I may be slow off the mark with this one, but I only just saw the jelly bean music video for Kina Grannis' song In Your Arms yesterday.

I love her voice, her exceptionally pretty face and the way she, and her music, reminds me of Jewel way back in her Pieces of You days.

But oh my god, the director Greg Jardin just blew me away.

Have a look at what he did with 288,000 jelly beans and 2,460 frames over 2 years.

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I stumbled across the most amazing concept today, and I was so in love with it, I just had to share.

Late last year, NASA and etsy teamed up to host a competition to create art inspired by space exploration.

That's right, NASA. And etsy.

The mind boggles.

I'd had given my right arm to be a fly on the wall of the meeting where hippie craftspeople and rocket scientists got together and brainstormed that idea.

I mean, clearly NASA never saw regretsy before they chose their collaborative partner.

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The ever lovely, apple-obsessed Genevieve (or zhuhn-vee-ev, as I can't help but pronounce it now!) of complex appl3pie has invited me to take part in the fun new photographic project started by Joey over at Honeyhype.

I only just saw the invitation now, so I'm a little bit late for Word One, but thought I'd give it a go anyway

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Last night, Mr K and I went on a 'Mystery Outing'. That is, a date. Which we haven't done for a very, very long time, so it was so lovely to have a surprise planned for me.

He had sent me a meeting request simply titled 'Mystery Outing', with instructions to dress up and meet him at his work at 5.30pm.

So I did as bidden, and slipped into a LBD, did my hair and a smoky eye and met him at his office.

And we drove to the Arts Centre.

Were we going to see a play? A concert? An opera?

Well, almost.

The Victorian Opera's season of Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw begins next week, and as part of the Art Centre's Discover program, we were introduced to this latest opera by some key members of the production.

It was a relaxed, intimate discussion with Richard Gill OAM, Victorian Opera's Musical Director and Paul Kildea, the Conductor giving a background on Britten, and how the company has put together the production.

A piano accompanist and the 17 year old understudy for Flora, the female child in the story, also performed some of the music and songs.

As you can see by the aging heads in this picture, Mr K and I were among the youngest people there. Not that I mind, of course, but every time I go to a performance or some other kind of program, like this one, at the Arts Centre or the National Gallery, and the other patrons all seem to be two generations removed from mine, I wonder about the future of arts and culture.

I don't suppose I really need to worry, but I do. It makes me want to drag my nieces along to as many art galleries, plays, operas and exhibitions as I can, to make sure that the next generation develops a similar appreciation for art and culture that I have.

Maybe that's a good thing for an aunty to do since their parents are doing and paying for all the other important stuff.

Anyway, the discussion only went for about an hour and we were all charmed by Gill, and his banter with Kildea.

And of course, we received just a taste of Britten's music which so brilliantly captures the eerie, unnerving mood of Henry James' novella.

Although I studied The Turn of the Screw at university, it was so many years ago all I could recall about it prior to yesterday was, "….um, a ghost story… something about a nanny? And a lake…"

It really does make a huge difference hearing the key players describe the composer's history, intentions, the cast, any hiccups (such as the breaking voice of the 12 year old performer playing Miles… uh oh).

Even just seeing the stage stripped back to bare bones, before any sets are in place, lends a kind of "for insider's only" feel to the whole production.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the opera now. I think it will be my first opera performed in English.

Mr K says Phantom is an opera. And so is Pirates of Penzance.

I don't want to be snobby, and I know I am being hideously so… but are Lloyd Webber and Gilbert and Sullivan really considered opera composers?

I mean, Jon English was in the Pirates I saw. Admittedly, he was hilarious and charismatic, but still… an opera? Really?

I really have no call to be an opera snob, though. Half of what Gill and Kildea said about operatic history and other composers etc, went… whoosh… straight over my head.

I guess you could say I appreciate opera, but I'm yet to really immerse myself in it.

I think that probably describes my approach to most art and culture right now.

And maybe that's the answer to my worries expressed earlier. Maybe the seeds of appreciation are planted by wise parents (and aunties) when we are young, lie mostly dormant in the middle years while we're busy doing other things, and then really start to fruit when we have the time and pace of life to really fully absorb it all without distraction.

xx Kiki

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