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Abdulsalam was in the middle of Friday prayer at his neighborhood mosque in al-Bab, Aleppo, when he heard a crash — a nearby bakery had just disintegrated under the force of a barrel bomb, a deadly metal container filled with shrapnel and explosives, favored by the Syrian military.

Scanning the sky he saw the hovering chopper that had dropped the weapon. He tried to snap photos as it loomed above the rubble, but the images looked fuzzy. Abdulsalam hopped on the back of a passing ambulance and was among the first on the scene. He trained his camera on the smoldering facade of a bakery, panned to series of blasted-apart food stalls, and then settled his lens on mangled bodies. He kept snapping photos in rapid succession, until he spotted his cousin amid the carnage. Holstering his camera, Abdulsalam decided to join the rescue effort and helped his relative to a nearby hospital.

It was January 2014, almost two years after the Syrian army opened fire on protesters in Abdulsalam’s hometown of al-Bab, in the north of Aleppo province, bringing the country’s raging war to a farming community that had, until that point, remained largely untouched. Since then, Abdulsalam had worked with a group of local media activists to publicize the human toll of the civil war as rebel fighters established a foothold in al-Bab and the Assad regime pounded the town from above.

Within hours of the attack that injured his cousin, Abdulsalam uploaded his photos to Facebook. He thought it was the best way to simultaneously preserve the images — he didn’t know when his camera or computer could be destroyed — and get them out to the world. “It was a particularly horrific bombing,” he told me recently. There had been a pause in the fighting that week, and families who’d spent months cowering inside had just emerged to stroll through an outdoor bazaar near the mosque.

Seven months later, Abdulsalam got an automated email from Facebook notifying him that the images had been removed. Other users had complained that his photos were too gory. By the time he got the email, Abdulsalam’s other copies of the pictures were gone; his hard drive had been burned, along with his small office, when the Islamic State stormed al-Bab and Abdulsalam fled across the border to Turkey.

There’s good reason to believe Abdulsalam’s photos could have been used to address the atrocities he had witnessed. Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, investigators with Human Rights Watch have been making regular trips to Aleppo to document potential war crimes, including a disturbing pattern of Syrian helicopters blowing up bakeries with barrel bombs. By the time Abdulsalam snapped his pictures, the Islamic State had begun to move into the city, and HRW could no longer collect on-the-ground evidence. Ole Solvang, an HRW researcher who visited Aleppo more than a dozen times, in part to research the bakery attacks, said of Abdulsalam’s photos, which he never saw, “If there is ever a trial, this is the stuff that could become important evidence.”

Civilians react following a reported airstrike on the Tariq al-Bab district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on February 1, 2014. Syrian government and opposition delegations leave 10 days of peace talks with few results and a follow-up meeting uncertain, but analysts and negotiators say the discussions are an important beginning. AFP PHOTO/Mohammed Al-khatieb        (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED AL-KHATIEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Civilians react following a reported airstrike on the Tariq al-Bab district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on February 1, 2014.

Photo: Mohammed Al-Khatieb/AFP/Getty Images

The disappearance of Abdusalam’s photos are part of a pattern that’s causing a quiet panic among human rights groups and war crimes investigators. Social media companies can, and do, remove content with little regard for its evidentiary value. First-hand accounts of extrajudicial killings, ethnic cleansing, and the targeting of civilians by armies can disappear with little warning, sometimes before investigators notice. When groups do realize potential evidence has been erased, recovering it can be a kafkaesque ordeal. Facing a variety of pressures — to safeguard user privacy, neuter extremist propaganda, curb harassment and, most recently, combat the spread of so-called fake news — social media companies have over and over again chosen to ignore, and, at times, disrupt the work of human rights groups scrambling to build cases against war criminals.

“It’s something that keeps me awake at night,” says Julian Nicholls, a senior trial lawyer at the International Criminal Court,  where he’s responsible for prosecuting cases against war criminals, “the idea that there’s a video or photo out there that I could use, but before we identify it or preserve it, it disappears.”

Worries over disappearing evidence are not just theoretical. This past summer, YouTube rolled out a new artificial intelligence system designed to identify violent content that may be extremist propaganda or disturbing to viewers. Almost overnight, it shut down 900 groups and individuals documenting the civil war in Syria. That included a channel run by Bellingcat, a reputable U.K.-based organization devoted to analyzing images coming out of conflict zones including Syria, Ukraine, and Libya. YouTube also took down content from the group AirWars, which tracks the toll of U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. Countless media organizations run from Syria were also shut down, including the Idlib Media Center, one of the few groups producing videos from the last Syrian province controlled by rebels. Meanwhile, in September, Facebook began removing photos and images documenting ethnic cleansing and torture of the Rohingya ethnic minority at the hands of the Myanmar government. Like the images taken by Abdulsalam, other users had flagged the Rohingya images as disturbing, and Facebook agreed.

The takedowns, and the murky processes that led to them, represent a dramatic shift from the heady days of the Arab Spring, when protesters posted images of their governments firing on them, and social media chiefs promoted their platforms as nearly limitless tools for reform. “Anyone with a mobile handset and access to the Internet will be able to play a part in promoting accountability,” Google Executive Chair Eric Schmidt wrote in his 2013 book, “The New Digital Age.”  Around the same time, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared, in a 10-page paper about wiring the world for internet: “I believe connectivity is a human right.”

“They could have said: ‘Don’t use your platforms for this,’” said Alexa Koenig, executive director at the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley. “But they actually tried to get these people use their platforms [for it] — they held themselves up as arbiters of social good, and at that point of creating dependency, I would argue they acquired a heightened responsibility.”

“They had grandiose ideas,” added Keith Hiatt, a former software engineer turned human rights activist who’s served as a sort of intermediary for the tech industry and the human rights community. He is now vice president of Human Rights Programs at the NGO, Benetech, and serves on the Technology Advisory Board for the ICC, a group of experts trying to bridge the gap between investigators and technology. “The big story these companies told, justifying the massive freedom that they had to operate, was that their technologies would lead to openness — and openness will lead to democracy and human freedom,” he said.

Now that their own behavior is at issue, social media companies seem oblivious to the stakes, said Mohammad Al Abdallah, executive director of the Syrian Justice and Accountability Centre, an NGO backed by more 30 governments, including the U.S., which works to preserve social media evidence of atrocities.

“They just don’t appreciate what’s going on on their platforms,” he said. “They don’t take this as seriously as the should.”

Facebook would not answer specific questions about war crimes evidence. A spokesperson, who would not agree to sit for an interview or be named, said Facebook tried to be flexible and allow violent content to live on its platform when that content had some social or documentary value, and pointed to a year-old blog post in which the company said it would be “working closely with experts, publishers, journalists, photographers, law enforcement officials and safety advocates about how to do better when it comes to the kinds of items we allow.”

YouTube defended the way it deals with war crimes evidence and its relationship with the human rights groups who collect that evidence. “We are committed to ensuring human rights activists and citizen journalists have a voice on YouTube and are proud of how our service has been used to expose what is happening across the globe,” Juniper Downs, YouTube’s director of public policy, said. “We collaborate across civil society on many issues, including working with human rights groups to better understand the needs of content creators on the ground. Their expertise helps us make smarter policies and enforcement decisions, and we value the collaboration.”

Social media evidence is increasingly used to build cases against perpetrators of abuses by human rights organizations, by European courts that have “universal jurisdiction” and can bring war crimes charges, and by United Nations investigators. Over the summer, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for a Libyan commander accused of extrajudicial killings on the battlefield, basing the warrant, in part, on videos posted to Facebook. (One of the prosecutors on that case is Nicholls, the ICC lawyer who frets about atrocity evidence disappearing on social media.) Last year in Germany, an ISIS fighter was found guilty of posing with decapitated prisoners based in part on evidence found on Facebook. This year, in Sweden, Syrian regime and rebel fighters were successfully prosecuted for war crimes using evidence from both Facebook and YouTube. In total, there are 30 ongoing war crimes investigations in Swedish and German courts connected to crimes committed in Syria and Iraq. On the other side of the world, the government of Myanmar has barred NGOs and aid agencies from entering northern parts of the country, where human rights groups say a genocide is taking place against the Rohingya population. Human rights workers are often reliant on social media evidence to document the atrocities. At the same time, the U.N. has launched an independent investigation into the Syria conflict — known as the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism — which has a specific mandate to collect evidence of war crimes in Syria, much of which is housed on social media platforms.

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook Inc., speaks during the Oculus Connect 3 event in San Jose, California, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016. Facebook Inc. is working on a new virtual reality product that is more advanced than its Samsung Gear VR, but doesn't require connection to a personal computer, like the Oculus Rift does. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook, speaks during the Oculus Connect 3 event in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016.

Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images

For some who post on social media to document ongoing atrocities, the takedowns seem, at best, a destruction of evidence — and, at worst, complicity in atrocities. “Three years of documentation, just gone, in a moment,” Obayda Abo-Al Bara, a manager at the Idlib Media Center, said. Mohammad Anwar, one of the Rohingya activists whose posts were deleted by Facebook, told The Intercept that “I did feel that Facebook was colluding with the Myanmar regime in the Rohingya genocide.”

Facebook declined to address that statement directly, but said through a spokesperson that it is now making exceptions to its community standards for that conflict, working with NGOs, and conceded some mistakes in its handling of posts from Myanmar after they were brought to light by the Daily Beast in September.

In the tribunals of the future, investigators imagine a constellation of evidence — social media content will be introduced alongside traditional materials, such as eyewitness testimony or official documents to build stronger, more durable, cases against war criminals. Social media will never replace flesh-and-blood witnesses or old-fashioned forensics. But such evidence is clearly growing in importance — and is uniquely concentrated on the servers of Silicon Valley corporations.

