tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post8225855747566155623..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: Between the James PlaysDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-36171222369181212732014-09-25T11:21:05.428+01:002014-09-25T11:21:05.428+01:00I'll be with you forthwith, Nick.I'll be with you forthwith, Nick.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-22182665812159967542014-09-24T16:22:39.882+01:002014-09-24T16:22:39.882+01:00Hi David. I'm making a programme for BBC Radio...Hi David. I'm making a programme for BBC Radio 4 about Peter And The Wolf for broadcast this December. I'd like to talk to you about taking part. My email is nickfreand@mac.comNickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00206805904375876387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-15458492959309913862014-09-16T23:14:48.105+01:002014-09-16T23:14:48.105+01:00Thereby anticipating the many cliches of Scottishn...Thereby anticipating the many cliches of Scottishness we've been putting up with over the past few weeks. And I know 'Scotsman' is supposed to be generic, but I've been mighty impressed by some of the Scotswomen I've heard recently.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of Salmond, but there's been a polyphony of voices to contradict any one stereotype, which is why I'm still undecided and certainly won't actively support the bettertogether campaign. Interesting article in yesterday's Standard from a Bank of England man pointing out that even at its worst this won't be a major disaster for finances. It's the pandering to fear that makes me squirm at what Westminster has too belatedly been up to this week.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-50431775878646475512014-09-16T17:49:08.911+01:002014-09-16T17:49:08.911+01:00As regards Mr Salmond, I take refuge in P G Wodeho...As regards Mr Salmond, I take refuge in P G Wodehouse<br /><br />"It has never been hard to tell the difference between a Scotsman with a grievance and a ray of sunshine"David Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-60717034299865465852014-09-16T14:16:49.558+01:002014-09-16T14:16:49.558+01:00One could become quite fond of it, I think. The ch...One could become quite fond of it, I think. The chapel is quite something, but that's on the inside, of course.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-31720688411117315452014-09-16T12:25:06.618+01:002014-09-16T12:25:06.618+01:00The advantage of being in Keble is that one does n...The advantage of being in Keble is that one does not have to look at the outsideDavid Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-38781701468634456272014-09-16T08:22:18.936+01:002014-09-16T08:22:18.936+01:00Even back in the 1980s grammar school boys (and gi...Even back in the 1980s grammar school boys (and girls too, no doubt) were told that they would stand a better chance if they chose one of the less glamorous colleges, or one which was more welcoming - which is why I was told to apply to Keble. A levels would have got me in but my fate was decided before I took them.<br /><br />When it came to applying to do my PhD there (on Greek tragedy and 20th century opera) I was told that 'Oxford is not an interdisciplinary university'. How times have changed.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-83925989360391844362014-09-16T07:18:47.653+01:002014-09-16T07:18:47.653+01:00David, your interview was of an intellectual kind,...David, your interview was of an intellectual kind, if I understand you correctly - I failed my interview at Cambridge for other reasons. Fortunately my exam results were so ( modesty intervenes) and I was accepted. But my own experience draws out the point that confident and in a sense worldly young people ( I was not one in those days) tend to be able to show well at interviews especially if properly briefed. And so the public ( =private !) schools tend to win out. The universities are wrestling with this problem but it is not easy to see how it can be overcome to any large extentDavid Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-10286702260927782672014-09-16T03:20:54.318+01:002014-09-16T03:20:54.318+01:00Sheesh, what a story! That Leavis, what a trouble-...Sheesh, what a story! That Leavis, what a trouble-maker, eh?Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-11373536885135330872014-09-15T22:35:39.220+01:002014-09-15T22:35:39.220+01:00F R and Queenie's Dickens the Novelist was my ...F R and Queenie's Dickens the Novelist was my undoing - though I only have myself to blame. I took Oxbridge entrance exam in fifth term of grammar-school sixth form (could blame that as untimely, too, but won't). <br /><br />At my interview all went well until they picked me up on my lines about the racing clocks in Dombey and Son. This was daft since I hadn't read it - I did so in 1981 on the train to Turkey - and took the observation from the Leavises. Could so easily have dwelt on the Dickens I DID know and love, but they smelled a rat and pursued me on that. I lost confidence and it ended badly.