THANKS for YOUR SUPPORT
I am delighted to find that so many of the U3A value the blog and find it interesting to read. At least I now know who my readers are, and because they had to reply. I am the only member who has a comprehensive U3A email address book and it is now divided into those who have authorised me personally to use their address and those who for various reasons have not so replied. Thanks especially for the the many who added a special word of appreciation.
As we move towards the Internet age I would add a particular word of praise for committee member Adrian Crowley who has enthusiastically handled single-handed the update and extension of the website in the past months, a major work load and an unsung role. Whenever someone wants to promote his/her ideas for a new group I point them to the Adrian and the website and in recent months have used it as a vehicle for establishing support for such ideas. So long as the website is updated as well as it is today it will always be more comprehensive than the blog. For example Adrian is now working on maps/directions to each of the sites used by Swansea U3A groups to flesh out list of venues I recently created.
You can always reach the website rapidly by Googling 'Swansea U3A'. You cannot do a similar search for Brian's Blog as the link is private, most blogs are in the public domain and can be found by Googling - hence the reason for providing the private link on the Alert emails. If anyone objects to my use of their contact details (phone number or email address) then I will try to eliminate future publication of such information.
I have always been most interested in promoting new or struggling groups, giving a taste of the way individual groups operate, expressing personal interest in the wider Swansea community (especially as related to the arts) and current affairs on which, like the rest of you, I have a view.
It was clear soon after the original request that the Blog was well liked, but as last summer I took a break, at first giving priority to my time consuming garden and most recently because Joan and I have been engaged in our usual slow travel by local buses, this time in Turkey for late August and all of September. As usual I wrote a travel blog (in fact I started blogging as an alternative to the hand written records we always kept during our travels). When I find time to, edit the awful spelling (there are two versions of the letter i in the Turkish alphabet one with a dot and the other without which plays havoc with my limited keyboard skills), reverse the order so that the first posting is first and not last and add photographs. Only then will I give you the link address to my Turkey blog which you can follow or ignore as you wish.
The more impatient of you have sent through duplicate requests for the U3A blog. I hope I don't disappoint you now.
BRANCHING OUT
Faced with the fact that in the past year Swansea U3A, though continuing to grow, had been subject to a 20% turnover in membership it was clear we were not offering enough to keep many of the newer recruits. One result has been the attempt to increase the scope of our groups.
My main reservations are twofold, firstly the amount of effort it takes to get sufficient members to join groups in which they are expected to think, some examples from my first two years being language classes in French and Literature and more recently in Italian, though each is moving towards better days, though Chess is still on the starting blocks.
The second reservation is the difficulty of finding members prepared to invest the commitment and leadership needed to run any Group. This organisation is about Shared Learning and I added two words to the recent poster for Open Day to make this clear. Leading a group is rewarding once over the initial hump and you will always get help from group members if asked, I encourage you to try.
NEW GROUPS
This year has seen a burst of potential new leaders coming through to give it a whirl, and most of them look like winners to me. so here are some.
KEEP PHYSICALLY FIT
Wednesday Yoga
Edna Jones, a qualified teacher of Yoga, is to start regular sessions on Wednesdays at 10.30 in the Exercise Room at Hazel Court, Starting next Wednesday 20 October. This room is already booked for 7 sessions up to December and these will be continued if there is sufficient support. I intend as usual to go to their first meeting, I hope that I am not as usual the 'token male'.
Thursday Yoga
Christine Bryan only needs a few more sessions as teacher to finish her training. She started her class in place of the third Tai Chi session on Friday's. I attended as the 'token male' until I went on holiday and can vouch for the excellent way she ran these sessions which were well supported. Those who came to Open Day may have seen a short demonstration by a few of us, which unfortunately went largely un-noticed because of the loud bubble of conversation in the Dragon at the peak time chosen. Her sessions will also be at Hazel Court in the Exercise Room starting at 10.30 every Thursday.
Choose your day Yoga 10.30 Wednesday, Yoga 10.30 Thursday, or Tai Chi at 9am 10.30 and 12 midday on Fridays all at Hazel Court. Think about Jive now starting at the slightly later time of 11am Wednesdays at the Monkey Cafe (my favourite group) or the Walking group which walks alternate Thursdays (next 21 October) in order to develop a good appetite for a pub lunch! Or Geology a South Wales and Severnside U3A Network function which during the warmer months includes rambling in some of the most magnificent parts of South Wales, their next meet is 10.30 Monday 8 November at Grid ref on OS sheet 171, SN186/704 which is near Penarth (contact their secretary Yyvonne Thomas on 01554 832337 and she will email their poster).
