tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31050522024-03-19T08:47:37.804+00:00A Welsh Born IconI wait patiently, with no urgency. I have been granted all the time there is. I do not try to make anything of what I see. I hold no expectation or assumption that I know anything at all.Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.comBlogger8152125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-3276149418277633492023-11-15T07:05:00.001+00:002023-11-15T07:05:25.658+00:00The Rest is Silence/Politics (delete as appropriate)<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MukFJRQP2VI?si=O8axhaDSFlML9cdn" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-10663984393397897242023-11-14T16:54:00.005+00:002023-11-15T07:18:07.341+00:00Strength to strength<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/crDxNxUv_2c?si=2lhBop-jheRPcfQ1" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<div><br /></div><div>Known Paapa coming up <a href="https://nickbrowne.coraider.com/2016/12/to-be-or-not-to-be.html">seven </a>years now.</div>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-3666959355602360352023-11-13T10:20:00.009+00:002023-11-15T07:14:25.033+00:00My life<p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dytUnnfJzvGiCaw0YeoyCHtlOTuNi_gl2Ro61JIspFk4oGJOAkdrtUVPfnBGUOiYwHMiLvc8jjqUcE' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wasn't well enough to go to this yesterday. Don't think I'll be well enough to go to the theatre tomorrow.</div><p></p>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-37995055197003221552023-11-12T11:11:00.001+00:002023-11-12T11:15:11.764+00:00Getting Sentimental over you<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/402ckIm--8M?si=S0KpM_hhrMU2ToZy" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>I glanced a reference on these spindrift pages yesterday about going to the Jazz Voice Opening Gala on Friday. If you click the title above, it will take you to today's date's blog post for 2022. It is about watching Yolanda Charles at the same festival.</div><div><br /></div><div>In 2021 I was at the First night of Zadie Smith's <i>The Wife of Willesden </i>at the Kiln Theatre. 2020 Ben came round. We shared food from Garfield and a case of Red Stripe, while listening to and jamming on old reggae tunes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Etcetera, etcetera. Been doing so about half a decade now.</div><div><br /></div><div>In retrospect, not such a bad old life.</div>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-36604892042854392472023-11-11T11:39:00.003+00:002023-11-11T11:42:30.368+00:00Ah'm jess sayin' is all<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vkz-BzEUUck?si=rb3Hx-b9ze8hrSxo" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> <div><br /></div><div>Yesterday's poem was by John Burnside. He won <a href="https://newwritingnorth.com/john-burnside-wins-the-david-cohen-prize-for-literature-2023/">The David Cohen Prize for Literature</a> the day before yesterday, only a fortnight after making his <a href="https://nickbrowne.coraider.com/2023/10/blog-post_26.html">debut on the 'blog.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>I don't know anything of his but the poetry. Think I'll start the hinterland - other formats and styles - with<a href="https://amzn.to/3SCAHWK"> 'I put a spell on you</a>,' which also has curious resonances with last night's London Jazz Opening Gala.</div>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-85293397996772104372023-11-10T08:16:00.001+00:002023-11-10T08:16:17.490+00:00Change of pace?<p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>When all the books are gone, there will be</i></p><p><i>nothing to remember but a single</i></p><p><i>porch light at the far end of the road</i></p><p><i>where something live is moving in the snow,</i></p><p><i>a woman, or a fox, it’s hard to say.</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>Let's have a couple of literature days on the 'blog. I will clear up the poem above tomorrow.</p><p>Margery Kempe is honoured in the Church of England with a commemoration on 9 November (yesterday) and in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America together with Richard Rolle and Walter Hilton on 9 November. Nothing from us Catholics though.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81IdLTT67zL._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="505" height="400" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81IdLTT67zL._SL1500_.jpg" width="253" /></a></div><div><b></b></div><blockquote><div><b>An astounding debut, both epic and intimate, about grief, trauma, revelation, and the hidden lives of women - by a major new talent</b></div><div><br /></div><div>In the year of 1413, two women meet for the first time in the city of Norwich.</div><div><br /></div><div>Margery has left her fourteen children and husband behind to make her journey. Her visions of Christ – which have long alienated her from her family and neighbours, and incurred her husband’s abuse – have placed her in danger with the men of the Church, who have begun to hound her as a heretic.</div><div><br /></div><div>Julian, an anchoress, has not left Norwich, nor the cell to which she has been confined, for twenty-three years. She has told no one of her own visions – and knows that time is running out for her to do so.</div><div><br /></div><div>The two women have stories to tell one another. Stories about girlhood, motherhood, sickness, loss, doubt and belief; revelations more the powerful than the world is ready to hear. Their meeting will change everything.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sensual, vivid and humane, <i>For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain </i>cracks history open to reveal the lives of two extraordinary women.