"Look at it this way"

A nice quote by Katherine Sarafian, the producer of 'Brave' on the importance of research when starting to plan the film: We started this journey, right here in Edinburgh, about six years ago, on a research trip, because it's research, research, research. Pixar start in the truest sense of where you want to begin the story, which is by touching the rocks and the heather and the lichen, and breathing the air, and seeing the weather changes. Update I went to see the film on Friday afternoon while down in Kent for a long weekend, and really enjoyed it. It helped that it was at an Odeon rather than my usual fleapit (no offence) so had HD image quality, and surround sound and good seats... The animation of the landscape was fantastic, particularly the scenes where Merida rides quickly through it, or the rain falls, or the fishing scene in the river... There was the humour of the little half-heard comments, such as when the warriors all climb to the top of the high tower...

Recognise this coastal landscape ? What geographical features can you see ? It's taken from the BBC's animated Olympics trail that has been shown repeatedly for the last few weeks. What other landscapes does it contain ? Click to enlarge - Image copyright: BBC

That's the (difficult) question on this BBC page. Here were the standings at the time when I cast my vote...

Have blogged several times about the work of Richard Long and the connection with landscapes. The recent road race around Box Hill has a few other geographical connections, such as the Olympics geocaches that had been hidden by Sam Atkins and pupils at the Priory School, Portsmouth. Came across this video of the artwork being made: Road Graffiti, which is inspired by the graffiti written on the roads during the Tour de France. Also has connections with other artworks made by Long.

Danny Boyle's opening ceremony for the London Olympics has been in the news today, as there was a practice run last night. It turns out that three people I know attended the event, but they've promised to #savethesecret although I did a search on #ruinthesecret and found a few pictures. It's no surprise that the ceremony is based around a pastoral view of England. The Evening Telegraph used the headline 'Farm Olympics' when the first pictures were released. Now Henry Porter, writing in the Observer  says that the event made him fall in love with our landscape all over again. This may be a resource that is worth deconstructing once it's over, in terms of its description of our landscape... It's certainly an interesting Cultural Geographical event...

BBC News article from a week or so ago. There were plans to put turbines onto Docking Shoal , which is close in to the North Norfolk coast, but these have been rejected because of the nesting terns nearby. There are two further wind farms which have been given permission: Race Bank and Dudgeon. Fits with Lesson 4 and 5 which focus on changes to the landscape.

Noel Jenkins recently shared a KS3 Geography 'Fantasy' scheme that he had put together... It's great to see that in the Year 7, there's a healthy dose of Landscapes. You can still get your copy of ' Look at it this Way' from the GA ONLINE SHOP - now with free delivery.... Take a look at the SoW and see where you can fit landscapes into your KS3...