Oh deer ;-)

Challenges? Love 'em! You name it, I'll knit it...so I was very happy to hear from Rich at Homecrafts last week, telling me the sad story of a deer who was very unhappy - could I help? Oh yes indeed! 

Apparently the young buck had been looking for adventure, and had googled to find out what does a STAG DO for fun....well, it all ended in tears and he rushed home from Brighton with only a plain brown box to ensure his modesty.

The poor deer told me he was bored to tears with the all-white environment of the North Pole and was desperate to bring some colour into his life. He'd tried Wimbledon...but what colour do tennis players wear? White! 

"I need colour, I need FUN - but one stag do is more than enough!"

We put our heads together (carefully avoiding the antlers) and decided that colour is one thing you just can't have too much of.

Test piece was soon knitted: what was the verdict?

YES! 

Hmmm, not such a good camouflage in the woods any more, but perfect for Brighton. I'm not expecting him back any time soon because he is so proud of his rainbow outfit that he's planning another visit next month for Brighton Pride ... I wonder how he'll get on?

Edited to add - see how some other bloggers decorated their deers here!

Before you ask - no he's not for sale, but other upcycled yarnbombed animals have their own section at Niftyknits:

Phoebe Hessel: a woman ahead of her time?

While we were in Brighton last weekend I came across the story of Phoebe Hessel in a book, so we went to see her grave in St Nicholas's church.

Googling reveals conflicting versions of her story, but it seems that she was born in 1713 and ran away to join the army dressed as a man to follow her lover at the age of 15! Astounding enough in itself, she managed to sustain this charade for 17 years before being discovered - some sources say when she was bayonetted, others when she was stripped for a whipping. How on earth did she keep up her cross-dressed disguise all those years?

She lived to the grand old age of 108, and even if she did make up this story as some would claim, it's an excellent story and very "Brighton".


Want to know more?
Phoebe's wiki entry
MyBrightonandHove
LoveBrighton

Murmuration of starlings

We were thrilled to see the starlings "doing their thing" in Brighton recently, and I was snapping frantically as we hurried towards their roosting place on the (remains of) the Western Pier.



Naturally, when we got near enough for a decent photo, they settled down to sleep - but it was great to see them swooping and swirling in the sky, moving as one, even though I was not able to get the fabulous shots I wanted!

You can see the starlings performing on video here , courtesy of the RSPB.

And finally - MrNifty snapped a photo of me with a halo (it's the new Brighton Wheel)

Art? Graffiti? Banksy?

While we were in Brighton this week our son suggested we went to see the Banksy on a pub wall near where he lives.

Brighton has loads of street art (or graffiti, depending on your point of view) and I've shared photos of it before *click here*

Banksy, however, is considered a *real* artist and commands very high prices - which got me thinking about "Art", as we wandered the streets looking for the Prince Albert pub, site of the "Art" in question.

First we spotted John Peel. He's especially famous in our family. Many many years ago (1983) at stupid o'clock in the morning he played a track by my brother, who was briefly with "Those Attractive Magnets". (Incidentally I still have a mint copy of "night life", feel free to make me an offer!)



I don't know who painted John Peel - neither do I know who painted this:



But this is what we'd come to see:



I've only just noticed my reflection in the policemen's trousers - do you think it adds to the image? Here it is again, without me!



As you see, it's been covered with perspex and framed because it'd been vandalised. Vandalised? Yes, apparently someone had painted graffiti on it...

Hmmm.

I don't know the back story - feel free to explain in a comment if you know. It is of course a political piece - Brighton is the gay capital of the UK and this image of gay policemen was painted in 2004. It wasn't until 2007 that uniformed gay policemen were allowed to take part in Brighton's Gay Pride march.

As I took my photo, a barman rolled out a barrel from the pub and stopped to chat. He explained that what I was photographing wasn't actually the "real" Banksy, it was a copy. The "real" one has been removed and is for sale!

This got my brain ticking further. Who "owns" street art? Presumably Banksy wasn't commissioned by the publican, I imagine he painted it as a statement and intended it for all to see and react to. To my mind, Art is a conversation between artist and audience - this is why I never understand so-called Art painted by elephants or copies of Old Masters. OK so maybe they're pretty, but there is no dialogue.

