Thursday, June 27, 2002
Articulacy Made Manifest
11.30 pm. Have just got back from Bury St Edmunds. Lindsay and I bought tickets to "An Evening with Germaine Greer " at the Theatre Royal. The little theatre was packed with a pretty mixed audience, all ages and types, but with a preponderance of women. GG sat in a comfy chair on stage bare-legged, relaxed. She opened with "what I'm up to at the moment". It included a passionate tirade against the multinational company "Nestle".
She had travelled with intent through poverty stricken areas of Africa and S. America. In, for example, the NW of Brazil the company has heavily promoted sales of its baby formula. Many women living in slum conditions believe they are doing the very best for their children, saving up to buy it and ceasing to breast-feed. OK, you say? Not so, the formula is made up with filthy water in unsterilised bottles, there is no other option. Child mortality rises - and she estimates that a couple of million directly attributable deaths have ensued since marketing began in the third world. A further irony is that Nestle have bought "Perrier" and "Vittel" and foresee a market selling these waters as safer adjuncts to the baby foods. All totally unnecessary when women may feed their children perfectly adequately themselves. On a table by Germaine the producer had placed a small bottle of Perrier, it remained untouched!
Audience questions rolled in - lively stuff covering a huge spectrum: Australia, aborigines, Palestine, Shakespeare, Essex, universities, fathers, Cambridge, sex, middle age, woodlands, literature, teaching, morality, British colonialism.
GG is unpredictable, her thoughts are formulated quickly, but are not unconsidered. She has bought a piece of rainforest in Australia, and plans to restock it. She works for aboriginal rights. She is up for a university chancellorship against Jeremy Paxman and Anne Robinson ("aargh!"). She is being persuaded to try for the Lords - "no good, I refused an honour, they'll never have me."
"Is literature vital to a society?". "Of course not, the aborigines have no written culture, but have a rich cultural life."
"We should read more poetry, the novel is too pre-eminent"
"Grammar is now not taught to the young, it is a terrible indictment of the value we place upon communication, for it is the basis of language"
"Teaching Shakespeare: - King Lear - think of its central concept as being like telling your grandfather that he is too old to drive any more, his license will be taken and he must rely on asking his children for lifts...
" Macbeth, such a big play, huge - needs doing on the wing of a 747."
"Don't always read Shakespeare alone , get together and read it aloud, find the tensions and inferences. His is not hermetically finished work like "The Inferno", but infinitely open to interpretation and adjustment by reader and actor".
"The book is probably becoming defunct, good thing, it will save trees. But we will always need text in some form."
There was enough in the two hours to give food for thought for two months. A wonderful woman, icon of my youth, trail-blazing fun person; it was great to breathe the same air as her for a bit.
11.30 pm. Have just got back from Bury St Edmunds. Lindsay and I bought tickets to "An Evening with Germaine Greer " at the Theatre Royal. The little theatre was packed with a pretty mixed audience, all ages and types, but with a preponderance of women. GG sat in a comfy chair on stage bare-legged, relaxed. She opened with "what I'm up to at the moment". It included a passionate tirade against the multinational company "Nestle".
She had travelled with intent through poverty stricken areas of Africa and S. America. In, for example, the NW of Brazil the company has heavily promoted sales of its baby formula. Many women living in slum conditions believe they are doing the very best for their children, saving up to buy it and ceasing to breast-feed. OK, you say? Not so, the formula is made up with filthy water in unsterilised bottles, there is no other option. Child mortality rises - and she estimates that a couple of million directly attributable deaths have ensued since marketing began in the third world. A further irony is that Nestle have bought "Perrier" and "Vittel" and foresee a market selling these waters as safer adjuncts to the baby foods. All totally unnecessary when women may feed their children perfectly adequately themselves. On a table by Germaine the producer had placed a small bottle of Perrier, it remained untouched!
Audience questions rolled in - lively stuff covering a huge spectrum: Australia, aborigines, Palestine, Shakespeare, Essex, universities, fathers, Cambridge, sex, middle age, woodlands, literature, teaching, morality, British colonialism.
GG is unpredictable, her thoughts are formulated quickly, but are not unconsidered. She has bought a piece of rainforest in Australia, and plans to restock it. She works for aboriginal rights. She is up for a university chancellorship against Jeremy Paxman and Anne Robinson ("aargh!"). She is being persuaded to try for the Lords - "no good, I refused an honour, they'll never have me."
