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Cambridge Science Festival, plus Women's Day Plath
Monday, March 4th, 2013 09:13 amI am vaguely enthused by the following: anyone interested in joining me for anything?
( free, interesting, Cambridge events )
( free, interesting, Cambridge events )
Free on Wednesday? In Cambridge?
Monday, March 12th, 2012 07:03 pmThe rules of form: sonnets and slide rules: Wednesday 14 March 6:00PM - 7:00PM
I have a spare ticket for this -- free of charge, but you do have to turn up at the same time as me!
Drawing inspiration from the Whipple Museum's Hutchinson collection of mathematical instruments,we will discuss constraints of creative form in literature and poetry, from Oulipo to the Gothic. It will be an evening of poetry and Oulipo-inspired discussion, playing with... ideas of mathematics and measuring the world. Two excellent guest speakers, Dr Joe Crawford of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, and the talented Badaude of Oxford, will speak about their contributions to the Whipple's first art-book (forthcoming). Other contributors to the book, 'The Rules of Form: Sonnets & Slide Rules,' include poet Lesley Saunders, PhD student Caitlin Wylie, and artist & designer Cassie Herschel-Shorland, as well as Joe Crawford and Badaude.
I have a spare ticket for this -- free of charge, but you do have to turn up at the same time as me!
City of London Sinfonia - Conquering the Antarctic
It's the centenary year of Robert Falcon Scott's death on the way back from the South Pole: this concert programme (with performances in Cardiff, Cheltenham and London still to come) commemorates his life and death.
The concert opens and closes with the music of Vaughan Williams -- first his score for Scott of the Antarctic, and finally the Antarctic Symphony, which builds on and expands the earlier work -- and excerpts from Scott's journals, read by Hugh Bonneville. There's also Seventy Degrees Below Zero, a new work for orchestra and tenor by Cecilia McDowall, who was present at the Corn Exchange last night and took a bow. (I engaged with this one differently to the Vaughan Williams: it's more challenging listening but blends Scott's words -- transformed and reordered by poet Sean Street -- beautifully with McDowall's orchestration.) And there was a slideshow of photos from the expedition, not always well-synchronised to the music: Oates and his ponies to the music of wide open spaces, penguins looking dapper ...
Scott's determination to die, if not live, a hero -- and his sharp disappointment at being 'beaten' by Amundsen -- still bothers me. But now I want to reread my favourite books about the Antarctic: Below the Convergence, Antarctic Navigation, The Birthday Boys, Kim Stanley Robinson's Antarctica, Ursula Le Guin's South.
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anef and I arrived at the Corn Exchange it was snowing lightly. When we emerged there were several inches of snow on the ground, and a miniature blizzard through which we battled back to base camp our homes. It was dead authentic, though I bet Scott didn't have to contend with young women in short skirts and sparkly stilettos negotiating icy pavements.
It's the centenary year of Robert Falcon Scott's death on the way back from the South Pole: this concert programme (with performances in Cardiff, Cheltenham and London still to come) commemorates his life and death.
The concert opens and closes with the music of Vaughan Williams -- first his score for Scott of the Antarctic, and finally the Antarctic Symphony, which builds on and expands the earlier work -- and excerpts from Scott's journals, read by Hugh Bonneville. There's also Seventy Degrees Below Zero, a new work for orchestra and tenor by Cecilia McDowall, who was present at the Corn Exchange last night and took a bow. (I engaged with this one differently to the Vaughan Williams: it's more challenging listening but blends Scott's words -- transformed and reordered by poet Sean Street -- beautifully with McDowall's orchestration.) And there was a slideshow of photos from the expedition, not always well-synchronised to the music: Oates and his ponies to the music of wide open spaces, penguins looking dapper ...
Scott's determination to die, if not live, a hero -- and his sharp disappointment at being 'beaten' by Amundsen -- still bothers me. But now I want to reread my favourite books about the Antarctic: Below the Convergence, Antarctic Navigation, The Birthday Boys, Kim Stanley Robinson's Antarctica, Ursula Le Guin's South.
When
anef and I arrived at the Corn Exchange it was snowing lightly. When we emerged there were several inches of snow on the ground, and a miniature blizzard through which we battled back to Cambridge culture! Dido and Aeneas
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 08:03 amA hasty but heartfelt recommendation for Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Cambridge Youth Opera's first ever production, at St Mary's School (Bateman St) this evening 7:30 tickets £5.
Went last night withwoolymonkey (mother of two chorus members) and was dead impressed: witty, gorgeously sung and beautifully choreographed by Jenny Bell (who is 15). Better than some professional productions I've seen: reminiscent of ENO productions with reimagined setting (Fifties teen movie) and plenty of humour.
