April brought Easter time – in suitable cold and showery weather.

 

 

Sometimes I follow the drama of Easter week day by day, and so it was this year: Palm Sunday, Spy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the Saturday Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday itself. It is a journey to do so. Where I am there was not Easter Saturday service in the Church, which seems a pity as it is almost the most important day of the year. On this day, god is dead, making resurrection always immanent. Anyway, two pictures from my beloved Blake: one of the Last supper in the cenacle and the resurrection itself.

 

 

 

Post Easter finds me in Worcestshire to reconnect with some long established GC friends. And very nice too it was perched in this Mill House on the river Avon, with spring being sprung before us. Mucho discussion over fine foods and drinks. And some guitar playing. All in all a weekend of healing.

 

 

 

I also got to see Hamlet again:

 

 

A good production if not quite notable.

 

The big event was the Guitar Craft meeting in Milan, with Robert Fripp:

 

 

 

 

In keeping with the season, my reading has a distinctly Christian tone:

 

 

Firstly, Ancient Christianities: The First Five Hundred Years: – the title says it all giving an account of the first decades of Christian religion. I have always been interested in this period, especially what we now call the Gnostic elements within it. That said, one of the things I learnt was that Gnostics did not regard themselves as ‘gnostic’ at the time, which brings up two issues: firstly, the age-old problem of classification; second, that the line between Gnostic and Non-Gnostic could be blurred in places.

 

 

 

My second book is on the Christian understanding of time, or at least how a certain approach to time shaped its conception.

 

 

Finally, a fine book on Blake and the Dark Romanticism, especially in relation to the way ‘the body’ featured across the Romantic movements.

 

 

And my listening:

 

So, 1982 and the first WOMAD where I saw ‘Global music’ for the first time. Well, it blew my mind. I was addicted and thereafter spent large quantities of time seeking out this music in recorded and live forms. One of the main instigators behind this presence, in an English culture at least, was Peter Gabriel who represented a genuine new beginning – meshing world music with modern instruments – in particular samplers like the Fairlight synthesizer. The first WOMAD festival – an event that almost bankrupted him since they vastly overestimated the then interest in this type of music – along with the PG LP (later named Security) was a first opportunity to see (‘er, hear) the results. And, here, after some 44 years, finally, is the recording on CD. Pretty fine it sounds too – at least to my ears. Tracks such as Rhythm of the Heat and I Have the Touch still sound arresting.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE3fFbH4H3E&list=RDgE3fFbH4H3E&start_radio=1

 

 

And then, 1983 and Peter Gabriel again when I saw him at Crystal Palace Football stadium for a concert in aid of Amnesty. I remember it well, with both The Undertones and The Thompson Twins opening for him. So, I have been reconnecting with the latter – the beginnings of that Digital sound – Yamaha DX7 and Linn Drums. Love it.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvzVTRK1nOY&list=RDTvzVTRK1nOY&start_radio=1

 

And some gardening to return flowers to beds and tubs….    

 

 

 

 

 

March and Spring breaks through:

 

 

 

Almost!! Still the sun strengthens and flowers are a’bloomin

 

Counter intuitively, I go for a bit of Norwegian gloom – Ibsen, who else?

 

Brand

 

Actually a recording from the 1950s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjcbe5KTFlw

 

Pretty strong stuff: my interest is the fact that Patrick McGoohan plays the main part. He became better known – and more type cast as a spy – in the 1960s. And, of course, wrote, directed and acted lead in the very enigmatic The Prisoner:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3LT98uOwck

 

So, an escape to Cornwall: Beautiful seas:

 

 

 

I also take in some prehistoric stone site. Chun Quoit – 4000 years old.

