Gender Equality on BBC

On the 4ooth anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, the BBC announced that they would be enforcing gender equality across all services. This seems to be a good thing, providing more work for women, more visibility in the arts, so encouraging more women to become involved, and pursue careers n the arts, and it follows the announcement … Continue reading →

Animated James Thurber Classic

James Thurber had a fantastically wry take on the world, and this is a wonderful piece of domestic drama, the ultimate revenge on a spouse. Would never happen today of course.   http://www.openculture.com/2015/03/james-thurbers-unicorn-in-the-garden-animated.html

Pixar Eat Your Heart Out!

Animation has been around as long as cinema, and can be made a lot cheaper as there are no actors to pay or to have hissy fits. Here’s a gem from the silent era – a 1917 stop motion animation with a pair of dolls brought to life by a fairy, a white rabbit that … Continue reading →

Things got out of…hand

Things got out of…hand.

Tennis Courts and Plasticine

The Museum of Bath at Work is one of those wonderfully obscure but fascinating museums, and works on many levels. The building was once a real tennis court, but then became an engineering works, so much of what is there is unchanged since they stopped business, and the whole was bought. It is as if … Continue reading →

The Art of Caricature

England in the mid to  late Eighteenth century is known to many of us through the many cartoons of the age, from Hogarth with his satires on drinking and marriage, to the politics of Cruickshank and Rowlandson, but I have just discovered another and am amazed I have never heard of him before. His name is … Continue reading →

Empathy Animated

The Royal Society of Arts is yet another of Britain’s establishments that have been around for ever – well, since the mid 18th century – and they constantly surprise me by how up to date and fun they can be. Here is a short animation on the difference between sympathy and empathy, and the value … Continue reading →

The Tale of the Fox Animated

This is an animated version of Goethe’s classic folk tale, voiced in French with English subtitles by Russians. It could have been a slab of Europudding, but it is a masterpiece of early animation. Enjoy! http://www.openculture.com/2013/08/the-tale-of-the-fox.html

Geek Girls Have Nothing to Prove

Geek Girls Have Nothing to Prove.

A Strange Lunar Tale

This is a brilliant short animation, in Hebrew to add to the inherant strangeness of Italo Calvino’s short story, ‘The distance of the Moon’.  It is one of those stories that could not be written now, because we know too much about the moon, so it’s worth being reminded of the magical hold it has … Continue reading →