Saturday 23 April 2016

Blog Sandwich Update 7 … Shakespeare being glomped … Q for Queen, P for Prince, D for David, M for Mercury …




As you will by now have realised this is going to be one of those posts covering even more subjects than normal … but if I note things here – they remain forever blogged about for me and by me.
Spring Border




I’m going to add in in S for Stroke, C for Cuisine, B for Birds … ah ha – what a mix even worse than Four and Twenty Blackbirds Baked in a Pie …






Tilly's (aged 9) winning design for
Waitrose's supermarket - the cake they 
will be selling - raising funds for charity


Where shall we start – you can’t have not realised Her Majesty turned 90 on 21st April … an incredible record ... and seeing her on Friday  (22nd) organising the Obamas into the car and then walking resoundingly around the back of the Range Rover and getting in beside Michelle – you’d think she was Sixty … not Ninety …



Part of the stamp section for the
Queen's birthday - here she is with
her great grandson Prince George


… as you might guess – I will at some stage do one of my usual ABCs of celebration of her birthdays – yes … she has two – one private and one official … that comes the weekend the Duke of Edinburgh turns 95 (as sprightly as ever too) … 10th – 12th June.




S for Strokes next … when my mother had her strokes back in February 2007 … I had no idea about them, or how people could heal and continue living:  I absorbed knowledge as time went on …


I read two books which came to prominence – Jill Bolte Taylor, the brain specialist, “My Stroke ofInsight” on her own stroke … then Robert McCrum “Discovering Life after a Stroke” and his wife’s play about thesubject … they were recently married – his wife is American, while he was a senior editor with Faber and Faber.  Both very well worth reading, as too listening to the play.


The Shakespeare Festival at Southmoreland Park
in Kansas City, Missouri
My mention of McCrum brings me to Shakespeare … as he recently travelled America looking at Shakespeare and the American Dream … 


... and how Shakespeare has always been in the American psyche – since the Colonists came to settle in the 1600s.



The talk is on BBC radio 4 – but there’s an article in The Guardian detailing his talk “WilliamShakespeare: a quintessentially American author” … which I found fascinating and led to me wanting to listen again, or read up on …


A descendant of that starling
… that law of unintended consequences and Shakespeare’s birds – which have overrun the States … Eugene Schieffelin is the culprit here … ‘twas he who introduced the invasive starlings … and wanted to introduce all of Shakespeare’s birds to the States …



Shakespeare's Birds
Schieffelin belonged to the American Acclimatization Society – a group that aimed to help exchange plants and animals from one part of the world to another … a fashionable idea in the 19th century: as we know today – not a good idea.

 I have a book here on Shakespeare’s Birds describing all the British birds referred to in Shakespeare’s poems and plays … providing a fascinating and unusual insight into the world of the Elizabethans.


Shakespeare Unravelled
by Pauline and Michael Black




But with Shakespeare’s Unravelling (per my book as briefly noted in my previous post) … was he a writer, did he live in the Shakespearean era, did he even exist … ?  All questions we’ll never get fully answered …







Shakespeare glomped ...
c/o the Art of the Ez.com
… from all angles they came to glomp him … even vicariously … on this the 400th year since he died … he is all over the place – everywhere … we can’t get away from Shakespeare quotes and references …




Alan Rickman


This week someone on the BBC was reminiscing about how many famous/celebrity figures have died (early) recently – it was after Victoria Wood, one of our most iconic comedic actresses lost her fight with cancer.   The comment was ‘our generation’ had reached that age – the late 50s to 90s … when a human being is moving inexorably towards a higher plane.


Bowie and Mercury

Bowie, Rickman, now Prince … all too early – and how many others … we never know whether we will go young, or having had a good life, or the lucky few who can continue on for an extra decade or two …



Then there’s I for the Internet or YouTube … with a link tothe Big Think Blog … which had an eye catching title – The Science Behind Why Freddie Mercury’s Voice Was So Damned Compelling … fascinating and I’m sure you’ll find it so …

Bowie is smoking as he sings ... but the bit to listen to is at two minutes - when the post remarks that 'man, the dude had some pipes ... '



Add caption


Now to C for Cuisine … I have a Shakespeare Cookbook – which brings to light the early days of how our meals developed … Chaldron of Swan – a sauce or soup that has the edible chopped parts of the bird in it … where our Chowder of today comes from …





