Abandoned Property of Ulster
You might already be familiar with The Vacuum, a free arts publication printed in Belfast. Each issue tackles a different topic in depth — whether it’s Waste, Media, Wisdom or Satan. But Abandoned Property of Ulster takes the formula down another path. A spin-off issue, this is a deadpan catalogue of all kinds of different buildings in Northern Ireland, only with various madcap anecdotes bundled upon them. I like the intentionally grandiose Contributers page, with its biographies of fusty Victorian-styled academics the writers dreamed up; mutton-chopped veal-eaters in the mould of Ruskin. Except these lads dropped out of film studies and switched to architecture before taking up a noble vocation in blogging. I’ll be in Belfast around Hallowe’en and feel like this would make a great Ghost tour — if anybody with a top hat, silver-tipped cane and paid-up membership to their local amateur dramatics society happens to be reading this.