<br /><br />Hard to believe, but I was told I was failed on that five minutes of the interview...a sign of a plagiarising mind, perhaps. Well, I can't regret where I ended up and whom I met there.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-60346493000048882742014-09-15T19:37:16.882+01:002014-09-15T19:37:16.882+01:00Oh, not polite, just not 100% certain that the pho...Oh, not polite, just not 100% certain that the photo of a lapwing I also looked up may have turned out to be only one variety. Am enjoying looking in on the Scots and literary conversations here, and this from David D had me laughing: "I suppose that F R Leavis was often right but he was such a wearing personality." Not that I'm so well acquainted with F R Leavis, but when introduced to his work by the Edu-Mate I seemed to have taken an immediate dislike. (Can't recall now why, though it had something to do with D.H. Lawrence, I suspect.)Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-43689124111854796532014-09-15T16:37:00.951+01:002014-09-15T16:37:00.951+01:00For David Cecil, look at Early Victorian Novelists...For David Cecil, look at Early Victorian Novelists and then Emily Bronte etc. In Sanger, one can omit the summary of the plot at the start of the article - an amazingly brilliant analysis then follows, and as Jean-Pierre Petit has said, all views up to then - that the novel was chaotic - were swept away. Every line is exact. <br /><br />I suppose that F R Leavis was often right but he was such a wearing personality. I can understand why he( and Queenie) were not appreciated though to do Downing justice they gave him a fellowship.Maybe they did not have another English don to object<br /><br />Leavis said that WH was a "sport". I guess that he did not mean that WH was odd, merely that it did not fit into his "great tradition".<br /><br />The Oliver/Oberon film contains ( or rather does not) the green goo scene. It finishes with the spirits of Heathcliffe and Catherine seen on the moor together. It is sometimes said that this is an addition but it is in the bookDavid Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-60385785844696231712014-09-15T15:12:53.156+01:002014-09-15T15:12:53.156+01:00Films (and plays) and books: nine times out of ten...Films (and plays) and books: nine times out of ten the former are diminishers. But a poetic meditation on a great novel by a great filmmaker - or even Hilary Mantel's dramtisation of her Cromwell books, which I've resisted going to see - can give us something else, enrich our experience. <br /><br />HM was so compelling about the new aspects of her characters, especially about the silences where she wanted to know what the actors were actually thinking, at a three-way conversation between her, 'my actress' Harriet Walter and the beautifully spoken if a little too scripted playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker on Thursday night. HM made one visualise everything so that one almost understood her medium-like channelling (cf Beyond Black). Astounding. A lot of talk about energy, which was then so lacking in the late-night Rufus Wainwright Prom we went on to. That was dire. Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-5724874546936451612014-09-15T14:46:53.270+01:002014-09-15T14:46:53.270+01:00Thank you David D. but with the astounding Google,...Thank you David D. but with the astounding Google, searching Cecil, Sanger, and Leavis has given me Sanger's essay and many references to Lord Cecil, enough to open a new folder for files and a late night coming up.<br /><br />Films and books ... But I enjoy the film for what it is - a Hollywood film - with the mysterious Bombay born Merle Oberon opposite Olivier, then in love with Vivien Leigh, etc.<br /><br />Of course about Dawyck David N, though just now I have been peering deep into the moors with Google earth.wandererhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08196036534397389760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-67278878156847593122014-09-15T13:19:09.750+01:002014-09-15T13:19:09.750+01:00The essential readings on Wuthering Heights are C ...The essential readings on Wuthering Heights are C P Sanger on the structure and David Cecil on the fact that Emily Bronte asks of the Universe - what does it mean? It is NOT a story, and the crucial centre is lost if anyone tries to make a film or a play about it. Reluctant as one always is to agree with F R Leavis, he was right about that. I have a private email address if anyone is interested in those two articles - jeffreywc2@yahoo.co.ukDavid Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-7174226190284395632014-09-15T13:12:22.390+01:002014-09-15T13:12:22.390+01:00I knew the late Mrs Balfour whose son ( I think it...I knew the late Mrs Balfour whose son ( I think it was) gave the garden at Dawyk to the nation. The family really thought that they had a treasure and that it should be handed on to everyone. <br /><br />David Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-65517009337851782362014-09-15T10:41:18.713+01:002014-09-15T10:41:18.713+01:00Sue, is that a typically generous way of saying I ...Sue, is that a typically generous way of saying I got it wrong? For I did, and I'll correct 'lapwing' to 'waxwing' immediately. They are not too dissimilar, but checking up made it clear you were right. Thank you for that, and how lucky you are to see the critturs so regularly. I envy you your hummingbirds even more.