</div></blockquote><div></div><div>This month's Audible voucher will go on Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich.</div><p><br /></p>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-14968711340724823902023-11-09T06:09:00.003+00:002023-11-10T07:17:10.713+00:008:54 to spare Prime Minister?<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gk7iWgCk14U?si=UB7hXoEuOEfIgH6x" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>A crumb of comfort from the, largely confected, row, and a timely reminder this is not a party political issue.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/11/08/pro-palestinian-armistice-day-march-go-ahead-churchill/">Telegraph</a></b></div><div><div></div><blockquote><div><b>Pro-Palestinian Armistice Day march must go ahead, says Churchill’s grandson</b></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Lord Soames, a former Armed Forces minister, said: “A lot of people died during the war to assert freedom”.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that the march can go ahead, despite fears that it could lead to counter-protests by Right-wing extremists, because the “evidence threshold” to ban it had not been met.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, has described the protest plans as “provocative and disrespectful”, claiming they posed a risk that the Cenotaph could be vandalised.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Speaking to LBC, Lord Soames said: “It’s nowhere near the Cenotaph. It’s in the afternoon and most of these people, 90 per cent of those people, are not there to make trouble.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>“They’re there to express a deeply held view. And I think it must be allowed to go ahead, and I think it would be a great mistake to play politics with it. </i></div></blockquote><div></div></div>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-62580031222032006792023-11-08T10:59:00.001+00:002023-11-08T10:59:02.386+00:00Whatever it is, I'm against it<p><b><a href="https://news.met.police.uk/news/met-will-do-everything-it-can-to-prevent-disruption-to-remembrance-events-474935">METROPOLITAN POLICE NEWS - 7 NOVEMBER 2023 19:40</a></b></p><p><b></b></p><blockquote><p><b>The Metropolitan Police Service will protect Armistice and Remembrance events in London this weekend.</b></p><p><b>Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said:</b> <i>"The events taking place this weekend are of great significance and importance to our nation. I completely recognise the significant public and political concern about the impact of ongoing protest and demonstrations on this moment of national reflection. Therefore I am determined we will do everything in our power to ensure they pass without disruption.</i></p><p><i>“The reason we have an independent police service is so that among debate, opinion, emotion and conflict, we stand in the centre, focused simply on the law and the facts in front of us.</i></p><p><i>“The laws created by Parliament are clear. There is no absolute power to ban protest, therefore there will be a protest this weekend.</i></p><p><i>“The law provides no mechanism to ban a static gathering of people. It contains legislation which allows us to impose conditions to reduce disruption and the risk of violence, and in the most extreme cases when no other tactics can work, for marches or moving protests to be banned.</i></p><p><i>“Many have called for us to use this power to ban a planned march by the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign on Saturday.</i></p><p><i>“But the use of this power is incredibly rare and must be based on intelligence which suggests there will be a real threat of serious disorder and no other way for police to manage the event. The last time it was used was over a decade ago.</i></p><p><i>“Over recent weeks we’ve seen an escalation of violence and criminality by small groups attaching themselves to demonstrations, despite some key organisers working positively with us.</i></p><p><i>“But at this time, the intelligence surrounding the potential for serious disorder this weekend does not meet the threshold to apply for a ban.</i></p><p><i>“The organisers have shown complete willingness to stay away from the Cenotaph and Whitehall and have no intention of disrupting the nation’s remembrance events. Should this change, we’ve been clear we will use powers and conditions available to us to protect locations and events of national importance at all costs.</i></p><p><i>“Officers will continue to take swift and robust action against any breakaway groups or individuals intent on using legitimate, lawful protest for their own agenda through Saturday and Sunday.</i></p><p><i>“If over the next few days the intelligence evolves, and we reach a threshold where there is a real threat of serious disorder we will approach the Home Secretary. Right now, we remain focused on the facts in front of us and developing our plan to ensure the highest levels of protection for events throughout the weekend."</i></p></blockquote><p></p><p>The Metropolitan Police Commissioner issued a statement last night, saying he cannot ban a pro-Palestinian protest on Armistice Day. </p><p>He did this despite the Prime Minister saying that the planned protest should not go ahead; brave and noble. I am quick enough to to put Sir Mark Rowley down when I think he has gone wrong, so this morning he gets rare praise plus an acknowledgement his can't be an easy job.</p><p>Do you remember that my cousin invited me to Kenneth Branagh's Lear on Saturday afternoon, but I couldn't go because I was in Wales? "King Lear is cancelled so popped into Vanny's work canteen, the Crypt at St Martin in the Fields; then joined the march for peace in Palestine ...." she wrote. A wonderful illustration that not only stake-holders and raging woke loons feel strongly about this, which is a fact lost upon the Daily Telegraph.