Yellow Rattle
Non-descript this tiny yellow flower may be but after years of waiting this little indicator plant finally emerged from our wild-flower meadow this month. Yellow Rattle; aka Cockscomb; aka the meadow maker (Rhinanthus minor) will suck the life out of the choking grasses and give the flowers the headstart they need.
Welshpool Poetry Festival
Bragging rights for Gillian Clarke here as she appeared on the same bill as me. I was also host and compere at two Poetry Sessions at the Talbot Inn during the same weekend.
Liberated Words
Yay! My film-poem “Numbers” showing here tomorrow night. And page 5 of the brochure is my favourite… I can see me putting on a clean shirt soon despite it only being June.
Erbacce
BUGGERING BOLLOCKS II. There’s a Martin Evans of Powys, Wales on the Erbacce long short-list. 100 out of 8,000 entries. Powys isn’t that big a county. I feel I ought to know him.
The Dray man cometh
A foray into animation – the drayman heads for Malin Head- it’ll only take a minute (and 13 seconds) off your life, I promise.
Dolly Grip
“My life as a Dolly Grip” by Martin Evans comes out in paperback sometime. Two films in one, recorded at St. Asaph Cathedral yesterday – with 3 supremely talented opera soloists : Neil Balfour, Isabelle Peters & Alexandra Lowe singing from Cosi Fan Tuti with the consumately professional Annette Parri piano accompaniment.
One is to be a tail section to a 2 year long film project of which I’m embarrassed to say I am the subject. And the other is promo video for the singers involved. The amazing Rhys Edwards of Felinheli was the producer/director/camera. I pushed the trolley 😉
Numbers
A film-poem. Numbers stations, broadcasting on shortwave frequencies around the world were largely believed to be the work of cold war spy agencies. Today, they have all but stopped. This one, broadcasting in Welsh is an exception.
This film has just been accepted for screening at the Liberated Words “Utopia/Dystopia” event at Bath Fringe Festival in June.
Astronaut sighted at the New Lawn
Something is afoot – Welsh astronaut, Dilwyn Griffiths, who has a penchant for fifth tier non-league football recently sighted at the Forest Green Rovers vs Wrexham match. Conspiracy theorists point out that he is supposed to be stranded on Jupiter’s ice moon Europa!!!
Wenlock Poetry Festival
Yay!* Great weekend at Wenlock Poetry Festival. And the autographed busk sheet worth as much as 48p more now it has me on it. The busk event skilfully and agreeably hosted in its sub-antarcticity** by Liz Lefroy
** It was sodding freezing.
Harbinger of a bleak mid-summer
This ageing electric blanket, still plugged in and waiting by my bed will decide *your* summer.
That’s right. I took it off the bed but left it on the floor as the weather holds mild.
Should I dare to put it away until next year, guarantee I will have to re-install it again come the weekend. And the coldest, wettest summer-that-never-was awaits us all. Do you see my dilemma?