nearly there

It's been a busy couple of weeks, mostly spent working on three separate projects, both in and out of work.

First things first: no, the first issue of the Lawkit is not online. (As you can see.) But it will be soon. Very pleased and excited with the way things have progressed; the text and contents are set, just a few graphical tweaks remain.

Another website still under work, but with much more to look at already, is for the Valley of Angels festival in Bangor next month. It's a fairly unique proposition - bringing together a diverse set of musicians and artists for a mixture of either free or very cheap events in some interesting venues... my pick of the events announced so far are the Avalon Guitars factory tour and the Centre Stage event in the Flagship Centre, both of which are free in. There's also an obscenely large prize in the busking competition on the Saturday. It'll be worth keeping an eye for the Knights In The Round gig, which the line-up has not yet been officially unveiled for. (It's a good one, trust me.)

Of course, though it's great to be so heavily involved in something, I am somewhat gutted that the same weekend sees the quiet visit of Kate Rusby to Belfast as part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. Having never been able to see Kate live, I would probably have sold my granny to have been there anyway. (In fact, I've just spotted the evening gig is sold out already. There's an afternoon one though.) Kate is, quiet rightly, the first lady of folk music, and an unmissable talent.

Finally, there's an election on - and d'workplace has been no exception when it comes to getting involved. We've got on board with Stratagem to ask some of the biggest observers in Northern Ireland for their thoughts on the past and present of the NI Assembly. The first episode is due online tomorrow - watch d'twitter for that one, no doubt.