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Last week a group of colleagues and I went to a lunchtime Diwali performance. It was most uplifting, the drumming and the dancing (and the burfi afterward, mmm), a mix of traditional and not-so-traditional performances. The women in the photo are performing one of the latter. It was a captivating portrayal of the challenges of immigration and integration via the medium of physical movement and I wish I could watch it again.
Today we went into Brum with the kids to have lunch, do a bit of shopping, and visit the Birmingham Open Media gallery (BOM). This was the upstairs bit of the exhibition, which had a couple of games and some very cool videos about tools (haptic baton) and instruments that had been developed for use by disabled artist, or to enable disabled artists (a blind percussionist) to perform with orchestras. Humuhumu, sitting on the bloke's lap, is playing a game that produces music, to which Keiki is dancing.
Today I bought a fancy chocolate cake to celebrate the hard work of one of my colleagues (pictured). She had a big slice and we all devoured the rest. \o/
Unrelatedly, I am offended that NO ONE THOUGHT TO TELL ME that the Mash Report is on again. Bad internet, no biscuit!
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From last weekend, here is my charming family enjoying hot drinks and cake in the cafe at the Birmingham Art Museum.
I had hoped there might be at least one shot among the thirty-odd I took in which everyone had a nice smile on.
Nope.
I had hoped there might be at least one shot among the thirty-odd I took in which everyone had a nice smile on.
Nope.
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Oh look, it's 10 PM and I haven't posted yet. Sorry all. There is a specific reason for the lack of public offerings this week, about which I hope to post in more detail at the weekend. In the meantime, have a photo of Humuhumu and me at the BOM (Birmingham Open Media) lab/art gallery, experiencing the "Kitty AI". And taking selfies, obvs.
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We went into Brum today with visiting family members, and took in both the BOM Lab and Ikon Gallery exhibitions. The latter was a particular hit with the children, since it involved these beautifully bright tactile fabrics, all of which you were allowed to interact with, so long as you took your shoes off. They loved it.
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This wasn’t the post I was intending to make today, but having discovered the above on my phone whilst searching for something else from about a month ago, I felt I must share this with my Circle immediately. It is a series of three delightful photographs on display in the toilets (no really) of BOM, the Birmingham Open Media gallery. BOM is a little odd corner space a few tens of metres from one of the exits of New Street Station, over the road from an Adult Entertainment Shop (™?). It features tiny exhibitions celebrating “the intersection of art, technology and science”.
The caption for the photographs reads as follows.
Gemma Marmalade
The Seed Series, 2015
The Seed Series is a series of photographic prints by artist Gemma Marmalade, which explores the possibility that those of homosexual persuasion may be more likely to have a visceral impact on the cultivation of plants.
During studies of communal lesbian gardeners in the 1970s, German botanist Dr Gerda Haeckel observed accelerated growth, crop abundance and increased vegetational health. The Seed Series depicts some of Haeckel’s original subjects and their finest vegetable specimens.
Pardon the awkward angle of the photograph - it was not easy to take whilst holding a toddler who was frustrated at the thought that I was about to steal his dirty nappy and replace it with a clean one.
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Exhibit (A): The baby-changing room at the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham. It is nice and clean and very orange. It also has a spinning disco ball above the changing table. Which, apart from actually being rather good at keeping baby mesmerised, is just so very Brummie. (Shiny metal sign reads: "In the interest of safety, please do not leave your child unattended on the changing facility".)
Exhibit (B): British Waterways public notice on a bridge over the canal.
I consider this worthy of a full transcription [parenthesised comments by me]. It reads: "British Waterways Board*: The waterways are meant to be used and enjoyed by the public. It is an offence to:
* Now the Canal and River Trust
Exhibit (B): British Waterways public notice on a bridge over the canal.
I consider this worthy of a full transcription [parenthesised comments by me]. It reads: "British Waterways Board*: The waterways are meant to be used and enjoyed by the public. It is an offence to:
- Waste water by interfering with locks and sluices [Fair enough]
- Ride a bicycle or bring a vehicle on the towing path without a permit [A vehicle I can understand, but I wonder how many cyclists know they're supposed to have a permit! And where exactly to obtain one?]
- Obstruct the towing path
- Damage the canal or towing path
- Interfere with boats
- Leave litter [Hollow laughter. Also, someone please tell that to the people who put their dogs' poo in plastic bags and then hang the bags from the hedgerows. Speaking as one of the people who cares for a section of hedgerow next to her back garden: NO. NO NO NO. You have taken a problem - people leaving their dogs' poo in public places - and made it worse by rendering it immune to the process of decomposition. I DO NOT LIKE YOU.]
- Pollute the canal [More hollow laughter. And please tell it to the people I see using sticks to flick their dogs' poo into the canal instead of bagging it up and taking it away like decent responsible dog-owning human beings.]
- Fire guns or throw stones [I don't want to meet the person who would go duck-hunting with their shotgun on the canal.]
- Ride a horse on the towing path (unless it is a designated bridleway) [I've walked a fair few miles of the towpath and have yet to encounter any sections that are bridleways.]
- Bathe in the canal [WHAT DEAR LORD NO]
- Fail to obtain or display an appropriate licence or river registration on craft navigating the waterway"
* Now the Canal and River Trust
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Humuhumu has been making visits to the next room up (2-3 year-olds) at her nursery, during her last few weeks there. We're moving her to a nursery closer to home at the end of this month. We have mixed feelings about this. Her current nursery, attached to the university, is fantastic and she's settled well there. But it costs the bloke two hours of commuting time per day, mostly in the car, to get her there and back. I use the train when I'm on my own, and that takes even longer (and, stupidly, is more expensive per week than the cost of petrol + parking). It's been getting harder as she becomes more aware of her surroundings and gets bored. And it's dull for him too, especially knowing that the university is less than fifteen miles from our house. That's how appalling the traffic is.
So anyway, we're moving her. She's loving being in with the bigger kids, which is a relief, because she'll be going straight into the 2-3 year-old room at her new nursery. Anyway, one of the carers in the big-kid room made one of my favourite comments about her yet.
"She's got a really strong personality behind her, doesn't she," she said, smiling at me.
"Yes, that's one way of putting it," I joked cautiously.
"She don't take no crap from anybody," grinned the carer. "She's gonna be fine."
So anyway, we're moving her. She's loving being in with the bigger kids, which is a relief, because she'll be going straight into the 2-3 year-old room at her new nursery. Anyway, one of the carers in the big-kid room made one of my favourite comments about her yet.
"She's got a really strong personality behind her, doesn't she," she said, smiling at me.
"Yes, that's one way of putting it," I joked cautiously.
"She don't take no crap from anybody," grinned the carer. "She's gonna be fine."
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