Recent and Upcoming Appearances

Smarter Science of Slim

Jonathan Bailor recently released an interview we did a few months ago on the neurobiology of body fat regulation, and the implications for fat loss.  It's a good overview of the regulation of food intake and body fatness by the brain.  You can listen to it here.

Super Human Radio

Carl Lanore interviewed me about my lab's work on hypothalamic inflammation and obesity.  I'm currently wrapping up a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Michael Schwartz at the University of Washington, and the interview touches on our recent review paper "Hypothalamic Inflammation: Marker or Mechanism of Obesity Pathogenesis?"  Dan Pardi and I are frequent guests on Carl's show and I'm always impressed by how well Carl prepares prior to the interview.  You can listen to the interview here.

The Reality Check podcast

Pat Roach of the Reality Check podcast interviewed me about the scientific validity of the "carbohydrate-insulin hypothesis" of obesity.  The Reality Check podcast "explores a wide range of controversies and curiosities using science and critical thinking", and a dash of humor.  This one should be very informative for people who aren't sure what to believe and want a deeper perspective on the science of insulin and body weight regulation.  You can listen to it here.

Obesity Society conference

Next Thursday 11/9, I'll be speaking at the 2013 Obesity Society conference in Atlanta.  My talk is titled "The Glial Response to Obesity is Reversible", and it will be about my work on the reversibility of obesity-associated hypothalamic neuropathology in mice.  My talk will be part of the session "Neuronal Control of Satiety" between 3:00 and 4:30, specific time pending.  See you there!

New Post on Eat Move Sleep Blog

Yesterday, the Dan's Plan blog Eat Move Sleep published a blog post I wrote about sleep, artificial light, your brain, and a free computer program called f.lux that can help us live healthier lives.  Head over to Eat Move Sleep to read it.

...on with the show

Why oh why the SUN burning? Well, it was on the street just blowing around like a piece of trash. Why not the MAIL? Good question, but it was just time and place. Often the dear old BBC show us images of people in far-off places, waving flags and pictures of our illustrious leaders - whilst setting fire to them - and shouting this and that. I thought I’d simply do a restrained and uptight northern version - I just wouldn’t have wanted to wrap my chips in it. 
Worthless bilge. 


Sorry this weeks blog is slightly shorter and slightly more functional than normal! I’ve got my work cut out over the next few weeks. HOWEVER, I urge you to keep a-checking this blog as I’ll shortly be updating you on the Dementia and Imagination research. Some interesting jobs are imminent. I’ll be facilitating two networking events in January - one in Liverpool, the other in Manchester. They are going to be focused on substance recovery and have a BIG FAT EUROPEAN MANIFESTO feel to them! More soon. Next year will see the return of a Pathways into Arts and Health Course for Artists + responding to your requests, something similar aimed specifically at those of you with medical or public health inclinations - Good Grief! 

So - on with the show...

I am thrilled to be invited to speak at the 5th Art of Good Health and Wellbeing International Conference on Arts and Health in Sydney. Organised by Arts and Health Australia, this years conference will welcome the Director of the Baring Foundation, David Cutler and I'm thrilled to say, Arts for Health 'alumni' - Claire Ford who will be sharing her work on the iPad engAGE project. For my part, I'll be exploring some ideas about authenticity in arts and health, particularly in the way we understand our cultural value. If you've not seen it, the short film below is a 'teaser.'


Centre for Social Action Innovation Fund 
As part of the Cabinet Office Centre for Social Action, the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA), will run a £14 million Innovation Fund to support the growth of innovations that mobilise people's energy and talents to help each other. The Innovation Fund will focus on four areas. These include:
· Helping people to age well, particularly by supporting people over 50 to have a purpose, a sense of well-being and to be connected to others
· Enabling people with long-term health conditions to have a better quality of life, particularly through the use of peer to peer networks and groups
· Supporting and encouraging young people to succeed and find employment, for example through mentoring, coaching, and peer-to-peer networks
· Using new approaches to "impact volunteering" to mobilise volunteers to increase and enhance the outcomes achieved by public services.
Through the programme, charities, social enterprises, public services and for-profit businesses can apply for grants of between £50,000 and £500,000.  While applicants can be established in any part of the UK, the benefits of their proposals should focus primarily or significantly on England.  To apply organisations need to submit an Expression of Interest form by the 31st October 2013. Read more by clicking on the birds nesta (sorry)


Artist/Designer for Learning Resource
Tate Liverpool and Mersey Care NHS Trust are seeking to recruit an artist/designer with demonstrable experience of designing learning resources in a variety of settings. 

