'Owt else or Any Other Business

[Tripps]

and I've been searching for the artist for several years. The estimated price is in the right range. Monday may be quite a busy day. Undecided as whether I need the hassle though. Might phone them on Monday and see what the vibes are like.

Decided against going for it. They are in Paris, they charge 28% comission, and packing and postage might be difficult, and expensive.

I'll probably regret it but right now it's too much hassle.

[Whyperion]

that's a long way on a bicycle.

My big lad is a cyclist, and despite a very busy life, managed to do an all night 100km circuit event in London recently. What is it with people called Steve, and bicycles? He said Brixton on a bike at 2.00 am is somewhere you don't want to linger.

I never had a problem (cycled down Acre Lane / Coldharbour Lane the night before the riots started , fairly quiet.

[Whyperion]

Boris Johnson on a mission to find the integrity in the Conservative Party

[Tripps]

Very good. . . .

[Stanley]

He does like dressing up games doesn't he....

[Stanley]

Have a look at THIS BBC account of a report that has been published and which concludes that giving teenagers mindfulness lessons at school to boost wellbeing is largely a waste of time.
Yippee! Thank God for a bit of common sense. Mindfulness is only understood by people who have no understanding of any meditation practices or even the value of sitting and thinking.
I would refer them to Plato..... "The unexamined life is not worth living" and he knew nothing of 'mindfulness'.

[Tripps]

I've just bumped into a Skyarts programme on the artist Manet. Heard of him , but if truth be told didn't know much about him, or how to tell him apart from Monet. I do now.

Here's one of his paintings - called "Portrait of An Artist as A Flâneur".

Flaneur Manet.jpg

Now Flaneur means 'stroller' and is one of my favourite words I've even incorporated it into an 'alias' email address. How's that for 'sad'?

Now this is an interesting LKF - little known fact -

"MANET / MANENT: Common Latin stage directions found in the margins of Shakespearean plays. Manet is the singular for \"He [or she] remains.\" Manent is the plural form for multiple individuals. Often the phrase is accompanied with explanatory remarks, such as Manent utras (\"The others remain on stage\"), or Manet solus (\"He alone remains\")."

So it means quite the opposite to Flaneur / stroller. Isn't that interesting? I knew that Latin O level would come in handy one day - 'Please yourself' as Mr Howerd used to say.

[Stanley]

Did we do flaneur in dialect and word matters.....?

[Gloria]

I like slutch as a word, just a useless bit of info.

[Tripps]

No info is useless I'd say. . . I like slutch too - a word from childhood. As well as muddy, I've heard it mean fortunate or lucky

► Show Spoiler

Now - remember - reading any of this nonsense is entirely voluntary.

After mentioning Kemi Badenoch's birth name in Politics - I recalled this record on the subject, which I bought over 50 years ago in Woolworths, Blandford Forum for 10/6. Some of the names will be known to people of a certain age. It is unthinkable that it would get air time today, but I still like it. This is the full version with the African words at the end,

"and if I called the name - I might have to bite me tongue"

Congo War - Lord Byner and the Shieks

LORD BRYNER CONGO WAR LYRICS

It is sad but it's exciting,
When I read the newspaper.
About what's happening
In the western province of Africa.
Everybody's fighting,
to get the fortune and fame.
But it is amusing,
When I read all the bosses names.
Such as Kasavubu,
and Antoine Gizenga
Fighting to gain power over Katanga.
Colonel Mombutu
and Justin Momboko
rivaling Tshombé
to be boss over the Congo.

My father made me to know
that my great great gandfather
Came from the Congo in the Western Province of Katanga.
But I can't remember his name,
because it was too long.
and if I called the name
I might have to bite me tounge.
All like Kasavubu
and Patrice Lumumba
Fighting to gain power over Katanga
Colonel Mombutu
and Justin Momboko
rivaling Tshombe to be boss over the Congo
Oh Congo bawa wa mojique berle
arre baba arela ah roqo di mole,
Mojique berle Congo,
eh uwah Kosu.

***************************************************

PS This is interesting on Patrice Lumumba

and bang up to date - I read very recently without it making much impression -

"In 2022, a gold-capped tooth, all that remained of his body, was repatriated to the Democratic Republic of the Congo by Belgium".


And finally (promise) in Tenerife, a hot chocolate with a large brandy in it is called a Lumumba. Honest.

[Stanley]

"Wo ist der bürgermeister? Der bürgermeister ist in der keller mit das hund"
This is part of a scurrilous song that used to be sung in the bars of Spandau in Berlin. It is lodged in my head and I can't find the origin, it baffles even Google!
As does another quote from a poem I have lost.... "We don't wish to cavil a fella but it wasn't our practice to fight in snow boots and good god sir! What's this? An umbrella!"

[Tripps]

On a daily basis I find I spend far too much time on this site. I resolve nearly every day to reduce my involvement, and nearly every day fail to do so. I find myself in turn fascinated, entertained, educated, informed, amused, and occasionally irritated /annoyed even, by the posts. Nevertheless I have an urge to post anything I think may be of interest to members straight away. In real life that shares my thoughts with an audience of about twelve regulars - though I see my Flaneur picture has had 66 views. I post stuff such as The Congo War above and wonder why on earth I do so. I currently have several stressful issues going on - one almost all consuming. I think this may be a displacement activity - so it in fact reduces the stress and in that way is useful.

I try to keep personal details to a minimum and that's not always easy. Nevertheless I like to read about those of others.

Thank you all for your time and your indulgence.

PS - I see it would have been Bodger's 85th birthday today.

[Wendyf]

It's always a pleasure reading your posts Tripps, though I don't always follow the links!

[plaques]

On a daily basis I find I spend far too much time on this site. I resolve nearly every day to reduce my involvement, and nearly every day fail to do so. I find myself in turn fascinated, entertained, educated, informed, amused, and occasionally irritated /annoyed even, by the posts. Nevertheless I have an urge to post anything I think may be of interest to members straight away. In real life that shares my thoughts with an audience of about twelve regulars - though I see my Flaneur picture has had 66 views. I post stuff such as The Congo War above and wonder why on earth I do so. I currently have several stressful issues going on - one almost all consuming. I think this may be a displacement activity - so it in fact reduces the stress and in that way is useful.

Ms P would agree that one of my failings is spending too much time on the laptop. Most of my postings are in the Politics Corner which I estimate that only about 33% of OG members bother to read. Of these I may upset about another third or at the best they may consider them as rubbish and should be ignored at all costs. All in all I consider the therapeutic affect to my welfare and metal angst worth the pain I may be inflicting on others for which I'm truly sorry.

Tripps I enjoy your posts and helps me keep out of the rut I would drop in if left alone. In part I blame it on our old education system that encouraged what I call monoculture, If you were good at something that was what you were measured on and that was you for life. In reality there are millions of people with talents that I could only aspire to and yet are ignored because they don't make a profit. I'm off again aren't I.

Once or twice you have posted on chess. This was a game my dad showed me when I was about 5 year old part of his spoils from the war. In secondary school they had a chess club which I enjoyed and played in a few inter school tournaments. Unfortunately or not I realized my limitations when I played against our maths teacher. Part way through the game he would draw on his pipe and say " you're going to move this, I'm going to move that then you will move here and then I will take your bishop/castle or whatever." which turned out exactly as he said. Months later I was told he had been the Lancashire chess champion for years. All too late the damage had been done.

[Stanley]

I enjoy all of your posts, all of you! You are an essential part of my social circle and please stay that way. Ken, your posts never upset me. David, you usually point me to areas that otherwise I wouldn't notice. I think that's the thing about OG. It is intelligent and surprising. The two don't always go together...

[Cathy]

ADF18206-FC51-4EA2-9F90-4194B9A19E02.png

Makes you wonder what it was all about

[Stanley]

Cathy, the space where the advertising hoardings are in this picture was where travelling or portable theatres set up. See Emma Clark's evidence in the LTP. This was evidently a proprietor of one of these theatres looking for an actor for one of his productions.

[Tripps]

"Useful gentleman capable of low comedy"

I think I may apply. . . . .

Did we do flaneur in dialect and word matters.....?

I don't think so - but the picture "Portrait of An Artist as A Flâneur" by Manet has had more than 140 views now which is pleasing.

[Cathy]

Well I would have been a bit perplexed back in those days, I couldn’t make head’nor’tail of it

[Stanley]

The language has changed a bit since then Cathy. There was a distinction made between normal comedy, which was a bit stilted to our mind and 'low' comedy which was what you got in the Music Halls, Like the man who farted tunes at the Moulin Rouge in Paris at that time....

[Tripps]

When I worked for the Agency we sent occasional diplomatic carefully worded service messages to the Russian authorities regarding radio interference problems they were causing. I recall the address was Tverskaya Street Moscow. I sometimes wondered what it looked like. I never thought the day would come when by Youtube (or Google Maps) I could take a pleasant virtual walk down the same street.

I'm quite impressed (no doubt I was meant to be) and it's nicer than I imagined. Spot the elephant.

The messages were acknowledged, and then of course largely ignored.

PS Perhaps Fred Kite was on the right track? All them cornfields. . . .

Youtube Tverskaya Street Moscow

Google maps Tverskaya Street map

[Stanley]

That was a trip down Memory Lane.... I'd forgotten about Fred Kite....
(Terry Thomas has just barged into my mind saying 'You're an absolute shower!' Am I on the right track?)

[plaques]

When I worked for the Agency we sent occasional diplomatic carefully worded service messages to the Russian authorities regarding radio interference problems they were causing. I recall the address was Tverskaya Street Moscow. I sometimes wondered what it looked like. I never thought the day would come when by Youtube (or Google Maps) I could take a pleasant virtual walk down the same street.

I'm quite impressed and it's nicer than I imagined. Spot the elephant.

I got the impression there was a lot of PR element in there. Full of young people fashionably dressed slim and stylish. No pumpkin people or old codgers shuffling about. Must admit it looked a lot better than Colne or dare I say Barlick. Actually very impressed

[Tripps]

Actually very impressed

Me too. Don't know why Saga don't do leisure breaks there - with "ballet in the evening" at the Bolshoi of course.

'You're an absolute shower!' Am I on the right track?

Yes indeed from 'I'm all right Jack' from 1959.




PS The picture "Portrait of An Artist as A Flâneur" stands at well over 200 views at the moment. That's nice, and easily a 'personal best' - beating the previous record - the 'PIngat Jasa' quite easily. I'm easily pleased.

[Stanley]

In the days when the gallery made suggestions for most viewed images, one of me lying naked on a bed in the Mark Hopkins hotel in SF used to be a regular sight. (I've had a look and it's still there.... )
As to why it was uploaded in the first place, that's a long story.......