I went to the Edinburgh Art Fair 2024 at the O2 Academy a couple of weeks ago. I've been for the past few years and went on a Friday to skip crowds at the weekend. It was certainly quiet, perhaps quieter than I expected.
The usual mix of good and mediocre ... and some bad. All a personal opinion of course: I go to this sort of thing because I love looking at art, particularly paintings. But I am always surprised (but shouldn't be by now) what sort of terrible stuff some people like. Then again, art can be all sorts of things to different people and many times it is just "home decoration" - like a mirror or a house plant. It's good if the sofa colour compliments the abstract painting. There's nothing wrong with that and, in fact, I occasionally paint something with a view to wanting a particular mood or atmosphere on my wall.
Kirsten Mirrey had a booth. I love her oil painting, seeing her work at the Abbeymount Studios open day a few months ago. Amongst many works, she had a very large (and just finished) oil painting up on the wall: a deer in the highlands. She seems to be doing very well (and that's not a surprise).
Right: Freedom. An oil painting by Kirsten Mirrey (from her web site).
The Day of the Triffids
By John Wyndham
A classic novel of science-fiction. The Day of the Triffids is a thoroughly enjoyable read: well written, exciting and thought provoking.
Many (perhaps most) people will be familiar with the story but they might have it a bit wrong, as I did. I've seen at least one film or TV adaptation a long time ago and had a slightly skewed idea of the book, which turns out to be more intelligent and much better. In fact, the cause of the "Triffid" invasion and the mass blindness is either different to what I thought, or more nuanced.
The tale of the end of civilisation is still chilling, even though there have been countless other books of a similar kind since. Wyndham does not dwell on the horror but is good at making us see how bad things are and what a bleak future could be unfolding. The horror or despair is secondary to the reaction of the people that survive and how they cope: from utter despair to a glimmer of hope, and back again. Part of the story is a search for someone lost, a search in the huge deserted land turning to desolation and wilderness, with the ever increasingly threat of the alien triffids. And, what of being on your own? Bill Mazen starts to realise that threats are not all external. Loneliness is something a sociable species is also prey to :
Something that lurked inimically all around, stretching the nerves and twanging them with alarms, never letting one forget that there was no one to help, no one to care. It showed one as an atom adrift in vastness, and it waited all the time its chance to frighten and frighten horribly - that was what loneliness was really trying to do: and that was what one must never let it do ...
It is easy to see why the book was a success. Maybe post-war Britain was in a gloomy mood and people were prepared to contemplate how fragile our world is. It still is. But rather than close with a despair, one can perhaps close with some hope that there are some that will rebuild. This was written in the 50's after all, and gloomier books came later. The Day of the Triffids is a marvelous novel that I expect will be read again.
Pavane
By Keith Roberts
Pavane is Keith Roberts' best known novel and considered a classic work of alternative history. The alternative historical stream makes this "science-fiction".
The book takes place in a Britain dominated by the Roman Catholic church and there has been no Protestant Reformation (it was crushed at birth). The cause of this was the fact that the Spanish Armada managed a landing in England and there was a Catholic uprising with Queen Elizabeth assassinated. What would today's Britain be like, hundreds of years after such events?
The suggestion here is: no industrial revolution, science and technology severely circumscribed, capitalism neutered, an entrenched social hierarchy and a mighty church (including an inquisition). Before the 19th Century, people did not expect the world to change much over time, if at all. "Progress" didn't happen and change was slow: but it can happen. People are still intelligent and inventive and some want freedom to explore and think new things.
Roberts' novel is set in the South West of England, primarily Dorset and surrounds. It is suffused with a rural, old-world flavour as you would expect but, more unexpectedly, harkening back to a more distant, possibly pre-Christian, past. He has an obvious love for this countryside and perhaps the old magic still lingers here. The episodic style gives us a flavour of the state of the world through the eyes of a steam-powered business entrepreneur, a boy being trained in the Signalling guild and a high-born woman chafing at the strictures imposed by a powerful Church. They are linked by family or setting. Times are changing.
