Dreaming of Freedom

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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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