Tuesday September 26th, 2006
Health, Wealth, and Happiness
Went for a swim at the gym - paid annual suscription - and weighed self.
Weight has not changed since end of May - which is good (given that weight-watchers
diet and points counting has not been happening). Hopefully am evolving
into person who can eat right amount without obssessive counting.
Still 4lb to go to target weight.
Went into library (next to gym) and took all I could carry on spinning.
Sunday September 24th, 2006
Birthday boy
Robert's birthday.
I knitted him (at his request) Warrior in Calmer from Rowan book 39. The yarn is very soft and light weight, and so very suitable for him as he is allergic to rough wools. Here he is modelling the sweater, while opening his other presents (Bad Bird Watchers Companion, Surfacing, and a light box), and complaining about the quality of John Lewis packaging.
[Try rolling your mouse over the image if you have a video-enabled browser].
After the gift excitement we went out for lunch at the Dolphin in Betchworth, suggested by George, and which I can also thoroughly recommend, despite variable reviews on the web. The food was good, with main course and pudding for 2 (including a pint and a half of beer) costing £40 - I mention this as other reviews imply it is expensive.
Oh - and I thought the toilets were fine....!
Saturday September 23rd, 2006
In a spin
O what joy!
I have spent the whole day learning to spin and the world is now redefined
in terms of Rollags,
Lazy
Kates, and Niddy
Noddies.
I should explain this is my first spinning lesson, which I have waited 30 years to accomplish. I wasn't terribly good at it I have to say but, thanks to the encouragement of cousin Ginny and her friend Rosemary, I plan to work at it - "practice makes perfect" [Good Advice].
This shows what I spun today on the bobbin, (in my defence, it had a fairly long staple length - but in the long run that probably made little difference), and the drop spindle work that I attempted in my youth. In 1980, I lived close to a business premises near Canonbury station in North London; I think this business was run by Mike Halsey but I can find limited reference to him on the web, other than his books and pamphlets on weaving. Despite the amazing temptation of the local shop I was unable (as a student) to afford to take up the hobby in any serious way, but (with great foresight!) did purchase a pair of carders when the shop finally closed.
In addition to the dedicated and patient tuition, I was treated to a delicious lunch, and I was introduced to a different sort of wool stash, of which type I hope to soon acquire so it can sit alongside my other stashes of wool and quilting fabric...
Friday September 22nd, 2006
Path to Abstraction
Today we went to Tate Modern to see "Wassily Kandinsky's intriguing journey from figurative landscape painter to modernist master, as he strove to develop a radically abstract language". That is from this:
to this:
One of the intermediate pictures was most revealing to me, (after having had it explained by the audio guide), in that although at first take it may look like an abstract picture, every element within it is a recognisable feature (people and animals, or plants); it is not at all an abstract. During this earlier part of his life's work that the exhibition covers, he evolved 3 types of work: Observations (taken from nature), Improvisations (expressing a mood or emotion), and Compositions (large scale abstract works, of which only 7 survive). The latter 2 descriptions emphasise his correlation of music and visual art.
The "audio guide" was in fact a multimedia iPod thing which I would strongly recommend; they are able to describe the pictures, provide musical references (Kandinsky was very interested in the new musical theories of Schoenberg and the link between music and colour - synaesthesia - he saw art providing an alternative music for the senses), and show other influential artists work. His work followed the changes in his residence, which in turn were stimulated by wars, and politics. He lived in Germany until the outbreak of war in 1914, whereupon he moved back to Russia; he then returned to Germany (to join the Bauhaus) after the revolution, and finally moved to Paris in 1933 when the Bauhaus closed - it was not right wing enough for the fascist government of the time.
The other amusing thing for the uninitiated is that the abstracts always look like a load of wild uncontrolled splodges of paint thrown at the picture; however, all his abstracts were very carefully planned pieces, evolving from many sketches and preliminary paintings. These plans and the paintings themselves were on display.
Saturday September 9th, 2006
Tous à Cuves
Today we joined the protest march against the proposed (and now I think actual) scheme to install a land-fill site in Cuves. It seems a pretty poor idea - apart from the NIMBY syndrome as it will be very close to our cottage. I listened to an hour and a half of speeches by local mayors, listing the risks to health and the environment - children at risk from the camions (lorries/trucks) and pollution of the See valley. Notably the Mayor of Cuves was absent since he is the villain of the piece, having sold off his own land, and waived through planning permission for the site. He appears still to be the incumbent mayor despite having (wisely) moved out of the village to St Malo in the several years this proposal has been on the table.
For the past year or so there have been notices all around the area - my personal favourite is the Wheel of Fortune.
It was very sad really - I believe every single villager was in the square - and I believe it will make no difference.
"Le maire a trahi les électeurs".
Further pictures of the marchers:
