DreamSwarm

Yeah this is strange. What’s the point in them joining an art group of they are t interested in creating or appreciating art?

This looks like a great opportunity for interesting stories:

Photograph of a St David’s Day parade in Cardiff. Man dressed as medieval monk wears a Welsh tartan and leads a parade of the public carrying Welsh dragon flags and St David’s cross flags which are yellow crosses in a black background

Happy St David’s Day to all our Welsh friends.
Have a great time at the parades.
Remember to do the little things in life.
#stDavidsDay

Poor kids. Yet the news never commemorated them.

Photograph of a St David’s Day parade in Cardiff. Man dressed as medieval monk wears a Welsh tartan and leads a parade of the public carrying Welsh dragon flags and St David’s cross flags which are yellow crosses in a black background

Happy St David’s Day to all our Welsh friends.
Have a great time at the parades.
Remember to do the little things in life.
#stDavidsDay

This looks like a great opportunity for interesting stories:

One of my mates was asked what his strengths are and he said ‘winging it’.

‘If not us, who? If not now, when?’ is a very apt phrase but that’s all very well for me to say on the other side of the Atlantic.
Such a horrible situation in a world where some of the most horrible people are in power.

Lovely.

Yeah David’s @hookland.bsky.social world is incredible.
There’s a strangeness to my hometown, most of which is pretty harmless (eg random horses walking around in their own). I work with teenagers and their pack mentality has developed some bizarre little customs and rituals.

This sounds excellent.
I’m from a town that was ruined by the closure of the mines in the 80s and still hasn’t recovered. Still feels quite isolated in a post-industrial and edgelands, rather than rural, way.

Been ten years since I was there and it was a bit of a blur but I floated round jazz bars around Frenchman, Decatur and Rue Chartres (but of Bourbon Street but not much).
I really admired the independent cinema scene in the city and was made to feel very welcome.

Sounds great. I’m looking forward to this.

No one would choose to listen to Revolution 9 on its own.
I’m not sure why more people are streaming ‘Flying’ than ‘Blue Jay Way’ though…

This makes sense for the most part. Her Majesty ruins the end of Abbey Road. What Goes On and Doctor Robert are easily the worst songs on Rubber Soul and Revolver. Little Child is just not a great song as well as having infantilising lyrics which are problematic to modern ears.

I love Eliot’s Four Quartets.
I read them about once a year on average. So many great lines about Time and Memory.

Photo of Shrovetide football match in Alnwick. The goal frame is covered in greenery, dozens of players running around on a muddy field and there’s a castle in the background

I love the British folk tradition of Shrovetide Football. I had a great time in Alnwick, Northumberland today with the castle as the backdrop.
#Shrovetide

Yeah God’s Own Country is very good. I can’t remember much about the Goob. 45 Years is also a good drama.

Photo of Shrovetide football match in Alnwick. The goal frame is covered in greenery, dozens of players running around on a muddy field and there’s a castle in the background

I love the British folk tradition of Shrovetide Football. I had a great time in Alnwick, Northumberland today with the castle as the backdrop.
#Shrovetide

every shot-on-video, made-with-a-camcorder horror movie that's just some teenage friend group fucking around in the woods with some fake blood and a monster mask contains more artistic merit, human joy and creative light than anything AI has ever made or will ever, ever make

I remember a few years ago we got a load of BFI funded low budget features films set in rural locations. Nothing to do with folk horror but some good films all the same: The Goob and 45 Years in Norfolk, The Levelling in Somerset and God’s Own Country in Yorkshire.

Photo of embroidered decoration in the shape of a honey bee, hanging from a Christmas tree

There’s a bit of folklore from Northumberland that says bees sing hymns on Christmas Eve.
#mythologyMonday
@mythologyMonday

Photo of a statue of a Viking made with driftwood and old fishing nets, has a horned helmet. There’s sea is in the background

Photo of a figure in a blue tunic with a fox head. Standing beside a shed which is painted with a human figure with a crow’s head.

More strange figures from my walk this morning.

I’m loving the #folkhorror vibes.
At Seaton Sluice harbour, Northumberland

Strange photo of a miniature carved wooden coal miner beside a stature made of driftwood with a bear’s head. There’s a ships life ring in the foreground

A harbour cliff with a long rusted pipe and a paper mache mermaid

A few figures out and about on my walk this morning…

Sounds great, fantastic video too

Drawing in the original front cover of ‘The Owl Service’ book. A young woman with other images behind her: a young man, Welsh hills landscape, and an imposing owl

The novel and TV show ‘The Owl Service’ is a folk horror drama inspired by a tale from Welsh mythology of a woman who turns into an owl. The mysterious plot turns on whether pictures in dinner plates are owls or flowers.
@mythologyMonday
#mythologyMonday

This is on my watch list for this week.

In a county with around 300 castles, this one is my least favourite: Starlight Castle. Almost nothing there now, hidden among thorns in a tiny wood.
Had a lovely walk all the same.

DreamSwarm Podcast

I need to kick back into gear with my DreamSwarm podcast so I’ll message you.

I interview authors, filmmakers, podcasters about folklore, magic realism, mythology etc.

dreamswarm-podcast.castos.com

Reading to school children is so important. For some it’s the only time they are read to. It’s such a kind thing to do. And even if they aren’t reading the words themselves they are still picking up vocabulary.

Stig of the Dump is great too. I was probably about 9 when I read that.