Together Unlocked! Highlights & Links February 2021

Together! 2012 UNLOCKEDHere you can view films, photographs and artwork and read poems showcased on Together Unlocked! and find links to websites and online events mentioned on the show. (You can watch the whole shows here including with captions on all videos).


26 February 2021

Dressing Up to Go Out to Stay In: Julie and Ju dressed up as Sean the Sheep & the farmer to visit Mossy Bottom Farm. Why not dress up for a real or fantasy event and send us your photos? info@together2012.org.uk

Art Club

Salt Dough Recipe This link is to BBC Good Foods but a quick internet search for ‘salt dough’ will provided lots of recipes and craft ideas if you want inspiration: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-make-salt-dough-recipe

The Art Club runs a still-life session on Zoom from 11-12 every Friday morning. Click hereto find out how to join in,  or click on the photo to view a larger version and join in from home. We’d love to see your pictures: info@together2012.org.uk

Orange, green and purple bath puffs sit on a turquoise hand towel, with a natural sponge on top, and a silver bath duck sitting on the left

Crystal Peasy

Crystal Peasy

Glory Sengo

Recycled Art

Saffiya

Saffiya

Saffiya

Duncan Bridgstock

Duncan Bridgstock

Duncan Bridgstock

Duncan Bridgstock

Duncan Bridgstock

Duncan Bridgstock

Something for the Weekend

Julie has created two Spotify playlists to celebrate LGBT+ History Month: Old Time Clubs and Old Time Lesbian Tunes.

Find out more about the other free events available online daily to mark LGBT+ History Month here: https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/calendar/

Julie also recommends this website to find details of lots of weekend online events: http://www.list.co.uk/events/online-events/when:this%20weekend/

Julie adds: There are a lot of good films on television and an exhaustive list can be found in the TV film listings pages:. https://tv-films.co.uk/ I have picked out some that I would either recommend or watch myself. 4 Film is showing Horton Horton Hears a Who! on Saturday morning at 11am. I watched this animation of a Dr Seuss story last weekend and recommend it. It is a delightful fantasy, but with a big message. Or an alternative animation is Capture the Flag at 12.15 on Saturday which follows on for the showing of Horton. Another animation following on from last week’s discussions about the Lego franchise with out friends in Sutton Coldfield is The Lego Ninjago Movie showing on Saturday on ITV2 at 3pm. Channel 5 is has various showings of About Time, which is a rom com with a twist on the time travel theme, starring Bill Nighy. The story line is about a father and son who share the ability to travel through time, and the son decides to find a girl friend using this.

Josh recommends:

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical 7.30pm Saturday 27 February. “Olivier Award winners The Showstoppers are back on your screens. Your ideas will be taken live from you watching at home and transformed on the spot into a brand new musical comedy that is guaranteed to have you in stitches one minute and gasping at the sheer brilliance of these incredibly talented performers the next!” Standard tickets cost £10, however other ticket prices are available, both concessionary and higher. For more details see: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/showstopper-the-improvised-musical-livestream-tickets-138797088829?aff=ebdssbcitybrowse

Six Nations Rugby The Six Nations returns after a week off, with Wales facing England on BBC 1 coverage starting at 4pm and Italy are competing against Ireland on ITV 1 whose coverage starts at 1.30pm.

Charcoal Drawing Class 2-4pm Saturday 27 February £10.30 Learn to draw a portrait using charcoal. Run by Art Enthusiasts London. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/learn-to-draw-a-portrait-in-charcoal-online-art-webinar-for-adults-tickets-141820351489?aff=ebdssbcitybrowse

Lyn Levett: Stream Dream. 2003. with visuals by ju90.


24 February 2021

Ju is speaking at the Outing the Past Festival of LGBT+ History, until Friday and has a host of interesting speakers: https://www.outingthepast.com Find out more about the other free events available online daily to mark LGBT+ History Month here: https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/calendar/

Poems from the Together! 2012 Pop-Up Poetry Club
Theme: A Dream/Dreaming. 
If you’d like to join in from home, next week’s theme is Shoes. Find out more here about how to join the Club by phone.

Julie Newman: Is This a Dream?

Dragons rising with the dawn.
Hills ablaze in the light of morn.
Grasses greener than green could be.
Monkeys playing in the tree.
Fishes swim in the bright pink clouds.
And music dancing with the crowds,
The hosts of flowers in the fields.

Or does the dawn break now so bleak?
The sun shine dull, the rays so weak,
No colours play in the light of day,
The grass looks brown, the clouds look grey.
No creatures stir or dance around.
The world is dark, and misery abounds
Unfettered by the hint of spring.

