Pebbles From Paradise

Corridor National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham

It’s been years since I was last at the NEC, and in very different circumstances. Then I had come to meet friends who were followers of a guru from Kashmir and the place was packed with Sikhs plus his western followers.

For the next three days though it’s home to the 20th Education Show. There are a multitude of stands and speakers providing education products and services that make our village school in Turunç seen hugely primitive from the perspective of equipment.

Equipment, of course, isn’t everything. Our village school has a heart, and is an integrated community where all do what they can to help each other, even if our computer keyboards sometimes collapse under ‘enthusiastic’ pounding.

Having enquired from various suppliers how this problem might be avoided I learned that most simply accept the keyboards will disintigrate in schools, and it is perhaps simplest to but cheap keyboards and replace them as and when necessary.

Ollie Bray helping teachers after his presentation on Google tools

As Ollie Bray pointed out to me when I told him of this, it’s not really a solution. Certainly it’s not an approach that respects ecology.

Ollie was presenting under the topic of  ‘Using Google Earth And Google Maps In Education‘. His topic was much wider however, really it was an education on using your imagination in order to enliven children’s lessons through the use of Internet tools.

All too soon it was time to take the train home.

Ollie Bray, Special Advisor LTS

Ollie Bray from Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) will present today at the 2010 Education Show, Birmingham, on using Google Maps in Education.

Ollie, who is somewhat of an expert in using new technologies to make education relevant for youngsters writes on the topic at his blog olliebray.com

Previous entries have included how to use the Wii in education.

Your valiant correspondent managed to run Ollie to ground last night at a secret location near Birmingham’s NEC. We will of course be attending his presentation.

If you want to attend simply click on this link for details.

Ollie Bray at a ‘Secret Location’ near Birmingham’s NEC

Pete Ashton, shot with his periscope gadget and
my E-P2 at the Opening Night of this
joint exhibition at Birmingham’s Moseley Exchange

When Lesley, my niece, told me that Emily Quinton was exhibiting at the Moseley Exchange I was truly excited.

Emily is the social photographer who snapped Lesley’s and Scott’s wedding album a year, or so, back. Her other passion is botanical photography and this is what she is exhibiting at the Moseley Exchange.

To my mind her work seemed restrained, compared to the other genres on display. She really didn’t have enough wall space and so her prints were far too small.

Emily is an astounding social photographer, and I’ve also seen examples of her botanical work. She really didn’t do herself justice at Moseley Exchange, or perhaps they just didn’t give her sufficient room to show what she really is able to do.

Not so Pete Aston whose ‘Gaffer Tape’ mounted and Polaroid sized images are a refreshing delight. Pete used a cardboard gadget, also stuck together with Gaffer Tape, to shoot his images on digital media.

The gadget itself is comprised of the viewing mirror and lens of old box cameras with his modern digital focussed onto the viewing screen. The images are highly effective. If you want to try the technique for yourself just make sure that the box, (Twin Lens Reflex), camera you’re using isn’t of too high a quality, if you want to achieve Pete’s folksy toy camera look.

The other photographer is Dan Burwood who is showing a small portfolio of images from Cuba. These restrained colour images portray the island, and its inhabitants, as a sleepy almost ‘Mediterranean’ retreat.

You will find none of the 1950s cars and buses painted and patched in vibrant pop art colours in Burwood’s images. Instead he has chosen a more natural pallet and the Cubans themselves as his subject matter.

All in all it’s a very competent piece of photo-reportage.

Queuing For The Number 50, Birmingham, U.K.

When we lived in Istanbul I travelled by bus most of the time, but since moving to Turunç I rarely use buses.

It’s certainly over a decade since I travelled on a bus in the U.K. Navigating by bus in an unfamiliar city therefore posed some unexpected problems. For example I had no idea that the routes are circular in Birmingham, and therefore the stop from which I left the bus, in Birmingham city centre, would be the same one that I needed to alight from for the return journey.

And what of having exact change ~ what a nightmare for someone with pockets stuffed with notes rather than coins of the realm!

The queues seemed longer than in Istanbul too. One wonderful service that West Midland Buses provide, however, are personnel on main bus stops who can advise travellers on different services.

Travelling by bus is still cheaper than parking a car too

A Few Hundred Yards From Home After My Bus Ride