"Is literature vital to a society?". "Of course not, the aborigines have no written culture, but have a rich cultural life."
"We should read more poetry, the novel is too pre-eminent"
"Grammar is now not taught to the young, it is a terrible indictment of the value we place upon communication, for it is the basis of language"
"Teaching Shakespeare: - King Lear - think of its central concept as being like telling your grandfather that he is too old to drive any more, his license will be taken and he must rely on asking his children for lifts...
" Macbeth, such a big play, huge - needs doing on the wing of a 747."
"Don't always read Shakespeare alone , get together and read it aloud, find the tensions and inferences. His is not hermetically finished work like "The Inferno", but infinitely open to interpretation and adjustment by reader and actor".
"The book is probably becoming defunct, good thing, it will save trees. But we will always need text in some form."
There was enough in the two hours to give food for thought for two months. A wonderful woman, icon of my youth, trail-blazing fun person; it was great to breathe the same air as her for a bit.
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Boots
What I wrote about him was over-sentimental and I trashed it last night. My nephew got it just right. We all loved him.
What I wrote about him was over-sentimental and I trashed it last night. My nephew got it just right. We all loved him.
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Listening to....
Absolutely nothing stringy and emotional for fear of blubbing - no Elgar, no Mahler, no violin concerti. So what?
REM: Reveal
Patrick Street: Irish Times - get that fiddler with the fag!
Original Cast: Oklahoma
Bach: Magnificat
Absolutely nothing stringy and emotional for fear of blubbing - no Elgar, no Mahler, no violin concerti. So what?
REM: Reveal
Patrick Street: Irish Times - get that fiddler with the fag!
Original Cast: Oklahoma
Bach: Magnificat
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Monday, June 24, 2002
Phew!
Email from Robert with good news (for him) from the Colorado fire:
"Last Weds was something of a turning point, as the winds that were driving the fire toward the ridge (and toward us) changed, and the fire began burning back on itself. Thursday was cooler and more humid, which stalled the advance of the fire and gave the workers some time....The fire lines were threatened yesterday by renewed high winds, but they held. Then the winds abated and allowed the aircraft to resume operations..... for the time being we have a bit of a respite. Everyone will be holding their breath until October, when the fire season is over, because everything is still so dry. "
Email from Robert with good news (for him) from the Colorado fire:
"Last Weds was something of a turning point, as the winds that were driving the fire toward the ridge (and toward us) changed, and the fire began burning back on itself. Thursday was cooler and more humid, which stalled the advance of the fire and gave the workers some time....The fire lines were threatened yesterday by renewed high winds, but they held. Then the winds abated and allowed the aircraft to resume operations..... for the time being we have a bit of a respite. Everyone will be holding their breath until October, when the fire season is over, because everything is still so dry. "
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Heroes (2)
Douglas Adams- original of thought, sweet of temperament. Musician, scientist, writer, computer fanatic, raconteur and creator of the funniest and most seminally humorous book of the last twenty years. He co-authored the" Meaning of Liff" which should be given free on the NHS. He was a great generator of quotes and aphorisms:
- "I love deadlines - I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by"
- "A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."
-"I didn't get where I intended to go, but I ended up where I wanted to be."
God knows what he would have gone on to do if he hadn't died at the cruel age of 49. There are few celebs whom you cry for, he was one.
Douglas Adams- original of thought, sweet of temperament. Musician, scientist, writer, computer fanatic, raconteur and creator of the funniest and most seminally humorous book of the last twenty years. He co-authored the" Meaning of Liff" which should be given free on the NHS. He was a great generator of quotes and aphorisms:
- "I love deadlines - I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by"
- "A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."
-"I didn't get where I intended to go, but I ended up where I wanted to be."
God knows what he would have gone on to do if he hadn't died at the cruel age of 49. There are few celebs whom you cry for, he was one.
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An 'Howells-ism'
Anna: "Oh thanks, Philip, for taking down all those cupboards in Mum's kitchen. But where that beige one was, there's a great big hole on this side of the wall."
Philip: "Yes I know - and on the bedroom side there's another hole that backs on to it"
....collapse of stout and not so stout parties
Anna: "Oh thanks, Philip, for taking down all those cupboards in Mum's kitchen. But where that beige one was, there's a great big hole on this side of the wall."
Philip: "Yes I know - and on the bedroom side there's another hole that backs on to it"
....collapse of stout and not so stout parties
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Sunday, June 23, 2002
"If the wind doesn't change, we're toast"
.....so said Robert's last email 3 days ago. His house in Colorado Springs is in the line of fire and I haven't heard since. The fires in Colorado were deliberately started by a forest worker. These pictures say it all.
