Dreaming of Freedom

Finally, after over a year of avoiding hairdressers and all things related, I braved the fear of having my locks tampered with and went to Al Couture and all my fears melted away in the hands of such professionals. I admit I usually only go to hairdressers who charge a little and cut off a lot, so it was a bit of a shock to be watered with cappuccinos, detangled, trimmed, blow-dried and curled until I didn’t recognise myself. I had to spend the walk home admiring myself in shiny surfaces and hoping I bump into people I knew so they wouldn’t recognise me.

Anyone out there nervous and in need of a haircut should definitely head to Benet Street in Cambridge and deliver yourself into the hands of Al and his team.

No Comments »

K and I are in London and have just been to the V&A to see the Decode: Digital Design Sensations exhibtion. I was very impressed by the stuff on display and had great fun throwing my arms about which most of the exhibts seemed to demand. Despite it being digital art it had a gentle calmness that left you feeling invigorated rather than drained. Either I am becoming more tolerant to machines or they are becoming easier to be around. Also contrary to expectations there was a very natural feel to the digital art - outside there was a huge portrait of flowers continually growing by Daniel Brown and to enter the exhibition you had to walk through Dune - some fablous electronic reeds that lit up magically when they sensed you by Daan Roosegaarde. Inside the dark depths of the exhibition there was a lovely tree by Simon Heijdens that moved in response to the wind outside the V&A.

I really liked everything but lingered in front of the mirror that created a ghostly photo of the person in front of it and the blank canvas that allowed you to splatter digital paint on it by moving your arms around. There was also a radiohead video by Aaron Koblin that caused a few people to stop and ask if that was what their kids were listening to. K’s favourite was the weave mirror by Daniel Rozin. The peice had a lovely sound attached to it and really reminded me of the birds at the ex-abattoir in Madrid although I’m not sure why apart from the gentle feeling you got from it.

No Comments »

On Thursday night the most amazing snow fell and in the morning we woke up to the Christmas card snow scene. It is a powdery, sparkling kind of snow that is fantastic to look at but pretty tough to cycle to work through. Of course when we got to work yesterday we were all full of glee at having made it in and celebrated with mince pies and mulled wine. Back home the flat is filling up with people, Christmas presents and food, for some reason we have a fridge full of courgettes, baby tomatoes, red peppers and aubergines. It is the most horrendous thing to open the fridge and see a wall of healthy options staring down at you. I think it’s because it’s the same vitamin filled meal times a hundred that makes it so chilling!

No Comments »

It’s been a Christmassy week. I have brought and wrapped a million useful or edible items as presents and sought out a Christmas tree and carried it back on my bike to the flat where it is now tastefully decorated with fairy lights and a little baked dough angel that Rich’s mum gave me years ago.
On Thursday night to get into the Christmas spirit Tim and I went to John’s College to drink wine, eat warm mince pies and listen to ghost stories by candlelight. We squashed in with a good deal of other people into the Samuel Butler Rood and listened to four ghost stories including one written specially for the occasion and a cute poem by the grandson of the organizer. Afterwards we went to John’s student bar where a student of the college has to sign you in and we spent a happy hour discussing what we thought had actually happened in the ghost stories although not much was actually concluded. St John’s is lovely - especially on a crisp winter’s evening but the whole thing was slightly surreal as Christmas met Halloween in a long long candlelit room, wood paneled, low ceilinged with intimidating Tudor portraits on the walls.

No Comments »

I spent the evening at the Romsey Labour Club on Mill Road at an evening of music and comedy organized by Cambridge and District Trades Council. I confess I was mainly drawn there by Andy Higson’s stand up comedy routine. This the second time this week I have had the pleasure of laughing at Andy’s jokes. On Wednesday I went to see him at the Corner House on Newmarket Road where he had the place in stitches. Check out his amusing blog You Forgot To Bring The Funny.

