I'm quite busy at the moment, and finding it hard to keep up, so sorry if I take ages to respond to messages or requests... so I'm making up for being on MySpace infrequently and blogging not-quite-enough by making my posts really long!

Raise Your Banners to...

...the festival of political song, held in Bradford this November. We at 4Words Media managed to get to three events, although I wasn't at the last poetry gig (but Joe went)

Oysterband, Chumbawumba, Dick Gaughan, Tracey Curtis, Nick Toczek - This was the showpiece gig of the festival, and on a cold Friday night, we gathered at St. George's Hall, full of expectation, to watch Nick Toczek, veteran of Bradford's poetry scene, come on and entertain us before the bands started. Nick seems to have more bees in his bonnet every time I see him, which makes for an increasingly vitriolic set, aimed squarely at the eyes of those in charge (mostly the Prime Minister and the DWP...)

The opening act, Tracey Curtis was almost instantly endearing. Her witty lyrics in songs like "Dear Mr. Bush", written from the point of view of a child writing to the US President, proved subtlety is more effective than the relentlessness of many political rants. In contrast to Tracey's freshness, Dick Gaughan has been doing the rounds for years. As with most politically motivated songwriters, this doesn't seem to have jaded him very much, if at all, but while this was a good set by an accomplished and experienced singer-songwriter, nothing much seemed to stand out as I write this, 2 weeks after the event.

For me, seeing Chumbawumba is a treat, and it's from seeing them a few years ago, shortly after they morphed into a folk band, that I'm more excited by their presence than anyone else's. In a world of manufactured bands with harmonies that all sound the same, Chumbawumba stand out for their genuine technical skill, honed over many years (and improving all the time), and bringing their trademark mix of old (as in 12th century onwards) folk protest songs and bang up to date material to life with a mixture of a cappella harmony and musical arrangements that always give the lyrics centre stage. I can't think of anyone else who would sing about tightwadded factory owners, and follow it up by singing about the kind of people who exist on MySpace only to get "friends", but are quite obnoxious in real life, or about how you can seemingly buy anything on eBay. At the very least, they blow away the notion some people still have that folk music is stuck in the past.

From Chumbawumba's more vocally driven style, the legendary Oysterband appeared radically different, arriving on stage all in black like the Rock Gods they seem to purport to me. Of course, anyone familiar with "folk rock" knows this is all par for the course, and with the obligatory warning to the old folkies from Nick, we launch straight into tales from Ireland, on the futility of war, and a stunning reworking of the classic miners' song "The Bells of Rhymney", which was first recorded 50 years ago.

. While I enjoyed hearing them for the first time, I was ultimately a little disappointed by the fact all the old clichés seem to be there - but perhaps they were the Oysterband's to start with?

Poetry Open Mic - The following day, there was a poetry open mic event, with the theme, naturally, of political poems. This was well attended with a good mix of people who were at the festival, and included a discussion about what we thought political poetry was for, and of how we all came to become politically aware and write political poetry (or not, as the case may be). The combination of the open mic and the discussion was very interesting, as it is not often you get to hear about other peoples' reasons for writing - it's something some of us are very private about, but I suppose we all want to know really!

Leeds International Film Festival

The festival rolled in in early November for its 21st session. Running this year from the 8th to the 18th, the programme was, as usual, strongest on horror (the "Fanomenon" section) and documentary ("Cinema Versa"). As usual, the organisation of films into, effectively, four or five separate simultaneous festivals meant there was almost too much to see at once, perhaps it would have been better for cinemagoers to have these more spread out through the year, though doubtless it would have had a lot less impact that way.

Nevertheless, now that I live 15 minutes' walk from the home of the horror section, the almost wonderfully anachronistic Hyde Park Picture House, was a great help when leaving the cinema late at night!

Death Note: The Last Name - This is the sequel to "Death Note" (which I haven't seen). An escapist piece of Japanese fantasy, and as usual with many great Japanese horrors and fantasy films, not easily reminiscent of anything else. The story revolves around the "Death Note", a notebook of the Death Gods which found by a young woman, who is told that if someone's name is written in it, they will die. A power struggle over the book ensues, with by two geniuses trying to outwit each other, a teenage pop star, presenters and staff at a TV station and the head of the Tokyo Police. It had all the hallmarks of being brilliant, and the story was building up to what I thought was going to be an amazing conclusion, but which ultimately disappointed. Usually, you're pleasantly surprised when a film takes a different turn from where you thought it was going, but this time the story developing in my head seemed so much better than the one on the screen...

