The art & biography of cities

[Note: links for this entry in either blue or purple]

The picture above illustrates one of my utmost pleasures: reading in bed. For example, bed is where I pursue my interest in the art & architecture of urban environments & how they function as evidence of social & cultural history. This blog entry outlines that interest & provides some resources, both written & visual, for those of you also attracted to the subject.

Works of Scholarship & Analysis.

Donald J. Olsen, the author of The City as a Work of Art: London, Paris, Vienna.

Olsen argues that a city's art & archetecture provide access to social & cultural history, offering insights into class differences, family and social organization, among other categories. As a Library Journal reviewer observes [quoted on Amazon] "the city is interpreted... as a vessel of civilization itself, a theater of historicist consciousness."


London: The Biography, by Peter Ackroyd.

Just get it & read it. Brilliant & now available in paper, but worth spending extra for the cloth edition.

New York Rises, photos by Eugene de Salignac, essays by Michael Lorenziniand Kevin Moore.

"From 1906 to 1934, Eugene de Salignac shot over 20,000 stunning 8x10-inch glass-plate negatives of New York City...." [see Amazon for brief review]

New York Underground: The Anatomy of a City, by Julia Solis.

This book explores New York City's subterranean-scape, i.e. story of a city through its sewars. Pictures & text offer a fascinating & unlikely tour. [Amazon, although on backorder]

Urban geography through Mystery.

See entries: October 23, 27-29, 2006 for British social & cultural biography-through-geography from 1929 through the present.

October 21 entry for the cultural geography of Southern California, 1950s-late 1970s.

Visual Arts.

Galleries of the Museum of Modern Art [MoMA]

Silent Be, it was the cat

Dear Friends & Fans,

[new blog readers, please note: Everything in a pinkish-purple-ish color below is a link that, when clicked, will expand upon what I've written about any given topic.]


For the first time since I began this blog, I'm afraid I shall let you down. My wide-ranging interests have strayed from English humor in television & film. I shall mention one or two of the best in each category.

And do read on to find the promised treat, a Cockney Rhyming Slang web site; the time you spend perusing that site will gratify your love of the World Wide Waste-of-Time-- Although since Cockney Rhyming Slang is a cultural treasure, code-words cunningly devised to avoid upper-class interference with Cockney lives, your time will not be wasted. [A few examples of same are given below.]


Television:



Keeping Up Appearances: One of my favorites, sometimes shown on American TV [PBS] & on BBC America.



Also: To the Manor Born, Are You Being Served?, and As Time Goes By [with Oscar-winning Judy Densch]



For more on each of these surf your way to http://www.imdb.com/


Films? My Beautiful Landrette, Prick Up Your Ears [Gary Oldman, Alfred Molina & Vanessa Redgrave] and We Think the World of You [with Alan Bates, Gary Oldman, it explores their relationship and their interactions a very special dog]. Go to the Internet Movie Data Base for lots of info on these as well as the television shows.



Cockney Rhyming Slang! [this is a link]

Click the link above for a real treat. Just a few examples:

Half inch = "pinch" as in: Seen 'is new telly? Bet he half inched it.

Trouble & strife = "wife"

Pork pie = "lie" as in: Who's been telling porkies then?

Tea leaf = "thief" as in Don't take your eyes off 'im--'e's a tea-leaf.

Friar Tuck = f--k. [I won't elaborate]

Enough said. Be sure to check it all out at your earliest opportunity!

BTW:

"Silent Be, it was the cat" is from Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore. See previous entry for more on Gilbert & Sullivan and by the way, the "cat" mentioned is not a cute little pussy-cat!

Finis:
I trust you've enjoyed this romp through English humor [today's entry & the previous entry]. Revisit my blog again soon as I continue to expand my boundaries--- and yours.l

Greatly to his Credit

(me, laughing]

Note: that while I frequently specify where links appear in the text, each link is also designated by its color: purple--various shades. Pink is the color of section separations)

"For he himself has said it

And it's greatly to his credit

That he is an Englishman

For inspite of all temptations

To belong to other nations

He remains an Englishman"

--Gilbert & Sullivan

Thus begins my promised tour of & ruminations on the weird & wonderful topic of English humor; it's a huge topic & my musings are limited. Still, I hope you'll enjoy them & perhaps be inspired to check out some of my recommendations & follow the included links for your further edification & hours of hilarity.

English Humor: part I

It is said that English humour can seem puzzling to the non-English and that may be an understatement. British humor, whether high class or low, depends on verbal wit, wit that is based on peculiarly the English experience that often seems almost impossible to translate either literally or culturally. However, my optimism is boundless. Thus, I shall list examples of English humor by medium & provide brief comments on each.

Print

Comic Strips:

Lets begin with one example that is familiar to any regular reader [of which I am one] of American comic [formerly called funny] pages in their local newspapers: Andy Capp.

