Sprismatic

Re-Inspiration

2012-11-17T19:35:00.005+00:00

I discovered this film while looking for sound track composers (ticktockrobot are heroes of mine for their extraordinary animation but also finding the right sound).

Although I've had a longstanding draw to Graham Carter's art, I hadn't seen his creations animated. Me, Marionette was released to accompany his show in May, to me it is perfect warmth for a cold Autumn night.

So much so the visuals (and Richard Spiller's soundtrack) re-inspired me to open up this blog during a period of "write don't talk."

Me, Marionette from ticktockrobot on Vimeo.

The First Trailer for Tim Burton's new feature - Frankenweenie

2012-03-02T07:30:00.000+00:00

This is the first release of footage from Tim Burton's new stop-motion animation full length feature Frankenweenie.

Back in the 80's Burton made a short film about a boy who brings his dog back to life. The idea and characters are similar but this film has light, fun and humour as well as the dark, lightening lit skies and gravestone moments.

This is described as a Teaser-Trailer so we can expect more images before the release in October. Can I book my seat now?

WANTED Creative Banter

2011-11-28T21:34:00.001+00:00

While researching the work of artist Goro Fujita I came across an illustrative banter between himself and his friend, Stephan Stoelting.

Click and Scroll down for the Photoshop Battle

It made me laugh and I envied their ability to have a joke with each other using their talent.

Meanwhile I've taken time out from promoting, guiding and encouraging others to put my energy into producing something new myself.

Fujita cites Stoelting as his first and most inspiring mentor. If any of those I have mentored, helped, inspired or entertained would like to enter into a sparing of ironic words please get in touch. Meanwhile if any of my mentors read this, I'm inviting an email.

I would love to start the day dropping a figurative lump of concrete from above and anticipating someone else throwing back the final word. (And Vica Versa!)

And here's what started me off on the trail to find out more about Goro Fujita

Animation Demo Reel 2010 from Goro Fujita on Vimeo.

On The Road

2011-06-23T01:00:00.003+01:00

During the Summer months, while I'm mostly on the road:

Twitter is updated frequently, Facebook less frequently and this blog ... not so much.

Please Like on Facebook for small bites of Sprismatic people's work and Follow on Twitter for posts about (and for) creatives including film, music, festivals, design ... and Brighton.

Possible Golden Silence here for a while . . .

Digital v. Hardcopy: This weekend Go Hard

2011-04-12T00:15:00.006+01:00

Still from the video for Metronomy's The Look off their new album The English Riveria

The new appointment of Maria Martin-Prat as Head of Unit Services 1, Directorate General Internal Market, European Commission (copyright laws) is either going to be a Good Thing or a Bad Thing, depending on your area of involvement in the recording industry.

In the past she has wanted to make the burning of even back up copies illegal. If Ms Martin-Prat takes it to that level it would throw me onto the wrong side of the law for copying, for safety, a track I've downloaded from Beatport.

As we've lost an entire Sonic Stage library to the sudden death of a PC and 50%* of music which was only stored in iTunes after a Mac went blank, we now burn copies of every online purchase.

If Ms Martin-Prat's intention is to ban the burn-to-disc home PC ability and to make digital so precarious that we all go back to hard copies, then the repercussions are immense. I will leave it to the industry specialist reporters to work that one out for us.

Here's something she should approve of. If you are planning on downloading the Metronomy album, please don't if you can visit a local independent record store. Pop in and buy a copy. The CD is stunningly packaged, reminiscent of a souvenir Cornish Clotted Cream Fudge box. It's a joy to hold and our independents really do deserve to be supported. They aren't the bad guys in this Euro squabble.

Saturday, April 16 is Record Store Day throughout the country. Most shops will have special one off releases and vinyls on the day. If you find yourself about to three-click-purchase some music this week, stop and think whether you could pop into one or more of the 180 participating record stores on Saturday and give them your money instead. We have seven in Brighton alone. Locate your nearest Record Day Store.

* The other 50% was loaded from hardcopy purchases. We will continue to buy them whatever the EU bangs on our table - just because we love the artwork, insert stories and reading the notes and credits.

We play a lot of music from artists who haven't had record deals, who make music available to download or burn off their own copies. We love, promote and help push them towards their dreams. What of them Ms Martin-Prat?

Summing Sprismatic Up In Tweets

2011-04-04T00:08:00.001+01:00

There's nothing like a tweet cloud to find out where our tweet priorities are. Here is a scan of my last 200 tweets:

Sending Some Un Valentine's Day Love

2011-02-11T16:23:00.006+00:00

I've held back on posting this because I don't buy into the whole Valentine thing*.

There's enough out there to remind the single-not-by-choice they don't have a Valentine.
Also Valentine's Day can alienate religious people who don't recognise Christian Saints.
And my final bah humbug is in defence of the people who are in perfectly fine relationships who feel they're lacking something if they don't receive a Valentine card (let alone a weekend in Paris with a bed covered in rose petals). We all know romance comes in many forms and, for me, someone protecting me is the most romantic of acts.

I'm all for us being reminded that if we actually quite like someone then February is a good month to tell/show them. We're officially in Spring (but the layers of clothes we're wearing say 'Winter') so this is a good month to snuggle up and exchange tokens of our affection.

But it doesn't have to be on February 14th and it can be something which will last as a reminder for another twelve months (unlike flowers and chocolates).

So just to be sure you're too late for ordering for Monday, I'm posting this today. The artist sends hearts all round the world and throughout the year. Love, thank goodness, IS celebrated 365 days of the year ... somewhere! Surprise the one you love with this after the 14th.

There are two types of heart offered by Your Alchemy, I especially like the clay version and the artist is offering a limited edition in wood. Beautiful.

Meanwhile, if there is someone you really like (friend, potential lover, lover) you may like this song enough to send them the link to the video. Just don't feel you have to send it on Monday!

Happy Un-Valentine's Day to you on whatever the date is when you read this, including Monday.

Love.

* If you have sent me a card, ordered flowers or planned a romantic surprise for me for February 14th, thank you. How lovely. Please don't read this post!

Get Fit, Watch More Videos

2011-02-02T16:59:00.013+00:00

Instead of signing up for a gym (and staying home anyway), I spent a lot of January researching skateboarding videos from my sofa. And it seems to work. After watching boarders' satisfaction when they pull off a move, I feel great*.
So this is a tribute to the guys of Brighton, Madrid and Venice Beach. Three different worlds. Three very different moods. And all of them just having so much fun.

Brighton: Harvey Saunders Warning: You may want to stick your fingers in your ears, for the opening minute ...

Madrid: by Juan Rayos (introduced to me by one of my favourite blogs It's Nice That)

California : Beginner (yeh not) Devendra Banhart

* Health note: The author of this post understands the value of a good healthy lifestyle and respects everyone who attends a gym more than once. Watching extreme sports videos is no compensation for a healthy diet and exercise. While lightening her winter mood watching other people achieve feats she is incapable of, she also decreased her calorie intake, drank lots of green tea and water. She does, however, credit the armchair skateboarding for the adrenaline rush which inspired her to walk miles and dance for hours.

Publishing Isn't Dead

2011-01-27T18:57:00.002+00:00

Little White Lies (LWL) magazine announced today that they have sold out of their current "Black Swan" issue. This proves that publishing ain't dead, if what you print is quality.
Creative Review may have played their part in LWL's fortune, by showing the two month production process of the Black Swan issue in a two minute video.

But this isn't a one off. LWL's shelves are bare, their back issues have been snapped up too. This is good news for hard copy publishing. LWL offer a good readable web brouse but this announcement proves that hold-it-in-your-hand print touches parts the computer screen misses.

As with most good news, this won't be the end of the story for Little White Lies. Hopefully they will spend this evening celebrating in the pub and leave the "should we increase the print run" meeting for tomorrow.

Sprismatic Medal For Keeping A New Year's Resolution

2010-12-15T23:31:00.006+00:00

Project 365 encourages creatives to produce a piece of work every day of the year. They are two weeks away from completing their 2010 resolution and one of my favourites has been posted by Nathan James Paige on his Ideas Man blog.
Posting one each day is quite some feat, especially as these aren't just sketches but often topical cartoons. His references to festivals show he may not have been in the best situation to post every day of the year but he's done it. Big fat respect and The Sprismatic Medal For Keeping A New Year's Resolution goes to Mr Paige.
Here's a sample of the 350 posted so far:

http://nathanjamespage.blogspot.com/

Sloths Aren't Sinful - They Simply Don't Do Stress

2010-12-07T17:21:00.002+00:00

Sloths, these comically beautiful creatures have been given a bad name. The Bible hasn't helped the sloth's public image. Behaving like a sloth is, along with idleness, one of the deadly sins. They are quoted for being spiritually idle. And it's stuck. People who have never seen a Bible know sloths have a bad name.

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

How do we know they aren't concentrating on filling themselves with light and pondering the meaning of life as they lie there? We don't. They may know the meaning of life, which is why they look so relaxed. We don't speak Sloth so who knows?

Sloths do enough to feed themselves when they need to eat; reproduce to maintain the species and care for their young.

My feeling is they are scapegoats. There's nothing wrong with being chilled. As long as we do all we can to look after ourselves, and any dependents, then that's a good start.

If we are able to do that without getting stressed, running round in circles until we are worn out and "fit for nothing else", all the better.

Relax when you can ... be MORE like a sloth.

Got A Ten Year Career Plan Mapped Out?

2010-11-04T00:53:00.002+00:00

As if the Autumn weather and long nights weren't enough, the media have launched into their bah humbug "We're doomed, we're all doomed" comfort zone.
As is traditional at this time of the year, just as the students have returned to uni all fresh and sparkling and raring to go (that's right isn't it?), we are getting reports of how few jobs there will be at the end of it. Well compared to a few years back, yes. But there are still a lot of people earning a living, some even love the work they're doing and many are earning a lot.
So hey, how about giving yourself a break and allowing yourself to think you too will be paid for your work too.
And ignore the "You've got to being doing brilliantly as soon as you leave university or you haven't a chance."
Yes, that would be good. But some people take a while to get established in whatever field. Many change their 'career path' altogether.
During one episode of Dragon's Den, after hearing an unsuccessful pitch from a young entrepreneur, Duncan Bannatyne said:
"I have to think back sometimes to what I was doing at that age.
I didn't have a business...I was pennyless. I didn't have a penny to my name. I lived on the beach did a bit of surfing. Worked in a bar in the night time. I didn't have a bank account till I was thirty."
If your dream is to be a millionaire by the time you are thirty, then I wish you well, but if you aren't you may just be a late starter.

Sprismatic Blog has been on Summer Break

2010-07-23T10:34:00.004+01:00

A little bit of summer

This garland is from a collection by Lisa Piercy and as it made me feel instantly as though I was on holiday with my feet in cooling sand, I thought it was a perfect image to look at after the summer.

This and other mood enhancing garlands can be seen on Lisa's news page and are titled land of serendipity.

Sometimes the Shit leads to Awesome

2010-07-16T16:05:00.004+01:00

This morning, artist Philip Dennis introduced me to Blu's latest film Big Bang Big Boom. The animation has stayed in my head ever since and when that happens I want to share but the subject matter didn't appear to fit the recent "All things bright and wonderful" tone of the Sprismatic Blog.
However it's concept blew me away. I've blown back now, still muttering "How many hours must that have taken?" and decided it fits more criteria for this blog than I'd realised.
Spoiler Alert: Watch the film before you read on.

BIG BANG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

The current tag for Sprismatic is Sometimes the Shit Leads to Awesome. People destroying each other and blowing up the planet is shit but inspired an awesome interpretation.
Sprismatic aims to inspire, entertain, encourage and simplify. The only box Big Bang Big Boom didn't tick for me was obvious optimism but given an hour or two I could probably turn that one round too. It's all about the way we see things.

Profile of a Twitter User

2010-07-11T18:12:00.001+01:00

Ciaran Duffy at NGO News explains this whole Twitter thing so well. I can't do the infographic justice in the space available on here so please click this link and click the image on the NGO page to read it. It's a special world for sure.

But where's the one for a lot of the people I follow? Lets create a Schnort. We follow them because ... they make us laugh.

From Running in Mud to Synchronicity

2010-07-06T01:12:00.007+01:00

Don't you just love coincidences?
I suspect I get more excited than some because they make me quite buzzy and full of wow! but I've noticed people shrug and move on. It's these little-things-made-big that send me off to sleep at night with a contented sigh.
The down side (and here's the sods law rub) is I start to miss the buzz if I haven't noticed a coincidence recently. It's that old "to have light, there must be dark" thing and people who don't get too excited about such things, don't miss them so much.
I decided long ago to make the most of the highs and put up with the lows inbetween. But then a high for me can be bumping into someone I had been thinking about recently. It doesn't have to be an adrenaline fuelled event.
There was no synchronicity in my efforts to get to Glastonbury Festival* this year. Trying to arrange a ticket was like running in mud. But I've since had a coincidence which made me smile so this is a high:

Act I. Scene One: You may have picked up somewhere along the way that I am currently operating on the Deadmau5 frequency. A recent Deadmau5 gig in Brixton jumped straight into one of my best top 5 gigs ever. Right now, he's the man and I'm not tired of playing his albums on continuous loop yet.

Act 1. Scene Two: I started following @phstephenson on Twitter, at the recommendation of comedian @shappikhorsandi, because she makes me laugh and she said he makes her laugh. And he makes me laugh too. A lot.
Among all the informative tweets, a little daft something flashes up from @phstephenson and makes me snort too loudly. Here's two examples so you can see if you share my idea of a GSOH
Last night:
"Another great nights sleep ahead, with a woman whose hobbies include semaphore, break dancing, and conducting an invisible orchestra ... " (bit of background you may have missed - he adores his multi-hobbied wife)
and then a few minutes later, just as he's preparing to turn off the laptop, he shares a last thought:
"I want to make a TV programme, for all the poor bastards who are the 101st best ever in the world at something..."
He makes me smile while I'm supposed to be trying to make sense of research notes with too many thought provoking facts per para.

Act 1. Scene Three: I checked @phstephenson's website link and he isn't playing at a comedy club near you tonight, but you may be wearing something his company, October Textiles, helped produce.
The Coincidence: First thing I noticed on October's Home page?

Deadmau5. Well, the bamboo fabric t-shirt I bought at "one of my top five gigs ever!".
I'm not a tour t-shirt kind of a girl normally but for me Hannah Morrison's design is different.
It's also soft and obviously I have no problem advertising Deadmau5.
So there's a connection between one of my current favourite tweeters and my current musical obsession.
Fun coincidence (otherwise referred to as Isn't it a Small World?)

Meanwhile there's a synchronisation sub-plot building up for Act II which involves Ibiza and Deadmau5 and is starting to ripple.
*If you read my Glastonbury posting you will know I just couldn't get there this year, not for the want of trying, and eventually decided it wasn't meant to be.
My creed: "If it feels like you are running in mud look for another route. If all routes are muddy consider that you weren't meant to head in that direction and try another goal".
Plans to visit Ibiza seem to be working very differently. So I've decided to be excited by the possibility this is leading to a "meant to be".

Share a Secret

2010-07-03T20:57:00.002+01:00

Seducing emotional intimacy through film. Designing Lives' blog introduced me to two videos I've gone back to a few times this week. The first, Raoul Paulet's Crashing into Love, I linked to from Sprismatic's Facebook page and the second I'd like to share here.

Your Secret from Jean-Sebastien Monzani on Vimeo.
Jean-Sebastien Monzani's idea for Your Secret is so simple it made me want to rush off and learn how to make something similar. As this reaction is the essence of inspiration, I hope it has the same effect on at least one of you.
Or maybe you have a special someone you would like to share this video with. Simply beautiful.

Art in a Coffee Cup

2010-07-01T16:06:00.004+01:00

Pretty dustings of cocoa powder aren't new. The chains have been using templates to brand their cappuccinos for a while now but a barista at an independant coffee shop has the opportunity to be creative.
This work of art is by a Brighton artist who works in a town centre venue inbetween gigs.

While her boss does a good line in hemp-leaf sprinkles, this awesome lady creates seascapes. I hope my photograph manages to give you enough detail to see the dark scattering as the beach; the waves crashing above and the water spraying into drops at the top?
Sometimes I think they're too good to drink, but I'm an addict so of course I do.
Oh and it tasted delicious too.

How I shall survive not being at Glastonbury Festival

2010-06-23T22:56:00.008+01:00

This is especially for all the sleepy souls who crawled out of bed early one cold winter's morning to apply for tickets to Glastonbury Festival this year and couldn't get through to ticket sales before the dreaded Sold Out message.
That'll be me then.
Well we did actually get through but for some reason the system only recognised one out of three registration numbers, even though they're the same as last years.
Then there was the possibility of working there which didn't happen. We entered competitions but I'm very pleased for all the people who won the numerous competitions for tickets (Gnash ... no really, I am, because most of them had only been to V and Reading or Leeds festivals before).
I finally got the message. I'm not meant to be there this year!
With hindsight I will know why not. There comes a stage when sayings like "Stop trying to flog a dead horse" remind me that if something is not happening, it isn't meant to be.
It was harsh on Monday watching my van, full of happy campers, heading off on an adventure without me. And I'm undecided about whether I will be able to watch any online* or TV coverage without a deep sense of loss bubbling in my stomach.
It's the united-in-happiness atmosphere isn't it? That's what I'm already missing. That's what people who have never been don't understand. And yes I've met some people who have been to the festival in the past and didn't like it but thousands of people do. Even the muddy years created fond memories of coping and laughing together in adversity.
It's an intense experience.

