Light relief against the world at large ...

I won a tin of Le Gratin Dauphinois at one of our European Movement meetings … provided by another committee member, who (with his wife) often go over to Dieppe for the day … a change of country, some shopping and a French meal …

He often brings back some wonderful raffle prizes, mostly wine, but occasionally 'oddities' like this one …

… essentially it is thinly sliced raw potatoes with cream, cooked in a buttered dish rubbed with garlic, occasionally cheese can be added.

Tartiflette

I mentioned this to some friends, who said they'd had Tartiflette at Christmas, as their son is vegetarian … I hadn't heard of it … and so had to do a quick check …

Who'd have thought about taxing udders … I laughed when I read up on Tartiflette and the cheese usually associated with it … Reblochon …

Reblochon cheese

Both dishes come from the Haute-Savoie in the heart of the French Alps … holding its history to itself, including the culinary influences of the Alps …

I made my version of a mirepoix base, then over the top spread the Dauphinois … as I live easily, I added a boned rolled shoulder of lamb – one pot dish … I have to say it was delicious, over the days I ate it.

Mirepoix raw veggie mix

To get back to the reason for this post … the tax element … Reblochon is derived from the word “reblocher” … which when translated means to “pinch the cow's udder again”.

The landowners during the 14^th century would tax the mountain farmers according to the amount of milk their herds produced …

Tarentaise (type of cow living high in the Alps)

... crafty farmers decided … oh! ok – but we won't be taxed on it all … so they would not fully milk the cows until the landowners had measured the yield. 

Portrait of a Carthusian
(by Petrus Christus)

The milk that remains is much richer, and was traditionally used by the dairymaids to make their own cheese.

In the 16^th century the cheese also became known as devotional cheese … so the Carthusian monks would bless the farmers' homesteads in exchange for some cheese.

Nothing like a tax on cows' udders to improve one's blog posts … I feel certain that this type of tax no longer applies …

Gap, town in the Haute Savoie region
of south-eastern France

I'll try and keep things lighter for a while – as life is challenging enough for so many … here's to health and happiness in 2025 …

A little information, tucked away in this post, on the European Movement, which we still continue on - this is our 50th year in Eastbourne.  It is based on our 2023 programme.

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Sculptures - two heads, one mouth ...

 

These three sculptures fascinated me … then of course various tentacled rabbit holes appeared, let alone my own grey cells with lots of space between, which enjoy taking their time …

Sculpture of Oscar Wilde's head in
the format adopted by Eduardo Paolozzi,
the sculptor

I came across this posthumous sculpture by Paolozzi of Wilde's head. Did you know these are his names: Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (1854 – 1900) … I laughed and thought oh well … I'd better write them up for this post.

Wilde lived a great deal of his life in Chelsea – hence the positioning of this sculpture – which Sir Eduardo Paolozzi (1924 – 2005) was commissioned to produce … more on him anon in 2025 …

On the website there's a short video -
hence 'A Flying Visit ... '

Pangolin Editions, where this sculpture was crafted – there's a short video on its home page about The Foundry 'A flying visit to Pangolin'.

Pangolin Foundry, Stroud, England

I was pleased to learn that The Foundry has formed the Ruwenzoni foundation in the UK and in Western Uganda furthering the talent to be found …

… expressed on their home page 'The impetus driving the idea was a belief that 'good news also comes out of Africa' where so much talent can flourish if given an environment which allows it''.

Students learning in Uganda

It's worthwhile looking at the Trustees, and the Ugandan directors … rabbit holes with tentacles worth exploring … 

Head number two, the Apennine Colossus, has taken millennia to form … but was crafted by the Flemish sculptor Giambologna in the late 1500s …

Apennine Colossus
(by Giambologna)

… it is about 36 feet (11 metres) high and is meant as a personification of the Apennine Mountains … more information can be found in the link … it always amazes me at man's creativity.

Last but not least … the mouth of a river … a stack of slate … what to do … but create a hedge (usually a wall in town) in London – that's actually a pictogram of the river Thames as it twists and turns its way through London to the North Sea …

Can you envisage the River Thames
as it winds its way to the North Sea

This last creation is by Andy Goldsworthy – who we consider to be the founder of modern rock balancing … 

... this artwork is permanent, found in a side street just behind Buckingham Palace … being 'just some stacks of slate' …

I love what we can learn … I've just joined a TED group here … and I was able to bring up two subjects I'd posted about as part of this blogging fraternity … it's a learning environment.

