#alasdair ashe

[a-luran]

please talk about scoteng toño my crops are dying and my tea grows cold

Astro noo ;A; yer tea!!! your crops... I am sorry it has been so long. Please take some historical thoughts with my contrition:

---

After the Battle of Otterburn, 1388 AD

-

It is worth less than its waning weight in gold; a waxing sun held in the palm of Alasdair's hand.

"Here," he says and means go. Go south, go home.

Arthur does not move to take it, hands lying limp between his thighs, shoulders splintered under the weight of his coat. He is ash-stained and ashen, the beds of his nails torn and packed with dirt. His knuckles are bruised and split, the wheat-gold of his hair lying limp and muddy, weighed down with sweat and another man's blood. Alasdair is not bearing up much better but at least he is on his feet.

The stench of shit and fear is so thick in the air he'll smell it with every step he takes from here to Stirling.

Arthur stands slowly, like it costs him. For a moment Alasdair thinks his left knee might give, bring him low again, but it holds. He forgets, sometimes, how young Arthur is in the eyes of men. He wonders what they might see in him; if it is anything like the child Alasdair knew before the compulsion to the wills of others made them cruel.

Arthur takes a step, finds his footing, and spits blood on the ground between his feet. Alasdair thinks he might have been aiming for his hand but he can't be sure. Arthur's eyes are dim and slow and it might figure that some of the blood dripping down from his temple is his.

He tries to knock past Alasdair and trips over his own feet when their shoulders meet. Alasdair grabs him by the arm to right him and shoves him forward before Arthur can shake him off. Arthur catches himself against a the ruins of a wall and Alasdair does not know what is worse, the tang of iron in the air or the pit in his chest.

Arthur is sick against the stones, shoulders heaving with the effort, and Alasdair fights the surge of pity in his gut. Arthur pants, coughs, spits again. Alasdair waits it out before reaching for him again, fisting Arthur's cloak with one hand thumping the other against his chest.

Arthur's chin drops to his sternum, an unreadable look on his face. Alasdair hates him, and loves him, and wants to see him gone from this place.

"Arthur." His voice is ragged, hoarse, and barely above a whisper. Speaking Arthur's name is the closest he will ever come to pleading.

He will never know what chit he bargains against Arthur's pride that day but finally, awkwardly, Arthur reaches up to brush his fingers against the back of the fist on his sternum.

Alasdair palms him he coin with halting fingers, hands brushing skin-warm and coarse, and only lets go of Arthur's shoulder when he is sure that he's tucked it away safely. Then he steps away.

Arthur goes without a word, heading south and away. Alasdair lingers, looks west, chasing after the sun and away from the embers that still burn to the east.

It is only long after Arthur has gone and he turns north that he thinks he would have liked to hear the sound of his voice.

[danjaley]

Alasdair: Three horses! Excellent! And real fine ones! I missed the horses we had at home. I loved riding in the park.

Alice: Did you bring three to see which suits you best?

Matthew: No, Ah bough’ a’’ three. It wash a goo’ offer, an’ Ah though’ Ah’d ‘ry my han’ at bree’ing. Ash a shecon’ shource o’ income. ‘he red one ish qui’e a fiery ‘empramen’, Ah coul’ shen’ him ‘o rashesh…

[roberthoff]

M O D U L A R - YouTube from Ash Thorp on Vimeo.

Modular is an experiment in two dimensional design, showcasing an instrinsic depiction of science and technology.

Client - Youtube

Director + Design - Ash Thorp Animation - Alasdair Willson Score - Aeph Producer - Monica Thorp

Special Thanks - Jason Sao Bento

[cyocun]

FITC Tokyo 2015 Titles from FITC on Vimeo.

Now in its sixth year, FITC Tokyo 2015 consists of presentations from some of the most interesting and engaging digital creators from all around the world. To commemorate FITC Tokyo’s inaugural title sequence we sought to encapsulate the city itself—distilled to graphic form. Aiming to contrast the harmonies of traditional Japanese culture against the backdrop and sensory overload of present-day Tokyo, we meticulously crafted elegant typographic forms to collide with abrasive, overstimulating glitch—giving way to a progressive journey where moments of extreme chaos fold into temporary tranquility.

Credits Director: Ash Thorp Producer: Andrew Hawryluk Art Director: Michael Rigley Type Designer: Nicolas Girard Designers: Ash Thorp, Michael Rigley, Nicolas Girard Type Animators: Nicolas Girard, Alasdair Willson Animators: Michael Rigley, Chris Bjerre, Andrew Hawryluk Computational Artist: Albert Omoss Process Reel Editor: Franck Deron Composer: Pilotpriest

Links Making-of: vimeo.com/118998266

Ash Thorp: ashthorp.com/ Andrew Hawryluk: andrewh.tv/ Michael Rigley: michaelrigley.com/ Nicolas Girard: worship.to/ Alasdair Willson: alasdairwillson.com/ Chris Bjerre: chrisb.tv/ Albert Omoss: albertomoss.com/ Franck Deron: franckderon.net/ Pilotpriest: pilotpriest.bandcamp.com/

[heypetu]

Beardyman ft Joe Rogan - 6am (Ready to Write) from Ian Pons Jewell on Vimeo.

Artist - Beardyman ft. Joe Rogan Label - Sony Music + RCA

CREW

Director - Ian Pons Jewell Executive Producer - Medb Riordan Executive Producer - Simon Cooper Executive Producer - Leah Joyce Founder Radioaktive Film - Darko Skulsky EP Radioaktive Film - Sasha Bevka Commissioner - Elena Argiros Producer - Ash Lockmun Line Producer - Olya Kosenko Director of Photography - Mauro Chiarello Production Designer - Robin Brown Casting Director - Kharmel Cochrane Casting Director - Sergey Ristenko Storyboard Artist - Joseph Strachan Stylist - Staysa Monastyrskaya Location Manager - Dima Mikhailov 1st AD - Gryts Makarenko

Production Manager - Antonia Vickers Production Manager - Julia Sotnikova Production Assistant - Ella Girardot Production Assistant -Volodymyr Altsybeev Directors Assistant - George Daniell Bidding Producer - Georgina Smith Set Runner - Tolik Koval 1st AC - Kirill Shlyamin Steadicam - Max Salo Gaffer - Leo Sidorenko DIT/VTR - Valik Grib aka Mushroom Sound - Dennis Ryskal Art Director - David Kharaishvili Make Up - Marta Skalska Prop Master - Vasya Tkachuk Style Assistant - Dasha Lisyn Style Assistant - Kostya Goncharuk

CAST

Hero Guy - Jack Morris Sofa Guy - Dima Nalivayko Sofa Girl- Vera Koval Girl in Car 1 - Esther Brown Girl in Car 2 - Joana Garcia Guy in Car 1 - Thomas Ngegba Guy in Car 2 - Alex Dubrova Guy in Car 3 - Pasha Gots Work Out Brother 1 - Andrii Ostapenko Work Out Brother 2 - Dmytro Ostapenko Work Out Brother 3 - Yura Ostapenko Coke Devil - Zhenia Skizov Bedroom Girl - Alla Pryadko Pigeon Man - Tsoy Andriy Dandruff Man - Pavel Evchin Screaming Lady - Nina Galena

POST PRODUCTION

Edit - Whitehouse Post Editor - Tobias Suhm Assistant Editor - Steven Waltham Producer - Antonia Porter Executive Producer - Annabel Bennett Post Production - Electric Theatre Collective Producer - Alasdair Patrick, Sam Napper Creative Director - James Sindle  Colourist - Luke Morrison CG Coordinator - Larisa Covaciu Sound Design - Tim Harrison & Seb Bruen at Aumeta Additional Sound Design - Jim Stewart & Lawrence Kendrick at String & Tins 2D Lead - Alex Grey  2D Artists - Adam Woolrich, Adrian Monroy 2D Artists - Alberto Pizzocchero, Alex Kennedy

2D Artists - CJ Gaikwad, Daniel Manning 2D Artists -Nicola Borsari, Ozgur Taparli 2D Artists - Flavio Kawamoto, Ryan Knowles, Stirling Archibald 3D Lead - Nick Turner  3D Artists - Alex Berweck, Dean Robinson, Elpida Kyriacou 3D Artists - Jake Cross, Jeffery Edo-Benson, Marko Mamula 3D Artists - Paul Cousins, Robert Reinschedl, Sergio Moralez 3D Artists - Roly Edwards, Thanos Kousis, Will Preston 3D Artists - James Waterhouse, Felix Chan, George Savvas 3D Artists - Stuart Whelbourn, Tobin Brett, Stuart Turnbull 3D Artists - Eddy Martinez, Adam Ledger, Florian Mounie 3D Artists - Ivan Xavier, Karin Mattson, Mack Knights 3D Artists - Jon Park, Remy Herrise, Toby Williams Ellis Rigger - Greg Martin Concept Artist - Romain Thirion

SPECIAL THANKS TO

Reset Content Jon Adams

[present-future]

MECHA - YOUTUBE by Maciej Kuciara

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77lwl48Z4as

[panzertron]

M E C H A

Director + Design -- Maciej Kuciara & Ash Thorp 2D Animation -- Alasdair Willson Score -- Aeph

[mr-leach]

Curse of Strahd Ask Meme Part 8

Previous post | First post | Original post by @mandisawesome​

Question 8: How did your first meeting with Strahd go?

A lot of stuff happened during the party’s first meeting of Strahd...how would I sum up how it went...?

Well...

...IT WENT BAD.

...for the party, of course. We, the players, had an absolute blast. 

If you couldn’t tell already, Strahd invited us all to attend a masquerade ball at the castle. Alasdair, our highest WIS character, managed to get charmed and then later bitten on the dance floor. Cinaed made a very ill-advised lunge at the host and nearly had himself made an example of. Dorian picked an interesting time to grow a backbone and instantly regretted it. And Sy had a “hell” of a fade to black followed by a humiliating and challenging walk of shame back to the party’s accommodations in Ravenloft’s tower. Then, that night, Strahd used the dream spell to mess with everyone even further--you know, just for fun. It was great.

[danjaley]

Eppie: This is the poor boy who…

Alasdair: I’m not poor! My father owns four houses, twelve carriages and sixty-five horses – only counting the good ones!

Eppie: He’s referring to the Duke of —, of course.

Matthew: ‘erhapsh we’re related af’er all. I hay being in’roduced ash “‘oor Fergush’ ‘oor shon”.

[scotianostra]

On 24th August 1947 the first Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) of Music and Drama opened.

Rudolf Bing, an Austrian impresario who had fled Nazi Germany, wanted to create an international festival in the UK. After various searches Edinburgh was proposed by Henry Harvey Wood of the British Council, supported by both Sir John Falconer, the city’s Lord Provost, and Lady Rosebery. In 1945 a festival committee was formed which decided that 1947 would be the earliest possible date - and that the Festival would be a chance for Edinburgh to create a new post-war identity as ‘the cultural resort of Europe’.

The first Edinburgh International Festival began on 24 August 1947, with an aim to ‘provide a platform for the flowering of the human spirit’ by bringing people and artists together from around the world. One of the highlights of the first year’s programme was the reuniting of conductor Bruno Walter with the Vienna Philharmonic and Walter’s comments set the seal on the future – ‘What you have done in Edinburgh is one of the most magnificent experiences since the war. Here human relations have been renewed.’

The “Festival” as it simply known in Edinburgh is now the world’s biggest arts festival, in over 300 venues, thousands of shows from around the world entertain people from, well around the world too, it is said the population of my hometown more than doubles at Festival time.

It’s not all comedy, and theatre, there are now many aspects to the festival, first you have the Edinburgh International Festival of Music and Drama, that’s the one that started on this day 73 years ago, it’s the professionals who get paid for being on stage in what ever guise they don, the thing was at the beginning it was invite only, and only eight companies were invited, so some set up their own shows, hoping to not just entertain, but hopefully earn a few quid in the process, this took the name The Fringe, it was been so successful it soon became bigger than the “Official” Festival and over the years most acts just wanted to be in Edinburgh, any chance of earning a crust went out the window, many performers save up all year just to come to Edinburgh and appear, sometimes in front of only a handful of people, if you’re lucky!

There was no real organisation during the first years of The Fringe, it wasn’t until 1951 when the sign of any communal activity occurred in 1951 when Edinburgh University students opened a drop-in centre at 25 Haddington Place. This was used by many Fringe performers as it provided cheap food and a bed for the night, oh to be able to find a cheap bed nowadays!

It was 1954 before Fringe groups held their first meeting to discuss the possibility of working together. “We are cutting each other’s throats” was a quote from one of the groups.  It was the logistics, the non-performance aspects, that they saw as a problem and the establishment of a joint box office and publicity mechanism were given high priority. The first Fringe programme was produced in this year by C. J. Cousland, an Edinburgh printer, as seen in the second pic. The Fringe now outstrips the EIF by an insurmountable amount, but as I said earlier most shows struggle to make a profit.

Eventually, the Festival Fringe Society was set up in 1959. A constitution was drawn up, stating that elected officers should oversee the running of a box office, produce a programme brochure that would include every event that was not on the International Festival, and run a club where performers could meet, eat, drink until late, and generally feel involved.

This post is, like the Fringe, getting to large, I like to keep them short so having covered the main two, here is a quick run through of the rest of the Festival, as we know it now.

Pipes and dancing took place on the Castle Esplanade, and in Princes Street Gardens, from 1947, the year of the first International Festival. It was eventually superseded by The Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 1950. Under the direction of Brigadier Alasdair Maclean, there were eight items in the first programme.  There were no stands in that first year, the audience watching from the side of the Esplanade. Stands were erected from the following year, growing to its current size when it houses an audience of around 9,000.

The Edinburgh Art Festival is a fixture in the International Festival programme, the early 1950s arguably being the golden period.  However, funds were withdrawn in 1973 and the visual arts were relegated to “associates”, i.e. linked to but not directly part of the International Festival.  In more recent years the associate tag gradually disappeared and it began to rely on The Fringe programme to provide external advertising of its wares. Most Edinburgh folk will remember the Ingenious  Campbell soup cladding on the pillars of the Scottish Royal Academy for the Andy Warhol exhibition in 2007, it’s certainly my most memorable memory of the Arts Festival.

The Jazz & Blues Festival is a 10 day festival, spread over a dozen venues, which spans late July and early August. It began in August 1979 at the Adelphi Ballroom, Abbeyhill, which had a capacity of 500, and it was held over a single weekend. Like all the festivals it has grown over the years and for a short time they had “Jazz on a Summer’s Day” which attracted a bigger crowd than any other single jazz event in the UK, it was held in Princes Street Gardens, but the commercial folk that run things in Edinburgh basically fucked things up by allowing a Spiegeltent event to take over the space in the gardens in 2010 and that aspect of it has not returned since, which is a shame.

Edinburgh International Book Festival was first held in 1983 and was an instant success with 120 authors attending, including John Updike and Anthony Burgess. The 17 day festival is now  sited in Charlotte Square Gardens, at the western end of George Street, converting it into a tented village for the duration. The 2016 festival, with an attendance of circa 230,000, boasted of appearances by over 800 authors, poets, illustrators, journalists and politicians from 55 countries.

So there you have it,  small beginnings from the ashes of world war two, I thought that things would be back to normal this year, after last years cancellation, but it is a curtailed Festival this year, I only managed to get across once, the place isn’t the same without the full thing, hopefully next year we will all get back to a more normal, normal. 

[swordoaths]

@rossefinch wrote:  “ we’re not giving up. ” ( briar to alasdair )

    Alasdair had come ‘round the corner of what had once been a farmstead. Smoke singed his lungs as he drew a breath, a visceral reminder of what his eyes beheld. The frames of four walls reduced to ashes by the hands of those who had no right to be here.

     Even with all his years, the pain of being too late never eased.