Teeth - I was encouraged to see a gender mixed audience for this one, all of whom delighted in the comically gory horror fest... "Teeth" is about a young woman who discovers she has the mythical "vagina dentata". I think you can guess what the gory bits are going to be! (and if you can't, do a Google search - she did!)

"Teeth" was possibly my favourite film from the festival, funny, gruesome, well written and a heavy tinge of eroticism in places. An original film with one of the most wonderful things a horror film can have - a beautiful monster.

The Girl Next Door ?'s next door neighbour takes in two orphaned nieces, but all is not what it seems... Based on a true story written by Jack Ketchum (who I admit to have never heard from), the only way I could describe this is a heady mix of "The Virgin Suicides" with the Marquis de Sade's "120 Days of Sodom" - and if you understand from that that it's going to be a reminiscence of a teenage boy's adolescence tainted by scenes of sexual torture, then that's getting close... Suffice it to say that it's probably the only time I have left a cinema in tears - the perfect antidote to sugar coated happy endings.

Intermix07 - Short films have always been a major part of the festival, but it's easy to think that they've been neglected by the promoters. Not so with the Intermix programme, which is heavily Leeds based, and has included screenings in city centre buildings and shop windows. Held in The Wardrobe, there was a convivial bar atmosphere that felt quite continental, and certainly a welcome departure from sitting silently in dark cinemas. The first part of the programme was composed of short films from "Studio12", a City Council funded initiative which allows young people from 12 deprived wards of the city a chance to make music and films using equipment provided by the council, in the Central Library. I started the programme several years ago, as an unemployed 25 year old, but wasn't deemed eligible to continue as I had a Masters degree and they wanted to focus on school leavers. Anyway, the films were a diverse mix, but almost all music based, some simple, and some, like "We all fade away" with more complex animation.

The second part was the screening of a short film, "Frank", about a local gangster. This was actually a very good work from the novice director, who was there with some of the cast to answer questions.

Best of Propeller Shorts - Propeller is one of the more intriguing creations of today's new multichannel TV world. Available only on Sky (channel 195 for subscribers and FreeSat viewers), it is funded by Yorkshire Forward, and dedicated to promoting new work by filmmakers, but also features regular Anime and music video slots, as well as training for Final Cut Pro.

The Propeller section at the film festival concentrated on some of the short films they've shown over the last year. A series of animations by Leeds Metropolitan University students were probably the best, including "Tales from the hotel next door to the haunted hospital", though there were other gems...

Maya The Bee dates from 1926, and tells a fictionalised tale of a young bee, destined to be queen... but will she find her way back to the hive before it's too late?

Billed as the first film with insect actors, the technical skill behind this silent masterpiece is incredible... subtitles in the original German (with an English translation projected above the screen) told the story of Maya and her adventures, whilst an improvised musical accompaniment was provided by Leeds' own noisemongers D.Sojourn (who also performed at Ladyfest Leeds earlier in the year) from the balcony of the Hyde Park Picture House. The spectacle is probably unlikely to ever be repeated, which is a shame, as the music was definitely inspired by the noise of insect wings rather than the softer and cheesier soundtrack a more deferential musician would have provided. A great lesson in how far advanced cinema was even before sound, and a great counterpoint to Joe's "Music from the Movies" shows on BCB.

Unholy Women - a strange title for a collection of three very different Japanese horror shorts (and how we love Japanese horror at 4Words Media). Rattle Rattle is the strange tale of a woman pursued through streets and buildings by her fiancé's ex wife... or is she? Great horror moments and a 100 mile an hour pace made this an entertaining and sometimes heart-stopping start to the trio. Steel was the story of a young man who works as a mechanic being introduced to his boss' sister, who wears a sack over her body... a film possessing the kind of off the planet weirdness we love Japanese horror for, and a very straneg ending indeed. In The Inheritance, a woman escapes the city with her young son after her divorce, and the two of them meet some ghosts from the past (not to mention the woman's mother), all building up to a chilling climax... An entertaining and frankly bizarre collection of short films - who could ask for anything more?

Exte - Hair Extensions was shown several times in the festival, but the showing at "The Day of the Dead" horror all day event was the one I was very glad to have gone to. Held in the City Varieties Music Hall, more used to gigs and comedy shows than cinema, the horror all-dayer started at midday with a marathon of five films. I didn't make it to see Columbian horror "Espectro", or the bizarre and gory "The Devil's Chair", but snuck in for the last two films.