“These platforms are now essentially privately owned evidence lockers,” said Christoph Koettl, a senior analyst at Amnesty International.

“But they are not in the business of being a human rights evidence locker; that work is not included in their business model.”

Koettl, who is also the founder of Citizen Evidence Lab, a group that trains human rights researchers to use social media to gather evidence of atrocities, recently received a YouTube link from a source who said it depicted an extrajudicial killing in Nigeria. By the time he clicked the link, the material had been taken down. When he contacted the company to ask for it to be restored, he said, they told him it wasn’t possible. A spokesperson at YouTube told The Intercept that, in such a scenario, the company has to respect the wishes of the video’s original poster — even if a human rights group like Amnesty flags the media as potential war crimes evidence.

Cases like the Nigeria video place social media companies in a difficult position, trying to strike a balance between the thirst for evidence of atrocities and privacy guarantees made to users. Nonprofit rights groups see less noble priorities at play, as well. Koenig has worked for years to help forge cooperation between human rights crusaders and the major social media companies. In 2014, she helped convene a meeting between investigators at the ICC and major tech companies in San Francisco; Google sent a representative, but Facebook pulled out last minute. (Koenig was able to debrief Facebook the week after at the 2014 meeting of RightsCon, an annual digital human rights conference.) This was the first meeting of its kind, she said, and the differences between the two camps were laid bare. “When you’re talking about privately held companies, with loyalty to their shareholders, they think on quarterly timelines and about maximizing profits,” she added.  “With war crimes, we’re talking about a totally different set of priorities, and a timeline of five years minimum.”

Silicon Valley’s attitude is not the only obstacle to deploying social media content in war crimes proceedings. Courts and prosecutors are still hammering out how the evidence can be used, how much weight to give it, and how to make sure defense attorneys can fairly rebut it. There’s the perpetual question of how to distinguish real from fake: Is a YouTube video of an execution authentic or staged? To address such concerns, investigators and activists are racing to standardize how they archive social media evidence, to make it searchable and easier to verify. One priority is sifting through hundreds of thousands of videos and photos to separate so-called lead evidence, content that indicates a crime has taken place, from “linkage evidence,” content that connects perpetrators to that crime.

Beyond the question of how to handle evidence is the challenge of obtaining it in the first place. Courts in European countries where war crimes prosecutions often take place can only submit warrants to American social media companies using cumbersome processes that operate via mutual legal assistance treaties, or MLATs, between their nations and the U.S. Through such channels, it can take years for the data to make its way into the hands of prosecutors. On top of that, the ICC is blocked from getting any social media data (or other information) from U.S. companies, thanks to the American Service-Members’ Protection Act, a law signed by former President George W. Bush in 2002 that shields U.S. soldiers from war crimes prosecutions and also prevents U.S. companies from turning over evidence to the ICC.

Of course, information shared openly on social networks is fair game. And it’s hard to overstate the potency of such evidence — or the consequences of its deletion. Take the trial of Haisam Omar Sakhanh last February. A former Syrian rebel fighter, he sought asylum in Sweden and was then investigated by Swedish authorities for allegedly withholding details of his past. During that investigation, his role in an extrajudicial killing on the Syrian battlefield in 2012 came to light, and he was charged with a violation of international law. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Social media evidence proved crucial, the chief prosecutor on the case, Henrik Attorps, told The Intercept. A video published by the New York Times in 2013 showed Sakhanh with an anti-Assad militia, known as the Suleiman Soldiers, executing bound prisoners after a battle in the northern province of Idlib.

Sakhanh claimed that those prisoners had been sentenced to death in a lengthy trial. Attorps was able to use social media to eviscerate that defense. He started Googling Sakhanh’s name and found videos posted on YouTube showing Sakhanh participating in the Idlib battle. He later subpoenaed YouTube for precise times that those videos were posted. He also subpoenaed Facebook for data from a deleted account of the Suleiman Soldiers; this included time-stamped announcements of the group’s attack on Syrian soldiers. Attorps then built a timeline showing that between the announcement on Facebook by the Suleiman Soldiers, the battle itself, and the execution, no more than 48 hours could have elapsed.

If YouTube had removed videos showing Sakhanh participating in that Idlib battle, Attorps could very well have failed to convict. But, the prosecutors still had mixed feeling about social media companies taking down disturbing images that could also be war crimes evidence. “As a prosecutor in this field of law, I’m worried,” he admitted. “But as a citizen, I’m a bit relieved.” Such images and video, Attorps said, can be disturbing for the general public and can serve as propaganda for extremist groups like ISIS.

Social media companies are under tremendous pressure to deny these extremist groups a safe haven for their propaganda. In September, U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May demanded that such firms come up with a way to remove extremist content within two hours of its posting. This presents a real dilemma, an official at YouTube told The Intercept: one person’s extremist propaganda is another person’s war-crime evidence.

CAIRO, EGYPT - NOVEMBER 23:  A youth films the aftermath of a tear gas volley fired by police on protestors in Muhammed Mahmoud Street near Tahrir Square on November 23, 2011 in Cairo, Egypt. Thousands of Egyptians are continuing to occupy Tahrir Square after four days of clashes with security forces despite a promise from military leaders to bring forward Presidential elections.  (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

A youth films the aftermath of a tear gas volley fired by police on protesters in Muhammad Mahmoud Street near Tahrir Square on Nov. 23, 2011 in Cairo.

Photo: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

“A video of a terrorist attack may be informative news reporting if uploaded by a news outlet or citizen journalist,” Downs of YouTube said. “But that same video clip can be glorification of violence if uploaded in a different context by a different user.”

Cognizant of these tensions, human rights groups are building ways to preserve potential war crimes evidence outside of the purview of social media companies — a sort of emergent, anarchic alternative architecture for media collection. That effort is centered on the Syrian Civil War; the group Syrian Archive, for example, is building a parallel evidence locker, downloading and organizing thousands of hours of video, with a team of six and a budget of $96,000. Researchers are also coming up with new ways to amass atrocity evidence in conflicts in other regions, including sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia.

“NGOs are doing the work that companies should do,” said Dia Kayyali, a tech and advocacy program manager at Witness, a group that also maintains a network of contacts in conflict zones documenting human rights abuses on video. “They should be paying people to be in contact with these groups and have relationships with them.”

Of course, the human rights groups, scouring social media for evidence, have longstanding relationships with the platforms — especially YouTube. In 2012, YouTube partnered with Witness to release a tool that allows activists to blur the faces in a video so investigators could collect testimony from anonymous witnesses. More recently, YouTube worked with Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat, the U.K. NGO stung by YouTube’s AI this summer, to develop a tool called “Montage” to help investigators crowdsource analysis of conflict videos. Facebook, human rights activists say, has been less open to such collaborations. “Facebook has been a mess forever,” Higgins told The Intercept. He points to one egregious case: In 2013, after the Syrian regime launched a chemical attack on the civilian population of Damascus, Higgins said that 80 percent of the firsthand reports of the attack, including videos and images, posted to Facebook were erased from the platform. (Facebook declined to answer a question about Higgins’s claim.)

Even human rights groups with strong ties to social media companies often feel buffeted by the whims of the platforms. Rules about what can and can’t be shared can change without much warning. In 2014, for example, YouTube decided to change its Application Program Interface, or API, essentially the language that outside organizations rely on to create software to extract data from, or otherwise interact with, the platform. The Syria Justice and Accountability Centre, a nonprofit group that has collected hundreds of thousands of videos of potential war crimes in Syria, was caught totally unaware and its system crashed. This summer, when YouTube introduced its new AI, channels feeding SJAC again disappeared.

“These companies don’t consult us or even give us educational guidance about how to post to not avoid things being blocked,” Abdallah, the group’s executive director, told The Intercept.

Even Witness was caught off guard by the company’s AI rollout. Many of the groups they partner with in conflict zones found their content removed.

“Who designs this AI? What was their understanding of these conflicts? We don’t know,” said Kayyali. “Huge companies need to recognize that every change they make … will have an effect on human rights users,” Kayyali added. “Instead of working to fix issues after policies and tools have already been instituted, it just makes sense to reach out to stakeholders.”

Screenshot of Syrian Archive website.

At times, activists said, it seems that the social media companies are just not tracking the issue closely. For example, last summer, when Syrian Archive spoke to YouTube about the urgency of restoring some of the videos the company’s AI had removed, YouTube officials didn’t seem aware that the International Criminal Court had just issued a landmark warrant citing social media evidence. “I don’t think they are intentionally destroying evidence, there’s just a real lack of understanding of what this stuff is,” said Jeff Deutch, a researcher at Syrian Archive and a fellow at the Center for Internet and Human Rights.

In August, when YouTube’s new AI removed thousands of videos associated with human rights and war crimes research, it caused a minor scandal. Higgins reamed the company to his 60,000 Twitter followers: “So far, YouTube’s attempts to remove ISIS and Jihadi content has proven to be a total flop, loads of false positives,” he wrote. YouTube has worked closely with human rights groups to restore videos and channels that its AI took down. A company spokesperson admitted that the rollout was executed poorly, and human rights groups should have been more in the loop.

“Inevitably, both humans and machines make mistakes. We use these errors to retrain our teams and our technology,” Downs, the YouTube spokesperson said. “We are also working on ways to educate those who share video meant to document or expose violence on how to add necessary context, so our reviewers can distinguish their videos from more malicious uploads.”

But more than three months after the botched AI rollout, human rights groups are still reeling:

“All our efforts have shifted to deal with YouTube thing,” said Hadi al-Khatib, the co-founder of the Syrian Archive.

