Doctors

As now seems well known, ongoing series and soaps take a while to pick up and reflect the pandemic.  And they don't always do it very well.  The Archers, for example,  is now a rather sub-par talking heads show.

In which context, the last episode of Doctors, a usually rather bland BBC1 lunchtime soapy series was quite remarkable.  I sometimes see a little of the show, before I turn over, as it comes on after the lunchtime news. 

The last episode, on 11th June, was their only chance to reflect the pandemic.  They did it through a whole series of video chats.

And it was quietly wonderful.  There was tension, pathos and the whole thing worked.  As a medical soap they could cover many aspects of the crisis.  And it was well acted. 

Wales v Belgium 2016

So the BBC is sharing old games from the Euros.  Just starting is Wales v Belgium from 2016. Quarter Finals. England already out.  How could I not watch this?

Nina

From today's rather straightforward cryptic in the Guardian. BLM.

Hoppers

So the £25,000 Walter Scott prize for the year's best historical novel has gone to Christine Dwyer Hickey's The Narrow Land which depicts the marriage of Jo and Edward Hopper.

Josephine Nivison was an artist in her own right, and studied originally under Robert Henri, who taught many of the 'Ashcan' artists.  This is his portrait of her:

The Art Student (Miss Josephine Nivison) (1906)

She had a reputation for being direct and questioning, which Henri manages to capture in the painting.  He called her a 'human question mark.'

This is a portrait of her by Edward Hopper, 30 years after the Henri:

Jo Painting (1936)

 And this, 16 years later still:

Morning Sun (1952)

And apparently she also appears in his most famous painting:

Nighthawks (1942)

But I'm not really that much of a Hopper fan.  I prefer Henri's painting.

As for her own art works, few survive, and she does not have a great reputation as an artist.  She wrote many diaries during her marriage with Hopper, which Dwyer Hickey apparently uses in her novel.

Maybe I'll get a copy.

Stocktake of the Plague Year #1

I began Social Distancing early, for the UK, on the 12^th March.

That is 92 days ago.  So I thought it was time for a brief stocktake.

Firstly, I feel quite upbeat, and generally OK. 

I’ve kept a brief journal, so these numbers are – broadly – correct.  Some are good, some are less so.  But many are, I think, a consequence of shielding.

Anyway, here we go:

NHS or dental appointments cancelled	3
Online NHS Outpatient consultations	1
Days I cooked supper for more people than just myself	69
(not including reheating leftovers)
Days I did some paid work	2
Days I did some work as a charity Trustee	3
Invoices sent	1
VAT bills paid	1
Number of people sharing the house with me	2
Laptop backups taken	12
Paper Guardians bought (much missed)	0
Car Journeys	1
Miles driven	348
Facebook posts and comments	Uncountable
Cultural events cancelled	5
Poems written	1
Messages and letters received about shielding	7
Beards grown	1
Beards shaved off	1
Online surveys of mental health status completed	9
Days on which I did:
- At least a little creative writing	22
- Something craft-y	43
- Work on a future game	52
- Work on the imminent closure of the .demon domain name, which was really annoying because it affected a lot of online accounts	35
Number of online accounts adjusted	76
Number of online accounts that have to be sorted out by post	5
Family film nights	7
Prednislone taken	327mg
Items of garden furniture purchased	1
Days on which I practised juggling	8
Maximum number of objects juggled	4
Most complex patter	Mill’s Mess
Epidemiological or other academic papers related to C-19 read	9
- 95% confidence interval	7 to 13
Books read and finished	7
Zoom calls	70
Letters written to the Guardian	3
Letters published by the Guardian	0
Loads of laundry (approx.)	16
Major supermarket food deliveries	5
Change in weight	- 5 kg
Watch straps purchased	1
Episodes of ‘Father Brown’ watched	11
Cryptic crosswords completed	58
Walks around the neighbourhood	0
Claps for the NHS	7
Shouting at the Government coronavirus briefings	10 or more
Sunny days with time in the back garden	6
Units of alcohol consumed	180
Average hours sleep a night	6hrs 50min
Net impact on bank balances	+£1,500
Blog posts	37
Average daily steps	797
Stocktakes taken	1

 

 

  

 

Another Ozymandias

                          Ozymandias

    In Egypt's sandy silence, all alone,
      Stands a gigantic Leg, which far off throws
      The only shadow that the Desart knows:—
    "I am great OZYMANDIAS," saith the stone,
      "The King of Kings; this mighty City shows
    "The wonders of my hand."— The City's gone,—
      Nought but the Leg remaining to disclose
    The site of this forgotten Babylon.

    We wonder,—and some Hunter may express
    Wonder like ours, when thro' the wilderness
      Where London stood, holding the Wolf in chace,
    He meets some fragment huge, and stops to guess
      What powerful but unrecorded race

     Once dwelt in that annihilated place.

Horace Smith (1779-1849).

See also the description here.

Another Protest Poem