November 2009
Monthly Archive
Samuel Queen at the FitzWilliam
Posted by Suzi on 29 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Art, Music
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.
Places to eat and places to be
Posted by Suzi on 29 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Pubs, Things to do
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.
Please don’t lable me
Posted by Suzi on 22 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Education, Politics, Things to do
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.
A Cambridge Weekend
Posted by Suzi on 15 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Art, Cafés, Places to visit, Things to do
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.