This Weekend ...

... was one of political engagement.

On Friday evening I signed up for a double bill of two of my heroes at Bristol's excellent Festival of Ideas.

First up was Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, the British civil liberties advocacy organisation, who spoke about her new book On Liberty. Liberty celebrates its 80th anniversary this year and Shami reflected on the differences, and similarities, of the issues it has faced then and now.  The audience was particularly interested in her views on anti-terrorist legislation and the government's proposal to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.

Next up was Owen Jones, left wing author and commentator, who spoke about his book The Establishment.  In his opinion the biggest threat to our democracy lies in the power exerted by those at the top (politicians, the media, directors, bankers etc) and he issues a powerful rallying call for them to be challenged.  He ended by quoting the late great Tony Benn who said 'You see there are two flames burning in the human heart all the time.  The flame of anger against injustice, and the flame of hope you can build a better world.'

Well on Saturday I did my bit.  I travelled up to London to take part in the TUC Britain Needs a Pay Rise march.  I'm a member of Unison and I joined tens of thousands fellow unionists, representing an impressive range of unions, to protest against the deeply damaging effects of our coalition government's austerity programme. According to Frances O'Grady, the general secretary of the TUC, the avergage worker is £50 a week worse off then in 2007 and 5 million earn less than the living wage, while top directors now earn 175 times more than the average worker.  It's just not fair and we were there to tell them so.

Maybe it was just the beginnings of a cold I glibly thought would pass, or maybe it was the 14 hour round trip with all that marching/dancing to the samba band and standing listening to the speeches, but today's been a washout.  I've spent half the day in bed and the other half on the sofa.  I hope I'm not too old for this demonstrating lark because I fear there'll be need for more of before we're done with building a better world to live in.

Enough Food If ...

Once again the sun shone brightly on us.  Last Saturday we were on College Green in Bristol.  This Saturday it was Hyde Park in London.  Two quite different events but united in their subject matter - food.  The first involved feeding 5000 people with food destined for landfill, the second demanding that the G8 take action to ensure that no one goes bed hungry.

 

For more information about this Enough Food If ... campaign click here.

In 2012 ...

I knitted and crocheted

I cooked and baked

 I sang and listened to others sing

I involved myself in politics and campaigns

I supported local independent traders

 I went out and about in Bristol ...

... and in London

I went on holiday to St Ives

I started running and went on a diet and ...!

I survived the Jubilee but entered into the Olympic spirit.

I made holiday lists and managed to cross most items off them!

I met Fatmumslim's Photo a Day Challenge but didn't quite meet my own challenges to photograph A Month of Dinners or my Advent countdown.

All in all it's been a good year and I've certainly had fun trawling through my posts and reminding myself of its highlights.

Here's to 2013!

PS  I've thoroughly enjoyed reading other bloggers' reviews and greatly admire those whose photos are better displayed than mine.  Any tips on how to create mosaics on blogger would be much appreciated.

When in London yesterday ...

... We visited the pre-Raphaelite exhibition at Tate Britain.  A wealth of bright colour, fine detail and laden with symbolism - too much to take in in one session, but we did our best.  I've often wished a ticket to major exhibitions such as this one allowed for a return visit.  My favourite artists were Millais and the lesser known Scottish artist  Dyce, but this is Laus Veneris by Burne-Jones.

... Followed by the Turner Prize exhibition, which I would not normally have chosen to visit, but for a few quid more, and in the interest of keeping an open mind ...  Well, it was interesting.  No really!  Paul Noble's 'painstakingly detailed and engrossing drawings of the fictional metropolis Nobson Newtown' were fascinating, although not what I would chose to hang on my wall.  We didn't have the 93 minutes it would have taken to sit through Luke Fowler's documentary on the work of Scottish psychiatrist R D Laing, but it sounded promising.  Spartacus Chetwynd's performance started as we were preparing to leave so we only caught a few minutes of individuals dressed as zebras(?) manipulating rag dolls.  It may have become clearer as it progressed!  Elizabeth Price's winning entry, The Woolworths Choir of 1979, was the most accessible and I wish I'd been able to see it through from beginning to end.  There was a very informative section on church furnishings and once I got used to it the Clap Click soundtrack was strangely soothing.

... We walked along the Embankment and watched the (almost) full moon rise from behind The Shard.

... We ate at Wahaca, at the request of my elder daughter.  It's a Mexican street food restaurant founded by Thomasina Miers, a former Masterchef winner, whose television series on Mexican cooking I enjoyed.  We opted for a selection of small dishes to share and experimented with new ingredients and flavours including pibil pork, Mexican corn mushrooms and plantain.  It's a colourful, noisy restaurant.  The service was friendly but not always accurate and portions were small for the price, but maybe that's just Covent Garden for you.  We certainly had room for puddings.  The two pictured above were churros and chocolate and vanilla icecream with toasted pumpkin seeds and cajeta.  We left with a pack of serrano chilli seeds and I'd certainly return.

... We took a leisurely stroll back to Victoria Coach Station via Trafalgar Square and St James' Park, stopping to view the latest occupant of the Fourth Plinth - Powerless Structures Fig 101 by Elmgreen and Dragset is of a child on a rocking horse, symbolising a future to hope for and celebrating the everday battles of growing up.  I like it.

These post Christmas day trips to London are becoming an enjoyable new tradition.

On the Tenth Day of December

Apart from our annual summer holiday, Christmas is the only occasion we get to spend extended time together as a family.  The cold and rain serve as incentives to stay indoors and play games or tackle jigsaws but it's not long before I feel the need to get out and about.

We've already lined up a few activities - carol singing for Water Aid, the Bristol Choral Society's Messiah at the Colston Hall, the pre-Raphaelite and Turner Prize exhibitions at Tate Britain, the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery ...  in between which I also hope we'll find time for a few walks around the harbourside or up through Leigh Woods.

Now that my elder daughter is away at university, to be followed next September by her younger sister, these shared moments are becoming fewer and therefore more precious.

The painting is Rossetti's Lady Lilith

On the Ninth Day of December

For me it's always music that has the power to reduce me to tears, whether it's a hymn my dad used to sing, the track from a Leonard Cohen album or a piece of choral music.  Something reaches deep inside and touches me, leaving me totally exposed.  There's real sadness but it's tinged with joy.  For a few moments I feel truly alive.

The YouTube clip is of Westminster Cathedral Choir singing Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium, one of the last pieces of music to make me well up.  It's filmed in the Cathedral which is one of my favourite buildings and where I light a candle every time I'm in or around Victoria.

Wasabi

I've been meaning to post this photo of the sushi take away I ate in the coach home after the TUC march.  Ever since I spotted a branch of Wasabi opposite Harrods on an earlier visit to London, I'd fancied trying it out.  So when I chanced upon the Victoria branch on my walk back to the New Covent Garden Market car park I just had to pop in for a snack.

I love sushi.  They say you eat with your eyes as well as your mouth and this is undoubtedly true with these delicate bite sized morsels that resemble brightly coloured beads neatly laid out on their trays.  I spent some time considering the various options before deciding on salmon nigiri, omelette nigiri, crabmeat and avocado hosomaki and fried prawn and spicy salmon futomaki, which I carefully arranged on my cute cardboard tray.  I added a sachet each of soy sauce and wasabi paste, and a set of chopsticks.

I was characteristically early arriving back to the coach which was just as well, as removing the sushi from their individual wrappers was best attempted in a stationary vehicle. The amount of unrecyclable waste is an issue  but I had no quibbles over the quality of the food, which was a far cry from any of the packs I've bought from a supermarket.  The rice was moist and delicately flavoured and the fillings were fresh and clean.  Absolutely delicious!

It's fortunate there isn't, as yet, a branch of Wasabi in Bristol, as I fear I might be tempted to visit it more than I could afford.

(Apologies for the quality of the photograph which does not do justice to the beauty of my feast.)

March for a Future that Works

Yesterday I took part in the TUC March for a Future that Works in London.  (My elder daughter was marching in Glasgow!).  I'm a member of UNISON and have taken part in a couple of smaller marches in Bristol, but this was the first time I'd joined in with other unions in London.

We travelled up to London by coach and were transferred to Blackfriars by boat which was an unexpected treat.  The boat dropped us off at the end of the march so we had to make our way up the outside of the marchers to join the UNISON contingent at the front.  As we hurried up the line I was moved both by the numbers and the variety of unions represented.  There were teachers, firefighters, musicians, students, actors, civil servants and all manner of public service workers.  There were adults, children, babies in buggies and people in wheelchairs.  There were choirs, drummers and a pipe band.  There were balloons, inflatables, placards, banners and effigies.  People were chanting, singing, and blowing whistle and vuvuzelas.  In fact, if you hadn't known that this was a protest against the government's austerity policies you could have been forgiven for thinking that you were in the midst of a carnival.

The march proceeded peacefully, if not quietly, along the Embankment, past Westminster, up Whitehall, skirted Trafalgar Square, up Regent Street, and along Piccadilly to Hyde Park.  There was a strong police presence, particularly outside Fortnum and Mason and the Ritz, but the officers were relaxed and friendly and obviously not expecting any real trouble.

We were among the first to arrive at the rally and were in a good position at the front to hear the speeches which, I am relieved to say, were of a higher calibre than I've experience at other rallies.  I was particularly impressed by Kumi Naidoo of Greenpeace who spoke of the impact government policy is having on the environment.  The crowd listened politely, clapping and cheering enthusiastically, but were not altogether impressed with Ed Milliband or Brendan Barber, both of whom were booed and heckled by sections of the audience.  I am disappointed that the Labour leadership do not have any real hope to offer us in this crisis.  In fact it sometimes feels that, rather than us all being in this together, we're very much on our own.

I'd travelled up without any family or friends and had second thoughts about whether I should go, but I'm so glad I did.  I took comfort from the visible demonstration that I am not alone in my real concern at the effect this coalition government is having on our society, and reassurance that there are hundreds and thousands of ordinary people out there who are prepared to do something about it.