Thursday 6 September 2007

Some Great Thing


Sorry for my little hiatus, I’ve been running around like a chicken with its head chopped off….but having a great time nonetheless!! Well minus the fact I’m trying to shake-off a cold - go flu, go away!!! Anyway, I’ve decided to dedicate one (massive) post for all the events/things I wanted to write about but couldn’t find the time to do so…I’ve even created a theme (what? you have to!) – ‘Summer Time in Jolly O’England’ and even though it rained most of the time they sure know how to make things interesting here!

1. Warhol Vs Banksy Exhibit @ The Hospital
From August 10th to September 1st the first exhibit ‘anywhere’ took place with two iconic artists – Andy Warhol and Banksy. 40 mixed media works were put on display, carefully organized to show the contrast in style…Warhol with his simplistic approach and Banksy with a more political statement; both equally incredible to view up close. It’s true that you could walk down any street in London (or Liverpool for that matter) and see a fresh Banksy tag but seeing them in this exhibit made me realize our artistic tastes as a community has changed progressively since the likes of the ‘Group Of Seven’ for instance when it was all about oil paint and canvas…I for one am glad new media forms are being
considered for their greatness.

Comparision:

Which do you prefer?


2. Deckchair Dreams @ various Royal Parks around London
25 deckchairs have been designed by 25 artists. It’s meant to ‘represent the
amazing trees and wildlife of The Royal Parks’ through the vision of the celebrity artists. The originals have been auctioned off but reprints have been created for ‘everyone to sit on and enjoy’ between June and October. They look really cool…check this one out. I’m still trying to find one…will keep you updated

Initial designs by Ben Fogle


3. Reading Festival
OMG!!!! I’ve never been to a festival of this magnitude before and I can honestly say it was an incredible, overwhelming experience. Most of the bands I’ve been listening to for the last year were playing, which was amazing yet difficult to pick which ones see – which one took precedence over the other (?!?!)….and with over 80 thousand people, it was a bit harder to run around from tent to tent – however that didn’t stop us!! With the likes of The Sounds, Klaxons, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, CSS, LCD Soundsystem, Gogol Bordello, Brand New, Against Me, Tokyo Police Club, The Foals, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Subways, Crystal Palace,…..and so many others you can probably understand why I have a cold!!! Can’t wait for next years…..

Here’s just a little taste – Arcarde Fire’s Rebellion (lies) playing while the sun sets in the background; too bad I was in a loo (and had been for over half an hour!!!) – Thank goodness for YouTube, enjoy!


4. Camping in Exmoor National Park
So I went camping this past weekend (with my cold yes – horrible, yet so much fun!) and I’ve come to realize that what they call ‘camping’ here is very different from what we call it back home in Canada. It felt like we were 10 years old and camping in our backyard – with manicured lawns and a ‘river’ view (which was more like a stream but whatever!) and of course a local pub not even a minute’s walk away! They do however have great local beers (microbreweries) which was a good thing for us when it started raining…think I can get use to this


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