Exte tells the tale of hair that has a life of its own. A container with a strange smell is found in a port, and when opened by the port authorities is found to be full of human hair - and a dead body... Exte is one of those Japanese horror films that reels you in, with a cast of strange characters and an even stranger story. Definitely recommended, especially if, like me, you have a bit of a hair fetish. I really don't want to say any more in case I spoil it for you... a truly brilliant piece of Japanese film that will make you laugh, squirm and scream!

The Orphanage is y's directorial début, aided and abetted by the legendary Guillermo del Toro (whose last film was the brilliant "Pan's Labyrinth") as producer. Before the film, I was talking to some other people in the cinema, some who'd been there the whole day, some not; but everyone seemed anxious about this film - all week it had been hyped up to the nth degree by the Film Festival staff, coming on before every film to tell us to watch it. Would it live up to the hype, or was it, as so often in cinema, a case of the quality of the film seeming inversely proportional to the amount of hype it was given?

A couple and their adopted son move into an old orphanage and plan to reopen it. However, the ghosts of the past aren't quite at rest... "The Orphanage" has strong undercurrents of "The Others", and although initially appeared less chilling, built up to a shocking climax. Did it live up to the hype? On balance, yes; and while a lot of the film seemed borrowed from "The Others" to a degree, it retained a lot of original story and intrigue.

Urban Explorers: Into the Darkness is a documentary charting the exploits of "urban explorers", people whose hobby is to explore abandoned buildings and structures - above and below ground. From "Xanadu: the home of the future" rotting away on the side of a busy Florida street, to epicurian underground picnics in the labyrinthine Paris sewers, via a European Urban Explorers' Convention in Glasgow, we met some of the icons of the movement, found out about the kit and dedication needed, and overall got an incredible insight into an underground (pun intended) phenomenon which owes a great deal to a single website (uer.ca) where people share stories and photos.

Café Society

We at 4Words Media love sitting in cafés discussing everything from shopping to existentialism, and while sitting in a café talking shit with your friends always has its advantages, sometimes you want to go and expand your mind as well. While a little trip to an Amsterdam café may appear to fit the bill, these are closer home and involve a bit more thinking... (on the plus side, there is also beer at the first one...)

Café Scientifique runs in a number of towns and cities around the country (and beyond), but was originally started about 16 years ago in Chapel Allerton in Leeds. The premise is simple: a 20 minute talk with no visual aids, from a scientific expert, about a topic of public interest - followed by a long question and answer session. I first started going to these about 6 years ago in Nottingham, and got hooked.

The last two cafés I attended were Ghost Science and Pharmaceutical Research about the shocking way some pharmaceutical companies fiddle the data and its presentation in order for drugs to be approved by the regulatory authorities, given by one of the noted whistleblowers in this field, Dr. Aubrey Blumsohn. The second, What's Scientific About Atheism was much more charged, and certainly a few of us believed a lot of the speaker's arguments were deeply flawed - but that's the fun of the café... it tends towards contentious subjects and isn't afraid to let the general public loose on them!

I will be giving a café talk in Leeds sometime in 2008. Although my proposed topic is not contentious, it will hopefully raise a few eyebrows, but who knows...

Climate Chaos Café is a new venture in Leeds, bringing the format of Café Scientifique to a new audience, and focusing on environmental issues. I've only been to one of these, Zero Carbon Housing, which was very interesting, and the discussion was very much in the Café Scientifique mould.

However, I can't help thinking that the name of the Café is a little awkward, and will certainly put off those who are interested in the environment but scared about the concept of sitting in a room full of radical greens. Nothing against radical greens, you understand, but the environmental community has a major image problem which their opponents are really starting to capitalise on. My message to the environmental movement is simple, and similar to what I've been espousing in many and varied forums over the last 2-3 years - engage with everyone or die... the more our attitudes and actions alienate the general population, the harder it will be to encourage people to change their ways (and yes, I mean "encourage" rather than "persuade". This is supposedly a free country after all...)

Ruminating on an icon

I've mentioned Jalalludin Rumi here in the previous post, and on the 27th of November, a Rumi themed show in Sheffield's Montgomery Hall, Whispers of Love brought together a storyteller and musicians and whirling dervishes from Turkey. Seeing the Turkish dervishes in the UK is a rare treat, as anyone into this sort of thing will tell you, and even though the dervishes were only on stage for some 25 minutes, it was mermerising. It is unfair to describe what they do as "performance", their practice is a form of Sufi spiritual meditation or "Zikr", which differs between different Sufi groups. This was accompanied by fragments from his legendary work The Masnavi, written in Persian over 750 years ago accompanied by the musicians, and stories her told, all of which have a spiritual message.

Following that, on Tuesday the 11th of December, at Zanzé Café in Bradford (3 Ivegate), the Zanzébards poetry group presented a Rumi night, featuring a wide range of readers reading from Rumi's famous poems "Masnavi" and "Divan of Shams e Tebriz" as well as their own works inspired by the mystic's writings. Music was provided by the Balkh Trio (see below) as well as a local Bradford songwriter and co-organiser Karl Dallas. The evening included improvisation (by me!), Möbius strip cutting by Karl Dallas and readings in Persian and Urdu.

4Words Media is bringing the Balkh Trio to The Common Place in Leeds on the 31st of January, for the bargain price of £3 (£2 concessions). They are all accomplished musicians with a long background in improvised music, and will be providing their take on the traditional Sufi music of Turkey and the Middle East, as informed by contemporary improvised jazz and electronica (but without the electronica)...

Maybe we are, and maybe we aren't, who's to say if we can or can't (keep it up, that is?)

Well, I (Anzir) am getting settled into my new place in Leeds, and we're wrapping up some of the things we're doing in Bracknell for Black History Month.

Wednesday's spoken word workshop with The Beyonder was great fun, educational, and very poorly attended... oh well, I suppose everyone thinks they know enough about performing and doesn't need any help... The rest of us, poor stragglers that we are, learnt about breathing, voice projection and how to train our voices. I think this is a good thing, as I have shouted myself hoarse on occasion (usually during a performance of "She is Storm", as that's quite a loud piece). Anyway, I'm not here to rant on about my poetry, that's plainly silly!

Following that, I was at Tony Fernandez's International Exhibition in Bracknell on Saturday... we managed to keep it going, despite an unfortunately small turnout... there were poetry books from Nigeria, food from the Philippines, tourist info from Mauritius and maps and a book on Yorkshire

Anyway, there you go, another 4Words Media event come and gone... we hope to see some more of you at the next thing we do!

Jalaluddin Rumi's Birthday Weirdness

Rumi is 800 years old this year, curiously the same ages as both Leeds and Liverpool. To celebrate (and there's more on how Leeds celebrated later, if you're interested), some friends of ours are touring with their new project Improvisations on Rumi led by one of Sheffield's masters of improvisation and experimental Jazz, John Jasnoch. 4Words Media will be bringing them to Leeds in the new year for your enjoyment and delectation, so that's something to look forward to as you contemplate the soulless horror of Christmas. At least there are some interesting-looking chocolate boxes in John Lewis, eh?

There will, of course, be more later, and we will be posting as much about the tour as possible to encourage you to go and see them wherever in the country you are!

Jalaluddin Rumi is one of the most famous Sufi mystics and poets, born in Turkey in 1207. His great works include The Masnavi, and he founded the Mevlevi order of Sufism, which includes the famous Whirling Dervishes. The Balkh Trio use Rumi's poetry as the base for their improvisations with an array of weird and wonderful instruments, including the Ud and finger piano.

Carrion for Culture Vultures

The Culture Vultures have been pecking on a couple of things this month, picking them to shreds and ingesting the best bits...

Light Night Leeds 2007

The annual Light Night festival hit Leeds again on the 12th of November, from 7pm to 4am. 4Words Media didn't stay for the whole thing, but we picked out some fascinating goings on amongst the hundreds of little (and large) activities...

West Yorkshire Playhouse presented a series of short 10-15 minute plays performed in locations such as Leeds Central Library's "Tiled Hall Café". These were generally of an argumentative nature between two characters who appeared from out of the surrounding crowd. I very much enjoyed the three pieces I saw, all site specific and written especially for Light Night.

The Termite Club, Leeds' experimental noisemongers, presented some "rather strange s**t" - which made sound out of everything from back massagers to metal bowls on record players, inflatable cushions and the like. I have pictures (not that they can convey very much of the scene there!), but you're not seeing them yet - well, not till they've been through Photoshop to pick out the best bits...

Arias in the Library... Take a library, put a piano in it, and two opera singers, and belt out some arias from Tosca. Go on... Popular with the crowd, and made surreal by the location and situation. Opera North endeared themselves with this little set.

Burlesque Dancers in the Art Gallery - well, who wouldn't want a dancer in sexy stockings, twirling an umbrella or beckoning with huge feathered fans, in front of such well known paintings as John William Waterhouse's "Lady of Shallot" No, not the one where she's in the boat, the one where she's bending down...). The dancers were accompanied by some good old Blues music, which was nice.

Costume Party!. Well, not quite, but there were people dressed in costumes from different historical periods, ostensibly to chart the course of Leeds' 800 year history. Well... I'm always irrationally swayed by a gorgeous woman in a nice dress, but that's another story, and will have to wait for another time and day (and maybe when I've cropped and deskewed the pictures. eh).

Map of Leeds - in front of the Art Gallery, an interactive map of Leeds was developing, with peoples' houses, schools, shops and other things that wouldn't normally appear on maps... I'm convinced a lot of people didn't put things in the right place (or else there are more people living in parks and rivers than I thought), but it was fun. Nobody marked on any of my favourite haunts though...

The Leeds School Board offices at Leeds Metropolitan University were transformed, with a light installation in the double helix staircase. The architecture of the staircase was of more interest to me than the installation - although I found it interesting, I almost wished the two could be separated so we could see them both in their full glory.

Silent Disco is where you listen to headphones and dance in a place with lots of other places. You can also go there with no music and laugh at everyone acting so maniacally... There were light sticks, Saturday Night Fever-esque moves, and lots of people sitting about on the grass, all bathed in the orange glow of Merrion Street's lighting... Ah... streetlights... how romantic...

Cult Fiction, Comic Art, Leeds City Art Gallery

An exhibition of comics, eh? This exhibition covered a broad range, from American Splendour, to Japanese animal characters, via dark British comics and French Bandes Dessinés. The exhibition was not only of original pages of comics (complete with Tipp-Ex and blue drafting pencil), but also of installed pieces and sculptures inspired by comics, and a short film previously broadcast on Channel 4.

Ultimately, the exhibition lacked an overall coherence, although this is partly to its advantage in displaying the breadth of styles and inspirations
Cult Fiction, Comic Art runs until 11 November 2007.

Millais, Tate Britain, London

John Everett Millais one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and this major exhibition at Tate Britain has brought together works from some of the UK's major galleries, plus others from overseas and major collectors such as Andrew "the only thing I like about you is your taste in paintings" Lloyd Webber (sorry, Joe's been in musicals before, I'd better not be so harsh).

Over 7 rooms, the exhibition displayed periods in his career as an artist, from the early Pre-Raphaelite days to his later portraiture and Scottish landscapes. The old favourites, such as "Ophelia" and "Isabella" were there, together with sketches and a number of other works. Some of the great Pre-Raphaelite models were of course very much in evidence, particularly Janey Morris and Effie Ruskin (who Millais was obsessed with and later married).

Usually, at an exhibition, I try and get some postcards, but the selection of postcards was very poor aside from obvious choices such as "The Blind Girl" and "Ophelia", which I could have got anywhere... Sort it out.

Millais runs until 13 January 2008. Tickets are £11, £9 students, other concessions £7 (I think) at Tate Britain.

"Troops Out" Tour with Mark Steel, The University of Leeds

Star of The Mark Steel Lectures on BBC4, Radio comedian and commentator, Communist and (most importantly here) anti-war campaigner Mark Steel has been touring British Universities with his "Troops Out" tour. We were treated to an intense, 10 minute burst of the Mark Steel we all know and love, reminding us about The Project for the New American Century and how Iran have suddenly turned from the US' darling to their biggest fear.

The surprise for me was seeing how he kept the energy, passion, pace and momentum up in his answers to the questions, although unfortunately I couldn't stay long as I had to nip back to work before it was over.

4 things happening soon

Here at 4Words Media, we want to tell you what's going on outside of our little circle of string and cats and spoons. Naturally, this is quite difficult at the moment as I am watching "The Pillow Book" on Film4 and the arrangement of computer and TV don't lend themselves to looking at both at once...

