Pre-GLASTO

There are things in life that people put in lists, like shopping.

For me, Glastonbury festival has been on my "to do" list for a good long while. I'm eternally grateful to Ben Jackson who managed to hit the ticketing site at the right time and get my ticket. One of the nicest gingers I know.

There are many things about the festival which appealed to me, most notably the community type bubble the festival creates, its passion for diversity and, of course, the music. The legacy of performances on those stages is unrivalled, par Woodstock.

It is currently "Glastonbury Eve", I'm beer in hand and sat in front of the TV watching what can only be described as an international football match (as it stands) between Ivory Coast and Greece - which I'm only watching because the World Cup is on. All jokes aside, massive respect to the Toure brothers, and their team mates, who are sporting black armbands in memory of their brother, Ibrahim who sadly passed away earlier in the week. 

I've got SoundCloud blasting away upbeat tunes getting me in the mood for the next few days. And it's starting to make me think about what acts I want to see whilst simultaneously worrying that the sheer wealth of talent at the festival means that I could spend half my time running from pillar to post and miss out on lots of the things that only Glastonbury can offer. I only recently learned you can take classes there to learn new stuff, like the ukulele.

I think I've told just about everyone I know that I am going to Glastonbury this year, which has either been greeted with "it'll rain", "that's nice" or "I'm so jealous". With any variant of those responses there is always a word of advice.

One of the pieces of advice that I was given was to pick the artist who has the most entertaining name and go and see them. Current favourite on that front is "Just A Couple of Mums" - which for obvious reasons sounds like a right hoot! 

I've got a few picks from the lineup, like Arcade Fire, who I haven't seen before. But I'm torn on whether I should I only focus on people I haven't seen before or trust the music I like. I love the Manic Street Preachers but will seeing them at Glastonbury vastly change that? I think it's a balancing act - because as I said before it's not all about the music at this festival.

However, a blog can't be all fluff and no opinion. I'm not a Metallica fan, but people who are saying the headliners this year are not on par with previous years are quite clearly annoyed that they didn't get a ticket, or not realise how much influence their music has had on the wider music scene. You only had to hear Ellie Goulding (covering Zane Lowe's radio show) to understand just how long they have been making influential music. Haters gonna hate.

With guests arriving for the evening shortly to break up the journey down to Worthy Farm I best wrap this up. See you on the other side and if you do get chance please pray for sunshine, I quite like the clothes I'm taking xx

It's Bombastic

I have a very old iPod. Its contents haven't changed since about 2007. This allows me to listen to things like Ash's Intergalactic Sonic 7s, The Shins' Wincing The Night Away and Bloc Party's Silent Alarm on my way to and from work. The great thing about this is that I often listen to music that reminds me of certain things and places. I will, for instance never be able to decouple Boy Kill Boy's Civilian from my school leaving holiday to Tuscany or Razorlight's Up All Night from drinking Carling with Luke Dalton...

All this nostalgia is lovely - however, back to the matter at hand: as many of my previous post readers will be aware, I often go and get a load of new music in one go the old fashioned way - buying a physical CD.

The one that won the mini blog post is Bombay Bicycle Club's So Long See You Tomorrow.

There are few opening tracks that really set out the stall of recent albums I have listened to, other than maybe CHVRCHES (whose album The Bones Of What You Believe [which came second in the blog shortlist] opens with The Mother We Share). Overdone makes you think of the lights gradually coming up at a gig, sun meeting sky with the swagger of North London. On my first listen to the album, as Overdone's bass line kicks in, it somehow managed to make me feel like when I heard Arctic Monkeys' Brianstorm for the first time: I wanted to be at the front of a gig crowd, 18 and a bit pissed. 

The ethereal tones of Jack Steadman's lead vocals and a continuation of the sampling experimentation within the latest album provides ample purity that many other bands seem to suffer from, post "the difficult third album" (this being BBC's fourth). The album features guest vocals and produces similar haunting harmonies that became so well recognised on A Different Kind Of Fix.

My current favourite track is Home By Now, but Luna isn't far off that. The fact I can't really decide across most of the album is testament to the album's construction. 

I'm not going to give you the blow-by-blow of the album. The orchestration and world music influences really do make this album a worthwhile listen - it's Bombastic x

Are inspiration and education mutually exclusive?

There are many things I thought I would want to be when I grew up, but don't panic I'm not going to list them all and I'm fairly certain none of them were the ones cited by the Pussycat Dolls.

I heard on the radio some weeks ago that recent surveys suggest that when posed the "what do you want to be when you grow up" question, most children answered "famous". Having never been famous, I cannot say whether that is a good or bad thing.

What amazed me though was that there was no requirement or intent to specify anything beyond being "famous". Not even saying footballer, fashion designer, musician, author or actor...