But wait, let’s stop awhile and pause
What difference lies from what was
Then and now can be? What perfect symmetry
Hides beyond the clouds, what clarity
Might there be if daylight dreams can be found
At night, and those which in the nights abound
Come into the light of day.

Can dragons wings now fill the sky
With fishes flying up on high?
Can monkeys dance amongst the trees
And flowers sing soft with the breeze?
To welcome change with open arms
And relish dreams with all their charms.
Can reality suspend its disbelief?

Taylor Henville: Like a movie

Dreams are like a movie
Playing behind closed eyes
The images flicker and fade
Abstract, hard to define.

In this one I’m on a boat
That’s flying through the sky,
The sea is a swirling smoke
And the clouds are apple pies.

Not sure how long I’ve been watching
With no popcorn to pass the time,
But somewhere far away
I hear a whisper of a clock’s chime.

The boat carries on forward
No care for what’s ahead,
And as it hits the farmhouse
I awake, safe in my bed.

Dawn Barber: Dreams

My dreams are like a maze, where I try to fight to get out but I don’t succeed
They take me to places that are so strange, anxiety, lost and panic
The next step is on trains, buses, cars, big frightening buildings
But if I go deeper and deeper into the dream
I might be able to turn it round in my hand
and get to where I want to be in a much lovelier place within me.

Glory Sengo: Train Track

When I was going on the District line Train
I was going to South Kensington
I went outside and I heard screaming
She was swimming in the water
I went to jump into the water quickly and save her from the water
I put her on the ground and put both my hands on her heart
She started coughing and she was breathing
She said “You’ve saved my life, how can I thank you.”

Crystal Peasy: Dreams

This poem is about dreams
Dreams can be day dreams
Dreams can be night dreams
Dreams can be nightmares
Dreams can be sweet
Dreams can be wonderful
Dreams can be different colours
Dreams can be horrifying
Dreams can be true and bring out sunshine in me
Dreams can be part of a woman’s life
Dreams can be emancipating
Most of the time dreams come true and very rarely they don’t come true.

Virtual Naturewatch with Merlot the assistance dog

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. 


22 February 2021

Ju talked about attending the Association of Festival Organisers annual conference at the weekend. If you work on or are a fan of big festivals, a helpful website is https://covidsecurefestivals.com. Run by the TicketSellers agency, it explains in detail how testing, vaccination passports and so on will be integrated into entry gates.

Ju is speaking at the Outing the Past Festival of LGBT+ History, until Friday and has a host of interesting speakers: https://www.outingthepast.com Find out more about the other free events available online daily to mark LGBT+ History Month here: https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/calendar/

AppDate

Ju talked about autocue apps, which are also known as teleprompter apps. These are very helpful if you need to read anything out online, as your script appears scrolling onscreen in very large letters, and you can control the speed to suit your voice. Ju advised not to buy unless you can try a free version first, and recommended nPrompt for people using Apple operating systems (this offers a 7-day free trial): https://nframe.io/nprompt/

Robin recommended the Fuel Service App allows any Disabled Driver who needs assistance in refuelling to know that when they get to the fuel station there will be someone there who is willing and able to help them.  No more driving around searching for a service station with more than one member of staff on duty, or endless horn tooting to gain someone’s attention: this App will tell you which station has staff available and will alert them to your needs upon your arrival. https://fuelservice.org/en/getapp

Photography & Film

Glowstick dance by Hannah Facey & Sterre Ploeger

The V&A Photography Collection has nearly 10,000 pages of photographs online, most of which are out of copyright and so free to use. Some of them are fascinating and go right back to the mid 1800s, so have an interesting social history aspect to them as well: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?q=Photography

This (old) article in Skywatch gives some really helpful suggestions about free satellite imagery and recommends websites to visit to access good digital images either of space or earth: https://www.skywatch.com/blog/free-sources-of-satellite-data

WandaVision and Marvel films WandaVision is the first of the new Marvel TV shows on Disney+. For those new to Marvel and wanting to jump in on the show, Disney+ has two short film recaps for both Wanda and Vision. Some key films that Josh thinks will be important are as follows.

  • Avengers: Age of Ultron (introduction of both Wanda and Vision)
  • Avengers Infinity War (gives context for what happened to the characters prior to the series)
  • Captain Marvel (relates to key characters)
  • Doctor Strange (potentially relates to a key character, yet to be revealed. WandaVision is also supposed to directly lead into the next Doctor Strange film).

