Stairwell Sisters bango (credit: Vance Dubberly)

After some years of fascination I have now decided to acquaint myself with the banjo first hand. Yes, I want to buy one and learn it. Tenor or 5-string? Short or standard scale? With or without a resonator, and what of the those still made in the USA such as the Deerings and Gold Tones, versus those assembled from parts made in Asia? I am lured by Saga’s Rovers but what do I know? Not much at the moment but I am looking forward to an odyssey of musical and self-discovery that I didn’t think possible but am now brave enough to try. So far much of my initial armchair research has involved poring over the following banjo sites.

Andy Perkins, The Banjo Works (UK specialist in banjos).
Hobgoblin Music (UK and US folk instrument suppliers).
Eagle Music Shop (instrument suppliers including US Deering banjos).
Gold Tone banjos (well-known American makers).

I am learning a lot from:

Banjocrazy.com, particularly the videos of Paul Reynolds playing everything from Irish trad to Persian folk on the amazing Gold Tone cello banjo.
Banjo Hangout, a great forum with reviews.
Banjo Physiology 101 . A great introduction to banjo terminology, anatomy, tone rings, rims, metal or wood, explained.

McKay and Etherton

A couple of weeks back I was introduced to a local group (from the Gower, near Swansea) who have produced a fabulous CD of folk songs in tribute to Swansea’s sailors and coppermen. It is called Pennbucky to Llangenny by Andrew McKay with Andy Baker, Tony Beddow, Joe Parsell, Dave Robinson and Ken Simpson. The 18 track album is a treasure of history explored in song. One of my favourites is Dead Reckoning (hear a sample), a song about old skills made redundant, particularly regarding the change from shipping by sail to steam. Others sing about the art of the ship’s carpenter (Made of Wood), about Swansea’s wealth deriving from brass and copper (Bronze and Brass) and intrepid journeys Welsh mariners made around Cape Horn (they were known as Cape Horners) on their way to Chile and Cuba to collect copper ore to bring back for smelting (Drinks at the Cuba, Pennbucky to Llangenny). The album also includes a nod to the traditional with a set of hornpipes from Mumbles and Greenholme / The Ivy House.

At the moment I am working on a project on the heritage of Welsh copper at Swansea University and in amongst the research, the liaison with other organisations and people, my heart fills with joy when I come across things like this. That history has inspired beautiful music or art or words from people means it is worth remembering and telling to others. I wonder that people won’t learn more from these songs than they will from a run of the mill history book …

Beautiful images from this year’s World Tango Dance Championships in Argentina. Gorgeous.

From the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11152136

From Demotix: http://www.demotix.com/news/419490/tango-world-championship-argentina

Brazilian quartz point

The politics of mineral wealth and the redistribution of that wealth to the people whose country it belongs is a huge and thorny issue that has occupied historians, social scientists and economists for years. It did get me thinking, however. My own work on material culture has not been that focused on exactly where minerals and non-organic raw materials came from–so much was recycled–but it is certainly a subject that requires more historical interest across periods and something I intend to follow up in the future. I have a much better picture of organic raw materials such as wood, linen and silk.

All this just reminded me more of the minerals I miss looking at, handling and studying, shining under UV light, etc. So I thought I’d revisit a set of photos I took a few years back and use them to think about minerals in earnest again.

See my whole Minerals set on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/courgettelawn/sets/1794338/

New Strictly Come Dancing dancer, Katya Virshilas, danced a very sultry tango with Antonio Banderas in the 2006 film Take the Lead. Take a look.

The Advocate-General of the European Court of Justice is about to make a ruling on whether it is fair to force people into retirement at the age of 65. Since 2006, British Law has decreed that it is legal for employers to force retirement at 65. Over 600 challenges in tribunals await the decision.

At a time when it is becoming very clear that the balance of the UK population is towards older age groups, and at a time when the unsustainability of high pensions is clearly going to have a knock-on effect in years to come, why on earth can’t people work longer if they are fit and able to do so? Is retirement a right?

Will I get to retire in 35 years time? Or will it be 40 or 45? I am doubtful as to whether there will be any such thing as a state pension by then. There will be a smaller and smaller number of working age people having to support a larger and larger number of retired people (so-called baby-boomers) many of whom have in fact retired early and therefore will spend between about a quarter to a third of their lives in retirement. Is this really a useful way to spend a human life?

