Misogyny and Women in Education
Misogyny is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as, dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women. Talking of Oxford, since conducting research for Fire and Earth, I have had to admonish my alma mater (university, school, or college one formerly...
Renaissance Writers
Following on from artists and composers of Sir Anthony Standen’s lifetime, I concentrate today on writers. I’m looking at writers active between 1547 and 1627. I think we all know where we have to start. William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) is widely regarded as the...
Renaissance and Baroque Music
As with yesterday’s post, I will focus on music in the life of Sir Anthony Standen. Broadly speaking I will cover the period 1547 to 1627, we do not know the exact dates, other than that his first job was as master of horse to Lord Darnley, when he travelled to...
Artists and Sir Anthony Standen
I posted yesterday about visiting The Courtauld Gallery. Whilst there I bought a book: Look at this if you love great art, by Chloë Ashby. Leafing through it has reminded me how often I have featured art in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. I’m not sure why, I just...
Brushstrokes
We visited the Courtauld Gallery yesterday, where I stood admiring Manet’s painting, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, for some time. There is a glass on the counter. As I examined the glass more closely, I marvelled at the detail, how perfect the glass was, how it...
Brevity in Writing
Brevity is concise and exact use of words. According to a proverb, brevity is the soul of wit. Flash fiction should be a thousand words or less. An extreme version is the six word story, of which the best example I know is: For sale: baby shoes. Never worn. It has...
Chekhov’s Gun and All Creatures Great and Small
Chekhov’s Gun is a writing principle which requires that if a gun is on display in act one, it must be used by act three. Claire and I were watching All Creatures Great and Small last night. Mrs Hall the housekeeper, played by Anna Madeley, left the veterinary...
Networking, Licio Gelli, Roberto Calvi, and P2
Freemasonry has always been largely about networking. Roberto Calvi rang a bell. He was an Italian banker found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in 1982, the year I graduated from Oxford. I remembered that there had been some great scandal but couldn’t remember much...
Medgar Evers
I guess I should have heard of Medgar Evers. To my shame, I had not, but it’s never too late to learn. The Craft by John Dickie just keeps on delivering. Medgar Evans was a NAACP Field Secretary in Mississippi. NAACP was the National Association for the Advancement of...
Misogyny and Women in Education
Misogyny is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as, dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women. Talking of Oxford, since conducting research for Fire and Earth, I have had to admonish my alma mater (university, school, or college one formerly...
Renaissance Writers
Following on from artists and composers of Sir Anthony Standen’s lifetime, I concentrate today on writers. I’m looking at writers active between 1547 and 1627. I think we all know where we have to start. William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) is widely regarded as the...
Renaissance and Baroque Music
As with yesterday’s post, I will focus on music in the life of Sir Anthony Standen. Broadly speaking I will cover the period 1547 to 1627, we do not know the exact dates, other than that his first job was as master of horse to Lord Darnley, when he travelled to...
Artists and Sir Anthony Standen
I posted yesterday about visiting The Courtauld Gallery. Whilst there I bought a book: Look at this if you love great art, by Chloë Ashby. Leafing through it has reminded me how often I have featured art in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. I’m not sure why, I just...
Brushstrokes
We visited the Courtauld Gallery yesterday, where I stood admiring Manet’s painting, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, for some time. There is a glass on the counter. As I examined the glass more closely, I marvelled at the detail, how perfect the glass was, how it...
Brevity in Writing
Brevity is concise and exact use of words. According to a proverb, brevity is the soul of wit. Flash fiction should be a thousand words or less. An extreme version is the six word story, of which the best example I know is: For sale: baby shoes. Never worn. It has...
Chekhov’s Gun and All Creatures Great and Small
Chekhov’s Gun is a writing principle which requires that if a gun is on display in act one, it must be used by act three. Claire and I were watching All Creatures Great and Small last night. Mrs Hall the housekeeper, played by Anna Madeley, left the veterinary...
Networking, Licio Gelli, Roberto Calvi, and P2
Freemasonry has always been largely about networking. Roberto Calvi rang a bell. He was an Italian banker found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in 1982, the year I graduated from Oxford. I remembered that there had been some great scandal but couldn’t remember much...
Medgar Evers
I guess I should have heard of Medgar Evers. To my shame, I had not, but it’s never too late to learn. The Craft by John Dickie just keeps on delivering. Medgar Evans was a NAACP Field Secretary in Mississippi. NAACP was the National Association for the Advancement of...