Oliver Wood - Diary / Blog 2010
A photographer's muse. Ongoing thoughts on everything. Last update: 20th February 2010
Some audio clips for posterity featuring friends and acquaintances. For those in the know all of the MP3’s are in 128KB/s format and derived from 16/44 recordings. The pioneering WAV file from my good man in London however, is coded in a much lower grade format.
Gill Heritage reads 'Anti Matter'
MP3 
Back Yard Jackdaw MP3
Mark, our man in London WAV Oliver Wood
Saturday 20th February 2010 Voyage To The Outer Limits of Bollington
It's about time I made one of my quirky little videos about one of my favourite local spots, the iconic White Nancy on top of Kerridge Hill overlooking Bollington.
This video constitutes something new for me, it is the first (to go online) which actually features a sort of reflexive monologue, it also has a few unique technical features which attempt to off-set the very lofi characteristics of the video from a Sony W50 P and S camera. I have recorded the monologue sound direct to the computer with a high quality system then spent hours re-syncing it with the video, loads of trimming and 'nudging' was required. Unfortunately, a couple of shots were lost (ha - accidentally deleted) so there are a few unintentional jumps in the flow. The idea was just to make homage to White Nancy in my own inimitable poetic style. I do like to create something with technology that is less than perfect and where some degree of technical coaxing and invention is required --- and this is very definitely an end product of that kind of activity.
New Gallery format I have also updated / reverted my new gallery page to old-fashioned html page displays for the large versions of the photos rather than having them come up in java lightbox effects. It has taken the best part of two years for me to realise that lightbox was preventing my images from getting into the google image search results. Hopefully this new (old) approach will do wonders, it also enables me to write much more in depth descriptions / narratives on my photos which is always a good thing.
Monday 1st February 2010 Prestbury Living --- Again
Oliver Wood in Prestbury Living Magazine
Prestbury Living magazine has done a feature on me this month, essentially following on from a number of photo contributions. I provided all of the content and most of it has been printed faithfully which is very good. I believe I may be the first and possibly the last person to have an article published in PL that mentions the concept of existentialism, at least in an artistic context haha. At least it should go some way to convincing folks that the strange guy who takes hundreds of odd photos of the area doesn't have some kind of dangerous personality disorder --- probably haha. The editor asked me to define my artistic motives and you can see my reply on my other blog here:Prestbury Living Feature
I tried to do some more night work over the weekend. This time I decided to go up to the fields on the west side of the village but unfortunately had to abort the project in mid flow because it was just too cold to work and I was unable to feel my fingers after about three minutes. It is impossible to operate a tripod and DSLR with gloves on by the way! Shame, because the objective was to try and get some interesting images with light painting effects under a bright full moon and clear sky --- hence no sodium glare.
Generally I'm still struggling along with things, ex employers not paying me and the apparent scarcity of work in my field is proving to be an extremely stressful thing now! Hopefully this year will turn up more good things and progress will be a distinguishing feature of 2010 for me --- lets hope so!
Wednesday 13th January 2010 Photo Blog Adjunct
It is still very cold though most of the snow has disappeared. Things are proving to be tougher than ever for yours truly at the moment but as I always say I am sure I will prevail and better times are just around the corner. Experience has taught me that dark skies never linger!
I have decided to re-instate my blog on Google's blogger site which now runs in conjunction with this but it is serving more as a proper "photo blog". The idea is to embed my flickr work as and when new stuff is uploaded and to embellish that with narrative content. I feel that blogger will become a lot more active than these onsite blog pages.
Sunday 3rd January 2010 Inspiration
Transfigured Norms, A car passes by and the Christmas tree shines out across the way.
Snow and ice continue to be the dominant weather theme into the first month of 2010. It is all so photogenic and I have such a lot of work to upload and publish here there and everywhere else. More creative work taking full advantage of shallow DOF, manual focus, white balance, and long exposures at night is taking place on an all most daily (nightly) basis now.
I do like these conditions, the light is so much more effective with the added reflectance of snow and fascinating details in ice and snow embellished structures are all around.
Sunday 27th December 2009 Prestbury Christmas
I seem to have missed my usual pre-Christmas update on here this year so this entry will have to suffice. I'm still running other more 'business' orientated blogs elsewhere but have since decided to use the blogger space (may soon move to Wordpress) as a sort of overflow for these pages as well as a place to post more theoretical photography and photo hardware related material.
I have had a very enjoyable couple of days with Brother and SIL, a much-needed down shift from the recent nagging worries and now I am back home immersed in the quiescent inertia of these days between Christmas festivities and the New Year. Toby and Lill of course will be over here for the usual New Year nosh up at one of the local restaurants.
The weather has turned pretty drab all of a sudden with rain instead of snow but it is still reasonably cold, of course it is also completely overcast and grey. They have promised more snow for the New Year, not sure if we will get it here.
I do hope this coming year will be OK, I have a few trials and tribulations to get through in January but I am sure I will prevail - I usually do!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all that chance by --- quite a few apparently!
Tuesday 22nd December 2009 Not So Far From Home
Snow in the top field Prestbury, yes I have had another session in the snow, I'm in love with it all! Snow is still lying on the ground as I speak. These are fairly unusual winter conditions in the UK now and again it all makes for interesting change, photography wise.
Christmas is almost upon us and as ever I am looking forward to spending the day with my Bro and SIL with a good nosh up. I'm just a little concerned about not being able to afford to offer much in return this year but I do intend to make up for this later!
Listening to GP at the moment, usual recanting of the years new (more or less) jazz orientated stuff. It dawned on me that I have most of these tunes on my MP3 already!
We are trying pet coke at Oliver Wood towers this year, for those not familiar with the arts of solid fuel heating PET coke is Petroleum Coke, it is not a naturally occurring mineral coal but a residue of the 'cracking' process in oil refining. It is ridiculously hot and turns the dog grate into an incandescent glowing mass of metal. I am concerned that this stuff is pretty bad for the environment though, it also makes a massive amount of smoke in the early combustion phase which drifts throughout the whole village, but nobody has complained yet?
Monday 21st December 2009 We Have Snow As it Might Be
The weather over the last few days has been very cold but also extremely scenic, we still have a lot of snow on the ground. I just had to get out with my camera and indulge that fascination for the kind of forms and vistas that others may miss. I now have quite a backlog of images to work with and some may find their way to this site, all should find their way to flickr.
I find these snowy settings to be quite inspiring and particularly amenable to mono treatments, though most of the images I have appear to be virtually mono in colour anyway ---
Friday 18th December 2009 Cold Battles
It is extremely cold tonight yet beautifully clear outside. I have used the last few shovelfulls of coal on the fire and once again a prevailing lack of funds is making life very difficult. I keep meaning to get out with my camera on a night such as this and attempt some more long exposure 'light painting' shots. These are the sort of conditions which should lead to something of a more natural nightime sky colour, i.e. one which is not suffused with the orange glow of a distant conurbation's sodium street lights.
This has been a year of strange good and bad luck for yours truly, flushed with no worries to almost destitute in the space of a few months and all compounded by less than wise job moves.
Next year has got to be a lot more stable, I have enjoyed the better times of 2009, specially the spring and early summer months when a sense of bohemian freedom gave rise to a state of permanent rapture. Conditions that can only be instilled by a feeling of complete autonomy and self-determination, my ideal state of existence as it happens.
Suffice to say that I am keeping a close eye on the fight against the king of trash, AKA Simon Cowell and his evil empire that seeks to promote the pre-eminence of all that lacks substance, style and meaning in contemporary popular culture. Over 100,000 people on Face Book have joined the fight. They are busily trying to vote up Killing in The Name by Rage Against the Machine for Christmas number one instead of the insipid, morkish and unoriginal identikit nonsense from the Cowell stable which has normally taken the spot.
I'm not as massive fan of RAM but it is the principal that counts and they do represent the idea of contemporary music as a vehicle for rebellion, provocation, protest and artistic design. Myself, I would have preferred something from the Jazz or new contemporaries set, a Battles tune for No1 would be quite satisfactory.
Saturday 12th December 2009 Floating Leafs
{ A leaf in suspension by my front door. A chance find that attracted my gaze and which has yielded an image with both Rothko and Miro like qualities I think. }
Wednesday 9th December 2009 Prestbury Living --- and Me
Prestbury Living magazine has one of my photos on the cover this month, the same image is also used (rather more effectively) as background for an inside spread where its effect is quite impressive. I supplied several images for this but the one that I felt to be most appropriate for the cover has not been used --- yet?
Of course I am grateful to the folks at PL for using my photos and as ever, any kind of publicity is always gratefully received.
Wednesday 11th November 2009 Light Painting
I recently tried a little "light painting" for the first time, for those not in the know light painting is a night photography technique where one illuminates the subject with a portable light source whilst the camera shutter is open on a long exposure or even 'bulb' setting. Obviously the camera needs to be mounted on a tripod for this. The idea is to control the pattern of illumination by literally 'painting' the subject with light. I used a powerful LED torch and a 10second shutter with f4 aperture. Some people thought the images were actually HDR (high dynamic range) processed. It is a very engaging technique, which introduces an element of direct physical interaction with the subject and gives a real sense of creative action, almost as if you are painting the image on to a canvas of night. I did my first experiments in St Peter's churchyard Prestbury but would like to try the technique in even darker settings; possibly up in the hills, I have a secret location in mind.
This 'blog' diary may be migrating to a more state of the art (web 2) wordpress platform at the weekend --- if I have the time to work with that. It does feel a little like the end of an era but I want to make my blog page(s) a little more dynamic and experiment with various feeds and such like.
Wednesday 7th October 2009 Old Play Replay
It's a good week on Giles Peterson, Mathew Hallsal appears alongside Gill Scot Heron and Hastings Street Jazz.
Ready When You Are Mr McGill They have finally decided to release the classic Ready When You Are Mr McGill on DVD --- not the rather lame 2003 re-make but the original 1976 Granada production with Jack Shephard. For those who may not know RWYAM is a drama written by Jack Rosenthal about a location film crew shooting a simple sequence for a TV costume drama on location and the original play became something of a minor cult within the TV industry. However, nothing goes quite to plan and what should have been a strait forward mornings work turns into an all day calamity. We see a temperamental director going into a state of nervous break down as jaded technicians battle with the demands of shooting on location, but the central dramatic device is manifest in the form of Mr Joe McGill himself. A nervously incompetent but hugely ambitious extra with his first modest speaking part which seems to be totally beyond his capabilities though his modest roll is critical to the narrative logic of the scene being shot. A situation thus develops which is both hilariously funny but also genuinely unnerving.
The original has the gritty dramatic quality that was such a great feature of the TV play in the 70s as opposed to today's candy floss celebrity obsessed crap with relativistic narratives concentrating on the minutia of personal trivia and the workplace politics of the crew.
The original cast was mostly comprised of unknowns (at the time) thus lending a sense of increased realism. Ready When You Are Mr McGill was offered up as part of ITVs Red Letter Days strand which was their counterpart to the BBCs excellent Play For Today series. Of course it was all shot on 16mm film with sep-mag sound, a much more enchanting medium than over sterile video or contemporary digital video.
Things maybe improving for me soon though I do not want to be counting any chickens until they have hatched so I will shut it for now!
Tuesday 15th September 2009 Dancing Through The Downturns
Movie of the month --- I will let this speak for itself. Suffice to say that it includes a sequence showing me throwing shapes to Donn T which may cause hilarity.
Donn T is a relatively recent find courtesy yet again of Giles Peterson. She is quite an interesting artist with an unusual but also highly varied style embracing 'broken disco' and 'vox house' genres, two new ones on me.
Morning Bell by Donn T
I love this particular track for its shear kookynes and classic deep jazz inflections. I gather that this is an example of the 'broken disco' style which fragments aspects of disco funk and jazz, separating parts that would normally be integrated into a combined mix. It has fantastic Max Roach like drum work toward the end and I am still not sure if that is a live kit or electronics or a combination of both?
