| Aretine |
[Nov. 3rd, 2007|08:56 pm] |
What Arezzo needs ( Read more... ) |
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| Florence journal |
[Oct. 29th, 2007|10:13 am] |
So I've been in this city for less than 24 hours and ( it is blowing my mind ) |
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| Fantasy house |
[Sep. 30th, 2007|07:36 pm] |
I would almost move here.
Your home is a Magnate's Manor Your kitchen is someplace you never go, because you "have people for that." There's a Chocolatessen, which is rapidly becoming your favorite room of the house. Having one is also becoming a trend among your wealthy neighbors. Your master bedroom is the size of a small barn, with carpet thick enough to reach your ankles. Your study has hardback editions of every classic ever written, plus a special edition of Rich Dad, Poor Dad with the parts you ghost-authored highlighted. One of your garages holds your collection of ferraris, and is measured in acreage.
Your home also includes a guest wing and private quarters for your servants. Outside is your hedge maze and gardens, meticulously tended by a team of world-class botanists.
Below is a snippet of the blueprints: |
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Find YOUR Dream House!
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Though would it have guaranteed sunsets from one window? And a view of the beach from another? If not, I might have to stay where I am.
Currently watching Rory Bremner who is letting rip with a sketch about how funny the internet is. People don't use their real identities, you know. And they have friends that they've never actually met. Oh for the love of mike. Next week: why we must return to quill pen and parchment for real proper communication. Feh. |
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| For some reason it makes me feel as though I'm living in the Middle Ages |
[Jul. 25th, 2007|10:12 pm] |
Thankfully I don't live anywhere near this. Or on the ground floor. But what could survive a mini-ice age, very small earthquakes, a couple of civil wars, papal interdicts, a reformation, an industrial revolution and the invention of the combustion engine doesn't really have a problem with a bit of flood water.
Love this picture. Makes me want to write fantasy novels about England being submerged and returning to a medieval lifestyle, only with the internet.
(this is Tewksbury Abbey by the way. Nearly 1000 years old.)
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| The world is full of heroes |
[Jul. 2nd, 2007|11:14 pm] |
I was watching the BBC news report about Glasgow airport yesterday: one of the airport staff they spoke to was talking about how the jeep crashed into the terminal, and they saw the policeman go towards it, and the men come out of the jeep and attack the policeman. So, you've got what's obviously some kind of terrorist activity involving what look like suicide bomber types. 'And then,' he said, quite as if this was what anyone would do, 'I went to help the policeman.'
ETA: His name is John Smeaton and he is a Baggage Handler. Who would have thought it? You can see the totally amazing interview here. I have to say this from Wikipedia made me laugh: "Asked by ITV News what his message to terrorists was, he said "Glasgow doesn't accept this. That's just Glasgow; we'll set about ye."
This is why I love Glasgow so much more than Edinburgh... |
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| The Albion is sailing back on course again |
[Apr. 19th, 2007|09:21 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | chipper | ] |
| [ | music |
| | The Libertines, natch | ] |
Peter picks the ball up again.
As said elsewhere, it's so nice to be able to listen to Libertines music again without any angst for the first time since June 2004. And it's really damn good. Even if now I don't think that they are necessarily going to think about more playing or writing together - and heaven knows Carl is doing fine by himself, let's not talk about Babyshambles - it's nice to have the good old days back without having to be all bitter about everything that was lost. |
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| Music when the lights go on |
[Mar. 18th, 2007|12:42 pm] |
I'm listening - for the first time in ages - to Legs XI (Libertines demo from 1999). Why oh why is there no time machine whereby we could all go back in time and just fix things that got broken somehow?
Also: according to the 'analyze your music style' tool which comes with my new mp3 player, the music I've just loaded onto it breaks down as:
31% passionate
24% cheerful
43% sweet
2% quiet
They must be counting Motown and classical as sweet, that's the only way I can account for it. |
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| The bracket is still up |
[Feb. 28th, 2007|11:24 pm] |
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In a pub (for the first time for months actually) which was playing decent 'this-just-in' indie music, and then suddenly this very gentle and yet profoundly alive music came on, and it took me a few seconds to place it as Up The Bracket, as lovely and unique as ever. Thank heavens the music still has it. I wish Pete still did. Or that some day it would be possible to listen to it without that nagging toothache 'but what if...'. |
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| Bring it on down |
[Feb. 14th, 2007|11:43 pm] |
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Watching the Brits: Britpop redux. Take That shining like the little stars they are. I really wish the camera had been on Gary's face when they won best single. What fool cut Oasis off at the end? Liam is still the only man in the world who can make cleaning his glasses look spectacularly cool. And Ricky Wilson has shaved off the facefuzz and gone blondish again, well done Ricky though I haven't forgiven you for renouncing the blazers of 2005 as though you don't realise that's precisely why we loved you. However to balance this out in the great karmic universe of rock, John Frusciante, the only man in the world who looks really good with Charles II hair, has cut his all off. Guys, guys, you're messing with me... |
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| Damn this song is sexy |
[Feb. 4th, 2007|11:40 pm] |
Why why why have I spent so long without listening to Suede in general and The Drowners in particular? There was a time that I couldn't go more than forty-eight hours without playing this song. And then Saturday Night to finish with, even though it's Sunday night, and then I will go to bed. |
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| For the Studio 60 fans |
[Feb. 4th, 2007|10:46 pm] |
Or rather, for the Studio 60 unfans who spend their lives bitching about this show on Television Without Pity for obscure reasons best known to themselves.
Anyway, I thought you would like to know that Otis Lee Crenshaw ( got there first... ) |
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| Bartlett for America |
[Jan. 23rd, 2007|11:53 pm] |
Watch: Suddenly got my West Wing mojo back last week. Damn I miss that show. Even if they did end it as perfectly as possible, the thought of no more new West Wing is still a distressing one. Though I suppose now I can go back and watch the episodes I never wanted to see first time around (the horrible ones where the Scooby Gang at the White House fall out amongst themselves and the grim lighting makes everything worse) now I know there's a happy ending.
Read: On a poetry kick at the moment. More specifically a Louis MacNeice kick. Some of his poetry is just too trying-to-be-intelligent, some of it is too rooted in the slightly detached left-wing university poetry of the grey mid-century. Some of it has that 'reach inside your mind and put it into words' quality, and some of it is just plain great poetry. As for instance.
( If we could get the hang of it entirely
It would take too long; )
Read and appreciate with every fibre of your being. |
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| Modernism only works if you have lots of money |
[Jan. 15th, 2007|10:23 pm] |
Read: Cashel Byron's Profession. George Bernard Shaw was one of my earliest 'must read anything I can find by' authors, but it's been years since I've read any. This is the fabulous story of how the rich, intelligent, independent Lydia falls for Cashel, a magnificent physical specimen with a tough exterior and soft heart. She thinks he has a 'profession', in other words, a proper job, unlike the society wimps who surround her, but he really is a 'professor' of the art of boxing. Why hasn't this been snapped up for a Hollywood remake? I'm picturing Kirsten Dunst as sharp but beautiful Lydia and Heath Ledger as dumb but gentlemanly Cashel.
Watched: back to back, and on paper there's no competition. In the right corner, we have downmarket ITV prime time current affairs programme Anne Widdicombe v. the hoodies", in the left corner we have the cultural haven of BBC Four and a classy programme about a classic of modern architecture". It's a no-brainer. And yet, and yet, and yet... to see in such immediate juxtaposition the grimy council estates designed by modernist architects concerned more with making a statement than providing people with public spaces that feel safe and encourage community, and the same style of architecture where money can ensure the high quality finishes and where the austere building is not forced on the inhabitants but is a deliberate lifestyle choice, reflecting the persona of the architect himself... It must be nice to design these buildings and then retreat to your own remote country estate: do such architects never think that other people do not have that luxury? |
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lucinatrivia's journal