In the year 2000

Back in France in 1899, people wondered what life would be like in the year 2000. And so, over the course of several years, sets of postcards were produced by artists such as Jean-Marc Côté bearing their artistic predictions. The first series of these pictures was produced in 1899 for the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. There are at least 87 cards in existence. Here is a good selection.

They didn't quite get it right as you'll see. And some are just downright baffling. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Via The Public Domain Review

Epic Stuff

This is taxidermy on an unparalleled scale. Cai Guo-Qiang’s Falling Back to Earth, on display at the Queensland Art Gallery, features installations of 99 replicas of animals drinking from a pristine lake; 99 wolves leaping en masse and colliding with a glass wall and a suspended 31-metre eucalyptus tree, creating a space for contemplation. It's mad. But amazing.

Cai Guo-Qiang said the exhibition title Falling Back to Earth was inspired by fourth-century poet Tao Yuanming's well-known prose poem, 'Ah, homeward bound I go!': 'The text captures the concept behind the exhibition, and expresses the idea of going home, returning to the harmonious relationship between man and nature, and re-embracing the tranquillity in the landscape,' he said.

 

 

The exhibition is on until 11th May 2014

Content taken from The Culture Trip

Cai Guo-Qiang's website here.

Weekend Wonders No More

Sadly, the Sunday People has decided to close its web-based edition so there won't be any more of my 'Weekend Wonders' columns. So here are the final two that I wrote that won't make it to print. Enjoy!

A Potty Brush with Statistics

The UK’s first ever mobile phone (or cell phone) call was made on January 1st 1985 when comedian Ernie Wise made a call from St Katherine’s Dock in London to the headquarters of Vodafone in Newbury, Berkshire. At that time, Vodafone was such a small outfit that their HQ was in an office above an Indian restaurant. When ‘Little Ern’ made his pioneering call, mobile phones cost £2000 a time (1985 prices), had a battery the size of a briefcase with a 20 minute lifespan, and used analogue rather than digital transmission. Consequently, you could listen in on people’s conversations by finding the right frequency on your radio. It took Vodafone nine years to sign up its millionth customer, but only a further 18 months to reach two million.

In November 2007, it was estimated that there were 3.3 billion mobile phones in use worldwide and, in 2012, a study by World Bank revealed that around 75% of the world’s population have access to one. It’s been claimed that there are now more mobile phones than toothbrushes. In 2011 this fact was researched by writer Nicole Hall who discovered that there are, on average, 3.2 billion toothbrushes sold each year. And, at the time of her research, there were around four billion mobile phone contracts in existence. So it’s fair to say that there are almost certainly more mobile phone subscriptions than there are toothbrushes (in current use) on the planet.

Slightly more distressing is the fact that more people have access to a mobile phone than to a loo. A UN study in 2013 found that 6 billion people have access to a mobile phone but only 4.5 billion have access to working toilets. In India alone around half of its 1.2 billion residents are mobile subscribers, but only 366 million people have access to proper sanitation.

Child stars

There are many movies that feature children who quickly become big stars. But what happens afterwards? Where are they now? Many go on to successful adult acting careers like Henry Thomas who played Elliott in ET(1982). As Henry Jackson Thomas, he’s appeared in films like Gangs of New York and Legends of the Fall and starred as Norman Bates in Psycho IV (1990). Similarly, the star of Kes, David Bradley, has had a successful theatre career as Dai Bradley and has recently moved back into movies, notably in the Jason Statham vehicle Hummingbird (2012).

 But many others go on to have very different lives. Peter Ostrum, who played Charlie Bucket in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), made no more films and is now a vet specialising in large exotic animals found in zoos and safari parks. Mark Lester, who played Oliver Twist in Oliver! (1968) is now an osteopath and acupuncturist and was, for a time, a close friend of Michael Jackson. Meanwhile, Mara Wilson who played Matilda (199) works for a charity exploring use of colour in therapy.

The three children in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) have had diverse careers. Carrie Rawlins was played by Cindy O’Callaghan, who later turned up on Eastenders as Andrea Price but who is now a child psychologist. Older brother Charlie was played by Ian Weighill who is now a driver for South West Trains. And young Paul was played by Roy Snart, who is now managing director of a software company.

Mary Poppins (1964) children Karen Dotrice (Jane) and Matthew Garber (Michael) had very different lives. Karen was a successful actress before retiring to be a full time mum. But Matthew contracted hepatitis and tragically died at the age of just 21.

