Winners and losers in great jigsaw lockdown challenge
After hours of ceaseless toil, The German and I completed a particularly difficult jigsaw. Please, there’s no need to applaud.
It wasn’t easy and I’m not afraid to admit there were some tense, relationship-testing moments: She’s a ‘corners and straight edges first’ kinda girl; I’m a ‘sort into colour and shade piles first’ fella. While she is a perfectionist when it comes to locating and placing the correct piece, I’m firmly in the ‘that’s near enough (you just need to bash it into the space)’ school of jigsaw assembly.
A match made in heaven you may say. Yin and yang, the philosophy of how seemingly opposite forces can operate in harmony. Thing is, Team Yang wanted to win. How can you win at doing a jigsaw? I hear you ask.
We at Team Yang don’t understand the point of doing a jigsaw if there’s no winner. The German asked me the same question.
“How can you win?” she said.
“Well,” I said, “The person who places the final piece to complete the jigsaw is the winner.”
She thought about it, the disdain etched on her face. “But what if the other person has done all the hard work putting together the majority of the jigsaw and all the other person does is find the last bit?”
I explained in as much detail as I could: “Dem’s da breaks,” I told her.
“Well in that case,” she said. “I could just slip a piece into my pocket, let you do all the work, and then come in at the end to place the ‘winning’ last piece.”
“What kind of person would do that?” I said, slowly taking the piece of jigsaw I’d placed under my chair on opening the box and discreetly placing it back into my dark brown pile, adding: “You have a devious mind sometimes.”
Who’d have thought doing a jigsaw could be so much fun. And it is, for about 12 minutes. After you’ve got the edges sorted, and connected all the interesting detailed parts of the picture, you’re left with the onerous task of completing the huge swathes of featureless background.
Jigsaws are like lockdown. All very interesting, daunting and challenging in the beginning, only to end up an interminable groundhog day of going through the motions.
Still. Wasn’t a complete waste of time. Having completed the jigsaw, The German and I can now sit back as winners.
After hours of ceaseless toil, we hands down win the title of North East’s Most Boring Couple.
An award-winning film about Sunderland people living through the First World War is set to get a much wider audience.
Asunder premiered at the Sunderland Empire on the 100th anniversary of the BattleoftheSommein2016aspart of the national 14 -18 NOW programme of experiences connecting people with the First World War, as part of the UK’s official centenary commemorations.
Written and produced by respected music writer and film producer Bob Stanley, Asunder tells the story of the region’s involvement in the ‘Great War’ through personal experiences.
Last year it was announced Sunderland Culture would deliver an Asunder legacy programme,includingscreenings of the film at local and national venues, along with an educationalresourceprojectforSunderland schools.
Covid restrictions meant a plannedprogrammeofscreeningscouldnotgoahead,andreducedseatingcapacitybecause of social distancing measures also threatened the commercial viability of screenings when the current restrictions are eased.
However, Sunderland Culture is now working with Live
Cinema UK and YourScreen, to broadcast Asunder via a website for a two-month run.
Some of the characters from Sunderland and the surrounding area in the film include Sgt George Thompson – a transport driver in the 7th Durham Light Infantry whose story was dubbed ‘the original War Horse’ after his diary told the tale of both him and his horse surviving the Somme; Bella Reay – a young munitions worker during World WarOneandalsotopstrikerin BlythSpartansLadiesFCscoring 133 goals in one season and going on to play for England; Lizzie Holmes – the first woman in Horden to wear trousers, challengingconventionandinspiring other women factory workers;andMargaretHolmes –atramconductressandheroineofaZeppelinbombingraid.
Viewers across the UK will be able to watch Asunder at https://watch.yourscreen. net/ from Monday, March 1 to Friday, April 30, for £7.99, or at a discounted rate of £5.99 when booked through one of YourScreen’s partner cinemas around the country who share in a percentage of ticket sales.
A list of participating cinemas will be updated at https:// yourscreen.net and https:// asunder1916.uk.