Photos laterunless monkeyboys have a whipround to raise preventative funds.
Went last night with
woolymonkey (mother of two chorus members) and was dead impressed: witty, gorgeously sung and beautifully choreographed by Jenny Bell (who is 15). Better than some professional productions I've seen: reminiscent of ENO productions with reimagined setting (Fifties teen movie) and plenty of humour.Photos later
[cambridge] Storage
Thursday, March 24th, 2011 12:22 pmMy storage unit is empty! Yay! (Books have mostly gone, furniture was collected by local charity, there are some boxes of Miscellany in the garage and a nice chest of drawers in the downstairs study, plus two chests apparently full of bricks.)
If anyone's looking for a storage unit in the Cambridge area, I wholeheartedly recommend Megastorage in Sawston. 24-hour access, friendly service, and good rates.
Also, they emailed me this morning with this offer: "If you have any friends or colleagues to whom you can recommend our services, just ask them to mention your name when booking and we will send you a £25.00 Amazon voucher. We will also give them 2 weeks of free storage."
If anyone's looking for a storage unit in the Cambridge area, I wholeheartedly recommend Megastorage in Sawston. 24-hour access, friendly service, and good rates.
Also, they emailed me this morning with this offer: "If you have any friends or colleagues to whom you can recommend our services, just ask them to mention your name when booking and we will send you a £25.00 Amazon voucher. We will also give them 2 weeks of free storage."
Effing Fees
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010 07:14 pmUpdate to previous post regarding the shriek* of schoolchildren marching down our nice quiet residential road and swearing in public ...
Exciting climbing frame / monkeybars at Senate House
Apparently the kids from Parkside "walked out onto Parker's Piece to show their support". Cannot help but feel that geography is as underfunded as anything else if they went from skool to Parker's Piece via R_____ Rd. (And am, btw, fully in support of the protest.)
*is new collective noun. Is good? Y/N
Exciting climbing frame / monkeybars at Senate House
Apparently the kids from Parkside "walked out onto Parker's Piece to show their support". Cannot help but feel that geography is as underfunded as anything else if they went from skool to Parker's Piece via R_____ Rd. (And am, btw, fully in support of the protest.)
*is new collective noun. Is good? Y/N
A Miracle Happens!
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 02:21 pmCambridge city centre to become 20mph zone
Wow, that fast? I presume they will be removing all the tourists ...
In other Cambridgey news: a while back I ordered a pack of 'mini postcards / cigarette cards' from an online craft store. (these, in fact). Front and back of cards are photo-reproductions of old postcards etc -- not necessarily two sides of the same card.
And sorting through them, imagine the weirdness of finding an address on my street (postmark 1915).
In other other news, ear still hurts. Possibly deposit of cat fur? It seems to be everywhere else.
Wow, that fast? I presume they will be removing all the tourists ...
In other Cambridgey news: a while back I ordered a pack of 'mini postcards / cigarette cards' from an online craft store. (these, in fact). Front and back of cards are photo-reproductions of old postcards etc -- not necessarily two sides of the same card.
And sorting through them, imagine the weirdness of finding an address on my street (postmark 1915).
In other other news, ear still hurts. Possibly deposit of cat fur? It seems to be everywhere else.
Solstice Quartet, West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge: Haydn, Swayne, Brahms
Haydn Quartet in D major - serene, measured. The finale's quite dance-like, reminded me of Vivaldi, brisk and birdlike. Rapturous reception!
This was the premiere of Swayne's 'Turning of the Year'. I found myself trying to listen to it programmatically, as if it were an updated version of Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons': I don't know if this was valid. (But if it was, it started with winter and progressed through the seasons -- all very British, windy rainy seasons. Maybe. Actually, I think I picked out quirky buoyant growing things, shimmery heat-haze, an aching romantic phrase or two for autumn ...) Anyway, not really to my taste, but it was beautifully played and Swayne, coming on stage afterwards, looked so perfectly blissfully content with the performance that I couldn't help but share a bit of his joy.
A lot of people left at the interval.Heathens. They missed the best bit.
The Brahms Clarinet Quintet featured David Campbell, who really brought the piece to life: a beautiful warm tone too. I'm a huge fan of Brahms' piano compositions, but haven't (yet) got the hang of most of his other works. I liked this a lot, though, with the passing of phrases between the instruments and the obvious enjoyment of the musicians. This is cheering music -- not exuberant but calmly content.
Haydn Quartet in D major - serene, measured. The finale's quite dance-like, reminded me of Vivaldi, brisk and birdlike. Rapturous reception!