    “I wouldna dream of it,” he started, eyes already tracking the footsteps that led north. “Th’brankie lads’ll not get far afore makin’ camp. They dinnae know the land, an’ keep nae stock in th’stars.” Slinging his shield across broad shoulders, Alasdair turned his gaze to Briar. “But I can track ‘em at night. They head north with wounded.” His finger pointed to the drag marks in the mud. “If we leave now, we’ll catch ‘em afore long.” 

[treeroutes]

hi you have incredible taste in horror stuff so i was wondering if you have any recommendations for marine horror/botanical horror shows or podcasts?

I do have recommendations! Here are a few works of fiction in audio format that contain botanical horror, either as a central theme, or as an atmosphere-setting device : Search and rescue written by Kerry Hammond, and read by Alasdair Stuart (on EAPodcasts twitch channel), The Willows by Algernon Blackwood and The Ash tree by M.R. James (the audiobook versions are both on YouTube), Mabel and The Silt Verses podcasts. I would also recommend keeping an eye on horror anthology podcasts like NIGHTLIGHT or Pseudopod because, once in a while, they feature plant or marine horror. And The Cryptozoologist podcast has been on my to-watch list for a while so feel free to tell me your opinion on it if you give it a try.

I don’t really watch shows, so I’ll just say that the movie In the tall grass (2019), adapted from Stephen King’s novel, contains interesting elements of botanical horror but is overall a bad movie.

[mostardhead]

MECHA

Original Video - YouTube

MECHA - the love letter to our youth. Watching anime classics as kids left a mark that stayed with us to this day. So we felt it's due to time to celebrate our love to mecha and pay proper homage with this piece we did for Youtube.

Both me and Ash had absolute blast making this piece happen. It required blood sweat and tears and breaking many walls to make sure all pieces fall into their place.

We would like to thank the team at Youtube for trusting us with this project and specifically Jason Sao Bento for bringing the project to us and trusting us to do it right.

Be sure to keep an eye out for this feature on Youtube to celebrate the YouTube countdown for premier features.

Don't forget to visit both mine and Ash's website for exclusive behind scenes, screenshots and more information about the project.

Much love. MK+AT

Credits: Director + Design - Maciej Kuciara & Ash Thorp 2D Animation - Alasdair Willson Score - Aeph

[alasademon]

          Alasdair had not been back in Thorn Haven long before he began working again. To be precise, it took exactly an hour. The perfect amount of time allotted for him to unpack his bag prior to the series of phone calls out despite the late hour. He only retired to be when it reach an unreasonable time for him to be bothering people who weren’t workaholics. Besides, he had deliveries he would have to attend to the next day. Which is why — come morning — Alasdair took a few slaves out from the cells to be put to work to help unload a delivery into Eternal. He’d made the message clear. Fuck up and regret it. Alasdair was hardly in the mood to deal with anyone unruly.

          A sigh escaped his lips from where he stood, followed by the smoke from the cigarette that had been in his hand. With a dismissive mumble around the cigarette, he handed the clipboard back to the driver who was quick to rush off and help direct the supplies off the truck. Alasdair wanted the first event at Eternal to be grand. He half turned as he flicked off some ash from the edge of his cigarette, sharp blue eyes catching the sight of another face in his direction. “Peace appears to be an elusive creature,” Alasdair said as he straightened up and raised an eyebrow questioningly. Maybe they’d pass him — but somehow he doubted it.

[juliamc1003]

St.Jerome

Artist - Alasdair Gray Photo relief 2017

Alasdair Gray, prolific polymath, has acheived great success in creative fields as literature , poetry, mural artistry and illustration. He once described himself as a ‘verbal and pictorial artist’. This particular art work, he originally created as a woodcut in 1955, studying as a young man at the Glasgow School of Art. It is perhaps evident in the subject matter of this image that Gray had a lot to say and he was trying to communicate pictorially. For example, we can presume that the wise guru like character at the centre of this image is St Jerome. St Jerome is the patron saint of translators - amongst others such as librarians. St Jerome was an important figure in history as he played a pivotal role in translating the Bible from Greek to Latin. He is responsible for opening the debate of how to translate - literally word-for-word or translate the sense of the text. I feel like Gray has included St Jerome with two quills and black blank writing board as he wants the viewer to know he has something important to convey but he wants the viewer to look deeper into the image to decipher the meaning.

