Corfu Blues and Global Views

Portland, Dorset: Open Art, The Quarryman's Daughters; Katrina Palmer; The Loss Adjusters; End Matter

BBC Radio 4 - Portland inspiration; "storytelling as sculpture"; potentially intriguing (BBC iPlayer) - not sure what the quarrymen will make of it.

About the project

The Quarryman's Daughters Open Art

"An audio excavation of the island of Portland by artist Katrina Palmer.

Since being awarded a commission from Artangel and Radio 4's open call for emerging British artists, Katrina Palmer has based herself onthe Isle of Portland in south Dorset to create a major new project on land and on air. The Quarryman's Daughters is the radio element of the project. It tells the story of the Horrocks sisters, eccentric daughters of a dead quarryman who live in two huts on either end of the island.

Beginning in the style of an intimate reading enhanced by a spectral soundtrack, the narration is interwoven with the voices of the Horrocks sisters and field recordings from Portland - the swell of the tide, the banging and cutting of quarry work - conveying an unsettling atmosphere.

This audio artwork is preceded by a short documentary that explores the historical riches of this unique place. The listener is transported to Portland to hear key chapters from the island's past and to find out why it continues to capture the imagination. Portland has been shaped and hollowed out over centuries by convicts and quarrymen to provide stone for some of London's best-known buildings - one million square feet of Portland stone is said to have been quarried for St Paul's Cathedral.

Katrina Palmer has undertaken her own excavations into this elemental place, marked by unsettling absences and deviant goings-on.

The other elements in this project are The Loss Adjusters (a site-specific audio walk on Portland), and the book End Matter".

The Loss Adjusters (audio)

Produced by Katrina Palmer and Hana Walker-Brown
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

Dorset: West Bay and Lyme Regis Flood Warnings

Tonight - Flood Warnings, West Bay and Lyme Regis (May 5, 2015)

Dorset Echo report:

FLOOD warnings have been issued for West Bay and Lyme Regis tonight by the Environment Agency.

Warnings have been issued for the Esplanade, Quayside, Heron Court, Forty Foot Way, Driftwood, George Street, Swains Row, The Old Timberyard, Station Way, Pier Terrace and East Beach in West Bay.

A warning has also been issued for Lyme Regis around the harbour.

The warnings will remain in force from 6.15pm until 10.15pm.

The tide will be highest at 8.15pm with the forecast wind direction south westerly.

The wind is forecast to be strength seven with waves and spray overtopping which will particularly affect the Esplanade, Quayside and East and West Beach in West Bay.

Waves and spray overtopping will particularly affect The Cobb in Lyme Regis.

Bridport and Lyme Regis News

Wessex FM

English Folk Music: 'Soul Music', BBC Radio 4, In Search of "Scarborough Fair"

Caught part of this on the car radio. A proper listen!

"Tomorrow we're going in search of a song and in search of a dream of England which has travelled right around the world" - Will Parsons

"No one can be sure of the true origins of the song Scarborough Fair. It's a melody of mystery, of voices of old, of ancient days. It's travelled through land and time, drawing singers and listeners in where ever they maybe".

Martin Carthy with Dave Swarbrick

21 Versions

Greece: THE BLAME GAME

Reuters - Greece points finger of blame at its creditors

Bloomberg - Greece Faces Pending Deadline as ECB Eyes Haircut Option

Reuters - Greece makes IMF payment but hopes of quick deal dashed - "Leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' government sought to shift blame on Tuesday onto the euro zone and IMF for a lack of agreement in the three-month-old negotiations, charging that each was setting different "red lines" on multiple issues from pension and labor reforms to the primary budget surplus. But EU officials accuse Greece of failing to produce enough concessions ahead of Monday's Eurogroup meeting of euro zone finance ministers and the group's chief, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said an agreement then is no longer possible".

Cartoon, Ilias Makris, Kathimerini

Peter Spiegel, FT Blog - "The Greek government appears to have found a different, more traditional way to raise extra money: it’s collecting more taxes and spending less money".

News Tribune

Greek Parliament Row (Mignatiou)

From Bloomberg - Greece Sparks Meltdown in Euro-Area Bonds as Italy, Spain Tumble

Bloomberg (View) again - Bloomberg: Greece is threatening to commit suicide with a gun bankruptcy - Greece's 'Blazing Saddles' Strategy Isn't Working

Greek Analyst - The non paper of the Greek government regarding the state of negotiations

Greece blames EU and IMF- EU Observer

Bloomberg - Greece Says Compromise Not Possible Under Current Conditions

Reuters - Greece steps up diplomacy to avert cash crunch

The Telegraph: EU President Juncker, a Grexit and the "Anglo-Saxon" world - 'Anglo-Saxon' world would rip apart Europe after a Grexit, says Juncker

"European Commission president says Grexit would expose the euro to huge danger as Anglo-Saxon forces would try to dismantle the EU"

Extraordinary!

Mignatiou - Οι δανειστές οδηγούν τη χώρα ολοταχώς σε νέο Πρόγραμμα με νέα μέτρα

Not much clarity; obfuscation, ambiguity and contradictory statements

Offsetting debt with war reparations? - Η τελική λύση πλησιάζει: Συμψηφισμός χρέους με πολεμικές αποζημιώσεις;

Financial Times - Debt talks on hold until Greece agrees reforms, warns Moscovici

Negotiating strategies and political constraints - Edward Harrison, Credit Writedowns