Pillars of Creation Hubble Space Telescope Josh talked about one of his favourite images from the Hubble Space Telescope called the Pillars of Creation. The following link to the image and more information from the NASA website – https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/the-pillars-of-creation

Relax with Awa: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrck2-KCTkXHjs8cxLkHj8g


19 February 2021

 

Ju and Julie on the show, in lavender coloured tops and bucket hatsDressing Up to Go Out to Stay In. Julie and Ju were dressed as the ‘Ladies from Llangollen’ to celebrate LGBT+ History Month. Find out more about the ladies here and here. You can watch the winning performances from the 2020 virtual Eisteddfod in Llangollen here.

Art Club: Still life with Hazel Brill

The Art Club runs a still life session on Zoom from 11-12 every Friday morning. Click here to find out how to join in the free Club,  or click on the photo to view a larger version and join in from home. We’d love to see your pictures: info@together2012.org.uk

Photograph of a still life comprising of a brown coffee pot, a blue mug and a cream bowl of bulbs

Glory Sengo

Saffiya

Crystal Peasy

Art Club: Recycled art with Tracy Surgeoner

Tracy showed us the following ideas from the internet:

These tins have been painted white, and then stencilled to give them a vintage feel.

The heads of plastic spoons are painted gold and glued around a glass – tins are also suitable – to create a candle holder.

Toilet rolls become owls by pinching one end together to form ears and painting them. Add a tail from a cereal packet to make a fox.

6 bottle tops are placed round a centre one to form a flower, with the stem made from a stick. An easier way to use this technique is to make a 3-D card.

Saffiya used decoupage techniques using junk mail to turn tins into holders for pens and kitchen utensils – see 12 February for details.

Something for the Weekend

Robin recommends The Comedy Cabin Every Friday in February and March the Comedy Cabin is hosting live online 90-minute comedy and humorous talk shows, all hosted by MC Pete Wells.  If you’re in East London you can even order from the Bar and have drinks and charcuterie delivered to accompany the show.  There are two ways to enjoy the show, either by Zoom for £3 to be part of the live audience, or via their livestream at only £1, where you can also comment and engage, but with a little more privacy. Doors open 8pm; show starts at 8.30pm. https://www.designmynight.com/london/whats-on/date-night/comedy-cabin-online

Josh recommends…

Vitality Netball Superleague The top league for elite netball in the UK started last week. Every game is being streamed live on Sky Sports YouTube channel. The games are also available on-demand on the same page: https://www.youtube.com/c/SkySportsOfficial/featured

Endure Mind Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance by Alex Hutchinson A book about about people pushing the limited of human performance and endurance using a range of stories. The book is also wonderfully narrated  Robert G. Slade. The following is a link to the audiobook on audible which offers a free trial: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Endure-Mind-Body-and-the-Curiously-Elastic-Limits-of-Human-Performance-Audiobook/B0785V8VGB?source_code=M2M30DFT1BkSH11221601A7&&ipRedirectOverride=true&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4L2BBhCvARIsAO0SBdaKcm-IrpigyUEX-Z49qNla9bsttPjnUFEJAhfp0M-byTyQyDp_HloaAl1gEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Julie has created two Spotify playlists to celebrate LGBT+ History Month: Old Time Clubs and Old Time Lesbian Tunes.

Ju is speaking at the Outing the Past Festival of LGBT+ History, which takes place from today until next Friday and has a host of interesting speakers: https://www.outingthepast.com

Find out more about the other free events available online daily to mark LGBT+ History Month here: https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/calendar/

Sterre recommends… building with snow and ice.

Visual Arts commission for a West Midlands-based Deaf or Disabled artist. “Cultivating (more) Flight in Blue Skies” is the second residency and commission opportunity produced by Coventry Biennial, DASH and Talking Birds to produce a new artwork or project that will be presented as a part of the Coventry Biennial: https://www.coventrybiennial.com/2021/02/18/open-call-cultivating-more-flight-in-blue-skies/


17 February 2021

Find out more about the free events available online daily to mark LGBT+ History Month here: https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/calendar/

Poems from the Together! 2012 Pop-Up Poetry Club
Theme: A February Morning. 
If you’d like to join in from home, next week’s theme is A Dream/Dreaming. Find out more here about how to join the Club by phone.

Blake Jarrette Gibbons: February Mornings

February Mornings, waking up now after the sun has risen, some days waking up to snow on the ground and the sound of people talking to one another. “Oh it’s so cold but it’s still nice for this time of year, cloudy but so nice with the snow.” A few days on, “The sun is so nice and you’d never think a few days ago it was snowing.” “Alright I will catch you later.”

