Just around the corner from Molly Sugden's Hairdressing in E2 in London are these little oases of garden splendour. The former is a spectacular 'wall garden'. The latter a tiny corner plot which transforms a very ordinary and very urban road into a place to stop and marvel. A heavily pruned tree makes a perfect framework for a vertical garden of lovingly created hanging baskets surrounded by lush tropical greenery. It genuinely surprises and delights. Where space is limited, go up.
Campfires are just brilliant. Very little beats sitting round a fire chatting, passing round beers and just watching the flames flicker.
I love The Future is Unwritten, the recent Julien Temple film about Joe Strummer and the way he put campfires as the central theme of the film as a tribute to Joe's advocacy of them as an art form to rival his music:
"For Joe Strummer, the idea of a “campfire” - any loose assembly of people bonded by the rising flames and the advancing dawn - became an art form in itself. The campfire was the melting pot, the wisdom stone, the HolyGrail; the essential outdoor forum for constantly evolving ideas and conversations. First perfected backstage at Glastonbury Festival - where the nightly assembly was first dubbed ‘Strummerville‘ - Joe took his campfires, and his circle of friendships and voices, all around the world, and finally back home to Somerset, where a Stone Circle now commemorates the campfire" (Julien Temple interviewed by Craig Erpelding).
So almost the very first thing on our list of 'things to do when we finally move house' is to find the right spot in the woods for a fire area, cut some logs for seating, make a fire area, get some friends around and start passing the beers. And now we have all the tools we need for a full on campfire eating experience as well. Mrs sense of place came up with the perfect birthday gift in the form of a Danish mobile bonfire kitchen complete with tripod, hanging cook pot, bbq pan, long handle tools, fireproof gloves and the chains to hang it all from. I'm particularly taken with the 1.3m handled pancake pan. Campfire pancakes. Thanks Jacky.
The makers have thoughtfully provided a little youtube snippet to get potential buyers in the camp cooking mood. Personally I didn't find that the chosen soundtrack got me in the mood quite as much as say Revolution Rock by The Clash might have done. And clearly in Denmark they have a more tolerant attitude to people wandering down the local park to start a fire whilst patiently waiting for the current benchsitters to vacate it and free up a handy supply of firewood. But anyway. Its still encouragement to follow Strummer's rallying cry and keep perfecting the fire as art form.
Leith Festival 2007
Originally uploaded by upnorthkid
The rather splendid Jonathan Mills, artistic Director of the Edinburgh International Festival, used his speech to the RCA as an opportunity to quote from the equally splendid Merleau Ponty.
"I am always inspired by a wonderful quotation from the French philosopher, Maurice Merleu-Ponty, who said, "just as places are sensed, senses are placed". He seems to describe perfectly the reciprocal relationship between the setting and the substance that exists at the core of a true festival experience; the buzz that emanates from having so many things happening at once; what a distinguished Australian colleague described as that "delicious indecision" of knowing one is surrounded by many, many exciting events and realising that there is no possibility of experiencing them all. The festival is a sensual, visceral assault."
Leith provides a sensual, visceral assault most days of the week. Especially when the wind's blowing from the sewage works on Seafield Road. But when the festival comes along it still manages to "weave a spell that stands in sharp contrast to the sameness of everyday life".
It's only just kicked off and already we've got a Fabulous Little Vegas to get our lunch in. Back at the day job we get to be inspired by other people's filmmaking efforts. Ballads of the Book I missed. (Doh). And there's a definite sense of delicious indecision from the rest of the programme.
Let's hope JM is in town.
Bigthingsonthebeach
Originally uploaded by upnorthkid
We live on the beach. A really good beach. The Guardian said so.
Which is brilliant in all sorts of ways. In a relaxing way where you come home and just chill out looking at the sea. In a smiling kind of a way where people come down here to enjoy a place we get to enjoy all the time. In a variety kind of a way where the sea constantly changes. In an intellectual Rob Shieldsy Liminal spaces kind of a way. In a toes in the sand breeze in your hair kind of a way. Its the seaside. Of course its brilliant.
Its just got even better courtesy of these people. Well those people and pretty much everyone who randomly walks past or has come down here to help build some pyramids. Yes. Some pyramids. Right outside our window where the front garden would be if we had a front garden instead of a beach. Is a big community project to fill up loads and loads and loads of sandbags. And make them into 3 big pyramids! Pyramids.
Its really hard to describe just how brilliant this is. They're going to look fantastic. Even the big pile of sandbags that got made before proper construction started looks brilliant in an 'imagine what would happen if we took things that get used for wars and disaster zones and used them for something cool' kind of way. Its involving all sorts of people in doing great sandy things. Kids climb them and jump off them. So do adults although I think some of them are doing it secretly at night. They're going to be there for ages and we can watch them sort of merge back into the sand. Its all very Andy Goldsworthy and exciting. We're about to go away for a week so we'll get to see them go from half built to complete when we get back.
Pics here once they get pointy.
Next year... A sphinx?