No Comments »

I cycled along the tow path into Cambridge just for fun today and it’s so much nicer when you’re not on your way to work. I went to the FitzWilliam to go to the lunchtime concert. Today Samuel Queen was singing and Stephen Rose was playing the piano. Queen has a wonderful voice that stirs you up inside and lifts that part inside your chest that only music can get to - the audience sat transfixed by the sheer beauty of the singing. Afterwards I just wandered around the medieval/early modern art part of the museum until the religious aspect got too much for me and then I ventured out into the rain which is always a bit of a dampener to come out into. This afternoon I’ve been enjoying the luxury of doing nothing - in preparation for the next week’s work.

No Comments »

It’s been a busy week. Wednesday saw me at the public lecture at the Institute of Astronomy. It was a fairly clear night so we got a chance to do some public observing. Both the large telescopes were trained on the moon and there was a much smaller one trained on Jupiter. We got to see the four of Jupiter’s moons. The lecture hall was packed with eager listeners and when we all splurged outside there were crowds of people queuing for telescopes and surrounding the big screens set up on the lawn.
Friday I ate lunch at the St John’s Chop House where at lunch time you can munch a tasty two courses for £11. In the evening I divided my time between The Punter, The Maypole, Andy, Eric, Nic and Steven. The Punter is a lovely pub with great decor and friendly staff. At lunch time you can get a meal there for £5 and it’s not bad at all. The Maypole is a favourite student hang out so don’t go there unless you love the student vibe. They also do great food so it’s worth a visit.

No Comments »

It was extremely interesting hearing Ariane Sherine - talk about the Atheist Bus Campaign that she created last year. It’s always inspiring to hear about people who make a bit of a splash. The campaign was really encouraging for a lot of atheists out there and it’s great to see that they launched a bill board advertising campaign on Wednesday - targeting the concept of labeling children as religious or non-religious. See the image here. In a similar vein there is also an effort to campaign against faith schools that the BHS is running.
Find out a bit more about the funding of faith schools on the ATL site or on wikipedia. There is also an interesting dossier on Faith Schools
complied by the Accord Coalition.

No Comments »

I braved the wind and the rain yesterday to go to the lovely warm colourful FitzWilliam with Jolien and Nils. We wandered around for an hour or so in the delicious atmosphere chatting to other visitors about the paintings and appreciating every minute of the place. After a quick drink in The Anchor we went to King’s College chapel to listen to the sublime music at Evensong. We sat out in the ante-chapel and had a most particular experience there in the slightly chilly church. Sitting on the wrong side of the rood screen we were taken hundreds of years back to a time when the laity sat away from the grace of the alter. Through the archway we could see the flickering lights and the lucky people who got to be closer to God. We could hear the signing perfectly but the voices weren’t half as clear and we heard the odd word but out there in the cold you could imagine how it must have been for the medieval laity unable to have a direct relationship with God. It really struck me how revolutionary it would have been when the Protestants started to change that. It’s a really interesting experience and well worth a visit. Evensong happens most nights from 5.30 and you can enter the chapel from 5.15. It’s free and open to everyone.

Today in the bright glare of the sun we cycled to Grantchester to visit Chris’s little cottage and have lunch at The Rupert Brooke - where the food is pretty good but the seating policy a little odd. We cycled back in the dusk to the CB1 cafe where we drank delicious lattes and warmed up.

Tomorrow there is a talk at 7.30pm in the Kennedy Room in the The Cambridge Union by Ariane Sherine talking about The Atheist Bus Campaign and The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas. It’s organized by Cambridge University Atheist and Agnostic Society but non-members are welcome although they may be asked to pay a couple of pounds entrance fee. For anyone planning to attended a few events - life membership to the group is only £10.

No Comments »

Cambridge is beautiful in the autumn and it seems to be speeding by in a whirl of work and cycling. We’ve had a stream of visitors to Cambridge and have been on adventures around the city and up to the observatory to see the old telescopes and listen to talk about dust in the universe. There are free talks open to the public every Wednesday at The Institute of Astronomy at 7pm.

The Festival of Ideas started last Wednesday. I have been to two excellent sessions on how to read poetry as well as French film - the title of which has been translated into Couscous.

No Comments »