Winterval Meanderings

Long time silent on this blog – not because I’ve nothing particular to say, but because there are too many subjects to rant about, I’m spoilt for choice. Therefore, indecision reigns and time marches on to year end.

I’ve also been busy going hither and thither seeing friends and being rather more social than earlier in the year. Trips included Sheffield, Nottingham and Bradford. Sadly, no photographs worth showing of snow except one I took on my iphone going over Snake Pass in Derbyshire last month. At the time, I assumed that this first flurry was an aberration and we’d have the normal cold wet winter. Nah - that was a harbinger of miserable weather to further depress this bah humbugger more than usual.

I feared the snow would prevent my seasonal stay in Cheshire, but I managed to get through to the motorway (M74, M6) and reach Sig Other’s on Xmas Eve.

Now on Hogmanay the temperature is once again falling, relying on the inadequate local public transport tonight is pointless, and I might as well drive. I don’t require drinking vast amounts of alcohol to bring in the New Year, so that should be fine. We have tickets for a ‘do’ locally and it will be interesting to see in the New Year in England for only the fourth time in my life. Nevertheless, I’ll probably miss the proper celebration going on in Edinburgh.

Last Winterval, Sig Other was in Edinburgh and I was responsible (mostly) for the food and cooking. This year it is his turn and I am luxuriating in his choice of dishes. We celebrated the Christians' festival with a largely vegan selection based around a delicious mushroom, chestnut and brandy terrine with red wine gravy and tons of veggies. Another highlight was his Caribbean rice and peas with fried plantain. I’d never eaten plantain before, but will want to again, it is so yummy. As I write, he is making veggie moussaka to keep us going until next year.

Taking it easy for a few days has given me time to reflect on a year that seems to have passed me by. Three major bouts of flu and assorted other health issues kept me from doing all I had planned to. I’m not alone in this experience, as many people have had similar repetitive viruses irrespective of age or previous health status. However, tomorrow, the calendar changes and new opportunities may turn up. Ever hopeful!

Highlights have been the unforgettable cruise into the Arctic back in March, and the weekend in Madrid in October.  Time spent with friends and family are always good and with determination, I hope to do more of this in 2010.

I’m almost stunned with surprise that the first decade of the twenty-first century is ending. That sorta snuck up on me. At times I suspect my consciousness got stuck in the 1970’s, so to leave behind the noughties and move into the teens (err, what are we to call the next decade?) is daunting. No amount of intoning “yer as auld as ye feel,” is convincing me that this headlong gallop towards the end date on my driving licence is controllable. Maybe I need just to go with it and accept whatever is in store for me next?

If anyone has the answer please let me know – but shouting 42 won’t cut it!

Happy New Year!

Filmistine attempts critique

http://dvdtoile.com/Film.php?id=16460&full_cast=1

The Book Group read Bonjour Tristesse a few years ago, and last weekend we had an outing to the Edinburgh Filmhouse to see the 1957 film of the book.

Total spoiler alert!!!!!

At age 18 Françoise Sagan produced this marvellous story of 17 year old Cécile on the cusp of adulthood, having failed her philosophy exams and spending the summer in the South of France with her father who was focussed on having bog standard patriarchal-type fun as it was conceived of in the early 1950’s. In other words he’d brought along a ‘mistress’ young enough for the average chauvinist while affable enough to be daughter’s friend and confidant.

Silly old Pa had forgotten his tipsy invite to a dress designer friend of the family. She arrived and things changed. Free spirited Cécile quite understandably resents being squashed into traditional upper-class maidenhood. Things get messy.

The book is great, but for once I thought the film was even better. Released in 1957, it is an example of filmmaking such as is not seen nowadays and not just because Deborah Kerr and David Niven are dead, but because I cannot recall seeing any other film scene where daughter is driving the car with Pa and chum inside on their way to a glamorous night out. Or driving round Paris in an open topped sports car with her poodle on her lap. I have to reflect at this point whether I enjoyed the cars, the Riviera scenery or the frocks more than the story.

The costumes altogether were a delight. Swimsuits before Lycra with a zip up the back, still failing to fit but looking superb. Kerr retained her cool crisp manner even in the Mediterranean heat, albeit with the addition of a flowered swim cap.
I realise I am interpreting the story at a distance of 50 odd years after it was written and filmed, and through a feminist lens. It absolutely stands up as a terrific example of young womanhood being forced into the straightjacket, that even now, some expect them to live in. And the resultant scheming that can produce as young women assert what little authority and power they can muster in the face of adult restrictions.

I won’t go into a whole discussion of the book, as it deserves to be read and judged on its merits. I'd like to comment more on the film, but as someone who is more filmistine than film critic, I'll leave it to the expert.  The New York Times 1957 review of the film is a gem. Read it and shriek.

Bonjour Tristesse (1957) 16.1.1958

Screen: Sad 'Tristesse'; Movie Emphasizes Novel's Weakness

By BOSLEY CROWTHER

ACCORDING to most of the book reviewers. Françoise Sagan's "Bonjour Tristesse" was an immature little novel, mainly a catalogue of moods experienced under the strain of a father-complex by a fairly precocious French girl. As a noticeable literary effort, it was somewhat astonishing but thin. The same must be said for the movie that Otto Preminger has made from it—with the astonishment excited for the most part by the ineptness with which it has been done. Almost everything about this picture, which opened at the Capitol yesterday, manifests bad taste, poor judgment and plain deficiency of skill.

In the first place Mr. Preminger, who directed as well as produced, and his scriptwriter. Arthur Laurents, have made no attempt at all to give a mature interpretation to the emotional whims of a 17-year-old girl. Mlle. Sagan's little story of a jealous child's willful move to stop her father from marrying an older woman by intruding one of his former mistresses is put forth literally as Mlle. Sagan wrote it, without any compensation for immaturity. The lack of discernment on the part of the author is carried over in the film.

The girl herself is a headstrong little vixen who stomps through the narrative scenes with an attitude of self-indulgence that inspires small sympathy. And in the scenes offensive reflection in which she thinks back on what has occurred, she is melancholy and self-pitying without sincerity.

