A Boot

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Dogs in School exhibition

Way back in October 2008, I was contacted by Patrick P* about a project he was putting together called 'Dogs In School'. This Saturday it's all finally coming together.

The concept is lovely: When they were kids, Patrick and his brothers and sisters would constantly be asking their parents 'what should I draw?' The responses they'd get would usually be satisfying enough to keep them busy until teatime, or at least until they reached for the next piece of paper. On one particular day, however, Patrick's Mum gave them a topic that would go on to eclipse all others - 'dogs in school'.

The resulting drawings, especially one by Patrick's brother, Mike, captured Mr & Mrs P's imagination so much that, from that day, the only response they would ever give to the question 'what should I draw?' would be 'dogs in school'. Patrick says that they drew hundreds of variations over the years. 'Dogs in school' became a family legend and an in-joke that would keep them laughing for years.

Fast forward to 2008, with both his parents unwell, Patrick decided to start on a secret project to surprise them with. He got in touch with a bunch of artists and asked them to interpret 'dogs in school' in any manner they liked. Over the past couple of years he has collected all of the work and has put together an exhibition set to open this weekend in Portland. The best part is that both his parents are now in good health, are able to attend the opening, and still know nothing about it!

So, if you're anywhere near Portland, visit the Screaming Sky Gallery between the 30th January and the 25th February to catch the Dogs In School show! Also, on this coming Saturday (30th Jan), there will be a party at the space featuring a charity auction for Project Grow and live acoustic performances by Jim Fairchild of Grandaddy / Modest Mouse, Joe Plummer of Modest Mouse & The Shins and Nate Lacy of Mimicking Birds. Holy Moly!

I have a little drawing in the exhibition. I'm really excited to see and hear how it all goes down. For more info visit www.dogsinschool.com

* I've not given Patrick's full name as he has let it be known that both his parents are active online. I sure as hell don't want to be the one letting the cat out the bag.

I.F: Clumsy

The topic for Illustration Friday this week is 'clumsy'.

I.F. Wilderness

A really quick wee last minute thing for Illustration Friday. The topic is wilderness. I had intended to draw some vast detailed landscape, full of texture and colour but, y'know, time got the better of me. These were a couple of trees I doodled in my sketchbook when thinking up some ideas.

Untitled Structure

This was part of the How Children Learn show I did with RueFive last May. Working in the Changing Room was a great opportunity to try out some new things. The space allowed us to put together some larger scale / sculptural stuff that was a nice departure from our smaller drawings and the like. This structure emerging from the fireplace was one of the first ideas we developed.

Top 5 places to go in 2009

If there’s one thing I did in 2009 it was go places, probably because my fiancée, Alex, can’t sit on her arse for more than 5 minutes. Last year, I must've been on at least 100 open top buses and 20 merry-go-rounds. The places we went were often small, cold and wet, but boy did we go there anyway. Here are my top travel bits and pieces:

1. Philadelphia
Philly is fun. I’ve been a bunch of times now and I’ve not spent one second it the city that wasn’t completely and utterly brilliant. Everywhere you look, there’s something to see that makes everything back home seem really, really, really soul-crushingly boring. It’s tricky to sum the place up properly, but a few of my favourite things to do in Philadelphia are:

Reading Terminal Market:
A huge and hectic indoor market crammed full with stalls selling wonderful food, from Chinese soups to Amish ice cream. You could eat here every day of the year and never get bored. I got hooked on raspberry lemonade.

North Bowl:
This place has everything you’d ever want from a 10-pin bowling alley. Black and white photobooths, waitresses bringing you beer and chips, high-heeled bowling shoes and a mezzanine with pool tables and vintage arcade games. Fun as hell.

Mutter Museum:
Not really for everyone, the Mutter Museum holds a collection of medical oddities (siamese twins, giant tumours, miscellaneous body parts in jars) that’s fascinating but, at the same time, a bit horribe. Despite it’s ‘freak show’ line-up, it’s all presented fairly straight. It’s kinda like the museum of childhood.

