lunch with ken+debby

Moira+I spent a day in Oxford with lovely American friends Ken+Debby. We had an excellent lunch at Loch Fyne Restaurant in Walton Street. With such glorious weather, we couldn’t resist walking across Port Meadow and relaxing in the garden of the Perch pub (I was once banned from this establishment, probably in 1969, for “standing in front of the fire” - absolutely true!). It was good that their daughter Julia was able to join us at the Perch – she's about go and live in New York.
Photo: Ken, Debby, Julia and Moira. I took two pics and, in each of them, two of the aforementioned were looking the other way/had their eyes closed etc – so I’ve done some very rough cutting and pasting! Apologies!

shredded

One of my “jobs” at school is filing. I hate it.
Another tiny part of my job is keeping files up to date. I hate this too!
We keep a file for every student at school (copies of correspondence, incidents, time-out sheets, report cards, behaviour logs, telephone records etc etc) and I deal with nearly 300 of them for our particular House. Everything has to be logged and every item duly noted on an index sheet for every file (really!). By the time pupils get to the end of Year 11, some “notorious” students have files that run to four volumes thick (honestly!). At this time of year, we pass on our Year 11 files to the central filing area (I’ve never actually seen this place but imagine it takes up half the school and is probably one of the factors in us having to keep building extensions!). Before passing on the files, we’ve now been asked to reduce their size by throwing out “superfluous” stuff - even though the powers-that-be insist that, up to this stage, everything is logged on file (perhaps it’s best never to question?) – but, crucially, we still have to retain the index sheets.
Well, because I find it more or less impossible to do filing during the course of a normal school day, I often end up bringing filing home (which is ridiculous considering the small amount we get paid!). This half-term I have spent nearly a day-and-a-half filing any outstanding Year 11 stuff (and there was quite a lot of it!) and then going through over sixty Year 11 files (some from last year too, but that’s a different story!) and duly removing superfluous stuff.
In the end, I’ve collected 11 large plastic sacks full of shredded paper!
PS: We collect green waste for Ruth+Stu’s compost bin on their allotment and I realise that shredded paper can be added to it (but perhaps not 11 large sacks of it!). Unfortunately, I’ve just checked on Bristol City Council’s website and it provides two rather contrasting pieces of advice (REALLY helpful!):
a) How can I recycle shredded paper?
You should not put shredded paper in your black box. When paper is shredded, the paper fibres are cut very short making it difficult to recycle. You can put shredded paper in your compost bin.
b) Can I add shredded paper to my compost bin?
Shredded paper does not compost so well because it does not have air pockets trapped in it. It is better to screw up paper rather than shred it.
Great!

fees office at westminster

Much has been written about MPs’ expenses over recent weeks and reference made to the “green book” of rules. It seems that MPs have been lining up to express either their complete innocence (“I’ve done nothing wrong”) or to apologise for some error they’ve “just discovered”. It seems abundantly clear to everyone that the rules on MPs’ expenses need urgent reform. Even MPs themselves suddenly seem to be acknowledging this – but in an almost laughable, naughty schoolboy kind of way (“yes, I’ve always thought it was wrong and, funnily enough, I was going to raise it in Parliament as a matter of some urgency” as it were!). How many of us knew until recently, for example, that MPs can claim expenses of £250 without a receipt? And, if that wasn’t enough, we later learnt – to our utter incredulity – that MPs can, apparently, also claim £400 a month for food without receipts!
Brilliant! Clearly, something needs to be done.
However, what has also struck me is that we seem to have heard absolutely nothing about or from the “House of Commons’ Fees Office” during this debate.
These are the people who apparently “interpret” the rules. Amongst other things, they seem to have allowed claims for “servant’s quarters”, for clearing a moat, for mortgages that were already paid off, for claiming on second homes that were 100 miles from Westminster, for dry rot repairs to an MP’s partner’s house in Southampton etc etc.
Actually, if I were on this committee, I think I’d be keeping my head down too!
PS: The Committee on Standards in Public Life is currently conducting an inquiry into MPs' Expenses. I notice from its website that the committee has decided to set out the principles that “apply to all aspects of public life…. for the benefit of all who serve the public in any way”.
I think they make interesting reading!
THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC LIFE
SELFLESSNESS
Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest. They should not do so in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends.
INTEGRITY
Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence them in the performance of their official duties.
OBJECTIVITY
In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office.
OPENNESS
Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands.
HONESTY
Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest.
LEADERSHIP
Holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and example.

pierrot le fou

I took the luxury of half-term to go and see Jean-Luc Godard’s 1965 film “Pierrot Le Fou” at the Watershed this afternoon. The man in front of me at the box office asked the girl at the desk if the film was any good. The girl replied that she thought it was her favourite film ever. “Blimey” says the bloke in front of me (“blimey” methinks too!). Well, it certainly wasn’t anywhere near to being my favourite film, but I DID enjoy it – maybe it was just the feeling of being on holiday and being able to drop in to watch a film on a Tuesday afternoon? It WAS a pretty amazing (and I had to keep reminding myself that it was nearly 45 years old). Difficult to describe it though – a cross between “The Untouchables”, “Tintin”, “Bonnie and Clyde”, “Comic Strip”, “The Prisoner”, “The Avengers” and “The Wizard of Oz” perhaps?! It was apparently originally conceived as a low budget homage to the American gangster film, but ended up as one of the most important films in French cinema. The Watershed’s blurb speaks of Godard drawing on “his fascination with B-movie noir, spontaneously combining elements of thriller, slapstick, musical and romance into a deeply self-aware and, at times, self-mocking pastiche of cinematic history”. Before I went to see it, I’d read that it was “a film that defies classification” and was “both loved and loathed by film enthusiasts”. As I got up to leave at the end of the film, one rather elderly lady behind me said to her equally elderly friend (ie. even older than yours truly): “what an absolute load of cobblers!”. Obviously, you can’t please everyone.
There, there dear…. it’s only a film!