The layout of the image is important as the viewer is drawn to the direct stare of the St Jerome’s eyes which are also in line with the brick wall behind him. The image is heavier and dense to the lower part of the image with the majestic looking Lion, what looks like a tribal hand made patterned rug and foliage. These natural images stand in contrast to the modern brick built walls behind him. Gray has also created a stark contrast between the natural elements of the bare tree branches weaving through the brick work. The imagery lightens as we take our eye up to the top section where we see tree branches propping up the material for shelter, being a perch for the birds and two branches almost seem to be cradling the sun amongst the clouds in the sky.

Gray has used many individual images in a symbolic way. For example, the three birds, the skull, the fire and candle all seem to portrait a religious or mythical story or fable. The birds are Phoenix like and we are reminded of the Greek folklore or myth of the Pheonix rising strong from the ashes, symbolising an emergence stronger from a bad situation. This myth can be linked with the fire and flames on the brick wall. The candle suspended about the mans head,as if a light-bulb moment, symbolises enlightenment and peace perhaps. The skull on the otherhand is difficult to interpret. My initially thoughts were the the use of the skull as a Momento Mori. However as much as death is inevitable, perhaps Grey was trying to convey a warning within the image and placed the skull encircled at the forefront of the the image. I also feel that the form and artistic style give a sense of a direct message. Black and white, no grey areas. Gray has created flat, bold lines. Depth of the image seems to be used more at the middle of the image with the angular walls creating an unfinished room or shelter. The clouds, smoke and bird’s feathers provide the sense of movement, lightness and freedom. The lion and the man seem to be more flatter and grounded. I feel that Gray has deliberately used this monochrome, flat image to which he has created a border (rather that a frame) as if to create a primitive religious picture that you may see in a church or bible. I can see this image almost as a religious stained-glass window in a church, allowing a person to understand a lesson or parable. Gray’s work and this image in particular reminds me of the symbolic work of Marc Chagall, especially White Crucifixion 1938. Also below I have included another similar work by Gray - a lithograph dated 2008, which I feel is similar to to St Jerome image in that is highly symbolic and in monochrome.

Overall, there may be many interpretations of this art work. I have to bare in mind that Gray was a much younger man, and was of a different generation so the meaning it had for him then may be different from now. However, for me, I feel it relates to the the conflict between man and nature. The contrast between the natural environment of the lion and St. Gerome and the enclosed modern brick building. I feel the image warns us (mankind) not to encroach, impose or try to change nature. If we continue on this path, we either face death (as symbolised by the skull) or we can rise like birds and fly looking after our planet. However, Gray, at the time of creating this image may have just wanted to tell the story of St Jerome who apparently went into to the desert to find peace and to write, and who was also known for taking a thorn from a lions paw. Given what we know about Alasdair Gray however, I feel he had so much more than that to say.

Reference list

https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/alasdair-gray. (n.d.).

Kadhim Al-Ali (2015). St. Jerome’s Approach to Word-for-Word and Sense-for-Sense Translation. [online] ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335638360_St_Jerome [Accessed 22 Feb. 2021].

The Sutton Gallery. (n.d.). The Sutton Gallery. [online] Available at: https://www.thesuttongallery.com/ [Accessed 22 Feb. 2021].

www.lyonandturnbull.com. (n.d.). Lot 58 - ALASDAIR GRAY (SCOTTISH 1934-2019). [online] Available at: https://www.lyonandturnbull.com/auction/lot/58-alasdair-gray-scottish-1934-2019/?lot=219994&so=0&st=&sto=0&au=9108&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=1&pp=24&pn=3&g=1 [Accessed 22 Feb. 2021].

www.mutualart.com. (n.d.). Gray Alasdair | THE FAUST LEGEND | MutualArt. [online] Available at: https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/THE-FAUST-LEGEND/8657942987FEA4DA [Accessed 22 Feb. 2021].

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