.....so said Robert's last email 3 days ago. His house in Colorado Springs is in the line of fire and I haven't heard since. The fires in Colorado were deliberately started by a forest worker. These pictures say it all.
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Saturday, June 22, 2002
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From "The News Quiz" (Radio 4) today
Jeremy Hardy - " Did you see that now all the French Philosophers have gone on strike in sympathy with air traffic control?
Alan Coren - "Nah, they only think they have.."
Jeremy Hardy - " Did you see that now all the French Philosophers have gone on strike in sympathy with air traffic control?
Alan Coren - "Nah, they only think they have.."
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Instant Relief
For chronic forgetters the Net is such balm. Today I was besieged by an incomplete lyric. Two innately awful tunes that I try not to nestle in my frontal lobe are that Grenfell thing "Stately as a Galleon" and "Puff the Magic Dragon". A line about 'Little Jackie Paper..' looped round for an hour while I was driving back and I couldn't complete it until I got home and fixed it.
We endlessly have these terrible conversations -
"I love that film 'Jules et Jim'."
"Mmmm, Jeanne Moreau and Oskar Werner."
"Yep, ...who played the other one?"
"What Jules?"
".. No, I think it was Jim."
"No, Werner was Jim"
"Oh, hell, that's going to annoy me."
"Do you remember that song she sang as she crossed the bridge...Da da da deda.."
"Er...."
And so it goes until IMDb is applied and the pain goes away.
For chronic forgetters the Net is such balm. Today I was besieged by an incomplete lyric. Two innately awful tunes that I try not to nestle in my frontal lobe are that Grenfell thing "Stately as a Galleon" and "Puff the Magic Dragon". A line about 'Little Jackie Paper..' looped round for an hour while I was driving back and I couldn't complete it until I got home and fixed it.
We endlessly have these terrible conversations -
"I love that film 'Jules et Jim'."
"Mmmm, Jeanne Moreau and Oskar Werner."
"Yep, ...who played the other one?"
"What Jules?"
".. No, I think it was Jim."
"No, Werner was Jim"
"Oh, hell, that's going to annoy me."
"Do you remember that song she sang as she crossed the bridge...Da da da deda.."
"Er...."
And so it goes until IMDb is applied and the pain goes away.
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Friday, June 21, 2002
Crumpet
What is interesting is that they don't have much in common, except perhaps an intensity in the eye......
Newman then
Newman now - still beautiful
Rickman
Pearson
Graves
Pacino
Green
Gere
What is interesting is that they don't have much in common, except perhaps an intensity in the eye......
Newman then
Newman now - still beautiful
Rickman
Pearson
Graves
Pacino
Green
Gere
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Emerging
A better day. Pat brought over a basket of just-picked vegetables. We ate them only an hour old with an omelette - mange tout, baby broad beans and new potatoes, fantastic taste. Followed by banana custard done by 'Chef Gordon'. After lunch decided to go to the moorings below the Crosskeys Hotel at Hilgay to look for a boat we have been told about. G is still toying with the idea of a small pottering-about boat, it won't come off probably, but it's fun to encourage him in the idea. We didn't find it, but met a couple just up from Lincolnshire and bound for St Ives, polishing their wonderful narrow boat "Mr Heron". They asked us aboard to have a look round and we stayed talking for over an hour. The wife had been making lemon curd in the little kitchen, there was a glass of wine on the table and her TY Spanish language tape was playing. His video-editing gear was being worked on in the saloon. They live on her from May to September, then jump into their caravan and push off to Spain for the winter. I can think of worse lifestyles.
A better day. Pat brought over a basket of just-picked vegetables. We ate them only an hour old with an omelette - mange tout, baby broad beans and new potatoes, fantastic taste. Followed by banana custard done by 'Chef Gordon'. After lunch decided to go to the moorings below the Crosskeys Hotel at Hilgay to look for a boat we have been told about. G is still toying with the idea of a small pottering-about boat, it won't come off probably, but it's fun to encourage him in the idea. We didn't find it, but met a couple just up from Lincolnshire and bound for St Ives, polishing their wonderful narrow boat "Mr Heron". They asked us aboard to have a look round and we stayed talking for over an hour. The wife had been making lemon curd in the little kitchen, there was a glass of wine on the table and her TY Spanish language tape was playing. His video-editing gear was being worked on in the saloon. They live on her from May to September, then jump into their caravan and push off to Spain for the winter. I can think of worse lifestyles.
