Sunday, 18 November 2018
Diary: Introducing Basterfield Billy
For the past three years I have been writing short pieces about my local neighbourhood in London EC1. This blog, Basterfield Billy, took the name of the block on the Golden Lane Estate in which I live. The posts in the Basterfield Billy blog are mostly columns I have written for the City Matters newspaper about the goings-on hereabouts, plus a few sketches and vignettes of events and characters locally. But the time has come to consolidate and put all my blogs in one place, so from now on any posts that would have appeared in Basterfield Billy will now appear in the this blog.
Diary: Introducing Neuro Billy
Back at the start of 2015, I attended a stroke rehabilitation clinic at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery to improve the function of my left arm. Part of the treatment involved restricting the use of my dominant right arm. In the downtime between serious physio and occupational therapy sessions I started writing a blog, using only my badly affected left hand to type the entries. This was the start of Neuro Billy, a blog that continued for 25 posts over three and a half years. It covered all the therapies and research projects I took part in, plus my own darkly comic observations of all things neurological. As my rehabilitation gained momentum and my ability to live with my brain injury improved, the need to record my activities declined. In short, the neuro aspects of my life are now just part of my everyday life. This is why I have now incorporated the blog I started back then, Neuro Billy, into this blog.
What prompted me to do this was a research project I took part in last week at NHNN into fatigue after stroke. This, I was told, is not fatigue as we generally understand it. I does not refer to physical tiredness or a lack of stamina. This is fatigue as diminishing attention. It refers to how the brain deal with a new stimulus by standing to attention. It remains standing to attention so long as the stimulus is novel and performs at the top of its game, alert and ready to respond. If, however, the stimulus becomes repetitive, the brain with shift into a kind of cruise control and act according to a fixed pattern it believes to be the right one. In many people who have suffered a stroke, this mechanism no longer works and EVERY experience is detected as being novel. The brain is thus dealing with every new stimulus as if it were the first time it has experienced it. This is what can, in the end, lead to wipeout in strokies. Their brains stand to attention ALL THE TIME, and that's a bit knackering.
What prompted me to do this was a research project I took part in last week at NHNN into fatigue after stroke. This, I was told, is not fatigue as we generally understand it. I does not refer to physical tiredness or a lack of stamina. This is fatigue as diminishing attention. It refers to how the brain deal with a new stimulus by standing to attention. It remains standing to attention so long as the stimulus is novel and performs at the top of its game, alert and ready to respond. If, however, the stimulus becomes repetitive, the brain with shift into a kind of cruise control and act according to a fixed pattern it believes to be the right one. In many people who have suffered a stroke, this mechanism no longer works and EVERY experience is detected as being novel. The brain is thus dealing with every new stimulus as if it were the first time it has experienced it. This is what can, in the end, lead to wipeout in strokies. Their brains stand to attention ALL THE TIME, and that's a bit knackering.
Saturday, 3 November 2018
Picture: Great Arthur House poster
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| Can you spot the dangling man? |
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| As seen behind the Shakespeare pub |
Thursday, 1 November 2018
Diary: October 2018
4 October 2018, Hackney
11 October 2018, Hackney
The best thing for me at the Headway Co-Production workshop today was Rosy’s answer to the question: "Why HEL members should be involved in decision making?” Rosy is not a Day-Service member, but she did benefit from talking to day-members, which she did actively. I especially enjoyed a conversation with her and Phil Chimes during one of the breaks about being a cop (pre brain injury). We shared the experience of not being able to multi-process. We both can only do things serially, start-finish, start-finish, etc. Rosy said also that she retained some of her pre-brain injury embedded characteristics, what I frivolously referred to as “being plod”. She was still very observant, suspecting and cautious. She had not “lost it”, as she told her closest friends.
12 October 2018, London
18 October 2018, Hackney
Bit of writing for Michelle about masks.
The studio's current artist-in-residence is Stephen Wright, who found fame turning his house in Dulwich, south London, into a living museum of Outsider Art. He called it his “House of Dreams”, so it was interesting to see him bring his dreamworld to Submit to Love.
One of his first projects was to get members making masks. The temptation to draw parallels between masks and dreams is strong. It could be said that both are multi-layered confessions, and Steven agreed that masks are more often about revealing than concealing.
