Just Wondering

When in your life has a bad experience turned out to be for the best?

Do you like parades?

When was the last time you were happy for no reason?

Good Morning

MAURICE SAPIRO - "Autumn Morning"

Tuesday Thoughts

In the end I did not go to Medway but deferred it to tomorrow. I was rather pissed off with the usual wet crap weather again, and I still needed to complete some reports from yesterday. So in the end i had a lazy day and just popped into town. In fact this autumn has been the wettest on record and so far we have not had the floods as bad as the north. The last few days have been very mild but we are expecting colder and hopefully dryer weather again in the next few days.

eBay has been dead quiet of late but i sold two books over the weekend. So perhaps it will pick up as we head towards black Friday.

This morning I had a very Kate Bush listening moment as i am beginning to re-appreciate her overall oeuvre.

Another of my fave avant poppers is the wonderful Bjork. I still need to get a few of her albums as to with the wonderful Bush.

Yep, I am leading up to another selection of music.

Tuesday Music selection

Yep,so here is another fine ear worming selection -


Bjork - Heirloom

Kate Bush - This Woman's Work

Leonard Cohen - You Want It darker

Johnny Cash - Hurt

Still cuts me up.

Stina Nordemstam - Memories Of A Colour

Joni Mitchell - Little Green

Janis Ian - At Seventeen

Dory Previn - Mythical Kings and Iguanas

Richard Dawson - Civil Servant

Enjoy.

Book 93 - Christopher Hibbert "The French Revolution"

Christopher Hibbert "The French Revolution" (Penguin)






Hibbert's The French Revolution is an account of the events aimed clearly at the general reader. Easy to read and concise, this book focuses on the events and personalities that forced through a revolutionary change, although maybe at the expense of a fuller exploration of the ideologies behind those changes.

Backed up by quotes from contemporary accounts, the Revolution unfolds over 300 odd pages in all its bloody glory. Hibbert does not shy from the bare facts of the number of people, both aristocrat and peasant, who were guillotined in the name of Liberty. The Revolutionaries were in uncharted waters as soon as they killed the king and the vying for position amongst the various faction became ever more bloody and bitter post-1789.

All the big names are here, Danton, Marat, Robespierre and of course Bonaparte. All the major events are covered in detail, both their build-up and outcome. The lurches from Left to Right and back again. The Terror, the final submission to dictatorship as Bonaparte stamps his authority on the remnants of the Revolutionary Councils. It's all here.

There are weightier tomes that delve deeper into the ideologies behind the Revolution, but if you want a straightforward, easy to read account of those momentous years, you can do no worse than this book.

Book 94 - John Armstrong "The Secret Power Of Beauty"

John Armstrong "The Secret Power Of Beauty" (Penguin)




This book traces the history of philosophical conceptions of beauty. It compares various theories about why we find certain objects and ideas beautiful, such as the balance between uniformity & variety, the importance of an object's function, mathematical proportions, and the friendship of the parts. He then talks about why beauty is so important to us, and so on. Thankfully, Armstrong has a writing style that has just the right balance between technical and poetic language. It's not off-puttingly clinical and scientific, but it's not verbose to the point of vagueness either. By the time you've finished the book, you've got this enriched appreciation for everything you've ever loved.