Rebecca Ball, Creative Director at Sunderland Culture, explained:“Itwasimportantto usthatthesuccessfulAsunder project had a legacy and that theperformancesbackin2016
were a start of something. A big part of that legacy has been an educational resource project for Sunderland schools, which we produced with support from Sunderland Music Hub. This has clearly been affected
by the Covid pandemic, but will be ready for schools when they want them.
“Asunder is a remarkable piece of film-making with some powerful stories and wonderful, original music bringing the First World War vividly to life.”
The film was directed and co-produced by award-winning artist and filmmaker Esther Johnson and narrated by KateAdieOBE,withAlunArmstrong
as the voice of the SunderlandDailyEcho&Shipping Gazette.Thefilm’ssoundtrack was scored by Field Music and Warm Digits, performed with Royal Northern Sinfonia and The Cornshed Sisters.
A teenage girl barred from entering a Sunderland nightclub for being underage retaliated by firing suspected pepper spray in the eyes of two doormen.
Morgan Bulmer-Gibson, 18, carried the noxious liquid in a can – marked with the wording NATO CS Gas – for protection but used it as a weapon outside the city centre Illusions venue.
Bulmer-Gibson, of Well Street, Pallion, struck soon after she was refused entry after being asked for ID in the early hours of Sunday, March 1, last year, a court heard.
Her attack left the bouncers with 15 minutes of soreness to their eyes for which they were removed from duty to cleanse their faces with water.
Prosecutor Grace Taylor told South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court: “The doormen were working when a group of males and females came to the club.
“The defendant was asked for ID because she looked underage. One male became aggressive and angry, and the group was ejected.
“Other members of the group were outside, and as the doorman took them outside he stumbled and fell along with one of the group.
“The group left but came back a few minutes later and as soon as they were outside, the defendant has sprayed the substance into their eyes.
“One described being
sprayed with pepper spray, and the second doorman was sprayed. Their eyes were
stinging and sore.
“The defendant was about two feet away and a doorman used his right hand to grab the container, which had the wording ‘NATO CS Gas’.
“The police find the defendant nearby. An aggravating factor was that she caused injury, it was on a premises and she was part of a group.
“The defendant admitted that she used it for protection.”
The court heard BulmerGibson has one previous affray offence as a youth.
She pleaded guilty to two charges of assault occasioning them actual bodily harm, and possession of a weapon for the discharge of a noxious liquid.
District Judge Kathryn Meek called for reports and granted Bulmer-Gibson bail on condition she maintains her home address for court correspondence.
Bulmer-Gibson will be sentenced at the same court on Monday, March 29.
Parents are being given a helping hand in educating their children at home amid uncertainty over when schools will reopen.
Reading Eggs is a multi award-winning online programme that has been designed by experienced educators for children aged two to 13 years.
The resource helps to build essential reading skills by covering these five components of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, reading comprehension and fluency.
Children are motivated to want to learn to read and explore by the programme’s games, songs, golden eggs and other rewards.
By incorporating the programme into your child’s day, you are preparing them for the structured learning they will receive back at school.
Meanwhile, parents are being offered 30 days’ free access to the programme and huge discounts to help them through the period of school shutdown.
The discounts are on Reading Eggs most popular subscriptions including more than 20 per cent off the All Access 12-month subscription, currently on offer for £47.95 down from £69.90.
The All-Access plans allow consumers use of Reading Eggs, Reading Eggs Junior, Reading Eggspress, Fast Phonics and access to Mathseeds, which teaches children aged three to nine core maths and problemsolving skills needed to be successful at school with fun, highly interactive and rewarding lessons.
Reading Eggs’ results speak for themselves with more than 91 per cent of parents reporting a noticeable improvement in their child’ reading ability within weeks. It is currently used by more than 10 million children in 169 countries.
Highly trusted by UK teachers, the programme is being used in more than 16,000 primary schools. It has been aligned to the National Curriculum, so parents can have peace of mind with the knowledge that their children are learning the skills they need for academic success.
Reading Eggs was created in 2008 by Blake eLearning, who have over 30 years of experience. Established more than 30 years ago in Sydney, Australia, the company is a recognised leader in creating innovative, exciting programmes that both teachers and children enjoy using.
For further details on all the company’s products visit https://readingeggs.co.uk website.