Category: tim

blk jks

blk jks

On the recommendation of one of our GFC relocated London based friends we caught the south african indie noise dub quartet blk jks at the Captain’s Rest

Personally I found their music less eclectic and diverse than I was anticipating – the gig seemed comprised of a series of  discrete elements, with less connection between the dub and noise elements even within the one track.

That being said their stage presence and effortless cool made for a great atmosphere and a couple of the tracks were praticularly evocative and impressive – even if I’m not so sure that producing middle class indie rock artists is the finest accomplishment of South Africa’s rejuvenation.

john lautner

lautner

The latest exhibition at the Lighthouse is a fantastic extensive look at the cinematic LA modernist John Lautner. An extensive exhibition over two levels it consists of utalitarian working drawings roughly taped (and protected under perspex) a series of large scale models and slow motion archi-porn by Scotland’s own Murray Grigor.

This is very much an exhibition for architects, rather the general public, and while that may run contra to the aim of the Lighthouse it results in a much stronger outcome. The drawings were the highlight for me – their rough directness, simplicity and total lack of finess telling the story of the houses far better than the scrubbed and polished versions that are usually published in exhibition settings.

The models were far clumsier overscaled and under detailed they lacked the richness of the drawings and the slow video panning around each dwelling that was projected onto the walls.
The plasticity, connection to landscape demonstrated by the architecture on display is totally alien to the Scottish condition, it provided a refreshing change from the prevalent theme of drawing parallels that many exhibitions use as a thematic starting point.

a solution to the housing crisis?

LEGO villa - cellular screenChhay and Claire helped me put the finishing touches on GHA’s entrant into the Scottish Design Award’s uber high profile lego competition. Raising money for the National Autism Society our entry had the distinction of being the only one to (intactly) follw the brief and apparently we scooped the most votes on the nominations night.

Voting is continuing right up unitl the awards presentation however – so cast your votes here!

As far as real entries went GHA made it onto the shortlist for the two categories we entred – small projects for Venice and Practice of the Year.
LEGO villa - view from ocean

artstuff

A couple of quick updates from our recent entrees into Glasgow’s burgeoning art scene.

First up was the opening of the relocated Glasgow Sculpture Studios – in a small but precious new space under a railway arch in the west end. The sculpture on offer was slightly erotic shapes by an artist whose name eludes me that were completely obscured by people while we were there. The noise of passing trains adds a unique aural element to an appreciation of the contents.
On the same night I finally managed to get my first visit to SWG3 otherwise known as the warehouse – a great cavernous psace that hosts art installations bands and related events. The art wasn’t of a great calibre although the beer was a step up in class and we will be back soon – possibly for SWG3 live on the 10th.

gha ski trip – aviemore

river spey from our chalet

At the end of February most of our house (including the neighbours) took Chhay the furthest north in Scotland she has ever been to Aviemore on my office’s annual ski trip. Despite our best efforts we didn’t actually manage any skiing due to excessive breakfasting (with the view above it was difficult to leave our ‘chalet‘) but I did have a great day on the downhill mountain biking circuit at Laggan Wolftrax, and we did at least make it up to the snow line for a hot chocolate.

pinup nights – indie glaswegians' finest

pinup nights

I was reminded of why Glasgow is such a great city for live music tonight, as we caught a couple of random bands after work, both of whom were incredibly polished – especially for all of our five pounds.

Both bands screamed Glasgow School of Art, down to their cardigans and converse shoes but that didn’t stop them putting on an entertaining evening.

First up we caught the second half of Belle & Sebastian-esque miabeane & the asthmatic scene, with beautiful multi-instrumental band members and a lush pop-folk lilt,
Hidden Masters followed with a tight melodic rock set, they were missing their keyboard player which may have added another dimension to their sound however they have definitely perfected their stadium rock moves for when they break the big time.

morocco by train

IMG_0541.JPG

This post has been a long time coming as we have been in and out of our flat with plastering and heating issues, and I have a little crazy at work. A quick summary of our Christmas trip below – but the flickr set is probably more interesting.

Having enjoyed our train rides to France last summer so much, and with support from the man in seat 61 Chhay & I decided to test the limits of the system and catch the train to Africa!

Unfortunately there isn’t a direct service from Glasgow Central to Marrakesh, so we pieced our route together traveling down to London, onto the Eurostar to Paris, overnight (in first class spleandour) to Madrid, where we paused for a day to take a breath, before crossing Andalucia to Algeciras in the shadow of Gibralta (by now getting quite weary), crossed the straights by ferry to Tanger for our first taste of Africa before (just to push things that little bit further) we got the sleeper to Marrakesh.
The journey was quite remarkable covering some fantastic terrain, interspersed with 3 course meals int he dining car, and lots of card games – cuarenta developing as a particular favourite much to the amusement of our fellow passengers I suspect.

Hotel Continental

No boring details but we had a day of contemporary architecture in Madrid, enjoyed an intense (though quite middle eastern feeling) introduction to Africa in Tanger before we spent five very relaxing days over christmas in the charming walled coastal town of Essaouira. It is incredible picturesque with narrow streets, a bustling fishing harbour, with fresh seafood cooked in front of you on teh harbour front as well as a pristine beach. We spent most of our time in our quirky rooftop apartment, shopped in the local markets, ate pastries from the French bakeries, or sat in front of the open fire. Occasionally we would venture out into the souks and alleys, explore local restaurants or go for a wander along the ramparts but generally we kept activity to a bare minimum. The energy levels increased once we returned to Marrakesh on our last day with it’s heaving souks and bazaars.
A mini visit to Barcelona for New Years eve on the way back looked like it may have been a step to far as we struggled to find places suitable to our eclectic (and often mutually exclusive) standards but the city worked its charms, and we also manged to catch up with some old friends and see their new baby before we jumped back on the train home via Paris and London.