Inside out back on the London scene. {Social Diary}

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INSIDE OUT FESTIVAL 2010

When: Monday 25 – Sunday 31 October 2010

www.insideoutfestival.org.uk

The Inside Out Festival is set to return this October in association with New Statesman with an even bigger and better programme of talks, debates, exhibitions and performances.

The popular annual event celebrates the exciting and often unexpected contribution made by London universities to the cultural life of the capital. This year festival-goers will be able to hear from some of the most inspiring and experimental thinkers, writers and artists of the day and get creative themselves.

Goldsmith’s, Birkbeck, Central St Martin’s, the London College of Fashion, the Courtauld Institute of Art and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama are amongst the nine university institutions throwing open their doors for the week of public events which will include film screenings, music and theatre performances, art and fashion exhibitions, and talks with well-known academics and high-profile commentators. The events will take place all over London at cultural venues such as the Barbican, the National Portrait Gallery and Somerset House, and in rarely-seen spaces in the universities.

Sally Taylor, Inside Out Festival Director, said: “There is certainly no shortage of festivals in London but this is an arts festival with a distinct twist. The sheer breadth of talent in the nine universities involved is staggering. We want as many people as possible to come and enjoy the fruits of this talent and passion in October. From the art of Cézanne to the art of war, from the abuses of contemporary history to the history of men’s underwear, this year’s Inside Out Festival will be a feast – a cultural ‘pick and mix’ – for bright thinkers and art lovers, young and old.”

Jason Cowley, Editor of New Statesman, said: “We are delighted to be associated with Inside Out. As a magazine, we like to look beyond the obvious and seek out the unusual, the witty, the irreverent and the thought-provoking. In this festival we have found all of these things and more.”

Festival highlights will include:

* A debate on New Labour Literature with author and academic Blake Morrison, comedy scriptwriter John O’Farrell and Robert Hampson, Professor of Modern Literature at Royal Holloway. Chaired by Jonathan Derbyshire, Culture Editor of New Statesman
* The Art of War – a panel discussion on war as entertainment led by Iain Burnside, Guildhall School academic, pianist and Sony-Award-winning radio presenter, drawing on his current theatre piece Lads in Their Hundreds. With human rights barrister Philippe Sands QC, veteran war reporter Kate Adie and official Iraq war artist Xavier Pick
* An exhibition of Japanese fashion at the Barbican Art Gallery including a talk with experts from the University of the Arts London
* A debate on the uses and abuses of contemporary history with historian and former journalist Peter Hennessy, Tessa Jowell MP, and Professor Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies at Oxford University

· The launch of a new history of men’s underwear by Shaun Cole, principal lecturer in history and culture at the London College of Fashion

· A Q&A with Harvey Cohen of King’s College London on his new book Duke Ellington’s America followed by music from the Guildhall Jazz Band

* Exclusive late viewing of the Courtauld Gallery’s landmark Autumn exhibition of portraits by Paul Cézanne
* Publishing a first novel – an opportunity to hear from recently published authors Penny Rudge and Kristan Hawkins, literary agents Judith Murray and Caroline Wood and tutors from City University’s highly successful Certificate in Novel Writing, as well as an opportunity to compete to have your work read by a literary agent
* A London film history walk led by expert Professor Ian Christie followed by an illustrated lecture at Birkbeck’s state-of-the-art cinema in Bloomsbury
* Creative writing workshops led by academics and writers from Birkbeck
* Minute Maestro – a conducting masterclass, following which participants have the opportunity to conduct a string quartet

The Festival will open on Monday 25 October with a high-profile panel debate – ‘Should the university survive in its current form?’ – at the University of London Senate House. Panellists will include David Willetts MP, Minister of State for Universities and Science, May Chien Busch, former COO of Morgan Stanley Europe, Professor Geoffrey Crossick Vice-Chancellor of the University of London and Professor AC Grayling, Professor of Philosophy, Birkbeck University. The event will be chaired by political columnist Anne McElvoy.

Booking for the Inside Out Festival is now open at www.insideoutfestival.org.uk

Greening the Screen with BAFTA. {Social Diary}

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Where: BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, W1J 9LN
When: 18 October 2010

At an unseemly early time – 9am – I joined Alistair McGowan, Tim Bevan and a host of other filmmakers to discuss climate change. The film industry can be an incredibly wasteful place and time restraints make recycling hard. However, a number of companies are tackling this, Including Greenshoot. A company who managed to recycle 95% of the sets from Nanny McPhee 2.

The event was chaired by Alistair McGowan, who was on top form.

