Opening Night of the Trees for Life Charity Exhibition

Trees for Life
I attended the official opening night of the Trees for Life charity exhibition last night. It was a very strange experience to see my own poetry framed and mounted on a wall in a gallery for people to view.

When I found it, I was taken aback to see it. It looked totally different somehow, to when I first created it. But the most amazing thing was that while standing waiting to take a photograph of it, people were actually stopping to read my work!

I’ve never actually witnessed a reader reading my work, and knowing that at that moment they would have no idea that the person who wrote the poems was standing right behind them watching them. It was very surreal.

Even more remarkable was the £45 price tag slapped on my four haiku poems. I suppose it’s a writer’s downfall, and I’ve heard this talked about before, but I’ve always struggled to put a value on my work; it’s just too hard to define.

I felt a strong reservation about seeing my work alongside some extremely talented artists from all around the globe, and although I’m very proud of this particular creation and the feedback has been extremely kind and flattering, I still found it awkward to see my work up there alongside them and priced at the same value.

I managed to grab a chat with the man behind it all, Canadian born and Leith-based artist Trevor Jones, and we had a brief chat over the success of the project so far.

I also met the only other writer that had work on show at the exhibition, Lydia Crow, who I’ve been Twitter pals with for a while and who had a poem and a story on show. We chatted for a while about a lot of things ranging from the exhibition to the art and literature scene in Edinburgh. Great to meet you Lydia!

The exhibition runs until 13th November at Out of the Blue (The Blue Drill Hall) 32 – 36 Dalmeny Street, Leith. It’s free entry and you will get to see some wonderful art from all around the world to raise money to save the Caledonian Forest in Scotland. Kudos to Trevor Jones for creating the event, as he has brought together artists from dozens of countries around the globe to make it happen and all through the power of Twitter.

Full information on the charity and the exhibition can be found here: http://treesforlifeexhibition.blogspot.com/

Gig Review
I’ve a new gig review up for your delectation. You can find a review of the first half of the Kid Canaveral & King Creosote gig at the Liquid Room on Wednesday night over at the Man in the East. [Click here to read]

Wagamama
Bit of a long day yesterday, mostly down to tiredness from Wednesday’s gig. It was the 6am start that did it and my eyes were heavy and guts low for most of the day. Well, until lunchtime anyway. We had a team lunch at the new Wagamama on Lothian Road.

It only opened on Wednesday but won me over instantly. They do Japanese food served to an American format, but it’s fresh and very filling. Not the cheapest option in Edinburgh but I’d definitely go back. I only had one main course but it settle me down nicely after a late evening on the Guinness: Chicken Ramen – noodles in a pork and chicken soup topped with a marinated and grilled chicken breast, seasonal greens, menma and spring onions. Sounds delicious, eh? I was stuffed by the time I was done.

Vindication
Much to my delight, I was vindicated over my arse-up at the Kid Canaveral / King Creosote gig on Wednesday night. It turns out I wasn’t the only one to think the gig was over and one of those who left at the same time as me, was the flat mate of one of the band! Senior moment… not quite yet!

Friday Vid
Check it out, the wee sneaky video I took of the man who is probably my favourite performance poet, Mr. Johnny Clarke, a.k.a., John Cooper Clarke. This was taken at the HMV Picture House in Edinburgh last Friday can consists of some banter and two of his most famous poems, Beasley Street and Evidently Chickentown. Warning: if you are under 18, turn off now.

If you can’t see this video, click here to view.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFUifprdvZs

Free Novels and Poetry
Just a wee reminder to pop over to my new website at www.colingalbraith.co.uk and either sign up to the mailing list or ‘Like’ my Facebook page [www.tinyurl.com/colinonfacebook], as it will mean you’ll be entitled to a free copy of each of my next three novels.

Over at my poetry site under my Chas Stramash alias (www.chasstramash.com), you’ll find all my ebooks available for free download, 86p on Kindle, and £3 (25% off!) for print copies.

That’s all for today.

Peace and out!