The father, to whom she is devoted, is a figment—a shell of a man—a presumably charming playboy with no character or rationality. Why he flits about among women is never remotely explained. And the woman he suddenly aims to marry is simply a feminine facade that develops a final streak of prudery that is incomprehensible. These are plainly the creatures of a child's mind that make no sense in a presumably adult film.

What is more every one of the actors seems incompetent or uncomfortable in his role. Jean Seberg as the center of attention is a well-shaped but callow girl who reads her lines and takes her positions as if she were a misplaced amateur. David Niven is vapid as the father, with some thoroughly wretched things to say and do, and Deborah Kerr is in dire straits as the woman—the chic Parisian—who is beaten by a child.

Geoffrey Horne is oafish and stilted as a boy who has a brief yen for the girl, and Mylene Demongeot is flighty as the mistress who is dropped and later returns. Small roles are played with vain flamboyance by Walter Chiari and Martita Hunt.

Finally, with only passing notice of some crudely embarrassing scenes, we would say that this picture's chief pretension is the magnitude of its frame. Mr. Preminger has set the pipsqueak story in color and CinemaScope that show off the French Riviera more handsomely than a travelogue but smother the half-baked little fable in a mass of scenic cream. If Mr. Preminger thought to hide its smallness or disguise its bad taste thereby, he has goofed on the concoction. "Bonjour Tristesse" is a bomb.
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C03E5D71E3AE53BBC4E52DFB7668383649EDE

Maybe it eventually grew on him?

I intend to look for more of Bosley Crowther’s film reviews anytime I need cheered up. I could also learn to write such stirring prose! As a final word picture, imagine Mark Kermode labelling anything ‘pipsqueak’.

Dreichness Abounds

It is grey and dismal this week, so here are some photos I took on Sunday afternoon on a ramble along Longniddry Bents. Hope they are cheering.

Looking across the river Forth to Fife

Parts of this area have SSSI designation, probably because of the birds which come here. I did not have my 'Girls Book of Birds - Easy identification version' with me, so I can't report what species I saw, but one lot had distinctive red legs and long beaks, so might have been something interesting.

Cockenzie power station with Arthur's Seat in the background
There was a surprising amount of heat in the sun. Not enough to take off any layers, except gloves, but certainly no chill breeze to cause me to scurry back to the car before I was ready to.

Looking downriver with the sun at my back

Someone from the Guardian appears to have visited the week before and didn’t get quite such glorious sun. They did know what they were talking about when they saw various birds.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/02/longniddry-bents-east-lothian-ducks

Longniddry is on the John Muir Way which is 73km long. I reckon I did 73 yards along it until I found a way down onto the beach. I’ve walked another few yards of it a year or two back when I wandered around Yellowcraigs. As a confirmed non-rambler, I don’t imagine I’ll walk the whole lot anytime soon!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Muir_Way

Peace Poppies

When poppies were originally introduced prior to the Second World War, it was a time of increasing anxiety with remembrance being re-militarised. Remembrance had previously been something associated with grieving widows, but was being taken over by men and the military.

http://www.thenews.coop/features/Wider%20Co-op%20Movement/1676

I have a card from the Peace Pledge Union which came with the first white poppy I ever bought. It sits on my notice board. Here's part of what it says:

White poppies for peace were first made by the Women’s Co-operative Guild in 1933. Members of the Guild – many of whom were mothers and widows of men killed in WW1- feared that the ‘war to end all wars’, in which their men had died, would be followed by an even worse conflict. The white poppy was a reminder of the horrors of war. People who wore it did so as a way of insisting that those in power should resist war; that conflicts should be resolved without violence and with justice.

300 wars later, and after the slaughter of over 100 million people, the white poppy continues to be a reminder of the world’s failure to prevent war. It is a symbol of grief for everyone who has been harmed by war, but more importantly it is a symbol of our determination to work together to abolish war for good.

In the years since that was written, the 100 million people killed because of military conflicts, will have gone up considerably.

The Peace Pledge Union has a particularly informative website outlining peace initiatives and conflict resolution education.

http://www.ppu.org.uk/

Today and on 11th Nov I will think of those who lost their lives during the 20th century genocides large and small, as well as those who have been killed so far in this century. But I will also think of how unnecessary armed conflict is. If humans are intelligent enough to co-operate to the extent it takes to actually fight a war, then surely an equal effort can be made to resolve conflict.

Squash recipes and wee meander

I’ve been playing in the kitchen with the lovely squashes and pumpkins available this season. Here are three recipes I thought turned out pretty well.

Butternut Squash Casserole
Few handfuls of kasha
Medium leek, sliced
One small or half a large butternut squash, cubed
Sliced green pepper

Glass red wine

Veg oil

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tbsp tomato puree

Liquid veg stock

Seasonings

Toast the kasha, then set aside while you gently fry the butternut squash, leeks and green pepper. Add garlic if liked.

Slosh in red wine, liquid veg stock, paprika and tomato puree. Then add the toasted kasha and enough water to cover.

Cook either on the stovetop in a covered pan or transfer to a casserole dish and cook in a very moderate oven until the kasha swells and reaches the desired consistency – probably 45-60 minutes.

Stuffed Harlequin Squash
Harlequin squash are a handy two-portion size in a distinct colour combination of pale orangey/cream and green.

One harlequin squash
Small onion chopped
3 sliced sun dried tomatoes
Two handfuls chopped peanuts
Few oz Jarlsberg cheese, grated
Fine breadcrumbs
Parsley, finely chopped
Bouillon powder

Cut the squash in half and place cut side down on an oiled baking sheet and cook in a medium oven until soft enough to be scooped out.
Fry the onion and mix with the cooked squash, sun dried tomatoes, peanuts, bouillon powder and cheese. Pack the mix back into the squash shells and top with the breadcrumbs and parsley. Dot with butter and cook in the oven for 10 minutes or until heated through and the breadcrumbs are crisped.

Pumpkin Flan

Filling

One slice of pumpkin such as Ironbark pumpkin

One egg

Bouillon powder

Grated nutmeg

Flan base

Two handfuls of each of the following:

Pumpkin seeds

Sunflower seeds

Ground almonds

Melted butter to mix

Seasoning

Roast chunks of pumpkin in veg oil in the oven until very soft. Drain and puree thoroughly. When cool, mix with well beaten egg, nutmeg and bouillon powder.

