Did anyone else view the inclusion of a model of the Empire State Building in The Guardian as a Sunday afternoon challenge? No? Just me then. It was intended to bring families together during the half-term week. My two sons merely sat watching the television while my craft knife moved in all directions and a matchstick was dunked in and out of my PVA glue. I have finished the main part of the building, saving the fancy lightning rod section for my mid-week fun. Don't ever say that I don't know how to enjoy myself. M says that my behaviour borders on the autistic.
Tim Dowling, in the paper, couldn't find his cutting mat before he started work on his version. Bizarrely, neither could I. Luckily, The Guardian's Weekend magazine made a good alternative. Tim advised us model makers to purchase a second copy of The Guardian, as we were bound to make a hash of it. Well, not yet I haven't and now I've decided to view that advice as a terrible and extremely cynical campaign to avert declining newspaper sales (unlike giving away a free model of the Empire State Building - promotions ed.). I saw Paul Holloway, of Hull's City Arts Unit, on Saturday - two left leaning liberal Guardian readers together there - and, when we walked in to Asda together we both layered the bottom of our shopping baskets with said newspaper. I do wonder now, covered in glue as I am, if Paul had a crack at building his own Empire State Building and whether mine is better than his. If he wins the trip to New York I shall go nuts.
At long last, I've finished my paper Empire State Building. There was a bit of a delay, as there is with any major construction project, while I hunted the house for the craft knife blades that I knew were tucked away somewhere. I didn't want to compromise the clean lines by using a dodgy blunt blade now, did I? And just six weeks later, I found them. Anyway, the end result ain't bad. I'm now looking for somewhere to stash it so it can gather dust for a few years before being hurled in the dustbin. Mine's the one on the left, in case you're wondering.