</p>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-46964752834787695012023-11-07T11:39:00.001+00:002023-11-07T11:43:01.991+00:00Fitzcarraldo Editions<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNWOhtYgcaReq8AbmSekNGLCmPiFXxHLjZACky0L6iE0wHTeMNTmEjv1TnMSTOVMKS0-0JJoMZ1dtkMCH6fQAthKAvKhsPQsPrm2Dcbv1dhaxWahyeKd2tHUh7OdjzHzQ3-xpDilB8FnRhltXYkYsurQOVdNstSiJ6RKjT23g31tmAnYMQECY1YbeiL6pNirg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="1280" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNWOhtYgcaReq8AbmSekNGLCmPiFXxHLjZACky0L6iE0wHTeMNTmEjv1TnMSTOVMKS0-0JJoMZ1dtkMCH6fQAthKAvKhsPQsPrm2Dcbv1dhaxWahyeKd2tHUh7OdjzHzQ3-xpDilB8FnRhltXYkYsurQOVdNstSiJ6RKjT23g31tmAnYMQECY1YbeiL6pNirg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jacques Testard and Fitzcarraldo staff in their Deptford office </td></tr></tbody></table><blockquote><i><a href="https://fitzcarraldoeditions.com/">Fitzcarraldo Editions</a> is an independent publisher specialising in contemporary fiction and long-form essays. Founded in 2014, it focuses on ambitious, imaginative and innovative writing, both in translation and in the English language. The series, designed by Ray O’Meara, are published as paperback originals with French flaps, using a custom serif typeface (called Fitzcarraldo). Fitzcarraldo Editions publishes, among other authors, the 2015, 2018, 2022 and 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature laureates Svetlana Alexievich, Olga Tokarczuk, Annie Ernaux and Jon Fosse. </i></blockquote><p></p><p>I am back in London. Vince gave me a lift. I went to see Sean yesterday morning. He told me his new novel, the one I helped with a tiny bit, is finished.</p><p>"Who are you going to send it to?"</p><p>"Jacques Testard, he was quite keen on 'The Englishwoman' but decided in the end it didn't quite fit with his imprint."</p><p>'The Englishwoman' was Sean's previous effort. Jacques' 'imprint' is Fitzcarraldo Editions.</p><p><b><a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/news/jon-fosse-nobel-why-fitzcarraldo-editions-win/">Telegraph 6/10/23</a></b></p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>If you’re a publisher, and four of your writers have won the Nobel Prize for Literature, you might be expected to be slightly blasé should a fifth scoop the same award. Jacques Testard, founder of the independent Fitzcarraldo Editions, is the only publisher in Britain who can confirm that this is not the case. When I speak to him on Friday, he’s overwhelmed.</i></p><p><i>The Norwegian novelist Jon Fosse, eight of whose books Fitzcarraldo has published in translation since 2018, has just won the 2023 Nobel. Fosse follows in the footsteps of four other Nobel Laureates published by Fitzcarraldo: last year’s winner, the French writer Annie Ernaux; Olga Tokarczuk, the writer and activist from Poland, who won in 2018; the Belarusian journalist-essayist Svetlana Alexievich, who won in 2015; and Elfriede Jelinek, the Austrian playwright and novelist who won in 2004 and subsequently joined Fitzcarraldo’s list too.</i></p><p><i>This is an astonishing hit-rate for any publisher. What makes it all the more remarkable is that Fitzcarraldo is a small independent firm, founded less than a decade ago. It has seven full-time staff, three of whom are editors, and publishes books at a modest rate: 23 this year. </i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>Not too shabby my old friend Mr Burke. Not too shabby at all.</p>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-4352364073988516602023-11-06T09:05:00.002+00:002023-11-06T09:05:53.895+00:00Short but sweet<p> Rayburn is flying in from Florida on 15 November. I do hop he can come to Cork with us, the following weekend.</p>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-7771047225411048772023-11-05T06:38:00.001+00:002023-11-05T06:38:43.108+00:00How sharper than a serpent’s tooth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDgmPOOyhV_6BK-pLaB7pvMLrNyXo6uklkPozIhnBJ2ZsD3kAPtpthgVwoZ5A1loYQ1edh_OeTu8Y7unI6t8t35UxqgRshXWf3G0cwliM3l9XxPf1a2zWEr2VMHLw84s6AxxCJkOcvuqLUFeOLNww9kVe6cxDQMzkDaAf_3NmvoTuymFaB7XX9ZYvfxuFWD4I" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="480" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDgmPOOyhV_6BK-pLaB7pvMLrNyXo6uklkPozIhnBJ2ZsD3kAPtpthgVwoZ5A1loYQ1edh_OeTu8Y7unI6t8t35UxqgRshXWf3G0cwliM3l9XxPf1a2zWEr2VMHLw84s6AxxCJkOcvuqLUFeOLNww9kVe6cxDQMzkDaAf_3NmvoTuymFaB7XX9ZYvfxuFWD4I=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div>Cousin Ria has offered me Aunt Philo's ticket for Lear Lear this afternoon. I'm very grateful but I can't make as I am in Wales.<p></p><div>Besides Branagh hasn't come to see me lately since I've been bad.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Ba Dum Tish!</i></div>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-20391484268590467732023-11-04T08:27:00.000+00:002023-11-04T08:27:49.696+00:00Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mdrMVYsJkzQ?si=pBW7sT8DU7jVVViy" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>Sean at 1pm yesterday the Vince and Michele took me to <a href="https://newtheatrecardiff.co.uk/Online/tickets-the-merchant-of-venice-cardiff-2023">The Merchant of Venice 193</a>6 at the New Theatre, Cardiff in the evening. Never mind reviews, when you feel as ropey as I do 'two hours including interval' is enough recommendation.