AB FAB

December 12, 2006

The absolutely fabulous Old Stile Press (that's stile, not style, as in the old stile which is in their garden in Wales) run by my friends Nicolas and Frances McDowall, now has a blog/journal which you must visit and put on your blogroll immediately. Not only because today they have posted photos of Dream and Variations (purchased from me some time ago) but because their journal is full of interesting pictures and notes about this two-person private press, the artists and writers they publish, and their current projects. Nicolas does all the designing and printing on his collection of hand-presses and other equipment and Frances, as well as often making the paper, looks after administration and business and cooking and exhibiting at book fairs, etc. etc. They are a formidable team who have for many years produced consistently high quality books which are prized and collected world wide. I am proud to be on the list of artists they have published (see Revelation) and love visiting them in Llandogo where they live a charmed life, in surroundings of uncommon peace, beauty and joy in the work of one's hands.


Page from Dream & Variations by NdA. Collection of Frances & Nicolas Mc Dowall. Click to see the rest.

Meanwhile back in the technological world, the part of the BBC Imagine programme in which I appear has been made into a YouTube clip by the ab fab frizzy logic and you can see it on her blog right now, as well as her accurate review of the show.

Stuart, of Feeling Listless has put together a thoroughly researched list of links to everything and everyone who took part in that BBC programme (www.herecomeseverybody.co.uk) and Kim of Mildly Diverting has some diverting things to say about how she helped out in this production.


As I keep on saying and being contradicted: the way I looked on the Beeb causes such shock-horror in me that it's become an allergy. Fortunately the little Something-Stupid home movie restores a bit of self-esteem and I can accept that this is me, whereas the ghoul on Imagine is, I kid you not, not me. Thank you for not watching Natalie on Imagine. Nuff said on this topic. 

A VIDEO THANKS TO YOU ALL

It's about time I gave credit where credit is due. If it weren't for you who come here often, or once in a while, or who drop by and move on, or who never comment but are silently present- if it weren't for you all I would probably have stopped blogging long ago and this thing, this home-on-the-web, would not exist. The cartoon interviews, the autobiography etc. etc. might never have come into being if you weren't here with me. So I made a little video for you last night.

(to see the video go to the main Blaugustine blog)

DOES MY EGO LOOK BIG IN THIS?

First the bad news. It's official: I'm an oldie. It didn't fully hit home until I saw myself on TV last night so thanks a lot BBC. Like I needed this revelation. My mirror must have a filter which conceals the unpalatable truth as does the kindness/blindness of friends and strangers. So you have been warned: when last night's "Imagine" is up on the net, you will no longer be able to imagine me as a cute cartoon person. My other gripe is that they didn't show more of my cartoon self.
Now the good news. The programme was excellent and informative about the cultural revolution that the internet has created and I'm pleased to have been included. Since yesterday, my blog hits shot up to about 300 (okay, that's what some of you get in an hour) and maybe some of these new visitors will stick around but the more you learn about internet fame the more you realise it's unpredictable as the weather. Anyway I had a some friends round last night for moral support which they generously provided, along with compliments, wine, chocolates etc. Thanks to them and to you, my online mates, I can now face the rest of today without brooding about the bags under the eyes, the twisty mouth, the uncertain chin, etc. In the end, vanity rules. 

CELEBRATION TIME IS NEARLY HERE

Finished finished finished at last - the colour and black & white versions of all images for the God Interviews book. Now I just have to add some text at beginning and end, design the cover then upload the whole shebang to lulu.com. Apparently the holiday deadline for shipping books to the UK is December 8 - can I do it in four days?? Maybe and maybe not. Below is the (almost) final title page. This is not the cover. What do you think?

And tomorrow night, just in case anyone has forgotten, is my BBC televison appearance - heh heh heh heh heh. It's about time the media took some interest in me. I've been around the block so many times I can't recognise the blocks on the block. If you're in the UK don't miss "Imagine" on BBC1 at 10:35pm. If you're anywhere else, wait for it to be uploaded on the net.

(the rest is on my main blog, Blaugustine).

TEACHING

Since I've been working from home for a long time rather than in places where you must arrive at an early hour after a long journey by sardine-packed train or traffic-jammed bus, and since the dawn is usually the time I go to bed rather than when I wake up, early morning work experience is something I've nearly forgotten about.

To read the rest follow the link to my main blog.

FIRST TIME EFFECT

This month's theme in the excellent online literary magazine qarrtsiluni is: The First Time , which spurred me to dig further back into my memory. I came up with "The Effect" - another chapter for the autobiography, I suppose, but one I hadn't thought of writing down before. Knowing that your stuff will be read by someone somewhere certainly acts as a stimulus - why not send them your own experience of a first anything in your life?

HOT NEWS*** AUGUSTINE ON THE BBC*** ADVANCE NOTICE***

Anybody would think this was a world-shaking event, the way I go on about it but anyway, just in case you want to put this in your diary, like, today:

Tuesday, December 5, 2006: BBC 1, 10:35 pm, "IMAGINE" (featuring approx. two and half minutes of me and Augustine somewhere within the 50 minutes of the whole excellent programme. So don't go to the bathroom or make a cup of tea because you will miss my bit).

For those sadly unable to access the wonderful BBC, fear not. They will give me a DVD of the programme and techno types will tell me how to get it up on a computer screen so that it will be viewable anywhere in the known virtual universe. I may be sorry for making such a big deal out of this after I've seen myself onscreen but, like I always say, better be sorry than safe.

(to read the rest follow the link to Blaugustine's main blog)

THERE'LL BE CHAMPAGNE CLINKING IN AMERICA TONIGHT

NOT THE SOUND OF MUSIC

If you've missed me, and I hope so, you can actually hear me, being interviewed over transatlantic phone tonight by Chris Rittke of 49sparks.

I didn't realise that I say "you know" quite so often or that I've got a frog up my nose and sound like an especially irksome adolescent but I was aware of my habit of butting in before the person I'm talking with has finished their sentence. Ay ay ay! Sorry, Chris, and thanks for being polite and not telling me off. My excuse is that in my family everybody talked all at once and everyone had strong views and you didn't stand a chance of being heard unless you interrupted.

This interview came about because the talented Lucy Pepper (formerly known as Vitriolica, currently wowing audiences at Blogzira ) was recently interviewed at 49sparks (listen to her lilting English voice there). She it was who told Chris how wondrous Augustine and I are and so it came to pass.

Now you have been warned, go and listen but don't hold it against me. When that BBC programme comes out (due on November 28 but they'll let me know ahead of time and you can bet I'm not going to let anyone forget it) I hope I'm not going to come across as so ...er... bolshy. I don't know if that's the right term. Ay ay ay.

This week - yes this week - I'm going to post another episode of the autobiography. Stick around.