Love, Poetry and Revolution - Wednesday 31st May 2023

Today is the last day of May and therefore we are about to enter the month which, once over, marks the midpoint of the year. That is quite scary. Where has the time gone?

Be that as it may, it is another working day so the usual rules of engagement apply. 

The only thing of note from the day is that the sun didn't appear until much later in the day for the first time this week.

It's 'Ulysses For All' tonight and I've not managed to finish the episode 'Ithaca' yet, and won't have time to do so.  It's the penultimate lesson (and the penultimate episode, natch!) and we have another guest speaker, Dr. Anne Marie D'Arcy from Trinity College.

The classes are generally better when there's a guest speaker and tonight's was no exception.  Anne Marie, however, did commit the ultimate presentation sin of having slides filled with text and reading them out, almost word for word.  Luckily she shared a copy of the slides and what she had to say was a revelation. She really knows her stuff.  Now that I understand a little about catechism (and what it means) and the history of Irish approaches to it, the episode opens up even more. The relevance of the water supply in Dublin and its consequences with regard to Typhoid and the death of one of Joyce's sisters (and possibly a brother) as a result made things so much clearer.

We had a fantastic dinner cooked mainly by Φ with assistance from Q before chatting and then the inevitable end of the day.

La Düsseldorf / 'Silver Cloud' / 'La Düsseldorf'


[[]]

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Love, Poetry and Revolution - Saturday 30th December 2023

Image
Christmas is over for another year, and what a fabulous Christmas it was.  We all (me, Q, sons 1, 2 and 3, with guest appearances from E's brother, his wife and Q's daughter at different points) spent a week away in North Wales at a wonderful large house on on hillside, overlooking the sea. Lots of festive fun, food and films ('Man Up', 'Click and Collect') with wonderful company. It was so good to be away, for the first time in a long while.  E was being looked after by one of the carers, who stayed with her each night, so she wasn't alone.  It a big deal to do this, but I think I and the boys (young men) benefitted from the break/respite, even if it did unleash the inner adolescent at times. Q and I are about to head off to Berlin for a week now. An opportunity to spend time with a good friend and his wife, a chance for Q to meet more of my friends, and also a chance for us to celebrate her birthday out of the country. It all seems a bit hectic, but this c...
Read more

Dreadzone at SUB89 in Reading Friday 7th April 2017

Image
Back to SUB89 and also to Dreadzone after a semi-enforced break, on a Friday night and accompanied by my sons - "Dreadzone virgins" in the words of MC Spee: sounds like the setting for a great night out... ...and so it proved to be! There was no support act though Greg Dread (Greg Roberts, drummer) played a DJ set prior to Dreadzone taking to the stage - a gentle warm up for what was to follow.  The band took to the stage to cheers and applause and launched straight into 'Rootsman' from the new album, a great reggae-based opener that led neatly into MC Spee's intro for 'Return of the Dread' - and already the "bouncing crew" was in full sway. Dreadzone are a joyous band live - it's impossible not to dance - and I for one had a grin from ear to ear whilst dancing for the entire two hour set. There was a good mix of old and new songs though a definite bias towards their most "successful" album, Second Light. S...
Read more

Tales From The Crypt - Sunday 30th October 2022

Image
An extra hour's sleep, in theory and almost in practice.  I was woken today by the sound of E coughing.  On the positive side I still heard her even though I was blocking out sound, and not only that she was fine, just a normal round of coughing. I went back to bed, but couldn't get back to sleep so got up, and showered. Going to meet a friend for a coffee at around 11, but before then I have washing to put on and a few of the usual daily chores to do. Back from a great coffee and catch-up with a good friend. She's looking well and doing OK, which is good to see.  Lots to talk about as we've not seen each other for a couple of months, maybe more. Time flies, etc.  We both had some films, books and other recommendations to share, one of the many delights of catching up with people.  There's not much that beats spending time with friends.  Before heading our separate ways we visited the local Asian foods superstore which has some really interesting food on sa...
Read more

Wizards of Oz

Image
Great news! Almost 5 years after their last compilation album Amorphous Androgynous have announced the fourth volume in their brain-mashing ‘A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble (Exploding in Your Mind)’ series.  Subtitled ‘Wizards of Oz’ the latest volume’s name provides a clue to the contents – and no, before you suggest it, it has nothing to do with a similarly-titled film. Due for release on the 23 rd March ‘Wizards of Oz’, like its predecessors is a 2-CD continuous mix of cosmic space music but this time focused on music from Australia and New Zealand.  In part the Australian bias is probably in response to the success of bands like Tame Impala and Pond (both of which feature in the mix), though there are plenty of names new to these ears.  Let’s hope this compilation is as strong as the three volumes that preceded it! More details of the album can be found on the Future Sound of London site  here. In the meantime a couple of tracks have already a...
Read more

Lockdown Diary - Wednesday 9th June 2021

Image
Another working day, so most likely not a lot to say.  Walked early as usual, crossed paths with the same people I do most days, usual greetings. Cloud of electrons / satellites - no real connections. Amongst a number of interests, I am also interested in aviation, have been since I first read the Biggles books as a child. The past week has been particularly interesting ahead of the G7 summit in Cornwall as a large number of military transports have started arriving in the UK.  The US contingent, ahead of POTUS's arrival has been both large and very active. This evening I watched / listened to 'Air Force 1' heading towards RAF Mildenhall from the point when it crossed the Welsh coast over Strumble Head to it's landing at the USAF base.  For a brief while it looked like it was going to fly near here, until the controller gave the flight a direct routeing which took it much further north. I guess it was inevitable in these times of lower traffic density. Never mind! (F...
Read more