Monday 7th September 2009 London Boys - The Movie
Firstly, the movie 'describing' my September visit to Mr Partridge in London. All of course shot on a basic Sony PAS camera and edited in MovieMaker. Limited material has been configured into the definitive poetic impression of my short but enjoyable trip.
It is starting to feel a lot more autumnal today, the light is changing subtly and becoming more ethereal. I must endeavour to be active with my camera(s) over the coming weeks and have a few ideas for out door light painting stuff as well as some more moody black and white landscapes. Once we get more fully into the season of long afternoon shadows, the "chiaroscuro season" as I call it, I think I will also make some B&W movies up in the top fields. Been experimenting with a red filter on the Sony W50 with camera in B&W mode and it does make a dramatic enhancement to contrast and sky detail.
The house move business is gradually grinding to a halt now, as both of my desired properties in Bolli have been sold. If I am going to move at all it is more likely to be next year but by that time all of my financial problems should have been sorted anyway. I'm still quite loathed to move away from Prestbury; it seems like an odd thing to do.
Thursday 3rd September 2009 London Boys
Me and Mark on Hampstead Heath.
Just returned from a brief but very enjoyable trip to London to visit Mark P. This was also my first ride on a Virgin Pendolino train, rather surprising considering that they run just a few hundred yards from my doorstep. The journey was very comfortable and fast! In fact, we were in Euston not long after I finished my can of Heineken. It is still a far cry from the days of the Manchester Pullman though, gently rattling china cups and cutlery on a white linen table cloth, the smell of real coffee percolating and at-table service from stewards dressed in smart white and blue uniforms. We didn't have an awful lot of time to do things and I also came down with a nasty soar throat and a bit of a mild fever not long after arriving. Despite this we did manage to get over to Camden market which is truly amazing. It's funny but when I visit other people I seem to eat so much better, either it is because my acquaintances have mastered the art of fine cuisine or simply because there is more on offer. The food from the stalls in Camden market is amazing and there is so much choice, much better for a take away than anything up here that's for sure.
Some of the gorgeous grub on offer at Camden Market, Mark and I had the dhal (bottom right) with pilau rice.
Mark and I also went up onto Hampstead Heath and some videography and photography was undertaken on Parliament Hill.
Still not sure about proposed house move, other options have been mooted by interested parties but not so sure about these either. Last I heard the one and only place I would want / could afford in the Bollington / Kerridge area was under offer, I wouldn't be surprised if it has now been sold unfortunately.
Thursday 13th August 2009 Pure Soul Jazz Trip
I'm still pursuing the prospect of a move to Bollington, or rather the Bollington Kerridge borderland. All of this 'house hunting' malarkey has required a very considerable amount of cycling which has of course helped to re-build my stamina no end. I have met a lot of interesting folks on my travels into the more characterful end of East Cheshire and it does appear to be true that Bolli and surrounds are where all the bohemians have gone. My potential new neighbours include a BBC Music Director, a painter, two writers and an Occult mystic (eccentric ?) yes I am going to fit in there for sure, if this damn thing ever comes to fruition.
It's looking a little dull outside at the moment but I'm still planning a major long commando assault ride into the hills tonight and will probably explore the Bolli - Pott Shrigley - Bakerstonedale Rd route. Must try and get some photos of that working gas lamp in Pott Shrig.
Music of The Moment
Pharoah Sanders Village of The Pharoahs Chanan Hanspal It's Only Just a Garden
Music news: this weeks GP show has got to be one of the best and most inspiring I have heard for a long time, almost wall to wall goodness hitting all the right buttons. More of a classic soul jazz - modern Jazz warp theme to the selections and plenty of magnificence in the form of the genius Pharoah Sanders and a wonderful new collaboration between Jimi Tenor & Tony Allen called '3 Continents' superb rhythms from Mr Allen as always. Another new thing which really got my attention is the full Chanan Hanspal "It's Only Just A Garden" track complete with the orchestral intro by 4Hero's very own string and brass ensemble --- fabulous evocative old school Soul Funk inflections around smoothest of smooth melodies. Some very nice swooping eltro warps courtesy Kode 9 and avant-garde fuzzy hamond organ strangeness from messes Joel Martin and Gerry Rooney - 'When Sally Met Mandingo'.
All of this is going strait on to my MP3 to sound track my ride out into the night --- oh yeeees
Sunday 2nd August 2009 Callings
Called as if by the alluring enchantment of a Siren quite possibly? I'm considering a move after twelve years of relatively stable home ownership in dear old Prestbury. There are reasons for this, some of which are private (but not hugely significant) others have to do with some newly acquired and deep seated desire for a simple change of scenery. In fact 'scenery' is one of the keywords underpinning this whole idea, I need to pay homage to Bollington's White Nancy on a daily basis --- or similar; as it might be. I don't intend to give away all of my prospective purchasing secrets just yet, but I do know what I want and I think I know how to get it to paraphrase the famous song. Other locations that are calling yours truly include the beautiful and sedate hamlet of Kerridge and the more remote and rugged surroundings of Rainow. The idea is to provide oneself with some extra cash whilst maintaining outright homeownership status and remaining in a rural location. Some of these locations are even more rural than my current one --- some are downright remote! Cameras, cars and an essential boost to my free-lance career options have also become a major driving force.
As always, much of this is still at a certain stage of pure speculation but you never can tell if I may go off like an explosive and act on a speculation as if it where just the blue touch paper. Of course, I may also just simply fizzle out and spend the rest of my life in a state of interminable status quo.
Anything is possible within the coming weeks and the likely direction of my life does still depend on a number of external arbitrary factors.