This is a temporary fixed term freelance opportunity, for a six-month period commencing November 2013 – April 2014. The fee is £6,000.
 The successful candidate will be expected to research, design and evaluate a prototype for a portable accessible learning resource. The purpose of the learning resource is to support individuals or groups in facilitating self-directed learning and engagement with art in gallery and community settings. We expect that within the design concept full consideration of digital tools be explored.
Closing Date for Applications: Friday 1st November 2013. 
Interview Date: Monday 11th November 2013.

For an Artist Brief and information about the application process  contact Alison Jones Programme Manager Public and Community Learning on email: Alison.jones@tate.org.uk



Tuesday Sessions
Mai Abu ElDahab and Anthony Huberman
Tuesday 22nd October, 6.30pm
Camp and Furnace, 67 Greenland St, Liverpool L1 0BY
For the first time, curators of the 2014 Liverpool Biennial Mai Abu ElDahab and Anthony Huberman will discuss the material and methods that have informed their thinking for the forthcoming edition of the Biennial.
Mai Abu ElDahab is a curator from Cairo, living in Brussels. From 2007 to 2011, she was director of Objectif Exhibition, a non-profit contemporary art space dedicated to producing and presenting solo shows by international emerging artists, as well as curating many related events and publications, co-published with Sternberg Press. Most recently, she produced a record of artist songs performed by the band Concert entitled Behave Like an Audience, also with Sternberg Press, 2013.
Anthony Huberman is a curator and writer from Geneva currently based in San Francisco, where he is the Director of the CCA Wattis Institute and Advisor/Founding Director of The Artist's Institute in New York. Previously, he worked as chief curator at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, curator at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris, curator at SculptureCenter, New York, and director of education and public programs at MoMA PS1, New York.
Free, booking required. To book your place, follow this link. http://eldahabhuberman.eventbrite.co.uk/ 

...here's a song that a friend played to me - shared because its lovely.


Goodbye for now...C.P.

Set Fire to THE SUN


Ohhh, so much to say this week, but lets start with the popularist toilet tissue that offers radiant heat and robust forensic analysis of current affairs. This week, perfectly timed to enhance the importance of World Mental Health Day, it chose to report on the underfunded state of our mental health care system, which all too frequently misses out against more sensational health priorities. I’m often mindful, that our mental health - our resilience and wellbeing - are important factors in all health conditions. So the SUN are quite right to point out that the care system is on the brink of collapse and that the poorest people - the most unequal people - are the ones at the most risk of ill-health. Hmmm, but is that exactly what they were hinting at? Did they emphasise the horrible isolation caused by mental distress, or all those other associated health problems? Or perhaps they sensitively explored the potentially self-destructive nature of mental ill-health? Lest we forget, the same rag ran the front cover “Bonkers Bruno Locked Up’ in 2003 and its then, (ever-so-slightly-politically-connected) editor Rebekah Wade, was forced by public pressure to change the headline to, "Sad Bruno in Mental Health Home", going on to describe the boxer as a "hero".

This week’s front cover ran the legend, ‘1,200 KILLED BY MENTAL PATIENTS’. If this week, you’ve been facing up to your anxiety, your stress or depression - if you’ve been experiencing the extremes of bi-polar or the isolation of psychosis - this will have really lifted your spirits. I’d like to question, just who are the semi-human monsters that it portrays - the increasingly marginalised people that it stigmatises, or those who write such pernicious crap.

Would I ban the SUN? NO, I like having a free press. I like it that it’s virtually impossible to buy in Liverpool, where solidarity over its wretched ‘reportage’ has seen it removed from shelves (insidious, mainstream, lowest-common-denominator-consumer-porn-light). I just wouldn’t buy it and better still if I found a copy in the street, (I did - it was slightly soiled) I wouldn’t have it in my earth closet, I’d set fire to it.


New pathways into Arts and Health Training 2014
I’ve had a few people contacting me by phone and leaving messages about the arts and health training that I offer. Thanks so much for your interest and the key point about training in Manchester, is that it won’t be happening again until the spring 2014. I’ll advertise it on the Arts for Health website and this blog. So I can’t give any more details than this just yet - but thank you for showing interest.