What, Wait, Hang on, people are coming out again and being social. More than one neighbour is now speaking with me. The neighbourhood doorstep chat for this year has begun.

February is the shortest month of the year, even in a Leap Year. The regular morning noise, click as the kettle boils, tea for me, and don’t you dare put sugar in, I’m sweet enough as I am.

If I’m cold when I get back with the shopping or the much-needed exercise, I might have another cuppa, my internal central heating, a nice cuppa tea. As the year rolls on, internal central heating turns into internal cooling control, with an ice-cold glass of drink.

This February of 2021, that has been very confused. Some days the body is like ‘Heat me up heat me up, it’s cold outside’ and other days, it’s saying ‘You Plonker you went out with your jumper and jacket! and now you come back absolutely roasting! Turn that cold tap on and drink please.’

February Mornings, can be so nice outside, but also so nice to be inside some mornings. We are more than half way through February, so half-way through February Mornings.

More colours coming soon from nature, and more of us out-and-about time and less hiding in out of the cold. Is February the month of change for the rest of the year?

Dawn Barber: February Morning

The old man wakes, has a good stretch in his bed,
He lays there for a while, he listens to the ticking of the clock,
He gets himself out of bed, puts his feet in his warm slippers,
‘I do rush about trying to do everything at once,’
He thinks to himself, ‘but today I am going to take it slow,
Have a nice cup of tea, stroke the cat and sit in my rocking chair
On this February morning, that’s the way to do it.’

Julie Newman: The Shortest Month

Through the darkened skies comes a glimmer of light,
As the rain eases, less harsh in the new day,
And winds no longer beat against frames.
January was a long month, with many harsh storms,
Cold fronts made colder by the lack of sun.

So welcome then the relief that comes with a shorter night.
Seas from fiercely surging, hold back their spray.
Fires die down in the grate, once hungry for the flames,
The room basks in the heat that comes with the welcome morns.
Fields then flooded now show green with waters gone.

Old wood dies back and fresh life appears in the hedges.
New buds push through the dark and frozen earth.
Longer days become loud with the returning birds calling,
And in the meadows lambs appear, small, bundles of white,
Huddled against their mothers’ warm wool.

The marshes, drier, sprout plants that thrive amongst the sedges,
The world is warmer, pulsing with new birth.
Skies are clearer, the moon rising higher as the sun is falling.
Spring comes closer, and the world rejoices in the burgeoning light.
February gives hope with days once empty, now full.

Robin Surgeoner: A February Morning

So often a contradiction
Each morning fact and fiction
From ice and snow to a sunny glow
Make each moment a moment to show
That each and every one of us has promise to gift
Like a February morning we awake as the winter lifts
Snow drops and ice frills
New buds & daffodils
Life re-commencing from forest to windowsill
The cusp of the seasons brings hope and renewal
A February morning, so exhilarating, so wonderful.

Virtual Naturewatch with Merlot the assistance dog

The Clockwork Paralimpics 17.2.21 – 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. 

Sport

Australian Open The first Tennis Open of the year takes place in Australia. Matches can be watched live with a subscription to EuroSport or Amazon Prime; however, free highlights of each match can be viewed on the Australian Open website: https://ausopen.com

Nicola Adams biography. Nicola Adams is the first woman to win an Olympic Gold in boxing. After her victory at the London 2012 Games, she then successfully defended her title at the Rio Olympics in 2016. Believe is her 2017 book about boxing, the Olympics, and her life outside of sport. Available in audiobook, digital and print form, from retailers of your choice.

Gaming

Microsoft and Xbox Accessibility Guidelines (XAGs) Last year Microsoft released the XAG’s a framework to support game developers ensure they are making games which are accessible to all. Today they have released an updated and improved edition of those guidelines. They also announced the introduction of a testing platform for developers to test their games and accessibility features, as well as linking game devs with people in the gaming and disability communities to ensure the people making games receive feedback from gamers who will directly benefit from the accessibility features. For more info on the story about the new editions use this link: https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/microsoft-publishes-revised-xbox-accessibility-guidelines-2882481

For more specific info on the XAGs v2.0 themselves use the following link: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/accessibility/guidelines


15 February 2021

It’s Shrove Tuesday tomorrow: find out more about the history of this Christian festival here. Julie recommends this pancake recipe for people who can’t digest cows’ milk: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easy-vegan-pancakes

Shrove Tuesday is traditionally Carnival day in Catholic countries. Together! 2012 CIC has a thriving Carnival Arts programme. We are currently partnering in the national Open Road project to improve access and inclusion more generally, led by The New Carnival Company.

