Angel , A Summation

Well, now that i have finished the Angel seasons all over again , i can come to a conclusion between that and BtVS, and before i get all the ad hominem vitriol I might receive, i much prefer the Buffy series. Whilst Angel does go very dark , in fact, relentlessly darker in places, Buffy still has some deeply disturbing arcs, Season 6 for example,when she is torn from heaven, with the fact that she is less connected with the world, and a real sense of what depression is really like.

However,what makes Angel still special is the fact it has Cordelia in it, who grows and matures wonderfully, after receiving the visions from Doyle, only to be high-jacked by a demon clawing its way out when she returns back to our realm from a higher dimension when she ascended.

Also, it has Winifred , aka Fred, the physicist genius of the show, rescued by Angel from a hell dimension. Without them, and Spike in the last season, it would not have held my attention as it does. But nothing gets me so involved as Buffy did.

Frank Bridge - The Sea

Another English composer that should be better known is Frank Bridge. Here is one of his sumptuous  pieces of music , The Sea.

Enjoy

Going To Durovernum Cantiacorum

Going over to Canterbury soon to do a couple of visits. The last of this month's techy visits for my U.S. based mystery shopping company, and a pub food and drink Sunday lunch visit. The weather is hot and sunny, around twenty six degrees centigrade, and i will have time today to soak up the rays in a park somewhere, and that would most likely be Canterbury.

The Romans called the city that unti it became Cantwareburh in AD 602. In Iron Age time it was the capital of the Cantii or Cantiaci tribe , in which the county name of Kent comes from. 

Sunday Lunch

Quite a hot steamy day in the cathedral city, and maybe a bit warm for a Sunday lunch, but as it was one of my favourite pub chains then it was all worth while. Had a very tasty chicken roast with a pint of beer and a coffee to finish with.




A very enjoyable Sunday.

Pics From Canterbury

Now that i have done four techy visits for MCP that will be a nice £84 for me next month. Whilst in the city, that was once invaded by the Jutes, i decided to take a leisurely walk though the grounds of the cathedral. The Jutes , a Germanic tribe, invaded and settled in southern Britain in the late 4th century during the Age of Migrations, as part of a larger wave of Germanic settlement in the British Isles.

Anyway, i took some pics of the cathedral and its grounds using the Lumix camera.







Plus this one on the way towards the pub following the Stour river.

Book 51 - Sarah Thornton "Seven Days In The Art World"

Sarah Thornton "Seven Days In The Art World" (Granta Books)




This is a look at the world of contemporary art by ethnographic researcher Sarah Thornton. Each "day" comprises a long article about an aspect of the art world. I found it to be fascinating and surprising.

The book opens with an auction at Christie's, in which one's importance is indicated by where one is allowed to sit. This was a good opening for the book, illustrating how much art is just another plaything of the very wealthy. In subsequent chapters, Thornton looks at a class at CalArts in which students present their work for peer critiques; Art Basel, a Swiss art fair in which galleries have booths and do much of their year's sales; the announcement of the Turner Prize, a British art award which is as much a sign of prestige for artists as the Booker prize is for writers; ArtForum magazine; Japanese artist Takashi Murakami's various studios, in which his work is carried out by other artists and where marketing opportunities are pursued and, finally, the Venice Biennale, an international event for contemporary art.

Even as art itself is a constantly changing thing, how art is created, marketed, sold and resold hasn't changed. The most successful artists are as concerned for securing patronage and in marketing their image as they were in Renaissance Italy. And people have always bought art and, with their choices, indicated both their taste and wealth. If you have an interest in the subject, this is an excellent look at a world hidden from people who visit an art museum or gallery.