Just back from a weekend break in Dublin with my old friend Geoff 'Intentional' Broadway.

What a place - and how it's changed. I was last there around 15 years (!) ago at a time when you would still get odd looks from people in pubs if you spoke with an English accent.

These days it is a truly European capital, with French, German, Spanish, Scandanavian and scores of other voices to be heard walking down O'Connell Street.

Anyway, I've made a pact with myself not to leave it so long before I go back again...

Congratulations to Maryam Namazie for winning the inaugural "Secularist of The Year" award. A truly remarkable woman.

We had out most recent Pineapster night at the Swan in Loughborough on Friday. It saw great performances from all artists on stage - Firebrand, Kevin Hewick and the Authentics. The Authentics were particularly strong in my opinion, very professional with a good stage presence.

We had a decent sized crowd too. Certainly something to build on in future shows. Well done to Mark at Cuttlefish for his organisation of the night.

This is so cool! I've received my Enttec DMX controller as well as four DMX colour changer lights (from China) and have got them all working with Max/MSP. See my new DMX page for details. Of course, the tech is the easy bit - now I've got to start getting creative with the lighting for The Bouys show at the Phoenix on the 21st October.

I've been learning about stage lighting since the beginning of the year (in fact, since I worked with theatre company Metro-Boulot-Dodo on 'Under Pressure' in February). However, it's only recently that I have decided to look at it seriously and get myself a lighting controller and some stage lights for my studio.

The main motivation for this is the show I'm doing with The Buoys as part of the Bathysphere Nights II event at the Phoenix in Leicester on the 21st October.

For this event we want to control the stage lighting in such a way that it is fully synchronised with the video projections and the music being played. In order to do this we will be using a technology called DMX that allows lights to be controlled via a computer.

One of the great things about DMX is that if you get the right DMX interface 'box' for your computer then you can use Max/MSP to control your lights. In other words, you can write a single Max patch that will control your MIDI instruments, on-board sound, video projections and stage lighting! Just think if the creative possibilities of that.

After doing some on-line research I discovered a DMX interface called Enttec DMX USB Pro for a reasonable 123 euros (£83) that has a Max object available for it for 10 euros (£6). I've placed my order and am waiting for it to arrive with great excitement.

I'll report back on it when it arrives, but if it works as promised it will add a whole new dimension to my stage and installation work.

Plexus' 'Sporadicfest' took place on Saturday at the Swan in the Rushes in Loughborough. For the day's entertainment Murray and Rod programmed their usual eclectic mix of acoustic, electronic and improvised music, as well as showing some film and visual work.

The audiovisual contribution from Northampton's Liquidiser was particularly interesting. Musically, their type electro-acoustic improvisation is still quite 'challenging' to me (I think they come from more of a jazz direction, as apposed to my electronica leanings) but I enjoyed it never-the-less.

My low-tempo-post-rock-audiovisual session seemed to work well. Basically, 45 minutes of some of my favourite music with me gently mixing video footage over it :-)

I wasn't able to stay for the later part of the evening, but I hear it also went well. I'm sure we'll get a write-up on the Club Sporadic site soon.

We can confirm that we have received funding from Creative Leicester Shire to take Pineapster Communion on tour around Leicestershire.

The shows will feature Leicester and Leicestershire bands playing at venues around the county. See the Pineapster on Tour thread on the Pineapster Forums for latest details.

We are starting to publicise the new Bathyfish Forums which we hope will evolve in to a sort of Pineapster for electronic music and digital arts. Feel free to register and post messages. P.S. They are no more!

Metro-Boulot-Dodo's Spring project was installed at Leicester Expo 2005 on the 28th and 29th August. It looked and sounded great, with many positive comments on both days. Some pictures from the event are shown on our Spring page.

The Max/MSP/Jitter training course I ran at Loughborough University's 'Arts and Technology Partnerships' was very enjoyable and I think productive for those who attended. Links to many of the technologies discussed and patches demonstrated during the course can be found on our Max/MSP/Jitter page.