This weekend I was solely responsible for my two daughters :: Dayna & Miriam. Olly was with the Bellshill Salvation Army Brass Band in Peterborough this weekend... leaving me holding the Fort... and it was to the Fort we headed on the Friday night after a lovely meal at my parents'.
We headed into the Fort for a donder and the promise of hooking Dayna up with her own Starbucks card so she can use their wifi. It worked a treat and the geek in me was proud to watch them playing "Club Penguin" while I enjoyed a tall Kenyan.
On Saturday morning we headed up into Motherwell. I had originally intended to head into Glasgow... but I noticed there was a Peter Howson exhibition at the Motherwell Heritage Centre... and wanted to support the local gallery space.
Man... I wasn't disappointed. The only bummer of the show was the "no photography" policy... but then that was understandable. I did pick up a signed event programme... this will probably be the only signed "Howson" I will own... as well as three postcards depicting the three main oils.
The name of the exhibit is "as strong as death" and it focuses on life and death... with a uniquely refreshing Christian emphasis. Howson is an artist I have loved for a while... He is an artist who happens to be a Christian rather than the insipid "Christian Artist"... and his work reflects his faith as well as commentates on contemporary culture. His pictures of Gary McKinnon (above pic - top right) and Jade, for example, are so now... whereas his crucifixion scenes (above) are timeless.
The three oils in the exhibit are breathtaking... they are so Howson and yet so fresh & new:
- "Hell's visitor" - Top Right
- "Lion of Judah" - Bottom Left
- "Love is strong as death" - Bottom Right and the cover of the guidebook
All in... a wonderful exhibit and such a coup for Motherwell. I'm so grateful to the tweet from my local councillor that gave me the head's up. Does your local councillor tweet? If not... ask him/her why not?!
After the exhibit... we headed into the town centre. We checked out the charityshops (Dayna, on orders from her mother, successfully persuaded me not to buy a Vivitar panoramic camera) - I picked up this fab photography book in one for 49p (below)...
...and Poundland, where I picked up a Knomo cover for my iPhone for £1.
We then headed home for some of my (in)famous French Toast... and to chill. The weather was horrendous & the thought of heading to the Kelvingrove Museum was a wee bit too much for Miriam.
Later on... we headed into the Glasgow Science Centre to watch STAR TREK in their IMAX cinema. The screen is larger than 5-a-side football pitch and the equivalent to 6 normal cinema screens... and made the film all the better. In fact, the only way to make the film better was to watch it on a screen that size... it did the film justice.
It was a pleasure to meet up with my colleague Steven aka @myopicaardvark and his wife Aileen... I'm not sure what the collective noun is for a pair of geeks but whatever it is, they are it... and wonderfully so. Their energy... their geekiness... is so refreshing and inspiring. Whether its sci-fi, films, TV, comics, books or knitting (Aileen knits)... they have an enthusiasm for it that can't be surpassed.
It was also a pleasure to see my girls' faces when the Enterprise is first shown. They have seen it before but seeing it on the IMAX screen is truly jaw-dropping.
I drove home to the STAR TREK soundtrack... with the girls dozing in the car. They got a second wind when they found "the Return of the King" on Channel 4 +1. As I said in the resulting tweet... I have a better chance of appearing in the HOBBIT film that I did getting them to their bed... so I didn't bother. Another wonderful story.
Today... we went to our rather depleted church gathering... then walked to my folks for lunch and a time to chill. I'm not sure who enjoys playing more... my folks or my we'ans... but a ball was had while I rested a rather sore head.
It was very pleasant to walk home. The sun was shining albeit the temperature is starting to fall. Wool jacket and scarf weather for sure.
We then headed back to Bellshill for our church's evening gathering. Whilst there were only 15 of us there... it was a beautiful gathering... people could contribute and those gathered actively did... discussion formed a greater part of the thought rather than a one-to-many sermon.
This evening... the girls watched a film on Sky+ whilst I tidied up... footered about on the ol' 'tinterweb... and wrote this post.
Another good weekend.
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