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Hey, this is fun
KARTOO - a search engine that delivers links maps. To access, select your language, then type in the search box at top left. I found some useful new directions on old established subject searches of mine.
KARTOO - a search engine that delivers links maps. To access, select your language, then type in the search box at top left. I found some useful new directions on old established subject searches of mine.
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Tuesday, June 18, 2002
From my Nephew with Love
To Dodie
Tuesday, 18th June, 2002
Dorothy was the kind of woman that comes to mind when you think of the older generation ? the kind of woman who grew up through the experiences of two world wars. The kind of woman that, if you follow such things, would not be at all out of place in an Agatha Christie thriller, playing the polite lady of the house who managed to keep an eye on everything and keep everyone in order. Dorothy was the kind of woman that always had a warm welcome, always played the role of hostess to perfection and always had the kind of light, playful laugh that made you laugh along with her. Even in more recent years, she was the kind of woman that you'd find mucking in with everyone else when the time came for work to be done ? more often than not, she'd be the one leading the way when there was a task to be finished.
Those of us who knew you our entire lives and those of us who knew you only briefly will miss you equally, Dorothy. Rest in peace and bend the ears of The Man Upstairs if he hasn't got ham sandwiches and a pot of tea ready for you at 1 o'clock sharp
Dodie's funeral service was held in a sunlit Didlington Church. The lilies glowed, the stained glass scattered coloured beads on the old white walls, and kind, warm people surrounded us.
To Dodie
Tuesday, 18th June, 2002
Dorothy was the kind of woman that comes to mind when you think of the older generation ? the kind of woman who grew up through the experiences of two world wars. The kind of woman that, if you follow such things, would not be at all out of place in an Agatha Christie thriller, playing the polite lady of the house who managed to keep an eye on everything and keep everyone in order. Dorothy was the kind of woman that always had a warm welcome, always played the role of hostess to perfection and always had the kind of light, playful laugh that made you laugh along with her. Even in more recent years, she was the kind of woman that you'd find mucking in with everyone else when the time came for work to be done ? more often than not, she'd be the one leading the way when there was a task to be finished.
Those of us who knew you our entire lives and those of us who knew you only briefly will miss you equally, Dorothy. Rest in peace and bend the ears of The Man Upstairs if he hasn't got ham sandwiches and a pot of tea ready for you at 1 o'clock sharp
Dodie's funeral service was held in a sunlit Didlington Church. The lilies glowed, the stained glass scattered coloured beads on the old white walls, and kind, warm people surrounded us.
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Monday, June 17, 2002
Bad moment
Everything is awry. Tomorrow is the funeral day, and all is in place - church, flowers, service, house, garden. The sitting room is organised and waiting for visitors. The food is done, tablecloths white, roses pink. My dark suit hangs on the wardrobe door - all is ready, all organised. Except that I am not. Inside my heart is chaos. I am tired, damaged, doubtful. There have been too many times like these, too much sadness. Today the mouse longs to hold hands again and walk backwards in a circle.
Everything is awry. Tomorrow is the funeral day, and all is in place - church, flowers, service, house, garden. The sitting room is organised and waiting for visitors. The food is done, tablecloths white, roses pink. My dark suit hangs on the wardrobe door - all is ready, all organised. Except that I am not. Inside my heart is chaos. I am tired, damaged, doubtful. There have been too many times like these, too much sadness. Today the mouse longs to hold hands again and walk backwards in a circle.
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Sunday, June 16, 2002
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Palimpsest
"What comes out in the end is the result of the discarded finds." ~ Pablo Picasso
Looking at the images that lie behind his painting "The Tragedy" revived my interest in the palimpsest - so often used as a metaphor for the traces of memory. My professional studies included historical bibliography and I remember being intrigued first by the unusual word palimpsest, then by the concept.
'Any old objects -- for example: ancient ruins, antique furniture, and battered toys -- that show the effects of their past can be seen as palimpsests, relating information about their histories. A palimpsest may be anything having diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath its surface. Close examination of a painting's layers might reveal changes made by the original painter, by later painters, conservators, restorers, by environmental factors, or by vandals'. (ArtLex)
With modern X-ray and digital technology, more and more lost texts and images may emerge; God, I'd love to do such yummy research, uncovering secrets.
"What comes out in the end is the result of the discarded finds." ~ Pablo Picasso
Looking at the images that lie behind his painting "The Tragedy" revived my interest in the palimpsest - so often used as a metaphor for the traces of memory. My professional studies included historical bibliography and I remember being intrigued first by the unusual word palimpsest, then by the concept.
'Any old objects -- for example: ancient ruins, antique furniture, and battered toys -- that show the effects of their past can be seen as palimpsests, relating information about their histories. A palimpsest may be anything having diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath its surface. Close examination of a painting's layers might reveal changes made by the original painter, by later painters, conservators, restorers, by environmental factors, or by vandals'. (ArtLex)
With modern X-ray and digital technology, more and more lost texts and images may emerge; God, I'd love to do such yummy research, uncovering secrets.
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Listening to..
- Pet Shop Boys: Nightlife
- Lalo: Cello Concerto
- Philip Glass "Low Symphony" - from the music of Brian Eno and David Bowie
- Pet Shop Boys: Nightlife
- Lalo: Cello Concerto
- Philip Glass "Low Symphony" - from the music of Brian Eno and David Bowie
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Anniversary 4th June 1989
A boy's bravery in the heat of the moment - such stillness!
The Tiananmen Square protest was 13 years ago
A boy's bravery in the heat of the moment - such stillness!
The Tiananmen Square protest was 13 years ago
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Tuesday, June 11, 2002
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Monday, June 10, 2002
HEROES (1)
Leonard Bernstein
I'll never forget hearing LB conduct the Berlioz "Requiem" in St Paul's Cathedral many years ago - the performance was so electric that the hairs on the back of my neck didn't go down for a week. I saw 'West Side Story' in its first London production - ground-breaking at the time. He was a brilliant, quirky, bad tempered, handsome, chain-smoking, Jewish charismatic and top of my list for a dream companion. Here he is in an interesting photographic collage
Leonard Bernstein
I'll never forget hearing LB conduct the Berlioz "Requiem" in St Paul's Cathedral many years ago - the performance was so electric that the hairs on the back of my neck didn't go down for a week. I saw 'West Side Story' in its first London production - ground-breaking at the time. He was a brilliant, quirky, bad tempered, handsome, chain-smoking, Jewish charismatic and top of my list for a dream companion. Here he is in an interesting photographic collage
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Saturday, June 08, 2002
Gem
Search E-Books the e-text search engine brings up references to the most amazing range of source materials. I use it all the time. Links to educational, military and government text searches are on the same page.
Search E-Books the e-text search engine brings up references to the most amazing range of source materials. I use it all the time. Links to educational, military and government text searches are on the same page.
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Wednesday, June 05, 2002
Portal
Sitting long hours by someone engaged in dying very slowly but inexorably, brings thoughts of where death will take you when the door opens to let you through. It's a potent symbol of transition. In La Mort, one of Jacques Brel's greatest songs, he places his lover like a shield between him and the door of death
"Mais qu'y a-t-il derrière la porte
Et qui m'attend déjà
Ange ou démon qu'importe
Au devant de la porte il y a toi"
I sat holding Dodie's hand looking out of the window into the edge of the wood. A cluster of deep shadow at its centre, alder leaves shifting brightly around this black heart, appeared like a portal - the act of finding courage to step through it became real to me. Dying would perhaps be like the moment an actor steps from the wings on an intake of breath to the reality of the stage. Suddenly it seemed quite exciting and Peter Pan's assessment of it quite apposite "Death is an awfully big adventure".
20 June 2002
My Aunt Dodie died peacefully at half past midnight on Sunday. Her adventure has begun.
Sitting long hours by someone engaged in dying very slowly but inexorably, brings thoughts of where death will take you when the door opens to let you through. It's a potent symbol of transition. In La Mort, one of Jacques Brel's greatest songs, he places his lover like a shield between him and the door of death
"Mais qu'y a-t-il derrière la porte
Et qui m'attend déjà
Ange ou démon qu'importe
Au devant de la porte il y a toi"
I sat holding Dodie's hand looking out of the window into the edge of the wood. A cluster of deep shadow at its centre, alder leaves shifting brightly around this black heart, appeared like a portal - the act of finding courage to step through it became real to me. Dying would perhaps be like the moment an actor steps from the wings on an intake of breath to the reality of the stage. Suddenly it seemed quite exciting and Peter Pan's assessment of it quite apposite "Death is an awfully big adventure".
20 June 2002
My Aunt Dodie died peacefully at half past midnight on Sunday. Her adventure has begun.