One was about bees keeping elephants at bay in Kenya (2015) … and the other was relative to one of my favourite computers on the market – RaspberryPi (2020 x 2), linked to a robot … which we were discussing at the TED group.

I will try and recalibrate my brain to be more stable and methodical in its approach to humanity outside its own sphere … let me hope!

Pangolin Editions - their sculpture

Oscar Wilde sculpture - c/o Ian Visits 

Pangolin Editions - Foundry

Ruwenzorifoundation in Uganda - supported by Pangolin Foundry

Apennine Colossus - natural/crafted sculpture

Slate Wall - c/o Ian Visits ... Andy Goldsworthy

Bees and elephants in 2015 

(PS Lenny is a young lad, who has been extraordinary over his tough young life)

Raspberry Pi x 2 in 2020

     first Raspberry Pi                 second Raspberry Pi used by young engineer

Thanks for bearing with me …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

King John - the good, but mostly the bad ...

 

Frankly … King John (1166 – 1216) was mostly bad … I'm not sure I can find much good to say about him after his early years, when he was doted on by his father, King Henry II and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine.

King John his
tomb effigy

He was awful … other kings were as incompetent (Edward II (1307 - 1327)), or perhaps as cruel (Richard III (1483 - 1485)), but in the eyes of his contemporaries John appears to have been uniquely both.

Yet his disastrous and bloody reign led to one of the most famous documents in history: Magna Carta.

Magna Carta - perhaps you can read it?!
... part of it ... 

To save you the history lesson … and me to make it short enough to be entertaining … perhaps this all you need to know …

Rous Roll depicting Richard III
(c/o John Rous)

John was not in any way diplomatic … alienating many, cruelly leaving others to die, sometimes killing many others …

… his reign as King of England was a failure … although some historians have tried to paint a more positive picture of John, but this is hard to do when one recalls his deeds as monarch:

the murder in France of his young nephew, Arthur;

the English lands lost to the French;

the starvation of a mother and her young son;

the submission of his kingdom as a fief to the papacy;

his blatant adultery;

his cowardly retreat from combat;

the taxation that finally pushed the country into open rebellion; and after his death ... 

leaving London and one-third of the country under French rule.

To somewhat confirm the above - here are a couple of quotes recorded in history …

Gerald of Wales:

'He Feared Not God, Nor Respected Men'.

The Barnwell annalist:

'A Pillager of his own People'

King John ratifying Magna Carta in 1215

Yet from his reign came one of the greatest legacies – Magna Carta … it might have been forced upon him as a damning verdict of his rule, but it has endured as a global symbol of political rights and freedom …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters International Stories

Jumping Jelly Beans ... tunnels and bridges ...

 

A bridge or tunnel too far perhaps … but as is my wont – I need(ed) a filler post … so coming from a bridge (civil) engineering family …

Their logo

When I saw that the Marmaray Tunnel – beneath the Bosporus Strait, Istanbul … linking Europe with Asia … had been built … my grandfather's firm of structural engineers had been contracted for the Bridge across the Bosphorus … opened in 1973. I was taken aback …

Bakirkoy - where the trains meet

As I'm no engineer my uncle and I would have brief discussions about engineering projects – particularly when we met out in South Africa … but he died in 1997.

The tunnel had passed me by … opened in 2013 just after my mother died, so perhaps understandable I hadn't 'twigged' … as the deepest immersed tube tunnel in the world.

Bosphorus Strait ... dotted
red lines indicate tunnel project

The construction originally mooted in 1860 … obviously not much happened – 130 years later! … preparatory work was able to commence.

As is usual archaeological discoveries held the work up somewhat … still unearthing our history enlightens us … in this instance from the Byzantine-era and other 8,000 year old archaeological finds …

East Mediterranean/West Asia
showing the various plates, including
in the north the North Anatolian Plate

The other part I enjoy learning about is the geology of the area … somewhat to my surprise – the tunnel is only 18 kilometres (11 miles) away from the active North Anatolian Fault:

Tectonic Plates

Since AD 342, it has seen large earthquakes that claimed many thousands of lives. It is expected that there could be a major earthquake in that area fairly soon …

Simpler map for info

Most of humanity lives through these eruptions, while others lose their lives … perhaps to be discovered at a later date, and then provide new information of eras past …

Some basic facts about the Strait …

It connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, and eventually into the Mediterranean Sea – it is an international waterway …

Length about 19 miles

Width between 0.45 miles – 2.05 miles

Maximum depth of 110 metres (360 feet)

Heavy traffic … 48,000 ships annually … reportedly three and four times denser than the traffic that used to go through (but due to war/drought) in the Suez Canal and Panama Canal; this traffic has also reduced due to restrictions placed on night-time transit of large oil tankers.

The Bosphorus Bridge

My filler got longer than necessary … but those rabbit holes became tunnels or bridges … letting us travel around and learn …

But where Jumping Jelly Beans came from ... I've no idea?! 

Links if you wish to look further …

Marmaray Tunnel ... 

Anatolian sub-plate ... 

Marmaray - the portmanteau word for this commuter rail project ... 

Bosphorus facts from Marine Insight ... 

BUT I almost forgot why this post got written – I found this fascinating interactive image – just click it … it's brilliant – just check it out please …

Bridges schematically shown from Trajan's Roman Bridge, to the Ponte Vecchio, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge and many more … see here:

1915 Canakkale Bridge ...  see comparison of notable bridges at end of this link ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Muddling maudling me … life!

 

It does tick by doesn't it … I was giving a talk on King John 1167 – 1216 … and I seem to have totally got myself absorbed into that era …

King John on a stag hunt

Eight hundred years ago is such a mixed up era – before the English were English … and owned more land in France than on this little isle …

Lots of Isabellas, Henrys, Margarets, two Popes, Matildas, Joans … just trying to work out who was who has been 'quite interesting' …

Not the Library's exhibition
guide - I've sent for one

Nine years ago I went to an exhibition celebrating the 800 years since Magna Carta was signed (1215) at the British Library and had found some booklets on that period … perfect for my history talk … the filing cabinet enlightened me!

Thankfully I didn't need to muddy the waters by just listing dates, battles, castles, people – but through the guide I was able to distil the parts needed to bring the treacherous, obnoxious King John to life …

I enjoyed the cruel look in
his eyes ... well I didn't, but you
know what I mean!

Then I researched deeper … and am now totally captivated by the 1200s – hook line and sinker - totally engrossed … it's sad really!

The Plantagenet era has me spellbound … books, guides, novels are sprouting down here in Eastbourne …

Lots of interesting snippets
in here

Then disaster struck my printer gave up the ghost – no it was not eight hundred years old! … its owner at times might feel like that … but I needed a print-out of my talk.

Oh … ok … I could email it to myself onto my ipad … duly done – except the 'old girl' got faffed while doing it – something very stupid … and I put the right extension onto the list of slides, but did not do that for the 23 page talk (largish type) …

We had the headmaster to talk to us
about changes in our taxation system and
its effect on fee paying schools ... 

I didn't realise until I was at the church, where we hold our history meetings – remember the blue moon was attempting to rise in July …

Now panic set in … but, thankfully on Monday's, the church office is manned by men … so they were enlisted to help – including their techie chap – bless them all! They blessed me!

Isobella of Angouleme
(2nd wife of John)

By fair means or foul he rescued me, definitely on the fair means side, and I had my talk, with the slide listings for Enid (our history buff) to refer to as she occasionally adds in to our talks, to clarify some aspects …

I'm still totally immersed in this period … so much so that I've been reading a novel … but another post to follow – it's an interesting one … I could see the characters of that period.

English lands in 1180 (red) ... but most lost
by 1223 after Magna Carta.
(French in blue; Yellow the Church; Green -
other fiefs held on behalf of the French crown)

From the discombobulated world of .......

Hilary Melton-Butcher at

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Head Space – with rabbit holes …

 

My mojo is beginning to reappear and after Easter it will be back in full glowing hex colours … who put the hex on colour? … is one rabbit hole – I'll leave you to look.

