Horsing around in Greenwich

As the colourful banners go up all around Greenwich so we have settled into our roles as the Clearing Reception team.

We’ve had lots of fun with my camera.  Two weeks ago was graduation week and the Maritime Campus was filled with graduates looking amazingly spick and span in their flowing robes accompanied by families bursting with pride.  An undergraduate degree is such an achievement and represents more than just meeting the academic requirements of the course as students learn to study independently, juggle precarious finances, and achieve a work /life /study /social activities balance.  So often it can feel easier to just chuck it all in and do something a lot easier.  I know that feeling so well.

I also met some of the graduates of the masters and doctoral programmes. Getting through those programmes is such an amazing achievement and the golden robes of the new doctors shone in the summer sunlight. The ceremonies took place in the superb setting of the Painted Hall and the Chapel on the Maritime Campus.  The beaming family members bustled around bursting with pride as they posed for pictures we put up on the uni facebook page uniofgreenwich.

With the graduation ceremonies over, it was full steam ahead to transform the campus into a magnificent entrance way for the Olympic Equestrian events in Greenwich Park.  We now have a bridge across the main road, banners flapping everywhere and hospitality tents that have sprung up everywhere like giant mushrooms unexpected places.  Lunch-time becomes a veritable obstacle course as we negotiate our way through tourists, Olympic ambassadors, and summer course students.  It is very lively made even more so by the very welcome sunshine. 

Banners

Road sign

Road bridge

The View from the third floor of Queen Mary Building

Amongst all this excitement, we now have our three reception areas set up in Queen Anne and Queen Mary buildings on the Maritime campus and in the Student Common Room on the Mansion site in Avery Hill.  We are meeting a variety of people who pop in to ask mainly about clearing but sometimes for directions to the loo and to other educational establishments completely unconnected to us.

In between chatting to people, we are doing Live Chat, an MSN service where we are ‘meeting’ people from all over the world.  I thought I would get really stressed out doing it because I thought I was a really slow typist but I am learning that there are lots of people slower than me which is great for my confidence.

Today was the equestrian eventing in Greenwich Park and you could tell when something exciting was happening from the whoops and cheers coming across to us from the park.  There were 50,000 people in the audience and the atmosphere was electric.  At lunchtime I popped out to watch some of it on the Big Screen set up by the river.  People sat in the deckchairs transfixed by the action and the skill of the horses and riders. I was lucky to catch the British athlete Mary King competing to the extra loud roars of the crowd. The jugs of Pimms were very tempting but with an afternoon of work still to do I had to resist the temptation.

Big screen

I do not have tickets for the Olympics this year so I am very glad I got to go to the trials last year with my horsey daughter Kate.  We got to see the course and watch the British riders testing it all out.  I was worn out by the end of that day as I trailed behind a very enthusiastic Kate rushing around to watch all her heroes – and actually I must agree with her that William Fox-Pitt does look rather good in his jodphurs. 

William Fox-Pitt - see what I mean?

Picture Credit: Willaim Fox-Pitt jumping: http://www.highoffleystud.co.uk/stableexpress/images.asp?id=1260

                          William Fox-Pitt standing- taken at the equestrian trials Greenwich Park 2011

If even Stephen Fry can get his head around twitter …

…then I should be able to manage my new role in the clearing team.  My head is exploding after having spent this morning with Jenny and Nicola attempting to master the intricacies of Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Livechat under instruction from our endlessly patient Enquiry Unit permanent staff.

If you are one of my much treasured regular readers you may recall my difficulties in even getting my head around writing this blog.  I had an interesting Skype with my son Jack a couple of weeks ago when he was trying to get me to understand that you don’t twitter a tweet or go around twittering like “wot one did in the olden days when one grew up in a cave and had to be protected from the sabre toothed tigers roaming around”.  Nowadays one tweets on Twitter.

