The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pV8-Ybi2aY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWDwFCjh-5k

DJ Shadow

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQibn8J9TzU

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ld_tF1AXqs

www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7rZGZLbsLs

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GHmhI2dGJg

The Eels

So hard a choice with these. Given the changing line-up, all the different re-interpretations of songs … went for live versions more than studio. The second one here is probably my favourite concert moment ever. Bad quality but give it a go, or jump to around 2:10 and then 4:45 on, again to see what I mean. Third one to illustrate their often surprising cover versions.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK81WNnHTE4

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIeqZ3qPFWs

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kDzEcCF5cI

Queens of the Stone Age

Do I even … oh well, for completion’s sake.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wTxqHbJOzg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=srNmb01mMxw

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGRqnNEOpe0

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5GrSPUAj4E

Hidden Orchestra

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3ppF0evyH0

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_stgv4jSnNE

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ull3e5rCt-g

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdgh5uXdWY0

Everything from here on is a “maybe”.

Little Dragon

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yedD4JsZyT0

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmP2ULBJGYQ

Nicolas Jaar

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFAEYWQl1eM

Cocoon

http://vimeo.com/18092408

The Kills

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgpOV-wc9i8

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HwPCiK7bio

www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3fZP7QC4PE

Heliocentrics with Mulatu

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlGmjXxnGgM

www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1d4DjqJCjs

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFblAArMivU

Dengue Fever

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gty6a6_kO-0

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcdgLclFWOU

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQYOGkCk2DA

Jah Wobble & the Nippon Dub Ensemble

www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2JpqvwuGYM

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UwpQfKWj0U

My new hobby! The rest of the photos in the corresponding new gallery.

Top down view

Side view

Mutated younger sibling

And, for the first time, the younger sibling is about to flower. I don’t know what colour this one is. But it’s the oddest amaryllis I’ve ever seen; it just sprouts leaves all over.

Finally — here’s a panorama from a foggy day (that would have benefited of more, much more, photos adding vertical height).

Fog

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jTriU_dfTY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4s0jzIZgF0

www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3ETqw15tMc

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkHHUisgOs4

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlZo1yHI1DY

Faireset also does have a quite wonderful sense of humour — so do check out his channel.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfOWl1Yuz3c

It was (almost) pitch black as there are no street lights. My head torch desperately needs new batteries and hardly gave any light, so finding the statues at all was a quite fun experience. Because of the darkness I couldn’t see anything whatsoever through the viewfinder², and, given that the flash only fires on shutter release, autofocus was completely useless, too. So this was really a return to quite old-fashioned photography: Guesstimate or, if doing a more long range shot, pace out distance to object (Yay for Outdoor Education skills!), roughly select lens focal point and the flash settings and then pray a lot.

Given all that I am really, really happy how these turned out, especially as this is the first time I used an external flash, ever. I had only a few that were really badly out of focus. All in all there’s 49, but I cut them down to 20 for this post (plus a bonus empty beach one, at the end). I want to add some of these, as slightly more high-res versions, to the Liverpool gallery soon. With those that are very similar to each other which one is your favourite? I have ideas for titles, but usually need quite long until I am happy with them. Feel free to contribute on that end, as well, please.

You can hover your mouse over some of the images to get some extra explanations (via alt-text) now and then.

Reluctance

Bonus photo of nothing!

Starstruck

Alive.

Accessorise!.

Departure.

1. For those that don’t know: Crosby Beach features an installation by Antony Gormley — Another Place (links to wikipedia) — composed of 100 bronze figures facing and, depending on the tide, vanishing in the ocean.
2. I am using a Pentax *istDs … too old a model to have fancy things like Live View

I’ve talked to the city council; First to a really nice person at the Liverpool direct who started telling me about her memories and experiences of the Futurist, and then mentioning many, many other cinemas here in Liverpool now closed. She also provided a phone number within the City Council for further information whom I then called up directly.

Sadly, that turned into a dead end. The City Council does not own the Futurist, it is in private hands, and they can not provide any information on the current owner. Next step: The Landregister — who charge a fee of £4. At the moment I am double and triple checking I have the correct address before sending out a request. I have also just ordered thefuturist.org.uk for this project to separate it from my blog.