alice roberts

This might be a sad reflection of our family, but we’ve often joked about “who on earth will replace David Attenborough on the TV?” (apart from either Felix or Stu, that is!). We had fears that either Alan Titchmarsh or Richard Hammond was being groomed to fill his considerable boots. But I’ve started to relax a little…. because the BBC seems to have realised that Dr Alice Roberts is the new Attenborough (and rightly so). She won’t become the voice/face behind exactly the same type of “natural world” television programme, but she is one of those multi-talented people who is opening up whole new range of programmes. She’s an osteoarchaeologist and a lecturer at Bristol University (in fact, I’ve actually seen her described as “the David Attenborough of the human body”). As well as being highly intelligent, she’s one of those people who seems to be able to do absolutely ANYTHING (and do it really well) – artist, caver, diver, rock climber and athlete (if the first programme was anything to go by, when she ran with a couple of native hunters in the heat of the African “bush”). I first came across her on my favourite “Time Team” and then, of course, she was one of the presenters on “Coast” before the BBC built an entire programme around her with “Don’t Die Young”. Her latest television series is “The Incredible Human Journey” – an impressive five-part series in which she “follows the archaeological and genetic footprints of our ancient ancestors to find out how their journeys transformed our species into the humans we are today, and how Homo Sapiens came to dominate the planet”.
She’s brilliant and, as you might have gathered, I’m a bit of a fan!

PS: .... and she's obviously been added to my "world eleven"!

bungie jumping in bristol

No, don’t worry, I haven’t been participating!
We were walking by the harbourside yesterday and briefly watched some bungie jumpers. Just amused by the contrasting styles illustrated in the attached photographs. The bloke in the first pic seems absolutely petrified and is probably just doing it because his friends have put him up to it; his body language seems to suggest that he’s thinking “oh good grief, what on earth have I done?”. On the other hand, the girl in the second image seems supremely confident (“I CAN fly”) and, although it’s a pretty grotty photograph, is performing a perfect swallow dive.
They both survived!

the smiths (not the band!)

Great to have Sue, Si, Eddie and Jonah with us over the weekend en route to their Devon holiday destination. Sue and Si are great friends from our days in Thame who moved to Leeds shortly after we departed for Bristol. Si is an ex-primary school teacher who now earns his living as a brilliant illustrator and Sue is about to study for her doctorate in education psychology. We’ve only managed to catch up with them a handful of times since our respective moves (eg. at Greenbelt), so it was really nice just to be able to chill, natter, eat and drink together over the weekend.
Just lovely, special, talented people.

Photo: The caption actually says "(all) suckers krushed" but Si was too tall... so "suckers rushed" it will have to be!

one and other (the fourth plinth 6 july-14 october)

I’m convinced that I won’t be one of the lucky ones selected for the One and Other project for the Fourth Plinth at Trafalgar Square, so I’ve really not given it much thought thus far. However, having received a facebook message from Holly Race, I’ve been starting to think about the prospect! These are my initial thoughts (incidentally, I just KNOW that, if selected, I’ll get a 3am slot!):
1. I’d love to be on the plinth with lots of my family/buddies, but realise this wouldn’t be allowed. So perhaps I could take a photograph (from front and rear!) of a group of them in advance, get a full-sized version printed, erect the photograph on the plinth using some form of stand and then get a friend to take a group photo of us all on the plinth (from front and rear?) for posterity?
2. Spend the time blowing up lots of balloons (with helium) with some sort of “this balloon was released from the Fourth Plinth, Trafalgar Square as part of the One and Other project”, complete with address labels for “finders” to mail back?
3. Just taking photographs from on top of the plinth of surrounding people (or lack of people?)? It would be a lovely record of a special occasion.
4. Moira said that, if it was her, she’d just “do some knitting or read a book”?
5. Arrange to borrow some 20 or 30 of Antony Gormley’s figures (eg. Crosby Beach figures) to be dragged up on to the Plinth. These would obviously need to be dressed appropriately to mark such a special occasion (and I would clearly have to “dress up” too!)?
6. I’m sure that it will be raining…. so perhaps I would simply lounge in a deckchair for the hour, sheltering under a large umbrella?
7. Just stand there with a placard portraying a suitable message (it could be anything from “free Aung San Suu Kyi” to “happy birthday Hannah”)?
8. Raise money for charity. I work with young people in a comprehensive school – I’m sure pupils would donate money if their names made it on to the Plinth (in the form of a large poster perhaps)?
9. Drinking the health of family and friends (in other words, I’d need at least a case of excellent red wine and would toast them individually in turn for 60 minutes!)?
10. On the basis that I WILL be on the Plinth at 3am, I think it would be only fair to ring up those family members/friends who didn’t make it to Trafalgar Square on my mobile (“hello Alan, I’m standing on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square and just thought you should know what a wonderful experience it is….”)?

if only......

music+film

If you wanted to come up with a prescription for raising the spirits, I don’t think you could do much better than attendance at a Gasworks Choir concert. Yesterday afternoon, Moira+I went along to watch/hear their concert (lovely friend Gareth had recently joined the choir). It was pretty amazing. Their website describes them as “Bristol’s massive and lovely acappella choir”. They’re about 150 strong (with a 4 year waiting list!), they all dress in orange, red or pink and they make the most wonderful sound. Their enthusiasm and energy is infectious.
By contrast (but still very enjoyable), I went on to see “O’Horten” (Director: Bent Hamer) at the Watershed. This Norwegian film tells the story of a recently retired train engineer who, after 40 years, finds it difficult to adjust to his new-found freedom. The Watershed’s blurb describes it as “humour meets gentle melancholy in the central figure of Odd Horten” (played by Baard Owe). It’s a gentle, rather beautiful, almost surreal film and I’m glad I went to see it.

bluebells, blue and the blues

I’ve been feeling pretty low this weekend after a difficult day at school on Friday. There are times when I just feel like packing it in and retiring and there are other times when I absolutely love my job. In the end, finances dictate that I need to carry on for perhaps another couple of years(?). This morning I could hear the rain falling and suddenly decided that what I needed was a walk through Leigh Woods in the rain! So, dressed in my waterproofs and with my i-pod duly plugged in, I set off on a slow ample through the woods. Ironically, by the time I started my walk, the rain had actually stopped (when you WANT it to rain, it doesn’t!). I thought I’d see lots of bluebells, but those that I did see were looking pretty forlorn after the recent rain.
Thankfully, I found the perfect music to listen to on my walk – a long list of Joni Mitchell songs, including her “Blue” album. It didn’t exactly lift my spirits, but it was good to hear those beautiful, familiar songs once again.
Photo: reeds in the woods (yes, I realise these aren’t bluebells – but those I saw weren’t worth photographing).