So let us help the aged by encouraging them to keep active and work (or else do what some of them already do and take on essential voluntary roles or impart their knowledge to younger people in their professions).

UPDATE: Sadly the ruling went against those that brought the case. Alas.

UPDATE 2: Since the General Election, the new coalition government have reversed the right of employers to enforce retirement at 65.

The new name and dates for the new Wiltshire unitary authority has been decided. It is to be called Wiltshire Council or WC for short.

There will be some increase in the time for the transition and we can actually ‘enjoy’ the result of our democratic actions last May for a little longer. WC will come into effect after elections in May 2009 with the election of about 98 new members, one for each new ward following a Boundary Commission review. However in the meantime the ‘transition cabinet’ will comprise a majority Tory membership dominated by current county councillors (four of eight).

“We are working really hard to involve as many people as possible in this transition. This is a most important change for Wiltshire and we all want to work together to ensure it produces the very best for Wiltshire residents,” said Mrs Scott, who assured members of the council about the transition.

[From WCC Communication Dept press release]

My request for information about getting involved in new citizen scrutiny groups/community panels, sent to the Communications Dept back in July remains unanswered.

Heaven knows (literally) how the Chinese government will administer this one!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20227400/site/newsweek/

An e-petition to 10 Downing Street is requesting that Network Rail be designated a public authority so that people may request information from it under the Freedom of Information Act

At the moment it is very difficult to request certain details about the running of the railways from Network Rail owing to technicalities in the way the body is organised. It is a powerful public body in terms of the influence it has on strategy and direction for the railways yet is not a proper public body and cannot be interrogated as such. Why?

Consider signing this petition in order to place pressure on the Secretary of State and Prime Minister to take a closer look at how Network Rail operates.

Awaiting the 0830 Salisbury to Southampton service yesterday (13/08/07) my eye fell upon the front page story of The Times which reported the threatened legal action by First Group against the rail watchdog London TravelWatch. This is the story as reported by the BBC and here are some letters written in response to The Times and published on their online ‘paper’.

TravelWatch have issued a response to the article in The Times in which they say that after a series of talks FGW have agreed to withdraw the threat.

It makes me feel uneasy to think that a company who are clearly profiting greatly from providing a public service feel it perfectly reasonable to make the threat of legal action against the ‘watchdog’ that monitors service and performance on behalf of its customers (passengers). While I do not in any way advocate the incorrect pedaling of ‘facts’ I cannot help but think that this was a muscle-flexing exercise rather than one aiming to reveal the truth.

The daily experiences of those who used services on the First Great Western network in and outside London clearly demonstrate general levels of disappointment at the service provided. It is not possible to measure this ‘accurately’. It is much easier to get worked up about a delay or cancellation than an entire journey that runs on time, makes connections and is on a train with ample capacity for people and luggage, that is clean, not too hot and stuffy and with seats, aisles and windows that are clean and in a good state of repair (and perhaps even with a buffet cart that doesn’t aim to sell you Stella or Coke for breakfast).

All too often the indicators used in creating statistics which measure ‘service’ do not take into account the whole experience of the passenger from buying tickets to arriving at the destination (“that’s a different company, not our responsibility”). Of course reliability and punctuality are fundamental but on whose terms are these measured? At the moment passengers cannot claim any recompense for a delay of less than one hour. Therefore is a service reliable if it gets you to your destination anything up to 60 minutes later than you planned?

Yet we are in a position where we are squeezed into a corner, stuck with arguing about the technicalities of Service Level Commitments, themselves set by people who are unlikely to use the service, nor have made an effort to get to know the communication needs of difference places – or rather they have in terms of consulting with ‘partners’ and ‘stakeholders’ but little is actually acted upon, giving the illusion that views have been taken on board hiding the real desire for providing a minimum service (cheapest) for maximum profit.

Those who set the commitment (government) and those who are charged with providing it (train operators) too frequently pass the buck from one to another when problems are raised with little recourse to users. In addition, those independent bodies such as local authorities and watchdogs claim they have little influence or power to make a difference. So where are the facts in all this? What is the truth of it all and will we ever be in a position to raise criticism, and have it received without it being either stonewalled or countered with legal threats?