So many parallels between our current pandemic and the plague that swept through London in 1665, at least as described by Daniel Defoe in Journal of the Plague Year. It’s a novel, written many years later in – 1722 – by a remarkably talented fabulator. So always good to take it with a shovel of salt. But here’s one big…
They say the war is over. But water still Comes bloody from the taps. from ‘Redeployment,’ Howard Nemerov In April 1961 the BBC Light program broadcast the first episode of a new radio drama: The Avenue Goes to War. It was based on the R. F. Delderfield novel of the same name. It’s the story of one suburban street in…
My uncle Lawrence Holford was killed by a Bristol Beaufighter. Maybe two. My father worshipped his older brother Laurie, and growing up my brother and I heard the story that he was killed in the Brighton Blitz while serving as a special reserve constable with the Brighton police. I imagined a lone policeman on dark streets, German bombers overhead, searchlights…
In an abundance of caution, Density reducing, I stay at home. I keep my social distance Leave bleach and hand sanitizer on the shelves of the supermarket so others can keep virus free and not infect me via the shopping cart, the self-serve checkout line and card reader. I am lucky I do not need to venture out to meet…
Spring is on the way. Pictures from Central Park, NYC today.
As my inbox and timeline fill up with Corona Virus updates and advisories this is little footnote to my post about the much fabled NYC Lincoln School (1917-1940) The School is Dead, Long Live the School. Lincoln was dedicated to experimentation and research in the interests of uncovering the best ways to education children in a modern democratic society. They…
This is actually a story about books but somehow the schools took over. It does start with the books – four old books from a library of a defunct school and each with this lovely bookplate. Beneath the tree is the line “And some of the blossoms shall turn to fruit” And some of the blossoms of the Lincoln School…
One thing always leads to another on the intertubes and this particular ravel started with my friend David Nice. David is a cultural critic and musicologist who maintains a wonderful blog – I’ll Think of Something Later – where he writes about music and travel and culture and all the life in between. In response to my last post he…
You too! can be a New Woman. Who knew it was this easy? And just think of the savings on the tonic and limes. Daily Herald Adelaide. 27th October 1921 BDC gin pills tin label. Made by the National Drug & Chemical Co. Ltd of Canada. Bilingual instruction on the bottom of the tin. (Thank goodness for that!)
Before the Nazis took power in 1933 Jeanne Mammen earned her living as a commercial artist, selling her work to film producers, fashion magazines and satirical journals. Her work portrayed the vibrant life of the big city. She chronicled the nightlife of Weimar Berlin capturing scenes from bohemian dives and proletarian bars to elegant cabarets and exclusive Lesbian clubs. This…
From George Orwell at the Café Royal : The coming of the Hitler regime in 1933 had a chilling effect on all the arts. Many writers and artists left, if they could, fleeing for their lives. Those who remained – and who were not Jewish – had to fit into the enforced Nazi orthodoxy if they wished to be published…
This is a follow-up to The Queen of Mean and one of a series about Headlands Grammar School and what I remember and learned in my seven year sentence. By the time I got to the sixth form I had learned to keep below Miss Jacob’s radar and anyway she had younger fish to fry. Hundreds of them – all…
When Senior Mistress Miss A. Jacob retired from Headlands School Mr.Magson had this to say in the school magazine: Two comments about that: While I don’t doubt the truth of Magson’s words, I didn’t know then, and don’t know now, any student who had a good word to say about Miss Jacob. There’s a little collection of some of the…
I’ve long thought that the word retreat should not be linked with strategic planning. It’s a bit of a misnomer for what should be a process of setting direction forward. There’s nothing wrong with “retreats” and often they are essential components – creating the thinking space for assessment and reflection. That kind of indwelling can contribute to the careful assessment…
Everyone who ever had Merv Comrie as a teacher at Headlands has a story to tell. Merv left an indelible impression on all those he taught. My own favorite moment came as he was taking class 4M through Macbeth explaining everything line by line – that time-honored English teacher way of ensuring students will not get any pleasure from Shakespeare.…