The Hand Written Project

Hoxton Hoxton Hoxton - love that area!
You always stumble across unusual pop up kookie stores, market stalls, coffee shops and exhibitions and it is a mecca for people watching and the huge array of fashion that you see walking down the highstreet. This is where I stumbled across The Hand Written project, a small exhibition set up by Craig Oldham who had invited the world's leading designers, design studios and creative thinkers to share their thoughts in handwritten form on their own letterhead. I do think it is sad that much of our communication is now reduced to under 141 characters, frantically typed out on email or hurridly auto corrected on phones. So handed a sheet of paper to write someone a letter - where would you start? The exhibition showcased just this, it was fascinating to see what people would write from, 'Hello Craig, how are you today?' to 'Work hard and be nice to people.' And the handwritting - so many styles, some legible, others not! And the letter heads - conventional to a die cut flying pig! The exhibition has now finished but check out this website http://handwrittenletterproject.com

A real page turner

Given all the recent campaigning to save our UK libraries from closure I was fascinated to come across an initiative called 'living books'. Of course it's in North America, where else? The example I saw was in Surrey, Canada where they are about to open a new city library and will be lending out human beings alongside the more usual fare.

I'm intrigued as to how this will work. How many can you have at a time? Are they wrapped in plastic covers? Are there different ones for kids, teens and adults? Do you stuff them in your bag and take them home with you? Do you pay their bus fare? And what happens if you're late bringing them back? And what about the smell, do they have that library book smell?

No, it seems readers 'borrow' a living book, who are all volunteers, which basically means they can sit and talk to them about their particular specialist topic over a skinny latte in the cafeteria.

And unlike real books it's not a one way street - the reader doesn't just read the living book, the living book reads the reader too.
Unnerving yes, but fascinating and actually quite inspiring as to the possibilities.

Remember life before the app?

Up until a couple of years ago, I had a steam driven Mobile - it could text, make and even receive calls (if on top of a tall building)! The came my first i-phone. I vowed it wouldn't change me, but blimey, did it ever. Now I haven't fully fallen into the app trap whereby my evenings are totally taken up fiddling with new puzzles and creating new photos, but it's close.
Hipstamatic - a great app for getting that 70's feel to your photos - you know, the orange and soft feeling shots for those old enough to know the 70's...
Then there's Endomondo - fantastic for nerdy tracking of how far you've cycled, at what speed and at what splits times...
and finally there is Fotofitti - be your own Banksy at the touch of a button.
Now, for 69p I think you get excellent V.F.M and much as I loved my Heath Robinson Nokia, I can't do without a good app!

I can't figure out why people love figurines

Having been invited to one of my strange relatives up north to see her newly decorated bungalow (she's younger than me), I flinched when I entered her front room (her parlour).

Right there in front of me, on her hideous mantle piece was a selection of Royal Worcester figurines, each of them telling little strange tales; a boy playing a harmonica with his dog smelling his crutch (see above), an evil looking infant throwing a ball at a bird, a young man stamping on ducks tail).

She even got her husband to insert two expensive spotlights in the ceiling to accentuate the horrible little things

I love good pottery and ceramics, but I just don't "get" figurines. They're not beautiful, they're not graceful, they're not even nice looking and the hand painting looks as though it's been done by an artist who's got a studio on a train.

So why do they adorn so many peoples glass shelves in abundance. I wouldn't mind having one on my bookcase, but a collection? And they sell for over £150 on e bay second hand.

As an art form, they are in my opinion........dire.

However, there may be someone out there that might disagree.

Lake Como

I have just spent a wonderful week in Italy, part of which was spent on Lake Como, for me one of the most inspiringly beautiful places I have visited.

The sun shone for us, the water was glistening, every garden was immaculate, the food devine, wine superb, and far too much of it, the people ever so friendly, and the water taxi drivers lots of fun!

The highlight for me was a little place called Villa Monestario in Verenna. The gardens are the main attraction as they meander along the river side being flagged on the other by the mountains. The terraces are filled with exotic plants and flowers and some of the most unusual statues I have seen. It was just beautiful, definitely a photographers paradise and what a place to be a gardener!

A sign story

When our creative team were busily researching road signs for a recent automotive project, we stumbled on this ingenious and witty story using road signs.

A stunning, if a little saucy, creative piece...... enjoy!