He used to spend his days archiving potential war crimes evidence; now he’s engaged in a Sisyphean battle with YouTube’s algorithm. “We spend all our time helping Syrian media organizations whose content is deleted — we take their accounts, we check them out, make sure they are doing good work, then we we send to YouTube,” he explained. “A few days later, it’s deleted again.” This couldn’t be happening at a worse time, Khatib says. The Syrian regime and its allies are quickly retaking large swaths of Syria from ailing rebel groups and Islamic extremists. “They are demolishing all  types of evidence on purpose — some of what we collect is the the only thing that is left indicating that a crime took place,” he said. In mid-October, for example, YouTube removed bloody video evidence of a Russian airstrike that Khatib said targeted civilians in the Idlib countryside. “This was quite crucial,” he says. “It was a violation of international law and, until now, we can’t get it restored.”

This ad-hoc process for restoring videos raises a lot of questions. Groups and individuals in Europe and the U.S. who have ties to the social media companies have a shot at getting their content back. But for others it’s not within reach: Talal Kharrat, a manager with the Turkish-based Qasioun News Agency, said his organization draws on 80 correspondents, some of them undercover, spread across Syria. Since 2014, he says, nearly 6,000 videos from his agency have been removed by YouTube. Sometimes the content is restored, sometimes not. He’s tried over and over again, he said, to get in touch with someone at YouTube using the “help” button on his personal account.  “I receive no reply,” he told The Intercept. “Please separate between people like us, working in a conflict zone, putting our lives in danger, and someone who’s posting violent images from a normal place, or some extremist,” he said.

The Idlib Media Center was only able to restore some of its videos after it appealed to the Syrian Archive. And Ro Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya activist whose account was shut down and later restored by Facebook in September, says he was able to get in touch with someone at the company because a friend knew someone there. “It isn’t so easy to reach them,” he told The Intercept

This all makes Alexa Koenig, the human rights expert at UC Berkeley, nervous: “We have huge equity concerns: What stories are we losing? Whose voices are we not hearing? Who’s in a dire situation who we don’t know about?”

Abdulsalam, the Syrian photographer, is now in Turkey and quite sympathetic to the dilemma a company like YouTube faces.  He’s also thankful to the platform and credits it with helping “spread the voice” of Syrians under duress. “I also understand why they don’t want bloody content,” he said in a recent phone call. “All I’d ask is that they deal with this issue with more integrity.”

Abdulsattar Abogoda and Rajaai Bourhan contributed to this report.


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Lifestyle · Writing

23 things I learnt before turning 23

Now that we’re FINALLY nearing the end of January, my 23rd birthday is just a few weeks away and I’ve been thinking about my life so far, and the things I’ve learnt before the ripe old age of 23. 23 is a pretty insignificant birthday compared to the last three… 20 is always a big one because you are leaving your teens and entering the years of your 20’s, 21 is huge in the US because it’s the legal drinking age for some states (but in the UK I think it just means I can get a license to drive a big truck), and obviously 22 is important because Taylor Swift sings about it as sort of the epitome of youth, and as our last chance to be wild and free.

So I’m not particularly excited for this birthday, as it feels like I’m slowly creeping through my 20’s and I’ll turn around soon and realise I’m 30. I can still remember my 13th birthday party so vividly, so it’s hard to accept that was a whole decade ago. But the last 23 years have definitely been a learning curve, so here are 23 important things I’ve figured out so far.

  1. Despite studying a Creative Writing degree, I still don’t know how to correctly use a number in a sentence. For example, I don’t know if ’23 things I learnt before turning 23’ is a grammatically correct sentence, but I’ll let the grammar police have a laugh and not worry too much about it.
  2. Tin openers are really hard to get the hang of and I’ve never quite mastered it, so canned goods with rings are definitely the way forward for me.
  3. Day drinking isn’t as fun when you aren’t a student anymore actually have to consider adult outgoings like bills, rent, food and petrol.
  4. Karma doesn’t exist. Every decision you make in life is on you, and it’s up to you how you react. Instead of waiting for bad things to happen to bad people, create the good things that happen to yourself.
  5. Fruit has quite a lot of calories and sugars, so isn’t actually as healthy as the conspiring government and our parents would have us believe. That said, I still love apples.
  6. Consistency is key. For example, if you can run ten miles once but then stop running as far, it will take you longer to rebuild that stamina to ever run as far again.
  7. All of our lives are in danger of becoming Groundhog Day, so as much as I adore Bill Murray, you have to be the one to make changes in your daily life to work towards changing it.
  8. As a teenager, I completely underappreciated how amazing my parents were.
  9. There is a pretty big difference between llamas and alpacas.
  10. Lions and tigers can mate, but it’s only been done in captivity, and ligers don’t live very long, and I’m unsure how I feel about this hybrid species.
  11. It’s very unlikely that you will meet the love of your life when you’re 17.
  12. Make sure you get to know your roommates as people before you agree to live with them for two years. You don’t really know someone until they steal your food and your toilet roll and then store their dirty dishes in a cupboard under the sink.
  13. Just because one person tells you that you can’t do something doesn’t actually mean you shouldn’t do it. It means that you should do it, with twice as much effort and passion.
  14. Unsubscribe to the emails you don’t want to receive there and then, otherwise you will spend half of your life deleting spam emails from shops and organisations you no longer care about.
  15. Overthinking situations will slowly destroy your soul, so try to let the past be.
  16. You’ll know who your true friends are by the time you’re 22. This doesn’t mean you won’t make more friends, but you’ll have filtered through the bunch and be left with only the best.
  17. If you’d looked after your hair when you were 15, your hair would be the length and colour you want it to be now.
  18. Travelling solo is important. You don’t truly understand patience until you’ve got on a plane by yourself, been stuck in the middle of two strangers on the flight, and had to walk behind slow people in an airport while hoping your baggage isn’t missing.
  19. Your passions and interests will change all the time, and you should encourage that to some extent, but don’t become completely directionless.
  20. Life was simpler and probably better in the 80’s, and if you were born then you could have bought your own house.
  21. New duvet covers from Asda will become one of your biggest outgoings and interests. It’s a niche interest and that’s fine.
  22. Not everyone will like your cat, and it’s okay not to like those people.
  23. The next few years will be the most important in shaping who you are, but remember to enjoy them too!

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Guest Speakers Interview: Simon Armitage

Photo: The Guardian

Simon Armitage CBE is one of Britain’s foremost contemporary poets. This summer, he was appointed as Oxford Professor of Poetry – one of the most prestigious positions in the world of poetry – and has won numerous awards. He has released several novels and poetry collections, written plays, and been commissioned to work on various television and radio projects for the BBC. Until 1994, Armitage was a Probation Officer in Manchester. He was born (and still lives) in West Yorkshire.

You can find his books here

Very recently you became Oxford University’s Professor of Poetry and announced that you’d like to use rap and hip hop to explore the definition of modern poetry. With the rise of a popular art form that is heavily influenced by poetry, or that might even be considered to be poetry in itself, has poetry become more accessible?

I think it’s too early to say if that particular art form changes poetry’s role in the world, but what I would hope is true of poetry is that it’s adaptive to changes in society and changes in language. I see it as something that is nimble enough to keep transforming itself to make itself relevant for each era.

Rap is interesting because I heard for a long time that people aren’t interested in poetry, young people especially. I was listening to rap, and listening to people talk about rap, thinking that it involved verbal dexterity of a kind that poetry usually admires. It seems to me that it’s become a kind of lingua franca of young people working with words.  I can’t see any reason to discount it, to say it’s not poetry per se – except where it relies very heavily on music, and then I think it becomes something else.

I have to say, I’m not an expert on rap by any means. Even talking about it a little bit, I’m sure I come over as a sort of high court judge talking about the Sex Pistols. I just acknowledge its incredible popularity and see that it’s an art form that has metre, and rhyme, and harmonies, and verbal acoustics at its heart.

In 2010, you walked the Pennine Way, stopping along the trail to read poems to people in exchange for food and money. Firstly, why did you do it, and secondly, did meeting strangers influence your attitude towards poetry and its ability to engage people who aren’t already very familiar with it?

Good questions. I did it because, as I said, I’m a restless person and I wanted to get on and do something. I probably imagined when I was younger that what I would end up doing would be outside; but poetry is by and large an indoor activity. So it just occurred to me that it was a way of spending more time out there in the world, and connecting with the elements and the landscape.

Beyond that, I had the idea of testing poetry’s reputation and seeing if people considered it as an evening’s entertainment in little villages along the way. Maybe I was testing my own reputation as well. Twenty years ago, I was still working as a probation officer in Manchester and I think it was a slightly egotistical adventure: trying to find out if I had enough reputation to carry me from A to B. I came home feeling very optimistic about poetry. I’ve always believed, at some level, that there’s a place in people’s hearts and minds for poetry. It seems as if that proved to be the case on the journey.

Your poems have been included in the GCSE English syllabus for a number of years. Do you appreciate how it exposes teenagers to your poetry, which they might otherwise not read, or do you worry that the fact that they’re forced to learn it for an exam could lead them to think that poetry, even yours, is boring?

Both things have occurred to me. I think, by and large, I am happy with the work that’s out there. I get a lot of very positive feedback from teachers, saying that the kids in their classes who haven’t shown much interest in language and literature up to that point, have found in those poems a way of engaging. It’s been very satisfying because the poems have been on the syllabus for 15 years now and there are kids – who are now in their late twenties – who have very vivid memories of my poems and when they read them at school.

It is a little bit of a concern that in the educational machine, people turn poems into bullet point answers; which isn’t the spirit in which they were written. They weren’t written for educational purposes and are written usually from personal experiences or from ideas and feelings. I would prefer if people could respond in kind, in that vein, but overall I enjoyed the privilege of presenting work in front of that age group.

