Opera Pitch...

An afternoon organised by Spark Opera.

Two productions with only two days of preparation.

Held in The Harty Room, Queen's University School of Music.

"Science"

"Monsters in the Dark"

For more information on Spark Opera visit their website - http://www.sparkopera.co.uk/

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Occupy Belfast

Words: Adlai McCook; Pictures: Peter Marley

“WE'LL have to get rid of that nonsense, put something angrier up there”, laments Kevin, one of the members of Belfast's branch of the Occupy movement. He's talking about a message, written on a chalk board after a visit by someone from Occupy Dublin, who paid them a visit a few weeks earlier. The message is vague and forgetful, the sort of thing that people have come to expect from the Occupy movement.

For those who don't know, at the tail end of last year, inspired by the original Occupy Wall Street taking control of Zuccotti Park in New York in protest against the wealth of the '1%' in comparison to everyone else. The movement spread across major cities, with tense stand-offs with the Metropolitan police in London. One of the most striking elements of the occupy movement was that it was not the usual crowd of fired-up leftists involved, but normal people, who were concerned about their futures.

So in October last year, an Occupy group sprang up in Writer's square in Belfast. In that time they've seen the clamp-down on occupy sites across America, and other part's of the world, as well almost hurricane strength winds. When asked if they stayed out all the time they explained that they took it shifts to make sure there is always somebody at the camp. One of the campers, 25 year-old Mark said, “I've been camping out for the passed 5 weeks straight now, but it can really take it's toll on you. You need to go home every once in while to recover.”

On the whole, the camp seems to run smoothly. They organise night-watches to protect the camp, they operate on a policy of freeganism, with food supplied by local take-outs and cafés, and in contrast to London, they get along with both the PSNI and the Cathedral Dean. Michael a protester in his late 50's said, “ we're causing him no hassle and he's causing us no hassle. Its a good relationship.”

Despite all this, the camp is not without it's problems. The idea behind Occupy was that they were in the face and in the way of the economic establishment, and that's what made them a force to be reckoned with. It's why things got so heated in London, and it's why the police in New York shut down Zuccotti park and refused to let the media near.

But Writer's Square isn't exactly in people's face.

www.twitter.com/OpOccupyBelfast

www.twitter.com/AdlaiM

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Lady Grey - complete!

Lady Grey

Something Evil is Brewing

After a quick reshoot the filming has finished on Lady Grey! Lady Grey a new short film I have been working on with David Neill. This production, steeped in the Gothic horror tradition, is our first production in a longer series of related short films.

Featuring: Neal McWilliams and Sarah King; Director: David Neill; Director of Photography: Peter Marley; Editor: Peter Neill; Sound Design: Ade Mulgrew; First Assistant Director: Kieran Majury; Sound Recording: Sarah Ward.

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(P. ramorum) II

A comparison; a reason...

I sifted through my archive to find one specific photograph so that I could make a point. The photo was taken in the Glenariffe Forest Park in September of 2008, the image is almost garishly green because of a recent shower. The rain water, caught in the trees and vegetation, dapples the light and makes the landscape literally sparkle. This photo was taken during one of my few trips home that year, and to me this was home.

And that is why walking the same path only two weeks past I was stunned to find that the avenue of trees no longer existed. The trees had become infected, were systemically felled and have been destroyed to prevent the spread of Phytophthora ramorum (P. ramorum).

More later, when I know more.

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(P. ramorum)

A little background to start...

In Europe, including the UK, P. ramorum has been found mainly on container-grown Rhododendron, Viburnum and Camellia plants in nurseries. It was first detected in the UK in 2002, when emergency measures were introduced. The initial measures included destruction of infected plants, a ban on imports of susceptible material from affected areas of the USA, and notification of movements of susceptible nursery stock. These measures were notified to the EU Standing Committee on Plant Health, which agreed EU-wide emergency measures in November 2002, based largely on the UK's action. Those measures are still in place.

Phytophthora ramorum was first identified in the mid-1990s as the cause of widespread devastation of wild oak trees in California and Oregon, USA (which earned it the name 'Sudden oak death').

Source: http://fera.defra.gov.uk/plants/plantHealth/pestsDiseases/phytophthora/pRamorum/

In 2010, P. ramorum came to the Glenariffe Forest Park in the Glens of Antrim. The removal of infected trees has had a serious impact on the landscape of the area.

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Up North...

Ireland's most northerly point.

Malin Head, Co. Donegal.

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