The Fat of The Land: A Queer Chub Harvest Festival

Fat of the Land photographs by Carmen Corbalen

2009-10-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

Fat of the Land photographs by Ochi Reyes

2009-10-09T10:13:00.000-07:00

The last chorus

2009-10-06T00:55:00.001-07:00

People singing the final chorus of The Queer Fat Harvest Hymn, courtesy of Kay Hyatt.

Winners and other notices

2009-10-05T04:23:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all the competition winners!

Best Jam: Mike
Best Chutney: BJ
Best Decorated Cupcakes: Phoebe
Best Cake (Fancy): Kay
Best Cake (Teatime): Lenna
Best Vegetable Monster (Junior): Max
Best Vegetable Monster (Senior): Suzanna

The Diet Box of Doom is to be donated to 'Dr' Gillian McKeith. More about this later.

Thank you everyone for coming, for supporting us, and for making this event such a fantastic success.

Thanks to all the fatty queers

2009-10-04T06:04:00.001-07:00

Pic by Emli Bendixen, see more of her incredible photos of The Fat of the Land.

Thanks to everyone for making The Fat of the Land such a rip-roaring success! Special thanks to my co-organisers Jason, Naz, and Bill, and all the volunteers, stall-holders, and supporters. Nearly 200 people came, we pretty much ran out of cakes and savouries, and the tea and squash flowed from the time that BJ cut the ribbon to the last of the Morris dancing. Everyone seemed to have a great time and we made enough money to cover our expenses. Thank you all!

A couple of things:

There's a Fat of the Land page on Facebook, and you can become a fan if you are so inclined. Just click the "Become a fan" button.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Fat-of-the-Land-A-Queer-Chub-Harvest-Festival/145532791657

We would love to see your own pics and videos of the day, you can upload them onto the Facebook page or link to them there, if you are a fan, or get in touch with us via this blog for us to upload here (more people see the blog than the Facebook stuff).

We'd also love to keep the discussions and the community going, so please chip in on the blog or the Facebook page with thoughts, recollections of the day (check out what Crazycrone said), ideas for how we might all take the good feeling from yesterday onwards, perhaps into future projects.

Ok, tired now.

Phew, they arrived, just in time

2009-10-02T04:58:00.000-07:00

Everyone who comes to The Fat of the Land will get a free badge, a bit like the ones in the poorly executed photograph here.

Harvesting veg this morning

2009-10-02T04:50:00.000-07:00

Kay and I went to the outrageously lovely East London community vegetable garden What Will The Harvest Be? to harvest some veg for a hamper for the Fat of the Land Raffle. We picked celeriac, celery, carrots, some spuds, amazing kale, chard and squash, some herbs and greens, beetroot too. Yummmmmmm and thanks to Chris at the project and everyone who's been growing things there over the summer.

It's tomorrow!

2009-10-02T00:57:00.000-07:00

It's going to be amazing! Do come!

Here's a map:

View Larger Map

There will be some planned engineering works on the underground tomorrow, so it might be worth using the Journey Planner to find a good route to us.

Sublime and ridiculous

2009-09-30T08:36:00.000-07:00

DIVA are going to be at The Fat of the Land: A Queer Chub Harvest Festival this Saturday. they've made a cut-out cover of their current fat issue for you to poke your head through. You too can be a glamazon lesbo high femme magazine cover chubber. Amazing.

Fat of the Land Schedule

2009-09-30T00:53:00.001-07:00

2pm
Our Guest of Honour BJ will open The Fat of the Land.

2-4.30pm
* Art, activities, conversation, displays, eating, information, marvelling and mingling, poetry, tea-drinking and our wonderful stalls.
* Buy yourself a spot as a guest judge in our competitions
* Enter your home-made jams, chutneys, decorated cupcakes, cakes (fancy and teatime) and vegetable monsters into the competitions. These will be judged at 4pm.
* Buy raffle tickets and win amazing prizes.
* Donate unwanted weight loss paraphernalia to the Diet Bin of Doom.

4pm
Competition judging

4.30pm
Competition, raffle and silent auction winners announced.

5pm
Entertainment provided by The 123s, Scottee, and Chopin. Singing of the Fat Queer Harvest Hymn.

5.30pm
Special guests The Blackhorse and Standard Women’s North West Morris will close the event with some dancing.

A crazy lady from Oregon sends her love

2009-09-30T00:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Fat o'the Landers:

After sending this e-mail out, I am shipping myself to you inside this enormous pumpkin so that I may arrive in time for this incredible Queer Chub Harvest Festival. Please handle with care. It has seen better days.

Then I will pop out spitting pumpkin seeds into carnival games and giggle and chortle and pull carrots and eat Chubster jam with my orange-stained hands. I'll try not to set the barn on fire.