Bam Bam

…so I sort of got it and then managed to find his twitter account only to discover this tweet :

Hilarity is trying to list the reasons why one doesn’t say: “I’m sending a twitter”, to my grammatically-sensitive mother 

Hmm – I did email him to enquire whether I should be amused or offended!

So we are now the reception staff for both the Greenwich Maritime and Avery Hill campuses with the lovely Tony as our supervisor (he makes a jolly good cup of tea,  answering all the drop in visitor queries and doing the social networking.  It is rather scary but I am looking forward to the challenge.

 

…so if you’d like to have a live chat, tweet us or facebook us

                                    ….please be gentle, I’m a newbie!

Pic sources:

Bam Bam: http://4.bp.blogspot.com

Twitter cartoon: http://www.askingsmarterquestions.com/study-using-twitter-hashtags-as-part-of-your-social-strategy/

Wimbledon, Fungus the Bogeyman and getting promoted

The tennis was brilliant!  I sat there glued to the screen watching the woman’s finals on Saturday and the Men’s on Sunday.  It is the first time I have watched the finals for many years but a combination of inclement weather, a deadline for my second project draft on Monday and having the house to myself for the weekend was an adequate excuse to be very indulgent.

Serena Williams

Murray and Federer

                

In between matches there were lots of opportunities to pop out for a cuppa,  make some lunch, have a loo break , check out how many frogs were sitting around the pond, fill in a few numbers on   the Soduko – anything but apply myself to my project work.  These opportunities included:

• when the players needed time to have their fevered brows mopped  with towels provided by super-enthusiastic towel bearers
• when it was time to change those shabby old racquets restrung that morning and in use for at least half an hour thus enabling  an increase in ball speed from 130mph to 131mph,
• when players needed to gently stroll to the other end of the court for the next game
• when the rain started so everything had to stop for the court to be covered and the roof closed
• when players stopped for a refreshing drink from containers displaying the maker’s name– worth a fortune in advertising
• when we needed time for good shots of the celebrities arranged around the court in all their finery. These included Kate and Pippa, David and Posh, Cliff Richard.

I may jest but really it was two days of fabulous tennis and I would have been on the edge of my seat the whole time if I hadn’t been lying prone on the sofa feeling exhausted watching all that rushing around on court.

So I arrived at work in the Enquiry Unit on Monday rather despondent about not doing as much work as I had wanted to and with a tutorial booked the following day with my supervisor who expected a reasonable second draft of my project to be delivered to her at lunchtime. 

…but first I had to get through the skills test and interview for a senior position in Clearing.  That was at 10am and I duly lined up with the others all looking like lambs going to the slaughter.  After a written test on general knowledge of the university and Clearing process we had a 10-15 minute interview followed by a phones test when we had to take three calls from disgruntled people complaining about various things.  I came out shaking sure that I had failed, while my mate Cherie looked as white as a sheet.  I did feel better when I discovered that everyone felt as grotty as I had. 

On Tuesday I had a brilliant tutorial.  Fearing that my tutor Val would tell me to chuck it and start again (I had already restarted twice), instead she had some wonderful suggestions, helped me get right on track and plan a good structure for it.  I am a very visual person and need to be able to ‘see’ an essay like piece of art and until I have that picture in my head, I feel like I flounder around.  Luckily it was pouring with rain all of Wednesday which meant I didn’t mind too much putting my nose to the grindstone and working all day.

Nose to the grindstone

However I am beginning to think I will turn into a Fungus the Bogeyman lookalike soon if it doesn’t stop raining.  I am beginning to check for webbing between the toes and green mossy growths in my armpits.  Rain stop!

Fungus the Bogeyman

Today I was called in for the verdict about my interview and I had been selected for a senior position so I am relieved and delighted.  I will be working with the reception team over on the Greenwich Maritime campus right in the middle of all the Olympics goings on - so interesting times.

…but before all that I have to spend the next three days writing

                                                                                                writing

                                                                                                            writing …  no more excuses!

