My little boy has been going to tag rugby coaching on Saturday mornings for a few weeks. Up until now the ground has been dry enough for him to play in training shoes, but this week it was wet and muddy so I decided to take him out to get his first proper studded boots.
We bought them at a sports shop in the afternoon. He was delighted with the grown upness of it all, and I was equally and oppositely thrilled by the cuteness of the tiny things.
Thinking about it in the shower this morning, I remembered my few seasons playing the coarsest of coarse rugby when I first moved up to London.
As God is my judge, we really had a captain who one week gave us the following pep talk.
"It's a horrible wet, windy day lads.
"The ground's treacherous underfoot, and the ball's going to be like a piece of soap.
"This week, they're going to drop it just as much as we do!"
Monday, October 31, 2005
Sunday, October 30, 2005
I Surrender
I've finished reading Surrender or Starve, the book that Robert B Kaplan published in 1988 about the famine and his travels in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea. I finished it a while ago in fact but I didn't know what to say about it apart from the bathetic observation that it was strangely salutary to read a book by someone who was there at the time that mentioned Live Aid but twice and Bob Geldof not at all.
I had decided to read a book written a good while ago to try and help me get some perspective on the problems of 2005, and the depressing conclusion is that nothing much has changed.
God may be responsible for drought in the horn of Africa but people are responsible for famine.
Here is a story from the end of the book. I'm taking the liberty of quoting extensively because it in turn is taken from a story entitled Riding the Lifeline Lorry" (The Times, July 26, 1985) by a journalist called Paul Vallely.
Three hours after leaving Geneina for Beida, the food lorry got caught in a torrential rain. Vallely and the driver whom Verney had rented were stuck for nine hours in the mud; sixty peasants helped to dig the two men out.
The distribution caused a riot among the refugees. Sudanese soldiers responded by lashing at the crowd with whips in all directions. The news agency photographer started snapping away, even though editors had become bored with photos of starving Africans. The photographer confided to Vallely that starving people being whipped had novelty value that would result in his pictures gaining wide distribution. Sure enough, the photos of the riot in Beida were picked up in Europe.
Now read this piece "Darfur's Despair" published earlier this month in the Economist and describing Geneina more than two decades after the incidents described above.
There is nothing more I can say.
I had decided to read a book written a good while ago to try and help me get some perspective on the problems of 2005, and the depressing conclusion is that nothing much has changed.
God may be responsible for drought in the horn of Africa but people are responsible for famine.
Here is a story from the end of the book. I'm taking the liberty of quoting extensively because it in turn is taken from a story entitled Riding the Lifeline Lorry" (The Times, July 26, 1985) by a journalist called Paul Vallely.
For weeks the requests had been trickling into the old British garrison post of El Geneina, the furthermost town in the west of Sudan....As Vallely related the story, so little food was coming into Geneina from Khartoum on account of floods and other difficulties that there was not enough to send onward to Beida, about fifty miles south along Sudan's western border with Chad. Those dying of starvation in Beida were all Chadian refugees, and the local Sudanese commissioner Sherife was not cooperating in the release of emergency grain. Finally, however, Verney managed to secure 150 sacks of food and seed. Then the head of the Sudanese haulage firm doubled and tripled the price. Verney did not have enough cash on hand to pay for the lorry and in desperation went to the local army brigadier in Geneina, Ibrahim Muhammad, who told Verney, "This is the situation everywhere. No food is reaching the extremities. It reaches the hands but not the fingers. Of course you can have one of my trucks."
These particular requests came from the chief of police at Beida, through the cursive handwriting of the little border town's scribe. At first they were for food. Then last week came a plea for shrouds.
"We have nothing in which to bury our dead, and 15 children died yesterday," said the letter addressed to Peter Verney, the Save the Children (SCF) representative in Geneina.
Three hours after leaving Geneina for Beida, the food lorry got caught in a torrential rain. Vallely and the driver whom Verney had rented were stuck for nine hours in the mud; sixty peasants helped to dig the two men out.
It was two days before we reached Beida. . . . We were welcomed by Muhammad Ahmed Bashir, the local chief of police. Over sweet tea on the rafia mat before his office he was effusive in his thanks for the food.Because of Sudanese bureaucracy, Chadians were starving to deathwith food only a few feet away. The next day, Alt Mansour, the executive officer of the rural council, agreed to distribute the grain. "You will take my photograph," he said to a news agency photographer with Vallely. "This will be good for me."
