Bertie

Here is a lively pic of my bro's cat Bertie, who is now 15 years old and showing his age a bit.Ah bless.

It Is Academic

Off to bed now so a bit of Brahms to end with.

Brahms - Academic festival Overture

Uploaded on Jun 6, 2009
This is Brahms' Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80 (Akademische Festouvertüre), a much lighter counterpart to his Tragic Overture. He composed it in 1880 when he received an honourary doctorate from the University of Breslau (now Wroclaw), as a musical show of gratitude. The music is very light-hearted, warm and humorous, but Brahms uses the occasion as a tour-de-force in contrapuntal symphonic writing. The orchestra whisks through several pulsing, boisterous melodies, which Brahms described as a "potpourri of student drinking songs," subtly mocking the academic institution for which he composed the piece. At 9:10 the orchestra erupts into a joyous rendition of "Gaudeamus igitur" ("So let us rejoice," a.k.a. "On the shortness of life"), a popular Latin graduation hymn which was originally a beer-drinking song.

The recording is by Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The images are of Solti, Brahms, the University of Wroclaw, and the beautiful old city of Wroclaw, Poland.

First verse of the Gaudeamus:

Gaudeamus igitur Juvenes dum sumus.
Post jucundam juventutem
Post molestam senectutem
Nos habebit humus.

Let us rejoice therefore
While we are young.
After a pleasant youth
After a troubling old age
The earth will have us.


Enjoy. Sweet dreams.

Saturday Music Selection - Folk Flavours

A day off from the all the visits since tomorrow i will be back on them again.

Meanwhile, as i back reading the excellent "Electric Eden" paperback here is a collection of folk music flavours -

Bert Jansch and John Renbourn - First Light

Maddy Prior - The Fabled Hare

Trees - Polly On The Shore

Bill Fay -  Time Of The Last Persecution

Enjoy.

Pics From Yesterday

Yesterday was a much warmer day than of late and one in which it was a joy to travel down to Brighton for the day. I had breakfast at Spoons in Sittingbourne, and then a beer at the Muggelton Inn n Maidstone.



I took some pics walkimg towards the Evening Star pub, including one of my fave second hand record stores, and another art covered junction box.





Had a couple of beers at the Evening Star pub and when I finished my visit in Hove I had another beer at the Wetherspoons pub in George Street, Hove. I also popped in to Fine Records to see Julian.




I managed to use the same ticket all day long, which was a bit of a result. So when I arrived in Tunbridge Wells I had a pint at the Bedford pub.

It will ber very busy in brighton today as it is the annual Gay Pride Day.

Current Reads

These are the books i am currently reading , in rotation of course - from philosophy to history , biography,drama to art.



Mark Lilla - French Thought, Political Philosophy
Karin Beeler - Investigating Charmed
Eric Hobsbawm - How To Change The World
Peter Oswald - Augustine's Oak
Sarah Thornton - Seven Days In The Art World
Stuart Kendall - Georges Bataille, Critical Lives

Another mixed bag of reading.

Buffy S2 - Becoming Parts 1 & 2 Review

The latest Passion Of The Nerd clips are on You Tube, and we have reached the final two episodes of Season 2 of Buffy - Becoming Parts 1 & 2.

His reviews are excellent,and once again, we see the existentialist view come out.