grow zones

This morning Bruce, Sara, Chris, Bobbie, Elaine and Alan from Earth Abbey’s brilliant grow zone project (see previous blog) came round to help transform our garden. Our garden is tiny – just 5x5m. Despite its size, we wanted to grow some of our own food, as well as continuing to enjoy the space for eating, drinking and relaxing and to maintain some of the flowers and shrubs. So, something of a challenge then!
Amazingly, in less than 3 hours, the garden was transformed.
Following an earlier consultation with Bruce (one of the permaculture gurus on the team!), we’ve now erected three lengths of guttering, one above another on the kitchen wall - for growing lettuces, strawberries and the like; we’ve pulled up some paving (and re-used it to build a low wall) and formed a raised bed along the northern boundary wall/fence (Moira has subsequently planted this with chard, courgettes, tomatoes, peas and shallots); we’ve cut down a dominating pyrocantha bush (the shredded remnants will shortly be dug into the soil of what will become another vegetable bed on the south side of the garden); and finally, thanks to Chris, we’ve installed a water butt within the lightwell at the back of our basement (Moira now just wants it to rain so she can see it work!). We even found time to stop for coffee and doughnuts during a brief rain shower!
When we’d finished, we sat down and shared a simple lunch together. It might surprise you to know that I’m not fond of gardening, but even I’ve really enjoyed these grow zone mornings. They’ve been quite eye-opening to see what can be achieved in a short space of time by just a few committed people working, laughing and sharing knowledge together.
A wonderful time with lovely, generous friends.
Photo (taken through the window of Moira’s office): Elaine, Alan, Sara and Chris finishing off the new raised bed area.

kielder challenge 2009

A really lovely day at Ashton Court , Bristol yesterday. Our team from Norton Hill and Fosseway Schools were taking part in one of the Regional Heats of this year’s Kielder Challenge (over 240 teams were competing this year). They were absolutely brilliant and ended up as winners (scoring more than 20% more points than even the second-placed team!).
Lots of fun+laughter. A great day.
PS: Two highest scoring teams from each Region go forward into the National Finals in the Kielder Forest (and unfortunately the South-West has the largest number of participants!). Sadly, we later learnt that, with one heat remaining, we currently lie third behind two outstanding teams. The pupils don’t yet know this and will be REALLY disappointed not to get to the finals…. but it’s been a wonderful few weeks working together and they’ve all become great friends.
Photo: Ben, Kieran, Aimee, Rikki, Jasmine, Scott, Georgina and Natalie.

southbank arts trail 2009

A wonderful arts trail weekend. Great weather (sunshine but not too hot, no rain) meant that there were lots of people about. I certainly felt that we had more people than ever down in our basement over the weekend – perhaps as many as 600, including Friday evening? Lots of impressive (and unusual) art and performers. Huge amount of work put in by Pete Gilbert, Natalie Allistone and others running up to and over the weekend.
Lots of tired, but happy, people now that it’s all over!
Photos: work by Dave Morgan-Davis; Paul Brown, Stuart Low, Hannah Broadway and Ruth Broadway at number40 (Moira+I also exhibited), plus pictures of some of the visitors and stained glass shadows over the arts trail leaflet.

goodbye dick+dientje

Dick+Dientje returned to Holland today after spending the last week with us. It’s been just brilliant having had the opportunity to meet up again after our in initial meeting on Iona. I’ve felt guilty that I’ve not been around to see them during the day due to school and also that they weren’t able to get down to Cornwall (as they’d hoped to) but, apart from that, it’s been a really enjoyable week. With the Arts Trail happening over the weekend, it’s also unfortunately meant that they’ve been left to discover the local attractions for themselves! Our time spent together has included dinner at Café Ceituirica, supper with our Ithaca friends, breakfast at the Lockside Café, drinking at the Spotted Cow, a fish+chip supper from Fish Minster, preview number40 Arts Trail party and the “After-the-Trail” party at the Tobacco Factory last night. We’re very sad to see them go.
Really lovely, special people!

dick+dientje

I met Dick+Dientje for the first time nearly two years ago on the magical isle of Iona (see previous blog!). I really enjoyed their company during the course of my week’s stay on the island, but we’d only been in e-mail contact since. That was until now.
As it happens, they’ve been in Bristol over the weekend (the respective church choirs from Henleaze and from Houten, Holland, had also met on Iona that same summer and had forged friendship links which had resulted in exchange visits)…. and they’re now staying with us for the coming week. It could all have been somewhat embarrassing (Moira had never met them afterall) - what if it was just the magic of being away on Iona?
Not a bit of it…. it’s just lovely to see them again and they’re still just as lovely (and Moira thinks they’re lovely too)!
Just a pity that I have to work this week, so I’ll have to make the most of just seeing them in the evenings and at the weekend! Somewhat predictably, we ended up in the Spotted Cow last night with other friends - as a way of introducing them to English culture, you understand (obviously).

number40 at the southbank arts trial

It’s that time of year again – the SouthBank Arts Trail!

Over 130 artists+performers appearing at over 50 venues during the weekend 9+10 May (and we have a pre-view “party” on Friday evening). We spent much of the weekend clearing out the basement, patching holes from the previous exhibition(!), re-decorating, picture-hanging and, thankfully, have now got things prepared (more or less!). One of the strange quirks is that, with our dining room now full of stuff taken out of the basement, we're eating our meals downstairs surrounded by an art exhibition! It’s really quite nice actually!