"I will put it straight into the store with the other food." The other food? "Yes, we already have 140 bags in store but we have had no authority from Sherife or his nephew Ah Mansour to distribute it."
The distribution caused a riot among the refugees. Sudanese soldiers responded by lashing at the crowd with whips in all directions. The news agency photographer started snapping away, even though editors had become bored with photos of starving Africans. The photographer confided to Vallely that starving people being whipped had novelty value that would result in his pictures gaining wide distribution. Sure enough, the photos of the riot in Beida were picked up in Europe.
Now read this piece "Darfur's Despair" published earlier this month in the Economist and describing Geneina more than two decades after the incidents described above.
There is nothing more I can say.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Black Day
Back in February, I made a passing reference to the great buzz around an Indian film called Black. I didn't manage to catch it in the cinema in the UK, but I did pick it up on DVD when we were in Dubai in April.
What a brilliant movie it turned out to be. It is the story of a stubborn teacher (Amitabh Bachchan) devoting decades to rescuing a stubborn deaf and blind girl (Rani Muckherjee) from the isolation of her condition and bringing her to a richer relationship with the world. These two actors deliver perhaps the finest pair central performances that I have ever seen, and I can understand now why Amitabh Bachchan was voted the greatest ever star of stage and screen in the BBC's millenium poll above Laurence Olivier, Alec Guinness and Charlie Chaplin.
I took the DVD down to Cardiff and watched it with my Mum and Dad, who haven't had my immersion in Indian movies, and they loved it as well.
I'll be astounded if a better film was released last year and I was sure that its nomination - and certain triumph - as the Indian entry for the best foreign film Oscar was assured. I'd give it the overall best film gong if it was up to me.
I was amazed to learn this week that a film called 'Paheli', of which I had never even heard had got the nod ahead of it.
It seems that I am not the only one. This interview, from the Indian press, with the chair of the committee who made the decision contains the following leading questions.
How could Paheli be nominated over more deserving films like Black?
How could Paheli compare with Black on any level? Look at Mr [Amitabh] Bachchan's performance in Black.
You can tell that the interviewer is singing from the same sheet that I am.
When you consider that Black is also a lot more immediately accessible than any other modern Indian film that I have ever seen and that parts of it are in English it seems to me that the powers that be in Indian cinema have shot themselves in the foot here. This could have been a breakout on the scale of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
What a brilliant movie it turned out to be. It is the story of a stubborn teacher (Amitabh Bachchan) devoting decades to rescuing a stubborn deaf and blind girl (Rani Muckherjee) from the isolation of her condition and bringing her to a richer relationship with the world. These two actors deliver perhaps the finest pair central performances that I have ever seen, and I can understand now why Amitabh Bachchan was voted the greatest ever star of stage and screen in the BBC's millenium poll above Laurence Olivier, Alec Guinness and Charlie Chaplin.
I took the DVD down to Cardiff and watched it with my Mum and Dad, who haven't had my immersion in Indian movies, and they loved it as well.
I'll be astounded if a better film was released last year and I was sure that its nomination - and certain triumph - as the Indian entry for the best foreign film Oscar was assured. I'd give it the overall best film gong if it was up to me.
I was amazed to learn this week that a film called 'Paheli', of which I had never even heard had got the nod ahead of it.
It seems that I am not the only one. This interview, from the Indian press, with the chair of the committee who made the decision contains the following leading questions.
How could Paheli be nominated over more deserving films like Black?
How could Paheli compare with Black on any level? Look at Mr [Amitabh] Bachchan's performance in Black.
You can tell that the interviewer is singing from the same sheet that I am.
When you consider that Black is also a lot more immediately accessible than any other modern Indian film that I have ever seen and that parts of it are in English it seems to me that the powers that be in Indian cinema have shot themselves in the foot here. This could have been a breakout on the scale of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Auntie Cwl
A performance artist's show which saw her spend three hours balancing on a beam while becoming drunk on lager has been defended by theatre officials.
The Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff staged the work in its public bar by Tokyo-based Tomoko Takahashi, who is also known as Anti-Cool.
I was vaguely aware of this stunt, but I only realised when my brother told me yesterday that it took place in Cardiff. None of the acres of coverage around the world, seems to say if she fell off the beam or not. I would be interested to know if it is indeed easier than falling off a log.
