Just Don't Tell Them Elks About It: August 2009

Summer Elks in the motherland

Yes, yes, yes kids, I've actually gone home/away for another couple of weeks or so!

Well, I might find a computer/with some interweb access every now and then, but it's also likely not to happen. I'll be busy trying to learn how to whistle in tune, hang with the near and dears plus a few other important past times :)

Morris' Summer Serenade

since you might be desperate for a Growler update, enjoy the latest & greatest news below:

Another joyous sighting in the week was the happy surprise of local enigma, fondly named, the Growler. He was sitting in his favorite bus stop, wearing a pair of lightly smoked pilot shades,a white flat cap and- he was singing! Well, the Growler has a most singular baritone but can hold a tune well enough that much is clear. The words weren't exactly easy to make out though so it was a bit hard to discern the actual song.

I've pondered a little and this is my well educated guess/conclusion.

Blossom Dearie - Everything I've Got

Holla-Holla-Holloway!

Dr. Proctor could be very useful in "these times"

good informative signage

and if you genuinely want to avoid troublesome badness!!

The east-end of Holloway Rd is full of a plethora of shops in the "special interest" category who favour the dusty window look and lo-fi displays of their wares. Thanks to raging low blood-sugar levels (and also lacking a little in bravedom), here's some sneak shots from the outside. One day though, I might return to the same neighbourhood and boldly venture i n s i d e.

Them Elks hearts BBC3

Yes folks -it's me, the radio & no misbehavin' :)

a few plants of various shapes and sizes made for a project
in the well known stadium also know as "work in progress"

For some reason I've been picking up the brushes rather than pencils recently and I'm really enjoying getting acquainted with gouache together with my life long friend the radio. It's the middle of PROMS season and I have yet to make my way down to the Prince Albert Hall this year, but since BBC is doing such excellent coverage I don't feel like I've missed out too much. Saturday's Prom no. 40 contained a magnificent performance of Stravinskij's Orpheus and Beethoven's Symphony No 9 (Choral). Woo and Hoo indeedy (hear it for yourselves here*). In the interval Philip Pullman talks about the legend of Orpheus which personally I'd say has been one of the more moving episodes of the Proms Literary Festival so far. Ouch, I have no words to express how much I love radio sometimes.

Anyhoo, happy new week to you all!

*Sorry, I'm not sure if the PROMS iPlayer works for overseas listening but I very much hope you can.

With Jack London at Hampstead Heath

Happy new week to you all, I hope you're weekend was good!

Mine included an adventurous journey to Hampstead Heath,where
everything is so pretty that you loose your bearings and get a little lost

but then you find the right sort of clover patch
where you can lie down for a bit

and happily continue with your summer reading (until the skies darken
and you think the weather report might come true after all :))

The Old Operating Theatre Museum part 2

alrighty, here's the second part of a most enjoyable evening in the week:

the genuine operating theatre where surgeons and medical students
did their best in furthering their skills and knowledge

For compassion, not for gain.

nice and clean little bandage winder

and an informative note about blood (click for larger)

St. Thomas mental ward back in the good old analog times

the cosy roof ward with elderly patients and well dressed nurses

and then: a nocturnal London postcard
entitled After Dinner Stroll With Benhästen
which brings us back to "the Present"

the moonlight
(for them gauze lovers in the comment box of previous post)

A large sweeping hat tip to the lovely Morbid Anatomy for the heads up about the event. It really was a super duper evening with plenty of interesting amalgam and people, I'm so glad to have gone!

The Old Operating Theatre Museum & Herb Garret

This week Maud & I went along to extremely great talk entitled Exquisite Corpses by Robert D. Hicks, the director of the Mütter Museum. It was held in the actual operating theatre, which is housed up under the roof of the old St. Thomas Church.

Before you enter the museum you climb up the original old narrow wooden spiral staircase. Which is the perfect preparation that you're about to go back in time a.k.a. "the Past". It's pretty steep, slightly scary and exciting enough at the same time so that when you eventually find yourself on a landing you are in a fairly good mood. After paying your entry you are then let up the last set of steps to go back in time. Yay!

as you can see, the Past is both pretty, practical and informative

and with dried herbs all around it's the most lovely
fragrant medical history museum I've visited

seriously, what's not to like here folks?

frighteningly handsome looking bottles and plaster

...and then there was chemical pharmaceuticals
( imagine how awful to have/do operations before the advent of any of these aids?)

here's to all you Cider House Rules fans

...and we end with the cutest soldier doll ever!

Oh yes, there is also another episode from this evening coming :)

Mr. Cormorant lands safely in Canad-ee-i-o

Whoo-ho, the latest embroidery commission has found it's way to it's rightful owner!

And here you see a detail of said stitched birdy, the full piece can be seen over at the wonderful Potato Benevolence. Don't forget to check out her most EXCELLENT shop! I can honestly say that I very much enjoyed making this piece, cormorants have such great wings and they glimmer and shine with that wet look they work so good.

A Brown Bird Singing - Peggy Lee