Sailing into the Sunset

 While reading the Golden Road by William Dalrymple (Page 61) I came across this watery passage:-

According to the Greek geographer Strabo, the first European to attempt a regular commercial relationship with India was an Alexandrian merchant named Eudoxus... he was last seen disappearing through the pillars of Hercules... with a boatload of singing boys and dancing girls in an attempt to reach India by a new route.... he was never heard of again. 

The phrase 'dancing girls' caught my eye. It was parlance in our household for possible naughtyness in the abscence of responsible adults! We still use it today in jocular fashion... However, to add  singing boys. What a way to go.  No wonder he was lost forever.

Hello, hello, glad your back. I was wondering how they failed to spot him with all those gyrating harpies and caterwauling young gents? (Ed.)

Maybe they were listening to the Shipping Forecast at the time, give me strength! 

 

Federal Belt and Bracing

 A Mr Lee, Governor of Tennessee, twitted that:-
"I'm proud to proclaim today, September 27, as a voluntary Day of Prayer & Fasting across the Volunteer State." This just prior to landfall of Hurricane Helene. Other Governors and States are available and were likely to be blasted. They looked to the Federal Gov. and FEMA (possibly in addition to the almighty) for assistance.

It appeared, somewhat belatedly, possibly grudgingly, Mr Lee decided to ware a belt as well as bracing and approached the Federal Authorities.

Amen!

Hat tip to Heather Cox Richardson  for alerting me to this on Sep 28, 2024 in her grown up person's substack.

Pain(e) and Truth

 A visit to Thetford, to dentist and optician, since you ask. 

While waiting for the dental  numbing to subside I visit the gold statue of Thomas Paine, appropriate as Mrs Wikipedia tells me he was born Thomas Pain, but I digress. The plinth on which the imposing figure stands contains an inscription 

"IT IS AN AFFRONT TO TRUTH TO TREAT FALSEHOOD WITH COMPLAISANCE"

Hmm! One or two could do with remembering that. Isn't it so Donny?

(This advert is sponsored by Buddist Pizza Enterprises.

No Cats or pets or other small animals were harmed in its production!)

 

In Time of War(s)

Long, long ago, in a university common room I saw a crumpled man with a crumpled face in a crumpled jacket smoking a cigarette. (It was a long time ago.) Keith's Mum said he was a poet. Here is part of a poem what he wrote.

...I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return...

At an early age I was vaccinated against poetry but I think this has something to say, now.
Within the crumples it seemed there might be great experience, humanity and compassion. Who knows?
Hat tip to John Naughton for reminding me.
(Ehmm, ehmm! Would we not have to get permission from Mr Auden for the use of September 1 1939 Ed.)
WH is late of his parish and we claim fair use which is more than I have had out of you, recently!

Meurig

A message. Muerig, a friend and a lovely man, has died.
I thought of this song, Fair Love of my Heart sung by Ishbel MacAskill, as a fitting reminder of what a gentle, good humoured, man he was.

Meurig
A rolling Moss,
A gentle smile and a hearty chuckle
from a small frame browned by the sun of many summer camps.
A truer of wheels and young minds buckled by potholes of existence.
A generous sharer in the water of life.
Sadly, one day, we will all come to the end of the bottle. 

I hasten to add

In case you  think I May have a down on the besom for any Trumpish reasons it's "just poli'ical". In my defense I would point you in the direction of an inspirational character, the subject of a programme in the 'great lives series' of the British Broadcasting Corporation, Shirley Chisholm.
I proudly wore the badge, "Shirley Chisholm for President",  45 years ago, even though I did not have a pig in the race as my ancestors might have had it!

(Lost, lost! I have no idea what you are blethering on about. Lord save us... Ed)
Keep up there fella, as Commander Hastings would say. we are in for quite a ride.

Border Crossings

An Item on the LRB Blog about the famous Seamus, his finely honed sense of mischief and barriers to humanity. 
As we know he has not passed on but lives quietly, a suitable presence in the fens, a miasmic curate in some forgotten pub!

"To educate the English" Now there's a thought.
(Do you think they might build a wall? I know a few fellas who could do with a bit of work. The construction business has been on the down for a while now and the family connection would ensure it was done to spec and on time...Ed)
by their walls ye shall know them!

Mayday

The first Sunday in May and six acres of bluebells in Haughley Park Woods.

Other photos are available -

http://www.haughleypark.co.uk/public-events/

It seems meet and just to celebrate Mayday with something blue. In the interests of balance however and to avoid any any suggestion that all that is yellow is not necessarily red can I direct you to Mhairi Black: SNP MP's maiden speech in full on You Tube! (I am confused, perplexed and banjanxed. You have me completely lost...Ed!)

Oja La.

