Cubelog

Well it may look like this is my blog, but it really is the Cube blog - I am just Thä Möderätör.

Yes, I do post a lot - but it’s just to keep it going. It really is meant to be for anyone Cube related ( which means you if your reading this ) to add whatever Cube musings they have . . .

I mention this because I’ve had 2 posts to pass on by email, which you will find below ( it’s no real problem for me to do this - and I’m happy to help with hosting and optimising images, and indeed post stuff that has been sent by email like this but . . . as a general way of doing things I’d rather give people a login and let people post direct to get more varied perspectives, and a more varied set of poster’s name at the top . . ! ).

Anyway here they are uneditted and in order of apperance, first from Mark Float . . .

“thought you might like to put this on the blog too
it’s a pic from dead inventive, at the cube a couple of weeks ago. an excellent night it was & hal (organiser, pictured) decided to sing a song about his vision of perfect happiness before leaping into a field of geraniums from atop a ladder. here’s the moment>>>

mark”

And secondly From Richie Paradise, talking about the bit of the Orchestra that happened before I got there on Wednesday . . .

“ok amigo piccies, we did some totally spaced out made up stuff and then decided to play piggie in the middle where someone wlaked into the middle or stood up in marcus’ case and they started off the tune, despite small turn out i thought it was godd yesterday.
thought young jack did really well

agree wholeheratily with yo comments about electro kit , say yeahhhhhhhhhh
ciao

Rich”

Now, please someone who was able to see Herman Dune & Good Friends: Evening 1
last night tell us what it was like !

As part of Alias Encounters - related to Alias Arts, which The Cube is involved with via our advisor Mister Graeme Hogg - a group from the Cube went on a trip to Sidmouth on Sunday.

I travelled there with Shereene, Ali and Ewan in the Cube car - Ali & Shereene in the front engaged in adult conversation about aliments and Ewan and me in the back doing drawings and talking about Star Wars.

On arriving we walked along the pier up to the Encounter’s starting point outside the Radway Cinema . . .

Starting off with a (mis) guided tour from Phil Smith from Wrights & Sites . . .

We followed in mind and leg into and out of the cinema with tales of Quatermass 2 . . .

Up quite a steep hill . . .

with a choice brief reading from H.P. Lovecraft featuring extra-terrestrial language .

Concluding with a bewildering description of the uncomputable complexities of the currents swirling far beneath us at the centre of the earth . . .

. . . in front of a rather strange misty landscape . . .

. . . the small alien-looking domes of the Norman Lockyer Observatory.

Unfortunately, the mist meant we weren’t going to see any thing outside our own planet through the telescopes, but it certainly created an interesting atmosphere.

Meanwhile Annabel and assistants were already inside preparing the refreshments . . .

After which we entered the Planetarium . . .

. . . for an talk and demonstration from Copernicus look-a-like and Artist-Astronomer Dick, and “I always have my tools in the van” man / astronomer and enthusiast Alan. Both, though mainly Dick, incorporated various “Astronomer’s Jokes” into their talks.

Dick was brilliant at knowing the precise distances of various heavenly bodies from the sun, but his ‘explanation’ of a parsec was baffling.

We saw some astonishing images and Alan fielded many questions from Marvin and Ewan - well Marvin asked lots of questions, Ewan seem to just ask one - “Why isn’t there a constellation called Prince Charles’ Pants?”.

Alan didn’t know.

After the planetarium talks we were split into 2 groups for a tour of the telescopes. Our group was lead by the very knowledgeable, though slightly severe, Cathleen ( outright winner of the laserpen battle pointing out precise constellations just previously in the planetarium ) . . .

And so back down to Sidmouth town via the help of ‘taxi_onomy’ an artists’ collaboration using a black London cab.

We walked through Sidmouth in search of a chip shop . . .

. . . for that seaside chips experience to round it all off.

The town was incredibly quiet for any night of the week, let alone a Saturday.

From the menu I had local delicacy “Cheese and Chips” ( ! ). Shereene who used to have holidays there assured us this is a regular thing.

Ali, who was the last Cuber to leave the observatory site said that he and Annabel saw the mist clear just enough at the end to reveal a single star in the sky . . .

We arrived back in Bristol gone 1am, in our absence swinging inside the Cube had been Campari Safari.

I just popped in briefly in documentary mode for the Orchestra today ( due to busy-ness, bussy-ness that also meant I had to miss Dance for The Camera later on which featured on of my old S&H films - doh! ).

Glad I made a bit of the OC, but sad I hadn’t brought some kit as the skewed jazzy stuff I heard would have been great for some drunken trumpet scratching . . . I did contribute something though - a small bit of tentative conducting at the end.

It was also notable for the first Orchestra Cube outing of Richie’s electronic kit, which provided much fun with sampled sounds, which I always like.

Mark was meant to be there to brief the Orchestra about Venn - - - by phone I got the following details . . .

The orchestra should assemble for 6pm at The Cube on Saturday the 4th of June.

Then proceed in a performing procession to The Malcolm X Centre, concluding with a stationary performance on the steps.

All amplification should be battery based - possibly Tom Bugs will be able to help in this.

The whole venture should take between 25 and 45 minutes, and the route is yet to be formulated, but there is talk of an audio recording of Peter to conduct the way . . .

Apparently Jesse knows more about this . . .

This blog doesn’t just happen, oh no.

Yes, it’s hard toil and sweat and adrenaline behind the sweet facade.

Thanks to Kate for implementing a neat little hack that helps in deleting the 100s of spam posts that pour in each day prior to the wordpress upgrade, thanks to Tom and his swift helpful advice and well advised help.

Later on Thursday I went to meet old Bristolian ( presently in Kent ) and sometime Cube frequenter, Phil Hall who was down for the Animated Encounters festival. On the way I encoutered Fr�n�ois and Mark . . .

. . . who were on their way to work at the Cube - Fr�n�ois behind the bar and Mark putting in an all too rare Asteroth appearance rescoring the 1949 film “Alcohol and the Human Body“. I had hope to catch this with Phil but we ended up elsewhere doing our own research into the same topic - Phil had been asked at the last minute in provide a pitch for the “Cartoon Network Gong Show” ( details on the A&E site. ) in exchange for free tickets accommodation and, to a larger extent drink, in particular the produce of sponsors bath ales . . .

. . . haphazard badgery messiness ensued, via a free bar at Byzantium and concluding with Pizza at Renato’s with, unless they were fibbing, the Director of The National Film & Television School and a fighter pilot.

It looked like the woman who was looking after everyone did a runner after getting them to the restaurant, but I think it only looked like it . . .

The next day, Friday, after checking out the exhibition at Centerspace, I did make it to The Cube for the Electrotrash night, and was surpised the effect a few packets of McCoy’s Salt and vinegar crisps can have on a room on people previously all in front of computer screens . . .

Though I did see some one or two interesting things on computer screens, mind.

Got even busier later, including the arrival of birthday boy Hogge.

As sometimes happens, I was one of the last to leave - this time with Lady and Tom Taylor . . .

Tom, down to do projections for . . . Animated Encounters