Working in Lithuania this last week has been an inspiration. Working with Socialiniai meno projektai and meeting artists and designers wanting to develop their practice in arts/health, feels a bit of an honour. Aciu. I spent a good deal of time at the Vilnius University Oncology Institute as a guest of the British Council, and developing arts/health training in such a real and emotionally charged environment was a rich experience for myself, as well as the participants. Thanks for looking after me in Vilnius and for taking me to the Kaunas Biennale and introducing me to the wonderful Fluxus Ministerija. Inspiring and beautiful. The training continues until mid-December, when I’ll feed back on the process and outcomes.


ONE TO LISTEN TO
Artist Grayson Perry will be giving the Reith Lectures this year on BBC Radio 4 starting on 15th. They will be available as podcasts too. Click on the quality gauge for more details.


All That is Solid Melts into Air
Not seen it yet, but this Jeremy Deller curated show in Manchester is going to be juicy! Click on the image for more details.


COMMISSION
The Central Laser Facility produces some of the world’s most powerful light beams, providing scientists with an unparallelled range of state-of-the-art laser technology. The Beam Time residency offers a unique opportunity for an artist to engage with scientists and their research using state-of-the-art lasers including – Vulcan, Gemini, Artemis, Ultra and Octopus - which can recreate the extreme conditions inside stars and planets; reveal intricate detail of molecular interactions on a microscopic scale; act as 'tweezers' holding the individual micro-droplets that make up clouds; and take snapshots of chemical reactions in action and electricity travelling through material.

On offer: £3000 artist fee, £350 travel expenses
Deadline for applications: 10am Monday 25 November 2013
Eligibility: Any visual artist living and working in England who has been practising outside of undergraduate education for a minimum of 5 Years is eligible to apply. Applicants may not be enrolled on a course of full-time or part-time study during the residency period.


Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation Grants Programme 
Organisations and schools in the UK that wish to develop links with Japan and Japanese schools are able to apply for funding through the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation. The Foundation makes small grants to support activities that support the study of the Japanese language and culture, School, Education and Youth exchanges. In the past the Foundation has made grants towards visits the between the UK and Japan between by teachers and young people and the teaching and development of Japanese language and cultural studies in schools.
The next closing date for applications is the 15th December 2013. Read more at: http://www.gbsf.org.uk/

RED/GREEN HARVEST VARIANT

What can I say? Thank you...C.P.

Sleep and Genetic Obesity Risk

Evidence is steadily accumulating that insufficient sleep increases the risk of obesity and undermines fat loss efforts.  Short sleep duration is one of the most significant risk factors for obesity (1), and several potential mechanisms have been identified, including increased hunger, increased interest in calorie-dense highly palatable food, reduced drive to exercise, and alterations in hormones that influence appetite and body fatness.  Dan Pardi presented his research at AHS13 showing that sleep restriction reduces willpower to make healthy choices about food.

We also know that genetics has an outsized influence on obesity risk, accounting for about 70 percent of the variability in body fatness between people in affluent nations (2).  I have argued that "fat genes" don't directly lead to obesity, but they do determine who is susceptible to a fattening environment and who isn't (3).  I recently revisited a 2010 paper published in the journal Sleep by University of Washington researchers that supports this idea (4).

Read more »

FOR HARDWORKING PEOPLE & FOR SHIRKING PEOPLE TOO


So last week I gave you a taste of Puffer Fish. Was that little morsel a tasty treat, or did it expand and stick in your gullet? Well, you’ll choke on this for sure. The story comes from Yangzhong in in Jiangsu province, China where one of the largest public arts commissions in the world is causing the usual flurry of polarised responses. I say art, but as of this moment, I’ve not been able to find an artists name to attach to it, just that the College of Architecture and Urban Planning School of Shanghai's Tongji University, served as the general contractor, undertaking the entirety of the project from design to construction….some student project eh? First of all the facts: it’s 62 meters tall, 90 metres long and 44 metres wide, it weighs 2,100 tones and was built to mark the opening of a horticultural exhibition. the dear old puffer is decorated with 8,920 bronze plates and multicoloured LED bulbs, which are activated at night. 

The fish is said to cost 70m yuan (£7.1m) and city leaders have applied for a Guinness world record. Ha, big is beautiful eh? 


