New Year Missive 2009

2008 – Capital of Culture, Facebooking and iPhoning…

Liverpool was full of culture with a giant spider roaming the streets and Lambanans everywhere. Ringo was beheaded (or rather a statue of him was) for not appreciating what Liverpool has done for him.
Although our Capital of Culture Year didn’t provide loads of cash for the creatives, it did put the city on the map and helped to turn around the poor reputation of the building site that is Liverpool. Unfortunately it looks like the impending doom from the fall out of the credit crunch will put everything on hold. It could be worse; we could be living in Siberia where unemployment and lack of investment seems to be increasing dramatically. (and its -20°c!)
The company has been going along steadily with our EU projects and we have moved into the city centre above a bar in a renovated Georgian house, the office still isn’t finished and we have to enter via the bar, so no hardship there as we have to exit that way as well. I cut back on my travels but still went to Slovakia, Antwerp and Dresden. My Russian adventures have come to a halt with the repercussions of the Litvenyenko affair and the closure of the British Council. My emails to Russia have been blocked and my colleagues in Krasnoyarsk have lost their jobs – spooks and politicians, when will they grow up and stop playing the Empire game.
Did manage to get some designers over from Siberia for the Liverpool Design Show, my idea of years ago finally made it with hundreds of designers and over 6,000 visitors. (see www.creativesiberia.info)

Ellen’s been a busy student and although she likes London doesn’t care much for UCL, its too big and impersonal. I think now she would have preferred to go to Liverpool. She had a good holiday busking around northern France in her little Citroen with her boyfriend and is hoping to have her third year out in Provence or Languedoc but it might be Alsace. Joan has been teaching in the music department at Hope University and working on her research. Her new band, yet another new band has a CD out. (go to www.thehexmen.co.uk) and she is the star of the jam nights down at the Albert. Frankie continues to be a joy and I actually enjoy the early morning walks across the fields or on the beach, he’s just a gentle pyjama case of a dog and although weighing in at over 7 stone he is still a playful puppy.

My big creative industries project comes to an official end today but I now have two months of reports and chasing up final financials. We have put in a big tender for creative industries business support but as many of these decisions are political it will be a miracle if we get it.
Nothing in the pipeline at the moment, but for some reason I’m not worried – something will turn up, did Mr Micawber say that and look what happened to him. With all the complaining and whinging going on around me I actually feel confident and I think 2009 is going to be a good year.
So get your wonderful iPhone out, get onto Facebook and get networking – beyond the sillyness these technologies could be the answer.

Christmas Missive 2007

2007 - Year of the dog, again!

A difficult year- adjusting to suddenly being 60, silly I know but it’s a shock, however, one with lots of joy and fun in the shape of Frankie. We have had him a year now and he has grown and grown and is now touching 6 stone. We knew he would be big, we had seen his dad! Frankie loves his runs on the beach and across the fields. He still annoys Little Joe but they sort of get on. Joe doesn’t realise he just wants to play, as he does with everyone and everything. We really missed the gang (pets) went we went on holiday. Yes, we actually managed a proper holiday this year – first time since Oz 5 years ago.
I have had lots of travelling with the job and EU projects; Joan has been very patient with me. The new office sharing with other designers has been good and is fun having other people around. Our main project around business support has had its ups and downs – imagine working with creatives! The paper work is always a nightmare with these things, reports and keeping records and receipts. Rob from Creativebias has joined us to run the other project with Poland and we have other freelancers - so we now have a small team.
Went to Berlin (for the first time) in March and Ellen came with me, so while I was in meetings she was seeing the city and we all joined up in the evenings. Great place and very cheap.
Then I was off to Siberia again, third visit so I feel very much at home there…still snow around and cold but a very warm welcome. Meet my mate the major again and appeared in the local press. Also in March went to Denmark with the creative industries project. May was Slovakia, Bratislava and Kosice. I was able to meet up with my friend Milos for the first time in about 10 years – Bratislava has really changed, full of tourists and all the old town is now renovated, so different to my first visit in ’89. My other visits were to Lodz, Copenhagen, Lisbon and Badajoz, Spain.
Ellen had enough of Foundation art at Shrewsbury and started her degree at UCL. Her main subject is French and French literature, great accommodation just at the top of Tottenham Court Road. She is enjoying the big city and is off to Paris at Christmas. We had a few days at St Michaels together in the summer with Frankie – he thought it as great, all that space and freedom.
Joan’s new band the Mysteronz is great, loud and full of energy with superb musicianship and although they have only been together as a band since the summer they have lots of gigs, including Liverpool. The band is formed out of the old Tomcatz but with a new young drummer. Joan was accepted at Hope University for a PhD but this time with a scholarship, to write about the Stadium, a significant music venue in the 70’s and 80’s. She is also teaching at St Helens College and will be lecturing at Hope – so all is looking good.
We went out to Puerto Rico for a long holiday in November to stay at Ruth and Jethro's hotel. It was paradise and the hotel was on “the road to happiness”, so the car sticker says! We had a wonderful time and it was so good to be able to spend time with the Rincon kids. It was one of those holidays when you really didn’t want to come home. (Especially as the journey takes 22 hours and we went from 30° to 0°C)