February 2003
I trust you're all laughing at the below. So have I, many times, though it's often been tinged with sadness.
The "other website" mentioned below will almost certainly never materialise, but I succeeded in registering the domain name http://www.ruralbritain.org which is mine to use for whichever purposes I see fit until the summer of 2003. Don't hold your breath for anything to replace the SmartChoice Internet holding page there any time soon (or ever), though.
However, articles intended for it now appear on Elidor at the following URLs:
http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/skylarking.htm (XTC's Skylarking)
http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/ultramarine.htm (Ultramarine's United Kingdoms)
http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/liberalism.htm (the history of rural progressive
politics, broadly)
http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/pendasfen.htm (David Rudkin's Penda's Fen and
mythology in general)
http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/minnow.htm (Philippa Pearce's Minnow on the Say and,
yes, The 1950s)
http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/ruralhistory.htm (a general history of the countryside, by Phil
C.)
http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/courtesy.htm (huntin', shootin' and all that, also by Phil
C.)
http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/wordsworth.htm (a 1971 journey of self-discovery, by Paul
Whitehead.)
http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/resettlement.htm (the second edition of the Rural
Resettlement Handbook from 1979, in a nutshell. Contributed
by Paul Whitehead.)
A full summary of the site I was planning and the various reasons why it's incorporated into Elidor rather than existing as a site in its own right is at http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/ruralbritain.htm. Also online is a piece I wrote for Elidor in September 2001 and now, belatedly, appearing where it should have been back then (http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/haines2.htm).
The collective 1975 masterpiece of Peter Dickinson, John Prowse, Anna Home, Vicky Williams and Paddy Kingsland - The Changes - is celebrated at http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/changes.htm.
Many should be relieved to see that I'm still writing about music - Jay-Z grapples with Nas like Keith Joseph wrestling Aneurin Bevan's legacy (http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/jayz-nas.htm), there's a review of Brandy's Full Moon at http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/brandy.htm, a piece on Timbaland and Magoo's Indecent Proposal at http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/timbaland.htm, and So Solid Crew's London thing - http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/fuckit.htm. There are also two retroviews - The Sweet celebrated at http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/sweet.htm, and Dollar reassessed at http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/dollar.htm. All these pieces are still in their original form, although I don't necessarily agree with everything in them now (mainly, I don't think Daniel Bedingfield is a prick anymore, and I think "If You're Not The One" is wonderful).
The old Freaky Trigger-inspired ideas that never really took off the way they were intended - the "Thousand" listening experiment and the "Singles of the 80s" thing - have been removed from Elidor though they are still online at their old URLs, independently of this site (but then so is http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/findhorn.htm, to which nothing was ever posted, so read what you like into that!).
Anyway, it's good to be back! That's all I really want to say for now. There'll be more new stuff on here soon, in the meantime thanks to everyone who's talked to me and supported me during Elidor's downtime, especially Mark Sinker and Marcello Carlin. What they've achieved on the net since I last updated here has been an inspiration. Hopefully the new Elidor can be, as well.
Robin Carmody
Friday 18th May 2001
An announcement.
Elidor is going on holiday.
I am currently working on another website, which is taking up enough of my time as to make continued updates here impractical for the next month or so. There should be some new stuff here round about mid-June, though I can't be sure of any exact date.
For the moment, Elidor retires for the duration with the following new pieces:
Skitz's unspeakably important Countryman: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/skitz.htm.
Eve's Scorpion hiding somewhere in the midst of rampant self-hatred: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/eve.htm.
Where the BBC Radiophonic Workshop's echoes have ended up in the last few years: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/rwinfluence.htm.
And my epic history of the RW completed with 1975's The Radiophonic Workshop and other previously-unheard tracks: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/radiophonic.htm.
Thanks for all the support. I'm off for now.
Robin Carmody
Saturday 14th April 2001
Some thoughts on Ty's Awkward, Skitz's "Cordless Mics @ Twenty Paces", and my motivations in pop: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/motivation.htm.
Sunday 25th February 2001
I think I've got used to this writing thing again. The Avalanches' utterly wonderful Since I Left You: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/avalanches.htm.
Wednesday 21st February 2001
A review. At last. James Lucas's quite marvellous and sadly almost unobtainable Reflections on a Past Life: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/jameslucas.htm.
Monday 19th February 2001
While I work on new pieces for the site (yes, really) some admin stuff: the thoughts dating from 26th August last year to 1st January this year can now be found here: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/oldthoughts3.htm. And there's a new thoughts page up, finally: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/thoughts.htm.
Some alterations to the following pieces: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/parr.htm and http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/inglesfield.htm.
Monday 1st January 2001
Happy New Year everyone.
You know that really crappy joke they used to make in the Radio Times, about Adrian Juste's New Year Party on Radio 1 being "the show that lasts two years"? Well, Elidor can now claim, similarly, to have been going for three years despite having only existed for 367 days!
(for a more serious approach to the same territory go to http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/thoughts.htm)
The jokes will get that better (if they occur at all, that is) in 2001, rest assured. Elidor will continue to evolve, no doubt. Thanks to all those who have read the site for their support this year; I couldn't have done it without knowing you were out there.
Wednesday 13th December 2000
Three new full-length pieces, long overdue:
Thoughts on Martin Parr's work can be read here: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/parr.htm
Jay-Z's The Dynasty Roc La Familia here: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/jayz.htm
And the Wu-Tang Clan's The W here: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/wutang.htm
Sunday 29th October 2000
Max Tundra's excellent Some Best Friend You Turned Out To Be: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/maxtundra.htm.
Saturday 21st October 2000
Outkast's awesome Stankonia: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/outkast.htm.
Monday 16th October 2000
And later the same day the proper new stuff arrives: Steal This Album by The Coup, reviewed at http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/thecoup.htm.
Expect some proper new stuff later this week; for now there are extensive revisions and expansions to my history of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/radiophonic.htm.
Tuesday 3rd October 2000
Another full-length piece at last! Piano Magic's Artists' Rifles dissected for the pleasure of all: go to http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/pianomag.htm ...
Also revisions to the following piece: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/startup.htm.
Tuesday 12th September 2000
Go to the Thoughts page at http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/thoughts.htm for one sentence on every album I've heard this year ...
Saturday 26th August 2000
An announcement: the thoughts and comments that previously appeared here, and on the original thoughts page, are now to be found at:
http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/oldthoughts1.htm and http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/oldthoughts2.htm. The current thoughts continue at http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/thoughts.htm.
Robin Carmody
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Inside:
Thoughts: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/thoughts.htm
Past thoughts: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/oldthoughts1.htm, http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/oldthoughts2.htm and http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/oldthoughts3.htm.
Musical: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/music.htm
Television: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/tv.htm
Past: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/past.htm
Present: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/present.htm
Elsewhere: http://www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk/links.htm
Reveal thyself to ...
Everything on this site conceived and written by Robin Carmody, Phil C. and Paul Whitehead, 1999-2003. All copyright reserved and unauthorised reproduction of any content from this site forbidden.
"For love will endure or not endure regardless of where we are"