Well, we are in discussion about a few more events and things for this Autumn, and should be able to confirm something for you very, very soon.  While details must necessarily remain shady (or I'll have to send miniature murderous minions after you), they include such things as:
 - Crimson carousing in places where no one Crimson has gone before
 - A new presentation, along the lines of our (mine and Steven C. Davis's) 'The Hobbit: Steampunk'd" workshop, but subtly different.
 - more downloadable writings
 - some video releases, and
 - the beginning of a neeeeeewww collaboration!

Oh yes.

First, just need to get this last bit of studying out of the way - deadline day is now under one month away...

...back to the typing!  Laterz...

Another week gone, and the deadline for handing in my dissertation grows ever closer.  Today I have mainly been writing about the Contagious Diseases Acts of the 1860s - 1880s in Victorian Britain, Acts that permitted women considered to be 'common prostitutes' (no official definition of such was ever arrived upon) living near certain military bases to be registered, examined for disease and forcibly detained if considered to be contagious.  Somehow it escaped the notice of the authorities that actually some of the men partaking in the transaction may also be diseased; not to mention the occasional scandal that occurred when ladies were incorrectly identified (sometimes because they were not wearing a hat or gloves).

Tomorrow I turn my focus to the journalistic sensation that was WT Stead's 'Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon', (available to read online if you fancy it) in which he exposed the story of a 12 year old girl, bought from her mother for £5, certified a virgin and then taken abroad to a brothel.  As you might imagine, a nation was outraged, and additional laws were quickly put in place.  These laws raised the age of consent (for girls) to 16 from 13; and also put in place extra punitive measures against brothel keepers.  One unfortunate repercussion is that more of the poorest of working girls were driven out onto the darkest and most dangerous backstreets, a fact not unrelated to Jack the Ripper being able to find his prey so easily...

There's a lot more to come; I'm only just getting started; so bloggage is going to remain necessarily dissertation focused and potentially sporadic over the next few weeks.  In the meantime, here's a photo of a crow I took recently on a brief study break.

Might it form part of a future project?  I couldn't possibly comment.

Apologies for the lack of a blog last week, as work on the dissertation starts to gather pace.  I am remembering to eat, and have absolutely no chance of being allowed to forget to feed cats, but aside from that, it's all hands to the Victorian prostitutes.  So to speak.

In the meantime, last week saw the sad demise of Alt-Fest.  Seemingly completely out of the blue, this festival of ginormous proportions, two years in the making, and certainly the biggest event we'd have ever performed at,  entered its death throes last Tuesday, gave a brief wiggle on Wednesday, and finally succumbed on Friday.  The final announcement from the organisers can be read here.

We're very disappointed  - as mentioned, it would have been our biggest event, and the chance to see a whole range of other marvelous acts over the weekend too.  We're even more disappointed for those of you who've forked out to attend - yes, you'll get your ticket fees back, but that doesn't really cover any advance train tickets you might have bought, or non-cancel-able hotel bookings, or camping kit you've forked out on, or new wellies you've just bought, not to mention the short space of time you've now got to make new plans.  Hope you're able to come up with something equally splendid to do that weekend instead.

Of course, you may already be aware that the hosts of the Steampunk Stage, BB Blackdog and Co, are arranging a replacement event at The Workhouse, Llanfyllin, Wales.  Unfortunately Crimson Clocks can't be at that event due to other commitments that couldn't be managed with the location change; but a large number of those who would have graced the steampunk stage will be.  It should be a most excellent event - 3 days, a chance to put the camping kit to work, though hopefully not the wellies.

You can find out more about the replacement event here.


And if you're sad that you'll be missing Crimson Clocks - why not give us some suggestions as to where we should play next (ahem - polite ones only, please!).  You can comment on this blog, or on our facebook page if you prefer (and if you've not given us a 'like' on there, here's a golden opportunity...)

Until next time.
Nanoo nanoo.