 

 

Then the sunsets:

 

 

 

And of course a visit to my home village Mousehole:

 

 

 

Sacred skies and there is also a magical new moon – on its back:

 

 

 

I go down to the Tate St Ives:

 

 

 

This gallery was originally built to showcase the St Ives artists from the 1930s – 60. There is a clear progression in the development of British Modernism:

 

Alfred Wallis

 

 

Andrew Lanyon

 

 

Christopher Wood

 

 

Ben Nicholson after Picasso

 

 

Marlow Moss who so influenced Mondrian

 

 

Terry Frost

 

 

 

 

I also visit the rather spectacular light installations of Emilija Škarnulyté:

 

 

 

 

Then, travelling back, I visit one of my favourite places: the Japanese Garden near Newquay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of my reading this month has been academic: I am preparing a chapter on Heidegger:

 

A bit of pop to lighten the spirits:

Cardigans

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOLJQnxfC-c&list=RDEMksoZcJHBmj0HZEgvjFX6gg&start_radio=1

 

I am also still stuck in the Baroque period, especially the Harpsichord music.

Samuel Scheidt

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bSk7ydN33A&list=RD7bSk7ydN33A&start_radio=1

 

 

 

Slowly spring sprang during February going into March.

There is a ‘green mist in the trees’ (namely, new shoots of leaves).

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mznwjWBjlHs&list=RDmznwjWBjlHs&start_radio=1

 

Incidentally, a beautiful version of just the guitar part is here:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AqpyAmI3Ik&list=PL4E7Wxs-wJdY8M-0_nsyJMTSreQmMnw56&index=10

 

Flowers in the garden:

 

 

 

 

Perversely, I spend a fair amount of time watching the Winter Olympics from far away Milan, Italy:

 

 

 

I like the snow so, coming from a country that rarely sees any, I love the atmosphere of Winter sports. I am not really a competitive person, so games pass me by but I like the spectacle. However, I do quite get into the Curling which is lengthy and exact. The GB Scottish team were down to win Gold but tripped up over the last games of the match. Having prepared for 4 years, the guys were speechless – in tears. Their faces say it all:

 

 

I go North of family business: a land just emerging itself from the Winter:

 

 

Whilst there, I visit the Church of Spinnethorne (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spennithorne) – typical of its type with a C14 tower. A very old Yew tree stands in the churchyard.

 

 

 

These kind of churches have all sorts of interesting features. Like carvings on doors and window sills.:

 

 

Also, a beautiful wall painting – only preserved and rediscovered because it had been painted over in white wash:

 

 

 

It is of Saint Michael : three wings and a sword. A more modern rendition in the stained glass window:

 

 

 

 

I have been reading the following two books over the past year:

 

 

 

When I was a child, I hated school and left as early as possible. I certainly never read any books. I worked as a medical microbiologist. Then someone gave me the Hesse and I read it. The top of my head blew off. I never knew other people felt I like I felt; in fact, I didn’t even know I felt like that until I read someone describe it. So, I studied English and French and eventually went of to University to study French in London. Over the years, I have probably read the Glass Bead Game 6 – 7 times and this will probably be my last. And, of course, each time I read it, it was a different book – I see different things in it. What I have only come to realise lately is that not only did this book change my life, it also predicted it!! (more detail on all this in my forthcoming book, A Life in 7 Teachers). Only recently, too, have I seen the parallel themes between the Hesse and the Dr Faustus book by Thomas Mann. Both are about a single young man as he passes through life. Both are gifted and take a scholarly path: in music with Faustus and philosophy with the Hesse. Both show two important things: firstly, the effort needed to become ‘master’ of your discipline; secondly, the cost that that effort has in a range of ways. They also show that in any discipline – writing, art, music – there comes a point where it shape you. You no longer have to strive to produce things, you just put your hands on the instrument and away you go. It creates for itself. If I have a difference with both books, it is that they present the protagonist as naturally talented. It is not always so, Sometimes, one can be a complete idiot – tone deaf, illiterate, unable to draw – and then really have to struggle to reach even an acceptable level. Suffering and Sacrifice. Both books also question such a life, sometimes in terms of the society that surrounds it. Better to be involved in real life, to live a life, it questions, than to escape into a personal world. That is an open question for debate but sometimes what needs to be expressed has such a will that it chooses unlikely vehicles to articulate it.

 

On the listening front, I have had somewhat of a Baroque renaissance:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFMSOOGYjmQ&list=RDFFMSOOGYjmQ&start_radio=1

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fz0j9VrL6c&list=RD3Fz0j9VrL6c&start_radio=1

 

Rather lovely…..     

 

 

January turns out to be a loooonnnggg months with most days of heavy rain:

 

 

 

A kind of hibernation period.

 

Yet, there are signs of spring:

 

 

 

And both Epiphany – the 6^th January – and Imbolg – the 1^st of February – indicate that the light is strengthening.

 

I am happy to see my new book published.

 

 

 

It concerns my discussion of William Blake and how a Gnostic philosophical approach is the key to understanding the substantive intention of his poetry, art and prophecies.

 

 

 

At the moment, this book is in Spanish only, but an English version is to appear soon.

 

You can find the texts here:

 

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/william-blake-gnosticism-and-gnosis-2023/

 

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/william-blake-el-gnosticismo-y-la-gnosis/

 

I have been reading Julian Barnes’ Departures. Barnes was/ is one of the British nouvel vague of writing that emerged from the 1960s/ 70s. Others included Martin Amis, Ian McEwan and Salman Rushdie. All waning (or dead) a bit now. A feature of their writing is slightly postmodern: so, hybridity, ruse, decentered, multiple narratives. I have had a bit of a love/ dislike relationship with Barnes. At his best, it is excellent – like in The Levels of Life and The Sense of an Ending. Others seem to go nowhere – like The Only Story which is a kind of cadence that never stops. So, it starts high and runs down into nothing.

 

 

This latest is reputably his last: being both terminally ill and 80! Still, he plays the old tricks: this is simultaneously the story of a couple who fall in love again later in life, and that of a dog. We shall see what insights this leads him towards….   

 

More academically, I have been doing some work on Neoliberalism, based around the work of Hirschman, who was quite close to Bourdieu from the 1970s.

 

 

It is a kind of ‘sociologicalisation’ of economic theory. His main argument is that the socio-economic conjuncture leads to a lost of ‘voice’ and thus ‘exit’ from participation in set socio-economic institutions – and so to the flowering of extreme market individualism. So, economic liberalism has ‘organic’ foundations. This would be consistent with Marxist/ capitalist theory as reinterpreted as a ‘symbolic economy’ by Bourdieu. He also writes of ‘passions’ : which connects again with work I have been doing on ‘Bourdieu and Lacan’:

 

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/bourdieu-and-lacan/

 

I have been listening to some of the musical influences on Gurdjieff:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PMxmgkmLsA

 

Also, I have returned to my penchant for English classical music. This is not first-rate stuff but I like it: kind of radical/ pastoral – certainly very English in its sentiments of reticence and vision. Soothing to the soul!! 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C2Wsz9Qytg&list=RD2C2Wsz9Qytg&start_radio=1

 

Also, a new record from Peter Gabriel: Been Undone

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb-sOCk6BP4&list=RDgb-sOCk6BP4&start_radio=1

 

As in the previous i/ o, the new record – o/ i – will be released as one track per month on the New Moon – the opposite Dark side or Bright Side mixes on the Full Moon.   Interesting to see how it unfolds….

 

 

 

 

 

So, a time of Christmas and the New Year. It is when it is impossible to avoid what is going on: Like even if one ignores it, one is still defined by it. Therefore, a time of inertia. I actually spent most of my time in the Yorkshire Dales – spectacular scenery:

 

 

 

 

…and some snow:

 

 

One of the things I like about Christmas is that it is also a Festival of Light. So, happy to see ‘La Gloire’ in a local garden:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because I was mostly ‘at home’, I am treating this month’s report as a Book and CD extravaganza – what I have been listening to and reading this month.

