How we will read books in the future

If you think books will remain in the same format as we know them know now - hardback or paperback- then read this from The Wall Street Journal

Book launch -May 1st Craig-y-nos Castle

So far 95 people have booked in for the lunch to launch the "Children of Craig-y-nos" book, a 40 year history of a childens TB sanatorium which I have co-authored with Dr Carole Reeves of the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, University College London.

It will be held in Craig-y-nos Castle in the Swansea Valley.

Book- Vook

Just read that there is a device in development called a "vook" a cross between a book and a video which would enable you to read books on a variety of electronic devices and incorporate video too.

Already I find that I use my Iphone to read lots of stuff rather than log on to my main computer.

Horse riding in Jordan

I came across this scene outside Petra and I have called the video clip available on both Youtube and Blip.tv
"The real one trick pony"

I leave it to you to figure out whether it's real or computer fakery...

Finland...folk watching

Had a comment from Finland



Finland on sheep-shearing
Salon Sundö The Movie
Sheep shearing in October 2008 in the archipelago of Finland. No sheep-wrestling, they just walk up a ramp-and sort of enjoy the ride! Happy sheep! :-)
This is a Finnish woman designer who posted a video response.

Blairlogie film show and Youtube

Who watches my stuff on Youtube? Well, Google have added a nifty tool which not only reveals the age of viewers but where they are located .

So, when I got invited to show two films at Blairlogie Village Hall prior to the main film" How to Marry a Millionaire" on Saturday I decided to google them first. Bearing in mind the audience (local) I selected two local films which have already proved popular on Youtube with combined "hits" around 40,000.

I expected the statistics to reveal they had a high Scottish, or at least British ranking.





Not at all. The clip of an eight week old European owl is watched almost in equal numbers by young men and women in the 18-35 age group in the Ukraine !

As for the five minute film of wrestling at the Bridge of Allan Games most viewers are middle-aged Austrian women!....

Argyll and Sutherland HIghlanders march through Stirling

Soldiers from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders march through Stirling after returning from Afghanistan.

"Bark in the Park"

Bark in the Park

Genetic engineering....cloning....well' tis a short step away.

Stone Circle- Pittenweem Arts Festival

I am having difficulty embedding video into blog. Please click on following link to:
Stone Circle

This video was made last Sunday in Pittenweem, Fife at the end of their annual arts festival.

The Japanese installation artist Yoshihito Kawabata imported stone from the north of Scotland, he put a message and signed each stone then laid them in a gigantic circle with part of it on the shore. As soon as the tide came in it took some stones away.

He believes in "free art" and he wanted his installation to be enjoyed by visitors to the Festival, and if they wanted a stone as a "keep-sake" then he was happy for them to take stones away. The sea, wind and waves took the rest...

Wrestling - Bridge of Allan Highland Games- 2008

Bridge of Allan Games

I am not able to embed video from YouTube - so go to the above link.

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders

This video shot in Stirling of the last march through the city of the world famous Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders has been watched in 35 countries, viewed by over 14,000 people and attracted 50 comments on Youtube.

It was filmed on a very old camcorder on the spur of the moment...I mention this to show how these days with the most basic technology you can make little films and show them worldwide - for free!

It so happened that the Drummer collapsed and I had it on film.

Online video communities

While I have been deeply engrossed in writing "The Children of Craig-y-nos" a multi-media, online project with a book to be published with the help of Dr Carole Reeves , oral historian with The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, University College London and funding from the Welsh Heritage Lottery Fund my videos online have developed little communities around which people gather.

The 47 videos on my main internet channel www.Youtube.annshaw- ) have a life of their own. It is as if the video has acted as a flashpoint, or catalyst, allowing people to congregate online and exchange their views. ( I have another internet video channel for my current project www.Youtube.childrenofcraigynos

I am not too surprised that the blonde woman wrestler in our local Highland Games who flashes her knickers from time to time as she throws men to the ground has attracted thousands of "hits".

Others continue to surprise me. An old clip I put up of dog sledging I made in Alaska while en route to Japan has been bookmarked by many devotees of huskies. Likewise one dealing with predators- one featuring a European eagle chick in a Highland Wildlife park.
As for the three minute clip of the last march of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders through Stirling before they were amalgamated this still draws comments today, years after it happened.
On Youtube you just don't know what grabs folks attention: the odd, the quirky, the unexpected yes.


As for my art videos I am afraid they are the least popular.
Perhaps I should not be surprised; or disappointed.

To view all my 47 videos on Youtube click on:www.Youtube.annshaw

Children of Craig-y-nos- Reunion

We organised a Patients Reunion in September- the first time many had returned to Craig-y-nos Castle, in the Swansea Valley since they left over 50 years ago.

Mary Williams was a former TB patient who had beenbrought into the sanatorium, once the home of the famous opera diva Adelina Patti, as a very sick child.

She was given weeks, if not days, to live. Byi thanks to the miracle drug streptomycin she recovered. Nurse Glenys Davies remembers her because of her dramatic recovery.

"Mirage" - Sinai desert 2007

Have started to roll out some work after a week in Dahab. Spent one day going up to St Katherine's monastery in the Sinai desert and filmed these camels.
Added a touch of surrealism.

The Hidden Landscape

Fungal foray with Stirling branch of the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Inspired to make this after biologist Roy Sexton showed us slides of mushrooms under a microscope in the lab. at Stirling University.
Roy and Sue Sexton run the Stirling branch of the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

The Lost Dog

This is my last video of 2006...have got to get Christmas under way! It's a
constructed narrative from an afternoon walking my dog in the snow.
Hope its got a festive feel about it, well, a snowy one anyway.

"Hands", Changing Room gallery, Stirling

I came across this video last night in my studio ( i.e. spare bedroom) while trawling through some old footage and I realised that it has never been seen by anyone so I decided to put it up on You Tube this morning.

After all, I reckon that those people who were kind enough to take part in my inter-active art project in the Changing Room gallery might like to see it. So lets hope they click on to You Tube and see their hands!

But there's a little problem...I've got over 40 images of hands up and I only know a few peoples names. In the excitement/confusion of the week in the gallery my list of names does not tie up with the photos...so if anyone looking at this video recognises themselves then please email me( annshaw@mac.com) and I will put the names in.

So far I have got the following: John Gray, Fiona Ross, Chris Walker, Malcolm Shaw, Lys Hansen, Kirsteen MacDonald, Peter Russell, Jamie Jack, Lynn Wilson, Ann Turner, Pamela and Katie Morley.

Ben A'an, The Trossachs

Climbed Ben A'an yesterday. This is a quick charcoal sketch I made. Nearly had heart failure when I caught my first glimpse of Ben A'an. A sheer peak rising out of nowhere....a video will follow.

Craig-y-nos- most haunted castle

Craig-y-nos Castle has had a violent and colourful history.
Built in 1840 by the Powell family, it is said there was a curse on the family because Captain Powell's children died of either disease or terrible accidents. He ran out of monery, went blind and eventually insane.

Adelina Patti, world famous opera singer, lived there for over 50 years. She entertained the "great and the good" including Royalty, with concerts in her private theatre.
She died after falling down a flight of stairs. Today her ghost is supposed to haunt the castle and the grounds. Many sightings have been reported along with her singing.

After her death the castle was used for around forty years ( 1920- 1960) as a childrens TB sanatorium though all records for this period have been destroyed.
Today it is an hotel specialising in weddings and ghost-hunting.
It claims to be the most haunted castle in Wales.

Auchingarrich Wildlife Centre