirty pots to fester for one more afternoon and do not break out your feather duster because you should head to London so see this wonderful exhibition before it finishes at the end of August 2011.

You should really go and see it, you filthy buggers!

Garigari-kun and Puzzling Mallorca

2011-07-21T22:34:00.000+01:00

Whilst on our travels to Mallorca, we ventured out to the capital, Palma, to see what we could see, see, see. Twas a small and walkable city, full of buzzy Spanish lanes, with interesting and independent shops, adorned with beautiful architecture and we had some cracking tapas for luncheon.

However, one stop on our exploration proved more fruitful than any other and it was to the Mallorca Puzzle Shop to which we ended up in and purchased a Garigari-kun puzzle lolly, which Tracey is holding in her hand.

The man of the shop was a multi-lingual puzzle mentalist, he had strange contraptions on and under the counter for all to see and play with. There was a spinning disc complete with enlarging mushroom, some classic Destiny Wasgij and ring holograms, but the thing which caught all of our eyes was little Garigari.

Garigari-kun history lesson.
Introduced in 1981, Garigari-kun was one of the first bar-type ice treats. The target demographic was “active” school-age boys who needed at least one hand free to play whatever game they were playing while munching. The ice that makes up the bar is filled with very small and separate ice particles that make a characteristic crunchy “garigari” sound when bitten.

The big-mouthed character adorning the package is part of the appeal and is representative of gaki-daisho, or the big kid in your gang who, despite his size, is the most warmhearted member. He’s also assumed to be the poorest.

The product’s very low price is thus tied directly to the image that Akagi wanted to promote. In 2008 they sold 255 million Garigari-kun bars in Japan. History lesson over.

We fell in love the Japanese typography and style of the packaging, but most of all the 3D puzzle lolly which was inside the wrapper. You have 16 pieces to assemble on the stick, comprising of an inner and outer layer with fiendishly difficult jigsaw edge tessellation.

We love the shop, we love the man in the shop (who wouldn't let us purchase our desired item until I completed a metal ring remover - which took at least 15 minutes), we love Garigari-kun.

Just One More Thing - Peter Falk

2011-06-26T13:02:00.001+01:00

Dear Peter,

This is a note to say thank you. Thank you for the pleasure, entertainment and smiles you have induced in us over the years. You had a rare skill to create and absorb characters that connected with an audience through the big and small screens, as well as an effortless charm with which you delivered your numerous roles.

It is with great sadness that we hear of your passing, but we wanted to share your history with others and the impact it has had on us.

Your most iconic role has been our regular weekend fixture, the yardstick that any detective series should measure itself against, created by Levinson and Link, the inimitable Colombo. You made him your own by using your own raincoat and picking out the battered old Peugeot.

The inverted detective story, showing the murder and the perpetrator at the top of the show was a brilliant device to highlight how you then unpicked the story, exposed the usually affluent murderers and proved that the "ordinary" cop can outsmart anyone who comes onto his radar, thus providing immense satisfaction for us, your audience. It is this satisfaction and familiarity with the set pieces, foibles and quirks that you delivered which continues to provide the Colombo audience with delight week after week and retains their affection for your character.

We know you're going to be pesky and keep dogging the murderer, coming back to them again and again at the tennis club or mansion, wearing them down and exposing their flimsy alibi's.
We know you'll keep chewing on your stogie's as the cogs chug round your head - you appear to see nothing, but actually see everything.
We know that the unfailing wisdom of Mrs Columbo (we like this beautiful picture of you and the real Mrs Falk) or the variety of relatives and acquaintances that we never see provide insight into the particular crime on hand, be it bagpipe playing Uncle or nephew at UCLA specialising in dermatology.
We also know that catchphrase and we perform it along with you, as you head towards the door - pause - turn around, scratch your head, point and say "Just One More Thing..."

You had many, many other successful roles throughout your half century career; a fistful of Emmy awards, a double Academy Award nomination and a particularly iconic role in the Wim Wenders 1987 art house film Wings of Desire where you played yourself and in the end titles was credited as "Der Filmstar". No further tribute needed.

There was a luminous relationship with the director John Cassavettes in which you delivered two more outstanding performances on film, A Woman Under The Influence (1974) and Husbands (1970) as well as The Great Race and The Princess Bride.

But you came to acting surprisingly late, at the ripe old age of 29, after an interesting journey that included a Masters in Public Administration and degree in political science as well as working on the railroad for six months in the former Yugoslavia and a United States Merchant Marine. Last year we saw Dirk Benedict of "The A-Team" fame, in a stage version of Columbo: Prescription Murder at a local theatre in Poole. Although he had the raincoat and a healthy cigar habit there was something missing, something which only you could ever bring to the role.

As you spent many hours on the Colombo set, your honed your skills in charcoal and watercolour whiling away the time and as a result had many gallery shows. This one, with your finger pointing to the sky is the image that will stay with us, when Columbo has stopped being shown on TV (may this never happen), as the ultimate aide memoir of your work as a fine, fine actor who delivered a diversity of roles and emotions which endeared you to your public at large. Peter Falk, we salute you.

Yours Sincerely
Ian & Tracey

E3 2011 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

2011-06-10T19:21:00.001+01:00

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is the annual mecca/trade show for the computer and video game industry, where developers show off their biggest games and bestest hardware. The three top dogs (Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo) set out their stalls with a clearly defined offer of Kinect, 3D/Vita and next generation Nintendo. As a consumer this choice is wonderful, it feels like the industry has never been richer, so get ready for an uber digest as there’s a lot to get through.

Microsoft
Microsoft kicked off proceedings flaunting their forthcoming Kinect titles; Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (allowing for major gun/weapon customisation), Kinect Star Wars (you are the light sabre) and Rise of Nightmares (Japanese horror with you punching oodles of zombies), however, Mass Effect 3 was the title that the people wanted and it did not disappoint.

With ME3, you’re able to use your voice to progress the story, as well as calling your fighting squad to “move up” and support you or retreat into cover and cower away. Sounds good? I'm not so sure. I understand the concept of Kinect in ME3 as it attempts to create a deeper immersion in the narrative with you “calling the shots” as Commander Shepard trying to save the galaxy from the Reapers, but I think it will interrupt the flow and rhythm of proceedings.

As a player using the dialogue wheel in the ME and ME2, you read the choices on offer internally, decide which one you want and hit a button to determine your choice. With the addition of Kinect, you still have to read all the choices, make your decision and then speak your choice out loud, but this speaking out loud will add at least 2 or 3 seconds per dialogue sequence and there’s an awful lot of dialogue in ME3. Accumulated over the whole game and it may make it a rather stuttery experience. Kinect + ME3 will not be good; however, ME3 with a normal controller will be spectacular and rightly claims its place as the most anticipated title for Xbox360. It’s also got Mr Clint Mansell in charge of the soundtrack which will ensure audio brilliance. ME3 is slated for a March 2012 release.

Sony
Sony swiftly followed with a rather confused message, though it was a good confusion to have. Not only did they have numerous AAA and exclusive titles pouring out of the stable like Uncharted 3, they launched a brand new a brand new portable console, the PS Vita, pushed the adoption of 3D TV and gaming with a new “all in one bundle” of PS3, 3D TV, 3D glasses and Resistance 3 for under $500 and highlighted Move titles like Starhawk and Dust 514. Four messages are not clear and it felt like they were trying to out-do their Xbox and Nintendo counterparts but ended up with little consistency to their conference.

The PS Vita was the major talking point and they’ll launch it at a very fair price point - $249 for the basic wifi model and $299 for 3G model. Some of the techno features include a 5-inch OLED touchscreen, 6-axis motion sensor, front and rear touch panels and front and rear cameras for augmented reality games. However, it seems to have been peeping over at the super socially successful Nintendo 3DS because the Vita is launching “Party” and “Near” modes. Party let’s you voice chat with other Vita gamers in the same game room no matter where they are and Near lets you connect and play with other Vita gamers around you. It had some surprise titles including Street Fighter X Tekken and Uncharted: Golden Abyss as well as Little Big Planet and ModNation Racers, all of which will be coming to some hands near you. But the most VitaL and exciting news came from Ken Levine from Irrational Games said they're working on a Vita exclusive Bioshock game. Things to look forward to me thinks.

Nintendo
...and so to Mr Ninty, oh how I’ve been waiting for official words from Messrs Miyamoto and Iwata after all the rumours flying around about “Project Cafe/Wii2/Stream”. They started their conference with news about not one, but four new Zelda titles coming out this year, including Skyward Sword on the Wii, as well as a series of worldwide Zelda symphony concerts and two CDs all celebrating the 25th anniversary of our little Link. Fans happy with multiple Zelda announcements? Tick.

A flurry of big Nintendo first party titles were announced for the 3DS including Super Mario 3DS (looking like a mini Super Mario Galaxy complete with Tanooki suit!), Mario Kart 3DS (the coins are back on track as well as in-air and underwater racetrack sections) and something we didn’t see coming at all, Luigi’s Mansion 2 (the Gamecube classic looks right at home on the 3DS). Alongside these there was a montage, and Nintendo love a montage, of a whole host of third party titles which are mostly coming out this year including: Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, Ace Combat 3D, Tekken, Tetris, Cave Story 3D, Resident Evil: Revelations, Pac-Man and Galaga Dimensions and Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D. Gamers happy with first and third party quality titles? Tick.

What came next? It was a game changer, a fountain of innovation and a glimpse into the future. It was Wii U. Our man Reggie, President of Nintendo USA introduced the concept of Wii U and it’s incredible new 6 inch touch screen controller through another montage. Through the magical controller you can flip the footage from the TV screen to your controller and carry on playing the game (freeing up the TV to watch Ironside or Russia Today). You can draw on the touch screen and the image appears on the TV. You can put the controller on the floor, see your golf ball and swing at it like it’s really there. You can flick ninja stars from the controller onto the screen and chop down trees. It was an impressive demonstration of what is possible.

The two major flaws which have badgered Nintendo for years have also been answered, online and big third party titles. Darksiders 2, Batman Arkham City, Dirt, Metro Last Light, Ninja Gaiden 3, Ghost Recon with online multi player and Tekken are all coming to Wii U.

It’s slated for a July 2012 release and just when the crowd had died down they dropped in that Super Smash Bros will come to the 3DS and Wii U. Sony and Microsoft wondering what to do next? Tick.

E3 was spectacular, with surprises and revelations which we hadn’t seen coming. Sony faired well with mixed messages, Microsoft flogged their Kinect system to death and Nintendo stole the show with Wii U. I admire the vision and consistency of Nintendo, as a company it strives for innovation and puts the player experience genuinely at the centre. One screen bad, two screens good!

Rock, Rock - Nils Lofgren, You ROCK!

2011-06-02T08:43:00.002+01:00

Last night we saw some minor rock royalty in the form of legendary guitar man, Nils Lofgren.

Famed and followed in his own right as a multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist and charismatic front man, but also a key part of: The E Street Band with Bruce Springsteen, he worked on Neil Young's After The Goldrush album at the tender age of 17 and was a key member of both Grin and Crazy Horse.

We got a pair of tickets courtesy of a competition run by a mighty fine local radio station a week or so ago after they interviewed Nils about his forthcoming UK tour and it was night one of his 16 date UK tour at a venue in Southampton called The Brook.

The Brook was a cracking venue, looking something like one of the early spit and sawdust venues on the Play Station 2 video game Guitar Hero, the whole audience was close to the stage giving great sightlines of Nils and Greg Varlotta as well as a nose rumblingly good sound with a hard wood floor underfoot. You know how musicians and bands like certain venues, they may not be the biggest or the best looking, but they have a certain something, well The Brook has it in bucketfuls.

It was one of the best gigs I've ever been to. Nils and Greg know how to make a crowd happy, from some cracking between song banter, "I gave up alcohol many years ago, it brought me out in handcuffs" to hearing Nils talk about some of his passions like the guitar school he runs for people back in the USA or his passion for jamming with other musicians to create a 2hr piece of musical magic which is then lost, never to be captured again, because it was created and could only ever exist in that moment.

It was a mixture of classic hits like Cry Tough, No Mercy and the awesome Mud In Your Eye to some of his newer material. One of the most impressive things about the gig was the skill of the two musicians, Nils can play Harp (he opened the gig with a sweet harp solo), Guitar (he must have had at least 5 different ones with him along with his pedal board to vary that sound), he played piano. But both he and Greg had many, many tap dance vs guitar battles during the songs and it sounded and looked incredible. Nils would riff on the guitar and Greg would call out a footing great rhythm in return.

This made my jaw fall down and I smiled muchly at this and wanted to see more and more. I have ideas that more tap dance vs guitar battles should be taking place at gigs all around the world. Nils was just stupenddous on the strings with numerous 5, 6 and 7 minute guitar solos; including one where he played it with his teeth, yes his TEETH!

It was brilliant and would heartily recommend you catch him before he leaves the UK, nearest place to Bournemouth is Hastings or London, full details of the tour can be found here.
Nils Lofgren and The Brook, we shall meet again.

Stay out of the black...

2011-05-26T22:25:00.000+01:00

Bullseye. I think it's actually the greatest 30 minutes ever seen on the small screen on every single day.

T and I have been watching inordinate amounts of the late night repeats on Challenge TV. Based in the Midlands, Bullseye is everyTV, not just a cheap, single, hollow televisual experience - oh no, it has...

general knowledge quiz,
sporting skills test,
darting celebrities,
cash prizes and star prizes
human stories,
an amazing score and theme tune,
working man's club presenter's/heroes with Jim and Tony.

...and it's the warmth, good humour, and gentle bit of competition which makes it the ultimate in TV viewing.

Can you imagine an animated bull crossing your TV helping you learn how to spell as a young boy? Bullseye did it.
Can you imagine the mathematical workouts that playing darts does to a young grey matter? Bullseye did it.

It even had alternate closing themes depending if the darting pair were victorious in winning the star prize (speedboat anyone?) or Jim rubbing it in their face and saying "let's have a look at what you could have won" and it being a fortnight for four in Malta!

So with all this Bullseye love flowing around, I am absolutely cock-a-hoop that a Bullseye live theatre tour is launching this Autumn and we're going to be there. Featuring Eric "the crafty cockney" Bristow, Bob Anderson and John Lowe (the holy darting trinity) and the chance for the audience to win prizes as well, it's going to be a sensational night in Reading in November. What more could you want? Well if you want to go to the tour, and there's no reason why you wouldn't, click here for the official Bullseye website for as much Bully as you could ever hope for.

Altogether now....Iiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnn One

Big Car Boot Bargains

2011-05-15T21:15:00.000+01:00

Ah, Sundays. We absolutely heart Sundays here at Orange and Cyan HQ. Every morning is a musical celebration as we loudly sing our heads off to Abbo's show "SoundsTracks" on Forest FM, then after gulping down some milk and checking if the sun is shining, we head off to the car boot.

This week there were dozens of old Xbox's on sale and the first thing Tam picked up was the original C.S.I game as she likes to pretend she knows complicated and impressive things about solving murders. Moving swiftly on, we then bagged a retro delicious 10p Tron Video, a yellow glass fish dish, a beautiful mustard yellow cowboy tobacco tin (perfect size for kirby grips) and a blue sewing needles pouch in need of some Tam T.L.C.

There are actually 2 car boots in the area - you can see the other over the road from whichever one you're in so swinging our carrier bag of bargains, we hit car boot number 2, stuffed ourselves with broccoli and mushroom quiche (from the tasty polish run cake stall - massive slices for £1 - we love it) followed by Strawberry and Lemon cakes. Charged with sugar we hit the stalls, haggling over a lovely little invaluable and instructive 'Love, Courtship and Marriage' guide for the romantically inclined from the Hugh Evelyn Victorian Library. We rather like the morbid advice under the section of 'Etiquette for Husbands and Wives' that states you should always leave home with a tender good-bye and loving words as they may be the last...

Next Abbo snapped up 3 gorgeous Bus Driver ties for 75p each that we can't wait to show our friend Nursey Bang Bang as she is currently working on a Gentleman's range of tailored ties (we got a sneak preview this week and love the new range). Some Citadel Combat card games, cheap greetings cards and cheaper postcards later, we finally grabbed 3 loose tea spoons for 10p each that with a bit of spit, polish and elbow grease, will make excellent gifts.

Sunday afternoons are spent remembering what we've bought and playing pooter games. We're currently reviewing LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean, Gatling Gears, Section 8: Prejudice and trying to finish Portal 2 - that's if you can tear Tracey away from Dragon Age Legends on Facebook!

Bliss :D

If I was a film...I'd be REDLINE.

2011-05-07T22:05:00.000+01:00

A neo kinetic frenzy of a film with slaughtering pace, gorgeous visual chaos and 10 pints of exhilaration for every viewer. Sometimes hard to follow but the energy and excitement it created merely served to stoke my fervour and make me want to watch it again and again and again.

I saw it at 5.30am during the super smashing Sci-Fi-London Film Festival Anime All Nighter and there was no better time to be ripped from tiredness into an optical onslaught with the greatest colour palette I've ever seen in a movie or anywhere. A breath of fresh air, a whirlwind to cleanse your mind more like.

In development for over half a decade, it's the directorial debut feature of Takeshi Koike (key animator on The Animatrix, Dead Leaves and Samurai Champloo). Somehow, without the audience realising it, Koike manages to make all this chaos believable. Perhaps through the pure density of detail or just knowing when to pull in the reigns slightly, he makes everything from the busy alien crowd scenes to the explosive race sequences seem like events in a real, tangible world.

Everyone will not love this film – from the high-octane, scratch-mixed techno Soundtrack by James Shimoji or the haters who'll spit their narrative dummy at the film's minimal plot. Redline is experimental, challenging and most importantly exhilarating in its artistic style in ways that most works could not even dream of reaching through script writing or thematic devices.

The beast is released on 12th September 2011 on blu-ray and DVD (Mr Cyan cannot wait), but in the meantime, have a Pat Butcher's at the trailer.

Street Fighter vs Mortal Kombat 2011 vs 1992

2011-04-25T14:03:00.001+01:00

2011
Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition (3DS) vs Mortal Kombat (Xbox 360)

Imagine a world where you’ve got a miniature animated army, some who’ve been around for nearly 25 years, in the palm of your hand. You choose your finest fighter to take on 8 consecutive fighters to be crowned the baddest, maddest fighter on the street, airfield or jungle in glorious 3 dimensions. Welcome to SSIV – 3D.

Imagine a world, on an original 2D fighting plane, ram packed with glorious gore, brand new x-ray super moves and the old favourite - fatality moves. Combining mortals and gods – a fight to save earthrealm at any cost. On the big screen, 27 playable characters, new lands and the almighty pit. It can only be Mortal Kombat.

Both operate on the classic arcade style 2D fighting plane (this was the second most fan requested feature for the developers of MK9), they both have new playing modes and features (SF – collecting figurines, utilising the innovative street pass to fight battles when you’re not looking and MK has Tag Team mode and Krypt collections) and they both offer online playing possibilities. MK has the big screen possibilities to see all that lush and detailed background and beautifully rendered character artwork vs the small screen, tightly packed, diamond like quality of SF. They’re both brilliant and it’s the first time a fighting game has felt good enough being portable to compete with the big screen big boys - though some of the intricate moves are a trifle difficult to execute on the d-pad. In comparison the 360 controller reacts to every feather light touch in your finest fatal hour, if you can’t pull it off – tools workman bad blames his a always.

What makes both such strong games is the speed of play, the combo’s and there’s a familiarity, like they’re both old friends but have been re-energised, pimped, stripped down and re-invented for the modern fighter. MK runs at an impressive 60 fps and the fighting system is as impressively deep as the 3DS tasty little screen. Both games are dip inable, but MK satisfies that thirst for a heavy session, romping through the story mode, playing through each of the characters and slowly unlocking your XP. The more you play Mortal Kombat, the better it gets.

1992
Street Fighter II (SNES) vs Mortal Kombat (Megadrive)

Twas just shy of 20 years when these first fighting beasts made the leap from arcade goodness to home console happiness, but now, many iterations later, we’re on MK9 and SF43 (ok a slight exaggeration). Who wins? 1990s vs 2010s, SF vs Mk. You decide. Or rather, I will.

I, Mr Cyan, can safely say that the class of 2011 lay to bed any of the nasty, complicated and unnecessarily embellished versions of the 2 games in the last 20 years.

As the great Chairman Mao once said: Civilize the mind but make savage the body.

One Man's Trash....

2011-04-11T15:48:00.001+01:00

Yesterday we saw a dazzling array of skimpy tops, over sized sunglasses, skinny white legs and sandals, neon shorts and burnt necks/beer bellies/noses as we trooped around our favourite Car Boot in search of yet more treasure! In fact the weather was so hot, the boot wasn't very busy this week as people must have been staying shady cool indoors or had gone to the beach - which meant we could shimmy out way to the front of each stall with ease and as always, our rummaging paid off.

The first bargain of the day was a very pretty maroon handbag for 30p with the money going towards the Bournemouth Youth Marching Bands - music to Tracey's ears. In the same row of stalls, we also picked out some fabulous ThunderCats badges (25p) and two more cowboy books to add to our collection. Written by Edna Walker Chandler, illustrated by Jack Merryweather and first published in England in 1966 but originally written in the early 1950's, The Cowboy Sam series is a US equivalent of our Peter and Jane Ladybird books here in the UK. Featuring Sam and his friends from around the ranch, they have a vocabulary list at the back of each book whilst the red, yellow and black pictures are beautiful - best find of the day.

We also picked up some plastic gadgets that turn cans into bottles and keeps your pop fresh, handy for the beach, some garish coasters with Spanish dancers on and we spied a game for our niece - Matching Pairs. Tracey and her sister used to play this when they were little. It's a great memory game with fabulous pictures. This weekend, we've also been playing with our new Nintendo 3DS! Though we didn't pick up any StreetPasses at the boot we did use it to take a photo of our bargains when we got home!

Finally, we got a huge bag of baked goodies for £3 - flapjack, Eccles cakes, pasties, a honey seeded loaf, a stilton and red onion loaf and a fruit loaf. Tasty happy sunny days.

#tamzombie - the results

2011-04-01T12:13:00.003+01:00

Earlier this month, I got a tad excited as @tamcgarrigan hit the magical 100 followers on Twitter! To celebrate this small but satisfying achievement, I invited people to send me titles of their favourite zombie games which would form the inspiration for some free Mother's Day cards. Some of the suggestions included the Nazi zombies from Call of Duty: Black Ops, the cowboy zombies from Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare and our green friends from Plants Vs Zombies. However, after much deliberation and playing of zombie games late at night, the final designs are ready and feature two iconic zombies on their best behaviour - one of the Bella Sisters from Resident Evil 4 and the big bag of gas that is Boomer from Left 4 Dead.

All you have to do now is select your favourite card, print it off, write a lovely comment for your mum along the lines of "I will try not to eat your brains this Mother's Day, love from your walking dead son/daughter"

Huge thanks to everyone on Twitter for their suggestions and comments.

tambo

Sound Tracks - Triple Special

2011-03-25T12:40:00.000Z

This is an official audio announcement...

This is an official audio announcement concerning the weekly broadcasting output by Mr Ian Abbott.

The next 3 radio shows will be deviating from the normal, bypassing the sensational and travelling to the outer realms of aural heaven.

We would recommend, locking your dial to Forest FM for Sunday 27th March, 3rd and 10th April at 9am to take part in a soundtrack experience to get your feet tapping and mouth smiling.

We shall be highlighting some of the finest slices of cowboy inspired scores, celebrating the 5 time Oscar winner John Barry and having a delightful time picking through the rich ears of Mr QT.

We thank you for your patience and if you would like to imbibe further information concerning these future sonic events, please head directly to the Sound Tracks blog.

End of transmission...

#tamzombie

2011-03-05T18:41:00.001Z

For reasons unknown but not to be scoffed at, I've reached the grand total of 100 followers on Twitter! Whoop Whoop!

To celebrate this momentous occasion, I've decided to do something special! As it's Mother's Day coming up at the end of the month, I'm asking all followers to tweet me their favourite video game that features Zombies. The best 3 suggestions will be made into cards that you can give your mum this coming Mother's Day! Why give your mum a cheap pink rabbity card when you can celebrate all her undeadness with an Orange and Cyan greeting card?

Suggestions already put forward include the Nazi Zombies from Call of Duty: Black Ops and my personal favourite, the Los Ganados from Resident Evil 4 (yup, a blatant excuse to put a picture of Leon on the blog)!

To have your say on the final selection, tweet your fave game to @tamcgarrigan by 4pm on Friday 18th March!

Read It Swap It

2011-02-24T22:27:00.001Z

We've just found a great new website which fits in with our ethos of sharing knowledge with others and involves our favourite past time of exchanging post.

It's a website called Read It Swap It.

Rather than see unwanted books go to the pulp factory, this site breathes life into old favourites which may be taking up a bit too much room on your shelf. It's very simple, you list books which you no longer want (just type in the ISBN) and add a few helpful notes about the condition of them.

You can then hunt out unwanted books from other users (there are over 350,000 books on the site) or create a wishlist (on my list so far is a series of obscure titles ranging from origami, to canaries, to lawns to stamp collecting) and hope you have something that another user wants to swap. At any time, someone might contact you wanting one of your unloved books and chances are they might be getting rid of something which you didn't know you wanted. I've already got this book about pilot poetry coming my way.

Once you've both agreed to swap, addresses are exchanged, you post the book to its new owner and you wait for Mr. Postman to deliver your new book.

I've been a registered member for a little under 24 hours and have had about 10 swap requests (I've accepted 5 and turned 5 people down because they didn't have any book I wanted), put 5 of my own requests in (1 accepted, 2 declined and 2 not responded yet) and will be going to the post office tomorrow with a fistful of books that will be winding their way all over the UK. I'm getting rid of this book about Derrida.

I'd heartily encourage other members with piles of books gathering dust at home to join in the giant swap and find some new books which you didn't know you wanted.

Book Binding Workshop

2011-02-22T21:05:00.001Z

Today I have been sharing a little bit of knowledge about book binding to a number of willing and inquisitive students in a full days workshop.

It started with a little bit of book deconstruction, removing the covers of a tidy little Penguin paperback, The Quest for Corvo, from the 1940s and showing the innards of the spine and how mass market books are put together with the sections, sewings and glue.

For me, book binding is all about precision! Precision measuring, precision marking, precision stabbing and precision sewing! This will leave you with a good looking book which will stand up to a bit of wear and tear and because you are in control of the amount of leaves you put in, what goes on the cover, how big the pages are - it can also be personalised to your own whim and fancy.

I trained as an apprentice with the great Mary Bartlett down at the Dartington Craft Education Centre who instilled a great sense of technical detail and discipline as well as allowing me and my ideas to breathe into whatever bookish form they took on. One of my favourite books on this subject is by the wonderful Kojiro Ikegami and if you fancy a bit more detail, head to Amazon for a copy, you will not be disappointed.

The ladies (Jill, Tracey, Ruby) learnt 3 styles of basic construction. We started with a square 5 hole Japanese stab binding, followed by a small 12 page concertina with personalised covers and then (Lily and Violet) arrived and by the end they all had a great little 5 hole pamphlet stitch with covers taken from an old book of stories for children. They looked super as a collection of 5 little mini notebooks.

I predict there will be several friends/relatives who may be receiving hand made books as gifts for the foreseeable future and I think that's no bad thing.

If anyone else wants some help or a workshop in book binding, just contact us at O&C HQ.

Car Boot Keepsakes

2011-02-20T18:27:00.002Z

Sundays mean only one thing in our orange and cyan world

CAR BOOTS!!!

We love trawling through other people's unwanted treasures in search of some bargains. Ian is particularly good at haggling and this week at our favoutire spot - the giant Magna Road site, we got some beauties!

The morning started with this pretty little tin for 20p. It's full of wonderful buttons that are carefully guarded by a yapping dog on the front. We went on to buy a pair of hand-knitted mittens in glorious black, mint green and pale pink from the dear old ladies that run the Julia Hospice stall - our £2 goes towards the hospice and Tracey gets to keep her fingers warm so everyone's happy! Two Coca-Cola trucks, some double decker red nail polish and a Home on the Range - best of the western's music CD later, we spotted this amazing book all about space with some great technical drawings!

As it was packing up time, Tracey was looking at this picture of horses and deciding if there was room back at O&C HQ when the lady gave it to her for free as she didn't want to cart it back home again. Now if there's one thing we love most, it's the word FREE and the horses are now up in the studio.

Biggest purchase of the day was 80 postcards for £5 - all amazing pictures of cactuses and deserts in America. Some lucky Postcrossers are going to be getting very happy mail soon.

Our final find of the day was a pair of deck chairs, haggled down to £1.50 for the two and we can't wait to test them out on the beach this summer.

We were sad we didn't see the cake lady today as she does a very nice cherry slice for 50p but all in all, was a great morning! We're so glad the weather is getting good again as this means more carbooting for us! Might see you there next Sunday!

Sound Tracks New Blog

2011-02-19T16:04:00.001Z

I've created a brand new blog that is just for my radio show Sound Tracks on Forest FM, where you can find all the brand new track listings, more gorgeous retro film posters, the track of the week as well as all my other filmic thoughts and musings.

See you there and make sure you're listening tomorrow, because there are some amazing tracks for your listening pleasure. 9am at Forest FM

Retro Review

2011-02-17T09:25:00.002Z

A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia
Nintendo Entertainment System
1989

If I let my imagination run wild through the caves of videogameville I could not come up with anything as crazy as this crazy beast of a game.

You (a boy) and a sidekick (a shape shifting blob – which resembles a snowman) must fight an evil candy craving emperor and his army to retain your planet Blobolonia with the help of jellybeans and vitamins.

A truly unique puzzle platformer created by legendary game designer David Crane (Pitfall on the Atari 2600 – oh yes) that has an open world feel about it where boy and blob explore subways and a subterranean world full of rock rain showers and bouncing caterpillars.

In order to explore the world you must feed your blob (full name Blobert) jellybeans which will transform it into numerous shapes and objects to enable you to progress through the worlds.

There’s also a black market for vitamins where warped health food owners will only exchange their vits for pirate treasures and vast quantities of diamonds. You will encounter jelly bean conservation issues if you do not remember what each bean can do to Blobert (good memory or paper and pen anyone?), as you curse under your breath whilst feeding him a liquorice bean which makes him into a ladder when really you needed tangerine bean to turn him into a trampoline.

The audio and visual is a little repetitive as you cross back and forth through the same locations and can a trifle wearing on the eye and ear, but it’s a light hearted game with a very interesting concept with open world possibilities which makes it very addictive to play, one session I was in for 4 hours and I loved every minute. The controllers are always great to go back to after handling the mega beasts of the X360 and PS3 pads, the 2 buttons and a d pad are so simple and yet all you really need.

Mr Blobert and Master Boy is also an award winning game, a year after its release it won a Parent’s Choice Award for portraying “positive human values”. So dust off your NES, get yourself some jelly beans and go and save the world with this charming and original videogame.

Ian the Cyan

Sound Tracks 13/2/11

2011-02-13T09:58:00.000Z

Today the track of the week has to go to Sinead and Elliot for their haunting rendition of the Irish folk song She Moved Through The Fair in Michael Collins.

One Night Only, Dreamgirls
Spooky, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
The Loving Mandolin, A King in New York
Bumpy and the Queen, Hoodlum
The Trap, The Trap
Sock Puppet/Flyover, Mirrormask
Sixty Seconds to What, For a Few Dollars More
The Green Leaves of Summer, Inglourious Basterds
She Moved Through the Fair, Michael Collins
Talijanska, Time of the Gypsies
You Know My Name, Casino Royale
The .44 Magnum is a Monster, Taxi Driver
Dracula, Bram Stokers Dracula

Idle Hands and Happy Ears

2011-02-10T17:56:00.001Z

I woke up early... for me and got to my normal shuffling around in my Nursey Bang Bang emergency slippers and sipping my mega mug of tea. I was preparing for a meeting today with the talented screenwriter and lunch buddy John Foster and knew if I put some music on, I'd never get there on time. Why is it that on the busiest days, I'm so much more susceptible to distraction, slowness and the dreaded temptation that is iToons?

It's hard when Abbo is editing his radio shows to not steal the mouse away and listen to every song in its entirety - and then turn up and repeat my favourite songs! Right now, I've got lots of lovely work that I enjoy to do that I really need to finish but too late! Whitey Shafer's "All My Ex's Live In Texas" pops up and everything stops for a loud sing a long.

It got me thinking about the power of music. There are certain songs that make you drop your pen, ignore your phone/postman/crying baby and have to be played all the way through. The anguish of hearing your favourite song on the radio, only for the DJ to talk over the last bit, right before the final guitar solo/organ cadenza/belting chorus kicks in is almost rage inducing! Not something practised by Mr A.

Music lifts us up or takes us on magical trips, makes our hearts race, makes us weep quietly to ourselves or sing out in unrivalled joy!

With this in mind, I thought I'd share with you Tam's Top Ten - stop everything you are doing and belt it out lass - songs. Please bear in mind, this has been no easy task and will of course change again tomorrow!

*insert Top of the Pop or similar chart countdown music here*

10) Wired for Sound - Cliff Richard (guilty pleasure)
9) Go Speed Racer - Ali Dee and the DeeKompressors
8) Holding Out For A Hero - Bonnie Tyler
7) Thunder In My Heart - Leo Sayer
6) Smooth Criminal - Micky J
5) Bat Out Of Hell - Meatloaf
4) Young Turks - Rod Stewart
3) Carry On My Wayward Son - Kansas
2) Knights of Cydonia - Muse
1) Runaway - Del Shannon

Pure indulgence! I think I need locking up for a week with just an orange crayon and a ream of paper - maybe then I'll get some work done!

Sound Tracks with Ian Abbott - every Sunday at 9am on Forest FM

Sound Tracks - Future Shows

2011-02-07T23:50:00.001Z

I am about to burst with anticipation as I've just been curating the new few episodes of Sound Tracks.

I just had to give a little clue or two to which films some of the music will be coming from.

So which piece of music/song will it be?

Tune in every Sunday 9am to Forest FM to hear the finest musical output on the radio.

Sound Tracks 6/2/11

2011-02-06T10:09:00.000Z

In honour of the late and super great John Barry who left us this week, my track of the week is the theme to Midnight Cowboy, but by golly Johnny Cash ran him close.

The Farmer and the Cowman, Oklahoma
Colonel Bogey March, Bridge Over The Kwai
Sugar Baby Love, Muriels Wedding
1492 Conquest of Paradise, 1492 Conquest of Paradise
Death Cab for Cutie, Magical Mystery Tour
Quo Vadis (Ave Caesar), Quo Vadis
Gabriels Oboe, The Mission
Everything I Do, I Do It For You, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves
Don't Bring Me Down, Factory Girl
Dum Maro Dum, Hare Rama Hare Krishna
Midnight Cowboy, Midnight Cowboy
Hurt, Inside I'm Dancing

PlayStation 3

2011-02-04T23:20:00.000Z

Who wants to hear a story about a little computer that began its life in Wigan? A modern console fairytale which goes by the name of PS3.

It's no.3 in the series from Sony after the incredible PS2 which shifted gazillions of units and had iconic titles like: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, SingStar and Guitar Hero. I still drop a mean Wolf Mother on our plastic guitar or a tasty Franz Ferdinand from the red mic!

Well Madame PS3, tell me what can you offer.

Can I play a tasty Blu-Ray movie? Oh yes!
Well, do you have innovative and exclusive titles? Oh yes, we've got Little Big Planet, Heavy Rain and Metal Gear Solid 4
Well can I edit movies? yes. Get on t'net? yes. Photo/Music see/play? yes, yes, yes.
Are you very noisy when it's switched on? Oh no, I purr in the corner like a miniature cat

Would you like to come home with me then? Oui monsieur, I would like that very much.

The Console Collection now has its big sister to sit next to little master wii and the scampstrel that is xbox360 and I think they will all live happily ever after in the fantastical computer game happiness world of O&C.

P.S. But Dead Space 2 makes me scream a bit too much!

Our Guide to The North

2011-02-02T23:43:00.001Z

We love the North and we think you should love the North. Here's an insight into some of our fave places and numerous reasons why you should go there.

Southport

Home to the second longest pier in the country and wide beautiful sands, it feels almost Parisian. It has a wonderful selection of book shops including Kernaghans, Broadhursts and this brand new venture from Healthy Planet which enables people to get free books.

I got this little peach which sated my desire of retro illustrations and school textbooks. We also engaged in two very genuine Northern past times, Bingo (cash line, link, national, rainbow flyer, early, main and lates - we played 'em all!) at the haven that is Mecca and a good ole Pub Quiz at a fine establishment entitled The Guests House with a barking (literally) quiz maestro and warm egg butties provided free of charge. What a town!

Leigh

This old industrial town, full of beautiful old red brick mills, has a bazzing canal and is full of salt of the earth people. It also has some of the finest charity shops we've ever come across. In a proper perfect, tiny terrace house, we saw Mr India (see previous blog) - further proof that the good folk of Leigh know how to live!

We found this little beauty, it has got Tracey very excited indeed about what can be worn within the boundaries of taste and decency. We couldn't find any lasagne sheets for love nor money, so it was a classic quorn spag bol for our tea. Yum and Yummer.We also ventured into little ole Leyland, which has a lots of wonderful and wise old people as well as the finest Morrisons cafe which delivers every time veggie breakfast and proper Northern pies to keep us going throughout our travels.

Sound Tracks 30/1/11

2011-01-30T11:42:00.000Z

Today was a really strong show and felt great to present. For that reason I'm going to have two tracks of the week because I cannot put a hair betwixt them.

Also Sprach Zarathustra - 2001: A Space Odyssey
Somewhere That's Green - Little Shop of Horrors
Woo Hoo - Kill Bil1 Volume 1
Tu Mira - Kill Bill Volume 2
The Alamo - The Alamo
Blaze of Glory - Young Guns II
A Silhouette of Doom - Navajo Joe
Paper Planes - Slumdog Millionaire
I Wanna Be Like You - The Jungle Book
Chup Chup Khade Ho - Badi Behen
Run On - He Died With A Falafel in his Hand
Windmills of Your Mind - The Thomas Crown Affair
The Shoot Out - The Claim
Prelude - Psycho

Mr India

2011-01-26T20:47:00.002Z

Who doesn't love a 1980s Hindi Sci-Fi Superhero film?

With the holy trinity of Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Amrish Puri creating marvellous characters whilst delivering incredible dance routines to the most memorable music and lyrics, it was always going to be a super 3 hour smash hit.

It also has one of the most the most famous quotes within the history of Bollywood:
"Mogambo khush hua" (Mogambo is pleased)

Puri as Mogambo is better than the world's best Bond baddie with his underground lair full of redundant flashing lights, a red lava pit full with skin stripping properties and some wild finger adornments complete with 2 hand painted globes to drum them on.

Mr India in a nutshell:
Anil's character takes in a dozen orphans, falls behind on his rent and lets a room to a beautiful journalist. However, the evil Mogambo wants his land, a fight ensues, an old professor tells Anil of a mystical contraption invented by his father (a watch that makes you invisible), Mogambo threatens to blow up India with missiles, Anil turns invisible, saves the day, Mogambo dies and Mr India and his identity remains hidden forever.

The song Hawa Hawaii (sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy) performed by Sridevi is the absolute highlight of the film and at nearly ten minutes long with 4 costume changes - it has to be seen and heard to be believed.

A true Bollywood masterpiece and should be seen by everyone.

Retro Review

2011-01-24T12:10:00.000Z

Mickey Mouse
Game Boy

In the days when men were men and mice were mice, this, uber simple but incredibly addictive, puzzle platformer sees valiant St. Mickey traverse 80 levels on the original portable 8 bit super handheld to rescue his beau Minnie.

Released in 1989, when there were a speight of female mice kidnappings by evil warlocks, it is your task to gather miniature keys across each of the levels to enable progression.
Avoid enemies, in the least fearsome dungeons you’ve ever seen (think Castle Grayskull designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe), by popping up and down Mario pipes or laying the smack down with the limited weapons and ammo you find as the game develops. There are plenty of hair ‘em scare ‘em moments though as you think you’re not going to make it to the stairs in time before sneakily passing them on the way up.

The soundtrack suits the mood of the dungeon and oh the beauty of passwords. You can come back to the last level you completed, as long as you wrote down the correct password. It’s part of the Crazy Castle series which saw almost identical games but instead of St. Mickey, you had St. Bugs of Bunny rescuing carrots and maidens across dungeonville.

Hey Mickey, you’re so fine; you’re so fine you blow my mind, hey Mickey!

Sound Tracks 23/1/11

2011-01-23T10:04:00.002Z

Welcome to another episode of Sound Tracks. It has to be the incredible Yann Tiersen for my track of the week, the entire score and soundtrack to Amelie is consistently strong, but never mind Amelie here's a striking pink neon sign framing Mr Cruise, a design classic.

Also Sprach Zarathustra - 2001: A Space Odyssey
You Can't Stop The Beat - Hairspray
Bird List - The Falls
Addams Family Groove - The Addams Family
Staccato's Theme - Johnny Staccato
A Quai - Amelie
Non Nobis Domine - Henry V
The Mission - The Mission
Don't Worry Be Happy - Cocktail
Fantino - Lost in Translation
Saajan Saajan Teri Dulhan - Aarzoo
Trek to the Cave - Ravenous

More excitement coming this Spring!!

2011-01-19T23:08:00.001Z

After months of hyper speculation, rumours and wishful thinking, today Nintendo revealed that the new 3DS will be released in the EU on 25th March (we're already booking that day off work)!

Leading the way once again, Nintendo have designed a very clever piece of kit that we can't wait to get our hands on. Available in Cosmos Black or Aqua Blue, you don't need glasses to see the amazing 3D graphics. There are 3 cameras - one points at the user, while the other two point outward and take photos in 3D. There's a new circle pad to allow you to have 360 degrees freedom in games, a built in motion-sensor that you can use in certain games or as a pedometer - perfect for long walks along the beach. Also, when in sleep mode, you can use StreetPass which allows your 3DS to talk to other 3DS consoles it senses in the area - you can exchange game data and swap pictures of your Mii's - yet another new feature! You can listen to MP3's and of course play loads of great new games.

We're looking forward to Resident Evil: Mercenaries (come on H.U.N.K) and of course seeing the classic Zelda: Ocarina of Time in glorious three-dimensional technicolour!

Having sold more than 3.5 Billion (yup we're talking 9 zero's) games worldwide, the bank of Nintendo will be swelling come March but can't think of anything else we'd rather spend money on! Will retire the old DS and add it to the growing Console Collection :-)

Sound Tracks - 16/1/11

2011-01-16T10:58:00.000Z

The show this week has seen some absolute epic tracks, with a very hard choice for track of the week but in the end it's my final song, courtesy of Mr Ewan McGregor*.

Also Sprach Zarathustra - 2001: A Space Odyssey
I Want It All - High School Musical 3
Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu - Chhalia
Tic Ti, Tic Ta - Big Night
The Poltergeist Theme - The Poltergeist
In The Musicals - Dancer in the Dark
My Name is Nobody - My Name is Nobody
Mighty Wings - Top Gun
Time Machine - Wayne's World
Rooster Cogburn/A Warm Wrap-Up - True Grit
Overture/The Statue - City Lights
El Tango De Roxanne* - Moulin Rouge!

The Wonderful World of Postcrossing

2011-01-13T21:14:00.001Z

Today has seen postal cards arriving from afar as well as some little beauties I've sent out arriving on international door steps around the world. The beauty of postcrossing.

The goal of postcrossing is to allow people to receive postcards from all over the world! If you send a postcard, you will receive at least one back from a random Postcrosser from somewhere in the world. The element of the unknown, of receiving postcards from different people and places around the world turns my mailbox into a box of surprises. You edit a small profile saying whatever you want, what type of cards you like etc.

I've decided I want the worst cards ever. The most boring, the ones that will never get sent and my doormat has had some peaches in the past. I received one today from Eugenie. In a massive act of generosity she offered to send me a 100 "duds" as she called them because she used to send 50 duds every birthday to a friend, but has since lost touch with that person. Her Trash = My Treasure. I can't wait to see what they are!

I decided to send her one back which has her favourite things on them, trains, a very special one I picked up recently which should make her mailbox light up.

Postal exchanges
O&C

Japan!

2011-01-12T16:12:00.004Z

Today we can happily brag that Orange and Cyan Arts are going to be hitting Japan this Springtime! A Mecca for computer game lovers and Manga fans alike, we have booked ourselves a mega time in this diverse island nation!

We kick off our tour in Tokyo, followed by a couple of days in Hakone - a town famous for it's onsens (hot natural springs) plus we'll be using trains and funiculars to ride up Mt Fuji. We're then heading on to Kyoto, the former Imperial Capital with around 2000 magnificent temples, shrines, palaces, museums and Zen gardens. It's also the home of the International Manga Museum - hurrah! After Kyoto, we're continuing by train to Hiroshima, a peace promoting city following the explosion of the atomic bomb there in 1945 and will spend time in the Peace Museum.

We are also planning a trip to Miyajima Island to take in the views, especially the the floating Torii Gate which glows at sunset.
From there on to Koyo-San and more mountain railway journeys. This time it's to Mt Koya, a religious centre founded in 816 by the Buddhist monk Kobo Daishi. staying in temple lodgings run by monks (shukubo) we will eat Shojin-ryori (tasty veggie meals) and have the chance to be up at dawn to observe the monks praying. Next we're off to the culinary capital of Japan - Osaka where Ian will no doubt be consuming octopus balls whilst Tracey goes electronics shopping in Den-Den.

After that, we'll be heading back to Tokyo for a further 6 days
to enjoy Hanami (Cherry Blossom viewing parties) in Ueno-koen where there are over 1000 flowering trees.

We'll also be hitting Origami Kaikan for demonstrations on the art of paper folding, The Sumo Museum which is a huge store of records, relics and pictures of past yokozuna (grandmasters of Sumo) and is also a venue for matches, followed of course by a visit to Fujita Vente and the Sony Centre where we'll be testing out the latest electronic gadgets, gizmos and video games.

We're taking empty bags to fill with goodies and souvenirs from the cos-play streets of Harajuku and 'Electric Town' Akiharbara.

Phew! So there we have it - trip of a lifetime here we come!
Sayounara, O&C

The Great Book Amnesty

2011-01-11T09:11:00.000Z

Inspired by our recent addition to the web archiving programme at the British Library, we wanted to share some our accumulated knowledge with others who hadn't encountered these works via our great book amnesty.

We sought out over 150 titles which we have loved and read but thought that others deserve exposure to them now.

The topics were wide and many from oversized art/print books, early twentieth century plays, non fiction about the history of social lighting as well the odd snippet of world fiction. Failure is generally a lot more interesting than success... this book was only a modest success in America; it deserves to be a huge one here, since we have a better natural empathy with the sweet misery of not being quite good enough at things.

This one is a particular favourite of mine:
In this remarkably wide-ranging book Professor Lowenthal analyses the ever-changing role of the past in shaping our lives. A heritage at once nurturing and burdensome, the past allows us to make sense of the present whilst imposing powerful constraints upon the way that present develops.
It's the idea of sharing this knowledge which makes it really powerful.

The first participants/recipients of the book amnesty were voracious in their hunger and nearly broke their arms taking nearly 100 of the titles, but it's heartening to see these books being given a new lease of life and being absorbed and appreciated by others in the future. Maybe one day, they'll do the same.

O&C

Sound Tracks - 9/1/11

2011-01-09T11:03:00.000Z

It's back to the regular Sound Tracks format this week after the three holiday specials. My track of the week* is a Bollywood masterpiece!

Also Sprach Zarathustra - 2001: A Space Odyssey
Flying Theme - E.T.
Concerto in A Minor for Four Harpsichords - Dangerous Liaisons
Joote Dedo, Praise Lelo - Hum Aapke Hain Koun*
Tron Legacy (End Titles) - Tron Legacy
Cockeye's Theme - Once Upon a Time in America
Concrete and Clay - Rushmore
Main Title - North by Northwest
Mad World - Donnie Darko
Chariots of Fire Theme - Chariots of Fire
Superfly - Superfly
The Last Race - Death Proof

Tune in next Sunday at 9am on Forest FM for more Sound Tracks.

The British Library

2011-01-08T12:46:00.001Z

We're chuffed to bits to announce that our website has been invited to take part in the British Library Web Archiving Programme. Woop Woop!

The British Library say:
"We select and archive sites to represent aspects of UK documentary heritage and as a result, they will remain available to researchers in the future."

In essence, O&C and all its contents are going to be around for people to wonder and gaze at long after we're gone because the British Library will be around for hundreds of years to come.
It's the worlds biggest library holding over 150 million items!

The British Library will:
"Develop preservation mechanisms to keep your publication permanently accessible as hardware and software changes over time."

It's similar to what we're doing with The Console Collection - preserving things we think are important for future generations.

O&C
Here for eternity

Retro Review

2011-01-07T23:59:00.000Z

Streets of Rage
Sega Mega Drive

Welcome to the 90s side and welcome to the finest side scrolling beat em the world has ever seen. Step up Axel Stone, Blaze Fielding and Adam Hunter who want to rid their crime riddled streets of and badly dressed knife carriers.

Ripping off the late 80s pioneer Double Dragon, Streets of Rage wears its bibliography proudly on its sleeve and takes the best of lots of games like Golden Axe and Final Fight but makes them better.

I like my characters designed from the leftfield. Enter Ayano Koshiro, sister of composer Yuzo Koshiro (who gave us some of the finest trance cuts ever heard on a video game), who presents us with giant American wrestlers, obese fire breathers and failed Freddy Krueger impressionists all wanting a piece of you.This is all before you get to the imaginatively titled Mr X, take him down and then it provides you with an option to have a good or bad end – who says Rockstar invented player choice?

The 2 player co-op mode is great and makes everything way more enjoyable and enables you to attack enemies with special moves that you can’t pull off on your own. Tracey & I were tearing up the streets with our rage, stealing drainpipes, eating chickens and dishing out cans of gangsta to those knife wielding thugs. It paved the way for Streets of Rage 2 and 3 before the end of 1994 which were as good, if not better. What a trilogy!

All in all we owned in the streets in a little over 90 minutes, were engaged throughout and made us feel that little bit street!

The Console Collection

2011-01-06T21:16:00.002Z

We've been working furiously for the past two weeks on a brand new micro museum which has had many significant donations from our good friend Mr Sol Cartman to add to our own collection.

It is with great pleasure, we present to you: The Console Collection. A series of vintage video game consoles and hand held gaming systems from the 1970's right up to the modern day which are all playable and in working order.

The collection is now so big, the list would be too long if we mentioned every system and game included but we'd like to draw your attention to several of the collections highlights and our personal favourites:

On the Nintendo shelf we have a NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube and Wii. A Gameboy with Gameboy Camera and Printer, Gameboy Golour, Gameboy Advance, DS and 3DS. Check out the golden Zelda cartridge.

Up on the Sega shelf we have a Master System 2, Mega Drive 1&2, Game Gear and joysticks plus a Game Genie that came with a code book to cheat at hundreds of Sega classics - extra lives on Alex Kidd in Shinobi World anyone?

On the Atari shelf we have a beautiful, wooden panelled Atari 2600 and it's offspring the 2600 Junior plus an Atari Lynx Mark 1 and Mark 2, Atari ST along with original Atari monitor and mouse.

Taking up most of the bottom shelf, we have a ZX Spectrum +1, +2 and +3 with Magnum Lightphaser and Commodore 64. There wasn't room to display the Commodore Amiga 500 with it's iconic white box with red and blue stripes.

The games titles are many and varied as you can see from the images, but whilst putting the collection on show, we've been indulging in a spot of Streets of Rage on the Mega Drive and Dr Mario on the Gameboy which has inspired us to plan some Retro Reviews. These will be coming soon to our blog and will showcase some of our favourite titles from days gone by.

If you'd like to view The Console Collection and enjoy some tea, biscuits and retro chit chat, we warmly welcome you to make an appointment - get in touch!

Very best retro wishes
O&C

Darts Darts Darts

2011-01-04T21:19:00.000Z

It's the time of year when kings are made.

The inhabitants of working mens clubs across the country come together at 2 holy venues for the apex in their chosen sport, Lakeside at Frimley Green and the Alexandra Palace.
It gets my elbow quivvering with excitement and I've already broken out my dart board for the new year.

Check out Gary Robson finishing on a 170 - just incredible during the 2011 BDO.

But this tops it all, Adrian Lewis in the PDC World Championship Final hits a 9 dart finish, the runaway contender for BBC Sports Personality of the year without doubt. I reckon it's the end Phil 'The Power' Taylor, 15 times winner, there's a new kid in town.

For those of you who want to know more about the sport of kings, have a look here for a low down on the PDC and here for the BDO. Thanks to Getty for the picture.

I love January, because after the Darts, it's time for Snooker!!!

Operation Sandcastle

2011-01-03T12:00:00.001Z

It was 1/1/11, 9 forces came together to do battle over the the great sandy tundra of Bournemouth betwixt groynes 23 and 24.

A 2m x 2m square was given and the challenge was to create a something, a spectacular sandy something to bewitch and bemuse the good folk of Bournemouth upon this very first day of 2011.

Here's T's entry, an awesome replica of the O2 Arena complete with Take That tour bus.

Our competitors were:
Tracey Mc, ITA, Dr Bird, Nursey Bang Bang, The Twins, Miss Cream Tease and 2 Swedish Snowcastling experts Svenson and Ninason.

Here's my effort, a selection of diseased internal organs from Bill the Duck including lungs at the bottom and a heart and kidney composite (Hidney) at the top

It was tense, there was much public and canine interest throughout the 3 hour competition as well as beach combing for the correct shaped stone, shell or Brazilian pubic wigs.

Here's Dr Bird with his monster rock machine complete with miniature amp

A hearty time was had by all and the judging public deemed Miss Cream Tease with her Turtle the winner. The Twins were robbed with their new civilisations and beached fish efforts.

Take a look at the short sand documentary to see all the efforts and some excellent bubbling action.

Images and video courtesy of the inimitable Nursey Bang Bang.
We'll be back next year with more sand and more creations!

Playlists - don't you just love 'em?

2011-01-02T10:26:00.000Z

For all the Sound Tracks listeners out there, I'll be posting each new track listing after the show has aired so you can seek out tracks that you loved or were just a trifle curious about.

I'll also be highlighting my Track of the Week here on the blog with a link to listen to that one again.

2/1/11
Holidays MGM Musical Special
Jet Song - West Side Story
The Surrey With The Fringe On The Top
Over The Rainbow - The Wizard of Oz
My Mammy - The Jazz Singer
Getting To Know You - The King & I
Wunderbar - Kiss Me Kate
The Trolley Song - Meet Me In St Louis
Top Hap, White Tie and Tails - Top Hat
Flying Down To Rio - Flying Down To Rio
Triplets - The Band Wagon (Track of the Week)
If You Knew Susie - Anchors Aweigh
Bless Your Beautiful Hide - Seven Brides For Seven Brothers
Secret Love - Calamity Jane
One For My Baby - Young At Heart
Wonderful Copenhagen - Hans Christian Anderson
Tonight - West Side Story

Thanks for listening, we're in for a cracking 2011
Ian

10,000 Songs

2010-12-24T21:18:00.001Z

The big day is finally here.

The day we've reached the magic number of 10,000 songs on our itunes list. It's taken many, many years to do it and quite wonderfully, it's one of my favourite artists that supplies song no. 10,000 itself, the rt hon. Divine Comedy, from their 2010 output Bang Goes The Knighthood and the song itself is a little peach At The Indie Disco if you wanted to check it out.

There's plenty of hubbub going on in preparation for the next set of Sound Track shows in the new year.
Keep your eyes on the blog in 2011 for Nursey Bang Bang and O&C collaborations alongside oodles more gaming reviews, previews and and specially commissioned articles.

Woop Woop
t&i

Good day from Bloggington

2010-12-18T11:12:00.000Z

Welcome to December 18th,

It's the final day of the Bridport Arts Centre Snap It Up art market, curated by the good folks at Dorset Visual Arts, which we've been a part of. To give someone an O&C limited edition handmade book, is to bring joy into their lives.

We'll be dishing out our own personal joy to some friends and family over the coming days, say no more, say no more.

There's going to be some very special radio shows on Forest FM that I'm presenting for the next 3 Sundays;
19th December = Disney
26th December = Boxing Day Bond
2nd Jan = MGM Musicals
Tune in from 9am till 10am every Sunday for these magical pieces of ear entertainment and we'll be back to the regular shows from 9th Jan.

The good ship Tracey has been doing great things in the Video Gaming world, more reviews at both GGUK and Sci-Fi-London (check out our Gaming Gift Guide) as well as special industry preview parties and events chock full with freebies (big fat zombo staring at me from the top of the monitor anyone?)

Best festives from Bob Carolgees, Spit and O&C

ABC

2010-11-11T17:34:00.000Z

We are thrilled to be a part of the ABC (Artists Books & Chairs) exhibition, organised in collaboration between Dorset Visual Arts, Bridport Literary Festival and Bridport Arts Centre. This exhibition marks a new stage in the development of Dorset Visual Arts and artists were invited to explore the notion of Territories through concertina book form.

We had a great time there during the coffee morning yesterday, meeting and chatting to other exhibitors as well as hearing all the exciting news about future opportunities for artists across Dorset from DVA director Jem Main.

We were joined by our good friend Nursey Bang Bang who sent through these lovely photos of us having a 'Jem Sandwich'

We are currently developing a series of crafty workshops and pop-up events with Nursey that will be launched over the next couple of months! That should keep us busy bees for a while.

See, Read, Hear

2010-10-27T08:56:00.001+01:00

Things are going well in the Orange and Cyan house, the fruits of many labours can be audienced over the coming days and weeks.

We're part of a new exhibition at Bridport Arts Centre entitled 'Artists' Books and Chairs' curated by Dorset Visual Arts and runs until 17th November showcasing our joint works on the series Plastic Words and some of Ian's writing in volumes 1-6.

The radio show Sound Tracks on Forest FM is going well, this Sunday is week 5 and Ian has been sharing some barnstormers and treating the ears of the South and the wider internetical world via forestfm.co.uk at 9am every Sunday.

We've posted our latest insights for sci-fi-london after our recent trip to the biggest video game expo in Europe which was at Earls Court earlier in the month and played some games which aren't coming out for months, including the new Zelda Skyward Sword title.

O & C
Purveyors of fine words since 1980

All We Hear Is...

2010-09-21T08:26:00.001+01:00

Goodly greetings, today I can reveal with much joy in my heart, that I'm heading back on the radio.

I have previously presented on a couple of radio stations, oop north, and passed on my deep passion for music from film soundtracks and scores to the good people of Southport and Merseyside. The show originally grew from a 2hr Tuesday nighter on Southport Community Radio to a 4hr behemoth called Saturday Night at The Movies with guests, interviews and live music.

I've been on the hunt for a station down here where I can fit in and I've found it with Forest FM. It covers Verwood and Bournemouth on 92.3FM but is also available on line at forestfm.co.uk and is the second most listened to station in the area after Radio 2.

I've already got my first show "in the can" and will be doing another one soon. It'll be going out weekly on a Sunday morning 9am till 10am GMT starting Sunday October 3rd.
It's a new software system, so it's fun to learn, mix and normalize myself in post production.

Keep an eye out for gems from the films of Almodovar, Sturges and big Spielberg himself.

Until the next time film fans...Mr Abbott

Long Time No Sea

2010-08-05T23:26:00.000+01:00

After a month of enjoying the beach, soaking in the sea and devouring ice cream, we thought we'd get back to work and get creative!

Tracey is working with her friend and artist Nursey Bang Bang on a new performance installation inspired by many things including a shared love of cardboard, walking the prom,'The Owl and the Pussy Cat' and of course boats.
Check out the work in progress:

we've used about 5 boxes so far and are now working out how to make a beautiful cabin. Lots of biscuits and cups of tea were also consumed in the process and we can't wait until the big launch! Creating waves in Bournemouth!

Giveaway!

2010-06-12T14:47:00.000+01:00

As we approach the final hurdle of Dorset Art Weeks, we have been looking back on how it's gone, reading all the lovely comments left in the guest book, gulping down the leftover nibbles, preparing to fill the cupboard once more with shoes, coats and umbrellas and of course are now planning our next creations - the newest idea we love the most is a giant TV guide featuring Tom Selleck.....!

To celebrate the final weekend of the Orange and Cyan Arts exhibition, we are having a very special giveaway! If I can get over 50 people following me on Twitter, I will create a one-off-uber-exclusive-unique-limited-edition artwork for one of my followers!

To be in with a chance of winning, make sure you follow @tamcgarrigan on Twitter!

Good luck and thanks to everyone for supporting our work :-)

Preview Party

2010-06-09T14:55:00.000+01:00

Last night we had 18 friends, artists and co-workers through the Orange and Cyan DAW doors and all had come to see our little exhibition. Guests were invited to a drink of Orange or Cyan and there were Complimentary Consumption Cartons full of tasty treats for guests to nibble as they viewed the work or munch on their way home.

We were delighted to welcome so many talented, friendly and jolly people to our home and would like to thank them all for their positive comments and support. We had great fun and were pleased that everyone enjoyed the work and the experience!

So much so, we're doing it all again tonight! Can't wait to hear and see how our guests react!

Also, for all you media munchers out there, we were featured in the Bournemouth Echo Newspaper today so all in all, a good days work and a great evening!

DAW Week 2

2010-06-05T10:40:00.000+01:00

Well, the early birds are out today! Visitors aplenty and it's not even 11am. People are actively seeking us out as they're intrigued by our "difference" and are looking for something which isn't sea landscapes and pet portraits.

Here are some of the comments we've had so far:
"Really creative and unusual", "Loved it", "Great typography and photography", "Some people to watch!"

Here's a peak inside The Writings of Ian Abbott Volume 4 entitled 'You Cannot Throw A Myth From A Grotto' and if that's not enough there's a brand new photograph from Tracey in the gallery today in a very limited edition."

Jesse Playbill Image

2010-06-02T18:29:00.000+01:00

Here's a super sneak peek of what has proved to be very popular amongst the visitors of DAW, it's a playbill based on the mighty Jesse James. Running along this there's a Yuri Gagarin and Sir Galahad as well to complete the trio.

We're planning a series of intimate private views next week for some of the good artistic folk of Bournemouth and there will also be some brand new artwork on display in the next few days, keeping the content fresh throughout the exhibition.

Bye bye
Ian

DAW Day Four

2010-06-01T16:57:00.001+01:00

Despite some horrible weather, we've had some lovely visitors to our first DAW exhibition and happily, we've sold some pieces! All our visitors are loving Ian's new playbill posters and we've had some great feedback.

We hope to get to see some of the other DAW artists work in the area later this week and can't wait to meet more people to chat about our work as DAW progresses.

Will be putting some exhibition photos on the blog sometime next week so keep checking back here for updates!

Happy days
t & i

The Beginning of DAW...

2010-05-29T07:15:00.000+01:00

The exhibition has officially begun.

The door is open, new work has been made, the space has been prepared, nibbles have been purchased - all we need now is an audience for what might be the smallest exhibition space in Dorset Art Weeks (more will be revealed over the next 2 weeks).

Here's a sneaky perusal of one of the new images which Tracey has made for Plastic Words Cubed, it was made in response to my piece of writing 'the man who eats the weather' and it's only available in an edition of three.

Be back soon
Ian

Preparation!

2010-05-24T14:01:00.001+01:00

It's been a while sine our last post as we're frantically putting the finishing touches to our new exhibition! As part of Dorset Art Weeks (29th May - 13th June), our tiny hallway will be transformed into a haven of all things orange and cyan. Ian is working on a new series of playbills and has been doing lots more writing whilst I'm busy shooting the next in the 'Plastic Words' series (which really means playing with Playmobil and occasionally taking some photos).

This exhibition will be a collection of old and new works so now's the best time to buy some O&C pieces before they all go! We're looking forward to inviting people from around the UK through our art deco door and can't wait to see what other artists in the area are creating too.

To get in the mood, I've been swap-botting again and this time I've made some ATC's inspired by Resident Evil 4! I've always wanted to draw Leon as he's my favourite character and am working on a cross stitch of him but thought I'd try and translate key moments from the game onto a 2x3 inches ATC - what a task! I've played the game again and again (research purposes, honest) and I've created two cards so that when they sit together they form one big picutre or when apart, become an evil vs good set. Hope you like!

Tracey

Sci-Fi London

2010-05-06T00:29:00.000+01:00

We had a fabulous time at Sci-Fi London. Got oodles of freebies and there was lots to see. The best thing we saw was "ONE" - a film based on the essay, One Human Minute by Stanislaw Lem. It takes his fictional review of a book, which purports to be a collection of statistics of what happens on Earth in the space of 60 seconds, and turns it into a mystery story. When the entire content of a world-renown rare books store disappears and is replaced by hundreds of copies of a single book called 1, those present in the shop are investigated by the Bureau of Paranormal Activity (RDI Reality Defence Institute)..... It was beautiful and had some fab archive footage thrown in!

I also got to meet Marcus Gilbert - my mum used to fancy him rotten after he starred in Jilly Cooper's 'Riders'. He was very charming and looked very tanned.

We also learn about how if you destroyed 50 of the most important satellites in space, the world would come to a complete and devestating stand still within 11 and a half hours. On a brighter note, we got to spend time with our dear friends Adele and Tom, eat lots of yummy sushi and feel ready to create some fab work for our upcoming exhibition for Dorset Art Weeks!

All in all, a lovely bank holiday jaunt!
t

2010-04-19T22:00:00.001+01:00

Here's an absolute peach of a XStitch creation by our Tracey.

It was a gift to our friend Al for her 26th birthday - she seemed to like it very much and I'm sure she'll proudly display it in a prominent area.

Just a shorty, but I'm back on the old postcrossing and receiving some gems from around the world, latest one from New Zealand. We also had a smashing trip to Swanage at 'tweekend and snapped up some glorious retro postcards from the shop on the pier. Did you know it won 3rd place for pier of the year in 2004? It was robbed.

Ian

Animal Cross Stitching

2010-03-30T16:47:00.001+01:00

Ooh, have just signed up for a great new swap on the ole Swap-Bot. This time it's a computer game ATC. Have already decided that I'm going to do Resident Evil 4 - so excited! In the meantime, whilst the brain is ticking, here's a couple I did earlier in the month for another swap - Animal Crossing was the theme so thought I'd get out my box of threads and get stitching. Each figure is 10 stitches x 20 stitches and took a total of 8 hours to complete both - great to do whilst Columbo is on! Watch this space for more computer cross stitched creations - I've got the stitching bug.

PS talking of Columbo, Dirk Benedict (Face from The A-Team) is playing the great lieutenant on stage in July at the Lighthouse, Poole. It's like all my birthdays come at once - 80s kicks for t!!!

Games Reviews Agogo

2010-03-29T17:15:00.002+01:00

We're heading into our original love - the world of video game reviewing, courtesy of sci-fi-london.com. Of course there's a little twist, you'll get a male and female review, one from both of us in our own inimitable style.

Here's a snippet of our first:
The XY Review by Ian Abbott
A flimsy interpretation of a classic literary masterpiece? Check.
Mr Dante has a slight disagreement with Death and decides to steal his almighty scythe. Now Mr Dante (let’s call him Big D from now on) has a good-looking lady, Beatrice, back at home and lo and behold - she gets caught up in a Lucifer love triangle who steals her away into the nine circles of hell and guess where Big D has to go to get her back? Big D has a lot of choices to make on his quest to save his lady. Should he a) punish the damned souls who get in his way and pump up his unholy-ometer? Or b) absolve the poor wretches of their sins and get on the good side of the man upstairs? I’m not one for historical accuracy, but you’d fail your GCSE History of Literature if EA were providing the revision guides.

The XX Review by Tracey McGarrigan
Pay attention at the back. Now as I’m sure you all know, Dante’s Divine Comedy (written between 1308 and 1321) is an epic poem split into 3 parts; Inferno (hell), Purgatorio (purgatory) and Paradiso (paradise) and it’s the best bit - hell - which EA have concentrated their efforts...The hellish minions and beasts are varied and tough little blighters, there are some inventive and impressive moves, dozens of different button combinations for fighting and the game play is fast paced yet balanced (there are puzzles and climbing obstacles to give your thumbs a rest whilst the animated cut scenes are short enough to reveal the story and provide some context without being dull or breaking the momentum).

Head to the website to find out what we really think of Dante's Inferno.
Until the next time...
Ian

PS Due to recent adverse weather conditions our international guests were not able to follow in the great footsteps of our current champ Mr Tyler Myers. All footraces will be put on hold till further notice.

Foot Race 1 - Winner!

2010-03-05T11:01:00.000Z

Tracey and I were proud to host the Inaugural Bournemouth Foot Race which took place between groynes 20 and 21 on Bournemouth beach on Wednesday 3rd March 2010.

The first competitors were Tyler Myers and Stephen Fiehn (Chicago performance duo Cupola Bobber who've just finished a short English tour of their 4th work Way Out West The Sea Whispered Me in cities ending in -er).
It was a tight and physically punishing race and Stephen lost by about 2 lengths at the end. From his beaming smile, I think we can all tell that Tyler was very happy to receive his plaque from Tracey.

We're hosting a few other international competitors over the next few weeks from Germany, Lancashire and Wales so I hope to post further updates on here soon.

Enduringly yours

Ian

Zombie Dancer

2010-02-09T16:24:00.001Z

This one is for Ian - never mind Tracy Turnblad, this is Tracey Turnbad!

Zombie Dinner

2010-02-08T14:57:00.000Z

After months of working for other people, I finally got around to a bit of my own work this week and realised how much I have missed sitting with my battered old lap table (made by my Grandad, complete with wonky legs) and my giant orange fluffy pencil case of delights! I've recently signed up to Swap-Bot (see link on the bottom right) to find inspiration and focus. It's a great idea; you sign up to a swap - no pressure, you only commit if you want to - make a little art work, pop it in the post and wait to receive one back.

Much of our work has been made via art mail projects - they have formed a large part of how we work and create, how we respond to and discuss other people's work and I love seeing how an idea can grow in ways we'd never have thought of if we didn't share or collaborate.

The freedom of Swap-Bot is perfect for me as I can fit it in around other commitments and there's a good enough range of swaps that I was bound to find one I like. I think it totally appropriate that my first swap was to draw a Zombie! Exactly how I've felt over the dark, winter months (although the eating people bit goes against my veggie diet).

Turned out how I planned too - I love it when a plan comes together!
Only bad thing is, makes me feel hungry...
Tracey

Now it's my turn...

2010-02-01T19:00:00.000Z

The gauntlet has been set by Tracey. There are some interesting titles on her lists, but I'm going to keep mine to a top ten. No sub lists, no black and white - just my top ten films of all time.

And the list goes a little something like this:

10) Chopper
9) Stop Making Sense
8) Dancer in the Dark
7) Tears of a Black Tiger
6) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
5) Tokyo Story
4) Blue Velvet
3) Hausu
2) Last Year in Marienbad
1) West Side Story

I can confirm no Kevin Costner is present. He will not be making any appearance in anything I do, watch, smell or ingest.

Two of my selections are brand new as I've seen them this year, Hausu and Tokyo Story, during my recent jaunt to the BFI in London.

That's it from me, be back soon.
Ian

Hi All!

2010-01-25T01:11:00.000Z

So here they are. It's taken me a long time just to get to this stage... and the lists will probably change again.
Had so many that nearly made it but I've gone for ones that I could watch again and again without getting fed up or beginning to dislike them.

Here are my top ten colour films
1) Terminator 2
2) Cool Hand Luke
3) Reservoir Dogs
4) The Sound of Music
5) The Untouchables
6) West Side Story
7) Amelie
8) Spirited Away
9) No Way Out
10) The Breakfast Club

#have only just realised that two of these have Kevin Costner in - Oh my GOD! I think maybe number 9 might become The Blue Max (not really as thrilling but a young George Peppard is way better than Kevin Costner any day of the week). This realisation might have just ruined the whole list. In fact it definately has. And I was so close..
Ones that oh so nearly made it - Rear Window (1954 version), Singin' in the Rain, Ferris Buellers Day Off, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Ghostbusters, Battle Royale, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Delicatessan, 3:10 to Yuma (1957 version), A Matter of Life and Death, Nightmare Before Christmas, Breakfast at Tiffanys, the Life of Brian, Speed, Vertigo, the Neverending Story, The Paleface, Muriels Wedding, Black Narcissus, The Burbs, The Little Shop of Horrors (1986 version), Weird Science!.......... and that's just the tip of the iceberg! The list goes on and on - it's no use, I'm going to have to redo the colour films list. How can I get it to just ten? Maybe I need a top ten musicals list which would free up a couple of spaces.

However, I am sure my black and white film list is absolutely correct!
Here are my top ten b&w films
1) Bringing Up Baby
2) Mr Smith Goes to Washington
3) Went the Day Well
4) Last Year in Marienbad
5) Spirit of Saint Louis
6) Wuthering Heights (1939 version)
7) Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 version)
8) To Kill A Mockingbird
9) The Music Box
10) The Wicked Lady (1945 version)

Would be great to hear what your top tens are! (and no mum, you can't just have ten films with Keanu Reeves in). This always seems to come up in conversation and films are an important part of our work so I thought I'd finally try and come up with an answer. Don't even get me started on what my top ten books might be......

Back to the DVD shelf for me!
Tracey