Too many Books - Not Enough Time

 

I've always been a reader. When I was 11 my family moved to a house on the Wolverhampton Rd in Birmingham. A 5 minute walk away there was a public library on Bleakhouse Rd, so I had access to a lot of books. My parents did not have disposable income for luxuries like books. I thought a book for Christmas was a wonderful present. Books informed & transported me. According to Google maps the library is still there thank goodness. As is my family home, number 187, although it has been modernised & improved. 

I can't resist books. I never go to sleep without reading first. I like fiction & non fiction & often have both on the go at the same time. I've been a member of 2 book clubs which have broadened my interests & choices. I have shelves of books & also cupboards full in several rooms. I regularly go to charity shops to see what they have for sale. I would be bereft if I didn't have a book to move onto after I finished my current book.

My main problem is I probably won't be able to read all of the books I own, because I keep finding more to interest or entertain me.

Public libraries are in crisis.The BBC did an analysis in 2024 & found that more than 180 council-run libraries have either closed or been handed over to volunteer groups in the UK since 2016. That is one in 20 libraries since 2016, which has had more impact on deprived communities, who were four times more likely to have lost a publicly-funded library, not to mention the jobs associated with them. A third of those remaining, have had their hours reduced and at least three councils have at least halved their provision since 2016.

Council-run libraries offer more than just book-lending facilities - stay-and-play sessions for children, literacy clubs, access to computers & crucially, warm spaces for people who can't afford heating costs. Upper-tier local councils such as county councils and unitary authorities have a statutory duty to provide a “comprehensive library service". But funding is under attack.

We still need books in this tech age. In 2024, the number of independent bookstores in the UK fell from 1,063 to 1,052. However, this is still higher than the 2016 low of 867. Good book shops are thriving despite Amazon. There is nothing like having a book in your hand. Now my short term memory is declining I can write pencil notes or underline when a new character enters the story. 

Unlike mobile phones, the TV, or film, books don't rely on pictures to stimulate our intellect or imagination. Like radio, books enable us to actually use the brain we were given. 

One of the most joyous things you can do is read a story to a child, thus leading them towards being readers.

 

Wishing, Desiring & Having Everything

I'm sure I could think of things my little heart desires. Human beings seem to spend a lot of time wishing they could have something else or do something else. We desire to be someone else, be somewhere else, have someone else in our lives. Seemingly we are never satisfied with what we have already got. Satisfaction seems hard to come by.

Wishing has a long & ancient history. Just think of all the fairy tales for example. Customs & rituals can be traced back to ancient cultures. People believed that wells were home to gods and that throwing coins or other tokens into the water would grant wishes. Some wells were also thought to have healing powers, and people would bathe in or drink the water. The Etruscans, believed that chickens could predict the future and that the "wishbone" of a chicken could be used to make wishes. We make a wish when we blow birthday candles out. 

I am interested in why we humans are never satisfied with what we have got. Apparently a combination of psychological factors including our natural inclination to seek new things, a tendency to compare ourselves to others, high expectations, the "hedonic adaptation" where we quickly adjust to positive changes, and a biological drive to constantly improve and evolve, which can make contentment feel stagnant and unmotivating, all play a part. Essentially, our brains are wired to always be looking for "more" rather than appreciating what we already possess. 

Shopping was the UK's favourite leisure activity. But Covid & online shopping seems to have changed that. It is still enjoyed by 70 - 80% of people according to Statistica. (I'm one of the minority who don't enjoy doing it regularly). There's very little I want that makes shopping worth the effort.

https://www.microbizmag.co.uk/ecommerce-statistics/ - interesting website.

I am tempted to try not to buy any new clothes in 2025. I'm sure I have enough to last the rest of my life, apart from possibly underwear & shoes. (Actually I've got a lot of shoes - Mental note take the ones that don't fit to the charity shop.) 

Similarly, I don't want to buy anything else for the house. I can't resist plants for the garden though.

I actually do think that I have more or less everything I want. There is nothing I really desire. On the contrary, I spend a lot of time trying to have less stuff in my life. Christmas brings this home to me every year. The sheer consumerism of it & the waste that follows from it. 

 

The most important thing about Christmas is who you spend it with. Enjoying the company of your friends & family. It seems easy to lose sight of that. It's easy to lose sight of the many people who don't have anything like everything.

 

 

Holidays - Are they a Right?

I have just had two mini breaks, 4 nights in Italy on Lake Maggiore travelling by plane & 3 nights in The Netherlands (Amsterdam), travelling by Eurostar. I hadn't been abroad since 2019 when I went to Romania. I have travelled a lot to very far flung places in my life. I have also been lucky enough to work for charities in Nepal & Malawi. I do think travelling & experiencing other cultures & environments is important. I have benefited hugely from the experiences I have had. I hope that the countries I have visited have not been harmed by by my footsteps & maybe might have benefited from my presence.

