OK Folks! Lets get ELBOW DEEP IN SLAG!

... Just as a note, when I first did the course last year, I had to advise one of the American furnace crew that using the above expression in the company of the kappa-slappas in the local pub was likely to cause confusion....

Thought I'd give this blogging thing an extended chance - and use it as an opportunity to form a little chat community in the build up to our metal melting soiree this July.

Lets introduce the players so far and provide a web-site related introduction:

We have Adam - aka The Ombudsman, alias Squire Trelawny ( http://www.beamproductions.co.uk/agency01.htm ), the vivacious Alex K, ( http://welcome.to/the_aleks_shrine ... sorry Alexs, but you're the only person I know to have your own online place of worship! ) Andy Potter ( http://www.pottermorganglass.com/ ), and of course myself... no spurious web links for me, as most of them quote me driveling on about mobile games or doing my spin-meister bit.

Anyway, the four of us are now comitted to going! Just as a reminder, it's £120 a go. Dirt cheap innit? On top of that, though, we'll have to organise accomodation - so I'll start the ball rolling and see about grabbing us some space down in the local village of Coalbrookdale. Will we all be happy with a cheap and cheerful pub room?

In terms of preparation, it might be worth starting to think about possible designs. Basically, the first part of the course is about making your mold (or should that be mould)... For simplicity's sake, the first piece is likely to be what they call a 'scratch-block'. Basically, you carve a design into a soft cast block of resin bonded sand - rather like carving soft sandstone. I used a sharpened nail last time. This sort of mold will produce a rectangular plate with the relief of your design on one side (just like the plates I've got in the living room for those who've seen 'em)...

The Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron Sculpture is run by Pam Brown - who can seem like a rather gruff seeming brummie at first, but has a heart of gold and really warms to people who show an interest and enthusiasm. The furnace crew are headed by an American chap called Rick, who is currently working on some industrial sounding projects over in Poland. The rest of the crew fly in from The States (by way of Alabama, Kentucky and christ knows where). They are the salt of the earth. Top chaps. Given the cultural mix so far, Alex should be well at home!

Anyway, sign yourselves up to this 'ere site and we can swap gossip, notes and comments as we approach July...

The Digital Crab's first scuttle

So here it is - the initial posting. I guess this site will (as most before?) degenerate into a spleen-venting piece of self obsession and grammatical error. The rough aim is to give this blogging thing a go, as well as to commit to the ether some of the frustrations and observations which both boil my guts and crease me up... ain't the 21st century a laugh? Hopefully we'll witness some evolution in the way I think - maybe the growth of a bit of wisdom... or then again, maybe not ;-)

Crabs. They can cause a nasty nip. They hide under stones and eat carrion. They're hillarious to watch running down harbour steps, falling on their backs and waving their claws in the air. They're damn tasty with a bit of fluffy white bread. This is the home of The Digital Crab.