Grind the seeds and add to the ground almonds. Mix into the melted butter and season. Press into individual flan bases and cook in the oven till firm.

Place the pumpkin mix in the flan bases and return to the oven to cook till set.

The photographs are of lovely flowers I was sent – obviously ‘coz I am so deserving. But probably coz Sig Other is exhibiting his brains with some Belgians, Norwegians, assorted Celtic fringe representatives, Baltic teams and other English folks in Holland this weekend. Well done to his team which won top of his section of clever people who can recall the right facts at the right time, assisted by an ability to make links between disparate clues to get answers correct. So I get to be in Edinburgh and enjoy flowers rather than be a ‘QUAG(B)’ (quizzing wife and girlfriend (boyfriend)).

I Quagged in Tallinn one year which was fine as Tallinn is just the most glorious old city, and I got to be in a fun quiz team with Nicolas Parsons. Delightful old gentleman, but we failed in our aim (everyone in the team’s aim except NP) to come last, in spite of our disinclination to contradict a national treasure when he proposed incorrect answers.

I’ve just read that back, and can assure myself that it makes sense, at least to me.

And here’s a pic of Tallinn showing a view of the old city merging in the distance with the new.

Autumn in the Botanic Gardens

Very happy ducks.

The new visitor centre opened recently at the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, so of I trotted to see what they’d done with it. I was impressed! The building is beautiful outside and in.
http://www.rbge.org.uk/about-us/news/stories/john-hope-gateway-open

I took some pics during what was a short, and wet visit to the gardens. If you look on the RBGE website there are superb photographs, but mine are not too bad considering my extremely amateur status.

In the rain - taken while balancing my umbrella, camera and some pine cones I collected from the sodden grass.

The the rain stopped and people started walking about again.

I came across some fungus in the damp undergrowth.

Thursday talks

It is the Radical Book Fair in Edinburgh this week. The RBF is free and run by the famous independent Edinburgh bookshop, Wordpower and this is the 13th year of fabulous speakers and varied topics that I wouldn’t come across anywhere else.

I trundled off to view a documentary about the Angry Brigade this afternoon. What follows is apologetically ignorant comments I’m afraid. I know virtually nothing about this part of radical history, mostly because I was too young to know about it in the 60’s and early 70’s. I’ve heard of some of the groups involved, but could not have named anyone in particular.

From the programme:

This BBC film by Gordon Carr, first released in 1973, documents the events surrounding Britain’s longest ever conspiracy trial, in which eight young anarchists were charged as members of the Angry Brigade. Carr did extensive research amongst police and anarchists and the interviews are intriguing. Also fascinating is the film’s historical footage. It records inside communes, massive demonstrations and other revolutionary events of the time.

The film began very well with a reasonably coherent outline of the history of anarchy in the UK, and Europe, tracing the movement back to Spanish anarchists who sacrificed much in their fight against Franco. However, I really needed to have more background for me to have properly followed the subsequent history of who did what and where. The links between the San Francisco hippies, the French student revolutionaries and the London anarchist movement was gone over too fast for me to really comprehend and I suppose if I was interested enough I’d read up on it all.

So I’m left analysing the film through the radical feminist lens. No women were interviewed in the film. Women who were involved in these movements and who went to jail were shockingly still referred to as ‘girls’. The only references to the women’s movement were spoken of sneeringly. In its defence, I believe the film was not an homage to the anarchist movement as it ended up praising the police for getting to grips with these types of movements.

Anyway, I remain aloof from ‘mainstream’ anarchy, particularly the extreme libertarian versions as they are dangerous to women rights and largely anathema to radical feminists. If you are feeling strong enough sometime just search for these types of websites and see how bloody-minded they are about radical feminism and their beliefs in censorship of women’s right to bodily autonomy.

On the other hand, I do respect people who have political convictions and who do try to make the world a better place and the section of the documentary where communes were discussed was good. The film makers obviously comprehended the aims of the communes in the way the children were treated and in the efforts to free women to become more actively involved and to break down the oppressive nuclear family structure. Of course, this didn’t work and the comment that the police on raiding the communes were horrified at the standard of hygiene in the communes raised a titter amongst the audience.
Here’s some boy writing about it all in the Observer.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2002/feb/03/features.magazine27

I then spent time and money at the vast bookstalls, before joining with some old pals at a talk on Irish women’s abortion rights. Hint – they have none!

From the programme:

What happens when women are denied the right to choose? Irish law on abortion is the most restrictive in Europe and every year, around 6,500 Irish women travel to the UK to have an abortion. In this oral history, the writer and feminist Ann Rossiter tells the story of the London-Irish women involved during the 1980s and 1990s in the Irish Women’s Abortion Support Group and the Irish Abortion Solidarity Campaign and presents a vivid and timely contribution to debates about the Irish feminist movement in Britain in the late twentieth century.

Ireland's Hidden Diaspora - The 'Abortion Trail' and the Making of a London-Irish Underground, 1980-2000, by Ann Rossiter

ISBN: 9780956178503

Moving, inspirational and enraging. Politicians of all stripes in London, Belfast and Dublin sell women’s humanity down the river decade after decade and we are almost powerless to change this.

Women always are forced to give of their energy, time, and resources to help each other and over the desperate right to control our own fertility this is endless.

We were given a timely reminder that what was won in 1967 can all be swept away if we are not vigilant. For me, the only benefit of not being independent is that the forces of womb-hatred in this country would pounce pretty quickly to remove our human rights over our fertility-control. This is one serious flaw in the SNP and which will always cost them the feminist vote unless they ruthlessly weed out their reactionary and usually religious (of all flavours) influencers. Obviously the SNP are not alone in being infiltrated by the anti-choice medievalists, as these creatures infest all parties.

Ann Rossiter and her ilk should be awarded Nobel prizes for services to womankind and for peace and economics and all other relevant categories rather than overpriviledged American males (admittedly BO has done a little to correct the damage done by his predecessor.)

I think it is safe to say bodily autonomy is one thing that gets me riled every time.

Feels Like Autumn

Yes, a bit obvious, but today is the first day I really feel that autumn has set in. We've had such a lovely month but it had to end sometime.

Above is a pic of a little cluster of trees in varying stages of yellowing taken through the rain this morning.

Now I am going out to find out if my car will start after being ignored for the last three weeks while I've either been away or out of action with the 'flu.

Gude Cause March

(Copywrite National Library of Scotland)

The long awaited and planned for march wended its way through the streets of Edinburgh yesterday. Estimates for numbers marching varied from 2500 – 3500. I overheard someone say the police thought there was around the 3000 mark.

The event commemorated the 1909 suffragette march where the theme was votes for women. Yesterday the organisers divided participants into three sections.

Violet was for the past which had women dressed in Edwardian outfits, one example being the woman representing Shetland women's suffrage.

White represented the present with groups who are working for women’s equality in all sorts of fields.

Green was for the future, mostly younger people who are doing exciting things in single and mixed sex groups.

The Auld Reekie Roller Girls took the prize for 'attitude', while the Youth Parliament were probably loudest in their calls for votes for 16 year olds.

In amongst all this were several bands and a large choir singing protest songs from the official Gude Cause song book.
http://www.protestinharmony.org.uk/songs/Gude_Cause/index.htm
Some progress can be claimed compared to 100 years ago. The suffragettes could only dream that policewomen would lead a march, the city council would be led by a woman councillor and speeches given by women elected to a devolved Scottish parliament, while women architects, builders and drummers would all turn up and support the event. We can never over estimate the debt we owe our feminist foremothers for what they achieved on our behalf in many cases through great personal sacrifice. But here’s why we still need to campaign.
http://www.gudecause.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/elspeth-king-edinburgh-women-suffrage-procession.pdf

The original march was led by a nine year old girl piper and this was replicated yesterday by Louise Marshall Millington.
However, right at the front, two mounted women police officers rode in advance of the sea of violet, white and green following behind. Green, white and violet were chosen as the suffragette colours standing for “Give Women the Vote”.
Thanks and congratulations are due the organisers for the work they put in over the last two years to make this event such a success. While the whole day was memorable, some things stand out. The elderly woman who stopped me in the street and told me her grandmother was in the original march and had been a militant suffragette, not a wishy washy suffragist!

The young woman who insisted on confessing her feelings of guilt about having never voted. All I could do was to encourage her to just pick a party to vote for or at the very least write something on her ballot slip.

The two young lads who were part of the student film crew who were so excited at the opportunity to be involved in recording the event and be part of this history.

The film director co-ordinating the filming (above) and who had the inspirational idea to have films and pictures uploaded online to make a permanent record. She also brought along media students who were positioned along the route to do interviews with people on the march.

The young Events student who told me she volunteers for everything she can get involved with, but this was the best yet. Another elderly woman who said in wonder that she hadn’t known there were Scottish suffragettes far less that they were so active in the movement. Here is one group trying to prevent our herstory being hidden from us.

Meeting many, many old pals who I just knew would be there. And the realisation, when seeing the massed ranks of long standing feminists from all walks of life in Scotland, how fortunate we are to have such dedicated women making a difference in academia, politics, VAW, education, business, commerce and everywhere in our society including the Public Safety Officer overseeing the event from the City of Edinburgh Council - a professional young woman who stopped to chat to me about her role.

I tried to photograph as many of the wonderful banners as possible before the march set off. Here are a few.

Aren't we all?

Politicians were out in force, with a sizeable contingent of Greens, Labour, SSP and at least three banners from the SNP. The march stopped outside the City Chambers in the High Street to hear words from the leader of City of Edinburgh Council, Jenny Dawe.

The march ended at the top of Calton Hill with speeches and singing. Cathy Peattie MSP led us in singing Bread and Roses, the traditional protest song on these occasions. Fiona Hyslop, Minister for Education spoke of the need for gender equality and the Gude Cause Chairwoman read out messages of support from feminists across the world.

I think that everyone who got dressed up, made banners, or simply turned up and marched should be proud of themselves for making women's equality in Scotland just a little bit closer.

Weekend in Madrid

Could have titled this post "Five go Mad for Madrid", as I accompanied four of my chums to this city for a long weekend in the sun. I cannot rave on enough about this wonderful city. The criteria for selecting our weekend was to go somewhere none of us had previously visited; Madrid fitted the bill and exceeded our expectations for a short city break.

The weather was perfect as it was consistently sunny and warm enough to walk about and see the sites without every being overly hot or dropping below comfortable in the evenings. When the sun was a little too bright, every avenue had shady trees to sit under and endless little cafes to sample.

I already loved white Rioja and was delighted that this became a favourite with the other wine drinkers. Although, I also found good Albarino at a few cafes which meant I really didn't get round to trying the lager, but it had its fans too, particularly lager with lemon. Being a city, there was no problem finding good veggie food as well as a great range of tapas for all tastes.

However, it is the architecture that is so special. and although holiday snaps are tedious at best, I've added a few here. I just wish I was a better photographer, as I simply cannot do the views justice.

Gran Via, the very busy street our hotel was on. Very central so we could walk practically everywhere.

The Palace - hosting a state visit, but we never found out who was being honoured.

Big hotels with curious history. We were informed that Mata Hari stayed in the Palace Hotel.

The city has many beautiful churches, but we only saw round the Cathedral.

Cathedral organ pipes

Madrid has an abundance of art galleries and museums. We only had time for a speedy visit to one.

The Prado

I'm not sure how long it would take to see everything I'd want to see here. I had made a list of 'must-see's' and managed most of them. I was most impressed with the three Clara Peeters, and The Garden of Earthly Delights (Bosch).

http://www.spanisharts.com/prado/peeters/bio_peeters.htm

http://www.spanisharts.com/prado/bosch.htm

Filmic Herstory

Following close on the heels of the new (to me) info about women’s suffrage campaigns in Edinburgh outlined in the last post, I find that Edinburgh Filmhouse is hosting a day (4th Oct) as part of the Gude Cause centenary. The Filmhouse is showing three films about women in Scotland, none of which I’ve seen, but they look marvellous.

I am extremely miffed because I have to be elsewhere on Sunday, so missing out on this event.

