Here is a link to a recent exhibition review for 'Playmakers' at the MAC, posted to The Attic blog:
http://attic-museumstudies.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-playmakers-exhibition-celebrating.html

Coming soon: reviews of the 'Summer Sundae Experience, 2012'.

In 'Dry Dock' with Knee Injury . . .

Entrance to 'Dry Dock'.

The past couple of weeks since getting my Nokia have been something of a blur. First of all, I managed to injure my knee on Thursday 26 July, while hastening homeward from a ‘Mapping Place and Faith Conference’ at St. Martin’s House, 9:30AM to 3:30PM. It happened right outside of ‘Very Bazaar’ on Silver Street. I’m not actually sure how it happened. Based upon visual examination of the damage to my shoe, I suspect I tripped upon a loose cobble. Anyway, one moment I was upright and the next I was decelerating a potentially fatal fall to the pavement by dropping my left knee and rolling. Normally I’d come through something like this relatively unscathed; growing up notoriously accident prone, I eventually learned how to take fall and pick myself back up again with the least damage possible.

Snakes and Ladders game outside of 'Dry Dock'.

For whatever reason this particular turn took me entirely off guard. My knee received the brunt of a fall that was probable meant to split my skull. As it happened however my skull was fine while the knee was swollen to twice its size by the time I’d made my way home and I wasn’t able to walk on it for about three days. I was advised to keep off it for a couple of weeks but after resting it for one, the knee seemed much improved. ‘Feeling fine’ I went to Caribbean Carnival (great day out with friends and loved ones)—my knee did 'flare up' a bit (became swollen) the day after. After that little practice effort with Carnival, I let the knee rest and exercised it again after a couple of days.

Inside 'Dry Dock' (quiz night on Wednesdays from 7PM).

I did another walkabout/test excursion with ‘The Family Dunn’. Again the knee again became swollen a bit but certainly not as much as the previous exertion had caused. The gammy knee has been improving steadily ever since. Now, I realise that for the rugby and football players of this world, there is nothing very special about a little scuff to the knee and so, ‘apologies’ to be tedious with the details of my recovery but yes, I am a wimp and yes, I’ve not had a physical injury akin to this since I was about 13! This whole injury process, including the formation of amazingly itch scab-wounds is strange and new (and I hope completely novel).

Many thanks to a passing family and to the shopkeepers of ‘Very Bazaar’—all of whom came rushing over to lend what help they could! I was reminded at that moment what an amazing place to live Leicester is—full of good and caring people.

Of greater interest than my health woes however is that I have a new computer as well as a new phone! For the past week, the majority of my time has been spent troubleshooting the new Mac, learning new versions of Windows office apps, iWork apps, learning about interconnectivity through Social media with mobile phone, discovering the uses of iCloud and Skydrive and more recently discovering how to coordinate between calendars--namely between iCal, Google and Windows Live. I also set up alerts, and sorted home office space.

For the past couple of days I have been reviewing my previous notes from ‘Lines’ by Ingold. I have been reconsidering the concept of display and museum practice in terms of reconstitution of tradition and shared narrative. I updated my training record (which I need to send to the University graduate office soon).

The evenings have been a balance of doing simple, soothing things like laundry, making soup and watching old episodes of Hancock’s Half Hour. I have also been listening to ‘Tame Impala’ and to ‘Opossom’.

Yesterday, Wednesday 8 August was a good day of research and then in the evening, Paul and I had dinner at a place called ‘The Dry Dock’ then went to see ‘Ted’ at the Odeon. Reviewed previous notes from ‘Lines’ by Ingold. Reconsidered the concept of reconstitution in terms of ‘lines’ –as differing interpretations of space—as suggested by Ingold’s discussion of variable approaches to impressing ideas (in writing) onto blank page; Ingold suggests that some of the basic intentionality in the expression of words upon a page may include seeing the blank page as a landscape for a journey, colonization, surface of a body, or (probably almost always a) mirror of a mind.

Oh, one more thing about ‘Dry Dock’—if you go, beware of the gum stuck under the tables. Paul and I found seats on tall stools at a bar-height table under the centre skylight area of ‘the hold’. I had my ‘gammy knee’ propped over my other to leg to elevate it a bit. As it happened, this configuration pushed the top of my leg right up to the underside of the table where a nauseating, humongous glob of gum lie in wait . . . I have since managed to remove most of it but some of it is still stuck to the surface fabric of my skirt, like a strange, polymer haze . . . half inundating the fibers. Any ideas how to launder gum out of cotton-polyester fabric?

What else, what else . . . have I mentioned that Kindle download for Mac is brilliant? Great to be able to get a book immediately, highlight on the screen, add notes, search the document . . . just brilliant! Among other resources, I downloaded/purchased the Kindle version of ‘Lines’ by Ingold –one of the books that I’ve been using to support my thesis argument. Quite useful to be able to start keeping better track all of my research in one general storage arena—all accessible from this one laptop!

Friday 10 August I updated the Orovoco ‘Research Pillow Book’ blog, wrote emails, read articles. 

Weekend: 11 & 12 August Birthday BBQ and housewarming at the Grace family’s new home. Their new place is lovely and everyone seemed to have a great time (so good in fact, that I think many of us were glad of that there was a ‘quiet Sunday’ buffering between the BBQ and Monday).

Nokias, Music Festivals and the Afterlife?

Last night in the café, I dreamed that I was showing my dad my new Nokia (he still thinks I should have gone with an iPhone), when someone (‘Keef’ I think) posted a link to a video of my boyfriend and I, ‘in the afterlife’—in ‘Limbo’ to the exact, having a bit of a set-to.

I was absolutely fuming: “I told you that watching that awful ‘art film’ would kill us, that we would die of boredom and disgust but no, no, you said we had to sit there and finish watching it once we’d started—‘those are the rules’ you said! Now look what your f’n rules have gone and done!” “You have to see the bad ones to appreciate the good ones,” responded Paul patiently. “B-but--WE ARE DEAD NOW PAUL!” I exclaimed. “Yeah, not much use getting all mardy about it now, is it? Done and dusted. Let’s be on our way to Hell . . .” he smiled. “WHAT?!” I cried, “We can’t do that! Most of my family is up in Heaven—or on their way there—we can’t very well just pack up and move off to 'The Infernal Regions', without so much as a ‘hail and a heigh-ho’!” “Text’em.” I stared blankly at Paul, sluggishly stammering and repeating his words back to him like a parrot on Thorazine: “I-Uhhhmm-a-I-I’m--I'm sorry . . . ‘Text them’?” “Yes. ‘Text them’. Send them a nice, friendly little mobile text message now and again—it’ll be fine. Because there is no way I’m going to Heaven. The music is RUBBISH in Heaven—they have far better festivals in Hell . . .”