Cultural Geography Blog

If it's Thursday then it must be time for another list of the things that are typically British (or in this case, what makes Britain Great) This time it's linked to a book by a writer called Ian Aitch (I have his earlier book about English summer called "A Fete worse than death" - a phrase I like to use whenever I come across a fete... which is not often to be fair...) The book is published next week, and is available from Amazon : called "We're British, Innit" There is an article and associated extensive photo gallery (with brief captions) here, thanks to the Independent. Would be good for Pilot GCSE "My Place" and "Cultural Geography" with reference to Britishness...

Have been enjoying reading this story about Eve Stuart-Kelso and her missing garden gnome: Murphy. He disappeared for 7 months, and was then returned complete with a photo album showing him having global adventures as far away as New Zealand. How about doing this with your own gnome ? With Smartboard 10 software you can cut out a gnome from an image (below is one I made earlier, with thanks to Flickr user Mr. Moor for the excellent gnome !), and then superimpose it on another image or location.... e.g. Here is a gnome with me and a Superlambanana in Liverpool !

This would be useful for the Pilot GCSE Cultural Geography section (and also the " My Place " unit...) (This has already been suggested by other colleagues as a possible piece of work - also designing a route for the Olympic torch...) The closing ceremony had an 8 minute slot where a lot of time and effort (and money) had gone into showcasing London. What was included ? What was suitably iconic ? The LONDON BUS - plus commuters Music ? Led Zeppelin sung by a TV talent competition winner, with altered lyrics... David Beckham kicking a football. A Blue Peter competition winner... What would you have included in your 8 minutes ? And what about this STORY FROM THE TELEGRAPH ? What do you think the other images that were on the video shown at the event would have been ?

Will Self's latest PSYCHOGEOGRAPHY column in the Independent features the first part of a walk down the Holderness coast: the classic case study of rapid coastal erosion on a soft cliffed coastline. Image by the great Ralph Steadman... Some nice phrases in the column. These would make an interesting activity: what is being described here ? can you explain how what is being described would have occured ? here is an image - write a similar description in your own words... etc. Also check out the BOOK (via Amazon)

If so, Chris Lloyd Staples would like to hear from you for a session she's running at this year's SAGT CONFERENCE. She has set up a SURVEY MONKEY survey where you can enter details of your TOP 10 (or numbers less than that) of films that you use in the classroom... Speaking of which, Tony Cassidy has been at his "film poster subversion" again... Just filled in the survey myself and I mentioned a few films that I use bits of.

Part of my personal cultural landscape... No more...

Thanks to John Barlow and his new departmental blog for guiding me to FLOODSIM. This is a flood management simulation produced by the insurers Norwich Union (or AVIVA as they are being 'rebranded'...) The landing page for the game features some rather 'good' simulated pictures of inundated city centres, including Manchester, York and Norwich. Head over and have a go...

Via the GENERATOR BLOG

What is the cultural geography of Yorkshire ? Oh, and by the way... Check out the ONE HUNDRED MONTHS website.