Instead of celebrating Carnival, this year many people are in mourning instead. Another of our Open Road partners, Callaloo Arts, created these resources for making traditional ‘Muertos Ofrendas‘ – memorial shrines – as part of our Making History Together! 2020 Festival.

Digital sketch of a step-free garden pathAppDate Robin recommended Autodesk Sketchbook, which is available for all devices and free for individuals and educational users. Find out more here, or go straight to the App Store or Google Play.

What’s App, Aunty?

Streaming Robin recommended this easy guide to Live Stream Sport in 5 Easy Steps – the principles are the same for all streams.

Photography Julie talked about the gay 20th-century photographer Cecil Beaton. There is a permanent exhibition online at the Victoria and Albert Museum which provides an overview of his work, mainly looking at his fashion and design work, onstage and for magazines such as Vogue:
https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/cecil-beaton
The Art Story website includes another comprehensive and interesting account of his life and work, broken up into links that read like chapters.
https://m.theartstory.org/artist/beaton-cecil/. And these very different pictures are from the Imperial War Museum collection, as Cecil Beaton worked for The Ministry of Information as a war photographer:
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cecil_Beaton_Photographs-_Tyneside_Shipyards,_1943_DB65.jpg
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cecil_Beaton_Photographs-_General_MH2718.jpg

Find out more about the free events available online daily to mark LGBT+ History Month here: https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/calendar/

Relax with Awa: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrck2-KCTkXHjs8cxLkHj8g


12 February 2021

Painting on white paper of a heart coloured in reds, oranges and yellows

Pritesh Patel: Heart

It’s the Lunar New Year, including Korean New Year and the Chinese Year of the Ox. Find out more here.

Find out more about the history of St Valentine’s Day here

Find out more about Sign to Sing Week, raising money for SignHealth, here.

Art Club

Today’s still life was inspired by Vincent Van Goph. We’d love to see your still life pictures (click on the image to see it full size) – email them to info@together2012.org.uk

Still life of silver basketball boots with rainbow laces, sitting on a purple surface with a green cloth behind. A black sock is coming out of the right boot; the left is on its side.

Crafts with Tracy

Tracy wrote a poem and found an outline of a butterfly online which she put around it. She chose a fancy font and colour for the poem, printed this on white paper, and then glued buttons, sequins and stickers around the butterfly outline – but you can also use recycled sweet wrappers, bottle tops and kitchen foil. Tracy then put her butterfly into a box frame, but you can use an empty box to mount it, or even the back of a cereal packet.

This is another variation, where Tracy used a box frame – but you can use an empty box – to create an 18th birthday tribute using different shapes, colours and sizes. Again, if you don’t have any craft or art materials at home, try the recycling bag and your imagination: you can even make your own glue.

Something for the Weekend

Sterre Ploeger and Hannah Facey suggest making a mini ice rink.

Window Wanderland is an award winning COVID-safe project providing resources for communities around the world to set up their own magical, illuminated window displays.  This is an activity that anyone with a window can take part in. It can be as simple or as elaborate as you want to make it, but can bring a lift to anyone passing by, and if it can be lit from behind it can be even more exciting in the dark. https://www.windowwanderland.com

3pm Saturday online: Lunar New Year Online Celebrations and online arts and crafts. Hosted in part by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the event will have video performances and demonstrations of traditional Chinese crafts and Lunar New Year Traditions. Book here (free). There are also online resources including crafts, downloadable colouring pages, and videos here.

Julie has created two Spotify playlists to celebrate LGBT+ History Month: Old Time Clubs and Old Time Lesbian Tunes.

1-3pm Saturday: Derby Museum’s Outing the Past Festival includes shared stories, discussions about Romeo and Juliet, poetry, and views of significant art and pieces of pottery.

Find out more about the other free events available online daily to mark LGBT+ History Month here: https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/calendar/

Manchester International Swimming Meet. An opportunity for swimmers targeting the Olympic and Paralympic Games to race in the first major meet in Britain for almost a year. Heats (9:30am) and finals (5:30pm) will be live-streamed on the British Swimming YouTube page each day Friday-Sunday: https://youtube.com/user/BritishSwimming

1.30pm Saturday, ITV: England v Italy Six Nations Match. With both teams coming off home losses in their previous games, England and Italy will be looking to improve form during Saturday’s match as Twickenham. Italy will be aiming for an upset victory, having never beaten England in a Six Nations match. Live coverage starts on ITV at 1.30pm, with kick-off coming at 2.15pm.


