International appeal is strong October 23 2012

THE HARVEST attracts visitors from all over the world and will have top local and London chefs preparing the freshest seafood. Oystermen have been gathering wild native oysters from the Carrick Roads for hundreds of years. Christopher Ranger is one of a new breed of Cornish business owners, passionate about locally sourced food harvested using traditional methods. "I grew up on The Roseland, and for the past four years I have been gathering native oysters, working under sail in a traditional Truro River oyster boat," explained Ranger, who was named in this year's Telegraph Good Produce Guide as the Best Fish and Seafood Supplier in the UK. "I pinch myself regularly when I see the other Truro River Oyster Boats 'hove too', drifting gracefully down the oyster beds and then realise my boat the Alf Smythers has her sails set exactly the same and I am doing a job that's hundreds of years old." Cornish Native Oysters supplies some of Cornwall's leading restaurants and hotels, but most of the oysters are destined for top London restaurants. Ranger added: "There is a brilliant food scene down here, which is backed up by the quality of the stallholders we have in Mylor this weekend. It's definitely an exciting time to be involved, but it is tough running a small business in the county." With plans to rebuild another 100-year-old oyster boat he saved from destruction, Ranger is looking for someone to help with the work and then skipper her on the fishery. "With two boats landing I could afford to employ someone in the purification room, meaning I could double the business and ultimately make it viable for the future." You can order Wild Native Oysters from the Cornish Food Box Company in Truro or online at www.cornishnativeoysters.co.uk. http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/International-appeal-strong/story-15657293-detail/story.html

Childhood memories... October 23 2012

On Monday, I was lucky enough to go out and see how oysters are caught. We went out on the Orca Sea Safari and crossed over onto an oyster boat, the Alf Smythers. It was brilliant. I pulled up a dredge and got to sort out and measure the oysters. It's hard work being an oysterman. Sometimes they don't find many at all. The ones that they do find are often too small, or have been damaged by slipper limpets, and have to be thrown back. I had such a good time working with the Oystermen. I won't forget it. Jack P (y5)

'Shucks away' at Falmouth Oyster Festival October 23 2012

Tricks of the trade were on show at the Oyster Festival in Falmouth on Saturday as competitors lined-up for one of the most eagerly awaited events, the chance to be crowned the champion oyster shucker. The competition always draws big crowds, and this year was no exception as former champions, seasoned festival shuckers and a keen amateur or two went head to head on the main stage. With ten shuckers racing against the clock to plate the best oysters, judged by experts, the pressure was on as knives flew and oysters were prised open. With the art of opening oysters a tricky one to master there were some who whittled through their piles in record times while others struggled with the mighty molluscs, even using gloves to get a better grip, and to save those fingers from nasty cuts from the sharp knives. This year saw the judges, seasoned shucker Robert Bunny, and Annie Sibert from My Fish Kitchen, decide on a winner, with Ann Oliver picking up a bottle of champagne, and the honour that goes with the title of best Falmouth Oyster Festival Oyster Shucker. 2:52:56 'no penalties' 2nd place Ranger 3rd place Tristan Hugh Jones

BBC News Cornwall October 23 2012

Oyster festival gets underway... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-19913492

Classic Boat Magazine - National Historic Ships Photo Competition October 23 2012

One of my photographs appears on the Classic Boat website

Falmouth Oyster Festival - Annual Oyster Shucking Competition 2012 October 21 2012

Having come last in 2011 I wanted to show that I could compete with the best shuckers and this year with a time of 2m 52.52 seconds I came second! Yes... My only complaint was the size of the 12 oysters presented, of which we had to open and present 10 as quickly as possible

Compostable Packaging October 07 2012

Well we have finally achieved one of our main objectives... NO more polystyrene boxes... Port Health Authority for Falmouth tested the purification tanks and gave the work experience recruits an important lesson on traceability and shellfish production... They also confirmed it was ok to use compostable containers, recycled and recyclable or compostable loose fill in a card board box... So apart from the document wallet or envelope window everything we send you is environmentally conscious and compostable... Oyster shells do wonders for soil when broken up too! In addition if you are a restaurant or hotel and order more than 60 per week, you could sponsor the rebuild of Boy Phil, which will cost you but will save you at least twice as much... Part of the sponsorship goes towards a state of the art cool box that will securely store your order at the perfect temperature whilst being delivered to you. Another polystyrene box saved from the bins after just one use... Call or email for more details... Or place an order and see for yourself... Bye for now Ranger

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Official Music Video 1,000,000 views in a year... September 15 2012

 

Below is the beautiful video for "The Rip Tide", the title track from Beirut's 2011 album. It was directed by Houmam Abdallah. Zach Condon himself has a few words to say about the director's work on the video:

I always felt that "The Rip Tide" wasn't fully able to project its own ambitions in song form.. no matter how it was performed or recorded, it felt contained by sound alone... I wanted more, as I often do with my music, and this is not a bad thing. Growing to accept a song's limits is part of the process of creating and loving them. Which was why I was so excited to see what Houmam had dug into when he picked "The Rip Tide" out of all others for a video. The concept fit, and the product brought the song somewhere that I had only been able to describe to myself, now available for others to see and feel it much more as I had in the process of writing it.