The Motivation

So why do this, then? On the one hand — quite simply — because I love the building, like the idea, and am enthralled by cinemas and film. The building attracted me, ever since I first came to Liverpool four and a half years ago — the contrast between the Futurist name, the “outmoded” Edwardian architectural style and the clear signs of neglect. I want to because it is something I just would like to do. That really should be enough of a motivation and explanation. All else really is secondary.

Questions

But, there is, as always, more. On a slightly less shallow level this is a response to the idea of “The Big Society” floating around and the fears the political course of the current government gives raise to among most of the people I’ve talked to. It’s a lucky, but not completely random, coincidence that the Futurist closed in July 1982. In political history the years around 1982 are important — the Toxteth Riots occurred a year before — and by early 1982 the 80s recession reached its worst stages as the UK’s unemployed exceeded 3,000,000 for the first time since the 1950s. As such the Futurist closed exactly amidst political and economic developments people fear are about to be repeated. What better time to initiate an attempt to re-open and re-claim something that was lost then?

The Futurist features an installation as part of the Biennial here in Liverpool at the moment. Emese Benczúr is asking people if they are thinking about the future, through a sign just above the Futurist’s former entrance. The two fairly relevant statements — quoting from the Biennial guide — connected to this installation are that “[…] while ‘time’ is a given, the way we use the time given depends on our free will and conscious decisions” and “Emese Benczúr points the finger at an end of an era: in a Blade Runner like scenario of abandoned buildings, there is little for positivist thinking.“¹ Despite restoring the building I aim to ask questions. Do you think of the future? What future do you want? What do you do with your time? What society do you dream of? Who do you want to organize and shape that future? Do you keep thinking positive, even amidst a time of abandoned buildings — which, in the case of Liverpool, have been abandoned for decades? What dreams do you wish to see fulfilled?

We want to give citizens, communities and local government the power and information they need to come together, solve the problems they face and build the Britain they want.²

The idea that a local and citizen based focus should be at the core of policy — whether that will be ever actually politically realised, valued and established or not — seems to be among the publicly highlighted core focus of current political leaders. Not just from the Tory / LibDem front, but also Labour, as Miliband aims to consult with local organisations and groups about Labour policy “beyond New Labour”:

The first tranche of reviews will lead to a state of the nation document in 2011, Modern Britain’s Ambitions, before further specific policy work is done, which will form the basis of detailed policy-making leading up to the next general election manifesto.³

I am not trying to make a political statement here, even if all actions and inactions are of course political in nature. I am not interested in party politics — nor is this project really related to the focus of the current policies implemented. But I want to suggest that society has, can and will operate outside a top-down planned approach to politically transform it. If this project works it can be an example — there are a lot of buildings in this town that could be saved, re-opened and re-claimed for the public good by similar schemes — without waiting for someone else to do this for us. So tell me, do you think about the Future?

Storytelling

I also do not only want to prevent a building’s death, restoring it and re-establishing it. As mentioned in the previous post I see this as an art work as much as a non-profit project. I want to restore people’s memories alongside and keep them alive. Memories about the Futurist. Memories of Liverpool connected to the area around the building. Memories of people’s lives connected to the building. Memories of what film meant and means to them. Instead of just only being inward focused on restoring the building I’d like to go out and collect these, talk to people, ask them to submit and restore the part of the building that’s not physical — the human history connected to it. These the stories of what was.

I want to document the story of the restoration of the building itself. Asking those that participate to illustrate their connections to cinema, their hopes, aspirations, their dreams of the future. What motivates people participating? What struggles does the team face restoring the building? These the stories of what is.

The Futurist itself, once re-opened, would be the story of what will be.

Beyond Cinema — uses for the building

As a non-profit organisation I feel the social aspect is to be stressed. Like two of the examples linked to in the first post Harwich Electric Palace Cinema and Grand Theatre Blackpool the building could / should be available for non-cinema occasions outside the evenings / screenings.

Given the question asked, above, about Society the aim is to — in some form or other — contribute more directly to society then just through being a cinema.

One possible use came up during a recent biennial talk. A lecturer at one of Liverpool’s universities aims to establish a free university in Liverpool in response to the tuition fee changes and teaching fund cuts. As a location the cinema would lean itself, easily, to be used as a lecture theatre during the day.⁴.

