Ian Whitwham still at the chalkface (metaphysically)

A couple of Ian's recent SecEd articles did make me laugh:

This one, on teaching poetry ("Turning the Tots On")

and "Charlie Brown" (great minds think alike).

Get on with the novel, Ian, we're all waiting.

Antique Brass Furniture Etched Inscriptions, Marks and Stamps

Any experts out there with knowledge of  antique European etched brass furniture inscriptions, marks or stamps?

March 25 , Greek Independence Day Celebrations

Keep Talking Greece has some coverage of events in Greece today

Kathimerini report

A different story from Corfu, John's Corfu World

Watermelon Slim

Perhaps I was expecting too much from a blues-singer and former truck-driver called Watermelon Slim (yes, that's his stage name).

He has the image, the life-experience and the credentials (he's won many blues awards), but his slide guitar-playing was a little too heavy and repetitive, for my taste, and his versions of songs by Howlin' Wolf and Mississippi Fred McDowell didn't quite cut it for me, in terms of subtlety. Here is Watermelon Slim's Smokestack Lightnin'.

A charming man, real name Bill Homans, he lives in Clarksdale, Mississippi (formerly in North Carolina and Oklahoma), and he seemed pleased to chat to someone who knows the town a little, places like Hopson's Plantation Commissariat and the Riverside Hotel (still run by Rat Hill), where Bessie Smith died (it was once a hospital). He played to a full house, and was warmly received by a Dorset audience last night.

On Segues and Non-Sequiturs

Some people's minds seem to work in segues.


"In journalism, a segue is a method of smoothly transitioning from one topic to another. A segue allows the host or writer to naturally proceed to another topic without jarring the audience. A good segue makes the subject change seem like a natural extension of the discussion" (Wikipedia).

Some blogs (eg Corfu Blues) are a series of segues, or changes of subject, or  jarring jump-cuts; not all can be described as featuring smooth transitions. Maybe it all makes for a perplexing kind of mosaic, or a mélange of random non-sequiturs?

Is this a typical symptom of magpie minds, of a low boredom threshold, or of a plain lack of focus and attention-deficit syndrome?

I used to long for more jarring segues (but not red herrings) in boring office meetings. Impatient divergent/lateral thinkers want to accelerate the segues. In any event, I digress.

At least musicians understand the principle.

***

Some useful phrases for conversational seques and changes of subject:
German: irgendwie, jedenfalls, sowieso, trotzdem
Swedish: hur som helst
Greek: ούτως ή άλλως ,  όπως κι' να έχει, εν πάσει περιπτώσει , έτσι κι' αλλοιώς

A "Long-Forgotten" Painter of Greece

I'd never heard of Georg von Peschke until today. He seems to have been adept at capturing the colours, architecture and customs of Greece.

How do such fine artists become "long-forgotten"?

Don't forget the Edward Lear exhibition opening in Corfu Town in May!