Rain, Rain, Go Away

Sometimes it feels like there's never any good weather in Cardiff.  I wish I was back in the south of France.

Nice, January 2012

The End of the Road

I got some photos developed from the summer, including a couple of pictures from the End of the Road festival.  I think that half of the joy of film cameras is having to wait to see the photos.  By the time that you get them back you’ve almost forgotten and when you look through them you see all of the things you did and it’s like living them all over again.

 

End of the Road is a small festival in north Dorset and was honestly such a good weekend that I almost don’t want to ruin it by making it bigger by telling people how great it was.  Not only was there a fantastic line up of dreamy, folky music, the festival had a cinema tent, comedy, stalls of vintage clothes, books and jewellery and some of the best food I have eaten this year.  Above everything was the care that had been taken on even the smallest things.  There was a trail through the woods covered in fairy lights and plaster fairy children which was just so magical, sculptures where you least expected  them and even live peacocks.  Almost every band commented on how beautiful and well done the festival was.

 

The music was a combination of bands I love and bands that I now love having seen them.  Alabama Shakes played an awesome set as the sun set on the Saturday night, and I’m pretty sure that Brittany Howard is the only person in the world that can say things like ‘The sun’s gone down, it’s time to rock and roll!’ whilst sounding genuinely awesome and not clichéd.  A very receptive but slightly sweaty crowd greeted Mercury Prize nominees Alt-J in the Big Top Tent, where they played from their successful debut album.  Cold Specks and Grizzly Bear both played really good sets and First Aid Kit’s cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s America was so beautiful (listen to it here).  Although Dirty Beaches synth blew half way through a song they recovered well and I spent a happy hour lying in the sun listening to the Deep Dark Woods.

Beach House played on the Woods Stage on the Friday night and they were incredible.  It was fully dark and they were backlit for most of the set with the whitest of light – all you could see was their glowing silhouettes.  Their music, so dreamy and moving, mixed with the darkness and all those people (and possibly the gin I’d been drinking) created this amazing atmosphere.  I didn’t want them to ever stop playing.

Another clear highlight was Patti Smith, who played on the Sunday night. She has such a talent for performance, I honestly think that she’s the coolest person in the world. She stormed through her set urged on by cheers from an adoring crowd, leaving with the words ‘Have a good festival, have a good night, and have a good fucking life. Live life, work hard, be free.’

 

 

A Defence of the Kindle

People are often surprised when they find out that I have a kindle. I suppose in many ways I am completely typical of the kind of person that would hate them. I study English Literature. I write with a fountain pen. I wear vintage clothes, take photos on film and listen to records. I'm not into technology – I have had the same phone since I was fourteen and cannot see the point in the iPad. And yet I that the kindle is absolutely amazing.

My main problem with books is that they take up so much room. Well, one book doesn't but if you're like me and can't see a Waterstones without popping in then the books tend to accumulate and slowly, slowly take over. Although I've moved out, my parents haven’t converted my bedroom into something exciting like a private cinema or studio – mainly because they have nowhere else to store the books I cannot fit in my new house. Every time I move I break my back filling box after box with paperbacks I've picked up here and there. When I was a child I was limited to only taking one book on holiday as, had I been given the choice, it would have been a suitcaseful. So when the kindle came out my mum told me that I just had to get one. (This has by no means put a stop to my book buying though, merely slowed it.)

The design is amazing. I'm not exactly sure how it works but the screen is created to look as much like a page as possible. There is no backlight so it doesn't hurt your eyes and you soon forget that it's not paper in your hands. It's easy to work and smaller and lighter than most books. Plus you can buy books anywhere that has Wi-Fi, and although you can no longer meet the man of your dreams when he asks you about Dorian Gray, (500) Days of Summer style, you can now finally read Harry Potter on the train without feeling like a big kid.

My mum's favourite feature is that you can increase the font size. It's true that you can get many books in large print, however most of these books are by Barbara Cartland or about Kipper the Dog – which is fine, if that's what you like. But my mum doesn't. She's interested in lots of things – art and geology and natural history – and although her eyes are getting worse, her mind is not. This feature of the kindle is perfect for her, by allowing her to read all the things that she wants too, comfortably.

My sister also has a problem with finding books she can read. This is because she lives abroad, and while this is interesting and new and exciting it does have a few drawbacks. Not being able to buy party rings is one. Having only one bookshop with an English Language section in the entire city is another one. As well as the limited selection they are also very expensive – up to three times what they cost on kindle. For her, it's much more convenient and cheap to buy from the internet straight to her kindle.

The most common objection voiced when discussing the kindle is people saying: 'Oh, but I like having a book, holding it there in my hands.' Who are they kidding? Paperbacks are among the least remarkable things in the world. The interesting thing in any book – in every book – is the words. It's the way that a story, a message or an opinion can be transferred from the mind of someone you have never met to yours over hundreds of years or hundreds of miles. And with the kindle you can literally thousands of books by thousands of people. All in one place, in your hands. Now that is what I call amazing.