</div>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-19974924640017320182023-11-03T07:18:00.000+00:002023-11-03T07:18:01.196+00:00The Not Ready for Prime Time Players<p>The extent to which I have succeeded is debatable, but I genuinely have worked hard <i>(<a href="https://nickbrowne.coraider.com/2023/10/i-missed-gary-marcus-keynote-at-chat.html">passim</a>)</i> on trying to understand generative AI and Large Language Models and find myself more on the, say, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Marcus">Gary Marcus</a> than the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Hinton">Geoff Hinton</a> side of the debate, while respecting both.</p><p>Have an example from yesterday of why I remain among the rueful naysayers. </p><p>"Where in London is Dance First playing?" I asked ChatGPT, via Bing, yesterday.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>Dance First is a biographical film about the life and work of Samuel Beckett, the Nobel Prize-winning Irish playwright. It stars Aidan Gillen, Maxine Peake, Gabriel Byrne, and others. It is directed by James Marsh and has a running time of 100 minutes</i></p><p><i>According to my web search results, Dance First is playing at the following cinemas in London from Friday 3rd November to Thursday 9th November:</i></p><p><i>.......</i></p><p><i>• Cineworld Cinemas: Wandsworth <a href="https://firstdancelondon.co.uk/">https://firstdancelondon.co.uk/</a></i></p><p><i>You can find the exact showtimes and book tickets online by clicking on the links above. I hope you enjoy the film.</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>Try the link. That's right. It takes you to WEDDING DANCE LESSONS IN CENTRAL LONDON. Completely useless.</p><p>Have a conspiracy theory on me. </p>Rishi Sunak's <a href="AI SAFETY SUMMIT HOSTED BY THE UK 1ST AND 2ND NOVEMBER AT BLETCHLEY PARK">AI SAFETY SUMMIT, HOSTED BY THE UK, 1ST AND 2ND NOVEMBER AT BLETCHLEY PARK</a>. Why and why now? Especially given that Larry, the British domestic tabby cat who has served as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office at 10 Downing Street since probably knows more about AI than Rishi does.<div><br /></div><div>The summit finished yesterday. What else finished yesterday? The latest round of public evidence to the UK Covid-19 Enquiry. We wake up to</div><div><i><b><blockquote>Rishi Sunak: Inviting China to AI Summit was right long-term decision</blockquote></b></i></div><div>when we could have woken up to</div><i><blockquote>For the last three days the Covid inquiry had been like an out-of-control therapy session. The permanently trashed Party Marty. The foul-mouthed career sociopath Dominic Cummings. The caring, sharing Helen MacNamara. All competing with one another to expose the corruption and incompetence at the heart of Boris Johnson’s government during the Covid crisis. All desperate to pin the blame on someone other than themselves. All third-rate desperadoes in their tragicomic worlds.</blockquote></i><div><div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xc_0M4y_aE0?si=HsaDtGZNohqcd5Je" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div></div>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-45112817591047932262023-11-02T05:45:00.004+00:002023-11-02T05:45:38.223+00:00Dannie Abse: Return to Cardiff<p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>I hope to be off for a long family weekend visit later today.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>‘Hometown’; well, most admit an affection for a city:</p><p>grey, tangled streets I cycled on to school, my first</p><p> cigarette</p><p>in the back lane, and, fool, my first botched love affair.</p><p>First everything. Faded torments; self-indulgent pity.</p><p> </p><p>The journey to Cardiff seemed less a return than a raid</p><p>on mislaid identities. Of course the whole locus smaller:</p><p>the mile-wide Taff now a stream, the castle not as in</p><p> some black,</p><p>gothic dream, but a decent sprawl, a joker’s toy façade.</p><p> </p><p>Unfocused voices in the wind, associations, clues,</p><p>odds and ends, fringes caught, as when, after the doctor</p><p> quit,</p><p>a door opened and I glimpsed the white, enormous face</p><p>of my grandfather, suddenly aghast with certain news.</p><p> </p><p>Unable to define anything I can hardly speak,</p><p>and still I love the place for what I wanted it to be</p><p>as much as for what unashamedly is</p><p>now for me, a city of strangers, alien and bleak.</p><p> </p><p>Unable to communicate I’m easily betrayed,</p><p>uneasily diverted by mere sense reflections</p><p>like those anchored waterscapes that wander, alter, in</p><p> the Taff,</p><p>hour by hour, as light slants down a different shade.</p><p> </p><p>Illusory, too, that lost dark playground after rain,</p><p>the noise of trams, gunshots in what they once called</p><p> Tiger Bay.</p><p>Only real this smell of ripe, damp earth when the sun</p><p> comes out,</p><p>a mixture of pungencies, half exquisite and half plain.</p><p> </p><p>No sooner than I’d arrived the other Cardiff had gone,</p><p>smoke in the memory, these but tinned resemblances,</p><p>where the boy I was not and the man I am not</p><p>met, hesitated, left double footsteps, then walked on.</p>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-23153825792997026942023-11-01T04:33:00.002+00:002023-11-07T11:55:31.719+00:00Pablo Neruda: Explico algunas cosas<p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Next <a href="https://hudsonreview.com/2023/11/the-example-of-seamus-heaney/">translation </a>project sorted. I imagine it may take a while.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>PREGUNTARÉIS: Y dónde están las lilas?</p><p>Y la metafísica cubierta de amapolas?</p><p>Y la lluvia que a menudo golpeaba</p><p>sus palabras llenándolas</p><p>de agujeros y pájaros?</p><p><br /></p><p>Os voy a contar todo lo que me pasa.</p><p><br /></p><p>Yo vivía en un barrio</p><p>de Madrid, con campanas,</p><p>con relojes, con árboles.</p><p><br /></p><p>Desde allí se veía</p><p>el rostro seco de Castilla</p><p>como un océano de cuero.</p><p> Mi casa era llamada</p><p>la casa de las flores, porque por todas partes</p><p>estallaban geranios: era</p><p>una bella casa</p><p>con perros y chiquillos.</p><p> Raúl, te acuerdas?</p><p>Te acuerdas, Rafael?</p><p> Federico, te acuerdas</p><p>debajo de la tierra,</p><p>te acuerdas de mi casa con balcones en donde</p><p>la luz de junio ahogaba flores en tu boca?</p><p> Hermano, hermano!</p><p>Todo</p><p>eran grandes voces, sal de mercaderías,</p><p>aglomeraciones de pan palpitante,</p><p>mercados de mi barrio de Argüelles con su estatua</p><p>como un tintero pálido entre las merluzas:</p><p>el aceite llegaba a las cucharas,</p><p>un profundo latido</p><p>de pies y manos llenaba las calles,</p><p>metros, litros, esencia</p><p>aguda de la vida,</p><p> pescados hacinados,</p><p>contextura de techos con sol frío en el cual</p><p>la flecha se fatiga,</p><p>delirante marfil fino de las patatas,</p><p>tomates repetidos hasta el mar.</p><p><br /></p><p>Y una mañana todo estaba ardiendo</p><p>y una mañana las hogueras</p><p>salían de la tierra</p><p>devorando seres,</p><p>y desde entonces fuego,</p><p>pólvora desde entonces,</p><p>y desde entonces sangre.</p><p>Bandidos con aviones y con moros,</p><p>bandidos con sortijas y duquesas,</p><p>bandidos con frailes negros bendiciendo</p><p>venían por el cielo a matar niños,</p><p>y por las calles la sangre de los niños</p><p>corría simplemente, como sangre de niños.</p><p><br /></p><p>Chacales que el chacal rechazaría,</p><p>piedras que el cardo seco mordería escupiendo,</p><p>víboras que las víboras odiaran!</p><p><br /></p><p>Frente a vosotros he visto la sangre</p><p>de España levantarse</p><p>para ahogaros en una sola ola</p><p>de orgullo y de cuchillos!</p><p><br /></p><p>Generales</p><p>traidores:</p><p>mirad mi casa muerta,</p><p>mirad España rota:</p><p>pero de cada casa muerta sale metal ardiendo</p><p>en vez de flores,</p><p>pero de cada hueco de España</p><p>sale España,</p><p>pero de cada niño muerto sale un fusil con ojos,</p><p>pero de cada crimen nacen balas</p><p>que os hallarán un día el sitio</p><p>del corazón.</p><p><br /></p><p>Preguntaréis por qué su poesía</p><p>no nos habla del sueño, de las hojas,</p><p>de los grandes volcanes de su país natal?</p><p><br /></p><p>Venid a ver la sangre por las calles,</p><p>venid a ver</p><p>la sangre por las calles,</p><p>venid a ver la sangre</p><p>por las calles!</p>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-58856811150018760382023-10-31T05:45:00.007+00:002023-11-02T05:17:13.094+00:00reconciliation<p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>Future perfect, present tense,</i></p><p><i>Past continuous.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>In the lane that’s by the church,</i></p><p><i>St Joseph’s, that is,</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>I can feel the sacristy;</i></p><p><i>Purification?</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>“What is that, a sacristy, </i></p><p><i>You old altar boy?”</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>The holy things are stored there,</i></p><p><i>Until we need them.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>“Date and the time of this need?</i></p><p><i>Who’s allowed inside?”</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>N.J. THRIBB</p>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-60260479041047894382023-10-30T13:02:00.006+00:002023-10-30T13:06:33.855+00:00the best time to plant a tree is always twenty years ago<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuCnhGDcVidqHzAyUNI7snevJ35EilhowIW7-ENma-P-sNEryxDSPZxU15X3Yj4DA7MtTDYOnRmtxogmSulFDqCP3ElNarT3IngwH4P2nPRzGFribZtLz_9IKPXk2-eJp-rM9XoEQWyoxmjS-PFxknLjPyleS926LYy8bwu1ZVlyz8vim2Fp1sVk6ry12Q578" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuCnhGDcVidqHzAyUNI7snevJ35EilhowIW7-ENma-P-sNEryxDSPZxU15X3Yj4DA7MtTDYOnRmtxogmSulFDqCP3ElNarT3IngwH4P2nPRzGFribZtLz_9IKPXk2-eJp-rM9XoEQWyoxmjS-PFxknLjPyleS926LYy8bwu1ZVlyz8vim2Fp1sVk6ry12Q578=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div>If there is one complaint about the Jazz Café's Havana Música on Saturday it is that Jane and Ben weren't all that impressed with their food (<i>miso marinated monkfish with curried rice, coriander & chilli,</i> and <i>jerk chicken with rice and peas, pickles & jerk bbq sauce</i> respectively).<div><br /></div><div>Eat your way around the world in London went to the Cubana restaurant seventeen years ago and seems to have had a good time <i>(<a href="https://nickbrowne.coraider.com/2006/11/cubana.html">see Icons passim</a>)</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe we should add <a href="https://www.cubana.co.uk/">https://www.cubana.co.uk/</a>, as well as <a href="https://nickbrowne.coraider.com/2023/10/blog-post_29.html">catching up with the Chef movie</a>, to any follow up.</div><p></p>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-59040442142040415052023-10-29T08:35:00.002+00:002023-10-29T08:35:40.812+00:00I Like it Like That<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HOPNFHbNI-E?si=nj4JxnD-1EV5Jhud" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> <div><br /></div><div>Jane, Ben, Simona and I had a wonderful time watching Havana Música with Carlos Miguel Y Su Dimension de Cuba from the mezzanine restaurant at the Jazz Cafe last night. I was beyond flattered that Simona took the time off work to come with us when she didn't even do that for the Saturday of her own birthday. By locking in rest before the big night (<i>prehab?)</i> I managed to walk to the tube for quarter to seven and get home more than five hours later having eaten a starter as a main course and drunk a few glasses of wine. Unheard of stamina and appetite for me lately.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ben, as I am, is a big fan of John Favreau's movie '<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chef_(2014_film)">Chef</a>.' I kept thinking of it last night As Sofía Vergara's father's character in it is a Cuban musician performing in one scene in a club not unlike the JC. Actually the whole film is resonant, including a Miami to Nawlins road trip not unlike one for me, Ben and Raybs that l've got a bucket list version of.</div><div><br /></div><div>I may watch it again later while trying to stuff a counterfeit Cubana panini down my gob.</div>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-38100924365839002642023-10-28T10:46:00.002+01:002023-10-28T10:48:00.356+01:00Then I was back in October<iframe allowfullscreen="" allowtransparency="true" data-name="pb-iframe-player" height="300" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" src="https://www.podbean.com/player-v2/?from=embed&i=wsfah-14e0089-pb&square=1&share=1&download=1&fonts=Arial&skin=1&font-color=auto&rtl=0&logo_link=episode_page&btn-skin=7&size=300" style="border: none; height: 300px; min-width: min(100%, 430px);" title="Easy Lunch, The Bonos, Rescue Remedy" width="100%"></iframe> <div>There's a new edition of Jonathan Holloway <i>(<a href="https://nickbrowne.coraider.com/2023/08/blog-post_870.html">Icons passim</a>)</i> and Liam Grundy's podcast out. When I got home yesterday I drew the curtains, kicked off my shoes and lay on the couch to listen to it.</div><div><div><i><blockquote>Walking Out: A wide-ranging discussion rarely touching on the pressing matters of the day. Social, Sexual, Psychological and Political matters are never intentionally on the agenda.</blockquote></i></div></div><div>Seventeen minutes of guileless, prelapsarian bliss.</div><div><br /></div><div>Compare and contrast. Ben Jamal, Steve and Rebecca's friend, is the Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Here's what he was tweeting later the same night.</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">To launch a savage bombardment and cut off all communications is an act of barbarism. You know by doing this you will disable all crucial medical services and prevent families contacting one another. History will not forget or forgve those who greenlight this.</p>— Ben Jamal (@BenJamalpsc) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenJamalpsc/status/1718017984269033718?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Both in the same world. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-53154169113081537502023-10-27T12:54:00.001+01:002023-10-28T10:08:17.611+01:00One Day in Gaza<div style="padding: 56.25% 0px 0px; position: relative;"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/336848323?h=5e280c5788&color=ffffff" style="height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; top: 0; width: 100%;"></iframe></div><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script>
<p style="text-align: center;"><i>From <a href="https://www.ollylambert.com/">Olly Lambert</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/ollylambert">Vimeo</a>.</i></p>
I thought enough time had passed to send <a href="https://hannahkhalil.com/">Hannah </a>a sympathetic note about Palestine without it seeming intrusive, and received a typically gracious and generous reply.<div><br /></div><div><div>My email included an apology for, my all but complete, ignorance of the region's history and circumstances. I told her that until I looked at Gaza on Google Maps, I had no idea it was on the Mediterranean coast and asked her to imagine what this implies about everything else that has passed me, and my peers, by. All we can do is plead with her people not to despise us when our self-styled cognoscenti, start holding forth advising her people from this deep well of ignorance. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>I mentioned this in passing to Sean, who also knows her. He owned up as well, saying:</div><div><i><blockquote>I only found out about Gaza’s location because a former student of mine, now an award-winning documentary maker called Olly Lambert made a film about The Day of Peace there a few years ago.</blockquote></i></div><div>Maybe there's a lesson here about civilised and constructive conversations; own up pre-emptively in one's arguments to one's blind spots.</div>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-37107566595227607002023-10-26T14:16:00.007+01:002023-10-26T14:25:22.263+01:00SHORT CONVERSATIONS WITH POETS: JOHN BURNSIDE<p>Have I found a poet new to me, contemporary and yet good in <a href="https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/john-burnside">McSWEENEY’S</a> of all places?</p><hr /><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>Lately, there’s been a glitch in the present tense,</i></p><p><i>the blackbird calling from the holly tree</i></p><p><i>and that frost-scent on the wind in late July,</i></p><p><i>a spindrift from the east that finds me out</i></p><p><i>as stranger to the soul</i></p><p><i>I took for granted …</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><hr /><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>Give me a little less</i></p><p><i>with every dawn:</i></p><p><i>colour, a breath of wind,</i></p><p><i>the perfection of shadows,</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>till what I find, I find</i></p><p><i>because it’s there,</i></p><p><i>gold in the seams of my hands,</i></p><p><i>and the night light, burning.</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><hr /><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>Give me these years again and I will</i></p><p><i>spend them wisely.</i></p><p><i>Done with the compass; done, now, with the chart.</i></p><p><i>The ferry at the dock, lit</i></p><p><i>stern to prow,</i></p><p><i>the next life like a footfall in my heart.</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><hr /><p>Or is it just that I am a miserable bastard lately? We can find out <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001H6GXC0">kicking off from here</a>, I guess.</p>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-15857911713905727062023-10-25T10:00:00.003+01:002023-10-26T14:02:42.146+01:00Levinas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4sWfTheUg-_T-xtzTA9OvC0q1l41TT5tBhTPJ3R69GytCYZduLUg_nFnkRdfalTGrkW9og7SRxYj5G8LNnNwdQZyHxSGBI_PPrToc_KU8C62fQEscWy_Q0UnD4PrqKrRwxdQZpNqUl1-VLm9Iao73vqU4F3vruvqysdOfy5ar1_31zwen3PA-5_AnAaAtkfU" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="634" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4sWfTheUg-_T-xtzTA9OvC0q1l41TT5tBhTPJ3R69GytCYZduLUg_nFnkRdfalTGrkW9og7SRxYj5G8LNnNwdQZyHxSGBI_PPrToc_KU8C62fQEscWy_Q0UnD4PrqKrRwxdQZpNqUl1-VLm9Iao73vqU4F3vruvqysdOfy5ar1_31zwen3PA-5_AnAaAtkfU" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>The woman who, in the process of being released, stepped back to take the Hamas' guard hand and say "Shalom" is what inspired yesterday's post. It changed Levinas' <i>"The Other precisely reveals himself in his alterity not in a shock negating the I, but as the primordial phenomenon of gentleness,"</i> from sounding pretentious to a blissful truth.</p><p></p><p>As ever lately, we landed with a bump. When I played the video I had embedded on the <a href="https://nickbrowne.coraider.com/2023/10/bearing-witness.html">blog post</a> back, I found that The Times had edited this gesture of hope out.</p>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-67752411245713788112023-10-24T07:16:00.010+01:002023-10-26T14:00:49.631+01:00Bearing Witness<p><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Levinas#Philosophy">Theory</a></b></p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>In the 1950s, Levinas emerged from the circle of intellectuals surrounding the philosopher Jean Wahl as a leading French thinker. His work is based on the ethics of the Other or, in Levinas's terms, on "ethics as first philosophy". For Levinas, the Other is not knowable and cannot be made into an object of the self, as is done by traditional metaphysics (which Levinas called "ontology"). Levinas prefers to think of philosophy as the "wisdom of love" rather than the "love of wisdom" (the usual translation of the Greek "φιλοσοφία"). In his view, responsibility towards the Other precedes any "objective searching after truth".</i></p><p><i>Levinas derives the primacy of his ethics from the experience of the encounter with the Other. For Levinas, the irreducible relation, the epiphany, of the face-to-face, the encounter with another, is a privileged phenomenon in which the other person's proximity and distance are both strongly felt. "The Other precisely reveals himself in his alterity not in a shock negating the I, but as the primordial phenomenon of gentleness."</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><b>
Practice</b><div><br /></div><div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qkyq5WCA0lI?si=NC4uYE9wz1riv4ey" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-49982216477544040572023-10-23T10:00:00.001+01:002023-10-23T10:00:03.663+01:00The Revolutionary Catechism<p><b></b></p><blockquote><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catechism_of_a_Revolutionary">The Duties of the Revolutionary toward Himself</a></b></blockquote><p></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><i>The revolutionary is a doomed man. He has no personal interests, no business affairs, no emotions, no attachments, no property, and no name. Everything in him is wholly absorbed in the single thought and the single passion for revolution.</i></li><li><i>The revolutionary knows that in the very depths of his being, not only in words but also in deeds, he has broken all the bonds which tie him to the social order and the civilized world with all its laws, moralities, and customs, and with all its generally accepted conventions. He is their implacable enemy, and if he continues to live with them it is only in order to destroy them more speedily.</i></li><li><i>The revolutionary despises all doctrines and refuses to accept the mundane sciences, leaving them for future generations. He knows only one science: the science of destruction. For this reason, but only for this reason, he will study mechanics, physics, chemistry, and perhaps medicine. But all day and all night he studies the vital science of human beings, their characteristics and circumstances, and all the phenomena of the present social order. The object is perpetually the same: the surest and quickest way of destroying the whole filthy order.</i></li><li><i>The revolutionary despises public opinion. He despises and hates the existing social morality in all its manifestations. For him, morality is everything which contributes to the triumph of the revolution. Immoral and criminal is everything that stands in its way.</i></li><li><i>The revolutionary is a dedicated man, merciless toward the State and toward the educated classes; and he can expect no mercy from them. Between him and them there exists, declared or concealed, a relentless and irreconcilable war to the death. He must accustom himself to torture.</i></li><li><i>Tyrannical toward himself, he must be tyrannical toward others. All the gentle and enervating sentiments of kinship, love, friendship, gratitude, and even honor, must be suppressed in him and give place to the cold and single-minded passion for revolution. For him, there exists only one pleasure, one consolation, one reward, one satisfaction – the success of the revolution. Night and day he must have but one thought, one aim – merciless destruction. Striving cold-bloodedly and indefatigably toward this end, he must be prepared to destroy himself and to destroy with his own hands everything that stands in the path of the revolution.