Big Ben's on strike

The final chimes of Big Ben ring out today, as the old London clock goes in for repair.

We can look forward to a surreal world of silence in the centre of town, as a clock not silent for 157 years ceases to chime.

Big Ben will be back after a very long illness due to end in 2021.

Meantime, as you were London.

Independence Day

It may come as an antidote to the events in the states that today marks 70 years since Indian independence.

A curry to celebrate sounds like a good plan for your evening.

If you're in Glasgow they have an exhibition on.

Freedom as farce

It was with true sadness I heard of the incidents surrounding far right groups in the United States.

It is even more painful to see someone come out and try and defend the violence.

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I can understand the anger causing a mob to descend on this man, but it puts any sense of political debate and progress into the most painful farce.

America, the land to present us figures like Martin Luther King, Aretha Franklin, Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott and countless others seems to be descending into a kind of tragic fight where all lose.

I would urge you to look on the BBC website for a full report on these incidents.

Don't ask!

There are a litiany of comedians and journalists at the moment making shows and documentaries around the theme of don't ask X this.

The X's involved are sometimes Vegans, Bisexuals, Black people, hispanics, I could go on.

Now while this may seem like a great idea for a skit or show exposing the ignorance of certain questions and statements, bizarrely I'm not sure it's so helpful.

Why?

Because it closes down the conversation.

Ok, you may have spared yourself the fifteenth question on this topic, a cringe worthy exchange or a downright insulting Trump style assault, but who was enlightened?

You get to walk away feeling certified in your knowledge of the area, but the person asking the question is left just as clueless as before.

If in all innocence someone is trying to understand you and asks you something a bit awkward, try to answer.

If it shows them up, makes them smile or leads to another question someone now knows a little bit more about how you or the people you like identify.

Better world, no?

Patient X

A spate of mental health stories have emerged in the last few days raising serious questions over how the system is managed in this country.

Investigations of deaths in care are being flanked by high ranking doctors lambasting the current care of suicidal patients.

Added to this Theresa May's promise she was going to funnel more money into the issue you have to question whether there are any clear answers.

In the wash of charities, public bodies and celebrities that tackle the issue a different message seems to emerge each time.

While an overarching focus about sharing and caring is perhaps welcome, it is hard to unpick whether any of these initiatives will have the affect they intend.

Medicine Now!

Ever pondered those tablets in your hand?

The welcome collection hosts a permanent exhibition dealing with medicine through the ages.

If you're bored over the summer months and would like some cheap thought provoking fun this is worth a look.

The exhibition Medicine Now covers two floors and touches on ages of medicine from the mystic to the scientific.

You can cast your mind back to before the NHS and before quaint ideas like patient choice and even pain killers.

Worth a look.

You'll find some very cleverly inspired art too.

Exit via a tongue in cheek science shop for extra silly.

Ahaad Alamoudi

Last Friday Ahaad Alamoudi exhibited her artwork at The Mosaic Rooms in West London, with the events at Grenfell Tower I was slow to collect my thoughts on the piece.

Alamoudi said the piece is inspired by a viral protest video that emerged several years ago examining the inequality between those in the Arab world.

Alamoudi had remade the video and paired it with many other renditions of the same song, looking at the Arab world through the lenses of those at the bottom.

Given what had just happened at Grenfell to the mind of a Londoner there was an added element to the piece as it was hosted so close to a disaster rocking one of the richest London boroughs.

The piece was continued downstairs with an emersive audio pairing and video.

However the most interesting piece was the video of the dancer overlaid with a song of looking up at the wealth of another.

A dancer was also a feature of the event, this self effacing man performed three times with an interpretative dance based on the minimal direction of Alamoudi.

His dancing was lovely and it was lovely to see something happy and vibrant added to what in essence was quite a sad reflection on the state of the world.

It will be interesting to see what Alamoudi presents next.