It was a little box, made from cardboard and filled with scrolls and small memories. It was not large, the footprint fitted in the palm of my hand. I had made it from cardboard to a pattern, and then shared the idea with a group I was working with as part of a Community Arts … Read more
A series of blog posts derived from randomly chosen words as titles. From the window, where I work – I can see the River Mersey, a tidal river. It flows from left to right and out into the Irish Sea. Except when the tide is coming in – and then it looks like it is … Read more
I used to love getting phone calls. It was a regular occurrence and one filled with expectation. Whoever was calling me would have something interesting to discuss with me, after all. Then the world changed. Like many people around me, I haven’t had a landline for nearly a decade now. There’s just the mobile phone … Read more
In much of what we read there is one dominant narrative, whether it is the writer, the film director, the song writer or the journalist. Even the researcher will often create one dominant voice without realising that they are doing it. When I was studying for my PhD thesis back in the late 1990s, I … Read more
It would have been the summer of 1980. This is one of those moments I think we all have, when a piece of music becomes rooted in a specific time and place. The music was “Charm (Over Burundi Cloud) by Jon Hassell and Brian Eno. A whole side of an album made up of authentic … Read more
I’m taking you back a bit here. More than a decade, I think. It was the opening of a Borders store near where I lived in the Wirral, North West England. Shortly after it opened I visited to see what all the fuss was about. The new store was in the middle of a large … Read more
I never really thought about this until this last weekend when I was lucky enough to get the latest album by Eberhard Weber. It’s the second album which he has produced solo since he had a stroke a few years ago. Before that he had a long career as a jazz musician playing double bass … Read more
A guest post from June Angela, a Tyke in Exile: One glorious day I was walking along a main street of Liverpool, meandering my way to my place of study and one that would bring me much closer to my life’s work. Walking down the road I was totally distracted by an incredible view of … Read more
In the last few months we have been travelling. Back in March we visited Hungary and spent 5 days in Budapest. It was an impressive experience. The day after we arrived a late dose of snow fell on the city. It created a magical feel for a city that was already filled with stunning Gothic … Read more
Another guest post from June Angela, a Tyke in Exile: An old man stood in the shop doorway sheltering from the thunderstorm and downpour of the heavens. His back was bent forward and his stick supported his weight of seventy years. He hadn’t come to buy, just to shelter from the rain. I joined his … Read more