Vlogmas 2017 (Week One): A Christmas Wedding, Birthday and More
The first week of vlogmas 2017 includes Rosie's birthday, time with family and friends, Christmas concerts at work, time spent with friends, and Laura and Pete's wedding.
Weekly Vlog: First Week in a New Job
I started my new job this week, as an associate lecturer in Popular Music Production at Solent University. Back at my other job, it was a busy week of teaching, and getting the business plan finished and sent off. Somewhere in between all that, there was time to make music, preview the new Nuffield Southampton Theatre City venue, and start making my annual Christmas cake.
Knowing it would be a busy week, I decided to film a little bit of each day, and then sit down at the weekend to see what that footage would become. Together with some audio experiments and soundtrack clips from other projects, it turns out I had a weekly vlog to upload.
Through the Stars
Through the Stars is a multimedia art piece, made using astronomy photographic plates kindly donated University of Southampton.
Through the Stars is in three parts:
- Photographs: by aligning each plate with the location they map in the sky, the photographs overlay the stars on to the landscape behind
- Soundscape: having algorithmically generated melodies from each photograph, these are manipulated and arranged to create a musical soundscape of the images
- Documentation: a video blog and b-roll images that document the process of creating the piece
Pyra Vocal Session
One of many weekends spent with Emma Panas, recording vocals for her album.
‘Play’ on BBC Introducing
Last night, BBC Introducing Solent emailed to say that ‘Play’ would be featured on the BBC Introducing Solent show.
As well as playing the track — and saying some very kind words about it — the show shared some of what I have written about here: the way way music and mental health have walked hand-in-hand in starting this blog. It is a slightly terrifying moment, to hear your story shared so widely, but it has also been great to hear the positive response too.
Thank you BBC Introducing Solent for your kind words, and thank you for sharing my part in a much bigger, but important, conversation.
Family Birthday Party
I felt very spoilt this weekend, getting to spend time enjoying family, food and presents.
Birthday Games
My wonderful friend Ellie hosted a night of food, games, and a surprise birthday cake on Saturday night.
iPhone Summer Vlogs
iPhone vlogs filmed, soundtracked and edited on iPhone in the Summer of 2017.
They say the best camera is the one you have on you. And so, as moments flew by this summer, I tried to capture them using just my iPhone. To me, the moments I was able to record were more personal and more spontaneous as a result.
Perseid Meteor Shower
I drove down to Lepe late on Saturday night to watch the meteor shower.
Lydia's 5th Birthday Party
A trolls themed party for a special fifth birthday celebration!
An Adventure on the Isle of Wight
At Christmas we promised my niece and nephew a trip to the Isle of Wight, two weeks ago, we got to go on that adventure.
A Day in Brighton
On the last day of half term, Pip and I took a trip down to Brighton.
After a journey of sing-along songs, we grabbed a light lunch at Plateau, followed by ice creams at Boho Gelato (totally worthy of the hype). After wondering around the lanes we found ourselves on the beach, totally chilled out, and, before heading home, we had dinner at Jamie's Italian.
Video Blog: Abbotsbury
During half term, I drove west along the south coast, to meet my very good friend Corrie in Abbotsbury.
Corrie works at The Clock Workshop, just at the bottom of St Catherine's Hill. After meeting her for work, we walked up, past St Catherine's Chapel, and sat overlooking Chesil Beach.
We walked back down for dinner at the village pub — a halloumi, pepper and humous burger, followed by a chocolate brownie for me — before going to watch the sunset from Chesil Beach.
Video Blog: A Sunny Afternoon in Winchester
Last week seems like a million years ago — it's been a busy first week back at work — but it was so good to spend a lazy, sunny afternoon in Winchester with Alice.
Vintage Camera
When my parents got engaged, 40 years ago, they bought a cheap ring, so they could afford a good camera. This week I loaded it up with film and took it around Ocean Village.
Eggs in Clouds
Never one to shy away from an Instagram food trend, I tried my hand at Eggs in Clouds this week.
The making is fairly simple: you separate the eggs, whipping the whites in to clouds which you bake briefly — 7ish minutes, so I'm told — and then add the yolks for another short flash in the oven — 3ish minutes, apparently. I chose to fully embrace the hipster food trends, and serve mine along side mashed avocado, sour dough toast, halloumi and grilled tomatoes on the vine, all of which, frankly, were by far the better elements on the plate.
Video Blog: Saturday 20 May 2017
After a walk around Ocean Village, I took myself for a late night treat at Five Guys...
