tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28483756201300288602023-06-23T16:53:54.193+01:00dibianchigirariClassics, Europe, history, literature, reading, travel, writing ...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger220125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-30904441287521138892023-06-22T09:30:00.111+01:002023-06-23T16:52:52.383+01:00Ritorno, come se non fossi mai stato via ... <div class="separator"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNH82zBPuieEgINdVoTzHjngl667aR1LX0Ts14Adn5iUICmjNUehq36KlA0ySlkiK-dchynh4XEHt1EJ6ZGsctmuZrkkuCfI70iMKLx7aRIid23NugvEjkTbOjzTfsNT7CaQX_vduVA0hz-bapFtyWd0G6Gh8GnRxPMCuf8f7IJv3dFZAmgO8-RB5xxog/s335/wordcloudThesis%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="335" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNH82zBPuieEgINdVoTzHjngl667aR1LX0Ts14Adn5iUICmjNUehq36KlA0ySlkiK-dchynh4XEHt1EJ6ZGsctmuZrkkuCfI70iMKLx7aRIid23NugvEjkTbOjzTfsNT7CaQX_vduVA0hz-bapFtyWd0G6Gh8GnRxPMCuf8f7IJv3dFZAmgO8-RB5xxog/w320-h296/wordcloudThesis%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i style="text-align: justify;"></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span><span><i style="text-align: justify;">Sono tornato </i><span style="text-align: justify;">(<i>pace</i> the Terminator – as if one was ever really away)<i> ... </i>bar one caveat: the blog’s going ‘private’ as of 2 July, or sooner. Despite being defunct, the
archive continues to attract a three figure read</span><span style="text-align: justify;">ership that includes the former USSR, and I prefer to steer clear of warmongers. In addition, the figures this week alone have been as high as 3.17K, which is utterly ludicrous and convinces me that data scraping is at work. </span></span></span>‘<span><span><span style="text-align: justify;">Private</span></span></span>’<span><span><span style="text-align: justify;"> will shut that down, hopefully including such as the app-installing </span></span></span><u>com.google.android.gm</u>. </span></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">I might also essay experiments in Italian,
or German – even French. Having just returned from Europe, and
intending to return there come the end of this year, I badly need some practice.
EU countries no longer volunteer English <i style="text-align: justify;">quite</i><span style="text-align: justify;"> as enthusiastically as they once did. (Now, I
wonder why?!)</span></span></h3><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Things have altered here, although I erased most followers </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">by mistake. (<i>Sorry! </i>Too quick with the mouse.) I</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">’ve</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> chosen to cut my life down by half; less stress. The remaining 50% is spread over the vacated time. A lot has changed. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Writing will be random, too.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">While
I gave the American platform a trial, it’s not for the way <i>I</i> write. Plus, it encourages
monetary reward, which isn’t the goal. I’m choosing to stick with what I know
– and can deal with – against swiftly-evolving <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">techno
sapiens</i>. I was fond of the original model, and, having plumbed the arcana
of its changed format, it’s more appealing. Although Google is still clunky and unwieldy for one used to faster techniques and a more sophisticated toolkit. (Other site seems geared to
Apple’s handheld plastic rectangles and suchlike.)</span></p>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> All writing’s
conspicuously compartmentalised these days, but there’s also the rise of artificial
intelligence. I haven’t tried ChatGPT, and won’t, but copywriting’s a
casualty. Maybe AI suits some industries, and, as it’s not created by a human,
it could also be free of intellectual property copyright. It’s simple for tech
to fake online communication between humans: from the invisible robots we
attempt to converse with all the way up to academic assignments. What more does
a human being need?<br /> A great deal more. Wit, allusion, subtlety? I’m not convinced AI can do passive circumlocutory periphrasis, either. (Grin.)</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Meantime,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nostos</i> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">νόστος</i>)<span style="background: white;"> </span>presides over summer 2023.
An ancient Greek <span style="text-align: left;">term </span><span style="text-align: left;">used in travel, journeying, or returning home, it’s
linked to Odysseus’s return from Troy to his rocky kingdom in the Ionian Sea. Hence,
after years of classical studies, my pilgrim route reached its finale this month
with an idyllic sojourn on Ithaka – accessible by ferry from Kephallonia, its much
larger neighbour, where the hordes of tourist flights pile in.</span></span></p><p></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Our physical journey from Scotland to the islands was a complicated marathon of
some 2500+ miles, but its coda answered the query that the Greek poet Cafavy poses:
how to understand what his ‘Ithakas’ mean. The journey was indeed extended: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">As you set out for Ithaka | hope your road
is a long one, | full of adventure, full of discovery</i>.” It was all that, and more.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-YTz4BXHCBzUlFXyhhkNTbOdO_VO4Sg7pc4QQE-FSZRuhdbx3BP5Xhxn4K99KtiZWsJeWmC1AlIyWRSjlXps1EtJ4e-Xe75iaLHc8EJt8xINM1TycNbyB-cBGvUKuA-DZzNY-2gAAA6hMHWFyc9YRPtrW5WlFeXtyyrDceEOAR-usukpnEV6cggIWNbi/s4608/2023-06-03%2000.04.38.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3440" data-original-width="4608" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-YTz4BXHCBzUlFXyhhkNTbOdO_VO4Sg7pc4QQE-FSZRuhdbx3BP5Xhxn4K99KtiZWsJeWmC1AlIyWRSjlXps1EtJ4e-Xe75iaLHc8EJt8xINM1TycNbyB-cBGvUKuA-DZzNY-2gAAA6hMHWFyc9YRPtrW5WlFeXtyyrDceEOAR-usukpnEV6cggIWNbi/s320/2023-06-03%2000.04.38.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s
said when you sail to the Scottish Hebridean archipelago you can detect a scent
of heather and sea, ‘the tangle of the isles’. However, the warm offshore breezes
of the Ionian islands carry perfumes of flowers and herbs associated
with Greece, likely unchanged since Homer’s day. (But there are no longer any Phoenician
traders </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">for purchases <i>a là</i>
Cavafy. His “<i>mother of pearl and coral,
amber and ebony</i>” are replaced by post-Brexit duty-free and multifarious
Greek craft shops.) But, while the traditional </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Greek <i>ξενία </i>(<i>xenia</i>) welcomed us in, no radio or television noise impinged, nor wifi and Broadband. It was astounding to realise just how much the increasingly dissonant tinnitus of modern existence invades our lives. Aside from the sound of waves on the pebble beaches of the bay below, and a chorus of birdsong, all was as peaceful as an ancient monastery. It felt as if we’d travelled more than fifty years back in time. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">I wanted to stay there.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>The air was clean and clear as the water of the <a href="https://greece.terrabook.com/ithaca/page/fountain-kalamos/" target="_blank">Kalamos spring</a>, and astringent with pine in the mornings. The colours of noon are blue and gold. Hot sun, cool sea, and silver-green of olive orchards. Butterflies, bees and green and brown lizards everywhere </span><span style="text-align: left;">– and a cat with a camouflage coat</span> that exactly matches the stony terrain and <i>chiaroscuro</i> of light and shade. Life is reduced to simple levels: eat, sleep, swim, read. Repeat. Writing becomes a somnolent stream of consciousness <span style="text-align: left;">– a phenomenon that is very restful.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZ_8XB_jafKEd9hgWEmHHsKX6JUSZseCA77JVmCk4GYS4sDRLMbStSTj_uteM84taN-fWOFiu9RMT8pnQxSU9BBHFFiufGo7GsY4i7LCRrVoWp3odTkfc3uzk4v5bNjmPGtJGP9RlOyCrgAH95tnzHFgRUdoKkiTcJB_FzghM1RrrXvEao5Zxrfk2If6v/s4608/2023-06-08%2000.23.21.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3440" data-original-width="4608" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZ_8XB_jafKEd9hgWEmHHsKX6JUSZseCA77JVmCk4GYS4sDRLMbStSTj_uteM84taN-fWOFiu9RMT8pnQxSU9BBHFFiufGo7GsY4i7LCRrVoWp3odTkfc3uzk4v5bNjmPGtJGP9RlOyCrgAH95tnzHFgRUdoKkiTcJB_FzghM1RrrXvEao5Zxrfk2If6v/s320/2023-06-08%2000.23.21.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Images: a thesis Wordle, JAS; view from Ithaka cottage across bay – rosemary
hedges and olive trees: © J.-A. Shaw, 2023. The monastery of Panagia Kathariotissa,
Anogi, Ithaka, © J.-A. Shaw, 2023. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: xx-small;">C. P. Cavafy, “<i>The City</i>” from source, <i>C.P. Cavafy: Collected Poems.</i> Translated
by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Translation: Copyright © 1992 (1975) US:
NJ: Princeton University Press, 1975.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: xx-small;"><i>*Edited for content, 23 June 2023</i> <span style="text-align: left;">–JAS</span></span></p>
</div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-48055447124661630402022-12-31T23:30:00.218+00:002023-02-03T08:48:11.689+00:00Reisen, MMXXII<p><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPevcDbSxOSWTvNLUQFcFsEOnjMBVw655uDqw2U7A8v1booBuhpIcnNR4ymVG-DPH__Xr6VFrBAPslHuajWQyLloOSR_deCvupZjmfR-TQ_Gq4QbyeRNhotK35d0VLbAY_um8e6xtYhRv-ffmKTKY9Etf6iXCfxuckY3v3hI_edyDJdiqmRLzMpmqRcQ/s275/download%20(1)Ukraine.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPevcDbSxOSWTvNLUQFcFsEOnjMBVw655uDqw2U7A8v1booBuhpIcnNR4ymVG-DPH__Xr6VFrBAPslHuajWQyLloOSR_deCvupZjmfR-TQ_Gq4QbyeRNhotK35d0VLbAY_um8e6xtYhRv-ffmKTKY9Etf6iXCfxuckY3v3hI_edyDJdiqmRLzMpmqRcQ/s1600/download%20(1)Ukraine.png" width="275" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif";">Three decades after the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif";"><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2848375620130028860/4805544712466163040">last one</a>, the current <i>annus horribilis</i> has drawn to its close. As 2022’s Ukrainian
spring bled into summer, I drafted a June post. It was an opinion piece: a
three or 5 minute read, as the press agencies say. Although re-cut, re-posted
and cancelled multiple times, I finally decided against publishing. <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Nevertheless,
although ‘closed,’ this little blog continues to be read. After 24
February, Russia was off the scale, averaging 250 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">per diem</i> – at least, in the exclave of Kaliningrad, which
was as far as I could electronically trace it. Then the former USSR disappeared
overnight – perhaps due to attempts to keep global media out? – but back it
came on 18 December. For this reason I aim to adopt another platform, where
people must register. This should discourage addresses ending with the relevant
ccTLDs. The ‘Net has too many perils: one should
exercise caution. The world has changed, and time’s moved on, ditto technology. The archive’s still
here, <i>pro tem</i>, but another
program will take over, assuming I can master the tech options, and if I have
something to write. <i>If ...</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The
first of a pile of new books arrived: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Treasures of Ukraine</i>, with a foreword by Andrey Kurkov, (Thames
& Hudson, 2022) – all proceeds go to PEN Ukraine, for the protection
of freedom of expression and authors’ rights, plus other aspects of
culture and identity. For we Europeans who knew little or nothing of our eastern
neighbour before 2022, it illustrates and explains much of the country’s art,
history, religion and society. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Нехай сила буде з тобою, Україн ... </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Glückliches neues Jahr! </i>– Happy New Year. </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "serif";"><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: xx-small;">Picture credit: <span style="text-align: left;">flag of Ukraine, </span><a href="https://unsplash.com/@darias_big_world?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="text-align: left;"><span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Daria Volkova</span></a><span style="text-align: left;"> on </span><a href="https://unsplash.com/" style="text-align: left;">https://unsplash.com</a><span style="text-align: left;"> /Getty Images; EU.</span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-27470421803466957282022-01-01T00:30:00.125+00:002022-01-17T07:55:56.896+00:00Luck, a young black cat and an old computer<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhGs4GjJuPQCFEoK_jUVt4IvbBIny7iPZ6FhHQD_Ve76smqqSkJeUuWjuKc-KH9RjDncb4Omy-L92no9Hi9GHaYgThd_kQEYcO-Sf-De7F_F735ybiNKlPAHloqKTBMGocQVaQF_CbGVrpHXIWOl5i7MsucY2WO04SYDiygHUDgKUkCCBHW3G-37-6vUQ=s6407" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6407" data-original-width="4618" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhGs4GjJuPQCFEoK_jUVt4IvbBIny7iPZ6FhHQD_Ve76smqqSkJeUuWjuKc-KH9RjDncb4Omy-L92no9Hi9GHaYgThd_kQEYcO-Sf-De7F_F735ybiNKlPAHloqKTBMGocQVaQF_CbGVrpHXIWOl5i7MsucY2WO04SYDiygHUDgKUkCCBHW3G-37-6vUQ=s320" width="231" /></a></div>That was the year that was, 2021. Looking back, a bad year. Did anyone ever say that it was going to be a good one? Apart, that is, from the governmental Pangloss and his cohorts. However, since last spring morphed into summer, even they were hard put to find anything cheerfully positive – apart, that is, from the advent of the vaccines, which was nothing to do with politicians and everything to do with the sterling efforts of our brilliant UK research scientists. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Aside from a couple of failed attempts to travel to Europe, not a great deal happened to distinguish 2021 from 2020. Nor does this habitual pessimist expect 2022 to be any different. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> On the domestic front, my younger daughter was pining for her late companion cat, who died in 2020. By August last year, even I was missing having a feline about the place. However, no kitten or cat was to be found; I was never going to entertain the idea of buying a cat, not when there are so many in the rescue centres. Or at least, there were. For a couple of months we filled in endless application forms, telephoned around, asked friends and family ... </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Not a single black female cat to be found. Online pictures all displayed ‘Reserved.’ I began to despair. Then, idly surfing the ‘Net one night, up popped a sad little case in a Glasgow welfare centre. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Long to short, we travelled west at the end of August, and collected a very young black cat who’d had a traumatic start in life. She wasn’t even 18 months old, but was experiencing problems in finding a new home. No one wanted her. She definitely has had ‘issues,’ which I won’t go into, but, after four months here, she is beginning to trust us, and her true personality is developing. She is very intelligent, but for a long time was beset by constant anxieties and defensive characteristics, plus obsessive over-grooming that caused extensive fur loss. She was perpetually on the alert, unwilling to relax, and lashed out even if someone stroked her. Nevertheless, we persevered. By Christmas she was much calmer, much happier, and much more demanding! I’d contacted a ‘cat whisperer,’ and confirmed what we were doing – no sudden changes, a quiet environment, no long holidays in prospect, no other cats, no children, but access to the outside 24/7. We ticked all the boxes there. After the installation of her microchip-operated cat flap, she became noticeably happier, and by the time spring comes around I expect she’ll be outside most of the time. Although she doesn’t care for rain, wind or cold, and, as yet, has very little experience of snow. This is Scotland – that lack won’t last long!
But, with a happy cat in residence again, and a happier daughter, all’s well, </span><i style="font-family: georgia;">pro tem</i><span style="font-family: georgia;">. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvq0-30Lh1SyAlVpVIiAlmTn9PC3QG3Kj4tW1xnTQDY-eo7GHZIBelG9ww2VOmxYZjrNWnPl79YGx0U6Bm_zRNwLIWkPVz7UfAX_zuIoR-Xcf_yN4aBdi48_Jr0reVyi6kg6E0Mh_8r-Kz_KcQF6_HmJDlesyNtBb4AtG84Nks2_50UEhVHCGn0Up0VA=s4608" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3440" data-original-width="4608" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvq0-30Lh1SyAlVpVIiAlmTn9PC3QG3Kj4tW1xnTQDY-eo7GHZIBelG9ww2VOmxYZjrNWnPl79YGx0U6Bm_zRNwLIWkPVz7UfAX_zuIoR-Xcf_yN4aBdi48_Jr0reVyi6kg6E0Mh_8r-Kz_KcQF6_HmJDlesyNtBb4AtG84Nks2_50UEhVHCGn0Up0VA=w200-h149" width="200" /></a></div>Otherwise, ploughing on indefatigably with the everlasting Thing (thesis revision). Covid granted me an extra year, which, I confess, was not exactly taken advantage of. The garden preoccupies me from late March to October; when the sun shines I’m outside. Thus, now on the home straight. December’s gone, and two months remain. No more. There are 104,550 words – four thousand, five hundred and fifty too many. I <i>will</i> keep on adding bits in – new material discovered late on in the research – and thus the word count that is supposedly to be reduced hasn’t. Well, precisely 1110 words have been binned. <i>Me–eh!</i> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> I calculate that the remaining 4550 words to be axed, to bring the count down to 100K and no more, means losing 2275 in January, and the balance in February. This simply isn’t going to happen – not at the present rate of progress. Life demands keep on interrupting, and my concentration isn’t what it once was. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">I guess I’m fated. As Homer’s Achilles said to Lykaon, “Basically, you’re screwed, mate.” But, all being well (it won’t be!) come the eleventh hour and Thing dispatched, we are supposed to be off to ‘Orpheus country,’ the Bulgarian Rhodope and Rila mountain ranges, if Covid and other problems permit. I gloomily mailed an Austrian friend yesterday: “<i>In Europa nicht mehr, seit dem Brexit</i>.” Nothing is certain in today’s uncertain world. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Nor, for that matter, are computers to be relied upon. In October, I was tentatively attempting to mastermind the transfer of Thing from my vintage Windows 7 desktop PC to a new Windows 10 laptop. I was sure that my aged copy of MS Word would cause a problem with the university’s up-to-date software, and therefore I needed to transfer the whole into a ‘readable’ format. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Disaster! <i>Katastrophḗ </i>At the time, I didn’t know what happened – I do now – but I watched in horror as ten years of work slid off the monitor screen like raindrops on a window pane. It took me a fortnight to rescue the vital files. Thank heaven they were intact. But decades of other material disappeared into a black hole. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> ‘Back up! Back up!’ has always been my practice, but when push came to shove, no one else rendered assistance. Besides, the thesis suffers from the same syndrome that affects everything I write: #1, I can’t let it go; and, #2, no one reads it till it’s finished, and in the public domain (published). Then I’ll tell people about it. Not before. ... </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> I try to abide by an aphorism allegedly posted up in Delphi, on Apollo’s temple. It’s usually rendered as ‘Know thyself,’ (in essence, ‘to thine own self be true,’ or know your own measure. Greek is wonderfully multi-layered.) But, as I recently emailed to my cousin in Aberdeen, my hibernating ego’s woken up, like E.E. Nesbit’s irritated Psammead (in ‘<i>Five Children & It</i>,’ 1902) and enquired why it was being disturbed? It would <i>much rather </i>sleep in the sand ... </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The cause of this sudden happening was a scientifically-inclined journo friend in Vancouver. He has a super computer built to his own spec, and designs robots as a hobby, making the parts in a 3D printer in his workshop. He complimented me on the rescue of vital material after the Gt. PC Catastrophe, saying I know more than I think I know. Which was nice of him! Perhaps I’m not as clueless as I thought I was. Anyway, Ego, once woken, sat up and began to exercise its faculties. Hence, Ego is probably now driving Thing, and won’t be squished any longer by uncertainties. No more, sez she, foolishly brave. In the end, quoth Aberdeen cousin, ‘Thing must live, and, to live, it must breathe.’ Thus, one must fit it out for its final bid in a hostile world. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> I’ll finish as best I can by the deadline, .pdf it and dispatch an ‘overnight’ transfer. If the university’s super-duper new tech doesn’t like it, not much I can do about it from Bulgaria? I doubt there’ll be ‘Net access on slow mountain trains, or in the villages.<i> C’est la vie.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Happy New Year!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Picture credits:</i></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif";"> Black cat p</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; text-align: left;">hoto
by </span><a href="https://unsplash.com/@cat_naclerio?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: left;">Caterina
Pia Naclerio</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; text-align: left;"> on </span><a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/black-cat?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: left;">Unsplash</a>; <span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; text-align: left;">Garden patio
© Jane-Anne Shaw, 2021.</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-35468161822536609562021-06-21T17:30:00.241+01:002021-06-21T17:30:00.161+01:00Acta dierum<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6zYw7qkRoRQ/YM3RqTs2-2I/AAAAAAAADBs/dmF_EdkH7I4VsMlvjOeNMmPcKxbnCFvUgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/vitaliy-makerov-wrmgUFMXkfU-unsplash.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1361" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6zYw7qkRoRQ/YM3RqTs2-2I/AAAAAAAADBs/dmF_EdkH7I4VsMlvjOeNMmPcKxbnCFvUgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/vitaliy-makerov-wrmgUFMXkfU-unsplash.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>21
June – the summer solstice, 2021. </span><span>I was intending to post a version of this at Easter, and decided against. Contentious material has been removed. Outré opinions in print highlight eccentric angles; when in doubt, hit ‘delete.’ Basically, much in 2021 </span><span>remains the same as in 2020; <i>acta, non verba</i>, Boris! Down the road and no route back? Even with the advent of the vaccines, Lockdown
Syndrome is evident. But I guess all this time spent in various levels of isolation and disconnectedness (virtual / online
doesn’t count) the Covid-dictated way of life has become routine, and no one
likes abandoning the cosy reassurances of routine. We remember BC – Before
Covid – but few want to resume where we left off. We can’t, anyway. Our
individual worlds are no longer the same. Friends and family have gone forever.
(Sadly, so has our beloved little black cat. She passed away, at home, at the
end of October last year, one and a half months after her 22nd birthday. A memorial </span><span>‘</span><span>named</span><span>’</span><span> </span><span> rose, sent by my sister last autumn, is now showing at least one budding flower. Perhaps more will come before summer ends. Weather permitting.)</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Closed
doors are inching open. The annual cycle has begun to revolve again, as long as
gatherings are within bounds. But there is another cycle: that of relatives and
friends. Birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations, visits and remembrances.
Missing out on these is hard. The family were here at the end of May </span>– I hadn<span>’</span>t seen my granddaughter for close on a year and a half. Now, Sturgeon<span>’</span>s issued a proclamation that no one from north west England shall journey into Scotland, nor vice versa. But it<span>’</span>s okay to allow hordes of Scottish football fans to go down to London for a match, probably returning with the virus. <i>P</i><i>rovincia Britannia </i>is <span>currently obsessed with </span><i>panem et circenses</i><span>, ‘bread and circuses,’ methinks. (Juvenal, </span><i>Satire</i><span> 10.) The ancient Roman grouch would likely not have expected anything else of the tribes. </span><span> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Talk is of nothing but the pandemic – it’s
overtaken the weather as a default topic of conversation. Plus, there’s an identifiable creeping agoraphobia manifested in twinges of panic in
public places, and a palpable ambience of fatalism obtains: ‘This is how it’s
always going to be.’ When it’s over, if it ever is, we may look back on our isolation,
indolent habits, or online shopping and deliveries, either as aberrations or as
adoptions forever. But so much will be missing. Britain’s count is on its way
up again – due, in the main, to incompetence in government. And, while lost
high street retailers are exemplified by boarded premises, the
lost people are the real absences.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span>However, communication dominates in all
manner of lists: governmental, personal, and the rabid excesses of </span><i>soi-disant </i><span>social media. This last
I avoid, having no illusory </span></span><span>‘</span><span><span>friends</span></span><span>’ of Zuckerberg</span><span>’s kind </span><span>or otherwise.</span><span> According to the Oxford anthropologist, <a href="https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/team/robin-dunbar">Robin Dunbar</a>, there’s a “cognitive
limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable
social relationships – relationships in which an individual knows who each
person is and how each person relates to every other person,” (Dunbar, 1992).
Apparently, 150 is the maximum number, give or take a few. In 2007 Carl Bialik raised
questions in the </span><i>Wall Street Journal</i><span>
about the impact of social media– especially given Dunbar’s definitions of
‘close friends’ being the people one turns to in life’s emergencies. I can
number these – fewer than the fingers of one hand – although the casual,
wider, UK and international circle expands or shrinks. People go missing for
all sorts of reasons, mostly because of what Dunbar terms ‘lack of a persistent
social relationship,’ (albeit for other causes, too), but the plague has
evidenced how much effort it takes to maintain any connection. Telephone,
Skype or Zoom calls, letters, emails and e~cards – none of these truly replicate human contact. Nevertheless, a second Easter living with Covid more than
demonstrated a human capacity to become inured to anything. Eventually. I
fervently hope we never return to the ‘old’ normal, albeit, selfishly, I miss
travel, and the stimulation of thinking outside the box of a rather dull national mentality.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Actually, I’m not confident I’ve ever been </span><i>in</i><span> a box. Aside from the fact there are far too many boxes, the ‘tick’ variety, or Schrödinger and his boxed cat, or the dusty archives that researchers excavate, etc., an avalanche of the cardboard sort
is landing here, courtesy of Hermes (other couriers are available!) It leads to
an eco-disposal problem. The paper recycling bin is full weeks before its
monthly collection date. I do try to source requirements locally, rather than augment Jeff B.’s
profits, but, nine times out of 10, ‘fraid it’s Jeff or nothing. Whatever we’re all doing to fill this unwanted intermission in our lives, it seems to require new
stuff. The garden’s the major culprit, generating the greatest number of boxes,
cases, or containers. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>This week, it’s the renewal of our side path.
A new gate, in a different position, fencing, and a patio windbreak. Apparently there is a global shortage of wood, but our contractors were lucky to alight on a
new delivery at the timber yard. (I have inspected its provenance, to ascertain the
Amazon isn’t being illegally logged on our behalf.) I spent last Friday afternoon knocking down the old insecure windbreak. After years in our thick clay soil the footings have rotted off, but metres of ranch board planking proved difficult to dismantle. With aged nails and screws rusted into the support posts, and my being only a small lightweight woman, it was an uneven gladiatorial contest. So far, the wooden structure has won. I thought I might go for round two on Saturday, but rain discouraged play. Still, the clearing operation shall be finished, either by myself or the contractors wielding hefty sledgehammers. A new windbreak will go up, the gate will be moved, and there will then be a space to hide the bins </span><span>–</span><span> and square metres of patio freed up for a table, chairs and even a parasol shade, if our Scottish climate improves.</span><i> If ...</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span>In
the lockdown interim, some basic German was acquired, entirely
accidentally. It hinged on communications to and fro Austria, (long story), but
also improved my English. Writing or translating a foreign tongue not only
makes you think carefully about <i>what</i> you
think, but also about how to express it. German isn’t too difficult, (I venture this opinion with caution!) but the vernacular
can be tricky. Also, any foreign language fades quickly if it</span></span><span>’</span><span>s not used to speak, write or read. Plus,
I miss the range of English nuances, shaded differences that a translator may
believe possess the same meanings. W</span><span>hile it’s been interesting to compare
original works with translations, classical studies have suffered more than most. Nevertheless,
translating is self-satisfying, even creative. I already knew this about
ancient Greek, (given the wholesale murder visited upon it by late nineteenth
and early twentieth century renditions, and don’t mention the Bible!) but I doubt
I could create, or think, in German. The poets are taxing enough. At least the ancient
Greeks never aimed for rhyme. The purchase of a German
grammar quickly became necessary, but, faced with columns of verbs, I experienced
flashbacks to a paralysing fear of the Greek aorist active imperative. Black
Gothic capitals alarm me, the cursive script even more so. You need to get your
eye in, as with the Greek Euboean alphabet, (deemed to stem from the
Phoenicians and ever so helpfully inscribed right to left). Thankfully, German’s now commonly rendered in Roman typeface – apart from historic banner
flags such as the </span><i>Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung</i><span>. Although no concession to the modern can render the
original tales of the Bros. Grimm a whit less grim.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>In</span><span> </span><span>Greece, the
gradual decline of το Ελληνικό αλφάβητο (rooted, as it is, in the late ninth / early eighth
century BC) is dispiriting. Western characters now appear on signage. Akin to
the Scottish obsession with ‘translating’ into Gaelic, Greece is attempting to
make</span><span> </span><span>places such as Athens more readily
accessible to visitors, although the Scots’ efforts to dub into confusing Gaelic
are in the interests of advancing a nationalist cause. </span><span>Perhaps this also applies to Thessaloniki,
given the Greek stance on Macedonia, although, as with Chaucer’s English, ancient Greek
spelling wasn’t always consistent. Celtic Wales displays signs in English and /
or Welsh, but it still possesses a sizeable population that speaks it. I can’t vouch
for Cornwall (‘Kernow’) having not been down there in years. </span><span>English
and Irish (Gaeilge) are employed in Eire, and Northern Ireland has Ullans
(Ulster-Scots). Its ‘official’ </span><span>languages have recently been a sensitive issue. </span><span> </span><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thesis: editing progresses at the ponderous pace of a particularly slothful
gastropod. If this continues, calculations indicate that the thing won’t be
finished within this extra year granted courtesy of Cov–19. Viewing the
plague’s collateral damage, and the multiple side effects, the ephemeral and, frankly, trivial on top of the deep divisions of very real political and social
injustices that have become only too evident, life has changed. The German
philosopher, Schopenhauer, (1788–1860), said a compassionate sympathy is the
basis of morality, but, in the light of the inexcusable lacks of an incompetent UK government, all we can do is make decisions for ourselves. Mine are obvious,
whether I like them or not. (I don’t, but that’s life.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">PS: Dear Messrs Google: I continue to loathe this format. It does not facilitate writing half as much as the old one ... </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Picture
credit: </span><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2848375620130028860/8669739307194362550" style="font-family: georgia;">Vitaliy
Makerov</a><span style="font-family: georgia;"> on </span><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2848375620130028860/8669739307194362550" style="font-family: georgia;">Unsplash</a></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-51363234550373700612020-12-31T23:30:00.248+00:002020-12-31T23:30:00.369+00:00EUlogy ...<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GNOUmQae9Sw/X-nXqJnquxI/AAAAAAAAC48/UGSxLmKi5T0hAVeJ76AWFeeyaS2Fww1lQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/christian-lue-8Yw6tsB8tnc-unsplash.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1236" data-original-width="2048" height="194" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GNOUmQae9Sw/X-nXqJnquxI/AAAAAAAAC48/UGSxLmKi5T0hAVeJ76AWFeeyaS2Fww1lQCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h194/christian-lue-8Yw6tsB8tnc-unsplash.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Okay – I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">did</i> swear
posts were at an end, July 2020; however, despite Google’s new blog set up
being less than user-friendly, (you can no longer position images exactly where
you want them) this is an epilogue to an acrimonious divorce. In the space of
the next thirty minutes our membership of the European Union will be
terminated, (midnight, European time). I don’t know if a forlorn passing bell will toll the death-knell,
but the blind folly of what Johnson and his cronies have done is beyond my
comprehension. These last nine months have seen the dying days of the Britain I
knew – literally and figuratively. In March, Covid began to inflict the first of its increasing
peaks, and the second and third have witnessed a decreasing faith in the future. Can anyone
trust governments? It makes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes,
Minister</i> (an historic BBC-tv comedy series) seem factual. (Is it coincidence that repeats are being broadcast on BBC4? As in the recently resurrected <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spitting
Image</i>, there are depths of truth in satire.) Although, with Trump’s
occupancy of the White House, many of the events that have impinged since 2016 beggar
belief. Do we get the leaders we deserve? If so, what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">did</i> we
do, to warrant Boris and Donald being foisted on us at this juncture of human
existence?</span><span> And what does it say about the prospects for the UK</span>’s future <span>ship of state, HMS </span>‘<span>Blighted Britain,</span>’ when, apparently, Boris’s <i>own father</i> was a Remainer, and is applying for French citizenship?</span></p></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span>The
Anglo-French <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">entente cordiale</i> is no
longer so <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cordiale; </i>checkmate in the endgame made a chaos of last-ditch negotiations <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">v/v</i> Brussels. The media here was shouting
how the EU was blocking the UK’s entirely (un)reasonable wish-list, but I
read a mixture of newspapers, including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Le Monde</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Repubblica</i>, and AP and Reuters. Surprise!
The UK headlines were inaccurate. </span>On 28 December, news came that EU ambassadors
had unanimously passed a provisional application of the trade deal. Europe’s bored
with the British, and wants rid of perfidious Albion? The Foreign Office glibly
outlines how trade deals will be sought with Australia, the States and others,
but, as a Canadian correspondent points out, negotiators will recall just how swiftly
Britain </span><span>‘filed them over the side when it joined the EU.’ But the deal</span><span>’s gone through the Commons, and, pending any eleventh hour glitches, will be signed into law </span><span>–</span><span>allegedly as the lesser of two evils.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Why
Boris chose the road he did is beyond understanding. Did he really wish to free Britain from Europe? He</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">’</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">s on record saying <a href="https://dibianchigirari.blogspot.com/2019/10/bringing-it-home.html">the opposite</a> in 2013. The only explanation is
the decision favoured preserving power by whatever was to hand, as many have
done before him. He acted for gain, to pursue the prospect of getting a foot over
Downing Street’s threshold, with no apparent sense of responsibility for the 48.11% of UK </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">‘</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Remain</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">’</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> he</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">’</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">s drawn into conflict, upheaval and change. But then, like Nemesis, Covid
intervened, and the government’s recent history has been one of further
short-term solutions that have worked out no better. From all I have observed, Mr Johnson brooks no opposition: </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">‘</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">It</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">’</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">s my way, or the highway.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">’</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Personally,
I cannot bear the emergence of nationalism</span><span>. Warbling about independence, sovereignty
or controlling borders exhibits racism. Motivated by dislikes or political prejudices, nationalists deal in manipulating facts, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">e.g.,</i><span> naming names in an effort to
discredit media personnel, insisting, like religious fanatics, that their own eccentric version is the only truth. Many preach with the zeal of the converted, their methods of countering opposition exemplified by those who subscribe to the right-wing
press: the </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daily Mail</i><span>, the
conservative </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Telegraph</i><span>, or the tabloid
Scottish </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nationalist</i><span>. They accuse
others of arrogance, but can’t seem to perceive their own. While it deprives others of choices, a skewed viewpoint is attractively comfortable for those who
don’t want to think. As with the Gerasene demoniac, their numbers are legion. ’Twas
ever thus.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s
sad that, as DJT vacates the Oval Office, a UK clone will continue to wreak
damage on this side of the Pond. Boris’s own Mexican wall is the English Channel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Manche</i>. No more free movement – it’s
to be an Australian-based points system now. No more itinerants, who used to harvest
our crops, or willingly took jobs that Brits deem below their imagined employment status.
No more vital nursing or care staff, or influential academic exchanges through
the Erasmus programme. To my mind, no more civilisation. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">‘</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">No man is an island,</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">’ </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> (Donne) ...</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>I
don’t know if we will get to Andalusia again, come March. I hope for the best
while preparing for the worst. The official diktats vary from day to day. Besides,
we have to comply with Spain’s rulings as well. If the travel requirements I’ve
been researching are anything to go by, our lives are about to become far more
complex. I’ve reviewed our travel insurance policy. It rolls from year to year
without a break, but if it’s like this for would-be travellers to anywhere in
Europe, the hassle must be multiplied many times over for EU citizens living in
UK, let alone for business. I think I’ve got it straight, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so far</i>: £99 per person to be added on, for Covid-related certification of tests within 72 hours of departure, and local regulations t’other end as well. Although this may change with the advent
of the AstraZeneca vaccine, it’s still complicated. Only one travel journo appears
to have got a handle on it. You just have to persevere, opening window after
window on the computer to double-check across website info, and translate GovUK’s
muddled fudge. Still, I refuse to give up all prospects of travel. It’s
one of the few things that make life bearable. </span>I read in the Andalusian news that from tomorrow
the local<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> junta </i>may consider offering
premium travel insurance cover to overseas visitors, f.o.c., because the travel
industry is so necessary for the region. However, there are no guarantees the
Spanish authority’s proposal will be passed, and our annual policy was due for renewal.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n8jCbTk4Nkw/X-nZi9I8o4I/AAAAAAAAC5I/OV5DPa5RoqcbhN7qTST6b69TluhRBUPrwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/hakan-nural-wnSEwHMhxho-unsplash.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1720" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n8jCbTk4Nkw/X-nZi9I8o4I/AAAAAAAAC5I/OV5DPa5RoqcbhN7qTST6b69TluhRBUPrwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/hakan-nural-wnSEwHMhxho-unsplash.jpg" /></a></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ursula von der Leyen quoted from Eliot</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">’s <i>Four Quartets</i>. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Is
this the end of the beginning, or the beginning of the end? Who knows?! I
figure life’s never going to return to its pre-Covid status quo, and while that’s
not wholly a bad thing what’s really put the poison in the pot is Brexit. It’s
complicated an already bleak scenario, but no one should laud Farage. While
unable to get himself voted into the Commons, because of Brexit he’s been
called “the most successful politician” in a generation. (It’s on his financial website.)
</span><span style="font-family: georgia; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>1
January – For at least a year, GovUK has been advising industry to check its
post–Brexit paper work and records. I figure that not enough enterprises have done so. The
only necessity for me has been a year of reading info about IP rights: key information, not only about how the system will work but
also how the Intellectual Property Office will operate in future, after
transition.</span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> If my tiny niche corner is anything to go by, a mountain of red
tape awaits, to submerge GovUK’s civil services beneath toppling workloads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Happy days, eh!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN;">AD 2020’s been an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">annus horribilis</i>, including personal griefs and losses, yet: <i>T</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hank you</i>, EU. I’m indebted for years of courteous responses, and diligent efforts by kind well-informed personnel. And
thank you for tolerating a British lack of languages (French, Italian and currently
a small grasp of German, go a long way, albeit with a few risible howlers!) Thank
you for the ongoing benefits of not only the British Schools, at Athens and in
Rome, but also for hot days in cool libraries and museums, taxing staff with
queries, who also directed me to academics, archaeological artefacts and places
of value – the rich and beautiful histories and legacies of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Bronze and classical ages on Crete and
Sicily, in Greece, Italy, and everywhere else in the Mediterranean, Aegean and
Ionian seas. It’s been a life-changing ride.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span>J’ </span></i><span style="color: red;">♥</span><i><span> l’Union européenne!<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We’ll meet again,<br />
Don’t know where,<br />
Don’t know when<br />
But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day” –</i> © 1939, Charles Hugh /
Ross Parker Clarke.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Picture
credits: Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@christianlue?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Christian
Lue</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/t/current-events?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>,
Brussels, Belgium; Photo, hand and vaccine vial: by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@hakannural?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Hakan
Nural</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/t/current-events?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>;</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-78621646845442942752020-07-31T23:30:00.000+01:002020-07-31T23:30:00.446+01:00Parthian words<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f8FHk3EThGc/Xx72RQ5KcaI/AAAAAAAACzU/9uhWt3ekk2YIPDZwDk03YrC2jKEXPrCsACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Parthian%2Bshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="203" data-original-width="248" height="261" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f8FHk3EThGc/Xx72RQ5KcaI/AAAAAAAACzU/9uhWt3ekk2YIPDZwDk03YrC2jKEXPrCsACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Parthian%2Bshot.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The<i> <a href="https://inews.co.uk/">i<span style="font-style: normal;"> newspaper</span></a></i> recently ran a headline on
what it termed ‘a quadruple whammy,’ <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-army-four-way-winter-disaster-coronavirus-brexit-flu-flooding-560248?ito=social%7Cfacebook%7Cfb_theipaper">replicated</a>
on Twitter: “Boris Johnson orders Army to plan for four-way winter disaster of
coronavirus, Brexit disruption, ’flu surge and flooding.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us hope the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">i</i>’s warning is inaccurate. (In general, their prophecies are spot on.) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A few stray straws blowing in the wind indicate this
government is done for. However, the catastrophe of Brexit, and quitting the EU
under World Trade Organisation rules, will make for the final </span><i>coup de grâce</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (literally, ‘mercy stroke’).
Although this forcibly brings to mind William Camden’s ‘Epitaphs’ – his ‘</span><a href="https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011819740">Remaines concerning
Britaine’</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (published 1605): ‘Betwixt the stirrup and the ground | Mercy I
asked, mercy I found.’</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T</span>he Prime Minister doesn’t believe that he’s riding for a fall; he thinks he can hit the ground running </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">– a view doubtless supported by the shadowy Cummings, <i>de facto </i>PM of</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">‘Britaine’? We are headed for a very hard
landing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Statistically,
Downing Street’s Covid-19 record is worse than America’s. (Some wits have observed
that being the worst in the world is being first in <i>something</i>, at least!)
But, come autumn / winter, if there’s a second wave of the virus, (assuming the first one slackens off, which is unlikely), the UK’s in for more
severe problems. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">No way is this pandemic going to be over by Christmas. The PM’s Panglossian sentiments fool no one, and there are too many separate interests and exigencies conflicting with each other. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The only positive on the horizon is Oxford’s research.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our
world here has shrunk in the last months, and yet the simplest things take
longer. The reliable framework of our previous existence has gone. I can live with </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">‘</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">lockdown hair,</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’ un-waxed eyebrows,</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> face mask issues such as overdosing on breathed</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">-out carbon dioxide after ten minutes or so, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">and the rest. But, l</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ast Monday, I needed to mail an
item. We no longer have a post office here, so I drove to the next village. The PO
in the Co-op was closed: the shop was being re-fitted, because of
Covid. Travelling to the next outlying village, no PO. Almost into town? </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">–</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> nothing. The fourth village I tried still possesses a post office, <i>and</i> it was open –
but only until 1.00 pm.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> I find myself hankering after comfort food. Last night I made a big pot of <i>spaghetti alla carbonara</i> for dinner, and this evening it was a buttery-tasting sea bass with potatoes, and what</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s probably the last of the seasonal peas. Summer feels as if its already on the wane; a thin morning mist hugs the ground before the sun disperses it, and the lanes are promising a rich harvest of blackberries for the birds. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We’re
journeying towards an unknown, and I, for one, am reluctant to trust the bland assurances of
any political stripe, (drop the ‘s’!) While I guess our hermetic lifestyle has
been a measure of protection, I feel sorry for any who must return to work, have young children, or have lost their livelihoods since March, or who’ve laboured tirelessly in the NHS. None
of this has been fair, and the impact on the less well-off sections of UK society
has been disproportionate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What
went wrong? </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The average Brit may be phlegmatic, and shrug, ‘What can you do?’ However, society is changing. Divisions are always the initial symptoms, but the pandemic’s highlighted hugely important issues. At the moment, various institutions and groups are still trying to cling to established certainties, but history demonstrates that changes must, and will, inevitably come. What these are, how they will affect all of us, and the future, can’t be predicted. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I figure all I can do is keep a perspective; get on with what I have to do, plus some things I <i>want</i> to do, taking it easy on myself and everyone else.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> While we only perceive surface symptoms and results, there’s a
vortex roiling beneath. In the recent long spell of hot weather (now a memory: rain has blanketed
Scotland lately) an outdoor multi-generational family reunion was held at a
neighbouring property, including young children screaming late into the night while
the parents were drinking. Someone dared to
complain, and the police were summoned. But it brought home how such raucous virus-ignoring people are extroverts, said by social anthropologists
to constitute some eighty-percent of the UK’s population. Introverts are
the minority: a mere 20%. Thus, for us, 80% of the world is always a pain. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Other
changes have emerged – or are becoming more obvious. A week ago, we drove out to purchase supplies of fresh fruit and vegetables, plus other household necessities. It was
a bright sunny morning, and on the way home we ventured an extra side trip, to check if the Stirling sports
complex my daughter uses was displaying any signs of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t. The whole place was silent, dead, closed.
But its vast car park was being taken over by the army. Khaki field tents had
been pitched, and red and white striped tape was everywhere. Under the watchful eyes of
various officer types, we cruised through the one-way system, and stopped at
one tent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently the place was being turned into a
Covid-testing facility.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not for the first time, we looked at each
other and said: “What’s going on?” No response was received – or expected.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I
don’t know what tomorrow holds, let alone the next six or twelve months.
Nonetheless, this is the last post, a parting with the blog. Two-hundred and
fifteen posts, from 1 August 2010 – not a lot, but over 76,000 views. The all-time
history’s highest score was 4 July 2011 (1,650+) but the average is lower. The count
can be puzzling, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">e.g.,</i> recently, Romanian interest has displayed 300 or more, <i>per diem</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Plus, there are other very similar names on the </span>’Net, <i>e.g.,</i> a Brooklyn <a href="https://dobianchi.com/">wine blogger</a>! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll miss blogging, but I really do have to concentrate on
something else more important.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ordinarily,
a decade is my limit for anything. Then I start to fret and search for a new project. Classical studies took something over ten years, given the degree was part-time, but it was the
same with the freelance business, and the British Horse Society. All t</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">he periods overlap; the concurrent decades are not precisely linear.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Och,
well. Life will, hopefully, go on, to encounter whatever lies beyond the blind S bends in our road ahead. With foreign travel liable to be problematic, if not impossible, (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cf. </i>header paragraph), we won’t have that retreat, either, but I don’t want one
of Boris’s blue passports. I’ll be EU to my grave. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><i><span lang="IT">E addio, Roma e Toscana </span></i><span lang="IT" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">– <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">adieu, la belle France;</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gracias, España – y no hay remedio. </i>Ταξιδέψτε</span><span lang="IT" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span lang="IT" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">καλά</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, </span><span lang="IT" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ελλάδα</span><i><span lang="IT"> </span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(</span><i>Taxidépste
kalá, </i><i><span lang="IT">Elláda: </span></i><span lang="IT"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">journey well, Greece) </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="IT"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">und</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> ein </span></i></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>leider </i></span><i>G</i><span lang="IT" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ute Nacht, Wien (</i>and a sad goodnight, Vienna). </span><i>Vale! </i><span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">♥♥♥♥♥</span><i> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Picture
credits: Hephthalite rider: AD 460–479, on a bowl in the British Museum:
Wikimedia PHGCOM, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthian_shot">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthian_shot</a>;</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-41220227717795148152020-07-20T01:30:00.000+01:002020-07-20T01:30:07.907+01:00Life, love ‘n’ Lego <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4CsBauph6DE/XxQ5I6OyO9I/AAAAAAAACyk/gJ6i5n1FJ8UfBQeHsxBxScuXS06gzZwJgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/LOVE%2527n%2527LEGO%2B001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1022" data-original-width="1072" height="305" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4CsBauph6DE/XxQ5I6OyO9I/AAAAAAAACyk/gJ6i5n1FJ8UfBQeHsxBxScuXS06gzZwJgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/LOVE%2527n%2527LEGO%2B001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’ve
been trying of late to craft a solution to our cat’s problem with eating her
food. She’s become stiffer and less ‘foldable’ with age, and now can no longer
fully crouch – apparently necessary for the alignment of her oesophagus and gullet.
For our much-belov’d pet, eating resembles the two-stage swallowing operation of a
cormorant or heron consuming a fish. Hence, copious amounts of cat food fall to the
floor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> There are no
solutions available from pet stores. There are dinky metal frames, with
twee little cat dishes, but (a) these will only accept the receptacles made for
their individual holders, and (b) it’s a myth that cats like tiny dishes. The
resident feline prefers a decent-sized saucer, and a large water bowl that
doesn’t squash her whiskers when she drinks. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sitting
down with pencil and paper, I sketched a basic ‘engineering design’ in
embryo, and a tech-savvy Canadian friend has offer</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ed a code to print a Lego-like </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">plastico</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> as an experiment. (Wish
I possessed a 3D printer. Not that I’d have a clue how to operate it!)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Life
grows increasingly complicated. I think I’ve reached my maximum capacity. I’ll
stick to what I know, and hope for the best. The legacy issues of Windows 7 are
enough to cope with, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pro tem</i>. Tech
is fast exceeding my limited ability to absorb changes, updates and ‘improvements,’
and I’m well behind the curve. I’ve given up on the smartphone, and
cancelled its contract. For some eighteen months Vodafone have been directing my payments to some
other number that isn’t mine – no wonder the thing was unusable. In my
innocence, I simply put this down to the unavailability of a stable signal
hereabouts, but seemingly it was not so simple.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enquiries are ongoing. Not that one expects
much to come of pursuing the error. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
true impact of Covid-19’s legacy is beginning to be felt, big time. In the
interests of maintaining peace of mind, it’s wise to avoid too much exposure to
Whitehall’s politicians, and the PM – a typical <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooray_Henry">Hooray Henry</a> from the
Shires who had fun at Oxbridge, but isn’t up to the exigencies of the job, or
his ‘ReadyBrexit’ enterprise. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s only my opinion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This
is likely the penultimate post. Come end of this month, the blog, too, must
cease. It’s not the time it takes to write, it’s that I’ve run out of subjects to
expatiate on. Although much remains that I could fume over, best be circumspect.
It’s time to move on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides, my habitual jaundiced pessimism has
finally ‘summited,’ to employ an ugly mountaineering neologism. I need to descend, find a less complex life; one that majors in love for family, the now-rescued garden, and exploring new pastures. (Not that I’ll start watching <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pointless</i>. Never was a daytime television programme so accurately named.)</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w5ZnT_8xp9A/XxQ6KMpIA8I/AAAAAAAACyw/foI7H5K8xyMh_udYSyKvK09pAZoAaKVcwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/alessandro-sacchi-NUFnfYd09iI-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="619" height="220" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w5ZnT_8xp9A/XxQ6KMpIA8I/AAAAAAAACyw/foI7H5K8xyMh_udYSyKvK09pAZoAaKVcwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/alessandro-sacchi-NUFnfYd09iI-unsplash.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As
various forms of home-working are now accepted, I hazard a guess that the computer screen is our
window on the world. Zoom’s become an integral part of </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">existence, as has the ‘home
office,’ and flexible working, (which is a </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">very</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
flexible term!) However, there are active concerns to address, and other, more
effective, platforms. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> One paramount debate is the need for humanity, and empathy for wildlife. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I fail to understand why the technically-advanced state of China supports so-called ‘wet markets,’ abusing
other species that share our planet as well as persecuting the Moslem Uighurs. The barbaric practices of Chinese ‘traditional’
medicine, </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">e.g.,</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> tiger bones and severed bear
paws – sit ill with twenty-first century civilisation. We might as well re-adopt
the mores and practices of the medieval European centuries, when superstitions went
unchecked and itinerant plague doctors and snake oil sellers promoted their useless
‘cures.’ No wonder zoonotic viruses can jump the species barrier. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A late aunt placed her faith in the complementary
therapy of a Chinese medicine-man, while she was receiving conventional orthodox medical treatment
for serious macular degeneration. Nothing would dissuade her from also religiously
swallowing the alternative practitioner’s horse pills, dished out in the hope of
saving her sight. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She ended up registered blind. Even in the Athens
of the North, witch-doctors prosper.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Otherwise,
I plough on with academic pressures <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">versus</i>
the constraints of time. Not much change there, but perhaps a return to
erstwhile research practices might be of benefit. Switch off the phones, ignore the avalanche of spurious emails from travel companies who don’t appear to
realise we can’t leave Scotland to jet off to Croatia, Spain, the Med or
Aegean, (and currently don’t want to) – or the endless surveys that petition
you to inform online retailers, ‘how did we do?’ None of these peripherals really matter; they have no impact on
whatever grand plans the universe is hatching to foil or vex humankind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Picture
credits: ‘Love / Lego’ – a computer-twisted composite by JAS; sunset over mountains in
Seceda, Italy: photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@alle_sacchi?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Alessandro
Sacchi</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/mountains?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>;</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-84056567074824875532020-07-10T19:00:00.000+01:002020-07-10T19:00:02.335+01:00Alla letteratura, con il mio amore? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lzObUPyPthQ/XwiSGXaJddI/AAAAAAAACx4/SQE6F-TxtQUV57177it1NT4U_5ixcVJPQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="184" data-original-width="274" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lzObUPyPthQ/XwiSGXaJddI/AAAAAAAACx4/SQE6F-TxtQUV57177it1NT4U_5ixcVJPQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Books.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There are occasions when I question why I embarked on a thesis.
It’s not the research effort – that was engrossing. It’s the writing that’s
proved the final hurdle. Heigh-ho, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">è la vita.</i></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
aim of any academic work is to advance knowledge, to adequately convey what one’s
discovered, and to demonstrate what it all means: clearly, concisely, and
memorably. The widely-cited standard authorities on myth – inc. Beard, Burkert,
Cartledge, Dodds, Green, Guthrie, Rohde, Segal, West, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">et al </i>– deliver complex ideas in plain language, including interpretations
that enhance understanding. (Even the somewhat creative insights of Rohde’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psyche</i> didn’t obscure the main issues
that persuaded me of certain ‘facts’ about the figure of Orpheus.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Progress
feels like one step forward, two back. The size of the task is intimidating,
thus I figure it’s best to religiously follow comments to the letter, and see
if they make any real difference, then edit / reconfigure the work. Except, as
I don’t have my paper copy to hand, it’s not easy to address the whole on a
computer monitor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Orpheus sources are not only diverse, but
also stem from various eras. And, while a standard chronological timeline
is linear, it’s necessary to establish if associations or threads are pertinent,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">e.g.,</i> ‘the Vergil question.’ Vergil,
and his successor, Ovid, drew on myths that descended from Greece to Rome, but,
while he probably knew the work of Herodotus (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ca. </i>484 – 425 BC) and the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Argonautica </i>of Apollonius of Rhodes, (early third-century BC) what
else did Vergil absorb from the common capital of Greek myth? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I riffled through my text, in search of a
reason (an excuse?) to reduce or cut the Roman’s contribution: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Non te nullius exercent numinis irae; magna
luis commissa: tibi has miserabilis Orpheus … flerunt Rhodopeiae arces altaque
Pangaea et Rhesi Mauortia tellus atque Getae atque Hebrus et Actias Orithyi,</i>”<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Georgics</i>,
4:453–63). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In
an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">epyllion</i>, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Georgics</i> entwined the myth of Orpheus with that of the minor god Aristaeus,
an apiarist whose bees suddenly perished. Despairing, Aristaeus consulted a
seer, who outlined the cause and effect: the victim of a wrong has exacted
retribution by inflicting harm on the perpetrator, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">i.e</i>., taking away something Aristaeus held dear, a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">quid pro quo</i>. Therefore, as Eurydike
died of a snake bite while fleeing from Aristaeus’s aggressive advances,
Orpheus’s anger led to the death of Aristaeus’s bees. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although needlessly complicating the story of Orpheus,
Vergil also refers to the mythical rape of Oreithyia, echoing Hades’ abduction
of Persephone, and Theseus’s attempt on Helen of Sparta. Vergil was expanding
on Orpheus’s loss, but how relevant is this daughter of Erechtheus, legendary
autochthonous king of ancient Athens? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Boreas, Thracian god of the north wind, fell
violently in love with the girl as she danced near the river Ilissos in
Attica. After failing to win Oreithyia as his consort, he resolved to abduct</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9PIyFaU7ZS8/XwiStaGdsJI/AAAAAAAACyA/Kqllh4oHVwIYi10jMX6qyI9MRwU1FKglgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/virgil_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="683" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9PIyFaU7ZS8/XwiStaGdsJI/AAAAAAAACyA/Kqllh4oHVwIYi10jMX6qyI9MRwU1FKglgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/virgil_.jpg" width="296" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> her,
and spirit her away to Sarpedon’s Rock, Thracian burial place of the Trojan
hero, (according to the Greek epic poet, Quintus of Smyrna’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Posthomerica</i> – far too late for Vergil).
In ‘wintry Thrace’ Boreas concealed Oreithyia in ‘dark clouds,’ (</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Argonautica</i>, I: 212–5). </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There’s also a sonorous description of ancient Thrace
(modern southern Bulgaria and north-eastern Greece), but it’s highly unlikely
Vergil ever set foot there. Thrace is that land belov’d of poets and
storytellers, ‘far, far away’. Mentioning the myth gives an impression that insouciant
Greek girls made a habit of attracting gods by straying in flowery fields, and that
Eurydike was no different. (The old story – blame the female?) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, can I legitimately quote the
Vergilian poetic recombination as part of the literature on Orpheus and / or
Eurydike, or insert the history and geography into the section on the Thracian
and the natural world, or should it be left out altogether? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">relevant?</i>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On reflection, no.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The perils of research. Decisions, decisions.
... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">On
a modern tack, I’ve been catching-up on relatively recent books by authors I’ve
liked in the past – new titles missed during six long years of research. Reading
during the day has been a lockdown luxury, but some classical rigour could benefit
the torrents of incontinent prose that are a feature of Amazon’s Kindle lists. Academics
adopt a few of the techniques of creative writing, but it’s evident there’s no
exchange the other way. Although much is avoidable, identifiable as self-published
junk, seductive titles, or the effusions of a publisher’s blurb, often turn out
to be window dressing. With Kindle, it’s too easy to order. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ping!</i> And a title is instantly available
via Amazon’s own free wireless 3G Whispernet – even at 2.00 am.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clever idea, Mr Bezos. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Some
choices were good, some not so good, some very bad indeed. One novel (allegedly
a bestseller) annoyed me. Whole sections were superficially trivial:
descriptions of people’s clothes, the minutiae of scenery and so on, but the
heart of the matter, the supposed emotional substance, was facile and clichéd.
And, having wasted words on incidentals that contributed little to driving the
narrative forward (something I’m far too aware of, post–thesis!) when the book
suddenly stumbled into two pivotal plot happenings these were virtually
dismissed in single paragraphs, plus the book ended on a cliff hanger. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why?</i> There was no explanation. It’s as
if the writer left the room, and never returned to finish the book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A good thing I no longer write reviews.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Even
if Kindle’s tech can’t replicate the indefinable scent or weight of a new
hardback book, it’s priceless for its portability. An invaluable companion ever
since it was first given to me by one of my daughters, the protective cover’s
worn out from being flipped open and closed, or hurriedly stuffed into bags and
pockets. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here’s
to literature, with love. ... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The compensations of lockdown life – a garden,
books, a cat, cakes and cups of tea. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Picture
credits: books, and Publius Vergilius Maro (Anon.) © Wikimedia Commons;</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-13240530012180709282020-06-25T15:00:00.000+01:002020-06-25T15:00:00.304+01:00Midsummer madness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LN539P8bLW8/XvCfOw9FB_I/AAAAAAAACxA/C9yQX1bd4q8YEFsxU-BYD8DgUkRNdIc5gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Stonehenge_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1062" height="216" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LN539P8bLW8/XvCfOw9FB_I/AAAAAAAACxA/C9yQX1bd4q8YEFsxU-BYD8DgUkRNdIc5gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Stonehenge_1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It’s
that time of year again: half-way through, the bizarre interlude when parliamentarians
vanish for their long summer recess, and the tabloid press runs vapid ‘fillers’ in the vacant column space. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> But isn’t this an abnormal year, anyway? So far, yes
– albeit in the UK a certain weariness is detected, an unspoken feeling
that the novelty’s worn off, and the sole topic of conversation’s long been
exhausted. Emotional responses, drained by endless media reports, appear to be
giving way to an unspoken wish to flee to the familiar, to an erstwhile
pre–Covid existence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A dangerous juncture. There’s a long road
ahead. It’s just when you believe the portcullis has been lifted, and it’s safe
to venture into the forest again, because the monster has slunk back to
whatever grim dark lair it came from, that the beast will strike from ambush and
take out more victims in a second round.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> America and Germany have already seen this happen, and doubtless the UK will, too, if the rush to revitalise economic activity allows the virus further opportunities to spread. Particularly as we know so little about how it will behave in future, or what further long-term damage it may wreak. I understand the scientists; I don</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">t understand mendacious politicians.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the fifth
century BC, during the plague in Athens, Thucydides reported that ‘men, not knowing what
would happen next to them, became indifferent to every rule of religion or law,’
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">History of the Peloponnesian War</i>,
2:52). In fourteenth century Europe, failed harvests and food shortages, the
Hundred Years War and the Black Death, all contributed to a craving for
distractions. While the modern Brit doesn’t suffer overmuch from religion,
sunshine and cabin fever combine in ignoring the emergency shut-down’s laws.
Beers, barbecues and socialising are scant comfort if they exact a higher price
for your entertainment. As the mercury readings climb, <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-police/british-police-say-22-officers-hurt-in-violence-at-illegal-party-idUKKBN23W14D">parties erupt</a>. This is not simply down to Covid. Broiling heat in the cities has a history of resulting in violence, riots and looting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The</span> <i>annus horribilis</i> is now on the turn, with the
sun past its zenith. The solstice reminds how long we’ve been<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on this planet </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">–</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> to date. However, as the midsummer sunrise lit the sarsen stones of prehistoric </span><a href="https://www.visitwiltshire.co.uk/salisbury/things-to-do/stonehenge-p133703" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Stonehenge</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> it was unattended by the usual congeries of latter-day Druids, pagans and New Agers. A few witnesses passed through the security cordon in a drizzly Wiltshire dawn, although the archaic circle’s aged grandeur (Neolithic to Bronze Age) is far better appreciated
if first glimpsed at a distance, rising out of the Wiltshire plain and unobscured by milling
crowds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This whole area was once free of access, a stark
lonely monument near the main road. Now, you pay anything up to £50 for a
ticket entry. I suppose this is the fate of all Unesco world heritage sites. It’s
the same now for the Parthenon on the Athenian <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">akropolis</i>, for Cretan Knōsós, and Italy’s Pompeii, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">et al.</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">C’est comme ça. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My
world’s grown smaller. I ought to be working, but long hot summer days don’t encourage
it. Having now bought Kern’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Orphicorum
Fragmenta</i>,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>I foresee another challenge.
The Greek is translated into Latin: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">quod
probat quae in prima parte libri</i>. My schoolgirl Latin leaves a great deal to
be desired!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fu7odObMkyE/XvChfVFCr1I/AAAAAAAACxM/lB71DRmVxWcwTqpCmphROaaEr0rsoR1lgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Athens%2B001.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="1316" height="215" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fu7odObMkyE/XvChfVFCr1I/AAAAAAAACxM/lB71DRmVxWcwTqpCmphROaaEr0rsoR1lgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Athens%2B001.bmp" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i> </i>I’d far rather be outside. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Long-neglected electrical garden tools and aids have been coaxed back into life, and y</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">esterday I spent 12 hours out there, from 7.15 am to 7.15 pm, in the baking sun, while a carpenter replaced the shed roof. There’s a rockery to be
built, a water feature to be installed, the bird feeding station to be re-sited, a fence to be painted, the shed to coat
with a discovered stash of creosote, and decorative bark to be tipped into wild
corners.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meantime, the planet continues to turn on its
axis. While UK politicos prevaricate, and Trump blows his own trumpet, I ignore
them: ‘<span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Sufficient
unto the day</span>,’ as the axiom has it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Incidentally, Google keep informing me that </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“In
late June, the new Blogger interface will become the default for all users. The
legacy interface will still be available as an option.” Nothing has yet
changed, but maybe I sha’n’t be quitting a moment too soon. No doubt new tech’s
in the pipeline? It’s taken me 10 years to master the ‘old’ tech! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’ve also been watching far too much lockdown television (as does my daughter), but don’t regret the loss of one single minuscule iota of wall-to-wall
sport. It might add to human experience, for some, but it’s ephemeral. The arts
adapt to universal changes in existence. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However, I speculate whether the fare
on offer will be dismissed as trash when the current crisis is history: ‘The TV
Snob will moan. “There was never anything to watch and BBC1 was all news
without any proper examination of the issues. I can just imagine the peasants
sitting mutely on their sofas, wasting hours ... while I was driving my sick
family from London to a spare home in County Durham,” – cf., Alison Graham, TV
editor, </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Radio Times</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, 13–19 June,
2020, p. 39. (She obviously dislikes Dominic Cummings as much as I do!)</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Picture
credits: header, Kartik - own work, Public Domain: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18273356;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18273356;</a>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Akropolis and Parthenon, © Editions K.
Voutsas & Co., 101, 17 November Str., 155 62 Holargos, Athens, Greece;</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-90359319901385403042020-06-10T01:30:00.000+01:002020-06-10T01:30:00.434+01:00Social distancing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MOxc7_oae7k/Xt9TQMQeKdI/AAAAAAAACwE/oB_HG9F5c3UFylVKbsB-wffGMRcBbwoCQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/256px-Vitruvian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="256" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MOxc7_oae7k/Xt9TQMQeKdI/AAAAAAAACwE/oB_HG9F5c3UFylVKbsB-wffGMRcBbwoCQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/256px-Vitruvian.jpg" width="235" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: justify;">Going, going,
gone ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainties are disappearing from our UK lives,
as much we took for granted is altered by the Covid pandemic. Although the
saying is that old habits die hard, the virus has brought huge cultural changes
in its wake – albeit the acceptance of social distancing took a while. It’s now
the new norm. While too many continue to ignore it, my sister drily commented that my
brother-in-law was practising the two metres even when speaking to her. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The recommended 6 feet, 6½ inches ‘wingspan’ seems
a fluid measurement. Being a small person, my extended arms, left to right, barely reach beyond
one metre between finger-tips.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But the outside
is a refuge from real-world concerns. After what felt like a protracted
drought, rain halted the garden project for a few days. Still, the plan’s
broadly on track. A pile of boulders and stones turned up by the ground-works
will make a rockery, and a solar powered water feature’s on order. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Much is recycled or re-purposed, reducing waste.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus, I joined a BBC <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Springwatch</i> / OU citizen science project, and last week logged
a <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/birdwatching/how-to-identify-birds/hummingbirds-and-hawkmoths/">humming-bird hawk-moth</a>. A day-flying moth, it was dipping around the last of
the lilac flowers at the end of the garden. I thought it was a tiny bat at
first!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yet another ‘Groundhog
Day,’ and a large skip (dumpster) sits outside the front door, awaiting
collection. Just as well – there’s a dangerously sharp corner projecting onto
the public right of way, where the unwary might run into it. The hire firm’s delivery
lorry couldn’t manoeuvre itself into a tight turn in our narrow road, owing to the
quantity of vehicles parked opposite: a caravan, a large fishing boat, an
estate car and a trailer, amongst other obstructions that would affect access for emergency
services. But at least we’ve now emptied the neglected shed’s accumulated
hoard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was similar to excavating a loft or attic.
Long-forgotten items came to light – including a ru</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">sty paper-lined leather and wood-banded
dome-topped trunk that once belonged to my late Scots grandmother. It has gone into
the skip. (Maybe I should rescue it. These fetch up to £135 on a certain online auction site!) Plus there were two artworks, produced decades
ago in London. I had thought these safe in the portfolio in our actual attic.
Alas, no. The paintings were stuck together, at the back of an old bookcase
that held a gallimaufry of paint cans, oils, varnishes and assorted chemicals. My
daughter recalls my depositing the works in the shed – </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">why</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> I did so I can’t remember. Both are beyond rescue. The second
painting’s definitely a gonner: the ravages of condensation, and wriggly things
that live in dark sheds, have done their worst.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The almost illegible date on the flaking top
picture retrieved memories of the West Hampstead enclave where it was done, and who
else was present. The visual arts were another road not taken, another door not
opened.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Those were days out of time, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pace</i> Eliot’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.davidgorman.com/4quartets/1-norton.htm">Burnt
Norton</a></i>: “Driven on the wind that sweeps the gloomy hills of London, |
Hampstead and ... Highgate, | ... Not here ... ” (I
must cease quoting TSE! Other poets<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> are</i>
available.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZhEoZJ-vhms/Xt9Tm59A6nI/AAAAAAAACwQ/MqQb2ddnaZc1rjNoXItR0IwTDatEPO-TACEwYBhgLKtQDAL1OcqzZFDu-NVvAGTSBOEAwjpaT8V3WV1W6gLHtEOikuZ2N9JkNzuR7uH-KVlC5C5wI-Kya0_UqmY0-zPb5bT2XgBNxa_JdRnpulCgpePpbY4Z_X1xe9BG_hoKG5Le3nd1L8pWIYzww9RIp1DZL10JCUZd2DvrxIzf0rrSG-YF55pe5bke1qy8JjqkoocDPF41ZccZ-xeWEXP_M_ftS5AIEYQ2OgQtMJBigSF2vW7ldl9Xus5Y12fsSFQ0Dh7hlaYBecf3LHCuGXum0v50TxlfICa6wpoQQEv1UhysxtFK8OB3MHSfFsHNEHwIwTplKthLTBmusDoJLKZselec09S9AffCpxsf3_HFmA2moYM9rDF9Zl7DbAxmFuV2VZ258BWBrpPIKdSjpbMeJXbXENxNpkK-aBr5OD5B1WDeBKoEjw4yY4ginyeDjqx79G73vjhhUC0u-oFW3v5nHcUj4LpanonwrT-R2vVUy11DUe87p1xUIQ9iasKwtcKu2wN4dEp8FnqLjwmbkdrUfyuOidyXTlYUOWGP3osY8gB4c-Up_6jF9vAl40k5uRO6Wo6LtGxBtNbKg_yUHcEhMsxFxUxVFtpv5rXMsC4IFn7QF16DCNQsEMK2t_fYF/s1600/Garden%2Bpath%2B001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="965" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZhEoZJ-vhms/Xt9Tm59A6nI/AAAAAAAACwQ/MqQb2ddnaZc1rjNoXItR0IwTDatEPO-TACEwYBhgLKtQDAL1OcqzZFDu-NVvAGTSBOEAwjpaT8V3WV1W6gLHtEOikuZ2N9JkNzuR7uH-KVlC5C5wI-Kya0_UqmY0-zPb5bT2XgBNxa_JdRnpulCgpePpbY4Z_X1xe9BG_hoKG5Le3nd1L8pWIYzww9RIp1DZL10JCUZd2DvrxIzf0rrSG-YF55pe5bke1qy8JjqkoocDPF41ZccZ-xeWEXP_M_ftS5AIEYQ2OgQtMJBigSF2vW7ldl9Xus5Y12fsSFQ0Dh7hlaYBecf3LHCuGXum0v50TxlfICa6wpoQQEv1UhysxtFK8OB3MHSfFsHNEHwIwTplKthLTBmusDoJLKZselec09S9AffCpxsf3_HFmA2moYM9rDF9Zl7DbAxmFuV2VZ258BWBrpPIKdSjpbMeJXbXENxNpkK-aBr5OD5B1WDeBKoEjw4yY4ginyeDjqx79G73vjhhUC0u-oFW3v5nHcUj4LpanonwrT-R2vVUy11DUe87p1xUIQ9iasKwtcKu2wN4dEp8FnqLjwmbkdrUfyuOidyXTlYUOWGP3osY8gB4c-Up_6jF9vAl40k5uRO6Wo6LtGxBtNbKg_yUHcEhMsxFxUxVFtpv5rXMsC4IFn7QF16DCNQsEMK2t_fYF/s320/Garden%2Bpath%2B001.jpg" width="241" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (There’s a legend in the academic world that
postgrad dissertations and theses are dumped in skips, post~ assessment. The
paintings have shared this fate for real.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The clearance
operation’s been a welcome relief from staring at a computer monitor. (I initially
typed ‘release’ there, which is probably more accurate.) The pace of life’s decelerated.
Everything’s now done slowly, and if not today there’s always tomorrow. I don’t
work more than half a day, starting late, finishing early, Monday through
Friday, and weekends are free. Although it’s all due to the terrible effects of
the global pandemic, I’m sure this is a better mode of human existence. I hope
it lasts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I finally contacted the university.
At least<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> that</i>’s underway, if as yet unresolved.
A formal application has to go in for a decision. It might not be time-critical,
but the current cut-off date<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> is</i>. In four
months all I’ve done is sketch a few notes. While the task might be achievable,
it’s finding enough uninterrupted time to tackle it, plus a means of accessing
reference materials. Nonetheless, I mailed London in regard to the “original”
work’s fate, for when the virus’s restrictions are history – if they ever are,
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">if</i> I live that long! Nothing much can be done, <i>pro tem</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The classical
music world’s sustained a serious hit, both here and abroad. Freelance artists
and performers have felt the impact, lacking financial back-up. Some orchestras
are to resume live productions, and the Vienna Philharmonic’s returned to its
city <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Musikverein</i>, with tickets restricted
to family members and supporters. The first private performance in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Groβer Saal</i> was to be Mozart’s Piano
Concerto No. 27, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. (The website didn’t say this
was cancelled, and there were waiting lists.) The concerts, limited to 70
minutes, aren’t allowed an interval, and the audiences, (max. 100), must wear
masks against the virus. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other European orchestras plan to re-launch –
some have already done so – but no word yet on London’s Royal Opera House.
Covent Garden is streaming ballet and opera free online, but I haven’t traced
any info regarding if or when live performances might be resumed.
Glyndebourne’s summer season’s been cancelled. It’s been running a virtual
‘festival’ of Mozart (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Don Giovanni</i>, 7
June) but a picnic perched in a study, watching a computer screen, isn’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">quite</i> the same experience! Though it’s
probably the best that can be expected for months yet. Right now, there are far
more serious issues preoccupying the planet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Picture
credits: Leonardo da Vinci, <i>Vitruvian man</i>
(the canon of human proportion) US public domain © <a href="http://ecourse.uoi.gr/pluginfile.php/121390/course/section/20203/Photo.JPG">http://ecourse.uoi.gr/pluginfile.php/121390/course/section/20203/Photo.JPG</a>;
garden path and door, © Photolibrary.com, <a href="https://www.otterhouse.co.uk/Home">https://www.otterhouse.co.uk/Home</a>;</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-28405526303727511362020-05-25T01:30:00.000+01:002020-05-25T01:30:00.559+01:00Hortus conclusus<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OUDEM4Cf570/XsfnDioweOI/AAAAAAAACus/e7BNYncsYv4B4jl5oEAdyUJwMLfh1Qg1gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Garden1999%2B001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1093" data-original-width="778" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OUDEM4Cf570/XsfnDioweOI/AAAAAAAACus/e7BNYncsYv4B4jl5oEAdyUJwMLfh1Qg1gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Garden1999%2B001.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Long
ago our back garden was as pictured (L, photograph of one quarter, taken for a BBC gardening
programme). Then the classical studies degree took over, and our patch became
more and more neglected. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a bit of a shock, to realise just how
much this place has changed. And how much light there used to be, compared with
now, before years of tree growth overshadowed the boundaries. Maybe the sun
will revivify us both. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nine dark green sentinel </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">leylandii</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> cypresses were removed (I loathe these) but there was no rowan
tree back then, no crab apple, and no laurels planted where the birdbath was. Today the
new gravel patio overlays where a prickly mahonia, azaleas and rhododendrons once spread, (lower
right of picture). Billowy white clouds of ‘snow-in-summer’</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Cerastium tomentosum</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">)</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ground cover by the sundial disappeared
years ago, and the cat ate all the </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">nepeta</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hortus conclusus</i> is an enclosed garden-within-a-garden,
an ‘interior space’ in which to contemplate and think – as in an ancient
Hellenistic Greek or Roman style <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">peristylium</i>,
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or the central courtyard or quad of a
monastery’s roofed cloister, where monks can walk, or <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sit, and look at flowers or a fountain, even
when it’s raining. A place of retreat from the outside world’s distracting
noise and activity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-up7LD-eBJhI/XsfneijROcI/AAAAAAAACu0/kV6TrBo-RIM5IYdV03CNo0aR2f1G-KZ2wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/House%2Bof%2Bthe%2BVettii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="143" data-original-width="353" height="129" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-up7LD-eBJhI/XsfneijROcI/AAAAAAAACu0/kV6TrBo-RIM5IYdV03CNo0aR2f1G-KZ2wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/House%2Bof%2Bthe%2BVettii.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These days, enclosure is less about medieval
ideas of the Virgin Mary, or mythical unicorns, or any of the emblems that
adorn tapestries and illustrated manuscripts, but basically it’s the same pattern
as ancient domestic villas we find at Pompeii,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">e.g.,</i> <a href="https://www.artichaeology.com/the-house-of-vettii-pompei">the House of
the Vettii</a>, (which contained a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">piscina</i>
at its centre). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wish for an enclosure, a ‘safe space,’ might
explain the UK’s upsurge of gardening that pro</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">moted telephone and online access to commercial garden centres during this crisis. For a time, it was thought thousands of spring stocks would have to be destroyed.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In
ancient Greek literature, plants and / or flowers are mentioned less for pleasure
than as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pharmakeia</i>, or in connection
with darker purposes. Hekate, a trimorphic proto-Greek goddess, was once held to protect
humanity (as much as any ancient deity ever did! Every Greek god and goddess had their ‘good’
and ‘bad’ side). She allegedly taught Medea her black arts, and in the Colchis garden
‘there were overhanging grasses ... | And asphodel, and famed and lovely
maiden’s hair. Yew and camomile and the black poppy | Mighty plants, and white
hellebore and monkshood too, | And many other baneful plants that grow upon the
ground.’ (Ps.-Orpheus: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Argonautika
Orphika,</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ca</i>. C4th, AD). Yew,
hellebore and monkshood are lethally poisonous. A willow grove cemetery
mentioned may well be the same ‘botanical garden,’ where the plants included
aconite and deadly nightshade. Asphodel was believed to be a specific remedy
for the bite of a poisonous snake, and it decorated Persephone’s crown. Homer,
too, linked ἀσφόδελος (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">asphódelos</i>) to
death and the afterlife – which is odd. The asphodel requires light to bloom. The plant</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s tasteless roots were consumed as vegetables by impoverished Greeks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">These
days Hekate is commonly linked with modern paganism, witchcraft and wargaming’s absurd
figures, plus she also features in online sites that not only conflate the
goddess with Artemis but also persistently confuse Apollonios Rhodios’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Argonautica</i> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ca.</i> third century BC) with the pseudo ‘Orphika’ version composed far later, (Late Antique era, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ca</i>. C5–6th
AD). Health warning: Online junk <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">can’t</i>
be taken seriously. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Twas ever thus. As with conspiracy theories, even
if something flies in the face of all reason and logic, if enough people
‘believe’ in it, it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">must</i> be true. And
if it also confirms a walled mindset of innate or emotional prejudices, so
much the better. It’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so</i> agreeable to
be ‘right,’ isn’t it! (How else can we explain Jair Bolsonaro, or Donald Trump?
Or even B. Johnson?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
weather mirrors positive and negative moods: one day sun, next day rain. Last
Wednesday it was hot as mid-June, and beaches in the south were inundated with
crowds conspicuously <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> practising
social distancing. The government’s advisories have no weight against a weary
populace that’s spent eight – nine? – weeks indoors. With no real end to the
lockdown in sight, the siren call of sea and sun is irresistible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May is usually a gorgeous month, but it’s more dramatic than normal this year. Roadside verges haven’t been cut, and
drifts of wild cow parsley, bluebells, dandelions, gorse, vetches and campions are riots
of colour. The grass seems extraordinarily green, the wild cherry blossom
whiter than white. Birds are everywhere, encouraged by a relatively low density
of human beings. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LYV05V5R-Q8/XsfoM58g-mI/AAAAAAAACvA/HVuzTuuYQHcw2YKcrzt6Nv8IPaTddlP3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/PoppiesWalledGarden%2B001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="1123" height="247" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LYV05V5R-Q8/XsfoM58g-mI/AAAAAAAACvA/HVuzTuuYQHcw2YKcrzt6Nv8IPaTddlP3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/PoppiesWalledGarden%2B001.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Blackbirds are nesting in the wild patch at
the foot of the garden – yet again – and I watched two magpies spying on the
site. Will the blackbirds <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">never</i>
learn? Magpies are highly intelligent corvids, and thoroughly evil. As the male
blackbird flew into the hollies, a magpie calmly stalked in behind it. I don’t
know if the pirate bird was after eggs or nestlings, but there was a lot of
scuffling. Both blackbirds shot out in a panic, sounding the alarm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This happens every year. It can’t be the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">same </i>blackbirds, given the casualty rate
of eggs and nestlings, so each spring it must be a new naive pair who have no
memory of magpies. The wood pigeons in the pine trees are also raided, but wood
pigeons are dimwits. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, since the trees and bushes were so
severely decimated, there are more birds in the garden, not fewer. They don’t
seem to be worried about the sparrowhawks. Yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Progress
of the garden renewal project is intermittent. A sturdy new wooden bench
arrived from England – a heavy, partially-assembled semi-flat pack that
required Herculean efforts with coach bolts and an allen key to complete its construction.
Next, either a replacement shed will have to be decided on, or someone found to
repair and replace the present one</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s roof. The shed’s walls and floor are okay, but the roof’s
a gonner. Environmental wear and tear only needs to make one tiny little
hole, </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">e.g</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">., birds pecking at the moss.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flowers, sitting on the kitchen doorstep for a
week, await planting out, and enormous bags of landscape bark need to be spread
in designated areas. However, time is not an issue – far from it. Life is beginning to feel like one very, <i>very</i> long weekend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hasta la vista. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Picture
credits: header, © JAS; Pompeii, © <a href="https://www.artichaeology.com/the-house-of-vettii-pompei">https://www.artichaeology.com/the-house-of-vettii-pompei</a>;
poppies in orchard of a 17th century walled garden, Fenton House, London, © NT
Images / Ian Shaw, <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/fenton-house-and-garden">https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/fenton-house-and-garden</a>;</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-82852460926683194522020-05-20T01:30:00.000+01:002020-05-20T10:14:15.610+01:00The sound of silence?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S-sHkBtOZC4/XsKX9UZ7LDI/AAAAAAAACuA/1D0XU7WlZygExOUuvOktshVbtNWsUuNMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/de-an-sun-qPbm6zkZ45k-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1213" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S-sHkBtOZC4/XsKX9UZ7LDI/AAAAAAAACuA/1D0XU7WlZygExOUuvOktshVbtNWsUuNMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/de-an-sun-qPbm6zkZ45k-unsplash.jpg" width="242" /></span></a></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Listening to classical guitarist
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sound-Silence-Milos-Karadaglic/dp/B07TPJ5NX1">Miloš Karadaglić</a> playing an arrangement of Paul Simon’s 1964 composition,
the title is apt – not only for the time the music was written but also for our
ongoing experiences. (Art Garfunkel summed up the original song’s meaning as “the
inability of people to communicate with each other, not particularly
internationally but especially emotionally ...” (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_of_Silence">Wiki</a>). And, while
it seems never so much has been written or said about any topic until this virus hit our world, we still have
not identified one single remedy that might solve the current global dilemma.
Meantime, a clamorous chorus of background noise continues to impinge.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Throughout
history scapegoats have been blamed for epidemics, and the volume of questionable
propaganda being pumped out by the usual dubious sources continues to confuse and mislead,
especially in the war of words between the US and China. Covid-19 is the
arch-enemy of all humankind: it certainly shouldn’t be part of political re-election narratives, whether those of an off-the-page western president (hydroxychloroquine, anyone?), desperate for a second term, or an eastern one who planned a reform of the Russian constitution (to
allow him another <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">two</i> terms) but was foiled
by the virus. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The formal announcement of an end to Russia’s
inconvenient lockdown coincided with its steepest leap upwards of new
infections. International press agency pictures of ambulance queues at clinics were not reassuring, and reports
of a quarter of a million cases overall is close to heading the world list. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Officially</i>, numbers are decreasing, but has
the president returned to the Kremlin yet? These days, it’s wise to take all
‘official’ announcements <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cum grano salis</i>.
Many can make assertions, but politicians are the worst. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>GovUK relies on statistics, but even graphs or bell curves can be tweaked. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However, earlier this week, a contact in Vienna informed me that “Probability is decreasing
continuously, and I expect that there will be no infections in Austria after
three weeks” – which is a better prospect than we can look forward to. Our </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">economy is tanking,
and the post-virus debt will be horrendous. The number of welfare claimants is now at its highest since 1996, but, thanks to Boris</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s Brexit, UK will not share in the EU</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s projected funding. The anxious powers-that-be in Whitehall continue to dodge from pillar to post, sticking fingers in metaphorical
dikes to stem the flood of unfavourable info and insisting all will be well, </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">if we
can only get through this ... </i></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Zzn6m3iyz0/XsKYlc7RJXI/AAAAAAAACuI/jNJBAC-vRu4pBnqLRzWAbrc40Mtw8pCjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/The%2Bworld%2Bwe%2Blived%2Bin%2B....jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Zzn6m3iyz0/XsKYlc7RJXI/AAAAAAAACuI/jNJBAC-vRu4pBnqLRzWAbrc40Mtw8pCjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/The%2Bworld%2Bwe%2Blived%2Bin%2B....jpg" width="170" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Viruses don’t read stats. But an erstwhile principal and vice-chancellor of
Scotland’s University of Aberdeen (until 2018), </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Professor Sir Ian Diamond, became the UK’s National Statistician last year, and warns the figures will increase
when indirect deaths are factored in. Yesterday, the UK’s toll was north of 35,500 victims and counting, but a time-lag remains on Scotland’s data.
We’re still seeing a relentless upward trajectory. On Monday morning, the number of
confirmed cases was unacceptably high for a population of </span><i>ca.</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> 5.3 million.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Men are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">still</i>
flouting the lockdown. Smug Scottish golfers were out </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">‘</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">playing with the boys</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> last weekend, plus Neil Gaiman’s decision to fly 11,000 miles from New Zealand to
Scotland was dismaying. I appreciate what he means, about being able to talk to
people who’re in one’s own time zone and not simply available “before
breakfast or after dinner,” but I also surmise, as Jacinda Ardern’s opened-up NZ,
the likelihood of Gaiman being a carrier was statistically low – bar the stopover
in Los Angeles. T</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">he </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">L A Times</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’ daily
audit is disquieting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> A</span> world we once lived in is no more. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T9zWTLXhPQ8/XsKZc-Q6iiI/AAAAAAAACuU/y_2NDbaCISojV_ALIWFlXnKN6--wmSTPACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/stanza-stones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="251" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T9zWTLXhPQ8/XsKZc-Q6iiI/AAAAAAAACuU/y_2NDbaCISojV_ALIWFlXnKN6--wmSTPACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/stanza-stones.jpg" width="210" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Regarding the emotional impact of all this, the
silence of government leaders is remarkable. Overall, though, questions about future psychological post-traumatic stress
disorders will be largely left to charities. Nothing much has been ventured on the grim topics
of overcrowded mortuaries and overworked undertakers. As Eliot wrote in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Four Quartets </i>(1936,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Burnt Norton</i>): ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Humankind
cannot bear very much reality</i>.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I admit Eliot’s austere dissections of emotion are occasionally off-putting. (The curse of Eng. Lit. – a head full of poetry absorbed
over a lifetime.) Our current laureate, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/mar/21/lockdown-simon-armitage-writes-poem-about-coronavirus-outbreak">Simon
Armitage</a>, also dissects, but in a more deceptively sympathetic vein. Although
his brilliant version of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight </i>(original composed<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> ca</i>. AD
1400, and discovered two centuries ago), is certainly no <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Märchen</i> for children, walk the miles of the Pennine path
from Ilkley to Marsden and you’ll find some of Armitage’s poetry <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">en route</i>, set in <a href="https://www.simonarmitage.com/stanza-stones/">stone</a>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Reading (on the Kindle, lately come into re-use) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">– </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">fiction: Andrea Camilleri, <i>The Safety Net </i>(</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">April 2020</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">); Lindsey Davis, <i>The Grove of the Caesars</i>, (April, 2020). Non-fiction: Mary Beard, Lindsey Davis, J.K. Rowling, <i>et al</i>: <i>A Love Letter to Europe,</i> (2019)</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Back
to the day job, such as it is. Life’s not just in the slow lane, it’s on the hard shoulder. But I can take my time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Literally. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Play
it safe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Picture
credits: header photo, <a href="https://unsplash.com/@andyadcon?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">De
an Sun</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/t/covid-19?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>;
artwork ~ © Grampian Hospitals Art Trust, <a href="http://www.ghat-art.org.uk/">http://www.ghat-art.org.uk/</a>;
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stanza Stones</i>, Simon Armitage, et al,
© Enitharmon<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Press, 2013:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.simonarmitage.com/stanza-stones/">https://www.simonarmitage.com/stanza-stones/</a></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-43502943944573837032020-05-15T17:30:00.000+01:002020-05-15T17:30:02.028+01:00Changes: before, during, after ...<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-94a_KcpodPc/XrvCReIKEcI/AAAAAAAACtU/e_sqW_psRYQVCVKatoFh24TiifKDsGJJACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/eco-warrior-princess-TsOeGUwWzWo-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1208" data-original-width="1600" height="241" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-94a_KcpodPc/XrvCReIKEcI/AAAAAAAACtU/e_sqW_psRYQVCVKatoFh24TiifKDsGJJACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/eco-warrior-princess-TsOeGUwWzWo-unsplash.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A
PM to the PM: “Dear Boris: With regard to the viral emergency, your new GovUK mixed
messages will not be adopted here. I’ll stick with Scotland’s ‘Stay at Home’ for
the time being, thank you. ‘Being alert’ is not only vague, but also capable of
misinterpretation. For those who don’t believe that restrictions
apply to them, it will be seen as a lifting of sanctions.” <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Another Boris Blunder?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hopefully
the average Brit’s not as idiotic as some across the Pond, as evidenced in one
report of militants campaigning against lock down. Strangely, Michigan</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s state legislature doesn’t sanction protest placards, but it </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">does</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> permit lethal weapons. Offended by
efforts to save them from dying, the demonstrators dressed up in camouflage,
with webbing belts, combat boots and all the gear – along with assault
rifles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr DJT (again demonstrating an inability to
grasp either the seriousness or the reach of Covid-19) might see these characters as “very fine
people,” but do we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i> wonder why
the Old Country views both the gun lobby and the self-styled ‘leader of the
free world’ as several dimes short of a dollar? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However, yesterday I scooted down to the next village </span>for
necessities. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">At least two people in that locale have died from contracting the virus, but m</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">en are <i>still </i>being incredibly arrogant, barging the wrong way around the
one-direction floor indicators. In addition, while</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> queuing outside, a man leaned across the barrier to request I post a letter
for him, because I was </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">closer to the box.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">” I wasn</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’t wearing gloves, but w</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">hat
can you do ... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Apparently more men than women are dying from Covid-19. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Why am I not surprised? It seems </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">males don</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’t </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">understand the concept of community transmission.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
75th anniversary of VE Day passed, and one historian was lamenting America’s
abdication of its <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">soi-disant </i>role as
world leader, and asking who else can take over? Currently, the obvious
candidate is Merkel. Okay, for her it’s ‘Germany first,’ but the woman can <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">think</i>. And, although Israel may well object to
the idea, we have to accept that Europe, and Germany, have done more to lead the
free world than Trump has. The pandemic will, eventually, bring about a shift in global relations and societies. It could easily be ‘the end
of the world as we know it’ – much as the aftermath of the Black Death saw an
epochal divide in the West, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">i.e.,</i> the
demise of the medieval age that led to the advent of the Renaissance. However,
that’s one for future historians. It’s hard to see the whole earth when you’re
stuck in a chasm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, whatever else happens to humanity, we
cannot, and must not, resume where we left off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QJ-hCGxy2N4/XrvC2HGIJtI/AAAAAAAACtc/vS4zOkWyOis0uTL7x1QAJvegMY0gurQcgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Overgrown%2Bshrubs_before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1195" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QJ-hCGxy2N4/XrvC2HGIJtI/AAAAAAAACtc/vS4zOkWyOis0uTL7x1QAJvegMY0gurQcgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Overgrown%2Bshrubs_before.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Back
in 2011 an American psychologist outlined how “You ... need optimism to
carry you through” difficulties, to keep your momentum. And yet, “Whether driven by
hope or dissatisfaction,” in the end “it is your will that compels you to act.”
(Jeff DeGraff, University of Michigan, <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/innovation-you/201110/cultivate-your-own-garden">blogpost </a>on <i>Psychology Today</i>, UK). Although I don’t support the philosophising of Dr Pangloss in <i>Candide</i>, Voltaire
advises us to cultivate our own garden. In other words, mind our own
business – literally, our own lives. Hence, the horticultural makeover, front and back, cultivating a smaller personal sphere. The
psychologists are correct: excavating, opening up and renewing the space, ordering seeds, peat-free compost, plants
and outdoor items dispels gloom. Who knew that a few days, plus two men with Stihl chainsaws, a mini-cat
digger and a load of stone and wood, could so alter mood and perceptions? (T</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">hank you, George and Henry!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tXTDEER1400/XrvEDABjUqI/AAAAAAAACts/3mkE4HB9rrIli9_UIF0nL1M9vf6NgbziwCEwYBhgLKs4DAL1OcqwZrJueOwb3AmnaCo70_rPV97SBDjoJnP0JtdQTTatSGu6XdSJy0yVdpnFKyFLBRYBjkjP_V1OZaRo6UZfTH6QIhxqweNJ5OFFNlKAsmlgGw_SZjVH20PdDpTCJvSg0UQIuaj00ijHEmxGNwrLxo3_lq_J5gjuAc3UZ6jmNQUPfYDHC3t3fS-YYV-InGzUM_hEU2sS1Dn9rWKHHteCP2ZaEBfu3dWOq5Yn7TqJpU4uG05jff9cuZWMmnVKxA3cPNFtBXx0mCi5jnSdg6KwshYWQ2wiQOVQNmTVUW2n26r1oIHMnRk3gn-1sVa_3QoR5y-zSFKU1cjUE7DbTXF-KBzSN9_6nW6-uFdBq3PXGpibgeZ1yKZh1kCryfGiOURl-a4a1okH2bF89Mx-esg5ezAjRnjdPzw279g5fLnBtWyE1Q7qtcI2Edb5m8AIp50tqhfiR5eUCS6_Ic1UYbIQlRmyzlqwDpwbRpUZE5dZJfCdt0yNlhs-q1j9mu_hGnbIKwsLdMZRvoLENXncjDoZuT5yV9ONm8Bpgq0JpALxG9AvbCwtJRHCv3RkoghlR6woTXk3U03fmNOB-HU2At-4vu9sSWIj7Pam3Em7zMI-P7_UF/s1600/Front_diggerPixellated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1382" data-original-width="1600" height="276" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tXTDEER1400/XrvEDABjUqI/AAAAAAAACts/3mkE4HB9rrIli9_UIF0nL1M9vf6NgbziwCEwYBhgLKs4DAL1OcqwZrJueOwb3AmnaCo70_rPV97SBDjoJnP0JtdQTTatSGu6XdSJy0yVdpnFKyFLBRYBjkjP_V1OZaRo6UZfTH6QIhxqweNJ5OFFNlKAsmlgGw_SZjVH20PdDpTCJvSg0UQIuaj00ijHEmxGNwrLxo3_lq_J5gjuAc3UZ6jmNQUPfYDHC3t3fS-YYV-InGzUM_hEU2sS1Dn9rWKHHteCP2ZaEBfu3dWOq5Yn7TqJpU4uG05jff9cuZWMmnVKxA3cPNFtBXx0mCi5jnSdg6KwshYWQ2wiQOVQNmTVUW2n26r1oIHMnRk3gn-1sVa_3QoR5y-zSFKU1cjUE7DbTXF-KBzSN9_6nW6-uFdBq3PXGpibgeZ1yKZh1kCryfGiOURl-a4a1okH2bF89Mx-esg5ezAjRnjdPzw279g5fLnBtWyE1Q7qtcI2Edb5m8AIp50tqhfiR5eUCS6_Ic1UYbIQlRmyzlqwDpwbRpUZE5dZJfCdt0yNlhs-q1j9mu_hGnbIKwsLdMZRvoLENXncjDoZuT5yV9ONm8Bpgq0JpALxG9AvbCwtJRHCv3RkoghlR6woTXk3U03fmNOB-HU2At-4vu9sSWIj7Pam3Em7zMI-P7_UF/s320/Front_diggerPixellated.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> There is also a sense of a door closing and another one opening. I’m not sure where this door will lead to, but it’s a start – mentally, if nothing else. But, even
if human compassion, or a new awareness of what’s important, are privileged
positions to adopt, it’s hard to ignore how many of our so-called leaders have failed
to meet the demands of populations poleaxed by the virus. Also, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">while science and the NHS are going more than the extra mile, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">universities are cancelling or deferring capital projects, bewailing losses of future income</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That’s one penalty for morphing into business
enterprises, instead of retaining what universities are supposed to stand for?) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However, the likely long-term effects, and possible
societal fallout, encourage an audit of what’s really important in a life. Here, out went any further unnecessary dependence on tech, and back came earlier
values: family, friends, and a resumption of former tenets. I can’t shut the
online door completely – I’m too reliant on its daily conveniences – but
there’s far more to human reality than the virtual realm. (I discontinued FB and Twitter, aeons ago; I don</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">t need superfluous, and time-consuming, adjuncts to existence.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Incidentally,
in the throes of the pandemic, I imagined my lack of concentration was just me – but <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Harris_(novelist)">Robert Harris</a>
said on last Sunday</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s Marr programme (10 May) that he’s affected, too. Contemplating
an immovable deadline’s much worse than considering whether I can, or cannot, accomplish a thesis revision. (I fear it</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s the latter.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Picture
credits: header, gardening tools, Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@ecowarriorprincess?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Eco
Warrior Princess</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/garden?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>;
overgrown garden, and mini-digger (anonymised, pixellated, etc.) © JAS, May 2020;</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-11509813166078412872020-05-07T17:00:00.000+01:002020-05-07T17:00:00.513+01:00Time out, time in<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kpK2cu1ladk/XrPvW4Nd1XI/AAAAAAAACsU/RMRAgjbYit0eEcGGiZB-w7u2eSFo8UUFgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/irina-iriser-hAw0XnvMgns-unsplashLilacs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1228" data-original-width="1600" height="245" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kpK2cu1ladk/XrPvW4Nd1XI/AAAAAAAACsU/RMRAgjbYit0eEcGGiZB-w7u2eSFo8UUFgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/irina-iriser-hAw0XnvMgns-unsplashLilacs.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As
this fateful year wears on we’re becoming habituated to a new way of living. When
/ if restrictions are lifted, whether partially or wholly, we’ll need to then
become accustomed to another ‘new normal.’ I trust it won’t be the ‘old’ normal
that got mankind into this mess in the first place. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our outings were never frequent, but the
novelty’s worn off. The sanctions feel like the denial of a human right – which
is a nonsense. However, maybe weeks or months of incarceration still lie ahead,
and the virus-dictated limitations have brought fragile emotional reactions to the
surface. Ordinarily I’m moderately resilient, but unremitting stress is
exhausting. While there are many things I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">could</i>
be getting on with, mental or physical exertion feels wearisome and futile. I
guess this, too, will pass – but it’s taking a long time about it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I
can’t complain. We’re better off than many. For example, we don’t reside in a urban
flat. This must be difficult for those with children, especially in high-rise towers
with no access to outdoor space, vital for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mens
sana in corpore sano</i>, (Juvenal, AD <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">c</i>.
60–<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">c</i>. 130). We do possess what was once
a garden, albeit unused for years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mid-April, our lilac was beginning to display
its annual burden of mauve flower-heads when the new neighbours asked if they
could cut it back? They were going to put in a fence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Praise be! Everything remained as it was for a
week or two, including a dog leaving its mess everywhere, and I nearly lost
heart. Then, as May dawned, there was much sawing, and hammering of posts. ... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moral: Don’t set conclusions in stone until
you have proof! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This prescription should have been applied to
the ill-starred thesis. Taking pledges at face value isn’t always wise – not if
your project’s fate hangs on someone else’s actions. Words are cheap. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Today,
the rear patio space was cleared of overgrowth, and the rampant elders
rooted out with male muscles and mattocks. A trailer-load has gone up to Glenfarg for recycling. Tomorrow, the mini-digger arrives, to excavate the front patch. The garden now looks huge; I had forgotten how big it really is, before the trees I planted began to close in. However, the main aims are low-maintenance and a natural appearance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> I managed to break into the abandoned shed, and found a gaping hole in the roof. Virtually
everything in there is a write-off. Wooden sheds don’t last more than ten or 15
years in the Scottish climate, and it looks as if the crab apple tree started the
damage with a rogue branch. Once the weakness was there, it was only a matter
of time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My big Husqvarna 15iL brush cutter’s had it. Once
used to cut back vegetation, strim and clean up around paddock fencing, it was really too much machine for a smallish person. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Clambering
out of a mental Covid-related bunker, I idly inspected LinkedIn’s online
courses. Under a ‘Remote Working’ header there’s ‘Time Management,’ and finding
a productive mindset (mine’s gone missing since the pandemic began). But ‘Learning
Zoom’? I don’t need it. I<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>want to
spend <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">less</i> time glued to a computer
screen. I only work half-days now – 9 am until lunchtime, max. – and no longer
at weekends. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being cooped up has led to unwonted
activities. The bathroom’s been deep-cleaned (twice), the kitchen floor
scrubbed, housemaid-style, and a couple of neglected DIY tasks completed (two
years waiting? Three?) However, the background anxieties remain, and
concentration is wanting. I can’t settle to anything, and logical or sensible thinking
seems impossible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On
a positive front, flights have been booked for 2021’s Andalusian escape. Okay, with
more faith than certainty, and unluckily slicing right across the cut-off date
for the doomed thesis. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Désolée.</i> Too
bad. I am not going to postpone living any longer, especially in these parlous times.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a possibility that ‘no detriment’ can
be requested – if the forms regarding postponement can be found on the ‘Net.
But the process still entails obtaining consent from supervisor and school,
which might be problematical. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If</i> I
decide delay or rescheduling is the right course, (it’s a big ‘if’), the
paperwork needs to be sent to the School <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">innanzi
tutto</i>, before anyone else. To make certain the request’s on the record, all
can be copied to the PGR office. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As
to the thesis itself, writing-wise, return to Square One. I can’t take out even
one sentence or paragraph without comprehensively altering the whole. And, since
no contact <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with the Internal is
permitted until the work is re-done, all depends on me – saving any supervisory
input. And, although some of the comments completely miss the<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> point</i>, one shall be circumspect as
Penelope, and keep the ‘word rage’ to oneself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Meantime,
the German language progresses at a glacially sluggish pace, but it’s improved
my English syntax. I have to simplify, and write shorter sentences. German is
very literal. Plus I’m doing strange refresher tasks to keep the
Greek alive, such as rendering fragments of Pindar into English. (It’s my
version of doing crosswords, word games, or those adult colouring books, and
passes the time. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">À chacun son goût</i>.)
There are some who’ll sporadically join in online, and provide alternative and highly
erudite versions, but ‘speakers’ of ancient Greek are few, and very far
between, especially geographically. But it’s fun, and demonstrates the perils
of taking any translation as ‘gospel truth.’ Nine times out of 10, it isn’t.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Life
goes on. I finally finished Hilary Mantel’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Mirror and the Light</i>.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>The 800+
pages took over a month, due to interruptions. Its cast of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">personae</i>, real and imagined, is vast. The authorial maxim of no
more than six characters couldn’t possibly be employed – not given the scope
and spread of the whole. But I endorse Mantel’s Holbein-like portrayal of Henry
VIII, the malignant presence on almost every page. In my (admittedly extremely biased)
view, the depiction of a weak vacillating king is accurate. Vain, egotistical,
and unstable, he possessed too much power and few morals. One has every
sympathy for Thomas Cromwell.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that marathon, my Kindle was charged up.
It’s easier to manage! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UL0TBNWCcyc/XrPxYjrHkFI/AAAAAAAACss/g2UU9BtHqx0Mtu_dl1hVMBnfkKcVVliNACEwYBhgL/s1600/Bonnie%2Band%2Bbooks%2Bon%2Bdesk%2B....jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UL0TBNWCcyc/XrPxYjrHkFI/AAAAAAAACss/g2UU9BtHqx0Mtu_dl1hVMBnfkKcVVliNACEwYBhgL/s320/Bonnie%2Band%2Bbooks%2Bon%2Bdesk%2B....jpg" width="263" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">During the whole of an </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">incredibly warm and sunny April, the lack of human traffic and
noise brought a concomitant increase of birds in the hedgerows and trees, and a
stronger dawn chorus than in recent years. It will be sad if these symptoms don’t
endure.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It’s being said the sky is bluer of late – a diminishing of air pollution? </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We’re a blight on the planet. We need the
natural world for our survival, but Nature patently doesn’t need us. As a
Canadian friend remarks, “Mother nature seems quite happy ... lions basking on
roads, sheep grazing in the middle of towns, tens of thousands of sea turtles
spawning ... I suspect the planet wouldn’t really miss us all that much.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m certain of it. The stark message is clear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Back
to the grindstone – accompanied, as usual, by the comments of an ever-vigilant
cat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">Picture
credits: header, lilacs: Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@iriser?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Irina
Iriser</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/lilac-trees?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>;
black cat and books, © JAS, 2020;</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-36798555496630894102020-04-10T18:30:00.000+01:002020-04-10T22:16:33.629+01:00Turning tides<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WhqAjWQOX9I/Xo8M6fWQ7bI/AAAAAAAACrc/Cz4A5s4hS9o1bWE8Ltlp-uaK1QKB8MlyQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/photo-1530163403921-44bbb870c2b9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="500" height="222" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WhqAjWQOX9I/Xo8M6fWQ7bI/AAAAAAAACrc/Cz4A5s4hS9o1bWE8Ltlp-uaK1QKB8MlyQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/photo-1530163403921-44bbb870c2b9.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Life
in the time of corona. It’s amazing what you can become used to
within a short time. And what you can swiftly learn about tech, if
you need to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> We’re
all moving into this shared space, and gradually adapting. <a href="https://patthomson.net/2020/04/06/13903/">Pat Thomson</a>’s put the
experience better than I can; her Venn diagram details it accurately:
‘Sufficient unto the day,’ as Matthew suggests, (NT, 6:34). Life has dwindled
to persistent anxieties for the welfare and safety of loved ones, plus obtaining and managing
supplies of food and other concerns. T</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">he tide</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’s</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> still rising, and </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Easter may see social restrictions fail. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This must be the twelfth post already, since 5 January. I guess the current
over-production is partly diversionary, a tactic for work-avoidance, coupled with the idle hours of sequestration
and social distancing. It is a distraction from wider worries. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’m at a stage where I can</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">t keep track of the days, they</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’re so similar to one another, but thi</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s isn</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’t</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> unusual. I often don</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">t know what day it is ...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come 31 July / 1 August 2020, posts will cease.
Not only has tech moved onto different communication platforms, but, depending on developments, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">and especially on being able to travel again, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">there are other projects I wish to pursue. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The plans require concentration, along with hands-on involvement at certain junctures.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t blog everything, but, in the decade
since 2010, life has threaded a labyrinth, often in the wrong direction.
However, from the present viewpoint, it appears to be on a fairly straight course. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">~Ish.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’m
cautiously sneaking up on the thesis, to tackle its demands. However, as someone said recently, it’s difficult to “make a positive ...
if no-one is around to supervise, submit rewrite to ... ”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not merely that no one’s around; it’s also the
perils of flying solo. Set adrift on my own, with no support, no rescue, no
acknowledgements, nothing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still cannot make coherent sense of the recommendations. Maybe it’s a
case of working blind, doing what has been requested, in the hope that what
emerges at the end of the process will somehow add up? It’s akin to
constructing an Ikea flat-pack minus instructions, with a screwdriver or allen
key that</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s the wrong size. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> In academia one size fits all – the convoluted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">modus operandi</i>, the established lay out, and the dense language that not only hedges bets but also seeks to evade accusations of
taking a stand outside the conventional. It appears </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">academic writers believe that
abstract theories require abstract writing – although, in the desire for
results, I guess research diktats do defend against the human tendency to
exaggerate. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The lower level of the popular press loves simplicity, and also likes to bestow silly nicknames
on media figures, </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">e.g</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">., ‘Professor
Lockdown.’ </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Unfortunately,</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> real simplicity isn’t that simple. As has been evidenced of
late, condensing </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">scientific info from a press release </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">can lead readers into reaching erroneous conclusions. W</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">hile researchers are accustomed to dividing fact from fiction, many people believe every word printed in the </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Sun, </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">or the</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> Daily Mail</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. That’s their privilege – not everyone wants to scan AP or Reuters over breakfast, or read the </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Financial Times, Independent,</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> or </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Guardian</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However, acquired skills are useful: find the proven facts, pinpoint bias and misleading ‘news,’ and differentiate between evidence, probability and propaganda. It’s not that difficult.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>G.K. Chesterton once outlined how fairy stories
and folklore were composed by a number of people over generations,“most of
whom were sane,” but, in these strange days, dubious tales are sent flapping around
the globe on the wings of Twitter, or, worse, produced by foreign state
broadcasters with axes to grind. Check, check and
check again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Back
to the damn’ thesis. ...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am stuck on the Vergil Question. I wish I’d
never put P. Vergilius Maro in there, but if I hadn’t he would have been raised
nonetheless. I would like to make him peripheral. Indeed, I thought I had done
so. I eschewed most of the epic thought-world of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aeneid</i>, (actually very Homeric) and took up the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Georgics</i> instead. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vergil was not a mystic or a philosopher. He was
a Roman poet who dwelt in a world of sense and matter, and his dark shadowy Underworld
is only half-real, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">i.e., </i>metaphysical.
Barred from crossing the Styx, spirits or souls survive, (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aeneid</i>, 6) – until they take Kharon’s ferry to the other
side. Retaining some of the old myth, Vergil combines it with the new, like
joining antiquated plumbing to new metal (difficult to weld or solder). It’s
traditional poetic stuff, employed for literary effect. We don’t have to
literally<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> believe </i>it, any more than
Vergil did. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Both
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eclogues </i>and the<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Georgics</i> are compositions of this
world. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Georgics</i> merge inherited
myth and Vergil’s contemporary realities, but, while there is no <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">poetic</i> inconsistency in using the
natural world in concert with the myth of Orpheus, you have to split material matter
from immaterial. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I thought I’d made this clear – but apparently I didn’t. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One
of the difficulties was confronting and reconciling modern explanatory
thinking with ancient ideas and imagination. Various expressions of archaic
mythology can appear fantastical to twenty-first century minds. F</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">urther complications were caused by</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> the Christians adopting many of the ancient pagan concepts, and a claim
that Christianity alone possessed authority to regulate negotiations between the earthly
world and the ‘spirit realm’ beyond, plus </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">their imposition of orthodox views and practices</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Ergo</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">,
out went Delphic oracles, the Greek pantheon and the Romans’ </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">manes</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, (spirits of the dead).</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">On
the more prosaic home front, while shopping is taxing, there’s much more
time for cooking. Even with the recent supply shortages, and one in–one out
queues at food stores, we’re trying to boost immunity by maintaining a healthy
diet. It hasn’t been too challenging. The freezer holds several varieties of
fish and chicken, and, if it’s a late night, I’ll elect for a vegan mozzarella and
tomato sourdough pizza. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fresh vegetables and fruit have been a daily norm
for years, but, while these don’t need to be organic, there’s always a variety,
including different colours: red, green, yellow, orange and black (dark). Light
and dark green vegs in season – broccoli, brussels sprouts, peppers, runner beans, leeks,
and cabbage – plus onions and root veg: carrots, new potatoes (don’t need peeling)
and parsnips. Fresh peas may be available next month – the only vegetable
#2 daughter consents to prepare. She likes shucking the pods. I
suspect some peas go into her, rather than into bowl or colander.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Salads contain olive oil, tomatoes, black
olives, butterhead or romaine lettuce, rocket and young spinach or chard, together with cooked
beetroot (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> preserved in vinegar),
pine nuts, etc. Occasionally I make stir fry – usually in winter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fruit in Scotland is mostly imported, entailing
thousands of food miles: citrus, blueberries, peaches and nectarines, strawberries,
bananas and pears, and, when available, fresh figs, black grapes, black
cherries or fat Kalamata olives. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Breakfast is almost always oat muesli, with
pitted prunes or apricots, sticky Deglet Noor or Medjul dates, mango, Greek and
bio-yoghurt, and honey. And coffee. Lots of coffee (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> so healthy!) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My
main concern at present is depleted vitamin D, due to not getting out into the sun for
long periods. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-09h9-laxhBI/Xo8NszKbjtI/AAAAAAAACrk/sG53fzGZI50lg5v552rDYDfiG456dahTACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/photo-1510414842594-a61c69b5ae57island%2Bbeacg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="494" height="215" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-09h9-laxhBI/Xo8NszKbjtI/AAAAAAAACrk/sG53fzGZI50lg5v552rDYDfiG456dahTACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/photo-1510414842594-a61c69b5ae57island%2Bbeacg.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> I could wander for an hour: ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loveliest of trees, the cherry now | Is hung with bloom along the bough</i>,’
(Housman). Unless the local authority’s tree surgeons have chopped these down. Our council has a
habit of summarily removing trees. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It’s
Good Friday – day one of the long Easter break weekend. We’re nowhere near
turning the tide, and I’m not sanguine that we won’t see idiots crowding the
beaches again, but </span><a href="https://web.cs.dal.ca/~johnston/poetry/island.html" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">No man is an island</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">,
quoth the peerless Dr Donne. Stay home. Protect ourselves,</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> and</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> the NHS. It needs our ongoing support – and we need its selfless
help. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Oh, wonder! How many goodly creatures are
there here!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">...
O brave new world,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That
has such people in’t!” – Wm. Shakespeare, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Tempest</i>, V:1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ca.</i> 1610–11.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Picture
credits: Header, ocean: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@photoholgic?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Holger
Link</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/turning-the-tide?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>;
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>island
beach: Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@derekthomson?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Derek
Thomson</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/beach?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>;</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-16399642097586607492020-04-05T03:30:00.000+01:002020-04-05T03:30:01.384+01:00Signs of the times<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r9PmaUe8uQ0/Xoh0RuBUiVI/AAAAAAAACqs/myMnFZ88bzc8eYH5xvvvt_5QoShBF2gBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Andalusian%2Bdoor%252C%2BM%25C3%25A1laga%252C%2BSpain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r9PmaUe8uQ0/Xoh0RuBUiVI/AAAAAAAACqs/myMnFZ88bzc8eYH5xvvvt_5QoShBF2gBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Andalusian%2Bdoor%252C%2BM%25C3%25A1laga%252C%2BSpain.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Life
in the time of corona. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">How to express it? The sheer weight of the information
overload defeats me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I
acquired an artwork in Spain. It’s still encased in dealer’s tape and bubble wrap,
but I will get around to hanging it. Eventually. A very simple gouache and paper
collage piece, it depicts a traditional Andalusian doorway. The double doors
are firmly closed. The impulse purchase seems prescient, as most countries in Europe, and the rest of the world, have shut their doors. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However,
‘funnies’ are beginning to surface on the ‘Net. It’s not that the very real
impact is ignored – the dreadful price that families, doctors, nurses and
paramedics are paying – but transferring something frightening into another
space removes part of its threat. We may be whistling in the dark, but it shows
we’re becoming accustomed to new realities. Social changes generally take
years, but we’ve had to adapt very fast to a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nouvelle normalité</i>. The step change is huge, and it’s impossible to
believe the world will ever be the same again. Too many fault lines have opened
up in the wake of this virus – commercial, financial, medical, personal, societal,
political ... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The UK’s new emergency laws are Draconian, but some men still defy the diktats. Perhaps they’re not used to
trawling supermarket aisles. They forget an item, or decide they must have something, and they double back, brushing by more circumspect customers. Two metres? It’s
less than two inches. Is it that symptomatic mindset of the times, ‘because you’re
worth it’? You’re <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i>. Not compared
with the welfare of my vulnerable family and friends. Your exceptionalism spreads the disease. People die. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
widely-cited mantra, ‘one person can infect fifty-nine others,’ doesn’t encompass all its implications. If the measures of social distance between people are degrees of
separation, I am one degree away from everyone I know, (many more
than fifty-nine people), and two degrees away from every person <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they</i> know. A theoretical six degrees of
separation asserts that everyone on the planet is no more than half a dozen stages or steps away
from being introduced to anyone in the world, and shaking hands with them. L</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ong </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">before the concept of networking became established, or </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the Internet enabled us to make international connections at a click, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">a Hungarian writer, Frigyes Karinthy, (1887–1938) outlined the concept in 1929, in a short story, </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Láncszemek </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(‘</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Chains</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’ – more accurately, ‘chain links’). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, take a mere four degrees of separation: one
(me) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">x</i> 59 is fifty-nine. Multiplying by
59 gives us 3,481. Multiply that by the same? A notional 205,379 handshakes or
hugs. Multiply again by 59, and you have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">twelve
million, one hundred and seventeen thousand, three hundred and sixty one </i>...
more than twice the total population of Scotland – and that includes all the NHS staff drafted in for the pandemic. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Figures don’t lie:</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the virus’s aggressive
self–replication is the name of the game, and the corona doesn’t discriminate.
Its mission is to go forth and multiply, to survive. Prince or pauper, we’re
all the same to Covid-19. </span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U3DOC1ueYT4/Xoh0jSLhq3I/AAAAAAAACq4/uv1GixWH_yEi2LnqTp1Pg4kQTskOsekRACEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoB6FrRbn0PuOLuWZzA0_lsPRLLLCI7qVHakbyETxpTj3Z7EHXqdX7mkh2q7Ghd5nHqGrwdm_b6w_mvo1DCudmmS9fhv3sGWEPCFPtN-TiWhzNG4qX0_LZ_J2vo5lk20BUmitutepVu1BLZCTA-K26tNcb-3S9TMmswWk5oN-Mypk3Iol5HONQp122Ed7e4sRSzx80CAvQX9YkPCsAgI4zyo2QPGklfRSd8fAnadZdgYZhRj6pBExGyibxuI-uru9l_pfRPvGTO8_jqRrm9MhiH2SomcVuwN9Sy-NXo-uAAdc5mIGmDkWfQdk81bn1fUA8_ecUtYmwucM6sFVDpd9EQg1ZuectOnHqF5uGPoDx7W50vSLXJCMKccU_LYJIKwBAr98cxpSzle7g-DkmaKYNL6th5ILIVILM_lBa3YFPzZ72uJR288ZEe2yWyXS10N8MH5ASLTLgaWJjUMcoE-XdzXeYhjpju-mKFmDbI8bD1zxRpPcMdhObk2aWU3Ic0TEJVZo-Nr9DmF9_84yw_e-DamxxZ3XyVKQY28VC8OpawKtXHhGYBBjqYNsR5dzy2seXTR4pTecnNVqsLf4OKttsRyu3jn-1NGVC8wmfGh9AU/s1600/Church_of_the_Annunciation_%25289198082309%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="675" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U3DOC1ueYT4/Xoh0jSLhq3I/AAAAAAAACq4/uv1GixWH_yEi2LnqTp1Pg4kQTskOsekRACEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoB6FrRbn0PuOLuWZzA0_lsPRLLLCI7qVHakbyETxpTj3Z7EHXqdX7mkh2q7Ghd5nHqGrwdm_b6w_mvo1DCudmmS9fhv3sGWEPCFPtN-TiWhzNG4qX0_LZ_J2vo5lk20BUmitutepVu1BLZCTA-K26tNcb-3S9TMmswWk5oN-Mypk3Iol5HONQp122Ed7e4sRSzx80CAvQX9YkPCsAgI4zyo2QPGklfRSd8fAnadZdgYZhRj6pBExGyibxuI-uru9l_pfRPvGTO8_jqRrm9MhiH2SomcVuwN9Sy-NXo-uAAdc5mIGmDkWfQdk81bn1fUA8_ecUtYmwucM6sFVDpd9EQg1ZuectOnHqF5uGPoDx7W50vSLXJCMKccU_LYJIKwBAr98cxpSzle7g-DkmaKYNL6th5ILIVILM_lBa3YFPzZ72uJR288ZEe2yWyXS10N8MH5ASLTLgaWJjUMcoE-XdzXeYhjpju-mKFmDbI8bD1zxRpPcMdhObk2aWU3Ic0TEJVZo-Nr9DmF9_84yw_e-DamxxZ3XyVKQY28VC8OpawKtXHhGYBBjqYNsR5dzy2seXTR4pTecnNVqsLf4OKttsRyu3jn-1NGVC8wmfGh9AU/s200/Church_of_the_Annunciation_%25289198082309%2529.jpg" width="170" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The plague feels Biblical,</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">e.g., </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Isaiah, 42:15; Luke, 21:25–28, 34–36). </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Today is Palm Sunday, commemorating the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, allegedly on the site of the blocked Eastern Gate constructed centuries later. However, although you might expect obsessives at Armageddon to be watching for heralds of ‘the last
days,’ </span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-israel-religion/under-coronavirus-lockdown-armageddon-is-like-the-end-of-the-world-idUSKBN2141KW" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Reuters</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> reports that Israel, too, is locked down. As Easter approaches, all doors and gates are
firmly closed, </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">e.g.</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, Nazareth’s Greek Orthodox Basilica of the
Annunciation, (R).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Time was we took our lifestyles for granted,
but nothing is untouched. Social isolation doesn</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">t bother me overmuch </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">–</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> I</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">m used to it, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">having spent over six years labouring on a thesis </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">– but the</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> list of cancelled events grows longer every day.
I know, it’s only a first world thing, and I don’t mind an iota about the sport losses, but
the Edinburgh Festival won’t happen this summer – the first cancellation in the seventy-plus years since its 1947 inception.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> We can only wait for the locked doors to open again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gyAvZK07f2k/Xoh06zUgXjI/AAAAAAAACq8/36n-PIsTyQ0z3BxbCjMuqIch8NhiPHYXQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Spanish%2Bgarden%2Bdoor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="487" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gyAvZK07f2k/Xoh06zUgXjI/AAAAAAAACq8/36n-PIsTyQ0z3BxbCjMuqIch8NhiPHYXQCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Spanish%2Bgarden%2Bdoor.jpg" width="155" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">(Written in advance / uploaded Saturday 4 April, 2020)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Picture
credits: doorway, Eugenio María de Hostos Community College, US: the Bronx,
NYC; </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Nazareth,</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Greek Orthodox Basilica, Wikimedia Commons; Spanish
garden door, photo by </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://unsplash.com/@georgiadelotz?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Georgia
de Lotz</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> on </span><a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/spanish-doorways?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Unsplash</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">;</span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-61973396048295240672020-03-30T18:00:00.000+01:002020-03-30T18:00:05.500+01:00Risk assessments<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V9IXxP2Jfx0/XoIaJylrnxI/AAAAAAAACqI/m8wijMXi0QgMeGCLnxERFnbXc0l2QstKACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Inverkeithing%252C_Fife%252C_Scotland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1600" height="170" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V9IXxP2Jfx0/XoIaJylrnxI/AAAAAAAACqI/m8wijMXi0QgMeGCLnxERFnbXc0l2QstKACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Inverkeithing%252C_Fife%252C_Scotland.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
message is stark: ‘Stay At Home. Protect the NHS. Save Lives.’ How existence
can change in a couple of weeks! Although the ‘new normal’ has been in place
for more than a fortnight, the clocks went forward for BST yesterday, and
the sun and the spring are advancing. But, while nature heals stress and anxieties,
it’s become problematical to get out into it. As birds flit freely through a
faint green haze of woods maturing into leaf, and the grass is shooting up,
uncaring of our human predicament, we have to assess the risks attached to
every venture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Daily
life has slowed to a crawl. A deluge of online information continues, but,
providing one avoids gloomy bulletins on the virus’s relentless progress, or charting
the tally on Johns Hopkins’ corona dashboard, life is curiously peaceful. It’s
like going back in time. I can’t remember ever seeing our skies empty of con
trails, or breathing air unpolluted by diesel emissions from the ubiquitous 4<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">x</i>4s that charge around our narrow rural lanes,
demolishing wing mirrors and scratching hubcaps as they shove smaller vehicles
into hedges. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When
worry preoccupies the mind, even a minor irritation can affect one’s customary outlook.
Limited outdoor exercise is permitted, but 2020 will be another year of our
untended garden being neglected. I was thinking of employing a contractor, to
clear our brambles, couch grass, elder, thistles and other invaders, to restore
the overgrown patio. However, only the most essential businesses can operate at
present, plus the weather’s not been favourable for ground works. You have to
pick the right time. The dandelion, daisy and buttercup-infested garden <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was</span> once a field, and its heavy
water-logged clay dries to concrete. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not worth risking the outlay now. When,
or if, this viral emergency ever ends, (<i>and </i>also </span>granted we survive it), the pursuit of an ideal rural des. res. will be resumed<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>– somewhere else. There comes a time when one must either accept the world is not, and never will be, 100% to one’s liking, or admit to being in the wrong place and do something about it. Like plants, humans need the right conditions to flourish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5OTda7gFzJY/XoIahblmTmI/AAAAAAAACqQ/59PIf_5nLAk3aX4DXWykxuF2Dgz3h4OHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Mijas2020%2B006%25232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1521" data-original-width="1600" height="190" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5OTda7gFzJY/XoIahblmTmI/AAAAAAAACqQ/59PIf_5nLAk3aX4DXWykxuF2Dgz3h4OHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Mijas2020%2B006%25232.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I
still hanker for the warmth and sun of the Costa Cálida, but the virus
is affecting lives there, too. I’m glad we did manage to get away. It will be a
long time before travel is possible, and I doubt things will be the same. Perhaps
the viral plague is Gaia’s revenge on our blighted planet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My
resource of choice is classical music, but the radio’s playing Parry’s jaded<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Jerusalem</i> – again. It’ll be Elgar next.
Adopted by the Faragists, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Land of Hope
and Glory</i>’s<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>lyrics weren’t Elgar’s
fault. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He disliked Benson’s imperialism.
Although, in today’s crisis, it does spark a rebel reflection: whither the farcical
Brexit now, h’m? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Britannia waives the
rules, as usual.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Ah – it’s Doyle’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My Father’s Favourite </i></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">– </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Emma Thompson’s peerless</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> Sense and Sensibility</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, (1995). Love it. I know movie scores aren’t
‘classical,’ but some are nostalgic: Lara’s theme, from </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Dr Zhivago</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">; Hans Zimmer’s music for Scott’s </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Gladiator</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">; </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Gone with the Wind</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">,
and Morricone’s haunting diatonic </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Once
upon a Time in the West.</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now it’s the second Johann Strauss’s romantic
waltz, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wo die Zitronen blüh‘n</i> (Sicily,
in the spring) ... </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Sometimes, just occasionally, the random selection chimes with one</span>’s mood. (Not the next pick, though: Camille Saint-</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Saëns</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Danse Macabre.</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
UK’s rising corona death toll yesterday evening was almost 1500, but I have a
low tolerance for media exhortations to keep calm and carry on, to embrace a mythical
British spirit. Neither is evidenced in this locale. Obtaining vital necessities
remains a free-for-all, a first-come-first-served combat exercise for which one
requires military-grade knee pads and elbow protection. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meantime, ‘house arrest’ continues. Rise late for leisurely breakfasts, then sit on the sofa and gaze at the sun outside,
or perch at this machine. While ‘Zoom’ is being investigated, Skype has been re-deployed,
and people working from home happily do so in old jogging gear, pyjamas or
dressing-gowns. In addition, despite the fact that there’s a list of things
that could, or should, be accomplished, no effort is being made <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">v/v</i> the thesis. Nor, indeed, much else –
bar a surprising foray into writing in German. (It’s a long story!) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="FR"> Otherwise – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">plus ça change</i>, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Picture credits : view of Inverkeithing, Fife,
Scotland, from North Queensferry – .jpg, Wikimedia Commons, © P. Theiner, 2019<span lang="DE">; Costa Cálida, Spain, © JAS, 2019.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-46927027588158492272020-03-20T17:30:00.000+00:002020-03-25T17:01:41.549+00:00In carcere<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lvQnYvSgyDw/XnS-Q_MecYI/AAAAAAAACpM/ArVzODNcDjQxIi9aCYSHC6Pmc-Gy6VSYgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/photo-1519738770393-98f215a6a826.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="246" data-original-width="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lvQnYvSgyDw/XnS-Q_MecYI/AAAAAAAACpM/ArVzODNcDjQxIi9aCYSHC6Pmc-Gy6VSYgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/photo-1519738770393-98f215a6a826.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Perhaps it’s not
all bad, but it certainly feels like it. As a European contact neatly describes it,
we have been suddenly granted a state of ‘eternal spare time.’ Whereas ‘leisure’
reflects retirement, and conveys hobby pursuits – golf, gardening or genealogy, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">i.e</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">., not a lot of time spent
</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">not</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> doing stuff – it</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s a nice distinction. (That’s ‘nice’ in its proper context.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the reality’s all too real: boredom,
punctuated by telephone calls, emails, Skype and almost everything else online; neighbours
shunning one’s door and new practices built around not invading anyone else’s
personal space but maintaining a strict two metre distance. The supermarket
delivery man, greeted with a note about ‘self-isolation,’ didn’t mind observing
the recommendations. However, vital household items were missing – unavailable. But w</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">e have to eat, and </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">thus must plan forays into the outside world. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> My dental practice has emailed that all appointments are cancelled forthwith, apart from dire emergencies, and our vets have instituted telephone consultations, and health protocols for pets, and their owners with regard to entering and exiting the practice. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The local public library is closed for the duration. One ray of light has slanted in, from JSTOR: because university libraries are closed, the online research database is to be available, f.o.c., without an account. I have an account, but this will make access easier. It might even persuade one to re-tackle the thesis. </span><i><span lang="IT"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Prova l’orrizzonte un po’ più in là ...</span></span></i><br />
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<i><span lang="IT" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I find it’s healthier
for the mind to avoid news bulletins, the hectic fever of the media. The sense
of a looming apocalypse is only reinforced by reports of a steadily climbing
death toll, and others’ fears and panic. I wish the broadcasters would permit survivors
to contribute a positive slant to alleviate the distress, to counter the
distinct impression that we’re at the mercy of a government that doesn’t have a
clue. The ‘Net isn’t helping, with a mass of faked news purporting to show
troops on the streets, or desperate food queues, but perhaps supermarket competition
regulations being suspended will enable the food retailers to work together in the public
interest, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pro tem</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The BBC broadcast an exhausted nurse’s <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-51966337/coronavirus-nurse-s-despair-as-panic-buyers-clear-shelves"><span style="color: blue;">video
clip</span></a> this morning. After a long demanding shift, she needed to pick up necessities
as she travelled home, and the supermarket was denuded. No supplies of fresh fruit
or vegetables were available, no staples on the shelves. Her tearful message
was for the hoarders:<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> just stop it. </i>If
the NHS’s frontline fails, who will be there to look after them? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also – again in Yorkshire – the Trussell
Trust, one of the UK’s primary food charities, was raided by thieves who stole goods
destined for its foodbanks, allegedly to sell on the black market, hawking the items
around pubs and clubs. There is a term for these people, but it’s not
printable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess all societies have well-camouflaged vultures
who’ll seek their own advantage in any conflict. Here, one large Aberdeen supermarket
failed to halt trolley-loads of toilet paper being carted away – to be sold at
inflated prices to those in need.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What will be next? There are spring lambs frisking
in the fields. Rustling’s already a major year-round problem in rural areas. Perpetrated
by big city crime, with livestock herded into horsebox or carrier, it’s away
across the border to Birmingham, Leeds or Manchester. The animal welfare
implications are horrendous, but the police rarely catch the crooks. There <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> tech solutions in development, and available,
if the patent owners will permit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Belgium and the
Isle of Man are instituting huge penalties for the anti-social: 3,500 Euros or months in jail. Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures, and
we’re on a war footing against a covert unseen enemy. Whitehall seems scared
of deploying the military on the streets, but if people continue to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>raid supermarkets and grocery stores to the
detriment of others, then what else will stop the selfish? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Apparently, America’s Trump offered “large sums”
to a German medical company to find and manufacture a Covid-19 </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/16/not-for-sale-anger-in-germany-at-report-trump-seeking-exclusive-coronavirus-vaccine-deal" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="color: blue;">vaccine</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
– exclusively for the US only. Why </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">does</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
that man persist in believing money solves everything? It doesn’t. ‘Making a
deal’ is all he knows. Will he shake hands with the virus if he thinks it
might augment his bid for a second term?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As to the UK, Weatherspoon’s Tim Martin declares a
total shutdown would be over the top. This from a man who backed the Brexiteers while transferring his business to Eire, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">i.e.,</i>
within the same EU he was telling the rest of us to leave? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are these men totally devoid of empathy? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It seems, to me,
Europe has a better handle on this thing than we have. While Britons are making
the same mistakes in containment as Italy did, Germany and Austria have adopted
measures at their borders that may appear draconian, but excess is preferable
to doing too little too late. The UK moved into partial lockdown this week,
some time after other countries, but, yet again, it was half-measures. GovUK
needs to define its terms more stringently. Interpretations vary as to what the
measures actually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mean</i>. Clarity
across all levels would be appreciated, but our government departments and
civil services are known for obfusc and weasel words. No real information is
available for freelance workers, zero hour contracts, or those without
employment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As to the science attached to CoV-19, I find
other countries’ analyses and information far more useful than Britain’s. ‘The science’
is the only real answer, and there are sources that outline it calmly,
accurately and with no bias. In truth this the only reassurance we possess,
especially against the fake bilge that’s being pumped out by Eastern sources
with alternative agendas. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nevertheless, being
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in carcere</i> provides guiltless reasons
to not exactly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">waste</i> time, but to do
things normally left undone – maybe deep cleaning the bathroom or kitchen, or vacuuming
up the industrial levels of dust that have unaccountably piled up since I began
research? Compose endless blogposts? Best of all, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">assume the horizontal on the sofa and</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> listen to Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, catch up on the </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">BBC’s iPlayer, or </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">read.</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going out to Spain, I bought Hilary Mantel’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Mirror and the Light</i> at the airport.
Issued in softbound paperback, I knew the edition would be available from publication day. Even so, it’s a massive tome. (Alas! We weren’t able to exit
the bookshop without purchasing yet another crime novel for #2 daughter. Go too
near a branch of Waterstone’s, or WHS, or any of the myriad second-hand booksellers in
Edinburgh, and she will home in on titles that make me blench.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, what else can
be done with these days ‘out-of-time’? Okay, I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">know</i> – but why waste effort when there’s little chance of the thesis
succeeding now, either within the stipulated time or via the normal channels? I
doubt there can be any good outcome. The university is locked down, and campus is all but deserted. Everything
that can go online has been, or is being, transferred. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In response to a mail sent end February, the Registrar’s office didn’t get back to me until we were away in Spain. In the
interim, no suggestion for supervisory input has been made in reply to repeated
requests. Nor do the authorities bother with my name: I’m now ‘Joan,’ or ‘Jean.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the man said, the writing’s on the wall: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">TE’KEL</i> – weighed and found wanting? (cf. the OT, Daniel, Ch. 5). Having writ, move on, methinks (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pace</i> Fitzgerald’s 1859 translation </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">of </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">)</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">.
</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Don’t venture into lions’ dens. One may have one</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s head bitten off. </span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BbHlKJdrV98/XnS-oMLaNOI/AAAAAAAACpY/MtZ5oUrApRsnuBOJ4Wan04RChKFBqK84ACEwYBhgL/s1600/photo-1553531009-38b5eaefb07b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="490" height="146" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BbHlKJdrV98/XnS-oMLaNOI/AAAAAAAACpY/MtZ5oUrApRsnuBOJ4Wan04RChKFBqK84ACEwYBhgL/s200/photo-1553531009-38b5eaefb07b.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Outside, a
Scottish spring slowly progresses. The sun is shining today, and, fragile and
determined, the yellow daffodils at the side of the house are nodding in the
cold east winds. Perhaps I’ll pick these before the rain flattens them. Their brief
lives will be made even briefer, but the flowers light a gloomy day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Picture
credits: prison bars, photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@jasmund?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Michael
Jasmund</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/prison-bars?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>;
daffodils, photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@brett_jordan?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Brett
Jordan</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/daffodils?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>;</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-56865908020048103242020-03-15T16:30:00.000+00:002020-03-16T15:41:18.934+00:00Una costa azul (‘a blue coast’)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o3NsBUj2CmM/Xlq1ZUQ4CcI/AAAAAAAACnQ/YwYycsN6_cYvrsF_h84eBTMCrq4Di3gywCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/CartagenaRomanTheatreWikiCommons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o3NsBUj2CmM/Xlq1ZUQ4CcI/AAAAAAAACnQ/YwYycsN6_cYvrsF_h84eBTMCrq4Di3gywCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/CartagenaRomanTheatreWikiCommons.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We’ve been sojourning in Spain: the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_C%C3%A1lida">Costa
Cálida</a>, to be precise <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–</i> between the mountains
and the sea – for a ‘rest and </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">recuperation’ break from worries, academic or otherwise. It</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> was booked before the CoV-19 virus panic took hold, and the FCO wasn</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">t warning us <i>not</i> to travel, so we did. It wasn</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">t a</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">voidance</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">,</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> or an evasive variation of the PhD revision and rewriting delay, but </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">simply time out from </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Britain’s weather, its glum atmosphere of gradual decay, and the increasing
evidence of a chaotic government that doesn’t know what it’s doing but
nonetheless will blindly persist in trying to do it </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">–</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> and, now, is further challenged by the advent of the virus issues.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In this dismal UK spring, I do crave sunlight. In the face of encroaching uncertainties it makes for an
illusion of optimism. Many of the peoples of the south may experience the same
day-to-day anxieties as we of the north, but the Mediterranean climate has its compensations. The weather allows one to be outside more frequently – unlike Scotland, where we</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">re
immured for nine months of the year. And I love mountains. I don’t know why: I
haven’t climbed one in decades. Perhaps it’s because they are reassuring,
permanent – </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">immovable</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The things</span> I like most about Spain are its graceful
historical architecture, the traditional kindness of its people, and the food. Life is geared
towards the slow lane rather than the fast – an attitude that can be found in
numerous countries that border the Med. While there are hordes of Brits present, and, it seems, even more golf courses, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">many ex-pats are selling </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">after the disastrous vote of
June 2016. The properties are being snapped up by
Danes and Germans.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The Andalusian </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>haçienda<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">-</span></i></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">style hotel we chose, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">halfway up a mountain in the Sierra de Mijas,</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">is an oasis of airy calm. Built on an original Carmelite monastery, it</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s a refuge from those</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> who drink and disco in the cheaper party-town hotels down on the coast. Where we alighted was not only cooler and cleaner but also a deal more civilised. Even the roads are quiet; it seems three out of four Spanish vehicles are electric. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Last
Sunday we attended morning Mass at the RC parish church. It was the feast of the
Transfiguration – all in Spanish (of course) but some rudimentary Latin and,
knowing the order of service in English, a sort of direct translation in one’s
head serves. The building itself is very old. Finished in 1631, it possesses a
chapel, 3 naves, and a burial crypt beneath. Later, a Baroque chapel was added.
As with many of the foundations thereabouts, there’s a lot of gilding. In 1992
repair works uncovered eight apostle fresco paintings in the church, dated back
to 1632 (the reign of the 4th Philip).</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QYr6MReH7SY/Xlq2FFoVd9I/AAAAAAAACnY/AeS0r18zpg0q0XsPQa5JGsne7KHPKpp9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/MuseoCartagena.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="551" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QYr6MReH7SY/Xlq2FFoVd9I/AAAAAAAACnY/AeS0r18zpg0q0XsPQa5JGsne7KHPKpp9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/MuseoCartagena.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">During the Bronze Age, Spain</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s coastal Iberians and Phoenicians were supplemented by the
Greeks and Carthaginians, (as was Sicily), and, lastly, the Romans. The ancient
presence that lingers in this region is largely Latin, but there are traces of
Greeks from an era that endured from the seventh to the 1st centuries BC –
albeit most of the ancient history was obliterated by the Moorish invasion.
</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartagena,_Spain" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Cartagena</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> has some survivals: a restored 6000 seat amphitheatre, (all Roman
theatres are basically alike), the </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Casa
Fortuna</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, a first-century BC villa, the remains of a third-century BC Punic
wall that was erected against the Scipios, (in vain), and hollowed-out rock </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">columbaria</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
(funerary niches). The ‘archaeological area’ is a scattered mosaic. It
helps to have a</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <a href="https://www.murciaturistica.es/en/cartagena/">map</a>!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I
discovered my EHIC reciprocal health card had expired, so was forced to order a
new card online. The telephone line was timing-out (I wonder why?!) As a
replacement can take ten days to arrive, I printed out instructions for
obtaining treatment abroad in the absence of the card. Quite straightforward – and
similar to the system that obtained aeons ago, before we joined the Union. It wouldn’t cause any problems. Best that it doesn’t need to be used at all, of
course. But I do know to keep an eye on foreign paramedics, and instruct them
to convey one to a local ‘free-access’ or Red Cross hospital, not to any of
the private ones that might have an ‘arrangement’ with ambulance crews. Most cities in Europe have such a medical facility – you just need to know where it is.
A purpose for which the Internet is actually useful. <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (I debated not bringing the Chromebook with me, but stuck it in my bag just in case. Like it or not, tech is part of our lives now.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i8CDYwA903k/Xlq2jnYKiDI/AAAAAAAACnk/NAIbN-mJoo43wj91YSn-Y_fYP64tSwKyACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Gibralter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="677" data-original-width="1150" height="188" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i8CDYwA903k/Xlq2jnYKiDI/AAAAAAAACnk/NAIbN-mJoo43wj91YSn-Y_fYP64tSwKyACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Gibralter.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However, in spite of the virulent Covid-19, the
object of these days out-of-time was to put academic troubles to the back of
the mind and concentrate on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">now</i>, to
wander and unwind. To distance oneself from Britain, all national news and
papers are best avoided.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nevertheless, we decided to visit the famous Rock </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">– </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">a mistake. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Gibraltar </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">is <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; text-align: start;">awful</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: start;">:</span> hot, humid, filthy dirty and very, very expensive. No anti-virus measures were in force, either. Reclamation from the sea is being pushed forward, thus cement dust is everywhere. And why was </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">that enormous mosque</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> plonked beneath the Rock</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s Morocco-facing aspect? Apparently the shiny marbled edifice was a gift from the Saudis, but it sticks out like a proverbial sore thumb. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> In addition, I don</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">t like monkeys. Never have. (I wonder what the Greek for simian phobia is? I should investigate.) The Rock</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s so-called Barbary macaques are unappealing: bored, sullen, evil-eyed and not for me.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8_yfVArw8Vo/Xm0JA7auIXI/AAAAAAAACok/O7V6BPAkABIZNjhKpp1yxTPLOfk5eXP_ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Rock%2Bof%2BGib_Mar2020%25232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1339" data-original-width="1600" height="166" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8_yfVArw8Vo/Xm0JA7auIXI/AAAAAAAACok/O7V6BPAkABIZNjhKpp1yxTPLOfk5eXP_ACLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Rock%2Bof%2BGib_Mar2020%25232.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rock </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Gibraltar has its own views on Brexit. I don’t blame it for its anti~ stance; it wanted to Remain. It was the sole British Overseas Territory in the EU,
and, uniquely, granted the right to vote in European elections and referendums.
But there are side effects that weren’t thought of. Not only are
Johnson’s new border restrictions a topic of acrimonious debate but also some have concerns about their residential status </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">– particularly regarding the ex-pats</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> qualifications </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">vis-à-vis </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the health service (always the first angle mentioned) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">should they wish to
return to the Old Country. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We returned in the nick of time, on one of the last departures from </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Málaga airport </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">before the airline cancelled all flights. Yesterday, <span style="background-color: white;">i</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">n response to the outbreak, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Spain introduced an <i>Estado de Alarma</i> (State of Emergency). As the measures include restrictions on movement, the whole </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">country </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">was immediately shut down, with aircraft already <i>en route</i> being told to turn around in mid-air. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Soon no one will be able to get into, or out of, anywhere in Fortress Europe. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> In the UK thirty-five people have died </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">–</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> and counting.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">While </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have no idea when, or how, this pandemic will end, it</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’s becoming more than worrying. The university has said that f</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ace-to-face
teaching is now suspended, and, if they wish to, all taught undergraduate and postgraduates
are free to go home. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Finis.</i> Four o’clock of a March Sunday afternoon. Time for tea.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: red;"><u>Update: 16 March</u>:</span> </b></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Having been instructed by our local health centre to </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">‘self-isolate,’ we are incarcerated, <i>pro tem</i> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">–</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">not only due to having been in Spain, more than 500 km from the centres of infection, but because of travelling through airports. ... </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Picture
credits: restored Roman theatre, Cartagena: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_theatre_in_Cartagena_in_Spain_a.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_theatre_in_Cartagena_in_Spain_a.jpg</a>;
entrance to Cartagena’s archaeological museum, © <a href="https://www.spain-holiday.com/articles/u/inka-piegsa-quischotte;">https://www.spain-holiday.com/articles/u/inka-piegsa-quischotte;</a>
Gibraltar, © Michael Turtle, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Canberra
Times, </i>11/5/19: view from Gib across to Africa, <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au%3B/">www.canberratimes.com.au;</a> photo, the Rock: </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">©</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"> JAS, 11/03/2020; </span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-85298703700695301522020-03-01T17:00:00.000+00:002020-03-02T12:12:22.458+00:00Κατάβασις – download time<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GuNYrhaf4uU/Xlvl1Sqi5xI/AAAAAAAACoE/WVQ9zJsbEUA-BoGL7qXCGxACOCbhjHfdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/photo-1532543307581-8b01a7ff954f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GuNYrhaf4uU/Xlvl1Sqi5xI/AAAAAAAACoE/WVQ9zJsbEUA-BoGL7qXCGxACOCbhjHfdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/photo-1532543307581-8b01a7ff954f.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Although
the university record page was still extant and accessible when I
switched off the computer at six o’clock on Friday evening, 28/02/20, the ‘end
date’ remains unchanged. With no reassurance that an extension is to be
granted, technically one’s fallen off a Registration cliff edge? I did try
to speak to the right people in the correct departments, (no mean feat), but,
as yet, actions haven’t followed words. The Registry secretary was on leave,
thus my timing wasn’t perfect, but even so ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> I
don’t know if university strikes are to continue – four days out of a 5 day
working week – but admin cannot be unaffected. I’m neither involved nor
interested in the union demands, but there will be a backlog. Almost certainly
many minor issues have slipped through the cracks. In addition, while I’m
unaware of when the stopwatch was to start ticking on the 12 months, the heart’s
gone out of it. I could revise and finish the viva’s corrections, or rewrite,
but I feel it will be for me, personally. Absent any pointers, it is unlikely
to be completed within the prescribed time limit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">A kind of nostalgic ‘nudge’ is being felt here – an urge to flee to safer
uplands, the well-trodden paths of Eng. Lit. Falling leaves return to their
roots, and because so many decades were spent in that field it’s as familiar as home
territory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> Inspecting
the overladen shelves, I was thinking I ought to dispose of volumes that are no
longer required, but – inevitably – sat down on the sofa to read. The broad
collection of science fiction can be extensively culled, and American and
English Arthuriana also take up far too much space. Some of these scholarly doorstop
tomes might possess rarity value, but most have been superseded by later
publications, as Harvey’s out-of-date <i>Oxford Companion to English
Literature</i> has been. Amazon UK has two old second hand copies at a penny
each, plus p&p.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> The
hefty number of Victorian novels could go. The secondary literature, ditto. No
doubt there is yet another generation at Oxbridge, labouring over the
Brontësaurus of Yorkshire’s Haworth heritage industry, but that’s one province
never to be revisited. <i>Middlemarch</i> may possibly stay – read at least
twice. In common with Austen’s <i>Mansfield Park</i>, it’s a good book if
you’re ill, or having a duvet day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">All ancient and modern foreign language, American, English, Irish and Welsh
poets can stay. The Scots, apart from Burns? – probably not. I find many modern works, from Hugh MacDiarmid to Liz Lochhead, self-consciously ‘precious,’ silly
and dull. Even our own ‘local poet,’ Henryson, had nothing to offer me. His
fable of Orpheus and Eurydikē was founded in Ovid, and minor Roman figures were
only peripheral to my research. The emphasis on Orpheus as a lover who
successfully retrieves his dead wife (or not) from the iron grip of Hades isn’t the
main aspect of ‘my’ figure, but its romantic persistence clouds other issues in
play. The paper I was drafting for St Andrews, before I resigned from the
symposium, was more about Orpheus as a possible tribal shepherd-musician, a
connective equivalent to the Greek Hermes <i>kriophoros</i>, the
‘ram-carrier’ of the archaic era reputed to avert plague (we could use him
today). Orpheus was also a man whose lyre enchanted all hearers, which in
turn has a link to the music the young shepherd David, son of Jesse, played to
Saul when, it was said, the king was depressed, ‘possessed by an evil spirit.’
Plus, there’s also the shamanic Thracian <i>kapnobatai </i>who travel in
other worlds, descending to the Underworld and, more importantly, coming back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> The
thirteenth century French writer Pierre Bersuire (<i>ca.</i> AD 1290–1362)
characterised Orpheus as Christ the shepherd leading a lost soul out of Hell –
a perplexing, if not-uncommon, ‘interpretation’. Orpheus’s medieval afterlife
incorporated whatever came to hand from the classical past, but, significantly,
such versions depict his quest as successful. (Well, they would, wouldn’t they?
if they were to chime with the Christian message). This is probably one of the
reasons why the impulse in art was to depict Orpheus as a psychopomp,
bringing Eurydikē up from the Underworld. This balances and equates with the pagan
Hermes <i>psychopompos</i>, who guided the deceased down there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> We
do possess images of the Thracian as Christ. One damaged fresco in the Roman
catacombs is clearly based on the Orpheus myth. It segues into the Good
Shepherd, gazing into an invisible distance. Similar to an image outlined in
Pompeii’s <i>Casa di Orfeo</i> (House of Orpheus) it displays a mountain
shepherd’s garb, the distinctive Phrygian cap (which marks the figure as a
northerner) and the Thracian lyre. He is surrounded by his animals, but they are
not asleep: they are merely stilled, quiescent. This is the Orpheus conjured up
by Ovid, and possibly behind Orphic allusions in Horace. (‘Orpheus’
and ‘Orphics’ are separate things.) The picture likely reflects pagan literary
and mythical themes prevalent in the transcultural environment of early
Christian Rome. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> But,
in my own opinion, the gap </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">– </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">between Orpheus’s apparent origins, the myth or
myths that attach to him, and, afterwards, the rites that eventually came to
bear his name – exhibits a division between a pre-Homeric manifestation and the
later much-adapted Greek <i>persona.</i> The Underworld Orpheus descends to is
the ‘old’ realm of Hades: dark, damp and silent, crowded with spirits. He is on
the divide between the pre-scientific world of a Thracian shaman’s magical
practices and the later version of ‘Orpheus’ that was attached to some priestly
or religious mystery involved with obtaining immortality / eternal life for
humankind. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Whatever
the redundant volumes</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> fate – biographies, classics, novels, poetry, travelogues </span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;">et
al </i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> – I dare say winnowing is an ongoing lifelong exercise. Perhaps,
come the projected house move, (</span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;">possibly</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> materialising!) the literary
stockpiles can be reduced through ruthless necessity. Meantime, they’re a
distraction from an unpleasant outside environment – both real and imagined.
As my sister remarked, “the ‘Real World’ now is bewildering ... Ruth in the
alien corn. One is not comfortable in it ...”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> Keats’
Ruth longed for home, but, after years in classical ‘<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44481/on-first-looking-into-chapmans-homer">realms
of gold</a>’, beginning with Homer and Troy and ending with Orpheus, truth to
tell I identify more with the English poet’s epitaph. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Nearly five o’clock of a Sunday afternoon. A cup of tea, and a piece of cake, are
called for – and a good book!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Picture
credits: books, photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@freestocks?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">freestocks</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/bookshelf?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>; </span></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-84243838848829921632020-02-15T11:30:00.000+00:002020-02-15T22:40:00.897+00:00Appealing to Κοιος (Koios)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aJMU_PD-UpU/XkgQNotCGbI/AAAAAAAACmg/2cNJWDEsCZ8d45mQLtNF3eJbDLgSaxsdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/T15.1Asteria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="571" data-original-width="396" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aJMU_PD-UpU/XkgQNotCGbI/AAAAAAAACmg/2cNJWDEsCZ8d45mQLtNF3eJbDLgSaxsdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/T15.1Asteria.jpg" width="221" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The archaic Greek Titan, Κοιος, not only represented intellect and
the spirit of enquiry, but was also the god of the axis or North Pole, around
which the constellations turned. Originally, he held up one of the four pillars
that supported the flat disk-world of the ancient Greek Earth, and was
grandfather to Delphic Apollo, god of prophecy and light; he who – during the dark
months – overwintered beneath the axis of Koios, in the mythical land of
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.theoi.com/Phylos/Hyperborea.html"><span style="color: blue;">Hyperborea</span></a>, </span>at the back of the north wind. (Sounds a lot like Scotland!) </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Koios is a strange god to have intellectual
aspects attached to his name, but, if ‘query’ and ‘questioning’ come beneath
his aegis, fair enough: he’s a deity for beleaguered researchers trying to
find a route and needing a lodestar. But he isn’t common: a Google search for
ancient images in art or artefacts draws a virtual blank. There are lots of juvenile
air-brushy Rick Riordan fandom depictions, and the Canadian Librarians’ 2019
marketing think tank logo, even a canned drink, but actual representations of
the Titan are few. His daughter, Asteria, (header, above) </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">goddess of falling stars amongst other aspects, and </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">mother of the night-walking Hekate, is far more widespread, as is Atlas shouldering
the globe, and Koios’s own consort, Phoibe. (Eventually Asteria was turned into the
island of Delos. Greek myths are extremely strange.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, perhaps libations to Koios are
required, to solicit assistance in my efforts – together with Hermes, and maybe Athene, if those two busy deities can be persuaded to inscribe <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">aides-mémoire</i> in their 2020 Olympian
‘Philophaxes,’ and bestow a few meagre scraps of inspiration ...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’m
not certain how deleting the penultimate chapter might be achieved, but I believe
it was agreed that it should be axed. Fair enough – I accept that section can
be construed as anachronistic, or irrelevant, and re-writing the other chapters
will obviously entail removing all references and footnotes. Junking the material will get rid of the
objections. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> However, my sporadic use of single, or two- or three-word, ‘paragraphs’ is unacceptable.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mea culpa</i>, (‘my bad’). In the distant
past I wrote fiction, before turning to freelance journalism – but what something
looks like on the page has always been part of my style. Writing is a highly visual medium. No
one in the publishing world has ever complained. If the meaning’s clear, what’s
the problem? If sense or meaning <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i>
compromised, then okay – by all means amend. While so-called ‘academic’ writing
is often perceived as dense and indecipherable by the general reader, in the rarified realms of myth, classics, Greek translation and so forth, the best authors are remarkable not only for their lucid clarity but also their lack
of obfuscation. I can talk! but, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“You see, a page is an arrangement of two
elements – there’s the text, made up of words, and then there’s the place where
the words aren’t – white space. And the more solid the block of words are,
the less white space there is, the more the reader is likely to see the page as
difficult to get into,” </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">– from</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="https://patthomson.net/2020/01/20/academic-writing-is-visual/" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Prof. Pat
Thomson</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, Nottingham, on academic writing. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_DuKJyZNGN0/XkgReP10t0I/AAAAAAAACms/qBclsbE43CgOjuHjotqAiJspaobX7kt_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/womanreading2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="208" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_DuKJyZNGN0/XkgReP10t0I/AAAAAAAACms/qBclsbE43CgOjuHjotqAiJspaobX7kt_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/womanreading2.jpg" width="159" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="FR">Les affaires continuent comme à l’habitude. </span></i>The<span style="background: white; color: black;"> </span>diary,
carefully arranged for as many blank white </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">spaces as possible, is again filling up. Despite the awful weather, we must journey thither and yon. It all takes too much time, but I suppose it’s beneficial to vacate these four walls. Walls cannot encourage </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">or stimulate motivation, and are simply stared at. I’d much rather be engaged on something else – something </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">not hedged by strictures and conventions. The task is beginning to look more and more like the IMRaD one dislikes. It might be very dull.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><i> </i></span>Khoios! <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Au secours</i> ...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">Picture
credits: Asteria seated with lyre, from an Athenian red-figure </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">amphora</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"> depicting Eurynoe, Eros,
Himeros, Iaso and Asteria: C5th BC, </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.mfa.org/" target="_blank">Museum of Fine Arts Boston</a>;</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"> woman reading, from an Athenian
red-figure </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">hydria</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">, from Vari, E. Attica:
</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">ca</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">. 430–440 BC, group of the Polygnotos
Painter, </span><a href="https://www.namuseum.gr/en/" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="color: blue;">https://www.namuseum.gr/en/</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">
Α.01260.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-35376852010142869952020-02-10T03:30:00.000+00:002020-02-10T03:30:00.259+00:00Journey journal<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pCivwagT_Iw/Xj6scAdFNMI/AAAAAAAACl0/QqTPY7i3sC8QTbm1_DhXWwxgD4T7yBJvwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/downloadBM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="800" height="178" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pCivwagT_Iw/Xj6scAdFNMI/AAAAAAAACl0/QqTPY7i3sC8QTbm1_DhXWwxgD4T7yBJvwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/downloadBM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
last fortnight or so has been busy. A visit to
Auld Reekie, to see the Edinburgh production of <i>The Lion King</i> was long-anticipated (booked-up for months
ahead). I did not expect to like it as much as I did. It wasn’t
just colour and spectacle, but genuinely moving in parts. Of course, it’s
copybook <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey">Joseph
Campbell</a> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">–</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> the ‘hero’s journey,’ with bits of </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Hamlet </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">thrown in: simple, straightforward, but curiously
affecting. This is no doubt why it’s been so successful. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The theatrical values are high, and the
energy on display impressive. All in all, a positive uplift in the mood, and #2
daughter was involved and happy with the performance, which was what it was all
about, really. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was strange, hearing the ‘shaman’ employing
the clicking South African language. I’d forgotten how our household help
enunciated fears about our black kitten being a ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tokaloshe</i>’ with clicks of disapproval! I never could get my
tongue around those clicks.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A
few days later we took the Caledonian sleeper train to London. Opting for Club
Class meant we could use the comfortable lounge at Waverley station until
boarding was called. (Euston’s facility isn’t anything like so salubrious.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next time, I’ll request two cabins with an
interconnecting door. The new spec carriages are fine, but space is very
limited, and being the occupant of the upper bunk means a vertical ladder. While
ascension is not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">im</i>possible, if one
is reasonably fit, it’s a hazard when the train is swaying at speed! The bed is
also designed for a midget. How a 6 ft businessman might manage is a mystery. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Sleeper’ is a misnomer. The problem with the
UK’s railways isn’t the standard of its trains but the neglected state of the
actual rails themselves. The noisy shake, rattle and roll is omnipresent, and
not unlike risking a new car’s axles and springs on potholed roads.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The level of comfort isn’t up to the
better-maintained continental European infrastructure, but an improvement on former
British Rail rolling stock. However, the onboard food and drink tariffs are as
steep as the cabin ladders – more Blue Train or Orient-Express level, rather
than Edinburgh to London. I hope when we trek across Europe later this year
that the charges won’t be quite so costly. I guess it’s like being on a
ship; captive customer bases encourage over-pricing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a second coffee breakfast at Euston, under
the looming shadow of the awful HS2 project, it was off to the British Museum by taxi. No way
was I going to chance the Underground, or a London bus, in the rush hour. And visitors
have to queue now, going through security checks that were never there in
the days when I held a Reader’s ticket at the BM. Dumping luggage at the
cloakroom now costs <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ca</i>. £5 for two,
where once it was free. I suppose it’s the Tory mantra of maximising receipts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fIAuKB36hK8/Xj6s7XHWd4I/AAAAAAAACmE/4mkv76JHgLwh9hdv0hvF4ekToYwc26W9QCEwYBhgL/s1600/BMAchilles_Penthesileia%2B001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1138" data-original-width="862" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fIAuKB36hK8/Xj6s7XHWd4I/AAAAAAAACmE/4mkv76JHgLwh9hdv0hvF4ekToYwc26W9QCEwYBhgL/s200/BMAchilles_Penthesileia%2B001.jpg" width="151" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The
exhibition, ‘<a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/troy-myth-and-reality">Troy:
myth and reality</a>,’ was curiously lacking. There are a number of
well-known archaeological artefacts displayed, but </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">‘</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Priam</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’s</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> gold</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> is missing: the Russians stole the Schliemann hoard from Berlin. Looking at the gallery with a practised
eye, much was the smoke and mirrors that can be staged by a canny curator. The
‘war at Troy’ was divided into phases, labelled in Greek and English, <i>e.g</i>., <i>Nostos</i>, the return. The thread that runs through the visitor’s
journey is plaited from the historical, literary, archaeological and actual. There
are a lot of well-written explanatory plaques, and the lighting projects ‘wall
hangings,’ enlarged Greek-style images that mimic wallpaper. Later
stages are taken up with latter-day interpretations of Homer’s <i>Iliad</i> and <i>Odyssey</i>, but with a definite accent on the women of Troy alongside
the warriors. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I suppose I’m an unreconstructed classicist,
not being keen on the modern reification of the female angle, whereas
ancient Greek women (</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">e.g</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">., those who weren’t
slaves) were, in Perikles’ immortal words, best ‘not spoken of’ by men, (cf. the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Epitaphios logos </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">– funeral speech – for the Athenian war dead, in Thucydides, 2: 46). But, on balance, I guess a midweek throng in the dark
Sainsbury’s gallery signifies a successful exhibition. I’m glad we made the
effort to make the journey down there, even if only to cock a thinking woman’s
snook at the deplorable Johnson’s ‘New Age’ that threatens us all.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">London itself has not improved any since I was
last there, and is manifestly no longer the city where the younger self lived and
worked for over six years. My main impression of the UK’s capital is of a
tourist destination, a world city that’s come to believe its own myth – despite
the evidence to the contrary, now that its divorce from Europe is a decree <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nisi</i>. It seems dirtier and more
congested, but this may be only a reflection of living so long in a small
Scottish village (here, ‘a crowd’ is about half a dozen people), surrounded by
woods and fields. At least, until the tacky newbuild housing completely covers the fields,
and the woodlands and songbirds are only a memory. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SD7fqo6ilxM/Xj6tKTGQRQI/AAAAAAAACmA/zvPr8gKwzqMCnX7lnKpPvqh5SNVEzlAyACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Gayer-Anderson%2BcatBM%2B001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="809" data-original-width="1127" height="143" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SD7fqo6ilxM/Xj6tKTGQRQI/AAAAAAAACmA/zvPr8gKwzqMCnX7lnKpPvqh5SNVEzlAyACLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Gayer-Anderson%2BcatBM%2B001.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Naturally,
it was impossible to avoid the Museum’s shop. The Troy exhibition book is a Thames <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">&</i> Hudson coffee table art volume, far
too weighty to cart back home. I’ll order it online. But smaller items went
into the basket, along with #2’s inevitable new T-shirt. Her purchase features
the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayer-Anderson_cat">Gayer-Anderson</a>
statue of the ancient Egyptian cat-goddess, Bastet, plus a golden <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ankh</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The classical fridge magnet collection is now
becoming ridiculous. However,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>two more have
been added. One is a tiny repro of a black-figure <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">amphora</i> found at Etruscan Vulci and dated <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ca.</i> 540–530 BC, (above, R). Athens made and exported high-class
ceramics to Italy, for grave goods. The actual vessel is close on 17 inches
high, and depicts Achilles slaying the Amazon Penthesileia. (Greek art is eclectic,
to put it mildly.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I still lived in London I’d apply to be a volunteer gallery attendant, and happily wander ‘Greek <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">&</i> Roman’ when not keeping an eye on school kids and tourists. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><u>Picture
credits</u>: Header: facade, British Museum: Google images; Greek amphora from
Vulci, BM Dept of Greece and Rome, © 2008, The Trustees of the British Museum;
replica of Gayer-Anderson cat with long-haired tabby, photo Graham Portlock for
<i>The British Museum Book of Cats, </i>©
2011, Trustees of the British Museum.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-40389514165242918632020-01-30T23:30:00.000+00:002020-01-30T23:30:00.338+00:00Post scriptum, post-mortem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9LQO129mu8I/XjFvr4IgWvI/AAAAAAAACk4/HJULwNQtbQkzwMUcREYVEfUw3qhWd6kGQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/photo-1450261703864-0e5c4dff9dffJBishop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9LQO129mu8I/XjFvr4IgWvI/AAAAAAAACk4/HJULwNQtbQkzwMUcREYVEfUw3qhWd6kGQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/photo-1450261703864-0e5c4dff9dffJBishop.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Having
recovered, at least physically, from the strain of last week’s long day, the travel, (and
the dehydration that went with it), the viva experience is being processed, and
options assessed. Of course, until the written report’s available, there’s not
much to do. I don’t know my current status, but, as the time lapse is an
unknown, the unwieldy tome’s been shoved in a drawer, alongside the unusable
smart phone. Out of sight, out of mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Anxiety renders my mind a vacuum, anyway. Plus, the stress brought an unusual flare-up, a patch of
atopic eczema, as well as the customary symptomatic nausea. You’d think adults would have grown out of such school-related fears of failure, but I guess these days
it’s recognised they don’t. My impatient father used to dismiss it as ‘nerves.’
I never could do exams, not in any shape or form. End of.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As the husband (ex~ of that ilk) remarked, when I began, it</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s not as if one</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’s</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> a <i>proper </i>academic. The f</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">uture
choices are few, but vary in substance, although at present I can’t think about writing. The External did intimate the research might – </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">might</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> – make a book, but this was never the road I wished to go. The work’s
not academic enough for the specialists, and too dense and convoluted for
general publishers. Besides, it’s unlike anything I’ve done before. I do have a
plan, which could be implemented. However, more thinking is
required, and, for purely professional reasons, an agent-aided approach. These things I</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> can</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although a minor academic publisher made
contact, aeons ago, around the first or second year, the response from me was ‘No.’
I worked in publishing houses in the UK, and abroad. While I knew how publication
was structured then, there is no reason to believe it still works the same way.
Scholarly publishing is a thing apart, and the pitfalls are known. (Cf. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2015/sep/04/academics-are-being-hoodwinked-into-writing-books-nobody-can-buy?CMP=share_btn_link">The
Guardian</a></i>). Open Source is perfectly acceptable, for the humanities as
well as the scientific community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’ve
withdrawn from 2020’s Symposium at St Andrews ~ apart from other, more personal,
circumstances, I don’t feel confident enough now. Furthermore, no one got back
to me from the faculty regarding the registration fee. (Not a lot: accommodation wasn’t
required. I can drive from here to St Andrews in an hour.) Also, a </span>regional Classical Association’s been established,
but I resigned my UK membership of the CA some years ago – along with the <a href="https://www.hellenicsociety.org.uk/">SPHS</a> and use of the Senate House library – in order to combine the two subscriptions into support for the British School at Athens. The British Academy may suffer in the Brexit disaster, and I’m especially indebted to the BSA for access to a Greece off the beaten tracks – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">e.g.,</i> the Sanctuary of Hera at Perachora, (below, R). I stupidly forgot my swimming costume, but took a siesta with the sanctuary cats, shaded beneath an olive tree ...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RXw2LM5eCvM/XjFv46vxbeI/AAAAAAAACk8/GEpBPpJ1ugwVB-3wWlEnRp3X213W8ExegCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/330px-Perchora-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="330" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RXw2LM5eCvM/XjFv46vxbeI/AAAAAAAACk8/GEpBPpJ1ugwVB-3wWlEnRp3X213W8ExegCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/330px-Perchora-6.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Otherwise,
Life goes on. We’ll be going to a performance of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lion King</i>, (#2 daughter’s birthday present from last year!) After
that, down to the Great Wen for the ‘Troy’ exhibition at the British Museum –
always assuming the Caledonian sleeper’s running. Since Virgin Rail was
deprived of its franchise, I trust the travel lounge will still be available. I’ll
be somewhat miffed if it isn’t. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next: Spain. Travel ye Europe while ye may.
The true impact of Brexit won’t actually be felt until December. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All in all, distractions enough from fate? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> I</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ll shut up about the thesis now. There is a world out there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">31
January’s Day of Doom looms tomorrow. The university will be defiantly emphasising its intention to continue its European links, but #2 daughter and I will <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> be marking the finale of the Leavers</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> ill-judged cause. From a recent
BBC-tv programme on rural issues, I note our farmers are really worried. Many may well go to the wall. I don’t trust London-centric politicians, anyway,
but they’re weasels when it comes to our countryside. Westminster’s mantra is
that </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">‘</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the market will adjust itself.<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One farmer opined that eventually the Leavers
will want to get back into the Union, although I suspect the reply will be,
as was de Gaulle’s, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Non</i>.’ What’s more,
by then we’ll be another American offshore state ... if yon man over the Pond
gets his way. He’s still banging on about forcing us to import his chlorinated
American chicken. The UK really doesn’t know what’s about to hit it – especially
in our wallets. Those who opted for Leave may well pine for the EU, once they
realise how expertly they’ve been conned, taken for suckers by Boris &
Co. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> A weekly newspaper, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The New European</i>, is offering free ‘Remainer’ passport covers with
new subscriptions, but I’ll continue to wear my EU / Union Jack crossed flags
pin to defend my views. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Picture
credits: Athens: Photo © Jeremy Bishop on <a href="https://unsplash.com/">https://unsplash.com/</a>;<span style="background: whitesmoke;"> </span>Ηραίο Περαχώρας <span style="background: whitesmoke;">(Heraion
of Perachoras) Corinthia, in the Peloponnese:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: whitesmoke; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">© <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraion_of_Perachora">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraion_of_Perachora</a></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-71490099764675681542020-01-25T21:00:00.000+00:002020-01-25T22:06:46.652+00:00Terms and conditions<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m1BG4ljClzw/XiyJUDFEViI/AAAAAAAACkc/qqvayYWLTwk8Mtg2iGdXZ3H4WV_a-7YVQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/photo-1507842217343-583bb7270b66_cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="339" height="276" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m1BG4ljClzw/XiyJUDFEViI/AAAAAAAACkc/qqvayYWLTwk8Mtg2iGdXZ3H4WV_a-7YVQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/photo-1507842217343-583bb7270b66_cropped.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Well
– viva over. Journey’s end. The terminus of a very long, hard road. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The result was as expected: corrections are required, plus another year granted to accomplish these. At least
it wasn’t an MPhil. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> It appears the main problem’s the method I adopted in
attempting to construct a supposed ‘original’ Orpheus – more accurately, to
trace what went to make up the ancient </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">figure</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
of the Thracian. Divergences and dissimilarities apart, between the dispersed and fragmentary
accounts, the dates and chronology of the various sources all affected the work’s
logic and progression, </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">i.e., </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the coherence
of the whole. If indeed the sprawling mass of material can ever be a whole. The
</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">exemplaria classica</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> stem from
different authors and philosophers (often one and the same) and there are
frequent contradictions in what seem, to me, to be conflicting ideas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hence, first resolution contemplated: junk the
modern ‘interpretations,’ (sorry, Gaiman <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">et
al</i>) and sort the remaining six chapters into five, cutting the thesis by
approximately twenty or 25%. I’ll have to check the university’s handbook on this, but
I’m pretty certain the work can be under 100,000 words, although not absurdly so.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I so did <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not
</i>want to get entangled with the ‘Orphics,’ but the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moirai</i> (Fates) dictated otherwise. But that’s research. ...<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>C’est la vie.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Woken
by my mobile phone alarm at 4.30 am, I was on the road in the foggy winter dark
by 6.25 am. The dawn was just showing red as I passed Dundee. The sun hauled
itself above the eastern horizon around 8.25 am, but was swiftly hidden by grey
cloud. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The viva was scheduled for 11.00 am, and
forecast to last two hours. It was more like five – punctuated by a couple of
breaks, etc. I stayed on campus to meet with my senior supervisor, and then it was
back on the road again, to arrive home here on the dot of 9.00 pm. It was an
exhausting fourteen and a half hour day, and a 250 mile round trip. This weekend I’m
in recovery mode, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">i.e</i>., not doing
very much except sleeping. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll wait for the examiners’ joint report, to
decide on the way forward. I never make immediate decisions on anything, (not
unless it’s an emergency, and this isn’t). The extra year won’t be any
different from the previous ones. There will be the same exigencies, the same
time problems, the same weight of other responsibilities. What I need to do,
basically, is prioritise stuff, but one’s personal odyssey comes below quite a
lot of other demands. While I feel a different person, looking back at the first
posts regarding this process I question now whether I appreciated what
researching and writing a thesis entails, the way life revolves around it, and
the effort involved. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In
regard to the Amazon UK account dilemma, to close it or not, I deleted
it after finding out that the enhanced seller details requested are required by
French law, for trading across Europe. As we are about to fall out of the
Union, courtesy of Boris and his deluded cohorts, I figure that, in this case,
less is more. In a time of escalating online perils, and the shadowy spectres
of hackers and other crims intent on fraud, the less exposure one has the
better? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>O, gods! I loathe upgrading tech. It involves
updating and re-wiring my brain, and that’s far more difficult! But with
everything going online, from ordering groceries to prescriptions, insurances
to appointments, a techtonic shift is necessary. But I drew the line at phone
apps. The smart phone’s been abandoned, shoved in a drawer. There are limits to
my tolerance. As with the seductive fare in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Goblin
Market</i>, apples and apps come with hazards attached. ...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the demise of Windows 7, security is
paramount. However, when I made enquiries at the bank, they said Microsoft
haven’t advised their technical team about any issues. (??!) But, as this
faithful workhorse is too elderly to update satisfactorily, a new desktop will
be in the pipeline. Computers were supposed to make our lives easier. Instead,
it seems existence is becoming ever-more complex.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Picture
credit: Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@alfonsmc10?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Alfons
Morales</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/images/things/book?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848375620130028860.post-80255655520310921302020-01-20T00:30:00.000+00:002020-01-20T00:30:00.235+00:00Stumbling out of the Union ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UQ79GqYs0nI/XiNHmGdj2NI/AAAAAAAACj8/IGHjGDkd1i0SJYbTvvVi7NWxqhcQ5daYQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Britain%2Btoday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="663" height="217" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UQ79GqYs0nI/XiNHmGdj2NI/AAAAAAAACj8/IGHjGDkd1i0SJYbTvvVi7NWxqhcQ5daYQCEwYBhgL/s320/Britain%2Btoday.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">...
the European one, that is. The silly furore about Big Ben not sounding at the
eleventh hour next week is laughable. According to Boris’s protesting Faragists, it’s a
deliberate ‘Remainer conspiracy’ to deprive the masses. However, in my personal opinion, ringing <i>any</i> bell is entirely inappropriate, unless it</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s to be a muffled funeral peal. The UK will slink and stumble out of the EU </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">‘</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">not with a bang but a whimper.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The quotation is apposite; it</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s from T.S. Eliot</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">‘</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>The Hollow Men</i>,</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> and the hardline progenitors of Brexit are indeed hollow men. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> On the other hand, the major, and
minor, hassles threatened in the fallout are legion. These include abandonment of
how much the banks must refund customers in the event of fraudulent
transactions. The statutory compensation may rise, stay the same – or be
substantially lowered. Back in 2016, there were over 1.85 million cases of
financial fraud in the UK – losses via payment cards, remote banking and
cheques that totalled £768.8 million, a 2% increase over the previous year.
Fraud is still rising, especially amongst the elderly and the vulnerable, </span><i>e.g.,</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> disabled people. Currently, a
bank customer’s entitled to a refund if there’s been fraud on a debit card,
but, as with any financial product, you should read the T&Cs. Each card
provider has different policies. Sometimes the zero liability guarantee is only
valid for a limited period, and you must act. If you don’t report it
within the time frame, you’ll be stuck with the cost.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Another
hassle is Amazon’s online emporium, which is to discontinue my seller account. Okay,
it’s been inactive for some thirty months (I’ve been otherwise engaged,
Messrs. Amazon!) but reactivation seems too much of a bother.
In respect of identity fraud, a new requirement for European sales is a passport
number, and that is one demand too far. Plus, the global players’
titanic data storage stacks are consuming huge portions of world-wide energy
resources, and contributing to global warming. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YgNT7xCsA6A/XiNH2hqZURI/AAAAAAAACkE/x9kqwQzQURgZDxGsP_EAnACqH89ITNaZACEwYBhgL/s1600/Small%2Bis%2BBeautiful.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="325" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YgNT7xCsA6A/XiNH2hqZURI/AAAAAAAACkE/x9kqwQzQURgZDxGsP_EAnACqH89ITNaZACEwYBhgL/s200/Small%2Bis%2BBeautiful.jpg" width="131" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Maybe it’s time to find alternatives. As an economist once said, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Small-Beautiful-Economics-People-Mattered/dp/0099225611/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1XO98VBP6XUZC&keywords=small+is+beautiful+schumacher&qid=1579367921&s=books&sprefix=small+is+%2Cstripbooks%2C156&sr=1-1">Small
is Beautiful</a> </i>– voted #2 in a <i>Guardian</i> list of 50 books to
change the world. Decades before Greta Thunberg, alongside David Attenborough,
Rachel Carson’s <i>Silent Spring</i>, and <a href="https://richardmabey.co.uk/">Richard Maybe</a>’s works, it’s been more
influential than many an environmental scientist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In
respect of the ill-fated thesis and this week’s looming viva, nothing has been
accomplished. Whilst the earnest academic tomes declare that a failure to prepare
is to prepare to fail, it’s been impossible recently to find any sizeable
stretches of uninterrupted time to open the thing and con its forgotten
contents.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Apart
from anything else, the inefficiencies of others are a problem, with particular
reference to the machinations of the NHS. I figure it can’t be just Scotland,
but health and welfare were devolved to the parochial care of Holyrood, and,
since then, it’s been downhill all the way. Even at a local level the impact is
being felt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Venture
any exercise, <i>e.g.</i>, ordering a repeat prescription: You phone the GP’s
surgery, and are directed to ‘order it online,’ but if you attempt to log on nothing happens. Telephoning the pharmacy, they say you’re not on their
register – because they recently took over the business and installed a new
computer, minus all the previous records. Besides, it’ll take 72 hours to
action your request. “Perhaps you could consult one of the private practices in
the town? No, I can’t give you their names, but there are a number who can
assist.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Okay,
I thought. In today’s NHS, don’t be a nuisance, or even believe you matter, because not only are the British going to be short of patent drug
supplies manufactured in the EU, but also neighbourhood dispensaries appear to
be conspiring towards a gradual shift to the private sector. Who needs a Trump
to cherry-pick the margins of the NHS? We can profitably do it for ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Before
the disastrous election, I was preparing a report on how disability needs in the UK are addressed by an able-bodied society that hasn’t a clue. It’s been
shelved, <i>pro tem</i>, until I know what will happen to the party’s MEPs.
Albeit, to date, the findings are less than reassuring.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> For
straight news or reports, you have to reduce material to a written equivalent of
sound bites, which inevitably removes depth. It can emerge as tabloid
simplification – particularly if you encounter a sub who doesn’t like ‘long
words.’ I’ve never asked if this is because my terms aren’t in the kindergarten
computer thesaurus, or s/he doesn’t understand the words, and believes the
readers wouldn’t, either. The French do, and so do the Scandinavians, Germans
and Italians. So, why not the Brits? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Sadly,
the bulk of our population prefers its simple basics: meat and two veg, fish and
chips; Parry’s mythical <i>Jerusalem</i>, Saturday football, and no immigrants
because we don’t speak their lingo – and definitely no patronising exhortations
by minatory intellectuals concerning life, internationalism, or climate change.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Och,
well. We did try, but the real barbarians are inside our gates, especially in parliament. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">Picture
credits: the Elizabeth Tower clock face, BBC News 23/11/18 © Reuters; Schumacher,
E. 1993 <i>Small is Beautiful</i>, © Amazon UK; </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0