Who Put the Hex in Colour
Streamline Publishing

For me … RGB (colour) triplets (and techie stuff) defeat me before we even start … but I know a few of you understand … or hopefully are as interested in the ephemeral state I seem to operate in …

Another rabbit hole I came across is a news broadcast on BBC Radio4, the Briefing Room – Election specials, discussing big issues of the day in different parts of the world. My hook was about the South African elections to be held at the end of May, which makes it interesting to me … but I may well listen to the others …

Southern Africa

… continuing with friends there and here who visit or live in other local southern African countries – Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia … Africa - a country where a lot of change has happened in the last thirty plus years – historical happenings …

Then again on the Beeb on Wednesday – it was a busy day! - The Social Dilemma popped up … there's a Netflix docudrama, which I'd like to watch – but am not a Netflix subscriber … however I then found this …

Tristan Harris, who used to work for Google as a design ethicist, and Aza Raskin, but who now along with others question the design of social media and its effect on 'us' …

… via the Centre for Humane Technology … its ongoing and future effect on humanity's interests … they envision a world that respects attention, improves well-being, and strengthens communities.

First global AI Safety Summit
held in 2023 in the UK

Who'd have thought my mojo would return via a bubbling interest in Artificial Intelligence … that's what's bringing it (my mojo) to life!

However to bring us back to earth … I was out for supper with a friend who when I mentioned AI to her laughed, as to her she went her midwife way of Artificial Insemination … which set a slightly different tone to my thought process …?!

Sprouting Purple
Broccoli

Thanks for reading … more about Artificial Intelligence to follow …

BBC Briefing Room link ... 

Centre for Humane Technology ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Diaghilev – pared down …

 

Poor chap – his story here on my blog keeps getting shorter – too much going … while Diaghilev (1872 - 1929), the impresario, deserves serious treatment – bearing in mind the influence he had on Russian and ultimately Western culture …

His mother died in childbirth, but he was lucky and had a very rewarding relationship with his step-mother … he confided in her and wrote to her throughout her life … in the biography by Sjeng Scheijen we are privy to a great many snippets of these eye-opening communications.

His early life was surrounded by a large family and friends in Perm, near the Ural mountains … where they'd created a local cultural centre – and where he sang, composed and read voraciously. Also he was always surrounded by dictionaries and maps – constantly curious and wanting more knowledge.

Perm was near Yekaterinburg, where the family of Tsar Nicholas was executed in 1918.

Siberian route across Russia into China

The town was founded in 1723 by Peter the Great (1672 - 1725), and is named after his wife. The city has two important connections … it served as the mining capital of the Russian Empire (1721 - 1917), as well as a strategic connection between Europe and Asia.

In 1781, Catherine the Great (1729 - 1796), continued the important Siberian Route through Perm. (The route ran from Moscow, via Mongolia, into China, west of Beijing).

Diaghilev by Rostislav Doboujinsky
(1903 - 2000) - showing his shock
of white hair

So this mercurial man with his overflowing confidence, many mood swings, was ready for a life of distinction … taking creativity to new horizons at the start of the 20^th century … particularly his inherent ability to perceive the genius of others.

It was during his University years in St Petersburg that he was able to look around to find his true interests in life - particularly Russian and Western art, as well as his literary knowledge … he came to be respected as one of the most learned men in the group.

He promoted talented youngsters … one of these was the Ballets Russes' star dancer, Vaslav Nijinsky (1889 – 1950) … who became one of his lovers.

Nijinsky by Valentin Serov
(1865 - 1911)

Sadly Nijinsky was diagnosed with schizophrenia at a very young age and for nearly 30 years was in and out of psychiatric hospitals and asylums …

Diaghilev, who lived the high life, lived from pay-check to pay-check, but always ensuring the needs of his dancers and company were met. In his latter years his passion turned to collecting rare books - of which there were many significant ones.

He had developed diabetes … refusing to change his life-style … however one thing he feared was dying in water, and as far as possible avoided travelling by boat.

Isola San Michele, Venice

He loved Venice managing to reach there just before his death in 1929.  At the end he was broke, broke … but his debts were settled by friends … including Coco Chanel … however he had reached his beloved Venice.

As you can see my notes - ran to 
14 pages of scruffiness!

His tomb is on the nearby island of San Michele – the island has served as the principal cemetery of Venice since 1807.

Diaghilev continues to influence and be remembered both here in the west and in Russia – one hopes that will continue.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories