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Monday 30 September 2013

Real Ale Festival at MOSI

Hello again! As you may have guessed, the majority of these travel posts are dictated by where I have been volunteering. Well done if you got that at home. Anyway, this post is no different. I was recently volunteering at the MOSI Real Ale Festival, which you can have the pleasure* of reading about.

I believe this was called "Black Magic". Yummy.

Beer

Yes, for those of you that know me, I do like a drink. So this was certainly the place for me. On offer were approximately 90 different types of beer and cider, so there was a wide range of choice. The beers were reasonably priced for a festival, being on average £3 a pint. The bottles, however were more expensive. It did depend on how fancy you wanted to get. I believe I saw several 33cl bottles for about £4. To be fair, these were bottles of beer which incorporated several different types of flavours and ingredients.

Cost

To get into the festival itself, it cost £5 for the general public and £4 for concession (members of CAMRA, OAP's, students). This did strike me as expensive, but the event was a fundraiser for the museum and they do have to make money somehow. The bars were cashless, meaning you had to buy redeemable tokens at the entrance. They were refundable, but an unfortunate by-product of this was that if you had 50p left over, it didn't seem worth trying to refund it. This could be avoided by clever spending, or you could deal with it and donate it to MOSI. The donation solution was used by several people, earning the museum a nice extra bit of cash. 

Glasses were free to use during the event, which was a nice touch. Obviously you had to give them back at the end, but if you liked the design you could buy a clean one for £3 on your way out. If you wanted one for free, you would very likely be having a word with the security guard on your way out.

Somewhere in there is the main bar.

Music

From what I can remember, it was very good music. Think classic rock and general rock. Good stuff.

Location

If you hadn't guessed, it was in the power hall at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Manchester. The power hall acted as an apt setting, providing several engines and steam-driven machinery from times gone by to marvel at.

Summary

This was the third real ale festival at MOSI, which I believe overall was a successful event. My only qualm is the cost of getting in, with the concession only knocking £1 off the price. Yet like I said earlier, the museum has to make money somehow. The festival should be running next September, but there is also the Manchester beer and cider festival in the new year if you can't wait until then. 

*Pleasure not guaranteed.

Thursday 26 September 2013

Brains at MOSI.

Hello all, I was worried that I wouldn't be posting in a while. How foolish I was. As a proof of this, I shall regale you with the following story, the story of my trip to the brains exhibition. Sit tight.

Exhibition

The exhibition was entitled "Brains: The Mind as Matter". The theme of the event, as you may have guessed, was the brain. The brain, the organ which determines how we spend our days, which decisions we make and which holds all of our memories. Yet the event is not as science-orientated as you would think. In order to not frighten anybody away with science, there was a large emphasis on science meeting art. This meld of science and art ensures that the event is easily enjoyed by all. As proof of art being on equal ground with science, the exhibition had commissioned a specialist artist to create some rather spectacular prints. I will come back to this later, as there is much more to be discussed.

Slice of human. 
The exhibition was split into 4 sections, each one regarding a different surgical practice involving the brain. The section  titles were vague, with titles such as "Giving/Taking" and "Cutting/Treating", to allow several avenues regarding the brain to be explored.

Sections

The sections were enjoyable for visitors of varying interest, there were articles explaining the different neurological practices for those who were fascinated, but it was just as easy to stare at brains in jars, if you so wished. The exhibits ranged from rare surgical textbooks regarding the brain (one from the famous surgeon Andreas Vesalius), through the aforementioned prints, to slices of the human body and the brain. One fascinating exhibit was of a human spinal cord, which was being preserved for all to see. I will admit, it was slightly strange to see that on a Tuesday afternoon.

Above: The work of Andreas Vesalius.

Above: Brains in jars. Lovely.



Above: The spinal cord, in all its glory.






There were also video exhibits, which explained different methods of testing, scanning, measuring (etc) the brain. I will leave those to you to watch. Get back to me, tell me how they are.

Location

The exhibition itself is currently (at time of writing) on the first floor of the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI- http://www.mosi.org.uk/). In my opinion, MOSI was a bit of a strange location (My original thought was that it might have been better suited in the environment of the Manchester museum), however I was proved wrong. It serves as a pallet cleanser for those (like myself) who would normally visit MOSI for its exhibits on the physical sciences. Another benefit for MOSI being used is that the exhibits from Manchester itself seem to belong in the historically mancunian environment of MOSI.

Above: A resin cast of the blood vessels in the brain. The resin is 
pumped into the vessels, where it solidifies. The rest of the brain is 
corroded away with acid, resulting in this exquisite view of what 
feeds the brain.

Art

As previously mentioned, in order to not appear as another purely scientific exhibition, MOSI took some artistic influence. This came in the form of Daksha Patel, a wonderful woman who did some inspired work for the collection. Her works used the brain as the overarching theme, unsurprisingly for the event, to produce works which included a print of the human nervous system and an unstable piece of art depicting the brain. Like all good art, you can (like myself) look at it and just enjoy how it looks, or you can search for a deeper meaning. I think I'll stick with just admiring the pretty pictures. 

As I mentioned previously, the entire exhibition aims to put science and art on equal ground. The best example of this is to the right, in the resin cast of the blood vessels in the brain. Call me pretentious (go ahead), but I truly think it shows how art can come up from even the most scientific regimes.

Cost

Completely free! This is not a case of it being free to get into the main museum and being charged to get into the special exhibition. No, it is completely free if you want. If you do wish to show your gratitude, you can make a (recommended £3) donation to MOSI at their entrance.

Summary

An exhibition about brains, which isn't puts science and art on a level playing field. It sounds strange, risky even, but I think (or my brain does) that it is a risk which works. Why does it work? Well I've already tried to explain it, so I'll leave it to you. Go ahead and find out, it's open until the 4th of January.

Thursday 12 September 2013

My day in London.

Hello again! Before you leave, let me tell you this: Just because this post is about London, it doesn't mean I've run out of ideas. On the contrary, in fact I hope to show you somewhere you may not have known about the big (overused) city.

My Location Within London

I started my day early, so I fortunate enough to be in Trafalgar square at 9 AM. At this time of day it isn't too burdened by tourists, so you are able to easy move about and get some decent photographs if you wish. You don't have to worry much about people walking into your pictures, which is always a relief. To prove the lack of people, I took some pictures! Have a look:


Notice the lack of people climbing on the lions.
St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Hahn/Cock. Yes, a giant blue cockerel.
Yes, a giant blue cockerel is occupying the fourth plinth at Trafalgar square at the time of writing. I was confused as well, but it does make an interesting addition. I also went into St Martin-in-the-Fields, a very nice inside, with plenty of the homeless having a nap.

Pub

You've heard it before, you'll hear it again. Drinking in central London is expensive. However, you can save yourself some dough if you use the happy hour, like I did. Happy hour brought a pint down from over £4 to £3. The bar I went to was called Kamique, it was a cocktail bar with a wide range of Mojitos. I would recommend it to anyone in the area who has a lot of cash to spend.

Comedy club

Now, the real reason I'm writing this post isn't to bore you about overused London landmarks. No, in the evening some friends and I went to the Lion's Den Comedy Club. Located in the west end of London, in an underground nightclub. Tuesday night is the open mic night, called the Lion's Den Comedy Car Crash, where anybody can turn up and perform.  The acts had 4 and a half minutes to do their sketch, before they were thrown off the stage. If they didn't finish, well, the MC would make sure they wrapped up abruptly. It might seem brutal, but it worked.  

The Lion's Den in all its glory.
Due to the nature of it being an open mic scenario, there was the risk of there not being a single act who made you laugh. However, I was pleasantly surprised the mixture of talent. There was a person who played guitar, a person who read from their diary, even a person who did some hip-hop! 

The entry price was £4, which was a good deal for the amount of acts that were on. However, the price of drinks in the club was, in my opinion, extortionate. A friend paid £4.85 for a bottle of lager. This boils down to the location (west end of London) and the fact it was a club.

Summary

If you have never been to an open mic night before, then I recommend the Lion's Den (website here- http://www.lionsdencomedy.co.uk/comedycarcrash.html). It was easy to get into and the acts were easy enough to laugh along with. As for the bit about Trafalgar square, well, you knew all that already. I just wanted to show you a few pictures.