The Week That Was

An interesting week that began with Monday's QI production meeting being filmed by The South Bank Show. They're doing a special all about our boss - the estimable Mr John Lloyd CBE - and his extraordinary career in TV. And, let's be honest, it's well-deserved. He's given us The News Quiz, Not The Nine O'clock News, Spitting Image, The Museum of Curiosity, Have I Got News For You, QI, Blackadder and had a hand in Mr Bean and several other well-known shows. He also co-wrote two episodes of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and The Meaning Of Liff with Douglas Adams. The man's a genius and deserves every accolade lobbed at him.

Tuesday was a working at home day, hunkering down on finding great material for the new series of QI and Wednesday was much the same. Thursday saw me having a couple of quite exciting meetings, one about my possible involvement in working for another popular TV series and one with a publisher about a new book. Then, in the evening, it was off to the famous Foyles bookshop in Charing Cross Road for the Transmission Prize award ceremony.

I was one of the judges this year - no mean feat when every candidate was an amazing person - and my role at the awards was to do a 15 minute presentation explaining who the eight finalists were, what their big idea was, and why we'd selected them for our shortlist. The prize was awarded this year to Dr David Nutt, a brave and brilliant chemist who is challenging politicians over their attitudes to classifications of drugs. As he points out, some of the most damaging drugs are perfectly legal and there are things that can be done to reduce their negative effects on society ... but there is a lack of political will to do so. Meanwhile, other drugs remain illegal making research into their possible uses in medicine fraught with difficulty and bound up with red tape.The Transmission Prize is all about taking big ideas and communicating them effectively and, in his books, interviews, talks, blogs and other media, David speaks with passion, authority and clarity. He was a worthy winner, but picking him out of such a brilliant shortlist was really difficult.

Okay, I admit it. I did enjoy a little ripple of thrills in seeing my name in Foyles' window. It may not have been any of my books on display, but I was judging the winner from the books that were on display ... so that's nearly as cool, isn't it?

Friday saw me back at work on QI and also taking part in an 'Ask the Author' live Twitter chat organised by my publishers at Unbound. Some of the questions were bizarre to say the least! But my latest book - Constable Colgan's Connectoscope - does contain some pretty weird facts too.

When I got home I was both flattered and amused to see that a student called 'Jack J' from the University of Chester had animated one of my appearances on Radio 4 last year. I appeared on Josie Long's Short Stories, speaking for a minute on the subject of the police playing hide and seek on night duty in the early 80s as a way of learning beats. Here's his excellent effort:



This week was a good week. And now the weekend is approaching and I'll be doing some extra QI work to make up for the hours I lost on Thursday. But, to be honest, it's a joy to do so it doesn't really feel like work. :)

What's that? Lunch break is over?

Ow! Mr Fry!

That whip stings!

Rubbish Art - Supplemental

A few more artists who make art from recycled materials:

Sue Beatrice (website here) makes exquisite artwork from old watch and clock parts. She's a mean sculptor too.

Meanwhile, the mysterious 'Mister Finch' makes plants and animals using vintage fabrics. His website is here.

And then there's Kyle Bean who makes chickens from eggshells, mobile phone Russian dolls from cardboard, and portraits from pencil shavings. The man is a genius.

The second batch of rubbish art of 2014 ...

I have a particular fondness for art that's made from recycled materials. Don't believe me? See here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here ... and that's just for starters.

Last month I found the amazing work of Edouard Martinet. This week I discovered the extraordinary talent of Exeter-based artist Jane Perkins whose 'Plastic Classics' bring famous masterpieces to new life with recycled and found items. They're quite amazing.

 

 

There's a lot more of her work to be found on her website here.

Eat, Think and be Entertained

There's a side of London the tourists don't see; a sub-culture of evening salons, tiny intimate comedy gigs and shows where people come together to drink, eat, laugh and learn. I've been to a few recently, and even spoken at a couple, so I thought it would be nice to do a little round up of some of my favourites.

Firstly there's Science Show-Off and Museums Show-off, both the brainchild of comedy geek (or geeky comedian) Steve Cross. I wrote about the shows here in August after doing a spot at one of them. Steve describes them as 'a chaotic open mic night for scientists, science communicators, science teachers, historians and philosophers of science, students, science popularisers and anyone else with something to show off about science'. And that's how it works; around 10 speakers get up on stage and sing the praises of some aspect of science or museums and the funnier they are the better. I've seen presentations on the preservation of human skin, bizarre and downright cruel Victorian Valentine's cards and all manner of other brilliant subjects. Although regularly staged in London, these shows do pop up in other cities too so click on the hyperlinks above and find out if there's one near you any time soon. Or why not contact Steve and arrange one?

Of similar intent but with very different subject matter, we have Simon Watt's Ugly Animal Preservation Society and Iszi Lawrence's Z List Dead List. Both are about championing the underdog. In Simon's case it's those creatures that, through no fault of their own, are considered uncharismatic enough to never be chosen as the logo for an animal charity; animals like the blobfish, the pubic louse and the hairy anglerfish that deserve your love just as much as the fluffy pandas and annoying meerkats do.

Iszi's shows, meanwhile, champion people that history has forgotten unfairly and who deserve greater recognition; people like Mary Tofts who fooled polite Georgian society with her rabbit trick (I'll say no more - look her up) and the Reverend Robert Hawker who invented Harvest Festival but also dressed up as a mermaid to freak people out. Like the Show-Off shows, the format is very simple - a bunch of people get up on stage, one at a time, to extol the virtues of their chosen beast or person - but the final result is hugely entertaining. Again, follow the hyperlinks above for dates and venues.

New kid on the block is Historic Punch organised by Dr Lindsey Fitzharris, caricaturist Ade Teal and History Vault magazine founder Rebecca Rideal. The shows, hosted by Black's Club in Soho (itself a place steeped in bawdy history), see historians giving forth upon a theme. The most recent I attended was themed around 'over-indulgence' and featured talks by Time Team's Professor Francis Pryor who told us about Neolithic hedonism, Dr Lucy Inglis who talked historical drug addiction and Dr Matthew Green who gave us a taste - literally and figuratively - of life in the Georgian chocolate houses.

I say literally as we got to taste the kind of hot chocolate that people like Cosimo de Medici favoured; bitter, dark, thick and laced with things like ambergris, musk and spices. It is an acquired taste, trust me. Incidentally, Matthew also runs Unreal City Audio that does fantastic historical tours of coffeehouse London and Fleet Street. Well worth a visit.

Salon London is a well-established cultural monthly showcase of specialists from the worlds of science, the arts and psychology. The overarching theme is getting amazing ideas - some new, some old - out to a wider public. It has, in fact, now spawned the annual Transmission Prize to reward the person that Salon, Salon attendees and a judging panel consider to have done the best job of 'delivering big ideas, well communicated' in the previous year. Hosted by the wonderfully enthusiastic Juliet Russell and Helen Bagnall, the shows have drawn in a staggering range of talent including Dr Aarathi Prasad, Clare Conville, Damian Barr, Julian Baggini, Marcus Chown, Natalie Haynes, Dr Phillipa Perry, Ella Berthoud, Dr Stu Clark and Tracey Thorn. It's always a treat. And Salon also does shows in Harrogate as Salon North and at the Latitude Festival.

Last but not least, I must mention Skeptics in the Pub, a national and now international form of grass roots informal get-together for critical thinkers. Created by Sid Rodrigues just a few years ago, there are now SITP meetings all over the place. And, while most involve nothing more challenging (or brilliant) than people sitting around discussing interesting topics while drinking beer, many put on talks by guest speakers and the circuit boasts some real heavyweights like Prof Richard Wiseman, Dr Simon Singh, Robin Ince, Robert Llewellyn and Jon Ronson. Do check the link above to see if there's one near you. If not, start one!

So, there you go. A round-up of just a few things you might like to attend if you live in or near London or, in some cases, elsewhere in the country. All of these events will make you laugh and think and laugh again. Plus you'll be socialising with real people rather than the little avatar pictures that appear on Twitter and Facebook. And, as most take place in pubs and bars, you'll be keeping the British pub alive too.

What's not to like?

Weekend Wonders #8 - Oh January ... don't go! Don't go!

This week's column from the Sunday People by yours truly ...

January wasn’t always the first month of the year. The Romans originally used a 10 month calendar that started on the 1st of March and didn’t quite have enough days to fill the year. A leftover from this silly state of affairs is that the tax year starts in April and the names of our months don’t make sense any more.

We all know that words beginning with ‘oct’ usually relate to the number eight – octopus, octagon, octave etc. So, logically, October should be the eighth month, shouldn’t it? Of course it should. And, under the Roman 10 month calendar it was. Consequently, September was the seventh, November the ninth and December the tenth. The introduction of a 12 month calendar – by adding January and February – bumped everything up a couple of months. These two new months were created somewhere around 700BC by King Numa Pompilius.

However, in those days, the calendar followed lunar months (the word month comes from Moon, of course) and 12 periods of 28 days didn’t fit within the 365 day year. Even with two new months it was still too short and the seasons all started moving around. A major rethink was needed. So Julius Caesar stepped in and redesigned it, creating the Julian Calendar. It was better but still not quite right and it took a further tweak by the Vatican under Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 to bring us to the familiar Gregorian Calendar that we still use in the West today. It isn’t perfect, but it’s not likely to change much from now on.

The Anglo Saxons called January Wulf-monath because it was the month when packs of hungry wolves would descend upon the villages.

Make sure you lock the cat flap …