I spent many a happy and intense Brains lubricated evening in the Chapter in my youth. It is fun to see it in the public eye like this.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Books
Back in February I joined Amazon's Associates scheme, a programme that meant that I could earn money if anyone who clicked on a specially formatted link on the blog bought the item to which I had referred from Amazon UK.
To be honest, I only did it out of interest in the mechanism and I gradually got out of the habit, whenever I linked to Amazon, of using my Associate credentials. Imagine my astonishment yesterday then when I received a quarterly statement email from Amazon telling me that two copies of Atul Kochhar's book Indian Essence: The Fresh Tastes of India's New Cuisine had been bought by folk who followed the link from my post about going to his restaurant on my birthday. I haven't made enough money for Amazon even to find it worthwhile to send it to me but I am absolutely flabbergasted. I will certainly use Associates links in future. Truthfully, I get a huge a kick out of the idea that someone bought the book after clicking a link from my site.
To be honest, I only did it out of interest in the mechanism and I gradually got out of the habit, whenever I linked to Amazon, of using my Associate credentials. Imagine my astonishment yesterday then when I received a quarterly statement email from Amazon telling me that two copies of Atul Kochhar's book Indian Essence: The Fresh Tastes of India's New Cuisine had been bought by folk who followed the link from my post about going to his restaurant on my birthday. I haven't made enough money for Amazon even to find it worthwhile to send it to me but I am absolutely flabbergasted. I will certainly use Associates links in future. Truthfully, I get a huge a kick out of the idea that someone bought the book after clicking a link from my site.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
In Our Time
After I wrote about In Our Time last week, my brother said he was sorry he had missed it. Chris Howell's post about listening to a Dylan Thomas story on the radio and via the BBC's website has reminded me that In Our Time also has a wealth of internet support.
You can listen to the current show online at any time or download it automatically as a podcast. I think that the programme was one of the first in the UK to get podcasting. You can listen again to any show on the archive, or sign up to Melvyn Bragg's newsletter.
The latest newsletter begins as follows:
It does give another perspective.
This week's discussion will be on "Samuel Johnson and his Circle", which will be interesting to me because Johnson and the Streatham Worthies used to gather, very near to where I am sitting and writing, at Streatham Park the home of Henry Thrale, a wealthy brewer with a taste for literary company.
Although Streatham Park unfortunately is no more, it would have been just around the corner from the house where Cynthia Payne used to throw her celebrated parties. What with Madam Cyn and Max Clifford's Colliers Wood sex parties, it does make you wonder what's in the water round here.
You can listen to the current show online at any time or download it automatically as a podcast. I think that the programme was one of the first in the UK to get podcasting. You can listen again to any show on the archive, or sign up to Melvyn Bragg's newsletter.
The latest newsletter begins as follows:
As usual, the cries in the Green Room were full of "oh why didn't we include this, or that?" Angie Hobbs was concerned that we had not talked about masturbation. This, she thought, expressed a great deal of the Cynics' attitude in early Greece. It expressed their belief in self-sufficiency, ie: spermal satisfaction did not need a partner. It was not a form of hedonism: Miriam Griffin said the Cynics reasoned that if they could remove hunger by rubbing their stomachs they could - so masturbation was acceptable because it was a simple way to fulfil a need. Done in public, it showed their shamelessness and their intention to shame others into behaving "naturally".
It does give another perspective.
This week's discussion will be on "Samuel Johnson and his Circle", which will be interesting to me because Johnson and the Streatham Worthies used to gather, very near to where I am sitting and writing, at Streatham Park the home of Henry Thrale, a wealthy brewer with a taste for literary company.
Although Streatham Park unfortunately is no more, it would have been just around the corner from the house where Cynthia Payne used to throw her celebrated parties. What with Madam Cyn and Max Clifford's Colliers Wood sex parties, it does make you wonder what's in the water round here.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
define: pandemic
With regards to avian flu, a pandemic or global epidemic is an outbreak of an infectious disease that affects people or animals over an extensive geographical area (from Greek pan all + demos people). Just in case anyone else was wondering after hearing or reading it every bleedin' 5 minutes for the last few days.
1. I wonder how it relates to pandemonium?
2. Whatever happened to the band 'Andy Pandemonium', student-friendly, early 80s South Wales gig stalwarts?
1. I wonder how it relates to pandemonium?
2. Whatever happened to the band 'Andy Pandemonium', student-friendly, early 80s South Wales gig stalwarts?
Young, Angry and Muslim
I was idly eating my dinner watching the TV last night when I came across 'Young, Angry and Muslim' at 8pm in the Channel Four documentary strand 'Dispatches'.