 

CDs

The new CD from Chekh Lo is amazing

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2c5s-TpsNw&list=RDJ2c5s-TpsNw&start_radio=1

 

Then, some French music – from Jean Guidoni, who recently died:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDRi_l_09sk&list=RDaDRi_l_09sk&start_radio=1

 

The most outstanding CD , though, was a new recording of Debussy music. It included some favourites, but also some pieces I was less familiar with – like the Six Epigraphes Antiques:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0F-pWAJ9no&list=RDa0F-pWAJ9no&start_radio=1

 

I also went though a ‘singer-song-writer’ renaissance:

 

Jason Collier, who has to be the most musical personal I have ever come across.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TURkB9zqxa0&list=RDTURkB9zqxa0&start_radio=1

 

 

James Morrison, and his beautiful RnB voice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2zuM5KU-yE&list=RDD2zuM5KU-yE&start_radio=1

 

 

And an Everything But the Girl regrouping:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak2b39YMrEQ&list=RDEMPCTTEqAgJKl8yfB9j64v0Q&start_radio=1

 

 

 

BOOKs

 

An enjoyable read of the musical and otherwise relationship between Paul McCartney and John Lennon – as explored through their songs:

 

 

A darker memoir by Anthony Hopkins setting out his life from humble beginnings, a rise to international stardom, struggle with alcoholism and eventual liberation.

 

 

Another attempt to understand Quantum Physics – like I understand it, but why? and what for?

 

 

The text of a seminal play – later converted to a great film – arising from Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop – a bitter parody of the logic of the First World War:

 

 

A welcome reprint of Bourdieu’s work on the Religious Field:

 

 

Another reprint of J G Bennett’s lectures on Gurdjieff:

 

 

 

Great to receive a new translation by Deborah Butler of Spinoza’s Ethics – and amazing book:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November is always the ‘pit of the year’ for me – and this one has been suitably dark and rainy. Still, there are the autumn colours everyone raves about. From local gardens:

 

 

 

 

On the Musica en Moviemiento front, I have been preparing for the up and coming residential course and performances At-A-Distance. Both take place in early December – almost Now!!

 

 

I am excited to see my William Blake and Gnosticism book in production.

 

 

 

This is a Spanish version of my extended essay with illustrations of a similar theme:

 

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/william-blake-gnosticism-and-gnosis-2023/

 

Also reading a book with a Gnostic Theme, which goes under the splendid title of :

 

 

Coincidentally, it was also Blake’s birthday – born 268 years ago and thus also a Sagittarius:

 

 

He hated this painting by the way. It was by Thomas Phillips and he produced it in 1807. So, Blake would have been around 50. It smacks of the romanticism of the epoch and the style of Joshua Reynolds who dominated the art field. He and the painting typify all that Blake hated about the prevailing art trends of the day.

 

So, to Advent: a special time of year for me – the new waiting to be born is a common theme:

 

 

‘Come, Holy Spirit, not with outward manifestations, not with tongues of fire, but silently, as the warmth of spring creeps into the barren earth; come to this cenacle of a human heart, and stir the dull airs of it with the breath of hope.”

Ronald Knox (From A Retreat For Lay People, Deus Books, Paulist Press, New York, N.Y. by Sheard & Ward, Inc. 1955)

 

Books

A lot of reading this month:

 

I have been reading a new biography of Alfred Wallis by Matilda Webb. He was an old seaman cum rag-and-bone man who painted on any bit of board he could get his hands on in order to ‘keep himself company’. One day in the 30s modernists Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood happened to be passing the open door of his house near Porthmeor Beach in St Ives and espied the paintings. Somewhat of an epiphany took place and Nicholson and Wood immediately embraced him and his style, which was the kind of naive, pure style they were looking for. Since then, he has been seen as a pivotal figure of the St Ives School, his work changing  hands for large sums of money. Of course, at the time, all this did not prevent him dying somewhat destitute in the Madron workhouse. Anyway, this surely is the most comprehensive text yet produced on him and his work. Amazing detail!

 

 

 

Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morals : a pivotal book which both analyses what shaped the present in the past but indicates where we are and going. His account of ‘resentment’ is especially acute:

 

 

 

The poems of the deist Lord Herbert of Cherbury, a fan of John Donne.

