Making Things From Street Corners

It’s great when you can make things out of bits lying around you. You’ve managed to create something purposeful from what have normally been chucked in a skip and it hasn’t cost you a thing! It’s one reason why I’m reluctant to throw things away as you never know when it’s going to be useful. But on the other hand, is going to be more of a hinderance if you do keep it, especially if you lack the skills necessary to create your goal? You’ve also got to be lucky enough or knowledgeable enough to source the materials, and if you want it done in a hurry you may have to purchase some of the materials anyway. But if you’re patient enough, good things will come to you. And of course, it might even work the other way if you choose to donate materials or parts to someone else. They might even give you something in return.

Gnome Factory

 There were huge hangers to explore to marvel at these life-sized statues. It makes you wonder what disaster or conspiracy happened here to force these masterpieces to be buried. It was great to see archaeologists at work wrapping up artefacts for transportation and observing the dig, though it’s a shame that you weren’t allowed to get closer or walk amongst them. After all, they were discovered nearly fifty years ago. I did begin to think if this was a conspiracy and there was another hanger somewhere with a kiln waiting to fire up a fresh batch that would be put into the larger hangers to set and that the old ones would be put into the gift shop. After all, we were in a country known for its manufacturing. You also had a choice of toilets here, western or Chinese-style, or squatties or potties as we liked to call them.

"Never lie, steal, cheat, or drink. But if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. If you must steal, steal away from bad company. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away”.

-Will Smith.

Coming from someone who’s always thought of as a player, this does sound like a bit of a dull boy’s life. As well as quite surprising, it’s also a bit boring. You can’t even keep birthday secrets or jest around with your mates. There’s also a bit of a literal double meaning to make the message even more truthful. If you want to cheat death, you may even have to love a bit of a shielded life with no fun or risk at all, which means that there’s going to be very little to enthral you. Some of these actions are quite hard to achieve, and it may even be impossible for some. But if you do achieve them then you know that you are loved and you love in return. But bear in mind that you’re unlikely to cheat death if you find something that’s going to take your breath away.

Driving in the Wall

Our coach literally drove through the giant gates into the city walls. The archway towered thirty feet in front of us and on the top of it was a huge pagoda. Chinese lanterns hung from banner poles attached to the walkway in front of us. The wall itself it a three-square mile structure and it would take about four hours to walk its whole circumference. But it’s wider than an English country road and you can even hire bikes to explore its entirety if you wish. On its outside is modern Xi’an, and t times it feels that you’re in the middle of a traffic roundabout. There’s modern block buildings but alongside these are towers with pagodas on top to remind you that you’re still in China. But if you look into the distance, you can see rivers and trees and it doesn’t feel like you’re in a city at all.

Are the Police in the UK Friendly?

They used to be. There’s a classic image of a bobby strolling his beat or standing on a street corner and he’d be happy to tell you the time, give directions, stop traffic so you could cross the road or help in any way that he could as a civil servant. Nowadays, if you can’t help him by pointing out where the CCTV footage is then he’s more likely to push you out of the way or drive around you at a roundabout so that he can get to his destination quicker. He’s a rare sight on the street and usually he's only there if he’s investigating a report. He certainly doesn’t like to be distracted or be stopped for a chat unless he’s in a group. I don’t blame him in a way. I suppose that cutbacks mean that there’s less police on the streets so they have to stretch themselves.

Piecing the Past Together

Fresh out of Beijing, we land outside Xi’an and within minutes we’re whisked away on a coach to a museum just outside the city. This museum is a recent discovery as it contains miniature versions of the Terracotta Warriors, almost toy-like. We enter a giant pyramid and gather around a display case where the era is set and get a brief glimpse of the area’s history. Around eighty pits have been discovered which have been split into three large sections. We descend a dark tunnel to examine the first of the pits which contains some pottery. It’s dimly lit to preserve the area, and we walk through contained tunnels so as not to disturb the atmosphere, but the glass doesn’t make taking photographs easy. There are substantial numbers of child dolls, cows and pigs, and what could be urns with stoppers shaped like the head and body of people. There’s also models of horses with carriages in various scales and some are painted, although these could be for reconstruction purposes rather than being the actual discovery.  

 

Holding

You won’t find any glamourous people in this series. Instead, you get a sense of a small community that has been worn down because of each other’s actions. The local constable might be incompetent which others rely on, but he does recognise what’s best for the community and when a job needs to be completed right. There’s a bit of confusion over the plot as it’s not clear whether it actually occurred and who the love child was. It’s always complicated in small communities with same-sex relationships as everyone assumes otherwise and it’s hard to keep up who’s with who, especially with the jumper act at the talent show. The actors work hard to keep their characters in check, but there needs to be more conflict to make this interesting. I think it needed a bit more humour to keep people interested and a bit more clarification in its conclusions.