Other people who were there; Jonathon Porritt, founder director of Forum for the Future and former Chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission; Paul Evans, CEO, Greenshoot; Andy Whittaker, CEO, Dogwoof; Fergus Rolfe, Low Carbon Innovation Centre; Tim Bevan, Working Title and Chair of the UK Film Council, but unfortunately Amanda Berry, Chief Executive, BAFTA; couldn’t make it due to illness.

Afterwards there was a educational free market where a list of companies gave free advice and help on reducing the carbon footprint of companies. AECom; BSI British Standards; Carbon Aware Productions; Cinema Exhibitors’ Association; Davis Langdon; Dogwoof Greenshoot; Julie’s Bicycle; Low Carbon Innovation Centre Magnificent Revolution; Nice and Serious; Red Redemption; South East Media Network; Wedlake Bell all made an appearance. I found the people form 10:10 particularly helpful.

Frost Magazine will be doing a series of article on the environment and how to reduce your carbon footprint soon.

Art of Giving at the Saatchi Gallery {Art Review}

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October is Art season in London, and I love it. It’s a wonderful way to spend an evening, drinking champagne and looking at art. One of the best of all of the exhibition’s I have been to this year was the Art of Giving at the Saatchi Gallery.

With works from Banksy, The Chelsea football team, Anthony Quinn, Derren Brown, Vic Reeves, Noel Fielding, Alexa Meade, Gavin Turk and Boyarde Messenger

Some of my favourites included; Boyarde Messenger’s painted models on plinths, wearing Charlotte Dellal shoes. The Models had to be painted at Chelsea photographer Simon Addinsell’s flat causing chaos when they walked down the King’s Road.

Stephen Walter’s The Island is beautiful and full of detail, Russelll Young’s I like you, I miss you, I love you, I killed you ,made me stop and stare for a good few minutes and Derek Cattani’s photography of Christian the Lion made me want to get my credit card out and buy the lot. Another amazingly talented artist is Drew Walker. His portraits of celebrities are rich in detail.

There was a wonderful performance from Tallulah Rendall and Lord Jeffrey Archer did the auction. Encouraging everyone to open their wallets to great success.

Famously reclusive Banksy also made an appearance, even taking his rat for a touch up before it was auctioned off. If only I knew what he looked like….

13 charities reaped the benefits of the auction, including: Crisis, British Red Cross, Stepping Stones Nigeria and Independent Age.

http://www.artofgiving.co.uk/index.html

Al-Qaeda – the New Christians by Ian Hare.

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Human memory is a fragile thing. Experiences of a lifetime shimmer and blur with the passing of the years. Embellished and edited, sometimes fiction can completely replace fact, even in our limited span.

So why is it that roughly a third of the world’s population place their faith and actively worship on the basis on a 2000-year-old adventure story? Especially one that has been rewritten countless times to suit the individual author’s needs.

The Bible. Missionaries have sought to drive its message of the one God into the ‘savages’ of the world, believing that their own centuries-old ways of worshipping were pagan, only fit to be trampled and discarded to make way for the Truth.

Given the message of Brotherhood, wars have been fought, lost and won over its words. And even the Christian churches have been split into factions over the interpretations contained within its pages.

It’s difficult to understand why this is. The Old Testament reads like the collection of Brothers Grimm style folk tales it is, handed down over countless generations. And the New Testament? Either the greatest edit – or PR spin job – there’s ever been.

There’s no reason to doubt the existence of a carpenter’s son named Jesus. In the context of the Roman Empire, it’s plausible to imagine the rise of a charismatic, eloquent speaker, capable of inspiring and influencing a great following.

Given the growing threat to their governance in the Middle East, it’s equally credible that Pontius Pilate, perceiving the growing discord, authorised the crucifixion of the man to snuff out the threat of uprising.

So begins 2000 years of Chinese Whispers.

Whether by accident or by the design of dedicated disciples – allied to constant retelling or rewrites – the story of the life and death of Jesus has taken on mythical proportions.

It’s understandable why the great executed leader could not be allowed to die along with his dream. What better way to keep the fire alive with a convenient resurrection, explained away by elevating the status of the man to nothing less than the Son of God?

Interesting then, that churches have continuously glossed over Joseph and embraced Mary’s virgin birth, courtesy of the Holy Spirit.

Frankly, it’s difficult to think of another anthology with so many contradictions, plot holes and loose ends.

The truth is that extraordinary men can ignite a fervour and passion in ordinary people. The simple, but unpalatable truth to many Christians is that while Jesus Christ was such a man, he was just a man.

Two millennia on, Tony Blair and George Bush reportedly prayed to God together before launching their crusade as the War on Terror.

Meanwhile, a man called Osama Bin Laden continues to fan the flames of revolution in thousands in the Middle East, with the Western powers cast in the role of Rome.

