Ken Trax

Did Ye Ken?

ken@apfrod.com (Kenneth Trax) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:42:35 PST

Blu-tack was originally invented as an aphrodisiac.

Cows can drink any other farmyard animal under the table, no problem.

Even if you can fit that in there, you'll never get it out again.

I enjoy long walks in the park, long baths, long lunches, long johns, Josie Long, Longleat Safari Park, longboats and Long Island iced tea.

Owls have such keen eyesight and sharp wits that they would make much better drivers than humans, but they can't reach the pedals.

Original post blogged on Apfrod.

Drowsy Browsing

ken@apfrod.com (Kenneth Trax) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:35:11 PST

Think about that tension you get when opening a page linked from another page you were just reading. You still have an attachment to that first page. The new page seems only temporary. If you’re not careful you’ll end up with too many pages open, and you’ll run out of steam. And then you don’t want to close the pages because you’re not really done with them yet. At some point they become irrelevant to new enquiries. But many of them, you remember, suggested avenues that remain unexplored. Some of those avenues still whisper to you when you glance at the page titles, evoking that tension slightly, giving pause to your hovering mouse pointer as you consider closing them for good.

Even the thought of concentrating for too long on a particular topic or task has you reaching for new pages for momentary distractions. You’ve finished a task, or reached a sticking point, so you visit the pages where you know a few choice distractions can be found. A few temporary avenues of interest and novelty. A play of ideas. Then you get an email, which you decide to deal with immediately. It’s some offer or junk or mailing list, and you open another page and glance at it a little. That tension tugs you back to the last page you were on. Between it and your first page is a widening gulf of tabs. A thinly stretched thread that you have been following all day. Ideas come and go, none seems to get any purchase.

All those unexplored avenues exert their stress on your distracted mind. The tension of page after page, implicating each other in rows, stretching back into some thought you decided to act upon, becomes a nagging, binding feeling. You need to have a clear out, but you don’t want to lose any of the quality leads you may have uncovered, so you leave the browser open and go for a little pace around the room, maybe get a glass of water. When you sit down elsewhere to relax, those open pages are still waiting. Worse still, those pages you never properly read but closed still haunt you. The fatigue of browsing has worn you down all day, all year, all of your life. Will you ever be able to really concentrate again?

Original post blogged on Apfrod.

Now, then.

ken@apfrod.com (Kenneth Trax) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 05:59:58 PST

Clive ran past Ken like he was on fire, yelling at the top of his lungs a single, shrill word: “deadlines”. Ken rocked back on his heels and sucked in the air. It was going to be a long day.

Ken had responded to Clive’s texts the way any friend should. Sending up the rallying cry was a move Clive only made in the most desperate of times, and Ken knew better than to press for details when Clive needed him, so he had made his way straight to the scene. Clive’s rooms had become buried in a landscape of files and papers, and among the strewn piles and partially-ordered stacks Ken could discern the remains of several unrelated cases he thought long-since wrapped up, and many others he didn’t recognise. It was, he remembered, something of a habit of Clive’s to do further, seemingly extraneous research on cases which details Ken was not party to, and sometimes Clive revealed hints of a knowledge of the progress of their past associates that led Ken to suspect Clive had been following leads long after they might have been considered cold. Ken took a moment to gather his thoughts and turn his focus back to the matter in hand, seeing suddenly and urgently the starkness of Clive’s single utterance freeze his mind to an icy chill and moving him to ask: “what deadlines do you require?”

Throughout the day, amid restorative cups of tea, Ken and Clive put together the beginnings of what we now know as the definitive work of their early career together, perhaps redefining the very boundaries of their craft. In the years that followed, those files and the cross-references between them became the substrate for a work that some collectors call their most cherished specimen, and value highly for it’s special place in the history of Ken and Clive’s endeavours together, indicating in it’s secrets those venerable days and past triumphs so distant from us now. It is perhaps the most telling of the early investigations and innocent wonder that motivated their work together, and as such can be studied for the moments of quiet personal testimony that can be extrapolated which is so difficult to discern in their later, more widely known works.

Original post blogged on Apfrod.

Six films of 2009

ken@apfrod.com (Kenneth Trax) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:22:39 PST

District 9

Now-school sci-fi thriller abundant with interesting themes including body transformation horror, refugee life, slavery, alien social structures, international politics, the arms trade, conspiracy, third-world aid and the duelling threads of interwoven personal motivations all backed up with awesome special effects and fashionable camera technique.

In The Loop

Hilarious and insightful film about the bumbled politics of war-making from the stables of hilarious and insightful TV series The Thick of It, both essential viewing.

A Serious Man

Personal, layered and exquisitely peculiar Coen-brand cinema among their finest. Both deeply sad and life-affirming in a triumphant alchemical mix.

Zombieland

Inventive, galvanising zombie fun to remind us of life's priorities. Rom-zom-com of the year.

Harry Brown

Exciting and snappy contemporary re-take of the vigilante thriller taking full advantage of Michael Caine's advanced years and boasting fine cinematography, soundtrack and sound design.

Moon

Polished, bleak yet cosy British sci-fi that rewards careful inspection and reeks of a fine knowledge of great sci-fi film-making that has come before.

Original post blogged on Apfrod.

2008 in review

ken@apfrod.com (Kenneth Trax) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 08:17:05 PST

This year we:

- got well into spinning around on bikes - going to Brighton, Box Hill, Brasted, between Seville and Cordoba, 47.5 mph down Titsey Hill and through London at night (occasionally without lights or a full complement of contact lens – neither recommended)
- got sonically sliced and reassembled by a blistering Autechre and .snd gig in Hearn street car park. Had to leave early, but could still hear the beats a good five minutes walk away
- started a dangerous habit of European city breaks, and had a series of glorious meals in Paris, broken only by some serious dancing in the original Favela Chic
- tried to keep rock climbing, semi-successfully
- left one career; got another job after visiting the pub
- saw (and loved) my first Chagall at From Russia, an exhibition teeming with quality, exhilarating to see Kandinsky’s and Malevich in the flesh
- marvelled at Richard Serra’s malleable steel playground
- shook out some demons at various dread sound systems at my first Notting Hill carnival
- grasped and gasped my way round Roger Hiorn’s Seizure
- tasted madelines (metaphorically) at a Mogwai gig
- cried at a Rod Stewart song
- probably reached the crux of hipsterdom seeing a poet do a reading along to Gang Gang Dance in Hoxton. Whilst wearing jeans that were probably on the skinny side.
- got even more hipsterish when watching some free jazz in Dalston, including a man playing a bin bag filled with gas. It was a furious, exhilarating concert though
- politely clapped to a man prancing around on a JCB
- spontaneously combusted to Herbie Hancock encoring with a Keytar
- pestled my own pesto
- visited Riverside for some World Championship darts, discovered that it’s really not my sport
- still haven’t used the mango destined for that fish curry
- sat on cushions in the Tate's turbine hall and got assaulted by some early computer animation, it was well techno

- completed Crysis on a 32" LCD
- saw Public Enemy at Brixton Academy; Alva Noto at the ICA; 808 State, Arthur Baker and IF at Jacks; Squarepusher and LFO at the Astoria; Loefah and Hijak, Mala and Skream at Black Sheep Bar
- Stuart Lee at the Hen & Chickens and at the Soho Theatre
- Richard Herring, Phil Nichol, Josie Long, Bridget Christie, Will Adamsdale, Pappy's Fun Club and Dave Goreman with free bangers at Battersea Arts Centre
- Steve Coogan at Apollo
- Elizabeth and Rayleigh at Croydon Library Theatre
- lots of Bug at the BFI with Adam Buxton
- Sean Locke at Hammersmith Apollo
- Mighty Boosh at the O2
- Frank McGuiness' Oedipus with Ralph Fiennes at NT
- lost my father
- felt like I was having a heart attack from grief and fury at 3am
- played a lot of Mass Effect
- bought an iPhone
- got a massive boil on the right eyebrow which had to be surgically removed
- moved offices and employer without changing jobs
- properly got into podcasts (Collings and Herrin, Dream Chimney, TwiT, The Tone Generation)
- got Miró, Calder, Giacometti and Braque in some perspective at the Royal Academy

- worked as a teaching assistant
- in the same 6-hour period: attended York Museum of Popular Culture, dressed like a hippy and swore at numerous children despite it being my jobsworth and met Tom Baker while eating a penguin
- had the drummer from the Housemartins and the Beautiful South give a workshop for da kids

Original post blogged on Apfrod.

Mike's Five Culinary Coups from the Croydon Crew

ken@apfrod.com (Kenneth Trax) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:46:29 PST

If I was being brutally honest, the five best eating experiences this year have probably all been ice-cream based, eaten after midnight having consumed a few beers. But that would be a very boring list, and the photos of me dribbling down myself should probably never find their way onto the internet.

(5) Birthday Fishcakes

Great because they’re almost a meal on their own, and they neatly combine the comfort aspect you get from fried food, but with the health kick of eating fish. Bonus.

Peel and boil your potatoes, then start grilling your fish, for which I prefer salmon. I generally have too high a potato-to-fish ratio, but you need at least 40% potato if you want the cakes to hold together when you’re frying them. Mash the spuds, flake the fish. Stick them in a bowl and combine with a handful of fresh coriander, garlic, some chilli, a dash of soy sauce and the zest of a lime. You can chuck in the juice of the lime as well, but probably not all of it. Beat an egg and then tip a bit onto a plate, while waiting for the mixture to be cool enough to handle. Get another plate and make a bit pile of breadcrumbs. I’m an unreserved ponce, and so like to use Tesco’s ready made ciabatta breadcrumbs with parmesan, but this is a bit silly given the amount of crusts we have knocking around.

Place a fair wack of oil in a pan and heat, around a centimeter deep. It depends on the size of your cakes – the oil needs to come up halfway.

Wet your hands. Get the mixture and roll into fist-sized balls, then gently squish both ends. Place on the eggy plate, then turn over, then place in the breadcrumb pile, again turning it over.

Place in the pan. All the ingredients are already cooked, so you’re just waiting for the breadcrumbs to turn golden really. Place on kitchen roll to get rid of any excess oil. Serve with peas.

(4) Weekday Randomness

We’re home, and the fridge is full. More often than not, this results in two or three meals on the same plate, but occasionally it comes together. This photo is of some girolle and enoki mushrooms sautéed in white wine vinegar and white wine, some gnocci in tomato sauce with some fresh basil, and some wilted spinach. Does anyone know what they put in gnocchi to make it so good? Potato doesn’t normally taste that good.

(3) YC

This is an institution. Everyone is invited. Guest speakers each week, rotating membership.

Yoghurt club.

YC.

This is the name a friend gave to the practice of having yoghurt after a meal. He went to public school and found in constitutionally impossible not to give acronyms or nicknames to almost everything in his life. It is pretty contagious though (both the eating of yoghurt, and the habit of giving things nicknames that are no quicker to say and only serve to confuse the uninitiated).

Popular guests include YCF (fruit), YC neat, and YCH (honey). The picture shows YCF (figs), which was very well received. Heat the oven to 200°C, half the figs, place on a baking tray, and drizzle with honey and white wine. Leave for about 10 minutes. The flesh should start to be oozing out of the skin. Place in a bowl with some Y. Get involved.

(2) Chocolate Fudge Cake

Baking. Good for the soul. We also had cookies, beetroot brownies, normal brownies, and cheese cake.

(1) Okonomiyaki

Osaka omelette style yumminess, cooked on a hotplate in your table by a waiter/waitress. Garnished with fish flakes, and mayonnaise and sweet chilli type sauces. Awesome.

Honourable mentions to the brownies of both Riverside Terrace and St John’s, the first time we went to Fisherman’s Catch on Southend Road, dukka and butternut squash, rhubarb crème brule, gazpacho, and the numerous four-hour stews after a session at Scream studios. Out to all the cashew nuts. Beers of the year: Kwak did constantly surprise me, although Duvel is becoming a firm favourite. Big up all triples, and everyone keeping it Trappist.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Five films of 2008

ken@apfrod.com (Kenneth Trax) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:45:39 PST

The King of Kong (Seth Gordon)

imdb amazon
Personal, amazing and often amusing look into the trials of obsessively competitive classic arcade video-game players.

There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)

imdb amazon
Epic parable of ambition and family, selfishness and power, driven by the incredible performance of Daniel Day-Lewis as the ruthless and charismatic Daniel Plainview and a vivid rendering of early twentieth century America. I drink your milkshake!

No Country For Old Men (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)

imdb amazon
Beautifully rendered, exhilarating criminal mayhem and the elegiac ruminations of an aging sheriff. Best haircut award to Javier Bardem.

Du levande (You, The Living) (Roy Andersson)

imdb amazon
Funny, unassuming yet fantastical dream about a set of people that seem peculiarly Swedish. Table-cloth trick lol

Manufactured Landscapes (Jennifer Baichwal)

imdb amazon
A study of the work and subject of photographer Edward Burtynsky, who photographs the artificial and affected landscapes created by industry around the world. Featuring astounding, memorable and significant images, particularly of China.

Original post blogged on Apfrod.

Green Man

ken@apfrod.com (Kenneth Trax) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 10:17:58 PDT

As seen at the Dalby Forest Visitor Centre and Shop, on the southern slopes of the North York Moors National Park, UK.

This giant silver androgynous head features solar panels, flowers made of broken CDs, levers to make the eyes move and mouth open, lights powered by winding a handle close to the ground and most baffling of all, "spinning fruits" dotted about it's head. By way of explanation, the following plaque is attached:

The lights and fruits are set off by a large red button to the bottom right.

Original post blogged on Apfrod.