an italian education

I'm in Sardinia at the moment in a human rights summer school. The work is fascinating (I'm rarely enthusiastic about my course content) and the other students are a great bunch of people (coming from Scotland, Italy, Germany and Spain)... and Sardinia is as beautiful as I hoped. We're spending a fortnight in Cagliari and although the classes are the reason for us being here, they really only take up a small portion of our time. I've learned a lot of things that have nothing to do with human rights too, and have been inspired by Hanna's list-making to do likewise.

1. Sardinia and mainland Italy's relationship is not unlike Scotland and the UK's. It is a small state with a drastically different history to Italy (Sardinia was originally under Spanish rule before being "seized by the Italian royals for a pretty holiday island"- in the words of one Italian friend). Sardinian independence has long been a contested issue, plus the language spoken is Italian but they have retained some of their distinctiveness by adding a Sardinian gloss. So basically we're both nations with a bit of a chip on our shoulder.

2. Sardinian iced teas are a superb drink.

3. The Spanish are night owls - a standard night out begins at midnight and finishes around five in the morning. This is taking a while to get used to as us Scottish girls have been generally wrecked by 10pm (partly due to the above point).

4. I really must slow down when talking. I'm forever being told this but the point is hammered home when speaking to a roomful of people who speak english as a second language.

5. There's no such thing as too much gelato, or good seafood.

6. Some obscure spanish words to add to my schoolgirl vocabulary. Cejas-eyebrows, Canela-cinnamon.

7. High-waisted bikinis are darling but the white tummy I'm left with is not.

8. I should be less cynical. I've always expected most other people on my course to be competitive and unpleasant, so I've hardly been a social butterfly among the law crowd. However, the other nine Scots here are all very lovely and I've even made a couple of new friends for life. This is probably what I'm most pleased to have learned-people will usually surpass expectations.


My photos are on my camera mainly but I took a few on my phone last night at dinner. These are Eidann before, and me after, a fair amount of good italian wine (also pictured).

Natalie xX

lots of little things

Little thing 1

Glastonbury was amazing (of course) and while I wait for my disposable photos to be ready, here is a pic of the festival from above at night:

Ah I miss it already! I always thought that Glastonbury wasn't a festival I ever wanted to go to... I guess I made assumptions about it based on very little... but now that I've been I'm sure that I will go again. Our best discovery (in my opinion at least!) was the tranquil and beautiful Green Fields, which felt like the 'true Glastonbury' I had heard about. There were so many different areas (and they really were completely different from one another) that we couldn't see them all - next time I'm definitely visiting Shangri-La!

Little thing 2

I'm self-learning Japanese. Yes, really. And yes, it is hard! But I'm really enjoying it and the thought of visiting Japan some day soon and being able to speak and understand the language (at least on a basic level) is pushing me to study harder. So far I can say some potentially useful things such as これはにくじゃないですね。(That's not meat, is it?), and すみません。としょかんはどこですか。(Excuse me, where is the library?). I've also starting learning some basic Kanji (which are the characters that represent whole words or ideas) such as 月 (moon, month) and 木 (tree).

Little thing 3

I've got two exciting film-related work experiences coming up. In July/August I'll be interning at Revolution film production company (who have produced films such as A Cock and Bull Story and 24 Hour Party People to name a few), and then in late October I'm going to be a runner for a film being shot in the famous Elstree studios.. Can't wait!

Last little thing

Here's the finished short film I put together from the footage taken in Inverness. I am pleased with it but as always I want to do better. I actually submitted it to the Virgin Media Shorts competition (I hope you don't mind Natalie!) just as practise in doing such things. I know I won't win it but maybe next time! My favourite part is when the elk (is it an elk? who knows) walks in time with the music for a little bit!

Bonnie: Wanderings through Scotland

Here's to a long, productive and great summer

Hanna xx

edinburgh

The beginning of summer has been lovely. Hanna's back in London and I can't wait to catch up with her at Glastonbury in a few weeks. Our trip up north was great, providing a bunch of nice photos like this (a weird yet pretty old cottage of death we stumbled upon while trying to find our place).

Hanna's making a film of the trip I believe and has kindly posted a video of 'outtakes' in the interim on facebook-basically clips of us being silly and tripping over (mainly me...) I've been working in Edinburgh, and will be for the rest of the summer, with an immigration law firm. The work is interesting and the people are among the nicest I've met! The office is in a beautiful old flat in a leafy terrace, made even lovelier in the sun. 

The views of the city are gorgeous too-I really think I'd like to live in Edinburgh at some point, during summer months anyway...

Natalie xX

lost and found

I was over the moon to come across some spools I thought I had lost/ forgot I had the other day. Some photos are from things we've mentioned on here before, like the Mitchell Library,

Hanna filming in the park,

and from even before then when my hair was longer and my nose was big and glowing...

We're off to a little house near Inverness next week with our friend Angharad for a post-exams wind down. Our cameras will be accompanying us so photos of hills, lochs, food and our daft big grins will be coming soon. 

Natalie xX

sweet lyme

Just a little update from me - spent Easter in Lyme Regis and despite the freezing cold, the sun came out and I managed to take a few photos of this beautiful seaside town. Apparently my mum used to take me there a lot when I was little but of course I can't remember much!

Here's a foot photo for you Natalie! Two seconds after, my feet were engulfed by a freak massive wave.. sadly there is no photo of that moment.

I only noticed the fisherman in red after I took this one - but I think he looks rather good against that stark black wall. I just couldn't resist those bright yellow and orange buoys.. and took far too many photos.

I find myself very interested in the things people get carved into memorial benches, and this one was particularly intriguing and strange - "After noise solitude". Take from that what you will...

 

(In case you're interested here is one of my favourite benches, in Glasgow's Botanic Gardens. "Pure heavy beautiful here man". I think one of the reasons I like it so much is because of the way it sounds so Glaswegian to me, and of course because it's so bittersweet.)

Going to start editing/cobbling together some footage I took in Lyme into some sort of tiny film soon, but should really prioritise exam revision...

Until next time!

Hanna xx

king creosote's strops

His mic wasn't working properly and this disruption wasn't appreciated by him or his fans. It got sorted quickly though and he continued with what was a brilliant gig-a mix of beautiful songs and funny banter. King Creosote, or Kenny Anderson to his pals, played at the Oran Mor last night. Stephen and I were lucky enough to get tickets on Gumtree, since it sold out long before I got wind of it.

His 2011 album 'Diamond Mine' with Jon Hopkins brought him the sort of recognition he was long overdue (like a raised profile and a Mercury Prize nomination). I'm sad to say I hadn't heard of him until a dear friend gave me this album; anyone I have since gave it to has similarly fallen in love.

He wasn't pulling shapes like this last night since he's broke his ankle, and delighted us all with a musical number about all the ways this didn't happen. 'Bats in the Attic' was a musical high point, and the story of his brother inventing chips and cheese was a comic one.

He's still touring south of the border (FYI Hanna) and anyone who makes it along is guaranteed a wonderful night.

Natalie xX

the end of the month

Thought I'd post a few photos from this month before it ends. All of the snow flurries were a surprise, although once I got over how pretty it made the place look, it's just been a cold nuisance really.

In a bid to brighten up these weirdly wintery (I do love some alliteration) days, I've been buying a lot of tulips, and making, eating and giving away, lots of jam. I thought I would try make my own as a little experiment a couple of months ago, and it's now became one of my favourite ways to spend an afternoon. It's easy and unlike cakes etc it lasts for so long and can be shared out to a fair amount of people. My last batch was peach and vanilla-very nice.

I couldn't find the recipe I used but here's one from Seasons and Suppers. Their recipes are usually good and they always have lovely photos too. 

http://www.seasonsandsuppers.ca/peach-vanilla-jam/

Here's a snap of my jam on toast. The number of photographs I take of plates of food is becoming sad.

Anyway that's been my March. Hanna's away home to London for Easter so I'm awaiting her return next month. I'll try tempt her back early with flowers and preserves...

Natalie xX 

loomings

I have finally finished editing the short film/music video I mentioned in my last post! It has been really interesting to actually film, edit and FINISH a short film, and although there's a lot about it that I'm not completely happy with, I'm still quite pleased with how it's turned out. Looking forward to getting on with my next project soon!

Thank you so much to Natalie, who put up with my camera dying after two minutes on the first day... hope you like the end result.

Please watch in HD if you can! Here it is...
'Loomings'

Hanna xx

Mums and Cake

Off to K&J soon, expecting a busier shift than the average chaotic Sunday since it's mother's day. Happy mother's day to Hanna and I's lovely mums on that note.

It was International Woman's Day on Friday. There was a few things going on around uni, like a production of the Vagina Monologues which I didn't end up seeing, not sure if Hanna did. I didn't realise it's actually a national holiday in some places, and in others it's tradition for men to give the women in their lives gifts-no such luck for us British girls. Anyway I observed the day in my own way, challenging outdated gender roles etc etc... and spent the following day baking!

 

It's always a bit haphazard and messy (my sister wasn't best pleased at the state of her kitchen) but the end results are tasty so there's no complaints. We got some extra mother's day gifts out of it too.

Natalie xX

oh hello there

So of course I say I'll write loads about the film festival and then disappear without another word for weeks... Sorry about that. It was such a frenzied few weeks (what with me also having many essays due during the festival... which I may or may not have ended up actually doing...) that I just couldn't find the time to sit down and write about it!

I had an amazing time though and personal highlights include: Ainslie Henderson's short animation 'I am Tom Moody' [watch the trailer here], accidentally telling off a director, seeing the interview with James Cosmo and him giving me a huge grin of feigned embarrassment as he stood at the back with me watching scenes from Braveheart, being unable to tear tickets properly even after doing it for days, watching the surprise film (Spring Breakers) and laughing hysterically throughout, finally using one of my free tickets to see The Place Beyond the Pines (mmm to Gosling, hmm to the plot), and working behind the free bar at the closing night party with the loveliest barman I have ever met - and who gave Kathryn and me a free bottle of vodka and some t-shirts for our hard work (a.k.a. spilling most of the alcohol around the cups and commenting on hipsters' clothing choices). Side note: we have yet to decide whether he said that he was heading back home to 'two three year olds' or 'three funerals'... it was rather loud in there and by the look on his face it could have been either!

Anyway, since then I have been a bit of a zombie and today I've managed to do my back in - a phrase I'm pretty sure is used solely by those over fifty. So after a bit of a rest, I'm hoping to start filming a little music video/short film this weekend (if the weather allows it) starring the gorgeous Natalie! Until then, here's a teeny and rather crappy stop motion animation I made a couple of weeks ago in about ten minutes out of boredom and blu-tack (and instead of reading about manuscript decoration...)

Hanna xx

the trees sigh like a harp

It's been quite a busy week for us both but we've still tried to make the most of the film festival's offerings. I only caught a few pictures (including one which most of our friends found awful yet I found hilarious-Springbreakers) but Hanna's got about and taken in a lot more than me, so she'll probably write up a few things soon.

So instead, I'm going to talk about what I did on Saturday night-I went to see my first opera. Scottish Opera's new production of Werther was on at the Theatre Royal (the opera is based on Goethe's novel) It is "testament to the destructive power of obsessive love" and being a right girl when it comes to that sort of thing, I was anticipating an emotional evening. The performers were incredible (I was in awe at their voices. They manage to sound so pure and delicate yet powerful too) and the orchestra was tremendous. I'm a bit of a simpleton when it comes to classical music and such so my opinion might not count for much, but nonetheless I was blown away.

The set design was quite pared down but perfect. Snow falls, illuminated by lamplight, and provides the loveliest backdrop for the misery that unfolds. Although Werther and Charlotte are only seen together once before he proclaims his undying love for her, you really believe their story and the pain they go through as the story progresses. He is exiled from Charlotte and plumbs the depth of despair. Meanwhile she is driven to the brink of madness as her familial duties are at odds with her heart.

I won't go on and spoil the ending for anyone who's going to see it. Apparently it was originally turned down as a production in the 19th century for being too serious a scenario, and I can see where they were coming from (it's by no means light-hearted)

It runs for another month so I'd highly recommend going along if a beautiful but heartbreaking love story sounds like your cup of tea!

Natalie xX

for he's a jolly good fellow

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, and I spent the evening in work... It was a nice enough shift but the most valentine'sy things about my night were some hearts on my tights and slightly wilting roses around the back of the cafe.

Suffice it to say, I didn't really do 14th Feb. properly. Today is another day, and 15th Feb. (whatever that is) can be celebrated in a more appropriate way. Turns out it's Conor Oberst's birthday* (he's a ripe old 33!) and I'm more than happy to listen to his music all day to mark the occasion.

(Bowl of Oranges) http://vimeo.com/6647107

He does have a song called 'Happy Birthday to Me' but it's a bit sad so let's not listen to that. 

Many happy returns Mr. Oberst!

Natalie xX

*trivia! 15th Feb. is also Susan B. Anthony Day, Afghanistan Liberation Day and the day King George VI was laid to rest (The King's Speech is about him)

gsff//the dead man’s waltz: story’s end

The Glasgow Short Film Festival began with a ‘quiet bang’ last night (only people who were there will get that...) with a wonderfully strange event created by the Scottish band The Dead Man’s Waltz. They brought together music, film and spoken word to explore death in a way that managed to be beautiful, witty and a little creepy at the same time. The night began with an eerie echo of Keaton Henson’s gig the night before - a darkened room, a spotlight, a cello, a bearded man (albeit on a piano this time) and a blank projector screen - but as the evening went on it evolved into something far more complex and intriguing. The night included...

A black and white film about a man struggling to write, his hands blackened, his tiny room slowly swelling with discarded attempts, curious markings appearing to him as revelations in a sea of confusion... while The Dead Man’s Waltz played a haunting and beautiful melody to accompany it.

Readings from Scottish author Hal Duncan - who played the frustrated writer in the first film - again accompanied by a live soundtrack. Duncan could not have been more perfect for this event - resembling a mixture of the post-punk musician Nick Cave and a character from Tim Burton’s drawings, the self-dubbed ‘carnival freak’ lead the audience into an awed silence with his uncanny tales of tiny toymakers and of ‘the boy who loved death’.

A collaboration between the band and animator Thomas Hicks, resulting in the short film/music video ‘Emmeline’ which tells the tale of a sailor promising to return to his love as he leaves for war in 1939. It is a sweet yet tragic sea shanty of a song, and is worth a listen/look. (Imagine it on a big screen) Emmeline music video

The show is going to tour later in the year so i won’t give any more away, but it is definitely worth getting a ticket to see it if you can. Also check out The Dead Man's Waltz here. Fallow Fields, Emmeline and Swings and Roundabouts really stood out as the best songs on the night.

Hanna xx

[I’m volunteering for the Glasgow Film Festival this year, so expect lots of posts about it...]

keaton henson

We saw Keaton Henson on Wednesday evening, playing in the Jeffrey Room of the Mitchell Library. 

Support came in the form of the lovely Jo Mango. The venue and Jo are each deserving of a review in their own right, so for brevity’s sake, they were both exquisite and a perfect match for the lilting frailness of Keaton’s songs.

Cellist Ren Ford took to the stage, providing an absorbing few minutes of music to mark the beginning of Keaton’s set. 

He came from a side door, walking towards the small stage slightly hunched and with a lowered gaze. He creates the impression of one being lead, as if the half dozen steps to the stage were a little too disorientating to complete. He appears angular under his shirt, nervously tugging his beard and pushing his hair back behind his ears. This man is somewhat of an enigma, notorious for crippling stage fright and shyness. And yep-this ‘fragile soul’ image appears in no way an exaggeration. 

He was wonderful; the songs he chose to perform, and his quiet snippets of conversation in between. He was sweet and self depricating (apologising for his reliance on sheets of lyrics) and he was also kindly complimentary of Glasgow-his first time in this fair city. 

Folk always remark at the intimate nature of his songs and the gigs he plays, and this one was no exception. He played some new tracks, a couple we hadn’t even heard before. His penultimate offering called ‘Best Today’ “still sucks” as he so charmingly put it “...sucks as in sucks emotionally.” Such an endearing admission. His distant gaze and hunched posture suggests that each song “sucks,” like each gig is its own exercise in catharsis.  

He switched between electric and acoustic, accompanied by Ren for the most part. ‘Small Hands,’ ‘Sarah Minor’ and the stunning ‘You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are’ were some of the old favourites he included, while a new one “about girls on trains” was a beautiful catchy number that sparks excitement for a recorded version. 

So it was the perfect venue, perfect company (Hanna dearest,) perfect artist and near-perfect set (the perfect setlist would require him to play every one of his songs...at least twice)

Please go listen to this wonderful man. Buy his albums, his eps, his artwork, his merchandise... and go forth and tell your friends to do likewise.

Natalie xX

[I couldn't have said it any better - here's a snap from the night. - Hanna]

books of note

i have been reading rather voraciously recently, and thought i should share some of the best books i've read this month. 

this first book was a christmas/birthday present from my mother and turned out to be my favourite gift.

not only is the book a beautiful object in its own right, but it is full of the fascinating ways that the english language has changed and developed over time. forsyth's choice to link each word somehow to the next, rather than just listing words and their origins, makes for a really interesting read. it is in fact much more like a story than a dictionary, and forsyth's sense of humour comes through just as much as his knowledge of english. (okay, perhaps it's not for everyone but it is surprisingly enjoyable and i heartily recommend it to all). see inky fool (forsyth's blog) for more. 

my next read was rather different - a collection of true stories written by a psychoanalyst.

each chapter focuses on an important aspect of life - beginning, loving, changing, losing - and for each of these broad subjects, grosz focuses on the stories of particular patients that subtly illuminate the human condition. although each account is very personal, the issues behind each patient's problems are ones that we have all experienced - or at least, can all understand. this book made think about my own thoughts and behaviour in a way that i hadn't really considered before and despite the often quite upsetting or moving cases described, i was left with a sense of quiet elation and understanding upon finishing it.

this last book was recommended to me by my friend isabel and is the latest novel by mark haddon, author of 'the curious incident of the dog in the night-time'.

i normally hate dust jackets on hardbacks (slippery, pointless things), but this one is so lovely that i often find myself just admiring it for a while before continuing to read the book itself. it is of course a slightly changed version of the willow china pattern, those exquisite blue on white drawings that immediately make me think of my grandma's house, the countryside and strange untold stories. and the last two things are exactly what 'the red house' is about. as i haven't finished it yet, i can't give a final verdict but i can say that it is incredibly enjoyable to read. the story shifts constantly from character to character which can be confusing at first, but then just becomes a part of haddon's wider storytelling technique - he can focus on a person's innermost thoughts at one moment and then skip to a description of a castle's history and on to a snippet of a quotation and so on, while somehow making them all seem related... and the result is something wonderful, intriguing and most of all truthful.

