‘The Hogweed’……From Orkney International Science Festival…..BBC Pics of Scotland…..
by Bernie Bell - 09:24 on 10 August 2024
The Hogweed
Well then, Maister Keks. So, you have plans for The Meadow. Again.
The scaffolding’s up. Tall cranes hoist struts and spars skyward.
The Architect’s plans beguile me: creamy interlaced disks
(landing pads for hoverflies).
Welcome added element of vertical.
Too soon and too late, I sense the acrid undertone to sweetness.
Casting lace, your invasion plans are uncovered: fruition.
Opposition is in vain now.
Wreckage, brutalist stark. Function fulfilled.
And you, Keks, are gnarled underground. Waiting.
Next year’s campaign will show how much further you have encroached on green-field.
But at least dock-lands are being re-developed.
McB August 2018
From Orkney International Science Festival….
"In addition to our online programme, we now have the brochure ready for you to download. There’s more than 100 events and some high-quality background images, and so it’s almost 100MB, so the download may take a few seconds; and then you’ll have a complete day-by-day listing of events. Copies will be available in Orkney towards the end of next week.
We’re looking forward to some memorable experiences. To go swimming with music and light inspired by gravitational waves, for instance. To walk at the Ness of Brodgar with the excavation director and hear at first hand what the final season has revealed. To look back at the story of mains electricity in Orkney and see inside the power station. To sit back in St Magnus Cathedral and hear music inspired by Nordic landscapes, and music written by some of the great organ composers. And to sing out yourself along with a choir of those living with dementia and their carers and share the joy of music that remains when much else may be lost.
Quilts and comets, rocks and seaweed
It’s our best-ever year for exhibitions – and most of them are free. In the Cathedral there’s a richly coloured astronomical quilt and Antarctic paintings. Across the street there’s comets in the Town Hall and the Ness of Brodgar in Tankerness House. And have you heard of Dr Kathleen Drew Baker? Her discovery of the red alga life cycle saved the seaweed used for sushi wraps and earned her the title in Japan of ‘Mother of the Sea’. There are exhibitions at the Ship of Fools in Kirkwall and Northlight in Stromness, and on shore life and seaweed in the Kirkwall Library as well.
Can we grow more food?
We’re growing less food than ever in the UK and relying on the steady flow of supermarket lorries arriving in Dover. It’s the same in Orkney, and changing weather patterns mean that distant places on which we rely may not always be able to meet our needs. We’ll hear this year from the head gardener of one of the biggest walled gardens in the UK. We’ll also hear about sea buckthorn, which grows in poor sandy soil and produced wonderfully nutrition berries. We’ll hear too about the remarkable changes in behaviour that can come from changes in diet. We’ll also meet the head of the supermarket whose priority is to encourage small local food producers.
Island outings
The Festival is also the perfect time to visit one of the islands. Papay, for instance, perhaps with the world’s shortest scheduled flight, in the company of five Malaysian researchers who tell of coral reefs and the colour diversity of life around them. Or North Ronaldsay, on a Sunday ferry excursion, with musicians from Scotland and Faroe with a concert on Sagas and Seascapes. You can have an evening with the Hoy community and hear about historic boats and cargoes, and enjoy supper as well.
And so much more
We haven’t yet mentioned black holes or neutron stars, time flowing back from the future, forensic mysteries, the story of the lifeboats, the changing monsoons, the latest plans for a moonbase, the science of superheroes – there is so much, and it’s all in the download!
Come and join us and let your imagination soar!”
For more information..... https://oisf.org/
BBC Pics of Scotland…..
2nd – 9th of August 2024…..
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdxlr2eq028o
Town & Country (Edinburgh Fringe)
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