Artsmonkey Blog

 Travelling from Brighton to Chichester one evening this week I witnessed a lovely train guard at work, he evicted a group of excitable youngsters (who clearly didn’t have tickets) with such good humour they got off at the next stop without a fuss and impedending disaster was averted. He then rescued a woman traveller in distress (on the wrong train and doomed to miss her connection to Cambridge) he got her on the right train, calmly and coolly sorted out a new route and timetable then, equally calmly issued another man with a ticket for his journey the next day when he overheard him worrying about the ticket office being open – not sure I’ve conveyed the sheer amazement I experienced watching someone be so personable, so thoughtful. It was that small but kind gesture that warmed me and next day I was invited to join a facebook group  ’small acts of kindness’ these are indeed, the times for small acts of kindness.

 It’s always pleasant to find yourself unexpectedly in a room with like-minded people and thanks to The South  I got to do just that this week at The Brighton Writer’s Centre with writer Mark C. Hewitts session on ‘Funding Your Madness’ which was so enjoyable that I barely noticed the two hour journey home. A catchy title with a truthful ring to it, we all have great ideas and often it seems like madness when you get into the ‘funding zone’. Mark is a man who has made it through the pain barrier and approaches each new collaboration or project with zest and enthusiasm, as a result his work is vibrant and inspiring you can check him out at http://mchblank.co.uk. I was also inspired by learning about Feral Theatre Company who offer seasonal themed outdoor performances around East Sussex and will be peforming at The Allotments (at the food project) Whitehawk Hill (off Manor Hill Road), Brighton at 3pm on Sunday November 2^nd in case you’re looking for something for the family to do that week-end and similarly inspired by meeting Umi who is a member of the Newhaven Storytellers group and is off to a storytellers convention in Israel next year to seek inspiration for a storytelling project she is in the throes of creating and seeking funding for. I went, intending to be a passive onlooker, to refresh some of my knowledge and check out The South but I came away full of other people’s creative experience’s and fired up to do my homework and get it in on time. In fact, it is only today that I realise I was given homework, that’s how clever with words Mr Hewitt is. The view from the front room at BWC overlooks the Grand Parade with its constant, frenetic to-ing and fro-ing of traffic and people. It is virtually next door to Brighton Photo Bienniale http://bpb.org.uk which I fully intend to have a look at on my return visit next week – I caught glimpses of a photo exhibition: the war of images and images of war curated by Julian Stallabrass as I passed; pictures taken by soldiers in Iraq flashed by as I hurried to make my ‘class’ (as I fondly think of it). The South offers a myriad of events for creatives and is partnered with some fascinating organisations such as sea lion and pighog press and offering exceptional events (Carol Ann Duffy) and professional development workshops including ‘The Write Club’ - don’t let them go to waste you’re bound to meet interesting people and have a very enjoyable time.

National poetry day looms on Thursday October 9^th I’ve been browsing sites in search of inspiration and have enjoyed stumbling upon the Altered Books project and had fun with ‘Written in the city‘ especially the Brighton pages although Brighton in 2002 was a different universe. Did you know that ‘newspaper+sharpie=poems’? Well Michael Palmer seems to think so and creates and collects great “blackout” poems in this fashion from around the world, check him out on Facebook or visit www.michaelpalmer.net to see examples or enter your own. I came across ‘the invitation’ by Oriah Mountain dreamer from the book ‘invitation’ and really enjoyed some inner wisdom from the mountains…

“…It doesn’t interest me to know where you live,or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children…It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away”

 But then I got sidetracked by Digg & Twitter and went from Doug McFarlane’s you tube recommendation on the credit crunch (filmed in a car park I dimly recognise) to this: check them out on My Space Antan Debt performs with his band ‘The Overdrafts’ not to be confused with Adam and Joe’s “Credit Crunch Musical” song, as touted by Charlie Booker or Old Man Pies credit card song posted in 2006 (and a prophetic cartoon animation) which are both equally witty commentaries. Then, somehow and I’m really not sure how, I ended up watching the ‘Shelbinator’ show me how to turn a nokia N95 into a video cam with external mic. If you are a techgeek who has accidentally clicked on the wrong blog site - you can watch it too @ http://shelbinator.com/2008/05/04/n95-external-microphone/ which tells me I must end here or who knows where I’ll end up before tea-time so take it away e.e. cummings (as found @ www.kerismith.com/wishJarTales/ ) “To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing it’s best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”