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I watched Lawrence of Arabia. This took up much of the middle of the day. The evening before I'd started reading The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Lawrence's "self-regardant" account of the desert revolt he got caught up in. "Self-regardant" is his own word so let's not accuse him of naïveté. I've always found him interesting, but why I should want to deepen that interest at this particular moment in time is beyond me. I had a favourite Balzac lined up but, having just finished La Chartreuse de Parme, I felt I'd spent long enough in the atmosphere of early 19th century France and it would be nice to go some place else....
Early Morning...
Jul. 31st, 2024 08:46 am In a dream I was watching authentic film footage from the 16th century. "These people are just like us," I said to the film maker. He laughed and said they weren't. "But that man with the handle-bar moustache who sneezes," I said, "I've known people just like him.
Later I was making coffee for David Lammy, the Labour politician (and current Foreign Secretary) who'd been up all night dealing with some natural disaster- flooding, I think....
I generally wake at six and doss around for hours but this morning I was out on my scooter at seven thirty to catch the post with a letter for our solicitor. I wasn't the only person stirring but it reminded of the times I used to have to get out the house really early to go to work- and what a pleasure it was to be breathing the pure cold air and watching the dawn and feeling that I had the world to myself....
Later I was making coffee for David Lammy, the Labour politician (and current Foreign Secretary) who'd been up all night dealing with some natural disaster- flooding, I think....
I generally wake at six and doss around for hours but this morning I was out on my scooter at seven thirty to catch the post with a letter for our solicitor. I wasn't the only person stirring but it reminded of the times I used to have to get out the house really early to go to work- and what a pleasure it was to be breathing the pure cold air and watching the dawn and feeling that I had the world to myself....
Don't Panic....
Jul. 30th, 2024 10:58 am You pull a weed almost anywhere on this property and you cause ants- tiny ants- to go running about in all directions.
It looks like panic. It looks like they haven't a clue what to do.
But ants always look like they're running around like little clockwork toys. I watch them sometimes. A single ant will go so far in a particular direction, then turn, retrace its steps, covering a distance at a speed that would exhaust a human being, and never seem to do anything that looks like work or the solution to a problem.
But ants are so well organised, create such complex societies and such enormous cities, that they can't really be milling about aimlessly. It must just be that we don't understand.....
It looks like panic. It looks like they haven't a clue what to do.
But ants always look like they're running around like little clockwork toys. I watch them sometimes. A single ant will go so far in a particular direction, then turn, retrace its steps, covering a distance at a speed that would exhaust a human being, and never seem to do anything that looks like work or the solution to a problem.
But ants are so well organised, create such complex societies and such enormous cities, that they can't really be milling about aimlessly. It must just be that we don't understand.....
Picture Diary 47
Jul. 29th, 2024 04:10 pmUnless I use a picture to illustrate a post my AI images are subject to time-lag. Partly that's beacuse I don't want to swamp my journals and partly because I like the pictures to lie around for a bit before I decide whether I like them. These were all made a few weeks back.
1 Angel
2. Bronze Buddha
3. Souvenirs
4. She Enters Our Dimension
5. "But Noah Found Grace In The Eyes Of The Lord"
2. Bronze Buddha
3. Souvenirs
4. She Enters Our Dimension
5. "But Noah Found Grace In The Eyes Of The Lord"
Recovering
Jul. 29th, 2024 07:21 am I've been calling it rhinitis- brought on by hay fever- but our mate Jim- who we were socialising with last week- has the same symptoms, so perhaps it was something catchable after all. At least it's not covid. I did the test and it came out negative.
I'm better today, only my ribs hurt from all the coughing I did.
During my convalescence I watched movies (see previous posts) and sat on the bed and read. I've nearly finished The Charterhouse of Parma. The political stuff is gripping but Fabrizio becomes a bore once he falls in love with the tiresomely virtuous Clelia and I no longer fully believe in him.
I'm better today, only my ribs hurt from all the coughing I did.
During my convalescence I watched movies (see previous posts) and sat on the bed and read. I've nearly finished The Charterhouse of Parma. The political stuff is gripping but Fabrizio becomes a bore once he falls in love with the tiresomely virtuous Clelia and I no longer fully believe in him.
Postscript To The Previous Post
Jul. 28th, 2024 01:05 pm No need to dream.
The Hammer version- entitled Captain Clegg- or Night Creatures in the USA- turns out to be all I could wish for.
It reuses the Arliss script, but darkens the tone, heightens the drama and suspense, and improves the plot. The action is opened out, we get the footage that the Arliss version dodges- of the night-riders in their phosphorescent costumes- and very splendid they are too- and gives us a denouement that is livelier and more satisfying. I won't say Peter Cushing is better than Arliss but he's younger and more vigorous and all the supporting parts, with the exception of margaret Lockwood's, are filled by better actors- with Oliver Reed giving a certain oomph to the thankless role of the young lover. It looks good, there are nice directorial touches and, all in all, it's a damn fine film.
The Hammer version- entitled Captain Clegg- or Night Creatures in the USA- turns out to be all I could wish for.
It reuses the Arliss script, but darkens the tone, heightens the drama and suspense, and improves the plot. The action is opened out, we get the footage that the Arliss version dodges- of the night-riders in their phosphorescent costumes- and very splendid they are too- and gives us a denouement that is livelier and more satisfying. I won't say Peter Cushing is better than Arliss but he's younger and more vigorous and all the supporting parts, with the exception of margaret Lockwood's, are filled by better actors- with Oliver Reed giving a certain oomph to the thankless role of the young lover. It looks good, there are nice directorial touches and, all in all, it's a damn fine film.
Dr Syn....
Jul. 28th, 2024 09:10 am How wonderful if the mild-mannered, grandfatherly vicar of the parish were actually a former pirate turned head of a smuggling gang who dresses as a scarecrow to terrorize the local populace. It never happened of course. At least, we don't think it did, but if the man got away with it we'd never know. What we do know is that smuggling gangs used church property to stash their contraband- and the local clergy winked at it- or were terrorised into winking at it. Anyway it's a grand notion- and well done, Russell Thorndike, for coming up with it.
Legend says he invented Dr Syn to entertain his sister- the actor Sybil Thorndike- when they were holed up in a south-coast hotel and there was a thunderstorm and they couldn't sleep.
The story became a book. I read about half of it once. It wasn't very good. But then neither are the original Robin Hood ballads. The idea is greater than its encasement
Then the book became a series. The later volumes- all prequels- are full of incident. I supect they dilute the original idea. A character like Syn doesn't need to be expounded. The less we know about him the more impressive he is.
There have been three film versions. I saw the first of them- a Disney movie for heaven's sake- when I was a kid. The scarecrow costumes terrified me, but they only show up in the first few minutes and the rest of the movie is dull. Dr Syn is played by Patrick McGoohan and his deputy, Mipps, by George Cole....
Last night I happened upon the 1937 version. It was George Arliss's last film and Margaret Lockwood's first. Rather too much of it takes place indoors- which is a pity because the landscape of Romney Marsh is unique and unearthly- but it moves with a zip and Arliss is splendid- in spite of being around 70 at the time- which is a bit old to be playing an action hero.
The third movie is a Hammer production starring Peter Cushing. I ought to hunt it down..
I imagine a future version that will combine zip with atmosphere and give full rein to the spookiness and yo-heave-hoing of the original story. It will be shot on Romney Marsh and exploit it to the full.
One can dream....
Legend says he invented Dr Syn to entertain his sister- the actor Sybil Thorndike- when they were holed up in a south-coast hotel and there was a thunderstorm and they couldn't sleep.
The story became a book. I read about half of it once. It wasn't very good. But then neither are the original Robin Hood ballads. The idea is greater than its encasement
Then the book became a series. The later volumes- all prequels- are full of incident. I supect they dilute the original idea. A character like Syn doesn't need to be expounded. The less we know about him the more impressive he is.
There have been three film versions. I saw the first of them- a Disney movie for heaven's sake- when I was a kid. The scarecrow costumes terrified me, but they only show up in the first few minutes and the rest of the movie is dull. Dr Syn is played by Patrick McGoohan and his deputy, Mipps, by George Cole....
Last night I happened upon the 1937 version. It was George Arliss's last film and Margaret Lockwood's first. Rather too much of it takes place indoors- which is a pity because the landscape of Romney Marsh is unique and unearthly- but it moves with a zip and Arliss is splendid- in spite of being around 70 at the time- which is a bit old to be playing an action hero.
The third movie is a Hammer production starring Peter Cushing. I ought to hunt it down..
I imagine a future version that will combine zip with atmosphere and give full rein to the spookiness and yo-heave-hoing of the original story. It will be shot on Romney Marsh and exploit it to the full.
One can dream....
