Hooray - a shiny new forum!!

Got a new forum, folks:

http://elphinstone_folk_forum.atfreeforum.com/

very pleased to have found one - phpBB which is a very good set up, one I used in the past, so we'll have no trouble with editing or anything.

You must register to use it, but that winna be difficult. As a registered user you can have your own avatar (or piccie), you can make posts, introduce topics and do polls. Should be great fun.

Go and have a look!

You'll see, in due course, I have a fairy as my avatar... very folky!

Postgraduate Ethnology Conference 2008

Now, this is business, folks. It's now nearly a year since the last conference of this nature, as this blog starts with material from then, and you've all been wondering what is going on... well, here's the news I have:

The 2008 Conference is being hosted by the School of Scottish Studies/Celtic Studies Depts at the University of Edinburgh, so that's George Square in the Capital, nae far from the Festival Theatre, Nicholson St., in Newington. (map link)







Here is the low-down from Wilson McLeod of SSS:

The dates we are proposing are 11-13 April, which is just before we return from the Easter break. The idea would be to begin on Friday around teatime and then break up in the middle of the day/early afternoon on Sunday, so as to allow participants from elsewhere to travel to and from Edinburgh.


So, if you want to come, email Wilson on: wmcleod@staffmail.ed.ac.uk or w.mcleod@ed.ac.uk


There's soooo much to do in 'Auld Reekie' as it's also known, so we could see if they'd organise a ceilidh for us. There are plenty halls and things that could be used, so pass your suggestions on to the Edinburgh team. As far as I know, Wilson is going with these dates.


Hope to see everyone back again!

Caption Comp - Dr Thomas McKean

Folklorist, singer, and my supervisor, who hails fae New Hampshire, USA, but bides in Formartine... Dr T A McKean. I had to say something about this picture he has on his profile, it is asking to be parodied, in the nicest possible way, of course.

Tom's a dude.

The background to this picture is him giving a paper on his current project, the digitisation and cataloguing of the James Madison-Carpenter wax cylinder archive. JMC came to the UK in the 1930s and collected folk songs and sea shanties. Currently the digital versions of his recordings from the original wax cylinders are held at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., and Tom and his colleagues are working on producing an archive and book so each recording and its contents can be identified.

Here is the picture:




My caption: "...and Madison-Carpenter's cylinders were this big!"






all contributions will be considered - rude ones will be deleted!