A few brief notes about tea, conversations, books and sometimes cats
Baked white rind cheese, such as and Camembert or Brie, is one of the easiest, yet most festive dishes for relaxed entertainment. Baking the cheese turns it even creamier, enhances its flavor, and keeps it in the perfect texture for serving with tasty additions, such as crackers and fruits. The pairing of delicately salty cheese […]
Baked Camembert Cheese with Kumquat Marmalade and Brandy — Tasty Eats
We love Buck Creek Winery’s Road House Red and The Laughing Cow creamy spicy pepper jack cheese. What a great Saturday afternoon snack to share.
Afternoon cheese and wine snack — Roadtirement
I have started trying to follow rhythms of life other than our modern 9-5, 24/7 lifestyle that leaves me cold. I have alway been fascinated by the seasons and wanderings of the stars and moon so I have decided to start following the moon phases and spotting the astronomical wonders of the sky. One of my favourite memories with my mother was watching first the dusk and then the stars come out over South West Cornwall.
Thank you mum that was a magical evening. One of the happiest times I have every had.
The moon in June, that is passing away is called the Strawberry moon. It you look in your garden you will see the first strawberries ripening and as long as they don’t get snaffled by seven years olds, you can eat them with cream.
Enjoy
Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 launched on 15 May 2021 with a 365-day celebration of culture. Join the celebration online here today 6th June: https://coventry2021.co.uk/ The cultural programme will reflect Coventry as a diverse, modern city, demonstrating that culture is a force that changes lives. Coventry is known internationally as a city of welcome, […]
Coventry UK City of Culture 2021: Online live today & CVX FESTIVAL with Jay 1 — Bespoke ARTS Guide
I enjoy culture. I do not care if it high, low, popular or rarified. It all links together and is part of the inheritance of man.
A few months ago I was listening to my Silmarillion audiobook and I was struck by Morgoth sitting on this throne in Angband. It reminded me that Sauron would also create a throne and that throne would be an important setting for his plan to enslave Middle Earth to his will. At the same time as reading and enjoying my Tolkien I was enjoying reading, painting and playing Warhammer 40,000 and I remembered the importance of the Golden Throne which is an archaic piece of technology that maintains the life of the Emperor. This got me thinking about how similar the Emperor and Morgoth are.
The moral status of the Emperor is one that is in doubt. When I started playing Warhammer 40K in the 1980s the Emperor was more of a goodie than a baddie although there were certainly rather negative traits on display. From the beginning the Emperor required human souls to survive. These were brought to him in ‘Black ships’ which certainly reminded me of the Black ships that brought youths from Athens to be fed to the minotaur. As I grew older I began to read more and saw how Warhammer 40K had itself grown out of the counter cultural fiction of, amongst others 2000AD comics all of which fed into the distinctive intellectual property which manifested in novels, fluff and models. The Emperor became a merging of characters as diverse as Star Treks Khan, 2000ADs Torqumada and a general Nietzsche philosophy mixed with the idea that if anything could go wrong it will. What makes the 40K universe so complicated is the absolute lack of a moral centre. Without an objective right or wrong you get the moral chaos of Warhammer 40K. I once remember reading a Median post about how 40K could be made more realistic by including a “resistance” to the Empire. The author suggested that throughout human history there has been a “progressive resistance” I humbly disagree but Medium is not the place for disagreement. 40K is an epic sized universe where a single imperial officer can destroy a score of populated planets in a plan to starve a Hive Fleet but this an existing trope. Douglas Adams uses it in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy where the Earth is demolished to make way for a Hyperspace Bypass. 40K grew out of satire and silly British humour. The epic pointless battles fought by the Imperial guard who forget to stop bombarding the enemy cities fifty years after they have surrendered draws on our contempt for the civil service and black humour about the First World War. The Mechanicus exterminating a planet to get a technology thought lost in the Dark Age of Technology and discovering a machine for sharpening pencils echoes Ayn Rands contempt for Government and satire about the war in general. The Emperor is a figure of fun, like the Genie in Disney, mighty cosmic power but itybity living space.