10 February 2021

Find out more about the free events available online daily to mark LGBT+ History Month here: https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/calendar/

It’s Sign to Sing Week, raising money for SignHealth! Find out more here: https://sign2sing.org.uk On Friday 12 February we will be signing and singing ‘Together’ at the end of the show, and invite you to join us.

It’s National Student Volunteering Week, which is also an opportunity for students to gain CV experience. If you’re stuck at home, or had no opportunity to go out and make contacts since you got to university, you can find details of local volunteer centres here: https://www.ncvo.org.uk/ncvo-volunteering/find-a-volunteer-centre?view=map The .gov.uk website also has a page that includes pandemic-related opportunities: https://www.gov.uk/volunteering

Poems from the Together! 2012 Pop-Up Poetry Club
Theme: Dance/Dancing. 
If you’d like to join in from home, next week’s theme is A February Morning. Find out more here about how to join the Club by phone.

Dawn Barber: Dancing

Dancing is so magical, it fills my heart with magic and with joy
I do miss my dancing very much
When I can I try to do some indoors with some music
I hope one day we will be dancing again
But until then I won’t give up on it because it is magical to my heart.

Blake Jarrette Gibbons: Infected with a dance

You might want to evacuate now! I’m infected! Infected with music and motion, feeling so warm inside, a natural delight dancing day or night. If you dare dance with me, don’t blame me, you know that it’s toxic. I get a feeling and all can do is Dance dance dance. A moonwalk, a shuffle, a slide to the left with a jump or the right, a criss cross, a flow, a motion. Jump around, jump up, jump up and then get down.

Ain’t no stopping us now, we’re on the move, we’re in the groove. And the beat goes on, love everlasting, the beat goes on. Steel the night, kill the lights, feel it under your skin, time is right, cause it’s pulling you in.

Close your eyes, let the rhythm get into you, don’t try to fight it, relax your mind, let you feel it inside, lay back and feel a groove, feel that beat and share that beat of love.

Feel the rhythm, check the rhyme, come on time to have a good time. One more dance after this party, we still going, going strong. Speed so fast we like a Ferrari, we get wild like a safari.

Feel so warm and light inside, it’s a natural delight, dancing in the moonlight.

Steel the night, kill the lights, feel it under your skin, time is right, cause it’s pulling you in.

HA! I saw you move there! That dance, now you believe me, you know that it’s toxic, go on! Dance dance dance.

Come on, feel that beat, check for the rhythm, feel it under your skin, time is right, all pulling you in, dance with me me move with me, feel so warm inside and now we are dancing. Day or night!

Dancing infection rate — unknown, all that is known, oh my, IT’S TOXIC!

Crystal Peasy: Dancing and Rhythm

You can do many rhythms and you can even use musical instruments
Rhythm can be many movements, it can be exercise and it can be walks out
You can become very sweaty and hot like someone who goes to the gym.
I don’t need to go to the gym, I can do it at home
I don’t go anywhere,
and when I want to do exercise my carer helps me at home,
I can rock back and forward in my wheelchair.

Tony Malone: A Morning Dance

The sausages pivot in the dance of the skillet,
While the bacon sizzled like a pressed rivet,
The egg sat fried in a dance like fidget,

The toast leapt up like high-five-ing digits,
And the mushrooms huddled around on a trivet.
Breakfast is ready, let’s all hurry down
When to breakfast we go there is never a frown.

Julie Newman: The Silent Dancer

She creeps in slowly, pausing in her stride.
Inching forward, quietly building a rhythm.
Gentle movements forward, then turns to glide
To her left, a full turn, lands and off to the side.

The shine of the moon filtered with a subtle light
Lit her graceful passage in the lonely dance.
She lifts herself, pauses and raised to her full height
Leaps into the air, graceful as a bird in flight.

Then back to earth, quickly turns and still in full flow,
She jumps again and lands on all four paws.
No sound has been made, none to see her balletic show.
Still now she sits, her dance has gone, no-one will know.

And from Paizah Malek: Be Positive

From January to January the months have passed unhappily
But one good thing I learned is not to hurry
I’ve learned to slow down and accept that everything is shut, restricted and half-closed
I just stay at home and watch the news, how to be safe and listen to the medical view
Always wash our hands and use the sanitiser, put on the mask and keep warm with blazer
Before sleeping gargle with warm salt water, always drink warm and hot tea
Lockdown is good for me as it helps me to be easy, relax and accept the way of Corona message,
Personally I feel benefitted and happy
My house is much cleaner and tidy, my phone bill is within the limits,
I spend less stay within my credit limits, I get closer to my loved ones,
Have a closer understanding of what she wants because we are twenty-four hours together,
My relationship gets better, our bond gets stronger.

Virtual Naturewatch: Assistance dog Merlot shares his snowy Norfolk walk.

Sport

12th International Fazza Para-Athletics Championship. Hosted in Dubai annually, the 2021 event is part of the World Grand Prix. Free to watch live or later on the Dubai Club for People of Determination’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/DCSSmedia/featured

Gaming

Liverpool forward Diogo Jota is now FIFA Nº 1 in the world after a run of 30 undefeated games on the FIFA Ultimate Team mode last weekend. Find out more here: https://www.espn.com/soccer/liverpool-engliverpool/story/4308745/liverpools-jota-ranked-world-no1-on-playstations-fifa-with-30-0-record

LEGO Games Josh talked about the wide range of LEGO games which are available for most gaming devices. These include games based on original LEGO theme and on popular films such as Marvel, DC and Jurassic World. Some older games including LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (episodes 1-6) are also available for smartphones. Wikipedia lists all LEGO games and the platforms they are available on here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lego_video_games


8 February 2021

You can watch the half-time performance at the US Super Bowl by The Weekend on the National Football League’s YouTube page here: https://youtu.be/9rhadTURsrw

What does LGBTQI+ stand for? School student Patton asks Ju Gosling for LGBT+ History Month.

AppDate Robin recommended Wondershare Filmora, which is a paid-for but cheap alternative to the free Windows Movie Maker and iMovie programmes. It has a free starter version, which Robin used, and includes a wide range of effects.  Find out more here: https://filmora.wondershare.net

You can watch Hazel Brill’s workshop on making and animating fingers-and-paper scruffy puppets here: https://www.together2012.org.uk/together-2020-disability-history-month-festival/fingers-paper-scruffy-puppets-21-november/

Julie talked about lesbian photographer Annie Liebowitz. You can find out more about her and her work here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Leibovitz Her portrait of Kendrick Lamar, shown on Unlocked!, can be seen on this book cover: https://www.phaidon.com/agenda/photography/articles/2018/october/17/how-annie-leibovitz-revealed-kendrick-lamars-inner-visions/

Relax with Awa: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrck2-KCTkXHjs8cxLkHj8g


5 February 2021

Image of mobile made from paper plate, cereal packet and silver foilCreate your own star mobile with Tracy Surgeoner. Click here for the instructions as a PDF, click here for the spiral template and click here for the star template.

You will need a flat working space and:

  • Scissors
  • Silver Foil
  • Star Template
  • Paper Plate
  • Pencil
  • Glue
  • Some Cotton
  1. Draw a spiral on your plate and then cut it out very carefully.
  2. Attach cotton to the middle to hang by.
  3. Stick the silver foil to the back of the star template. When the glue is dry, cut out the star shapes.
  4. Cut the cotton into different lengths. Sandwich them between two same-sized stars and glue these together.
  5. Attach your stars (like the circles in the picture) by their cotton threads to the spiral. You choose where and what length to hang the stars.
  6. Hang somewhere that will catch the light.

Art Club: Still Life session with Alison Marchant

We’d love to see your pictures too. (Click on the image to make it full size.) Find out how to join the Art Club by Zoom here.

The lid has been taken off a round rattan sewing basket, with sewing silks visible.

Saffiya

Glory Sengo

Crystal Peasy

Pritesh Patel tried painting by numbers as a way of relaxing and trying new techniques:

Pritesh Patel

Something for the Weekend

It’s due to snow on Sunday – if you have your own garden and can socially distance safely, why not follow Sterre Ploeger’s example?

