May 2003

Watching Everton play Liverpool at Goodison Park with my Mum and Dad was a memory that I will remember forever. Liverpool winning the match was the only downside of an otherwise perfect weekend. We ate, drank coffee, chatted and laughed as if time had stood still.

My Dad seemed to still know Liverpool like the back of his hand. He made a great tour guide, showing me where he lived as a child, where he went to school, where my Mum and Dad were married. Names of people and streets that were vague recollections of my childhood became real in my father’s stories and explanations.

It was weird to think that my parents had last been to Goodison Park about forty years earlier with my Grandfather. He was a ‘Blue’ through and through and would undoubtedly have approved of our visit.

Watching my mother, draped in her Everton scarf, laughing uncontrollably at the acidic scouse wit and fruity language of the crowd made my Saturday. It was something that I experienced with her countless times throughout my childhood. My mum is fun and we would often laugh about stuff until tears rolled down our cheeks. My Dad likes a laugh as well but he is more adept at supressing the hysterics. Not that the Everton gave him much to laugh about that day – too many rash challenges, too many yellow cards, too many long balls and not enough Rooney. ‘Midget’, ‘Big Nose’ and the ‘German who bombed ar chippy’ didn’t make life on the pitch easy either.

Anyway the moral of this story is : Take your parents to see Everton – it’s good for the soul ;-) Same time next year?

“It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand, I beat people up.”Muhammed Ali is the subject of Florence’s project. I guess loads must have been written about him before. He was an entertaining poet as well as a class act in the ring. Here is a site with a number of his pre-match hype poems. It also contains a number of his quotes about the Vietnam War, an area that would be very interesting to explore.The ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ and the ‘Thriller in Manilla’ were famous Ali fights but my favourite moment was when Ali was floored by Sir Henry Cooper. An interview with him would be a great scoop for a project.

Flo is a great writer. I wonder if she will explore the ethics of boxing. Many think it should be banned. That would be good subject for a survey and a discursive piece of writing.

23-05

We are starting our last round of project weblogs. Will we avoid the problems and potential pitfalls to create projects that we are proud of ? Probably…. if we heed some pearls of wisdom from the Fordster :-)

Chris is embarking on a project on mobile phones. I hope it is more than an online mobile phone catalogue like this or this. I hope his looks at the issues around non-standard English usage in text-messaging. He might even consider writing some poetry like this example by Hetty Hughes.txtin iz messin,
mi headn’me englis,
try2rite essays,
they all come out txtis.
gran not plsed w/letters shes getn,
swears i wrote better
b4 comin2uni.
&she’s african

Phones are always in the news:

I wonder if Chris will use any artwork in his project? And what about the future of mobile phones?

Do u spk txt? The chncs r, if u dnt, u wll b4 lng. 2 jdge by ads 4 mob fns, txt msging hs ct pples imagntn, cos thyre all pshng it lk crzy. 1 sys u can snd pix, anthr sys u cn snd msgs to 15m pple in UK alne. Bt lts gt smthg str8. Ths is jst the strt ;->

Chanda is approaching a project on Ludwig van Beethoven. I hope she listens to lots of his music. It’s amazing how many students who complete projects on artists or composers without ever being able to recognise their work when they see or hear it.I wonder if she will look for Beethoven in the news.

Beethoven Manuscript fetches 2.1 million pounds

Lost Beethoven piece performed.

I wonder if she will be able to interview any conductors of Beethoven symphonies. Simon Rattle’s children used to be at the BSA. Producing art in Response to Beethoven’s work would be cool too.

27-05

Stop Press: Rebecca, who is writing a project on Oslo, emailed Per Ditlev-Simonsen, the mayor of Oslo and asked for an interview. He has agreed. Great work Bex ! She is thinking ‘out of the box.’

Just found a link to something I wrote for the Canadian Journal for the Advancement of Netherlandic Studies at the University of Toronto way back in 1993 – ‘Gouden Eeuw” or ‘Ongelukseeuw’? An Economic Survey of the Northern and Southern Netherlands in the Seventeenth Century.’  Amazing how you past creeps up on you. that was ten years ago !

Michael has chosen to create a project about the arms manufacturer Heckler and Koch. As long as he doesn’t fall into the trap of merely producing a catalogue like this, then he should have some great material to research and write up. The whole issue of gun crime is one which interests me. I would love to hear how gun manufacturers ‘deal’ with their products being used in crimes like this or this. Tragic stories like this could prove a powerful stimulus for some of Michael’s poetry. He has a good track record of writing good poetry.

I wonder if Michael will be able to research the business side of the company. What share of the markets do they have? They have a contact page as well. I wonder if one of their representatives would be willing to be interviewed by email or phone. A class online chat would be great as well. Just some ideas…. I hope Michael lets his imagination run wild, helping him to think ‘out of the box.’

Jose is tackling an old chestnut – a project about Vincent van Gogh. I must have read 10-15 Van Gogh projects in my time at the British School of Amsterdam. I wonder what Jose could do to make it different to the rest? Canvassing the views of others about Van Gogh would be interesting. I wonder what Chris Ashley’s or Laura Shefler’s favourite Van Gogh painting is? He could find that sort of stuff out, making his project very interesting indeed. I wonder which of his paintings have made the most money. Is money the most important thing when judging the success of a painting? I like this page of Van Gogh inspired poetry and art. I wonder what Jose will make of it.

I also came across some nice Van Gogh quotes:

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?

A good picture is equivalent to a good deed