Well, I've had a few complaints [Tom] about the lack of content on here. Of course it's been playing on my mind, and I fully intend to rectify the situation in the future.

That's the public apology over with. Here follow some reasons - not excuses, please note - why I've been a little too tied up to write lately.

Upon returning from Finland I met friends from Glasgow and celebrated Doodlebug Day, then dropped into a job at Liverpool's new architectural bookshop, where I'm rocking the shelves and becoming involved with the organisation of exhibitions. After a few days training the manageress began her two week's holiday, which I pretty much covered while still working my job in Manchester. Along with keeping on top of the day-to-day tasks I managed to give a talk to eighty second year architecture students from the other university in Liverpool, JMU, and investigate several amazing exhibitions.
In the midst of that cover period I popped up to Glasgow to survey Internet radio station Radio Magnetic - graphics to follow - where I hung out with my great friends and even helped with a radio show, which was unfortunately never broadcast. I can barely believe that I was planning on hitting London that weekend too, until my friend DAN somewhat fortunately lost the tickets to the Autechre all-nighter we were going to experience.
The survey was preliminary work for our first architectural project of the new semester, to design a mobile radio station. This was a three week long piece of group work. That's right - straight in at the deep end. We twisted the brief around to design a thirteen metre long hip-hop teaching facility in the shape of a ghetto blaster. Again, graphics to follow.
On the day before the crit I was elected one of three year representatives, which entails organising a Winter Ball and regular socials, liasing with the heads of year and generally taking the flack for all sorts of things.
As a mindless excursion in the wake of the crit, I organised a visit to Anthony Gormley's installation of a hundred metal human casts on Crosby beach, surprisingly accessible from Liverpool's city centre.
What else? Well, last weekend I helped with the Bluecoat Arts Centre's "China Live" event. Our lowly bookshop played host to some top notch performance artists who, among other things, painted with their own blood, entered into elaborate kissing rituals with members of the audience, and sealed themselves inside polythene bubbles with smoking fires inside (whilst naked). Thankfully not simultaneously. The day ended with a stage performance at Hope College, during which Manchester artist Mike Mayhew inflated an animal skin on stage, spoke some prose, and extracted his own blood into a bag. Somehow I ended up assisting with the sound, lighting and video for that.
Now we've embarked upon the second project, a centre for residential artists on a great site in Manchester. It's supposed to house thirty of the buggers, though, with room for a gallery and retail space. 25m x 25m? It's going to be at least fifteen stories!

Now we've reached midnight on Wednesday. Thursday holds another site visit to Manchester and participation in a lecture about our time in India. Incidentally, some of the work from that research trip is due to be presented in Switzerland next week, and the Quicktime VR work is currently being considered for MoMA, NYC.

I seldom feel like I'm giving enough time to my own studies these days. Everything's related, I can tell myself, which will hopefully be enough for second year.


In other news, somebody from my year found this blog and connected it with me. Connor, I'll buy you a drink. I guess it's time to become a little less anonymous now, then.

:David