The biggest full moon in eighteen years shone on the weekend of the 19th March. A super moon happens itself when the moon is closest to the Earth at the same time as it is ‘full’. (more).

Close to the Earth, the moon looks huge.

Seeing the blue water, the reflection of light and dark trees reminded me of Munch’s atmospheric studies of the moon on water.

Britain is experiencing a cold snap and consequently there is talk of how to keep warm. This has made me look at old ways to keep out the cold.

.This is a detail of a tapestry  which hung in a hall in Medieval England. It was a barrier against the cold drafts which crept in through the walls.

It shows a summer hunting scene. Dogs are chasing a bear and a boar. At the same time, well dressed courtiers are chasing each other. The flowers and foliage, fine dress and warm cheerful colours are designed to make the onlookers think of the warm months. We are transported to summer for a moment.

The Guernsey sweater is a traditional woollen jumper which has been made since the 1400s.  It was knitted, with pride, in the Channel Islands and designed to be worn by the local fisherman. It is easy to move around in and has a tight knit and oily wool to resist sea spray and wind. The fisherman wore the sweater loose and next to the skin, so a layer of insulating warm air built up.

I noticed that the Inuit wear their parkas with the fur directly against bare skin when one of the characters in the film Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner peeled off his parka. The film, which gives a realistic picture of Inuit life, could be set at any time in the tribes’ history. People have lived in this area of Arctic Canada for 4000 years. This kind of clothing has ensured that they survived. The Inuit wear a second parka on top of the first, this time with fur facing outwards, so snow and ice can be shaken off.

Sources:

>>Reference Library Blog

Parka from the BM

The flat saturated blue colour of Diana’s suit was a memorable element of the royal engagement photographs.  It was a colour that was strong enough to become emblematic. This blue had acquired a new value, it was the blue associated with Diana. And so it became fashionable.

Kate Middleton has chosen a similar saturated deep blue dress (slightly darker) for the announcement of her engagement to Prince William. It matches the sapphire of her engagement ring, previously worn by the ever present Diana.

I am always on the look out for photos of wild animals in human territory. In my collection is a deer in a cafe, a bear in a hospital and  a herd of bison on a basket ball court.

So I was impressed to hear this story. I received an email from my friend R., who lives in a smart area of South London,  which read “had a big drama yesterday, a 3 foot snake appeared on my landing and I had to call RSPCA”.

R. had been making biscuits in the kitchen of her third floor flat. When she glanced at the hallway floor, she had “the shock of her life”. A snake was lying at the top of the stairs. It had alarming rusty red and white striped markings. Not a British breed. Primeval instinctive alarm bells rang. Was it poisonous?

A few phone calls and the neighbour was at the front door. The snake hadn’t moved for a while, so R. stepped over it to let open the door. Then neighbour reassured her that it was probably more scared of her that she was of it.
The man from the RSPCA appeared, armed with a stick and a pillow case. By then the snake had made gone behind the washing machine.

The expert identified it as a Corn snake and not poisonous.  In the wild,  it would be constricting and swallowing mice and rats in fields in North America.The corn snake is often purchased as a first pet because it is cheap and docile. The snakes enter our households when the owners get bored with them and let them go.

The snake could have been living in the walls and hunger, desire for the warmth of the summer sun or plumbing works could prompted it to move on to the landing. The RSPCA man caught the snake with the stick and put it in the pillow case. He said that there had been a high number of snake call outs in area.

In the news today, cobras have left the banks of the nearby river and made their way into the brand new sports complex and athletes village of the Delhi Commonwealth games.

The endangered, venemous cobras are attracted by dry ground, trees and water, all of which are available in the new complex. Recent rains have created ideal conditions for them to breed. I guess that they are unstoppable. One has been discovered in an athlete’s apartment in a residential tower. Another Cobra, ten feet long, was found at the tennis stadium.

The story has the qualities of an animal disaster movie (which I also like). A brand new complex, glowing international athletes and storybook snake charmer style venomous cobras, easing themselves from the waters towards the sport utopia.

Photo credits: BBC Jersey, Kamalnv

By chance, I had my squeamishness put to the test in three very different situations.

Having enjoyed Serial Mom and Hairspray, I watched This Filthy World, a one man show by the filmmaker John Waters. As he stood on the dimly lit grave yard stage set, his appearance reminded me of a Hammer horror character. He is creative,  funny and clever which made it all the more challenging when he began to paint gruesome images in our minds. He was like a 17th Century libertine who played at challenging boundaries of taste and prudishness.

I was at a museum in the West Country, designed to be fun and for all the family. Leaving the sunny lawn, we were lead by a guide in period costume into gloomy reconstruction of a barber surgeon’s workshop in the 17th Century. As the guide picked up instrument after instrument, he began to elaborate on the grisly cures that were applied to the suffering. Members of the audience were laid out the operating table to aid our imaginations. More gruesome images in my mind! (I wondered, are these horrors entertaining because they are safely in the distant past?)

Next, I was visiting an exhibition dedicated to Skin, at the Wellcome Collection, an authoritative modern museum with an up market cafe. As is the curatorial policy, artworks are interspersed with objects from the collection. I skirted around the exhibits catching glimpses of skin in various states and films of oozing and cutting. That was enough.

Image: A sign pointing towards a torture exhibit in Carcassone, France.

The rain comes down on festival goers at Vintage Goodwood. The three day event celebrated fashions, music and design of the 1940s through to the 1980s.

Camping and light mud clashed with sculpted hair dos, evening frocks, suits and stillettos.

Looking around, I thought the 1940s Land Girl style was a clever choice of outfit as it was designed to be worn in the countryside and in changeable weather.

Took a day trip with friends to look in charity shops in Hastings on the South Coast, known for second hand bargains. We found ourselves in the Lib Dem Charity Shop, appropriate as at that moment Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg was in discussions with Conservatives and Britain was awaiting an answer as to who would rule the country.

The man who ran the shop was in the firing line. He said that he had had a phone call that morning from an furious Conservative who was appauled that the Lib Dems were even speaking to David Cameron. He then showed us a Lib Dem campaign flyer that had been posted through the door. Scrawled angrily across it in thick black marker were the words, Vote Lib Dem, get Tory! He couldn’t give us an update on the negotiations, but was waiting for the phone to ring.

Britain’s polling stations. A school hall, a church hall, a sign outside in black text on cheap white paper. The booths are tacked together flimsey hardboard and unfinished 2  by 1. The voters mark the papers using pencils tied to the booth with string; a vote is a simple big cross, that you may see a character in a film make if they can’t write their name. The only branding to be seen is the red, blue and yellow-orange rosettes of those holding clip boards outside the door. The paper, pencils and undesigned environment  give a the feeling of democracy and process that has been around for many years.

Yesterday,  many angry  citizens (subjects?)  missed out on their right to vote as the stations were overloaded and time ran out.  Now the Electoral Commisson, a not very watchful watchdog, is looking for reform. We told you so! they say, as they pass the buck to the returning officers. The system is out of date!

I am not sure why the organisers didn’t lay on a few more workers and tables and have a reserve of ballot papers. But I hope the low tech system of voting won’t be blamed and moved aside. Will a management consultancy change paper and pencil for electronic and digital interface? Will a branding agency change the ‘look and feel’ of the voting experience to reflect the new era of electoral reform? Just because it isn’t digital, it doesn’t not mean it is wrong.