Twitter

I've decided not to create a Twitter account. Weighing the fors with the againsts, the againsts have it. It could also be a personality issue. It seems to have no relevance for me whatsoever. I am unlikely to 'follow' anyone else; it is even less likely that anyone will follow me.

I'm probably harbouring some prejudices. That users' tweet is immediately off-putting to me. I recently listened to Wagner's Ring; this took 27 years to write and is nearly 20 hours of some of the most beautiful music ever created. People have died trying to perform it. New instruments had to be invented. Buildings have been erected for single performances. Ear drums have been shattered (I exaggerate maybe). There is so much I'd like to say about it. Well, it's all about love and redemption. But there's not much can be said in 140 characters. And then there are the novels of Proust, and Ullysses, the Ramayana, The Golden Bough, even Moby Dick.

Hollingshead Exhibition

Josh Hollingshead is a young artist from Dorset who I think is likely to gain much recognition. His second exhibition is being held all this week in Swanage at L'Artishe Gallery in the High street. I have one or two of his pictures but he now has really matured. He recently toured Africa and this seems to have been the inspiration behind the paintings in the exhibition. I was particularly amazed by this one:


If you plan to see this. check with the gallery first. I must say, the painting is much better than it appears in the above image.
Peter

On Libraries

It is sometimes easy for us to take for granted the great libraries we have and work in these days. I’m thinking particularly of the book collections. (Being overwhelmed by the sight of miles of books is not the same as being overwhelmed by using electronic resources which has nothing ‘hallowed’ about it). The collection here at Hartley (University of Southampton) is massive by any standard. It started off small but by 1937 there were around 50,000 books; this had grown to about 550,000 in 1977. Around this time the budget for books was about £40,000 a year so the collection had a massive spurt of growth through the 80s and 90s. I have asked some staff members about the present size of the book collection (no one seems to know) and estimates range between 2 and 6 million, which tells me nothing really other than that it is very big and many times bigger than the ancient library of Alexandria; this is not to mention the many thousands of journals and manuscripts (pamphlets, government publications, music scores, DVDs  etc. etc., and the online collection is perhaps even larger than all of this). How does all of this compare with the great libraries of the past? The great library of Nineveh was perhaps the original model of collecting a massive body of knowledge, but we would not now think of it as especially big. Queen Elizabeth’s library, run by the enigmatic Dr Dee, only ran to hundreds of volumes, as did Bede’s (the entire collection of Monkwearmouth/Jarrow running only to about two hundred books). Even the libraries of Oxford and Cambridge only ran into the hundreds up until the 17th century. We are therefore very lucky, we happy few. But all is not so happy. The day is fast approaching when people will come to your house, look at your walls lined with books and say ‘What are those for?’

NetVibes

Netvibes seems to be a very useful tool. I have just attended a very entertaining session and now have a a netvibes account. It is pretty intuitive to use and is a tool likely to be used straightaway (there's no reason not to). If I can my ebay to stop being bilingual I'll be very pleased.

Love Supreme

I have been quite 'arid' with this blogging business. Rather than dry up entirely I thought I would say a word or two about John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. Many great essays have been written about this recording so I don't need to say much here other than some personal reflections. I have been unable to tire of this record. The opening line just hooks me every time. I think also the intensity of the music makes so much else seem insipid and ingratiating. I suspect that many of us have from time to time almost given up on everything else in life to devote what time we have left to listen to Coltrane. These feelings are testimony to the music's power. Many have said that he took jazz pretty much as far as it would go; the other famous complement is

that he 'killed jazz'. This is hyperbolic. His death meant a tremendous loss to the industry. His son Ravi now seems to carry the mantle, and has really developed the atonal style of playing the tenor sax.

Thanks for reading.

Gentle readers...

My colleague tells me that I now have a readership that is global in scope, spanning several continents.

The weather continues to be a major factor. My wife was stuck in the snow in Crfe yesterday (she won't mind me saying). Three hours she was sat in the car, with very little petrol, phone dying, and no hot chocolate.

There is an amazing piece of footage here; Coltrane playing Alabama:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOjxBuwBUEE

First reflection

I suspect several of us are feeling just a little uncertain about the sot23 things training and keeping a reflective blog. I have created a blog and that can be the basis of my first reflection. Blogger doesn't seem easy to drive (keeping the analogy of the 'dashboard'). If I'm honest I did have a slight 'pang' of giving up. It is quite surprising how rapidly people of my age can actually get to grips with these things; I was dismissive about smart-phones, as an example, (because I only phone and send texts...), but really got to grips with it swiftly and have ventured beyond phoning and texting.

It has been snowing here, and this always threatens to keep me in Southampton over the weekend. I have therefore added a link to a snowy picture below.
Snow

And here is an image of a yellow car:

Yellow car is a game you can play when out driving with the family. If you see a yellow car, bash someone. The driver can keep the score.

My thought for the day is from Evelyn Underhill: 'Sanity consists in sharing the hallucinations of others'.