... of the seven deadly sins, the eighth and most horrid is emotional blackmail ... whilst for this blogger, the only sacred thing is life itself
Saturday, November 7, 2009
there but for fortune go you or i ...
returning from last night's concert and crossing the thames reminded me of a famous verse ...
The Embankment
( The fantasia of a Fallen Gentleman on a Cold, Bitter Night)
Once, in finesse of fiddles found I ecstasy,
In a flash of gold heels on the hard pavement.
Now see I
That warmth`s the very stuff of poesy.
Oh, God, make small
The old star-eaten blanket of the sky,
That I may fold it round me and in comfort lie.
T. E. Hulme (1883 - 1917)
the picture is picture from ... http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091001.html
competition time
a double first question, indicative of the author's distasteful curiosity about the enigmatic gender:
about the lady who wore this dress ... might she have swayed ? or wriggled ?
and a question of taste for the aesthete:
which of these teapots from the same small room in the V&A might she have chosen for brewing the first cup of the day ?
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
3BT, well maybe 2not-quite-soBT at the V&A last night
A Dickensian/Gothick tableau in the darkened cafe ... an actor face-painted in red personifying Death, sits down at long straight table with an imposing retinue of sinister companions, some of the men with tall hats, the women plumed or tiara-d, each one strikingly elegant and sinister in black.
In the Japanese gallery, a treasure house of joyfully aspirational marvels and perfections, a row of very young people, too young to properly know the tragic passions and the deadly sins, sitting cross-legged in eager anticipation to watch an old black-and-white fillum of the visceral Japanese ghost tale, Onibaba.
The luminous and never ending life-stream of interesting bodies and faces and fashions and fancy-dress entering this great museum as if it were their second home.
In the Japanese gallery, a treasure house of joyfully aspirational marvels and perfections, a row of very young people, too young to properly know the tragic passions and the deadly sins, sitting cross-legged in eager anticipation to watch an old black-and-white fillum of the visceral Japanese ghost tale, Onibaba.
The luminous and never ending life-stream of interesting bodies and faces and fashions and fancy-dress entering this great museum as if it were their second home.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
the child that books built
i felt myself drawn to the open door of a charity shop which usually fails to entice ... i spotted this book immediately and remembered the author's name being favourably reviewed elsewhere in recent years ... it is deeply engaging and occasionally challenging ... what's more ... the bbc have archived the author's reflections on the writing of it in five very short talks totalling about twenty minutes
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
i've always imagined these interiors had erotic possibilities
but for a purer kind of nostalgia, listen instead to flanders and swann ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6OHD2uCpfU
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
rootin' around
i've been plodding through the internet thingy, trying to discover the name of a girl, or girls, who sang a reggae version of the cliff richard hit "the young ones" back in the early eighties
no luck so far
but i did stumble upon a theological critique of popular singing that shouldn't have taken me by surprise, but quite startled me
http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=1786&CATE=142
no luck so far
but i did stumble upon a theological critique of popular singing that shouldn't have taken me by surprise, but quite startled me
http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=1786&CATE=142
Monday, October 12, 2009
'ow vexatious !
i'm still perplexed by this painting, a multiple portrait of the saltonstall family
second wife is sitting at the right holding the new baby, detached, expressionless
first wife, deceased, lays on the bed with eyes open holding out her hand
the tate gallery say she is gesturing towards her children
but every time i look at the painting, i think he is about to drop that glove into the palm of her hand
and if he was, then what did the glove or the action signify ?
the artist, thought to have been david des granges, left no explanation
the tate gallery website carries two descriptions of the work ...
http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999968&workid=3821&searchid=15051
https://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=3821&searchid=10739&roomid=false&tabview=text&texttype=9
Maybe this item on the symbolism of gloves in Freemasonry offers a clue:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/mas/sof/sof22.htm
... and this one by a glovemaker ...
http://www.glove.org/gallery/mirianna.php
Etc., etc.
So I've reached a point where I'm prepared to believe that both ladies are dressed in white to show their innocence before their "Maker", and that the glove itself may possibly symbolize the honest and legal transfer of their property when the ownership of various estates was changed by marriage.
Much, much later ... THINKS: possibly, the dead lady is gesturing a request that he continue to care for their children after his second marriage, and maybe the white glove signifies his honourable assent.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
thomas webster asleep in cranbrook church holding his artist's brushes
he was famous in his lifetime for this painting ...
http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1159_grand_design/popup.php?img_id=241
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