 

 

Music wise, it all becomes a bit backwards looking this time of year. But, I did track down the last  album by James Blackshaw. Blackshaw was positively prolithic in the early 2000s producing a series of quite impressive albums. He plays in a style which is called ‘Continuous Music’, where there is no pause in the playing. A similar style was pioneered on piano by Lobomyr Melnyk – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubomyr_Melnyk).  This produces a quite hypnotic effect: repetitive by layer upon layer produces a synthetic aural whole. In Blackshaw’s case, this is accomplished with 6 and 12 string guitars, piano and others. He also sings on later albums. Given he uses the 12 string extensively, this requires very strong nails to pick to say the least. He also uses a series of open tunings. The pieces are very emotive and comes with evocative titles:  the Glass Bead Game, Love is the Plan – the Plan is Death, Litany of Echoes, Oh True Believers, The Cloud of Unknowing. Blackshaw gave it all up in 2016 and sold his guitars – citing the pressure of the music industry as cause.. He then returned in 2019 but seems to have found it difficult to regain his momentum.  Unraveling your Hands  came out in 2024 with just three pieces, and two of these quite short. It was always said that Blackshaw was in the Takoma tradition of acoustic guitar music (John Fahey, Jack Rose, Robbie Basho) , meaning highly rhythmic instrumentals  bordering on the raga-esque – again often with mysterious titles: like Fahey’s The Voice of the Turtle.  I never really saw a close connect in intent and spirit in Blackshaw’s previous albums, coming more from an English dance/ baroque style. However, this latest collection is very much Fahey influenced, and two of the pieces make explicit use of both the syncopated style but also the dissonances that Fahey would use. As I writes, he always incorporated other instruments, and here he uses Woodwind to evoke the sadness and grief that came when his dog Dexter died. All very emotive and impressive.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qmEIwhdjp4&list=RD-qmEIwhdjp4&start_radio=1

 

 

See some of my Fahey references here – article, interview:

 

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/john-fahey/

 

Sadly….

 

 

And, of course, John Lodge flew away. He was the bassist/ composer in the English band, The Moody Blues. I was a real fan in my teens, especially after they released their On the Threshold of a Dream LP. I first saw them with my first girlfriend Angela at the age of around 15!!. And continued to see them over the years. Only, this summer, I travelled to Bristol to see John Lodge play. A special event as you can imagine. He presented his best songs well and, as always, addressed the crowd warmly. He always thanks followers, for ‘holding the faith’, and so he did this evening.

Given one of his last compositions, the sense is he had a premonition that his Journey was soon continuing the other side of physical manifestation:

 

 

Advent:

 

 

October, and a month when autumn truly began to grip.

 

Still vestiges of Summer…

 

 

But elsewhere in the garden…

 

 

 

A positive Gallery of images in the nearby Forest.

 

 

 

Mushrooms:

 

 

Beautiful symmetry:

 

 

Time to light the fire: we changed the clocks so it is getting dark by 4 now

 

 

Spectacular Sunsets and Skylines:

 

 

 

Food-wise, I am still pursuing the Ayurvedic diet:

 

 

Time for preparations for Christmas as well.

 

 

 

During the month, we have a spectacular ‘Big Moon’:

 

 

New article by me on Bourdieu and Lacan:

 

Bourdieu and Lacan

 

I have been perusing a sumptuous book from my friends at Fulgar Press:

 

 

I have also been reading two biographies of two individuals I am a fan of:

 

 

 

Music, some more Brazilian guitar playing:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw0EMYl-TPM&start_radio=1

 

And then Doreen Carwithen. As I have written before, I have a penchant for lesser known British composers. Carwithin is curious: wife of the backwards looking William Alwyn, some of her compositions – including many for films – are also retro-romantic. However, sometimes, she seems really inspired and progressive. The piano sonata for example:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIyfG8dr9k4&list=RDWIyfG8dr9k4&start_radio=1

 

Montaigne

Lighten yourself and your soul of the weight of your burdens, moving about (travel, change of scenery) will only increase their pressure on you, as a ship’s cargo is less troublesome when lashed in place. Not enough to withdraw from the mob; withdraw from the attributes of the mob…we still turn our gaze towards the things we have left behind; our imagination is full of them. It is in our soul that evil grips us: and she cannot escape from herself. So we must bring her back…into our self. That is true solitude. It can be enjoyed in towns and in kings’ courts, but more conveniently apart. Let us gain power over ourselves to live really and truly alone – and of doing so in contentment.