… the witches’ brew from Macbeth – bears a striking resemblance to Chaldron … I give no recipe!  There are a lot of roasts, of spit-roasted animals … spinach was coming in, sorrel sauce was used for fish … gooseberries were newly introduced and quince was the fruit for marmalades …


It’s interesting how foods were cooked together and it’s only in the centuries following that separate dishes were created … meat with fruits as Chewets … combined whatever food was around.  Baked meats means pies and fancied baked goods …


The ghost of Banquo by Theodore
Chasseraiau (1854)
… and lastly F for Feasts and Fun … many will be celebrating a medieval feast as per Shakespeare’s day today … the journalists, authors, actors have been looking forward and preparing for this day for over a year …




The Globe Theatre Players have toured the world with his 37 plays  … it is still apparent that Shakespeare rules the world … as the monologue from “As You Like It” quotes ….  


All the World’s a Stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.  At first the infant …


Knife and Fork form the
1600s - Waddesdon Bequest
by the Rothschilds
 … then how about running the London marathon seven miles above earth … tomorrow the astronaut, Tim Peake, will do just that in the European Space Station … to read more about the extra challenges … see the Guardian article here


So to celebrate the last week of the A-Z … a quote from Macbeth Act 3, scene 4:  

‘Now, good digestion wait on appetite,
and health on both!’ …


No change this end of the world … my next post will be after the A-Z … and the next two will be easier reads!

PS - I'm sure there's a quote by Shakespeare about being a ForgetMeKnot ... I've mislaid two Shakespearean cuisine items I was going to put in ... they are amusing - so coming up another day!!

Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Wednesday 13 April 2016

Blog Sandwich Update 6 ...




Gosh I’d forgotten about my Blog Sandwich series … or spasmodic bread filling blog posts!  So briefly ... and again no need to comment …


Paparedelle with spring vegetables - asparagus,
broad beans, onions and peas topped with
Parmesan shavings


 … life continues … so here goes with a few references … and photos …






Japanese film caption for
King Lear - released in 1985


Shakespeare unstoppable … the anniversary of his death occurs next week … and we are having / being encouraged in all things Shakespeare … visit Stratford, the Globe … attend a play … listen to one … and so it goes on – and …






… our Film Society will show “Ran” – (Chinese and Japanese for chaos) at the end of the year … it is the 1985 film based on the legends of the daimyo Mori Motonari, as well as on the tragedy of King Lear.


"Shakespeare Unravelled" - Court
Plays: the 1623 Deception
Some friends at the European Movement dinner told me about their new book “Shakespeare Unravelled” Court Plays: the 1623 Deception – they very kindly gave me a copy …



… it looks an intense read  (as I was warned) … but I’ll enjoy it and learn more about the history of the period … it’s only just been published …





Princess Elizabeth
aged 7 - painted by
Philip de Laszlo (1933)
We move from Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) and Queen Elizabeth I’s time to the 90th anniversary of our present Queen’s birth - next week (21 April) … incredibly spry she looks too … there will be loads of information coming out about this period of the 20th and moving into the 21st century …



The friends I'll celebrate the Queen's official
birthday with .. had friends for a roast lunch
... looks wonderful doesn't it - my sunglass
(now iphone case) doesn't quite tie in?!

We will have our official celebrations in June:


Friday June 10th  (Prince Philip’s 95th birthday) – there will be a National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral






Flint stone wall topped with lichen -
over 100 years old ... 





Saturday 11th June the annual Queen’s Birthday Parade at Horse Guards …










These are (I believe) creeping Phlox ... they looked
lovely on the slope ... pink, white and this blue



Sunday 12th June the Patron’s Lunch will take place in The Mall running down to Buckingham Palace






Many will join in the fun of the day … I shall be going to a ‘street’ party – small local event with these friends … where these lunch photos were taken ... 



Raspberry and Redcurrant tart


They are having a charity fund raising event for the local hospice, which helped our relatives through their trying times ... 





The Masked Shrike

The birds are really singing now and Spring is nearly here ... it is getting warmer, but the leaves are definitely budding their numerous shades of green.  This little chap comes from the Mediterranean ... but I love his muted and gentle colours ... 


A quick drop in ... no need to comment ... it's good to keep the blog partly active - even if its owner has gone to attend to other more necessary matters ... 

Enjoy that A-Z ... nearly half-way ... 

Shakespeare Unravelled ... the Amazon link ... 


Then an A-Z blogger - Bish Denham is posting Shakespearean Insults and Surrealist Compliments ... they are so clever ... 


Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories