Nov 082013
 

By Sean McVeigh.

Radical Independence Campaign

Aberdeen’s Radical Independence Campaign (RIC) group will be hosting an open evening at 1830 in Woodside Fountain Centre on Thursday 14 November.

It will be a chance to discuss local issues and how they relate to Scottish independence, with people from diverse backgrounds.

RIC is hoping for plenty of questions and lively conversation about the kind of Scotland it wants to build.

The Radical Independence Conference will take place in Glasgow on Saturday 23 November. Last year’s conference attracted over 900 people from across Scotland. This year’s event is shaping up to be even bigger, with more discussion and more practical ideas.

Transport will be available from Aberdeen.

RIC is working for a Yes vote in 2014 as the first step towards a fairer, greener Scotland. It is built on six key visions:

  • Scotland can be a participative democracy, where no-one’s view is worth more because they have money.
  • Scotland can be a society of equality, where poverty is not accepted and tax redistributes wealth.
  • Scotland can be a just economy, where profit never justifies damaging people and the environment.
  • Scotland can be a great welfare state, where from cradle to grave society cares for all.
  • Scotland can be a good neighbour, where we seek to work with nations around the world to resolve global inequality, climate change and conflict.
  • Scotland can be a moral nation, where mutuality, cooperation and fellowship define our relationships.

RIC believes that UK politics has robbed Scotland from the Scottish people and that a Yes vote is the first step in getting it back.

RIC on facebook
Telephone: 07813085896

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Nov 052013
 

With thanks to Suzanne Kelly.

http://www.freefoto.com/preview/28-15-13/Road-Traffic-AccidentCome to Safe Drive Stay Alive 2013 and find out how your being in a road crash can have a massive impact on your friends, your family and the people who respond to emergencies.

In the past five years, 150 people have been killed in 134 collisions and 42 of those killed were in the 17-25 age group – don’t be next.

The event for S5 pupils in Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and Moray will be held in Aberdeen’s Beach Ballroom from Monday 4th November to Thursday 7th November.

A performance open to the public takes place on Wednesday 6th November at 7:15pm. It is free of charge and no ticket is necessary.

For more information, contact Kate Rigby:

Tel: 01467 628439
Email: kate.rigby@aberdeenshire.gov.uk

Images © http://www.freefoto.com

Nov 052013
 

Charles-Dickens-438x438By David Innes.

The newly-chartered Aberdeen Dickens Fellowship continues its examination of Bleak House at its upcoming meeting. We have now progressed to numbers 11-15, chapters 33–49.

The seminar will be introduced by Dr Dan Wall, who will speak on the serialisation of Bleak House.

The novel was published in 20 monthly instalments between March 1852 and September 1853, Dickens finding a ready and eager audience keen to discover the outcome of the plotline left hanging at the end of the previous monthly instalment.

Do I hear the syn-drums of the closing Eastenders theme tune?

Number 11 was published in January 1853 and number 15 in May of that year.

The meeting will be held at Grampian Housing, at the Huntly Street/Summer Street crossroads on Tuesday 12 November and will last from 1900-2100. The Grampian Housing car park provides ample free off-street parking.

Membership of the Fellowship for 2013-14 costs £20. Non-members can attend by paying £3 on the night.

Nov 052013
 

Enchanted Castle Fantasia 177With thanks to Dave Macdermid.

Tickets have now sold out for Saturday 23rd November at this month’s Enchanted Castle which takes place at Crathes Castle, the theme for which is
‘Wonderful, Weird and Magical’, organised by GM Events, in association with Petrofac.

The Enchanted Castle will take place between 5 pm and 9.30 pm on the evening of Wednesday 20th November through to Sunday November 24th with the opening night being an ‘adults only’ evening. 

Tickets for the remaining nights are on sale at Aberdeen Box Office, Union Street, 01224 641122 www.boxofficeaberdeen.com and also from the Woodend Barn in Banchory.

Adult tickets are £11 with concessions £9 and Under 16’s £5 (except on the Wednesday and must be accompanied by an adult). Entry is free for Under 5’s.

Nov 012013
 

Duncan Harley introduces This Is Me, a positive body image project based in NE Scotland, headed up by Jacqueline Fulton.

Calender Girls 176In 2013, the women of This Is Me have taken part in creating a Positive Body Image calendar for 2014, and it’s on sale soon.
The calendar will raise money for NEEDS & Body Gossip, promoting positive body image and being able to say,

THIS IS ME!

80% of us are unhappy with the way we look and 60% think negatively about our appearance. So says Wikipedia.

Many women feel threatened by the camera, the mirror and that man in their lives – Eric, John, Bryan or whatever his name is.

Fear no more, body image is a blast from the past. A singularly unhelpful mirror of who you thought you were, and a place where you don’t need to be again.

Women are bombarded with Photo-shopped images of perfection every day. The impossible seems possible; the possible seems achievable in every way. It’s generally crap.

The result? This Is Me is a positive body image campaign working to banish body shame, encouraging everyone to be the best version of themselves they can be and to rock their very own brand of gorgeous.

This Is Me is launching the charity calendar at the Albyn Bar, Aberdeen on Saturday 9 November at 1930. Entry is free, but bring a tenner for the calendar.

More at: https://www.facebook.com/events/496088990475310/?fref=ts

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Oct 172013
 

Singer Cindy Douglas has come up with a novel way of combining two of her passions – food and jazz – and serving them up to people in rural communities as pop-up jazz supper clubs. Photos by Alicia Bruce.

Cindy Douglas © Alicia BruceOn a recent trip to New York, Cindy observed that citizens of the Big Apple can go out for dinner and enjoy jazz at the same time in intimate and sophisticated surroundings, whereas jazz in Scotland tends to be presented in formal concert halls and arts centres or in pubs where the jazz is relegated to being background music.

Following the trend in larger towns and cities for pop-up cafes and restaurants, the Netherley-based singer has devised Eat to the Beat, a jazz supper club that will pop up initially in villages in Aberdeenshire and the Mearns.

On the menu will be great food from a roster of high-class chefs, and fine jazz from Cindy Douglas and her musicians, in locations where jazz concerts are a rarity. The plan is to roll out the project throughout Scotland and beyond.

I think of Ronnie Scott’s in London and The Blue Note and The Village Vanguard in New York, and these are places where food is part of the experience that makes going out more of an event,” says Cindy, whose singing style has been described as exuberant, mesmerising and versatile and whose repertoire covers jazz standards and original songs.

Village halls in Scotland may be miles away from these venues in every sense but I think we can give people in these communities an opportunity to socialise and make their night out one to remember for all the right reasons.”

Experience Eat to the Beat on

23 November 2013, 19:30
Auchenblae Village Hall,
Monboddo Street,
Auchenblae AB30 1XQ

Tickets: £25, includes a 2 course meal

29 November 2013, 19:30
Touched By Scotland,
Ryehill Cottage Oyne,
Insch, AB52 6QS

Tickets: £25, includes a 2 course meal

 

What the critics say about Cindy Douglas…

–          Singer-led jazz with a smile on its face. The Musician
–          The extremely talented vocalist sings with all her heart and soul and her glamorous voice reflects that. Jazz Beat, Voice of America
–          Explores everything from bebop to swing to world music … the song arrangements are full of captivating detail. Jazzwise

For further information on the Eat to the Beat pop-up jazz supper club, contact Cindy on 07840 884973 or by email at cindy@cindydouglas.co.uk

Website: www.cindydouglas.co.uk
Youtube: http://youtu.be/RpOO8LfPQR8
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CindyDouglasJazzVocals
Twitter: https://twitter.com/douglascindy

All pictures © Alicia Bruce

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Oct 152013
 

Following on from Timothy Neat’s Edinburgh Festival appearance at Summerhall, profiling his collaborations with John Berger, Peacock Visual Arts are proud to be hosting a major Retrospective of Neat’s life’s work, STANDS SCOTLAND WHERE SHE DID? from 27 September – 9 November 2013.

Martha Mackenzie, Scots Traveller, Fortinghall, November 1976 © Timothy Neat sq

Martha Mackenzie, Scots Traveller, Fortinghall, November 1976 © Timothy Neat

A stunning collection of photographs capturing experiences and relationships over a long life will be on show. Neat is a champion of the marginalized – Scottish Travelling People, Gaelic bards, salmon-netters, crofters, bee-keepers, horse breeders, Andalucian villagers, poets and artists.

Neat has worked closely with many leading Scottish figures – MacDiarmid, Sorley MacLean, Hamish Henderson, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Margaret Gardiner (Pier Arts Centre, Orkney) and the Fife singer Jean Redpath.

Also, Robert Burns and Charles Rennie Mackintosh!

Six of Neat’s films will be screened at The Belmont Picturehouse including:

Play me Something (1988), winner of the Europa Prize, Barcelona 1989. This 35mm feature film shot on the Isle of Barra and Venice, features John Berger, Tilda Swinton, Hamish Henderson and Liz Lochhead;

Journey to a Kingdom – Hamish Henderson returns to the North East of Scotland’ (1992).

(Hamish Henderson [1919-2002] was with the 51st Highland Division in North Africa and Italy and became a legendary figure amongst the Gordon Highlanders. This film originally made for Grampian Television documents Henderson’s work as a folklorist in the North East. Neat’s highly prasied two-volume biography of Henderson will be available after the film screening).

STAND SCOTLAND WHERE SHE DID? will be a major exhibition, featuring a new suite of screen-prints by Neat, published by Peacock Visual Arts, and original works by many of the major artists with whom he has collaborated over 50 years; years during which Scottish culture and politics have changed dramatically.

Guests attending the opening and closing events will have the opportunity to enjoy performances by some of Scotland’s best traditional musicians.

Alison McMorland and Geordie McIntyre will sing Hamish Henderson ballads and political songs at the opening on 27 September. On 9 November Elizabeth Stewart will sing some of the great ballads of the north east and Alastair Roberts, rising star of the modern folk scene in Scotland, will sing some of Neat’s own songs.

Peacock Visual Arts is proud to be able to present this Retrospective in Aberdeen, before various parts of the exhibition embark on an international tour, which may prove seminal during the year of the Scottish National Referendum.

To coincide with this Retrospective, Polygon (Edinburgh) has published a major book, ‘These Faces; photographs and drawings by Timothy Neat’, with an important introduction by John Berger.

FULL LIST OF EVENTS

Exhibition:

28 September – 9 November 2013

Exhibition Opening:

Friday 27 September, 6 – 8pm
With performances by Alison McMorland and Geordie McIntyre.

Film Screenings:

Sunday 29 September, from 6pm:

‘Journey to a Kingdom’ (52mins)
‘The Tree of Liberty’ (73mins)

Sunday 13 October, from 6pm:

‘Time is a Country’ (52mins)
‘Hallaig’ (64mins)

Sunday 27 October, from 6pm:

‘Rathad nan Ceard’ (30mins)
‘Play me Something’ (72mins)

Exhibition Closing Gig:

Friday 8 November, 7pm
Performances by Elizabeth Stewart and Alastair Roberts.

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Oct 142013
 

WOSWBanner2With thanks to Keith Byres .

For one weekend only, artists at Langstane Place will open their doors and showcase a wide variety of work including:  drawing, painting, photography, textiles, glass and installation.

Wasps Studios provide studio space for artists and makers across Scotland.

During the month of October 2013 we will be opening our studio spaces to the public and inviting you to come inside, meet artists in their working spaces and talk to them directly about their work.

Wasps Studios are at 36-48 Langstane Place, Aberdeen  AB11 6FB.

For more information about participating artists, venues and additional activities, please visit waspsstudios.org.uk

Sep 302013
 

The welcome return of Patrick Duff to the Silver City is upon us. On the 8th of October, The Blue Lamp once again plays host to one of the remarkable singer/songwriters of our times. Furthermore, Craig John Davidson has proven a perfect support to Patrick’s set on more than one occasion in 2013, notably in Bristol last month. Esther Green writes.

PatrickDuffFeat170Last April in Aberdeen, the setting proved ideal for this solo show: candle-lit, cavernous, calm. Patrick delighted the Blue Lamp audience members with tales from his varied and fascinating life and travels, as well as stunning them into silence as they absorbed his beautifully-crafted, deeply personal songs.

It’s a scene familiar to his ever-growing band of followers and friends: the poet singing boldly into the barely-lit gloom, into what Patrick himself has described as the “pin-drop atmosphere.

Nevertheless, each gig is a unique event. Patrick is an accomplished craftsman on the stage, gauging crowd reaction and always managing to find something new to excite, to make the night one to remember.

Patrick’s links with Aberdeen have been consolidated through his friendship with local singer/songwriter Craig John Davidson, of Fat Hippy Records.  The two met at The Blue Lamp at the April gig and each instantly found a kindred spirit in the other. This friendship and their complementary musical virtuosity guarantee another incredible night on the 8th of October.

In July, his Visions of the Underworld LP was released via pledgemusic.com.  Patrick is currently personalising the orders for this vinyl and download release.

A short Scottish tour featuring both Patrick and Craig, based around the Aberdeen gig, is being confirmed at the time of writing.

Patrick has been touring the UK for most of 2013 and continues successfully to tour Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. He is currently the subject of a documentary, charting his musical voyage.

Further reading/information.

Link to previous Aberdeen Voice article: https://aberdeenvoice.com/2013/04/dandy-of-the-underworld/

For recent video clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsQVg6AHfXA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BM2KpZUsr4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKdj8kEATLI

Order Visions of the Underworld:

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/patrickduff66

Recent Bristol 24-7 interview:

http://www.bristol247.com/2013/05/27/musician-patrick-duff-on-growing-up-in-bristol-and-his-creative-journey-so-far-84037/

St Paul’s Lifestyle interview clip and tour diary extracts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLg2qcGZJ5w&feature=player_embedded
http://www.stpaulslifestyle.com/articles/2013/08/19/patrick-duff-tour-diary-oldenburg/
http://www.stpaulslifestyle.com/articles/2013/08/11/patrick-duff-tour-diary-osnabruk/
http://www.stpaulslifestyle.com/articles/2013/08/09/patrick-duff/

For information and news, go to:

http://www.facebook.com/PatrickDuffArtist
https://twitter.com/patrick_duff

Craig John Davidson music and 57 North interview:

https://soundcloud.com/craig-john-davidson
http://57north.org/news/craig-john-davidson-interview

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Sep 172013
 

Moorings170With Thanks to Craig Adams.

The Moorings Bar is holding a reunion night for customers who attended during The Shep Era between 1965 and 1976.

The idea of a reunion was sparked when the bar launched a Facebook appeal for nostalgic photos.

A regular from the early 70s submitted a photo of previous owner Simpson Shepherd, and this led to much on-line dialogue and reminiscing.

A few weeks later some of the regulars from 40 years ago visited the bar on a Saturday afternoon and met with current owner Craig Adams, they then floated the concept of a reunion party, with the Sunday of the September holiday weekend earmarked as a suitable date.

Craig, who has a love of 60s and 70s music, then organised The Palmer Eldritch Band to perform, and also volunteered his services as a DJ.

The reunion takes place on Sunday 22nd of September at 8pm.  Tickets are £4 advance from either The Moorings Bar or Box Office Aberdeen, or £5 on the door.

Ticket sales have been strong, with over a hundred sold to date.

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