Friday 6 September 2013

Live from Jodrell Bank- Transmission 007

Hello! Just as you thought I did very little travelling, I manage to get some in the last few weeks of summer! Shortly after my visit to the Towersey Village Festival (previous post- I recommend giving it a read), I was fortunate enough to do some volunteering up north. The event in question was "Live from Jodrell Bank" (http://www.livefromjodrellbank.com/), of which transmission 007 shall be the focus today.

Background

The "Live from Jodrell Bank" transmissions began a few years back, the reasons for it are unbeknownst to me. However, it is still powering on today. Which is great news for music fans, as some big names have assembled at Jodrell in the past, including Elbow and New Order. Transmission 007 (they are all named this way) was headlined by the Hallé Orchestra, with a few other classical supporting acts.

Lovell Telescope

Ignoring the musicians, the Lovell Telescope (named after Sir Bernard Lovell) was the headliner. Just over 76m in diameter (over 8 Routemaster buses!), it strikes an imposing figure. Impressive though it may be, it is there everyday. The musicians weren't. If you desperate for information, please go the Jodrell Bank website (http://www.jodrellbank.net/).
The Lovell Telescope- in all its glory.

Science Arena

In this event, the science definitely did not try and take a back seat. There was a wide range of stalls, ranging from the scientifically simple (solar system bracelets) to the celestially complex (Square Kilometre Array). There was of course the Manchester staple, graphene. Yet, physics shared the stage with atmospheric scientists and even some wacky chemists! Each of the stalls were interactive, with guests being able to fire rockets, look at moon rocks and even make some light-up badges! All of the people in the science arena were very approachable and incredibly knowledgeable, as you would hope. For the quieter people, there were several talks given by leading scientists.

Sadly, it is not without some disappointment. An issue I had with the science arena in this transmission was that it seemed very separated from the music arena. For an event that seemed to promote science alongside music, you could potentially go the whole day without seeing any science-based activity. I was told this was not the case at previous transmissions, so we will have to wait and see for the future.

The beginnings of the science arena. Notice various flags for different topics.

Transportation

I recommend driving down, or getting one of the coach packages. Or something that will drop you right at the door. The reason for this is that the nearest train station is a 2 mile walk away. So unless you want to leave the event early to get the last train, I recommend driving and parking. There is a parking fee (grumble), but the advanced one is a bit cheaper.

Music Arena

As I mentioned previously, separated from the science arena. The majority of the music arena was very well laid out, with the food and drink stands at the back. There were several performances throughout the day, including a talk from the people's favourite Tim O'Brien. For the main Hallé performance, the Lovell telescope was used as a backdrop, on which various projections were done. I'll go into this further in a bit. While the music arena was generally well laid out, with the Lovell telescope behind the music stage, there were a few issues.

One issue was the position of the ice cream vans. Mr Whippy vans were placed in the middle of the crowd (towards the back), causing anybody sitting nearby to hear classical music with a mechanical hum overtone. This needed to be addressed. Another issue was the toss-up between having amazing seats or having a good view of the telescope. If you were at the side, like I was, you got an amazing view of the telescope and an okay view of the stage. On the other hand, if you were at the front, you got an amazing view of the stage and no view of the telescope. This is hopefully something that would be sorted for future performances, as I believe this layout hasn't always been the case for the transmissions.
Above and below: Day and night from roughly the same spot. Notice how if
you were very close to the stage, you would block out the telescope.
Right: Day and night from roughly the same spot, to the side of the stage.











Hallé- "A Concert Inspired by the Stars"

A magnificent projection of a nebula, to accompany the music.
The main act were the Hallé orchestra, as previously mentioned. They were performing classical pieces with planetary relations, along with several science-fiction themes. For a classical beginner but long time science-fiction fan like myself, it was heaven. The few classical pieces which I knew (e.g The Planets by Holst, along with The Blue Danube) were performed exquisitely and the science-fiction themes (Dr Who, Star Trek, Star Wars, Independence Day to name a few) were done with such energy you couldn't help but smile. The concert was split into two halves. The first allowed for the turning of the Lovell telescope, to "The Blue Danube", which was a fantastic choice of music for the occasion. The Lovell telescope was used as a backdrop on which several scenes were projected, however this only really occurred during the second half. This meant the first half felt a bit like they weren't using the telescope to its full potential. This was not the case in the second half, where it was used for sweeping travels through the solar system and the cosmos. All in all, the Hallé did a brilliant job and took control of the arena like very few can.

