One thing I look out for in a brand is authenticity.
This is what draws me to the age-old Wilkin & Sons products.

Established in 1885 the Tiptree-based family has been farming in this area for ages and has produced some of the best conserves you could buy. Because they manage their own farms they have unusual fruits such as medlar, loganberry, mulberry, quince and greengage, which makes their offering interesting.

Their brand identity correctly translates into a positive sentiment of credibility and consistency. They haven’t spruced-up their logo or packaging. Both of these have stood the test of time and the two work brilliantly in positioning the product as genuine and authetic. Without succumbing to design fads, the brand has garnered loyalty.

Staunch fans as well as newbies generally associate the packaging with a nostalgic food-manufacturing process of days long gone. While the process may have been modernised, the same ingredients and passion for good products are still the driving force behind this brand.

It’s too easy to squeeze music out of Christmas.

Busy bars, stressful schedules, long lists and a cacophony of other requests can distance one from the music which is rightfully part of Christmas.

Then come those graceful opportunities which envelope you in a blissful Christmas cheer and stillness: carols.
Today I squeezed into a lovely Christmas concert by Chorus Urbanus at the majestic St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta.

It’s extremely magical to sit in a Cathedral built in 1577, decorated by some of the most distinguished artists of all time and partake in an age-old ritual of listening to sacred music.

Sitting in expectation of a choir is always great: the sense of anticipation, the tuning of the string instruments and the occasional whiff of burned incense set the mood perfectly.

Under the direction of Mro. John Galea the choir performed some of the most well known carols such as Adeste Fideles, Little Drummer Boy and so on. Jacop Portelli’s harp solo: Nataliana was magically awesome.

There is something nostalgic and calming in Christmas carols. Perhaps their familiarity brings consistency in a mad world. Possibly their slow progression freezes time for a moment and allows one to focus on the very present experience of listening. Maybe the innocence of carols draw us back to a childhood of better, simpler days.

Merry Christmas to all :)

St. John's CoCathedral in Valletta

I recently came across an interview with memory genius and author Joshua Foer.
His book ‘Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything’ is an incredibly beautiful journey into the workings of the mind.

Below is an excerpt from the interview which is a ‘mind’-opener:

Q: What is the connection between memory and our sense of time?

A: As we get older, life seems to fly by faster and faster. That’s because we structure our experience of time around memories. We remember events in relation to other events. But as we get older, and our experiences become less unique, our memories can blend together. If yesterday’s lunch is indistinguishable from the one you ate the day before, it’ll end up being forgotten. That’s why it’s so hard to remember meals. In the same way, if you’re not doing things that are unique and different and memorable, this year can come to resemble the last, and end up being just as forgettable as yesterday’s lunch. That’s why it’s so important to pack your life with interesting experiences that make your life memorable, and provide a texture to the passage of time.

If you never tried throwing paint at someone here’s a tip: try it !
Even better: get your camera and shoot the entire drama.

Having no idea whether it would turn out to be a mess or not, I agreed to submit my camera to the possibility of itself getting a paint job. Not being fond of chameleon magic, I made sure the paint’s ricochet wouldn’t surprise me. I stood back.

My subject: MG, boldly prepared herself on a cold Sunday morning on the edge of Riviera Beach in Ghajn Tuffieha (Malta). And Zap. Paint flew. Click, click. The shutter busily captured the milliseconds in which paint droplets exploded on MG’s skin.

Great fun and great results. Luckily I wasn’t the one who had to swim in a cold November sea to clean-out the paint (…one of the advantages of being the photographer).

Would you like some paint splashed on you?

It’s been a persistent wish of mine to list those things that make me smile and those which make me despair.
I’m rather curious to see whether your likes and dislikes are similar to mine, so do comment with your own list below.

This is intended to be a constant work-in-progress so check back regularly as I intend to grow this list slowly:

The White List of things I like :)

1. The sweet smell of rain.
2. Great design which goes beyond the mere ‘good’ and which leaves me in awe of its craftsmanship.
3. Heavy blue skies with deep blue hues and the occasional stray sun beam breaking through.
4. Anything made of chocolate, yet especially the Tortino di cioccolato fondente caldo con gelato al zabaglione.
5. Polaroids & Laughter.
6. The zangy sound of my guitar with a set of new D’Addario strings.
7. A long forgotten smell, sound or sensation which unexpectedly carries me back to my childhood – almost like a time machine.
8. Soulful music that transports you beyond ‘everydayness’
9. Warm rikotta pastizzi from Cordina on a Sunday morning with FT Weekend as their backdrop.
10. That creative fever which forces me out on the street to take pictures, paint, write or make something.
11. Calligraphy and typography: the beautiful aesthetic of the written word.
12. Those grainy, somewhat vintage, warm contre-jour portraits that spring out of rickety film cameras (when you least expect it).
13. Things organised neatly, in lines, possibly by colour.
14. The smell of a new book and the crisp sound of its whizzing pages.
15. The magical moments of silence in Keith Jarret’s Koln piano concert.
16. Ink, pens, pencils, paints, copics and sketch books.
17. That ‘aha’ moment after hours of research to solve a technical problem.

The Black List of things I detest :(

1. Eastern European electronics which come with shoddy English manuals you can’t quite understand.
2. The mangling of Maltese & English into atrocities like ‘il-parents’ or ‘il-bagit’. Grrrr.
3. Blokes who talk during movies (especially those with a compulsion to explain the movie to their neighbour – in real time).
4. Speakers who read-off their text-heavy power-points giving their audience a great view of their bottom rather than their face.
5. Goons who insist on driving at a snail’s pace on the outer lane.
6. Captchas which are impossible to understand and which leave you staring at your screen as though you’ve seen Casper.

"I prefer drawing to talking. Drawing is faster, and leaves less room for lies" Le Corbusier