This was the premiere of Swayne's 'Turning of the Year'. I found myself trying to listen to it programmatically, as if it were an updated version of Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons': I don't know if this was valid. (But if it was, it started with winter and progressed through the seasons -- all very British, windy rainy seasons. Maybe. Actually, I think I picked out quirky buoyant growing things, shimmery heat-haze, an aching romantic phrase or two for autumn ...) Anyway, not really to my taste, but it was beautifully played and Swayne, coming on stage afterwards, looked so perfectly blissfully content with the performance that I couldn't help but share a bit of his joy.
A lot of people left at the interval.
The Brahms Clarinet Quintet featured David Campbell, who really brought the piece to life: a beautiful warm tone too. I'm a huge fan of Brahms' piano compositions, but haven't (yet) got the hang of most of his other works. I liked this a lot, though, with the passing of phrases between the instruments and the obvious enjoyment of the musicians. This is cheering music -- not exuberant but calmly content.
GOOD: Cambridge Central Library finally open after nearly 2 years of moving / improving.
BAD: The building in the Grand Arcade could not be more different from the traditional look and feel of libraries.
Gone are the brown carpets and big enquiry desks, replaced with colourful flooring, bright seats, and roaming staff.
OMG NO. If a member of staff roams up to me I shall bite them.
BAD: The building in the Grand Arcade could not be more different from the traditional look and feel of libraries.
Gone are the brown carpets and big enquiry desks, replaced with colourful flooring, bright seats, and roaming staff.
OMG NO. If a member of staff roams up to me I shall bite them.
Cambridge NHS dentist wanted
Monday, March 16th, 2009 09:55 amCan anyone recommend a decent dentist -- NHS -- in or near Cambridge?
I am not keen on dentists but even less keen on PAIN.
I am not keen on dentists but even less keen on PAIN.
Off to Arch&Anth this afternoon for their new exhibition, Assembling Bodies -- about ways in which the human body is depicted, turned into art, transformed, interpreted, augmented. It's absolutely fascinating and I suspect I shall be spending quite a few afternoons there.
( highlights with links )
( highlights with links )
[theatre] 'The Voyage of Charles Darwin'
Saturday, February 21st, 2009 03:59 pmSedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, Cambridge
Written and performed by Geoff Hales, this is a monologue set in 1858: Darwin, ageing and plagued by ill-health, receives a letter from Alfred Russell Wallace which spurs reminiscences about his great voyage on HMS Beagle.
This was the first performance and I think Hales could do with more interaction with props: the desk in front of him was covered in intriguing things, but apart from the letters he merely gestured at a chunk of lava. That said, it was an interesting hour's edutainment: plenty of direct quotation from Darwin (who, yes, did call the flightless birds in South America 'ostriches': I was just reading about it in National Geographic) and a sense of Darwin the man -- sickly, his faith lost, loath to publish, fascinated by barnacles.
Nostalgic to sit in an old-fashioned lecture theatre, wooden desk in front of me scored with illegible graffiti, staring at institution-green walls and wondering why the computer monitor on the desk was switched on (it was covered with a cloth, but the light from the ?screensaver reflected on Hales' face.)
Written and performed by Geoff Hales, this is a monologue set in 1858: Darwin, ageing and plagued by ill-health, receives a letter from Alfred Russell Wallace which spurs reminiscences about his great voyage on HMS Beagle.
This was the first performance and I think Hales could do with more interaction with props: the desk in front of him was covered in intriguing things, but apart from the letters he merely gestured at a chunk of lava. That said, it was an interesting hour's edutainment: plenty of direct quotation from Darwin (who, yes, did call the flightless birds in South America 'ostriches': I was just reading about it in National Geographic) and a sense of Darwin the man -- sickly, his faith lost, loath to publish, fascinated by barnacles.
Nostalgic to sit in an old-fashioned lecture theatre, wooden desk in front of me scored with illegible graffiti, staring at institution-green walls and wondering why the computer monitor on the desk was switched on (it was covered with a cloth, but the light from the ?screensaver reflected on Hales' face.)
[gig] Bellowhead, Junction, 15.02.09
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 09:28 amwoolymonkey introduced me to Bellowhead, and I also know them from Rogue's Gallery: saw them live on Sunday with woolymonkey, musique_monkey and spidermonkey (whose first gig it was). Support act Beccy Owen has a good voice but the songs didn't do much for me. Bellowhead, on the other hand, played for 90 mins or so, very high energy: there are a lot of them, multi-instrumentalists ("the kazoo was invented by the Romans to combat the Scots with their bagpipes") with plenty of brass which gave some of the songs a jazzy swing feel. John Boden has considerable stage presence, and Bellowhead as a whole were definitely having fun.
I still wish the Junction had a bit more rake: I didn't see much of the left side of the stage ...
