Tryfan Walking Weekend

Some photos from a great walking weekend I had at the end of August.

North Utsire

Swiss Army Man (2016)

I recently went to the cinema (Home; the posh ‘new Cornerhouse’ in Manchester) to see a film called Swiss Army Man (dir. Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert), a précis of which reads;

“A hopeless man stranded on a deserted island befriends a dead body and together they go on a surreal journey to get home.”

Daniel Radcliffe was the dead man. Some would say he acts better as a corpse than someone alive, but I am not that cruel. I thought it was a bloody brilliant film, making imaginative use of minimal props and cast to explore some deep emotional currents. In fact, I have seen it twice now. First time I saw it I was struck by the clever use of absurdism using the forest as a backdrop. It reminded me of a couple of other films that had tried a similar thing; the Jean Luc Godard classic Weekend (1967), and the more recent Yorgos Lanthimos film The Lobster (2015). I think Swiss Army Man tore strips off both, although I think it would have been better titled Swiss Army Dude.

Swiss Army Man is one of three 2016 films I have seen recently with some powerful wilderness themes, concerned with emotional liberation. It seems, ecotherapy has landed big style in the indie cinema world. The other two were the NZ film Hunt for the Wilderpeople (dir. Taika Waititi), and Captain Fantastic (dir. Matt Ross), both of which were also excellent. 

North Utsire

Farm (album, 1971)

Tasty rural boogie blues rock with Crazy Horse influences, this lone album from Illinois’ sextet Farm is an air-guitarist’s delight. Intricate, dual guitar interplay is the order of the day, with lots of meandering solos full of those West Coast druggy vibes. If you’ve worn out all your bootleg outtakes of David Crosby and The Pure Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra’s Wally heider sessions, then this is the next logical step for your musical mind expansion.

From Psychedelic Baby Mag

Members: 
* Del Herbert (lead guitar),
* Gary Gordon (vocals, guitar, bottleneck guitar),
* Jim Elwyn (vocals, bass),
* Steve Evanchik (percussion, harmonica),
* Roger Greenwalt (keyboards),
* Mike Young (drums).

Tracks:
01. Jungle Song (instrumental)- 7:45
02. Let That Boy Boogie - 7:13
03. Sunshine In My Window  - 3:47
04. Cottonfield Woman  - 3:57
05. Statesboro Blues - 3:24 

"Formed in 1969, Farm was a band from Southern Illinois, whose bluesy, country rock style was very similar of that of The Allman Brothers, and Canned Heat. Recorded at Golden Voice Recording Studios in South Pekin, Illinois and released on a small (500 copy pressing) record label from Flora, Illinois, this Farm released a very obscure and rare album of heavy garage psych with fuzz guitars, congas, mouth harp, organ, bottleneck and timbales. They thank a certain George Leeman on the sleeve notes, as their friend and spiritual guide. The band disbanded in 1973."  *

* From Fuzz, Acid and Flowers: Comprehensive Guide to American Garage, Psychedelic and Hippie Rock (1964-75) by Vernon Joynson (Author) Borderline Productions 4th Edition (1997)

North Utsire

Turkish Aubergine (Imam Bayildi)

Aubergines are known as “poor man’s meat”. The Turkish imam who, legend has it, fainted with pleasure after tasting a stew of aubergines and other vegetables would certainly agree. The dish in question, imam bayildi (which translates as “the imam fainted”), has gone on to be a classic of Turkish cuisine, as has the 17th-century Ottoman sultan’s treat of smoked aubergine puree topped with diced stewed lamb or lamb meatballs, or hünkar begendi (“sultan’s delight”).

Best eaten the day after it’s made, and served at room temperature. I don’t routinely salt aubergines (modern varieties tend not to be bitter, which is what salting was designed to counter), but in this case I do because it’s a time-honoured way to ensure they’re properly seasoned.

