WATER OF LIFE

Never before have I started this blog with an impression of a Wednesday Lecture, but I must talk about the last one which I had the pleasure of introducing. The subject could hardly appear simpler 'The Water of Life' but gave a clear account of such fundamental mysteries as how water gives plants rigidity by encapsulating cells, or gets to the top of a 100 metre high tree in the rainforest when we know that air pressure alone will only support a column of water a tenth of that height. Add the philosophical end to her story, touching on the definition of life itself, expounding what I think of as the near impossibility that other life forms do not exist elsewhere in the universe, though we probably wouldn't recognise them as such.


Helgi Opik was able to draw on over 30 years lecturing at Swansea on such topics plus years of research into plant physiology, and it showed. As someone who spent a large proportion of his career in steel (a material synonymous with strength) I am still getting my head around the concept that water has strength in tension, provided it is constrained in narrow tubes.
For me it was by far the most challenging lecture so far this term and we should be proud that it came from a U3A member sharing her deep knowledge in such an approachable fashion - the very essence of this organisation.

COMMENTS ON BLOG

A couple of interesting comments were left on the previous posting,  simply scroll back to the end of that posting and click on the 2 comments in order to read them. Unfortunately the second comment has been cut off in mid flow, this is because Google (not me) place a length limit on comments, judging by this entry it is around 300 words. 
As regards the thought that 'U3A is [supposed to be] non political' that does of course not apply to individual members, and I have always acknowledged that what is known informally as 'Brian's Blog' expresses my own interests and opinions, not those of the organisation.


MONDAY MORNINGS AT HAZEL COURT
Italian and Chess

I am happy to report signs of life in both the Chess and Italian Groups, and once again that is coming from new U3A members, perhaps apt in that these groups have been going for only twelve months. Both however would still welcome say 6+ more members, you simply need to turn up to try out these groups. Women are on the verge of outnumbering men at Chess, so that taboo is lifting.


Both meet at 10am, Italian every Monday but Chess only the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month, thus the next Chess meeting is a week later on Monday 16 November.


Book Group 4

Dorothy Little's group, also formed last year, is well very well supported and like Book 1 does not want additional members.
Other members wanting to join a Book Reading Group are invited to the Inaugural Meeting of Book Group 5 which will be on Tuesday 1 December, presumably also at 10am - contact Cecily Hughes for further information, we assume those who signed Interest Forms on Open Day will form the core membership.
Some may prefer a Book Group which meets on Wednesday in which case contact Barbara Ellis whose home based group could accommodate another 1 or 2 people.


Creative Writing 1
This is run by Jill Govier who set up the highly successful original writing group and then handed it over (as Group 2) to concentrate on this newer less experienced group. She is very hopeful of getting further support from those who signed the Interest Sheets at Open Day at their next meeting which is at 10am on 23 November (the 4th Monday of the month). She emphasises that members are expected to actively write every month and bring fresh work for discussion to each session. Above all this is a learn to write better workshop, and there is only one way to do that, as I am discovering, and that is to write more often.

Pantomagoria
Jill Govier is still waiting for volunteers for minor roles in Sleeping Beauty, needing 6 more fairy godmothers of either sex and five newspaper readers for a scene at Verdi's. She would especially welcome new U3A members. Taking part is the only way to ensure a ticket for one of the U3A's highlights of the year - don't miss out. They normally meet at the Monkey Cafe, High Street just opposite the Castle, at 2 - 4 pm every Monday. Please contact Jill Govier on 455303.


EXPLORING GROUPS
One of the attractions of this job is the freedom to visit group meetings unannounced just to get a flavour of their activities. There is every reason for new members to have tasters in this fashion until they discover the groups which really work for them - please contact the convenor in advance who will help ensure you are made to feel welcome.


History
The session I went to may well not have been typical but it was a  fascinating tale of artefacts found in the fields of Northamptonshire with the help of metal detectors. Alan Standish, the eldest son of Audrey Standish, gave a talk using slides and brought along a hundred or more of their finds, which ranged from coins, rings, ornaments and thimbles to clay pipes and pieces of glass discovered as a by-product of digging to unearth metal objects. Many finds stretch back to Roman times.

The talk was particularly interesting to Joan and I who were each born in Warwickshire, Joan comes from Rugby on the border of both Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, whereas I come from Warwick though the major part of my Grammar Schooling was in Rugby. I stress that we would not exchange Swansea and the wonderful scenery of South-west Wales for the land locked Midlands, in spite of its rich history.
Alan's talk followed on well from the previous Wednesday lecture about Richard the 3rd and the battle of Bosworth Field in Leicestershire, which heralded the arrival of the Tudors and modern Britain. Anna Nicholas told us the traditionally accepted location and nature of that battle (arrows or bullets) was being challenged by the discovery of metallic military artefacts in a nearby field.
Alan spoke of the demise of permanent museums in Northamptonshire and the way in which his small group of enthusiasts had formed a mobile museum to take their finds around the county, including interesting school children in local history.

