Books, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Fizz and Filth – Kate Atkinson and Babylon London 1926

A novel by Kate Atkinson is always something to look forward to and I’ve just finished reading her latest – The Shrines of Gaiety. As always, she does not disappoint. This character-rich, picaresque romp through the underbelly of the world of the Bright Young Things of  London in the 1920s is what is known as a good read.  The Great…

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City and Country, Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb, The Sex Wars

New York City and Free Speech Not Welcome

Yesterday I took my stickybeaking self downtown to City Hall Park where Standing for Women was holding an event. You can read more about it elsewhere, but the basic idea of these events is a public setup with loudspeakers and the opportunity for any woman who wants to say something about issues affecting women to take the mike. Because many…

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Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb, The Sex Wars

The House of Cards

Coming out of the Irish government this week is a truly helpful definition of “gender”. So for all you folks out there who think gender is nonsense – educate yourselves and learn.  It’s from the CRIMINAL JUSTICE (INCITEMENT TO VIOLENCE OR HATRED AND HATE OFFENCES) BILL 2022. So now you know. Clear as a peat bog in an Irish mist. …

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RattleBag and Rhubarb

Ding-de-Dong Then I’ll Begin

Anna Dillon posted a tweet in tribute and thanks to the BBC on its 100th anniversary. My thank-you list would be a little different but it too would begin with Listen With Mother. It was my first radio program and was a part of a cherished time. To be accurate, I would have to rename it Listen with Father as…

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Art, Film, Photography, RattleBag and Rhubarb

The Shadows

Gloomy drizzly start for today so time to remember some recent sunshine and shadows. Covid-19 testing tents are all up and down Broadway with a whole cluster close to Columbia University.  This one left – is at 113th Street. Photos here of Wave Hill in the Bronx, the Metropolitan Museum Cloisters in Manhattan, Untermeyer Gardens Conservancy in Yonkers, Jackson Square…

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Art, Film, Photography, Books, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Sail Away – Oceans, Seas, Rivers, and Rainstorms

There’s a lovely exhibit currently on show at the Morgan Library. It’s the work of artist-illustrator Ashley Bryan (see below for the Morgan’s description.) Many of the pieces are collages in the vibrant colors of the kind of elementary school construction paper. I could imagine school group trips and the response to the words and the pictures as inspiring “I…

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Art, Film, Photography, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Gobbledegook, Gibberish, and Deep Joy

Are you all sitty comftybold two-square on your botty? Then I’ll begin. If you’re a Brit of a certain vintage then you will be familiar with the delights of “Professor” Stanley Unwin. Unwin was an expert in Unwinese – a personal mangled language worthy of James Joyce and Finnegan’s Wake. He was also a comic genius with an unparalleled ability…

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Art, Film, Photography, RattleBag and Rhubarb

A Beach, a Dip, and some Wiggles

Last week saw a short foray into Connecticut. This included a day at Hammonasset Beach State Park, a dip in the sea (Long Island Sound), and a visit to the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme. The weather cooperated, the days were sunny and the rain confined itself to overnight and early morning. The beach made for a lovely walk…

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Books, Poetry, RattleBag and Rhubarb, WW1

A Compendium of Delight

Poetry is critical to a complete understanding of the First World War because in the years leading up to and including the war, poetry played a central role in public and private life.   Constance Ruzich, in the introduction to the anthology. It was Paul Fussell who showed us that the young British officer class that went off to the Great…

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City and Country, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Summers and Adventure

It’s all a long time ago now but I spent the summer of 1969 playing. With a shiny new degree in Eng.Lit and headed to London University in September to qualify as a teacher. I saw this notice in the college student handout.  I went up to London for the weekend, met Rhaune Laslett, spent time on the playground and…

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City and Country, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Summer in the City: Parks, Pocket Parks and Patches

Summer in the City Hot town, summer in the city Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty Been down, isn’t it a pity? Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city All around, people looking half dead Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head                        …

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RattleBag and Rhubarb, The Sex Wars

The Intersectional Cellar Door

I once shared the idea that ‘cellar door’ was considered by some to be the most beautiful sounding phrase in the English language. The sixth grade thought this was ridiculous and soon put me right. I remember  “holy macaroni” being one of their top contenders. Language changes and feelings about words change. Even the most prescriptive linguist knows that. It’s…

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RattleBag and Rhubarb

Wordle and Boxed

Together with half of the known universe, I added Wordle to my daily routine. I was first aware of it when I saw those funny-looking grids appear on Twitter as folks announced their score for the day. Wordle – in case you don’t know is a five-letter word game where you discover the word with up to six tries. It’s…

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Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb, The Sex Wars

Put Out More Flags

My heart sinks down when I behold A rainbow in the street. With the end of June, in sight, I’m hoping for a break from the corporate waterboarding of the rainbow flag and its ever-morphing journey toward meaninglessness and cultural oblivion. With all this “pride”, eleven months of shame might be a relief. I realize that this is more than…

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Art, Film, Photography, RattleBag and Rhubarb

To Look at Simple Things

                                    “I like to show the beauty of things that no one looks at twice.”                                  — Eliot Hodgkin In a letter written to Brinsley Ford in 1975…

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