The traditional fairy story starts with a completely normal situation, relatively speaking. In Hansel and Gretal it is a starving family who are compelled by poverty to practice infanticide, in Jack and the Bean Stork it is the story of a boy sent to market to sell a cow and in The Elves and the Shoemaker it is struggling shop owners on their last piece of capital with their backs against the wall and the poor house in front of them. These are stories that start in real life and move suddenly into the magical. CS Lewis uses this model for That Hideous Strength where Jane and Mark Studdock are drawn into a conspiracy to remake the world. Tolkien uses it in the Hobbit when Bilbo is having a quiet smoke until a wizard turns up. The perfectly normal is matched by the supernatural allowing the reader to discover the hidden world outside of normal experience at the same pace as the hero. The hero and the normal need to be absolutely normal and unremarkable. Bilbo is a normal hobbit and the Studdocks are normal recently married people. Maybe they chafe at the mundanity but only as much as the reader does. And if you need evidence of that reflect on why fantasy and adventure stories are so popular. If the protagonist is normal then the antagonists must be anything but and it seems to me that a successful antagonist draws deeply on fairy lore at best and demonology at most frightening.
Deals with the Devil are the oldest of stories. Palaeographers have identified a story called “The Devil and the Blacksmith” as the oldest fairy tale that we have. In this a Blacksmith outwits the devil with the same cleverness as Anansi or Br’er Rabbit. The same theme runs through folklore in stories like that of Devils Bridge in Wales and manifests in a myriad of films such as Bedazzled where the lead character manages to take advantage of the devils offer but still keep his or her soul. Thats a nice ending. Not so for Faust who after a lifetime of study to gain the knowledge to get all the ‘guns, gold and girls’ of his dreams discovers that he is too old for girls and so makes a deal with the devil for youth in exchange for his soul. Despite his learning he loses that in the end. Such demonic characters appear in modern fiction drawing on the Mephistopheles as witty and urbane characters who offer much and demand more. In political drama few can hold a candle to Ian Richardsons Francis Urquhart. The character in the book is horrendous but Richardson embodied a clear and directly evil character under a cloak of British respectability. As in Richard III you are drawn into the plots with the asides to the fourth wall. You laugh at the jokes which are made in bad taste as between friends because Urquhart can smile, and he can murder as he smiles. In stark contrast in the American House of Cards series Frank Underwood is having daddy issues whilst Urquhart is stacking bodies.
Alongside the demon is the homunculus or demonic imp. In House of Cards (UK) Tim Stamper is Urquharts chief whip and loyal homunculus. Played by Colin Jeavons Stamper has amazing dark eyes that seem to belong to an imp or fairy rather than to a man. He is an indirect evil, a foil to Urquhart and a sadist who enjoys watching MPs being roasted for their vices or pointing out to characters like Mattie Storin the reality of their situation caught in the webs of intrigue that surround Francis Urquhart. Although I enjoy House of Cards (US) I feel that Doug Stamper is watered wine compared to Tim. Tim is a disruptively innocent name and the character subverts the gentle implications of the name. Doug is a brutal name which the character fails to live upto despite a horrendous plot and the excellent acting of Michael Kelly. The problem lies in that the writing shows too much of Dougs flaws and complications which explains his actions. Tim is mysterious and emerges and vanishes into the noise of parliament with ease whilst Doug is a character who you see and hear coming a mile off. He is a diamond hard character in contrast to the elfin slippiness of Tim. He is an Ariel or Puck to Dougs Caliban or Bottom.
The same can be said for Sir Humphrey Appleby from Yes, Minister who has an innocent manner, name and demeanour. Again this is deceptive because he is a powerful civil service with his own agenda. He is the perfect foil for the Minister, Jim Hacker, who is ironically named. At a time where cutting the civil service was a political ideal he is unable to hack anything. He is out classed and out witted at every opportunity by this apparition of Whitehall. ‘In the Thick of it’ is a modern retelling of the ‘Yes Minister’ story. In stark contrast to the Minister vs the Civil Service dynamic which educated the public about the corridors of power In the Thick of it is a chaotic and testosterone fuelled struggle to understand what is going on and secondly to keep the show on the road whatever is thrown at it. This series gave the English language the expression, “reverse ferret” and “omnishambles”. The demonic Malcolm Tucker is a spin doctor and master of the dark arts who can make or break his toys with a word to the press or a photograph. His vicious threats, screaming rants and outrageous use of language is counter balanced with perfect manners to his secretary and the public. It is touching that he refers to the public as “real people” and that he is disgusted if ‘real people’ get hit by fire intended for who ever the enemy of the moment is. I think the best innovation of this show is that we see the turmoil behind the scenes. The other spin doctors and big beasts working out how to take each other down and gain advantage.
So what lesson do I learn from this? Do not get involved. Demonic power brokers and dangerous imps who offer the world at the expense of your soul are offering what they do not have for what is most valuable which is yourself. I remember a fairy story where the fairies offer gold in the dark that turns out, in the cold light of day, to be autumn leaves.
“I have been homeschooling for the last couple of months which means I have to be thoughtful about what audiobooks I listen to. When my little boy was younger I could get away with more grown up narratives but I recently had to turn a book off when I realised a little boy was listening intently and was just about to start asking difficult questions.”
That was written last year during the lock down. I was working on a series about Orwell and Animal Farm which involved me becoming very familiar with the text. Alex, my seven year old, was fascinated by the animal story and began to fall in love with the characters and listening to Animal Farm began to rival Wind in the Willows or Narnia as our fall asleep book. Very memorably we drove through South West Cornwall singing “Beasts of England”.
It has given great scope to think and talk about morality with Alex. Who are the “goodies” who are the “baddies”, why are they good and why are they bad. What did they do well and what did they do badly. These are key elements of the book and foundation questions for civilisation. CS Lewis talks, in The Abolition of Man, about how a man gives of his biological life to create a child and then of his spirit to educate that child. The Roman father who taught his son that it was sweet and fitting to die for ones country was giving his son the best and noblest that he knew. Likewise when Alex and I talk about Boxer, the Pigs and the farmers I am imparting to him the best I know and trying to inculcate in him virtues such as fair play, empathy and respect.
I find Orwell and his writing perfect for understanding these traditional and civilised virtues. I can see how they draw into his brand of socialism just as I can see how the same virtues and values are drawn up into CS Lewis’ Toryism. Contrary-wise you can see how both socialism and Toryism goes bad when those values are abandoned. There are two people who have nearly convinced me to become a socialist and one of them is Orwell.
Orwell is a significant influence on my life and a jewel of the English canon. His significance lies not on his socialism but in his humanity and humane values. Thus his work endures far after his death and all his work be it his “As I please” column, his novels and his essays bear fruit to this day.
Nothing–as Brits are fond of saying with a straight face–is as British as a curry. The first time someone said that to me, I had to recover from the mental jolt of curry/India running its voltage through Britain/not India, but after that I could see the truth of it. Go into any small town in […]
Food: A quick history of the British curry — Notes from the U.K.
Today I was at a lovely school teaching ‘Stories from Different Cultures”. I was asked to look at Anansi and the Tinga Tinga tales. The tale of how the elephant got its long trunk would form the children’s big write so I focussed on that but had a great opportunity to tell loads of Anansi stories.
Anansi is a fantastic character because he triumphs over bigger and stronger characters with his wit, foresight and creativity. Much like the Norse Loki he is not good or bad or altogether on anyones side except his own. He is an annoying enemy and an uncertain friend who looks to his own interest and uses the vices of his enemies against them.
He is directly related to Br’er Rabbit who is another witty and intelligent antagonist. Both are trapped in the same way by the tar baby. Both lose their tempers with a figure made of tar which they fight and find themselves stuck to. Anansi is shamed by his difficult son More-Cunning-than-Father and Br’er Rabbit escapes Br’er fox but pleading with him not to throw him into the Briar patch. Br’er Fox plays a similar role to Anansi’s friend the Tiger, when I say friend…
Poor Br’er Fox and Tiger are the big guys who are the foil for these two tricksters. They are tricked into letting their quarry escape, becoming the prey of the weaker or just looking foolish. The stories have no moral compass but certainly show that might is not the whole picture and that Tiger can be ridden like a pony by a spider.
I have recently been employed to create a new series of workshops around literature. Normally I work in history but this has been a welcome change and has drawn upon other skill sets as well as engaging other well practiced competencies, such as quickly mastering a sphere of knowledge and then working out how to present it in an interesting and exciting way. One day I was learning about Hansel and Gretal, the next I was doing Anansi and telling my wife the stories that made me chuckle so much I spilled my Earl Gray!
As I engaged with these stories I began to see links with other stories that I had been enchanted by as a child. I remembered Brer Rabbit escaping from Brer Fox in the Uncle Remus stories getting the Fox to throw him into the brambles where he can escape, tricking the fox into thinking its the worst thing possible.
“Oh no please do anything to me but don’t throw me into the brambles, anything but that..”
Uncle Remus and Anansi are linked because they both emerge from the slaves held in America and the Indies. They come from people living in a society of power and cruelty who are disempowered. Another slave who used his intelligence and wit to make his life bearable was the Greek Asop who was kept by his master to amuse his friends at dinner parties with his tales. Asops fables deal with power, cunning and observations of the real world. If the horse lets the man harness and ride him so that the horse might be victorious against the ox then the horse will be domesticated are used forever by the man, if the fox helps the lion hunt they will bring down prey but “you might share in the labours of the mighty but not in the spoils.” Asop, Uncle Remus and Anansi use their wits to survive in the world with no pretence that it is anything other than what it is, very dangerous, hostile and unfair.
A dangerous, hostile and unfair world equally describes the Middle Ages especially where the King was failing in his duty. Reynard the Fox is a perfect example of the stories that mirror Uncle Remus and Anansi. Reynard lives in the Kingdom of Beasts which is ruled by a stupid Lion who is led into evil by councillors. Reynard survives not by force but by his wits, his enemies stupidity and their vices. Where Brer Fox captures Brer Rabbit with the tar baby and Brer Rabbits demand to be respected, Raynard tricks the greedy bear, Bruin, with honey and the cat, Tybert (used in Shakesperes Romeo and Juliet) with the promise of a cart load of mice in a priests house. Tybert does not get the mice but springs a trap set by the Priest for Reynard himself. Reynard watches with glee as the cat escapes the trap and runs up the priests cassock to escape the priests wife who is trying to broom him. The son tells his mum to broom the cat, the cat makes it clear that if he gets broomed he will bite the Priests testicle off, the Priest makes it clear that his wife shouldn’t broom the cat but in the chaos… the cat gets broomed. As the Priest sinks to the floor in a world of pain the cat escapes and the wife laments potential the loss of saucy thrills. Raynard then delivers the best line in literature.
“… worry not Dame, for there are many churches where only half the bells are rung…”
Raynard escapes by being one step ahead of his enemies and so does the trickster spider Anansi. When wolf is stuck in a pit he encourages the wolf to escape and when he has climbed half way up the pit he tells the wolf to put his hands together to pray.
These are stories where might isn’t right and the victory does not go to the strongest. They remind me of Loki stories where the god escapes from dwarves by tricky legal definitions or Jesus’ story about the servant who knows he is going to be dismissed by his employer so lets his employers debtors off so that when he is dismissed he will have friends who will employ him. The same kind of world that produced Brer Rabbit and Reynard the Fox produced clever Vikings who could think and talk their way out of trouble with superior enemies and fight their way into trouble with weaker foes.
Grimms fairy stories follow the same pattern. Its the clever and the intelligent who prosper, the stupid and ignorant are punished often by their own vices. But why is this important? It is important because this is our inheritance. Some of Grimms stories have their roots in the Bronze Age, if not earlier, and so have passed the test of time. Power and the struggle between group is fundamental to the human condition and endemic. These stories show themes that have been passed on and have emerged across ages and civilisations. The key lesson I take from this is that even if you are without power, you are not disarmed and you still have your wits.