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.