the speaker

I found myself watching the television last night. I hardly seem to watch it these days. I watched the end of “Wainwright Walks” on BBC4 and was about to disappear downstairs to the basement to work on our forthcoming exhibition when I became intrigued by a programme called “The Speaker”, which was about to start on BBC2. I’d never even heard about it and last night’s programme was the final (“the search to find Britain’s Best Young Speaker”). From thousands of entries (14-18 year olds), they were down to the final three for yesterday’s programme. The finalists were flown out with Unicef to research children’s rights in Malawi and I suddenly realised that one of the finalists, Irene, was a member of one of our local churches here in Bedminster! She was just brilliant. Not surprisingly, the quality of the finalists was incredibly high. Irene ended up coming a close second to the 14 year-old winner (who was also from Bristol!), but I have a feeling that we might be hearing a fair amount about her in years to come.
Inspiring, moving, humbling stuff!
PS: if you’re quick, you can watch it on BBC iplayer

si and steve – as featured regularly on bbc 6 music

Just before Christmas 2007, I e-mailed Guy Garvey (lead singer of Elbow, who presents the “Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour” radio programme on BBC6 Music) suggesting some tracks for his “Songs for Guy” slot. Many of the songs had actually been recommended to me by my good mate Si Smith. In January last year one of my suggested tracks was duly played and both Si+I were mentioned by name (see blog?).
Well, blow me down, GG's only gone and played another one of the suggested songs (ie. from my original e-mail!) in his show last Sunday when he featured an entire show of the best of "Songs for Guy" over the past two years.... and, once again, Si+I both received honorable mentions! This time it was "When I go Deaf" by Low.
If you’re REALLY quick (ie. before next Sunday), you can hear this magical moment of broadcasting history via the Listen Again facility for the 26 April show (about 53 minutes in!!).
As a result of “appearing” on the radio, I declared that Si Smith and I were officially famous. I now understand that we’ve been short-listed for “Strictly Come Dancing”.

PS: on a completely unrelated matter, and in response to Gareth’s challenge, I’ve joined her in applying to occupy the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square for one hour as part of Anthony Gormley’s “One and Other” Project. Think I’ll just tell them: “yes, it’s me – the person Guy Garvey’s always going on about on his radio show”.

ten tors training on dartmoor

A very tough, but very enjoyable, training exercise on Dartmoor this weekend.
It was the last chance for the six teams from school to put in their final hours of practice on the moor before the event itself on 9+10 May, carrying with them their heavy rucksacks containing tents, sleeping bags, cooking facilities, provisions, spare clothing etc. Saturday proved to be a very difficult day - but ideal for training purposes. Some of them had never previously experienced poor conditions on the moor, so it was important that they were able to do so before the competition weekend. We had driving rain and hail, high winds and low temperatures for most of Saturday, but the majority of the pupils came through the experience brilliantly. It was especially good to see some of the rather nervous younger team members grow in confidence and self-belief as they perhaps surprised themselves by their abilities to endure such wild weather.
Photo: Nun’s Cross checkpoint at 6.30am this morning (the teams had to set off on Day 2 at 6am AFTER dressing, cooking breakfast, dismantling and packing away tents+equipment!).

zoo quest

Iris+I had a day at the zoo together yesterday.
Despite the wet and the cold (and the fact that I used my bus pass for the first time), it was a very successful day. Lots of laughter and the shared cheesy chips went down well at lunchtime too! All the notable animals duly performed – except that for the fact that the lions failed to roar (which Iris said she was quite pleased about) - the sea lions were complete show-offs, the otters were brilliant, the gorillas looked very bored (but at least turned up) and one giant tortoise just lay under a waterfall (had he drowned?). I spent most of the time wanting to be Johnny Morris (you’re probably too young to know what I’m talking about)!
Photo: Iris and her lion “friend”.

golf is an easy game….

I’ve been playing golf for more than 30 years. There have been times when I used to play up to twice a week but now, sadly, I hardly play at all. Yesterday I played for only the fourth time since 2007 and, amazingly, equalled my best ever score of 83 on the par 73 course (including nine pars)! I really can’t explain it or quite believe it…. I drove the ball and putted really well right from the start and there were no “flukes” (I even hit a ball into the water once). Great mates Ken+Steve were duly magnanimous in defeat - although I dread to think what handicap they’ll give me next time we play!

As Ken conceded, this was the closest I’d come to shooting my age in golf!
Photo: Ken hitting his tee shot on the 18th (and, to top it all, the sun shone all afternoon too!)

stillpoint @ the jam factory, oxford

Moira+I visited Stillpoint’s “Stations of the Cross” exhibition in Oxford yesterday. We were really impressed by the work of the 14 artists on display - some inspiring pieces - and also by the Jam Factory as a venue. As a bonus, it was great meeting up with Ian for lunch!
A very good day and very much worth the journey.
Photo: Cara Heafey’s lovely lino-prints.

three colours red

I watched the last part of Kieslowski’s Three Colours trilogy yesterday (only 15 years late!) after raiding Fopp for the “Three Colours Red” dvd. By pure chance, it transpires that I’ve actually watched them in the correct order (blue, white, red) – which was just as well as the final twist of fate reveals the destinies of the characters from all three parts of the trilogy! Early on in the film, I had a sense that things were going to come a sinister conclusion as Valentine (beautifully played by Irene Jacob) was drawn increasingly into what felt like the strange and threatening world of Joseph, a retired judge (again, superbly played by Jean-Louis Tringtignant). In fact, the film is about warmth and friendship and what one film review described as “about the invisible connections that intertwine our lives”. Joseph finally sees the possibilities in playing an active role in shaping the events around him and not being resigned to let fate dictate his lonely existence; Valentine sees that she is not as lonely as she thinks she is, allowing her to let go of her fruitless relationship with Michel.
I think I need to watch it again in order to pick up more of the subtle and playful interconnections. A beautiful film - and I loved the way the colour red was a recurring element throughout.

richard+sarah's

Moira+I enjoyed a lovely relaxing time with Richard+Sarah over the weekend at their wonderful house near Llanllugan. Their house is really quite an extraordinary place. It combines a refurbished/converted cottage, the remains of Listed barn and beautiful, elegant new extensions (with stunning views across green valleys and layers of distant hills) and is filled with lots of art and a huge library of books. It was a lovely weekend of walking, talking, laughing, eating, drinking and reading.
A perfect start to a fortnight’s break from school!
PS: I couldn’t resist getting up at dawn on a beautiful morning and watching the sunrise!

putting one’s body on the line for charity….