Dr Harold Shipman is famous - not exactly the best role model out there (that being said, he was a Leeds Uni graduate so he did something right!).

To clarify, I may well be being totally ignorant to the education sector in the remainder of this post. However these are my views as an outsider and I welcome any and all feedback on where I'm wrong!

Does the modern education framework allow for creativity? Are kids coached out of it? 

Modern education takes its roots from the industrial revolution. All work items are specialised and partitioned. Children are input into the education factory (school) to generate an output: teenagers with qualifications to benefit them as the enter the wider world and become more economically active. 

Obviously one could argue a certain level of education is mandatory and protects society's interests. However once that level is achieved (or during its attainment) should the focus then shift to inspiration? Is it even possible to do both simultaneously in the current framework?

I think politics has shaped education much more than anything else in recent history. In my lifetime, qualifications have been re-branded and re-parametered whilst budgets and curriculums have suffered cuts and restrictions. 

No education minister can come in, undo it all and start afresh which is a real shame but a fact of life I suppose.

The fact you hear the phrase "exam coaching" in education is surely proof enough that the underlying philosophy of education has been diluted.

I have an unbounded appreciation of the teaching profession. They do a terrific job in most instances, shaping lives and influencing good behaviours but can they inspire creativity or the passion for learning when ultimately test results are seen as of political importance and dictate budgets within local government and ultimately the education system?

The counter argument would be that the best teachers find that balance between curriculum and creativity. I'm lucky enough to have seen examples of that in my own educational experience but I think that's something many miss out on.

I stumbled across a perfect quote quite by chance. It's from William Bruce Cameron’s 1963 text “Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking” and it contained the following passage:

It would be nice if all of the data which sociologists require could be enumerated because then we could run them through IBM machines and draw charts as the economists do. However, not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.

You can count bums on seats, test scores and attendance records. You cannot count inspiration or creativity.

Many of you will have watched Educating Yorkshire and that highlights the efforts of staff in one school to show there is more to education than just passing the tests. There will be countless examples like that without camera crews but there may just as well be hidden schools, who pass the tests and inspections but ultimately fail their students.

If people who are creative can exceed expectations, why shouldn't the government be creative: take a risk, really learn from mistakes rather than spoon-feed the masses and take away individuality.

My conclusion is that it's not necessarily Yorkshire that needs educating but rather the educational framework which needs re-imagining, allowing teachers to be tangential, spontaneous and inspire creativity. 

When (if) I grow up, I want to see more creativity in the world - and education seems the best platform to make that possible. As Hector from History Boys says:

Pass the parcel. That's sometimes all you can do. 

In my mind, that parcel is inspiration. We should pass on the passion, the yearning for learning and give kids questions not just answers x

Fell back in love with Mr G, Ja'mie and Jonah

Firstly, apologies that "On this day I" hasn't been pushing out posts as regular as it used to be. However secondly it is nice to know that it has been missed, so thanks to those who have actively encouraged me to get back into it. Life sort of got in the way!

Knowing that I'd be getting back into the blogging, and it got me thinking about what I could write about. 

September - where has the time gone? 

Today saw the return of school traffic. September used to be a bit of a tense month. Would I have all the new stationery I needed? What seat would I be given? What are my flatmates going to be like? Where am I going to go now?!

School life being a distant memory, my only exposure now is through my brother. He's just started a new job working in a school. At his previous post he was affectionately known as Mr G - and having spotted his "Mr G" gear in a recent venture into his bedroom (hosting hockey's Patrick Smith for the evening) that prompted me to watch Summer Heights High - turned out he's nicked it, so I bought it again and it's all come flooding back - so this blog is dedicated to Chris Lilley's creation.

If you have never watched it, I wouldn't dare spoil it for you but essentially Summer Heights High, written by and starring Chris Lilley is an award winning Australian mockumentary series starring three of the fictional protagonists (all played by Lilley) in a parody of public school life. 

I'll take the time to introduce each of the main characters very briefly, as they really do sell themselves:

Mr G

The drama teacher, Greg Gregson (aka "Mr G") is passionate about his methods. He is a megalomaniac. He's mental and narcissistic. He's just brilliant - from his dog Celine (who has an "oversized brain") through to his musical penmanship, Tsunamarama (based on the events of the Tsunami disaster, set to the music of Bananarama).

He misperceives (much in the same way David Brent does) that he is well-liked - it is clear that he is unaware that his own perception of his teaching abilities is not shared by most students, but I for one would happily play "Slap the Butcher" if I could every single day...

Jonah

Summer Heights High is Jonah's third school in eighteen months. Leader of the FOB (Fresh Off the Boat) Tongan year 8 crew. He's a teenager with Attention Deficit Disorder, problems with aggression and a passion for break-dancing. 

His disruptive behaviour is very funny and his struggles are not unjust. He just wants to entertain and has delayed "being smart" because he doesn't want to be yet. He's the class clown - the one your teachers all warned you about. We all had one, and if you didn't - then it might well be you. Sorry (Ben!)

Ja'mie

Ja'mie King is part of a school exchange programme. She struggles to cope away from her privileged background but in reality she faces the same issues all 16 year old girls do (I assume, based on TV's representations of teenage girls anyway). She's just "so random" and her prejudices are, well, brilliantly spiteful. Her actions are not without consequence, for instance when she accidentally forwards a slanderously photo-shopped picture of her new found public school friends to the wrong person on MSN, she's abandoned on the playground without a friend in sight.

She's attention seeking and keen to out-do her contemporaries - from asking a girl to her end of school formal to dating a year 7. If it's going to put her in the limelight, she'll do it. You do try to feel sorry for her and want to believe that the experience will humble her, but you know it won't and you don't really even mind. She's rich and she'll never be "povo", "skanky" or a "bogan". She is my favourite character, delivering the majority of the funniest one-liners throughout the series. The fact you sometimes forget that this is a man in drag is testament to Lilley as a performer.

His skills as a writer are no less impressive. The main story lines are stronger than most comedies but the subtleties of its humour are what I think will make this a series I return to again and again. The closure of the stories (particularly Jonah's) feels closer to a drama, you are on the journey with them and their development (or lack of) makes it much closer to documentary than mockumentary.

Well hopefully that's enough to tempt some of you into watching it - don't tell everyone but it looks like the full episodes are actually on youtube... so go and have a watch. 

Chris Lilley has a new series of a similar format coming out soon which I assume will air on BBC3 in the UK (as per Angry Boys and SHH) - hopefully I'll try not to let life get too busy for me to put pen to blog for a review of that. 

And if I do get busy, then puck you x

Much more than just bacon

I watch a lot of films and TV shows. Over the past year I have ignited a seemingly unquenchable interest in World Cinema and foreign drama and the time has come for me to share the gems I cherish most.

I could blog/bore you about French cinematography, the Italian's unrivalled expressions of romance or the Spanish ability to conjure the true magic of an adventure. But no, this post is one for the people of Denmark.

I'm pretty sure most of you will be thinking, surely their only exports are bacon and members of the Schmiechel family? Aha - they have much more than that my friends!

Great drama is a powerful art form, and the Danes have nailed it. They have a way of making you completely forget your own world. It truly is an experience rather than endurance to watch their mysteries unfold. From my own experience I have seen an expression of truthfulness and grit that English drama can sometimes often deliver but where it surpasses it is in the character development - it is phenomenal, notably across the TV series I have seen.

People often ask me how I can put up with watching things with subtitles, and how much more concentration it must take to watch these sorts of programme. GOOD.

Too often we are caught in the age of social media and mobile devices. We drift away from programmes to text friends, look at a twitter feed or post something on Facebook - and those things are great, don't get me wrong, they have a time and place - I'm blogging from my iPhone now! But they so often detract from the true power and experience of watching drama and cinema.

You can't get away with doing that when all the dialogue is in a language you can hardly understand. Before you have chance to What'sApp you'll be saying "what's that?!" And having to rewind - it requires concentration and that effort is rewarded many times over.

To highlight what Danish TV/cinema can offer you I've listed a couple of things for you to get stuck into:

Forbrydelsen: It is one the best tv series I have ever seen. I think ITV ran with the translated version, The Killing. Centrally themed around detective work and politics, the twists and turns engage you constantly.

Hæven/In A Better World:
It won a golden globe and an academy award. It's directed by Susanne Bier who is reasonably well noted within the world of cinema. It's a story of revenge and the power of forgiveness in 2 completely different worlds inextricably linked.

Borgen:
Political drama, media spinners and journalists. No Malcolm Tucker, but by god does this grab you by the balls. It's the character development in this which really got me into it, it's got just as many twists and turns as Forbrydelsen (it's actually produced by the same people). Plus, this is the first time - fictional or otherwise - that I have found a Prime Minister a little bit sexy. Political and personal intrigue explored, you really fall head first into the life of Birgitte Nyborg.


Bron/Broen:
Starts off with a body on a bridge. Then it's half a body of 2 different people, of different nationalities, put together. If that isn't the best ending to a first episode I don't know what is! Also, this is bi-lingual - it's in Danish and Swedish - as the body is found exactly on the border so both sets of national authorities have to investigate. What a great way for people to learn foreign languages, through great drama. The uncompromising honestly of the female protagonist is possibly the best thing about this show.

That's enough for now, I won't spoil it any further, get involved and let me know if you have any recommendations.

I was trying to finish on a bacon pun, but for the life of me I can think of none, so I'll play this card instead...

Great Danes: drama with more bite than bark xx