 

 

 

 

 

The late summer and the Forest looks great:

Heather abounds:

 

 

 

 

My garden too!:

 

 

Sad to hear of the passing of the renown actor Terence Stamp. A leading cultural figure in the 1960s – he is reputedly the ‘Terry of ‘Terry and Julie’ in the Kinks Waterloo Sunset – his career more or less came to an end with the decade. He then went off to India for some years before being rediscovered to play a part in Superman. Also Fellini. He worked with Krishnamurti and also appeared in the film of Gurdjieff’s Meeting with Remarkable Men. I met him once, en passant as it were, and was struck by the time and courtesy he afforded me – given his stature compared to mine. Later, he spoke at Watkins at the time of the publication of his last memoir:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC5noRzj5FY

 

My chums of Musica en Muviemiento produced Volume 1 of our first LP. We recorded this last year.

 

 

https://musicaenmovimiento.bandcamp.com/album/m-sica-en-movimiento-vol-1

 

More photos of our concert in Milan with Robert Fripp earlier this year.

 

 

 

To London for some art at the National Gallery:

 

 

.Millet:

 

 

And some Siennese panels”

 

 

I have begun an Ajurvedic diet:

 

 

My book on Ralph McTell – Parallel Lives –is now available as a PDF from my Blog site:

 

 

This was begun when Ralph came and played for us with Interviews at Trinity College, Dublin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhLLmiqrixA

 

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/parallel-lives-the-biographies-of-ralph-mctell-michael-grenfell/

 

Down to Cornwall – and beloved home Mousehole of course

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst there I take a trip to St Hilary, to encounter again the wonderful collection of art Bernard Walke and his wife put together there: the cream of early C20 English modernism.  One day, I shall write his story:

 

 

 

 

A rare piece by Pog Yglesius.

 

 

 

I also did some walks around prehistoric sites. For example, the Merry Maidens. 

 

 

And, the beautiful Japanese Garden: a precious place to visit.

 

 

 

50 Years Anniversary of Actes de la Recherche en Sciences Sociales, founded by my friend and mentor Pierre Bourdieu. Of course, there are lots of pieces on this site of my engagement with him and his work. This journal was begun at a most inauspicious time. At times, it was going to cease publishing – but carried on!! Anyway, congratulations that it has survived his passing as well. A good retrospective of the journal and its philosophy.

 

 

 

I don’t usually post personal photos on this site but could not resist in this case. Two Reunions! These always seem a dubious idea to me, but I thoroughly enjoyed both. A joy to catch up with ‘old’ friends and colleagues.

 

Firstly, the school where I taught in London. I had not seen these people for 35 years!!

 

 

And then, care of a friend’s ‘special’ birthday: fellow students from my graduation days: these I had not see for 45 years!!! A lifetime.

 

 

 

As I say, such a joy to catch up with both groups and to hear their life stories..

 

I have been reading elegiac essay: The Tree

 

 

Bit of a Van Morrison renaissance going on in my house. I already had a smattering of his records, but have acquired a few more at cost price over the last month or two. At the very least, these contain some romping Rn’B. But, there are also some real gems as well. All in all, VERY enjoyable listening.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVVkJI_2hog&list=RDPVVkJI_2hog&start_radio=1

 

I also acquired some delightful Delius – a real favourite:

 

 

 

And the very original Talk Talk:

 

 

 

The Equinox came and went so we are now downhill all the way with darkness growing until the winter solstice in December.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This period is dominated by my trip to South America.

 

But, it is Winter there!!

 

 

Snow in Mendoza. A shock.

 

 

I  am going there for a course and to perform in a local Art Gallery..

 

 

 

But, my trip is a first a bit hectic: delayed flights and then they lose my bag!!!

 

Time to reconnect with Buenos Aires. Cake on the River!!!

 

 

 

Also, I relax in the Winter sun in my usual accommodation – a joy!:

 

 

Then, my bag turns up!! After many, many calls.

 

 

We are in Lunlunta: Dining room and corridor:

 

 

 

The Team:

 

 

So, here we are – one octave old:

 

 

Guitars!!!

 

 

Me doing Qi gong with some of them.