As a member of Swansea U3A you have no reason not to keep fit.
The number of requests on Open Day for Walking means we could be looking for another Group Leader to lead another group - how about the alternate alternate Thursdays (if you see what I mean) so we have walking every Thursday morning.
On that subject I will refer you to an article in the Guardian 14 October headlined 'Why walking nine miles a day could save you from dementia' based on research since 1995 which even showed such walkers had larger brains as well as less sign of dementia.
The Jive Group show off
MORE NEW GROUPS
I digress as usual so back to the point.
SPANISH
New member Alison Burns 290260 approached me with ideas to start a Spanish Conversation class. With help from the website she now has started a group of four who meet around once a month in the Library for informal practice.
Prospective new member Keith Barry 795672 approached me with respect to helping tutor a Spanish Language class. It turns out that he has taught Spanish Italian and French for 25 years and wants to keep his hand in , as it were. I have thus provided both Alison and him with copies of the interest list of 11 members collected on Open Day so if you put your name on that list either or both may contact you by phone. Regardless of Open Day anyone interested should contact one or the other.
Thus there is a prospect of two different groups with Keith offering to teach Spanish from scratch and Alison interested in forming a Conversation Group of people who already have a command of the language. The current French group has split into two similar parts (using the ability to physically divide the Craft Room at Hazel Court into two halves).
Book Group 5
We went into Open Day knowing that the existing four Book Reading groups were full but determined to start a fifth, though such an attempt failed last year. Anyone else interested is invited to the Exercise Room at Hazel Court for 10.30 on Monday 18 October for an inaugural meeting. Please just come or contact Cecily Hughes 363875.
British Film Studies
New member Anthea Symonds 206479 has already started a new group which meets in the large ground floor conference room at Hazel Court on the first Thursday of each month. Her first session attracted 14 and the numbers are expected to grow rapidly for what I expect to be a very successful group. Although a new member she has already delivered interesting, entertaining, lectures to us in the Grove Theatre, Swansea University on Thursdays so is very much a known quantity. I would stress that she shows only extracts of DVD of a selected film but that she leads discussion.
Thanks to her for handling the arrangements herself including the booking of the Room. The next session will be 2pm 4 November, there is plenty of capacity in the room so just turn up and try.
Short Tennis
Well known jiver and sailor Judy Jones 410484 is doing what I will hereafter call 'An Anthea' and simply set up stall at Open Day on the Jive stand, unbeknown to me at first, but collected 31 names, more than anyone else? A self starting enthusiasm to be copied please. I think her intention is to run such a group at the Leisure Centre.
Another way of keeping fit as is Bowls at the West Cross Community Centre on Mondays at 1.30 or Tuesday at 10am.
Chess Group
I had assumed that Chess had died the death when along comes Prospective New Member Harry Lewis 584297 and offers to run a Chess Group. I have given him contact details for previous members of the group so expect an invite to an inaugural meeting in the Excercise Room at Hazel Court on Monday 1 November at 10.30. Anyone else interested should contact Harry or just turn up at that first meeting.
Bridge for Beginners
Another doing 'An Anthea' is last years chairman Bob Hughes 363875, he set up stall at Open Day with four men playing Bridge and collected names. His intention is a group which will meet at the Mumbles Bridge Club where free tuition will be provided initially at least.
Bridge like Chess or Scrabble is for either sex and is surely at least as good a method of keeping a healthy brain than walking.
MORE IDEAS
To judge from the response at Open Day we need to find someone willing to lead another Wine Group (even red wine is said to be good for the health - what next!!)
Also another Walking Group
And as always yet another Painting Group for beginners.
Another Prospective? Member Keith Bicknell 641648 had three suggestions, Maths at various levels from arithmetic (apparently Pembrokeshire do this), Furniture Restoration, and Discussion follow ups to the Wednesday Lectures.
I am suggesting Keith use the website to gauge interest in these ideas.
CONVENORS' MEETING
This was held the morning before the first Wednesday Lecture. Anthony Hughes, our acting chairman, decided on the idea of getting the convenors to divide into groups, discuss issues and appoint chairmen to present their findings to the meeting. Thus a number of issues were raised which will be referred back to your main committee.
