Edutainment Evening Launch

It was lovely to meet fellow case studies Penelope, Gil, Stanley and the author of Edutainment, Paul Devlin from Voluntary Arts England. Finding that Penelope and I have mutual acquaintances and with emails being fired back and forth between myself and Paul in the run up to the launch, we were immediately all at ease and chatting like old friends.

The evening began with performances from an excellent school group playing the bongos and a drama group – one girl was the spit of Cate Blanchett as Galadriel. The New Music Collective from Godalming College, treated us to some beautiful singing. So pure; sometimes, you don’t need any instruments.

The final group fired up a couple of kitchen sinks, two coke cans and kitchen utensils! Creativity in music needn’t cost much. I wish I could name check them all; unfortunately there was no programme for the evening event.

There followed an interview with Professor John Benyon by Susanna Reid from BBC Breakfast news. And a lot of what was said needed saying; John champions Life- long Adult Learning. There’s a huge benefit countrywide, not least because it’s proven that older people retain their faculties for longer if they keep their brains active; keeping fit equals being less of a burden on the state and stops loneliness and depression setting in. Or, as he put it: “Put them in an art class, you’ll keep them out of hospital.” They’ll be more from John under the conference posting proper, where you’ll be able to listen to the panel discussion.

Highlight of the evening entertainment for me was the Dan Swana Trio an unexpected pleasure to hear a few jazzy favourites to finish off the evening, while I finished off the Pimms. I asked what the trio were called and was told “just Dan and his mates”. Slight understatement, when you check out the website! Dan’s whole life is dedicated to music, not just his own but his involvement with youth groups, theatre and teaching, as well as playing with the likes of Branford Marsalis and touring with Swing Out Sister . And he has a Double Bass that, in my very humble opinion, is a masterpiece of contemporary art! I really must buy a decent camera phone.

Away Days

I’ve been to the launch of ‘Edutainment’ and the National Conference that coincided with the DCMS/Arts Council publication of ‘Our Creative Talent: The voluntary and amateur arts in England.’ I’m not going to tell you everything in this one post though. I’ll break it down into manageable chunks, just like I do with those woofing great big bars of Galaxy …first off though, a few observations noted along the way.

Hubby suggested driving in with him, which meant he did the school run with me. “No wonder you’re always running out of time,” he grumbles, “you’re still in the playground gossiping with the other mums for ten minutes after they’ve gone in…” I correct him: That’s not gossiping, that’s honing our communications skills!

At a cross roads in Romford there’s a man on his balcony in just his pants, gearing up for the hottest day of the year, as it was. He thinks he can’t be seen (I hope so anyway) since he’s doing squats and toe touching *My eyes! My eyes!* Thank the stars it’s frosted glass.

On the train to Liverpool Street, we pass through Stratford - and a wave of nostalgia kicks in. The Two Puddings was a favourite haunt - I wonder if it‘s still there or been swallowed up by all the development?

A sign in Moorgate says: ‘Moorgate escalator works‘. It’s pinned to boards fencing in the escalator, which doesn’t!

I don’t do public transport and certainly not ever with a small suitcase. Think Brodie in ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ - you know, where Indy says: He’ll blend in, disappear, he speaks a hundred languages, knows all the local customs …and then you cut to Brodie, meandering around, totally tourist. I finally suss out that to get through the barriers without the case sticking, it’s best to push it through first.

I arrive way too early at the Travelodge and decide to take a dummy run along to the Barbican - and oh, what joy: Hello, Farringdons! Books and cd’s, I could quite happily stay rummaging in here all day. I come away with a small square but extremely thick book ‘Jazz: The Complete Story.’ And ‘Songlines’ Magazine, which I’ve never seen before.

Stopping at M&S on the way back, I’ve a Brie, grape and cranberry sarnie, an M&S twix, pomegranate and raspberry juice, a Pink Lady apple, some sour cream and chive low fat crinkles and now have my feet up on a very comfy bed, watching the tennis, sampling the jazz book. I could get used to this.