 

 

The performance itself turns out to be quite an event. Many people arrive – more than the venue can accommodate. They shut the doors but there is ‘rioting’ outside. Not seen anything like this since Beatlemania!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Soon, I am back on the plane – next stop Brazil  – make sure of my bag this time!!!:

 

 

 

 

A really nice expo. on Andy Warhol at the local museum. They offer a good range of his work:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, up into the mountains. My accommodation and locale:

 

 

 

 

 

Gourmet food, I am treated to.

 

 

Into the local village. Very picturesque:

 

 

 

And local goodies:

 

 

 

 

Time to take time in the local cafes as well:

 

 

 

Back home – with bag! – and preparing for September. There is a reunion of the staff from the school I worked in in London. Some of these people, I have not seen since I left in 1989. Me as a language teacher in 1986:

 

 

It is Lammas: first stirrings of the dark: death and rebirth, harvest.

 

 

I celebrate with fire.

 

 

On a pagan theme I also watch that epic of occult British film-making – The Wicker Man!!!

 

 

I also see Red at the National Theatre a story about Mark Rothko’s – whose art I have lone since admired:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDxD8Z7btzM

 

I recommend the Seagram Restaurant murals. 

 

I have been reading Lilian Hellman’s Pentimento:

 

 

Old paint on canvas, as it ages, sometimes becomes transparent. When that happens, it is possible in some pictures, to see the original lines: a tree will show through a woman’s dress, a child makes way for a dog, a large boat is no longer on the open sea. That is called pentimento because the painter ‘repented’, changes his mind. Perhaps it is as well to say that the old conception, replaced by a later choice, is a way of seeing and then seeing again.

 

An analogy for life (!?)

 

Also, listening to some amazing Brazilian guitar playing – of course!!!

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aED9l_fCe6M&list=OLAK5uy_mPX6CZ72uC0AjGQVm4J2IBbPgIc5NGYVE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June and a time of midsummer. I celebrate, but know the sun is now moving away from the earth – or at least my part of it – or at least the earth from the sun – or my part of it.

 

 

 

Anyone who reads this Blog knows that the Lavender bush is a summer high for me – always full of bees as, but only at the right moment when the nectar is richest!!

 

 

I go to London for three art exhibitions:

First, art from Siena in the C14, including various artifacts (weaving, rugs, wall hangings). Amazing patterns:

 

 

 

 

 

The second one is of the painter Ithell Colquhoun – the St Ives expo has transferred to London:

 

 

Readers will know I have done quite a lot of work on her:

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/ithell-colquhoun-painter-surrealist-feminist-magician/

 

Thirdly, an exhibition by the artist Edward Burra – good in a German expressionist sort of way but doomy:

 

 

Good series on BBC TV about Britain in the last decades of the twentieth century – Shifty: rather explains a lot. Many of my friends outside of the UK have a very positive image of England. This programme explains some of the underlying trends. It is made by Adam Curtis – with contributions from Massive Attack.

 

 

Sadly, one of my all time heroes died this month – Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.

 

 

Again, I have done a lot of work on these, at one point arguing that ‘the sea’ – surf – should be read as a kind of metaphor for Heideggerian  dasein. One of many pertinent tracks is Surfs Up

 

 

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/bourdieu/bourdieu-and-the-beach-boys/ 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyOYQ8qfFng&list=RDtyOYQ8qfFng&start_radio=1

 

It is a struggle to pick a favouriite but this track comes very close. However, my final choice has to be the Our Prayer/ Cabinessence sequence on their 20/ 20 LP. When I first heard this, it blew my mind – I still cannot imagine another ‘pop’ band making such a thing!!!

 

Our prayer

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X76ejh4EIV4&list=RDX76ejh4EIV4&start_radio=1

 

Cabinessence

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA_kZR1kPug&list=RDWA_kZR1kPug&start_radio=1

 

More wanderings in the West Country and to a favourite corner – Bathampton:

 

 

 

I have been reading transcripts of Gurdjieff’s sessions in the 1940s:

 

 

I have been listening to a Playlist of Meditation music:

 

 

And so, to Argentina and Brazil and Musica en Moviemisnto: