✶ Season’s greetings! ✶
December seems to be a quiet month of wrapping up, from gifts for your loved ones, to side hustles, overdue admin and household maintenance.
Apart from having weekly check-ins and building a cool unit to store our euroboxes, not so much has happened nor will happen in the Extra Practice space this month, as most of us are traveling out of the city and/or taking a well-deserved extensive xmas break. We considered not writing a newsletter, but let’s take this moment to collectively send you our proverbial (and slightly TMI) out-of-office responders:
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Hi there,
From the 20th of December to the 2nd of January I will not only be out of the office but out of the Netherlands. During this period I aim to have limited access to my computer, roaming the streets of Rome, sipping cappuccini while reading some Montaigne and the Art of Free-Thinking here and Index Cards there, and enjoying delicious family dinners. I wish I had put more time into my resolution of learning Italian with Michel Thomas, for now I'll manage with the help of hands, feet, sound effects and google translate.
Upon my return I will catch up with my own family and make sure to respond to any questions concerning my new year’s resolution with one single answer rather than a long wishlist of self-improvements. Perhaps that is the answer: to focus on one thing at a time (and accept some things as they are) (– wait is that two already? merda.)
Warmest regards,
Kirsten
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Dear writer,
I've left the Netherlands and I'm back in North Curry. I got up late this morning. After breakfast I gave the birds some fresh seeds and apples to help them through these cold days. I've been looking out for the deer, but they haven't visited yet. I'll be making clothes, music and food for the next three weeks with my family. We'll be taking walks, going for swims and breathing in some fresh air away from the street lights and car horns of the city. There's plenty to come in the new year, so it's a good time to slow down and enjoy that breathe.
As for resolutions, I need some time to think about it. Maybe I'll tell you more about that in the New Year. Look out for an annual letter in the mail.
Seasons greetings,
Ben
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Hello thank you for reaching out, I may reply later or not at all as I am slowly going into holiday hibernation, and will either be channeling my inner child (crafting holiday cards while listening to Bert&Ernie's podcast-avant-la-letre, practicing piano duets with my sister, painting my nails with clumpy 8-year old nail polish while half-listening to my parents explain the plots of various mediocre Netflix shows by the fireplace) or my organized mom-side (fixing holes in clothes, reorganizing and cleaning my closet/computer/house, baking various xmas dinner contributions, de-fleaing my cat, digitizing my family’s entire video8 archive –including my own birth but also my first productions as a 10 year old director lol)
Please reach out again in 2022 as I will have lots of time and energy, I will have stopped working for Cineville and be a side-job-less full time artist, I will have refreshed my website for the first time in 6 years (a promise), I will be focusing on doing smaller, shorter projects and actually sharing them with the earth andddd IDK just have a fun year with XP pals
xoxo Emma
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Thank you for reaching out. Dec 20 - Jan 2 I’ll be out of school. Since I’ve been teaching, all my project ideas turn into classes. Probably because it excites me, but I’ll try open calls as a counterweight, in the new year. Also, after arranging my house, it’s my balcony’s turn to become something. For urgent matters about my work, you can try to find answers in this piece by C. Thi Nguyen. He analyses jokes as a trust fall (that team-building activity): you drop a jolly line betting on shared background knowledge, then either fall flat or find redemption when landing in laughter. I realised most of my works are a joke! I will get back to you with new jokes as soon as possible after my return. Next week is a holiday, see you the Monday after.
Gijs
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Thank you for your email. I am out of the office, tools down and back home for the winter Holiday. Going back to London can often be an intense experience, which consists of a lot of travelling around to different parts of the city trying to see as many friends as possible. This year I was going to try and stay a bit more still but video calls from Friends in various Pubs across the city, full of Christmas cheer had me itching to dart across town again. With the latest covid developments however, it seems I won’t have any trouble staying put. I intend to be spending time with Family including many little nieces and nephews who have been growing up fast through my screen. I’ll be making full use of an open fireplace, helping my mum with lots of cooking and hopefully spending New Year’s Eve with an old friend who is back from NYC. If you want a Christmas comedy to watch then check out our Good Times Bad Times Pal Henry Perryment AKA Noah Husbands Yoga in the Film “A Christmas Number One”.
As for resolutions…I want to be deep into some projects next year, I already have a new note book to prove it. With help from Ceola Tunstall-Behrens and Emilie Loiseleur I have just built an enormous table for our living room in Rotterdam, which feels like a strong intention to host more big dinners in 2022, it sits ten so let’s hope that’s allowed by then…manifesting through building.
Jack
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Dear listener,
Good Times Bad Times will be off-air between December 15th and (probably) January 26th. If you are in urgent need of something to listen to that is not a Mariah banger, please consult our archive for older episodes. Perhaps now is a good time for going down memory lane ourselves, for coming home and looking back on making conversations and arrangements; calendars and protocols; feels, laziness and everyday poetry. Yung geese and good ol’ mixtapes. Collecting; voting; manifesting; finding our way… dot dot dot.
It’s been a great year of growth for Good Times Bad Times, doing workshops and events at the Royal Academy of Art, Design Academy Eindhoven and Studio Makkink & Bey, expanding the club and making friends through/with radio near and far (you know who you are).
In 2022 we will introduce another duo from the open call we put out – Ben Tupper and Callum Copley – with their first show and await more gems from Karoliina, Katrina, Sylvie and Cara. Also, keep an an eye out for the 4.0 version of our website and an ear for an upcoming interview with Lenn Cox!
Cheers,
GTBT
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So to wrap up this newsletter: we’ll be Extra Practicing again from the beginning of January and hope to see you soon at our next gathering (once that can be done safely again). Meanwhile you can send your sparkly e-cards to extrapractice.space@gmail.com or snail-mail to Zwaanshals 209.
Extra Practice wishes you cosy times, through the holidays into 2022. May your days be merry and bright! ✶
XOXO XP
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