Make Your Own Soundscape This is an amazing free resource for anyone wanting to investigate the sounds of the world, and some from beyond the world, and with a little bit practice can build your own individual soundscapes.  The site even includes a video of a Radio 1 DJ creating her own Sound Effects (SFX) Mix.  Hours and hours fun and all for free: https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk

Van Goph Museum Amsterdam. Enjoy the Museum’s collection from home here: https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en

February is LGBT+ History Month and it’s for everyone. The website provides a wide range of resources for educators to use with school-age students, including home educators. There are links including to Lesbian Art History In Europe 1850-1950: Feminine Moments: https://www.femininemoments.dk/blog/1850-1950/The website also contains a comprehensive calendar of events taking place this year, many of which are both free and online. These include Margate Pride Drag Queen Still Life Drawing sessions from 9-10pm on Friday nights: https://www.facebook.com/events/158817035852036/ 

Super Bowl LV & Super Bowl half-time show. On Sunday night (Monday morning in the UK), the defending Super Bowl Champions Kansas City Chiefs will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to be crowned champions. Coverage starts at 23:30 on BBC One. For people who may not be interested in American Football, the half-time show is usually a great and unique performance. This year the main performer is The Weekend and the show is being produced by Jay-Z; the aim of this year’s show is to create a cinematic experience for viewers at home. To view more about the show and to watch online use the following link to access the BBC’s Super Bowl LV page – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000s5nh

National Space Centre You Tube Channel The National Space Centre is a fantastic place to visit, but in the times of Lockdown they have embraced the technology available and expanded their YouTube Channel to bring everyone an amazing resource of space related information and entertainment, from Space Science to Space Art & Craft: https://www.youtube.com/user/NSpaceCentre/featured


3 February 2021

Find out more about World Read Aloud Day here.

You can read Ju Gosling’s poem Losing My Voice here.

Poems from the Together! 2012 Pop-Up Poetry Club
Theme: A Frosty Morning. 
If you’d like to join in from home, next week’s theme is Dance or Dancing. Find out more here about how to join the Club by phone.

Glory Sengo: Frosty Day

When I was walking in the snow
I sat down to have a picnic.
Then we were playing snowball fights.
Louise and I were playing snowball fights
And then we were drumming and chasing each other.

Dawn Barber: The Frost

Frost doesn’t care weather you like it or not,
It’s here making you feel cold.
Frost on your car,
On your grass,
On your windows,
It is all around.
But we wont draw a picture about it.
We just wait for it to clear in the warmth.

Crystal Peasy: Frosty Morning

I like to talk on frosty mornings
When the weather is very cold,
The coldness is very bitter
And icy
And the cold can go right through you –
To your bones.
You feel very shivery,
And when you feel very cold it’s very hard to get warm again,
And it takes a long time to get warm again when you are cold for a very long time,
And you need a warm place.
You need to be by a radiator,
And you also need a warm drink.

Virtual Naturewatch with Merlot the assistance dog

Sport

World Para Dance Sport Online Competition: A competition open to both registered and new athletes, with a deadline of 12 or 19t March 2021 respectively. New athletes will be judged in their own groups separate from already registered athletes. The competition is open to men’s and women’s single freestyle for new and registered athletes and men’s and women’s freestyle for new athletes using power chairs. Entries must be between 90 and 120 seconds. More details on the competition can be found using the following link: https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1103620/world-para-dance-sport-online

Damien Seguin crosses the line as Captain Hook Becoming the first Para-athlete to complete the single-handed around-the-world-without-stopping Vendée Globe yacht race, Seguin crossed the finish line wearing a full Captain Hook outfit. See: https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1103588/seguin-completes-vendee-globe and for more information on the race: https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/22020/damien-seguin-groupe-apicil-sixth-over-the-line-and-first-daggerboard-imoca

Gaming

Hitman 3 is a newly released game on all platforms. During the show, Josh talked about the design of the levels both visually and in terms of sound design. Below are some screenshots from the game taken using the in-game camera function, each photo is taken within a fully dynamic playable environment.


1 February 2021

February is LGBT+ History Month and it’s for everyone. The website provides a wide range of resources for educators to use with school-age students, including home educators. The website also contains a comprehensive calendar of events taking place this year, many of which are both free and online.

Monday 1 February is the first day of spring according to the Celtic calendar. Learn more about the Celtic festival of Imbolc here and St Brigid’s Day here

Tuesday 2 February is the Christian festival of Candlemas: find out more here. And find out why English Heritage encouraged people to keep their Christmas decorations up until Candlemas here.

You can submit your results to The Big Garden Birdwatch hereThe site still has lots of information about birds that you can watch from home.

AppDate:

Waterlogue is a free app that transforms photographs into watercolour paintings and is available free for all devices.

Photoshop Camera is a free app for phones and tablets that offers a vast range of different effects. The app will suggest filters and lenses to try even before you take the photograph, or you can add them afterwards. Download from the App Store or Google Play. Below, Julie has transformed her face into a galaxy.

Relax with Awa: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrck2-KCTkXHjs8cxLkHj8g


Click here to view Highlights & Links from previous months