If you can't read it or want to hang it on your wall, then go to:

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://9.forumer.com/uploads/universal/post-19-1142915767.jpg&imgrefurl=http://universal.9.forumer.com/index.php%3Fshowtopic%3D1408&h=566&w=816&sz=112&tbnid=kkuGP5gKx95KoM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=130&prev=/search%3Fq%3Droad%2Bsigns%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=road+signs&docid=_w_-v57rlaYL_M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=obsyTsHTIob0-gaspICODQ&sqi=2&ved=0CHYQ9QEwAg&dur=276

Follow That Spielberg!!

On an outing to the glitter and lights of good old London town last weekend, we finally went to see WarHorse. I'd read a lot about it when it first opened, and intrigued though I was, put it off for a good many months (and year) dare I say until finally we took our seats.
It was probably one of the most emotionally draining stage productions I've seen. The sheer brilliance of the model makers, the artistry of the 'puppeteers' in bringing a wooden and fabric skeleton to life and the simplicity of the set made it an absolute marvel.
I have to admit to getting a lump in my throat in certain scenes, but surely isn't that what a production should offer? Tip one or more of your emotions over the edge and leave you in a state of amazement.
I worry that a film is being made of this, and fail to see how they can convey the same raw and innocent emotion. Special effects, casts of thousands recreating the battlefields and horrors of The Somme won't be a patch on the simplicity, lightness of touch and raw emotion that the theatre production offered.

US DEBT

I have to admit to not being completely up to speed on the whole US debt crisis however an article in the Metro got me thinking just how dire the situation is and how BIG the debt is

$14.2 TRILLION - yes trillion.

America's debt could...

Pay for Nasa's annual budget for another 771 years. The space agency stopped sending people into space because of the lack of funding.

Pay Britain's NHS budget for 80 years.

Pay for the US healthcare bill for 151 years.

Pay for Britain's entire defence budget for 234 years.

Pay for the eight year war on terror in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan nearly four times over.

Feed all of the 10 million people currently starving in east Africa for 4000 years.

(All facts courtesy of the Metro)

Summer is officially over!!!!!

Having just made a trip into Tunbridge Wells Town Centre I was saddened to find out that our Summer is over before it's begun!!!!!!

It may well be the beginning of August and we are in the midlle of our mini heatwave for 1 week only (although I've got my fingers and toes crossed for more sunshine preferrebly from the 20th August just for selfish reasons only - I have my two week holiday from work then).

As I looked into a few of the clothing shops they are all displaying their Autumn/Winter collections. I know the evenings are getting shorter and yes there are a few items of clothing that have caught my eye this lunch time but whilst walking around in +25 degrees C all i want to see are lovely Summer items of clothing and shoes, not thick jumpers and Winter boots.......

Never mind it happens every year and I know that in a couple of weeks time "CHRISTMAS" decorations will be popping up all over the place waiting to be bought...........

Twitter – Washing your cyber laundry in public

Like a kind of chatty fungus, twitter’s totally grown on me. I love it. It satisfies those less than lovely character traits in me – my incessant need to know stuff first, my slight nosiness (which my husband will testify to having witnessed me peeking round the blinds in our flat in Stoke Newington when we lived in London at 4am on a Saturday morning looking at the gang fight happening right below our window – “will you come away from the window you crazy staring lady you’re going to get us killed”).

Twitter’s a strange bird. It’s allowed us to get close to the innermost feelings and opinions of people whose comment and copy are otherwise generally edited and misquoted, retouched and twisted. It manages to be crazily intimate (Holly Willoughby’s contraction-by-contraction birth report from her mate Fern - eugh enough already) and massively broadcast at the same time. The difference and distance between being a celebrity and an unknown was already becoming blurred and shortened with the explosion of reality shows, celeb magazines and the Internet. Twitter has made the distance seem minute. Stalkers must be having a field day.

What I think I love best though is how it puts us all on a level playing field,– i.e. those on t’telly and those not. Demystifying them once and for all, proving that really they are just like us, just a bit more famous. My favourite recent example of this was a theatre writer taking umbrage at having been, in his opinion, unfairly interviewed by one of Radio 4’s presenters. The theatre writer tweets his annoyance and the presenter then fired back his response and voila – supposedly reserved and professional blokes on the radio having a row in our full glare. Oh the joy – and so much safer than watching rival Stoke Newington gang fight each other!

By the way if you’re not following us, do so right now @TunWellsWoodies