Saturday, February 07, 2015

Saturday & Sundry Thoughts

It's odd that once one becomes aware of something of which previously unaware, it pops up unexpectedly sometimes to silently wave:
"Hello - remember me?"

I mentioned Fuseli's The Nightmare's appearance in the TV series The Fall in my post yesterday - that was the phenomenon in reverse: first the painting then, as I was preparing yesterday's post. its creator popping in to say "Remember this?" This week I was reminded of my January post on Brion Gysin, William S. Burroughs and their creation, the "cut-up" method in art, literature etc. (See HERE). In the midst of watching the first season of British TV police detective series Luther, in episode 3 (or maybe 4) the detective is seen surrounded by pieces of text, photographs and bits of newspaper cuttings. When asked by a colleague what the heck he was doing he replied, "Trying out "Bowie's cut-up method". David Bowie did use the Gysin/Burroughs cut-up invention in writing some of his lyics during the 1970s.






A conversation with mike, in comments following last Monday's post, got me further thinking about Britain's wide range of accents and dialects, and in particular how often a single term can pinpoint where its user hails from. I'm not sure of the correct term for the particular "place-marker" I have in mind. A term of endearment? No - that's far too intimate. Pet name? Still too intimate. What I'll refer to is the casual mode of address sometimes used by warm-hearted people to strangers or near-strangers (often to females and children but not always). For instance, a waitress to a customer, a bus driver to a passenger, a store-keeper to a customer, casual acquaintance to a casual acquaintance....that kind of address.

If blindfolded on a tour of Britain you could almost guess where you were by the type of casual, warm address being used. In the north-east of England you'd hear "pet" ("Would you like tea or coffee pet?"); in Yorkshire it'd be "luv" ("Hey, you've dropped yer ticket luv!"). In parts of West and South Yorkshire it's "flower" ("Don't forget yer bag flower!")
In the Scottish borders and parts of Scotland it'd be "hen" or "hinney"; down in the beautiful south-west of England you'd hear "my lovely" "lover" or "my 'andsome".
In the middle area of England it'd be "duck" or "mi (my) duck" ("How are you feeling now mi duck?")

I always enjoyed these warm terms of... whatever they were. I've heard women complaining about these modes of address, considering them sexist, demeaning (or something). It's an attitude that strikes me as feminism at its most churlish.




If you enjoy a horror-tinged movie now and again, give The Machinist a whirl via DVD, Netflix or similar. (Beware spoilers at the Wiki page).

Christian Bale (Sun + Mercury/Jupiter in Aquarius) plays the lead brilliantly well, and for this role he lost what would seem like a very unhealthy amount of body weight - probably even more than Matthew McConaughey lost for his role in Dallas Buyers Club. Looking at Bale's usual photographs it's hard to believe he was The Machinist.




We saw ZumaZuma a travelling group of performers from the continent of Africa, on stage at our local theatre on Monday evening. Those taking part came from Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Guinea and Senegal. All performed together in an elaborate acrobatic dance, circus and song event.

Huge energy was expended, non-stop, with super African rhythms, and colourful regional costumes, singing, dancing traditional to each region, and some very skilful juggling and acrobatics. Lots of audience engagement - especially enjoyed by the many children in the audience, who had met the travelling group earlier in the day. Zuma Zuma is well worth making the effort to go see, should they happen to be performing in your area.

4 comments:

mike said...

Making connections by remembering tidbits of gained mind-clutter and associating that with current input can be fascinating...a minor version of the quinkydink...or a smaller knowledge-is-power sorta thing. I'm less apt, if at all, to connect dots when I'm viewing something...there isn't the time, as the scene moves forward and there's no pause button. I'm more enabled when reading a book or essay, and I can ponder. I've often read something that doesn't quite make sense and the context isn't sufficient to lend comprehension, so there's much that can go right by me. They are like an insider joke...LOL.

Along the same line as above AND your reflecting on British terms of endearment, just yesterday, I read a blurb about reality programming and it contained "Geordie Shore", which is a spin on the American "NJ Shore". I knew when I read it that it referred to the Newcastle area, because of that particular post of yours. Small world.

I'm not really into thriller-chiller movies or books, but I've encountered several that I was glad to have suffered through. Suspense makes me nervous...Gemini rising, Virgo Moon provides me with plenty of mercurial excess that doesn't need heightening.