At first I was tempted to turn it off thinking it was going to be peddling the same old, same old "we are all guilty", neo colonialist blather, but in fact it was a remarkably wide ranging and nuanced report written and presented by a guy called Navid Akhtar, a British Pakistani Muslim.
Young Pakistanis, he said, are increasingly torn between the oppressive, crushing, all embracing orthodoxy of the elder-driven clan system - called the Biraderi - that they brought from the sub continent and the very different pressures of the individualistic, self indulgent, promiscuous - logo, bling, drink and drug driven - lifestyle of their contemporaries.
He made the startling - at least to me - observation that our home grown terrorists were very often wide boys in the first flush of youth, and in trouble with the police for petty crime etc.
All in all, it was a very informative hour. At least you got the impression that the writer and presenter knew more about the matter at hand than you did.
It was worrying though. Although Navid Akhtar didn't make the connection, the historical analogy that was in my mind was the rise of the Nazi party against the decadence of the Weimar Republic.
At first I was tempted to turn it off thinking it was going to be peddling the same old, same old "we are all guilty", neo colonialist blather, but in fact it was a remarkably wide ranging and nuanced report written and presented by a guy called Navid Akhtar, a British Pakistani Muslim.
Just after the 7 July attacks on London I felt a second wave of intense horror as it emerged that three of the four suicide bombers hailed from my community. Like me they were British, Pakistani-Kashmiri and Muslim.According to the programme, one million people in Britain (45 per cent of all the Muslims in the county) are of Pakistani origin and 80 per cent come from villages in Kashmir and Punjab.
Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised: they were not the first British Pakistani terrorists, but the successors of young men such as Omar Khan Sharif, who attempted to blow up a bar in Tel Aviv in 2003.
But for many in our community the London bombings were a watershed and left us feeling the time had come to face up to some harsh realities. The community has failed to address a growing crisis of identity.
We now have three generations of Pakistani Muslims in the UK, but we are not part of the 'Asian Cool' success story, like other South Asian groups from India and East Africa. Our community is fracturing - we live in the most deprived areas of Britain, family ties are breaking down, personal conflicts and 'honour' killings are on the increase.We have low educational achievement, high unemployment and one of the largest prison populations for any ethnic group. A once law-abiding community is now plagued by drugs, crime and violence.
Young Pakistanis, he said, are increasingly torn between the oppressive, crushing, all embracing orthodoxy of the elder-driven clan system - called the Biraderi - that they brought from the sub continent and the very different pressures of the individualistic, self indulgent, promiscuous - logo, bling, drink and drug driven - lifestyle of their contemporaries.
He made the startling - at least to me - observation that our home grown terrorists were very often wide boys in the first flush of youth, and in trouble with the police for petty crime etc.
What stands out is the overwhelming sense that the younger generation is being hemmed in by both their own community, with its cultural responsibilities, and a wider society focused on individualism. In this pressure cooker tension, a political Islamic identity offers an attractive alternative. It gives clear answers: good guys, bad guys. You know where you stand.He also used the example of the Labour party's notorious 2004 vote rigging scandal to explain how young members of the community could be disgusted and alienated by both "community leaders" and the political process, suggesting that it was a cynical attempt by Asian councilors to blunt the backlash against the party because of the invasion of Iraq. (I supported the invasion of Iraq, but how on earth did Blair's party seemingly get away with "electoral fraud that would disgrace a banana republic" in Birmingham?)
All in all, it was a very informative hour. At least you got the impression that the writer and presenter knew more about the matter at hand than you did.
It was worrying though. Although Navid Akhtar didn't make the connection, the historical analogy that was in my mind was the rise of the Nazi party against the decadence of the Weimar Republic.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Nerd Note
I have corrected a couple of longstanding problems on the 'blog today.
The Blogroll links now point to weblogs rather than their associated feeds. My blogroll is generated automatically from my subscriptions in Newsgator. I corrected the links by replacing '$xmlurl$' with '$link$' in the blogroll settings.
Pound signs are now displayed correctly in my Wishlist. I corrected this problem in rendering the JavaScript provided by Amazonbox by changing the encoding from Windows-1252 to Unicode UTF-8. This appears in the opening META tag of the HTML as
meta content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" equiv="Content-Type"
With Blogger, you change this setting in formatting under the Settings tab.