Andy Capp [Handycap or Handicap] is a working class bloke, married to the long-suffering Flo [& he has long suffered his mother-in-law], whose profession is drunk with occasional forays into football [soccer] & betting on the horses. He & Flo regularly attend marriage guidance [for an example, see comic of date 10-5-07 at the link above]. Until I researched this comic, I didn't realize that it was created by Reginald Smythe, seen in the The Daily Mirror and The Sunday Mirror newspapers since 1957. Perhaps its ongoing popularity alone provides enough of an inducement for you to click on the links provided here.

Magazines:

You can do no better than to introduce yourself to Punch magazine & no better way than to visit its web site. [click the link]

There you will learn, among other things, that: "Punch, the magazine of humour and satire, ran from 1841 until its closure in 2002. A very British institution with an international reputation for its witty and irreverent take on the world, it published the work of some of the greatest comic writers (Thackeray, P G Wodehouse and P J O’Rourke among others) and gave us the cartoon as we know it today." The web site is quite simply one of the best I've ever seen & if you click on the link above you'll do the next best thing to reading this deservedly long-lived journal.

Books:

Punch contributors have written books that lately I've had the good fortune to stumble upon.

The British Character by Pont of Punch.

Sadly he died when he was only 32. However, he left a large body of work, some of which can be discovered & revelled in in this book; should you wish to enjoy it for yourself, an Amazon search reveals several used copies.

Also noteworthy! as in the dog world, breeding is of importance in the world of English humor as Pont makes clear in this illustration.

Diary of a Nobody & Diary of Mrs. Pooter : Diary of a Nobody [1892, available from Amazon.com] was written by brothers George [who formed a special relationship with Gilbsert and Sullivan, see verse at beginning of entry] & Weedon Grossmith & first published in Punch [see above]. The "author" is one Charles Pooter of The Laurels, Brickfield Terrace, Holloway and I include his justification for the diary herewith:

"Why should I not publish my diary? I have often seen eminiscences of peopls I have never heard of and I fail to see--because I do not happen to be a 'Somebody'--why my diary should not be interesting."

Disaster upon disaster follow, the son, William who prefers to use his middle name, Lupin, disturbs whatever domestic bliss exists, and many assorted domestic depredations occur. Yet throughout, C. Pooter's motto, "home sweet home," prevails and Mr. Pooter is nothing more, nor less, than a good man, not hero, nor fool, but decent & honorable.

Mrs. Pooter [Mrs. Pooter's Diary by Punch contributor Keith Waterhouse, 1983 & dedicated to the authors of Diary of a Nobody] early acknowledges that she secretly reads her husband's diary. Mrs. Pooter's Diary, is an homage to C. Pooter's and recognized as "one of the great classics of English humor... a wonderful comic creation in its own right.

Many other novels more popularly recogznised by an American audience include P. G. Wodehouse's [click link for superb website] characters Bertie Wooster & Jeeves who cavort through a number of novels, J. R. Ackerly, whose few contributions to literature have been described as "a cross between Dickens' David Copperfield, Rousseau's Confessions.... his truth is stranger--and funnier--than fiction...." [read the novel--and see the film [link] staring Gary Oldman-- We Think the World of You as a starter], and of course the immortal Charles Dickens [link]. As to the last suffice to say I read The Pickwick Papers [read it online by clicking this link] for the first time in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia & as of this moment, I'm re-reading it again with the greatest pleasure.

Well!

You've been provided with a full plate of pleasure. Suffice for the day.

Part II [to come shortly] explores English television, film and [best of all?] Cockney Rhyming Language.
'Til next time, Cheers, M²

BOBBYWOOD?

Discover BOBBYWOOD Creative American Bistro by clicking on the photo above.

It was voted the "best new restaurant in Hampton Roads" in 2006

Their web site is super cool.

And I can testify that the accolade "best" is well-deserved.

So position your cursor over the picture & click your mouse.

Yum Yum Yum Yum

Bon Appetit.

Bravo Italiano

A couple of days ago I wrote about the five star meal at a Japanese restaurant in Norfolk. Today I'll write about an entirely different, but equally pleasing experience in that fine city.




Veneziano is a 3-generation family restaurant serving family Italian food. Home-made minestroni, plateful of spaghetti, fresh bread & a bottle of red wine.


The decoration! The ambience. The music, Italian music: opera, Frank Sinatra. The comfortable tables & spacious booths.

And best of all, [along with the food, of course!] what service. Mother, sisters, cousins, all with a welcoming smile, an inquiry about your well-being, a recommendation if one is needed, knowledge of your usual if you're a regular. Although it's a popular neighborhood [& city-wide] establishment, each customer enjoys an intimate evening of first-rate food.

Grandpere et Grandmere are indeed regulars at Veneziano & therefore I received a true family welcome.

Grazie Grandpere et Grandmere & Grazie Veneziano