4 aubergines, long, slim ones, ideally 1 lemon, halved Salt and black pepper 120ml olive oil 1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced 2 red peppers, core and seeds removed, cut into long 1cm-wide strips 2 big garlic cloves, peeled and sliced thin 1½ tsp ground cumin 1 tsp paprika 400g tinned tomatoes 2 sprigs fresh oregano OR Basil ¾ tsp dried oregano (Greek, ideally; or fresh oregano, picked and chopped) OR  large handful of fresh Basil.	Shave long, alternate strips of peel off the aubergines, top to bottom, so they end up striped, like zebras. Starting 2cm from the top, make an incision halfway into the flesh and cut down to 2cm shy of the bottom.
	Put the aubergines in a large bowl and cover with two and a half litres of cold water. Squeeze in the lemon, drop in the skins and stir in two teaspoons of salt. Put a plate on top, to keep the aubergines immersed, and leave to soak for 45 minutes. Drain, then dry in a clean tea towel.
	Heat the oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high flame. Fry the aubergines for eight to 10 minutes (take care, because the oil may spit), turning regularly, until nicely browned on all sides. Remove from the pan, turn down the heat to medium-low, add the onion and peppers, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often, until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and spices, cook for a minute, then stir in the tomatoes, two tablespoons of water, the sugar, fresh oregano, half a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. Turn the heat to low, put the aubergines on top of the veg, cover the pan and cook for 45 minutes, until the aubergines are steamed through.
	In the meantime, heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Carefully lift out the cooked aubergines and place them cut side up in a 20cm x 30cm ceramic baking dish; they should be nice and snug. Prise open the aubergines, so they look like long canoes, then sprinkle the insides with a generous pinch of salt. Discard the oregano from the sauce, then spoon it into the aubergines, filling them as much as you can; don’t worry if some sauce spills out around them – it’s kind of unavoidable. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and leave the aubergines to cool to room temperature. Serve topped with a sprinkling of dried oregano.

This recipe is almost identical to the one for Afghani Aubergine, except the Afghani version uses coriander in place of oregano/ basil, and the aubegines may be chopped up rather than keeping them whole in their jackets. I often just mix and match between the two. The Afghani recipe is mentioned in Madhur Jaffrey’s book Veggiestan where she includes a recipe for a delicious yoghurt garnish:

450ml (scant 2 cups) of thick yoghurt.

2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

5-6 cloves garlic, minced

Handful fresh chopped mint

Salt & pepper

Madhur calls the Afghani recipe Burani bonjon (eggplant with yoghurt sauce). She also mentions that the name Burani is popularly thought to have originated with the queen of Ctesiphon, Pourandokht, in Mesopotamia, who apparently was fond of yoghurt so her chefs made a variety of such recipes for her. In Iran, the ingredients of burani are blended and served cold. In Afghanistan, they are layered whilst still warm.

North Utsire

RIP Bill Mollison (1928- 2016)

“Each such cycle is a unique event; diet, choice, selection, season, weather, digestion, decomposition and regeneration differ each time it happens. Thus, it is the number of such cycles, great and small, that decide the potential for diversity. We should feel ourselves privileged to be part of such eternal renewal. Just by living we have achieved immortality - as grass, grasshoppers, gulls, geese and other people. We are of the diversity we experience in every real sense...

...If, as physical scientists assure us, we all contain a few molecules of Einstein, and if the atomic particles of our physical body reach to the outermost bounds of the universe, then we are all de facto components of all things. There is nowhere left for us to go if we are already everywhere, and this is, in truth, all we will ever have or need. If we love ourselves at all, we should respect all things equally, and not claim any superiority over what are, in effect, our other parts. Is the hand superior to the eye? The bishop to the goose? The son to the mother?” 

Bill Mollison

North Utsire

Free: Fire & Water Live in Sweden (1970)

I was really hoping to post up the full Free album Fire & Water. Its ideal for a Sunday morning when you're ambling around the morning after the night before, scratching your nuts, rearranging crap on the coffee table pretending to get organised. Well, you know Youtube. Seems like that was too tall an order to breach precious copyright rules, so instead I got a copy of Free performing live at Radiohuset, Stockholm, Sweden in 1970. On the surface of it, the performance is less polished and somewhat more stoned than the studio version, but it really works. There are a couple of tracks on the playlist which are not on the album either (The Stealer, Riding On A Pony, Woman), plus a bit of preamble. I love both versions. But then Youtube go pull the Radiohuset version too. Don't you just love the free world. 

Track List & Timings:

00:00 The Stealer

04:13 Fire And Water
08:39 Riding On A Pony
13:50 Heavy Load
20:08 Woman
25:00 I Love You So
31:00 Be My Fraind
37:15 Mr Big
44:24 All Right Now

North Utsire

Spiritual Community Guide on Chakras

More leaves from The Spiritual Community Guide. When I first saw these images, I was a young man interested in any esoteric system on offer. Having been brought up on martial arts and the oriental system of energy work, it has always seemed a bit strange though to focus in on arbitrary spinal energy centres such as the chakras. Even during meditation, the notion of pooling or focussing on energy points rather then breathing apparatus, and the Dan Tien has has always been odd to me. If they corresponded to precise anatomical or phenomenological aggregations I would appreciate them more. The chakras have always seemed so very fictional therefore to me.And yet some people swear by them and their value in energy work. Whilst I don't doubt they're being straight up about their experience, I'll keep doing what feels right to me. Maybe one day I'll be doing a yoga asana, and go "Ohh I get it now" but somehow after all this time I doubt it. I don't even teach Reiki using chakras, and it never formed part of the original Usui Do system. Chakras were only introduced to Reiki by Hawayo Takata and Phyllis Furomoto, to make Reiki more comprehensible to westerners.

North Utsire

Anna Karenina Film Review

I recently watched the 2012 film adaptation of Tolstoy's classic Anna Karenina. Directed by Joe Wright, it netted $69m at the box office. Might be a bit late, but here's my film review:

It wasn't a bad film. The period costume stood out (excellent), but I couldn't believe they'd reduced the mighty Tolstoy to such a sugarplum treatment; more like Moulin Rouge. And the very irritating musical paraphrasing of Rimsky Korsakov and Tchaikovsky grated. And Kiera Knightly looked more like ET than a love interest of two influential men. Even Jude Law was a bit beige. In fact, it was a rubbish film.

Spoiler alert:

SHE COMMITS SUICIDE

North Utsire

Limmy Live!

Last week I went to see a Scottish comic called Limmy playing at the Lowry in Manchester. It was the day of the worst thunder & lightening storm I had seen in about 30 years. The centre of Manchester was alight with the tempest whilst people marauded about like something from The Living Dead. Market street had turned into a torrent, carrying away debris and fast food wrappers, whipping them away like it was a white water rapid. When we got to the Merolink the guard wouldn't let us get tickets saying "lightening strike". "Bloody Jeremy Corbyn, which union this time?"  I said. Unlike the raindrops, it took a moment to sink in. After a mad rush we got to the Lowry just in time and forgot we were soaked through as Limmy took over. The Armadillo sketch (above) had me in stitches. Top top funny guy.

Media City

North Utsire

Tin Can Forest

Here is a selection of Pam Grossman's supernatural Tin Can Forest illustrations. Her book What is a Witch looks well worth checking out. Perhaps I am anticipating autumn with its enchanted nights drawing in, unearthly staring moons, tortured wisps of log fire smoke pierced only by the spectral hooting of owls in the woods. Maybe even during the long summer haze there is a piece of us that never thaws and belongs to autumn. Knowing the dark dance of Halloween is waiting for us at the other end of summer's dying days makes the descent into the underworld all the more bearable. I know, "get some vitamin D, right?"

North Utsire

One Straw Revolution: The Movie

Following on from my previous post The Natural Way of Farming featuring a quote from Masanobu Fukuoka's One Straw Revolution, I found this short film originally titled "The Close To Nature Garden" which neatly summarises Fukuoka's permaculture system. It was filmed in 1982 and produced by Rodale Press (I'm assuming attached to the Rodale Institute in some way), which gives it a pleasantly earthy retro feel.

North Utsire

Monk Without a Sense of Humour

Another cartoon from The Book of Zen: Freedom of the Mind (Asiapac Comic Series) by Chih Chung Tsai (Illustrator), Koh Kok Kiang (Translator)

By North Utsire

Baked Haddock in Greens with Anchovy “Butter”

You should never leave stuff in the hands of a creative person. I mean, don’t say to them “just mind that Magnox reactor for us, see its safe”, or “don’t press that red button whilst I’m away”. That’s how accidents happen. But also, occasionally, good things. This is a  recipe I came up with after changing another internet recipe I’d found totally beyond recognition. I cant even remember where I found the original. There certainly wasn’t a haddock in sight. I know it had anchovy and unsalted butter in it, but mine has got “butter” in it. In this case that means a 50:50 mixture of ghee and coconut oil. Of course you can go back to plain old unsalted butter after you’ve tried this, but quite honestly, what would you do with the other half of the butter packet? I mean, sprinkling salt on toast just isn’t right. Its positively delinquent. So give this unlikely mix of flavours a go and see what you think.