You have translated and adapted very old literature, such as Homer’s “The Odyssey”, using your own voice. What prompted you to begin adapting them and how important are the classics to you?

I suppose at some level, I feel as if I’ve missed out on any kind of classical education. So some of it has been my way of catching up. As I’m a fairly restless person, it’s never been good enough for me just to read something: I’ve always wanted to write in response to it. I had to dramatise “The Odyssey” and “The Iliad”, rather than translate them, because I don’t read Ancient Greek, or even Modern Greek. Instead I was so familiar with the stories that I was able to work with them as narratives, rather than just texts.

I do translate medieval poetry. I can read Middle English now, just about off the page. I’ve translated “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” the “Death of King Arthur,” and I’ve just finished translating a poem called “Pearl”.

One thing that I’ve enjoyed with those projects is that you can get on with it on a day-to-day basis, because you can’t write poems of your own all the time – you’re just not in the mood – but you can work on something that already exists. It’s been a way of writing when I haven’t really been in the mood to write my own stuff.

You released Paper Aeroplanes, a collection of your poems from 1989 to 2014. What strikes you about your early poems when you go back and read them?

I think with the very early poems, it’s just the sense of innocence and freedom that I was writing with at the time. The first couple of dozen poems in that collection were written before I’d got any kind of publishing deal or any sense of myself as a writer: it was just something I was doing because I wanted to do it. I think, once you become published, it’s like you’ve crossed the Rubicon and can’t really go back. It makes a difference to your outlook and to your writing practice. There’s a very strong sense of nostalgia. Some of the poems were ones I had almost forgotten about.

As much as anything, I felt incredibly proud. I try not to let pride creep into it too much; but when that book came out, I do remember sitting at the edge of the bed – that’s not significant, it was just the nearest piece of furniture at the time – holding it in my hand and thinking that I was very pleased with the body of work I’d produced. You never know when you start writing how long it’s going to last. It could have all been over just in a couple of years, and equally it could all be over in the next couple of years.

Finally, is there a poem by anyone else that you wish you had written yourself?

Yes, pretty much every poem I ever read by other people. That really is the spur to writing; you read somebody else’s work and you are envious of it, and you are gob struck by it, and you’re amazed. You admire it to such a point that you think I’d like to try my own version of that, or how would those techniques work if applied to my own work? What would their voice sound like if I tried to harmonise with it? I guess that’s the age-old idea that there’s nothing new in this world. I’ve always thought of poetry as a continual conversation with other poems and other poets.

If you were asking about any one poem specifically … One of the poems that I admire as much as any other poem is a poem by Ted Hughes, called “Full Moon and Little Frieda.”* I don’t think this is a poem I’ve ever attempted to emulate, except through some of the techniques it practices. Hughes is describing the moment where his young daughter comes to the door of the farmhouse, where he lives at that time, and looks up into the night sky and sees the moon, and says its name. I think you are given the impression that it is the first word she has ever spoken. There’s this incredible identification and equilibrium between a planetary body and this tiny child, and yet they feel to be in balance. Even the title, “Full Moon and Little Frieda”, feels like it’s balanced on this very delicate fulcrum of the word “and”. The poem is tenderly laid out at the beginning – that tenderness and tension is suddenly broken by the launch of the word “moon.” It’s only fourteen or fifteen lines: it’s a tiny little poem.

(Cue sirens)

That’s the police coming, for me.

* Full Moon and Little Frieda, by Ted Hughes

A cool small evening shrunk to a dog bark and the clank of a bucket –

And you listening.

A spider’s web, tense for the dew’s touch.

A pail lifted, still and brimming – mirror

To tempt a first star to a tremor.

Cows are going home in the lane there, looping the hedges with their warm

wreaths of breath –

A dark river of blood, many boulders,

Balancing unspilled milk.

‘Moon!’ you cry suddenly, ‘Moon!  Moon!’

The moon has stepped back like an artist gazing amazed at a work

That points at him amazed.


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Ceramic flies- What they are, what they do and how to make them

they don’t look like anything in particular, just some general bug-type shape with just enough bug-type elements that suggest food and colour contrasts to set them apart from river debris and nothing more. in a sense, they epitomise the presentation over imitation concept. here’s a few examples:

ceramic nymphs flyfishing.co.uk.jpg
at first glance they look like nuclear waste candies and as always and specially when dealing with non-immitative flies, colours are mostly up to the tier’s whim. personally, and since i never specifically target grayling because i can’t stand the f’n things… preferring to focus my attention on trout and other less offensive creatures, i like them best in naturalish tones with a black head. that’s my whim.

these things consist of a lead or lead substitute wire wound around the hook shank to form the body followed by several layers of ceramic hobby paint to finish the fly. Pébéo seems to be the preferred brand, it’s available in small pots and even in pen form. i’m not familiar with the pens but it seems to be a fast, easy and maybe less expensive alternative for the person who might want to just try these out or make just a few.

there’s no traditional ‘tying’ involved in the process. traditionalists will of course poo-poo these things and not even consider them as flies but the hell with them. traditional flies can’t do what these do which brings us to the ‘what they do’ part-
apart from the Perdigon style of nymphs, every other style of nymph that i know of has sink-restraining elements: feathers, fur, dubbing, rubber or whatever protuberances that slow down and make it more difficult to get the flies on or near the bottom and that’s what these deep-divers are supposed to do. sink-restraining flies can get to the bottom too but they need more time and an enormous amount of weight to counter their sink-restraining properties but once there, and even if they catch fish sometimes and look ‘good’, they’ll tend to drift like big lifeless, unnatural lumps.

sleek deep-divers like Perdigons and Ceramics do indeed have some form of weight but much less. being super-sleek they cut through currents faster, get where they’re supposed to go faster, meaning the angler doesn’t have to cast as far upstream and wait for it to settle, making the presentation a lot more accurate in drift management while freely tumbling downstream with the current much closer to what a natural would do and that’s a lot more important and fish-catching than bits and pieces wound on a hook that attract the angler more than the fish.

an added bonus is lighter flies are a lot easier to cast (and safer) specially when using industry standard fly lines as opposed to Dynamic/Euro/TightLine/monofilament-only rigs.
ceramic nymphs 2 flyfishing.co.uk.jpg

as we’ll see in Stanislas Freyheit‘s video below this particular type of paint has some really interesting properties, the only drawback might be that its best (and highly recommended!) to wait approximately 24 hrs between coats. this means making them in batches and being patient, sort of like making babies and having to wait nine months before they pop out.

lastly, a bit of unofficial Ceramic nymph history. this kind of info with any kind of veracity isn’t easy to obtain but i can confirm their French origin. although relatively new to the global fly fishing world, i’ve known about them for about fifteen or so years.
frogs tend to not share their secrets… however, Stanislas, who ties these bugs commercially happily shares all his trade secrets for all to see, all in a very understandable english, big kudos for that. enjoy !

fly images via flyfishing.co.uk/Google images

Beth and BillyBob are hungry !

or, could that be Dick and Phillip or, Jane and Dory ? to tell you the truth i couldn’t care less about their names or genders, they’re both beautiful and doing what we love to see them do: peacefully slurping down bugs and getting fat.

filmed road-side on the Goulburn river Victorian Alps-Australia, these two video treats are wonderfully unpolluted by fisherman, their gear or raunchy music. maybe they’re there to remind us that its not all about us but whatever they are… i hope you’ll enjoy.

tip- resize the image and watch them both at the same time, its really cool.

Mystery Casting Pond X

this little farm pond has had many names in the past. it started as Mystery Pond X but that’s so common it was regularly confused with all the other Mystery Pond Xs around the globe so i had to get a little creative.

it used to have stocked rainbow trout in it so Lake Trouto seemed to make sense, at least in a non-confusing yet highly mindless and tacky way. the owner, a very kind, gentle and very old man whose nose is the same colour and size as a basketball stopped stocking trout a while back and the ones that where left-over eventually turned into food for furred, winged and slimy two-legged creatures but there had always been grass and common carp in there so Trouto turned into Carpo.

Lake Carpo sounds cool but after ten or so, yes, ten or so years… i’ve yet been able to properly hook one of these scaled giants. i did foul hook a grass carp whilst targeting trout years ago but it broke off the tippet in about as much time as it takes to say Lake Carpo three times really quickly. the carpers out there will scoff at my lack of success but that’s something i can live with. i’ve caught plenty of carp but just never in this little ghost carp pond-hell and that’s ok too because maybe that’s what will make Carpo so memorable.

next up was the small yet always fun and forever beautiful perch that seemed to thrive in there. i’d had several 50+ perch landing days with a personal best of 76 but they seem to have teleported themselves wherever it is that perch teleport themselves. i almost forgot, at that stage the pond of course took on the Lake Percho nomenclature. normal.

i’m probably wrong but for the moment i consider this pond to now be fishless to the point where i still go regularly to practice my casting but don’t even bring any flies to not be distracted if some fish happened to magically appear.

you got it, things go full circle so in a fit of total lack of renaming creativity, this little cutie has a new name:

Casting Pond X.

greenwave m.fauvet-TLC 3-2-16_edit_edit_edit_edit

this is the back view at CPX. funny, i’d never noticed how beautiful it could be…

the SloMo Tricos of the Bitterroot

this gorgeous short from Joe Cummings doesn’t need any words except, enjoy !

for previously posted trico tying tutorials click here.

Return of the Warrior II

a few days ago we’d seen this lovely fish’s gill plate with a ‘part One’ suggestion there’d be more in the form of its return to its home.
neither film needs any comment but i wanted to explain the ‘King of the Pond/Warrior’ bit.