The staff played the sixth form in a charity football match at school today.
We beat the students last year 3-0, when I’d refereed the game. This year, it seemed only right that I should take on a pivotal roll in the team formation. I decided to play the Rooney/Gerrard role within the team – filling the hole just behind the central attacker (many apologies to the few of you who haven’t a clue what I’m talking about, but this is important stuff). From here, with my wealth of experience, I would be able to influence things, create goal-scoring chances out of nothing, be able to bring the less confident players into the game and, of course, offer encouragement to the team by my mere presence. I didn’t have time to mentally rehearse my goal celebrations but, hey, it was only for charity!
It was all great fun. The crowd was in very good voice and there were times when the chats of “Broad…waaay, Broad…waaay” rang out across the Astroturf (yes, they REALLY did!). Three of “my” Year 7s later told me that, in their eyes, I was “Man of the Match” (really again!)(I may give them merits). All in all, it was a memorable occasion and perhaps, for some, even life-changing. No doubt, in years to come, people will be telling “I was there” stories.
We lost 0-5.
PS: I should point out that we had 15 players in our squad. This meant that we had to employ a system of rolling substitutions and I was “on the bench” when three of the goals were scored! Will football managers never learn?
PPS: I haven’t got any photos of the game (something to do with sentanta copyright?) so the attached image is from one of our recent practice games.

don't be fooled?

Do I have any concrete expectations for the G20 summit? Well, on the basis of the outcomes of similar gatherings over the years, I’m afraid the answer is no.
The one huge difference this time of course is Barack Obama. He says he’s coming to listen as well as to lead. We’ll see.
The trouble is that many people (me included) have got to a stage where they feel frustration and utter contempt for world leaders, bankers, MPs and everyone else who has got us into these linked climate-financial-poverty messes. We no longer trust them.
Getting 20 world leaders to agree to any package of measures will no doubt lead to another watered-down communiqué being released at the end of the talks. There’ll be much posturing as usual (this time it seems that Sarkozy and Merkel will endeavour to take their share of the limelight?) but it'll probably make very little difference at all.
I hope and I pray, but I’m not holding my breath.
PS: I was amused that some protest organisers have dubbed the event as “Financial Fools Day”!

the interview

As some of you will be aware, I often listen to the World Service during the course of a night (in my vaguely “awake” times) - with my radio stuffed under my pillow. Well, at about 4am last Saturday (yes, pathetic I know!) I heard a fascinating programme called “The Interview”…..
Owen Bennett-Jones was interviewing Geraint Anderson. His father’s a Labour peer and his mother is a missionary, but he chose a career in the Square Mile. The 36 year-old Cambridge graduate worked for twelve years as an analyst in London's financial district and earned several million pounds before leaving his job a year ago. He was very much a high-flier – named top stock-picker three years out of four during his time with Dresdner Kleinwort. Having built up a rather tidy nest egg of more than £3m, he’s now jumped ship and written a book -- described as fictional, but which he says is mostly true -- which reveals a world of wining, dining, drugs and illicit sex. Obviously, many (me included) will see it as a bit rich for Anderson to make a few million and then tell everyone what a dreadful place the City is. His account of an industry notorious for its lax regulation confirms what we suspected all along:

'They don't care about anything other than next year's bonus. They don't care about gambling with the money of ordinary people because they're making millions. I truly believe the credit crunch is a direct result of the City's short-term gambling and the bonus culture.'
Not surprising perhaps (afterall, he must have been very persuasive in his City role), he came across as a very engaging, charismatic and almost likeable character. At the end of the interview, he talked about his commitment to raise money for a school in Africa – he gave an undertaking to build the school himself, with his own money, if he hadn’t raised sufficient funds within two years – out of guilt perhaps.
The interview merely confirmed my view that much of the financial world seems to be driven by huge personal greed, a gambling culture where people seem to “win” even if they’ve failed and a reliance on the fact that the rest of us understand very little about their mysterious world!

ukulele orchestra of great britain

Just came across these two songs again in my list of “favourites”.
I’m sure I’ve blogged about them before, but….
They make me smile!
Happy Monday!

genova

Moira+I – plus Hannah - maintained our excellent cinema attendance in 2009 by seeing “Genova” at the Watershed yesterday (two films in a weekend!).
An absorbing and sensitive film which explores death, guilt and grief. Colin Firth plays an academic who, following the sudden death of his wife, moves his two daughters to northern Italy. Afterwards, Moira+I both admitted to feeling a sense of anxiety throughout the film as the three main character (all beautifully played) cope with their grief in different ways and negotiate their new life.

earth hour/G20/the age of stupid

I’ve a feeling this could be a pretty long blog, so bear with me….
I didn’t manage to make the G20 march in London yesterday – demanding action on poverty, climate change and jobs ahead of next week’s G20 Summit – but we did turn off our lights for an hour at 8.30pm to mark “Earth Hour”. Earth Hour is “designed to inspire one billion people worldwide to demonstrate their concern about climate change, ensuring that world leaders take positive action for the future”.
I’ve just re-read a couple of blogs I wrote last on climate change stuff in the light of global recession. For instance, this extract (27 September):
‘I fear that this concentration on the “global slowdown” will result in eyes being taken away from the Climate Change agenda. It therefore seemed somewhat ironic to pass the Lloyds TSB building in Bristol last night with ALL its lights on!’
and this (15 October):
‘To my mind, the really frightening thing as far as world poverty is concerned is that we will all try to bury our heads in the sand and adopt entirely selfish attitudes - at the expense of the world community and the “greater good”.
I’m no economist, but this letter in last Saturday’s Guardian (from Bill North) echoed my own, perhaps somewhat naive, sentiments: “We have blamed the free market and the fat cats. What about the assumption that the economy can and should go on growing at 2% for ever? How is this possible in a world of finite resources? What about peak oil and climate change? Maybe the recession will give economists time for some really radical rethinking”’.
In keeping with this green agenda, Moira+I went to see “The Age of Stupid” at the Watershed yesterday afternoon. We both found it a very impressive film (as the director of Climate Chaos said: “it’s not a film to make you happy. It’s a film to make you sit back and ask ‘what is my role on this planet?’”) and we both came out seriously asking ourselves what more could we be doing…. and have started to come up with some vague ideas (will we REALLY do this?).
You really must see the film yourself (and check-out the website).
PS: I’m DEFINITELY going to the demonstration in London on 5 December (in advance of the UN Climate Talks in Copenhagen)!
PPS: By pure chance, I’ve just noticed that this is my 400th blog. Blimey (get a life?)!