Sources:

Nose to the grindstone: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/k/keep_you_nose_to_the_grindstone.asp/

Serena Wiliams: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/tennis-news/2012/07/08/wimbledon-2012-serena-williams-beats-agnieszka-radwanska-to-claim-fifth-wimbledon-title-86908-23905967/

Murray and Federer: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1251400-wimbledon-tennis-2012-finals-highlighting-best-and-worst-of-federer-vs-murray/

Tumbleweeds, Hampton Court and Flirting with Bees

We have started working in Early Clearing this week and it feels quite strange.  We have had to move from the familiarity of the Enquiry Unit working with a small team to the newly set up arrangement in the Mansion Site computer lab that normally buzzes with students during term-time. Now all the undergraduates have completed their summer terms and sat their exams, the only students around are the post grads with longer deadlines like me, or those who are preparing for re-sits in August.  Even the library feels strange with piles of books everywhere and furniture in disarray as renovations are carried out ready for the start of the new academic year in September.  For the next two weeks our Clearing team is the same size as it was in the Enquiry Unit so we are tucked away in a corner of the lab with vast expanses of empty desks filling the rest of the space.  I have visions of tumbleweeds rolling down the aisles any minute!  We then expand into 8 teams with the ranks swelled with newbies at the start of A level week.  Throughout Clearing we have a rota to write for a daily Clearing diary http://greenwich-clearing2012.blogspot.co.uk .  If you are thinking of applying to Greenwich for a Clearing place, check it out for lots of useful advice – mine was the second and dealt with money issues – a subject always close to a student’s heart!

Tumbleweeds

Thinking of tumbleweeds and Clearing I came across this wonderful piece:

All hail the tumbleweed, denizen of deserted steppe, itinerant ditherer of the dusty plains. It goes wherever the wind and the land dictate, often shedding seeds as it bumbles. Around boulder and over hillock it canters, cantankerously, seeming to ask as it rolls by: “Why do you notice me?” It speaks – whether we listen or understand – of life past and passing on; of wide open spaces and perhaps loneliness; of a spirit at once opportunistic and inscrutable.

How’s that for waxing lyrical? I wish I could write like that. However, I really meant to write about my annual trip with him-at-home to the Hampton Court Flower Show.  I much prefer it to Chelsea because it is easier to escape the rather annoying moneyed weirdo people to admire the wonderful plants and landscaping in peace.  I love even the journey there which entails either a walk along the river checking out the lovely houseboats,

 or strolling through the palace gardens with the backdrop of the Tudor Hampton Court Palace setting it all off perfectly.  I always have to get my fix of those amazing chimneys.

Hampton Court Palace chimneys

As we arrived we met Mr Bee-man who was having a sartorial challenge with his costume wings so a quick adjustment from yours truly and he was happy to pose for a pic.

Bee man 

That was before I proceeded to tell him all about our wonderful hives at the Avery Hill campus and probably went on a bit too long and too enthusiastically.

I love bees and they are so important to sustain our food supply and the well-being of our planet.  Over the last few years they have had a really hard time with populations being decimated by viruses, pesticides and loss of habitat.  I would love to have a beehive in our garden but it is much too small so we have lots of bee loving flowers growing instead.

I loved this garden of cacti and succulents set to resemble a coral reef.  It was so cleverly done, set up in a blue Perspex cube with a watery roof on a little island surrounded by a moat.  Standing in the cube I felt surrounded by water as the light played on the ripples

Coral Reef

This was a rather strange garden with peacocks, angels and floaty things  - even the idea of a stained glass window rendered in flowers – a very strange mish-mash in my view.

Victorian Fantasy

Stained glass window

There is always a themed competition for colleges and I had to admire this entry from the students at Hadlow College (http://www.hadlow.ac.uk ), one of our partner colleges specialising in environmental (more bees!) agricultural, equine, and animal courses.  The theme must have been poetry or literature as this entry is called the Lady of Shalott. I wonder if it could have been improved with a few small onions around to give it an ironic note!

After a great day we staggered home.  I was very restrained and only bought two plants.  We changed trains at Waterloo and I was delighted to get the best view I have ever had of the new Shard building at London Bridge.

The Shard

Every time I travel up to London Bridge, I enjoy watching the London Quarter project develop; the demolition of several really grotty buildings progressing to a very large hole in the ground to the construction of the most elegant of spires. Then there is the expansion of the railway and changes to Borough Market. Watching the spectators on the viewing platforms has been just as fascinating. Why is it that it always seems to be men and small boys line up peering at building sites, gazing in fascination at large construction vehicles, and engrossed in the music of pile drivers?

Sources:

tumble weed: http://scienceline.org/2011/03/virtues-of-a-weed

beehives: http://greengreenwich.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/london-bee-summit.html

Hampton Court Palace chimneys: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2508036

Preparing for Clearing in an Onomatopoeic Sort of Way

I have been battling away at my horrid course work and not getting very far at all.  I have had almost two weeks away from work in the Enquiry Unit hoping that I would return to work with my professional development project pretty much in the bag.

Well it is not to be.  I have been going to sleep despairing in of it, waking up dreading another day working on it and dreaming of having some sort of amazing light bulb moment when all appears clear enabling me to whiz though it.  Instead, I feel more muddled than I did before and him-at- home is starting to look as miserable as I feel at my lack of progress.

It got so bad two weeks ago that I volunteered for ambassador work  figuring that if I was not going away on holidays and I was getting nowhere with my work, I may as well take a break and earn some money.  For two mornings last week I went out to Medway to do mock interviews in a sixth form college.  I had six students to spend a half hour with each:  15 minutes interview, 5 minutes verbal feedback then ten minutes to write up the feedback to be given to the student.  I really enjoyed this work and tried to give balanced feedback emphasising the positive aspects but explaining what could help the interviewees to improve.  Then on Friday I was off to east London to subject another batch of sixth formers to a one hour and a half finance talk.  It is hard to make uni finance into a really gripping presentation but I did my best to encourage the students to apply for uni, explaining how much I had benefitted from my higher education experience.

So after two gruelling days at home trying desperately to avoid implementing my well-honed procrastination skills, I am back here in the Enquiry Unit for three days until we move to the computer lab to start Early Clearing on Monday.

On arrival in the office all was in disarray as staff prepared to move sites for Clearing.  I mentioned that I was feeling rather discombobulated which led to a wonderful discussion about onomatopoeic words.  I’ve always loved these and discombobulation just sounds to me like its meaning.  I found a wonderful article by Dianne Saphiere (blog) entitled “Want to Feel Ukiuki, Pichipichi and Pinpin?” where she writes about the Japanese implementation of onamatopaeia to describe foods; their texture, and smell, eating them and preparing them.

Some of my favourites are shikishaki  for crisp, fuwafuwa for fluffy and korikori  for crunchy and crisp and the wonderful sound of chokichoki  for using preparation with a knife. I wonder what word the Japanese would come up with to describe my very much alive and fecund Herman friendship cake mixture, bubbling away very busily on my kitchen bench with its yeasty earthy smell and sticky almost elastic texture?

Sources:

Dog: http://blog.culturaldetective.com/2012/06/19/want-to-feel-ukiuki-pichipichi-and-pinpin-japanese-food-onomatopoeia/

Kapow: http://northernuproar.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/onomatopoeia/

John Soanes and Grayson Perry – Paintings, Pots, Frocks and Tapestry

One of the hidden treasure places I take visitors with an architectural, artistic or quirky bent is to the wonderful – and free- John Soane’s Museum in Lincolns Inn Field near Holborn.  This house began life as three houses that were almost totally demolished then rebuilt by their owner and architect John Soanes in the 18^th Century.  The web-site (http://www.soane.org) tells us that

Soane, born in 1753, was the son of a bricklayer who died in 1837 after a long and distinguished career. He designed this house to live in, but also as a setting for his antiquities and his works of art. After the death of his wife (1815), he lived here alone, constantly adding to and rearranging his collections. Having been deeply disappointed by the conduct of his two sons, one of whom survived him, he determined to establish the house as a museum to which ‘amateurs and students’ should have access.

This museum is a wonderful treasure trove of art, antiquities, and amazing architectural details.  There is even an Egyptian sarcophagus in the basement.  I always wondered how his wife tolerated living in a constant building site where Soanes didn’t just modernise the kitchen or knock down the occasional wall; he moved the staircase, rearranged the floors and ceiling heights, changed the entire roofline and filled the place with huge chunks of ancient Greek and Roman building, all gathering dust and too heavy to move without a crane or several burly men.  He must have been a nightmare to live with - but he has left us the most fabulous legacy.

Inside Sir John Soane’s Museum - imagine having to dust that lot!

Within these walls is an amazing collection of paintings.  One of my favourites is a series of eight paintings by Hogarth called The Rake’s Progress.  Completed in the early 19^th century, it tells of the rise and fall in the fortunes of a chap called Tom Rakewell and is a fascinating social commentary of those days**.

Last week I visited the Victoria Miro Gallery near Old Street to see an exhibition featuring tapestries designed by one of my favourite artists, Grayson Perry, who refers to himself as the ‘tranny potter’.  He won the turner prize in 2003 for his very beautiful but disturbing pots and created waves by accepting the award dressed in a beautiful baby doll costume. 

Grayson Perry accepting his Turner Prize

Grayson Perry in his studio

Perry is famous for the large pots which he has been making and decorating for 30 years and it is relatively recently that he has branched out to include tapestry as a medium to express his unique take on life in the modern world.

One of his first is a 15 x 3 metre work called the Walthamstow Tapestry referencing the Bayeaux Tapestry but named after the area in which his studio is situated.

The Walthamstow Tapestry

His current exhibition is a series of six large tapestries exploring taste and class.  He produced three hour long documentaries entitled All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry shown weekly on Channel Four, the last one airing tonight at 10pm.  The first programme explored taste and the working class, the second middle class whilst the third will deal with the upper class.  He visited people in their homes, photographing their special items, attending special events with them and seeking to understand what constitutes good taste within their self-defined classes.  He then designed the tapestries which were woven on huge looms in Belgium.

In the tapestries he referenced The Rake’s Progress, naming his central character Tim Rakewell and also referred to other classical works although the tapestries are a completely modern social commentary - as were Hogarth’s so long ago.  I went with a friend and we spent ages studying the tapestries with their myriad details.  Just as I thought I had seen it all, I would notice another detail exquisitely executed.

Detail from Expulsion from No 8 Eden Close

Grayson Perry pictured in front of his tapestry ‘The Upper class at Bay’

It was a fantastic way of taking a break from my last course work. I have been I was pretty much in despair over it and just about giving up.  Then I checked the marks for my last two pieces of work only to find that I had achieved two firsts.  Prior to this news I had been moaning away to him- at- home that it was all too hard and wanting to hit him when he responded with “but you always say that”.  Now with these marks I can’t really give up so it is time to knuckle down.

Picture sources:

Inside Soanes museum: http://traveldk.com/london/bloomsbury-and-fitzrovia/dk/sir-john-soanes-museum#attraction-image

The Rakes Progress: http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/the-rakes-progress-by-william-hogarth/

Grayson Perry as Claire: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3298707.stm

 Grayson Perry in his studio: http://andrewhardman.wordpress.com/category/studios/

Tapestries at the Victoria Miro: http://thelittlegardenstudio.blogspot.co.uk/  

Expulsion from No 8: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2012/jun/06/hogarth-grayson-perry-tapestries  Also a great article about the works

 Walthamstow tapestry: http://www.blackratprojects.com/artists/biography/grayson-perry

The Upper Class at Bay: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/9321263/Grayson-Perry-What-class-am-I-All-three.html

**Link: http://www.soane.org/collections_legacy/the_soane_hogarths/rakes_progress

Herman the Friendship cake and Jess come to stay

A few weeks ago my friend Chris rang from Yorkshire asking if we could put her daughter up for a couple of weeks while she found a house share in London.  We were delighted to help out feeling it was payback time – fair exchange for when Chris had looked after my daughter up in Yorkshire a few years ago.  Jess arrived laden down with suitcases, a lovely bottle of wine and a plastic container containing a dubious bubbling substance.  That was our introduction to Herman, her friendship cake mixture which we were to empty into a bowl and nurture for ten days carefully following her special written instructions.