Lake Trouto (my name for it) is a farm pond i regularly visit when wild trout season is closed. being a private and closed environment (to natural waterways and wild fish), french regulations allow these types of waterways to remain fishable year round which means i can get my trout fix without being the miserable git that goes through trout depression throughout the closed months like so many of my friends.
it is of course a stocked fishery mostly consisting of rainbow trout but there’s also perch, rudd, a few sunfish and monstrous yet uncatchable grass carp. i’ve tried… they don’t seem to eat grass but i haven’t given up !

Trouto has never been a high-pressure fishery. the owner always considered it a small sideline to his farming activities and as such, stocked it maybe once a year and irregularly at best, never did much bank-side grooming and basically let it and its dwellers take care of themselves. fisher convenience came last. this is just about as close to a wild environment as we can find in an artificial system. the trout here all came from a fishery that never fed them industrial pellet food but natural things like bugs, worms and whatnot. these fish switch over to natural feeding habits instantly.
blobs and boobies and whatever typical flashy, fluorescent, over-saturated stockie reservoir-type flies don’t work here and put the fish down. in fact they scatter as if they’d seen thunder.
they want real food and their imitations. a local entomologist once told me there’s approximately 40 (yes 40) different species of Ephemeroptera/mayflies in this small area (if that isn’t a fly fisher’s nightmare i don’t know what is… ), stoneflies, caddis, bibbios, younameits, several species of dragonflies and chironomids galore. a favourite pastime in the warmer months is to go there and watch the trout race after the dragonflies, jump out and grab them on the fly.

as you’ll have guessed, these are not the dumb stockies we so often hear about. they’re as tough-fighting, resistant, cunning and glorious as their wild-borne counterparts and that’s why having this resource close to home is priceless to me. over the last ten or so years Trouto has become not only a great place to have fun but also a place to test flies, techniques, equipment, observe all of the dweller’s behaviours and “try” to break the semi-wild stillwater code but to be honest, i’ll never break that code and don’t want to.

to conclude, on friday 10th of October 2014 the Warrior measured in at 55cm/22″ and weighs 1,25 kg/2,75 lbs. most would smirk at such a little fish but it happens to be the biggest catch on record at Trouto in four years.
it managed to thrive, escape and remain beautiful throughout, fishers, cormorants, otters, osprey and the occasional poacher that sneaks in at night: he’s the King of the Pond and i’m humbled to have spent a little time with him.

the magic of giffology allows us to see the same film in C&R&R&C mode. i hope you’ll like it too.

Return of the Warrior backandforth M.Fauvet:TLC

At last

don’t know if its Etta James’ lovely voice, cannibalism caught on film or the sight of all those super-excited Alaskan trout slurping down eggs like there’s no tomorrow that makes this short underwater video interesting. probably all three.

brought to us by deneki.com, bon appétit !

the Fish Cannon

“What’s a fish to do? Swim into a cannon, perhaps, which will launch it over the dam and allow it to get on with its migration.

This is not a parody. It’s not even just a crazy Internet idea. It’s a real-life solution currently undergoing testing in Washington with the cooperation of the Department of Energy and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The vacuum tube technology was originally designed for fruit, but according to biologists at the Yakama Nation Fisheries, it appears to be safe for fish (researchers are continuing to study the long-term effects).”

too cool ! i’d love to be shot through a soft tube like this.

click here for more info.

edit- a little research shows this idea isn’t exactly new although i think i like the newer version better…

How fish eat

fascinating stuff here from Smarter Every Day via The Ozark Fly Fisher Journal showing us just how cool and more importantly, how our slimy friends have adapted and evolved their eating methods through time.

i’d found the image above years ago on the net (sorry, no source) where the explanation behind it was that in many cases, trout will suck in a bug from quite a distance through a vortex created by opening the mouth and thrusting the water out through the gills effectively sucking the prey in instead of munching down on the meal with its teeth as most of us mammals do.
the videos below show and explain this action in high-quality slomo video confirming the ‘vortex’ method of feeding.
note that this method is mostly used by toothless or smaller-toothed fish. in the case of trout, a lot of bugs and smaller stuff will get sucked in and use their teeth when they go for forage fish.
an example of a (very) toothed fish that clamps its prey are pike. they’ll typically chomp, grab and hold their prey for a while until its stunned and later turn it so its facing them and then swallow it whole. yum !

but then, some fish aren’t all that smart and sometimes they get a little confused on which technique to use…
fish eat fish

a small stream dream

“Growing up where the rivers where virtually always chocolate brown, I dreamed of crystal clear mountain streams that I occasionally got glimpses of on TV and in books. I finally got to the most beautiful crystal clear stream with my good friend and fishing buddy”
filmed in South Africa here’s a drop-dead gorgeous environment with what appears to be a very healthy and eager population of rainbow trout. the stuff that dreams are made of…

this one’s a real gem, enjoy !

for regular news and all sorts of other South African fly fishing goodies be sure to check out and subscribe to Tom Sutcliffe’s site The Spirit of Fly Fishing

Finding trout in the shade

Hunting Trout in the Shadows by Ross Purnell, illustrated by Joe Mahler via Fly Fisherman

“Trout use shadows for concealment and for feeding, and it’s a particularly important feature on small streams with large trout. Small trout can conceal themselves pretty much anywhere, but a big trout in a shallow river is “naked” in bright sunlight. In the broken light of the shadow line, it’s much harder for predators like fly fishers, herons, and osprey, to see the trout.”
a most excellent double-plus good article on trout fishing tactics, fish behaviour and tips to take into account in sunny situations.
for tip no. 2, in the same manner that its no good for us to be looking at bright lights and losing our ‘nocturnal vision’ when fishing at night,  i’ll add that during the daytime the angler should avoid looking into bright areas when their eyes have adapted to looking into the shade.

be sure to click the image below for the full article and video, enjoy !

hunting trout in the shadows - joe mahler

The canary in the coal mine.

ever heard of southern California steelhead ? neither had i until this film.
as noted in the beginning, we all know of this wondrous species but it’s basically all from much further north along the Pacific coast or north-east Great Lakes region. much more than just a ‘save the fish so we can fish it… ‘ type of effort, these people are interested in simply trying to restore a balance between a thriving human presence and nature. if the steelhead do well, then it’s the whole ecosystem that does well. the canary effect.

i hope you’ll enjoy this very informative film and feel moved enough to pass it on. as mentioned, few people know of the presence of these fish in this region of the world and the more people know, the more chances we’ll have to give them the possibility to go have fish sex where fish sex is supposed to happen: in their upstream bedrooms.

we can worry about how to catch and release them later if all goes well.
lets hope it does.

“It’s enough that I feel your presence or see your commas swirling around me.”

～ Haruki Murakami, The  Elephant Trout Vanishes

'that little swirl M.Fauvet:TLC 2-1-14

that little swirl at the beginning of this trout’s lateral line made my day.

‘bulged-out, flaring and ready to go

'bulged-out, flaring and ready to go M.Fauvet 26-12-13

this image reminds of a comment some bobo left here a while back. among other nonsenses, one of things he liked less was the fact that ‘my mutant fish had sick bulging eyes’.
at the time i was too busy sort-of laughing at all this silliness but in hindsight i should have suggested he go soak his head once in a while, that is, go have a look at how fish look when they’re at home underwater instead of judging their appearance when they’re lifted out of it for the all-important ‘grip & grin’ shot.
quite simply, when they’re in their environment their eyes bulge out and so do their nostrils. i’m waiting for a confirming reply from an ichthyologist friend but i’m fairly sure that the fact that both of these organs retract when exposed to air has to do with lack of water pressure but then it might also have to do that they don’t want to see or smell us. considering how many ugly-stinky anglers i’ve met throughout my life i can’t really blame them…

“The fish in the creek said nothing. Fish never do. Few people know what fish think about injustice, or anything else.”

～ Ursula K. Le Guin, Catwings

i’m in the middle of a hmmm, that’s an interesting quote that conjures up images of strange waterside conversations and then, hmmm, that’s overly romanticised bullocks… moment.
at first my thoughts are the fish feel the same but then, this means i’m going along with the quote, playing Ursi’s game and i’ll have none of that, thank you.
although i’ll keep trying i’m also quite sure i’ll never make any sense out of these matters any time soon but in the meantime…

here’s a fish. a silent fish. a fish that doesn’t produce metaphysical migraines.

taliking trout TLC 13-11-13

Put and Take

by Bob Wyatt

nothing like a grumpy ole’ article from a grumpy ole’ man to brighten up a dismal sunday afternoon. enjoy !

With the demise of so many great fishing waters, and increasing pressure on the remaining wild fisheries, the best thing that has come down the pike for fly fisherman is the put and take fishery. Let’s face it, who has the time these days to put in the hours, years for chrissake, necessary to catch sufficient numbers of wild trout to be able to call yourself an angler? Well, nowadays, with these fantastic put and take fisheries, all that lore and experience stuff about flies and hatches and so on is just a bunch of boring old crap preached by boring old farts. No wonder the kids aren’t interested in fishing anymore.

And, even better, the P&T waters are just getting better all he time. No nettles, brambles or mud, all nice green grass and neat wood and concrete jetties to fish from, no need for waders and all the paraphernalia. Your nice expensive Nikes stay as clean as when you stepped out of the car, only feet away from the old fishing hole. And the fish keep getting bigger! We no longer have to work so hard for weenie little sprats like on the so-called wild waters. Now the time put in is worth something, all these fish are whoppers, easy two pounds and up. Some are real hawgs too, over twenty pounds of fighting rainbow swimming around out there in plain sight, with its mouth open. It’s better than Playstation!

