The Southbank is one of my top areas of London. It's kind of cheating because it's pretty long so includes lots of stuff... The Globe, Tate Modern, Gabriel's Wharf, The National Theatre, The Southbank Centre... the list goes on. Last weekend I had tickets for The Rest is Noise, a programme of talks, lectures and concerts that brings to life Alex Ross's survey of 20th Century music that is his book of the same name.
Before I get started, I have a confession. I have not read this book. One of my mum's friends grabs us in a queue for the last talk of the day raving about this magnificent book by some guy on MUsic and CULture. Until then, neither my mum nor I knew this programme was about a book. Luckily for me, it's totally about a book, and so I can blog about it. Saying that, I'd have blogged about it anyway. a) because somehow I was always going to blog about something this weekend and I sense my 3 hour stint in front of the TV on Sunday morning probably doesn't qualify... and b) because my first talk was on none other than her wonderfullness, Virginia Woolf.
Professor Rachel Bowlby was looking at the work of Virginia Woolf while considering one of her most famous quotes: ''On or about December 1910 human character changed.'' I'm not about to type out what she said but I'm going to put my two cents in. It's quite a big statement to make about a year that most of us would struggle to talk about for much more than thirty seconds... It has been argued that Virginia Woolf suffered from something like 'hurry sickness', developing anxiety and depression as a result of the constant speeding up and flux of culture and time in the early 20th Century. This thought, together with Woolf's quote, do comfort me slightly as sometimes I feel we too often think that we are the first to experience the life we are living. The fact is, cultural change (be it good or bad) has happened before. Recessions have happened before. And we're still here!
Next up, David Tong on Einstein's Theory of Relativity and I actually understood it... ok, so I'm not about to write a paper on it, but my unscientific mind actually has some kind of grasp on this theory. That is really all I have to say on this matter. It blew. my. mind. Turns out there's no gravitational pull - WHO KNEW?
Finally, I got to meet the legend that is Tony Benn. To use the introducer's words, Tony Benn 'is history' - he's seen it all. Sure he was an MP, sure he was a cabinet minister, but what is incredible about this man is that he is one of those rare people who actually sticks to his values. It's so easy to say to ourselves that we believe in certain things but, when challenged, how many of us slip slightly to protect ourselves over our values? He didn't. Thus, he is a dude. He is also a great speaker.
If you didn't go yourself, wonderfully you can hear what they all had to say here on the Southbank Centre's website!
Next up, David Tong on Einstein's Theory of Relativity and I actually understood it... ok, so I'm not about to write a paper on it, but my unscientific mind actually has some kind of grasp on this theory. That is really all I have to say on this matter. It blew. my. mind. Turns out there's no gravitational pull - WHO KNEW?
Finally, I got to meet the legend that is Tony Benn. To use the introducer's words, Tony Benn 'is history' - he's seen it all. Sure he was an MP, sure he was a cabinet minister, but what is incredible about this man is that he is one of those rare people who actually sticks to his values. It's so easy to say to ourselves that we believe in certain things but, when challenged, how many of us slip slightly to protect ourselves over our values? He didn't. Thus, he is a dude. He is also a great speaker.
If you didn't go yourself, wonderfully you can hear what they all had to say here on the Southbank Centre's website!
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