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Feb. 3rd, 2011 07:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
endlessraritiesWe engaged in a bit of extreme archaeology today. The weather forecast was spot on - from 1pm onwards, the winds started to pick up, and pick up, and pick up...
I was quite blase. No problem, said I. The roof's reinforced concrete. We'll be fine...
This was before I climbed up to the mezzanine level with my colleague and looked up. To my horror, I realised that our solid, dependable building was roofed with flat, corrugated metal sheeting. Everything was fine, until the winds wound up to gale force at around half three. One of the panels came loose, and started flapping and banging... We baled out promptly at 4pm, and... Put it this way. I'll be amazed if The Building From the Higher Levels of Hell still has a roof when we return to it tomorrow morning.
I'm now the proud owner of a big pile of DVDs to watch. Last night, I made a start by watching Episode 1 of Simon Schama's A History of Britain. [Those of you with keen memories will recall that I bought this a year ago...]
Simon Schama's series has had a bad press with Scots. It does what it says on the box, and only talks about Scotland, Wales and Ireland when the going-ons in the provinces have a major impact on England, which has - like it or not - always been the dominant player amongst the four nations. For true devotees of history, Schama's series should only be viewed in association with its equivalent regional counterparts, such as A History of Scotland. [Welsh readers, please note. If there is a Welsh counterpart to A History of Scotland which was shown on Welsh telly, then please tell me what it's called and whether I can get it on DVD, because I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE IT!!!!! NB: I'd rather it wasn't in Welsh...]
I can forgive Simon Schama for his channel vision, because I really, really enjoy his prose style. J finds him irritating, because he has an annoying habit of bobbing his head as he talks. But I love his turn of phrase. His manner is darkly sardonic, and often amusing.
An example of this humour which made me burst out laughing last night was his description of this marvellous piece of Iron Age art, the Stanwick Horse Mask. If you're not familiar with this artefact, here it is;-
I was quite blase. No problem, said I. The roof's reinforced concrete. We'll be fine...
This was before I climbed up to the mezzanine level with my colleague and looked up. To my horror, I realised that our solid, dependable building was roofed with flat, corrugated metal sheeting. Everything was fine, until the winds wound up to gale force at around half three. One of the panels came loose, and started flapping and banging... We baled out promptly at 4pm, and... Put it this way. I'll be amazed if The Building From the Higher Levels of Hell still has a roof when we return to it tomorrow morning.
I'm now the proud owner of a big pile of DVDs to watch. Last night, I made a start by watching Episode 1 of Simon Schama's A History of Britain. [Those of you with keen memories will recall that I bought this a year ago...]
Simon Schama's series has had a bad press with Scots. It does what it says on the box, and only talks about Scotland, Wales and Ireland when the going-ons in the provinces have a major impact on England, which has - like it or not - always been the dominant player amongst the four nations. For true devotees of history, Schama's series should only be viewed in association with its equivalent regional counterparts, such as A History of Scotland. [Welsh readers, please note. If there is a Welsh counterpart to A History of Scotland which was shown on Welsh telly, then please tell me what it's called and whether I can get it on DVD, because I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE IT!!!!! NB: I'd rather it wasn't in Welsh...]
I can forgive Simon Schama for his channel vision, because I really, really enjoy his prose style. J finds him irritating, because he has an annoying habit of bobbing his head as he talks. But I love his turn of phrase. His manner is darkly sardonic, and often amusing.
An example of this humour which made me burst out laughing last night was his description of this marvellous piece of Iron Age art, the Stanwick Horse Mask. If you're not familiar with this artefact, here it is;-
Yes, you are suffering from deja-vu, because it is, of course, the model for my user pic...
Anyway, this is his description:-
'or the astonishing stylised bronze horses, endearingly melancholy in expression like so many Eeyores resigned to a bad day in battle.' (Schama, 2000, 25),
Yeah, I wish I'd thought of that one...
And J's response when the voiceover rang out in our living room? Well, he told me that my choice of userpic was definitely inspired. Thanks, J. So I'm an Eeyore resigned to a bad day in battle? Somehow, that figures...
Anyway, this is his description:-
'or the astonishing stylised bronze horses, endearingly melancholy in expression like so many Eeyores resigned to a bad day in battle.' (Schama, 2000, 25),
Yeah, I wish I'd thought of that one...
And J's response when the voiceover rang out in our living room? Well, he told me that my choice of userpic was definitely inspired. Thanks, J. So I'm an Eeyore resigned to a bad day in battle? Somehow, that figures...
