smack the mac

I'm not doing very well with the Mac. I managed to exceed our download limit this month by not understanding that the Mac puts downloads into a pallette and you have to find the file and click it in here to open it to the desktop. I downloaded a large file several times thinking that it wasn't happening. Don't like Safari. Kept crashing on me and I can't figure out why. Also there is no indication of it loading pages like the wobbly flag you get with Explorer.

I have tried to watch some basic tutorial videos to familiarise me with the OS but these mostly push Apple products that I don't have and don't relate to the college software that has been pre-loaded. Guess I'll struggle on but I keep returning to the PC (that's where I am now) just to make expedient progress.

exposures archive

A couple of months back I was looking through materials generated by the Women Photo Men and Men Review Women photo workshops that we used to run at Exposures after chatting to Steve Littman about future my research direction. There are many interesting photographs and the testimonials of participants are very poignant. I wondered whether there was any scope for a book or website to publish the material so it could be accessed by students or researchers interested in gender studies. Also there seems to be a resurgance of media interest in the definition of masculinity and the reluctance of some men to see their bodies as desirable.

To try to decide what to do with this material, I contacted dear friends and colleagues, Grace Lau and Robin Shaw, and they came to lunch yesterday. It was so lovely to see them. Nearly 5 years since I saw Grace and probably over 10 since Robin and I met up. After lots of catch up chat about our current projects and interests we started to look through the material. It is fairly certain that we would have a problem with releases if we tried to publish many of the images and it would be difficult to contact the models and participants since so much time has passed. None of us has the inclination or the time to take this on. We have decided to see whether the Womens' Library at London Metropolitan University or the Womens' Art Library at Goldsmiths would be interested in adding the materials to their collection.

kalives, crete

Flew back from a wonderful break in Crete on Tuesday evening (already it feels like the distant past). I had forgotten that it is actually possible to have a relaxing holiday. I guess Amelia has finally reached the age where things get a bit easier so that is part of it. But just to be somewhere with no rain, a pool just a leap from the door and beautiful views across the Souda bay. Wow! It was glorious. Mark and the children played in the pool most mornings while I was able to sit in the sun and read, snack lunch, trip in the afternoon (beach, mountains, lake, Chania etc) and then dinner in a taverna each evening. I've put on nearly half a stone.

high gabble

One of the first in the series of stills I shot at my parents' home last Monday.

research time and technical hitches

This week I have been trying to get up and running with the Mac. I wanted to capture the HD video I shot with the Sony Z1 into Final Cut Pro. What a nightmare. I spent most of Tuesday trying various codecs but couldn't get device control. Steve Littman came over on Wednesday and discovered that the Mac needed to install various updates from the web but because it has been given a student spec I do not have priviledges to do that. He managed to get the password so by Thursday I was able to begin capture. Unfortunately I still don't have proper device control to set in and out points, so I have had to capture the video as big long takes that I will have to make into subclips. Looking at what I have shot, I am not sure there is much I can do with it. I prefer the digital stills that I shot at my parents house. I think I was so overcome by the emotion of being there and having to engage with the practical issues, that I didn't really permit myself the time for creative reflection as I hoped I would do.

bad attitudes to young people

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jun/09/children.youngpeople

Was shocked by this recent report. I see plenty of evidence of the bad attitudes to young people in the local press in this area. The kids around here need more to do, not constant criticism. Gostrey Meadow is apparently a 'no go' area now as it is full of drunken youth!

macbook pro

At last I've got my hands on a Mac!! When I started working at UCCA back in 1999 I was shocked to find out that all the studios had PCs but over the years I have grown to like them and we have a couple of Sony Viaos at home. Shock! horror! They decided to change back to Macs the year before last and I have been teaching PhotoShop, Final Cut Pro and so on without really getting to grips with the Mac OS. This can be incredibly undermining when you are being projected at the front of the class. After repeated requests for a Mac to take home to learn on, I have eventually picked one up today and I'm sitting here making this post on it!!! Very excited just to do everyday tasks on it, but also hope to get to use it for my 'high gabble' project that I started yesterday... that's another story.

birth rites

My colleague, Liz, has just given me a feature from the Guardian about this exhibition on childbirth. Need to explore more...

http://www.birthrites.org.uk/index.php?id=320

mother ivey's bay

Back from camping in gales and torrential rain. I had about 3 hours sleep each night with the tent flapping keeping me awake. We had a couple of sunnyish days on the beach so I suppose that makes it all worthwhile. It took up a day to pack up the car, half a day to pitch, half a day to pack away and probably more than a day to work through the laundry mountain when we got home, so not particulary effective use of our holiday time. No wonder I have lost my voice from exhaustion. I think Sam and Amelia enjoyed themselves in the main, but think they were a bit fed up with all the stress the weather and sheer hard work caused us.

It was lovely to see our friends Liz, Mike and the boys there who told us about Mother Ivey's years ago. Liz has been holidaying there since her childhood. They were in a caravan and kindly froze the freezer blocks for us each day. Also caught up with Ann who has just recently moved to Perren Porth. What a lovely creative home she has there. My kids asked question after question about all her wonderful arty things: masks, paintings, puppets and so on. Good luck to her with her wonderful paintings - particularly enjoyed the surfing hares!