What can I say, I am flat out gleeful that this is happening, bereft at not being able to attend, and no doubt will have to celebrate by baking a gigantic slog* in your honor and sharing it with the fat queers of my own community to celebrate in solidarity.

With mad love,
Petunia

* - Not cakey enough for a buckle, slump or grunt, I've coined "slog" to describe a wet fruit crisp that runs over with juice and becomes irrepressibly soggy

Charlotte says PS, one of our raffle prizes is a giant vegetable growing kit, don't forget to buy a ticket, you too could hide yourself inside a massive pumpkin

Wanna be a Judge?

2009-09-30T00:47:00.001-07:00

You Could Be Fat of the Land Competition Judge

It's not just the official judges who will be judging the Fat of the Land competitions, there are some special guest judging spots up for grabs too. You could be a judge! You could have first bite and first taste! Here's how…

There are seven precious and exclusive guest judge spots for sale. You will be judging competition entries alongside our official fat of the Land judges.

The guest judge spots cost £10 or £5 concessions.

Once these seven places have been sold, they are gone forever.

You can notify Charlotte, the competitions person, beforehand if you want to be a judge. Send her an email: mail@charlottecooper.net

Or you can offer your judging capabilities and cash on the day.

Judging will take place at 4pm sharp, and winners will be announced at 4.30pm.

Please let Charlotte know if you have a preferred category.

Best Jam
Best Chutney
Best Decorated Cupcakes
Best Cake (Fancy)
Best Cake (Teatime)
Best Vegetable Monster (Junior) – aged 12 and under
Best Vegetable Monster (Senior) – aged 12 and over

Please note that people will know if you are both a judge and a competition entrant, and if you judge your own entry to be the winner it will be deemed bad form!

The Fat of the Land is taking over the media one magazine at a time

2009-09-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Oh look, we're a Critic's Choice in this week's Time Out.

NB The harvest festival runs from 2-6pm, not 8 as listed.

The Fat of the Land is taking over the internet one website at a time

2009-09-28T05:15:00.000-07:00

Oh look, an interview with me on Gaydarnation.com, boast boast.

Here's more boastage, care of Anglofiles and Londonist too.

How to Enter Fat of the Land Competitions: A step-by-step guide

2009-09-28T03:51:00.000-07:00

The competition categories are:

Best Jam
Best Chutney
Best Decorated Cupcakes
Best Cake (Fancy)
Best Cake (Teatime)
Best Vegetable Monster (Junior) – aged 12 and under
Best Vegetable Monster (Senior) – aged 12 and over

1. Make some stuff that fits those categories, use whatever judgement and recipes you like.

2. Remember that you can enter more than one competition and, if you're really enthusiastic, you can enter competitions more than once.

3. Bring your makings to the Fat of the Land before 3.30pm.

4. Tell the competitions person (Charlotte, most likely) if it's okay for the Fat of the Land to sell or auction your entry to help us cover our costs. Winning entries will be auctioned in aid of the harvest festival, runners-up will be sold at a price you agree.

5. Write your name, contact details and, if relevant, a price, on a sticker, which will be generously provided by your harvest festival organisers.

6. Stick the sticker underneath your entry, so the judges can judge each entry anonymously.

7. Place your entry on the space provided for harvest festival goers to admire.

8. Judging will take place at 4pm and winners will be announced at 4.30pm and will receive their winning certificates.

9. If you are neither auctioning nor selling your entry, you may take it away with you after 4.30pm.

10. Good luck!

Kay's Jammy and Karrotty Thrills!

2009-09-28T03:26:00.000-07:00

Kay 'Butch Husky' Hyatt has been busy this weekend making two dozen jars of Chubster jam as well as getting her Krazy Karrots game ready. The jam is made from damsons from the tree in Kay's garden and will be for sale at the Fat of the Land. You'll have to wait until next Saturday to find out how the Karrots work. Will the harvest thrills ever end?

The Diet Box of Doom

2009-09-28T03:08:00.000-07:00

I remember going to harvest festivals when I was a kid with a tin of some unwanted food to put into a crepe paper-covered box for 'the needy'. This was usually some random group of old or disabled people who hadn't asked for our somewhat stingy charity and who would have been better off with civil rights than a dusty can of rice pudding from the back of my family's cupboard.

But a harvest festival is a festival of giving that comes from being glad of what we have, yet also slightly condescending to those whom we perceive to have less than us, and wanting them to be grateful for our beneficence. We want to uphold this tradition at the Fat of the Land, and give to those who are less well-off than ourselves, the somewhat tragic, the people and organisations who just don't get it.