arts trail preparation

It’s been a strange and hectic week (and a bit).
I agreed to help sort out the leaflet/brochure (whatever it’s called) for this year’s SouthBank arts trail (after Mark’s huge contributions over recent years). This sounds a lot easier than it actually is! The bulk of the work (ie. getting artists on board) had already been done by Natalie and Pete – arts trail stuff must be completely clogging Natalie’s computer system and her e-mails! We’ve been trying to get images and information from more than 50 venues together with short blurb from over 130 artists/performers. The absolute deadline for receiving all this was some 10 days’ ago.
By Wednesday morning, I was still awaiting feedback from some 17 venues together with stuff from a couple of dozen artists. Oh, and of course, there were some artists who had yet to decide on or find venues!
It has really been very exasperating (I’ve even been out and taken photographs for venues myself, rather than continuing to wait for any responses – and frequently, when we have managed to get a response from the artists or venues, we were told “oh, sorry…. yes, I’ll sort it out by the weekend” or words to that effect)! Aaaargh!!
Thanks to Hannah’s help, we’re hoping to complete everything by tomorrow evening, ready for the printers (just 10,000 copies, that’s what we need!).
The SouthBank Arts Trail is a pretty amazing event. This is its seventh year and it features over 130 artists/performers – all within a ONE MILE RADIUS (I’ve just checked it on the OS map)!

As I say, amazing!
Photo: Hannah’s initial draft arts trail poster

footie on friday

After a prolonged period of inactivity, the Friday footie team finally got its act together again at the end of school today. The beautiful sunshine managed to attract enough players for six-a-side on the Astroturf. Great fun. We played for well over an hour and there was some pretty good football too. I’m pretty sure we won 19-11 – obviously, my two goals were the highlight of the afternoon.
Photo: Giles, Craig, Chris (coughing!), Dan, Chris, Mark and Andy taking a time-out while we waited for Gordon to retrieve the ball from over the fence (other players, not in the picture, were Pete, Ifi and Pat).

ten tors training on the black mountains

In previous years, training on the Black Mountains has been undertaken in all weathers – including hail, snow, driving rain and high winds. Sunday’s training was carried out in bright sunshine under beautiful blue skies. All the teams managed to complete the route without too much difficulty (some 13-14 miles). As usual, there were a large number of school staff amongst the helpers manning the various checkpoints. As you can see from the photograph, one of these checkpoints just happened to be outside a pub – which proved to be a strangely popular meeting point!
Photo: Nigel, Anne, Tom+Jenny on the pub wall.

education

I think what I’m about to write will be regarded as unpopular and a little controversial!
I’m coming to the end of my fourth year in education. I work in an “outstanding” secondary school with some wonderful, inspirational teachers (who are also lovely friends). However, I’ve come to the conclusion that the current education system is fatally flawed. Emphasis is concentrated on a school’s success – essentially, its examination results. In days gone by, it seemed to me that examinations tested the pupils. Today, I think this is no longer the case. Yes, I accept that young people seem to be under more pressure these days, but I think some of this revolves around changing life-styles (ie. outside school), peer pressure and expectations. For example, when I was at school(!), we used to have “proper” exams in all subjects THREE times a year. I remember that, in the equivalent of Years10+11, we used to get three lots of homework every night and four on Thursdays and seven over the weekend!!
Thanks to league tables and the like, examinations are now used to test schools (and teachers). Sadly, schools can’t really afford to allow pupils to fail because it will reflect badly on them. As a result, in very many instances, pupils are having to be spoon-fed information to enable them to achieve their “target grades”. Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of amazingly gifted students - but there are also a large number of lazy pupils who seem to feel that it’s their right to pass their exams with minimum effort. One of the knock-on effects of this system is that, where students choose to study A Levels, there are a lot of them who find the step up to sixth form education very challenging because they’ve been taught to pass exams rather than to be able to think for themselves (I’ve just had to review some A Level assignments in Information Technology and was appalled at the number of students who seemed unable to string words together in English, let alone put across coherent argument!).
Yet, despite this, year after year, GCSE and A Level results have steadily improved.
I frankly don’t accept that standards HAVE got better. I’m afraid I think we’re all just kidding ourselves.

PS: this all sounds very negative doesn't it! don't get me wrong, I really enjoy my job - my school is excellent and the teachers are just amazing; there are lots of huge positives in education too!

instant teachers and mixed messages?

So the Government is trying to attract “thousands of highly-talented people” into education by offering teaching qualifications with only six months training? I’m rather skeptical to say the least and believe it sends out entirely the wrong messages to potential teachers, existing teachers and parents alike. To my mind, it seems to be completely undervaluing the profession by appearing to suggest that “with minimal training, anyone can teach”. It’s one thing having life-skills and experience but being able to stand up in front of classes of pupils, day after day, and be expected to produce lesson plans for say 30 lessons per week so that pupils will be inspired, encouraged, controlled, disciplined, educated etc etc (oh, and don’t forget, you will judged by the pupils’ exam grades in your subject) is something entirely different. I seriously considered becoming a teacher some ten years or so back. At the time, I thought I knew a quite a lot about teaching but am now happy to acknowledge (albeit guiltily!) that I thought I would be able to walk into a classroom and just give children the benefit of my wisdom! After working in a secondary school for nearly four years (not as a teacher, I hasten to add), I am constantly being amazed by the talent and ability of the teachers I work with and realise just how naive I was.
Meanwhile, Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families is also telling teachers of his plans for Masters Qualifications in teaching – in order to raise the standing of the profession in the eyes of parents and the like.