My attitude to holidays as opposed to travel has changed over the years. I no longer think that we have a right to "go on holiday". I think that we have to weigh up the impact tourism has on the world & it's peoples, which is often detrimental in many ways.

 

Relatively wealthy people the world over have come to think that they have a right to go where they want & do what they want. They deserve it, they can afford it. We think that we need a break & in order to achieve that we need to go somewhere else, where the weather, the landscape, the food, the culture is different. I think we need to re-think that attitude in light of the many issues that surround mass travel. 

I live in Oxford. I rarely go into the centre of this lovely city because of the huge numbers of temporary visitors on the streets. We have students in the university. We have language students. We have tourists. The University alone has 26,000 students. We have 18 English language schools with thousands of students. The visitor population is approximately 8 million per year. That is a lot of people who often walk around in big groups & block the pavements. 

I accept that they also generate a lot of income too. But they use infrastructure & services & cost us money. They use up accommodation & make Oxford on a par with London for housing costs. Not only is it difficult to walk around Oxford because of pedestrians & bikes, it is also a horrendous traffic jam whichever way you enter or leave the city. 

Then there are the elephants in the room. The Climate Emergency - Pollution, Population increase, Species & Habitat destruction, Water pollution & scarcity, Extreme weather events, Supply chain issues, Food security....

I simply don't think we can ignore this any longer. We humans cannot continue to think in terms of our rights to do what we want. We have to start accepting that we each need to change the way we live our lives. It simply isn't sustainable. It is an existential threat.

The Power of Music

I'm listening to piano music. I love music. I think it in my head as it's playing, I know the tunes so well, I feel the rhythm in my body & have to respond physically. I used to play quite a few of the pieces. Sadly now my hands have lost their strength & mobility & my brain has forgotten much of what I learnt as a child & teenager. I used to love to dance too. 

My point is that music puts me in a wonderful calm place. A place where I feel happy. A place where I can remember years playing the piano & enjoying an eclectic selection of different music. Mostly I remember walking to my piano lessons with a wonderful spinster whose name I have forgotten. A woman who made me love getting lost in the music. Without her I doubt I would love classical music so much. I remember practising for hours in the unused front room - too hot in the summer with the windows open & freezing cold in the winter. My parents weren't well off. I don't know how they afforded the lessons. But they gave me a truly wonderful gift that I can never repay.

Music still means a lot to me. I have got a Kursweil piano. Although it has weighted keys & a full 7 octaves, it isn't anything like the feel of a real piano. So I don't persevere. I don't practice to get my skills back. I didn't expect it to be so hard. I thought muscle memory would kick in. I always wanted a baby grand, but that's an excuse.

Music therapy relaxes you & lifts your emotions. It can help reduce anxiety and depression, help maintain speech and language, is helpful at the end of life, enhances quality of life and has a positive impact on carers. In dementia it can decrease a patient's agitation and improve communication. 

My grandsons go to clubs & dance to music that is completely different to the music I know. It's electronic. It's remixed by the DJ's. It's very percussive. There are dozens of types. It seems to me that it's the beat that matters more than an actual tune. The combination of the beat, & the dance synchs with heartbeat. There is some really interesting research into the effects of music on the body. Music & dance is beneficial.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1050173821000700#sec0016

Music is the best medicine for the soul. I wonder if dictators listen to music. If they did, would they start wars? Would they be cruel?

The Traitors UK - A Moral Dilemma?

I was persuaded to watch the second series by my daughter & became addicted. It is full of surprises & very entertaining. The psychology of human behaviour is fascinating. What would any human being be prepared to do for a big enough prize?

Seemingly anything. There are no holds barred. In order to win the big money prize the traitors have to be prepared to lie & deceive all the people in the group. They also have to be prepared to stab fellow traitors in the back & murder other contestants. These are people they spend up to 17 hours a day with for 3 weeks. Avarice wins the day.

In addition everyone has to work as a team to complete the missions & increase the prize pot. The missions are challenging. So a good traitor has to have a devious, split, personality - pretend to be a team player & simultaneously be prepared to shamelessly manipulate the group & individuals within it. While the faithful are woking for the good of the group selflessly, the traitors can only succeed if they are ruthless & selfish.

 

In the end, I was disappointed that the lack of morality triumphed. The telling moment for me was the final banishment when Mollie was about to vote Harry off  & whispered "it isn't you" & he replied "no". It was such a betrayal of trust.

I also agree with Claudia that there is an issue with the programme regarding the patriarchical slant. Overwhelmingly male traitors. The statistics are interesting. More female faithfuls were murdered than men 5/2. More men were banished than women 6/4.

