Something for the Weekend Highlights & Links December 2021

Here you can view films, photographs and artwork and read poems showcased on Something for the Weekend, and find links to websites and online events mentioned on the show. (You can watch the whole shows here). The content is usually listed in the order it appears on the show. This page is updated on Thursday afternoons and should be complete by 4pm. We’d love to see any poems, arts and crafts you have created at home using the same themes or activities: info@together2012.org.uk

Click on any photo to see a larger version.

9 December 2021

Dressing Up to Go Out to Stay In. Julie, Ju, Tracy and Robin dressed up for the Together! 2021 Disability History Month Festival Party.

Poems from the Together! 2012 Pop-Up Poetry Club Theme: ‘Decorations’. When the Club returns on 5 January the theme is ‘Decorations’. Find out more here about how to join the Club, which takes place on Wednesday mornings from 10.30am-12 noon by phone (we call you and pay the costs). Or join in from home – we’d love to see your poems if you do: info@together2012.org.uk

Julie Newman: Decorations Deja Vu

Leaves have fallen, the branches bare.
Tree trunks are black, standing tall.
The wind once still, starts to build.
Light is lost from the skies,
Clouds are dark and the storm is coming
From the west, threatening sea and land.

Over night the tempest rages,
Catching all in its relentless path.
Rain falling in a deluge, surging,
Building rivers. Swelling, gathering force.
Pushing forward, flooding without pause.
Then night passes, as does the storm.

The landscape has changed.
Sun reflects on water extended into fields.
The day brightens, a gentle shy sun
Pushes through the clouds. As the miles
Pass away from the sparkling lakes,
The country is no longer wet,

But cold, sharp frost has fallen.
Snow covers the ground
And branches are reshaped.
The stark monochrome
Trees and hedges against
The whiteness of the landscape.

A mist sits heavy in the woods.
Transforming the winter world
Into a wonderland. Sharp edges
Softened and merged into a
New, strange country. The shapes
Are there, just different, fuller.

Overnight the Magician came and
Sculpted the fields and hedges.
Giving them soft rounder depths.
The dark relics of autumn painted
With a giant brush, now white and
Catching the sunlight in little flashes.

Fairy dust has been scattered and
Snow sitting heavy on the boughs
Sparkles while the sun climbs higher.
The world is strangely quiet. Only
The occasional caw of a solitary crow
Calling for its mates as the day lightens.

Gradually, the creatures will come.
The sun warming the bitterly cold day.
The pureness of the driven
Snow will become daubed with the
Marks of birds and animals
Leaving their prints like scratchings.

Soft drifts and banks will harden
Over night. Frost creating patterns
On the ice. Rimes of ferns shape where
Bracken is only a memory of autumn past.
Thick crystals hanging on branches,
Icicles and frost giving form to the bitter cold.

The world has been changed. Each year
The transformation comes. For a short
Time, when all is quiet, magic happens.
The familiar shapes become reformed.
Though harsh, this beauty is a gift,
To show that nothing is permanent.

The passing seasons, with a landscape
Each of their own, evidence the changes
Wrought by Nature. The winter cloaking
Of snow and ice decorate the world
Around the shortest day, the longest night.
Giving pause to rest before the Awakening.

Ellen Goodey: Decorations

Tinsel
Tinsel
All around.
That time has come again.
The time for Christmas.
Baubles
On the Christmas tree.
Christmas lights
With a fairy on the top.

Glory Sengo: Decorations

You hang up decorations on the Christmas tree
Also you hang up Christmas bells
Sleigh bells
Then you go and sit down
And watch the Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer movie
And then you might have Christmas dinner.

Dawn Barber: A Musical Christmas

Hello Christmas time, you have come round quick again
All the decorations, glitter-balls shining
Tinsel all around, music and happy sounds
Rich food that goes down nicely
Presents wrapped up
Let’s all pull a cracker and have a really nice time
And let our hair down at Christmas time
Ho ho ho.

Paizah Malek-Neave: Self-Decorations and Home

From childhood till now
There is white on my eyebrow
Everywhere grey is my hair
Decorating my head looking fair
Putting on the chain and a colourful pendant
Matching the dress all of a sudden
Decorating yourself from head to toe
With shiny ribbons and bow
Decorating yourself with a smile
Makes you feel good and high
Making you look new all through
To be happy and discard all the blue.
Four o’clock is already dark
Carefully watch my steps leaving the park
Crossing the roads to get home
Feeling jolly although on my own
As I passed the quiet streets and houses
I look at their brightly lighted windows
Full of Christmas decorations and throws
Decorating home gives comfort and happiness
Feeling the fun not just for Christmas.

Alison Marchant: Chandelier

There’s a chandelier
I’ve liked to decorate over the years.
I’ve added little ribbons,
Tinsel,
Baubles,
Sparkles, and sequins.
A round golden coin (chocolate money),
A paper rose,
A tiny mirror reflecting morning light,
A pink-eyed sugar mouse,
A marble,
A star,
The aroma of lavender and cinnamon,
A kiss to the air under the mistletoe.

Together! 2012 Art Club The Art Club runs a still-life session on Zoom from 11-12 every Friday morning: click on the photo to view a larger version and join in from home. We’d love to see your pictures: send them to info@together2012.org.uk Click here to find out how to join the Art Club, which returns in the first week of January.

: Safiyya

: Margaret Spence

: Lee Brooker

: Dwain Bryan

: Crystal Peasy

: Cheryl Mclennan

The Art Club also runs a Make and Natter session on Zoom from 11-12 every Tuesday morning. Bring along your own work, or join in with inclusive recycled craft activities. Click here to find out how to join the Art Club, which returns on Tuesday 4 January. You can view Duncan Bridgstock’s new exhibition of collages that he has created in the Art Club here.

: The Art Club has been making salt dough decorations

: Safiyya made salt dough decorations and also started making a paper snowflake from our Festival Family Activities

Join in with Tracy: Make a decoration for your door using an old calendar.

: To make this decoration we used the first 11 months of our 2021 calendar and the card from a cereal packet, but you can use any old pictures and card. You also need a pen or pencil, scissors and glue.

: Cut your pictures into 32 rectangles, 16 a little larger than the others.

: Fold your rectangles into three sections along the longer side.

: Draw around a side plate onto your card, and then cut out the circle to create the base of the decoration.

: Draw a smaller circle inside using a saucer and cut out the centre to create a ring with an edge about 3-4cm wide.

: Collect your folded rectangles glue and ring together on a flat surface.

: Start by gluing your large rectangles to your ring, so they just overlap each other. Stick them straight out from the ring making sure that the folds all aim in the same direction, then glue the folds at the bottom corners.

: This is the first circle completed.

: Add your smaller folded rectangles in-between each of the larger rectangles. To finish, cut out a ring from any left-over calendar pages to glue over the edges.

: Add any additional decorations as you like — I made a bow from more paper — and display as you wish.

The Clockwork Paralimpics To join in at home, pick the toy on the right side or the left side of the screen to support before you start the video.

The Holidays Ahead

The Together! 2021 Disability History Month Festival has now ended, but recordings of all of the live events are available on our website, together with our exhibitions and Family Activities: https://www.together2012.org.uk/together-2021-disability-history-month-festival/

Ju also recommends…

Deck the Storms – An Evening of Festive Poetry, Prose and Friends. 7.30-9.30pm Tuesday 14 December. Free. Online. Join host Damien B Donnelly for a night of Christmas light and Winter warmers with featured guests sharing poems and prose. Further information and book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/deck-the-storms-an-evening-of-festive-poetry-prose-and-friends-tickets-209324123087

Reindeer Down Storytelling & Drawing. 3.30-4.30pm Thursday 16 December. Free. Online. Meet writer and illustrator team Natasha Mac a’Bháird and Audrey Dowling and discover how they make a picture book. Natasha will read the story and Audrey will teach you how to draw Santa and Rory the Reindeer! Simply have some pencils and paper ready to join in the drawing fun. 5+. Further information and book here: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/reindeer-down-storytelling-drawing-online-event-tickets-219921831117

The University of Wolverhampton Christmas Time Lecture. 7-8.30pm Thursday 16 December. Free. Online. The University of Wolverhampton Christmas-Time Lecture is now in its 5th year and still going strong. Using the festive song ‘When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney’ as our muse, this year’s University of Wolverhampton Christmas-Time Lecture will take a humorous look at what might happen to poor old Santa Claus, and the advice that University of Wolverhampton experts might offer to help with his predicament. Further information and book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-university-of-wolverhampton-christmas-time-lecture-tickets-190156512247

Julie also recommends…

Holiday Television (These and all TV listings can be found free on the Radio Times website: https://www.radiotimes.com/christmas/ )

BBC (also on iPlayer afterwards)
Call the Midwife. 8pm Christmas Day.
Worzel Gummidge. 7.30pm 28 December.
Dr Who: Eve of the Daleks. New Year’s Day (time tbc).

ITV
The Royal Variety Performance. 7.30pm 19 December.
Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs. 5.30pm Christmas Day.
Spitting Image Special. 10pm Christmas Day.

Channel 4
Joe Lycett presents Mummy’s Big Christmas Do, a celebration of LGBTQI celebrities and friends. 10.30pm 22 December.

What can the recipes of the past tell us about the society they came from? Thursday 9 December 5.30pm-6.20pm. Free. Online. This is led by Professor Rebecca Earle as she delves into the anthropology and insights into the lives of those times while looking at old recipe books: https://www.list.co.uk/event/1768217-what-can-the-recipes-of-the-past-tell-us-about-the-society-they-came-from/

The Secret Theatre and the Scottish Ballet’s Christmas Special. 5.30pm on 21, 22 and 23 December. This is a mix of past ballets with a range of characters including clowns and snowflakes: https://www.list.co.uk/event/1619758-the-secret-theatre-a-christmas-special/

Robin also recommends…

The Travel Show. 25 December. BBC News Channel and iPlayer. The former captain of the Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby Team, Steve Brown, travels to Japan to assess the impact the Paralympics have had for disabled travellers to Tokyo and beyond: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0012zv8

Pulp Non-Fiction. 2pm 20 December. Disability Arts Online. Free/Pay What You Can. Join Fiona and Leon as they pulp fundraising bids and make paper mâché, putting past lives behind them. Watch as the pair perform rituals to put their fundraising careers firmly into the past, and celebrate their more creative futures. They’d love you to join them for a half hour Zoom to watch the film together and munch a mince pie. They’ll be joined by sound healer Rounik Sethi – his Tibetan Singing Bowls can be heard in the film: https://disabilityarts.online/events/fiona-helen-ledger-and-leon-clowes-present-pulp-non-fiction-online/

Carousel TV. 4 December 2021 – 30 January 2022. Free. Online. The new face of entertainment: Carousel TV proudly puts learning disabled talent on screen and behind the scenes. The third episode includes a behind the scenes doc from the Tide Mills Project, music by Dima Zouchinski, Mattie Kennedy’s animation Enid & Valerie and a walk in the woods with Sarah Watson: https://disabilityarts.online/events/carousel-tv-presents-episode-3-online/

Tracy also recommends…

School of Chocolate. Netflix Series available anytime with subscription. Eight pros study the art of chocolate under the tutelage of a famed chocolatier. But only one will be best in class and win the chance of a lifetime: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81207686

Hawkeye. New Episode Each Thursday on Disney+ Subscription. The latest mini-series from Marvel brings Hawkeye back into action as he tries to get home for Christmas. The show also introduces Kate Bishop as his female teenage archer avenger, and from a Disability perspective, the new character of Echo, a one legged, Deaf martial arts underworld leader, played by Alaqua Cox, who is both Deaf and an amputee: https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/series/hawkeye/11Zy8m9Dkj5l

The 12 treats of Christmas TV: the best shows to watch this festive season. Whatever your taste in TV, there is something in this list I hope for just about everyone: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/christmas-tv-guide-2021-what-watch-best-films-shows-series/

2 December 2021

Dressing Up to Go Out to Stay In. Julie dressed up for the Return of the Together! 2012 Pop-Up Poetry Café and so did Ju. Tracy dressed up to watch the festive episodes of a glass-blowing series; and Robin dressed up for a lunchtime talk on the history of Disability Sport. For details of these events and activities see The Week Ahead below.

Poems from the Together! 2012 Pop-Up Poetry Club Theme: ‘A favourite song’. Next week’s theme is ‘Decorations’. Find out more here about how to join the Club, which takes place on Wednesday mornings from 10.30am-12 noon by phone (we call you and pay the costs). Or join in from home – we’d love to see your poems if you do: info@together2012.org.uk

Ellen Goodey: A Song I Like

A song I like
A spoon full of sugar
It helps my medicine go down.
A song I like
Birds are singing
Singing in the blossom trees
While the sun is shining.

Dawn Barber: My favourite song by Rick Astley

When I first heard this song
I was with a friend in a club
It makes me feel so happy inside
It makes you feel you want to dance
It is full of joy
And it moves you to a place
Where you are on such a high
Like a mountain and beyond
Never gonna give you up
I won’t be doing that
That’s for sure.

Dwain Bryan: A Song I Like

I have many songs I like
From Michael Jackson to Madonna
Which I will always cherish and honour
When I hear their music
I feel really good
Whether I’m in a rich area
Or in the hood
I also like rap music
Hip-hop you can say
When I hear their music
I’m happy all day
Garage, soul and dance music
Is in my mind and I can’t refuse it
They say Michael Jackson was the King of Pop
And believe me he will never be forgot.

Alison Marchant: River – After Waterloo Sunset

River
Rolling
Flowing
Busy
Dizzy
Bright
Sunset
From my window
Chilly
Evening time
Meeting
Every Friday night
Lazy
Wander
At night
I don’t feel afraid
I gaze
In paradise
People
Swarming like flies
Cross over the river
Safe and sound
They don’t need no friends
As long as they gaze
At the sunset
They are in paradise.

Julie Newman: The Pearl Fishers Duet

In the quiet of the afternoon,
A song came through the closed door.
The harmony of tenor and baritone
Captured my heart and taught it to soar.

In that moment angels were singing,
Breaking through the gloom of the day.
Not knowing the music that was ringing
Through the door, it continued to play.

I found the song, but never the source.
And loved to play it in my home.
An aria that still can impact with force.
My soul will soar as I hear that song.

: Safiyya

: Cheryl Mclennan

: Crystal Peasy

: Dwain Bryan

: Glory Sengo

: Margaret Spence

The Art Club also runs a Make and Natter session on Zoom from 11-12 every Tuesday morning. Bring along your own work, or join in with inclusive recycled craft activities. Click here to find out how to join the Art Club. You can view Duncan Bridgstock’s new exhibition of collages that he has created in the Art Club here.

: Safiyya is creating a holiday collage with Xmas trees

: Crystal Peasy is continuing to create pom-pom installations.

Join in with Tracy: Make a tree decoration from an old magazine. (You can find more Join in with Tracy activities here.)

: All you need is a magazine, but you can also use glue if you want.

: Starting from the front page (or the cover if it is not too thick, otherwise remove it), fold the right hand top corner down and across the page until it meets the middle of the page, creating a triangle.

: Fold the page over again until the edge meets the middle.

: Fold up the bottom edge of your newly created triangle to create an edge at the same place as the bottom of your original page.

: Once you have your fold, reverse it and turn it up inside your folded up page to create the first part of your tree. You can glue your folds if you want to. depending on the stability of your folds and the paper in the magazine.

: Follow the same instructions for each page of the magazine.

: Lay your completed set of folded pages with the outer most page flat as a base and allow the pages – now branches of your tree — to fan out.

: Try different places to see where your tree works well.

: You can use two same-sized magazine and glue them back-to-back to create a completely round tree.

The Clockwork Paralimpics To join in at home, pick the toy on the right side or the left side of the screen to support before you start the video.

The Week Ahead

The Together! 2021 Disability History Month Festival runs from 11 November to 9 December with events every Tuesday and Thursday evening from 7-8pm and a family activity available to download every weekend. Everything is free with BSL interpretation for live events and captions on everything.

Available now:

Recordings of earlier events are also available on the relevant event pages.

7-8pm Thursday 2 December 2021. The Together! 2012 Pop-Up Poetry Café returns, compered by Ju Gosling aka ju90 with an Open Mic. Includes participants from our Sign Poetry workshop with DL Williams on 22 November. Book here. POETRY.

Friday 3 December – Sunday 5 December 2021. Together! 2021 Disability Film Festival. Our international film festival returns online with the same diversity of genres, films and filmmakers as always. Includes lunchtime conversations on Zoom on 4 & 5 December. FILM.

7-8pm Tuesday 7 December 2021. Electric cellist Jo-anne Cox presents her Define Your Journey project from her home studio with a performance and discussion. Book here. MUSIC / CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL.

7-8pm Thursday 9 December 2021. END OF FESTIVAL PARTY. Live music from Robin Surgeoner aka Angry Fish and some of the musicians who have previously been featured on Together! 2012 CIC’s livestreams. Book here. MUSIC / INDIE FOLK.

Ju also recommends…

Lunchtime Talk: Disability Sports History. Tuesday 7 December 12-1pm. Free. Online. With DMU Special Collections and guest speakers Dr. Susan Barton, co-author of a report on the legacy of the 2009 Special Olympics, and Vicky Hope-Walker, Chief Executive Officer of the National Paralympic Heritage Trust. Further information and book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lunchtime-talk-disability-sports-history-registration-219050404657

Three Anniversaries in the History of Learning Disabilities. 11am-12.30pm Wednesday 8 December. Free. Online. Organised by the Open University, this event marks three important anniversaries in the recent history of learning disability in England and Wales: Better Services for the Mentally Handicapped White Paper 1971; Valuing People White Paper 2001; Winterbourne View scandal 2011; highlight the importance of people with learning disabilities knowing about their history and contributing to it; talk about the difference policy makes to people’s lives and iscuss what we would want to see in a future White Paper on learning disabilities. Further information and book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/three-anniversaries-in-the-history-of-learning-disabilities-tickets-211118490087

Julie also recommends…

Vocaleyes are running a free online course teaching audio description. Although it is not live, the course gives access to a tutor where there is an opportunity to put questions and receive feedback. It can be accessed at any point until February. https://disabilityarts.online/events/futurelearn-and-vocaleyes-present-creating-audio-description-equality-diversity-inclusion-online/

Tracy also recommends…

Blown Away Seasonal Special. Online. Netflix – Anytime with Subscription. ‘Tis the season for five returning artists to fill the hot shop with festive designs. One will win cash for the stocking: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81251991

Robin also recommends…

Cut & Mix: Black Masculinities In The 21st Century. Saturday 4 December 2-4pm. Free. Online. Guest speakers with knowledge in the arts, activism, academia, culture will be speaking from personal experience to share their insights of Black British masculinities in the 21st century: https://www.list.co.uk/event/1746285-cut-and-mix-black-masculinities-in-the-21st-century/

And finally — a preview of the performers who will be taking part in our End of Festival Party on Thursday 9 December from 7-8pm (free, online, details here).

Click here to view the Highlights & Links from the previous month’s show.