No, there’s no two ways about it, ‘wild’ trout fishing just ain’t worth the candle. I have to admit though, catching hawg after hawg can get a bit samey. But I was thinking these same operators could provide something with a bit more edge for all of us who have logged the hours on the trout. You know, just for a change of pace. For a bit more money you could fence an area and stock it with chickens. They’re better eating than trout anyway. You go in there with a golf club or two and pay for a limit of, say, five. You don’t want it too big an area, because you’d never get a good swing at them, and of course you’d have to think about the disabled, maybe have wheelchair access.

Anyway, that would really get the blood running, so to speak, don’t ya think?. Good aerobic exercise, too, for the heart or whatever. There’d be all the same really interesting stuff about tackle and tactics, just like fishing. You know, what action you prefer, swing weight and so forth. No end of fun. And hey, if it caught on, which I’m sure it would, you could graduate to ‘big game’ – have an area stocked with pigs or something. Use a range of hammers. Sporting stuff, say 1.5 pound ballpean for light corner work, and heavy sledges for long range. You could have a weight class competition.

You can imagine the chat around the artificial campfire up at the lodge. “Man, that last one was a real stonker. I was going too light, definitely. Struck too hard and he broke me. I know where he’s hiding though. I’ll sneak up on him at dusk with the post maul.”
Best yet, who doesn’t prefer BBQ ribs to fish farm trout? If you get a big bag, you could donate the catch to charity, hospitals and old folks homes and such, who are probably getting mighty sick of rainbow trout by now…

i feel better now, thanks for allowing me to share this Bob.


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Introducing the beautiful Villa Arcachon!

Dots White

March 2017

Whenever we get asked to suggest a villa suitable for a wedding or another special event, Villa Arcachon is one of the properties which springs immediately to mind! It sits in an exceptional location in the heart of the Bassin d’Arcachon, with its own direct beach access. The property dates back to 1903 when it was built, in the style of an Italian lodge, for M. Germain Cumenge, Prosecutor of the Republic of Bordeaux. More recently the current owners have renovated both the house and its 4500m2 parks to all its former glory. Sleeping up to 15 people, the property is also perfect for a holiday with extended family or friends, and outside high season shorter stays of less than week are accepted.

There are an extraordinary variety of advantages to be enjoyed during a stay at this property. Not only are you within easy reach of the many vineyards in the Bordeaux region, and the city itself, but apparently there are also health benefits. The particular blend of pine forest and ocean air here is very beneficial for the heart and lungs, and the thyroid glands benefit from the release of iodine which takes place here when the sea is at low tide. There are also numerous sporting activities to be enjoyed in the area, including sailing, windsurfing, paddle boarding, golf, tennis, cycling, horse riding, fishing … and for those who are more interested in relaxing, you can enjoy a massage in the privacy of your own room at the villa, or a full luxury spa session at Les Sources de Caudalie, in Bordeaux, based on grapes and vines.

If you prefer the idea of tasting the grapes on vines, the staff at the property can facilitate VIP access for guests to exclusive wine and food matching tastings, wine workshops and visits to famous vineyards. Due to the owner’s extensive contacts in the wine industry, they can also organize private access and wine purchase to chateaux which generally do not sell direct to individuals.

Culinary delights on site include enjoying mouthwatering dishes using the best of local French produce prepared by a private chef. Everything from a small intimate dinner, right through to a special celebration can be catered for, depending on guests’ requirements. Wedding and other event planners are available to help plan the event to make it ultra-special.

Don’t forget too that the Bassin d’Arcachon is the birthplace of over 80% of the oysters produced and consumed in France. Special visits can be arranged to oyster farms where you can enjoy fresh oysters and other seafood straight from the Atlantic. Aquitaine is also the centre of sturgeon farming in France, with the resulting caviar competing with the world’s finest. You can visit a farm to discover ethical breeding techniques and production of caviar, and taste test the exquisite harvest with matching wine. More foodie enticements include food shopping at speciality shops and local markets with a chef, and also a fun-filled Culinary Master Class at the villa with an experienced chef.

Finally, let’s not forget Bordeaux itself, just a 45 minute drive away, and a famous centre of culture, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. As well as being known for its art, music, theatre and opera, visitors will enjoy exploring on foot the beautiful architecture in the quartier of St Michel, dating back two centuries, and the more recent development of the quays along the Garonne River. Bordeaux has more than 350 classified buildings and buildings listed as Historic Monuments. A private city/monument heritage tour can also be arranged by the villa staff.

Suggested properties

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Archive for March 24th, 2013

As Spring approaches and we find ourselves at another turn of the Great Wheel, opportunity abounds for making deeper connection to the natural world and Gaia’s greening of it. Gaia is seen as the maiden offering the promise of new life in a womb that is still developing and preparing for what will be birthed in full glory as the summer approaches and the peak of all living things is held in father sun’s gentle hold……Read more at:   Witchs’ Voice

Be sure to read the accompanying poem – Gaia’s Mantle – in the Poetry section of WitchVox

Read Full Post »

78 Keys of Tarot

Opening the Gates of Inner Sight

78 Keys of Tarot

Unlocking Our Inner Gates

Musings From the Mystic Path

A Monthly Newsletter published by Coven of the Mystic Path, ASW

From Psychic / Medium Danielle Egnew

The Call to Light Press - Spiritual Messages for Changing Times.

The Pagan Experience

Writings From the Pagan Community

Teachings on the Path

A Space of Learning

Sharing My Love of Symbols

Magickally Human

A Blog of Experience

mindfulness, relaxation, thought provoking images and poems

300 stories

A continuing mission to produce flash fiction stories in 300 words (or less)

Trials and Tribulations of a Novice Writer

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The Concept of Comparative Philosophy

Henry Corbin

One of the striking characteristics of Shi‘ite philosophy in Iran, especially during the past four centuries, has been the insistence on the common vocation of the philosopher and the prophet. The prophet of course is not someone who predicts the future. He is one who utters the language of the invisible. In order that the Sages should appear like the successors of the prophets their philosophy must in its essence be a prophetic philosophy. Still on this point, I believe that all the “urafa”, all the mystical philosophers belonging to the Abrahamic tradition have one trait in common… That is, it is only these Sages who are capable of facing the consequences of the desacralisation of a universe that has been profaned… They belong as much to the West as to the East in this world. They will never be more than a handful of men, unknown to the great mass of people, because they will have renounced the ambitions of this world, and that because they will be aware, like their predecessors, of the moral and human responsibility of men of learning.

Click here to view the PDF.

For more on Henry Corbin, visit the site of the Association des amis de Henry et Stella Corbin.

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Israeli premier’s son blocked on Facebook for anti-Muslim posts

Dome of the rock in Jerusalem. The Muslim Times is promoting secularism and interfaith tolerance in every country of the world

By AFP – Dec 17,2018 – JORDAN TIMES

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s eldest, Yair, Tweeted on Sunday that Facebook blocked his page for 24 hours over apparent anti-Muslim posts, and called the leading social network a “dictatorship”.

In a message posted on Thursday on his Facebook page after deadly Palestinian attacks, Yair Netanyahu had called for “all Muslims [to] leave” Israel.

“Do you know where there are no attacks? In Iceland and in Japan where coincidentally there are no Muslims,” the prime minister’s son wrote.

In another post he wrote that there were only two possible solutions for peace, either “all Jews leave [Israel] or all Muslims leave”. “I prefer the second option,” he added.

His comments came after two soldiers were shot dead on Thursday at a central West Bank bus station near a settlement.

On the same day, a baby prematurely delivered after his mother was shot and wounded in a separate attack nearby on December 9 also died.

Facebook deleted Yair Netanyahu’s posts, prompting him to take to Twitter to criticise the social networking giant, calling it a “dictatorship of thought”.

Critics of the prime minister have often attacked Yair as a grown man living in the premier’s residence despite having no official role and benefitting from a bodyguard, a driver and other perks.

They say the parents of the 27-year-old are grooming him for future political power in an attempt to establish a ruling dynasty.

Suggested Reading

The Muslim Times’ Collection to Show, Islam or the Holy Quran are Not Anti-Semitic

CNN Documentary: Ultra-orthodox Jews and Israel’s Struggle with Secularism

Why Did Muhammad Fly to Jerusalem?

How can we build the Third Temple together?

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Review & Full Album Stream: Mr. Bison, Holy Oak

mr bison holy oak

[Click here to stream Holy Oak by Mr. Bison in full. Album is out May 25 on Subsound Records.]

The number of dudes in Mr. Bison? Three. The number of those same dudes named Matteo? Three. The number album their new one, Holy Oak is in their discography? Three. The number of bassists who appear on that same record? None. Number of times you’re going to be responsible for knowing these numbers? Zero, because by the time the Pisa-based sans-bass three-piece of guitarist/vocalists Matteo Barsacchi, Matteo Sciocchetto and drummer/vocalist Matteo D’Ignazi are about two songs in — to the total nine; because numbers — the sweet fuzz, classic style fuzz and periodic excursions into psychedelic space are going to melt the math away anyhow.

Mr. Bison, who release Holy Oak as their second offering through Subsound Records behind 2016’s Asteroid, hone in on the pivotal spirit of modern desert rock. There’s some element of push in songs like “Heavy Rain,” but they’re just as likely to spend their time spreading out an open atmosphere. Consider European acts of lore like Sgt. Sunshine and Lowrider, fellow Italians OJM, or American bands like Solace for a cut like “Earth Breath,” or even up and coming practitioners like Steak. Mr. Bison belong to this category of purveyors. Their third album is mature and aware of the moves it’s making between louder, more driving material and its more subdued places, and the Matteos effectively play different sides off each other both within songs — the 7:30 centerpiece title-track walks by and waves — and in the transition between them as well.

