Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Queueing up
The slightly unusual experience of being in our local mall on Sunday morning waiting for most of it to open. It is quite a long time since I have waited outside for a pub to open - maybe 5 years - but never outside a mall. To keep warm we were reduced to Marks and Spencer where I decided I did not like their shoes. Not foot shaped enough for me. So off to Clarkes where foot shapes rule even if longevity does no longer. For once the cheapest offering suited.
This morning saw the return of the ground-loving green woodpecker. We also had a visit from what looked like a very dim heron. Standing in the edge of the small pond, gazing blankly at the fence. But given the size of the brain part of its head perhaps dimness follows. Notwithstanding, impressive how it could take off from a standing start.
I forget why I got interested in one Holman Hunt, but now making better progress. Having got stuck in a book by one Jacobi, which looked to have some interesting stuff in it but was rather inpenetrable, I have now read a more conventional biography by Clark Amor. Should have enough background now to make sense of the heavier tome. Maybe one day I will come across a copy of his autobiography which I can afford.
A few factlets. First, rather to my surprise, the council busies were alive, even in 1905 or something. At the grand old age of 75 he gets kicked out of his house which had been compulsorily purchased to make - or to make way for - a school. Second, when he finally goes he is cremated. I had not thought that decent folk went in for cremation before the first war. Third, he was as much a pop-star figure as George Eliot, who caught my eye some months ago. Much adulation from adoring crowds. Much money made from mass consumption of engravings of his paintings. He sends a picture on a tour of the commonwealth, on one leg of which, it is thought that three quarters of the population of Australia went to see it. Perhaps the population was rather small at that time. It seems that the picture in question (the Light of the World) was the second most popular picture in the world, after the Mona Lisa, until overtaken by the Sunflowers. Fourth, a new personal best. I now have two books out of the local library. It must be many years - maybe not since we were first married and we took Trollope out of the little library at Harringey West in the early seventies. Not sure whether it is lack of storage space or retirement reduced income which has pushed me to this pass.
All in all, should be well prepared for forthcoming visit to the Walker gallery in Liverpool.
This morning saw the return of the ground-loving green woodpecker. We also had a visit from what looked like a very dim heron. Standing in the edge of the small pond, gazing blankly at the fence. But given the size of the brain part of its head perhaps dimness follows. Notwithstanding, impressive how it could take off from a standing start.
I forget why I got interested in one Holman Hunt, but now making better progress. Having got stuck in a book by one Jacobi, which looked to have some interesting stuff in it but was rather inpenetrable, I have now read a more conventional biography by Clark Amor. Should have enough background now to make sense of the heavier tome. Maybe one day I will come across a copy of his autobiography which I can afford.
A few factlets. First, rather to my surprise, the council busies were alive, even in 1905 or something. At the grand old age of 75 he gets kicked out of his house which had been compulsorily purchased to make - or to make way for - a school. Second, when he finally goes he is cremated. I had not thought that decent folk went in for cremation before the first war. Third, he was as much a pop-star figure as George Eliot, who caught my eye some months ago. Much adulation from adoring crowds. Much money made from mass consumption of engravings of his paintings. He sends a picture on a tour of the commonwealth, on one leg of which, it is thought that three quarters of the population of Australia went to see it. Perhaps the population was rather small at that time. It seems that the picture in question (the Light of the World) was the second most popular picture in the world, after the Mona Lisa, until overtaken by the Sunflowers. Fourth, a new personal best. I now have two books out of the local library. It must be many years - maybe not since we were first married and we took Trollope out of the little library at Harringey West in the early seventies. Not sure whether it is lack of storage space or retirement reduced income which has pushed me to this pass.
All in all, should be well prepared for forthcoming visit to the Walker gallery in Liverpool.
# posted by Jim @ 10:11 AM 
