Not all those who wonder are lost
and no, it isn't a typo.
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Raspberry Cupcakes
(can also be made as muffins or a cake)
- 150gr FLOUR
- 1tsp BAKING POWDER
- 70gr SUGAR
- 1 EGG
- 1/2 cup YOGURT
- 50gr WHITE CHOCOLATE CHUNKS
- RASPBERRIES
In a bowl, whisk flour and baking powder until combined. In a separate bowl mix butter and sugar, then add the egg and whisk well until light and fluffy. Add the flour one spoonful at a time, alternating with the yogurt. Stir in the chocolate chunks and transfer to baking cases filling them up about 3/4. Place a few raspberries on top of each cupcake and press lightly in.
Bake in the oven at 180’C (Gas Mark 4) for 20mins or until golden.
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Scottish Fiction
It isn’t in the mirror
It isn’t on the page
It’s a red-hearted vibration
Pushing through the walls
Of dark imagination
Finding no equation
There’s a Red Road rage
But it’s not road rage
It’s asylum seekers engulfed by a grudge
Scottish friction
Scottish fiction
It isn’t in the castle
It isn’t in the mist
It’s a calling of the waters
As they break to show
The new Black Death
With reactors aglow
Do you think your security
Can keep you in purity
You will not shake us off above or below
Scottish friction
Scottish fiction
Edwin Morgan (1920-2010) / Idlewild
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Evan S. Connell - ‘Mrs Bridge’
‘She had never actually cared one way or another about his ambition, she had cared only for him’
http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0„9780141198651,00.html?strSrchSql=mrs+bridge%2A/Mrs_Bridge_Evan_S._Connell
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On London and Being a Londoner
I like to think of myself as a Londoner. Maybe it’s a bit presumptuous but I do feel the sense of belonging, and it fills me up with joy and hope. Being a Londoner is turning a corner and knowing what you’ll see before you actually see it. Being a Londoner is turning a corner and being surprised by what you find there, a smile cracking open on your face in wonder and disbelief. Beauty is everywhere in this city, and I’ve never felt at home like this anywhere else. London has sucked me in in a very short time and has made me part of it.
The city doesn’t need you, it’s true. It’ll find someone else to chew on in no time. But there’s little things you’ll leave behind. Just like that tiny Buddha still laughing in the attic, there will be objects in London to testify that you, at some stage, were there. And somewhere in a flat in East London there’s still that kettle you bought in Willesden Green when you first arrived..
Am I ever going to be ‘finished with London’?
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Craig Taylor - ‘Londoners’
I decided to buy this book after hearing a lot of buzz about it, which led me to attend an event with the author. I immediately loved the idea, or the question rather, behind the book: what makes a Londoner? It’s more difficult than you’d think. Who can really claim to be one? And what is London to the very people this city is made up of? What does London mean to them?
I tried to answer to all of the above myself and came up with some fairly ironic and naive ideas. Then I started reading. It was a bit difficult to read on at times (especially at the beginning) because I would constantly compare the narrators’ stories with my own and London hasn’t always been a happy place to me..
It was a great read though - I love the fact that there’s so many different stories in just one book. Each one is something special, and you do feel a real connection, or even affection at times for some of the narrators.
I found this book very moving but equally funny. It was great to read about people I’d never have thought about, great to find out about shades of London I wasn’t aware of, great to read genius quotes and observations from random strangers.
But the question remains.. Am I a Londoner or not?
I like to think of myself as one. London is a very special, absolutely unique place. You can make of it what you think, and the same goes for Londoners.
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Gerhard Richter: Panorama - Tate Modern
I’ve always been a bit sceptical when it comes to contemporary art. I’ve come across so much rubbish over the years (the Turner Prize is, unfortunately, one of the best examples) that it’s all gone to support a sad and nostalgic theory of mine: contemporary art is nothing but pretentious nonsense. There have been exceptions, of course, so I’m still trying to keep an open mind - but if something doesn’t catch my eye then I don’t bother and just walk past.
With this in mind, on Saturday night I went to see the Gerhard Richter exhibition at Tate Modern. Well, it was a particularly extraordinary exception to the rule! In a word: WOW. I found it truly inspiring, special, enchanting almost. I loved the grey works and the photographic black&white canvas more than the colourful abstract paintings, but every room had something remarkably beautiful and worth spending some time on. He pretty much shattered all of my preconceptions and gave me a completely new perspective to look at abstract works and modern art objects from. The mirror, the ball, the glass panes - who would have thought they were actually worth some attention, and could turn into something meaninful? certainly not me.
Richter’s style has changed so much overtime - it was a treat to go from one room to another and discover how his research into art and his experimentation with different techniques have evolved. I also do like an artist with a sense of humour, and who scatters a bit of irony throughout his works. One of my favourites is this one, called ‘Tourist (with two lions)’:
On top of being very fond of the two gorgeous lions, I inappropriately giggle at the idea of the tourist in the title (or at least part of it) being likely to rest inside the lions’ tummies..
To add to the magic, Tate Modern is fairly empty on a Saturday night so I had a chance to take my time around the paintings and to read all captions and introductions with hardly anyone around. The silence, stillness and quiet do change the experience considerably.
If you get a chance go catch this while it’s still on:
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/gerhardrichter/default.shtm
If not, you might want to book a weekend in Berlin or Paris for 2012.. I promise it’s worth it.
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Greg Baxter - ‘The Apartment’
‘She would always suspect that love was a kind of repulsive, debilitating madness [..] far from being the source of ultimate happiness, it was extreme unhappiness masquerading as happiness, a temporary euphoria that felt wonderful for a little while, then killed you, like freezing to death.’
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The Kills - O2 Academy Brixton
I went to see The Kills last night. They’re incredible live, they got us all dancing in no time. They had four drummers lined up behind them playing and moving in sync, plus a 6-piece gospel choir which would join in on some of the songs for some astonishing backing vocals. I was very impressed with acoustics and lights as well - all in all an absolutely brilliant show. They mostly played songs from Blood Pressures and Midnight Boom, which are in my opinion their best albums so far. The live versions are all very good, I’d say U.R.A. Fever was quite possibly the most amazing. Everyone just went wild, down at the front is was mainly girls and they were all dancing and headbanging like crazy. It was good fun. Jamie and Alison are as cool on stage as they are in videos and photos. I loved the way he was smiling throughout, whereas she just acted like the rockstar she is. They’re something very special together. Go on, just look at them!
Definitely one of the best (if not the best) concerts I’ve been to this year.
