UK Health Minister Cites Film “Contagion” As Inspiration To Corona Pandemic Response

February 3, 2021 Craig Jiggy Leave a comment

whoUK Health Minister of Parliament, Matt Hancock appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain citing the film Contagion as one of his inspirations for his response to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Matt Hancock says the film Contagion was ‘not his only’ source of advice on the issue of vaccines.

He says based on the epidemiological advice he was focused on ensuring the UK production of the vaccine protected the UK first.

Watch GMB👉https://t.co/6iQ6ebeOEQ pic.twitter.com/NYUaenJpxe

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) February 3, 2021

For some strange reason, he appears to find this funny. Watch the video to see for yourself. Why am I posting about it here on a blog about creativity?

Well, this exchange made me think along these lines: Contagion = film. Film = creative industry. Government looks to the said creative industry to solve its problems, right?

It sure seems like it doesn’t it. But what support has the Government given to those in the creative industries? Who are unable to work and not allowed to claim from the state? Most of my creative friends ,who through no fault of their own, find themselves in this situation, they have had to take on other “gig economy” jobs or tried to find a way to move online in order to key a roof over their head and in other cases feed their family.

Susanna Reid doesn’t look impressed as MP laughs off his methods. ©ITV /GMB / Youtube.

Does that mean they have to wait for the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak to have a “Netflix ‘n’ Chill” session with his mate “Matt” to watch Contagion to find a solution? Or maybe he might want to watch Outbreak at Jiggy & Lolli’s #CovidCinema.

Do you think Mr Hancock believes he’s a Television presenter or a comedian? Who knows.

As much as I go by the mantra “If you don’t laugh you will cry”, I think some of these Government ministers need to take things a bit more seriously.

Where would you get your inspiration from? What do you think?

Let us know what films you use to get you through serious moments.

The New Normal: Post BREXIT Working in the EU

November 12, 2020 Craig Jiggy Leave a comment

In the UK, the term “The New Normal” is usually connected with living in Coronavirus times, however there is another invisible life changer coming towards us in the creative industry. Yep it’s the B word. BREXIT!

If like me you work, tour or do projects with our friends in the Europe Union there is a whole list of new things to consider.

Thankfully Howard Goodall has created this BREXIT busting twitter thread to break it down for us! Yay!!!

Take a look and let us know what you think. Giving what looks like minimum support from the UK government for the art here at home, what additional impact do you think this will have on us in the arts?

Dear fellow musicians, performers, technicians etc. Here’s a thread about how our lives are going to change re touring/working in the EU in 50 days time. Think of it as a kind of Bad News Advent calendar. Here goes 1/

— Howard Goodall (@Howard_Goodall) November 11, 2020

All You Wanted for Christmas

December 27, 2016December 27, 2016 Craig Jiggy Leave a comment

So now we have a food baby (or two) from the Christmas over indulgence, and whilst all the celebs come out with their fitness videos and DVDs to get us back into shape, watch this little celebration of Friends and Family across 2 countries on our 8 wheels.

Special Thanks goes out to Patti and the Dublin skaters for the collab and looking after me during my time in Ireland.

Also shout out to Abi rolling her heart out over in Berlin, faithfully rocking her F’lay Tee (which you can get from our shop along with other gifts and art prints)!!

For those of you who got skates I hope this inspires you to get them onto your feel and just dance the night away!

Enjoy the rest of your Holidays! #RollOut

The Colours of Christmas

December 23, 2016December 24, 2016 Craig Jiggy Leave a comment

Have you ever wondered why Red and Green are commonly used to represent Christmas? Well there are many reasons which go way back into the sands of time. Most the colours and their meanings come from the western/northern European traditions and customs, when Christmas is in the middle of winter and it’s dark and cold. Here are a few with reasons with some of our own Christmas themed snaps.

Ever wondered why Red and Green are commonly used to represent Christmas? Photo: @craigjiggy #christmasphotography #christmas #bloggers #blog #colour #berries #evergreen

A photo posted by Jiggy Creationz (@jiggycreationz) on Dec 23, 2016 at 3:20am PST

Green

Green is though to represent the sign of new life. Evergreen plants, such as Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe have been used for thousands of years to decorate and brighten up buildings during the long dark winter. Evergreens also serve as a reminder to people that spring will come back soon and that winter doesn’t stick around forever!

Apparently Romans would exchange evergreen branches during January as a symbol of good luck. Even the ancient Egyptians used to bring palm branches and decorate their homes during the mid winter festivals.

In many parts of Europe during the middle ages, Paradise plays were performed, often on Christmas Eve. They told Bible stories to people who couldn’t read. The ‘Paradise Tree’ in the garden of eden in the play was normally a pine tree with red apples tied to it.

Even though today’s Christmas Trees have quirky design and new takes, they are still the most common use of green at Christmas time.

Building Christmas #dublinatchristmas #workinprogress #christmas

A photo posted by Jiggy Creationz (@jiggycreationz) on Dec 4, 2016 at 5:01am PST

Red

Many people associate red with the big Coca Cola trucks rolling into town blasting out the “Holidays are Coming“, however for those who see the less commercial side of Christmas, an early use of red were the apples on the paradise tree (as mentioned above). These apples (some believe they were pomegranates) are said to represent the fall of Adam in early theatre productions / plays.

Coca Cola is also (mythically) given credit for Santa’s red uniform, but one more plausible reason as to why Santy (love this new name for Santa which I picked up from our Irish roller skating team) wears red is because as a Bishop, St. Nicholas would have worn red robes!