My friend who is a bred in the bone Democrat was insisting up until Hour Zero that President Biden was as fit as a flea. I didn't argue because it would have been unprofitable, merely hinted that there was nothing unusual about a very old man suffering a degree of mental and physical impairment.
But it does sadden me when an intelligent person allows political loyalties to blind them to the bloody obvious. An unquestioning faith is something that rots a democracy.
There used to be a thing called the floating voter. This was a person who followed politics without ever aligning themselves with a particular party- and when an election came round weighed up the alternatives very carefully. Politicians had to woo the floating voter. And the existence of this sizeable demographic kept the politician honest and credible. Too many broken promises and dirty tricks would cause the floater to disengage from the whole process. And that is what has happened, I think. The electorate is now made up of a minority of party loyalists and a majority who don't give a damn either way.
Our last election here in Britain wasn't won by Labour because there was any enthusiasm for Starmer and his gang, but because people were sick of the same smug old faces turning up on their TV screens day after day This isn't a healthy sate of affairs.
My friend has now transferred their faith to Kamala Harris. Biden- gone but not forgotten- is the past, while Harris is the very embodiment of rosy-fingered dawn.....
But it does sadden me when an intelligent person allows political loyalties to blind them to the bloody obvious. An unquestioning faith is something that rots a democracy.
There used to be a thing called the floating voter. This was a person who followed politics without ever aligning themselves with a particular party- and when an election came round weighed up the alternatives very carefully. Politicians had to woo the floating voter. And the existence of this sizeable demographic kept the politician honest and credible. Too many broken promises and dirty tricks would cause the floater to disengage from the whole process. And that is what has happened, I think. The electorate is now made up of a minority of party loyalists and a majority who don't give a damn either way.
Our last election here in Britain wasn't won by Labour because there was any enthusiasm for Starmer and his gang, but because people were sick of the same smug old faces turning up on their TV screens day after day This isn't a healthy sate of affairs.
My friend has now transferred their faith to Kamala Harris. Biden- gone but not forgotten- is the past, while Harris is the very embodiment of rosy-fingered dawn.....
Relating To Coleridge
Jul. 26th, 2024 07:56 am People who have looked into it say that there's no Mount Abora anywhere on the planet. Coleridge made it up.
I took down my slim volume of Coleridge to check whether it was "Abora" or "Aborah"- and it fell open at the flyleaf and I saw it had once been the property of Eastbourne College. Well I never! How did it end up on my shelves? Well, my Uncle Dick had written his name in it (in 1935)- and , incidentally, decorated it with dinky little schoolboy drawings. I must have known he went to school in Eastbourne- but I'd not bothered to remember because it's only now that Eastbourne means anything to me. I pass by Eastbourne College all the time. It's a rather grand conglomeration of mid to late 19th century architecture on a large campus to the west of the town. I wonder if one can do a tour....
I never crack open a Coleridge without hoping I'll chance upon some really decent poem that has somehow escaped the notice of the cultural gatekeepers but I never do. The gatekeepers are right about him: he was a competent versifier who wrote three blazing masterpieces- or possibly four if you include Frost at Midnight as I'm inclined to do- and spent the rest of his life wondering what had hit him. Uncle Dick's school book reprints a short piece by Emerson- in which he records a visit to Coleridge as an old man living as a charity case in a friend's house in Highgate. Coleridge by this stage of his life was a voluble, tiresome, self-absorbed person who betrayed his addictive nature by continually stuffing his snitch with snuff- and liberally scattering it down the front of his black suit. Knowing that Emerson was a Unitarian he subjected him to a hour long diatribe about the stupidity of Unitarians and the wisdom of a couple of Anglican Bishops who are now completely forgotten. Emerson admits not paying much attention to this talking-to. Coleridge was now one of the sights of London- like The Tower or St Paul's- and he was happy to have been able to tick him off his bucket list.
I took down my slim volume of Coleridge to check whether it was "Abora" or "Aborah"- and it fell open at the flyleaf and I saw it had once been the property of Eastbourne College. Well I never! How did it end up on my shelves? Well, my Uncle Dick had written his name in it (in 1935)- and , incidentally, decorated it with dinky little schoolboy drawings. I must have known he went to school in Eastbourne- but I'd not bothered to remember because it's only now that Eastbourne means anything to me. I pass by Eastbourne College all the time. It's a rather grand conglomeration of mid to late 19th century architecture on a large campus to the west of the town. I wonder if one can do a tour....
I never crack open a Coleridge without hoping I'll chance upon some really decent poem that has somehow escaped the notice of the cultural gatekeepers but I never do. The gatekeepers are right about him: he was a competent versifier who wrote three blazing masterpieces- or possibly four if you include Frost at Midnight as I'm inclined to do- and spent the rest of his life wondering what had hit him. Uncle Dick's school book reprints a short piece by Emerson- in which he records a visit to Coleridge as an old man living as a charity case in a friend's house in Highgate. Coleridge by this stage of his life was a voluble, tiresome, self-absorbed person who betrayed his addictive nature by continually stuffing his snitch with snuff- and liberally scattering it down the front of his black suit. Knowing that Emerson was a Unitarian he subjected him to a hour long diatribe about the stupidity of Unitarians and the wisdom of a couple of Anglican Bishops who are now completely forgotten. Emerson admits not paying much attention to this talking-to. Coleridge was now one of the sights of London- like The Tower or St Paul's- and he was happy to have been able to tick him off his bucket list.
Rhinitis sounds nicer than it is. I say the word and what I see is rhinoceroses and rhinestones- possibly even a rhinoceros covered in rhinestones- like a gift for an emperor.
The reality is less amusing
I went to the Meeting House and worked hard at being good company from 10-30 until 3-00. Then I came home and slept for half an hour. Since then I've been prompting AI to make me images of an Abyssinian maid singing of Mount Aborah- and burning though credits in the attempt to get it right. Burning through credits takes my mind off my symptoms- the stuffed up sinuses and the constant sneezing.
The Abyssinian maid is sitting in a verdant valley being cheerful.
Wish I was.
I gave up on having her play a dulcimer because AI couldn't decide how many fingers there are on the human hand
The reality is less amusing
I went to the Meeting House and worked hard at being good company from 10-30 until 3-00. Then I came home and slept for half an hour. Since then I've been prompting AI to make me images of an Abyssinian maid singing of Mount Aborah- and burning though credits in the attempt to get it right. Burning through credits takes my mind off my symptoms- the stuffed up sinuses and the constant sneezing.
The Abyssinian maid is sitting in a verdant valley being cheerful.
Wish I was.
I gave up on having her play a dulcimer because AI couldn't decide how many fingers there are on the human hand
Bread And Circuses
Jul. 24th, 2024 08:44 am I watched a clip of a new TV show in which Anthony Hopkins- who is very old- was being a Roman Emperor presiding over a chariot race. He had two sons, a decent soldierly one and a sneery decadent one. Which of the two will succeed him?
Talking about Ancient Rome is a good way of talking about politics without getting caught up in contemporary issues and personalities. It takes the heat and itch out of a sore subject. It is a kind of analgesic.....
I am so tempted to talk about contemporary politics but I shan't. Except to say, "Oh, my giddy aunt...."
Talking about Ancient Rome is a good way of talking about politics without getting caught up in contemporary issues and personalities. It takes the heat and itch out of a sore subject. It is a kind of analgesic.....
I am so tempted to talk about contemporary politics but I shan't. Except to say, "Oh, my giddy aunt...."
Khayamiyah
Jul. 23rd, 2024 09:01 am
We go to the tip shop (the shop at the recycling centre) at least once a week. It's astonishing what people will chuck away.
Yesterday there were three of these in the shed they call The Art Gallery. I didn't know what they were but I like things that are old and quaint. I bought two, at £4.00 each, came home, did some research, got rather excited- and went back and bought the third. If I were a dealer- but I'm not- I could make an utterly stupid profit on them.
But I'm not really interested in the money- except insofar as it confirms my belief in myself as an antiquarian and a connoisseur who knows a good thing (artistically speaking) when he sees it.
What I've scored this time are khayamiya- panels of applique work made in Egypt to decorate the insides of tents. Western tourists cottoned on to them in the late 19th century- and in the 1920s, following the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, created a vogue for panels representing pharonic scenes. I don't suppose- judging by their faded condition- that mine are much less than 100 years old.
The Tentmakers weren't Egyptologists- and their pharonic scenes jumble together motifs from ancient Egyptian art in configurations that look meaningful- but aren't. I love them.
And now I have to find somewhere to hang them....
