First Friday Filmclub - Home Movie

Some of you might like a couple of minutes of peace and quiet, as well as a home-life sort of thing. Some of you might not, and that's okay, too. Move along. I wanted a slightly dressier shawl and beanie for going out to the concert at Rosslyn. I had bought the yarn (Sirdar Jewelspun) at the quilt show in Glasgow. I had the accent glimmer yarn in the stash. Those interested can find the pattern here at Moogly. I made up the beanie pattern myself. It was very quick to make (three or four evenings) and was much admired. 

Menoggling; Culture Cram Part Two

Continuing from last Thursday's post, you find Mac1 and me still at the National Gallery with a few more teasers from the New Contemporaries exhibition.

"Pink Parlour" from Tallulah Bailey was another one in which one could be fully immersed. Each component was available for purchase... imagine you had the space (and the children) to make use of this oversized Wendy house! What excitement would there be within its walls? What imaginations and flights of fancy? The artist herself took off on flights, and the walls were filled with individual works, including furnishings and flooring. Although the Rococo reference was not to my taste, I greatly enjoyed the uplift and fun that was being had.

One room is always reserved for architectural visions. Graduates offer new thinking on group living, so this is always worth a look. 

To finish this particular visit, here are two other scenes that I enjoyed. In the first, the 'mobile' Usawa Ma Mimea (Botanical Balance) by Fiona Goss, and in the background, Farimagsgade 95 by Cavan Reed-O'Connor. In the second two works by Christian Sloane - Eclipse (on the wall) and Wreckage.

Honestly, we left there full of fire and joy at the creativity we had found and were permitted to share.

And that was just day one of our two days of cramming in some culture. On Monday, we took ourselves off to the National Museum of Scotland to concentrate on the purely Scottish exhibits. (One could visit every day of the week for a month and still feel there was stuff undiscovered, so vast is the museum!)

In the entrance foyer, there are two contemporary tapestries. One I am keeping to share on a future Art Vibe, but here is the other, taken by Mac1 with me to provide scale.

Museums don't have to be all about the past - they can be archives for the now as it becomes history. Think about it. By reading that sentence, you have already made it a part of history. This incredible weaving was created for the opening of this new extension to the museum in 1998, and is called Corryvrechan. You can read more about it over at the Dovecot website.

This new structure was 'tacked' onto the existing Victorian building, which at the time was referred to as the Royal Scottish Museum. This one (built to house the dedicated Scottish exhibits) was called the Museum of Scotland. It was only in 2006 that the two were merged and became the National Museum of Scotland. There is a cathedral-like quality to the architecture, and I enjoyed being in the spaces created.

The lower floor looks at the archaeology, earlier history, and the Scottish royal line (which is mainly the Stewarts)...

You've all been to museums, so you can imagine the sorts of things that were displayed. I like the move to more interactive and meaningful displays that museums and galleries have adopted over the past decade. There is much less condescending spruiking of information and more of a "did you know..." invitational quality to things these days. Let me share just a handful of things I appreciated. First, two caskets: one I could fit into, the other no bigger than my (small) hand and both exquisite in their own way. Then, there are a few views without legend, just to try and share the 'atmosphere'.

As we moved up to the second floor, Mac1 and I had our heads turned on discovering an exhibit that we had not been aware of (open until January 2026, should anyone happen to be around). That took up a good forty minutes of our visit and I will share that as part three of this miniseries, so come back next Thursday for the next episode: The Cold War and Scotland.

Menoizikul; Midweek Musicalisms

April is my birthday month, so I am choosing all the items for this musical series. Given the state of the world, much of my spiritual focus has been on prayers and meditations for peace. I am opting to bring you some of my favourite mantras for enhancing the mood of peace and healing.

Traditionally, Sanskrit mantras are chanted without musical instrumentation and in a very precise, rhythmic style. When this rigid tradition is relaxed and instruments are added, the chants move from mantra to bhajan (hymn) and become more accessible to the uninitiated. This first hymn is to Vaidyanatha, Lord Shiva in his guise as the Great Physician and Healer. It sings his praises while calling for the balm of his presence.