REMI KANAZI's first UK tour.

Remi Kanazi's UK tour kicks off with a fundraising event at the Tabernacle W11 on November 12th.

REMI KANAZI  Palestinian-American Performance poet, writer, and activist based in New York City, he is the editor of Poets For Palestine and the author of Poetic Injustice: Writings on Resistance and Palestine.  His political commentary has been featured by news outlets throughout the world and his poetry has taken him across North America and the Middle East.  He recently appeared in the Palestine Festival of Literature as well as Poetry International.  He is a recurring writer in residence and advisory board member for the Palestine Writing Workshop.  www.poeticinjustice.net.

RAFEEF ZIADAH is a Canadian-Palestinian spoken word artist and activist.  Her debut CD Hadeel is dedicated to Palestinian youth, who still fly kites in the face of F16 bombers, who still remember the names if their villages in Palestine and still hear the sound of Hadeel (cooing of doves) over Gaza. www.rafeefziadah.ca.

OMAR OFFENDUM is a Syrian-American Hip hop artist, author and producer- born in the KSA, raised in the USA, and repeatedly hassled by the TSA.  His solo release in 2010 was affectionately dubbed "SyrianamericanA". www.offendum.com.

ZITA HOLBOURNE is a poet, artist and activist.  Former member of Brothaman Poetry Collective she campaigns for equality, freedom, justice, and democracy through activism, art and poetry. www.myspace.com/zitaholbourne.

Ticket details HERE

SYMPTOMATIC presents THESE REIGNING DAYS + SMOKE FEATHERS + EVELYN BURKE + CRASHING FLOWERS

I feel my leg is up to going out and about. tomorrow night I am off to Archangel to see 'these reigning Days'; a band from Devon up in the smoke for the night. I'll report back.

8pm – £7/£5adv
Symptomatic presents a night of the up and coming indie, rock and folk happening in London. With newly established bands, they present quality sounds and a foot stomping, bliss inducing night of music.

Having started work on their debut album, Dan Steer (formerly of the Quails) Jonny Finnis and Joe Sansome aka These Reigning Days have already been creating a stir, and are set to have a blinding 2012 already securing Major festival slots accross the UK, Europe and US, as well as supporting fellow Devon based band Metronomy at their Torquay show this September. Later this year the band will also be headlining an Alpine tour of France and Switzerland.

Smoke Feathers

Evelyn Burke

Crashing Flowers

AAA @ Archangel,
11-13 Kensington High Street London W8 5NP

Woman with a harp. Who is she?

Does anyone recognise this image. It is a Victorian print titled: Woman with Harp. According to my harp expert her pose indicates that she is more than just a model posing, she has technique,

Help! Who is she?

UPDATE: It is ok. I found her. It was painted by Leonard Campbell Taylor (English) in 1937. I have found his grandaughter and will be contacting her for details.

From the Portobello Blog: JC Carroll on Winning.

Jc Carroll from The Members on winning a 'Golden Trellick' at The Portobello Film Festival for his opera 'The Golborne Variations'

25 years in the making, Jc from The Members looks back on the creation and staging of his critically acclaimed multimedia opera 'The Golborne Variations', which premiered at The Portobello Film Festival on Friday 2nd September this year. Received with a standing ovation by a full house at the Portobello Film Festival, 'The Golborne Variations went on to win a Special Award, which was collected on Jc's behalf (he was on tour in France with The Members) by cast members Simon Godley & James Simmins from festival organiser Jonathan Barnett.

It is hoped that another staging of this award-winning opera will take place somewhere in the Portobello vicinity very soon. Watch this space...

Joanne Calvino. Carry that weight.

15 times British Champion and current record holder Joanne Calvino was in the Tabernacle for lunch today... chicken salad is obviously an important part of her training regime; she is currently preparing for 2012.

I have never met anyone who looks less like a weightlifter than Joanne, she is tiny and slim. It was interesting to learn that a lot of our athletes are totally self funded and must fit their training around full time jobs. A laudable ethos.

I shall be following joanne's path to glory and wish her every success.

Troy Davis and the obscenity of the death penalty.

If a state or government does not value human life how the fuck can a state or government expect it's people to value human life. The USA appals me in its ability to kill its own.

Civilization my arse.

Bianca Jagger has written on the subject in the Huffington Post

The Ryan O'Reilly Band need an artist.

Ryan O'Reilly Band write:

I've sat here for ages trying to draw our album cover and it turns out I can't draw anything except cartoon eyes... If there are any artists out there who would be interested in helping me out by designing our album cover please send a message to theryanoreillyband@gmail.com and I'll give you some more information.

THE COLOURS OF AFRICA THROUGH HER CHILDREN'S EYES

In the Tabernacle gallery this week is an exhibition of art by Ugandan children. A colourful collection full of life and vitality. All are for sale at affordable prices. Highly recommended.

More HERE

Portobello Film festival Award winners.

The full list of the prize winners are as follows:

FILM
The King Is Dead (Ishmahil Blagrove)
SPECIAL AWARD
The Golborne Variations (J C Carroll)
ODDBALL TV 72 HOUR FILM CHALLENGE
Marcelo Paganini
DOCUMENTARY
From Patient To Pin Up (Michelle Hallak)
COMEDY
The Beardless Garibaldi (Nicola Piovesan)
MUSIC
I Chopped Her Up (Divian Ladwa)
FOREIGN FILM
The First Rasta (Helene Lee)
ANIMATION
Fantoon Gaga (Alberto Hadyar)
LONDON
Wreck (Cara Pickton)
DRAMA
Ebony Road (Maia Krall-Fry)

5 X 15, the loss of genius and hacking Misha Glenny's conversation.

A packed house for 5 X 15 last night for a particularly strong line up of speakers, even standing room was at a premium guaranteeing a partial standing ovation for all concerned.

Misha Glenny opened proceedings with 15 minutes on the rise of cybercrime, more on that later. He was followed by Simon baron-Cohen, Lucy Worsley, AS Byatt and finally Alexander Masters talking about the subject of his latest book, The Genius in my basement.

After the event I was sitting in my usual place in the bar when I was joined by a group including Misha Glenny. I was able to both tweet him live as well as hack into his conversation (otherwise known as butting in).

I shall be reading both alexander's and Misha's books.

                                           Alexander Masters

                                           AS. Byatt

                                           Simon Baron Cohen

                                                         Misha Glenny

                                                        Lucy Worsley                 


Photographs: Thomas Pegoraro

The next 5 X 15 is on October 17th. probably best to book now.

Chris Durkin, 1966 and all that.

I met Chris in 1966 as 11 year olds. We lost touch for over 40 years until I discovered him living less than a quarter of a mile away from me. we had been neighbours for years, drank in the same pubs, attended the same gigs. funny old world.

Chris is exhibiting his paintings at The Tabernacle Gallery next month.

Below is a taste of his work.

Sylvie guillem.

While discussing a collaboration with Ballerina Layla Wiseman, she introduced me to this video.

Trellick Tower humanised.

This image come courtesy of Collette Shields. Are we to look at Trellick... I wonder. Thanks collette and thanks for the hospitality.