Our members took first-base inspiration from a serious book about Mexican masks, but roamed freely with the subject thereafter. So it wouldn't be a good idea to read too much into these masks. Some of them are of real people (Michael Jackson), some are just for fun. Some are self portraits. AD's image of herself depicts a wild-headed woman with her tongue sticking out. It's a remarkable likeness, both physical and metaphorical, of the AD I know. Studio manager Michelle modelled herself on an evil crone with sunken eyes and a hooked nose. As I said, don't read too much into these things. Errol Drysdale did the mask of a lion. That's a good character fit, too.
One of the fascinating things these masks all have in common is that inside them, their essence, their soul, is one day: Tuesday, October 16, 2018. This is because they all started as scrunched-up pages from that day's copy of the Metro newspaper, on top of which is layer upon layer of Modrock.
The front-page headline in the Metro on that Tuesday was “MEXIT!” followed by a story about how Prince Harry's wife, Meghan, will be enduring the pain of childbirth on the same day the UK is scheduled to leave the EU. Good luck with that, thought Sam Jevon as she turned this story into the outsized nose of a grinning idiot.
Other stories that day included one about Katya from Strictly Come Dancing trying to repair her marriage after a slip of the tongue with a long-haired comedian called Seann. There was something about Universal Credit not only being a pathway to misery for tens of thousands, especially women, but a total waste of billions for the taxpayer. But my favourite story was an interview with the artist Finn Stone (aka, the Mad Hatter), whose north-London house looks like it just came out of Stephen Wright's toilet.
It is weirdly comforting to think that the Metro newspaper's worldly wisdom is embedded in these creations. More so that each of them carries an identical tabloid voodoo and yet look so vastly different. It's both enlivening and creepy in one take.
I still can't resist mentioning that huge pink nose to Sam Jevon at every opportunity. She giggles coquettishly, but I'm pretty sure she's wishing I’d just shut up and piss off.
18 October 2018, Hackney
In the studio today.
which is a companion to...
5 October 2018, Paris
It is such a long time since I last spotted a bit of rolled-up carpet in a Parisian gutter.
6 October 2018, ParisNot only do they have those hire bicycles you can just leave anywhere on the pavement, they also have a motorised scooter equivalent. The marginalisation of the pedestrian is in full swing here in Paris.
6 October 2018, Paris
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| Bit rude, but never mind |
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| Addicted to Bette Davis Eyes on Spotify Easy 80s collection |
It is such a long time since I last spotted a bit of rolled-up carpet in a Parisian gutter.
6 October 2018, ParisNot only do they have those hire bicycles you can just leave anywhere on the pavement, they also have a motorised scooter equivalent. The marginalisation of the pedestrian is in full swing here in Paris.
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| Paris has motorised scooters |
Spotted in the 15th Arrondisement.
6 October, 2018, Paris
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| Parisian dentists leave this stuff lying around |
Out and about in Convention.
7 October 2018, Paris
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| Le Comptoir toilettes |
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| Le Comptoir menu |
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| Exotic Parisian goth reads paper |
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| The things you see if you look down |
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| Working out our winners |
A day at the races.
8 October 2028, London
Just back from a weekend in Paris, where not only do they have those hire bikes (Mobike) you can leave anywhere on the pavement, but a motorised scooter equivalent. Now I read in City Matters, number 083, a story that hints at a future where the highway conflict shifts from motorist versus cyclist to motorist and cyclist and scooterist, or whatever, versus pedestrian. As the City's ‘Culture Mile’ tourism programme gains momentum, footfall will increase, but so will the march of technology and the public highways will become the province of all kinds of gadgetry. The distinction between road and pavement is breaking down and the City will become a much more dangerous place for walkers. |
| First drink of the day |
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| A spare bottle is always a good idea |
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| The view from the cheap seats |
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| Getting the Smartie-suit guy and the Peaky Blinder in one shot was not easy |
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| Lipstick at the race track |
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| Behind a row of horsey hoorays |
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| Clipping from City Matters |
The best thing for me at the Headway Co-Production workshop today was Rosy’s answer to the question: "Why HEL members should be involved in decision making?” Rosy is not a Day-Service member, but she did benefit from talking to day-members, which she did actively. I especially enjoyed a conversation with her and Phil Chimes during one of the breaks about being a cop (pre brain injury). We shared the experience of not being able to multi-process. We both can only do things serially, start-finish, start-finish, etc. Rosy said also that she retained some of her pre-brain injury embedded characteristics, what I frivolously referred to as “being plod”. She was still very observant, suspecting and cautious. She had not “lost it”, as she told her closest friends.
