Friday, November 06, 2009
Black dragons
The tea crisis has been averted. Having yesterday paid a special trip to Mr S. to get some Earl Grey (leaf) tea to keep me going pending resupply on the oolong front, was waiting to turn out of East Street into Hook Road when the eye lighted upon the Chinese herbalist on the corner there. Must be worth a try thought I. So in I go and a lady appears, doctorish in appearance and demeanour. Yes, we do have tea. So many people were asking for it that I decided to stock it. Yes, we do have oolong tea (leaf). As it happens the red box version from the Sea Dyke people that I usually get the yellow box version from. She was not able to tell me what the difference was, but she did explain that oolong meant black dragon. The oo bit being black and the long bit being dragon. Also that one should drink jasmine tea in the spring because it was flowery and that was right in the spring time. Green tea in the summer because that drew off all the toxins. Oolong tea in the autumn and winter because that gave energy against the cold. A bit dear at £4.50 a box, rather more than I remember paying in Lisle Street, but then I did not have to get to Lisle Street. She also sugared the pill by explaining that with this oolong tea I could keep topping the pot up for maybe two days before it would be time for a leaf refresh. So on that basis not too bad at all.
Maybe the energy lift will get the grey cells going on the beam mystery. This being the very impressive concrete beam I passed the other day, all by itself on a very serious low loader. Maybe 4 feet high, two feet across and thirty feet long. Beautifully finished thing, a nice even grey with no holes, segregation or other flaws. Not that I could see anyway. But what was it for? A beam of these dimensions must be for something serious. And how was it made? How do you get a beam smooth all round unless you cast it in a beam shaped mould? In which case, how do you get the concrete in, past all the reinforcing bars? Do you cast the thing vertical? Does a vertically cast beam behave differently from a horizontally cast one? In the way that most sedimentary rocks do. Do you have to make a special concrete which is both runny and which sets hard? A tricky circle to square.
And then onto the Marlborough mystery. Have resumed work on my four volume life and times of Marlborough by one W. Churchill in a Sphere reprint. Now the Sphere people tried quite hard on the map front, within the confines of a paper back reprint with elderly technology in 1967. So they have managed a number of black line maps across the top of pairs of facing pages. And Churchill tried hard to explain the grand strategy involved in Marlborough marching 400 miles or so, at ten miles a day or so, from Amsterdam to Munich (roughly speaking) to fight the battle of Blenheim. But, even on the second reading the grand strategy completely eludes me, black line maps notwithstanding. So off to the trusty Polish atlas and turn up their map of southern Germany which handily covers the ground in question. Geographical rather than political flavour. Shows rivers and hills and things. Bit of colour to help the grey cells along. And now, on the third reading, I think I am finally starting to get the hang of the whole business.
Three facts struck me. First, the chaps needed new shoes at the half way point so Marlborough needed to organise thirty thousand pairs of shoes from somewhere in Germany and to have the credit or wherewithal to pay for them. A tribute to emerging industry and the emerging financial muscle of the UK. (Something which I suspect our EC partners are very jealous of - and so who are only too happy to chuck logs in the way of RBS reconstruction in the rather feeble name of increased competition on the high street). Second, Marlborough had the novel idea of playing hard to win. He was prepared to lose 10,000 men on a battle, something which the Europeans had not gone in for for a while. Progress of a sort I suppose, progress towards the sanguinary affairs of the second half of Napoleon's career. Third, we Brits see Blenheim as Marlborough's battle. But two other generals with their armies were involved on his side, a Prince Eugene (a famous warrior in Austria) and a Prince Louis (not to be confused with the sun king, also a Louis). I wonder if you read about the battles in history books written in their countries how different a slant you get? Rather in the way that we put Waterloo down to Wellington while some heretical folk put it down to some chap called Blucher.
# posted by Jim @ 4:09 AM 
