Barts

On the edge of the City is St. Bartholomew's Hospital - more popularly known as Barts - it's home to a number of plaques and indeed to a number of things - Monty Python's Graham Chapman and W.G. Grace, the good doctor. It was founded as a priory in 1123 by Rahere, a courtier to Henry I in thanks for surviving an illness. It was refounded after the little catholic kerfuffle by Henry VIII in 1546 and it's the oldest hospital in Britain still on its original site - it was right on the dge of the city and overlooked Smithfield site of the execution of William Wallace and Wat Tyler leader of the Peasant's Revolt in 1381 not to mention a plethora of religious malcontents of various stripes who rather unwisely decided that they wanted to go the opposite way to the monarch of the time. Smithfield was home for 700 years to Bartholomew Fair it started as a trade fair that took place within the Liberty of St. Bartholomew the Great and ended in 1855 as it was felt it encouraged public debauchery and public disorder. Ma and I visited it a couple of years ago as part of the open House programme which was quite special - Hogarth painted a couple of major murials The Pool of Bethesda (1736) and The good Samaritan (1737)the Pool of Bethesda is rather interesting in that some of the sick that Christ is healing were based on patients at the hospital - and various of them have been the point of medical authorities speculating on the real disedases portayed. The Great Hall is a wonderful spce - the walls are covered with the lists of the donations made by the great and the good over the centuries. I havent yet made it to the Barts museum - due in no small part to the fact that its only open during the week. Maybe another time - As part of the Open House project we also got to visit St. Bartholomew the Less which actually lies within the precincts of the hospital - a rather lovely remnant of mediaeval London - it was built in 1184, in 1793 George Dance the Younger created a new octagonal interior. Its also the scene of the first meeting between Holmes and Watson in A Study in Scarlet and was the scene of the denoument of the wonderful Sherlock --- hopefully to return to our screens soon.

Election 2012

Presently at hiome trying to convince myself that the first Star Wars prequel wasn't as bad as I remembered (and failing) A late night indulging in the traditional votefest. Gawd bless you Mr Dimbleby sir... The coverage stopped at 4 at which point I adjourned to bed but not before it became that the coalition partners took a right old kicking. Having quit a swing marginal last year for the blue bucolic backwaters of Sawston it was a rather more academic exercise than election days in the past. Predictably for a mid-term both coalition partners suffered although the lack of support for Labour and I suspect for politics in general showed through. Sadly only around 1 in 3 voted - a disgrace. I stopped in to the Free Church Hall in the morning before work, Marie on her way hhome. Its looking like the Tories will lose somewhere in the region of 400 councillors, and the Lib Dems 250. The Greens have picked up 8 seats but lost the one on the Cambridge City Council. Happily the scumbag BNP party look to have lost 6 seats and have none returned :o) Cambridge went to No overall control from the Liberal Democrats - sadly the Conservatives hung on to South Cambridgeshire. Hopefully we should have another London trip sometime this month - summer is apparently on the way though theres precious little sign of it at the moment. The garden is going a little mad with all the rain and the herbs are coming along OK but not much progress on the dwarf beans potatoes and tomatoes. Not enough sun at the moment and Im kept busy weeding - still Im kept busy with bita nd bobs around the house and starting next month theres OU work to factor in as well...

Arnold Bennett (and the new Blogger)

To quote Garth Algar "we fear change" I can't say that I spend a whole lot of time on Blogger but I don't really see a whole of point in change for changes sake. I guess that the worst thing for an internet entity like Google is stagnation. hey ho. The second plaque on the facade of Chiltern Court behind Baker Street tube is to Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) an author that im not over familiar with. He certainly doesnt chime with my conciousness in the same way that H.G.Wells does I guess because his tales of Edwardian life are by necessity dated in a way that Wells' nightmare tales of possible futures aren't. Its odd thinking of such recent literature being redundant - I guess its a reflection of the huge pace of change that has enveloped society over the last century in particular the post-war world. Maybe thats the definition of great literature - work that transcends the temporary circumstances of society and engages directly with the reader. I've said in the past that Dickens is my favourite author (debatable but still...) and I think that though his stories are obviously set in a victorian world they do transcend that chronology in a way that I'm not sure that many authors do. I guess for a slightly previous era Jane Austen also qualifies. Interestingly Bennett's tour of America in 1911 was greeted with the kind of acclaim not seen since Dickens' tours. Bennett's legacy is mixed having only recently being rescued from accusations of traditionalism and commercialism - again Dickens' chap book publishing were huge sellers utilising the cliffhanger device beloved of serial publishers to this day. Theres a kind of snobbery there that i dont really like - the idea that simply because something sells, because that its popular that its devalued. Art is meant to be devoured otherwise its masturbation - an act of self-absorbtion that I sometimes see in my bloggage - hmm the perils of over-thinking....

H.G.Wells (1866-1946)

One of the first plaques spotted last week was just outside Baker Street tube - dedeicated to H.G.Wells who I guess is best remembered for The War of the Worlds (most lately desecrated in the Tom Cruise vehicle and Independence Day) I dont think that theres a more influential novel.
Wells along with Jules Verne pretty much came up with Science Fiction maybe as a logical progression from the scientific advances of the nineteenth century and and an extension of Darwins thinking of humanity as a superevolved ape and therefore admitting of the possibility that not only that were not the only inhabited planet but that there may be other worlds out there with more advanced inhabitants than us particularly given mans everpresent propensity for self-destruction.
Science Fiction has of course grown into a huge an ever expanding oeuvre over the last century but Wells stories and the ideas behind them are still up there with the best of them. His protagonists are jaundiced, flawed, human - The Time Machine, The Shape of Things to Come, War in the Air, The First Men in the Moon, The Invisible Man ideas expanded upon, build on but Wells prescient ideas nonetheless.
A lot of his ideas have (sometimes sadly) come true since he wrote of them - he posited the growth of air power, the atomic bomb, the growth of fascism.
He was a committed socialist advocating a single world state and promoted the idea of a world encyclopedia to be updated by the worlds prominent authorities - take that Wikipedia. He did write books of social commentary - Tono Bungay a satire about the advertising industry (1909)stands out.

Orbital Live@Cambridge 09-04-2012

Orbital - 9.4.2012

Well an action packed weekend means that Im still recovering, gone are the days when I could party all night and turn up for work in the morning. I'm going to forego the Saturday trip into London and its attendant blue plaque spotting in favour of the Monday night trip into town to see the magnificent Orbital at the Corn Exchange.
I cant and dont want to think about how many times Ive seen the brothers Hartnoll over the years - including "that" Saturday night set at Glastonbury 1994.
Plenty of new stuff - all electro tweaks and pops fit right in alongside old friends like Halcyon and Chime. Incredible visuals and a sound system to rattle your fillings completed the night.
It was Ms first Orbital experience and needless to say she wasnt impressed. While we share many things but musical taste isnt one of them - still she give it a try. I have to say that I wouldnt give most of what she enjoys the time of day.
Sadly I dont think that festivals will feature on this years itinarary. I'd like to give Latitude a go and I think M would maybe like the wide range of arts on show - as I say I have minimal faith on her musical taste but at Latitude theres a wider spread of stuff that your average music festival - comedy, poetry, art, theatre and its relatively local - its also £175. Hey ho. No Glasto this year and I have to say that i think that my Glasto years are gone. My last one was 2000 - time to leave it to the youngsters I think!!

http://youtu.be/sgymqv3DB1w

Same old same old

Hopefully we're off dahn ver smoke at the Easter weekend so should be able to shed some light on a blue plaque or two - failing that it'll be a wander around town and possibly photo a couple of the local plaques.
M is recovering from a carpal tunnel operation on her right hand - shes got a few weeks and then its in for her left hand. Fortunately the little RSI I had a couple of years ago has disappeared after work got me an ergonomic mouse (which cost a small fortune but when it comes to health....)Ms Uni has delayed and delayed doing a damn thing to alleviate her symptoms so to be honest Ive no problems with her extended absence from week - shes got a sick note for 4 weeks.
If we go into Cambridge i think that well try and stop by the Fitzwilliam Museum - were absurdly lucky to have such a great museum for such a small town (and Cambridge is really only a town)- the French impressionists have been rehoused and I want to see my most favourite painting in the whole world in its new home - Seurats The Rue St Vincent Paris in Spring. Mind you if we go to London we could check out the Turner room at the Tate (rather more to my taste than the heavily hyped Damian Hurst in the Tate Modern.) I think if I get my way we'll do an explore St John's Wood day - The next walk in the Andrew Duncan book id Tottenham Court Road to Trafalgar Square - a short one but filled with interest.

Brussels come down

Weve been back a week and things are quietening down - back into the rut again not helped by acting up for my boss next week. It looks like travel plans are on hold for the time being - I guess we'll wait and see but I think that a staycation is on the cards for the late summer and that'll be it for 2012. Hey ho.
We both enjoyed Brussels (slightly to my suprise I think)and its quirkiness. I hope that well be back in Belgium at some point - maybe the battlefields of Flanders or Bruges which is supposed to be very nice. I think because of its make up, its divided ethnicity that there will be very little language problems - everyone already speaks french and Flemish and I suspect that the French would rather speak English that Flemish and the Phlegms wuld rather speak English that French. There really is very little love lost between the two communities - I cant help but think of Kurt who I met a few years back in Tunisia who distained all things Francophile.
There were a couple od monuments (last weeks entry being a standout example) but it is a young country - A lot of the city streets are bilingual but in addition some of those in the city centre also have a second road sign based on the Belgian BD (Band Desinee) culture - particularly liked the Professor Calculus one on Rue Charles Bul. I managed to find three books in the local Brussels patois - although again theres a French version of the dialect and a Flemish one as well. We also visited the Belgian BD museum housed in a beautiful Horta Art Nouveau building - a wonderful exhibition space with plenty of light from its expanse of glass. We got the Brussels card which gave us free access to many of the city museums so we spent a bit of time in the company of Bruegal at the Royal Art Museum and then the Halle Gate and the Far East museum and then Autoworld and the national museum - not up to the british museum but a couple of the exhibits and Incan mummy and a statuette inspired Herge when writing the Broken Ear. Herge didnt leave belgium for a lot of his life so he wrote a lot from researach - it was rather special to see the things and the places that inspired him.

Jean de Selys Longchamps (1912-1943)

Very much enjoyed our little Brussels interlude with much to see, nice to find the Belgian quirky sense of humour still alive and strong. We spent a fair bit of time tracking Herge and his greatest creation Tintin with a very good itinary bought from the Tourist Office on Rue Royale.
Yes Tintins home is unnamed but Herge as any great artsist wrote what he know and what he knew was Brussels so the backdrop of middle 20th Century Brussels. We ventured out to Boitsfort where M's mum was brought up and found rather satonishingly that it was one tram stop, a 5 minute walk from Herges house where he lived from 1939 to 1953 in a period that saw him produce 10 books from King Ottokars Sceptre to Explorers on the Moon.
We also strolled along Avenue Louise - a major artery and shopping venue on the way back and saw the rather striking monument to Jean de Selys Longchamps, a Belgian nobleman who fled to France when Belgium was overrun by the German Army, after being interned by the Vichy authorities he escaped to Britain and was accepted for training as a pilot. He was posted to 609 Squadron which flew Hawker Typhoons. On 20th January 1943 he attacked the Gestapo building located on Avenue Louise in an unauthorised mission for which he was demoted to Pilot Officer but was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the action.
He sadly didnt see the end of the war - dying on 16th August 1943 after his aircraft crash landed at RAF Manston.

Kelso Cochrane (1927-1959)

Last yeasr riots in london meant according to some that London would never be the same again, a clain that Peter Ackroyd pooh-poohed citing the cities long history of civil disturbance. I guess you could go all the way back to the Boudiccan revolt and probably further. there are two dates that appear over and over 1666 and 1940 both of which saw a substantial proportion of the city destroyed. i cant see 2011 ever joining the list.
The 1958 race riots seem to have been overlloked in all the hysterical media jawing over last year. The death of Kelso Cochrane in 1959 (probably by a British Union of Facsists member) triggered repercussions both negative - the Afro-Caribbean communities of West London rose against an institutionally racist community and positive the institution of the of annual Notting Hill carnival in an attempt to express their solidarity, their cultural identity.
Kelso Cochrane is remembered by a plaque on the side of the Earl of Portobello pub just across the road from where he was stabbed. A site that Oswald Mosley later used as a site for one o his hate-mongering speecehes. Looking at the cretins of the EDF it doesnt seem that weve progressed that much...

Dusty Springfield (1939-1999)

Well the weekly post doesnt quite seem to be working out :o( Hey ho. An easy one this week after yesterdays wander through Notting Hill from Andrew Duncans Walking London a nice walk walk marred by the tourist hordes thronging Portobello Road Market which meant a minimum of browsing (no bad thing as it meant that bank balances stayed intact.) Fortunately the weather stayed OK until we retreated to S&M for coffee.
So todays plaque was spotted on Aubrey Walk tucked neatly behind the multiple plaqued Campden Hill Gardens which irked M somewhat it being towards the end of the walk and daring to be on a slope that we were required to climb.
Mum and dad never really rated Dusty preferring Aretha - and yeah I can see their point. Dusty sings of "wishin and hopin" and "I just don't know what to do with myself" and Aretha spoke of respect. A much edgier and meaningful deal altogether until you learn of Dusty's struggles against manic depression and struggling to come terms with a non-hetero sexuality at a time when these things were only just beginning to be spoken of...

2012 - Its all going horribly wrong

Well not really. Im hoping that the Chinese New Year will change things for the better. Ive had a couple of days off this week after I came down with a cold / chest infection and this after piling into a crash barrier after misjudging the exit ramp from the A14 in the dark.
Were starting to formulate some (modest) travel plans for the year, plus this year there are also the Lympics. Were taking mum to the Olympic stadium on her birthday. Coming into London from the East is actually pretty exciting though you dont see so much from the train - watching the extraordinary structures grow - The Olympic stadium, the Velodrome, the Aquatic centre and the Anish Kapoor sculpture. The surrounding area is still pretty derelict though criss-crossed by canals - the motorways of the Victorian era.
Hopefully we'll be embarking on our first expedition in a couple of weeks - probably to Portobello Road / Notting Hill using Andrew Duncan's excellent Walking London book. I picked up Derek Sumeray's Track the Plaque last year but have yet to try it Duncans book gives a round experience of the area that youre wandering round and yes there are little enclaves of like minded individuals that are congregated togethre i.e. the musical community in St John's Wood but often its the weird and wonderful juxtapositions of plaques that make fir the interest.
Besides those we’re planning a trip to Brussels and the Tintin museum plus possibly a couple more city breaks – maybe within the UK and maybe relatively close to home – Amsterdam, Paris or Western Germany. After our Mexico trip were taking it a little bit easy with a view to a big trip in 2013.
In the meantime we endure the delights of the British winter. I still don’t understand why people take summer holidays (well obviously if you have kids then you fit in with school holidays) when winter is just so pants. Still the days are getting longer (he says in a desperate attempt to convince himself) Both M and I have been a little down, suffering from the post holiday blues (not to mention various sneezes and wheezes) – the drawback of a good break is the contrast between it and the return to work.

2012 - The last year

Well it is according to the Mayans who were beeeeg astrology fans - aligning their buildings to admit sunlight on auspicious days - creating observatories (the one at Chichen itza is particularly fine) it may well be that their temples were remodelled every 52 years, the Calender round. The Mayans like a lot of civilizations used the calender to govern their activities especially agriculture. Anyhoo the Mayan calander runs out on 21st December this year.
My first choice of holiday destination was kind of out of the question - Ethiopia being in the middle of another dreaful famine that seems somehow to have dropped off the worlds radar. So we decided to venture across the pond and after a week in the user-friendly urban sprawl of Mexico City had a couple of weeks in the Yucatan Peninsula previously home to the aforementioned Mayans. Yucatan is one of the poorer states of Mexico and the inhabitants show their ancestry, broader, flatter faces, darker skins. Mayan (or rather a modern version of it is still spoken. Indeed the written plaques in the many historic sites are written in three languages - Spanish, English and Mayan. Theres a strong seperatist tradition and people are justly proud of their history and their culture. A history thats seen them oppressed and downtrodden more often than not.
We didnt get very far really. We had stays in Valladolid, Merida (the state capital) and Azamel the yellow city and enjoyed them all before returning via not so lovely Cancun and Mexico City. And yes there were plenty of cultural markers including one to Fransisco Canton - builder of what is now the Anthroplogical Museum in Merida then one of the monumental piles built on the Paseo de Montejo - the Meridan answer to the Champs Elysee by the massively rich, their wealth created by henequen which produced sisal.
Canton was governor of the state of Yucatan from 1898-1902 a time that encompassed the end of the Caste War that had been raging for 50 years after Jacinto Pat and Cecilio Chi raised a rebellion against those of Spanish descent who had political and economic control of the area. Of course it could be argued that the caste war was simply a precurser of the larger Mexican Revolution against the landed classes that was on the horizon...