Love Park:
As a bit of a skate-nerd, I knew Love Park pretty well before I even set foot in the city. It was regarded as being one of the most important street spots in the world, until they went and banned skateboarding. On holiday, this meant a whole lot of measuring ledges against my knee.

Get engaged:
If you’re in Philadelphia with someone you love, pop them a question! Have a think about it first because they might say no. I guess that would put a real downer on things. I got lucky though.

We also had a few excursions further afield. We spent a few days in a little place called New York, which was pretty cool (it is very tall). We rode the rollercoasters at Hershey Park and drove to Ocean City in New Jersey for some seaside Americana. Our whole trip would have been completely impossible without our friend Concetta, so big love to her. Going on such an elaborate no-holds-barred adventure did however mean that the rest of our many trips had to err on the side of tiny.

2. Arran
Alex has family on Arran so we were back and forth like crazy. Every time I visit, it’s like stepping into an idyllic childhood world; we hunted eggs in Alex’s grandparent’s magical garden, met the smartest dog in the world, picked shells on the beach, crossed rivers on stepping stones, saw dolphins in the sea and lived in a house with a big painting of Mother Goose on the side.

3. Bristol
I hardly knew a thing about Bristol before we went, I can’t even remember why we decided to go. I kept thinking we were off to Brighton. What a silly man, Bristol is fantastic. It’s a really nice city. There’s lots going on so we spent most of our time just wandering around, discovering things. We managed to catch the big Banksy show and also a little Stanley Donwood show. I visited Here, where I’d had some work up in July 08 and I got to muck about at Lloyds, which Alex loved.

4. Anstruther
Thanks to my longtime love of the Fence Collective, Anstruther and its neighboring East Neuk villages have been a regular destination for years now. In April, a bunch of us headed up to catch Homegame 6. The music was fantastic as always, Alasdair Roberts, Found and the aforementioned Jonnie Common were highlights alongside the collective founders, King Creosote and The Pictish Trail. However, with the Homegame, the gigs are only a part of the trip, wandering around, fish suppers, icecream, pubs and playing Monopoly are just as important.

5. Oban
We got bored of being a young couple so we tried our hand at being an old one and headed off to Oban. Apart from a brief visit to Balamory, where I managed to drop my cone, we barely did a thing. Well, that’s not quite fair, it was a really nice few days. Mull is beautiful, Oban has some amazing little shops to explore and they’ve still got a Pancake Place for God’s sake! It’s also busier than New York.

Top 5 songs I listened to most in 2009

Listening to lots and lots of spoken word stuff has had a real impact on my exposure to music. I mean, I still play tunes, it's just that I don't seem to have heard that much new stuff recently. Things have got so bad that I think I only own maybe 3 albums released last year, tops. Therefore, the idea I had of putting together a personal top 5 for songs released last year is, if not impossible, then at least pointless.

Instead, I've cobbled together this top 5 list of 'things I've listened to the most' in 2009 using Last.fm and my iTunes playcount. These tracks are possibly not the best reflection of what I've been into this year as, these days, I've shockinly taken to listening to full albums in order, which after years of shuffled playlists, has been quite a nice change. Still, it's been fun to look over my charts. Anyway, in at number 1:


1. Going Up The Country by Kitty, Daisy & Lewis
This is number 1 on the back of the pub quiz I co-host and DJ at. It's a real foot stomper and always goes down pretty well. I first heard this while browsing in the Red Door Gallery in Edinburgh and it drove me mental all day trying to remember who did the original (Canned Heat). Best bit: 0:42, when the drums start you've got yourself a party.



2. The Devil's Crayon by the Wild Beasts
I listened to this track a whole heap in 2008 too. I just dig it. Their newest record, Two Dancers is one of the only things I actually went into a shop to buy this year. Best bit: 0:40, the tap on the drums (also the awesome chicken-necking in the video).



3. The Wagon by Dinosaur Jr.
I knew one, maybe two Dinosaur Jr. songs before the Alien Workshop video came out and now I know a whole heap. The Wagon, the opener on their Green Mind LP, is one I loved right away. Best bit: 0:33 the backing vocals.



4. Infinitea by Down The Tiny Steps
This is a lovely little song. Down The Tiny Steps (now defunct) were part of the Fence Collective and frequently stole the show whenever they performed. The frontman, Jonnie Common, is still doing some brilliant stuff. I couldn't find Infinitea anywhere online, so I quickly put together this little video clip with some scarves that were lying around. Best bit: 0:51, 'and the whole thing looks so very strange to meeeeee'.



5. There's a Ghost In My House by R. Dean Taylor
Another good one for a dance this. Stick it beside Tainted Love and you're the hottest ticket in town. Best bit: 1:32, it's hard to hold back a couple of claps after 'sitting in my easy chair'.

My top 5 things to listen to in 2009

I’ve been listening to more and more spoken-word things. Here are my favourite non-musical noises from 2009:

1. Adam & Joe
Taken from their 6Music radio show, the Adam & Joe Podcast has been the most consistently hilarious, brilliant, and charming treat for your ears over the past few years. Considering it’s not even their proper job, the effort Buxton and Cornish put into their show, from re-editing film dialogue to writing their own jingles, should make other ‘humorous’ presenters hang their heads in shame.

Adam and Joe make me happy. When I was at school, I can remember taping every single episode of their Channel 4 programme religiously. They walk that smart/stupid, rubbish/brilliant divide better than almost anyone and should be up alongside Vic Reeves in some weird chapter in the history book of British comedy. If you don’t like them, there’s a good chance you’re an arsehole. Sorry.

The one bummer is that their show has just gone off-air. I suspect it’s because of Joe’s increasingly amazing Hollywood career (he’s co-wrote Speilberg’s new CG spectacular, Tintin for God’s sake). They have promised to return later in the year though, so keep your eyes out for that.


2. Jon Ronson On...
A while back, journalist, author, broadcaster and conspiracy theory debunker, Jon Ronson made 4 series’ worth of weird and wonderful radio programmes for the BBC. At the end of last year I stumbled on an online archive someone had put together of said material, plus a few extras. I quickly bundled it all onto my iPod and worked my way through it.

What a find! Fascinating, strange and funny little shows about the peculiar ways the human mind goes haywire. If you decide to give these a listen; take your time! You’ll work your way through the lot quicker than you’d like.


3. Mark Kermode’s Film Reviews
Kermode and his co-host, Simon Mayo, are in a particularly weird category of people who I don’t like much on the telly, but really like on the radio. This extract from Mayo’s BBC Radio 5 Live show is a weekly round up of new cinema releases, both multiplex blockbuster and arthouse chinscratcher.

It’s become a bit of running joke that I can’t have an opinion on a film until I’ve heard what 'my friend' Mark Kermode thinks about it. While that’s not entirely true, I do really trust his judgment and, more importantly, think he’s the most honest critic out there. Dr K will frequently go against his curmudgeonly reputation and admit happily weeping his way through High School Musical 3 or yawning his way through Burn After Reading, and I believe him.

It’s worth a listen for anyone with even a passing interest in cinema, whether you agree with Kermode’s opinions or not. He’s a big horror nerd too, which is always a winner in my book.


4. SModcast
This one divides people, but I’ll admit I’m a fan. Presented by director Kevin Smith and his friend, the producer Scott Mosier, this is a sweary, dirty and silly podcast about nothing in particular.

Kevin Smith’s films I can take or leave, but man, I’ll listen to him spout drivel for hours. SModcast sounds like 2 grown friends meeting up and talking like they’re 16 again, all fart jokes and touching boobs. I can get behind that. For me, Mosier is the real star; a quiet, likeable dude who’ll occasionally send Smith into crying fits with a deadpan comment. Hunt out the Harry Potter one (episode 29) for some good giggling.


5. BBC Radio 4
Considering 3 of the previous 4 entries on my list have been from the BBC, it’s only right I include the big daddy on the list. Radio 4 has more engaging content in a single day than most other stations can muster up in a month. It’s the best.

Personal favourites are: Thinking Allowed (debate and discussion), Digital Planet (technology news), Desert Island Discs ( interviews), More or Less (a show about numbers!) and Medical Matters (medical/healthcare discussion).