Your African evening of entertainment sounds very nice. I've long enjoyed some African musical groups. One of my travel shows plays African music at the conclusion of the program, but has never shown the credits for the group...they remain a mystery that I would like to solve. I sometimes play my CD of "Ladysmith Black Mambazo" when I clean house:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EETguBmozy0
My house isn't a filthy mess, but I don't clean as often as I would if I had maid service...LOL. To paraphrase Minnie Pearl, "Why clean house today when it will just be dirty next month."

Twilight said...

mike ~ Minor quinkydink is right, yes! Or lesser synchronicity, or mini-serendipity. ;-)

I suppose the two examples mentioned stuck in my mind clearly because they happened quite close to the time of my discovering the necessary connecting information.

Another incidence of something akin to this peculiarity happened last night, but related to a current news item, which was then reflected in an episode of the series we were randomly watching via Netflix. Dang, but I can't quite recall detail now, but it made me catch my breath at the time, turn to anyjazz and point at the screen in disbelief. Wish I could remember...maybe I will, later.

Geordie Shore/NJ Shore? Hmm. that'll be a tricky transition - to put it mildly!

African rhythms can be quite hypnotic. I like to listen, in small doses. One African-based song I especially like : Eddie Grant singing "Gimme hope Joanna"

http://youtu.be/bNNfAuMq-M0

Good for mopping the kitchen floor eh! :-)

mike (again) said...

I didn't recognize Eddy Grant's name, but I started listening to "Gimme Hope Joanna" and instantly knew he was the voice behind "Electric Avenue", which was on the youtube sidebar. Both songs have similarities and I like them both. I can just see you dancing with your mop to Eddy...LOL. A friend of mine from many years ago called this genre of music "toe poppin'" music.

Another marvel of the Roku is that I can stream youtube right on to my TV...the sound is SO much better than on my laptop. I've barely scratched the surface of Netflix and youtube is a world of its own, so I'll eventually find time away from Netflix to explore youtube's offerings.

Re "Geordie Shore":
"Geordie Shore is a British reality television series broadcast on MTV. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, it was first broadcast on 24 May 2011, and is the British spin-off of the American show Jersey Shore.

... In a column for Metro, Christopher Hooton described the show as "a gaudy kaleidoscope of six packs, shots, fights, simulated fellatio and exposed breasts," but said that criticism of the show was futile given its intent, noting that "being shocked by the lasciviousness of Geordie Shore is like being shocked by the lack of nutrition in a Pot Noodle." Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah has described the show as "bordering on pornographic," and announced she will be raising questions in Parliament about the issues raised by the programme. Newcastle has also benefited from the show by increased tourism. Hotels and travel agents have attributed increased bookings, up by as much as three of four times in 2012 from 2011, to the popularity of the program."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geordie_Shore

I've never viewed "Jersey Shore", but "Geordie Shore" could be interesting, specially if I can't understand the dialect.

This might be your astrological moment to experience mini-quinkies, Twilight. You have a trio of Mercury hits with it now in retrograde. I've found this to be a rather nostalgic last couple of weeks...odd occurrences that flash my memory chips.

Twilight said...

mike ~ In fact I did one dance (though not very gracefully I have to add) to "Gimme Hope Joanna", back in the early 1990s, it was being sung by an African entertainer in Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spanish islands which lie just off north-west Africa). He insisted that during the song everyone in his audience should get up from their tables, meals and drinks to do a kind of conga-style dance around the sea-front cafe where we were havin' a few cocktaile - like ya do on vacation. :-)

I've never seen Jersey Shore, but have read about it and I think have seen one or two of its "stars" being interviewed on Late Night TV. Sub-titles would be a necessity for Geordie Shore - if they've done it properly! I've been to Newcastle itself only once, didn't see much of it. I do remember a young woman in our office (in Leeds, Yorkshire) preparing for her wedding, and insisting that she and her intended wanted to spend their honeymoon
in Newcastle-on-Tyne (the city's proper title). Every jaw in the office dropped on that announcement. but apparently Newcastle has always had the reputation of enjoying a very lively nightlife. :-)

It had crossed my mind that those mini-quinkies might have something to do with transiting Neptune conjoining my natal Jupiter (exact apart from a few mins)...and semi-sextile natal Sun.

[PS ~ I popped into Sonny's blog yesterday. Seems she's suffered a family loss.]