The programme reminds me of the Roman spectacles for the entertainment of the masses. They were to distract the populace from the political and economic problems of the day. Is that what is happening here? I actually think it is. If you really think about all of the "reality shows". Most are very unedifying. 

Herd mentality plays such an important part. The psychology of the programme is an entertaining mirror on the human condition played out as a game. It's clever, but is this what we have become?

Selfish Economics

Selfish - "a person, action, or motive lacking consideration for other people; concerned chiefly with personal profit or pleasure. Having no regard for how behavior impacts others. Consistently acting in ones own self-interest instead of meeting the needs of others. Having no empathy for the suffering of other people. Showing no remorse when others are hurt".

My dilemma is that it seems to me that many human actions are revealed to be selfish in the face of the Climate Emergency & the impact our actions have had & are having on the world we inhabit & everything in it. So things I did in my life, without thinking about the impact they had, have now adversely affected everything. I spent years after early retirement travelling all over the world several times a year. My husband & I were a two car family & commuted long distances to work. We had 3 wood burning stoves in one of our houses. We ate red meat & food imported from all over the world. We both had far more clothes than either of our parents. We took all of that & more as quite reasonable & normal.

Economics is the study of how consumers, firms and governments make decisions that together determine how resources are allocated. The study of scarcity and its implications for the use of resources, production of goods and services, growth of production and welfare over time, and a great variety of other complex issues of vital concern to society. There are 3 Economic Theories: Neoclassical, Keynesian, and Marxian. There are 5 concepts of economics - Scarcity, Supply & Demand, Incentives, Trade Off & Opportunity Cost, Economic Systems.  At this point I glaze over. So if you want to know more, then research for yourselves.

The real difficulty I have is reconciling the fact that countries have to generate income to support their populations. Some countries have more natural resources than others. Some have a more highly skilled workforce. Some have a larger young working population as opposed to a more ageing demographic. But all countries need growth & income to raise the standard of living of their people. In order to do that unsustainable companies, which pollute the earth or use finite resources or decimate the landscape & habitats are tolerated.

To take just one simple point. I now feel that any air travel for leisure purposes is unacceptable because of the impact it has on climate change. (I can hear you saying, that's fine, "you have travelled the world". Very true). The thing is there are benefits in seeing other cultures & lives. Not least if rich Westerners are forced to really face up to true poverty. Holiday makers contribute a lot to the wealth of the countries they visit. (Unless they stay in all inclusive ghettos or 5* hotels, where very little of the money goes to the local population).  The fact remains that if all leisure air travel ceased the economic repercussions would be enormous. 

But ultimately can humanity continue to take leisure travel as a right? Has the imbalance between benefit & harm reached a tipping point? I feel it has. Whatever we do, something has to change pretty soon. Is it so bad to be forced to holiday in your own country or somewhere you can travel to on land? 

https://www.narasolar.com/en/the-most-and-least-polluting-means-of-transport/

None of this is simple. We have very difficult choices. But those choices have to be taken by everyone. Or our grandchildren will live with the consequences.

Audiences & how they Behave - Oh no they Don't!

I am a volunteer usher at a local theatre. This week I have ushered for a small studio venue we have & for the main theatre. The former was a delightful production for toddlers & young children, the latter was the Panto for everyone from babies to Grandparents. They couldn't have been more different in every possible way.

This is a "Rant" warning - so look away now if you don't want to read it. Wrap a present or write a card maybe.

I am truly appalled at the behaviour of the audience for the Panto, (& in fact for many of the non Panto performances throughout the year). Frankly I find it inexplicable.

We volunteer ushers clear up after every performance. It is routine to fill several black bags after each performance with;- coffee cups & lids, water bottles, plastic cups, ice cream tubs & lids, tissues, tickets, flyers, sweet bags & papers, sweets, crisp bags....Then there is all the spilled ice cream, coffee, wine....One usher told me yesterday that she had to clear up after an Asian family who had brought a curry in & left everything on the floor!

We go up and down the aisles in the interval with our black sacks. Some people are great & do put their rubbish in. But this year I have been shocked at how much is just dumped on the floor for someone else to clean up.

Why is it that people don't feel able to go for approximately 50 minutes without eating & drinking? Shows usually have 2 Acts of about 50 minutes with a 20 minute interval when you can eat & drink to your hearts content if you wish. You can eat before you come or afterwards. Frankly I think it is "cinema" behaviour. Cinema audiences are used to having popcorn, hot dogs, coke & God knows what else. Cinemas don't rely on volunteers to clean up afterwards & the performers aren't live!

Then there is the unbelievable, to me, idea that it's fine to walk in & out whilst the performance is on going - Regardless of whether one is seated at the end of a row. Disturbing everyone in the same row & all the people behind seems to be OK - Twice - Out & back again. Are they all so desperate for something to eat or drink that they couldn't have bought it before or wait until the interval? It isn't surprising that they may need to go to the toilet, given that they are drinking continuously. Obviously bladder control is weak.

Lateness is similarly ill mannered. Yes I know parking can be difficult & the traffic can be bad. But the Staff & the Volunteers manage to get there in plenty of time. It's just an excuse. Leave home in plenty of time & allow for delays. Personally I wouldn't let them in until the interval.

Mobile phones are similarly annoying. The people around you do not want the disturbance of the very bright light as you check your emails & texts mid performance. The actors definitely don't. People certainly don't want to listen to your ringtone or alerts. Why on earth audiences think they have the right to take photos or worse still videos of a performance is completely beyond my comprehension. For most productions it is a definite "no no" & we are supposed to stop it.

I have been physically & verbally abused by members of an audience, only a couple of times fortunately. Most people are very friendly thank goodness.

It's all very selfish & bad mannered. How on earth have people been brought up? The theatre was completely refurbished a while back at great cost. Do people behave like this in their own homes? Hopefully not. So why do they think it's OK in the theatre.

I know of at least one actor in the West End who stopped the show because of audience bad behaviour. Good for him! I can't imagine how you can give a good performance if you are distracted.

Interestingly I went to the RSC last week & there was no such behaviour at all. Not a sign of rubbish at the end & we were in the circle & could see the stalls.

So - the questions are - Why is it happening at all? - What should we do about it? I know what I would do - but I'm not in charge.

The Lehman Trilogy

Utterly brilliant! A tour de force by three wonderful British actors. Three & a half hours of exquisite timing & characterisation. I don't think I have seen many productions of this calibre ever. It is gripping, funny & tragic.

The piano music is a clever thread running through, at times subtle & at times dominating, but always necessary. The whole conception of this poetic epic is wonderfully conceived & directed by Sam Mendes.

Hugely entertaining.

But, at it's heart, this is the story of 3 men, Henry, Rimpar & Emanuel & the dynasty they founded. They were Jewish emigrees from Bavaria to America & they started from a small dry goods store in Alabama & built an empire spanning the world.

The last Lehman, Bobbie, died in 1969 & Pete Peterson was brought in to save the firm. A series of CEO's followed culminating in the collapse of the company in 2008 because of their involvement in US sub-prime mortgage asset management. The world wide recession followed, which it is arguable we have still not fully recovered from. It was the largest failure of an investment bank. Thousands of people were adversely affected. It seems surprising that apparently the US weren't confident that they could prove that Lehman Brothers violated US laws in its accounting practices.

The ability to turn this story of 150 years of Western Capitalism into a hugely gripping theatrical production as innovative & unique as this just has to be admired. It is a credit to UK support of the Arts that the play "was developed over three years without the constraint of a schedule, or even a destination — I (Mendes) was allowed time to find its form, and to build a wonderful team with which to make it".

Unbelievable! So many lessons, on so many levels.

Weekends

When I was working, weekends were a welcome respite from the stresses of what seemed at times to be an impossible balancing act. Being a Headteacher from  the late 70's to the early 90's seemed at times like being a hamster on a wheel or a juggler keeping plates spinning in the air. By the time I left I was completely burnt out, as were so many of my colleagues. Things don't seem to have improved for teachers now, more than 25 years later.

The two days of a weekend were the time to catch up with everything that needed to be done as a wife & mother. There was no time or energy left during the week to do anything other than simply just keep the show on the road.

Retrospectively I have often wondered whether that commitment to what is essentially just a job, which required that pace of life, was worth the price. I don't think it was, but it was expected. By everyone - parents, teachers, Governors, Politicians, the public & the media. But most of all by all of us working at the chalk face of teaching. With very few exceptions we knew, that each child needed the best education possible throughout their educational life.

That model of work as a vocation doesn't just apply to teaching. Today the "work life balance" simply doesn't exist for huge numbers of people in a wide variety of jobs. Things have got worse, job security has disappeared in a puff of smoke. Wages have stagnated for years. There are food banks because even those in work cannot afford to feed their families. The pressures on people to do whatever it takes to keep a job must be immense. The pressures on single parent families must be even worse.

Weekends should be a time for relaxation, for fun, for doing things together with the people you love. All too often that isn't possible. Batteries don't get recharged. People are so busy doing the things they have to do they are almost as driven as they are when they are at work.

Human beings were not made to operate at full throttle all the time. It isn't healthy. Look at so called less "civilised" societies. They are much more communal. They are less individualistic & certainly are less materialistic. In my travels in Africa, the Middle East, Asia & South America I would say they have a capacity for simple happiness that we have sadly lost.

Bring back relaxed weekends & a better work life balance I say. Ironically now I'm retired my weeks seem just as busy, but in totally different ways. Weekends do seem to be an oasis of calm, with nothing much happening.

Drinking Culture

 I can remember going to parties when I was at college & drinking far too much. I can remember a very active social life once I started working & drinking played a big part. I can also remember being drunk more times than I care to admit. None of this resulted in my doing any harm to anyone thank goodness. I just became very merry & suffered a loss of inhibition. Although I was having fun, my judgement was impaired & I now feel lucky that I didn't do something I would live to regret.

My youth is a far cry from the drinking culture of today, seen in the clubs & bars of cities every weekend. People set out to get completely drunk. They start drinking before they even leave home. People become loud & boorish. Some become aggressive & some lose it completely. People are injured, sometimes permanently & sometimes people die.  A & E departments across the country are filled to overflowing. Medics must get to the point of wondering why they do what they do. Maybe we should start charging for drink related hospital treatment - It is a lifestyle choice for most.

A recent case gives rise to questions about whether someone in the public eye has a bigger responsibility to be a good role model than Joe Blogs. I think they do. Sportspeople for example are representing their country & must have a responsibility to be as fit as possible in order to do that. Drinking to excess hardly leads to a fit body & a clear head.

All to often these "celebrities" have a history of similar behaviour. Their drinking culture leads to being offensive & insulting at the lower end of the scale. They sometimes ignore drink driving legislation, possibly feeling the law doesn't apply to them. They certainly ignore the wise counsel of managers who must become quite desperate to halt the self destructive behaviour.

Actually it's sad as well as destructive. Relationships are destroyed because living with someone who is frequently drunk really is no fun. If the only way you can live your life is through a bottle you don't value yourself, let alone your friends & family. It is very immature behaviour & reveals a lot about the drinker.

Personally I think it's about time we had an open discussion about alcohol abuse & it's impact on society. Why should we put up with anti social behaviour & the on costs of drunkenness?
https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2016/jan/22/alcohol-and-the-nhs-five-key-questions

 

It really isn't funny at all.

Tennis - Wimbledon 2018

I am a fan. I watch every year. I've been watching since the 60s. Not every match - I've  always had favourite people - Usually in the top half of the seeding, (apart from the Brits I've seen come & go). I like the mens 5 setters better than the womens game. I've been lucky enough to go to both Queens & Wimbledon. But actually I think I prefer watching on TV.

I've seen the game & the equipment change radically in 50 years. Not necessarily for the better. The use of Graphite & Graphene for raquets completely changed the game & meant the the balls themselves had to change too - Fast, medium & slow balls were introduced.
https://www.ft.com/content/0790ed2e-1c3e-11e6-b286-cddde55ca122
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/547256-how-the-humble-tennis-ball-has-hepled-change-the-game
Tennis has become a power game, mostly played from the baseline, with very little of the really entertaining rallies fans love. The dominating serve significantly reduces play in each game - Aces are commonplace.

Now  professionals can play, (since 1968), it has become more about the money. Djokovic & Kerber got £2.25 million. Anderson & Williams got £1.125 million this year. Laver, Rosewall & Court would not recognise todays game. Mind you, they probably need that to pay for the huge entourages the top players seem to have.

I watched the Anderson / Federer match & the Anderson / Isner match. I think the time has definitely come to make some changes. Who has the time to watch a 6 hour 35 minute match? Or worse, the 11hr 5 mins match between Isner & Mahout in 2015?

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/next-generation-atp-finals-future-of-tennis-rule-changes

There are things which really irritate me about tennis today. Djokovic pats the ball with his raquet up to 7 times & then bounces the ball up to 17 times before serving by my count. This not only breaks the 20 second rule, it is boring to watch & must be frustrating for the opponent - but perhaps that's the whole point. It is usually the men who do things like that.

Rafa has a whole routine of tells / tics & doesn't care how long anyone has to wait. It seems very OCD. The women seem to just bounce the ball a couple of times & serve - Good for them.
https://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/06/rafael-nadal-ritual-tic-pick-water-bottles

The game definitely isn't what it was. Players are so focussed their personalities are hidden beneath a  face devoid of emotion. Concentration on this shot, this point, is everything. No wonder they become obsessed. Bring back Nastase I say. Players who are entertaining & relate to the fans rather than the corporate sponsors.

It's only sport after all.

Art - What's it For - 2

Art - "The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power".

Given that humans have found art to be important to their lives since early man inhabited the earth - it does seem to be fairly crucial to our well being. The earliest undisputed African rock art dates back about 10,000 years. The Venus of Schelklingen is an Upper Paleolithic figure made of  mammoth ivory. It is dated to between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago.

 

For very young children, between 15 months & 5 years, there are 4 stages of writing & drawing - Random Scribbling, Controlled Scribbling, Lines & Patterns & finally Pictures of Objects & People. Once the child purposefully draws images they have mastered symbolic thinking. If children are given a wide variety of materials & media to experiment with & explore they need no instruction at all. Creativity means having the power to express yourself in your own way. Too often though, adults cannot resist the urge to direct & teach.

 

Yet, despite the obvious importance of art to human development, according to a recent survey:-

http://www.nsead.org/downloads/survey.pdf  

"At least a third and up to 44% of teacher responses over all key stages indicate that time allocated for art and design had decreased in the last five years". How sad is that - SAT's win - Creativity loses.

A variety of art therapies have been used successfully for both physical & mental illness for many years. Art & healing have long been known to work together. The idea that creative expression can make a powerful contribution to the healing process has been embraced in many different cultures. Art helps people express experiences that are too difficult to put into words. The following study looks at this in more detail.

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2804629/

So - In answer to my own question. There is a lot of point to the Arts. We ignore that & we become less rounded individuals. It doesn't matter what I like or what you like. It just matters that we continue to find time for Art & value it.

 

 

Art - What's it for?

I went to Central St Martins on Thursday to see the final degree show One. It was a challenge because it was the 3D / Installations group I was there to see. I freely admit that Modern Art in general & Installations in particular quite often perplex me. Fortunately this one, pictured, wasn't beyond my comprehension.

 

The thing is what is the point of art? What should the viewer expect to feel or understand? The answer is very complex. It is so subjective, depending a lot on the viewers ability to really look & interrogate the piece. It is a dialogue between the artist & the viewer that is all about communication. The artist's part is to be able to depict something or say something through whatever medium they chose. Both halves of the equation have to be prepared to put some effort in. 

The viewer needs visual intelligence. The artist needs a level of skill. 

That's where I get lost in modern art generally. I don't think it's enough to say that the creativity & point of the art is in the original idea. By definition, yes, art relies on creativity. (Sadly so much is derivative or plagiarist.) There has to be some skill too. So I really don't understand a work like Tracy Emins bed. She explains it thus, " I could see; this absolute mess and decay of my life, and then I saw the bed out of that context of this tiny, tiny, bedroom". The piece has meaning for Tracy Emin. To me it feels like the "Emperors new Clothes". No one is prepared to ask why? Similarly Carl Andre's "Equivalent VIII" or  more commonly "Bricks"

So I look at the skill & creativity of Leonardo da Vinci, of Monet, or Seurat. I also like Frida Kahlo, Georgia O'Keeffe, Roy Lichtenstein, Chuck Close.....There are so many two dimensional works I love. 

However, something like Mark Rothko's "Untitled - Black on Grey" leaves me cold. Three dimensional work seems to be even more of a problem. While Jeff Koons work makes me smile, modern installations often just baffle me. If there is a message it just isn't clear enough for me to grasp.

Which brings me round full circle. If you have to have it explained to you is that your fault or the artists? If most people don't understand it, if it doesn't give them pleasure, or make them think, what is the point of it?

Or is it me?

Met Opera - Semiramide - Rossini

I really am going to have to give up on the Met. Their prices for streamed opera have gone up quite a bit. In the last two productions I have been to the sound wasn't properly synched with the picture, which was really annoying. I would have thought that in this age of technology that is unacceptable.

"Semiramide" was completely new to me. The Bel Canto music is beautiful. The orchestra & singers were wonderful. So why am I grumpy? Well its the same criticisms that I had about the "Magic Flute". The Met drowns everything. It overdoes the costumes, the sets, the special effects. It really doesn't understand the concept of "less is more".

The costumes were a hotch potch of styles, which had little to do with Babylonia, or any other country. There were touches of Frieda Kahlo with the ladies flowery head gear. It was all lush fabrics, gold, jewels & bling. Maybe the Met feels that this is what Sponsors & Americans want, but they are selling to a worldwide audience. I find it distracting & I object to being asked to support the Met financially when they just squander money.

The Chorus is really over the top. I actually think that some of them aren't even singing. They are just bulk - "more is more".

The music, the arias, the duets, trios & quartets were beautiful with a lot of high C's. Each of the main roles is a "tour de force", but it is a long opera, I went in at 12.00 & came out after 4.00. So it takes a long time to say anything - There is a lot of repetition.

I am going to be accused of being "Fattist" & "Discriminatory" for my next comment. Although I loved the voice of Semiramide, ( Angela Meade), I found it difficult to overlook the fact that she is obese. Although her face is expressive, this did affect her movement. It reminded me very much of Pavarotti live in operas. Beautiful voice, but you had to suspend disbelief beyond my capabilities. In the performing arts characters have to be believable in the role. That, surely is what the audition process is about. In opera it's more complicated, because the voice has to be right for the role too. I'm not sure that the costume helped either, it was very tent like. I couldn't help thinking of the "fat lady sings" quote. It really doesn't help.

Geko Theatre Company @ the Playhouse Oxford

I'm really lucky - I'm a volunteer usher at the Playhouse.

Last night I ushered for Geko's "The Wedding" created by their artistic director Amit Lahav.

If I tell you that the dialogue is in many different languages & there is very little English, you may be put off. If I tell you that I only understood a few of the themes of the production - birth, marriage, divorce, work, refugees, you might think twice about going out in this weather & paying good money to see it. If I tell you that score was a complete mix of musical themes, which was very loud at times you might think it wasn't for you.  

You would be wrong - Trust me. It is utterly brilliant. Both very sad & hilariously funny - (the suitcase episode is idiosyncratic & very clever). The finale, with the whole cast clapping & stamping rhythmically got the audience on it's feet. In between the cast took us on an exploration of themes through dance, which reminded me very much of my Laban training at college. https://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/about-us/our-history/rudolf-laban

The choreography & execution were amazing.

Oxford is very priveleged to have a theatre which is prepared to put on productions which challenge the audience. It's easy to show crowd pleasers & old favourites. That's the way to rake in the cash. I've seen productions that I probably wouldn't have bought tickets for if I'm honest. But however the season is chosen & by whom, I have to say that I have hardly ever seen a bad show.

It's the final night tonight. If there are tickets left GO! Get the free programme to really understand Geko & "The Wedding"

Met Opera - Magic Flute

I went to see the Met's live streaming of Mozart's "Zauberflote", ("Magic Flute" to us mortals), in my local cinema on Saturday. It is, without a doubt, one of my favourite operas.

Unfortunately the sound wasn't synched with the image for the whole of the first half, which was disconcerting to say the least. It didn't look at all like a live performance.

Although it's the cinema, the tickets aren't cheap, so I was more than a little disappointed. After the screen went dead in the second half, suddenly it was OK. No idea whether it was the fault of the Met or the cinema. No one apologised or explained.

The thing is, although it was an amazing production, I think I am going off Met operas. The singers & musicians are always wonderful. (The Queen of the Night was probably the best I've ever heard). The trouble is, for me, that is what is important -  the music & the story. The Met spends money like it's going out of fashion - it must be all of those philanthropic & hugely wealthy Americans who bankroll it & want the kudos of a truly spectacular production.

Do the costumes really always have to be quite so over the top? Ditto the sets? Does the chorus really need to be quite so huge, some not singing, just adding bulk? Do we always need to have ballet in every opera? I find myself distracted by the whole thing. The puppets were amazing & very beautiful, but I felt over stimulated.

The Met nearly went bust not long ago despite the sponsors. I'm not in the least surprised. Just because you can spend money doesn't mean you should. They have obviously never heard the saying "less is more". They should try letting the music & story speak for themselves. Even for an opera like this which lends itself to wonderful costumes & sets.

Whats more important - the singers & the songs or the sets & the "schmutter"?

We are lucky to be able to see great performances from London & all over the world, but I hope live streaming doesn't result in a competition to outdo eachother like women's coffee mornings when they compete to produce the best cake.

The Arts - Are they important?

Unbelievably according to the latest paleo-archeological information, the oldest art was created by humans during the prehistoric Stone Age, between 300,000 and 700,000 years ago. This seems to indicate that art fulfills a very basic human need & wasn't seen as a waste of time.

According to the Guardian - "Abandoning the EU could potentially result in a loss of €1.46bn of funding granted to the creative industries, impacting profoundly on the cultural climate of creative Britain". According to the Arts Council, "between 2010 and 2015, figures show that total spending by local government in England on arts and culture development and support has been reduced by 16.6 per cent, tending to hit regions outside London the hardest". Conservative Government policy, unsurprisingly, is "to encourage private donations, including through the tax system, and to support arts and cultural organisations to increase the range and effectiveness of their own fundraising". In other words privatisation & cuts.

My life has been very Arts orientated. I played the piano & have always loved all kinds of music - Opera is a passion. In my time I have enjoyed drawing, painting & textiles myself. I am a volunteer usher at the Playhouse theatre. In my working life as a teacher & head teacher the arts were a very important part of the curriculum in the schools I taught in. There is a strong relationship between arts, culture & education which we are at risk of losing in the current state of straightened financial times.

Humans have basic needs & I would argue that the Arts are one of them. Are we really so impoverished that we are prepared to risk losing the creativity which has defined humankind since the beginning? What sort of people will we be in a future without the Arts?


www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/paleolithic-art-culture.htm


www.artscouncil.org.uk/  https://www.britishcouncil.org/arts

 

Edward Fox - Sand in the Sandwiches - John Betjeman

I saw "Sand in the Sandwiches" at the Oxford Playhouse yesterday. I am a volunteer usher, so am lucky to be able to see lots of productions.

A good production draws you in, involves you, entertains you, makes you think - laugh - cry. This was a one man show, which I hadn't realised. There was no action or interaction - no plot. Edward Fox, who is 79 was on stage, alone, for the whole show, lasting the best part of 2 hours. As someone who realises that my memory is not what it was, I find that alone hugely impressing. I imagine that the fact that much of the dialogue is Betjemans rhyming poetry helps - but even so...

Fox has a very distinctive voice & way of speaking. He has a way of running words into one another whilst having very aristocratic "cut glass" diction. He is quite softly spoken. The problem with the performance was that I couldn't hear a lot of the script. (Yes I did have my hearing aid in).

This production is not the only one I have experienced the frustration of having to guess what has been said. It's also increasingly true of TV, where there seems to be a fashion for whispering - "The Fall", "Person of Interest" to name but two. The text is important. It isn't an adjunct to the acting.

I'm not sure where the blame lies. You would think that in this highly technical age, with sound systems only dreamt of 10 years ago, technicians would be able to get the sound levels right. You would imagine that directors would, at some point, put themselves in the situation of the audience in the back row, or their living rooms, to see if the message was getting through. You would think that actors were properly trained in voice projection or would wear today's unobtrusive microphones.

I know I'm a "grumpy old woman",  but there are an awful lot of us who go to theatres & many people have hearing problems. Several times yesterday members of the audience left the auditorium to go & get a loop headset. Listening to comments as the audience left I know I was not alone in being irritated.

John Betjemans words deserved better.

A Night at the Opera - Glyndebourne's "Saul" by Handel

I went to my local "Picture House" yesterday to see the Glyndebourne production of Handel's "Saul". This is probably the earliest opera I have seen, written about a hundred years after Montiverdi began the operatic tradition.

Saul is a Baroque opera, nothing like the more familiar Romantic operas of Rossini & Donizetti, the Comedia operas of Mozart, the Verismo of Puccini for example. I really don't know enough about opera - I'm sure you could study it for years, so I'll stop there.

I do know that "Saul" was written as an Oratorio so directors can pretty much do as they wish with it because the production is not written down. This production was visually stunning from the outset. The vivid & beautiful costumes, the clever & eyecatching sets, the superb chorus & visually arresting dancing were all a joy & a delight. I did think that some of the dance movements were too modern for Handel, but that's probably nit picking. The singing from both the soloists & the wonderful chorus was bright & alive - As was the superb orchestra.

To be an opera star now you have to have more than a good voice. You have to be able to act well, the cameras are up close & personal. You can't get away with the woodenness of Pavarotti for example. You also have to be able to move well - Principals  have to be able to dance & sing at the same time, just like pop stars.

What I didn't like was some of the more gratuitous elements. The introduction of Homo Erotic relationsghips & male kissing - the, for me very off putting, appearance of the male witch of Endor who is portayed as hermaphrodite with pendulous boobs which Saul suckles. Seeing milk dribbling from his mouth & then being expressed over his head really put me off. What on earth did that add to the story apart from inches of press coverage?

As a long time opera lover I am getting a bit p.....off by the seemingly increasing liberties taken with productions in the name of art. I'm sure some directors can justify themselves with pretentious drivel, but the bottom line seems to me to be exactly that - Generating prurient interest & bums on seats.

I wish they would just let the music & the story speak for themselves. I really don't mind innovation & new interpretations. I do mind rubbish.

"Things I Know to be True"

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all ye know on earth & all ye need to know" Keats

I ushered at "Things I Know to be True" at the Oxford Playhouse last night. It was a wonderful performance. It managed the difficult task of being funny, honest & touchingly sad at the same time. The cast of six were all excellent. It made me think - about family realtionships, about what I know to be true.

When it comes down to it if I was to make a list of things I really know are true it would probably be very short - We are born, we die. We love & hate & experience all the emotions in between. If we are lucky we make relationships that enrich our lives. However we can never really know someone else. All of us keep something back. We all have secrets. We all massage the truth at times in our lives, often because we don't want to hurt someone else.

The only truth I  really know is my own truth - What I think, what my values are, what matters to me. We are all capable of deluding ourselves, but I believe that at some level we do know ourselves. The good & the bad.

We all have choices to make about which path to take. Our decisions shape us into adults. We don't live in isolation, everything we do or don't do affects others. 

If we were all able to be "true" in the real sense of the word maybe the world would be a better place.