Like many acts who operate without a bass, their claim is that the guitar tones make up for it. And true enough, any band can tune lower to make up for the lacking thicker strings if they’re so inclined, but to think of the legacy of great heavy rock loadbearers — from Geezer Butler through Scott Reeder and so on — and it would seem to be not even so much the tone as the dynamic they’re denying themselves. They compensate by weaving different guitar parts in and around each other, and in so doing craft something that, admittedly, is more their own than it would be if they were a simple guitar/bass/drum configuration. Some of it is a familiar lead/rhythm dynamic, but “The Bark” operates tonally like a battle of dueling Hendrixes, and the results make for a legitimately exciting listen.

This is something that a band three records in can do much more effectively than a band making their debut, but it’s admirable nonetheless, and from the mid-paced groove of opener “Roots” and the blown-out shuffle swagger of “Sacred Deal” — there may not be any bass, but I’d swear I hear an organ — onward, Mr. Bison retain fervent control over their transitions and the fluidity of Holy Oak as a whole. At 46 minutes, it does not feel like a minor undertaking, but neither is it redundant, as “Heavy Rain” breathes ambient life into the initial salvo and “Earth Breath” contrasts with more straightforward edge and riffing. The appropriate metaphor would be to say these two sides are doing battle, but it’s more like they’re both fighting toward the same end than fighting each other. In the post-Black Rainbows sphere of Italian heavy, Mr. Bison make a place for themselves alongside acts like Tuna de Tierra, who take the established tenets of various forms of heavy and pull them together in varying balances in order to best serve their songwriting.

True, one could easily argue that “Red Sun,” from name, to riff, to its forward punkish rhythm, is probably direct Kyuss tribute, but consider that it arrives after the Golden Void-esque “The Bark” and the boogie-laden “The Wave” and the context becomes a bit broader than a band from Italy trying to sound like a band from California. It also precedes seven-minute closer “Beyond the Edge,” and where one might expect Mr. Bison to simply switch back into the psychedelia-as-primary modus of the earlier title-track, they instead hold to a blend of funkified start-stop fuzz and scorching lead, a gritty, Radio Moscow-style blues vocal laid overtop that leads to an extended but still mostly earthbound jam.

That is to say, the band doesn’t just have a couple of set methods of songwriting and swap one out for the other. Of course this works to the benefit overall of Holy Oak, which caps with a repetitive and duly hypnotic progression while also bringing back vocals to keep the song grounded even at its most “out there” moment, which is a pretty fair analog to the entirety of the record. I’m not sure I’d call myself 100 percent on board with the zero-bass philosophy, but there’s no question that for Mr. Bison, the numbers add up. Their sound is fluid and engaging and their songwriting is varied enough that indeed they leave nothing wanting for dynamic. Many elements of what they do will be familiar to those experienced with the genre, but it’s in how they’re melded that Mr. Bison make their statement, and they make it loudly.

Mr. Bison on Thee Facebooks

Mr. Bison on Bandcamp

Subsound Records on Thee Facebooks

Subsound Records webstore

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New Life, Muker

Again it’s been quite some time since I troubled the blog with a new post, but since Nepal I’ve had no time to pick up a camera, let alone point it in the right direction,  but there’s good reason …

… in that we’ve upped sticks, moved North, and bought an Art Gallery and Craftshop in the tiny village of Muker, Swaledale, and opened on Thursday 13th April.

It’s been a busy few months but the couple of snaps below might just provide a taste of why it’s worth the effort!

The gallery’s website is, and if you’re ever travelling in the area, feel free to drop by.

Evening walk above Muker | Sony RX1rII
Foveon Sky’s from the Garden | Sigma DP3 Merrill


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General Gerald Woodmore

General of the 5th Regiment

Age: Mid 40’s

Gerald Woodmore is the general of the 5th Regiment of the Atlantian Army. He is a well respected tactician and is responsible for ensuring banditry in the Duchy of Stagmore is kept to a minimum.

He is the younger brother of Lord Edward Woodmore.

General Gerald Woodmore

The Pandorica of Orbis Keith_Harvey Keith_Harvey


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Posted in Editorial, News

Is SeaWorld Dying

Is the most famous Aquatic Theme Park of all time dying?

Has the events  in the past 3 years damage the most prestigious park of all time?

Will their loyal patron forgive them for getting too big and loosing touch with reality?

Can SeaWorld bounce back from all this tragedy and move forward to a new age of wonder?

It’s no secret, SeaWorld has lost many of their booked act for the new coming year. SeaWorld has been boycott by big names in the entertainment industry. Legendary Willie Nelson, Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, have all cancel the big annual event for 2014 called “Annual Beers, Brew & BBQ Concert”.

To date 8 of the 10 artist booked to play at this event have cancel. Field trips from Schools have been cancel do to the outrage the film documentary “Black Fish” has created.

The PR department at SeaWorld have been scrabbling to make aware, the founding in this film are false, not true at all. They are doing everything in their power to assured the public all is well, better than ever in fact and their animal held in their premises are well taken care of.

Still, it makes me wonder how long can this debate last and how far will it go? There are 100’s of website asking people to please stop wasting their money on SeaWorld, other simply want for Tilikum to have peace and a happy life somewhere else. Many activist feel this whale has suffer enough, it needs to be able to be happy and fruitful somewhere else.

Many experts believe maybe SeaWorld may have another 10 or 15 years in this business.

All I can give its my opinion, I truly believe SeaWorld can bounce back from all this negative publicity and scrutiny as long as it understand time is changing. The way patron now view these creatures and feel about them is totally different from 30 to 50 years ago. SeaWorld should be more open and transparent with their wonderful research and animal rescue they have done in the past and will continued to do in the future.

Let the public decided what it is they need from SeaWorld instead of SeaWorld telling them. Stop treating the public with an 5th grade mentality. Our children are more aware of their environment and what is around them. They need to strive and pursued their education with positive new age thinking not bringing them back to the stone age.

Once all this is accomplished them SeaWorld once again will rained again. What do you think?

Full-time blogger, Part-time Published Novelist, Vegetarian and Animal Advocate. Founder of Max and Friends-The Magazine, Providence Publishers Blog and her favorite The Poor American Blog.

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Summer Releases Part 6

If there is one good thing about the this summer’s film season it is definitely variety, this summer we are clearly spoiled for choice with the huge array of cinematic productions set to hit our local theatres. I had previously mentioned that I believed 2011 was going to be the “ugly friend” of 2012. Meaning the movies last year (but a few) were so bad that by comparison those produced this year would seem incredible. This effect has been evident by some of the releases earlier this year being received more kindly than they should have been. But it looks as though the big studios were just timing their best for the sunny months of 2012 which brings us to the sixth installment of what to expect this summer.

Summer Releases Part 6

This is the new Ridley Scott film which looks amazing, gripping and exciting. The talent of the cast on paper seems epic. I hope this will be a smash. Ridley has been associated with some of the finest films that have graced our screens and I hope his direction has led this film to the level greatness we know he is capable of.

That’s My Boy

Adam Sandler is in it, that’s reason enough not to see it. If you want another reason he talks with an annoying voice the whole way through the film. If you need another reason, it’s because he is not f***ing funny anymore.

Cabin in the Woods

This film looks like it has a great cast and action sequences which hopefully proves to be an exciting and entertaining film. Joss Whedon who also penned The Avengers and writer/director Drew Goddard team up to produce this thrilling story about five unlucky teenagers. Chris Hemsworth, Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford star in this mind blowing horror, if you think you know this story then think again.

You can expect multiple layers which will unravel to a huge climax. This will be exhilarating ride into all things terrible that uses all weapons available in the horror arsenal, which will hit out on all fronts.

The Three Stooges

While trying to save their orphanage Moe, Larry and Curly inadvertently stumble on to a murder plot and wind up on a reality TV show. From the trailer it looks like the stooges have truly had the 2012 treatment.

The Farrelly Brothers seemed to have put a lot of love into this film and stayed as true to the original as possible. This is classic slap stick and fart humour, and according to fans of the original series it is done well. Personally I don’t think they could ever match up to the original but it seems they have made a good attempt at bringing The Three Stooges into the modern times.


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August 8, 2013
or trying to, anyway.
our house isn’t ready to move into – but we’re going to anyway.
[apparently the plumbing will be done tomorrow.  we hope.]
every seems to take 2x as longer than it seems like it would and cost 3x as much.
josh went to pick up annabel at her new day care and they — the toddlers — were watching a movie.  i don’t know how common an occurrence this is, but i am somewhat freaking out about it, as we’ve been pretty strictly trying to stick to the ‘no-TV-before-age-2’ AAP guideline*.  [does this happen at other day cares??  would this horrify you, too!?]
and i’m still nauseated and freaking TIRED.  not trying to sound so negative – i think everything will be all right in the end, and hopefully much better than just all right – but looking forward to feeling more under control.
you all said 6 months, so i’m holding you to that.  right at my due date . . .
in other news,
montreal was wonderful.  josh and i had a great time together, and annabel’s wonderful grandparents — bebe and poppy — were our heroes.  i think we slept 10+ hours every single night.

a few randomly selected pix:

amazing dinner at osteria vent
highlight: squid ink pasta

our hotel room
we stayed at the hotel st. paul, and it was perfect.
great service, fun location, and modern clean design.

mumford & sons on the last night of osheaga — amazing
i don’t even love the band that much but live they were fantastic.
other festival highlights included vampire weekend, lumineers, the head and the heart, beach house, wild nothings, and kendrick lamar [surprise hit!].

best brunch at cafe vallier
‘summit’ of mont royal
running near habitat 67

first taste of poutine
[not going to lie: i prefer belgian style frites with mayo.  but still good.]
meanwhile, back in miami beach:

you can tell annabel missed us terribly
i also had my NT ultrasound today.  i was impressed, once again, at just how baby-like a 12-weeker appears.  will find out the sex at the end of september!  i have absolutely no preference but can’t waaaaaaait to find out.  i have no idea how people manage to wait the whole 9 months.
* PS: i know this is going to be a million times harder to enforce for #2.  but still.