The festival and the site feeds the highest of highs and the lowest of lows that can not be shrugged off as booze and drugs induced. Ask any child whether they enjoyed themselves and they will have a very definite answer.
Not many people answer "It was alright". (OK that's enough of how bloomin wonderful it is! ed)
How to survive the next few days? Well I've tried looking at people's pics of the queues to get in (which look awful) but that didn't help, because it's worth the journey.

I've told myself I'm pleased for them all, and I am. I'm glad they have a sunshine forecast for a change. I've done the: "You're lucky you've been at all" bit and remembering that it's a small dot in the year. A spec in the grand scheme of the world. But if you too have experienced Pilton during festival week you will understand - right now it aches.
So while all the magazines have been publishing guides to surviving festivals, I would like to share my plans for surviving not getting a ticket to a festival:
Between Thursday and Monday:
I've filled my diary with work, a good cause and friends who, coincidentally, were also there last year.
I shall savour a shower everyday.
Wear a fresh outfit or two each day.
Drink loads of cold tap water.
Appreciate every visit to a clean, plumbed toilet with toilet paper (and make the most of the running water to wash my hands afterwards).
Eat only fresh food that would go off without refridgeration. (No canned food or fast food).
Watch the England match on Sunday, where I know I will have a good view of the screen.
Text and call frequently - taking advantage of the chance to recharge my phone and appreciate the unjammed network.
Watch the new Gorillaz video for "On Melancholy Hill".

Enjoy every night's sleep I have in a bed.
And I'm visualising I'm there next year with everyone, either as a punter or working. But I'm there! See you there.

* For online read facebook, twitter, news reports, emails (from excited bands with set times over the weekend) and that's without the temptation to visit the festivals live stream.

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Good night Spring, Good morning Summer

2010-06-20T15:45:00.008+01:00

As the sun rises on Monday morning, Spring becomes Summer. If you aren't taking advantage of the opportunity to walk among the Stonehenge stones tonight, and you haven't got a 24-hours-of-day-light celebration booked in Alaska, what have you got planned for the hours before sunrise tomorrow? For some of us it will be work or feed the baby, but for most of us it will be "Sleep!"

I have a feeling that would be a bit of a waste of a special time. The end of Spring brings with it a time to do an audit of where/who we are and where/what we would like to be by the end of the Summer. It's a good time to give ourselves a bit of a talking to.
If you really can't face setting your alarm to be awake at sunrise (about 4.40am in the UK) then have a moment of peaceful reflection before you go to sleep tonight.
Spend some time patting yourself on the back for your good bits, thank your god, the universe, or your lucky stars for all the parts of your life for which you are grateful and spoil yourself with a moment of excitement about the possibilites for what the Summer may hold. Fantasise, day dream and be open to some sunshine moments.
Happy Summer Solstice.

Toy Story and The Wire Mash-Up

2010-06-19T05:59:00.008+01:00

"From the makers of Finding Nemo and Generation Kill" for fans of The Wire . . . sheeeeeeeeiit

via Jason Kottke

The second person on the dancefloor is the hero

2010-06-18T16:46:00.013+01:00

Are you a leader, a first-follower or happiest when part of the crowd?
You walk into a club and the music is banging but no one is dancing. You are really feeling it and desperate to leap onto the floor and throw your body round in uninhibited abandon.
Do you think "Ah sod it" and make the most of having so much space to jump round? Or do you stand watching - wishing someone else was dancing and then, when one lone soul arrives on the floor, do you join them or do you wait until many more have followed his lead before you dance?

You arrive at the opening of a new shop, keen to be one of the first 100 to receive a free gift. There's no one else queueing yet. Do you start the queue or do you walk around the block until someone else has started the queue or do wait until there is a small queue and you are able to blend in behind it?
There's a new fashion for collarless shirts. You like the trend but no one you know is wearing it yet. Will you be the first or will you wait until a couple of your mates take the lead? Or will you wait until its a common choice?
In a community, 90% want to be mainstream. Their security comes when they feel they are part of the human pack and they know how they are expected to behave.
They know the rules and even the rule breakers are happy because they consider themselves to be the retrogrades of the group but still identify themselves as being within that group.
The other 10% pursue security while being sincere to their instinct. They don't seek to be different from the group and are content to follow the group's rules if it matches their own but they can not function if it is against their sense of right and wrong. This is based on a gut feeling more than logic.
They may start the dancing because they just have to move with the beat or they will spontaneously combust.

They may start the queue, because they are really keen to get the free gift and they may be the first to wear the collarless shirt, just because they like it. They are prepared to stand out and set themself up for ridicule if that's what it takes for them to be able to follow their instinct. The second person to join them on the dancefloor, join the queue and wear the shirt is the brave one. This person is often from the crowd and prepared to step out of the crowd to join the first person. The second person is saying to the crowd, come on - it's fine. We can do this.
In this video, Derek Sivers illustrates how human's respond and highlights how it isn't necessarily the
first person in the queue, on the dancefloor or wearing the new style that is a leader of something new. It's the next few people who join in and encourage others to do the same who make the difference. One person on their own can just be a weirdo. A few people make it a collective of value.

Notice Derek's theory that after a good proportion of the crowd have joined the activity, others join in because they want to be part of the larger group, which is no longer the seated group but the dancing group.

This insight has been used by marketeers, religious leaders and politicians for years but it's fun to stand back and get an idea of just how we react and which part we role in a community be it at work, play or within our family.

Big up for the second person on the dancefloor. You are the unsung hero.

By creative licence: Humphrey hearts John

2010-06-15T17:48:00.002+01:00

This is turning into National Lernert and Sander Day on Sprismatic, but here's something completely different from the previous post. They have created these posters for this year's Amsterdam Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Pink Film Days, 2010. The website dedicated to these directors and artists is www.weloveourwork.com. It shows.

Feed good coffin association

2010-06-15T12:36:00.003+01:00

Now here's an idea ... we should use coffins more in every day life so that they don't always have such a sad association ... one of my favourite wake-me-up websites It's Nice That introduced me to this video:
Coffin Poser from Lernert and Sander on Vimeo.
I'm going to quote It's Nice That's piece word for word, with big fat honours to them, because I can't improve on this:
"Coffins, stark operating rooms, heavy trance music and conveyor belts aren't the classic ingredients for a feel-good Monday morning music video. Unless Dutch duo Lernert and Sander get hold of them. The piece was released towards the end of last year for band Aux Raus and charts the unusual culinary skills of two pretty intimidating looking chaps with an urge to bake. Tip for the rushed - there's some nice camera work at 2.10".
Thank you It's Nice That. It is.

A week of optimism, the gruesome and the awesome

2010-06-11T18:51:00.006+01:00

This week has been Sunrise Celebration festival: lots of smiley, friendly people and good brain food. Optimism.
Big Brother 11: lots of smiley, (possibly faux) friendly people and skincare adverts. Enticingly gruesome.

And the World Cup Opening Ceremony: lots of smiley, friendly people and a real tear-jerker moment when children performed the logo finale. Awesome.

Sunrise was such good brain food that I am still writing up my notes*, let alone turning those thoughts into something useful. Freelancers can spend so much time kicking themselves up the backside and backburning projects that don't have an immediate form, that I forget sometimes how useful working with others is for unlocking thoughts and making sense of information. I met some incredible people who jogged my brain cells into life with renewed focus and a laugh. So I suppose I've just come back from the equivalent of an informal summer school with my students, my colleagues, my teachers and my mentors.

Big Brother's return is welcome. I don't hold with the idea it's mindless pap designed to keep us too busy to notice the horrors of life we should be addressing instead. Most people have enough challenges in their lives to be fully in the moment most of the time, but what BB does is to offer something everyone can have an opinion on for the sake of bonding or bantering without causing the sort of heated argument that sex, politics and religion can. We don't have to watch it everyday.

And, although my experience of the football World Cup is likely to be limited to listening to a load of angry bumble bees** in the background. I'm pleased it's here. I wish England's team well and it would be lovely if they could repeat 1966 but meanwhile let's just be happy for the excitement so many are feeling, right now, today. And as someone who was round when apartheid prevented South Africa from competing - it's brilliant that they are hosting. I looked at the closeups of the smiling Black South Africans in the opening ceremony and wondered if any of them were the kids we always saw playing football in a "Blacks Only" park in Johannesburg, twenty years ago. That's the result.

* These notes will take form within a newsletter from the website, if you would like to subscribe to the newsletters click this link and send a contact message.

** It's the hooters. The football is being watched on a screen behind me and all I can hear is ... close your eyes when watching your next match ... Angry bumble bees?!