Holiday Weather
Jul. 22nd, 2024 09:01 am We had family visiting for a week- and the weather was fine. Somewhere in there we enjoyed (if that is the right word) the hottest day of the year. They got to do what they wanted to do. Beach time, theme parks. There are pictures of both little boys- Sej and Bowie- sitting in the sea in their disposable nappies. Sej got to visit the little local museum in Pevensey where there is a life sized model of a plague doctor. He didn't like it, and yet he did. There are pictures of him turning away and then looking again. I know how that feels.....
This morning the sky is overcast and it feels like rain. Maybe even thunder....
This morning the sky is overcast and it feels like rain. Maybe even thunder....
Self-Policing
Jul. 21st, 2024 07:00 am I dreamed I was thinking of inviting David Bowie out to lunch- and hesitating because I wouldn't have been able to lay on the dancing dwarves and mountains of cocaine he was sure to expect.
Can one say "dancing dwarves" these days? But dancing dwarves were a thing in the Rock and Roll era. Should one simply draw a veil over them and pretend they didn't exist? Ach, to hell with the self-policing!
Can one say "dancing dwarves" these days? But dancing dwarves were a thing in the Rock and Roll era. Should one simply draw a veil over them and pretend they didn't exist? Ach, to hell with the self-policing!
Montessori Rules
Jul. 20th, 2024 08:28 am Sej is being raised according to Montessori rules- one of which is no exposure to the moving image before 18 months. I was in disagreement but toed the line.
Well, he's past that marker now.
This morning he was especially cranky so (up yours, Montessori!) I put him on my knee in front of the big computer screen and we watched music vids (Offenbach's Can Can and some nursery rhymes), a Betty Boop cartoon from 1935 (highly moralistic in a way that simply wouldn't fly today) and an episode of Teletubbies.
Well, he's past that marker now.
This morning he was especially cranky so (up yours, Montessori!) I put him on my knee in front of the big computer screen and we watched music vids (Offenbach's Can Can and some nursery rhymes), a Betty Boop cartoon from 1935 (highly moralistic in a way that simply wouldn't fly today) and an episode of Teletubbies.
The lawn has turned into a wildflower meadow. I keep not mowing it because it's really much nicer in this state than if it were flattened. I satisy my urge to manage nature by clipping the edge of the flowerbeds and doing some desultory weeding.
It was humid yesterday. The kids were having a barbecue at Alice's rented bungalow. We were hanging out at the Meeting House until three and by the time we arrived in Pevensey the cooking was done but there was plenty of cooked food on the table. Tofu is the least characterful foodstuff going but if you barbecue it on a skewer with red pepper and onion and beetroot it ain't bad at all....
Today is like yesterday only the cloud has cleared and it's going to get really hot.
It was humid yesterday. The kids were having a barbecue at Alice's rented bungalow. We were hanging out at the Meeting House until three and by the time we arrived in Pevensey the cooking was done but there was plenty of cooked food on the table. Tofu is the least characterful foodstuff going but if you barbecue it on a skewer with red pepper and onion and beetroot it ain't bad at all....
Today is like yesterday only the cloud has cleared and it's going to get really hot.
Anima, Vagula, Blandula
Jul. 18th, 2024 06:54 amA blogger I read was talking about the Emperor Hadrian's little poem, Anima, Vagula, Blandula, in which a dying philosopher says "goodbye" to his departing spirit. There are over 100 published translations of it and many more that are unpublished. On the principle that you can never have too much of a good thing- I thought I'd add another.
Here we go,
Funny, endearing, little ghost,
Apprehensive, thin as air,
Off you go to who-knows-where.
It's been such a joy to be your host.
I hope they like your jokes out there....
Here we go,
Funny, endearing, little ghost,
Apprehensive, thin as air,
Off you go to who-knows-where.
It's been such a joy to be your host.
I hope they like your jokes out there....
J. D. Vance
Jul. 17th, 2024 07:58 am I wrote a post about J.D. Vance last night, sort of educating myself about him and sizing him up because I'd never heard of him and he now stands a pretty good chance of becoming President somewhere down the line. Then I scrubbed it because almost everything in it was second hand.
There was just one thing I observed for myself- which no-one I read seemed to have commented on- and it's this- that he's the first globally significant American politician since the 19th century to wear a beard- and from it I deduce two things- one, that he's in touch with the culture and two that he's not afraid to step outside the conventions....
There was just one thing I observed for myself- which no-one I read seemed to have commented on- and it's this- that he's the first globally significant American politician since the 19th century to wear a beard- and from it I deduce two things- one, that he's in touch with the culture and two that he's not afraid to step outside the conventions....
