Day 82: Fun House!

This morning I got up (pretty early), made some breakfast, turned on the T.V. and guess what I found? Yep you guessed it, Fun House!

When I was little it used to be on every Friday, but I had swimming then (gutted!) so my mum used to video it (yep, none of this Sky Plus malarkey!) We used to get home from swimming and watch it whilst mum was preparing a yummy tea.

This morning I literally felt myself morphing into a small child and wanting more than anything to be covered in gunge, ride the go carts and, better yet, go in the fun house! The sound of that cockerel crowing when they got the best prize...yes!!! Brilliant, they just don't make gold like that anymore.

I know what you're thinking, are we just taking a trip down your memory lane? I assure you, as always, there is a creative layer to my reminiscent thinking.

Just in case you have had a deprived fun house life, here's a clip...



All the shows were filled with wacky and wonderful games like this one. So my challenge to you is to come up with your own crazy game! Be as creative as you can...

Together we will bring Fun House back! Woop!

I couldn't help it, here's a clip of the actual fun house! Thanks Pat.

Day 81: The mystery...

The other day I went to have a 'coffee' with my mum and sister (none of us actually had coffee, but that's just what people say!). After we'd finished having a natter (and a cake) natured called and I had to pop to the loo. As it always is at coffee shops, there was only one toilet, so I found myself waiting.

At this particular coffee shop, the toilets were in a separate corridor which had a fire escape in it. On this door in big red capital letters read the words:

DO NOT OPEN AFTER DUSK

Why, o, why would a fire escape have such words on it? What if there's a fire 'after dusk'? Who even uses the word 'dusk' anymore?

As you can imagine, my mind wondered into all kinds of explanations...perhaps it leads to a twilight zone, where many people have been lost forever...maybe it's the only entrance to the lair of the most vicious vampires ever to appear in recorded history...or, once night falls, opening the door would cause the world to turn upside down, reaping havoc all across the world...

What story could you make out of such a strange sign...let your imagination go!

Day 80: 'My name is Mina'

Today I finished this wonderful book (check out Day 75 for more details). There are soooo many inspirational things in there I want to share with you, but if I did, I might as well call this blog, 'David Almond's blog.' So, for today I will just share one nugget of creativity that it gave me. If I had my way everyone would read it!

Throughout the book, Mina, whose diary it is, gives the reader 'Exterordiary Activities' to do. You must understand that it was REALLY hard for me to chose only one to share with you today, as they were all bursting with creative potential. This, however, is the one I have chosen:

"EXTRAORDINARY ACTIVITY
Take a line for a walk.
Find out what you're drawing when you've drawn it.
Take some words for a walk.
Find out what you're writing when you've written it.
Tke yourself for a walk.
Find out where you're going when you get there.''

So, there you have it, the inspirational thought of the day. Do it, draw it, write it, walk it.

Where will you and your creativity go today...?

Day 79: Face Food

As you all know, I'm always looking for new and exciting creative ideas to fill your heads with. Today I'd like to inspire you with this:

Yep you got it, lunchboxes filled with shaped food! This art form is called caraben. Basically, it's sculpting food into stuff (other than food.) It's a Japanese creation and I think it's really exciting. Check out this blog for more inventive creations. It's an accompaniment to the book 'Facefood: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes'.

Are you into food? Are you into cooking, or maybe just eating? I definitely think this is worth a go whatever you're into. It certainly looks like a lot of fun so get creating!

PS, best not to try it at the dinner table. I don't think your mum or dad would appreciate their roast being turned into a sculpted butterfly!

Day 78: Any ideas...?

I've found another exciting competition that needs ideas from creative people like you!

Tetra Pak is a company that make cardboard packaging for things like orange juice. The great thing about them is they can be recycled so it's better for the planet. The difficult thing about them is getting people to chose them over other (cheaper) products!

So, they have teamed up with WWF (World Wide Fund for nature) to get you guys to send in ideas of how to get people buying environmentally friendly products. If they like your idea, they'll give you £1000 and spend £25,000 on making it happen! There are loads of other prizes to be woon too. Now that's an affective idea!

So it's time to put your creativity to the test. What ideas can you come up with? How can you change the way people chose things when they're walking down the aisle in Sainsburys? Why is your idea the best?

Check out the website to enter and vote on people's ideas.

My advise? See what ideas are there, gage the competition and blow them out of the water with your amazing idea! There's even a page to help inspire you with ideas.

What are you waiting for? Use your creativity to change the world!

Day 77: Waiting thoughts...

Since I was young I have had this constant thought which comes back into my head from time to time. It's all to do with the idea of waiting. The way I see it, we are always waiting for something. Waiting for a bus, for the end of term, for dinner, for a friend, for a T.V. program, for the end of a T.V. program...Even when we are asleep are we not just waiting to wake up?

I remember being about ten when I first mentioned my thoughts to my mum on a car journey. I casually dropped into the conversation how we're always waiting and she told me how pessimistic (well, she probably used the word negative) it all was. Since then I've kept my 'waiting' thoughts to myself.

Today these thoughts don't have to wait any longer. Here they are in my blog! But, is there a positive slant I could give my (apparently) negative thoughts?

What if everything waits? Each day this blog is waiting to be written and each day I come back and fill it up...Isn't a blank sheet of paper waiting to be written on, drawn on, painted on, made into something? Isn't a instrument waiting to be played? Isn't a stage waiting to be used?

I guess the bigger question is, what are you waiting for? What is in the way of you and your creative ideas? Perhaps there's too much waiting and not enough doing?

I encourage you not to see my waiting thoughts as negative, but something inspirational. What is waiting for YOU? Perhaps there really is no time like the present...

Day 76: Where in the world?

Look at this picture. Where is it? I don't know and that's the point. It can be wherever you want it to be. Make it up...

Who lives there? When was this picture taken? Who took it? Do they live there? Has it changed since then? What's it like there...?

I love using picture to tell stories and/or to get creative with. What could YOU do with this picture...?