Leaving that aside - I was happily photographing a fake. And I wasn't the only photographer, even in the brief minute I stood there.

Who would get the money? I googled, and apparently it's likely to make a million pounds. The publican says it'll go to maintain the pub.

Does it matter that the one now on show is a fake? I wouldn't have known if the barman hadn't been feeling chatty. Would you have known?

The newest Banksy is apparently in London. Westminster Council removed the last one (it didn't have planning permission) so hurry up if you want to see it!

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Personally, I enjoy street art and think it brightens up our urban environment. I totally understand why the publican would want to capitalise on his luck - but at the same time I think the Art deserves to stay where it is for all to experience. At the same time though, I would have been just as happy with the copy because I wouldn't have known. But now...I *do* know. I don't like it when people copy my own work. But this isn't about what the Artist himself thinks, he hasn't (as far as I know) given an opinion. He's painted, expressed himself, moved on.

Street Art by its very nature is ephemeral. A Graffiti Artist knows the council may remove his work at any time. If he wanted it to be permanent, he'd buy a canvas, wouldn't he?

And yet - oh I don't know. What do YOU think? Just to confuse the issue still further - this was just around the corner!



Finally - Banksy is very very welcome to come paint on my walls as a million pounds would come in handy ;-)

Mother-of-the-band

Yes, you read it correctly. It's similar to mother-of-the-bride, but more musical. Strictly speaking I'm only mother to half the band though - Soccer96 is my son's latest claim to fame.

I apologise for the quality of my pics - but it was a great evening, thanks Dan and Max!

Going to hear my son's band tonight!

woohoo! Details here

My son is half of Soccer96 *is proud*

You know you've spent too long on the computer when...

your dreams are full of your virtual world!


sleeping bunny courtesy of 5erg

Last night I woke in the early hours with an urgent need to go and comment on Sandie's blog Zaftig Delights!

Strange - but maybe explained by the fact it was one of the blogs I looked at before I went to bed. I ignored the urge and went back to sleep.


sleeping bunny courtesy of artyecological

My next dream: This time I was in Brighton for the weekend with my daughter.


Royal Pavilion, Brighton

She gave me a little gift bag containing some goodies relating to a new computer game *ZARTOG* which is (apparently!) a Warcraft type adventure. Searching through the bag I discovered a little replica medieval knight's helmet made by...Zaftig Delights. I've searched her shop and found nothing like that!



Has your virtual life intruded on your dreams like this?

Or maybe you've had embarrassing moments like when I said "LOL" in an office conversation - none of them had a clue what I meant.

The good news is - we really are going to Brighton for the weekend to meet up with daughter and sons - can't wait to get my goodie bag!

Soul town

Easter Saturday was a rare treat - MrNifty and I met up with all 3 of our kids in Brighton. We had lunch at Giraffe and then went to a SoulTown gig where son#2 was playing. This is me & OH in back, son#1 and gf in front, blonde random person just snuck into pic by accident. The backdrop was great, and had lights shining through the "windows" once the house lights were down.



son#2 is the sax player on the left. The band all wear black and red, but I think the red shades might have been one step too far? The singer in the red dress has fantastic hair, I love it!



son#2 plays keyboards as well



but playing both at the same time is just showing off ;-)



finally - my beautiful daughter, who took the photos (but not this one!)

Birthday in Brighton :-)

My two sons both live in lovely Brighton so we drove down on Thursday to have a birthday lunch on Friday. We stayed once more at Hudsons who do a great full English brekkie!

Then off to wander North Laine and a trip to the bead shop before lunch with OH, my boys and DiL.

We saw some great street art - though I suppose some would call it graffiti.

We went on the Galloping Horses after lunch, that was always my favourite ride when I was a child. Very tame for this generation, of course, so the boys kept doing bareback riding tricks - not to the amusement of the bored fairground guy.

We had another mission - to find a copy of the current Komedia(local venue) programme - my middle son's band A Scandal in Bohemia is on the front cover!

*proud mum glow*