Red is also the colour of Holly berries, which is said to represent the blood of Jesus when he died on the cross. The Holly was also represents the crown of thorns which Jesus came to wear at his crucifixion (which is Easter but never mind!).

A photo posted by Jiggy Creationz (@jiggycreationz) on Dec 1, 2016 at 12:38am PST

More Red & Green on Insta

Love Christmas purely for the endless possibilty to take #lowlight shots that really become timestamps

A photo posted by Jiggy Creationz (@jiggycreationz) on Dec 22, 2016 at 12:49pm PST

#Christmas was made for #boomberang

A video posted by Jiggy Creationz (@jiggycreationz) on Dec 22, 2016 at 12:59pm PST

Your Christmas Colours

If you have your own ideas of colour at Christmas or what they mean, feel free to comment below.

Also don’t forget you can follow our Christmas adventure @jiggycreationz on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest

#JiggyXmas Everyone.

Petition · European Parliament: Save the Freedom of Photography! · Change.org

June 27, 2015 Craig Jiggy Leave a comment

On 9 July 2015, the European Parliament might destroy photography. The Freedom of taking photos in public places is under attack. Until now, in most countries in Europe you were safe to take and publish photographs that are taken from public ground – This is called Freedom of Panorama. When you were on vacation, you could take a photo from the London Eye and share it with your friends on Facebook*. If someone wanted to pay you for using this photo, that was okay as well. Both is about to change may destroy photography as we know it. Julia Reda, member of the European Parliament, tried to bring the Freedom of Panorama to all countries of the EU , as few countries like France and Italy don’t have such law yet. In the majority of countries such as the UK, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria and Croatia, you’re safe to take, publish and sell photos of public buildings when taken from public grounds. However, the current draft turned the proposal upside down . Instead of bringing the Freedom of Panorama to the few countries that don’t know such law yet, it would take it away from all those who do . With this, Street-, Travel- and Architecture-Photography would be dead as we know it. It is impossible to find out the architect of every public building in order to ask for permission before you can publish and possibly sell the photo. I therefore call on the members of the European Parliament to Not limit the Freedom of Panorama in any way and instead to Bring the Freedom of Panorama to all member states of the EU so that the European Citizens can be assured to act within the law when taking and publishing photographs from public buildings anywhere in the European Union. This is necessary to embrace our European Culture and Art! For the media, please see: https://www.facebook.com/Sumfinity/posts/502360496584684 *As Julia Reda, member of the European Parliament, points out, even the private upload of a photograph on Facebook would need the consent of the architect, as with the upload you grant Facebook a license to commercially use the photograph.

Source: Petition · European Parliament: Save the Freedom of Photography! · Change.org

Academic subjects alone won’t ‘set every child up for life’

June 18, 2015June 19, 2015 Craig Jiggy Leave a comment

After working in eduction for a number of years, it was becoming clear to me that creativity and the arts were being suffocated and pitted against traditional academic subjects such as English, Maths and Science.

Maybe it was due to government incentives and league tables, but for whatever reason. Creative art departments and, classes were being cut and courses being dropped in favour of triple Sciences, which as an artist, was frustrating to witness.

The Guardian takes a look at this subject in their article: Academic subjects alone won’t ‘set every child up for life’

Employers are crying out for recruits who are creative. The notion that arts and music are not seen as ‘hard’ enough subjects is damaging to the economy

Source: Academic subjects alone won’t ‘set every child up for life’

Flags – What We Can Learn From Flag Design

June 2, 2015January 8, 2016 Craig Jiggy Leave a comment

For as long as I can remember I have always loved flags! I used to spend hours looking at my giant atlas of the world with the flags in the back. What the do the colours mean? What is the history of the flag? What do the stars, triangles, diagonals mean? What is the story of the badge coat of arms? So many people hold their flags with pride knowing the country they are from whilst without knowing what they represent. For many it’s part of their identity, but what are we identifying with?

These thoughts also come into many aspects of design. Be it logos or architecture, these things in some way represent us and attempt to illustrate what we stand for.

Roman Mars is also obsessed with flags — and after you watch this TED talk, you might be, too.

“These ubiquitous symbols of civic pride are often designed, well, pretty terribly. But they don’t have to be. In this surprising and hilarious talk about vexillology — the study of flags — Mars reveals the five basic principles of flag design and shows why he believes they can be applied to just about anything.”

5 Creative Design & Marketing Elements of the UK General Election 2015

May 7, 2015May 7, 2015 Craig Jiggy Leave a comment

Did you think about the design and how much marketing went into persuading us to vote for a particular party?

Like me did you think how much did it cost to make that big old slab Ed Millibank was carrying around?

Ever wondered how much all this costs and where do these parties get the money from?

Well We take a look at some of the designs and marketing ploys used by today’s politicians to woo us, as well as elements broadcasters have used in the run up to May 7th 2015.

1. Battle Buses

Buses of all shapes and sizes from all colours of the political spectrum have be covered from top to bottom with large print vinyl and vehicle wraps. Even LBC Radio took to the road in their mobile broadcasting hub.

The Liberal Democrat battle bus (Photo: AFP)

Labour Women Battle Buss © Chris Radburn/PA

2. Stone Mmasonry – Ed’s Tablet/Tombstone

This 8ft stone engraved with pledges will remind @Ed_Miliband not to break his promises if he becomes Prime Minister. pic.twitter.com/YvdrIILwQq

— Press Association (@pressassoc) May 3, 2015

3. Good Old Billboards

This year there seems to be a cut back on good honest poster design! To me the I’ve seen better Photoshop skills on Instagram and Twitter. Or maybe that’s just it… they want to make them look amateurish to appeal to the likes of us! Who knows?!