Into the woods
Jan 4, 2014 7:02:11 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2014 7:02:11 GMT -5
Good afternoon to you all! I trust that all is well with all of you this weekend! 'The Times' leads today with some editorial comment into the woods. The Government is right to propose lifting the ban on building on ancient woodlands. Britain must face its housing crisis.
'The Thunderer' concludes thus:
So on topic, 90 per cent of Britain still remains country-side in the twenty-first century, even if the Industrial Revolution started here over three hundred years ago. Even in its original Greek sense, economics, "the management of the home and the estate", cannot really be considered in isolation. Events get in the way. According to Pericles, the man who can most truly be accounted brave is he who knows what is sweet in life and what is terrible, and then goes out undeterred to meet what is to come. So, I think, should we. I should perhaps confess that I was famously turned down by the London School of Economics (LSE), so perhaps I still know nothing about Carlyle's "dismal science" of economics. I can only offer my full and unreserved apologies to Sydney Grew and everyone reading 'The Third'! Yet it seems to me that property and property management are amongst the goods and services which a nation produces and are, by definition, an important part of the economy of the United Kingdom (UK). Where we live, work and play also has a direct and measurable impact on our quality of life.
Due to unprecedented demand from around the world, everyone reading 'The Third' is cordially invited to the cinema this weekend to see 'The Beauty and the beast'. Living statues and talking mirrors populate the magical world of Jean Cocteau's spellbinding, sensuous masterpiece. More beautiful than ever in a new digital restoration, Cocteau’s spellbinding, sensuous masterpiece was recently described by Guillermo del Toro as ‘the most perfect cinematic fable ever told’.
A hapless merchant, lost in a dark forest, seeks refuge in the castle of a hideous monster who threatens to kill him unless one of his three daughters will agree to take his place. But when Beauty appears, the Beast falls madly in love with her. Hauntingly portrayed by Jean Marais, the Beast is all repressed lust and melancholy refinement, while Beauty (Josette Day) is no mere damsel in distress, overcoming her fears to explore a glittering, shadowy realm which abounds in supernatural terrors and delights. Might she secretly relish this adventure which will help unlock her deepest desires?
Jean Cocteau aspired towards a ‘realism of the unreal’, working with cinematographer Henri Alekan and designer Christian Bérard to conjure up a world of living statues, talking mirrors and candelabras clutched in disembodied hands. With the addition of an eerie orchestral score from Georges Auric, so magical is the entire effect that we are tempted to wonder – along with Beauty – ‘Do such marvels really exist?’ The answer must be an enthralled ‘yes’.
La Belle et la bête
So in the middle of the dark forest is the castle of the hideous monster, kleines c. If you cannot join us in person this weekend, how about Breakfast with the FT: Nicholas Penny on Monday morning instead? Over bacon and eggs with Jackie Wullschlager, the director of the National Gallery rails against the ‘distorting’ effects of contemporary art. It is early Monday morning in one of the loveliest art deco brasseries in central London. Jazz is playing, pale winter light streams through big windows, the rush of people outside on Trafalgar Square is reflected in mirrors slanting above the bar. Yet Jackie Wullschlager is the only visitor to the National Gallery café since it opened an hour ago.
At 9am, precise to the minute, the gallery’s director, Nicholas Penny, strides in, greets each waiter and waitress, and joins me at a corner table. He is 64 but looks at least a decade younger: tall and gangly, with grey-black hair flopping over a broad forehead, eagle-sharp eyes, a decisive manner and an expression that combines donnish gravitas with boyish enthusiasm. His reputation, though, is for being ascetic and a workaholic – he has declined lunch – and Jackie finds herself apologising for his gallery’s lengthy, lavish breakfast menu.
“Oh I’ve been here for ages, I’d like something to eat,” Penny answers and he immediately orders poached eggs, bacon, cappuccino. Jackie opts for smoked salmon with scrambled eggs and orange juice and, with a glance around the empty café, ask whether he is concerned about reaching a large public. “I never attend much to the importance of numbers,” he answers airily. “You only have to spend time in a gallery to realise how little most people look.” Jackie concludes thus:
[/quote]
I propose some toast: to Sydney, Gerard and ahinton! Three cheers from kleines c, Big C and the legendary bb (Saturday brunch coffee)!
"The Government knows what happens when it tangles with forests. In 2010, as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Caroline Spelman suggested reforming the management of Britain’s forests. The outcry was immediate and raucous, and prompted a rethink. Her successor, Owen Paterson, is a brave man to go back into the wood.
