Deflation and gloom. I now have to unpack the mental bag.
I'm in London and writing this in Henry's Club at the Wellcome having come
to London for the Summer club social. I came to London on the train with Viv who is now on her way to a virology conference in Umea (with a little circle on the a ) in Northern Sweden. Not far from one of my favourite places, the beautiful Muddus swamp and the only wilderness in Western Europe, Sarek National Park.
I have been to see the Brain exhibition at the Wellcome. I was expecting to be disappointed because I'd heard it was not well labelled and rather confusing, but I really enjoyed it.
Despite being warned as I went in that some people had fainted after watching the videos.
The exhibition was divided into sections rather than following a sequential route, so it did mean wandering around and seeing things in no particular order. I think this would have been frustrating if one was in a hurry but I had plenty of time, and unlike the last exhibition I visited here the exhibits were clear and informative. I think, too, that one has to bear in mind that these exhibitions are a blend of arts and science and not expect one or the other to dominate.
If you are in London try to catch it and let me know what you think.
Before returning here this evening I want to get to the British Museum....
In fact I was tired after spending so long with the brains and as there was no exhibition I wanted to see in the BM I decided to see the new Ridley Scott film Prometheus at the Imax. While I lived in London I had been curious about the Imax, it boasts the largest cinema screen in the UK, but had never got around to going there.
Now I got the huge screen and 3D,
It was certainly an impressive combination but I found the film relied too much on the spectacular CGI and 3D to be thoroughly engaging. It lacked the subtlety and tension of Alien or Blade Runner and I found myself captivated the Scottish and Arctic scenery on the very big screen as much as the plot of the film.
But I'm glad I saw it and the best the new 3D cinema can offer.
The Wellcome evening consisted of lots of free wine and beautifully sculpted nibbles, three writers reading and talking about their work and the obligatory 'networking'.
Of the writers I will only say there was a performance poet, a novelist and a disciple of Oulipo and Pataphysics, who mentioned the George Perec knight move structure for his novel Life a User's Manual. The one I linked to a week or two ago on this blog.
I was pleased to see a younger writer still carrying on with the Oulipo mixture of experiment and nonsense.
Now I'm back in NUL but still missing london and the sense of purpose I had while studying at SOAS,