Somehow, this seems completely at odds with six-month teaching training!

taize in bristol

Moira+I went to a lovely evening of reflection and contemplation at St Mary Redcliffe Church last night (thanks to facebook friend Heather Leppard). I’m pretty sure it was the first church event I’d attended there and the service was held in the beautiful Lady Chapel. There were probably just under 30 people there in total, ranging in age from university students to oldies like us. The evening took the form of prayer by candlelight using songs from Taize. An evening of simplicity and beauty.
The next Taize in Bristol evening is Monday 11 May.
Photo: taken after most people had left, I hasten to add!

the class

Went to see Laurent Cantet’s impressive film “The Class” at the Watershed yesterday. It was very close to home for me as the film was essentially about teacher/pupil relationships, disciplinary counselling, social integration and exclusion within a secondary school (ok, in France not Somerset!). Having decided to make a film about a junior high school, Cantet then met Francois Begaudeau, who had written a book called “Between the Walls” about a year in the life a school. Francois ends up playing the part of the main teacher character in the film alongside adolescents who came together as a result of a series of workshops. There’s a real tension that runs throughout the film. I found the simple scene of the empty classroom at the end of term somehow particularly powerful and poignant. The school where I work isn’t as cosmopolitan as the Parisian school in the film, but I found lots of echoes of the film situations that we face on an almost daily basis. Lovely teacher friend Helen reckoned that it just like an average day at our school - except that the school in the film got to expel one of its persistent troublemakers whereas “we can never get rid of ours”!
Non-teacher friend Dave sent me the following note on facebook that he’d seen it “with a couple of friends who are teachers - brave, brave people!”

grow zones

A group of us spent yesterday morning digging+planting in Bruce+Sara’s huge back garden. It was all part of Earth Abbey’s “grow zones” project learning about the wonders of permaculture. I’m a hopeless gardener - I just like sitting in gardens with a glass of wine and the newspapers - but really enjoyed the physical work (stripping turf and helping to dig out a pond area) and the company. We worked together for three hours and seemed to achieve an awful lot in that time, before finishing with an impressive lunch in the garden.
Photos: combining work with play (well, food actually!).
PS: continuing the food theme, Stu cooked us a great Thai green curry last night to celebrate Ruth’s birthday (someone has to do it!).

ten tors training on the quantocks

Spent yesterday on the Quantock Hills with six teams of pupils (aged 15-18) from school, plus lots of helpers, training for the Dartmoor Ten Tors event in May. The last time I was involved on the Quantocks, I got absolutely soaked - heavy rain all day. Yesterday, although pretty cold, was a wonderfully sunny and successful day.

who the hell do you think you are?

Moira+I were discussing family history with Bob+Christine over the weekend and saying we were somewhat envious of all these celebrities being able to call upon the services of the BBC’s researchers on the “Who Do You Think You Are?” programme - who help dig up the really interesting bits that we would find almost impossible to discover. Given that they have programmes such as “Masterchef” and “Celebrity Masterchef”, we felt there was an opportunity for a non-celebrity version of the WDYTYA series featuring ordinary people like us! We’ll obviously be writing to the BBC very soon with this brainwave of an idea; we’ve even come up with a title for non-celebrity version: “Who The Hell Do You Think You Are?”.
You read about it here first!

university challenge and the sun newspaper

Watched the final of University Challenge this evening and, after watching the programme over recent weeks, wasn’t at all surprised that Corpus Christi College, Oxford won. In previous rounds, their captain Gail Trimble had been outstanding but seemed strangely nervous in the final until the last few minutes when she seemed to come into her own (which was good for the other team members, as it demonstrated that they were pretty bright too!). I’ve been amused by the attention that she seems to have attracted; Moira read out extracts from an article in yesterday’s Observer which included the following quote from someone’s blog: "Not for some time have I been so angry at a complete stranger as I was with this Trimble character. Each answer was met with a smug grin or a cocky smirk. My normally placid girlfriend ended half-poetically seething: 'Not a friend did she own at school', before physically turning her back on the screen so she didn't have to bear this odious little smug specimen."
When I googled Trimble’s name, I came across a wonderful(?) “report” in the “Sun” newspaper essentially claiming that, although she’d been hailed as the brainiest woman in Britain, the Sun’s pub quiz questions had caught her out! She apparently DIDN’T know who had won the Brit Award for Best Female or the name of the 13 year-old father who’d featured in the Sun last week or who had won the most recent series of “Big Brother” or even the name of the Chelsea football manager!

Thank goodness for the Sun newspaper some say (not sure whether to laugh or cry)!
Photo: extract from the Observer’s team picture (which actually only showed three of the four team members for some reason).

thame weekend

Moira+I spent a great weekend with lovely old friends Bob+Christine in Thame (where we used to live before moving to Bristol). The weather was ideal (sunny+mild) and on Saturday we had a wonderful walk through the woods skirting Swincombe village before “retiring” to the Five Horseshoes pub (Maidengrove, near Henley-on-Thames) for an excellent lunch. We had a very relaxing time – and spent the entire time just eating, drinking and talking. Went along to one of the services at our old church (St Mary’s, Thame) this morning and it was lovely to meet up with so many old friends. We felt very humbled by the amazing welcome we received. We’ve known Bob+Christine for nearly 35 years (from our days when we all lived in East Oxford and subsequently followed them to Thame) and, although we hadn’t got together for nearly two years, it was as though we’d never spent much time apart.
Bob+Christine are very special people and very special friends.
Photo: Christine+Moira+Bob on the woodland walk.

golfing in sunshine (again)

Had a really great day with Steve+Ken on Friday (golfing at Studley Wood, Oxford). The sun shone and we all played well, despite not having played for ages. I’ve been on a bit of a winning streak over the past year or so when we’ve occasionally managed to organise the odd game together…. but NOT this time! Ken, despite not having played for 5 months, went round in a gross score of just 76 (three over par). We let him play off a handicap of 8 (were we stupid or what?), which effectively meant his score was 5 under par. Needless to say, Steve+I had to be content for battling it out for second place (we drew!).
Can’t wait to play Ken again - on his adjusted NEW handicap!
Photo: Ken+Steve during a break in play on the 7th.

three colours white

I continued my cinematic education this afternoon by watching part two of Kieslowski's trilogy “Three Colours White” on DVD (part one “Blue” is definitely one of my all time favourite films and I’ve yet to see “Red”). The film originally came out in 1993!
Although not quite in the same class as “Blue”, I really enjoyed it. I was struck by the greyness of its setting (by and large) and also surprised by the fact that it was a droll, almost cruel, black comedy (apparently it’s the light relief of the Trilogy). The main character Karol (played by Zbignieu Zamachowski) is a Polish hairdresser; his French wife Dominique (Julie Delpy) divorces him after six months of unconsummated marriage in Paris and the rest of the film is essentially about him plotting to win her back.
I’ve just looked up the Film Four Review and it reckons that the last few seconds of the film - in which the two leads conduct a sign language conversation across a prison yard (if the film wasn’t 16 years old, I’d be really nervous about giving anything away!) - is a “transcendent moment of modern cinema”. Although I think the scene is quite touching, I’m not sure I quite agree with Film Four’s assessment. However, with my somewhat limited experience as a cinema-goer/film-watcher, you will appreciate that I’m no Mark Kermode!

vicky cristina barcelona

Went to the Watershed with the lovely Ithaca crowd yesterday to see Woody Allen’s latest film “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”. The first line of the Watershed’s blurb describes the film thus: “Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson burn up the screen in this sexy black comedy of impulsive romance set against the vibrant colours and rhythms of Barcelona”. Whilst, in many ways, this encapsulates the film it fails to point to what, for me, was the heart of the movie – namely the straight-laced Cristina character (Rebecca Hall), who effectively plays the “Allen part” with her self-questioning uncertainty…. hovering between passion+restraint and desire+duty. It’s an engaging film, not much more than that for me – although it did evoke very fond memories of our trip to Barcelona some ten years ago.

Perhaps it’s time we returned!

kielder challenge begins again

This is the time of year when Laura+I start working with a few pupils at school for this year’s Kielder Challenge event. When I first became involved, three years ago, we were virtually “given” our team of four pupils. Now, perhaps due to its higher profile within school, competition for places is extremely keen - we had an initial shortlist of some twenty names. The criteria for getting on to the shortlist are pretty wide-ranging. They DON’T necessarily mean that we’re looking for the brightest students academically – sometimes we end up working with pupils who perhaps lack self-confidence or self-esteem or with a history of behavioural issues. The selection process consisted of interviewing the students individually and then putting them through some typical problem-solving tasks (they will actually be working our pupils from Fosseway School with severe learning difficulties or physical disabilities).
The final eight students proved to be a really lovely bunch…. I feel sure they’re going to provide us with lots of laughter over the coming months!
Photo: the final team plus four reserves (Rikki, Sean, Aimee, Laura, Jasmine, Jack, Ben and Beth).

traffic chaos

Normally, the journey to and from school is unremarkable (boring, but unremarkable).
Today was somewhat different. It was my turn to drive Andy and Pete into work. As usual, we set out at 7am. The journey normally takes us about 35 minutes.
This morning it took us just over two and a half hours!
It transpired that there was a queue of lorries (and cars) lined up on the southbound A37 between Pensford and Whitchurch after drivers had decided that conditions on Husley Hill were too dangerous due to the icy road conditions (an 18 tonne lorry had apparently hit a milk tanker and was straddling the road; this was followed by a motorcyclist coming off his bike because he hadn’t realised he was on sheet ice). The ironic thing was that we were the first of the Bristol teachers on the road (and duly phoned other teachers to warn them) but were the last to arrive at school. As we hadn’t moved for over 20 minutes, we decided to turn round and seek an alternative route, like so many others, and found ourselves in huge queues of other frustrated drivers!
On the way home, we came across an overturned van in the middle of the A362 in Paulton (not the one shown in the photograph!)…. no one appeared to be injured, but it was almost surreal seeing this overturned vehicle EXACTLY in the middle of the road straddling the white line perfectly and pointing towards us as if it had been carefully positioned there by a crane.
Hopefully, tomorrow will be a quieter day (Pete’s driving!).

another snowday!

Woke up about 3am and peered out the bedroom window to discover a magical white world. Somewhat bizarrely (I WAS awake I hasten to add!), three hours later I found myself standing in the middle of our street in almost childlike wonder and surrounded by complete silence apart from the beautiful sound of my feet padding about in the virgin snow. We’d had two or three inches of snow overnight and so it wasn’t a great surprise to find that the school was closed and that we’d got our second snowday of the week!
Strange to think that, in my former self-employed, architectural life, I would have been in the office as usual by 6.30-7.00am on such days (having travelled in the long way round to avoid the hills) and ready for a full day’s work. The great thing about school snowdays is that I feel completely guiltless and it’s a lovely feeling!
Photo: figures in the snow at Greville Smyth Park.

snowday/birthday

This is my fourth year working at Norton Hill. Before today, we’ve had only one “special circumstances” day off – a wind day when high winds were blowing ridge tiles some 50m across the playground and were clearly a risk to life and limb. You’re only 60 once in your life and the odds on you being allowed a “special day” off school are clearly incredibly rare. So yesterday’s official “snow day” came as both a surprise and a huge bonus, Through a flurry of text messages, an impromptu lunchtime get-together was arranged in the Watershed (attended by about a dozen or so); the sun shone; and I had an absolutely perfect 60th birthday. The downside was that Moira tripped and fell on the way to the Watershed and decided to return home to a hot bath instead. After about one-and-a-half glasses of red(?), I duly returned home with Iris and sat down with Hannah+Felix+Ruth+Stu+Iris+Moira to consume yet more lovely birthday grub.
Photo: some of the non-teaching Watershed lunchtime crowd (plus Hannah+Iris).

birthday bash

I was “persuaded” by other family members that I needed to have a party to celebrate my 60th birthday. I have to admit that I felt very uncomfortable by the prospect and, having reluctantly agreed to it, really just wanted to get the whole thing over and done with.
In the event, of course, I had a lovely time (I even had my first ever helium birthday balloon!)(thanks Heather!) and it was great to see so many familiar faces – many of whom had travelled quite lengthy distances. Moira+Ruth+Hannah did a brilliant job sorting out wonderful food, flowers and stuff….. and the birthday festival will continue when Alice comes down to Bristol in about three weeks time!
Photo: Rookery Road Junior School football team, season 1959-1960 (I’m the one sitting in the middle with the ball) - the photograph was used for the party invitation…. sorry, I didn’t take any photographs of the party itself – probably a wise move!
PS: Chris+Lal gave me a CD they’d compiled of music from 1949 and, somewhat frighteningly, I can remember over half of them!
PPS: in order to keep numbers down, it was a shame not to have been able to invite any of my lovely school friends to this prestigious occasion…. although we might just drink the odd glass together at tomorrow night’s the Bristol Self-Help Group meeting!

PPPS: didn't realise until today that Buddy Holly died on my 10th birthday!