Archive for the ‘activities’ Category
GUEST POST – Maria Tang: a photographic journal of performance day
Posted in activities, tagged apples and snakes, juice festival, learning and participation, live theatre, new writing north, performance day, photos, poetry, simon mole, spoken word on November 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »
What the audience thought…
Posted in activities, food, poems, tagged apples and snakes, audience engagement, family dinner, family gatherings, indiana jones and the extra chair, juice festival, live theatre, newcastle, newcastle and gateshead, peader kirk, poetry, simon mole on November 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Above, a sample of the plates filled in by our glorious audiences on the last Saturday of Juice Festival. Below, a poetic selection from their family gathering ‘top fives’…
Underlying tension and sibling rivalry. Chaos. Too much food.
Nibbles, alcohol, a controversial granny.
One child under a table. Chaos.
Cracker jokes. Drunken parents. Love train/conga
Chaos. Too much food. Arguments over
whether we should read through the rules of the game
before we start (which takes ages!)
or just start and learn as we go along.
Chaos. Not enough chairs. Karaoke.
Christmas presents. Batteries not included.
Grandparents: war tales and medical updates
At least one embarrassing incident
Good company ,Silly games, chaos
Too much food…
The best pub in Newcastle?!
Posted in activities, food, tagged beer, juice festival, newcastle, newcastle pubs, poetry, simon mole, welsh eggs on October 23, 2012| 1 Comment »
An important thing to do on arrival anywhere new is find a decent pub. Last weekend Kirsten from Apples and Snakes North East took me to what she claimed to be ‘the best pub in Newcastle’ – The Cumberland Arms. I did indeed love it, immediately sensing a friendly vibe, and an atmosphere that was homely and chilled whilst managing to promise potential lively-ness to come! It was my first time in Ouseburn so I tried a beer with a similar name and wasn’t disappointed – good local ales are essential and these guys had a decent range. Boxes one and two, ticked.
At the bar we also discovered the delights of a Welsh Egg – basically a scotch eggs but in a cheesey potato shell instead of a meat one, always impressed by a bar snack I’ve not seen before!
Anyway, although I rated the Cumberland, my point is that it would be foolish of me to rush to judgement so quickly, especially when we’re back up for a good few days next week – any comments on other pubs that do decent solid food and a range of beers would be much appreciated!
If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones – one poet’s quest for the ultimate tag-line
Posted in activities, tagged apples and snakes, community, education, family, family gatherings, indiana jones and the extra chair, juice festival, learning and participation, live theatre, movie taglines, newcastle, poetry, simon mole, spoken word, spoken word theatre on October 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »
As part of our re-drafting session on the Sunday, we used the idea of movie ‘tag-lines’ as a route in to understanding the core of our pieces more clearly. A tag-line is essentially a shorthand method of expressing the central theme or appeal of the film – coming up with a tag-line for a poem you are writing means you have to think about what the most important elements of it are; and also about your aims for the piece, both in terms of content and style…
Also, it was a good excuse to read through a few classic movie tag-lines , some of which are below – can you match the tagline to the movie?
TAGLINES:
“In space no one can hear you scream.”
“Houston, we have a problem.”
“They’re back.”
“We are not alone.”
“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.”
“Who ya gonna call?”
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”
“Be afraid. Be very afraid.”
“One dream. Four Jamaicans. Twenty below zero.”
“The list is life.”
“Earth. It was fun while it lasted.”
“Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.”
MOVIES:
Cool Runnings (1993)
Alien (1979)
Apollo 13 (1995)
Poltergeist II (1986)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Jaws 2 (1978)
Star Wars (1977)
The Fly (1986)
Schindler’s List (1993)
Armageddon (1998)
Shawshank Redemption (1994
Have we missed any other classic taglines? Add your favourites as a comment if you’ve got a minute…
The classic ingredients!
Posted in activities, poems, tagged apples and snakes, community, family, family gatherings, juice festival, live theatre, new writing north, newcastle, poetry, simon mole, site specific theatre, spoken word, spoken word theatre on October 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »
In our first session, our writers put their heads together to compile a poetic list of what they feel are some of the key ingredients for a family gathering. If you think we’ve missed any out then feel free to add your own suggestions in a comment!
Cooking for hours and eating in minutes.
Cross-generational wii tennis tournaments. Photos. Photos.
All possible combinations of everyone present for photos.
Then looking at photos. The ones you’ve just taken.
A 6 week monopoly game. Cards, scrabble,arguments, cards.
Overstayed welcomes. A very intense game of trivial pursuit.
The traditional Christmas pizza.
Chaos in the kitchen. Naps. Awkward silences,
or everyone talking at once.
Buffet banquets. Obligatory charades.
Way too much food. The huge tin of sweets
that only comes out when everyone’s full.
And gets wolfed down in seconds.
Underlying tension diffused by bad jokes.
And a grandma with total, absolute control of the tv remote.