Raise Your Banners Festival

The festival of political song is back again, from the 5th to 11th of November in Bradford. I am looking forward to Friday the 9th, when the Oysterband, Chumbawumba, Dick Gaughan and Tracey Curtis are introduced by the seemingly colossal (in poetical stature that is - he's not quite as tall as Stephen Fry, not at all...) Nick Toczek. This all happens at St. George's Hall (almost opposite Bradford Interchange) from 7.30pm, and all in for £15. The last time I saw Chumbawumba was about 4 years ago, just after they remodelled themselves as interpreters of traditional protest song, and though I was on the guest list, I think it was £10 just to see them, so £15 sounds like a bargain now, doesn't it! ...and all I wanted to know was whether Alice Nutter is her real name (it's a gorgeous name, you've got to admit!)

The day after, on Saturday 10th, there is a poetry open mic at the New Beehive Inn, a place frequented by some of Bradford's busiest poetic bees, and that's free, which is very nice if you're a cheapskate like me. I might even try some political poetry for once. In the evening, a poetry showcase will be at the famous Alhambra (Studio) theatre will feature Adrian Mitchell, Andy Croft and Keith Armstrong, with a variety of socialist poetry (it says). That's £7.50. or £5 concessions

More information is on the Raise Your Banners website

21st Leeds International Film Festival

It's back, although one of my friends is very unimpressed with the programme, I think there is still much to intrigue and delight. As usual, the Fanomenon horror film thread runs through the festival, and promises some new and unseen (in this country at least) works. I'm still trying to work out what I want to see, but if you're going, send us a message... Joe and Phil may well be around as well.

The festival runs from the 7th to 18th of November at a number of venues in Leeds City Centre, and the wonderful Hyde Park Picture House. Full festival tickets cost £75, but we usually dip in and out, so get single film tickets, which start at £3.50.

More information is on the website or in the brochures, which can be picked up in major arts venues throughout the city.

Together for Peace

well, it's November, so it's Together for Peace as well. Leeds' annual peace festival seems smaller than in previous years by the size of the brochure, but still features headline performances from Corinne Bailey Rae and Lemn Sissay, plus tree planting, origami doves and football - there's bound to be something you're interested in!

Together for Peace runs from the 15th to 25th of November, and also has full details on the website.

The 4th thing

I was a little economical with the truth... 4Words Media, as you will gather, is brought to you with the number 4. Not in a Sesame Street style, you understand, but the number 4 is pretty central to our identity, being the first number of our name. So we like to keep the theme of the number 4 in our blogs.

...but I'm not going to tell you about the next thing yet, as we're still working on it... or rather, I'm working on it with 4Words Media collaborator Cath. Suffice it to say it promises to be dirty and possibly dangerous - if we can be bothered to finish anything!

So my bid to take over the Park Poets group didn't quite go as planned, although like many of the best things, a workable compromise was reached and we now have a game of two halves, so to speak...

First Half Much like the old Park Poets, but hopefully better this time - we have a readaround session where writers of poetry, short stories and prose can read their work and invite comment aimed at improving their writing.

Second Half After a quick half time break in the bar, we return to the pitch for a performance event where anything goes. This is essentially what I was after, and what I will be publicising as "Live in the Green Room presented by Park Poets". It's not strictly speaking going to be a sheep sessions event, but don't let that deter you...

From 9pm, we want to see

• songwriters


• storytellers


• rappers


• spoken word artists


• comedians


• and of course poets

So the details again...

Park Poets at 7 and Live in the Green Room at 9

The Green Room

South Hill Park

Ringmead

Bracknell

RG12 7PA

7pm onwards, £2 entry

lots of free car and cycle parking and easy access by bus routes 158/159/171/172 to Birch Hill

Film Digital on YouTube

Film Digital are now on YouTube! You can go over and view and subscribe to their videos at their YouTube profile page or take a look at their films below...

Nice Jam (featuring Phil Wainman, Joe Ogden and Keith Wilcock)

A Wiccan Scorned (featuring Phil Wainman and Angela Bancroft)

If you like all of that, toddle over to Phil's MySpace to find out what he's up to...

The Big Day Out

...is fast approaching... you may find we wandering about, but I'm probably leaving early to go and catch Jon Gomm at Windsor Arts Centre in the evening. He's one of the country's finest guitarists and I'm honoured to have performed with him in the past (not on the guitar, I hasten to add!).

Anyway, er, The Big Day Out... Bracknell's main local festival returns again, and in some ways we don't miss the old Bracknell Festival as there is a lot more focus on local things and local talent. If you're playing, or just milling around, I'd love to see you.