The background is believable and quite British. The tale is a realistic exploration of this possible future: not quite the novel I expected but still fresh and interesting.
I bought a new keyboard and went with an HP 230 wireless model that includes a wireless mouse. It's inexpensive and only for use with in my living room, so not heavily used. I have not used it much yet but it seems fine so far. I would not want to use it for much "proper" typing though. The keys are "chiclet" style with little action.
There is always a "setup" sheet with this sort of thing: inserting the batteries, turning on mouse etc. It is always small with tiny text. Often not very useful.
But why can HP not also include a guide to what the keyboard "icons" mean? I'm familiar with many but some are a little mysterious. Technology "Icons" are supposed to make functionality clear.
I don't know what the "F1" icon means.
Or the "F2". Although F2 works as usual for "rename" in a file manager.
"F3" cut I assume. "F4" copy?
Anyway, it is such a small thing to document, why not do it? I could not find this information online.
I have been using a Logitech diNovoEdge keyboard in my lounge since 2009. It still works but has started to become a little unreliable sometimes and it loses connection for 5-10 seconds more and more often. It's been much used and I think it is a great keyboard for the lounge/TV. It is much better than any of the other wireless keyboard/trackpad keyboards I have tried: they are often poorly designed and also a low quality build. It is a real shame Logitech stopped making them years ago. Anyway, time to try something else.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
By Muriel Spark
Spark's novel is short, sharp, witty and ascerbic. She has a great ear for dialogue between the young schoolgirls under the spell of their charismatic teacher. A wonderful book.
Written in the late 1950's, it is set in the Edinburgh of the 1930's. World War One is still a presence but the effects of the depression has only a fleeting appearance in this more affluent world. Jean Brodie is a teacher at an Edinburgh girls school with a particular outlook on life. She is cultured, one could say snooty, loves High Art and looks down on science. Edinburgh is strait-laced and proper but there are some rough edges, as seen by the "Brodie Set" themselves during a walk through the Old Town. They come across a long line of men queuing in the street :
Monica Douglas whispered, "They are the Idle."
"In England they are called the Unemployed. They are waiting to get their dole from the labour bureau," said Miss
Brodie.
Jean Brodie takes holidays in Italy and admires Mussolini. She remarks that "In Italy the unemployment problem has been solved". How is left unsaid.
Children are very impressionable. Teachers are a big influence and in a position of trust. In modern parlance, they are "influencers". Today, of course, social media presents a much larger and more powerful array of "influencers", with pernicious effects sometimes. It's clear why parents have to care a lot about who you mix with as a child because their acquaintances have a bigger impact than you do. Like Jonathan Haidt, Professor of Ethical Leadership at NYU, we should be worried about the power of social media on children.
What I particularly liked about the book was Spark's dry and funny way with the children's dialogue. Sometimes silly, fantastical or funny. Occasionally, a little nasty (poor Mary MacGregor). She captures it beautifully.
"Miss Brodie says prime is best", Sandy said.
"Yes, but she never got married like our mothers and fathers."
"They don't have primes," said Sandy
"They have sexual intercourse," Jenny said.
The little girls paused, because this was still a stupendous thought, and one which they had only lately
lit upon; the very phrase and its meaning was new. It was quite unbelievable.
A very approachable and funny book, and still relevant today.
I have made a new web site to show art work I have created :
This is the first time I have done any "mobile" friendly web site work: mobile first. So I have also tried to familiarise myself with CSS features like flexbox layout etc. It has all been a learning experience. The Javascript "lightbox" is something I've taken from elsewhere (see below). I am now painfully aware of how unfriendly my main blog is to mobile and, at some point, I might have to try and fix this.
In the meantime, please check out the new site.
WARNING: The art site includes a "lightbox" (using lightbox2 but this does not work well on mobile devices. I may completely remove the lightbox, or try and replace with something else. More work needing done!