MUSIC & THEATRE
I must say I was thrilled by Pete King on alto sax with the Dave Cottle Trio as promoted here in the last posting. Beautiful tone, faultless technique and my type of exciting music.
Had I blogged last week I would have recommended the the following week's concert at Jazzlands by young jazz singer Claire Martin which pulled in even more enthusiasts and also had at least half the audience standing to applaud at the end. She concentrates in singing from a lessor known modern repertoire of songs though she started with 'Witchcaft'. Wonderful diction at high speed and full power, matched well to her genre which was essential fusion, the meeting of Jazz and Rock - not quite my cup of vocal tea. Her technique reminded me of a youthful Shirley Bassey - which may well be praise in some eyes!  In spite of the reception the most applause went to the one slow quiet number displaying the full range of her voice which was backed only by Laurence Cottle on bass guitar.
No offence to Rock, I like outstanding performance over a very wide range of art genres. Just after Match of the Day the other evening I turned over to the 2008 Madison concert by Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton which caught them at their peak.

UNCLE VANYA by Chekov
Last year's readers will remember me raving about the performances of Shakespeare at The Tobacco Factory (sattf) in Bristol. Yesterday Joan and I made a day trip to The Old Vic at Bristol to see a collaborative production of Uncle Vanya directed by Andrew Hilton who has directed 19 0f the 20 the sattf productions. It was another very enjoyable top class production with several actors who have previously appeared in sattf productions.


Joan remarked last night that the play often reminded her of Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot', waiting for something to happen (which it never did) to relieve miserable, boring, lives. Though unlike Godo it continually highlighted the play with overt wry humour, a beautiful young woman, morphine and a gun. In Saturday's Guardian, which I assure you we only read after returning home, their theatre critic Lyn Gardner giving it four stars, rarely does she award the full five, remarked that the 'dry-as-a-martini translation feels like a 19th century Russian Beckett'. This production runs until Saturday 21 November, if you want to attend given that review you will have to act quickly.



We went there not only attracted by the play and sattf but also by the opportunity to see how they were getting on with the restoration of the 240 year old Theatre Royal, the oldest working theatre in Britain. The Bristol Old Vic dates back only to the immediate post war period of 1946 - in 1955 it featured Derek Godfrey, Moira Shearer and Eric Porter in this very same play, and in 1973 Peter O'Toole starred as Vanya. A few years ago the theatre closed amid a cloud of despondency in the national press that it might well never reopen. Apart from the unsafe state of the building at that time the man next to us said he felt that by continuing to concentrate on long runs, as in the West-end but as opposed to the Theatre Royal in Bath who now feature week long productions, they had lost their audience. Though restoration of the auditorium is still a case of work in progress the Theatre Royal re-opened about nine months ago and on the basis of yesterday's enthusiastic full house it is well on the way to restoring theatre to its rightful place in Bristol and the Bristol Old Vic, perhaps the most important Drama School outside London.


February through April 2010 Shakespeare at The Tobacco Factory will be presenting extensive runs in Bristol of firstly Midsummer Nights Dream and then The Tempest, Shakespeare's last play which he ends by inviting applause - for his life's work. Anyone interested in Theatre, and especially minimalist Theatre in the Round, is encouraged to attend this fine drama. By attending a matinee yesterday we were able to take advantage of a day return on National Express for just over £6 each.

City of Swansea Concert Band
Keith Roberts who plays with them writes to say their Annual Concert is being held at The Taliesin on 11 December at 7.30 pm for £6 (£5 concessions). Tickets from Keith or at the door. Guest Artists will be Swansea Singleton Singers, who I believe includes Jan Phillips and maybe other U3A members.


MY MAILBOX
Since perhaps unwisely I use a single email address and because an increasing number of you are sending me emails of general interest often including large files of photos or video clips I am continually being reminded that my mailbox with a capacity of 30MB is almost full, and this weekend it actually rejected further mail, but is now once more clear following wholesale deletion. Sorry I'm sure I would have enjoyed much of it.

I would ask readers to send me only mail that refers directly to the U3A, or my blog. I still invite people to submit photos of U3A groups that I might like to use on the blog, though ideally these should be of reduced definition (file size) as used for email.