Imagine!
Imagine Belfast is an annual festival of ideas, with panels, films, performances exploring all kinds of issues. I went to six events. First on Monday was comparing the peace in Northern Ireland to the peace brokered in the Balkans, where the civil war was ended just a few years earlier. The speaker, who is doing a dissertation on the two conflicts, expressed optimism that, despite Stormont being down (the DUP refuses to go into government due to Brexit-related issues), he is optimistic that the peace will hold and our wee society will become more integrated over time.
The second event was an online presentation on Tuesday by Guardian columnist George Monbiot, whose new book focuses on soil and the future of agriculture. Some amazing info about how the microbiology of soil resembles that of our gut. The industrial livestock industry cannot end soon enough for me. I went to two events on Wednesday. The first was Liverpool University professor Jon Tonge on the state of democracy in Northern Ireland. He said the Good Friday Agreement (25 years old this year) is about managing division. Getting beyond that to integration will take much longer and require a different structure than the one we currently have, which encourages polarisation and an avaricious political class. In the evening was Forgottn Spaces, where the public was invited to select an abandoned or decaying site and propose an alternate use. The public voted on the submissions. The winner was an idea to turn a peace wall (dividing Catholic and Protestant neighbourhoods) into a vertical garden.
Above a random photo of my dog. I was working in one chair and he was sleeping in the covered chair, until I got up and he stole my seat. Cheeky pup.
Thursday night I went to Something Great, a one-woman show about an American who came to Belfast at age 21 in 1989 to study. She had recently recovered from a bout of depression and was very excited to discover a circus in Belfast, having been in a children's circus where she grew up in Fairfax, Va. She quit school and joined the circus, eventually becoming its director. It was an interesting look at the power of fun activities to redirect children headed down the wrong path and to bring together children from different communities. First I had dinner at a Kurdish place I found last week when I went to Madden's, right around the corner from the pop-up play space. The lentil soup was scrumptious.
Friday I had lunch with an old school mate and dinner with two golf buddies, errands, cleaning, Paddy before and after. In the evening I saw Dance Craze, a 1981 documentary about ska bands in Britain at that time. So hard to sit in my seat!!
Saturday was my usual running around all day, plus I went swimming. In the evening I saw Drunken Birds with Ann, a heart-breaking tale of the life of migrant workers on a lettuce farm in Quebec. I won't eat meat for a lot of reasons having to do with cruelty (to animals and people) and environmental destruction. If I knew how much cruelty were involved in the harvesting of vegetables, I would probably starve.
I had intended to go to a dance after the film--a swing dance--but the swim earlier in the day and lots of errands wore me out. I took a lot of clothes to a charity shop. Yay me! I thought I was merciless in my cull, however there are still three spring weight suits upstairs I don't really need. Sunday was a long walk with Mr. P and then 18 holes at Castlereagh Hills Golf Club with my neighbourhood golf society.
I bought mom four potted plants for Christmas. They waited until after she left to put on a show.
I have neglected to report that I still have a job. Yay! I'll be in the products and practices division. I don't know whom I'll be reporting to but I have a suspicion my job won't change radically. I'll learn more next week.
Week ending 26 March