1. Biggs, L., Domela, P., Waldron, S., and Kirk, A. (eds.) (2010), liverpool biennial, International Festival of Contemporary Art, 18 Sept — 28 Nov 2010, The Guide, Liverpool: Liverpool Biennial Contemporary Art Ltd, 62–63.
2. From the opening paragraph of the Building the Big Society document.
3. From this Guardian Article.
4. As would, of course, that other cinema across the road — the now closed ABC / Forum. But that’s Project Dreams #1.5

How does one achieve something unachievable? By not trying to. A project like this will fail, instantly, if going at it with a “we’ll restore this building, we’ll be done tomorrow” attitude. From a project management perspective the way forward is to break this down into small projects, one at a time, each successive one a little closer to the far off target of a non-profit cinema/venue way way ahead in an undetermined future/ist.

Please note that as with my first post these are my ruminations and I haven’t discussed them with anyone yet. That means I really yearn for feedback from here on down, your own ideas, suggestions and of course further thoughts. Nothing is set in stone. This is just a framework to go from and to have something on paper to work on.

I’d suggest to set the project up in a phased based manner. The most familiar process to me would be that of software development — the goal is to work along a roadmap, reaching milestones and re-assessing the project and further plans at every major milestone reached. I also feel it is essential to not attempt to look ahead too far — there will be issues and developments that are just unforeseeable. Trying to look to far to the future, in this case, also causes vertigo.

Rather than asking people — that is you — to sign up for the whole project, we’d all only sign up for each phase and can elect to commit for another once that phase is complete. Each phase should have a number of conditions / goals that need to be reached for that phase to be complete. To make this less abstract — here’s what the first two phases could look like.

Phase 1: Brainstorming, research, the building and a webpage.

Phase 1, where this project is now, would have to build the basis for all that follows. It has six — suggested — goals that need to be reached for the phase to be complete:

1. Recruit a core group.
2. Brainstorm the project and build a structure for it.
3. Learn about and from other projects like these.
4. Research and assess the building in detail.
5. Design and build a web-page with a solid backend and database structure.
6. Decide on goals for and set up the next phase.

Recruiting a core group says what it means. At this point I feel it makes more sense to keep this small and focused rather than big and chaotic. I’d doubt a group much larger than ten would be necessary or even manageable — though it is of course always possible to have guests and additional help coming in. The most important thing about this group is enthusiasm, responsibility, a good damn amount of (sardonic) humour and that the people going through this phase are actually able and happy to work together.¹  I have a few in mind (hello!) and I am sure if you are interested you have a few on your mind, too. The specialists required in this phase are someone with knowledge about restoration and a skilled webdesigner (more on that below). Potentially someone that can assist with finance, calculations and market evaluation.

Point two and three go together, really. There need to be an ongoing discussion on how the group actually wants to organise this; we’ll need to look at examples, talk to people that participated in similar projects and the like. I don’t believe in authoritarian leadership. Authority is a tool, not a purpose. As a bit of a fun part this might open up opportunities to visit those other restoration projects and talk to people there in person.

Researching and assessing the building is the major part of this phase as it will inform so much else. Who owns the building, what is the owner’s attitude to a project like this, how can we collaborate with them, what is the damage, what are the most pressing repairs that need to be done, what is a good way to structure the repairs? My guess is that the most pressing matter likely would be to fix the roof and make sure that structurally the building is still safe. This assessment is all important because without having an estimate about what needs to be done to the building it will be impossible to set any funding targets or plan how to proceed.

I’d also like to have a webpage set up by the end of this phase, to help with recruitment and outreach. I’d insist on something that’s designed to a professional level from the get go rather then having to massively re-design later. A webpage is so important for a project relying on interaction with the public and on gathering interest. This must look trustworthy, solid and inviting. But I’d also would want this to be a database system that helps us when recruiting — i.e. to include a flexible/detailed sign up form where people can indicate that they are willing to contribute and in what way they want to contribute. This database needs to be easily searchable. So, if we need people with carpeting skills, rather than having them all on the project at all time, it should be possible to filter those that indicated that is a way they could and would want to contribute. We could then contact them when the time is right to see if they are available. The webpage would have to provide an opportunity to sign up for a newsletter, leave comments and to interact. I favour transparency — telling people what is happening as much as possible and updating frequently.

And it would also be great to begin to collect people’s memories and stories about the Futurist through, among other ways, this webpage. Ask for people to submit any old photos, specifically of what the interior of the building used to look like. Ask them to submit any surviving newspaper clippings that concern the building.

Phase 2: Starting the recruitment drive, finances, legalities and becoming non-profit

Here’s where the project will get a little more serious. Each successive step will move further in that direction and each successfully completed phase will make it harder to just walk away and say “this is madness”. Be warned. Obviously this is even more speculation then my suggestion above, given that it depends on what happens during phase one.

At this point we have: A working webpage to interact with the public which is² ready to collect the information people feed us and which has the facilities to assist recruitment.  We know what the situation with the building is like, what repairs will need to be done, and which ones are the most pressing. We know whether the current owner of the building is permissive to us, or if we need to start a convincing act or³ even outright have to raise funds to purchase the building. We have explored other similar projects, potentially visited them, and talked to a lot of people, beginning to build a network.

Here’s what needs to be done in phase two:

1. Recruit a core group.
2. Brainstorm the project and evaluate what has happened in phase one.
3. Make the project known widely. Find celebrity patrons willing to officially support the project, contact news agencies, start releasing viral videos on the internet, go out in the community and talk to people. A lot of public relation work.
4. Begin to recruit people willing to help with all the volunteering tasks needed. We know what repairs need to be done. We know in what order. This helps give structure. As with the general project itself I feel that small manageable projects that we can advertise for and co-operate on with the volunteering centres available are key to make this a success.
5. Set up a non-profit organisation. We need this in place from here on down to be able to legally start fund-raising and become an entity. I’ve put this in phase two, rather than phase one, so that it remains easier to scrap everything while we are in phase one should it all get too scary. There needs to be a decision made (based on legal advice) whether this non-profit organisation is the same that later on runs the building or whether restoring the building and maintaining it are two entirely different projects.
6. Decide on goals for and set up the next phase.

Phase 3: Into the looking glass

I have no clue about and don’t even want to consider this phase in a lot of detail yet. I would guess this would be where the actual repair works on the building starts.

The Documentary Subcommittee

And then — there’s that other bit that I have alluded to in all of the above. To me this is not just a restoration of a building. I see this as an art project on a really big scale.⁴ The aim is to restore a cinema. It’s the perfect “topic“for someone to make a documentary on. I’d like to invite a documentarian and her/his team (this doesn’t have to be the same one for the length of the project) to follow the success or failure of this. A team that has absolutely free hand on how they organise themselves, how that documentary looks like, etc. — but that assists the project by providing video material and recordings that can go on the webpage or be used to generate additional buzz. As mentioned above transparency is important to me.

This then is my suggested plan. Go wild in your comments and rip it apart. You can also send an e-mail to “futurist at confession-box.org” if you don’t want to comment in public.

If you were to ask me if I am scared about what exactly I am suggesting here, then I’d say “hell yes”. But pretty much anything I’ve done in my life I’ve done because it was something that scared me. One of my good friends, Helena, once said that we are defined by our fears, rather than our successes. Well you monsters under the bed, you Edward’s with the scissor hands, you global rising temperatures and financial pressures: bring it on!⁵

I have an appointment with the city council tomorrow morning to start to look into who owns the Futurist. My next post will talk about my motivations for this project, and with the one after that I can hopefully start to introduce the team! Finally, because this post is really, really dry, here’s a motivational link.

1. Ask yourself why you would want to participate in this. If it’s primarily for your ego I’d prefer you’d stay away from the core planning group. You are still more than welcome to help though!
2. The webpage.
3. I did mention things might get way more serious at this point.
4. The panorama photos I do, now and then, would, if I’d have them printed, be meters wide and meters high. I like to think big, if you didn’t notice yet.
5. Just please, please someone keep Tinky Winky away from me.

The Futurist (photo by Jackie Passmore)

The Futurist was Liverpool’s first custom built cinema, opened in 1912, and closed 1982. According to this BBC article it features a marble foyer, has a lift and was the first cinema to show films with sound (in Liverpool?). It is one of the many cinemas around the UK that were abandoned and just left to fall apart since.