We're going to be giving some queer chub action back to the diet industry.

The Fat of the Land will feature a Diet Box of Doom, a place where you can leave unwanted slimming ephemera, as well as any other non-perishables you'd like to donate. This will then be given to a weight loss multinational, or an odious diet guru voted for by people at the Fat of the Land.

What to bring:

Diet books and magazines, calorie counting accessories, weight loss recipes, tape measures, diet scales, weighing scales, defaced slimming advertisements, laxatives, personal accounts of dieting, stories of body fascism, pictures, poems, food diaries, videos and DVDs, diet sheets, clothes that you bought to slim into but never managed to fit, anything that you'd like people who profit from dieting to know or to have, or whatever you think should go into a Diet Box of Doom.

What will happen:

When we have voted for a recipient, Charlotte will package up the box nicely and deliver it by hand to the company's UK CEO or guru at their headquarters. This will be documented on the Fat of the Land blog.

Stalls at the Fat of the Land

2009-09-27T06:28:00.000-07:00

We've got some amazing stalls at the Fat of the Land, with stuff for you to buy, stuff to eat, stuff at which to marvel, and displays of crafts and activities that are close to our queer chub hearts.

Not only will you be able to buy zines, but there'll be a zine display and you'll be able to make a zine on the day too. Naughty and Nice Cakes are likely to be popular, and Anna Small is bringing her crafts – double pleasure whammy. Blackwells are bringing a selection of Fat of the Land books for you to snap up (they accept plastic too) and DIVA mag, whose Fat issue is now out, are going to be doing the tombola. We've got displays of stonemasonry and quilting, there will be Yay! Scales for you to try out thanks to the crowd from Health At Every Size UK, a Krazy Karrots game, and some mad things that don't have a name yet. And we've got a lot of tea that needs drinking.

Simon 'Weasel' Murphy has been busy making the Chubuzzer which will receive its inaugural outing at the Fat of the Land (see pic above). Homemade fat queer electronics projects! Yay! Dare you pit your wits against its buzzery goodness? How fiendishly difficult could it be? There'll be prizes for those who make it to the end.

Three Cheers for BJ, Our Guest of Honour

2009-09-25T03:16:00.000-07:00

BJ is doing us the honour of being our esteemed guest at the Fat of the Land. She will cut the ribbon to open the event at 2pm sharp.

BJ! One of my fat queer heroes. The first time I met her I knew I'd never forget her. Dawn French was making a programme about fat and art for the South Bank Show in 1994 or thereabouts. A bunch of fat oiks, including BJ and I, were roped in to give the programme some colour. This involved swimming around Dawn F in formation around the beautiful Marshall Street Baths, just off Carnaby Street. We were kept pretty separate from Dawn, she was clearly out of our league, but I remember BJ clinging to me with her legs because she wasn't a strong swimmer back then. Thrills!

Like all the best people, BJ manages to straddle high and low culture. In 1997 she won the inaugural Miss Lesbian Beauty Competition at the Café de Paris, organised by Amy Lamé. Some people were really upset that a big fat dyke could steal the prize from under their noses, there were letters of complaint to The Pink Paper about it! But BJ won fairly and squarely, and she deserved to win too. She's been a muse to Vivienne Westwood, photographed by Del la Grace Volcano, and the award-winning artist Sadie Lee's painting of BJ, entitled Pinky, has shown at the National Portrait Gallery (see the pic above).

If BJ was the type of person to appear in the Sunday colour supplements, she'd likely be described there as a living legend or an institution. Raw, brave and fierce, my favourite memories of BJ include the sight of her throwing bottles of champagne around a dive bar, strutting in a bikini at London Fields Lido, and flirting as though it were an Olympic sport. She's bad to the bone and impossible not to love.

Anyway, you'll get to meet her on 3 October at 2pm.

Get your laughing gear 'round this, fatties

2009-09-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

Sachi is making cakes for us. Yummy yum yum yum.

Naughty and Nice Cakes.

Love and Thanks to Our Fat of the Land Raffle Sponsors

2009-09-24T02:21:00.000-07:00

We're having a raffle and we're giving away some fantastic prizes. Big fat thanks to the following people and organisations who have generously donated their stuff:

In alphabetical order, applause for:

Allyson Mitchell, for goodies from her artist's studio.

Becky Sanchez for the beautiful sampler.

Bill Savage, Unskinny Bop's most talented poster artist, for donating original art in mini-form. Swoon.

Charley Stone, the brilliant musician and mainstay of more bands than you've had hot dinners. Charley will record a Classic Cover of your choice in her own inimitable style.

Katie D, for gorgeous fat zines and knitted treats.

Katy 'Chanko Nabe' Hathaway, for genuine sumo stuff!

Lady Lucy, for a really blimmin' lovely drawing. It's ahem, of me (blush) and it's all about fat and queer activism.

Me, for pinching a spare goodie bag from the Beth Ditto for Evans launch back in August (you know, the party where Beth sang karaoke with Kate Moss). The bag contains promo copy of Gossip's Music for Men, a limited edition domino print scarf and a bunch of other bits and pieces, plus a mint condition copy of Love magazine, with extensive coverage of Beth, our patron saint.

Me again for donating a kit for growing giant vegetables, which includes assorted giant vegetable seeds (some for Clive's Giant Cucumber! oo-err) and an instruction booklet.

Raw Nerve, for a copy of the excellent Fat Studies in the UK book, featuring a bunch of people who are going to be doing their thing at the Fat of the Land.

Re/Dress NYC, the world's best plus-size vintage/ second hand clothes shop and queer fat social enterprise, who have donated some fatshion for one lucky winner.

Substantia Jones at The Adipositivity Project, an incredible photo project that documents fat people's bodies. Substantia has donated some covetable merch.

Susan Stinson, writer extraordinaire, for signed copies of her gorgeous novels Venus of Chalk and Martha Moody. Extra special bonus prize: an ultra rare copy of her poetry chapbook, Belly Songs.

Tom O'Tottenham, our favourite stonemason about town, who will cut you a plaque with your initial on it. Unique and rare!

Unskinny Bop, for donating a one-of-a-kind mix CD called Hey Kids, It's A Podge Pop Party…with Unskinny Bop. According to DJ Ruth, "This will feature lots of amazing fat pop stars in the vein of the first ever UBop at Ladyfest." Yeah! The lucky winner also gets free tickets to The Bop.

What Will the Harvest Be? A lovely community vegetable garden in E15, for donating a box of veg, fresh out of the ground!

You can win these prizes, yes, you you you! And look, there are loads of prizes so you have a really good chance of winning something excellent. All you have to do is come along on the day and buy a raffle ticket.

Unskinny Bop: The Posters

2009-09-23T02:10:00.000-07:00

Unskinny Bop is a nightclub that started out from the dregs of Ladyfest 2002, an event where many of the people I think of as my friends first clapped eyes on each other. In the intervening seven years, The Bop has been home to an evolving bunch of misfits, club kids, cool people, and their mates. My happiest ever dancefloor moments have been at this place, Ruth and Tamsin can keep you dancing until you're begging your feet to stop.

One of the amazing things about The Bop is the artwork that's displayed every month. This is the work of Bill Savage. By artwork I mean the posters that decorate the venue. They show that pop culture, politics, music, a queer sensibility and dancing go together very well. Bill's work is absolutely beautiful, you may have seen some of it in the current edition of DIVA magazine.

Anyway, she is going to be exhibiting her posters at the Fat of the Land, and has donated some original art to the raffle. Be sure to show your appreciation.

Ooh look, a shout out from Shapely Prose

2009-09-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

Fatosphere superstar Kate Harding gives us the nod at Shapely Prose. Thanks all!

And there's more support from our Fat of the Land friends around the world:

Golda Poretsky of BodyLoveWellness.com writes:

If you're like me, you probably attend events like The Fat Of The Land and feel buoyed up and empowered by the queer-positivity and fat-positivity, and then, a few hours, days, or weeks later, the gorgeous sheen of that event starts to wear off. You talk to a friend or a colleague who doesn't understand it, you read a queer hating or fat hating news article, and the idea of changing society as we know it starts to feel overwhelming if not impossible.

So, I want you to know that you don’t have to convince anyone to change. You only have to acknowledge, embrace, and enjoy the change in yourself. The best thing we can do, as fat people, queer people, activists and advocates is to model what it is to be in love with our bodies and accepting of ourselves. We need to “be the change we wish to see in the world,” as Gandhi said.

In other words, being happy and fat in public is a revolutionary act. Being a woman who loves her body no matter its size is a revolutionary act. Being a person who is not thin but decides not to diet is a revolutionary act.

Therefore, living your best life is not a selfish act. When you are able to love yourself, take care of your own needs and stand for who you want to be in the world and how you think the world should treat you, you invite others to do the same.

The revolution needs you, right now, to embrace who you are and to do so in public. Whether you’re ready or not, I will keep standing for you.

And 'becca of Brooklyn sends a shout out too:

hello londoners!

i was just there visiting in august, and i'm so sad that i can't come back for your festival! but i will think of you all being fully in your bodies, creating big beautiful supportive community, and maybe (maybe?) savoring a little clotted cream on my behalf.

yummy!

love,
becca
Brooklyn

And another cheer!

As a queer US fattie, I am so encouraged to hear of all the fabulous fat queer culture going on in the UK. Truth be told, I'm a little envious of the rad fatties I know from the UK, the activists, artists, scholars, and the community as a whole is vibrant, fab, and creating an authentic and vital fat queer culture everyday. You all are so lucky to have venues like the Fat of the Land Harvest, and I hope you are raised up in pride and joy as a queer fatties or ally, after your attendance at the festival. Life really is more wonderful when we all embrace our mutliple selves without shame, and if you're still struggling with how to live in a fat-hating, homophobic culture as a queer fat person, please know we've been there, and we can assure you life is nicer when we dropped the shame. Have fun today, and be a queer sphere with pride!

-Julia McCrossin

And Marilyn Wann chips in too

We can choose to anticipate scarcity (of civil rights, love, sex, fun, medical care, life, respect, etc.) or we can choose to anticipate a surplus of everything we desire. For me, being a rad fatty involves refusing to believe in false scarcities and insisting on creating surplus for people of all sizes. (Also: relinquishing my envy of thin privilege as a necessary part of dismantling fat oppression!) I want every body to live humanely and free from alienation from our own embodiment. Big fat belly bumps to my fat/queer brothers and sisters of all genders and sizes at Fat of the Land!

So does Val Langmuir

Have an amazing time. Celebrate abundance! Banish scarcity! Be visible! Be proud! You ROCK!

Love,
Val

Love to The Fat of the Land

2009-09-22T01:16:00.000-07:00

We've been getting messages of support for Fat of the Land from activists and allies people around the world. This is from Susan Stinson, celebrated author. If you love what she's written here you'll be excited to hear that she has donated some of her beautiful books for the raffle, don't forget to buy a ticket.

Last night at the Three County Fair, I took a break from what a sweet-faced young man near me in the crowd of those who hadn’t paid extra for a seat in the grandstand happily called “demolition derby at its finest” to wander past the beer shed. There I watched as a fat woman, a fat man and a thin man threw themselves into complicated dance moves that had the men doing a Fred-and-Ginger turn cheek-to-cheek. In the Exhibition Hall, I noted that the winner of the scarecrow contest was a broom with blonde braids, a green boa and a Viking hat. A second prize cabbage head had a string bean smile. There was an exhibit on the benefits of earthworms in the rabbitry. The winner of Best in the Show in Youth Needlework had made a sinister figure in a fuzzy suit with a cravat and half a facemask, which suggested a cross between the Phantom of the Opera and Edgar Allen Poe. I note these details in your honor, celebrants at The Fat of The Land. I was a fat dyke alone at the fair, but I danced in the music tent when a rock band came on. The rough-throated singer wrote songs about little girls turning up the amp. Guitar, drums, bass. I stomped around the tent pole, bringing in a harvest of sweat. I turned everything loose. I thought of you, so far away. I thought of you.

Susan Stinson
Northampton, MA
9.7.09

Allyson Mitchell is Showing at the Fat of the Land

2009-09-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

We are delighted to present an exhibition of Allyson Mitchell's work at the Fat of the Land.

Allyson is an artist and activist who lives in Toronto. Her incredible body of work includes Deep Lez and Lady Sasquatch, not to mention film-making and community performance. She is a whirlwind of brilliance. I can't begin to explain what she does, the best thing is for you to go to her website and immerse yourself in a world of fur, big-eyed dolls, strangeness and macramé.

www.allysonmitchell.com

More about competitions at the Fat of the Land

2009-09-19T05:51:00.000-07:00

I've been making the certificates today for the winners of our competitions. They look great!

You'd better get baking and making if you'd like to be in with a chance of winning one of them. I should warn you at this stage that I have made some extremely delicious Pear and Ginger Chutney that I shall be entering, if it remains uneaten for that long.

Here's a reminder of the categories:

Best Jam
Best Chutney
Best Decorated Cupcakes
Best Cake (Fancy)
Best Cake (Teatime)
Best Vegetable Monster (Junior) – aged 12 and under
Best Vegetable Monster (Senior) – aged 12 and over

Please bring your creations with you on the day for judging. Winners will be announced about 5-ish. We are leaving the definitions of categories up to you, and you are free to use any recipe you choose.

Lady Morris dancers will be in the house at The Fat of the Land

2009-09-16T02:19:00.000-07:00

Say hello to your new friends at The Blackhorse and Standard Women’s North West Morris, they've been dancing for nearly 30 years, and they're going to be making a special appearance at The Fat of the Land. Thrills!

The Blackhorse and Standard Morris do a kind of traditional English dance which originated with north west mill workers in the 19th century. They wear distinctive outfits, including the clogs that working people wore back then, and accessories that reflect what was to hand at the time, like garlands, bobbins and sticks. The Blackhorse and Standard perform a mixture of old and new dances, with names like Beauknot, Grenocide and Walthamstow Market. Have a look at their Flickr stream for photographs.

Make sure you don't miss them on 3 October!

Vegetable monsters

2009-09-15T07:03:00.000-07:00

What Will the Harvest Be? is a beautiful community garden in E15. They've been growing a mass of vegetables all summer and on Saturday they held a Harvest Festival which involved harvesting, cooking and eating some of what they'd grown. Lovely!

There was also an impressive selection of vegetable monsters on display. Watch and learn, Harvest folk. Details of how to enter your own vegetable monsters to our competition will be posted shortly.

Scottee likes to treat you right

2009-09-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

Podgy and generally disconcerting, with a genius for thrilling behaviour that makes you feel a bit dirty and wrong, promoter, artiste and fatty about town, Scottee is a Chubster born and bred.

On Friday 25 September 2009 he's bringing a little bit of glamour to the problem of incontinence at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern as one of the Tenor Ladies. It's going to be busy but you, dear fatty, can benefit because it's half price if you weight 18 stone or more. Tee hee!

More details and pics via Facebook Events Page: Tenor Ladies

Also, a paucity of information is available here, on his website: http://www.scottee.co.uk

There will be corn dollies at the Fat of the Land

2009-09-08T08:03:00.000-07:00

Cathy Ward has generously agreed to make us some corn dollies, thrill-seekers.

Cathy's a Real Artist and, unlike some fakers, she really deserves the title. Her website, catharyneward.com. has examples of her sublime art, which has been exhibited all over the place. I know a lot of luvvies overuse the word sublime, but here it is entirely appropriate. Feast your eyes.

Been to Portsmouth recently? Then you may have seen Cathy's work in the joint exhibition Tender Vessels with regular collaborator Eric Wright. Look, corn dollies here too! Cathy says: "My dollies won't be quite like these in Tender Vessels, which I designed and had specially made. I'm giving it some thought at what I can make that's pertinent to the theme, and will try give you also an image that's corn dolli-ish but about more political things that maybe you can use in some way. Ok, that's my work cut out for next week!"

Want to see some older Cathy and Eric collaborations? Have a look at Transromantik.

I tried to write something about what Cathy and Eric's work meant to me a while back, with mixed results. I struggle to put into words what I see when I look at their stuff. Oh well! You can read my thing too, if you fancy (.pdf, 104kb).

Prizes needed

2009-09-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

We're holding a raffle because The Fat of the Land is costing us a bit of money to put on and we need to make it back. Raffles need prizes, right? This is where you come in.

Can you donate some goods or services for us to raffle? Offering prizes can be a good way of getting publicity for whatever it is that you want to publicise. Maybe you make things, or have a business or something you produced that you'd like to give. Home-made treats are especially welcome, as are things that might appeal to a queer/fat sensibility, however you interpret that. Perhaps you organise a club or an event or something that you can offer free entry to as a prize.

Look at these amazing knitted things

2009-09-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

I went to the Epping Forest Festival yesterday and saw many things, including this incredible array of knitted cosies. Intense!

I've been pestering Kay to make me some mug cosies and wondered if there were any knitters in the house who would like to have a stab at them, they look pretty simple. Perhaps someone could write down a pattern for us to share here? Or pictures of your own knitted endeavours?

More treats from the garden

2009-09-07T07:58:00.000-07:00

Stewed damsons fresh from Kay's tree. Scrummy with custard, yogurt, cake, porridge, spaghetti, quinoa, baked beans, your girlfriend, and on anything that moves.

Are you a grower? Wanna share pics of your produce? I know this sounds like a double entendre, but I don't care.

Big Fat Show Off!

2009-09-04T01:57:00.000-07:00

Hello!

I'm doing a solo comedy show next Saturday the 12th September, from 7 - 9 (with interval) at The Central School of Speech and Drama, Embassy Theatre. For more information, have a look at my website.

Also, the cabaret for Fat of the Land is shaping up. There will be more details as the line up is finalised but it's all getting very exciting!

Growing things, beautiful fat queer fruit!

2009-09-03T03:02:00.000-07:00

Look what the tree gave me this morning! I'm still holding out for the pears on my pear tree, my first ever crop. Aren't they beautiful? What shall I do with them?

Do you grow things in your garden or allotment? Would you be interested in bringing them to show at The Fat of the Land: A Queer Chub Harvest Festival? Drop us a line if so.

Pinnies make prizes

2009-08-31T14:07:00.000-07:00

Will your produce be awarded best in show at Fat of the Land?