One can only condemn the atrocities committed in Bin Laden’s name, but if these events had happened 2000 years ago, with the distortion of time, it’s ironic that Al-Qaeda may well now be the new Christians.

The Tardis Crash Lands in America for Doctor Who {TV}

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The BBC have announced that series six of Doctor Who will kick off with a two-parter set in the US “penned by “Who supremo” Steven Moffat.”

In the special two-parter co-produced with BBC America, key scenes will be filmed in Utah for a story set in the late Sixties in which the Doctor, Amy and Rory find themselves on a secret summons that takes them on an adventure from the desert in Utah right to the Oval Office.

Shooting for the scenes in America will start in mid-November Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill will be joined by Alex Kingston who reprises her role as River Song.

“The Doctor has visited every weird and wonderful planet you can imagine, so he was bound get round to America eventually! And of course every Doctor Who fan will be jumping up and down and saying he’s been in America before. But not for real, not on location – and not with a story like this one! Oh, you wait!” – Steven Moffat

The new series follows on from the Doctor Who Christmas Special guest starring Katherine Jenkins and Michael Gambon which is due to broadcast on Christmas Day. Series six will start airing on BBC One in spring 2011 and the second half of the series in autumn 2011.

Too Much Light At Night May Lead to Obesity {Health}

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Research by the Ohio State University has found that persistent exposure to light at night may lead to weight gain, even without changing physical activity or eating more food.

By studying mice the researchers found that mice exposed to a relatively dim light at night over eight weeks had a body mass gain that was about 50 percent more than other mice that lived in a standard light-dark cycle.

“Although there were no differences in activity levels or daily consumption of food, the mice that lived with light at night were getting fatter than the others,” said Laura Fonken, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in neuroscience at Ohio State University.

The study appears this week in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

As they’re not less active or eating more, the results suggest that the weight gain is because the mice living with light at night eat at times they normally wouldn’t.

In one study, mice exposed to light at night – but that had food availability restricted to normal eating times – gained no more weight than did mice in a normal light-dark cycle.

“Something about light at night was making the mice in our study want to eat at the wrong times to properly metabolize their food,” said Randy Nelson, co-author of the study and professor of neuroscience and psychology at Ohio State.

If these results are confirmed in humans, it would suggest that late-night eating might be a particular risk factor for obesity, Nelson said.

Mice exposed to dim light-at-night showed higher levels of epididymal fat, and impaired glucose tolerance – a marker of pre-diabetes.

“When we restricted their food intake to times when they would normally eat, we didn’t see the weight gain,” Fonken said about the mice. “This adds to the evidence that the timing of eating is critical to weight gain.”

So how does light at night lead to changes in metabolism? The researchers believe the light could disrupt levels of the hormone melatonin, which is involved in metabolism. In addition, it may disrupt the expression of clock genes, which help control when animals feed and when they are active.

Overall, the findings show another possible reason for the obesity epidemic in Western countries.

Researchers have long associated prolonged computer use and television viewing as obesity risk factors, but have focused on how they are associated with a lack of physical activity.

“It may be that people who use the computer and watch the TV a lot at night may be eating at the wrong times, disrupting their metabolism,” Nelson said. “Clearly, maintaining body weight requires keeping caloric intake low and physical activity high, but this environmental factor may explain why some people who maintain good energy balance still gain weight.”

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation for the Ohio State University.

Kobi Levi's Wearable Feet Sculptures {Design}

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Why wear ordinary shoes when you can wear hilarious pieces of art on your feet instead. Designer Kobi Levi specialises in creating unusual footwear that lie somewhere inbetween fashion and art.

Levi describes his personal shoe creations as “artistic footwear” making each pair in his studio by hand. “the shoe is my canvas. the trigger to create a new piece comes when an idea, a concept and/or an image comes to mind. the combination of the image and footwear creates a new hybrid and the design/concept comes to life. the piece is a wearable sculpture.”

His latest collection includes shoes by the name of “blow” “xxx pump” and “market trolley” proving that inspiration can literally come from anywhere.

Take a look at more of Kobi Levi’s collection on design boom [design boom]

Wet Circuits Waterproof Extension Cable {Gadgets}

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Taiwan-based technology company Shohero has introduced a power strip that protects more than just electronics. Wet Circuits resists water so that even if you get caught in a short-term flood, your appliances stay on and no one gets electrocuted. The design boasts child safety measures,as well as overheating protection, spark prevention and a lifespan four times longer than standard competitors.

Perfect for electronics in the kitchen, outdoors or anywhere else they might get splashed, the power strips sell for $70 from the Wet Circuits site.