Lunedi Lunacy

This is posted without comment except to say I hope my friend Jeff sees it and remembers our dinner conversations.

Thanks to Jenn for passing it on - and frankly I'm frightened that both of us probably know what most of those acronyms mean!

 26 March - 1636: Utrecht University is founded in the Netherlands.

Her Words Say It All

My dear Elizabeth doesn't post to Love Elizabeth very much these days - but then given what has been going on in her life it is understandable that she has very little time for blogging. When she does it is not usual for her posts to stop me in my tracks and take my breath away.

I try to avoid family matters or speaking of things that, though close to me, are not mine to speak off but her entry is past week hits very close to home - hers and ours.  Sadly Laurent and the rest of the family have watched this happen over the past ten years in our family and can only share with Liz and her family the sorrow, the pain and the fear.  A right click on the remarkable photo will take you to a piece that has had me close to tears for several days now.

She has captured so much of what we are seeing and have seen and are afraid that we will see.

25 March - 1958:  Canada's Avro Arrow makes its first flight.

Lunedi Lunacy

Having just renewed my subscription to the orchestral season 2012-2013 at the National Arts Centre - how's that for optimism???? - I thought maybe I'd share a few musical lunacies. Most of them passed on by my very musical friend Cathy.

March 19 - 1895 – Auguste and Louis Lumière record their first footage using their newly patented cinematograph.

Wish We Were There

Since Vin started running the Roma Marathon I believe this is the first time we haven't been on the side lines with Larry cheering him on.  And it was always such a thrill to see him coming out of the crowd at the end wearing his medal and announcing his time.  Unfortunately today we could only be with him in our hearts.

The Marathon starts at the Arch of Constantine beside the Colesseo and goes for 42.195 kms through the city.  The runners go as far West as San Paolo and cross the Tevere five times  to Parco di Villa Glori in the East and back to the Colesseo.  We always waited at various points in Centro to urge him on - leisurely walking from one to the other, I might add, no running for that group.

Larry always has a bouquet of flowers waiting for Vin at the end of the race - and there was one year if memory serves a Pooh Bear balloon.   This year Vin completed the race in 3 hours and 35 minutes - which I believe (though they might want to correct me) beat last year's time.


Caro Vin I only wish we could have been there to shout: Vai Vai along the route and offer complimenti at the finish.  And then join you and Larry at Valentino's for a celebratory lunch.

18 March - 1850 – American Express is founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo.

Taking the P**s Out of the Whole Thing

Yes I have an Irish passport and I'm proud of my heritage but on a day like today any true Irishman, or woman for that matter, simply hides themselves away until the rest of the world has pissed out their green beer.

So by way of celebration I offer these two, to my mind at least, highly appropriate little gems - one visual, the other written:

And just a click away is "8 Insulting Ways to Act 'Irish' On St. Patrick's Day".

Enough said!

17 March - The Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) is proclaimed

OH CANADA!

Since August I have frequently joked with friends, saying that I left Canada in their care for four years and came back to a country I am having a hard time recognizing. Sadly it seems to be less and less a joke.

As the circumstances surrounding the last election are revealed and more and more irregularities are brought to light - and not it would seem just with one political party - I am both appalled and ashamed of what is happening in my country.

Of course there has always been election jigging - that's one of the reasons the sale of liquor was banned on election day for many years. And there has always been dirty politics - given the nature of the game and the people playing it there always will be. But I honestly haven't seen it as blatantly exposed and at times almost flaunted in the face of the electorate by certain parties as it is now - and I've been a voter for the past 47 years.  

Given the revelations of the past weeks I question why the sitting Governor General has not exercised his constitutional powers to dissolve parliament and call another election.   It is obvious that there has been dishonesty and unlawful tampering beyond what we would expect even of our current sorry crop of politicians.  In a truly "just society" these law makers would be treated as the law breakers that they are and their parliamentary privileges revoked.

Seeing what is happening here I wonder how we can have both the audacity to lecture other countries on their election processes and to send "monitors" to oversee a "fair and democratic" election when we cannot guarantee one within our own borders.

For the first time in my life I cam ashamed of my country and of being a Canadian. 

13 March - Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, the man who gave his name to the tea blend was born.

Lunedi Lunacy

A conundrum - no I didn't say curmudgeon that would be me - from my friend Vicki that is easily solved:

You are driving in a car at a constant speed. 

• On your left side is a 'drop off'  - the ground is 18-24 inches below the level you are travelling on.
•  and on your right side is a fire engine travelling at the same speed as you. 
• In front of you is a galloping horse , which is the same size as your car and you cannot overtake it. 
• Behind you is a galloping zebra . 
• Both the horse and zebra are also travelling at the same speed as you.

What must you do to safely get out of this highly dangerous situation ? 

For the answer, click and drag your mouse from star to star.

*Get off
the merry-go-round, you're drunk!*

Jubilee!

For some reason when I saw this photo today in the Daily Telegraph a song from Monty Python's Spamalot popped into my head.  I believe its called "I'm Not Dead Yet!".

11 March - 1708: Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation.

For the Women in My Life

In Italy it is traditional to give the women in your life a sprig of Mimosa in honour of the celebration of International Women's Day.

This year I thought I would give all the wonderful women in my life this delightful illustration of Mimosa from Les Fleurs animées by Jean J. Grandville as a way of saying thank you for being part of my life and allowing me to be part of yours.

08 March - 1910: French aviatrix Raymonde de Laroche becomes the first woman to receive a pilot's license.

Mercoledi Musciale

Though I've haven't forgiven him and his brother for that treacly hymn to cultural homogenization and globalization - Its A Small World After All - the musical delights that composer Robert B Sherman (who died yesterday) and his younger brother Richard gave us as "house" song writers for Walt Disney were part of my early years.

Their score for Mary Poppins has found a new audience since the movie was adapted for the stage in 2004, 40 years after its cinematic incarnation.  But nothing will ever beat the original - pax Dick Van Dyke's horrendous idea of a cockney accent - with Julie Andrews at her most winsome and the Disney Studio animators at their best.  And according to Sherman it took them two weeks to come up with Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - as if a word like that could be made up!!!!  But what is remarkable - aside from that word that is now part of our everyday lexicon - is how they managed to make the song sound like a Music Hall standard that had been around for years.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

One of my favourite Sherman Brothers songs was from a film a year earlier - Summer Magic released in 1963.  I saw it four times and played the record until it was worn down.  I had a crush on Hayley Mills and it didn't hurt that it featured Peter Brown  (sigh - he of the tight cream pants) from The Lawman, who I will admit I had an even bigger crush on!  It was one of those Disney movies that conjured up an early America that sadly only existed in Walt and script writer Sally Benson's (of Meet Me in St Louis fame) minds.  One of hearts broken but quickly mended, crotchety ladies (the wonderful Una Merkel) with hearts of gold, loving and lovely mothers (the beautiful Dorothy McGuire) and avuncular uncles who not only knew how to sing like Burl Ives but were in fact Ives himself.  And Richard Sherman always claimed this was his personal favourite amongst the many songs that filled their catalogue.

Again the Sherman's captured the spirit of an epoch with a fidelity and seeming ease that belie their remarkable talents as song writers.

Given their prodigious output it comes as no surprise that the two brothers were working on a new movie score for a 2013 release at the time of Robert's death.

06 March - 321 AD:  Emperor Constantine I decrees that the dies Solis Invicti (sun-day) is the day of rest in the Empire.

Lunedi Lunacy

And continuing the puppy theme I started last week with the intention of carrying it through the week - the best planned lays of mutts and men!!!!!!:

And in honour (????) of recent events in our Nicky's life - I hope my feminist friends are happy now - I post the following:

And as an added touch of lunacy "Zemanta" suggested that one of the labels for this post should be "transgender" - how about "no f....g gender"??????

27 February - 425: The University of Constantinople is founded by Emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia.

The Trumpet Shall Sound

Another great that I grew up listening to left us this morning.

Maurice André spent part of his youth working in a mine until his father, an amateur trumpeter, encouraged him to study with a family friend. His almost 300 recordings helped spearhead the resurgence of interest in Baroque music that surfaced in the 1960s. Though he retired a few years ago his performances are still very popular - and with reason.  Commenting on this video of the Allegro from the Haydn Trumpet Concerto, captured in Heidelberg with the Muncher Philharmonik, someone said: ...he looks like he has just come down for breakfast, found an orchestra in his garden and picked his trumpet up to play. The right balance of effortlessness and indulgence.  His performances were always like that.

The trumpets are sounding a bit sweeter in the heavenly realms today.

26 February - 1917: The Original Dixieland Jazz Band records the first jazz record, for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York.

Memories of Venezia

For the pious - Christians at least - today begins the 40 days of Lenten fasting after the glorious excesses of Carnevale in the preceding days. Last year we spent a weekend in Venice with my darling Cathy and Isabelle joining in that most gaudy of celebrations leading up to Mardi Gras. It was another chance to enjoy one of my favourite cities in the world: I have often recalled the first time I flew into Venice and as we passed over the city with all those familiar sites glistening in the bright sunlight thinking, "well this is either a city I will truly love or truly hate!"  I went back four more times so I will let you decide what the verdict was.

Yes it is touristy, yes the prices are inflated, yes it is crowded and yes occasionally - though not often - the people can be a bit surly but it is still one of the most magical places on earth.   Wander into Piazza San Marco from the Ala Napoleonica after midnight; sit in the shadow of the leaning bell tower of San Stefano as your spoon scoops into a gelato at Paolin; stroll the back calle around the Arsenal; walk the fondementi in Dorsodura; peak into a church in Santa Sofia and discover the most incredible marble trompe l'oeil.

But Venice is more than a stage set for Carnivale, gondolieri and music students in soiled 18th century drag hawking concerts of Vivaldi's Four Seasons.   Despite its dwindling population, it is a place where people live but live in constant threat from the sea that gives the city and their lives  their uniqueness.  This video that my friend Anna posted on Facebook is a "Backstage" look at what it takes to keep that magic image for the visitor and the niceties of day to day life for the Venetians.

Venice Backstage. How does Venice work? from Insula spa on Vimeo.

In 1876 John Ruskin, whose three volume work The Stones of Venice (an exhaustive study of the city) was published in 1851, was struck by the amount of damage that had been caused in 30 years by the combination of the climatic conditions, neglect and poor restorations techniques.   He would no doubt be astonished to see that many of those "stones" he wrote about and drew in such detail were still around and hopefully he would be pleased with the new efforts at restoration and more important preservation.

22 February - 1632: Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published.

Lunedi Lunacy Late

And if you notice a canine theme going on this week there is a reason - more about that later!
Thanks to Vicki for this one - apparently she thinks there's a reason not to let a dog lick your face????? 

21 february - 1918: The last Carolina Parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Lunedi Lazzi*

For my friend Harold, Sonya and the girls ...

And I believe it with my whole heart!

*a Lazzo or Lazzi was an interlude in commedia dell'arte that was guaranteed to bring a smile if not an outright laugh to the spectator's face. I think this lovely cartoon qualifies as that.

20 february -  1472: Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland in lieu of a dowry for Margaret of Denmark.

Lunedi Lunacy

It beats Tex and Edna Boil's Prairie Warehouse and Curio Emporium and eBay all to hell!  Why you can get used tug boats, bomb resistant safes, fire hoses, hand sanitizer stands and all sorts of goodies at the Government of Canada Surplus Store.  Items are government overstocks, out of date equipment or items seized at the border or in raids on homes.  One small catch - you have to pick it up and as much as I'd like that Jumbo Refractometer I'm not going all the way to Moose Jaw to get it.  Guess I'll just have to wait until Christmas.

I offer without comment this little item which I am assuming was lifted at the border - for bad taste if not for breaching some unknown customs regulation:

13 February - 1881: The feminist newspaper La Citoyenne is first published in Paris by the activist Hubertine Auclert.

Quote... Unquote

As I've mentioned in an earlier post I've become engrossed in the novels of Nancy Mitford (left), though after having completed her three earliest I am now taking a break - too much of a good thing can becoming cloying after a while.   And for my taste Mitford is a "good thing".   Though I greatly enjoyed the book that started this read fest, Christmas Pudding, and her third novel Wigs on the Green (I understand why she was unwelcome in the house of her sister Diana and her Fascist crowd) there is something about the first book, Highland Fling, that I found gave me the greatest pleasure.  Perhaps it is a young writer finding her way, not always sure of her characters or plot but writing with an intimate knowledge and affection for the people she has used as her models.  In all three novels her older titled folk are caricatures but not as broad, or as bitter, as those created by many of her contemporaries. In Wigs her portrait of Lady Chalford with her ridiculously rigid moral code is at first laughable, then touching but ultimately disturbing as you see it reflected in her grand-daughter's Union Jackshirt credo - this woman knew her class.    And her "bright young things" - no doubt drawing on her own experiences with that set - are etched with only a light touch of acid -  their follies and foibles suggesting that the "me" generation we talk about today is not a new thing.

I am a great fan of, the oft mentioned here, E. F. Benson and P. G. Wodehouse both of whose creatures inhabit, as do Mitford's, an England caught between the two Great Wars. A period of flux and change, of discovery and of loss for a generation and a world that never quite recovered from the  effects of those 5 years.  That period of the "lost generation" does not appear to ruffle Benson's upper middle-class citizens of Tilling - what other than the intrigues of their own little world does? -  nor disturb the antics of members of Bertie's Drones Club.  But in Highland Fling Mitford recognizes the incredible gap between a generation who had fought for a set of values which they were then told were out-dated and valueless by a generation that had no regard for them or their values.  If I weren't reading an novel written in the 1930s I would swear Mitford was talking about today.

"Bright Young Things" - Cecil Beaton, Stephen Tennant, Zita Jungman, Edith Olivier and Rex Whistler - all looking very stylish and set for a weekend of pleasure and leisure. It was a world well known to Nancy Mitford and her sisters.

As Highland Fling begins a quartet of bright young things heads up to Scotland to see to the care, feeding and recreation - or rather wholesale slaughter of game - of a hunting party at a familial castle in Scotland.  Amongst the group is Albert Gates, an avant-garde artist and I suppose the "hero" of the novel as much as there can be heroes in any of Mitford's tales.  One evening at dinner, surrounded by local gentry, old nobility and pensioned military men,  Gates holds forth at table on the futility of the 1914-1919 war and smugly suggested that these people  enjoyed its slaughter as much as they enjoyed bagging helpless game.  Mr. Buggins, a gentle quiet man who until this moment has been very much in the background dully reciting historical facts, gently and quietly as is his nature and without the bluster and indignation of the others around the table answers the younger man.

But at the same time, Gates, there is something I should like to say to you, which is, that I think you have no right to speak as you did of the men who fought in the War.  Sneering at them and hoping they enjoyed it, and so on.  I know you did not really mean to say much, but remember that sort of thing does no good and only creates more bitterness between our two generations, as though enough does not exist already.  I know that many of us seem to you narrow-minded, stupid and unproductive.  But if you would look a bit below the surface you might realize that there is a reason for this.  Some of us spent four of what should have been our four best years in the trenches.

'At the risk of boring you I will put my own case before you.

'When the war broke out I was twenty-eight.  I had adopted literature as my profession and at the time was an art critic on several newspapers.  I had also written and published two books involving a great deal of hard work and serious research - the first, a life of Don John of Austria, the second, an exhaustive treatise on the life and work of Cervantes.  Both were well received and encouraged by this, I was, in 1914, engaged upon an extensive history of Spain at the time of Philip II, dealing in some detail, with, for instance the art of Velásquez and El Greco, the events which led to the Battle of Lepanto, the religious struggle in the Netherlands and so on.  I had been working hard for three years and had collected most of my material.

'On the fifth of August, 1914, whether rightly or wrongly, but true to the tradition in which I had been brought up, I enlisted in the army.  Later in that year I received a commission.  I will not enlarge upon the ensuing years, but I can't say I found them very enjoyable.

'When in 1919, I was demobilized, I found that, as far as my work was concerned, my life was over - at the age of thirty-three.  I was well off financially.  I had leisure at my disposal.  I had my copious notes.  Perhaps - no doubt, in fact - it was a question of nerves.  Whatever the reason, I can assure you that I was totally incapable of such concentrated hard work as that book would have required.  I had lost interest in my subject and faith in myself.  The result is that I am now an oldish man, of certain culture, I hope, but unproductive, an amateur and a dilettante.  I know it. I despise myself for it, but I cannot help it.

'And that, I am convinced, is more or less the story of hundreds of my contemporaries.

'Everyone knows - you are at no pains to conceal it - that the young people of today despise and dislike the men and women of my age.  I suppose that never since the world began have two generations been so much a variance.  You think us to be superficial, narrow-minded, tasteless and sterile, and you are right.  But who knows what we might have become if things had been different?

'That is why I do earnestly beg of you not to speak sarcastically, as you did just now, of the men who fought in the War.  Leave us, at any rate, the illusion that we were right so to do.

Highland Fling

Nancy Mitford - 1931

Penguin - Fig Tree - 2011

Available at Amazon

Mitford knew her people and her time well. And for a young writer she captured the feeling of that "lost generation" without great drama - simply almost tenderly. 

12 February - 1429:  English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans.

What the Dickens???

Been a bit busy at work this week so I haven't been able to do much in the way of celebrating the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens - and besides I'm on a Mitford kick right now.  However lest you think of me as an uncultured dolt who doesn't observe important literary anniversaries I present the following sent me by my friend Cathy.

Behind every great writer there's a nit-picking editor!!!!


08 February - 1879:  Sandford Fleming first proposes adoption of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute.

Long to Reign Over Us.

I was brought up in a family tradition that believed firmly in the Monarchy and its value to Canada and to treasure our place within the Commonwealth. I remember the sadness of the King's passing and the joy of hope with the ascension of the young Queen. Just the year before we had walked up to the Princess Elizabeth Highway to stand on the side of the road waving our little Union Jacks as she drove by on her way from Toronto to Niagara. I have written before about crowding around Ma Ware's television - the only one in the neighbourhood - to watch the coronation, the RCAF had flown a keno-scope over for broadcast. The following week we crowded the local cinemas for a view of the ceremony in colour.

Much has happened in all our lives since in the past 60 years - to her, to us and to me but I am still happy that she is Queen of my country - as changed as we all are - and honoured that she is my monarch. God has indeed, often against all odds, sent her victorious, long to reign over us.

GOD SAVE OUR QUEEN!

06 February - 1952: Elizabeth Windsor ascends to the throne on the death of her father, George VI.

Lunedi Lunacy

From my friend Anna (just one of her incredible photos from the past few days) - a snow bunny at the Colesseo.

And being of course being a Roman Snow Bunny this one is very concerned with La Bella Figura.

February 6 - 1840: Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing New Zealand as a British colony.