Total mileage: 10,527
Wednesday 1st July 2009 Down Tempo Haziness
Oliver Wood having a strole in the top field Prestbury Cheshire
Having a stroll through the top field listening to Clara Hill and Thief in balmy conditions. This is a typical day for yours truly at the moment. Interspersed with frenetic bursts of creative energy. It is now almost eight months since I last had a cigarette and all cravings are a thing of the past. I looked pretty young for my age before but now I have youthfulized by about another five years I reckon. Skin is much smoother, circulation greatly improved and I have almost boundless energy and physical motivation.
We are sweltering in semi tropical conditions with very high humidity. At least we are having some sunshine, which is more than can be said for previous years, and even better, I am able to enjoy it with all of this free time. I don't mind the heat so much as the humidity, which apparently is a very difficult condition for northern Europeans to adapt too.
Despite the preponderance of decent light (in the later afternoons and dawn) I don't seem to be quite as active in photography as I should be. A project to capture my surroundings in a more unconventional manner has resulted in the production of a lot of rather twee photo cliches. In other words a Cheshire Life like rendition of prettiness, the kind of approach relegated to my general Prestbury page(s) --- anyway not the intended results. I don't have anything against prettiness mind; it is just that I had an idea to portray the village in a way that is more akin to artistic documentary. Not having the confidence to turn my camera on strangers or marshal them into interesting scenarios is a definite disadvantage here and it is certainly about time my photos had a little more human interest.
So many recent commentators and other (valid) critics that have expressed an opinion on my efforts seem to be suggesting that I have a knack for landscape shots so I may go and work on that a little more. By way of a slight digression I'm quite fascinated by the layout and artificial contours of the local golf course too, with its huge collection of arboreal delights. One good thing about (good) golf courses is when they are cared for or designed by arborealists or horticulturists and then become a sort of living museum of all indigenous tree species in their most splendid full form condition. Mottram Hall was a bit like that and I have never seen such magnificent horse chestnuts and copper beeches anywhere else, other than that of course golf courses are a waste of time --- an interesting walk through the trees spoilt by too many Daly Mail readers no less.
Sunday 31st May 2009 Cantata
Again I'm being somewhat remiss when it comes to the up keep of this diary but I have so many other things to do these days and also find that other online outlets are pulling me away from my traditional and somewhat outmoded personal website muse. It has been a very hot day and these conditions are likely to continue right into next week according to the weather forecast. This will definitely be something of a boon for Rob and I as we have quite a lot of work to do in the churchyard.
The highlight of today's malarkey has been in the form of a ride up to Greendale Lane then a photo session in adjoining fields, it has been too hot for any greater activity. Life is generally becoming a little static though, I'm still more or less "between jobs" but otherwise having quite an enjoyable and civilised time of it. I feel very creative and have plenty of ideas plus a number of new and useful contacts but I wish I could afford to move around or travel a bit more, even if it is just within the UK --- yes that's how 'strapped' I have become! Helping my friend with the upkeep of the village churchyard has been the major highlight of the last few days and it vividly brings home the sheer scale of the work involved. Mowing such a large area with a little motor mower (that can fit round the gravestones) is quite daunting but Mr N always manages to keep the yard looking pristine, there is a lot more to it than just cutting grass though.
Music of the moment
Orchestra National De Jazz Around Robert Wyatt John Greaves Kew Rhone Prefuse 73 Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives.
Another little cross section of current listening interests, again it is a very eclectic mix of styles. Around Robert Wyatt is a brand new collaboration between the French Orchestra National De Jazz and the ex Soft Machine legend who is Mr Wyatt. Many of his classic tunes are covered here but he also provides vocals on a re-working of Kew Rhone title track from the album released in 1977 by Henry Cow's John Greaves. It is quite a familiar tune but the Orchestra National De Jazz treatment really brings out those long lost and virtually forgotten Canterbury qualities. A unique English take on jazz which even incorporated folk melodies and a certain quality of whimsical pshycadelia that could only have originated in Britain, remember harpsichord sounds augmenting guitars and flutes? Some of Stereolab's mid period work hinted at these typically European textures. It is a shame that we have lost touch with this unique soul in contemporary music but then again it was very much a thing of its time.
I'm getting quite interested in Guillermo Scott Herren AKA "Prefuse 73" not to be confused with Gil Scott Heron. This guy appears to be doing a form of jazz electronica in a Dimlite style with characteristic glitching, scatter beats and off beat harmonies but the older stuff also has a very European underground electronica feel which is fine by me. Got the Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives album for the Afternoon Love In track alone.
Monday 4th May 2009 A Welcome to The May Time
Feeling a bit glum this evening as my situation is now becoming something of a worry. Still, everything passes and all things improve as a matter of the natural course of life, or so I have found! It's just that this period of immobility is tending to linger rather too long and I am concerned about 'issues' of age and other things!
On a lighter note, I have been helping Mr N to cut the grass in the churchyard today which is always an enjoyable get away. We also went up into the tower to re-set the church clock just as a team of ringers started up! The sound in the bell room was defining but standing just a few feet below the very large bells as they swung through 270 degrees at very high velocity was quite a scary experience. I'm sure I could feel the whole tower shaking with all of that mass in motion!
The weather has turned a bit dull but it is a pleasant spring-like dullness, fresh and scented air at a very comfortable temperature, ideal cycling conditions. Last weekend I rode up to Timperley to see Brother and SIL, always a most enjoyable adventure and my first proper long ride of the year. Toby and I ended up riding all over Hale and then mooching around the fields at the bottom of Shay Lane / Ash Lane were we used to play as kids and I just wish I had a camera with me then.
Photographic activities are slowly moving along and I have an idea to do some more B&W of the locality, just waiting for the right sky at the right time of day with the sun in the right position for desired effects on some of my planned shots! I feel a strange dual pull to both comply with more traditional forms of photographic reportage but also to bend the rules and try to find or develop my own unique style and then stick with that. Many have defined my approach as 'multi genre' that means that I don't have any readily definable style but instead just happen to evoke other styles by accident when the mood, subject and camera settings take me! Still I tend to cite Brandt, White and occasionally Ansel Adams and Imogen Cunningham as inspirational sources. I think these old school art photographers really did set out the fundamental agenda for the creative photographer and there are few I can think of since that have really added to the kind of approach that most interests me. One, which puts a great deal of emphasis on subject matter transcended by technique. I only wish I had gear that was capable of f64 Group levels of finesse!
Total Mileage: 10,098
Thursday 23rd April 2009 St George's Day Shenanigans
That's right, another saint's day about which I know almost nothing, how shameful is that? Whilst working in the churchyard yesterday I was lucky enough to be able to accompany Rob up the church tower for the ritual St George's cross hoisting. Rob and I decided to do a homage to English radicals --- I made a little video which is just below.
The spring flora has been quite magnificent this year, or maybe I am just noticing it a little more as so many previous seasons have been marred by the dehumanising and soul-dulling situation of urban office confinement. Never a good situation if you really need to experience the seasons in all their glory!
My white cherry tree blossom
© Oliver Wood 2009
This is a shot of the white blossom on a tree, which I planted myself about ten
years ago, it is now a fine specimen and compliments its pink neighbour quite well.
I decided to process this image in black and white as I thought it looked so much
more 'photogenic', I like the almost zen-like tissue print quality of the tonality
in this image which has been processed for infra red. I must admit to a general
gravitation toward black and white treatments on everything now. After all BW is a
traditional photographic quality, sometimes I find the colour in digital images to
be a little too intense and unnatural regardless of camera colour space settings
though the images from my D80 yield exceptional quality in black and white.
Thursday 9th April 2009 Mr Westmoreland
It's another very short entry today, very little to discuss just now the weather has turned bleak and wet again so that is limiting various outdoor operations at the mo.
Again the highlight of the week has been another recording session with Rob, sorry "Gerald Westmoreland" Jazz Critic :) This time we did a few bits and pieces about the village and other things but the main purpose of Wednesday evenings session was for Mr Westmoreland to have a final 'practice' before his appearance on the 'Roundabout' show on Bollington's Canalside Radio at 10pm.
Rob,
AKA Gerald Westmoreland Jazz Critic. by Oliver Wood
Here you can hear him discussing Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" in my 'studio' with a short clip of the Roundabout show at the end, all very good stuff.
Thursday 2nd April 2009 Jazz Traveller
I'm in something of a local interest mode at the moment and planning quite a big revamp of the Prestbury pages on this site. The idea is to incorporate much more photography along with my videos and sound recordings.
The highlight of the week has been a few recording sessions in my own 'studio' with my friend Rob. He is about to present a Jazz show on Bollington's local community radio station Canalside FM. The show will be dedicated to one of his favourite albums namely Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue". In fact, we both share a love of this classic and it was probably the first real Jazz LP that I owned. I have an idea to see if we could record other shows here, maybe one dedicated to Joe Henderson's 70s mile-post LP "Power to The People" as a follow on and then package the whole thing as an MP3 for Canalside FM, just an idea.
We had a lot of fun experimenting with various voices but decided in the end that Rob's own natural voice was the best option. Back in 1999 I made a recording of Rob in the churchyard tool shed or Coach house where he is discussing various thoughts on life, memories of travelling adventures and a youthful life in the merchant navy etc. Rob wanted to do a follow on from the 1999 session where he was discussing an erstwhile ambition to emigrate to New Zealand. Having since revisited the country with some German friends Rob recounted the experience in typically charismatic style.
It's another beautiful day and I should be out with my camera or at least getting on with a number of well overdue household repairs!
Tuesday 31st March 2009 Solar Slow Down
Last Sunday was a glorious day, full wall-to-wall sunshine and very clear air. I made another mini movie, sense impression?
Prestbury Solar Sunday sums it all up really, everything started to feel like magic in that light.
Not sure what my next move is to be, things are still just sauntering along and I am now running out of money but not to worry, mustn't grumble! The "down turn" aka capitalism's inevitable self-shafting implosion is having a noticeable effect in Prestbury now. The White House restaurant, which has been a village institution for as long as I can remember, has finally closed down and yet another landmark village building is left forlorn and vacant. I can't remember any precedents for this in Prestbury. Even in the difficult times of the 70s I remember that the village centre still seemed to be thriving though I think it had a more residential character then anyway. The village had a very continental air about it 12 or so years ago when I first came to live here and I always enjoyed sitting out front of the Bollin Cafe with a beer. Tables, chairs and parasols on the main street really gave the Village a friendly and lively ambience I thought.
I have loads of ideas for local based photography and just waiting for more of the right kind of light and enough free time. Really need a camera upgrade too ---- arrrgh!
Tuesday 17th March 2009 Visions of Spring
St Peters Churchyard 16th March 09
Again we write with an almost empty head but it is necessary to make the obligatory seasonal entry. Things are still pretty much the same for yours truly and as previously mentioned there is a sense of a state of becalmed relaxation, which is very pleasant. Of course it will not, cannot last, as is always the case.
Spring has arrived in Prestbury and there is much joyful colour all around. Monday was exceptionally pleasant sunny, warm and still, just as springtime should be. Now of course this pleasant stillness and clearness of sky is just a seasonal lull, a glimps of a mini proto-summer before the depressing slide into sick climate syndrome and the grey, wet, flooded out reality of real summer months.
I spent much of the afternoon helping Rob to clear up around Ford House in preparation for a sale. Working out doors in the sunshine with Mr N talking cinema, jazz and philosophy is the closest I can get to a sense spiritual fulfilment in Prestbury. It is such a pity that the village has lost the opportunity for a proper community centre in Ford House, a proper 'drop in' facility with IT and all sorts of other free 'community' share-ins would have been quite nice really. Prestbury needs at least one institution based on socialist principals! I suspect that it is destined to become yet another highly expensive private property though.
Music of The Moment.
It's music of the moment time, but this time it is a desire for something exceptionally rare that is unavailable as any kind of download.
Joyce & Nava Vasconselos Visions of Dawn
Again Mr Giles Peterson has introduced me to another rare gem of an album. Visions of Dawn was a collaborative effort between Joyce and Nava Vasconselos two significant artists in the 70s Latin 'Western' cross over mix-up - apparently. And of course it has attracted a lot of attention as part of my ongoing discovery of progressive 70s Latin Jazz, Latin Soul and Folk Jazz. So far I have only heard the song Chegada (last track on the album) but it was impressively atmospheric in that narcotic inspired way that is essential in all such matters. Lots of reverberating vocals, spatial guitar and distinctive and refreshingly unusual harmonies. I just love these chronologically retrogressive discovery adventures.
Friday 13th March 2009 Monotheism
Really very little to say tonight, I have re-grown a beard --- yet again --- and may be clean shaven by the time this goes to press, I reckon people must be starting to think I have some sort of schizophrenic personality disorder with all of these constant appearance changes.
I'm really stuck in a black and white mode at the moment and doing almost nothing in colour. There are a lot more of my self portraits on flickr of course.
Right now I feel strangely detached from everything, nothing is having any effect on me at the moment and life feels strangely, unreasonably, comfortable and easy, Well at least on that more mundane material level of simply existing if you know what I mean.
As usual I'm listing to Giles Peterson's recent show and it is a good'un tonight. Eclectic as ever, but we have a rather satisfying cross section of Latin and Euro jazz. I mean we have just gone from Michel Legrand to Stereolab and then some wonderfully obscure 1976 collaboration between Joyce & Nava Vasconselos on the always interesting 'far Out' label. I'm getting quite fixated with the contemporary Latin Jazz and soul thing at the moment.
Thursday 26th February 2009 Bollipot 2
The weather has been slightly more unsettled today with a little intermittent drizzle. Lighting conditions will still not permit me to undertake a few local photo experiments, which I have in mind; but things are bound to change soon.
Heading out of Bollington and deep into the night.
Last night I managed to do a full circuit of the Bollipot Loop without mishap --- (mental note to self) must return Jane's light! This time I had the good sense to take one of my cameras, actually a bit of a cop-out as I decided to take the little Sony w50 --- which is still rather surprisingly good and allows a lot of creative latitude --- no pun intended mind! Generally, it is not quite up to ultra low light exposures as the slowest shutter speed is about 2 seconds but it did allow me to capture some interesting deliberately shaky shots of lit objects and also carry out a little "light painting" with my bike lights. A kind of luminous abstract homage to the Bollipot Loop I think.
I seem to become ever more taken with Bollington every time I visit the place, the cosy sense of community, a certain down to earthiness and the general aesthetic of the architecture, which is both typically rugged and at the same time quirky and whimsical. Bollington is full of intriguing little details. The shear variety of cottage door designs and also the way that people decorate the stone lintels and a door surround is a very charming feature. Bollington does have some semblance of an active cultural life, which is contemporary and genuinely artistic.
Night Ride
light painting with LED bike lights on drystone wall Bollington.
Next I need to do the much more challenging trip up to Bakerstonedale and Charles Head where wind formed Scots pines and gorse bushes line the hilly high altitude roadsides. A landscape which can at times appear very surreal and cries out for my black and white treatment.
Since Farrow & Ball set up shop in Wilmslow I have noticed a steady return to more traditional paint colours and finishes on a lot of the local buildings. Prestbury is starting to look a little more colourful again with personalised but tastefully traditional paint applications on New Road instead of the universally applied and rather drab black and white timber work. I have noticed quite a lot of transformative activity in and around the village since I have been enjoying the luxury of extended free time, job in-betweening or whatever euphemism is currently in vogue for the inevitable down side of capitalist labour exploitation. The large swath of land behind Ford House (the village allotments during the war apparently) is currently being landscaped, no doubt for private use. This patch would make an excellent communal village green but I have an awful feeling that it is either going to get built on or turned into a car park --- eventually. The old vicarage is all being done up and the charming features of Spencer Brook close to the start of the Vicarage drive way have all been enhanced and cleared of vegetation --- or something? I can't ever remember the stream feature down there but this may be because it was so overgrown.
Tuesday 24th February 2009 Outage
It's a grey misty morning but pleasantly mild for a change and I'm in the process of recovering from yet another bout of really bad toothache. The dentist has put me on a course of extra strong antibiotics so that should sort things out. I am pleased to announce that I am now, at last, a non-smoker! Not a giver upper you understand, 'giving up' implies a temporary hiatus in an activity that one would rather continue to pursue, so I am officially a 'NON SMOKER' make no mistake.
I'm waiting for some appropriate lighting conditions to facilitate another round of local photography. I keep noticing little things (details) that I think are worth recording. My locality is full of trivial curiosities if one is open to such things, items like vintage 1960s bus stop signs nestling in hedges and those rather stylish 1960s design municipal bins inside a wooden frame. We did have an original one with the red bucket inside on a neat grass verge. I know it sounds trivial but I can make something of these things with photography and I think details like this are interesting to record for posterity.
This is going to get super geeky but I also noticed on a recent ride that a run of very old pylons near Bollington Cross had disappeared! I took a few snaps of the petite lattice towers about five years ago with a little PAS 2Mpx camera.
These were quite interesting, as they were very old dating back to the earliest days of the national grid infrastructure when the highest system voltage was around 135KV. Judging by the insulators this line was operating at about 30KV and the conductor gauge (which was large for a 'feeder' line) suggests a current capacity of around 500 amps which equates to easily enough power for a village the size of Prestbury but the line headed in the direction of Butley Town.
The cable catcher arms were a common feature on these older pylons where the wire span crossed a road.
Last minute update at 11:02pm, Just listening to last weeks excellent GP show literally at the last minute --- well almost. It is the first Brownswood Basement show of 2009, always good for rarities and collectibles and also featuring a tribute to Blue Note with a vintage European psychedelic jazz trip coming up --- I'm in heaven.
Roberta Flack "Feel Like Making Love"
Music of the moment includes a classic and much loved oldie from Roberta Flack. Giles just played the "I Can See the Sun in Late December" track off the Feel Like Making Love album from 1974. I had forgotten just how good and original sounding this song was until just now. Loads more obscure 70s deep R&B Jazz goodness to come.
Saturday 14th February 2009 Just Another Saints Day
Friday was another moderately eventful day for yours truly. This was my first active visit to the new dentist in Macclesfield, a state of the art practice if ever there was one that seems to be manned by a team of Asian dentists and all with doctorates so I assume I am in good hands. Unfortunately, I did have to have another tooth extracted. This time it was one quite near the front (adjacent to my right canine or eye-tooth) but fortunately, it has not had an adverse effect on my speech and I seemed to be more worried about that than anything else at the time. Now of course I have a rather fetchingly roguish gap to the far right (your left) of my smile, the tooth deficiency equivalent of a facial scar no less --- how cool! I seem to remember that Tony Wilson had all of the teeth on his left upper jaw missing and it didn't effect him adversely.
Tooth extraction in adult life is a rather brutal process to put it mildly, it's not the simple twist and jerk of the forceps that some of us will remember from stubborn milk tooth extractions --- oh no. My dentist took the best part of ten minutes to literally crow-bar the tooth out of its socket with something that looked like a surgical screw driver. This of course, was accompanied by a lot of sickening creaking, cracking and pangs of pain and a lot of pushing force is exerted. It wasn't until this morning that I realised that the tooth is actually extracted by jamming the 'screw driver' right through the gum wall and ripping it all up with the tooth, hence the profuse bleeding and nagging ache!
After such an event I always tend to feel quite violently disposed to the dentist in question because it can feel a bit like an assault thus requiring decisive violent retaliation, so I was spitting blood in more ways than one on the ride home. I'm still glad that it has gone though, my mouth now feels at lot more healthy and I am looking forward to some cosmetic treatment on my remaining good teeth --- of which there are still quite a few I hasten to add.
The wait in the dentist's surgery was probably the most painful thing of all in truth, as they had GMTV on the large LCD TV that was difficult to avoid. A pre-valentines day schmaltz fest for simpletons is probably the only way to describe GMTVs theme for the 13th. God, to think if the Daily Mail lobby got their way all of British media would resemble GMTV! I'm not so sure about Valentines Day this year, it has temporally joined the ranks of those pointless and annoying commercial festivals that I despise such as Halloween.
If Halloween is the commercial celebration of the kind of unscientific naffnes that only makes sense to histrionics with learning difficulties and gives ill mannered kids an excuse to throw eggs at their neighbours front doors. Then Valentines Day is an aid memoir for disingenuous lovers, a green light for creeps and another Christmas for insecure self-centred adoration seekers. Valentines Day actually causes more strife in relationships than it solves apparently and this day sees the largest number of break ups and bust ups than any other day in the year. Some people take this crap far too seriously --- bar humbug!
Sometimes I feel that capitalism would not balk at the idea of mapping every event, feeling, and motive in our lives in terms of some stupid 'day' for the purchase of thematic trash. Is this all part of the consumer moron conspiracy to turn us into unthinking homogenised fashion victims that need to 'purchase' every aspect of our being and can only express self identity and the finer feelings through consumption of product and the giving of 'gifts'?
On a lighter note, I went for a little local explore and decided to take myself off across a field that leads from London Rd over toward the railway. I have never been down here before because I always thought it was private land but there is indeed a foot path which leads up to a rather large over-bridge crossing the railway. It's is quite an interesting vantage point and I intend to try a few photos around there soon. Both of the very old 'pebble concrete' crossing styles are still in place. These enabled walkers to surmount the old railway fence but freely walking across the main line to London (on a 100MPH stretch) is not advised so they had to build this very elaborate over bridge in the middle of empty fields to satisfy the foot path bylaws. Nobody ever uses it of course.
Thursday 12th February 2009 Bollipot Samaritan
Last nights Bollipot Loop ride (Prestbury, Bollington, Pott Shrigley, Bollington, Prestbury) did not go quite to plan though this 'perturbation' shall we say, constituted one of those events that helps to restore my faith in human nature. It was a lovely clear but temperate night with a gorgeous unclouded sky, Venus shining out in the East quite magnificently, I just knew that I had to head out to the 'Hills'.
The Bollipot Loop ride usually consists of a stop at the top end of Bollington for chips, before the climb up to the highest point then dropping down into Pott Shrig. At this point I decided to put fresh batteries in my rear light but unfortunately put them in the wrong way round in the dark and must have blown all of the LED's in the unit. No rear light on this particular ride can be almost suicidal, as one has to traverse a number of pitch-black hilly lanes that are frequented by mad drivers and country boy racers in vans, 4x4s, and large tractor trailer combos etc and even after dark. At this point I had to abandon the rest of the trip up top and headed back down into Bolli where I met a very nice lady walking her dog and asked her if there was a garage near by that may sell bike lights? Nearest is in Tytherington, a long dark lanes ride away. Jane invited me back to her house where she was able to lend me one of her daughters bike lights. So, I managed to get home without incident. Only in Bollington will this kind of thing happen, in fact other people have asked me if I am alright on other occasions when I have had to stop with bike problems, or just chat about the general minutia of my trip.
So there we are, not much in the way of news but my spirit is replenished and I'm finding that basic satisfaction in my environment and the sense of just being out and observing. It is great when otherwise familiar settings seem to take on a whole new life of fascination, this is when you start to notice details and certain qualities that are conducive to photographic work. I'm still trying to perfect my night time photography and find a certain group on flickr to be particularly fascinating. It is for nocturnal photography with no artificial light.
Mark (our man in London) is attending the Festival of Sins in Camden tomorrow night and he has provided a photo of his make up for the night, actually this was just a test run.
I really do need to get my act together with regard to trip down to the big smoke to meet up with some of my old chums.
Saturday 7th February 2009 Slow Fall
I'm still quite enjoying the abundance of free time and the sense of not having to rush along with things or avoid certain things altogether because of a need to adhere to a certain hierarchy of events / chores / activities through the weekend. I spent most of the afternoon lazily returning from a trip to Macc. This time cycling back along the Bollin Valley Way but taking all sorts of exploratory detours and looking for photo opportunities. I really do need to record more of my experiences with my camera.
Last week was a particularly difficult time for me both emotionally and physically. My new-found loneliness is not getting any easier and I do miss Gill and the boys such a lot. Sometimes I find it hard to get motivated or inspired to be creative. I was also struck down for the fourth time with the most appalling acute toothache resulting from yet another smoking and stress related abscess. The situation could have been a lot worse when I discovered that my local dentist had 'struck me off' due to missing a couple of previous appointments. That was back in the days when I used to feel such a strong commitment to my employer that I would even go all the way into Manchester with chronic tooth pain just so that I could make sure certain 'clients' where up to date. Of course, it's not clever, or heroic, and I feel a return to the days of union lead contempt for this kind of corporate sycophancy is long over due. Fortunately, I did manage to get treated by the NHS emergency centre in Macclesfield. Then re-register with another practice in Macc and hey presto, my new dentist said that he can treat and restore the tooth that others said would have to be ripped out and all at a very reasonable NHS cost, viva the NHS! Yet another smoking cessation is one of the more positive side benefits of the recent dental malaise and this abstinence appears to be ongoing. I'm really going to quit once and for all this time!
I managed to miss all of the local snow bound photo opportunities due to the general discomfort of the last few days not to mention the groggy side effects of painkillers and antibiotics. I had in mind a few shots up in the fields in virgin snowfall conditions, my solitary footprints disappearing into the distance, that sort of thing, existentialism in the English landscapes no less! These would then be infra red processed in B&W. It may still be possible to do this as yet more snow is forecast.
One of the highlights of last week was helping my friend Rob with a bonfire in the Churchyard on a rather beautiful winter day. Rob is the village's entertaining and erudite odd job man, an ex merchant seaman with allegiances to the beat generation and early counter culture ideology who never really sold out! I always think of Rob as a sort of legacy of the 70s heyday of Cheshire (country) living fashion when places like Prestbury would not have been completely devoid of creative bohemians, youthful eccentrics and other colourful characters with maverick anti conservative values. It is these little moments with Rob that help to keep me sane in Prestbury. It is the meeting of minds, the joy of simple pleasures and the shared love of the environment. This is always combined with a healthy dose of often comedic bourgeois bashing and the deconstruction of consumer capitalism (consumer moron culture) with plenty of Jazz and situationist detours not to mention a healthy dose of pythonesque self mockery.
Saturday 31st January 2009 Over Clouding
Not a huge amount to write about tonight but I thought I should make an effort to at least get one more entry in before the end of January, it is going to be a bit patchy.
I'm right in the middle of redecorating the kitchen at the moment and planning some very colourful experiments with traditional paint finishes and a fairly big dose of artistry. I have a crazy idea to combine a period specific Georgian artisan look with Matisse-like colour effects.
Also been experimenting with the SoundCloud audio file-sharing site, which has now gone public, previously this site was a closed professional network for invited individuals only. I have just uploaded a simple speech recording, more as a test really and originally intended for my Face Book profile. I also have an idea to use the SoundCloud facility to host some additional sound recordings for my own site, if that is permissible? Well I did say it would be 'patchy'
I’m looking forward to a cycle over to Timperley to see my brother and SIL soon. It will be my first proper long ride of the year. Round trip is about 36 miles and I really do need to get out with my camera again. I seem to missing so much of the day now that I have gone into nocturnal mode!
Music Of The Moment(s)
Milton Nascimento Clube da Esquina DJ Cam Lost and Found comp, Rasmus Faber Where we Belong
This time we have an odd but rather satisfying collection of albums (and tunes from albums) which range from the rare and characterful to the more lightweight and pleasantly intriguing.
I was quite excited to find Milton Nascimento's rare 1972 Clube da Esquina album on Itunes the other week. Recent activity on GP has reinvigorated an interest in Latin Jazz with a difference. The 1972 Clube da Esquina album was the first to represent a certain transition in Brazilian music to the western cannon and it embraces a whole range of interesting modes including a very odd take on the psychedelic style.
DJ Cam from Paris is a bit more predictable but never the less I find a lot of his more 'chilled' and ambient stuff to be rather appealing, potential sound track material. He is quite well known thanks to Chris Morris' extensive use of his music in the groundbreaking Jam TV series and Blue Jam radio series of the 90s
Lastly we have a very much more strait-laced artist in the form of Rasmus Faber from Sweden. I'm not hugely keen on most of his MOR dance stuff but do rather like some of the more Latin style tracks on this album which feature the vocals of Clara Mendes.
So that's it for now, still feeling a bit down, odd and under motivated at the moment. Roll on springtime!
Thursday 1st January 2009 New Year - Oh Yeah?
It's 11:36 pm and I'm at home, alone again, and not feeling the least bit arsed about the New Year shenanigans. In fact, I'm in a strangely demotivated mood, which is unusual for me. All normal rituals have been temporarily suspended, I don't even have the fire lit and it is exceptionally cold outside. I do however, have bottles of cheap port on standby to provide the self-celebratory midnight toast of sorts.
I really need some inspiration and hope that 2009 will be a year of revelations though I have an awful sneaking suspicion that I will just continue to go round in the same old circles. I have had it all in the past, success, contentment, adoration and relative wealth and now again I'm back to square one and facing the prospect of yet another bash at the climb up the greasy pole of life. I think It's as good a time as any to put my more radical life changing ideas into action.
Fireworks have started going off round the back and yet the clock on my computer says 23:57 ---
Midnight --- so happy New Year it is --- and fireworks have now stopped.
Once again I need to simplify things in a way but also make amends and start to re-socialise with my kind of people, not as easy as it sounds as 'my kind of people' appear to be extremely rare. Though good old Mr P is planning to come up and see me very soon so at least that will be something to look forward too. I always find my long term friends to be the most inspiring and heartwarming company. I need to assemble a creative force.
OK, time to get mashed!
© 2009 Oliver Wood Photographer