12 October 2018, London
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| The puppeteers did not wear gloves |
Bit of writing for Michelle about masks.
The studio's current artist-in-residence is Stephen Wright, who found fame turning his house in Dulwich, south London, into a living museum of Outsider Art. He called it his “House of Dreams”, so it was interesting to see him bring his dreamworld to Submit to Love.
One of his first projects was to get members making masks. The temptation to draw parallels between masks and dreams is strong. It could be said that both are multi-layered confessions, and Steven agreed that masks are more often about revealing than concealing.
Our members took first-base inspiration from a serious book about Mexican masks, but roamed freely with the subject thereafter. So it wouldn't be a good idea to read too much into these masks. Some of them are of real people (Michael Jackson), some are just for fun. Some are self portraits. AD's image of herself depicts a wild-headed woman with her tongue sticking out. It's a remarkable likeness, both physical and metaphorical, of the AD I know. Studio manager Michelle modelled herself on an evil crone with sunken eyes and a hooked nose. As I said, don't read too much into these things. Errol Drysdale did the mask of a lion. That's a good character fit, too.
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| Thankfully, I managed to dodge doing this project |
The front-page headline in the Metro on that Tuesday was “MEXIT!” followed by a story about how Prince Harry's wife, Meghan, will be enduring the pain of childbirth on the same day the UK is scheduled to leave the EU. Good luck with that, thought Sam Jevon as she turned this story into the outsized nose of a grinning idiot.
Other stories that day included one about Katya from Strictly Come Dancing trying to repair her marriage after a slip of the tongue with a long-haired comedian called Seann. There was something about Universal Credit not only being a pathway to misery for tens of thousands, especially women, but a total waste of billions for the taxpayer. But my favourite story was an interview with the artist Finn Stone (aka, the Mad Hatter), whose north-London house looks like it just came out of Stephen Wright's toilet.
It is weirdly comforting to think that the Metro newspaper's worldly wisdom is embedded in these creations. More so that each of them carries an identical tabloid voodoo and yet look so vastly different. It's both enlivening and creepy in one take.
I still can't resist mentioning that huge pink nose to Sam Jevon at every opportunity. She giggles coquettishly, but I'm pretty sure she's wishing I’d just shut up and piss off.
18 October 2018, Hackney
In the studio today.
22 October 2018 🎥, London
The cynic in me says Bradley Cooper just wanted to cast himself in a love story with Lady Gaga.
24 October 2018, London
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| Oils are so messy |
The cynic in me says Bradley Cooper just wanted to cast himself in a love story with Lady Gaga.
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| I don't advise dissing Brad |
A sort of cross between Kids From Fame and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.
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| It turned my po face into a big grin |
25 October 2018, London
Children looking remotely happy are rare in this exhibition.
26 October 2018, London
Early this morning I heard on BBC Radio 4 Extra a gripping 20-minute play made in 1978 called 'The Revenge’. It was written by the actor Andrew Sachs, who is also the story's principal character. The stand-out feature of the play is that contains no spoken words. The drama is communicated purely by sound. To get the idea, think of the difference in sound between someone breathing calmly, at ease and in a relaxed manner, and someone breathing desperately during a chase.
26 October 2018, London
Another Corrie woman to go with those appearing in the print show at Could Be Good in Deptford.
27 October 2018, London
28 October 2018, LondonInteresting introduction from a woman who told us about Czechoslovakia's early adoption of votes for women (1918). This film cries out for a women's Monty Python-style remake.
Children looking remotely happy are rare in this exhibition.
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| Maybe it's because they is posh little squirts |
Early this morning I heard on BBC Radio 4 Extra a gripping 20-minute play made in 1978 called 'The Revenge’. It was written by the actor Andrew Sachs, who is also the story's principal character. The stand-out feature of the play is that contains no spoken words. The drama is communicated purely by sound. To get the idea, think of the difference in sound between someone breathing calmly, at ease and in a relaxed manner, and someone breathing desperately during a chase.
26 October 2018, London
Another Corrie woman to go with those appearing in the print show at Could Be Good in Deptford.
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| Ena Sharples |
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| Others in the series include Bet Lynch, Hilda Ogden, Vera Duckworth and Elsie Tanner |
27 October 2018, London
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| The writing is so clever |
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| I think some of the humour might have been lost in the mists of time |
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