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The Singular Suite

The Singular Suite is 70 square meters (750 square feet) and boasts 1 King Bed, as well as a couch and separate sitting area.  The suites overlook the Fjord of Last Hope Sound as well, although here, you get twice the view as the window stretches across the width of the oversized suite.  A front row seat to the best show on earth created by Mother Nature.
The extraordinary experience of The Singular is achieved through the following enriching details: An amazing view of the Patagonian fjords. A quiet and unique atmosphere of tranquility. An interior decor with luxurious custom furniture. Large beds design for a deep and comfortable sleep. A spacious living room and seating area. Large executive working desk. In-room safe. Mini bar.

Bathroom: Generous-sized bathtub. / Separate walk-in shower, bath tub and toilet cubicle. / Luxurious bathroom interiors. / Heated floor. / Hairdryer. / The Singular amenities. /Bathrobes and slippers.

Technology: Superlative high definition LCD televisions with TV Cable. / Wifi (limited bandwidth).
Amenities & Service: 24 hour Room Service. / Twice daily housekeeping service with complimentary water at turndown.

  • 70 M2
  • 3 ROOMS

Marble design and comfort are the leading features in this space with separate shower and bath, including amenities made of natural products to freshen-up.

The Bed

King bed designed with the highest standards for the comfort of our guests, including 500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets and hypoallergenic pillows.

Habitación The Singular Suite Patagonia

Enjoy the view of the Patagonian fjords of the Last Hope Sine from the large windows of the 70m2 (750 ft) suite. The King bed is front row to one of nature’s most amazing shows.

Reservations or questions

Dear customer,

The singular hotels would like to surprise you with different alternatives and unique & personalized experiences according to yout needs and expectations.

We hope you find the necessary for an unforgettable experience with us. Our rates differ based on meeting room type and services included.

Santiago location:
Merced 294, Santiago, Chile.

Phone (Santiago): +56 223068820

E-Mail Santiago: [email protected]

Patagonia location:
Km 5, 5 Norte, Puerto Natales, Chile.

Phone (Patagonia): +56 61 2 722 030

Sending this form does not imply a confirmation of reservation. For quotation requests and avilability, please contact us by email or phone.

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Tag Archives: Red Wine

Tapiz – Malbec 2012 Wine Review

It has been a while since I did a wine review that it is long due. I have been tasting a lot Screenshot_2018-09-10 Tapiz Alta Collection Malbec 2012 Wine comof new wines but have not really took the time to do a full technical sheet. The good news though is that Clint and I discovered a site/app where you can rate your favorite wines and keep track of your likes and dislikes. Join and follow me here on Vivino, if you want to keep track.

The novelty of this review is that you are getting two technical sheets: one from me and one from Clint, offering you a comparative view. Follow Clint here on Vivino.

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Wine Review: Ksara – Réserve du Couvent 2008

Another Lebanese red wine for review: although usually I prefer whites, this is a red I wanted to share with our readers.

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Wine Review: Les Bretèches du Château Kefraya 2006

For a while now, the idea of reviewing wines has been a project the TB blog. We even have notes about some wines waiting in an excel form, to be transformed to a post or a full review.

Today though I decided to have some wine; we received a small bottle of local wine as a gift for Christmas and it seemed like a great idea to sip with some roasted chestnuts.

I am not a professional wine reviewer, I would not even pretend to be, but I can honestly say that I am a wine amateur and I will just reveal my opinion and personal taste. It is by no means an expert’s or a connoisseur’s, but your average person sharing her wine experience with our readers.

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Non Holiday Feasting: Baby Octopi with Red Wine and Rosemary and Potato Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce

Among my co-authors I am the only one who did not have a holiday to celebrate, but that does not mean it is an excuse not to feast. Well I did not exactly feast since the two recipes I am including have been made on different days. The common thing between them is that they are both first timers for me.

The first is baby octopi, the second is gnocchi. I have tried both before in restaurants or at friends, but I never made them myself.

The experience with gnocchi varied from the Italian perfection at Piazza Navona in Rome, with two streets dancers performing a tango on a dolent melody, to the extreme flop in a supposedly good local restaurant, where it seemed reprehensive to laugh.

The octopi experience has always been pleasant to me so I had no bad memories to compensate, so I was able to experiment.

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Revolutionary combination of low weight and high horsepower.

ECHO Perfect Edge™ edgers create that perfect manicured look for commercial properties and residential home sites. Nothing finishes a yard like a crisp edge between a sidewalk and the turf.

An ECHO edger delivers superior power and durability in lightweight and easy-to-maneuver units. Most ECHO edgers feature a Pro-Torque™ gear case that provides 20% more torque than traditional equipment and a clog-resistant shield to keep material from piling up and slowing down the blade.


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Tag Archives: swearing in

To the Haven Where We Would Be

To the Haven Where We Would Be

The road was long, but the destination was worth it.

That’s the best way to sum up our training to become Peace Corps Volunteers, and the very same phrase applies to our week in Durban.

Durban: the beach-side city where we would take our oaths to uphold the U.S. Constitution and swear in as the 38th class of South Africa’s Peace Corps Volunteers. We had been anticipating this day since we arrived in South Africa, some of my fellow volunteers for years before that–but first we had to get there.

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About Me

The Vegan Apprentice

Hi there.  Thanks for checking out my blog.  In case you don't already know me, my name is Mandy. I am a sweet-toothed, book-worm, wife and friend, with a tendency to get over-excited about things.  I am also a General Practitioner and a part-time Arts student with a bent to philosophy and politics.

In April 2011 I became an apprentice vegan.  The challenge to become a vegan overnight was a bit too daunting for me.  But I wanted to move in that direction and did not want to delay the change any longer.  The Vegan Apprentice may seem like a bit of a silly concept but it is helping me tackle my journey in bite sized pieces (excuse the bad pun). This blog is the story of my journey.

I am accumulating nutritional information, helpful vegan websites and delicious recipes.  I am aiming to create a useful hub of vegan information.  So if you have ever wanted to try to reduce the amount of animal products in your life, or even wondered about it, then perhaps this blog may be helpful.

If you know of any good vegan websites, recipes, nutritional tips or suggestions for this site I would love to hear from you.

Farm to Fridge Video
My reasons for excluding animal products from my diet are not just about animal welfare - it is also because I am concerned about the environment and because I am convinced of the health benefits.  But the Farm to Fridge video was the kick that finally got me started on my vegan apprenticeship!   My mum posted a link to this video on facebook and so began my vegan conversion.  I can't look at milk now without thinking of a very young calf being violently dragged away from its distressed and bellowing mother.
Warning: you may not want to watch this video with small children or immediately after eating a meal containing animal products.  Also, if you are anything like me you may need to have the tissue box handy.


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Product Description

Bill Withers Live at Carnegie Hall on Numbered Edition 180g 2LP

Easygoing Portrait of Down-Home Soul Singer Coming Into His Own and Establishing an Indelible Bond Between Performer and Audience

On par with the most treasured concert albums of the 60s and 70s, Bill Withers’ transformative Live at Carnegie Hall is a forgotten classic—an easygoing portrait of a down-home soul artist coming into his own in front of an audience eager to share every moment of his brilliance. Soothing with subtlety, charming with calmness, and healing with a vocal timbre as relaxing as his grooves, Withers uses the stage to expand the range of favorites and engage in dialog with the crowd. Distinguished with sonics that restore the performances’ balance and improve the soundstaging, this reissue takes you inside the venue.

Moreover, aspects that really make this concert document unique—the energetic crowd, Withers and his band’s willingness to extend arrangements, and the undeniable communicative bond between the performer and his fans—are brought into fuller relief. While most live albums give you the sense of what transpired, our reissue allows it to seem that what you’re hearing and sensing is happening right now, in the moment. You are as much a participant as listener. For this reason and more, Live at Carnegie Hall ranks with James Brown’s Live at the Apollo and B.B. King’s Live at the Regal. No small claims, but the proof is in the grooves.

The antithesis of the sweaty R&B shouter that prowls the edge of stages, Withers deals in mellowness and vulnerability, qualities that come to fore. The songs here span soul, blues, and folk and often times, contain elements of all three styles. Live at Carnegie Hall also deals with serious subject matter with unflinching honesty and simple directness. Companionship, poverty, war, maturity, family, and love all crop up within Withers’ tunes, yet the messages are never overly cumbersome or preachy. Credit goes to his easygoing style and relatable lyrics, not to mention a tight-as-a-vice band that on this night is simply “on.”

“One more time?” Withers asks in response to a request for another stanza during “Use Me,” and like the snap of fingers, his musicians are right back on cue, the crowd clapping along on every beat. This classic, as well as the instantly familiar “Ain’t No Sunshine,” poignant “Grandma’s Hands,” and all-time favorite “Lean On Me” are delivered with utmost soulfulness, passion, and electricity. Few, if any, live albums demonstrate such a bond between the crowd and artist as Live at Carnegie Hall. You’ll definitely want to be there.

Bill Withers Live at Carnegie Hall Track Listing:

1. Use Me
2. Friend of Mine
3. Ain’t No Sunshine
4. Grandma’s Hands
5. World Keeps Going Around
6. Let Me In Your Life
7. Better Off Dead
8. For My Friend
9. I Can’t Write Left Handed
10. Lean on Me
11. Lonely Town, Lonely Street
12. Hope She’ll Be Happier
13. Let Us Love
14. Harlem/Cold Baloney