Herman baby

We set Herman up on the kitchen bench in a bowl covered with a tea towel and proceeded to stir him with a wooden spoon each time we passed, talking to him as instructed,  until the fourth day when we had to feed him with milk, sugar and flour, then continue the tlc for another four days. On the 9^th day we were to divide him into five little Hermans , four to give away and the last to cook into a cake.

Herman is as demanding as a pet but makes an absolutely delicious cake.  I took one into the Enquiry Unit last week for everyone to share.  People asked why it was called a friendship cake.  As I started to explain, the whole office became involved and it reminded me of Arlo Guthrie doing his 1967 monologue of Alice’s Restaurant.

It starts 

“This song is called Alice's Restaurant, and it's about Alice, and the restaurant, 

but Alice's Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant, that's just the name

of the song, and that's why I called the song Alice's Restaurant”  then 

meanders in the most wonderful fashion for a further 18 minutes.

Alice's restaurant album cover 

As I explained how Herman was alive and needed lots of nurturing a debate arose about what was alive and what wasn’t.  Jo** started it by stating that Herman could not possibly be alive.  The conversation went something like this:

Jo: I mean he is not wandering around my house having a shower and helping himself to the contents of my fridge is he?

Me:   No but Jo – really … Is that tree outside alive?

Jo:  Yes but that is different.

Me:  No it’s not. It’s alive and it is not wandering around your house is it?

Jo:  Look you’re being silly.

Me:  …and an elephant is alive and it is not wandering around your house taking a shower and helping itself to the contents of your fridge.  Ants are alive and they are not either.

Jo: …but at least they have legs.

Me: …but a snake is alive and it doesn’t have legs and neither does a worm or a tree.

By this time I had enlisted my fellow pedant Cherie as staunch supporter while Steve, the sane and sensible one in the office who deals with the schools of science informed us of the link he had emailed us.  We opened it to an email entitled  ”ALIVE!” with the following link:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=watch-yeast-live-breathe

This explains how yeast is alive and gives full instructions for setting up an experiment to show  how it breathes.  Jo then went rather quiet but Cherie and I were not going to let him get away with it that easily.

Cherie and me:  There you go! See! See!

Jo:  How do you expect me to believe that – it’s American!

Now that was below the belt- I felt I had to defend my heritage but by this time Jo suddenly became very busy immersing himself in his work.  Then Anne, also very sane and sensible, announced that she had found a whole Herman website.  That was truly exciting especially with its world map showing all the people who had logged onto it and lots of new recipes for me to try.  If you aren’t lucky enough to be presented with a baby Herman, you can learn how to birth your own little one on this site:

http://www.hermanthegermanfriendshipcake.com

These are the instructions that came with my Herman:

…and while you are happily tending your little Herman you can listen to some more Arlo Guthrie.  I love his motorcycle song and happily sang it to my kids as they rode pillion on the back of my motorcycle trying not to fall asleep.

“I don’t want a pickle

I just want to ride on my motor cycle

I don’t want to die

I just want to ride on my motorcy ……cle.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSrZ68JV3mY&feature=fvwrel

*If you do not know this great monologue from 1967 catch it here – it’s a classic! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m57gzA2JCcM&feature=fvwrel

** I have changed all names to prevent any undue embarrassment that may arise from the publication of this blog

Sources:

Herman baby: http://victoriapitkin.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/german-friendship-cake-baking-from.html

Alice’s Restaurant album cover:   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alice's_Restaurant.jpg