hanna xx

like father like son

a friend has lent me "money" by martin amis. until now, my knowledge of the man was limited to say the least: he is a well-respected english writer, and he is the son of another well-respected english writer kingsley amis (sir kingsley william amis - what a name)

having read and loved one of his dad's novels - "lucky jim"- i was curious to see what amis jnr wrote like. only a few chapters into "money" and it's obvious he has inherited his dad's wicked sense of humour and knack for making vices like alcohol and pornography read like funny personality quirks. this interview provides some background info about martin, and a little on his relationship with his dad.

vice interview with martin amis

i know i've barely skimmed the surface here (folk rave about his non-fiction too) but i'm glad i'm finally getting round to it.

it's interesting to read about his father's influence, although he says it wasn't too dominant. i once wanted to follow in my dear dad's footsteps too... and become a mechanic.

funnily enough this was a very short-lived dream.

natalie xX

django

ever since i bought this beautiful edition of little white lies magazine in early december, i've been dying to see tarantino's latest - django unchained. (here it is, providing the perfect contrast - both visually and in content - to my dire old norse textbook...)

i was not disappointed. the film is both beautiful and brutal, brimming with sumptuous colours (i'm thinking django's ridiculous blue costume) that create a vivid and at times stunning background for the stylised violence and gore that tarantino is famous for.
one image in particular that struck me was of dark red blood splattered onto pure white cotton plants - tarantino can make violence almost beautiful. of course, most of the violent scenes are definitely not meant to be easy on the eye but that is all part of the director's style. i never felt the gore was distasteful, rather it was necessary to the particular scene to demonstrate (more often than not) the cruelty of slave owner calvin candy.
now that i'm onto candy, i have to say that i honestly think this is one of the best roles of dicaprio's career. he portrayed the detestable villain perfectly, and was so enjoyable to watch that he almost stole the limelight away from my favourite character, the dentist-come-bounty hunter played by christoph waltz (wonderful, wonderful man). eccentric, witty and charming, he really stood out as the star of the film.
it seems i have hardly made mention to foxx's django, but who can say it better than waltz himself: 'you silver tongued devil, you'. he is quite excellent.

on another note; natalie i loved the colours in your photos of the autumn leaves - wonderful reds, yellows and blues. autumn is a beautiful season, i certainly prefer it to this grey slushy weather we're having at the moment. (and yes to feet photos!)

hanna xx

snap

so perhaps a running theme is to be photos of the ground plus feet. hanna's welly photo reminded me of my predisposition for taking such snaps. i'm especially fond of ones featuring the lovely ochre shapes of fallen leaves. 

autumn is without a doubt my favourite month and i couldn't help feel robbed last year of the biting bright mornings and fleeting hours of blue sky that it usually brings. the days were almost muggy.

of course summer will be enjoyed first, with all the festivals and fun hanna kindly reminds me of. but i'll be looking ahead to autumn too and those crisp mornings spent trying to warm my scarlet nose with mittened (is there such a word?) hands.

natalie xX

late night thoughts//festivals

so i had one of those nights where you just toss around feverishly, unable to shut off your brain because of all the seemingly very important ideas that must be thoroughly thought out at once and simply cannot be left until the morning... last night these thoughts solely concerned this blog and in particular a post about festivals. some of my 'brilliant' ideas, found this morning in a barely legible scrawl by my bed, included something about 'eyes wide open', 'euphoric' and 'like nothing else'. while these sentiments are true, they sound awfully like typical festival-goer nonsense. but still, there is something about festivals that make me happier than i am anywhere else. since i was 14, i haven't spent a summer without them and they have come to define not only my summers but also some of my best memories. i could go on, and risk sounding like some sort of hippie nut, or i could just include some photos that describe what i would want to say much better anyway.

inspired by one of my favourite youtuber/filmmaker's video on 'twi-late thoughts':

-hanna xx

test 123

there's no need to sharpen my pencils anymore, my pencils are sharp enough. even the dull ones will make a mark. -ze frank.

just the two of us dull ones...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEy6MGu3bIA

-h&n Xx