Competition categories are..

Best Jam
Best Chutney
Best Decorated Cup Cakes
Best Cake (Fancy)
Best Cake (Teatime)
Best Monster made out of vegetables (junior - entrants up to 12 years old)
Best Monster made out of vegetables (senior - entrants over 12 years old)

My first jam!

2009-08-31T13:57:00.001-07:00

Today I made twelve of damson jam and one jar of redcurrant jelly. It was surprisingly easy.

All I did was to weigh then wash the damsons and make a slit in each one then divide them up between my two biggest pans. Then I added some water, about a pint in each, and simmered until the fruit was soft. I then added the same weight of normal white sugar as of fruit and brought it to the boil, stirring all the time.

The damson stones just float up to the top so you can skim them off with a slotted spoon. After a short time the flat was filled with the most delicious smell and then came the fun part. To see if the jam is done, you have to drop a little onto a plate, leave it for a couple of minutes and then push it with your finger. If it wrinkles, the jam is done. If not, you get to lick it up and try again!

I'd always been put off jam making by all the stuff about sterilising jars but really all they need is a good hot wash and rinse. I put them in a low oven just to dry them off and warm them slightly before ladelling in the hot jam. When the jam was cool, I put little circles of greaseproof paper on top (the book says wax discs but I couldn't find any) and then put the lids on tight.

Banner!

2009-08-28T05:01:00.000-07:00

Got a blog? Got a website? Got a Twitter account? Then please help publicise The Fat of the Land with this sweet li'l banner.

Here's the code, simply swap round brackets ( ) for angled ones <>.

(a href="http://queerchub.blogspot.com")(img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7rf1lWmz3HI/SpfHiZ55n8I/AAAAAAAAAJQ/eUaMUuorD2g/s400/fotl_banner.gif" border="0" alt="The Fat of the Land: A Queer Chub Harvest Festival "id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374984074173194178")(/a)

The Facebook has landed

2009-08-28T03:39:00.000-07:00

Oh Facebook, you are so creepy and so wrong in many ways, but you allow us to publicise our events and talk to our pals. Hence here is a Facebook Events page for The Fat of the Land: A Queer Chub Harvest Festival. Feel free to RSVP, and use it to tell everyone you know about our humble gathering.

Over and out.

Volunteers and stall holders wanted

2009-08-23T02:41:00.000-07:00

Hello lovely people,

I'm looking for folks who might be interested in running a stall (these must be fat related in some way - crafts, games, information, publications, baked goods etc) or volunteering (on the day or before the event as my catering team, putting fliers about and such like. Transport help is always welcome too).

Stalls will have a charge attached to them (yet to be decided how much) and volunteers will get free entry to the event, and probably a pie or so.

Please let me know if you would like to help or get involved. You can email me at queerinstitute@gmail.com and I'll be in touch with further details. Of course space is limited in the hall and we may not be able to have everyone's stalls, but we'll do our best.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Please forward to anyone you think might be interested.

x Naz

Pie Flyers for All! Please Help Us Out!

2009-08-20T09:52:00.000-07:00

Well would you believe it? 21 August – 3 October 2009 is the annual drive to Do A Queer Fatty a Good Turn For Six Weeks, and here's one really easy way that you could help.

See, we're putting on an event for next to no money and, see, we want people to come to it. But people can't come to it unless they know about it. This is where you can help.

1. Download the .pdf of our lovely roughly hewn pie flyer (see link below)
2. Print it on A4 paper
3. Photocopy it a load of times
4. Chop it up into individual flyers
5. Give a flyer to everyone you know and tell them about our fabulous Harvest Festival
6. Bathe in our adoration of you

Easy!

A4 Fat of the Land Pie Flyer (.pdf, 280kb)

Say hello to your Harvest Festival organisers

2009-08-19T01:08:00.001-07:00

Fab new versions of the Fat Queer Harvest Hymn!

2009-08-19T01:02:00.000-07:00

I always suspected that Mike Wyeld and Chopin Gard were the most talented fat queers in town and now I know it's true because, look people, they have recorded their own versions of The Fat Queer Harvest Hymn. Maybe they were inspired to do so by themselves, they both get a name-check in the hymn.

Version one makes them sound like a pair of medieval minstrels wandering the hills and dales (.mp3, 2.1mb) with a fol-de-rol and a hey nonny no. They've sampled my recorder too!

Version two blows my mind as Chopin channels Hendrix at Woodstock (.mp3, 964kb). Swoon.

Version three is a hoot - your very own karaoke version! (.mp3, 2mb) record your own vocals on top, in any lo-fi way you choose, and submit it to the blog. I will find a crap prize from under the settee cushion for the best.

Listen, enjoy, and come and sing the hymn with all of us at The Fat of the Land on 3 October.

Follow The Fat of The Land on Twitter

2009-08-18T03:27:00.000-07:00

Look! I made a Twitter thing. If you're one of those people for whom a blog is not enough, come and follow the exploits of The Fat of the Land via 140-character Tweets. I will tell you secrets the like of which you have never dreamed.

http://twitter.com/thebeefer is where it's at.

Next: come and live in my house, come and sit with me as I work at the computer, come and implant yourself in my brain! Thrills await!

Fat Queer Harvest Hymn

2009-08-17T04:19:00.000-07:00

Kay Hyatt, Simon Murphy and I wrote a secular Fat Queer Harvest Hymn that gives Harvest Festival-style thanks for fat queers of the past, present and future. I composed the tune on my recorder! Yes, once again, I am well aware that we are some of the most ridiculous freaks of the universe.

Anyway, here's a little video of the three of us giving it a whirl, I'm trying to look as pious as I can: Fat Queer Harvest Hymn. Let me know if you have trouble viewing it.

I'm hoping that we can teach it to people and that we can all sing it together at the Festival. Maybe you'd like to learn it and make your own recordings or videos of yourselves singing it? I could post them on the blog.

This is only the first version, it may develop, and I am open to suggestions. Just so you know.

Here are the words:

Fat Queer Harvest Hymn
by The 123s, London, July 2009

chorus: So thanks to all the fatty queers
The ones who've come before us
For trailblazing through the years
We sing our grateful chorus

Let's start our fat queer history
With The Fat Underground
The FaT GiRL zine defined the scene
And BJ won her crown

(chorus)

Community is strong today
With NOLOSE at the top
The Chubster Gang, Mike and Chopin,
Beth Ditto and The Bop

(chorus)

We don't know what the future holds
Some people think we're wrong
The tree we've planted will bear fruit
As long as we are strong

(chorus, with extra gusto)

I can't write music, but the hymn consists of the following notes on the recorder:

chorus:
B B D B G A B
B B B D B B A
B B D B G A B
B B B A A A G

verse:
G G G C B C B A
D D D E D A
D D D E D C B A
A B G A F# G

Please get in touch if you can write music, and/or feel free to create your own arrangements of the hymn.

Why? Why? Why are we bothering? Why?

2009-08-17T04:09:00.000-07:00

The Fat of the Land is about making our own visible fat queer culture and presenting that culture within the context of London's already existing queer and trans communities. It seeks to capitalise on the success of the Chubsters event at the 2009 London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, which witnessed a fierce outpouring of fat-queer activism in the UK and a hunger expressed by many of the participants for more events of such a nature. The Fat of the Land expands possibilities for fat queer activism by applying a fat lens to a familiar format to create something new, radical and exciting.

The event fits NOLOSE's mission in that it combines low cost, accessible entertainment with fundraising potential; it is open to all and is supportive, inclusive and expansive; it offers opportunities for developing fat consciousness, fat community-building and fat visibility amongst a population that is relatively new to these concepts; it is a defiant celebration of abundance and plenty amidst a 'healthy living' agenda in the UK that is often reductionist, fatphobic and mean, and is thus health-enhancing for people of all sizes. You want challenging, weird, boisterous, empowering, and FUN? We've got it!

What is The Fat of the Land?

2009-08-17T03:55:00.000-07:00

The Fat of the Land is a secular DIY fat queerifying of a traditional harvest gathering. It's a DIY food festival, synthesizing interest in slow food, recession-busting, local food, 'make-and-do' etc with a fat queer sensibility.

We see the event as a celebration of the abundance of harvest time and our connection to the rhythms of nature and creativity, albeit executed in our own idiosyncratic, outsider, warped, prankish, punk, 21st century, Wicker Man style.

The event will take place in the afternoon of Saturday 3 October 2009 at St Anne's, 55 Dean Street, Soho, London. This is a fully accessible venue.

3 October 2009 is the weekend of this year's Harvest Moon!

The Fat of the Land will feature entertainment, games and activities, stalls and information. More about this later when we've had a meeting about it.

The Fat of The Land is being principally organised by me, Charlotte Cooper, and Naz Jamal and Jason Elvis Barker of The Queer Institute. It has been made possible by a Small Projects Across the Land loan by NOLOSE (which we will pay back, honest!).

Please come!

2009-08-04T02:25:00.000-07:00

Ahem. Is it working? tap tap...Right then. I'm going into town this afternoon to pay the church chap the hire money. I do have it to lend the cause until the funding comes in. I'm sending Diva the info for their September issue. I don't think she wants to do an interview but will do an editorial piece.

Good o!