Mr Paterson has said that, subject to the condition that for every tree that falls a hundred should bloom elsewhere, he is open to developers building on ancient woodland. Mr Paterson proposes a repeat of the policy followed in the construction of the M6 toll road around Birmingham, along which a million young trees were planted to replace the 10,000 mature ones lost. To anyone who feels affection for ancient wood, this may sound alarming but Mr Paterson should be commended for what is, in fact, a pragmatic position. He plans to offset any damage to biodiversity while ensuring that desperately needed housing can be built ... "
Mr Paterson has said that, subject to the condition that for every tree that falls a hundred should bloom elsewhere, he is open to developers building on ancient woodland. Mr Paterson proposes a repeat of the policy followed in the construction of the M6 toll road around Birmingham, along which a million young trees were planted to replace the 10,000 mature ones lost. To anyone who feels affection for ancient wood, this may sound alarming but Mr Paterson should be commended for what is, in fact, a pragmatic position. He plans to offset any damage to biodiversity while ensuring that desperately needed housing can be built ... "
'The Thunderer' concludes thus:
" ... It is often objected that Britain is a highly urbanised country but that is not really true. Only 10 per cent of the landmass is actually given over to development, and house building accounts for a tenth of that. There will, of course, be ancient woodlands that are precious and should be preserved. A particular case always needs to be made for clearing land for building, and existing planning rules rightly insist that the benefits of development outweigh the loss of irreplaceable habitat.
It makes sense for development to take place on brownfield sites before trespassing on new ground. It is, however, already the case that 80 per cent of new houses are built on brownfield sites, which tend to be more expensive because the land usually needs to be cleaned up.
There is great value in housing and great value of a different kind in woodland. The Government has to hold the two in balance, respecting the aesthetic glory of the British landscape yet without flunking the challenge to build more houses."
It makes sense for development to take place on brownfield sites before trespassing on new ground. It is, however, already the case that 80 per cent of new houses are built on brownfield sites, which tend to be more expensive because the land usually needs to be cleaned up.
There is great value in housing and great value of a different kind in woodland. The Government has to hold the two in balance, respecting the aesthetic glory of the British landscape yet without flunking the challenge to build more houses."
So on topic, 90 per cent of Britain still remains country-side in the twenty-first century, even if the Industrial Revolution started here over three hundred years ago. Even in its original Greek sense, economics, "the management of the home and the estate", cannot really be considered in isolation. Events get in the way. According to Pericles, the man who can most truly be accounted brave is he who knows what is sweet in life and what is terrible, and then goes out undeterred to meet what is to come. So, I think, should we. I should perhaps confess that I was famously turned down by the London School of Economics (LSE), so perhaps I still know nothing about Carlyle's "dismal science" of economics. I can only offer my full and unreserved apologies to Sydney Grew and everyone reading 'The Third'! Yet it seems to me that property and property management are amongst the goods and services which a nation produces and are, by definition, an important part of the economy of the United Kingdom (UK). Where we live, work and play also has a direct and measurable impact on our quality of life.
Due to unprecedented demand from around the world, everyone reading 'The Third' is cordially invited to the cinema this weekend to see 'The Beauty and the beast'. Living statues and talking mirrors populate the magical world of Jean Cocteau's spellbinding, sensuous masterpiece. More beautiful than ever in a new digital restoration, Cocteau’s spellbinding, sensuous masterpiece was recently described by Guillermo del Toro as ‘the most perfect cinematic fable ever told’.
A hapless merchant, lost in a dark forest, seeks refuge in the castle of a hideous monster who threatens to kill him unless one of his three daughters will agree to take his place. But when Beauty appears, the Beast falls madly in love with her. Hauntingly portrayed by Jean Marais, the Beast is all repressed lust and melancholy refinement, while Beauty (Josette Day) is no mere damsel in distress, overcoming her fears to explore a glittering, shadowy realm which abounds in supernatural terrors and delights. Might she secretly relish this adventure which will help unlock her deepest desires?
Jean Cocteau aspired towards a ‘realism of the unreal’, working with cinematographer Henri Alekan and designer Christian Bérard to conjure up a world of living statues, talking mirrors and candelabras clutched in disembodied hands. With the addition of an eerie orchestral score from Georges Auric, so magical is the entire effect that we are tempted to wonder – along with Beauty – ‘Do such marvels really exist?’ The answer must be an enthralled ‘yes’.
