deek deekster: innit » podcastfeed

Honeysuckle

deek — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:57:55 +0000

After a little under five years, the honeysuckle I planted on my city balcony is in flower – the sweet smell of consistent watering.

Whatever it was I said before, don’t believe it

deek — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:00:02 +0000

Driving in the Troodos mountains, Cyprus, with GGF, breathing clean, pine-scented air, soaked in mediterranean sun, I saw tree-lined valleys falling away before us into a heat-haze distance, and instantly asked that we stop and take in the view. I felt the unmistakable urge to listen to what this place might have to say. I took a few pictures, and then I started to make a video.

I didn’t prepare this little sermon on the mount – it was spontaneous. Speaking mirthfully of the truth, I was taken by surprise when the truth was actually revealed to me.

As a result of making this video, and being so simply reminded about what matters, since returning from Cyprus at the end of April I have completely and systematically revised my work methods and returned to some long-held but temporarily obscured aims. I’m still not 100% certain of how it happened, but I am bloody glad that it did. It won’t show for a few months yet, but the pieces are now in place, and I am happy to post this video to sort of explain why I have changed, if not quite how.

Wish me luck, I might just need it.

Pompidou, Pompidon’t

deek — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:08:46 +0000

A muse in front of the Paris temple of modern art, the Centre Pompidou, on being an artist, or not.

Yet Another Twitter Balloon

deek — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:56:45 +0000

follow deekdeekster at http://twitter.com
developed by korelab

Bunhill Row – Hill of Bones

deek — Sun, 11 May 2008 22:03:44 +0000

Bunhill Row, London, an old Quaker burial ground, dating back to the sixteenth century is the resting place of great author and artist William Blake, and Daniel Defoe, creator of the seminal castaway, Robinson Crusoe.

I dropped in to pay some respects to these great architects, on my way back from celebrating Bangladeshi New Year.

The “D” Word

deek — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:20:00 +0000

Discipline. The dirty word that gets me out of bed in the morning, and into bed at night.

Flat 34 #10: Thinking Twice

deek — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 03:36:11 +0000

In this episode, I question the whole deal – to move, or not to move? and visit Brighton to make up my mind.

Flat 34 #9: Shit and Philosophy

deek — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 02:20:29 +0000

Shit happens. Shit hits the fan. Shit gets stuck to your shoe and makes a bad smell. It’s how you deal with it that counts. Do you clean your shoe or blame the pavement? Do you shoot the dog or insist the owner gets training?

Flat 34 #8: Food

deek — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 08:39:44 +0000

Islington Farmers Market happens every Sunday behind the town hall. Good quality fruit and veg make all the difference to surviving the city.

Flat 34 #7: Holloway Road

deek — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 17:33:41 +0000

The Holloway Road, the A1, red river of metal that cuts through Islington like a molten tributary, runs from Highbury Corner up to Archway, whence it continues to Edinburgh, Scotland. After 24 years, I have mixed feelings about this place, as this episode of Flat 34 explains.

Conveyancing Update

deek — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 10:12:08 +0000

A quick update on the move to Brighton.

Flat 34 #6: Underground

deek — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:44:08 +0000

I discuss the roots of my caring for the domestic environment, and then engage with the real world by going underground, traveling to work on London’s tube.

Flat 34 #5: Holes

deek — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 23:00:38 +0000

London in the rain: an exploration of the holes of Islington. Contains less trees than it did when I made it.

Flat 34 #4: Clean

deek — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 02:12:54 +0000

Getting down and dirty means keeping it clean and tidy… episode 4 of the Flat34.com podcast.

Flat 34 #3: Deek Central

deek — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 01:11:26 +0000

Deek Central, Benchcam and more from the Art Lavatory.

Flat 34 #2: Coffee

deek — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 01:01:15 +0000

Friendship makes personal demands upon us, even as it generously donates its rewards… episode two of the Flat 34 video podcast. Contains coffee.

Flat 34 #1

deek — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 10:03:04 +0000

Episode 1 of my new video podcast, in which I begin the long goodbye to my home for the last 24 years.

Islington / Book / Cover

deek — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 07:44:59 +0000

I’ll be moving out of London in less than a month, all being well, and I’m starting to muse about being here, leaving here, and how to mark the passing of this major phase in my life and the beginning of a new one.

The Hat of Enlightenment

deek — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 08:41:17 +0000

In which I question the fad for asking open-ended questions in order to seem wise.