Two in particular remain in my mind. First was the very pertinent observation that the committee was represented by three males, Anthony Hughes (our Vice-Chairman, Michael Edmonds (our deputy Vice Chairman, Yours Truly in front an assembly of convenors who were overwhelmingly female. I think I speak for us all when I say that we are not particularly sexist (any longer!!) and when we ask for people to Share the Load we would be delighted if more women put themselves forward. Why don't you put your name forward on the nomination papers for the next AGM - I will gladly give way. The days when we were all shrinking violets is surely well in the past.
Second was that it was difficult to get anyone from a Group to leave and set up a second group of the same type and therefore the committee should be involved, as long as that doesn't mean just me alone that's OK by me. But I think the real solution is for members to take the the initiative and respond to the needs of the organisation in a way illustrated several times in this posting. Luckily we seem to get a regular intake of new members willing to take up the challenges, but far too many members are just in this organisation for the ride. The U3A is a COOPERATIVE after all, maybe Tories would call it an excellent representation of The BIG SOCIETY. At heart they are very similar concepts.
INTERNET
I am very conscious of the fact that this is the second year I have suggested a short course to help members to get started with their PCs computers. From the enquiry I put out by questionnaire in the early summer it would seem I have about 30 takers and even more encouragingly about 10 prepared to help with the teaching. I will turn my thoughts to getting started in November, but first an email to establish who could bring their own laptop to such a session that will help determine the location we are seeking.
My long time view is that PCs are far too complicated, they try to be everything to everybody and as a result are far too big (gigabytes etc when we used to produce very fast, complex mathematical model solutions to real time control of a steel rolling mill with a few a million times less kilobytes). There is simply far too much to go wrong, and correcting faults in the system is a big problem and therefore often a big expense for the beginner, especially those who let young grandchildren loose on their machines!
I guess to start many people only need to access the Internet for email, U3A websites and to make free video phone calls via Skype, and like the member who phoned to say she had been ill and would have liked to order her shopping from a supermarket by Internet.
I have some sympathy with people who don't want to join the modern world and get into computers as I feel the same about mobile phones having spent my life escaping the phone for fear that I would be called out to work yet again. So I refuse to carry one so I can be in contact all the time. But I do wonder if modern mobile phones with Internet access aren't a simpler solution, though I know from the survey that those who have computers as well as such phones find them too expensive to use for Internet access.
Anyone with suggestions should leave a Comment on this blog, access is available to anyone but is a little tedious since you have to navigate past a an annoying funny letter test devised by Google. If you do leave a comment then please append your real name to the message, since otherwise they are simply anonymous messages since I have never had to place restrictions on this facility and that is how I would like to leave it.
JAZZ
Marion Harris (another who unfortunately steers away from computers) should contact the website to gauge support for her ideas attempt to get members together to visit live Jazz performances in Swansea. Any readers of this blog will be well aware of my promotion of Jazz in Swansea (particularly Jazzland in Uplands which is one of the very top venues in the UK for Modern Jazz (post bob invented by Charlie Parker and others in the 1940's, but now including a classical music bent as well), but there are other venues including the Swansea Jazz Society in Mumbles which is oriented to traditional (pre-1940) jazz, Taliesin, Sunday lunches at the Swansea Rugby Club, and how about The Tourists in a Noah's Yard wine bar in Uplands - a band of incredibly talented Swansea teenagers. Marion is a far more regular attender than me at jazz concerts of both types plus various jazz festivals around the UK, Thelma Bell is another regular at Jazzland.
JAZZLAND PROGRAM
I haven't been for a couple of months but it's really hotting up now Wednesday 27 October Simon Allen & Martin Shaw are in Swansea to give a day long workshop but at 8.30 will be performing with the Dave Cottle Trio.
Wednesday 3 November at 8.30 my favourite saxophone player Alan Barnes with his own quartet. Some time ago some of you may have heard him at the Taliesin with his sextet, complete with narrator, and his then new suite Sherlock Holmes. An annual visitor to Jazzland who has often been the anchor at the Jazzland Christmas Party but not this year, for that is to be Dave Cottle's 'Power of Gower' on December15 (ticket only).
Wednesday 17 November Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble who has also appeared earlier at the Taliesin but with a different group, and makes annual appearances at Jazzland.
THEATRE in SWANSEA
Again readers will know my enthusiasm for high quality live theatre a love which was ingrained in me a Rugby Mad Philistine by my Irish friends in Canada in the late 1950's (but it was one my few English friends (a Gordie) who converted me to Socialism. For theatre we had to go to New York City, or to the the Stratford Ontario Shakespeare festival started in 1953 in tents but by the time I visited in 1957 it had transferred to a purpose built theatre led by that superb director Tyrone Guthrie with actors like Siobhan McKenna.
At that time Toronto and Ontario were wastelands as far as theatre went. Opera, as I explained to someone yesterday at The Grand, there was a yearly visit by the Metropolitan Opera to the Maple Leaf Ice Hockey Stadium, better described as a steel barn. I'm afraid that's how I largely think about Swansea today - not in the same league as Bristol or even the Theatre Royal in Bath.
For years there has been a sprinkling of good theatre at the Taliesin, though when we arrived in 1967 that was more or less restricted to the excellent Christmas productions of the West Glamorgan Youth Theatre, which survive to this day. I now see some glimmers of hope here, which I was slow to pick up.
SHAKESPEARE
Joan and I attended a 'Discovering Shakespeare Workshop' led by Peter Richards, the director of the Fluellen Theatre, on Macbeth in a Sunday session at The Dylan Thomas Centre, running from 10am to 4pm. Pay £10 at the theatre door (ncxt to the bar) not the main desk. It was a very interesting day, listening and discussing with Peter (to our relief not involving the audience in an acting except the occasional volunteer).
We both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and will return for the final two scheduled workshops, Sunday 14 November Henry Fifth and Sunday 5 December on Twelfth Night, neither of which we know as well as Macbeth. As part of his workshop he used an excellent young actor (introduced as Hugh I think) who will play Hamlet in his Fluellen Theatre Company production in the Arts Wing of the Grand Theatre on Tuesday 9 November to Friday 12 November at 7.15 with a single matinee at 2pm on Thursday 11 November. Many believe Hamlet is Shakespeare's greatest play, Peter described it as being largely about three father-son relationships. It should be well worth a visit for £8.50 or £6.50 for concessions.
Joan on the basis of a Radio 4 program had booked us into a Fluellen Theatre production of The Lesson by Eugene Ionesco (known for his work on theatre of the Absurd) at 1pm on 9 October, also held in The Dylan Thomas Centre. After dashing from the Arts Wing of The Grand, where the kind lady behind the deserted bar kindly redirected us across town, we were well entertained by Peter, his wife and a talented young actress used comedy to highlight the difficulty in coming to terms with abstract concepts like arithmetic. The pupil so annoyed her teacher that she became the 39th victim to be murdered that day.
One lesson is to check your tickets more carefully than I did on that day, these days the tickets whether for The Grand, The Brangwyn Hall, or The Dylan Thomas Centre all look the same, checking the date and the time is no longer enough!!!
OPERA
There were several U3A members at last nights superb production of Fidelio by the Welsh National in The Grand. It was the first time Joan and I had seen Fidelio which is often dismissed as lovely music but poor opera, since it was Beethoven's only work in this genre, in fact when I was first learning about grand opera in the 50's my bible was Ernest Newman's 'Great Operas'. Fidelio does not even rate inclusion alongside the thirty 'proper' operas, but neither I now notice does Wagner. Add to which the speaker at the pre performance session seemed to disprove of the lack of acting, since the director had chosen only to use only dramatic patterns of the singers walking around the stage, ie as it would have been presented at the time it was written.
The music and the singing were indeed lovely but I was also very impressed by the directness and simplicity of the staging. For me that reinforced my view that minimalist theatre in the right hands is most powerful, that too much scenery distracts rather than enhances the role of the players, as does much of the 'ham' acting of singers in opera. Opera is a musical event above and beyond all.
But the one memory everyone there that night will hold for ever is the magnificent joyful choral singing of the prisoners released into the light from their underground jail on the very day that that the Chilean miners were rescued from their underground tomb. I guess every one of the chorus and everyone of the audience were drawing the same link. The Welsh National Opera Company has long been known for the quality of its chorus, but never more so than that night.
1 comment:
Another great read!!!
Great Pix to............
Thankyou
Bob Hughes
PS A minor point re Bridge:
it is £2 per session ie not free.
We have to pay for venue and tuition by a professional Bridge Director
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