Something New - Month Eleven

[smallhobbit]

I am enjoying the Imperial Lates run by Imperial College in London.  The theme a couple of weeks ago was the Sun, and again I joined the art interpretation evening.  There was a professor and a third year PhD student talking about research into the first stars and the craft was a mosaic, for which I used very small squares of cut up wrapping paper.  I call this Starburst.



Next month the theme is Wildlife.  I have registered.

Yesterday, we had our first Dare to Dabble by zoom, having been sent the materials in advance.  We were wet felting.  My first attempt, around a small plastic egg, wasn't very successful, but, if you squint, looks like a ladybird.  The mini eggs turned out rather better.

 


I have completed three FutureLearn courses:

Music Moves by the University of Oslo, which covered the idea of people moving either deliberately or involuntarily to music, plus various ways of recording this.  I find it a difficult course, being quite technical, and the peer-assessed assignment was challenging - hardly surprising since this was at undergraduate level.  However, at the end of each week, although the course had been run before, there was a new video looking specifically at questions and thoughts which had been raised during the week, so it became rather more personal and relevant; two of the presenters wrapped up and social distancing outside in Oslo at the end of January gave an additional lift to the course.  (At the end of week 3 they were indoors as it had got even colder!)  The final Friday of the course they ran a zoom session which any participant could attend, so I went along and 'sat at the back of the class'.  There were about a dozen attending, many of whom were professionals or students of the subject, so it was good to get further insight.

What does it mean to be Human: An Introduction to the Humanities, by the University of Newcastle, Australia.  I had been thinking of taking this course for a while.  Because it is an introduction the intention was to look at how we interpret material available, and the necessity of being aware of bias, both ours and that of the authors of the original material.  What struck me most was how I am now much more aware of this original bias, and much less inclined to accept what I see as being truly reflective of events in the past.

Classic Detection Fiction by the University of Newcastle, Australia.  This could have been very interesting as an introduction to the genre, but I felt it was a wasted opportunity.  The first week concentrated on Poe's 'Murders in the Rue Morgue' and yes, set the scene.  But the second two weeks concentrated only on Conan Doyle's 'A Study in Scarlet' and failed to even use the other Sherlock Holmes stories to back up the areas covered.

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Very fun! So are you putting the wet felt on a mould or frame! They look sort of like tennis balls. Are they hard or soft (like yarn balls?)?

I enjoyed the video lectures of the Classic Detection Fiction course. I thought the professor did a good job of explaining the concepts. And he brought up things I'd not considered even after reading SIGN so many. But, yeah, the discussion posts weren't really my thing, and I would've liked a wider scope. I also liked that article about the difference between story and discourse.

Forgot to add that I like your Starburst and I am still envious of your Dare to Dabble series in general. Lots of fun as you TRANSITION to your Sussex days :)

[smallhobbit]

They're yarn balls, made of mohair wool which is stranded and wound together, dipped in warm soapy water and then rolled (mini ones) or rubbed (larger one). The larger one is about the size of a large egg, the mini ones mostly as long as my thumbnail.

I'm glad you enjoyed the lectures - the concepts were interesting, although I felt he could have given further examples from other ACD stories. The discussions vary immensely between courses.

I love the idea of moving into my Sussex days :D

[corvidology]

The mini eggs look great. Perhaps they could be used on scarves?

[smallhobbit]

Thank you. I'd not thought of that!

[badly_knitted]

Wet felting looks like fun, even if your first result wasn't quite what you were aiming for. I guess the wetness made the ladybird colours blur a bit. Or something. I have no idea how wet felting works. The mini eggs in their little nest are cute. Now you just need a birdie to sit on them!

[smallhobbit]

Wet felting was fun - I had no idea what I was doing with the first egg, just wound red and black wool strands around the egg, then decided it looked rather like a ladybird. The mini eggs were more successful.

[debriswoman]

Fascinated by your choice of courses. Eclectic to say the least:-)

[smallhobbit]

I just take whatever's starting and might be of interest and see where it takes me.

[margaret_r]

You always find something new and interesting to do! The little felt eggs look lovely:)

[smallhobbit]

That's my aim :) And thank you.

[therealsnape]

I so agree on the classic detective fiction course. The first week was very interesting, especially the ways in which Poe was an innovator.

But I had hoped that the other two weeks would cover far more aspects, not just one Holmes story. I skipped through most of it. When one thinks of the material and authors available - so much wasted opportunity.

[smallhobbit]

Yes, I felt it was designed too much to make a point and could have covered much more material.

[luthienberen]

Wet felting sounds like a difficult yet rewarding skill! I like the mini eggs. They would be good decorations for Easter.

[smallhobbit]

I think if I'd had a better idea of what I was doing it would have worked better - one of the disadvantages of zoom! But otherwise the eggs worked quite well.

[rusty_armour]

I'm glad that you've been enjoying Imperial Lates. I like the combination of lectures and crafts. It's great that the first Zoom version of Dare to Dabble was a success. I love your mini eggs.

It's a shame about that Classic Detection Fiction course. I would never cover A Study in Scarlet in such a course. I could understand if the instructor highlighted a couple of scenes from A Study in Scarlet, but the whole novel is too much (especially with the second half and the long Mormon flashback). It would have made more sense to focus on two or three of the short stories instead. They're easier to read and a much better showcase of Conan Doyle's skill as a writer.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you. Yes, I've enjoyed doing some different activities.

I agree some of the Holmes short stories would have been better.