<br /><br />All you say is eloquent and right, wanderer. The most important thing is the abolition of apathy in Scotland - they expect an 88 per cent turnout. And though I think a Yes vote is unlikely, it ought to have a stimulating effect on England, too: there's divided thought on whether we'd be stuck with a Tory government until kingdom come.<br /><br />I'll get hold of the book you suggest.<br /><br />Now, anyone got a nice word to say about spectacular Dawyck, one of the (thousandfold) glories of Scotland?Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-14726820618988625612014-09-15T03:19:24.382+01:002014-09-15T03:19:24.382+01:00The Scottish debate has been fascinating to watch ...The Scottish debate has been fascinating to watch from afar. Just how irresponsible, ranging from disgraceful to not at all, will surely depend on the outcome, and with the NOs just likely to prevail, the whole shebang might be worthwhile to the extent that considerations already provoked from Westminster may be forthcoming. <br /><br />But the agitation in the NO campaign from England is especially obvious, and that in itself seems to be feeding the Scottish ideology. I can well understand how, regardless of Salmond, this time has come. The young Scots have forgotten much deprivation (did I ever say I recently read <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/book-review-when-i-heard-the-bell-the-loss-of-the-iolaire-1-830156" rel="nofollow">When I heard the Bell: The Loss of the Iolaire</a> - rips your heart out it does) and as England contracts, with the collapse of the great manufacturing cites to a Tory collective in the south east, lurching to the right with the rest of the west, no wonder they think: let's at least think about this.<br /><br />I am not one for if-it-ain't-broke- don't-fix-it. That is a recipe for stagnation and decay. All progress, all science, all spiritual growth is by the embrace of doubt. That the Scots may doubt is their good fortune. That they make the right decision is another matter. I wish them well, wonderful people in a wonderful country, so easy to fall in love with, like my dear one, with a name like Wallace as a given name, and Sterling, and Mackellar too. And what voices.<br /><br />(As for the Pianola, oh my, I grew up with one, sadly no more and Wuthering Heights - it was there as a school boy I first read of spirits at windows, and had thoughts about beyond the grave, and learnt of passion and felt something stirring, as Heathcliff climbed, nay mounted, a tree to peer into the Linton's ball and in my mind the hardness of the tree, and his, and mine were joined. I reread it these last few years, and was struck by how I had forgotten her style and structure. The reference to Milo I don't recall (but have just googled) and now have another reason to pick it up again.)wandererhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08196036534397389760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-21023480159098959072014-09-15T01:54:19.995+01:002014-09-15T01:54:19.995+01:00Oh, now, I am just realizing you'd written lap...Oh, now, I am just realizing you'd written lapwing and I wrote waxwing! You know, the bird depicted in the lovely painting looks very much like our cedar waxwing, so I just transmuted the word in my head! We saw a small group of our waxwings flying overhead this morning, always a lovely sight. As for Scotland, without context, I'm certainly not best suited even to weigh in (though that didn't stop me), but, yes, the dialogue must be ongoing, no matter what. Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-46485081864765655022014-09-14T23:17:29.473+01:002014-09-14T23:17:29.473+01:00David, I've come round to the thought that exa...David, I've come round to the thought that exactly the kind of concessions the Scots have been asking for have been rather hastily promised by Westminster politicians who took so long to notice (another reason why people up there, quite apart from the social imbalances, are so angry). So better perhaps within the union. But the stimulation of debate has been enormous, and there's no going back whatever the choice may be.<br /><br />Which suggests that what you wisely thought best, Sue, may have come to pass, though dialogue will need to be ongoing. There's no putting the lid on it now. <br /><br />And yes, that is the Addinall house and studio in Gilmerton where the lapwings were observed in the garden and painted.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-14703309311663279362014-09-13T02:24:33.688+01:002014-09-13T02:24:33.688+01:00The very idea of a "between the plays" p...The very idea of a "between the plays" post is fun, and you deliver on the promise of that idea wonderfully--though I don't know how you managed to fit so much! I particularly enjoyed seeing the photographs of the creative environs in which the waxwing painting was created (or at least I assume so). I don't know what the particular issues are behind the desire for an independent Scotland, but I don't tend to think of splitting off as a sensible solution to anything, for the most part. It just seems a shame that whatever the issues are can't be worked out short of breaking things apart.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-42912598168709530352014-09-12T14:25:05.790+01:002014-09-12T14:25:05.790+01:00It is the changes in the economic field which are ...It is the changes in the economic field which are the danger - at present there is a modus vivendi established over time, to a degree unconsciously. A very simple example about change - the big retailers say they will put up Scottish prices on independence, since at present they are subsidised. Others say that new lower price competitors will come in to keep prices in Scotland down - but why should they have a lower cost base? No one knows which will happen. If the cost of food goes up, people will not be pleased. And that is only a straight-forward example. The currency is a terribly difficult question. With the pound the Scottish currency would be controlled from London. Then if the Scots spent too much money on nice things they would have to be told to get their spending and borrowing in order. Cut back on benefits and the NHS. Is that independence?. And if they went for the Euro their central bank would be in Germany, so ditto. I stick to my point - those who argue for independence do not care that it is a leap in the dark - they want independence regardless. Irresponsible to a high degree. Unfortunately human nature is like that. <br /><br />I really do think that many cultural and personal arguments for independence are strong. But life requires a platform - of a boring economic kind - and the economic realities of independence are unknowns. So most of the economic discussions about independence are about angels dancing on the heads of pins and a perversion of good sense. I appreciate that this applies to many economic arguments and I wish politicians would say so.<br /><br /><br />What if getting rid of the robber banks led to a decline in Scottish income? Also, Edinburgh is currently the second financial centre in the UK ( and a very good one)......would that continue if more financial institutions thought it better to be in the UK? <br /><br />Salmond is a politician and politicians have to manoeuvre - it has to be done to bring all kinds of problems to a conclusion. Wonderful people are often not very good at that. I take FDR as the best example of a calculating ( and most brilliant) politician who had nevertheless admirable aims<br /><br />I was introduced to Milo by Catherine's comment in Wuthering Heights - anyone who tried to separate her and Heathcliffe would suffer the fate of Milo. What a book! One of the greatest ever written. I note that it was seen as such by Prince Lampedusa, author of The Leopard, who referred to WH as " one of the greatest of all masterpieces"David Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-67537011130337169442014-09-12T12:36:37.926+01:002014-09-12T12:36:37.926+01:00That particular myth has passed me by, Sir David -...That particular myth has passed me by, Sir David - though coincidentally it reminds me of our friend Eleanor's Fringe First winning play about the fate of another mythical man previously unknown to me, Erisychthon (aka Eric) in The Tainted Honey of the Homicidal Bees.<br /><br />No one understands macro-economics period. So bearing in mind the 'persistence of the unforeseen', why would staying with England be any safer a bet? Frankly, if I were a Scot I'd cheer at all those ghastly robber banks relocating south.<br /><br />Still, though I've heard many wonderful people talk so plausibly on independence, I'm not too happy with Salmond.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-42120657595181138702014-09-12T08:25:47.275+01:002014-09-12T08:25:47.275+01:00It looks as though father Lambton is in position ...It looks as though father Lambton is in position to meet the fate of Milo - in an attempt to force apart a split in a tree the hands of the Greek athlete Milo were trapped and he was eaten by wolves. One hopes that the kitten will not follow his namesake. See also Wuthering Heights.<br /><br />Some one - I thought it was Bismarck, but experts say that it was not - said that there would always be contention in Europe until every tribe has its own nation. But however strong and in themselves valid, the cultural positives have to be set aside by the practical over-ride that no one understands macro-economics - were they able to do so governments would put economies right and win votes. All the discussions about the economic effects of Scottish independence are without any chance of coming to an overall conclusion and are therefore a delusion and a dangerous waste of time ( like, I admit, most macro-economic discussions). Taken with the political complexities it is disgracefully irresponsible for the Yes party to take the tremendous risk of wanting independence. Emotionally, they want it, and as Freud said, when the emotions are involved the intellect comes to the conclusions that the emotions require. David Damantnoreply@blogger.com