Instant Cheese

deek — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:59:37 +0000

In response to Lloyd Davis’ excellent rendition of the song, “Fly Me To The Moon” I made the following video on Seesmic.

Boston: Behind the Scenes

deek — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 08:42:01 +0000

I went to Boston, USA, to visit my friend Sonia, and to attend PodCamp Boston. It was an entirely different kind of new media affair from PodCamps EU, UK or Ireland. Three days long, very populated, highly sponsored, over-organised, situated in a huge convention centre in the old dockland area of South Boston in a remote, cavernous modern building devoid of any decent nutrition, much of the presentation was well-meaning and educational, but the event was nonetheless mostly about people self-consciously attempting to produce meaningful content which will vie with the Big Boys and wondering when that is actually going to happen. (Stage whisper: not any time soon…) The highlight was Lolsaurs, in which the lunatics took over the asylum.

I kept a pretty low profile, which suited me this time, and was pleased just to hang out, catch up with old friends, and make new friends.

This is a 54 minute camera phone movie, shot on my (now elderly) Sony Ericsson k800i, best served with a squeeze of lemon.

Kilkenny

deek — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 00:12:00 +0000

I went to Kilkenny, Ireland at the end of September, hung out with a bunch of friends and generous new media people, and made this 30 minute movie about the experience.

Check out the photos here.

Sheringham Road Light

deek — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 22:29:43 +0000

At this time of year the angle of the sun changes and Islington’s long Victorian streets look quite astonishing.

I made this video in Sheringham Road, N7.

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The Islington Bubble

deek — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 08:18:48 +0000

“Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford,” quoted Boswell of Samuel Johnson. But he didn’t live in Islington, 2007, with the lifestyle becoming ever more precarious.

This weekend, a long muse on the mixed feelings I have about where I live, the London Borough of Islington, an idyllic urban bubble in the middle of the insane British capital.

Funk

deek — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 22:18:58 +0000

I finally got time after almost a month and a half to make another Funk podcast. I included an interview I did with Mr Lagowski, he of the techno-anarcho-buddhism and familial kindness.

I called it the “Dark Techno / Raw Funk London Mashup” and also posted that phrase an hour ago on Twitter. Let’s see whether this blog post beats Twitter to that phrase appearing for the second time in Google.

It’s not quite a Googlewhack, which is two words according to the established rules. I did recently get a Googlewhack on the term, Greebious Hoofious – try it – although it’s gone beyond just the single reference by now.

Duck Weather

deek — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:06:37 +0000

We haven’t seen such dark, water-bearing summer skies as this for a long time. It’s difficult to concentrate – we’re not used to this monsoon weather, at this latitude.

They The Wedia

deek — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:03:16 +0000

A mysterious pregnancy. May contain broadcasters.

Girls Of Today

deek — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 08:19:01 +0000

I was cycling back from the party last night, and I had not one but three song ideas one after the other. Of course, I recorded them all on my phone. And then, as I came past Mount Pleasant sorting office, where brave postal workers have recently been striking for a living wage, I found myself spontaneously articulating a poem about girls, boys and glitter. Quite why it arrived in a Scottish accent beats me – perhaps it’s a sign of long-held regard for the great William McGonagall.

Chinwag: First and Second Life

deek — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 22:46:08 +0000

Camera phone walk through the Big Summer Party held by Chinwag. At the same time, we’re throwing the virtual version in Second Life.

The Count of crookula 23:56
i had at least five comments saying it was the best sound quality they had ever heard

Denial: The Nicotine Addict

deek — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 18:05:18 +0000

In the first day of the smoking ban in England, Norwegian bass player, nicotine, sex and coffee addict Sjur Opsal discusses his addictions in the pub, smoking his last cigarette.

Contains explicit sexual references and scenes of drug usage: not suitable for the innocent.

Two Bikes

deek — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 09:05:09 +0000

You can’t point a camera anywhere these days without people noticing – they are too switched on, especially kids. Whether that’s because their protective elders have terrified them into paedophile paranoia, or whether it’s just because they are naturally smart and observant, I cannot tell.

Still, there I was a few days ago, framing some sun-and-shadow which was looking particularly nice from my study window, and on cue, a couple of bikes came into view, propelled by the legs of children. I kept the camera still; I was four floors up and silent; but as the second child passes through the frame, notice how she waves for the camera. I didn’t notice her noticing me, but then, I was busy with the camera.

I’m now wondering whether either her parents, the police or an invoice is going to show up.