Because my face betrayed a smile

News news.

My old friend Tim Spooner's gallery show and performance was a work of, I'm going to say it, genius (spelled it wrong for a moment there which might've punctured the gravitas...). There were lots of old friends attending, including Tim's also genius of a dad Paul Spooner, and it was overwhelming. Here's a few pics I hope Tim won't mind me posting.





On monday I played violin for Matthew Robins in front of the Tate Modern (not the national theatre as stated in the last post...) with Tim operating the shadows for the shadow show. The tent we were using was the Plato tent, since it was shadow themed...
Afterwards we stumbled on John Hegley playing Mandolin and doing poems and songs.

Tonight I'll see Alasdair Roberts at Bush Hall. Click here for some lyrics from his new record. They're good ones...

And then next week I'm suddenly going to an animation festival in Croatia with Matilda and Steve, who are the co-writers of my tv-show.
Here is a really funny comic that Matilda made. The three of us have all serendipitously purchased large eyewear (not unlike those sported by Paul Spooner in the above link) and are a sight to behold whilst beholding sights. We'll behold some sights in Zagreb, I'll be bound.






(They're choosing sandwiches).








(I'm working in homemade sketchbooks at the moment, so I can choose different papers. Hence, no yellow moleskin colour...)

I rocked till my shoelace came undone.

-Jarvis Cocker





If I get my Dexter Bexley cover done, and the files for the inside all adjusted to the inital colour proof (it has too much magenta), and a stack of little admin and accounts stuff also, I will have a tiny breathing space before headlong, full-on tv-show plunge. That must be why I'm procrastinating wildly, so wildy I even wrote a blog post. Who needs breathing space?

So, last week I saw Devon Sproule play at the Hammersmith empire (it was great, even through a haze caused by Guinness on top of Margaritas which is perfectly obviously not recommended).

Over the weekend I did some fun, if smokey, recording and improvising with Yo Zushi, Oliver Talkes, Adam Beattie, and what I'm determined to refer to as The Krink-Leigh Schoerdon Collective. I used my 5-string violin and my 5-row accordion, but the violin wasn't quite ready yet! It nearly is now. On friday I hope to see Matthew Robins performing songs by himself and Tim Spooner at Tim's gallery show at Eutrophia in Deptford.
On monday I may well be making some noises with Matthew for his Flyboy show at the national theatre.

And there's an Alasdair Roberts gig to go to later in the week.

Now follow exciting pictures of the balcony herb garden that my flatmate and I started about a month ago, and the first Chilli growing in the hydroponic Chilli and Tomato garden that I set up on my desk (made from a sainsbury's composting bin, a pump and a mini-fogger).

Topsy turvy

Wow, you leave the country for a few days and it turns on it's head.

Alasdair Roberts in The Sun newspaper...

It's a lovely record.

Holiday!

Happy May to you. I'm just off in a few hours to catch the night-ferry to Holland to go and visit some Rembrandts -EDIT:in a museum that's shut for the whole of our visit I now find out :( and spend holidays and a birthday with my sweetheart.
Here are some fascinating pictures of the 5-string violin that I am, erm, pimping at the moment:

Red Laureate Yellow Laureate

Ha! I seem to have now illustrated books by both the Poet Laureate and the Children's Laureate. Who'd have thought.

Woops, and I seem to have deleted the last post. Oh well, it was rambly anyway.
Have found the picture that went with it...