The Big Day Out

South Hill Park

Ringmead

Bracknell

RG12 7PA

midday to 10pm, free

lots of free car and cycle parking and easy access by bus routes 158/159/171/172 to Birch Hill (191 occasionally until about 7pm, and 194 until about 6pm)

4 Great Things: Libraries

I don't know about you, but I think libraries are great.

The Great Library, Alexandria

The Great Granddaddy of them all! The Great Library of Alexandria is one of the oldest in the world. Destroyed or partially destroyed several times over the last 2,300 years, and in 2003, a new Great Library building was built, which is already one of the greatest collections of books in the world. The Reading Room alone is 11 storeys high! I've not been, but this is in my top three of places I want to visit in Egypt (along with Giza and the City of the Dead in Cairo).

Bibliothèque Nationale de France (François Mitterrand), Paris

Odd one this... probably one of the most controversial and technologically advanced in the world. Opened in 1996 as a new site for France's National Library, it houses over 10 million books in four towers, with an automated shelving and retrieval system to deliver books to readers. It all relies on the cataloguing system and you can't browse the shelves. I keep thinking I'll either get it, and love the place, or hate it (as I do the British Library's London site, which is one of the worst libraries I have ever been to).

Birmingham Central Library, Birmingham

One of the most important and busiest libraries in Europe, despite the brutalist architecture (which many people hate), this is one of the finest libraries in the country (apart from the lighting!). There are 9 floors, from the business library below ground to the archives on the 7th floor, at the top of a spiral staircase. It's vibrant, seems to have everything (including a number of internationally renowned collections, for example of Shakespeare's works). It's proposed to demolish the current building and build a new library on Centenary Square, but this is a truly ionic landmark building.

The Conzen Collection, Birmingham & Chicago

Obviously I am not biased(!), although if you like maps, you'll understand... It's not that this collection is held by my former department at the University of Birmingham, or that it represents much of a lifetime's work by one of the foremost professors of Urban Geography of the last century... it's that quite simply this may be the largest map library in the world! Unfortunately this is not open to the public without prior appointment (mores the pity), but there are estimated to be over 50,000 maps from around the world, some of them over 350 years old. This is a place I wish I could spend serious amounts of time in!

Coming soon, more 4 Great Things...

That's all for now... I'm off to watch the best bits of Glastonbury 2007.

Anzir @ 4Words Media

Well, maybe you're asking that question, maybe you're not, but suffice it to say that a lot's been going on "behind the scenes".

Last time, we reported on the launch of Mark Cantrell's new book, and it's also now available on Amazon. Which is nice.

calling all Bracknell people

Oh yes... it's almost around the corner, but we need your help again! Remember, remember the 17th of July (Tuesday) when "Live in the Green Room" kicks off. It's aimed at all writers and performers of "the word", be it sung, spoken, shouted, rapped or just read on the page. It's a simple idea - you do your bit, and we all listen appreciatively. After you're done, if you agree, we have a quick round of commentary - constructive criticism of your piece, before we go onto the next thing. If you just want to strut your stuff and be off, then that's OK... no pressure, no pressure...

Oh yes, how you can help...

• Put it in your calendar or bulletin


• Send us a message with your email address so we can send you a PDF flyer to put around the place


• Tell your friends


• Most importantly: turn up. We will live and die by numbers ultimately...

well, if you're in the UK and have a telly anyway...

Edmund Davies is playing a lead part in "In Cold Blood" on ITV1 (that's normal ITV to you and me) this coming Wednesday (20th June) at 9pm. Don't be like me and have to go off to a meeting in Bristol so you'll miss the thing!

We at 4Words Media are helping Edmund's new venture "Davies Productions" get underway. Davies Productions will be a new theatre company producing innovative work and allowing all members of the communiy to participate, from curious amateurs to budding professional actors. Their first production, scheduled for early 2008, is "Goth Hamlet" which sounds like great fun!

seeking Ladyfest Reading collaborators

I've just about finished the first flyers which will hopefully be starting to appear around Reading in the coming week and a bit. The delay's been due to our printer breaking down, which happens, unfortunately...

We are looking to put on a Ladyfest in Reading. Ladyfests have been going since 2000 in various parts of the world, and are DIY festivals promoting gender equality in the arts and celebrating female creativity. We have three people involved, five acts who want to play/perform, and we've only just begun!

Send us a message if you'd like to get involved. We're looking at a weekend sometime in the spring of 2008, but hey, it's all up to you!

that's all for now...

Anzir @ 4Words Media