It seems to be a magnificent building — both inside and out, but is in a quite awful state. It is apparently marked for demolition, but as so many buildings in Liverpool hasn’t been for years and years and years now. One of the reasons for demolition floating around the web is that supposedly its roof has collapsed. While there certainly are a number of quite enormous holes visible in the roof in this 2004 video, it doesn’t look so damaged that it is about to collapse completely.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2_JRTwP4J0

Currently Liverpool has two big cinemas in the city centre. The newly built Odeon in Liverpool One — a big Hollywood style commercial cinema — and FACT’s Cinemas with a mixture of arthouse and more mainstream films. What Liverpool doesn’t have is a programme cinema, the type of cinema I like above all others.

There’s one, for example, not far from where my parents live, in Germany — a former Communist cinema in the backroom of a pub — that focuses on independent type movies and mostly takes them in at the end of their run, paying less in rent fees than if they’d aim for up-to-date or early release. What that cinema has is atmosphere, rather than high tech equipment. It’s in a 60s style that’s maintained on purpose; advertisements at the beginning of the movie mainly are simply slides (by now quite faded) of local business sponsors. It features two projection screens in different rooms, but has only one projection room, so the second screen is projected via a set of mirrors. It draws an audience that more mainstream venues don’t — it doesn’t make a lot of money, but enough to survive.

I would hope there’s room for a third cinema in the vain of independent cinemas within Liverpool city centre. So … here’s Project Dream #1: Restore and re-open the Futurist.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZXBsuwN5J0

Given the damage and the state the building is in this is a mad-cap project from a financial perspective. It will not be a profitable thing to do, and would likely need millions and millions if tackled in the general way that restoration projects are done. This must be a not-for-profit and community / volunteering based project to get anywhere — and remain a not-for-profit venture should it ever reopen.

I don’t have any qualifications, whatesoever, to initiate a project like this. But that’s what actually makes me so interested in trying. What I do know is that similar projects have been started and have been successful elsewhere.¹ I also know, since working with the Tanzania Book Project, that there’s a lot of surprising resources available in Liverpool if one just searches for them.

We needed, for example, a space to store the books we collected and struggled finding one. We eventually called into a talk show on the radio and were contacted by a Liverpool based industrialist who offered us to use one of his factories as a storage space free of charge. He had planned to sell it and actually de-listed and took it off the market, as we needed it for a whole year.

Tanzania Book Project Storage

This is the first time I mention this idea to anyone or anywhere and there’s a lot of unknowns with this. But then all these uncertainties actually quite easily offer up an initial agenda.

1) Who owns the building. My hope would be that it is in City Council hands, rather then privately owned. This is one thing to chase up with the council.

2) How damaged is the building really? I’ve been trawling Urban Explorer communities, but while they certainly have the building on their list of places to examine, no-one’s gained access yet. But, given that a lot of Biennial activities over the years involved and used the building it should be possible to gain access and document. Someone with an idea of restoration that could assess and provide an initial opinion would be necessary. Even if this is the point at which the project is deemed impossible — I am sure this would be an exciting exploration opportunity that would result in nice photos / footage.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjr_y3QVPyw

3) How feasible is the project really? There’s a good number of non-profit organisations in Liverpool that work in the cultural sector, including the Bombed-Out church project that is probable the most similar idea. There’s potential to network here, but also the chance to learn from those other non-profit restoration projects I’ve linked to. Given that it is on Lime Street and right in the middle of the city centre certainly should be a positive aspect. This would need someone with marketing / market assessment knowledge.

4) What is the history of the building? I am sure there’s more to be dug up then the little that’s available on the web. From reading around there are certainly a lot of people out there reminiscing and  nostalgic about the cinema — so there’s potential out there to tap in and gain support. The more there is known about the building the easier it would be to make a case as for why it is worthwhile to restore.

5) Legalities. For a project like this to operate on a non-profit basis, the restored building certainly would have to abide by building and safety regulations, which quite likely have changed a lot since it was last used and accessible to the public. There’s the need to set up a non-profit organisation at the very easiest, and loads and loads of legal hurdles ahead.

6) Funding & Finances. No matter how much can be done via volunteering and general help (I am sure there’s a lot of building material and even machinery out there for very little) there will be needs for funds, eventually. While voluntary work can cover a lot, fixing the roof and similar difficult operations are likely outside what enthusiasm alone can do. There will be costs and if only for sending letters and buying stamps. So looking into opportunities — are there grants out there; are there organisations supporting restorations like these — are initial steps. As with anything, once plans are more definite, fund-raising activities and the like would come down the road. To be on proper footing someone with knowledge and experience of accounting would certainly be helpful.

There’s much, much more to be considered, of course, but — personally — I think all this needs as a start is a small team of people that are committed and want to suss out all these initial issues, draw up a plan and  then start working toward implementing it. I assume this to take decades, rather then years, to go from initial plan to finished restoration and reopening. I can guarantee a lot of setbacks, problems and headaches along the way. I promise it’ll be a lot of work for nothing. I know it is incredibly naive and insanely ambitious. I know it is absolutely stupid. I am sure there’s a huge chance that a project like this will fail in a massive manner.

If you were to ask me if I am serious about this the answer would be “no, I’m not”. Not at this point. But I am also quite aware that pretty much any successful restoration project like this started with someone saying “wouldn’t it be awesome if” and someone else responding “well let’s check it out”. I am very aware that for anything like this to happen a few people need to get together and think, discuss and research this, pretending that they actually are serious about it. It’s very likely it’s impossible to do. But it will be fun and exhilarating finding out.

Who’s in?

1. See these links for examples: 1 and 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQsiLDAxud0

Lyrics²:

I see the sparkling little diamond on your hand
It’s plain to see that you’ve already got a man
I can see you’re not about to fall for any of my lines
I see the want to in your eyes
Deep in your smile there’s a quiet, soft desire
Like the embers of a once raging fire
You know I could light that fire again,
you know it isn’t wise
I see the want to in your eyes

Yes, it’s a 1974 song.  But there’s more than enough equally disturbing and wrong perceptions floating around in the accepted and every day. I am not providing further examples as this is not meant to be an in depth discussion. It’s more of a call to closely listen.

And before I will abruptly change the topic I have to highlight my absolute favourite of Andy Rehfeldt’s cover versions: His rendering of Louis Armstrong’s It’s a wonderful world.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFXP-eEVVXg

Which brings me to that part of the blog that is about summing up event’s in my life. As a memory, as a reminder, as, quite simply, a journal to look back to, eventually.³  Kyriaki committed suicide. Then, not long after, two of my friends had people close to them die, as well. I’ve been to Sweden — got to know and stayed with H. & M.⁴ — and participated in a writing retreat in Stockholm. My parents tried to reach Portugal’s Atlantic coast on bicycle from Germany, but had to abandon their journey more than 2000 km in, 10 km before reaching the Spanish border, when my father’s bicycle broke down. Damage that wasn’t possible to repair on the go. They took Spanish lessons for months, but are happy enough about the journey, despite not reaching Spain. P. moved out. M. moved in. I bought a chrysanthemum (yellow) and a begonia (red). M. and me rearranged the furniture in the lounge⁵.

I am trying to dig up background info to Kyriaki’s death. I know, through one of her friends, that she wanted me to have her bicycle. I am trying to retrieve that — as well as a George Perec’s L’espace d’espace and some writing samples I lent her. I’d planned to suggest a project combining Architecture and Writing, so L’espace d’espace was a sensible example. She’d introduced me to Bernard Tschumi’s The Manhattan Transcripts. I’ll miss our shared interest in the abstract and experimental arts — we explored the variety of exhibitions and installations that move through Liverpool so often.

My attempts to collect these things have all failed so far. The landlady never turns up at agreed upon dates and times. I am not too concerned that she will empty Kyriaki’s flat before I can retrieve them; I have lived in the same building for a while and know that she (the landlady) just is far enough on the disorganised side that “next week” often means “sometimes in the next few months”. Still — it’s unnerving. It’s painful sitting in front of that house, waiting.

I think I’ve spotted Kyriaki’s adopted cat vanishing into a boarded up house, once. She fed it, throwing cat food down from the kitchen window to the overgrown garden where this semi-wild cat often stayed during the day. The cat printed on the bag of the brand of cat food Kyriaki bought was a carbon copy of the cat she’d adopted.

I guess I will return to this topic in subsequent entries.

Chrysanthemum

Begonia

Planted Seedbomb

Planted Seedbomb

The Aquarium

Protect the Human

Rearranged Furniture

Rearranged Furniture

And finally — here’s the beginning of a post that’s been sitting in my draft’s for a long time. As I don’t remember what exactly the point was — I’ll just include it here:

People seem to like posting lists in their blogs. Lists of favourite books, films, movies, food, etc. I don’t really see the appeal — what’s a favourite and what not is changeable. If you’d ask for recommendations I’d give some, specific to what I know you like, something personalised. But to go with something that’s fashionable here is a list: The 115 last books (dvds / objects) I loaned out from university library. Tell me if that tells you anything meaningful.

1. Reporting and writing
2. Manufacturing consent
3. 9–11
4. Reporting for journalists
5. Practical newspaper reporting
6. Global journalism research
7. Essential reporting
8. The journalist’s handbook
9. News, gender and power
10. Associated Press guide to Internet research and reporting
11. Investigative journalism
12. Photography
13. News narratives and news framing
14. Intelligence in an insecure world
15. Rogue states: the use of force in world affairs
16. Broken flowers
17. Revengers tragedy
18. Alien
19. Environmental education
20. Outdoor education
21. The history of British birds
22. Atlas of the breeding birds of Lancashire and North Merseyside
23. Interdisciplinary teaching through outdoor education
24. Outdoors with young people: a leader’s guide to outdoor activities the environment and sustainability
25. The outdoor classroom
26. Mountaincraft and leadership
27. The mountaineering handbook
28. Fearing Sellafield
29. Politics: an introduction
30. Human rights and the environment
31. Chomsky
32. Britain’s nuclear waste
33. Nuclear power
34. NUCLEAR OR NOT ?
35. Management of nuclear waste
36. The human impact on the natural environment
37. Climate change 2001
38. Nuclear energy
39. Renewable energy
40. Global environmental issues: a climatological approach
41. Environmental philosophy
42. The international politics of nuclear waste
43. Adventure therapy
44. Therapy within adventure
45. Theory and practice of counselling & therapy
46. Counselling
47. Exploring islands of healing
48. Whose journeys?
49. Counselling skills and theory
50. The Dangers of Sustainable Development
51. An ozone-free zone?
52. Can capitalism go Green?
53. Who’s Afraid of Global Warming?
54. The competitive destination
55. Global tourism
56. Tourism in the Antarctic
57. Critical issues in tourism
58. Adventure tourism
59. Exploring the boundaries of adventure therapy
60. Tourism and the environment
61. Toproping
62. How to rock climb
63. How to rock climb
64. How to run a marathon
65. Co-operative inquiry
66. Advanced rock climbing
67. Tourism and development in mountain regions
68. Mountain environments
69. Wilderness therapy for women
70. Recreation ecology
71. Habitat conservation
72. Qualitative research interviewing
73. Grounded theory in practice
74. Countryside recreation site management
75. Reflexivity and voice
76. Headset (computer)
77. Introduction to counseling
78. Mountaincraft and leadership
79. EVERYDAY METEOROLOGY
80. Mountaineering
81. The mountain skills training handbook
82. Headset (computer)
83. Headset (computer)
84. Modern environmentalism
85. Teaching green
86. Contested natures
87. The environment in international relations
88. Gamesters’ handbook 3
89. Effective leadership in adventure programming
90. Creative games in groupwork
91. Becoming critical
92. Exploring the boundaries of adventure therapy
93. Experiential learning
94. Effective leadership in adventure programming
95. Social research methods
96. Eco-socialism
97. Environmental education
98. The Penguin dictionary of sociology
99. Ecological applications
100. Environmental sociology
101. Environment and politics
102. Qualitative data analysis
103. Using computers in qualitative research
104. Treatment effectiveness of wilderness adventure therapy
105. The end of nature
106. Woman and nature
107. What is nature?
108. You and the environment
109. Geography: an integrated approach
110. Glaciers and glaciations
111. Fundamentals of the physical environment
112. Glaciers and landscape
113. An introduction to physical geography and the environment.
114. Winter skills
115. Karst geomorphology and hydrology

1. Yes — this is all really only about pushing another youtube musician. With Rehfeldt it’s all about the arrangements and pretty much perfect audio/video synchronisation.
2. Original song & video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2aeRg_yMSE
3. I have re-designed my webpage, as you can see. I am not done with that, yet, but I have, in the process, imported all the posts from my two livejournal blogs. At the moment these are still private as I have to sift through them and decide what I am ok with sharing here in this far more public space. But there will be more entries here eventually. Keep checking the archives. The re-design will hopefully also inspire more frequent updates again.
4. I’ll answer your e-mail, soon. Promise!
5. Kyriaki helped me move in here, a year ago.