La Belle et la bête
So in the middle of the dark forest is the castle of the hideous monster, kleines c. If you cannot join us in person this weekend, how about Breakfast with the FT: Nicholas Penny on Monday morning instead? Over bacon and eggs with Jackie Wullschlager, the director of the National Gallery rails against the ‘distorting’ effects of contemporary art. It is early Monday morning in one of the loveliest art deco brasseries in central London. Jazz is playing, pale winter light streams through big windows, the rush of people outside on Trafalgar Square is reflected in mirrors slanting above the bar. Yet Jackie Wullschlager is the only visitor to the National Gallery café since it opened an hour ago.
At 9am, precise to the minute, the gallery’s director, Nicholas Penny, strides in, greets each waiter and waitress, and joins me at a corner table. He is 64 but looks at least a decade younger: tall and gangly, with grey-black hair flopping over a broad forehead, eagle-sharp eyes, a decisive manner and an expression that combines donnish gravitas with boyish enthusiasm. His reputation, though, is for being ascetic and a workaholic – he has declined lunch – and Jackie finds herself apologising for his gallery’s lengthy, lavish breakfast menu.
“Oh I’ve been here for ages, I’d like something to eat,” Penny answers and he immediately orders poached eggs, bacon, cappuccino. Jackie opts for smoked salmon with scrambled eggs and orange juice and, with a glance around the empty café, ask whether he is concerned about reaching a large public. “I never attend much to the importance of numbers,” he answers airily. “You only have to spend time in a gallery to realise how little most people look.” Jackie concludes thus:
' ... In the past, Penny says, “contemporary art was never assessed in museums. It’s not part of the job of a museum. But today museums are essential to that process. One question is how well they’ll ever do it. There are too many interests not easily acknowledged. And there’s an absence of critical discrimination and debate about contemporary art in museums, and very few places where you can read well-informed criticism of contemporary products – much less than there was a hundred years ago.”
At this point, an announcement shrieks over the museum’s loudspeaker preparing us for a fire drill, but Penny is not to be drowned out. He makes an analogy between contemporary poetry and painting. “It’s absolutely natural that young people respond to contemporary painting and poetry, but when you pick up an anthology of contemporary poetry it is completely unreadable. No one actually seriously believes that there are a thousand great poets working today – there could be no historical justification for such a belief.”
Similarly, of course, we all know that there can be no historical justification either to accept that there are thousands of great contemporary artists working today; despite market hype and museum endorsements, most contemporary art will ultimately be as forgettable as the majority of contemporary poets. Yet, Penny says, “investment in it in every sense, including museum purchases, is bound by the assumption that contemporary art is in a completely different category [from contemporary poetry]. This for me is astounding.”
The fire bell becomes an insistent screech, heralding the opening to the public of the National Gallery in a few minutes. The Renaissance calls, and as Penny rises to return to his desk, I pay the bill. “It seems to me that I galloped over a great many topics at great speed,” he apologises. It seems to me that his voice, sounding loud above the sirens of contemporary fashion, is clear, original and important." '
The National Gallery Masterpiece Tour begins at Canterbury Museums on January 17
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At this point, an announcement shrieks over the museum’s loudspeaker preparing us for a fire drill, but Penny is not to be drowned out. He makes an analogy between contemporary poetry and painting. “It’s absolutely natural that young people respond to contemporary painting and poetry, but when you pick up an anthology of contemporary poetry it is completely unreadable. No one actually seriously believes that there are a thousand great poets working today – there could be no historical justification for such a belief.”
Similarly, of course, we all know that there can be no historical justification either to accept that there are thousands of great contemporary artists working today; despite market hype and museum endorsements, most contemporary art will ultimately be as forgettable as the majority of contemporary poets. Yet, Penny says, “investment in it in every sense, including museum purchases, is bound by the assumption that contemporary art is in a completely different category [from contemporary poetry]. This for me is astounding.”
The fire bell becomes an insistent screech, heralding the opening to the public of the National Gallery in a few minutes. The Renaissance calls, and as Penny rises to return to his desk, I pay the bill. “It seems to me that I galloped over a great many topics at great speed,” he apologises. It seems to me that his voice, sounding loud above the sirens of contemporary fashion, is clear, original and important." '
The National Gallery Masterpiece Tour begins at Canterbury Museums on January 17
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The National Café at the National Gallery
Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN
Cappuccino £3.00
Freshly squeezed orange juice x2 £7.00
Eggs and bacon £5.50
Salmon and eggs £6.50
Total (incl service) £24.75
Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN
Cappuccino £3.00
Freshly squeezed orange juice x2 £7.00
Eggs and bacon £5.50
Salmon and eggs £6.50
Total (incl service) £24.75
I propose some toast: to Sydney, Gerard and ahinton! Three cheers from kleines c, Big C and the legendary bb (Saturday brunch coffee)!