</i></li><li><i>The nature of the true revolutionary excludes all sentimentality, romanticism, infatuation, and exaltation. All private hatred and revenge must also be excluded. Revolutionary passion, practiced at every moment of the day until it becomes a habit, is to be employed with cold calculation. At all times, and in all places, the revolutionary must obey not his personal impulses, but only those which serve the cause of the revolution.</i></li></ol><p></p><p>Hamas didn't make it up.</p>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3105052.post-31250825902132731242023-10-22T09:49:00.002+01:002023-10-23T09:52:14.833+01:00Nice One Cyril<p>I missed Gary Marcus' keynote* at the 'Chat GPT and Other Creative Rivals' conference I attended in the middle of the year. I am disappointed about that now that he has started throwing shade at the UK's upcoming vainglorious AI Safety Summit; something that has also been on my to-do list.</p><p><a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/10/21/gary-marcus-ai-threat-hype-rishi-sunak-warning/">Telegraph (paywall):</a></p><p></p><blockquote><p><b>Meet the AI heretic battling the hype with a warning for Rishi Sunak</b></p><p>Tech expert Gary Marcus is the dissenting voice in a clamour of paranoia and veneration</p><p><i>In a fortnight, the UK’s AI Safety Summit will assemble the great and the good of artificial intelligence, in the hope of creating an international “Bretton Woods”-style agreement to regulate it. Although he was one of three experts invited to give testimony to the United States Congress on AI regulation, alongside OpenAI founder Sam Altman, Marcus hasn’t been invited to Buckinghamshire. He isn’t surprised that his views aren’t welcome. </i></p><p><i>“Generative AI can’t live up to the current expectations,” he says. “It’s simply not smart enough to do many of the things we think it will be able to do. The systems are not transparent, they’re not reliable, they don’t really understand the world. These are very serious problems that are not being faced.” </i></p><p><i>Such talk makes him a heretic, and pointing out some very inconvenient truths is not universally welcome. Marcus explains these flaws very elegantly: for years he was The New Yorker magazine’s go-to guy to explain developments in neuroscience and data. Guitar Zero, his book explaining how the brain learns, based on his own initially hopeless quest to master a musical instrument, became a bestseller.</i></p></blockquote><p></p><p>It's his guitar book that interests me today though after John and I spent some time noodling around yesterday, so I've dropped a credit on the Audible version. Maybe my brother and I can listen next time we're driving to or from Cardiff.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzd2N1hUTrFs-B5pL59J1zQvH4yFGBOHl0IJNtQJxVZkfjG6dkihwxcVMEJ2xtko-feb74R0Nz-2Y9cR3_6-rhyKl_rF8EgNH3rFVBMWA95ddYWgaKTdLPJmSvynGc7PT1rdw8VzY3U7zIMXnazOm8DBVKMGge63ukiGJQ6MgaYig3nX5yIL_AF-tX_7nODg8" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzd2N1hUTrFs-B5pL59J1zQvH4yFGBOHl0IJNtQJxVZkfjG6dkihwxcVMEJ2xtko-feb74R0Nz-2Y9cR3_6-rhyKl_rF8EgNH3rFVBMWA95ddYWgaKTdLPJmSvynGc7PT1rdw8VzY3U7zIMXnazOm8DBVKMGge63ukiGJQ6MgaYig3nX5yIL_AF-tX_7nODg8" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><blockquote><p><i>On the eve of his fortieth birthday, a professor of no discernible musical talent learns to play the guitar and investigates how anyone of any age might master a new skill.</i></p><p><i>Just about every human being knows how to listen to music, but what does it take to make music? Is musicality something we are born with? Or a skill that anyone can develop at any time? If you don't start piano at the age of six, is there any hope? Is skill learning best left to children or can anyone reinvent him-or herself at any time?</i></p><p><i>On the eve of his fortieth birthday, Gary Marcus, an internationally renowned scientist with no discernible musical talent, becomes his own guinea pig to look at how human beings become musical- and how anyone of any age can master something new. Guitar Zero traces his journey, what he learned, and how you can learn, too. In addition to being a groundbreaking look at the origins and allure of music, Marcus's journey is also an empowering tale of the mind's plasticity.</i></p><p><i>In a quest that takes him from Suzuki classes to guitar gods, Marcus investigates the most effective ways to train your brain and body to learn to play an instrument. How can you make your practice more deliberate and effective? How can you find the best music teacher for you or your child? Does talent really exist? Or is hard work all you need?</i></p><p><i>Guitar Zero stands the science of music on its head, debunking the popular theory of an innate musical instinct and many other commonly held fallacies. At the same time, it raises new questions about the science of human pleasure and brings new insight into humankind's most basic question: what counts as a life well lived? Does one have to become the next Jimi Hendrix to make a passionate pursuit worthwhile? Or can the journey itself bring the brain lasting satisfaction?</i></p></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p><i>For those who have ever set out to learn a musical instrument-or wishes that they could- Guitar Zero is an inspiring and fascinating look at music, learning, and the pursuit of a well-lived life.</i></p></blockquote><p>* <b>Keynote</b></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1X9s16mgwsM?si=z92Ye1FWlx5iTUmO&start=15346" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Nick Brownehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11805953367604412662noreply@blogger.com0