Now we have Louise Ritchie who is throwing balls at the audience to illustrate how much juggling a visual artist has to do …

Real time blogging when you’re not near a plug spells disaster , laptop battery down and I phone not far behind it do will wrap up to say this has been fun. Interesting people with exciting and honest stories to tell. Sorry if the continual emails tonight have been annoying and thank-you for reading.
In summary i ve enjoyed an really
fun
experience which shines a light on thought provoking people and their stories.

Sign up for pecha kucha 2 taking place next year. Details soon on www.creativedundee.com

Here is Kirsty Maguire a pretty eco architect… from 6 generations of architects. The lions which feature on the British Museum’s gates were part of her great great grandfather’s designs….another of her relations was the first female architect to set up her own practice in Europe…Kirsty has worked in the US and New Zealand and formed her own practice this year working on upgrading old leaky buildings to high performance eco buildings as well as working with a re development project in Haiti…

Nest up Ross Fraser McLean a young fashion photographer based in Dundee who experienced a 30 day kidnapping episode in India …it started with him being shown a snake in the park in Delhi then he was taken 3 1/2 hours out of the city, although he described his kidnappers as quite friendly. He had a guard dog who kept watch on him and kept him captive in his room..great photos of his kidnappers being shown on the slides and now we re seeeing the man who helped him escape in the end during a heavy opium smoking period, who he then realised were part of the North Indian Mob. Escape plan included taking 9 men from the village on a photography expedition ending up with cannabis cultivators of the area…lots of laughter from the audience…but this is pretty daunting. Photogrpahy exhibition of his North Indian experience in Feb at the Hannah McLure centre in Dundee…Im saving the date

Rohan Gunatillake, Freelance Innovation Producer who lives in Glasgow and works with Edinburgh Festival amongst other projects…..and his new mobile app buddhify  designed to promote urban wellbeing and meditation….a bit about buddhist geeks , a community of worldwide practioners who want to promote meditation in our every day lives ..he wants  design to promote and cultivate happiness and not so much be about money and consumption…

Kate Pickering from Vanilla Ink Studios – a new space to help graduate jewellers bring their designs to industry. Kate is very funny talking a lot about how her failures and being lost led her to setting up on the road to deciding her current path to help designers join the dots…

Stuart & Phil from Tiger Games who have  designed a new and official Superman game in 3 months from their base in Dundee – the game is now in submission with Apple and is out on Dec 17th …

Ryan Cormack, realtime blogger and website designer

The Crowd at Chambers East, Dundee

First up is Philip Long from the V &A at Dundee talking about Scotland’s great design heritage and how this will shape the exhibitions… a slide which shows the blueprint of the interior of the museum..a slide showing local designer Hayley Scanlan’s work as an exciting talent to watch…how the V &A’s architecht Kenga Kuma was inspired by the rocks of Montrose for the exterior of the building…finishing with a mention of the Calum Colvin art masterclass at McManus Galleries from  22nd to 25th Nov

Next up is the lovely knitwear designer Hilary Grant who graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone in 2002 and who worked with Alexander McQueen in his studio in London….who now creates her own designs. Her creative process starts with a moodboard including illustrations …she is passionate about using good quality yarns from Scotland…I love her mountain shaped cushions and graphic print bobble end scarves. Hilary won the Craft Makers Award in January which helped introduce her to new stockists in Scotland and the UK. Hilary works part time at the McManus Galleries and Halley Stevenson fabric mill to help support her business…so buy her scarfs and support this talented designer

Third speaker is Andy Milligan, an Interior Designer Researcher at Duncan of Jordanstone Art School. Im not really managing to follow what he’s saying so Im going straight into our 4th speaker…

Gary Penn, “Official Game Media Legend” from Dundee based computer games company Denki who is talking about ‘feel’ ‘drama’ ‘alive’ ‘convenient’ and ‘twist’ as his guiding principles when creating a new computer game. He’s wearing a rasberry pink linen shirt – a good sign that the computer industry is the business to be in if youre not feeling “the suits”….

Part 2 of Pecha Kucha to follow….

PS. sorry no pictures, I m having trouble with that. Ryan has images on his website www.ryancormack.com

If only there were things like the Dundee Science Festival happening while I was at school, I might have got on a bit better with my science o-grades!  Designed to encourage an interest and understanding of what science is and how it infiltrates almost every area of our lives, the fornight long Dundee Science Festival kicks off on Sat 29th Oct with over 60 events in unexpected venues across the city.

Sir Professor Philip Cohen, Dundee’s science ambassador said something thats stuck with me” Dundee is no longer the City of the “3 J’s”Jute, Jam and Journalism, but the City of the “3 Bs”, Biochemistry, Biomedicine and Biotechnology with some 10,000 people employed directly or indirectly in this area.  If we want our children to be able to live and work in Dundee in the future they will therefore need to develop an interest and passion for science and Dundee Science Festival is a great way for Dundonians of all ages to get a feel for the fascination and fun of science.”

Throughout the first week of the festival, thousands of pupils from over 30 Dundee primary schools will be investigating the smells, noises, colours and textures of science through a variety of mini experiments, workshops and talks – both inside and outside of school.

I ve had a look at the online programme and have earmarked quite a few things but there really is something for everyone

1 Nov- The Science behind Hair at McIntyre’s hair salon

9 Nov – 20:20 Vision – Designing for a Digital Future – how technology is transforming peoples lives and communities

7 Nov – Robin Ince’s show “Happiness through Science” – comedy show from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

10 Nov – Family Fun Night at Mills Observatory – exploring the night sky with the observatory telescope

8 Nov – The Bright Club at Braes bar – comedians and musicians meet with science boffins to come up with …who knows what

12 Nov – College of Life Sciences – what cutting research is currently being carried out in Dundee, with lab tours

visit www.dundeesciencefestival.org for full details on all the events including times and booking details or telephone 01382 228800.

Ive been in London working for a few days so apologies for lack of posts this week; when I got home on Friday I felt better knowing I have lots to look forward to on my “good things to do list”. I recently treated myself to a cosy, lightweight puffa jacket from Uniqlo (recommended) so Ive no excuses for not wrapping up and getting out.

My Top 5 6 Things to do!

1. Enchanted Forest at Pitlochry on until the 29th October - this won best event in Scotland and I ve never been, a chance to experience the outdoors at night with light and sound show. Tickets £14-£17 for adults; £36-£40 for a family of 2 adults and 2 children.   Note to self: find person to drive there!

2. Dundee Literary Festival- I go to a local book club and its one of my most fun nights out, so Im thinking this will be like a bigger version of my book club. At the festival you can enjoy a talk from star author Alexander McCall Smith on Fri 28th as well as creative writing workshops and all sorts. My pitstop will be on Saturday the 29th October at 7.30 pm to the launch of The Parlour Cafe Cook Book, an evening of books, food and music. Free

3. Does anyone have a young person I can borrow !! so I can accompany them to the Discovery Film Festival on at the DCA. Running between the 22 Oct to 6 Nov there are some truly excellent activities and films to see. “The Adventures of TinTin” directed by Steven Spielberg is on Wed 26th Oct – 10th Nov. The Scottish Premiere of “A Cat In Paris” looks well worth a visit.  But its all the activities surrounding the films that look the most fun – create a giant cityscape of Paris anyone ? create your own characters for a film ? or play ‘Beat The Goalie’ after watching a film called The Liverpool Goalie. There are a gazillion things going on .  Read through the programme and make some plans with the wee ones in your life.

4. King Creosote and Kid Canaveral, Thur 3 November at Duke’s Corner.  Im very excited about this. I have my ticket.  Enough said.

5. Carnoustie Torchlight Parade, Sat 5th November 6.00 – 8.00 pm.  A blend of bagpipes, fireworks and sea air, this small-scale local event will stir your soul.  Buy a ticket in advance which comes with a torch and join the torchlight parade down the High Street to the beach and watch the bonfire burn. Tickets from The Fobel Shop in Carnoustie.  If anyone interested in this, let me know and I can pick up tickets for you and hand over on the night.

6. Bella and Bunty’s 1st Birthday Sun 23 Oct 2-5 pm at Drougthy’s – an afternoon of tea, cake and craft – and maybe a half cider and blackcurrant for sister (who doesnt do tea and cake) Tickets £10 for everything included.

what do you know about thats going on over the next few weeks that I can add to my list ?