Wake Up Call

Imagine my surprise listening to Late Junction early this morning on the Beeb's marvelous catchy uppy iplayer type thingy.
(Late Junction 5/04/2016 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b075prfv ) There at 00:55 - Ed Lee Natay  Zuni Sunrise Canyon Records. He was  singing his socks off to get the horses up and all us idle bu**ers out of bed. Sam Lee (no relation as far as I know), who was the guest on the programme, describes his recognising this track and first hearing it as the arise song at FSC. I recognised it too though I was probably singing it (I could in those days, sing that is.) Is it as haunting as I think or is it just  an association with the great outdoors and a very happy time?

Sam was on  after his own programme went out on Sunday - Taking It All Back Home 3/04/2016 BBC R3 . In it he explored how archives and institutions around the world are looking to repatriate sound recordings.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b075p6n9  If you miss the link or don't have time it is downloadable.

I particularly liked the division of people into coyotes and others!

Honourable Friends?

Lots to think about (and do) as a result of reading Honourable Friends by Caroline Lucas.

I attended a celebration of the Life, Loves, Laughs and Liberties of Bob Hall this weekend.
Robert, though I doubt many friends called him that, died earlier this year. He  was an inspiration. He also claimed to have had many fathers and that reversion of scripture(?) was reported in a touching eulogy. Positive stories  emerged in the course of the afternoon, all gave me hope, including the claim  that Bob believed in two things, democracy and that much could be covered by a good coat of paint!

Sometimes, Bob  said, you just need to grab the back of the chair in front of you, stand up, and say what you believe in!
But of course, you also need to organise...

Bob's Organiser's Box

Bob Hall  1923 - 2015

Sense and Sensibility

Dear god,
What have you been putting in his tea? Old Simon in the Grauniad has come up with a few suggestions!

I tell you what. Whatever it is could we have some? Say a few thousand barrels?

Anyone for tea? Vicar, there you are!

Toodle pip.

Summer Fruits

What a pleasant summer this is turning out to be. We attended a convivial gathering in Norfolk of Oliver Bernard's family and friends. I'm sure he would have wished to be there had he not died just over a year ago. His son Joe told a lovely story delivering the punch line in a pitch perfect imitation of Oliver's lugubrious voice.
Oliver owed the doctor some money, £200, whatever, and old sawbones was most insistent on payment. He pressed Oliver increasingly for this despite the poor poet's protestations of payment in the future.  Eventually he pitched up on the doorstep with his demand and was greeted as Oliver opened the door with
    - I really must start eating an apple a day!

Amazing Grace

Caught in ma goonie wi haf a grapefruit and boily egg, toast too!
Listened to Grayson Perry delivering himself of the latest in his Reith Lectures.
Enjoyed it greatly. I'm not sure if he was wearing his best frock for Stroke City. They lapped it up as did I.
Link here to the Beeb site.

(Isn't it at this point that you usually say something bad about that well known  'Radio Personality' Sue Crawley... Ed!)

Memento

Two pictures for Elizabeth

A bright, fierce, flower
glowing and thriving.
A silver bower,
remembering and resting.

Austerity Plus

One might be tempted, late at night and behind closed doors, in the priv... (come on man, I have a job to do and the electricity to pay, children to feed and all sorts of business to attend to... Ed) to say ARSE to austerity, we have never had it so good. That might be a mistake. We are all in this together and I have no wish to see my neighbour beggared. I allow that I might feel different if I were the possessor of a small fortune, a millionaire Da and a name like Gideon. If I had invested my somewhat short political future on the idea of cutting the nations economic throat as a cure for fiscal obesity I would be committed (or possibly should be committed...Ed) to the idea of austerity. However, there is this wee Scots guy who makes a very strong case for equating austerity with madness. If you think of Billy Conolly on Speed with the intellectual power of the laureated Mr Krugman you may be able to imagine the economic cruise missile that is Mark Blyth. If not you can watch him here giving a talk at Google or Guggle as it is referred to in Scotlenad. For ye of little faith and shorter attention span the Grauniad has an interview here.

So Gideon, we want
- Hipocratic Economics, No Slash and Burn
- Pay down debt and build buffers when you have the money,
- Now we need hope based priorities, policies and spending!
Three pointers for the young leader of a party near you.

Merv the Swerve at the Old Lady always appeared to me to be a bit of a Banker! In a FT lunch conversation with Martin Wolf he is quoted as saying that one of his prescriptions for the eurozone's woes...

to continue with mass unemployment in the south, in order to depress wages and prices until they've become competitive again. FT Life and Arts p 3 June 15/16 2013

A brave man indeed and perhaps the shy and soon to be retiring banker will offer to share his retirement package with the sons of Hellas, Napoli and the Reyes Catolicos  who pitch up in the summer, on his doorstep, asking for a crust or two or even a job.
I believe - Da me un trabajo, pendejo is roughly equivalent to - Gis a job la! in Spanish. It might be useful to know that.

We are all in this together!

Interesting article, at this time,  about a part of the Spanish Economy by Giles Tremlett in today's Grauniad.
The term recession proofing is used, with some justification, when speaking about Mondragon the magic mountain.
There are problems, not all workers are members of the coop, finance can be hard if squeezed by mainstream banks or defaulting local authorities but, what is claimed,  as greater flexibility by member cooperatives and more committed workers seems to have kept the ship afloat! Broad brush it compares favorably with the devastation of other parts of Spain which, of course, we ignore at our peril.
We have our Coop, not that sexy, a bit like a spinster aunt in my youth, could be relied on for support and the odd fiver!
Linked, sadly and apparently,  without much influence or effect to the Labourandconservative party. The new face of the Big(ass) Society, the John Lewis Partnership. Good for high quality schmatter and service; god help those who can't afford it.
Fraternally yours
His Enlightenedness
Swami BP (the tall fat one)
Toady Lane
Nirvana

Now We are 7 (I Think)

We are in it for the Long Haul as John Wayne might have said rounding up the doagies. (What on earth are doagies... Ed? I think someone wasted their childhood watching cheap Holywood Cowboy filums!)  Yup. You gonna call me out like a man or hide behind that bottle of ink and quill pen with the white feather?
So now we are 7.
The world may appear to be a different place. We still have the most right wing, militaristic, nuclear weaponed government in our history. Italy is still in crisis. The poor are still with us. The pope is still a shy, and retiring, catholic. They are still prising guns out of the hands of cold, dead, mass murderers.  They are dying in Syria as opposed to Afghanistan. Oh they are still dying in Afghanistan and Gaza and god knows where else. Despite this Blog's call for World Peace and Justice by 4pm, non negotiable, I suspect we may all be banging away about it for a lot longer.

I am shocked and shamed by the energy, industry, and courage of individuals who challenge the evil parts of the system. The power of the big bad guys to destroy you is truly scary but many have the courage to resist and provoke.

Aaron H. Swartz was an American computer programmer, writer, and political organizer. He resisted and spent a large part of his short life organising and looking for loopholes.  Larry Lessig devotes his inaugural lecture, as the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership of the Harvard Law School to "Aaron's Laws". It is very moving so I guess we should be moved.

George Monbiot has a piece describing the actions of EDF in response to a peaceful protest. 

If you want to register a protest you can always sign the petitions.

And you could ask yourself why you get your energy from EDF if you do and you could ask yourself who owns EDF?

(Be warned! Any untoward comments in this Blog concerning Cheese Eating Electric Monkeys will be dealt with, most severely..Ed!)

The Usual Suspects

Nice little blog from our Paul  at the Great Hall.

Certainly nobody in the press made trouble: not even me, nor Channel Four News, nor The Guardian. We sat, watched, recorded.

Eee Paul, you becoming a southern softie? Few years in the Laogai; toughen you up a treat lad.

Certainly seemed to be a shortage of people considering it's their hall!
I have come to appreciate Paul's journalism and reportage. I sincerely hope Fatty Pang and the Posh Posse don't do too much damage!

Romancing the Wind

Very uplifting, no pun intended for once and if you are not as high as a kite after watching this video well, shame. Ray Bethell, an 85-year old resident of Vancouver, is romancing the wind with kites near the Burrard Street bridge. Here he flies three kites in a ballet set to "The Flower Duet" from Leo Delibes opera "Lakme" - with Joan Sutherland and Jane Berbie. Robert  Holbrook is credited with the video.

Many thanks to Jean for the link. 

As You Are Now So I Will Be

I find myself using the backs of envelopes (not fag packets), the blank side of paper, letters, advertising, printing in rough and so on. It makes me think of an elderly, fiercely intelligent monk that taught us applied maths more years ago than I care to remember and so many years ago that I can't remember his name. We were a group of three, and sat mesmerized as he worked his way through examples, explanations and problems, detailing each on the inside of an envelope which had been opened carefully to use the blank space. He produced these as if from an endless supply in the pockets of his somewhat threadbare habit. Questions produced but a moments reflection through pebble thick glasses, a few fish like gulps and the solution would be set out on the scrap paper, clearly, logically and with a straightforward commentary.   Given that we were fairly thick and the sessions lasted two hours I think we half expected him to run out. We would have the joy of seeing him tug at his socks to try and find more scrap paper. It may be that we considered handing in homework on such stationery or maybe that is the conceit of a false memory. I do remember his gentle manner, his brogue and the fact that the rest of the community regarded him as, well, completely bats.

Anyway, here is a wee picture of another little treasure.


Early Purple Orchid since you ask!