Local newspaper, Modern Express suggested that the construction process was ‘tainted by corruption – by comparing estimates by construction experts, it found that the statue's raw materials should have cost 10m yuan. "As for what constitutes the other 60m yuan in expenditures, this journalist fails to understand," it said. President Xi Jinping has launched a nationwide crackdown on ostentatious displays of money, which, by highlighting the country's extreme wealth gap, are widely considered a latent trigger of social unrest.’


Last year I wrote a modest response to Olympic histrionics for ixia, Fur Coat and No Knickers. In it, I mentioned the fragile economic state of Spain and specifically Castellon Regional Airport’s sculpture by Juan Ripollés. This €300,000, 24m-high, 20-tone copper statue, dedicated to infamous and allegedly corrupt politician, Carlos Fabra whose gurning, patinated face, welcomes people to the regions brand-new airport, which few people use, in a country teetering on the brink of recession and with the highest unemployment rates in 18 years: surely this is public art at its most banal and most irrelevant? This near totalitarian approach to public art, typified by self-interest and ego, is of course typified in architecture too. We had the Twin-Towers, we still have the Burj Khalifa and now we’ve we’ve got the Shard too - all thrusting their way into the future like some rank Marinetti ejaculate. big, BIG, BIGGER, BIGGEST! 

Thank goodness for the modest small-scale inspirational: the small but perfectly formed Maggies Centers, the street artists, the buskers and the hobbyists - the intimate engagement of the poet, striking a chord when you’re at rock-bottom - and those artists who work with people in settings a million miles away from cathedrals of culture.


I notice that Turnip Prize winning artist, Mark Wallinger unveiled a small-scale version of  The White Horse recently. This will sit outside the British Council’s headquarters for two years before going on international tour. This is a diddy version of his vision for The Ebbsfleet Landmark Project, dubbed by some, the “angel of the south,” its a horse as big as the Statue of Liberty. The costs are believed to be between £12m and £15m. Of course the money promised for the project in 2008 had dried up from its private backers in the wake of the financial crisis.

Just what is the cultural value of these giant monoliths? I know they look brilliant when you see them for the first time, but you’ll need something bigger next time to feed your habit and get your next fix. And how will the ONS measure their impact on people, other than the Viv Nicholson effect? I imagine armies of researchers clutching their questionnaires asking people visiting the beasts, if they feel more inclined to go out and get a job (what job?); if they feel less inclined to self harm and if they just have that lovely warm sculptural-induced euphoria…go on, whip out your own personal hedonometer and check you feel the correct prescribed responses. Or failing that, consume your prescription pills, knock back your cheap booze, down your super-size bargain-bucket and top-up your credit. How did Irvine Welsh put it? (sorry about the clumsy censorship)

“Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a f****** big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of f****** fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the f*** you are on Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing f****** junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, f****** up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life…”


I have a vague unease, that when we anthropods have seen our time through on this little green world, all that will be left will be the traces of giant architectural and artistsic ego - skeletal - but held together by some permanent toxic gunk.


A million miles form Jiangsu province, the northern seaside town of Morecambe celebrates its highest-profile export, through the cultural beatification of comedian Eric Morecambe. Its modest and ugly statue to him, attracts flocks of tourists to pose with their comedy icon, and its claimed, brings much needed revenue to the town. Like a whittled down little version of the Angel of the North in Gateshead, at least this little sculpture has a place in peoples consciousness. Morecambe means something to a few generations of television watchers (and music hall devotees, if you’re still holding on) and the Angel - well there’s a story there steeped in industrial decline and regeneration.


This week, I’m proud to be working in Lithuania and blogging from the beautiful heart of Kaunas. I’m working with friends and colleagues from Socialiniai Meno Projektai on the first artists training programme. This is a real partnership and it builds on the Pathways into Arts and Health training that I’ve delivered over the last few years. It's very hands on and simply builds on the participants skills and desire to work in new ways. This first introductory training will all be based on, and around oncology, and I very much hope will result in some commissioned work for participants. I'll report back on this in full, very soon.


Art for Alder Hey in the Park: Quiet and Reflective Space
Art for Alder Hey in the Park is seeking an artist (or artists’ group) who will consult with staff, parents and children and young people as part of the process to design and make a work of art, and/or series of smaller pieces, for the new Quiet and Reflective Space in the new Hospital. This room will be used by people who have a religious faith, as well as those who do not.
No religious iconography is acceptable, but the art may reflect the environmental/nature theme of the overall programme. http://www.publicartonline.org.uk/whatsnew/commissions/article.php/Art+for+Alder+Hey+in+the+Park%3A+Quiet+and+Reflective+Space 

Art for Alder Hey in the Park: Bereavement Garden
Art for Alder Hey in the Park is seeking an artist (or artists’ group) who will work with the parents and siblings bereavement group, and landscape designer, to design and make a work of art, and/or series of works, for the new Bereavement Garden in the new Hospital. This Bereavement Garden is adjacent to the mortuary and is a space for families who have only just been bereaved and come from the mortuary and counselling rooms.

The Edge Fund Re-Opens for Applications 
The Edge Fund, which was initiated by a small group of philanthropists and activists in early 2012, has announced that that its third funding round is now open for applications. The aim of the fund is to support communities, campaign groups and activists struggling for social, economic and environmental justice. Groups facing discrimination and injustice because of their class, ability, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or other factors can apply for grants of up to £5,000 to challenge injustices and create just and healthy communities. To apply, the Edge Fund requires a two page application (max) describing who you are, your group’s annual income, what you do and how you fit the Fund’s guidelines. The deadline for applications is 5pm on 14th October 2013, after which shortlisted applicants will need to provide more details via written, audio or video applications. Read more at http://edgefund.org.uk

Grants to Help New, Innovative Visual Arts Projects 
The Elephant Trust has announced that the next deadline for applications is the 13th January 2014. The Trust offers grants to artists and for new, innovative visual arts projects based in the UK. The Trust's aim is to make it possible for artists and those presenting their work to undertake and complete projects when confronted by lack of funds. The Trust supports projects that develop and improve the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the fine arts. Priority is now being given to artists and small organisations and galleries who should submit well argued, imaginative proposals for making or producing new work or exhibitions. Arts Festivals are not supported. The Trust normally awards grants of up to £2,000, but larger grants may be considered. Read more at http://elephanttrust.org.uk/docs/intro.html 


Symposium: Sustaining Professional Music in Healthcare Settings Practice 
10am - 4pm, Monday 25th November 2013 
The Education Centre, Royal Derby Hospital, Derby, UK 
OPUS Music CIC, in association with Air Arts to Aid Wellbeing and the Royal Derby Hospital presents a one-day symposium to share, discuss and debate on the topic of Sustaining Professional Music in Healthcare Settings Practice. 
Bringing together key stakeholders including musicians, healthcare professionals, academics and other partners involved in the development of music (and arts) in healthcare settings practice from across the UK and beyond, this symposium will support the generation and sharing of increased understanding, knowledge and ideas required to sustain this practice. The symposium is open to all with an interest in this practice (subject to capacity). 
A charge of £10 per delegate will be made towards the costs of running the symposium. For more information, please contact Nick Cutts, Director, OPUS Music CIC nick@opusmusic.org 


World Mental Health Day
An exhibition of artwork by service users at Birch Hill Hospital. Thought-provoking artwork which explores experiences of mental illness and the care system, whilst challenging some of the misconceptions around mental health. Produced in collaboration with art therapists, artists, designers, photographers and ceramicists, and presented by Pennine Care NHS Trust. More details by clicking on the image above.


...and lest we forget what a beautiful place this earth is, here is a photograph of the Faroe Islands to remind us. Thanks as ever and green, is the warmest colour...C.P.

BAUBLES, BANGLES and BRIGHT SHINY THINGS


First of all, a huge welcome to Manchester to all of you attending the Conservative Party Conference. Whilst I'm sure the weeks agenda is a full and exciting one, the wonderful world of Arts and Health offers you the most splendid welcome if you'd like to have a conversation about 21st Century well-being and health. Arguably the crucible of this growing global movement that sees culture and the arts playing a critical role in how we put patients at the heart of care. (lets remember the word q u a l i t y) But beyond the expanding and contacting landscape of the NHS, wellbeing is best promoted in all those schools, shopping centres, prisons and streets - the places that we all live our day-to-day realities. So, if you're a member of parliament, a minister of state, a civil servant or an interested other and you genuinely care about health and wellbeing, get in touch and find out more about our offer to you.



I got an intriguing email from the designers, Conway and Young. To mark the 65th anniversary of the NHS; a healthcare system that is free for all at the point of delivery, based on clinical need and not ability to pay - they were speculating what a future NHS might look like. With a chilling provocation, they asked me to imagine, THE YEAR IS 2078 AND THE NHS NO LONGER EXISTS and I was invited to speculate along with 64 other people, what this landscape might look like. I’m not quite sure that I’ve produced what they wanted, but I share with you some dystopian ramblings. I’d like to think of this as the bastard progeny of Jonathan Swift’s economist in A Modest Proposal married to a Riddley Walker aesthetic, with the uplifting people-friendly, feel-good-factor of Soylent Green. Whilst I was able to play with this, I am in debt to Sarah Lawton for her interpretation, her eye for a grand thing and uncanny ability with an A0 printer! A couple of variants will be posted on the blog over the next couple of weeks. I can’t wait to see what Conway and Young entice from other contributors and how they turn all this material around and of course, I’ll link it on the blog when it comes to fruition.


The above image is one of two on this posting by the sublime poet, Robert Montgomery.

Last week, a few people got in touch about the Hidden Mothers images, so this week I can’t resist a friendly little jab at our friends in haute couture who wrap their fetish-based misogyny in grander terms, but don’t half like to hide/olize women too! Here is Jean Shrimpton, courtesy of Avedon. Much as though I'm tempted to post photographs of Femen activists taking to the catwalks - I can't have that one misconstrued! So, just a respectful acknowledgement and a nervous smile.



Just, What do we know about the role of the arts in the delivery of social care?
A new report into the role of the arts within the delivery of social care has been published this week, the culmination of a study commissioned by Creative & Cultural Skills, Skills for Care, and Skills for Care and Development. Catherine Large, Joint CEO, Creative & Cultural Skills, highlighted the need for greater dialogue between the creative and social care sectors: “The care sector needs to recruit an estimated 90,000 qualified workers per year to replace those leaving the sector through retirement and career progression. At the same time, there are thousands of young people graduating from creative arts courses every year who struggle to find employment – surely there is a way we can work together to create meaningful roles for creative practitioners whilst also benefiting those in care settings?”

Download the full report by clicking on the lovely green and unfurling frond.



2014 Hippocrates Prize
With categories for the NHS, young people and an open call, this is a must for poets concerned with health and wellbeing. With a 1st prize for the winning poem in each category of £5,000, the Hippocrates Prize is one of the highest value poetry awards in the world for a single poem. In its first 4 years, the Hippocrates Prize has attracted over 5000 entries from 55 countries, from the Americas to Fiji and Finland to Australasia. Click on the second Montgomery piece below to find out more.




Clore Poetry & Literature Awards
The Clore Duffield Foundation has announced that the sixth funding round under its £1 million programme to fund poetry and literature initiatives for children and young people across the UK is now open for applications. Through the programme, schools, FE colleges, community groups, libraries and other arts/cultural organisations can apply for grants of between £1,000 and £10,000 to support participatory learning projects and programmes focused on literature, poetry and creative writing for under 19s.

The closing date for applications is the 7th March 2014. Read more at: http://www.cloreduffield.org.uk/page_sub.php?id=331&parent=35

I will be out of the county next week, but I hope that the blog will, at the very least, contain a tasty morsel on the humble Puffer Fish. Here's a clue for the public art aficionados, or those of you with an eye for global inequalities.




Nominet Trust Digital Edge Programme 
The Nominet Trust has announced that the next advisory closing date for its Digital Edge programme is the 27th November 2013. The Digital Edge programme aims to support projects that use new technology to engage young people in new, more meaningful and relevant ways and enable their participation in building a more resilient society.  There is no upper or lower funding limit as the Trust like to encourage applicants to be realistic about what they need to achieve their project objectives. The Advisory Stage 1 date is set to allow enough lead time for successful applicants to have sufficient time to complete their Stage 2 application. There is also a final deadline date for Stage1 applications; any applications received after this date will not be included in the current funding round. The final deadline for applications is the 11th December 2013.  http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/how-to-apply/areas-investment/digital-edge


This little wood engraving is by the minor artist John Farleigh and is called melancholia. I include it simply because sometimes, artists just get it so, so right.   Thanks as ever...C.P.