This entry has been sitting in Google Documents, half completed, for quite a while now. The truth is I am suffering from a severe lack of motivation. I haven’t had a proper conversation in weeks and I’m going a bit stir crazy. I haven’t been riding much either (mostly due to the atrocious weather) so most of my time has been spent staring at a computer screen, waiting for something to happen.

At least Tweaker Freaker was a solid, real life, concrete, tangible consequence of my online interactions. Against the odds I even managed to get down to London to see the show! It was trippy to see my own pictures on the wall of Slam (I would never have imagined that all those years ago sat at the back of the science class reading Sidewalk and Document). I have had smoother trips to London though…

To cut a long story short: I got Earlham Street confused with the Clerkenwell Road. Don’t look like that, I live it the sticks, it all looks like the metropolis!

Anyway, it all came together eventually. I’m not sure I’d go all that way on my own again though. No one on the streets want to look at you let alone smile and the shop assistants are apparently far to busy to chat. It’s a long day when you’ve got no one to talk to.

There was one beacon of hope amidst the grey walls and greyer skies though, the Howies shop on Carnaby Street. Now if you know me well my probably know that I have varying opinions about Howies as a brand and company, the choice of London as their first store being one bone of contention.

I suppose it my have been down to the crappy day I was having but the shop felt like a sanctuary. it was bright, clean, airy and quiet. The interior design was very nice (nice is an important adjective to me, it means more than it might look written down). They were even playing Graceland on the stereo! When I left there my wallet was much lighter but so was my mood.

By now I’d decided on the early train home as I figured if I got lost again, things could only get worse after dark. I guess I’m just out of touch with the city but not all cities are the same. I get the same sort of vibe in London as I do in Cardiff but Newcastle and Manchester and really nice places to be. As for St. Davids, that’s a whole new kettle of fish..

Last weekend we were faced with a choice. Go to the shiny new Howies shop in Cardigan or check out the, recently opened, Oriel Y Parc gallery in St. Davids. We pumped for the latter and it was definitely worth the journey northwards. The gallery is a new venture by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park with support from the National Museum Wales.

They are currently exhibiting the work of Graham Sutherland which was a happy coincidence since I’ve been meaning to check out more of his work. I’m not really cut out for art criticism so I’ve just pasted some examples of his work into my Notebook (I can’t find any for the paintings which actually comprise the exhibition, presumably because they’ve been hanging in Picton Castle for the last thirty years..). but yeah, check him out.

Also on display were several works by Alison Hayes. Now these were interesting not least because as I’m sure I’ve previously mentioned on this blog, I don’t really do video art. It tends to leave me cold. However, I found these pieces are little different.

You can see some low quality reproductions on the artist’s website but they work much better full scale. Basically there were several large LCD TV screens playing a looped seven or eight minute video (I can’t confirm whether they were seamlessly looped but i assume so since I don’t remember hearing any big gaps). So what you have is a single shot of a scene from the Pembrokeshire coast such as swell of the tide or flowers swaying in the breeze, captured like the single frame of a photograph but enhanced with sound and motion.

I’ll be honest, it was more the concept than the result that intrigued me not least because it is similar to an idea of my own. It is work like this which made me less inclined than most to dismiss Flickr’s new ninety second video feature. If you still don’t get it put it this way: how many times have you taken a photo and then when you get home it is mediocre at best because you failed to include the sound and movement, the excitement of the moment? This might do something to address the balance.

Whilst collating the links for this entry I found out that a large selection of Alison Hayes work has been on display at the Torch Theatre for the best part of two months.Hmmm see the thing about the Torch is that it’s a great theatre run by nice people but they don’t exactly go out of their way to publicise.. anything. I mean, I’ve been to there in the last month (to see Rhod Gilbert) and I still didn’t know they had an exhibition on!

Anyway, after the gallery we wandered down to the cathedral for lunch in the refectory (which is thoroughly modern and worth visiting though it is hard to find if you haven’t been there before). The reason I mention this is because having traipsed all the way down there we popped into the cathedral shop where I spotted this. I know I often use the word genius lightly but surely if any invention was worthy of such an accolade…

All this time spent online has inevitably meant I’ve been receiving a lot of parcels lately. I’ve bought a few nice things through the door: Wednesday it was the turn of my Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 E Series (one of these).

I don’t have a good reason to justify this purchase, I just wanted one but it’s been lots of fun. The D300 is imbued with some special magic which allows me to use Matrix metering even though this is a non Ai lens. It has to be manually focused but the focus ring is so smooth that it’s a pleasure to use.

I have also invested (possibly the wrong word) in a netbook. I’m running an Asus Eee 1000 on Ubuntu Linux. It’s got three times the spec of the laptop I bought about fives years ago at half the price and half the size. It allows me to waste time online all around the house rather than just in my bedroom and to enjoy the full advantages of the internet as a I perch on the loo.

The plan is to use this integrate the internet into Project Super Shed (which is currently on hiatus: I’m wating until the Spring or extended dry weather, which ever comes first).

Nigel Peake has a new show on at Analogue called Maps. My copy of the accompanying book arrived this morning and it is wonderful. It has all the intricate penmanship of Sheds but with bright splashes of colour.

You can clearly see how Nigel’s architectural training has affected his work. Every pattern and mandala is part of a wider masterplan and every masterplan is as much a web of image as much as an expression of cartography. I know I go on about this guy quite a lot but the thing is, he has been successful in capturing the essence of why I chose to study Landscape Architecture (though apparently without the shortcomings). I like architecture but it is the visual language of architecture that I really love.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that image XVII is what the human soul looks like.

I have at least been trying to fight the blues by bugging out to Ninja Tuna and the latest Shapes compilation. Oh, and Soul II Soul via Last.fm (there was a good Radio 4 piece about them this week).

More web beased tomfoolery for you now. First off, Kaimana have finally crossed all the tees and dotted the eyes on their new musical venture. You can listen to three tracks by Leed’s own Liam O’Donnell with more tunes from some great unsigned artists available in the coming weeks and months (you need to click ‘Tunes’ on the Kaimana website and then the speaker symbol). I know that they have some other sonic projects in the works so I will keep an eye out and keep you informed of any further developments.

Scruffian has also been busy on the musical front. Over the past few weeks Ben has been producing a live broadcast from his garage, the result of which is essentially, digital busking. He even does requests! Check the website for a head up on the next performance.

I think this is intriguing not just because of the content but because it shows us just what is capable now with a home computer. You wouldn’t have imagined you could genuinely create and distribute your own television program from your bedroom, only using online resources.

Apparently the average reader spends ninety-six seconds per blog: so if you’ve read this far, thank you! I’ll wish you all Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda just in case I don’t get around to updating.

Take it easy and I’ll see you next year.

Toodles.