The recipe is quite flexible, I’ve found. You can take the asparagus and green beans mixture and use it with anything, ranging from toast, to omelette, to dahl. In this recipe it finds itself on top of haddock and roast peppers with mushroom.

1 lb green beans 1 lb asparagus tips Any greens will do, such as pak choi, cabbage, lettuce leaves, etc.	Steam the greens for 20- 30 minutes and take off the heat. Prepare the other ingredients whilst waiting.
4 haddock fillets half punnet Mushrooms 2 sliced peppers	Prep these ingredients and set to one side ready to receive the greens as garnish.
2 Tbsp coconut oil 2 Tbsp ghee	Put on a medium heat in a large pan, sufficient to melt the oils.
1/8 tsp ginger powder 1/8 tsp turmeric powder ¼ tsp garam masala 1/8 tsp fennel seeds 1/8 tsp kolonji seeds ¼ tsp mustard seeds 2 minced gloves garlic	Add in the spices, stirring quickly.
½ cup fresh orange juice 1 Tbsp lemon/ lime juice ½ tsp anchovy paste	Before the spices stick to the bottom of the pan, or burn, add the fluids and the steamed vegetables.
6 tinned oil packed fillets with oil discarded	Add in the anchovies. Allow to cook thoroughly through for 5- 10 minutes, stirring frequently. By that point the dish should have sufficient body but not be too runny.
	Cover the haddock & vegetables. Oven bake for 20- 30 minutes until the fish is cooked through & flakes succulently.
Mixed Seeds Olive oil	Use seeds and oil as a dressing. Whole thing goes well with potatoes. Serves 4

North Utsire

Grannie (1971)

Here’s another album all but lost in the depths of time until rediscovered circa 1993, and re- released by Wooden Hill in 2010. It’s been described as "guitar-dominated heavy progressive" but I disagree. Its more like a connosieur blend of psychedelic prog- rock, reminiscent of Uriah Heep and Iron Maiden, with a hint of Led Zep thrown in. They seem to defy definition, but are undeniably British psych- rock:

“Very cool music that screams London underground at the turn of the 60's into the 70's. Too bad the production isn't cleaner. If you like T2, Clear Blue Sky, Fuzzy Duck, Hard Stuff, Pink Fairies etc you'll dig it.”

In 68/69, guitarist Phil Newton saw an advert in Melody Maker for an all-inclusive deal at David Richardson’s SRT (sound recording technology) business that offered 8 hours of studio time, a master tape and 99 finished LPs for £100. In 1971 the band booked SRT (established as Sky Studios in 1968) and within 8 hours had recorded the full album - mainly for themselves, plus gigs/friends and family. Incredibly, no copies were sent to major labels/impresarios, and only 99 copies were ever pressed. The band began to play on the London club circuit at venues like The Greyhound, The Marquee and even the Roundhouse. They had a residency at the Speakeasy in London, but had their gear & music equipment stolen whilst traveling (including one of the first Mellotrons). Which put an end to things. Bloody shame.

Some random 70's dude with a Mellotron to his left

The recording quality is not brilliant, but given its with us at all is nothing short of miraculous. In its December 2004 edition 'Record Collector' valued an original vinyl pressing of the album at £850.

Tracklist

Leaving	6:35
Romany Refrain	4:12
Tomorrow Today	7:10
Saga Of The Sad Jester	4:36
Dawn	5:12
Leaving	6:35

Lineup

Bass	Dave Holland
Drums	Johnny Clark
Flute	Jan Chandler
Keyboards	John Stevenson (tracks: B3)
Lead Guitar	Phil Newton
Producer	Dave Richardson (2)
Vocals	Dave Holland, Fred Lilley, Jan Chandler, Phil Newton

North Utsire