Most of the important information can be found at Creative Voyage.
http://www.creativevoyage.co.uk/node/309

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/890164/index.html

I won’t completely miss out as I can listen in on Thursday to Radio Scotland where some of the filmmakers will be interviewed about their work.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074hml

Edinburgh Doors Open Weekend

It has been Doors Open weekend in Edinburgh and I took full advantage of this in the wonderful sun yesterday and found some real treats!

http://www.cockburnassociation.org.uk/default.asp?page=119

I started at the Kings Buildings, which house Edinburgh University’s faculty of science and engineering. First up was the Natural History Museum, within the old Ashworth building, then the Cockburn Museum of Geoscience, in the Grant Institute.

The Natural History museum contains somewhat more specimens in jars than I can stand, so I mostly avoided those and looked into microscopes set up with various marine exhibits. This was fascinating – a word I’ll make no apology for overusing in this account.

There was worrying information in the apiary exhibit about the threat to bees and, more optimistically, the research the university are conducting into preserving bee stocks.

Most interesting was the talk from an enthusiastic youngster on his work linking his engineering expertise with the biomedical research company set up to produce innovative procedures to identify cancer cells which don’t respond to drugs and use new methods to tackle this. He also gave a brilliant explanation of the uses of nanotechnology in medicine.

I moved on to the Grant Institute and while looking at the examples of rocks, a faculty member (Professor … oops, didn’t get her name) offered to show me the Ion Microscope in the bowels of the building. She left me in the hands of another enthusiast, this time a very experienced tech who knows everything there is to know about ion microscopes.

This was utterly fascinating! He had some terrific stories about these complicated machines, of which there are only 2 in the UK, both in this department.

He showed me what he is working on right now, which is some minute Russian diamonds, which reached him by the curious delivery method of being taped into the spine of a Russian book. He is uncertain of their provenance but hopes the work done to analyse their properties in the ion microscope will be paid for!

I became quite inspired and could easily have been persuaded to take up earth sciences and train for this kind of work, but I think it takes longer than I may have left to learn all this!

I’d left a couple of hours to see round the Royal Observatory – it wasn’t nearly enough.

http://www.roe.ac.uk/roe/support/pr/opendays2009/index.html

What a brilliant site this is, and to top it all they have really great coffee in their cafe!

A young astronomer gave a talk (oops, didn’t get her name either) on her work at Paranal in Chile on the VLT (Very Large Telescope).
http://www.eso.org/public/astronomy/teles-instr/paranal.html

I like astronomers; they must have a passion for plain speaking, the way they name their telescopes VLT and E-ELT (European Extremely Large Telescope). Um, I might be tempted to give a slightly more explicit title to a telescope that is 42 metres in diameter.

After this short tantalising talk, I wandered round some more and got my photo taken with an infrared camera. It was a warm day but my nose was still cold and showed up green on the image. It showed even greener when I rubbed it with an ice cube, while my hands got very red holding a cup of hot water.

Time then to climb up the stairs to the observatory. Half way up there is a door onto the viewing area where there was a telescope trained on the Nelson Monument at the top of Calton Hill. I managed to take a photograph of this by placing the lens up against the eyepiece. It is upside down for obvious optical reasons and I’ve left it so at the top of this post. As the Nelson Monument was also taking part in Doors Open Weekend there are people up there too.

In the education room off the viewing area, I waded past hordes of kids playing with various astrological things appropriate to their age-group. I decided I was too old for the ‘making a comet talk’, but muscled my way into the group of adults surrounding the ‘handle a meteorite’ display.

Finally, I made my way up to the old telescope and yet more informative exhibits, before coming back down the stairs and noticing a fascinating info board detailing the ‘bomb’ set off in the Observatory grounds in 1913 by Suffragettes campaigning for votes for women. Yikes, these women obviously got pushed so far that they really took things into their own hands! However, they made sure no one was hurt and there was not extensive damage.

http://www.womenslib.org/index_files/Page324.htm

The incident made the New York Times which quoted the UK Home Secretary who described it as a “… petty annoyance to frighten the government into giving the franchise to women …”
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F04E7D81F3AE633A25751C2A9639C946296D6CF

Thanks to the bravery and persistence of our foremothers, less than one hundred years later I can visit the Royal Observatory and listen to number of women scientists who have had the opportunity to travel the world and work as equals alongside male scientists and no one thinks anything of it.

What a way to end my afternoon!

Tedious disclaimer

Having posted all of the above, I reflected that I probably, for the sake of utter clarity in case anyone could conceivably think I was in favour of gunpowder, state that I am not. Duh!

Yummy weekend food

Continuing the sunny weekend theme from yesterday's post, this is a run through of the lovely food Sig Other and I have been scoffing.

Our 'Pemberley' picnic consisted of sandwiches filled with blue cheese, avocado and chopped walnuts, then chocolate cake, raspberry & cranberry smoothy, bananas and a walk round the gardens to digest it all.

All that National Trust culture made us hungry, and Sig Other went home and created the most delicious asparagus flan. He rolled out some gluten free frozen pastry (defrosted of course) that he'd found in Sainsburys and consulted Prue Leith's Cookery Bible to get the quantities for an egg, Emmental and double cream filling for the pastry case. This was excellent and much better than my attempts at more calorifically virtuous quiches made with Quark.

Today we went to the Unicorn, a wholefood shop in Chorlton, a very naice part of Greater Manchester and one which I now want to live in. Perhaps the nearest analogue for Edinburgh would be a bigger better Stockbridge. The major drawback would be the overwhelming numbers of 'Conservative Clubs'; so perhaps no real equivalent exists in Auld Reekie.

The Unicorn is a fantastic shop which sells reasonably priced organic produce with helpful info on cooking suggestions. This season they have a vast range of squashes and a comprehensive leaflet to take away with ideas. They also sell a terrific selection of flours, nuts, seeds, dried fruit and tons of other great stuff. As it is so reasonably priced I have no qualms about trying things I've never heard of and taking culinary 'risks' on the weird and wonderful.

The company has a worthy ethical approach to business, attempting where feasible to buy local and if not, then to source ethically, fairly traded products. Today, they had a wonderful trolley made out of metal and recycled concrete bags made by a women's co-operative in India. I've frequently thought about finding a trolley, but knowing that even voicing that desire to my daughter would result in howls of horror (will I ever grow beyond the 'embarrassing mother' stage?) However, this trolley might be ok as it avoids the bag-lady tartan of the usual commercial shopping trolleys.

Still sunny later this afternoon, so we had a BBQ. Mostly cooked shop bought mushroom burgers, but I got creative with little parcels of asparagus (in butter and lemon juice), fine green beans (in olive oil with fresh rosemary), and baby potatoes, all in foil and taking various lengths of time to cook, so that extended the BBQ fun.

Garden furniture and BBQ all tucked away now till next year as I expect that is the finale of summer in these parts.

Links
http://www.unicorn-grocery.co.uk/index.php

Can't find a pic of the concrete bag trolley, but this is a link to a similar product.
http://www.yourtomorrow.co.uk/product/12/allpurpose-cement-bag.php

Picnic at Pemberley

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-lymepark

Taking advantage of this brief warm weekend, Sig Other and I visited Lyme Hall, the scenic location used as Pemberley in BBC's Pride and Prejudice. You'll instantly recall it as soon as I mention Colin Firth and wet white shirt.

Sunny though it was, Sig Other was not moved to replicate this iconic scene, but in a romantic gesture soon after we first met, he took me to see 'Pemberley' in December when the frost glinted on the lawns and the little lochan (what's the English version of lochan?) was iced over at the edges. Again, no C.F. or any other exhibition of manly drippiness.

Today the Hall was open as part of the Heritage Open Days, so this time we saw round the house and gardens after picnicking in the grounds near the mill pond.

http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/

For aficionados

http://www.pemberley.com/

Festival fireworks

On Sunday I trundled up Calton Hill, as I am wont to do anytime there is a chance of standing with a crowd and watching some kind of spectacle or other. This time was in order to see the end of the festival fireworks. Radio Forth were kindly broadcasting the concert from Princes Street Gardens onto the hill so the assembled multitudes could listen as well as gasp in amazement at the bangs and sparks.

"The Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus joins the Scottish Chamber orchestra for a rousing night of some of Handel’s most famous works. The technical and artistic wizards of Pyrovision once again choreograph a stunning display to match Handel’s triumphant, exuberant music composed for royal occasions or in praise of God. "

Programme:

Zadok the Priest
Music for the Royal Fireworks
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (Solomon)

Hallelujah Chorus (Messiah

It lasted about 50 minutes and as ever, the timing of the pyrotechnics and music was fabulous.
I forgot to take my camera, so I made do with my Blackberry which is really not all that great as you can see! I mucked about with some of the pics to bring up more of the detail, but this is as good as it got.

The best thing about it all, was the friendly crowd and that the rain stayed off until everyone was slowly making their way down the hill. And it was really quite warm. I'd dressed for the usual conditions up there - howling gale and extreme windchill factor, so I was rather overheated. Better that than shivering, although even then, I couldn't keep my hand steady to take more than a few pics that were not completely wobbly.

I suspect the photographs of fireworks at this link are better than mine.

http://www.eif.co.uk/files/editor/documents/BoSFireworksConcertprogramme.pdf

Warming recipes for early autumn

Summer is not a time for cooking in my kitchen, other than super salads and easy quick cooking, so as the weather closes in and the skies darken I've taken to scrabbling around in the food cupboards in anticipation of autumn.

Two days ago, seized with enthusiasm I dug out the seed sprouting system I'd abandoned years ago when some some exotic seeds turned into a smelly disaster. I spent some time refreshing the whole thing with very dilute bleach and making sure that was all washed off, before soaking some mung beans for 45 minutes, giving them a thorough wash then sprinkling them on two trays of the BioSnacky sprouter. I've dutifully rinsed the trays three times a day and already they are sprouting vigorously in a shady corner of the kitchen. I have a sense of pride in my little growing sprouts which by Sunday I will be able to harvest. Providing I look after them ok the bean sprouts should keep in a plastic container in the fridge for up to a week. I can think of very few occupations which provide such instant gratification for so small an effort.

http://www.avogel.co.uk/shop/products/biosnacky/largegerminator.php

Moroccan stew

This is worth trying again and again. I love finding new flavours and experimenting with them - I love it even more when I make something really enjoyable, like this dish.

3 medium carrots chopped in various sizes

same amount of cooked small potatoes (left over from potato salad in this case)

3 patties of frozen spinach

2/3 tin of chickpeas

3 roughly chopped spring onions

clove of garlic

vegetable oil

stock cube/powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cummin seeds

lots of black pepper

1/4 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp cayenne

one clove

Assemble the spices then saute the carrot for a few minutes in the oil before adding the spices to let them cook for a bit. Add the cooked potatoes and fry for another couple of minutes. Add the frozen spinach, garlic and spring onion. Finally add stock and a little water. Cook until the spinach is incorporated with the other veg, then add the chick peas. Leave to cook out until the sauce thickens but doesn't dry up. Allow to sit in the fridge overnight to let the flavours fully develop then heat through and serve with couscous.

Fennel loaf

2 sticks celery finely chopped

twice that amount of fennel chopped

1/4 large onion chopped

small crisp apple finely chopped

enough wholemeal breadcrumbs to bind loosely

large tbs linseeds soaked in a little water (as egg substitute and to bind the mix)

2 tbs pumpkin seeds ground up

stock/bouillon

grapeseed oil

2 oz aged Red Leicester cheese grated

two vine tomatoes sliced

Saute celery, fennel, apple and onion in the oil until soft. Remove from the heat and mix in the pumpkin seed, powdered bouillon or stock, linseeds and soaking water which should be slightly gelatinous. Add enough breadcrumbs to create a damp mixture and press into a small greased loaf tin. Cook in a moderate oven until it looks a little crisp on top the sprinkle over the grated cheese and place the sliced tomato on top. Put back in the oven for another five-ten minutes.

Green beans with lemon and tarragon polenta dumplings

200 grams green beans halved

2 large sticks celery julienned

1/4 onion chopped

2 tbs chopped tarragon

stock

juice of half a lemon

black pepper

olive oil

Saute the celery in the oil for five minutes, then add the onion and green beans. Cook for a little while before adding the stock and tarragon and lemon juice. Transfer to a casserole dish with lid and place in a moderate oven while you make the dumplings.

Polenta lemon dumplings

2 tbs veg suet

2 tbs polenta

2 tbs SR flour

1 tbs chopped tarragon

grated zest of half a lemon

Mix together and add enough water to form a soft consistency then form into 4 or 5 dumplings and carefully place on top of the green beans. Cover and return to the oven for 20 -30 minutes depending on how long it takes the dumplings to cook in your oven.

Greengage flan

Sweet short crust pastry with one oz flour substituted with ground almonds, baked blind in a flan tin.
punnet of ripe greengages halved and stoned
caster sugar
creme fraiche
vanilla extract
2 beaten eggs

Place the halved greengages on the pastry and cover with the rest of the ingredients mixed. Cook in a very moderate oven until the filling is set. This will keep in the fridge for a few days.

Women and politics 4

One of the less remarked Edinburgh festivals is the Festival of Politics. As usual, I never get around to attending, even though I have great intentions when I see the festival programme.

Regret is deeper than ever this year as I missed Clare Short talking about her life in politics. A more principled Labour MP than most, including many of the determined, but not always impressive line-up of women climbing to near the top at Westminster (keep trying Harriet). I have a measure of respect for Clare Short and her work in development that was, to further strain an over-used word, compassionate and grounded in a people-centred approach. She recognised the need to incorporate trade as well as aid, but was scathing of other members of her government also arming idiots in developing countries simply to prop up the immoral UK arms manufacturers.

But all is not lost! Holyrood TV recorded her hour long talk at the link below. Be quick if you want to watch is as it will only be there for a short time.
http://www.holyrood.tv/popup.asp?stream=http://vr-sp-archive.lbwa.verio.net/archive/200809_FOP_clare_short.wmv

She also has an informative website with links to many of her speeches.
http://www.epolitix.com/mpwebsites/mpwebsitepage/mpsite/clare-short/mppage/home-1/

Festival round-up

This year has been unusual for me in that I’ve managed to see very few shows at any of the festivals. I reported earlier after a flurry of activity during the first weekend then all went quiet. Mostly this was due to flu then just not being in Edinburgh.

This weekend I made up for the lack a little bit:

Fascinating Aida
Go! Just get a ticket to wherever they are on and laugh yourself daft. These three women are the funniest act I’ve seen at the Fringe for several years. Although they sail rather close to the non-PC line I am prepared to suspend my hyper-critical sensibilities as they are WymminOfaCertainAge and that’s pretty much ok then. Why they are not on TV (they used to be on ages ago) when they are so much more talented than the dross that currently passes for stand-up, is unfathomable.
http://www.fascinatingaida.co.uk/

Paul Sinha
Sig Other knows him, so we went to support this “Asian gay doctor comic
“ – his own description. I giggled at bits of his set, but otherwise, same old, same old.

I had not seen any exhibitions this year, so determined to have art-gluttony yesterday by fitting in four over the afternoon interspersed with friends and food.

Rough Cut Nation
Marvellous idea for an art show! The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is closed for renovation, but it was opened for a group of young artists to create an installation using one of the ground floor galleries to do with as they would. While it was not my taste in art, I just love that people who may never otherwise have their art displayed in a national gallery were given this opportunity. It was absolutely mobbed when I went there, so it must have proved popular.
http://www.nationalgalleries.org/whatson/exhibition/5:368/7989/

The Travels of an Urban Hermit
Artist Becky Fawcett has produced a small exhibition of drawings from around the UK with witty commentary explaining what she has produced. This was on show in the Assembly Rooms. I think it could have been better displayed, but it was worth seeing.

Zimbabwe Sculpture
Also on display in the Assembly Rooms. Beautiful stone sculpture from Zimbabwean artists. Sadly not at a price I could afford.

The Signspotting Project
I kept passing these on the bus and never getting off and taking a proper look - until the last half hour of this very funny exhibition of signs positioned above and inside the Prices Mall at the east end of Princes Street. 100 highly entertaining signs from all around the world, showing how idiotic the English language can be, especially when in translation. Other signs were perfectly grammatical but amusing and absurd. I’d seen one earlier in the month when up north: “BEWARE Freerange Children SLOW.”
http://www.signspotting.com/index.php?do=rate&gender=0&new=7

Some exhibitions go on for another week yet, so I might fit in more.

The International Book Festival outing for my book group this year was to listen to Elaine Showalter. Excellent! I could have listened to her wisdom for many more hours than the one allocated.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/may/09/female-novelists-usa

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/may/16/elaine-showalter-jury-of-her-peers

Not festivally, but I also saw Harry Potter draws his pension er, the Half Blood Prince. It was ok, but really Ms Rowling, do you have to portray teenage girls as such weedy characters swooning over boys?

Almost into September and fewer opportunities for kulture, but there may be some films I’d be interested in coming to the Edinburgh Filmhouse soon.

Late August general meanderings

One of my (less) endearing personality traits is my impulsiveness. This has sometimes led to good and bad decisions, but most often, neither good nor bad. I have always wanted to give my opinion on well, anything really. So, recently when I was idling away an hour online, I signed up to a site giving permission to, I thought, a limited number of pollsters contacting me.

OK, I should have thought this through before agreeing to speak to anyone and to realise that this might be more time consuming and considerably less straight forward than I imagined. My reasoning for taking this step is that there is virtually no representation of radical feminist middle-aged Scottish people’s opinion apparent anywhere. I now know why. In order to have such (apparently) specific opinion showing in polls, the right questions have to be asked.

What I have discovered since inviting access to my views is that my answers don’t fit the questions asked as most questions are framed using the dominant patriarchal outlook. Perhaps I should have been more cynical before embarking on this, but surely it cannot be beyond the scope of computer programmes to analyse a wider range of views than currently seems to be the case, going on the, admittedly, limited number of surveys I’ve taken part in. Until questions are more flexible, minority opinions cannot gain any representation and answers will continue to be hopelessly skewed in favour of the status quo. The other glaring problem is that surveys are answered only by those who are interested in answering surveys. This insight does not lead me to conclude that there is a silent majority of Scottish, middle-aged radical feminists in our population who are failing to make their views known.

To date, I’ve only answered one political survey. It was online and dealt almost exclusively with issues that only affected the English therefore I didn’t feel able to make much of that, as I’m reluctant to offer views on another country’s affairs.

If I’m asked about my views on the current burning topic, (at least amongst the chatterati online) I will have to resort to that enormously helpful Scottish legal verdict and assert that my view is ‘not proven’. I’ve no idea whether those who think the Libyan chap is not guilty have it right or wrong, neither have I a firm view on compassionate release, although I found Annabel Goldie’s idea of hospice care for the prisoner, inconceivably short-sighted. Responses have been remarkably narrowly framed in party political terms by too many politicians who project a view that can only arise from a belief that Scottish people/politicians are uniquely unable to deal with international implications, (with the commendable exception of the ever impressive Malcolm Chisholm in his statement in Parliament on Monday.) I am inclined to regard the way MacAskill’s handled it as him making the best of a difficult situation and that Scots politicians stride the world’s stage with as much or as little talent as those of any other nation.

Innate pragmatism engenders a feeling of gratitude that he will die at home and not in a Scottish jail with all the fall-out that would have entailed, particularly if he is eventually found not guilty. Slightly wistful thinking has me speculating that maybe Hillary would have moderated her views if dealing with Nicola and Harriet, but then again, probably not. And now I have to go answer an email on the subject from a baffled American pal whose views are always satisfyingly contrary to my own.

The Girlz Viewz

The Girlz decided to meet up for a chill out. Said chill out involved insignificant amounts of C2H5OH compared to the norm before we all grew up and chose to behave decorously on ‘school’ nites. Hence, I am home in sufficient time to post this.

We ate, drank and conducted in-depth analysis of the doings of our nearest and dearest. Oddly, we appear to have crossed a Rubicon between feelings of yeuch at parental sexual relationships to now trying to set up dates between our respective widowed progenitors. Although my suggestion of a civil partnership for two dads was perhaps premature.

However, this post is supposed to be a quasi-official rant – at the tramsbuggeration of our fair city.

While marooned en omnibus on Leith St on my way to the girlz-rendezvous I had far too long to anti-ogle (as in try not to look but be helplessly drawn to the awfulness of) the male objects not working on the tramscrash, i.e. holes in road.

These individuals are now notorious for standing around gazing down deep holes and generally posing to no useful effect. Here, therefore is my argument: if this nation is to be ripped off for this political vanity project we, the concerned citizens, should at least have pretty boys to look at in the aforementioned poses. I vote for sweet faced young hunks artistically sporting sexy smears of dust highlighting delicious bone structure.

NOT dirty, sweaty unfortunates who are going commando-style in the August heat.

P, who knows much about such issues confirmed that the hole-in-the-road-diggers are indeed commando-style explained in precise detail just why. Apparently, it’s all to do with – er, um, boy-pants (?) Mercifully failed to understand the finer points here.

Anyway, this is a plea for pretty boys so those stuck on the bus can be enchanted with the view. And I can’t imagine anyone will disagree.

Sunday Morning Act of Worship

"Where two or more are gathered ....."

Yup, went to see Pythonesque yesterday at the Fringe. Four pretty boys energetically performing an homage to the seminal six while reinterpreting the most famous sketches.
Enjoyable.

It is likely that, at least in the circles in which I turn, Python scripts are more quoted than other holy writings, but overwhelmingly by only their male believers. Some time ago, I suggested an experiment to Y who was with me at the show, so is a known 'believer', that the phenomenon of Python-quoting was a gendered activity. I'd tested my theory one evening in the company of some good female friends whom I could trust to automatically ignore my foibles when in public. Sure enough, when sitting comfortably in a convivial establishment, I began to quote from the sacred skits. I was ignored, so I ceased and smugly considered my theory proven.

Y agreed to carrying out her own test, again with female friends and in public. Y had the same experience of being ignored. We compared notes and decided that the theory stood up, at least with these two sets of friends. However, I think it is possible that a subset of female friends might react differently, and that is women who are science fiction fans. It is just conceivable that they might join in.

Please try this and see what happens, then let me know!

I fitted in two shows yesterday, the second was a feminine interpretation of the Anglo-bard in the Complete Works of William Shakespear (Abridged). This time the Reduced Shakespear Company's famous script was performed by three talented young women.
Most enjoyable.

Go explore what's on in the Fringe programme:

http://www.edfringe.com/

Mythical beasties

I spent a few days in the highlands last week partly seeing how far north I could manage to travel from my base in Dornoch, but also to entice some shy beasties out to play.

The first night was spent at Fort Augustus which is on the Caledonian Canal as it runs into Loch Ness. Nessie was present only in the artistic interpretation shown above. Neither did she turn up as hoped when I stopped at Castle Urquhart on the shores of the Loch.

I was miffed, as I’d grown up hearing about my grandfather’s sighting of the monster some 80 years ago. Sig Other commented acerbically about family traditions of visits by mythical beasts, at which point I harrumphed and shut up. Loch Ness

Despite travelling a fair bit around and about, no dolphins appeared to me either. Lots of cavorting seals by the shores of numerous firths. Those photos are still in Sig Other’s camera.

Although the wildlife was largely in absentia, the sun was out and the beaches were as advertised with foamy surf and few other humans around.

However, I did achieve one goal of my trip and that was to find an old friend whose address I had lost in a long ago house move. I am quite proud of my amature detective efforts as I nipped into the public loos in Tain and asked the women guarding the facilities if they knew of my friend. Delightedly they said yes, and pointed me in her direction. (Tain is a small town.)

Even better, B seemed happy to see me despite the shock she must have had at me arriving out of the blue after some 14 years of silence. Kettles were boiled, high-speed gossip exchanged and I left with her contact details.

Although I felt some trepidation at boldly knocking on her door, I was reasonably confident of a welcome. We’d long ago agreed that as neither of us were any use at keeping in touch, that no matter how long it was, we’d pick up our friendship when we met again.

She said something rather touching … that “I carried a part of her past and she carried a part of mine”. We met in our first careers more than thirty years ago. This was a turbulent time for both of us professionally and personally, thus we were important supports to each other during these years. I no longer have anyone else in my life who knew the highs and lows and neither does she, so a renewal of our contact means some good/bad old stories can be dusted down and reappraised in the light of maturity and distance.

But this is also a reminder to me to trust in the bonds of real friendship no matter how stretched these might become.

Er, I’ll stop now as I suspect I'm beginning to channel Francis Gay's* column.
http://www.sundaypost.com/frangay.htm

*Another mythical beastie!