Norwich and Norfolk Festival 2011

Giant Robot-wolves and "piper" driving a wolf-head

For the past 2 weeks (6-21 of May) here in the East of England we had a large festival going on; the so called NNF11 aka Norwich and Norfolk Festival 2011.

The festival's programme included theatrical and musical events as well as workshops for all ages and general random entertainment.

Gosh it took me ages to figure out how to spell the word entertainment...

Anyway,

special effects of giant robot wolves

with so much going on in the lab I managed to select only a few events. The first thing I went to see was this crazy giant robot wolves performance. It was an interpretation of the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamling where the wolves followed an incredible woman playing the piano at the same time as driving a giant wolf head-cart around the city centre...I forgot to mention she is even a contortionist!

The day after (the beginning of the weekend), opened with the "May Daze". In Chapelfield Gardens they set up a lot of stalls and mini shows. I went to see the "side show of curiosities". Quite random as you can see from the picture of the bearded Houdini mermaid...very funny though! It involved cabaret & burlesque events. http://www.hocuspocustheatre.co.uk/

bearded Houdini mermaid

street entertainment

I loved the randomness of some of these performances, the colours and the creativity behind each thought and costumes. There were a lot of science outreach events too, mainly connected to pollution and conservation. Some very interesting workshops of mixing Art and Science as well (I love it).

Back to the festival. In the main time, all over the city, art displays and streets performances were on.

The highlight of the week for me was the "Dining with Alice" show http://diningwithalice.co.uk/. For that we traveled to Elsing Hall, a 15th century moated manor house in rural Norfolk. A wonderful place so fairy-tale like, my pictures don't do it justice so here the direct link http://www.elsinghall.com/. Some of my friends have even volunteered to participate and gave up much of their precious time for the performance! The attention to the details was fabulous.

dining with Alice 1

Dinner table

Izzy and I enjoying the party/show

Final show

In the end I managed to fit in a puppet show as well as a great classical music/choir concert at the Norwich Cathedral (The so called "voice project"), a very enchanting setting with so much history and atmosphere http://www.cathedral.org.uk/.

I seem to go through phases when I listen to a lot of classical music and others when I am more into contemporary pop/rock/folk genre. At present I am loving the old school classics, particularly while I am trying to write up a paper I wish to publish soon (ish...a few months I suspect)..we'll see. I found that listening to new age type of noises, the sound of waves in particular is also very soothing and helps me focusing blocking the other background noises out. Strangely on the website I found: http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/wmcstore/WMCshop.cgi?action=dbview&id=EA25 you can even select background such as "electric fan"...

I am disappointed I didn't get tickets for some of the show in the main tent arena but there is always next year. Shakespeare season is opening now, not that I understand all of what the actors are saying, with me being foreign and all, but I love a bit of theatre none the less! Shows really break the routine and they are very social. 

The Railburn Affair

A couple of friends of mine are raising money for a MS trust charity sky dive so they have organised a murder mystery night.

Gosh, why did I have to be the seductress?? I wanted to play the role of a man! Apparently the "hot temper" bit of the character description is what made them decide...anyway; we are in 1936...the baron gets murdered at the hotel where we are all staying. Here the roles:

http://www.host-party.com

Character	Descriptions
Jake Daniels Bartender	Jake travels town to town getting work where he can find it. Bartending during prohibition is an odd occupation indeed. Jake’s real income comes from accessory sources: moonshine bootlegging and booking wagers.
Sylvia Railburn The Baron's Wife	Sylvia is a sensitive, caring woman, who has always been attracted to the opposite. She married Lawrence Railburn leaving her family and abandoning her aspiring art career.
Chastity Reynolds The Socialite	Attractive and seductive are the words most often used to describe Chastity. Her provocative nature has opened the door to many opportunities and challenges in her life. She attends all the best social events and is widely known among the fashionable elite. Those who know her best say that she is a lush with a hot temper.
Pippa Duright Hotel Manager	A proper host in all respects, except for a blaring deficiency in common sense. Philip’s absent-minded demeanor goes beyond common forgetfulness; his absolute disregard for the reality around him translates into a humorous, often ludicrous way of life. Many of his loyal patrons have known and appreciated this trait for many years during their free stays at his hotel.
Amos Hobo	To avoid an ugly and costly lawsuit the Western Pacific Railroad faced for unnecessary violence against a freeloader, the Company has given Amos (no one knows his real name) a complimentary vacation package to their most popular destination.
Sissy Bucks The Railsburn Accountant	Private accountant for Lawrence Railburn. Seymore is a human calculator and a shrewd businessman. After spending a career in public and private accounting, Seymore is preparing for an early retirement next year in the Bahamas.
Lolita Lady of the Night	Lolita spends most of her nights at the hotel bar. While she is not a member of the hotel, her hospitality services are highly regarded by the guests and staff alike.
Amber Bookly Personal Secretary	Recently hired, Ms Bookly is the precise and punctual secretary responsible for the Baron’s personal and professional affairs. She is a librarian with a wild side.
Sally Major The Sadistic Nurse	Sadistic Hotel nurse who’s remedy for all ailments is through torture or other infliction of pain.
Maria LaWenta The Chambermaid	Loyal servant and maid of the Railburn manor. She often travels with the Baron and Baroness to make foreign accommodations more hospitable. A young South American beauty, she has worked for the Railburn’s since the Baron made her acquaintance during a business trip to her country ten years ago.
Josh Railburn Son of Lawrence Railburn	A struggling artist with a flamboyant style, Josh is the only child of Lawrence and Sylvia Railburn. Josh has had few interactions with his family since a falling out during the previous year.
Johnny Fabulous Hotel Musician	Comedian, dancer and piano player extraordinaire, Johnny is the consummate vaudville entertainer. Quick with a joke and known for his ability to turn any conversation into a song.

The pre-game clue told us about some events published in the news regarding the Baron's business. Then the evening started with the discovery of the body with a broken bottle next to it.

The game was composed by 3 clue rounds, some to reveal to everyone, some to keep secret.

We all had fun..

SPOILER ALERT, if you plan to paly the same game don't read on.

At the final round we all had a go at guessing who did it. I thought it was Sylvia, she had 4 motives:

- the husband kept cheating on her (even had an illegitimate daughter: Amber)

- the husband really put their son's art down and she loved her son

- she was in love with the accountant and wanted to get rid of the baron

- she would inherit everything

Some of us believed it was Amos as the clues hinted to some sort of organised arrangement for the hobo to kill the "big guy" but again he was innocent. Jake attempted to hire him when he found his girlfriend Maria in the shower with the baron but also Sylvia and Josh were discovered plotting the same thing.

In the end the real murder was Josh, the son. the main motives were

- his father didn't accept he was gay and dis honed him 

- his father laughed at his artistic career and kept putting him down

- his father cheated repeatedly on his mother and mistreated her

Apparently there are several versions of the game. You can pick different time frames but also scenarios such as fairy tales etc. 

Game and Country Fair

Today I went to the East Anglian Game and Country Fair. There were a few shows on, I particularly liked the owls and the birds of pray demonstrations. I don't know very much about birds but the owners were very passionate about the subjects so I decided to look up at the differences between the types of bird.

It seems that owls are also classified as birds of pray but NOCTURNAL (hunt at night), while birds like falcons are diurnal (hunt during the day). That is why their eyes are so different. The eyes of an owl are incredibly large, it's one of the traits that makes them so interesting. I am a marine scientist so I cannot help comparing their physiological characteristics to the ones of fish living in the deep twilight zone of the ocean. Some of those fish have evolved very large eyes which, I believe, is an evolutionary trait to help taking in more light. I suppose the basic principle being that, if you increase the surface area of the eye, that increases the light intake and ultimately improving vision in darker environments. 

http://afishblog.com/?p=10

Usually a very good trick in nature, to maximize surface-area, is to shape things spherically or round-like, e.g cells or eggs! This is to help exposure to whatever they need/want to be exposed to (in poor words). In the case of eyes I think it would be evolutionary dangerous to have them completely spherical and bulging out too much because they are delicate and it would be difficult to keep them protected. Making them bigger often works better. 

If you want to know more about owl's eyes:
http://www.owlpages.com/articles.php?section=Owl+Physiology&title=Vision

Anyway, the fair was full of yummy food. I don't eat red meat but the others enjoyed great hog roasts. I also took advantage of the situation and enjoyed the first Pimms of the season. 

The best thing about the whole fair was the dancing sheep show! For days I kept telling everyone I really wanted to see it.

Richard Savory owns the show, he is from New Zeland but has moved here many moons ago, bringing his sheep farming skills to Norfolk. I suppose I can call his show a sort of "sheep-outreach" programme. The whole performance is very informative, we were introduced to all sorts of different breeds and Richard explained what the main characteristics are and their differences in terms of looks, wool and meat. He then went on sheering one and then the dancing started. Not all of them were up for it but a few attempted a few steps.