The Blogroll links now point to weblogs rather than their associated feeds. My blogroll is generated automatically from my subscriptions in Newsgator. I corrected the links by replacing '$xmlurl$' with '$link$' in the blogroll settings.
Pound signs are now displayed correctly in my Wishlist. I corrected this problem in rendering the JavaScript provided by Amazonbox by changing the encoding from Windows-1252 to Unicode UTF-8. This appears in the opening META tag of the HTML as
meta content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" equiv="Content-Type"
With Blogger, you change this setting in formatting under the Settings tab.
Comments and Trackback
Back when dinosaurs ruled the earth I changed the comment system on this blog so that it used haloscan rather than the native blogger system. I remember that I did this because Haloscan supported trackbacks while blogger did not. This is perhaps ironic because, although I had an intuition that trackbacks might be some sort of technique for interpolating a post on my own weblog into a comment stream on another, I never entirely understood or used them.
Up until last Friday evening I had only ever noticed one comment, but idly paging through my back pages I discovered that - although sparse among the torrent of my blather - I had quite a few.
I shouldn't miss any more as I have subscribed to the RSS feed that haloscan provides for my comments, but I want to apologise to, among others:
Christine Stokes, thanks for information on Merton Abbey and Pope Adrian
Tom and Sue Hathaway, thanks for 'Full Bacon Jacket" and more
Simon Brunning, thanks for for local colour.
"Bill" Bainton, thanks for getting in touch
Island Monkey, thanks for the the Zen ideas
Rhys, thanks for all things Welsh
Norman Geras, thanks for giving me a raft of new six degrees of separation options.
I've also got trackbacks, but they will have to wait for another day when I have time to figure them out.
Up until last Friday evening I had only ever noticed one comment, but idly paging through my back pages I discovered that - although sparse among the torrent of my blather - I had quite a few.
I shouldn't miss any more as I have subscribed to the RSS feed that haloscan provides for my comments, but I want to apologise to, among others:
Christine Stokes, thanks for information on Merton Abbey and Pope Adrian
Tom and Sue Hathaway, thanks for 'Full Bacon Jacket" and more
Simon Brunning, thanks for for local colour.
"Bill" Bainton, thanks for getting in touch
Island Monkey, thanks for the the Zen ideas
Rhys, thanks for all things Welsh
Norman Geras, thanks for giving me a raft of new six degrees of separation options.
I've also got trackbacks, but they will have to wait for another day when I have time to figure them out.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Hospital
I took the boys to the hospital yesterday to see Nigel. He is not doing all that well, but he is a brave and cheerful soul. He was on a paracetemol drip - at least it isn't morphine yet - and having a blood transfusion in the same way but he was remarkably chipper under the circumstances.
Years ago on a visit to the same hosptial when Jane's gran was ill we saw Kylie Minogue sitting outside a nearby coffee shop. She was on her own and very low key, minding her own business. I doubled back to check that it was her while pretending to read the menu in the window.
"Who's Kyle Minogue?" asked Raybs when I told him.
"You know, the singer," I said.
"Why didn't you get his autograph?" he asked. Fame is fickle. These were the days before "Can't get you out my head" put her back on top again. He would have been unlikely to mistake her for a bloke if he'd seen that video.
I couldn't help but like the unassuming cut of her jib that day. It is sad to think that she he fighting cancer just like Nige now.
Years ago on a visit to the same hosptial when Jane's gran was ill we saw Kylie Minogue sitting outside a nearby coffee shop. She was on her own and very low key, minding her own business. I doubled back to check that it was her while pretending to read the menu in the window.
"Who's Kyle Minogue?" asked Raybs when I told him.
"You know, the singer," I said.
"Why didn't you get his autograph?" he asked. Fame is fickle. These were the days before "Can't get you out my head" put her back on top again. He would have been unlikely to mistake her for a bloke if he'd seen that video.
I couldn't help but like the unassuming cut of her jib that day. It is sad to think that she he fighting cancer just like Nige now.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
The Lobster Challenge
Here's Toby Young writing in the Evening Standard
http://www.bigeasy.uk.com/ is the website of the establishment.
I think that it is a nice contrast that I am writing this in Virgin Active already having been to the gym this morning.
For the past year or so I've been meaning to get in touch with McDonald's to see if they'd be interested in funding a riposte to Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock's attack on the fast-food corporation. If you recall, the 34-year-old documentary-maker ate nothing but McDonald's for a month and then recorded the effects on his health. Not surprisingly, he gained 25lbs, his cholesterol level shot up by 60 points and his liver turned to foie gras. My idea was to make a similar film, only I'd spend 30 days eating the most expensive food in the world rather than the cheapest. I can absolutely guarantee that by the end of this experiment I'd be every bit as unhealthy as Spurlock.John is due up from Wales for a visit soon, and I think the Lobster Challenge could well be on the agenda. I've seen him polish off an enormous steak in Florida in a not dissimilar challenge years ago. Raybs says he is up for it as well, but I have seen him off on donuts without breaking a sweat whenever he has been foolish enough to challenge me.
If I ever make this documentary, my first port of call will be the Big Easy Bar BQ Crabshack. Since opening its doors in 1991, this American surf 'n' turf restaurant on the King's Road has been renowned for its huge portions, but at the beginning of this month they went one better and introduced the Lobster Challenge. This is a plate of food that includes a 2lb steak, a 1lb portion of chips and a 4lb lobster, making it Britain's most calorific meal. If you can finish it in one sitting, your name goes up on a board in the basement.
http://www.bigeasy.uk.com/ is the website of the establishment.
I think that it is a nice contrast that I am writing this in Virgin Active already having been to the gym this morning.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Small Values of Cool: Colliers Tup
I just discovered via Simon Brunning's Small Values of Cool, that a local called the Colliers Tup has WiFi.
I wonder if it is free or how much it costs. The booze there is certainly expensive enough to subsidise it.
I wonder if it is free or how much it costs. The booze there is certainly expensive enough to subsidise it.
In Our Time - Cynicism
Radio 4's In Our Time explores the history of ideas, particularly in philosophy, science, literature, culture and religion. I listened to the evening broadcast of this week's programme on cynicism last night. Here's Melvyn Bragg's introduction.
From Midweek's row between Joan Rivers and Darcus Howe on Wednesday to Melvyn and chums on Thursday , what a great radio station it is. My one caveat is that I can't listen to John Humphreys - Welsh born though he may be - on the Today programme in the morning without wanting to smash his face in.
Anyway, back to Cynicism, I wasn't aware that Cynics form the link between Socrates and the Stoics.
Impressed after a meeting with Diogenes - a famous early Cynic - by his toughness and indifference, Alexander the Great apparently declared, "if I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes." I hadn't heard of this before, but it is very striking to me how similar it is to Arrian's report of Alexander's encounter with the Brahmin in India.
There is also Calanus, the Indian who joined Alexander in India and when he fell ill in Persia refused to live as an invalid, mounted his own funeral pyre and was consumed without flinching. I wonder what influence he had on the Stoics and Romans.
"More things in heaven and earth, Horatio."
Here is the further recommended reading from the show's website.
Miriam Griffin, Seneca: A Philosopher in Politics (Clarendon, 1992)
Miriam Griffin, The History of Cynicism: From Diogenes to the Sixth Century A.D. (Bristol Classical Press, 1998)
The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Political Thought (2000)
Donald R. Dudley, History of Cynicism: From Diogenes to the Sixth Century A.D. (1967)
Horace, Satires, (Penguin Classic, 1973)
Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers (2 vols, Loeb, 1925)
Eating live octopus with fresh lupins, performing intimate acts in public places and shouting at passers by from inside a barrel is behaviour not normally associated with philosophy. But the Cynics were different. They were determined to expose the meaninglessness of civilised life by action as well as by word. They slept rough, ate simply and gave their lectures in the market place. Perhaps surprisingly, their ideas and attitudes were immensely popular in the ancient world.
But how coherent was cynicism as a philosophy? What was its influence on literature and politics and is there any truth to the contention that Jesus himself was influenced by the Cynics?
From Midweek's row between Joan Rivers and Darcus Howe on Wednesday to Melvyn and chums on Thursday , what a great radio station it is. My one caveat is that I can't listen to John Humphreys - Welsh born though he may be - on the Today programme in the morning without wanting to smash his face in.
Anyway, back to Cynicism, I wasn't aware that Cynics form the link between Socrates and the Stoics.
Impressed after a meeting with Diogenes - a famous early Cynic - by his toughness and indifference, Alexander the Great apparently declared, "if I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes." I hadn't heard of this before, but it is very striking to me how similar it is to Arrian's report of Alexander's encounter with the Brahmin in India.
There is also Calanus, the Indian who joined Alexander in India and when he fell ill in Persia refused to live as an invalid, mounted his own funeral pyre and was consumed without flinching. I wonder what influence he had on the Stoics and Romans.
"More things in heaven and earth, Horatio."
Here is the further recommended reading from the show's website.
Miriam Griffin, Seneca: A Philosopher in Politics (Clarendon, 1992)
Miriam Griffin, The History of Cynicism: From Diogenes to the Sixth Century A.D. (Bristol Classical Press, 1998)
The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Political Thought (2000)
Donald R. Dudley, History of Cynicism: From Diogenes to the Sixth Century A.D. (1967)
Horace, Satires, (Penguin Classic, 1973)
Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers (2 vols, Loeb, 1925)
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Plant Photography
Joan Rivers is my new heroine and "Andrea shall we talk about plant photography?" is my new catch phrase.
Here is the whole exchange from yesterday's Midweek on Radio 4.
Here is the whole exchange from yesterday's Midweek on Radio 4.
Howe: Since black offends Joan I will make it..
Rivers: Wait. Just stop right now, Black does not offend me. How dare you, how dare you say that. Black offends me? You know nothing about me, you sat down here. How dare you.
Howe: The use of the term black offends you.
Rivers: The use of the term black offends me? Where the hell are you coming from? You have got such a chip on your shoulder. How dare you say that to me.
Howe: I think this is a language problem.
Rivers: No I don't. I think this is a problem in your stupid head. You had a child, you left them, your wife said you weren't there. You married a woman, you deserted her, now your son comes back he's got problems. Where were you when he was growing up, until he was eight years old?
Howe: May we continue?
Rivers: How dare you. Please continue, but don't you dare call me that. Son of a bitch.
Purves: Right Darcus, can we just say you don't think Joan is a racist and then perhaps we can move on?
Howe: I don't know whether she is a racist or not. I don't care.
Rivers: You just said the word black offends me. That's the stupidest thing I ever heard.
Howe: Normally I wouldn't ever meet you in my life.
Rivers: No normally would I meet you, nor would I choose to meet you.
Howe: No she's not a racist.
Rivers: OK please continue about your stupid film.
Purves: Right can we talk about your tour Joan?
Rivers: Talk about anything you want.
Howe: I don't think you brought me here to be insulted.
Rivers: No I don't think I was brought here to be insulted by someone, to be called a racist.
Howe: Let's go on with my film please?
Rivers: Please go on with your film.
Purves: Well we have to move on for time reasons. (To photographer Andrea Jones) Andrea shall we talk about plant photography?
Beignets are Back
I see from Normblog that ABC have reported that Cafe Du Monde reopened yesterday for the first time since it was shuttered at midnight on August 27th as the hurricane approached New Orleans.
This is great news, the Cafe Du Monde describes itself as "the original French Market coffee stand serving cafe au lait and hot beignets 24 hours a day year round".
Indeed cafe au lait and beignets are all they serve, but to linger over them opposite the wrought-iron balconies of the French Quarter and across from Jackson Square and the St. Louis Cathedral is a great Nawlins tradition.
In New Orleans, caf� au lait is strong dark roast coffee and chicory, served with equal part hot milk. In the early history of Louisiana, chicory was added to coffee to stretch dwindling supplies and now they prefer it that way. As for the beignet, it is believed that the Ursuline Nuns of France, who came to Louisiana in 1727, brought this simple pastry to the city. The recipe remains the same to this day. The beignets are hand rolled and deep fried then covered with heaping amounts of powdered sugar.
I had a fine old time in New Orleans all those years ago. I wonder if the Central Grocery has started dealing out Muffuletta sandwiches again?
This is great news, the Cafe Du Monde describes itself as "the original French Market coffee stand serving cafe au lait and hot beignets 24 hours a day year round".
Indeed cafe au lait and beignets are all they serve, but to linger over them opposite the wrought-iron balconies of the French Quarter and across from Jackson Square and the St. Louis Cathedral is a great Nawlins tradition.
