Hail and Welcome one and all!
I hope the January and New Year lag is now well and truly blown or brushed away and that this leap year with its bonus February day will prove an especial treat for you and yours. I had such a lovely time with my beloved over December that January did indeed seem drearily long and hard in comparison. Peaks and troughs. Peaks and troughs has indeed been my experience of January.I hope your was more balanced and nuanced!
This past week I have been watching myself. Not this time the personal introspective games of language and regret that we all seem to play in our minds regarding mistakes or successes of our lives. Not that kind of introspection. More, what am I doing with my time?
The following therefore is more of a mishmash record of things I listened too, read, and thought about as news and events impressed themselves on my tiny microcosm of a gnats knee cap of a life that I lead.
Firstly as I walk everyday in some way to achieve my minimal step goal of 10,000 steps (this year actually trying to achieve an average of 14,000 steps over the year) I have, as in previous years and experiences, been enjoying the Arabic Winter. The Gulf region has in my opinion a delicious Winter. Clear blue skies mostly. Some 30° and on occasion more than 40° degrees centigrade lower than the quite frankly absurd Summer temperatures that will roast you alive in minutes come July at 45°C and even 50°C!
Thus as the cool and cold winds buffet me at times this February at night falls and I stand facing North: my mind naturally turned to wanting to hear songs of walking, wandering and Winter. I have in my music library (that now exists 99% in digital format) many collections of German Lieder, or art songs. Collections of poems that were set to music by Schumann, Schubert and Wolf amongst many other greats of the Nineteenth Century. Franz Schubert however seems to stand above most of his peers in that regard in that century.
He wrote the music for many lied collections. I am not in the mood for Die schöne Müllerin. Nor indeed Schwanengesang. Of course then, I have turned with fresh ears to Winterreise of course. Seemed to fit perfectly! The interpretation, for there are dozens and dozens of recordings to choose from, is the one recorded in 2014 by Gerald Finley and Julius Drake. Winterreise .
Armed with a text of both the German (as is sung) and the English so this non-linguist can engage with both the musical narrative and the narrative of words sung: the storytelling in song. After all these years hearing song in French, German, Italian, Chinese and Indian amongst others, presents no real issue. I am engaged with the music and the original language of the poems. Winterreise German and English Texts.
This Winterreise has everything I wanted! Beautiful musicality in the solo piano that seems to travel along the chords as equally and beautifully as the singing itself and the narratives of the poetical songs developing an emotional, psychological drama. Together pianist and singer are creating a range of emotional states as the protagonist walks away from his lost love, quietly, surreptitiously, dejectedly, one frosted Winters night.
In the past when I was devotee of BBC Radio 4, I heard over several evenings of winters dark, the serialisation of a Dorothy. L. Sayers classic detective novel with her eponymous hero, Lord Peter Wimsey. The dramatisation for radio was superb. I have always like radio plays. This past week I bought a set of recordings in what are termed “audio books” now and readily available on various platforms. Of course I now have the benefit of listening to a complete story, that is not serialised over consecutive days or even weeks. Two hours completely immersed in a story!
In particular the dramatisation of Dorothy.L.Sayers novel, “Murder must advertise” that particularly stood out for me. The strange yet satisfying admixture of storytelling that had me guessing, laughing and aware of Sayers astute human observation of shall we say those grey moral areas of actions and consequences that are so near to most of us mere ordinary mortals experiences. Thoroughly entertaining and yet also strangely thought provoking. Not something I was expecting at the end of that. Wimsey
Next an article I read on Spiked. Laurence Fox is an actor and in the last several years an agent provocateur particularly to those who argue for an intersectionalist view of Western Society. Now I personally am not really that interested in his pursuits and his way of engaging in these arguments. I do however find it anathema that if anybody questions any part of modern Britain’s culture and intersectional groupings: they are branded as a racist. All debate ends. All points left unanalysed. I believe that ignorance ensues.
Who wants ignorance to be the order of the day? You decide that for yourselves.
The article by Brendan O’Neill I thought summed up exactly the problematic issues raised when this went to a British Court for defamation. It seems you can call someone a racist based on their political views, not material fact, and face no consequences. Yet if Fox retorts in a similar rhetorical way and calls someone a ‘paedophile’ using the same terms of reference, he now and you perhaps at some future date will pay.
Like Brendan O’Neill I find this deeply discouraging. It seems our case law does now accept some kinds of name calling as lawful and others as not. Let satirists, rhetoricians, politicians, leaders all take note. Sarcasm is now screwed into the coffin of free speech in Britain, of all places! Coupled with loud calls for the reintroduction of blasphemy laws for just some groups, and I fear Britain has lost its principles. The article is here for you to make up your own mind about the issues. BrendanO’Neill.
However, whenever it seems that I despair over the direction of Britain: like an archetypal all American male hero (transitioning into a woman) comes over the horizon and looks at Britain and says, “Hold my Bud Light, I got this” and proceeds to demonstrate with examples, the New Worlds issues.
I should say that I don't care what a grown citizen does in the privacy of their own home in a consensual way with other grown adults. I have no problem in a free society with people creating businesses. Though I think this Spa is a very niche market indeed. https://diaperspa.com/faq
Is this really, forgive my language, plugging a gap in the ever burgeoning Spa market? I will, of course, let you decide. I actually wish this had not come across my podcasting feed but one cannot change the information once it has filled, as it were, a space in your mind. Mental health issues, physical health issues seem to be blurring with fetishes. One cannot help wondering if this is by design?
Dr Graham Harvey is a Professor Emeritus of Religious studies at the Open University in UK. I have heard him speak and lecture a few times. This past month he was recorded giving a talk on animism on Druidcast podcast episode 199 (a monthly offering courtesy of OBOD). I enjoyed his points. So much for me to follow up…. I am a beginner or newbie when it comes to such topics! Druidcast
The goddess Brighid colours and inspires my imagination at Imbolc. That has been making me explore my religion and imagination a bit more thoughtfully these past days. In my druid path, my imagination is allowed to create and be creative. Arts, crafts, writing, singing, cooking, cleaning my hearth and home, and keeping my altar are all not just practices that can be done. They are imaginatively engaged upon. I have hardly ever, I admit, thought about that before this Imbolc of February 1st/2nd.
That dear friends and readers, seems a most positive way to end this week’s view of my mishmash past week!
Blessed be!
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