 A Very Special Birthday

The event landed on the 100th birthday of Sir Bernard Lovell, the man who really kick-started radio astronomy. Without him, the event wouldn't have been possible. To commemorate this event, the Lovell telescope was used to show a feature about his life and the evolution of Jodrell Bank. It was a very fitting tribute and was very touching, especially for a physics nut like myself.

Summary

On a whole, I would say transmission 007 was a success. There were a few niggling placement issues, but these can be dealt with for future events. The Hallé were a fantastic booking, the playlist was brilliant for those, like myself, who were new to classical music. If there was a similar event next year, would I go again? Try and stop me.

Thursday 5 September 2013

49th Towersey Village Festival

Hello again, it has been a while. Recently, I have been to the Towersey Village Festival (TVF- http://www.towerseyfestival.com/). Not as exotic as Dublin, I know, but still an interesting journey. The reason for my visit was due to volunteering on a physics-based stall, but that isn't important. What is important is what I thought of the event.

Background

This was the 49th TVF, which traditionally takes place on the August bank holiday weekend. They didn't seem to worry about larger festivals taking their audience away. The main genre of music was folk, though you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. You didn't have to venture far to find bands performing "gypsy-jazz", reggae and rock n' roll. This all acted to allow new people such as myself to find something new which they enjoyed (for me it was the gypsy-jazz).

Beer (and Food)

If you wanted it to be, you could ensure that this was hardly a sober event. On offer were 20 real ales (at a guess), all from independent breweries around the country. The wonderful thing about independent ales is that if you find a bad one (unlikely), you aren't likely to have it again soon. If you find a good one, well, that's just a bonus. The ales varied in colour and taste, from flaxen to dark, bitter to not-so-bitter. For those who wanted to test their tastebuds, there was an one off ale-tasting event on the Friday morning, which you had to be aware of. It wasn't on the main schedule and had a low capacity, resulting in several people only finding out when it was too late and being turned away.

Food was available, but if you are low on funds then I recommend taking your own. Nothing against the festival itself, it's just festival food prices. Sorry.

Dance


There was wide variety of dancing on offer, ranging from drunken stumbling to waltz. Granted the waltz was part of a ceilidh, but it was there. Ceilidh dancing, for the uneducated (like myself), is a group dance. It involves a lot of spinning, turning and hopping, which means you can get caught up in it very quickly. If you are a novice, like myself, then take the following advice. Have a drink (a real ale perhaps?), turn up nearer the beginning of the event, grab a partner (politely) and just get involved. Believe me, you want to dance in it while you can.

Bands

The bands, as I mentioned previously, was mainly of the folk genre. However, other types were easily available. One of my favourite bands there was called Manière des Bohémiens. They were a gypsy-folk/eastern European swing band, who weren't afraid to suddenly delve into a bit of classical music. I found them to be a refreshingly intense change from the mainstream, who were more than able to get the crowd jumping. They are also all fantastic guys, who were very easy to chat to and to drink with!

Manière des Bohémiens
                                                                                                       

                                                                



Another band who I enjoyed thoroughly were a band called Orkestra Del Sol. Through the use of brass instruments, which you would normally associate with slow and dull music, they delivered a truly electrifying show. They were more than happy to laugh at themselves (and the audience) through the use of props (fake hair), quick drama pieces (a Towersey news report) and on-stage music battles. If you ever see the name Orkestra Del Sol against a more mainstream band at a festival, I say this from my soul (sol?) that you should ditch the mainstream and see the Orkestra. You will not regret it.

Orkestra Del Sol, in all their glory. Notice the dressed up man in the middle.


















Those were two of my favourite bands at Towersey, I could rattle on about so many more (Sunjay Brayne, Jess Morgan, etc...) but I would bore you.

Location

If you going there by car, great. You'll be fine, as there was free parking. If you are not as lucky (like myself) and go by train and walk the rest, here is a word of warning. Get a decent map. I'm not talking Google maps. Go for Ordnance Survey as a lot of the walking takes place on public paths through fields, rather than roads. Other that than, you'll be fine (Watch out for the cows).

Summary

To sum it up: If you need to detach yourself from the everyday world for a while, then there is no better place. Ditch the laptop, smartphone and all-sorts and grab a partner for the ceilidh. Thank me later. Perhaps with a real ale?