In New Orleans, caf� au lait is strong dark roast coffee and chicory, served with equal part hot milk. In the early history of Louisiana, chicory was added to coffee to stretch dwindling supplies and now they prefer it that way. As for the beignet, it is believed that the Ursuline Nuns of France, who came to Louisiana in 1727, brought this simple pastry to the city. The recipe remains the same to this day. The beignets are hand rolled and deep fried then covered with heaping amounts of powdered sugar.
I had a fine old time in New Orleans all those years ago. I wonder if the Central Grocery has started dealing out Muffuletta sandwiches again?
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Ryan Giggs
Although he broke his cheekbone and the game itself was a disappointing draw, last night's fixture with Lille was Ryan Giggs' 1ooth European match for Manchester United. That is a remarkable achievement, and his incredible run dates back to a Cup Winners� Cup encounter against Atletico Madrid in 1991. He must be the most experienced player in the Premiereship by now and he played for Wales when he was seventeen.
A Welsh Born Icon indeed.
He hasn't always had the easiest life I believe. I remember being surprised to learn that his father was a black Welsh rugby player, Danny Wilson, and, as the Cardiff born product of a mixed marriage, Giggs had to endure racial taunts in his youth. Even worse, perhaps, was the shadow that his father's violent, promiscuous behaviour cast over the family. "A real rogue", he had, in Giggs's words, a "bullying, aggressive nature", one that led to his being arrested for beating up his wife when Giggs was just three.
He seems to be a far more private and reticent man that most current professional footballers. I have got a pet theory that one of the best things that ever happened to him was the later rise of David Beckham who revelled in the spotlight in a way that Giggs never could and distracted unwelcome attention from him off the pitch.
A Welsh Born Icon indeed.
He hasn't always had the easiest life I believe. I remember being surprised to learn that his father was a black Welsh rugby player, Danny Wilson, and, as the Cardiff born product of a mixed marriage, Giggs had to endure racial taunts in his youth. Even worse, perhaps, was the shadow that his father's violent, promiscuous behaviour cast over the family. "A real rogue", he had, in Giggs's words, a "bullying, aggressive nature", one that led to his being arrested for beating up his wife when Giggs was just three.
He seems to be a far more private and reticent man that most current professional footballers. I have got a pet theory that one of the best things that ever happened to him was the later rise of David Beckham who revelled in the spotlight in a way that Giggs never could and distracted unwelcome attention from him off the pitch.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Bonza
Australia is the only country whose representative to a UN meeting boycotted a 'disgraceful' speech by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.
Mr Mugabe used the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) anniversary meeting in Rome to launch a withering denunciation of US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The Zimbabwe president described them as 'the two unholy men of our millennium', comparing them with Hitler and Mussolini.
Mr Downer said Australia's representative at the meeting had walked out prior to the speech.
'I thought his speech was absolutely disgraceful,' the foreign minister told ABC radio.
Fair dinkum.
Benglish
He asked me this morning if he could have a robot bone for his robot dog. I have no idea what he meant but, for some reason, I am delighted by the question.
Joshua Nkomo
Writing yesterday about Robert Mugabe and starvation in Zimbabwe has reminded me of the late Joshua Nkomo.
During the struggle for Rhodesia, Nkomo lead the Soviet backed ZAPU while his former lieutenant Mugabe lead ZANU which was supported by China. They were both involved in the negotiations that lead to the Lancaster House accord, but subsequently Mugabe stitched him up like a kipper in the aftermath of the 1980 elections.
Anyway, history lesson aside, back in the day the wife of a friend of mine was a nurse who worked for the dentist that Nkomo visited in London. I learned from her that he was so fat that they had to remove the armrests from the dentist's chair before they could fit him onto it for his treatment.
If there is a word in English for the combination of humour, horror, pity and disquiet that that image conjures up in while the people he supposedly fought for go hungry in 2005 I don't know what it is.
During the struggle for Rhodesia, Nkomo lead the Soviet backed ZAPU while his former lieutenant Mugabe lead ZANU which was supported by China. They were both involved in the negotiations that lead to the Lancaster House accord, but subsequently Mugabe stitched him up like a kipper in the aftermath of the 1980 elections.
Anyway, history lesson aside, back in the day the wife of a friend of mine was a nurse who worked for the dentist that Nkomo visited in London. I learned from her that he was so fat that they had to remove the armrests from the dentist's chair before they could fit him onto it for his treatment.
If there is a word in English for the combination of humour, horror, pity and disquiet that that image conjures up in while the people he supposedly fought for go hungry in 2005 I don't know what it is.
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